The Great Gatsby

Gatsby. Who or what is Gatsby? To me, the name is quite familiar when I first heard of it. The first thought I had was the famous hair gel brand ... and also, Takuya Kimura (remember the interesting commercials he did for the brand?).

So, this Gatsby I'm talking about is not about the hair gel. It is actually a film currently showing in local cinemas near you. The film is basically adapted from a novel of the same name, authored by F. Scott Fitzgerald that was published in 1925. What a long, long time ago. Anyway, I haven't read the novel before but since this is an adaptation from a popular book, I won't write a lot about the story. Just a simple 'googling' and you can read the whole story in a jiffy.

Firstly first, I didn't know that this movie is from a book. So, I just watched this with zero anticipation and expectation except hoping that it would be a good movie. In a nutshell, I can simply say that this story is about hope, specifically, the hope of a man to rekindle his long lost but not forgotten love towards the girl of his dream. That man is Jay Gatsby, a mysterious young millionaire who owns a great mansion by the lake in the West Egg. He became friends with Nick Carraway, a young Wall Street hopeful, who rented a small cabin just beside his mansion. Across the lake, in the East Egg section, is the mansion of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Daisy is the 'second cousin once removed' of Nick (can someone tell me what's that supposed to mean?).

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The love story brewed since 5 years back between Jay and Daisy. Difficult situations ensued and drifted them apart. Since that, Daisy married Tom and Jay ... is mysteriously hiding in his many tales, but when Nick knew him, he is already a big millionaire who throws extravagant parties every weekend. How he came to possess that many fortune, no one really knows but it is demystified as the story unfolds. Everything in the story is about Jay. Who is he? What does he do? What is his motivation behind all the fame and fortune? This story is about a man so driven to re-possess the love he once had but had to let go because of some difficulties and hopes that he can return the time (and everything else) back to how it was before. In the end of the tragic finale, we can perhaps sympathize with Jay, or perhaps Daisy ... We might feel sorry for Daisy, who finds herself torn between an old flame or an infidel husband, or maybe we feel even sorrier for Jay, as he sacrificed everything to the one love he has but it led him to his doom. Sad love story, isn't it?

Anyway, the movie is also available in 3D. With all the extravagant colours of the festivities portrayed in this movie, it might be exciting to watch it in 3D (I didn't, just sticking to 2D). One last comment before ending this piece...why on earth Amitabh Bachchan was cast to play a Jewish character? I am so not getting it...Anyway, overall ... I am just liking the story, though it's sad, and it was enjoyable to see the acting ... but, I think some parts are just way too dramatic and maybe too weird. It's like a musical but not a musical. Modern era songs in a 1920s era movie, I don't know..maybe it's the director's style. Anyway, still...an entertaining film.

Movies : Mr. Popper's Penguins

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Jolly good. Nice family story. And good laughs.

Mr. Popper's Penguins the movie is based on a children's book of the same name written by Richard and Florence Atwater, published in 1938. Not exactly an identical story with the book, but there's the Poppers, and the penguins, and finally...the South Pole.

Tom Popper Jr. is a divorced real-estate businessman, aiming for partnership in the real-eastate company he works in. He's driven and committed to his work, with a certain style of persuasion skills to get the properties for re-establishment. But he is also a father who loves his children very much and still feels for his ex-wife. Probably it's the work and his inefficient ability to express his feelings that made them separated. As his estranged traveller father dies, he inherits something unbelievable...a penguin. From that moment on, there begins a very interesting emotional journey for Tom Popper, especially, after a while he received 5 more penguins and they caught his children's heart. To further complicate matters, Tom is assigned to take over Tavern on The Green, an old restaurant which holds an endearing memory to dear ol' Tom, and the owner, Selma Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury in all elderly elegance), is never going to sell it to just anybody without knowing the person's worth.  And more, Tom's ex-wife is seeing another man and planning to go abroad with him. 

How do the penguins transform Tom's life? Will Tom be able to win his family back? What's the story behind Tavern on The Green? And why in the world does Tom Sr. left his son a group of penguins in the first place? It's in this movie. Funny, exciting and a heartwarming movie for the family. 

And let me warn you, there's no kissing involve, but there are sure quite a number 'poo'ing in direct view. ;)

from G-Men to X-Men..

Of course X-Men : First Class is where the war between the mutants and human actually started. By now, we have known that mutants has existed since WWII, somehow their sorrowful fate (mainly of Magneto's) intertwined with the race-eradication process during the Holocaust era. We were taken back to where the teenage Magneto..or Erik, his real name, lost his mother to the cruelty of Klaus Schmidt (who later known as Sebastian Shaw) and then became the lab rat of Schmidt's insane and ambitious experiment. We were also introduced to the young Charles Xavier and Raven who would later be famously (and notoriously) known as Professor X and Mystique. These 3 characters; Professor X, Magneto and Mystique, are the super-seniors of X-Men.

Then, after almost 20 years passes, the bad-ass mutants found their way to meddle into the human's atrocious business by taking advantage of the Cold War to wage their own war towards the homo sapiens. By now we meet Erik, already an adult, is in search of Schmidt who has now become Shaw, to avenge his mother's death and the torture he went through under the experiment of Shaw. In the meantime, Charles and Raven somehow unofficially aiding the CIA to investigate the involvement of the bad-ass mutants led by Shaw. During the process, Erik and Charles met and subsequently bonded by friendship and their same mutant 'nature'. Together, with the help of a CIA scientist and an agent, they recruited several more young mutants to help them address the current situation. These young mutants are conflicted, they knew of their differences but yet unable to accept it due to the difficulties of living among normal people.

Fast forward, the other side of the mutants has now realized that they are not only going to fight the humans but also the diplomatic, peace-keeping band of mutants led by Charles and Erik. Finally, the moment of truth came when Erik finally encountered Shaw, and as the final scenes ended the story, we started to see how the X-Men started to evolve. Now we understand;

a. how Erik became Magneto (and how he got the helmet..);

b. how Professor X became wheelchair-bound (and then started his academy..);

c. how the relationship between Magneto, Professor X and Mystique started;

d. how Mystique changed her heart (and preference..); and

e. how Beast became Beast, of course..

Yes, it's like learning the history of X-Men. Please don't get confused with the involvement of WWII, Holocaust and Cold War in this 'history'. Get your facts right. Somehow, fictions can be derived from facts, and fictions can be mixed with facts. The reality has become the background of the story, crossing political and geographical borders. However, at some point, this fiction can be the mirror image of what has happened in reality. In conflict between two sides, there's always the third party that acts as batu api, or provocateurs (heih..betui ka translation aku nih..). 

Okay, anyway..during the 'recruitment' sessions by Charles and Erik, it's interesting to see a few famous mutants in a flash, like Storm when she was little and Wolverine. And in this movie, we get to see the not-yet-X-Men-but-soon-to-be mutants wearing the black and yellow suit, as in the original senior version. All in all, this is a mutant movie with lots of feelings and emotions involved. Be yourself. Learn to accept your unique qualities and you will earn the respect of others. An enjoyable watch.

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Movie : Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines)

Spectacular! Yet another courageous effort from KRU Studios in dabbling with the silver screen. Yes, this movie is one that you can not miss if you are looking for a difference in our "son of soil's" brainchild. Actually, I have seen this movie much earlier, however, due to the turns of events, I only manage to write about it today.

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The production company chose one of the revered ancient literature documents of the Malay chronicles; the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa or The Kedah Annals as its latest production. As I understand it, this ancient literature script is also a document of historical accounts telling about the ancestry of Kedah rulers, yet it was weaved with such intricacies inclusive of mythical figures and miracles. However, let us be reminded that in the production's website, they explicitly said that this movie is "loosely" based on the chronicle, and so, what we would see is the production's interpretation of the chronicle and their choice of highlights in order to produce this movie. In general, we know that Merong Mahawangsa is said to be the descendant of Alexander the Great and the founder of Langkasuka Kingdom which later on became Kedah, and later on produced a line of kingdom rulers including the Sultan Mudzafar Shah.

The Gist (full synopsis can be read here: KRU Studios)

It was 120 AD, a prince from the Roman Empire was set to marry a beautiful princess from the Han Dynasty in China. Both empires agreed to execute the wedding in a neutral land, called the Golden Chersonese (Malay Peninsula). When the Roman ships was heavily damaged by the rough weather, they seek help from a sailor and traveller named Merong Mahawangsa when they met him Goa, India. Merong successfully escorted the Roman prince to the wedding site and met the Chinese envoy. However, the success was short-lived when an army of pirate nations called the Gerudans came and wreaked havocs at the camp in order to kidnap the princess. The Gerudans actually had a more sinister plan. Merong was later saved by a native villager who turned out to be a wise man (or tok guru), and later became his apprentice. Merong was then able to find out about his family and then set up a new kingdom which we later knew as Langkasuka. A reunion later brought Merong to use all his might and wisdom to face the Gerudans and save the princess. Will he succeed?

The verdict

Thumbs up from me! I think Stephen Rahman-Hughes has done a good job in delivering the lines and embracing his character. Khir Rahman brutal giller! All in all, all the actors performed really well. Good story line. The brawls and the war were rather violent and quite real. Kudos for that. And kudos for the special effects too. The best in Malaysian film industry so far. It was classy and I feel proud watching it, satisfied too.

It was a great experience watching this movie. And I wish the KRU brothers will continue to produce good quality movies in the future.

The King's Speech

I was interested to watch this movie because of ....

... Colin Firth, I like his performance in Dorian Gray, which was my first encounter with him.

... the genre; historical, however I was aware of the balance/imbalance between accurateness, imagination and dramatic effects included in the movie.

... the subject matter, the ancestors of my motherland's former colonial government. What more can I say..

The Gist

 The period was during the late 1920s to 1930s in United Kingdom. Prince Albert, the Duke of York, the second son of the reigning King George V, had stuttering problems since he was a child. He, with the assistance from his wife Elizabeth, the Duchess of York, had tried several treatments to cure it but the efforts were not so successful, until the Duchess met Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist living in England. Although the Duke was reluctant at first, losing confidence and feared for another failure, Logue's unorthodox ways of treatment and his understanding of the Duke's plight made the two started working together to improve the Duke's speech. During those times, the Duke had to handle some difficult times as when his father died and later the abdication of his older brother from the throne when he wanted to marry a divorcée. And also a test of trust as he found out that Logue actually never had credentials as a speech therapist. Yet, Logue was able to convince him that he never took any title of credential and he learned all his expertise from experience and managed success from it. As the next successor to the throne, the reluctant Duke, afterwards King George VI, had to battle his own self-esteem on becoming a King as part of his duty was to make broadcast speeches, especially during the World War II. I'd say, Logue had put some sense in the King's mind that the King finally found his own confidence, and his own voice. In the end credits, it was stated that Logue continued to be the King's speech therapist, assisting him in many speeches he did and continued being best friends till the end.

The verdict

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Whenever I walked out of a cinema with a broad smile, a feeling of pleasant disbelief and high spirit, I knew I've got the best deal for every shillings spent. I believed in the characters of the King, Queen and Logue. I loved to see the relationships portrayed between each of them and the lines. I probably had a slight problem catching up with the true British English accent. But it was ok. Perhaps the only character I couldn't feel or believe in was the guy who played Winston Churchill....but never mind. And I had a fair share of laughter in several scenes. A good treat. 

127 Hours

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Actually, I didn't anticipate myself to watch this movie at first, didn't matter whether there's James Franco in it or not, or whether it was one of the nominated movies in Academy Awards or not. My interest in this movie started when I learned more of the storyline and when I knew that it's based on a true story. Yeah, maybe I'm quite a fan of biographical movies.

Anyway, in a gist, this movie tells you that you should never go anywhere without telling anyone, especially if you are going to some risky place with the intention of doing something dangerous.

And that was the ultimate lesson for Aron Ralston from the ordeal. He was probably the sort of guy who didn't take relationships seriously, even with his family. Or maybe he did, but he didn't show it or didn't feel that it matters to show. So, that was why he thought it won't harm a thing when he went off canyoning in Blue John Canyon without telling anyone where he was actually going. He's doing his thing, his passion, his hobby....just what could be wrong. Or so he thought.

However, as he started to descend a narrow passage, a suspended boulder wedged between rock walls gave in and fell down the canyon with him, only to land again, but this time with Aron's hand pinned between the boulder and the rock wall, trapping him. During the time he was trapped there, Aron had tried everything he could think of to free himself, while battling thirst, hunger, loneliness, helplessness, coldness of the night and weather. He knew that no one knew he was there, and no one would notice that he was actually missing until a few days later, so it was really up to him. It was a suspense to see him trying desperately while keeping his mind straight amidst all the delusions caused by lack of nutrition.

During this ordeal, Aron also occupied himself by recording a video diary with his video recorder and taking pictures. Aron thought a lot about his family and his former girlfriend, probably re-thinking what had happened, what he had missed or what he should or shouldn't done before. I'd say, he contemplated a lot about his life. In the end, Aron was a fighter. He finally freed himself by doing the thing that I had expected him to do, yet I didn't dare to wish for it to happen. But he did. And I was thankful that although the scene looked real, it wasn't so gory. So, yes....I didn't searched for spoilers before watching this movie, so i didn't know then how it would end. After watching it, I almost couldn't believe that he still had a second chance after being trapped deep inside a canyon for 127 hours. And continue to live, and wrote about his experience in a book, which then picked up by Danny Boyle the director and made this good movie out of it.

And Aron Ralston continue to pursue his passion after that, without forgetting to leave a note or message to somebody of his whereabouts. :)

Yes, I was satisfied. What I like about it is the story. The story of a real person learning a real lesson. And in desperate time, people can do the unimaginable to survive. The real Aron survived.

My next agenda? The King's Speech, The Adjustment Bureau and Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa.

Till then.

Movie : Dorian Gray

Would you like to stay young forever?...

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This post is about Dorian Gray, the central figure in Oscar Wilde's 1890 literature "The Picture of Dorian Gray", and its 2009 film adaptation simply titled "Dorian Gray". As I have never read the actual Wilde's literature, much of the storyline in this post came from my perspective and reading after watching the DVD of the 2009 film a few days ago. Dorian Gray was a young man, with charming good looks and youthfulness that everybody desired. He was innocent, he was good...until he met the cynic Lord Henry, who took quite an interest to the young Gray. Befriending Lord Henry, Gray was enthralled with his world views and looked up upon him. Henry preached his views and philosophy to Gray, yet his views and philosophy in life were laced with his fanciness to hedonism and slowly corrupted Gray's mind. Both men were friends with Basil, a fine artist who were inspired by Gray's beauty and painted his portrait. In a way, he was also fond of Gray. The painting became the central object of the story as Gray realized his good features and slowly succumb to the idea of conquering all life's pleasure by using his charm and exploring his senses. He broke a lot of hearts, he became heartless himself and cared for nothing except for his pleasures. Although being reminded by Basil not to believe Henry's words, Gray was already embracing the ideas and constantly motivated by Henry to use all his qualities to the maximum. The story took a different turn when Gray looked upon Basil's painting of him and saw that after every sin he committed, his painting changed. Gray in the painting became deformed and aged gradually after committing each hideous act, while Gray himself didn't change, hurt or age a little bit. Earlier on, in what I thought as a scene of playful remarks between Henry and Gray, they discussed the idea of bartering one's soul to the devil in exchange of something. And Gray said that he would agree to change it with eternal youth. Thereupon, the story reflected a Faustian theme. Gray hid the painting as the changes escalated. As Basil encounter him for the painting, Gray killed him and threw him into the river. Now that he thought himself as untouchable and invincible, he went away and travel the world, using his curse to seek pleasure. 25 years passed (18 in the literature), he came back to London, tired of his conquest. He reconnected with Henry and the others. Looking the same as he was 25 years ago, many were surprised to see him, including Henry. However, Gray now was tired of his life, he wanted to change. He wanted to be a good man. But he looked at his painting and it was still the same hideous thing. He wanted to be free from this curse. He fell in love with Henry's daughter (a vicar's daughter in the literature) and wanted to marry her. But his terrible past came to haunt him. The hearts he had broken, the souls he had killed, including Basil's and the girl who committed suicide because of him, all came upon him and torturing him. He blamed it all on Henry, he blamed it on the painting. In the tragic end, Gray died in the effort to redeem himself. In order to kill the curse, he stabbed the painting. In the literature, he was found dead stabbed in the heart. In the film version, he died in a blast while stabbing on the painting. The painting survived the fire, and changed its form back to its original look.

            I think this is one example of life trying to imitate art. The Faustian theme aside, this is a tragic example when a man is devoted to pleasure and when morality is degraded as a hindrance to happiness. Lord Henry relishes the kind of life he preached to Gray, yet he didn't live that life. Gray took everything Henry said like in a textbook and unable to control himself.
            One quote that I like in the film, from Basil, "Some things are more precious because they don't last". The other cynical quotes from Henry, which I didn't mean to like but I found it rather interesting and couldn't help chuckled at some. A rather entertaining story, with an interesting plot, although I thought it diversed from the original literature to a certain extent (anyway, which adaptations do not..?), it was a good watch. The end.  

Movie : Misery

"I am your number one fan."

If you are a writer or a novelist, those words might be the best thing you want to hear. But maybe not for the famous author, Paul Sheldon (James Caan). Especially, after the horrendous experience he had encountered in Silver Creek.

This psychological thriller is based on Stephen King's brilliant novel of the same name. This 1990 classic is probably one of the best adaptation of King's books based on the critics comments. Honestly, I haven't read the novel, the same with King's other brilliant works. However, my sister has been a fan since her college days and thanks to her, I knew about him. I prefer to enjoy his work through movie adaptations, like Carrie, It and The Green Mile. I considered this movie a classic, because it is a great movie since 20 years ago and it can still be enjoyed now with the same enthusiasm as it was before.

Paul Sheldon, most famous for his series of "Misery" novel, is finishing his latest book in his favourite rural retreat in Silver Creek. Once finished, he headed down to NYC to send his work to his agent. Unbeknownst to him, a blizzard is coming. While on his way, he met with an accident. The accident might ended his life there and then. Fortunately, (or should I say, unfortunately..) he was rescued by a nurse, Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) who happens to be his number one fan. Since she rescued him, (a strong woman, she is) she had been caring and curing him like any admiring fan would do. She kept saying that the phone line is still unavailable or the road is still not opened since the blizzard every time Paul asked to contact his family and his agent. All seems well, until a significant amount of time had passed, Paul is getting restless and worried, and Annie has shown some of her "real colours".

By now, Annie has shown Paul, that she is fanatic of him, and having mood swings. Sometimes she could be very nice and gentle, and other times she could be harsh and temperamental. At this point, Paul knew that there is something wrong with her, just he didn't know how serious it is. Paul, incapacitated by the accident, was helpless and had to rely on Annie's care, although now he felt trapped and held captive in her house. The maniacal 'freak'ness of Annie has escalated as she read the novel manuscript which Paul had finished written. She loathe it and asked Paul to write another novel instead in her honour. She wanted him to continue writing another "Misery" novel. In all the time he was in her captivity, we could see how Paul tried desperately to find his way out with only one good arm and has tried to outsmart Annie just to keep her in good mood and save himself more time to live. I couldn't help feeling sorry for him every time his effort failed. And Annie could be so cruel to him. So Paul had no other choice than to write the story she wanted.

At this point, everybody is looking for Paul, including the local sheriff, Buster. I really like Buster's character, the old sheriff with a sharp mind, along with his deputy sheriff wife, Virginia. Their on-screen husband-and-wife chemistry is very entertaining to watch. My favourite line of Buster is this, "You see, it's just that kind of sarcasm (sic) has given our marriage a real spice.", when he replied to his wife's remark about his 'literature affair'. (You just have to see the movie.) And I couldn't help feeling sad when something bad happened to Buster near the end of the movie. It's the same with the relationship between Paul and Annie. Although this is a thriller movie, a 'psycho' one to describe it better, there were times I laughed to see Paul's expression when he was trying to comprehend Annie's unstable mood. Kathy Bates portrayed the fanatic Annie extremely well, no wonder she bagged the Academy Award for Best Actress in this movie.

And so, back to the story. Paul knew now that as the end of the novel is coming, so is his life. While he tried to escape, he had learned some scary facts of Annie's past history. He knew she is capable of killing him. He knew he had to do something before Annie kills both of them. And finally, you know the ending. Haha.

Ok, so I like this movie. I know it is an old movie and maybe those who love reading, especially Stephen King's or thriller lovers, you would have known everything already. But some of you may not know it and I recommend you to watch it and enjoy it. Till the next classics, au revoir.

Photo credits: Cover (bokunosekai.wordpress.com/2009/0.../misery/)
                      Scene (from the dvd)