Devil Wears Prada to Banquet

My 10 Points Summary :
1. Nice loose adaptation of Hamlet
2. Good casting, eventhough I dun quite really like Ziyi. Surprise : Wang Xiao Ming's general character is far more impactful than Daniel's Wu Luan.
3. Love the opening scene, still haunting my mind, the song and the choreograph of the dance performed though the way the artistes there stand still for the assassins to get their life is way too unrealistic.
4. What happened to the soldiers? They're all "Lord of the Ring" type!
5. Opened my eyes of the existence of candle chandelier haha......
6. The set is too lavish to be true but yet, still very beautiful and one couldn't help but thinking it's really being geared towards Oscar, nominations at least if not winning
7. If you like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, you'll love this. Not typical Chinese period piece with less action kung-fu scenes than CTHD.
8. Pay attention to the dialogue.
9. Ziyi looked better in period costumes and yes, she's good here. It's practically she or rather her character who drives the whole film.
10. Nice musics by Tenger (Mongolian singer?) and the closing credit song by Zhang Liang Ying.



Watched the long awaited chick flick.... Devil Wears Prada. Not a chick, what made me went to watch it is due to the mere fact the fantastic Meryl Streep is in it. And once again, she scored!!!! I would say she single-handedly transform the movie from some predictable-plot of small girl went on a path threading away from her original life goal by shifting the attention to her character. Of course, Anne Hathaway is doing a good job as the main character, managed to portray her struggle of choosing between her original dream and the glitter-and-fame life in front of her. Not a avid fashion follower myself, the movie is STUFFED with tonnes of clothes, bags, shoes and name throwing which I am not tat familiar with. All in all, a good turn out for Streep though it may be too easy for her and generally an enjoyable one.

Million Faces - Paolo Nutini

Oh the phone you know it never stops, it's the last thing I hear at night

And the first thing I hear in the morning.

And as I start to let it burn my head, you slowly creep into bed

And i'm done talking

You say you know how i'm feeling,

I just need to try to settle down

Oh a million faces pass my way

Oh they're all the same, nothing seem to change anytime I look around

Oh who knows just what the future holds

All I want to know is if it's with you

Tired as hell and falling up the stairs, filled with a thousand cares as you walk out from the bedroom

Though it feels like all my fire has gone, you just turn me on

Can't believe how much I want you

You say you know how i'm feeling, I just need to try to settle down

Oh a million faces pass my way

Oh they're all the same, nothing seem to change anytime I look around

Oh who knows just what the future holds

All I want to know is if it's with you

We're distracted by the hard times, and the troubles that we make

Let us throw them in the ocean, let it wash our cares away

Oh the phone you know it never stops, it's the last thing I hear at night

And the first thing in the morning

Oh a million faces pass my way

Oh they're all the same, nothing seem to change anytime I look around

Oh who knows just what the future holds

All I want to know is if it's with you

We're distracted by the hard times, and the troubles that we make

Let us throw them in the ocean, let it wash our cares away

Oh the phone you know it never stops, it's the last thing I hear at night

And the first thing in the morning

Let it wash our cares away, let it wash our cares away...

[Thanks to Beth (welshdragonz@hotmail.com) for these lyrics]

I attached here an album review from by Steve Jelbert from Times Online.......

The Scottish teenager Paolo Nutini is old before his years, as dull and predictable as any veteran singer-songwriter. Presumably his record company believes it has unearthed the next James Blunt, but Nutini is more like the new Jimmy Nail. His vocal technique involves a tepid growl inexplicably interrupted when he yells the odd syllable at random — it sounds like someone singing a ransom note. Weak, drably arranged songs such as the awful New Shoes, the banal Rewind and the interminable Autumn don’t help his case. Still, the public currently has an insatiable appetite for such humdrum fluff so failure will probably not be countenanced. Personally, though, I found listening to this atrocious record physically painful.
STEVE JELBERT

I can't deny that his recording company may think he's the next James Blunt but I enjoy his music. And putting the review above is to show that I'm an open-minded person, who can tolerate others' opinion and embrace diversity hahhahaha......................

Amos Lee in House (AXN)

Monday night is exciting in AXN. With House and Nip/Tuck.... what else to complain?

House ended last night's episode with a signature tune from Amos Lee, Color. Nice song.

暗示 - Sandy Lam

暗示 / 曲 Chika Ueda / 詞 潘源良 / 編 趙增熹

當你說 你想起遠方一處

從前在那裡是那麼開心寫意

現在卻似被困的小子

我聽到了 已經不止這一次

為何定要借助某一些相關語

就像你永沒法可啟齒

難道要我去話你知

我早知道你心意 別再暗示每一次

其實若你決定要走 卻怕說這句子

我也暗暗了解 不可把你留住

緣份斷還未斷時 若要痛就痛一次

無謂又再暗示我知 故意怕我介意

蠶蝕我心 好比倒刺

早知道 長夜盡頭夢醒時

原來是最愛亦最傷心的一次

但是也算是個新開始

無謂再去暗示痛多幾次

情路到此 了斷何時

I only know recently there's a Mandarin version of this song, e.g. "Spring Rain".

Another "J"

To add to the long list of "J" male singers (think James Blunt, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz and John Legend) lately.... the newbie is James Morrison (not to be mistaken with the Australian trumpet player).

Paolo Nutini

Another soulful voice, quite the batch with Blunt, Jack Johnson and Bailey Rae. Check it out... especially the catchy "Loving You"

Ohh ohhh woww yeaa

Back off loneliness and hello tenderness,

i've been waiting for your call for so long

and it musta been hard

just to follow your soul,

to stick to the road that your heart wants you to go

and as you slide through the door

with your morals on your sleeve

and i think its time for all those morals to leave

so lets get down and freaky baby,

lets get restless baby

cmon' get crazy with me

and i said when your loving me,

im loving you

and i love your pwroess and the things that you do

and its your flawless soul

that bleeds my stone and when your loving me

im loving you and thats when weve got it goin' on

oooooo

so many people think weve got it wrong

they try to break us but we wont play along

so lets get down and dirty baby,

lets get restless baby

and i said when your loving me,

im loving you and i love your prowess and the things that you do

and its your flawless soul

that bleeds my stone

and when your loving me

im loving you and thats when weve got it goin' on

oh goin on and i was so

and i needed another home and you fly in my arms

you just fly into my arms

and i said when your loving me,

im loving you and i love your prowess and the things that you do

and its your flawless soul that bleeds my stone

and when your loving me

im loving you and thats when weve got it goin' on

when your loving me, im loving you

and i love your prowess and the things that you do

and its your flawless soul that bleeds my stone

and when your loving me im loving you

and thats when weve got it goin' on

My Sex Education Handbook (hahahahaha......)

Remember this book vividly as it's the primary source for my sex education hahaha......

Books and Reading Material

Bought this series for RM6/unit. It comes together with the sequel and prequel. The Condor something translated in English. It's the classic martial arts novel from the great Jing Yong. The passion of watching the TVB drama series channeled into my strong interest to learn Chinese which lead me to my long process of Chinese self-learning. And I am proud of that now!

One of the dreams while I am in secondary school is to become a writer. Haha.... penulis lah katakan... I participated in lots of essay writing competition and enjoy the sajak too. Well... all of them in Malay. I managed to win some nation-wide competition and it did boost up my profile and confidence. I was even selected to represent the school in the pantun competition, no small feat for a Chinese student I think haha.... But the writing passion soon disappear just like that! I think I lacked the discipline and determination. To make it worse, my Malay deteriorate dramatically now due to lack of usage and practise.

My school bulletin and I was the Editor for the 1st volume ever!!! I guess it's still being published now...

My reading material when I was in primary school. Haha...kinda childish right?

My Malay reading material, with lots of title useful for the writer-wannabe hahaha..........

There was a craze during my Form 6 years - undergraduate years for the writer Liu Yong. Bought quite a number of his books but find that it's repetitive after that. I guess it's quite hard for writer, or any artistic contributors to maintain authenticity and new, interesting works all the time.

My reading material when I was studying in university. Totally engrossed in anything movie or film-related stuff. The cover above is one of my favourite movie, In The Mood for Love by Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung.

I still remember this small story book. My childhood is kinda boring, without cartoons (can you imagine tat???) and TV is minimal. This book was purchased form the Doulous ship, the Church ship where volunteers travel around the world and I remember the story vividly. It was also the reading material for my sister later on. It's in Chinese and amazingly, both of us manage to digest what's all about though we never study Chinese.

Concerts

My first ever concert is the concert by Lee Hom. I think he's still new that time with his new recording company, Sony. The concert was held in PWTC backed by the KL Orchestra and it's good showcase of his talent. He even restaged his final year graduation piece and enrolled a KL gal to perform with him.

My 2nd concert is David Tao which I attended with my sister in Stadium Merdeka and it's a blast! Then I attended Siti Nurhaliza's concert in KK Likas Stadium courtesy of Maxis Hotlink and she's brilliant. Nice powerful vocal Datin Siti.

Other concert I wish to attend? Faye Wong, Jackie Cheung, Sandy Lam (yeah....I'm the old generation), Eason, Karen, Cheer Chen and Michael Buble. Well.... if Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughn still alive.... I dun mind.....

What to do when you are under the weather?

The answer to the above question is.... blogging. It's raining in the morning here in KK. A long delayed post of the old stuff I unearthed in my room.... Upon taking pics of them, I threw them away...

My trainee card and also safety and health personal passport during my stint as industrial trainee in Shell. Brought back memory of staying with the Kab family in Miri and also the housemates there..... Pat, Kat, Justin, Chee Haw and Bala... and other trainee, e.g. Kitty, Chek Tang, Ngui, David, etc... Time do flies and Miri always held a special place in my heart...

The saving grace for poor student like me, GRADS. Confirmed flight at 25% discount and stand-by seat at 50%.

The student card when I was in USM. I like the baldy look I sported during the 2nd year. Easily maintained because riding on motor with helmet didn't do much justification of having a sophisticated hairstyle, not to mention with the enormous size of my head (the one with brain inside), it's almost impossible to don some fabulous hairstyle, hence "botak" seems the right way to go. Hm... uni time... such a nice time with some sweet memory, spent in the ulu town of Tronoh, Perak for the first 2 years of undergraduate and then another year in Transkrian/Parit Buntar. Miss you guys and gals......

Another memorable phase in my life, the real freedom and independence from home as I spent my form 6 in Kota Kinabalu. Stayed in a hostel with some quirky and fun character, made up of nice fond memories.

Boring and too-self-righteous period of my life, spending the priced years of secondary school time being a school-prefect and other politically-correct activities. Missed out the rebellious years of my years though never regret spending majority of my time in Red Crescent activities with a group of really good friends.

A testament of my book-wormish style and lilfe in general. I have 4 library cards which enables me to borrow 8 books which I can finish in just a day or so. Definitely a regular visitor to the town library knowing every single librarian there. Pathetic huh?

The name tag of my proud Red Crescent uniform. Lots of my life experience came from the 5 years of involvement.

Warm Springs

Brilliantly helmed by Kenneth Branagh and Cynthia Nixon of Sex and the City fame. The story is about the struggle of Franklin D. Roosevelt (Branagh) before he went on to win the US presidential post for 3 terms and his wive, Eleanor (Nixon) who's instrumental in his life's story.

Great casting with Branagh and Nixon (a good departure from her role Miranda in SATC series) and Kathy Bates joining the plot at the later stage. HBO nailed it again this time.

The Flight That Fought Back - United 93

Watched the Discovery offering this morning. My heart sank. My feeling tanked. My mind numbed. It's amazing how the family members of the passengers on the United 93 flight braved themselves and came forward to tell their stories. Bravery.

Though some fraction of the society may dismissed this as some propaganda to provoke the emotions and stirred up the "oh-the-war-is-needed-to-end-terrorism" sentiments, I chose to ignore that and focus on the passengers of the flight instead. Like what one of the family member said during the show, they were fighting for their going back to their family, for their promises to their families etc, not really the will to prevent the flight to crash to Capitol Building as it was speculated.

My condolence to the family members of the passengers of United 93.

Now I am waiting anxiously for the release of United 93 movie which was already shown. Filtering out the 911 sentiments, I think we can take the movie as it is and dismissed any speculations on the propaganda thingy, which is inevitable. Hmm.... very oxymoronic right?

God Bless.

Fair?

Scene 1
KT told the media that some abuse of the fund allocated to some schools may happened. HH attacked him in response to that, with personal attack remark such as his lone ranger way in his own party and saying KT trying to become the race hero.

Ending
KT have to apologize and his immediate boss came up with an official statement saying KT made mistake as his remark to media is deemed to be disrespect to government servants.

Scene 2
JK said his own people were being sidelined in the development in state P because state P is not headed by people his own race. And he also said that other race, C in particular will take advantage if his own party is weak.

Ending
JK being asked to apologize but he refused to and seems like his bosses were at his back.

MY QUESTION
Is this fair? Who is trying to play with race card here? Who's being arrogant here?

I'm clueless and deeply disappointed. What a way to celebrate Malaysia day this coming September 16?

Second Chance

It's always a joy to watch a movie with no expectations and it turns out to be a good one. Second Chance is one. Cleverly playing with the theme of church and religion, the plot is not heavy and "hard-sell" kinda gospel movie but personally I think the plot and scenario it depicts is universal in nature, and it happens in other religion too. Again, RM5 is just too cheap for a good movie. Well, I'm not justifying my purchase this way but I don't think I can ever get a chance to watch this in any other way. Again, kudos to those pira%$ with taste!

Riding the Bus with My Sister (2005)

I watched this inspiring story on Hallmark Channel 10. I know Hallmark is known for some warm and inspiring TV shows. This TV movie is directed by Anjelica Huston, famous for her role in The Addam's Family Value movie. When I decided to blog about this nice movie and trying to search the ever-dependable IMDB site for a poster of it, only then I know there's no poster in IMDB site.

Wonderful casting; Andie MacDowell as the title character and Rosie O'Donnell as the "sister" is superb! The movie was actually based on a novel and I guess the author is MacDowell's character herself. If you enjoy Sean Penn's performance in "I Am Sam", then you'll enjoy this. O'Donnell is brilliant and her portrayal is to-the-point without overly dramatise the mentally-challenged character which is so easy to be overdone. Can't compare much to her other movies as I only remember her role in A League of Their Own. Not familiar with MacDowell's movies; the notable one is "Four Wedding and A Funeral".

Go watch the re-run in Hallmark. It's a refreshing watch in the middle of stashes of tonnes of reality-supernatural TV series.

McDull - Spring Field Flower Flower Schoolmate Reunion

Finally I managed to watch this movie after I found a way to re-tune the my DVD player. For those who is not a great fan of McDull, this latest offering with cartoon character and real actors may irritate them more. The story line is absurd and fly horse walk empty. However, I recommend this as the movie has many messages it wish to convey desperately. With so many stars as extras, it's a treat to those who grow up on a steady diet of HK entertainment scene. For me, I'm tickled by Sandra Ng's multiple characters as waitresses in different type of restaurants. Of course not forgetting Anthony Wong as the sailor and also the headmaster for the cartoon character. Enjoy!

My Sis Convo

Long delayed post. Taken during my sister's convocation. So, wish my sister all the best in her search of her new life.

Imaginary Heroes

Helmed by Sigourney Weaver, Imaginary Heroes is so-so to me. Saving grace is... yeah Sigourney Weaver though I think she can do better with a better script. Other casts are pretty unknown except for Jeff Bridges who played her ignorant husband and her daughter played by the effective Michelle Williams. But for RM5, it's quite a good deal.

Can't think of any memorable quote or thought-provoking scenes so I gotta go making up my own imaginary heroes.....

Oh... glad that my movie bug is back. Welcome back my friend!

Movie Quote

Taken from some movie I watched :

God gave us alcohol.
It's a social lubricant; makes us guys braver and gals looser.

Coincidence?

Watching Fried Green Tomatoes (FGT) and Friends with Money(FwM) back-to-back, there's a similar scene.

You waited for a carpark space and patiently waiting for a car who want to leave only to learn that another *&^%ing car slipped in and got it. This a perfect scene to portray an outburst of long-submerged anger and frustration, Frances McDormand in FwM and Kathy Bates in FGT.

Did you have the same experience before?

Fried Green Tomatoes

OK... before I watched this, just by looking at the cover, I guess it's another "Steel Magnolia"-ish kind of movie but it's not.

It's a movie with simple story adapted from a novel whose author also penned the screenplay for the movie. It's a story about a 83 years old lady in an old folks home and a middle-aged woman. The old woman played by Jessica Tandy tells a captivating story to Evelyn, the middle-aged woman played by Kathy Bates. It's the tried-and-tested formula whereby at the end you will find the story told was actually the story of the story-teller herself only revealed at the end of the movie. Nice.

Casting wise... another grouping of acting gems. Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy? No questions asked. Just recall Driving Miss Daisy and Misery anyone??? Then the two Mary's who played the younger character in the stories told, Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker were brilliant too. Chris O'Donnell had a short cameo.

Idgie : I feel better now.

Evelyn : Good.

Idgie : I feel better 'cause all these people'll live as long as you remember 'em...... You reminded me about what the most important thing in life is. Do you know what I think it is?

Evelyn : No, ma'am.

Idgie : friends........ best friends.

To all my friends, who you know who you are.... it's great to have you in my life!

Godfather I

The reasons?

1. Marlon Brando
2. Al Pacino
3. Italian Mafia
4. the unrecognizable Diane Keaton
5. the hauntingly beautiful theme song
6. the sexy Italian language

There's no doubt that Infernal Affairs is the recent best HK movies that ever produced but I can't help but to compare with this Coppola's classic. Now, I'm searching for Part II, purportedly the best sequel ever made.

OK... a detour here.... someone told me that the Infernal Affairs Hollywood remake by Scorcese is crappy. Hmm...... guess nothing beats Eric Tsang and Anthony Wong though they have Martin Sheen as one of them and I forgot the other one. And Leonardo as Tony Leung's character??? I'm very much reserved...........

Friends with Money

Haven't really like Jennifer Aniston's movies except Derailed with Clive Owen. Another one added in my list now is Friends with Money (FwM). I guess in a movie, the group of cast indeed pays important role in one's performance. In FwM, you have Frances McDormand, Catherine Keener and Joan Cusack, what a cast right?

Not the first time to watch McDormand though I am still searching for her Oscar winning effort, Fargo and she's brilliant. Her character is a bit like Felicity Huffman's character in Desperate Housewives. And Keener is a joy to watch and gotta keep my eyes open for her work from now on. And of course, Cusack too.

When I Am Down and Low.............

........... I will need a dose of laugh!
And my dose of laugh comes in form of stupid funny movie, i.e. the HK slapstick movie, Eagle Shooting Heroes. The cast is superb and it's almost impossible to gather such a credible and expensive cast, i.e. Leslie Cheung, both Tony Leung (Kar Fai and Chiu Wai), Maggie Cheung, Karina Lau, Kenny B, Joey Wong, Jackie Cheung, Brigette Lin and Veronica Yip.

The story or rather the characters mentioned were loosely based on the famous chinese martial art novel by 金庸, 射雕英雄传. It's damn funny; Maggie Cheung with her way of utterring her last 2 words in her dialogue after a 2-second pause, Tony Leung Chiu Wai with his swollen "Angelina-Jolie's lips", Karina Lau as the ham sap 周伯通, Jackie and Joey as the love-struck 表哥表妹, Tony Leung Kar Wai with her singing stint almost at the end of the movie, Veronica Yip with her 潮洲腔 and tonnes of funny scenes.

Enjoy......haha............................

I will introduce another comedy flick which was also serves as my comedic dose next time... 92 黑玫瑰对黑玫瑰.