First off, Merry X'mas to all my American friends, Merry late X'mas to all my Singaporean friends, and happy late Hannukah to all my Jewish friends.
Alright, so in the past few weeks I've seen two movies and I guess I'll just write a bit about them for those of you who are debating if you should spend your 10 bucks on watching them or not.
Eragon
Overview: A boy hunting in the forest stumbles across a mysterious blue egg, which turns out to be an egg. It hatches, and before he knows it, he is caught up in a war between the Empire and the Varden, both of which are fighting over who he will swear allegiance to. He only has his dragon Saphira and a mysterious man named Brom to aid him in his quest.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Comments: This movie is based off of a book named Christopher Paolini. I am an avid fan of his books (Eragon and Eldest), but watching this movie was a huge disappointment for me. So many changes were made to the plot, essential parts were left out (e.g. Murtagh's reluctance to go to the Varden, the werecat's prophecy, and the Twins), and the overall feeling was generally very cheesy. Also, dwarves were of normal height and the Elves didn't...seem very Elf-like at all. In general, it was not as intriguing as the novel Paolini wrought.
SPOILERS END HERE
Overall: If you read the books, don't expect anything much out of this movie. Don't expect it to be as faithful to the stories as LotR (even then, even Peter Jackson made his share of cuts). In general, just try not to waste your time.
A Night at the Museum
Overview: A man struggling to keep a steady job finds himself as the night watchman of a natural museum of art. On his first night, everything comes to life and the fun begins...
Comments: Based on a book that I didn't read, I found that it was a hysterically funny movie. The monkey was cute, witty one-liners from various characters and a historically accurate film make for a very enjoyable two hours. Look out for cameos from big stars like Ben Stiller (starring), Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Dick Van Dyke. Characters that come to life in the museum include Teddy Roosevelt, Attila the Hun, Lewis and Clarke, Christopher Columbus, and a T-rex.
Overall: A movie well-worth watching. You'll have a good time and you feel almost sad that the movie ends because it's just so funny. You will not regret going to watch this.
Other than all this, been enjoying my days off (it's that clearing leave time of year) and been rehearsing in preparation for the Februrary concert. Just did a short thing at Singapore Conference Hall with SSA Choir on Christmas Eve.
Christmas itself was a rather subdued affair other than present opening at midnight and a party at Sheng's house (which I'm still at). I realized that I still haven't written about my Italy trip from like 2 months ago, but the photos are up! You can find them at http://photos.yahoo.com/guangyic
Alright time for me to stop being anti-social. Need to get back now.
START THINKING OF YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS FOLKS!!