CinemaShafiq

This movie definitely was not the best thriller or heist movie out there, but the combined stars of the legendary Sean Connery and the forever beauty Catherine Zeta Jones did this movie justice for me. Plus, I watched this movie without knowing that the second half of it would take place in Kuala Lumpur.  Being a Malaysian myself, I am excited to see Kuala Lumpur being shot in its late 90s glory, especially when they decide to use the Petronas Twin Towers as their main setting of the heist. This is during the supposed time of Malaysia's rise as the Asian Tiger, with massive urban developments and mega projects being done under the administration of Tun Dr. Mahathir. The then-Prime Minister (and ironically also the current one) was actually angered with the production of this film and he disliked it due to the fact that they tried to portray as if Petronas Twin Towers was built in the middle of a slump of poor KL residents. This is as if they're trying to sa

It's probably the dumbest out of all Predator movies yet it's so much fun. Shane Black's effort to change a Predator movie into a dumb, fun and action-packed serving works well for me. I had a good time and I would say this is the best Predator movie since 1987. Unpopular view, I know. But I really had a fun time from the absurdity and campiness that this movie had. It's not as dry as Predator 2 and not as vanilla like Predator (2010). Gotta admit tho, the final "anti-Predator armour" was an unnecessary push that made the movie more campier than it already is. I don't think it would grant a sequel, but if there would be, I hope they would keep the fun and campiness aspect and improvise it by giving a better story and a more realistic touch. 5/10

Paskal was a very good Malaysian film. I think this is the first REAL local action film, like real action. No CGI explosion or any cringy action stuffs. It was also the most accurate local movie in presenting the technicalities and true SOP of our Malaysian military. So no more cringy stuffs like "Tuan, orang jahat kat sana tuan!" or anything resembling like that coming from Gerak Khas or Roda-roda KL. It also has a strong patriotic message and really shows just how cool our military, specifically, our navy, really is. Though I think there are some cons. There were too many expositions and I think it was better if the main lead was not Hairul Azreen. Dude can act but he's just not hardcore enough for the main role. OH and this movie introduced me to Jasmine Suraya who is such a delight so there's that. Hi Jasmine    7/10

Wow Dennis. I watched this just to know about Dennis Villeneuve's earlier works before he became a big name in Hollywood today, so I was not expecting much from Incendies.  From the start, I think the film was shot beautifully and it was a good biography-like story of a strong woman. Little did I realise that actually this film was more intense and disturbing than a mere war survivor's story.  The ending was brilliant but disturbing as hell. Though one can argue that Incendies aim is to show the tragedy that war brings upon men, but Incendies still felt a bit messy, draggy and too melodramatic at times.  A recommended film if you want to watch a beautifully-shot film with a fresh and unexpected narrative. 8/10

I'm a big fan of Jake Gyllenhaal and I've been hearing a lot about this film and finally I decided to watch it. Wow I would say I am very impressed.  Richard Kelly managed to make a film made up of different genres in it - thriller, sci-fi, coming-of-age, as well as a bit of satire. The best part of  Donnie Darko  was definitely in it's last act, and this was accomplished by Richard Kelly succeeding in subverting the audience's expectations while opening up to the audiences to make up for what they are watching.  Definitely, I got several theories of what does the ending means, and I can see that I'm going to spend my time googling on the theories of  Donnie Darko 's ending. 8/10

Malay movies are mostly trash in my book.. but this is the ultimate trash, and that's the only good merit of this garbage. Badang also got the honor of being only the second film that gets a 1/10 rating from me.. so pats yourself on your back Razak Mohaideen. 1/10

Just another The Rock's movie. With CGI explosions. And The Rock jumping over 30m mid air from a crane into a burning door at level 60+. And China's Hollywood invasion. Perfect materials for 2018 starter pack of "generic action film that mass audience would enjoy". The China invasion into Hollywood was not even hidden with the main plot taking place in China, a Chinese main character, as well as some minor Chinese characters that have more screentime than they should. This is the kind of movie that you would play if you're doing house chores and you feel like wanted to play something on the background. 5/10

It's not bad. I think it's better than Saw 5 or Saw 7 but it feels kind of bland. I think the plot twist this time was something new and brilliant, but there should be more to this movie if Lionsgate really wanted to soft reboot this franchise. I love the Saw franchise. It is on of my favourite horror franchise. The first movie is the best I think, as it was the absolute brainchild coming from James Wan, and the subsequent installments just get progressively worse. I did not expect much from Jigsaw before I watched it but it was not at bad as I think it could get. Still, it was a weak installment and if they want to hard reboot the franchise after this, it would be a wise decision.  5/10 

It was definitely better than Cars 2. It got the fun, light feel yet was able to have it's own "soul" like the first Cars did. Still, it feels kind of plain and not as good as other Pixar's movies. My biggest complain is that the trailers try to sell this movie as if it was a bit grimmer, and about Lightning McQueen try to gain back his glory after getting too comfortable at winning, kind of like Rocky Balboa (2006).  However, the movie had only a bit of that element and focused more about having Lightning McQueen passing down his legacy. Not only that, an element of the story seems to be influenced by forced feminism which is a definite turn off for me. Still, if this is the last installment of Cars, it serves as a good conclusion to McQueen's story. 6/10

It's definitely bigger and more explosive than it's predecessor. But bigger doesn't mean better. A lot of jokes, including the meta ones, feels either out of place, too long or just not funny.  Plus there's too many characters, including new ones, and few story plots that make the movie a bit messy. Loud and explosive, but at the same time annoying and off-putting. It basically suffers from the sequel syndrome, like Iron Man 2, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Guardians of The Galaxy 2. Too bad because I really like the first one and Deadpool 2 actually got potentials, just that it was executed badly.  6/10

Meh. if there were not too much of unnecessary screaming (just to create intense moments/macho moments), I probably can rate it higher. This film is also a tryhard imitation of The Departed, which itself is a remake of Infernal Affairs. 4/10

Expecting the 3rd act would be about The Rock inhaling the gas and becomes a giant but ok. 6/10

Absolute garbage of a movie. Nothing makes sense - the plot, the acting, like what the fuck even? A casino gambler movie without a big final heist? Cringy moments throughout the movie and I rather watch paint dry than this again. This movie also served me a lesson though - Never watch a Russian movie. 2/10

A great film on pop culture, consumer-capitalism, and an appreciation movie for movie & video game geeks. Any geeks. Spielberg showed us that he still had it in the "good popcorn movie master" department. I initially am not expecting much from this movie but I was surprised. The tons of cameos and references from films, video games, animes, and especially from 80s, plus it being a really good film with good hearwamig story and good character, well this is a rarity. I don't wanna spoil anything but the final battle blown me away, and when those two BIG Gs coming out, I feel like screaming like a kid. And the ending would make you sob, especially if you're a gamer or a geek, because you might can relate to what the message given by Mark Rylance. Thank you, Spielberg. 7/10

A visceral and beautiful film. Brad Pitt gave his best acting in this space film which features a deep father-son story and the beautiful, electrifying score by Max Ritcher and the amazing cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema really turnt this film up a notch. Its space genre trait made it felt like Interstellar in many instances, but overall the film has a Blade Runner 2049 vibe. The slow pace, emotionally and visually gripping aspect really make this one of my favourite film of 2019.  Brad Pitt's acting and presence felt very fresh and alive, and this is his best work I've seen in a while. 2019 is really his comeback year I suppose, with Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Ad Astra. Well, I guess that divorce is really paying off.  The slow pace and lack of strong narrative might be a turn off for some, but I believe that's what this type of film is made of, just like Blade Runner 2049. Slow, intense, and just pulling you in its twirl. 8/1

Bohemian Rhapsody was a good biopic of Queen and Freddie Mercury. Of course the best outtake of this film was on its casting; Rami Malek did his best to embody Freddie Mercury and the other casts were eeriely similar looking to the original Queen members. This film covers the story of Queen on every events; their formation, to the years of Freddie leaving them, to the day of their historic performance on Wembley Stadium in 1985. The good thing about this biopic was that it did not only show the good things about Freddie, it told all aspects of his life, addressing his sexuality and how he used to treat his band members. This film delivered these aspects in a way that we can empathise with Freddie, so that's good. If you are a fan of Queen, or a music fan generally, you will enjoy the moments when Queen songs were played in the film. The Wembley Stadium scene was the best arc of this film, as you'll feel like singing and clapping along with the movie.

Halloween was definitely a movie that suprised me this year. It was unexpectedly good and it served the franchise's fans and regular moviegoers as well. Now, Halloween franchise is a legend amongst other horror franchises as its first film was out back in 1978 and it's the one to start the slasher horror genre and inspire many upcoming slasher films after that such as Scream . Halloween has had 12 movies in its franchise and this new one totally abandons all the previous sequels and it serves as a sequel to the original 1978 film. This is totally fine and brilliant as the previous sequels were too cheesy and they made Michael Myers silly. However, this latest installment totally respects Michael Myers and Laurie, played by the legendary Jamie Lee Curtis. It has been 40 years, and she's geared up to prepare against Michael. What surprised me about this new film is that how it totally respects the original film, it gives the same vibes as the OG one, and it

Man.. I don't know. Okay look, I might not be the most hardcore Potterhead among my friends but that does not mean I cannot review this film for the sake of it being a.. film. I watched all Harry Potter movies and even the first Fantastic Beasts and I would say Harry Potter franchise is one of the biggest film franchise in league with Star Wars and Lord of The Rings. However, Fantastic Beasts 2 didn't do it for me. It was muddled, messy and too convoluted. They hyped us for Grindelwald and Dumbledore and yet they focused on a super-complicated storyline of a family lineage of a certain character. Look, it's not wrong to take that as an aspect of your movie's storyline, but it is a MAJOR problem if it was the only conflict that exists. Plus this isue was not because I am a not big Potterhead, because even amongst the fans themselves, this puzzle plotline was too messy and convoluted. The pacing was so slow and there were just too many characters. Remove