nan | 楠木

This book is proving to be a enjoyable read.

I’ve read around 100 pages so far, probably in only 2 or 3 hours. The narrative is fast and easy going, and god do they have so many jokes to keep you awake…

But what’s really eye catching is the perspective it offers on investment banking– the grandiose lifestyle that perhaps only few of us do not dream of is not reward, but rather compensation, compensation for a life that really sucked. No weekends. No social life. No sleep.

Anyway, a great read. Can’t wait to finish it.

I had little hopes for a film with such a unimaginative title, and perhaps of my prejudice, as well as the fact that I was watching a poor version (a very badly done dvdscr), I thoroughly did not enjoy this film.
The film should claim some merit for its actors, though. Ethan Hawke and Lawrence Fishbourne lead a mainly male cast. Gabriel Byrne, Brian Dennehy and John Leguizamo all play some substantial yet unfortunately equally unimaginative roles.
The plot offers nothing interesting, and seems utterly weird. For the most part, it follows the lines of the siege films such as Die Hard, but the scenario is poorly concieved. It’s a snowstorm New Year’s Eve, and the good guys are trapped in Precinct 13. Due to the weather conditions, no help can be reached, so the bad guys just surround the whole place and attack, wave after wave. The only thing is, those bad guys are not just bad guys. They are bad cops. And inside, the good guys are not just the good cops, but a few criminals too.
Lawrence Fishbourne, who plays the most interesting role of the whole film, Bishop, should have been given more room to develop his character. As it turns out, Bishop is just one crook with a sense honour. You won’t feel that he is bad. But he should be. And that’s one of the disappointing parts of the film–Bishop’s duality, that he is indeed a big bad wolf, is sacrificed to make hilm more acceptable to the audience, make it easier for us to root for him. It might have been a lot more enjoyable if we can simply see that he is bad to the bones and just fighting for his life. We don’t need to be rooting for him.
Ethan Hawke is the lead guy, and supposedly his character is experiencing a lot of emotional conflict in the film. He felt responsible for the deaths of his fellow cops in a flawed mission 8 months back, and ever since he has been a mess. Now he again faces a great challenge, and we don’t know if he can live up to it… But that line has been used too many times in too many films, and it doesn’t really bring this film anything.
5 out of 10.

After so many years, one of the most definitive boy bands of the 1990s attempts to revive their franchise. And the album they attempt to achieve such a goal is fittingly yet nevertheless cheesyly named "Never Gone". Apart from this slight annoyance, the album is on all fronts more than satisfactory.

The album opens with three great tracks. "Incomplete", the opening track, is hauntingly addictive. Then comes "Just Want You To Know", which as has been noted sounds Bryan Adam-ish, and just as good. "Crawling Back To You", the third track, seems to be a much welcomed return to old BSB ways, a ballad that reminds me of "Drowning" and "Shape of my heart".

For me, these three tracks is enough evidence that this album will stay on my Ipod for a long time. The remaining 12 songs (including 3 bonus tracks), still offer great music, but does not carry the same weight as those 3 first songs, which was also slightly disappointing. But alas, I ask for too much.

Compared to previous BSB albums, "Never Gone" sounds decidedly more mature. And the band members have also definitely matured, giving the songs enough weight with their voice talents. I saw one interesting argument that the songs might be even better if they were performed by one artist, instead of a group, because the contents–the hardships and struggles of love, life and etc.– seems slightly odd when performed by a group. But what the heck.

Though this is undoubtably an excellent album, whether it will revive BSB’s career or that of the whole boy band franchise remains to be seen. Trends have changed, and sticking to what now may seem as old school material might just lack the market potential. For better or worse, it’s a hip hop world now, and 90s music– however good it may be– may just sound a little out of style.

It’s often said that the intermediate of any trilogy tends to be a disappointment. Save perhaps for the exception of films like Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers, this law generally holds. Matrix Reloaded was one massively overhyped disappointment.
The 2nd installment is hard to please because of its pre-defined motive. It doesn’t give any substantial conclusions. It doesn’t have to give any answers. Its main purpose is to further develop the plot, and prepare for the glorious (or not) climax which should be guaranteed by the final piece. It’s very hard for a 2nd installment to stand alone as a great film.
Yet sometimes the opposite is exactly what happens. In the original Star Wars trilogy, it was The Empire Strikes Back that really stood out and made a difference, while The Return of the Jedi could only be described as mediocre.
As to Attack of the Clones, it is generally a improvement on The Phantom Menace. Episode I was all special effects and no real heart, while Episode II had much more juice in storytelling. And it is fascinating to see Anakin Skywalker develop towards Darth Vader, although this line is only briefly exploited, with just enough subtlety.
Episode II starts from nowhere and ends nowhere. Parallel plots are developed, one revolving around Anakin and Padme’s mutual attraction, and one around Obi-Wan Kenobi doing some inter galactic detective work. It ends on a epic battle between clones and droids, which marks the beginning of the famous Clone Wars. Yoda shows off a skill or two with a lightsaber, which is really the icing on the cake. All in all this film does what it needs to do, and does the job with quite some style.
8 out of 10.

A Keanu Reeves movie.
I’ve no complaints about the guy, he’s good looking and cool, but he tends to lack some serious acting abilities. Yet, like the Matrix trilogy, this is mostly the type of film for him, where he gets to play the cool (and nerdy) superhero who’s accustomed to unconventional methods.
Constantine is a strange film. In terms of special effects, it has some interesting scenarios, but in this day and world, the visuals are by no means jaw dropping, at least not Star-Wars-Episode-III-style jaw dropping. It would be unfair to compare this film to Revenge of Sith, as they employ special effects very differently (IMO), but while watching Constantine I wasn’t even near stimulated or excited by the effects. Nothing looked especially new or spectacular, and a lot of it reminded me of Lord of Rings.
Plot-wise, this film is equally bizarre. I haven’t read the original graphic novels– and I certainly don’t intend to after seeing this film adaption– but the film doesn’t really gain pace throughout its running time. Things happen. Unsatisfactory or insufficient information is given on why they happen. There didn’t seem to be any particular direction that the movie was anxiously heading in, and that tends to be a bad sign unless you’ve really got some tricks up your sleeve. Unfortunately for Constantine, the trick is neither logical enough or interesting enough. Perhaps the climax of the film only succeeds in bringing us some solid action–finally– and that action sequence ends on an abrupt note too quickly.
Anyhow, for a comic adaption, this is by far one of the darker and more gloomier films. Most certainly this difference in style is intended, but its effects are certainly questionable. I don’t know whether this film would have been more enjoyable if Keanu Reeves kicked more asses more often, but as it is, you get the feeling that this film provides inadaquate entertainment for its worth.
7 out of 10.

After writing something I listend to this song, and it inspired a lot of thought.

Belle And Sebastian – Storytelling Lyrics

Picture a scene in your mind
Looks at all the people and take note of the setting behind
Listen, watch, and wait
A plot begins to take shape
There's a story
And then characters will come to you
Relating events as they choose to
But all their words and actions come entirely from you

If you're a storyteller you might think you're without
responsibility
And you can lead your characters anywhere you want
You have immunity

Have you considered the way
People might react to all the things that your characters say?
And are their actions hand in hand with what you want to portay?
Are you sick?
Are you crippled? Insane?
Expressing the desires that daren't speak their name?
Are you the one to be blamed?

Now you're a storyteller you might think you are without
responsability
But in directions, actions and words
Cause and effect
You need consistency

How can you finish the tale?
Lives which have played a part
Are summarised from the very start
And episodes left out to make it all go our way
"It's a might big world
Some of it I've seen
But mostly I've only heard
And stories are all fiction from their moment of birth"

You're just a storyteller
You're not trying to escape responsability
If we believe you then you're succesful
But you don't make claims of verity

The amazing little details that he won’t forget.

That table by the window. The tilting sun graciously shining upon the table surface. And he’d always open the window, feeling the rush of air, enjoying the sight of her attending to her hair as the wind playfully embraced her.

The complexion of her skin. Those deep, crystal eyes. The nose that could only be described as cute, no other word in his vocabulary more appropriate. The lips that were even harder to define…

The charming smile. Joyous sound of her laughter. She was so pleasant to the eye…

So now he’d stare into empty space, and she would appear before his eyes, perhaps only a fantasy, a dream, yet as beautiful and as real as ever. And it was during those moments that he would forget how much he missed her, all attention on how she was right there, by his side.

There was no pain. He knew that she would be there. If not today, then tomorrow. And he would smile, fully cherishing the delicious moment of missing someone you love, someone who you knew loved you also.