Elizabeth

I just watched the movie Elizabeth (1998).

I loved it, it was rather captivating and its one of those movies that makes you want to wiki about the history and what actually happened. Its also kind of funny because Wikipedia lists Robert Dudley as Elizabeth's 'favourite', but that sounds pretty weird, childish even.

I did love the sets of the movie, the way it was shot and the dresses. And the men look so funny in their pantaloons! Especially when they are trying to look tough or be tough, but they look like this: (I tried to look for a better shot that was in the movie but this will do)

I did love the way to story was told and progressed, I was a bit puzzled though about Geoffrey Rush's character because they never really explained his character or his back story except that he was implemented to protect the queen. Also, I didn't get the shaving of her hair at the end, especially because the next shot she has hair.

But yes, loved the movie, that has a good story which captivates til the end.

Rating: 8/10. Cate Blanchett is amazing.

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.

hp7

just watch HARRY POTTER tonight

loved it ♥

though a bit puzzled at the number of friends i know that have neither read the books and are not up to date with the movies

that they would watch this latest one

because they were quite lost at some points

i must admit, i have been catching myself up with the movies

which i enjoy

though its a bit annoying that they can't add all of it into the movies

and some things, they changes a little bit

but i like watching anyway

(btw, if you have not seen the movie and/or read the books , you probably shouldn't read on. you have been warned.)

so, in the movie, it was a bit strange because i always pictured bill weasley with short hair

and being very neat and sleek and all

not some long haired, hippy-eque hair

and all the more because he was marrying fleur

also, i miss tonk's pink hair.

also, though i have read the books

i did forget who died and when.

and so it was sad when hedwig died

:(

and mad-eye moody

:(

and DOBBY

:(

my favourite quote of dobby's in the movie:

"Dobby never meant to kill, simply maim, or severely injure"

dooby was so cute

so sad when he died :(

can't wait til the next movie

YES!

but its in july

BOO!

though it was a bit annoying that last movie they didnt have the scene where dumbledore talks about the horcruxes

because it did seem like the movie they were pretty aimless

at least in the book, they knew or had a inkling about what the horcruxes were

even though, they didn't know where they are

plus, harry and ginny were supposed the break up at the end of the last movie

which didn't happen.

i kind of want to read all the books again

but i also can't be bother because i know it'll take me agesss

maybe before the last movie then.

the social network

so me and jacky went to watch 'the social network' today at the nova

side note: the nova's so damn cheap on mondays, we went before 4 and the tickets were only $6. originally i was expecting it to be $9. guess we'll be going to nova from now on :)

though, when we went into the theatre

there was surprisingly a lot of old people

and by old people i define it about 40 years and over

i think it was about 65% old people

seriously.

ok, so 'the social network' was pretty good.

not as good as i expected, though i wasn't sure what to expect

but i'd heard a lot of reviews about how good it was and that increased my expectations of the movie

also, the very first scene when mark was talking to erica

i was a bit lost with all the colloquial talk

and both me and jacky were a bit confused

but we kind of got the jist

i also just discovered that the winklevoss twins were played by just one guy.

that's impressive editing

if i hadn't looked it up, i would have thought that the actually had twins to play the winklevoss twins

but then i knew i'd seen that guy before so i had to look it up

and yes i had seen him before, he was in gossip girl.

the movie was pretty good,

it was edited well, i liked the very last scene

but i felt like the whole movie ended a little abruptly as well.

after that me and jacky went to buy books at koorong for church

and i found it really fun looking for the books in the store

though jacky wanted to at first just get the people to help us

but i was like, nooooooo.

let's just say i really like doing scavenger hunts

so i wanted to do it myself.

we ended up buying 25 books, and only when i got home did i realise that we dobuled up n a book

not quite sure how it happened

and i can't return it

because i stamped it already.

oops.

i need to go to bed now,

need to wake up early to get to balwyn to a friends house

i decided that im going to take a 40 tram ride to his house

instead of taking a faster way but involves me having to get a zone 2 ticket.

yes, i am super broke right now.

sigh.

♥

garden state

i watched garden state tonight

i had borrowed the dvd from the library a while ago
i quite enjoyed it
though at first it was a little draining and slow
though i do understand why it was that way

it was to reflect the numbness he felt

but still.

but natalie portman's character, sam, is so cute

though i thought that they dressed her a little too young

as in i felt like she was meant to be under 18 years old while in actual fact she was at least 21

but i understand why they did that too

my favourite scene was by far the scene where they are in garbage bags in the rain and yell

(see photo)

it was even more hilarious after they yell

when andrew and sam finally kiss/make out, and its so awkward because mark is standing next to them trying to look away

that make me laugh out loud.

its also funny because the guy who plays sheldon (from big bang theory) is in it

and he also plays a nerd character as well

though its brief

yep, i really quite liked the movie

i really like the idea of him being awakened to his emotions

and him no longer feeling numb.

thought the ending was a little predicatble

him coming back and getting off the plane

but, enjoyable movie nonetheless

♥

#229 scott pilgrim

i watched scott pilgrim vs. the world today

it was pretty funny

but really random.

one of the funniest and randomest bits was the vegan guy bit.

haha.

i like the comic book style of the movie

though it made it feel extra random.

and i thought the ending was a bit strange.

i also realised the movie star ex guy (ex #2) was the human torch in fantastic four
and the vegan ex guy (ex #3) was brandon routh from superman returns.

though it didn't really look like him.

in other news,

i went to the don carson talk today.

it was pretty good, i like his accent.

(he's canadian)

though i felt like he didn't completely flesh out what it meant to be born again via water and spirit. but i liked it regardless.

lol, i also realised my day was quite, erm, canadian.

becaue scott pilgrim is set in canada as well.

:D

INCEPTION #201

man, it was good.

i really want to see it again, to pick up the details that i probably missed the first time.

and i have a

new crush now.

along with alexander skarsgard.

joseph gordon-levitt is cute :)

i loved the moment (which was one of very few light moments in the movie) where he was like

"gimme a kiss."

haha, cute :)

anyway, if you are going to watch it

(& yes, i highly recommend you watch it)

stop reading here

------------------

what i have gathered from doing some extra reading and thinking about it:

some sites i have gathered from include these: #1 #2 #3

interesting facts:
- Ariadne is named after a the mythical Ariadne who helped Theseus escape from the Minotaur's labyrinth read more here. there is the obvious connect here, with the mazes and you can see most traditional labyrinths are circular, like the one she drew in the movie
- Mal in latin means evil, i also read somewhere that it might have meant unfortunate, which makes sense with her convinced that she is still in dream state and tragically commits suicide because of this.

my take on the ending:

it is obvious that the director wanted us to be left hanging and we can choose which ending we wanted for cobb.

for those who don't want to think as much, or want a happy ending, you can choose to believe that he woke up back into reality, and that the top totem would eventually stop spinning.

and there are other evidence that might support this theory:

when cobb is in reality he does not wear a wedding ring, however in his subconscious he does wear a wedding ring. in the last scene, he does not have a wedding ring on.

it is also damn well possible that he woke up on the plane, then went through the airport and back to his children. Saito seems to be powerful enough to deliver on his promise.

the totem also looks like it might stop spinning, but then again it has spun much longer than any other times when he is in reality.

so the other option is that, cobb is still in a dream in the last scene, probably in a limbo.

because 1. as mentioned the totem has spun for a long time, much longer than any time in reality

2. his children look exactly the same throughout the movie, wearing exactly the same clothes as in his last memory of them. but we know that quite a while as past since he has seen his children and so they must have aged if in fact he did get to see his children again. (though however, if you check on IMDB there are two sets of children who play the kids, so perhaps they did age and the fact that they are wearing the same clothes is messing with our minds. also, someone else notices that their shoes are different to previous visions of them in the film, but one might still question why the kids look the same despite the different shoes. since the different shoes may just be a slightly different projection as it has been a long time since he has seen his children, but the projection is largely the same)

	Claire Geare	...	Phillipa (3 years)
	Magnus Nolan	...	James (20 months)
	Taylor Geare	...	Phillipa (5 years)
	Johnathan Geare	...	James (3 years)

3. we do not see cobb go through each dream levels, but he wakes up on the plane. this is strange because for all the other characters, the each woke up from each level before they came back into reality.

4. also, when he does wake up there is no dialogue and everything around him seems like a blur. also, everyone is sort of smiling at him, and everything is happening as he would have expected it to, thus it seems like cobb is filling his dream with his projections of reality and how he would expect it to be in real life.

but the question with this theory is that, if he is at the end in another limbo state, how did he get there?
and the other thing is that since when has he been in a dream? from the beginning? from the plane?
I thought this was an interesting observation to support the possibility that he has been dreaming all along: (taken from: here)

Directors drop visual hints as to their main character’s true nature all the time. Remember the scene when Dom looks into the mirrors with Ariadne and we see that endlessly repeating image of him? That’s Dom’s reality. He’s lost within all of these dreamworlds and he doesn’t know where he is.

Mal keeps appearing in every one of Dom’s dreams to break them up. If this interpretation of “Inception” is correct, then Mal is not a projection of his guilt, but a protector. An angel of sorts. She is part of Dom’s subconscious, yes, but she’s there to help him wake up, even if he thinks he doesn’t want to. She is trying to provide that kickback for him.

This interpretation is supported by another Nolan-dropped clue. There was a scene with Ariadne where Dom joked something about “Why would you want to wake up?”

i thought that was pretty interesting, especially with the mirrors that i had never thought about til now.
i also like the thing about mal being protector of his dreams, kind of like how fischer had his security to protect him as well. it does make sense, kind of. except for the fact that in the second scene if mal was protector of his dreams, why would mal be talking to saito, instead of killing him?

in my mind, i think these are the two possible endings: he is in reality, or he is in a dream state at the end. but there are some more theories here.

but in the end, no matter which theory, he is no longer paranoid about whether he is in reality or not, since he walks away from the totem before he truly knows whether he is in a dream state or reality. but throughout the movie he constantly checks, with a gun in his hand whether he is still in a dream, as if he was still in a dream, he'd shoot himself to come out of it.

but in the last scene, he simply doesn't care because he is satisfied with this 'reality' where he can be with his kids.

♥

#182 emo & toy story 3

most people have read this on facebook already

but i attempted to dye my hair dark brown this morning

with two boxes of schwarzkopf hair dye

and both boxes said 'dark brown' on them

and both showed me pictures of how my hair would look slightly brown after dying it with this certain hair dye.

but my hair turned out to be EMO black.

not sure how this possibly happened.

sigh.

i'm hoping it would eventually wash out slightly

so that my hair wouldn't be so emo black.

also, i watched TOY STORY 3 today

and it was awesome.

i loved it.

especially the ending.

though i do not want to talk about it too much since i don't want to spoil it for others

but i loved it.

it was funny but not completely in a kids way

so i found it pretty good.

kinda want to watch it again.

avatar #119

finallyyyyyyyyyyy, watched avatar tonight

on blueray

it was alright

the effects were awesome

but like,

well i knew what was going to happen

so thats what made it a bit 'meh'

i also came up with a bit of a theory today

sort of relates to above

just so you know

me & emma went book shopping today

so this is how this theory came about.

well,

my theory is

those who like reading prefer better storylines and substance in movies

vs.

those who don't like reading as much like the effects, or don't care about the story line as much

this is generally

and its just a theory.

but it sort of makes sense.

also,

i realise.

i have a lot of theories.

:)

♥

#114 twilight man

today at southern cross station

i saw

this late 20s maybe even early 30s

east asian (ie. indian/pakistani/bangladeshi) man

with

a

bag

that

had

a

TWILIGHT

photo on it.

this same exact photo:

lol.

i won't even try and explain why i thought that was weird.

it should be self explanatory.

also,

went to CU friday night social tonight

and had a movie night

we watched this 80s movie called Flying High

(also known as Airplane)

and it was really random

but funny

like things would happen

and i'd be like wth

but its hilarious at the same time

like random things like

putting a plane on 'autopilot' means a blow up doll pilot comes out and flies the plane

and having a drinking problem

was that he couldn't drink properly

instead he splashed the water on his face

random stuff like that.

also, reality tv update

america's next top model: yay, alasia's finalllyyyy out!

survivor: gah, candice why did you switch??

though smart move on russell's part

i'm hoping that something happens to split the villains

before all the heroes get voted out

cos i don't want a villain to win or candice now

so that leaves rupert and colby

but i don't think they'll win

sigh.

ok,

bed now

work tmr.

♥

#113 iron man 2

me & jacky watched iron man 2 today
it was alright
like there was heaps of fight scenes
but i think the fight scenes were too short
and random dialogue/plot bits dragged on for too long

(probably stop here if you want to watch it and you don't want to know what happens
i'm not really spoiling, but just in case)

and also like the final fight scene between iron man & his mate vs the mickey rourke chracter
was way too short
and they beat him way too easily
like the scene ended in like a minute
also, cos i'm very nick-pick-y
there were a few inconsistencies i thought
especially the bit where scarlett johanson 'system rebooted' the guys suit
like, couldn't she just rebooted all the robots as well
since she hacked into the computer anyway
instead of iron man having to fight them all off
i guess it was for effect but anyway
also
when scarlett johanson goes and battles all the security guards
its stupid cos she just jumps on some of them
and they land unconscious on the floor
like seriously?
another thing, immediately after the final fight scene
it switched waayyyyyy too quickly to a romantic scene
it was like he just fought
then pepper and iron man bicker
and kiss
i felt it was a bit strange
i didn't have enough time to get over the fight scene yet.
and yes.
oh and the other thing
but then i guess its a movie,
as if you can go and make your own element
and as if he 'found' the element using the prototype/model his dad had
cos they looked nothing alike.
nothing.

ok, i'm finished.
the movie was alright though
i liked the first one better.

♥

#111 KICK ASS

watched Kiss Ass tonight
with jacky
i quite liked it
well its in between liking it a lot
but not enough to say i loved it
but yes.
i loved Hit Girl
she's so bad ass
HAHA.
& i loved the end fight scene
as i said
Hit Girl is so bad ass.
also, just realised wher i had seen her from
cos she seemed so familiar
she was the guy's little sister
in (500) days of summer
:)

though i thought it was a bit weird
having Nicolas Cage in it
and also that he was wearing a Batman-like suit
surely he could have come up with something better

also,
the chick that Kick Ass had a crush on
ie. Katie
well, she's the chick from How I met your mother
as in
one of Ted's children















:)
the boy is David Henrie
who's in Wizards of Waverly Palce
which is a disney show
about wizards that i love to watch
cos i like Selena Gomez
she's so funny.
:)

shall go finishing updating other blogs now.
finally finished all my tests.
for now.
:)

implausible typing #80

so you know in movies or cartoons
or tv shows or whatever
the characters/people always do what i call implausible typing
which means the character/person type what they are intending to type
in about less than half the time it would in real life
maybe even in a quarter of the time

well, i get that you know they need to reduce empty screen time or whatever
but i mean seriously
try to make it at least a little more believable
and obviously it isn't possible that all of these characters are just super efficient at typing
lol
this also applies to when the characters are "hacking stuff"
they press like 3 buttons and they end up entering, i don't know, like the CIA files or whatever

i just remembered this yesterday
when emma pointed out
that in an episode of how i met your mother
marshall 'types' his password in like 2 keys
lol

:)

in other news,
i find this fail really funny
i love the music they put behind it
it makes it seem so poetic.
i also loves how the frog uses his arms to grab the insect to his mouth
but nothings there
:)



love.

UP! #72

watched Up just before
for the first time
its sooo cute :)

also been having a lot of cake
my mum baked me a cake
and its like a 6 - 8 person cake
and well, its just me and my mum
so it'll take a while
and emma also got me a mrs fields cookie cake
which i haven't eaten yet
and my boss bought me cupcakes today
which was sweet
cake cake cake.

♥