The Karate Kid

Plot Summary:

Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) was moving out of the States following his mother to China. He had difficulty to get used of the environment. As a thirteen-year-old boy, he faced all a normal boy would face in his journey towards adolescence.
In China, he met face to face with his arch rival, Zheng who happened to be a martial artist. Since then, Dre’s life was not a pleasant one. He’d been bullied time after time by Zheng.

One day he retaliated only to beaten again by Zheng and his gang. Fortunately enough, an old grumpy plumber (Jackie Chan) came to the rescue. Eventually, Dre was taken as his student to learn kung-fu.

Dre and Zheng met again in an open kung-fu tournament where finally Dre was able to defeat his nemesis. His determination and the spirit of never say never subsequently owned Dre his nemesis’s respect.

Comment:

A typical Disney’s movie. The movie starts off with a scene whereby Dre is moving out from his home in the State. There was a wall height scale at the edge of a door whereby Dre scribbled what happened when he reached certain height. I could hear someone sobbing when the height reached “Daddy passed away”.

I didn’t understand why the movie was called The Karate Kid when in fact it was not karate that was shown in the movie. The Kung Fu Kid should sound more accurate. Perhaps, it was for commercial reason.

However, with title issue put aside, I had something to say about the movie.

First, Jaden Smith needs some polishing in his acting. He kept moving his eyes away every time he needs to stare at something are someone. His eyes were just not in place. But, since this is his debut, I thought that his groovy dancing and martial arts moves overshadowed that discrepancy.

Second, the girl was just so cute.

Third, I loved the kung fu lesson thought to Dre. Kung fu is not about fighting. It is about a way of life. You could even learn kung fu just by putting on and off your jacket. How cool is that? Fourth, the finishing move was outrageous. It started with the crane stance, be calm, empty our mind, become a mirror to your opponent. The opponent will start to follow our movement without realizing it. Wait until the opponent charged forward and then when he is in a perfect distance, push yourself to the air and while in the air, make a summersault to gain some momentum. Before reaching the ground, hit the opponent hard using the same leg that push your body up. Nice move huh? But was it a realistic move? Who cares as long as it looks cool inside the movie!

Hantuuu!

Title: The Ghost Writer
Author: Robert Harris
Publisher: Arrow Books
Year: 2010

Summary:

A writer was appointed to replace a deceased writer, Mike McAra in writing a biography of Britain’s ex-prime minister, Adam Lang. His ancestor was found dead and it was believed that he committed suicide.

Continuing on the unfinished works, Mike’s predecessor found something more than he should. In the meantime, Adam Lang was accused of war crimes and on the brink of a trial in the international tribunal. The writer’s kept on investigating until he found out that Adam Lang was not telling him the truth. He suspected that his client was keeping something from him.

When he found about Prof. Emmett and Arcadia, he decided to betray the trust given by his client and reveal the information he had to Adam Lang nemesis, a former Foreign Secretary during Adam’s reign, Rycart because he believed that Adam was involved in a war crime.

Indeed, Adam was involved. However, it was not his decision alone. It was revealed that CIA was involved in British government policy making during Adam’s reign. However, it was not Adam they recruited. It was Ruth, his wife. Prof. Emmett was the one who recruited her.

It was a tragic end to Adam as he was killed in a suicide bombing incident. Ruth was appointed as a Senator in the House of Lords so much so to ensure that the Americans continue to be the invisible hand inside British government. The fate of the ghost writer remained unknown. Most probably he received the same fate as his ancestor.

Comment:

It is about ghosting. Ghosting means writing a book for somebody (usually biography) and the real writer’s identity is unanimous. Interestingly, the name of the main character was not mentioned at all. A real ghost.

I can’t stop flipping the pages towards the end of the story. Unexpected ending. A scary one too. A very dark novel indeed. This is also the first time I read a story based on a first person view. It is like reading someone’s diary. I can’t stop asking myself the same question; ‘What happened next?’ while reading this novel. In the end, one question still remains; ‘Is the ghost writer still alive?’. This question itself has a ghostly whisper into my ear. It is not a horror story. It is a thriller.

As I was looking for inspiration to blossom my dream to become a writer, I think I had found one. Thank you Robert Harris!

The Missing Piece

As I was cleaning up my dusty room, I came upon a box. I opened it and found a puzzle board with a picture of a castle. My hands was shaking. My heart was trembling. It was not just another puzzle board. I am not even a fan of it but there it was in my possession. The only one in my possession. A puzzle with a missing piece.

I was so in love that time.

"You're my missing piece. You complete me," I thought. A piece of the puzzle was taken out and given to be kept by someone while I keep the rest.

As times goes by, people move on. Some are able to realize their dreams and promises. Some are not destined to it. For the former, they should be greatful for that as their sweat and tears at last means something. For the latter, their shattered dreams could only mean frustration and sadness. Hearts were broken. Fingers blamefully pointing at others as the culprit. Some even curse their destiny.

I could only have myself to blame. My ignorance and immaturity. Oh, how powerful love is until we are blinded from seeing the reality of life! As I looked at what happened, I know I had done the right thing to repair the damage I made. It comes with a price though... a piece of the puzzle.

In the Spirit of World Cup!

I was doing my night shift with my partner, Ashaari 'The Cool Man' when I received the news. At first, it didn't really struck to my mind. Israelis attacking the innocents, what so new about it? Tsk... They were the one who killed their Prophets anyway. They treated others as their chattels as mentioned in their Zionist protocols. So, what so different about hijacking a humanitarian convoy ship? There's nothing much to talk about, isn't it? Why not we talk about Shrek or Prince of Persia or i-Pad or the best makan place in JB or the new motorbike model or the latest gossip inside our office? That'll be fun!

Fun it is but when my HP received an SMS from a colleague, I read the SMS and my heart trembled. It was trembeling with sadness and anger. Among the names that were believed to be inside the vessel looks very familiar. It is not a relative or blood bound. Not even a friend but yet a brother to me. In fact, all of them are brothers. A bind thicker than blood. A bind by faith.

All the interests in the worldly matter suddenly faded. So as my patience. How the world will respond to this is not worthy to wonder. Strong statements from the world leaders condemning the acts are expected so as the aggressive road demonstration to make our feeling felt. Oooo I See... No Action Talk Only... Bla, bla, bla...

The inability to force an effective action against the offendor ignites fury and at the same time pours the sadness to my heart. As a small tiny dot... no.. smaller than a dot of this huge universe I could only do this and pray. Should my brothers die there, they will die with honor. Should they live, they will do it with dignity.

When will I? When will we? When will we unite together? In the spirit of the upcoming World Cup, I could only ask myself this question "When will we grow stronger?"