Category: My Opinion

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Terminator Salvation

Terminator Salvation

Let’s get the fundamental right: in the world of human versus machine, Terminator franchise lies somewhere between the extremes of Robocop and The Matrix.  We guys love to watch Robocop with our girlfriends at our basements because with such a boring storyline, making out seems like the next best thing to do (it’s an open secret in the guy’s world, trust me).  The Matrix is probably somewhere at the pinnacle of this alternative universe.  Embedded inside are the elements of religion, philosophy, and the interdependency between the human and the machine.  The lore of Terminator puzzles me.  Human creates the machine to wipe off the human species?  And some time in the distant future when the machine is losing, they send in the Terminators to time travel and kill off key human rebels in an attempt to alter the future?   Why don’t the future human species send in assassins to time travel to the past and kill off those scientists that created the concept of Terminator once and for all?

I didn’t have much expectation on Terminator Salvation.  I have missed the one with the naked female Terminator fallen from the sky (censorship in Singapore put me off so I skipped it).  And the overall review of Salvation is merely average.  But since the rest of the Movie Review Squad is keen, I went along with an open mind.

Does great effect make a great movie?  Some don’t think so.  I have got to say, Terminator Salvation does have some really awesome computer generated effect.  The storyline may be predictable, not so memorable, but I was thoroughly entertained by the waves of machines after machines.  At some point, I thought I was watching Transformer.  At another point, I thought I was playing the computer game Supreme Commander.  This movie answers one of my top ten questions of all time: Does Christian Bale talk like that because he was acting as Batman or does he talk like that in real person?  At some point, I thought I was watching Batman.

While Helena Bonham Carter is still as creepy as ever, we all agree that Sam Worthington is one fine actor.  I would argue that he acts better than Christian Bale, who is doing pretty good for his role.  Not a classic movie, but entertaining nonetheless.

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Dance J Pop Music Reviews

Korean / Japanese Singer BoA’s First English Album Is Now On Our Daily Playlist – Best&USA

BoA

I’ve said it before and I will say it again.  She is young, she is talented, she is ambitious, and at the age of 22, there are few artists who have released a dozen of commercially successful albums in three different languages.  As mentioned in my previous post (April 2008), I had my hopes and fears on her ambition to penetrate the English market.  To see a Korean breaking into the Japanese market and be successful is kind of rare.  To see such artist venturing into the USA market is almost unheard of.  But ambition aside, how does this new double album of BoA flair?

If you have been BoA-ized since the beginning of her music career 9 years ago (imagine how young she was) or recently got BoA-ized because someone bought you a BoA album as a gift (I can’t remember if it was Japan or Korea Cynthia visited back in 2006 and surprised me with BoA’s album “Outgrow”), “~USA Debut Album~” takes a whole new musical direction.  It took me some time to adjust.  Personally, I like BoA’s slow songs better because of the melody and more so, her voice that suits the melody.  Those of you who are familiar with her Japanese numbers “Love Letter” and “Winter Love” should know what I mean.  “~USA Debut Album~” is a dance album from beginning to end.  And because now that the lyrics are in English, I was initially shocked by the context that revolves around dancing and her raging hormone.  She know she has ‘a pretty face, sexy waist, pearls and lace, everyone wants to have a taste’, she wouldn’t hesitate to ‘eat you up’, and she knows you want her ‘with my dress off’.  Couple with the fact that the Ayumi’s heavily produced album was still fresh in my mind, I feared that BoA’s English debut was just another “I Believe” from the Thai singer Tata Young.  Where is Tata Young by the way?

Turns out that  “~USA Debut Album~” does grow on Cynthia and I.  The entire album is upbeat and energetic, the melody is hopelessly infectious, we end up listening to it first thing in the morning, and I end up listening to it whenever I take a long walk from A to B.  Not long after, both of us are singing to the tune.  Strange!  When we watched the DVD that comes with the album, Cynthia was very exciting over an Asian at the center of a dance music video (she loves dancing).  The document film does share a glimpse of how talented BoA is.  My only complain about the music album is the sound engineering work: Some tracks the volume boost is too high that the sound distortion is too obvious (my speakers and headphones are all cracking in some parts of a few tracks).

Besides the English debut, “Best&USA” comes with “~Japan Best~” as well.  I don’t have her entire Japanese collection so it is a nice to have.  I enjoy listening to “Believe in Love (Acoustic Version)” with her and a guitar.  And this Japanese collection comes with yet another DVD packed with 15 of her music videos.  If you have not yet been BoA-ized , there are a total of 27 music tracks and 17 video clips to get you on board in no time.

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Book Reviews Non-Fiction

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami – An Inspirational Read

Haruki Murakami's Running

Recently, I have started reading the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s works and I love them immensely.  The rather long short stories collection “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” and the rather short full length novel “After Dark”.  When I saw his [rather short] memoir on the book shelf using running as a central theme, as someone who enjoys jogging once in a blue moon, I bought the book thinking that I may like it.  In fact, more than so, I love “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running”.

I often wonder who this person Haruki Murakami is behind the books that are written with such mystery, dreamy abstraction, darkness, and loneliness.  The shocking revelation is that Murakami is someone whom I can relate to.  In his memoir, he talks about him being a workhorse and not a racehorse; on why he prefers sports and activities that he can set his own goals; on the good things derives from “life is not fair”; and amongst other life philosophy of his.  Besides a glimpse of what kind of music he listens to, what products he uses – all in relationship to jogging of course – at the age of 60 (which he did not even mention in his memoir), he has run and completed more marathons and triathlons than most people I know.  Majority of the contents evolve around how he prepares for all these races, mantras that he has derived, and some of the jogging journals – success or failure, official or unofficial (such as running from the Greece town Marathon to Athens – the original marathon in reverse direction as well as an ultramarathon) – all of which are inspirational even if you are not a runner.

“Running” is not your typical page turner.  Some parts on how much pain he suffered and overcame are rather painful to read.  In fact, reading “Running” reminds me of my own rather painful experience back in Mount Kinabalu trip whereby some are touched by my personal journal.  If you enjoy running and or writing, “Running” is a strong recommendation.  In his book, Murakami shares the quality and attributes a novelist should possess.  A humbly written memoir, this book certainly touches me.  I especially admire how he would like his gravestone to say.  And I won’t spoil your reading pleasant by sharing it here.

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Star Trek – Looking Through the Eyes of a Non-Trekkie

Star Trek

Here is one dark secret of mine: I was once imprisoned by a few brainwashed Trekkies insisted that I should watch and internalize the visual messages of Captain Kirk and his pointy ears companion.  Every evening, I was seated in front of the TV watching one of the 6 Star Trek films in random order.  VHS video tapes, I remember.  One day I was watching episode 6.  Another day, one of the previous episodes.  I protested that I wouldn’t be able to understand a thing watching the series that way.  These Trekkies laughed and said it was part of the training.  In time to come, I would be able to recite all the key dialogues, just like them.  Appreciate the wisdom within, just like them.

And just like them, I was [forcefully] glued in front of the TV during those long school holidays when I needed a place to stay in the capital of a country called UK.  The crazy days of going to bed when the sun came up, video gaming marathon, liquor and takeaways, and centered to that long gone good life as students, we had Star Trek.  They debated on the moral philosophy of a world according to Captain Kirk and his pointy ears companion; they discussed on the physic of the universe and the technology involved in the crafting of those spaceships.  Did-you-know, have-you-noticed, haven’t-you-noticed, these Trekkies would try to pull me into their highly encrypted conversations.  Years later, the only thing I can remember in this Star Trek franchise is that one scene when the Klingons quoted Hamlet.  I love Shakespeare’s works and hence, the Klingons talk to me.  Not Captain Kirk and his pointy ears companion, but the Klingons.  For those who are curious on these subtle connections between Star Trek and Shakespeare, click here for an article written by Dr. Delahoyde.

Year 2009, Star Trek returns to the big screen in digital 4k format.  This new movie is breathtaking in many ways.  I am a big fan of Zachary Quinto (who plays Kirk’s pointy ears companion).  He is my favorite actor from the TV series Heroes and he is just perfect for that role.  Sandwiched between the two Trekkies – Cynthia and TK – was me, compelled to watch yet another episode of Star Trek.  I constantly whispered to Cynthia during the show to fill in my knowledge gap.  As a non-Trekkie, “Star Trek” is undeniably an entertaining movie that has lived up to its expectation.  The effects are gorgeous, the science is current, and the friendship development of Kirk and Spock (I kept calling him Spark in front of Cynthia unintentionally) is perhaps the main focal point of this movie.  Secretly, deep inside, I still wish that “Star Trek” has a deeper reference to something more philosophical, generates deeper moral debates, and perhaps has a more logical plot.  However, compares this to yet another similar franchise that has gone back in time with newer and better filming technology, “Star Trek” has certainly done a much better job than the one that involves a Gungan named Jar Jar Binks.

TK was excited by the movie.  So was Cynthia.  As I listened to Cynthia reciting the final line of “Star Trek” together with Spark Spock word-by-word, I knew at that moment that I am still very far off from graduating as a Trekkie.  And hence, the brainwashing continues.

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Drama Foreign Movie Reviews

Thai Arthouse Film “Ploy” Is Not Quite My Cup Of Tea

Ploy

I have a high level of tolerance when it comes to art-house type of movies but “Ploy” seems to be out of my league.  I don’t mind those long minutes of waiting for something to happen like that one foreign film with a boy and an old man watching the sunset, in real time.  So long as there is a reward in some forms after the wait.  Maybe it’s a subtle theme, maybe it’s to communicate a certain emotion, or maybe it’s just beautiful to watch.  Without rewards, I feel stupid spending time watching an art-house clip.

Some clips from “Ploy” are pretty brilliant.  I like the conversation between the husband (owner of a restaurant in US) and his wife (an ex-actress from Thailand) on why after 7 or 8 years of marriage, the guy doesn’t say “I love you” anymore.  And the subsequent conversation on the same topic with the husband and a little 19 years old girl (called Ploy whom they met in wee hours at a hotel bar).  The mixture of real and unreal clips within the movie at times adds interesting twists.  Some one-liners are bizarrely wicked.  Like before a date rape, the guy said [to the unconscious girl in bed], “Don’t worry, I will use a condom.”  Huh?!  Where does that come from?  We all chuckled.  And we chuckled when one of the actresses suddenly turned the film into a musical (pretty much like a French art-house movie).

Most clips are slow and excruciatingly painful to watch.  No, the sex scene between the bizarre side story of a bartender and a hotel maid is not at all sexy, way off the chart, and doesn’t contribute much to the main story.  It’s a shame though.  If the storyline was to be tighter and unfold a certain cohesive theme, that would have worked better.  During the interview, the director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang mentioned that the 12-hour long shooting on the sex scene was no fun to make.  I read that those sex scenes in “Lust, Caution” were hard to make too (took days).  But Ang Lee has made the scenes beautiful to watch, non-pornographic, and meaningful to the storyline.  If there was one suggestion I could offer to the “Ploy” team on those scenes, dim the light please.  OK make it two, change the casting.

The young girl, Apinya Sakuljaroensuk, who plays the character Ploy is perhaps one of the few rewards I can take home with.  The filmmakers should have exploited this advantage much more.  The film does leave me pondering on what is real, what is not.  And for better or worse, from a country that is famous in making horror and action movies, an art-house Thai film that was premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival could be special to some.  It’s just not my cup of tea.

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Mission, Inc. by Kevin Lynch and Julius Walls, Jr. – Using Business for the Common Good, Yes We Can

Mission Inc

By the authors’ definition, social enterprises are businesses whose purpose is to change the world for the common good.  And “Mission, Inc.” is a practitioner’s guide of building and sustaining such businesses of unique nature.

Maybe you too share the same sentiment with me and wonder why our economy rewards businesses that do not bear the full cost of the products they sell, passing the true cost to our next generations or the indigenous peoples.  There are initiatives out there such as the Equator Principles (see Wikipedia) as guidelines for the institutions to finance with the environmental and social responsibilities in mind.  And there are social enterprises of various forms – for-profit or nonprofit – that compete with the traditional business.  As the authors rightfully put, to change the world, your business has to be successful.  To be successful as a social enterprise faces a different set of challenges.  “Mission, Inc.” tackles these challenges by unlocking the ten paradoxes of social enterprise interjects with lots of concise and relevant tips and formula.

Kevin Lynch is the president of Rebuild Resources and Julius Walls, Jr. is the president and CEO of Greyston Bakery.  Both come with solid credential in this topic.  I would describe their book collaboration as passionate, honest, packed with useful tools and real life stories from more than a dozen social enterprises.

Though I am not from the social enterprise background, there are quite a number of major takeaways for me.  I enjoy reading the various aspects of running a business condensed into something easy to absorb.  Like how to derive a business plan, how to read the company financials (I am hopeless when it comes to balance sheet and income statement), the practical ways to enhance the internal process within an organization, and more.  For those who are already in this business or planning to join one, “Mission, Inc.” is a strong recommendation.  For the rest, “Mission, Inc.” opens our eyes to the reality of using business for the common good.  I am very keen to see the day when social enterprise passes the tipping point.  What a world it would be.

Paperback: 187 pages
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (January 1, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1576754790
ISBN-13: 978-1576754795

You may wish to get the book from Amazon.com.

Categories
J Pop Music Reviews

Next Level by Ayumi Hamasaki – I Love It

Ayu's Next Level

I met my friend for lunch one day at Shokudo and told her that Ayumi Hamasaki has released a new album.  “Who’s [What’s] that?” she asked.  Maybe I am too naïve to think that everyone know who she is.  Japanese artist Ayu has been my inspiration for years.  Since 2000, she has been releasing one studio album, one video recording of her concert tour, and one video recording of her New Year countdown tour per year, non-stop.  She is involved in all aspects of production including the branding of her own image.  That makes her one of the most hardworking and successful artists I have seen.  Even with the loss of hearing on her left ear since 2008 amongst other distractions such as her failed love relationship, the show must go on.  This sort of spirit inspires.

At 30, onto the 10th year of her commercially success career, I thought the title “Next Level” is timely.  The sound is mostly electronic, the fashion is colorfully fresh, “Next Step” is a premium production that fans will love.  I do.  As seen in her previous productions, “Next Step” has songs of similar nature packaged in segments divided by the instrumental tracks.  The opening tracks are energetic, discotheque-like, and almost sound like a series of remixes.  Midway through the album, it is transited to be more rock and “Next Step” is closed with an acoustic track that she shot the video barefoot walking around the movie street set in what seems like a freezing evening (see below).  My favorite track is the non-single track “Rollin’”.  That reminds of “Startin’”, not sure why.

Comes with the package is a CD recording of her Premium Countdown Live 2008-2009 and a DVD consists of 6 videos from “Next Step” as well as the making clips.  That covers the entire spectrum of studio production to live recording to video production with a glimpse of her personality.  Would I prefer the Countdown Live in DVD format instead?  In a way, yes, because her live concerts are always so out-of-the-world.  However, without the visual impact, I tend to pay more attention to her vocals.  I have got to say, for someone who has partial hearing loss, that is one heck of a performance.

Below is the last track of the album – “Curtain Call”.

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J Pop Music Reviews

Rimi Natsukawa 夏川りみ – ココロノウタ – A New Studio Production, A Live Recording, and A Concert DVD

Rimi Natsukawa

I wouldn’t imagine in a light year that I would enjoy listening to Japanese folk music.  Rimi Natsukawa’s previous album “Self Selection” has been like a comfort album to me.  So when I saw her 13th album “ココロノウタ” selling on the shelf, I quickly grabbed one without even test listening to it.

“ココロノウタ” comes with 3 discs.  A 8-track studio album, a 9-track live recording of her December 2008 concert held in Taiwan, and a DVD of that concert (12 tracks).  I’ve watched that DVD.  Even with zero knowledge in Japanese, she connects to me – with her expression, her tone, and her gesture.  Rimi can sing live really well and she plays the instrument too.  I don’t even know what that guitar-like instrument called.  It looks fretless and it looks difficult to play.  Most tracks are slow to moderately paced.  Towards the end of the concert, she picked up the pace with lots of colorful music arrangements.  It is a pleasant surprise and I can understand why some of these live tracks are not present in the CD recording.  They work better with the visual impact.

The songs from the new studio recording is just as pleasant as her previous productions.  Lyrically – judging from the Chinese translation – is poetically beautiful.  Beyond the visual images of the light and the blue sky, the wind and the hills, the moon and the darkness are a set of songs about yearning, about love and life and the embrace of a loving mother.

Click here if you wish to sample the album.  Below is one of the live recordings (not from this album collection) if you are curious about how Rimi’s music sounds like.  From the Chinese translation, the album title “ココロノウタ” means “Songs from the Heart and Soul”.

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Horsemen – If Not for Zhang Ziyi …

Horsemen

Sorry for my previous post that is kind of depressing and thanks for all your support.  I am OK, still [trying to be] as positive as ever.  So today has been a mad day at work.  I’ve told everybody that we are moving office and yet, work requests, meeting requests, email requests aimed at my team from near and afar – non-stop.  In between the request gaps, I was packing, frantically deciding what should go into a box that someone [I hope] would carry for me to the so-called new office (it’s not new for sure), what should go into the trash bin, and what should be shredded.  At day end, I turned to my team member and shocked that he hadn’t even started!

“Erm, you could use some of my box space.  I don’t have that much stuff,” I offered.  He is a lot older more experienced than me and at times, I feel that he’s my boss instead.  He waved and said, “Nah.”  “You are not bringing anything?” I asked.  And he pointed at his laptop bag and said, “That’s all.”

Wow.  I love that mentality.  I reckon I could have done the same.  What’s inside my box anyway?!  Junks.

So, what do men do when their partners are having all-girls-night-out?  Woohoo!  I frantically took out my [mental] note of things-I-wish-to-do-when-Cynthia-is-having-a-good-time-on-her-own.  Horror movies!  Except, there are none showing and “Horsemen” is the closest movie that neither Cynthia nor our movie buddy TK would want to watch with me.

So I wrapped up with the day with “Horsemen”.  To tell you the truth, if not for Zhang Ziyi, I wouldn’t have picked it.  I love her acting and she speaks better English this time.  Even with little makeup and with no fancy clothes throughout the show, she is just gorgeous.  While I am not quite sure if it’s a good idea to mix a bunch of suicidal, depressed kids with family issues and the [mis-] interpretation of the Book of Revelation from the Bible, “Horsemen” did prompt me to think or do the followings:

  • Work is just work, don’t forget your family.
  • I nearly cried towards the end.
  • [I confess that] it’s been a long time since I opened the Bible and not only have I read a bit here and there, I read the study notes in details too.

To the curious minds, the Book of Revelation is not meant to be taken as a literal set of predictions for the current events.  It is so encrypted because it was written during the Christian prosecution.  Divine revelation no doubt but do read it with the study notes.  Chapter 6 is the center theme of “Horsemen” and in the Bible, it is the visions of cosmic conflict.  A vision of four horsemen to kill with sword, famine, and plague, and by means of the beasts of the earth.  And then the angels appear and so on.

“Horsemen” is a pretty gruesome movie.  But then, for those who enjoy watching CSI, I don’t think you’ll have a problem with this one.  For those who dislike movies that end abruptly without a conclusion, you may not like “Horsemen”. 

I don’t hate “Horsemen”, I am just OK with it.  Nothing makes sense in the movie.  It is because by definitely, suicidal is momentary insanity.

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Taken – I Squeezed Cynthia’s Hand So Hard That It’s No Joke!

taken

I am a big fan of Liam Neeson – less so for that Star War film but more so for say “Schindler’s List” and “Michael Collins”.  So naturally, I like “Taken”.  Did you know that it is scripted by Luc Besson?  “The Fifth Element” is my all time favorite.  And surprise-surprise, “Taken” is directed by Pierre Morel who has also partnered with Luc Besson in “District 13”.  All of us in the Movie Review Squad have watched “District 13” back in 2006.

While all of us love “Taken”, TK thinks that the open scenes are a bit too slow.  For me, I appreciate the character development, especially for this type of film.  To the least, you get to know where those special ‘capabilities’ of Neeson’s character – Bryan Mills – come from, his relationship with his daughter, and the situation he is now at.  Rather than a 007 or Bourne kind of intensity from beginning to end, there is a build up right to the point when Bryan’s daughter, Kim, was kidnapped in Paris, sold to a prostitution ring, and from then onwards, all hell break loose.

Maybe such circumstance has a higher urgency than ransom or even murder.  I didn’t expect the violence, I didn’t expect the excitement.  I was squeezing Cynthia’s hand throughout the show.  At the end of it, I felt some soreness on my jaws.  Gosh.  I must have been grinding my teeth hard.

TK said that “Taken” reminded him of the TV series 24.  Quite true.  The girl has a similar stage name some more.  Cynthia said that the show reminded her of “Your Name Is Justine” (a very painful movie to watch based on human trafficking) from the content point of view.  For me, “Taken” is like a series of little quests on the journey of a very desperate father trying to find his daughter in a foreign country, at times beyond comprehension how things could happen that way.  Kind of remind me of that one online role playing game’s non-stop questing (don’t think, just do).  90 minutes seemed to have passed way too quickly.  I want more.