America (or even the World?) finally entering the New Millenium

8 years ago, we all observed the turn of the new millenium and harboured our own hopes and dreams for next millenium. We all also wondered - what is there installed for us in the future? Will we eradicate world poverty? Will we maybe pay more attention to global warming? Will the Middle east crisis be solved? Will we, maybe, just maybe achieve some sort of world peace?

Our minds could only wonder and dream for the future then. The idealistic views we had - views that we truly believe could come true. We were energised, and ready to go.

Then came the Bush Administration.

8 years of big steps backwards - an unecessary war into Iraq, a neglect towards not only America's economy, but also the World's economy. A blatant disregard towards the existance of global warming and the world's climate issues. A world food crisis that has been a side dish in many summits, and also world poverty has only become a cast member in what has been a nightmare of a movie. 

All this has culminated to the destruction of the enthusiasm that we had gained previously. Suddenly it seemed bleak - uncertainty clouded our mind, and we could not offer any solution to any of these problems.

Then suddenly, a turning point - the election of Barrack Obama as the president of the United States of America. Suddenly we were energised again - enthusiastic about the future and ready to offer our solutions.

It is truly sad that we have waited 8 years to reach the 'true millenium'. Now, instead of the message of change that many have been preaching - we have actually fulfilled at least some of the hopes we had 8 years ago. Yes, proceed with caution, but for now at least we can smile, and begin to see what's ahead.

The question then arises as to why we are so transfixed about America? Why is it that we assume that their actions will affect the whole world? That is because they do. We all subconciously or not, look to America for hope and inspiration. Because of the media, and because of their and our obsession, every action they take will affect our own lives, our own consicious when they make a mistake. 

I can only hope that Malaysia will break its own shackles. Our country has full of enthusiasm, full of ideas, but with every passing day, we are slowly succumbing to what the world has been for the past 8 years. We have only celebrated our 50 years of independence not more than a couple of years ago, and we should not wait for another 10 years till we fully realise the step forward we need.

Conflict and resolution between our two parties should not get out of hand - each side's view should be heard. Basic civility ought to be instilled in our politicians - we can't afford to act as unpolished humans. The parliament should be treated as a gathering of ideas, rather than a court of trading insults. No one man can solve a country's problems - it needs the input of the whole nation.

It is truly a sad sight to see that we have wasted 8 years to reach our 'true millenium', it would be equally as sad to see us reach our own true independence after wasting several years bickering. I am glad that America has finally chosen the right person - after 8 years of a nightmare, lets now wake up and begin that dream that has eluded us since 2000.

Crash

The word 'racism' is thrown around so accusingly nowadays that at times its meaning is severely neglected. What do we mean by 'racism'? Is it a simple categorisation of one's action, which leans towards a discrimination of another race? Or is it just the direct definition (given by dictionary.com) of:

'a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others'

Is it right for us just to assume safely that these definitions are right? And if so, what interpretation do we have of this definition?

Crash has been labelled a movie about racism, a study of how people of different races in America deal with each other. But is it really? I like to believe that its more on the impressions and perceptions people have on each other. Let me be clear here - not people of different races, but people in general.

It explores the different classes, economical status of every aspect in America and tries at its very best to portray the intepretations that these people have of each other. The movie is made up of many stories - a district attorney's wife who grows increasingly paranoid of the people around her, the district attorney himself, who needs to portray the correct public image. Their door servicer, who looks like one from the mob, but in fact has a loving family. The 2 car thieves, the african american producer, the racist police officer. These stories intertwine and give us an insight as to how they feel about each other, and how they interact.

Take the district attorney's wife (played by Sandra Bullock), who comes back one day after being carjacked. She raises immediate suspicions about their door repair man (who is probably Mexican) who, for all intents and purposes, looks like a man who's just broken out from prison. This makes her uneasy, and she insists to her husband that they fire him. Her husband argues otherwise, but her uneasiness is there to be seen - she cannot change her mind on this.

The question here is this - is she showing signs of 'racism' here? Or is this a natural human instinct that we all feel one way or another?

We talk about eradicating 'racism' in today's society - a feeling that we all should surpress and we should also prevent people from making any statements that might instil these feelings. There have been people who have been accused of being 'racist' should they claim that what they have is better than others.

But let me ask you this - do you not, at times, feel uncomfortable in places which are not similar to the environment of your own home? Do you not feel that maybe, perhaps, your own home is better than others? These feelings are not racism - its a human nature, its part of our own pride and deep instincts.

Like a pigeon placed amongst seagulls - the pigeon will immediately feel uneasy. We as humans, prefer what we believe is normalcy, what we believe is right. We also form our own perceptions and opinions on anything that is foreign. We, naturally, have a defence mechanism for anything different, hence why we reject it so quickly at first.

The script, written by Paul Haggis, is effective at making us think about these issues carefully. It provokes discussion rather than feelings, but there are truly some heart wrenching moments in the movie. The movie never stops, moving from one discussion point to another - forcing us to question each and every character's action.

Crash is not a movie about racism, but rather about perception, impressions and our own human nature. We should look at the word 'racism' more carefully, and be sure to define and interpret it correctly. There are certain feelings that we generally brand as 'racist' but ask yourself this - is it 'racism' or is it human nature?

Note: 1) I decided to review this after discussing this movie and other issues related to it recently.
2) Look at Sandra Bullock's character more carefully - it is perhaps the biggest key to all the stories. Our own human feelings.

Of Governance and Democracy

Has anyone read lately about Pakatan Rakyat's promise to the people that we will have another General Election within 6 months to a year should they come into power on 16th Sept? (If not, you can read it here)

The reason stated by Pakatan is to ensure that their coming to power is 'democratic' and 'ethical'.

Is this what our country needs? Another debate or assurance that we have behaved in the most correct political manner?

Maybe I am mistaken, but isn't the economy doing badly? Don't we currently need more action than procedural debates?

This sudden announcement follows the fact that the parliament is in recess for Rahmadan. I most duly respect the holy month of which the Muslims observe, as in many respects, I believe that their cause is indeed extremely noble. But why is it that the workers in the private sector continue working but yet the government deems it necessary to take a break?

To quote Dr Mahathir in his recent blog post about holidays in Malaysia:

'I believe, but I may be wrong, that when you are trying to catch up with someone running ahead of you, you must run faster than him. We have this great ambition to become a developed country. If we move slower than our objective can we catch up? I think we cannot.'

Lets ask ourselves this question - what are we striving for? And what should we do to achieve those goals?

We have spent the past few months after the March elections debating about the right way to go about things. Yes, I do agree that its necessary that one day, and I repeat, one day, we look into these things carefully. However, for this moment, in times of economic and political uncertainty, we need our politicians to provide us concrete actions that help the people.

In Africa, there are many countries that seem to practice aggresive politics - in which one coup happens after another. In Malaysia, we seem to be at the other end of the spectrum - we seem to believe in somewhat lethargic governance - believing in getting the political process right first before figuring out our own economical development.

If Pakatan is to come to power in Sept 16th, I do hope that after nearly 2 years of making sure every process is 'democratic' and 'ethical', our politicians actually remember how to govern.

Pause for thought?

I've been looking around on the net lately for 'Fantasia', the 1940 version of course - but there's been tremendous difficulty finding it - and even when I do, its ridiculously expensive! Why is this so? Is this because there's a lack of interest in the movie? Or has Disney decided to saturate the market?

I would like to believe its the latter rather than the former - it would be rather sad if it was indeed the former as I do feel at times there's a lack of appreciation for anything 'artistic' in a sense in this modern world. We are so caught up in everything always having a point, or watching movies that rush us through to the end that at the end of the day, we fail to sit, watch, and appreciate.

There are scenes in movies are made to lack any 'points'. They are there for us just to admire and at times to watch in awe. And if we're lucky, it does have a point - but after we have thoroughly thought it through. And this is by far the beauty of all these movies - it makes us pause, just enough, to allow us to think.

So many movies come into mind - the most notable (aside from Fantasia, which has been mentioned), is 2001: A Space Odyssey. The whole beauty of the movie is its lack of spoken narration, and also the room it gives us to ponder over our thoughts about the movie. It has a sense of aesthetic ness that is difficult to achieve while also attempting a truly unique and revolutionary style of film making.

A more modern epic we could relate to is There Will be Blood. What works here is the music - it drives the movie, and the narration.

Its a pity at times to see people walking out of a cinema questioning a movie's motives - sometimes we should sit there and appreciate and enjoy the beauty that is being produced. Rarely do we get those opportunities, and we should treasure them when we do.

Disney's Fantasia-Symphony No. 6 (part 1)


Disney's Fantasia-Symphony No. 6 (part 2)


Disney's Fantasia-Symphony No. 6 (part 3)

Long Hiatus

Hola people!

Sorry, it's been a long while since I've updated (not that I have that wide a readership anyways), but I shall be updating more often soon! This is because exams are over, I'm now enjoying my holidays, etc.

Look forward to more updates..

Lost in Translation

In the first few scenes of Lost in Translation, we are introduced to Bob Harris, an actor, who is now in Tokyo topromote a Japanese whisky. He is brought over to a studio to film its advert, and we are, like him, immediately plunged into a world of confusion. His inner thoughts must he going 'what on earth is going on?'. The video above shows that scene - and we are very much like him. There are no subtitles for us to understand the director's words - it is vital to the movie that we are placed in his shoes immediately.

Lost in Translation is one of those gems which you find and keep it in your heart forever. I had often neglected to begin to watch this as I never deemed it as important as many other films but boy, I now have that sense of regret that I didn't watch this earlier. This is truly a fantastic film, and it is definitely one of the best of all time.

We all, as humans, have this urge to do some soul searching at certain points in our lives - we are never sure what we want, and we are never sure whether the dream we are pursuing will ever be lived. The film, talks about two characters, specific characters, at specific points in their lives - one who's just gotten married, and graduated recently, and another who's perhaps at a midlife crisis - unsure as to how to proceed.

They both meet at a hotel bar in Tokyo due to their insomnia, and they strike up a friendship - at times intimate. Together they travel round the city, encounter many different things about the country, and they at the very same time try to ease through the cultural shock they have, together.



Whats unique about their relationship is how they're essentially going through the same conundrum, even though one is more experienced than the other. You would expect Bill Murray's character, Bob Harris, to be able to provide Charlotte (played by Scarlett Johansson), with all the answers and be able to guide her through this. He doesn't, because regardless whether you're 20, or 50, that feeling of being lost is the same - there isn't a quick fix - it is something that they have to figure out for themselves.

Sofia Coppola does such a fantastic job of tying the whole movie together - the situations, the characters, etc. She manages to create certain comedic moments without having to force the script too much, but rather by trusting in the situations she has around her. Look at this scene, in which Charlotte observes the video game culture in Japan:



It is done with perfection - these are things I see everyday, and I don't really find much humour in it, but we see this through Charlotte's eyes. And yes, although it might sound rather condescending, we have had our moments in which we certain occurrences in one's culture and laugh.

Bill Murray here deserves a special mention here, as he's done a superb job portraying Bob Harris. He does just enough to portray a man who's rather mellow, but yet very sarcastic and funny at the same time. Any other actor might have overplayed this role - but he pulls it off to perfection.

Lost in Translation is about two things - it is initially about the cultural shock that we all face when we visit a country. Many people talk about it, and attempt to prevent it by taking certain measures, but in practice, no one realises how much it hits us. Secondly, it is about the very specific points in our lives that we are lost in a certain transition that we are making - may it be Charlotte, who is the young ambitious type who hasn't got a clue on what she wants to do, or Bob, who's at perhaps the end of his career, and isn't to sure how to proceed. We will all eventually go through that, and there are no easy ways out of it.

This film is one to treasure, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Rating: 4.5/5

New Beginnings

Its difficult to explain really why I started this blog, as I have been playing around with the idea for a few months now. I'm not into the idea of publicising my feelings online, as I feel that should be kept personal. I suppose it would be the idea that I would have the opportunity to express my own opinions about things I see then and now - films in particular.

My tenure in CUMaS is ending soon, and I get this feeling that I'll need another outlet of my own to express opinions I have on movies, certain short clips I've seen, certain pieces of music as well in fact. This doesn't mean that I will stop contributing to the CUMaS Movies blog, I will, its just that I believe that with this blog, I'll have the chance to be more informal about things.

I think as of date, there has been a lack of activity on the movies blog from me and my partner, Yew Hong. While one of us has been rather busy, I felt on my part, I had lost the drive to write any reviews on any movies I had been watching. Its not so much laziness (though I must admit, that is a small factor!), but rather a feeling from me that felt that I needed a break from it all - and begin to appreciate some of the previous movies that I'd watch.

This occurred to me as I was watching Ratatouille over the summer, and the ending for me really stuck with me for the last few months. For those of you who have watched the movie, there is this critic, Anton Ego, who makes, for me, one of the most heartfelt speeches about not just critics, but about anyone in general.



He talks about how we tend to enjoy criticising others, but we never truly appreciate what we do admire. We are quick to say that one is 'bad' but we never truly go to someone and say 'you're a fantastic person'. It was then, that I realised that to appreciate something is more valuable than to know everything - as it gives you that much more joy and a better sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

(On a side note - this is partially the reason why Ratatouille is for me, regarded as one the best films last year)

Anyways, it is the new year, and I hope you all enjoy what there is to read on this blog. I will kick it off by providing you all a review for one of the most delightful reviews I have ever watched - Lost in Translation.