Review: Tropic Thunder a triumphant late Summer comedy

Recently, i was wandering alone at the Times Square shopping center. I am actually looking for the game Little Big Planet but the game haven't been release yet after its delayed. I know about this comedy movie Tropic Thunder are playing at the silver screen. So i went to the cinema and buy me a ticket to watch this movie to spend some time. Now i would like to review the film:



Tropic Thunder is about a small army of such strutting peacocks, a cast of actors off on an acting adventure on the set of a war picture in the jungles of Southeast Asia. In it, a desperate director named Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) trying to make a Vietnam war movie drops his pampered actors into the heart of the jungle. Cockburn's stars include Stiller as an action hero who's starting to make bad career choices, Jack Black as an insecure low-brow comedy star going through heroin withdrawals, and Robert Downey Jr. as an Australian Oscar winner so lost in his "craft" he underwent a procedure to become black for his role. In the jungle, they remain under the delusion that they are still being filmed even after they encounter a dangerous gang of druglords.



Stiller excels as Tugg Speedman, a muscled superstar who has sequelized his franchise as the brawny Scorcher more often than Stallone has dragged Rambo back to the box-office well. Tugg's one attempt to prove he can act, as a retarded, bucktoothed farmhand who talks to animals in Simple Jack, flopped big time. Taking the role of the Rambo-esque John "Four Leaf" Tayback in Tropic Thunder — the name of the film within the film — can be Tugg's ticket to legit. The real Four Leaf (Nick Nolte, looking nuttier than his mug shot) is on set to keep things factual. And Tugg's agent, the Pecker (Matthew McConaughey), is back in L.A. to make sure his client is provided with TiVo even in the jungle (Kauai, Hawaii, standing in for Southeast Asia).



The low-comic ensemble acting in Tropic Thunder is of the highest caliber. Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up) is perfect as Kevin Sandusky, the newbie stuck in a cast of spoiled-brat all-stars. Steve Coogan is deadpan delicious as Damien Cockburn, the British director who is in way over his addled head. And add a big fat shout-out to Pineapple Express madman Danny McBride as Cody, the special-effects techie with an itch to pull the kaboom trigger. Despite having almost blinded Jamie Lee Curtis on Freaky Friday, Cody still wants to blow shit up. And, oh, what fireworks.



The award for best in show has to go to Robert Downey Jr. — Iron Man himself — as Kirk Lazarus, an Aussie actor who has already collected five Oscars for losing himself in his roles, most recently as a priest who lusts to get inside the monk robes of Tobey Maguire. To get inside the skin of African-American Sgt. Lincoln Osiris in Tropic Thunder, Kirk alters his voice and dyes his skin black. This Chicken George routine pisses off Alpa Chino (a terrific Brandon T. Jackson), the hip-hop hitmaker ("I Love Tha' Pussy") hired to bring street cred to the movie, despite merchandising his ass with a "Booty Sweat" energy drink and his "Alpa Chinos" menswear line. Alpa can't stop Kirk from talking black even when the camera stops rolling. "I don't break character till the DVD commentary," says Kirk. Downey has a ball with the role, and his explanation to Stiller about the dangers of going "full retard" if you want to win an Oscar belongs in a comedy time capsule. Downey is so off-the-charts hilarious that you want to stand up and cheer.



There's not even room here to linger on Tom Cruise's eye-catching, image-salvaging romp as a puffy, crude, bald, hairy-chested Jewish producer. Tom Cruise flat out steals this movie every single moment he’s on screen. Cruise doesn’t have a huge role in the movie (maybe about 10 minutes of screen time) but each precious second he’s on screen I was laughing my ass off.



Tropic Thunder is a damn funny movie that gave me about 10 hard laugh out loud moments with about 20 good giggles to back them up with. As a result, I walked out of the theater having been thoroughly entertained. Yes it has a wide variety of weaknesses, but you can easily get past those as you try to catch your breath from laughing so hard. Its worth to watch this movie. I have no idea that Tom Cruise was in the movie, not until the very end of the movie.







I gave this movie, 3 star out of 5.

Visit Terengganu

On the 25/10/2008 - 27/10/2008, me and my family went on a trip to Terengganu state. Its just a family activities. All of my family members went to the trip, my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparent. I don't know how many times i've been there already. It has been twice this year.



Terengganu is situated in north-eastern Peninsular Malaysia, and is bordered in the northwest by Kelantan, the southwest by Pahang, and the east by the South China Sea. Several outlying islands, including Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Kapas and Pulau Redang, are also a part of the state. The state has a total area of 12,955 km². The people of Terengganu generally speak Terengganese Malay, which is distinct from standard Malay and Kelantanese Malay, except for those in Besut disrict and Perhentian Islands who speak Kelantanese.



Driving by car with friends or the loved ones can be pretty much an interesting trip. Aside from the greeneries that can be seen through out your journey, the fresh air and unpolluted countryside can offer a soughtful experience. Once you get to Terengganu road, the beautiful beaches and blue waters welcome you.

KL to KT (approx. 455 km): 2 option the coastal road or Jerangau Jabor

Highway 2 KL (Gombak Toll) on Karak.
Highway and continue with East Coast Expressway to Kuantan exit.
Highway 3 Kuantan exit to Kuala Terengganu (Coastal road to Kemaman, Dungun and Kuala Terengganu)(223km).
Highway 2 KL (Gombak Toll) on Karak Highway and continue with East Coast Expressway to Kuantan exit.
Highway 3 Kuantan exit to Bukit Besi (20+km) - turn left.
Highway 14 Bukit Besi turn off to Dungun/Ajil (114km) - turn left.
Highway 14 Dungun/Ajil to Ajil/Kuala Berang (42km) - turn right.
Highway 14 Ajil to Kuala Terengganu (35km).



My trip begin from Kuala Lumpur on the 24/10/2008. Before going to Terengganu, we were taking a break at my grandparent house in Kuantan as a randevous point with my uncles and aunts. After finishing class at 9.30 pm, my family came and took me from campus and went straight to Kuantan. We arrived at Kuantan around 1.30 am. Everybody also arrived that night.

The next day, we all went for a breakfast and then headed straight to Kijal. In Kijal is where we stay during our visit to Terengganu. Its not far from Kuantan, around 1 hour drive. The name of the hotel is Awana Kijal Golf, Beach & Spa Resort.





Wake up to 800 acres of natural greenery overlooking a breathtaking 7.6km private beach leading to the the scintillating South China Sea.

Apart from offering panoramic views of the sea, the spacious and well-appointed guest rooms are beautifully furnished, with a comfortable bed, either twin size or king size, and equipped with an array of modern amenities and facilities.



You also can enjoy the spa. Situated on the grounds of Awana Kijal Golf, Beach & Spa Resort, with a beach front of white sand stretching a lavish 7.6 km and an impressive 80-feet high 9-storey atrium, the Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa gives you an unparalleled opportunity to relax, rejuvenate and rediscover your essential vitality.



While enjoying ancient Javanese massage treatments such as The Queen Massage and Royal Heritage Massage, you can also opt to expand your treatment sessions using our high tech spa equipment. Or you could just unwind your body with our lulur body scrub, Merapi Mud Body Mask, and other holistic Royal Spa treatments. Feel what it's like to be pampered the royal way!

You also can play golf. The par-72 18-hole championship golf course consists of the Palma and Rimba Nines. Being a resort course, it is designed to allow golfers to play a relaxing game. But rest assured it is difficult, challenging and the monsoon season plays havoc with the club selection and your score cards. Even professionals found the going difficult on this golf course, especially on the Rimba Nine. The 15th 480 yards par 4 is particularly a jinx hole for pros. Professionals found that after playing well on 14 holes, they fumbled very badly on the 15th dropping 8-10 strokes.



Another interesting hole is the par 3 181 yards 4th which requires a full water carry to the green. A one wood should get you on the green safely. If short you land in the pond, overclubbing will land the ball into OB. The hole is a popular hole-in-one during tournaments.

The par 3 150 yards 14th is not difficult by any measure but it's certainly one of the most scenic holes. The green is set out on the beach surrounded by the longest beach bunker in the country, which during the monsoon becomes a water hazard. At the Awana Kijal Golf Course, you are invited to enjoy the scents, sights and atmosphere of the relaxing beach, courtesy of mother nature. All while having an invigorating round of golf.

Upon arriving, all the kids are getting excited to swim in the swimming pool. So the activity during that day is swimming. We all went to the swimming pool. Its been awhile since i have swimming too. I am taking the chances to brush up my swimming skills. I never attended a swimming class before, but i know how to swim. It must be a gift.



I swam for 2 hours that day. My leg are starting to get cramped. Then we went back to our room. We rest for a while, then we went out for dinner.

The next day, Sunday, 26/10/2008, we all woke up early in the morning and prepare for the trip to Kuala Terengganu. It takes around 2 hours of driving from Kijal. Kuala Terengganu is the largest city as well as the state and royal capital of Terengganu state. Places of interest include Chinatown, Pasar Payang (Central Market), the Sultan's Palace, the State Museum, Pulau Duyong.

We all went to the Pasar Payang. There are many thing people are selling in Pasar Payang especially the cloth, and Kain Songket. The cloth and Kain Songket sold is very high quality and its a local production. The Kain Songket may ranged from RM200 - RM1000.







I didn't buy anything though. Nothing caught my interest. I just look around the items sale. There are many people there from all over Malaysia. Even foreign tourist went there to shop for local products.

My Pak Ngah with his fanily


My grandparent


Pak Cik Lan with my cousins


There also many delicacies sale there. Many unique and exotic delicacies. It ranged from the traditional delicacies of Terengganu, the keropok lekor (fish crackers),
to the turtle egg. The turtle egg are eaten by tearing the egg shell. The shell is very soft. It tastes kinda salty and sandy. I really meant 'sand'y.

Keropok Lekor (Fish Crackers)


Many traditional delicacies


The turtle egg for sale to eat...


After a while in the Pasar Payang, we went outside to the new bazaar in front of the market. We went to the roof, and enjoy the view from above.







Around 3 pm, we return to Kijal. Upon returning, the kids once again wanna go swimming for the last time in the swimming pool before we return to Kuala Lumpur the next day.

Terengganu is a very interesting place to visit. There are many beautiful places around Terengganu. Since I don't have all the time to visit all these places, maybe next time I will go there. Come and Visit Terengganu. Malaysia holiday, everything is here in Malaysia.

UniKL MIIT Open Day & Student Election

Today, 21 Oct 2008, UniKL MIIT were holding 2 events, UniKL MIIT Open Day and UniKL Student Election. The Open Day lasts for 2 days, 21st & 22nd October 2008 from 9.00 am until 4.30 pm.



During this open day, people can pay a visit and gain information on the programs offered by the university. The programs offered such as Bachelor in Engineering Technology in Networking Systems (my program), Bachelor in Computer Engineering Technology, Bachelor in Multimedia Technology in Interactive Multimedia Design / Computer Animation Design, Bachelor in Information Technology in E-Commerce with Multimedia / Software Engineering / Computer E-Commerce / Computer System Security, Bachelor in Business Technology in Computer Entrepreneurial Management, Diploma in Information Technology / Multimedia / Animation / System and Computer Network, Diploma in Engineering Technology in Computer & Networking / Computing.

The vision of UniKL is to be the premier entrepreneurial technical university. The mission is to produce enterprising global technopreneurs.



There are many booth opened by the students to display their work and to give information on their respective programs. There are many activities that has been set during the open day event such as artwork display, runaway, talk show, games.





Each booth display a very interesting work by the students. They also have their own dress code for example the Software Engineering students wore purple. Their booth also were decorated with purple color.

Then they were holding what they call a runway which there are few models walking along the runway and display their artwork. This is kinda like a fashion show instead of displaying their attires, they were displaying their artwork.







Then, UniKL were having a student election to elect a student representative. Every students are compulsory to vote for their favourite candidate. 13 candidates were in the list this time.

Road Accident. A Guy Was Send Flying.

Around 4pm today, 20 Oct 2008, i was in the library helping out Ms Hana on her assignment. Upon she finished her assignment, she went to her class while my class for the day already end. So i went down to the lobby. I looked to my left and right to see if there's anyone that I know that i can talk to. There's nobody that i know there. I walk straight to the main entrance where i saw many people were looking at the road in front. I thought it was raining because the day was cloudy. I went to the crowd and ask what the commotion is all about. Then i saw this :



Many people are gathered in the middle of the road. There was an accident. A motorcyclist was hit by a car. According to the eyewitness, the motorcyclist were on the opposite direction from the car. The motorcyclist wanted to go right. But in this junction, vehicle from Kg Baru way, are not allowed to turn right. Many motorcyclist disobeying the rules, and goes the opposite direction. Today, was not his lucky day.

The victim is the red shirt guy who sitting on the divider


There are many eyewitness that saw the incident happened. Most of the are the UniKL student who was waiting for their bus to go back to their crib... i mean, hostels.

The eyewitnesses


I had a chance to interview one of the eyewitness. She's my soul mate, i mean classmate. She was there and saw everything. Everything happened too fast. She heard a bang and suddenly she saw the motorcyclist were already being send flying. She said this incident make her more afraid to ride the motorcycle.

The eyewitness was afraid, so i was there to calm her off...


Not long after that, an ambulance came and threat the victim. Well, we can't totally blame the car for hitting him, he himself are disobeying the rules. I think, he's the one that should be blame. If he was obeying the rules, will he be hit by the car? I am sure he'll gonna have one safe journey, instead one a hell of a journey. He's still alive thought. Maybe escape with some minor injuries. Probably a broken bones. Better than losing your life i say. But prevention is better than cure.

The ambulance arrived.


The victim are brought inside the ambulance.


Better be safe than sorry. May this be a lesson to all of you. Obey traffic rules, remember your love ones, and have one safe journey!

Review: Disaster Movie Not a Film to See... Ever.

Last sunday, 19 Oct 2008, me and my friends were wandering around the Suria KLCC Shopping Centre. Then we decided to watch a movie together. We couldn't decide which movie to watch as there are not many interesting movies. Then we choose this movie:



Disaster Movie is a 2008 spoof film. Jason Friedberg and Adam Seltzer the two guys who did EPIC MOVIE, DATE MOVIE, SCARY MOVIE, and MEET THE SPARTANS bring you DISASTER MOVIE, a compendium of gross-out gags and reference-check quasi-satire bits aping THE INCREDIBLE HULK, INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, JUMPER, ENCHANTED, DON'T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN, SEX AND THE CITY, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, and so on.



The story is structured via CLOVERFIELD with Will (Matt Lanter), after having a 10,000 B.C.-style dream involving an Amy Winehouse look-a-like (Nicole Parker), races against time to rescue his girlfriend (Vanessa Minnillo) who is trapped in a museum with references to TWISTER; meanwhile kids who look like the teens from SUPERBAD try and score booze. What? Along for the ride are a JUNO-esque slacker girl (Crista Flanagan) and Gary "G-Thang" Johnson; there are take-offs of ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS, and celebrity impersonations of Dr. Phil, Michael Jackson, the real Kim Kardashian, and the ubiquitous Carmen Electra; lots of dances and fights and dance/fights (à la STEP UP and STEP UP 2 THE STREETS).



The comedy talent here is mostly imported from MAD TV, particularly Parker, who also does ENCHANTED and a mean Jessica Simpson. The recipe here, as before, is to cram in as many pop-culture references as possible, douse liberally with gross bodily fluids, and serve face forward.

At first, we thought this movie gonna be fun and hilarious, but our thought slides down as the movie started. There were too much repeated action. The same thing were repeated over and over again. Like on the first few minutes when the movie started, when the main character meet with Amy Winehouse. Amy Winehouse was burping on the main character face. This last for a few minutes. One or two burps is enough to make it hilarious but 10 burps? The audience are starting to get annoyed.



There was as scene where a meteor fell down and hit Hanna Montana. Before she died, she did said something and its kinda funny. Then we thought she already died, but she still have an energy to talk. This scene was repeated a few times.



Then the scene when the main characters was chased by a twister. Then come the Iron Man. Its already hilarious to see the Iron Man making a somewhat cool entrance and then he was hit by a cow that was flown by the twister until he became a tin can. Then the scene repeated with The Hulk, and Hellboy. Its started to get bored to watch the same scene over and over again.



Disaster Movie is not, as you might have guessed, a parody of disaster movies. But it is a disaster. Disaster Movie is lazily written, insulting rubbish and it's unquestionably one of the worst films of the year. Avoid like your life depended on it. Why challenge yourself when you can have your Juno stand-in end a fight by lactating on the "Sex and the City" girls? Nope, a better question is why did I subject myself to this movie?



The movie is cheap, lazy, and sloppy, an obvious throwaway that no one put any effort into. There is not a single laugh in it. As in their last bloodbath, Meet the Spartans, the directors demonstrate an astonishing unawareness of how to write a gag, much less how to film it. They kill time by staging dance-offs and fight sequences, because those things are easy to write. The few elements that had humorous potential feel dated after all, even movies that are slapped together take a few months to assemble, and the cultural landscape changes quickly. The "I'm F***ing Matt Damon" parody that appears at the end might have been mildly amusing if we'd seen it in February. Now it's just embarrassing. I give this movie 4 out of 5 ROTTEN TOMATOES!!