Movie Review: Immortals

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Mark

When you advertise a movie that came from the same producers of 300, it is definitely a movie I wanted to watch but the only problem with that was it created a huge hype. Now the problem with having such a high expectation of the movie, the moment it slightly disappoints, critics will be all over it.

Storyline was straight. Absolutely straight. A tale of a hero that the Gods believe in named Theseus. Set in the time of ancient Greece, the land was at trouble and amongst a peasant village emerged a hero. So what else is new? Greece is still in trouble today with it’s financial crisis that I wonder if there would be a hero that emerges to bail them out.

Anyway the whole story is about an evil king, Hyperion, who wants to unleash the Titans to challenge the Almighty Zeus who lounges about at Mt. Olympus. In order to do that, he needs a magical bow (as in bow and arrow) to help him do that. Of course this is where Theseus steps in as the hero.

The fight scenes were pretty good, I love how far Hollywood has progressed in terms of the fight scenes to match that of chinese kung-fu movies. The graphics were good but the one thing which irked me the most was our Malaysian censorship board. Everything kept skipping and certains bits were censored off which really did spoil the mood of the show.

Personally, I had a lot of expectations to the show and perhaps that it would have been better if there wasn’t any censorship (I know where I would go and get one that isn’t censored) and perhaps if the storyline was a little better.

I would give it a 5/10 overall.

Check out the movie trailer below.

Movie Review – Real Steel

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Mark

The Ping Pong in Hong Kong! A line from the movie which sort of stayed within the confines of my brain. Why is that? It’s because “Real Steel” was a totally awesome show. I have actually heard of the show but because it really didn’t garner as much marketing budget versus some other movies where they had the movie posters plastered over billboards across town, Real Steel was really a great movie in hiding. I guess that’s why there are so many movie reviews written about this movie right now.

real steel final poster Movie Review Real Steel

Most movies that have been hyped up usually target a summer launch in order to catch the crowd so by the end of the year, I never did expect a fantastic show such as “Real Steel” to really wow the crowd. I haven’t read a single negative review about the movie yet although it garnered a 7.5 score on IMDB but personally, this movie deserves a 9/10 in my books.

Noisy Boy e1315386560788 Movie Review Real Steel

Set in the near future, where robot boxing is a top sport, a struggling promoter feels he’s found a champion in a discarded robot. During his hopeful rise to the top, he discovers he has an 11-year-old son who wants to know his father.

The story begins with a very washed out Charlie Kenton (played by Hugh Jackman) an ex-boxer who now has lost his livelihood since Robot boxing has taken the arena. As he struggles through life with mountains of debt and robots, him finding out that he has a 11-year old son really changed his life.

real steel 1 Movie Review Real Steel

We have always known Hugh Jackman as a very tough man especially in his roles as Wolverine, this time, Hugh Jackman played his role very well and turns this movie into both an action packed story line as well as one that tugs on your emotional strings.

What I was thoroughly impressed was the amount of CG graphics (computer generated) used and how it blended in nicely with the story as well as the overall ambiance. It wasn’t overly done but executed extremely tastefully. But hey, who doesn’t like to watch two robots punching each other in a ring.

Overall, Real Steel is really an underdog movie which definitely is worth watching in the cinema for its awesome CG graphics and even for the story line. It’s nice to feel that nice fuzzy warmth at the end of the show. Watch the show, and you will know what I am talking about.

Prior to the launch of this movie as well, a viral site was also launched in accordance with the move. Do check out http://www.wrb.com/

Review – Volkswagen Scirocco 1.4 TSI

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Mark

Note: I would recommend reading my review on the Golf 1.4 TSI before reading this as most of this is based on a comparison between the Roc and the Golf

One of the benefits of joining other Volkswagen enthusiasts especially during a teh tarik session is that I get chances to test drive other member’s cars. One of them, which I managed to sneakily test drive a number of times was the Scirocco 1.4. Now I have always been curious to see a car with the same engine as the Golf 1.4 TSI, but priced at RM188,888 has to offer.

The Scirocco was also featured in the recent Karate Kid movie but of course, it’s an extremely old version. Also called the Roc for short, here is a quick and brief history of the Scirocco.

So let’s see what are some of the differences here.

First Impressions

Right off the bat, the moment anyone looks at a Scirocco, I am sure there has to be a reaction. Whether it may be a good one or a bad one but still a reaction. Perhaps you might be like James May where he might have a fizzy little thing between his legs when he sees a car which gives him the fancy, yeah, something like that but irregardless, it definitely turns heads. The first time I actually saw a Scirocco was when Top Gear featured an episode on it where they had to come up with an advertisement for the 3-cylinder diesel version of the Roc (you can view their silly results here and here).

top gear berlin to warsaw Review Volkswagen Scirocco 1.4 TSI

Interior and Boot Space

From other Roc owners, you can still set up a baby chair in the Roc and it comfortably fits 4 people in total due to its 50/50 split folding rear seat design (you can squeeze in 5 for short trips but it wouldn’t be legal as there are only two rear seat belts available). One thing that stands out between the Roc 1.4 and the Golf is that the Roc comes with a flattened steering wheel, the same one which is given for GTI and R owners. The Golf 1.4 comes with the standard round steering wheel which also is available with the Passat CC sold here.

Volkswagen Golf R views the sporty look of steering wheel in black image Review Volkswagen Scirocco 1.4 TSI

Shown above is the flat bottom steering wheel designed for the R-line cars. The GTI ones look exactly the same except that it has red stitching on it. Another thing to note that Scirocco’s that were manufactured in 2009 have a completely different interior than the current ones mainly because it takes the same styling from the older Golf MkV. The ones sold here by Volkswagen Group Malaysia are based off the newer interior but I have seen 2009 Rocs for sale on Mudah brought in by the local dealers.

The rest of the interior is standard and there isn’t much differences between this and the Golf. In my opinion, the steering wheel itself provides a nice sporty look and feel and to optionally get this steering wheel itself can cost around USD$500 (searching through eBay).

The boot however, is surprisingly deep and you definitely can store a lot of stuff in there. I haven’t had the chance to test it out with my full-sized golf bag but it definitely does look like it has a lot of space.

Another benefit you get with the Roc 1.4 is that it comes with 17″ rims as it’s standard compared to the Golf’s 16″ rims.

So far there hasn’t been any complaints as well for the Roc owners especially when it comes to the “rattling” noise experienced by Golf owners especially when taking the corner. This issue actually comes from the fact that the rubber lining along the doors tend to dry up in our weather, hence the noise. Because the Roc has only two doors, I guess you can hardly hear the sound.

The Drive

After taking off in the standard fashion and the moment I enter the first corner, or basically, leaving the mamak stall and turning the first corner; the Roc shines here. Due to it’s lower profile, this car handles way better than the Golf 1.4 which I think is a little soft around the suspension areas. You get the planted feel when tackling corners and I could hardly feel the side G’s pushing me. Of course it does help that it’s only a 2-door car hence you get less body roll due to a more rigid and firmer chassis.

Differences

Other differences between the Roc and the Golf are rather miniature in nature. For example, the Roc doesn’t have sensors at the front but only sensors at the back as compared to the Golf which has sensors all around. The Roc however has two reverse lights versus the rest of the other VW cars mainly because I think the rear window is so small and the C pillars are so fat, that it is extremely difficult to reverse out.

Interesting Mods

Of course with every VW car, comes plenty of modifications. Here are some of the mods you can do for the Scirocco to stand out from the rest of the other Rocs.

Bodykit (Rieger, Caractere, etc, etc) – This of course changes the look of your car!
Scirocco R rear lights – This isn’t as fancy as the Golf R rear LED lights. It’s just a darkened rear Roc lights
Aluminium pedals for the Roc 1.4 as well as the OSIR footrest or you can opt for the full R-line pedal sets.
Unibrace for the Roc to improve its handling further. I am not too sure if they have the Crossbrace for the Roc as well.
Head unit upgrade to either the RCD510 (the Roc 2.0 comes with this) or the RNS510 which offers satellite navigation and DVD playback.
Custom downpipe for the Roc
Engine remap
Cold air intake
Quad exhausts
H&R or Eibach lowering springs

So far there hasn’t been any announcement by VW to provide daytime running lights for the Scirocco.

Conclusion

To conclude up this review, would I say that the Scirocco is worth the extra RM30,000? Well it all depends on your taste. If you like a 2-door car, then yes, I would say it would be worth the RM30,000 extra. But if you are considering the 2.0litre version, I still have some doubts mainly because a 2-door Renault Megane RS is priced currently at RM236k which is RM15k cheaper than the 2.0 Roc and it has a lot more features to the car. Overall, the Scirocco fits into a different segment compared to the Golf hence I guess it’s a nice compliment in their line up.

The Roc which I tested was a very unique Roc, because the owner, decided to bring it in for a dyno run and the results were astonishing. The Scirocco 1.4 TSI is stated to provide an output of 160ps running on Ron98 but his Roc managed to generate 170horses at the wheel, yes, 170whp! That is insane!

By the way, there is currently a Scirocco R in Malaysia already. Apparently someone managed to bring it in via a local AP and it made an appearance at the Volkswagen Club Malaysia’s TT session two weeks ago. So far no concrete rumours about Volkswagen Malaysia launching the Scirocco R but there has been changes in terms of the prices for the Golf R. What I have heard is that the prices have been raised from the rumoured RM270k+ to RM300k+.

Review: Sierra Glow Car Treatment

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Mark

Now I have never owned a white car before and one of my biggest worry that I have is to see it turn mellow! Hence resulting in me scouring through the interweb to fine out ways to keep the car shiny and clean and nice. Initially I was introduced to various methods of waxing and various services provided but one recommendation I received was to try out Sierra Glow.

Located out in USJ1 in Subang, I decided to drive there early in the morning to drop off my car there. Met with the owner, Choong who was a very friendly guy who also gave me a lift to Summit because I didn’t want to wait 6 hours for my car at the workshop nor was there any other shop in the industrial area.

What Sierra Glow preaches is not to use wax. They state that conventional waxes and other polishing products merely stay on top of your car paintwork without removing the dust and dirt that are trapped into the paintwork. In fact, rubbing the wax in only pushes the dirt deeper into the paint.

So what is Sierra Glow actually? It is basically a chemical which bonds microscopically with the paint and at 5 microns thick, it is stated as harder than steel. In layman terms, there is a small thin protective layer which sits on top of your car’s paint thus keeping and maintaining it’s shine intact. What sort of sold me to this is that it provides a 5 year guarantee as well as because there is a protective layer on top of your car now, you don’t need to polish and wax it anymore. A simple wash would just be sufficient!

Of course, the other selling factor was that I saw this car which was already there owned by another customer who had Sierra Glow applied on their car!

Here are some of the steps they take for the entire procedure,

Prepare the car by washing it and ensuring all grit and grime have been removed
Clay bar – basically removing oxidation and marks on your car’s body
T.C Hard and T.C All which is their patented method which removes surface scratches, swirls and water marks
Polish – Ironically they do polish the car after what was explained to me but this is to polish the paint coat
Glassglow – Applying the 5-micron layer of GlassGlow.

After a LOOOOONG break in between (of course a big thanks to the owner for giving me a lift to Summit while they took 5.5 hours to complete the whole procedure), here was what I saw when I returned to the shop.

And I was very happy with the results! After 4 months, I am still very happy with the results of Sierra Glow.

Conclusion

Personally at the price I paid, it was totally worth it especially the 5-year guarantee. One of the key areas which sold me was the fact that I didn’t need to polish my car and since I live in an apartment where there is no area to wash my car, Sierra Glow seemed like the perfect solution. Also with this, I can safely NOT renew my membership with CARs International because I feel that the amount I save (RM5 for each car wash) does not cover the entire cost of 1 year’s membership which was in the range of RM400. Worse of all, some of their centers had really bad service hence I am glad that I am not renewing my membership.

Directions to get to the shop:

map Review: Sierra Glow Car Treatment

A final note:

Unfortunately while I was on my way back home from the Sierra Glow shop, I got caught in the jam at Subang and it poured heavily! The instructions I received was that I was not to was my car for 48 hours but thanks to our wonkey Malaysian weather, I was rather unlucky. When I reached back home, what came to my surprise was the formation of water beads on the car. This is definitely thanks to the protective layer which now protects the shine and colour of my car.

More on the Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Mark

After mentioning about the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk VI in my older post here and the new upcoming Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI here, I managed to find some interesting videos on YouTube about the Volkswagen Golf 1.4.

Thought the advert above was very interesting.

Some reviews of the Golf VI on Fifth Gear

This video shows the acceleration speed of the Golf 1.4 TSI with a 160hp. Only difference is that it is fitted with 19″ rims instead of it’s stock 16″ rims.

The Golf VI 1.4 in action, tornado red. I like that colour a lot.

And a video reviewing the Golf but in a different language! Anyone can translate this for me?

How I Use Dropbox to Simplify Things

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Mark

One of the many questions people ask me is what do I use my iPad for? Well I would love to say I use it to wow my clients and also showcase not just my presentation skills but also some of my photography work as well. And I managed to do just that using a very nifty software called Dropbox.

You see, I have a number of laptops and PCs and a Mac about, each of them having a specific purpose individually. So when I want to share files and work with some files, it is rather cumbersome to keep on using a thumbdrive to transfer the files and after a while I ended up overwriting the wrong versions of documents and this caused a huge nightmare for me.

So when I started looking around for a cloud storage software, I found out about Dropbox. First of all, why I chose Dropbox was because it was free! Yes, absolutely free for 2Gb worth of space. Now if you are thinking of using it for large files then I would suggest another alternative but if it is to sync some of your important documents, 2Gb is more than enough. Of course, if you want more than 2Gb of files then you have to pay for the service.

So how does it work?

Dropbox functions as a specific folder that resides on your PC/Mac which syncs directly with the cloud. It looks exactly like a folder in your PC and you need to do is just treat it as your folder! So you can copy and paste files into it, create sub-folders according to your own liking and drop files into that folder.

Another cool feature about it which I learned about it recently is that Dropbox allows users to share their folders with other people! How cool is that? When I was submitting my photos to be included into The Nut Graph’s article (I blogged about it here and view the article here), I worked with Jo-Ann by sharing my photos via Dropbox. This also included me making some changes to the photos as well as include in captions explaining what the photos meant. Now this was extremely helpful for us both as I am sitting here in Cyberjaya while she is all the way in KL.

Now earlier I mentioned that I had a more elaborate setup, well it isn’t too complicated as Dropbox makes it so much easier now. So I decided to create this diagram to show you all what I really mean when I use it extensively.

In my work environment, I would also assume that most of our work laptops have certain limitations as to what we can install on our laptops and one of them is iTunes. So thanks to that, I can’t really sync my iPad with it and hence I can’t really sync files with it. Thanks to Dropbox, that is all in the past. Note that with the iPad, I can’t edit files in my Dropbox folder but I can view them. Tip, for best viewing pleasure such as presentations, I would save my presentations as PDF files so that the formatting doesn’t run.

Anyway, if you are really interested with Dropbox, you can head over here and sign up for a free 2Gb account now!

Cruzing with the Chevrolet Cruze

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Mark

Update: 10th June 2010
Since the Cruze now has been officially launched, the price for the car is at RM97,888, and the on-the-road price would be around RM98k. Still a lot cheaper than the current price of the Honda Civic 1.8.

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of being crashing invited for Cergazam’s sneak preview of the Chevrolet Cruze over by their showroom next to the Federal Highway. With only 4 hours of sleep thanks to the previous night’s frivolities, I dragged my sorry ass over to the showroom, unshaven and half asleep only to be greeted by not a single coffee machine in the place.

Well, enough about my condition. Let’s talk about the car and the event. The event started off with a couple of speeches by some big shots and then a product demonstration by one of their technicians.

Since they didn’t allow anyone to take photos during the event especially photos of the car and it’s interior, I can’t really show them to you but rather narrate it out or help you visualize it with what I am about to type.

Ok, close your eyes and image that you are sitting in a car. The car is meant to compete against the likes of the Honda Civic or the Toyota Altis and also the newer and more recent Kia Forte. So it is rather roomy inside but it felt smaller compared to a Honda Civic.

The number of electronic gizmos attached with it is definitely a very good plus compared to the usual Hondas and Toyotas. Some of them include the following:

Rain sensor to automatically activate the windscreen wipers. With Malaysia’s weather, that should be perpetually turned on.
Automatic light settings, it turns on your lights when you go into a dark place such as a basement or a tunnel automatically
Different settings for your remote control, for example you can set that whenever you unlock your car with your remote, you can only unlock only the driver’s side. Very useful if you are a lone single driver and you always have that fear that someone might just barge into your car and nick your handbag, laptop bag or knickers.
6 CD changer in car, yes you only see a single CD slot but you can slot up to 6 CDs into it.
6 speed shiftronic gearbox which performed quite sluggishly when I was test driving the car. I could really feel the jerked after I switched gears up or down.
Auxiliary jack and a USB port
A large boot space!

What is missing which I thought might be embedded into the car or into this version is there is no keyless entry and start stop button for the car. The interior feels plasticky and a super quick and efficient “mark” test tells me it wasn’t made properly or some 200 other people have decided to use the “mark” test. (The “mark” test includes pressing every available panel spacing with their own fingers and if there is a squeek, that is a negative point).

The worse part about the interior is that they have no leather seat option as well as they have garnished the interior with a very ugly blue cotton-cum-suede material which totally does not go well with any of the car colours available. Now don’t get me wrong, blue is my FAVOURITE colour and yet they manage to destroy it’s beauty! Worse of all, its also on your dashboard. The good thing about that is they have a light grey option which wasn’t available at the time of the sneak preview so I have no chance of seeing it. Doubt that it would be any difference.

The inside of the car feels bulky thanks to its garish interior design which sort of have a fixation of looking “muscular”. To put it into perspective, image a buffed up body builder covered in body oil and have muscles that squeek each time you perform the “mark” test on him. That pretty much sums it all up.

The 1.8 litre engine felt a little bit unresponsive just the same way how I feel that the Civic 1.8 isn’t responsive unless you tweak it up a bit. Road noise was minimal when I test drove it but no chance of testing it at higher speeds such as driving at 110kph on the highway.

Handling felt very normal and bouncy thanks to it’s soft suspension. I guess you have a trade off between comfort versus handling performance.

The spare tyre is the typical black steel rimmed ones. The signal light is located on the left.

The engine was made in Germany and the front windscreen is from France. The car was assembled in Korea so technically this car is a CBU unit.

Price wise, the car will be priced cheaper than the Civic so for those people who are looking to spend that amount of money, they have now a new choice to look at, which is the Chevrolet Cruze.

Note that Naza is now the importer of the Cruze and they have the official launch where our lovely Prime Minister will be there to launch it at KL Convention Center on Thursday.

Movie Review: Avatar

Posted on December 21, 2009 by Mark

avatar11 Movie Review: Avatar

In case you have been living under a coconut shell lately, or haven’t even caught up with the amount of movies you need to watch or if you have 2.45 hours to spare in your busy life, let me tell you what you should do. First of all is to head over to your local cinemas and buy tickets to watch this amazing show, Avatar. Why is it amazing? Let me tell you why.

My first thoughts about the show when I watched the trailer was that it was going to be a fully a computer generated film. That was my benchmark for the film. Only to be surprised that it wasn’t fully (although it was considerably made with CG), but the storyline and how the plot was built up made it very very entertaining.

Directed by James Cameron (Titanic, Alien), the story talks about a marine by the name of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who is handicapped due to a previous combat experience taking the place of his deceased brother on an alien planet inhabited by blue locals called the Navi.

avatar21 Movie Review: Avatar

In this show, the humans are depicted as the enemy (much like how I saw a tweet about the movie depicting America going to war against Iraq), where they went to this planet in search of extremely minerals called unobtanium. During their survey, the humans discovered a large deposit of those minerals sitting directly beneath a tribal village of the Navi.

avatar31 Movie Review: Avatar

In their attempts to move the village/settlement away peacefully, the humans developed Avatar‘s which is a combination of the human DNA as well as the Navi where the humans will link up with the Avatar‘s and go undercover amongst the Navi and interact with them. Each Avatar could only be controlled by the folks whose DNA was used and when Jake Sully’s brother (a scientist) died, he was then tasked to take over his brother’s role.

The movie then talks about how as Jake Sully used his Avatar and learned the ways of the Navi and only to learn that they weren’t the ones who are really savages.

The movie is indeed visually stunning and it contained enough action films to keep us at the edge of our seats. If you get the change to watch this show, please watch it in 3D! I missed that out so I am going to catch it again in 3D. Personally, the movie is indeed fantastic and I rate it only second to Star Trek (of all the 2009 movies).

Still don’t believe me that it is worth going? This is a movie that was rated 83% by Rotten Tomatoes!

Movie Review: X-Men Origins (Wolverine)

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Mark

wolverine Movie Review: X Men Origins (Wolverine)

I managed to catch this show last week and to be frank it was a fantastic show because not only was it action packed, I always have been a fan of the X-Men. Note that I don’t actually read much of the comics but coming from a movie fan (I never really liked how the shot the first 3 X-Men movies), this show really was a huge improvement.

The movie starts with how Logan was a boy and how he eventually ran away from home and the scenes move from him being part of the American Revolution, to world war 1 and world war 2 and eventually in Vietnam. The weird part about the beginning was that Logan started off with bone claws.

wolverine2 Movie Review: X Men Origins (Wolverine)

Anyway he was recruited by Stryker to join a team of other mutants where they went on missions around the world. Logan’s real story begins when Victor (a.k.a Sabretooth) went on a killing rampage during these missions which made Logan decide to quit and head into exile to live a peaceful life. When things start to go wrong and Stryker entering back into Logan’s life a few years later, Logan was then driven to avenge his lover’s death (killed by Sabretooth).

With revenge in his mind, Logan then decided to join the Weapon X program under Stryker and then received his adamantium skeleton and claws.

The movie was interesting to me because it also showed other heroes from the Marvel universe in the forms of Blob, Gambit, Wraith, Agent Zero, Deadpool and many more. From my discussions with some of my friends who were real avid fans of the X-Men comics, they have mentioned that the storyline is very different compared to the that of the comics.

I guess this argument holds true for the most recent movie, Watchmen, where the movie was created to reach audiences who were more unlikely not to have read the comics. The same goes for our Asian creators as well in the forms of Anime vs Manga where both have different views but of the same character.

My take as a viewer who never really followed the comics:

3.5 out of 5

Iron Man a.k.a Orang Besi

Posted on May 1, 2008 by Mark

Screamed the title of a superb movie, well not exactly the title but just the subtitle. After watching it last night, I felt that this was one of the better Marvel movies that was showed on the big screen. The awesome portrayal of Tony Stark as the eccentric billionaire played by Robert Downey Jr.

The movie started off with how Tony Stark who was the owner of Stark Industries whose father was one of the creators of the atomic bomb, became who he was. Now manufacturing high tech weaponry for the US government, he later realises that his deeds has returned to haunt him.

After being captured by militants and held in captivity for 3 months, in that period, Tony saw a lot of things that made him change and he returned not as an eccentric billionaire but as a changed man. Well he was still rather eccentric.

The things I love about this movie was the great balance between the action scenes, great special effects and the witty humour (not the same lame type from Spiderman or Fantastic Four). Frankly, among all of the other Marvel movies, this has to be one of my favourite ones. Ironically since Ironman is one of the heroes which doesn’t really have any super powers.

Interesting sites:

Mark Leo Dot Net

Loving all things photography, tech, gadgets, Apple and cars

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