the road to perdition

it's been a long time since i've sat down to properly watch a movie, even though friday night movie marathons are common sights in the various dorm rooms, some times with up to 16 people squeezed into the tiny space.


i love watching films by myself, usually in the dead of the night, in my case at 4am in the morning. this movie is not new to me. in fact i have already seen it a couple of times. but this time i was watching it with an objective in mind - i chose it as the subject of my very first formal essay for my film class.

sam mendes is an immense talent. if you have seen american beauty, you would have remembered his penchant for the unconventional. the road to perdition also happened to be his second outing with conrad hall as the cinematographer, who is largely responsible for both's films' aethetics.

plot aside, this time i would be mainly looking at the cinematography aspect, and the mis-en-scene (big word) techniques employed by the director to tell the story. it is very much interesting to see the amalgamation of both mendes' and hall's ideas in every shot or scene.

and the interesting choice of medium that hall decided to print the film on (kodak's vision premier print stock) which gave much stronger blacks and saturates the colour so it tended towards black and white.

what's more interesting is that this movie is also set in the 1930s, in the depth of the depression, in chi-town! probably the most gangster-esque place other than new york. i hate it though, how people always compare every other gangster flick to the godfather. road to perdition is a complete different creature. i'd say it's a lot closer to its graphic novel roots - way darker, grungier, colder.

just a few interesting pics on how they they framed the scenes. the lighting techniques they used are pretty rad to say the least. actually... it's absolutely mind-bloggling.

this is one of my favourite scenes in the movie: the classic gangland warzone

and this is the studio set up

again, the lighting and tone in the diner makes it look so much like a 30s painting

how can you not mesmerized by the colours and textures? it's just so quintisentially american

+listening to: another alternative by frank gambale

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24

it's about 24 hours to doomsday - the third of my four mid-terms this time round. the thought of the already irreversibly marooned math exam on monday does little to boost my self esteem.

these few days have been... awkward.

awkward behaviors, awkward schedules, awkward decisions to make, awkward situations to endure.

the usual cheeriness in me are all gone, and to be honest some might even consider certain behaviors to be anti-social. i just feel so tired everyday after classes that i barely have time to do things that i enjoy. and this is only my freshmen year. people have always told me that u of i's electrical engineering program is rigorous, i guess this is what rigorous means.

thank god for gen ed classes, they provide the briefest of respites from the mundane, facts-laden technical courses. and the funny thing is i actually look forward to doing my CINE 104 (a film class) homework. it sometimes makes me wonder if i've chosen the right major.

it's not that i hate engineering, but i really envy the people in my classes who are always in the front row, who listen to the professors speak as if god himself were delivering a message. it's that thirst for knowledge that i'm envious of, and of course that intrinsic understanding of the subject that seem to come so naturally to them.

i yearn to be in that group of the select few, who were there for the sole reason of wanting to be there and nowhere else. and the worst part is that i know i would never be able to be the best at what i do if that huge void is not filled by something as absolute as passion.

i wanna feel alive again, i wanna feel like the way i feel every time i step onto the rugby pitch, every second of my life. what's my calling in life?


+listening to: gravity by john mayer trio

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creases

exams, exams, exams
gotta iron out those creases



+listening to: nothing

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it's been 6 days

6 days with a blank slate in my mind. that's really rare. usually on tuesdays, something would be brewing in that far away galaxy in my head, and by wednesday i would have something that remotely resembled loosely interconnected nonsense.

but, as life (that bitch) would have it, i got food poisoning on wednesday. it was probably the worst i've ever had. i am pretty sure it was the beef patty in the burger that i had for lunch. symptoms included nausea, fever, headache, muscle ache, stomach ache and by dinner time i was out.

by the time i woke up, it was about 9pm and i just went to the toilet and puked my guts out. it was excruciating, definitely not something you'd want to go through. it kinda reminded me of that scene in scary movie 2. but it was not funny any more. and the next morning, diarrhea ensued. it was the worst day of my life all over again because i couldn't eat anything.

in total: about 24 hours without food, minimal water intake, plus constantly questiong myself about the purpose of existence.

i have learnt one thing from this ordeal though: no matter how much of a bitch life is, it still goes on like nothing happened. and yea, i have 3 mid terms next week, 2 of which occurs on monday.


have a great weekend everybody, now pass the mug please.


+listening to: skyline by jake shimabukuro

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my very own MAF! [omgwtfbbqpostponed]

i was really looking forward to this. since i can't be at the HC MAF, the uiuc one will have to do... but but, last minute email tells me it's postponed to next week. damn the weather.


+listening to: the great gig in the sky by pink floyd

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the constants in life

indeed there are the constants in life. three actually: change, choice and principles.

the potluck over the weekend reminded me once again how much i miss singapore and home. the food, the way of life, and just how things smelt. for the first time, rice (yes, plain white rice) tasted like heaven, and the curry chicken - pure sex.

i realized however much i loved change, i love my personal comfort zone too. i got to meet some new people from a completely different culture, they're friendly mostly, and really nice but rarely do you feel that air of sincerity of genuine friendship.

maybe it's got something to do with race, culture, or whatever there is, or maybe it's just the way people work in college, everyone has their own agendas, interests in mind. it's the transition into the adult world i suppose. but then again, maybe i'm still trying to fit in.

choose what you may. i chose to change the environment surrounding me, to step out and away from my comfort zone. and i have never doubted myself on that.

maybe that's what principles are for: you live by your set of values and rules; you make choices based on those values. the rules don't change, but you do.

i shall leave it at that. and here's a little piece of heaven i call my own: this particular seat in the engineering library, which is directly opposite the window with a view of the engineering quad. it just makes me feel calm, it's that quiet place i escape to when things seem to get over my head.

still waiting on the world to change.



+listening to: drivin' rain by gov't mule

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Game Day

the first home game of the season (american football that is)!

i woke up to the sound of the marching illini practising downstairs at 7am in the morning. that's one of the perks of living right next to the football stadium - you get a free morning call in the form of the band before every home game.

but the thing is, you see there was this party last night, and um, i kinda passed out. so right after the "morning call" i went straight back to sleep and got up right before the game started.

since i couldn't get a ticket (they were sold out before school even started), i had to watch in on tv. since college football is such a big thing here, you can catch almost every game live on tv. even espn broadcasts them.

as usual we whooped eastern illinois, and the funny thing is the live feed had a little bit of a lag time, so i was sort of hearing echoes of everything commentator was saying, and when i went to the toilet, i didn't miss a thing! it was like listen to the tv without the picture, and everytime we scored a touch down, a cannon shot was fired. it was so freaking loud.

my head still hurts, so this post shall end here. i've learnt my lesson: jager bombs are killer, and please drink responsibly.




+listening to: my wife by the who

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bedside ephiphany

sometimes you get the feeling that things are slipping by you, like a sandstorm.

you are helplessly sucked into the the eye of the storm, blinded, gasping for air. and when you reach out and try to hold on to something, all you get is a fistful of the very substance that engulfs you. consuming you.

life's tough, and opportunities are scarce. look around, seize the day, life won't always be this way.


it's open doors night at my dorm. everyone on my floor has gone to the other floors to hang out and meet other fun people, and i'm here helplessly marooned in this quagmire of knee-deep assignments. it's only the second week of school.

god save the queen.


+listening to: carpe diem by metallica

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