Abstract Abyss
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- Wednesday, September 29, 2004 -- 09:45 p.m. - So... how many entries this month? Not enough? Didn't think so. Too much happening lately. My dad just got back from Vancouver two days ago. My cousin got married. One of my best friends got married (I was a bridesmaid in high-heel ridden, achy feet). I'm behind in my homework (though by a lot less than I usually am). I've finished a good portion of my writing assignments (Not!). And my throat hurts -- I can't even swallow saliva without wincing. Along with my dad's delayed luggage came all of the things he'd bought in Vancouver: beef jerky, Chinese medicinal ointments, and lots of DVDs. So here comes the reason for a new entry.
Ahh... the ending to the 'Infernal Affairs (IA)' trilogy/epic. Why is there no 'Infernal Affairs 2' review, you all ask? Well, that's because I only saw the last part of it, so I can't really say much about it. But I sat through IA3 -- mostly because it has my sweetie, Andy Lau in it (even IF he's the bad guy) -- and found it rather enjoyable. First of all, I'm not even going to bother mentioning the cast too much since this was basically a star-crowded movie for star-studded eye candy. In other words, its a marketable production that amounted to a good story, although it relied too much on media, press, and its stars. That's all. Of course, this also means that IA3 is really a long shot from being anywhere near IA's success. Where IA had depth and plot and suspense and mega drama and all the good stuff, I guess IA3 made up for its own lacking with the stars. I have to hand it to Andrew Lau and Alan Mak though -- also kudos to writer Felix Chong in collaboration with Alan Mak. Since the first priority for IA3 seemed to be its star-studded cast -- i.e., how do we fit the biggest names all into two hours of viewing time? -- I'm genuinely suprised that they were able to bring back the characters who'd already been offed in IA in such a fashionably graceful manner. They even had time to throw in a few sketchy scenes where you have to think extra hard to understand. IA3 basically takes place in two different time periods, and its rather interesting to see the transitioning back and forth from the few months before Yan (Tony Leung) dies to about a year or so after. Like some of the other trilogy types, however, IA3 clearly serves as a means to close up the whole epic, give it an ending and try to make it memorable at the same time. Though it does give the IA epic closure, it also opens up so many newer questions that come in the form of Leon Lai's character, Yeung, who seems to be a complete mystery throughout the whole film. It even bring minor confusion in the form of Andy Lau's Ming who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to his over exertion and stress on making sure that no one finds out he used to be Sam's (Eric Tsang) mole for the triads. Ming only wants to be a good person... I'll admit that I rather enjoyed this movie despite its constant appearances of plot holes and its flashing back and forth that is just a tad bit hard to follow unless you sit at the edge of your seat. Star-studded with exceptionally good talent (all of the male stars, as well as the supporting males, Eric Tsang and Anthony Wong, have been named as Best Actor -- Tony Leung and Andy Lau twice), bravado eye candy (my sweet Andy Lau and his partner in crime Tony Leung), and a rather cutsie performance from Kelly Chen reprising her role from IA as Dr. Lee, IA3 pretty much accomplishes what it set off to do. It entertained, it finished the story, it told a story on its own, and most importantly, it starred some of Hong Kong cinema's biggest names, including a cameo by Carina Lau and Sammi Cheng. All of the stars were excellent. Tony Leung practically wiped the floor with his always naturally uber spectacular acting -- even though I think he wasn't even trying -- and Andy Lau was able to incorporate more of the sinister, paranoid, struggling inner soul of Ming. For once in a movie starring Andy Lau, I actually found his character less than charming and rather scary to boot. I rooted for the other guy -- not Leon Lai, the third protagonist of IA3 who's necessity could be questioned -- even though his ending is already foretold in IA. And speaking of Leon Lai, he scared me and he confused me, and he annoyed me; in spite of that, his performance wasn't so bad. Eric Tsang and Anthony Wong -- though small roles once again -- made the most of their talents and did not disappoint, as always. Kelly Chen was a flower vase, but you really HAVE to love the flirtatious scenes between Dr. Lee and Yan during flashbacks. My favorite part was the entire sequence of scenes telling about Yan's first encounter with Dr. Lee as his shrink; cute and humorous. And since I didn't watch IA2, there may have been some subplots and symbols in IA3 that I missed that might have been answered from IA2. Other than that, IA3 stood pretty well on its own, though as any other epic series, it's better off being viewed along with the other two movies, I'm sure -- and in order as well or nothing really makes too much sense. I give Infernal Affairs 3 a very boasting four out of five stars: ****. Come to think of it, I don't even know if I'd given the first movie this many stars, but at the time, I didn't really understand the plot -- and barely paid attention -- enough to give it a fair review.
Until then, I'll be doing my homework. For a better review of Infernal Affairs 3, including reviews of the preceding two movies go to Love HK Film.com - Thursday, September 2, 2004 -- 08:43 p.m. - I can't believe it's already September. And I only made one entry in August. Where have I been? Of course, I can't be blamed. Our internet has been very bad ever since we returned from vacation, and thus, it's hard to use. My mother is currently at war with our internet service provider cable company. She declares that we should be credited back for the month without fully satisfiable internet usage. Everyone else in this house agrees with her. I've been working hard lately -- even though I still don't have a job -- and I'm proud of myself because not only am I keeping up with my school work, but I'm also keeping up with my writing. Of course, I'll admit that because of a bit of illness and distracting parental units, I am behind by at least a day. I need to finish reading a chapter in my Genetics text and I have yet to write my American Literature response paper over one of the essays we read in class (that'll take a whole of five minutes.) My friend is getting married toward the end of September and I'm a bridesmaid without a dress and she doesn't seem too happy with it. It's not my fault that dresses are so darn expensive and I don't want to buy something I'll only be wearing once. Anyway, other news includes my pursuance of a simpler life. Thanks to my American Literature class -- the theme is Simplify -- I've begun to wonder if my life wouldn't be better without luxuries. Okay, so those thoughts lasted for a whole five seconds, but I do often wonder what the best way to get rid of stresses of life would be. And it doesn't include killing anyone or locking myself up and becoming a hermit. If the internet decides to be good now, I can promise a role of new reviews coming up. I've been watching good movies and good series, and even anime -- in Japanese with English subtitles -- and I've even been reading quite a bit of things. I've also seen some really bad movies which can be mentioned as well in order to warn others about viewing. Just as well, my spiritual self wants to be able to analyze certain aspects of my life with anyone who cares -- in other words, I feel like ranting is good medicine for my suffocating soul. Anyway, glad that I'm in contact with the internet land again... Toodles! |
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