Reading Resolutions

Well, I have been reading alot and waching alot of movies but haven't been able to find time to blog any reviews. I have become very busy at work and also at home. It hasn't helped at all that I've also been very sick with a bad cough that lasted for months and progressed into pneumonia. All the meds I've been taking have made me very sleepy and tired.

Recently, due to lack of space, I had to discard books and magazines that I acquired in the past few years. I need to resolve to buy fewer books. Only buying those that I intend to reread or use as references. Hence, I resolve to revisit my local library more regularly. I still have a few purchased books to read but once I'm through with them, I'll go back to the library for my reading sustenance.

I'll try to do a quick summary of all the books and movies in the next few posts. It's more for my personal record than anything else. We've booked advance tickets for the latest Harry Potter instalment, at my son's insistence. I have high expectations for this movie and the son is also eagerly anticipating it. I hope it doesn't let us down, not that the other Harry Potter movies have ever let us down in the past.


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Some New Books

Kinokuniya was having a 20% discount last week and I managed to grab a few new books. Lately I've been even more moody than ever and needed moody books to read.





I'm currently switching between Wastelands and Man in the Dark. I'm itching to read Let the Right One In and Graveyard Book too. I've actually started those and switching between this and that. So weird. So ADHD-like. Sometimes I wonder if I am.



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Movie Weekend: Thoughts

I watched several movies over the weekend and I shall recap some small thoughts I had:


Star Trek - this latest installment RAWKS. I'm not a Trekkie, so I don't have any knowledge of how true-to-original this movie was. I just liked the story, the cinematography, the wittiness of the script and also Captain Kirk (or rather, the hawtie who played the young Kirk). Initially I had problems with Spock. I couldn't help thinking, "Oh no, Sylar has fooled them into thinking he's Spock!" (You know, with his abilities and all, he fooled people into thinking he's Nathan and now he's Spock?) But after a while, I got over it and I found him a rather enjoyable Spock. Especially after he gets the girl. So yea, I also liked this version of Spock. :D

Starship Troopers 3 - I just chanced on this and watched it. It's actually quite entertaining, especially the script can be quite spoofy, witty and sarcastic, despite all the blood and gore. This means I've seen all 3 Starship Troopers!

Dark Knight - I don't get it , I just don't get it. The awards that went to this show I mean. Ok, it was entertaining and people are emotional due to the tragedy surrounding this movie, but still.

The Duchess - I don't like Keira Knightley, but I must admit she turned in a fine performance. I totally believed her pain and anguish, plus sympathised with her. The beautiful sets and costumes definitely helped alot too. Sad to say, I'm a sop and cried buckets at her plight, at 1am in the morning and couldn't get to sleep after all the agitation.







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Review: After Dark, Haruki Murakami

"Walk a lot; drink your water slowly."

"That's not it," he says. "Walk
slowly; drink lots of water."

"One's as good as the other, I'd say."

That's one of my favourite conversations between Mari and Takahashi, the 2 main characters in After Dark.

After Dark is book about events that take place in 1 night, between the early hours of the night and dawn.

I liked the book. I finished it quite fast actually.

But I don't feel like writing much about it.

That's all I have to say about it.


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Thoughts on Again, My Love

I've been catching episodes of K-drama Again, My Love on KBS World every now and then. I saw the first few episodes and found the leads, Yoon Hee and Min Soo very annoying.

In particular, I was super annoyed by the way Yoon Hee (the female lead) was portrayed. It's true, the script required her to be steely and determined: Her character is supposed to be ambitious and vicious, able to hold her own against older "dragon lady", Min Soo's mother, Mdm Han, who is also the lady president of a large corporate empire. Despite that, I think Yoon Hee is also supposed to be loveable/endearing in certain ways because many people love her. Yet, I found nothing at all endearing about the way the lead actress portrayed her.

So, I stopped watching it, especially when I soon also found Min Soo too annoying. Though not as annoying as Yoon Hee. It was mostly Yoon Hee who irked me.

Recently I started watching it again at episode 20-22. I think it's nearing the end of the series and to avoid spoilers for people who might want to watch it, let's just say that the 2 lead characters are experiencing some hardships. I think viewers, in normal circumstances, would be rooting for the leads and hoping they will overcome their difficulties. However, I felt no sympathy at all, especially for the female lead! I felt she deserved to get as much hardship and "punishment" as possible, as a come-uppance to her bloody arrogance.

I feel this is a failure on the part of the lead actress, Park Ye Jin, who plays Yoon Hee. I felt she veered to much into self-righteousness in playing the character Yoon Hee. In fact, I felt more sympathy for the supposedly "evil" older dragon lady, Mdm Han, played by Choi Myeong Gil. Her portrayal of this character, Mdm Han, has many layers. I find it easier for me to accept her as a flawed human who made mistakes but is suffering from her errors, despite all her evil ways.


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Review: Let The Right One In

I debated watching the movie version of Let The Right One In before reading the book, which I just bought over the weekend.

In the end, curiosity won and I decided to watch the movie first, because I'm in the midst of reading After Dark by Haruki Murakami.

The film was moody and the main actors were well cast, but I suspect it doesn't delve enough into the juicy bits of the book, because I went away from the movie feeling nothing much. I wasn't drawn into the lives of the main characters nor become engaged in their problems. In fact, I just realised, I came away from the show feeling like I just finished watching a documentary!

The story is about 2 young people on the verge of adolescence, both 12 years old, coming from very different but maybe not so different circumstances. The girl is a vampire and the other a young boy who is suffering from vicious bullying in school.

Credit must be given to the cinematography, with beautiful shots and exquisite lighting. However, that is all that I found nice about the show. I think I must read the book before I express more thoughts and opinions about the movie.


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Babylon AD and Fast & Furious 4.

Just finished watching 2 Vin Diesel movies: Babylon AD and Fast & Furious 4. Vin Diesel never fails to deliver on the brawn! Love it! He's also one of the few action men who can be tough but be a believable softy too.



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