Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Movie Marathon

A lot of new nice movies are coming for this summer. So I can't wait for them to be aired. Anyway on Sunday I was having this ... well... kinda like a movie marathon. Since my friend and I already made a deal to watch Iron man weeks ago, I decided to go watch it on Sunday. Little did I know another group of friends was planning for a movie outing, they wanted to watch Narnia, Prince Caspian. So I ended up watching movies the entire day, totaling up 5 hours of movie run time.

Here is my review for the movies I had watched. First and foremost in the list is Iron Man. I watched this movie with Sung and his friend. I felt that this is a really good movie, I laughed a lot in this movie. Storyline was quite good as it was taken from the comic Iron Man. So it is something like Batman and Superman. The role Tony Sparks was played by Robert Downey Jr. I thought that he played the role really well and in this movie he was hilarious or so the character he played.

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Synopsis for Iron Man( WARNING: May contain spoilers!)

The movie begins with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) visiting soldiers on duty in the Middle East. He is joking with some members of a convoy who seem to be genuinely amused by his persona. Suddenly, the convoy is attacked. The soldiers fight to defend themselves but are quickly killed. Stark flees when a bomb (bearing the logo of his company, "Stark Industries") explodes, severely wounding Tony's chest. Tony is captured and recorded by a group of terrorists.

A flashback sequence reveals Tony's history as a child prodigy before taking over his father's technology company at age 21. Colonel James Rhodes (Terrence Howard) attends a ceremony to present Tony Stark with an award for his work, but Stark is not in attendance. Tony's right-hand man (and his father's former partner) Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) accepts the award in Tony's honor. Rhody later finds Tony partying in a casino. On his way out, a reporter named Christine (Leslie Bibb) approaches Stark with some questions regarding the ethics of his weapons business. Stark deflects her questions with some swift quips and the two end up spending the night together.

Next morning, Christine is awakened by a voice on a computer monitor. It's JARVIS, the artificial intelligence program responsible for running Tony's house. Christine is greeted by Tony's assistant, "Pepper" Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) as she leaves the house. Pepper helps Tony catch up on some business before Tony heads out to the airport where his plane is kept.

In flight, Tony talks with Rhody. Rhody is unhappy about Tony's lax attitude, and Tony tries to get his old friend to relax. Before long they are drunk and leering at the stewardesses.

Tony arrives at a military outpost in the Middle East to demonstrate his company's latest project - the Jericho, a super-missile system. After the demonstration, Tony gets a phone call from Obadiah and they are both pleased that the demonstration went well. Tony goes off with the convoy that is soon attacked by terrorists.

Much later, Tony regains consciousness in a cave. His chest is hooked up to a strange device. Another captive, named Yinsen (Shaun Tomb), explains that he operated on Stark but was unable to remove all the shrapnel fragments from the bomb blast. Yinsen created a device - essentially a battery-powered magnet - that will keep the remaining fragments out of Tony's heart.

The terrorists who captured Tony & Yinsen enter the room. Yinsen translates; they want Tony to build them a Jericho missile. Tony refuses, so they begin to torture Stark.

Hours later, the terrorists show off a huge stockpile of weapons-all made by Stark Industries. Tony appears to relent and start building the missile, but has other plans. With Yinsen's help, Tony constructs a tiny device called an Ark Reactor - a new type of power generator - streamlined from a much bigger design used in one of his companies factory. The power output is enough to run Stark's heart for fifty lifetimes... or something much bigger for about 15 minutes.

Tony designs a way out for them - a powered weapon suit that he will wear and use to defeat the terrorists. Midway through construction, the head of the terrorist group (The Ten Rings), a man named Raza (Faran Tahir) arrives and attempts to torture Yinsen, angry because he thinks Stark is not working on the Jericho as they wanted. Raza gives them one more day to finish.

Working overnight, Yinsen straps Tony into the completed armored suit, telling him the way out of the cave. They set off a bomb inside the cell as a distraction for the guards as Tony powers up his suit. Yinsen realizes that they will not have enough time. He grabs a gun and runs off to distract the surviving guards.

Tony, fully powered, muscles his way through the cave. The guards try to stop but his suit easily deflects their weapon fire. Halfway out, Stark finds Yinsen, mortally wounded. Tony tearfully thanks Yinsen for saving him, and Yinsen encourages Tony to not waste his life as he dies.

Tony turns his suit on the terrorists, igniting flame-throwers. He destroys their stockpile of weapons and uses a rudimentary jet-pack to blast away from the captive zone. The armor is ruined as he crash-lands into a sand dune, but he escapes alive.

Stark walks over more sand dunes when a couple of US helicopters fly overhead. A group of soldiers, led by Rhody, come across Tony. Rhody is overjoyed to find that his friend is alive.

Tony returns to the United States after three months in captivity. Pepper wants Tony to receive medical treatment, but Tony states that there are only two things he wants: an American cheeseburger and a company press conference. Shortly after, Tony appears before a group of reporters and announces that he intends to shut down Stark Industries' weapons manufacturing division immediately. At the same time, Pepper is approached by Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement & Logistic Division agency. They want to talk to Tony Stark about his capture. Pepper schedules an appointment for them.

That evening, Obadiah confronts Tony about his actions, furious. Obadiah knows that the stock value for their company (and, by extension, their financial status) is going to take a serious drop because of this announcement. Tony wants Stark Industries to move forward with Ark Reactor technology, but Obadiah thinks that the Ark Reactor is nothing but a publicity stunt. Through the conversation, Tony ends up revealing his prosthetic power-heart to Obadiah. Stane convinces Tony to lay low for a while so the company can sort things out.

Pepper watches a news report on the declining value of Stark Industries when Tony asks for her help. He's created an upgraded Ark Reactor but can't install it into his chest without someone to help. Pepper accidentally yanks out the cords for the old reactor too soon, putting Tony on the verge of cardiac arrest. They manage to complete the process in time. Tony tells Pepper to get rid of the old model since he's not a sentimental person.

Tony comes to visit Rhodes and asks for help with a new private project. Rhody does not agree with Tony's approach; he thinks Stark is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of his capture and needs time to recover.

Tony turns to his other best friend - JARVIS, the A.I. program - for help. Tony's plan is revealed to be an upgrade to his armored suit (referred to as "Mark 2," with the suit from the terrorist cave being Mark 1).

Meanwhile, the terrorists who held Tony captive are searching the desert, gathering all fragments of the original armored suit.

Tony decides that the first thing he has to do is to perfect the armor's flight system. Since the leg-mounted jets prove too unstable, he creates arm-mounted stabilizers to balance out the system. Pepper comes in when he is testing the stabilizers and they find that it also creates a powerful repulsion beam that could also be used as a weapon. Pepper leaves a box on Tony's desk.

Obadiah visits Tony and reveals that the board of directors have filed an injunction to gain control of Stark Industries. Tony isn't worried; he still maintains controlling interest in Stark Industries.

Tony finally manages to perfect his flight system, and is delighted at the prospect of flying.

A new armored suit is soon finished, looking like a heavily-streamlined version of Tony's Mark 1 armor. Tony connects with Jarvis to monitor the progress in the suit. Tony decides to take it out for a test flight, and he is thrilled by everything the suit can do. Tony decides to push the limit for higher-atmosphere flying, but at such great heights the suit becomes coated with ice and his power supply shuts down. Tony is barely able to reactivate his thrusters in time to avoid crashing into the ground. Stark returns home, but the armor is so heavy that it crashes through three floors of the house.

As Tony recovers from his crash landing, he opens the box that Pepper left behind earlier. It's his original Ark-Reactor heart, with a special border around it reading, "Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart."

Tony analyzes more data and decides to rebuild the suit using gold titanium from an old project to solve the icing problem. Tony also instructs Jarvis to add some "hot-rod red" paint to the next suit, codenamed Mark 3. Tony then leaves to attend his annual benefit dinner while the new suit is being assembled and painted.

At the charity event, Tony meets with Agent Coulson, who still wants to learn about Tony's incident. Tony then leaves to dance with Pepper and they share a moment together in the moonlight.

Tony is then confronted by Christine, the reporter from an earlier scene. She shows him photographs of his weapons being used by a terrorist group the previous day in the Middle East. Tony confronts Obadiah on the matter, and Obadiah reveals that he is the one who filed the injunction against Tony. Obadiah calls himself an "Iron Monger," and has no qualms about selling Stark Industries weapons to both sides of the conflict. Tony returns home, furious. When the new suit is completed, Stark steps in and essentially transforms into Iron Man for the first time.

In a Middle East village, terrorists are rounding up civilians for capture & execution when they are confronted by a mysterious figure in red and gold. Iron Man has arrived. Within seconds, he defeats the terrorists and destroys the weapons they had obtained.

As Iron Man leaves the area, two F-22 jets spot him. Col. Rhodes is asked about the status of any new developments. He contacts Tony, who claims that he knows nothing about what is happening. Iron Man tries to outrun the jets but they are too much for him. Tony calls Rhodes and reveals that he is responsible for the "unidentified craft." Rhody is furious about Tony sending in unauthorized equipment, and horrified when Tony explains that the "equipment" is actually himself! Iron Man is hit by one fighter jet, sending him flying into the wing of the second jet. The pilot is forced to eject, but the parachute fails to open. Iron Man, still under fire, manages to fly in and successfully deploy the parachute in time to save the pilot's life. Tony convinces Rhody to pass off what happened with the jets as a "training exercise."

As Tony arrives back at home, Pepper catches him removing the battle-damaged Iron Man armor.

Meanwhile, the Ten Rings terrorist group is visited by none other than Obadiah. It is revealed that Stane paid the Ten Rings members to kill Stark, but they realized who Stark was and demanded a much higher price. Obadiah takes the remnants of the Mark 1 armor they have gathered.

Tony tries to talk Pepper into helping him, believing that nothing else matters but stopping the people who he put in harm's way. Pepper is moved by Tony's dedication, and agrees. She goes into Obadiah's office with a tiny piece of equipment designed to copy files from the computer. As Pepper sifts through stored files, she finds a video from the terrorists proving that Obadiah was responsible for Tony's capture.

Obadiah comes into the office just as she is leaving, but Pepper manages to get away. However, as soon as he powers up the computer, Obadiah realizes what she was up to. On the way out, Pepper is joined by Agent Coulson and he agrees to help stop Obadiah with his fellow agents.

Obadiah meets with his team of developers working on his own armored suit. They cannot figure out how to create a power source for the suit. Stane is furious; then realizes that he has one other option.

Stane arrives at Tony's house and paralyzes him with a sonic weapon. Obadiah yanks out the power source from Tony's heart, taunting him all the while. After he leaves, Tony realizes that he has only one hope for survival - the preserved Ark Reactor that Pepper gave him in a display case. He gets the power source installed just as Rhody arrives.

Pepper, Coulson and several other agents arrive at Obadiah's research facility. They spot the Mark 1 Armor and a storage location where something else was kept. Just then, a gigantic robotic suit comes to life and attacks them - it's Obadiah's counterpart suit, code-named the Iron Monger.

Rhody watches Tony suit up, awestruck at the Iron Man costume. As Tony flies away, Rhody looks at the prototype silver suit Tony built earlier... then shakes his head and mumbles "Next time."

Iron Man arrives and begins to fight Iron Monger. Jarvis warns Tony that he has only about half power in the suit; the older power source wasn't designed to work alongside the newer suit. The two ironclad warriors have a huge battle. Tony grabs the Iron Monger and climbs higher. Iron Monger struggles but before long begins to freeze up - his suit still has the same icing problem that Tony's other suit had. Iron Monger manages to escape from this, and Iron Man is now almost completely powerless.

Tony instructs Pepper to overload the building's Ark Reactor, which will generate a shockwave strong enough to knock out the Iron Monger's suit. Pepper is hesitant, believing that Tony could also be killed. Tony manages to keep fighting while she builds up power to the Reactor. The Ark explodes, taking out Obadiah and injuring Tony. But the energy wave from the Reactor also manages to re-charge Tony's heart battery, saving him from death.

Days later, Rhody holds a press conference about the incident with the two robots. Tony is impressed with the newspaper's coming up with the name "Iron Man," and plans to adopt it. Agent Coulson has released cover stories about Obadiah and the "truth" about Iron Man (who will be referred to as Stark's bodyguard). Pepper thanks Coulson but cannot remember the full name of the group he belongs to. Coulson just tells them to call it S.H.I.E.L.D. and states that they will be in touch again.

Tony goes before the reporters once more, and prepares to comply with the cover story. But, before he can even start, Tony Stark throws away his notes and declares "I am Iron Man."



Much later (after the credits), Tony returns home to find a mysterious man in black telling him that as Iron Man, Tony has become part of a larger universe. Tony asks who the man is. He turns around and introduces himself- Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Samuel L. Jackson). He's come to talk with Tony Stark about an upcoming project- known only as "The Avenger Initiative."

I would recommend all to watch this movie
Ratings: 7.5/10

Next off would me The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I watched this movie with David, Vivien, Ing Ming and Caloon.

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For this movie... I can't say much about it because I did not watch the first part of the movie, so I was kinda lost in this one but lucky I have David and Ing Ming explaining a bit to me. So I was not entirely lost. This another great movie. It continues on from the first part Susan, Lucy, Peter and Edmund was being called back to Narnia with Susan's magical horn, Once back the realize everything in Narnia is different and that in the Narnian time it is already 1300 years (equivalent to 1 year in the real world) from when they first set foot in Narnia and from then on the adventure begins.

Synopsis for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian ( WARNING: May contain spoilers!)

"The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian" was the second book published of the seven books in the series. It is numbered Book 4 in recent editions because it is the fourth chronologically. It takes place about 1,300 years after the events of "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe," which was the first published book (second in order chronologically--only "The Magician's Nephew" takes place earlier.) In London, only one year passes between the events of "The Lion" and "Prince Caspian," so the timing of the film had to be brought forward so the actors were not too old. Here is a summary of the story by C.S. Lewis. Following that is a description of the differences in the 2008 motion picture, based on available information.

Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are transposed from a country railway station to an island in Narnia when young Prince Caspian X - who is heir to the throne at Cair Paravel, and is in danger in a battle against the Telmarine seige of Narnia - has blown Queen Susan's magic horn. King Miraz (Caspian's Uncle), a tyrant who murdered Caspian's father (Caspian IX), has claimed the throne. After Miraz's wife Queen Prunaprismia gave birth to a son, Miraz planned to kill off Caspian X. However, young Prince Caspian managed to escape into Old Narnia and unite with "the creatures that lived in hiding." With the help of Glenstorm the Centaur, Trufflehunter (a loyal badger), Trumpkin (a skeptical but dedicated dwarf), Reepicheep (a valiant mouse) and scores of other species of friendly Narnian animals, Caspian forms an army to meet Miraz's countless, mighty human warriors.

In an early battle, the Narnians make strategic mistakes, many animals die, and they are forced to retreat. Trumpkin intercepts the Pevensies shortly after their arrival at the ruins of Cair Paravel (once a peninsula - now the island they were summoned to when Caspian sounded Queen Susan's horn). As they travel toward Aslan's How (the location of the destroyed Stone Table - now an underground fortress, and the loyal Narnians' defense), the war between good and evil escalates. A rebel Narnian dwarf harbors enemies, Aslan appears to Lucy, and the Pevensies finally unite with Caspian.

High King Peter drafts a challenge, which King Edmund presents to the Lords Glozelle and Sopespian. Angered by his counsel's subtle (but intentional) doubt of his bravery, King Miraz insists on accepting the challenge. With both armies surrounding them on the Beruna landscape, Miraz and Peter draw swords and duel fiercely.

In a moment of the fight, Miraz is knocked to the ground. Astoundingly, his own lords stab him in the back and then shout out that Peter has killed him egregiously. All at once an immense battle amasses - the Second Battle of Beruna - as the Telmarines and the Narnians fight for autonomy of the land...

In the culmination of the battle, Aslan renews the land. He calls forth the dryads (tree spirits) to dance again; he awakens the river god, who then destroys a massive man-made wooden bridge over the Fjords of Beruna; and he beckons Bacchus and Silenus, and their merry maidens, who run throughout the landscape as far as the town of Beaversdam celebrating.

In Prince Caspian, humans had come to constitute a large portion of the population in Narnia. But in the Golden Age of Narnia, when the Pevensies fulfilled a prophecy by taking throne, they were the only humans in Narnia. Aslan tells Caspian how his ancestors came into Narnia. He reveals that they actually originated from the same Earth as the Pevensies. Years ago, pirates in the "South Sea" (of our world) came upon an island, and, after entering a cave, fell (through a chasm) into Telmar. Telmar is the country to the West of Narnia. After many years in Narnian time, the Telmarines, who suffered famine and internal conflict, invaded and seiged Narnia. During this time, the animals of Narnia fled into hiding, as the human Telmarines came to dominate the land. Prince Caspian was the tenth in a line of kings by that name.

There appear to be some considerable differences in the motion picture in order to complement the story on-screen. The opening scenes portray the birth of Prince Caspian's cousin followed by a narrow escape in a spectacular chase scene. It is while running away, as opposed to within Aslan's How, that Caspian sounds Queen Susan's horn. The Pevensies are summoned not from a country station, but an underground London railway station. Lewis placed Caspian's character as an adolescent, whereas the actor portraying him, Ben Barnes, is in his mid-twenties. There is a scene in the book in which a hag suggests calling upon the spirit of the White Witch to assist Prince Caspian in a time of desperation. Although this "ritual" is never performed in the book, it is begun in the movie and visually manifested until interrupted by one of Caspian's allies. A night raid on Miraz's castle has been added to the plot as a surprise attack. There are a few additional characters such as Lord Scythley and Lord Donnovan, who, while not a part of the original story, will probably have roles similar to those of the Lords Glozelle and Sopespian.

"Prince Caspian" is a story of deliverance and restoration with some intriguing aspects of Narnian history, culture, and mythology.

This is not a bad movie. For those who have watched the first episode, I recommend that you watched this one too. For those who have not watched the first episode be sure you have a friend who watched it before and ask them to briefly described what has happened in the first episode or watch the first episode before watching this one.

Ratings: 6/10

What would I be watching next? Well... most probably this.....




15 comments:

Angel Valerie said...

yeah, im the first to be here!

happy!

tony stark is super hawt!!!!!! i love him to bits!

Dwinz said...

lol... He is hilarious in Iron Man... Lolx...

Yes... indeed you are the first again!

Anonymous said...

haha...edwin! Narnia is the best la..but u rated iron man higher than MY narnia..kek sim...The next movie "kung fu panda" how u know nice? ahhaha...izit im the one who always said this movie nice nice nice..and i wan to watch, so that u ppl also think nice? wahahhaa..my influence is big har...maybe my sound can "haunted" u ppl ear..lolz

Dwinz said...

Well... its my point of view ma... since I din watch Narnia 1 so its natural I felt Iron Man is better.

Kungfu Panda is because of u lor... since u say wanna watch so I assume this would be the next movie I will be watching lor.

Anonymous said...

hahhaa....next time if i wan to watch certain movie, i will purposely say in front of u ppl ..wahhahah..den u ppl will get influence by me..den go watch with me..wahahha

wei said...

simik taichi include spoiler wan!?

argh!!! lol

Dwinz said...

vivi: Wah... I think I better use ear plugs so that I knot hear you wakakkaka and I will not get influence wakakakaka....

If Kung fu Panda not nice how le??? wakakakaka

Wei: Ahemz.... I warned you dy ba... who ask u go and read ar... so I din spoil it for you.... bleh...lolx

Anonymous said...

hmmmmmm..if not nice, den ....u pay for another nice movie ..lolz..den i will praise u for being choosing a nice movie..lolz..can ask angel come together..u pay for us lo..haha

Dwinz said...

huh??? vivi what are u tokin about ask angel???


No la it means u have to pay for my next movie wakakakakakaka

Anonymous said...

wtf those bishes didnt show the part after the credits! I WANT MY MOENY BAKZ!!

Anonymous said...

haha..nola, i think u shoudl be more gentleman ma,guy pay for lady(me & angel)hahahha...

Dwinz said...

strong genius: Now that u mentioned it... damn star...cheated us!!!!!!!! bah!!!!!

vivi: No Lar vivi u pay for us better lar...

Anonymous said...

=_=|||

Dwinz said...

vivi... don't be speechless I know u very kind de... wakakkaka

Anonymous said...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz