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What the Bleep Do We Know? Down The Rabbit Hole Review

February 4, 2012 Movies, Review No comments

“How far down the Rabbit Hole do you want to go?”

What are you staring at? Infinite possibilities?

I watched the original “What the Bleep Do We Know?” back in college when it was first released. I understood perhaps half of it and was more interested in the idea of programming of water crystals and with 80% of the body being fluid – how does thought transform to self programming. Not sure if I have written a What The Bleep Do We Know review back in college – but I felt it would be good to just revisit this.

Along the way, the docudrama did get some flack for being lopsided in presenting their findings and being quantum physics porn – i.e. lots to think about and fantasize but no practical application. So how far deep down the rabbit hole do you think YOU want to go?

>> Buy What the Bleep Do We Know? Down the Rabbit Hole <<

The Rabbit Hole Revisited

I decided to revisit the movie and see if I can catch extra stuff to see if I can catch anything I that I may have missed the first few viewings.

It was a different experiance really – this version has more animation to illustrate quantum mechanics in an easier to understand detail. Even made me miss Physics!

The items covered is about the same: the foundations of the universe and their links to human consciousness.

I particularly liked how they parry Biology and Physics togather with New Age. They even got scholars to explain the various theories that they covered throughout. The various animations really helped piece togather my understanding on particle behaviour. Best explaination of the double slit experiment!
But as I mentioned earlier – the docudrama seems to have narrow view of what they wish to depict – New Age theories. There are some reviewers who felt that it was very lopsided. Rather than getting two sided view – it seemed more like a documentary with the sole purpose of informing viewers of the various theories instead of forming a good debate on the topics discussed. But I feel, overall its still a good docudrama – just take it as additional pieces of information with a pinch of salt. Some claims may seem exaggerated but it sure was an interesting ride.

>> Buy What the Bleep Do We Know? Down the Rabbit Hole <<

 

What Do You Get In The Boxset?

So what makes this boxset worth getting compared to the original What the Bleep do we Know?

  • You get 3 CONTENT RICH DISCS!
  • The movie itself comes with English and Spannish subtitles.
  • There’s an optional “Quantum Viewing Mode” with additional random clips added for every viewing – this adds to replayability of the movie and ensures that you catch different nuggets of wisdom at different viewing.
  • You get almost 6 hours of additional interviews from the panelists – giving additional insights to the subject matter discussed.
  • Filmmaker Q&A.

You can buy it here:
What the Bleep!? – Down the Rabbit Hole (QUANTUM Three-Disc Special Edition)

If you like What the Bleep Do We Know? Down the Rabbit Hole, you may also like – The Secret, Extended Edition


“What the Bleep Do We Know” Full Length Movie

The Great Magician Movie Review

January 19, 2012 Movies, Review One comment

I did the most random thing at 6.40PM on a Wednesday evening.

It was the first time I got to go off work early – I ended up watching a “delightful Chinese New Year movie” or so the tagline describes Derek Yee’s latest offering “The Great Magician”

"Look ma, who says I can't play with fire?"

Yes, I do admit I am a fan of Tony Leung and Lau Ching Wan. They have a track record of making pretty decent movies. Movies that talk about humanity and that has a deeper message behind the usual storyline.

Movies that deal with magic is usually a hit and miss – if done well – it challenges the way we look at what is real and what isn’t. The US counterparts have been quite successful with The Illusionist and The Prestige.

Fortunately, The Great Magician manages to deliver the essence of awe and wonder in magic. It even had a few scenes (or rather lines) that was profound – questioning what is real or fake and searching for the Truth. It starts off great with a good premise, good cast, great special effects and a promising storyline – only to trail off to something else midway.

The story follows a crazed warloard Bully (Lau Ching Wan) who is seen conspiring with the Japanese to expand his territory just to win the affection of his seventh wife ( Zhou Xun). Along comes a mysterious stranger Chang Hsien (Tony Leung) who just returned from overseas with more than just his bag of tricks. A hidden agenda, conspiracy and a love story all rolled into one – good premise right?

Unfortunately, it seems to outrightly “borrow” steal plot elements from The Illusionist and The Priestige – two great movies on magic. Heck, even the poster seems to be an Asian knock off from The Illusionist!

It steals the plot of being a “love story” from The Illusionist and the plot of vengence from The Pristige.

But towards the middle – the lines of what is real (or serious) and what is fun (comedy) starts to blur out. It seems that the writers have finally given up on the originally intended storyline and decided to follow the safe, tried and tested slapstick comedy route.

Besides the 101 plot holes that one can uncover even while half concentrating – I feel the movie did deliver on what it set out to do in the first place – to entertain and maybe throw some mystical gems of wisdom.

I would give it a 3 star rating for just entertainment value. Whether or not its worth to spend RM8 for a ticket? Well, if you are looking for a movie to shut your mind off for 1 hour 50 minutes and can tolerate ridiculous and zany plots – sure go ahead and watch it.

 

Notice how simmilar this poster is to The Great Magician?