The Boat [Movie Review] | I have never heard of this movie before until I saw the poster on one of the many whatsapp groups that I have on my phone. 

The poster got me interested to watch it, so here goes. 

SYNOPSIS

• Directed by: Winston Azzopardi

• Produced by: Winston Azzopardi, Joe Azzopardi, Roy Boulter

• Production companies: Latina Pictures, Hurricane Films
• Distributed by: Carnaby International

• Release date: Oct 21, 2019

• Running time: 88 minutes

• Language: English

• Tomatometer: 78%

• IMDb: 5.6/10
• Winston Azzopardi was nominated for Best DIrector at the 2019 National Film Awards UK. 
• The name Aeolus is most likely from Greek mythology. Though there are 3 characters with the name - the son of Poseidon, the son of Helen and the last son of Hippotes. 

A young fisherman starts his day by heading towards the middle of the sea to do his job - fishing. And suddenly he's in the middle of a thick fog. If this is me, I would have been miles away from the fog already. But he stays in the fog until his small boat knocks on a white yacht named The Aeolus. 

He checks out the yacht - it is completely deserted. He goes up just to find that his boat is no longer tied to the yacht. He tries the radio on the yacht - nothing. So now he is literally alone, in the middle of nowhere. 

He somehow got trapped inside the toilet and cannot get out of it despite everything he tried. There were evidence that someone has tried to free himself/ herself before when he encountered blood marks inside the mirror cabinet inside the toilet. 

And while he tries to free himself, he thinks he heard someone outside of the toilet. When he finally managed to get out of the toilet, the boat is already waist-deep in seawater. He tries everything to pump the water out. Tired, he sleeps below deck. 

And when he wakes up, again, the door is locked. Weird though, it seems that the Aeolus is on autopilot heading back into a heavy fog area. 

Will he ever free from the boat? And what's wrong the boat?

MY REVIEW

Plot: 4.6/ 5.0 Weird enough, I stayed throughout the movie and didn't fall asleep. The ordeal that this fisher went through made me nervous about the sea.

Just when you think he will rise above the ordeals, comes another one. The twists certainly keeps me stay through the movie.

Cast: 4.7/ 5.0 What cast? There's only one actor and despite that you could count the amount of lines that he said in the movie, he conveyed his feelings well through his facial expression and body language. 

Yes, there's only one actor. 

Will I review it again: No. Not because that it is not great but because it enhances my anxiety about traveling on sea. 

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

#TheBoat #MovieReviewbyRawlins #Horror #Mystery #Thriller #RawlinsGLAM #RawlinsLifestyle #Drama

Ava [Movie Review] | MCO 2.0 has really got me going as I'm going all out to watching all the movies that I could find online. 

I have been wanting to watch this movie ever since I saw its trailer. 

SYNOPSIS

• Directed by: Tate Taylor

• Produced by: Jessica Chastain, Kelly Carmichael, Nicolas Chartier, Dominic Rustam

• Production companies: Voltage Pictures, Freckle Films
• Distributed by: Vertical Entertainment

• Release date: July 2, 2020

• Running time: 97 minutes
• Rating: R (for violence and language throughout, and brief sexual material)

• Country: United States
• Language: English
• Box office: USD 3.3 million

• Tomatometer: 17%
• Metascore: 39

• IMDb: 5.4/10
• Original, Matthew Newton was to direct the movie. After he was critiqued for several scandals, he stepped down and Tate Tayloy was made director. 
• During shooting, Ava's name was Eve. But to avoid confusion of a movie (Killing Eve), the studio decided to change the name to Ava. Thus affecting the movie's title and all scenes prior to the decision. 
• I can't help but to compare this movie to Geena Davis' 'The Long Kiss Goodnight'. 

The movie starts with Ava picking up an English businessman at the airport before bringing him to a secluded area. The man thought Ava wants to have fun with him. Instead, Ava was actually assigned to kill him. But Ava loves to talk and question her prey on what their wrongdoings are before killing her victims. 

And not far from the car, there was a girl on a powerbike eavesdropping on her conversation with the man. 

After the assignment is done, Ava returns to the States and directly goes to Boston to visit her mother who is hospitalised and whom she has not met for eight years. 

Later, Ava was sent on another assignment in Saudi Arabia to kill a German general. Her handler, Duke reminds Ava not to 'play' with her enemy and directly kill them instead. But Ava still keeps to her routine, questioning the general as he was taking his last breathes. And then, the general's security guards come in and a fight ensues. Ava manages to flee the scene, leaving all men dead. She was given a time-off by Duke and she returns home. 

Duke met with Simon, his superior to explain about the almost-failed assignment. And it was actually Simon's daughter who was eavesdropping on Ava in France. Simon believes that Ava has become a liability and wants Ava to be 'removed' from the assignment list. 

An assassin was sent by Simon to kill Ava but Ava manages to subdue and kill the assassin. 

Duke knows about the assassination attempt on Ava and faces Simon. The men fights, resulting in Simon killing Duke. Simon sends the video of him killing Duke to Ava. 

Simon tries to kill Ava in her hotel room. And he fails. As he walks away, Ava races down after him. 

Who will win this time around?

MY REVIEW

Plot: 4.0/ 5.0 The plot is predictable. The spy is going against the normal protocol and the higher-ups want to take her out of the equation - no less end. Being an assassin herself, of course she fights back. 

The movie is entertaining, at its best. But again, you should watch The Long Kiss Goodnight and then you'll know why I compare this one to that movie. 

Cast: 4.5/ 5.0 There are A list actors here - their performance were superb. But then again, the plot kinda spoils the movie a bit.

Will I watch it again: I don't mind watching it again. 

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

#Ava #MovieReviewbyRawlins #Action #Crime #Thriller #RawlinsGLAM #RawlinsLifestyle

Daybreakers [Movie Review] | The movie was suggested in an FB page so I decided to watch it. Guess I'm in the mood for a vampiric movie, eh?

The movie came out in 2009. So, I am wondering - did I missed it when it came out, was it not aired in Malaysia or was it a terrible movie that my mind blocked it out?

Well, we'll see.

SYNOPSIS

• Directed by: The Spierig Brothers

• Produced by: Chris Brown, Sean Furst, Bryan Furst

• Production companies: Particular Crowd, Headlong Entertainment
• Distributed by: Lionsgate

• This movie is considered an 'Ozploitation' (Australian exploitation) picture due to the bunch of Aussie actors. 
• The makers of the movie hosted a photo manipulation contest to come up with images of how the world would look like if nearly everyone were a vampire. 
• Release date: September 11, 2009

• Running time: 98 minutes
• Rating: R (For bloody violence, language and brief nudity)

• Country: United States
• Language: English
• Budget: US 20 mill
• Box Office: US 51.4

• Tomatometer: 69%
• Metascore: 57

• IMDb: 6.4/10

Almost the whole world population been transformed into vampires, caused by a plague that enraged the world in 2009. And we know that vampire lives off of human blood. When the human population trickles down, the vampires realise that their 'blood bank' will be depleted.

Some of the vampires that were deprived of human blood turned into a bat-like monster and eats almost anything - vampires included. The turned vampires are called 'subsiders'. 

In order to maintain the 'blood bank', humans were captured and their blood were harvested in order for the vampires to come up with a synthetic blood. 

10 year later, Edward, the head haematologist is tasked to come up with the blood substitute for the US largest human blood supplier. One night (well, he's a vampire), as he returns home from work, he accidentally runs off another vehicle off the road. And the occupants are human. But Edward decides to hide them from the police and helps the human to run from the scene. 

Later, his brother, Frankie, comes to visit him, bearing  a bottle of human blood as a gift for his birthday. Edward has been drinking animal blood for so long refuses the gift. As Frankie about to storm out of Edward's house, a subsider invades the house as it follows the human blood smell. Frankie manages to kill the subsider, who turns out to be the gardener from Edward's neighbourhood. 

The next day, one of the human that he saved, Audrey visits him at home and gives him instructions for a meeting. Out of curiosity, he goes and there he meets with Elvis, a former vampire who is now a human. Intrigued as to how Elvis able to become human again, Edward wants to know more about the transformation. But the meeting was cut short when Frankie ambushes the meeting with a military team. Audrey, Elvis and Edward manage to flee the attack in Edward's car. 

In the human's safe house, Edward learns that Elvis was cured of vampirism when he was ejected from his car during an accident, exposed to the sun that burned him for a precise length of time before he landed in a river. Edwards wants to recreate the incident and agrees to become the lab-rat.

At the safe house, Edward meets with Alison, who happens to be his boss' daughter and she refuses to be a vampire. She was caught when the military raids the place and was forcibly turned into a vampire by Frankie. When she refuses to drink human blood, she turns into a subsider which forces his father to sentence to death by exposing her to sunlight with other subsiders. 

Did Edward manage to find the cure? But, will the vampire population wants to be human and mortal again if he did?

MY REVIEW

Plot: 4.0/ 5.0 Vampires also love power and in this one, the twist is revealed towards the end, as to why human blood is priceless to the vampires (apart from being their source of living). I was actually looking forward to more 'Blade' or at least 'Underworld' type of movie but that's not the case here. 

Enjoyable but a bit draggy, to my liking. 

Cast: 4.6/ 5.0 Great performances from the cast. 

Will I watch it again: I probably would, but not in the top 10 list of vampire movies. 

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

#Action #SciFi #Daybreakers #MovieReviewbyRawlins #Thriller #RawlinsGLAM #RawlinsLifestyle #Vampire

What's Cooking @ Foodies Gourmet Market & Café, Bandar Kinrara? | A week before MCO 2.0 was announced, my friends and I decided to café hopping and we unanimously agreed to visit a café in Bandar Kinrara, a city that's accessible to all of us. 

Arriving at the area, my eyes went directly to the huge shop sign that says FOODIES GOURMET. Nice - so the place is easy to find. And amazingly, the shop is situated right behind the LRT Station Kinrara BK5. So, the place is very accessible.

Foodies Gourmet Market & Café, No. 29, Jalan BK5A/ 3A, Bandar Kinrara 5, Puchong, Selangor

Adhering to the SOP, we scanned the MySejahtera QR Code, took our temperature and applied hand sanitiser before entering the establishment. 

But wait. This looks like a mini-market and not a café? 

There are shelves where a whole lot of spices and other cooking necessities (sauces, seasoning and many other) were on display. And some are brands that I have not seen elsewhere. 

And there were freezers and display units to display meat of all parts too. Oh wow. The meats are all from Australia and of course, halal meats, y'all. Choose your pick here and the assistant will also recommend some sauces and spices that better suit your style of cooking. 

Oh. The front part of the establishment is the mini-market and there's a back part of the shop that houses a dainty little café. 

The café could sit around 10 - 20 pax and as we were there during the RMCO, we were advised to sit adhering to the eat-in SOP ie a small table could only for 2 people. And then we were presented with the menu. 

I need to mention this too - your food will be made to order so that you'll enjoy your food deliciously warm. 

Oh my. Wow! 

The menu displays an array of fusion food of western, Korean and Japanese. And us being foodies like we are, we decided to just order one of each item and later share among ourselves. So let's see what did we order. 

Get your tissues ready to wipe off the drool. 

Our Choice of Appetisers and Drinks

Boss's favourite Beef Goulash with Baguette RM15.90

Cabbage Okonomiyaki with Bonito Flakes & Katsu Inspired Sauce RM14.90

Chef Driven Quiche Chicken RM17.90

Artisan Beef Pie RM19.90

Whereas these are our choice for the Main Dishes

Oven grilled 200g Aust Beef Ribeye Steak serve with Gourmet sauce and side of the day RM38.90

Oven roasted 180g Aust Beef Striploin steak served with Gourmet Sauce and side of the day RM32.90

Carefully curated spicy Gochujang Lamb Shoulder Chop RM25.90

Spicy Oven baked chicken leg with caramelised vege and potato wedges RM14.90

Garlic Teriyaki chicken leg with Japanese salad and potato cakes RM14.90

Australian Beef Udon, Soft boil egg in Rich Umami Soup RM15.90

Spaghetti with Truffle inspired white sauce and mushroom RM23.90

Spiced DF Hake Fish with Savoury Potato wedges and homemade tartar sauce RM19.90

And the last one, the dessert

Brownies with Chantily Cream RM9.90

There you go, guys. Salivating yet?

It seems that we ordered quite a number of dishes right? But when you are sharing with foodies, believe me, there were no food went to waste with the group. 

MY REVIEW OF FOODIES GOURMET MARKET & CAFÉ

Location: 4.7/ 5.0 Considering I am from Bangi, the place is very accessible. There's an LRT station nearby. 

Parking wise, because I was there during the weekend, it was easy to find a parking slot. 

Cleanliness: 4.8/ 5.0 The cafe was very clean, the staff preparing the food while using hair net and gloves and the toilet was clean. Thumbs up!

Price: 4.4/ 5.0 Being that the ingredients are all premium, the price is very reasonable. And the portion is enough for a person (for me at least). There are some other places where the price is incredibly ridiculous and the taste is questionable. 

Taste: 4.8/ 5.0 I don't normally take lamb but I eat lamb here. The taste is YUMMY-LICIOUS!

Will I come again: Yes, I will come again. You wanna come with me?

Do stalk them on their social media accounts to know more about their products and the café.

Facebook | Instagram

#FoodiesGourmet #FoodiesGourmetMarketCafe #AustralianBeef #AustralianLamb #Halal #RawlinsGLAM #RawlinsEats #RawlinsShops #RawlinsLifestyle

Sightless [Movie Review] | Before Covid-19, I always find time to watch movie every week, if I'm not attending events or out of town for work.

And now with the global pandemic, all the cinemas are closed and my greatest friend to kill the boredom is watching Netflix. 

So, here's another movie review for all of you. 

SYNOPSIS

• Directed by: Cooper Karl

• Produced by: Akila York, Rick Benattar, Nigel Thomas, Todd Y. Murata

• Production companies: Particular Crowd, Headlong Entertainment
• Distributed by: MarVista Entertainment

• Release date: September 2, 2020

• Running time: 89 minutes

• Madelaine and Matthew Yang Kang stars in Riverdale

• Country: United States
• Language: English

• Tomatometer: 95%
• Metascore: 67

• IMDb: 6.5/10

The movie starts with a girl jumping off of her apartment balcony. Then the movie returns to a flashback scene where the girl is on a hospital bed, with both of her eyes covered in bandages.

Ellen, a former violinist, was attacked and left blind. Her brother, who is in Tokyo, hired an assistant, Clayton, to assist Ellen in her daily daily and slowly assist her transition as a blind person. As she eases her life into being a blind, she realises there are some oddities around her room - there's a car alarm that goes out the exact time daily and glass window that she can't hear anything from the outside. She also can't get hold of her best friend and brother ever since she checked in into the apartment. Clayton reassures her that it is all normal.

One night, she hears a woman crying. At first she thought that the woman is in her apartment, but turns out that the crying sound comes through the vent. She decides to invite her neighbour for tea. Lana, the neighbour appears the next day. When she touches Lana, she realises that there is a fresh stitch on Lana's face. Lana reacts by warning her not to trust anyone. 

When Clayton tells her that he has feelings towards her, Ellen rejects the interest by stating that she needs caretaker more than a boyfriend at the moment. Broken hearted, Clayton leaves the apartment. Soon after, someone comes into the apartment and attacks Ellen. Ellen manages to dial 911 before she passes out as the attacked pushes a syringe onto her neck. Later, the paramedic tells her that there's no apparent injury and not a needle mark on her neck. When a detective comes in and tells her that the CCTV also shows no one enters the apartment after Clayton, Ellen comes to agreement that she can no longer believe her own perceptions She decides to jump from her balcony to end her miserable life.

Instead of landing on a hard pavement, she lands on the floor of a soundproof room. Then she realises that the car alarms and the outside noises were all coming from a speaker system.

What is actually going on in Ellen's life? Will she be able to leave the apartment?

MY REVIEW

Plot: 4.7/ 5.0 The plot is nicely arranged and I was as 'sightless' as Ellen, until towards the end of the movie. The plot is simple and sweetly twisted - you'll love the end. 

Cast: 4.8/ 5.0 I love the cast. They all performed beautifully. Not because that my boo, Madelaine Petsch (who plays Cheryll Blossom in Riverdale) is the main actress - but because the actors are all great. 

Will I watch it again: Yes, I don't mind watching it again. 

The pictures are taken from multiple sources on the Internet. Thank you.

#Sightless #MovieReviewbyRawlins #Drama #Thriller #Psychological #RawlinsGLAM #RawlinsLifestyle