P Ramlee at Nu Sentral

I first learned about this exhibit from my Instagram feed. Plenty of my friends learned about the National Archive doing an exhibition at Nu Sentral about the work of the late Tan Sri P Ramlee. At the back of the success of Ola Bola, it was certainly great timing, tapping into the public interest.

The very one used in Penarik Becha!I turned up on a Sunday afternoon, alone as Anita was with the kids at home, and judging from the number of people who stopped by, was a great success. It was certainly helped by the effort being put in. The exhibits were very clearly labelled and certainly looked professional. The fact that it was free also helped, and with the number of people walking past as they go about near KL Sentral, the exhibit was bound to be a winner.

Those were the actual clothes used in his movieMore personal histories and memorabilia I was not sure how long it was going to run, but it was certainly worth my afternoon. Hopefully, the exhibit would be a continuing effort, being rotated around different venues.

He certainly likes his scooters ....Nice layout of the exhibition as seen from the upper floor of the mall

It featured succinct informations, anecdotes as well as exclusive items from the era. It was quiet a surprise what the great man achieved in his 44 years on this earth. And I would be turning 44 in July. It was beyond compare!

At the Movies

After breakfast, Anita hatched an idea that we should go out to watch a movie. The vote was 3 against 1. Irfan wasn't keen. For him, the whole idea of the holiday was to stay at the hotel and never having to go out ...

After much persuasion and bribe, he agreed and we went to watch Guardians of the Galaxy. It turned out to be much better than we thought, although the dialogue may not be really suitable for young children. Some ample use of swearword and sexual innuendos were about ....

We left the theatre rooting for Groot, the plant character in the movie.

The theatre was located at a shopping mall along Gurney Drive. Anita went to do some shopping afterwards, while Irfan demanded his bribe .... We ended up staying until about 6 pm, back in time for dinner.

Contagion

Steven Soderbergh. He is a mixed bag. But you must admit that he is certainly one classy moviemaker. One can't forget the slick Ocean's Eleven. Not exactly Tarantino-esque but certainly he knows what he's doing.

I had the pleasure of watching Contagion on DVD during the Xmas break. I was expecting a Medical Thriller ala Outbreak. But instead, it was a drama. And a good one too. A bit slow in terms of pacing but it certainly built up into a crescendo.

We had vignettes of stories which came together. Collection of lives being effected by outbreak of a virus which reached epidemic proportion. These stories formed the spine of the movie, rather than the virus itself. And in the end, I felt that the movie was trying to do too much. Trying to tell too many stories, spreading the whole theme too thin in the middle of the movie.

The acting were superb however, not surprisingly by the number of big stars in the movie. The main characters were Matt Damon, Lawrence Fishbourne, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law to mention a few. No downer on this department although some of the supporting cast were given little to work with.

I must admit that the movie would not be to everyone's liking. But I found it enjoyable, not least because it was not what I was expecting. Definitely recommendable.

Let's Kung Fu Panda

The first installment of Kung Fu Panda proved a hit in our household. Certainly we were looking forward for the follow-up and it was not a surprise when the boys asked me to take them out to watch it on the first weekend the movie came out. After the frantic search to get tickets for the early morning show, we finally settled for the seats a TGV at Capsquare. Armed with soda and popcorn - everyone was hyper at this point, we had ver high expectations for the movie.

The start was actually quite funny, setting up the plot for the movie. A bit of action and punchline here and there. But by midway, it because e obvious that the writers were telling a story of something deeper. It was an origin story, on where Po came from. He must have been half expecting that he was adopted and his father Ping was a bird. The actions came fast and furious, but it was laced with some sappy moments. Puan Anita broke down a couple of times believe it or not. But then again, she was Puan Anita ......

The pace built up again towards the end, which was needed as my boys were getting bored with the heavy dialogues. This time, the pace became relentless, and jokes flowed nicely. There were plenty of nice touches and the ending was although predictable, was well-conceived. There was also a bit in the end which hinted toward another sequel ....

All in all, it was a good day out for the family. Certainly highly recommended for the kids and the kids amongst us. However, if you were planning to watch it with a date, just make sure you go for an evening show as the theaters would be full of noisy children in the morning and afternoon showings.

In Wonderland

As planned, we drove out of the house just before 11 and reached Pavilion and settled in within half an hour. ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was the boys first ever movie experience at the cinema and we were not sure how they would react. We were well prepared in our sweaters and socks as we imagined the will be freezing and we were not wrong. Luckily there were blankets.

Ordering drinks

As customary, we bought our drinks and popcorns. The boys wanted some nuggets as well. We quickly settled into our seats and tucked them in. They were surprised initially at how loud the sound system was but soon their apprehension turned to delight. Munching away on their food, they were totally immersed into the movie. In fact, they recognised the characters from reading the storybook. They clapped when Mad Hatter was introduced and booed when the Red Queen strolled in. They were making noise. Luckily it was in Golden Class and there were hardly any other punters. An hour in, the both of them were already out of their seats and chatting to each other, jumping around. It was havoc. If this were to happen in a packed cinema, I was sure we would have been led out by security. The two hours passed by so quickly and they were already planning to watch Shrek in the future.

All tucked inYes! We survived it!The movie itself was surprisingly very enjoyable. I initially was not very keen since I have been disappointed big time with Tim Burton’s fares in the past. One good thing about the movie was it never ever tried to give any back stories to the imaginary characters in Wonderland. It assumed that we knew the characters or at least knew enough as not to be asking too much about where they were from. Johnny Depp was spot on as the Hatter, so was Helena Bonham Carter. The CGI complemented the scenes very well although occasionally Burton’s choice of eclectic colours did come to the fore. The boys loved the fat twin and the invisible cat. Irfan left the theatre in the end trying to dance like the Hatter doing his closing number.

Irfan tucking into his sausages
Cookies for dessert In it goesThat's how the cookie crumblesAs we watched the first screening of the day, we were starving for lunch when the movie finished. We caught a bite at Dome before going home. Puan Anita and the boys were fast asleep half way back home. So much for excitement. I was looking forward to watch the badminton, Formula 1 and football later today.