I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
June 15, 2010 § Leave a comment
Jealous. So jealous.
At home, I would rarely pay $7US for a movie ticket, but in Hong Kong, shelling out $50HK for a student ticket seems perfectly reasonable. Why does this happen? Kaiti & I spontaneously saw The A-Team today, which was a great idea except THE PERSON BEHIND ME KEPT KICKING MY SEAT. I was ready to bite his/her feet off in the middle of the film. Anyway, overall I enjoyed it greatly and had rather few remarks.
1. This is a much better film than Prince of Persia. It’s a higher quality of action/comedy, and though the CGI isn’t amazing, it at least didn’t look pathetic.
2.The plot is complicated enough to catch your attention, yet simple enough not to get in the way.
3. Very importantly, the romance is kept to a bare minimum, meaning the director only employs it for significantly necessary reasons. THANKS BE TO JOE CARNAHAN for this.
4. I didn’t think Bradley Cooper was that goodlooking in The Hangover, nor when he was featured in our magazine, but I sure like him after The A-Team [PECS!]. He and Patrick Wilson have such nice blue eyes. There are so many goodlooking men in this movie :D
5. Jon Hamm makes an appearance at the end! I’m not sure why I got so excited about this…I’ve never seen Mad Men. But it does add to the attractive man count.
6. For the whole film, Murdock reminded me of a thinner, crazier Luke Wilson.
7. The tough-black-man-afraid-of-flying theme was hilarious, but also a bit ridiculous. I mean…really? Really?
8. Jessica Biel [hot] has an Asian sidekick! I’m not sure he ever spoke…but I noticed him.
9. Pretty much the only complaint I have is from the beginning of the film: I never understood how Hannibal managed to fight off those angry dogs. WHY ISN’T THIS EXPLAINED???
10. Here are the Ghandi quotations, in case anyone is interested:
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.
Saving Fish From Drowning
June 13, 2010 § 3 Comments
An excerpt from the end of Amy Tan’s novel, found near the end and what I thought was the most beautiful part of a very beautiful story. You don’t have to know what the book was about; you just have to know.
Dwight sensed what Roxanne was thinking. The thought of his marriage’s ending both scared and saddened him, but he could not tell her that. Early in their relationship, he had wanted to protect her — emotionally — and he knew that she needed that, even though she appeared strong to others. But she had rebuffed his efforts, maybe unknowingly, and he felt useless, then a stranger, alone. She wanted so little of him. He wasn’t as smart as she was, not as strong, not even as athletic. Her disdain had been evident on this trip. She never wanted his help or suggestions. If she didn’t reject his ideas outright, she was quietly unsupportive. He could see it in her eyes. She was tender only when he was weak, when he was sick.
—pg. 453
//
Relatedly, an official [lol] photo from my cousin’s wedding, about which I have yet to write:
Why do I look so stupid?
They’re Everywhere
June 10, 2010 § 4 Comments
After a long & bountiful day of shopping, Kaiti and I settled onto a relatively empty subway train to go home. Soon after we got on, a mentally deranged Indian man listening to his mp3 player sat down one seat away from me and crossed his legs. I actually didn’t notice him until his toe touched my foot — the man had rather long limbs. I moved my foot away slightly, thinking it was an accident.
His foot moved closer and touched mine again.
My brain numbed.
“THIS MAN IS TRYING TO PLAY FOOTSIE WITH ME ON THE SUBWAY,” I whispered urgently to Kaiti out of the side of my mouth.
I turned so that he couldn’t reach my feet anymore and glanced at our reflections in the window on the opposite side. He was staring in our direction. He then stretched his arm across the back of the seat so that his fingers brushed my shoulders.
I almost died.
Kaiti almost died too…of laughter.
She was convulsing with silent guffaws with her head turned away so that he couldn’t see, while I concentrated on not making any movements at all. But I cringed inside like a slug on a patch of salt.
DON’T LOOK AT HIM. JUST DON’T LOOK.
His arm retracted, but I could tell that he was still staring hard at us. I turned my head abruptly to glare at him, and he immediately looked away. I really wanted to give him a piece of my mind but couldn’t think of what to say. I turned back to stare out the dark window.
He started making noises to himself.
“Darling!” he yelled, among some other incomprehensible gibberish.
What the f…was he talking to us?
As I watched his reflection in the window, I also kept scanning the four young men sitting across from us. They apparently took no notice of the strange occurrences on this side of the train. If something dire happened, would they react?
The creep’s mp3 player got louder, and I could hear “Jai Ho” playing. Out of the corner of my eye I could see his fingers fiddling around in his lap, and I was honestly afraid that he would pull his wiener out and commit an act of public indecency. At the same time, Kaiti speculated that he would pull out a knife. I’m not sure which prospect would be more frightening, frankly.
Just as I was about to explode with tension, he got up and left [FINALLY]. After the subway doors closed, Kaiti and I collapsed into a squirming, squealing blob of indignation.
WHY DO THESE THINGS HAPPEN?! WHY!!!
auradis 
