As Suanie Sees It

Trust me to delay this review well after its release date Sorry, thousand and one apologies, I had too much stuff on my hands, and I hope you grand and brilliant peps don’t strike me off your guest list… I am useful, I swear!!!

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the preview for Yasmin Ahmad’s latest offering, Mukhsin at Midvalley. It was a large hall and there were plenty of familiar faces (fellow bloggers lah). The seats allocated to bloggers were fully occupied. So I muka tembok a bit and sat in one of the seats allocated to the press. Bwahahahahaha!!! I made acquaintances with the two girls sitting beside me (who were real press peps), and found out that one of them is Pelf’s sister! Such a small world… Then I spotted hot chick and beckoned her to sit beside me.

Mukhsin and Orked sitting in a tree… not (yet)

MUKHSIN is the story of first love, of second chances, of friendship and of relationships. Sounds very Yasmin Ahmad, eh? The protagonists are a 10-year old Orked (Sharifah Aryana) and a 12-year old Mukhsin (Mohd Syafie Naswip) from a nearby village who quickly become fast friends. Misunderstandings caused from jealousy soon ensue and threatens to jeopardise their friendship. Will their relationship last like the evergreen sawah sceneries, or will it falter like Alan Yun’s kayu acting? That, you will have to watch the movie to find out.

Orked and Mak Inom dancing in the rain

So far it has been like Star Wars — the director made the final three movies and decades later, made the first three movies in the series. Thank goodness we didn’t have to wait that long, so let’s recap a bit here.

1. Mukhsin — a young Orked meets a boy named Mukhsin and they fell for each other in a way that only children can
2. Sepet — Orked in her late teens meets Jason, they fall in love and only Yasmin Ahmad knows if Jason died at the end of the movie
3. Gubra — Apparently Jason died, so Orked married Arif. He cheated on her so Orked sought comfort in Alan’s arms. Alan was Jason’s brother. But at the end of the movie, apparently Jason didn’t die. ARGHHH WHY YOU MAKE IT SO MYSTERIOUS AND CONFOUNDING!!!!!

Like that lah.

Orked playing groom to her neighbour (brilliant lil’ actress) playing bride

In MUKHSIN, we see a younger Mak Inom (Sharifah Aleya) and Pak Atan (Irwan Iskandar), Orked’s parents who were already breaking social norms in their kampung. The girls in the family rush out to dance in the rain when daddy and friends play traditional music (’Hujan’, an original composition by Yasmin Ahmad’s dad). Orked attends a Chinese school instead of a national school. She speaketh powderful England, and at one point exclaimed, “cretin”, a word that I myself only understood when I was 20 years old. She would rather read books and watch football matches than to play with her friends. Her family openly laugh at other villagers. That pretty much would ostracise you in many kampungs.

It also shaped Orked to be what she became in SEPET and GUBRA, so it was interesting to see.

Kesian Orked seorang…

I was quite happy that MUKHSIN was not as self-indulgent as I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong — I loved SEPET and GUBRA, but I also thought that there were too many ‘wank fest’ moments. Most of the time I was grinning to myself, lost in my own childhood memories that Yasmin Ahmad so brilliantly captured, even though we don’t know each other, let alone grew up together. Some sceneries were breath-taking, such as the ones at the open green paddy fields. The main actors and actresses were brilliant in their roles; I especially love Mohd Syafie Naswip as the bright-eyed MUKHSIN. It was almost unbelievable that he had never done this before. Apparently he fell in love off-screen also lah, so maybe that helped his performance

Adibah Noor as Kak Yam is always lovable and entertaining. Irwan Iskandar as Pak Atan was cute; though hard to imagine he would be Harith Iskandar later on… hahahah…

Some of the supporting actresses were awesome too, such as Orked’s next door neighbour and her pregnant mother, and Mukhsin’s auntie as pictured gossiping with Kak Yam below.

And anyone knows who is the YOUNGER JASON?!?!?! OMG SO KIUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Kak Yam and Mukhsin’s aunt making ice-cream

Some parts I am not too happy about:

- Kak Inom’s wardrobe. For example, check out the photo above where she was dancing with Orked. To me she was wearing something quite modern, and I had thought that this would be a movie set in the 80s, if you were to keep up with the storylines of Sepet and Gubra lah. They didn’t have those kind of clothes in the 80s… not even in England where she had studied! Just something that kept coming back to my mind, not quite right lor. Sorry lah, it just bugs me like that.

- Bits and pieces where I felt the writer/director was trying too hard to prove her point. There was a scene where Kak Inom pretended to punish Orked, and when the uneasy tell-tale guests left, the whole family burst into laughter, not bothering to hide their amusement from their guests. Cute idea, but I felt the implementation was a bit too forced and corny.

- The whole thing with the actor/actress who played Orked and Jason in SEPET. Someone said it was sweet to bring back the two, but I felt that their presence was unnecessary. Again, like trying too hard, too forced like that. May have not been her intention, perhaps she just felt like it, but to me it was like the whole bit tak ngam. Story flow and attention broken. Just not right lah.

I’m sure there are others, but not significant enough for me to list down here.

There were also many parts that I liked, some of them involving subtle digs at Yasmin Ahmad’s critics. Who can forget the infamous ‘pencemar budaya’ phrase? Well now it’s immortalised in Mukhsin, so…

The manner of which Mukhsin falls in love with Orked — that was quite something too. Not once did Mukhsin tell Orked of his love, but his actions and the feelings he brought forth were so powerful and touching that words would just be a hindrance.

Overall, I liked what Yasmin Ahmad has done with MUKHSIN, more than Sepet and Gubra. The good storyline and script coupled with the actors/actresses’ stellar performances made the movie very sincere to the point of nakedness — where everything that could be offered has been offered and there is nothing more to give. Yasmin put so much heart in her movies that they touch the hearts of the audience, sometimes more than she could know. I’m glad that she won accolades at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival. Thousand of miles better than any reptile wannabe

(Hahah, I am so not getting an invite to watch Cicak-man 2 :P)

MUKHSIN was written and directed by Yasmin Ahmad, and produced by Grand Brilliance. You should watch it like, now!

(It opens in Singapore two weeks after its release in Malaysia. It opened in Malaysia on the 8th of March. You go do the counting.)

Camwhoring with my favourite local actress, Adibah Noor!

More MUKHSIN reviews:
Sultan Muzaffar, Budiey, KlubbKidd, The Drowmage, Ted’s Thoughts.

You can watch the trailer for MUKHSIN below, then remember to watch the entire movie in the cinema, yeah

p/s: Tengku Iesta is quite hot

If I tak sempat write the full review before the movie comes out (8th March, this Thursday), please go watch it. It’s teh great.

UPDATE 12 MARCH:

Full, proper Mukhsin review here.

I love blogging. I think blogging is awesome. Not only do I get to do something that I like, sometimes other people get me to do stuff that I like as well! Tell me, how awesome can it get??

So when Ms Jean from Estēe Lauder offered me and FA the opportunity to review their latest skincare line, did you think we would really say no?

(Acceptance of products for review does not equal prejudice and bias. If I didn’t like the product, I wouldn’t write about it)

Enough with the preamble. Let’s see what we have here…

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Like I told Jean, I am possibly one of the bestest candidate to try out the skincare. Up till when I was 13 years old, my skincare regime consisted of good ‘ol soap. Then the pimples duly arrived and mom got me a Nivea facial cleanser, which was one of the hottest things at that time. After that it was a series of RM 10 - RM 15 facial cleaners that I still use today.

In conclusion, I can honestly tell you the difference between a RM 10 cleanser and a RM 90 cleanser.

My few favourite cleansers that I still use

(Actually my mom got me a RM 60 facial cleanser before as well. But I didn’t use it more than 10 times (that’s like, 3 days) — didn’t like it as I felt my face was not clean enough after using it. Must be a psychological thing. Gave it back to mom.)

EstÄ“e Lauder’s Nutritious Skincare Collection

From the press release:

Estēe Lauder brings you the Nutritious Skincare Collection - to help bring balance and a radiant, healthy look back to your skin. Specially developed for the skincare needs of young women in Asia, Estēe Lauder’s New! Nutritious Skincare Collection delivers a unique regimen that incorporates three key actions; neutralize, detoxify and infuse. This trio enables skin to recover natural equilibrium and regain a natural radiant healthy look to reveal a new clarity and glowing vibrancy. The Nutritious formula is inspired by traditional Chinese medicine and the philosophy that the key to beautiful skin lies in healthy well-balanced skin.

Jean gave us the foam cleanser, the essence (which I didn’t understand what it was, until FA told me it’s a stronger version of a moisturiser), the day moisturiser and the night cream. She ran out of toners, too bad.

1. Nutritious Purifying 2-in-1 Foam Cleanser - Retail price RM 90 (125ml)

A rich foaming cleanser that can be used in the morning for skin that is radiant, clean and soft to touch; and at night to neutralize irritants and draw out impurities, leaving skin sparkling clean.

The first thing I noticed/like is the smell. Apparently the Nutritious skincare line is rich with pomegranate (buah delima) oil, extracted via an EstÄ“e Lauder ground-breaking cold-press method. I used to eat the fruit all the time because a neighbour had one in front of his house, and I don’t remember it smelling as nice. It also contains palmetto fruit, licorice and rice extracts.

So what is the difference between a RM 10 and a RM 90 facial cleanser? PLENTY! I am unfortunately cursed with oily skin, and one of the two reasons I like RM 10 cleansers is that they make my face feel ‘tight’ (the other reason is the price). As RM 10 cleaners go, they leave you feeling refreshed for a while — maybe a couple of hours then the effect is gone.

When I used the Nutritious cleanser, the ‘oily effect’ took a while to return, maybe half a day. My face didn’t feel as ‘tight’ but rather soft, and feels cleaner too. After two weeks of using this cleanser, I switched back to the RM 10 cleansers for comparison purposes. Same effect as before — the oil came back quicker etc.

You can use this as a normal foaming cleanser, and at night you can leave it on for 5 minutes to act as a facial mask. Brilliant.

I am seriously thinking of purchasing a Nutritious facial cleanser after I am done with my current tube.

2. Nutritious Vita-Mineral Radiance Essence - Retail price RM 175 (30ml)

This luminous translucent essence bursting with vitamins, minerals and potent fruit extracts, absorbs into the skin working to renew the skin’s natural glow and energy, restore clarity and rejuvenate the skin’s natural support system leaving skin looking radiant and feeling silky smooth.

This one also smells good. It’s a clear lotion, and apparently it’s a stronger version of the mosturiser. Or at least I think it is — I don’t really understand how these things work. It contains pomegranate oil, apple, Japanese apricot, green tea and passion fruit extracts and also Centella Asiatica. And wheat and soy protein. That’s a lot of stuff in a tiny bottle.

I like it for its non-stickyness, and the feeling of silky smoothness after. I hate any sticky stuff on my body, which explains why I don’t like using any forms of mousterisers (even though I really should because my skin is peeling) — it’s just something that gets to me. Same reason why I don’t like wearing rings. It just feels like something that shouldn’t be there.

I used this twice a day (morning and night) for a week, then FA told me to use it only at night because it’s quite precious. Okay.

From left: night cream, essence, morning mosturiser and facial cleanser

3. Nutritious Vita-Mineral Moisture Milk - Retail price RM 165 (50ml)

Working to enhance skin’s overall healthy look, replenish skin moisture and restore skin luminosity … Featuring a lightweight, non-sticky, non-greasy formula developed specifically for oilier skins and humid climates, Vita-Mineral Moisture Milk’s milky white lotion delivers the perfect amount of deep hydration.

Again, I love the non-sticky, non-greasy bit. I apply it before I put on my make-up for work (yes, I do use some…) and even after a whole day it didn’t feel any more oily (as you would expect from any mosturiser). It contains pomegranate oil, olive fruit, melon and avocado extracts, with creatine and hyaluronic acid. Smells awesome.

4. Nutritious Restorative Night Creme - Retail price RM 175 (50ml)

A rich nourishing creme that provides instant and deep moisturization throughout the night - regenerating natural skin function, replenishing moisture and stimulating natural skin hydration for skin that appears rested and refreshed.

Again, the wonderful natural smell rules. I find this one a tad more oily than the morning counterpart, but I suppose it doesn’t really matter since I don’t go anywhere else after applying it (unless you are a hot dude — I’ll be entering your dream world). I apply this after the essence. It contains lemon peel, pomegranate oil, rosemary, olive fruit, melon fruit and avocado extracts, and also creatine and hyaluronic acid.

Conclusion

I liked the products. The part about them being free to me is great, but I also discovered the benefits of taking care of my skin.

A little background to this: I hate complicated stuff and procedures. I hate skincare regimes because they take up at least 10 minutes of my time, which could have gone to doing other more useful stuff, such as sleeping. I have a couple of facial masks from three years ago; that in itself explains quite a lot

When Jean handed the products to us, I promised her that I would faithfully use them for at least 1 week. It would only be fair if I actually experience the effects of the products prior to writing about them

So the extra 5 - 10 minutes of applying the mosturisers to my face every day and night, massaging them onto my skin to make sure the creme penetrates deep (ahem), was quite worth it. It didn’t fix my occasional pimple/ blackheads problem, but my face feels softer and nicer to touch. Yes I touch my own face quite a lot, thanks.

I also used to have a lot of problems with dry skin on my face, particularly dry skin flakes on my nose. I kept having to peel them off because they look damn unsightly. After using the Nutritious line for a few days, the problem went away. Very nice.

In comparison, I’d nicked a couple sample bottles of La Mer mosturiser from my sister (the real expensive stuff), and I didn’t like it as much because of the oily/grease factor. Yes I will return them to you.

Admittedly, the course of using the products was not easy. At least not for me. The first night I used it, I was almost panicking as I didn’t know which to use first. Erm.. wtf is this white bottle for.. it says milk mosturiser… hmmm do I apply the essence before or after the mosturiser?!? WTF they are ALL essentially mosturisers so why the bloody name difference?!? bla bla bla

For some reason beyond me now, I sought Paul Tan’s advice on MSN. This came from his chatlog:

Suanie: This stuff is bloody confusing. Do you wash out ‘essense’, or leave it on, or what?!?!?!!
Paul: How I know? I use Dettol ftw
Suanie: Sigh I don’t make a very good female.
Paul: Why not?
Suanie: Where got females don’t know these things one…
Paul: But you are a Suan. Aren’t you proud of your Suanness? LOL

/end conversation

If you want to get the Nutritious skincare line, just go to any EstÄ“e Lauder counters in various malls. Or if you pass by a counter, make sure you ask them for a free sniff. I’m telling you, the fragrance from the extracts is just refreshingly awesome…! Then imagine being able to smell it every day and night… you’d died and gone to EstÄ“e Lauder heaven…

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The EstÄ“e Lauder peps think Suanie.net readers are awesome as well, and they have given me a brand new perfume — the new Beyond Paradise Blue worth RM230 to give away to one of my awesome readers!

Let the effervescent and cool tropical scent of beyond paradise blue surround you with hints of sparkling citrus, lush florals and crisp, ocean breezes. The fragrance floats in an alluring, tear-shaped bottle designed with layered shades of transparent blue that mirror the vibrant colors of water and sky.

Notes include jabuticaba, grapefruit, tangerine, bergamot, Eden’s Mist water flowers, Belle de Nuit flower, orange, jasmine, frangipani, orange flower templar, vanilla sands, vanilla absolute, melaleuca bark, sandalwood, and sun-kissed skin (a blend of Ylang Ylang, neroli and lavender).

I don’t really know half the notes used, but to me it smells a bit masculine and vanilla-ish, then there’s the floral bits. Quite refreshing. (Yes my vocabulary for describing perfume smells is limited).

Win an EstÄ“e Lauder’s “Beyond Paradise Blue” Perfume for Women worth RM230!!!

Here’s how:

Tell me why you would date Suanie, and where you would take Suanie to on a first date.

Please be VERY creative. For example: “I would date Suanie because she is a half-arsed crazy bitch (in a nice way;) ) and I would take her to the moon to see mutated pock-marked donkeys dressed in spacesuits eating caramelised bananas.” Stuff like that.

Rules and stuff (you gotta have some):
1. There’s no right or wrong answer. The winning entry is the one that I like the most.
2. This is a creativity contest. So even if you are a girl or a transsexual, you can still weld your imagination
3. If you are on my ‘Instant Orgasm’ list or hang out with me most of the time, you are not eligible to enter
4. You can be a Timbuktuan for all I care — just make sure you are currently living in East or West Malaysia.
5. You can enter as many entries as you like. Send them to my e-mail or contact form. Please make sure that you enter a valid e-mail address.
6. Closing date for entries: 18th March 2007

Have fun

First thing I thought when I saw this title at IMDB.com was that some people can’t spell and now they are making a profit out of their inability to do so. Reminds me of the chick from Destiny’s Child who came out with a song named ‘Stole’, with the erroneous chorus line of ‘Life was stole…’ HERRO ENGLISH GRAMMAR 101?!?!??! And this coming from a person who readily admits that she has a serious grammar problem?!?

(no jokes about the problem being me anal, thanks…)

Then I watched the movie last night and realised the reason for the misspell. Okay, all is forgiven. But I still can’t get over the ‘life was stole’ shit. Makes me curl inside every time I think about it.

Will Smith. His son, real life and on-screen. Damn sad. A little inspiring. Very Hollywood. The end.

The problem with movies ‘inspired by a true story’ is that after a movie, you go home and wiki the guy whose life story the movie was based upon. Then you get massively disillusioned because Hollywood being Hollywood, exaggerate and romanticise anything and everything that walks on earth. Even dinosaurs and King Kongs were portrayed with a soft and romantic side, so you know something is seriously wrong there. The lesson to be learnt is that you cannot at all times put 101% of your emotions on the characters, because Will Smith don’t get paid millions and millions of American dollars just for being tall and black.

But I know the feeling of being broke. Well, not the extent of homelessness, but the frustrating agony and the battle within yourself to loan someone $5 and wanting $14 back asap because your bank account runs in the deficit… (p/s: being broke and being poor are two different things).

So I was quite touched by the movie lor. I’d heard good stuff about it, tales of how some peps were reduced to tears in the cinema, that it is so good and so real and so on…. ok lor whatever rocks your boat. Great acting though, and overall a good movie. But something is amiss and I can’t pin-point it. I guess you are going to have to watch the movie to judge for yourself lor.

Links:
The Pursuit of Happyness at IMDB.com
Chris Gardner at Wikipedia.org

p/s: Thanks to hot babe for the tix

I have never been that that interested in cartoons, anime, manga and the likes — the only two Japanese cartoons I read regularly were Doraemon and Slam Dunk. So when KY ajak-ed me to watch Death Note 2 (thanks lovely Reta for the tix), I said yes because it was free. Again let me remind everyone that I am a slut for freebies. Got freebie, remember Suanie.

Kelvin said it would best that I watch Death Note 1 before watching #2, and he kindly lent me his DVD. Unfortunately I did not have the time to watch it over the weekend, so 20 minutes before #2 Kerol filled me in with details of what who how why of #1.

A plot summary blatantly c&p-ed from IMDB.com:

Light Yagami finds the “Death Note,” a notebook with the power to kill, and decides to create a Utopia by killing the world’s criminals, and soon the world’s greatest detective, “L,” is hired to find the perpetrator. An all out battle between the greatest minds on earth begins, the winner controlling the world.

The tag line for Death Note is “The person whose name is written here shall die”. Not only the grammar is incorrect (cewah, as if I am the grammar queen), it is also one of the worst tag lines ever, because it makes you think of cheesy sucky awful Japanese horror movies. And Death Note is so NOT a horror movie, but a brilliant psychological twist-ful drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat (especially if you are like me, who didn’t really know the story beforehand).

The main actors were very good, and because I am biased, I am going to say that Ken’ichi Matsuyama was the best of the lot

Ken’ichi Matsuyama is so hot and young that I feel like a paedo just looking at him

Well I won’t spoil the rest for ya. Death Note: The Last Name opens in cinemas today, you all should go watch it!! Take note that it’s a 2 hour 20 mins long movie, remember to pee before you enter the cinema hall and try not to drink too much Coke ya.

p/s: check out who else is in the movie!!!!!

AWESOME BALLZ!!!!!!!!!

Others blogged about it too: KY, Kelvin, Kim