Yesterday I took a bus to Toa Payoh with Edwin. He's a very animated, lively and friendly guy, so it was kind of cool talking to him. Yep.
After that I went to meet Mak at Causeway Point. I decided that I wasn't going to go home to change out of No. 4, so met him straightaway. We were deciding between The Fog and I Not Stupid Too. For some reason, he seemed to want to watch TF more, as he mentioned in the SMS he sent me earlier that morning. However, after we bought our food (I got Katsu Don. I'm counting down the days till I can return to camp to get my teeth in it.) he asked me to guess what movie he chose in the end.
I think we've watched more than 20 movies together. That's an underestimate I think. And we've never watched a horror movie before. I seemed to remember him telling me that he prefers watching light-hearted and entertaining movies more than one that'd just scare the daylights out of him. Well, not that he isn't brave enough, but he doesn't see the point. Also, since I wanted to watch INST, I had a feeling that his taste couldn't differ that far from mine, because we watch movies together all the time! Haha! I had a great time talking to him about my failure at driving (someone to share my bitterness at driving with). He's leaving for Brunei for jungle training on Monday, and I think he'll have a helluva adventure there.
So on to the movie - I Not Stupid Too. I'll kick off by saying that it's a 10/10 and I haven't seen such a good movie in a very very long time.
The characters depicted in the movie are able to relate to people across all age groups and uniquely enough, Singaporeans. I didn't know parents of this country were all so typical and predictable. And that's how it was able to make me feel for the plot, and its characters. This movie packs together many subplots, in fact, so many that you don't know what's going to get thrown at you next. It is a tiny bit preachy at times (as stated by many movie reviewers), but that is only a very minor fault in this movie.
If you're a parent or a student, it will not be difficult for you to understand the influences that affect the actions of a child and vice versa. The very feeling of being misunderstood is strongly put across in this movie, and will shock many adults at how their assumptions about children, despite their abundance in life experiences, can still be inaccurate.
Of course, one of the things that made me tick was the fact that Cheng Cai (played by the fantastic Joshua Ang, OK, the entire cast was brilliant by the way) got expelled from school because of fighting. And his Dad put in a lot of effort into finding another school for him. I won't reveal what he did but it sort of reminded me of my plight, when I was transferred from River Valley High. Of course, transferred is a nicer word to use (I usually tell people I was kicked out) but after seeing the situation that Cheng Cai and his Dad was in, I realised what happened to me was no different from being expelled. My mom helped me find schools, printed out copies of letters and faxed them to many Secondary Schools in the area etc. etc. I was never overwhelmed by grief, just disappointed, whereas my parents were... devastated. Sort of.
The one fact that I cannot understand is how the movie is able to combine the elements of comedy and drama so well. Upon watching it, I'd laugh at the funny moments, yet it did not take away the seriousness and sadness of the situation. There were many a time when I'd be laughing and at the next moment, immersed in the pain of the son who misunderstood his dying father. It's insane.
The cinematography (if it can be called that) was unique too. As the two main characters ran as they stole a granny's necklace...
... they see their loved ones appearing along the walkway, telling them that they have to do the right thing. It is kind of like Macbeth seeing apparitions caused by his conscience coming to haunt him. Of course, to match the sombre mood of it all was a hilarious ending (to the subplot) when the granny exclaimed to the police that she made a prank call because she was bored. You've got to go watch it if you want to know why she decided to help the boys in the end. It's so random that it's hilarious.
The movie is very intense for me because I haven't been able to forget my days in school. I struggled a bit with Chinese too. I have parents who place a lot of emphasis on studying. I have a blog (so does one of the main characters, who won a blogging competition) through which I express myself. I use the phrase "lame shit". What impressed me was that Jack Neo, in spite of me thinking that he was over-hyped, did do his research and added elements that connect the young audience strongly to the characters.
The whole host of characters boost the movie into blindingly brilliant status - the busy parents, the gangsters, the kopitiam ah-soh, the ang-moh-trying-to-speak-Chinese principal, the old-fashioned Chinese teacher, the grandmother who knows the teen lingo "so lame", the ex-convict father, hormone-raging-porn-watching teens, the overbearing boss... The list goes on.
Of course, there's no doubt Jack Neo's at his best when he dropped a few hilarious hokkien lines in the script along the way. Combined with the 'universal' themes of giving praise, feeling misunderstood, love, acceptance, money, and human relationships, this movie is definitely charged with enough content (and a rather pretty Jing Jing) to make your time and money spent watching this movie, worth it. So... I think this one's a must watch. I've watched many movies recently, but none of them inspired me to write a review, except this one! So... you get the idea.
After that I was on my way out of Causeway Point when I saw my buddy! Turns out that he had guard duty. Talked to him about a couple of stuff, like what was going on in camp and everything. It seems that a lot of things have changed and I'll have to get used to all of those stuff when I get back. It's a bit rubbish, but ORD is crawling nearer by the day, and I'm looking forward to. I don't need to try very hard to get to ORD.
Unlike some silly test which I try very hard yet...
Images courtesy of http://www.inotstupid.com.sg/inotstupid2/main.htm
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