Booster Shots

Singapore says everybody who has completed the full vaccination regime has to receive a booster shot five months after completion, else they'll be considered unvaccinated if no boosters are received within 270 days. Needless to say, without that criteria, I would have got a booster anyway. It's not like it cost money - it was free. Nonetheless, Singapore's study shows that Moderna vaccine is more superior than Pfizer, which is an already very superior vaccine. The results is that many people, being a typical kiasu Singaporean, want Moderna as the booster even if they received Pfizer. For me, I got Moderna, both doses. The CC I went had since shut, but thankfully a new centre opens in Bishan, so I got my booster in Bishan. Yes, I stick to Moderna. Lots of people I know switched to Moderna. Moderna is more robust, with many who had no effects from it suffering from debilitating side effects after boosters, particularly for those who received full Pfizer doses earlier. For me? Well, I think the first dose drove my immune system into overdrive. This booster shot hit me milder than the 2nd dose - I literally had no side effects, except a little, subtly swollen lymph nodes, and perhaps fatigue (but I blamed it on a Monday blue). Otherwise, no chills, no fever, no palpitations, no ache, no pain, nadda. Booster for me was a swim. Anyway, hopefully this is the last - this has got to stop, it's getting ridiculous.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

 Ever since I subscribed Disney+, and to be able to watch Spider-Man: No Way Home, I have since tried to watch all MCU movies, starting from Iron Man. Iron Man is surprisingly entertaining, and to be frank I'm a bit shocked to find out it was released about 15 years ago. But I've since finished
all phase 1 and phase 2 movies. My favourite, though, is Guardians of The Galaxy, and it's not just because it was the movie I first watched in 2014, but because it's just funny, entertaining and it has a balance of dark and humour, which is atypical of a superhero film. Yet it delivers the superhero ingredients with touching tones with marvellous skills, and that's why it's my number 1 movies. The Avengers is fine, Captain America is fine, but I still like this the best. Will be starting phase 3 soon.

Slasher, Season 3

After a disappointing season 2, I was actually hesitant about watching season 3. Season 2 was very boring, and the characters were just uninteresting. We all knew they were guilty of murder, the main question in season 2 was who outside the group knew.

In season 3, we knew the residents of an apartment all were somehow guilty of nonchalance and non-responsiveness towards a murder that occurred in their building, which also led to the suicide of another resident. But the question in season 3 isn't so much about who knew they, but rather - why? 

I thought season 2 was already very gory, but man, season 3 took it up a few notches.

But season 3 is in entirety a great improvement from season 2. It hasn't been boring a single time. I think what made season 2 boring was that the characters all came from a similar background - a group of sinners, and a group of teenagers. What made them different simply were their family background. In season 3, it's about the residents of an apartment - gays, cheaters, gamers, students etc. It's just a mix of very different characters and that's why it made the story-telling so intriguing and mesmerising.

But the gore, though, I don't advise people to watch season 3 while eating. I had a little hard time swallowing food while watching.

The story in season 3 is solid, and the suspense is interesting. It's even better than Scream. But, unfortunately, season 4 isn't produced by Netflix and is not on Netflix. Which is a shame, because I really wish to watch it.

2022 is Here!

I wish I can be very excited that a brand new year has landed, but to be honest, as one ages, such excitement fades. For me, it's just, meh.

Alright, so we've survived 2021, which was an incredibly dull year. I have been stuck in Singapore for the 2nd year now, with the whole of 2021 I spent grounded in a tiny nation that can offer me no solace other than survival for a new year.

Anyway, with Omicron being less severe, and a booster shot about to be administered, I'll be returning to sweet Malaysia in a few months time.

I'll be home. 2022, please be a good year to me.

Spiderman: No Way Home

Not a tad disappointed at all. Absolutely fabulous.

I'm not really a MCU fan, but even then you've got to admit, Spiderman has its charm.

I remember when I was a little kid, in 2002, the first Spiderman was released. Starring Toby Maguire, it was the topic of the year. Back then, smartphones weren't a thing, we get our information from the newspapers and we watched the movies in the theatres instead of Netflix. Then there was a sequel, Spiderman 2, which was literally the topic of the year, even bigger than its predecessor. And I remembered I was in awe watching it - the movie stuck with me forever, and I can still remember the scenes even today.

I never really watched Andrew Garfield's reboot of Spiderman until 2 days ago. In my opinion, while Toby Maguire was the original one, he was a tad too mature. Andrew Garfield's is far less nerdy but is a much more agile and acrobatic spiderman, even though slightly weaker as it stayed loyal to the comic version by using web-shooters instead of shooting his own webs. 

Tom Holland's version never really resonated with me. I like his physicality and agility but he was far too talkative and immature to be a superhero but that's partly because he's in a universe where his 'colleagues' and villains were far too grand so his role was dwarfed and pale in comparison.

Until now, we've got Spiderman: No Way Home.

Spoilers - yes, all three spidermen are in the film! Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield are in too!

Let's just admit it, it was a mind-blowingly fantastic 2 and a half hours. The only complaint I have about this film is that the pace is far too high - you never really get to take a breath because the story just pushes along non-stop. I guess with 5 villains, you don't really get to rest.

I won't spoil too much other than revealing the other two are appearing, but I will just say I feel very, very bad for Tom Holland's version of Peter Parker.

He came into MCU universe as a young, innocent, naive kid. But by the end of the movie, he has absolutely nothing left. He lost his mentor, Tony Stark. And then, he lost his only family member - Aunt May. He had to watch both of them died, and one in his arms and he had to flee because he was being pursued. He then lost his friends because he pled Dr Strange to rid everybody of memory about him, including Strange himself. He lost MJ. He lost Ned. He lost Happy. He lost everyone. At the end, he started living on his own, starting a new life, but anonymously continuing as a spiderman.

My question is thus this, why can't Strange cast a spell that makes people forget about 'Spiderman', instead of 'Peter Parker'? If everybody is attracted to Peter Parker because he was Spiderman, making them forget about Spiderman should have done the trick equally efficiently. That way, at least Peter Parker gets to keep his friends like MJ and Ned, although he would probably still lose Happy and Strange. But that looks like a far nicer alternative than a lonely choice.

And this movie ends the trilogy. This effectively makes him the loneliest Spiderman. Toby Maguire's Parker had MJ and Aunt May, Andrew Garfield's lost Gwen but he similarly still had May. Holland's had nothing. It's really a very, very sad ending for a little kid who joined MCU happily but now has absolutely nothing left.

I hope there could be a sequel where somehow the spell breaks, and Strange gets a chance to fix it again. Or, better, maybe Wanda wouldn't be affected by Strange's spell, and Wanda retains her memory of Parker and looks for him in the next Doctor Strange movie.

He deserves a better outcome.

But overall, this movie is absolutely fantastic, worth every penny I spent. 

Disney+

Disney+ had 11/11 sales - first-time subscribers or returning subscribers get to pay S$1.98 for the first month, then the full price for the next if the subscribers don't cancel. I subscribed, mostly because I'm parasiting my sister's Netflix account and I wanted to return the favour, but then Disney+ SG is not available in Malaysia, so I watched it on my own. Initially, I went for the cartoons (childhood memories), then I tried to watch a bit of 24 and Lost, both series I briefly watched when I was little but never finished. I initially got bored.

Then, I saw Guardians by the Galaxy Vol.2. I watched the first, I remembered it was good. I remembered the second hitting the cinemas but I never watched it, so I seized this opportunity to catch up with what I lost. Holy shit. This began my madness about MCU.

Believe me or not, I didn't know MCU existed. I know about Avengers series but I didn't know it was part of a deliberate, planned Marvel Cinematic Universe. I didn't even watch Iron Man or Captain America to begin with. I remembered the tonnes of questions flooding my FB's page after Avengers: Infinity War about what the hell happened in the ending, and the hype about Avengers: Endgame, and also Black Panther because somehow Wakanda was a real thing.

Hooked, I immediately watched the MCU films I liked. Because I watched Avengers: Infinity War and then the sequel first, it was a bit boring trying to watch from the first - switching from an action-packed movie to an introduction is not a great idea. Next time, please just start from the jump.

I watched only the recent ones - Dr Strange, because Benedict played Sherlock and I liked him. As always, awesome actor. I then watched Spiderman, and jumped into the bandwagon of watching Homecoming and Far From Home, although I initially wasn't interested in them to begin with because Tom Holland's version of Peter Parker was a little 'too young' for me. But it was entertaining nonetheless (and I like Stark-Parker's father-son relationship a lot).

I just finished Captain Marvel. This movie was a bit boring, but it was still good. Pace's very slow after you've watched Avengers. I'm now hooked on WandaVision. I like Wanda, she's a powerful witch and a really intriguing character. Of all the characters in the MCU films, I like Wanda, Danvers, Peter Parker (ya, though I initially disliked him), Dr Strange (literally Sherlock with magic), and Guardians of the Galaxy's teams, especially Groot, and also Quill. And also Black Widow, but she lost points because she's quite ordinary, just equipped with fighting skills, when compared to the rest of the team members. But she's hot.

Needless to say, I'll continue the current MCU series. I regretted not knowing it earlier, and didn't watch Avengers: Endgame in the cinema, I could imagine it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Well, I never really liked Marvel. Now I like it only because I subscribed Disney+ and was introduced to it. Never mind, better late than never. I'm considering subscribing for one full year - that allows me to save 15% annually or 11 months + 1 month free, but other than these movies I'm not sure Disney+ has a lot else to offer me. But we'll see.

Looking forward to Spiderman: No Way Home!

Stranger Things

 Holy shit how did I not know about this series?

Dude, this is among the best show out there, ever! 

I've just finished You, and was looking for another show to watch. Well, not knowing what to watch, I stumbled upon Stranger Things and decided to give it a try, because the summary sounds good - supernatural teenage-horror, sounds like the kind I enjoy.

And OMG it blew my mind. I cannot remember when was the last time I finished a series in this short period of time.

The storyline is fascinating. A boy went missing, the community was shaken. There was shock, horror, confusion. Will's mother went insane thinking her son is trying to communicate with her via phones and lights. His brother initially thought his mother went insane, until Nancy, Mike's sister, also saw a similar terrifying creature and Jonathan drew the dots. Will's friends refused to accept he died and tried to search for him. They came across an enigmatic girl, Eleven, with seemingly supernatural powers, and Mike grew a liking to her. Well, story is about like that. 

The show is set in 1970s in a rural town in America. It's a science fiction about inter-dimension travel and failed experiments that somehow allowed subjects to gain supernatural powers that unwittingly invited an unwelcome creature that cause disruptions to their world. 

I finished eight episodes in three days. I know it's not an impressive record for most people, but for me this is quite an impressive one. The show is awesome. I cannot really express how good it is.

What particularly amazes me is the kids' performances. The main characters are all kids - either young children or teenagers, and yet all of them gave solid, professional performance that powerfully made this show amongst the best out there. It's incredible that these kids could act so marvellously.

If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend this show! I can't believe I jump into the bandwagon 5 years late!