Slumdog Millionaire

It's been a while since I had a great movie night until I went to see Slumdog Millionaire.
Yes People- do believe the hype!

This is one of the best movies in a VERY long time.

Before Christmas , I saw the poster trailers of the movie being displayed across the red London buses but didn't take much notice of it. I thought it was just another Bollywood movie.

It wasn't until a friend posted the film trailer on his site which made me want to watch the movie.


The Bayswater crew and I decided to watch the movie at the Everyman Cinema at Hampstead with its comfy two seater couches. I love this cinema-we can get drinks and snacks ordered and brought to us before the movie starts. Due to the lack of parking spaces in the area we didn't have time to enjoy the pre cinema experience but we're hoping to go there again for the next outing -Curious Case of Benjamin Button movie which will come out next week.



Returning back to Slumdog Millionaire movie- it was directed by Danny Boyle who has directed a wide range of movies from 28 days later to Trainspotting to name but a few.


The main cast were not A-listers but this movie is truly magnificient. It is based on a book written by Vikas Swarup about a boy from the slums of Mumbai called Jamal who is on the verge of winning 20 million rupees in the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire but is caught by the police for alleged cheating on the show.

The show goes through a series of flashbacks of his life as he answers each question in the show. The movie focuses on the life for Jamal, Salim (his brother) and Latika (Jamal's love).
It gives us an insight of the way of life living in the slums of Mumbai. As the director describes the slums-it is a thriving environment which is constantly changing in its unique enterprising way.

The real stars of the show for me were the slum kids who played Jamal, Salim and Latika's character when they were kids. These were real slum kids who had been picked by the casting director.
The good thing I found coming out of this movie is these slum kids are now been taken in by charitable organisations and will hopefully be able to grow up and able to achieve their aspirations and dreams. A proportion of the box office takings are going towards setting up a Foundation to help the slum kids of Mumbai.
So please do not go download this movie or buy pirated Dvds because the money you spend in the cinema is actually going to a worthy cause.

The scenery of India is truly maginificient in this movie -the film crew had a tough time filming through the crowded streets of Mumbai but the results were truly spectacular.

Here's a trailer of the movie- Go watch it if you haven't already!
I love this track too by M.I.A

Twilight weekend

Work has finally quieten down and I can finally breathe again but I haven't got any extra holidays so it's gonna be a quiet time in the office next week..

This weekend, I managed to catch up on proper sleep-time which I didn't have in the last few weeks.

After doing spring cleaning this weekend I met up with Ivy for our movie dinner night. We went to Sakura's for some Japanese: I like the fast service and the sushi's ain't bad for the price we pay. I forgot how rude the waiters/waitresses are though-it took us four times to get refills on our green tea and there were several times the waitress tried to take our sushi assuming we finished our food when we clearly haven't!
Despite that, the sushis are good and reasonable so we just bear with the lack of service...

Then it was off to Leicester Square for our movie night-Twilight the movie. The movie is based on Stephanie Meyer book which has been successful especially in America.
People in Malaysia have been raving about this movie especially the guy who plays Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). I was intrigued how this pale guy who played Cedric in Harry Potter could be such a big star especially amongst teenage girls within a short space of time.

I was expecting a Buffy Vampire Slayer type film and expecting someone like the character of Angel.
Unfortunately, Robert Pattinson didn't bring out the character of Edward Cullen as readers of the book would have liked and imagined....The chemistry between Edward and Bella in the movie appeared sub zero at times and the inexperience of the young cast was apparent at times as Edward (Robert Pattinson) awkwardly having conversations and displaying his affections to Bella.

Some scenes appear disjointed at times e.g. Edward turned from Bella's biology lab partner into someone Bella fell in love with overnight yet we couldn't see their relationship develop in the movie.


Yet, it wasn't a bad movie like the baseball scene partly because it had "SuperMassive Black Hole"-Muse playing in the background, the scene where he introduced her to his family and the prom scene.

Robert Pattinson may look good in a black suit but if only he could act -the movie could have been awesome rather than being another teenage romance movie...

However, due to the popularity of its book I think we should expect a sequel to this movie in the near future....

Let's hope the acting is better in the next one....

Seducing Mr Perfect

Since I was a little kid I've always been fascinated by Japanese culture from the language, the food (i'm a sushi lover!), their clothes, their music, their style and their J-dramas. Japan is at the top of my wish list of the many places I would like to visit before I die.

If I had to choose between watching J-dramas and K-dramas I would have previously chosen to watch J-dramas especially the ones with my fav actor Takuya Kimura. However now I might be persuaded otherwise since watching Seducing Mr Perfect -a South Korean movie starring Uhm Jung Hwa and the gorgeous Daniel Henney.

The movie has all the essentials of a romantic comedy:
the hero and heroine had a great chemistry between them, script which manages to have romantic and funny element without sounding too corny ,great soundtrack and filmed at a great location and THE most important element of all the gorgeous Daniel Henney!

Min Joon (Uhm Jung-hwa) is a girl who believes in true love and has always been unlucky in love ending up with guys who always took her for granted. One day, on her way to work she bumps into a car and the car owner turns out to be Robin Heiden (Daniel Henney). Heiden has different ideas about relationship and love: to him both are a game of power. Min-Joon fears about being dumped again so seeks advice from Heiden. However, When she changes her behaviour like Heiden she realises she prefers her old self.

Heiden was also dealing with his own heartbreak. He loved a woman so much up to the point she shot him to get her away from him. Min Joon showed him a different way of looking at relationships and eventually falls in love with her. My fav scene of the movie was when both of them were caught up in the rain and Heiden was giving advice to Min Joon.

Guys: please take note if you ever watch this movie Daniel Henney is how every guy should be and how he acts at the end of the movie is what every girl wants : TLC (tender loving care)

The ending scene of this movie was so lovely. The script was great and really captures the moment. Both had a hapPy ending of their own. Usually I would be cautious that a movie like this might be a bit too corny but I think it had the right ingredients to a lovely feel good movie.

Have a look at the trailer and the soundtrack to this movie. Enjoy!

The Holiday

In line with the upcoming holiday season, this movie is a "must see" for everyone.
The Holiday is about two women (Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz) who have been unlucky in love and in search for a break from their current lives. They did a house swap exchange and meet the guys (Jude Law and Jack Black) that they duly deserve during their holidays.



It is set in two different locations: Surrey, London and LA, America. It is a lovely romantic comedy movie...I will not outline the whole story for you but it's such a heartwarming , romantic comedy that will make you have that warm , fuzzy feeling. I even felt teary in a few of the scenes....The views in the Surrey location were beautiful..I just love the movie : the storyline, the locations and the acting. :)



You can tell this movie was directed by a woman director because the script and the whole essence of the movie captures what a woman's thoughts are like especially when it comes to relationships. But I'm not discouraging guys to watch it..I would recommend it to everyone..You won't regret it...heheheh

Movie week

Last week was movie week.....I don't think I've ever watched so many movies in one week......

I went to watch Jack Black's new movie Tenacious D-Pick of Destiny last Monday...if ur a fan of Jack Black and his guitar playing moves then this is the movie for u...but if u don't like rock music or Jack Black then it is probably best to leave this movie out of your "movies to see" list.

There wasn't really much of a plot to the movie but you will be entertained by Jack Black's antics and Tenacious D's music.

The movie,however, can't beat my favourite Jack Black movie which is the "School of Rock" though...the combination of Jack Black's singing and comedy combined with the cute school kids who are all talented kids.....

Tues night was our regular Prison Break night..I thought season 2 was going to end but the series is stopping for a bit for Xmas so the episode we watched was going to be our last episode for a while.
Schofield was still at his best and the episode ended up with another cliffhanger......will Schofield and his bro ever escape???!!!
can't wait for the next episode to come out in January!!!!!

On Wed I went to watch yet another movie Pans of Labyrinth...I wasn't intending to watch it but I was temaning a friend who was raving about the movie.
I didn't really know much about the movie but I was pleasantly surprised. It is a Spanish movie and was one of the movies listed in the Cannes Film Festival. It is set in post war repression and the story evolves around a little girl Ofelia who is fascinated by fairytale stories. She had to face living with her stepdad and looked after her mother who was pregnant with her stepfather's child. We see her facing up to the monsters of her daily life as well as her fantasy life and the adventures she leads in her travels.......

When you think of fairytale stories you might think lovely cute cuddly creatures but this movie was different. The creatures are more geared to reality (if there is such a thing) and the scenes reminded me of Alice in Wonderland but less of the Hollywood gimmicks. I would highly recommend people to see it..despite having to read the subtitles throughout the movie. :)

Fri night was dvd horror night at Meem's, we rented out horror dvds and watched Japanese movie "Pulse" which turned out not to be that scary (but I still shrieked at some parts). The story didn't have much logic to it...it was about these ghosts who are in a different realm. The ghosts had no more spaces in their own realm so needed to go to our realm and used the internet as their way into our world. The ending was confusing and left all of us feeling puzzled and slightly disturbed.

We continued with the horror theme by watching "Ring 2"- I've never watched Ring-(Japanese version) but I've seen the American version which scared me. I was told the Japanese version is scarier so I ended up staying over at the Macready house cuz takut sangat nak balik to my flat alone!!!

Ring 2 was more about explaining what was the history behind Sadako's past...a lot of screaming went on.....(mainly from Meem and me!) during the scene where we see Sadako's mum and Sadako in the room with the mirror( which we see in the video) as well as the scene where we see Sadako trying to catch up with the Professor's student and the little kid up the well. Definitely not for the faint hearted....

On Sunday took a break from the movies.....we went to Liverpool Street Market...did a spot of bargain shopping....got some really good deals with tops and jumpers and spent less that 20 pounds but managed to get a few outfits which was definitely good value for money.

We all then went to the driving range for a spot of golf...the last time I went was before puasa so I thought I probably would have forgotten most of the technique already. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to hit more of the balls this time. Some of them actually went straight compared to before which I either missed, didn't travel very far or totally went off target.

We ended the day by having dinner at Dosa....tried a different menu this time..went for the mutton parotta.with the famous falouda.....! Yummy!!

But tonight I have to burn off all those calories by going to the gym....

Have a good week guys! :)

Summer Update

Apologies for not updating for so long.......busy busy busy........ Since I last wrote my blog the World Cup had finished...my prediction for France to win did not come true...never mind...have to wait for another four years for the next one....

I attended my sister's graduation..my parents, aunty & uncle came over to stay with us..It was a simple affair but the venue was lovely..everyone got dressed up and the weather was great. My sis has specifically not allowed me to post up pics from her graduation...(the vain girl that she is! :p hehe ) We will have to wait until she develops the pics and find the best ones to be posted. I can't believe my little sis has graduated..time definitely flies...I feel sooo old!!

Whilst my family were here...we went summer sale shopping more specifically in Bicester..some good bargains! Next sale to look forward to will be the winter sales if I'm still in London.

During the last few weeks I've been caught up in the longest heatwave i can remember since I've lived in London...Temperatures have been ranging on average at 30 degrees celsius on a regular basis. It's lovely during the weekends but a nightmare travelling to work...tubes,trains and even buses have been a nightmare. Public transport are struggling to cope under the sweltering heat!! When will they put AC on the public transport??!!!

I've also managed to catch up on the movies recently. I watched Superman Returns & Pirates of the Carribean....Superman was alright...there was not much plot going on but i guess it was entertaining enough. If you're a Superman fan you might want to watch it for the special effects but there isn't much of a storyline there.

I think my fav Superman would have to be Christopher Reeves and a close 2nd would be Dean Cain. He was cute in the Superman series with Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane. I remembered watching it when I was a kid and always envious of Teri Hatcher's bob haircut at the time..lol

Pirates of the carribean is my fav movie so far....I love Jack Sparrow...he's hillarious...Some people have complained the story is too long but I enjoyed it. The special effects was amazing..there is a gripping storyline and the ending left you hanging to find out more in the next sequel..Can't wait when that comes out sometime next year.

Lastly, I've been flathunting for a place in London...I'm pretty fed up of moving at the moment..I think I've moved four times in my seven years I've been here in London. I look forward to the day when I will be shipping my stuff back home and flying back to Malaysia for good....

Well wish me luck in finding a place.....until then......

Da Vinci Code

After a long wait ...the movie is out!!!!!!!!!!! It didn't get the best of reviews at the Cannes festival...however.. for all those Dan Brown book lovers out there (myself included) will still have to watch the movie to see if the movie can live up to the book's expectations.
Siape tak gi tengok lagi...wanna watch with me????...........:)

Memoirs of a Geisha

Usually one would read a book before watching the movie but I did the opposite for Memoirs of A Geisha. So which was better?

First of all for those of you who haven't seen it( why not?!!) the basic plot is as follows. The story focuses on the life of a young girl Chiyo who came from a fishing village. Due to her parent's poor health Chiyo and her sister (Satsu) were taken to Kyoto. Chiyo was separated from her sister and was taken in by an okiya owner known as Mother.

Chiyo lived in the okiya with another girl similar to her age called Pumpkin and a Geisha called Hatsumomo. We learn of the struggles Chiyo faced as she is badly bullied by Hatsumomo. Chiyo tried to escape from the okiya to run away with her sister but was unsuccessful.

As her punishment, Chiyo had to serve as a maid to repay her debt to the okiya but a geisha called Mameha came to her rescue and Chiyo ( who later became known as Sayuri) became Mameha's apprentice. The love interest is between Sayuri & the Chairman. I won't spoil the ending for you if you haven't seen it already but I'm sure you can guess what happens.

The movie had wonderful cinematography but I felt there wasn't much chemistry between Zhang Zi Yi and Ken Watanabe( who is cute by the way! i think he was in the Last Samurai ). Fortunately, Gong Li,acted the part of Hatsumomo convincingly.I did sympathise with Hatsumomo because she was so insecure of herself and threatened by Chiyo up to the point that she was willing to make Chiyo's life as miserable as possible.

When you read the book you can "sense" the build up of the tension between the Chairman and Sayuri. I didn't feel the movie managed to recreate this tension in some of the scenes. Another example would be Sayuri's relationship with Mr Nobu.In the book, Sayuri was fond of Nobu in a platonic way but we never see the friendship developing further in the movie.

Some people may say that the book is boring at places because of the slow pace but I would have to disagree. I think this only adds to the atmosphere and mood of the story. The movie had edited many of the scenes in the book which is understandable because there's only so much you can fit in a movie. It is a shame though because personally some of the scenes especially the ones in Sayuri's later life would have added more depth to the movie.

So would I recommend the movie? Yes, even though I felt the movie wasn't as good as I thought it could be, it made me want to read the book. The book is definitely a good read (kept me entertained on my train journey from Slough to London this week!) The writing is brilliant and I felt that I saw a glimpse of the highs and lows of a geisha's life.

I would recommend you to see the movie and read the book too if you haven't already done so. Even if you have already read the book after watching the movie you will want to read it again. :)

The next movie I'm looking forward to is the adaptation of Dan Brown's book "The Da Vinci Code". I hope the director and cast can live up to the high expectations of the book. Watch this space...