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Your view on yourself:
You are intelligent, honest and sweet. You are friendly to everybody and don't like conflict. Because you're so cheerful and fun people are naturally attracted to you and like to talk to you.
The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:
You are not looking merely for a girl/boyfriend - you are looking for your life partner. Perhaps you should be more open-minded about who you spend time with. The person you are looking for might hide their charm under their exterior.
Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.
The seriousness of your love:
You like to flirt and behave seductively. The opposite sex finds this very attractive, and that's why you'll always have admirers hanging off your arms. But how serious are you about choosing someone to be in a relationship with?
Your views on education
Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.
The right job for you:
You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.
How do you view success:
You are confident that you will be successful in your chosen career and nothing will stop you from trying.
What are you most afraid of:
You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.
Who is your true self:
You are full of energy and confidence. You are unpredictable, with moods changing as quickly as an ocean. You might occasionally be calm and still, but never for long.
Level of understanding
I spend few years in reading finance and economics because i am going to use them for my job indirectly. Recently, indepth study gave me an idea about the level of understanding in finance and economics. But I am not quite sure whether my idea of level of understanding is applicable on other subjects. Let me stress once more. The level of understanding - i am writing here- is meant for economics and finance.
There are three levels of understanding: Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3.
Level 1 of understanding is easily accessible by many people. They can be found in many mainstream textbooks. As usual, many lecturers and professors repeat over again and again.
Level 2 of understanding is about learning the same thing but in depth. That is something that lecturers do not demonstrate in front of their students. Professors tend to do that when it is convenient to do so. Norvald and Kevin Sheedy did demonstrate the level 2 of understanding which I am looking for. It is because they are not covered in textbook.
Level 3 of understanding is about rejecting the established model by proving why it is invalid. When we say 'established model', many people take this model as 100% correct. So far, 1% of the world population have this level. I believe that John Maynard Keynes is one of them.
At this point, I can demonstrate how common people can obtain first and second level of understanding. Let me describe each level of understanding in turn.
Conider the question: What is classical dichotomy? The common answer is that this ignore the nominal variables such as (nominal money, nominal GDP, and money wages) and focus only on real variables (such as real money balance, real GDP, and real wages). If we do analyse both real and nominal variables, the classical dichotomy break down. Good example of classical dichotomy is neutrality of money. It will be level 1 understanding. But it only say what it does but there is no description to paint the classical dichotomy. That is where too many people assume that this is sufficient at this point. Ironically, Mankiw's Macroeconomics textbook stop there at this stage too.
The level 2 of understanding should be like this on top of the above common answer.
Classical dichotomy holds in classical economics whereas it does not hold in Keynesian economics. The most important assumption is that the real wage and price are flexible. Because of this, we have vertical Short Run Aggregate Supply that coincide with Long Run Aggregate Supply. Let look at the below diagram to better understand classical dichotomy as well as money neutrality.
Suppose that central bank performs expansionary monetary policy that increases nominal money supply. Given LM function such that: M/P = L(i,Y), nominal money supply, being exogenous variable shift LM schedule to the right (LM0 to LM1). Consequently, interest rate and output/income rise to r1 and Y1 respectively. For a given rise in output and constant price, AD schedule shifts to the right to AD1. The red coloured horizontal distance AB is the length of AD shift for given rise in output. There will be macroeconomics equilibrium at point C in AD-AS diagram (middle right). At point C, price rises to P1. This rise in price causes a fall in real money balance, M/P. Consequently LM schedule shifts back to initial position, LM0. That is the result of money neutrality: any change in nominal money supply does not affect the analysis. The economy is in equilibrium at point C (in both IS-LM and AD-AS) with unchanged output and interest rate.
Looking at bottom left diagram, the concave curve is production function, exhibiting diminishing marginal return to labour. This means that for every one unit increase in labour, the change in output is getting smaller and smaller. Therefore, this production function has the equation of Y=f(L): output is a positive function of labour. This means that a rise in labour leads to a rise in output.
Looking at labour market on the basis of classical notion, labour demand, Ld is negatively related to real wage. It is because firm will reduce the number of labour for a given rise in real wage. Logically, if real wage is to rise, real wage bill is going to rise as well. Therefore, firm will like to keep wage bill constant, by assumption, by reducing labour. On the other hand, labour supply, Ls is positively related to real wage. The intuition is as follows: the higher the real wage, the greater the incentive to work, the more people want to work. A rise in price causes a real wage, W/P to fall. In the middle left diagram, labour demand shifts to the right for a given fall in real wage. At the same time, labour supply shifts to the left for a given fall in real wage. For given change in money wage, the labour market is in equilibrium, where Ld1 intersects Ls1 for the same labour. Therefore, in the top left diagram, labour supply and labour demand is unchanged for given equal rise in price and wage. Therefore, a change in nominal money supply does not affect labour market. We have arrive the conclusion that classical dichotomy holds and money is neutral.
If we bother to magnify the effect of change in nominal money supply, we shall see another diagram below.
The end result is the same. Only that it is meant to illustrate why 'final' SRAS curve is vertical sloping. Let see a summary about magnified effect. At this time, in middle right, SRAS is upward sloping. A change in money supply shifts LM schedule and AD schedule as usual. In the short run, there is a rise in price due to rightward shift of AD (to AD1). At P1*, LM schedule shift up to LM2. For a given fall in real wage due to a rise in price, Ld schedule shift to right to Ld1 in middle left diagram. Ls schedule shift to the left to Ls1 in midle left diagram. As usual, in top left diagram, labour market is unchanged. Therefore, AS schedule shift left for a given shift in labour supply. It is because of unchanged labour. With AD and AS shift, we can easily join two points A and C with a line in order to obtain vertical SRAS.
That is how competent econs student should think at least within my opinion. Take note that in second diagram, top right and middle right can be seen in Blanchard's text. But Blanchard seems to have different view from other economists (texts). Blanchard distinugish it with short-run, medium-run, and long-run. Interested readers should check this out from Blanchard's text.
Let see what level 3 of understanding really look like. Although I am no economics historian, I just roughly describe Classical Economics vs Keynesian Economics. Before Great Depression of 1933, Classical Economics was dominant in macro-view. Macroeconomics wasn't born at that time. Classical Economics is always based on the assumption of flexible prices and real wage. Look at the diagram below.
Consider a rise in price to P1. Given the assumption of flexible wage, labour market is always in equilibrium at point A. Recall the middle left of first diagram. That is the reason. Therefore, SRAS is vertical. It can be thought that labour workers have perfect information about the change in price. Because of that, labour workers can negotiate real wages with employers immediately.
When Great Depression occured, Keynes wrote a book called 'General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money'. He wanted to address the problem of Great Depression. At that point, Keynes critised the Classical Economics in particular of labour market as well as quantity theory of money. Right here, we just look at labour market. Modern economists redefined Keynes' belief in term of diagram as below.
Keynes believed that the nominal wage is sticky. The intuition is as follows. If you sign contract with employers that you work for 5 years with a pay of $x per month. Your nominal wage will not change for 5 years. For a given rise in price, with sticky wage, workers agreed to provide more labour. Therefore, there is disequilibrium in labour market at point B. Because of that, for a given rise in labour, output, and price, SRAS is upward sloping.
Now, there were two different views of Macroeconomics. It is quite amazing that Keynes just 'demolished' Classical Economics like that. After his book released in public on sale, almost all economists are Keynesians! In 1970s, Keynesian Economics does not work any more. A sudden rise in oil price render Keynesian Economics 'useless' somehow. Subsequently, the real business cycle theory solves this problem. There are another two schools of thoughts: The New Classical Economics and The New Keynesian Economics. Next paragraph is to link from the level of understanding to examiner marking.
In my opinion, the examiner may mark like this
I suddenly thought of this. It may be slightly different from normal Microeconomics framework of Edgeworth box. Top left diagram represents the utility function of you. The convex curve is indifference curve, representing that you like marks and understanding. In the other words, the more you understand, the more marks you get, the higher utility. In fact, it is based on what I observe. Not only in the institution I study at, i also notice that UOL students overseas tend to perform well if they really understand. There is one from Pakistan, asking me for help regarding Macroeconomics. Initially, she told me that her Macroeconomics study on her own is pathetic. I helped her how to understand. Best part about her is that she is willing to work hard on her own. Once she get a good understanding of the model after a conversation with me, she tend to solve the problems on her own much faster. She even told me that I was great help after our Macroeconomics paper. That is what I conclude.
Looking at examiner's indifference curve. Examiner tend to minus the mark off for each disagreement of your's essay. It can be discrepancy from the original framework or lack of understanding. Therefore, examiner's indifference curve is like this. If we rotate the examiner's diagram 90 degree anticlockwise and combine with you's diagram, we obtain edgeworth box digram.
We can see that you's and examiner's indifference curves are tangent to each other at points A, B, C, and D. Therefore, we can join these points up with blue-coloured line called contract curve. It is because at points A, B, C, and D, you's marginal rate of substitution (MRS) is equal to examiner's MRS. MRS implies how much you are willing to give up a variable on Y axis to obtain one more unit on X axis. Specifically, any points on contract curve is Pareto efficient. Pareto efficient means that you are making someone better off without making someone else worse off.
If there is perfect information between you and examiner, we can obtain first theorem of welfare economics. This means that you know what topics will definiately appear: so be it in-the-syllabus or out-of-syllabus. Logically, you and examiner optimise their behaviour to achieve Pareto efficient. First theorem of welfare economics is everywhere in every Micro text but ironically, second theorem of welfare economics is not everywhere. I wonder why. Only Eaton, Eaton, and Allen text cover this interesting part.
Consider that you are so lazy to study and understand what is on the subject guide. As a result, you understand too little and don't know so many stuffs. By logic, you are at point A. In order to maximise you's utility, there are two ways.
First, you want to 'leech' someone by getting someone to teach the important topics that are likely to appear in exam. As the result, you gain some level of understanding, you's utility increases.
Alternatively, you can cheat. Unfortunately, there is cheat thing that did appear in last year. It was hush-hush affair. I cannot say much about what happen at that time because it would bring unwanted attention. I can only say that i was stunned when i saw particular questions. I wonder how my friend manage to pull out such stunt. Anyway, i did not take advantage of it and suffered from this. Focusing on the so-called cheat. Suppose you obtain private information about the 3 exact questions in 3days before exam. You quickly look for answers for this 3 exact questions. Obviously, you's utility increases because it is sure-full-marks score.
Given two different scenarios, point A moves to point C. Therefore, we obtain second theorem of welfare economics. That is an idea. I think it is interesting to think like that. Anyway, concerning the first part, my friend, Jason, complaints to me that each time he and his friends study together, he ends up teaching his friends. He was somewhat disappointed that he learnt nothing from this because his friends don't know the subject. It is to say, whatever he teach, they take it for granted. It is not only one case. There are many other cases like this. It is always a problem of allocation of resources. It is difficult to find someone who is competent in understanding the subject oneself. If you can, you can easily discuss with that someone on extremely complex stuffs and solve them.
Unfortunately, this idea will not work in the real world. There is certain degree of imperfect information. If there are too many out-of-syllabus questions, you are not likely to maximise utility. It cannot be Pareto efficient. You's point may be somewhere outside contract curve and should be located where you's indifference curve intersect examiner's indifference curve. It can be anywhere depending on the degree of number of out-of-syllabus questions. I wonder which paper has out-of-syllabus questions. I was told by Melvin that it is not only the subject (Corporate Finance) that was like this. This conversation was made around in last November. Melvin and even Mr Seet think that it is unfair. Like what i say, it is a problem of allocation of resources. Not only exam marks, we do have this kind of problem in everywhere in particular labour market.
Human vs Human
Normally, some people, in particular economists (most of them), believe that debate will benefit a lot. It is because it will enable them to develop new models to address the main issue of the debates. Consequently, the literature of economics can progress for better level. The ability to manage economy will be better, provided that the models are appropriate and sound to use. In contrast, some friends, in particular Junbin, conclude that those who need debate are not wise. I guess that he experiences a lot of things that rebuke his activities. After all, i discovered that, in my impression, he obtains his income through Sunshine Empire. Some people probably want to argue over this. In the end, he keeps his belief steadfast because he has money to spend on his car, and things he desire. It suggets that his life is the result of his action that may put them dumbfounded.
From this previous paragraph, it is important to remind ourselves that even right method does not work well in the wrong situation. It got to be that the right method to be applied in the right situation. It is difficult to determine whether you are doing the right thing. Nevertheless, it is important to gain experience and your experience will teach you some defence mechanism in the situation of things go wrong. Getting experiences comes from somewhere. This comes from trying your best to use the method you consider it right. I like the statement saying 'sometimes doing the right thing is not the right thing'. This statement came from SWAT movie i saw few years ago back.
Like what I wrote before, no matter how old we are, we are still 'kid'. Even smart people behave like kid. The difference between three groups of people, aged 8, 18, 28 years old is that they have different level of understanding. One group of people, aged 8 year old won't understand how the organisation and tend to think of playground within organisation. They care about playing with friends. Another group of people, aged 18 years old would think that organisation function like a secondary school or poly class. They care their own buddies and don't care about their classmates they are not close to. Another group of people, aged 28 years old, will think organisation as battlefield. They are willing to help colleagues if they is such overtime pay. They tend to close to people who do not have any conflicts of interest. The similarity between these groups are that they are doing in their own interest to maximise their own utility. The difference is their nature of doing. I feel that it is important not to justify your age that you are older than someone and you should respect me. It seems to be dominant thing in Japan and South Korea. It can be disasterous if they abuse this privilege. In my opinion, we should treat all groups of people equally.
I arrived this conclusion few years ago when I saw how my classmate was in bad term with the whole class. It is because of his behaviour. I told him that he has to change that behaviour if he want to be that close with class. He didn't do that and he went high-handed way to get school authority to address this for him. It is so absurd that he is not doing on his own to get close with class. In fact, he was not able to resolve this issue. Yesterday, he came to me and told me that he still have the same problem in poly. He said to me that his biggest regret is not to resolve the issue with the class. Like what i wrote, too many people take things for granted. They need to check themselves first before they decide it. It can be confirmed once more by consider the difference of opinions from different generation.
Current generation (about 18-35 years old) in Singapore is discontent with the government and the way Singapore is being run. But, older generation is somewhat content. I suspect that the standard of living in the past was bad compared to standard of living today. They have properly seen the margin of improvement whereas current generation can't even see any improvement. I bet that if there is World War 3or great depression part 2 occurs, that current generation will change their mentality. When i went to Somerset, where i need to take exam there, I was surprised that the landscape change greatly. In my opinion, Economics Development Board is doing good job of structuring economy in long term. The rules are relaxing one by one. I never seen so many different types of cars as taxi. In the past, there is two common taxis with usual colour paints. Furthermore, there are many shops selling sexual materials at every corner of city. Times has changed and so the demand has changed. There is one shop i used to go there to browse computer games. Guess what, they don't sell majority of PC-based games any more! This shop focus more on computer hardwares. In my view, i foresee that there will be more changes that thought to be enhancing or boosting Singapore's economy. Unfortunately, it has two-edge sword. Some may like the changes but other may not like the change. As usual, it will work if there are more people enjoying such changes than the ones who are not pleased. I feel that current generation is quite greedy and i consider myself to be mindful of such material and luxury gains.
Finally, sometimes when people tell you, you find it absurd. It is not surprising. Even George Soros' son find Soros' trading method absurd and yet Soros is sucesssful as hedge fund manager. Yesterday, my mother told me that she feel her bones pain if she were to expose in front of fan. For me, i don't feel like that each time i am turning on the fan in front of me for a long period of time. It sound absurd but I believe her. It is because of events and experience I get. When i was studying for exam in one month ago, my mother told me that the neighbour family has 'lost' her mother due to heart attack. She told me that it was sudden. She doesn't eat oily food from what i hear and the cause of heart attack is unknown. I feel that it(life-threatening problem) can attack you from nowhere. It is best to look after your closed ones no matter how absurd their comments are. Not only them and us, practically everybody are thinking about absurd things. I hope that we take care of things as well as our closed humans appropriately no matter how absurd it is.
My Hope for the Future of Economics
I want to see more money to be spend on researching behaviour and asymmetric information. This should increase the literature of behavioural economics, behavioural finance, and informational economics. I believe that such new theory development associated with either behaviour or asymmetric information will solve the problems of Macroeconomics. I am going to read more old books written well-known economists. Few economics-based books caught my attention. The book titles are as follows. 1) Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism and 2)A Critical Essay on Modern Macroeconomic Theory.
Next paragraph is about movies. If you are not interested, just skip it.
Movies
English Teacher (Korean Movie)
Synopsis exacted from hancinema.net:
Seong-gun (Kim Soo-ro) is a lazy high school gym teacher. But when the school decides to strengthen its English program, Seong-gun decides learning and teaching English is the only way to survive.
Rating:8/10
Bonuses:1)It motivate me to study harder. 2)It is funny to see how Korean guy is trying to learn english from basic. 3)It is freshing to watch something unique
The Good The Bad The Wierd(Korean Movie)
Synopsis extracted from wikipedia.org:
The background is the wilderness of 1930s Manchuria. The Bad (a hitman) is hired to acquire a treasure map from a Japanese official traveling on a train, The Weird (a thief) steals the map from the Japanese official when he robs him on the train. The Bad just after manages to stop the train and a slaughter of Japanese and Manchurian guards ensues. The Good (a Bounty hunter) appears on the scene with his shotgun in hand and tries to kill The Bad. Meanwhile The Weird manages to escape to the Ghost Market, to figure the map out and escape from his pursuers. In this unpredictable, escalating battle for the map with the Japanese Army, and Manchurian bandits also after the map, who will survive and claim the supposed treasure?
Rating:8/10
Bonuses:1)it is nice fight between 3 best fighters 2)sometimes, the action seems very funny: i tends to laugh that loud when i see funny action. 3)the ending is quite unexpected
Rough Cut(Korean Movie)
Synopsis extracted from hancinema.net:
Gang-pae, #2 in his organization, is swamped with routine violence, and his dream of becoming an actor never went away. Star actor Soo-ta lives behind a veil, away from public eyes. Over time his behavior becomes increasingly agitated, provoked by paparazzi wanting a piece of him wherever he goes. This behavior puts him in a series of spiraling and uncontrollable situations. Now he begins shooting a new movie playing a gangster. Because of his bad temper, he beats up a fellow actor and forces the production to a halt. Feeling responsible, Soo-ta requests Gang-pae, whom he met by chance, to play alongside him in the movie in order to save the production. Gang-pae agrees with the condition that the violence portrayed in the movie has to be real and not fake acting violence. Soo-ta accepts the condition and they get ready for the real match.
Rating:6/10
Bonus: 1)It give you the feelings that anyone can easily hammer you for no reason. No mercy!
Behind Enemy Line Colombia (Hollywood Movie 2009)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
Navy SEALS mount an attack on Colombian special forces to clear their names and rescue a hostage.
Rating:6/10
Bonus:1) shooting war but boring.
12 Angry Guys(Hollywood Movie 1957)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
The defence and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case of murder soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other. Based on the play, all of the action takes place on the stage of the jury room.
Rating:10/10
Bonuses:1) It is one classical movie that stun me the most 2)I like how 11 jurors' opinion of a prisoner has changed dramatically overnight. 3)It is nice to see some bias disppearing into thin air slowly. 4)the acting skills look too real to me. 5) the real stunner is the last jury who in the end lost his battle by failing to uphold his persistence of belief.
Ip Man(Hong Kong Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun
Rating:8/10
Bonuses: 1) It has the motto which i preach: if you practise correctly, sufficiently, and consistently, your skill will be super good. 2)It really entertain me that good. Not many chinese movies make me interested from start to end. 3)the ending is something interesting.
Bangkok Danagerous (Hollywood Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
Joe is a professional hit man who picks someone off the street to do his errands, and after he is finished kills that person. His next assignment takes him to Bangkok, and as usual, he finds a street kid named Kong to help him. After Kong has a close call and learns who Joe is, Kong asks him to train him and he does. Joe also meets a local girl who is deaf and spends time with her. However, Joe has a hard time keeping his other life from her. It also appears that the person who hired Joe, breaks his rule of complete anonymity and tries to find him.
Rating:5/10
Red Cliff 2(Hong Kong Movie 2009)
Synopsis:
This movie continue from part 1. At Red Cliff, Liu Bei and Sun Quan collaborate each other to fend off Cao Cao.
Rating:6/10
Bonus: Different ending compared to frictional romance of three kingdoms.
Righteous Kill(Hollywood Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
Turk and Rooster, two aging NYPD detectives who have been longtime partners are faced with a serial killer who is murdering sociopathic criminals. They both have personal issues, and when they start working with a younger team, Perez and Riley, tensions between the pairs of partners is inevitable, especially since Turk is now living with Perez's ex-girlfriend, also a homicide detective.
Rating:6/10
Bonus: two-faced cop.....
Truck(Korean Movie)
Synopsis extracted from hancinema.net:
Cheol-min makes a living by working in the shipping business. He has a daughter suffering from a heart condition, and in need of surgery. To save his daughter, he urgently needs the tremendous amount of 60,000,000 won. To make this money, he gets involved in dangerous illegal gambling and barely saves his life by promising he will take care of body disposal for the gang. On his way to Gangwon-do where he intends to dump the bodies, he encounters a police van that had been in an accident, and ends up giving the police officer a ride. Although this situation is tense, events take a turn for the worse.
Rating: 6/10
Bonus: Twist and turn in every corner of the movie: You can never guess what will happen next.
Max Payne(Hollywood Movie 2008)
Synopsis:
Three years ago, NYPD detective Max Payne's wife and baby were murdered. Max gets himself transferred to the cold case office where he can continue searching for the killer who got away. He's a loner, but two people reach out to him during a fateful week: Alex, his ex-partner who may have found a clue, and BB, the security chief at the pharmaceutical company where Max's wife worked. Meanwhile, bodies are piling up, some as a result of a drug on the street that is highly addictive and, for many who take it, brings hideous hallucinations. When one of the bodies is a woman Payne was the last to see alive, her sister comes looking for him armed to the teeth; Max must move fast.
Rating:5/10
Hana Yori Dango(Japanese Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from wikipedia:
The final part of the popular series Hana Yori Dango ends with an adventure around the world. Finally, the feuding couple, Tsukushi and Tsukasa are engaged and just when they think everything will be happily ever after, the precious heirloom - a tiara called the Smile of Venus, is stolen. The two go on a search to retrieve the tiara heading off to Las Vegas, Hong Kong and other places, however each time they think they have recovered the tiara, it slips away from them. Can their love hold up to the test?
Rating:6/10
Bonus:You can see that their love is holding steadyfast.
Divine Weapon(Korean Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from hancinema.net:
During the reign of King Sejong, Joseon Dynasty was the embodiment of the perfect state. To the Ming China, the aspiring imperial power, Joseon presented an obstacle to territorial expansion. The Ming China demanded submission and interfered with internal affairs of Joseon. All the while keeping Joseon in check with the constant threat of the northern barbarians. Disgusted by the Chinese interference ,King Sejong secretly develops the Phantom Arrowslinger, a weapon he intends to use to take back Joseon’s land and supremacy. but When Chinese spies discover the plan, the Chinese emperor attempts to disrupt the development with force, setting off a chain reaction of violence.
Rating:6/10
Bonus: It is nice to see how they create missles.
Beast Stalker (Hong Kong Movie 2009)
Synopsis:
One traffic accident brought together the lives of a wanted criminal, a police sergeant, a public prosecutor and her daughter in a dramatic action adventure about friendship, duty, love and hate.
Rating:7/10
Bonuses:1)Nicholas Tse's acting skill has improved a lot. 2)the ending may be abit sad.
Madagascar Escape 2 Africa (Hollywood Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
The sequel to 2005's "Madagascar", in which New York Zoo animals, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, still stranded on Madagascar, start to leave the island. All of a sudden, they land in the wilderness of Africa, where Alex meets the rest of his family, but has trouble communicating with them after spending so much time at the Central Park Zoo.
Rating:7/10
Bonuses:1)morale of story: parents are always there to protect you 2)You need to know the role of yourself in a certain place.
20th Century Boys(Japanese Movie 2009)
Synopsis extracted from wikipedia.org:
In 1969, young boys Kenji, Otcho, Yoshitsune and Maruo build, in an empty field, a hideout they name their secret base, in which they and their friends can get together to share manga, stolen porn magazines and listen to a radio. To celebrate the event, Otcho draws a symbol for the base, that would represent their friendship. After their friends Yukiji and Donkey join the gang, they imagine a future scenario where villains would try to destroy the world, and in which the boys would stand up and fight; this scenario is transcribed and labeled "Book of Prophecy".
The series itself opens in the late 1990s, where Kenji is a convenience store owner, finding solace in his childhood adventures as he takes care of his niece Kanna and his mother. After Donkey is reported to have committed suicide, Kenji stumbles upon a large cult led by a man known only as "Friend". The cult has a plan to destroy the world on New Year's Eve of 2000, (referred to in the latter half of the story as the Bloody New Year's Eve,) and the events that are currently unfolding are suspiciously close to the plan documented in the "Book of Prophecy". Kenji begins to recuit some of his older friends, including Otcho and Yoshitsune, in an attempt to stop "Friend".
The series spans several decades, from 1969 to 2017, which in the chronology of the series, becomes 3FE (3rd Year of the Friend Era.) The series makes two distinct timeline cuts during the story; one from 2000 to 2014, and one from 2014 to 3FE. Several parts of the series are also told in flashbacks to previous events as the characters attempt to unravel the mystery of who "Friend" is and how to stop his plans of world destruction; most of the children's backstories through the 70s and 80s are told in this fashion.
Rating:7/10
Bonuses:1) It has good suspense towards part 2. 2)I cannot imagine how Japan fall into the plan like that.
Punisher:War Zone (Hollywood Movie 2009)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
After hunting down and killing hundreds of violent criminals, Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, faces his most deadly foe yet: Jigsaw.
Rating:8/10
Bonuses:1)Superb amount of gore action 2)good sound effect 3)it is better than the first movie.
Outlander(Hollywood Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
In 709 DC, in the Iron Age, a spacecraft crashes in the Viking kingdom of Herot, Norway, and the pilot Kainan survives. He turns the beacon on; learns the language and culture of the planet using a machine; and finds that the predator, Moorwen, that he was transporting, had escaped. While chasing the alien monster, he finds a village completely destroyed and is arrested by the warrior Wulfric, believing that he killed the locals - Kainan is brought to Herot as a prisoner.
Rating:6/10
Bonus:Decent storyline
Transporter 3(Hollywood Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
Frank Martin puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukranian government official, from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea. En route, he has to contend with thugs who want to intercept Valentina's safe delivery and not let his personal feelings get in the way of his dangerous objective.
Rating:7/10
Bonuses:1)Good amount of dialogue that make you feel high 2)well chronology of fighting moves.
Gandhi(Hollywood Movie 1982)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
"Gandhi" is the tale of the "half naked fakir" (quote courtesy W.L.Churchill) who took on an Empire with nothing but truth, non-violence and indomitable will as weapons...and won.
Rating:9/10
Bonuses:1) i learn more about India history through this firm 2)the main lead actor look like Gandhi: that is what i thought. 3)I never knew that Pakistan was part of India in the past 4)Alas, doing good things are extremely difficult to do.
Body of Lies(Hollywood Movie)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
Roger Ferris is a CIA operative in the Middle East; Ed Hoffman is his control at Langley. Cynicism is everywhere. In Amman, Roger works with Hani Salaam, Jordan's head of security, whose only dictum is "Don't lie to me." The Americans are in pursuit of a cleric who leads a group placing bombs all over Europe. When Hani rebukes Ed's demand that Jordan allow the Americans to use one of Jordan's double agents, Roger and Ed hatch a plan to bring the cleric to them. The plan is complicated by its being a secret from Hani and by Roger's attraction to a local nurse. Satellites and cell phones, bodies and lies: modern warfare.
Rating:7/10
Bonuses:1)Trust is very important in this business 2)Know your rules before you do anything.
007 Quantum of Solace (Hollywood Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
Is there solace in revenge? Bond and "M" sniff a shadowy international network of power and corruption reaping billions. As Bond pursues the agents of an assassination attempt on "M," all roads lead to Dominic Greene, a world-renowned developer of green technology. Greene, a nasty piece of work, is intent on securing a barren area of Bolivia in exchange for assisting a strongman stage a coup there. The CIA looks the other way, and only Bond, with help from a retired spy and from a mysterious beauty, stands in Greene's way. "M" wonders if she can trust Bond, or if vengeance possesses him. Beyond that, can anyone drawn to Bond live to tell the tale?
Rating:6/10
Bonus: James Bond franchise is dying
Underworld Rise of Lycans (Hollywood Movie 2009)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
The prequel story traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucian emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor, the cruel vampire king who has enslaved them. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Sonja, in his battle against the Vampire army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.
Rating:7/10
Bonus:1)It tell you how Lycans survive 2)At least, we know the beginning of the story through this movie.
Bolt (Hollywood Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
Bolt, an American White Shepherd, has lived his whole life on the set of his action TV show, where he believes he has superpowers. When separated from the studio by accident, he meets a female alley cat named Mittens and a hamster named Rhino. Along the way, he learns that he doesn't have superpowers and that the show is not real.
Rating:6/10
Bonus:If you live outside the world, you lose touch of the reality.
Slumdong Millionaire (Indian Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out. At the heart of its storytelling lies the question of how anyone comes to know the things they know about life and love.
Rating:7/10
Bonuses:1)It is interesting life story of Jamal 2)The announcer of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' is quite good actor.
Yes Man (Hollywood Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
Carl Allen is at a standstill. No future... Until the day he enrolls into a personal development program based on a very simple idea: say yes to everything! Carl discovers with amazement the magical power of "Yes", and sees his professional and romantic life turned upside down overnight: an unexpected promotion and a new girlfriend. But he'll soon discover that better can be good's enemy, and that all opportunities shouldn't be taken.
Rating:6/10
Bonus:The lead female is interesting one: singing unique song.
Ong Bak 2
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
A young Thai boxer learns the skills and inner meaning of martial arts.
Rating:6/10
Bonus: It is different from Ong Bak 1; the fighting is abit more gore.
Police Tactical Unit 2
Synopsis:
It start with the abuse of police authority. But nobody know who abuse it because the video that capture this scene is too grainy. High-ranking officers set out to find out who the culprit is.
Rating:6/10
Bonus: Morale of story is that it is pointless to panic when you do not know the outcome.
1724 Hero(Korean Movie 2008)
Synopsis:
The story started with young punk, who claim that he is good fighter. One unexpected event came by. Hell went loose and this young punk was involved in. He is up against many gangs. Can he survive for the wrong reason?
Rating:7/10
Bonuses:1)It is important to look at big picture: You cannot afford to be this navie sacrificing the peace of the town. 2)He got nice present for his determination.
Suspect X(Japanese Movie 2008)
Synopsis extracted from:
The body of a male has been discovered, strangled to death, his face pulverized beyond recognition and fingers burned to a crisp. Assigned to the case are local precinct detective, Kaoru Utsumi, and her ex"colleague from headquarters, Shunpei Kusanagi. It turns out that the neighbor of the victim's ex"wife is a college alumnus of brilliant physicist, Manabu Yukawa, aka “Detective Galileo."He is Tetsuya Ishigami, a high school math teacher whom Yukawa personally considers a true genius. When Yukawa is brought onto help with the case by Utsumi, he begins to suspect that this “true genius"and a with whom Yukawa shares a bond of friendship as an intellectual equal is somehow connected to the murder. Elaborate bluffs, false testimonials, loopholes in logic − all begin to appear in Detective Galileo's way as if intentionally placed as a challenge by someone with mathematical brilliance.
Rating:8/10
Bonuses: 1)there is amount of intelligent game between two geniuses. 2)The ending is quite odd. 3)It shows that genius can fall into bottomless pit.
Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (Hollywood Movie 2009)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
A young man with the power to time travel attempts to solve the mystery of his girlfriend's death.
Rating:7/10
Bonuses:1)It has a lot of twist 2)Although part 1 is better, part 3 offer interesting dimension but still sad ending.
Notorious(Hollywood Movie 2009)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
NOTORIOUS is the story of Christopher Wallace. Through raw talent and sheer determination, Wallace transforms himself from Brooklyn street hustler (once selling crack to pregnant women) to one of the greatest rappers of all time; THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. Follow his meteoric rise to fame and his refusal to succumb to expectations - redefining our notion of "The American Dream."
Rating:8/10
Bonuses:1) I never knew about this singer until I saw this movie. 2)He has interesting and impressive life. 3)Exactly, you need hard work and determination to suceed.
Sophie Scholl(German Movie 2005)
Synopsis extracted from imdb.com:
The Final Days is the true story of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroine brought to life. Sophie Scholl is the fearless activist of the underground student resistance group, The White Rose. Using historical records of her incarceration, the film re-creates the last six days of Sophie Scholl's life: a journey from arrest to interrogation, trial and sentence in 1943 Munich. Unwavering in her convictions and loyalty to her comrades, her cross-examination by the Gestapo quickly escalates into a searing test of wills as Scholl delivers a passionate call to freedom and personal responsibility that is both haunting and timeless.
Rating:7/10
Bonuses:1)Good movie by its historical merits 2)Ms Scholl was great lady standing up against Nazi.
Naruto Shippuuden Movie 2 (Japanese Animation Movie 2008)
Synopsis:
A unknown ninja group suddenly emerged and attacked Naruto's village. What will happen to his village?
Rating:6/10
Bonus: Emotional Movie
Tony Del Piero wrote and posted at at 11:21 am
