I just realised that I’m now at this period of my life where:

• Many people around me are turning 21 (and no, we don’t magically ‘turn’ into adults like that), and 21st birthday celebrations become an almost weekly affair
• A lot of local and foreign artistes around my age have ‘made it’ and are already idols of millions of fans everywhere
• Nearly half of my friends already know how to drive and it’s gonna take some time for me to get used to, instead of being half-horrified when they offer a ride =O
• Many of my friends have proper ‘grown-up’ jobs
• I’m expected to be treated as an adult (I didn’t ask for it) and supposed to behave and think like a mature person
• My parents are slowly starting to exchange duties with me (I will start paying more bills.. Take care of them.. Bring them around..)

Soon, everyone will be working more than they realise. Some of us might be working towards a dream/goal, while some of us are probably just trying to earn enough money to feed ourselves so that we can make more money.

Friends will start marrying and wedding dinners can be a great excuse for class gatherings. Then we all start having babies and become parents ourselves. Ex-classmates who used to get scolded by our ex-teachers start to scold their own kids in exactly the same manner.

Years later, eventually some of us might lose contact, and only meeting up during some of our parents’ funerals (I know death is a topic we all tend to avoid, but it’s inevitable isn’t it?).

During that time, how many of us would have achieved what we want in life? And how many of us would have reached the destination we’ve been trying to get to for a whole lifetime and discover we don’t really want to be there? (quote from Mike Gayle)

Even more years later, when we grow very old, I wonder how it feels to see each and every one of my friends departing forever. Old friends, who used to talk to me a lot and went shopping with me, lie motionless in coffins they didn’t buy from their shopping trips. Will I regret for not spending enough time with them? Will I find myself wanting to tell them things I should have said decades ago?

What if I die before everyone else?

It’s quite interesting (a little scary too) to discover how my whole life can be briefly summarised into those short paragraphs above. But life is short. Obviously I have left out many other fun and juicy parts about life but my point is… I really treasure my close friends around me a lot. I feel like I can do anything (*in desperate situations where ‘anything’ is absolutely necessary) for them.

Every now and then when I am given off days from work, I cherish the free time to bits. Nothing beats sitting down on a bench with a close friend to do people-watching in town and talk about nothing in particular, while the rest of the world around you is busy rushing through time to meet deadlines and make money. It feels good to slow down, think and listen to your inner voice.

I hope I don’t forget to ask myself this question once in a while: Now.. Is this what I want?

Movie Reviews!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The sight of Gambit (looks like Johnny Depp in the poster) in the movie trailer got me really excited about it, because I’ve always wondered how he will look in a live action movie. Oh wait, this is the Wolverine movie we’re talking about.

It’s quite a disappointment because the filmmakers’ efforts in trying to tell us how the character Wolverine came about just didn’t work for me. It was overflowing with cheesiness. It’s the same old revenge formula and good-guy-will-always-be-good-guy-no-matter-what theory. Some of the visual effects looked so out-of-place and fake they distracted me.

Fortunately there were some decent fighting scenes and nice explosion sequences, as shown in the movie trailer. The humour helped save the show from mediocrity too.

6.5 / 10

***

17 Again

This is a decent comedy about love and life. It tries to remind you that you should not give up on your dreams so that you won’t regret about it later in life and hope to be 17 again.

The concept of the movie is really nothing new, and Zac Efron playing basketball is nothing new too. It looks like an excuse for his fans to watch him on screen again. The funniest bits, however, did not come from this eye-candy, but from his co-star Thomas Lennon, who totally stole the show with his hilarious performance with Melora Hardin.

6.5 / 10

***

Handsome Suit

Everyone should have known that physical appearance isn’t everything and that inner beauty is what truly matters at the end of the day. So what if we need a reminder that lasts 2 hours? Here comes trying-to-be-funny Handsome Suit.

This is like Japan’s answer to Korea’s 200 Pounds Beauty 2 years ago. What this movie tries to sell is the song ‘My Revolution’ and all the exaggerated visual humour scattered every corner.

As I follow the main character’s double life along the story, I can’t help but symphathise with him. Sometimes, when we try too hard to become someone we are not, are we slowly losing ourselves and making our lives difficult? This might be light-hearted entertainment, but it has managed to make me reflect a little and ask myself questions during the show. “Will I do the same if I were him?” “Will I be happy like this?”

7.5 / 10

***

Taken

Action-packed from the beginning til the end, this show will definitely keep you at the edge of your seat.

This movie is about a man who runs around France trying to save his daughter, and woot.. this man can really fight! Even though the plot is pretty simple and thin, I quickly forgot about it because every scene presented a new challenge to the man and I always couldn’t wait to see how he overcame them using either his brain or body.

Directed by the director of District 13, people who liked that show will probably like this one too. Get ready for action and nothing else!

8 / 10

***

School Days with a Pig

Filmed in documentary style, this movie entertains very little but provokes you to think about killing animals for food.

When you raise a pig and establish a bond with it for many months, will you be able to kill it for dinner at the end of a year, while it’s still young and tender? Is it a bad thing to kill for our own needs to survive? Why do people feel that by killing and consuming an animal fully, they are respecting and being grateful for the animal that died?

Moral questions and more moral questions. The movie doesn’t try to provide nor judge an answer (even though it still did) but tries to offer various perspectives on an issue. Not a very ‘movie’ movie, but still quite worth watching, if you care about animals.

8 / 10

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