Many Many Movies

Was at 4N gathering at Kay Hwee's place over the night of Wed and Thu. Played a bit of mahjong, a bit of Civ 4 (which has several interesting and bewildering new features), a bit of Bridge, and quite a bit of FIFA 04, which I find out I actually quite like =P But the most interesting bit was watching all those movies through the night. Yep, another sleepless night for me, this time watching Behind Enemy Lines (which was still good this time round, as long as you ignore the love subplot - it's kinda like Pearl Harbour and Titanic, where the love plots were also unnecessary) and Ghost Ship. Beyond that we didn't find anything else that anyone really wanted to watch. Heh, but the latter was really funny! Horror may be another genre in which there are few new innovations each time, just like romance. In fact the veritable bloodbath in the show was a bit farcical...no sense of ominous purpose behind it, just this rather flabby and pointless demon-figure behind it all.

Hmm, come to think of it I've watched quite a few movies lately. Perhaps Love was a ripoff of Moulin Rouge, I think, and I still think that the earlier movie was better. Perhaps Love has some interesting things to say about memory, like how you can't forget memories, and how they always come back to haunt you. The play-within-a-play structure had some potential, but I didn't think that the director really took it to the max. In fact it struck me as a bit cheap, since even though the parallels between real life and the movie life was obvious to all there wasn't really the impression that the characters themselves grasped it. The love plot was a bit tired I think...the usual love triangle resolved by everyone agreeing to start from scratch. Bittersweet ending with the edge taken off by repetition.

Other people say it was good. Heh, I guess it's just because I don't sympathise with the love side of the plot. The memory side was good because I understood what they were talking about. But the love thing is just too unlikely, it seems. And this kind of movie, with its self-reflexive references, is meant to come across as realistic, I think. Which it doesn't, for me. Maybe it's a defect in my capacity to imagine situations like this.

Aeon Flux was better. Hehheh, I think I've had enough of romance flicks for the time being. Good old thriller any day for feel good value! Hmm I'd expected it to harrowingly reflect Singapore actually, in its dystopian worldview, but to its (or Singapore's) credit the similarities were limited. Dunno how memories can be transmitted through the cloning process though...that, I think, is a plot element that needs to be taken on faith. But interesting how they unite technology and nature. Not some sleek starship flick.

Mmm enough movies for the time being, I think. Otherwise this entry can be submitted to 8 Days.

US early decision results coming out sometime soon. The best of luck to all the people applying! The old uni angst coming back now, with the anxiety of a wait coming to an end. But it seems now that the A's are over at least there's less of a sense of urgency...there's really nothing left to do but to look for that result. Nothing to lose anyway but the application fees. Heh but it'd be cool to have people in Harvard and Yale and Stanford and the rest (can't remember where pple applied to already...), if only so I can get tours, and eye-catching university merchandise. And of course the recepients will get a stellar education and all that =P

Planning to write to the Taiwanese soon...though I doubt if the cards will reach Taipei in time for Christmas. Ah well, at least something to do, some craft projects. And planning to go abroad one last time before going into camp. Options now up for grabs...Hong Kong, Shanghai, even a cruise. But the thing is that the decision must come soon, otherwise with the holiday rush for vacations the matter will become, well, academic.

pondered by phoenican @ 16.12.05