Maleficent

The dark, the evil, the twisted, that's what they think of her. But through this Disney version of Maleficent, the evil fairy from the famous story tale Sleeping Beauty has became more of a misunderstood character. Actually, I never give much notice about any valiant, but this version was really good.

Like what it says in the poster, Don't believe the fairy tale. I think that this version remains me of what I thought when I was a kid: I believe that every human being has a good soul and no one is bad or evil. And even if there are people that seemed to be bad or evil, I always thought that there was something or a situation that made people do such bad things. As I get older, that believe is some how fading away, especially after living in the working world where there are just so much injustice and it's hard to notice which is right and wrong and everybody is just being mean to everyone else. Seeing this beautifully written story, makes me try to start understanding this world again. Remembering that behind some 'bad' people, there's a story and a reason why people do things to others.

Angelina Jolie is back! Not really a big fan of her's, but from all of the people in this world, I think that she is perfect for being Maleficent and the movie proofed it too! Angelina is a character that is gracious and cool, that has gone to the wild and dark side has changed to be a loving mother of six. This movie was really meant for her! Actually I love the idea of her having kids from different backgrounds and colors. It's like being open to the whole world.

If you haven't had the chance to see the movie, here's the thriller:

And a beautiful and dark soundtrack from Lana Del Rey:

Somehow, maybe I have a dark side that celebrates this movie so much, and I will absolutely watch again.

A story about life

Found a movie by the recommendation of my friend R, the kind of movie I like. Judging by it's cover, it's so much like the Love Actually cover, and that is true because the director is the same. It's been a long time people made movies like this, so I'm so eager to see it.

The story is about some English seniors that came to India with different expectation, but lives in the same roof of Marigold Hotel they reserved from a web. It relates to real life by telling the story that not everything will worked out as you've planned. And sometimes, it's not always sweet at what people think is the end, because quoting from the narator, "Everything will be alright in the end so if it is not alright it is not the end." HAHAHA... it's true! 

Observing from the movie, I guess that most of us are trapped in someway or another of the life that we done really want to live in, but too afraid to take the other way. That is what I related the most. And I think most of us feel the same. I can count with my hand of how much people say the are happy at where they are right now. And like the character of Douglas, people are caged by their own will, because they are mostly good people that won't hurt somebody else, and having to spend 30 years of his life living unhappy. Then there's Graham, who is caged by his own thought that he made the man that he love suffered. But the good thing about the story of this movie is that they still have the time to change things.

After watching it, I can't leave the thought that I'm one of those people who spent my life (specially the last 4 years) living the life that I don't want to. And yes, I'm also trapped by my own thoughts. I knew it all the way but always got scare to change things. So I'm glad watching this movie because it gives me a little encouragement I got so little from people around me. I've made the plan that I think would change my life. It would took me about two years to do that. I know I'm a slow runner, but I usually will get ti where I'm heading. So I'll just be positive about things and carry on!

Do you like movies about live? Have you seen it? What do you think?

TED

There not much words to describe how much excited I was when I first saw this movie thriller

TED - The movie

OMG!!! A story about a TEDDY BEAR and it's alive! What more fantasy could I wanted? If you don't know me yet, well, I'm a Teddy Bear lover since I could remember. I have one specific Teddy which I love and have been with me since I was 5.

Three generations and a Teddy Bear

My Teddy has been everywhere with me. The truth is that I still sleep with him/her (?). So seeing TED makes all of my fantasy come to life!! I kinda wish that my Teddy will come alive too, what a wonderful it would be! HAHAHA...

Well, when I was little, I have a dream to take my Teddy to go around the world with me, but since she/he (?) is a bit to big, specially for an adult (ehm..) like me, I decided to bring a model one which is smaller. But if latter on in my life I would move to a another city or country, I would definitely bring my Teddy with me.

Too put off a little bit of guilt, not bringing my Teddy to my travels, I thought it would be appropriate to take him/her with me to see the movie TED which is in theater last September (in my country). So, I took my Teddy in my backpack and brought him/her back to my hometown and we watched TED together! I kinda wanted to buy a seat for her/him, but I guess that's just too much hahaha! Well, thank you for the great creators of TED for making my dreams come to movie! You guys are amazing!

Teddy in a backpack

Me and Teddy (and my mum) watching TED

Well, I don't know how long we will be together. I'm married and still have m Teddy Bear, so I guess that's great, isn't it? My dream is to have a beautiful ending like this:

a happy family and a teddy bear

How To Live (?)

Once in a while, rather than watching another Hollywood movies, I like to see some indie European movies. Tonight I found this Poland movie, "Jak Zyc" (How to live?). The question really caught my attention because it's a simple question with a very hard answer. Well, that's what happened with Kuba (Krzysztof Ogloza) when he found out that his girlfriend, Ewa (Anna Cieslak) was pregnant. He use to life in the simple life and in seven months everything was going to change. Because he lost his father in an early age, he felt he should learn the ideal way to live. He seeks advises from his three very different uncles.

For me, the story is more about constantly remembering what we want in the first place. In the process of that searching, there are moments were Kuba just looses the reason on why he was searching for that answer in the first place. I think lots of us do that thing too. We just got caught in the work, the problems, the process, and everything else, including the searching is forgotten. I saw that happening to lots of my co-workers, and I don't want to be like that. Got caught in the comfort nor just the problems that they sometimes just don't know which where to go, but when I asked them, why they willing to this and that, most of them say that they worked because of their families and their dreams, but in reality, the work loads get the best of them and the families and the dreams just fading slowly.

Watching movies like this is a refreshment for me, so I kept being reminded why I still work in the big corporate job that I generally don't like. Honestly, I still haven't had that courage to change things, but a least I work because I love traveling so much, and so far all I earn is for my love of traveling.

One Man And His Campervan

On lazy Sunday mornings, after making breakfast what I really enjoy is watching this fun adventure journey of a man named Martin Dorey and his campervan driving and camping around England. The series is called "One Man and His Campervan". His journey originality started years before when he decided to put all of his belongings in his 1970's campervan and move to a seaside small town in Devon. Now he lives there with his wife, Jo, and two children. One day, he decided to make that campervan journey through out England
showing his love of VW, food, and surfing. His not a chef, but he loves to cook delicious meals for friends he met along the way. I love to image I was one of those friend. It's really nice to eat a simply but fabulous meal, cooked fresh after fishing and looking at the beautiful sunset near the beach with a friend like Martin Dorey :)

Here is a short preview of the first part of his journey:

One Man and His Campervan

London Underground

Weekend it is! These few weekends, I've been following "The Tube", a BBC series that shows the life of people who worked at London's underground train system. It was so exciting since I live at a place that doesn't have that kind of public transportation. Well, maybe my town isn't that big to have a complicated train system. What I like about the series is that I could see a different life and it's not an easy one either. There's so much facts that I made note of for the next time I will have a chance to go there, I'll have a bit of knowledge. Some facts I learned: The underground system ended it's service at 12 A.M, so don't go home too late; be careful at Friday nights because it's the most crowded night and there're lots of drunk people; don't stand to close to the platform because you'll never know if some teenage will joke around and make you fall down the platform and got hit by a train (scary, but it did happened quite a lot)! Well, there's many other facts, but anyway, it's a great series because I got to see a little part of London life =)

Movie: The Art Of Getting By

This was a 2011 movie which was piled up in my big file of un-seen-yet-movies. I first thought it was just another teenage movie, but soon realized it was more than that. I kinda felt in love with the character of George. He was a weird introvert arty smart kinda guy. He tends to think too much! Makes me think about someone like that :P It's George's way of seeing life that makes the movie interesting for me. When he was little, he read a quote "you are born alone, die alone, and everything else is an illusion". It really changed his way in looking on life. I found it very interesting because in some way, the quote was true. And by thinking that all of this is just an illusion, I think there is nothing to be afraid of. It made sense for me! It really gives us only two choices: to do something or not to do anything at all. Well, while George took the second choice, things changes and made him re-think about the life he choose. 


The movie maybe is about choices as a teenage, but I think it was deeper than that. Because right now, at the end of my 20's I kinda started to re-think more about how I've lived my life. If it's just by doing what people expected me to do? Is it worth it? Can I changed it? But, will I? Deep down in my heart I know all of the answers to my question, I just need courage to do so. What about you?

Here's another movie poster with a different title. The movie was premiered under the title "Homework" at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Bonus for girls, George was played by Freddie Highmore, the one who played Peter Pan in Finding Neverland - I've watched that movie about ten times and never get bored.

Life in a day

Today is Monday. I got to bed too early, just at 6 P.M. after work. By 10.45 P.M, I woke up to a call of a friend of mine who just ended a very terrible relationship. I felt sorry for my friend, but I guess that's just how life is. So what would I do at 11.30 P.M if I'm not sleepy anymore?

I decide to watch "Life in a day". I recommended you to watch this movie:

This movie really amaze me... It's about life in a day on this planet earth. Really breath-taking. This movie really represent our generation, the generation of Internet and the power of people. Maybe it needs a great director to make a great movie, but what is more important is that great idea to make a movie of what is like living on this planet earth in a single 24 hours. This movie was taken on 24 July 2010. I love the genuiness of the video, it was shoot by lots and lots of people in the world. It really shows so much how we are so different as individuals but yet we still do the same stuff as human. It's a story of LOVE, FEAR, and HOPE.
I don't know how someone made up this idea, but I was so much great!

Stories that I love is the part when an old couple celebrate their 50th birthday by making a re-new vow, so funny! Then the man how loves his refrigerator so much (?!?) hahaha... About fear, I like how a little girl describe her fear of monster and all that stuff... every human has fear and it shows that children fear of those abstract things, while growing up those fear shift into something more real. In the end, we are all the same, what people really fear is "uncertainty". But it's funny when we talk about hope, "uncertainty" makes it alive. We still have hope because that uncertainty factor gives us the possibility to reach what we aimed. It's so funny how life is!

Friends

Finally! I start to watch Friends all episode from today! It's the 20th December 2011. It's gonna be a long journey of 10 seasons. So far, I've watched 5 episodes. It is still so funny! I love Friends so much. What I hate while watching this is that I missed my friends so much. Being working in different places and being married and all of that stuff can make someone so far away from their friends. I still have a good time chatting with some of my friends, but it's not like those good 'ol days. Where are you guys??? I miss you all!

Happy Birthday Dad!

November 27th is my Dad's birthday! We celebrated it by eating veggie food and watching The Adventures of Tintin. Tintin is one of my Dad's favorite comics. And it is so great seeing those comic books turn into live! Through out the whole movie, my Dad seriously thought that the characters where real humans! HAHAHA... Thanks to the wonderful art and computer world that now can make cartoon looked like real!


My Dad loves Tintin, Lucky Luke (his favorite of all), and all of that adventurous stories because he himself is an adventurous guy! Maybe it's because those comics and stories that he read through out his younger days. And I guess that's what he always encourages me to love since I was little: stories. I remembered when I was in the fourth grade and my school was being built, the fourth grades students goes to school at 12 PM, after the other kids got home because there ain't enough class rooms. It was fun for me because I could get up late! Sometimes, my Dad took me to watch the 9 PM theater. I remembered I always feel like a cool kid because I was the only kid in that theater hahaha...


My Dad was small village boy who dreamt to go out to the world. Then at the age of 19, he went to the big city to pursue his dream. After that, he made it by living in various countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hongkong, Australia, Vancouver, Philadelphia, and others that I can't remembered. He lived in each countries for about 3 months to two years. I still don't know how he did that! Actually, a part of me wanted that too... but I haven't find a way to do that. I hope someday I will have a great adventure like my Dad!

Well, this is the Tintin trailer:

Love Actually...

It's almost Christmas! YAY!
Last Wednesday, when I got up at 4 in the morning, rather than 7 a.m. like I usually do, I kinda thought that it would be a good idea to watch my favorite Christmas movie, Love Actually...
I always watch this movie near Christmas... And this is my favorite scene:



What's your favorite Christmas movie?

Kung Fu Panda 2

This holiday is loaded with lots of great movies. I watched Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D. Can't say that it was a great 3D movie, but at least the story was great and quite entertaining. I find it more fun to watch than the previous Kung Fu Panda.

In Kung Fu Panda 2, Po had an adventure with his friends with a mission to save China. But this time, it's not as easy as only learning some kung fu and mastering it, but is more about how to deal with the past that still haunted him. He have to find what is called inner peace. I guess with a character like Po, it won't be that hard. And the movie did bring some tears in my eyes... It was so touching!

What I love most about this sequel is the search of inner peace. It's not only for learning kung fu, but I think that we all need this to help us reach our dreams. I've always thought that how people behave is part of what the past has made them. People can try to hide what their not proud of, but inside, that part of the past will always be there. It's not gonna be easy finding our inner peace, but it is worth every try.

Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

Talk about holiday, I've got 9 days of full holiday to live with! YAY! This is the first day, and it didn't really started out well. I was sick this morning :( Such a bumper! But after wasting half the day trying to recover (using my super power to recover fast HAHAHA..), I ended up having a quite pleasant afternoon with my family. I guess I just missed home after being away to long :P And to end this day, I watched a nice cute movie, "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid".

This movie is from the novel "Diary Of A Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney. I love the novel because I has cool simple doodles in it! The novel has 5 series now, and the sixth will be out next November. This is a funny and entertaining story. The story is about a kid named Greg, trying to live out middle high school. And if that's not enough, having a dysfunctional family would made it a complete disaster! LOL... I won't tell much about the story here because you should see it for yourself!
Here's a quick look of the movie:

Harry Potter oh Harry Potter

Finally! The final movie of the very long years of Mr. Potter! I kinda feel a little bit sad -that's how I feel every time I have to end something. I remembered the first Harry Potter movie, I was still in college! Me and my friends had to take a train to another town! At that time, the theatre at our town was closed due to a fire accident. Actually our town used to have 4 movie theaters. But, after a fire accident that burn two of the big theaters, people started to be afraid to go to the other two, so both was closed-down about 4 years before the first Harry Potter movie. So no watching movie in theaters for a very long time! Thanks to Harry Potter, we really went to that town only to watch Harry Potter then we went home! HAHAHA....

A year after that, before the second Potter movie, the new shopping mall had a theatre so we don't have to go far away just to watch a movie! It went on for years, where I always watched Harry Potter on the theatre because DVD ain't just enough. Until this final Harry Potter, there's trouble again. Our government somehow decided to banned every western movie! Oh no! But it was a coincidence that I went to Singapore at the time Potter was playing! So I get to watch the final movie of Mr. Potter at another country! HAHAHAHA... What a long journey it has been! I guess that's a very good ending of a very good decade of Harry Potter :)

If you look at the movie posters, look how he (Potter) has grown! And I told my friends (whom I watched the first movie with), look how we got old! HAHAHAHA...

note: At the beginning of August, all western movies are allowed (again) to be played in the theaters of my country. Thank God! Can't wait to see Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 :)

Once...

Tonight, I finally got the chance to watch a movie my friend R had recommended to me. It was an 2006 indie movie, so it was not easy to find. At first, I liked the song "Falling Slowing" sang by Kris Allen on American Idol season 8. I didn't know it was from the movie "Once". The story was classic, about guy meets girl, but the rest was different and unexpected. It's about: what does it feel like to be in love. You should see it for yourself. I won't spoil it.


Looking at this movie feels like the real stuff. I guess when you dreamt of something then meet the perfect person to support your dreams, everything will a meaning. I think that if the guy didn't meet the girl, he'll still be singing on the streets and never realize that there were bigger things for him. I don't like the ending, but I guess that's just what is like in reality.

This is Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglove performing "Falling Slowly" live on Letterman.


And here's a clip Once: what does it feel like to be in love? . It is so beautiful.


So, have you ever fall in love? Even though just Once...

New York, New York!

I grew up watching and reading American stories. I watched sitcoms like Full House, Small Wonder (Vicky the robot), The Cosby Show, and even Married With Children. I read Sweet Valley Twins series, The Babysitters Club series, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Ghostbumps and lots more! But what always been my childhood favorite was about the life in New York City! All of my childhood and teenager days, I always dreamt to live there someday. There's something that fascinates me about NYC. Maybe because the huge varieties of the people and cultures. Well, I haven't had the chance yet... but I still hoped someday I'll be there!

Here's a few of my favorites books / movies / sitcoms about the life in New York City (now and then):

Book: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Well, the titles tells what's the book about! It's a funny yet lovely story of a true New Yorker.

Book: Ford Supermodels of The World (series) by B B Calhoun
It's about the life of six young girls becoming supermodels and they have to live in New York City. My favorite among the series was "The New Me" because it'a about an awkward small town girl named Paige who was lucky to become one of Ford's supermodel after her grandma sent the application.

Book: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
Again, another Judy's book... I guess I just felt in love with her New Yorker theme books! This one is really funny if you are a girl and growing up.

TV series: Friends
My favorite all time! I watched it since I was in elementary. It was the late night sitcoms, but I always find a way to watched it! HAHAHA... I didn't know what I was laughing at when I was a kid, but after watching it again as a 20 something, I thought that the story was more related.

TV series: The Nanny
This is me and my mum's favorite show! We always watched it together and laugh as hard as we can!

TV series: How I Met Your Mother
I watched his series after I moved to this little town and away from all of my friends. When I watched it, I missed my friends so much, and really wanted to live back to the big city :( Anyway, this story is so entertaining, I love the character of Ted.

TV series: Sex and The City
Of course it's Carrie! Such an America Dream. Girl from a little town, moved to NYC and pursuit her dreams. What an ideal life :) Though it's nice to watch!

Movie: Little Manhattan
A lovely New Yorker romance. I love it so much!

I really really want to go there someday! And like ol' Frank said:
If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere.
It's up to you
New York, New York!

UP!

When I first saw this wind chimes, the first thing I thought was Pixar's movie, UP!


Maybe it's 'just' another cartoon movie, but that's not how I felt. It's so much a story of life dan dreams. It made me tear-up! Ellie and Carl had a big dream and they believe and live to it. It made me felt ashamed of myself, because when I'm stuck in finding what I dreamed of, I stopped trying. I always forget the 'little Ellie' that is always eager to travel the world. Maybe I focussed too much on the obstacles. That's why when I found the wind chimes, I have to buy it. It will always remind me of little Ellie. I really love this little girl, because she's not like those ordinary little cartoon girls, who is pretty and fairy-like, but little Ellie was so full of life and is the type of girl that I was :)

This beautiful story from Pixar has inspired National Geography to make a real life house that can fly with balloons. See the clip bellow...



See how amazing one dream can do if you really live to it? The next time I confront with obstacles, I will remember this movie and will continue until I reached it.

Life Lesson: BURLESQUE

Have you seen the movie? It's top rated, my friend :)
It's not only about the singing and dancing, but specially about the life lesson that is great. Maybe it's a typical American dream story, but it'll always get my interest. Small town girl with big dreams got what she wanted in the big city (not in an easy way). I wondered how many "real" life stories that is like that? How many people really dare to go and risk everything to pursue their dreams? It gave me the same feelings when I watched those reality shows like American Idol, American Next Top Model, Project Runaway, etc. It is always fascinating to get a little encouragement by watching what other "real" people do to pursue their dreams. I need that sometimes because you need to look up once in while. Actually, if I didn't watch this movie, I think I've thrown all of my dreams in a box and buried it.... So maybe it's just a reminder, especially to those who is almost letting go of what you dreamed of.

The highlight of this movie is when Cher sang "Last of me". I loved it sooooo much! I have been at that point of life. It was on December 2008, the hardest part of pursuing my dreams so far, but I went through all of that. Thanks to a my lovely friends. Anyway, when I first saw this song, it made me tear up. You should see this!



And what's a movie without the guys? HAHAHA... I loved Jack, played by Cam Gigandet. Maybe it's the way that he stares, so intense... huuumm...