Dawn of The Planet of The Apes: Is it Really Dawn?

The perks of being a house-girlfriend (in contrast to housewife) is that

1) I get to watch my favourite series Devious Maids while ironing and wondering if all maids in the states look THAT hot;

2) I get to go back to sleep after preparing breakfast for my baby man;

3) Time is in my hands and I get to change my task to another once I get bored with the current one;

4) I do not have to deal with FAKE, PRETENTIOUS and BACK-STABBING assistants or pull my hair out over unrealistic KPI targets anymore;

5) I can finally have a fitness routine;

6) I can take care of domestic matters on full-time basis.

The downside of being one, on the other hand, is that

1) The savings in my bank account keeps decreasing;

2) There is no income coming in;

3) Life becomes a routine, whereby the most exciting things in a day is planning meals and cooking them.

With thanks to my friend Sumith, I get to break that routine on 30th July 2014 - we decided to meet at the theatre closest to us and catch 'Dawn of The Planet of The Apes'.

The synopsis extracted from Shaw cinemas' website is as appended:

A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.

To be honest, the trailer and the synopsis have proven to be somewhat misleading.

For those who have watched the movie, I can understand that turnkey event which led to the war should not be shown in the trailer or mentioned in the synopsis. Nonetheless, I believe most can agree that the both sounded and looked more exciting than the movie itself.

A few aspects which I found lacking from the movie are:

1) The first part started with all the news broadcasts of the virus and humans being wiped out - very Quarantine-like. But it seemed that the rest of the movie does not connect very well with that point;

2) The  producer tried to portray that humans and apes can still possibly connect even at that situation but I feel that the connections are rather weak and abrupt and seemed to be 'forcefully' made to happen. In fact, I find the video clip showing the interaction between Caesar and Will in the camcorder, which Caesar turned on, more real and powerful than any other connection in this second instalment;

3)The title states DAWN of the planet of the apes...but...where is the dawn? It is true that the apes took over for a brief number of days but that does not suffice for the word 'dawn'. And the ending shows a possible war starting between humans and apes, but that is not exactly 'dawn' either. The movie does not seem to bring out the essence of the title.

Having said that,  I am not at all disappointed by the show. Some elements and messages from the show still stand out strongly, making it a great cinematic experience nevertheless - the special effects brought the apes to life, so much so that I actually commented to Sumith that no kid should be brought to this show or else all zoological gardens around the world would have to remove all their ape enclaves; and the lines which Caesar last said still haunts me and gets me thinking till now. 

Caesar said 'Apes started the war; Humans won't forgive'. Is this why wars still exist in a civilisation like today's? Is that why guns and ammunition were prepared though Malcolm said to give him time? Is that even why guns exist today?

One thing which I would like to applaud the producer is for bringing out a clear message that humans tried using guns to solve problems but in the end it backfired (yes, I am punning) and right till the end, it still wasn't guns which resolved that war.

Movie Review: Machine Gun Preacher

In case some of you are wondering, I am not a Christian, so no, this is not why I wrote a review on this movie.

My boyfriend and I recently went on a day trip to Desaru - one of those online deals I found on Bigplusdeal.com. Anyway putting the trip aside (which was GREAT!), he bought some DVDs when we were dropped off at a local mall (where we were stared at by the locals like some rare species which just surfaced upon Earth), and one of them was The Machine Gun Preacher.



Honestly, the DVD cover and the idea of 'Machine Gun' and 'Preacher' did not sound attractive to me but there we were, at home on a Sunday night trying to decide on the movie to watch and he just randomly placed it into the DVD player.

'Oh well, at least it's the sexy Gerald Butler!' I thought.

The next 129 minutes was unexpectingly captivating, not because of the cinematography, the firearms or Gerald (though it should be :P ). The film, based on a true story, was simply mind-blowing due to the harsh reality of the world and how one man stands against it.

It tells of the story of Sam Childers who found God and changed his life from being a hopeless drug-dealing biker to joining the Sudanese Freedom Fighters and becoming a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who were abducted, abused, orphaned or forced by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to embrace LRA's brutality as young soliders or become additions to their enslavement/sex rings.

Sam Childers

He went to Sudan on a Christian mission once and never stopped fighting for the children after witnessing the atrocity of the LRA. Funding almost everything by himself, he and his wife Lynn founded and operate Angels of East Africa in the war zone vicinity of Sudan, housing more than 300 children in their care.

Boring as it may sound, I am not exaggerating when I say that any humane person would find this movie an eye-opener - the misfortune and sufferings existing at the other side of the globe and the cruelty and atrocity of war. The war scenes are not exaggerated, the killing scene not too gore and most importantly, no matrix-like bullets dodging miracles - making this film a real experience.

I would give this film two thumbs up, and a big salute to Sam Childers who is still in Sudan today fighting for the children.

For a trailer of this film, please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eddnloOFjwY and to hear the true story from the horse's mouth, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm_nTiJk3nQ

Movie Review: Taichi 0 太极之从零开始

On 1 Oct, I woke up and received an email which instantaneously brightened up my day: An invitation to attend the Gala Premiere of Taichi 0 太极之从零开始!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you omy.sg! I can finally get to see Tony Leung and Stephen Fung! Yay!!

Unable to contain my excitement, I messaged my friend Jalea to meet up for early dinner and get star struck with me. Our excitement was very well contained by a simple dinner at Kim Gary Restaurant,shopping at Daiso and wine-drinking at Vivocity whilst taking in the splendid evening view of the harbor and Sentosa.

Finally after much waiting, the moment had arrived!

From afar, we could already see people crowding excitedly around the red carpet area, holding cameras and getting ready their camera phones in the hope of catching the best shots of their idols. Jalea and I managed to get a good spot where we could capture the grandeur of the celebrities.

The emcee, a reknown radio deejay, did a wonderful job of giving a synopsis of the movie and introduction of the various characters and actors of the movie, in an extremely humorous way . Most importantly, he gave me a poster of the movie and hence he rocks! hahaha! He also warmed up the crowd really well, making the crowd's welcoming of the celebrities a really warm and grand one.

After some martial arts demonstration from the young kungfu masters from the Martial House, the celebrities finally arrived to everyone's keen anticipation.

Dressed in casual jeans and shirts, Tony Leung, Stephen Fung and Yuan Xiaochao still looked great! Here are some shots of our star struck moment:

After addressing the several insightful questions posted by the emcee, they took their leave as the keen movie previewers headed up to the theatre.

Taichi 0 太极之从零开始 turned out to be an entirely different movie from most Hong Kong kung fu films! I am particularly impressed and surprised by Stephen's daring step to illustrate this traditional martial arts form in a humorous and tastefully artistic way, and also his move to film the Part 1 & 2 together, with the second part to be on-screen three weeks after the Part 1. Combining Stephen's interesting directing angles and new approach in graphics, Sammo Hung's experienced and great martial arts choreography, Yuan Xiaochao's clean and sharp martial arts moves and Tony's great portrayal of a somewhat warped Taichi Master, this movie proved itself to be entertaining and funny while not compromising on the seriousness and gracefulness of Taichi.

In the movie, Stephen also took efforts to introduce most of the main martial arts actors by listing their credentials and past films briefly whenever they pop up on the screen and I applaud him for his respect for these martial arts masters who have kept this traditional Chinese martial arts form alive and well-respected by the world.

There is also strong chemistry among the actors, despite some of them being new in the industry.

Curious? Don't take my word for it. Hop on the nearest cinema near you and see it for yourself :) 

Here is an extract of the synopsis from Golden Village Cinemas' website:

As an uncommonly gifted child, Yang Luchan had a fleshy abnormality that holds tremendous power growing on his forehead. However being teased as the town fool, Yang's mother spurs him to practice martial arts, and following her wishes, Yang travels the distance to come to Chen Village to learn TAI CHI.

At this legendary village, everyone practices TAI CHI and uses TAI CHI in every aspect of their lives. Nevertheless, it is forbidden for a villager to disclose TAICHI to an outsider, and Yang learned this the hard way.

Upon arriving at the village, locals discourage Yang by challenging him with fights. From the strong men to hold ladies to children, everyone defeats Yang with their TAICHI moves. After facing the toughest battle and being defeated by Master Chen's beautiful daughter Yuniang, Yang is determined to master the art of TAICHI and he needs to find Master Chen.

Little does Yang know, the poor strange man who he befriended with is in fact Master Chen who then saved him from the duel with Yuniang. Master Chen realizes Yang's genius and disguises himself to secretly guide Yang to his self realization of TAICHI.

One day, a frightening steam-powered machine came to the village, lead by Fang Zijing, a childhood friend of Yuniang. He has bribed government officials to permit him to build a railway that will run straight through the village. Yang decided to join forces with Yuniang to defeat Fang Zijing and destroy the machine. This brave act may just win the hearts of the villagers....

You can catch the trailer here.

Movie Review: Ted

Ted? Who's Ted, you may be wondering.

Well, Ted is an amazingly funny (and crude) bear who is alive, kickin', smoking weed, cursing and getting the girls in town!

On 29 Sept, with thanks to omy.sg and United International Pictures Singapore, my friend Edwin and I had the chance to catch the preview of 'Ted'.

To be honest, I was not keen at first by the idea. I mean seriously, a talking crude teddy bear? It was like the idea of seeing Tweety smoking cigar and holding a bottle of beer to me then.

But alas, truth is that I've never regretted going for the preview. Well, when I nearly died of hyperventilation and stitches due to laughing too much, I might have regretted that tiny weeny bit ;)

The sypnosis adapted from http://www.cathaycineplexes.com.sg/movie_detail.aspx?status=coming&movie_id=635 is as follows:

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane brings his boundary-pushing brand of humor to the big screen for the first time as writer, director and voice star of Ted. In the live action/CG-animated comedy, he tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a grown man who must deal with the cherished teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish…and has refused to leave his side ever since.

But trust me when I say the movie has much much more to offer than this!

The story outline may seem a little too simple and the 'villian' a tad too childish but hey, after all, this is a story evolving around a man and his teddy bear who came across due to one wish he made one night when he was a child right? lol

What really impressed me was the ability of the script-writer to make Ted come alive and believe me, there will be moments when you will forget Ted is a bear and you go 'what? this is a bear?'. It goes to show how well the script-writer and directors know about human interactions so much so that they can successfully make every body language, words, facial expression and reactions Ted made looked so human-like! Thumbs up to them~

What I really like at the end of the movie was the movie I translated from the movie. In our everyday lives where we have to race through the hustles of urban life and cope with tremendous stress from various aspects of our lives, it's always good to have a child in us to keep our sanity and optimism in place.

All in all, it was a really entertaining and witty show and I would not even mind watching it twice!

Well done, United International Pictures. Great movie!

Sadness

Sometimes when my heart is in pain, I starve myself to divert the pain and to feel alive.

Don't Stop Believing

Wow, it's been amazingly long since I posted anything here. As usual, being a typical urban dweller, apart from being immersed in the sophistication of the city and the convenience of entertainment, I also have my expected share of grumbling at snail-like traffic situations, mountainous piles of work and have I mentioned the sluggish pace of my comrades? Sometimes, it makes me wonder if the evolution of IT has caused people's limbs to shrink and malfunction -  80% of the population here seems to lose the ability to walk at reasonable speed. Or maybe strutting is the new walk?

As some of my friends know, I am officially a Hobo for now..yipee!!! Not like this:

 

 or this:

 but more of something like this:

 Given all the time I have in my hand now, I was browsing youtube yesterday and was somewhat deeply inspired by some of the videos found online of ordinary people who never stopped believing in pursuing what they really love in life - Singing.

For example, Sung Bong Choi from Korea's Got Talent.

He ran away from his orphanage when he was 5 years old and had since then lived in stairwells, lifts, toilets and practically anywhere for 10 years, living off earnings he got from selling drinks, gum, cigarettes etc.

One day he was at a club and heard a singer singing sincerely on the stage and was so touched by it that he has since then believed singing is what defines him and started learning singing on his own.

Singing makes him happy in his dark days and he believes in it, in the hope that someday it will give him a chance to have a normal life like other people in the society.

When he got on the stage in Korea's Got Talent and told his story, everyone wasn't sure of what to expect. But his amazing voice in his rendition of 'Nella Fantasia' was so amazing that it touched everyone and made the judges cry. Watch his performance here.

Another case which touched me very deeply is Australia's Got Talent's Emmanuel Kelly.

Emmanuel and his brother were orphans of the war in Iran and had some physical impairments as a result of the war. THey were adopted and brought to Australia by their adopted mother and have been raised there under her delicate hands and big heart ever since.

When asked of his age, he said he does not know, related his story and saddened the hearts of everyone, including myself. When he sang, it was so amazingly touching that I broke down like the audience and the judges. It's not only his story, but also his strong belief in life and despite the harshness he has been experiencing, he never stopped smiling. Watch his touching rendition of John Lennon's 'Imagine' here

Of course there are many more like Britian's Got Talent's Jamie Pugh, Suan Boyle and Paul Potts.

Everyone mentioned above are ordinary people like you and me. Despite the hurdles they have to crossed in life and the possible discrimination they get from the public (check out this expression in Susan's Boyle's video at 0:45 when she said she wanted to be a professional singer), they have never given up on themselves and have never stopped believing in pursuing their passion whenever they can.

So let us all stand strong and tall and never stopped believing. Someday our stories and belief will find centrestage and touch people's hearts and bring us somewhere too:

Don't Stop Believing.

omy.sg review: Flowers of War

I remember when I first saw OMY.sg's invitation, I was rather skeptical about how much I would enjoy this movie. After watching the trailer, I had a feeling it might be the kind of movie I like and need. After watching the movie, it is exactly what I needed to escape from weariness.

Given the cushion sofas of extreme comfort, it would be very easy for someone like me to fall asleep in a war film. Believe me when I say that I have NEVER watched ' Black Hawk Down' ( I would be down) or 'Saving Private Ryan' (I would need help!). Surprisingly, as someone who hates seeing flying body parts, blood and exploded chunks of meat, I actually enjoyed the movie thoroughly.

The movie can actually be summarised into a line:

A group of prostitutes and money-grubbing mortician, who sought refuge in a church, found themselves uniting and discovering the humane and selfless side of them in their quest to save a group of young convent girls from the Japanese and the harshness and inhumanity of the war.

However, despite its length of 160 minutes, the show was amazingly captivating despite it being shot in almost one single location - the church most of the time.

My movie company for the night commented it was the most graphic war film he had ever watched, and indeed it was. But that made the whole experience so real and breath-taking that I had lost track of time and reality in the movie. I could feel every limb being blown off, every ounce of pain felt and every bit of nobleness of the heros and heroines and every bit of hatred for the Japanese.

The actors and actresses portrayed their characters so well that I felt like a lizard crawling around the church all the time witnessing the whole ordeal. It felt really well.

Thumbs up to one of my favourite Academy Award Winner actor Christian Bale. His amazing acting abilities once again did not disappoint me. In fact most of the time he made me cry (but I still Love you, Chris!!!). His transformation from a materialistic, heartless, drunk and lecherous mortician to a noble, empathetic and self-sacrificing priest-in-disguise was brilliant and so well-played it didn't feel drastic or unreal.

The young actors and actresses were also very impressive for their age and could break the heart of any lady or parent with their tears.

The filming was excellent, capturing every detail, expression and grandeur.

All in all, it was a great show. It reminded me of my late great grandmother. Great granddad was killed in the Japanese Occupation and she had been single and raising the kids every since then. Though it is a sad thought but I almost felt her pain, terror and loneliness through this film.

Great Grans, you had been through so much and I hope you are happy at where you are now. Still wish you are here.

Thanks, Omy.sg. You gave me that moment of escape with this great film.

And for all of you reading this, go and watch it and if you like it as much as I do, I hope you will come back and like my post.