"World War Z" movie review

Since the movie is based on a book by Max Brooks, I do not know to what extent could we blame the plot's holes on the director Marc Forster. For those wanting a blend between "Resident Evil" and "The Day After Tomorrow", this is your movie. But be forewarned of the glaring plot holes.

Looks more like a video game poster

First, for an epidemic that occurs on a global scale, it seems somewhat odd that only USA and hardly any other countries are doing something about it. Even then, USA does not seem to knowledgeable about the disease, relying on Gerry  (played by Brad Pitt) and a Harvard virologist (who is shown to be killed not long in the movie), accompanied by heavily-trained soldiers who have so little knowledge about pathology. Thus, the entire country, or even planet, relies on TWO PEOPLE to do research about the virus... I mean, seriously?

Second, the Israeli wall scene seems a bit off. In the Israeli wall zombie attack scene is shown heaps of zombies making a mountain of themselves in order to climb the wall. Then, Gerry's conclusion was that the zombies were attracted by the noise of people singing. C'mon. Even if those Jerusalemites were only whispering, half a million people standing close to a wall would surely attract zombies.

Third, is the fact that the aeroplane crash seem to occur conveniently close to the UN health facility in Cardiff. Also, the only two survivors of the crash was...who else? Gerry and Segen, the Israeli soldier he has picked up at Israel (played by Daniella Kertesz). It is not shown how long Brad Pitt walked from the site of the crash to the health facility building, but judging from the fact that they didn't have to spend a night on the road, they probably walked there three or four hours, at most. The coincidence is a bit stretched thin here.

Fourth, is the fact that it is Gerry who found the vaccine! Infect yourself with a deadly pathogen, everyone...and you'll be saved! There are at least five other actual scientific researches in that health facility building, and it never occurred to them to try out a vaccine like that.

For an overtly-hyped zombie thriller drama, I must say that "World War Z" is rather disappointing. Yes, it has exciting trailer. Yes, it has fast-moving zombie attack scenes. The CGI is excellent too.

However, such great-looking features are unfortunately accompanied by weak story line.

Rating: 6 stars out of 10

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It has been over a year...

...since I last updated this blog.

I'm dual-majoring in Computer Science and International Studies with minor concentration in French at my current university. With the number of credit hours I am taking (18 credit hours/semester), it does not seem like I'd have much free time anytime soon. I'm also the Vice President of the university's Badminton Club.

When I do have free time, I spend it working at my part time job (which I couldn't disclose here for privacy reasons). Or watch some show episodes on Netflix. Or communicating with my long-distance American girlfriend in Illinois.

My university, which is located at the northern part of Kentucky (as the name says), is where I spend most of my time these days.

It's a decent place to pursue education, though the drab colour of the buildings is reminiscent of that of prisons (these are other people's words, not mine).

Personally, I don't really care about the visual aspect. The quality of education is decent, the in-state tuition is affordable (around US$ 9,500 per annum), the students are awesome, the activities are vibrant, and most of the professors I've had are PhD-educated.

So...yeah, things are cool.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Majoring in Comp. Sci., now I realize what a mess this blog's HTML is. I shall fix it when I have time.

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"Drawing from Memory" by Allen Say

Drawing from Memory, though at first may seem like a children's book, turns out to be a memoir filled with sketches of  Allen Say's early dabbling with the world of cartoon-sketching.

Having been born in Japan, he became an apprentice of one of the most renowned newspaper cartoonist of the time, Noro Shimpei. He attributed Shimpei's dedication and love to him as his ultimate inspiration to become the cartoonist that he is in Oregon today.

Personally, the book reminds me of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's Totto-Chan, where hues of childhood naivety are imbued every several pages or so. It can leave us inspired, and makes us want to read it to a child in the family....son, niece, or cousin...as the story shows how following inspirations and dreams can make us find our inner callings.

Verdict: 9 out of 10

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"From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima: The War in the Pacific 1941-1945" by Richard Overy

From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima does what it says on the foreword: showing the readers how the Pacific Theatre of WW2 was actually more brutal than the European Theatre. Unfortunately, Richard Overy's style of the typical history-book-narration can get exhaustive at times...he compiled a list of facts and dates and jumbled them all together that can make us readers find it overwhelming.

Overall, it is an interesting book though. The most fascinating thing about this book is the several copies of the drafts and original letters (such as President Roosevelt's Declaration of War in 1941 and Japan's Instrument of Surrender in 1945), together with the original autographs, scribblings, and annotations that enables readers to witness firsthand "what it feels like" to be holding those original papers directly.

Verdict: 7 out of 10

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"The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery

Never judge a book by its cover, they say. What seems to be a child's book turns out to be an intelligent compilation of philosophical musings of two seemingly ordinary individuals living their somewhat dreary existence.

A fetching, wholly unputdownable book about the simplicity of life and friendship, this book also adds commentaries of daily lives of those surrounding the two protagonists, art, culture, and religion.

Verdict: 9 out of 10 stars

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