Music: Supermassive Black Hole by Muse
I wanted to write about Seoul, but then I changed my mind. That would require some effort and I'm in a lazy mood, as always.
I've been watching movies non-stop for many days now, this sudden mood probably triggered by the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) last week. Its an annual affair, and I went to watch three, including a Malaysian movie. I said to myself, this is the closest I can ever get to something like the Cannes Film Festival.. so I might as well just join in on the fun. Hahaha. One can dream .
First we watched a movie shot in Israel by a Iranian father-son duo, titled The Gardener I knew it was a religious movie from the synopsis, but what I didn't know was that it was a self-discovery-exploration sort of documentary, and the religion is the Baha'i faith. Granted, it was a super slow documentary. Was a bit boring at times, but it was ok in general. I first knew about the Baha'i when I visited one of its temples, if I can call it that, somewhere nearby Chicago, probably about 9 or 10 years ago. Oh god I feel so old saying "10 years ago". And then last year when I went to New Delhi, we saw another Baha'i temple from far, and decided not to go in because we were lazy and also rushing for time. What was said about the faith in the movie are the things that I already know, what I didn't know was that there are at least 700,000 people in Iran who embraces the faith. The Iranian govt. censors it, which is not that surprising to know. After the movie ended, the father and son made an appearance, answered some questions, and I talked to the son later afterwords. He explicitly said that the young generation in Iran now are sick of the govt, the censors, the many restrictions imposed, and how everything is associated with religion. I wanted to know whether it was only his opinion (he's 30 years old, quite handsome), he said yes. He said, "me and my friends". I'm not sure how far I should believe. But I'll just keep an open mind for now. Ok I've sort of gotten off topic here. Back to the movie, it centered around the life of a guy who came from Papua New Guinea to work and serve at a Baha'i temple Israel, and the place has the most beautiful garden I've ever seen. So the movie explored the role of religion in human life and in this world, specifically politics and war. The father is more forgiving whereas the son is sort of sceptical, I also think he's sort of an atheist (both of them were in the movie too). So in a way, the movie tried to discuss the clash or difference of opinions between two generations. Quite interesting actually.
I've always hated gardening. I couldn't understand why would anyone enjoy this hobby (the young mind doesn't understand many things). But a few times last year, I had to spend some days watering the plants in my house garden, whenever my parents were out of town or traveling somewhere. And you know what, watering plants sort of made me feel rather peaceful, and small. You see, I started thinking about how these plants would die/wither if they don't get enough water.. You'd think the heavy rains in Malaysia would be sufficient, but its not. Rain don't come everyday. I was responsible for their 'life'. I couldn't go out before I watered them, and I also couldn't go to bed before I watered them. It seems petty but its actually not. And then I sort of could see how the plants become more 'alive' the moment the water drops come into contact with the leaves. Beautiful. Gives me a wonderful feeling. Or maybe its just my imagination. I start to think how they'd become dull and lifeless if I missed a day not watering them. I start to think, not only humans are trying to survive in this world. It sounds obvious though and also corny. But how often do you think about the other living beings in this world other than humans? We are so caught up and centered with our lives and we take animals and plants for granted. Its true. So I thought, maybe gardening is not such a bad hobby after all, and why so many people do it. But I'm not saying that I'm taking gardening anytime soon. I'm still a lazy person. Anyway, reason I'm writing about this now is because I remembered this feelings and thoughts that I had when I watched this documentary.
Damn I wrote longer than I expected to write about this movie. Moving on.
The second movie we watched was titled Horses of God. Set in Casablanca, Morocco, about how poor kids in slums were indoctrinated by the Al-Qaeda to become suicide-bombers post Sept. 11. I've seen something like this before, nothing in the movie was surprising, but it was enjoyable nevertheless. The third movie...ahhhh... lets show some support to our fellow countrymen. Its called, If It's Not Now, Then When? Directed by James Lee (never heard of him before), scenes shot in KL.. actors were Chinese.. in fact, they spoke Mandarin. There were subtitles of course. Slow movie, imagine the Chinese version of Sepet.. or any of Yasmin Ahmad's movies. At first everything seemed pointless.. but the twist at the very last end was... yeahh... totally twisted!!! and all the previous scenes made sense, and it explained the title of the movie. Hahaha. There were explicit scenes of kissing (tongues and all), touching, BJs.. by Malaysian standards, and even a naked scene of a man and a woman on the bed, post-procreation haha. I can see the guy's balls, not to mention his ass as well. Either this is not really a new thing and I've been living under a coconut shell in my own country, or this is something revolutionary (in terms of daring-ness) when it comes to the Malaysian movies. I dunno. But I do know I wouldn't have had any chance to watch this if I were back home.
Other movies that I've watched since, in the comfort of my room, are:
The Avengers
The Lucky One
Friends with Kids
The Vow
One for the Money
Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding
Being Flynn
..and then some new glee, greys anatomy, himym and big bang theory episodes hihi.
85.71% of the movies are chick flicks hahahaha. Bring out the popcorn! Homework and assignments can wait ;p
I wanted to write about Seoul, but then I changed my mind. That would require some effort and I'm in a lazy mood, as always.
I've been watching movies non-stop for many days now, this sudden mood probably triggered by the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) last week. Its an annual affair, and I went to watch three, including a Malaysian movie. I said to myself, this is the closest I can ever get to something like the Cannes Film Festival.. so I might as well just join in on the fun. Hahaha. One can dream .
First we watched a movie shot in Israel by a Iranian father-son duo, titled The Gardener I knew it was a religious movie from the synopsis, but what I didn't know was that it was a self-discovery-exploration sort of documentary, and the religion is the Baha'i faith. Granted, it was a super slow documentary. Was a bit boring at times, but it was ok in general. I first knew about the Baha'i when I visited one of its temples, if I can call it that, somewhere nearby Chicago, probably about 9 or 10 years ago. Oh god I feel so old saying "10 years ago". And then last year when I went to New Delhi, we saw another Baha'i temple from far, and decided not to go in because we were lazy and also rushing for time. What was said about the faith in the movie are the things that I already know, what I didn't know was that there are at least 700,000 people in Iran who embraces the faith. The Iranian govt. censors it, which is not that surprising to know. After the movie ended, the father and son made an appearance, answered some questions, and I talked to the son later afterwords. He explicitly said that the young generation in Iran now are sick of the govt, the censors, the many restrictions imposed, and how everything is associated with religion. I wanted to know whether it was only his opinion (he's 30 years old, quite handsome), he said yes. He said, "me and my friends". I'm not sure how far I should believe. But I'll just keep an open mind for now. Ok I've sort of gotten off topic here. Back to the movie, it centered around the life of a guy who came from Papua New Guinea to work and serve at a Baha'i temple Israel, and the place has the most beautiful garden I've ever seen. So the movie explored the role of religion in human life and in this world, specifically politics and war. The father is more forgiving whereas the son is sort of sceptical, I also think he's sort of an atheist (both of them were in the movie too). So in a way, the movie tried to discuss the clash or difference of opinions between two generations. Quite interesting actually.
I've always hated gardening. I couldn't understand why would anyone enjoy this hobby (the young mind doesn't understand many things). But a few times last year, I had to spend some days watering the plants in my house garden, whenever my parents were out of town or traveling somewhere. And you know what, watering plants sort of made me feel rather peaceful, and small. You see, I started thinking about how these plants would die/wither if they don't get enough water.. You'd think the heavy rains in Malaysia would be sufficient, but its not. Rain don't come everyday. I was responsible for their 'life'. I couldn't go out before I watered them, and I also couldn't go to bed before I watered them. It seems petty but its actually not. And then I sort of could see how the plants become more 'alive' the moment the water drops come into contact with the leaves. Beautiful. Gives me a wonderful feeling. Or maybe its just my imagination. I start to think how they'd become dull and lifeless if I missed a day not watering them. I start to think, not only humans are trying to survive in this world. It sounds obvious though and also corny. But how often do you think about the other living beings in this world other than humans? We are so caught up and centered with our lives and we take animals and plants for granted. Its true. So I thought, maybe gardening is not such a bad hobby after all, and why so many people do it. But I'm not saying that I'm taking gardening anytime soon. I'm still a lazy person. Anyway, reason I'm writing about this now is because I remembered this feelings and thoughts that I had when I watched this documentary.
Damn I wrote longer than I expected to write about this movie. Moving on.
The second movie we watched was titled Horses of God. Set in Casablanca, Morocco, about how poor kids in slums were indoctrinated by the Al-Qaeda to become suicide-bombers post Sept. 11. I've seen something like this before, nothing in the movie was surprising, but it was enjoyable nevertheless. The third movie...ahhhh... lets show some support to our fellow countrymen. Its called, If It's Not Now, Then When? Directed by James Lee (never heard of him before), scenes shot in KL.. actors were Chinese.. in fact, they spoke Mandarin. There were subtitles of course. Slow movie, imagine the Chinese version of Sepet.. or any of Yasmin Ahmad's movies. At first everything seemed pointless.. but the twist at the very last end was... yeahh... totally twisted!!! and all the previous scenes made sense, and it explained the title of the movie. Hahaha. There were explicit scenes of kissing (tongues and all), touching, BJs.. by Malaysian standards, and even a naked scene of a man and a woman on the bed, post-procreation haha. I can see the guy's balls, not to mention his ass as well. Either this is not really a new thing and I've been living under a coconut shell in my own country, or this is something revolutionary (in terms of daring-ness) when it comes to the Malaysian movies. I dunno. But I do know I wouldn't have had any chance to watch this if I were back home.
Other movies that I've watched since, in the comfort of my room, are:
The Avengers
The Lucky One
Friends with Kids
The Vow
One for the Money
Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding
Being Flynn
..and then some new glee, greys anatomy, himym and big bang theory episodes hihi.
85.71% of the movies are chick flicks hahahaha. Bring out the popcorn! Homework and assignments can wait ;p
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