Massive TV and Film Review Post

With all my recent free time, I've been watching a lot of TV, though mostly not on a TV. Go Youtube.

惡作劇2吻
I saw the first one (also on Youtube) during my last work term and thus didn't get too much FAP done--not that I had the drive to do them anyways. While I didn't think it was that good of a series, I push through the incredibly draggy series because 林依晨's character (ok and herself too) is too likable. I know they are making a sequel, but I was pretty nonchalant toward it. Enough history; part 2 is just as draggy as part 1. There isn't really a plot to speak off in part 2 because the leads already got married in part 1 so there isn't a clear destination in the sequel. However, if you treat it like a sitcom, 惡作劇2吻 is really not bad. Basically is more of the humor of the first, but without the underlying quest of the first, and 直樹 seems like less of an asshole than before. However, I have to complaint about the weak soundtrack of part 2. 林依晨's singing sounds very synthetic.

鬥牛，要不要
Hebe as a lead in a full series!?! 鬥牛 is another series on basketball, but unlike MVP情人, it plays a pretty minor role in the plot and it's basically there to make the male leads look cool despite weird Dragonball Z hairdos. Hebe plays a bitchy spoiled brat who refers to herself as "your father" and to everyone else as "barbecued squid"--trust me it's funny in Chinese. Unlike 林依晨, her character is not likable, though in certain scenes she just looks too damn cute to be unlikable. My biggest problem with this series is 賀軍翔. This guy cannot act!!! At first I thought he is some new guy but he's been in other series before. With the copied scenes from Meteor Garden and other parallels, he reminds me of the laughable acting done by F4 in Meteor Garden. The other male lead is Hebe's bodyguard who is portrayed as someone who is so selflessly in love that one can't help but pity--but at least he has more expressions in his arsenal than 賀軍翔. Second biggest problem: drag. Out of curiosity I skipped to episode 10 after watching episode 5. Though I am slightly confused with regard to why Hebe got a haircut, the fact is nothing happened among episode 6 to 9 that episode 10 did not reiterate in flashbacks! It looks like they used 4 episodes for a date between Hebe and 賀軍翔 and then padded it with schmuck that didn't advance the plot at all, AKA major dragging!!!

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At this point I have to digress, why is it, in every 台灣偶像劇, the girl falls in love with a jackass? And damn why can't I find any cute TW girl that are like that in real life?!?!?
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The Amazing Race Asia 2
What started off as being very interesting has turned into a predictable and annoying mess. At first I was drawn by concept of a TAR in Asia with Asians who speak English in a thick accent--Paula and Vanessa's Malay accents are just gold. However, with the lost of the Japanese team, and this weird excursion to Europe, it has completely gone downhill. The last few legs in Europe has just been boring as hell. Mindless roadblocks and detours, ridiculous leg designs (back to back non-elimination and then a intersection!?! WTF were they smoking?!? Jeez I wonder who will get eliminated next week?!), and Marc and Rovilson. Gawd I hate M&R, their idiotic demeanor, corny one-liners, and how they keep winning! I wish they would go back to Asia and have Asian themed tasks for the contestants.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Lazy writing. Sarah monologues are bland and without thought. The terminator head traveling through time didn't make sense--unless the writer is god and gets to decide what sort of object is elementary enough to be able to travel through a time wrap. The whole time traveling to avoid continuity problem is just lazy to the max. The fighting scenes are basically nothing but two terminators pushing each other into walls, making lots of holes, dents, and debris--lazy. In episode 3 "The Turk", after all that setup, a super lazy and unsatisfactory resolution was presented. Also in "The Turk", the jab at nuclear scientists again is lazy. "Fathers of destruction"? Am I the only one that thinks that the nuclear scientists are in the same shoes as Sarah? They are both facing the problem of whether it's justifiable to do evil (developing the bomb) to prevent another evil (get owned by the Nazis).


And now for some movie reviews!

Enchanted
This film was surprisingly likable because of Amy Adams' Giselle. Without her, this film would have sucked.

Rambo
I saw Rambo on the afternoon it opened and from the opening credits I knew it was gonna be pretty crazy. Rambo is definitely the most gore filled film in the series and it was sick. Certain scenes are just so sick I just couldn't help but to release the tension by laughing--not that people getting mowed down my machine gun fire, blew apart by land mines, or chopped up by a machete is a laughing matter. It was the most realistic Rambo, not only because of its visuals, but also because Rambo only got gazed by one bullet in the entire film; in other films he would get hit four times and would still be able to fire a machine gun with ease. And Stallone didn't look one bit like someone who is already 61. An awesome experience.

Former chess champion Bobby Fischer dead at 64

Former chess champion Bobby Fischer dead at 64

Updated Fri. Jan. 18 2008 1:56 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Reclusive chess legend Bobby Fischer has died at the age of 64 of an undisclosed illness, his spokesman has confirmed.

U.S.-born Fischer, who renounced his American citizenship and moved to Iceland in 2005, died Thursday at a hospital in Reykjavik, said spokesman Gardar Sverrisson.

At the age of 14, Fischer had already become a U.S. Open chess champion and by 15 he was the youngest international grandmaster.

In 1972, Fischer was propelled to international fame after his thrilling world championship win over the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky in Reykjavik.

The victory in the classic Cold War showdown made Fischer America's first world chess champion in more than a century.

However, Fischer quickly became known more for his idiosyncrasies than for his talent.

In 1975, Fischer forfeited his title to another Soviet, Anatoly Karpov, when he refused to play against him in Manila.

In 1992, after years in recluse, Fischer agreed to play Spassky again in an exhibition rematch on the Yugoslav resort island of Sveti Stefan.

Because of the location of the match, Fischer became a wanted man in the U.S. for violating sanctions imposed on the former Yugoslavia.

He then disappeared until after the 9/11 attacks. In an interview with a Phillippine radio station, Fischer applauded the strikes and said he wanted to see the U.S. "wiped out," reports Reuters.

Frank Brady, author of "Bobby Fisher: Profile of a Prodigy", told CTV Newsnet on Friday that the man's anti-Semitic remarks and anti-American statements helped to propel his infamy.

"Certainly he was the greatest chess player that every lived and he was famous because of what he did on the chess board, but he was certainly infamous for what he did off the chess board," Brady said.

Brady said Fisher's antics became increasingly more bizarre as he aged.

"He just sort of went bad, he went mean in the latter part of his life," he said.

However, Brady said the chess genius never uttered a controversial word prior to 1972, leading the first half of his life as a "polite" yet "arrogant" champion.

In July 2004, Fischer was held in a Japanese detention centre after having been caught trying to leave the country using an invalid U.S. passport.

Following his release in March 2005, Fischer unzipped his pants near the airport entrance and gestured as if he was going to urinate on the wall.

The outspoken Fischer accused Japan and the U.S. of "kidnapping" him.

Known for his anti-Semitic views, Fischer also said he was being hounded by the U.S because it was "Jew-controlled."

Reached in France, Spassky told The Associated Press he was "very sorry" to hear of Fischer's death.

With files from The Associated Press

Be good but not too good so that you won't become mad.

Campbell unveils $14B transit upgrade for B.C.

Last Updated: Monday, January 14, 2008 | 4:00 PM ET
CBC News

The B.C. government unveiled a $14-billion transit plan for the province on Monday morning, including several major improvements to the Metro Vancouver rapid transit system.

Premier Gordon Campbell and Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon unveiled the 12-year plan in Vancouver. It's intended to improve public transportation infrastructure across the province with the aim of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, said the premier.

A key part of the plan is $10.3 billion in funding to expand the Metro Vancouver rapid transit system. That cash will go toward a new Evergreen Line to the Tri-cities area, a new UBC Line, and upgrades to the Expo Line and the Canada Line.

The plan also includes $1.2 billion for Rapidbus services along seven major routes in Metro Vancouver, and one in Kelowna, and one in Victoria. Rapidbus service would dedicate special lanes to high-frequency, high-capacity buses on busy commuter routes.

The plan also contains $1.6-billion for 1,500 new, clean energy buses that would be used in communities throughout the province. Metro Vancouver would see its total bus fleet double as part of the plan.

The aim of the plan in Vancouver is to increase the percentage of people using public transit on weekdays by five per cent to 17 per cent by 2020. It also aims to increase transit ridership across the province to more than 400 million trips a year.

The plan will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a cumulative total of 4.7 million tonnes by 2020, said Campbell. That would be the equivalent of parking all the cars and light trucks in Metro Vancouver for a full year by getting British Columbians out of their cars and onto transit, he said.

"As more and more British Columbians live and work near transit, urban form will shift, which will lead to lower energy use, increasing energy efficiency, and a lighter environmental footprint," said Campbell.

During the throne speech in February, the premier promised to put plans in place to cut B.C.'s emissions levels by one-third by 2020.

If everything in Campbell's plan pans out, then I would be very impressed. I am excited that they are considering the implementation of an Octopus style smart-card and gates on Skytrains. It is about time they realize by reducing the repugnant segment of transit users, transit usage will increase. The call for two new rapid transit lines is ambitious, though it probably won't happen. I don't think the ridership for the Evergreen Line is there. There is a consistent flow of riders on the 97 B-Line but it doesn't compare with that of the 98 or the 99. I think the 169 and 97 is doing an adequate job of ferrying people in Coquitlam to the Skytrain system, though I admit I don't have the experience of taking these two routes during morning rush hours. Pushing the Expo line further into Surrey is a must. With the number of people in living in Surrey, it's a total travesty that their public transit options are so limited. One other thing is they need to fix those elevators on those overworked community shuttles. It is eff-ing stupid that an elder have to wait half an hour for a bus and then be told that she can't get on because the damn elevator on the shuttle doesn't work!

Nevertheless, 2020 is pretty far away and Campbell is expecting $3.1 billion from the Federal Government. Hopefully, some parts of the plan will become more concrete soon.

Post #1 of 2008

So I called Mastercard yesterday to try to raise my credit limit. It turned out that they have no idea what is an actuary and I had to explain my occupation to them.

I was sad.

On a happier note, Jack Neo is awesome. I watched 我在政府部門的日子, and though there were some misses, having Fann Wong in it just soothed everything over.