So on a rather drizzly Sunday afternoon, I went for the movie with quite high an expectation on my side and out I came, almost three hours later, totally blinded by awesomeness. It was one of the finest, most beautiful movie I’ve ever seen, in 3D! The scenes, the landscape were all too magical. Those colourful giant trees and blinking plants were so impressive and those drifting jelly-fish-like ferns were somewhat so touchable and real. I was like being drawn into an enchanting world of make-believe, where every living being was in-sync with nature in the wonderful planet of Pandora.

I am really glad I watched this movie on the big screen with its 3D effect because watching the film later on your TV or on your computer screen will not justify the spectacular visual effects that comes with it. My, and I still have the image of that wondrous colourful forest in my head.

The story is brilliant. Although some reviews said it’s a tad too long (almost 3hrs!), I never noticed the passing of time until the lights went on in the cinema, that’s how absorbed I was by the story and I savored every moment of it.

David Fincher, director of ‘Seven’, ‘Fight Club’ and ‘Zodiac’ (all my favorite films!) breaks away from his usual thriller-terrain and his latest film, albeit taken on a slower pace and lacking of his usual goosebumps-down-your-neck gory scenes, proves just as able to get under your skin. It is simplicity at its finest.

This beautiful film tells the story of Benjamin (Brad Pitt), born with the size of a baby but with an appearance and symptoms of decline of an old man. While everyone around him grow old, he ages backward (he grows younger with the passing of time!). Unusual, far-fetched or bizarre as it may sound, the film manages to pull off the depiction of the story elegantly, with a subtle touch of ingenuity.
What amazes me most is that the features of Brad Pitt is recognizable in almost every phase of life of his character, well, except the baby and the teenage part. His portrayal was made so believable, it is hard not to believe that’s Brad Pitt there.

To me, the film is a masterpiece in itself. Wonderful landscapes, visually artistic scenes, brilliant acting and you can’t miss the essence of the film, the portrayal of love in different stages of life.

Life isn’t measured in minutes, but in moments.

Indeed, I’ll bear that in mind. A truly must-see film.

The acting was brilliant and the musical performance of the whole ensemble was absolutely superb. It is worth to just watch the dancing and listen to the music alone. I didn’t realized that Prof. Higgins, the phonetic expert played by Daniel Morgenroth, is rather attractive . The sparks of chemistry that flew between Eliza and him on stage (the last picture) is not to be missed.

What amazed me most is the beautiful singing voices of the cast, such powerful and strong vocals..ah…it was simpley a lovely night.

Pictures of the play with actors are from: Admiralpalast Berlin

But the Chinese in me, who sometimes tends to be a little superstitious, believes that it’s a definitely ‘no-no’ to sit on books. I’m not really sure why but I used to get admonished by my grandma and great-aunts when I sat on books as a child. I think they say you’ll be illiterate in your next life or something like that.

However, superstitions aside, I still think that it’s a really cool chair. Although I still wouldn’t wanna sit on it because I think I might get too distracted surrounded by so MANY books, in such proximity. The musty odour of old paperbacks mingled amongst new books evoke a familiar olfactory sensation in me, which my brain would automatically translate them into ‘READ ME! READ ME!’.

Picture source: nobody & Co.

One of those very good German movies is The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) which garnered an Oscar in 2007 as the Best Foreign Language Film. If you still remember your history class lessons well, you’ll recall that Germany has a battered past as a result of those world wars which left this country bitterly divided into East and West Germany.

The storyline is simple yet the portrayal and the meaning passed on is poignantly profound. The story takes place in East Germany back in 1984, where it was still ruled by the then socialist state GDR (German Democratic Republic), but the system operated more like a communist state. The suffering and desperation of its citizens living under the regime were deftly captured in the film.

Back in GDR, it was not a secret that the state often placed surveillance on individuals, usually businessmen, prominent writers and directors or anyone suspected to be pro-Western. The story unfolds from the viewpoint of this secret agent, who was assigned to spy on a playwright, suspected of dissidence.

Forget about dagger chase and fast-paced actions usually delivered by a conventional spy film. In fact, there aren’t any fast-paced action scenes at all. The most commendable feature of this film is the performance of its actors and the brilliant camerawork and setting which created a subdued, semi-black-and-white environment to emphasize the oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere behind the wall.

I love the ending of the film. Unexpected, bittersweet with a perfect touch of pensiveness. One of the best German film I’ve ever watched and notably a very outstanding one.

That guy (hiding behind the tree) in the picture above was so funny. He was shaking the tree like every 5 secs to induce some falling leaves effect to complement the autumn-y feel.

Autumn sounds nice eh .

from Reader’s Digest November issue. Superb answer .

Here are some of my favorite quotable quotes from the very Michael Scott.

“I don’t understand. We have a day honoring Martin Luther King, but he didn’t even work here.“

“I love inside jokes. I’d love to be a part of one someday.“

“You may look around and see two groups here; white collar, blue collar. But I don’t see it that way, and you know why not? Because I am collar-blind.”

“The most sacred thing I do is care. And provide for my workers, my family. I give them money. I give them food. Not directly, but through the money. I heal them. Today I am in charge of picking a great new healthcare plan. Right, that’s what this is all about. Does that make me their doctor? Um… yes. In a way. Yeah, like a specialist.“

Red to yellow.
Inviting little surprises.