Surrogates – 2.5/5

Howdy people!

Almost forgot about this movie (not a hint) which I watched on Monday with the platoon peeps after the formation anniversary celebrations at Vivocity!

Most of us were quite interested to watch the movie because we saw the trailer showing the entire street of people (realised they were surrogates in the end) fainting (realised they were going offline in the end).

And so the story started intorducing us to the world of our future, where we will control our replacements or surrogates at the comfort of our home to work for us. These people can be made into our preferred faces, height, skin colour, clothes et cetera. Plus, they will never fall sick/die!

The action picked up when a rich man’s son hooked up a girl from a club and was snogging the girl when a human with a deadly weapon murdered the rich man’s son and for the first time since the liberalisation of the use of surrogates, the death of the surrogate killed the controller as well.

Hence, this single lead-in resulted in the police’s involvement and begin to expose the complex relationships behind all the surrogates.

One tend to get confused during the movie because of the use of surrogates to replace the supposed actual actors. In essence, it is actually a case of a mastermind who has fallen from grace wanting revenge.

Some of you guys out there might like the action-packed bits of the movie as surrogates in the police can jump like human frogs et cetera. But the movie has much less action if you are comparing it with the likes of G.I Joe. Surrogates has much less CG, handsome dudes and pretty girls.

Nonetheless, Surrogates has something that G.I Joe doesn’t, and that is rationale that nothing can replace humans. Or so Bruce Willis felt it that way in the movie because the wife didn’t want to let him have sex with her .

Perhaps for now, there is really nothing that can replace humans, especially when humans are made not to live alone and to face that emotional stress alone. But we cannot deny the fact that we are still moving in that direction, getting robots/surrogates to replace humans to do things for us. This movie would be a good reminder to humans as to how far should robots replace humans in our daily life.

All in all, I believe surrogates should only replace 2.5 parts of human work out of 5!!

(500) Days of Summer – 3/5

That’s right! Went to watch this movie with Koon Hui, Esther and Jan yesterday because Mr Koon Hui loves this kind of ‘boy like girl’ movies. LOL

And so, as I have just mentioned it, this is quite a normal ‘boy like girl’ movie. Just that the difference betweent his movie and the other ‘boy like girl’ movies is that the girl didn’t fall in love with the boy in the end.

Anyway, just some things to note:

Firstly, the word ‘Summer’ in the title actually refers to the female lead’s last name, and not the season.

Secondly, the movie doesn’t move in chronological order because it is actually a recap of the 500 days Tom had from meeting Summer to finding his second love, Autumn. Personally, I find it a better of bringing the audience into the plot than to just show it in chronological order. But Esther thinks it is very confusing. LOL Let the tree beside the number guide you if you are confused.

Generally I think the movie is rather average. It has a fairly simple plot, livened by random humour and love between the ‘couple’. What could probably make this movie stand out from the rest in the genre is that Summer has a very unconventional mentality about love. And that sucks for Tom because he is an idealist regarding love.

For people who has studied literature at JC level, probably you will like this movie because you should be able to relate to some literature references occasionally during the movie. The way the director shot some scenes to symbolise some hidden meanings et cetera.

Therefore, if you only had 10 bucks in your wallet and you want to watch a movie, I will only recommend this if you love lovey-dovey movies or have already watched all other movies. Still, I wouldn’t say this movie is a waste of money if you are watching with your loved one.

All in all, I think I will give the movie 3 shots of vodka out of 5!

P.S: I realised this review is really short. I guess I have nothing much to write about when I started. LOL

P.S 2: The moral of the incident which happened yesterday at Fish & Co is do not fart and always try to control! HAHAHAHAHAHA! I will remember this for life!

Whiteout – 2.5/5

Hi again!

Just watched this movie 4 hours ago as suggested by my dad because he saw the trailer and felt that it is quite nice.

So anyway, here is the summary of the story. There is this group of people on the Antartica doing their research. And the people doing research is divided into camps of their country at different places. As the Antartica plunges into 6 months of darkness during their winter, they realised that there is a murderer on the loose in their camps/on Antartica. So they went on a ‘hunt’ to look for this asshole.

The summary sounds rather good and interesting yeah? However, the movie isn’t that well-done.

There are many parts of the movie where story can be developed further to make things more interesting. Just to name one, make one of the good guys more suspicious and be like the mad killer. So there will be more of the ‘OMG so the killer is that random guy?!?’. Plus I guessed who is going to be the antagonist in the movie right from the start. It was kinda of too obvious because no normal human will say a death is no big deal. And the first attempt to kill the policewoman can include more suspense.

Most importantly to myself, all good movies must an ending that draws the curtain with a click, that makes viewers satisfied. The last fight in the midst of the snow storm felt as if the fight was a random one between the killer and policewoman and the random UN agent, building up for the finale.

Alas! That was the ending and the killer knocked his head and died. What follows after that is clearly to reveal the intentions of ther mastermind all these while: to retrieve packets of 50 year old diamonds that was supposedly buried when the dumb Russians in the show had an internal strife, on the plane somemore!

All in all, good idea of a story but poor development. Links are kind of lame sometimes. Suspense not strong enough to twist your stomach.

‘It is a forgettable movie’ -Brother

‘Eh, why so smelly?’ -Mum

So with that, I shall give it 2.5 little fingers out of 5! Passed because of the develop-able story!

P.S. My mum asked why so smelly because the cinema(GV Tiong Bahru) really had a bad stench. She said it smells like someone stepped on shit outside and came into the cinema. She asked the question really out loud halfway during the movie.

Oh yes, the cinema was only 1/4 filled. Everyone chose their own better seats in the end. LOL

The Time Traveler’s Wife – 4/5

Howdy!

Just watched the fresh-from-oven’s Time Traveler’s Wife and have decided that I should blog it down NOW!

I was really a little skeptical about watching the movie even before I read the book itself, after having so much bad experience with Harry Potter series. But Kim Yein and Adrian decided that they shouldn’t force me to watch Final Destination 3D again so we ended up with TTW.

Generally, the movie is rather slow but not to the extend of boring because of the main actor’s weaving in and out of the current time frame. This weaving would later be the main driving factor for causing some questions and solving them later. And the insistence of the time traveller’s nudity after he travelled is not unfounded: should he go back to 20 years before, he would look like an oddball running out from bushes or alleys, though being nude doesn’t really help much.

What captured me is the patience and trust that the people in the movie have. As I base my opinions on the movie solely, I felt that not many people would have the patience to wait for a disappearing man to marry her(the TTW) in the future. The dad was also very patient with the TT and his daughter etc. Moreover, The TTW could bear not having the TT around suddenly, though they had a tiff in the movie.

I like the way the story is weaved together by the appearance of the TT. At least it is done unconfusingly. Although Adrian told me after the movie that there are missing scenes from the book, the story still managed to close with a click, not letting movie-goers feel that the ending is a sloppy one.

Anyway, I really wondered why it is called The Time Travelor’s Wife. The focus of the movie is mostly on the TT throughout. Only till the ending does the TTW really hold up the story.

All in all, it is a nice heartwarming story with some degree of humour and not confusing for most even when time frames change quite frequently.

According to Adrian, some of the missing scenes include:

1) The TTW’s dad asking TTW not to come out when he realised that he had shot TT while hunting.

2) TTW telling TT when he was going to die that she remembered her dad telling her not to come out after the dad shot TT

3) Young TT and old TT caught on bed by TT’s dad

So without having read the book, I will give it 4 gunshots out of 5!

Super Juniors – Sorry Sorry

LOL I was recommended by my platoon mate to the catchy dance moves and phrases in the Super Juniors’ Sorry Sorry MV, after all the irritating hype about Wonder Girls’ Nobody. Hope Sorry Sorry will not upgrade itself to being people’s pet peeve, though it is not as catchy as Nobody.

The largely black-and-white video might be a good strategy by the producers to keep the viewers from being distracted by the possibly different colour of the clothes.

Kinda sucked when I don’t really understand the song. Can only listen to the rhythm and watch the dance. Perhaps there was an economy of scale when they hired such a large group. Wouldn’t it make profit for individuals very diluted?

ANYWAY,

Below is the Taiwanese Sorry Sorry parody. Darn funny as you watch to the end. Enjoy!

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I loved it when the entire presentation of the parody is so well done, especially when there is a lead back into the focus of the presentation, that is the Sorry Sorry dance.

Plus the people performing are really a joy to watch. I don’t know if they are naturally talented at this, but I really like the effort and and and, I guess, the X factor. LOL.

And when I mentioned parody, most might probably think that they are going to mess up the entire dance and laugh it off like how some Singapore’s variety shows do it. I am sure you are surprised by how well Chen Han Dian learnt the dance and even Na Dou could do it quite well!

That is the reason why everyone loves Taiwanese variety shows!

Am I not right??

Dedicated To All Drivers Out There

Saw this video under the ‘Recommended Videos’ section in 8Days and went to watch it online.

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LOL I am joking. Although the 10 sec video may seem incredibly cool and unimaginable, it is totally imaginable what will happen if it crashes into the cars crossing the junction.

And the main video that I want everyone here to see is this: Reckless Driving Kills

Truly, it is an advertisement that is very well done in trying to promote safe driving. By showing the viewers censored videos, it can portray the tragic consequences of reckless driving yet is subtle enough for all to digest.

The heart-wrenching feeling I got after this video is the same when we watch some poor animal die in movies, like the loyal dog in I am Legend. Leaves a memory in you, especially when the focus of the video is on causing others to lose their loved ones in accidents.

I agree with the poster’s suggestion that driving centres should let everyone who obtained their driving license watch this video.

What do you feel about this video?

Cheese Fries’ MAYONNAISE

In response to my previous entry of gore in the movie review of Final Destination 3D, I feel that I must share a great video that I have found on Youtube with all my friends. Please watch it to the end after you have mustered enough courage to watch it.

*BEWARE! GORE and SHOCK in video*

Watch finish before you read my comments!
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Can you believe it??? They actually squeezed the dumb zit for like 4 minutes and the amount of semi-solid pus is still coming out!!!!!!!!!!! And I gathered that the guy must be drunk. How can someone (his friend!!) cut him up and he don’t feel any pain when they are squeezing the the dumb slit. Plus the girls are so fascinated yet disgusted by the amount of semi-solid pus there is in the zit.

Maybe westerns don’t have many small zits but one darn big zit. At the back of the neck somemore.

Imagine the ooze and blood is on your beloved cheese fries. Totally resembles the Mayonnaise and chilli. HAHA! Think twice before you eat your cheese fries in future. LOL.

Maybe stores selling cheese fries employ many people with large zits at the back of their store. So when you order 1 cheese fries, they fry the fries then cut the zits up and SQUEEZE the semi-solid pus hard to get all the DELICIOUS MAYONNAISE that you might possibly need.

Oh my, I feel like vomitting myself. HAHA!

Moral of the story? Eat healthily, no mayonnaise.

Final Destination 3D – 2.5/5

After much planning and date/time scheduling with my army mates, we finally caught the last of the series for Final Destination, in 3D somemore. LOL

On the serious note, if you are planning to watch it with some friends, please don’t scrimp. Watch the 3D as we know FDs are packed with human body explosions, piercings and many other sad ways to die. And to be able to watch those in 3D will certainly add value to the innovative ways people die in the show.

However, there is less surprise element in this show as we all know everyone is going to die as in FD2 and FD3. So we can’t really hope much for a twist at the end. Moreover, some deaths are even similar to the ones before (I bet the director couldn’t think of new ways for the supporting actors). And so, the storyline is the same: Actor X felt premonitions, tried to leave, people think he is crazy, only managed to grab his friends out, accident happened, survivors dies, albeit Actor X tries his ass off saving them.

In short, there is no surprise in the show and makes this sequel any better than its prequels. And that sucks. So the only thing that can salvage the movie is 3D.

On the psychotic lighter note, the movie is rated M18. Meaning? More gore. Gore GORE!!! OK sorry. Maybe the deaths are not as sick as dying in a suntanning machine or teacher being stabbed numerous times at home by some miraculous coincidence, there are certainly more views of the survivors’ organs, especially liver, obvious due to the darker red/maroon hue. Humour is present. And we can easily see that some of the actors need to brush up on the acting.

If I am to recommend, I would say it is a good movie for people who have not seen 3D movies before because even the commercials are in 3D.

But for people who are more hard-core, this is probably milder than the previous few FDs. Perhaps you will consider this less gore than killing a poor cockroach.

For people who lives on good storyline in movies, you will most probably feel that you wasted your money. It has a storyline like ‘Thank You For Smoking’. HAHA!

For guys who has a girlfriend who is afraid of gore, GO FOR IT. LOL

If you must have a rating from me, I will have to give it 2.5m of intestines out of 5m. JUST ENOUGH TO REACH YOUR ANUS!

P.S. We should really make cinemas like a simulator ride. Make those cushion chairs SHAKE!

MOE Plans to Toughen Oral Exam Marking Policy …

I mean if it is true, then we need to know the reason WHY!

The reason:

I love the inserts by the sides. The next one even added animations for her BOOM! LOL:

HAHAHA! Laughed darn hard when she tried so hard to think of what she is studying.

Personally, I agree that Singaporeans speak English very differently from people in other English-speaking countries. But never did I expect criticism from this particular group:

Different way of speaking English does not equate poor level of English standard. Otherwise, I would have been telling everybody that Americans and Britons speaks poor English too, just because I couldn’t make out what the hell they are telling to say sometimes. Accent, in essence, should not be factored in to judge someone’s master of the language. I believe those Taiwanese would be in our shoes if the topic was about speaking long sentences, as opposed to the words they mentioned.

She might receive less criticism if we minus off her accent:

No doubt, not everyone is a master of the language in Singapore. And I am not trying to sow discord between Singaporeans and Taiwanese, just that I am not happy when the so-called celebrities rant on in jubilee.

Thanks to Kim Yein and Adrian for their inspirations!

Not Procrastinating!

HMM!

My good friend Koon Hui just rang me up and tried to persuade me to go down for practice every Sunday from the next onwards.

And he was totally accusing me of procrastination and finding reasons not to go. LOL To correct him, I must say that it is not procrastination but unwillingness to break out of the current good time I have! It is the luxury of time I have before I book in that is very enticing.

Am I fully ready to go back to the days when I need to rush, spending pitiable amount of time with my parents? I dare not give an answer now.

Actually, I have no qualms about going back to a lifestyle that is so familiar to me, minus all the people that I used to know who were there. On a rather personal level, I don’t know if I can take it. Facing people who I don’t like weekly as though army isn’t enough, dismal level of skill left in me (which should be the reason why I should go back) and my injury of 3 years.

My initial plan regarding this hiatus from dance actually involves alot of things:

1) Pressing a restart button so that I can correct some of my techniques, though at the expense of other suck as flexibility

2) Find for myself other meanings in life, as my other friends often refer to me as no life, only always going for dance practices

3) Douse any irrational expectations others may have of me in any aspect of dance

In behaviourial economics, there has been a theory. It explains that people appears to believe that they have a higher chance of buying stocks that they believe will rise in value when they are desperately hoping for it, thus disillusioning themselves, inhibiting their ability to make the correct rational decision. LOL Come to think of this, I can’t remember where I read this part from.

I have snapped out of it. After nearly 2 years of looking at people dance, giving a personal assessments of dancers when I go for performance, I came to realise that each of us are so minute, even in the local dance arena. DI itself is also terribly minute. Hence in that case, do I really matter? Inside me, I knew long long time ago that I am limited myself. I have physical limitations, hard for me to progress very far in dance.

Passion can keep burning, people and events will always douse the fire, inconsiderate friends sometimes can deal the killing blow. I lived through that cycle a few times, so kudos to any seniors because they would most probably live through that many more times than me.

One rather apt example was when my ballet teacher Ms Choo Leh Leh explained to me the reason behind my dismal results for Sub-Elementary. She rang up now-deceased examiner Mrs Betty Tilley and wanted to understand our weakness. For mine, she felt that I did not improve the condition of my feet and how I pointed. So I deserved a Highly Commended.

So Should I suck it up and continue to live under such a system which places so much emphasis on something I don’t have by birth? It will be very discouraging because it would naturally mean that I can be very good in rhythm and flow of actions but I will never get the top grade.

I managed to convince myself never to take such an exam again. I wouldn’t have taken the second one if my teacher pointed it out after my very first exam. My sister actually been through it for so many years under the more-gruelling RAD syllabus.

Funny how things turn out, you like what you cannot do well naturally. Just like I have a liking towards Economics when I have no liking for Mathematics.

I don’t know this passion can last for how long more. I guess I shall take it as it is for now. To dance to the best of my ability and not to be at the pinnacle anymore. Unlike in NHDS, I believe I now no longer am at the position to guide my juniors. Got to be a 100% newbie from now on, picking up pieces that I have neglected since.

Then again, people hate to be mediocre. At least I really hate to be mediocre. The feeling sucks. What to do?