2008 In Review - Movies

Did not spend much at the cinemas this year but watched a lot of movies anyway. :$ :D

Here are some short opinions of the Top 5 movies at the box office + the ones I most remember.


The Dark Knight - Great movie, great fun. But dulled somewhat by the hype.

Iron Man - Probably my favourite movie this year. A lot of hype on this one too but most of it came after it was released.


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Mostly entertaining but aliens? That South Park episode got it right, Indy was raped. And did it really need Shia LaBeouf? Does any movie need this guy? Someone in Hollywood must have a hard-on for him.

Hancock - Over-rated, a very weak plot and overall a whole lot of non-sense. It's movies like this that give summer flicks a bad name. But Charlize Theron looked hot.

Wall-E - Never knew robots could be this cute and full of emotions. Had watched the trailer and wondered how that would turn out but Disney/Pixar knew what they were doing. :)


Kung Fu Panda - Not bad up to when the fat Panda got good at kung-fu.

Saw V - Anyone who knows me well knows my love for the Saw movies and the twists. But not too happy with this one. Did not feel like much of a twist this year.

Hellboy 2 - One of the 6 movies I saw at the cinema this year. Had high expectations because I had loved the first movie, left mostly disappointed.

The Happening - Watched it in Thailand but not even that could make this movie look good. Not sure what M. Night Shyamalan is trying to do. If he can't come up with good stories anymore, it's really okay to direct scripts written by other people.

The Incredible Hulk - I thought it was quite good. If that's what they had come up a few years ago instead of that turd Ang Lee put out, maybe we could have had a sequel.

Tropic Thunder - Hadn't expected much from a movie directed by and starring Ben Stiller but this wasn't too bad. Retards are funny.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - Like Hellboy 2, a disappointment when compared to the previous movies.

You Don't Mess With The Zohan - Hilarious. :O Funniest movie I've watched this year.

2008 In Review - Games

My gaming activities in 2008.

On PC, played Football Manager 2008 for about a week and probably won't play it again, not even the next versions. Otherwise it was mostly the kiddy games - enjoyed Farm Frenzy 2 and Build-A-Lot 2 and 3.

On consoles, played a few new games on Wii but nothing overly impressive, except maybe Super Mario Galaxy.

I bought my PS3 in March. Obviously the game of the year here is GTAIV but also enjoyed Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (well, mostly my wife) and enjoying Resistance: Fall Of Man and Half-Life 2 from The Orange Box. And sadly for Sony, I'm still playing a lot of Winning Eleven 2008 on my PS2.


Will now go in Rant Mode. I bought a PS3 and did not get (and won't ever get) a 360 because I don't want to support Microsoft in their console ambitions. But yet other than that own personal reason of mine, I really don't see why somebody would buy a PS3 instead of a 360.

My PS3 is great and I enjoy myself when playing my games. But 9 months after buying the console, I still only have 6 games. There just aren't many PS3 games for which I'd be willing to fork out $80.

And Sony is being incredibly stupid about the whole thing. Just one example is the 360-exclusive add-ons for GTAIV. Why the hell didn't Sony fight for this? :#

The best thing that can happen in 2009 is somebody finally breaking the copy protection for the PS3. Or Sony could leak it. Then everybody can get cheap games and the PS3 console sales will skyrocket.

2008 In Review - Cool Videos

Lots of crap on YouTube but I enjoyed these 2 vids.

Best Man Video :O :O




Roomba Driver :) :$

2008 In Review - TV

Continuing the 2008 Review with the TV shows and games that made my year.

TV Shows
2008's the year I discovered and thoroughly enjoyed Doctor Who and its spin-off Torchwood. :~ So much that many other TV shows now pale in comparison.


But one that has in no way paled is Dexter. In fact, Dexter's had a much better season in 2008 than last year. For me, this is the best US TV show by far.


My other favourites in 2008 include Burn Notice, Lost and Pushing Daisies. I'm especially sad Pushing Daisies is on its way out, I feel this was one of the gems of US TV.

The new US fall TV season has been a big disappointment. The only 2 shows I'm enjoying are Life On Mars and Eleventh Hour. I'm not sure whether the fact that both are remakes of British shows has anything to do with it.

2008 In Review - Trips

As 2008 comes to an end, it's time to reflect back on some of the good stuff it brought. I'll start with my great trips of 2008. This excludes 2 short trips to KL in January and August.


08-16 June - Hua Hin and Bangkok, Thailand
Stayed At:
08-11 - Hua Hin Marriott Resort & Spa, Hua Hin
11-13 - Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa, Hua Hin
13-16 - Eastin Hotel and Spa, Bangkok

Background:
All thanks to a Team Conference held in Hua Hin. In my first visit to my favourite country since Chiang Mai in Feb 2006, happily extended the company-sponsored 3 nights with 2 more nights to fully explore Hua Hin and surrounding attractions and 3 nights in Bangkok.

Impressions:
A new destination to explore + an old favourite, good value hotels, free booze, Iron Man in a Bangkok cinema and a total of 8 nights in Thailand. Overall, a great fun trip.


09-13 August - Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Stayed At: Blue Lime. It had opened just days before we arrived, so new in fact that there wasn't a sign at the front door - that cost me some walking around with luggage. But nice hotel with pretty much all the furniture in concrete, loved the pool, great value for money at US$40 per night.

Background:
Booked this trip just 2 weeks before the departure date. Had considered Phnom Penh for the trip in November but dropped it in favour of HCMC. But when the long wait to November and a Jetstar promotion gave me itchy feet, Phnom Penh it was! Then dropped Jetstar because of their crappy schedules and this ended up as our first time flying SilkAir.

Impressions:
Was fun to visit a new city, a new country, even one with such a sad history. The motorcyclist taxis constantly hounding us and the beggar kids were a pain. But it was a beautiful place, easy to get around, easy to book sightseeing tours, with plenty of great and reasonably priced food.

Big fan of Cambodia's e-Visa system. Easy to use, pretty fast processing and it only cost US$25. This definitely makes it very attractive to visit Cambodia.


01-05 November - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Stayed At: Blue River Hotel. Continuing our trend of staying at cheaper but good hotels. This one cost US$27 a night. Will be hard to find a cheaper hotel anywhere else that's as good as this one.

Background:
Booked this trip way back in early July, before even the Phnom Penh trip. Our first time flying one of the budget airlines went to Jetstar. Our flights were alright and on time, so will probably use them again.

Impressions:
Again a city in a country I hadn't visited before, always fun to explore. Had read and heard a lot about how hard it is to cross the streets because of all the motorcycles but didn't really have that much trouble.

Loved Pho 24 and their Yoghurt dessert drinks, the excellent coffees available just about everywhere, the majestic Jesus statue and sunbathing in Vung Tao, the water puppet shows.

Not a big fan of the tour companies in Ho Chi Minh City. Limited tour choices, the prices really aren't that great and they're just too happy dumping 40 people in a coach instead of having smaller groups. It got even worse at the Cu Chi Tunnels, where our group got merged with at least 3 others. The tour guide, although funny with this $3-note jokes, didn't get a tip from us.

Also definitely not a fan of the hefty Vietnam visa fees which cost more than my plane ticket. Vietnam is a beautiful country but those visa fees will make me think twice before heading to Hanoi, Da Nang or any of their many places of interest.