This was quite a hit when it first screened, and highly hyped too. I would say yea it was pretty good, and some really artistic presentation of it too. But otherwise I didn’t it was anything special. Other than Takeshi, the rest of the cast didn’t feel like they have much development. They seemed 2D. The second gripe I have is they revealed too much at the start, so there wasn’t the oomph factor when you tried to play detective alongside. Basically, no suspense for viewer, the only thing left is to wait and observe how the in-show characters uncover the truth.

As the title suggests, pain. It isn’t going to move towards a happy ending anyday, so if you are the sort to cringe at a sombre theme, maybe avoid this, but I supposed I’m such a laggard that everyone else who wanted to probably watched it already hurhurhur… Yea I didn’t know what else to say, don’t have much wow factor with me.

(p.s. oh nos I’m starting to indulge in lots of relaxation before my exam is over)

This is the 2007 adaptation of a short story penned by Elmore Leonard. Well apparently there was an older movie adaptation back in 1957, but obviously I didn’t watch that. So no way to compare, but this version in itself is pretty decent.

Christian Bale (as Dan Evans) and Russell Crowe (as Ben Wade) gave magnetic performances in this movie. Bale plays a small time rancher who had lost one of his leg, struggling to meet ends and feed his family. His big chance for wealth comes with an unlikely encounter with Ben Wade. Wade is the boss of an outlaw gang who starts to be disillusioned with his life. While he seeks a peaceful life down south, authorities clamp down on him and successfully nabbed him with Dan’s help. Wade is scheduled to be sent to Yuma prison with the 3:10 pm train from town of Contention. Thus begin the journey of a small escort group with Wade’s gang in pursuit. Dan, in need of money, offered to be part of the escort on terms of reward on successful delivery.

Throughout the journey, we discover more about Dan’s and Wade’s character, and the subtle ways in which they are similar. Wade also unsuccessfully psychoed Dan to leave and free him. At the town of Contention, with time ticking, the outlaw gang surrounded the building Dan and Wade is in. The rest of the escort had either died, or gave up. Against all odds, Dan insisted on completing the job no one else dared to. Someone has to deliver Ben Wade to the train station, and time waits for one man…

It was all great until that point, but there are some rather ridiculous stuffs afterwards. Like how Dan can move with such alacrity with a wooden leg when earlier in the show he seemed to have a little trouble. The more shocking stuff is Wade’s reaction to the whole incident, in which he probably see a mirror of himself. What happened towards the final scene brought many audiences to a state of disbelief. Just a moment before THAT happened, you can figure out that it is coming, but it just doesn’t make too much sense. But all in all, the overall package is an impressive film that deserves to be watched.

Let’s see what do we have here. Another cop show, yes, but a much fresher perspective. The focus over here is on covert operations, as suggested by the title, specifically audio spying or whatever you call that.

This whole show is a blast, epic might I say. I really enjoyed it. To be fair it didn’t have the kind of action sequences like gunfire fights or close combat awesomeness, but the cream lies in the plot. Very often you feel a kind of heavy tension between characters, and you sense the dark brooding feeling, never knowing what to expect next.

Also, the question of how moral the cops are in handling what they need to, and what they want to, is raised through specific incidents along the show. I kind of like this. It is human, it is realistic. Shouldn’t reveal too much for people who had not watched this. Please do catch this, it is friggin’ cool.

I am finally beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Most projects are now over for this semester, though there are some pretty big ones yet to be due, plus who can forget the awesome finance finals that are going to come so soon. On the contrary, the entire recess week that will come after that seems too much for a single module I have exam for. Another major project down today. It is great to be working with such a closely bonded group. We had much fun together (minus the consecutive sub-5 hours sleep nights mornings we had while enduring early morning lessons).

Thinking back, it is really fortunate to have classes with a bunch (actually different bunches) of good friends here and there this semester. People who you can really depend on when the going gets tough. I’m not even sure if these people view the blog, but here goes anyway.

Thanks alot Gary for enduring sleepless nights with me, especially for finance. Otherwise, I think perhaps I might really crumble under the sheer weight of it. Chicken pox jokes aside, great job for finalizing corp fin. It is a massive relief to have you around listening to all my demand, nonsense and expectations, and delivering respectable output. Btw, pls don’t be so nervous during presentations. You have awfully obvious hand trembling for a guy hurhur.

Thanks uıxınЧ for sweets and sandwiches (and sharing sleepless nights too). I think you are really really hardworking, and a fun person to have around. Cheers to our memorable topics and secrets, hahahaha. Mood-lifting in the face of the crushing workload. Sorry for being fierce at times. Frustration kicks in with a lack of sleep & food. Jiayou, don’t give up.

It is so wonderful to have Joi and Susan back for 1 module. So much more natural to work with you people. We can all do the most retarded stuffs and say the most retarded words and have a good laugh over it. I think we have a great range of complementary skill sets. Thanks for sweets too, and lots of lame jokes.

Thanks Cherie for lending me your textbook. I need it one more time And also appreciate all the wonderful people around who made my day in this horrendous semester. It is coming to an end soon enough… Hang in there dude. I think I really deserve a tight slap if I delay working on projects and major assignments next semester.

Watched this randomly without knowing whether it is good. But I guess its pretty decent, with some learning points to pick up. The only thing is that it is really not flashy, little action and is really just story. I kind of like the personality of the main lead, (well at least eventually) I think it is truly remarkable of the sense of love for the entire society when you belong to this mega rich banking family.

For an idea of how rich they are, I think their banking business expands even out of China into Russia, Mongolia, Japan and parts of South East Asia. It is literally their empire of silver. But towards the end, when the Western Allied Forces started to carve up China, this empire starts to crumble. And the main lead which never was looked well upon by his father, had to step out and make big decisions.

Another thing about this show is the portrayal of a not too pleasant relationship in the family, particularly father and son – and the woman stuck in the middle. In my own opinion, I do disapprove of many of the father’s action. The son is more a gentleman and worthy businessman.

p.s. (I ran out of drafts again! Actually I had watched 1 more movie but had not have the mood and time to sit down and draft the entry properly)

1995 acclaimed mystery thriller. With not so pleasant imagery all around and some coarse language.

This story follows two police detective, one retiring soon, and one aspiring veteran wannabe, as a series of bizarre murders catch their attention. Very soon, it is revealed to be a diabolical attempt at championing the act of God by a serial killer, who chooses carefully his targets to represent a sin, the seven cardinal sins. And die they will to the very sin that consumes their life.

I guess the story is presented in a riveting fashion, albeit sometimes too slow and moody. And it is always fun to guess how the next victim will die once you realize the fascinating and creative ways some of the earlier victims were murdered, but for others it doesn’t exactly have a parallel, so I wondered if it could have been done even better. (No I am not sadistic, sorry)

But as with such stories, sometimes it gets a bit too predictable. I mean, look at the title, you know you will witness 7 of it by the end of everything. So it is just the long wait for the finale. This is a bit unpredictable. Well, when I watched this I figured someone close to the main characters would be involved somehow, as with most such thrillers coming up with a twist. But I was wrong in how they came into the picture, and the end of it all, caught me by surprise totally. And then it ends, all 7 deaths.

It is supposed to contain quite some philosophical thoughts about the way of life. But I suppose humans are humans… with their own innate flaws and vulnerabilities. Does anyone have the divine right to exact divine justice upon another person? I will leave that to faith and law, and enjoy movies when they come along

It is time to move on with life, no matter what happened… no matter what. Easier said than done, but I must admit I probably had it better than many peers. Those people who stumbled onto obstacles now and then, hold strong and keep going. I guess this is life.

I always regret the little stupid things I’d done. I’m always afraid to spurt out retarded stuffs in class, I guess that must be the reason why I keep quiet most of the time. And yes, I HATE presentations, because it represents one of the prime candidate for allowing me to let out utter nonsense without thinking. I/A presentation, ouch, I felt stupid back then. The only consolation I can offer myself is to be convinced that the case isn’t straightforward and that most of the class was probably not any clearer. And now I’m starting to worry about looking stupid for Corp Fin case presentation.

Maybe I have too much ego. Why the hell am I in biz? Hurhur… Anyhow, I finally finished all my midterms this semester. Didn’t seem all too bad. In fact, great to know that I happen to be in the top quartile for FM. Unfortunately, it isn’t the case for some people. Sometimes I wonder if I let down my group mates in terms of projects/cases/presentations/whatever. I usually really hate those stuffs unless it is like certain quantitative stuffs that really get me going (certainly not all quantitative stuffs as evident from massive finance distress). Maybe I have a large buffer eventually from written tests, but hey they don’t. Please put in more effort Mr slacker. Tackling 5 level3000 sectionals is definitely not easy though, especially when luck plays a little joke on you and decides to focus a heavy concentration of workload within a short timeframe. Much as I wish the worst is over, horror weeks appear to be in waiting still.

On the bright side, I see renewed hopes for finance. I had seriously contemplated if I should continue a major in finance recently when the going got tough. I got the niggling feeling that it was such a huge mistake to take on the 3 essential finance mods together. It invited responses like “siao ah”, “he’s mad lah!”, “omg”… I didn’t know what was the problem, in fact many people do the same thing. I already have to start worrying where to slot in level4000 modules, so 5 level3000 is actually not a bad case in any sense. Oh yea I was deviating from the topic. Back to finance, I must say that I have pretty good lecturers. Sometimes the workload may be heavy, sometimes the content is tougher. But hey, you want to extract something out of it when you finish the module don’t you? So yes, it reaffirms my philosophy of picking lecturers instead of “favourable” timetable which usually doesn’t turn out pleasant anyway because of the wonderful things we call project.

Speaking of lecturers, perhaps I should some effort to interact more on a personal level with them. Some of them are really nice people, and its a whole big world out there, the insights they offer you and I guess sometimes it helps to ease their boredom with a refreshing chance to talk to students about non-academic subjects. Mabel is really really nice to the class. I mean wow, if you had ever been in her class before, you know, its not easy finding another such considerate, observant, encouraging and cheerful lecturer. Btw I do address her by name, while I find it quite difficult to remove the salutations for most other lecturers. On hindsight, Ruth Tan isn’t as intimidating as she looks! Thanks for providing the class with snacks after some horrendous life-draining weeks. It always feel good when lecturers/tutors remember you. Oh yea I don’t think he even knows me but, this semester I saw Ishtiaq once. Coming out of office one fine day, he was walking plenty of steps in front of me, about 5. After opening the glass door and stepping out, he actually waited and held the door open for me. I just wanted to say that was a great gesture. The world would have been much nicer if more people did little things for others to make their day.

So what does all this mean to me. Reflect reflect… Perhaps I should try harder to bestow people with whatever little happiness I can offer.