Movie Review: Fast And Furious 5

With thanks to omy.sg, I went for a movie preview of Fast and Furious 5 on 4 May 2011 and had an amazing cinematic experience.

 To say that Fast and Furious 5 is breath-taking, heart-gripping and jaw-dropping exciting is definitely not an exaggeration as this 5th instalment of this ever popular and running series brings the audience into the slums of Rio De Janeiro.

I cannot recall the number of occasions when I dropped my jaws due to several reasons - breath-taking sights, heart-stopping racing scenes, unbelievable surprises and twists of events.

From the moment Dom (Vin Diesel) was saved from the prison's bus during his transportation to the jail, the story developed from a simple train robbery of...well, what else but cars :P, to a hunt by the most influential mafia leader in Rio and the FBI's appointed hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to a final confrontation with the corrupted military force and the mafia as Dom and his gang of experts in various aspects took on Ocean's Eleven's role and decided to rob the mafia leader of all his laundered money.

If you'd ask me, this film is Fast and Furious meets Ocean Eleven, G.I Joe and The Town, with an added refreshing combination of Wrestler meets Racer as Dwayne and Vin moved from confrontation to combination when they eventually joined hands to bring the mafia leader down.

Still need convincing? Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PspF_GA-9U for their trailer.This is the BEST instalment of Fast and Furious ever! So what are you waiting for? Get yourself away from this screen right now, hit the theatres and bring yourself on a second round of adrenaline rush proceding the election excitement! Unlike the election, it's safe to leave your Identification Card at home this time, this show is rated PG :)

The Power of Pain, The Mystery of Search

As much as I have time, I have been having a lot of moments when I just sit around, feel paralysed and yea..perhaps feeling a bit down sometimes.

I've always believed that people tend to be slightly sadistic? It always dawns on me why I relate more to pain and hurt more than joy and happiness. Then I look around and realise that it's not just me. It's a lot of people. I guess that's why sad films tend to be the ones in the Oscars..they are the ones to which more people like those boring Oscars people can relate? haha

I have been fighting an internal battle too between thinking my life is miserable and that it is actually quite fruitful and fulfilling. As much as I can easily think of reasons why it is good, I can also see flashes or reasons of why it sucks..haha and usually the sad moments seem to stand out more..strangely. It's just like how easy it is for us to find faults in service/people...and now it seems to work on ourselves too. :P

Somewhere in every aspect of our lives, there always seem to be an imperfection. As much As we would like to say Life is not perfect, it is inevitable that we still do get bothered by it, be the imperfection be our pessimism, our eagerness to make that aspect better or simply because there IS a prominent issue there.

Quarrels, disagreements always pop up in our lives and as much as we tell ourselves to just let it go once it is okay, it would still be a lie for us to say that they did not even leave the slightest scar/mark. All I can tell myself is God gives us perfect flawless skin since birth so that there is space for all these marks/scars for us to carry throughout our lives, serving nothing more than reminders like 'hey I've gotten so many and am still breathing? Why the heck not one more?' (for those of my friends who are christians/catholics, please understand this does not have any religious implication. I am talking about God in general)

In relationships, I always believe disagreement is simply Life's indicator for us if the other person is here to stay or for play. It depends on how you look at it - a depressant, a challenge or simply just part of life.

As for joy, why let the world or say fashion industry or even Oscars or Hollywood tell us what defines OUR happiness? Only we know because only we feel it. One man's food is another man's poison. If you have been an individual with a mind of your own and clear of what defines joy to you, why doubt it now?

Like Gump said "Life is like a box of chocolate, you'll never know what you will get". When we do get a new flavour or sensation in our mouth, it depends on ourselves if we still want to open ourselves up to a new taste and savour in joy, spit it out and start cursing the damn chocolate shop or simply bite it bit by bit and get accustomed to it slowly.

What is your take?

The 7-year-old Post

As most of you know, I am currently working with a Statutory Board moving around primary schools and conducting tests and conversing with 7-year-olds to collect data back to the ministry. My assignment has ended and despite it being really tiring having to carry those tons of scripts, picture cards etc around everyday, I cannot help but feel a little sad (no, this is NOT one of those 'motherly instincts' moments,,haha)

During this period of time, I have met so many 7-year-olds who have either made my day or left a deep impression:

E:
To be honest, when I saw 'ASD' under E on my requested list of medical conditions of the selected students, I was not thrilled and even worried. Not that I am discriminating any child with medical condition, but professionally, it may affect the accuracy of my research and my tight schedule if he does not warm up to me and quick enough.

However, a huge part of me wanted to converse with him nevertheless. Apart from the challenge of handling Ethan, I am also excited by the opportunity to understand the world of a ASD child. I wrote to the ministry and when they asked if he is able to take the test, I told them I had caught a glimpse of him when he was in class and he looked perfectly fine and my opinion is we should not exclude him just because of his medical condition, which the ministry agreed too.

When I went to his class to pick him up, I was stunned. He did not display any symptoms of my impression of a ASD child at all. He is bright, very outspoken, fared better than most children in the tests and talkative. Indeed getting him to keep quiet was a bigger issue as he loved sharing his thoughts, stories and travel experiences with me! He had observed many things which most children did not notice.

He was sharing his travelling story at KL with me and even drew the following picture:

Artist's explanation: The train (above 'KL') which he took when he was there, with the station with a flight of staircase to the right and the plane which took him there among the smaller ones because those other planes are further away.

Simply impressive to me, E :) For those out there, next time if you want to label any ASD child as any sort, think again..they can be bundles of surprises :)

YH:

When I fetched YH from his class and as we were doing our ice-breaking conversations on the way, he kept requesting me to converse in Mandarin. However, we were told during the training to try not conversing in other languages, so I told him politely I could not.

During our conversation for the research, I realised his lack of esteem in his linguistic abilities. He kept saying '哎呀，英语就是不好，什么都不明白，哎..........' (translation: goodness..my English is bad, don't understand anything)  I felt his stress and shaken confidence and I couldn't help but tell him 'YH, 没关系...只要有恒心，铁棒也能磨成针...' (translation: YH, it's okay..as long as you have the perseverance, even an iron rod can be rolled into a needle). 

He looked up at me and said '是这样的吗？' (translation: will it really?)

Yes, YH. Yes.

As some of my friends know, recently I have been feeling really down about my status quo - still looking for  a job, some arguments with family, etc..sometimes I do feel the lack of strength to continue on.

And I will never imagine that this time round, I am gaining strength from trying to encourage a child.

Not to mention that this child is extremely gentlemanly for his age! Whenever I dropped things, he would pick it up for me and respond to my thanks with 'no need to thank!' and even offered to wait for me when I told him I needed to switch off the lights at the end of the session when we were departing.

On a general level, this society usually tends to attribute the nationality of Chinese to their english proficiency level, is the same going to be attributed to his well manners and gentlemanly qualities then? It always seems like negative things are always more commented upon rather than good ones huh?

Thanks YH, that session with you has revoked a lot of thoughts in me : D

Apart from E and YH, there are other kids who left deep impressions on me, be it for good, for bad, or for simply stirring up some memories in me:

Htet - Seemingly mentally slow and living in his own world. First met him whilst he was in his soiled clothes, and the air around us immediately switched to a strong acrid smell the moment I brought him into the air-conditioned room. Having said that, however, one of the happiest and most active child I had met for the past few weeks.

Sometimes living life in a blur is perhaps better..at least that's what I've always thought~

Z - Has a leg which does not function as well. When I was bringing her to the hall where her classmates were, she nearly tripped twice on her malfunctioning leg while climbing up the stairs. When I tried to help her, she rejected.

'Jan, if people can help themselves, why can't you? Always remember why your scorpion has only one pincer.'

And to top my memory bank up, the following pictures drawn by those cute little men and women : ) whilst they waited for their classmates. Awwwww who can resist those naughty angels :):

Movie Review: No Strings Attached

I am sure we have heard many a times from a Mr. Player about his numerous 'relationship' with no strings attached or from a Ms. Sad-and-Victimised tearing about how she put in all her TLC only to find out Mr. 'Misunderstood' just regards her as a 'friend with benefits'.

On 7th Feb Tuesday evening, with thanks to omy.sg, my girlfriend Kestellia and I went for the preview screening of 'No Strings Attached'. The show proved itself to be worthwhile our efforts and sweat in jostling amidst the '300' battlefield of human warfare in the public transport system! :)

'No Strings Attached' turns out to be the direct opposite of my prior impression that it was a serious, perhaps stern, drama - it is hilarious, heart-warming and mirrors no-strings-attached-relationship in light-hearted reflections. There was hardly any moment when I found it excruciating to watch. My eyes were glued onto the screen with much anticipation for the next twist of events, whilst Kes and I muttered several 'Noooo!!'s and 'Awwwww's.

In summary, the film is basically about Adam and E...mma (expecting Eve aren't you? haha), a pair of childhood friends who ended up bringing their friendship into bed. In order to keep the friendship going, coupled with Emma's distrust in men/relationship, they decided to continue this status quo, conducting such 'sessions' anytime and anywhere. And as of most Hollywood films, you would probably know this would end up being another fairytale where all ends well, with the couple finally finding life's completeness only in each other's arms.

However, what I find highly refreshing this time is that the roles are reversed! What seem to be usual displays of a woman's character traits after no-string-attached-sex - needs for cuddling, security, assurances and confirmation of a more serious relationship turns out to be the anxiety of a man as Adam eventually tries all ways to connect, date and even persuade Emma to take their friendship to the next base! Throwing all feminism aside, all the ladies have to admit this is one of those feel-good films that will leave them sniggering and thinking 'now you know how we feel!'. Personally I would choose this film to be the representative piece of my blog 'Are Women Tranforming Too Fast?' written on 19 November 2010.

Apart from the good storyline, the cast has carried out their own roles very well. With all due respect for Ashton Kutcher, Kes and I both agreed this is one of those very rare films where he is actually given a good role with emotional scenes, which he nailed with well-portrayed sadness and disappointment (in Emma) oozing out of his pores. Natalie and Ashton also manage to create great chemistry between them and with the rest of the crew, bringing the whole cinematic indulgence in the film to a greater height.

For those who enjoyed reading John Gray's 'Women Are From Venus, Men Are From Mars' as much as I did, this film is a must-watch. For men, this provide a great insight into probably most women's emotional world and thoughts on casual relationship in the long run and for women, perhaps a beam of hope to believe in love again and not generalise the opposite gender.

Omy.sg, thank you very much indeed. This film made our day.

看笑着回家过快乐年

经过种种头条绯闻后，梁家班终于再次脱离所有“世俗烦恼”，重新为本地影坛在这新的一年‘创造’一位新的‘梁’女性：Karen Neo，即将会在贺岁片“笑着回家”首次露面！

根据报道显示，梁董为了这个角色成功的减瘦五公斤！所谓没有功劳，也有苦劳，我希望大众可以忘掉梁董去年的“红尘”往事，而像我一样，会去观看此片，为他的一番苦心打气！

此片是借着三个凡人回家过年，吃团圆饭的路程和经历来讲述他们不同的故事。从预告片里，感觉上，此片将会充满幽默，温馨和令人啼笑皆非`的`情节；而且也会显示些传统习俗和现代观念因于团圆饭和过年所产生的一些`冲突。这足以让我迫不及待得向望着它的上映。

除此之外，这次也会有一些多年不见的演员参与阵容， 比如郑秀珍和阿牛。能够再次看见他们在荧幕上将会是一种参杂与怀旧和焕然一新的感觉。最重要是看看他们和老练的梁家班将会擦出个什么样的火花！

我觉得值得一提的是“笑着回家”虽然是华人新年的贺岁片，但也不忘异族同胞们，综合了马来和印度同胞的笑料演出，十足的显示出新加坡多言种族，各族和平共处的文化特色。 而片里所显示的一些画面和情节也会非常的“本地化”，相信观众会有一种贴心非凡的感觉。

在过年佳节时分，大家不如试着扶老携幼到影院去，让梁董和李国煌分别带着浓浓的联邦腔和港式腔的华语，让一家大小，倾盆好友“笑着回家”吧！

“笑着回家”预告片：http://movies.insing.com/trailers/id-562

Movie Review: Fair Game

Remember how all those hollywood films always portray the United States to be the savior of the world against alien invasion, armageddon, gigantic seismic waves and any form of disaster which will lead to world's end, and how the American heroes always succeed in jumping through breaking grounds, dodged under millions of bullets and escaped undetected even if they are under the most sophisticated radar system?

This is not one of those, and the reason why this film gets my thumbs up. Or should I say 'Finally, a film where americans are not seen as super humans or humans with super good luck!'

Based on the book 'The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity: A Diplomat's Memoir' written by former ambassador Joseph Wilson,this film brings us into the treachery side of politics and the negative impacts that the media can create. 

It started with his article in the papers pointing out that  former president George Bush's claims that Iraq was purchasing yellow cake uranium from Niger and was intending to revitalise a program to construct nuclear weapons was inaccurate. Firstly, Niger did not have that huge amount of uranium within their boundaries to even produce the allegedly reported amount. Secondly the program was discovered and already destroyed by US in the 1990s.


Since then his family's lives were turned upside down with the CIA identity of his wife Valerie Plame being exposed over the news. They started receiving threats from the public, forcing Valerie to take different routes everyday to fetch their two children to and from school, changing phone numbers several times and having to carry out daily activities in fear and under the scrutiny of the public eye. 

This film shows the audience not only the chaos and tedious fights Joseph Wilson (well acted by Sean Penn) put up against the White House, it also brings us on a journey into the emotional struggle of Valerie (Naomi Watts) between fighting arm-in-arm with Joseph and remaining on her CIA grounds not to expose her own identity, while she was pushed to the brim and her breaking point.


I like the film for the rawness of it - as much as politicians try to make politics seem all righteous, their actions/words all said/done in the name of justice and their claims all made only under sufficient evidence, at the end of the days politicians are still humans and humans do err i.e Bush's inaccurate claims; And how power and media comes to play with Valerie's identity being exposed by the media, as a deliberate strategy intended to divert the public's attention from Joseph's article.


For those who are expecting yet another america-saves-the-world kind of adventure film, do expect a different outlook from this film as it brings you on a serious and heart-pounding gripping account of a family's struggle to reclaim their lives as they stand against the most powerful authority in the world.

movie review: The Haunted House Project

For everyone who has not heard of this movie, think 'Blair Witch' combined with 'The Last Exorcism'.

This Korean horror is filmed documentary style, but minus the extreme nauseating shakiness of Cloverfield which left me feeling giddy and seeing stars within 15 minutes of the film.

'The Haunted House Project' takes you on a journey through an infamous haunted house/factory with a filming crew and three paranormal investigators, where the previous factory owner was found hanging from the ceiling whilst his wife and two children were found murdered - the perfect setting for vengeful spirits.

The filming style is good. I particularly like the disturbances captured by the filming at times, caused by electromagnetic waves emitted by paranormal activities. This refreshing and smart concept to show short footages of the spirits adds on to the suspense and bring the audience on a roller-coaster ride. I find myself holding onto my seat in anticipation on the footage the next wave of disturbances will show. Thumbs up to the director for this creative idea.

There is little exaggeration of the paranormal activities at the first part of the film, which is probably intended to make it look more realistic and capture the audience's focus. So to all horror-buffers out there, please note to have patience for the suspense build-up and excitement which follows.

The setting of the film is ideal, giving audience space for imagination on where the next ghostly phenomena will take place as they rummage through ruins, broken-down brick walls and old furniture like wardrobes and cupboards with the crew.

For those who are not familiar with paranormal equipments, the producer cleverly gives a quick education on them through the paranormal investigators who give a short introduction of EMFs (Electromagnetic Field Detectors), dowsing rods etc, when the filming crew was interviewing them.

Curious? Then take a journey through 'The Haunted House Project' :-)