Category: My Opinion

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Inception – Into Subconscious and Dream Whereby Logic Supposes To Dissolve

The idea is tantalizing.  Imagine being able to architect your dream, bring others into your dream or trespass into others’ dreams, and if you wish to retain certain fond memories of the past, lock them up inside your head and visit them as often as you like.  On the surface, “Inception” appears to be a movie with an original idea that is rarely seen since the days of “The Matrix”.  If writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan was to release the film 10 years ago – when the script was first completed – some may find the resemblances to “The Matrix” hard to ignore.  Fortunately, it is 2010.

The beauty of “Inception” is the writer’s ability to create a fantasy world with a set of rules driven by logic.  Some of these rules are intriguing.  For those who watch “Inception” the first time, no doubt it would be a memorable journey.  You could be too busy absorbing new ideas without pondering upon those illogical moments.  While in “The Matrix”, we may relegate the unanswerable questions to a Higher Being (philosophically speaking), the same cannot be said for “Inception” – for it is men who invent the dream machine.  At times I wonder: Is it a good idea to build logic into dream and subconscious in the first place?

I have heard a lot of praises for Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in “Inception”.  I would say other actors and actresses such as Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page are equally brilliant.  This film is loaded with stars, and special effects.  It is a solid two and a half hours of entertainment.  And you would probably walk out of the theater with more questions than answers, while thoroughly entertained of course.

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Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Kylie Minogue – Aphrodite – How Powerful Her Celebrity Branding Is

If you stop for a moment and ponder why one would buy into Kylie’s music, I reckon that has to do with the overall branding than the creativity and the technical execution of her music.  Using the image of the goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality – Aphrodite – as the title of her 11th album, I doubt if any one in the business today can carry that as suiting as Kylie.  In the recent interview with CNN, Kylie talked about her surviving cancer and thrives.  Researchers declare her as the most powerful celebrity in Britain.  But will this album work for you?

“Aphrodite”, overall speaking, is pretty average.  If not for the free music download service from Nokia, I would probably not own it.  Having said that, there are a couple of tracks that are insanely addictive.  The dance beats would stick on my mind the whole day.  I have put both “Cupid Boy” and “Aphrodite” on track repeat for days.  I could listen to these tracks for hours without getting sick of them.  It is rare these days and when that happens, how you wish that the rest of the album were as good, yes?  I feel as though I am not only drawn to the music, but also the goddess herself.  “Closer” is a mellower track that is worth putting into the play-list.  As for the first single release of the album, “All The Lovers”, while it lacks the instant hit quality as a single, the underlying message is strong.  If you check out the music video, there is a massive public orgy of very beautiful people (or bodies) with boys kissing girls, girls kissing girls, and (I think) guys kissing guys.  The lyrics of the music is weak.  But the video interpretation is powerful.

Assuming that you have checked out her latest video (and return!), tell me honestly, how you girls wish to look that good at the age of 42 eh?  For you guys, I don’t even want to know what is going on in your mind.

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – So Far So Good

OK.  I promise I am not going to poke fun at the Twilight Saga like before.  Looking at the record breaking ticket sales, I think the fanatic fans have gone beyond caring about what the critics say and have dived straight into yet another episode of this bizarre love triangle of a vampire, a werewolf, and a human girl.  I for one have convinced myself that what I see is not bad acting.  You can’t expect a several centuries old vampire with no beating heart and cold to touch to be more animated than Robert Pattinson, can you?  Perfect casting.  And I suppose the over-reacting, hot blooded Taylor Lautner is merely acting to the role of an animalistic werewolf.  Or did he take it out on the break-up-make-up experience with Taylor Swift?  Cynthia asked if I am a Team Edward or Team Jacob.  My reply?  I am Team Bella.  I think in this entire saga so far, only Kristen Stewart can act well (while the other two are improving, so it seems).  Without Kristen, there will be no Twilight Saga.

In fact, I think I am Team Alice.  She is by far the hottest vampire I have seen.  Please bite me, Alice!  Come to think of it, I begin to be able to relate to Bella’s strong desire to be bitten by a – I presume in the eyes of the girls – hot vampire.

As though the filmmakers have read my lament earlier on, they have done something positive to the new soundtrack.  “Twilight” soundtrack is great.  There are good tracks by Muse, Paramore, and Linkin Park.  “New Moon” soundtrack is forgettable.  As for “Eclipse”, while there are quite a few album fillers, Muse has returned.  Howard Shore’s composition on “Jacob’s Theme” is beautiful.  He is the composer for “The Lords of the Ring” and “The Avatar”.  And another strong track is “Heavy In Your Arms” by Florence + The Machine.  The Australian jazz-pop singer Sia’s “My Love” is soothing to listen to and not to be missed.

This third instalment has the advantage of diving straight into the drama without the need to go through how vampire (episode one) and werewolf (episode two) in this bizarre Twilight Universe works.  In addition, since the romance between a vampire and a human and the friendship between the same human and a werewolf have already been established, there are more rooms for drama beyond Bella and Edward or Bella and Jacob.  For example, we now have Bella and Edward and Jacob locked in a PG version of a threesome.  And there is story development for other characters too, which I enjoy watching.  Less CGI, more dramas.

Cheesy dialogues still exist.  Jacob still takes his shirt off – twice (if you miss it the first time he shows off his torso, you will have a second chance).  Dakota Fanning’s involvement with the movie is still disappointingly minimal.  The scale of the movie has grown and it begins to look more like a blockbuster, which is good.  I feel that Edward the vampire does not seem to demonstrate his power as much as before, Jacob the werewolf does not seem to be as uncontrollably dangerous in wolf form as before, which is strange.  What is missing, currently, in this Twilight Saga is for Bella to fall in love with a human boy.  That would make a wonderful foursome.

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Final Fantasy XIII Scores Very High In My Book

I have always said that Japanese’s imagination knows no bound.  And their commitment to production quality is truly an inspiration.  If I am to combine all the cut scenes from the game Final Fantasy XIII, it can easily be one beautifully made anime in full HD glory (1080p).  It takes me 80 hours to see the ending (still not completing the game yet) and I have lost track on how many and how long the cut scenes are.  Especially in the beginning, I could literally spend a few minutes playing the game and then here comes the cut scene.  It is long enough for me to make a cup of tea, finishing eating an apple, and wash my hands.  As the story unfolds, the gap between the cut scenes lengthens depending on how fast or slow you progress.

Quite a few friends of mine asked if FF13 is indeed linear.  To be frank, non-linear game does not mean that it is good.  Linear game does not mean that it is bad.  It is all about execution.  In terms of storyline, there is nothing you can do to change the outcome, unlike other games.  That also means that you do not need to play the game multiple times to see the complete set of sub-stories.  For FF13, you play it once and be totally immersed.  There is a fixed number of characters and gears you can develop,  But which ones to pick is entirely your decision based on your preferred strategy.  In fact, looking at the game play, the key feature that sets the game apart from the rest is that it has little to do with your reflex actions.  It is the strategy you deploy prior to each battle and the ability to think on your feet every 5 seconds or so during the battle.  The combat system is unique and has earned a lot of praises.  There is no need to mess around with the positioning of your characters during a battle and it does not require you to frantically press the buttons on your controller to beat the enemy.  At a macro level, you control the roles of your characters and switch them at one go by up to 5 defined sets created by you.  At a micro level, you can choose to execute a specific action for the character that you have a direct control with.  And because of the variety of enemies, you are forced to adopt a different strategy for each battle.  Be it as a different role set combination, or even a different set of characters and gears.

Another noticeable difference compares to other role playing games is that the enemies in FF13 do not level as your characters level.  You can go back and revisit your old foes that gave you a hard time and beat the crap out of them in seconds.  Or you may get trashed by some unknown enemies that are so powerful that in the early stage of the game, all you can do is to flee.  Because the enemies re-spawn, there is no shortage of action.  In later part of the game, you can explore the area in any direction you prefer.  Tackle the missions in any order you prefer.  Or if to see the ending is all you want, you could skip the side missions.

While the enemies do not level, at the end of each battle, there is a 5 stars rating system.  The more powerful you become, the target time goes down.  In another word, you still need to work hard for a 5 stars rating.  In some cases, it pays off to get that rating.  Some of you asked if there are a lot of grinding, like other role playing games.  I suppose the choice is yours.  But I find it rewarding to do a bit of grinding to get more powerful and to farm materials to improve the gears. 

Majorities of the battle are quite easy, I must say.  The boss fights from the main storyline are often long (like more than 10 to 15 minutes of intense thinking).  The boss fights from the side missions can be extremely hard.  Some of the tough battles you may take a defensive stance, sacrifice the 5 stars rating, and win.  Others will slab you with a doom counter if you are taking too long.  A doom counter is one that you must beat the boss in 3 minutes or there will be an instant death.  In short, there is no shortage of excitement.  Needless to say, some are so tough that you have to further develop your characters and return for another attempt later.

Judging FF13 from the Western standard, it may fall short a bit (it is after all a Japanese RPG).  But I happen to be thrilled by how beautiful the game is made – the colorful and unique environment, the memorable characters that are so easily to fall in love with, and the dramatic story development.  These days, it is hard to find a non-violence game that does not come with blood and gore and sex – like FF13.  If you wonder what the game play is like, here is a brief breakdown.

Part One – Stories And More Stories

In the first part of the game, you do not get to choose whose is or are in your team.  It depends on how the story unfolds.  There are lots of cut scenes.  The combat system progressively gets more complex, a good learning curve that I like.  Some comment that this part is too linear.  I happen to like the fact that I am forced to learn how to cope with different characters and different team composition.  In FF13, all the characters have different strengths and weaknesses.  Part one took me about 30 hours to complete.  It also accounts for the story of the 13 days prior to where you first started the game.

Part Two – Open Side Missions

Once you reach Gran Pulse, you get to venture to different parts of the map.  As you complete side missions, portals are open to aid you in warping to a different location in the map.  In this part, you also get to pick your team composition.  You do not have to complete all the side missions.  But they are rewarding.  It did not feel like grinding to me, although I have to pass the same area multiple times.  There is always something to be discovered.

Part Three – Head to Chapter 13

FF13 is divided into 13 chapters.  After Gran Pulse, you can do one chapter and return to do more open area exploration and complete more side missions.  The last two chapters can get pretty hard.  That is where the experience (and confidence) you gather while doing the side missions pays off.  Personally I love the story of FF13, although I must admit that I do not quite understand the logic of the Japanese.

Part Four – Open End Game Missions

This is where I am at right now.  After the final boss of the main storyline is beaten, after the story is concluded, I am brought back to the save point right before the final boss.  The difference is that I can now further develop my characters.  There are 64 missions in total.  Quite a number of them are designed for the end game.  Missions can be retaken if getting a 5 stars rating is what you are aiming for.  Or just for the fun of it.

Talking about save points, another good thing about FF13 (compares to other JRPG I read) is that there are tons of save points.  You can pick up the controller, play for 10 minutes or so, stop and do something else in real life.  I find that very useful.

Categories
Book Reviews Fiction

The Internet Is A Playground By David Thorne – An Insanely Fun And Bizarre Read

I suppose if one is to publish a book based on what he or she writes in his or her website, the book would look something like “The Internet Is A Playground”.  I have no idea if the materials are factual.  What it does indicate is that the author David Thorne lives in Australia and there are quite a fair bit of reference to that country.  Hence, some of you may be able to relate to the book better than I do.  Nevertheless, majority of the materials are hilarious (those that I got it).  One evening, inside a Japanese restaurant while waiting for our food to arrive, I showed Cynthia some chapters from the book.  She read, I read again with her, and we had a good laugh.  Half of the book contains email correspondence between the author and his neighbor, colleagues, his son’s teacher, and etc.  Looking at face value of these emails, I would say the author is pretty annoying, may even perceive as a bully in the Internet space.  I for sure would not know how to correspond if he writes to me.  Having said that, if you read between the lines, the author writes with good wit and humor.  Usually there is a point he wishes to make, but not directly.  It is fun to read it as a third party.  Hence the book title.

Interestingly, some readers point out that the entire book can be read from his website.  I have not got the time to trace the chapters and verify.  The website appears to have a better layout, contain links to external sites (that Tower Defense online game is insanely fun), and have extra materials (or was I reading too fast?).  So, why would one want to buy the book?  I suppose if you are going on a trip where Internet access is not convenient or if you are having a vocation and the last place on Earth you wish to visit is the Internet, it is good to grab a copy and have a good laugh.  Be prepared for some original hilarious stuffs that blow your mind away.

External Link: The Author’s 27b/6 Website

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Book Reviews Non-Fiction

The Cloud Revolution By Charles Babcock – If You Need To Know What Cloud Computing Is As Of Today, This Is It

If you happen to fall under the category of someone who has heard of the term “cloud computing”, may have some ideas of what it is, but cannot quite pinpoint what it does and how we can benefit from it, “The Cloud Revolution” written by editor-at-large of InformationWeek Charles Babcock will get you acquainted with the topic in no time.  While the book is still technical in nature, those who have worked in and with the technology industry should have no problem following the materials from start to end.  The ideal audience would be those in the professions of application and system architect, data center specialist, business analyst, and all the way to CIO, CTO, and COO.  What “The Cloud Revolution” provides is a snapshot of where cloud computing is today and presents the snapshot in an easy-to-understand manner.  This includes both its potential and challenge.

In a nutshell, cloud computing enables on-demand network access to a shared pool of resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released.  It simplifies and drives down the cost of operations while enabling the business users to tap onto the computing power in a way never dreamed before.  Today, most businesses over provision what they normally need in terms of computing resources due to operational spikes.  But yet, when there is an unforeseeable demand spike, some businesses fail to delivery (have you ever tried to buy movie tickets online during the holidays?).  The idea is that instead of buying more and more servers to cater for the spikes and leave the servers way under utilized in normal day operation, outsource the spike (or even the entire operation) to the cloud.  How much would that cost?  For example, Amazon’s Elastic Computing Cloud (EC2) charges $0.085 per instance per hour.

The cloud economy is hard to ignore.  Take web hosting as an example.  Most bloggers do not host their websites in a server at home (having said that, I know some do).  For those who have opted for a paid service, we often have to be mindful on how much disk space and monthly bandwidth we utilize.  Right after my holiday to Spain, I have published articles that came with photos on a weekly basis.  During the 12 weeks publication period, I had experienced spikes that busted my monthly bandwidth quota and had the site shutdown momentarily several times.  There are web hosting companies out there that have grown into a significant size and offer unlimited disk storage and monthly data transfer.  That is way more that what I would dream of (though I have my reasons to stay with my existing hosting company).  And that is an illustration on how such an economy of scale can benefit the consumers.  Imagine what this could mean for the corporates.

As highlighted in the book, there are challenges that corporate users faced with cloud implementation.  Not having a control on where the corporate data resides can be an issue.  It could be a security risk too.  There have been talks about ‘private cloud’ or even a ‘hybrid cloud’ in achieving the economic of scale that lowers the cost using existing data center setup as a benchmark.  If corporates can host their in-house applications through virtualization, outsource the spikes to a public cloud, or even consider conducting the system test, user acceptance test, stress test, and etc. that often do not contain real life data outside the private cloud, they may be able to reap the benefits of cloud computing.

Another barrier of taking cloud computing to the next level – as mentioned in the book – is that some of the major standards are still very much proprietary.  And it seems to me that the open standard is still at its maturing stage.  I think one of the reasons why this book is so named is because if the corporates wish to skip through the proprietary stage, the corporates need to get together and voice out what they want: No vendor lock-in.  That is a revolution in a sense, besides the fact that to make cloud computing works, there are changes in almost all levels.

The book has quoted some noteworthy implementations.  On the private sector, there is SalesForce.com’s cloud platform – Force.com.  On the public sector, in USA, there is NASA’s Nebula Cloud Computing Platform.  The author has also quoted a number of major players in cloud computing.  If you wish to pick up one book to know what cloud computing is as of today, “The Cloud Revolution” would be it.

External Link: To browse the book in Amazon.com, click here.

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Neon Angel, A Memoir Of A Runaway By Cherie Currie – Heart Wrenching and Heart Warming At The Same Time

I seldom read memoirs.  But I was curious about the life story told from Cherie Currie’s perspective after watching “The Runaway” played by Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart.  “Neon Angel” has enough dramas that can pass as a great fiction.  The rise to stardom, the crash, substance abuse, brutal rapes, exploitation by the management, constant struggle amongst the dysfunctional family and band, and through it all, Cherie Currie constantly reinvents herself from a singer to actor to drug counselor to physical trainer to author to painter to one of the prominent chain-saw carvers in the world.  While it is hard to position Currie as a role model –  rather as a projected symbol of angst, rebel, and perhaps victim of the seventies, her survival spirit is astonishing.

Originally published in 1989, Currie reworks the materials with Tony O’Neill.  That explains why in this new edition, the events that happened more than thirty years ago are told in such a vivid manner, in such level of details and emotion.  And I suppose with age, the rework exhibits a better sense of mature reflection on the key decision points and milestones.  Some are deep regrets.  Some are triumphant.  For those who are interested in how the music industry worked in the seventies, “Neon Angel” has much to offer.  The road trips, the music creation and recording journey, the tours, and the fans.  A big chunk of the literature is dedicated to substance abuse – of hers and of those around her.  The honesty within thrills me: On how drug and alcohol has destroy hers and her family’s lives again and again.  No, I don’t despise her.  I sympathize her.

And in the mist of the chaos and illusions, there are glimpses of heart warming moments.  One ending chapter moved me to tears.  If you happen to like the movie “The Runaway”, this book “Neon Angel” will fill in the gaps on the stories that cannot be told in a movie setting.  The movie contains snapshots of events pasted together that may or may not follow the actual timeline.  I am short of saying that “Neon Angel” is an entertaining read (in fact it is).  Because the book is more than an entertainment.  It would mean different things to different people.  For those who are into the music industry or the sociological fabric of that era, the book is certainly an insightful read.  For the victims of substance abuse, broken families, and rape, there may be a common voice within.  Some parts of “Neon Angel” reminds me of a book I have read a long time ago – “Prozac Nation” by Elizabeth Wurtzel.  Yes, it is both a heart wrenching and heart warming read.

*     *     *     *     *

In 2013, I have reread this book.  And the updated book summary can be found in here.

At Amazon.com: Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway

Categories
For the Geeks Game Reviews

So You Want A Final Fantasy XIII “Growth Egg” As Early As End Of Chapter 11?! Yes You Can!

Arguably one of the most important items to obtain in Final Fantasy 13, “Growth Egg” doubles the Crystogen Points (or experience points) you earn that are needed for your character development.  Who wouldn’t want it as soon as possible?  To obtain a “Growth Egg”, you need to complete a class A mission that is opened for you at the end of chapter 11.  It is a very hard mission and I reckon it is designed as an end game activity.  But if an average gamer (me!) can do it, there is a high chance that you can too!  Here is how I made it, not without blood and sweat.  And in the mist of it, I have obtained a 5-star rating and unlocked the “Limit Breaker” trophy or achievement.  That is a 100,000+ damage in one shot!

Prerequisite

After the final boss in Chapter 11, instead of moving forward and trigger Chapter 12, move backward and obtain Mission 55 “Can’t We All Just Get Along” from the rooftop of a deserted school.  I chanced upon this because I have missed out one of the components to repair Vanille’s toy (another pretty rewarding thing to do).  If you need a guide to obtain that mission, click here.

Key Strategy

For this class A mission, you have to face a very tough boss called Neochu that can take down casters with one shot.  And it has quite a few hyperactive adds called Picochus that hit very hard, very fast.  The encounter is very much like its little brother nearby (which I hope you have tried).  Take down the boss first, and then worry about the adds later.  To do that, you will need Vanille (hence picture above!).

Battle Team Setup

Interestingly, Neochu is not immune to Death spell.  So the key is to have Vanille picking up that ability (under Saboteur role) after the expansion of Crystarium at the end of Chapter 11.  To have a better chance to pull off this debuff strategy, upgrade the Belladonna Wand to Malboro Wand.  I have upgraded the weapon level to close to 40, which may not be necessary.  I have Snow equipped with Paladin and Hope equipped with Hawkeye.  Both equipments are at star level.  By the way, all the upgrade components I have obtained from mob drops (or spoils).  It is very doable if you have been doing some side missions.

I set up Snow as the tank (Sentinel) and Hope as the healer (Medic).  As for Vanille, she switches between Saboteur (for debuff), Ravager (for damage), and Medic (for extra heal).  So in total, only 3 Paradigms are required.  To manually execute the Death spell, I have picked Vanille as the leader.

Prior to the final boss of Chapter 11, all my characters have maxed out their Crystarium for three roles (out of six, for all six characters).  After the boss fight, I choose one role to specialize and max that out.  I didn’t make any special purchase for this mission.  I suppose wearing accessories for extra health points would help in some ways.

Stage One – One-shot the Boss

Preemptive strike is out so left with the options to either use the shrouds to buff up your offense or defense before engaging the boss.  I walked into the battle with neither because I forgot (see, I am your average gamer).  In retrospect, buffing up the haste level may work better.  It may speed up the process.  The target time to finish the battle is 28 minutes.  I have earned the 5-star rating.  So I must have taken lesser time than that.

I went in with Snow tanking and Hope healing (for the entire fight).  As for Vanille, I spammed Death spell.  If Neochu hits Vanille first before Snow grabs the aggro, it is game over.  If Vanille unable to land the Death spell and one-shot the boss within 5 rounds, it is also game over.  The combined damage of Neochu and its annoying little creatures is just too much for one healer to take (before end game that is).

I read that some spent hours one-shooting the boss (only to be overwhelmed with the little ones – how sad!).  It didn’t take that long for me.  Maybe upgrading the wand helps.

Stage Two – Heal Up!

Once the boss is down (which is the easy part), it is time to survive the group of cute little Picochus.  Even with two healers and a tank, my team could barely survive.  Especially when my tank lost the aggro.  You could either fast switch Vanille between the Medic and Ravager roles to heal and to spam the area of effect spell Firaga.  Or if like me, the tank was down and soon faced an inevitable wipe, I called in the cavalry.

Stage Three – Summon the Eidolon

Some say Eidolons in Final Fantasy 13 are pretty useless.  It is quite right that these god like creatures don’t seem to be as powerful as they should be (given the fact that it is such a pain to make them yield and be your own).  As for me, Eidolons have turned the tide in the past when I faced with seemingly insurmountable battles.  And I must say, I love the over-the-top animation for these Eidolon encounters.

After Vanille summons her Eidolon, Hecatoncheir, your job is to keep both of them alive for as long as you can (which is not long).  Before Hecatoncheir gets decimated by these little adds, switch to Gestalt Mode and unload some punishment to the Picochus.  I manage to half their health points, which in retrospect, it is really not bad.  Meagre amount of damage dealt aside, the beauty of summoning an Eidolon is that when Eidolon leaves the battle, all the party members are back up with full health.  Time for round two!

Stage Four – Taking Down the Adds

This is the most nail biting moment.  I mean, I have come that far.  I really don’t want to fail here.  With Snow tanking the little mad Picochus, Hope can barely keep him alive (he is my best healer in the game).  I have to switch Vanille between Medic and Ravager mode to balance between staying alive and killing off the enemies.  It is a painfully slow process.  The good news is, as you wear down the number, it gets progressively easier.  Later on I found out that I could cast Imperil debuff on the little ones to lower the spell resistance.  That made the job done much faster.  If I am to do this again, I would cast the area of effect debuff, Imperilga, before the area of effect spell Firaga.  You may be tempted to one-shot the little ones with Death spell.  I don’t like the extra aggro on Vanille.

Some find it hard to take down the adds.  At bare minimum, if you have Snow on tanking position and both Hope and Vanille on healing, you should be able to last indefinitely.  Hope should also be able to solo heal Snow most of the time (there is some randomness in FF13 after all).  If you can’t, you may need to further develop your characters and gears with the side missions.  If you can, it is simply a matter of patience.  And “Growth Egg” is a reward you would love to have.

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

The Losers – Actually Pretty Fun To Watch!

How come I have watched so many movies lately?  In recent Spanish classes, our teacher often asks what we have done over the weekend.  Most of us would have watched at least one or two movies.  One dude has watched Iron Man 2 twice!  OK.  The power of peer pressure.  But still, what do Singaporeans do over the weekend?  How come so many of us watch so many movies all year round?

Cynthia and I were going to give “Losers” a pass.  But our buddy TK wanted something brainlessly fun.  And with all the work stress over the weeks, I really don’t mind to have a good laugh.  I suppose one wouldn’t lose much if to watch “Losers” on TV.  The plot is hardly memorable.  But still, the chemistry between the actors and the fun factor … Gosh!  It is absurd.  Some parts don’t make sense.  But with enough blood, sex, and money in a strong dose of humor, I am not complaining.

An environmental friendly nuclear-like bomb that is capable to decimate the entire island with no pollution – designed for the green terrorists?  At that point onwards, I didn’t take the film seriously.  That works.

Categories
Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

Snow Prince – What Hard Life This Little Boy Has

This Japanese movie is going to make lots of girls tear, though not the quite the same way as “10 Promises to My Dog” as one would have expected.  The story begins with a mysterious manuscript that arrives at the hands of a grandmother and her granddaughter.  And the manuscript tells a story of a grandfather and his grandson more than half a century ago.  Life seems to be hard for this grandfather-grandson pair trying to make some money with their monthly delivery of handcrafted goods, especially in the winter season.  Come to think of it, I have watched quite a few Japanese movies and TV series in the past that often show a glimpse of how the poor lived in the post-war era.  Yet, a common theme I observe is that one can live a happy and dignified life even when one barely has enough to eat.

So, we have this 10 years old boy named Sota who does not have the opportunity to go to school but loves to paint; a young girl named Sayo who comes from a wealthy family and plays the piano.  Together, they find a puppy called Chibi.  Friendship has developed between the two but you know what it is like when family background gets into the way. 

There are quite a few heartwarming moments.  In one scene, Sota is pulling a cart with his grandfather (and Chibi) on their way to sell their monthly worth of products.  Halfway through the journey, his grandfather falls sick and needs to return home.  Sota continues the journey, sells the goods, and unfortunately, he is robbed on the way back.  When his grandfather hears the news as he embraces Sota who in tears, so full of remorse, he breaks into laughter, comforts Sota and tells Sota that someone else needs the money more than them.  Everything is going to be OK.  To me, that is pretty heartwarming.  I also love his motto of never hate and hold grudges towards another person, no matter what.

“Snow Prince” got me into a little reflection – on how blessed life is and how little it takes to be happy.  Its pace can be rather slow in parts (115 minutes) and while I do question some of the plot’s logic, I enjoy watching the drama as a whole.