Departures

Departures define as the sending off for the departed; a ceremonial ritual to bid eternal farewell to your loved one who has moved into the next realm. The movies has the right mix of respect, love and dignity when dealing with the dead people.

Daigo Kobayashi is a professional cellist till the orchestra is dissolved. He heads back to his hometown under the encouragement and support of his wife. Mistaking a job advertisement for a travel agency, Daigo finds himself starting a new career as an encoffineer, a funeral professional who prepares the dead for burial and the next life.

Earning from the dead is not a respected profession by the community. His childhood friend shuns him and to make the matter worse, his wife leaves him unless he is willing to change to another proper job. In spite of strong objection, Daigo finds himself enjoying his new profession and a deep respect for the living and the dead.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. To be an escort and gatekeeper to the departed is one that takes a lot of courage. While Daigo deepens his respect, so did I. I particular like the scenes where Daigo and his boss prepare the dead for burial. You can feel the love, the dignity that oozes with every step they take to complete the ritual. Amazing and profound!

He's Just Not that Into You

I feel so cliche watching a romance movie on Christmas Day. To make it worse, the movie made me curdle up into a total cheese ball. There is a good lesson to be learnt from the movie (as well as the book) about man. He won't be bother to call you or do anything for you if he is just not that into you. That's a biblical truth which I urge all, let me stress again, ALL ladies to take note of.

The movie starts with Gigi learning about that men act like jerks like they like you at the tender of 5. Her latest blind date is with Connor, a real estate agent, whom Janine set up for her. Connor never calls Gigi after the first date, so she goes to the bar which he frequents, hoping to "accidentally" bump into him. There she meets with Alex and he becomes her Dr Love, advising her about her dates. Eventually he falls in love with her, making her the exception of the dating rule.

Janine and Ben recently gotten married and is renovating their new home. Ben meets Anna at Handy's supermarket and starts to lust after her. He hides this from Janine as well as his smoking habit which Janine's stubbornly objects to. He eventually confesses sleeping with another woman which secretly trying to destroy his own marriage because he isn't ready to commit and has gotten married because he has been with Janine for a long time. They heads for divorce. Poor Anna just happens to be the catalyst for this breakup.

Beth and Neil are happy and in love with each other. The only issue is Neil does not believe in marriage and refuse to walk down the aisle with Beth. She gets upset and frustrated, thinking her relationship is never going to get anywhere. She breaks up with Neil only to discover that he is really who she wants to be with and is willing to compromise her dream. It ends happy with him proposing to her.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. The storyline is alright, focusing on the relationship issues of the couple of friends. Love has a strange way of showing itself and expressing itself at times. The thing to remember might be that he's just not that into you. Don't forget that.

2012

2012 is a movie I would probably have given it a pass since I'm not a fan of catastrophic armageddon. In fact, I honestly dislike such movies as well as those in the war and related genre.

I won 2012 from a game of bejeweled from my bro. And so I gave the movie a chance. The storyline is very typical and predictable. The world is ending, and the people at the top are fully awared. Preparation has been made and it is time to go, forsaking the rest of the good people. Just imagine a modernised Noak's Ark story.

The CGI effect is quite impressive when you watched it for the first time. I'm not sure if I will be equally impressed if I were to watch the movie again. You do expect to get quite an adrenaline rush from watching the world fumbling before your eyes.

But one thing I do find lacking is the madness of people in such a dire situation. Logically, you will expect people to be all over the place to save their own lives. I see none on the streets when the fissures are formed. Strange, isn't it?

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. It is still a decent movie in spite of the gloom end of the world. And somehow somewhere the hero should always save the day. Amen!