Borak Omar dan Imran

Abang, kalau besar campur kecil jadi apa?
Besar campur kecil jadi besar lah.

Kalau kecil campur besar, jadi kecil?
Kecil campur besar, besar campur kecil, jadi besar lah.

Oooh. Kalau hotel campur rumah?
Hotel campur rumah jadi hotel lah.

Oooh. Kalau motor campur kereta jadi apa?
Motor campur kereta jadi kereta lah.

Kalau kereta campur lori?
Kereta campur lori jadi kereta lori, keretori.

Eh, mana boleh! Kereta campur lori mestilah jadi lori.
Apa-apalah adik ni.

Despicable Me 3, Wonder Woman, & Spider-Man: Homecoming

This is a long delayed post, and it's another movies update.

We saw three movies at the cinema in June-July: Despicable Me 3 (20 June), Wonder Woman (28 June), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (7 July).

The boys love the previous Despicable Me movies, including the absolutely delightful Minions (2015). We have a Minions: Seek and Find activity book they enjoy tremendously and keep returning to from time to time. In Despicable Me 3, reformed villain Gru discovers that he has a twin brother, Dru, who wants Gru to return to and instruct him on the ways of villainy. Personally, the Despicable Me franchise is starting to get boring, especially after the excellent Minions. The boys enjoyed the new movie, but not as much as they did its predecessors. A simple indicator to that effect is that they have not asked about it since. Animated movies take a few years to make. Let us see if they will eventually make a fourth Despicable Me movie without letting the whole franchise go stale.

Much has been written about Wonder Woman, the movie that may or may not have saved the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). We did not see Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Suicide Squad (2016) at the cinema. However, after seeing it on the the small screen I kind of like Man of Steel, which I think was a decent enough, if not bleak (foreshadowing?), introduction to DCEU. It didn't quite explode with a bang like what Iron Man (2008) did for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but Man of Steel is far better than Superman Returns (2006).

The appearance of Wonder Woman is the best part, and perhaps the only saving grace, in Batman v Superman, so we were really looking forward to seeing Wonder Woman the movie. The movie tells of the origin of Wonder Woman, aka Diana Prince, aka Princess Diana of Themyscira. While the earlier 1975 movie was set in World War II (I won't even pretend to have read the comics), the new movie is set in World War I, the "War to End All Wars", which worked wonderfully. Gal Gadot was amazing as Wonder Woman, and we are big fans of Chris Pine. Needless to say that we love it.

We promised Omar Spider-Man: Homecoming as a birthday treat, and took the boys to see the movie on its opening day. Instead of the typical origin story, Homecoming picks up from Spider-Man's debut appearance in Captain America: Civil War (2016) with Peter Parker now eager to prove himself as a full member of the Avengers. The casting of Tom Holland as Spider-Man aka Peter Parker was spot on, and Jon Favreau made a welcome return as "Happy" Hogan along with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. It was also a pleasant surprise to discover Jennifer Connelly lending her voice as Karen aka Suit Lady, following husband Paul Bettanny's role as Jarvis/Vision in the MCU. After Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in April, Marvel is definitely on a roll!

2017 has been a great year. More movies we are looking forward to seeing at the cinema in the coming months include The LEGO Ninjago movie in September, Thor: Ragnarok in October, Justice League and Coco in November, and of course, Star Wars: The Last Jedi in December.

Omar Broke LEGO

Omar broke a LEGO piece recently while assembling 75524 Chirrut Îmwe's bowcaster.

It was a small piece and a tricky assembly. The instruction required for the piece, called a "2m cross axle with groove" functioning as a pin, to be inserted partially before fitting a separate part. Omar over-inserted the piece, and broke it while trying to pull it out. There was no spare.

Thankfully, however, it still works, so Chirrut has his bowcaster.

Just in case, I submitted a request for replacement on LEGO's website. It's on the way.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

We had two free movie tickets to redeem by the end of May, so went to see King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

The movie first caught our attention last year by its teaser trailer. The legend of King Arthur and the sword Excalibur received a Guy Ritchie treatment with Sons of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam as the lead, and the result was a really fun movie.

I have reservations about reimagining established and well-known legends, as they are supposed to be based on, or at least inspired by, historical characters and events. However, Legend of the Sword somehow worked perhaps by not taking itself too seriously, unlike the 2004 movie. The Arthurian legend is pure fiction after all.

April, at the Movies

We were all looking forward to Beauty and the Beast, and it didn't disappoint. The boys loved it. They still sing the songs.

Ghost in the Shell was such a disappointment. I never cared about the supposed whitewash, but what a waste. Amazing to think how so similar it was to Beauty and the Beast, in being fairly faithful remakes of successful animated features, yet with such opposite turn-outs.

Smurfs was quite a let down too. If only they spent a bit more effort (and money?) to give it a better soundtrack. See Trolls. Also further proof nobody does animation like Disney.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was another hit, despite that ridiculous pose of Star-Lord in the poster, and the soundtrack was awesome. Better than the original.

Power Rangers

We saw the Power Rangers movie yesterday, on its opening day, and Afi said that I should write a review of it.

Firstly to confess: I saw the first Power Rangers movie back in 1995. I remember enjoying the movie, but honestly don't remember how it went at all. Even a quick read of its Wikipedia entry didn't jog my memory. However, I am positive that I watched the movie, perhaps even all by myself. I remember the surprised reaction of my friends when they found out that I went to see Power Rangers at the cinema.

Power Rangers 2007 was a reboot with our five new rangers the first human rangers. However, the beginning of the movie recalled so much of The Breakfast Club with our main characters meeting in Saturday detention. We were then given background stories of each of our five "screw-ups", which by now famously included the first autistic and gay superheroes, before the final showdown with the big bad.

Overall, it was a fun movie. I liked the story. It was a Power Rangers movie after all, so better not to think too much into it. Never mind, for example, how our five newly-minted rangers were able to defeat a powerful ancient witch after less than two weeks of training.

A mid-credit scene hinted at the sixth green ranger for a planned sequel. I read somewhere that there could be as many as five movies in the series, so watch out, Power Rangers fans!

Determination