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YeinJee's Asian blog

Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment

Entertainment

Top Gun: Maverick movie trailer is beautiful

July 22, 2019 by Yein Jee

Trailer for American film Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel to 1986’s Top Gun. Beautiful is not the usual word to associate with action movies, but I cannot find a better term to describe this teaser video… because it is really beautiful. In cinemas in June 2020 in Malaysia and the United States etc.

Not much thought about the first movie, it was a long time ago. Regardless, the film made Tom Cruise a superstar, and he is reprising his role after more than three decades. There are actually films with longer gap between sequel, such as the Blade Runner (1982-2017)…

There’s probably no feature film that stars the same main lead with such a huge sequel-gap like Top Gun though. Tom Cruise is THE leading actor in both movies. In other cases, the main cast may return but usually in lesser roles for a sequel that comes 20-30 years after the previous one.

Top Gun: Maverick is directed by Joseph Kosinski. Besides Tom Cruise, the main cast also includes Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman and Ed Harris. Val Kilmer, who played a key part in the original movie, also returns but with a small role instead.

Not much info about the plot, it looks like Cruise is becoming a mentor for some new fighter pilots. The film is going to be a hit as long as the story isn’t too bad. The visual effect looks great, and there’s always the nostalgia factor. This trailer certainly gives it a good head start.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Action movies, American movies, American pop culture, American showbiz, Armed forces, Christopher McQuarrie, Drama movies, Hans Zimmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jerry Bruckheimer, Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media, Tencent Pictures, Tom Cruise, United States

Godzilla: King of the Monsters movie trailer

August 21, 2018 by Yein Jee

Trailer for American monster film Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Directed by Michael Dougherty and stars Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, Aisha Hinds, O’Shea Jackson Jr, David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe, and Zhang Ziyi.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: American movies, Charles Dance, Godzilla Franchise, Legendary Pictures, Monster movies, Monsterverse, Vera Farmiga, Warner Bros, Zhang Ziyi

Sondia – Grown Ups Korean music video

May 20, 2018 by Yein Jee

Korean music video for Grown Ups by Sondia, it’s an OST for drama series My Mister. The show is my favourite Korean drama in recent years. The song goes well with the plot.

There’s very little information on the singer, Sondia. She works in a few OST but I don’t think she has released any album nor shown her face in public before. At first I thought it was IU, the lead actress, who sings the song as it actually sounds like her voice in many parts; apparently not.

[Read more…] about Sondia – Grown Ups Korean music video

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Asian drama, Asian showbiz, Asian videos, Korean Music, Korean showbiz, Korean TV shows, Lee Ji-eun, TvN Asia

The Meg movie trailer

April 17, 2018 by Yein Jee

English actor Jason Statham and Chinese actress Li Bingbing team up in The Meg, an American-Chinese co-production film with a monster-shark theme. Check out the extended trailer…

Directed by Jon Turteltaub, the movie is loosely based on a 1997 book Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten. The cast also includes Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Winston Chao, and Cliff Curtis. Scheduled to release in the United States and China in August 2018.

[Read more…] about The Meg movie trailer

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: American movies, American showbiz, Chinese showbiz, Cliff Curtis, Jason Statham, Li Bingbing, Monster movies, Ruby Rose, Warner Bros

The Cloverfield Paradox movie review

February 13, 2018 by Yein Jee

Check out the trailer and my review for American scifi horror film The Cloverfield Paradox. The story follows a group of astronauts who try to solve the global energy crisis, but accidentally open portals to parallel universes which unleash all kind of weird stuff in their space station and bring doom to earth.

In true Netflix fashion, the movie is available on the online streaming service soon after they released the trailer last week. Directed by Julius Onah, and stars Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo and Zhang Ziyi.

Like its previous instalment – the 10 Cloverfield Lane in 2016 – the Paradox is just a loose addition to the Cloverfield franchise. The story doesn’t focus on the main event from 2008 but connects in some ways. This new movie (the third instalment) is a bit more relevant than the second though.

The release came as a surprise regardless. Paramount was expected to release this in cinemas like the two previous Cloverfield films, but seems like they think that it would be more profitable to sell the rights to Netflix instead. And they probably made the right choice considering the bad reviews.

What’s wrong with Cloverfield Paradox

It’s a confusing movie if people try to understand the logic. Humans don’t have actual knowledge about parallel universe, we are not even sure if it actually exists. Science fiction films can do whatever they want in that setting because there’s no right or wrong with something we don’t know.

There are other shortcomings in the movie though. To begin with, it’s practical and easier to build wind turbines, solar panels and stuff – or spam nuclear plants if we are desperate – to solve energy problems instead of trying to harness “limitless” power like what they are doing.

There are also some technical errors but most people won’t notice that. The bigger problem is the lack of continuity in the plot instead. They simply put in all the weird events without connecting the dots. It’s not scientifically wrong but it’s a poor way to make a movie. It’s like a child’s doodle.

Zhang Ziyi in The Cloverfield Paradox movie

Another issue is the unnecessary use of Chinese language. I like Zhang Ziyi and I’m always happy to see an Asian face in a Hollywood production. But I find it stupid to have those characters speaking Chinese in an English language film simply for the sake of pleasing a certain market…

It’s especially ridiculous in Paradox because everyone else speaks English in the space station. To make it funnier the whole crew seems to understand Chinese perfectly. I can offer explanation for that e.g. an auto translator (it’s the future after all), but it’s just marketing gimmick to be frank.

It’s not all bad though

Despite the flaws, I still think it’s an average film. The cast is fine, visual effects are decent, and there are entertaining moments too. Can’t say it’s good overall but it’s not terrible. I think many of the reviews and ratings are harsh, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Regardless, the fact that Paramount dumped this probably means we won’t be seeing another Cloverfield film soon. Unless Netflix or others decide to pick up the franchise instead, which is doubtful because of the Paradox flop. It’s difficult to quantify but Netflix must have lost millions of dollars on this.

Update June 2018 – Didn’t see this coming. Producer JJ Abrams confirmed that there will be a fourth movie. And this time it will be a real sequel for the original 2008 film. No further details though.

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: American movies, American showbiz, Disaster movies, Horror movies, JJ Abrams, John Ortiz, Netflix Network, Paramount Pictures, Scifi movies, Zhang Ziyi

Wan Qian – The Glory of Tang Dynasty

November 11, 2017 by Yein Jee

Promotional images of Chinese actress Wan Qian with her role in television series The Glory of Tang Dynasty. The 92-episode drama series is one of the most popular shows in China in 2017.

The drama tells the story of Consort Shen and Prince of Guangping (who later becomes Emperor Daizong of Tang). Actress Jing Tian plays the consort while actor Ren Jialun as the prince; Wan Qian stars in a supporting role as Dugu Jingyao, a general who later becomes the king’s concubine.

Wan Qian in Chinese drama The Glory of Tang Dynasty

[Read more…] about Wan Qian – The Glory of Tang Dynasty

Filed Under: Entertainment Tagged With: Asian showbiz, Chinese showbiz, Chinese TV shows, Chinese women, Wan Qian

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Yein Jee is a Malaysian traveller, food lover & self proclaimed entrepreneur. This blog is about Asian culture, lifestyle, travel, food, fun and entertainment ... Read More...

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Top Gun: Maverick movie trailer is beautiful

Trailer for American film Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel to 1986's Top Gun. Beautiful is not the usual word to associate with action movies, but I cannot find a better … [Read More...] about Top Gun: Maverick movie trailer is beautiful

Godzilla: King of the Monsters movie trailer

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