 |
Fatal Move [夺帅] The story is about a triad founded by two brothers (played by Samo Hung and Simon Yam). The triad itself is watched by the HK Organised Crime Division which seeks to arrest the leaders and completely neutralise it. Naturally, there were car chases, pitched gun battles etc. all over the movie. Also challenging the Triad is not the law enforcers but other Triads which are technically competitors. As such, there were several scenes of gory gang fights for the purpose of territorial control. These fights comes complete with digits and limps severed, throats slashed, people stabbed through the belly and lots of blood being splattered all over the place. In one scene, there was even a close up on an arm which is cut off half way, plus another showing how a woman was tortured in a gruesome manner. There were also several scenes of murders which leave people wondering if Hong Kong is completely lawless. Definitely not for the faint hearted and please avoid watching after eating a good meal if you have a weak stomach. |
|
Beyond that, there’s an element of ‘Infernal Affairs’ in the show, where there is a Triad plant within the police force itself, attempted betrayal and blackmail by the wife of a member of the Triad, and also internal dissent and infighting within the Triad itself. And in the end the infighting brought the Triad down, and all members were killed – even though who ended up in jail – in the end. So what’s really so bad about it when there’s obviously quite a rich plot? It’s the fact that it is trying to do too many things at one go and it’s trying too hard to impress with all these gory scenes and sub-plots. In the end, none of them were done really well, and most people we left wondering who was behind the plot to kill every single one member of the Triad in the end. If you have a liking for Hong Kong Triad movies, then this might be the one for you. But in general, there are better Triad Movies which is less gory being made. There is nothing really impressive in this movie and it’s best you give it a miss if you intend to get a VCD or DVD. |
|
Month: May 2008
如果你想哭 (If you want to cry…)
|
In spite of knowing the phrase ‘a picture says a thousand words’, I learn recently that in communications, 55% of the message is carried in visuals. And indeed visual communication is powerful. There is no greater impact than seeing the suffering, pain or especially, the death of another human being. I was completely overwhelmed and speechless when I saw this picture as I was browsing a few mainland Chinese websites. It took me a while to fight back my tears looking at the image so vividly showing that a young life had been brutally snuffed out…
You can still help the survivors. Remember George Bernard Shaw said this:
The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity. |
 |
|
* Words taken from Yahoo.cn – Dedicate to the victims of the disaster and to those fighting to bring them hope. 如果你想哭 – 献给受灾的和救灾的人们 如果你想哭 如果你想哭 如果你想哭 I am sorry there’s no translation. My translation skills really suck. |
|
Vesak Day Movie Marathon
 |
Iron Man I liked this movie as I have always been a fan of powered suits, even though I was never impressed by rich guy superheros like Batman, Ironman or even aliens like Superman. Personally speaking, my opinion is that the capabilities of Ironman’s suit itself was a little far fetched but of course Marvel comic fans would disagree. However, all that being said, the movie itself didn’t disappoint. The story itself was very well rounded up and the CGI was very well done. Though impressive, I would say the CGI is still a class away from Transformers. |
|
While I really disliked the after credits, I would recommend this movie to you. I won’t tell you what the after credits is, though in my opinion it hints of a possible part 2 of the movie. *** spoilers alerts *** I have ranted about this before in this post. So, if you haven’t watched the movie and intend to catch it on DVD, please refrain from checking out the post. Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon [三国之见龙卸甲] |
|
 |
So, once the download for the documentary was underway, I started looking around the site and found some of the movies I did not manage to watch because I was unable to find someone to watch with me on the big screen. After which, I decided to download the few movies I have missed. If you are a history buff, you will be appalled by the distortion of recorded history. It is of no surprise Cao Cao [曹操] and even his descendants continued to be vilified in spite of the review of history that is going on. However, I don’t really mind the makers trying to fit Maggie Q into the movie by changing the sex of a historical character, Cao Ying [曹婴] into a woman. Of course, you must already have heard about the criticisms regarding the Japanese look of the armor of the troops in the movie, though I would say its dark coloring was a futile imitation of what was done in Lord of the Rings (LoTR for short). And if you haven’t already watch it, you are really not missing a lot. The story surrounds the character of Zhao Zilong [赵子龙 aka 赵云], from how he rose through the ranks from just a conscript to becoming one of the five famous generals [五虎将] of the State of Shu [蜀国] in the Three Kingdoms Era (三国时代). |
|
I suspect the makers of the movie tries too hard to make the battle scenes impressive. But after the Battle of Helm’s Deep scene in LoTR, is there even a point trying at all? The entire story also make the life of Zhao tragic – it was as if whatever he has done in his military service, was ultimately meaningless. And that’s not mentioned that in the movie, he never managed to settle down to raise a family. In the end, he still have to fight one last battle as an old man and die a heroic death. (Though why is death glorified, I really do not know. Chinese historical characters almost all died some kind of gruesome death before they are immortalised.) I won’t recommend the movie to you, even though it isn’t really that disappointing. Forbidden Kingdom [功夫之王] |
|
 |
Anyway, the entire story was a spin off from the Journey to the West [西游记] and in specific, about the Monkey God [孙悟空]. It was a story about how the American boy travelled through some kind of time gate into a mystic world to rescue the Monkey God who was turned into stone by an evil deity dominating that world. The fact that all the casts of the movies spoke English is a little awkward aside, some of the lines they said were pretty lame. For e.g. after wacking the American boy with a bamboo stick, Jacky Chan said, “You want to learn Kung Fu? This is a strike. I will teach you how to block tomorrow.” It may sound funny and a little Confucius-like to the angmohs, but it gives me the impression of a stereotyping of the Chinese. It is as if we always speak in some kind of riddles or dish out pearls of wisdom. Granted we have 5000 years of history, but that doesn’t mean we speak like sages! The Kung Fu scenes I have no complaints of course. Even though the reasons why they both fought was pretty thin, you finally get to see Jet Li fight Jacky Chan, with no one gaining the upper hand. (Though I suspect that was deliberately done so none of the fans will be offended.) |
|
My only complaints was that there wasn’t enough screenings of Liu Yifei (刘亦菲) and Li Bingbing (李冰冰). If there were more screenings of them perhaps the eye candy would ease some of my disappointments with the movie… hiak hiak hiak. |
|
Photos from Huanglong – Pandas!!
Some of the photos my mother took when she was over in Sichuan (四川).
She didn’t take too many as the entire holiday mood was dampened by the earthquake. The pictures of the giant pandas were taken in Huanglong (黄龙). The others were taken at assorted places around Sichuan.
They were unable to enter Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟) as the local public security (gong’an 公安) officers were concerned that the roads might not be safe as there’s possibility of aftershocks and landslides. Those who insisted on going in were allowed to do so after they sign some kind of documents indicating that they will not hold anyone responsible for any mishaps including their deaths.
My mother informed me that one of the cities she visited – Mian Yang (绵阳) suffered large scale devastation after they departed. In fact, my uncle was pretty adamant he saw one of the schools with many student deaths when he was there.
Either way, my uncle and my two aunts all came back a little sick as a result of the anxiety and fear they felt at the area. The entire region was quite chaotic as the Chinese authorities tried to balance incoming air traffic and outgoing ones. Some people on the flight out had slept two days in the airport trying to get an air ticket out and flights were held back and delayed as priority was given to incoming rescue teams from other parts of China and the world.
Fortunately for my mother, the local tour guide managed to arrange with the tour agency to put my mother and relatives in a proper hotel while they try and get tickets to get out. There were some unfortunate souls from other tour groups which end up in hotels whereby they spent most o their time in the open anyway.
Click here for a bigger slide show
A Rant on a Hot Sleepless Night
I read with great amusement DK’s post on ‘HDB RAP VIDEO PRODUCTION’.
Just why the fxxk are they spending this money when they claim they have been making a loss providing housing for Singaporeans? Would a stupid rap like this makes our stay in our pigeon holes which takes us a decade and a half (or more) to pay off more comfortable? Would it not be better they save that money so that everyone can pay maybe even $1 less for their little pigeon hole?
In fact, looking at the extravagance, it begs the questions: does the HDB this day still serve its original intended function – i.e. to provide affordable housing for Singaporeans?
While some may still claim that it is still serving the function, the reality is that some people are now taking a decade and a half or more to pay their housing loans. And for those of lower income, the flats have more or less moved out of their reach. Of course, the $3 million dollar ministers will tell you to get a smaller flat if you can’t afford it.
So, on paper, the HDB ‘still provides affordable housing for Singaporeans’ . However, it is my considered opinion that slowly and surely, the impression of its true functions today are these:
- to find a way to build the houses as cheap as possible, like $60K a unit, and then sell them for at least $100K of profits. (e.g. A brand new 4-room for first-time owner costs $160K!)
- to come up with the best way to call a discount a subsidy. (e.g. It’s a real and tangible subsidy! Because you are paying less compared to the market price! And to get the subsidy you have to sell it to some other poor sucker.)
- to come up with ridiculous arguments on why they are making a loss. (e.g. Well, if we sells the plot of land to a private developer we could have earned more!)
Add the above to the list of stuff we should get an accounting from the Tali-PAP gahmen on top of the following:
- The surprise surplus from the raise of GST;
- The escape of Mas Selamat;
- The GIC & Temasek investments;
- What exactly is being done with our national reserves?
- How did a huge sinking fund in the town councils come about when they claimed our conservancy charges are just good enough to pay for the services rendered?
- Why is the sinking fund
that grew on the money treeused forgamblinginvestments, and yet conservancy charges are still raised? - Are we even getting proportional returns from what they are doing with our CPF money?
Simply put, ‘You don’t ask why you strike Toto’ is a lousy and uneducated excuse to give in Parliament – by one with a doctorate no less – when the Tali-PAP is asked to be accountable for how the huge surplus comes about from the GST increase!
When asked to clarify on the principle in which the gahmen applied in looking at salary of the minister pitching to corporate world vis-a-vis when it comes to accountability and responsibility, we expect the gahmen to do so, and not answered with the question to an opposition MP if anyone thinks that DPM Wong should be fired!
These examples gives me the impression that we are being held in contempt or low regards simply for asking for some accountability! It is as if we are all being ungrateful for even asking because they think they have ‘provided’ in terms of their own self-defined job descriptions! It would appear they are expecting us to shut up because we don’t know better and we shouldn’t know! In fact, I must ask, if this attitude is our own fault, just like over indulging parents have spoil their own children?
Come on, fellow Singaporeans! It’s time we put things in the right perspective, and stop allowing the Tali-PAP to put the carriage before the horse!
It is time to look beyond that pathetic few hundred dollars of GST rebates, the car or condo you might own or the well paid job you have now. It’s time to look at how we can get this gahmen to be accountable to us!
It’s way past due time we remember that they are paid in full with their $3 million p.a. pay, and remember the performance of a gahmen during its term is nothing but vindication of our trust in them for the previous election, and not justification for us to continue ‘signing them blank cheques’ for the next term so they can continue to do whatever they want!
When, will you say with your votes: ‘Enough is enough already?’
When?
Or you already did it another way, with your feet?