"2 Days in Paris"

Life is short, therefore between to take a nap at noon or to watch a movie with 1 hour and 40 minutes duration; I had chosen the second one. On a sunny regular working day this Wednesday, I went to watch a movie “2 days in Paris” at “Chang Chun Theater”. Nice and clean place with not too many of fancy facilities, but feels great. This movie is about couple that from New York, a French photographer Marion (Julie Delpy), and an American interior designer Jack (Adam Goldberg). They are having vacation in Europe and spend 2 days in Paris at Marion’s home. However, Jake thought he knows Marion well enough after 2 years been together, but he realize he in fact know nothing about her, and begin to realize it until they were in Paris, and he is kind of shock to know how her past intertwined with so many untold stories. And he felt that he was only to know her and kind of unable to accept the truth that unfolds in front of him. This is story about 2 people with different cultures and how they cope with these indifferences, not only 2 person’s problem, but also between 2 families. I like the dialogues that happen between them, it is fun and good way to understand either American culture or French’s way of thinking. I think this movie is fun and I must admit that this movie is one of the best movies that I watched this year.

Link:

IMDB Review - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0841044/

Official Website - http://www.2daysinparisthefilm.com/

Movie Trailer - Click Me

"Driving Miss Daisy"

Driving Miss Daisy - the story is about the relationship between a picky Southern Jewish lady (Jassica Tandy as Miss Daisy Werthan) and her African-American chauffeur (Morgan Freeman as Hoke Colburn). The deep racial discrimination was existed at that period.
Miss Daisy at first refuses to let Hoke drive her, but eventually she comes to accept to Hoke. In fact that she needs him much. There are many warm events in the film, for example: Hoke can’t read and Miss Daisy teach him how to read. Miss Daisy suspects Hoke stole her tuna can…etc.
25 years has passed in the story. At the end, Hoke and Boolie (Miss Daisy’s son) come to retirement home to visit Miss Daisy. They are truly friends, and Hoke sweetly helping Miss Daisy eat a piece of pie by feeding it to her.

"1408"

Actually I am not going to recommend this movie, I just want to share my thought after I saw it. Before I went to see this movie, I've checked its trailer from the internet to make sure the plot and the scary level. ^o^ To be honest, in the first begining I really want to see it but I'm so afraid I'll scare to death in movie theater, therefore, I draged two of my friends join this shiverring experience with me.

Movie started with the actor (John Cusack) keep trying to find the haunted hotel and see paranormal thing with his own eyes after her daughter die. After he experienced those experiences he will write into the book to describe what he saw or heard. But unfortunately before he enter Room 1408 in Dolphin hotel there is nothing happen which meant his novel about these haunted stories were not in good sell.

One day, he got a post card from Dolphin hotel is talking about no one can reserve 1408 from many yeas ago, he wass very courious about this and decided to see what happen there. When he went to check in, the manager was tried hard to stop him to live in that room, because 56 people died in there in very unexpected horror way.

But John Cusack totally didn't buy it what would really happen in there, when he was felt boring, suddently the radio was playing very loud music and shocked him much then came a series weird paranormal situations after him.

I really don't think that scared, on the contrary I laughed at some scenario because the woman sit behind us kept screaming when some so called ghost suddent came out the screen. This movie not scary at all, I even think there is a little bit waste the money to see it. Ha.......

Link:

http://www.ifilm.com/video/2818926

"Kafka on the Shore" - Haruki Murakami

"Kafka on the Shore" – Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami is one of my favorite authors, and I think most of people knew him, especially for the famous novel of “Norwegian Forest”. But my favorite is this book, “Kafka on the Shore”. I had read the Chinese version and English Version, and it was my first attempt to read Japanese literature in English. Before this attempt, I always think that Chinese language is closer to Japanese language, therefore if reading the English version, I am afraid that will deviated a lot from original. But after I read the English version, I found some interesting things; English also have some advantages in Murakami’s work.

Murakami often using western cultural to portray the character inside his novel, like fond of jazz music, classical music, western literature, western movie and events. Therefore there is no difficulty to comprehend the names that appears in the novel. Unlike Chinese language or Japanese language, that maybe you will have to guess who exactly that Murakami is talking about. And it is not difficult to read in English version, because this book translated into English using words that is not too difficult, any person who can read my thread is capable to read his novel.

However, “Kafka on the Shore” is a story about a young boy that ran away from home to search his own purpose of life to finding his long lost sister and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recover from wartime affliction.

Two stories that seem parallel, unrelated, but linked together somehow. It is the unique story telling of Murakami. You can see in his world, cat talks, and fish falling from the sky. Extraordinary events keep appears in his creation. I especially like the part where “Kafka Tamura”, the main character in this novel went to read in the Small Library, as if I am also there with him to feel the tranquility of that atmosphere. This book gives you peace and serenity. I think Murakami’s work always have that power, the power to take you away from the city jungle and into his world. In his world, you can enjoy your loneliness, drink a cup of coffee in the afternoon, listening to jazz music, and read this book; you will find your life full of placidity and peacefulness. If you want to take adventure to this strange world, and then go buy this book, you will find it fun. Murakami himself also encourage his readers to read this book multiple times, because there are some riddles that you will discover after you read it several times.

If you already read the Chinese version, I am also recommending reading the English version all over again, because it is easy to comprehend, not so many difficult words, and you certainly improved your English while reading it.

More Information:

About novel - Click here

Other Reviews

About Haruki Murakami _ Click Here

Blogger TIPS – Magic Cube

Magic Cube –

Many of fellow classmates perplexed about how we put the magic cube on the right panel of this blog. I will take this opportunity to guide and show you how to do it.

(1) Apply an account in “Picture Trail”
http://www.picturetrail.com/
*After you have account, you will be asking to upload photo, upload photo that you want to put on the net.

(2) Go to “Slide Shows” option.
(3) Pick your most wanted slide shows (You don't have to pick cubes, there are many options), and the system will ask what kind of pictures that you want to put on it, after choose the model, you will have a code, and copy the code to the BLOGGER.
(4) From Blogger: Go to templates, and add this code to third party program, you will find the cube appears on your website. Congratulations!

Please send me email or MSN me, I would be glad to help!

What? You also want to have a pet? GO to the same website, and they have an option of widget, you can adopt a pet yourself !

Happy Father's Day!

“The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera”

“The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera”

I think I will vote this book to become book of the century for novel. This book really digs out the strangeness and complication of human relationship, especially for men and women. And no book has ever liked this, clearly state out different kind of relationship and splendidly melts it with the history of Czech. And story begins when man and woman meet in the rural place of Czech, and they fell in love with each other, because of coincidences. And these fortuities link up their life deeply, and changed their life forever. You can read how their live shaped in irrevocable choices, struggle to love and to be love. And how they torture each other via love. I had personally read this novel 4 times, and quite fun if you can read English and Chinese all together, because this time, the translation for both language is really awesome, and I think already translated out the essential of this book (Original in French and Czech).

However, If you are looking for your answer of finding true romance, maybe you can perceive some in this remarkable work of Milan Kundera.

About Author:

Milan Kundera is Franco-Czech novelist; Kundera's characters are often explicitly identified as figments of his own imagination. Kundera is more concerned with the words that shape or mould his characters than their physical appearance. In his non-fiction work, The Art of the Novel, he says that the reader's imagination automatically completes the writer's vision. He as the writer wishes to focus on the essential, and for him the essential does not include the physical appearance or even the interior world (the psychological world) of his character.

In 1985 Kundera received the Jerusalem Prize. His acceptance address is printed in his essay collection The Art of the Novel. It has also been rumored that he was considered for the Nobel Prize for literature. In 2000 he was awarded the Herder Prize.

More Information:

Cllick me - Beside of books, you can also watch the movie.

Milan Kundera - More information about Kundera and his works.

"Beyond Silence"

"Some people commented that this is one of the best movies on the world"


Beyond Silence -


How deaf parents raised their daughter, and how they are interact and communicate with each other with silent love is one of the main theme in this movie. Story is about Lara, who is the eldest daughter of couples that cannot hear or speak, in the beginning of the movie; you can see how Lara’s parents depend on Lara on translating the sign language into verbal understandable language. And how their family lives in peace and harmony, but still has some problem with the society. For example, Lara’s father always has quarrel with his own sister, who is a good clarinet musician, and the cause can track back to when they was still as child. However, Lara herself also facing the puberty rebel with her father, because her father won’t let her to learn music from her aunt, because it is like bringing the shadow of his sister to him. However, the struggling of balance between Lara’s father and her own music career is haunting Lara, but luckily she also have an understanding mother who supports her. This movie is very touching; you can feel the love, care, and tenderness through out unspoken language. I especially like the part when Lara’s father asked her what all the things sound like. Like” what is the sound of snow?”, “what is the sound of thunder?” What is the sound of sunset?, and so on. I often ask myself, yea, what is it sounds like? What is the sound of love?

There are a lot of unspoken love that often ignore by us, maybe your beloved one still care about you so much like he used to be, maybe he just does it silently. Through this movie we can perceive love without the form of the language, how they spoken silently and touching our soul. I really recommend to watching this movie, not only this is one of the famous movies that won a lot of positive feedbacks and of course awards from many institutions but also worthwhile for you to understand love without voice.

Link:
Please Click Me <== English Review Chinese Review <== Click it, but remember this one telling you all the story, if you like surprises, watch the movie first ~!