Thursday, February 12, 2009 @ 8:53 PM
a lot like love.

                Here’s the post that I promised to put up by this week – I planned to do it on Friday, but unforeseen circumstances meant that posting on Friday and Saturday is probably impossible, so here you are. It’s a bit rushed though, as you can probably tell from the writing. X)

                Anyway, it’s time for the 6^th movie review (I think) on this blog! If you’ve ever wondered just what’s the reason behind our love affair with movie reviews, look to the Youth Buzz (the black sheet of paper in the church bulletin) on the 24^th/25^th Jan. I normally just give these things a passing glance, but I happened to read this one in detail and it said that ‘the next time you watch a movie, take some time to reflect on it and maybe, you can cull from it precious nuggets of wisdom and truth. All truth is God’s truth.’

                How profound – yes, even Chihuahua has a learning point behind it, which is pretty hard to believe. Anyway, here’s a look at Love Matters, Jack Neo’s latest flick:

                In a nutshell, the movie explores the love lives of 3 male protagonists. Henry Thia plays Bo Seng, whose inadequacy in the sexual department renders him, um, unable to bring pleasure to his wife, Jia Li, who’s played by Yeo Yann Yann. At the same time, their son, Benny, has the hots for a girl in his class, but she’s already taken by his classmate. The final male lead, Jeremy, is a playboy who leads a colourful life, whose motto in his love life is ‘never to commit’, although he doesn’t seem like much of an alpha male in the first place. So as the movie progresses, the stories about the various predicaments the 3 males find themselves in interlink and overlap from time to time, making for pointedly funny humor. I won’t spoil the ending for you this once, but truth be told, it’s pretty predictable.

                This movie explores the dangers of a couple of prevalent problems that society’s facing today – stuff like how the internet has made it so easy for anyone and everyone to gain access to undesirable images, and also how online dating, while simple and convenient, has been like opening a Pandora’s box of sorts. At the same time, it also brings in age-old problems such as sterility and unfaithfulness to one’s partners – which, I suppose, are some of the love matters that gave the film its name.

On the whole, I think I’ll give it 3.5 stars. I loved its in-your-face humor, though if you’re someone with highly refined sensitivities you’d probably have violent objections. The acting isn’t that awesome or anything, though I think Yeo Yann Yann deserves credit for doing a great job portraying the love, hurt, and basically the emotional roller-coaster her character goes through. Do keep in view, though, that I’m a big sucker for comedies, which probably explains why I quite liked it while ST gave it 1.5 stars, I think.

Jack Neo has been very generous with the sexual innuendo in this movie. There’re really too many cases to remember and list here, but take it from me, this movie really does deserve its NC-16 rating. It’s highly laugh-inducing; my friends called it ‘abs training’ and you’ll probably understand why when you laugh this much. But if you’re looking for a wholesome and family-friendly film, you’d do well to give this a miss.

                I’ve just taken a look at what I wrote above, and as a disclaimer of sorts, I guess I’ve to make it clear that I don’t condone Love Matters or its content. The humor, I have to admit, is pretty crude in most cases, and it’s not the kind of thing one should learn from. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, it was my friend’s birthday, so he was the person who picked the movie. Though if I had any inkling it would be like this, I definitely would’ve thought twice about watching it.

                Coincidentally, it’s Valentine’s Day in two days, so I guess I’ve posted this at about the right time. My older sister’s flying back to Singapore then as well to spend 3 weeks with us, and I’m so excited! (And it’s not just because she comes bearing peanut butter or fresh supplies of mac ‘n’ cheese.)

                Take care, everyone, and enjoy the Valentine Day’s activity this Saturday. =)

-  dennis. <3

 

Thursday, February 12, 2009 @ 8:53 PM
a lot like love.

                Here’s the post that I promised to put up by this week – I planned to do it on Friday, but unforeseen circumstances meant that posting on Friday and Saturday is probably impossible, so here you are. It’s a bit rushed though, as you can probably tell from the writing. X)

                Anyway, it’s time for the 6^th movie review (I think) on this blog! If you’ve ever wondered just what’s the reason behind our love affair with movie reviews, look to the Youth Buzz (the black sheet of paper in the church bulletin) on the 24^th/25^th Jan. I normally just give these things a passing glance, but I happened to read this one in detail and it said that ‘the next time you watch a movie, take some time to reflect on it and maybe, you can cull from it precious nuggets of wisdom and truth. All truth is God’s truth.’

                How profound – yes, even Chihuahua has a learning point behind it, which is pretty hard to believe. Anyway, here’s a look at Love Matters, Jack Neo’s latest flick:

                In a nutshell, the movie explores the love lives of 3 male protagonists. Henry Thia plays Bo Seng, whose inadequacy in the sexual department renders him, um, unable to bring pleasure to his wife, Jia Li, who’s played by Yeo Yann Yann. At the same time, their son, Benny, has the hots for a girl in his class, but she’s already taken by his classmate. The final male lead, Jeremy, is a playboy who leads a colourful life, whose motto in his love life is ‘never to commit’, although he doesn’t seem like much of an alpha male in the first place. So as the movie progresses, the stories about the various predicaments the 3 males find themselves in interlink and overlap from time to time, making for pointedly funny humor. I won’t spoil the ending for you this once, but truth be told, it’s pretty predictable.

                This movie explores the dangers of a couple of prevalent problems that society’s facing today – stuff like how the internet has made it so easy for anyone and everyone to gain access to undesirable images, and also how online dating, while simple and convenient, has been like opening a Pandora’s box of sorts. At the same time, it also brings in age-old problems such as sterility and unfaithfulness to one’s partners – which, I suppose, are some of the love matters that gave the film its name.

On the whole, I think I’ll give it 3.5 stars. I loved its in-your-face humor, though if you’re someone with highly refined sensitivities you’d probably have violent objections. The acting isn’t that awesome or anything, though I think Yeo Yann Yann deserves credit for doing a great job portraying the love, hurt, and basically the emotional roller-coaster her character goes through. Do keep in view, though, that I’m a big sucker for comedies, which probably explains why I quite liked it while ST gave it 1.5 stars, I think.

Jack Neo has been very generous with the sexual innuendo in this movie. There’re really too many cases to remember and list here, but take it from me, this movie really does deserve its NC-16 rating. It’s highly laugh-inducing; my friends called it ‘abs training’ and you’ll probably understand why when you laugh this much. But if you’re looking for a wholesome and family-friendly film, you’d do well to give this a miss.

                I’ve just taken a look at what I wrote above, and as a disclaimer of sorts, I guess I’ve to make it clear that I don’t condone Love Matters or its content. The humor, I have to admit, is pretty crude in most cases, and it’s not the kind of thing one should learn from. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, it was my friend’s birthday, so he was the person who picked the movie. Though if I had any inkling it would be like this, I definitely would’ve thought twice about watching it.

                Coincidentally, it’s Valentine’s Day in two days, so I guess I’ve posted this at about the right time. My older sister’s flying back to Singapore then as well to spend 3 weeks with us, and I’m so excited! (And it’s not just because she comes bearing peanut butter or fresh supplies of mac ‘n’ cheese.)

                Take care, everyone, and enjoy the Valentine Day’s activity this Saturday. =)

-  dennis. <3