Author: Huy

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Lockout

Guy Pearce plays a cop or some type of  government agent named Snow that gets put in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.  But when a maximum security prison located in orbit around the Earth gets overrun by the inmates they happen to kidnap the President’s daughter, who happens to be on a  humanitarian mission to the space prison. The people that put Snow away now want his help.  Snow now much sneak into the prison and rescue the President’s daughter.

Seeing Guy Pearce playing a sci fi action hero was kind of weird. Almost as weird as seeing Adrien Brody in Predators. But Pierce plays it well and he can be pretty funny at times. There’s enough action in the movie to keep you entertained and some of the CG effects are just plain laughable.

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

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The Hunger Games

In a post-apocalyptic era of the US, each year a young boy and girl are selected from 12 different districts to battle to the death on live television in an event called the Hunger Games.  For the 74th annual Hunger Games Katniss Everdeen volunteers in place of her younger sister.  Katniss is joined by Peeta Mellark to represent their district.  Like American Idol, the last person standing wins – but instead of a sing off, the contestants must fight, kill, and survive.

For some the movie can be a bit slow. It has a steady pace and all action and excitement is in the last half of the movie during the Hunger Games. As the first movie of a trilogy its a great start and I hope the sequel takes it up a notch.

Rating: ★★★★★★★½☆☆

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John Carter

John Carter is a sci fi fim that is based on a story that was written about a hundred years ago.  This movie depicts Mars as a planet on the brink of death with two factions in all out war.   On Earth the year is 1868 and John Carter, played by Taylor Kitsch, is a former US Calvary soldier who is magically teleported to Mars.  Carter then finds himself in the midst of the war and he must fight with one of the factions to save its people and to save the planet.

This film tries very much to be epic, but it falls short with poor delivery of its story. Since this story is about a hundred years old and many of the other recent sci fi movies such as the Matrix, Star Wars, and Avatar have been inspired from it makes John Carter a tale a little outdated for today’s audience.

Rating: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

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New iPad Review

I was one of the fortunate ones who was able to pre-order and received it on launch day.  Apple has decide not use a numerical indicator to name their newest generation iPad, so instead it’s just called the ‘new iPad’. I guess people will have to refer future iPads to the corresponding release year.

Anyhow, this new iPad has three big upgrades. First is the rear camera. Its a 5 mp camera which is essentially an iPhone 4 cam.  It takes great photos and records at 1080p videos.  But who here will be snapping pictures and recording videos with this 10 inch tablet?  Probably not many, but just in case you need to its nice to know it can do a decent job at it.

Second, Apple has thrown in LTE capabilities. Now your new iPad, ones with LTE, will be able to access the internet with LTE speeds on Verizon and on AT&T.  LTE coverage is growing quickly across the US for both providers and this new iPad is going to need all the bandwidth it can get.

Lastly, the biggest upgrade is the ultra high definition screen.  With a 2048 x 1536 resolution it doubles that of its predecessor and quadruples its pixel count all in the same size screen.  What does that mean?  Well, one thing you’ll notice is that displayed text is incredibly sharp and clear.  It’s almost as if you’re reading the text off a magazine.  Games and Apps that take advantage of the high  resolution screen will be much more detailed.

I’ve been using the new iPad for a week now and it’s a fantastic device. I love playing games on it and browsing the web.  As a news junkie, reading on the new iPad hasn’t been more fun.  I believe the only thing that is really going to convince you to pick up the new iPad is its hi-def screen. If you’re perfectly fine with the current resolution then there’s really no need to shell out $500 bucks for another one.  Keep in mind everything you do with the iPad is still the same.  The same limitations are there . There’s still no flash support and all apps needs to be installed through the App Store. It’s not going to replace your desktop or laptop, but it’s still makes for a great companion device.

With this new iPad Apple has set the standard incredibly high.  Current tablet makers are still trying to catch up to the iPad 2, but they’re closing the gap, a fairly large one, when it comes to hardware.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★½☆

Pros:
Amazing screen
Decent battery life
Great camera
Supports LTE

Cons:
Expensive
Walled Garden ecosystem

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UFC 144

This UFC’s first event in Japan in a very long time (since UFC 29). This event is stacked with great fights. Check out my picks below. Sorry, no time for a main event analysis.

The event is actually taking place on Sunday in Japan, but because of the time difference we (here in the US) will be able to view it live on PPV today.

My Picks:

Frankie Edgar beats Benson Henderson
Quinton Jackson beats Ryan Bader
Cheick Kongo beats Mark Hunt
Yushin Okami beats Tim Boetsch
Joe Lauzon beats Anthony Pettis
Norifumi Yamamoto beats Vaughan Lee
Takanori Gomi beats Eiji Mitsuoka

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This Means War

Two best friends who happens to be CIA agents find themselves dating the same girl. They make it a game to see who can win her heart. They even use their high tech gadgets and surveillance skills to one-up each other. The game quickly becomes personal, and it affects their friendship.

This action romantic comedy is lacking in the action and romantic part, but this movie is still funny and entertaining.

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

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UFC 143

Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit will be fighting for the welterweight interim title. This is a very interesting match up.  Condit is well-rounded with great composure in tense fights. Diaz loves to put on pressure and it’s that pressure that breaks down many of his opponents.  But in this fight, Diaz will be up against someone who can deal with an onslaught of punishment and dish major punishment of his own.  Condit will need to prevent Diaz from getting into a groove such as allowing Diaz to throw hundreds of those slap punches and controlling the pace and the octagon.  I see this being a very close fight but with the edge going to Carlos Condit.

My Picks:

Carlos Condit beats Nick Diaz
Roy Nelson beats Fabricio Werdum
Josh Koscheck beats Mike Pierce
Renan Barao beats Scott Jorgensen
Dustin Poirier beats Max Halloway
Ed Herman beats Clifford Starks

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Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Ethan Hunt and the entire IMF organization has been disavowed by their own government after a bomb blows up the Kremlin.  Now Hunt, played by Tom Cruise, and his rogue team must find the culprit that has framed them for the bombing and to prevent an all out nuclear war with Russia.  Ghost Protocol is action packed and the daring stunts will leave you at the edge of your seats.

It’s also nice to know that with a couple of Apple products and some BMW vehicles you can pretty much save the world.  If you enjoyed the last Mission Impossible movies then you will definitely be pleased with this one.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

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UFC 142

UFC is back in Brazil and this time Jose Aldo will be defending his title against rising star, Chad Mendes.  Mendes, undefeated, will try to do something his team mate, Urijah Faber, was unable to do by defeating the champion Jose Aldo. This fight is a classic striker vs wrestler matchup and it’ll be interesting how the fight unfolds. Aldo has been destroying his opponents with his striking and he hasn’t had a chance to use this grappling skills, so Mendes may give him that opportunity.  If the fight goes to the ground Aldo will need more than just a decent ground game as Mendes is a legit collegiate wrestler with a wealth of experience.

As good as Mendes is this will be his toughest fight of his career. Aldo is a dangerous striker with excellent takedown defense. Mendes will need to take a page out of Kenny Florian’s game plan when he fought against Aldo. He’ll need to stuff Aldo against the cage and utilize dirty boxing and take him to the ground when he gets the chance. Giving Aldo any distance will just let him utilize his explosive striking.  I’m rooting for Mendes, but it’s hard to see him pull a win over the Brazilian champion.

My Picks:

Jose Aldo beats Chad Mendes
Vitor Belfort beats Anthony Johnson
Rousimar Palhares beats Mike Messenzio
Edson Barboza beats Terry Etim
Sam Stout beats Thiago Tavares
Ednaldo Oliveira beats Gaberiel Gonzaga
Mike Pyle beats Ricardo Funch
Yuri Alcantara beats Michihiro Omigawa

 

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Blackberry 9790 Review

The Blackberry Bold 9790 is the latest to be released by RIM. The 9790 is an evolution of the popular 9700/9780 model. RIM has taken it’s flagship 9900 and scaled it down to a smaller form factor.  This device is marketed toward the emerging markets and for users who want to use a smaller device such as women and people with smaller hands; at least that’s what RIM is saying.

There are several improvements over it’s predecessor (9780). The device is thinner, faster processor (1 Ghz), more ram (768mb ), OS 7, and it has a touch screen.  Since the phone’s screen is only 2.44 in the touch screen plays less of a role when compared to it’s bigger brother, 9900.  I find myself using the trackpad more often on the 9790. But the touch screen is great for macro movements such as scrolling through a webpage or a lists of media files, and messages.

Even though the 9900 is touted as the flagship Blackberry there are a couple of features that the 9790 has it beat. For some reason RIM decided to not implement the autofocus on the 9900, but has it on the 9790. Autofocus is very important if you want to take closeup shots or take photos of varying depth of a scene.  But for video, the 9900 is able to record at 720p whereas the 9790 can only record at VGA resolution.  The second is battery life.  The battery life on the 9790 is superb, but for the 9900 it struggles to last a whole work day. To be fair the latest OS updates has helped the 9900 in that department.

So if you’re looking to get a new Blackberry 9790 you’ll need to look outside the US as it’s not sold in the states yet.  Be sure to get it unlocked so you can use it on your GSM carrier. If you’re deciding between the 9790 and the 9900 you’ll have to ask yourself the question; is the trade off of the camera and battery life better than the luxurious and spacious keyboard on the 9900? If it is, then go for the 9790.  For those who prefer the classic curve/Bold 9700 size Blackberry the 9790 would be the best Blackberry to date for them.  For me, to get the true Blackberry experience one must try the 9900 keyboard. It’s hands-down the best mobile phone keyboard by a mile. But then again everyone has their own preferences so it’s best to get these phones in your hands and try it out yourself.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

Pros:
Excellent battery life
Fast and smooth UI
Autofocus camera

Cons:
VGA only video recording
Not available in the US yet
Keys can be stiff at first use