Oscar Biggies 2008

I know the Oscar season is over - but it is only now that I have managed to catch most of the big 2008 shows:)

First of all, a word of thanks to the *sponsors* - the blackmarketeers of DVDs - without whom I would not be able to watch the latest movies or TV series in the comfort of my home at a fraction of the cost.

And thanks to their sophisticated technology and know-how, these DVDs are crystal clear and they come with good English subtitles, audio options for many Asian languages and even special features for most. What more can you ask for?

Ya, I ought to be shot... but I am not going to get on the high horse :)

I have watched most of the contenders for the major awards and my take is this:

Slumdog Millionaire: Overrated. The plot is predictable yet unbelievable - is that an oxymoron? Not really. If you, like me, have grown up watching melodramas from Asian film-makers, particularly those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, you would recognise the same elements - once you take away the "Millionaire" subterfuge. Suffice to say, there is nothing new in this show for me. I find the show - contrived?

The Reader: The best movie of the lot. Movies about the holocaust tend examine the extremes of human nature - from the diabolical to the heroic - but this show focuses on the question of morality, a topic which always intrigues me. Kate Winslet and David Kross (who is NOT the guy from Narnia) are both very good.

Revolutionary Road: Powerful - and emotionally draining. I find the notion of "hopeless emptiness" in the show - with the emphasis on the "hopeless" part - depressing. This is not a feel-good show, but it is a show that one will not forget easily. Kate Winslet thoroughly deserves the Golden Globe Best Actress for this show.

Milk: Stories about true public figures are always somewhat educational and I enjoyed the learning process. Gay rights continue to be a contentious issue that is divisive in most Asian societies but whichever side one is on, if we look at the show from the general angle of how a person can overcome overwheming odds, it is an inspiring show. Sean Penn is not easy on the eye (the reason why Son No 1 did not want to watch the show). But well, pretty boys seldom get to win the Oscar - just look at Tom Cruise nominated for 3, winner of none.

Doubt: Disappointing. Good acting notwithstanding, the entire show is really much ado about nothing. When I compare with the other show about nuns, "Agnes Of God", this show is paler than pale.

Frost/Nixon: Interesting perspective of another historical figure. Excellent acting by the entire cast. When anyone were to mention Richard Nixon now, I can only visualise the face of Frank Langella - who is incidentally my choice for Best Actor award.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona: So-so. Not much impression. Forgettable. Penelope Cruz was lucky to have garnered the Best Supporting Actress Award. I would have given it to Viola Davis from Doubt.

Rachel Getting Married: This is a heavy drama - make no mistake about it - it is certainly not My Best Friend's Wedding. Watch this show for the unconventional wedding ceremony and celebrations.

Changeling: Memorable and engaging show. Angelina Jolie is very watchable. I love the 1920's set design - the manual switchboards, trams, and T-Fords.

The Dark Knight: I am not a big fan of the superhero genre - but I must say this show is awesome. I'd like to think this is the thinking adult superhero show. Oh, the mind games played by the Joker are good. So is Heath Ledger.

The one biggie that I missed is The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. For some reason, our regular DVD could not get a decent copy for us.

So there you are. My brief take on the movies of 2008. Comments welcomed :)

The Climb

I remember when I was teaching an O level class some years ago, we would choose some motivational songs to sing together, especially when the exams were nearing and the going got tough. Two of those that we liked were Diana Ross's "If We Hold On Together" and Mariah Carey's "Hero" .

Recently, I heard this song, "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus and would deem this song to be the most appropriate yet. The lyrics are really meaningful and encouraging. Check it out - I have supplied the lyrics after the video:



I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

Pop Snapshot

This is the result of my straw poll yesterday, plus recent observation:

Son No 3

Current Favourite Song
Circus by Britney Spears.

Current Favourite TV Shows
1) Tom And Jerry
2) Spongebob Squarepants
3) Little Einsteins

Current Books
Chinese "Little Scrolls" Series

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Son No 2

Current Favourite Song
Love Bug by Jonas Brothers

Current Favourite TV Show/Movie
High School Musical 3
The Most Extreme Animal Series

Current Books
The 6th book of the Secret Seven series
Various animal books

*****************************************************************************
Son No 1

Current Favourite Song
"Don't know"
Listens to I-Tunes Top 10 Songs

Recently Watched TV Show
90210

Recently Read
The Twilight series
Dan Brown

******************************************************************************
Mummy

Current Favourite Song
None.
Now listening to Stephanie Sun in the car.

Current Favourite TV Show
Brothers And Sisters
(just finished Season 2)

Recently Read
Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Now Reading
Bill Gates Speaks by Janet Lowe
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Make You Feel My Love

Adele's cover version of this Bob Dylan's song is simply the best yet. It has the power to move one to tears (it did to me).

Watch this live performance and listen to the song in a dark room, with just you and the music. Magic!

When the rain is blowing in your face,
and the whole world is on your case,
I could offer you a warm embrace
to make you feel my love.

When the evening shadows and the stars appear,
and there is no one there to dry your tears,
I could hold you for a million years
to make you feel my love.

I know you haven't made your mind up yet,
but I would never do you wrong.
I've known it from the moment that we met,
no doubt in my mind where you belong.

I'd go hungry; I'd go black and blue,
I'd go crawling down the avenue.
No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do
to make you feel my love.

The storms are raging on the rolling sea
and on the highway of regret.
Though winds of change are throwing wild and free,
you ain't seen nothing like me yet.

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true.
Nothing that I wouldn't do.
Go to the ends of the Earth for you,
To make you feel my love.

Footnote: I dedicate this song to my three sons.
All of them are too young to appreciate this, but in time to come (like in 30 years), maybe they will.

Our Top Ten 2008 Hitz

The year is fast drawing to a close and the mood is there for drawing up lists. [Be warned!]

Yesterday, Son No 1 and I sat down together and each came up with our list of favourite songs of 2008. Son No 1 got his I-pod this year and since then, has been following the chart-toppers faithfully. I remember I was about that age when I started listening to pop music. Now, we listen to songs together during our drive home from school.

I might add that Son No 1's list sounded more like his current top ten hits. I know of a few songs that he used to like not too long ago but did not appear on the list.

On the other hand, my list sounded like the Top Ten from 2007-2008. When I did some homework, I realised that some of the songs that I have chosen were actually released in 2007. So, for me, I retain my memory for too long! But where our respective memories overlap, we do like the same songs :)

So here goes (not in any particular order):

Son No 1's Top Ten 2008 Hitz

1 Crush: David Archuleta
2 Love Story: Taylor Swift
3 9 To 5: Mike Myers
4 Disturbia: Rihanna
5 Viva La Vida: Coldplay
6 Love Bug: Jonas Brothers
7 4 Minutes: Madonna feat. Timberlake
8 The Great Escape: Boys Like Girls
9 I'm Yours: Jason Mraz
10 Now Or Never: High School Musical 3

My Top Ten 2008 Hitz

1 I'm Yours: Jason Mraz
2 Bubbly*: Colbie Caillat
3 Finally#: Fergie
4 4 Minutes: Madonna feat. Timberlake
5 Viva La Vida: Coldplay
6 Love Bug: Jonas Brothers
7 7 Things: Miley Cyrus
8 Take A Bow: Rihanna
9 Won't Go Home Without You: Maroon 5
10 American Boy: Estelle feat. Kanye West

*Released in the US, Australia in 2007 but in the UK in 2008
# This is the only track from Fergie's debut album, The Dutchess, that was released in 2008.

The Clone Wars

Last weekend, I brought the children along with our helper to watch The Clone Wars in the cinema. It was a show most eagerly-anticipated in our household. We had McDonalds' for lunch (a sure winner) and bought the mandatory pop corn and drinks. I was surprised that there were fewer than 20 people in the cinema hall. It would seem that the rest of KL was not captivated by this inter-galactical tale.

Sons No 1 and No 2 did not take their eyes off the screen throughout the show. There were more than enough action sequences to keep them mesmerized. The complete opposite can be said about Son No 3. This was his second full-length feature film in the cinema, the first being Narnia - Prince Caspian. In Narnia, he sat quietly and happily as his complete attention was focussed on the pop corn.

In this movie, however, Son No 3 seemed unbearably distracted. It was freezing in the cinema. He was feeling cold, although he wore a sweater and I gave him my wool wrap as a blanket. Throughout the show, he could not help fidgetting and climbing onto me for a cuddle, all the time airing his grouse that he was too cold. If the cinema was packed, the people behind us would have been quite annoyed.

Did I enjoy the show? Not much. To put things in perspective, it must be recognised that it is a children's show. It had the feel of a television pilot for the TV series that will be launched soon. After the memorable words "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...." appeared on the screen, die-hard Star Wars fans would be disappointed that the iconic crawl of words, that disappeared into the distance, did not follow. Instead, a narrator described the situation - I think this could be for the benefit of the target audience - the children - who might not be able to read.

It was good to see the familiar characters again... Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, Yoda. I find the new character, a padawan trainee called Ahsoka, quite irritating. She is too "modern" (as if this is a sin for a futuristic show!) for my liking. Brash, opinionated, disobedient and loud-mouthed. How can such a character join the sage and dignified army of Jedi knights, I wonder. She was surely crafted purely for marketing purposes - heaven forbid, the younger generation can probably identify with her! Other comments - the plot was simple, the length of the show was manageable below 2 hours and the dialogue was minimal.

Conclusion: This is not a show for adult Star Wars fans, but for Star Wars fans who are still children. Are there many of them around? Maybe not in this part of the world. Well, I am at least grateful that the show is released just when my children are having the Star Wars fever. For us, the timing couldn't have been better.

Another Moral Lesson From Star Wars

Yesterday, I wrote about the moral lessons I gleaned from Star Wars.

Today, in a moment of vanity and self-importance, I decided to google "star wars, moral", secretly hoping to find my blog somewhere right on top of the search. But surprise, surprise! I found pages and pages of results that pertain to those words - evidently, this topic has been researched and debated to death! Just shows how "un-read" I am. To rub salt to the wound, after looking at 10 pages of results, my blog entry was still nowhere to be found.

I just want to clarify to my readers that my blog was entirely based on my own analysis of the show and was not in any way plagiarised from any source. Just because great minds think alike...... haha.

Seriously, gee, it is good to be brought down to earth. I must stop thinking myself as smarty-pants!

Hmm... it started me thinking on something else though... how do these search engines work? What do I need to do to be ranked top in the search results for every blog? Ya, that shows the competitive spirit in me. Ya, that is definitely something worth looking into .... :)

5 Moral Lessons From Star Wars

My three sons are huge fans of Star Wars. We have the entire suite of Star Wars on DVD(Episodes I to VI). At home, when they are short of time, they would select one chapter from one of the episodes to watch. On weekends, they might even watch entire episodes again and again. They would also bring the DVDs with them even while they are on holiday. On top of that, the Star Wars Wii Game is one of their favourite electronic games.

What is this timeless appeal of Star Wars? After all, the first instalment which took the world by storm was released way back in 1977, some 3 decades ago.

Observing the children, I can see that they, being typical boys, are enthralled by the considerable power of the Jedis, the dazzling fighting sequences with light sabres, as well as the giddy array of weird creatures from across the galactica, thanks to Lucas Animation. Son No 1 is also impressed by the visual and sound effects.

Son No 2, on the other hand, is fascinated by Yoda. He would occasionally walk hunch-backed, doubled-over, pretending to walk with a walking stick a-la Yoda. Among his prized possessions is a miniature Yoda figurine (a gift from his loving uncle) which accompanies him to bed every night. I have also noticed that the colour green has recently become Son No 2's favourite colour. I did not know why until it was revealed to me that it was because Yoda uses a green light sabre. Thank goodness he has not adopted Yoda's sentence structures... not yet, anyway.

That aside, there are many reasons why I like Star Wars. Now that I have re-watched all 6 shows through the eyes of a mother, I can see at the heart of the story strong and sound moral lessons that the children should learn from. I have listed them below as follows:

1) Triumph of Good over Evil - I love the unambiguous ending in Episode VI when the Good side (Jedis) finally won. Good over evil is also portrayed when Darth Vader finally redeemed himself at the end. There was once when Son No 3 wanted to be Count Dooku for he was in awe of the evil lord's power. I gently reminded him that Count Dooku "lost" in the end. Well, every child wants to be on the winning side - so Son No 3 has since ditched Count Dooku.

2) Power of Love, particularly that between the father and the son - This is one of the main themes in the show - how Darth Vader saved Luke and how Luke persuaded his father to return to the good side.

3) Choice and Consequences - Anakin Skywalker was not a victim of circumstances; he had a choice whether to turn to the dark side. Having made the choice, he must live with the consequences. I feel this is an important learning point for young people (teenagers) who are constantly faced with such temptations and influences.

4) Size is not Might - A small band of rebels can overcome the mighty empire, the diminutive Yoda can be a powerful Jedi. Ya, small can be beautiful ... and not necessary a liability. To all the little people in the world, this is a comforting thought. The same can be said for the citizens of a certain Little Red Dot.

5) Embracing Diversity - Earthlings are largely divided based on skin colour and religious affiliations but they are all humans. But in Star Wars, we see the seamless interaction between specimens that are totally dissimilar. While some are arch-enemies, there are also many who just co-exist peacefully. It's not such a big challenge for us then, is it? Mankind is really just one species.

End here, I must. May the Force be with you.

We need more JK Rowlings

JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, gave the commencement address at Harvard University this year. I just thought I'd like to share it here. She extolled the benefits of failure and imagination and I was pretty touched by her speech - not only the text, but her style of delivery which is very down-to-earth. But this post is not about the commencement address :)

University President Drew Gilpin Faust applauded her selection as commencement speaker, saying, "No one in our time has done more to inspire young people to … read."

I can't agree more. Many parents and teachers owe a debt of gratitude to JK Rowling because she has made books fashionable again with the younger crowd.

Getting the younger generation to read books is an uphill task in today's digital world and we need more authors like JK Rowling. Not only can she create memorable characters and weave plots, she writes in a very reader-friendly manner. It is this latter skill that I find is often lacking in many authors of junior literature. Roald Dahl is the other author who has it. His plots are original, zany and clever, his writing style humorous.

Son No 1 read Roald Dahl when he was 8 years old. Book after book after book. When he ran out of Roald Dahl, he (or rather I) could not find another author which could hold his attention. When he was 10-11 years old, he read a series of books called Mr Midnight but it is, what I would call, popcorn literature. For this pre-teen age group, there are a large number of books written for girls but noticeably fewer for boys. I can understand the commercial reasons for that. But it is not helpful to parents of boys who are trying to get their sons to read.

It was not until Son No 1 discovered JK Rowling that he began reading again. He has watched all the Harry Potter movies but in order to know the ending to the series, he had to read the 6th and 7th book. That's when he got hooked. Having tasted Rowling's narrative, he was not contented with the movie offerings. So he started reading all the earlier books. Again and again. In fact, for his school's monthly book review assignment, he has been writing about Harry Potter's books every month.

We need more authors like JK Rowling. Meanwhile, I am collecting reading lists from schools and shortlisting them for Son No 1's consumption.

Hannah Montana Concert

Tonight we had a family activity. We watched the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus 3-D "Best Of Both Worlds" Concert on the Disney Channel on TV. Cousin Yim had earlier passed to us three pairs of 3-D glasses for this event.

The evening started well. My three sons plus Dad waited excitedly for the show, with their 3-D glasses in hand, plenty of Pringles, Twisties and other tidbits ready to be consumed. The lights in the living room were suitably dimmed. Then Ta-Da! Hannah pranced onto the 42-inch plasma in her blonde wig, amidst screams from mainly 8-10-year-old girls in the audience. She is good, I like her. To Hannah's credit, she did manage to hold my three sons enthralled .... all but 12 minutes?

Haha, this is not surprising, really. After the novelty of watching the 3-D effects has worn off, the real attraction of the night took centrestage. You guessed it. It's all those tidbits lying on the table. For occasions like this, Mom usually relaxes her stance on snacking and my three sons know it. They now had a legitimate reason to stuff themselves silly.

Oh well, Mom did manage to shoot some photos for posterity's sake. And Son No 1 wiki-ed on stereoscopy to learn more about 3-D effects. Not all is lost.