Dorian Gray

I just watched the movie Dorian Gray (2009), based on Oscar Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. I have always been meaning to read this book. I have started it once but have never gotten around to finishing it. It just sits on my shelf as we speak.

But here's what I thought of the movie.

I know that the movie got really low ratings but I didn't think it was that terrible. The movie started off really well actually, I thought it was quite captivating at first and illustrated the slow corruption of Dorian Gray, the change in person from his innocence to a corrupted self. I thought they showed this well, however perhaps the change in person happened a little bit too suddenly, but oh well I guess its because it was a movie. Also, Ben Barnes as Dorian Gray is very very good looking. And so I thought the movie had so much potential but the second half of the movie just didn't work. It just became a little bit ridiculous and overdramatic, especially the ending. At least I did finish it though, unlike Perfume. So there's a plus. 


Rating: I think I give it a 6.5/10 because the second half of the film and the ending, if it were just the first half or the movie continued with a tone similar to the first half I'd give it a 7.5. 

Tangled

I LOVED IT! It was hilarious and oh-so cute! And also Zachary Levi as Eugene is pretty funny, because everytime I hear his voice I just think that its Chuck Bartowski.

I can't do that much of a review, because I can't really mention actors or anything. But everything about it was great, I particularly loved the horse and the chameleon.

One of the best moments was when Eugene/Flynn Ryder tries to 'seduce' Rapunzel using his 'smoulder'.

Rating: 9/10 LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT. 


And also the mini sequel Tangled ever after is also hilarious.

Priest: May I have the rings?
Rapunzel: (gasps)
Queen: That was were my grandmother's wedding rings!
Guard: The kingdom is lost!
(Explosion and destruction of the whole castle)

HAHAHA.

Disney classics vs. modern

So the past two days I've been watching a few of the Disney animated movies that I have not watched or have forgotten about, more precisely the Disney Princess movies. The classics: Sleeping Beauty, Pocahontas and Little Mermaid. And the modern Rapunzel story, Tangled. I'll do a separate post about what I thought about Tangled.

But its pretty funny comparing the classic movies made before the 2000s, and a modern redone fairytale made in the 2000s.

For one thing, the idea of reaching I guess womanhood and when its acceptable to find your prince in the old classics is when the princesses reach 16 years old. Whereas in the modern movie, it is when Rapunzel turns 18 years old then she goes out and falls in love.

Also, in the old movies I find that the princes tend to fall in love with singing voices. In Sleeping Beauty, Prince Philip falls in love with Aurora's voice (in a way) and also in The Little Mermaid Prince Eric falls in love with  Ariel's voice. And in the classics, they fall in love in like two seconds. At least in the modern version, it takes slightly longer.

There's a bit of a progression.

The Sleeping Beauty released in 1959, falls in love the quickest after they sing 'Once Upon a Dream' together, they're in love.

The Little Mermaid released in 1989, well the prince as I mentioned fell in love with her voice, Ariel falls in love with him after spying on him for a bit and rescuing him. And they fall in love a bit more on the boat ride.

In Pocahontas released in 1995, she fell in love with John Smith after a few meetings and chatting to each other. 

And in Tangled released in 2010, Rapunzel and Eugene fall in love after a day's adventure and a romantic boat ride. 

I like that as time goes on, Disney's realising how unrealistic it is for people to fall in love at first sight (or song) or after talking to the people for a few minutes. And so as time has gone one the falling in love bit keeps getting long to make it seem more realistic I guess. 

Also re-watching Pocahontas, it definitely reminded me of Avatar and I know people have said it before, and I had known it, but it is exactly the same just with more fancy graphics. Even the same guy in each movie dies.

Another thing, why do the female villains have to be so vain? eg. Snow White, Tangled. I'm pretty sure the chase for beauty is not the only drive for people to be evil.

And as much as I love the classics, the modern ones are funnier, which I love. The classics are a bit cheesier. 

But watching Sleeping Beauty for the first time, I loved it. Maleficent is a great villain but I'm confused as to why would she randomly curse a child and why she can turn into a dragon, but anywho. The three good fairies were so cute, though. Especially the end when they keep trying to change the colour of the dress. HAHA.

But either classics or modern, the Disney Princess movies are enjoyable to watch :)

Perfume: the story of a murderer

I just tried to watch it. I got half an hour in and I couldn't persist with it anymore. It was a bit too weird for my liking. So I had to stop, and the movie is way to melodramatic and there a long scenes when he's just smelling things, which is awkward to watch. And its also hard to carry a film when the main character isn't that relatable. In fact, he was damn right weird and creepy. 

An Education

After just watching it, here's what I thought of it.

I liked it, it wasn't fantastic but it was ok. I was a well executed story, but I found myself wanting it to end sooner than it did.

Carey Mulligan was great as a 16-year-old school girl dreaming of the future where she can enjoy music, fine food, culture and arts, as opposed to her studying. She was definitely believable as a girl who thought she knew more than she really did, and was just in fact a naive little girl. It did kind of remind me of what I was like when I was that age.

Peter Sarsgaard as David was great as well. The fact that he absolutely creeped me out even right from the beginning meant he did do a good job as a 30-something con man that tries to seduce a 16 year old girl. But the sheer fact, that I found him so creepy meant that I did find myself waiting for the movie to end sooner than it did. Half way through the movie I found myself checking how long there was left and how long I had to endure a creepy old guy seducing a little girl. The scene that creeped me the most was the one when she tells him she doesn't want to sleep with anyone until she is 17, and he was like ok but we can do romantic stuff right? And then asks to see her breasts. Eeek, creepy!

Honorable mentions: I really liked the ending about how she told her new BOYfriend that she would love to go to Paris, as if she had never been before, that was cute!

Rating:  7.5/10
It previously was a 7, but an extra 0.5 because of Carey Mulligan's performance.

aims

So my aims for this holidays:

- READ A LOT. I have a bunch of books that I have in my possession that I have no yet read, I really think I should. Plus, I want to read the Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones).

I've sort of started this, I'm reading The Great Gatsby at the moment. Though I have read in before, when I was year 12 I never really got it. And then I remember talking to Clara about it that year, and she said that she loved it. Clearly, I'm the less romantic and literary one. So, I decided to finally read it again to really understand what the fuss is about. (This is also sparked by the fact that I can't wait for the movie, though admittedly I never imagined Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, or Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway (I mean, really?) I always imagined Nick being quite young and in his late 20s)

- WATCH MOVIES. So I'm not a fan of watching movies in cinemas, just purely because it costs too much. But during holiday I do tend to watch a lot of movies because I have the luxury of being able to borrow them from libraries for free or rent them cheap. I remember last holidays I ended up watching The Beach and Shutter Island both Leonardo ones I really enjoyed. There were other ones too like The Prestige and others, but I've forgotten which ones now.

I've began this too, starting with Jane Eyre and also to rewatch the Lord of the Rings trilogy because I've never really seen it properly. I watched the Fellowship of the Ring yesterday, which I liked. I watched it with Jacky, I kept going 'who's that?' 'what's that?' 'where's he from?' but I don't think he minded because he wants me to watch them too.

So here's my list of movies that I want to watch (I'll periodically cross them off as I watch them):

Jane Eyre
LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring
LOTR: The Two Towers
LOTR: Return of the King
Winter's Bone
Sleepy Hollow
Melancholia
Thor
Wall-E
Sucker Punch
Pan's Labrynith
How to Train Your Dragon
Ratatouille
Tangled
Pocahontas
Sleeping Beauty
The Little Mermaid
The Breakfast Club
Sixteen Candles
Girl, Interrupted
The Virgin Suicides
Lost in Translation
An Education
Chocolat
Perfume (didn't finish)
Gladiator
Maria Antoinette
The Chronicles of Narmia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narmia: Prince Caspian
The Chronicles of Narmia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Elizabeth
Dorian Gray
(to add more later.)

- BE A NERD AND STUDY. So I've been told that next year I won't have much time to study for my exams, so I should probably start now.

- PLAN FOR SINGAPORE. So excited! It's going to be FUN! :)

jane eyre

I just watched Jane Eyre, and really quite enjoyed it. It took me back to when I first read it about four years ago.

I enjoyed the way they told the story with the cutbacks to the present and past, and I liked that they did leave all the important scenes in there. Of course they couldn't put everything in there, Charlotte Bronte is quite thorough in explaining her every detail and every event (pretty much) in Jane's life it couldn't possibly be put all into a film so I liked the way they told the story in the movie.

Plus, Michael Fassbender. Even if he had weird sideburns.

I was telling Jacky that I found him attractive and he was like, '..but he's so manly." HAHAHA

Rating: 8.5/10. Because... Michael Fassbender! and I'm a bit intrigued by Mia Wasikowska.