Dragon Blade 天将雄师

Okay, most of you are probably going to think that this review is going to be biased because I like Siwon and he is in this movie. But let me start but telling my initial concerns and thoughts about this movie.

Initially I thought…

• With such a stellar cast, will the movie fall flat? We all know that when you put good actors together, it doesn’t always produce awesome results.
• Siwon, as much as I like him, can’t act. Let me remind you how I have never ever watched any of his dramas. 미안해, 시원이~
• After watching the trailer and realising it’s a mix of Mandarin and English, my reaction, “OMG. Why!” Because frankly, more often than not, when they mix languages, the dialogues don’t flow.
• Jackie Chan. I was quite done with the martial arts x body gag. Love watching his re-runs on TV but another movie along the same concept? Uh-uh.

Would I pay to go watch the watch? Probably not.

The press conference

Tagged along with my friend to the press conference and saw Siwon up close *fangirl scream* after it, I was kinda looking forward to watching the movie at night (Adeline won tickets!).

Why?

I don’t know. Chemistry between the cast was awesome. Throughout the press conference, you can see them whispering to each other and John Cusack and Jackie Chan was quite buddy buddy with each other! Jackie Chan even helped John Cusack to refill his cup when he noticed that he was running low on water.

JC and JC. Sorry for the unedited photo. didn’t bring my flash 😦

these two have quite alot to talk about apparently. at one point, siwon was translating for John Cusack. Not bad, Mr Choi.

And through the videos they were showing prior to the start of the press conference, it seems like the movie is quite logical? Jackie Chan came up with a tiny arm shield thingy because he figured that his character is a mobile peace corp and need to be able to travel light. Therefore, he thinks it’s not practical for him to carry around a normal shield so he came up with the idea of a portable shield. Yes, small things like this impress me more than big ones.

Also, throughout the interview, Jackie Chan’s sincerity just shone through? How he said that the crew has it the hardest because they have to go early to set up and end late. I mean, I feel kind of sorry for the actress that said the wrong thing and triggered him. But his point came through. He also handled the press pretty well when they asked about his son. Yes, he is a star, he is used to it. Well, just because he is used to it doesn’t mean he should tolerate it. But tolerate he did.

Oh yeah. Jackie Chan also said that the movie carries the message of unity. How people with different background can come together to achieve something good. How we can turn our ‘enemies’ into our friends. I liked how the cast all agreed in unison when Jackie Chan said that it’s an important message in recent days. BUT! Despite this, I was especially skeptical because the message he wanted to send for “The Zodiac” was kinda lost on me.

The movie itself…

You made it! HAAHAHA. Okay, here’s a photo of Siwon to break the long paragraphs.

really dont like his fringe.

My intial concerns were moot (not sure if I am using this word correctly).

Siwon’s acting? From his <5 minutes of screentime, it seems like he has improved quite a bit in his acting. Good job, Mr Choi. Hahaha. Plus. it’s like a breather for the eyes when he comes on screen. He still manage to look good despite the beard and dirt. DO NOT KEEP A BEARD, MR CHOI.

Mix of English and Mandarin and a ton of other languages? It’s pretty entertaining. Surprisingly so! And the dialogues made sense. It didn’t feel awkward. So, woots!

Good actor + good actor + good actor = ? One fantastic show. I thought I will get bored (I fell asleep watching Up) but nope! Like I said, the chemistry between the cast was awesome. It showed on screen (: Adrien Brody…Wah. His brand of evil is effortless? He looked so lazy but yet the evil “aura” was off the radar. Awesome! The cast can all speak with their eyes so it’s very easy to watch.

Yet another Jackie Chan movie? 아니요. Not quite. No body gag this time. No pointless fighting. It’s all good! And did the message he wanted to convey come through? Yes.

Though at some point, I can’t bring myself to watch cos the scenes reminded me of recent terror events 😦

Should you watch?

If you like unity unity kind of movie, yes! Because this show is full of it. Touched me a teeny weeny bit.

If you have always liked Jackie Chan’s movie and yet shared my initial concern, just go watch (:

I might even suggest to bring the family to watch during CNY. Honestly, I can’t wait for Ch8 to buy the movie and then play countless re-runs on it ;p

How many popcorns? 3.5-4 popcorns!

the cast. stupid flash. i was raising my camera super high and it still got into my frame.

okay, heading to bed. it’s late and I just realised I didn’t eat the entire day. No wonder my gastric is acting up. Going to edit the pictures tomorrow!

He’s Just Not That Into You

I loved the book! So when I heard that a movie was coming out, *zoom* it went straight to my “Must-Watch” list.

Met up with the bestie for the show. Both of us were late! GV being GV, it never starts on time. So *phew*

At the start of the movie, I felt a little overwhelm. All the famous stars are being thrown right into your face. Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly and the likes! I was a little afraid that the show was just gonna be that. No content, with lots of big names.

But WRONG! The movie was surprisingly nice(: Every star has their own story. And enough screen time (maybe except for Drew Barrymore). Especially the part where they show quotes and get people to comment on it! Made me laughed like nobody’s business(:

Of course, there are so many stories inside that you can relate to at least one. Me? I can relate to 2 and hope that 1 will happen to me! Which one is it? Not going to say ;p

But I have to say. The camera is not exactly very flattering eh? Jennifer Aniston looked old. Drew Barrymore looked wrinkly. Scarlett Johansson looked a little too curvy! Hmm. Maybe it’s just me.

Bestie said that she don’t want to get into a r/s after watching the movie. Me? NAH. Never really the relationship type of girl so it doesn’t affect me on that point. BUT! The movie is more like a light slap of the face. To remind myself about some of my takes and views about guys/relationship/flings.

I’m so going to get that book! Even though I think it might actually pale in comparison to the movie. But OHWELLS!

FIVE POPCORNS!

The Wedding Game

Initially was supposed to go for Kbox with Janelle and Shuyun but due to the bapok-ness of my voice, we decided to skip it. So Shuyun and I ended up watching “The Wedding Game” at J8. Thanks, babe! For accompanying me(:

I won’t say this movie is excellent. Their product placement thingy was way too obvious. Then again, it fits into the story. So I don’t mind that much. And it was done rather tastefully. Not like “Love Matters”. (Love Matters sucked so much that I am not going to write a review for it.)

I would say the plot was pretty well-written? It is sort of derived from the actual love-story of the 2 couples. But it was tweaked and given a more movie-twist. Quite nice. But it was still pretty predictable(: Happy ending and all!

Humor was injected in the most unexpected way. And different from the usual lame-ass way we are used to. So that’s always a relieve!

Overall, a nice movie to watch! CHOOSE THIS OVER LOVE MATTERS!!!

3.5- popcorns

A bimbotic review on Samsung i900 (Omnia)

Okay, I may be slightly more tech inclined than some of my friends but I ain’t no techy. So don’t expect this “review” to be very information. At least tech-wise (: Just some very random comments and generally how I feel about it.

I bought Omnia back in August. It cost me around $600 with a 2-year i-One Plus student plan with Singtel.

still brand new(:

Being the loyal Samsung girl that I am, I was super excited. And played with it the moment I got it. Ignoring my sister throughout lunch. Hahahah. But ALAS! My elation and excitement died 4 hours later. I’ll spare you the details because after numerous times of NO HELP from the helpline, I solved most of them by myself. Here are some things I like and don’t like.

1. GPRS Connection

Sometimes, when I connect to the internet via 3G, I cannot disconnect. It will re-connect to 3G by itself. It’s useless to even try and “fight” with it. Cause you will lost. I called the Samsung helpline and they told me that there’s no easy solution to the problem. The only two ways are –

a) Leave it. BAD! Because it’s battery sucking!

b) Go to “Operator Settings” and switch to M1/Starhub. Everytime I want to use 3G, I have to switch it back to Singtel. MAFAN!

2. No actual “Shut down” of programs

Omny operates in a funny way. Once you open a program (like Alarms, Messages, Player), you cannot terminate it by clicking the tiny X button in the corner. So they stay open and takes up your RAM space!! Not a problem until you want to use your CAMERA! Many a times, I see something that I want to shoot and take out Omny only to get the message telling me that my RAM is not enough!! By the time I close all programs, the moment/thing I want to shoot are gone. BAH!

There are 2 ways to close the programs, none of them easy –

a) Click on the side button and “End All Task”.

b) Go to Settings -> System -> Task Manager -> End Task.

*piaks forehead*

3. Low internal memory

This is by far the most irritating problem for me. Basically, I have 3 storage memory – the internal memory, the 1GB storage card, the 16GB memory.

Messages, ringtones, Word document created and notes created are stored in the internal memory. Internal memory is also used to install applications like MS Word, Windows Mobile and etc. Which is perfectly okay if the internal memory is huge. But no! Its memory storage is in MB!

The storage card and the 16GB memory is practically useless! But I will get to that later.

It’s so irritating because once the internal memory limit is reached, I can’t receive messages! So I’ve to go around deleting messages that I want to keep and deleting my ringtones/alarm tones. I can’t customise my phone lah! MAH!

I cannot download games to play as well! I tried to download Lexulous and I was told there’s not enough memory!

Was told that there’s no solution to these as well.

4. No idea what happened

I have no idea what happened but suddenly, my 16GB memory is renamed to “My Storage 2”. And since then, I can no longer store my pictures in it! The camera does not detect the new name! MAH! So now, I have to save my pictures in the 1GB storage card. Thank goodness for that!

My 16GB memory is just sitting there-.-

5. Messaging

Love-hate relationship. Messages arrives and it is presented in MSN form. Nice right? Convenient as well!

But when you want to find old messages, it can get a little painful. Because you have to press “Older” alot of times-.- Sigh. And I can’t delete messages that I received one at a time. So for example, if I want to delete a “Good Night” message from Bestie, I CANNOT! Cause if  I do, the entire conversation history will be deleted!! MAH!

Irritating. And of course, there’s the thing of not having a program to back-up. Oh wait! There is! But I heard that it’s super expensive!

6. Shock Proof

Hahahah. It’s pretty klutz proof! I’ve dropped it 5 times and it’s still surviving! WHOO!

7. Touch Screen

Using fingernails FTW!

8. Appearance

I have customized Omny with my fingernail stickers! I’m so used to it that I don’t recognise another Omnia phone. Hahaha. Oh yeah, it’s pretty light.

–

Okay, that’s about it. On and off I have the urge to just sell Omny away and get a new phone/iPhone. But at the end of the day, I still like Omny. WiFi! Internet explorer! Opera browser! Google Launcher! Google Maps! loves~

Until another phone catches my eye.

Red Cliff 2 – 赤壁下

My dad has always been a huge fan of 三国演义 (Romance of the 3 Kingdom). So every time Channel 8 shows the “documentary”, I’ll inadvertently watch it cause he was watching them. And out of the whole story, it’s the battle in the movie that caught my attention every single time. Besides, there’s the 成语 – “万事俱备 只欠东风”.

SO! After watching Red Cliff Part One with Juan and gang, I was totally and absolutely blown away. Especially the war tactic used! The way they portray it on TV is NOTHING compared to the one in the movie. WOAH!

Red Cliff Part 2 was almost just as good! Even though there’s more fighting than war tactics here. The cast was great as usual ! Storyline deviated a little away from the original version but it was still pretty fabulous. Humor was injected in the all the right places(:

I was a little bothered and irritated when everyone just kept laughing when the troops gave tang yuan to 周瑜! And especially when someone kept asking, “Why ah? WHY?” BEH! YOU GUNDU! THEY GAVE HIM MORE SO THAT HE WILL BE ABLE TO RE-UNITE WITH HIS WIFE LAH! *breathes* Yeah. Hahahahaa.

Anyways, strange thing is while watching the show, I did a little bit of reflection. DANG! I think I lose my cool way too easily. I should totally be like the wife! Cool, calm collected and 懂事！ Hmm. Ahwells.

TOTALLY MUST WATCH!

Oh and Darran! If you cannot find anyone to watch with you, CALL ME! I don’t mind watching again! Besides, I pang-seh-ed you -.- Heh.

Okay, 4.5 popcorns. Too lazy to do one up ;p

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

First movie of the year! After completing Vampire Knight (Kanamae FTW!), I watched this!

I loved the first movie! Much much much much more than the book!

And the second movie, wasn’t too far behind(ie not too bad). Heart-warming, girly and yups(: Any girl (young or old) will identify with at least one character! (: If not some part of all the characters (:

For me, some parts of Tibby and some part of Lena (:

The cast is amazing! Even though, it’s kind of hard to see Blake Lively and America Ferrera as somebody else other than their roles in Gossip Girl and Ugly Betty.

Warning though! It’s advisable to catch the first movie before catching this! Cause you need to know their background to understand what they are going through in this. Tibby’s feminist attitude, Lena’s romance, Carmen’s self-esteem and Bridget’s issues.

On a totally bimbotic note, I loved the way Lena dressed! Totally what I would wear myself. And erm..I kind of like her curls –

Okok, in a nutshell! ALL GIRLS SHOULD CATCH THIS MOVIE!!