Of the Bet that Paid Off
Really wanted to get away from school today.In fact,i was so desperate to do that,i actually sprang across the soccer field to the bus stop today.Haha.Yeah,i dont know why.Everything just made me feel so uncomfortable and awkward.Argh.Ive planned to watch "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" with Krishna and Samuel today,and i was about to head to town to meet them.I ended early,and after a brief stop at the toilet i took the bus to Bishan and headed for town.I met Krishna first,and we lunched at YoshiNoya.Haha.Samuel was supposed to arrive at 130pm,but apparently he got lost in Takashimaya.(Yes,he got lost in Takashimaya.)So me and Krishna had to go around looking for him,with 2 mere clues.An "Exit" sign in front of him and a Levis shop behind.Great clues.It didnt take us long to find him anyway.But just as we were about to leave,two ladies popped up in front of us.They claimed that they were from ShangHai,and they were playing this game,to see who can get 50 phone numbers in one hour.I looked around for a camera at first,wonder if its a game show.But apparently it was not,and they were haunting Krishna with perfect chinese,so i didnt care much,until Krishna told them that he did not understand a word they were saying,then i started to worry.Because Samuel was nowhere to be seen,and they started targetting me.Argh.ShangHai bitches,why would i want to give a shit about whether you win or lose.To get out of the situation,i played along with them.Gave them my number,my name,and went off.Argh.Irritating.Those two "friends" were hiding upstairs while i was left with the two crazy woman.Oh god.We headed for Kinokuniya,and met Ben along the way.Haha.Great guy,and we had a great chat together.

3pm soon approached,and we headed back to Lido.Haha.We were early,and started playing TaiTee.Thank god we kept the cards before that security guard came along.Phew.Anyway,its nice to see everyone together again.Haha.They are bloody nice people to talk to,and man i had a blast.Haha.For some reason,i found myself talking much more to them than to anybody else.I felt so much more comfortable than i was in the morning.Argh.So much better now.Haha.Really.Ben and Krishna told us about the happenings in CJC,while we told them about NYJC.Of course,much of it were complains.Haha.I mean,no gel?Plain dumb.We went into the cinema,and the movie soon started.(Reviews will come up later.)

After the movie,Ben had to leave because he was tired.(Went to Beach Road and came back.Pretty tiring.)So the three of us headed for Takashimaya to buy ribbons.Krishna wanted them to wrap his sister's birthday present.Haha.Good brother,really cool.Haha.We took a bus to Esplanade soon after,and headed for the library upstairs.I havent been to the library before really.In fact,i havent been inside Esplanade.Haha.Yeah,i live in the hills and i am a bloody mushroom.The library is cool,with a cafe inside as well as a fully automated piano.Awesome.It was pretty quiet inside,creating a huge contrast between that and our school's library.The best thing was,that you can actually borrow Dvds from this library.No boring textbooks here,no storybooks whatsoever.Every book was about movies,music,and other art related stuff.AWESOME.Really fantastic.My new hangout.Yay.Haha.We sat down at the tables along the windows,and fished out our textbooks to study.(Yeah,i actually felt like studying.Cool huh.)The window overlooked the skyline of the city.Fine,maybe not the skyline.But at least the city lights.Pretty cool.Fullerton was across the river,blazing bright as the day darkened.It was on the third floor,and on the fourth was sorta like an open air garden for people to admire the "Durian" like structures,as well as the "Merlion".Oh well,pretty good place to date really.And we actually spotted couples smooching there as well studied.Wow.They went on for the longest time i know man.Mustve been a record.Even when a couple of people were standing close by,they didnt even care about them and went on.Wow.Samuel said he saw 4 couples at the stairwell smooching.God.That place must be a dating/smooch/sex haven.Haha.Better jot down the locations,couples out there.Haha.The library actually had CD players mounted on the walls,and you can actually borrow CDs from the library and listen to it there,or simply slot in your own.Haha.I must admit that the sound quality wasnt that great,but hell it was cool.Haha.We studied till 830pm,and it was getting late.We were all hungry,and headed towards Raffles Place for a late dinner.The hot plate sucked,but i ate it anyway.Yucks.Yucks.Haha.There,we ended our day.It was extremely fun guys.Havent enjoyed myself so much in months.We gotta hang out more.Haha.Song bo?

Oh yes,Krishna helped me to borrow some Dvds from that library,since he is a member and he goes there almost every week,he figured it wouldnt hurt to help me borrow some Dvds.Haha.I borrowed "The Princess Bride" and "In The Bedroom".Two movies ive been anticipating.Haha.Woah!Love it.Thank you Krishna.;)

Review of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind



How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd
Alexander Pope, 'Eloisa to Abelard' 1717

First off,i never really liked Charlie Kaufman's works.Adaptation,Being John Malkovich to name a few.I turned Being John Malkovich off within an hour.Go figure.His scripts tend to be over the top.Very different from traditional scripts.It goes around the bush and beyond believes to tell people a story.Well,thats fine.But you have to watch Being John Malkovich to believe what i said.And really,i did not understand the movie at all.A man finding a hole in his office,which leads to John Malkovich's brains,and you get to be him for one whole day.Sounds interesting?Till you watch the movie.Anyway,so i am not very fond of Charlie Kaufman's work.Not to mention his long time partner,director Michael Gondry.I had doubts about this movie,despite the numerous positive comments and reviews about this movie.Roger Ebert gave it 3 1/2 stars,James Berardinelli too.How bad can it get?Haha.Alright,i was a little convince,but i was still scared.My mom asked me to take the bet,and i took it.It paid off.VERY,well.

The movie talks about Joel Barish(Jim Carrey),an introvert as well as a loner,meeting the exact opposite of his personality,Clementine Kruczynski(Kate Winslet)on a beach.Impulsive,out going.Thats Clementine.He falls madly in love with her,and she too as soon as they met.They were on totally different ends of the scale,and there is no way you can see them ever being in love with each other.They went along fine,until they had a huge fight,when Clementine came home at 3am.They broke up,and both of them were very upset.Joel lived in depression,and eventually he went to Dr. Howard Mierzqwiak(Tom Wilkinson) of the Lacuna Inc for help.Lacuna Inc is set up by Dr. Howard Mierzqwiak,and it with is break through technology it helps people to erase their troubled and painful memories.Initially,he only seeked for his advice.However,he ended up going through the operation,after knowing that Clementine also went through the same procedure and erased Joel from her memory.Dr. Howard Mierzqwiak's associates,Stan(Mark Ruffalo) and Patrick(Elijah Wood),are in charged of erasing painful memories.One night,they visit Joel,and started the operation.Joel was happy at first,that Clementine was being erased from his memory.He was impulsive,and most of all,he was sad.The memories of them kept going off,until he came to the good memories that they had together.Joel didnt want to let that part of their memory go.So,he convinced Clementine in his memory,and he tries to pull her through different memories that Joel has,to prevent Clementine from being deleted by Stan and Patrick.He found out that,though he hated her so much,there were still moments in their relationships,that he was too reluctant to let go.

The movie,was awesome.I loved every second of it.It begins with Joel waking up to a bad day.His car was badly scratched,and he was pissed off.As he was about to head for work at the train station,he took off suddenly to the opposite platform and took a train to whichever place it led.He didnt know why he did it,but he just wanted to get away from his life for a while.As the movie progresses,you see how Joel struggles with his own memories,as well as his struggle to get Clementine away from the reach of Stan and Patrick,by hiding themselves deep within other memories of his.I have to comment that though the movie used special effects,it blended so well with everything in the scene,that it is hardly noticeable.It provided a powerful image and yet,it does not overwhelm the powerful and overwhelming screenplay Charlie Kaufman wrote.The cast brought a strong and solid acting to the movie,not to mention the receptionist/nurse,Mary(Kirsten Dunst).However,the acting that really shines through goes to Jim.The he acted out his part as the lonely guy,falling in love with every female being nice to him was great.His love with Clementine was truthfully put on screen,and the pain and agony he went through in his break up.This is arguably his best work to date.The movie was very confusing at parts,and i started to worry that my friends wouldnt understand the movie.In the end,they did.Haha.There is a scene,when Clementine and Joel were in the bookstore.Joel started pulling Clementine away from the disappearing books.The shelves and books started disappearing,and you see Joel desperately trying to grab hold of Clementine.Very nice tough by the special effects crew.A scene that touched me was a scene at the end,when Clementine kisses Joel at the beach house,which was falling apart as they spoke.Awesome.Not to mention the comic relieves in the movie.A particular scene comes to mind,when Joel goes back to his childhood days and get bullied by his friends.Mini Clementine to the rescue!That scene was delightful to watch indeed.The movie jumps backward and forward in time. Showing the events that led up to Joel's meeting with Clementine. Many movies with a non-linear plot are very hard to follow, but not here. It is integral to the movie that the past is not revealed until events in the present are understood.There are plot twists here and there in the movie,which is Charlie Kaufman's trademark.And they brings a smile to your face when you finally realises the screen writer's motives.

At the end of the day,you start to think about the quarrels youve had with your girlfriend/boyfriend,wife/husband.Then you start to imagine,how good it wouldve been if everything just disappeared and went away.If she hadnt appeared in your life at all.Bad memories,are the memories that we remember most vividly most of the time.And they are the memories,that causes us to be impulsive,to do things without thinking,which leads to regrets and more regrets.If you are in Joel's shoes,what memories would you keep.What are the painful ones you are willing to make it disappear.What draws the line,between a good memory and a bad one,when it involves the same person?The truth is,it doesnt matter if this person brought you those memories or not.The point is,you guys loved each other.On this day,you guys loved each other so much,that you sworn to love him/her forever.Next time,when one of you do something wrong to another,think about the good times you guys had,and how you guys went through the bad times.It'll only lead to regrets,and more regrets.You never know,when you might be deleted from his or her memory.Erasing from one's head is one thing.But deleting from the heart,thats the trick.This is unlike any other film I have seen. And, although I value originality in motion pictures, the primary reason I'm recommending Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with so much enthusiasm is because it's a great romance. It's willingness to flout conventions and eschew formulas is just one of many things to celebrate about this charmingly eccentric movie.

Rating:10/10

Teaser
Trailer
Clip 1
Clip 2

Quotes of the Day:
Joel,'Is there any risk of brain damage?'
Howard,'Well, technically speaking, the operation is brain damage, but on a par with a night of heavy drinking. Nothing you'll miss.'

Joel,'Can you hear me? I don't want this anymore! I want to call it off!'

Joel,'I could die right now, Clem. I'm just... happy. I've never felt that before. I'm just exactly where I want to be.'

[As Joel and Clementine eat out, he thinks about the other glum-looking couples in the restaurant]
Joel,'Are we like couples you see in restaurants? Are we the dining dead?'

Clementine,'Meet me in Montauk.'

Clementine,'Joel, hide me in your humiliation!'

Joel,'Mierzwiak! Please let me keep this memory, just this one.'

Joel,'I can't remember anything without you.'
Clementine,'Thats sweet,But try.'

Joel,'My God, there's people coming out of your butt.'

Joel,'Valentine's Day is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap.'

Joel,'I don't see anything I don't like about you.'
Clementine,'But you will! But you will, and i'll get bored with you and feel trapped, because that's what happens with me.'
Joel,'Okay...'
Clementine,'Okay...'
'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'(2004)

Song of the Moment---Love will Come Through by Travis