weekend with the hub part 1

it's been a really long, extended weekend and one of the best in recent times because i got to spend almost 2 whole days with the hub. had taken leave on friday to celebrate hub's birthday earlier as we thought it would be a nice change to go out on our own, just some couple time-out without the kids.

as the hub could only leave the office in the afternoon, i trooped down for my yoga class first before meeting him later at his office. as usual, by the time he was finally ready to leave, it was too late to eat a decent lunch as we had to catch the movie hub was eager to watch...

...what else but the gritty, gripping, gory 300 directed by Zack Snyder and based on Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name which was inspired by the historical Battle of Thermopylae between the greeks and invading persian army. if the name Frank Miller sounds mighty familiar, that's because he's the dude responsible for the graphic Sin City.

i tell ya, it's a guy thing. the hub loves macho, adrenaline pumping war movies generously peppered with severed body parts, spilled guts, decapitated heads, strategic long-drawn battles - the bloodier the better. throw in a few strong, sexy, curvy va-va-voom ladies for eye candy and viola! the perfect recipe for masochistic mayhem.

and of course being the faithful wife that i am, i agreed to watch the movie even though i shut my eyes tightly before heads start to roll off the lifeless bodies. (being an ex-film student means that i can accurately pin-point the exact moment of gorification.)

*yikes*

well, it's his birthday after all. actually, i've come to enjoy the epic war productions like LOTR, Troy, King Arthur, Kingdom of Heaven etc. possibly very heavily influenced by the hub over the years. and i was expecting lots of dramatic fighting scenes. but i must admit that two things threw me off guard in this movie.

number 1:

are their bodies for REAL??!?!?!

check out those six, no, eight pieces of perfectly sculptured abdominal muscles on those washboard tummies! these spartans are superbly skilled, human fighting machines and if looks could kill, their drool-worthy abs are to die for.

and amidst the pool of the toned, muscled bodies i spotted a familiar face of *gasp* David Wenham who was LOTR's sensitive and loyal Faramir and Van Helsing's friar sidekick Carl! he's one of my all-time favourite actors who's highly versatile and slips into his screen persona very easily. i nudged the hub and pointed out this fact - and received no reply as he was obviously captivated by the action on the large screen.

number 2:

xerxes. rather, the gorgeous Brazilian hunky actor Rodrigo Santoro who's totally unrecognisable in thick immaculate make-up, golden tan, mascaraed lashes and drawn arch eyebrows. and there's not much cloth on him either, much like the other actors who are supposed to be spartan soldiers.

his androgynous portrayal of the exotic, hairless, body-pierced and bejewelled evil god-king, the emperor of the persian empire, was eerily sensual. a stark contrast to the rugged, manly, fearless spartan king leonidas played by Gerard Butler.

i couldn't help but go online to look for Rodrigo Santoro's other profiles:

wow. make-up does wonders! by the way, this is NOT meant to be a movie review - for spoilers, click here. but you probably know how it ends: the 300 loyal spartans die as valiant heroes. :p

so the movie 300 was hub's birthday present number 1. we walked around suntec city's carrefour supermarket for a bit as we did some grocery shopping (i promised the hub that i'd cook him a meal on monday) and just before we headed home, popped by a computer game shop where i bought his second gift of 2 PC games for him - Supreme Commander and a 3-in-1 pack special of the LOTR series: The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II - The Rise of the Witch-king.

well, that should keep him busy till, er, his next birthday.

our plans for dinner were dashed by the pouring rain so i had to whip up a last minute home-cooked steak. i'm no chef but i guess i managed something edible since there wasn't much complains. urm, so that's sorta the birthday pressie number 3.

oh wait, there's more...watch this space for part 2. :)