Life Has Move On

Looking back, I realized I have started writing way before when blogging was considered hip and huge by today's standard. I started writing, not wanting even to have an audience in mind, to read what I write back then. It was merely my passion for writing, for documenting all my thoughts in life, and how I see it. 

How life has evolved and changed. These days, I blogged about films on our wherestorymatters blog here. I started blogging about lifestyle, fashion and beauty and all things I love at LUMINNEJ here, since last year. It has been great. 

But mymomentswithin will always be that very first blog I started with, harbouring all the love and personal thoughts I have for life, and beyond. I will definitely miss this personal space I have created for myself. Perhaps I will come back here, once in a while, to pen my racing thoughts that will always occupy my thinking brain! If you were one of the few audiences that had been following my journey here, I sincerely apologize for not writing for such a long time, I feel as though I have let go of our grip, but forgive me for I never knew that I had friends here in the first place... I felt like I have led a secret life all these while, revealing myself here, yet not completely share every ounce of me. like the amazing film that I love so much, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Hope life has been treating you well. Take good care, whoever you may be and wherever you may be out there. My love is to you, always, though I may not have felt your obvious presence.

See you at my other new spaces! 

Just Give Me A Reason

Do we need a reason to love? I think PINK says it best. We need to learn to love and to unlearn how to love and just simply FALL in love, with your gut feeling, with the one you feel would make you happy. Yet, happiness can be elusive, sporadic and unpredictable if happiness is from a very different place, and from someone other than yourself, perhaps? Love is, to a certain extend, unreal, if one relies too much on your senses and fulfilling the wants of the senses we possess. I simply love this music video, everything about it, the song, the art direction, the drifting floating bed, the glowing-eyed-teddy bear (my childhood fetish, in a way), PINK's well built tattooed body, her hair, her silhouette, her singing, her sensual underwater scenes. She is everything a woman should be, I feel - strong, sexy, empowering, lifting and positive in her creative work. Her work speaks to the depths of a woman's heart and soul. I remembered the first time I listened to the song, I was driving. I immediately fell in love with it. It's strange that, I feel the most sense of "freedom" whenever I am driving, GOOD music uplifts your drive even more so. Yes, everyone can learn to love again, once in a while, because as time goes by, you may think that you know love, but you know nothing about love at all...LOVE LOVE LOVE this song and video!! 

Cold War

Cold War (2012)

Directed by Sunny Luk and Longman Leung, starring Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Charlie Yeung, Aarif Rahman Lee, Gordan Lam, Chin Kar-lok, Terence Yin, Eddie Peng, Andy Lau.

A slick Hong Kong flick, one of the best I have seen this year, Cold War oozes a sense of intensity, right from the beginning, till the very end. The intensity is not just the action and story, but as well as performances by all the actors. I was utterly impressed by these first time directors. Their ability to control their actors (such top notch ones like Tony Leung Ka-fai) is amazing. The surprise for me, personally is the suppressed performance by Aaron Kwok here. I have never really thought that Aaron was a great actor until this film. I guess as one ages, one tends to be more subtle in your approach, but I believe it has a lot to do with the directors and how they wanted to approach the film. The plot twist is to say the least, exciting, but definitely worth following how the story unfolds. You would naturally feel for the characters, especially the character of Aaron, Sean K.F. Lau, has to go through to shoulder such great responsibility for the Hong Kong Police Force. One of the best scenes, amongst many others, for me is the scene when Tony Leung's character, M.B. Lee, Deputy Commissioner of Police was being interrogated by Billy (played interestingly by Aarif Lee) in the interrogation room. Tony's performance was immaculately powerful and precise. Awesome acting there. it is intriguing to see how the power struggle between the characters gradually being revealed. Well, the film has great combination of psychological thrills, action, anchored down with human emotions and turmoil, and how greed and power struggle can change everything in this modern capitalistic world. A great watch indeed. 

We Are The Night

Directed by Dennis Gansel, starring Karoline Herfurth, Nina Hoss, Max Riemelt and Jennifer Ulrich.

Am not really a big fan of horror movies, but this one caught my attention. Sitting at the comfort of our living room, it is, bearable then, watching a horror vampire sci-fi flick on TV. Sleek, fluid, stylized, action, this film feels far more real than the Twilight saga, as it is quite rooted down to the female lead's journey and struggle trying to comes to terms with her transformation from a human to an immortal, cleverly played by the multi-faceted Karoline Herfurth. Her looks varied and changed as the story progresses. Women in this film are extremely strong, hunting and kissing-a** along the way. As the story is based in Berlin, Germany, it brought back quite some memories watching it. (We were in Berlin for the Berlinale Talent Campus). The locales look familiar and refreshing, rather than watching the usual Hollywood flick. Overall, it was an entertaining piece, grounded with characters development, rooted on certain emotional angles between characters. Definitely a fun movie to watch with a bunch of friends.  

Love In Each Day

"The echo of your laughter, the lingering of your words, the intimacy of your thoughts, as if embracing each space across those time we shared together, so vivid yet distant, so familiar yet almost like a stranger, each time we meet, on that ONE DAY. Are you a friend who speaks the truth that cuts right deep into my psychic or are you my love who fills up all my senses whenever you are around me, and make me all nervous and jittery. Your whispers into my ears, your voice at the end of the line, they fade away more and more, as the years go by. Do we still share the same innocent moments when we first met, or have we fallen into the entrapment of boring conversations to fill the gap of formality? Have my love for you faded away, so very gradually as each moment passes me by? I could not bear that very thought, yet I am helplessly hopeless in bringing you closer, bringing you back to me. But I have never dreamt that there would come a day I dread seeing you, I could not believe that I could even say such words, "I love you, I just don't like you anymore!" How could that be possible? We went our separate ways, we even fell in love with different people in our lives. But are you happy? Am I truly happy in your absence. I tried, I tried very hard to forget you, but your image haunts me, your shadow chases me down memory lane, like a persistent stalker and hunts me down, fiercely. How am I to resist? How could I let go of so much that we seem to have and share. Life is our ally, but time is our enemy. When I thought I could finally be with you, after all these years, life comes and takes me away from you, forever, on that very split second. Goodbye my love. Love me for the brief moments we were finally united, but more so, love me for those times I spent loving you, away from you for each of those time were my most difficult, not being able to be with you! I have loved you and I will always love you..."

If I were Em (played by the talented Anne Hathaway), this would be the letter I would write to Dexter (played by Jim Sturgess). A hypnotic, haunting and painfully beautiful piece of work. I love the film for its simplicity and realistic portrayal of two people's lives and buried love for one another. Lone Scherfig's style of storytelling is sensitive yet straight forward - sugar-coating yet direct, poetic yet honest. You are pulled into the course of their development in life and relationships. You have come to believe and vested in their progress and love for one another, through the years, though unspoken, yet solid and true. Only time can heal and only life can tell such great love story. I am impressed. One of the most memorable love story I have seen this year! Great acting and performance by the both of them. 

The Fairy Tale Lives On

I went into the film without much anticipation or expectation, just curious how will one of the age-old and beloved fairy tales of all time be re-told to look and feel fresh and updated on big screen. To my surprise, it is pretty entertaining to a certain degree. It is a period piece in its setting in terms of story and characters, but contemporary in its delivery, art direction, graphics, animation and presentation. I have to say the two most interesting characters in the film, for me at least, are the huntsman role played by Chris Hemsworth and the evil queen, played by Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron. Of course, Kristen Steward is commendable as a fierce-fighting snow white who leads the revolution and revenge over her evil stepmother, who has a little background story of who she is, why she is so the way she is. Pretty interesting layering of background stories of characters in the film. One would have thought that snow white's true love would be her childhood love interest, William, the young duke (played by Sam Claflin) but turns out otherwise. With a pure heart, she manages to defy all odds and triumphs over the queen. For more details, please check out their official website at Snow White and the Huntsman Official Site

Feeling A Little Blue

Been waiting for an interesting film to come by lately, which have yet to happen. I know I should go watch THE LADY, but somehow it seems very heavy. Maybe I will get around watching it, eventually. A family wedding is coming right up, in fact, this coming weekend. It's always great have a get together with family again, with special occasion to celebrate. Tomorrow is yet a very different get together with my family, one that requires much strength to stay strong together, as a family, for someone really dear and close to me, to all of us. I know it will be a challenging journey ahead, especially for her, but I will try my best to be there for her, emotionally and psychologically. I truly hope that I could have done more, truly! I LOVE you so much, even though I hardly say that, out loud.

Love Drives You Crazy

Drive

Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn

Starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan and Bryan Cranston, screenplay by Hossein Amini, book written by James Sallis

What drives love and fuels passion to love so deeply that it cuts right through? Drenched with unexpected twist of storytelling and plots, soaked with the intensity of rooted feelings between those unspoken words of the two main characters (played splendidly by Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan respectively), DRIVE delivers an out-of-this-world sort of love that is almost suffocating that it leaves me breathless and all choked up inside. It wrenches with such great pain (psychologically) and violence that I had to clinch with fear at some points of the film. Nonetheless, it manages to cast an invisible spell over me that I almost had no choice but to follow the revelation of the film right up till the end. An extremely smart film with very intelligent dialogues (the lack of it) makes it a pleasure just to observe the nuances of the two main leads and how feelings are being exchanged through pure great acting (body language). What's more important and meaningful is which that is not being spoken at all. I was mesmerized, especially by the scene in the elevator, how Ryan's character moves over, protectively and gives Carey's character a long kiss, at that point, the lighting and mood of the whole scene alters to such perfection that I could almost feel the intensity and urgency of what will ensue after. It was a pivotal moment for the two characters. It plays out so well that it stunned the life out of me. The film drains you, emotionally. It brings you down right at the bottom and picks you up again, to only drop you crashing even harder each time. Crude and ruthless, almost like the situations and circumstances that Ryan's character are forced to be in. It moans with such crazy pain that I could hardly forget what I saw. A film worth taking a second look again, once my emotions are more settled down...

Love That Man

Directed by Tom Ford, starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode and Nicholas Hoult. Music by Abel Korzeniowski

When you love that much, you forget who you truly are, yet that intensity of love remains ingrained in your heart, like a piece of that written note left in the drawer of your memory, waiting to be rediscovered one day. When you love that much, the sheer absence of that special someone in your life no longer holds the significance of how you feel in their absence, but more of how well and how much you could remember of that person, your recollection of the person's once existence in your life. Anguish, pain, loneliness, suffocation, happiness, blissfulness, contentment, all feelings that you are entitled to, should be right in front of you, when you contemplate suicide. You can no longer bear such pain of emptiness. I could feel how Colin Firth's character is feeling, through the vivid portrayal of him playing a man who has lost the love of his life, in the film. Can the brief encounter and appearance of another person in your life make any difference? It can and it won't at the same time. It can alter your perception towards how much you have missed your special someone (Nicholas's role as Kenny makes Colin changes his intention of ending his own life), it won't simply because you intend to keep those memories of yours private anyway (yet Colin will always love his lover, played by the charmingly handsome Matthew Goode). It is amazingly intoxicating to see how Tom Ford, in his first debut as a director, manages to capture such minute details of emotions in a man and how this man (Colin Firth) then inches his day, hours, minutes, seconds, towards his own death (intentionally or otherwise). Tragic ending indeed. Julianne's performance has always been that top notch. Completely mesmerized by the way the story was told, by the way it was shot, by how the music sounded, and how sensitive Tom Ford is in peeling the layers away to reveal true human emotions, at times buried so deep within that it is screaming on top of one's lung to break free. Brilliant casts, beautiful visuals and haunting music. Stylishly done!

WUXIA

Directed by Peter Chan, starring Donnie Yen, Tang Wei and Takeshi Kaneshiro

Nudged by my hubby to go watch WUXIA, I went into the theatre without any prior notion of what this kung-fu film is all about, except knowing the director, Donnie Yen, Tang Wei and Takeshi. They made up of some of my favourite people in the film industry, hence I gave it a go. My my I was in for a ride. It was such a different kind of kung-fu film that it made me think hard and fast. Hard was the fact that it reveals itself not like your typical Chinese martial art film as it was very investigative, almost detective-like, similar toCSI crime solving film. Thinking fast was the fact that the action sequences came really fast and swift when watching Donnie Yen fight. I was impressed. I love how this martial art film disguised itself smartly by heavily concentrating on the character(s) development and storytelling. I have not seen Donnie Yen played his character in such a understated manner and tone. It almost seem out of this world. Takeshi takes on a very complex role, investigating this case related to Donnie Yen, but at the same time, he pulls himself out from those re-anacted scenes to look at how each fight scene unfolds, a 3rd person point of view, which makes his character the more engaging and interesting. Tang Wei's performance has always been subtle yet powerful. The film explores the notion of one's judgement and decision to leave the past behind, and change for the better. But can you do so when the past seems to be catching up with you? I love the simplicity of the film, yet, I adore the many levels and layers that it presented and how it was told. I am sure many kung-fu fans may find this hard to digest as it is not your typical fight film (actions all the way). It has a heart, and a soul, and most definitely, smart. Definitely one of my favourite kung-fu films this year!

A Date With Destiny

Lined up and wired, you are predestined to walk this path, or are you? Some of us believe in the notion of a bigger force seemingly guiding us along our walk of life, almost everything that have happened, going to happen have already been set, yet, there also seems to be certain areas of our lives we feel we are in control of, or are we? I belong to those who believe in both, the bigger picture and the smaller puzzles which needed to be assembled by ONESELF in order to enjoy the beauty of the whole. I may not know what's in stored for me just yet, but making a change in life can bring about a different set of results (at least, that was what my hubby told me when we decided to move, it did change our lives). I love the whole notion of the film - The Adjustment Bureau, taking on a subject matter that is so delicate and heavy, yet the director is approaching it in such a grounded and realistic manner that it made me wanting for more. One will definitely be absorbed by the incidents that are revealing themselves as we follow these two amazing characters played by Matt Damon and Emily Blunt along their quest of "changing their fate and destiny". By the way, great chemistry there I must say. It makes an engrossing love story. Which woman would not fall for a man who takes the bus every single day for the next three years hoping to meet you again?? Gosh! I would melt:) I simply love the sense of realness in the film. It successfully marries dramatic storytelling and a brilliant love element in one nicely presented film. Definitely one of my favourite philosophically inclined love stories this year, so far. I think my life is being adjusted as I write:)

Lost In Time

Lost in time, writing has become a stranger of a lost soul, a soul that drifted in the daily grind of pursuing what is necessary, but longing that much more for a glimpse of space, a space to be free to let the thoughts just flow, to just be. It was never the intention of the writer to do so, but it just naturally did, unconsciously. She tries so very the hard to regain that little of control over time, but some times, it just slips through her fragile little fingers. She was never to remember why she started writing in the first place, yet she can't seem to forget the pleasure and satisfaction that comes with it. Stressed, pressured, those intense moments are emotions that she fear not to be left alone, for now she is bestowed with that much more of responsibilities to do more, and more, each time she moves on with her life. She feels helpless, weighed down with such great expectation, yet she could not seem to release herself of such tasks. It makes her wonder if there is more to life than just what it is now? It is forever an on going quest, a burning question still left unanswered. Let there be an end to all these, let there be a purpose to it all.

Black Swan

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel.

The inner yearning to excel in one's own craft feeds so deeply that it hurts right down to the core of the heart and soul of an artist. The burning desire to BE the part fuels her to do whatever it takes to achieve such high quality of performance and showmanship. Such intensely psychological reflection of her and her split personality buries dark revelations of hopes, disappointments, expectations and commitments and reveals the best and worst of a human being. Is she being wrong for searching for perfection in her craft and attainment to be the impeccable White Swan, Princess Odette? Or is she being right for dwelling deeper and deeper into the dark soul of her evil character, Odille, Black Swan and eventually brings the show to the ultimate pinnacle of success? Fashionably stylised, brutally real yet intimately voyeuristic, we fall hard and fast into the magnetic and poignant life of a ballad dancer. flawlessly played by the talented Oscar winner actor, Natalie Portman. I love her in most of the roles she played, from the overly adult kid role in THE PROFESSIONAL, to an intensely free-spirited-lover in CLOSER. She exudes such grace and emotions that not many female lead is capable of, at her age. I can't help but feel helpless for Nina, we rejoice with her for getting the lead role in Swan Lake, yet my heart aches to see her fall more and more into the abyss of her own created illusion of perfection. Such powerful performance that the film left me speechless and breathless at the same time. The only time I felt such great suffocation, pain and heaviness from a film was when I watched Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman's PERSONA. It left me with such a big hole in my heart that it can't seem to heal itself after a few days. Intoxicated, intense, psychological and brave - these are some words that I could think of for such an amazing film.

The King's Speech

Long long long pauses, silence fills the air, sips through the spaces between those rambling thoughts of not worthiness of a position bestowed upon him, it must have been deafening and alarming at the same time. Sometimes, we don't really have the best in life, but things can always be changed and improved upon, as long as we have the will to do so. Watching Colin Firth playing this part is utterly empathetic and excruciatingly painful, yet, it yields the most fulfilling feeling that one can triumph over physical predicament after all. I believe the bigger obstacle that Colin's character has to overcome was never his stutter, but of meeting the expectation which was put upon him from the very beginning, of living up to that standard required of him, as a public figure. It must have been tremendously mortifying. I felt all these feelings while watching the film. Such great acting of his, and not forgetting, Geoffrey Rush! The sparring between the two was extremely amazing, such fine acting from both of them. I absolutely adore the art direction, the set design (the peeled wall in Geoffreys' clinic) and the whole look and feel of the entire film - such romantically hopeless in its colour palate, yet so warm in its element of humanity. Definitely worthy of an Oscar Best Actor Award and Best Director! I guess we all need to find our own place in this world, and in this life time ultimately, be it you are the king or just mere mortals like you and me:)

Fallen

Was working on a trailer last Sunday night, not realizing it was way pass sleeping time, but I don't like to stop when I know I can finish it in one session as it was quite short a video. Ended up having sore throat the next day...am still having it, hope to recover soon. Creative work is indeed exciting, as well as exhausting at the same time...but all is well, I love the outcome of it, and I am glad that my client feels the same way too...maybe what I need now is a nice cup of warm tea to soothe my itching throat and ease my stress of working on preparing proposals and planning for our next move in the very near future...moving place is never a fun thing for me, but moving into a new space could be something good for a change...instead of looking over the city skyline and shopping malls, will be facing the greenery's of the hills instead, a nice refreshing change, maybe?

What Women Want

Gong Li, my favourite actress, hence brought me to the cinema for this show, What Women Want, a remake of the Hollywood version played by Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. Have not seen the Hollywood version, but watching Andy Lau and Gong Li as a couple seems a little odd, for me. Nonetheless, I was willing to give the film a try since it features one of my favourite female leads. Separately, both look stunning for the part, Andy Lau very lean and slim, Gong Li gorgeous and at her top fit form, being a women at her age, yet, both together, something seems to be missing. Not that I expect a great deal out of a romantic comedy, in terms of story and what not, but the chemistry and the relationship part has to be just right. Maybe as a film, it tries a little too hard to be funny? But having being able to read a woman's mind and thoughts is good enough to know a woman well, I wonder? What women really wants out of men or even their lives for that matter beats me, though I am a woman myself. But there are some things in life that we do know for sure what we want and don't. You will need to go the extra mile to find out if you are the opposite sex. By the way, Happy Valentine's Day.

The Eve of Lunar New Year

It's that time of the year now, my memory of Chinese New Year back in our small hometown was filled with activities like spring cleaning, putting up CNY ornaments (CNY new year cards received, paper cut-outs, ang pows, Chinese Calligraphy written by my dad, or at times me and my twin sister, hanging up lanterns), cooking and baking (flipping and folding kueh kapik in white gloves, in front of the steamy hot stove, cookies and more), visiting relatives and friends all around town and collecting ang pows. Chinese New Year has since evolved into something more subtle and less chaotic, with some of us not in town these days, family get together got a little smaller and simpler. Funny in a way, when you have more people and bigger family together, things tend to be merrier and so much more fun...I guess Chinese New Year celebration can still be fun, as long as you celebrate it with your love ones. It may not be as exciting as I remembered as a small little kid, but nonetheless, meaningful. Let's put on your best cheongsam, a bright smile on your face and go celebrate this 2011 Lunar New Year in great style and fashion. Talking about cheongsam, it will always remind me of Maggie Cheung clad in her beautifully body hugging one in my favourite film, In The Mood For Love. My old post on the film and 2046 here. Have a fabulous year of the BUNNY and may it be a prosperous one for everyone out there xoxo GONG XI FA CAI

Close My Eyes For Better Days

Out of all the anger, frustration and disappointment lately, just feel like watching a heart-warming love story on big screen (again, the foolishness of liking to be fooled and disillusioned). Why should we not live a beautiful love story in real life when you can fabricate all things pretty in an alternate world of fantasy and images, which is never close to real after all. But real love in real life is never as simple as being portrayed in the make believe world of empty promises. Why should there be expectation, why should there be commitments and responsibilities, why should there be obligations, why can't it be just doing it out of love, out of pure care and genuine concern for the other person? Why should it be told, why should it be requested, why should it be asked? Tired, exhausted, disappointed, fatigue and utterly speechless all rolled into one big balloon of questionable doubt, are all these still worth while after all these years? Who am I doing this for and why I am doing this again? Let's get onto the hot air balloon of wishful thinking and just float away, far far away, into the land of no return, away from all these meaningless expectations...away, away, away, away, away, away from it all, away from mySELF, away, just go, go, go away...that's all I need, that's all I want, that's all, that's just all. Too much? Never...

Tangled I See The Light

Such a beautiful song xoxo

Tangled in Beauty

Tangled, The Rapunzel Tale is most beloved, one of the most beautiful animation films I have seen of late, laced with enchanting music and songs, filled with amazingly mesmerizing scenes, and topped with a little whip cream of laughters! A perfect mix for a perfect family viewing. Disney does make all dreams come true...and on dreams, I have recently also discovered some really beautiful blogs to have some crushes on - Modern Day Vintage, Lace and Tea and Inspiration. All shares very similar passion, the love for all things beautiful in life. Such moments in life are truly moments worth take a break and ponder on...life can be beautiful if you want it to, REALLY..