Even though we don't really celebrate Christmas but I guess it is one of the favourite occasions, apart from Chinese New Year. The mood it brings during this time of the year is almost magical and inspirational, with all the decorations, lights, Christmas trees, carols, stage performances all around the shopping malls in town. This is also one of the best time to go shopping! We love to bring the boys out to join in the fun. This year, it is extra special for we get to meet my grandmother who comes all the way from KB, as well as a get together with my uncle and auntie who are flying in from the States. A time to count the blessings and have a joyous time.

Lions For Lambs

Directed by Robert Redford

Starring Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, Michael Pena and Derek Luke

The power to move and therefore inspire is one of the greatest gifts one could ever wish to have. Tom Cruise's character tries to push forward his political campaign which he strongly believes, at the end of the day, has a fair share of personal political agenda attached to it. Robert Redford's character tries to move himself closer towards understanding what teenagers these days are looking forward to, in return, makes him understands that he too has the power to move and change his environment and the people around him. It makes one feels good when one knows that he/she is in the position to transpire change in others, especially if it is a change for the better. The character that Meryl Streep plays moves towards finding the truth, believing that Journalism truly should be doing what it is supposed to do - uphold the justice of truth for the people, to serve the people, after so many years of only "doing her job", she finally realizes how she is being trapped in the illusion of so called freedom of journalism. Each one of them is yet again, being challenged by the choices that either they have made, or they are about to make. I love how the three seemingly unrelated stories, initially portrayed, gradually unfold and eventually make a lot of sense towards the end. Michael Pena and Derek Luke characters are the ones that anchor all the stories down and link them together. It is also the most selfless as you see them eventually sacrificed their lives for something that they believed, that moved me a great deal. It is about politics, but layered with a very human way of telling it, from various points of view. It is even more so about how we as individual deals with the issues around us and the decisions that you make, which could ultimately change your life. It is very easy to be judgemental towards the political ideology behind it, but take on a different perspective of looking at it, it is also simply a philosophy of the understanding of humans desire to be in control, to make decisions and choices, but also, like how Meryl Streep puts it, very easy to NOT make those choices in life. Heavy yet poetic in a way, not a film for everyone, but a film that I would include as one of my favourites this year! Simply adores the acting in this. A bold step for Robert Redford to make such a film. I salute him for that.

Broken Words

Inspiration inspired that could hardly be captured and pinned down with a thought that lingers, and most definitely could hardly be weighed down by the lightness of wandering madness of endless ideas. One could only look beyond the horizon, and re imagine the unspoken. Visuals keep flashing, music sings to the beat of the creative thought process, only to be crushed by the waves of harsh reality. Could mundane and mediocre be the fault of all this sudden rock bottom of the spirit that smells like damped laundry? Truly believe the art of writing is the originality of the voices: the voices of utmost out of this world kind of logic. It may not make any sense at all for the ordinary, but could fit perfectly well in a bigger jigsaw puzzle of the universe of language - the language of the abstract mind. Yet, the writing mind is heavily disturbed by the oversimplified of the everyday life, the responsibilities that are required to be fulfilled. How the mind wishes to just run away, escape and go on a journey of the unknown, the far away land of eternity, escape into a world of no limits, no expectations, where ideas could roam freely, without the crutches of the shattered disappointment. It catches the brightest sunlight, it reflects the more invisible of the visible - it breathes meaning to the beauty of loss words, yet words seem lost beneath such beauty.

A friend from afar

Don't know why. I suddenly missed my friend who just got back from Canada and now has flown back there. Could be we have not met for such a long time. We used to share an apartment together, she left for Canada for supposedly a holiday that December, but surprised all of us by getting married and settled down there right after. That was more than eight years ago, but I could still remember the little stunt that she pulled then. Two weeks ago, she came back with her two sons. They were so cute! Kids who grow up from a different environment are quite different in terms of their thought process and gestures, but when both of them got together with Ryan and Aidan, basically, all boys are the same, they share some common interests. I was glad that they were not shy boys and warmed up to new friends pretty easily. I barely had time to talk to my friend for we had to rush off to the clinic as Ryan was down with a pretty bad rash all over his body. Nonetheless, am glad we met, after all.

Travelling With Thoughts

Loosing grip of precious sleeps and time is like living in a capsule of void and emptiness, a cross road within that is for me. Felt as though there is a long stretch of silence in between those long drives at night and travelling in between small towns and big city. Singapore was a refreshing journey to a whole new place. Walking through tunnels, and MRT stations, crawling underneath a vibrant city up above feels awkwardly strange yet surprisingly inviting. Organized structured within creative maneuvers seem the only way to live there is something new for me, but pretty thought provoking indeed. Taking time off did help to put things into better perspective. From one end, you have the draw and attraction of the ultra modern, the other a wide open space of the invigorating ocean and wind of Damai Laut, one could hardly draw a comparison, yet both deliver great revelation to the soul and uplift the spirit, under the same blue sky. Drawing closer to the end of the year, I wished I could have accomplished more...but then, I have come this far, haven't I?

The Intensity Of The Unspoken

Lust, Caution (2007)

Directed by Ang Lee

Starring Tang Wei, Tony Leung, Joan Chen, Wang Leehom

Written by Wang Hui Ling, James Schamus, based on the short story by Eileen Chang

Lusting for the absence and ambiguity of love tears a woman apart and breaks her down completely - wasted time, fractured memories, tormented emotions and left her with a broken heart and life being taken away, at the end of her struggling journey. Her last breath was of revelation, yet, without regret. Was that love for the nation or what it an assumption of love for the one whom she should not have loved? It leaves a question in my head, but my heart has already been rendered paralyzed by her long lasting quest to conquer him, or was it the other way round? Her immaculate acting and subtlety in her being a Chinese "married" woman, little seemingly insignificant mannerism, the bottled up chocking feelings she feels whenever she is with him is enough to make me hold my breath each time I see this on screen. It seems to overflow and flood right into my heart. I feel the cut that she feels, the scar runs deep - a woman trapped within her own disillusions about love and how it should be, false hopes, misjudgement of character. Yet, she is strong and weak at the same time, in some ways only a woman could identify. Which woman would not fall for Tony Leung? (Though I could be wrong to generalize). Our visions start to blur, between him and the character that he is playing, for he captivates us each time he surfaces from his evil endeavours. Yet one can't help but to fall for the bad boy...can we? The woman you love surrenders her body and soul to the devil but you could only silent yourself, watching from afar, words disappear and eat you away every single minute, that must have torn leehom apart, but I could not see that coming across well enough...the intensity is deafening and threatening, it feels as though you could explode any moment if you watch on any longer. A story amazingly told.

The Sweetness of Young Love

Honey and Clover (2006), Japanese

Directed by Masahiro Takada

Starring Sho Sakurai, Yu Aoi, Yusuke Iseya, Ryo Kase and Megumi Seki

Paint love in the shades of different colours, brushes away the strokes of naivete towards someone so near yet so far, you thought love should be like this - silently, buried in the deepest corner of your heart. Words seem to fade into the background, blend into the rest of the bigger picture. They turn into soft whispers in the ears. Red - passion, love, blue - innocent, freedom, creativity, green - natural, openness and new, yellow, orange, black, too many, too fast, too fierce! Colours collide, emotions overflow with intense weight of this secret love, so much so that it cuts and leave all our characters incomplete and confused. The creative mind cease to breathe, the retarded brain jolts to a start, it dashes in full speed, thinking that all strains of thoughts could easily be fabricated, duplicated and multiplied. But no creative mind could ever be conquered. The sparks stay quiet, only for a brief moment, and they will burst into a dance of rainbow colours, all because of the love for arts and you begin to somehow understand the art of falling in love, the courage very much needed to brighten the dullest form of love. Each time you fall, you pick yourself up, and move on, courageously. Love the vibrant colours in the film, love the characters and the complicated yet intricate love relationships they share with each other, most of all, love the music of love, ultimately.

Reaching For Your Dream, No Matter How Small You Are

Ratatouille (2007)

Disney Pixar Animation

Directed by Brad Bird

Voiced by Patton Oswalt (Remy), Lou Romano (Linguini), Janeane Garofalo (Collette), Ian Holm (Skinner), Peter Sohn (Emile), Peter O'Toole (Ego) and Brad Garrett (Gusteau)

This should be my most favourite animation I have seen so far this year. It is hilarious to begin with, amazing story telling, captivating scenarios, excellent cinematography and character development, impeccable animation and attention to details are the perfect ingredients for this piece of art put together. Everything seems to fall at its rightful place, like each piece of ingredients you decide to use in your recipe, to cook up the perfect dish, serves with such great imagination and passion. The film draws you in with the notion that you live only to do what you are destined to do. It lifts your spirit high to reach for your dream, no matter, at times, how low you may feel - insignificant you are in achieving those seemingly unreachable dreams in real life...that's the Pixar magic and that is also the wonder of animation! You could almost smell the spices, could almost taste the delicious food prepared along the way. It ignites your senses and you come out of the film feeling all HUNGRY. My tummy is churning already. Gotta go!!

Beyond Travelling

A short escape that was, we drove up to Penang with the kids as Patrick needed to attend the recent Malaysian Film Festival 2007 (he was one of the judges for one of the categories). We had a room at the Penang Hotel Equatorial. Going to Penang each time made me realized how fast this island changes. I almost find it hard to catch up with her developments - the latest additions of mega malls which include Queensbay Mall, coastline highway which bypasses the old tight lanes of Jelutong Road which I once used to travel on my old Yamaha (and later Honda Cup C70) motorbikes whenever me and my roommate Kim wanted to go down Georgetown, the one University that I attended which had some sort of face lifts now (Where had the tennis courts relocated to? Those familiar courts which I used to train in under the scorching heat of the afternoon sun day in and day out are no longer at the same spot...). I missed those days in uni, days of the wild and the carefree, the best time to get to know yourself a little better, the person you were and the person you aspire to become one day, you were full of hopes and dreams. You felt as though the world is yours to conquer eventually. Each corner of the campus brings a different sets of lost memories - the delicious food of the REDHOUSE, the vast green football field and race track, the hill slope where my old friend and I lied on, gazing at the starry night sky, the grand piano at DewanA up the hill, a sanctuary of mine whenever I feel like playing my heart out in the middle of the nights/days, the swimming pool where I could check out the cutest guys in campus, gosh, so much more. Do we miss the things in our life or do we miss the feelings that these places bring with it, with the friends and company we had then? I believe, places become distinct and vivid characters and the people associated with these places brought life and formed meaning for you, meanings that you could only recapture in the book of life I called love and gratitude. Why do I feel like the wind of change has blown my old memories away and turn them into dust, suddenly? Now I have become the silhouette to my own shadow, standing here, haunting myself - a familiar stranger.

A Love Affair With Jay Chou's SECRET

SECRET, 2007

Directed by Jay Chou, starring Lun-Mei Kwai, Jay Chou and Anthony Wong

In a distant memory, separated by space and time, lies beneath the music of nature, a budding love blooms after a morning rain and a bicycle ride. Love comes so naturally for the two main characters, they seem to just "fall" in love, so seamlessly. The subtlety approach to young love and the chemistry between the two are some of the elements that make the film work. You tend to fore go the believability of the other driving factors to the story - space and time. Of course, the most captivating part for me would be the music. It reminds me a lot about the feelings it evoke whenever I watch those Japanese films. Some of my favourite moments in the film would be to see Jay Chou plays the piano. How I wish I could play as well as him. Anthony's acting skills sharpen as he ages, pretty good as the father but his character falls short towards the end, it did not seem to have a closure for him. Most definitely, Lun-Mei stole the whole show as this innocent, vulnerable yet refreshing girl who can't help but to fall in love with the illusion of a missing love, thrown into the deepest end of the universe, only to be united in two separate worlds of spirit and mind. Beautiful landscapes, layered over great cinematography and music, weaved together this tragic love story of what love could have been when all of us were once that young and naive towards the notion of love. Love it for what it is, no more, no less.