Today is the last day of voting.

So just do what my failed hypnotic eyes says okay?

The Dark Knight

Hype? Check.

Prerequisite: Tall, dark and handsome hero? Check.

Oh and a healthy dose of skepticism towards caped crusaders? Check. I’ll provide that!

Really, I’ll even throw in a challenge: Blow my mind

“Hmm… Very poor choice of words.”

For a fiend who is so wrong on so many levels, the Joker was dead was dead right about my vocabulary. A more appropriate response would have been: “Like whoa,” proceeded by a temporary stupor of awesomeness.

The Dark Knight appears to set up a game of chess at first, drawing a line between the good and the bad. However, we soon see that they don’t have much intention of playing the game as so much in knocking over the board and watching the pieces fall.

Right from the start we are plunged into one of the most elaborate tributes to chaos and anarchy. Harvey Dent is portrayed as the ‘The White Knight of Gotham’, a legitimate alternative of justice and rules which is the exact opposite that Gotham has come to know. Aaron here just gives the right amount of self-righteousness and projects the aura of Golden Boy very well (helped by the hair). It makes his later descent into the bowels of insanity hard to watch and to accept.

In the other corner is the Batman, played with commendable effort by Christian Bale. Bale’s flexibility in his role as both superficial billionaire (Billionaire Absconds Entire Russian Ballet! Best headline ever.) and the scrounge of the underworld truly makes the idea of ‘secret identity' believable. Also worth mentioning is Commissioner Gordon(Gary Oldman) who appears to be another earnest cop trying to do his best in a field but carries a steely will and fight in him yet.


Terror comes in the form of custom made purple suits and grunge make-up. Enter the Joker(Heath Ledger). There is no worse thing that you can do to a villain than to give them a long, drawn out tragic back story. Am I glad they gave him ambiguous origins. I was afraid when he first started explaining how he got his scars. I mean an abusive father? Come on. Thankfully, he has a few facbrications of varying degress of misery.(Upon research, I htink they are meant to be a nod to the Joker's many origins in the comic book.)


Jonathon and Christopher Nolan have crafted a deeply complex character which required almost Para Paraesque acting to pull off and Heath Ledger has done it. With a joker’s gait, a maniacal laughter from hell and a voice that sounds like knives laced with honey Heath Ledger is equal parts flamboyant ‘entertainment’ and sketchy schizophrenic phycopath

In a frenetic cadence of chaos and destruction, Joker’s erratic decisions make every death as horrifying as the first. Through the Joker, the citizen’s of Gotham are put in front of a wall of madness. The consequences are not glossed over and the audience’s intellect never doubted.

Through the course of the film we see normal citizens teetering on the edge of criminal offence in attempts to rid those they consider criminals. The irony is not lost. One of the questions here is what would people do in the face of anarchy? Are we all too afraid to search our dark corners? When the Joker says, “You’re a freak. just like me”, he isn’t simply taunting Batman. It’s a statement for all of us. Are we just wearing the makeup underneath our skin instead of on it?

Not a second is wasted and every action sequence is done almost to a point of ridiculous perfection. The script is quite fantastic espcially the intereaction between the Joker and The Batman. You can see the Joker really enjoying his torment and the love for his game. On the otherhand, Batman's lack of response and sometimes effective one-liners bring out fustration and sulleness.

Watching Batman is not a simple mind-blowing experience. It doesn’t just happen while you sit in the theatres and stare at the screen. It tides over-an outright annihilation of all previous standards that superhero movies have held and blasting a whole new league of its own.

The world deserved a better class of superhero movies from Hollywood and damn, did The Dark Knight give it to us good.

-------------------------

Could we get a minute to indulge in a vindictive laughter for Edison Chen's shameless boasting and his one second cameo as hand phone boy?

-------------------------

Dear Myra,

Never ever demand a review. Ever again. Pressure makes me write something insipid which I am still compelled to post.

Love,
Beverly

Avatar the Last Airbender has ended and I also finished reading Sophie's World. (A real book! I am so deliriously happy that I have a book that doesn't invovle chemicals or intestines)

A double whammy basically because both left a lot of space for contemplation. At the same time, it leaves a strange feeling of emptiness ,contributed mainly by the former.

Well, this one is a geek out post. -hopes for LJ cut. Doesn't happen-

A Memento for Atla
<>

Amidst my mother's dark mutterings about how I could only appreciate Chinese culture through a western medium and a slightly cramped upper deck bed, I watched "The Boy in the Iceberg" on a small laptop. Thus began one of the most exhilarating journeys ever.


Yesterday, it was over. 2 1/2 years spent with wonderment at what Nickelodeon got on their hands and a wonderful community of people who exist only as user names. It was the Finale, Sozin's Comet, on wide screen TV because I had gotten that much better at ripping things off the Internet.


I don't think I have ever wanted to cry, laugh and burble insanely at the same time before.

So these are what real endings feel like.

Generally, when something as incredible as this ends, I don't quite know what to do with myself. All you can truly say is 'Wow' or you could spazz out.

Avatar may not be the most thought-provoking or intellectual show out there but I think the sheer combination of animation, sound (voice-acting and music) and great character development(which is really, something I have not seen in the fantasy genre in a long time) has led it to deserve the words :EPIC WIN.

I feel immensely privileged to have chanced upon this show and the work of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The Track Team has also produced a soundtrack on par with the movies. Last but not least, the entire avatar community who has proven to me that for a million idiots abusing their rights on the keyboard,there are another million who actually have a nervous system attached to their brains.

I still think people should watch the show even though the experience may not be the same.

As the hippies said, "Dude, you just weren't there". Or was it Robbie Williams.

Okay, I think I will go curl up in a corner and cry now.

< / geek >

P.S. Sophie's World was a philosophy book trying to disguise it self as ficition. Oh well,I'm glad it did though.More on that later.

P.S.S Oh, I have felt like laughing, crying and burbling at the same time before. After CAP. Funny.I hope not all goodbyes are that hard to say.

P.S.S.S I cannot believe it's over. Furthermore, there is a plane geometry test tomorrow. I do not find the idea of proving equal sides appealing. Oh and I am a little put out that this finale had to air the same time as the Dark Knight was showing. My schedule got completly tipsy because of this. Stupid marketing.

P.S.S.S Okay this is just because I think there is no such thing as quadruple post-scripts but it's fun to do anyway.Updated links?

Amazing Salt

This is to distract you. Turn down the volume because the frequency can get annoying. The patterns formed are quite cool.



Salt Sound Waves - video powered by Metacafe

Garfield minus Garfield

source

Oh,Jon.


TGIF and all but that hair does not go with the dress.

A Review

When John Woo said that he’ll like to make a Chinese film that the western audience can appreciate, he meant it.

The opening credits give it all away with the background story being translated into English alongside the Chinese version. The music hints of subtle reference to western music, with much less emphasis on traditional Chinese instruments. Actually, scratch that. I’m pretty sure that some of the music they played had distinctively jazz origins.


The dialogue has pretty much been diluted as in I can understand what they are saying without having to resort to subtitles. Solidifying the western act is the addition (because I’m pretty sure it wasn’t in the books or history) of Sun Quan’s out spoken, tomboyish sister in the traditionally testerone fueled story. It’s feminist (a term here defined by which people who advocate girl power. To a certain extent.) bait .John Woo deceptively reels the crowd in with Lord of the Ringsesque movie masquerading as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.


For the crowd like me, it worked.

I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the film because I did. It would be awfully hypocritical/wrong/unwise of me to criticize the movie with a heavy hand because:

1) I did not complete the reading of 《三國演義》despite being assigned to do so for my Chinese graded assignment last year. (Thank God for Wikipedia? And Mom)

2) Have you seen my Chinese grades recently?

The scenery was stunning although the CGI was a little lacking at parts. The cast turned in a decent performance although there were no real standouts. They played off each other and the chemistry between them made the film work. Of the leads however, Takeshi Kaneshiro seems to have gotten the better end of the stick. Against the enervated Tony Leung (Zhou Yu), he seemed to have that much more intellect. It was strange to see Tony on the battlefield anyway; it was clearly not his ground.

I wonder if the dynamics would have been different if Andy Lau had been given the role of Zhou Yu and Tony Leung the role of Zhuge Liang instead. Then again, that dynamic duo could get boring.

That’s my perspective but really, you can’t go watching this film without a second opinion so I’m letting the Chinese forums take the floor.

Orignial post here



《赤壁》（上）观后感

1、很血腥，很暴力，但不黄，虽然有几个镜头很暧昧。

2、尸体很多，和《投名状》有一拼。

3、火烧博望，火烧新野等展现诸葛亮智慧和军事才能的篇章都没有，诸葛亮好象只是个会耍嘴皮子的政客。本来舌战群儒时还可以补救一下，但可惜被一片乱哄哄的吵闹搅局了。

4、长坂坡一战，居然没有赵云夺青釭剑的镜头。

5、我记得赵云是把阿斗抱在怀里，而不是背在后背。

6、刘备没有摔阿斗，也没有哭。

7、张飞冤啊，用马尾绑树枝做疑兵，大闹长坂桥，吓死夏侯杰，喝退曹兵的英雄事迹都被埋没了。

8、关羽的形象有点老态，而且也不是很高大威猛。

9、甘宁什么时候改名叫甘兴了？

10书上明明写的是周瑜毁书斩使，电影里却变成曹操把东吴的使者杀了。

11、张飞在战场上的表现很突出，给我第一印象是象动画片里的绿巨人，第二印象是象《神奇四侠》里那个大块头怪物，横冲直闯，刀枪不入。

12、诸葛亮和孙尚香肯定有一腿。

13、诸葛亮的名言：硬拉是拉不出来的。未来两年内，这句话将一直是网络时髦用语。

14、曹操对小乔真是痴情啊！

15、原来曹操真是为了小乔才发兵南下的。

16、华南虎！又见华南虎！我怀疑华南虎是被孙权灭绝的。

17、鲁肃的形象距离我想的太远，也许是我要求过高了。能够把一半家产捐给孙氏，并在周瑜之后担任大都督的人，绝不是一般人。

18、诸葛亮需要冷静，周瑜需要冷静，我们大家都需要冷静。


For the record,if you didn't read that and I am not translating it, the above was pretty funny.


Stuff like this is the only reason why I am despondent about being bad in my mother tongue.

I am missing out on the sarcasm.

In which there is a disclaimer

I will not be blogging very often henceforth because of prior obligations ( O Levels).

Thus this is the last sane post which you'll be getting and a very long one at it.


In which a round about way is found in saying “Shit it’s the 12th of July already?”

Father Time and I were just conversing last year about how the months seem to fly by. He was a bucket full of mockery and I trapped in my own little quagmire of self pity. We are not the best of friends. It’s a fragile relationship, hanging on the delicate balance of role of pursuer and the pursued (I mostly being the former). We are never happy half the time and we just make do with the other half, although I have caught him trying to tip the scales in his favour.

Recently though, his shop is always closed. Something about running out of stock.

Ha. Yeah, right. You’re never going to flip the sign are you. I can see you behind the silts in the curtains. Tea and crumpets?

Bastard.

In which many things tread a thin line



I have not been the best of lit students lately. (Frightening powers of perception, wherefore art thou?) So perhaps my take on the video will be a little skewered.

Somehow, between the waffle, I think the bottom line is: Life’s unfair. There are thinking films and then there are films like this which make you wonder if it was just pretentious or you're totally not getting 'it'

Right, it’s well executed though. It almost takes itself too seriously with the sepia toning but it looks very nostalgic (?)



Comic by Amanda Bussel

Twilight.

I have so far refrained from calling it the next Harry Potter but I think it’s pretty official that it has reached holy grail status to fangirls worldwide cemented by bad popular fan ficiton and general fangirling. It’s not hard to see why, Romeo and Juliet is timeless.

If Shakespeare were still alive, he could make a billion every time a Romeo/ Juliet parallel is made.

I swear though, the heroine (for the lack of a better word) is suppose to be afraid of Sparkling!Vampires.

Vampire:*Sparkles*

Bella: -Stunned-

Vampire:
I don’t scare you?

Reader: *Waits for punch line or hysterical laughter
anyway*

Punch line:* Does not come*

What it actually says: ….
Incandescent chest, his scrintillating arms bare. His glistening, pale lavender
lid…

Plot: *Dies*

In which there is a character meme

Between Goffick! Sue( Her outright rejection for mainstream media was never taken quite seriously) and Chameleon! Sue ( Her doe-eyed innocence and morphing ways has enabled her to land several leads in mangas as a brunette, blonde and raven haired beauty alternatively) Mary Sue 1078 has never quite came into her role as the Anti Sue she was being molded into.

Armed with a pyromaniac tendencies and a flammable pillow sidecake, she seeks her fortune elsewhere in the world. She has attempted to change her name twice (Alberta and Cornelia) and hopes to be third time lucky with her own invented name IWILLDOMINATETHEWORLD.

[click to view full size]

About time I properly introduced the girl anyway. She used to be a projection of me but I don't think I look that deformed even on normal days.

So now she has a story (sort of) and family.

This is just one half of the meme. Awesome meme by Twelfth .


Everyone is busy but I’m tagging everyone who just read the entire meme.

It doesn’t matter if all you have to draw with is MSPaint or blood. I’d love to see what your own character looks like or even existing characters doing the funny things listed in the meme.

Download meme here

In which there is life happening

I took 7 test this week (or 6 I can't tell) and the world didn't explode.

I never thought it was possible, see you never know until you try.

Maths teacher's are diabolic. They are the only ones who can set a 60 minute test and make math puns at the end of the paper. (Algae-Bra)

Too much starch this week.

No more mushroom and cheese.


In which undying gratitude (and apologies) is expressed




MY HEART BURNS FOR YOU:)

Thank you friends, family and random people who I don't know! Thank you for voting even though all you get is a small chance of going to Phuket for free.

Sorry for all the people in the youth catergory who are getting flamed (HAHA! FLAMED GET IT? because Mary Sue set you guys on fire and...-dribble off-).

You make realllyyyy pretty lights.

Oh and there is way to find out if i'm leading, you are leading if you wear that crown thing. I don't really like wadding through the OMY site though. It's like plunging into a sea of information mostly but at the same time getting a lobotomy.

I'm sorry again but citizen journalism is really not going anywhere. Yet.

Please keep voting ( you can vote as many times as you want. Well, a vote per day) because I want my first original chracter to have a sparkling tiara.

I take back my comment about the saturated photos.

Turns out that no one in the Youth Category has saturated photos and the competition is real.

I think I'm the only one portrayed is as a mad girl with singed eyebrows.

Mmm... Okay for an exaltation of the virtues of blogging click here.

To find out how to memorise 125 of chengyu in 30 minutes and then apply them in a battle of wits click here


Oh and click this button for it's jarring effect of pink against blue to vote for me. You stand a chance to win a trip to somewhere, Italy. Oh wait even better Vietnam. Plus, if I win I don't need the LG mobile phone.

You can vote for me everyday and it would be nice.

At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I will angst about the competition at a later date when papers cease to fly around.

/This post is part of a larger picture that needs a major edit./