The Pope's Exorcist

I watched The Pope's Exorcist in Emperor Cinema in R&F. Sidetracked a little, R&F has stagnated, or rather deteriorated, to a rather sorry state today. It has not recovered from the damage incurred by the pandemic. However, the cinema was still rather marvellous. I went there on a weekday, and bought the ticket for a screening before 6pm, and thus it cost only RM12, which is a steal compared to what I would have to pay to watch in Singapore. 

I was hesitant to watch this because the name of the film heavily implies that this show contains religious elements, which I've never been receptive to. But, I heard the reviews had been good, and it was being screened two weeks earlier than the States, and I had time to kill, so I thought, why not?

As it turns out, it indeed was good! It wasn't very religious - there was the Church, the Pope, and two Fathers and a demon. That's it, nothing like Angels & Demons which befuddled me who had zero knowledge on Christianity.

The movie didn't start slow. Russell Crown played the role fabulously. What really made this show captivating was how the demon defied all expectations of the characters and resisted all exorcism attempts. And what made this show different from other horror movies was the investigation to identify the demon who stubbornly repelled all attempts for submissions by studying the history of the place and unearthing what had been hidden beneath the place, like a detective.

I must say, horror movies like this has been very rare, and this was a very, very enjoyable film for a horror movie fan like me. Finally, Hollywood has shown some recovery from numerous subpar movies that were released in the past few years.

My rating: 8.5/10.

Lady Gaga - Hold My Hand (Acoustic)

This is not an official version. Basically, someone removes all background voices and keeps only her vocal, and substitutes all of them with a piano version.

The emotion is a notch higher and the song quality instantly elevated.

Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl - Jack's Entrance

The downside of having Disney+ subscription is that I get to rewatch shows I absolutely enjoyed that I've now forgotten and got suck back to the good old days. Nostalgia is my greatest weakness.

That aside, it's worth sharing this. It's been 20 years since this movie was first released, but not a single character introduction or music score beat this.

Pirates of the Caribbean remains a legendary film whose legacy must be protected at a cost.

Under The Banner of Heaven

I'll admit, this doesn't look or sound like a show I normally enjoy. It's heavily Christian (specifically, Mormonism), and I do not like any fictional work with a religious central theme. But it's Andrew Garfield, and the show received widespread acclaim, so I thought, why not give it a try? It's on Disney+, and I've paid for it.

Anyway, it didn't quite disappoint. Andrew Garfield is a successful actor, rightly so because he's talented. I'm a sentimental person, if a person acts well, I feel the emotion and I know it right.

The show is set in a small town where the population is very conservative and strictly adhere to the teachings of the church. It's loosely (or largely) based on a real story, and the series adopts the actual names of the victims and perpetrators. It can be summarised as a devout Mormon facing the biggest challenge of his faith as he investigates the murder of a woman and a baby by rogue Mormons.

Ultimately, it's about humanity vs faith. 

This is a good show, and I'm actually pleasantly surprised I enjoyed it. My criticisms so far would be that 1) the episodes are too long, and; 2) Pyre deserves a better ending.

Echoes (TV)

 Is it Leni or Gina? After a while it gets confusing.

This is a series about two really identical twins swapping identities so often it confuses even the twins in question. One of them went missing one day, and the other had no idea what transpired, so she had to play two roles as she investigated.

I would say it's interesting, only if you can keep up. Otherwise, give this show a skip.

I did, however, finish it. I won't say the revelation is boggling, but it's not a very fun one. The series is not bad, it has its ups and downs, it has some successful twists and some unsuccessful suspense, but overall it did manage to deliver some story that isn't an entire failure, but probably not an award-winning or highly ranked series.

Rating: 6/10. The actress is awesome and nailed her role. 

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Early critic review were rather merciless in their words; some blatantly called it a waste of time, some said it was a mess, some minced their words but insinuated Eternals did better. The general consensus appeared to be that this movie sucks. But after reading the early critic review of Thor: Love and Thunder, let's just say I am sceptical of their review, and understand that my taste probably deviates from theirs. And I was right. I went to watch it in GV Vivocity (much better than GV Bishan), and it was a marvellous two hours movie. Like all the other phase 4 movies, the movie kicked off rather quickly. Then they were sucked into the quantum realm and 'quantumania' ensued.

For people who claimed too much CGI was used - the entire movie takes place in a fictitious, artificial Quantum Realm. What exactly are you hoping for?

For people who said it's too messy, the movie has warned you about it - it's literally named Quantumania.

I like the movie a lot. The plot's a bit weak but Kang made up for it. MODOK was unattractive but I get that it stays loyal to the comic. The battle scene and the quantum realm were rather refreshing in my opinion.

If you people could let go the balls of Infinity War and Endgame and realise that we're now in a new phase and not the Infinity Saga anymore, perhaps you would have found yourself a lot more receptive towards all these rather entertaining movies. Quantumania is even better than Wakanda Forever in my opinion, by a very long shot.

2023 CNY

Hello Peeps! It's 2023, and as I'm writing this, it's near the end of January 2023. Time flies, huh? Anyway, during CNY I went back home for 10 days, took 2 days AL, WFH for 2 days, and the rest were the period my office is shut. I must say, returning home is always a risky move for me because I always am tempted to return permanently and never return to Singapore. But I digress. Anyway, it's 2023, the year of the rabbit! We welcome a brand new year hoping for a brand new life, although this year seems very hostile to me, a person whose zodiac is a Rooster. It might be a myth, it might be hokum, but we shall see. Happy Chinese New Year peeps! Hopefully, this is a much better year than last year!