more than ever i could use a coincidence

urgh... why am i blogging at 2.13 am on a thursday night when i have class at 10.30am tomorrow? maybe cos i really wanted to for the past few nights and couldn't. anyways, it's really just about a bunch of random stuff:

movies! watched a lot of movies in the past few days, but maybe cos i was feeling generally crappy, i thought abit too much about them. let's start from the worst one and proceed to the best.

last night i saw rice rhapsody, which is this hongkong movie made in singapore. without going into too much detail (let's just say it involves a huge suspension of disbelief), the story is improbable to an extreme. it feels very low budget even though i think it wasn't exactly a low budget production. does anyone remember those telemovies channel 8 used to make? back when it was still TCS i think? it felt kind of like that. the actors also spoke in an unnatural mix of english and mandarin, which i suppose was their attempt at being authentic. interestingly, it does show a certain facet of singaporean life and is not entirely inaccurate at that. really just an example of a movie which places the desire to convey a message over the need for a solid story, and in so doing fail at both aspects.

on monday, i saw tristan and isolde on dvd. never really heard of the movie, but it was recommended to me on netflix (cos i put that i enjoyed troy i think). the thing about period films that involves considerable fighting is that it kind detracts entirely from acting. it's like just because everyone's dressed up in armour and waving swords there is no need for any kind of realism. the story is passable in a somewhat cliched and predictable kind of way, and it's commendable how they linked the romantic side of the plot to the whole political/violence side. and the pacing of the film is actually quite nice now that i'm thinking about it. it's really just a distraction more than anything else, but an okay one at that.

last friday i saw syriana, which had a really strong political message. the acting was top-notch in that one. george clooney and matt damon both turning in good performances, and the rest of the cast were suitably convincing. i enjoy movies that have seemingly disjointed plots that somehow get mashed together at the end. there is something just a little bit confusing about the film, but it might be cos i missed a lot of dialogue (i was projecting the film). shan't say too much more cos i doubt i can do it justice, except that the visuals were great, typical of a big budget hollywood production that can afford the amazing locations.

last saturday i saw two movies, the first being mission impossible 3. solid action movie, plenty of nice set pieces and explosions. the part at the vatican was especially good. it was certainly an improvement over MI2, just because the action was toned down in favour of realism over visual impact. it was certainly less action-packed than i had expected. personally, i can't say for sure whether the entire love story thing was good or bad for the film. it served as a very good plot device, and added a certain emotional appeal to the film that would otherwise be entirely missing. but i can't help but think that audiences aren't exactly looking for that when they choose to see MI3. there are also many points in the film where it seems as if the filmmakers were holding back. perhaps it's due to the fact that it was directed by a television director instead of a film director, which really boils down to an understanding of the medium. television i think can afford to hold back because the appeal is in a longer, drawn out story that involves many complications. film requires more compact stories that have more impact in the 2 hours. i think the director was really trying to pace the film like a television show (you can almost even split the movie into the 4 acts that are typical to television serials) but it doesn't work out that well in film. it's still a very entertaining film, and generally well made (with such huge budgets production value is suitably amazing), but one can feel as if some opportunities were squandered.

finally, the second movie on saturday that i saw was match point. honestly, there is not tat much to say except to ask everyone to go watch it. the first 1 hour 30 mins is a scriptwriting class in itself. the dialogue is airtight and the pacing is impeccable. nothing at all lacking. the film would have been a moderate success even if it did continue in that vein, no thanks to amazing performances by the cast. but the last 30 mins was simply breathtaking. can't say much without spoiling the story, but in essence, the twists and turns are amazing. and i'm beginning to realise that i can't say much about the film, because it really speaks for itself. it defies any kind of moral answer to its questions, and presents the world in such a thick shade of grey. visuals were very appropriate (they chose just the right filmstock i would say) and production value extremely high. some of the most convincing sets i've ever seen really. essentially, match point typifies a well made film in my opinion, conveying a message effectively without compromising on the story and how to tell it. highly highly recommended.

in other fronts, i've been listening to the new red hot chili peppers album. great value for money (2 hour long albums are soooo rare these days) and many well written songs. only qualm is the tendency for albums of such length to be somewhat repetitive, which is unfortunately the case here. but all in all a good listen.

finally got started on hornby's a long way down, after waiting like 6 months for the paperback. great so far, a nice venture off comfortable territory for hornby (for once the story isn't about a 30 something male in crisis) but so far looking really nice. hornby's great at not forcing any kind of message, but just hinting at it, and revealing little things about the plot and the characters that constantly add to our understanding of the work.

well... that took longer than i thought for something so practically useless. oh well, time for bed.