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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Léon (The Professional) - From My Old Blog



Léon (The Professional)



Frankly I didn't know about this movie until I had a conversation with my friends a few months ago. We were discussing about who was the most beautiful girl we had ever seen. And my friend said, "The little girl in the movie 'Léon' has been the most beautiful for me, even until now."



This sparks my interest. Why in the world will a little girl be so beautiful to someone? It was yesterday when I saw a photo album of Natalie Portman in China Facebook with the title that attracted me.


"The Little Girl in Léon, and Now The Black Swan."


I read the comments in the album and got to know that I could find the movie in XunLei. I decided to watch it.



The movie is the film debut of Natalie Portman in 1994, Portman was 11 when she first read the script and was offered the role.
This post is not going to be all about Natalie Portman. Yes, I'm in love with her, but I'm so much more in love with the movie. It touched me so so deeply, it still pain me whenever I'm thinking about it.





Story:
Léon (also known as The Professional and Léon: The Professional) is a French-produced English-language 1994 thriller film written and directed by French director Luc Besson. It stars Jean Reno as a mob hitman, Gary Oldman as a psychotic DEA detective, and a young Natalie Portman, in her feature film debut, as a 12-year-old girl who is taken in by the hitman after her family is murdered by corrupt police agents.










Natalie Portman as Mathilda Lando. A little girl who lives with her dad, stepmother, stepsister and stepbrother. She only loves her 4-yr-old brother and hated the rest of the family. She was abused most of the time. That makes her mind so much older than what she appears to be.









Mathilda's dad had been paid by corrupt DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agents to store cocaine in his residence, but he had stole some for himself and got caught. A whole cadre of DEA agents stormed the building, led by the drug addicted psychotic Norman "Stans" Stansfield. He murdered Mathilda's whole family except Mathilda as she went out shopping for groceries that time.













When Mathilda came back and witnessed the carnage, she calmly passed by her apartment and walked straight to Leon's door. Leon was her neighbour, a man who seemed to lead a normal boring life. She held all the groceries she bought in her hands, and pressed the door bell, wishing for Leon to open the door for him. Coz if he didn't, she would be killed.











"Is life always this hard, or is it just when you're a kid?" asked Mathilda.
"Always like this." said Leon.









Mathilda realised that Leon was actually a hitman, or a "cleaner", as he called himself. She wanted to avenge for the death of the little brother she loved, so she asked Leon to teach her how to be an assassin. In return, she would do all the housework and teach him how to read.









Jean Reno as Leone "Léon" Montana is a hitman (or "cleaner," as he refers to himself) living a solitary life in New York City's Little Italy. His work comes from a mafioso named Tony (Danny Aiello), who operates from the "Supreme Macaroni Company" restaurant. Léon spends his idle time engaging in calisthenics, nurturing a houseplant that early on he describes as his "best friend," and (in one scene) watching old Gene Kelly musicals.


Here's the scene of my beloved Leon watching Gene Kelly. =)
He's in everyway as pure as a child. He can be indestructible when he is on his mission, but his life is as simple as you can think of. He only drink milk, taking care of "his bestfriend", a plant. He started his killer career when he killed a man when he was 19 for a girl he loved.








Leon with huge eyebags drinking milk. =)








Gary Oldman as Norman "Stans" Stansfield. The psychotic corrupt DEA agent leader. He truly defined the word "PSYCHO". I could feel my blood ran cold when I saw him. Especially the scene when he shook the box of green and white capsules and ate one capsule before he killed anyone.

Stans: I like these calm little moments before the storm. It reminds me of Beethoven. Can you hear it? It's like when you put your head to the grass and you can hear the growin' and you can hear the insects. Do you like Beethoven?






The moment Leon opened the door for the helpless Mathilda, his life changed forever. Mathilda had let him had the taste for life, something he had never ever had before. 

Here's the plant that Leon said was his best friend.
"It's my best friend. Always happy. No question." said Leon.








Leon always make sure the plant gets sufficient sunlight and water. He even bring it along when he is on the run when Mathilda from the attack of DEA agents.







Mathilda realised that she had fell in love with Leon. This is my favourite part. =)

Mathilda: Leon, I think I'm kinda falling in love with you.
(Leon chokes on his milk)
Mathilda: It's the first time for me, you know?
Leon: (wiping himself off) How do you know it's love if you've never been in love before?
Mathilda: 'Cause I feel it.
Leon: Where?
Mathilda: (Stroking her stomach) In my stomach. It's all warm. I always had a knot there and now... it's gone.
Leon: Mathilda, I'm glad you don't have a stomachache anymore. I don't think it means anything.










These pictures are my fav. It was the scene where Mathilda tried to make Leon remember all the names of the famous ppl such as Marilyn Monroe, Chaplin and Gene Kelly. :) So she played this dress-up-and-act game and let him guess what character she was playing.









And when it was Leon's turn to act. He was so stiff!!! XD He was supposed to act John Wayne but super failed. In the end he gave up and didn't want to play the game anymore although Mathilda tried to cheer him up by saying he was amazing.










Mathilda acting as Chaplin! :)))








It totally broke my heart when Mathilda and Leon was trapped in a room surrounded with all the DEA agents outside. Leon used an axe to make a hole in the wall for Mathilda to escape, but he couldn't escape himself.
Mathilda: (crying uncontrollably) I don't want to lose you, Leon.
Leon: You're not going to lose me, you've given me a taste for life. I want to be happy. Sleep in a bed, have roots. And you'll never be alone again, Mathilda. Please, go now, baby, go. Calm down, go now, go.


Natalie and the director, Luc Besson, who also directed La Femme Nikita. =))) Love him!!!










Leon disguised as a wounded DEA agent during the attack and he was about to escape successfully. Unfortunately Stans recognised him, sneaked up to him and shot him.

Before he died, Leon handed something to Stans. It was a ring-shaped thing. He told Stans, "This is from... Mathilda."

It was a pin from a grenade. The whole building exploded and Leon died together with Stans. It was the last present he gave to Mathilda.
Gary Oldman with Natalie Portman.










Leon left a big sum of money for Mathilda at Tony's. Mathilda went back to the nursery school and the teacher demanded her to tell her the truth. Here was what she said to the teacher.

Headmistress: Now tell me what happened to you.

Mathilda: OK. My family they got shot down by D.E.A. officers because of a drug problem. I left with the greatest guy on earth. He was a hitman, the best in town, but he died this morning. And if you don't help me, I'll be dead by tonight.


It sounds so ridiculous and outrageous to the headmistress, but I felt so sad when she said it. ='(










Leon training Mathilda to be an assassin.







This movie truly touches me. The lines, the characters, everything. The love between a 40 yr old man with a 12 yr old girl seemed so absurd, but their life had shaped them differently. The young girl with an old mind and the old man with a pure childlike nature. What will happen when they come together?






Do go watch it or download it. And remember to watch The Long Version, which is around 133 minutes. ;)
 Léon.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Flower Power at Bar Rouge.

Babes and dudes, how's life so far? :) I've been REALLY slacking on blogging nowadays. Really sorry about that. :'( My life has been super happening lately, but can't find time to sort the pictures and blog about them. And I don't like to do short updates because I, the long-winded people, prefer to tell longer stories instead of just posting pictures and writing captions. LOL.

Anyway, I promise to blog ALL OF THEM slowly. :) 

Some pretty rare update today. LOL. More clubbing experience hehehehe. With my darling Xing Xing! :) Both of us totally sucks at clubbing. Some of our friends who have just been in Shanghai for 1 week already know almost all the clubs here and when they asked us about it, we just looked at them dumbfounded. 

Friends:"Do you know MINT?" 
Us: *shake heads*  
Friends: "Do you know G-plus?" 
Us: No.
Friends: *giving us the roll-eyes-"you guys are losers"-face*


Well, the thing is we don't know what to do at the club! Maybe the first 10 minutes there might be interesting because we can look around the surrounding and checking out the people there, sipping our drinks, listening to music. Then...... what? We're usually the super shy people and we don't like to talk to strangers. Imagine me going up to some strangers to 搭讪............ O.O Completely awkward. And I don't like strangers to come talk to me as well. So... uhm.. yeah.

We actually prefer to go to those Jazz performances in pubs to enjoy the live show there. It was a totally different story. Haha. No offense. Clubbing might be nice if we go in a huge group, get a good seat, chat and play some games together.


Anywayyyyyy, we found a pretty interesting clubbing place called Bar Rouge. It is a really awesome club at The Bund that has a huge "balcony" place that overlooks the view of The Bund! :) And best yet, it has theme parties every week! :) That's the part that makes us going in the first place! :) No girls can resist dressing up and dolling up for some events LOL.

We have to dress up in Hippie/Hawaiian style/Flowery coz the theme is called "Flower Power".





Xing Xing wearing a super duper sweet flowery dress, looking slightly Hippie-ish with her braid-headband. And I went for the Hawaiian look since I got that super tropical-country dress LOLLLL.











This is the balcony place I told you guys about! :) 露天的地方, can check out the beautiful view of The Bund! :)
And everyone was given a flower necklace to spice up the theme! :)

Ps: dunno why that guy looks so 猥琐. LOL.











Or you can use it as a wristband as well. :)))))
#reachforthesky









Pearl tower behind me. :) Its light is switched off after 11pm I think. 










Ze pretty!!!! :)))))))












Really love that place! :))) 












Interior. The music is good and we both ordered cocktails.
There are some super hot dancers hired to dance on the "stage" place. Looking awfully sexy with the longggg legssss omg. No pictures though, forgot to take. T_T

And after that also got pole dancers as well! :)












Then I spotted this huge Sunflower swaying.
It was a man 踩高跷 in Sunflower costume!

Look at the crowd, Bar Rouge is a very popular nightlife place! :)










His makeup was really scary I was totally afraid of him at first, but he was really cute and kept dancing to the music, posing with the people for pictures and interacting with everyone. :)










Oh yeah did I mention you can use the flower necklace/wristband thingy as headband too Hohohohohoho!













Went home around 12 something! Met some nice girls from other universities and we chatted together. :) We enjoyed it! :))))

Pictures in the cab LOL. It suddenly rained. :((((
















Selca before I washed away my make-up of the day. LOL.
Pasted some blingblings on my face that day. 











Yes I got the braid headband with me too but it was too tight I get headaches wearing it. :'( Can't wear it whole night, but wear for pictures is fine LOL.















Hahahahahahaha! And to prove we're not so loser-ish. 
We appeared in Smart Shanghai website when we went to the Afrosonic Jazz performance in No.3 The Bund last time! :)

That day was pretty "interesting" ahem. Well that's inside story, won't write it here lol.




Okay that's all for now! Will try to update more! :)))
Night peeps!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Forever 20! :DDDD

Partayyyy time babehsssss! :DDDD

LOL. Okay this post is dated back to 4th of April 2013. =.=''' Like a month plus ago already. T________T I'm sorry I'm a super duper failed blogger.

AND I JUST REALISED I DIDN'T UPDATE MY BLOG FOR 2 WEEKS! O.O!!!!!!! *shocked with myself

But then...... *finding excuses* I have piano exam, concerts and performances going on non-stop until now. And still a lot more coming!!! So I seriously don't have much time updating my blog/facebook. 

Anyway, I've been updating my instagram real frequently lately. LOL. Coz I don't have time to update my blog/facebook so I decided to kill my guilt by updating more on instagram! :) So for those who haven't follow me yet, do follow me at @xixikhor! :)

Updates about my piano exam. LOL. After I 临时抱佛脚 for the whole week before my exam, I managed to memorize the whole thing down, but still... I forgot a bit during the exam and have to start from the middle again. T_____T SOB. Anyway I got like 84.5 for that, so considered so-so la.. I expected lower mark than that coz I stopped in the middle. Haih. Prepare last minute is like that one. If prepare earlier can definitely get higher mark. T________T Promise myself next time must prepare earlier!!! 


And I found out I like to crap a lot before blogging about the real deal. Hahaha. Now back to the party topic! :)

It was Xing Xing's 20th birthday on 4th of April! :) And she threw a super awesome party at a small cosy pub! :) Let the pictures tell the story! :)






The beautiful birthday girl. :) Star of the night!









The girls!












Oliver the photographer of the night! :) Thank you for bringing the awesome camera muahahahahhaa! :)
He very patiently attend to all the ladies' need of taking pictures and... more picturessss. Hahahahaha! Have to give him credits for that. :)

Btw OOTN:

Black sequined ZARA dress (borrowed from Ellen) coz that time no money to shop for new clothes wth. Hahahaha.
Forever 21 Necklace (borrowed from birthday girl)LOLLLLL OMG I also feel so ridiculous everything I wore that night was borrowed from other ppl except for the socks and shoes

Hahahahhahaa!!! Anyway look nice can dy laaaaa! XD











Xing Xing got to play all her favourite music that day! :) She reserved the whole pub for us! :) It was amazing!!! And we danced to the Armenian songs hahahaha! So much fun! :D And her Armenian friends are all like pleasantly surprised to hear their country's songs! :))))))












TADAAAAAAAA the birthday cake!!! So super pretty!!!!!
Looks kinda like the cookies with sweet pink icing on top don't you think? :DDDDDD












Concentrating on lighting the candles!












Happy birthday Super Star!!!! :))))))))) Shine like a diamond, like a diamond in the sky!









Oops! Who did that?! LOLLLLLL! 












Then it was time for some party games! :))))
We played the mummy game! :) 
The rule is you have to wrap a person with toilet paper so they gonna look like a mummy and which group make the nicest mummy which group wins. Hahahaha!
We had 2 groups. One starring Telmuun and another one starring Gevorg! :)



So here we go....


















It was really crazy, we wasted a lot of toilet paper and the 2 mummies performed a dance afterwards hahahahaa! So crazy! I got the video but....... lazy to upload. T_________T 

Anyway both mummies are the winners! :)












Some pictures with the friends! :))))
With Christina the sweetie!








The girls! :))))) Dunno why our faces look so oily =.='''










My baby Yiguo was there too! :)) Love her much!










My darling roomie Tuya, Uliji and Ming Zhuang! :) 












Tang Yun from our conservatory. Her violin is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. 
One of the best students in our conservatory. *claps
Love her music interpretation!










The guys and baby girl Ming Zhuang!











End this post with a picture of me and darlingggggg Xing Xinggggg!!!!
You're one of the most beautiful girl I've ever met, inside or outside. :)
You're always outspoken, bright, talented and smart. Shining like a star! :))) Your name totally matches your personality. :))))) And I'm always touched by how much you love your family and friends. :))))

I'm so so soooo happy to be your friend and I loveeeee you so muchhhhhh! :)))))


Cheers to more years to come for our friendship. :)
Mwahhhhhh. :)