When my friend JT whom has lost faith in the modern day Metallica bought the latest Metallica album after watching watching this documentary DVD, I knew for sure it is a must-watch. Metallica is one of the biggest heavy metal band today and whether you like this kind of music or not, you will be amazed by what goes on behind the music scene – the struggles and all. I definitely recommend this DVD to fans and non-fans alike.
Yet another film played by the famous French actress Audrey Tautou. I have heard mixed reviews on this very long show (134 minutes). Although reviewers from Singapore’s newspaper gave this show a 4-star, who take their opinions seriously anyway?
A show about a girl, Mathilde, who went into great length in investigating her fiance Manech’s whereabouts. Manech has gone missing during a World War I episode. In doing so, she has uncovered the stories of couple of others that intertwined with Manech’s. Is this a romantic show? I guess it is more than a mystery genre to me. Did I enjoy it? Personally, very much so. And by the way, Jodie Foster was playing in the show speaking French. Came as a surprise to me.
I can’t remember when I have started playing Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC) – one of the online games – but I felt as though it has been a while. Did I start right after my mother and sister left Singapore in mid January? I can’t remember no more.
Tomorrow hopefully I shall receive my copy of World of Warcraft (WoW). That will end my journey with DAoC. It is kind of sad because I have built my friend list there and I have built a character that is more than half way to the highest level. It reminds me of my university days when I have to leave the mudding game because I was no long having a valid user account.
It has been hard to leave DAoC for certain. ML has been more than a good mentor to me. He is going to retain his account in DAoC and we shall move onto WoW. Let’s hope that WoW is as good, if not better, than DAoC.
And I shall open up a new category under My ThoughtI just for WoW. Stay tuned.
Another Matrix film it may be not – though I was hoping so – the fresh ideas that evolve from such a commonly known concept of good versus evil never failed to surprise me. Be it as the chemistry between Keanu Reeves and Rachael Weisz, be it as the little humours that keep popping from such a dark film, be it as some of the scenes that reminds me of the computer game DOOM 3, it is the entire package that makes me go wow.
And don’t forget to stay till the very end of the show – i.e. credits and all – there is a little something that will be worth waiting for. Enjoy the show y’all and I surely look forward to a sequel.
A Ton Image can be – from my distant memory – translated to “Splitting Image”. It is a movie about a sterile wife and her obstetrician husband going in great length in having a child of their own. Against his belief and without telling his wife, he has cloned his wife as their daughter.
I have not watched any movie that addresses the reality of cloning as good as this one … more.
The possibility that the clone is connected as the original one like the way twins are connected to each other, the possibility that the clone shared some part of the original one’s memory, and the possibility that the clone is, just a clone, a replica that defies God’s will … all these possibilities that are addressed by the film in about 90 minutes.
And the for for cloning? Elimination of gene inequality. Think about it. There may be an element of truth here. Think about all future generation are born free of defects; all look beautiful and attractive; all are smart. Imagine how human species can push the frontier of science and technology and art alike.
Imagine the possiblities … rather than getting so hung up on the religious and ethic issues.
Imagine the unimaginable …
Do I buy CD by a cover? Hell yes. Lately I have been quite desperately looking for new Japanese artists rather than my usual Ayumi Hamasaki, Love Psychedelico, Mika Nakashima, Aamie Amuro, Aikawa Nanase, Utada Hikaru … (now you know my favourite J-Pop artists). I was pleasantly stopped by a new single collection by Eriko Imai. I certainly haven’t heard of SPEED although according to one of my friends, SPEED was the big thing before Ayumi Hamasaki.
First thing first, the record company is Avex Trax – same as Ayumi’s recording company – so it can’t go wrong right? Upbeat music with very nice melody. Well, in terms of singing. Eriko Imai does exhibits the typical Japanese style – high pitch at certain point. But if you can look beyond this, the CD is pretty entertaining. There are a total of 12 songs and I do enjoy most of the songs in this collection. Believe it or not, I listen to this album more than Ayumi’s new album.
And if anyone want to know, Eriko was born in September 22, 1983 and will be 22 years old this year. Currently weights at 48kg with a height of 1.60m. Enough bio-statistics … (where did the research come from??)
Together with the CD, there is a DVD with 3 music videos and the off-shot videos – seems like the trend nowadays for those who can’t get enough of the artist.
I have translated one of the songs in her album Stairway from the Chinese translation that comes with the CD. It is roughly as such:
Stairway
Please put your hand on my chest and feel my heartbeats
It’s going to be broken into piece
Before dawn, please be by my side.
Don’t want to lose to that unbridgeable distance
One day, we shall be together
Stairway, I am approaching you
Even though it is far but I won’t give up
Stairway, the road the leads to you
No matter how far, I will continue to climb
Because I was used to be hugged by your warm embrace
This love that is accumulated through these years
If I was never discover it, I would have regret a great deal
You better love her well
I said that because I was forced to …
Stairway, cast away all the fear of mistakes
I only want to go over the obstacles with you
Stairway, each step is leading into my heart
Let us two to be as one
Stairway, I am approach you
Even though it is far but I won’t give up
Stairway, the road the leads to you
No matter how far, I will continue to climb
Stairway, cast away all the fear of mistakes
I only want to go over the obstacles with you
Stairway, each step is leading into my heart
Let us two to be as one
When I dined with my friend TK showing him my new Ayumi Hamasaki album on Dec 22nd, he said that as a huge Ayumi fan, I should have bought the album on day one and not one week after. Well, I would not have known if Ayumi’s album did come out in Singapore one week ago (TK was in Japan during then) or it just came out on that day. Either case, I AM a huge fan and this album reminds me everything I love about Ayumi.
It has been a 2 years’ wait and it was worthwhile. A full album (close to 75 minutes of solid enjoyment) plus a bonus DVD packed with very nicely made videos and the “making of” videos. This CD+DVD edition comes with 4 different album covers. What are you waiting for?
I have been a huge, huge No Doubt fan. Having been to their wild, wild concert at Paris, I will just buy anything that has Gwen Stefani’s voice in it. I am so totally into Gwen and her band. And so I did, bought the album without even listenning to any tracks.
And I don’t regret a single bit.
It is a dance album. From start to end. It is the uniqueness of this album that starts out from the rest of the dance album. First it is Gwen’s voice – very pleasant and beautiful and you can just listen to every words. That is great! Really. Then, it is the collabration with many talented people in the music industry such as Dr. Dre, The Neptunes, Andre 3000, and many others. Finally it is the wierd reference to Harajuku Girl and give a twist to the whole thing.
I love the album. Each and every song. You guys should check it out too.
Whenever I am lost in my songwriting world, I always find my anchor through some of my favourite artists. PJ Harvey is one of them. My favourite PJ Harvey album? To Bring You My Love. Though I have to confess that I do like Stories From The Cities, Stories From The Sea a lot.
Uh Huh Her is raw, is mean and I just love it. Nothing commercial and I just immerse in all the songs in the album. At times, the songs remind me of demo songs. Like some of the songs, there is only one guitar with considerable amount of noise in the background. Then, it comes PJ Harvey’s beautiful voice and the strong lyrics. I do like The Slow Drug a lot. Lyrics below.
By the way, another one of my favourite song is Who The F**k. But I can’t publish the lyric, can I?
Blue now is the colour
Love the drug I’m needing
Got to keep this feeling
With the headlights burning
We’re looking up for something
Answers on the ceiling
Watching out the windows
Watch the way the wind blows
Soon it will be morning
Still the question lingers
I twist it round my fingers
Could you be my calling?
See this winged boy falling
Falling out of something
Hits the drug I’m needing
Arrows that he’s turning
Need to keep this feeling
Slow drug in the morning
With the headlights burning
Looking up for something
Something that we’re needing
Still the question lingers
I twist it round my fingers
Could you be my calling
Okay, I exaggerated. Mainly because none of my regular movie partners nor my wife is into horror film (except one of my best friend’s wife who is from Hong Kong too) and it is the one horror film I have watched since The Ring, I have to vote Shutter as the horror film of the year.
It all began with a car accident that the main characters ran away from and thereafter, the pictures taken by the photographer contained strange lights and ghosty image. After that, scene after scene, the horror just got better and better. One of my colleagues who sat next to me was screaming all the way while I was laughing all the way. I must be sick or mad.
This movie, in real life, is spooky in some way. There were 7 of us watching a 7pm show at a cinema at the 7th floor. The show has 7 letters and I was sitting at seat number 7. How coincidental can it be??