American Idol

After 9 seasons, countless songs butchered by amateur contestants, some brilliant moments, somehow I am still sucked into watching American Idol on TV. However, this was the last season of AI with Simon Cowell. It won’t be the same without him next year, and judging by the contestant’s quality this year, I’m not sure if I will still follow it next year….

Taking a trip down memory lane, here is my review of the winners and runner ups of American Idol so far :

Season 1 : Kelly Clarkson vs Justin Guarini

I only started watching Idol from Season 2 onwards, but judging from how they are doing now, there’s absolutely no doubt who’s the winner here.

Season 2 : Ruben Studdard vs Clay Aiken

Back at those days, we were idolizing them like crazy, as if they were two of the greatest singers in the world. Looking back now, I realize how naïve I was back then. Sure, they were good, but they are not great. Where the hell is Ruben now? I still think that Clay is a better singer, but he’s just too broadway for mainstream pop.






Season 3 : Fantasia Barrino vs Diana Degarmo

It was the ladies’ year, and it was the year where Jennifer Hudson was supposed to win. But she was the first victim of people not voting because they think she would be save. So, in the end, Fantasia and Diana Degarmo (wtF??) went into the finals. We even got Jasmine Trias on top 3 (more wtF??).

Both ladies went into Broadway and doing OK there. Fantasia is definitely more unique compared to Diana.

Season 4 : Carrie Underwood vs Bo Bice

Right from the beginning (auditions / Hollywood week), I was hooked and knew who would win the season. No doubt about it. Grammy awards speaks for itself. Bo who? :P

It would be more interesting if Chris Daughtry got into the finals.






Season 5 : Taylor Hicks vs Katharine McPhee

How the hell did that old dude got into the finals, it still baffles me up to this day. Both finalist are just so-so, nothing special…. I remember that I watched this season just to see what Katharine would be wearing each week. Was not really interested in her singing :P

Season 6 : Jordin Sparks vs Blake Lewis

This is a classic case of singing vs entertaining. Jordin was clearly the better singer, but Blake was a very entertaining performer. Close fight, but nothing spectacular.

Season 7 : David Cook vs David Archuleta

The only season where I felt that the finalists are equally good, each with their own strengths. Didn’t really matter who won, because both are doing equally good now.

Season 8 : Kris Allen vs Adam Lambert

Here’s where we found out that most of the people who vote for AI are teenage girls and probably housewives who fantasize about getting it on with handsome boys. How else can you explain Kris Allen winning the season? I guess America is just not ready for Adam Lambert yet. But then again, look at their career now…..

Season 9 : Lee Dewyze vs Crystal Bowersox

The same thing happened again this year with Lee winning the title over Crystal, who is clearly the better singer and entertainer. Well, we’ll just see one year after….

Open Letter to TANGS marketing team

Dear TANGS,

As a valued cardmember, first I would like to thank you for sending me the invitation flyer to your closed door preview sale. However, I would like to make a comment on the design of the flyer. I understand that as a competitive organization, you have decided to copy other companies follow the marketing trend nowadays by showing "real" people as your customer, and stop using super-skinny-i haven't eaten in 5 days-models to portray your organization's image.

Having said that, may I remind you that even in the "real world", there are many kinds of people : the ones that makes you go "ooh i want to be that guy/girl", the normal ones who make up the most of the population, and the ones that makes you go "ugh! i hope my son/daughter doesn't turn up like THAT". Please remember that the goal of marketing is to make people want to buy stuff from your store. Therefore, please consider this point next time you want to come up with another advertisement.

I don't want to get another shock when I open up the envelope. Although, it is a good way to wake you up in the morning  ;-P

Sincerely,

Stefanus Djalim

P.S : The author is a narcissistic fashionista who believes that nobody is ugly, but some people need to take a look in the mirror first before they decided to become a model.

Movie Review : The Losers

Just come back from the cinema, watching The Losers. Didn't really do any background check on this movie before watching it. I just saw the trailer and posters everywhere around the island, and decided to risk my $8 and 90 minutes. 


The plot revolves around 5 special forces guys who were betrayed in Bolivia while they were on  a mission. The bad guy thinks that they are all dead, but they survived. 4 months later, enter Aisha (Zoe Saldana), who suddenly shows up and give them a proposition to catch the bad guy. Full story, click here.


The movie is another adaptation from a comic book series (seems like the trend nowadays). In fact, it really does feel like you're reading a supersized comic book when you watch the movie. Very, very comical, with all the slow motion, graphic pop ups, and witty one-liners. 


In a way, it kinda feel like a good try to replicate the A-Team (the remake of which, by the way, will be showing next month).


Overall, it is an average movie with predictable storyline, enough action (coming from Jeffrey Dean Morgan), comedy (Chris Evans) and sexy babe (Zoe Saldana), which will make you entertained for 90 minutes but you will soon forget about it. Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. We don't need blockbusters all the time. Sometimes all we need is a good night out at the cinema. 


So go ahead and watch it if you got nothing better to do. Or you can just wait for the DVD to come out :P

Movie Review : Valentine's Day

I know it seems like I'm in a movie marathon weekend, but it's nothing like that. This morning I just woke up too early and didn't know what to do, so I decided to watch Valentine's Day the movie, which I missed when it was showing in the cinema.

The concept of the movie is like Love Actually, where it follows a bunch of people in L.A on Valentine's Day, each have a storyline relating to L.O.V.E. All the big names are there, such as Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Garner, Jessica Alba, Bradley Cooper etc etc. Hey, even Taylor Swift makes her acting debut in this movie (Taylor girl, you should stick to singing, yeah? Please give up acting :P). 

With all the big names in there, people would have big expectations about the movie. So am I. However, I am so glad that I didn't waste $10 (and 2 hours) watching this movie in the cinema. The storyline is very predictable, the characters are weird, lots of unnecessary scenes not relating to anything, and the timeline is absolutely absurd (Jennifer Garner's character is able to drop by a flower shop in the morning, teach elementary school, fly to San Fransisco, go to the hospital to find out that her boyfriend is a lying pig, fly back to L.A, serve dinner, go to a party, and find true love, ALL IN ONE DAY!).

The only notable acting that I like is Anne Hathaway, who played a phone sex operator. She is just talented with words :)

Overall, I give it 2 out of 5. Totally not worth watching in the cinema, and also not worth the DVD.

And for the record, I do not give this movie a bad review because I am single, lonely, and miserable. A good movie needs to have a good script to begin with. Superstars doesn't equate good movie. It does, however, guarantee you at least one weekend as #1 box office. But it goes down quickly after that. 

So, for all of you suckers who still believe in love.... well, good for you. But I still prefer watching Kick-Ass anytime of the year :P

Movie Review : Kick-Ass

Another great movie that I've just watched in the cinema : Kick-A**! It's one of those 'sleeper' hits, where you don't really expect it to be a box office #1 movie, since there's no really big stars who acted in this one (well, except if you count Nicholas Cage, but c'mon..... yes he was good in some movies [Con Air, Face/Off], but most of his other movies are crap [National Treasure, Ghost Rider]).

The story is based on a comic book, and the main character in this movie is Dave Lizewski (played by Aaron Johnson), who is a high school student who is often bullied and mugged in the streets of New York. He wonders why nobody ever tried to be a superhero, like in the comic books. So he decided to don a ridiculous green suit and calls himself Kick-Ass. Of course, having no real power, he got beaten up by the gangsters, and ended up in hospital. But he didn't give up, and actually got better the second time round. 

Meanwhile..... there's a father-daughter team (Big Daddy and Hit Girl) who has a different agenda, but somehow got entangled in the action. The other character is called Red Mist, who is actually the son of the main enemy, but he pretended to be Kick-Ass' friend, so that he can lure him into a trap. For detailed story, click here.

Aaron Johnson did a good job playing the lead character, delivering the funny lines, even when it's supposed to be a serious scene (e.g : when he was about to get killed, he said "now I'll never know what really happens on LOST...."). But, the real star of the movie is actually Hit Girl, played brilliantly by Chloë Grace Moretz, a relatively unknown child actress. She really stole the show with all the words coming out of her mouth, and also all the actions that you would not expect from a 11 year old girl. No wonder this movie got an R rating...... 

Here are some of the memorable quotes:

Kick-Ass: “How do I get a hold of you?”
Hit-Girl: “You just contact the Mayor’s office, he has a special signal he shines in the sky. It’s in the shape of a giant c*ck.”

Hit-Girl: “Okay you c**ts. Lets see what you can do now.”

Big Daddy: “Have you thought a little more about what you might want for your birthday?”

Hit-Girl: “Can I get a puppy?”
Big Daddy: “You wanna get a dog?”
Hit-Girl: “Yeah, a cuddly fluffy one. And a Bratz movie star make over Sasha.”
[Big Daddy looks shocked.]
Hit-Girl: “I’m just f**cking with you Daddy… I’d love a bench made model 42 butterfly knife.”

Overall, I give this movie 4.5 out of 5, but that's only because Nicholas Cage is in it, and because the quality of the picture is not sharp... not sure if it's because of the cinema I was in or because it was a low budget movie. The storyline, the acting, the actions.... totally kicks ass!!!

Oh, and it also has a kick-ass soundtrack to go along with the movie...... sung by none other than Mika, who looks like a skinner version of Kick-Ass in the video.

Last quote from Hit-Girl : “Show's over, motherf**kers.”