Sunday, April 13, 2008

Street Kings + Driving Lessons

Is it just me or the weather is weird these days and you get sick easily? I have been on drugs on and off for the past 3 weeks and I suppose it will continue because I've been sneezing often these days. Anyway, let's talk about usual stuffs now. Movies.

Went to watch Street Kings with la Gioia yesterday. Actually I wasn't that interested in the movie, even though there's Keanu Reeves in it. I just wasn't in the mood for action movies. But la Gioia said she wanted to watch something, and suddenly Keanu Reeves seemed appealing again, so I chose to watch Street Kings. I only found it to be so-so though. Maybe I was tired but I was very very sleepy during the movie and was hoping that it would end quickly. The story was basically about bad cops and Keanu played this wild-on-his-own cop who apparently didn't know what's really going on around him. I found him to be fatter in this movie but I can still fall for Keanu Reeves. A lot of cursing in the movie and it's kinda hard to understand what these Americans are saying and these things really didn't help to get me more interested in the movie. The actors were okay, I suppose. Forest Whitaker reminded me of the manic him in The Last King of Scotland. Maybe because he played another evil character. Overall it was just alright for me. I'm not too excited about it.

Had a huge banana split after the movie and I do wonder why I just don't care about the things that I eat. I eat, I eat, and I eat. One of these days, I'm totally gonna regret doing this.

Arrived in my room at 6 plus yesterday. Was very sleepy and did manage to do a few stuff. Not as complete as I would have liked it, but in between counseling and small talk, I think I did okay. At least a major part was completed. Called home 'cause it's been a while since I talked to mom. Miss home much. Talked to my cousin just now and I really miss all the the things that I miss by being here. You really can't have it all in life.

Watched Driving Lessons later during the night and I have to write this because it was really really good. I first heard about this movie, when me and Vivy was in The Cathay watching something, perhaps Magorium. Didn't manage to watch it last year because as I recall its release date was the same day as when I was going home. Didn't really hear much about the movie after that. We thought it was just gone and done, but a quick look in IMDB just now showed that the release date for Singapore is 24 April 2008. I don't know if it's true, but if it is, go and watch it peeps. Vivy being the amazing her managed to get this movie and I'm glad she did.

Driving Lessons is a British movie, starring Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley in Harry Potter), Laura Linney (if you watch movies a lot, you will know her), and I have to mention Julie Walters (who apparently played Ron Weasley's mom in Harry Potter). I have to mention those 3 people, because they are really the force behind the movie. The story told about Rupert's character Ben, who is a son of a priest who had a mother (Laura Linney's character) who tried to keep a good and perfect facade all the time (think of Bree in Desperate Housewives peeps). Being brought up in such a Christian family with a very demanding mother, Ben did turn out a bit weird. I suppose because choices and freedom to explore were never given to him and his mother was very very strict in her reign that even his kind and understanding father couldn't fight much. Ben then found a job as an assistant to an old actress, ironically it was because his mom asked him to find a job so that he could use the money to help a bum living in their house. The old actress (Julie Walters) with her antics really forced Ben to get out of his shell and be crazy for a while. It really opened him out as he tried drinking for the first time, driving without license, kissing a girl, and losing his virginity (which kinda bothered me a bit) In the end, he somewhat found that he was a person who can choose what he wanted to be and it was up to him, it's not about what other people tell him to do or about rules. I feel that there's a lot of sides and things that move you in this movie. I even enjoyed the preach Ben's dad gave in the church about Christianity, I found it to be so true. Thanks to IMDB, I can paste it here for you, "Ask yourselves this question; How is a person truly free until they can think and act for themselves? God gave us free will so that we could choose His love. You see, He wanted us to understand our commitment. To be grown up about it. If you ask me, "Am I Christian?", I say to you, if you strive to do good, then you're a Christian. If you don't seek to hurt or betray others, you're a Christian. If you're true to yourself and treat others as you'd have them treat you, you're a Christian. The more a person parades their Christianity for the benefit of other, the less I'm inclined to trust the Christianity they claim to bring. God tells us, true faith is the freedom to choose truth. Now, how you express that, the way, the manner, the means at your disposal, these things are of no consequence, be you Christian or Atheist - unless in your heart you are true."

The actors themselves were great. I've always liked Rupert Grint the most in Harry Potter. I thought he was great there and I thought he was really really good in this movie. I thought his portrayal of the simple, humble, soft and kind-hearted Ben to be stellar. You would really fall for Ben. He really exuded the nice boy persona. Maybe I should ask Vivy to get December Boys so that we can compare how good he and Daniel Radcliffe are outside Potter. I have a feeling Rupert is much better. Laura Linney was good. She reminded me of her character in The Nanny Diaries. Then Julie Walters was great. Watching her in Potter you can't really tell that she was a great actress but she was. Amazing actress. So peeps, if you get the chance to watch it, go and give this movie a watch.

On life, well life has been tiring for me. I wish I could sleep better. I don't sleep well except during weekends and so I get cranky and tired and headaches a lot during the week days. My weekend is good because I got to relax and sleep well and be alone without anyone to bother me. People do bother me sometime but that's also because they have problems. So I guess everyone's life, or at least many that I know, are not that rosy either (except for Rista who is having the time of her life) *sigh* I miss home much. I miss eating nice food and talking to people about other things and enjoying Indonesian stuff. Friday night, I had a nice-of-no-importance talk with Rista, while watching some Indonesian tv and I like that. I like the fact that I could tell her certain stuff which I couldn't tell anyone else. Perhaps I could but I guess they wouldn't understand and somehow whether you understand or not come with your life experience and I don't really know many people with similar life experience as mine. Vivy fits in many things but on some things we also go through different things, for example: the dynamic of our days are quite different. Anyway, I should stop about talking about me because this week I realize that many people are having it harder. Off the bat, I can mention 3 people with difficult things to deal with right now. I wish them all the best. Some of them will have their misery sorted out soon, some will take some time. I really wish them all the best and I hope I could be there as much as they need me to. Good night my darlings!

:) eKa @ 9:02:00 PM •