Saturday, June 30, 2007

A Prairie Home Companion

There's The Painted Veil kind of awww-movies, where lovers die and you feel for their tragic separation, and then there's A Prairie Home Companion, where there's more than love, death, and tears. There's hearty laughs between old friends, the end of something pure, and the reminisce of the good ol' days. A Prairie Home Companion plays like an ode to Robert Altman's life, for shortly after directing this film, which unforseenly serves as his last, he passed. what's ironic was how i read that this was not intended to be his last, and that he was gonna keep making movies for as long as he could. Sadly, that did not happen. Very often we find the big screen's reel a fragment of life. this is the rare case, in which life mimicks the movies. As A Prairie Home Companion, a live radio show, plays for the last time, so is this Robert Altman's swansong.





To the present MTV-generation movie-goers, the closest one gets to reading the name "Robert Altman" is the movie Gosford Park. his other classics include M*A*S*H, Nashville, and The Player. Sad to say, all of which i've never seen. His trademarks are his multiple characters (but it did not downplay their personality) and overlapping lines, which Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin perfected while presenting the Honorary Oscars to Altman last year.

A Prairie Home Companion is not a showy movie. There's no obvious climax. no fire, explosions, murders(only deaths), guns, or even sex. well, sex was close. it's a movie for a lazy sunday night, just chilling to cold beer and chips while slopped on the sofa. it's a wispy rumination that slowly builds on heartwarming and tender moments, kinda like watching a group of lifelong frens playing together for the last time, that kinda feeling. The movie is one huge radio show brought on screen. if u love folk and country music, u would probably love this film. but the greatest irony of this film was how death is prophetic. when Virginia Madsen's Angel took away Chuck's life, her comfort to the wife: "The death of an old man is not a tragedy" lingers on with bittersweet aftertaste. the band sings on, "let the light from the lighthouse shine on me". at that moment, i cant help but to think Mr Altman made this movie with it being the last on his mind. the soft treatment towards death, and the soothing of it back to life, and how he died thinking of something high played like comfort, like u knew he was gonna go, and hopefully by watching this movie u'll feel better. therein lies the irony, because we dont. at least i dont.

if i were to watch this like any other movie, i'd probably watch it for the sake of Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin. but the fact that this was RA's final picture gave me perspective, and that's what everyone who's ever gonna watch this movie sld probably know. As usual, Meryl was beyond good, and who knew she had such a lovely singing voice (see for yourself). it matched Lily's deep Alto perfectly. John C and Woody Harrelson stole the show with their cowboy comedy. but the true joy was seeing Garrison Keillor, whose voice was made to be on radio. seeing it was an added bonus. he also wrote the screenplay.

A Prairie Home Companion, as told in the dvd extra, is still in play. here's another one to add to my list of things to see before i die.



Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin - My Minnesota Home




Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin - Goodbye My Mama


I've always loved OG's reviews for his spot-on nuance.
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1201750,00.html




"So gather ye rosesbuds while ye may
Time is still a-flying
This same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying"

Friday, June 29, 2007

the weather is really humid right now. it's as if there's no air circulation as well. i'm sweating as i'm typing this.


my air conditioner has been dead for close to a yr. there's no cold milk/juice in the fridge. the fan is not spinning fast enough. urgh.

so once in a while when i finish a trail and have nothin to do for the rest of the afternoon except go home and rest and there's no adults at home, i'll go to my parents' room, turn on the air con, ad have the best time of the day till my mum returns at 8pm. u see, turning it on in the day is a blasphemy. so i'd have to do it secretly everytime. today was one of those days. i haven slept in an aircon room for eons! just the quiet cold breeze and the sound of my own breathing. nothin more lovely than that.

and now it feels like hell out here.





there's really nothing much to gush about these days it seem. perhaps i've grown indifferent to alot that's going on. i'm tryin to think of that word,a person who cares about nothing. it slipped my mind it seems.

but what i do know is that some things still cut like a knife.


off to a cold bath.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

陈绮贞 - 告诉我

看沉默的电话 它什么都不说
看电视的画面 它无声的闪动
看街上的行人 跟我擦肩而过
整个世界太冷漠 我没有力气再往前走

看你紧闭的嘴唇 它什么都不说
看你飘忽的眼神 它无情的闪躲
看你和我的回忆 跟我擦肩而过
你的改变太冷漠 我没有勇气大声地说

告诉我 你还是真的离开我
你也不愿这样的夜里 把难过留给我
告诉我 你还是真的离开我
你是要惩罚我的爱让你失去自由
告诉我...

Wednesday, June 27, 2007





yao nie, for a limited time only. before i get sued.feast on it.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

for susan

A Case Of You

Just before our love got lost you said
"i am as constant as a northern star"
And i said, "constant in the darkness
Where's that at?
If you want me i'll be in the bar"

On the back of a cartoon coaster
In the blue tv screen light
I drew a map of canada
Oh canada
And your face sketched on it twice

Oh you are in my blood like holy wine
Oh and you taste so bitter but you taste so sweet
Oh i could drink a case of you
I could drink a case of you darling
And i would still be on my feet
Oh i'd still be on my feet

Oh i am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I'm frightened by the devil
And i'm drawn to those ones that ain't afraid
I remember that time that you told me, you said
"love is touching souls"
Surely you touched mine
"cause part of you pours out of me
In these lines from time to time

Oh you are in my blood like holy wine
And you taste so bitter but you taste so sweet
Oh i could drink a case of you
I could drink a case of you darling
Still i'd be on my feet
And still be on my feet

I met a woman
She had a mouth like yours
She knew your life
She knew your devils and your deeds
And she said
Color "go to him, stay with him if you can
Oh but be prepared to bleed"
Oh but you are in my blood you're my holy wine
Oh and you taste so bitter, bitter and so sweet
Oh i could drink a case of you darling
Still i'd be on my feet
I'd still be on my feet






Blue, songs are like tattoo.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

damn funny! my humps!

Alanis Morissette - Uninvited



i FINALLY learnt how to put youtube vids on my blog!!! all thanks to kiddo who showed me the way! hahhaa.. clips galore clips galore!!!

Monday, June 18, 2007

army did this... ...

chopped off my bangs, gave it a fresh healthy jet-black dye. and one of the good things that came out of ICT was meetin Shawn for dinner. . . . in NUMBER 4 UNIFORM!hahah..definitely a first.and most prob the last.



we look so "kok" in this picture. YAONIE...nv save the other one...

Saturday, June 16, 2007

同恩 - 做自己

this is an OK GO video. one of the best vids i've seen. innovative, smart, low budgeted,and very creative. =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI

5 days of army ICT. shant blog about it now because:
a) i need a break from it to consolidate my thoughts
b) my sis is staying out tonight so i finally have the tv all to myself
c) i really wana blog this song


同恩 - 做自己


会不会走太快
爱宠坏你和我
能不能停一下
只要一下就可以
偶尔我想偷个闲
好或坏等明天再想
偶尔我会有点腻
好或坏等明天再说

不想爱你或爱他
我只想做自己
只想为了自己
多呼吸一点
就算爱你比爱他更美丽
不如我让自己解放

会不会走太快
爱宠坏你和我
能不能停一下
只要一下就可以
偶尔我想松了弦
而好或坏等明天再想
偶尔我想听不见
是好是坏等明天再说

不想爱你或爱他
我只想做自己
只想为了自己
多呼吸一点
就算爱你比爱他更美丽
不如我让自己解放 oh~
不想为你或为他
我只想爱自己
只想为了自己
再诚实一些
就没有你没有他没有谁
只剩我和自己流浪

会不会走太快
爱宠坏你和我
能不能停一下
一下就可以

Friday, June 15, 2007

baa-long-long

ICT IS OVER!!!!

ICT = In Camp Training.

yes i went for reservice and after 5 days, the dread is finally over. =)

more on it later.

Saturday, June 09, 2007


Dustbin caught the best of my eyes.

same script different cast

One year ago















TODAY



Ash, Jiahui, Siling


Jamie, Jian Le



Jian Le, 174, me








amazing huh. one year has passed. many have come and gone. Ash remains the life of the party, talking non-stop. without her there's sure to be tons of awkward silences. one year ago i was a newbie tryin to fit in. today i feel ancient as i stare at the familiar faces with mysterious histories. its very ironic how i spend so much time with some of them, yet know close to zilch about them. such can be said for many of my friends. isit their inpenetrable fortress, or my foolish ignorance and lack of empathy?

i'll miss 174, as another one leaves come end june.

Notes on a Scandal




i finally got to watching the delicious Cate Blanchett and the marvelous Judi Dench.

another great film i've seen this year. absolutely wicked screenplay adaptation, "toxic wit", and deliciously twisted. go watch.

Friday, June 08, 2007

"nincompoop"

was it my imagination? i remember seeing ya comment but when i want to reply, it's gone.

so anyways, nice to know u still read this silly site. makes me embarrasingly guilty cos i dun read yours very often! ha!

take care and i'll cya real soon ya!

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Babel



"Those preparing for the dramatic sermon on a theme of global miscommunication and dislocation that is Babel would do well to consult Genesis 11:7-8, the verse in which God decides to incite labor unrest during the construction of a tower with its top in the heavens: ''Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.''

God's plan, theologians tell us, was to chastise human arrogance and slow mankind's inexorable drive toward self-aggrandizement via the humility of confusion; His mission was to knock a project of Trump-size chutzpah off the map. But I'm less clear what director Alejandro González Iñárritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga had in mind as the creators of Amores Perros and 21 Grams collaborated on the third of their characteristically flashy, collage-like, multicultural pileups."

---Lisa Schwarzbaum, ew.com



contuary to this critic, i love the film.


YY, i've mentioned b4 tt i wanted to tell u wat Babel meant. this is it.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Shrek 3





Ms Tay flew our kite! in the end me and Peiyih went on a date with Shrek and Fiona and many shrek babies.

light fluff with ironic pop references. the most terrible part had to be the cringe-worthy inclusion of Damien Rice's '9 crimes'. what were they thinking?!?!

ABSOLUTE. TURNOFF.

the best part was the pinnochio nonsense blabber and Gingerbread's life-flashes-before-you-die sequence, at a very funny tea table with three little pigs and wolfie. the sidekicks totally stole the show from shrek and fiona. mike myers cameron diaz and mayb justin timberlake were overpaid and overrated.


before that i was at Minds cafe with these army friends...

Lianglin, Mel C, Justin, and Peng Bin

i need to know the secret to eternal youth from old-bird Pengbin.







i wish there's more in me for you.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Dancer In The Dark





Dancer in the Dark is one of the best movies i've seen this year so far. if not the best, at least the most affecting. tragic storyline, startling performances, a doomed ending right from the start. Notice how Bjork's character, being vulnerable throughout the show, is totally in control and strong during her dream sequences. notice how free-spirited she was during her dream sequences. a Lars Von Trier movie, expect some America mocking/bashing. the gritty camera works made me pay more attention to it, and i was lookin forward to Bjork's songs. there's so much to see in this film, really, besides Bjork and her music.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

i was feeling moody, until
a) i read my frenster comments
b) a fren from abroad told me about the present she got me (a Beatles poster!)
c) online conversations about Hentai, "u r so sexy now" testimonials, movies, and dinners.









sigh. i dunno why.


back to some Mika and Arcade Fire.

Edward Norton

I finally finished Phase One of my Edward Norton marathon.

The Painted Veil



Down In The Valley



Keeping the Faith



Primal Fear



The Illusionist



I am now a certified EN fanatic. EN is officially my favourite actor. just these 5 movies alone showed his diverse range and ability to anchor and command the movie.

next: The Score. Frida. The Italian Job. anyone has American History X and 25th Hour?!?! dying to watch. reviews of my hexology next time if i can.