New York, I Love You

If I were to picture a great love story, it will be set up in New York City. The city itself is already a big studio of its own. When a film is based in New York, it always has a huge impact of the film is all about; it’s almost one of the characters. Movies always show that being in New York opens up numerous of opportunities for its’ characters. It’s where they find success, hardship, and love.

The film “New York, I Love You” is a compilation of eleven different short love stories. Every story is directed by different directors. As the movie is titled about New York, all these stories are based in New York City. The film shows a number of different characters with different perception towards life and love; this makes every story unique from each other. There is no particular flow in the movie as it is made up by different situations, as some of the parts were quite complicated to understand if you weren’t focused as you’re supposed to be. The movie has a number of big names in the movie industry including Bradley Cooper, Natalie Portman, Orlando Bloom, Rachel Bilson, Shia Labeouf and Christina Ricci. 

As there were different stories in the movie, I want to talk about my top three choices among all the given stories.

 This scene was about Dante and Teya. While Dante was walking with his daughter Teya, he was believed to be the nanny of his own daughter as he people were judging him for where he is from. He is considered a minority as he was not pale-skinned. Dante was being judged as a nanny and as an illegal immigrant just solely because he is an African American. However, I thought that the way he looked at his daughter show how much he loves her; how much he takes care of her. His love for his daughter could not even be explained by words. It was his     actions on this segment that was really heart felt and heart-warming to watch.

The next story that I chose was the part with Bradley Cooper and Drea de Matteo. I am probably being biased because I adore Bradley Cooper so much. He’s a great actor and you have to admit that he’s quite charming. A lot more people could relate to this segment because it shows two individuals who like each other, but is not sure where they stand for each other. They think about the other more than they normally should, however they are just both confused whether they’re actually a         real couple or just two people messing around. Until finally the right moment came when they met in a taxi, and everything was well… sorted out.

Last but not the least, probably my favorite segment throughout the whole film was the story of the old couple. This part was played by Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman. As for me, a true love story just doesn’t end after the wedding bells ring. What matters more is the one that comes after that. Real couples stand by each other through thick and thin; real couples stand by each other for a lifetime. That is the reason why I liked the factor that they included a story of an old couple that had been together for a very long time. It showed how they still are adventurous by going on trips together, secondly, how they still connect to each other by feeling youthful. There way of communication was so interesting that you could tell how much they know about the person. It’s somehow like a lifetime bond that nobody could ever replace. Even after being married to each other for a long time, they still have some arguments. Because without this, they won’t experience having to face problems together that will not test the relationships foundation. It’s always about fixing and not giving up on your partner and facing all the hardship together.

I enjoy movies such as “New York, I Love You” a lot because it is mostly based on different experiences of different characters that could be shown in just one movie. There are a lot of inspiration that could be seen in the short segments shown in the film. Even though, it was quite challenging to see the flow of the story, the main lessons of these stories were at least portrayed clearly. I will give it an 8/10, because somehow I really loved the story but it was just complicated to understand at times.

The Overture

Official Movie Poster

I've always believed that with patience and compassion will let you achieve whatever you want to achieve. The first Thai Movie I've watched, The Overture is another movie that reminded me the true meaning of passion. This movie depicts love, courage, determination, and patience towards obstacles. 

It was a story directed by Ittisontorn Vichajlak in 2004. It was set on the 19th Century, that follows the life of a Thai classical musician.The story begins with the elder Sorn, he was a classical musician that plays "ranad-ek", a Thai classical instrument. He was so gifted that many people were envious of his talent. A rivalry with other musicians caused his death. Sorn's father then didn't let the younger Sorn have anything to do with playing the ranad-ek any more. However, it has always been his passion to play the particular instrument since he was a child. He has been secretly playing the instrument and practicing at an abandoned temple. After a period of time, Sorn's father had a consultation with a monk and he adviced him that he should not keep his son from doing what he wants. 

After Sorn has gained more intelligence about his art, he became famous among other musicians and he has been a popular topic around many people. He has become arrogant and started missing practices. This led to his loss against a very skilled musician. However, Sorn worked hard after his defeat, started learning more, gaining new experience, asking for other musicians' guidance, and basically focused on what he really is ought to do. In the end of the movie, Sorn went against another anonymous musician. This time, he was ready and had learnt many things through the help of Master Tian. Everyone was incredibly impressed on how Sorn played the ranad-ek that he eventually won against his competitor. 

Anuchyd Sapanphong who played as the younger Sorn

Just like a lot of young people, Sorn's attitude towards his incredible talent was expected. He became arrogant and didn't think about others but himself. At a young age, when we thought that we are already the best in whatever we do, we start to ignore everyone around us and we start to ignore possibilities of getting better. However, his defeat and the result of his actions made him realize that he would not achieve his goals if he continues to act that way. He decided to change and to learn. He became more determined about his passion, and in the end he got the results he wanted. Sorn's portrayal in this movie could be better, but it was still believable so I would say that the actor Anuchyd Sapanphong had still done a good job.

Another factor that I liked about this movie is that the setting was during the olden age. It shows the real Thai tradition that I've never learnt before. What I truly like about watching foreign movies is truthfully to know more about a certain culture. As I mentioned that it was my first time watching a Thai movie, it's very enlightening for me to find out more about their ancient times and their pure culture. They had such a lifestyle that everything was controlled in the society, how women used to be in the olden society, the traditional clothes they wear were also very interesting.

Behind this movie had a good lesson to learn from. It shows how arrogance and too much confidence will somehow bring you down no matter how good you are in what you do. Looking down on others and looking up on yourself too much is not a good way to be thankful to God by giving you such a talent. Sorn's bad actions made him realize that change is the only way for him to succeed. At least he had learn something from the wrong he has done. However, he also showed the true meaning of hard work and patience. His determination led him to succeed in the end. I have to say that although I normally don't enjoy movies that are being spoken in a language I do not understand, I still liked it because it had a lot of culture in it and as well as lessons to keep in mind. I would give it a 8/10 if I was to rate it. 

Blog 2: Brave

Official Movie Poster

"If you had a chance to change your fate, would you?" 

- Princess Merida

The quote that I've mentioned above was from the main character of this movie whom I adore. This message was truly remarkable, and until this date, I could still remember it very clearly.

Princess Merida

Brave is a story about Princess Merida and her adventure towards realizing what truly is important in life. Princess Merida had a mind of her own. All her mother, the Queen, has ever dreamed of, was to prepare her daughter to find a suitable partner of her own and be like her one day. As Princess Merida is quite rebellious, she was against the fact that all her mother ever tried to do was to force her to doing things that she does not want. For example, when her mom teaches her how a princess must be like - dressing up, proper posture, not being able to play with her bow and arrow etc. When it finally came to the day where she was supposed to choose the best option for her to marry, she was furious as she was not in favor of it in any way - however, her mother still couldn't understand her point of view and still forces her to marry. Merida ran away and found a witch that would give her a single wish - which she used to change her mother. What she didn't know was that this wish turned everything around and has turned it to a situation which she never knew she will regret.

Princess Merida & her mom

I truly admire Princess Merida's character in this movie. Disney has finally came up with a Princess who's not always waiting for their true love's kiss and being saved. I feel that Princess Merida represents girls/ladies of this modern age. We are no longer that dependent on men and we do have our own point of views which other people can't easily change. Princess Merida knew what she wanted to do with her life - it's not to be a princess, all she wanted was to be able to explore and see the world.

Princess Merida escaping from the bad bear "Mor'du"

She was independent and she knew how to take care of herself. However, these were not the traits that her mom was expecting her to have. In my opinion, no matter how much our parents love us, sometimes they should know how to let go. To let us go out there and find ourselves. We do need their guidance and support, but to be able to live in the reality, we must still face it by ourselves - with our own outlook, how we want to live our lives.

The Brave Family

Princess Merida is also family oriented. In some ways, I see myself as her. Even though she is very close to her family, at times they just still don't understand what she really wants to do with her life. If I was to compare myself to her, I think that we've handled this problem very similar to each other. The only difference was that my mom understood my point of view after talking to her about it a few times - Princess Merida's mom did not.


I think that girls these days should be more like Princess Merida - apart from having to wish your mother was a bear - but to be independent and to be someone who truly believes in their self. In the end, we might make mistakes, we might regret some things that we did, but we will always learn something from it that will make us a better person. Princess Merida had to go through a lot of obstacles just because of this one wish she made; however, this made her realize that a mom will always be a mom, she realized that she still loves her mom very much no matter how she's not open minded about what her daughter really wants. This gave her an even bigger foundation of love to her family - specially her relationship with her mom.


If I was to rate this movie - I would give it a 9/10. It does not only have a good story flow - but a lot of lesson which we should really keep in mind.

Character Analysis: Merong Mahawangsa from Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa

Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa

Official Movie Poster

Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa was based on a 16th century document that also has the same title, telling about the early times in Kedah. It's about a warrior with the name of Merong Mahawangsa, which was believed to be Alexander the Great's descendant. He went through a journey with the Roman Prince, Marcus, and his followers. Marcus is set to be married to the princess of Han Dynasty, Meng Li Hua. Even though, both parties were not favor of this arrangement, it was a very important factor to unite the powers of both East and West. 

Before having to watch this movie in Film class, I have actually not experienced watching a Malay movie before. I have only seen a few clips on TV, and to be honest I didn't really give any interest or high hopes, just because I was too fond of watching international films. However, I was quite surprised on how the location, the effects, the range of nationalities within the characters, and basically the main plot was almost similar to hollywood movies. Through what I saw, it gave me a little bit more interest in getting into the movie and just trying to watch something which was local for once. The main thing that  really took my attention among the reasons I explained earlier, was the variation of characters. By variations, I mean that they really tried to depict the characters in such a way they were supposed to be, and that there were several races of people that was in the movie. 

I was truly amused by the main character, Merong Mahawangsa. Everyone would probably agree if I say that he was the main reason why most people watched this movie. Stephen Raman-Hughes was actually an unknown actor before this movie. For that, I would give him a bigger credit for portraying this role quite well knowing that he was an amateur. His features and character portrays a true warrior. He is very fluent in the English language as well. His actions and how he speaks is also very convincing for his role. His delivery of lines are also very good and even foreigners such as myself could understand him very well. Even when he talks in the Malay, I could some how tell what he is trying to say though I don't understand the language.

I chose him as my favorite character in the movie, because first of all he had the main role, thus means that the movie revolves around him most of the time. In the movie, Merong was also a very kind-hearted guy. He is a true warrior, but he still has kindness in him. He went on to a journey with Prince Marcus, and he really put himself on the job and was willing to sacrifice his life just to protect the prince. Physically he already looks like a warrior; he is tall, muscular, and has very strong face features. 

He is also an affectionate person. If he truly cares for someone, he would do anything for that person just to protect them. He was very thankful to the tribe leader and his nurse who helped him when he was severely injured from the incident with the Garudas. When he found out that Embok, the village nurse who helped cured him was raped by one of the Kamawas, and he swore that he would take revenge from those people who've had harmed Embok. 

He also had a good sense of humor and he tries to give everyone with him a calm and fun journey. He brings everyone together and motivate other people to fight for the what is right. Even though, I didn't quite understand the part where he started talking in their local language at the part where he was giving a speech to fight against the pirates, his tone of voice is very strong and was really convincing. However, when I asked my friends about it, they mentioned that he couldn't really pronounce the words like how it should be pronounced. I don't criticize him for that, as I know it is quite hard to get used to a language which you're not that familiar with. Other than that, I don't think there were any cons about Merong and how he portrayed his role. 

As the first local movie that I have watched in Malaysia, I could say that it was not so bad as I expected it to be. The plot was interesting and same as its' characters. This is probably just the beginning of watching other interesting Malay movies.

Lycelle Aure Bajar

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