A Little Rant: The Cinema

Okay. I'm really pissed off right now so whatever I write will probably make lesser sense and with sound a little more immature. Here goes.

So basically, I'm sure most of you guys have heard of the movie The Conjuring right? Well basically, it's a horror movie and it's NC16, meaning that you have to be at least sixteen to be allowed to watch the movie, in the Cinemas at least. I'm not sure about other countries but in Singapore, it is NC16.

Vlad, Ana and I went to Cathay Cineleisure Orchard to check out the movie. We were able to buy the tickets just fine. The counter guy asked "It's an NC16 movie, you know. You need to be at least sixteen." and we nodded. It wasn't a problem to us since as far as we knew, we were over 16.

The real problem began when we wanted to enter the studio. Vlad and I forgot to bring proof that shows we're over 16. We need passports since we don't have an IC card. At first we thought it'd be okay for just Ana to show her proof since there were many people ahead of us that entered without the person even asking for any proof (I saw their tickets. They were watching the same movie). We thought we should be quite safe or we could at least persuade the girl who tear tickets to let us in. But that didn't happen. The person asked for our IDs. Ana showed hers whereas Vlad and I had nothing to show. We tried to talk the person into letting us enter. We asked her to suggest a way that would show that we really were sixteen without having to show any identification. Nothing worked. Nothing. We weren't allowed to enter. Ana decided that she didn't want to watch if we're not going. We were really pissed.

What angered me the most at that time was the fact that there were a lot of people under sixteen who were able to get into the theatre and watch the movie without being inquired or anything. That many were able to slip into the movie underage whereas we, who are of age, weren't allowed to. I'm not saying that they should just allow us to enter without identifications and all. What I want is that they check every single person's ID. I want to see people under 16 to be brought down to where they deserve to be. Unfair. Just unfair.

Another thing is that the lady outside the theatre who tear tickets said that we could always change the ticket into another movie to prevent loss of $11. The tickets were non-refundable. So we went down to the ticket counter guy and asked for a movie change. Nope. Apparently the ticket-tearing lady was wrong about the you-can-change-movie part. There was nothing we could do to the ticket we bought. We lost $11 each just like that. I thought of selling it but no one was interested. $33, gone. Just like that. We were pissed as shit [ironic].

I hope all the people who were able to enter the theatre underage, in Singapore, live a horrible life.

-L

You will be missed, Cory Allan Michael Monteith.

We both apologise  for the lack of posts. We've been consumed by offline activities.

As the title so obviously hinted, this post is about Cory Monteith. I'm just going to make this short because... well... All there is to be said has been said.

I wish you the most peaceful rest and you've done the world proud. We have lost a fellow Canadian friend.

My condolences to those who know him and those who wish they did.

R.I.P. Cory Monteith (May 11, 1982 – July 13, 2013)

-L

All Time Favourite Snacks: Loacker Gran Pasticceria Creme Noisette

This post is suggested by Hizkia Elkana.

Let us share with you all a little piece of heaven...

This is one of the best snacks we've tasted. On a fine, sunny day, we were walking around the house, scouting for food to eat because I think we can sort of compare our house to a foodless forest (alliteration, my English teacher should be proud of me). Anyway, we were famished, and we randomly took a box of these out of our kitchen, and VOILA. It's the best thing eveeer, beeeest thiiing eeeeveeeer (if you don't know what song this is, you might as well dive into a sea of hungry piranhas).

It is the Loacker Gran Pasticceria Creme Noisette. We call it Creamy Crispy Biscuits, which troubled us in trying to search for a picture of it. Why do we like it so much? Well...

-It's creamy;
-It's crispy;
-And very, very addicting.

In theory, it sounds very simple. Just coating wafer in chocolate. And yes, that is basically it. But it's all about the ingredients (hahaha, because we would know. We can barely prepare instant noodles). The chocolate, so rich, so creamy and so tasty, melting in your mouth the way you'd expect it to. The wafer, so crispy, so crunchy and fragile, breaks just as your teeth comes in contact to it, and in between the layers of wafers are more chocolate, puffy inside. Individually, they sound okay, the way a person would describe any chocolate or wafer that they like. But together, BAM. Solid proof that there is a little part of heaven that exists on Earth. You can feel the chocolate cream exploding in your mouth right after you plop the wafer in, and that feeling of satisfaction as you bite, layer by layer, through the wafer. Loacker has a way with biscuits.

One will NEVER be enough.

-V & L

Movie Review: Monsters University

"I’m here to make good scarers great, not to make mediocre scarers more mediocre."

Everyone has most probably heard of the new movie called Monsters University. I watched this movie with a friend of mine a few days after this movie started showing in movie theaters, so I thought I could share a little bit of what I thought about the movie. Here's a trailer for those who haven't seen it...

The movie was released on the 21st of June, 2013. It has a duration of 103 minutes and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is directed by Dan Scanlon and produced by Kori Rae, with Billy  Crystal voicing Michael Wazowski and John Goodman voicing James P. Sullivan. 

The story starts with a young, green, one-eyed monster by the name of Michael Wazowki, also known as Mike, who, along with his classmates and his teacher, visits Monsters Inc., which is a scaring company [setting of the first Monsters Inc. movie]. There, he gets inspired to work hard to get into Monsters University. Several years later, he finally makes it into Monsters University. He meets James P. Sullivan, better known as Sully, in his first few lectures. Sully is a big, blue monster with large purple spots, that strikes Mike as a very arrogant person. While Mike studies hard, Sully gets all the credit for holding his family name. 

To cut the story short, the dean of Monsters University drops both Sully and Mike from the scaring program, and along with their team, Oozma Kappa, they try as hard as possible to get themselves back to the program by going through several obstacles and games against other groups such as Roar Omega Roar, who ended up as their final challenger. 

I've spoiled enough, the ending is for you to find out. 

I find this movie as something one can enjoy with their family, especially for little children that prioritise humour. It's a very light movie and is very easy to understand. The movie is presented in a rather excellent manner, however, I feel that it's plot is slightly too simple for my taste. Buuut I have to agree that Mike Wazowski was adorable as a young monster. For kids though, the movie is highly recommended.

Ana, Lucrecia and I bought three little things several days ago...

Ana bought the blue one, I bought the white one, and Lucrecia bought the red one. That is all I have to say. Goodbye.

-V

Movie Review: Man of Steel

queue the Hans Zimmer music

Red. Blue.

"For some, he was a guardian angel. To others, a ghost who never quite fit in."

A couple of weeks ago, we went out to see the new Superman movie, Man of Steel. We were very excited because of Christopher Nolan's part in the making of the film. I [Lucrecia] am an especially huge fan after seeing the brilliant Dark Knight trilogy and the mind-blowing Inception. Back to Man of Steel... Here's a trailer for those who have not seen it...

This movie was released on the 14th of June 2013. The movie is 143 minutes long and is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is directed by Zack Snyder and is produced by Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder. The story is based on Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Now to what we think of it.

Lucrecia: Man of Steel. I find the movie to be very entertaining, as in many things happen and the graphics are appealing. Plot-wise though, it wasn't impressive. It's not that I don't like it; I just think that they can do better. The plot was only good. Many people don't agree but I really enjoyed the lack of humour and lightness. Most of the scenes were pretty serious and I found that pretty exciting. I don't really get why but I'm not too keen on humour except if they're the dry, satiric kind or the How-I-Met-Your-Mother kind. If you're into fun things and humour, I wouldn't recommend this movie. It's quite dark, like most films Christopher Nolan takes part in. All in all, I thought it was super, get it? Even with a so-so plot, it is after all, a movie and when we watch movies, we tend to go offtrack with the story and focus more on the images dancing before our eyes. So I found it really enjoyable. If you think you can sit down [or stand up, however you like it] and watch an almost humour-less and very serious movie for nearly two and a half hours, then you really should. I know for me that it wasn't a waste of my time and  money. Think you'd give it a try?

Vladlena: The movie was pretty good, at least for someone with my taste. Unlike Lucrecia, I found the plot very interesting and straightforward, just the way I like things to be. I thought the details in between scenes were fascinating, and I like how the whole movie flows altogether. For people who are into romance and humour, this isn't a movie I would suggest you to watch. It's not something you merely enjoy. As for me, I'm quite fine with watching a 143 minutes movie containing little to no humour, let alone romance, since the lack of romance is what I was kind of looking forward to. Oh, and I personally like the change of outfits from the other Superman related creations. Up close, the current outfit, it kind of looks like the outfit is made up of bubbles [but of course, I wasn't wearing my glasses, so it's only natural for me to think so]. The outfit looked slightly more masculine, and I liked how he's keeping his underwear to himself. All in all, I would rate this movie as 7.5/10, and is worth the amount of money spent.

- V & L

A Word of Advice: Alarm Ringtones

We're sure many of you have heard from other people that you should NEVER use your favourite song as your alarm ringtone. We're just writing this to double confirm that those people are not in any, ANY, way wrong.

We understand that nowadays teenagers are very much into K-Pop. For those who are into it, you would most probably be familiar with the song History by EXO. And for those of you who don't... 

Our cousin, Ana, used to really like this song, and thought that it would make her mornings brighter. Theoretically, listening to your favourite song in the morning can be a really pleasant thing. Apparently, that's not the case here. For as long as we've been living together, every morning is living hell. The intro to the song has been long etched in our minds, the dubsteb drumbeats and the seductive "Listen" making us shiver in fear. Poor Ana, who can no longer jam to her favourite song, feeling sorry for herself, and us who she dragged along. 

That is, sadly, not the end of it. For a couple of times we've heard this song in public, and never did that song fail to haunt us for the rest of the day. It would cause us to freeze for a very short moment, and die inside. Do you want to feel that way for a song you once labelled your favourite?

Some of you might think that we're overreacting and that if it really bothers us that much, we should just go change our alarm ringtone to something else. Well, we've tried that, and we ended up oversleeping and hence missed school. It's like our minds have been set to wake up under that song's call. We have no choice but to stick with that song. And we're not looking forward to tomorrow morning at all.

Trust us, you don't want to know the pain.

-V & L

Current Events: Haze in Singapore

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/singapore-haze-hits-worst-level-yet-indonesia-sends-planes-copters-to-fight-sumatra-fires/article12738670/?service=print

This topic is probably a few days outdated. I haven’t heard any problems regarding the haze in the past week after coming back to Singapore. However, I can’t not talk about this problem since one country is receiving all the blame. I’m pretty annoyed at what some people have to say about the haze. For example, they label the Indonesians who burn trees as ‘selfish’. I can’t say for sure that they’re not but I kind of get why they do it.

We are talking about farmers; poor farmers. These people have families to take care of but have no money to do it. They need land; fertile land. And the quickest way to get this is by burning trees whose ashes will serve as fertilisers for the soil, hence providing land good for growing crops for either commercial or personal reasons. Yes, they’re doing it for themselves but I can hardly call it selfish. They’re merely trying to survive. They’re not educated enough to comprehend about the world’s environment. They can only afford to think about the things that are directly affecting them in present time. I believe it’s only natural that they prioritise their family over people they're not very familiar with.

 If you were in their shoes, with a family to support, farming as an only job option, would you really care about the haze that is caused by burning trees? Probably not. You’d probably limit your thoughts and worries to what’s in front of you.

 Another thing is that it’s been confirmed that the Sumatra tree burning isn’t the only thing causing the haze. I’ve heard on the news that a few non-Indonesian companies are also to blame for this haze situation. Indonesians are not totally responsible. But I guess listening to the opinions of a little girl is not worth the time.

 -L

To the people of the Blogger Universe,

I shall begin by stating what our parents decided to name us. I am Vladlena Lin, and I have a sister named Lucrecia Lin. You can decide how old you want us to be, really, and who is older than the other. Our father is the typical everyday asian business man you see driving a Mercedes Benz to work. Meanwhile, my mother is Russian, and she was obviously the one that pointed out both of our names from the Book of Names.

Back to the whole point of this post. Why are we starting a blog? Neither of us are very sure why. In my case, I find the whole idea of writing and having people, especially strangers, read what I wrote very fun. I don't actually expect anything from you guys, so you shouldn't expect anything from us. In Lucrecia's case, she likes the fame that might come in the package of being a blogger but none of us think that we'll make it far enough.

In case you were wondering why our URL is called CitySmackers, we honestly don't know. We brainstormed several other URLs that we could possibly use, such as Fruitpoppers and TheWhiteNeedle, but our current URL seems a little more interesting sounding as compared to the other two URLs I previously mentioned. Lucrecia came up with WhiteSerpent, and I have to agree, it/s a wonderful URL, but we figured that it wouldn't stick to people's minds like CitySmackers would.

To whoever is reading this, my sincerest gratitude. To those who aren't, well you don't really know what we have to say since you're not here in the first place...

Hahaha.

-V