Movie 2011.11.26 - Exam

Suspense-thriller with a nice plot twist. So there are eight people in a bare classroom during the final round of selection for a prestigious job with a mysterious and powerful corporation. They were given three rules and 80 minutes to answer one question. The only problem - their questions sheets are all blank. What follows is an extended character study on how individuals react in stressful situations, as they try to figure out what the heck is going on. In the end, the CEO was after a person with the right moral fibre and compassion for his/her fellow man, as the company was about to introduce a new drug for the current pandemic(?). Quite liked the movie as it kept me guessing.

Hardly Normal Ixus

Cocky fat salesman either doesn't know his stuff, or trying to push me to buy a higher-priced item with a higher commission for himself.

Was after a 115HS for $148, but he was recommending the 220HS, which is priced at $70 more. According to the guy, compared to the 115HS, the 220HS has a better processor, full HD recording, and dual-core. Wow! But wait, there's more! He's also throwing in a 4MB SD card $40, a carry case worth $25, and extended warranty worth $100. All this for an extra $70! Man, I would be crazy if I don't take this deal!

Well, call me crazy, but I know for a fact that both cameras use the same DiG!C 4 processor. Heck, even my 550D DSLR has the same processor. Dual processor? We're talking about an ultracompact IXUS here. Only the EOS 7D and the EOS-1D Mark IV pack dual processors. As for full-HD video recording, both models support it. It's even written on the body of the camera. Did I point these out to the salesman? Of course not. Gerry Harvey is not paying me to educate his staff.

Even at the last minute, the guy was still pushing me to get the $100 extended warranty. For a $148 camera? No, thanks. I have a feeling the salesman might pull a fast one, so down at the cashier, I quickly opened the package to make sure everything is there - camera, cables, battery, etc. Only when I got home did I found out that he slipped me a blue camera, instead of the silver one I asked for. It's a good thing the wife is not too fussy.

Movie 2011.11.25 - Shaolin

From what I heard, this is actually a remake of Jet Li's film debut, The Shaolin Temple. It was just after the breakup of the Qing Dynasty. The local warlords and the foreign powers are fighting among each other for power and wealth. Warlord Hou Jie (Andy Lau) chases down rival Huo Long to Shaolin Temple, and shoots him dead, despite the monks' pleas for mercy. Afraid that his sworn brother might want to share in the spoils, he hatches an assassination plot. He finds out too late that his brother has no such plan. Worse, his own right-hand man Cao Man (Nicholas Tse) betrays him, and turns the assassins on him and his family. His daughter dies during the ambush, and his wife eventually leaves him. The cook (Jacky Chan) in Shaolin takes him in and teaches him compassion and enlightenment. Hou Jie later discovers that Cao Man has been selling relics to foreigners in exchange for arms. He hires labourer to dig up these relics, then kills them off after the job. Cao Man eventually locates Hou Jie and send his army to catch him. The foreign powers decides it's a good time to wipe out everyone and starts bombarding Shaolin. Hou Jie sacrificed himself to save Cao Man from certain death from a falling beam, thereby repaying an earlier debt. The monks managed to fight back to foreign devils, but the temple is left in ruins.

Movie 2011.11.24 - The Sorcerer and the White Snake

Reworking of an old Chinese legend where a herbalist meets and falls in love with a thousand-year old white snake, who has accumulated enough XPs to be able to transform itself into human form. Eva Huang plays the sultry white snake, while Raymond Lam plays the herbalist. Jet Li plays Abott Fahai, who goes around catching demons. He makes it his mission to capture the White Snake, even though she is doing any mischief and her only crime is to liaise with the herbalist.

The original Legend of the White Snake is more of a love story, but that aspect takes a back seat in this movie. Here, it's more about the CGI and the extended fight scenes. The scriptwriters should've stuck to the original story.

Google Music

Been hearing some much about Google Music, I decided to join in. It came out of beta a few days ago, but it's still US-only. Engadget has a good article on how to bypass this restriction.

Basically, you use a Tor browser to sign up for the Google Music service. Make sure you use a US exit node, so Google won't complain. Once you've signed up successfully, download the Music Manager to start uploading some songs. The upload process is a bit slow, so don't try to upload your whole music library now. A few choice songs will do just to test out the service.

You can listen to your online songs via any browser or using the native Android app. Again, the app won't be available to you unless you're in the States. In this case, Market Enabler is your friend. A quick search for com.google.android.music.4.0.9.apk is also bound to get you some hits.

Having a cloud-based music locker that stores 20,000 songs for free is nice, but I don't listen to that many songs, and I can simply dump them on my microSD card for fast and local access without eating up my data quota. Anyway, free is free.

Movie 2011.11.12 - Leaves of Grass

This is one messed-up movie. I had no idea what it was about, so I didn't know what to expect. You have this esteemed Ivy League classical philosophy teacher on his way up. Then you have his identical twin brother who designed and manages this state-of-the-art hydroponic drugs glasshouse. The loan sharks are hot on his tail, so he cooks up a plan to lure his good brother to come visit, while he goes to Tulsa to finish off the loan sharks. So I was thinking something like The Hangover. Not.

The bad brother and his sidekick kill off the loan shark and his goons in cold blood, then rushes back to town pretending nothing ever happened. Just as the good brother is about to leave for the airport, some depressed Jewish dentist saw through their scheme and came to the house with a gun to blackmail them. Good brother stepped up and managed to diffuse the situation. Bad brother made a sudden move, so the dentist shoots him. Outraged, the good brother fires back. A few seconds later, the police came. The dying bad brother took possession of the incriminating gun, so good brother is not implicated.

To pay for the funeral costs and support his widowed pregnant SIL, good brother talks to the remaining goons if they're willing to buy off the greenhouse. Say what?! The bad boys reckon they should have it for free. Good brother turned and left, but not before getting hit with a crossbow arrow right through the chest. The sidekick killed off the bad guys and took him to the hospital. The Hangover this is definitely not.

Movie 2011.11.04 - Gran Torino

Great acting from Clint Eastwood as a grumpy old war veteran. Wife has recently passed away, so it's just him living in a predominantly Hmong suburb overrun by youth gangs.

He started getting close with his neighbor's kids and fought off the gang members when he can. Obviously, the gang didn't like his meddling, and took some tough measures against the kids. Feeling guilty for the gang's retaliation, he went to the gang's lair for a showdown. Before he had a chance to take out the cigarette lighter from his breast pocket, the gang members opened fire, witnessed by all the neighbors. The bad boys are hauled off to jail, and there is peace in the community again. Such a sad movie.