High and not dry

One morning, on the way back to office after a meeting, I dropped by SS3 to wallop the 2nd best pork mee in the world.

Forty-five minutes later … (for I had to wait 30 minutes for the pork mee to arrive at my table)

So I got into my car and drove down the one way road. At the T-junction, a police car suddenly stopped there to question a motorcyclist. Inconsiderate policemen. Just because they want to “earn” some dough from the motorcyclist, do they have to block my way?

Looking at my watch, I knew if I waited for them to complete their “business deal”, I’d be late for work. So I stared right into one of the policemen and with my powerful right arm, I waved my hand from left to right violently in an effort to make him move his car. He looked at me, slight shocked as I bet he had never been asked by civilians to move before.

He reluctantly moved his car to let me pass. I stared at him one more time before making a left to the main road. I felt like a superhero that morning.

From then onwards, every time there was a road block, I never wound my window down. I always kept it up and looked pissed with the policemen. Even at times, when I was quite pissed drunk too. They would still let me pass. Maybe because psychologically, when the window is up, the policemen would think that you are okay and could be on your way safe and sound.

Usually, maybe psychologically also, when you are drunk, you tend to roll down your window to smile at the policemen to show that you are alright, not drunk and can still smile. Chances are, if you are drunk, they could smell alcohol on you and poof, there goes RM50!

Last weekend, I was pretty high. There was a road block. I kept my window up, looked pissed and was waved to go home. It worked. Numerous times.

Tips during a road block: Keep your window up. Look brutal. You are on your way home with RM50 still intact in your wallet.

The third remake of the debut novel

The third remake of the debut novel

So I finally watched Casino Royale. And here's what I think.

Casino Royale

Incidentally, Casino Royale was the first book written by Ian Fleming and have been made into two very different films before Cambodia hit independence. First, in 1954, it was made into a television episode and then, in 1967, a spoof headlined by Peter “Pink Panther” Sellers and Orson “Citizen Kane” Welles, who played the villain Le Chiffre. Probably a good movie, I would think.

Many, myself included, questioned the choice of the new Bond. Although Brosnan did a pretty good job, I realised that I could never quite remember what happened in Die Another Day safe for the fact that Sophie Marceau looked incredibly hot -----wait, wasn’t she in The World Is Not Enough? Well, you get what I mean. So was Halle Berry in Die Another Day then? Never mind. Eva Green’s hotter.

The first official non-bootleg trailer did not stir nor shake me.

The second trailer, however, did. No gadgets. No invisible cars. Just pulsating action. And, of course, a brutal Bond.

Daniel Craig is not the typical James Bond stereotyped in people’s head – suave, leng chai, don’t look like an ape at certain angles... BUT, he gave James Bond an update. A fresh new look of how a James Bond should be - a super spy who shouldn’t look too good because surely would distract the villains. And he can really, really act.

Even though the airbags on the Aston Martin DBS did not work, and even though I was super jealous with the dealer who pocketed a cool 1 million, and even though there were a lot of filming mistakes in the film, I urge you not to compare Craig with the previous Bonds. I urge you to sit back and enjoy the excellent ride.

Think about it. IF Woody Allen played the first Bond, would we be complaining today? The problem with us is that we tend to think the first choice is always the best choice. Thus, we keep comparing to history.

So what do I think? I give it a 9/10 – an additional point for the scene where Bond coolly passes a $1 million chip to the dealer.

Reviews

Thank you Porky Queen and Myron for the messages.

Movie review time again.

You, Me & Dupree

The tagline suggests “Two’s a company, Dupree’s a crowd”. Suppose I read between those lines and suggest that it could also refer to Owen Wilson’s acting career, would I be wrong?

As far as we are concerned, Owen was known for his buddy movies – Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights, Meet The Parents, Meet The Fockers, Starsky & Hutch and the irresistible Wedding Crashers. Perhaps this time, he wants to carry a movie on his own. And how well he does it, I must say.

Easily one of the better films of 2006, You, Me & Dupree certainly caught me by surprise. It is funny. It is lively. And more importantly, it has a good story.

The story develops smoothly and very soon you feel for Dupree (Owen Wilson). Both Matt Dillon and Kate Hudson (she is so hot in this film!) play their roles effectively too. Matt Dillon, usually wooden in acting, plays Carl well as a guy who suppresses his feelings but when the time comes, he unleashes what Dupree calls the “Carlness” – a form of release, not necessarily accompanied by violence.

And Kate may not have the greatest body, but the way she portrays her character makes her gorgeous. I guess, at the end of the day, it’s what inside that makes you beautiful.

I’d rate this movie a 7/10. Go watch it and discover the ness in you.

Little Man

I normally do not like to shoot down a movie. Why? Having studied film and television back in college, I know that making a movie incur a lot of stress, planning and patience. I therefore take my hat off to all film and television directors out there.

BUT.

Little Man is distasteful, unfunny and a total waste of time. And I paid RM6 to watch it.

I’d rate this movie a 2/10. 2 only because Kerry Washington acted in it and I had popcorn.

On a lighter note …

Funniest thing I read today:

“I dragged his sister into it so today I can apologise to his sister. I am not ashamed of what I said because these things happen and I would never have reacted in the same way. I am happy to give him the address of my house in Chieti where we can meet. I can give him my shirt and we can shake hands. FIFA can take a nice photograph.”
Marco Materazzi making a bid for the Nobel Peace Prize over the Zidane incident.

Movies and music

Time to review movies.

Nacho Libre

Jack Black is multi-talented. He can run along the beach (a la Baywatch), sport any accent or hairdo, sing and act. And I am pretty sure he can eat like a cow. Nacho Libre is Jack Black at his best. The great thing about him is that he is not afraid to look silly in his films. Or disgusting, for the matter.

Nacho Libre is honest. It's the best thing you can ever find in movies - that they never try hard to be something else.

Basic Instinct 2 – Risk Addiction

The title itself says it all. Director Michael Caton-Jones and actress Sharon Stone probably have an addiction to risk on their career. Previously, Sharon Stone played a (minor role) stepmother in the movie Alpha Dogs where her performance was often overshadowed by young Justin Timberlake. So is Basic Instinct 2 her comeback film? The answer is no. A boring no. The film is dull and Stone spends most of her time trying to be sexy and bad. The whole mind-fucking acting she tries to impose does not even move the weaker minds.

There was a scene where she did no justice to her now-famous leg-crossing scene in Basic Instinct. She pulls a chair. With her long sexy right leg, she swings it over and sits like she is the coolest thing on earth. Nothing could be “seen” because the back of the chair faced the camera. As for the nude scenes, well, Basic Instinct was far better. In other words, I didn’t reach for my control button to press “Rewind”.

The Benchwarmers

I thought that this movie was going to be a dud. I mean, come on, Rob Schneider? How can he ever go right in his movies? Take a look at Deuce Bigalow and its sequel. At the same time, why not take a look at all his forgettable guest appearances in Cable Boy, 50 First Dates, The Longest Yard etc. Well, you know what I mean.

After the movie, boy, was I wrong! First, Schneider plays a serious role! That alone is unforgettable. Second, the movie is fun, entertaining and funny. It’s a warm movie with good values – a note to bullies out there. Totally worth the watch, dude!

Dragon Tiger Gate

Hmm … for this Cantonese action-kung fu flick, I’ll just do a “Good” versus “Bad” analysis. Since this comic book cum movie is all about the good and the bad, I am thinking, “Why not?”

Good

The action choreography by Donnie Yen is simply breathtaking. That’s about it.

Bad

The storyline is lame. The acting is all about me being ultra cool with strands of hair covering the side of my face. And why is Shawn Yue’s hair white colour?

Bottom line

If you must, just watch it for the kung fu.

Time for music.

I came across some pretty good music the past month which was filled with working on weekends and missing the sunset.

Noteworthy artistes worth checking out are The Pipettes (thank you Tim), Thom Yorke’s solo album, Antony & The Johnsons, The New Pornographers, Radja’s Takkan Melupakanmu is awesome, Regina Spektor, Thursday, Peter, Bjorn & John, Placebo’s excellent latest album, Nelly Furtado and Jessica Simpson’s The Public Affair. Yes, call me whatever but I simply love Simpson’s new song.

More to come definitely. Until then, good day and good night!

Paradise

There are two things I want to write about:
1) Perhentian Island
2) Aston Villa

Last Thursday, 24 August 2006 (I'm putting this down so I'll not forget the date), I, for the first time ever, left office at 5pm sharp. My brothers picked me up and went to Brian's girlfriend's house where I freshened up. We then left for The Mall. We whacked KFC for dinner while waiting for Steph. Once she arrived, we walked to Hentian Putra and boarded a bus (Mutiara Express) that took us straight to Kuala Besut after 7 hours.

In the bus, I couldn't sleep for Steph kept treating me like her enemy like that. Stabbing my shoulder with her chin lah, kicking my innocent legs lah etc. Still, she managed to sleep while I barely did. At about 1.30am, the bus made a pitstop at this place where buses made pitstops. We went for teh tarik and milo tarik respectively.

At 5am, we reached Kuala Besut, Terengganu - the jetty. So from 5am to 9am, we just whacked breakfast and talked nonsense.

Finally, after a very bumby boat ride, we reached the island at about 11am. Check-in time was 12.30pm so what else, waited some more. We met a couple who were on the same package as us. So as we wait for our room to be ready, we talked rubbish with them.

The hotel room at Bubu Long Beach was nice and cosy. And the view, oh the view, from our balcony was simply breathtaking. Check it out!

We walked along the sandy white beach and the crystal clear water was very inviting. It's so beautiful and we wished we didn't have to go back. So the 3D/2N stay was spent literally in the sun and in the sea. It was paradise. And my feet got barbequed. Weird, isn't it?

Leaving on Sunday evening was difficult. We had to say bye bye to the friendly local folks, to the beach and the sea. Hours later, we were on the flight back to KL from Kota Bahru (we whacked Ayam Percik there by the way). The only thing we both regretted was not spending 4D/3N. Never mind, next year we'll return to paradise.

And on Sunday, while I was wondering how my feet got toasted at the airport, I got an SMS from Brian: Villa 2 up!

You know, I have been supporting Villa since 1995 and for the first time ever, I am feeling very good about the season. Hope this words do not jinx their next performance or the next and the next. Martin O'Neill, cheers to you! It's going to be an exciting season.

Papahood

I've been writing so much about parenting, nutritional benefits for children's growing-up needs, quality pre-school education and the various intelligences in children the past few weeks that I think I am ready to be a daddy. And mummy no need to worry.

Provided, of course, that my first child is a human and not a furry cute animal a la puppy.

Sometimes, it's good to think ahead. At least, gives me the motivation to work harder.

Side mirrors

Before I launch into another boring post, I'd like to take a moment to thank all of you for the birthday wishes, lovely presents and a great time last weekend. Thank you all from the bottom of my 26-year-old heart.

Anway, I was driving back to office this evening when I spotted a modified Mitsubitshi Evolution VIII. This car has got weird side mirrors shaped like squashed pears or something. This made the car to look out of proportion. Like a T-Rex, big body with small arms.

It was then that I realised that side-mirrors do give cars a personality. Somehow they make cars look good or bad or weird. A good side mirror has to be rectangular in shape and the length has to be just nice - neither long or short. It shouldn't be too fat either. It should be quite slim and sleek.

So, the next time, you want give your car a "Need For Speed" transformation, please don't ignore the importance of side mirrors. They really do give your ride an aesthetic value.

When you are young

One thing I have learnt from working in advertising is to compress my words. Make them short and straight to the point. Keep it short, stupid! Cliche right? I think so too.

Okay.

Today's post is about The Killer's latest single 'When you are young' (to be released in September, a month prior to their long-awaited follow-up album 'Sam's Town'). I'll try to not write in long, long sentences. I'll keep it short and simple and will try to do so from now on. Oops, I just contradicted myself there!

Anyway.

Here goes nothing.

The Killers are back! To listen, goto www.thekillersmusic.com now. Hurry, before our radio overplays it!