A Serious Man

Yep, want to be serious about what to do in life next time. Probably this is the first time I'm saying this (although it can be quite obvious) but it would really be cool if I can become a professional movie critic =) But hor, can make money or not? I don't know. But it's one of those passionate things in life that sometimes one just feel like fulfilling. Do you have one of those?

Can you guess what themed day is this? Neither can I, just from looking at it. It's actually Budget Day! Everyone's outfit (top and bottom) is less than S$20. Cool, right? But not obvious enough.
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Great last day of CNY! Lamerz should be honoured: you guys are the first bunch of friends I've driven around =) Driving them home at 3:30am from pj's house is really an experience~ More to come!

My house first...

...then into the car. Boo Boo: I was panicking, unable to remove the key from the keyhole (this has never happened before!).

Guess what? Because I set the gear at 'neutral', and not at 'park', when we were in the car park -.- That's me calling my dad =X

PJ's house at 3am. Latest last 拜年 ever. But the greatest =D
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I'm sure most of you probably already know: I'm the official movie writer for SGClub online portal!



I reviewed a movie (Summer Wars) but the content is renewed very fast, so the review is no longer there. See below for my copy-and-paste!

And of course there's that Oscar post about whether Avatar should sweep the Oscars, the one where Kim Heng and Kang gleefully flamed. Thanks arh, but some of what you said makes sense, but not the fact that I should join the SAF, Kang LOL.

The Oscar post would not be up for long (March issue is coming up!), but don't worry, you'll see my more personal chat about the Oscar nominees below.


THE MOVIE REVIEWS:

Summer Wars (anime) for SGClub.
Writer: Wilson Ng
Summer Wars (PG)
Rating: 4.0/5
Directed by: Mamoru Hosoda
Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Nanami Sakuraba
Opens February 25, 2010
Distributed by Encore Films

With a fantastical fusion of a traditional Japanese setting and a large virtual world, Summer Wars grabs the viewer from the get-go and pleases the senses all through to the end.

Kenji (Ryunosuke Kamiki) is an awkward and geeky seventeen year old who takes up a request from his high-school crush – Natsuki (Nanami Sakuraba) – to accompany her back home to rural Japan and act as her boyfriend to please her 90-year-old grandmother.

He is immediately amused by the quirky mix of characters of her large family. Meanwhile, he receives a mysterious text message containing a string of numbers, and he solves them, mistaking it for a mathematical equation. Apparently, solving that equation allowed a hacker to breach the security of an online city, OZ, and the traffic and healthcare system in Japan plunged into chaos, as millions of users are interconnected via that cyber world.

Director Mamoru Hosoda (of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) stroke a brilliant balance between the thrilling technical aspects of OZ and the nuance of characterization in Natsuki’s huge but adorable clan.

From the terrifying creation of the Love Machine – the malicious A.I. terrorizing OZ – right down to the quiet blooming of morning glories in the Japanese countryside, Wars is a treat to watch.

One of the film’s central themes of humanity being controlled and restricted by the worldwide web is carefully realised, and this thread blends well with the theme of family love.

Do bring along your Kleenex, as a story arc concerning the grandmother and an adopted child will surely move even the hardest of hearts.

Summer Wars has the potential to appeal to both otaku and mainstream audience, just like what Spirited Away did for the genre of anime. With a harmony of strangely lovable characters and a storyline that hits at the heart of the present society, this film is a sure recommendation.
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Click ON THE POSTER for my movie review of A Serious Man for The Nanyang Chronicle. I gave the Oscar-nominated film 3.5/5, despite me admitting to the editor that for the film's bizarreness, this has got to be the most difficult movie review I've ever written :X

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That's all for this post. Watch out for the next one for my Oscars Race 2010 =)

Be a Woodlander. Be Italian.

Yep, I've officially moved. I've been a Bishan-er. An Yishun-er. Then a Choa Chu Kang-er. Yishun-er again.

And now I'm a Woodland-er.

It's byebye The Shaughnessy (so many great, great memories - you guys know who you are) and...

...hello Woodlands Drive 50. Unpacking and renovation still in progress. Will be chio after all is done. Then, house-warming, people! =D
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Back in school, we attempted an Atas Day.
Hmm, probably not our best Themed Day so far.

My (name) twin and I. Can you guess which polo tee is USD25 and which is RM25? =P
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Besides learning to be a Woodlander, Rob Marshall taught us Parverts how to be Italian. Was he successful? Incidentally, it's our first outing to Orchard. Strange, huh? But we see each other everyday anyways ;)

Here's my review of the all-glitter-no-heart, Nine.
I give the movie:





With a criminal waste of the talents involved and a combination of muddled direction, you come to wonder whether Nine is a story about the fate of its very own director, Rob Marshall.

SYNOPSIS:
Experiencing writer's block is famed director Guido Contini (a competently distraught Daniel Day-Lewis) who is desperately trying to churn out a script for his next movie, Italia, after two flops in a row. The press is hot on his heels, driving him into panic anxiety.

Then there are the bevy of ladies who his life revolves around.

There is the fiesty mistress (Penelope Cruz, similarly crazy from previous Oscar-winning role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, thus gaining another Oscar nom this time), long-suffering wife (a brilliantly anguished Marion Cotillard), bubbly journalist (Kate Hudson, a role sticking out like a sore thumb), gorgeous muse (Nicole Kidman, wasted as an elegant vase), heavy-weight prostitute (an interesting but extremely underwritten role for Fergie), goodwill confidant (Dame Judi Dench, trying her very best) and the stately mother (a stately Sophia Loren), all mostly flat characters (save for Cotillard) who propel the maestro towards his seemingly ever-elusive movie-making.

PRAISES:
Marion Cotillard's heart-wrenching performance stands alone. Her transformation from a suffering wife to her scene where she finally gives up on Contini fully showcases her Best Actress prowess (which she won for La Vie En Rose).

Only at Fergie's sand-kicking rousing number Be Italian did the movie show signs of picking up musically. Otherwise...

FLAWS:
...we can only wish if the other songs were half as spectacular. Rottentomatoes.com's collective review puts it right. Nine was "curiously distant", especially on the emotional tone.

FINAL SAY:
Star-power doesn't make a good movie. Which is a gigantic pity. Probably only pretty to look at.
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Once my reviews for A Single Man and Japanese Anime Summer Wars are officially published (The Nanyang Chronicle and SGClub website respectively) then I'll post it here =)
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Here are some CNY '2010 pictures!
Yep, on 初二 we had lobster sashimi, salmon sashimi and abalone yu-sheng! Shiok-uh.

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That's all folks. Need to settle down in new house. And probably concentrate more on school work.

Take care, people!

Without You

Chinese New Year has been a blast so far. A blast of ang-pows, bak gua, melon seeds, yu sheng, sweet drinks, kuay bang kit... you get the drift.

But to follow what I did last year, I'm going to put out a special Valentine's Day post. This year's one is a showcase of what I did for a school photography montage assignment. The theme is similar to last year's short story which I wrote.

Click here for the 2009's Valentine's Day short story. You can read it before or after viewing this post. Doesn't really matter =)

"Without You"

Without you,
I still keep the side of your bed neat.


Without you,
I still keep your favourite dress.


Without you,
I still prepare your favourite breakfast.


Without you,
I still go to the movies.


Without you,
I still sit at our favourite chairs.


Without you...
I still miss you.
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Everyone wants someone to miss.


THANK YOU KIM HENG FOR YOUR DSLR! If not, the above photoshoot wouldn't have been possible. Will call you out for a drink someday, dude.

To all the lovers out there, Happy V-Day! And to all, have a great Lunar New Year! =D

New Year post will be up soon, I hope.

Take care, people!

Two Busy Weeks In Pictures

Been soo busy I have no time to blog in words. But a picture speaks a thousand words!

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Happy Lunar New Year and Valentines' Day!

Take care, peeps!