Project Petronas

I made my first trip to the Malaysian capital over a recent long weekend. Although the trip was primarily supposed to be a getaway of sorts to help relax my nerves (along with my wife's), it turned out to be a great opportunity for me to take some really good clicks. 


Although my passion truly lies in street photography, I couldn't help but marvel at the splendor and grandeur of the Petronas Twin towers. As a result I ended up with a great number of shots of the twin wonders. This prompted me to embark on a mini project with the aforementioned title. 


The concept, very basic and simple - capture images of the twins from a variety of vantage points, great or otherwise. The end result is a collection of approximately over thirty clicks as seen from different spots in the city. Although I do not remember clearly all the locations, I have managed to mention most of the prominent ones. So here goes -  

The towers as seen from the scenic view of our hotel room. 

A Panoramic shot taken from our hotel room. The twins are flanked
by the "other iconic" tower, the Menara KL tower.

As seen from the Luna bar. The view of the tower is a major 

reason for patrons, tourists and locals alike,  frequenting this rooftop bar  

A glimpse of the towers from a street

alley near the hotel. It is almost 

impossible to miss them if you 

are in the Golden triangle area

The view from the Menara KL towers. Although not as famous the twin towers, the KL tower arguably offers a better view of the city. Well at least you get to see the iconic Petronas towers.

 The towers as shot from different angles from the tower base, the Suria KLCC Mall and KLCC park and the KL Convention Center.

Random Shots From Streets All over the City

 

  

So there you go. The Petronas Twin Towers as clicked from a myriad of vantage points throughout the Malaysian capital by yours truly.

The Lion City

The Lion City, a set on Flickr.

It's been over a year since I moved to Singapore. In the time that I have been here, I have been privy to the wonderful sights and sounds of the city.  With it's rich and diverse mix of people, cuisines, leisure centers, landscape and tourist hot spots Singapore always has something to offer to a budding photographer.

This slideshow is my small homage to the Lion City.

Suckered!

The latest offering from director Zack Snyder, in many ways lives up to its title. Unfortunately, I suspect it isn't the way he wanted it. Sucker Punch is a disappointment!

Snyder is known for his stylized action sequences and stunning visuals. Both 300 and Watchmen relied heavily on the CGI drenched imagery which immersed audiences into a neo-fantasy worlds of mythology and comic pop culture, respectively. Sucker Punch, his first original script, is replete with the same signature Snyder visuals and action. The slow-down, pace-up of intense gun battles and sword fights, a trademark Snyder approach is a delight to watch on screen.

The visuals and action are simply fantasy sequences that are being played by the female protagonist in her questionable mind. And to make it more confusing, in the fantasy world, she has second level of fantasy. Inception anyone?

The fantasy world, specifically the second level with all the action and foot tapping background score, truly is amazing. Ranging from gatling gun wielding giant samurai warriors, colossal mythical fire breathing dragons to killer Nazi zombies and futuristic androids, the dream world scenes are truly praise worthy and absolute eye popping!

Despite the stylized action, stunning visuals and thumping soundtrack, Sucker Punch bores you to no end. Why? Simply because of the story. Or more accurately, the lack of it. The main plot is almost childish and seems to have been concocted at the very last minute in an attempt to make the various fantasy sequences part of a coherent storyline. Sadly it just seems wasted and the amateurish performances by the lead femmes does little to help.

The real world is shown on screen for about just 20 minutes, which works well, since there isn't really much to show in there. The fantasy sequences are almost comic book like. In fact I get a feeling, Snyder was heavily influenced by Japanese manga, filled with metaphysical and metaphorical references. Somehow, the transition from paper to celluloid didn't work very well for this one.

Sure there is plenty eye candy for the male audience, both in the form of bootylicious babes and gut wrenching action. Alas, it falls flat simply due to the lack of the backbone of the movie, the script.

Guess Snyder should stick with what he does best and leave the story-writing to the professionals!