Punishment Part I : Bad and Lousy Quality

Usually, I would come back quite late on Tuesdays. Mainly, I really wanted to enjoy every 90 minutes or so to have my dinner after my gym exercise and watch WWE RAW. Unfortunately, the house that I am staying does not have a Pay-TV service, so I had to go to a restaurant to watch one.

I was trying quite hard to get things ready but there are things that could not work at all. Particularly when the server of a source site is either down or slow in traffic. But it's just one-third of things to finish by tomorrow. It's like what Peter Parker said at the end of the first Spider-man movie, "No matter how hard I tried, the ones that I love will be the ones to pay." It's like being pushed into a situation where you find little help or support despite your best efforts. It's like, the bad side winning. That's where a person has to open the mouth and say, "Please help."

There are times that I really enjoyed watching some movies over and over again. Now that DVDs are the common video format seen by everyone through their video player or through a computer equipped with a DVD-ROM drive, it's kind of watching to your own pleasure, going back to your favorite scenes of movies and maybe do a variety of things such as catching easter eggs or even cameos.

I'm not really that kind of person that simply buys just because it's just out or something. I would just wait and see extra stuff included together and ensuring that I get the best video quality that I could watch. That's why I would buy those 2-disc pack of a title. Even if it's at 30 dollars, it's worth the buck and the quality - the most important of all aspects to look for.

If there is a raid going on, our friends on the opposite side, the vendors would be trying their best to delay those "City Watch" people and hide in the shadows before a City Watch guard says, "Let someone else worry for a change. I've got better things to do." Sometimes a frequent customer who likes getting titles at a bargain price of 6-10 bucks would curse under their breaths, blaming those fools seeking trouble.

You feel very angry and would really want to beat the hell out of that City Watch or council enforcers. Very simple, hide, take out your blackjack and when the the opponent is not aware, hit him at the torso. He goes down and says...."Can't uh....."


Forgive the picture's quality but you can see a high-res picture at it's source site by clicking the picture. You take the body and pile at some place where another guard sees it and starts to go in a state of shock. He would exclaimed, "Oh, no! He's dead." The problem with the A.I in the game is that even a guard is K.O'ed, a comrade-in arms would think he's dead.

Back to the subject, from being the peddler's perspective, the main reason that bootlegging is still on is that the price of original goods remains at a high end. A Region 1 2-disc title costs at $70, which is half of the previous price. For the reason of showing that 10 cents cheaper makes the difference, most prices are tagged as $69.90. In actual fact there's not much of a difference. Lack of money not money is the root of all evils - as what Adam Khoo - Singapore wealth / motivational guru said.

Secondly, an original home video version of a feature film may take 3-6 months before it is out a legitimate shop selling videos / music, so the waiting time may annoy some people who are anxious to watch movies they could not have time to see. Remember, each film can be shown in cinemas for a maximum of a month. This is because, given that there are an average of 6 showings per day, the more it is played often, the more likely that the release print of a film might get scratched or damaged. Remember, Malaysian cinemas are still playing film projectors, not digital ones as seen in IMAX theaters or in some U.S theaters.

A price for a ticket may cost $10 or more for cities such as in K.L. A quarter of the ticket cost is actually the Entertainment Tax imposed by the Customs Department whereas the remaining is for cinema operators. Taxes: People mostly pay either the 5 percent tax, this tax and Income tax, with the most being the 5 percent. Why pay when you can get one title at the cost of $6 - 10?

How about titles that are well-received outside Malaysia but not shown inside here? Censorship rules, eh? That's the mentality of the current Censorship board - CRAP. People here are willing to watch any movie as part of pleasure and to entertain themselves. Critically acclaimed titles such as Munich - which was nominated for Best Picture ended never been shown here despite high expectations from movie-goers. People no longer say, "I don't like this. Take this off." The opinion of that is already gone for a long time already.

I've already understood the reason of clamping from trying to look at the perspective of lawmen.So, I would not need to elaborate more.

In truth, I have mix opinions of on this issue. If I can't find a title that's in Speedy, then I have to go and find a shop that sells a 2-disc box included titles, Special Editions, Director's Cut and etc. But I do always keep in mind of making sure that I'm watching high-quality video. Those box titles can never show its inferiority in quality. I would know the intended title's cover, and actual street release date before deciding to buy one.

Last year, I was so excited of watching Dragon Tiger Gate, which I missed watching in cinemas because of lack of time. So I tried getting one copy of a video from a stall opposite the main road of my house. I was so eager to watch it, but my dad's longtime friend told me that their video quality of titles available are inferior. He was right. It would take a few months before they start releasing actual video-quality batches of those titles. In the end, I returned the title and changed it for another one or maybe another batch...but still got the same inferior video quality.

Strangely, my dad's colleague, who was sharing the house with me (stays every fortnight) said that the newly titles that he used to buy in Penang have high video quality despite being released one week later after the film was released in cinemas. How is this possible?

From that on, I only despised those bunch of Chinamen selling videos opposite my neighborhood. My friend, Uncle Screwtape, told me that he despised those fellows there too. I think those videos are taken from China Torrent - inferior quality sites - and then duplicated and distributed. With that kind of unusual cover title, I could get it at $6 at somewhere else. But it's the quality that insulted me. And still they go around carrying baskets and asking customers about their selection.

I asked them before whether if the video quality was good or not. A peddler said, "It's good! Good!" to my friend. Most of them said, "I don't know, we are not allowed to see the quality ourselves before selling. If you find the quality bad, you can take it back to us and exchange it. I'll give you a refund..there's a stamp behind our covers..." That's where I felt that actual information was withheld. They should have the first hand knowledge of saying, "Very good." before selling.

I felt this is just like going amateur for money in a way using a wrong approach. But they need money to survive and use it pocket money.

And then of course are those escape tactics. Sure, there is a watch group who helps them by informing of a raid in advance -allowing them time to pack and hide -via those Motorola short range walkie-talkies. I've read archive papers documenting that they event tail law enforcement people all the whole day. TONTOs is a Malay short-form for Tolong Orang Nak Tipu Orang (Help People Who Want To Cheat People).

You know, having something that is inferior in quality is something everyone hates. Sometimes, whoever's out there is ought to be punished. Not by conventional and procedural means but by this drastic way:

Kirumi Bhojanam is a Indian lore punishment according to its Garuda Purana tome whereby sinners who cheat people such as providing inferior goods are fed to the leeches where his / her blood are sucked out of the body. This concept is applied by Mr. Anniyan in punishing the fat man who tried to take him out when he was sued to court.

Anniyan is the story of Rules Ramanujam, who has an MPD disorder. Much of the premise is based on Sidney Sheldon's novel Tell Me Your Dreams. However, the main idea of using a MPD premise and incorporated into an Indian feature was part of a wake-up call for Indians who are lacking behind the developing nations as of 2004. Various punishments are executed according to the Garuda tome which documents sins and punishments. The concepts here are similar to those seven deadly sins that people would do, except it has over 28 kinds of sins.
Strange isn't it? I was recommended by my university friend who said that part of the film was shot in KLCC, Zouks and the KLIA airport. When it came out in April 2005, he called me in and showed me the movie. So I tried finding one and got it!

Special thanks goes to Nantha and Vijay for this!