30 August 2006

DVD's. It's The New Drug.

Satu hari di kedai DVD, di sebuah shopping complex. location undisclosed.

Aku : OK, saya amik lima DVD ni. Brapa harga? Ada diskaun ka?

Amoi : Satu 7 ringgit. Harga biasa la bos. Tapi u kena tunggu 30 minit bleh? Ada operasi bulan ni, so kami simpan DVD lain tempat.

Aku : (Tercengang) 30 minit ka? Lamanya, mana u simpan? Apa saya mau buat 30 minit?

Amoi : U pegi la jalan2 dulu. Sini banyak tempat boleh shopping. U tinggal phone number nanti kami call u. Bayar dulu ya bos..

Aku : (Tercengang lagi) Bayar dulu ka? Kalau u tipu saya macam mana?

Amoi : Mana ada tipu bos. Kalau apa2 kita kasi balik u punya wang. Jangan takut. Lu mau ka tamau?

Aku : (Dasar hantu DVD) Ok la. Ini saya punya no phone. Nanti u call aaa..

27 minit kemudian.. phone bunyi.

Aku : Hello. Apa macam? Sudah boleh amik ka DVD.

Apek : Jumpa wa depan entrance shopping complex. Sekarang. (..hang up)

Aku : (Cuak).

Depan entrance shopping complex. Phone bunyi lagi.

Apek : U pakai baju warna apa? Ada logo apa?

Aku : Err.. Baju hijau. Takde logo. I pakai spek.

Apek : (Hang up)

3 minit kemudian... Ada lembaga menghampiri sisi aku.

Apek : Pssst.. jangan pandang muka saya. Tengok depan.

Aku : Errr.. OK. DVD? Ada?

Apek : Nah amik.. Tangan belakang aa.

Satu pertukaran barang seperti dalam cerita mafia Francis Ford Coppola berlaku dengan sepantas kilat.

Aku : (Mengangguk kepala sedikit kepada Apek tadi tanda urusniaga selesai)

Apek : (Mengangguk kembali)

Kedua-dua berlalu pergi ke arah bertentangan tanpa sebarang kata dan pandangan lagi..

Aku : (dalam hati) Aku beli DVD ke beli dadah tadi..??

29 August 2006

Siti who?

This is Nick Cokas. He's the boyfriend of American Idol runner-up, and my favourite, super-babelicious, Katharine McPhee. Katharine is 21. Nick is 41. They are planning to get married real soon.


Nick doesn't have any moustache. Come to think of it, he doesn't have any hair either. He's not a Datuk. He's not rich. He's a struggling actor.

I understand Siti. In fact I don't give a rat ass about her.
But Katharine.... WHY? WHY?!?


It's the proof that love's not only blind but deaf
- Fake Tales Of San Francisco, Arctic Monkeys

16 August 2006

It's Been A Year Already..??

Right at this moment, 7:41 AM, 16th August, genap setahun since aku publish post pertama aku di blog ini untuk tatapan umum. Secara kebetulan juga besok merupakan hari konvokesyen aku.
So, it's all good..


Terima kasih kepada teman-teman yang sering mengunjungi blog ini.
It's amazing that even though we never met, the passion and the interest that we share kept us close. Hoping this virtual friendship never ends.


Jadi sempena hari lahir blog aku, aku decide untuk revamp layout blog.
How do you like me now..??


I will keep on amplifying my attenuated thoughts.. peace.

15 August 2006

Celebrity Shit..

Ever wanted to own a memento, a souvenir or a memorabilia from your favourite star? Wish you were the only one in the world that owns it? Well now you can..

You can now own Billy Corgan's fecal matter (..that's shit in bahasa pasar), Robin Williams's urine or even Jack Black's bacteria for a reasonable price. Go visit this site for more info. Don't forget to read the FAQ section. And yes, it's legal. And in case you're wondering, yes, there are buyers.

Strange but true.


14 August 2006

Cornell is The New Bond Maestro

Former guitarist and frontman for Soundgarden, currently leader of the Audioslave rock band, Chris Cornell has been signed on for the latest 007 project, the producers announced yesterday.

Titled "You Know My Name," the track was co-written by Cornell and Bond composer David Arnold, according to a press release.

Cornell has been chosen for such an important 'assignment' because of his sound, 'both soulful and thoughtful', and because he is considered as 'the perfect compliment' to the film, a spokesperson said.

Nevertheless, Cornell is the first man to sing the movie theme since 1987, when A-Ha frontman, Morten Harket, sang 'The Living Daylights'. - Yahoo News


Cornell singing the new Bond's Theme? Damn, can't wait to hear that. It's gonna' be hot!
Finally.. something to be excited about upon the release of Casino Royale.

08 August 2006

..The World Coolest Old Guy


It's official. Anthony Hopkins is the coolest old actor EVER. Not that I have anything against old actors, but actors around Sir Hopkins age (60-70 years old) tend to get satirized by Hollywood (e.g. Space Cowboys, Out to Sea, Grumpy Old Men, etc..). But in The World Fastest Indian, Anthony Hopkins is the God of Speed that rides the coolest looking bike ever, gets all the grandmas and achieve his lifelong dream. And the best part is.. it's a true story. Super-cool.

Let's get one thing straight; Anthony Hopkins doesn't play an Indian (..although he did play an African-American in The Human Stain). The Indian in question is actually a '20s era Indian Scout motorcycle. The World's Fastest Indian is based on the true story of Burt Munro from Invercargill, New Zealand, who personally modified his old 1920s Indian motorcycle into a 200+ mph record-breaking machine. He broke the world land speed record for motorcycles with engines less than 1000cc at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in the 1960s. The record still stands to this day. The film is written and directed by Roger Donaldson who had previously made a documentary involving Munro, Offerings to the God of Speed, in 1971. This movie is certainly is his labour of love and it took him almost 30 years to complete.

What I really love about this movie is that in the space of a little more than two hours, the story crosses no fewer than four genres of film. It starts out as 1) a mismatched buddy film, with Burt the curmudgeon hanging out with a boy named Tom. Nearly everyone in the neighborhood, including Tom's parents, thinks Burt is disreputable and a bad influence, but that doesn't prevent Tom from spending countless hours in the old man's workshop. It has been Burt's lifelong dream to take his beloved motorcycle to the Utah salt flats to find out how fast he can go, and that dream comes a step closer to reality when Burt is able to raise the money. So it's off to Los Angeles, where the movie becomes 2) a fish-out-of-water movie. After dawdling a while in Hollywood, Burt buys a car and heads northeast for Utah. Cue genre no. 3) the road movie. Finally, Donaldson's mixed genre odyssey ends with 4) an inspirational sports segment, in which Burt reaches his goal and must battle rules and regulations to get a chance to realize his dream.

Out of the four genres, the road movie segment is definitely a pleasure to watch. Along the way Burt has encounters with a few odd people: an affable transvestite who covers the nightshift at Burt's sleazy Hollywood motel; the helpful used-car salesman; the young soldier on leave from Nam; an American Indian, who shelters him for a night and gave him grounded dog balls (yes!?); and a widow with a workshop, who lets Burt repair a broken towing rig in exchange for a much-needed one-night stand. Then at Bonneville, the good old boys of speed, headed by a fellow biker find ways to make officials bend, if not break, safety rules to let the old man race in a bike with no chute or brakes.

The film could not have been so great, if it wasn't for Anthony Hopkins remarkable performance. Hopkins throws himself into the role, doing what all great character actors do: losing himself in the part. From the first frame, we think of Hopkins as Burt, not an actor playing a role. Hopkins is hard to dislike in any role (good or bad), and he's having such a ball in this one. I read somewhere that Hopkins potrayal of Munro is so accurate that Munro's surviving family cried upon seeing Hopkins on the set. I guarantee you will have a wonderful time watching Hopkins work, especially when he mumbles his way through everything (..try to count how many times he says the word 'What?'). Definitely one of his best performance.

If you take a step back and look at The World's Fastest Indian, it's about a man's spiritual journey. Burt's life philosophy is easily explained: "You live more in five minutes on a bike like this going flat out than some people live in a lifetime." Burt's unassuming personality wins people over with ease - both on-screen characters and us, the viewers. The smile on my face at the end of the movie says it all. The World's Fastest Indian does what it sets out to do: educates about a mostly unknown historical figure (without doctoring the facts too much), entertains, and uplifts. Inspiring and poignant. One of the best film I've seen this year.


01 August 2006

Wassup with Larry Clark..?

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If I told u I'm a huge fan of Larry Clark's work you would probably think that I'm a freak. This is mostly because his film often deals with issues that other directors would stay away from. Teen sex, incest, autoerotic asphyxiation, adolescence, teen violence, teen drug abuse, AIDS... those are usually the main ingredients in a Larry Clark's film. His cinema verite style of film-making, his almost voyueristic approach of filming a scene and his penchant for casting unknown teenage actors and actresses making his films look very real and raw.

His debut film KIDS (..which launch the career of Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson among others) suddenly appear out of nowhere to shock the Hollywood film industry - -- an ugly portrait of amoral youths who resort to drugs and sex not as a form of rebellion, but to fill the void of otherwise empty and meaningless lives. The scenes are very graphic; and most people are labelling his films exploitative; he's being blamed for glorifying teenage sex. But people tend to forget that the issues that were potrayed in a Larry Clark's film are real issues. Even in a country like our pride and glory Malaysia, we can relate with issues of teenage sexuality, rape, drug abuse and violence. We read about it in newspapers every day. Larry Clark's is probably the only director who has the guts to show us what transpires when children are set adrift in a heartless world, and warns us what happens -- and is already happening -- in the absence of love and guidance.

Being a fan of his works, there is a high amount of expectation for his latest film. But sadly, I guess, when u expect too much from someone or something, you tend to get a little bit frustrated. And that is the case with his latest film, Wassup Rockers.

Wassup Rockers in short is about a group of seven Latino South Central skateboarders who took a road trip to Beverly Hills to practice their hobby. While there, they encounter a couple of horny white girls who invite them to drop by, a racist cop, a gay pedophile throwing a house party, a trigger-happy film director, and a freaky woman looking for a toy boy. Almost like a fucked-up version of Ferris Bueller Day Off. According to the Wassup Rockers press notes, Larry Clark spent a year following around a real-life band of Latino skate punks who dress like the Ramones. They're nonactors whom Clark met in Venice Beach, then built a film around. They ad-lib most of their dialogue, perform their own bruising stunts and enact vignettes from their everyday lives, working out, practicing their music; basically just hanging out. The message of the movie is loud and clear - People shouldn't be judged by their appearance and mannerisms. Just because they're from the ghetto, look like gang members, and commit crimes doesn't mean they're bad individuals.

The result - a low-key, pervy mess. Structurally, the movie's provocative: It starts out feeling like a hand-held documentary and just gets stranger as it goes along. At first glance, I, certainly, became confused if the movie was a documentary or not. (It's not). The pace is terribly slow. The dialogue, which sounds improvised, is mostly silly and occasionally simple-minded. The acting is atrocious across-the-board. Then again, what did you expect after going into South Central and picking up seven kids off the streets?

The movie works best during its small scenes - conversations between the boys, domestic sequences, and skateboard practicing. It's when Clark ventures onto the wider portion of the canvas that he runs into trouble. Also, I found the Latino punk music to be distracting. In small doses, it would have helped establish the setting, but its non-stop presence becomes extremely annoying. The only time I really like the music is when the boys finally make it out of Beverly Hills to the tune of Mogwai's 'Take Me Somewhere Nice' which transcends the scene to another level.

Compared to other Larry Clark's film, this movie could be described as his most mainstream movie to date. Well, for the first time, there isn't even a hint of nudity, although the trademark lingering shots of bare teenage flesh and faces is still there. But for me it's not the nudity ( or lack thereof) that bothers me. While his other films like Kids, Bully, Ken Park and even Teenage Cavemen deals with interesting teen issues and somewhat raw acting, Wassup Rockers comes across as contrived and silly, with the coup de grace being an idiotic scene featuring a bathtub electrocution (..featuring a very familiar face from America's Next Top Model). It's goofy in some parts and the flat acting also didn't help much. It's funny in a gratuitous way, but makes you wish Clark had quit trying to cook up adventures and silly settings for his cast and try to chronicle these kids' lives in a short film or documentary instead.

Wassup Rockers will give Larry Clark a non-controversial title on his resume. I doubt, however, that it will perform better than his earlier films. Wassup Rockers is amateurish, but without the redeeming qualities found in Kids and Bully. Disappointing.