Family
Between good blog posts but no life, and good life but no blog posts.. I chose the latter. Therefore, it took me about a month to update today. Haha.
Recently, my family outings are happening more frequently than ever (from monthly to fortnightly to.. almost weekly) because I want to get to know my parents better and spend more time with them.
The only thing we love as a family is eating. My dad would always go on and on telling us about good food places around Singapore, and my mum would always accuse him for not taking us along to try them. Great dining places that I have been to with my friends, I sometimes introduce them to my parents too.
On the last last Sunday, we went out together. It was raining heavily, and the 3 of us (yes, my family size is that small) were in our family’s beige Mitsubishi van on our way to Jurong East for its “Best Curry in Singapore”.
I like that feeling. The feeling that my whole family is inside this little vehicle travelling around. A deadly car accident on the slippery road could easily wipe us out. We were vulnerable. With powerful wind and heavy raindrops splattering against the windscreen, it felt like we were all against something together.
At that moment, I felt bliss. =)
*****
Movie Reviews!
Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Just before watching Ice Age 3, my friend turned to ask me if I remember what the story of Ice Age 2 is about. Holy shit, I realised I don’t remember much. But it doesn’t really matter, because everything in this movie establishes itself nicely in the first few minutes and the rest is just a series of cause-and-effect kind of adventure tale (complete with the standard Scrat’s comic moments).
The story is very kids-friendly, and focuses on the feeling of being left alone when your mates are attached/married, as well as parenting. I think this is the funniest Ice Age movie I’ve seen, as Scrat is now not the only one contributing to the laughs.
Light-hearted humour blends with light-hearted action (dinosaurs included) in this movie, and here we have an entertaining movie that both adults and kids will enjoy.
7.5/10
***
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
There can only be two reasons why any other blokes like me will want to watch the movie: 1, Megan Fox. 2, Act-xplo-tions (ok.. very bad attempt to combine action and explosions. -_-).
If you are a sucker for explosions that happen in large scale, with debris flying all over the place in slow-motion, this is for you. If you are a sucker for wet and hot babes running for her life in slow-motion, this is for you.
Seems like Michael Bay had a lot of fun blowing up everything. In Armageddon he blew up New York and Paris, In Pearl Harbor, he blew up, well, Pearl Harbor. In this movie, he was granted permission to blow up Egypt.
Watching this 150 minutes show is like seeing a compilation of Armageddon (part where fireballs from the atmosphere fly and hit buildings), Pearl Harbor (part where the fleet gets bombed), Night at the Museum (they visited the Smithsonian), Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of Crystal Skull (once again Shia LaBeouf runs great distances for his life. he’s never tired), various car advertisements and US army capabilities’ show-off.
Ultimately, I believe I paid to watch pyrotechnic displays and CG animations. There were so many things moving and exploding that it felt numb and monotonous after awhile. Thankfully there were some funny moments in the movie to keep you awake/alive, and I appreciate that.
6/10
***
I Love You, Man
This is the funniest comedy I’ve watched this year. It is full of witty lines, hilarious scenarios and performances from experienced comedians. What I can relate to in this show is the guy who seem to be able to connect with ladies better (and thus have more lady friends), finding it difficult to get a best male friend in life.
At the end of the day, the movie concludes that it all boils down to fate and chemistry when friendship is what you’re talking about.
The story may be nothing new (in fact, quite predictable) but who cares when you laugh non-stop? I trained my abs, so should you!
8.5/10
***
Land of the Lost
While the movie I reviewed before this makes you laugh with brilliant humour, this movie does the exact opposite. It’s as nonsensical and ridiculous as you can expect (especially when you have Will Ferrell in it).
For some reason the viewing experience reminds me of Journey to the Center of the Earth, only this is slightly funnier. Throw in lots of sexual and drug references and some not-that-great-cheesy-looking visual effects, we have a movie called ‘Land of the Lost’.
You can try this but don’t expect too much.
6/10
***
Blood: The Last Vampire
(By the time I review this I think this movie is no longer shown in cinemas. Don’t worry, you didn’t miss out anything important.)
Initially I was quite turned off by the cheesy effects seen in the trailer of this show. I would very much prefer to see Gianna Jun as a sassy girlfriend who whacks his boyfriend than to see her holding a sword slicing demons’ heads off.
And yes, all the demons die very easily. Just one slash and they are dead. I wish there were more spectacular/better fighting scenes though.
The story largely revolves around vengence and violence. Fortunately there’s some nice visuals and art direction to look at, since the screenplay isn’t something memorable.
6/10
