How far would you go to protect a secret?

The Reader starring Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes and David Kross looks really promising. I saw the trailer.

During the making of the film in early 2008, producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack passed away, Minghella in March at the age of 54 and two months later, Pollack at 73.

Film character Michael represent the New Germany while Hanna the old.

I am deeply disturbed and saddened after I read about The Holocaust and the Nazi Human Experimentation. How could anyone do such unforgivable terrible acts to fellow humans?

This Christmas, Heel The Love.

I have to watch Marley & Me. How could I not? There's also one of my fave actresses, Jennifer Aniston. :)

Love the teaser! Watching Marley the pup run freely along the coast is such a liberating and heartwarming feeling.

Yesman

I saw Yesman and I really like it! Hilarious and nice movie. :)

Madagascar 2 Date

I enjoyed my Madagascar date with my fave little gal, CZ. Prior to the movie, We had dinner with PY at White Dog Cafe. Let's see, we ordered 2 triple mushroom soup, a clam chowder, a button mushroom side dish, a fish & chips and a mango chicken. They were all yummy. CZ thought the fish tasted a little dory... She's not a dory fan. She was also a little disappointed with the side dish she chose because it was not the button mushroom she likes. However, her choice was great for the 2 adults. We thought the mushrooms were delicious.





Dessert after the meal was a scoop of Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip ice cream for CZ.



I thought Madagascar sequel was much better than its prequel. It explained how Alex got into the zoo.



CZ got upset with some of the scenes because in one, baby Alex got separated from his family. Naturally, a baby cub lost, alone & scared... Next, the reunion scene many years later was very touching - I had tears myself. The scene where Alex got banished from the pride was also heart wrenching. The part where Melman was nearly killed was where CZ could no longer contain her emotions. The moment the rock gave way - she bursted into tears out of fright (that Melman will die) & sadness. I wasn't at all freaked out (her parents were worried I'll be). I thought it was good for her to cry instead of trying to withhold the sadness. All I could do was to comfort her and assured her that Melman will come to no harm because Gloria will save him. Her capacity for empathy is amazing considering her age (she's six). I'm very certain she will grow up to be a girl with an enormous heart. :)

Tropic Thunder

Saw Tropic Thunder yesterday night. Very funny film. I had a good laugh. :)

The Bucket List

I'm just done watching The Bucket List which I missed on the big screen. Both Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson are good actors.



The Bucket List.
1. Witness something truly majestic
2. Help a complete stranger for a common good
3. Laugh till I cry
4. Drive a Shelby Mustang
5. Kiss the most beautiful girl in the world
6. Get a tattoo
7. Skydiving
8. Visit Stonehenge
9. Spend a week at Louvre
10. See Rome
11. See the pyramids
12. Get back in touch (previously "Hunt the big cat")

I hope too, that when I die, my eyes are closed but my heart is opened.

Madagascar 2 Escape to Africa Trailer

"Attention! This is your captain speaking. I've got good news and bad news. The good news is, we're landing immediately. The bad news is, we're crash landing. Thanks again for choosing Air Penguin."

Haha! I think this is gonna be a real hilarious film. I'm already laughing over the trailer. :)

13 Going On 30

After total humiliation at her thirteenth birthday party, Jenna Rink wants to just hide until she's thirty. Thanks to some wishing dust, Jenna's prayer has been answered. With a knockout body, a dream apartment, a fabulous wardrobe, an athlete boyfriend, a dream job, and superstar friends, this can't be a better life. Unfortunately, Jenna realizes that this is not what she wanted. The only one that she needs is her childhood best friend, Matt, a boy that she thought destroyed her party. But when she finds him, he's a grown up, and not the same person that she knew. When an already-distraught Jenna discovers Matt is getting married that day, she rushes to his house and begs him to call off the wedding. Matt cannot say yes, although he tells Jenna he loves her. From his closet, he pulls the "dream house" he made 17 years before and gives it back to her. Jenna leaves in tears, crying over the dream house and wishing she could return to 1987.

I remembered crying so hard over this part of the movie. Ironically, the happy ending got me smiling from my heart too. Finally, Jenna got to marry the man she loves. It's always a blessing to marry the one you truly love. :)



I'm crazy for you
Touch me once and you'll know it's true
I never wanted anyone like this
It's all brand new, you'll feel it in my kiss
I'm crazy for you, crazy for you

My Sassy Girl

I caught My Sassy Girl last evening, courtesy of PW who had free tics. It's supposed to be a romantic comedy but I don't remember laughing much. The plot was rather predictable - I could guess what Jordan's "break up" story was about by midway of the show. I've heard from friends that the original Korean version was better but I haven't seen it so I cannot comment. But there are some memorable quotes from the movie:

"Destiny is the bridge you build to the one you love."

"If we never see each other again, and one day, you feel a certain presence beside you... that would be me, loving you wherever I am."

"We have to stay alive, because we have to see how the story ends."

I'm not quite sure. Is destiny something we can change? Isn't it supposed to be pre-determined? Building that bridge may change the process of reaching the end but can it change the end which has been pre-determined? Or should I have the courage to believe that we can change our destinies?

I find the part where Charlie and Jordan missed each other in the train particularly thought-provoking. Charlie said something like, "I know what you're thinking. We're meant to be separated."

4Bia

I caught the Thai movie, 4Bia on Fri with PW. It's been ages since I last saw a horror film. If my memory serves me well, Nang Nak should be the last horror flick I saw and that was in 1999. Coincidentally, Sage caught the same movie on the same night but at a different cinema.

I think 4Bia's kindda interesting cos it consists of 4 short horror stories - so not too boring and draggy. The scariest thing about horror film is the anticipation itself. The built up was intense - PW and I were pinned shoulder to shoulder, ready to scream. Hilarious! Now I know why horror movies are best for couples falling in love - it beings them closer, literally (unless the guy is more freaked out then the gal). :P

Happiness (Directed by Youngyooth Thongkonthun):
A young woman, stuck in her apartment thanks to the cast on her leg, communicates with the outside world via cell phone and text messages. She begins receiving text messages from a stranger, who seems friendly enough, and there’s no reason for her to read between the lines when he mentions that he’s currently dwelling somewhere “cramped”. After sending the mysterious stranger her picture, things become spooky.

Tit for Tat (Directed by Paween Purikitpanya):
Imagine a childish payback like writing a joke about your friend's parents on the blackboard. Then imagine a payback of vocational schoolboys who curse people they hate on a deadly charm. Let's see how excruciating these curses will bring to the table and the bloody time is on to kills everyone who fact this event.

In The Middle (Directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun):
On a remote camping trip through a lonely jungle, four teenagers begin to tell ghost stories to entertain themselves. Eventually, the young men become frightened by their own stories and fight over who gets to sleep in the middle of the tent which they believe, is the safest and most secure spot to sleep...or so they think.

The Last Fright (Directed by Parkpoom Wongpoon):
Flight attendent Pim, goes aboard an airliner on a charter flight for the Princess of Khurkistan. What was supposed to be an ordinary flight turns into something tragic when the princess forms an allergic reaction to something she ate. After the royal house of Khurkistan requests that her body be sent back immediately for cremation, Pim (Chermarn Boonyasak) is required to remain on the plane and escort the body - the only passenger - for the return flight.

Story 1 was the spookiest. Story 2 was the most disturbing (and I got a little confused with the storyline). I enjoyed Story 3 best - a good mix of humour and horror. Story 4 the most scary (in this film).

It'll be a while before I catch movies with PW again as she'll be out-stationed. I'm hoping to catch Wall-E though. A robot with emotions? Cute!

Saw V

Z told me Saw V is coming. While I must say the plot sounds ingenious (like KFP said) and rather refreshing, I lack the guts to watch. I joked with Z that this sorta movie is best watched with a loved one or at least someone you like, so that in case of emergencies - like those really scary or gory scenes - there's someone I can pull his sleeve or bury my eyes in. Z laughed her head off. Duh.

Saw v
by coolvibesinfo

10 Promises To My Dog

10 Promises To My Dog:

1. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

2. Place your trust in me. It’s crucial to my well-being.

3. Be aware that however you treat me I’ll never forget it.

4. Before you scold me for being lazy, ask yourself if something might be bothering me.

5. Talk to me sometimes. Even if I don’t understand your words, I do understand your voice when it’s speaking to me.

6. Remember before you hit me, I have teeth that could hurt you, but that I choose not to bite you.

7. Take care of me when I get old.

8. You have your work, your entertainment and your friends. I have only you.

9. My life is likely to last 10 to 15 years. Any separation from you will be painful for me.

10. Go with me on difficult journeys. Everything is easier for me if you are there. Remember I love you…

In the mood for love

那是一种难堪的相对。
她一直羞低着头，
给他一个接近的机会。
他没有勇气接近，
她掉转身，走了。

It is a restless moment.
She has kept her head lowered,
to give him a chance to come closer.
But he could not,
for the lack of courage.
She turns and walks away.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an Academy-Award winning 2004 American romance film by French director Michel Gondry. The film uses a science fiction element to explore the nature of memory and love. Opening in North America on March 19, 2004, the movie grossed more than US$70 million worldwide.

It is directed by Michel Gondry, who worked on the story with Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth, a French performance artist. Kaufman and Bismuth won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2005. The film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet and features Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, Elijah Wood, Jane Adams, and David Cross. The movie's title is taken from the poem Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope which was the story of a tragic love affair.

Emotionally withdrawn Joel Barish (Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski (Winslet), a dysfunctional free spirit, strike up a relationship on a Long Island Rail Road train from Montauk to Rockville Centre. They are inexplicably drawn to each other, despite their radically different personalities.

Although they do not realize it at the time, they are former lovers now separated after two years together. After a nasty fight, Clementine stormed out of Joel's apartment and impulsively hired a New York firm -- Lacuna, Inc. -- to erase all memories of their relationship. Upon learning of this, Joel was devastated and decided to undergo the procedure himself. However, while unconscious and having these same memories erased, he rebelled, realizing he wanted to hold on to his memories of Clementine after all.

Much of the film takes place in Joel's mind as he struggles to preserve at least some memory of his love for Clementine. We watch their love and courtship go in reverse. The memories are slowly erased while Joel tries his best to resist the procedure and hide inside his own mind.

In separate and related story arcs, the employees of Lacuna are revealed to be more than peripheral characters in scenes which further demonstrate the harm caused by the memory-altering procedure. Mary (Dunst) turns out to have had an affair with the married doctor who heads the company (Wilkinson), a relationship which she agreed to have erased from her memory when his wife discovered the relationship.

Once she learns of this, she steals the company's records and sends them to all of its clients. Patrick (Wood), lonely and socially inept, became fixated on Clementine and uses the personal mementos that Joel gave to Lacuna, as part of the procedure, in order to seduce Clementine. These romantic entanglements turn out to have a critical effect on the main story-line of Joel and Clementine's relationship.

* * * * *

Well. This seems like a great movie. How on earth did I miss it??? So, I'm going to try catch this one.

Is it a good idea to erase a bad love affair? Would it make one happier not remembering that heartache? Or is it sadder not to have memories of those you've loved before?

Sex and the City Movie

In the heart of the city...
There's a world of possibilities.
Some things end.
Some things begin.
And some things never change.

Life always has a twist.

"After years of living in a city, I assumed that if my friends and I ever got our fairytale endings, that would be the end of the story." - Carrie Bradshaw

"Life doesn't always turn out to be your fantasy, that's why you need friendships that are real to get you through it all." - Carrie Bradshaw

I don't know if the martians are going to understand this thing about girlfriends but every girl needs her girlfriends, to shop with, to gossip with, to bitch with, to laugh with, to cry with, to envy with, to sigh with, to hug with.. to get through life's up and down with.

I can't begin to tell you how addicted I am to this fabulous series of six wonderful seasons about shopping, about dating, about men, about romance, about yearning, about love, about commitment and above all - about true friendship. No series has ever been this close to my heart.

Rumour has it that in the movie, Mr. Big, the man Carrie was so in love with and whom finally she can be wedded to, will die. Carrie spent so long, so much heartaches to seek her true love and after much turmoil, finally thought she found her happy ending but. It's totally heartbreaking.

I can't wait for the movie to be released!!! I don't know if this will happen in Singapore - I sure do hope so. Whatever, I am going to get the DVD and soundtrack, by hook or crook!

To all my wonderful girlfriends - thanks for catching me when I fall so I don't get disfigured!!! BFF! =)

Funny Games is the 2008 American remake of the 1997 Austrian horror film of the same name. Original writer/director Michael Haneke (Caché and La Pianiste) wrote and directed, and Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, and Michael Pitt star. The film is a shot-for-shot retelling of its predecessor.

The film opens with a family—George (Tim Roth), his wife Anne (Naomi Watts), their son Georgie (Devon Gearhart), and their dog—arriving at their lake house. Their next-door neighbor stops in to help launch the family's sailboat, accompanied by a young man, Paul (Michael Pitt), who he introduces as a friend. A short time later, another young man, Peter (Brady Corbet), also a "friend" of the neighbors, arrives to borrow eggs from Anne. The two young men invade the family's house, starting by killing the dog with George's golf club and damaging Anne's cell phone. A frustrated Anne demands that the men leave, asking George to throw them out. After some uncertain hesitance, George moves to eject Paul and Peter; Paul breaks George's leg with the golf club and the two men take the family hostage. They force the family to participate in a number of sadistic games in order to stay alive.

Paul asks if the family wants to bet that they will be alive by 9 o'clock the next morning; he breaks the fourth wall by telling the audience in an aside that he and Peter will probably bet on the family being dead. Between playing their games, the two men keep up a constant patter and Paul frequently ridicules Peter's weight and lack of intelligence. He tells a number of contradicting stories of Peter's past, though no definite explanation is ever presented as to the men's origins or motives. When some of the family's other neighbors arrive for a visit, Anne passes off Paul as a friend until the visitors leave. During a scuffle that night Georgie escapes to the house next door, but finds the family dead. He attempts to shoot the pursuing Paul with a shotgun, but the gun fails to go off. Paul returns him to the house, along with the gun. After a few more games, the men play a counting-out game between the family members. Georgie is selected, they shoot him, and leave.

George and Anne grieve for their loss, and resolve to survive. Anne flees the house while George, with a broken leg and arm, tries to repair the damaged phone, but fails to successfully contact the police. Anne attempts to find help, but eventually Peter and Paul reappear, capture her, and return to the house with Anne bound and gagged. Anne grabs the loaded shotgun and uses it to kill Peter. An enraged Paul uses the television remote control to rewind the events to just before Anne grabs the gun. The scene then plays out again, but this time Paul grabs the gun before Anne makes her move. They kill George and take Anne out the next morning in the family's boat. Around eight o'clock they casually throw the bound Anne into the water to drown, winning the bet. They dock at the house of the neighbors that had previously visited the family, request some eggs, thereby restarting their cycle of murder. (Paul turns around and smirks into the camera.)

* * * * *

It's chilling just reading the plot.

Leap of Love

The date got my attention - Feb 29. Happens only on the leap year. That's once every 4 years.

The story is about a girl, a boy and a promise to meet at the same place every 4 years, on Feb 29. The plot is simple but the concept, spellbinding. As Dr. Catherine Lim, author of the novella "Leap of Love" which the movie is based upon concluded, "romance is alive and well in everyone, regardless of age and background."

"You will come together at last. But not yet, not yet." says Fate mischievously.

Some of us spent a lifetime searching for that special someone. Some found. Some lost. Some didn't. Others spent a lifetime waiting for that someone to appear. While some did succeed, the rest waited in vain.

It's funny how sometimes, two connected persons, for some reasons, do not end up together. I think this is the saddest. They could have been, but, they didn't. Then inevitably at times of nostalgia, they wonder, "What if...?"

Music and Lyrics

I have just watched this on my notebook. It was nice! But it was not exceedingly superb. Hugh Grant aged a fair bit. All the wrinkles. Wow. Drew Barrymore looked slimmer from what I could remember. I like the way Drew Barrymore descibed how lyrics complement the melody. A perfect song to me is one with good melody and good lyrics.

Alex Fletcher: It doesn't have to be perfect. Just spit it out. They're just lyrics.
Sophie Fisher: "Just lyrics"?
Alex Fletcher: Lyrics are important. They're just not as important as melody.
Sophie Fisher: I really don't think you get it.
Alex Fletcher: Oh. You look angry. Click your pen.
Sophie Fisher: A melody is like seeing someone for the first time. The physical attraction. Sex.
Alex Fletcher: I so get that.
Sophie Fisher: But then, as you get to know the person, that's the lyrics. Their story. Who they are underneath. It's the combination of the two that makes it magical.

The Bucket List

This sure looks like a fantastic movie starring both actors I like, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. There's two particular sentences of the trailer which touched me:

"Dear Edward, there's no way I can repay you for all you've done for me. So rather than try, I'm just going to ask you to do something else for me - Find the joy in your life."

"We live. We die."



Corporate billionaire Edward Cole (JACK NICHOLSON) and working class mechanic Carter Chambers (MORGAN FREEMAN) are worlds apart. At a crossroads in their lives, they share a hospital room and discover they have two things in common: a desire to spend the time they have left doing everything they ever wanted to do before they "kick the bucket" and an unrealized need come to terms with who they are.

Together they embark on the road trip of their lifetime, becoming friends along the way and learning to live life to the fullest, with insight and humor.

Each adventure adds a check to their list.

Multiple Grammy Award winner John Mayer will perform his original song, "Say," written especially for the film.

The Heartbreak Kid

This movie looks promising! Sure made me laugh watching just the trailer. Ben Stiller is hilarious! I think, I could do myself a favour with some uninhibited laughter. ;-)