Brief Exile.

After watching The Dark Knight, I decided to take a short break from my cinematic viewings. Been at it heavily for the past few months...it's affecting my budget too.

At work, things had been too crazy for me recently. I jokingly told a colleague I'd jump from the office veranda if the jobs keep piling up. Little did he knew, I was half-serious at the time. So before things get worse, I should take action. Asking for extra personnel to share the workload seems...I don't know how to put this...Malaysia would win World Cup first before I'd get another designer. The way things are now, the chances for it are getting slimmer each passing year.

So I decided to take a break. 1st to 4th of August...road trip to Penang with my buddy, Bob. We had been planning this for a long while...and the time is finally here. If time permitting, I'd love to stop by the Tiger Valley in Tambun, Perak - part of Sunway's Lost World of Tambun.

In the mean time, I'll be on hand to complete whatever stuff I can by Thursday. It will be a huge-ass tornado before the calm.

Dark Knight

After the long wait, it's here. I watched The Dark Knight on Saturday with my buddy Bob. As usual, after the movie he'd ask, "so how was it?" This time, I struggled to find words to describe my opinion.

I am simply overwhelmed. All expectations were exceeded. The plot, the themes, the characters...everything is right. This is no longer a mere 'comic book superhero movie' akin to Incredible Hulk & Iron Man (I loved those 2, by the way) but it has transcended the genre. It's epic in every sense of the word - more like the feeling of watching Michael Mann's Heat or Coppola's Godfather. It's THAT good.

I don't believe in perfection, for I felt there is no such thing. But this movie came quite close. Without hesitation, a highly recommended must-see movie. Three years I waited, and it was worth every second.

A trigger-happy memory

Choices. To step back or forward. To venture into the unknown or to stay put. Mee goreng or nasi lemak. Like a sprite-rendered character in a point-and-click adventure game (I'm showing my age here) we have to make a choice, lest we get stuck on the current level. In life, however mundane or trivial the things we decided on - it will impact our lives one way or another.

The 'point-and-click adventure game' aspect above refers to my fond memory of playing an old game (or 'retro' if you prefer...I hate that term) called Police Quest III: The Kindred. It was back in 1991 or 92 - my first original PC game. One particular scene haunts me to this day:

A madman was running wild...in some kind of park, I think. Armed with a knife, he terrorized members of the public and injure some of them...I stepped in, trying to calm the blood-thirsty nut down. Maybe perform a love song or two.

"Chill out, crazy dude. Put the sharp pointy thing down, and let's watch Bob the Builder together..."

"FUCK YOU, COPPER!" screamed the madman as he assaulted me, blinded by rage. Maybe he preferred Barney the Purple Dinosaur.

In that instant, inspired by the action movies I watched at the time, I whipped out my gun and SHOT THE BASTARD DEAD. And before I could dance a victory jig over my slain enemy, I was greeted by the 'bad end' scene...Jim Walls, the creator of the game (a former policeman himself) lectured me on my inability to be a proper policeman and the game ended at that point. All this because I left my goddamn baton in my locker.

So, yeah...in the end, I made a lousy choice. The choice at that moment may not be the best/right one - or not resulting in a desirable outcome. But hey, I applaud those of you who had the courage to just go ahead and try something...rather than do nothing. To be honest, I don't always possess this courage.

So to those who chose your path and fought bravely, I salute you. Even if you fell this time around...it'll work out. Somehow. I think.

Can't Smile Without You

I've been rather sick for the past couple of days, and even in my half-conscious and incoherent state I'd like to post some stuff...what follows are my thoughts on Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.

On Sunday (13th July), got together with my 'clique' members near TOA, our old stomping grounds. From there, we drove to One Utama, and catch an early 11am showtime for the aforementioned movie about that red guy with cutoff horns.

The movie was a blast. The plot is a little on the thin side...still, a fun ride. Interesting and weird characters inhabit the movie's universe - there's even a hidden market where all these creatures hang out. I found great amusement seeing two of the main characters drunkenly singing Barry Manilow's "Can't smile Without You"...surreal, funny and corny at the same time. Despite not really being human, they had a hard time dealing with relationships too, haha.

Prince Nuada - the main villain came off symphatetic at times, despite doing everything he could to end mankind. Deep down, he's just plain tired of humans fucking up the planet...he believed that his actions were justified, no matter how extreme his methods seems to be. At one point, Prince Nuada instilled doubt in Hellboy...about being the protector of these humans that didn't even liked him in the first place. In the end, the good guys saved the day and disaster is averted once more. Typical, but it works for me.

Afterwards, had lunch at Chilli's - this would be my first - and had the Oldtimer's Burger. Oh yeah, I'd definitely eat there again. Hunting for books/mags at MPH and Popular Bookstore (which have pathetic book selections) followed by caffeine consumption at Starbucks capped off a Sunday well spent.

Next on the list, the much awaited Dark Knight. Till then, adieu.

Hancock and...Carlin?

..in what way the two names above related? None, whatsoever. Just some stuff that I got into recently: watched the Will Smith movie 'Hancock' and also been downloading George Carlin's comedy albums.

First off, Hancock. In short, it's good, very good...but not quite great. In the vicinity of greatness, flirting close to it...but kind of retreated into the comfort zone. Good performances by the leads (Smith, Theron and Bateman) carried through out the movie nicely. This movie answers the question, "what if Superman was a prick?" and you get Hancock - the down and out, seemingly uncaring, perpetually trouble-making drunk 'Superhero'. Don't call him 'asshole' though, lest you enjoyed being flung into the stratosphere. Entertaining flick, but I'm looking forward more to Hellboy II and Dark Knight. Saw the latest trailer for Quantum of Solace as well...Daniel Craig's Bond = Badass.

George Carlin was one of the best standup comedians in the United States, who passed away recently (on 22nd June 2008). I heard of his name and reputation, and also that he influenced many comedians (including my favs Lewis Black & Jerry Seinfeld) but prior to his passing, I've never check out his stuff...apart from his cameo in the movie 'Dogma'. So, in the past few weeks I've gotten some of his albums (downloaded six full albums to date) and I started with his most well known track, "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television". His jokes could be a bit crass at times, and he sometimes 'test' the audience by increasing the inappropriateness of his subject matter. As he grew older, his material gets darker & bleaker...yet still highly regarded for one who stayed active for 50 years performing standup. Thanks, Mr Carlin.

Possibly watching Hellboy 2 in this weekend..maybe get together with my 'clique' too. See you soon.

Missed...by that much

I watched Get Smart last night and it was...underwhelming. It is not bad at all...just how I felt on the whole experience. The overall feeling resulted from the combo of my high expectations and dead audience members. Most of the jokes seemed to flew over people's head...I'm not undermining anybody's intelligence here, but boy oh boy were they unresponsive or what...

I always believed that comedies best enjoyed either in a big group (where everyone laughs) or just in your own privacy. Sigh. Last night was neither. Also, the antagonist is rather...lame. Not lamest(that 'honor' goes to the main baddie of Die Hard 4.0...Tim Olyphant, you suck.) but come on, Zod, you could do better than that.

I'm a Steve Carell fan...I'd watch anything with him in it (well, maybe except Evan Almighty) and he did a great job here. Everyone else is fine. Dalip Singh/Great Khali's role is bigger than I had expected. I would be more than willing to give this movie another chance...with a more receptive audience, I hope....or just wait for the dvd. Next, I'll be watching Hancock in the weekend...Hellboy 2, Wanted, Dark Knight would be on watch list for July as well. Maybe will watch Wall-E too. Agh, gonna be broke, dammit.