Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time (May 2010) [more] [video] What's up? Anybody who remembers playing Prince Of Persia on a cranky 486 with multiple floppy disks will know that it was one of the most interesting computer games at the time. Now we have it on the big screen and the unlikely leading man is that "Donnie Darko" kid Jake Gyllenhaal (who would star as a gay cowboy in later movies). Maybe not the best likeness to a bearded Middle Eastern hero but at least they got the villain spot on – Ben Kingsley as the scheming Nizam. Any good? "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" director Mike Newell is the man in charge. Hopefully this movie will be a better adventure than the last Indiana Jones movie we were made to watch. Repeat after me: No aliens, please... No aliens, please... Anything else you can tell us? English beauty Gemma Arterton (Strawberry Fields, who helped Daniel Craig find his errr... stationery, in "Quantum Of Solace") will play the female lead. By the way, did you know she has six fingers in both hands?
Toy Story 3 (July 2010) [more] What's up? Talk about Buzz, all right. If you watched any 3D movies recently (e.g. "Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs"), you'd notice that the trailer is already warming up to audiences everywhere. Disney/Pixar's fail-safe product gets a third movie and you and I both know this is just one of those movies that we'll have to watch, if only just to get over how bad Shrek movies have turned out. Any good? Who cares? It's in 3D so it's going to be fun. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen return to voice the characters of Woody and Buzz respectively. Looks like a worthy successor to the franchise at any rate. Anything else you can tell us? The plot says Andy's moving away to college and the toys are accidentally picked up by garbage men. They find themselves at a children's daycare centre where they must learn to survive the playful kids.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (April 2010) [more] What's up? You can't call yourself a horror movie fan if you don't know Krueger from his booger and didn't enjoy this iconic franchise which started with Wes Craven's 1984 classic of the same name. It taught men everywhere not to rape Catholic nuns ever again, unless you want to bring into this world a fedora-wearing killer with a red-and-green sweater and a modified claw-glove that's certainly more fearsome to kids than anything Michael Jackson was ever charged for in court. Any good? Michael Bay is one of the producers – so as long as he doesn't make Freddy an Autobot, this should be a larger-than-life project with high production values and decent scares. Also, one of the best casting calls in recent memory in terms of familiarity – that Rorschach guy in "Watchmen" (Jackie Earle Haley) will play our Freddy. Anything else you can tell us? The trailer is out. It's very good – but nobody has told us who's distributing this movie in Malaysia or whether our censors will go snippety-snip-snip again, Freddy-style.
Resident Evil: Afterlife (August 2010)
What's up? Looks like "Resident Evil" will be residing in the annals of cinema history a little longer than the Capcom videogame looked to hold our attention, as a fourth movie is already shooting in Toronto. You would've thought "Resident Evil: Extinction" would successfully end the misery but them clever writers came up with "Afterlife". RM 10 says the fifth movie is "Rebirth". Any good? Don't know nothing about nothing – but Sony Pictures in Malaysia wants to send us to Toronto for the set visit. We'll decide whether a picture of Milla Jovovich's exterminated zombies is worth it once we find out whether we're flying Air Asia or Malaysia Airlines. Anything else you can tell us? Sci-fi maverick Paul Anderson returns to take care of his baby and Milla Jovovich will also reprise her role. One synopsis that has surfaced on the Net reads: "In a world ravaged by a virus infection, turning its victims into the Undead, Alice continues on her journey to find survivors and lead them to safety. Her deadly battle with the Umbrella Corporation reaches new heights but Alice gets some unexpected help from an old friend. A new lead that promises a safe haven from the Undead leads them to Los Angeles but when they arrive the city is overrun by thousands of Undead and Alice and her comrades are about to step into a deadly trap."
Tron (December 2010) [more] What's up? Some of you might remember watching the 1982 original on TV2 some years back. This reupdate is a cyber adventure set in a digital world where Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges revisiting this role after almost 30 years!), looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programmes and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidante (Olivia Wilde), both father and son embark on a life-or-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous. Well, that's what the people have been writing anyway. Any good? Don't know – but the human-looking motorbike on its Facebook page sure looks cool. Just search under "Tron Legacy". It's perhaps even cooler than Batman's Batpod. We'll watch the movie just to see what that thing does. Anything else you can tell us? It's a 3D movie.
Little Fockers (June 2010) What's up? Is this a blockbuster? Well, it must be – because "Meet The Parents" and "Meet The Fockers" get replayed often enough on Astro to make us think so. The third installment in the Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro franchise is already shooting and there's an assortment of new actors to the mix. Any good? Recently, we learned that one-time top hottie Jessica Alba (before Megan Fox came along) would have a small but important role as a pharmaceutical rep whose looks have a dangerous effect on the film's male cast. More reports have confirmed that veteran Laura Dern ("Jurassic Park", "Blue Velvet") has signed on to play the headmistress of the elementary school that the Focker kids attend. Anything else you can tell us? We can't wait to see if Malaysian censors take offense to "Little Fockers" and give us more ammo for write-ups. The A-Team (June 2010) [more]
What's up? This one could have easily sunk into B-grade oblivion if it fell into the wrong hands – but as it turned out, we now have a big 20th Century Fox release which enlists Bradley Cooper ("All About Steve", "Midnight Meat Train"), Liam Neeson ("Taken", "Batman Begins") and even the 'f***king prawns' weirdo from "District 9". The female lead? Body-beautiful Jessical Biel! Any good? It has all the makings of a great 80s TV show that Hollywood will screw up. However, "Smokin' Aces" director Joe Carnahan is in charge and if that film is anything to go by, we might get something that is classy and fun, instead of big and loud. Anything else you can tell us? Sergeant Bosco B.A. Baracus, better known as Mr. T, will be played by Quinton Jackson, better known as Rampage from TV's Ultimate Fighting Championship. We think it would've been more fun if they gave Mike Tyson a job.