Movies - 2010 So Far

Arranged in alphabetical order within each rating, since I can't decide. (edited Nov. 27)

Excellent
Alice in Wonderland (wonderful adaptation of the classic tale, good acting and set design)
Inception (shades of Matrix, in a very good way)
Iron Man 2 (a bit too much angst in the middle, but great beginning and ending)
Red (star power with lots of action)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (definitely a movie for the computer game generation)
Toy Story 3 (great wrap-up of the series)


Pretty good
Kick-Ass (surprisingly good, but somewhat slow in the beginning)
Salt (action is over the top)
She's Out of My League (surprisingly good)

OK lah
Book of Eli (slow, but the twist at the end made this memorable)
How to Train Your Dragon (predictable but nice animation)
Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time (enjoyable)
Splice (somewhat disturbing)
The A-Team (I'm too big of a fan of the TV series.  Have to watch this in two 1-hr parts instead)
The American (lacks action)
The Losers (fun but typical)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (the backstory could have disappeared and made the movie more streamlined)

Yawn
Cop Out
Edge of Darkness

Knight and Day
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (adaptation of a young adult novel doesn't need to mean "dumb it down"!)
Piranha (typical summer fluff)
Repo Men (unremarkable)
Resident Evil: Afterlife (obviously can't think of anything new anymore)
The Karate Kid (lame remake)

Bad! Bad! Bad!
Clash of the Titans
The Spy Next Door (when will Jackie Chan resist saying Yes to these crappy movies!)

To watch:
Centurion
Despicable Me
Predators
Robin HoodThe Expendables
Tron 2: Legacy
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps

Car Photos - 2010 Honda Insight

On the catalogue, the colour is called "Polished Metal", to answer Lee Kiang's question.  The full name of the model is "2010 Honda Insight EX".  The alternatives being EX-Nav (with a built-in navigation system and all sorts of electronic gadgets), and the LX (the base model with no cruise control and any frills at all).  Since my Nexus One smartphone has a built in GPS navigation system, why bother with something I can't bring along with me?

Acceleration is really, really anemic, I must admit, but that is a good thing.  The highest speed limit on the roads of my daily commute is only 55 miles per hour (or 80 kilometers per hour).  So this reduces the temptation to speed since it takes so long to go past the speed limit.  And by then, another stop sign or traffic light is in sight and it is again time to slow down.

The main thing to get used to is the colour halo around the speedometer (which is a large digital display above the steering wheel, by the way).  When I am driving conservatively, that is, accelerating lightly and braking lightly from a long way off, the halo is green.  If I accelerate hard, or up a hill, or jam on my brakes, the halo becomes blue (the in-between colour is teal, I think).  It takes a bit of getting used to since driving "green" is so different from previous driving experiences in a sedan and SUV.

It is a really quiet... car

Yes, that's right.  Car.

I just replaced my 1998 Honda CR-V with a 2010 Honda Insight.  It's a hybrid car, meaning it recaptures energy typically thrown away when I brake to slow down.  Then when I'm accelerating from a stop light, it "helps" the engine move the car using that stored energy (electricity in my case), which means it uses less petrol.  Officially, it gets up to 43 miles per gallon of petrol.  Translation: I used to top up my petrol tank once every 10 days, now I can go 20 days!

Ummm, pictures.  All I have for you is a link to what a generic Insight looks like.  It's been cloudy and raining since I got it Thursday night.  So you'll have to wait a few more days for photos of the actual vehicle.  I did decide to keep my old license plate though, since it is so easy to remember.  Probably not the best number to buy 4D though ;-).

I'll try to post more soon.  It's been really busy at work since Mom and Dad went home.