Happy New Year!

To a better 2006!
Happy New Year, guys! =)

movies

KING KONG
========

It is 1933, and vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Oscar nominee for 21 Grams, NAOMI WATTS) has found herself -- like so many other New Yorkers during the Great Depression -- without the means to earn a living. Unwilling to compromise and allow herself to sink into a career in burlesque, she considers her limited options while aimlessly wandering the streets of Manhattan. When her hunger drives her to unsuccessfully try to steal an apple from a fruit vendor’s stall, she is rescued -- literally -- by filmmaker and multiple hyphenate Carl Denham (JACK BLACK of The School of Rock).

It seems that the entrepreneur-raconteur-adventurer is no stranger to theft, having that day lifted the only existing print of his most recent and unfinished film from under his studio executives’ noses when they threatened to pull his completion funds. Carl has until the end of the day to get his crew onboard the Singapore-bound tramp steamer, the S.S. Venture, in hopes of completing his travelogue/action film. With that, the showman is certain he will finally achieve the personal greatness he knows awaits him around the corner…and although the crew believe that corner to be Singapore, Denham actually hopes to find and capture on film the mysterious place of legend: Skull Island.

Unfortunately for Carl, his headlining actress has pulled out of his project, but his search for a size-four leading lady (the costumes have all been made) has, fatefully, led him to Ann. The struggling actress is reluctant to sign on with Denham, until she learns that the up-and-coming, socially relevant playwright Jack Driscoll (Oscar winner for The Pianist, ADRIEN BRODY) is penning the screenplay -- the fees his friend Carl pays for potboiling adventure are a welcome supplement to Driscoll’s nominal income from his stage plays.

With his newly discovered star and coerced screenwriter reluctantly onboard, Denham’s “moving picture ship” heads out of New York Harbor ... and toward a destiny that none aboard could possibly foresee.

Joining Watts, Black and Brody is an accomplished ensemble cast from around the globe. German star THOMAS KRETSCHMANN (U-571) portrays Captain Englehorn, commander of the Venture, who allows Denham and his ever-increasing bribes to persuade him to endanger the lives of his crew by searching for Skull Island. COLIN HANKS (Orange County) is Preston, Denham’s put-upon assistant and unwitting moral compass, who attempts to keep his boss in check and the production from spiraling out of control. Young actor JAMIE BELL (Billy Elliot) plays Jimmy, the youngest crew member, whose experiences onboard the Venture prove more fantastical than any old salt’s seafaring yarn. EVAN PARKE lends his talents to the role of first mate Hayes, keeping a watchful eye on young Jimmy and serving as Englehorn’s conscience. KYLE CHANDLER takes on the character of Bruce Baxter, a “B”-movie-level leading man cast opposite Ann Darrow in Denham’s adventure movie. ANDY SERKIS (who performed the role of the CGI character Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy) provides both on-set performance reference and motion-capture performance for the “Eighth Wonder of the World”…the title character of King Kong; he also appears onscreen as the eccentric sailor in charge of the Venture’s galley, Lumpy the Cook.



* One of the best movies I've watched this year. 5 stars out of 5. Thrilling, captivating, well-linked scenes, with all the excitement, there's still meaning in the movie - of love, humanity, bravery, even foolishness. *

PERHAPS LOVE
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The story revolves around a love triangle wrapped in a movie-within-a-movie, and is punctuated throughout by the heartfelt score and love songs. Film student Lin Jian Tung (Takeshi Kaneshiro) falls for Suen Na (Zhou Xun), yet she values her career higher than love and flees the relationship. A decade later, Suen has become a leading movie star with the help of her lover, renowned director Nip Man (Jacky Cheung), while Lin Jian Tung has also become a star of his own right. Fate brings them back together and dictates them to collaborate in a musical about the love triangle, an irony which reflects the harsh reality. Jealousy, hatred and passion intertwine and culminate with the intervention of a seasoned fairy, a modern Cupid who shares their joy and sorrow.


* Dissappointment. 2 stars out of 5. Moulin Rouge is much much better. Dont understand the ending. Pls make it more explicit. Dont like the female lead in the movie too, she deserved being 'abaondoned' byy Takeshi, she asked for it for breaking his heart. He was too kind to run back to her. *

Merry Christmas!

May the Joy of the Season Surround You,
Merry Christmas,
With Love.

Korea in Jan!

I'm going to Korea in Jan.
Any Must-Dos? Must-Buy?

Any advice, J. if you are reading this?

Updates!

Sorry for the lack of updates guys. Have been trying to sort out some things in my life previously.

Here's some of the exciting things I have done for the past 2 weeks.

- Went for my first ship launch. Cool!
- Went for a boat trip to survey the port. Haha...way cooler.
- Went to catch a great concert at the Esplanade for the first time! =)
- Went to attend a collegue's wedding, can tell he loves the bride so much, and I shed tears of joy when the bride spoke.
- Went for the company's DnD, boring night. But I won something for the first time in my life: a rice cooker! Haha...
- Went for a painful facial, but luckily didnt sign up the package that costs 1,000 bucks!
- Went bowling at Marine Parade wtih my dept. pple, was boring too..but guess what? For the first time in my life, I break the 100 score! I got 104! Hahaha..

Am looking fwd to go singing with my dept pple next week, and it's christmas next week. Tho. I still haven have the special someone to celebrate with, I'm grateful that I still have my frens and family with me.

Catching up

Nice to catch up with my exchange frens today.
Went to Orchard Cineleisure KBox to sing, then went to CoffeeClub to catch up for a while.
Glad that this guy, H. is back for Sg for X'mas.
We talked and talked abt everything under the sun. =)
Feel so glad to have this bunch of frens, tho. we haven seen each other for a long time, but when we meet up, there's no distance b/w us, and we can talk as tho. we're still very good frens.

The wonders of having true friends. How lucky am I. =)

I'm BROKE!

I'm BROKE!

Splurge alot recently.
Yest. went to this course, and after that just went shopping. Just 1 day.
Ended up buying more than i shd.
- 1 shirt
- 1 shirt again
- 1 dress
- 1 skirt
- 1 top

And went to the Shiseido sale with the lady's card invitation. Ended up anyone w/o the invitation can go in and buy.
But the things are really dirt cheap. Ended up buying:
- 6 bottles of Sheseido skin care
- 2 bottles of toner
- 1 lipstick

I feel BROKE man!! My bank account is very empty now. Help! This is b4 my credit card bill..... =(

Must save, save, SAVE!!!!!!!!!
Must save, save, SAVE!!!!!!!!!
Must save, save, SAVE!!!!!!!!!