Indulging in some micro-blogging again. Seriously seriously got no time for anything. I’m not kidding. The toilet’s no longer got space for any bookshelves. See, I told you.
A bit of updating before I do the big B(Log). I’m now out of the Land of the Ducks. Uni policies insist on doing so for second year, I’m just playing my part. So, no more ducks, but I’ve yet to name this 5-room, 1-bath place. Maybe I’ll just call it 1BATH, like how people like to shriek 1U or something. What do you think? But don’t think it will do, sounds too much like the other uni. Moley-donkey, gotta think of another name. Need more time for that......
Managed to dig out something I punched over the summer holidays. Yeah, I know, that’s why I’m gonna hit you with some numbers: 3 months I left the blog idle, 2 months I’d been on the job (and on the edge of my seat), 4 weeks into the term and I don’t even have 1 minute to type out something proper. Bear with me, I suppose time will tell if more time will come.
Here we go.
“One month into my internship.
One of the many things that I have learnt over the past few weeks on the job is why I seldom hear working people talk about subscribing to the TV movie packages i.e. HBO, Cinemax and StarMovies. Well, it’s not that it costs an elephant to maintain the monthly subscription, nor is there limited rubbish, I mean movies, to kill time with. It’s just that there’s no donkey time to even sit down and watch anything during weekdays, or at least for my part. I used to be a super pinch-me-I-think-I-saw-Jet-Li-at-Petaling-Street crazy fan of movie channels, and a strong believer that the creator of HBO should be awarded Nobel prizes, for the peace they bring when I was kept occupied for the few hours. It’s comforting to know that you have the 3 channels at the mercy of your fingertips, and the sense of security that there’s always something that the next channel could offer once a movie ends (or you could just watch a few ‘behind-the-scenes’ while waiting for the next film to arrive, or make the crucial dash to the washroom, if you know what I mean). But then again, these days, I think I’m losing the urge to sit in front of the ‘box (or to update the term, the ‘panel) on weekdays. Mind you, I still fiddle with the remote control once in a while, but movie channels are usually out of the question.
Which brings to the topic of how some movies can be total rubbish. Even for a short while. Such as “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, on which I burnt my hour and a half. I thought I could re-live some of those pre-uni times by killing an emptied-slot Saturday afternoon at home, but little did I know I was better off counting sea-shells in the monsoon drain; there won’t be any, but that’s just how bad the movie is. Oh, mind you, the cast is strong, with ex-sexy-bow-tie-and-crocodile-shoe James Bond man, Sean Connery leading the team of, among a few, an invisible man, an invincible man, a vampire, a hybrid, and a, err, policeman. With 2 guns. That will never jam up. Oh, and before I forget, the boatman.
Don’t get me wrong. I used to be a big fan of “The Invisible Man” and “Van Helsing” and “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” books, and notwithstanding, Mr. Bond(s), but to see all of them gather up in this Indiana Jones adventures-que film made me keen to question if the movie line is a bit too saturated. There’s too many big-shot, famous characters that we have watched and read about somewhere else, yet in this movie only played small, almost cameo roles while the focus is largely focused onto a Brit and an American who possesses no superpowers, making them seem less EXTRAORDINARY compared to the rest, if I must. If there’s something to enjoy in this film, it would be the relatively cool graphics they used on some of the characters. Like Dorian Gray for example. The immortal man who never ages, sand-like stuffs start to spew out of him when he gets shot. Or how the Invisible Man, walking around carrying a book of some sort. Yeah, you could say the people at the Fantastic Four franchise did a better job of hiding Jessica Alba, but it’s just as refreshing to see such natural movement to the book as it floats mid-air, but just as organic as someone holding it.
Yet, like how a small piece of gold disappears when thrown onto a pile of shredded paper, the movie is brought down by, you guessed it, the relatively un-cool graphics. The ship was the funniest of them all. A rough estimate with my finger on the screen tells me it’s about as tall as the Statue of Liberty, yet it’s able to sail through the tight, shallow waters of Venice half submerged. Without getting stuck. Amazing. And let’s not forget the car. It is fine that engineers in the past weren’t, let’s say, ‘well informed’ that it’s easier to steer an axle rather than 2, and there wasn’t any thing called the power steering in the past to control 4 front wheels, so let’s call it a day with that and let it be. But to see the car race through a collapsing Venice, without any debris scratching the detailed paint of the uglio-mobile nor any falling on the precious head of the Western policeman, is off the charts in the non-humour humourous scale.
So, my verdict? Its a good movie if you don’t have any pre-installed ideas of vampires, transforming dudes and invisible man stuck in your head. And it’s not that bad too if you don’t mind graphics coded by polar bears using Wordpad (think 2012), then this movie is tailor made for your Saturday afternoons. Otherwise, go watch somewhere else. Like Animal Planet or something.
And oh, yes, I am back at home, where I came from. Just a little story-telling, the night I had to leave London, my flight was delayed by a mise-mise-mise-miserable 2 hours. Airbus, please please hurry up with the A380 deliveries, and if you do, cows will grow less beard so they are less painful to look at. Or that the wine next year will taste better than when Boeing delivers the Dreamliner. Whatever it is, you’ll be blessed for doing good deeds for students and inter-continent travellers, like us. Otherwise, it’s the usual story, and KLIA leads my charts in airport trolley quality. Their flawless design, ergonomic wheels and perfectly-weighed brakes did a great job in keeping my luggage together.
And it also amazed me how strategically-located our airport is, that it slowly creates anticipation as you approach the city by car. You land in the airport and see modern, extravagant world class design. Then you leave the place and it looks like you’re driving in the middle of Borneo, albeit on well-lit, 4-lane highways, and you’d be like thinking whether you landed in KL, Northamptonshire or something. But as you cruise along the highway, you’ll notice the landscape along the road changing slowly. Very slowly. Almost like how some movies focus on one place and let the seasons pass for a few years; rain, leaves, snow, wind, rain, leaves, snow, something like that. Roadside, it starts with trees. Then the houses start to appear. Then advertisement boards. Then condominiums. Then factories. Then more advertisement boards. Then it’s the combination of the few. Then you know you’ve landed spot on when you see the Twin Towers. Amazing. Just amazing.”
That’s all for now. Will end with the movie poster by lugaluda.com. And a picture of the Pagani Zonda Cinque from www.webridestv.com because its a mean-looking machine. Bing.
