Category: My Opinion

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For the Geeks Game Reviews

Warhammer 40,000 – Dawn Of War

Having equiped my computer with 2 video cards, I have revisited the game Warhammer 40,000 (real time strategy game) and see what my cards are capable of. As I was taking screenshots, I thought why don’t I write a story about one of the missions that I partook?

The mission began with the Librarian and Inquisitor arrived at the base not convinced that there was another alien force in the planet other than the Orks.

As part of the advancement of the combat units, capturing strategic points is part and puzzle of the mission.

And look what I have discovered. The alien units!

My tanks – Whirlwind – have a super long range. See how they destroy the enemy base. Ground was shaking I swear.

What is Warhammer without an intense battle? (In fact, there were many of these battles.)

Alright, we have found an Orks base. Seek and destroy!

My scouts are the great infiltraters. One of the coolest looking units.

I was advised to build a second base so HQ (headquarter) here it came.

As soon as I have started building this second base, our base was under heavy fire.

Indeed, nothing we couldn’t handle. As soon as the area was secured, the Librarian and Inquisitor travelled in style inside the transport units – Rhino. (My own idea … thought it would be cool to have main characters travel in “limo”.)

Soon after the Librarian and Inquisitor have arrived, they have confirmed the existence of this alien race.

And of course, as for me, mission accomplished.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Cathleen Schine’s She Is Me

Impressed by one of her previous novels The Love Letter that was adopted both by a Hollywood movie as well as a Japanese film, I picked up She Is Me from the library. I must have read The Love Letter some ten years ago so I was eager to find out if She Is Me is as good.

When I read a book, I usually try to look out for something fresh. In a way, the narration changes from the grumpy grandma Lotte, to mother Greta who never complained leaving the people around her having to anticipate her needs, and finally to Greta’s daughter Elizabeth who has a son Harry and insisted to stay out of marriage.

Grandma Lotte was dying of skin cancer and Elizabeth has quited her job as a professor and took up screenplay writing in order to stay with her grandmother. To Elizabeth, marriage is the cause of adultery because if there is no marriage, there is no such thing as adultery.

As Lotte’s health was deteriorating and Greta was diagnosed having colon cancer and have to undergo treatment, it is when the whole depression of death sinking into readers’ minds. Greta’s falling in love with another woman and Elizabeth’s affair added drama to the whole novel and I especially like the question raised: where does privacy end and secrecy begins?

I enjoyed the novel. Not a page turner I must say and I suspect even if I have read Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary” – Elizabeth was supposed to write a modern script based on that – I would not have gained much out from it.

Towards the end of the novel, it was mentioned that passion is pointless. Or is it?

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J Pop Music Reviews

Koda Kumi is HOT

Is she hot? IS SHE HOT?!

I was not impressed with her first best collection. But this one … for S$24 … it comes with 1 CD, 1 DVD of her video, and 1 DVD of her live concert. Not only that, it comes with a Board of Film Censors, Singapore sticker of M18. M18 my friend. That means Mature 18! Must buy! So I did.

Just went through her video DVD. She is hot. No other words to describe.

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Movie Reviews

Movies That I Have Recently Watched

Looks like these days I have plenty of free time. Cynthia and I did not plan to watch “Failure to Launch” and we bought the tickets out of spontaneousness. Have you ever watched a show that you enjoy while you are inside the cinema and totally have no recollection on plots or actings or whatsoever when you left the cinema? Ya, this is the kind of show.

“Crash” is an Oscar winning film and though Cynthia and my friend found the show so-so, I enjoyed it thoroughly. “Crash” painted the many facets of racial discrimination and delivered a plot that has many resolutions within the sub-stories while leaving many open-ended. To me, this movie is a rare gem.

“V for Vendetta” is a commercial film based on a short comic series. Cynthia, my friend, and I enjoyed it a lot. The script shines the most. The idea though conceptualized many years ago is still valid looking at the current affair of terrorism and the “authority”. Natalie Portman’s acting is good. And I especially like Hugo Weaving’s acting as V (Agent Smith from the Matrix, remember him?).

What “Ice Age 2” lacks of are an engaging plot and character development. The only thing that saved the movie from no star to perhaps 1 star is the small animal that is crazy over nuts.

Cynthia wanted to watch “Brokeback Mountain” and thanks to my friend from the office, I have borrowed the DVD that saved me from taking her to the cinema (and dragging my movie buddy along as well). To be fair, the movie is more than a gay cowboy show. But I can understand why many men may find it disgusting to see two men kissing and screwing each other on the screen (sorry, can’t use the word “love making”). Nevertheless, it is an Oscar winning film (I think) and if you can look beyond the intimacy between two men, it does have storyline on how these two men having their own normal love life – marriage and kids – and yet find time to spend with each other over 20 years. It is a love story that is nicely filmed. Too bad, I can’t relate to that.

“Tristan and Isolde” is an epic love story set in the Medieval Age when the Roman Empire just collapsed and Europe has fallen into the Dark Age. Tristan was from England and Isolde was from Ireland. I am more intrigued by the story itself rather than the acting and filming. Acting-wise, it is substandard. Filming-wise, well, I have seen much better ones like King Arthur and Troy. Sophia Myles played Isolde and she is just so adorable in the movie.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Milan Kundera’s Ignorance

I am a huge fan of Milan Kundera, a Franco-Czech novelist. His recent novels “Slowness” and “Identity” left me wanting for more. This short novel Ignorance was published in 2002 and it was only recently I have managed to read it. While “Slowness” took us for a tour of a parallel stories that happened simultaneously in the past and at present in the same physical space and “Identity” allowed us to witness a love story whereby one person started to lose her identity, “Ignorance” reminded us how unreliable memories are and two persons though shared the same experience may not have the same memory. In “Ignorance”, Milan Kundera describes “Nostalgia” in the most details fashion sharing with us what nostalgia really means through the origin of languages, through great work by writers in the past, through his personal point of view, and through the very story he told.
“Ignorance” is not an easy read. It is a book worth reading time and time again.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Requiem of Ling Sing (A Deadly Secret) by Jin Jong

I have read novels from Jin Jong since young. His great work has helped to shape my character and every time when I reread his works in various time of my life, different emotions resonance from within me. His work is complex and I have yet to find any novel in any language that can be as engaging as his work. Sad to say, he has only written 12 stories (36 books in total) and has decided to retire from writing Wuxia (translate: martial arts heroes) novels on the year when I was born (1972). Click here for Yin Yong’s fan site.
I don’t recall I have read this particular story by Jin Jong. I must have given it a pass because it is just a story with one book (usually each story comes with four volumes). Today is Good Friday and I have finished the book in one day. Throughout my reading, I was trying to pinpoint the success ingredients of Jin Jong’s work. Perhaps it is due to the fact that his work was used to be published in the newspaper daily and with limited space, you really have to make each daily dosage as engaging as possible by delivering one small plot as well as enticing the readers with another.

As I reached the end of the book, I realized that the success ingredients are more than that. The highest level of art form is when the characters inside the book have come alive. Be it as you love them to death or hate them to death, you laugh and wipe with them.

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Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

District 13 – Go and Watch it!

I asked my friend TK to surprise me with a movie selection and so he did. Watched “District 13” on the newly opened Cathay Picture House. I love it. Cynthia loves it. I am sure TK loves it too. An action film by Luc Besson with a unque concept of a no man’s land (District 13) set in Paris 2010. Go watch it.

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Book Reviews Fiction

Undomestic Goddess – A Good Read

Some people call it “chick-lit” (literature for chicks) but I do find it a very good read. Something I can sort of relate to (life of a professional) and had a good laugh from page to page. After I finished reading it, Cynthia took over, finished in one of two days, then passed it to her mother. I enjoyed it so much that I visited a bookstore and grab all her Shopaholic series. Trust me, it was not easy to carry 5 chick-lits to the counter. Author’s name is Sophie Kinsella. Hope you will like it too.

Related Entries: Remember Me By Sophie Kinsella – A Calculated Risk That May Or May Not Work For Some, Can You Keep A Secret?, and On Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic & Baby

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Drama Movie Reviews

French Movie – Anthony Zimmer

Verdict: 8/10
Pros: Engaging scenes with a tightness that hold your attention from beginning till the end. Good acting from the lead actor and actress. And of course, Sophie Marceaus – the sexiest French on earth.
Cons: You probably may watch it again once or twice but not as many times as some of the other French foreign films.

It all started with the authorities’ desire to hunt down a business criminal William Zimmer whom has disappeared but has one weakness – Chiara (played by the beautiful French actress Sophie Marceau). From then on, it was a constant spinning of the story how Francois fell in love with Chiara in a random encounter only to find that he was manipulated and now hunt by hitmen and authorities. And of course the big question: Where is William Zimmer.

I must say that the scenes are well crafted that not one scene is in excess. The storyline is somewhat predictable but what is amazing is how the movie is being delivered despite it’s predictability. French films usually include quite a number of artistically made sex scenes but this one has none. Looking back, having those scenes in the movie will probably spoil the character development.

This is one movie that I will definitely get a DVD version when it releases.

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Animation Movie Reviews

Wallace and Gromit

Kicked start my new year movie journey with TK and watched Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Probably because I went in with a high expectation (my wife said because we went in with an empty stomach), the show was good but not as good as I thought. The artwork is beautiful. However, the storyline is a bit simplistic and most of the time you are listening to Wallace talking to his dog Gromit that communicates only by facial expression. Also, a number of key incidents of the show is a bit illogical.

Another main reason is that I kept on comparing this movie with Corpse Bride.