Ted

Little eight-year old John Bennett's dream came true when a large-size teddy bear comes to life and becomes his only best friend.   Fast forwarding to current day, the 35-year old John is still clinging to his thunder buddy and getting high together.

After dating for 4 years, Lori finally has enough of John's nonsense.  He remains to be a boy who never grows up because he is still best friend to a teddy bear.  The storyline is pretty much predictable and requires little imagination of how the next scene should proceed.

Ted is not your typical warm, friendly and nice teddy bear.   He is a fouled mouth and unruly little teddy bear, sugar-coated by his cute cuddly fuddly fuzzy fluffy exterior.  But this makes him rather charming and funny.  Yet, he is also a reflection of the owner who simply refuses to take responsibility for anything in his life.

There are a couple of funny moments and jokes made by Ted that I find quite amusing, from his curt remarks that won him a job at the supermarket and subsequently a promotion, to the numerous letters he wrote to Hasbro for his small ****.  Crude toilet humours are still worth some laughter when you watch a trashy movie.

Rating:  4 out of 5 fairy clouds.  Do manage your expectation.  The feeling I got from watching Ted is like you are watching a kid who never grows up, still living in a fantasy world.   In reality, John would have been a lousy friend, boyfriend and person, essentially loser.  But a handsome face helps you discount his bad. 

The Hossan Leong Show Flying Solo!

It has been close to 4 years since I watched Hossan Leong in his own personal show.   The first was the Late Nite @ Esplanade - Hossan Leong in 2008.  I was definitely surprised and very much entertained by his Flying Solo act.

The show felt very much like a real game show with game/quiz and lucky draw interspersed throughout his main acts.   I had a good laugh watching his move from personal song-and-dance to Monica Chng, the entrepreneur of 48-Restaurant-Fish-Fingers-and-Toes-Spa and last but not least a pole dance segment.  I never knew he had that much muscles for such a skinny boy.  I'm thoroughly impressed by like how Monica Chng will say it, "Hai ker" (translation: yes in Cantonese).

The show was totally well sponsored by pole dance studio to Pearlie white toothpaste and of course, the biggest sponsor of all, Scoot!  One pair of lucky winners is flying free to Melbourne Australia.   Surprise! Surprise!

Rating:  4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds.   Abso-freaking-lutely worth the ticket price for a good matinee.   I love his act and gag and is definitely looking forward to more of his performances in the future.   Do support the local artists if you can.  I think many of them are doing a great job.

Army Daze

ATTENTION!  Michael Chiang's Army Daze has been running for 25 years.  This year, the comedy theatrical continues to highlight the comical antics of the new recruits and their lives in Pulau Tekom.

I don't have an affinity to Singapore's national service as I was too young to understand what my brother had gone through, and neither male friends to share any of their 2.5 years miseries.   I'm totally watching the play from perspective of a foreigner.

I wasn't particularly impressed by the storyline and suspect that it may be overused, over-simplified and over-played, i.e. too much exaggeration and hence becoming too predictable.   Overall, the choreograph was decent and music/song was well delivered.

I can't stand the Aunty Lucy part and suspect that Margaret Chan's rendition could be a lot better.  To me Auntie Lucy is a middle-income HDB auntie and that doesn't gel with the concept of a rich auntie who lives in Namly Drive, Sixth Avenue.  In addition, she is supposed to be amiable and approachable, not the snobbish nose-in-the-air mother.

Enlai's rendition of Hokkien peng (soldier) as Corporal Ong needs a lot of improvement to accentuate the broken English.  I usually enjoy his performances in other plays, but not this one.   I wonder if  Sebastian Tan would be a good choice.  

And the X-man... just proves to show the scriptwriter's bias (or should I say implicit dislike) for the current president.   Seeing it once is funny, but after a few different plays with the same pun, it gets repulsive and I wanted to say "Give it a break, you are really boring me with old idea.  Move on with your disappointment and try something more interesting".

Overall, this play doesn't fare well with me.   While I find it entertaining, it doesn't provide me with much laughter except for a few "Ohh..." and "Hohoho".  I do give brownie points to Norleena Salim's performance as I totally watching her sing.  Her powerful voice really kick a punch! 

Ratings:  3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds.  I was more disappointment than intrigued. 

La Cage aux Folles

[Sing]  I hear La da da da da da da da da da...   

George and Albin (Cabaret Diva Zaza by night) has been a couple for 20 years and both run the popular La Cage au Folles at Tanjong Pagar.  Things turn topsy turvy when their son comes running home one day declaring that he is going to marry his sweetheart Ann. 

Ann comes from a family which is all being prim and proper and her daddy stands firm of all the correct moral values and ethics.  It isn't easy for Albin to accept the request to stay away from the meet-the-parents session of the son whom 'she' loves and cares deeply.   You can imagine how the story ends I guess...

The set and costumes are very elaborate and glamorous to the max!   Everything is simple bling bling bling...  The entire musical is simple dazzling, beautiful and stunning.    I think I still enjoying watch female cabaret dancers and men... 

Rating:  5 out of 5 fairy clouds.  You feel like dancing watching all those waltzing around.  Go watch it!  I highly recommend this musical.  Simple be dazzle away...!

The Dark Knight Rises

I watched this movie last week and and kind of enjoyed it.

With the passing of Harvey Dent, Gotham City enjoys peace for eight years.   This is exactly the same amount of time that Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, has hidden from the public scene, deflated and depressed. 

Peace is temporary for Gotham City that is destined to eternal havoc by criminals.  This time, they are faced with a bigger stronger and devious Bane.  Bruce faces the biggest challenge of his life in trying to defeat the new villain in town.

The movie is quite predictable in how things will unfold, fall and fit into places from start to end.  It is interesting that it gives a new twist to the introduction of Robin as Batman's succession.  However, it is a disappointment that they didn't give Robin a bigger role to play in this movie. 

Rating:  4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds.   It is still a decent enjoyable movie.  Catwoman is amazing but I disagree that she has a heart and will stay behind to save Batman.  That is kind of out of character.    While I like Marion Cotillard as a actress, I feel that her character failed to ignite any chemistry with Bruce Wayne. 

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift

Everyone is falling in love and this includes Diego the saber tooth cat.   After watching 3 previous edition, Ice Age 4 has definitely lost its charm at this point. 

In Ice Age 4, Manny's daughter Peaches is growing up fast and getting a little rebellious.  Sid, on the other hand, is left to take care of his annoying Granny which his family desperate want to abandon.   Diego finally meets his soul mate, the pretty white cat Shira.

The key theme is Ice Age is always the splitting of Pangaea.  This splits up everyone and of course motivating Manny to find a way back home to his wife Eliie and Peaches.

Rating:  3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds.   I don't feel much for the animation.   There are some cute and funny moments intersperse through the movie.   However, the story is getting a little old and should still be great for younger kids. 

Happy Ever Laughter

Be prepared to laugh till you literally ROLF (roll on the floor laughing)!   Dream Academy brings together twelve sensational individuals for a 2-hour standup comedy.

You get to meet the some interesting characters from Moses Lim, Hirzi & Munah, Chua Enlai, Teo Chew Mueh The TCM (Judee Tan), Siti Khalijah Zainal, Boardway Beng (Sebastian Tan), Salmonella Vice-President of the SPGians (Michelle Chong),  Najip Ali, Gurmit Singh and the ONE and ONLY Queen Kumar!

I especially love the jabs made by Selena Tan during the Introduction, the localised Haka Dance by Chua Enlai, TCM's animal scan, Obedien (Yes, that's how Siti spells it) Wives Club by Siti, Salmonella's dig on the MBA training outline and Kumar.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds.  I know that I had a good laugh till I was tearing.  Siti's interpretation of the OWC is amazingly funny.   Go for some laugh now!  We are definitely in need of some good laugh to get our happiness index soaring.  :)

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

What happen if you find yourself unable to afford to retire in your own country?  Well, seven retirees find themselves in this situation.  Enticed by a restored hotel in Jaipur, all of them incidentally sign themselves up for a vacation in India.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel changes the lives of the seven retirees and it is definitely a trip to be remembered forever.  The unfamiliar environment soon starts to charm the new visitors and showing them a different way to live their remaining days.

Rating:  4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds.  Its a lovely story and suitable for those looking for some light humour on deep life issues.  Even though it is not the traditional mainstream movie, the stellar cast of experience artists made this movie quite enjoyable.
 

Snow White and the Huntsman

"Mirror, Mirror on the wall.  Who is the fairest of them all?' asked the Queen.  And the Mirror replied, "You, my Queen, are the fairest of all."

Many of us grew up reading the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  Alright, Disney's cartoon then.  Snow White and the Huntsman is the modern twist of our beloved classic fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

The beautiful evil Queen rules the land with her magic with an eternal quest for youth and beauty.  Snow White whose heart is pure as snow is the chosen one to break the Queen's curse.   She defeats the Queen and regain her rightful throne.

The movie offers a new twist to Snow White's true prince when she swallowed the poison apple.   It still puzzled me greatly with the obsession of men kissing a dead corpse.  Not cool.   I kind of think about Necrophilia, which shouldn't be mix into children's story.

Rating:  3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds.   I notice that Kristen Stewart is forever in her messy hair and dirty looking face, and running around in forests, from Twilight to Snow White.  I guess it is a easy transition to film from one movie to the next.