2010/02/27

Review on "From Paris With Love"

Movie reviewed and why I suddenly reviewed a movie *GASP* on this blog.


Why did I watch the movie?
  1. Luc Besson : CHECK!
  2. Storyline : seems good
  3. Action : Since it's Luc Besson, should be good
  4. John Travolta : Check
  5. Jonathan Rhys Meyers: Check
Yup, I'm a fan of Luc Besson. I was converted after watching "Taken". "Taken" was believable, action was fast but never confusing, characters were believable. It also showed us the darkness of human trafficking, which was the main selling point of the movie and for me to watch it :)

So yeah, "From Paris with Love" was a sensible movie choice for me. Plus, the movie deals with terrorists, guns and betrayal...all in the City of Lights and Lurveee....

The movie has good pace, and great storyline. There's never a dull moment in the movie. And the storyline that links drug-dealing, terrorism and espionage is absolutely believable. There are people will go all out to do what seems right to them, and that just what suicide bombers and counter-terrorist agents do. Exchanging drugs for guns isn't all that new, and to get information about from people who deal in these kinds of things requires both brain and brawn, which i thought was well-illustrated in the movie. Having beautiful women to seduce the intended targets is commonplace (007 always does that), and unfortunately, women are gullible creatures (I'm really jabbing my own foot with this statement).

Character development was also great for me, especially James Reece (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers). I especially liked this character because you see him go from this really ambitious guy, to "Holy ****, what did I get myself into?", then finally someone who manages to put his emotions aside, get the job done and say "I don't know if I really want this". Character Charlie Wax (played by John Travolta) was also great as  a gun-toting, shoot 'em all to Hell guy, who's just really good at his job, yet sensitive enough to the notice people's pain.

If there's a gripe, I would have to say it was quite similar to "Taken". But even that's a plus point. So my only complaint, it will have to be: Why are the reviews from so-called paid, movie-reviewers so bad? The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was complete waste of time and talent, yet it got fantastic reviews. Ah, whatever.
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To the real reason I'm reviewing:
  1. Terrorism is a real thing. And it's not new. We have to be constantly on the ball to notice what's around us.
  2. Women: Let us not be gullible.
  3. In Islam, screwing around is haram. Having sex with someone as a means to an end is not jihad. It's plain prostitution for a "cause".
  4. Suicide bombing does not , and will not solve any problem. The "I'm at peace" and " I'm doing this for a higher cause" crap is, well..., crap. If really that religion is so great, and that God is so absolute, HE definitely does NOT need human help at all. When you do such stuff, you're just making fun of your own religion.
    OH, and suicide bombing doesn't bring much casualties too, I'm afraid. Then again, the world has one less fanatic, no?
  5. In the world's eyes, there is absolutely NO ABSOLUTE RELIGION. If there ever was, the world would have only one religion.
    Everyone thinks theirs is the one true religion, be it pantheist, monotheist and whatever religions there is. So, can we just get along with each other and make the world a better place, instead of blowing up something somewhere in the name of XX religion?
Tolerance is key, although acceptance is even better. We post-modernists should be looking forward to better futures, instead of regressing to the jahilliah (ignorant) period of the Dark ages.

2010/02/24

WHACK A GROUNDHOG

ever played whack a groundhog?you know 12 or more holes in a box in which plastic (or animated) groundhogs pop out randomly while player tries to whack 'em with sticks?

Opportunities are like whack a groundhog. Opportunities pop out at random. sometimes you whack them. sometimes you don't. sometimes you even accidentally whack your friends and yourself.

What's important is that you pick up that stick and stat whacking as hard, and as accurate, as possible. Once the "groundhog's" down, it's up to you to deal with it: throw it away, waste it, or use it to it's fullest extent.

Stick, anyone?