I'm in trouble.
I've been engaging in retail therapy intensively for the last two weeks. Sigh.
Feeling very frivolous. Sigh.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
X Men 3
This is of course the finale to the X Men trilogy.
The good thing is, this really ends the trilogy with a big bang. There are plenty of effects (the ending scene is really quite gorgeous) and lotsa fighting & mutant powers. There are also some heart-wrenching moments, I won't say more so as not to spoil the movie for the rest of you.
The bad thing is, the script is kinda weak. Some of the lines are so lame. And many of the characters seem to be there just to show off a power of two. You can feel the difference between Bryan Singer's direction (in X Men 1 & 2) and Brett Ratner's. The former is more character based while the latter is basically all bangs and whistles. Some of the scenes have the potential to be real tear jerkers, but somehow, the director just doesn't develop the characters enough for you to really feel for them.
On the whole, this is still a very watchable and enjoyable movie. Anyway, if you've watched X Men 1 & 2, there's no way you're gonna miss X Men 3.
And just so you know, there is a scene right at the end of the credits, so do stay till the very end.
The good thing is, this really ends the trilogy with a big bang. There are plenty of effects (the ending scene is really quite gorgeous) and lotsa fighting & mutant powers. There are also some heart-wrenching moments, I won't say more so as not to spoil the movie for the rest of you.
The bad thing is, the script is kinda weak. Some of the lines are so lame. And many of the characters seem to be there just to show off a power of two. You can feel the difference between Bryan Singer's direction (in X Men 1 & 2) and Brett Ratner's. The former is more character based while the latter is basically all bangs and whistles. Some of the scenes have the potential to be real tear jerkers, but somehow, the director just doesn't develop the characters enough for you to really feel for them.
On the whole, this is still a very watchable and enjoyable movie. Anyway, if you've watched X Men 1 & 2, there's no way you're gonna miss X Men 3.
And just so you know, there is a scene right at the end of the credits, so do stay till the very end.
Over the Hedge Review
I watched Over the Hedge last weekend. Together with Shrek 1 & 2, this new animation shows that Dreamworks can easily complete with Disney/Pixar.
The characters are totally lovable. The script is intelligent so that older teens/adults can also enjoy the humour. And the animation is also top notch.
The hedgehogs, possums, turtle, squirrel and raccoon really make an excellent group. I'm so tempted to go out and buy the toys!
And the ending, oh the ending... HILARIOUS!
I can't say this enough. If you want some good laughs, don't miss this movie!
The characters are totally lovable. The script is intelligent so that older teens/adults can also enjoy the humour. And the animation is also top notch.
The hedgehogs, possums, turtle, squirrel and raccoon really make an excellent group. I'm so tempted to go out and buy the toys!
And the ending, oh the ending... HILARIOUS!
I can't say this enough. If you want some good laughs, don't miss this movie!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Local comedies are so dead. I decided to give the new ABC DJ a try, pilot episode, and within the first 5 minutes, I have already decided to change channels.
It's really really pathetic.
Their characterization of an American-Born Chinese (hence ABC) is so far out and totally stereotypical. I think everyone should be offended to see such an act.
Their local family is also totally sad. I mean, how do you have a teenage boy who is apparently, totally nerdy, does chinese poetry and happens to fry good bee hoon??!!! I mean, how on earth do they come up with such a character!
And of course, the boy LOVES the ABC and all his antics.
It's so sad.
It's really really pathetic.
Their characterization of an American-Born Chinese (hence ABC) is so far out and totally stereotypical. I think everyone should be offended to see such an act.
Their local family is also totally sad. I mean, how do you have a teenage boy who is apparently, totally nerdy, does chinese poetry and happens to fry good bee hoon??!!! I mean, how on earth do they come up with such a character!
And of course, the boy LOVES the ABC and all his antics.
It's so sad.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
okok... i admit, I've not been blogging regularly. It's not as if I had nothing to blog about. I've been pretty busy with Open House & Malaysian Montage preparations. And before that, when I wasn't so busy, I must admit that i've kept myself busy with WoW.
Well, I've taken a few pics over the last 2-3 weeks which I thought were kinda funny. So I'll share them in the next few posts.
Well, I've taken a few pics over the last 2-3 weeks which I thought were kinda funny. So I'll share them in the next few posts.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
A very nice day
Today was a very nice day. Quite a few things just went my way and it made it very very very pleasant.
1. A kind soul
Woke up and played some WoW. Things were going as normal.. trying hard to find people to help me with some quests and running around gather stuff. Suddenly, someone sent a message that he wanted to give away 100 gold! Now, for the non-wow players, 100 gold to a lvl 39 character is really quite a windfall. Furthermore, I was looking to buy a horse when i reached lvl 40 but that would cost about 90 gold and i had only about 40 gold. At first, I (together with the people in the same area) didn't believe it. We thought it could be a trap, it could be someone playing us for a fool or someone out to waste our time. But I thought, what the heck.. I was nearby and the worst that could happen was I got killed and wasted some time. Guess what. The fella was legit. He was apparently giving up on playing WoW and wanted to get rid of whatever he had left. He asked the few of us who were there to roll for it (kinda like throwing a dice in WoW) and out of a possible 100... I rolled 99!! The fella gave me stuff worth 100 gold and that was it! I was 100 gold richer! That really made my day.
2. Quick Delivery
After that, I decided to go get my miniSD card replaced. I had bought a 1Gb card on Saturday which didn't work so I had to go down to get a replacement. Yesterday, over the phone, the tech guy told me they had no replacement stock and asked me to leave my card with them. The stock would come a week or two later. I was quite bummed when I heard that. Anyway, I decided to go hand in my card and wait for the replacement. When my turn came, guess what.. .they replaced my card on the spot! And the card works! :-) That was happy incident number 2.
3. Great concert
I then went to Suntec coz I wanted to catch the preview of Poseidon (will talk abt the movie at another post). After the movie, I walked around a little and was going to go Carrefour before going home. Then I noticed that The Rock auditorium had a banner for a Steven Curtis Chapman concert, for that night! SCC is one of my favourite singers. I've loved his songs for many years (since JC time?) and I've always hoped to go for his concert, but he never came to Singapore. Now there was a concert! But... I didn't have any tickets. And boy was I underdressed - my bochap T-shirt and shorts... After wandering a little, I gave up and went Carrefour. Then I decided, no harm asking if I could be admitted. Worse come to worse, the fella would laugh at me and say no. So, I went back up and guess what, they had started a queue for people without tickets! And in less than 5mins, I was in the concert... .and BOY WHAT A GREAT CONCERT IT WAS!
So all in. A very very very nice day. :-D
1. A kind soul
Woke up and played some WoW. Things were going as normal.. trying hard to find people to help me with some quests and running around gather stuff. Suddenly, someone sent a message that he wanted to give away 100 gold! Now, for the non-wow players, 100 gold to a lvl 39 character is really quite a windfall. Furthermore, I was looking to buy a horse when i reached lvl 40 but that would cost about 90 gold and i had only about 40 gold. At first, I (together with the people in the same area) didn't believe it. We thought it could be a trap, it could be someone playing us for a fool or someone out to waste our time. But I thought, what the heck.. I was nearby and the worst that could happen was I got killed and wasted some time. Guess what. The fella was legit. He was apparently giving up on playing WoW and wanted to get rid of whatever he had left. He asked the few of us who were there to roll for it (kinda like throwing a dice in WoW) and out of a possible 100... I rolled 99!! The fella gave me stuff worth 100 gold and that was it! I was 100 gold richer! That really made my day.
2. Quick Delivery
After that, I decided to go get my miniSD card replaced. I had bought a 1Gb card on Saturday which didn't work so I had to go down to get a replacement. Yesterday, over the phone, the tech guy told me they had no replacement stock and asked me to leave my card with them. The stock would come a week or two later. I was quite bummed when I heard that. Anyway, I decided to go hand in my card and wait for the replacement. When my turn came, guess what.. .they replaced my card on the spot! And the card works! :-) That was happy incident number 2.
3. Great concert
I then went to Suntec coz I wanted to catch the preview of Poseidon (will talk abt the movie at another post). After the movie, I walked around a little and was going to go Carrefour before going home. Then I noticed that The Rock auditorium had a banner for a Steven Curtis Chapman concert, for that night! SCC is one of my favourite singers. I've loved his songs for many years (since JC time?) and I've always hoped to go for his concert, but he never came to Singapore. Now there was a concert! But... I didn't have any tickets. And boy was I underdressed - my bochap T-shirt and shorts... After wandering a little, I gave up and went Carrefour. Then I decided, no harm asking if I could be admitted. Worse come to worse, the fella would laugh at me and say no. So, I went back up and guess what, they had started a queue for people without tickets! And in less than 5mins, I was in the concert... .and BOY WHAT A GREAT CONCERT IT WAS!
So all in. A very very very nice day. :-D
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Totally Cool!
I just had my first experience in watching a webcast from US... shiok!
Basically, it's the presentation by Nintendo just before E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo in the US. And gamespot.com has a live webcast. I always thought webcasts were laggy, had poor resolution and were basically unwatchable. Wow, this one changed my mind. There was zero lag. The whole webcast was smooth without and skips or waiting times. The image, though not very big was clear and watchable.
I've always wanted to go E3. I think watching a live webcast from E3 is certainly a decent substitute.
As for the webcast itself, it was interesting. We had Nintendo showing the new Wii console and they were demonstrating how the new controller works. Plenty of demos and trailers. The new Zelda game looks awesome. So does the new Mario game for the Wii and Nintendo DS. And it's all gonna be released around Oct/Nov... very close to PS3 launch date too!
Talking about PS3, the launch price is fixed... alittle on the expensive side, US499 for the 20Gb system and US599 for the 60Gb version. But hey, it does come with a Blu-ray drive and the system is looking good. I was a little disappointed at the BIG revelation fo the new controller, which is basically the same design as the old controller, except that it had motion sensing built in and vibration taken out.
The coming months is gonna be interesting for console games and painful on the wallet! heh.
Hmm.. gamespot is having a life webcast of Microsoft's pre-E3 press conference in about an hour. It's already 2am... shall I stay up and watch? Dunno whether can tahan!
Basically, it's the presentation by Nintendo just before E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo in the US. And gamespot.com has a live webcast. I always thought webcasts were laggy, had poor resolution and were basically unwatchable. Wow, this one changed my mind. There was zero lag. The whole webcast was smooth without and skips or waiting times. The image, though not very big was clear and watchable.
I've always wanted to go E3. I think watching a live webcast from E3 is certainly a decent substitute.
As for the webcast itself, it was interesting. We had Nintendo showing the new Wii console and they were demonstrating how the new controller works. Plenty of demos and trailers. The new Zelda game looks awesome. So does the new Mario game for the Wii and Nintendo DS. And it's all gonna be released around Oct/Nov... very close to PS3 launch date too!
Talking about PS3, the launch price is fixed... alittle on the expensive side, US499 for the 20Gb system and US599 for the 60Gb version. But hey, it does come with a Blu-ray drive and the system is looking good. I was a little disappointed at the BIG revelation fo the new controller, which is basically the same design as the old controller, except that it had motion sensing built in and vibration taken out.
The coming months is gonna be interesting for console games and painful on the wallet! heh.
Hmm.. gamespot is having a life webcast of Microsoft's pre-E3 press conference in about an hour. It's already 2am... shall I stay up and watch? Dunno whether can tahan!
Monday, May 08, 2006
Mission Impossible 3
MI3 marks the beginning of the summer blockbuster season. After MI3 comes the other big movies of the year, X-Men, Da Vinci Code, Superman... And I think it's quite a good start.
The story is a little convoluted. As were the previous two movies. They try to be smart, but think they often end up just being confusing. Double cross here, secret agent there, no big surprises here.
But the action. Oh my goodness, the action... I think it all comes together in a very nice package. Although they were set-pieces with soppy interludes here and there, the action sequences were exciting. And they came fast and furious. The rescue sequence, the vatican sequence, the escort sequence, etc, etc. Super cool.
If you are looking for intellectual stimilultion, forget it. Give this show a miss. If you want wham-bang action.... this show is just the thing for you!
The story is a little convoluted. As were the previous two movies. They try to be smart, but think they often end up just being confusing. Double cross here, secret agent there, no big surprises here.
But the action. Oh my goodness, the action... I think it all comes together in a very nice package. Although they were set-pieces with soppy interludes here and there, the action sequences were exciting. And they came fast and furious. The rescue sequence, the vatican sequence, the escort sequence, etc, etc. Super cool.
If you are looking for intellectual stimilultion, forget it. Give this show a miss. If you want wham-bang action.... this show is just the thing for you!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Who's in the driver's seat?
Something that's been on my mind these two weeks.
We know passion drives us forward. It's the thing that sustains us even when the odds are against us.
I'm not being political, but one obvious case is someone like Chee Soon Juan. Frankly, I can't support him because I think he chooses to make a fool of himself. But you cannot deny the passion (misguided as it may be) that has fueled his opposition to the current government. Despite everything (but the proverbial kitchen sink) being thrown at him, he continues to plough on, step by step. That's passion.
Many of us give up when the going gets tough. We are discouraged when things seem to work against us. We complain when the people we work with disappoint us or discourage us. I must admit I feel these frequently. But at a recent talk, I was reminded with a simple question... What drives you? If you have a passion to do something, then things that come along your way would simply be challenges for us to overcome.
So, what drives you?
We know passion drives us forward. It's the thing that sustains us even when the odds are against us.
I'm not being political, but one obvious case is someone like Chee Soon Juan. Frankly, I can't support him because I think he chooses to make a fool of himself. But you cannot deny the passion (misguided as it may be) that has fueled his opposition to the current government. Despite everything (but the proverbial kitchen sink) being thrown at him, he continues to plough on, step by step. That's passion.
Many of us give up when the going gets tough. We are discouraged when things seem to work against us. We complain when the people we work with disappoint us or discourage us. I must admit I feel these frequently. But at a recent talk, I was reminded with a simple question... What drives you? If you have a passion to do something, then things that come along your way would simply be challenges for us to overcome.
So, what drives you?
Monday, May 01, 2006
Reviews
Wow, didn't even realize it's been a week since I last updated my blog. Must admit that I've been spending most of my weekends and evenings on WoW. Oh wells.
Last Sunday, caught The Sentinel. Dunno really why I went to watch it. It was probably the movie at the most convenient time. Anyway, it's a pretty by-the-book kinda detective-thriller movie. It's about this the secret service who works around the clock to protect the US president and how they suddenly discover that someone among them is a mole. Of course, there's the usual 'innocent-man-get-framed' story. It's watchable. But no big deal. Of some interest would be that Eva Longoria (of Desperate Housewives fame) is in this movie. Sadly, she really is there just for the pretty-vase effect. Within less than 1 minute of screen time, we have a close-up shot of her posterior... aka buttocks. She tries lar, but it's hard to forget her bimbo role in DW. I don't think her movie career is gonna go anywhere.
Next up, I caught The Wild yesterday with some old friends. Yes, everyone is comparing this movie to Madagascar and who can blame them. The similarities are uncanny. However, although I don't really think Madagascar was that great, I think that overall, it's a better movie than The Wild. [Characters] The characters in the wild just aren't very memorable. In fact, quite forgettable. The one I remember most, is probably the Koala. They even have penguins in The Wild. But the commando penguins in Madagascar can easily put a shot through the heads of The Wild's penguin. There's also this scary pigeon dance routine. [Bad Guys/Herd] Madagascar had the cute watchamacallits. The Wild had these Wilderbeests who were really painful to watch. Their dance was sooooooo bad. Quite a turn-off. [Song] Who can forget the 'move it, move it' dance from Madagascar. The Wild tries to duplicate it with their own song.. but I have no idea what is the song and frankly, I have no desire to find out.
Overall, The Wild ain't too bad. There are some good jokes (but mostly related to sh***ing or f**ting). On the whole, Disney better be glad they still have Pixar on their side. With Chicken Little and The Wild, Disney is showing that they are pretty much losing their touch.
And finally, today, I caught Ice Age 2. The movie was ok. But in my opinion, they should simply do an hour-long story with Scat (the prehistoric squirrel). All the parts in between were ok, but no big deal. The parts with Scat were pretty funny. I guess most of you have already watched this one. OK lar. Worth watching. But I think the sequel should simply be Ice Age 3: Scat's story.
Last Sunday, caught The Sentinel. Dunno really why I went to watch it. It was probably the movie at the most convenient time. Anyway, it's a pretty by-the-book kinda detective-thriller movie. It's about this the secret service who works around the clock to protect the US president and how they suddenly discover that someone among them is a mole. Of course, there's the usual 'innocent-man-get-framed' story. It's watchable. But no big deal. Of some interest would be that Eva Longoria (of Desperate Housewives fame) is in this movie. Sadly, she really is there just for the pretty-vase effect. Within less than 1 minute of screen time, we have a close-up shot of her posterior... aka buttocks. She tries lar, but it's hard to forget her bimbo role in DW. I don't think her movie career is gonna go anywhere.
Next up, I caught The Wild yesterday with some old friends. Yes, everyone is comparing this movie to Madagascar and who can blame them. The similarities are uncanny. However, although I don't really think Madagascar was that great, I think that overall, it's a better movie than The Wild. [Characters] The characters in the wild just aren't very memorable. In fact, quite forgettable. The one I remember most, is probably the Koala. They even have penguins in The Wild. But the commando penguins in Madagascar can easily put a shot through the heads of The Wild's penguin. There's also this scary pigeon dance routine. [Bad Guys/Herd] Madagascar had the cute watchamacallits. The Wild had these Wilderbeests who were really painful to watch. Their dance was sooooooo bad. Quite a turn-off. [Song] Who can forget the 'move it, move it' dance from Madagascar. The Wild tries to duplicate it with their own song.. but I have no idea what is the song and frankly, I have no desire to find out.
Overall, The Wild ain't too bad. There are some good jokes (but mostly related to sh***ing or f**ting). On the whole, Disney better be glad they still have Pixar on their side. With Chicken Little and The Wild, Disney is showing that they are pretty much losing their touch.
And finally, today, I caught Ice Age 2. The movie was ok. But in my opinion, they should simply do an hour-long story with Scat (the prehistoric squirrel). All the parts in between were ok, but no big deal. The parts with Scat were pretty funny. I guess most of you have already watched this one. OK lar. Worth watching. But I think the sequel should simply be Ice Age 3: Scat's story.
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