300: Rise of an Empire is a 2014 American fantasy war film directed by Noam Murro. It is a follow-up to the 2007 film, “300, taking place before, during, and after the events of that film with a fictionalised retelling of the Battle of Salamis. Zack Snyder, who directed and co-wrote the original film, acts as writer and producer on Rise of an Empire.
Our Review of 300: Rise of an Empire
300: Rise of an Empire was released in Singapore theatres on 6 March 2014 [10 days ago] and we caught the movie just two days ago. With a running time of 103 minutes and a rating of M18 for violence and sexual scenes, 300: Rise of an Empire is definitely not a movie for the young.
A majority of the battle scenes in the movie are quite bloody and gory; so much so that by the time the movie ends, the audience would have been numbed by it. Although the casts portrayed their roles really well, the storyline of the movie is just average.
In our opinion, what would probably be the most popular and the most talked about scene in the movie would be the one where Themistokles and Artemesia had an intense lovemaking session.
If you haven’t caught 300: Rise of an Empire yet, we will definitely recommend it but just don’t expect too much unless you’re just watching the movie to see hot dudes with washboard abs and Eva Green’s well-endowed assets.
300: Rise of an Empire Movie Synopsis
Based on Frank Miller’s latest graphic novel, “Xerxes” and told in the breathtaking visual style of the blockbuster, “300,” this new chapter of the epic saga takes the action to a fresh battlefield – on the sea – as Greek general Themistokles [Sullivan Stapleton] attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. “300: Rise of an Empire” pits Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes [Rodrigo Santoro], and Artemesia [Eva Green], vengeful commander of the Persian navy.
Yesterday, Jacqueline and I caught the movie, “Huat Ah! Huat Ah!” and we really enjoyed watching the movie. We feel that Huat Ah! Huat Ah! is a suitable movie for the young and old and it complements the new year festivities really well! If you are planning a family movie-outing this week, you might want to consider Huat Ah! Huat Ah!.
Huat Ah! Huat Ah! Movie Synopsis:
This is an inspirational comedy suitable for the whole family. The story revolves around an autistic village lad, Ah Huat who is inept in expressing himself but blessed with an intrinsic gift in heart as well as in his hands. Ah Huat lives by the motto of staying true to himself and goes through a rite of passage in order to achieve success and find his happiness. He is a typical down-to-earth Malaysian Chinese in search of an honest living through hard work and kind nature.
Our Review of Huat Ah! Huat Ah!
Huat Ah! Huat Ah! is directed by Tan Boon Huat and it stars Ah Niu and Joyce Cheng. The duration of the movie is 91 minutes long and we feel that it is of the right pace; not too long and not too short.
The storyline is excellent and the plot develops rather smoothly. Also, the actors portrayed their roles really well and we could feel the emotions and expressions that tugged our hearts. Set in a nostalgic kampong setting, the young and old can definitely relate to the movie and it also inculcates good moral values too!
To be honest, we were quite apprehensive about catching Huat Ah! Huat Ah! but having watched the movie, we will definitely recommend it to family members and friends because it is really worth-catching.
If we were to compare Huat Ah! Huat Ah! with The Lion Men, we say, go for Huat Ah! Huat Ah! May everyone of you huat/prosper this Lunar New Year!
Thanks to Air Asia Singapore, we had the privilege of catching the movie, “Planes” by Walt Disney Pictures at Golden VillageVivoCity and here’s our review of the movie.
Movie Synopsis of Planes:
A spin-off of Disney and Pixar’s 2006 animated film “Cars”, “Planes” takes off with an international cast of the fastest air racers around. It is a comedic film packed with action and adventure starring Dusty, a small town dreamer who longs to enter the most epic around-the-world air race, despite his fear of heights. With the help and support of a fleet of new and hilarious characters, Dusty wings his way into the biggest challenge of his life.
[Image Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Singapore]
Our Review of Planes:
To be really honest, we felt as though we were watching the movie, “Cars” all over again because the story plot is predictable and not so original. As a matter of fact, we found “Cars” and “Planes” extremely similar and the only difference that sets them apart is; one has a theme entirely on cars and the other on planes. Spanning a running time of 1 hour 35 minutes, you might want to consider bringing your little ones for a movie treat but if you’re on budget constraints, we rather that you save your money for upcoming movies like Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World. Don’t get us wrong though; Planes is not entirely that bad because after all, it is a wholesome movie that teaches the values of resilience, discipline, and confidence.
Having said all these, Planes would probably entertain children [age 8 and below] more as compared to those whom have caught “Cars” before.
Last Thursday, we concluded our movie tickets giveaway and we would like to thank ciNE65 and Golden Village for their kind sponsorship.
Without further ado, we will be revealing the five lucky winners whom will be walking away with a pair of movie tickets that are kindly sponsored by ciNE65 and Golden Village.
Here is a list of participants whom have participated in our Movie Tickets Giveaway. Names are arranged according to the time we received the email from the respective participants.
The five lucky winners are selected by a random number generator.
And the five random numbers that were generated are…
A hearty congratulations to Valentine, Alvin Toh, Grace, Deve, and Michelle Ang. Each of them will walk away with a pair of movie tickets that are sponsored by ciNE65 and Golden Village. If you haven’t caught any of the winning short films that are wonderfully produced for the ciNE65 [Season II] Competition, do go catch it at ciNE65’s Website now!
For the rest of the participants whom did not win in our Movie Tickets Giveaway, don’t fret because we are currently running a new contest where we will be giving away 4 pairs of Movie Passes to catch Lee Byung Hun’s latest Hollywood action comedy blockbuster, Red 2, that are kindly sponsored by NESCAFE.
To stand a chance to win those Movie Passes that are sponsored by NESCAFE, kindly visit the following link: Movie Passes to Red 2 Giveaway
Please note that the Movie Pass is only valid on 6 August 2013 at Shaw Lido Cinema Hall 5. Registration begins at the NESCAFE Booth located near the box office from 1830 hours onwards and the movie will start screening at 1915 hours. The movie duration is 116 minutes and seats are available on a first-come-first-serve basis [free-seating].
As mentioned in our previous blog post about ciNE65 II, we will be giving away 5 Pairs of Golden Village Movie Tickets that are kindly sponsored by ciNE65 and Golden Village. [Image Courtesy of Insing.com]
If you haven’t read our previous blog post about ciNE65 II or if you’re new to what ciNE65 is all about, do click the following link before participating in this contest:
Share this post on Facebook and Twitter and include the hashtags, #ciNE65 and #awinsomelife in your caption
Drop us an email at admin@awinsomelife.org and kindly include your Name, Contact Number, Twitter Handle, and NRIC No.
Closing date for this giveaway will be on 18 July 2013, before 2359 hours. Winners will be selected by a random number generator and an email will be sent out to all the lucky winners. Names of the winners will also be announced on our blog after the closing date.
Last Saturday, we attended the Singapore Blog Awards Ceremony 2013 that was organised at Shanghai Dolly by OMY and it was a good time of catching up with our friends from the blogosphere. This annual event is a rather big event for bloggers and it always gets bigger and better every year. The theme for this year’s Singapore Blog Awards is the 1960’s and we found it really meaningful. It was through the theme that we learnt how the people in the 1960’s live and what their culture were like. To be honest, Jacqueline and I didn’t thought of participating in this year’s Singapore Blog Awards 2013 as we didn’t felt like we had the chance of even winning anything. However, a really good Blogger friend of ours, Mag, felt that we had the potential and nominated us for the Best Lifestyle Blog Category.
Seriously, there are a lot of Lifestyle Bloggers in Singapore and even then, the title of a “Lifestyle Blogger” can be rather generic and vague. As a matter of fact, lifestyle can cover anything and everything from topics like fashion and entertainment to topics like food and events. Hence, we were extremely surprised when the results were out and we ended up as the Top 10 Finalists for the Best Lifestyle Blog! Looking back, I guess we have come a long way now and it definitely wasn’t easy as the Best Lifestyle Blog Category was a hotly-contested one.
Although we didn’t clinch the title of “Best Lifestyle Blogger”, it didn’t matter to us because we know that all this wouldn’t even have happened if not for our Blogger friend, Mag, whom believed in us and nominated us. Hence, a very much of our success for this year’s Singapore Blog Awards 2013 is attributed to her. Also, the other group of people whom we would like to thank would be our family members and friends whom constantly and religiously voted for us every single day. Like we mentioned from the very first day, we don’t enjoy canvassing for votes because it is such a tedious and long process. If only the voting campaign was shorter and straightforward, I believe it would have levelled the playing field as Bloggers whom have more followers would definitely have a major advantage over those who don’t.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves at the Singapore Blog Award Ceremony 2013 as both Jacqueline and I wore quirky retro outfit that kinda attracted a little too much attention. It was a blast and it was really nice meeting new people and making new friends.
Here are just some of our photos that were taken during the Singapore Blog Awards Ceremony 2013.
A photo of both Jacqueline and I [Credits to Alvinology.com for the Photograph]
A photo of Jacqueline in her retro 1960’s outfit.
A photo of myself in my retro 1960’s outfit.
Here’s a short interview of the bloggers at the Singapore Blog Awards Ceremony 2013
Since we don’t usually have the time for some me-posts [a.k.a personal posts], here are just some heads-up information about our coming blog posts [arranged in order of sequence] that you might want to look out for:
[5 Pairs of Golden Village Movie Tickets Giveaway]-Sponsored by ciNE65
A Preview of the Kia Forte K3
Announcement of the Winners for the $20 NTUC Vouchers Sponsored by SingTel
[2 Packets of Cafedirect Ground Full Roast Coffee Giveaway]- Sponsored by Cafedirect
Announcement of the Winners for the Golden Village Movie Tickets Sponsored by ciNE65
A Preview of the New Nokia 925 Smartphone
Annoucement of the Winners for the Cafedirect Ground Full Roast Coffee Sponsored by Cafedirect
[2 Bottles of Jaillance Semillon Sparkling Wine Giveaway]- Sponsored by Jaillance
Our 2013 Trip to Taiwan [Xinshe Castle in Taichung & Mushroom Farm]
Announcement of the Winners for the Jaillance Semillon Sparkling Wine Sponsored by Jaillance
[2 Tins of Cafedirect Sao Tome Hot Chocolate Giveaway]- Sponsored by Cafedirect
Our 2013 Trip to Taiwan [Carton King & Banana New Paradise]
Announcement of the Winners for Cafedirect Sao Tome Hot Chocolate Sponsored by Cafedirect
Do note that the upcoming blog posts may be subjected to changes as we might be attending some other product launches and events that may fall in between the scheduled blog posts. Nevertheless, we look forward to all of your wonderful participation as we work with our partners and sponsors to bring you great content and products! 🙂
We caught the movie, “Despicable Me 2” yesterday at Cathay [Ang Mo Kio Hub] and it wasn’t as good as we expected it to be. When movie trailers for Despicable Me 2 were released quite sometime ago, it built up much hype, and expectations were raised somewhat, but we personally feel that its predecessor, “Despicable Me”, was way much better. Movie Trailer for Despicable Me 2
The story build-up for Despicable Me 2 was progressive but slow and though it is supposed to be an adventure comedy film, we felt that the “forced” humour did not seem to take off quite well. Undeniably, the minions are really adorable, funny, and cute; and what we do like about the movie is the family-oriented theme.
Nevertheless, if you have caught all other movies except this one, you might want to watch Despicable Me 2 just to pass time; otherwise, you might want to consider saving up that money for new upcoming movies.
Movie Plot [from Golden Village Website]: In Summer 2013, get ready for more minion madness in Despicable Me 2. Chris Meledandri and his acclaimed filmmaking team create an all-new comedy animated adventure featuring the return of Gru (Steve Carell), the girls, the unpredictably hilarious minions…and a host of new and outrageously funny characters.
Last Saturday, we caught Man Of Steel at Golden Village [Bishan] and although I wouldn’t consider myself a Superman Fanboy, I really enjoyed the movie throughout. On the other hand, Jacqueline felt that Man Of Steel barely met her expectations because the movie wasn’t as action-packed as she hopes it to be. True enough, although there might be a lack of mind-blowing action scenes, I liked the movie because the story build-up was progressive and it depicts the other side of Superman that we rarely know about. [Image Credit to Man Of Steel Facebook Page]
For those of you who probably don’t know the origins of Superman, Man Of Steel actually tells it all and from the movie, you will come to know that Superman isn’t really human but an alien from the planet of Krypton. Also, the “S” symbol on Superman’s outfit takes on a different meaning and personally, I really like how the story of Superman unfolds and truthfully, the movie soundtracks complements the movie pretty well.
There will be a sequel to Man Of Steel and it might be releasing next year. In case you’re wondering if there are any teaser trailers or anything of that sort after the movie credits, no, there isn’t. So, if you haven’t catch Man Of Steel and you’re wondering whether it is a movie worth catching, I highly recommend it.
Movie Plot [extracted from GV’s Website]:
A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
We caught the movie, “Fast and Furious 6” yesterday and it was a blast. If you haven’t watch it yet and you’re planning to do so today or the coming week, do remember to book your tickets online because the cinema halls were jam-packed with movie-goers when we were there.
Movie Plot [as quoted from GV’s website]:
Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of all-stars as the global blockbuster franchise built on speed races to its next continent in Fast & Furious 6.
Our Review of the Movie:
As Fast and Furious 6 is the first film in the series that has moved away from the underground car-racing theme of the series’ previous films, some movie-goers and fans might feel that it lack an element of car-racing. Nevertheless, the movie is full of non-stop explosive actions and if you love action movies, you mustn’t miss Fast and Furious 6.
For those of you whom are more familiar with the Fast and Furious movie series, you might find the ending rather saddening but it does give hints about the next sequel to the movie. In fact, Vin Diesel himself announced the the sequel would be released on 11 July 2014.
As with all of our movie reviews, we don’t want to spoil the movie for our readers and hence, if you’re dying to know the whole story and details of the movie, we suggest that you check out Wikipedia.
Just recently, we went to catch the movie, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” at Golden Village [Bishan] and it was super duper good. G.I. Joe: Retaliation was released on 28 March 2013 and the main stars are Channing Tatum, Bruce Willis, and Dwayne Johnson. The movie is 110 minutes long and it is rated PG-13.
A follow-up to the 2009 release of G.I. JOE: RISE OF THE COBRA, which grossed over $300M worldwide, Paramount Pictures, MGM and Skydance Productions, in association with HASBRO, commenced the di Bonaventura production of G.I. JOE: RETALIATION.
In this sequel, the G.I. Joes are not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra; they are forced to contend with threats from within the government that jeopardize their very existence. The film stars D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Ray Stevenson, Channing Tatum with Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson. Directed by Jon M. Chu, and produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Brian Goldner, from a screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe characters.
Our Review of the Movie:
Personally, we really like the movie and we will highly recommend you to watch it if you haven’t. The movie plot of G.I Joe: Retaliation is balanced and rather easy to follow. In fact, you don’t have to watch G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra in order to understand what G.I. Joe: Retaliation is all about. G.I. Joe: Retaliation is also full of explosive scenes and definitely action-packed. The actors in the movie really portrayed their roles really well. If you’re the sort of person whom enjoys action-packed movies, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is one movie you shouldn’t miss! Comparing G.I. Joe: Retaliation to G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, G.I Joe: Retaliation is the better movie.
