Movie Buzz : The Tourist
I thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Tourist‘ which is a remake of this 2005 French Film ‘Anthony Zimmer‘. It gives me the impression of a reminiscent of an old Hitchcock film with Angelina Jolie with this ‘Audrey Hepburn glow’ – beautiful gowns, elegant looking with not a single hair out of place. Classy but I thought it was ridiculous to have the camera lingering on her for a good 10-15 seconds too long at every other shot. Perhaps Jolie’s fans will appreciate it more.
Johnny Depp stars as maths teacher Frank Tupelo, an American tourist who meets a beautiful British woman, Elise (Angelina Jolie) on a train to Venice and finds himself being pursued by Interpol agent (Paul Bettany) and a badass gangster (Steven Berkoff). Elise is acting under the orders of Alexander Pearce, her mysterious fugitive lover, who instructed her to board the train and pick someone bearing resemblances in order to throw Interpol off. However, as the pair fall unexpectedly in love with each other…..and you get the drift.
Depp is without a doubt the sexy man extraordinaire. Terrific performance despite the fact that this is not his usual eccentric on-screen characters. I love how he can portray subtle emotions across his facial expression, though his character seems to be alil over-infatuated with Angelina Jolie, that makes him look as though he has never seen a woman before in his life. You might observe the peculiar side of him as he runs across the roofs at one of the chase, in his pyjamas. Rather refreshing to see him in his ‘normal’ state I must say (and oh so charming in his suits!)
Top notch actors though I’m actually alil surprised that this film gave them the Golden Globe nods. The secondary characters in the story was well casted too. Beautiful scenery – How to resist the charm of France and Venice ? Gentle romance with elements of humor and intrigue thrown in despite the rather implausible plot and weak script. Satisfying ending that is a pleasant well-written twist (perhaps predictable to some but I loved how it ended).
Not nearly as clever or sexy as I wished it would be but enjoyable. I’ll give it a 4/5 since I’m biased and that extra +1 is for Johnny Depp solely. (Why would I say no to watching 103 minutes of Johnny Depp?!) Win-win situation if you’re a fan of Johnny Depp like me or in love with the views of France/Venice. Guilty Pleasures - Just don’t expect too much from this underwhelmed blockbuster.
20 French Phrases for Survival
Again, decided to post part of my French assignment up to the benefit of all others who are interested in going to France or pick up a little French along the way ! Here are what I deem as survival 20 French phrases you might need in a Francophone country. Pardon the mistakes if any !
P.S : Obviously, you probably need more than these to survive or perhaps some of the following phrases don’t seem to be as important but no harm learning ! =)
1. Bonjour, parlez vous anglais? Je ne parle pas français!
Hello, Do you speak English ? I don’t speak French!
2. S’il vous plait/Merci beaucoup
Please/Thank You Very Much
3. Nous sommes perdus
We are lost.
4. J’ai faim
I’m hungry
5. Ça va? Ça va.
How’s it going ?/How are you doing?/Fine.Ok
6. Combien ça coût?
How much does that cost?
7. Où puis-je trouver un taxi?
Where can I get a taxi?
8. Je voudrais aller à...
I would like to go to
9. Comment vous applez-vous? Je m’appelle…
What is your name ? I am…
10. Pouvez-vous m’aider?
Can you help me ?
11. Êtes-vous sur Facebook?
Are you on Facebook?
12. Répétez s’il vous plaît?
Please repeat.
13. C’est bon
That’s good
14. De quel pays venez vous?
Which country are you from?
15. Je suis fatigué.
I’m tired.
16. J’ai raté mon train (probably because of une grève – a strike)
I missed my train
17. Quel est le prochain arrêt?
What is the next stop ?
18. And if you happen to meet an eyecandy… Voulez vous diner avec moi?
Would you like to have dinner with me ?
19. I read this idiom somewhere “Il n’y pas le feu au lac” – it literally means ” The lake is not on fire” but it’s a clever way of saying
No need to rush
Last but not least, the most important question of all…
20. Où sont les toilettes?
Where are the toilets?
Alternatively, you can have a few laughs over this site that teaches ‘better’ French phrases – perhaps you might need to equip yourself with some of those. Just don’t be surprised if you get whack in the head. Haha!
Top 10 Francophone Websites To Share
As many of you who will know via following my updates, I have been taking French in school this term. One of my assignment is to come up with a list of Top 10 French Websites and explain why it is a good site to visit. After looking at my word document,I was thinking to myself – why not I just post it as a blog entry with pictures so that more people can know about the French culture too ? So here we go !
This is a French music blog that features bands and artists in the French music scene. The site is regularly updated with interviews and the latest gigs in town. They have an interesting podcast segment ‘CONCERT À EMPORTER‘ (Take Away?) whereby they will film a session with an artist or band.
2. SkyRock
One of the top 10 social networking sites in France. With a high penetration rate in France, Skyrock is like the French-Facebook. It allows people to post blog entries, exchange messages with other members and a specific space that show cases original music compositions. It is said to be the most popular French social networking site.
3. Chronic Art
Chronicart.com is a web magazine that talks about the Arts and Culture as well as latest happenings – ranging from movies to music to books. It also has its own Chro.TV which is mostly band interviews conducted in Paris.
4. Not exactly a French website per se but it helps alot if you’re stuck at the language or trying to get your message across to a French. Just type in whatever you want to say and Voilà!
5. Le Notepad
As you know, there are several accented letters while writing in French. This website saves alot of trouble from switching the codes on your computer. Simply just type and paste the text into your word processors. Easy as A-B-C. Definitely a must-visit site for students learning French with a troublesome keyboard problem like me!
6. Voila
Think Voila as your Google/Yahoo/MSN or any other search engines, but in French. It provides similar services like searching on the entire www or wikipedia or getting the latest news updates. ‘Nuff said.
7.Le Point
Le Point is one of the weekly local news magazine in France. Pretty much like the French version of Time Magazine and Newsweek. You can find them on iPad too!
8. Aufeminin
As suggested by its name, this is a French portal dedicated to women. It consists of forums and blogs and articles that is targeted at the female population. Curious males are welcome to browse and there’s a “Nos hommes” (Our Men) section too!
9. Something French every other day. They have podcast and interesting pictures of daily French life. Makes you feel like a local French while reading the blog (provided I actually understand most of it…haha)
10If you’re a geeky person or a HWZ/tech65 fan, you’ll love this in French. A website featuring gadgets and geeky things. Pretty neat stuff though I have to say, our local product launches seem to be quicker than them ?
On a side note, The French Corner is a lovely read for people interested in the language and France (It’s in English) but it seems to me that it’s no longer updated. If you have any more recommendations, do drop a comment ! =)
Blessing In Disguise
This whole #WCI experience has been a blessing in disguise – how so ? As much as I’ve always known I have the awesomest friends around, I must say that during the past week since I’ve joined the WCI challenge- I am so so touched in many ways (now don’t start thinking otherwise. Hehs.) It is currently week 12 (2nd last week) in school and every SMU student will understand how heavy the workload gets – project submissions, essay deadlines, presentations. Obviously that applies to me as well -seriously putting my time management into use- and I was practically dying (blame it on not paying attention in class all the time..), but the support I’ve received from my friends is just amazing – be it online or offline. Power of Social Media eh ?
Let’s just talk about this video alone – I was totally in panic mode when I realized that I need to submit a video since I had 3 papers due by Friday as well as my own French project video (and totally in a PMS-y mode.) My friends willingly (or not) stayed behind, despite this week 12 madness, to help me with the filming (original concept) and taking photos (new concept) and post-production (It’s been 4 years since I last touched the technical side of film making ! You can’t blame me for that, can you ?!) I had overseas help as well from friends who are currently pursuing their degrees there. I felt really loved by everyone ! Like what I said in the video, even without the coolest internship, I think I am happy with the coolest friends around. =)
Not forgetting the online friends (old or new) who tweet-supported me with/without being asked! Although some of the reasons are pretty strange *coughs* but Thank You ! It’s not that easy to find people who are willing to be take time off AND a picture for you ok!
So here’s the video,as promised ! Better late than never ? (-panic- Am I the last ? Am I the last? Am I the last?!)
Concept : I wanted to do something like a Barney Stinsons Awesome Resume video but that requires alot of time and footages. So I ended up recording a segment to talk about what a coolest intern should be like, suit up! Pretty much putting my Emcee/Campus Radio DJ skills into good use. Was pretty clueless of what to say and it felt really weird to be shamelessly selling myself on the video as that’s not the Ingrid people knows. In the end, my awesome friends and I came up with this idea of walking around school to get my fellow SMU friends and staff (since they know me best) to describe their first impression of me/why I should be the coolest intern…Pretty much sums it all up ? Hope you enjoyed it – afterall, this is the first time my ‘coolest-uncool’ friends actually said such nice things about me! *SNIFF*
Special thanks to my SMU Broadcast & Entertainment ‘family’ who did not want to be listed individually, love you guys loads ! I have to say, they are more ‘kan cheong‘ (Translate: 紧张/Nervous in Cantonese ) than the one who’s taking part (aka me) ! XOXO
Additional thank you to my anon video editor who was stuck at ‘But According…’ for an hour just to get the perfect timing while I kept going ‘ITS OKAY.JUST LET IT BE!! MOVE ON NAOO‘ in a panic mode. (lol) And the rest of MYY secret WCI marketing team for the one hour photo hunt and 8pm-4am studio madness…I really appreciate it. 
Friends on Twitter : Please tweet to “@stanchartbreeze -inserts reason why @iammyy should win- #WCI”
Thank You ! (Random Pictures can be found here !)
Bravo,Christian Lacroix the Costumier !
Ping, the boyfriend and I headed over to the National Museum of Singapore to check out the Christian Lacroix the Costumier exhibition. The museum was rather empty, probably due to the H1N1 outbreak or the fact that the museum closes at 6pm. We got our complimentary tickets at around 5.30pm (on the dot for last entry) and we had the whole exhibition hall to ourselves ! 
I was really looking forward to immerse myself in this whole charming French fashion history – the amazing costumes and sketches by the genius designer Christian Lacroix (which the boyfriend laughed and called me a “Fake French” because I have no idea how to pronounce his last name properly. haha) The exhibition was alot smaller than I imagined it would be but the decor sets the mood and I have to admit (randomly) that I really liked the chairs in that display hall. I wish I have one of those at home ! If I’m not wrong, the museum decorated the display to look as though you’re in a theatre blackbox with the red lighting and moving mannequins.
Design wise, you will definitely be impressed by the details and depth of his work. His sketches were stunning to begin with and I love his dramatic use of color and fabric. In case you have no idea, he first began with ready-to-wear designs to the displays you see in National Museum which are his works for operas, theatre and dance. For example, you will probably know “Carmen” and Shakespeare’s “Othello”. I think it is quite a rare opportunity for Singaporeans to be in touch with this aspect of the Arts since Opera is not a very “hip” thing in town.
It was quite spectacular if you enjoy fashion or you’re someone like me, who thinks “anything French is awesome” (HAHA). I had fun at the hands-on area where the museum provided paper (of really good quality, to my surprise) for sketches and paper dolls for dress-up games. There are 4 wooden dolls for you to place fabric over and create your own masterpieces as well ! The boyfriend and I had a go at it and there’s a reason why we’re both from a management university ! (hur)
So what do you think ? Who do you think have a better sense of fashion (HAHA) ! If you think you can do a better job, go down to the gallery and snap a picture of your magnificent costume for me to see ! 
This gotta be one of the biggest fashion event of the year, so don’t miss it ! The ticket is priced at $8 but you get to enter FREE if you’re wearing RED from 9-10th May ! 
