Mabel's Little Paradise

Yu Sheng Lo Hei (鱼生捞起) Auspcious Wishes

2012-01-22T20:25:00.002+08:00

My family has Yu Sheng every year and somehow we forget some of the auspicious wishes. Here is the mini SOP for reference:

When the Yu Sheng is served to the table, welcome it with "恭喜发财！万事如意！“

And the auspcious wishes as each of the ingredient is added:

Raw Fish - 年年有余

Abalone - 年年包有余

Pomelo, lime/lemon juice - 大吉大利

Pepper - 招财进宝

Five-spiced powder - 五福临门

Sesame oil - 一本万利、财源广进

Sweet plum sauce - 甜甜蜜蜜

Red carrots - 鸿运当头

Green radish, ginger, lettuce, etc - 青春永在

White radish, ginger, etc - 风山水起

Peanuts - 生意兴隆

Sesame seeds - 财源滚滚

Crispy fried pillows - 金银满屋、满地黄金

And when everyone is ready to toss in the good fortune, you will say "捞起！捞起！老到凤山水起！“

iChestnuts 15

2012-01-19T00:50:00.007+08:00

I finally got to watch the longest running parody comedy, iChestnuts 15 at the Jubilee Hall.

Literally everything is spoofed in this comedy from local television shows to Broadway musicals, Hollywood blockbusters and even Walt Disney characters! If you are looking for a night to laugh your heart out, iChestnut 15 may be the show you like to watch.

I particularly love the snippets of mini Quentin Tarantino series of Kill Belle to Kill Bella and the Ivory Low Ai Kiu's promotion of the new app, SisRis. For those who understand Hokkien, you may want the 882 sisters Hokkien-nised version of Umbrella and Singing in the Rain or perhaps the strong local flavour of The MerLion King.

The comedy is a little unglam, a little crude and a little trivial about certain matters but it has its very own charm and definitely followers. Either way, I had a couple of good laugh this evening. Kudos to Judee Tan for the excellent portray of Ivory!

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. It is a decent comedy. I won't cry if I had missed it. Not perfectly my cup of tea but good enough.

Kings and Queen of Comedy Asia II, 22-23 October 2011

2011-11-06T15:45:00.005+08:00

Just for two nights, some of the most funny stand up comedians gathered at Singapore's Esplanade to tickle our funny bones.

Hosted by Harith Iskandar, the comedy filled Esplanade up with laughter. There are a total of 3 Kings (Ronnie Chieng, Papa CJ and Paul Ogata), and our one and only lovely Queen, Kumar. Of the four of them, I like Kumar and Paul Ogata the most.

Ronnie's sense of humour is rather on the abusive side with a lot of "f**k you* and angry laced comments.

Kumar is still as humourous as ever. No one, regardless of our nationality, race or religion, is spared from her sharp tongue.

Papa CJ has almost a similar style of Ronnie's, plus the pride of an Indian. He is quite good in playing with his race and adding quirky clever retorts.

Paul Ogata is a tiny man with a great statue. He is truly the highlight of the comedy night. Love his sense of humour and jokes leading up to "that was the best part".

Not forgetting the host, who is equally funny in giving out his rendition of "Grenade" and advising all women to run away from a man who sings this song when he professes his love for you.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. I had a great evening attending this comedy. I love to go for more laughing sessions.

Je n'ai Rien Oublié (Small World)

2011-11-06T15:19:00.004+08:00

The wealthy Senn family faces a threat as their holiday home caretaker's health deteriorates due to Alzheimer. Simone, whom recently married into the family, finds herself forming a strange friendship with Conrad. As she tries to help Conrad recover, she discovers the very secret which her grandmother-in-law Elvira is desperately trying to keep hidden.

Unbeknown to all, Elvira had murdered her husband and bring up her own son Thomas as the legal heir to the Senn's fortune. The only living person aware of this secret is none other than Conrad. With his health worsening, will he take this secret to the grave or unintentionally expose it?

I was a little irked by the fact that Thomas failed to remember his childhood. It is only upon seeing a childhood album when his memory was rekindled. I would imagine he is old enough to have some reminiscence of his younger days.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie is a little intriguing and confusing as there are many flashes of scenes from different time being pieced together. You see part of Conrad's world when he is sober and times when he is stuck in a past memory.

Green Lantern

2011-11-06T14:50:00.004+08:00

Now DC Comics is trying to get a piece of the movie-goers who have been watching too many Marvel characters on the big screen.

Green Lantern is an intergalactic cops organisation that serves as guardian of our universe. The story starts with Abin Sur being badly injured by Parallax, the embodiment of fear. Before Abin Sur passing, his ring chooses Hal Jordon, a human. The new successor now has a challenging task to ensure peace through the universe and live up to the expectation of other Green Lanterns.

While the movie is interesting, I seem to be remembering the wrong concept. The thing that stands out in my memory is Hal Jordan is an irresponsible person who somehow managed to save the world and become a better person. In my humble opinion, he is just an attention seeker.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. It is quite a decent movie to watch if you don't mind the simplistic story. I'm a little disappointed that Hal defeated Parallax so easily when all other lanterns sacrifice their lives and still failed the mission.

Super 8

2011-11-05T23:54:00.002+08:00

Another overly-hyped movie simply because it is produced by Steven Spielberg. I watched this movie during my flight to Maldives.

Set in the 70s, Super 8 tells a story of a group of young children and their encounter with Alien. Yes, another alien conspiracy story. While filming a low-budget zombie movie, the kids get themselves caught in the mystery of a train crash and eventually discovering the imprisonment of an alien by the government.

The movie attempted to build up suspense to captivate viewers and played on their imaginative of what could-be, might-be and would-be. The plot is simplistic, story is segmented and ending boring.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds. I could have better used my time to watch other movies or sleep. Or perhaps my expectation was made higher.

Letters from Iwo Jima

2011-11-05T23:07:00.008+08:00

I realised recently that I didn't write the review for this movie. So now it goes...

Letter from Iwo Jima depicts the story of Japanese Imperial soldiers defending Iwo Jima to keep the Americans out of Japan. The movie focuses on a soldier Saigo and General Kuribayashi, and shares their thoughts and feelings as the battle looms. Though the defense effort is futile, you can't help feeling sad for the soldiers.

While some portions of movie is a little slow pace, the development of the plot is still excellent. You see the loyalty and the honor of these men and you also pick up on the strength, humanity and horror of man's foolishness.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. After watching the movie, I'm quite keen to read the book which probably offers a richer background to the characters. This movie can be quite intense as war theme is general harder to digest. Yet lined with mild violence, it is more palatable than other war movies. Perhaps too soft for those wishing for adrenaline rush.

Thor

2011-11-05T22:43:00.004+08:00

Chasing up on a number of movie reviews which I haven't had the time to work on till now.

Thor, the God of Thunder, legendary character from Norse mythology is the son of Odin. In the movie, the rash and impulsive Thor is banished from Asgard by his father for being too arrogant. Landing on Earth, he learns of humility and wins the battle against the Frost Giants and his brother, Loki.

I find that most of the fighting scenes glamorised the blond hunky Thor. Compared to other Marvels movies, Thor is meek and boring with predictable story line and a cast with bad acting.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds. This movie is a waste of my time. Nothing exciting and not even the fighting scene. The handsome hunk reminds of me the pretty face in Transformer. No substance.

The Smurfs (3D)

2011-10-02T16:51:00.006+08:00

I have finally managed to catch up with time to write The Smurf 3D movie review. On hearing the name Smurf, we can't help humming "la la la la lala, la la la la la...". Oh, what's the smurf are we singing? I do not have a clue. But I will honestly admit that it is an tremendously annoying tune which you can't get out of your head.

In The Smurfs, Clumsy Smurf gets into a typical trouble of fumbling all over the places and almost creating a mess to the Blue Moon Festival. While keeping away from the rest of the gang, he accidentally leads Gargamel into the Village.

As the rest of the Smurfs escape to safety, Clumsy Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Grouchy, Brainy and Gutsy run into the forbidden cave. Together, they jump an open vortex and find themselves in modern day New York. Will the smurfs find their way home again?

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie is a typical family wholesome entertainment. Everything falls into places and nothing to be worry about. Papa Smurf is always there to take care of everyone. It is a cute movie with a lovely ending, and nothing much to rave about.

Captain America: The First Avenger

2011-07-31T16:14:00.007+08:00

I spent a wonderful day with some friends this weekend and caught the movie, Captain America: The First Avenger. To be honest, I'm looking forward to the upcoming Captain America in May 2012. :)

Steve Rogers makes many attempts to join the US military, due to his tiny built and health issues. But all these are just strengths to Dr Abraham Erskine, who is looking for the perfect test subject of his superpower serum. Unfortunately, he is assassinated after he has successfully experimented on Rogers.

Rogers then becomes Captain America, the one who sings and dances for the front-line soldiers. During one of his performances, he follows his heart and rescues 400 men who are captured by the Skull in one of Hydra's bases. Since then, it is his mission to destroy the Skull and Hydra.

There could be improvement to the special effect to make Rogers look more consistent in height and size in the first 20 minutes of the movie. The scene Colonel driving Rogers to chase the escaping Skull and good luck kiss from Peggy is redundant and unnecessary.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. It is an eye candy for the girls to see the innocent-eye blond cute hunky man in a rescue mission to save the war and the world from the Skull. However, I can't help thinking of the Matrix with Hugo Weaving saying "Mr Anderson" and Samuel L. Jackson offering the Blue and Red pills. Eek! Nevertheless, it is a good movie to watch.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2

2011-07-31T15:25:00.007+08:00

It has been 10 years since we watched the first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on the big screen in 2001. It all ended in July 2011 with the final installment of Harry Potter's 7 year journey to Hogwarts and the fight against his nemesis, Lord Voldemort.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Harry, Hermione and Ron continue to look for the horcruxes. Following the dark journey, they find the remaining 3 items and successfully destroy them as well as Voldemort. Thus marks the end of the magical world of Gryphons, Pixies, Poly juice, Diagon Alley, Quidditch and many more.

The epic finale failed to match up to the imaginative world that JK Rowling has beautifully painted in our minds. The 3D effect is limited and it did not elevate the magical charm.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. Despite being a fan, I did not feel enthralled by the movie. For any Potter fans, this movie should not be missed. For non-Potter fans, try to catch up. For the others, I have no idea what movies you have been watching till now.

Beauty Kings

2011-07-10T23:00:00.004+08:00

How far should one go for beauty? For who are you trying to impress? What would you do to win? Those are the questions swimming in my brain when I watched Beauty Kings at the Drama Centre this afternoon.

Beauty Kings, a play written by Dick Lee, is all about sex, scandals, secrets and of course speedos. Oh! I have forgot to mention the numerous strip scenes. :) Don't scream, it is just bare butts and nothing more.

Beauty King tells the story of the ugly truth of molest and sexual harassment of contestants by pageant organisers and judges. The play centers around 3 contestants. M1 Adam, aka Mr Potong Pasir, is an undercover journalist who is trying to dig up some dirty truth about such pageant. M2 Benny, Mr Aljunied, is a civil servant attempting to win the pageant to please his Kate Spade wife to be. M3 Don, Mr Marine Parade, is a part-time model who used to be a girl!

Put them all together, then you spice it up with the suicide story of Gary that happened 5 years ago with some lies and seductions. Enter into the world of beauty pageant and taste the sordid juicy scandalous play.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The screenplay and props are interested. The plot is twisted but the actors are not. You do get a see a lot of hotbots and yes six-pack! *drool! Overall, the play is quite dotted with cheesy jokes like "Glico, strawberry and chocolate". A little distasteful to be honest.

The saving grace is supposedly audience participation by sms-ing to vote for our favourite contestants. Sad to say, I was not an engaged audience today. I blame my stoned reaction on working late night.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (3D)

2011-07-10T22:21:00.005+08:00

I have never been a fan of Transformers even when the cartoon was shown on TV many moons and eons ago. After watching the first and second Transformer, I thought it would be a shame not to watch the third edition.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon tells the story of a Cybertronian invention which can end the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. Unfortunately the Ark carrying the invention is destroyed and never found.

Sam Witwicky has graduated from college and living off his new girlfriend, Carly. Meanwhile, his Autobot friends are busy working with the humans to track down Megatron and his minions. The discovery of an alien technology in Chernobyl leads Optimus Prime to the lost Ark and the comatose Sentinel Prime.

The awakened Sentinel leads to the exile of the Autobots as he has a secret pact with Megatron to revive Cybertron. This sparks another war between the Decepticons, Autobots and Humans. And quite fortunately, I meant usually, the Autobots save the world and kill both Sentinel and Megatron. I guess that I won't be seeing Transformer 4.

The first movie is novelty. The second is still fun. The third time around, it becomes boring. It is another season of save the human, save the world... and I'm so not impressed. The special effects are the same in the first and second movie. You seen it once, you seen it all.

Perhaps the only difference is Megan Fox ain't in this movie. Then again, Carly is just a bimbotic replacement. Throughout the movie, all she does is strutting around to show off her curves and pouty lips.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie spends too much time on showing off the effects of the robot transforming and becomes too lengthy at times. It is so not worth watching. Spare the money and popcorns for other movies, if you were to ask me.

X-Men: First Class

2011-07-10T21:53:00.009+08:00

Last weekend, I managed a sneak a movie into my schedule. I went for the overdue X-Men: First Class. After so many seasons of X-Men, we are now going back into the past when it first started.

X-Men: First Class starts with the scene where Erik Lensherr (Magneto) bends the fence of the German concentration camp when he is separated from his mother. On the other side of the world, the young Charles Xavier makes friend with Raven (Mystique), a shape-shifter.

As young men, they come together to help the CIA stop a potential world war, mastermind by a mutant Sebastien Shaw. During which, Charles and Erik becomes good friends and works closely with other mutants to capture their common enemy.

Unfortunately the difference in life experiences and views of the world eventually cause a rift between the two. They split up to set up a brotherhood and X-Men school. This marks the beginning of the war between the two friends.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. Despite the warning and bad review from others, I had actually quite enjoyed the movie. I could see the development of a strong friendship and brotherly love between Professor X and Magneto and shared the sadly that they must part in such a way. Overall, it is still a nice movie to watch when you have some time to spare over the weekend.

Larry Crowne

2011-06-12T20:29:00.018+08:00

The closing night gala of ScreenSingapore 2011 on Saturday was the premiere of Larry Crowne, graced by the actor, writer and director, Tom Hanks himself. He certainly added much of the glitz and glam to the week-long celebration.

Larry Crowne, with an E, is a middle-age man who goes back to college after he loses his job as he is unable to advance in his career without a college degree. He signs up for a college education and rediscovers himself from his scoot gang. At the Communications 217 - Art of Communications, he meets Mercedes Tainot (Julia Robert), and they fall in love.

The movie brings you through the crisis of of a man losing his job but yet still finds hope and joy from the other simple things in his life. You realize the importance of being practical and coming to terms with some tough decisions which will help you to survive.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. While you see the struggle of a Larry (mid-life crisis) and how he positively manages it. What I find lacking is the onscreen chemistry between Hanks and Roberts. I saw some sparks but no firework. I wonder could it be that the story was edited or shortened as there latter part of the movie seems rather fast-forward.

A little extra (photos posted by Channel News Asia):
Tom Hanks at the red carpet of ScreenSingapore and taking the escalator to Shaw 1 at Isetan Scott, and the little actor from Jesus Henry Christ.

Jesus Henry Christ

2011-06-11T12:09:00.005+08:00

Last evening premiere was Jesus Henry Christ.

This is a coming of age movie that shares the story of a little genius, Henry James Hermin. He is a test-tube baby, oops! I meant he is conceived in a petri-dish as his mother Patricia corrects. Patricia is the only girl in her family of 4 boys and has tragically lost her mother on her 10th birthday. In her growing years, she strongly advocates for change and finally conceives Henry as a single mother. As Henry approaches his 10th birthday, he questions who and where is his father and soon starts on journey to locate him. Along the way, he finds his biological father and half-sister.

The movie is great! There are many little things in life which we should always be grateful of, such as the love of family, the joy of children, the pain of growing up. The movie portrays a little bit of everything which we will in one way or another experience them. No matter how tough, we always look for that rainbow at the end of it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The true joy of life is really letting go of whatever gripes you have in life, embrace it and grow with it. Life is short and full of the unexpected. Learn from Henry and her sister, Audrey.

Mr Popper's Penguins

2011-06-11T11:40:00.014+08:00

The first of the gala movie premieres I attended on Wednesday evening was Mr Popper's Penguins. I had missed the second one, Super 8, due to an unfortunate event.

Mr Popper's Penguin movie is quite different from the storybook. In the movie, Tom is a successful and kniving property salesman who will do anything to close the deal. His personal life is however a flop; he is divorced with 2 kids. It is when he inherited some penguins sent by his late father, that he begins to understand what love is and opens his heart up to his children and ex-wife.

The storyline is simple and wholesome for the sole purpose of pure family entertainment. Quite unfortunately, I did not feel for the movie. I do admit that the penguins are cute and endearing. Beyond that, I saw no other saving grace for this movie.

Rating: 3 out of 4 fairy clouds. An overly simplistic plot which is crafted out of a typical movie template. Even if it is opened during Christmas, the magical touch is still seriously lacking. It should still be great for families with young preschoolers.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (3D)

2011-05-28T16:51:00.004+08:00

I was totally ogling Johnny throughout the movie! Aww....! Enough said, yes I'm a fan of Johnny Depp. :)

Captain Jack Sparrow is back with a vengeance! Oh no, that should be Captain Barbossa. Jack is still adamant to locate the Fountain of Youth after facing Davy Jones in the last movie. Without a boat, he is unable to progress much till he meets with his former lover, Angelica. Following Angelica and her father, the infamous pirate, Captain Blackbeard, they finally find the mysterious magical fountain where Jack is tested of his own fate.

Jack Sparrow antics seem rather different from the last 3 movies. Captain Barbossa too! I find it hard to believe that a pirate will ignore fortune and youth just for a simple revenge. There is also too much of a modern twists and mannerism of these pirates.

It is still worth a good laugh. Don't forget to stay till the end for the end credit scene. That should be a good hint on the next movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. Aye Aye Captain! Sail on!

Kung Fu Panda 2

2011-05-28T15:56:00.011+08:00

It feels great to have a movie marathon. The first of the movies is Kungfu Panda 2.

Now that Po is living the life of THE Dragon Warrior, he has been busy protecting the villagers. But trouble brews at Gongmen City as Lord Shen plots to reclaim his city and take over China. Po and his comrades, the Furious Five, set out on the rescue mission. But the journey proves to be more than meet the eyes. Po discovers a hidden past about this childhood which has been haunting his dreams. As he learns accept his past, masters inner peace and triumphs over evil.

I still love the animation and the avant garde Chinese style adopted by this animation. Baby Po is so cute! I particularly love the story of Goose sharing how he adopted Po. I do feel a tinge of disappointment as the animation is a little too wholesome, like a typical Disney movie. Is Dreamworks trying to following Disney's formula just to garner mass appeal?

The writers are quite smart to make full use of the various characters to the maximum. On the whole, it is quite lighthearted, entertaining and timely punctuated with subplots and humors.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. Go watch this animation with young children. They would deeply adore Po and his friends.

Rango

2011-03-20T12:19:00.004+08:00

This weekend, I spent a nice Saturday having a yummy breakfast with some friends and an afternoon movie treat for myself. Friends who know me well are definitely aware of my eternal war with the Lizzies. But I welcome Rango with an open arm. Ok, I admit not in the literal sense. He is still ugly looking.

Rango is a pet chameleon that had fallen out of his owner's car. Lost in the middle of the desert, he meets an armadillo who directs him to the nearest town, Dirt. In this little adventure, he lies about his true identity to impress the outlaws in the little deserted western town and accidentally becoming the new sheriff and hero to the townsfolk.

While the story is quite predictable, it is still entertaining to see how the eccentric and egoistic lizard learn humility and honesty. While the creatures are meant to look ugly and menacing, their sweetness shine through very strongly. I particularly love the minor details of how their pupils dilate and contract to express their emotions.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Go watch it for fun. I love the mariachi band and the Spirit of the West. Cute, real cute cartoon!

The Last Days of Emma Blank

2011-01-30T23:01:00.007+08:00

What would you do if you know that you were dying soon? And how would you spend your last days?

Emma Blank is dying. Everyone in her family knows it. This particularly dying woman is one nasty mistress who is hard to please, demanding and maniac! She forces of husband to be the butler, daughter as maid, sister as cook, nephew as gardener and elder brother as a dog.

As the plot thickens, the comedy reveals an extremely dark and dysfunctional family. The servants eventually turn against Emma after discovering that there is no inheritance for them. They ignore her outrageous demands and plot to hasten her death.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Dark as it may be, the movie is definitely hilarious and mind-boggling. You can't help feeling sad for Emma Blank and yet rejoice at the triumph against such tyrant. A mind twister which is not suitable for the faint-hearted who cannot appreciate harsh humour.

Ip Man and Ip Man 2

2011-01-09T18:22:00.004+08:00

I have finally (yes, finally) done an Ip Man marathon. Wee...! I watched Ip Man and Ip Man 2.

Ip Man tells the story of the martial master himself, Ip Man, during his days in Foshan. The young and wealthy Ip Man is highly regarded by local martial masters but he remains humble and low profile. During the Japanese Occupation, a Japanese General challenges Ip Man to a public duel, which results in his subsequent escape to Hong Kong.

Ip Man 2 continues with the life story of Ip Man. He starts a school to teach Wing Chun and unintentionally incurs the wrath of the local masters in Hong Kong. His unassuming manner and perseverance eventually won him support from local master and the Chinese community.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. The martial art is quite the captivating highlight of both movies. The movies certainly will invigorate and inspire you to learn the art. But the Bruce Lee ending in Ip Man 2 is rather cheesy for me.

The Tourist

2011-01-08T21:00:00.004+08:00

After a week of working hard, I decided to pamper myself with a movie this afternoon. I have picked The Tourist for this weekend.

Alexander Pearce is a wanted man in 14 countries and also the lover of Elise Ward. For 2 years, Elise leads a routine lifestyle until one day, she receives a letter from Alexander to board the train to Venice, Italy.

On the train, she meets an American tourist, Frank Tupelo. As part of the plan to mislead the Interpol and Scotland yard officers who are hot on her trail, she deliberately includes Frank on her journey, only to discover at the end that Frank is Alexander.

The thriller did not offer me much thrill, nor could I sense any spark between Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. While she still looks stunning, I can't help noticing that she seems to have aged quite a lot.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Visually speaking, the movie has a beautiful backdrop of Venice. Beyond that, storyline gets more predictable as you proceed into the movie. It's a real pity the on screen chemistry between the two leads aren't there.

Gulliver's Travels

2010-12-27T21:12:00.006+08:00

Many of us remember fondly of Gulliver's Travels to Lilliput, the island of the tiny people. But what if you just work in the mail room and you are scared to move outside this comfort zone?

Lemuel Gulliver is such a man. He has been working in the mail room for 10 years, focusing his spare time idolizing all the games and movies as he doesn't have a real life. He was challenged to date Darcy, a colleague whom he has a crush for 5 years.

Instead of bucking up his courage to declare his feelings, he ends up with assignment to the Bermuda to write a travelogue. Through the waves, storm and whirlpool in the Bermuda triangle, he shipwrecked onto Lilliput.

This version of Gulliver's Travels is filled with modern twists and cynicism and lacks a certain mystere and magic from the old book. The movie remains entertaining for as a little to-do item for the afternoon when you have nothing else planned.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. While I enjoyed the humour, I walked away from the movie feeling something is quite missing from it. I guess it is the Hollywood thing which all things end well that irks me this season.

The Social Network

2010-11-08T22:38:00.004+08:00

The mere mention of "social network", you can't help but to think of Facebook. The powerful online portal has quietly invaded the first rung of the ladderin this genre. Quietly and slowly, we extended ourselves into the cyber world through the Facebook.

The Social Network tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg, who is the founder and creator of Facebook. In the course of creating this phenomenon site, the accidental billionaire meets with some major lawsuits. I must say it is a big learning curve for him, but essential in teaching him some valuable lessons in protecting his assets. Still, he is a rather talented (though geeky) young man.

Honestly, I am absolutely turned off by the trailer. I would have definitely skipped this movie if it is not due to friend's recommendation to check it out. The Facebook images and like/dislike are too much in your face. It is just bad, very bad marketing and very bad taste. Too cliche and unoriginal for such an interesting movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. The conversation is exciting. The plot is intriguing. The people are... kind of funny. The pace of development is good. Overall, it is quite a decent and entertaining movie to watch. Let's try to get beyond that stupid movie trailer.

Flowers

2010-11-07T00:16:00.003+08:00

Hana... Flowers. I watched this movie with a friend over the public holiday.

Flowers tells a story of six different women, over three generation. It starts with Rin who opposes to the arranged marriage her father arranged for her. She has three daughters, Kaoru, Midori and Sato. Kaoru is a widow who loses her husband to an accident. Midori is a career-minded young lady who wants to change the world with her forward feminist thinking. Sato just wants to give her daughters the best even if it means forgoing her life.

Sato gives birth to Kana and Kei. Kana is a modern day woman with a mediocre career and deals with being a single mother. Her sister Kei is a simple young housewife who takes whatever life offers to her.

Each of the woman tries to be forward and test of boundary of societal role of woman in Japan. It is unfortunate that they are purely tested on the only known programming - to be a baby-making machine. I believe I expected too much. On the other hand, I like the efforts which has been put into creating the different period. The production crew paid a lot of attention to details in creating the costume, the props and background.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie could be improved. It gets a little draggy in parts of the story telling and for those not paying attention to the year, it can get quite confusing to follow through each story.

Life As We Know It

2010-11-06T23:59:00.004+08:00

Another movie treat from a friend who wanted to cheer me up. I appreciate the kindness.

Life as we know it sucks most of the time. It is worse for Holly and Eric who are loggerheads for the longest time but bonded by their best friends who are married to each other. The bickering eventually ends when they adopts their best friends baby who have met with a fatal accident.

She is a selfish and self-centre woman who can only see her own needs and wishes. While he is boy who refuses to grow up or take so any adult's responsibility. Eventually the baby bonds them together, allowing them to see each other and fall in love. Yucky saccharin sweet love story.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds. If you likes to see love conquer all and how you can finally find the one true love in your life, then go watch this. Else you will suffer a diabetic consequence like me. Lovey-dovey mushy story like this gives me goosebumps! Yucks!

Reign of Assassins

2010-11-06T23:50:00.004+08:00

I typically do not watch Chinese movies. On the rare occasion that I do, it is usually a movie treat from friend. This free treat got me Reign of Assassins.

Directed by John Woo, the movie tells a story of an assassin who falls in love with the son of man her gang had killed. Both had changed their faces through ancient cosmetic surgery and trying to relive their lives through another identity.

Nothing much to rave about. The storyline is predicted with an typically ending of living off la-la land happily ever after.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds.

Inception

2010-07-30T22:35:00.006+08:00

In the imaginary sci-fi action world, your dreams and secrets could be taken away by an extractor, who enters your dreams and access the otherwise inaccessible hidden information. Similarly, he might be skilled enough to plant in idea into your sub-consciousness and alter your life path altogether.

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), is a professional extractor, and team comprises Arthur (point man in charge of research), Earnes (forger who impersonates target), Ariadne (architect who designs the dreamscape) and Yusuf (the chemist for sleep induction), are employed to plant an idea into Robert Fischer who is the heir to an energy business empire. The man behind this plot is Saito, a rival energy company owner.

The target subject is first put to sleep and made to go into 2nd and 3rd stage of dream, that is dream within a dream. The idea of inception is to attached a basic positive emotion to that idea/concept. The subject will then assume the new idea as it slowly manifest from the subconsciousness.

While the storyline is interesting and special effect amazing, I can't help feeling bored in the middle of the movie. Too much time had been spent trying to impress the audience and buying time for the extractors.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie is still worth a shot for its ingenuity. The idea of programming the subconscious is not a new thing, and particularly to a psychic or energy worker. I find myself disappointed with the movie despite all the ra-ra, hypes and excitement about it. Maybe I went to the movie with too high an expectation.

Despicable Me (3D)

2010-07-18T22:07:00.005+08:00

If you live in a quiet suburban neighbourhood, you would probably never imagine a supervillain as your neighbour. But you might still feel strange or weird about your neighbour, I hope.

Gru, the number one supervillain, lives in a tall dark house in the middle of a tranquil suburb. There lies a secret; beneath Gru's house is a laboratory where Dr. Nefario builds the most high-tech machinery and weapons and assisting Gru is an army of menacing minion. Oh ya, very menacing indeed! They are ready to charge, to steal and to fight next to the best supervillain.

Unfortunately, Gru is getting old and upsurges by a new villain, Vector, who has successfully stole the Pyramid of Giza. In order to restore his glory, Gru plans for the greatest heist of all, to steal the moon! Armed with a shrink ray, Gru intends to go into space, shrink the moon and bring it back to earth. Unfortunately again, while stealing the shrink ray from a top secret lab in Asia, Vector gets the upper hand and ends up taking the shrink ray right off Gru's hand.

There comes three cute little orphan girls whom Gru adopted as a plot to get inside of Vector's vault, where the shrink ray is kept. The girls turns Gru life upside and ends up changing his life altogether. He has to choose between being a father or the greatest supervillain who stole the moon. Which will he choose? Its a very tough choice for Gru indeed.

Rating: 5 out of 5 fairy clouds. This animation is worth watching for the storyline, the 3D effect and the minions! While the plot warms your heart and fills it with love, the subplots and jokes on the minions are simply entertaining. You are guarantee a good laugh from the movie. It is worth watching a second time round too. Here is a YouTube link to the my favorite minion, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo9-bcbLn1Q.

Iron Man 2

2010-05-02T18:56:00.004+08:00

While Iron man thrills me with his adventure and Robert Downey Jr is an eye candy to my senses. I still feel "duh" after watching Iron Man 2.

A flamboyant billionaire and playboy, Tony Stark seems to be rather tame in this current movie. His invention lab and robots no longer make me ogle or sending endless "wow" and "ooh". While his life is in peril of being poison by the palladium which is vital element in the arc reactor to keep his heart beating, you can't help knowing that he will save himself and save the day.

Overall, Iron Man 2 lacks the excitement and doesn't get your adrenaline gushing. It is a pity to see a good cast of actors and avant garde concept of the future world which leaves your taste bud feeling rather bland.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. It is just an ok movie to watch. No biggie.

Clash of the Titans (2D)

2010-04-11T19:02:00.004+08:00

I redeemed one of my free tickets (won from a game during my company's dinner & dance recently) to watch Clash of the Titans. While the stellar cast of actors are overpowering, it has somehow failed to match up to the glitter.

The 2010 version Clash of the Titans tells a pivoted story of Perseus and his quest to kill Hades. On his journey, he seeks the words of the Stygian Witches, obtains the head of Medusa, kills Acrisius and finally destroys the Kraken, saving Argos and Andromeda.

The mishmash of the movie offers mostly wrong information on the Greek mythologies, the wardrobe, sets and monsters did not heighten the enjoyment. It seems to lack grandiosity and mystic. So much said for the special effects.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. For those unfamiliar to Greek mythologies, the new Clash of the Titans is still rather entertaining.

City of Men

2010-04-11T14:49:00.005+08:00

After I had watched City of God a few years back, I naturally assumed that City of Men could potentially be an interesting movie.

The movie tells the story of two best friends, Acerola and Laranjinha, before they turn 18. Laranjinha is determined to locate his father while his family discourages his search. Acerola, an orphan, supports Laranjinha and starts the search and to help to identify Laranjinha's father.

The friendship suffers a huge break when Acerola discovers that he has been an orphan because Laranjinha's father had killed his father while trying to rob a restaurant. Together with a war between the rival drug lords for a hold of the hill, their friendship becomes compromised.

Rating: 2 out of 5 fairy clouds. While the movie makes reference to their childhood and strong bonding, I find it hard to totally comprehend with dire exasperation of people living in the slum. You feel pitiful and sympathize with their hardship, hopelessness and chaos living in such an environment. You leave the cinema feeling sad instead of inspire by their perseverance to keep trying for a better life. It is a real shame.

My Lovely Bones

2010-04-11T14:16:00.004+08:00

I watched My Lovely Bones after finishing up on an event over the weekend in March. The movie has a very strange poetic rhythm and captivating charm. You either love it or hate it, I don't think there is much of an in-between.

Her name is Salmon, like a fish. First name, Susie. She is a 14 year old and her life is only just beginning when it is taken away from her. Taking a short cut through the corn field, Susie meets a neighbour, Mr Harvey, who coaxes her to see an underground den which he has built for the children. From that fateful day onwards, Susie watches her family and her killer from an in-between world.

She watches how her death tormented her family and she desires vengeance from the man who has taken away all her hopes and her future. Slowly over the years, her family starts to heal and her killer has been discovered. Together with the other young victims, Susie is able to finally move on to heaven and let go of her final wish.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie has done rather well to bring across the emotional pain, the horror of death and all the things which were considered unbelievable in the 1970s where people trusted each other, especially neighbours. Quite a lot of depth in the seemingly simple and straightforward movie.

Agathe Cléry

2010-03-14T21:37:00.004+08:00

Oui! Elle est blanche et elle est raciste. C'est vrai. Elle est Agathe Cléry.

Agathe Cléry is hardworking and capable marketing manager of a cosmetic company which promotes fair skin. She is also demanding and henceforth dislike by her subordinates and colleagues. With the success in the marketing of the new product, Scandinav, to the Belgians, Agathe is promoted to marketing director.

While she is celebrating her new career development, she becomes devastated to be diagnosed of Addison Syndrome which causes her skin to darken. She always feels queasy towards coloured folks, so it is rather hard for her to accept her condition. She is unable to accept herself as a coloured person and to make matter worse, she turns completely black, loses her job and loses her man.

She learns to make peace with coloured folks when she starts to work for a black boss, in a company which doesn't hire any white person. She is happy and she is in love with her boss. But her happiness did not last too long as she starts to revert to white again.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie has a simply plot and humour which is quite in your face. The saving grace is the whimsical musical song and dance which makes the movie more entertaining and fun.

Law Abiding Citizen

2010-03-13T18:42:00.003+08:00

Is justice really just? What if the laws fail to protect the innocent? Clyde Shelton is a brilliant engineer and inventor. He is a happy family man until a pair of robbers come to his house, brutally murdered his wife and daughter. He survives the misfortune but he becomes a different man.

Ten years after the main culprit walked away free from killing Clyde's family, he meticulous plots against the whole justice system. Starting from the two criminals who killed his family, to the judge, district attorney and and more.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds. Not my cup of tea. I have strong distaste for such genre of movies. No war, violent or vengeance theme for me please. No explicit violence is showed in the movie but the act of it is sufficient to let your imagination goes wild. The whole movie is wrapped up quite hastily so that the mass market can accept the film with the good triumph over the bad.

Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-13T18:14:00.004+08:00

If you are expected a simple adaption of Lewis Carroll's novel, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, you are in for a surprise. Directed by Tim Burton, the movie Alice in Wonderland is quite a different experience altogether.

Alice first fell through the rabbit hole at a age of 6. Now that 13 years have passed, she is once again led the by White Rabbit into the very same hole which she thought it was a dream. Down the rabbit hole Alice falls once more, into Underland. Almost similar to her first adventure, she crosses path with Absolem, the smoking caterpillar, Chessur, the smiling Cheshire cat, the Mad Hatter, March Hare, Dormouse, and of course the Red Queen and White Queen.

This adventure is twist from her first trip. As the journey brings her deeper into Underland, she learns of her destiny on Frabjous Day, that is to slay the Jabberwocky as the forces of the White and Red Queens converge on the chessboard battlefield.

Rating 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. While the animation and imaginative world of Alice in Wonderland is sufficiently captivating for more audience. It is sad that the 3D does not add to the enjoyment of the film. 3D effect from A Christmas Carol and Avatar fare much better. Still, Alice in Wonderful is quite an enjoyable movie if you are into mythical and riddleful world.

Naked Kitchen

2010-02-21T20:39:00.004+08:00

Marriage is a bliss when it is filled with love and romance. The declaration of love. The celebration of love. The taste of love. And so the the lust of love.. and forbidden love in Naked Kitchen.

Mo-rae and Sang-in are celebrating their first anniversary. She goes to a ceramic gallery with the intention to buy gift for her husband. There she meets a complete stranger and has sex with the strange man. Thinking it is just an isolated encounter, she confesses to Sang-in during dinner. Sang-in forgives her and requests to put the incident away.

When the stranger shows up at their home, she realises that Du-re is the chef whom Sang-in has invited to help him with his restaurant venture. While Mo-rae and Du-re find it harder to stay away from each other, Sang-in starts to sense something between the two. The trial of love taunt these 3 individuals.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fair clouds. Love and romance sometime just isn't the same though it grows from the same seed. Life is trying. Love is trying. The Koreans seem to have a enjoy pain of almost everything in life. The least to say, its a a painful movie to watch unless you simply love to torment yourself.

The Wolflman

2010-02-21T20:08:00.005+08:00

"Even a man who is pure at heart and says's his prayers at night, may become a Wolf, when the Wolf bane blooms, and the Autumn moon shines bright". Man fears none other than the foul creature which roams the moonlit trees.

Lawrence Talbot returns to Blackmoor upon the plead of his brother's fiancee Gwen Conlife. His brother Ben has been missing for weeks now and Gwen fears for the worse. Truth unfolds for Ben's body to be found in a ditch, mangled and torn by an unknown beast. Lawrence decides to stay at his ancestral home to uncover his death.

He discovers a sickly truth of his traumatic childhood and death of his beloved mother. His father, Sir John Talbot, is none other than the cold murderer and wolfman of the town. Sadly for Lawrence, he too becomes infected by the beast and turns into a werewolf himself. Will be inherit his father madness or seeks vengeance for his mother and brother?

Rating: 2 out of 5 fairy clouds. The story is slow and dark, failing to capture my interests barely 15 minutes into the movie. Highly predictable plot and commercial shots. A disappointed and not worth the time or money to watch.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

2010-01-30T23:14:00.004+08:00

I'm absolutely taken into delight by the colourful, imaginative world of the Imaginarium. For a moment, I thought I have entered into some fantasy world where everything is simply filled with light and joy. Yet something dark and gloom seems to be lurking somewhere near.

Come into the world of Dr Parnassus! The travelling troupe consists of Dr Parnassus, his daughter Valentina, a dwarf Percy and the messenger pageboy Anton. The mirror, also known as the imaginarium, is not something you should take lightly. Beyond is a world where you choose how you want to be judged. It is a more whimsical version of purgatory.

Dr Parnassus holds a dark secret. In order to pursue the heart of a young maiden, he wagered with the devil for youth and in return, will give away his own flesh when he or she turns 16. In three days time, Valentine will turn 16 and Mr Nick, the devil, is here to collect his due. Not contented to be a simple debt collector, he creates another wager with Dr Parnassus - whoever claims 5 souls will win and take ownership of Valentina.

Will Mr Nick win? Or will the good be triumphed? Is the hangman a lackey for the devil or angel who will save Dr Pasnasuss and his daughter? Life isn't simply good or bad, light or dark, joy or gloom. Scurry off now into the wonderful world of the Imaginarium and let the explosive surreal world take over your senses.

Rating: 5 out of 5 fairy clouds. I simply love the creatively lovely and encapsulating landscape of the imaginarium, moving from one world into another, from the light into the dark. Where will it end? What more choices do we have to choose? Simply disturbingly attractive! By the way, Johnny Depp is cute, very cute.

Avatar (3D)

2010-01-24T14:59:00.004+08:00

Avatar is an epic movie full of 3D graphic which tickles your senses. While the storyline is quite predictable and boring, the imaginative world of Pandora will leave you breathless.

Jake Sully, a retired marine hero, takes up an offer to continue his deceased twin brother Tom' high-level research work at another planet, Pandora. Pandora is another planet, many light years away from earth, inhabited by the native sapient, na'vi. The na'vi hold a deep connection to their environment and people, fully encapsulated in the circle of energy which flows through their lives - past, present and future.

Jake works with Dr Grace Augustine and Norm in researching on the unique environment and culture of the na'vi. The core of the operations is headed by Parker and Colonel Miles, whose aim is to move the na'vi so as to excavate and export a very expensive mineral back to Earth.

The adventure for Jake begins when he gets lost in the woods of Pandora on his first dream-walker excursion. While it is unlikely for him to survive, Jake surprises his team in not only surviving but also gets accepted by the Omaticaya tribe.

He starts to assimilate with the lives of the Omaticaya, learning their ways and eventually becomes accepted by the people as he passed the test of becoming a man. It becomes more challenging for Jake as the reality of both worlds start to merge and conflict with his loyalty to the research team, military operations and the Omaticaya people. Watch the move for the ending.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie is quite enjoyable. The lives of the Omaticaya people is simple yet extraordinary as you experience a totally different eco-system. There are a lot of parallels being drawn from animes which run along the same line with mother earth. My only complains, the movie is a little long and my butt hurts from sitting too long. Other than that, go for it. It is worth the money.

Sherlock Holmes

2010-01-02T13:40:00.005+08:00

Nothing can escape this man. He is not a mentalist. He is not a mind freak. He is none other than Sherlock Holmes, a cunning, witty, ingenious, charming and yet twisted and eccentric crime detective.

Sherlock and his sidekick, Dr Watson, begin their adventure of with the capture of Lord Blackwood, a black magic practitioner. The successful trial of Lord Blackwood is just a gambit for his more devious plan to take over the British empire and perhaps even the world.

Lord Blackwood is sentenced to hang but returns resurrected after 3 days. It creates a sensational fear and chaos amongst the common men. Is he more than meet the eyes or just a clever concoction of black magic, mystic and fear? I shall not reveal anymore but allow you to indulge in the adventurous journey with Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

I love the scenes where Sherlock analyses the situation and immediately creates a solution to counteract and solve the problem on hand. He is also quite a dork by trying to be suave when he can hardly remains calm in the presence of his love interest and adversary, Irene Adler.

Rating: 5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law have the perfect chemistry and on-screen partnership as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. You get a run for your money watching 2 hunks on the big screen exuding the charm of an English Gentleman while fighting valiantly against the most vicious criminal. You simply can't get enough of these two men.

Departures

2009-12-26T12:29:00.009+08:00

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

2009-12-25T18:51:00.011+08:00

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

2009-12-06T10:50:00.012+08:00

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!

Sideways

2009-11-22T14:42:00.003+08:00

Sideways is kind of an odd-ball comedy which will grow on you as you watch it. Two buddies take on a road trip as a 'stylish' send-off before the wedding.

Miles is a depressed divorce who has yet to get over his failed marriage as well as failed writing career. His good pal, Jack, is a minor actor who is getting married in a week's time to a rich lady. The two buddies go on a road trip to the California, passing through the vineyards and local girls.

While Miles is planning on giving Jack a proper send-off with good wine and golf to create some buddy bonding time, Jack is only concern to get as much as boning as he can. Along the way, the guys meet Stephanie and Maya. Miles starts to move out of his misery to take the next step forward in his life. Jack, on the other hand, is getting himself in trouble from one woman to another. At the end of the day, the best pal stands by him and rescue him in the true allegiance-way.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. A decent movie to watch. The story-telling is quite nice from the man's perspective without being overly-overwhelming and hard to take.

Humpday

2009-11-22T08:22:00.004+08:00

Think along the line of famous annual Seattle film festival, HUMP! and you can pretty guess the storyline of Humpday.

Ben and Andrew are very good friends back in their college days. They have not seen each other except the occasional exchange of postcards. Ben is your typical picket fence man who has a career, a house and a wonderful marriage. While on the other end, Andrew is a vagabond. He travels around from town to town, knowing different people, and never finishes whatever he starts with.

An unexpected visit from Andrew creates a ripple of change in Ben's life. The initial harmless fraternal bonding between two good friends became a dare of two straight man making their own porn as an art film for the HUMP! film festival. Both friends are pushed to their limits in terms of their friendship, sexual orientation and belief.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Though the movie concept is kind of catchy, the film does not provoke sufficient intensity and curiosity from the audience. The conversation is flat and plot development is average. There is a time and place for things, and that is college.

Astro Boy

2009-11-21T19:02:00.005+08:00

I caught a ride to Metro City after leaving the Christmas Carol. Astro Boy is a much more entertaining animation to me.

Toby Tenma is a smart son of Dr Tenma, who is a leading scientist at the Ministry of Science. An experiment goes wrong and Toby who happens to have sneaked into the laboratory, is very unfortunately killed.

Dr Tenma, unable to let go of the death of his son, goes on to create a robot replica of Toby, hence the birth of Astro Boy. He is really the state-of-the-art, one-of-the-kind, super-duper-amazing-funky-real-like android. I guess you got my drift.

Astro, the android Toby, is amazed by his new abilities while Dr Tenma is unable to accept him as his real son. Feeling rejected, Astro leaves home. The power-hungry President Stone discovers that Astro has the blue core and soon starts a hunt to retrieve that energy core from Astro. As Astro left Metro City and made new friends, he starts to realise the meaning of his life and what he is made.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. I quite love the simple and yet charming tune to Astro Boy. Though I am not a fan of Astro, I love the movie, along with the humour. The movie is as cute and as charming as Astro himself.

A Christmas Carol

2009-11-21T18:43:00.008+08:00

Year after year, as we approach December, we see plenty of merry-making movies which celebrate the festive seasons. This year, I went to catch a glimpse of A Christmas Carol, aka Jim Carrey style.

As with the Charles Dicken's book, A Christmas Carol is kind of a dark and grimly tale about a Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter and miser moneylender who has not enjoyed Christmas for many many many many... many years.

On this every Christmas eve, Scrooge meets with his former business partner, Jacob Marley who has passed away 7 years ago. Marley, heavily chained in his afterlife, comes to warn Scrooge that he will be visited by 3 spirits - Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present and Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. The encounter with the 3 spirits forever changes Scrooge life, he becomes a new man, embodying the spirit of Christmas.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. A typical sha-la-la merry Christmas movie about giving. The animation is kind of decent, but lacking in a little depth which would have given it a much richer feel. An ok movie to watch, except that I'm not a typical fan of Christmasie movie.

Funny People

2009-10-22T01:11:00.003+08:00

Near death experience can at times changes your perspective on life. This is exactly what happens to George Simmons. He is a successful comedian and actor who does not give much of a shit to people around him, essentially he is just full of himself.

Ira Wright is an aspiring stand-up comedian who hopes to make it big one day. During one of his gigs, he meets with George and later becomes his personal assistant and writer. While George faces death daily, Ira hones his comedian delivery skills. Over time, their friendship deepens.

George miraculous recovers from his illness and he falls back into his own ways. He has failed to see why he is lonely and how he has gotten himself trapped in his own depression. His body might has recovered, but his mind has yet to chase up to reality.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie is a little draggy and slow in developing the characters. Though it shares the interesting personal growth experience of George, you can't help feeling that there is still a little bit missing from this whole load of adventure and mishap.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

2009-10-22T00:40:00.004+08:00

The weather for today is cloudy with chance of meatballs. Tomorrow, it will be raining cheeseburgers. In the town of Swallowfall, which is under the letter A of Atlantic Ocean on the map, it rains food.

Flint Lockwood, a young inventor, dreams of making a difference to the world. He has invented many things such as spray-on shoes, ratbirds, remote TV with legs, thought translator, and more. The townfolks tend to see Flint's invention to be a nuisance or disaster till his latest invention of the Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator (FLDSMDFR for short).

It rains cheeseburgers! Flint programmes the FLDSMDFR to rain different food for each day according to the townfolks' requests. From that day onwards, he becomes the hero of the town. Good moment does not last too long for Flint. Soon, the FLDSMDFR becomes unstable and starts to rain gigantic food. Can Flint save the world? Of course he can, with the help of his sidekick Steve (pet monkey) and girlfriend Sam Sparks.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. Cloudy with a chance of meatballs is a rather entertaining cartoon. There are a couple of twists and jokes which have tickled my funny bone. A great movie for family and especially kids.

G-Force

2009-09-29T00:11:00.003+08:00

Can you imagine a new breed of intelligence which the US military will depend on are actually 4 cute cuddly critters, a mole and a fly? Well, G-Force is the new secret agent for the FBI.

The main field team consists of the team leader Darwin, sexy martial artist Juarez, weapon freak Blaster, smart IT geek Speckles and the field vision, Mooch the fly. The team spies on Leonard Saber, infiltrates his home and secures a vital piece of information with regards to his sinister scheme to take over the world.

Unfortunately the obtained information seem to be nothing more than the Saber's coffee maker and hence the facility gets shut down. The rest of the story is pretty much predictable. The animals escape but end up in a pet shop. There they plan their escape route to meet at Ben's house (the project leader). Once they gather at Ben's house, they prove their skills and abilities while saving the world.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie is filled with cute critters and light laughter. I find it extremely suitable for young children. Warning to parents, please kindly restrain your child from buying a guinea pig on impulse because of this movie. Owning a pet is a big responsibility, not a toy which you can stack and store somewhere and be forgotten in time.

Luna Spirit of the Whale

2009-09-26T23:16:00.004+08:00

Inspired by a true event, Luna Spirit of the Whale shares a story of how Mike Maquinna becomes the Chief of the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nations Band with the help of an orphaned orca named Luna.

Mike has not been home for 5 years since he left. He is only back for his father's wake, not realising his return signify the beginning of a new challenge for him. He has refused to follow the family tradition and has been running away from home to find his identity and life path.

Luna starts to appear in Golden River of Vancouver Island soon after Mike's father passing. Several attempts have been made to lead Luna out of the harbour but she returns each time. The Band believes that Luna embodies the spirit of their late Chief and feel strongly that they should keep the orca in the harbour.

On the other hand, the fisheries are trying to deport Luna under the pretext of reuniting the orphan with his pod. The struggle captures the attention of TV stations. Mike finds his path and meaning to his origin as he leads his people through the spiritual and political controversy to save Luna.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. A low budget film this may be, yet it captured my heart and it captured my attention. The fight for freedom for Luna has led to the new personal growth for Mike Maquinna which is pretty amazing. It isn't always that easy to find your life path or have the courage to face it. I salute the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nations Band for their belief and spirit.

Then She Found Me

2009-09-25T16:42:00.005+08:00

Most of us (or almost all of us) hope to achieve some kind of personal fulfillment in our life. What exactly is the form of fulfillment? What might be the path we take to manifest this? We do not know but we will try. That's the beauty of life itself.

April Epner's life has starting to fall apart. At 39, her biological clock is ticking rapidly. Her husband abandons her and the next day, her adopted mother passes away. Just when you think life couldn't be more brutal to her. She finds out she is pregnant.

You would think life would be great. She finally fulfills her dream to be a mother. She meets with her birth mother and falls in love with a man who is recently divorced and caring for 2 young children. But life is cruel to April. At week ten she loses her baby, finds out the truth of her abandonment and loses her man. Phew! What tough luck this girl has. Don't worry, in the end, all ends well for April.

Rating: 3 out of 5 fairy clouds. Things are indeed rough for April but yet I am unable to feel the intensity of it all. I find that the events have been simplified to provide the general idea and direction of where her life is heading. It has failed to highlight the real trauma and growth she has to overcome to become a much more happier and fulfilled person.

Inglourious Basterds

2009-09-19T12:18:00.009+08:00

Inglourious Basterds, another amazing production of Quentin Tarantino, is absolutely hilarious despite the grim backdrop of World War II.

The film has two sub-plot. The first starts in France in 1941 at a French dairy farmer's house. An SS officer, Hans Landa, who is famed as a Jews Hunter, visits a farmer, Perrier LaPadite, who is harbouring a missing Jew family in his basement. Landa finds the hunting spot and executes the family. However the daughter, Shosanna, manages to escape, setting the plot for a future development.

The second subplot evolves around a group of American Jews, who are led by their leader, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). Also known as the Basterds, these men are in France killing Nazis and leaving survivor with a swastika curved onto their foreheads to spread fear among the German military.

Three years later, Shosanna has assumed a new identity as Emmanuelle Mimieux, and runs a small theatre. A chance encounter with a war hero, Fredrick Zoller, leads to the use of her theatre for a premier of a new movie, Nation's Pride, which is featuring Fredrick. All the important Nazi leaders and officers will be attending the premier, which creates a perfect opportunity for Shosanna to plot her revenge.

On the other hand, the British conceives a new plan, Operation Kino, to end the war by eliminating the Nazi leaders who will be attending the movie premier. The Basterds are involved in this operation by attending the premier to asissinate Hilter. The premier night leads to the final showdown of the film, Inglourious Basterds.

Rating: 5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Amazing plot, storyline and character development. I especially love the ending with Aldo Raine performing the last swastika curving on the last Nazi. Perfect ending to a perfect showdown. "You know something, Utivich? I think this just might be my masterpiece," said Raine.

9

2009-09-13T14:44:00.003+08:00

What will happen if machines can successfully rise and take over the world? We have seen many apocalyptic movies like Terminator, I Robot, War of the worlds, etc., 9 runs along the same line.

9 is the last creation of a brilliant scientist. He gives his soul to each of his rag dolls in hope that they will unit and one day save the world from his wayward invention, The Great Machine, which is responsible for the decimation of mankind.

It is a challenging path for 9 to unit the rest of the rag dolls. 1 is a war-veteren who wants to keep the rest of the members safe from the machines. 2 is a inventor and explorer who unfortunately lost his soul to the Great Machine. 5 is a faithful companion of 2, a handy man himself. 6 is a visionary nut who saw the key to end the war. 7 is a daredevil warrior, couragously taking on the machine herself. 8 is dumbnit follower of 1.

9 has the typical wholesome entertainment whose objective is the good and courageous saving the world. It definitely lacks depth and imagination. Though the animation and graphic is good, I feel the storyline has not developed since its conception. The backdrop of 9 was conceived by the young director in his graduate days and was nominated for 2005 Oscar Best Animted Short film.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Too much deja-vu and feeling of I have seen this in other blockbuster action-packed movie. Suspense is weak and so is the story development. Overall, 9 lacks creative story-telling and identity as an unique animation.

I Am Sam

2009-09-13T14:25:00.002+08:00

I Am Sam is about a mentally challenged father Sam (Sean Pean) and his fight to have custody of his daughter, Lucy. Sam, who has the mental capability of a 7 years old, has been taking care of Lucy since infancy.

On Lucy's 7th birthday, a social worker takes her away as Sam is judged to be incapable of taking care of a young child. His friends recommend that he look for a lawyer to represent himself, and that is when he meets Rita (Michelle Pfeiffer), a cold and selfish lawyer.

Rita becomes Sam's pro bono lawyer just to look good in front of her colleagues at work. Little did she imagine, that knowing Sam and his love for Lucy would change her life and her relationships with her husband and son, Willy.

Love conquers all as we always love to see in the real world. Sam has to face with many challenges as a mentally challenged person, and even more as a father and caregiver to a young child. In spite of this, there are one or two things we can learn from Sam; especially the way he has genuinely and unconditionally loved Lucy and will do anything to give her happiness.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. Its a very heartwarming movie to see how Sam finally touches the people around and wins them over on his side. In reality, I doubt the society will really condone such an arrangement.

Coco Avant Chanel

2009-08-29T19:28:00.007+08:00

Coco Avant Chanel shares a snippet of Mademoiselle Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel's life, her rise to success and the two men who had helped her.

While working as a seamstress, Coco (her nickname) tried her luck as a singer at a cafe and met a millionaire playboy, Étienne Balsan. Taking her chance with Balsan, she moved herself into his chateau and became his mistress. There, she moved into his circle of friends and associates, and started to design hats for his friends.

A revolutionist and rebel, she abandoned corset dresses and opted for simple, loose fitting masculine-style of clothing, which became her signature style. Later, she met with her second love interest, an English industrialist, Arthur Capel who supported her in her business venture and soon started her own shop.

She created new fashion statement and style of dressing, by taking inspiration from people around her, especially men. The simplistic of the clothing she designed and modern cutting made her an icon and celebrity to many. Mademoiselle Chanel is a visionary, entrepreneur and feminist who was way ahead of her time.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Bravo! C'est formidable. Elle est une inspiration.

Up

2009-08-23T00:19:00.005+08:00

Partly Cloudy (in 3D)

The story of a stork and his unique friendship with one of the cloud people who create babies. This animation is super cute and will most definitely tickle you. I found a site which has the animation, http://www.snotr.com/video/2938.

Up (in 3D)

Up, up and away! Up is Pixar's latest animation movie. Carl Fredricksen, a cranky old man, meets the young innocent wide-eyed overly-eager Wilderness Explorer, Russell, when he is about to set out on an adventure.

The young Carl is a very shy boy when he meets Ellie, an eccentric and adventurous girl. They dream of being on an adventurous trip to South America, following their idol adventurist, Charles Muntz. Over the years, they falls in love and married to each other. When Ellie passes away from old age, they did not realise their adventure dream.

After a mishap with a construction worker, Carl is given a court order to move into a retirement home. Refusing to succumb to such a life, Carl releases a thousand balloons and make this home into a flying ship, hoping to fulfil Ellie's dream of going to Paradise Fall in South America.

Carl's adventure is disrupted when he discovers little Russell in his front porch of his flying house. Together they set off into a new adventure to South America, forging an strong and lasting friendship; changing both their lives forever.

There are many amusing and funny incidents between Carl and Russell as well as the other side characters like the legendary bird, which was named Kelvin by Russell and Dug, the talking dog. Its a heartwarming and touching animation for all ages. Good story line.

Rating: 5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The 3D animation is so cool! Also, I'm really touched by the love story between Carl and Ellie as well as the final part of the movie which you'll see Ellie's love for Carl as she made a picture book of all the things she would do when she grows up; all the things involve being with Carl. This scene makes me cry.

Milk

2009-07-26T22:25:00.004+08:00

"My name is Harvey Milk and I want to recruit you." Milk, the movie on the life of Harvey Milk who was gay activist and city supervisor of San Francisco in the 1970s.

The film captured the major events and people of his life when he turned 40. Moving from New York to San Francisco, Harvey and his partner Scott, opened a shop, Castro Camera. A 'shrewd' businessman, he worked closely with shops who welcomed and accepted gays and slowly transforming Castro into a predominantly gay community. He started a political gay campaign in 1973 and finally won a seat as a city supervisor by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977.

Harvey Milk had successfully campaigned for gay rights ordinance and defeated Proposition 6, which was John Brigg's legislation to ban gays and lesbians from working in public schools. This ban even extended the dismissal of supporter of gays and lesbians. I admire his strength and fight to his life and rights. Harvey Milk is truly an inspirational and visionary man. Without this man, US would have been a much different place. He is a legend.

Rating: 5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Bravo to human rights. Bravo to the right to live your life the way you choose to. Kudos to those conservative bastards who seek the veil of religious as the choice of weapon because they are too narrow minded to see the world.

Sing Dollar!

2009-07-26T01:09:00.002+08:00

I sat back, relaxed and enjoyz Sing Dollar this evening at the Esplanade, letting the wonderful performers from Dream Academy tickled me pink. The stellar cast of this comedy musical includes Selena Tan, Emma Young, Pam Oei, Kumar, Najip Ali, Hossan Leong and Sebastien Tan.

There are a few segments of the musical which I love a lot.

- Kumar as Gandhi in Foreign Currencies

- Hossan's Good Collar Criminal (mix rendition of MJ's signature moves and songs)

- Najip Ali's broadway dance of Keeping it Clean

- Lorong to Lorong with a 50 years old virgin seeking *ahem relief from Geylang girls

- It's a Raid dance adapted from the Wonder Girls' Nobody

Support the local art scene. Catch Sing Dollar! @ the Esplanade from 23 July to 8 August 2009.

Public Enemies

2009-07-25T01:03:00.005+08:00

Public Enemies is about the legendary John Dillinger. Not that he is a particularly good looking man. He just happened to be charismatic with a little touch of Robin Hood air during the 1930s Depression era. Could he have been a hero? I doubt it. But his notoriety has most certainly made him a celebrity of some sort.

The Dillinger gang robbed over 2 dozen banks and killed many police officers during their heyday. John Dillinger was particularly well-known for his nimble move of jumping over the counter and and swift action in finishing a heist. Both facts are nicely choreographed into film. I dare say, no other actor, could have done such an amazing job of portraying Dillinger as Johnny Depp himself. He makes Dillinger too suave to be a bad guy and too charming to be a crook. Johnny, oh Johnny. Only he can pull off this role and make the movie a success.

On the side, the love story between Dillinger and Billie Frechette, makes the whole movie too romantic and wholesome. Mushy as it might be, you can't help but wish them both happiness. Marion Cortillard has this cute little charm that she can pull off as a sweet all-believing little schoolgirl look as well as an emotional painful and soulful womanly charm. She is simply a wonderful actress. I must admit Johnny and Marion did have very good on screen chemistry.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Go watch it, especially if you are a Johnny fan. Johnny has given Dillinger way too much charm. You find yourself strangely captivated by Dillinger's audacity.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009-07-17T16:12:00.008+08:00

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Price is the 6th installment of fight between the Chosen One and the Dark Lord. Harry returns to Hogwarts after wreaking havoc at the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic the year before, the duel between him and Voldemort.

This 6th episode sets the plot and groundwork for the finale of the Harry Potter series. Together with Professor Dumbledore, Harry learns that Tom Riddle has split his soul into 7 horcruxes in order to gain immortality. They have destroyed the first two, Tom Riddle's diary and the Marvolo Gaunt's Ring. This is the start of the treasure, oops! I meant horcruxes hunt on the final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and The Deadly Hallow.

Focusing on the adolescent surge of hormones, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price reveals the romance sub-plots between Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown as well as Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley. Many characters who have contributed to the fighter between Harry and Voldemort have been totally left out, as well as the romance sub-plots between Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour and Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin.

Rating 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. There are quite of bit of inconsistencies between the movie and the book. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie seems shallow as compared to the breathe and depth offers by the book itself. You get the feeling that the director, producer and screen writer do not have any clue about the Harry Potter series.

Revolutionary Road

2009-07-11T18:17:00.004+08:00

When does love transform into resentment and hatred? Most couples, in fact all couples, fall in love with each other long enough to get married, start a family and have kids. This life's journey might be fulfilling for some and yet excruciatingly pathetic and horrifying for others.

Frank and April Wheeler meets at a party. They fall in love. They got married. They have their first child and they move to a nice suburban house. From a fun, thrill seeking adventurous young man, Frank transform into a stable family man. While April is the supporting wife, she used to an aspiring actress who dreams of taking the world. Bitterness is lurking beneath, waiting for an opportunity to surface. To neighbours and friends, the Wheeler family is the perfect American dream family that is wonderful, loving and inspiring.

The movie shows lot of intense emotions as well as subtleties throughout the film. You see Frank as an average New York city working man as he blends into the background of men like himself. For a moment, you also see him as unique. A man with dream. A man who dare to dream and take on the world. You question if responsibility makes your grow up or does it chain you up secretly?

You watch with anguish as April becomes completely void and trapped within her life. Unhappy that she has failed to pursue her dream career as an actress. Unable to find peace as her life continues to hollow out. She wishes to make a change, to get out yet bonded by her responsibility as a wife and mother. It's not easy to be a woman in the 50s. And truthfully and honestly, that hasn't change much in the 21st century either.

I'm impressed by the movie. Watch it. You will understand the difficulty that most couples face in a marriage (of a number of years). You will start to question, it is better to stay in that comfort zone of pain or it may be actually worthwhile to make a change before it is too late? Aren't' we young before? Aren't we fill with dreams and inspiration? Aren't we bold and fearless? Have we fallen into the same trap as Frank and April?

Rating: 5 out of 5 fairy clouds. I'm pleasantly surprised by Leonardo DiCaprio's acting. He did extremely well portraying Frank, showing the perplex man's emotions and shame while Kate Winslet brings out the strength, weakness and confusion of April which leads to her demise. She is a great actress and I have enjoyed most of her movie. Great job!

Night Festival 2009

2009-07-11T00:51:00.003+08:00

I have been fascinated, hypnotised, excited, bedazzled and in awe by the performances of the Night Festival 2009 which took place at the National Museum of Singapore, Singapore Art Museum and SMU Campus Green. It is an absolutely stunning evening with spectacular dance, percussion, vocals and the most delightful and enchanting of all, the out-of-this-world pyrotechnic show by Action Theatre Pan Optikum from Germany. It is simply magical!

BERSAMA HIJAU - HE 合

Presented by the Teng Company, a group of 4 men (a vocalist, a cello, a pipa and a guitar) created an impressionable ensemble of fusion (modern and traditional Chinese) songs and music. Unconventional but captivating. The debut of He, which is written by one of the members, is quite mystical yet modern and familiar. I have to say, the vocalist is quite a soprano. His singing in 合 deeply reminded me of the alien concert in Fifth Element. And he is good.

BERSAMA HIJAU - TAP AND CLOG

Cute, funky and high energy tap dancing with a new twist; the use of char-gia, ie clogs. Extremely entertaining and bright. It makes you just want to dance.

BERSAMA HIJAU - THREE STONES 三生石

Combination of Cellist (Leslie Tan) and 2 modern dancers on Bach's solo cello suits; sweet, charming, endearing and alluring. Classy and yet cheeky. Daring and yet soulful. I'm surprised by the gracefulness of the 2 male dancers.

BERSAMA HIJAU - THE STORY OF DEEPAVALI

Presented by Bhaskar' Art Academy, the Kathakali is a well-known dance in India similar to Chinese Opera and Japanese Noh. You will be in for a treat as you watched the triumph of Good (Lord Krishna) against Evil (Narakasura), which is celebrated as a Festival of Lights.

BERSAMA HIJAU - THE MORE WE GET TOGETHER

Dance choreography Aaron Khek tried very hard to engage the audience with a clap-clap-wave-wave dance routine which kind of failed miserably. Singaporeans are kind of shy dude. Get them drunk first!

BERSAMA HIJAU - MARI KITA GELEK GELEK

A mixture of songs and dances down memory lane with a tribute to a few popular P Ramlee's songs.

BERSAMA HIJAU - SOUTH DOWN

Enter into the nostalgic world of traditional Malay dance with Chinese Ensemble, tracking down history of Singapura as a Malay fishing village before the arrival of Chinese immigrants. I was a little frustrated at the beginning with the Malay description which I didn't understand but yet I was captivated by the gracefully, demure, subtly attractive movement of the female dances. While I was indulging myself with the dances, in came the Chinese immigrants. Appearing in the crowd, marching slowly towards the stage, they made quite an appearance! I particularly love the drumming.

The highlight highlight which brought me down to the Bras Basah Precinct. I have to watch this even though I have to go alone. It was all worth it!

THE LOOP OF FORTUNE

The live vocalist walked through the crowd with that abstract and yet ethereal touch. She moves along the crowd as if she is exploring and looking for new experience but slowly found herself moving towards a path which she is unable to turn away from or escape. The acrobatic dance, singing and drumming are weaved seamlessly with the firework displays. The National Museum of Singapore stood beautiful with the projected background scenes and lighted fireworks. You can't help be feel joy, amazing and surprise. It is a totally magically experience which went beyond words. I was ecstatic watching the dancing wheel moved in synergy with the firework in the sky.

This is definitely one performance you should not miss! It is undoubtedly breathtaking! Performing on 10 and 11 July 2009 from 7.30pm to 2am. For more information visit, http://nationalmuseum.com.sg.

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories by Tim Burton

2009-07-07T22:31:00.007+08:00

Filled with bittersweet poems of all kind,
Of kids and children you will find.

Mostly misunderstood and gruesome,
They are hardly considered handsome.

Find love and finding hope,
In the never-ending soap.

Tim Burton is truly a hero,
In the world where there is zero.

A very interesting dark adult book on gruesomely sympathetic children. Outcasts wanting to find their belonging in this human world. Simple and brilliant, which you can find much amusement to the misery and tragedy of these odd children.

The Reader

2009-07-04T16:32:00.005+08:00

The Reader opens views to the world of secret, love, punishment and morality. Damn serious stuff to be watching on a slow Saturday afternoon.

An ill young Michael Berg meets Hanna Schmitz who helps him return home. He is a 15 years old teenager while she is a 36 years old tram conductress. After he recovers from his scarlet fever, he goes to Hanna's apartment to thank her for helping him out. He find himself attracted to Hanna and allows her to seduce him. Soon, the little dangerous liaison turns into a passionate affair with a lingering lifelong effect on both of them.

When the summer is over, Hanna left abruptly. Leaving Michael bewildered and guilty. Years later, by a chance encounter of a Nazi's trial during Michael's understudy as a law student, he meets Hanna who is being trialed for killing 300 Jewish woman. Michael faces conflict with his love for Hanna, and discovers her deep secret which she rather dies than reveal in court. Yet he is also ashamed of what has happened in the Auschwitz extermination camp and his acquaintance with her.

Through his years, Michael never forgets about Hanna. When he returns home with his daughter after his failed marriage, he started to record tapes of him reading books which Hanna loves a lot. But never did he visit or write or speak to her till the day when Hanna is due to be released from prison.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie runs deep with many underlying issues which are hard to portrayed on the big screen. I suspect it is more intense reading the book than watching the movie. Still with a little touch of imagination and understanding of the culture then, The Reader has done a good job on highlighting morality issues. Though we all like to simplify our lives, at times it is not just so easy. If only we can do away with our pride, moral obligation and abiding social norms.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

2009-07-02T00:03:00.007+08:00

It was a mad rush to the new Filmgarde cinema (Bugis) as I was trapped in the MRT train, which was delayed for approximately 30 minutes. I missed like the first 15 minutes of the movie, but Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, is worth the effort!

Megatron has been defeated in the 1st Transformers movie and now Optimus Prime and his Autobots have joined with the US classified military, NEST, to kill and chase off the Decepticons on earth. While Sam is off to University to start his new life, a new battle with The Fallen has just began. Sam is not given much choice but to take on the lead of the battle as well as to discover the hidden code which the shard of Allspark has infused into his brain.

The adventure is brilliant with great twists and excitement as you join Sam, his girlfriend Mikaela, his roommate Leo and RoboWarrier, Simmons into the new adventure of uncovering the hidden secret which the original Prims have planted on earth century ago. The animation and graphic are simply superb and stunning despite the fact that the storyline is pretty straightforward. Then again, what do you expect from Transformer. It has always been a battle between the Autobots and Decepticons in order to protect Earth, protect the humans.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Transformers: More than meets the eye. A great movie which I shouldn't mind watching a couple more times. I might consider buying the DVD collection afterall. The various Autobots and Decepticons are just such an eye opener! Creativity is truly without limit, that's exactly what you get in this movie. And Bro, thanks for picking me up.

Waterboys

2009-06-29T22:18:00.008+08:00

I saw this cute hilarious Japanese movie, Waterboys, probably about 5 years ago. Recently I stumbled upon it online while cross-referencing some materials for movie. I decided to watch it again.

Waterboys tells of a story of friendship and never-say-die attitude amongst 5 teenage boys. Suzuki aspires to be a competitive swimmers but he never quite make the par. In fact his school teacher wishes that he could just give up trying.

One day a new swimming coach arrives at the boy's school. She is a young, sweet and pretty female teacher. Many boys decided to pick up swimming only to realise that she only teaches synchronised swimming! All the boys immediate quit swimming, leaving behind Suzuki and 4 other losers Sato, Satome, Ohta and Kanazawa. The team immediately falls apart when their swimming teacher ditches them to go on her maternity leave.

The adventure of the boys starts here. The team falls apart, with everyone going separate ways. Later they re-form on their own accord and seek help from a dolphin trainer who is only interested to make sure of them to clean the aquarium instead of actually coaching them. Through the thick and thin, the boys synchronise their loyalty to one another, become real friends to each other and a real team.

It is still a hilarious and touching movie to watch after all these years. It is quite a novelty to see boys doing synchronised swimming when this form of sport is still predominately female. I had a good laugh watching this movie.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Gotta to watch this!

Taken

2009-06-28T01:28:00.005+08:00

Instead of being taken in by Taken, I am taken aback by the thin and unimaginative plot. The solid acting to Liam Neeson did nothing to save the movie. Neither could Luc Besson's signature car catch scene in the streets of Paris. Its another one of those microwave popcorn movies with no substance.

Brian (played by Liam Neeson) retires as a CIA agent so that he can stay close to his daughter, Kim. Relationship with Kim is shaky as his ex-wife Lenore unwelcomes Brian and her step-father Stuart upsurges him by buying into the little girl's heart with gifts which Brian cannot afford.

Kim goes to Paris with Amanda after getting Brian's approval. The girls are immediately targeted by the sex slave syndicate and kidnapped upon arrival. Here, Liam delivers the famous Daddy Brian's line "I don't know who you are. But if you don't let my daughter go, I will find you and I will kill you" and this marks the start of the thriller suspense which the movie promises to deliver.

Liam is charming as an actor and he delivers great punches and chops in fighting the villains. At the end of the movie, he saves his daughter, brings her home and fulfills her dream of being a singer. Very cliche and boring ending. It has no depth and hardly showing any improvement to the father-daughter relationship despite the life-changing mis-adventure.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The overall story plot, development and delivery is weak, extremely weak. It is only worth watching because of Liam Neeson. Beyond that, the movie is a flop. Watch it if you have nothing else to do.

Tribute to MJ

2009-06-26T09:36:00.003+08:00

The world has just lost a star. Michael Jackson suffered from a cardiac arrest and departed the world on 25 June 2009.

The icon has indeed change the world with his famous moonwalking dance. I'm not sure if the world is a better place, but if we take a look at the man in the mirror, we might catch a glimpse of a man who has gone too soon. Keep the faith Michael, you are not alone. Many of us, black or white, will remember the time and continue to rock with you whenever and wherever your music is played. Your songs shall continue to heal the world and our hearts.

A man who is afraid to grow up. A man who has grown up unwillingly against his desire. Michael Jackson shall remain the King of Pop to us. He is one of the 3 artists whom my mind has registered at an impressionable age of 5. My salute to the Man who has gone through a lot in life. He shall always be remembered.

Changeling

2009-06-21T15:10:00.007+08:00

Changeling is an inspirational movie on a woman's perseverance and strength. Based on a true events of Christine Collins, a mother who had lost her son, Walter Collins.

Mrs Collins lost her son Walter in 1928. Five month after she reported a missing child, the LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) found a boy who matched the description of her missing son. They united the mother and son, trying to get some good publicity. When the mother and son first met, Mrs Collins insisted that the boy wasn't her son but was told to give it a few days on a trial basis by Caption Jones.

She made several attempts to explain to Captain Jones that the boy is an impostor and pleaded with the police officer to continue with their search for her missing boy. Instead of the continued search for her missing boy, the corrupted LAPD made official announcements and reports to denounce Mrs Collins, making her look like a derelict mother who was shirking from her responsibility.

Mrs Collins was lucky to have gotten the support of a Reverend Gustav Briegleb, a Presbyterian minister and pioneer radio evangelist, who was on a noble vendetta exposing the corrupted LAPD. Unable to accept the fact that the police refused to admit their mistake, she collected evidence and letters of from school teachers and medical doctors to make her claim that the boy was not her son.

Unable to handle more bad publicity, the corrupted Captain Jones made an incarceration and had Mrs Collins locked up in the local asylum on Code 12 before she is due to release her statement via the Reverend's radio network. She discovered many other patients who was locked up on code 12, and found that they had one thing in common; they had offended someone in the police force. This incident opened another can of worms which the LAPD is trying to hide.

In the meantime, a major discovery was made on a Wineville ranch, which revealed the gruesome abuse and murder of 20 young boys in the California region. Walter Collins was one of the boy who had been identified to have been taken captive and might have been killed. Court cases were pursued with the LAPD and Winewile ranch murder. But Mrs Collins never found her son.

Changeling highlighted the level of corruption during that period of time and how the society has treated women badly, putting them down as crazy, all emotional and unable to think with their brains. I'm glad to see by Mrs Collins standing up against the odds. It is not easy especially during her era. I salute her for her strength, conviction and will power. Well done!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Changeling is an amazing story. The media has done injustice to this movie on simplifying the storyline to just a woman and her lost son. The movie highlighted a serious element which will make you ponder over obligation vs face value. Despite the gloom and desperation, you see still hope. Not a movie for the simpleton but a great one for those who love to be challenged.

Monsters vs Aliens

2009-06-20T22:04:00.014+08:00

I did a movie marathon today with two movies, the first is Terminator Salvation and second is Monsters vs Aliens.

The cartoon is bland with no storyline, no depth, and no originality at all! There is Susan who gets hit by a meteor on her wedding day and becomes a 50 feet tall giant. During her captivity in a secret military "prison", she befriends BOB, a brainless blue gelatin blob, Link, the missing link amphibian from the ice age, Dr Cockroach, a mad scientist and Insectasaurus, a giant grub.

The adventure starts with Gallaxhar who is on a mission to hunt down quantonium, which happens to have been absorbed by Susan. And henceforth the rest of the plots pretty much unveil itself right there. Nothing new, nothing hard for the brain to understand and I fell asleep right in the middle of the movie.

Rating: 2 out of 5 fairy clouds. For young kids this movie is probably great. It ain't great and is much too simple. I guess I'm a fan of Pixar animation. At the very least, there is more depth and originality then such trashy cartoon. Not worth the time or money at all.

Terminator Salvation

2009-06-20T20:45:00.016+08:00

The name John Conor is synomynous to Terminator as the latter is synomynous to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Of course, there is no way a Terminator movie can be a true Terminator movie without Arnie. Yet in Terminator Salvation, Arnie has a cameo appearance as the future T-800 cyborg, which adds a dash of nostalgia to the classic terminator movie.

This is the 21st century. The civilisation which we have come to know is almost decimated after the faithful judgement day. Skynet is now in control of the world. There are many Skynet machines around the cities, eradicating the human race.

John Conor leads a resistance army to attack one of Skynet underground base and discovers an unusual sight. There are human prisoners. Conor firmly believes in the evolution of the machines, having seen them in his younger days. Skynet has made a big technological advancement from the current T-600 to the new human cyborg T-800.

The plot in Terminator keeps me intrigued and hungry to see what is next. At the back of my mind, I have known how difficult it has been to get rid of one cyborg. I find myself (time and again, throughout this movie), grabbing my seat, wanting to see the resistance win over the machines. Wondering if Conor can really destroy Skynet, fulfilling the prophecy to saving the human race?

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie is fantastic, thrilling, unpredictable and mind-blowing. It has all the elements of a great action-packed movie with a well-written storyline. Go watch it now. Do not miss out on this excellent movie.

Seven Pounds

2009-05-31T18:33:00.003+08:00

Seven Pounds. Heavier. That is exactly how I feel after watching the movie. No, I wasn't snacking.

Seven Pounds, the movie runs deep with emotional, trauma and punishment. It is a movie which is hard to sit through and requires much, too much, attention to the details which are splattered throughout the whole movie from start to end. That means you have to put all the pieces together in order to understand the movie. Phew! It is a lot of hard work.

This is the story of Tim Thomas. On causing the death of his fiancee and seven other innocent people on the road, Tim starts on a personal vendetta of donating this organs to seven deserving people. He starts with a lung lobe to his brother Ben, liver to a child services worker Holly, kidney to an ice hockey coach, bone marrow to a young boy Nicholas, eyes to a blind meat seller Erza and finally heart to his new love, Emily Posa. One man was rejected for ill-treating residents in his nursing home. Oh yes, he also gave his lovely beach house to an abused woman, Connie and her two children.

The mystery gets quite lost in between the flash back and interrupted connections of the on-going happenings. I have to admit that Tim is noble to have to do this. But I personally find it hard to swallow his self-punishment in order to elevate his pain and guilt. There are much better ways to deal with pain. The word is counselling.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Nay. Watch it once or don't even watch it. You are not missing much from this movie.

He's Just Not That into You (Book)

2009-05-23T11:28:00.002+08:00

While waiting for my friend and niece the other day, I walked into a book store and ended up with 3 books. One of which, as you have probably guessed right by now, is He's Just Not That into You.

The book has nothing to do with the movie. It is a self-help book written by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, two writers from Sex and The City. The book is meant for women who have issues dealing with men who are just not that into them.

On the first account of reading the book, I fathomed at the thought of these women's naivete and brainlessness. Aren't we supposed to be a bunch of complicated, sophisticated and amazing intelligent creation of god? How did we land in such a pathetic stage?

It is in plain sight that many women are dating jerks and irresponsible men who have no clues how to treat a woman right or even how to love them? And why should women compromise by dating such men? Why are they wasting time on that "he's just not that into you" kind of man? It is really better to be in a bad relationship than to be alone?

I certainly understand the tough challenge of women, particularly matured ladies, who are finding with increasing difficulties on snagging a loving, understanding and wonderful man. I wish I can state firmly that this is not a day dream, that some day your prince charming will come to rescue you.

The book does provide some good insights on holding out for that Mr Right who has all the right qualities that you want as a lifelong partner. But in reality, plus the emotional complexity of a woman's brain, all I can add is, please be patient and open your eyes wide before you seal your option to other potentially nicer men. If and especially if, your current squeeze isn't making you feel happy or loved.

Angels and Demons

2009-05-21T22:43:00.005+08:00

Of the books from Dan Brown which are worth reading, are The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. And out of the two, Da Vinci Code storyline surpasses Angels and Demons. But I have a pleasant surprise this evening; Angels and Demons is a much more enjoyable movie.

Ron Howard did an excellent job bringing the story alive. Together with great actors like Tom Hank and Ewan McGregor and the impressive and twisted illuminati ploy, you will bound to be hanging on tight to the end of your seat!

Science and religion or science versus religion? What is your take? This is the underlying plot of Angels and Demons. The movie differs slightly from the book. Either way, it starts with the illuminati ambigram being presented to Robert Langdon who is roped in by the Vatican police to help solve the mysterious death of a scientist and the kidnap of 4 perferitti.

The plot beautifully weaves and threads in history and art as Langdon frantically crosses the Path of Illuminati in Rome to decipher the clues which are vital in saving the lives of the 4 kidnapped cardinals. May the angels guide your way.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. If you didn't read the book, you will more certainly love the shocking thrills. But if you have read the book (like myself), it is still intriguing to see Langdon unravel the truth.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

2009-05-03T13:11:00.005+08:00

Wolverine oh wolverine. What a hunk he is! X-Men Origins: Wolverine is everything about Wolverine.

In the first X-men movie, we saw some snippets of Wolverine past but have no clue who he is or what he is or how he is made with such special metal on his exo-skeleton. Everything about Wolverine, aka Logan is revealed in X-Men Orgins: Wolverine.

James Logan (Wolverine) and Victor Creed (Sabertooth) are blood brothers. Both run away from home together in 1845 after Logan kills his adopted and biological fathers. In the years to follow, both brothers fight in many wars from World War I to World War II and Vietnam war, always protecting each other. One day, Stryker come to recruit the 2 boys into a very special elite unit of mutants.

Logan eventually gets tired of their missions and left his teammates. He retires as a lumberjack in the Canadian Rockies, living a simple life with his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox (another mutant, unknown to Logan). For six years, life has been kind and peaceful to him until Victor shows up one day and kills Kayla. The raging Logan is filled with vengeance and agree to have adamantium infuse into his exo-skeleton so that he can have his revenge on Victor, only to discover that he has been tricked by both Stryker and Victor as part of their experiment, Weapon X.

There are many exciting scenes and other mutants who are making their appearance in this movie like Gambit, young Cyclop, etc, and of course Wade who becomes Weapon XI aka deadpool, the nemesis. I shall not reveal more of the movie or its plot. A movie worth its wait. Go watch it today.

Do stay end till the end of the credits as there are 2 bonus scenes. Apparently there are 3 versions of the ending bonus scene with either Weapon XI picking himself from the rubbles, Wolverine drinking in Japan, and another mysterious character picking up Weapon XI. I got the Wolverine one.

Ratings: 5 out of 5 fairy clouds. A movie I do not mind seeing another time because of the nice scenery as well as exciting fights. It does get your adrenaline pumping for the moment, wishing Wolverine will win after everything. Not to mention just to see what a nice piece of hunk Hugh Jackman is as Wolverine. Ahh.... I am just melting away.

Magique

2009-04-26T16:50:00.005+08:00

Our world does need a little touch of magique and sprinkle of star dust to let us see it in a different light. Simple joys of life at times overlooked and forgotten.

Magique is a good afternoon delight in view of the sudden storm which blew over Singapore today. It shares the story of a single mother, Betty and her 10 years old son Tommy.

Betty single-handedly managed the isolated bee farm, barely making ends meet, while Tommy is an inquisitive little boy who has never met his father. He imagines that his father is an astronaut and gazes longingly at the stars and galaxy. Betty is a lonely and melancholy woman who wishes for love and meeting her Mr Right to help fill up her empty heart and perhaps her life as well.

One day a travelling circus passes by the town and they magically transform the lives of mother and son. Tommy convinces his mother to allow the circus to park at their farm so that they can stay and perform for the town. The charming and mysterious antics of each of the troupe member slowly uplift both the mother and son.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie is very childlike and filled with imagination and dreams. Each character shine brightly as though we are looking through the eyes of Tommy and his world. Nothing beats the innocence of a child. A tale as simple as magique is a great family entertainment for children than adults.

Udon

2009-04-26T00:01:00.004+08:00

Udon, the movie, left me craving for a nice hot bowl of udon soup with egg. It wouldn't it be wonderful to have a nice steamy soup to warm the tummy in the cold cinema? I believe it would be perfecto!

Kosuke left his hometown for the big apple, aspiring to be a great comedian. He dislike his town and resents his father for spending all his time making udon. Broke and badly in debt, Kosuke has no choice for to head home for a retreat. Things did not seem to change for the years that Kosuke has been away.

To clear his debt, Kosuke joins a local community publication and created a craze of udon pilgrimage which changes his life forever. Towards the end of the movie, Kosuke finally understands why his father has such dedication and diligence toward making udon for the community. He is finally able to make peace and closure with this father.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. Behind the face of each craftman lies a story much deeper and passionate about his committment towards producing the best product. Kosuke's father is the same. He is an old friend, who seems to be always there, bringing the joy of a simple bowl of udon soup to the town where he lives and dies.

Le Grand Chef

2009-04-25T17:03:00.003+08:00

I miss having my lazy weekend lazing around the house, watching old movies which I have missed out due to my busy work schedule. I watch Le Grand Chef this afternoon.

Finally got a copy of Le Grand Chef. This is a Korean movie made from the popular comic series. The story tells of two excellent chefs and their battle towards claiming their rightful ownership of the legendary cooking knife which belonged to a renown royal chef who chopped off his hand and refuse to cook for the Japanese ruler who had invaded Korea.

The story is very well-weaved together. It gives sufficient information about Sung-chan's past and the history of his grandfather. Isn't it intriguing to see history repeating itself through different generation? While his grandfather went through his share of hard time in the royal palace as a chef, he passed on his legacy to Sung-chan who can finally honor his family as the true chef.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. Man always allow fame to get to his head. The fight to be in power will probably never cease for generation to come. Nevertheless, we still love to see the good triumph over the evil, just like the simple plot of Le Grand Chef.

Detroit Metal City

2009-04-25T11:20:00.006+08:00

Detroit Metal City or DMC for short is a 'live action' movie adapted from a popular manga series, Detroit Metal City. I have to say the movie does have a strong cult-like charm to it. You can resist wanted to see more and more of what could possible be happening. Addictive!

The key personality is Soichi Negishi, a soft and gentle man who dreams of becoming a true musician one day. He left this hometown (quite a country bumpkin he is!) to study in a university in Tokyo. Eventually he becomes a very very successful musician, except in the wrong genre of music Negishi is hoping for.

Deep inside this heart, he wanted to be a soulful and wholesome singer who is able to help people dream through his music through this motto "No Music, No Dream". During the day or on this free time, he will sing on the streets to gather followers. But it is always a failure each time.

His alter-ego character is the popular leader of the death metal band, Johannes Krauser II, the lead single and guitarist. Krauser is a very talented guitarist who can even play the guitar with his teeth and he amasses a huge followers and fame across Japan. Yet he is ashame of himself and his music.

It isn't easy to manage the dichomatic personality in real life and on stage and Negishi finds it challenging to hide his Krauser identity from this family and girlfriend. Ken'ichi Matsuyama who previously took the rolad of L in Death Note, does an excelllent portrayal of Negishi and Krauser. It is very amusing and entertain to watch the switch and internal struggle he faces under both identities.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. The movie has depth and plot which is not suprising as it comes from the manga series. There are a lot of interesting moments where Negishi gets caught in awkward situation as well as a good array of surprising characters around him, particularly his sadistic band manager who seems to enjoy torturing him.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

2009-04-12T15:06:00.005+08:00

Zack and Miri do not just titillate your senses, they are simply shamelessly stimulating. For those curmudgeons, masticate your pride and hold your fire.

Zack Brown and Mariam "Miri" Linky are lifelong friends and roommates. The two nimcompoops from Monroeville have known each other since first grade. On a particularly snowy night whereby their electrical and water supply has been cut off, they start to come out with ideas on how to make some quick cash to deal with the mounting bills and possibly homeless situation.

The idea of producing a viral porn movie hardens after some punks upload an interstitial video of Miri in her granny undies, which snags an amazing online hit rate. Enlisting the help from friends, the product team slowly firms up to an interesting mix of boneheads and goofballs with mind-blowing skills.

The two close pals have made a promise to each other that the sex is purely a business proposition and it shouldn't ruin their friendship. As the filming climax, Zack and Miri find themselves reaching a point of no return and discover something deeper than friendship.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. A movie which has tickled my funny bone. Sex and comedy is definitely a lethal stimulus. Watch it with an open mind. Sex is always sex but love and friendship are both much greater, not to mention more long lasting. For those with brains in the gutter, there is really nothing filthy about the movie. It is just a charming and witty comedy.

Marley and Me

2009-04-05T18:08:00.006+08:00

Took a short break on this rainy Sunday afternoon to watch a heartwarming movie about a dog. That's right, I watched Marley and Me.

Marley, a Labrador Retriever, is an attention-deficit dog who doesn't give a damn to his owners' orders or expectations. The happy dog is a bundle of joy (for the couple) on one hand and a total terrifying destroyer on the other. I have to admit, he is really a handful!

I'm pleasantly surprise by Marley and Me. No, it has nothing to do with the dog. In fact, there are other movies with much cuter story about dog.

I was caught by surprised that movie shows the down-to-earth and beauty of a committed and loving relationship. The couple stands by each other through the hard times; the challenge of being a parent to 3 growing children. It shows how they support and continue to love each other in such an old traditional light. The typical family value we love to see. I do wonder how many couples are as fortunate as the Grogan's family in the movie.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Despite being a touching movie, there are a couple of unrealistic elements to the movie. For instant, I'm not used to seeing couple who is charming and non-aging throughout Marley's life. While the book shares Marley's 13 years with the family, the movie stated 4 years. I can only suspect that the storyline was either edited too much or that different set of scriptwriters are involved in the development of the movie from the start to end. Too much subtle discrepancies for me.

My Girl and I

2009-03-22T19:28:00.004+08:00

I spent a lazy afternoon watching a 2005 Korean movie, My Girl and I. This is the second time I watched the move, once on the local art channel and this time on my collection of VCD.

The story tells of a puppy love between a young girl Su-eun and a young boy Su Ho. He is an ordinary, simple and straightforward boy while she is the dream girl of all the boys in school. Their love blossoms when Su-eun asked Su Ho to buy her a croquette. Though he couldn't understand why, he complied with her request knowing the consequence of this action.

Words spread fast and the whole school starts to see them as a couple. The sweet puppy love develops into the most beautiful loves of their lives. For many years after Su Ho never forgets Su-eun even though death has separated them. There isn't a single day which he doesn't think about her.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. It is a very sweet movie but I wasn't in the mood for the lovey-dovey theme or crying my heart out to such love tragedy. Despite of that, it is rather aspiring to see love withstanding against time and death while in reality, I would say it suck big time to have to go through such challenge in order to see the beauty of it.

KUMAR: Stripped Bare & Standing-up

2009-03-20T00:17:00.003+08:00

I have the most wonderful time watching Kumar's performance at the Esplanade this evening. He, oops! I should be saying SHE is such a brilliant person on stage. Fantastic and love her!

She always said the most politically incorrect things which are almost always true. Her sharp sense of humour cuts across every races. Being Indian, she seems to slam them a lot more. But she is rather fair most of the time in slamming all races. It is definitely not easy being the ONLY person on stage for the whole 1.5hours. She entertained everyone perfectly and I salute her for her stamina and stage aura. Well done Kumar!

If you are going to her show, you will most certainly enjoy her performance. If you didn't, well try again next time around.

Infernal Affairs I, II and III

2009-02-22T16:32:00.010+08:00

It is a great lazy Sunday to have a movie marathon. Today I plunged deep into Infernal Affairs I, II and III.

Infernal Affairs I
The story of 2 cops, one is an undercover for the police in the triad society while the other is a undercover for the triad in the police force. When their paths cross, what should you do and who should you trust? The covet fight between two strong actors, Tony Leung and Andy Lau is rather enjoyable.

Infernal Affairs II
Part II shows the young version of Andy Lau and Tony Leung as a prequel to the 1st movie. The plot is captivating and will most definitely keep you in suspense. It gives you a better understand of the 2 main lead actors and their attitudes and thinking of why they become who they are in time. But I do find the some of the twists a little far fetched, making some facts in the 1st movie rather incoherent and unacceptable.

Infernal Affairs III
Part III sees Andy Lau suffering from guilt and delusion in his attempt to redeem himself as a good man, a good cop. The story flashes between the past and present which can be confusing for an average movie buff. It is an unusual artistic direction for a commercial film. I do enjoyed the movie except for the mushy bits between Kelly Chan and Tony Leung. It does not add any value to the movie except to draw the parallel between Andy Lau ad Tony Leung, the same misery of having to betray people around them in order to survive.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. Taking an average of the 3 movies, I do find the 2nd and 3rd one more interesting. The 1st movie is quite like the typical triad-police movie which has overwhelmed the movie market in the early 90s.

Saving Private Ryan

2009-02-11T19:19:00.004+08:00

I finally got to see Saving Private Ryan today! Oh yes, I know it is 11 years late. But it is better late then never.

The beginning of the movie is very hard for me. I do not like war movie and I most certainly do not like to see death. Though it is just a movie, it brought tears to my eyes to see people dying in war. The landing of the US troop on Omaha Beach is a disaster even if they manage to take hold of the area from the German soldiers. It is very heart saddening for me as I can vivid imagine the horror of these young man who sign up to be a soldier only to be killed before they even enter the battlefield.

Caption John Miller (Tom Hank) is assigned to rescue Private James Francis Ryan. This assignment from the top (Colonel) is ordered simply because the US military is "heartbroken" to send the telegram to a mother who has lost 3 sons to the war. To redeem themselves, an order has been issued to escort Private Ryan home safe and sound. Oh so touching, isn't it? In reality, I doubt the government really gives a hoo. But this is a romanticised Hollywood movie, why we should just take it with a pinch of salt.

Overall, it is a pretty decent film. The killing is just too much for me to tolerate personally. But I can understand the charm and the reasons why it has been such a popular movie. In all fairness, it is still worth watching at least one. More for those who can stomach the bloody scene.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2009-02-01T10:46:00.008+08:00

"I was born under unusual circumstances..." claimed Benjamin Button.

There is nothing unusual about Benjamin Button if you eliminate his reverse aging. Benjamin Button is born an old wrinkly baby. As he grows up (physically growing), he becomes younger and more youthful, before he dies as a baby.

The movie has a good cast of actors including Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton. Sadly, I'm rather disappointed by the plot development. There are obvious key situations and turning point of Benjamin's life but the director has failed to highlight these significant events. The movie comes alive only in the last 30min of its run.

It is a 3 hour long movie and I find it rather challenging to sit through it. I can imagine two kinds of people will enjoy this film, i.e. 1) value for money movie buff and 2) die-hard romance who feels true love transcend time and continents. Oh yes, I forgot about the 3rd kind, fans of Brad Pitt.

The movie is really kind of crappy and I'm surprised that some sites claimed it to be "a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time. " To me, it is just a tale of an ordinary man whose path crosses with major changes of the world, and finally coming term with his ideas of life and closure of his own personal struggles.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. I'm not impressed due to its austereness and lack of depth.

Shugo Chara! and Shugo Chara!! Doki!

2009-01-28T23:03:00.002+08:00

The Japanese anime series is about an elementary 5th grade girl by the name of Hinamori Amu. On the exterior, she exudes the cool and spicy image while within closed door, she is just an average shy girl. Her life changing moment comes when she wishes for Guardian to help make her change. Overnight, 3 new adorable Shugo Chara appeared and transformed her life ever since.

Shugo Chara! started in October 2007 running a total of 51 episodes. The sequal is renamed Shugo Chara! Doki and started from October 2008 and running to today. There are quite a number of interesting twists and friendship stories throughout the series. New characters are also being introduced over time. It is amazing how friendship can overcomes obstacles in life and bring people closer together.

I'm looking forward to the ending and especially the interesting romance between Amu-chan and Ikuto. Though Tadese and Nagihiko are both good looking, I somehow likes Ikuto over the rest. :) What will happen to them? I guess we all have to wait and see for now.

Yume Tsukai

2009-01-04T23:05:00.003+08:00

If dream manifests into physical realm, will it do good or harm? Will it take over control and create more trouble? What happen to the dreamer, the original creator of the dream?

Yume Tsukai is a TV anime series which explores dreams when it cross over to reality. Leader of the ring is Touko, followed by her younger sister, Rinko, Tachibana Hajime and Satoka. The sister pair works closely together in helping people who encounter problems when their dreams become a reality and take over control. Hajime is called in from time to time while Satoka is the newest and least experienced.

The anime explores an interesting aspect of dream vs reality. This theme is also seen in Paprika, who helps people in their dream to understand the root of the dream issues. A pretty good run for my time over the weekend in finishing 12 episodes of this rather interesting series. I have yet to fully explore this area, perhaps I should go dream about it... and I might learn more the next day. Hmm... interesting is the only comment I have about this anime for now.

Elegy

2009-01-03T21:10:00.004+08:00

Elegy is as poetic as its name. The movie is strange, mysterious and somber as an elegy.

David Kepesh is a well know literacy celebrity and professor. He is always in pursue of beauty and never allows himself to settle for any woman. He fled from his marriage and has ever since soured his relationship with his son. His only comfort is Caroline, a businesswoman, whom he has an open relationship for the past 20 years.

The day Consuela Castillo enters into his life become a turning point which puts him in chaos. From an intelligent, smart and confident man, David becomes a insecure, jealous, possessive and childish little boy. He yields for Consuela. Yet, he also fears deeply that his beautiful Consuela will either leave him or be swept away by another young man given their over 30 years of age difference. He has refused to commit to Consuela despite their 2 years relationship.

Consuela decides to end the relationship when David has once again refused to show up for a family event, this time it is her graduation party. She disappeared from David's life for 2 years while he learns to pick up pieces of his broken self. When Consuela shows up on a new year's eve, breaking the news of her cancer, David finally sees beauty and open up his heart for the first time in (probably) 40 years.

The movie is very poetic driven, trying to show the inner struggle of a man who is refusing to open up his heart. The conflicts are very subtle and yet powerful. Words and emotions aren't always that easy for a man to communicate and in this movie, you notice that struggle for David. It got a little draggy at a couple of spots in the movie. Overall, it is a decent movie.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 fairy clouds.

Yes Man

2008-12-29T00:07:00.005+08:00

Would you say yes to everything that presents itself to you in life? Or do you lead your life saying no to everything? Say yes to life and start living your life now!

The power of self-affirmation, releasing and programming. Carl Allen is a no man. He said no to everything in his life. He is as stuck as the stick in the mud. He says no to his best friends' invitations, he says no to this neighbour, he says no to his work, he says no to promotion, he says no to his boss... in fact he says no to himself. He prefers very much to wallow in his own pain, within the comfort zone of his own home, watching rented DVDs without any one around him. If given a choice, he would rather have the world abandon him.

Thing starts to change after he meet an old friend while having his lunch one afternoon. This friend introduces the YES workshop to Allen and encourages him to make a change to his life. His sub-consciousness starts to work through him. One evening, he attends the new age YES workshop. After that evening, he starts to say yes to everything and every opportunity that presents itself. A little trial of saying yes begins to open the door to opportunities and change for Carl. Life slowly unravels itself. From offering a ride to the homeless, to getting to know his new love interest Allison, he starts to enjoy his life and loves the experience of living.

The reality is (of course!) he goes a little too much and too far by saying yes to everything, to the extend of finding it hard to say no. Its like the universe punishes him for saying no. Every story has a key message. In Yes Man, the message is... Do things in moderation. You can't say yes to everything and you can't say no to everything. You choose the middle, in that grey area of Maybe, and not to forget, you must add a dash of common sense too!

I have to admit that Yes Man is a rather powerful movie in a new age way. I highly recommend this movie for the value it offers. The only thing that irks me is that Jim Carrey is unable to break away from his face contortion and silly antics which makes him a famous comedian. It stereotypes him, making it hard to appreciate him as a serious actor. To find in this lovely movie, the tiny signature Jim Carrey expression and behaviours is a little discerning. Perhaps it might be way too serious if he does do away with all this signature actions. Either way, Yes Man is a movie worth watching.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. You can have good fun watching Yes Man even if you do not understand the power of new age healing. It is still a decent movie with good storyline.

Another Crazy Christmas

2008-12-21T01:02:00.002+08:00

The start of my Christmas celebration begins with a musical to some great local talents of Singapore, Another Crazy Christmas. This Christmas caroling is performed by Selena Tan, Emma Young, Pamela Oei, Hossan Leong, Robin Goh, Neo Swee Lin, Lim Kay Siu, Sebastian Tan, John Lee, Petrina Kow and Vocaluptious.

I enjoyed the performance by Hossan Leong. It is the best out of all the singings and cajolings by the group. The jokes about the Singapore Flyer and Singaporeans' creativity with their dance movements are simply hilarious. Even Sebastian's Hokkien version of Jingle Bell is far more entertaining than the others. I do miss the Dim Sum Dollies. I wonder if they will come back to create another season.

Overall, I am mildly disappointed. This current musical is rather commercial and it has lost its little charm. Last year's performance was cozy, heartwarming and full of love. It was oozing with that fuzzy feeling of warmth near the hearth on a cold winter night. I failed to feel the same leaving the theatre this evening. I wonder where the magic has gone to? Or could it be that there is a lack of chemistry amongst the group?

Twilight

2008-12-14T21:34:00.003+08:00

Let me give you a hint to this movie. Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Boy falls for girl. Girl falls for boy. That's pretty much sum up the story. And to make it more interesting, add a dash of vampire mystery and a pinch of predatory thrill.

The movie focuses around Isabella Swan (Bella) who has moved to a new high school in Washington after her mother remarries and moves to stay with her new husband. She makes new friends and finds Edward Cullen to be intriguing.

Edward feels an uncontrollable attraction towards Bella and is very protective of her. Over time they falls in love with each other. How will that end? Will she become a vampire and rejoice in their eternal love for each other? We have no idea.

I'm not a big fan of adolescent romance movie, which Twilight is all about. For those die hard romance fans who adore love and romance, this is the movie to watch. Personally for me, its more yucky (!) than ooh and ahh.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. This movie is not my cup of tea.

Bolt

2008-12-09T23:46:00.004+08:00

Bolt is the latest animation released by Disney. The story tells of a white German Shepherd who knows nothing of the real world except the made believe world which he has been living in for 5 years. Sounds familiar? Of course it is! Remember The Truman Show? Well, this time round it has been tamed and repacked into a supersize tiny white waggy-tail ferocious little puppy eye doggie!

During one shooting, his owner Penny is captured by the green-eye Dr Calico. The episode ended with Penny being taken away and a crew member returned Bolt to his trailer. Being anxious to save Penny, little Bolt escapes from his trailer and somehow lands into a box by accident and is shipped to New York.

At New York, he meets with Mittens and Rhino. Together the trio starts on the adventurous trip to Hollywood, California. Along the way, Bolt learns of the truth about his life and fake superhero skills which he holds dear to this heart. Reality can be harsh, but this did not stop Bolt from going back to his beloved human.

As with all Disney cartoons (which I will always repeat), it will always be a happy ending to uphold the wholesome family entertainment for the family. Despite of the clinches and predictable storyline, Bolt is still an super entertaining movie.

There are two scenes which I love dearly. One is Bolt learning to act cute so as to "beg" for food and next is the Rhino the hamster. I adore the out-of-character Rhino which is evil in the purest sense. He is simply cute as a button and you just want to pinch the hell out of this furball!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. A great entertainment for the family during this festive month. I have as much fun watching Kung Fu Panda as Bolt, with the exception that Bolt is filled with children's humour.

Paprika

2008-12-08T16:44:00.005+08:00

Paprika is a spicy girl of your dream. In fact, she is literally the girl IN your dream!

Dr Chiba and her assistant, Dr Tokita have found a way to enter into your dreams in this animation science fiction flick. Using the DC Mini, Dr Chiba transformed into Paprika and provides treatments to her patients through dream therapy. Inspiration gives birth to new technology which becomes a source of power.

As fate has it, three DC Mini prototype has been stolen. All dreams are slowly trickling into a big illusion and crossing the boundary between dream and reality. Will Paprika solve the mystery and save the day?

The animation is an eye opener to the possibility of technological intervention. You will be dazzled by the power of subconscious mind and deprived dreams. It does make one wonder if everything at hand is truly a case of child's play, ie a child trapped inside the body of an adult. It is a pretty amazing and mind blowing animation for me as I did not set any expectation of what I might find in this Japanese creation.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 fairy clouds. An impressive movie which is truly out of the world. A must-watch for Japaneses animation and sci-fi fans!

Kabluey

2008-12-08T01:09:00.003+08:00

Kabluey is a movie about self-realisation and discovery. It can be sometimes hard to understand love without first going through some hardships and loving oneself.

The movie starts with Leslie, a depressive mother of two extremely hard-to-handle boys, whose husband is away at war. She is desperate to get back to work and can't afford to get a babysitter. Out of desperation, she asked her brother-in-law, Salman for help.

Salman is a socially inept person who is having a hard time getting accepted by everyone including his family. As Salmon becomes the babysitter for Leslie, he soon learns about loving and accepting himself as he discovers and understands about love and pain of people around him.

The movie has a rather geeky kind of humour which is kind of refreshing like a young school girl. It is kind of subtle yet touching in many ways. It is definitely an interesting movie to watch. Of course, more can be done to improve the storyline and add more depth. Yet simplicity can still achieve the same objective. And Kabluey is a simple movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds.

Little Miss Sunshine

2008-12-06T14:48:00.004+08:00

Oh little Miss Sunshine! The sweet and almost nostalgic film revolves around a dysfunctional American family. The family road trip to California started as the youngest member of the family becomes eligible for the Little Miss Sunshine pageant.

Sheryl is an overworked mother of a teenage son and young daughter. Her husband Richard is an unsuccessful motivation speaker and life coach. Their son Dwayne has been on a 9-month vow of silence till he achieve his goal to be a pilot. The youngest Olive, is actively pursuing her beauty queen dream. Olive is closed to her grandfather who has been kicked out of retirement home due to his heroin addict.

The story begins with Sheryl picking up her suicidal brother who has recently lost this love, career and a chance to be a recognised scholar of French literature. Under the doctor's instruction, Sheryl is taking care of him to make sure he is ok. During dinner, the family receives a call that young Olive has obtained a chance to participate in Little Miss Sunshine pageant which takes place in 2 days time.

On a haste, the whole family takes on a road trip to Redondo Beach Hotel, California. It is an unforgettable road trip for the family in the bright yellow Volkswagen minibus. Each of them learns to come to term with reality while learning to understand and respect each other.

There is a lot of tolerant in a typical American family. This makes me wonder if such unconditional love be a cruelty instead. The adventure and unexpected twists have been a good entertainment for me. It is a decent film for a lazy afternoon.

Rating: 4 out of 5 fairy clouds. It is worth watching, not to mention that I bought the 2nd hand DVD at only just $6. Pretty worthwhile and enjoyable movie!