A Elder long, a Sakura, and a whole new universe

When I woke up today, I knew I had to meet my wonderful friends for King Arthur at Orchard Cineleisure. As the time came nearer to leave my beloved home, I was still struggling to write my latest blog entry. But I eventually saved a draft version of the document and prepared myself for my little outing.

After saying all the goodbyes, I found myself rushing for the MRT. I didn’t want to be late. To me my punctuality is important; it’s a showing of my self discipline. I never really cared if my friends came late but I hated those who didn’t turn up after promising they would do so.

Well as I was trying to find a seat on the MRT which by the way I didn’t, I met this young American guy by the name of Elder Long from California. I must admit that he freaked me out by asking how I was. It’s not everyday that some random stranger asks how you are doing, everybody on the train just ignores one another.

So what started out as I simple greeting went on to be an engaging conversation. He mentioned that he arrived in Singapore yesterday and was on the way to a church. He also said that he was sent here by his church in California. He was even kind enough to share his family military background with me.

Being an Indian does have its benefits. We just can’t keep our bloody mouths shut. So by the time the train arrived at Newton station, he had now learned that there is indeed a Zoo in Singapore and about the various tourist hotspots in Singapore. I even threw in a bit of the ezlink card history. He was surprised I knew so much about Singapore and shook my hand before he left the train. Well Mr. Long did brighten my day.

After arriving at Cathay Cineleisure, I just wondered around. Soon Latiff and Michelle join me at the Burger King. We had our lunch while Michelle went for a snack. And later we proceeded to watch King Arthur. The show was great. The production of this movie was in excellent hands. I really enjoyed King Arthur and so did my friends.

I can’t see the reason movie critics rated this movie so poorly. I for one have already made my opinions on critics known. These are people who can only talk and can’t walk the walk. I am really frustrated towards the attitude of some critics; the simply ought to be shot for their bloody ignorance.

After the movie, we made our way down to The Hereen. My two good buddies bought some movie vcds. While I did see a few surprising selections at the HMV store, I was largely disappointed with the catalogue they carried. With my tummy growling for food, we decided to eat at a place of Latiff’s choosing.

Before going to fill our appetites, Michelle found a vcd set that she purchased on the spot. It was her favorite actor from the Korean drama show. Damn, he’s name slips from my tired mind right now. Anyway we made our way to the Sakura Cuisine. There we had a nice meal and chat. I also passed the movie Latiff was eagerly waiting to watch, ‘Monty Python and the Meaning of Life. And for Michelle I passed a bunch of cds that she might enjoy.

After dinner, we headed to Borders where I purchased a book Latiff strongly recommended. It was entitled The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot. As it was getting late, Michelle and I left Latiff to his fate, and headed to the MRT station. I opted to ride with Michelle to city hall in the opposite direction because I wanted a seat all the way back home. Upon Michelle’s departure, I quickly sought to the task of reading my new book.

This book is just extraordinary. I am glad Latiff introduced me to this book. Upon my completion of this book, I shall write a deserving review for it. Seeing that everyone on my msn messenger is offline now, I have so cruelly become aware that it is time to sleep.

In which the author watches Spiderman with his friends.

I met my friends at Plaza Singapura to watch Spider-man 2. This was my second time watching it within a span of seven days.

Stan “The Man” Lee’s Spider-man has always been one of my favorite superheroes. His wise cracking jokes, his personal demons, his loner attitude and the dilemma of doing the right thing versus his personal dreams have captured my imagination. I remember hearing from Stan lee in an interview years ago that Spider-man was the superhero you might become.

Growing up as an Indian has had its fundamental flaws. My parents would never give me money to buy any comics. They said why waste money for a comic that you would read only once. They also said I needed to save money for something important.

But these things hold a kind of aura towards me; I still have my Atari 2600 in working condition since 1989. These are things that remind me of who I was and the times I have enjoyed myself. I also still keep my favorite sticker book collections and many memorabilia throughout my school years. Call me a sentimental fool but these are the things that made me appreciate the reason of me being here today.

So how did I grow to love Spider-man? My Spider-man admiration came from my only free source, the cartoon series. But in Singapore, they would never put the whole series in full. After a while, Spider-man simply disappeared. The kept replaying the old episodes and new Spider-man series throughout different periods of the 90s. But whenever I got to see Spider-man, I was captivated by his amazing abilities, and maybe unknowing realized that this was a character many people can related to.

Back to the Spider-man movie outing. After having lunch, Latiff and I met Jin Jian. We were waiting for Michelle (My best friend).

I have stated that I have interests in woman especially charismatic ones. To speak of her gives me great pleasure. She had a goof game oops I meant to say a golf game in Malaysia earlier in the day and was caught in traffic at the Woodlands checkpoint.

How many girls do you know, actually know how to play golf? That’s determination for you. In all my years spent in school I never knew a single person who knew the rules of golf or took the time to explain the rules to me. I still remember the day she explained the rules of golf during a poly presentation. Since then I have come to enjoy watching golf on television.

With 15 minutes into the show she arrived and sat beside me. She said I looked different. Kinda spooky, cause after an hour into the movie Mary Jane said the exact same thing to Peter Parker. What are the odds of that?

After the show as I was checking my pocket to see if I had left anything behind. Michelle come up and handed me my handphone. I was relived and thanked her. My handphone isn’t the latest model but it does hurt when you lose something that was in your care for so long.

Later my friends and I sat down and had a nice chat. This would very well be our last chance to have a nice conversation as everyone is gearing up for the next phase in their lives. It truly was an enjoyable evening for me; I only hope that I get more opportunities to spend time with my wonderful friends.

One of anime’s truly magnificent experiences.

Released in 1995, this animated film directed by Mamoru Oshii was credited being the inspiration for the Wachowski brothers’ Matrix trilogy.

But it wasn’t until Thursday that I got my hands on it. For all you lost souls who are wondering what is Ghost in the Shell about, I decided to write a review on this anime to enlighten you. Although it is about nine years late, I hope it will inspire you the reader to at least watch this animated film.

Ghost in the Shell, the ghost refers to individual identity and shell refers to bodies both artificial and organic. In the year 2029, an expansive computer network unites the world. In Japan, a covert police division investigates cyber crime in this futuristic world of city-states and mega-corporations.

Major Motoko Kusanagi, a member of Section Nine, searches for a deposed foreign despot seeking political asylum, leading to a person known as the Puppet Master, a hacker who is capable of penetrating even the strongest of the world’s Internet firewalls.

But as Motoko and her partner, Bateau, approach the hacker, the paramilitary security division of the Foreign Service interferes, executing a secret agenda. Meanwhile, Motoko must consider why the Puppet Master seeks her out specifically for his plans. In essence, it is the question of the nature of self.

The movie uses the film noir visuals that are common in anime, and it shares that peculiar tendency of all adult animation to give us women who are (a) strong protagonists at the center of the story, and (b) nevertheless almost continuously nude.

Kenji Kawai’s music contributes wonderfully to the atmosphere of the film, occasionally moving into the foreground as well. A rich blend of orchestral and choral timbres, the vast majority of his composition is understated and calming, making the occasional dissonance even more striking. His expressed doubt of the music’s worthiness is to be ignored; the score is fantastic.

Perhaps the beautiful unity of Ghost in the Shell is best conveyed through example. At the film’s midpoint, haunting music accompanies Motoko as she traverses the city. But an innocent interlude quickly evolves into thematic commentary as Oshii presents the viewer with a series of images; each passively provokes thought and gives the film’s abstract concepts a more concrete foundation. Mokoto first notices several women casually moving through the city who share her facial composition, inviting the viewer to contemplate other similarities.

The human tendency to link body and personality is strongly disrupted by this walk; among millions, Motoko sees time after time faces like her own. These confounding images are followed by scenes of warehouses, store windows, mannequins without faces, bodies without personality. In a mellow scene with no dialogue, director Oshii forcefully presents the dilemma of ghost and shell to the viewer. Once limited to Motoko’s internal conflict, this theme, this independence of spirit and body, expands to infuse itself in every element of this spectacular film.

I for one usually prefer stories that move at a deliberate pace, I found Ghost in the Shell really enjoyable. Director Mamoru Oshii presents many fascinating concepts to consider and the experience is amplified because of his focused direction of the plot. Ghost in the Shell is of one of anime’s truly magnificent experiences.

You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?

I brought my Dad and my Brother to the Cathay Cinema at Causeway Point to watch The Chronicles of Riddick. This would be my second time.

Ever since I saw the movie trailer I wanted to see this movie in the cinema. Prior to the movie, I managed to get my hands on Pitch Black, the first movie in which the Riddick character appears.

A movie like Pitch Black didn’t need to have an anti hero character, but the director played his cards well. He is now rewarded with the Chronicles of Riddick which not only towers his previous effort but also in the process creates an instant sci-fi classic. The movie has to regarded as one of the best sci-fi action movie that has been ever been produced.

I must say it seems like Vin Diesel was born to play Riddick; he acted out this character as if he himself was Riddick. His moody voice and his presence on screen were simply brilliant.

Though most will say Diesel performance vacillates between a cardboard action hero and an unconvincing sensitive bad guy, I feel that most critics do not understand how hard it is to produce a movie of such magnitude with the lead character as an anti hero.

Well they say a statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. I think Jean Sibelius said that. Anyway I found this movie to be entertaining and also brilliantly conceived.