I watched this movie called “Get Smart” with Jia Hao on the 2nd of July, and I must say that I enjoyed the movie a lot. It’s a comedy, and a rather lame one at that, so if you cannot appreciate some laughter and lameness in a movie, don’t watch it. Else, feel free to pump your 6 dollars in (student price @ cathay. haha). For a nicer review, read Jia Hao’s entry.

In essence, it’s about this really lousy agent who in the end saved the day, and of course, through out his entire stint he create plenty of stupid problems that made everyone laugh like crazy. He’s a good analyst though, but a lousy field agent. The beauty is that he made us of his past analyst work to save the day, and it does tell us, brains is useful. An agent with brains can be better than an agent with the brawn but no brains.

I don’t really know what to review, but I really had a fun time laughing in the cinema and I think everyone did too because I can hear their laughter. I haven’t had such a wonderful comedy in quite a long time, and I am happy that I chose to watch it. I guess that is testament enough?

7.5 stars of 10.

“How Starbucks Saved My Life” is a real story of Michael Gates Gill written by himself, in short, something like an autobiography in the form of a story. It’s about how Michael has gone from a huge salary in a successful advertising firm to nothing at all. At the same time, he had an affair and got divorced, and his life just seem totally screwed.

He got a way out of the whole mess when an African American came up to him when he was drinking his coffee at Starbucks, and asked him, “Would you like a job?”. Although he is a white man, Michael said “Yes” and an interview took place.

The story is about how he started off from nothing, and then becoming Starbuck’s partners (which is the better name of workers) in one of Starbucks many stores. From being a wonderful cleaner at Starbucks to challenging his fear of the cashier counter, from calling out the drinks in correct order to making the drinks himself, Michael learnt many life lessons and became a happier person, even though he isn’t earning as much compared to when he was at the advertising firm.

He learnt to overcome his fear of counting money and went from 5 dollars loss at the end of the day to a few cents of loss. He learnt some customer relations, that you never deny anyone the toilet, whether he or she is a Starbucks customer or not, or chase anyone away during closing time. Through his chats with customers when he is at the cashier counter, he made many new friends and enjoyed the daily chats as he sees them everyday and knows what coffee they want, decaf or not.

It’s a story of how he picked his life up together, and even managed to get his children to forgive him and come to see him at the store. Eventually he became a Coffee Master and he gets to brew coffee once every week and give free samples of brewed coffee to anyone walking by any Starbucks store. Coffee Masters have to be trained and they have to be able to be really good with the different versions of coffee, the taste, their histories, etc.

In short, this books tell us how Starbucks key principles and treatment to partners and customers alike are lessons we should all learn in life. I guess that is the reason why there are so many Starbucks books written about its management and policies.

This is a great book to read. Trust me.

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It’s time to review “Kung Fu Panda” which has so much hype months before the movie is screened. In the cinemas, Kung Fu Panda told movie-goers to switch off their handphone. They also show the makings of Kung Fu Panda on the television set. McDonalds came up with ads on Kung Fu Panda Happy Meal toys, even to the extent of hiring two Chinese children to fight over a nugget.

However, to me, although Kung Fu Panda is entertaining, but it seems to be too short for my liking. But you can’t blame them, after all animation movies are of this duration isn’t it? Adding advertisement time, the whole movie lasted 1.5 hours.

I have one complaint. If you have watched the making of Kung Fu Panda, you have already watched the whole training sequence for Panda. The training sequence is short and fast, and it’s like “Huh like this become Kung Fu pro liao ah?”.

To be serious, Kung Fu Panda is a wonderful animation. The whole theatre is filled with laughter constantly. The laughter is pretty loud too. I must say it’s enjoyable, and would be better if it was longer to get more worth for my buck.

After the movie ended, there is a short clip after the credits. I didn’t know and I didn’t stay, but Wiki (use the link above) says there is.

Well, watch this if you are paying 6 bucks. I was also wondering why Panda understood the Wu Xi Finger Hold by himself. His kung fu is not that powerful right? Haha. I shall give Kung Fu panda 7 points out of 10.

Gu-chang is a lonely man. He’s never been kissed, nor has he been in a relationship. Finally he meets this really pretty young lady when he found her wallet by chance (and stole $3). A relationship blossoms. Anni, likes rice cakes and pukes on a Viking ship. The two of them hit it off well and it does seem like there’s a great chance of a relationship. Or is it?

Anni has a second personality. Kind of like a personality disorder. From a past love gone bad, Hanni emerges, who’s the protector of Anni. They are the same person and Hanni always pops up all of a sudden and becomes extremely violent. Sounds like old Korean movies like My Sassy Girl? It is, but the captivate my attention part is seriously lacking.

I wouldn’t ask anyone to watch this movie. In a way it bored me. I find that the story isn’t that nice, and sometimes it’s a little draggy. Perhaps its one violent girlfriend too many?

Anyway, Anni and Gu-Chang goes through thick and thin together. Gu-Chang is obviously in love with Anni, and Anni knows Gu-Chang is nice to her, and is appreciative. Eventually even Hanni the protector softens towards Gu-Chang and will willingly let Anni reemerge.

However, the twist is at the back. Yuri is the real identity of the girl. When Yuri and her former boyfriend went to Antartica, her boyfriend saved her from a blizzard by giving her his winter jacket. He died and she survived. With this heartbreaking relationship, she developed personality problems and Anni and Hanni emerged.

Eventually Yuri went to collect her ex boyfriend’s body when it’s flown back from Antartica. (I don’t understand why the time lag, maybe I slept at some parts) Yuri manages to get over it and her psychologists hypnotised her and caused Anni/Hanni to die. Yuri recovers, but does not recognize Gu-Chang.

Now, at the start of the movie, Gu-Chang lost his handphone to a person auditioning as a ghost. Gu-Chang thought he really saw a ghost, but the ghost is actually Yuri. They meet and get together all over again.

The End.

Kind of a boring plot, I would say. But you can watch for the eye candy. The lead actress acted in My Lovely Samsoon and My Boyfriend is Type B before. I won’t recommend anyone to watch it though.

I watched the movie The Incredible Hulk with Jia Hao on Monday at Marina Square. Thanks to Golden Village’s members birthday month movie treat, I got a buy 1 get 1 free ticket voucher. Hence the both of us only paid “half price” for entry.

I must say I was never a fan of The Incredible Hulk. I never watched any cartoons or comics of it, and neither have I watched the 2003 version which seemed to be pretty dismal in performance. So I watched The Incredible Hulk from a non-fan point of view, and frankly speaking, it’s not that bad at all.

The story was told in a good manner that a non-fan such as me can understand what is going on. However there are minor faults that leave me wondering what happened. For example, the Doctor that eventually “treated” Hulk unsuccessfully was slammed by the Hulk-nemy. (Hulk’s enemy lol) He got some Hulk’s blood that drip on his forehead and his skull seems to mutate and swell. But that’s the end of it. No explanation, nothing. Or perhaps I couldn’t catch the explanation, if any. So what happened to the guy? Another monster in another sequel? No idea.

At the end of it all it showed that Hulk didn’t transform for a very long period, and he was just sitting there and suddenly his eyes turn green and the number of day count got reset to 0. What was that? Upon checking Wikipedia, it actually means the Hulk is now able to transform at will.

There seems to be a future sequel though. I somehow predict an Ironman Hulk combo since Tony Stark came out to say they are forming a team. It could be potential merger of the two superheroes. But it may not be also. Not too sure, but there seems to be potential for sequel, whether its Hulk alone or not.

Overall it is a pretty interesting experience, and Liv Tyler is very beautiful as usual. And Hulk cannot have sex because he get’s too excited and will turn into The Hulk. It must be quite gross to turn into the Hulk midway during the deed huh?

I entered the movie theatre at 4.20 and it ended by 6.20 or so. Taking away the advertisements of about 15 minutes, that means the duration of the movie is about 1 hr 45 minutes? I must say I was never bored. One thing weird though, this is the first time I laughed at the “switch off your handphone” ad. It contains a cold pun by Jack Neo though. And the advertisement of Shaolin girl shows the female lead in Galileo (JDrama) doing some fighting. Can’t really link her first image to the second. Lol.

Back to the point, other than minor faults listed above, I guess the movie is ok. Oh I remember something. They never really said what happened to the Abomination. Did they kill it? Or do some experiment? Not too sure. If you enjoyed it or hated the movie, leave a comment?