nan | 楠木

2012, Roland Emmerich’s latest sci-fi disaster film, is mostly rehashing what the director has done before, but at an even more ridiculous level. Once again, the world is nearing its end, this time due to chaotic changes in the sun, which has caused the Earth’s core to boil and is completely reforming the continents. The governments of the big powers have a plan (they have had a few years to prepare for it), which is to build modern day Arks to save the most privileged few (spots on the ships are limited, as you can imagine).

There’s a whole range of characters, from the scientists and the politicians who are running the show, to the average day joe (John Cusack) who is just trying to save his (divorced) family. It’s no easy task, of course, since entire cities and countries are being wiped out by catastrophic earthquakes and nature’s version of nuclear bombs. So there’s a lot of driving on crumbling lands and flying through collapsing skyscrapers, among other CG populated scenes.

For the most part, this is very standard Roland Emmerich material. This is pure entertainment for the senses, though he does try to throw in a few moral questions (the rich can afford to pay the 1Bn Euro price tag to get on the boat). There is nothing wrong with a film offering simple eye candy, but 2012 really has nothing new to say. And running at 158 minutes, it is way too long for a stereotypical genre film.

5/10

这次是三周记了。。。时间实在过得太快。

10月12-18这一周，是Fall A的期末考试周，总之是非常非常累。周三晚上是MBA200S统计学的期末考，周五上午是MBA201A微观经济学的期末考，周五晚上是MBA205组织行为学的期末论文截止时间。这几门课我后面陆续会写些点评，仿我的同学丁峰。

除了这些事情，周二晚上参加了葡萄酒协会的品酒活动，一位UCLA MBA毕业的美女姐姐给我们讲了法国葡萄酒。期间品了5种酒，从最淡的Sauvignon Blanc到最深的Syrah，在这里就不装懂了。其实这位美女姐姐本人挺有意思的，在UCLA读MBA期间考的Sommelier资格，之后就决定创业当Sommelier（就是为各种活动场合专门搭配葡萄酒的专业人士），到现在已经出书了。我觉得她是在做自己真正有激情的事情，这点很令人羡慕。

周五考完试，周六就是我们学院学生组织的年度盛大数字媒体行业会议>play Conference。我是组织者之一，早上6点就到了学校，一直到晚上六点才离开。参加了很多有趣的panel，也听了知名博客Om Malik参访Mozilla CEO John Lily。总的来说非常疲劳的一天。。。但是非常充实。具体内容实在不能展开聊了。

10月19-25这一周。周一和周二是给一年级的Career Management Conference，基本上就是围绕求职的方方面面的许多workshop。简历被一位专家基本上当场重写了。被一位二年级师兄在模拟面试里好好教训了一番，知道了自己的差距。

周二晚上还听了微软陆奇的讲座。非常欣赏并仰慕陆先生，很有人格魅力。在另外的博客已经写了文章记录他的发言内容。

周三开始Fall B的三门核心课程就开始了：金融学、会计学和营销学。营销学应该没什么问题，以前在公司天天就是做营销战略，思维方法和经验都有。金融和会计估计后面会很头大。

周三晚上又参加了一个career fair，这次来的主要是一些科技公司。跟Apple的一个经理聊了一阵子，他很直白地说了Apple更重视产品而不是员工，也印证了我之前的一些猜想。另外跟时下很热的游戏公司Zynga的员工聊了一会儿，这家公司最近很火很火，但是不知道是不是发展太快后面会面临转型困难。

周四晚上是在旧金山万豪酒店的年度商学院校友聚会。时间太短，没有办法跟很多校友聊，不过有交流的几个都给了我们不少职业建议。

周五晚上是Fall A Party，时光倒流主题。老美真是敢撒疯，穿成什么样的都有。Facebook上面的猥琐照片一堆一堆的。我没时间准备，托室友帮我准备行头，结果我戴着假长发跟室友一起拌摇滚歌手。。。说实话不是很好玩，不过逢场作戏吧。。。

周日上午在学校参加了一个leadership development系列的实验讲座。

10月26-11月1这一周。周一晚上听了Intel的一个VP的讲座，这个家伙（Mooly Eden）是个以色列人，是目前Intel PC Client Group的GM。他讲了很多自己对于领导力的解读，颠覆了一些传统权威的言论，听起来耳目一新。他说话很直，看起来是典型的Intel人。

周一另一件事情就是定的Xbox 360到货了。费了点周折，跑到Richmond的UPS中心去拿货。同一天室友们买来了Rock Band 2。于是这周很颓废。这件事情说来话长，因为我们都对科技行业感兴趣，所以一直都说必须要体验这些产品才能理解行业里面的问题。Rock Band的事情是因为有三个女生向我们叫板。于是周四晚上Beatles歌曲大战，我们完胜─双方各选了三首歌，我们五首歌的成绩已经超过他们六首歌的成绩。

周五晚上是学校组织的慈善募款的万圣节派对（其实周六才是万圣节），在旧金山。又是化妆晚会，我这次来了身墨西哥行头。同学又是有不少喝醉的。。。后来跟Haiping聊起来这件事，我说我觉得人始终应该有节制，或者说对于自我是有控制力的，这是我为什么很讨厌醉酒的原因（我并不讨厌喝酒，而且自认为酒量不错）；她笑我太理性了。另外就是由于Bay Bridge关闭，我们的大巴是从金门大桥绕过去的，远了很多，所以一直到后半夜才到家。

周六在淘宝上买了超便宜的Xbox 360点卡，其实就是破解的。不过我没啥意见，比正版的便宜多了，为Rock Band 2下了一堆歌儿，可惜没有Linkin Park。目前为止最喜欢的歌是Green Day的21 Guns，很好唱，弹起来也不错。

周日白天我全天都在学校，参加MBA200C领导沟通能力的课程。顾名思义，这门课主要是培养语言表达能力，尤其是公众演讲能力。我对此兴趣很浓，自忖这方面也算是比较擅长。这并不是说我没啥好学的。老师要我们努力挖掘内心深处的真实情感，以找到自己独特的表达风格，所以小组活动的时候有不少同学讲了非常感人的个人经历，有些时候发言的同学和听众都哭了。当然并不是每个小组都这样─我觉得很有收获，对同组的同学有了更切身的认知。

周日晚上，住在UC Village的有家人士组织了个聚会，这次全部是中日韩的学生（外加Bernie这个会讲中文的“老外”）。Fan夫妇炒了好多好多菜！！！另外就是和前同事、现同学Taejoon好好聊了聊，这家伙原来一直隐藏着一个大秘密，哈哈哈哈。也和Youngji好好调侃了一番我的两个室友─他们都是Oski。最后就是喝了不少韩国烧酒、花雕酒、啤酒、清酒。Fan带来的绍兴花雕酒被大家笑称为酱油。。。

State of Play, which features quite an impressive cast and a plot that combines some of the most popular topics being debated, is for the most part an enjoyable conspiracy thriller. A surprise turn near the end makes the film fall into the sub-genre of “smart” thrillers, which is probably best represented by The Usual Suspects. However, in the case of this film, the surprise twist doesn’t add much to the plot and feels instead like a cop-out to quickly wrap up the film, which is frustrating for me.

The film stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams, with Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn and Jeff Daniels (to name a few) playing support. The plot follows a newspaper reporter, Cal McAffrey (Crowe), who is investigating the scandal surrounding his old friend and US congressman Stephen Collins (Affleck). The gist of the scandal is the death of Collins’ female aide, who was leading the probe on a private defense contractor PointCorp, and who is revealed to be in an affair with Collins. As McAffrey digs into the story, he realizes that PointCorp seems to be running a massive conspiracy, and he finds himself running against time and the threat of his own life to uncover the truth.

The plot is fairly generic conspiracy material, but the private defense contractor topic makes it interesting. In addition, a sub-plot is around the death of the newspaper industry, and how that’s affecting reporters – McAffrey’s boss Cameron (Mirren) is much more interested in selling more papers, regardless of the story, while McAffrey is still clinching to the ideals of journalism. Della Frye (McAdams), who becomes McAffrey’s sidekick, comes from the Internet side of the paper, and the clash between the two is also an interesting sub-topic.

In the end, this is quite a standard industry production, and there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking. It is good material for those who want a more complicated plot to thrillers, and the pace of the film is generally well constructed. Solid entertainment.

7/10