Jepalang Update

Haven't updated in a while, not for the lack of inspiration, but time. And probably motivation.

Work has been busy, especially since next Friday would be my last day, so there are a lot of things to wrap up and hand over. The clients aren't in good shape but I think they'll survive. I'll leave the sappy conclusion till next Friday, if time permits then.

CDs wise, I've bought too many! Like close to 10 over the past 2 months. 蘇打綠's "陪我歌唱" album is a minor disappointment. The 'live' CD faced an uphill task trying to capture the essence of their 'live' performance, which I can only describe as mesmerizing. It didn't fall flat, but didn't exactly deliver either. You really have to be there to experience the incredible energy of a 'live' 蘇打綠! The studio CD fares even worse - it's nowhere near the quality of their first three full-length albums, so I'd rather non-sodagreen fans give this entire album a miss and get their second album instead.

Caught two movies over the past month with the gang - "Iron Man" during aj's chalet and "Accuracy of Death" yesterday.

"Iron Man kicks off summer on a blazing high note and practically dares the competition to measure up. It's been years since a movie superhero was this fierce and this funny. All praise to acting dynamo Robert Downey Jr., who brings so much creative juice to the party that Iron Man achieves instant liftoff. " (Variety) Christian Bale (Batman) may have finally found a worthy contender who's less serious, more flamboyant, and a lot funnier. Downey also has the help of the stunning (in more ways than one) Gwyneth Paltrow. There's really no need to elaborate on the obligatorily dazzling special effects, though the script could do with a bit of editing to tighten the pace. But then, I'm just nitpicking.

"Accuracy of Death", though, really needs some 'picking up'. Those who've seen the movie should know what I mean. It goes about 3 apparently isolated acts at a leisurely, yawn-inducing pace and tries to connect them together at the end, with a modicum of success. "The middle one suffered through a whole emotional and narrative disconnect from the other two, with slow pacing and uninteresting yakuza characters to fill time", to quote an apt review.

Unlike the sense of shocking revelation in "The Sixth Sense" and "Memento", the twist at the end imparts a sense of artificialness because the connection is not well developed and it seemed more out of convenience than genuine brilliance.

The clues, or so-called threads that link the episodes together are scarce and laughable - (1)girl who becomes singer; (2)guy whose mother who abandoned him happened to be a singer; (3)old woman who happened to abandoned her son. It turns out that (1) and (3) are the same person, and (2) is their son. What a great surprise! Erm yeah. And don't get me started on the absurb plot.

But I did like the third act and its feel-good vibes. The themes of life, death, happiness and fulfilment of purpose in life are not all bad but just woefully underdeveloped. Takeshi Kaneshiro's death god is likeable and goofy, good for eye candy and some laughs but otherwise bland and uninspiring. The telepathic mongrel is more irritating than cute, and quite redundant. All in all, "Accuracy" is quite disappointing for a Japanese production.

The good thing is I got some revision in Japanese, and it feels good to be able to catch words, phrases and whole sentences here and there. I really should watch more Japanese dramas, if only Mediacorp would dump the weepy Korean dramas and screen more of them.

Vietnam backpacking trip coming up. I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time, but it's excellent prep before the big move. Ciao soon.