The pictures are courtesy of Joanne Lim, of course.
Click: here
So anyway, the outing was at Sunway - to be exact, Sunway Pyramid.
Ellya and I reached there at around 10:35, I think? No one was here yet; well no one involved in our outing. Figures.
It was quite crowded for a weekday morning, come to think of it. Ellya and I went around leaning on railings, seating on chairs, walking into shops waiting. Soon, Xin You arrived.
Ellya really wanted to watch Twilight (don't tell me you haven't heard of it), but the only shows were at 11:00 and the next one at 3:30. She wasn't going to wait for the 3:30 show. So Ellya and Xin You went off to the movies. I was supposed to follow but nah, I decided to them some alone time.
I began wandering about the mall for about half an hour or so.
Then, I got a call from Joanne. She just arrived and was still in the carpark! We agreed to meet at Starbucks Coffee. So went over the the one underneath the Pyramid, you know at the large entrance drop-off place? After not seeing anyone who looked like a "Joanne" for about five minutes, I got another call from her.
Apparently, there are two Starbucks Coffee in Sunway Pyramid - I never knew.
I told her to stay where she was and I'd go look for the other coffee outlet. Then I had to traverse across three floors (going both up and down), look at three directories (they only show outlets on their respective floors) just to get there.
As I was approaching the place, I wanted to try something really cool that I've never actually done before. I wanted to sneak up behind her (well, not right behind her but within sight) and sms her, "Turn around." It's so Eagle Eye, I know.
I already had the phone in my hand. Now, all I had to do was find her.
Then suddenly out of nowhere, a high-pitched voice that screams innocence cried, "BERNARD SAM!"
I turned around and there I saw Joanne running towards me. I chuckled and said her name back. She hugged me and I hugged back. It was great meeting her again - and we had the whole day to catch up!
We both really needed something to eat. We didn't breakfast and it was turning twelve soon. Hana and Chris would be coming later at 1:30. I called Johnathan and he said he would be there by 11:35. I looked at my watch and it read 11:39. I informed him, then he said 11:55.
Terribly sorry Johnathan, but we had no time to lose - and we were starving.
Joanne chose, Subway. I've never eaten there before and I was willing to try. Joanne says they're really good! So off we went to look for a Subway restaurant.
We found one eventually on the Lower Ground2 floor. I've never exactly stepped inside a Subway before, so I wasn't exactly sure of what or how to order the meals. Joanne let me go first 'cause I think she already had something in mind for herself.
First, you choose the type of bread. I really couldn't decide, so the guy recommended the Parmesan Oregano. Next up, the meats. I went for the Tuna Sandwich. They put some cheese over it before melting the cheese. Then, the vegie bits - loads of lettuce and onions for me. Finally, the guy asked for which sauces I would like. I never thought tuna and sauces could go together, but oh what the heck. I chose the mayonnaise and barbecue sauces. I went for the Value Meal, which included a regular drink and chips!
Joanne was right behind me. Strangely, there weren't many people in here. When I was waiting for my order to be done, Joanne had just reached Step 2 - Meats. She told me she would usually go for the Chicken Teriyaki, but she wanted something different this time. So she asked for the Turkey. Apparently, they provide two types of turkey: Turkey Breast and Turkey Ham. Joanne almost instantly ordered the Turkey Breast, and she kept elaborating it!
Before Joanne could reach the counter, I ordered her a drink and told the man manning the cashier I'd be paying for the lot.
I took our orders and Joanne went to to drink counter to get our drinks filled. We sat over at one of those side-tables where the seats were stuck to the wall and obviously look more comfortable than the regular seats which were not stuck to the walls.
When I ordered the chips, I thought they were french fries-chips. They weren't. They were in fact potato chips-chips. Weird.
We used this time to catch up - before this, we haven't seen each other for months. Then suddenly Joanne took out her SLR. Woa, where'd that monster of a camera come from; lenses and all?! From her handbag. How'd that fit in there? Anyway, she started taking pictures of me eating; I never knew I looked that eating.
As were finishing our meals, I got a call from Johnathan. He was already here but he was with his friends, so he wouldn't be able to meet us at Subway. It was 12:15.
A few moments later, he called again. He said his friends ditched him and he was free to come to subway. Joanne and I cheered! Soon after, he found his way here and he bought himself lunch. We all had a couple of laughs and catching up all around.
Right after, we decided to walk around and find out what we could do while waiting for the movie (or Hana and Chris). We had ice-skating and bowling in mind. Then we went to MPH to read a little to help burn the time.
We found the most amazing book ever. Lose Weight! Get Laid! Find God!: The All-In-One Life Planner.
Sure it's a little too mature, but man you have to admit it's funny. I assure you, you will laugh your pants off.
Johnathan and I were considering on buying it, but we had other matters to attend to.
It was going to be 1:15 soon, so we went to the movies to buy the tickets first. The line for the ticketing counter was massively long.
So in the line, we had a huge discussion (which you could say at the loudness we were at, that everyone there was involved in) about what movie to watch. We were still very far from the counter. Joanne wanted to call Hana and/or Chris to find out what they would like to watch and where they were. Apparently only one of us had signal - only Joanne had signal.
Then Joanne went out of the line to make the call. Johnathan assured her that she'll be able to make it back in. After the call, she just walked in. He was right! I guess the world isn't as mean as you think it might be.
Very soon, Hana and Chris walked up to us in line. We exchanged greetings and they hopped in line. Before this I have never met Chris. He's from Joanne's new school, see. From the moment we shook hands, I could tell we'd be friends for a long time.
So anyway, we all agreed on watching Transporter 3. Then I saw the screen - it was rated 18SG. Dang.
Johnathan just told all of us to keep quiet. We could make it. We walked up to the counter and no one spoke. I broke the silence by asking for five tickets for the movie (Ellya said she wouldn't be watching with us). The unfriendly man said, "Eighteen." I was like, "Oh, then could we have five tickets for The Day the Earth Stood Still, please?" He was very unclear on where we would be seating and which seats were available or unavailable. So anyway, I saw the only five yellow coloured squares and thanked him. He smiled - I was probably the first friendly guy he'd met for the day.
Johnathan said we would've made it if I had jut kept my mouth shut. I have a pretty kiddy voice, strangely. Haha! So begins the sarcastic remarks from both Johnathan and I throughout the outing.
The movie would be starting at 3:00 and we had time to spare. Everyone was here, and we met up with Ellya & Xin You. Johnathan really wanted to skate, so the ice-skating rink was our first stop. We lost Ellya and Xin You on the way there - they must've wanted some alone time. *wink wink.
Johnathan desperately wanted to ice-skate, really bad. All of us, weren't really feeling it. After trying to decide whether or not we should skate, eventually we went off to the bowling alleys. There was a competition going on over there - we could see players wearing shirts with MALAYSIA and SINGAPORE on them. Even so, there were still empty alleys here and there.
We went to the counter (gosh, I've typed counter a number of times already, haven't I?) and the lady told us that the alleys were all full. Pft, yeah right.
Then, archery popped up in my mind. I remembered seeing an archery range somewhere around, so I brought it up. We all agreed and went out of the place. Then, right outside to the left was the archery range. Didn't notice it on the way in.
We bought this package giving all of us 30 arrows each. I think during this time we had accumulated the most photos for the outing - the link is at the very beginning of this blog post.
Not shown in the photos, was Johnathan's screen. One of his shots had impaled the camera. The screen went black partially and lost colour. I shot an arrow right above the camera blocking the view on my C rings - and that's were all my shots were! In the end, I had five bullseyes, five instances where two or more arrows were shot in the same bit of the board and four arrows shot out of the board. Interesting, no?
Right after, Ellya and Xin You dropped by and bought arrows of their own. Just as they were about to start, we ended and were ready to go off for the movies. Sorry, Ellie. *snicker.
We realised we still had time when we were at the cinema, so we went into the arcade. We ended up just seeing all the consoles.
Then off we went to the cinema to buy our snacks before entering Hall 4. The trailers and adverts. had already started rolling and there were loads of people inside. We quickly got to our seats which consisted of two rows with two on one and three on one. Johnathan and Hana took the bottom row while the rest of us took the three seats above.
Then The Day the Earth Stood Still began.
Here are my thoughts:
While it's a remake of a classic film, it's not for that reason that The Day the Earth Stood Still is so familiar. It's because it's simply not different enough from all the other global cataclysm/alien epics that have been produced these last 10 years, from Independence Day to The Day After Tomorrow to Transformers. It's a grand, visual effects heavy retread chock full of stock characters that have appeared in all of those aforementioned movies (the military brass, the government official, the frazzled scientists, the kid, etc.).
Reeves may not be the Klaatu that generations have known and loved, but he does a more than serviceable job playing a character who slowly but surely finds compassion. It's one of his better performances in awhile - though I really did love his performance in The Matrix Trilogy. Connelly is the glue that keeps this film together; she grounds this fantastical movie in reality and makes Helen both extraordinary yet relatable. Smith, who starred opposite his dad Will in The Pursuit of Happyness, proves that not all cases of showbiz nepotism are bad. He's a charming kid on-screen, and generates plenty of laughs and much pathos as Helen's troubled stepson. Jon Hamm is fine in the thankless role of the expository scientist, John Cleese makes a notable cameo as the scientist who finds himself defending the human race, but Kathy Bates seems uneasy in the role of the Secretary of Defense, as if she can't quite believe she took such a paycheck gig.
The special effects are fine, but is there really any reason why a major genre film nowadays wouldn't look good? Most of the big "money shots" were used in the trailer and the filmmakers don't get nearly as much mileage out of Gort as they could have (he is also the film's least convincing visual element). The smaller moments of Klaatu's displays of power are far more effective than the film's huge sequences of spectacle. Seeing Klaatu bring a dead man back to life or escape from a prison cell gets a bigger rise out of a viewer than seeing a wave of destruction hit a city.
While the film's environmental message is undeniably important, it is also hammered over the viewer's head to the point of inducing numbness. The film works better when it focuses on the three main characters; these are the scenes where the viewer feels most engaged. Unfortunately, Klaatu's turnabout is so abrupt that it makes the aliens look like they simply didn't do their homework before deciding to eliminate the human race. While the film makes for a decent time-passer, it's simply not out of this world enough to merit a more enthusiastic response. Of course, that doesn't mean you shouldn't watch it.
As the movie was ending, I was already running late. I had already received numerous calls and smses from my sister. My mum was already at the drop-off point. So right after: I said my goodbyes, gave a few hugs here and there, promised we'll be going together very soon again and ran off to the drop-off point.
Oh, and no. No, I didn't buy the book. I simply didn't have the time. Maybe the next time I'm around.
Patapon is extremely addictive - and pretty.
No comments:
Post a Comment