fashizzlemanizzle

Friends/Ex-lovers/Convicts/Wrestlers/War veterans,

After 14 years of staying power (and still staying alive), Force Vomit presents a showcase of their own show! Come celebrate in the revelry and party like those good ol' times we were still in poly (or when we were teenagers, seems a long time ago ain'it). They arent a supermega band, so no pyrotechnic-laden concert at the indoor stadia. Instead, join them for an intimate session at the recital studio with past and present members.

As this is organised by the Esplanade, tix can only be bought here.

Spread the word (not dengue) and spread the love. Hoping to see all the familiar faces there yo! Like Weird Al said, Party like it's 1969.

Transformers

Long, long awaited movie. Surrounded by much controversy. The purists say, this is blasphemy. THIS IS SPARTAAAAAA. ehem. Getting carried away here. When the website was set-up last year, counting down the months it was to open with a Unicron look-alike in the back, the net was buzzing, like a Bumblebee on tongkat ali. And when pics were leaked, fans couldnt believe that Optimus has been pimped to become some fiery red-neck truck (he has officially been pimped, with Xzibit lifting his shirt). And Megatron looked worse. He needs some serious botox work.

As it got closer to 7.4.7, which was then brought forward earlier, the buzzing was so loud, the excitement was overwhelming. How'd it turn out? And bumblebee is not a Volkswagen VW? And its true Megatron looked that shitty? And Singapore is so warm in June? And Liverpool is buying Torres? And NETS hike is on?

All of the above is true my fellow comrades. As Agent Provocateur Yun said, in 2 words, Fucking Awesome. I was watching this movie with my mouth opened half the time, going WOAH. My precious must have felt really embarrased. She must be wondering why i was fidgeting so much and breathing heavily and all. No I wasnt playing bola kocek, friends, but I was really nervous and excited at the same time, andtrying to make myself as comfortable as possible. I mean, these, robots that I grew up with, secretly hoping that one day I'd have much moolah to buy all the toys and play with it (not keep it mint in the box). Its all coming to life.

Firstly, watching it at the THE CATHAY cineplex, the sound was juz so awesome. I cant remember when was the last time I was this impressed by the audio of a movie. It was booming all the way, WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM! Awesome awesome. May I get feedback if the sound is as awesome at other theatres too? Im beginning to love the Le Grand Cathay.

With Michael Bay at the helm, you'd expect pyrotechnics galore. He is known to make explosive movies (pun intended). But his specialty lies in making war movies and car chases. Thus, watching this Transformers movie I couldnt help but feel like I was watching a Tokyo Drift meets Black Hawk Down movie. There were military shite all around, and there were fanciful cars around too. So imagine that. This is an awesome movie.

However (you saw this however coming didnt ya), below are my main grouses :

1) Changing Optimus to a long-nosed truck? BLASPHEMY! With fire patterns like the EE makal's car patrolling EE block and SIM canteen in NP? ABSURD! No trailer accompanying Prime?? Master Bay should be banished to level 10 of hell at Haw Par Villa. I meant Optimus Prime looked way way too cool in his robot mode. In vehicle mode, would appreciate if Mr Bay sticked to the original.

2) Bumblebee not as a Volkswagen? Without his horns (tanduk) on his head? Another blasphemy. However it being in the form of a Camaro is cool I have to admit. So good job there. But it's only 1-1 Mr Bay.

3) Megatron as an alien form? Sorry but that Predator dude is even better looking than you, and that says something abt you. It was juz horrible. It has been mentioned countless times that for Megatron to transform into a gun, held by someone else is like Darth Vader turning into his own lightsaber. That is, *ehem*, bullcrap. Yes in the cartoons the scaling were all awry, where Megatron can stand head to head with Starscream, and yet when he becomes a gun, he becomes a very small gun which Starscream can hold with one hand. At the very least, Mr Bay Chin Chye could have considered using Megatron as his Galvatron (below) form from the original Transformers The Movie (1986). That's some weapon he turned into.



4) In his bid to be very attentive to details, Master Bay overdid things. You see too much circuits, and 'veins'. So the faces look horrendous. Instead of the simple heads the cartoon transformers had, now we see too much details and 'pores'. Not very sightly. Looks a tad hollow. And the legs look too thin and slender, like no meat.Could make do without all the exposed wire and circuits.

5) In tradition wif Master Bay's movies, there will be chaos. There were chaos aplenty in this movie. Juz that in this movie, there was too much chaos, by 2/3 of the movie, I felt a wee bit dizzy. And I got lost in the confusion. In the midst of all the destruction and chaos, everything seemed to blend into 1. Not sure if Michael Bay can have, hmmmm, a more 'organized chaos'?

6) I personally believe that this should have been a purely Autobots vs Decepticons battle. Off with the humans. They took up too much air time. Would have loved more focus on the robots. I wouldnt have mind them doing Part Deux of the original Transformers 1986 movie. Altho, I wouldnt mind more of Megan Fox . Please.

7) See, with the humans given a lot of focus, there were scaling problems. Feedback i got was the robots at times seem too big to fit the screen. As mentioned, in the Generation 1 series, the scalings were all awry. One time, a decepticon (e.g Astrotrain, below)can stand head to head with his comrades, the next he turns into a train and can fit like 6-8 other decepticons. Maybe if they juz focus on Transformers (sans humans), everything would have seemed fine.



8) There's some confusion abt the appearance of Devastator. In the movie, the tanker was listed as Devastator. However, in citation from Wikipedia, the character should have been Brawl instead. Not sure wat caused the confusion. Devastator must appear as Devastator, made up of Constructicons. No two ways abt it. Perhaps an appearance in Transfomers 2?


9)Too much wrestling and ninja-esque moves. Too many jumping and rolling forward attacks, and 'spear' moves. Where were the good ol' poundings and boxing bouts?

I think, George Lucas would have been the more suitable man to do this job. The way he created Star Wars in the 70s, it'd be interesting to see what'd he recreate for the transformers. Alas, maybe Master Bay was good enuff for this job. Hasbro knows best.

Then again, for all my whining and slamming, what takes the cake and makes this a masterpiece, is the way the Transfomers transform into their respective modes. That is juz brilliant. If you thought the cartoon was cool when transforming, this is way better. It was a marvel, such beauty. Brought tears to me eyes. Due to aircon being too cold of course.

All in all, even though I whined more than waxed lyrical, I have no heart to give my favorite toys that have come to live, a low rating. And thus, on par with 300, this movie gets a 4.98 / 5 charkueys. Marvellicous.

For those that can remember, here's a little something to reflect and ponder upon. Brings back the memories.



Go on. Take ur hankies and wipe those tears away. *sniff sniff*