If you have watched either one of the two series of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Forbidden Kingdom, you will notice two main similarities between them despite having different stories altogether.

In the first Narnia series, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, Peter, Edmund, Susan & Lucy entered a wardrobe into the land of Narnia, fought the Evil White Witch with the help of Aslan, the lion. When they emerge the victors, they ruled as kings and queens of Narnia for a long time, became fully grown ups, and one day, they came back to where they entered, exited the wardrobe and realize, no time has passed where they came from, and they became children again.

In the second Narina series, Prince Caspian, Peter, Edmund, Susan & Lucy reentered Narnia after 1 year, however, it’s 1300 years later in Narnia. They helped reinstate Prince Caspian to become the ruler of the land of Narnia, of course, with the help of Aslan. Similar to the first series, they return to England to the time they reenter, i.e. at the train station.

Now, if you have watched The Forbidden Kingdom a month ago, Jason, with the powers of the magical staff belonging to the Monkey King, transported back into ancient China, fought the Jade Warlord and his army and return the staff to the Monkey King. When he returned to where he came from, again, no time has passed.

Today is the 7th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Rat and the 7th day is also the common birthday for all humans!

The only CNY-related activity I had today is to watch another movie released in conjunction with Chinese New Year, i.e. Kung Fu Dunk starring Jay Chou, Eric Tsang and Charlene Choi. The theme of the movie is mainly a mixture of the game of basketball, kung fu, love, money and triads.

And the joy of Chinese New Year today has been overtaken by the announcement of the dissolution of the Parliament which stunned the nation when only yesterday the Prime Minister said the Parliament will not be dissolved today. The dates for nomination and voting will be fixed by the Election Commission tomorrow. It is speculated that nomination will be on 21 February (Chap Goh Mei Festival) while voting on 1 or 2 March. We’ll know tomorrow if these dates are correct.

Back to PJ this morning and the only thing today as part of my Chinese New Year celebrations was to watch the movie CJ7 at GSC 1 Utama starring Stephen Chow.

CJ7 is a fantasy tale featuring state of the art visual effects, CJ7 is a comedy about a poor laborer father played by Stephen Chow and his young son. When a fascinating and strange new pet enters their lives, they learn a poignant lesson about the true nature of family and the things money can’t buy.

Sunday 9 September 2007

Time: 12:30
881: The Papaya Sisters
GSC 1 Utama, Hall 9

Time: 15:00
Naraka 19
GSC 1 Utama, Hall 3

Time: 19:15
Blood Brothers
GSC Mid Valley, Hall 15

The latest animation movie is in town. Ratatouille (pronounced rat.a.too.ee) is about a rat who dreams to be a chef in Paris, went against all odds to prove that anyone can cook.

Synopsis:

Ratatouille is about a lovable rat - Remy - who constantly risks his life in an expensive French restaurant because of his love for good food, as well as a burning desire to become a gourmet chef. Obviously, this is rather far-fetched for a rat but opportunity knocks when a young boy, who desperately needs to keep his job at the restaurant despite not being able to cook to save his life, makes Remy a partner. The two of them learn to avoid the insane head chef, bring the rest of Remy’s family up to his culinary standards, win the boy a girlfriend, and of course, produce the finest ratatouille in all of France!

(Source: Buena Vista Columbia Tristar Films)

This is a must watch for children, teenagers and adults. Catch it while it is still on the big screen. And remember, support original!

And by the way, Ratatouille is actually a traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish. The dish, originating in Nice, is fully named ratatouille niçoise.