2009 is another year of wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am movies. Well, all years are kinda like that, actually. Some movies are actually IMAX-worthy. Take note. And mark your calendars.

1. The Dark Knight (re-release, IMAX shows) - Release date: January 23rd
   Ok, I know it isn’t technically a 2009 movie, but what the heck…. It’s The Dark Knight goddammit…. And it’s IMAX, for Pete’s sake! I missed watching it IMAX the last time around, and this time, I ain’t gonna make the same mistake twice. What better way to show my support for The Dark Knight’s Oscar pursuits? Comic book movies never looked this good. Forget Iron Man, coz it was Batman Begins that changed the landscape for such movies with its deep-set realism. And The Dark Knight just pushed the envelope as far as possible. And Spidey didn’t get an IMAX re-release, did he?




2. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Release date: August 7th
   One of my most favourite cartoon series back in my youth. The 80s was great to children all over. The marketing team for the movie has been kinda quiet lately, but I’m sure they’ll be kicking off in full force soon enough. When you have Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Cobra Commander, you know it’s gotta be good, coz this dude’s been racking up critical reviews for his powerful perfomances on screen. And you have Dennis Quaid as General Hawk. What about that kick-ass picture of Snake Eyes?? And if all that doesn’t convince you, take a look at that sweet ass of Rachel Nichols as Scarlett. I cudn’t get my hands on Sienna Miller’s Baroness, though.

Most of the ones in the list are Indie Movies, so distributors in Malaysia wouldn’t wanna touch them for fear of lack of response (and profit). Some are mainstream movies, but are themed around controversial issues (controversial only for some idiots in Malaysia).

1. Slumdog Millionaire
   Danny Boyle’s a director who makes realistic movies you and I can always relate to. We also have A.R. Rahman scoring the soundtrack. This movie’s set in Mumbai and features a street kid one question away from winning the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire show. He is accused of cheating, but in truth, every event in his life provided him with the correct answers. Anil Kapoor as the show’s host and Irfan Khan as the cop.




2. Rachel Getting Married
   Anne Hatheway delivers the performance of her career (so far) according to critics. A possible candidate for Best Actress. About a woman returning home from rehab to her sister’s wedding. What follows is a rise in family tensions.

For those of you who do not poke around much with Hollywood movie news, Watchmen is an upcoming graphic novel-adapted flick to be released in June 2009. Watchmen was a Hugo Award winning novel (the only graphic novel to do so). The movie will be in the veins of 300, which incidentally is also directed by the same person, Zack Snyder.

The picture comparisons are at the bottom, but before that, a little gist on Watchmen. Don’t worry. NO SPOILERS here.

One word. Awesome. From start to end, The Dark Knight (TDK) didn’t disappoint me at all. And it even made my non-comic-reader friends join in the bat frenzy and ask me all sorts of questions to satisfy their thirst of wanting to know more about Batman’s comic roots. I was of course only too happy to oblige them. Neways, I caught TDK at TGV Bukit Tinggi on Friday night. Needless to say that the two screens allocated for the 9.30om show were packed to maximum capacity. TDK has managed to turn superhero-haters into people who appreciate a well written story, not withstanding a man in a tight black suit.

Spoiler Alert!

Yep, here’s more movie synopses for you guys. It’s a painstaking process, you know, to watch all these movies and dissect them and analyse them to come up with a feasible summary. Yeah, right. They’re just some comical interpretations and nothing more.

Planet of the Apes (dedicated to Neeroo coz she watched the movie when she was 9)
Man lands on a monkey planet. Man walks around half-naked. Monkeys screw with man coz man can’t speak due to his throat being injured. Man suddenly speaks, and monkeys wanna silence man. Man runs away, find the Statue of Liberty half buried in the sand. Discovers that mankind fucked itself on Earth and apes started to rule.