Dragon Ball movie – Character scans

New Dragon Ball scans from dbthemovie.com shows several main characters from the upcoming live action films.

Goku – Justin Chatwin

Bulma – Emmy Rossum

 

Yamcha – Joon Park

Chi Chi – Jamie Chung

Roshi – Chow Yun Fat

 

The negative comments on the upcoming live adaptation of Dragon Ball just keeps coming. Few days ago, some guy commented that “there should be a petition to forbid this movie ever showing on screen.”

LOL! My opinion? I’ve accepted the fact that we’re not going to get an accurate adaptation of the anime. So I’m gonna try to enjoy it for what it is. BTW, the scans can be found here.

Release Date: April 10th 2009

At the Cinema..

Something funny happened when we tried to catch Iron Man in the cinema. It was a combination of a silly mistake by the ticket counter girl (she pressed the wrong button and showed us seats for the wrong movie) and us being on a rush (we got there to find out that the screening just started so might as well just catch it now). So we got into the cinema, not double checking our tickets, and sat there while enjoying the trailers for Wall E and Hancock. Then the Disney Logo showed up….Iron Man is Disney?!!….checked the tickets and LMAO!! NARNIA!! Haha…we left the cinema laughing our ass off while several families with their kids were looking at us in a WTF? manner. We went to counter and told them about what happened and they escorted us to the right cinema. First time such thing happened to me Hehe.

So I started to think about any other memorable cinema experiences. This has nothing to do with whether I liked the movie that were shown but more into the stuff that happened when I watch a movie that makes that day memorable. Here we go:

End of Days (1999)
Location: The cinema at Glorieta, the Philippines

- As the movie was starting, a fight broke out somewhere on the front rows. The movie was stopped for a moment and the lights came up. The audience were cheering and laughing as the guys who were fighting got kicked out by the security guards. I didn’t know exactly what actually caused the fight, some say they were fighting over seats while some say over a girl. Either way, it was stupid.

- When one of the bad guy from movie said, “she’s gonna f*** you Christine, gonna f*** you!!”, I was smiling. See, I’m used to watching those R rated violent movie when I was a kid on TV or video/VCD. But when it comes to cinema, I’m usually taken to these movies that are considered ’safe’. So being a 10 year old watching a movie in a cinema with a character saying the F word made me feel ‘cool’. But I found out later that the version I saw in the cinema was an edited PG-13 one. At least they didn’t edit out the F word  

Batman Begins (2005)
Location: Cineleisure at Orchard, Singapore

- While we were waiting for the cinema to open, I notice that almost everyone was looking at me and giggling. Later I realised that I was wearing a black Superman T-Shirt. LOL So there I was in the premiere of a Batman movie wearing a Superman t-shirt. (Note: Just for fun, I’m planning to wear the same black Superman T-shirt when I watch Dark Knight later)

- Before the cinema opened, my friend told me that he was hungry and decided to go down over Burger King to order something to munch. Bringing outside food to the theatre is prohibited so we had to sneak it into the cinema. So preferably you order something small to munch. But here’s the dumbass thing, he came back with a whopper, a drink, chips and some other stuff. Basically, a meal plus extra stuff. How the hell you’re gonna sneak those in?! He was like ‘oh yeah! no outside food, I forgot! Shit! umm..shit! I was hungry!‘. He ended up tucking the food under his shirt. It was hilarious because he was being really obvious and he walked towards the ticket guy awkwardly. The ticket guy obviously knew he was hiding something but just couldn’t be bothered. I think he gave a slight smile I think.

- When Gordon showed Batman the Joker card at the end of the movie, my friend and I said ‘The Joker!’ out loud at the same time. People were looking at us with a ‘well duh!’ look.

- After the movie ended, my friend told me that he was annoyed at the fact that Batman can fly in the movie. I burst out ‘he wasn’t flying! He was gliding!‘. People gave us funny looks and smiled. Embarassing.

Fun with Dick & Jane (2005)
Location: Great World City & Cineleisure at Orchard, Singapore

I saw this movie twice in the theatre; I thought the movie was ’meh’ on my first viewing and enjoyed it on second viewing. The reason? The audience I saw the movie with.

- A girl invited me to watch the movie with her friends and she’s paying the tickets. Hey it’s free, what the heck I’ll come. The thing was that she chose the wrong time, before midday (around 10- 11 o’clock) on Sunday. The cinema was empty because most people are still sleeping, it’s Lazy Sunday morning!!. Only two rows were filled and this guy in front of me annoyed all of us. He was this fat Chinese guy who laughed out loud at scenes that weren’t meant to be funny. WTF!

- The next week, my cousin came to Singapore for a holiday and she wanted to catch a movie there. My brother decided to pick ”Fun with Dick and Jane”. I didn’t want to see it again but who cares, my cousin is paying for all the tickets (see, I’m cheap). Went there with a packed audience and it was a blast. People laughing at the right times and just the fact that you get a different atmosphere when watching a movie with more audience. It actually made the movie funnier.

‘Jangan Pandang Belakang’ (2007)
Location: The Mall, Brunei

First of all, here’s some background or ‘ingredients’:

• It’s at the Mall cineplex, the most popular cinema in my place.
• It’s an Asian horror movie – we’re suckers for horror movies especially Asian horror
• It’s a Malay movie – attracts the masses who are lazy to read Malay subtitles in English movies

So you end up with me sitting in a packed cinema mostly filled by local non-average cinemagoers (you know, the average people who probably don’t go to cinema often). What do you get? The most memorable cinema viewing experience for me in positive and negative way.

- Before the movie starts, a bunch of teenagers at the front rows were making lots of noise. The guys occassionally scared their girlfriends so they could scream out loud (reminded me of that episode of Mr.Bean). This went on for several times early on the movie which annoyed the shit out of all of us in the theatre. We all went from simply ’ssshhh!’ to insults! :lol: They eventually shut up.

- You know how there are folks who have to explain the story plots to his/her clueless friends while you are watching the movie.There was a guy sitting behind me that did this to his friend but the funny thing was that he got the facts wrong!! For example, in the middle of the movie he pointed out to his friend that the heroine was the dead girl’s best friend. NO!! She was her sister!! wait, her twin sister!! Played by the same actress! We knew that from the beginning!! And there are other plot points that he got wrong too. What a smart ass! Haha! Maybe he was intentionally fooling around with his friend but I doubt it.

- A family sat in front of us including a little girl (probably 3-4 years old). I thought,”wow!! She’s watching a horror film in the cinema at that age!” I didn’t really care about it, it’s her parent’s responsibility not mine. Who knows, maybe the little girl likes horror movies. Anyway, here’s the funny thing, whenever something scary shows up on screen, all the family members decided to ‘protect’ her (eg. the dad closes her ears, the mom closes her eyes, the sister grabbed her arm to comfort her, etc) Why bother bringing her then! Haha! It was funny and cute at the same time. The little girl actually behaved quite well; she did not cry or whine or anything, she just sat there and watched the movie silently. Maybe she was just terrified and speechless.

- The cameo appearance by a Malaysian actor, Jalaluddin Hassan just brought the house down. His short cameo drew unintentional laughs from us. He’s like, how should I say, the William Shatner of Malaysia. So you get the idea, that charismatic over the top presence

***

Of course there are more but they are minor things such as the old guy snoring beside me during a midnight screening of Transformers (Coincidently, he snored during the scene where Megan Fox’s character’s criminal past was revealed. I rolled my eyes during that scene because it was a cheap characterization hahah yeah, snoring is indeed the right response) or the time after the Disney’s Hercules movie ended, we stayed at the theatre till they show the movie again coz we missed the first half of the movie. 

I support the Arts :-)

Several things that led me into writing this post:

• I watched a recent episode of LOST and it showed, through flashbacks, how one character, John Locke, struggled with an identity crisis when he was young. He wanted to be a hunter and loves sports, cars and boxing. But what he didn’t realize was that he was trying to be someone he’s not. The idea of “who you are” vs “who you want to be” intrigued me.
• I listened to a news over my local radio about a musical performance by school band held recently in one of the local college. Kinda cool to see how nowadays students in my country are getting more opportunity with doing music in schools.
• A conversation I had with an old friend about school. Actually, it was more like listening (reading actually, it’s a chat through MSN) to him releasing feelings he hid had during high school. It was all ’this sucked and that sucked, that girl was hot and that guy was an asshole, that subjects sucked but that one was good, etc 

All that led me here; writing about Arts education (music, arts, drama, etc). My stance? I strongly support the Arts being part of the education. First of all, I want to make it clear that I’m not what people consider the Artsy guy. If you were to place me in one of those cliche student type, it would be the more academic inclined group (or a nerd lol).

So if you’re more of an academic person then why the hell would you give a damn about Arts programs in school.

The obvious reason is that I pity those who have talents in the Arts but feel wasted when they are forced to face academic subjects. I have a lot of friends who just give up with studying and take pride when they fail a test. One of my academic leaning friend called them ‘gila’ or ‘palui’ (crazy or stupid respectively) but I see them as simply expressing their frustration (or maybe I’m wrong and they really are bunch of dumbasses). But that very same group of people are musically talented and funny as hell (they could be great actors). Another friend of mine told me once how his mom wanted him to go to the local university but he didn’t want to. His reason? “Blajar lagi tu!!” (I’ll have to study again!!). What he really wants to do is take a course in cooking and become a chef (he’s actually good at cooking). So I think a greater emphasis on the Arts education could help these students. Although I don’t expect to see subjects like music be compulsory in local schools in the next few years, I like how schools are opening up to it with students having more opportunity in showcasing their musical talents.

So is that your only reason Trylobyte? Don’t tell me you support Arts because you feel sorry for the other people who didn’t get good grades as you?

Ok, that is not my only reason. My other reason, more of a personal reason, is that I have a soft spot for the Arts. Like I already mentioned, I would be categorised in the the more academic inclined group aka nerd. But i don’t believe in those lame labelling type. I believe we all have that nerdy, artsy and more ‘physical active’ side within ourself but it’s just that some sides are more dominant than the other. This brings back to that scene from the latest episode of LOST that I mentioned in the beginning where Locke refused to believe that he has that nerdy ’science camp’ side to him.

I have a soft spot for the Arts because I sorta admit that, not trying to brag myself, I do have some talents or interest in  the Arts rather than the usual academic stuff. I don’t know how to read musical notes but I like of musical scores (especially movie soundtrack scores). I’m not a great artist but I do enjoy drawing comics (i used to do that a lot in school. I remember planning to scan and upload those comics here but some of them are offensive so nevermind hehe). I’m not an actor yet I don’t realize that I do ‘acting’ when I make jokes to people.

Let’s start with visual art. I like drawing when I was a kid because it had something to do with the way you can create your own world. If you want a whale with dragon wings then you get a whale with dragon wings!! I remember decorating the walls at my bedroom by pasting the drawings I made. I won a bronze medal for an artwork back in kindergarten in Japan (although I can’t remember exactly what I drew lol). I remember finding my Elementary school art class to be fun. That’s right, just because I like studying doesn’t mean that I find academic classes to be fun! Haha! Music classes that I took at some schools I’ve been to were fun as well. Although I didn’t really prioritize music class over geography or science but I never detest it. I remember knowing how to play recorder and showed off to my friends by playing the Star Wars theme song on the keyboard hehe. Sadly, I forgot how to play those instruments

Then there was the Drama class. I remember when I first arrived at that international school in Singapore, I was terrified with sight of ‘Drama’ as a compulsory subject. WTF! I’m cool with music and art but Drama?! That’s gay. Yeah, that’s what I thought, “that’s gay!”. But it turned out to be probably the most fun class I ever had. Middle school drama class was what I called ‘the only time in school where you can get silly’ . It’s escapism at its best as you get to act in different characters. I’ve played roles ranging from Batman to an evil drug dealer I didn’t continue taking Drama at High School because by that level it gets more serious and stuff. I never intended to pursue an acting career or anything LOL. My english teacher asked me once after my friend and I acted as Arthur and Zaphod respectively from Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy, “Have you ever consider a career on television” I answered ‘no’ ofcourse

So you want more schools to adapt or at least opening up to Arts education because you had fun with it. Not everyone will have as much fun as you with these types of classes. Some students are just academic type and nothing more. I guess you’re just bragging yourself.

Some students are seen to be just academic types and nothing more because they were never given a chance to do something else. They may not try to pursue a career in the Arts but I think it’s good if they could try to tap another side of themselves. That’s like saying Physical education shouldn’t be taught because some people are just ‘not the PE type’. Again, referring back to that episode of Lost, the idea of ‘who you are’ and ‘who you want to be’

You know, if you didn’t go to schools that provide Arts classes, you wouldn’t be saying these stuff on your blog

Yeah, I know hehe. But the fact is that I’ve experienced it and enjoyed it. I assume that others would enjoy it too and probably discover that they have some hidden talents or interest in it. Hell, they could find it a life changing experience, who knows!!

But public schools are already crowded with subjects

Then incorporate elements of Arts into available subject if it’s possible. I mean, I had dancing as part of module in my elementary school PE class. How’s that! Geography and art? of course! Where did you think I got my excellent colour shading skills hehe (inside joke, sorry). Some can be easy like drama and English class while some can be difficult like incorporating History and Music Imagine learning about Napoleon’s retreat from Russia while the 1812 Overture playing full blast volume.  Maths and music?? Maths and Art could work I think.

But..But…

But what?! ok enough questions. Just go home.

I can’t

Why not?

I’m your subconscious. You’re not really talking to anybody.

Oh…I need friends don’t I

No shit!

Contra movie?

Some guy made a cool fan trailer for a movie adaptation of Contra, the popular shoot em up Nintendo game from the 80s. Check it out

WARNING: The music from the trailer may be NSFW (that’s Not Safe For Work)

 

Time Travelling Stuff

After watching three Terminator movies back to back, I had a long thought about the overall plot involving all the time travelling stuff. Ok, let me try to get the big picture (with some help from Wikipedia for dates & stuff)…ok…I just need to type this all up…get it off my head…

Soooo…The Machines (Skynet) starts a nuclear war and takes over the world in 1997. This event is called Judgement Day. Few humans survive and form a resistance group led by John Connor.  John Connor rescues Kyle Reese from prison and gives him the picture of his mother, Sarah Connor. Kyle Reese is fascinated with the picture of Sarah and falls in love with her (just based on that picture!!). In 2029, SkyNet sends a Terminator (let’s call him “Arnold 1st”) back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor. Kyle Reese volunteers to go back to 1984 to protect Sarah. Kyle & Sarah have sex and as a result she gives birth to JOHN CONNOR!! Kyle dies and “Arnold 1st” dies too.

Oh wait…actually SkyNet of 2029 sends another Terminator back in time but this one can shape shift (T-1000) but John Connor of 2029 sends a re-programmed T-101(“Arnold 2nd” and he’s a good guy) to follow it. Both terminators end up in 1994, one to kill and the other to protect a 10 year old John Connor. Sarah, 10 year old John and “Arnold 2nd” then blow up Cyberdyne, the group responsible for creating SkyNet which is made possible because they reverse engineered the ARM OF “ARNOLD 1st” !!!! 8-O “Arnold 2nd” sacrifice himself to prevent reverse engineering and stops Judgement Day.

BUT!!! Judgement Day did not get stopped, only postponed back to 2004 thus the war between Humans and SkyNet continues. In 2032, John Connor gets killed by “Arnold 3rd” but it was later re-programmed as a good guy by Katherine, John’s Wife. SkyNet sends a hot Terminatrix to kill John’s Lieutenants while Katherine sends “Arnold 3rd” to protect them. They both end up in 2004. Young John Connor and Katherine of 2004 finds out that they cannot stop Judgement Day.

***HEAD EXPLODES!!***

I think I got the whole Terminator plot right hehe

What’s interesting is that each of the three movies had different ideas about time travelling. The first movie was more into predestination thing. Everything was meant to happen that way, it’s destiny. If Kyle Reese didn’t go back to the past, John Connor wouldn’t exist but since he does exist, so Kyle was destined to go back in the past therefore he did not have a choice or free will…and the Machines/SkyNet, if they did not send back “Arnold 1″ then they would not exist because SkyNet was built from the reverse Engineering of “Arnold 1″.

The second movie was more about possibility of changing timelines. This is about how we can go back in time and change the future by changing the past. Sarah and Co blew up Cyberdyne therefore preventing Judgement Day. In the alternate ending, you have an old Sarah Connor in the park talking about how the future changed and its a better world. Like the TV show Heroes where the future badass Hiro came back in time to tell Peter to “Save the Cheerleader and Save the World”. Peter did save the cheerleader thus the world is safe (as in Sylar not being the president of USA). So what happens to the badass future Hiro who sent the message in the first place??? Probably in an alternate timeline. Same applies to the case of Trunks in Dragon Ball Z series.

The third movie is a mix of both; you cannot entirely change the past but only modify it. John can only postpone Judgement Day but cannot stop it completely. It’s what the TV show LOST calls Course Correction. No matter what Desmond do in the past, the universe will modify itself to follow the divine/universal plan eg. Charlie’s death.

***HEAD EXPLODES!!***

So what about upcoming Terminator movie? That one has Christian Bale supposedly playing a 30ish year old John Connor and Kyle Reese is a teenager. So that would mean the year would be 2010-2020, before Kyle gets send back to 1984, “Arnold 2nd” to 1994 and “Arnold 3rd” to 2004. In other words, the new movie will be a sequel and a prequel!!! Oh and don’t get me started with the Terminator TV show with Sarah Connor. That one has Sarah and John jumping from 1999 to 2007!!!

***HEAD EXPLODES!!***

Now let me try figuring out the plot of Back to the Future trilogy…Hahaha, my head will definately explode again LOL

PS: Something that I just thought of. I understand that Sarah wants to destroy Cyberdyne to prevent Judgement Day but wouldn’t that kill John too? Coz No Judgement Day = No War = No Kyle Reese going back in time to f*** Sarah = No John Connor. Unless someone else fathers John Connor….I think my head will explode again!

Post PS: Is it “Judgement Day” or “Judgment Day”?!