Just 2 days ago, I went to GSC cinema in Queensbay Mall to watch Dr Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who in its debut opening day on the 13th of March 2008.

The book tells the story of Horton the Elephant who, on the fifteenth of May in the Jungle of Nool, hears a small speck of dust talking to him. It turns out the speck of dust is actually a tiny planet, home to a city called “Who-ville”, inhabited by microscopic-sized inhabitants known as Whos.

The Whos ask Horton (who, though he cannot see them, is able to hear them quite well) to protect them from harm, to which Horton happily obliges, proclaiming throughout the book that “a person’s a person, no matter how small”. In doing so he is ridiculed and forced into a cage by the other animals in the jungle for believing in something that they are unable to see or hear. His chief tormentors are Vlad Vladikoff, the Wickersham Brothers and the Sour Kangaroo, and the small kangaroo in her pouch. Horton tells the Whos that they needed to make themselves heard to the other animals, lest they end up as part of “beezlenut stew”, which they finally accomplish. The Whos finally make themselves heard by ensuring that all members of their society play their part. In the end it is the smallest Who of all, Jo-Jo, who provides the last volume lift to be heard, thus reinforcing the moral of “a person’s a person no matter how small”.

Now convinced of the Whos’ existence, Horton’s neighbors vow to help him protect the tiny community.

It’s interesting to see a pretty big creature like Horton concerned with protecting the tiniest creatures of all…even if the others in the jungle of Nool may not believe that’s he’s right about all those tiny people on the speck (well, maybe Rudy, the Sour Kangaroo’s son, may think he could be right…)

Lovable characters like Horton, who can be serious at times (and is truly determined) but also wild-and-crazy, full of imagination and whimsy. Like the mayor, who is determined to protect his city from the dangers they’re now being exposed to (who will protect the protector? “A giant elephant, up in the sky!… Don’t bother to look, he’s invisible…”)

Highly recommended! The look of the film is visually stunning, and a good voice cast (CBS Radio’s Charles Osgood narrates; the mayor and his wife are Steve Carrell and Amy Poehler, and Jim Carrey of course is Horton.

I just came back from watching Evan Baxter of Bruce Almighty. Evan Almighty is a 2007 comedy film, and sequel to the 2003 film Bruce Almighty. It was directed by Tom Shadyac and stars Steve Carell, and Lauren Graham, with Morgan Freeman reprising his role as God. The show was hilariously funny with the back up animals trailing Evan all the time. Everyone thought Evan was going crazy building a huge ark and predicting the floods will be coming on 22nd September. Well, the floods did come, but not from the rain. The nearby dam broke and could not contain the water due to shoddy work and greed. And Genesis 4:16 keeps reminding Evan to build an ark initially when he was opposed to the idea, before he had to give in to God’s command.

It all started when newly elected to Congress, former local TV newsman Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) leaves Buffalo behind and shepherds his family to suburban northern Virginia. His congressional campaign declared that he would change the world, but he never stated how. Once he reaches his new home and job, strange things start to happen. Animals (all different kinds of animals) start following Evan around. He grows a beard that won’t go away no matter how many times he shaves. Eight vacant lots in Evan’s neighborhood are purchased in Evan’s name. Stone age tools and wood planks are sent to his house.

And the number 614 appears everywhere he goes. Evan soon learns that the number is a verse in the Bible. In the book of Genesis, 6:14 is the verse in which God instructs Noah to build the ark. Soon after, God (Morgan Freeman) appears and mysteriously commands him to build an ark because a flood is coming. His family comes to believe he is having an extraordinary mid-life crisis, but soon thinks he is truly onto something of Biblical proportions. God tells Evan the flood will come September 22 mid-day. Animals start following Evan to Congress causing him to eventually be suspended by Congressman Long (John Goodman) from work after he tells everyone that God told him to build an ark. His wife Joan and his three sons leave for her mother’s house after seeing it on a news report, leaving him to build the ark himself, which gains international notice. Weeks after Joan leaves Evan, God appears to her as a waiter at a diner. He tells her that God doesn’t give things, he gives the opportunity to get things. For example, God doesn’t give a family togetherness, he gives the opportunity for families to be together. Seeing his meaning, Joan returns to Evan to finish the ark together. Incidentally ARK is the acronym is an Ack of Random Kindness done one at a time.

Last night, I was this entertaining animated movie in Queenbay Mall Cineplex. In yet another attempt to capitalize on the immense popularity of cute little penguins, Surf’s Up follows the adventures of Cody Maverick, as he goes from a outcast penguin in Shiverpool, Antartica, where he surfs on chunks of ice, to Pen Gu Island where he will compete in the Big Z Memorial Surf-Off.

Voiced by Shia LaBeouf, Cody has always been a bit of a wildcard in the world of penguins. However, his love of surfing cannot be questioned. He idolizes a legendary surfer named Big Z, but when Z is killed in a tragic surfing accident, Cody vows to go to the Surf-Off and win the championship. Along the way, he meets a spaced-out surfer named Chicken Joe (yeah, he’s a chicken), a sexy lifeguard named Lani (sexy in the penguin world, I suppose) and a recluse nick-named Geek. All of these people will play integral roles in Cody’s quest to become the best surfing bird in the entire world. However, to do so, he must face his arch-nemesis in a final showdown – Tank “The Shredder” Evans, the heartless bully who will stop at no ends to make sure the championship trophy ends up in his nest with all his other “ladies”. Some celebrity voices to be found in this movie include Jeff Bridges, Jon Heder, Zooey Deschanel and James Woods.

What sets Surf’s Up apart from anything else we have seen in the last several years is the fact that the movie is shot documentary-style, complete with a penguin camera crew, hand-held cameras, off-camera interviews, boom mics and anything else you can think should be featured in your everyday documentary movie. It follows Maverick’s journey from Shiverpool to the surfing championships, it interviews him, his family, his competitors and most of the characters with whom he comes into contact. It makes for a fun, interesting and very humourous movie and without a doubt, one of the most thoroughly entertaining movies of the year, so far.

Surf’s Up tries something old and something new. Yeah, you would think that the whole penguin angle has been a little overplayed, but they throw in a few oddball characters here and there, a handful of surfboards, a pretty decent soundtrack, a hilarious little baby penguin, the perfect voice for every character and a new style with the documentary thing going on and this movie hits a home run. I have to admit when I saw yet another penguin movie, I probably rolled my eyes and said I wouldn’t see it but I was wrong on this one. Surf’s Up is pure entertainment and is sure to be a big hit this season.

Yesterday, it was full house almost except for 4 vacant seats left for the 8:30pm show in QueensBay Mall in Penang for the debut opening of Transformers movie. I had no choice but to take the 2 seat right in the front row if I wanted to catch the 8:30pm show.

The movie lasted 2 and a half hours and it was fun just watching the tranformers changed to racing cars, trucks, planes, and other automobiles and vice versa. The graphics animation was superb and storyline interesting. Some parts it was just too fast in the action-packed movie. I love Optimus Prime, the leader of Autobots (photo above). The colours of bright blue and red reminds me of Superman and Spiderman. Somehow, I noticed that in most of the moview, the good guys wear the blue and red costume while the bad guys wear black with sharp fangs.

This is a show not to be missed and you will love the light-hearted moments. The part where one of the autobots urinated on some human being was funny. Imagine a robot urinating, just like humans and animals. In many way, the transformers are like human beings, with feelings and sensitivity. Bring your kids along to watch this stunning movie.