Lost Cause

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Lord Acton

Power that left unchecked often surround one with temptation and how often can even one with the noblest initial intention crumble to desire? After all, with the effort put in, rewards should be well deserved and even unquestionable. So who would or even dare to stop the well deserved rewards of one's hard work?

"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
Oscar Wilde

On the other hand, even though it a "right” doesn't it corrupt the initial ideal?

Who would be so noble to fight for the ideal if it doesn't reap rewards? Would someone go the extent to do what they believe it's right and not seek any compensation? Risk their life, time, effort to do what they truly believe and stand for?

There are a few and one of such character was portray in this movie, Kekexili; Mountain Patrol. A discussion today with a fellow buff made me realize how much I admired this character even though he was not exactly a great leader as my other fellow movie fanatic pointed out to me. He was the leader of a group of Mountain Patrol whose objective was to deter poachers from killing the rare and near extinction deer in Kekexili.

Not going to give out too much spoilers here except to say it was one against the majority scenario. A thankless job that often left one ridiculed.

I often want to ask this group of people,

"Is it worth it?"

With your talent, you could be doing other things that could bring in more valuable financial resources. Have a better life instead of pleading with people who do not really give a damn about the big picture but more of their own selfish life.

“Does your passion really fuel your journey?”

“Who is still fighting? And who are you fighting for?”

Don’t it feel like a lost cause and let’s just wait for the end of our own undoing while reaping whatever riches we can? Even at the expenses of our future generations for we won’t be living their life after all, so what if we trash it a bit for our own enjoyment now?

Quote of the Day for the Movie Industry

"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the general public"

~H.L. Mencken~

That Quote keep appearing in reviews that tried to explain why JackAss 2 is currently on the top of the US Box Office.

It can be applied here too. Little Man took the top of our Box Office while the critically well received Singapore Dreaming came in at #5. As the weeks go by, Little Man continues to out rank Singapore Dreaming while the enjoyable & well made Korean movie, The Host slipped past Singapore Dreaming.

Kinda tells a lot about the Local and US viewers right ?

Since I am in the complain mode (the cynical ah Pek version)

Over at RottenTomatoes, Jet Li's Fearless got 71% Freshness! Sigh, must the Ang Mo critics never watch enough foreign movies so they are raving about this above average B Grade Chinese movie.

So Nice meh ? Just because got fight fight , kick kick and your jaws cannot lift off the floor already ah ? This is one of the worst "based on real life character" movie I ever seen.

Back in Asia, there’s news about Ye Yan (The Banquet) representing Hong Kong for the Oscar Best Foreign Film instead of China. This might be arranged so that Zhang Yi Mou’s Curse of the Golden Flowers (which was renamed for the US market) could represent China.

Don’t think the Hong Kong folks are happy about this as they would prefer a more “Made in Hong Kong” film to represent them instead. There are a couple of films out this year that I felt could represent Hong Kong in the next Oscar. Films such as Election 2 and Isabella or even Exiled (which is not out yet but there a strange buzz about it for me) deserve a nomination or two. Even though Isabella and Exiled were mostly filmed in Macau, there more HK flavor to it then Ye Yan (The Banquet).

It’s quite sad day for movie news and Mr Zhang, stop bending backwards for the Ang Mos

ich konnte nach Deutschland bald gehen

Wir empfingen gerade einen Anruf von einem unserer Lieferanten in Deutschland, um uns zu informieren, daß es eine Sitzung mit allen Verteilern im November gibt. Die Sitzung in Berlin willen neue Strategie der Geschenke, neue Produkte und Demonstration.

Wirklich empfingen wir, ihr email aber antworteten ihnen nicht, während wir annahmen, daß es für ihre Europa Gegenstücke war.

Nachdem der Anruf, ich meinem Chef erklärte, der dachte, daß es eine gute Idee sein würde, damit die neuen Manager gehen, zu erlernen, was los ist. Ich sprang buchstäblich auf und ab, als mein Chef mir den erklärte! I vorher gewesen nie zu Europa und zu diesem konnten meine erste Wahrscheinlichkeit sein!

I just won Movie tix from MTV

Coming home with my Mom, she opened the mail box and there a letter from MTV that addressed to me : )

Got a feeling that I won something from them again ! (YUP the last time was New Order's CD while the last movie ticket was Collateral , very long ago) and told my Mom in the lift that I might have won something again !

before reaching the doorstep, I opened the letter and YUP ! It's a pair of tickets for "YOU, ME AND DUPREE" !!!

Not exactly a film that I want to watch but I am glad that I am winning again at MTV !!! oh Yeah !

Never Ending Sweet Dreams

I been having a series of Sweet Dreams ... no Great Dreams ... dreams that you don't want to wake up from or just want to fall back to sleepland and try to continue with the dreams

and it's been going on and on for almost a week now...

the last one that I had was that I went Diving and the water was crystal clear, even we are close to shore and just getting ready to dive. there are so many different color of fishes around and even turtle with it's nest of eggs (which i should know by then that it's a dream cos they lay eggs on the beach and not in sea water) .. and just before I could get to dive with my partner, I was woken up.

I could even taste the salt water on my lips ...

there were a few other sweet dreams that I been getting and the two that I remember were seating front row at Pet Shop Boys concert and playing tournament Basketball Games.

one thing this sweet dreams have in common ... I always wake up before the best bits.

for the Pet Shop Boys concert, I was there front row while they are practicing and chatting with us Fans ... i was waiting and hopping that the concert will start soon but I never got to see that or spoke to them.

for the basketball games ... it was those sweaty games that i loved and missed. it's a tournament style and we just got pass the first round, checked out the opponent’s game and was getting ready for the next game .. but as again, I never got to see that again ...

I don't know if tat a good thing or not ...these are the best dreams that I ever had in a long time and they come in a series ... but then, I never see them come true.

Fish & Co @ Changi Airport T2

I was having dinner at Fish & Co with my bunch of movie fanatic friends. Initally I wanted to order the traditional Fish & Chips but one of my friend helped me to order the New York Fish & Chips instead and when I tried to correct the order, the waitress highly recommended me to stick with it.

After trying it, I fell in Love with Fish & Co again and long to go back to try the New York Fish & Chips once more.

Consumed >

New York Fish & Chips

Goodies > Oh boy, who would knew that Fish & Chips with generous Parmesan cheese stuffing taste so good. The Fish & Chips taste extra crispy on the outside and super yummy on the inside.

Yuckies > The wait was a bit long. The queue before getting the seat and after ordering our meals, it felt that it took abit longer than usual. Plus Fish & Co price are not for everyday meal.

Cost > $17.50 (Inl. GST and Service Charge)
Returning (?) > Sure! if I got the money
Weblink > www.fish&co.com