I Don't Eat A Lot. Really!

So, I’ve had people telling me that I remind them of food. Because my social media updates usually revolve around food, I’ve earned this reputation as quite a foodie. AND that I eat a lot. But seriously, I don’t!

I mean, yeah, the stuff I tweet about are usually the biggies; like steaks, ribs, shrimps and durians…
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But as I usually tell the skeptics; the rest of the time when I’m not confronted by some sort of feast, I eat very little! See, even you guys are going: “yeah, right.”

But it’s the truth lah. I like to eat good stuff, but I’m not such a heavy eater. If I have one piece of steak, that would be enough for me. I never order a second round, or even dessert.

Even at buffets, I usually eat only maybe 40% of what I'm paying for.

And I’m definitely NOT one of those who could eat one rice-cooker full of rice all by himself!
Maybe I should tweet less about food, but hey, with so much negativity going on, even on social media, why not share the good stuff in life right?

Something Big Is Happening August 6th, But Before That...

Yasmin Ahmad's Films -- The Book, And My Other Thoughts

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So, I finally picked up this book and despite being slow reader, finished it in just a couple of days. Hurrah for me.

I must say that it’s one of the best books I’ve read in recent times. Of course I’ve been a fan of its author Amir Muhammad for sometime now (although when I first read his columns in the NST, I thought: “Who the hell is this guy? Macam bagus je”), and the book was hard to put down and simply a delight to read.

I enjoyed the witty approach to the whole thing, and the trivia and other nuggets of info which came from personal knowledge are quite priceless. And although it’s a book about films, it’s not littered with too many film jargons and technical discussion.

But it did make me understand and see that stuff that I probably overlooked in Yasmin’s works before. And that’s the coolest part.

I must admit that I'm not the biggest fan you could find of Yasmin's films and commercials. I like most of them, but there was always that tinge of (forgive me) pretentiousness in her portrayal of people, and that sense of over-optimism, that bothered me quite a bit.

But that doesn't mean I was one of those who condoned the apparent personal attacks made on her by certain members of the media. I believe in freedom of expression (chewah), and it's always better to talk about stuff than shutting people up. If I really can't agree with someone, indifference will be my answer. Buat tak tau jelah, you know. Agree to disagree, and move on.

I never really knew Yasmin. The first time I met her was when she gave a talk at a media prima management retreat in 2007. I thought she was genuine with a lot of useful anecdotes to share. And that was the thing that struck me the most about her; someone who’s not “kedekut ilmu”.

Then I bumped into her at the premieres of “Mukhsin” and “Talentime”. But the last time I spoke to her was at a press conference gua.com.my organized. We had put together a contest in conjunction with the release of “Talentime”, and she had turned up for the PC and prize-giving ceremony.
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I gave a speech that day and afterwards, she actually said to me: “Your speech was so funny!” I don’t think she’s the type who would say something she didn’t mean, so I took it as a nice compliment.

(Ironically, I found out later that she had a brother, Muzaffar, who was a schoolmate of mine. We actually hung out quite a bit, but I never got to know his other family members.)

Anyway, here are my own notes on her films:

Rabun
I remember watching it on TV3 with great anticipation. And because of the hype, I had expected to see another masterpiece ala “Maria” (starring Fatimah Abu Bakar and the late Mustaffa Noor), which I thoroughly enjoyed.

But I didn’t like “Rabun”. More specifically, I didn’t like the camera angles (or the lack of it). So I was disappointed. I thought the story was cute, and I wasn’t offended by scenes of elderly people getting fresh with each other, but I didn’t quite understand the execution. It was different, alright. But not in a good way, in my mind.

Sepet
I can’t quite recall where I saw this first, but most probably it was at a cinema. And I quite liked “Sepet”. The acting was admirable, and it was so different from everything else that was playing then. And I totally bought into the hype of this being the dawn of a new era for Malaysian cinema.

Again, I wasn’t offended or shocked by its content. Having grown up in a place like JB (which was exposed to other cultures via Singapore TV), the whole theme of inter-ethnic love and relationship wasn’t such a big deal for me.

The wacky family dynamics and idiosyncracies were nothing new to me as well, since I come from a mixed family background; my late mom being a non-malay convert herself, we always had a unique sense of openness and self-expression in our own household.

Gubra
I found “Gubra” (which I’m sure I watched on TV, and not in the cinema), to be the funniest of Yasmin’s films. Adibah Noor as the maid was a hoot and the first few minutes of the film was a joy to watch.

What I didn’t like was the subplots, which included one with prostitutes. I felt like there were some wrong messages being sent out somewhere in there, and it sort of renewed my skepticism of her over-optimistic worldview.

I also didn’t like how some religious exceptions were portrayed as the rule. This is also always the MO of certain people who try hard to justify what is haram as halal. They know who they are.

Mukhsin
I went to the premiere of “Mukhsin” at Mid Valley after being invited by the Grand Brilliance peeps. And this was the most “dreamy” of the lot. I liked the simplicity of the storyline and the boy who played the title character did a superb job.

But I must admit, when it ended, I wanted SOMETHING MORE to happen. Well, something DID happen; the cast and crew actually sang and danced (including some Media Prima finance people!) as the credits rolled, but I wanted a real closure. So I left the cinema feeling a tad disappointed.

Muallaf
Haven’t watched it yet and probably I never will.

Talentime
I saw “Talentime” twice. First, at the Sri Pentas theatrette when GB played the film just for me and some colleagues. At the end of it, I remember going: “Wow, I was really touched. This film would win awards, but probably won’t make money”.

The film featured a family speaking not only in English, but Yorkshire English! “Macam mana orang kampung nak relate ni?” I thought.

But I personally liked it, especially the songs. But like Amir pointed out in the book, there are quite a number of “tak logic” things about it; like how a school could get male students to pick up female students on motorbikes for gigs. Gila ke apa?


I was in Gold Coast, Australia, attending a new media symposium when I got the call about what had happened to her. “Bro, Yasmin passed away. She just collapsed here at Sri Pentas, and died,” said none other than 8TV big wig Ahmad Izham Omar.

Of course at that point, she hadn’t passed away, but after a few days in coma, the time came for her to meet her Maker.

I did shed a tear. Ever since both my parents passed on, I always feel a certain kind of sadness upon hearing such news, knowing very well what kind of effect it would have on the people the deceased left behind.

It also made me think about my own life, and what I would leave behind when I’m gone one day.

This book had quite the same effect on me.

2 Films, 2 Different Results

So today was a bit of a Movie Day Out for me, catching two flicks at one go, which I’ve not done in quite a while. And here are my reviews

Inception
Highly recommended by my tweet peeps, “Inception” stars Leonardo DiCaprio who plays Dom Cobb, the leader of a team of “dream invaders”, who are able to enter into people’s dreams and steal their secrets. But his one last job is to instead “start an idea” in a corporate dude’s mind, the process of which is called, “inception”.

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The movie really forces you to think almost the entire time, and director Christopher Nolan (“Dark Knight”, “The Prestige”) basically doesn't give you a moment to even look at the popcorn you're shoving into your mouth (although, as usual, some people where happily chatting away the entire time, the bastards).

Your mind needs to stay alert all the time, as you build the puzzle together with the characters. And that's a really satisfying thing when you watch a film.

Incidentally, it was only recently that I got really interested in matters of the subconscious and "dream surfing", so it was extra satisfying for me.

Of course, I cannot not mention the technical virtuosity displayed by Nolan. The scenes served up ARE really like our dreams; real, yet puzzling, and fantastical.

I mean, I can't tell you how many times I myself have gone from taking the bus to KL and ending up in Paris or LA in my dreams!

The actors did a fine job as well, although maybe they could have casted someone a tad more, um, mature than Ellen Page who plays one of Cobb’s team members.

The only gripe I have is with the script; there was too much explaining of the expository bits for comfort.

But overall, this is an instant classic, and the best movie I've seen this year. No doubt about it.


Predators

A bunch of people who are themselves “predator-like” are plonked on to an alien planet where they become the “hunted”. One of which, is an American mercenary played by Adrien Brody.

And that’s one of the problems, really; Adrien Brody is hardly believable as the bad ass military man. And the Batman voice is just plain ridiculous.

Maybe a Predator movie can never be good in my mind cos we've basically seen it all before and nothing could come close to the very first one that Arnie made a classic. But at least, give it a good shot lah.

The script, especially, is an absolute disgrace. There are plenty of chances to make it wittier and, um, better, but the filmmakers just couldn’t be bothered.

In one of the scenes, a character said: "There's a belief in my community that bla, bla, bla..." And the other one merely replied: "Yeah, whatever".

That's it? That's the best sarcastic/clever remark they could think of? Is this Hannah Montana?

The action scenes are equally unimaginative, with only one, which involved a samurai battle, sticking out in mind.

But really, the characters are just a bunch of clichés, and we basically know who's gonna die first in the first five minutes. Yeah, it is THAT predictable.

And oh, there's also a Laurence Fishburne cameo that will help you fall asleep in case you weren't already, one hour into the film.

But I guess “Predators” hit the mark as the “B” film that it is.

If “B”, is for “Bullshit”.

So What Do We Do Now?

Yup, the World Cup is over, so what do we do now? I mean, there was always something to look forward to on telly, but now, we have to watch... um, I don't even know what's available now. Thank God for DVDs then.

Anyway, if I had to rate South Africa 2010, I'd give it a 7/10. Which is not bad, really.

In terms of the infrastructure, I think South Africa had done their best. The stadiums look good, although they lack that one venue that could fit in like 100,000 people. That's the benchmark for me, at least.

In terms of the results, this World Cup served up some great surprises, and overall I'm pretty pleased as well. No matter that England crashed out earlier than expected. (like that is such a major surprise lah).

But in terms of the football played; well, it wasn't the best we've ever seen, to be honest. Spain, I guess played the best football and ultimately deserved to win the whole thing. But there WERE plenty of dull matches, especially during the earlier rounds. And it was a shame that the Dutch thought it was a good idea to kick (ass) their way to the cup, which they thankfully failed.

But there are plenty of things to remember this World Cup by; the vuvuzelas, the whole twitter buzz, the HD experience.

So I say, thank you South Africa! And let's do this again in 2014!