Year: 2015

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Edge of Tomorrow is Groundhog Day but with hostile aliens.

I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I love Tom Cruise’s humorous approach and his dedication to the role; the special features talked a lot about how much effort was required to operate in the exosuit and how central the suit was to the portrayal of the main character, whose gradual transformation Cruise made believable. On the other hand, I found the war very real and very threatening.

This review has interesting things to say.

The repetition of certain shots and/or scenes is deftly handled and serves the story without ever becoming cumbersome, gimmicky or overused – which is really a feat in and of itself.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/live-die-repeat-edge-of-tomorrow/id878682651

More on what I liked and disliked about the movie, including spoilers, below.

Continue reading Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

My phone is dead. Long live my phone!

This is the (long) story of the end of the life of my 2008 phone. It was a good (long) life, and it had a good end. Not every phone is so lucky.

My phone was a Samsung i900 Omnia. People would ask me if I had a smartphone, and I would say, “Yes, but it’s a stupid smartphone.” It was a minicomputer with a touchscreen and a data plan, but it couldn’t do the things that their smartphones could do, because—let’s face it—technology has changed a lot since 2008.

I’m finally catching up. Or starting to. I have to admit, my 2013 Sony still seems rather baffling…

Continue reading My phone is dead. Long live my phone!

I raided LaserFlair.

On Tuesday last week, I noticed that the LaserFlair at West Coast Plaza had signs up advertising some kind of sale. I bought 15 new DVDs for S$7 or S$10 each. It looked like they were about to clear out their rental DVDs, too, so I resolved to return.

I returned on Thursday. I asked the cashier if the shop would be selling the rental discs. She said yes. I asked if that meant I could buy some right then. She said yes. I asked her how much they were selling them for. She said S$5.

I bought 60.

Even more Robin Hoods

This post is part of a series of posts on books and movies about the legend of Robin Hood. It discusses:

  • The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
  • The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green
  • The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

See also:

Continue reading Even more Robin Hoods

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

This post is part of a series of posts on books and movies about the legend of Robin Hood. It discusses the 2006 movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/robin-hood-men-in-tights/id269854508

See also:

Continue reading Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

Robin Hood (2006)

This post is part of a series of posts on books and movies about the legend of Robin Hood. It discusses the 2006 television show.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/robin-hood-series-1/id275354656

See also:

Continue reading Robin Hood (2006)

Atrium Book Sale

Singapore is not a great place for book bargains. However, I have had some luck with book sales that travel around and set up in shopping mall atriums. (Atria. Happy now, Firefox spellcheck?)

If I were the roadrunner, this would be the perfect trap for the coyote to set up. I would fall right in it.

atrium-book-sale
…and I did!
atrium-book-sale-2
Then I found this…

Now, no doubt I have some books that are pretty useless to me. In fact, you could say that at any given time, all my books except for about three of them are useless to me. Some, like the ones written in Thai, Greek, Korean, Arabic or Burmese, are likely to remain useless to me forever.

Still. Still, I ask you. Of what possible use is a book on ROCKHOUNDING IN IDAHO to anyone in Singapore? I mean, I love rocks—and books, obviously—and I fully understand the notion of armchair travel. And yet. This book. It cannot help me find rocks in Idaho as long as I am physically in Singapore.

Am I right? Seriously, this book is never going to sell…

I mean, for the same money, you’d clearly be better off with Daytrips from Washington, DC.