Friday, July 19, 2013

Forest Hill Cemetery Lantern Festival - Review


I was at the 2013 -15TH ANNUAL LANTERN FESTIVAL at Forest Hill Cemetery in Massachusetts, and here is what to expect if you are interested in going next year.

This is an annual event held in summer.

Admission is FREE; $10/car.
Address: 95 Forest Hills Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02130
Telephone 617 524 0128
Fax 617 524 0848

It started at 6pm this year.












Firstly, I must say, Forest Hills Cemetery is a very old and nice cemetery. In fact, some of the graves are more than 100 years old. Located just outside Boston (Jamaica Plains) By itself, this is a very nice place to visit.










Being a pretty large event, there are quote a bit of live performances. Ranging from local bands singing, Japanese Dancing and Drums, the event does try to make it cultural. After all, its a lantern festival and you can purchase lantern floats for $10 at the tents.

I feel that the event is not very well organized though. There are many people, but just not enough information on it. If you go to the website, there is no information on the performances at all.

Granted it starts at 6pm, if you do not bring your own food, you do not get dinner. You get to buy cold water for $1 a bottle, but that's about it. As for photographers, this is a pretty nice event, many things to shoot, and the sunset is pretty nice there. with the lake in the middle of the cemetery.


So some Pro Tips:

1) Bring your own food, absolutely nothing nearby to get food from. The dead do not eat... except for perhaps brains?
2) Bring $10 for parking and canvas perhaps to sit on for a picnic.
3) Arrive at about 6pm to get a good place to watch the performances and release the lantern.
4) Remember, there are lots of trees and wilderness, so bring insect repellant.
5) Bring a good camera suitable for low light photography, many things to shoot.
6) Bring a flashlight. As the event winds down, there is no lights in the cemetery.


Overall, I think this is a rather fun event, great for a summer night. If you park outside, the event is totally free!

-- Robin Low

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Pacific Rim - Movie Review




Wow! Jaeger (Giant Robot) vs Kaiju (Giant Monster) Movie... Can't go wrong right?

The trailer looks awesome, the graphics rendering and posters look awesome, and directed by Guillermo del Toro??

One good thing I can say is that the 3D of this movie is pretty damn good.

If no matter what I write, you still intend to watch this movie, don't read any further. PLEASE. Because, I'm going to share spoilers and tell you why this is the WORST Movie I've watched in this decade.

But, as many of you who would like to watch this movie would understand, Giant Robot vs Kaiju movies are not there for the plot, not there for logic, and not there for acting right? The premise of using Giant Robots against Giant monsters is pretty, erm... THERE IS NOT WORDS TO DESCRIBE IT.

I mean, maybe it is written by the same writers as Sharknado, it would make more sense.


Here is the low down.

1) Freaking Kaiju comes out from a rift in the Pacific Rim and attacks the San Francisco. It eventually got taken down, but death toll is high. Then another Kaiju came and destroyed another city. The human race united and decided to build Giant Robots to fight Giant Monsters.

2) You need 2 brain-connected pilots to pilot the Jaegers, they need to be in sync and they fight the Kaiju hand to hand.

3) The main character (the Jaeger Pilot) loses his brother in a fight against a Kaiju and ended up in Alaska where he became a construction worker for a few years. (Because he likes building? Instead of tearing building down?)

4) After killing Kaiju(s) and losing a lot of Jaegers, the human race decides to build walls around cities instead of building bigger and more powerful giant robots. And guess what, the humans discontinued the Jaeger project.

5) The walls could not stop the Kaiju in Australia, and the Jaegers had to be revived to fight the Kaiju again.

6) The scientist in the movie decided that he could connect with the mind of the Kaiju (yes, they have 2 brains like dinosaurs because they are too big?) and the scientist can find out more information about them, and find out their secrets, just to find that they have hive minds and they were being sent over to destroy humanity, which they previously came and killed the dinosaurs, but decided that the planet was not ready yet as they prefer a planet with holes in the ozone and a higher level of carbon dioxide. So our global warming caused them to come.

7) At this point, 4 Jaegers remain, and when the Kaiju appeared, it was the first time they came in pairs. They destroy 2 Jaegers, and could shut down the third one because they can emit an EMP pulse to shut down the electronics of the Jaegers (the third Jaeger) The Heroes have to get into their Jaeger and save the day because their nuclear powered Jaeger is analog while the others are digital. (What ever that means) Does it mean that their Jaeger is running on carburetors while the others are fuel injection? But I do see computer screens in their Jaeger.

8) After defeating both the Jaegers, the Heros return. The scientist who connected  his mind with the Kaiju, decided that he needs to find out more because he did not get enough information before the last Kaiju's brain died. With 2 freshly dead Kaiju, the scientist wanted to connect with the brain again.

9) Yes, the one of enemy Kaiju was pregnant, and the baby was in the brain? Huh? And the baby came out and ate Ron Perlman... Nooooooooooooooooooooo! Talk about fucking with your head, I guess the Kaiju are fucked in their heads too. So the baby came out and was strangled by its own umbilical cord. And the scientist could get information from its brain, and they find out their plan to bomb the "Rift" would not work as they need the Kaiju's DNA before the rift accepts them.

10) They follow the plan, to go to the "rift" and nuke it shut. Hmmm, as in the last battle, the Kaiju shut down the third Jaeger, but did not destroy it? One of the pilots got injured. Remember, there was a big whoop about connected minds, the Boss man, yes, the one in charge of the operations, was also a Jaeger pilot, and he could miraculously sync with the pilot with the injured partner, because he has experience.

11) So, all the Kaiju that came before were "Category 3, and later Category 4..." Guess what? Now they fight underwater with 2 - "Category 4" Kaiju and a "Category 5". And as expected, the Boss Man sacrifices himself and his copilot as they were carrying the nuclear bomb to seal the rift, and he managed to detonate the payload as the Kaiju(s) close up on them while the Heros kill their Kaiju with a Sword. The Heroes then dragged a dead Kaiju and wanted to go through the Rift and detonate their Jaeger, and not surprisingly, the category 5 Kaiju did not die and the Heros killed it easily with their sword and just into the rift with the Kaiju. (I guess the Cat. 5 Kaiju too much damage from the Nuclear explosion and died easy)

12) As the Heros sustained serious damage and were running out of oxygen, the Main hero decided to give his oxygen to his cute asian girlfriend co-pilot and continue on the mission of detonating his Jaeger. And the denotation failed. Yeah right, no oxygen, and it fails right? He needs to do a manual override. But of course, he succeeds.

13) The Hero escapes in the escape pod and goes back through the rift. SO, WHAT IS THIS SHIT ABOUT NEEDING A KAIJU TO GET THROUGH THE RIFT AGAIN??

14) The Hero reaches the surface of the water and his girlfriend who arrived earlier swims to his pod. He appears to have no life signs, she hugs him and cries, and like the Matrix and all the other lamo ending of endings, the Hero wakes up!

Yay! They live happily ever after.

Apart from the plot, acting, storyline, science, premise, overly game like CGI, bad romance ending, I can say, I kinda enjoyed this movie.

Again, I would say, the 3-D is very good.

As this movie falls so low beyond my expectation, I cannot rate it. But I'm looking forward to watch Sharknado now.

-- Robin Low

Monday, July 01, 2013

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain - Movie Review


Initially, I was like "Who is Kevin Hart?"

When I see his face, I was like, that is the dude in the scary movie, and I did not think much of the movie. "Kevin Hart is the short black guy, that is kinda funny, right?"

So after checking Youtube, I found that he has 1.8 million views on one of his videos which was pretty funny, and since I was given these preview tickets, I gave it a chance.



At the theater,I realized that this show was packed! Nobody told me he was that famous? I mean, did I miss something? And apparently I did! The demographics of the crowd was 90% African American, and I guess I was at the right place to watch an African American comedian...

So apparently, this was his sold out performance at the Madison Square Garden, and various other clips put together, to be "milked" into a movie. Brilliant idea right? My thoughts were, is this going to be worth the money to go to the cinema to watch this?

HELL YEAH!

This is basically paying to watch a GOOD stand up comedy sketch. It is very crude, with lots of swearing though. A lot of original stuff, very entertaining. And most importantly, you get to learn about new stuff...

LAB - Local Ass Bitch

This is something I can call a lot of people I know... right?

Overall, this would make a great matinee, great energy, loads of fun and very interesting!

Rating: 7/10


Thursday, June 27, 2013

RED 2, Movie Review


Wow, I must say, this line up of actors and actresses for RED 2 seems more impressive than RED.

Although this is the sequel, not watching RED is not important at all.

Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, are all back for the sequel. The interaction between Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Mary-Louise Parker is very funny as Bruce Willis is overly protective but John Malkovich keeps teaching Mary-Louise Parker to be an operative.

There is a series of assassins sent to kill Bruce Willis, and as a retired superspy, Bruce Willis and his gang manages to recruit friends (and enemies) and hunt for a deadly weapon. I cannot reveal much more as the plot twist is pretty good, and interesting.

I really liked the pace of the movie, the scenes moved on seamlessly and there was great comedy from the veteran actor between action shots. There were many well done scenes which the whole theater clapped when it happened, and overall, it was a lot of laughs, and you will have a great time.

Very enjoyable movie!

Rating: 8.5/10


Friday, June 07, 2013

The Way, Way Back - Movie Review

The Way, Way Back is a coming of age story, set in Massachusetts.

14 year old introvert Duncan, a quiet and shy boy goes on a summer vacation with his mom and her boyfriend to Cape Cod area, where he meets Owen, the owner of Water Wizz, a typical Massachusetts Beach area water theme park and Duncan slowly opens up and finds his place in the world.



Although Steve Carell is in the movie, this is not a Steve Carell comedy. In fact, he is the boyfriend of Duncan's mom, and he is not a good guy, and he calls Duncan a "3" and puts him down all the time.

The storyline is rather emotional, and the characters are very believable. The pace and comedy is perfectly done and the 80's pop soundtrack makes the movie endearing. Steve Carell also shows that he can play a bad guy.

Overall, the movie does leave a feel good feeling and the whole movie feels right, and its very enjoyable to watch. Well done!

-- Robin

Rating: 8/10
Great for a Sunday Matinee...

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

The Internship - Movie Review.



Directed by Shawn Levy
Writing credits: Vince Vaughn (screenplay) and Jared Stern (screenplay)
                          Vince Vaughn (story)




This is a comedy about 2 middle aged salesman losing their jobs and joining Google for an Internship, competing with young "kids" for an opportunity for a job.

I watched it today in anticipation of a lot of laughs, but this movie really had a very bad start. In fact, the lack luster start made me want to walk out as it was dry and boring. The start was filled with many uninteresting characters which did not add much to the story, and their plan after losing their jobs was a convoluted process to enroll in an online class to be eligible for an internship opportunity at Google?

There is some kinda funny jokes, and a lot of misses, and it gets slightly better when the whole movie is set in Google. Looking back at what actually happened, this whole movie felt like a big advertisement for Google. It does talk about the corporate culture and products, and I could see a lot of potential for the movie to be much better, however the 2 hour long movie failed to impress.

A lot of references to many "Geeky things" fail to draw laughter in the tough crowd in the cinema, and the whole "Googlers, Googliness thing" is a weak attempt to put Google's "making the world better" agenda in your face.

The little bit of romance is simply, "meh" and the big finale was long and drawn out and you do not really feel for their victory.

However, the movie does make you think about how insecure your job situation is, and how people in their 30s and 40s are totally screwed by today's system.

I would say, there was much disappointment in the cinemas, and I would not recommend watching this at all. Still, I would say catching it when it goes to cable or watch it online streaming is not too bad.

Overall 5/10

If you are Google worshipping, this may be one movie you CANNOT miss.









Tuesday, April 09, 2013

S.E.A. Aquarium at Resorts World Sentosa Review

Fossil Dillon Framed Travel Kit (Google Affiliate Ad)

The S.E.A. Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the world. Located at the Marine Life Park at Resorts World Sentosa, (Singapore) this contains a total of 45,000,000 litres (9,900,000 imp gal; 12,000,000 US gal) of water for 100,000 marine animals of over 800 species. The aquarium comprises 10 zones with 49 habitats. The Open Ocean habitat, which is the centerpiece of the Aquarium, includes the world's largest viewing panel. At 36-metre (118 ft) wide and 8.3-metre (27 ft) tall, it is intended to give visitors the feeling of being on the ocean floor.


How to get to S.E.A. Aquarium ?

Located at the Marine Life Park at Resorts World Sentosa, you can take a bus or MRT (NE Line) to Vivo City then another bus RW8 or the monorail to Resorts World Sentosa.

Opening hours?

It usually opens at 10am - 7pm daily.


How much does it cost to get in?

Adults: S$29
Children and Seniors: $20



What to expect.

Lots and lots of endless walking in air-conditioned environment. It is wheelchair accessible, but still very very big.

Food and drinks are not cheap there, bring along a bottled water in your bag.

Collection:
The S.E.A Aquarium houses the world's largest collection of manta rays, including the only giant oceanic manta ray in captivity. It also showcases 24 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, scalloped hammerhead sharks, the Japanese spider crab, and relatively uncommonly-exhibited species such as the guitarfish and the chambered nautilus.


Japanese Spider Crab


Cute Jellyfish


Big Jellyfish


A HUGE Tank with large Manta Rays and other large fishes.


Many other rays that will swim near you.


Giant Oceanic Manta Ray


Beautiful Jellyfish


Starfish and Rays in shallow tanks that you can touch.


Starfish that wants to High Five you.


Weird looking fishes.


Colorful Fishes


Cam Whore fishes which swim in front of your cameras to block other fishes.


Large shy shrimps.


More colorful fishes


Huge Lobsters.


Sharks and Dolphins


Fishes with noses


Beautiful coral reef.


I am quite satisfied with the experience at S.E.A. Aquarium. It is indeed amazing how big the displays are, and how beautiful nature is. Definitely worth going, but just a reminder as well, on the weekends, the S.E.A Aquarium is packed, and so crowded that it is hard to take any meaningful photos of fishes.

This is one of the better aquariums I've been to. I would like to see some deep sea fishes, horned cowfish and other interesting creatures of the depth... But could not find them.

Overall, the staff are quite knowledgeable, but the photographer to take the photo when you go in really really sucks, so don't bother paying $50 for a bad photo. Some nice souvenirs though..

Overall: 8.5/10

-- Robin Low