friday night

finally caught 'the incredibles' this evening. It was good, but not,
well, incredible. Animation was absolutely stunning, gags were pretty
hilarious, but the rest of the plot was pretty straightforward and
predictable, as if the story was just there to fill in the spaces
between the funny sequences. Although it does deal with a more complex
issue than those explored in other Pixar films (e.g. the father-son
relationship in Finding Nemo), it's pretty clear from the outset that
the movie already has a message in mind: talent (in this case super
powers) should never be suppressed. While its good that the movie's
consistent, it's slightly disappointing that it doesn't give a more
balanced treatment to the central issue; it begs questions like: how do
we deal with a gifted liar?



it's a bit of nitpicking i suppose. By most measures 'the incredibles'
is a pretty good film. But with the quality of work that Pixar's
produced (every single film has been a blockbuster), my expectations
were quite (perhaps unrealistically?) high. Guess i should be satisfied
that the flim met or exceeded most of my expectations, and not grumble
on like the crabby old man i'm beginning to resemble.



speaking of old, walking around orchard reminded me that it's almost 6
years since jc days. All my jc classmates are now either in uni or
working (guess who's the only weirdo doing NS). When a group of us meet
up, i get an extremely strange feeling: it seems that everyone's
changed, but at the same time no one has. The clothes and the hair are
different, eyebags have either appeared or gotten worse (nope, don't
think there's been any case of regression), and the worries have become
more material. But the roles in the group are the same, the same
people still click together, and we still joke the same way.



looking around me, I see people who've pretty much gotten to grips with
their lives. Some are embarking on a career, some are starting to think
about settling down, and almost everyone seems to have some idea of how
the world works and their place in it. It's a far cry from the innocent
angst-ridden teenagers of yore.



growing old is one thing; growing up is another. I'm glad to see my
friends maturing, and though part of me yearns for the days when we
were all more carefree (if also more confused), i realise that there's
no way to return to the past. If we still manage to meet up for a chat
and a movie every now and then, that's good enough for me.



not everything in life needs to be incredible.