I never expected the movie to be this funny. Moreover, the plot was interesting in that it explained in more layman's terms the clues and the analysis of Sherlock Holmes.
Most of us know that Sherlock Holmes was a great detective. Period.
I wondered how much of the story in Sherlock Holmes in the movie was true reflection of his personality. In the movie, Sherlock Holmes was featured as someone rather astute in martial arts. He was also pretty unkempt and could spend long periods of time performing scientific experiments. Some of the trivial experiments included playing music to flies which caused them to fly in a certain direction. His love-hate relationship with his girlfriend who also could outsmart him in both wits and courage were also humourously addressed.
Overall, it was a great movie.
P.S. I would have enjoyed it more if I were not sitting on the first row where I literally missed the happenings on the top one-quarter of the screen.
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
January 23, 2010
January 01, 2010
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
I used to be a lover of animated films and often enchanted by the fairy-tale stories and the catchy tunes. I was mesmerised by the chirpy Beauty in Beauty and the Beast and the dreamy Ariel in The Little Mermaid. I have never watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame. After being innundated with 3D animation, watching 2D animation was truly nostalgia and a luxury. No longer was our attention diverted by the 3D effects but we truly focused on the plot and the character development.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was another inspirational story about living life and not to judge only by the appearances of a person. The hunchback of Notre Dame only observed life from his towers as he felt inferior due to his ugly appearance. He was encouraged to not to be just a spectator in life and to partake in his own life. This was especially when he was befriended and encouraged by a beautiful gypsy girl.
Watching such inspirational and predicted film was still moving. Ah, how I miss the good old days.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was another inspirational story about living life and not to judge only by the appearances of a person. The hunchback of Notre Dame only observed life from his towers as he felt inferior due to his ugly appearance. He was encouraged to not to be just a spectator in life and to partake in his own life. This was especially when he was befriended and encouraged by a beautiful gypsy girl.
Watching such inspirational and predicted film was still moving. Ah, how I miss the good old days.
December 24, 2009
Avatar
It was touted to be one of the best films in CG which James Cameron (director of Titanic) took 10 years to make as he was waiting for the technology to catch-up with his conceptualisation. After watching the more mainstream movies recently (including romance genre's New Moon and family animation's Planet 51), a little science fiction should be a nice change.
Avatar talked about a separate life in another planet. A group of scientists and military people originally tried to integrate into the indigenous tribe to understand their culture and lives betters so as to persuade them to move away from the site which was rich in the minerals that they were trying to harvest. As they spent more time with the tribe, they began to take the sides of the tribe. A war started between the indisgenous tribe and men.
The movie's theme might not be new-new. After all, it was the perpetual fight of good versus evil. It was also about mankind destroying the environment for commercial use. Just like other Hollywood movies, the good triumphed over the evil. The environment was preserved. Love blossomed between the marine man and the indigenous tribal princess.
I have watched the 2D version but I heard from colleagues who subsequently caught the 3D version that the 3D version was better.
Avatar talked about a separate life in another planet. A group of scientists and military people originally tried to integrate into the indigenous tribe to understand their culture and lives betters so as to persuade them to move away from the site which was rich in the minerals that they were trying to harvest. As they spent more time with the tribe, they began to take the sides of the tribe. A war started between the indisgenous tribe and men.
The movie's theme might not be new-new. After all, it was the perpetual fight of good versus evil. It was also about mankind destroying the environment for commercial use. Just like other Hollywood movies, the good triumphed over the evil. The environment was preserved. Love blossomed between the marine man and the indigenous tribal princess.
I have watched the 2D version but I heard from colleagues who subsequently caught the 3D version that the 3D version was better.
December 12, 2009
Planet 51
I have not watched an animated film for a long time. I cannot remember the last animated movie I have watched - perhaps Shrek 2? It sounds like ancient times.
Planet 51 was about human landing on a planet which was at the level of civilisation of Earth's Fifties. The human surprised at landing in a place of aliens (lives in other planets) was more astounded when he was being hunted as the 'alien'. Of course, friendships blossomed between a few aliens and the human and eventually, the human and the alien helped each other to grow.
There are a few scenes which are rather slapstick humour making a dig at a typical outer space exploration, such as the astronaut pretending to moon-walk and striking the American flag on the ground of the planet. The process of self-discovery and having faith in one's ability were also emphasized.
It was an average film. If you wish for a short, brainless entertainment, then this will be a good show, but not an appropriate show if you have higher expectations.
Planet 51 was about human landing on a planet which was at the level of civilisation of Earth's Fifties. The human surprised at landing in a place of aliens (lives in other planets) was more astounded when he was being hunted as the 'alien'. Of course, friendships blossomed between a few aliens and the human and eventually, the human and the alien helped each other to grow.
There are a few scenes which are rather slapstick humour making a dig at a typical outer space exploration, such as the astronaut pretending to moon-walk and striking the American flag on the ground of the planet. The process of self-discovery and having faith in one's ability were also emphasized.
It was an average film. If you wish for a short, brainless entertainment, then this will be a good show, but not an appropriate show if you have higher expectations.
December 06, 2009
New Moon
This is the sequel to Twilight. The story has moved away from focusing on the Cullens family to that of the blossoming friendship between Bella and Jacob Black. Jacob took over as the new best friend of Bella when the Cullens moved away from Fork. Spending time with Jacob allowed Bella to temporarily forget about the void in her heart from the departure of Edward.
Just as Jacob and Bella might have taken their friendship further, Edward was in danger as he thought that Bella had died. Bella decided to go to Italy to stop Edward from doing something stupid to end his life.
Unlike Twilight where I have read the book before I saw the movie, I have not read New Moon. The Movie was simply about a good looking cast with the typical ingredients of touching romance, but the plot was unexciting. At least in Twilight, there was some humorous scenes but in New Moon, the development of the friendships between Jacob and Bella was slightly draggy. The different things that Bella attempted while she was trying to find adrenaline to compensate for the emptiness she felt was also draggy.
The only entertainment came not from the movie but from the audience. During critical scenes, the audience was making cat calls. There were also other sound effects that were emitted from the audience. This was the interesting part. In the end, the whole movie appeared corny because of all these sound effects.
Just as Jacob and Bella might have taken their friendship further, Edward was in danger as he thought that Bella had died. Bella decided to go to Italy to stop Edward from doing something stupid to end his life.
Unlike Twilight where I have read the book before I saw the movie, I have not read New Moon. The Movie was simply about a good looking cast with the typical ingredients of touching romance, but the plot was unexciting. At least in Twilight, there was some humorous scenes but in New Moon, the development of the friendships between Jacob and Bella was slightly draggy. The different things that Bella attempted while she was trying to find adrenaline to compensate for the emptiness she felt was also draggy.
The only entertainment came not from the movie but from the audience. During critical scenes, the audience was making cat calls. There were also other sound effects that were emitted from the audience. This was the interesting part. In the end, the whole movie appeared corny because of all these sound effects.
October 25, 2009
Twilight - the Movie
After reading the book, I was very inspired to watching the movie.
The movie was a close adaptation of the book. However, I still preferred the book to the movie. Due to time constraints, many of the interesting and funny interactions between Edward and Bella were shortened. For those who had not read the book, these interactions in the movie failed to accentuate the development of the friendship between Edward and Bella.
The book began like a mystery providing little clues here and there from Edward's behaviour, to their quarrels to the speculations of friends which led to the conclusion of Edward as a vampire. With the movie, the shortening of these details brought out the truth of Edward's identity in a rather superficial manner.
There were also less character development of Edward and Bella's families in the movie. The truth behind Alice's conversion to vampire, the relationship between Bella and her father and Bella's male school mates' attraction to her were not fully illustrated in the movie.
On the whole, I would still prefer reading the book to the movie despite the rather good looking cast.
The movie was a close adaptation of the book. However, I still preferred the book to the movie. Due to time constraints, many of the interesting and funny interactions between Edward and Bella were shortened. For those who had not read the book, these interactions in the movie failed to accentuate the development of the friendship between Edward and Bella.
The book began like a mystery providing little clues here and there from Edward's behaviour, to their quarrels to the speculations of friends which led to the conclusion of Edward as a vampire. With the movie, the shortening of these details brought out the truth of Edward's identity in a rather superficial manner.
There were also less character development of Edward and Bella's families in the movie. The truth behind Alice's conversion to vampire, the relationship between Bella and her father and Bella's male school mates' attraction to her were not fully illustrated in the movie.
On the whole, I would still prefer reading the book to the movie despite the rather good looking cast.
October 19, 2009
Julie & Julia
Julie and Julia superimposed the lives of 2 women across 2 eras and their passions for food and cooking. The only link was the recipes of Julia Child in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Julia Child - a woman who lived in the fifties and enrolled in the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School when her husband was posted to Paris. From being the worst student in a professional class dominated by male chefs, she excelled to surpass all her classmates in terms of speed and skills. Julie Powell was a government officer who lived in a monotonous life in the Queen's estate with her husband. Her only excitement and therapy of the day were to cook for her husband. To have something that she could do, a sort of adventure and self-challenge, she and her busband decided to use 365 days to cook 524 recipes of Julia Child. In addition, she would share her experience on a blog.
Julie Powell's blog: http://blogs.salon.com/0001399
There were many funny scenes that kept me chuckling from start to end, from Julia Child's practising on chopping onions to her failure to demonstrate successfully the making of an apple pie. Julie's battle with the lobster and her trying to debone a duck were some of the hilarious scenes. The 'picturesque' good food also inspired me to attempt cooking. Maybe I can start with the poached egg.
Julia Child's recipe: http://www.cordonbleu.edu/julieandjulia/Recipes/
For those who love food and for those who love a good laugh, this is a must-watch movie.
Bon Appetit!
Picture from www.wikipedia.com
October 11, 2009
Il Mare
From the initial disbelief that they were corresponding across time, they developed a friendship that supported each other through their doldrums. The male occupant had just lost his father to heart attack – a father whom he was estranged from but whom he still held deep respect for. The female occupant had just lost his boyfriend after he went overseas for work and she realized she still loved him deeply.
They taught each other how to be happier – from cooking to taking bus rides to the countryside and taking Viking rides. They had done the same activity but across years. They decided to make a pact to meet 3 years later, but the male occupant did not turn up. Instead, he commissioned the construction of a house he designed at the favourite beach of the female occupant. He dedicated this house to this one true love – the female occupant.
The female occupant was disappointed. When she realized her heart ache when her boyfriend announced his engagement to his girlfriend, she beseeched the male occupant to try to stop her ex-boyfriend from leaving her. However, enroute to the meeting place, the male occupant met with a fatal accident and passed away. This explained why he missed the appointment made 3 years before.
This is the second week consecutively that I watched a love story that transcended over time. Compared the mystery surrounding Secrets, Il Mare was at a slower pace with nicer sceneries. If Secrets were like a novel, then Il Mare would be like a poetry.
Which do I like better? Both, because the same theme actually resulted in different story lines and different feels.
(Picture from http://mysoju.com)
October 02, 2009
Secrets
Yes, I am out-dated. I have not qualms confessing that I am certainly most out of touch with movies among my contemporaries. Secrets was the first movie directed by one of the most talented musicians in the Chinese pop scene - Jay Chou. It was his first foray into another area of the performing arts. When the movie was first launched, there was also rave reviews which proved that Jay Chou was not just a talented musician but rather a talented artiste.
With the proliferation of online sites which allowed one to catch up on movies that one has missed when the movies first shown, it was certainly a convenience for people like me, albeit low resolution. No longer would I regret not being able to catch a movie and constantly wondering how the movie is, I can now catch it even if I cannot make it while the movie is screening.
Secrets, on the surface, was a romance story about two young musics student - Ye Xiang Yun and Lu Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu was an enigmatic girl from 1973 who could actually travel in time by playing the song - Secrets, in an old practice room. She travelled to the future in 1999 where she encountered Xiang Yun - a nerdy but extremely talented student. They fell in love with each other, but Xiao Yu knew that it would be hard for them to be together since they were separated by 20 years. When Xiao Yu travelled back in time, only Xiang Yun could see her. Yet Xiang Yun was not aware of this. Although he found Xiao Yu secretive, he never guessed that he was the only one who could see Xiao Yu until the day of his graduation. That was when truth revealed itself. The day of his graduation was also the day that Xiao Yu passed away from asthma twenty years ago. Can Xiang Yun travelled back in time before the old practice room was demolished to save Xiao Yu?
(http://www.mysoju.com/)
Well, that would be a secret to those who had not watched the movie. Sshh... ...
September 05, 2009
The Time Traveller's Wife
The Time Traveller's Wife is a romance of a girl who has met the man who time-travelled due a genetic disease when she was a little girl. She fell in love with the man and married him despite knowing about his condition. Even when she was aware of his condition, loneliness still gripped her when he disappeared for a couple of weeks during the holiday season. Their romance was not always smooth-sailing. Her numerous miscarriages with the suspect that the foetus she was carrying could also be time-travelling out of the womb started to drive a wedge between the couple.
Fortunately, she has managed to carry a baby girl to full-time.
Their challenges did not stop there. Soon, they would be separated by death. During one of the time-travels, the time traveller hurt his leg and had to be wheeled chair bound. This caused inconveniences to him as he time-travelled. He knew his time was near.
His young daughter was also a time-traveller but she could control where and when she time-travelled. When she informed him that he would die when she was five-year's old. He started to get himself prepared.
The saddest part of the movie was the fact that he knew his death would come soon. The living towards death was so hapless. Hence, it is not untrue that sometimes ignorance is bliss. At least, it takes away the fear and the inevitable.
Fortunately, she has managed to carry a baby girl to full-time.
Their challenges did not stop there. Soon, they would be separated by death. During one of the time-travels, the time traveller hurt his leg and had to be wheeled chair bound. This caused inconveniences to him as he time-travelled. He knew his time was near.
His young daughter was also a time-traveller but she could control where and when she time-travelled. When she informed him that he would die when she was five-year's old. He started to get himself prepared.
The saddest part of the movie was the fact that he knew his death would come soon. The living towards death was so hapless. Hence, it is not untrue that sometimes ignorance is bliss. At least, it takes away the fear and the inevitable.
August 29, 2009
Departures
I regret missing the movie when it was first shown. It has received raving review when it was first shown in Singapore. My interest was piqued especially when it was a movie about death – a taboo in many Asian cultures.
The male lead was a cellist in the orchestra. When the orchestra was disbanded, he went back to his home-town with his wife. He was attracted by a job ad in the papers recruiting people to help others in their journey. He mistook this to be a job in the tourism industry. He only found that the ‘journey’ referred to a person’s final journey after he was recruited and the job was encoffinture – preparing the dead before placing them in the coffin.
Many were repelled by his job, including himself and his wife. It was only when he saw his boss preparing one of the dead with such elegance and dignity that he understood the importance and meaning of his job. All those who initially were against his job changed their minds when they saw the meaning of his job.
I was moved. It has also changed my perception of death. My respect for those who helped the dead with their final journey grew tremendously. Death is but another phase in life, just like coming of age, marriage and birth. It is only that in this last phase in life, one remains oblivious to and has no control over the decisions being made.
Despite the heavy subject, the movie was felt with humour which lightened the solemn topic without being disrespectful or turning it into a circus. The humour was subtle, such as determining the make-up to be used for a transvestite – male or female or the scene where the girlfriends of a dead Casanova leaving kisses all over his face.
It was the first time that I learnt of the beauty of the cello. In an orchestra, a cello rarely took centre-stage among the string instruments. It often formed the bass with its pitch being lower range. In the movie, cello became the melody rather than the accompaniment. Not only was the low range pitch unboring, it was also more soothing to the ears compared to the higher pitch violin or viola.
The movie is moving in that it creates a dull ache in your heart. This ache stays long in your heart everytime you remember scenes of the movie unlike Korean dramas which leave you teary but often short-term. It also sets you thinking about death without it being too overwhelming and scary. Please watch it if you have the time. I hope you enjoy the movie as well as I do.
P.S. The Japanese name of the movie is "Okuribito".
August 01, 2009
The Illusionist
Eisenheim was a renowned illusionist who could make trees grow out of soil. He could also make images appeared in the mirror with different actions of the person being reflected. His performances were received with rave reviews. Many were intrigued by how he had managed to perform these stunts. Many sought to find the loopholes to his magic.
When his beloved - Duchess von Teschen was murdered by her fiance, Eisenheim went into despair. He disappeared from the theater for a while. When returned, he brought with him a new magical act - where he could summon spirits whether alive or dead to his stage. This performance attracted many audience who wanted him to summon the dead. During one of the performances when the Crown Prince Leopold - fiance of Duchess von Teschen, went undercover to view this performance. He summoned the spirit of the dead Duchess who pointed out that her murderer was in the audience.
To prevent complications, Crown Prince Leopold ordered the capturing of Eisenheim who disappeared as the spirits he had summoned in one of the shows. At the same time, the murdering act of Crown Prince and his evil plans to usurp the throne was discovered. Leopold shot himself before he was being captured.
The ending showed a spirited Eisenheim racing a horse to a cottage to meet the Duchess von Teschen.
This was an unexpectedly good movie.
When his beloved - Duchess von Teschen was murdered by her fiance, Eisenheim went into despair. He disappeared from the theater for a while. When returned, he brought with him a new magical act - where he could summon spirits whether alive or dead to his stage. This performance attracted many audience who wanted him to summon the dead. During one of the performances when the Crown Prince Leopold - fiance of Duchess von Teschen, went undercover to view this performance. He summoned the spirit of the dead Duchess who pointed out that her murderer was in the audience.
To prevent complications, Crown Prince Leopold ordered the capturing of Eisenheim who disappeared as the spirits he had summoned in one of the shows. At the same time, the murdering act of Crown Prince and his evil plans to usurp the throne was discovered. Leopold shot himself before he was being captured.
The ending showed a spirited Eisenheim racing a horse to a cottage to meet the Duchess von Teschen.
This was an unexpectedly good movie.
June 29, 2009
Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen
I never expected Tranformers to be this exciting. That was the impression I have had when I watched the first Tranformers movie about 2 years ago. I have always loosely and perhaps inaccurately classified Transformers as a "guy" show with the automobiles and the robots. I was also slightly wary that it might be a show filled with gruesome blood splatterings, disembodied corpses and violent fights. I was hooked after watching the show. The bravery and righteousness of Optimum Prime and the cuteness and loyalty of Bumble Bee simply blew me off.
Needless to say, I was filled with anticipation about the sequel. And, I was not disappointed.
The Revenge of the Fallen lined up the same dynamic cast of Shia LeBouf and Megan Fox with the autobots - Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee. It was more action packed than the previous show. Even in the face of the evil Megatrons, there was still humour and light-hearted moments throughout the show to bring a smile to the audience's faces. Megan Fox continued to sizzle the screen with her sexy appeal.
However, I still preferred the first show to the second one as the fighting dominated too much of the sequel. With the intense fighting, it was also abit hard to distinguish between the good and evil when the fighting started.
Nevertheless, it was still an entertaining show.
Needless to say, I was filled with anticipation about the sequel. And, I was not disappointed.
The Revenge of the Fallen lined up the same dynamic cast of Shia LeBouf and Megan Fox with the autobots - Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee. It was more action packed than the previous show. Even in the face of the evil Megatrons, there was still humour and light-hearted moments throughout the show to bring a smile to the audience's faces. Megan Fox continued to sizzle the screen with her sexy appeal.
However, I still preferred the first show to the second one as the fighting dominated too much of the sequel. With the intense fighting, it was also abit hard to distinguish between the good and evil when the fighting started.
Nevertheless, it was still an entertaining show.
April 12, 2009
One Litre of Tears
This Japanese movie was apparently based on some true story. I was exploring the site that Ah Peng introduced to mewhen I chanced upon this movie which I have since long heard of. This site contained many video clips of Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese movies and dramas
It was about a girl who was struck by cerebral palsy but who braved through life with her optimistism. Not only did she continue with her learning and writing despite her physical challenges, she had remained cheerful and brought smile to her friends, the medical team who was helping her and her family. It would certainly brought tears to the soft-hearted when we followed Aya - the girl through her short 25 years on earth.
I felt guilty at some of my rather trivial complaints about life and my nonchalance about the way I spent my time sometimes. Looking at my blase attitude towards time - the greatest gift I could always have and comparing against Aya's despondency over what little time she had, I felt I was doing injustice to myself, to this gift and to the people who was deprived of this gift.
I should do better and I will do better. Let's cheer each other on and have a good race during this limited time we have.
It was about a girl who was struck by cerebral palsy but who braved through life with her optimistism. Not only did she continue with her learning and writing despite her physical challenges, she had remained cheerful and brought smile to her friends, the medical team who was helping her and her family. It would certainly brought tears to the soft-hearted when we followed Aya - the girl through her short 25 years on earth.
I felt guilty at some of my rather trivial complaints about life and my nonchalance about the way I spent my time sometimes. Looking at my blase attitude towards time - the greatest gift I could always have and comparing against Aya's despondency over what little time she had, I felt I was doing injustice to myself, to this gift and to the people who was deprived of this gift.
I should do better and I will do better. Let's cheer each other on and have a good race during this limited time we have.
February 02, 2009
The Battle of Red Cliff I (赤壁)
Courtesy of my sister's friend, we were able to watch this film via the DVD. It was about the battle taking place at Red Cliff between Cao Cao and Liu Bei. Part I set the scene leading the the eventual battle where Zhuge Liang visited Sun Quan to request that they joined forces to fend off Cao Cao.
Zhuge Liang met Zhou Yu - the well regarded general and strategist of Sun Quan. They plotted the Eight Trigrams Formation which led them to the first victory against the army of Cao Cao. However, the main battle would lie in the rivers with tens of thousands of ships from Cao Cao.
Typical of a war film, the show too lined with many bloody scenes of soldiers dying. For someone with a weak stomach or terrified at seeing blood, such scenes could be abit uncomfortable. I remembered watching 2 other epic films which also touched on plotting, killing and assassination - A Battle of Wits (墨攻) and The Banquet (夜宴). Both also had many scenes where one would see intricate sword fights and bloodshed. Such scenes could be slightly uncomfortable to watch when there were too many.
Back to Red Cliff, it was overall an interesting movie to catch. My friends practically waxed lyrical over it as during a dinner the weekend before, we spent a good hour discussing about the movie.
Zhuge Liang met Zhou Yu - the well regarded general and strategist of Sun Quan. They plotted the Eight Trigrams Formation which led them to the first victory against the army of Cao Cao. However, the main battle would lie in the rivers with tens of thousands of ships from Cao Cao.
Typical of a war film, the show too lined with many bloody scenes of soldiers dying. For someone with a weak stomach or terrified at seeing blood, such scenes could be abit uncomfortable. I remembered watching 2 other epic films which also touched on plotting, killing and assassination - A Battle of Wits (墨攻) and The Banquet (夜宴). Both also had many scenes where one would see intricate sword fights and bloodshed. Such scenes could be slightly uncomfortable to watch when there were too many.
Back to Red Cliff, it was overall an interesting movie to catch. My friends practically waxed lyrical over it as during a dinner the weekend before, we spent a good hour discussing about the movie.
February 01, 2009
House of Flying Daggers (十面埋伏)
This is a film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Zhang Ziyi, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. It was a film lined with many martial arts scenes and beautiful sceneries in the backdrop. The beautiful sceneries were vivid with colours - with bamboo scenes, by the rivers, in the forest with autumn leaves.
Zhang Ziyi played a member of the Flying Dagger Tribe. She posed as the blind daughter of the Tribe chief to lure the government officials who were hot on their trails of nailing the tribe down. Takeshi Kaneshiro was the spy of the government officials who befriended Zhang Ziyi hoping that she would lead him to their hiding place. What started as harmless flirting each bearing his or her own agenda soon developed into real romance.
All the leads played dual role in the movie. Andy Lau was a spy sent by the Flying Daggers to keep tab of the government officials. Andy Lau and Zhang Ziyi used to be lovers. However, this love turned to hatred when he discovered than Zhang Ziyi had genuinely fallen in love with Takeshi Kaneshiro.
To save Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Ziyi sacrificed herself.
This might seen like a typical triangle romance movie. However, the kaleidoscopic scenes were a visual joy. The effects of flying daggers and bamboo added excitement to a simple romantic movie. The dual roles played by all the leads added some mystery and suspense.
It was overall an enjoyable show.
Zhang Ziyi played a member of the Flying Dagger Tribe. She posed as the blind daughter of the Tribe chief to lure the government officials who were hot on their trails of nailing the tribe down. Takeshi Kaneshiro was the spy of the government officials who befriended Zhang Ziyi hoping that she would lead him to their hiding place. What started as harmless flirting each bearing his or her own agenda soon developed into real romance.
All the leads played dual role in the movie. Andy Lau was a spy sent by the Flying Daggers to keep tab of the government officials. Andy Lau and Zhang Ziyi used to be lovers. However, this love turned to hatred when he discovered than Zhang Ziyi had genuinely fallen in love with Takeshi Kaneshiro.
To save Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Ziyi sacrificed herself.
This might seen like a typical triangle romance movie. However, the kaleidoscopic scenes were a visual joy. The effects of flying daggers and bamboo added excitement to a simple romantic movie. The dual roles played by all the leads added some mystery and suspense.
It was overall an enjoyable show.
December 20, 2008
Bruce Almighty
I have not watched any movie for a long time, be it on TV or in the cinema. It is certainly relaxing to laze at home catching Jim Carey in Bruce Almighty.
Jim Carey has met with the most unlucky days in his life. He blamed God for not helping him and turning a blind eye to his predicament. He was 'paged' by God. After talking to God, he was given all God's power while God went on a vacation. Jim suddenly was known as Bruce, the Almighty.
When bestowed with God's power, he had initially used it for his own selfish purpose to gain personally. He was reminded from God that he had to take over God's job in helping people while God was on vacation. Since Jim Carey had previously complained about God doing a bad job. it was a splendid chance to prove that he could do better.
Only then did he understand the enormity of the job. He was overwhelmed by the neverending prayers. To quickly fight fire, he simply said yes to all prayers. thinking that he would resolve all misery and problems plaguing the world. Never did he realise he was more wrong. By saying yes to all people who wanted to win lotteries, he ended up creating many winners and thus reducing the prize money per person. This resulted in social unrest and chaos broke loose.
Does the situation sound familiar? How often we may land ourself in a hypothetical situation where we think that if we are in our parents, our lovers, our friends or our bosses' shoes, we will be able to do things better? We think that if we are the CEO of the company, we will not do this and we will do that so that employees have better morale and company makes more money. Or we will think that if we are our parents, we will not be nagging our children or meddle with their affairs so often.
Yet, when we become bosses and parents, do you not see yourself doing some of the things that you do not want your bosses or parents ever to do as a subordinate or child? Despite our decisions as bosses or parents being unpopular, we are still making them because we see that sometimes a seemingly bad decision may not necessarily be a bad one and vice versa? We often make decisions given the best information we may have or with a long-term outlook that in the short term, the decision may seem fruitless or even callous?
Or worse, when we are given powers as bosses and parents, we too can be temporarily consume with the greed of power that we forget our altruistic aims. We may even start to abuse the powers for our personal gains. Afterall, power can be so attractive that it turns evil.
Beneath the jokes of Bruce Almighty, it is a self-reflecting story. It is always easy to imagine being able to do a better job than another person. It is not difficut to imagine but it is often difficult to carry out the idealisms in reality.
Jim Carey has met with the most unlucky days in his life. He blamed God for not helping him and turning a blind eye to his predicament. He was 'paged' by God. After talking to God, he was given all God's power while God went on a vacation. Jim suddenly was known as Bruce, the Almighty.
When bestowed with God's power, he had initially used it for his own selfish purpose to gain personally. He was reminded from God that he had to take over God's job in helping people while God was on vacation. Since Jim Carey had previously complained about God doing a bad job. it was a splendid chance to prove that he could do better.
Only then did he understand the enormity of the job. He was overwhelmed by the neverending prayers. To quickly fight fire, he simply said yes to all prayers. thinking that he would resolve all misery and problems plaguing the world. Never did he realise he was more wrong. By saying yes to all people who wanted to win lotteries, he ended up creating many winners and thus reducing the prize money per person. This resulted in social unrest and chaos broke loose.
Does the situation sound familiar? How often we may land ourself in a hypothetical situation where we think that if we are in our parents, our lovers, our friends or our bosses' shoes, we will be able to do things better? We think that if we are the CEO of the company, we will not do this and we will do that so that employees have better morale and company makes more money. Or we will think that if we are our parents, we will not be nagging our children or meddle with their affairs so often.
Yet, when we become bosses and parents, do you not see yourself doing some of the things that you do not want your bosses or parents ever to do as a subordinate or child? Despite our decisions as bosses or parents being unpopular, we are still making them because we see that sometimes a seemingly bad decision may not necessarily be a bad one and vice versa? We often make decisions given the best information we may have or with a long-term outlook that in the short term, the decision may seem fruitless or even callous?
Or worse, when we are given powers as bosses and parents, we too can be temporarily consume with the greed of power that we forget our altruistic aims. We may even start to abuse the powers for our personal gains. Afterall, power can be so attractive that it turns evil.
Beneath the jokes of Bruce Almighty, it is a self-reflecting story. It is always easy to imagine being able to do a better job than another person. It is not difficut to imagine but it is often difficult to carry out the idealisms in reality.
October 19, 2008
Mr and Mrs Smith
As elusive as whether Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had already fallen in love in the movie, I somehow always missed the movie when it was telecast. Finally, I could catch the chemistry between the sexy actor and actress as they engaged in gunfires. With a dash of humours, bossa nova music and villains, voila, an entertaining movie was concocted.
After the movie, I kept hearing the bossa nova tune, which set the scene when Brad and Angelina (I made it sound as though I knew them on a personal level) met, humming in my head. La La La La La.
After the movie, I kept hearing the bossa nova tune, which set the scene when Brad and Angelina (I made it sound as though I knew them on a personal level) met, humming in my head. La La La La La.
August 10, 2008
Hitched
Hitched? Not me!
I am only referring to the movie starring Will Smith. I am not exactly a fan of Will Smith, but thought he is still pretty good looking hunk with a sense of humour (especially in Shrek). 'Hitched' has a pretty cliche plot, but who cares? We all love a little predictable, funny, romantic and a happily ever after love story?
Boy and Girl are both love cynics. Boy is a love expert whose profession is to help other men secure their love of their lives. Boy becomes an expert only after suffering a bad heartache in college. Yet, Boy will only help people who are really in love and not lust. Boy and Girl fall in love. However, Girl is a reported who wants to interview the love doctor - Boy. When Girl finds out that Boy is the love doctor, Girl becomes angry and exposes him. This causes him to lose business and credibility and affects his clients. Boy also becomes angry. In the end, Girl realises that she still loves Boy and the same applies for the Boy. Boy and Girl get together again.
Simple plot. So what's so interesting about the movie?
I was very impressed when Boy wanted to win the heart of the Girl. He went through a thorough research about the Girl, including her ancestors. He planned a breakfast date but he refused to call it a date knowing the girl was adamant of romance. He brought her water jetting and lured her to an island with a museum for the first immigrants of New York. Girl was surprised to find grandfather's name in the namelist of the immigrants.
Hmm, few guys will go the extent to plan for such memorable dates. No wonder, even the love-sceptic Girl was moved. It is difficult for any Girl not to be swooned by the Boy or to resist his charms. Of the entire movie, I liked this part best because of the efforts that the Boy has put in and the creativity of the date design. *Wink*
I am only referring to the movie starring Will Smith. I am not exactly a fan of Will Smith, but thought he is still pretty good looking hunk with a sense of humour (especially in Shrek). 'Hitched' has a pretty cliche plot, but who cares? We all love a little predictable, funny, romantic and a happily ever after love story?
Boy and Girl are both love cynics. Boy is a love expert whose profession is to help other men secure their love of their lives. Boy becomes an expert only after suffering a bad heartache in college. Yet, Boy will only help people who are really in love and not lust. Boy and Girl fall in love. However, Girl is a reported who wants to interview the love doctor - Boy. When Girl finds out that Boy is the love doctor, Girl becomes angry and exposes him. This causes him to lose business and credibility and affects his clients. Boy also becomes angry. In the end, Girl realises that she still loves Boy and the same applies for the Boy. Boy and Girl get together again.
Simple plot. So what's so interesting about the movie?
I was very impressed when Boy wanted to win the heart of the Girl. He went through a thorough research about the Girl, including her ancestors. He planned a breakfast date but he refused to call it a date knowing the girl was adamant of romance. He brought her water jetting and lured her to an island with a museum for the first immigrants of New York. Girl was surprised to find grandfather's name in the namelist of the immigrants.
Hmm, few guys will go the extent to plan for such memorable dates. No wonder, even the love-sceptic Girl was moved. It is difficult for any Girl not to be swooned by the Boy or to resist his charms. Of the entire movie, I liked this part best because of the efforts that the Boy has put in and the creativity of the date design. *Wink*
May 17, 2008
Accuracy of Death
I have always enjoyed Japanese movie or drama more than Taiwanese or Korean. Japanese movies or drama often do not just tell a story, but rather also to highlight certain philosophy. Given the rave reviews that surround the latest Japanese movie starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, I am dying to feel the inspiration again.
Takeshi Kaneshiro was a grim reaper who liked music and was slightly rusty with the latest lingo of the world. For instance, he had amazed some of his targets with his incomprehension of phases such as "pick up girls" and "running noses". He defied all the common images of a grim reaper of someone with a hood and a scythe. Instead, he looked like ordinary you and me on the streets but with a pair of white gloves.
The movie had a poignant start. The grim reaper attended the wake of a ten-year old girl. At the wake, he chatted with a young girl at the wake when she immediately identified him as the grim reaper. The girl was actually the one who had passed on.
The first target was a 27-year-old office lady who lived life in a monotony. She had attempted suicide many times because she felt that she has jinxed when all her loved ones had passed away in succession. She felt that she was always embraced in bad luck whenever she tossed coin to make decisions or attempted to predict the outcome. The grim reaper was to spend the last few days with her and made the final decision on whether she should be given a second chance to live. The grim reaper decided to give her a second chance when she was accidentally discovered as a singer.
The second target was a Yakuza member whose purpose in life was to seek revenge for his leader. He died of a traffic accident instead of at the confrontation with another team. The grim reaper decided that he should still die because this target had already achieved his purpose in life. The last target was a 70-year-old hairdresser who felt that she had already achieved the purpose in life and was ready to go.
The movie adopted a funnier outlook of death which we often shied away from. The three targets appeared to be distinct from one another yet they were linked in their destinies one way or another. The grim reaper always asked the targets what they felt about death. Only the last target asked the grim reaper himself what he felt about death.
- There might be nothing special about death but death was important.
- One should live today like there is no tomorrow.
- Everyone will die. It is a matter of time.
This may not be as romantic as "Meet Joe Black". This may not be as witty as Death Note. Yet, I still feel that it sets one thinking about death and life. Many little details in the movie which might seem distinct but they were not superfluous as they were there to tell us something. The habit of the first target of tossing the coin highlighted that there were two sides of everything, eg good versus bad and life versus death. This habit which was also observed for the young Yakuza member hinted some linking between the first target and this member.
Different viewers might have different interpretations of the statements and events. It was truly an enjoyable show.
Takeshi Kaneshiro was a grim reaper who liked music and was slightly rusty with the latest lingo of the world. For instance, he had amazed some of his targets with his incomprehension of phases such as "pick up girls" and "running noses". He defied all the common images of a grim reaper of someone with a hood and a scythe. Instead, he looked like ordinary you and me on the streets but with a pair of white gloves.
The movie had a poignant start. The grim reaper attended the wake of a ten-year old girl. At the wake, he chatted with a young girl at the wake when she immediately identified him as the grim reaper. The girl was actually the one who had passed on.
The first target was a 27-year-old office lady who lived life in a monotony. She had attempted suicide many times because she felt that she has jinxed when all her loved ones had passed away in succession. She felt that she was always embraced in bad luck whenever she tossed coin to make decisions or attempted to predict the outcome. The grim reaper was to spend the last few days with her and made the final decision on whether she should be given a second chance to live. The grim reaper decided to give her a second chance when she was accidentally discovered as a singer.
The second target was a Yakuza member whose purpose in life was to seek revenge for his leader. He died of a traffic accident instead of at the confrontation with another team. The grim reaper decided that he should still die because this target had already achieved his purpose in life. The last target was a 70-year-old hairdresser who felt that she had already achieved the purpose in life and was ready to go.
The movie adopted a funnier outlook of death which we often shied away from. The three targets appeared to be distinct from one another yet they were linked in their destinies one way or another. The grim reaper always asked the targets what they felt about death. Only the last target asked the grim reaper himself what he felt about death.
- There might be nothing special about death but death was important.
- One should live today like there is no tomorrow.
- Everyone will die. It is a matter of time.
This may not be as romantic as "Meet Joe Black". This may not be as witty as Death Note. Yet, I still feel that it sets one thinking about death and life. Many little details in the movie which might seem distinct but they were not superfluous as they were there to tell us something. The habit of the first target of tossing the coin highlighted that there were two sides of everything, eg good versus bad and life versus death. This habit which was also observed for the young Yakuza member hinted some linking between the first target and this member.
Different viewers might have different interpretations of the statements and events. It was truly an enjoyable show.
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