Dream Trip to Macau (Or what looks interesting looking through Macau Government Tourist Office Website and the InterWebs...)

Dream Trip to Macau (Or what looks interesting looking through Macau Government Tourist Office Website and the InterWebs...)

Posted by Naqhii

Okay so this is not the usual post. In fact, its nothing even remotely close to the usual. But this post could possibly send me on a trip to Macau, all expenses paid for three days and 2 nights, and who wouldn't want that? This is of course all thanks to  the Macau Government Tourist Office and NUFFNANG Malaysia. Also all it takes is me rambling about what I would find interesting if I were to go to Macau.

So what did I know about Macau before reading up on it in order to write about it? Truthfully? Nothing much. All I remember of Macau is hearing it in dialogue in old Hong Kong movies. Or of it taking place in Macau in one of those movies. Basically from those movies I got the impression that it's a getaway sort of place from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong's hectic pace. It's the same way that you hear sitcoms and movies placed in New York always mentioning the Hamptons or how people mention the South of France when they talk of getting away. That sort of impression. I guess the Malaysian equivalent are the islands like Penang and Langkawi, or maybe Singapore.

So I looked into what Macau is about in order to write this little piece and it turns out this little bit of geography which neighbours Hong Kong and mainland China has a fascinating history. Did you know that back in the 16th century that China gave Portugal the right to establish themselves there in exchange for getting rid of the pirates that trolled the waters around there? This little factoid I got from the Wikitravel entry on Macau even if it isn't historically correct it's a hell of a cool story, it's like something out of a movie. In fact why hasn't there been a movie about this? And did you know that it was under Portuguese rule until December 20th 1999. that's like 400 years! And it's the only place where gambling is legal in China and the only other than Hong Kong to have the "one country, two systems" formula of governance. And that this little piece of real estate makes more money from gambling than even the famous Monaco in the French Mediterranean? Impressive, right? 

Anyway, looking around the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Website, their official Facebook page and the InterWebs in general I found a couple of things I found to be quite amazing to check out if I had the chance to get there.

First up, the history. Macau has some 25 historic locations officially listed under the UNESCO World Heritage Sites which is understandable and they include everything from temples to churches to government buildings to notable homes. There are so many things to see in Macau but only three caught my eye.

Senado Square

 

This quaint little square has been the urban centre of Macau for centuries and it's still is for all sorts of celebrations and gatherings and it would seem that there's an endless stream of tourist too, probably because so many other interesting spots dot the surrounding square.


Ruins of St Paul

This is all that's left of a 16th-century complex in Macau including of what was originally St. Paul's College and the Cathedral of St. Paul also known as "Mater Dei", a 17th-century Portuguese cathedral dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle. Some believe that because it's survived so much that it's a miracle.


A-Ma Temple

Apparently the story goes that A-Ma Temple (Templo de A-Má), existed even before Macau was known as Macau or even Macao. In fact, some say that this Taoist temple dedicated to Matsu was the source of the name Macao.

But Macau's history isn't just seen on the historic buildings scattered around the city it's in museums too and there's like a dozen of them all over Macau not including Art Galleries and museums dedicated to things like the Grand Prix and even one for Wines to cultural villages to gardens and many more. Three days and 2 nights is not going to be enough.

But as interesting as those sound I can't help but pick one place of interest that doesn't really have anything to do with history. art or anything remotely close to it. I'm talking about...


The Macau Giant Panda Pavilion 

Home to Shu Xiang and Qi Miao this complex was specially designed to house them as well as complement not only their own natural habitat as well as the surrounding area that houses the center. And frankly speaking who doesn't enjoy a couple hours of panda watching. Visit their official website here.

Now besides all that there are also things that you can go watch, like


The House of Dancing Water

Costing over USD$250million to produce and created and directed by Franco Dragone who also directed Cirque du Soleil for several years this looks like an amazing and mesmerizing show.


Dragon's Treasure

Called, The Bubble Show and located at the City of Dreams, this has become an iconic multi-media show that those who've seen it rave about. Based on the pictures I've seen it looks like a pretty cool and trippy way to spend an evening.


Yueju Opera (Cantonese Opera)

But since this is Macau and it has some of the oldest anything outside of Mainland China I think it would be interesting to go to the Yueju Opera (Cantonese Opera) which from the MGTO website says is 'Listed as a 'Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity' by UNESCO in September 2009, Yueju Opera is venerated by both the local and overseas Cantonese community.

Shopping

Now you can't go to some new place and just look at the sights, you have to go shopping too right? Well, if not actually shopping then window shopping. And it would seem that even here Macau doesn't disappoint. There are nine shopping malls that the Macau Government Tourist Office recommends you check out but only one caught my eye because it looks pretty cool and the one I'm talking about is

Shoppes at Venetian

Inspired by the streets and canals of Venice this mall looks like an interesting place to wander around for a couple of hours window shopping and checking out the many street performers that perform there. Also you can go on a gondola ride.

Yes, I know you're probably saying but what about the Grand Prix? It's one of the biggest events in the Macau calendar. Well, honestly I like machines because of their design and engineering and if I knew how to ride one like I how I drive a car I'd enjoy them in that way too but to hang around watching a bike or a car go around in circles or in the case of any live motorsport, have them whizz past you every 5 minutes, does not sound like fun to me. I'd rather go to a museum.


The food

And finally last but in no way least is the food. Actually wherever you go you have to check out the food, right? In fact, food is in some ways the most interesting part of travel. And again Macau does not disappoint, there's the famous Portuguese Egg Tart, which you can get from two locations which boasts of making the best in the world!

From either Lord Stow's

or from Margaret's Cafe e Nata

but I'd also like to try Serradura also known as Sawdust Pudding, a layered dessert of sweet biscuits (crushed super fine to resemble sawdust), cream, condensed milk and vanilla.

But I'm more curious about the local delicacies which go by the term Macanese and also some Portuguese dishes. Some of them include.

Pato de Cabidela (bloody duck), a very traditional Duck Stew that is a signature dish for both the Portuguese as well as the Macanese in Macau.

Bacalhau, a dish made with salted and dried cod fish they're prepared in a variety of ways but they look especially good when done like this.

Galinha à portuguesa (Portuguese-style chicken), not really a Portuguese dish but really a Macanese one are pieces of chicken, potato cooked in a mild, coconut-based, curry-like sauce, baked till golden and with a distinctive aroma and sometimes served with boiled rice.

Minchi (Minchee), is a Macanese dish based on minced or ground meat. It is made with beef  and flavored with molasses and soy sauce. Served with a fried egg on top it is minchee chow dan.

Oh, wait, Nuffnang Malaysia said to let them know, and I quote, 'the Three Most Amazing Things that makes you want to visit Macau and why we should send you for this superb opportunity.' Well, I guess I screwed up but that's what happens when you start looking into a destination you've never been and then you find out that they have way too much to offer you when you get there. But what you see above is what I've narrowed it down to. And as to why I should be the one to be sent? Well, because if I do get there then you'll get a very long blog post as to what I've been up to while there with as much detail as my addled brain can muster up and ramble about.  

And that's it, well the ones that I could narrow down at least. Yeah, I know in the Nuffnang requirements it says pick only three but honestly how can you when there's just so much to see, do and eat? I believe when you travel you have to be a gourmand and not a gourmet. You have to gorge while you savor and not be too fussy or picky about things. Anyway, Macau sounds like a hell of a place to visit and even if I don't get there courtesy of Nuffnang and the Macau Government Tourist Office you can be sure that it's in my list of places to go and visit at some point in the future. And at the very least those of you who bother to stop by and read this post might get curious about Macau and get in touch with the Macau Government Tourist Office yourself to plan your own trip to Macau.

Well that's it. This is the end of this blog post, but before that and without being presumptuous I'd like to thank Nuffnang Malaysia and The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) for organising this little contest and giving us the opportunity to experience Macau.

Movie Review: INTERSTELLAR (2014)

Movie Review: INTERSTELLAR (2014)

Posted by Naqhii

From IMDB

Storyline

In the near future Earth has been devastated by drought and famine, causing a scarcity in food and extreme changes in climate. When humanity is facing extinction, a mysterious rip in the space-time continuum is discovered, giving mankind the opportunity to widen their lifespan. A group of explorers must travel beyond our solar system in search of a planet that can sustain life. The crew of the Endurance are required to think bigger and go further than any human in history as they embark on an interstellar voyage, into the unknown. However, through the wormhole, one hour is the equivalent of seven years back on Earth, so the mission won't work if the people on Earth are dead by the time they pull it off. And Coop, the pilot of the Endurance, must decide between seeing his children again and the future of the human race.

Ratings: 9.4/10 from 7,045 users   Metascore: 75/100

Reviews: 9 user | 11 critic | 20 from Metacritic.com 

From Rotten Tomatoes

Movie Info

With our time on Earth coming to an end, a team of explorers undertakes the most important mission in human history; traveling beyond this galaxy to discover whether mankind has a future among the stars.

TOMATOMETER 75% | Average Rating: 7.4/10 | Reviews Counted: 65

Fresh: 49 | Rotten: 16 

Critics Consensus: Interstellar represents more of the thrilling, thought-provoking, and visually resplendent filmmaking moviegoers have come to expect from writer-director Christopher Nolan, even if its intellectual reach somewhat exceeds its grasp. 

AUDIENCE SCORE 99% want to see | Average Rating: 4.4/5 | User Ratings: 67,338 

In the future dust is everywhere which means folks with OCD will go nuts. ©Warner Brothers Pictures

The Movie (SPOILERS AHEAD!! DUH...)

By now most of you who have heard about the movie have seen the trailers and for those of you who are fans of Christopher Nolan you've probably read and or seen everything you can find on the internet about the movie. Good for you but you probably know that Nolan doesn't like to reveal much about his movie so you're still going to go to the cinemas wondering what Nolan has in store for you. And if you're still looking up stuff about this movie you'll also have read all the other critics reviews of Interstellar and you're getting the feeling that this is going to be a really, really good movie.

Well I'm not like all those critics, I'm basically your Average Joe that likes to watch movies and I don't really know how to write, review or critic like them. If you've been reading my reviews you'll notice that. Maybe.

A huge dust storm shows up and sirens go off but some people still don't care. ©Warner Brothers Pictures

Anyway, like I mentioned above if you're a fan and you've seen and read everything you're probably under the impression that it's a space action adventure/drama but one with a Christopher Nolan trademark storyline/twist, and you're right. But there's so much more.

The movie is about Coop played by Matthew McConnaughey who was once a test pilot for NASA but now is a farmer in some distant future. The earth of this future is bleak. Agricultural crops are dying because of something called the 'Blight' and the earth is turning into a dust bowl. Dust storms sweep the country so often everything inside and out is covered in dust.  People no longer trust in science to save the planet, school children are taught that the Apollo moon missions were just hoaxes perpetrated to destroy the Russian economy.

This is the coolest looking cockpit I've seen in a while. It moves! ©Warner Brothers Pictures

Coop does his best to manage his farm and his family. But there's something odd happening in his house and it involves his daughter. She's telling him that her room is haunted. During one particularly bad dust storm and a window in her room left open coincidentally the 'ghost' leaves it's mark in the form of bands of sand on the floor. Coop  throws the ghost explanation out the door and blames the event on a strange gravitational phenomena. The bands created by the 'gravitational anomaly' somehow turns out to be a binary code which translates to coordinates. So based on nothing but this very, very odd coincidence father and daughter get in their truck and head towards the coordinates. 

At the coordinates they find a relatively dust free fence with warning signs and one with NORAD printed on it. Coop gets out with some bolt cutters and just as he gets to the gate (where he can read the sign with NORAD on it) a light blinds him and the gates open. Before he gets a chance to do anything he gets tasered.

This is the first time that a wormhole is depicted differently, you should go watch this movie because of that. ©Warner Brothers Pictures

When he wakes he's in a storage area and being questioned by Anne Hathaway's character Amelia Brand. It's here that Coop finds out that NASA is still around and planning a way to save humanity. The plan is to send a crew out into space and head towards Saturn where somehow a wormhole has popped up. They believe that someone or something put it there just in time to save humanity. NASA has known about the worm-hole for almost 50 years ever since earths problems were starting. Since then they've sent probes out to check it out and after their data showed that there were earth-like planets on the other side of that worm-hole they've sent manned-solo missions to check out those earth-like planets to see which one really could sustain human life. So now they're planning on sending another crew out there to check up on those earlier missions to identify which planet is the best and prepare it for future missions. But they won't just be bringing equipment and provisions with them they'll also be bringing human eggs and sperm as Plan B which is the plan in the event that Plan A which is the mass exodus of humans to the planet they're heading for doesn't happen. 

So off they go towards Saturn and the wormhole and adventures unknown. I'll stop here and let find out what happens next for yourself. And trust me a lot happens. 

 See that little ball there? That's one of the earth-like planets they plan to visit. See that next to it? That's a 'gentle' black hole. ©Warner Brothers Pictures

What this spacehead thought about it...

Personally, I liked it. I really did. Of course I also liked the movie Contact (1997) which Interstellar producer Lynda Obst also worked on and there are bits of Contact in this movie. I also know from reading a number of critic's reviews that they too in general liked it. But critics are a different animal when compared to the general public and I can't help but think that Interstellar is not a movie for everyone.

If you read my ramblings up there you'd think that Interstellar is a movie about a crew who heads out into the unknown on a noble mission to save humanity and well that's true. You'd probably guess that they'll go through all sorts of hell to achieve their mission, also true. You'd expect there to be amazing visuals of space travel and alien planets and there are. But this movie really isn't about that. In that sense it's a lot like the movie Contact for me. Contact was generally liked by critics but everyone else had mixed thoughts about it. I think that's what will happen with Interstellar.

That pile of sticks there is a robot. Coolest and most unusual looking robot I've seen in a while. ©Warner Brothers Pictures

You can't go into this movie expecting an action adventure romp through space. You can't go into this movie without some knowledge or at least an awareness of interstellar space travels and all the theories that go with it. Quantum physics, Einsteins Theory of Relativity, The Einstein-Rosen Bridge, Astrophysics, Theoretical Physics, little bits from all these theories and ideas are used throughout the movie. Whether mentioned in expositions or dialogue or used visually, they are there and if you're don't know them then you're going to think this movie is just silly and ridiculous. But here's the thing if you can ignore all of that and look beyond all that what you'll get is a movie about the human condition, about our very human need to exist and continue by any means. The sci-fi bits are good and amazing to look at but let it distract you and you'll miss the point of the whole movie. 

Lets talk about the cast. Matthew McConnaughey is brilliant in this movie. I really liked his performance here. There's no other way to say it. In fact go read up what other critics say about him in this movie because I'm not good enough put it down. And he basically carried the movie for me, everyone else was good too but they were nowhere near as good.

This is another planet they visit and it's a cold one, cold enough to freeze clouds. ©Warner Brothers Pictures

The visuals are amazing. I would have loved to have caught it on IMAX but I didn't and I wasn't disappointed. Every scene in space looks amazing and the earth-like planets look amazing.

But like I said the visuals and the science aren't the main point of this movie, you have to look past that and you have to have the patience to look for it. I sat there in that cinema full of people who came into that movie expecting more of what they saw in the trailer and quite a few of them I would say had different expectations. I looked around a few times and spotted several people asleep or nodding off, those that didn't looked bored or confused. This movie will test your patience and expectations, it will also test your intellect. If you don't have any of those or aren't interested in the science involved then you will be disappointed. If you are you will be rewarded with an interesting and thoughtful movie that will make your head think about all sorts of things. 

Meanwhile back on earth things are going up in flames. ©Warner Brothers Pictures

Well that's my rambling review and opinion of this movie. Like I said I liked it but I don't think this is a movie everyone will enjoy or understand not even for hardcore Nolan fans. I give this movie a good 3.9 out of 5. Seriously Google Interstellar and read what the critics say because I share their opinions, mostly. 

 

 

Movie Review: Annabelle (2014)

Movie Review: Annabelle (2014)

Posted by Naqhii

Storyline

John Form has found the perfect gift for his expectant wife, Mia - a beautiful, rare vintage doll in a pure white wedding dress. But Mia's delight with Annabelle doesn't last long. On one horrific night, their home is invaded by members of a satanic cult, who violently attack the couple. Spilled blood and terror are not all they leave behind. The cultists have conjured an entity so malevolent that nothing they did will compare to the sinister conduit to the damned that is now... Annabelle.

First things first...

This movie Annabelle is a sort of prequel and spin off to last years The Conjuring. Now, I saw that movie but have since forgotten much about it so I've been reading up on it to sort of refresh my memory and to my vague recollection it was a pretty good movie. And to my recollection that movie made a sort of passing mention about Annabelle in order to establish the Warrens as professionals in the world of supernatural studies.  Now in that movie, The Conjuring, you meet the nurses who own Annabelle and learn about why they called the Warrens in to help them. But of course you don't get the whole story. So let's get to that first.

Below is my attempt at covering the actual story of Annabelle from reading a bunch of websites. 

So Annnabelle is actually real. It does exist and right now its current home is in the Warren's Occult Museum in Monroe Connecticut. You can't just walk in to see her anymore, you have to find out when a Warrenology event is scheduled, book yourself a spot and try to get there when it happens. And Annabelle does not look anything like what you think it looks like. It doesn't look at all demonic or evil. If someone passed her to you and said it was Annabelle you'd probably think they were joking with you. Real life is never the way movies portray it.

See that real Annabelle. cute and totally innocent looking doll in there? That's the real Annabelle.

Anyway, back to Annabelle. The movie The Conjuring did get that part of the story right, there really was a couple of nurses and one of them was given Annabelle by her mother. There was also a guy that hung around and he did experience things that freaked him out. It was after his experience that the Warrens were called in to consult but prior to that the nurses, Donna and Angie had called in a medium who told them that the doll was 'inhabited' by the spirit of a seven year old girl named Annabelle Higgins. The medium also told them that Annabelle's body was found in the field that their apartment was built on a long time ago. The reason why the called in the medium? When Donna noticed what looked like blood on her chest and the back of her hand. Apparently having the doll move on its own and leaving note on parchment paper which they never had in the apartment is not enough. 

When they were told the tragic story of Annabelle they figured she was a harmless spirit looking for some company. They were very wrong. Things started to get weirder but strangely enough it happened when Angie's boyfriend was around, the story goes that one day while checking out some maps for an upcoming trip they heard a rustling noise in the other room. They checked the room out but found nothing, except that when Lou was in there he felt uneasy and not much later he found himself in pain, he checked himself and he found that he had been scratched several times. 

The real Ed and Lorraine Warren with the real Annabelle. Still not very scary looking.

When the Warrens showed up Donna and her roommates had had enough and asked the Warrens to take Annabelle with them. And that's how the Warrens got hold of Annabelle. If you really want to know the story in better detail check out these sites, The Story of Annabelle at Warrens.net  this link goes to the official site apparently, and this one  History vs. Hollywood: The Annabelle Story this link takes you to an article that breaks down the difference between the movie and what really happened. 

Crazy people that want to kill you always hide in your closet where you just got your robe from... 

©Warner Bros

On to ANNABELLE (WARNING!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! SERIOUSLY. DUH.... SKIP TO THE END IF YOU PLAN ON WATCHING THIS MOVIE WITHOUT ME SPOILING IT FOR YOU)

Okay, so this movie has yet to hit the cinemas so there's no ratings yet on any of the major movie sites. And if you've read my previous entry on another horror movie you'll know that I'm not a major fan of the genre, I'm more a fan of a good story done and told well than any particular genre. That said I'll be looking at this movie much like I look at any other movie, based on its own merits. As mentioned before Annabelle is sort of a prequel and spin-off to last years The Conjuring, but truthfully even if you've never seen The Conjuring you won't miss a thing and in fact after watching Annabelle watching The Conjuring won't really add anything or take anything from or to it. It can pretty much stand on its own. 

The Conjuring did really well and in fact became the highest grossing movie of its genre, it was made for a mere $20 million but made over $318 million worldwide which is really impressive, what makes it even more impressive is that it was directed by a man who shares the same nationality as myself, the Sarawak-born James Wan which means he's Malaysian. He's one of the few Malaysians that's really made a name for himself out there in Hollywood. Or at least that I know of other that Michelle Yeoh but she made it in front of the camera whereas he is behind it so kudos to him.

But that was The Conjuring this is Annabelle, James Wan is not at the director's chair this time but is instead in the producers, so we'll see if his magic touch is still present here. 

If this movie is to be believed just bleeding on something while really wanting to do something means you can possess that thing. Helps if you're a satanist of course. ©Warner Bros

The movie starts off with us meeting the Forms, a newly-married and expecting couple. She's a homemaker and he's a medical student on the verge of getting his residency with a hospital. The live in a nice little house in a nice neighborhood next to a lovely couple who's daughter just recently up and disappeared one day. The Forms, Jon and Mia are a little stressed lately with his upcoming residency and her pregnancy nearing the end so Jon being the sweet husband that he is locates for his loving wife a doll to complete her collection. She's been searching for this doll for ages apparently. You know who this doll is of course. Frankly speaking, with the way Annabelle looks only a collector will find it appealing or even attractive. Any sane person will think there's something wrong with that doll or think that it's got something evil about it the moment they laid eyes on it. It's ugly and evil looking. The person who made that doll must be insane and/or evil. Of course this is just for the movie, the real Annabelle is about as evil looking as Hello Kitty is of looking gross. 

Anyway, at this point Annabelle is not at all evil, malicious or inhabited by a demonic spirit. It's just a doll. An ugly, evil looking doll.

Here's where the doll gets to be evil. One fine evening while everyone is asleep their neighbors daughter returns home with her boyfriend. She's been hanging out with a unique group of individuals who believe in an alternative religion and her return back home has very much to do with that new group of friends and their beliefs. If you've seen the trailer it's that scene where the Mia wakes up when she hears someone scream in the house next door, that's when their neighbors are being stabbed to death by their own daughter. 

Husbands that give creepy looking dolls to their wives either need to have their heads checked or need to talk to their wives about their creepy collection. ©Warner Bros

Anyway, Jon goes to check in on the neighbor while Mia hangs around the porch waiting for him. He eventually shows up covered in blood screaming at Mia to call the police. She goes back in the house to call of course but in the panic she leaves the front door open. This of course is an open invitation for the crazy couple to sneak in. What happens next is in the trailer, they jump her and try to kill her. Jon gets back in time and manages to beat them back just as the police themselves show up and shoots the boyfriend dead. Crazy neighbor daughter manages to escape into the baby's room holding on to Annabelle. The cops smash open the door only to find crazy neighbor daughter has slit her own throat. Guess what the name of crazy neighbor daughter is? Annabelle Higgins. So there you go, the fictitious version of how Annabelle the doll received her name. 

Anyway mother and baby survive and a few days later they return home. All is put back to normal and they try to move on with their lives. But strange things start to happen. Strange unexplainable things. They think nothing of it of course at first until one evening while Jon is a way at a seminar and Mia is home alone. She's watching TV while doing a little sewing nothing's amiss until she hears a noise in the kitchen. She goes to check it out only to discover the entire kitchen is up in flames, she panics and turns to run but is tripped when a chair suddenly pulls out just slightly to catch her foot. She falls and begins to crawl toward the front door but as she's trying to do that something suddenly grabs her by the leg and pulls her back towards the kitchen. Whatever it was that did it didn't get to pull her all the way back in because just then the neighbors break down her front door. 

Jon rushes back home and meets Mia at the hospital where he also discovers his brand new baby girl. He also has news of his own, he's received his residency and soon they'll be moving away from their current home. 

Seriously look at that doll. Compared to the others, it looks utterly evil. ©Warner Bros

So now they're in their new home and they're unpacking and they're unpacking in the babies room. Mia is taking out her dolls and putting them up on the shelf when she opens another box and finds the doll in there. Jon threw the doll away before they moved so they have no idea how it got in there but this doesn't bother Mia for some reason and she decides to put it up on the shelf with the other dolls. Bad idea. 

Things start happening again and it only happens to Mia when she's alone. She tells Jon but he's skeptical at first but offers a solution which is to talk to their priest. Meanwhile Mia befriends Evelyn, a woman in the building who works at a bookstore nearby. Things of course gets worse and worse as is expected from movies like this before it gets better. 

Yeah staring at it won't make it go away. Burn it, burn it to HELL!! ©Warner Bros

Mia is trapped in the storage area of her apartment where she sees what appears to be a demon. She's trapped inside the baby's room when she goes in to check on a noise and while she's in there her baby is outside with the doll, when she manages to get out she sees the doll levitate and just as the doll gets to her eye level Mia spots something holding the doll up. The priest shows up and offers to take the doll back with him to the church but just as he gets to the door of the church Annabelle Higgins appears and he's tossed like a rag-doll backwards. It all culminates back at the apartment after Mia and Evelyn return home from a day out and this time the demon really means business. He wants someone soul and he won't leave without it. 

You see the whole reason for the supernatural, the demonic activity is because Annabelle Higgins and her boyfriend were part of a cult. A cult trying to call up demons and the devil himself, and to do that they needed to provide a sacrifice, a soul. And since Annabelle didn't succeed in getting Mia's soul before she killed herself, her spirit stayed on in the doll in order to accomplish that goal. 

In the end Mia is still alive and the Form's move on with their lives. Annabelle the doll disappears only to reappear in a junk store to be bought by the mother of one of the nurses that you see in the beginning of this movie and in that one scene in The Conjuring. All is not well.

Oh look it's that Japanese ghost that keeps showing up in every movie, or not. ©Warner Bros

What this casual fan of all things supernatural, weird and odd thinks... 

This movie for the most part for me was unremarkable. In fact it was completely predictable. I'll give you an example, just before the evening that crazy daughter returns to kill her parents, Mia is sitting in front of the TV listening to a news report on murders committed by cults, guess what the crazy neighbor daughter and her boyfriend are wearing when they commit their evil deeds? All white and her boyfriend is wearing a belt with a huge devil head as a belt buckle. The scary bits are also sort of predictable if you've seen enough horror movies. You can guess at what's about to happen just by paying attention to how the scene is set-up and how the camera is angled. So unless you've been hiding under a blanket every time something scary pops up then nothing here will surprise you.

With regards to the story of Annabelle it's a little strange in my opinion. We are made to believe that Annabelle follows Mia from place to place in order to get her or her daughters soul but at the end of the movie the Forms are fine and Annabelle ends up in a junk shop. So what's the point then of following Mia around and harassing her if any other soul can be used to replace hers? Shouldn't any pliable and weak soul do? She killed her mother and father and for some reason a random neighbor and her unborn baby is her target? Up until that evening when they decided to check out the neighbor they had no idea who the Forms were which means that if they were a cult and their ceremony required a sacrifice they weren't very specific about their requirements. If they were why bother killing a bunch of old people if what you wanted was a young pregnant woman? 

But I'm letting common sense and logic get in the way now when the main problem I have with this movie is that it's just too predictable. Pay enough attention and you can tell what's going to happen next. Even in the beginning third of the movie when it's actually pretty slow paced and almost bordering on dull it's predictable. 

Who needs a Nanny-Cam when you can have Annabelle-Cam. Scare your babysitter straight! ©Warner Bros

The actors for the most part I've not really seen before and with the exception of  Mia and Evelyn are pretty bland. Jon seems a little cold and distant when acting as the concerned husband. Mia played by Annabelle Wallis does a decent job but nothing impressive. Alfre Woodard who plays Evelyn probably has the best performance in this movie but her scenes are few and far between and she really doesn't get much to work with when she does, the one scene that stands out for me is when she talks about her daughter. 

To sum it up, for me this movie was nothing special. It certainly doesn't live up to The Conjuring and it most certainly doesn't add to it. It was just too predictable and at the beginning a little too slow. The scary parts are only scary because they jump out at you if you're not paying attention or haven't seen all the horror movies of the past few years. It's all the same tricks that's been done before. Nothing new here. I don't know what I was expecting from this movie but even without any expectations I found it a little disappointing. 

For this prequel to a pretty good movie that came out last year I give it a somewhat disappointing 2 out of 5. Would I recommend you watch this movie? If you're a horror movie fan, why not? Just don't expect anything new. If you want to know about Annabelle? Then forget it.