moviejournal: the holiday

a really fantastic film, everyone's brilliant, even though i hate cameron diaz. jude law is charming as ever, kate winslate is more matured, posed and versatile than she's given credit for, and jack black is in his most comfortable role as a supporting male love interest/clown. wonderful emsemble. the most important thingi learned though, is that truthfulness/unpretentiousness is really the cornerstone of western civilization. at least in the film realm.

moviejournal: death of president, american pie 5: the naked mile

another two films for yesterday. hollywood isn't making films fast enough.

i can somehow tell death of a president isn't made in US, because it would be a huge political disaster for whoever trying to market it. the scenes are vivid and lifelike, especially the president's aide, bodyguard, the islamic wife are all excellent and moving in their role. it's compelling television. the best part is the eulogy though, dick cheney gives a speech about bush. also bush's press secretary giving bush high praises upsetted my stomach. it touches on a myriad of current societal issues, including racial profiling and due process in law under political pressure. an interesting film.

american pie is a great film. for boobs and fish brain dudes. this straight to dvd release of american pie 5 unashamedly touts the goodness of alcohol, free sex and hard partying. that's why it's a great fim. for amusement.

moviejournal: the queen

just for closure and my unproductive evening last night i'm gonna blog something about the movie "the queen" depicting the period from tony blair's inauguration to after princess Diana's death in paris, it chronacled the emotions that went through the queen and her immediate family. it's refreshing to see a new angle on the monarchy, in fact, because rarely is any will people get a glimpse of how things really go on inside the palace. and it's also good to see the human side of queen and how contemporary popular idea of monarchy has caught the queen off guard in one of the few unprecedentedly event of the century, and how the media plays a greater role in fanning up commotion during the aftermath of diana's death. queen has unequivocally held her own in this difficult times of public disapproval, showing tremendous grace and resolution that she's brought up to uphold. she's somewhat detached to the real expectation of the people though, at least i think that's what the movie is trying to say. but as smart as she is, she quickly realized the need for public showing in order to gain public support and long standing approval, and made the difficult decision to bow to public pressure, which her mother advised against. it's really quite fascinating, the royal family. and after a bit research i realised windsor surname was actually acquired from the name of a palace after a brief (3 years) of surname under german name. interesting stuff. i hope royalty goes on!

moviejournal: night at the museum

last night went to see night at the museum at an advanced screening at garden city after steak meal dinner at little taipei. allow me to complement the goodness of david's sizzling steak - the same quality with slightly hiked price... that's value for you

well actually went in to the cinema 15 minutes late, so we went straight into the action where rex is chasing ben stiller. pretty much action packed from then on, decent acting all around from owen wilson to the neadethan brothers on the quest for fire. entertaining just as holiday films should be, if not better than jumanji.

on a side note, today's hectic journal to chinatown was a bit hectic (blue sky is blue!). cathedral place totally didn't live up to its status as the valley's premier living location. it feels like a cramped native habitat in Fujian province more than a contemporary living quater. the balcony is too fucking huge and what's the point. rooms are all tiny and dim and dirty with traces of stench swirling around the place. rent is exhorbitantly high at 350 bucks a week for 2 room apartment. basically you can rent a house at sunnybank for that kinda money. but renting market is probably quite hot and getting hotter so they are not complaining. it's more of a aussie living style kinda thing than chinese hunker down settling style of living, totally inadequate for old chinese ppl.

Top Ten reasons Griffith sucks

1. Database not even close to useful – it’s a pain just to look at it for any grad student
2. Sucky download quota – 18 megs a day for research students!
3. Shit food controlled by university monopoly
4. Library book diversity is pathetic
5. Most academics can’t teach – some can’t speak English
6. No self-respecting professor wants to spend sabbaticals or give talk here
7. Attracts the students UQ and QUT rejects
8. Has the most imbecile admin staff
9. Crap campus with dark and smelly corridors
10. Filled with delinquent Indian and Chinese outcast students