Movie Review 24: Fast and Furious 4

Title: Fast and Furious 4

Director: Justin Lin

Running time: 1 hour 47 minutes

Genre: Action, Thriller

Set in between the second and third installment of the Fast and Furious series, it talks on how Dominic Toretto (Vin Dinsel) is on a path of vengeance as his love of his life, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) was murdered by a gang of drug dealers. Backing him up, is an FBI agent Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) who is attempting to catch the ever elusive Braga.

Well, I am surprised to say that this is an enjoyable movie. I am no fan of high speed car chases since I find them pretty repetitive and boring... well, let me tell you then that there is only one car race and about 3 to 4 car chases only throughout the movie.  And to make things even better, there are no gross sex scenes at all! So, what normally would be sex scenes are instead replaced with actions, emotional acting and character building.

One might have some difficulty in catching up since the first installment of Fast and Furious made its way to the silver screen around 8 years ago. So, I am unsure if the characters (apart from Vin Dinsel) are new or the old gang. However, one doesn't really need to watch the first installment to understand this movie... and there lays its brilliance.

Lots of directors made the assumption that all movie goers have watched the previous series of their movies and did not even bother to reintroduce the characters again. Anyway, apart from the really fake burning oil tanker scene, there rest are pretty much believable and is suspenseful all the way... and I did not even managed to guess who Braga is up until the end!

One thing I am dissatisfied with is the speed of the car scenes... basically, they are shown in such speed that it left me reeling as to what really happened. The intention was to show how great the driver's skills are and how they manipulated the car into an improbable maneuver. However, due to the lightning speed scenes, I was left wondering what actually happened.

There is one scene where I think the driver actually overtake another car by spinning his car out of control, but without watching the movie again in slow motion, I can never be sure. I supposed those who have some skills in car racing would be able to decipher the split second scene, but to me, it's all just a mix of cars banging and crashing.

Anyway, the storyline is not deep at all, but this does not make the movie bad... instead, the simplicity of it is the key feature... it's just a simple story of vengeance... no plot within plot.

The acting, too were top notch. Vin Dinsel is an extremely intimidating man and Paul Walker shines as a FBI who is torn between responsibility and friendship.

In conclusion, it is a movie that is worth watching even for non-car enthusiast.

Observation: Isn't it rather expensive and waste of talent to kill a driver after only one delivery?

Bottomline: Watch it!

Bamboo Rating: 3.3 / 5.0

Angels & Demons - Book Review

Title: Angels & Demons

Author: Dan Brown

Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller

Well, I felt that I just had to write about this novel since this is the first non-fantasy novel that I actually like. I must warn you though, this novel would be offensive to those who are really religious. Me? Well, I am also religious, despite the fact I am a non-vegetarian (Buddhism requires one to be a vegetarian). But I don't really mind other people thrashing my religion since I am my own God... which is one of the things mentioned in the novel! Besides, I highly doubt that my God requires my protection :P.

Anyway, despite the title, there are no real angels or demons in this book. Instead, the title reflects more on the nature of humans of their inherent goodness and evil. Just as the statue shown on the book, where it depicts the statue being half angel and half demon, it shows how humans can be both benevolent and evil at the same time.

For those who has read Da Vinci Code, which is also written by the same author, they might find the underlying story familiar. Despite having a different name and theme, it all started out with a dead guy with some strange symbols/carvings by a group of people which was thought dead long ago. In come an academic 'expert' and he/she is on the run, finding clues and unravel the mystery of the century/millennia/lifetime, etc. and there'll be a few twists and turns along the way right up till the end.

So, this novel follow the exact same path with it's main theme on science vs God. The author explores on whether science and God can live harmoniously together and the implications of it. The statements made by the author might be offensive to really devout people... afterall, how many religion can really accept that God is but a small subatomic particle?

So, in order to enjoy this book, you'll need to have an open mind... question not whether what was said is true (because most of them are gibberish and imagination only), but rather explore the world of 'what if'. Do not assume the book is talking about your world... assume that it is talking about a parallel universe... the world of endless imagination.

If you manage to do just that, you'll find yourself reading a really enjoyable book. The plots, daring statements, twists, actions, suspense in this book is mind boggling. You might find yourself not understanding at times (such as the creating nothing into something scenario) but fret not, it is meant to do so because as I said it is just but an imagination... something untrue and thus, the author cannot tell you something in such a clear and concise manner so you could disprove him. However, that is not to say that the author is blurting out baseless nonsense. Refer at the end of this blog to see that the clues mentioned in his book depicting earth, air, fire and water are very real.

This is also the shortest novel I've ever read... I don't mean in term of pages.... excluding the ending chapter of the story, the main event took place in just 24 hours... so the whole 300++ pages (depending which size of the book you buy) is describing an event that happen within just one day! That makes the story compelling and exciting throughout.

I'm pretty sure that the author's comment that the halo around the angels are just but an improved version the rites involving of a pagan sun God will rile up devout Christians all over the world... but hey, Buddha had a halo too... so if I can swallow that, so can you. :P

I just hope that I'll have just as much fun while watching the movie which is due to come out in May 15!

Statue mentioned in the novel in the "Earth" chapel

Drawing providing the clue for "Air"

The clue of "Fire", not the usual fire burning fire... it's the Fire of Passion

Final element... "Water"

What to do if you lost your passport?

Well, I finally got my new passport back and here are the incidents from when I lost it to how I got it back.

This whole fiasco started when my mum threw away my 'hidden' passport when she was cleaning up my room. That happened around August 2008. When I went home to Kampar on December 2008 for the long holiday, I realised my passport was gone and immediately went to report this matter to the police.

Now, I am unsure if it is acceptable for you to report to a police station different from the region where you lost your passport, but to be on the safe side, always make reports on stolen stuff, accidents, etc. with the police station in the region it happened. So, basically, you need to tell the police how, when and where you lost your passport and you pay RM10 (I think) for the report to be printed out and you're done! Of course, you need to tell them your passport number as well.

(Important note: It is of extreme importance that you remember your passport number. I would recommend you to photostat a copy of your passport and keep it somewhere... or at least jot down the passport number, passport validity period and also the time and places you traveled to with your passport to overseas.)

After this, you would need to see a detective where you'll be subjected to what they called 'interview'. In my case, I had to meet with the detective the next day I made my report. I had heard of the terrible stories on how they would grill you for info but the detective (who is a woman by the way), is quite nice. Anyway, before you went to this interview, please prepare all your documents and information. Well, the detective will tell you which documents to bring but basically they are, your IC, passport size pictures (4 pcs , I think), birth certificate and preferably your name card of the company you work in as well. Please make a photostat copy (2 pcs) for the IC (front and back) and the birth certificate.

I don't remember all the questions she asked, but here are some that I remembered:- parent's birth date and age, parent's occupation, your birth date and age, your occupation, schools and year that you studied in, your siblings birth date and age, your siblings, education level, your siblings occupation and in more detail, you need to explain again on the how, where and when you lost your passport... and also your passport number, the validity period, the number of passports you have had, the place you applied for the passport, the places you have travelled with your passport and the date.

After doing that, you must proceed next to the immigration department to report you lost passport. You must bring passport sized pictures (4 pcs), original and photostat copies (2 pcs) of birth certificate, IC and police report. You will be given several forms to fill in... one is the passport application form, one questionnaire form, another questionnaire form and one checklist. One of the questionnaire form need the signature from the commissioner of oaths, who should be available near the immigration center. I think he charged me RM30 for his signature!

The questionnaire forms, you will be asked to write down again your details, how, where and when you lost your passport, details of your passport (validity period, previous passports numbers, countries travelled to, etc.) Please ensure the information you give is the same as the answers you gave in the police report and police interview, or you'll be in deep trouble.

After finishing everything, you'll meet up with an immigration officer who will be asking you the exact same questions in the questionnaire... again, please ensure your answers are the same as what you have written. If he is satisfied with your answers, he will tell you that you'll get the application results within a month.

In my case, I had an incident with the application. Since my passport was lost since August and I reported it only in December, and someone was apparently using my passport during that period, it is my responsibility to prove that I did not use the passport during that period. Thus, it is important that you make your report immediately you lost your passport or in case you're unlucky enough and your passport is being used by someone else, you'll have to prove that you're in Malaysia and is not using that passport. Luckily, I was on a shopping spree the day my passport was being used and thus I was able to prove that I'm not using the passport at that time.

Anyway, you'll receive a letter like this after several days:-

If you can't read it, it just state that my application has been received and is in process and it will take approximately one month to complete the investigation.

And 3 weeks later, I received the good news! My application is approved! But as a punishment, I can only get a 2 year passport. I will be able to get a 5 year passport only after this 2 year passport is invalid.

Letter stating I can get my new passport that is valid for 2 years

Well, since I was not planning to go anywhere, I did not apply the passport yet. However, there were some questions that I wanted to ask them... such as will I need to pay extra money, how long I can hold out my application for the new passport and if I needed to fill up another form to apply the new passport.

So, in March I went to immigration (during one of my forced leaves) and showed the letter to the counter and ask to see someone who can answer my questions. I waited and waited for like 45 minutes and my number did not appear on the board! So I ask them again and 15 minutes later, my number appeared on the board and I eagerly went to the counter shown. To my horror, I was told to scan my thumbprint and at that moment I knew that they were preparing the new passport for me! Luckily I brought enough cash with me! I had to pay RM300 for my new 2 year passport. Usually RM300 is for a 5 year passport, I guess that's their punishment kua... but it still is better than the horror stories I read online where I had to pay another extra RM300 as punishment!

Anyway, do you know that it is extremely fast to get a passport nowadays, it was written on the receipt that I can get my passport 2 hours after I made my payment! So, I went out to have a long lunch and voila, it's ready when I returned! I was planning to use a better looking picture for my passport, but they used the one I gave them in January and it was horrible! Never realised I'm really THAT bloated. :(

Anyway, the summary of steps are:-

1. Report to police

2. Attend interview with detective

3. Report to immigration

4. Attend interview with immigration

5. Receive letter of approval

6. Get new passport

Documents needed: IC, birth certificates, passport sized pictures and money!

Oh, by the way, I was lucky because they did not deem my case as lost due to negligence. They can withhold your application for new passport for 2 years if they think that it's due to negligence... and if you lose your passport more than twice, you'll never ever get a new passport ever again!!! And remember to photostat a copy of your passport and keep the information of all your previous passports just in case!