Category: My Opinion

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Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

Norwegian Wood – A Film Adaptation Of Haruki Murakami’s Novel

Haruki Murakami is one of my favorite writers.  I do not think it is possible to bring any of his books into a big screen.  Because much of the content is based on the characters’ observation and their state of emotion, or even the writer’s observation on the world he creates.  His story tends to get more and more surreal towards the end.  But if anyone would want to make a film out of his books, “Norwegian Wood” is a good candidate.  It is a rather straightforward love story.  I am a huge fan of Murakami and I was curious on how “Norwegian Wood” would look like as an adaption.

I can imagine how lost one may feel watching “Norwegian Wood”.  I have read the book and you may wish to read the review I have written.  I feel that the movie is by and large faithful to the literature, down to the dialog level.  As someone who is familiar with the written content, it seems to me that some of the key essences may have been lost in the adaptation.  A 133 minutes film may sound long to you.  When I told Cynthia and TK at the end of the show that the film felt too rush, they were shocked.  The foundation of the storyline lies in a subplot structure of a trio – be it as 2 boys and 1 girl or 2 girls and 1 boy.  These subplots are linked through a common theme – love and death.  That, I do not think the filmmakers have explicitly brought out.  Some of the subplots have so little air time that I think they may have been overlooked.  I do not blame the filmmakers though.  I even think that the way the subplots are segmented in terms of air time is proportionate to how the book is written (the first subplot has ended on page 31 of 386).  A clearly demarcation of the different segments of the film like a text on timeline and location would have helped the audience in digesting the story’s structure.

The leading actor and actress have done a phenomenal work in bringing the characters alive.  It is heart wrenching to see them cry in pain.  On one hand, this movie thrills me down my spine when some of the key scenes stay so faithfully to the book.  On the other hand, the omission of many of the side dialogs and observations has made part of the film looks like a silly chain of sex scenes.  This film summarizes the book essentially, but not perfectly.  If you have taken the effort to watch the movie – a very slow moving one by the way – you ought to read the book.  If you have not read the book, I strongly recommend you to pick up a copy and finish it in the weekend before watching “Norwegian Wood” on screen.  All in all, I am still thrilled that one of Murakami’s book has made it to the theater.  And I would challenge more filmmakers in the future to adapt his other books.

Related Entry: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami – A Structured Love Story So Dark, So Beautiful

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Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

The Lincoln Lawyer – Now, That Lawyer Has Style

I am usually not a big fan of crime movies that involves lawyers.  I don’t even watch CSI on TV.  Lately, or rather for the longest history in time, TK and Cynthia are pretty much in sync when it comes down to the choice of movie.  So when they picked “The Lincoln Lawyer”, I tugged along.

Matthew McConaughey plays a criminal defense attorney who drives a Lincoln with a number plate NTGUILTY.  Does he believe that his clients are innocent?  Does he merely go through the justice process and make sure that his clients get the best of it?  Or does he negotiate settlement for his presumed innocence clients thinking that most probably, that is what they deserve?  In the movie, Matthew is well networked with either side of the law and that seems to have made him one effective lawyer.  Even a cool one.  The story is pretty straightforward, a good one no doubt.  While I do not practice law – and I often wonder what if I do – this movie got me thinking about work in general.

At work, I facilitate a process.  Internal “clients” would come to me with work requests and we have to work together, package the ideas up, and present them to the management team as business cases.  If these cases are not being shot down, it is a green light to move ahead to the next stage.  Some cases go into KIV mode.  Others get thrown out of the window.  Not all the approved cases get everything they have asked for.  At times, we have to settle for less.  And hence, I do rounds and rounds of negotiations on behalf on my internal “clients”.  Having good networks from all sorts of sources aids the process, of course.  I have colleagues who more often than not form their opinions on these requests that affect their actions.  This is not wrong, I suppose, although in our job scope, we are not here to judge the cases.  We push these cases through a process that presents them in the best possible light.  I, for one, am trying very hard to be impartial to whether some of these ideas deserve a hearing or what they ask for.  Sure, looking back, there are cases whereby I wish I had not given away hope before they have a chance to go through the proper process.  But I am only human, still learning my way.  In that sense, I can relate to some aspects of “The Lincoln Lawyer”.

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Comedy Drama Movie Reviews

Morning Glory – She Really Loves Her Job!

Cynthia knows me well.  I think Rachel McAdams is the most beautiful actress on earth.  So when she suggested watching “Morning Glory”, she just needed to say: It has your favorite actress in it, the one you think most beautiful.  Cynthia also likes Rachel McAdams in this movie.  She thinks Rachel is perky.  I like Rachel’s cheerfulness and her being so natural in front of a camera.  I don’t feel like watching a movie.  I feel like watching a part of her life.

In “Morning Glory”, Rachel is an aspiring news producer who gets laid off, finds another job that requires her to save the show.  It is an early morning show and she wakes up at 1.30 am everyday to go to work.  For Cynthia and I who are finding it difficult to even get up at 7 am in the morning, that is an heroic act.  Looking at how happy Rachel goes to work, we can’t help but to wish that we could be that enthusiastic.  Perhaps happiness at work is made of this: fully immersed with what you do, view every obstacle as a new challenge, and reach out to make friends.  In this story, Rachel is a doer and not a talker – a quality I admire in real life.  The downside of Rachel’s enthusiasm to work is that she is a workaholic.  That I do not endorse.

“Morning Glory” is a funny and lively show.  While I have my doubt on how well this movie depicts the media industry, it is more about how people go about doing their jobs and living their lives.  That I can relate.

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Foreign Movie Reviews Romance

Natali – The Korean Erotic Film In 3D, And What Could’ve Been

When asked, my replied to Cynthia was, “Too much talking, not enough drama.”  She laughed, in broad daylight, “Not enough sex you mean?”  It was my turn to laugh, “No, no, no.  I really mean not enough drama.”  It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon.  I could have felt much happier, if not for that sad, sad Korean movie.  I am a big fan of Korean movies though.  Natali is Korean’s first in 3D.  I have watched all sorts of movies in 3D, but not in the genre of erotica.  Was I curious?  Of course.

Natali is a sculpture created by a maestro sculptor.  For ten years, Natali remains unsold and as part of the sculptor’s private collection.  One fine day, one of his students turns up at his exhibition and wants to know more about Natali.  Thereafter are a series of flashbacks told from two men who were both in love with Mi-Ran – the girl who modeled for Natali.  Memory, as we know, is inaccurate.  In that sense, this setup does provide interesting opportunities for the story to develop.  This also explains why the second part of the movie is so much more enjoyable to watch.  More drama oriented, which I wish the story writer could have expanded upon.  And less on the dull debate between two men on the topics of realism and fantasy, the role of an art critic, and etc.  Does any of these topics contribute to the central theme of the story – Natali / Mi-Ran?  Unfortunately no.  The film could have focused more on the questions of: Can two people love each other while one of them has another person in his or her heart?  Do people often settle down in marriage with someone they have been passionately in love with?  What is eternal love?  The film touches onto these questions a bit too little, a little too late.

The sex scenes, I must admit, are beautifully made, tastefully filmed.  The music, it draws emotion.  On one hand, the film satisfies my curiosity of how this genre looks like on 3D.  On the other hand, I wish there was a non-3D version instead.  Are these scenes lifelike?  You bet.  However, the color is awful in 3D.  And for this particular movie, there is a heavy ghost shadowing effect on the edges that makes the subjects look blurry.  Take the subtitles as an example.  The words pop out from the screen, yes.  But there is a ghost image behind the subtitles that I seldom see in other 3D movies.  I am not sure what has gone wrong.  The filmmakers may have overdone the 3D effect.  Or there is something not right about those 3D glasses.

While Natali will not stop me from watching another Korean movie, I will likely to think twice before watching another movie in 3D.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Eat Pray Love By Elizabeth Gilbert – Not Just Another Chick Lit

So this is my first entry in Wilfrid’s blog.  Hope it is in line with Wilfrid’s overall blog theme and does not offend anybody, hehe …

I am reviewing “Eat Pray Love” because there is high probability that Wilfrid is not going to finish reading the book.  He bought the book to join a read-along and at that time I was reluctant to read the book as I thought it was just another chick lit which honestly I am not interested in (Shopaholic series, anyone?).  Was not interested in the movie, was not interested in the book.  However, one fine day, out of boredom, I picked the book up from the table, casually started reading the first page, and I got hooked!  Even the preface was interesting.  So I went on, surpassing Wilfrid’s bookmark.

The first part of the story – Italy – was interesting because it was the time she found God.  Her “encounter with God” was believable and it touched me deeply.  She found God said this to her during her loneliness and depression, “I’m here.  I love you.  I don’t care if you need to stay up crying all night long, I will stay with you. … There’s nothing you can ever do to lose my love.  I will protect you until you die, and after your death I will still protect you.” I shed a tear reading that paragraph because it reminded me how that love applies to me too.  To anyone of us.  (I do believe in God even though world-renowned-Nobel-winner scientists claimed that there is no space for God in this universe).  That paragraph was the most memorable part for me about Italy.  I am not really a foodie so can’t share much of her enthusiasm about Italian food.

The second part of the story – India – was even more captivating.  She continued her journey to deepen her spirituality, and she managed to tell her story without preaching how a certain religion is the best.  There are some references to yoga which I found entertaining as well, especially since I picked up yoga about a year ago.  I did enjoy reading India part the most, although there were tons of cliches in there.  For example, there was the “Instructions for Freedom”.   And Richard the Texan always sounded too preachy for me.  He sounded like someone who always had the right answer and a bit cocky about it.

However I respected her struggles to further her spiritual journey there – she managed to conquer her limitations in a realistic way, and I could see how she grew to be a more grounded, happier, and calmer person.  One amusing scene was how she hated a morning chanting ritual called Gurugita, tried all sort of ways to avoid it but in the end she was hell-bent to join the ritual and derived benefits out of it.  We could also see how she managed to finally meditate when initially she couldn’t even hold it for 2 minutes (who could?)

India was good for me.

The third part of the story – Indonesia – unfortunately fell flat.  It was an anti-climax after all the discoveries and growth she had made in the previous places.  I didn’t get anything out of this section – it was simply like reading someone’s letters of having a holiday in Bali.  Not to mention the “holiday” was 4 month long so it was a bit of an indulgence in my view.  The author did not really use this section to conclude the previous 2 sections, and on top of that it was not clear to me how she “pursued the balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence”.  I admire her initiative to help the locals, but I expected more from her 4 month stay in Bali.  I stopped reading the book for a while because the book got a bit boring and there was only that many times I’d like to read how someone “had nothing to do in the island of paradise”.

All in all, it is a reasonably good book.  Wilfrid would agree that I am a picky reader (although not a sophisticated one), so it said something that I finished reading the book.  It is certainly not a chick lit (if we exclude the Bali part) and I did enjoy reading Elizabeth’s personal journey to be a happier person.

Footnote by Wilfrid: This entry is written by Cynthia and is published as it is.  This is a read-along and JoV and J have contributed there entries as well.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

The Adjustment Bureau – Who Writes Your Fate?

I suppose I should count myself lucky that whoever Cynthia thinks is pretty is not that pretty to my eyes.  And vice versa.  That way, she would feel happy that I am not looking at all the women whom she think are pretty on the street and she would not notice all the pretty women who I actually am … erm … OK …

Cynthia thinks that Emily Blunt is pretty.  I think the most attractive aspect of Emily is her accent.  TK and Cynthia picked “The Adjustment Bureau”.  I did not mind to tuck along.  Because Matt Damon is my hero.  To be honest, I often confuse Matt Damon with Mark Wahlberg.  Both are my heroes.

“The Adjustment Bureau” is advertised as a mix between sci-fi and romance.  The bits on sci-fi are surprisingly light.  If not for the paperback notebook with pages filled with ever changing circuit diagrams by the second, I would not be able to associate this movie with sci-fi.  Matt Damon plays a promising young politician.  One fine day, a mysterious girl appears that threatens to alter Matt’s destiny.  Hence the intervention by the Adjustment Bureau.  No matter how hard the bureau intervenes, Matt and Emily manages to find ways to defy the system of fate.  Now, looking at the state of the world today, is free will a bad thing?  Do we really have free will?  What if we do not possess free will and our fates have already been written?  If we have to fight for the right to our free will, would that make us treasuring it even more?  These are some of the questions the movie intends to prompt the audiences to ponder upon.

I enjoy watching the on-screen chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.  I wish Emily has more airtime because I like the romance bits in this movie more than the sci-fi bits.  Some bits of the script seem a bit far-fetched.  It is the same old background of God and Angels.  The story is not as profound as Matrix (that questions along the same line), nor as refresh as Inception.  The pace does appear slow.  I went into the theater with the desire to watch Matt Damon’s performance.  It is exactly that and that only this movie has given me.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Red Riding Hood

From the director who brought you “Twilight“, we now have a new saga called “Red Ridding Hood”.  Cynthia and I adore “Twilight”, despite what the critics said.  I was so excited in booking the tickets online so much so that I booked yesterday’s session, instead of today’s.  So, we had an early weekend celebration.

There are striking similarities between “Twilight” and “Red Ridding Hood”.  The narration, the rather helpless leading female actress, and even the fathers of Valerie of “Red Ridding Hood” and Bella of “Twilight” are acted by the same person.  There are werewolves in “Hood”, but there is no vampires (yet?)  In “Twilight”, we see Bella falling in love while in “Hood”, Valerie has already fallen in love since the beginning.  Hence, in a way, “Hood” is more a suspense type of movie than a romance type drawing us to the center of the plot: Who and where is the big bad wolf?  Looking from that perspective, the story is full of twists.  It got me hooked all the way to the end guessing who is what and with what motive.  The two opposing forces appear to be well matched.  At some point, I really had no idea which way the story would go.  Gary Oldman plays the Witchfinder General who takes over the village and volunteers to hunt the big bad wolf.  I love his acting (since the Fifth Element days).  And you may think, how cool if he is a big bad vampire eh?

Amanda Seyfried is beautiful.  She is perfect for this role.  I cannot say much about the two boys who are suppose to romance her.  The chemistry seems missing.  Perhaps since the part on falling in love is not there, there is hardly any opportunity for relationship development.  If there is a sequel (sure hope there is), I bet these boys could be replaced with someone more suitable for Amanda.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Merde Happens By Stephen Clarke – Hilarious! At Least For Most Part

“Merde Happens” is part 3 of the merde series.  It helps to have read the previous installment.  Compares to “Merde Actually”, this one is funnier.  Perhaps because I have done my share of road tripping in US and I can relate the culture shock the main character Paul West has experienced.  To recap, Paul West is a British who works in France, has quite a few extraordinary love affairs with the French girls, and in this episode, he is going to America with his girlfriend (finally) Alexa and his American poet friend Jake who speaks very strange English mixed with French.  A good part of the book is spent on Paul and Alexa on a Mini in America.  It is hilarious to experience the frustration of a couple trying to read map while understanding how the road system works.  Just like in real life when – in general – women don’t like to read map and men don’t like asking for direction.  There is a fair amount of US and European history being used as a plot.  There is also some insanely hilarious moments on outsourcing.  To that end, I would rank “Merde Happens” higher than “Merde Actually” and somewhat on par with “Dial M For Merde“.  I have yet to read the first installment “A Year In The Merde”, and I am looking forward to doing so.

After reading a few of his books, I begin to see a certain pattern.  Initially the story would be like going nowhere, then things begin to get exciting and the story would reach a climax.  After which, it would be like going nowhere again (usually with a breakup of a relationship), with a rather melancholy ending that introduces plot opportunity for the next book.  This book seems to take a little dive towards the end.  But I would say, for most part of the story, “Merde Happens” is a hilarious read.  Not a soul nourishing read, but one you would want to read on a holiday and by a beach underneath a palm tree.

Categories
Comedy Movie Reviews Romance

No Strings Attached – And The Portman Fever Continues

I was expecting worse, partly influenced by the mixed reviews.   But as a fan of Portman, it would be a crime to give “No Strings Attached” a miss.  I do not love her less after watching this romance comedy.   Natalie Portman remains as a versatile and witty actress.   And she has good chemistry with the leading actor Ashton Kutcher.   It is unfortunate that the script is less than inspiring.  Is it the scriptwriter’s fault?  Or is it because some of us cannot relate to the topic of casual sex?   A few minutes into the show, a younger version of Portman tells a younger version of Kutcher that she does not believe in loving someone forever.  Shortly after, a younger version of Kutcher shyly asks, “Can I finger you?”   That pretty much set the tone – script-wise – on where this film is heading.

Less than inspiring script aside, “No String Attached” does have its fun side.  I found myself laughing lightly throughout the movie.  Portman plays a doctor who has little time for romance.  And here comes Kutcher whom Portman has seen occasionally over the last 15 years, who agrees to be her friend with ‘benefit’.  You can’t really read too deep into the story because you can more or less predict where it is heading, as in most of the romance comedies.  If there is one takeaway point, that would be: being in love could be painful but it is better to feel love than living a life without.  In today’s Singapore, this seems to be so relevant.  Especially when we finally realize that the root cause of the falling birth rate could well be people not falling in love enough to get married.

Now that we have watched “No Strings Attached”, after that phenomenal “Black Swan“, I am looking forward to watching “Thor”.  Yet another movie with Natalie Portman in it.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

Inés Of My Soul By Isabel Allende – An Eyeopening Read On Chile Conquest

Cynthia and I share a rather limited reading list.  I could spend hundreds and hundreds of words here talking passionately about the books I read but she’d catch no ball.  She could go on and on about the books she enjoys reading but I’d would go, “huh?”  But since we are both studying Spanish, and some parts of South America were colonized by Spain long time ago, I was intrigued by “Inés of My Soul” – a historical novel based on Inés Suárez strongly recommended by Cynthia.  Who is she?  Wikipedia sums up nicely as follows.

Inés Suárez (c. 1507 –1580) was a Spanish conquistadora (female conquistador) who participated in the Conquest of Chile, was mistress to Pedro de Valdivia, successfully defended Santiago against an attack of Mapuche people in 1541, and was eventually married to Rodrigo de Quiroga, Royal Governor of Chile.

Initially, it came across to me as a romance story – a story told by Inés to her step-daughter Isabel (who initially I thought the author ‘visualized’ herself as Inés’s daughter but we will get to that a little bit later).  A Spanish women born into a poor family got married once in Spain.  Then with the excuse of searching for her missing husband, she ventured into Peru, met with Pedro de Valdivia – a Spanish conquistador who has the vision to civilize and evangelize Chile.  Together, with a rather small Spanish army and the natives from Peru, they conquered Chile.  Valdivia and Inés have found and governed Chile’s capital Santiago, and defended the city against numerous attacks from the native Indians.  The wars described in the book are vividly harsh and bloody.  I can see a lot of quality research going into the writing of this historical novel.  Four years of avid reading, as mentioned in the author’s notes.  It is less of the romance bits but more of the history bits that gripped me.  Eventually, being a mistress to Valdivia did not seem to be agreeable by the Spanish Royalty.  So Inés married to Rodrigo – a war hero – in the age of 42.  The story is told by Inés in her dying hours, not long after her husband’s death.  I suppose this is an attempt to relive the incident of them passing away in the same year.

For those of you who have heard little about the history of Chile, “Inés Of My Soul” is an eyeopener.  The author Isabel Allende has done a good job in stitching the historical incidents together, with her imagination.  I am usually not a fan of this genre because I would prefer to read a journalistic writeup on the event to a novel that is part history, part fiction.  But I enjoy reading this one.  Isabel Allende was born in Peru and raised in Chile.  How suiting it is for her to write about a story that starts in Peru and ends in Chile.  I can now see where the passion transcribed in the book comes from.