Friday, December 19, 2008

Starhub Triple Freedom Pack Lite

It's quite a deal if you ask me. Below are the summarised details.

Terms and conditions

1. must not have any existing TV or MaxOnline contract.
2. minimum subscription of $38.52 to TV (including 3 basic groups or more and excluding set top box rental)
3. one year contract.

Goodies

1. free HubStation rental for 3 months.
2. free MaxOnline SurfLite for one year (after which prevailing rates applies)
3. free home phone line with unlimited local calls (retain existing or get new number) as long as a subscription to TV or MaxOnline is maintained.
4. free voice enabled modem (for MaxOnline and home phone line)

Tips and tricks to get the most bang for your buck

1. If you do not need the free modem because you already have one, then you can exchange it for 3000 Starhub points. This is equivalent to 10 months of HubStation rental.
2. Choose the channels you like that are in promotion eg HBO pack which is 50% off for the first 3 months etc. After 3 months, change to other channels that are in promotion. Repeat again when promo is over. Take note that a $10.70 administrative charge applies so make sure the savings you made throughout the promo period is more than that.
3. Take the HubStation and enjoy the 3 months free rental. If you don't use any the HubStation recording function, return it after that and change your channels to include a digital channel which comes with free rental of a digital set top box.
4. After the one year contracts end, exchange your digital set top box to HubStation (if you are not already renting one), downgrade your channels to the basic 3 groups and terminate your MaxOnline. You got TV, free 1Mbps broadband on the HubStation and home phone line with unlimited local calls with the free modem, all for $34.24.

More details here

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Jangan Pandang Belakang

A man investigates the mysterious death of his fiancee and discover more than he bargained for.

Rose commit suicide and her boyfriend Darma as well as her twin sister Seri never believe for one second that Rose will take the easy way out. After tracing back what actually happened to Rose, they find evidences that suggest supernatural intervention.

I think I am not the only one who is sick with horror movies from the west. It is either a slasher flick or some mystery that cheats the audience in the end. Asians have loads of creepy tales that send chills down the spine, just verbally. Can you imagine how scary it can be with visual aids?

After reading mixed reviews of this movie, I guess it was worth to check it out even though I can almost immediately expect the worse. I was not wrong

This movie is way overrated, way too much. It's bad in many ways. The sequence is bad; some scenes were simply redundant or non coherent; storyline is pretty much loose and non-contiguous; bad acting. I can go on. To its credit, there are two scenes which I feel were genuinely scary. But when compiled as a whole, even that cannot save the movie.

I understand that it is not easy especially for our Malay film industry to embark on a new genre like this. With pretty much minimal expertise in the area iof special effects, it is even harder. But like I said earlier, if ghost stories from this region can scare the crap out of you just verbally, why the need for elaborate visual effects?

I feel that there are many ways this movie can be improved.

First of all, better actors please.

Next, clean up the storyline. If it is meant to be simple, then make it as it should be. Why the need for the security guard to have so many lines and giving impression of importance when in the end he was not even necessary. Why have cartoonish characters like the bus driver?

Camera angle in my opinion can and should be exploited further particularly for horror films. The thing about ghost is the fact that it scares us with thoughts of how it looks like. When shown too much of it, especially with poor makeup, it then become an object of amusement rather than one that instills fear. With the right camera angle, viewers know it's there but with just glimpse of it, the rest is left to our wild imagination.

My dissapointment stems not only from viewers who can't tell horror from comedy and gave unrealistic ratings, but more from the fact that older Malay movies were of much better quality than this. Take for example Rahsia starring Noor Kumalasari. It a freaky show and it's stamped in my mind that I can still remember it till today, even after 20 years. Then there's Pengabdi Setan and Arwah Penasaran, both Indonesian films. Those two scared the crap out of me way back then.

If it can't beat those 3 films I mentioned, especially in this day of age, with more technology at movie makers' disposal, than Jangan Pandang Belakang don't a deserve a mention, other than it was released with smart promotions.

Horror movie lovers should just forget about this movie. Like the title suggest, jangan pandang belakang. There is nothing to regret about missing it.