Movie Review: COLD EYES (2013)

“Cold Eyes” is a South Korean action-drama film starring Jung Woo-sung, Han Hyo-Joo, Sol Kyung-gu, and Lee Jun-ho. 

Han Hyo-joo as Ha Yoon-jo

Jung Woo-sung as James

Sol Kyung-gu as Detective Hwang

Lee Jun-ho as Agent "Squirrel"

This film which is a remake of a Hongkong film titled “Eye in the Sky” (2007) was released in July 2013. The film tells a story about a special surveillance team of Korean Police which is in a mission to take down a bank robbing-organization. The script was written by Jo Ui-seok and the movie was directed by Jo Ui-seok and Kim Byung-seo.

The first scene of the movie took place in a subway where a girl was keeping an eye on a middle-aged man reading a news paper. The girl kept on following the man even until he got off the subway and walked on the city’s street. Unlucky, the girl was caught off by the middle-aged man. The girl turned out to be a candidate of a surveillance team and it was her test to spy the man. Her name is Ha Yoon-joo (Han Hyo-joo) and the man, Detective Hwang (Sol Kyung-gu), was actually the section chief of the surveillance team. Eventhough Yoon-joo was caught off, but she passed the test because of her great observation skills and memorization. Then, she officially became a new member of the team with code name ”Piglet”.

On the other place, the movie showed a scene of a mysterious man standing on a skyscraper’s rooftop while commanding a bank robbery mission through his cellphone. The robbery succeeded, thanks to the mysterious man’s guidance, eventhough they almost caught off by the police. But, unfortunately, one of the robber’s face, nicknamed “Hippo”, was seen by the CCTV. Later on, the Korean Police tried to track down this robber organization based on the CCTV’s record.

The Korean Police then gave the mission of tracking down the robber organization to the surveillance team. This was Yoon-joo’s first mission after being a member of the team. Other than her, there were also another member who joined this mission. They were the team leader: Detective Hwang, Agent “Squirrel” (Lee Jun-ho), Department head, Ms. Lee, and some other agents too. The started off the mission by splitting up around the city and waited for Hippo’s appearance. Three days and they still couldn’t find any hint of the target. Yoon-joo told Detective Hwang to change their observation area and finally they caught a glimpse of their target, Hippo. Yoon-joo followed Hippo to his apartment and got his address. After that, Agent Squirrel came to help her and put some secret cameras near Hippo’s apartment.

After some days of observation, they found out about the organization’s plan to rob a stock market. The police and surveillance team guard the area and wait for the robber to come. They almost caught the organization team, but the operation failed because James (Jung Woo-sung), the mysterious man earlier, who happened to be their leader, knew the police’s plan to take them down. He commanded the robbers to abort their operation by his cellphone. The surveillance team then tracked down James’s position by his cellphone. Finally, James and the team were on an intense chasing action. Yoon-joo succeded to find his position but she couldn’t get closer to him. Later on,  Agent Squirrel came to help her to stop James but he was killed by James. TT_______TT (WHY DID YOU KILL HIM, JAMES?!) *oops sorry ._.v*

Agent Squirrel’s death shocked all of the team. This brought the surveillance team into a breakdown, including Yoon-joo. She felt depressed because she had just lost her team mate. But Detective Hwang came to comfort her. He said, “This is our job. You need to set aside your feeling or you will lose. You need to be insane to win this game.”

One day, Yoon-joo bumped into James on the subway. She contacted the Police Department and followed James. Upon hearing the news, Detective Hwang also on standby to help Yoon-joo. Finally Yoon-joo followed James into a restaurant. James, who was suspicious of Yoon-joo came to confront her. But, thanks to her great acting skill, James lost his suspicion toward her and was about to leave when Hwang entered the restaurant. James recognized Hwang’s face and attacked him while the two of them were on a parking area. Yoon-joo found the bleeding Hwang but he told her not to worry about him and keep on chasing James.

She found James and followed him into an unused subway platform but then lost him. James actually was standing behind her and threaten her by a gun. The police came to the platform but James used Yoon-joo as a hostage. Yoon-joo stabbed his leg using a pen and it made James let go of her. James then escaped and ran along the subway track. On the other scene, Hwang ran into the other side of the subway track and was face to face to James. He and James were ready to shoot each other with their gun. Ms. Lee commanded him not to shoot James because it was too risky, but then Hwang replied her by saying, “You need to be insane to win this game.” Then, James and Hwang involved in a dramatic shooting battle. James was shot to death and the police caught him. Yoon-joo ran to find Hwang. They finally succeeded the mission. All of the team member cheered happily.

The last scene of the movie showed Yoon-jo and Hwang in a mission to take down their new target, an international villain who once worked with James before.

Sooo.. that was a long-long retell about the movie. My personal opinion about the movie: A+ for the special effects and the nerve wrecking atmosphere throughout the movie. And another A+ for the way they showed how a surveillance mission works. The strategy, the hi-tech, and many other things. I love the casts, their acting was so good and felt so natural. Well, the main plot maybe similar to another movies with a same genre, making the ending  a bit predictable. But.. trust me, the way the director conducted the movie was so great that it will make you keep wanting to know what will happen next. You can feel the nervousness and thrilling atmosphere created by the movie. Weeeell, my conclusion is this movie is totally worth to watch! Four stars out of five! :)

Thanks for reading! ^^

Next President of Students' Council Campaign

Good morning, friends! I am Antonia form XI Science 1. Today, I would like to give my campaign as a candidate of the student council. First, I’ll tell you what a student council is. Student council is an internal organization which connects the students with the school itself. It is a place for all students’ aspiration and complaint so all of it will be informed to the school staffs as a suggestion for the school’s development.

So, why does the students’ council need a good president? As you know, a leader is someone who navigates its member to reach their goal. They need to have a certain vision and mission to reach their goal. For me, my vision as a president of the students’ council is to make the students in SMA 3 developed not only in their academic & non-academic fields, but also to develop the students’ character & personalities. Why? Because we all know that in the real life now, the companies aren’t looking just for smart applicant, but also people with good character. My mission to reach that goal is to make the character education as a priority in the school’s program so that the students will consider this as an important issue.

I have two main programs as my plan. The first program is to make student counseling as a weekly subject in the school’s schedule. Why? Because I think the easiest way to analyze and develop the students’ character is by counseling. Nowadays, students rarely go to the counselor because some of them don’t consider it as an important matter. By making this school’s subject, the school can maintain their students’ behavior and character more easily.

My second program is to make a social event for the students such as charity concert. Aside from developing the humanity and care for the students, these events would also help the people around us.

No organization can reach their purpose without the participation and teamwork from its entire member. The leader itself couldn’t do much without the members. Whoever gets chosen as the president of students’ council needs all of the elements to be cooperative. So, all components must come together as one and participate with all their capabilities. This way, I believe that the organization purpose can be reached. If I got elected as the president of the students’ council, you can make sure that I would give my all to work as good as possible as the president of the students’ council. 

ELECTRIC BLUE OCEAN

Hello, readers!

This time, our English teacher asked us to search and post about natural phenomenon. You need to know, there are millions of amazing natural phenomenon around us. Well, while I was searching I found out about this one and immediately fell in love in the first sight *haha* Sooo... let’s check it out!

Have you ever seen the scenery above?

Well, I’m sure most of you haven’t seen that because I don’t think it has happened in Indonesia before. It had happened in San Diego, Maldives, and some other beaches though. This phenomenon often called Electric Neon Blue Ocean or blue tide because of its glowing effect and it’s neon blue color.

This phenomenon is caused by natural chemical reaction called bioluminescence, which occurs when a micro-organism in the water is disturbed by oxygen. Although a rare sight on a shoreline, the phenomenon is more commonly seen at sea in the wake of ships that stir up the oxygen in the sea, which causes the bioluminescent bacteria to glow.

The glowing is caused by a massive red tide, or algae bloom, of bioluminescent phytoplankton called Lingulodinium polyedrum. The microorganisms emit light in response to stress, such as when a wave crashes into the shore, a surfboard slashes through the surf, or a kayaker's paddle splashes the water. The result is a wickedly cool glowing ocean.

In a Los Angeles Times story, Scripps Institution of Oceanography professor Peter J. Franks said of the phytoplankton: 

“When jostled, each organism will give off a flash of blue light created by a chemical reaction within the cell. When billions and billions of cells are jostled — say, by a breaking wave — you get a seriously spectacular flash of light.”

Is it toxic for humans? Lingulodinium polyedrum has been related to production of Yessotoxins (YTXs), a group of structurally related polyether toxins, which can accumulate in shellfish and can produce symptoms similar to those produced by Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) toxins. Though mildly toxic, the event is not harmful to humans, but a morning surf or swim is not nearly as refreshing as it can be without the plankton bloom. But at night, the glow of the waves is almost otherworldly. And of course, people are venturing out trying to ride the blue waves.

So, that’s one among millions amazing phenomenon that’s happening in our nature. Hope this post could widen your horizon! Thank’s for reading!

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Sources:

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/what-is-causing-the-waves-in-california-to-glow

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingulodinium_polyedrum

http://strangesounds.org/2014/01/mysterious-natural-phenomenon-stressed-plankton-colors-ocean-with-eerie-neon-blue-glowing-light.html

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/post/electrifying-blue-waves-luring-awe-struck-crowds-to-san-diego-beaches/

travel.aol.co.uk

www.dailymail.co.uk

GERUND AND TO INFINITIVE

GERUND

1.       She doesn’t care about cleaning her apartment.

2.       They avoid speaking to her since that incident.

3.       We practice singing and dancing for the next audition.

4.       He finished eating 3 servings of hotpot.

5.       Elsa enjoyed chatting with her new neighbour.

6.       The couple planned on having their first anniversary in Spain.

7.       Miss Tyler suggested taking the dog for a walk.

8.       She considered bringing the prototype for the presentation.

9.       Mr Joon quit drinking because of her wife.

10.   Wendy insisted on buying this huge cupboard.

TO INFINITIVE

1.       The man offered to bring the lady’s suitcase.

2.       I wish to see her in the musical.

3.       He remembered to lock the door this time.

4.       She begged her parents to forgive her.

5.       The girl choose to ignore her sister’s nagging.

6.       Vee failed to keep her body stay still.

7.       They begin to record the performers’ action.

8.       Penny loves to sing this old song.

9.       He promised to take his sister the next day.

10.   The teachers failed to hold their laughter.

HOLIDAY REPORT

Hello, readers! :)

                Our teacher asked us to tell about what we did on our semester break, so in this post I will do a short report about my recent holiday. So, last December I went to Jogjakarta with my sister and my father to visit my grandparents. We went on 23 December 2013 by train. Well, actually it was kind of usual for me and my family to travel by train because we often did that. But, that day, our trip to the station was a desperate moment.

Haha, you know why?

Our ticket was for 7pm but we hadn’t even left our house on 6.30 pm. We ran in rush to get a taxi but 5 minutes had passed and we didn’t even saw one. Aaaannnddd the road was in a traffic jam. What a day  -____-

Like.. seriously.. That.  Was. So. Hopeless.  I nearly cried, no joke. But then our rescuer came! A random taxi passed by and we quickly got in. And miraculously we arrived at the station on-time. You know.. this is what I call Miracle in December. :p

We arrived on 24 December 2013, the Christmas Eve. So, we went to the church at the evening and celebrate Christmas with our family. It was a heartwarming night and we had so much joy.

Well, you may think that going to another city means going to play to some tourism spot. But in my holiday this time, it was more like 2-weeks-of-lazing-at-home maybe? Because really, we didn’t get to go for touring. Just staying at home and gathered with our family. Yeah, I should admit that it was a little bit dissapointing. But you know, it was warming and enjoyable moments when you gathered with your big family. You got to meet your family that you rarely meet and you could share fun moments with them. It was sooo nice :)

On 28 December 2013 we held a mass to commemorate my grandma who passed away one year ago. Me and my cousins did the decoration for the room.

We held the mass  in the evening. In the end of the mass, my aunt played a video about my grandma. It was so touching. I really really miss her.

This is a photo of my big family after the mass.

So, another highlight for my holiday was.. GAMTEK (Hmm, i guess this was all 32015’s highlight-of-the-holiday too, right?) It was so frustrating for a person like me who has only like 0.0001% of art sense in me. I totally had no idea what to make and how to do it. Each passing days, i only kept on hoping for some kind of.. inspiration? (which likely didn’t come as fast as i hoped) So eventhough we had 2 weeks to finish the project but in fact i just started to do it 5 days before the holiday ended. But, thanks to the power-of-deadline the project had finished. *mentally screamed ‘HORRAY’ in joy :D*

Other than those things that i’ve told you above, the other things that i did were only sleeping.. eating.. camping on my laptop.. sleeping.. and.. eating again. It’s okay though.. haha.. at least it has decreased my rate of stress, right?

Well, that was my holiday which i enjoyed a lot! Thanks for reading! ;)

IF CLAUSE

       a. She’ll be mad if you don’t text her.

b. She would be mad if you didn’t text her.

c. She would have been mad if you had not texted her.

2.    a. We’ll go on January if you insist.

b. We would go on January if you insisted.

c. We would have gone on January if you had insisted.

3.    a. Clair will be on the play if she passes the final audition.

b. Clair would be on the play if she passed the final audition.

c. Clair would have been on the play if she had passed the final audition.

4.    a. His mom will scold you if she finds out this mess.

b. His mom would scold you if she found out this mess.

c. His mom would have scold you if she had found out this mess.

5.    a. Karl will be very angry if you touch his kitten.

b. Karl would be very angry if you touched his kitten.

c. Karl would have been very angry if you had touched his kitten.

6.    a. If I get ‘A’ for this biology class, my father will buy me the smartphone.

b. If I got ‘A’ for this biology class, my father would buy me the smartphone.

c. If I had  got ‘A’ for this biology class, my father would have bought me the smartphone.

7.    a. If she comes here with his annoying boyfriend, mom will be very upset.

b. If she came here with his annoying boyfriend, mom would be very upset.

c. If she had come here with his annoying boyfriend, mom would have been very upset.

8.    a. If Lynn eats this kind of food, she’ll have digestive disease immediately.

b. If Lynn ate this kind of food, she would have digestive disease immediately.

c. If Lynn had eaten this kind of food, she would have had digestive disease immediately.

9.    a. If my parents allow me, I’ll go to the concert.

b. If my parent allowed me, I would go the concert.

c. If my parent had allowed me, I would have gone to the concert.

10. a. If Tiffany doesn’t pass the exam, the school will cancel her scholarship.

b. If Tiffany didn’t pass the exam, the school would cancel her scholarship.

c. If Tiffany hadn’t pass the exam, the school would have canceled her scholarship.

Should people who buy from street vendor be fined?

            There’s an issue growing on our society about the existence of street vendors. Some say that they give more disadvantage than the benefit.  Because of that people who buy from them should be fined to decrease the street vendor’s customer. But is it really like that? Is it that important to make the vendor’s customer pay fine?

            What are street vendors actually? Street vendors are people who sell stuffs like food, beverage, toy, newspaper, etc on the public road. They walk along the road while offering their stuff to the road users such as drivers and pedestrians. The vendors usually carry their stuff with them while selling on the road, but there are also some of them who sell on the pedestrian walk. If there are customers who need to buy things from them, they could easily find the street vendor on the road and do the transaction right at that place. The vendors don’t need to pay for a stall and government tax. That’s why they could sell their stuffs with a lower price.

            Then, why does some people in the society dislike the street vendors? The main cause is that the street vendors use the public road. The road is built to accomodate vehicle users. So, when the street vendors use the road to sell things, it would disturb the road users. Maybe one or two vendors wouldn’t be a much disturbance, but as you know most of the roads in Indonesia’s big cities are filled with street vendors. The driver would stop for a while in the middle of the road to buy from the vendor. Of course this would cause the road to be blocked. In a serious case, it can also cause a traffic jam. Beside that, the existence of the street vendors can also disturb the city’s scenery. Why? We all know that some of Indonesian citizen haven’t been able to keep the environment clean, in this case, the buyers of the street vendors usually throw  the rubbish from things they’ve bought on the road randomly. This would pollute the city’s environment. Overall, the street vendors could decrease the public comfort.

            Beside all of those negative effects from street vendor, maybe it would be better for us to know the positive effect too, right? Do you realize that people who work as the street vendors are usually come from middle-low economic society? So, by letting them work as these vendors, it means that we also give income for their living. It is better than being a jobless citizen right? Just imagine if the government banned them, how many people will loose their job? How many people will loose income for their family?

            Now, back to the topic whether the people who buy from street vendor should be fined or not. The advantage from this policy is that it would decrease the vendor’s customer. Because of this, the vendor would change their occupation into a job that hopefully wouldn’t disturb the public comfort anymore. But the disadvantage from this policy is that it would decrease the vendor’s income for their living. The worst effect is it could cause the number of jobless citizen to rise.

            Personally, I do not agree with the policy of having the street vendor’s customer to be fined. I think the policy is not too effective. The supervision toward this policy is difficult to be done. In the end, it wouldn’t affect much things. I think that the better solution for this problem is to do a relocation. The government could provide these vendors a new place (such as special market) so that they don’t need to sell on the road. It can save the vendor’s income and the public comfort all at once. This way wouldn’t damage the two sides too much. But I do agree that something should be done to solve this problem so that all of the citizen could live comfortably.