The Cabinet of Curiosities

Tags

books, Preston-Child, sci-fi

Never start a book you can’t put down!

I opened the cover of Preston-Child’s The Cabinet of Curiosities Friday night, and it was so addictive that I spent the whole weekend reading it! I did what I had to do, like sleeping (although I stayed up well past midnight), eating (instant noodles because they are delicious and FAST, never mind they are junk food , and grocery shopping (I did make a detour to the nearby mall and picked up a fabulous white print shirt – the sassy AND professional kind – for only 15 bucks, with a $10 off coupon from NY & Co.). Other than that, it was as if my eyes were glued to the pages. I planned to prepare for my presentation on Sunday. When I woke up at 7am I said: “Ok, I will read until 9”. Nine came and went so I thought: “Ok, one afternoon will do.” Noon came and went so I thought: “Ok, until 4pm so that will give me at least 6 hours if I go to bed at 10.” Alas, as the clock ticked by, I realized it was impossible to finish the book by the end of the day if I read it line by line, relishing the details. However, I couldn’t stop – the suspense was killing me!!

So, after much frantic scanning, I finally reached the end of the book at 6:02pm. It was SO satisfying, finally knowing “who, why, how”. There are two major twists in “an extended white-knuckle climax” (quoted from Publisher’s Weekly since I couldn’t have described it better!), and I guessed neither of them. At last, a book that is NOT “predictable”!!

This book is a true page-turner in every sense of the word! It is Jack-The-Ripper meets Silence of the Lambs, sprinkled with some spices of sciences and history. At one point I realized that I had curled up in one end of the couch, holding my breath, slightly trembling, fascinated and shaken. Although the twists are nothing you will ever imagine, clues planted earlier make them believable. Unlike other crime/thriller writers such as James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell and Mary Higgins Clark, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child possess an unusual sense of humor. They managed to make me laugh while scaring the hell out of me. The characters are not cardboard-cut. They are multifaceted, complex and real. With razor-sharp observations, they succeeded in bringing out the most defining characteristics of these people in only a few lines. These characters are so vivid that I could see them clearly in my mind, as if I were watching a movie. Their writing is also top-notch. I have never been an avid sci-fi or thriller fan. I have read two Patricia Cornwell before I got thoroughly depressed by the traumatized and unlucky heroine. I have only read one Patterson but found the story bland. I have read several Agatha Christie in high school but forgot most of the stories. I had covered about the first twenty pages of Michael Crichton and Robin Cook before I got bored. However, The Cabinet of Curiosities is so well written that I was torn between the urge to move forward with the plot and the desire to linger and understand the details!

I dare not start another Preston-Child book now that I have the interview (esp. since I haven’t prepared anything!!). So for now I am reading the innocuous Jenny. I will, however, bring Relic for on-the-road reading at airports, etc.

Equilibrium

Tags

Movies, sci-fi

Equilibrium is a moral story encased in a sci-fi format, exploring serious subjects such as freedom and control, war and peace, emotion and its price, and politics and deceit. It also has abundant stylish gun-fight scenes. The costume is a bit like that in Matrix (seems the traditional Zhong Shan Zhuang is suddenly “in” now). After watching American Psycho I hated Christian Bale, but I must admit he was pretty good in this one. Why does Sean Bean always the “emotional one” that died early (like the one in LOTR)? Some scenes are over-used. The first time I saw people being “cleanly sliced” was in Ghost Ship and I marvelled at the CGI effect while feeling grossed out and terrified. The second time a similar scene appeared in Resident Evil. This time it was used again and it just lost its appeal. I wish movie makers can stop copying and over-using original ideas from others and come up with their own. It is not that enjoyable being always reminded of other movies when watching one.

Checked CB’s filmography and was utterly astonished to find out that he was Laurie in Little Women with Wynona Ryder!! LW is one of my fav movies and Laurie made a huge impression on me as the starry-eyed, passionate and sensitive young man. I watched that movie a dozen times but didn’t make the connection between him and the slick serial killer in American Psycho I saw a few weeks ago. My God, how can he manage to morph from that pure, innocent, idealistic boy into the emotionless, psychotic killer?! It only says one thing – despite my huge dislike for the killer character – that CB is a brillian character actor that can become any role he plays in. IMO he is certainly not good-looking. There is something cold and steely about his look. But his acting skills are superb.

About a Boy

Tags

books, Humor, love, Movies, Nick Hornby

I love it so much that it is now in the same place as my ever fav Bridget Jones’s Diary. I didn’t expect to like it to such an extent, coz it is about a boy, well, actually “two” boys (including one Peter Pan) and I didn’t think I would relate to it as I did with BJ Diary. But Nick Hornby’s writing style turns out to be one of my fav styles: seemingly light and even flippant yet conveying a much heavier message, satiric yet tender, comic yet true to the bone in terms of depicting the characters. How could anyone not love Marcus? Will is, as the other male protagonists in NH’s novels, a flawed hero. It is never intended and will never be a larger than life hero, and it is not even a better than average human being if you measure him with the usual moral standards. However, such a character is more endearing than the “heroes”, and touches people’s heart to a greater degree, when it strives for the better. I am sure people can find more or less a reflection in themselves or people around them. To be honest, I at first thought that Will’s lifestyle is the one I eventually want: having enough money to do nothing and can do whatever I want in the world. However, as I read the story, I realized that it is not that easy as it sounds. As Rachel tells Will: “About how you have to be fairly tough in your head to do what you do… most of us think that the point is something to do with work, or kids, or family, or whatever. But you don’t have any of that. There’s nothing between you and despair, and you don’t seem a very desperate person…The point is you keep going. You want to. So all the things that make you want to are the point… but on the quiet you don’t think life’s too bad.” People need a point to go on living, and most of us define ourselves with objects, or things around us, such as work, family, friends or lovers, or even abstract things like ambition, aspirations, dreams, etc. However, for someone like Will to live happily (or at least not painfully), he has to love life itself, instead of the things that attach us to life. However, even Will finds out, eventually, that life is not just another NYPD Blue to look forward to, or another Nirvana record to expect, but about actually living, and caring, and being attached to people and things around them. So this is a paradox: you can live relatively well without the “attachments”, and yet, you need these attachments to actually “live”, because eventually you will find out that music and Telly is not enough, and you need these attachments to define yourself, to a certain degree. So “to do whatever I want in the world” will still involve something, some intellectual, physical or emotional output, and this output engages you to life. It is not enough to be a mere audience to life. To live is to participate.

Compared to the movie, I prefer the ending of the movie. The ending of the movie creates a real climax, the point where audience may cry, and feel happy that things end this way. I don’t know if this is the hollywoodization of a British story (but it is directed by British directors), but I actually prefer this ending to the relatively bland (but probably more realistic) one of the book. Will is a man that goes with the trend, not against it or away from it. He wants to blend in, and actually blends in, most of time anyway. He teaches Marcus to be invisible so that he won’t be singled out by the kids at school. Therefore, it is no small feat for him to go up the stage and literally “rescue” Marcus from lifelong “psychological trauma” (well, maybe just embarrassment). I know that I genuinely love this character at that point. In the book, on the other hand, he is pushed by Rachel to talk to Fiona, and pushed all the way to realization by external events. It might be more believable, but it is much more touching in the movie, and it gives people a sense of completion, and a starting point of another journey on a new level.

Love Actually

Tags

love, Movies

There were about 20 people in the small theater, mostly elderly couples or middle-aged women. A Caucasian girl, an Indian guy, and I were the only relatively young viewers Just like the other day when E and I watched About Schimdt!

What do I think of it? An ultimate feel-good movie that brings out the classic bittersweetness of life. It’s definitely not as brilliant as BJD or Notting Hill, but still quite enjoyable. Although it is longer than an average romantic comedy (a little over 2 hours), time went fast and I didn’t check my watch once wondering “when is this going to end?” Made up of nearly a dozen interwoven stories, it manages not to falter during the transitions or linger on the unnecessary, for most parts at least. It’s not the first time filmmakers portray life through a series of vignettes, sometimes intertwined, other times fragmented. Examples include Magnolia, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, Personal Velocity (one of the worse movies of all times), Thirteen Conversations about One Thing, and probably a few more that my overloaded brain can not recall at this moment. In this movie, Richard Curtis seemed to try to cram into two brief hours all the complicated situations of relationships, all life’s little predicaments, and all the heartbreaks and joy that a romantic comedy can ever tackle. Although a “closure-sque” ending is provided for most characters, I still feel strangely unsatisfied and at a loss. But maybe it’s just meant to be, coz life is never clean cut, situations never properly resolved, and feelings not always fully requited.

It seems that the actors here are again in roles they are most comfortable with. Despite the fact that Hugh Grant has been one of my favorite romantic comedy leading actors, I really don’t like his role or acting in this movie. His awkwardness is charming and adorable in all the previous roles, but in LA it is just so out-of-place that it borders on agonizing. Colin Firth is again the hero that goes after the girl. I was grinning ear to ear watching the proposal scene Emma Thomson and Liam Neeson are as natural as ever. Keira is flawlessly beautiful. When “Mark” (best man in her wedding who is actually in love with her) walked away in agony after his little crush was discovered by the object of his love and Dido’s Here With Me came up, I found my eyes full of tears. Isn’t it most hopeless? When he came to her door showing her the boards expressing his love for her silently, I thought: “she is the luckiest woman in the whole world!” I love it when he murmured “enough… that’s enough…” after she kissed him. Laura is again the caring sister, only this time her brother takes over her life. The scene where she and Carl danced on the Christmas Eve party is sooo intense. She is also the only one that doesn’t have a “closure”. So she spends her Christmas Eve at the mental institute with his brother, but what about next year, and the year after next? Is she just going to live like that? I don’t mean to be unsympathetic. I just think she deserves to have some happiness, and a life of her own. Alan Rickman is still weird with knotted eyebrows and a disgusted expression as if he were constantly swallowing a fly. Less Snape, but still a bit “Snapish”.

There are plenty of funny moments. My favorite is definitely the hilarious “Wisconsin” comment. I don’t know why.

Gattaca

Tags

genetics, Movies, sci-fi

Why hadn’t I heard anything about Gattaca, which IMO, is simply the best sci-fi of all times?! Matrix or Dark City or Equilibrium and all other recently overrated movies should just step aside. Gattaca is so elegant, philosophical (without being pretentious), intriguing, and inspiring that I can’t believe I have never heard of it until I checked out Uma Thurman’s filmography (after watching Kill Bill). So many sci-fi these days are more like fantasy (not that I don’t like fantasy, I just prefer a true sci-fi to have sth “scientific” behind it), but Gattaca is so real that you can see it happen in the next 50, 100 years. The acting is superb. The music is flawless. I even start to like Jude Law (for some reason I intensely disliked him before). I totally enjoyed every minute of this movie. I seem to have a thing for “underrated” things these days coz this is likely one of the most underrated movies (not just sci-fi) of all times

My favorite Gattaca quotes:

“They’ve got you looking so hard for any flaw, that after a while, that’s all that you see. For whatever it’s worth, I’m here to tell you that it is possible. It is possible.”

“You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it Anton: I never saved anything for the swim back.”

“Sorry. The wind caught it.”

“We now have discrimination down to a science.”

“He had everything except desire.”

“For the genetically superior, success is easier to attain, but it’s by no means guaranteed. After all there is no gene for fate.”

“I got the better end of the deal. I only lent you my body, but you lent me your dreams.”

“It was the one moment in our lives that my brother was not as strong as he believed, and I was not as weak. It was the moment that made everything else possible.”

“No one exceeds his potential. — If he did? — It would simply mean that we did not accurately gauge his potential in the first place.”

“I was never more certain of how far away I was from my goal than when I was standing right beside it.”

“Of course, it’s illegal to discriminate. ‘Genoism’ it’s called. But no one takes the law seriously.”

“Just remember that I was as good as any and better than most”

Who moved my cheese

Tags

books, business, inspiration, self-help

“Takes less than an hour to read” – indeed.

It’s a sweet little story that does its job, but it’s not profound, definitely not life-changing, and nowhere near inspiring. It has roused such hype because we are in an “instant noodle era” in which we are so pressed for time and so short of patience that we can no longer bear a thick tome of “emotional intelligence” and Who Moved My Cheese came handy with its little story and spelled-out lessons.

Don’t get me wrong. I actually like it, although it’s not a book I would read again because I KNOW all those things the story tries to convey, and honestly, I can write 50 pages of those “should do” pop psychology stuff if my English is better. I have read so many self-help books (Bridget Jones Syndrome) in my earlier life that I know what a book will say by just looking at the first two pages and its title. Problem is, people don’t lack knowledge, they lack action! It’s not that they don’t know what to do, or what they should do, or what is right, it’s just that they don’t actually do it. This is the basic difference between winners and losers: winners practice what they know, losers know what they should practice.

Anyway, here is some of the “essence” (aka, “handwriting on the wall”) of the book:

* The more important your cheese is to you the more you want to hold on to it.
* If you do not change, you can become extinct.
* What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
* Smell the cheese often so you know when it is getting old
* Movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese
* When you move beyond your fear, you feel free.
* Imagining myself enjoying new cheese even before I find it, leads me to it (** this is where I disagree. Fantasizing does nothing to actually taking action. One can indulge so much in fantasy that one can not pull oneself out.)
* The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese.
* It is safer to search in the maze than remain in a cheeseless situation.
* Noticing small changes early helps you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come.
* Move with the cheese and enjoy it!

Kill Bill vol 1 / Lost in Translation

Tags

culture, Movies

KB is like a melting pot of all kinds of elements and techniques from Hong Kong action, Chinese Kong-Fu, Japanese Samurai and American Gangster movies. Many people complained that it’s too violent with all the spurting blood and severed limbs and chopped heads. They totally missed the point. Don’t they think that the bloodshed is so stylishly shot and artistically exaggerated that it’s actually more funny than violent? Blood shooting to the sky like from a fire hydrant and pouring down like a storm? Give me a break ?if you think that’s real! Although with much less “gore?than this one, some movies are actually more scary and disgusting, like Ghost Ship, Scream, Final Destination (I and II), movies featuring biological weapon, virus outbreak, alien invasion, and so on. But when I was watching KB, I was neither scared nor disgusted, but actually laughed at several places because those scenes, albeit “violent?in a literal sense, were just funny when it comes to psychological impact. Very few people can make movies so “violent?and yet so funny and even beautiful at times. I especially love the use of color and music. The use of black-and-white film in many places is superb. It tells the story but avoids the dramatic “blood?color that makes some people queasy. The silhouetted fight scene against a blue background in the House of Blue Leaves is simply cool. The duel between O-Ren Ishii and Black Mamba in the Japanese garden is poetic and exquisite and somewhat reminded me of Zhang Yimou’s Hero (although the latter is more beautiful and daring in terms of the use of color and aesthetic styles, KB is a much more gripping story than Hero). The use of music is probably the most noticeable and successful element of this movie. The mix of English and oriental music, all played at the right place and right time, definitely deserves an award. I actually stay to listen to the ending song (and partly to see if there was any bonus trailer for the next one, which of course, isn’t available).

Lost in Translation is a completely different kind of story, although it has sth to do with Japan too. However, Japan here is really just the setting, and has not much deep impact on the story, because the impasse of the two leading characters can happen anywhere anytime. To put them in Japan is just to heighten their predicament and emotion (and to add some exotic flavor), but really, their encounter could happen in Beijing, Moscow Nairobi, or Paris. Their performance was subtle yet real, and you couldn’t help caring for the two lost souls stranded in the city of perpetual neon lights. Bob Harrison looked so miserable most of the time that I felt distressed just watching him for five minutes. Charlotte was young, confused, and emitted a rare mixture of fragility and strength, natural innocence and unpretentious sophistication that is so endearing that if I were a guy, I would want to be close to her and hold her in my arms They are so different, yet have so many things in common. They have so much to say to each other, yet they didn’t pour their guts out like we expected. It’s not that they didn’t want to. I think they didn’t know how, and they didn’t need to. Their affinity is beyond sexuality or friendship. It is more universal and deeper than that. Bob, a washed-up ex-movie-star now-ad-puppet going through a mid-life crisis, and Charlotte, a fresh-out-of-school sensitive intellect who didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life, were brought to the same hotel by Fate, and built a rapport that is more “human?and “personal?than sexual or friendly. Their bond is the kind of connection and understanding that can not be articulated by words but can be perceived by a glimpse, a smile, a sigh, a touch. This is not a story about love, but about the connection between human beings, the understanding between two lost souls, and the support between two sensitive people going through two different stages of life. The ending is sublime. Bob had the biggest, most genuine smile in the movie, and though they parted, audiences had the impression that their lives have been imprinted forever with each other. There is a sense of joy, hope, relief, and breathless suspension. The way he touched her hair is just so moving! I didn’t catch what he whispered in her ear but I am sure it’s sth they would keep in their memory for the rest of their lives. Quite a few reviewers on IMDB said that this movie is racist because it makes fun of Japanese people and culture. Oh give me a break! I don’t see anything like that (although I do think the hooker scene is ridiculous and has no point). Japan is just a set, a background. What’s more, the culture portrayed is not only not “racist? but actually rather realistic (nightlife in Tokyo) and beautiful (streets and temples). LIT is moving, subtle and beautiful throughout and I don’t mind watching it again if I had the time.

Seinfeld – best sitcom ever!

Tags

culture, Humor, TV

For no particular reason (except for lunch hour boredom) I will post this script as POST-OF-DAY. “The Fix-up” is one of the funniest (and most perceptive) episodes in Seinfeld (greatest sitcom ever) IMO. Just for fun and TGIF!

Jerry and George are in Jerry’s apartment. [For those of you who don't watch Seinfeld, Jerry and Elaine tried to set up a blind date for George and "OH MY GOD" Janice, eh, Cynthia]

George: Out of the question. Out of the question!

Jerry: Why?

George: No! I’m not gonna do that! That’s one step away from personal ads! And prostitutes! No! No, I am not going down that road! What does she look like?

Jerry: She’s good looking.

George: How good looking?

Jerry: Very good looking.

George: Really good looking?

Jerry: Really very good looking.

George: Would you take her out?

Jerry: Yes, I would take her out.

George: Oh, you hesitated.

Jerry: What hesitate? I didn’t hesitate!

George: No, something’s off here, you hesitated.

Jerry: I’m telling you, she’s good looking.

George: What about the body, what kind of body?

Jerry: Good body, nice body.

George: How nice?

Jerry: Nice.

George: Just nice?

Jerry: Pretty nice.

George: Really good?

Jerry: Really very nice and good.

George: What about personality?

Jerry: Good personality. Funny. Bright.

George: Smarter than me? I don’t want anyone smarter than me.

Jerry: How could she be smarter than you?

George: Alright, let’s see, let’s see. What else. What else. Oh yeah, what does she do?

— New scene —

Elaine and Cynthia are having a similar discussion.

Cynthia: First of all, what does he do?

Elaine: He was in real estate, um, now, he’s not working right now-

Cynthia: He’s not working?! How come he’s not working?

Elaine: Well, um, he, he got fired.

Cynthia: Why did he get fired?

Elaine: Uh. Why? Oh, right. Um, well, he tried to poison his boss.

Cynthia: Excuse me?

Elaine: Such a long story, Cynthia, seriously, I mean he just had some problems at work.

Cynthia: Is he nuts?

Elaine: No, no, no, he’s a really really funny guy.

Cynthia: What does he look like?

Elaine: Pardon?

Cynthia: What does he look like?

Elaine: Um, well, he’s got a lot of character in his face. Um, he’s short. Um, he’s stocky.

Cynthia: Fat. Is that what you’re saying, that he’s fat?

Elaine: Powerful. He is so powerful, he can lift a hundred pounds right up over his head. And um, what else. What else. Oh, right. Um, well, he’s kind of, just kind of losing his hair.

Cynthia: He’s bald?

Elaine: No! No, no, no, he’s not bald. He’s balding. ** one of the best lines in this episode, the other is Elaine’s retort “that’s because my standards are too low” **

Cynthia: So he will be bald. ** LOL **

Elaine: Yup.

— Cut back to Jerry and George —

George: What kind of hair?

Jerry: You know, long dark hair.

George: Flowing?

Jerry: Flowing?

George: Is it flowing? I like flowing, cascading hair. Thick lustrous hair is very important to me.

Jerry: ‘Thick lustrous hair is very important to me,’ is that what you said?

George: Yeah, that’s right.

Jerry: Just clarifying. ** LOL **

George: Let me ask you this. If you stick your hand in the hair is it easy to get it out?

Jerry: Do you want to be able to get it out or do you want to not be able to get it out?

George: I’d like to be able to get it out.

Jerry: I think you’ll get it out.

George: What about the skin? I need a good cheek, I like a good cheek.

Jerry: She’s got a fine cheek.

George: Is there a pinkish hue?

Jerry: A pinkish hue? ** I am rubbing my tummy just reading this. You should look at the looks on their faces. **

George: Yes, a rosy glow.

Jerry: There’s a hue. She’s got great eyebrows, women kill to have her eyebrows. ** “there is a hue” – oh man, isn’t the writer of this show a genius or what?! **

George: Who cares about eyebrows? Is she sweet? I like sweet. But not too sweet, you could throw up from that. ** Attention ladies – men don’t care about eyebrows! **

Jerry: I don’t think you’ll throw up. *She* likes to throw up.

— Cut back to Elaine and Cynthia —

Cynthia: Has he ever been married?

Elaine: No.

Cynthia: Has he been close?

Elaine: He once spent a weekend with a woman.

Cynthia: He didn’t really try to poison his boss?

Elaine: Yeah, he did.

—

Script is taken from StanTheCaddy.com

Arwen's Fate

Tags

fantasy, LOTR, Movies

“…You will still have to taste the bitterness of mortality.
Whether by the sword or the slow decay of time,
Aragorn will die.
And there will be no comfort for you.
No comfort to ease the pain of his passing.

He will come to death.
An image of the splendor of the kings of men,
In glory undimmed before the breaking of the world.

But you, my daughter,
You will linger on in darkness and in doubt.
As nightfall in winter that comes without a star.
Here you will dwell,
Bound to your grief under the fading trees,
Until all the world is changed,
And the long years of your life are utterly spent.”

Among the many lyrical and beautiful words in LOTR movies, this part always brings me to tears. It doesn’t exist in the original books. Arwen’s fate is told as an appendix at the end of the third book, matter-of-factly, without much emotion (if I remember correctly). However, it is extremely wise to elaborate this sequence, simply because it heightens the emotional power of the story. The sequence of Arwen envisioning her mortal future (the long and lonely years ahead, walking in widow’s black cloak on the abandoned land with sunshine streaming through barren branches) was one of the most exquisite, haunting, gut-wrenching and poetic moments in the movie.

winged migration

Tags

Movies

Winged Migration is the most beautiful film I have ever seen. If it doesn’t win an Oscar for cinematography and music, I will not watch Oscar again – oh well, I don’t care much about it anyway. It is the only movie that I stayed through the credit till the very end, partly because I love the music, and partly because I am actually interested in “stories behind the camera”.

It starts with a bird looking for food and feeding its chicks. The camera captured how the young chick of a cowbird (I guess, but I am no ornithologist), still wobbly on its feet and almost transparent in the body (below the skin we can see its stomach etc.), pushed the “real” offspring (still in eggs) out of its adopted mother’s nest. Then a goose was trapped by a fish net and a little boy came to its rescue. Then we see various kinds of birds migrating to the northern destination from all areas of the world. The movie excels in the superb use of the camera that produces soaring panoramic shots, breath-taking close-ups, and everything in between. Landmarks and wilderness are portrayed at their best, from the avalanching glaciers in the arctic, to the cascading desert in Africa, from the galloping horses in Grand Canyon, to the serene villages in Europe. The music, tailored to fit the mood and visual effect of each scene, greatly enhanced the dramatic effect of a “documentary”.

The scenes that impressed me the most are:

- Grouses flexed their feathers and pumped up their breasts before combat (with other males, I suppose). They look like an Indian craft with a ring and feathers around it.

- Grebes stood up and did rapid water-surfing.

- Gannets dived head-first into the water from high above like an arrow.

- The stark contrast between the sweeping blue and green beauty of the artic and the depressing black and grey grimness of a factory that releases poisonous gas, toxic water and slush, and deafening noise. A group of migrating bird took a rest in the gigantic factory yard, unwittingly waded into an area with sticky slush. All got away a bit dirtier but safely except one who got trapped by the slush and stranded.

- A bird with a broken wing got attacked and eaten by a group of crabs. Audiences witness for two minutes how the bird was pursued from all around, tried to escape but to no avail, and then covered by piles of crabs. It must have been a painful and slow death.

- How birds are shot every year in North America (according to the credit, this “hunting” takes place every year). One after another, they trembled when hit by the bullet, then fell, wings flapping hopeless, on to the ground or into the water.

- How various kinds of animals (macaws, monkeys, chimpanzees and so on) were captured in the Amazon rainforest and probably exported to some zoo or rich people’s mansion, and how a clever blue macaw used its beak to open the trap door and flew for freedom.

- Swans, with their white feathers and black feet, danced with great harmony like gentlemen and ladies in a grand ball. But when a contender showed up between a couple, the male lost its elegance and fought with the newcomer.

- A seagull (not sure what to call it) waltzed into a huge group of King Penguins to attack a baby penguin. The parents cried and tried to protect their baby, but the seagull grabbed the baby on the neck, and took it away. With their sharp beaks, penguins should be able to launch a counter attack and pick the seagull’s eyes out. But surprisingly they just stood and never dared to go near the seagull. They then looked up to the sky and wailed long and loud. What a wimp!

- Birds flying south against a snow storm.

- Red-crowned cranes danced like fairies with wings extended and beaks to the sky.

- A wading bird (also don’t know the name) juggled a huge fish (compared to its small mouth and thin long neck) several times before it adjusted the fish to fit its mouth, and swallowed the fish still writhing.

- A storm of birds fly hither and thither, constantly changing patterns and shapes. It looks almost like a storm of locust, only that they are small black birds.

However, I have some questions about some of the shots. Although they said “no special effect”, how come there is a 3-D unit in the credit? Is the scene where the little boy freed the goose (which amazingly survived during the making of this movie) real, or a dramatization with an actor and a trained goose? In the scene where the old European woman feed the returning storks, was she a real person that happened to be captured on tape, or was she also an actress? The biggest problem is the shot where we see the whole earth from above, and yet manage to see dots of migrating birds. How far away above can we see the earth, and how high can birds fly for us to see them and the globe at the same time? Are wild macaws really that smart and the crew that lucky to capture the wonderful escape or did the director set this up with a trained macaw? I guess we need to go to its website or see the DVD edition to find out the answer.

Unlike the nature programs at Discovery Channel, it is not a “science” film where the narration explains everything we see. With sparse narration, it is not very “informative” because it won’t tell us anything more about each species. It is more like a tribute to nature and birds, and a very subtle (it never condemns the harm humans do to birds, it just shows the scenes) message that reminds us of the greatness of nature and the beauty of wildlife, and that they deserve our respect and protection.

Hitchcock movies

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Movies

Hitchcock is now my ALL TIME FAVORITE director!!!

I think I have watched every single movie he has ever made. A heavy dose over only a couple of weeks. What else can I do anyway. I had planned to write a *detailed* review for each Hitchcock movie I watched, but I just don’t have the time, or the desire, or both. I will only jot down the things that impressed me the most. This post will be updated whenever I have new thoughts.

Rebecca (1940)

With extraordinary mastery of the language and keen perception of the human soul, Daphne Du Maurier crafted a thrilling story of love and intrigue. It begins with a breezy, almost comic whirlwind Cinderella romance when the inexperienced, poor but sweet girl met Mr. de Winter, an English gentleman with power, money, reputation, mystery, and a mercurial personality. Things began falling apart when the newly weds went home to the legendary Mandeley, and all hell broke loose when *THE MRS DE WINTER* first wife Rebecca’s body was found on the bottom of the ocean when it was supposed to be in the family grave. The finale was utterly gut-wrenching, yet triumphant.

I kept comparing the movie with the book as I was watching. By itself it is a really fine piece of work. The story unfolds smoothly. One gets hints at even the funniest moment that something sinister was lurking somewhere, waiting to prance upon the poor unsuspecting girl. The vast mansion, every inch of it deeply submerged in the haunting memories, can make the sanest person claustrophobic. Joan Fontaine was perfect for the role of the second Mrs. De Winter: innocent, sweet, honest and sincere, devoted, kind and unassuming, modest to the degree of timid, a bit jumpy, unconfident and unsure at times but can be tough when cornered (“I am Mrs. De Winter now!”). The only problem I have is the opening monolog, where she (supposedly in her old age) reminisced about the story of Rebecca and Mandeley. The voice is not at all what I had imagined. It is too loud, stiff, and high-pitched. This is not the voice I would choose for her. I wouldn’t want to deal with a woman like Mrs. Danvers. She is probably the scariest looking lady I have ever seen. Always pale (well they are all pale in the B&W film but I am sure she was paler than others) and expressionless, speaking in a sly hypnotizing monotone, she was more vampire than vampire (although in Anne Rice’s world, vampires are the most artistic, debonair and fatally charismatic individuals). I suspect she was a lesbian madly in love with Rebecca, but I could be wrong. My biggest regret is that this movie is B&W. I really want to see Mandeley in colors, and it wouldn’t kill to show the blue of the sea. Those elaborately exquisite descriptions of Mandeley in the book are utterly wasted in this movie.

Like many of other Hitchcock’s works, this is a movie worth savoring, over and over again.

Vertigo (1958)

This is a master piece. I don’t know if Hitchcock was the first one that used abstract images and dramatic colors to express the anguish of a nightmare, and honestly I don’t care. Those spiraling and fragmented patterns and colors are just brilliant. Half way through the story, I was led to believe that this would be another Hitchcock “psycho thrillers” (the kind that deals with a tormented human mind, like Spellbound, Psycho, Marnie, Suspicion, etc.), where Madeleine was insane and Scottie was the one to cure her. But it completely changed when she supposedly plunged to her death. Unlike the many modern so-called suspense stories that become too obvious in the first 15 minutes, it totally baffled me until the finale. The permeating gloom throughout the movie kept me at the edge of my seat at all times. There wasn’t any of the typical Hitchcock comic dialog or morbid humor. Everything was mysterious, and tragic.

My only gripe was the ending. It’s too perfect: Judy got what she deserved (being scared by a nun is something like being punished by God), and Scottie was spared the moral dilemma between love and justice. It’s just too neat, too fatalistic. Is there a better alternative ending? Should they stop at their embrace, get a close-up of Scottie’s eyes, and let audiences do the guess work?

No matter what, this is one of my favorite Hitchcock movies.

Frenzy (1972)

Touted as Hitchcock’s best “later” works after his peak was over in the 60s, it is one of the few movies that I dozed off in the middle, partly because it is actually kind of boring, and partly because I watched it after lunch and my blood was busy working for my stomach instead of my brain. It is also way too long. I still prefer the neat short works.

The most shocking element of this movie that remains the talk of today, is definitely the rape scene. I have not felt so nauseated since I watched a similar (but of course, much longer, and more graphic) scene in Irreversible. I can’t believe they would show it in the 70s! Have they done some special makeup for Rusk the Killer? His skin was of such sickish yellow color that he looked like a terminal Hepatitis patient!

The highlight (of the part I was awake at least) was undoubtedly the “looking for his pin in the potato truck” scene. It is one of the funniest (morbidly) and memorable scenes ever. The comic elements (foot in the face, the finger breaking, etc.) and the suspense whether he would be caught were so perfectly blended that I at first laughed, and then breathed a sigh of relief when he got out of the car, undiscovered. MY GOD!!! I felt relieved that he was not caught?!! This is insane – I was so absorbed that I *was* Rusk for a brief moment! Such is the magic of Hitchcock movies – you totally forget who you are and gasp and scream with the roles, be them victims or killers. I knew I shouldn’t laugh at the grisly scene where he fumbled around the body but I just couldn’t stop laughing, and I believed Hitchcock intended it to be funny. Barry Forster was utterly believable in the role and deserved an award of some sort.

Notorious (1946)

One of the “cult classics”, it has a star-studded cast (Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman) and a perfect blend of romance and espionage intrigue. For some odd reason, I didn’t have strong feelings for this movie. I enjoyed the story, but found it hard to understand Devlin and Alicia. Honestly, I think Claude Raines outshined the others as the ruthless, cunning, temporarily love-blinded Alex Sebastian.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

I only watched the American version but there is an earlier version made in 1934. Not his best, but nonetheless extremely enjoyable. That clang of the cymbal and the scream of Doris Day were just as memorable as the screeching violin at the shower scene of Psycho.

Rope (1948)

This movie tells an interesting story that can be great material for a stage play, and I suspect a play might even be better.

39 Steps (1935)

Hitchcock’s first “spy movie”, and the second “old” Hitchcock movie I saw. I watched Rebecca, Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, and The Man Who Knew Too Much many years ago but my recent Hitchcock Extravaganza was actually sparked by Stranger on the Train, and fueled by 39 Steps. I used to think watching B&W was kind of silly, like those bored people on TV who had nothing else to do on weekends and dozed off watching old movies. But Hitchcock totally changed my perception of B&W movies. Even though primitive in many ways (mostly the “action” part, according to today’s standard), this movie still shines with an excellent plot, delightful performance, witty dialog, intelligent quips, some kind of light-hearted romance, and a surprising finale. These elements are used repeatedly and expanded in Hitchcock’s later works.

Some of the lines are so brilliant that I have to list them here:

* The political speech Hannay made at the gathering when he was misidentified as a Senator (not sure if it’s really “senator”, just some kind of important figure). The way he stalled and talked bullshit (I wonder if those lines were deliberately written to convey sarcasm at politics and politicians) got me laughing till my tummy hurt. To top it off, when he couldn’t stall anymore and was escorted away by his captors, he said: “what took you so long?” as if he was accusing them of their incompetence. Just brilliant.
* All the banter between Hannay and Pamela. It’s almost like a romantic comedy, only with wit instead of stupidity (like the many r.c. these days).
* The finale: at the verge of death, Mr. Memory told the truth and sighed in relief: “finally, I don’t have to remember any more.”
* The road was blocked by a flock of sheep and Hannay commented “A whole flock of detectives”.

This is my FAVORITE Hitchcock movie.

North by Northwest (1959)

Although raking in much higher ratings than 39 Steps, this movie is almost like a “franchised sequel” (like those of 007, only with a different leading man) to the later. There are plenty of similar elements although NBN is much more somber in its tone and more complicated. The plot is full of twists and turns that keep you guessing till the end.

The most memorable scenes: Thornhill being chased by a “crop-dusting plane”, and the cat-and-mouse on Mount Rushmore.

The funniest scene: at the auction where Thornhill was being deliberately disruptive so that he could be arrested by the police.

The funniest line: “I’ve got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders dependent on me, and I don’t intend to disappoint them all and get myself slightly killed!” (Thornhill)

Again, one of my favorites (Aggghhh, how many favorites can I have?!).

Stranger on a Train (1951)

My first “early” Hitchcock movie and I wholeheartedly love it. Robert Walker was smashingly brilliant as the suave manipulative psycho that can bring you the worst nightmares if you are fooled by his gentle smile and sleek appearance. Faley Granger was a cute guy but why was he always playing the skittish and nervous suckers (he was the “weak” guy in Rope)?

The most memorable scene: final showdown at the carousal.

Funniest line: “Oh, Daddy doesn’t mind a little scandal. He’s a senator”

It really got me interested in Patricia Highsmith’s works.

Spellbound (1945)

A great psychological thriller. I will never forget the word “guilt complex” after watching this movie, and will never forget the J.B./Dr. Brulov night scene (where J.B. came down the stairs, staring at Dr. Brulov impassively, razor in hand, looked through the glass bottom at the old man, and the “body” of Brulov on the chair the next morning). I actually thought the old guy was killed! Great twist!

The classic lines:

* “Women make the best psychoanalysts until they fall in love. After that they make the best patients.”
* “There is nothing so nice as a new marriage. No psychosis yet, no regressions, no guilt complexes”

Lifeboat (1944)

A very unique and intriguing film. Half-way through the movie I thought: “now this is ground-breaking – picturing a *good* German in those days?!” Well, it’s not as simple as that. Eventually the “good” and “competent” German was nothing but an incorrigible Nazi “with a plan”, who knew how to turn the table to his advantage, manipulate the simple-minded, naïve “Christians”, and do whatever it took to ensure his ultimate survival. It is probably one of the most “political” Hitchcock movies.

The roles are well chosen, representing all walks of life and personalities. I am glad they didn’t show the amputation in action. If there were a remake, there would certainly be plenty of gurgling blood and wobbling flesh.

Rear Window (1954)

A man confined by the wheelchair, observing the lives of his neighbors via his window, deducting that a murder took place. Is it real, or is it the over active imagination of a man craving for action but unfortunately couldn’t get any?

Undoubtedly a masterpiece, this movie packs a large dose of humor and witty dialog that has become his trademark over the years, never-ceasing suspense that is his signature, a somewhat cheesy romance that I find more funny than romantic, and a unique angle to look at a crime. It has probably the best screenplay among all his movies.

Funny scene: Watcher-turned-watchee Jeff using the flash to fend off the approaching killer.

Memorable quotes:

“Intelligence. Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence” (Stella)

“We’ve become a race of Peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change. Yes sir. How’s that for a bit of homespun philosophy?” (Stella)

“Jeff, you know if someone came in here, they wouldn’t believe what they’d see? You and me with long faces plunged into despair because we find out a man didn’t kill his wife. We’re two of the most frightening ghouls I’ve ever known” (Lisa)

Gunderson: It’s about time you got married, before you turn into a lonesome and bitter old man.

Jeff: Yeah, can’t you just see me, rushing home to a hot apartment to listen to the automatic laundry and the electric dishwasher and the garbage disposal and the nagging wife…

Gunderson: Jeff, wives don’t nag anymore. They discuss. (** I love the humor)

Jeff: Oh, is that so, is that so? Well, maybe in the high-rent district they discuss. In my neighborhood they still nag.

Jeff: Would you fix me a sandwich, please?

Stella: Yes, I will. And I’ll spread a little common sense on the bread.

“Eleven hundred? They ought to list that dress on the stock exchange.” (Jeff)

Jeff: She sure is the “eat, drink and be merry” girl.

Stella:Yeah, she’ll wind up fat, alcoholic and miserable.

And many more from Andy’s Movie Quote Page.

Psycho (1960)

Possibly the most famous Hitchcock movie and deservedly so. I wonder if it ruined the motel business when it was first released. At least personally, it keeps haunting me for many years to come, because whenever I see or think of a motel I would think of the famous (infamous) Bate’s Motel, whenever I see a clean cut young man behind the motel front desk, I would think of the psycho, whenever I take a shower in the hotel/motel room, I would double check that the deadbolt is in place on the front door. And the shower scene music, Aaaagggghhhh! It sends a chill up my spine just writing about it!

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Not a very famous movie, it is still a masterpiece with outstanding performance. If not for the silly actions the girl took after she was certain of her uncle’s crime (not telling the detective and confronting him – how can you even think of talking sense to a psychopath?!), I would rate it as one of the best Hitchcock classics! The suspense was killing me from the very beginning because I knew Uncle Charlie was the psycho: when will Niece Charlie find out, how will she react, will she tell, what will happen to her if she doesn’t tell, how will this mess end?The finale is very similar to that of Vertigo, a convenient “God sent” revenge.

Teresa was excellent in playing the smart Niece Charlie, portraying the fine-tuned changes from her unconditional adoration for her uncle at the beginning, to nagging suspicion when she learned the truth, to anger and fear after Uncle Charlie slipped the net of justice, to resolution and intelligence in the end when she realized she had to do sth to drive him out without hurting her mother (a doting elder sister to UC). Joseph Cotten was also great playing the sinister, calculating, self-righteous, cold-blooded killer (most villains in Hitchcock movies were the “self-righteous” type). The clueless garrulous mother drove me crazy by the way. The actor playing the detective Jack Gramm looked like a young Kevin Costner.

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Another romantic comedy/thriller and highly entertaining. Although it is not particularly famous, I love it dearly.

The most memorable scene:

Iris and Gilbert scrambling among the luggage looking for evidence that Mrs. Froy existed. They saw a box moving and thought the old lady was trapped there, only to find out that it was a goat!! During the fight with the intruder, the expressions (if you can call the looks “expressions”) and actions (watching intently at first and promptly hid away when it got rough) of rabbits and the goat added great comic moments.

The gun fight: fairly primitive according to today’s standard, but still enjoyable.

For some reason, I really like the shot of the simpering Italian who sat by Mrs. Froy. His smile gave me goose bumps.

The Hitchcock Formula

Guess this topic is beaten to death over the years, and with his productive career, it’s hard to whip out a few points and put this great director in the box. However, I feel compelled to spell out a few musings of my own.

Three Major Types

Psycho-thriller

Espionage/spy thriller

Romantic thriller

Recurring theme

An innocent man wrongfully accused of a crime and put into a difficult position but was resourceful enough to get out of it eventually, after much high adventure, often aided (sometimes reluctantly at first) by a charming lady. They eventually fell in love after the ordeal.

Obsession

Hitchcock was obsessed with the idea of “the perfect murder”. It was either a main theme (Dial M for Murder, Rope), or a comic relief (Shadow of a Doubt). Inevitably Hitchcock told us that there was no such thing in real life because things always went wrong.

Dramatic music

Great music that holds your breath or makes you scream. However, in his early movies, the music was often way too loud and kind of annoying.

Fashion

The good guys were always charismatic gentlemen with slick impeccable hair (probably the high fashion in those days, unlike the meticulously tousled spikes of today).

The good girls were always dressed impeccably in elegant suites or skirts, unlike the super low-rise jeans and deliberately *casual* tank tops.

Key elements

Humor: sharp observations of life, society, politics.

Romance: most of the time funny and delightful

Action: with unexpected twists and turns

Man vs. Woman

Men were inevitably cool-headed and unfathomable. They could show a poker face even when they were in emotional turmoil.

Women were emotional, often panicked and sometimes became overly dramatic.

His favorite leading man

James Stewart: he had that wise, urbane, slightly mischievious, slightly haunted look that made him a star and a recurring lead in Hitchcock movies. However, if he wanted he could really play a devilish character (I haven’t watched his other movies so maybe he did play a bad guy once), mainly because of his look and his pale blue eyes. He also has a look-alike: Tom Amandes (“Dr. Abbott” in the WB series Everwood).

Winter in MBP

Tags

seasons

It is a crime not to enjoy the weather when it is good, especially when it falls on the weekend for the first time in nearly a month.

The sun was already setting, casting long shadows to everything under its reign. The tall stringy wild grasses were shimmering in the afternoon sunshine like a sea of gold, or the shining spears of an army. Surprisingly in this time of the year, there were still dandelions on the ground, their white fluffs glowing almost translucently against the sun. Although still a bit chilly, the cold air was both invigorating and calming. If you stayed long enough, you could hear the crisp rustling of the grasses, and the soft sighing of the wind. Although I have been here a hundred times, I can never get tired of this place.

I’m an Xphile

Tags

sci-fi, TV, xfiles

Have I mentioned before that The X-Files is my FAVORITE (not “one of”, but my choice if the Fab Four – The X-Files, ER, Once and Again, and La Femme Nikita – are aired at the same time) TV drama? I basically stopped watching it after Mulder left. However, the recently released 8th season starring Scully and Doggett totally rekindled my enthusiasm. I realized that I love this show not only because of THE DUO (Mulder-Scully), but also because of the stories themselves. Although I could disengage myself from the enthralling effect of the show, I was usually too absorbed to make the effort. Throughout each episode my heart was perching precariously on my throat, waiting to leap out any second.

The X-Files is a hybrid of sci-fi, mysteries, and conspiracy theories. It perfects the art of TV drama about the supernatural with the brilliant use of these tried-and-true elements: bizarre phenomena/cases, suspenseful ambience, plausible explanations, atmospheirc music, intriguing lines, and layers and layers of loose ends and cliff-hangers that pull viewers deeper and deeper into an enormous spider web (which somewhat backfired since it got so convoluted that it stopped making sense). The show has a colorful ensemble: two charismatic agents who shared intense chemistry and tenderness, shady characters that baffled and confused (e.g., the early Skinner, the various nondescript personalities), the mysterious figures (e.g., the “Cigarette Smoking Man”) “out there” ready to foil their investigations, and poker-faced “higher-ups” that denied the truth either because they had a skeleton to hide or an axe to grind. Although in full color, the show is oftentimes in a subdued tone of dark blue and light gray, and seems to perpetually revolves around fall and winter. Starting with a rather generic “alien abduction” theme, it quickly grows into a “paranormal encyclopedia” that explores nearly every conceivable aspect or scenario. It captures our attention, sparks our imagination, and satisfies our curiosity.

Mulder was a zealot, a believer, a man with a mission, a man with stoic determination, dogged persistence, outstanding intelligence, acute intuition, and a dry sense of humor. Scully was the skeptic, the calm, the epitome of conventional knowledge, the balancing force that challenged and aided Mulder at the same time. They shared perhaps the most intriguing relationship on the TV screen, with professional admiration, tacit understanding, and genuine concern for each other, and yet always keeping their distance. They are my favorite couple! Truth be told, I even had Dana as my English alias at the height of my “X-Files fever”, partly because Scully was a woman I greatly admire, and partly because I would love to be the one with Mulder However, I do hope they can make more episodes where Scully was right and Mulder was wrong. Scully seemed a tad bookish and closed-minded when she habitually questioned Mulder’s deductions/theories that were almost always proven true in the end.

When seasoned Agent Doggett came into the show, the dynamic completely changed. Scully the Skeptic became the believer of paranormal, while Doggett eased into her former role. Their relationship was more professional, and somewhat more equal. They had respect for each other but nothing more. The D-S part of the show is still gripping, although less interesting (I miss Mulder’s tongue-in-cheek lines, the mock serious twinkle in his eyes, and his mesmerizing voice). I look forward to Season 9. Hopefully Doggett will grow into a more sophisticated character.

Has anyone noticed that Scully loved to use succint questions to counter questions? Here are some examples:

* “About what?”
* “By whom?”
* “Says who?”
* “Which is what?”

Well you get the idea. Sometimes I don’t know if it is intended to be funny or it’s just me.

P.S., in addition to these movie cliches, there is one more I can add (inspired by the final episode): the killer is always strangely compelled to confess to his target (why, what, how…) and eventually gets himself killed because his incessant babbling diverts his attention.

ROTK – end of the saga

Tags

fantasy, LOTR, Movies

I so wanted to write a thorough review of Return of the King but my words failed me. All conventional praises (remarkable, amazing, fabulous, fantastic, wonderful, glorious, exquisite, elevating, inspiring…) just seem trite and powerless for this masterpiece. It is no easy job to adapt the 2.5 books of the trilogy into one 3.5 hour movie (which by the way, is the shortest 3.5 hours I have sat through – actually 4 hours, since I arrived half an hour early and got to pick my seat, 5 minutes before the crowd poured in), but Peter Jackson and Co. did it, and so beautifully, from the battle scenes you have never seen before, to the unconquerable human spirit and selfless sacrifice in the face of despair, from the brutality of war and evil, to the serenity and happiness in times of peace, from The King (Aragorn) who accepted his destiny and led his people to victory, to the Lady of Rohan who defied her destiny and proved her valor on the battle field. As complicated as the trilogy is, Lord of the Rings is ultimately about one thing: triumph is achieved by all the “people” (used loosely) involved, big or small, elf or dwarf, powerful or otherwise. Aragorn summed it up perfectly: “My friends, you bow to no one” (and got down on his knees to the hobbits).

Although I miss parts of the books that should have been there (House of Healing – Faramir deserves more screen time, Wormtougue killing Saruman, Scouring of the Shire, etc.), this movie is really pushing the limit in terms of achieving the perfect balance between being loyal to the book and being entertaining. As much as I wish those nuggets of story were there, I realize it’s simply impossible to include every single little piece that we love so much from the book and move it to the big screen, without making a 6-hour movie, four or five installations, or a TV series. I think this is really as good as it gets and I have no complaint. What’s more, I am sure House of Healing (Faramir and Eowyn, yeah!!) will be included in the extended DVD to be released next year.

Will add if there are more…

One random observation: I had thought Rohan referred to Celtic culture (with the intricate patterns and the color green), but according to PJ in TTT EE, it is actually modelled after Scandinavian/Nordic culture. Minas Tirith (with the city, the hall, the sculptures) somehow reminds me of Rome, but I am not quite sure.

Some Favorite Quotes:

From IMDB:

[Addressing his troops before battle]
Aragorn: I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fail… when we forsake our friends, and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. This day, we fight!

[To Eowyn]
Theoden: I would have you smile again… not grieve for those whose time has come.

Gandalf: It’s the deep breath before the plunge.
Gandalf: The board is set, the pieces are moving.

Gollum: Smeagol wouldn’t hurt a fly.
[Gollum hits his forehead and looks into his hand, screaming at the fly smashed on it]

Frodo: I’m glad I’m with you, Samwise Gamgee… here, at the end of all things

Sling Blade (1996)

Tags

Movies

Synopsis: Karl killed his mother and her lover when he was 12 years old. He was diagnosed as mentally ill and spent the next 20 years in the state hospital. Upon his release, he made friends with a 12-year old boy Frank and his kind-hearted single mom Linda, who offered their garage for him to stay. He witnessed the abusive behaviors of the single mom’s boorish and unbalanced boyfriend Doyle, and got to know the strained relationships between him and Frank. When it seemed that Doyle was here to stay, and knew what fate awaited Frank and Linda if that happened, he killed Doyle, called the police, and was sent back to the state hospital.

It is one of the most challenging movies I have ever watched. The story is pretty straight-forward and there is not even a twist where I most expected (after watching quite a few movies with believable or unbelievable plot twists, I kept hoping that he would not kill Doyle when all signs pointed that way). However, it is so nuanced, subtle, and ambiguous that I have a hundred questions and every explanation sounds plausible yet not definite. My biggest question is: did Karl kill Doyle because it was convenient for both him and Frank/Linda (and therefore it was not entirely altruistic), or did he kill him just out of the pure desire to protect Frank & Linda and a natural response to such situations (and therefore it was pure animal instinct and totally selfless)? If he killed him because he knew he would go back to the state hospital, where he felt he really belonged and wanted to go back to anyway, then he was more calculating than he led you to believe. Does it mean anything that he asked to be baptized before committing the crime? Did his holding a hammer and barging into Linda & Doyle’s bedroom at four in the morning asking to be baptized suggest that he was showing his “homicidal signs” again? Compared to his previous act where he cut his two victims to pieces, he whacked Doyle only twice, and called the police calmly afterwards. He even got Frank and Linda out of the house and told Vaughn to take care of them on that fateful day. All these seem to show that he did the killing on a pre-mediated basis, instead of out of “insanity”. Maybe the issue is deeper than that. He answered questions in a deliberately ambiguous way, for example “I have no reason to kill” (** and if there is a REASON?) in reply to “will you kill again”, and “I won’t hurt THEM” (** but not necessarily OTHERS) in reply to Vaughn’s request. It makes me wonder if he was really mentally ill to start with. Maybe he was just pretending. Or maybe he was really just that simple, and his response to unjust situations was naturally killing the people he deemed deserving. Or maybe he realized that if he didn’t intervene, Frank would end up just like him 20 years ago (after all, Frank said more than once that he hated Doyle and wanted to kill him). He just didn’t want him to go to Hades (Hell), and since he would be in Hell anyway, he didn’t mind doing it again as long as the people that had been kind to him would be safe. The movie can entertain as many interpretations as you wish, and that’s what makes it intriguing and thought-provoking.

John Ritter (bless his soul!) was terrific as the timid, cautious, sensitive, compassionate, soft-spoken gay who lived in the wrong town in the wrong part of the country. The character Vaughn offered some kind of light comic relief to this otherwise grim movie. I love his line describing his “observation” of Karl: “You are a thinker… you seem to always be deep in thought.” Hah, maybe Karl was actually NOT thinking anything! I really don’t like the kind of spineless women like Linda, no matter how nice they are. So Karl took care of Doyle this time, what next? If she kept getting into unhealthy relationships and ignoring her son’s true feelings, tragedies would happen sooner or later.

Billy Bob Thorton was incredible as Karl. This is probably one of the most defining roles of his acting career. His cockeyed southern accent and the characteristic throaty “hmm, huh” that ended every sentence are as memorable as Jack Nicholson’s drawl and cackles. He portrayed the gradual changes on Karl so perfectly, in terms of posture, eye-contact (from the totally lack-of, to the occasional and more candid looks), and speaking (from the almost intelligible to the almost profoundly wise). There is something (dangerous, disturbing, sarcastic, or…?) about Billy Bob that is most fascinating. He is one of those chameleon-like character actors out there that seldom play leading roles and yet command attention when they are on screen.

There is an undercurrent of tenderness and sadness in the overall gritty and chilling story. I especially love the part where he hanged out with Frank. The farewell scenes where he said his last words to Frank, Linda, and Vaughn brought me to tears.

Dream

Tags

dreams

“Reunions are draining,” She thought, “it’s time to head back home.” She stood up, a bit dazed from the alcohol, and started for the door. “Ouch!” Someone cried out. She realized she had stumbled over someone’s leg. She looked up. He was one of those classmates whose faces one could remember but whose names one may have a hard time recalling. “My God, this hurts!” he frowned. She looked at him apologetically, and said: “Sorry… are you ready to go home? I can give you a ride.”

She started the car, but didn’t know where to go. She didn’t remember how long she had lived in this city, and her brain was temporarily blank. He gave a name, and she realized that it was a district on the other end of the city, by the harbor, a place full of posh office buildings, sprawling factories, and indistinguishable apartment buildings in which dwelled employees of those establishments. Not only did she have no idea how to get there, she also remembered that she hated driving at night. “How about you give me the directions as I drive?” She said.

The city was dark. The rain had stopped, but the water softened the harsh look of a winter’s night. The road had a glossy sheen, reflecting the glaring headlights of cars, the hypnotic yellow street lights from above, and the dancing traffic lights with eerie red green and yellow, and turned all of them into swirling patterns of light on the ground.

Soon they drove onto a bridge, a colossal monster of a structure spanning high above across the silent water, and there was no other car in sight. “It’s right across the bridge”, he said. Good, she thought, that’s not too hard. As the twinkling sea of lights on the other end drew nearer and nearer, she suddenly spotted a cliff ahead and brought the car to a screeching stop. It was actually not a cliff, but a precipitous drop to the ground far below via a narrow one lane road. The lane was positioned in an inward angle which made it impossible to drive down without the car capsizing. They looked at each other, but didn’t say a word. The bridge was so high above the ground that jumping was not an option either. Just this time it started to drizzle again, and she suddenly felt the relentless midnight chill seeping through her coat.

At first they walked around trying to find a way out. After things seemed obviously hopeless, they sat down by the slope, waiting in silence. Time passed. Suddenly out of nowhere a guy approached. She stared at him as he pulled up a raft and started to paddle down the one-lane road. Right before her eyes the road shrank and transformed into a normal slope like a kid’s slide on an ordinary playground. He paddled as if in water and soon reached the ground, and disappeared.

She blinked, and found herself amid a massive number of passengers boarding the plane. There were so many people, walking, talking, sitting, slouching, lying, that she thought she was actually witnessing an exodus. There were endless lines of seats, each with a five-digit number, surrounded by gigantic dilapidated buildings with beige bricks, burgundy window frames, and unintelligible graffiti across the exterior. She reached into her coat pocket and fished out her ticket, which was now but a soggy and crumpled scrap of paper on which her seat number was scribbled in pencil. She started to walk along the lines of seats, squinting to catch each seat number. One number after another and one line after another, she still couldn’t find her seat. She was puzzled. Just then a flight attendant came up, a man in a neat navy blue uniform and with a chubby face and dark blue eyes. She pointed out the number on her ticket and asked: “Could you help me find my seat?” He glanced at the ticket, and smiled: “Sure, I need to look around. Could you step over to that building and wait for me?” She nodded, and walked to the building he pointed at. Time passed, and he didn’t return. She looked around, and a thought of suspicion crawled up to her: the buildings were not part of the plane, and the plane might leave without her. Just then she felt the ground shaking, and without second thoughts, she hurried to the lines of seats. The ground tumbled for several more seconds, and she realized that the plane was taking off with both the buildings and the people. It started to rain again. She looked up at the falling droplets, and thought:” What now? I can’t find my seat…”

And she woke up and heard the splattering of rain on the window, at the twilight hours.

The Silmarillion

Tags

books, fantasy, LOTR

Two afternoons and two nights, roughly 24 hours later, I finally finished reading The Silmarillion. I was speechless. I had so many thoughts that I didn’t know where to start. This is the most challenging and most rewarding book I have ever read! For any fan of LOTR who is intrigued by the ambiguous and tantalizing references in the books or movies, this is a must read. It answers all my questions (for now), for example:

* Stories behind the main characters: Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, Aragorn, etc.
* Origins of the various races in Middle-earth (and their relationships): Elves, Dwarves, Men.
* What is Valinor, what is Grey Havens, what is a Valar?
* The different fates that await Elves and Men after they die (which explains a lot why the parting between Elrond and Arwen was so painful for them).
* How did Sauron become the Enemy?
* Why did the Elves need to depart Middle-earth and why were they so sorrowful?

But most of all, The Silmarillion is Tolkien’s blueprint of the World (Middle-earth and beyond) and chronicles of events that happened from the breaking of the world through the end of the Third Age (in which the Ring story came to pass). It is mainly devoted to the account of the Noldor (a branch of the Elves), who consumed by pride and greed and bound by an evil oath, exiled from Valinor (the Blessed Realm in which Valar and Elves dwelled) to Middle-earth to get back the Silmarils (three mighty jewels wrought by their leader Feanor) that were robbed by Melko, a “fallen” God (Valar) and “The Enemy” of the World, and how their fate was intertwined with the fate of Men, their kindred. The rest of the book concerns briefly the rise and fall of Numenoreans (a branch of Men that were blessed by the Valar at first), and the war of the Rings (which developed into the LOTR trilogy).

I have never been an avid fan of fantasies, histories, or family sagas. And yet, this book is precisely a hybrid of these three, and I was so absorbed that I was reading it almost nonstop. There is something irresistible about the stories, and the way they were told. As always I was enamored with Tolkien’s use of language which possesses a rare beauty and elegance and his ability to describe events and convey emotions potently with few words. The stories are of such emotional power that I writhed my hands in dismay at the flight of the Noldor and the atrocities they committed in pursuit of the Silmarils, I cried at the tragic yet heroic love story between Beren and Luthien (Arwen’s choosing mortality seemed so trivial compared to the deeds achieved by Luthien), I cried as Turin slew his friend by mistake and the dark fate that befell him afterwards, and I sighed in sadness as the once valiant Numenoreans fell into madness out of greed and pride, their home utterly destroyed, and all that was divine was forever hidden from Middle-earth.

The story corrected my misconception from LOTR about the Elves. I always thought the Elves were a “perfect” race that defied the common “human” weaknesses. Alas, was I wrong! The saga of the Noldor could happen to any race in the World, if it were put under the same circumstances. Although with beauty, knowledge and skills, the Elves might not always have sound judgments, and were subject to “sins” that existed among all living beings. And Men, who craved for everlasting life and ever increasing possessions, also wreaked havoc to the World and brought upon themselves a bitter doom.

Compared to LOTR, which turns out to be a most optimistic story despite the many dark moments, The Silmarillion is exceedingly sad and is overshadowed with an ever pervasive sense of doom. By the beginning of the Third Age, although Melkor was vanquished and Sauron fled, the Silmarils fell forever asunder after all the blood that was shed and lives lost for their sake, Numenor along with all its bliss and splendor was destroyed, and Valinor was forever hidden from Men. Even after Sauron was defeated in the Third Age, the Elves had to bid farewell to their beloved land and forever depart Middle-earth, bringing away the last trace of ancient myth, power, and beauty. If LOTR portrays valor, trust, kindness, loyalty, friendship, good counsel, and love in great depth, The Silmarillion is like the other side of the coin, depicting the darkest sides of living beings, their greed, malice, mistrust, hatred, jealousy, treachery, (unchecked) ambition, pride (unaccompanied by wisdom and sound judgment), lies, and lust.

I first purchased this book after watching TTT, along with The Hobbit and the LOTR. Although I finished the latter two within a week, I couldn’t break through the first 10 pages of this book because the detailed introduction of the World with their extremely similar names made me exhausted and bored. However, once I let go and stopped trying to remember the names, I was immediately enthralled by the stories. And once I checked out the meanings of words in the index for three or four times, I could remember them. For all the other transient names of people and places (that is, names that were mentioned only once or twice), sometimes there is no need to remember or check at all (unless you are a Tolkien scholar), since they hinder little my understanding or appreciation of the stories.

One thing readers need to bear in mind is that this is not a “novel”, but a collection with loosely related stories of events that shaped the World and Middle-earth in particular. They are but notes and backgrounds for Tolkien to conceptualize his fantasy world. Most of the stories are more “accounts” rather than “descriptions”, and sometimes feel rushed and unfinished to readers that crave for more details. However, because of the lack of lavish descriptions the emotional pay-off becomes greater, because somehow you feel as if you had been transported into another world and were witnessing the unfolding of history, which was but a brief moment in the eternity of time. Your own imagination can fill in the blanks and lead you anywhere you want.

Golden Compass / The Subtle Knife

Tags

books, fantasy, YA

Finished reading The Subtle Knife within one day. It’s a true page-turner and extremely hard to put down. Featuring nonstop action and ever present suspense, the first two books of His Dark Materials just took my breath away. The imagination, the philosophy, the writing – everything about these two books tugged at my heart, pushing me to read on and on until the last page, while at the same time making me linger, relishing in the magnificent use of language and the ingenuity of story telling. Although ostensibly “teen fiction” (as my local public library labelled them), they are reallly better read, understood and appreciated by (open-minded) adults. As much as I love the Harry Potter series, it is completely dwarved by His Dark Materials and come off as a tad *juvenile*. Compared to other more traditional fantasies, HDM is much more subtle and complex, and on some level, stunningly original. In Lyra (one of the main characters)’s world, things are seldom what they seem. The beautiful can be wicked (Mrs. Coulter), the wise can be cruel (Lord Asriel), the imperfect might be the savior (Lyra), and the common are the heroes (Gypsies, Lee Scoresby). There is the grand (Lyra’s quest to the North), the amazing (the parallele existence of multiple worlds), the sweet (her friendship with Iorek and Will), and the sad (the part about witches and their men, Lee’s death). I couldn’t wait to start The Amber Spyglass, the last installment of the trilogy. I wonder when this story will be put to the silver screen. It would be so much more worth watching than that Narnia series (I watched the BBC mini-series of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and thoroughly dislike it).

His Dark Materials

Tags

books, fantasy, YA

The Amber Spyglass is awesome! I was a bit worried at the beginning, that I loved The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife so much that the last installment of the trilogy His Dark Materials would not live up to my expectation. But it’s not just as marvelous and brilliant, it is heartrending. I am quite a compassionate movie viewer but rarely moved to tears while reading. But I cried four or five times at various parts of the book, and as someone that seldom reads fiction twice I immediately logged on to Amazon and ordered them for my personal collection. This trilogy has everything I adore: a story of exceptional grandeur and depth, characters that are both complex and endearing, philosophies both profound and daring, and writing that exudes unparalleled beauty, passion and tenderness. It is hands down the most captivating and inspiring story I have ever read. I think I actually like it better than LOTR, one of my all-time favorites. HDM is a trilogy I can read over and over again, and is definitely way beyond “children’s literature” or even “teen fiction”.

BTW, people have pointed out that the British title for The Golden Compass is actually Northern Lights. I must say the latter is much more befitting. Have no idea why they changed the name.

Tales of Wonder by H. G. Wells

Tags

books, sci-fi

If I have to describe this book using only one word, it will be “fantastic”, in every sense of the word.

H. G. Wells is regarded as one of the forerunners of the sci-fi genre, and with The Invisible Man and The Island of Dr. Moreau, deservedly. However, if those two books are like dazzling diamonds in the world of literature, Tales of Wonder is like a plain-looking box full of smaller, but nonetheless twinkling, gemstones and pearls. The writing is superb. The suspense is immense. I had to exert the highest degree of self-control to prevent myself from jumping to the end of the story. Quite a few stories are so intriguing and thrilling that they can be made straight into episodes in the X-Files, with a “modern” touch if needed. And the thing is, although written nearly a century ago, many of them are still so relevant and fascinating that they don’t seem to be outdated or laughable at all with today’s scientific knowledge and technological advances. In this book, Wells continued to explore the paranormal and the social issues behind the interaction between human beings and Mother Nature, and more than once he questioned, subtly or openly: are men really masters of the world?

Pollock and the Pooroh Man

Pollock, an explorer in Africa, got in a fight with a Pooroh Man (one of the natives), who happened to be a witch. After that he was plagued with strange things and feelings and nightmares and eventually had the Pooroh Man decapitated. However, ever since then the bloody head followed him everywhere (first physically and then in his imagination) and became omnipresent, mocking and scaring the daylight (and sanity) out of him. What would he do now? The question is: is it really the witchcraft, or is it Pollock’s guilt and conscience?

The Triumph of a Taxidermist

I fully expected a Frankensteinish gruesome story, but it turned out to be just a funny mockery of the society and people that lived in it.

In the Avu Observatory:

A scientist watching stars at night alone encountered and fought against a bat-like monster creature. It’s very exciting but seems half-cooked. It feels like a vignette out of a larger story. Reminds me of the “human bat” episode in the XF.

Flowering of the Strange Orchid

A “shy, lonely, rather ineffectual man” was longing everyday for something extraordinary to happen to his uneventful life. His prayer was answered when he purchased a rare orchid, which turned out to be a sinister curse in disguise. The orchid blossomed under his care. I had the premonition as to what would happen, but when I read the actual description I actually screamed (fortunately, in my own apartment). This is one of the scariest stories in this book, because it seems so real, and in some corner of the world, it CAN happen. Another good story for the XF.

Aepyornis Island

An explorer found three fossil-like eggs of a kind of extinct bird. After he was abandoned by the native guides (because of his European arrogance and cruelty), he was stranded on an island with one of them. Surprisingly the egg hatched, and he and “Friday” began an idyllic Robinson Crueso life. However, things took a hilarious turn when Friday showed his true colors. In the raw side of Nature, who is the master?

The Sea Raiders

Monstrous Octupus-like creatures came out of their deep sea abode and attacked humans. Octupus-like monsters are always a favorite subject for fantastic horror stories. Again the writing makes up for the plot weakness.

The Red Room

A man went into a “haunted room” and found out that it was haunted, but not by ghosts. With neither clear beginning nor final revelation, this story nonetheless has the best writing in the whole book. It is so extremely visual and atmospheric that you feel like you were walking along the character and holding your breath in excitement, fear and anticipation.

The Purple Pileus

It is more of a social mockery than a nature story. A hen-pecked man ate some kind of wild fungi in his frustration with life and himself, changed into a new man (personality-wise, for some time), gave his wife and her friends a lesson, and from then on became the master of the house.

The Star

A new star (which we found out at the end was not actually a star) was set to collide with the earth and how human beings reacted. Sounds familiar?

The Truth about Pyecraft

An extremely obese man named Pyecraft sought a “reducing weight” recipe from “me” (who got it from “my” Indian great grandmother). The problem is, the recipe worked, literally. Another mockery of human beings and their vanity.

The Magic Shop

Contrasting elements, apprehension and joy, belief and disbelief, reality and fantasy, are blended perfectly into this magical concoction. Father and son walked into a Genuine Magic shop and lived through a rare experience of magic. There is a twist in the end. We are pressed to inquire: is it magic or just imagination? Does it matter? Sometimes magic is what you believe.

The Empire of the Ants

A group of explorers encountered giant human-eating ants in the South American rainforest. If in other stories the themes are often merely intimated, the theme in this story is fully spelled out early: the immensity of the world vs. the smallness and powerlessness of men (Captain Gerilleau’s repeated cry sums it up perfectly: “What can one do?”), and the self-proclaimed master of the world vs. creatures out there that defy our assumption.

The Country of the Blind

A man stumbled upon the Country of the Blind, a paradise of a valley deep in the mountains. At first he thought and firmly believed that “In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is King.” As he discovered soon enough, he was not only not regarded with reverence, but instead, treated as an inferior species. When he fell in love with one of the local girls, he was permitted to marry her under one condition: he must have his “disease” (his eyes) removed. What sacrifice will he make: the girl, his eyesight, or even his life? The description of the Country of the Blind is clearly a mockery of the short-sightedness and ignorance of human beings. The ending is somewhat surprising, but perfect. Artistically and philosophically, this is the best story in the book.

The Beautiful Suit

A little man has been longing to wear a perfect suit made by his mother for years and years but was forbidden since she said the suit was only for special occasions (a.k.a., his wedding). One night lured by the silvery moonlight he put on the suit and had the best time of his life before… The language is poetic and the story reads like a fable. The moral is there, although different people might reach different conclusions.