Books to movies and back again

I read with much amusement Wannabe Lawyer's post on V for Vendetta and criticism of the way the material was handled by the Wachowski brothers.

I have this policy about book to movie transitions and that is to treat the book and the movie as completely separate entities that have nothing but the title and maybe a germ of an idea in common(sometimes not even that).

The reason is simple. What makes a good book does not always make a good movie and what makes a good movie probably won't make a good book either. And when one enters the realm of the graphic novel, the issue is complicated by the movie makers having to translate the comic artist's aesthetic into film as well.

Sometimes, it works well (X-Men 2 is a good example) and sometimes it just doesn't(The Incredible Hulk comes to mind). But for myself, I have always found that watching the movie without having ever read the book/comic ensures that I go in without preconceptions and that I'm therefore less likely to be bitterly disappointed by the show.

All this is, unfortunately, an onerously long winded way of politely disagreeing with Wannabe Lawyer's assessment of V for Vendetta.

I quite liked it. I haven't read the graphic novel though so I suppose my theory on preconceptions leading one to harbour unrealistic expectations probably stood up to this test(not that it proves much).

It wasn't fantastic in the oh my god that was the best movie I've seen all year kind of way but it was an interesting watch. I liked Hugo Weaving's acting and the way he fleshed out a character whose face could not be seen with just his voice and body language. To make a man seem graceful(when fighting) and gauche (when trying to talk to Evey) at the same time, to bring out the pathos and the strength of V with his body and his voice; I thought that very few actors could have brought it off as well as he did.

Natalie Portman turned in a performance that was far less nuanced than what she is really capable of(try watching Closer) but she seems generally incapable of doing a really bad job and I thought she brought off the change in the pre imprisonment Evey and post imprisonment Evey fairly well.

Perhaps the Wachowski brothers overdid the drama more than a little, particularly at the end, but in all, the way the story was told, the scenes with the ordinary Londoners in front of their TV sets, the way that they attempted to tie them all together wasn't that badly done.

But yes, I'll agree that the politics behind the movie were awfully simplistic and more than a little Americanized. But for a Sunday night movie where I wanted just a little entertainment and not too much thinking, it was okay.

Which is of course, the most powerful critique one can make of a purportedly political movie.

Just a bad day

I went to a church thing on monday night that involved having dinner with a bunch of girls and then some bible study after.

Have you ever sat somewhere and felt totally alone despite all the people around you? That is essentially how I felt on monday.

It wasn't their fault; it was mine. There were just things going on in my life, things that had been happening that day and the day before that had nothing to do with them but conspired make me feel weepy and irritable.

And while they shared and giggled together, my secrets both great and small rose up before my face and I could barely breathe. I could not tell, but holding it all inside got so hard at that point.

I said little but nodded along and tried to paste a concerned/studious look on my face when all I really wanted to do was to run home and hide under my quilt and shiver.

I'm okay. But I think it's going to take alot to persuade me to get out of bed for the next couple of days while I wallow.

Sometimes, a girl just needs bed and a tub of decadent ice cream to help soothe the nerves a little.

Hit me!

It's very odd but I had to wait to come to Melbourne before I finally indulged in some terribly Singaporean activities.

Over the past few weeks, if you asked me on any random Saturday morning what I'd been up to the night before and then carefully noted my dark eye rings and exhausted demeanour, I'd have blushed and looked slightly guilty.

Strange but true that I came to Melbourne and learnt to indulge in both mahjong and blackjack.

I don't know why I never learnt to play either of these games in Singapore. I mean, one reads about housewives/tai-tais playing mahjong all the time and I'd always subconsciously assumed that once I reached a certain age I'd automatically end up with a bad perm and an addiction to a game played with white tiles.

But then here I am before my mid twenties have even been breached, already with an incurable itch to "wash tiles" and play somemore even after a weekend of indulgence. Or perhaps I finally started hanging out with the right crowd of Singaporeans with whom I could indulge in these guilty pleasures.

As for blackjack, somehow my family never really took up the hoary tradition of having blackjack games during Chinese New Year. It may seem amazing to most Singaporeans but my Chinese New Year celebrations principally consisted of much eating and tea drinking rather than participation in any particular sort of gambling.

What's next?

Perhaps I should hop down to Singapore Pools the next time I'm home and buy my first ever 4-D ticket?

Just kidding! I have no intention of wasting my time(and money) in that way. But I'd give anything to see the look on my sister's face when she reads that line.

Testing the Limits

Yesterday I took part in a 14.7 km charity run. Needless to say, I'm in much pain today from waist down. Before yesterday, the furthest I'd ever run was 7km and that was on the threadmill in the gym under controlled circumstances. I honestly found it hard to comprehend trying to run more than double that distance. After all,it was only 5 months ago that I started to jog a little at the gym and at that time the furthest I had ever run was the 2.4 km run that is a compulsory component of the Singapore school's fitness regime.

The run itself was so weird in some ways. It was both harder and easier than I thought it would be. Easier because the distance went past faster than I thought it would. Before Sunday I'd never even run out of doors in Melbourne before so the scenery flashing past, the people running by actually helped keep me interested and distracted from the pain in my butt and thighs.

Harder, because running outdoors is so different from the threadmill in the gym. One has to sidestep obstacles, cope with the sharp rise toward the bridge we were to run across (believe that steep slope almost killed me) and slow down the pace in order to deal with the crowd.

The first three kilometres went past faster than I thought and I hit my stride somewhere around 4.5 km into the run. All went pretty smoothly until around the 11km mark which is when I really began to tire. My legs hurt because I'd stupidly played 2 hours of badminton on Friday and had gone into the run with already achy legs and somewhere around that point in time I really had to persuade myself to keep going and not just stop and give up.

But then the route turned into the main part of Melbourne city and there were people all lined up in the streets and shouting encouragement and oh my god you have no idea how much that helped me. There were people clapping and yelling for us to keep going and I was somehow motivated to just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

All the same, the last 3 km of the run was horrible going for me. My thighs were protesting and my butt really hurt and I kept wondering if I was absolutely crazy for doing this.

It wasn't until I finished the run that I realised that running is really all about pushing the limits. Now that I know I've done it before, I know I can do it again.

I know 14.7 km doesn't sound like a big deal for loads of people who run regularly or for guys who have had to do the army half marathon. But for me, this is the furthest I've ever run in my life and I never thought even one year ago that I could do something like this and (sorry for this bit of arrogance) but I feel so darned proud of myself for going for this alone and finishing it.

If anyone is interested, here is the website for the run which includes a map of the route and contains more information about the Good Friday charity appeal for the Royal Children's Hospital.