I am Legend

Looks like I'm watching this one...
No, I still dun heart Will Smith ,but I couldn't resist the post apocalyptic setting.. with "vampires" somemore..

worst, I'd just imagine I'm watching Blade 4 and Will Smith is Wesley Snipe after Michael-jackson kinda extreme makeover..

I like the orignal story's , this movie surely must have messed with it ..hope they don't touch the ending.. That's one scence I won't mind seeing Will Smith in
As for what it is.., dun wan to spoil it, let's just say it's not a happy one..

Not putting all your eggs in the same busket..

I'm back from china...
Going thru my stuff and realize I have 300RMB tucked away in another bag, I've totally forgotten about the extra dough, even though there are times in china I could have used the money....

Oh well, I plan to visit china again , the money will be of use again soon...

Christmas comes early..

the way my wallet is hemorrhaging money ..

Expenses for going abroad next month aside, Sintex 2007 also coming up. ..

Stadust

A pretty standard come-of-age story and romantic comedy at it's core , the excellent execution of this one is in sharp contrast with that POS in the previous post..

Though the core of the plot is fairly standard, the movie manage to spring a number of nice little suprises and twists on us that didn't seem contrive..

That POS however is a formulic as the idea of the story , I telegraph most of the plot and the movie really would be better fo r it without the big stupid "twist"(not really that much of a suprise really) near the end..


Stardust brings into focus what that POS sorely lacks.. a sense of adventure and wonder..

Stardust showm us very nice vista and imagery and conveys a nice sense of place and adventure , characters went to the beach, forest , mountains , various vilages/cities etc and a few suprise locale ..heh heh

It's joke every time someone in that POS reminds us the the fate of the world rest in the seeker's hand. Hah hah! Hard to belive that's teh case when most of the action seems to takes place within the seekers' home small village/town . The time travel part has so much potential but is so meh except the viking raid (and even that is abit silly )


Both stories has fairy-tale,Big family reunion type endings which is something the orignal Novels dun have..
I like Stardust's, so heartwarming and unlike so many endings.. they didn't forget about anyone!, everyone is present at the end...

That POS's ending would also be quite nice ,but is not b'cos it's so illogical and stupid..

The Seeker..

Another POS..

Don't be fooled by the posters and trailers...

This movie didn't registered on my rader until it opens a few weeks ago.. the poster looks nice and the special effect-laden trailers look exciting enuff..,, it had you thinking of something like harry potter or at the very worst Chronicles of Narnia.

Normally would have gone straight to seen it , but I remember reading some poor reviews on a forum a few months back.. sure enuff , it got ultra low ratings a rotten tomatoes..and even the usually generous newspapers review here give it a poor rating.

For a fantasy movie, it's not very fantastic or magical ,for most of the first part of the movie, you though you're watching a normal film

I dun really mind the overused "farmboy turns World Savior" plot.. but this is the WORST execution of said plot I've EVAR seen ...
Tossing aside teh cliche plot it's simply a bad movie, terribly paced and sleep inducing.. something hard for fantasy film to do..

Don't ask me why I watch it anyway....,i guess it's my fault for not trying Hard enuff to disuade pple then again I wouldn't want to dismiss the film unless I've seen it myself...

The Moral of the story is ..
not everthing has to been seen to believe..
Dun follow the majority blindly..
some times you have defy the majority for what you feel is right..

Piece of crap...

My Creative Zen Wav just died.... was listening to it on the Bus , switch off when I reach home, try to switch it on a while later.. cannot

the on/off oredi abit wonky before.. have to press a few times to hit the sweet spot before it will switch on... now... completely cannot.

Luckily all my music/av files got back-up on the PC if not cry...

shiz now in the market for a new one barely 6 months after i bought this poS

Mr Woodcock

Saw this ,no thanks to mediacrap's abysmal programing over the holiday weekends..

I would have go for the retarded and cheap laughs of Balls of fury ,but since I'm also having my dinner later, I don't want to spoil my appetite.

Don't be misled by the title , there's really nothing too naughty...
I was not expecting over the top silliness and toilet humor..
Sure enough,nothing in the movie is really OMFGROLFMAO or too gross

Billy Bob Thorton as Mr Woodcock provided many laughts,even though he puts up a stern face all the time.
There's a classic Joke involving a pothole at the very end that's more funny than it should be.. some how this and alot of other lines in the movie is funnier comming out of Woodcock's mouth.

His unsmiling face in the trailer is what made me want see the movie in the first place...I though it would be quite funny opposite the kind of characters Seann Willam Scott usually plays,but his character is rational and calm most of the time ,only loosing it abit in the end.

Don't believe what the newspapers says

I planned to do most of the stuff on wednesday
but In the end.. I stayed home all day on Wednesday, catching up on some reading, but mostly playing Civ 4 with beyond teh sword expansion .

And so everything gets to be done on Thursday..
Went to the bank first in the morning.. even so still got a queue and I have to spend about half an hour there. Atleast the swimming pool was empty as I expected , had it almost all to myself but didn't get much of tan, it was cloudy and the sun only comes out once in a while..
Didn't take lunch as I had a late breakfast and a movie to catch at 1.50am at Orchard cineplex.. I checked the schedules online the day before.

I grab a copy of "today" newspaper at Somerset MRT. Eh? the Movie listing there for the show (Day watch) I want to watch is at 2.15om. Oh? I think i must be last minute changes from yesterday....

I had about an hour to spend.. so I went someplace to sit down .
When I went to the cinema at about 1.55pm .. shitz... the show really is at 1.50pm!!
The next show is at 4.20pm. since this show is exclusive here, going to other cinemas is out of the question .. oh well I just have to wait lor..

So... I went to Sim Lim Square..for a quick look and on the way look for Legend of Zelda : Phantom Hourglass for the DS
Earlier in the day , before i went to the bank I went to look for Phantom Hourglass at the comic connections I saw the day before .. It's gone!!
oh shiz that's the thing with DS games.. if you don't buy the game when it just come out.. it's hard to find it later. I'm pretty sure I can still get it but it's just something I mostly play during transit to work , I'm not going too out of my way over it..

Well.. there was nothing much to see in Sim Lim, so I went to Bugis junction basement food court to grab a bite. Found out the food court moved to 3rd floor liao... Passed by Kinokunya ..saw "The Hedge Knight" Graphic Novel in the display window.
OMG!!I though I'll never get to see it!! It's a spin off comic book from one of my fav book series 'Song of ice and Fire"!!!
Well, my father is not rich, so I'm not into the ang moh comic scene and won't know where to get it even if I was willing to pay ..
I check the price only $20 plus .. not so bad.. for six issues worth of content.
Also saw latest issue of "games for windows" magazine.. so thin and selling at half the price it used to. Sad... I bought the magazine regularly for 10 years back when it was still known as Computer gaming world , when the issues are thrice as thick and got more words than pictures,but I've stopped buying a few months ago...

Anyway.. yeah.. the new foodcourt at Bugis Junction.. WAH!!! so Nice .. the chairs... wooden ones...with cusioned seats! The Cool lighting and color scheme looks much classier than the old basement one.. which looks like a school tuckshop..
It has quite a bit more sitting space than the old one . The ambience is like a restaurant when I was there so quiet and cool, but I'm pretty sure it's gonna be very squeezed and noisy when it's peak hours..

After that went back to Orchard for the movie .. just nice.

Mid-Week Break

I took leave on Wed & Thur. Needed the break and rest.
I'm still not done with Neil Humphrey's Final notes from an island,after 2 weeks!
In contrast , I finished his first book in two days.
Yeah the third book is abit thicker than the first but the thing is I kept dozing off reading the third one.
Nothing to do with the book really, I'm just too tired to finish it..

I also needed to go to the bank. I hate going to the bank and am certainly not going to waste my time on a weekend ,standing in line in one!
And going for a swim,should be quiet on a weekday, also catch a movie or two..

Tree worshiping craze..

Seems like everyday got news about divine trees, the latest being the pig tree in east coast., from the picture.. it's abit of a stretch but the news come out today someone oredi go there and bai bai liao..
This morning while jogging saw someone holding joss stick walking toward the trees , don't think he's gonna light a barbecue with that ... wonder what kind of holy tree is it this time?

Give whatever divine beings is suppose to be in the trees a break.. pple!
Why do you think they go hide inside a tree ?why be so subtle ?
If they really want attention ,don't you think they're capable of something more impressive and obvious?
like a pink color tree with glowing leaves? .. a big Black Obelisk?

probably wanted some peace and quite , but some kay pohs have to go and out them to the devotees..

破茧而出

At home my sister and mother talks about it , on the way to work heard pple talking about it , at work my colleague talks about it..
Oh well.. since everyone is talking about it I might as well weight-in ..

I've watched the premier episode, there are many little things to pick on , some wooden acting aside, the star of the show is the elaborate and over- the top fights. .hah hah

You know.. the part where Ouyang chases the watshisbname assasin to a alley , a blatant display of showfu complete with exploding floursecent/neon lights,conveniently placed there for them to use..
The best part is later when the reinforcement comes , they shot a barrel , which promptly explodes , hah hah! the classic exploding barrel .. action choreographer must have played too many first-person shooters..
Stop wondering what's a barrel fill with explosive/flamable material doing in the middle of no where.. remember.. it's just a show.. think of it as fireworks..

However this uncomfortable blend of drama with gamey characters and action is actually entertaining! Yeah I said it... that's my most important criteria for a show...
Which is why I dun really want to talk about it in the first place , not want say anything good about mediacrap..

I never really chase the series as I have seen better in shows like Hot Fuzz and Die Hard...
Only caught it again during the Jin Yong Jian arc .. good to see it maintained the standard.
But I have to say Adam Chen's dropped the ball on his potentially breakout role...
I think he's character is suppose gives off a pathetic and creepy vibe.. he dun come across as any all i got is that he's an idiot or a "special" person.... He's just not "ugly" enuff.. maybe it's his model background., still subconsciously trying to look good for the camera..
As oppose to 苏智诚 (Jin Yong Jian) ... wow! wat a talented actor ,though I think he overdid abit on the schizo scene..

Super strength?

When taking the transport after work tonite, the driver of the transport tell me to be more gentle when closing the van's sliding door , it seems I damaged his door the last time I closed it.

I once literally pulled the sliding door off a Van, no kidding .But that's more the poor condition of the Van than super strength on my part. Not surprising , considering the poor condition in general of the vehicles, especially vans at my last work place. I've had been on vans with brakes that dun work all the time, clutch that got stuck in one gear and tyres as smooth as my face.
Getting calls for help to push a van/car that stalled is not an uncommon occurence..

I've also broken a mop in two.. twice! Mind you not wielding as a weapon or practicing side-suto on it, but both times using it as intended.. i.e mopping the floor.... Though I must admit the way I hold the mop may have something to do with it and I was an angry man when I mop or do any housework..

Also got quite a number of times giving pple a gentle ,friendly slap on the back and they scream like pig kena slaughtered..

中秋节快乐！

Almost forgot , b'cos I got to work late tonite! Happy Authumn Festival!

Underdog : the movie

Cos my nephew wanted to , so I saw it wth him last saturday. Special effect was good, the story was predictable and kiddy as expected. The narcissists hench man provided a few chuckles, other than that , it's all stuff that only kids will find funny.
It was a pleasant suprise to see James Belushi in it .. hah this guy 10 years like 1 day.. look exactly the same now as he was 10 years ago, playing the same type of roles.

嫦娥奔月

Got a bit of time during lunch.. Click picture to see slightly bigger version

Alex Man

Glad I'm not the only one who think Alex Man is full of shz .., even Douglas 'O' was not so bad..
Makes you wonder what Mediacrap sees in him, casting him in Golden pillow years ago and now as a guest judge on Star Search 2007.
Sure he used to be Huge Star (many years ago) and got serious acting chops , but he stopped being serious long long ago.
His acting has "走火入魔" long ago ..

I only recently saw one of his old movie "如来神掌" (1982) , so dashing! His face didn't aged much but if they shoot a Live action Journey to the West now he can play zhu Ba jie without any special make up.. Must be too much tonics..

He's still in show business , only b'cos pple dig his the big-headed ,over bearing persona which he now carries in to every role he played is funny , sad that is not acting but just Self-parody..

I think Mediacrap knows , and good or bad they get the publicity , they got a monopoly they can spin it anyway they like... ..

宝贝父女兵

funny show. i think,. but probably not in the way they intended
I like the fact that most of the scenes are shot outside in real places , not in a set.

I loved Joana Peh's exaggerated "sell toothpaste' smile , likewise Zheng Ge Ping's forever eye-poping stare ., trying to act garang..
He makes a nice pair with Michelle chong who got naturally big eyes..

I duuno where they got 'em, the casting is spot on with "Akirah" and the Ah lian girl.. , esp the latter, it's worth it to tune in just to hear her talk ...., so cute the way she talk.
Wong Qing Hai's character also , though alot of mediacrap artists go teh beng face.. the effect is discounted if the character is not as buff as Wong as is.. 四肢发达，头脑简单 .. never gets old..
His character works also b'cos he's not an idiot but actually quite cunning..

Also nice to see some middle-age actors get some screen time..., I'm sick of seeing the same few faces over and over again..
In contrast, most of the principal actors seem to overact abit, not sure if its' intentional.. leh.. but it makes the show fun to watch..

another lame comic

Comic

Taking a stab at drawing multi-panel one, the joke is borrowed..

By The Power Of Greyskull! Hot Fuzz DVD!!

Bought it last week, was waiting for it affter seeing the movie in theatres earlier this year.

A good cop movie ,action and story wise by itself, its' also very very funny , paying homage and making fun of cop-buddy movies.
The first part of the movie can be abit slow , but it's worth it for it builts up to the last part of the movie.

Not as funny if you're not familiar with the buddy cop genre or dun appreciate British humor.
One of my favourite movie this year , it's refreshing as it dun resorts to gratuitous use of the "F" word and toilet humor /dirty jokes for the laughs. The setting of the movie might suggest otherwise, but heh , trust me, there's action like those big-budgets hollywood ones..

Prata for my mee

Now that I've ditched the Bak guk mee, think will try out prata for now..

Though the coffeeshop where the Bak guk mee is has a popular prata stall and there's also a 24 hour prata shop nearby, thier prata is unremarkable , though the curry is good, it's not good enuff to make me want to have it regularly.

The first time I've had roti prata was in primary 4 or perhaps 5. A treat from classmate at the coffee shop near my school. The shop is still there, perhaps the owner has changed , or I just dun know better then, it doesn't taste as good as I remember leh.

Dun realize at that time it's the "印度煎饼" I've read about in my chinese text book, older pple might remember the story : One morning, before going to work, father bring the son to market to tapao roti prata to bring to school.. or something like dat.

Later when I make the connection, thinking of the part of the story when they describe how the stall owner make his hot, freshly made prata always makes me crave for it.

Recently , get to try at a 24 hours shop not quite near my house, but just a relatively short trip by bus, their prata is freshly made! and crispy just the way I like it..
I think I found my prata, though probably no going every Sunday. Thanks anyway, Lord Yoda, Yoda man!

Farewell Mine Bak Guk Mee

atleast for weekends...

Due to habit and perhaps my advanced years, I slept very little and wake up early everyday.
Ever since the switch to 5 day work week , I've take to having my breakfast out, buying the newspaper on the way, usually it's Kueh chap on Saturday and then bak guk (pork ribs)mee on sunday.

But the bak guk mee has since raise their price to $3.50 from $3.00 , I guess taking advantage of the GST increase..
I dun really mind the price , i oredi get an extra big bowl of soup for being a regular customer.But what I find unacceptable is that I seem to get abit less pork ribs . That will not do, I orderd teh Ba gu mee for the pork ribs in the first place, they can take away the mee and the towgey, but they should never take away my Pork Ribs!!

Retro Gaming I : Bandit Kings of Ancient China

Over the weekend, find myself playing the game again.
Must be my most played game evar, considering I first played it in 1990,
then on & off till now. Waliao !17 Years!!

It helps that I like the story the game is based on, Water Margin. Also the fact that it's sorta like a RPG and unlike most strategy games tend to be.., this one dun get too tedious or easy in the late game stage.


Another thing I also like about this game is the translation of the character's nick . Overall they capture the meaning and context and didn't just do a literal translation.
for eg. Song jiang's "及时雨“ is translated as "The Welcomed Rain" so elegant and accurate.
If it's up to the genius who translate "Newton" In Newton circus to "牛顿“, we'll end up with "The punctual Rain" or 'just in time Rain".

This game actually has a remake. It's basically the same game , but runs in windows ,with updated graphics and sound.
But I find myself getting back to the original one, not minding lack of music and real sound effect. Actually prefer the graphics of the orignal, Not only do the Potrait has more "life" it also has crude and limited animation while the remake only has nicely painted but STATIC pictures.
Not bad , for a game from f%^%$%ng 1989!!

There's also a real sequel (not remake) , but I dislike the graphic style of the that one.
Though base building and RPG elements are emphasized, i hate that they took away most of the strategic parts.Also like all early KOEI windows game. the interface is clunky.

I guess the lack of good sequels somehwhat contribute to me playing this one game more..

保家卫国

New Channel 8 serial, didn't turn off since the focus seems to be on the love story rather then **** the Army's *****

hah hah.. I have to hand it to Mediacrap.. The opening scenes when commandos jumping off helicopter they can also shoot until so lame and boring..
Perhaps it's realistic and follow safety rules , but it's a TV show!.. at least action abit like those army /navy /air force ads. Worst offender is the shot where those comandos line up to to jump out , wearing their blue fat suits and waddling like penguins. All along we got lots of close-up of the sienz sienz and constipated face of Tay bing hui...

Then the scene where Chen Feng Ling as a Female officer teaching artillery.., I though they'd want to show a female officer also as capable as male? Fail!! ..Waliao pple dare dare sleep in her class, and her response/warning won't even scare little children. She got alot to learn putting on a stern face and projecting a piercing stare...

During the Field trainning, instead of showcasing her professional knowledge, they let her drone on and on about safety rules .....
Oui ! I know it's realistic for intsructors to go on and on about safety.. but this is a TV show , not training program for soldiers..

The show does has it merits.. ,
For one, I like the pairing of Rui En and Piere Png.., both talking funny Mandrain, so cute!
Fun to see Huang Wen Yong playing the stereotypical Career Soldier-father.. which has become a parody in itself..
Fart Jokes! okay not a joke ,but the sound effect! Can't believe I heard it in a Serious Drama, at first I though I heard wrongly...
Cheng Feng Ling's impression of a "土拨鼠" is very very good

Fan Service in Harry Potter 7

Finished the book, thought he middle camping part is abit plodding , all the lose-ends were tied up nicely without too much Deus Ex Machina , many of the mysteries matched popular theories and my own. And we get a big battle in the end , which I can't wait to see on Film.

The "19 years later" epilogue reads like a fanfic .. so cute and tidy, typical of those goose bump inducing happy endings in Chinese new year movies .
Guess it's fan service for those unable to grasp the concept of "leave it to the imagination of the readers" and need a definite happy ending written in black and white for them.

Rowling also didn't forget fans of the movie , espcially those of Daniel Radcliffe, who can look forward to seeing him stark naked in the 7th Movie.

55 word Fiction

He stood before the machine, looking upon the array of buttons and the screen.

Sweat roll down his neck.., he take a deep breath and punch in what he though was the correct code...
Shit! wrong again!

Behind him, someone hollered , " Oui Bloody Mangkok! wan me to teach you how to use the ATM"?

Deathly Hallows

So.. it's less than a week to the release.
I preordered the last book , Half-blood Prince and actually wake up early to buy book from Popular Book store at 7.00am.
As expected , there's already a queue, thankfully it's more like the one lining up to vote rather than one to buy4D .Finished the book that same weekend..
Poof! $50 gone just like that..
Though I enjoy the book , I felt I paid mostly for Hype .

Somehow , this year I forgot to preorder , also not too keen to rush out and buy on first day..

But after watching the OOTP movie , I just have to find out as soon as possible how it all ends..
And yesterday.. I kena spoilers for Reaper's Gale on the net ... Sienz ..when I still have only less than 300 pages to go...

So.. come Saturday you'll probably see me at Popular bookstore early in the mornng..

OOTP

Yep, Movie I 've watched in the previous post is Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (OOTP)..

The little drama before the movie aside, it stands quite well by itself as a movie. The plots moves alot quickly, the director cut out all the superflous stuff and manage to convey most of the plot points thru relatively brief scenes..

Having read the book naturally I felt things are abit skimped over.

Most of the cast memebers are alittle more than living background or have only single-line dialogue ..

Tonks, I think dun get to say a single line in the movie,though she did show her face in all the scenes she's suppose to be in.We also dun get to see alot of Snape, I was looking forward to some scenes of him with Sirius ,too bad there was none..

Finally, we get to see wizards duke it out with their wands , certainly more colorful and pretty than the one in LOTOR though it look abit goofy with some of the wand wielding stance..

The battle between 2 of the supposely most powerful wizards in the end is not as impressive as I imagine leh..., I think it's teh expression of the wizards more than the effects, not as intense like the wizard fight in LOTR...,

Of the new characters I like Luna, Cho is rather forgettable, but she did manage to make Harry seem not so short . Yah Poor Daniel... maybe he's too busy to drink his milk.. almost all the other young cast members have grown taller and broader than him. Hermonie especially, who seems like a little sister in the previous movie , now looks like big sister next to harry(though that is in fact, the case in the book).

Even Haggrit has grown bigger.. welll not actually.. but this movie employ camera angle/tricks to make him seem bigger.I still dun like the new guy who play Dumbledore, he seem shifty to me looked more like a jester than magician in his robe..Also, Voldemont's face could use some texture and color , so smooth and fair.....reminds me of a baby's backside..

Some may find the movie not as "Cute" as the previous one, but it's certainly is no less entertaining.., and I do like the pacing..

Eng Wah ah Eng Wah...

if not near my house...

yesterday go there see movie.. projectionist play the wrong movie...
Just before the movie, they played a trailer for the movie i was suppose to be watching...
oredi felt something wrong..
Then .. the 20th century Fox intro came up.. oh oh... it's suppose to be a Warner Brother film..

Bewildered faces allround when the first scene is a shot of some high-tech computers..
then the Die Hard 4.0 title came up...
Hah hah alot of patrons bolt up from their seats thinking they're in the wrong theatre ..

Played wrong movie is the first time I ecounter , of course it has to be at Eng wah, Luckily they load the correct movie quickly ....

Hmmm.. wat's with the place huh? Sink too much money into crazy horse that they cannot afford to train staff and maintained equipment?

It's not the first time this kind of thing happen, I remembered one time the picture and the sound don't sync.. and it's also there the first and only time I experience..

-air-con spoilt, no aircon for a while and somemore dripping water..
- sound system spoilt.. no sound
- someone kena beaten up for using handphone..
wait .. that last one is a good thing , too bad I was not there , read about it in the news..

新诗

昨晚睡大觉
起来头发翘
胡渣没刮掉
镜中人仍俏

Translation :

Last nite sleep soundly

wake up hair standing

stubble didn't shave

face in the mirror still charming

Live Earth

I'm already very annoyed with the screening of Shanghai Live earth instead of the usual "周日八点档".

The channel 5 one keep interupting for sponsor's ads and those 'SOS" shorts inbetween perfomance by artistes who dun seem very enthusiastic..
They sianz I watch even more sianz..

B'cos of all this rubbish on TV forgot all about "栋笃神探".. SOS.. my ka-chng.. !
How about we skip the concerts, and appeal to everyone to stay home and sleep..
no need to use less , eat less ,do less etc etc as suggested by the shorts, you're not doing any of those if you're asleep..

Oh well, atleast I got to make signifcant progress on Reaper's gale ....

They made me do it..

Thank you for the support, those who encouraged me to write again.

This doesn't mean I will correspond less with you(all) in future, infact i'm gonna doubled the efforts since you(all) obviously like my stuff so much.

Hooray !