Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Although it is not a show that I just found out recently, I just started Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a Golden Globe winning comedy after browsing several hours on Netflix. A few of my friends told me that this show was pretty good and I know it is a very well-received show, but I never go ahead and find it to watch. After seeing on Netflix trending page, I decided for a go, and boy am I hooked to this!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a cop sitcom set at a police station, Precinct 99 in New York City. It features a group of brilliant, yet childish and dysfunctional detectives in their daily work lives. The team comprises of Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), a intelligent and wisecracking detective, who also loves Die Hard, Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), a smart, hardworking but nerdy in nature, Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Trulio), a bubbly and a food critic, Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), a resilient, mysterious and emotionless tough girl, Sgt. Terry Jeffords (Terry  Crews) the toughest detective in the precinct, yet incredibly soft and caring, Cpt. Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher), a strict and by the book captain of Precinct 99, round up the cast is Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti), kleptomaniac, extreme narcissistic assistant of Captain Raymond Holt.

The show format are usually fixed. Each episode features a prologue (no relation with the rest of the episode whatsoever) of the casts doing ridiculous stuff and then pays off with big joke before going into the title card. The show then proceeds to split the cast into pairings, investigating cases or solving personal issues. Lastly, the casts usually wrap up the episodes together, celebrating or sit in the precinct talking about their story. The whole episode takes about 20 to 25 minutes.

I enjoyed watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine is definitely the cast. Cast is very important in an ensemble sitcom where the jokes need to feel natural and improvised without any stuttering between the casts. Even in weaker episodes, the show never felt stale. For Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the casts pairing usually resulting in a refreshing take of their relationships with each other, there are always new angle of story to explore with the cast dynamics. The characters are so different, yet the matchup is so good and it feels natural.

Another thing I like about the show is the jokes. The jokes in Brooklyn Nine-Nine takes its time to build up, making as much laughs as possible, yet it doesn't overstay its welcome. When the jokes deliver, they usually pay off with a big laugh out loud from me. The lack of laugh tracks is helping too, as some of the jokes need time to absorb in entirety to fully have the impact, having laugh tracks might derail the jokes as laugh tracks tend to laugh earlier than they should.

So far, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is halfway through season 4. I am currently halfway through season 3, the short length of episodes makes it very easy to binge watch and it feels like watching YouTube videos. If you're into sitcom or wanting to start a new sitcom to watch, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a great choice. It is one of the funniest comedy in recent years.

The Grand Tour Premiere

The time with Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear abruptly ended a few years ago, with the host punching one of the producers during a break, audiences around the world were shocked to see their favourite trio getting off the show. Due to the incident, Jeremy Clarkson was fired from BBC, while James May and Richard Hammond left the show soon after, followed by some of the staff (including executive producer Andy Wilman). While I think Jeremy Clarkson should get some sort of punishment following the incident, but the whole situation was poorly handled by the BBC.

Following the fracas, the trio struck a deal to bring their show to Amazon Prime Video, an online streaming platform rivalling Netflix. It has become one of the most anticipated shows in 2016, despite the limited availability of Amazon Prime Video. Amazon was hoping shows like The Grand Tour would bring their brand & services to the limelight. For me, the premiere didn't disappoint, not a bit. It's everything I hope the show would be.

The Grand Tour started off directly off the abrupt ending of Top Gear, with Jeremy Clarkson seemingly left an office building, suggesting the BBC office, then took a flight to California for the new show. Driving to the location with Richard Hammond & James May in modified Ford Mustangs, followed by a horde of modified vehicles driving through the desert, a la Mad Max Fury Road style. That 10 minutes is a showcase of how big the show is going to be and showing that is "Top Gear Unchained". It's really grand.

Episode 1 basically covers what are they going to do in the show, a new track, new car review segment and leaderboard. All of which are pretty much the same from the old Top Gear, just that the format is twisted so they are able to avoid any legal troubles from the BBC. This episode also settled one of their previous argument about which car is better, LaFerrari (Ferrari The Ferrari), McLaren P1 and Porsche 918, "The Holy Trinity". The quality of the cinematography for "The Holy Trinity", BMW M2 review and the intros are all astounding.

However, the key to all of the awesomeness of the show, is all down to the hosts themselves. Did the Top Gear legal issues and past controversies changed them at all. Not at all. What can we learn from all these is that, the hosts make up a lot of the points on whether a show would be good or not. You can put as many expensive cars as possible on the show, but one thing that makes Jeremy, Richard and James good bunch of mates on a TV show is themselves. The show might be scripted, but it's the banters between them that makes the old Top Gear great, and it can't be solved by just putting on several funny and car people on a show.

The Grand Tour premiere is very much a preview of the future of the show, while settling on some of the old gripes. I am pretty sure the show will still undergo some changes throughout the season. However, the first episodes is a very positive start with Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond being themselves again is a joy to watch. The first episodes started off with a big band, with even bigger show still to come. It might be under a different name, but The Grand Tour is basically Top Gear on steroids, and I love it!

Blu-Ray

My house living room go fully High-Definition earlier this year (well visually at least), HDTV and a Blu-ray player complete the set-up.

I use my PlayStation 3 as a Blu-ray player, since everyone on the internet said that PlayStation is the best Blu-ray player out there. Then we bought a LED High-Definition television, capable of outputting crystal clear 1080P full HD image.

If few of you don't HD means (living in the cave maybe?), HD means your image is displayed at horizontally 1080 pixels, a hell lot more than than SD, which just displayed at 480 pixels horizontally.

I don't know the full capabilities of Blu-ray before the house new TV was purchased. When I first put Transformers disc into my PS3, I was blown away. It just left DVD in the dust, although Blu-ray loading times are much slower. But when you have time for a 2 hour movie, you just don't care.

Optimus Prime never look this handsome beautfiul

A short description of what I saw when I watched Transformers BD:
Everything, dents on Bumblebee's Car, scratches on Megatron's body, Optimus Prime's teeth, sweat and blood on soldiers faces, are displayed in crystal clear, meticulous detail. You will never see anything close to this quality.

One Ridiculously Sarcastic Review

This review is a bit old, but it is funny nonetheless... The review come when a Top Gear viewer mailed the crew to tell them to make a proper and serious review. The Top Gear host, Jeremy, take it seriously in a sarcastic way... Video after this:

Part 1:

Part 2:

TOP 5: Lee DeWyze Performances

Once in a while, I will write something about in Top 5. This week, is about our new American Idol, Lee Dewyze. He is the second American Idol contestant I support to ever win the final (the other is David Cook). So, I will write about the Top 5 songs that made me support him throughout the show....

No. 5: Hinder - Lips of an Angel

To me, this is one of the best song of the 2000s. And after impressed me with the performance a week before (refer No. 4), he needed to impress me again. After he performed it, I said, "This is the guy I'm gonna support, even though he looked nervous on stage."

No. 4: Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars

It was a boring male week, I was wondering that Simon was right that this season's gong will go to the female. I was so bored I almost fell asleep, that night was flat. At the end, he came out, did his rendition of Chasing Cars, Simon said it saved the night, he was right. And you know what, that felt like David Cook, the first "daring" contestant on the show.

No. 3: Duet with Crystal Bowersox - Falling Slowly

This season is one of the dullest I must admit, no one ever wanted to take a risk and no one is competing with one another. That Movie Theme week was one of the worst week I've seen, but it was saved by two duet performances, one with Casey James and Mike Lynche, another was Crystal and our Idol, Lee.

No. 2: Frank Sinatra - That's Life

One of the greatest thing in American Idol is that you can see contestant singing music's great and sometimes make it new, current and appeal to the new generations. On the Frank Sinatra Week, Lee's rendition of That's Life made the two lady judges, Kara DioGuardi and Ellen Degeneres made a bold claim that he was the person to win it (during TOP 5!!!)

No. 1: Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah (Simon Cowell's Choice)

Hate him or not, Simon Cowell is the right person in American Idol. He knows what he is doing, beside judging the show (giving honest and evil comments to contestants), he knows what kind of songs to choose for contestants. He is almost spot on on every choices... In his final selection before leaving the show, he chose Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah for Lee, which I think is one of the main highlight of the season.

American Idol 9 Top 7: Winner Prediction

This week double elimination, we said goodbye to Andrew Garcia (poor) and Katie Stevens (decent).

Nevertheless, the show has to move on... Here's my prediction for the potential winner so far:

Potential Female Winner: Crystal Bowersox
Based on week by week performances, she is always the front runner of the competition. She knows what she is doing, she performs song she is comfortable with. With Siobhan Magnus (the other remaining female on the show) struggling to put on a good show, Crystal has the better chance now...

Potential Male Winner: Lee Dewyze
This is a tough one, because one or two other male contestants are so close... Although shy, his performance throughout the show is consistant and above expectations. But seriously, he needs to control his nerve when performing, he looks like a statue when perform...

Do American Got It Right?

Well, the semi-final is over for good, now American Idol moves on to the Top 12... Let's see whether the four contestants eliminated are worth to be kicked:

Katelyn Epperly
A decent contestant yet inconsistant, Katelyn at least showed once she deserved in the Top 12. Yet, she is kicked when placed alongside Paige Miles. When she stood alongside Paige Miles, I said to myself Katelyn is so lucky, she would be going through... I was shocked when she is voted of instead of Paige. Paige Miles, who judges think has a very good voice, consistently lacking behind the whole competition. In singing competition, singing songs that are true to your voice is the key, or change the tune to match your voice, not choose some of your favourite song that you can't relate to. Her rendition of 'Smile' is not on the verge of terrible, it is terrible... Big sympathy for Katelyn, seriously.

Lilly Scott
A very solid front runner but got voted off. It was actually very weird to see her and Katie Stevens standing together, but when they are standing together, I think Katie is going to get through. Katie got advantages because she is a good singer (but haven't got that potential yet), good looks and really young. But why I would pick Lilly Scott instead of her? Because she is much more experience than Katie. Katie for me, she would be like any other 17 years old in the competition, lacking experiences and guts to take on the competition.

Todrick Hall
A overly confident and risky contestant. Todrick changed too much on his first two performances and alienated the audience and his 3rd last performance was unable to save him from elimination.

Alex Lambert
I like his voice, seriously good. Style and voice like James Morrison is very unique in the competition and among all the boys, he deserve to be in the Top 12. Unlike Tim Urban, who has been save by his last performance and his good looks, he could be this year Jason Castro.

American Idol: My Own Top 12

Well, 4 more contestants will leave the show next week and we will have finalist singing together... Here's my top 12 and why:

Michael Lynche
When I first saw him at the audition round, I say 'Dude doesn't look like a singing type'. But he surprise me, his singing is very good. His first week on semi final singing This Love by Maroon 5 is not so good, but good enough to put him trough. This week with James Brown's It's A Man's Man's Man's World (WHAT KIND OF SONG TITLE IS THAT), he is one of the best of the week... So, he's in my list.

Casey James
I always like rocker on the finals, like David Cook and Chris Daughtry. This year is no exception, Casey James is another rocker I want him to be in. After his decent audition impressed the judges (particular the females), he went to Hollywood week singing Colbie Cailliet's Bubbly, which was amazing. He is one of the contestants that can really perform consistent on the show.

Alex Lambert
No, not Adam Lambert and he doesn't have any relationship whatsoever with Adam. The boy might not be good, but his singing is decent enough in the boys group to qualify for the finals

Andrew Garcia
Since his interpretation of Paula Abdul's Straight Up, he is being going downhill, maybe because since that performance is so good, everybody expect him to be even better for the coming performances. But he is still one of the best contestants in the competition.

Aaron Kelly
A young boy who have big stage presence. He is a good singer, but he still unable to control his nerves to perform in front of millions of viewers.

Lee Dewyze
The last man to be in the 6 main male finalist. This man is pretty much under my radar for sometime now, but his performance of Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars has caught my eyes. Even Simon Cowell commented it was one of the best performance in the competition. But, he still shaky while on stage.

Crystal Bowersox
A main competitor for the Idol crown started a long long time ago. She has a very strong voice and knows her song selections for her performances. However, she need to change her looks a bit, she still lacking star quality and stage presence, which are important for finals.

Lacey Brown
Finally entered the semis after the failed first attempt previous seasons. She is not as strong as other female contestants, but she deserved to be in the finals.

Katie Stevens
A 17 year-old who has a very strong start at idol with a deserving good auditions, but she seems to be diminished at the Hollywood Week (maybe I didn't see her). During the semi finals, she wowed the audiences and viewers with her strong performances and vocals. I agree with the judges, particularly Ellen and Simon, where she needs to perform songs that are more younger and much more suitable to her age. Strong contender for finals though...

Lilly Scott
She is a great singer, with good vocal and knows how to play her instruments. She usually sings songs that others usually won't pick for their performances, that's really given her the advantages than others already.

Katelyn Epperly
I don't remember her for most of the season, but last week's performance of The Scientist by Coldplay has really put her back into the spotlight. If she continues a strong performances like this, she can be a dark horse.

Siobhan Magnus
I don't remember either but her last two performances are amazing, especially last week's performance, where she sang Aretha Franklin's Think. Her vocals is like, "WOAH!!!"

Pants on the Ground

American Idol is finally moving into Hollywood Week, YEAH!!! But got one thing I love about audition phase is there are always funny stuffs going on.

Few seasons ago we got William Hung, then later we got one Mexican that have a lot of respect for Simon Cowell. In Season 9, there is General Larry Platt, where his audition has become a viral hit on YouTube, among celebrities and talk show.

I personally love his audition, I think it is funny... What do you think? If you haven't seen the video before, look below:

One of my favourite Tom & Jerry episode

I love Tom & Jerry. In fact, is all my family members love Tom & Jerry... I could remember that I watch it regularly when I was younger...

This is one of my favourite episode I watched:

Transformers TV Spots Triple Attacks!!!

For those who can't get enough of Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, and gigantic interstellar shape-shifting robots, Hollywood director Michael Bay is here to help. He's released a trio of new television spots for the upcoming summer blockbuster, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. I like the 2nd video the most, cuz it feels epic!!! We might just see it in Malaysian TV soon...

Ken Lee!!!

So funny!!! Bulgarian Idol or Music Idol... Hilarious!!!

The Simpsons making fun of Simon Cowell

Actually, this happened a long time ago during Idol Gives Back, but can't find the video until recently. Marge is Randy, Lisa is Paula and Homer is Simon.