Brian Chan's blog

Glee S02E18 Born this way T-shirt titles

Kurt: Likes Boys
Brittany: I’m With Stoopid (Arrow Up)
Puck: I’m With Stupid (Arrow Down)
Mike: Can’t Sing
Artie: Four Eyes
Rachael: Nose
Finn: Can’t Dance
Sam: Trouty Mouth
Tina: Brown Eyes
Quinn: Lucy Caboosey
Mercedes: No Weave
Santana: Bitch (originally), then Lebanese (from Brittany)
Lauren: Bad Attitude
Mr. Schuester: Butt Chin
Emma: O.C.D. (obsessive compulsive disorder)

I heard about this movie from my cousin, and how much she loved it. Since she also liked Twilight so much, I was thinking it was just another cheezy disney teenager romance movie. Nevertheless I gave it a shot. Quite to my surprise, this animation captured my attention from the get go.

From just the outside, the story seems somewhat parallel to the snow white classic movie, where the princess is trapped in a tower by an old evil lady, and then the prince comes with a white horse. I guess that similarity is intentional.

What really got me was the psychology behind the old lady, and the true feelings from the girl (the main character). It’s so real that every little thing in the movie makes perfect sense…

Sorry for being vague, but I really hope you will take time to watch this movie. I highly recommend this to all my friends. It is definitely worth your time!

This movie is called <<第36個故事>> Taipei Exchange. For those of you who don’t read Chinese, those Chinese characters mean “The 36th Story”. Why 36? Um… you got to watch it… I don’t want to spoil it here.

Chinese movies don’t often explicitly express the director’s view. If you grow up with a lot of western movies then you may feel a little lost watching this.

Overall I like the camera angles and also that, the story slightly touches many life issues. There is no big arguments nor dramatic moments for sure. If you are looking for a light, open-ended, and not-serious movie, this could be it.

第36個故事 -電影預告
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B11NvQSsj8

For those of you who still have lots of questions after watching Inception, I found a very nice site that compiles many questions and answers. Here it is!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/faq

This picture helps explain the different levels in the inception missions.

The original big version

source: CinemaBlend

中国禁闻 – 当局禁播 <蜗居> 网民指怕出大乱
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH8Hj_Lr-FM

More info in Chinese (pretty detailed):
http://www.hudong.com/wiki/%E8%9C%97%E5%B1%85%5B%E7%94%B5%E8%A7%86%E5%89%A7%5D

I wasn’t really expecting much at the beginning of this movie. After all, I am more used to the japanese animes kind of drawing. Ten minutes into the movie, I almost wanted to turn it off, but was too lazy to do so in my chair. After a while I found myself fascinated by the artistic drawing of it. Lucky me this movie turned out to be quite good. Kinda reminds me of Caroline. Ooops… I meant, Coraline.

The setting is quite simple. I will let wikipedia do the honor:

The story is set in the ninth century. Obsessed with building a mighty wall to keep marauding Viking raiders from destroying the Monastery of Kells, Abbot Cellach expects his young nephew Brendan to follow in his footsteps. Brendan has apprenticed in the scriptorium of the monastery and has heard the story of Aidan of Iona, a master illustrator. Later, Aidan himself comes to the monastery, accompanied by his cat Pangerbon. Aidan has escaped from the Vikings who have destroyed his own monastery, and has brought the Book of Kells he is working on. Aidan shows Brendan the beauty of art and stimulates his creativity and fantasy. His eyes and hands are failing, and he needs Brendan to assist. Brendan is forbidden to leave the monastery, but Aidan sends him into the forest to look for gall nuts to make ink. A faerie/wolf spirit, Aisling, introduces him to a wider world. Brendan needs to stand up to his uncle and face his greatest fears in his quest to complete the book.

Well, if it was too much to read, here is a simpler list:
Brendan: The main character, the boy, you cannot miss him.
Cellach: Brendan’s uncle, the very tall guy in red, thinking about building the city wall the whole time.
Aidan: The older man with the book, somewhat like a mentor to Brendan.
Pangerbon: Aidan’s white cat, the name is not important.
Aisling: The girl with long white hair in the forest.

Just to keep in mind that the overarching conflict/struggle in the movie is the tension between finishing the book and building the city wall.

You can read a more detailed review by A. O. Scott at NY Times. But you probably don’t want to spoil yourself too much beforehand.

The Secret of Kells – Disney Trailer from Cartoon Saloon on Vimeo.

I really want to watch 歲月神偷! It got 4 awards at 第二十九屆香港電影金像獎. Here is its description on wikipedia.

《歲月神偷》（英語：Echoes of the Rainbow）是2009年港產片，導演羅啟銳，監製張婉婷，由任達華和吳君如等主演。2010年2月榮獲第60屆柏林影展最佳影片水晶熊獎。其中一個主要外景是上環永利街。《歲月神偷》是一套劇情片，描寫一家香港人如何面對環境的改變，將光陰比喻為偷走身邊很多美好東西的小偷。該片由電影發展基金資助拍製。
劇情中的以一個四人家庭為骨幹，父親（任達華飾）開設一家造鞋舖，母親（吳君如飾）是推銷員。長子羅進一,Desmond（李治廷飾）是成績優異的拔萃男書院學生，與拔萃女書院學生Flora（蔡穎恩飾）談戀愛。

Here is a little trailer preview of it:

This movie aptly depicts the conflicts between different generations, along with the desire to protect what’s dear to each family members. It’s one of those deep and thought-provoking movies that I am proud of telling others about, coz it’s made in Hong Kong yo! Go watch it now!

BTW, the cyber police did a good job hunting down the torrents.

Just heard from a friend about this movie called “Freedom Writers“. I then went on to watch the trailer… wow… I mean, first of all it’s a true story. Second… you just gotta watch it!

It’s about gang fights and racial tensions. This teacher was committed to place herself in it to make a difference. It’s easy to say, but you will get a much better idea the kind of life-or-death risk she placed herself in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0PRB4YsXn4

And yes, I just bought the DVD.

This is a funny little clip. You need to have watched Pixar’s “Up” to understand the humor of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF5KWMX3u4Y&feature=player_embedded