Category Archives: Movie

Current picks on Netflix

Posted in Movie, Reviews by

It’s been a while since I enjoyed movies from India. Lately, Netflix has been airing really good movies and I am giving a thumbs up to these 2 movies.

1. Gangubai

This movie narrates the hardship of Gangubai as she paves her way from a low-tier prostitute to a prominent figure in the ‘industry’. Putting the moral issues aside, I understand her desire of wanting to legalize prostitution. Although legal means bounded by rules and regulations, legal also means access to the same resources that other mainstream industries can get. In the Gangubai context, it will mean equal access to healthcare, education, housing areas etc. This lady has a point.

Ajay Devgan made a cameo appearance in the movie.

2. RRR

This is a fictional story about the Indian revolution. It has Bahubali’s elements in it when it comes to fighting scenes and the athletic abilities of the actors. There were cringeworthy moments but it was a very cinematic, phenomenal piece. Guess what, Ajay Devgan was also in the movie.

Juvenile Justice

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There is not an ounce of demonstrable joy in this short K-series. Yes, you do get some sort of relief when justice is served but there is no funny moment. This is a very DARK and HEART THUGGING story. It was aired on Netflix and I finished it in one day. Accompanied by 1 litre of tears, a swollen face and dehydrated eyes (if there is such a thing).

Spoiler ahead

There were stories of murder, domestic abuse, leaked exam papers, theft and gang rape. The conclusion I got from this, which correlates with what I learned in Adolescent Psychology is that parenting style has a great influence on adolescent growth and development. That it takes a village to raise a child. That if the child could not be reprimanded by their family, teachers or other adults – then the responsibility falls on the court. The law and order. Poverty, marital discord, negative peer pressure all plays a part but as Judge Sim puts it.. not everyone commits a crime when push becomes shove. A crime is still crime. Killing is still wrong no matter what pathological spin you put to it. I realized that juveniles are very cunning too.

A case involving a juvenile makes them both a perpetrator and a victim. There is a dilemma of wanting to punish them but also rehabilitate them. Biologically, they still need the opportunity to change. It is hoped that the cognitive and emotional processes that drove them to commit the crime could be rewired, and reformulated to become better people. I have seen the juveniles in our local Henry Gurney School during one of my vaccination outreach programmes. It did make me wonder, what did they do for they looked so innocent face to face. I was so glad I had my mask on due to the pandemic.

When I watched the series, I was crying buckets. I don’t know how the talents could keep their composure while filming the scenes. And the crime the kids commit was just horrible. Some had no signs of remorse which was worse. As a parent watching this, it reminded me to be more aware of our children’s needs as they grow up. Every word we say, as adults, can make or break them. The juveniles in this story did what they did, mostly because they wanted attention. They yearned for affection without being consciously aware of it. The hard-core villains started in early adolescent years and when the court failed to educate them on the consequences of harming other people, they grow up as chronic delinquents as they purely believe that what they did was not serious at all, not wrong and that the law is a joke.

Walter Mitty and Negative 25

Posted in Everyday Life, Movie, Reviews by

The main moral of the story talks about taking chances in life and not letting others having control over yours. I suppose it is a feel good movie for introverts and daydreamers where one is able to get out of their shell, although driven by desperation, to achieve their goals.

As a student of psychology, I was obviously drawn to the human interaction part of the story and one scene that stuck out to me was when Walter hiked up the mountains in Afghanistan to meet Sean just to ask about the whereabouts of Negative 25.

After much elaboration on Sean’s part and to Walter’s dismay, viewers soon discovered that the picture has been with Walter all the time. It was in the wallet, given as a gift by Sean to Walter, which Walter had thrown away in the bin at home. He disposed of it as a reaction to a bad day at work. Here comes the interesting part.

SEAN’S REACTION

Yes, he was upset with Walter’s move. Not so much of being upset by Walter throwing away the wallet but that Walter did not get to see the picture. I had a difficult time to digest that response. I was even doubting my English if I comprehended the scene correctly.

What ensued next was even more mind-boggling. Sean, despite being disappointed of Walter’s actions, he still included Walter in his precious moment of luck when he managed to catch a glimpse of the snow leopard on his camera. He then proceeded to invite Walter to play a football game with him and the natives of the mountain.

SEAN HAS A BIG HEART

The psychology behind this response amazes me. I really need to find out the theory behind it. Because, if this was an Asian sinetron, I doubt you’d see this sort of exchange happen. In fact, it’ll probably be a saga of revenge till the 7th generation!!

Any other scenes you find interesting?

I had my Nothing Day today

Posted in Books, Everyday Life, Movie by

A Nothing Day. As inspired by Vivy Yusof.Β 

It was a last minute break from work. A friend told me that no one was taking leave as per roster and since the seating arrangements for the medical officers can be a bit of a haywire nowadays, I decided to remove myself from the equation. My leave was granted.

So I started my morning by sending my toddler to daycare. Yes, go ahead, judge me. Then I spent my quiet morning in McDonalds having breakfast. A chicken porridge, an iced caramel latte and an apple pie. This McD outlet adopted the new system of ordering and I was a bit lost. Thankfully, there were not a lot of people yet. In a way, I managed to navigate my way through the system. Once you get the hang of it, it is pretty easy. I paid for my meal in cash and paid at the counter and since I chose a table number – all I had to do was wait for my order to be delivered to my table. At least, that was how the outlet manager taught me. It felt like a personalised tutorial. Lol. I did People Watching while having my breakfast.

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After that, I made my way to the ASB bank. I registered myself on the portal using one of the kiosk in the bank. I updated my data and personal details, checked my balance and withdrew some money. For a big purchase.

Which is a new laptop. My current LENOVO laptop is fine. I just needed something smaller for portability so I could keep my writing momentum going. I have lost quite a few ideas along the years and I hope that the ones I have now can be developed, expanded, written down and polished to a quality I hope would be worth to be submitted as a manuscript. So I got myself an Acer Aspire 3. kira oklah.. crossing my fingers for the best.

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This Acer is also easier to bring around when I share about doTERRA outside my home especially when I need to show digital files and stuff. Of course I have my material on my phone too but having a laptop makes sharing sessions appear more sleek and professional. I guess. Ha ha.

I fetched my son on time from school, made him lunch and surprise surprise Mr Husband came home for his lunch break too. I am thankful that he bought extra chicken for our meals. His favourite chicken, Uncle Jack.

Once Mr Husband goes off to work, Ee and I went to the cinema to watch Lion King. we both enjoyed it a lot. Then we stopped by the bookstore, Popular. Ee bought a comic book, I bought 4 books as well. God knows when I will finish my eternally growing reading list. Ha ha. I fancy the idea of reading a lot but the mental stamina to be focused dwindles with time. Perhaps, I should re-enact the idea of setting up my proper mini library soon.

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Once we were done, we went to fetch Ninie from the daycare and spent the last hours of the evening in our Activity AreaΒ in the house ( which has become an unofficial storage space for the time being) reading books, playing with their toys and me drafting this entry for my blog.

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I am very grateful for my Nothing Days. It wasn’t a pure Nothing Day as I still have my kids lingering with me but those few hours in the morning of me alone was bliss. If I had a few more hours I could have made that trip to the hair salon or a foot massage. Of course, I still get watsapp messages from work but it was still OK. Alhamdulilah. Do you have Nothing Days too? What do you do on those days? How was it? Share with me..

 

This is about The Battleship Island (2018) and how it ends

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I watched this movie in a Korean audio and an English subtitle on ASTRO TVN. In short,

The gangster died. The comfort lady died. The musician was heavily wounded and died. His daughter survived. And finally Song Joong Ki.. he lived. And escaped with other Koreans on a ship freighted with coal.

There you have it, WikiMinci.Β 

Image result for BATTLESHIP ISLAND

From left : Gangster, musician and daughter, SONG JOONG KI, comfort lady

WHAT HAPPENED?

This took place in a war. Koreans were deceived into working overseas with good pay only to discover that they were forced labour in a mine. Working condition was horrible and any attempts to escape were foiled.

The ladies and young girls on the other hand were sent to comfort houses. It tugged my heart to see the young Sochee (musicians daughter) trying her best to escape from sexual predators.

The visuals in this movie are quite graphic and violent.For instance, a bayonet prodding through a young boys stomach, twisted several times with the boy screaming until he died. Like literally in front of your very eyes. No censorship whatsoever.