Top 5 Movies!

We’ve had music, news and people. What possibly, could we be lacking? Movies, perhaps?

TOP 5 BEST & MOST POPULAR MOVIES

5. Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit!
Shockingly, Wallace and Gromit manages to break into the chart, with a barely-there release in Singapore at the edge of 2005! Still, people are already praising the wittiness of this animated feature, and it has already been hailed as one of the best animated pictures of our time, taking The Incredibles’ place.
**** 4 Stars!

4. Sin City
From animated comedy to porn. Sin City isn’t that bad, unless you count the flashy boobs (i.e the boobs make it worse. For ppl who can’t derive meaning from a sentence). The plot itself is understandable, and the narration does enough to explain the overall storyline. The action is moderate, and not so much sex as there were color. That black-white effect does wonders, however, to make a new approach to the movie.
*** 3 Stars!

3. Just Like Heaven
This tear-jerker is one of the more popular movies to hit the screens. Movie critics say this isn’t too good… but if the people like it, so do we! Reese Witherspoon, especially, does a commendable job overall.
*** 3 Stars!

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Amazing plot, detail and characters. Though not too related to the book, Harry Potter and GOF is, like the other 3, a real magnificent and rich product of brain and wit.
***** 5 Stars!

1. Star Wars and the Revenge of the Sith
Frankly, I didn’t watch this one and I’m not a Star Wars fan. Still, if people say it’s nice…
***** 5 Stars!

Of course, there were others like Mr and Mrs Smith, and Spongebob the movie. Really, however, only a handful are good enough to claim a rightful spot as Popular AND good. Here are the facts, people.

Top 5 People!

Here are the top 5 people who made a bang with us in the year 2005!

5. Michael Jackson
Okay okay, so his bang is in a bad way… But can anybody deny he DIDN’T make a bang loud enough? Appearing in court in pyjamas, criticising his family, making his own headlines… AND he was acquitted? Justice? Not in Hollywood!

4. Oprah Winfrey
Hallelujah! The queen of talk shows appears everywhere… in articles on Hurricane Katrina, puppy mills, and most noticeably, that couch thing. OUCH!

3. Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria gets this spot specially because of her performance in Desperate Housewives, her failure to get a nomination (which might cost her her job) and her sexy boldness in appearing on a few covers of a few, ahem, magazines. Is she just a pretty face? We’ll find out in 2006.

2. Britney Spears
It was a close fight but Britney eventually got the 2nd spot because some of the limelight was hogged by her husband. Besides, we already mentioned her earlier.

1. ANGELINA JOLIE!
I’ll bet you saw that one coming. AJ, one half of the Brangelina scandal, is amazingly deft with her publicity, making full use of the phrase “No such thing as Bad publicity!” She has already been termed 2005’s Scandalous, by various American publications, for her various (and numerous) appearances on the media!

Top 5 Music

Time for our Top 5 Most Popular Singles and Best Albums of the year. Is everyone ready for this? Note: The December post of The Top 5IVE will be postponed.

TOP 5 MOST POPULAR SINGLES!
1. Do Something – Britney Spears
Whoever said Britney was down and out obviously didn’t hear this track. Personally, I think it deserves a spot as one of the best singles this year.
***** 5 STARS!

2. Dragonstea Din Tei (Numa Numa) – O-Zone
Note: This is a Most Popular chart, so this and Single number 3 should not really be counted. Anyway… this O-Zone track squeezes in after a last minute promo by Chicken Little.
*** 3 STARS!

3. Axel F – Crazy Frog
What the Fuck? Yes! WTF? How bad can this song possibly get? The ‘ding-ding’s? The ‘urp-urp’s? Or could it possibly be the ‘beah-beah’s? Something about this song sounds wrong, but people still like it. Get a life, you sickening frog!
* 1 STAR!

4. Mr Brightside – The Killers
Ah, finally! A song that really deserves its spot. Nothing bad to say about this one!
**** 4 STARS!

5. Incomplete – The Backstreet Boys
There’s something in them that makes them JUST so hard to kill. Maybe a bit of hydrogen peroxide in their food and some sharp weaponry should do the trick.
** 2 STARS!

6. Don’t Cha – The Pussycat Dolls (Featuring Busta Rhymes)
Just for kicks, I illegally throw in this hot hot track. One of my favorites this year. Since Gwen Stefani OBVIOUSLY isn’t Cool enough, PCD will just have to cut it. This debut track from them signals a lot of things to come for this dance troupe turned singing sensation!
**** 4 STARS!

FINALLY! The REAL good stuff! Let’s check out the
Top 5 Albums of the year!

5. “Some Hearts” – Carrie Underwood
This album has to say something. If anything, it SCREAMS amazing! This new feature from America’s latest Idol shows us that some things are better left to the pros… Hint hint, William Hung!
**** 4 STARS!

4. “Oral Fixation Volume 2″ – Shakira
Surprise! A late entry by Shakira makes her one of the best artistes this year! Her hit Don’t Bother made a big dent in the first few weeks that it was out! Is that hot, or what?
**** 4 STARS!

3. “Confessions on a Dance Floor” – Madonna
Madonna proves that she’s not old and lousy as people think. Her new hit album is popular amongst dancers and youths, for its hip beat and excellent tunes!
**** 4 STARS!

2. “Hot Fuss” – The Killers
The Killers, one of the most hyped-about bands, takes a good standing with their latest album. They have such a different take from Greenday, whose album last year won the first place as the best album of the year (by US Weekly), and yet they have tunes reminiscent of older-times rock, such as Savage Garden. Excellent!
***** 5 STARS!

1. “The Emancipation of Mimi” – Mariah Carey
Drumroll please! No surprise this album won it this year! Compared to the likes of Gwen Stefani and Kelly Clarkson, Mariah Carey’s latest hit album makes it very popular amongst music people worldwide! Excellent tracks such as the mind-blowing We Belong Together, and other dance-rock beats such as It’s Like That and Shake It Off make her one artiste to be reckoned with! Her newest single Don’t Forget About Us, makes us wonder… Can this girl EVER fail to deliver?
***** 5 STARS! (10 if we could!)

Top 5 Entertainment

Here it comes again! It seemed just last year when Taufik Batisah got crowned Singapore Idol, or when the tsunami struck… This year, it’s time to name the top 5 Entertainment news Headlines that, without doubt, grabbed our eye.

5. Survivor Doesn’t Pay Taxes
It hit the news worldwide when it was revealed that Survivor Richard Hatch was nearly thrown into jail for not paying his taxes! Apparently the original Survivor winner thought CBS, the network which also airs reality hits such as Big Brother, InXS, and The Amazing Race, paid all the taxes that came with the car he won, and the show he had been on, etc. etc. Guess not, huh, Hatch!

4. The Birth of Brangelina
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Can someone really be more shocked? No? Guessed so. Hollywood’s Golden Couple broke up. That took a lot of quotes with it, what with the whole bets on how long Jen and Brad would last. I’ll bet the director of Mr and Mrs Smith isn’t feeling too good about it himself.

3. Hurricane Katrina
This isn’t an Entertainment news. But it’s news all the same, and I figured that if this wasn’t a headline, the top 2 should just go to hell.

2. Kylie’s Boobs Bust
Ouch! Poor Kylie! I bet she never expected herself to get breast cancer right before her scheduled tour in Singapore! Kylie herself wanted to come down to our Garden City, but because of certain, ahem, health problems, she was forced to cancel the performance. At least she’s recovering nicely now. You go, girl!

1. Tom jumps on Oprah’s couch
Oh Tom. Tom, Tom, Tom. Why did you have to do it? Was your couch not big enough? Was your couch not springy enough? Was your couch’s cleaning fee too high for you? We all know Oprah’s one of your best friends and she’d do anything for you, but honestly, Cruise, you shouldn’t mess with her leather like that.

And of course, who could miss the Britney Federline saga? Britney and Kevin got married. A new reality show called Chaotic is born. Britney gets a ton of new hits (Do Something, Someday I’ll Understand), while Kevin’s first rap single goes down. Britney tries to kick Kevin out of their house. Kevin tries to get a trailer. Kevin is rumoured to have a girlfriend. Britney slanders Kevin’s masculinity and insults him too. And finally (or is it?), the two have a child together.

Honestly, those 2 deserve a special mention. But since this post can only be THIS short, so they’ll have to accept the fact that they’re just a postscript.

What’s Hot… And NOT!

What’s Hot…
Battle of the Network Reality Stars!!! Since the early 19802. when reality TV started to get a boost, this show was already on. A physical and mental battle between 4 teams consisting of various reality TV stars. For example, Project R’s Wendy Pepper (go Wendy!), ANTM’s Brittany Brower, TAR’s Charla and Mirna, and The Bachelor’s Tina. This is really much better than the reality shows themselves, because when you put such a menagerie of characters together, there’s bound to be some healthy bitching… this time co-ed.

What’s Not…
The new Courts ad. Hello? Can someone say cheapskate and a total IP (Intellectual Property) violation? Firstly, the Courts advertisers have the cheek to say they did not spend much on the advertisement. Which would be okay, since they’re advertising low furniture prices. But what really ticks me off is the same idea that appeared on Jet Star Asia’s ad some time ago… the one with the fake airplane captain, the hand shadows on the wall, etc. etc. Courts totally lacks creativity, and the fact the Courts people said they actually didn’t spend too much effort on the ad was actually true, because that’s what it is.

Chronicles of Beijing – The Cool, the Blue and the Outkast

The Chronicles of Beijing – The Cool, The Blue and the Outkast

There were three types of people in one tour group. The cool (one family: Mother wearing BRANDED Prada jacket, Chanel bag, fur-lined Ralph Lauren boots, the father wearing a Giorgio Armani leather jacket, and shined-out Crocodile shoes, and a pair of twin sisters decked out in Dolce and Gabbana), the blue (That’s my family, who DID NOT enjoy the cold weather), and the Outkast (The weird couple we called Roaming Service, who both had roaming service handphones which kept ringing in the tour bus). The Outkast were called that way because they did not quite get along with us… And the fact that we heard a very weird song later.

The Dah-links (the Cool) came on the 2nd day. On the first day, there was nothing much but check-in and having a traditional dim sum lunch (we had breakfast on the plane, which I choked over an episode of Joey and the Dukes of Hazzard), followed by an acrobatic show, and a tour of some cold place. On the 2nd Day we went to watch some Chinese Christmas show, followed by a Gongfu Chuan Qi (Kungfu Legends). We also went down to Hutong, Beijing’s Riverside, to take in the scenery. Along Hutong, we also took a traditional trishaw ride.

My mom’s fabulously pink Gucci handbag! Or is it Guess? Hmm… I forgot… Anyway, don’t you think PINK brings out the color in my lips?

So that was about it on the 1st and 2nd Days. 3rd and 4th Days we visited the Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Forbidden City and had a traditional Szechuan spicy meal… Nothing like hot to warm a person up in a cold country… It was also Christmas Eve, and Wang Fu Jie (outside our hotel) was crowded with people, which prompted my mother to ask: “Where do all these people come from?”

Just then, Outkast came blaring out, and nearly snuffed the Christmas carols from the nearby church. I could not possibly believe ‘Hey Ya’ was a suitable Carol for Chsritmas in China. But I’m not the one controlling the music inside Xin Dong An Gou Wu Jie (Xin Dong An Shopping Street).
We had a great time. Of course I have pictures of Summer Palace, Forbidden City and Ming Tombs… but I’m too lazy and most importantly, bummed out over school starting again. So anyway… What is more important is the event on the 5th Day… GREAT WALL OF CHINA!

To tell you the truth, it wasn’t really that great at the bottom. At the bottom, if you look up, all you see is the wall itself. Not too impressive… Until you CLIMB it.


GASP!!!! WHAT is that old chee go pek doing in MY picture!!!! GASP!!! I am soooo mad! This is my picture, my picture alone!!! AND HOW HE DARE INVADE THE PRIVACY OF MY PICTURE?! It is all MY picture! ALL OF IT! I am going to KILL him… No lah. Just kidding. That old man makes me look younger

5th Day wasn’t much. The Great Wall itself took up most of the day. WHAT A WONDER OF THE WORLD!!! On the 6th Day it was a shopping trip. The tour guide Xiao Wang brought us to that Square (I forgot the name…) that everyone talks about one… in Beijing… TianAnMen! Yes!!! Okay so anyway. 6th Day we went shopping all over, to Tian An Men Guang Chang, The Tian Tan (Heavenly Temple) and ate some deeeelicious Peking Roasted Duck. DAMN good!

That’s my tour guide, IN PINK!!! PINK rocks!!! Okay, I wouldn’t go that far to say that. But you never know, I could always do an Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, and deck myself out in manly pink On the 7th Day of Christmas, we packed up and went home. I also watched Skeleton Key on the plane… Voodoo magic and all… So Scary!!!

HOME SWEET HOME! Very Very HOT home sweet home, Singapore!!! Yay!!!

P.S Here’s another cute cute cute cute cute cute cute photo!

Stupid School returns

School is returning. Because of this, I am VERY VERY bummed. School IS STARTING!!! Do you guys feel the SEVERITY of this?! Sigh… Anyway… I’m gonna post a short little tale on my Beijing holiday trip. Because of my bummedoutness, it’s gonna be short… Next week, the normal 5 posts will be restored.