Movie- Rurouni Kenshi: Kyoto Inferno

Just finished a test today and decided to reward myself with a movie at the last minute.

So yup this movie was a last minute decide to watch kind of movie which differs from my usual this is what I want to watch movies that I normally watch as soon as they are released.

But yeah it was a nice movie! ! Part of why I kept putting this movie off was probably cos I haven't watched the first part and this was the sequel and I didn't like watching sequels without having watched the first part.

This is where wikipedia comes in. xD haha helps a lot in understanding the plot.

And I liked how although it's a fictional piece, there are historical settings and groundings to the movie.  And I really love the landscape. The old Kyoto scenes. I've never been to Kyoto and this made me wanna go there so bad. As well as Nara.

The samurai theme is very dominant, much like other movies such as The Last Samurai and 47 Ronin. But what differs is how Kenshin don't want to kill people anymore.

And I find that so hard. I mean it requires so much more technique to just knock people out cos you have to keep cautious of not killing them instead. Seriously that's a huge disadvantage when your opponents are putting all 100% for the death blow.

And maybe that's what's endearing. The struggle between having the power to kill and the actual act of killing. 

And all these fights for power for peace.  Does the end justify the means? Be it katakana or guns or just fists, people die in wars for the so called peace that doesn't last for long. 

But anyway, I'm definitely going to watch the sequel now. Such a cliffhanger.  Though I sort of know the ending already from wikipeding the manga.

Movie- The maze runner

I'm usually a book over movie adaptation person.  Usually. Since I'd like the idea of imagining my own casts and picking my pace of the story (ie. you can flip pages of a book but you can't fast foward parts in cinemas)

But this movie was awesome. so good that I prefer it over the book. I hadn't liked the ending of the first book (shall not say what it is no spoilers) so I had stopped and didn't read the second and third book.

Yet, this movie was so good that I went to read the next two books.  Okay the plots for these were okay (you kind of know how it's headed at the end of book one) but it got me really excited about the movie adaptations. 

Or probably just cos the choice of cast was wonderful!! Love Minho and Newt there!

And the maze was so breathtaking. They could probably just leave the maze setup there after filming and make it a tourist attraction and I'm sure people will want to visit it.

Can't wait for the next movie!!!

For now, let's anticipate the 3rd hunger games movie that'll be out in November!

Movie-The Hundred Foot Journey

This's a really nice movie in a while. 

The movie's about the story of an Indian family moving to France and their opening of an Indian family restaurant opposite a Michelin one star French restaurant. 

A success(?) story of how an Indian boy chef went from zero to hero. I guess even his success is contestable.  What does one consider success?  Having your loved ones with you and opening a homey family restaurant,  working hard together? Or is it the prestige associated with working at highly rated Michelin star restaurants? 

How much you're willing to compromise and adapt as an immigrant... these are heavy issues masked by a very pretty french landscape and yummy looking cuisines.

I really love the village vibe in the setting. The suburban landscape and farmer's market. The nature.

This contrasts so much with the city life with I so love and hate at the same time.

Perhaps I can start by learning how to cook an omelette. 

Movie- Into the Wild

This movie is haunting. 

It's been a month since I watch the DvD and I still find my thoughts wandering on this movie. On Chris McCandleless or rather Alex Supertramp.

I could identify a lot with Chris (except I'm not as smart as he is). And he's definitely way more determined than I am. I find myself becoming very lazy (though I'd like to think of that as conserving my extremely limited supply of energy) and complacent in that I dont follow through with plans.

I am like him in that i'm resistant to the idea of power and oppression, on the state of society,  or all those power inequality issues that one studies about in sociology. How the rich get richer and the poor gets poorer (people may disagree but really, what I'm talking about is in general. Of course there will be people that can move up the economic ladder and stuff. But look at the price they have to pay for it to happen. Is it worth it? How people become so broken by their experiences that they can never be whole again).

but I'm unlike him in that I don't follow through with plans.  I get sick of stuffs easily, I start on projects and dont follow through. I guess it's cos I don't know what I want so I try something and then give up. I don't even know why I'm so obsessed with finding out what I want. Like can't I just suck it up, get through it and finish it up. I can't and that's a problem. I lack the self discipline that I once was so proud of.  I just find it really pointless in the temporal state of things that I've been losing my drive. The only thing I can still be glad about is that I still moving or rather crawling painfully on my road to the future. That i'm still holding on although I don't know if the pain is killing me or making me stronger.

So yes I've had fantasy of leaving everything behind and going solo like chris did. Except perhaps not into the wild. I can't hunt, I'm helpless with gathering and okay this is such a joke but I'm afraid of the dark. And being in the wild meant being in the dark alone, without the city lights and noises to keep me sane. I will probably go crazy.

Of course there are debates about responsibilities and stuff about how selfish chris' s action are. But one has to understand that these are all judgements on people. Who are we to judge? You don't know what he went through to become the person he is. You don't know what I experienced to have become this person that I am today. You don't see the litres of tears that I cried behind the plastered smile that I have on my face.

So please. Stop with all the hate and judgement. I know I'm guilty of these as well. I judge and compare myself to others.  But all it does was made me feel worse off.

So I try to be a better person. I'm learning to love more or rather to simply just hate less.

And hopefully one day I can say to myself that yes I am proud of you of having taken that big step. It doesn't have to me be about going into the wild literally, but maybe metaphorically into the wild places of my heart where love and understanding had once been. 

Movie-The Lone Survivor

Gah. This movie made me cry so much. It's too heart-breaking.

Warning spoilers ahead. Anyway the movie title itself is a pretty big spoiler- you know only one person survivors from it right? xD

The movie opens with a scene of violent scene of someone getting beheaded for helping an American. And then flashes back to a few days prior.

A team of four was sent to apprehend/kill a Taliban leader responsible for having killed many Navy Seals. However, they were out of luck when they're spotted by an old man, a teenager and a child who are shepherds. Then they were faced with the moral/ethical dilemma of killing them so that they won't be comprised (dead men won't tell of their locations) or sparing them since they're unarmed civilians.

And so, since then they have to live with their choice (but sadly, only one got to literally live the choice) :(

I was very very very upset with the deaths of the other three. Their comradeship was really touching. It's really like a series of unfortunate events unfolding ever since that decision was made to kill/spare the shepherds.

The movie ends on a good note (the lone survivor was rescued). But technically it wasn't a good note since we know from the start of the movie that the man who helped him would be killed later by the Talibans.

Sigh.

And knowing that this was based on a true event just multiplied my emotions by x1000000000000000 .

Movie- monster university

Love this movie! I like how it has a very inspirational tone-a prequel to the well known Monsters inc.

It goes back to the university days of the 2 protagonist sulley and mike. How they came to know each other, the growth of their friendship through challenges in school and ultimately to working as a team upon dropping out of college.

The dropping out of college part struck me quite a lot. Well they were sort of kicked out but that isn't the main point.  It made me wonder about the value of a college education. Is it overrated? Are people just going to college because they need the training for the real working world or is it simply cos 'that's the tried and tested route'?

I admire mike's determination to make it as a scarer although he was physically disadvantaged for the job. He never gave up. True, he had to make a little detour( working as a mail boy) but ultimately he achieved his dream (and we have monsters inc).

I guessed it made me ashamed in a sense that I'm not treasuring my college education.  I'm in school and mostly it's cos I don't know what else to do. Or maybe it's just cos I want others' approval in a sense of being a university graduate. I don't know. I'm spending money in school and making myself miserable in the process. I'm not chasing any dreams. I don't even know if I have any dreams. Or perhaps I'm too fearful to even dream.

And that scares me a lot. I'm still young but I don't behave like I'm young. I feel jaded.

On a side note I bought the monster's university instax film. Will use it soon! Love taking polaroids and the lovely films that come out instantly.  Maybe I can start out by making and keeping memories.

One small step at a time. 

Movie- Armageddon (1998)

This movie's been in a few of those Guess the Movie app games that I've been playing. It piped my curiosity and so I went to watch it.

The movie's about a Texas-sized asteroid that's bound to hit Earth and how the NASA came up with a plan to stop this end of the world event from happening. I guess I have always been fascinated with stuffs that are of apocalyptic themes- movies like these, sci-fi genres, hunger game kinds of post apo world, zombie apocalypse. Yeah so this did sound interesting enough for me to want to watch it.

And so, NASA sent up a team of drillers mix with astronauts to drill a hole on the asteroid, put a nuclear bomb in it and blast it up so that the fragments of the asteroid can miss Earth.

The moive has a few mentions of the Bible and how amageddon meant the end of the world in the Bible. I didn't know that. But now I know. xD And of course, the mission came with a few sacrifices and some of the team died in the mission.

I think this movie made me really respect heros. Not like those fiction superheros like Iron Man or Spider man or Wolverine but more kind of like the ordinary hero. There's a scene when Harry had to stay behind on the asteroid to hand detonate the bomb. It's a suicidal mission, everyone knew it but he chose to do it in place of AJ, a guy that was his daughter's fiance. I can't imagine how huge this responsibility must be, and how much courage it took to press that little button to blow yourself up together with everything else around you.

I guess that's why there's this book on courage called Feel the Fear and Do it anyway. When it boils down to fight or flight, sometimes there's just no option of flight anymore.

Movie- upside down

Watched this on my flight to Hong Kong. The movie was slow-paced and I kind of considered giving it up halfway but then I'd have nothing else to do on my flight and I wasn't sleepy so I pushed on and completed the movie. I'd say I was very happy when it ended, not because of the ending (duh, I kind of expected that they'd be together in the end anyway despite how impossible it seemed at the beginning) and because it finally ended and meant I had passed two hours of flight time. 

The story's about a guy from the down below falling in love with a girl from up top from their chance encounters from young. I know it seemed quite weird, but I kept thinking throughout the film if the people there get neck stains from having to crane their necks all the time while talking to people from the other world with a different gravity. Haha. 

And the name of the main characters- Adam and Eden. I don't know if there were any biblical references (as far as I understand, I don't really see it?) There were no references to God and the two of them didn't sin (they were just kids who fell in love with someone who they shouldn't and they live in different worlds). I felt that a Romeo and Juliet reference was more prominent. But then again, it wasn't really a tragedy and while they fell in love with someone they shouldn't, there wasn't really family conflicts involved. 

Okay, then I'll just settle for a cheesy love line of people falling in love with someone they shouldn't, yet they will overcome the obstacles in their love life and achieve happily ever after. A super succinct take of mine about the movie. 

Movie- the identity thief

I watched this on the plane back home today.  It was quite an enjoyable film. The bad sexual references parts of the film aside, I think the movie actually did encompass a few learning and thought provoking points.

Synopsis of the movie: Sandy is an account keeper in a bank and he's the sole breadwinner of his family of four going on five. Due to an identity theft, he finds himself on the brink of getting jobless as he loses his financial credibility from chalkinh up debt on his credit cards (he was victimised). He will do whatever it takes to get the other 'Sandy' to Denever and explain the situation to his boss so as to keep his job...

Diana is a complex and yet simple person.  You're inclined to dislike her at the start of the film but yet towards the end, you'll come to understand her and possibly even sympathise with her.

She had a rough childhood as an orphan, no one cares about her. Her tough, loud and rough personality was her facade, a coping mechanism she developed to deal with loneliness and rejections. We all know the environment plays a vital role in a person's growth and Diana could be seen as someone who grew up without a conducive environment and went off path.

Then comes Sandy, the protagonist who gets her back on path and helps her discover who she really is- figuratively and literally. She's actually Dawn Budgie and finally knows her real name. We see the blossoming of a seemingly unlikely friendship.

I think Diana was really lucky.  I mean she picked a victim who she stole the identity from and yet he was so forgiving.  It seemed too unreal.  Maybe I'm just cynical but there's too much smooth going for them throughout the film. Sandy is way too kind, especially for a man who had a lot to lose. And he's really reckless and desperate- doing all these just to keep his job? I understand that he values his job very much but isn't his life much more priceless? He's no cop material. Well he has tons of luck too though.

And the bad guys hardly seem to catch up with them too, although they looked like competent head hunters.

Perhaps I'm reading way too much into all these.  I'm should stay contented with the movie as a good way to spend my two hours on flight.

movie- hotel transylvania

A cute animation movie. The premise is just basically about an overprotective father (Dracula) not allowing her daughter (Mavis) to have contact with humans/the outside world/beyond the hotel because he deemed the humans as dangerous etc. Alas, one human (Jonathan) found his way into the hotel and 'zinged' with Mavis! They fell in love at first sight!

Pretty much a common plot but it was quite well executed in this film. Very funny and entertaining. Though, I wonder what will come out of this human and vampire love. After all, Jonathan can't turn into a vampire (unlike Bella in Twilight series) so how will this love ends? He isn't immortal, unlike Mavis.

There's a hotel transyvania part II I think. They're doing a second series because of the good boxoffice results. I read that from wiki. Hopefully, they'll address that issue and personally I hope he doesn't turn into a vampire. Maybe they can try something new and turn Mavis into a human instead? Something like the little mermaid trading her voice for human legs, maybe Mavis can trade her fangs for normal humans ones.

Just a random thought.

movie-Alex Cross

I used to read the Alex Cross series last time when I was younger. Though, I don't think I finished it and could vaguely remember the storylines, I do knew that Cross's a spy/detective kind of guy that goes around solving crimes.

The movie was not bad. There's a twist at the end though, I didn't expect the person that they had been protecting to be someone that had hired the assassin to kill others but ended up not being able to control the assassin aka getting targeted by the assassin instead.

There were a lot of fight scenes, not my kind of show; I prefer reading fight scenes than watching them I guess.

And the part where Cross's wife died, I think that's a turning point in the movie for him, the part where his character unleashed. Because previously, he won't actively pursue the criminal (mostly he just protects his targets and encounters him) but this time after knowing he killed his wife, he was prepared to go for a final showdown with him. And of course, Cross won.

movie- red dawn

Red dawn's the third movie I caught this week. I didn't know it was based on a 1984 film of the same name. Basically, it's about North Koreans attacking the US and the citizens fighting back. I saw this in wikipedia:  "While in post-production, the invading army was changed from Chinese to North Korean in order to maintain access to China's box office". Oh right, like that solves everything? xD I think this plot itself is pretty sensitive already. The 2012 political scene isn't really very peaceful and with movie like these, sometimes I wonder if world peace can really be achieved? Or is fighting between nations something that is inevitable? That we have to be prepared for? 

I didn't expect Chris Hemsworth to die at the end though. Although his death was some sort of matyr (?) like thing because it spurred his brother Matt to takeover the leadership role and lead the resistance. 

movie- breaking dawn part 2 (twilight saga)

I'm glad that the twilight saga had come to an end. I loved the books but somehow the film's portrayal left me a little bit upset because in my opinion, the book's much better. And I think Stephenie Meyer's other work, the host that coming out in cinemas in 2013, is a much better work than the twilight sage but in comparison it's quite underated.

I prefer the host to the twilight sage. The host is really exciting with its concept and execution in the novel. the front part was a bit hard to get into but just hang on, it gets better! And when you reach the end of the novel, you won't want to stop. I can't wait for the movie! And the more I read about spirituality, I think the host is kind of related to that concept too. The similarities are jarring. Maybe Stephenie Meyer's spiritual too?! xD

Anyway, the twilight saga is over. The next big thing will most likely be the hunger games movie franchise. Catching Fire's coming out in Nov 2013! Yay!

movie- life of pi

It's a really awesome movie! Probably one of the few movies with so few casts (less than 20 actors I think) and most of the time it's just Pi on the ocean. It's stunningly filmed. Lee Ang's really a superb director. It's visually appealing and the story moves very nicely- every part is significant to the story.

I kind of knew the ending before watching so it spoiled the twist (?) at the end. I was so into the movie that I went to read the book! I must say the movie really lived up to all its great reviews and it really did justice to the book.

An awesome adaptation from novel to film. A must watch!

movie-Captain America

I've wanted to watch this last year when it first came out but didn't so I've just watched it on DVD. It's cool, I really like the setting of the story-the retro but yet very 'high tech' early 20th century. I found it endearing how Captain America (Steve Rogers) was not someone born a superhero; but someone who was given the chance to by people who believed in him (the scientist) and allowing him to undergo the experiment to make him  a 'super soldier'.

I guess in life it really takes someone who appreciates you (?) to bring out the best in you. Be it Captain America, the Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, etc- no man's an island. They need support and encouragement from others to carry on.

The ending was that he woke up 70 years later after crashing the plane with weapon of destruction into the sea. I'm guessing he's so much injured that he needed 70 years to recover (that's also because he has 4 times the recovering capacity of humans) and not die off. And yeah, the love story's sad too. He missed his date. I would have loved to see Agent Carter together with him.

Hope he'll be fine too in the 21st century. I believe he will- after all he's the Captain America.

movie- wreck it Ralph

I LOVE IT. I LOVE THIS MOVIE SO MUCH I HAVE TO USE CAPITALS TO EXPRESS MY LOVE FOR IT.

Yes, it's official. This is one of my favourite cartoon movies EVER. I knew I have to watch it just from the trailer. It's plain awesome. So much takeaways and learning can be done from this funny and enjoyable movie!

I'll start with the characters. I love all the characters!! Even the 'bad guys'!! Yes, people are not what they seem to be. Never judge a book by its cover! Ralph's the 'bad guy' in his game- fix it felix (felix's the good guy that saves whatever Ralph wrecks and he gets hilariously thrown off the building at the end of every game) and he's sick of his label as the bad guy.

So he decides to redeem himself; by getting a hero medal and being a good guy for once.

And so he embarks on his journey by game skipping, eventually meeting another outcast in her game Venelope who's unable to race in her game as she's a glitch.

I've enjoyed their scenes together a lot-Ralph and Venelope. Somehow, they complement each other and they find solace in each other too. It's really sweet.

And of course, the other unexpected pairing -'Dynamite Gal' and Felix. I laughed so much whenever they're shown together, they're so incompatible that after a while you don't find them incompatible but you find them cute in a weird kind of way.

And of course Turbo, how do I put it, he's in every single one of us. How envy could really drive us to make bad decisions and inflict pain on others but eventually we will be the one who suffers. A good learning point.

Let me end with this, my favourite quote from the movie. It's the 'bad guy' mission or something like that.

"I am bad; and that's good. I'm not good; but that's not bad." 

There's no absolutes, (no one's totally bad/good) and that's fine. Not everything's black and white. Cheers for the gray area!

movie- the rise of the guardians

It was an enjoyable movie, very suitable for the young especially. It's the good vs the evil plot but nonetheless I found it pretty enjoyable. Santa claus, Jack Frost, the Tooth fairy, Sand man and the Easter bunny were all portrayed differently from the usual that we see in fairytales. Especially Jack Frost. I find his character very enduring. His search for identity; for acceptance, isn't that what many of us are searching for as well?

And also to commit oneself to a purpose (in his case saving all the kids and their dreams) was a really happy ending. Afterall, not all of us know what we're really living for in life, not to mention even find a purpose that's worth committing to.

I hope I can find my purpose in life soon. I'm pretty impatient.

movie-in time

In time's a movie that I've wanted to watch last year when it came out. Sadly, I missed the showing so now I'm watching it on DVD. I still prefer watching in the cinemas though, it's so much better with the bigger screen and sound system. 

I like the concept of in time-it's a really interesting dystopia setting, with money being the future currency and also dictating how long one can live. The rich live longer since time is money while currency is still money, and the poor die when they run out of time (money). It shows the 2 leads trying to go against the system by robbing banks for time and giving it away (kind of like robinhood in my opinion; what they're doing is illegal but they're doing it anyway in the name of 'justice' as they see it).

There are many points in this story that I can't help wonder. How did this governing system come about? Is it even possible to genetically engineer humans such that everyone stops aging at 25 and the timer on their hands will show their future lifespan? Isn't it scary to see your life ticking away on the clock (especially if you're poor and hence out of time). It brings to me the concept of knowing when you're going to die-is that good or bad? Will you live a fuller life if you know when you're dying and hence perhaps waste less time? Or is it that because you're running out of time (for the poor), you get so worried etc and live very stressful lives while the rich (with plenty of time) can afford not prioritising anything in their lives at all since they have centuries? 

Kind of like the vampire conflict isn't it. Being immortal and hence losing touch with what it means to really be a human. But what really defines human? If humans are engineered so much that their livespan can be controlled, then are we still humans? I feel that'd be more like robots.

Maybe this whole thing may just end up being an experiment (like how it was in maze runner) and then there's another world outside of this in time setting. 

Just a random speculation. Then we can have a sequel. 

Movie-Argo

Watched Argo yesterday. It was definitely a thriller and I was kept on the edge of my seat most of the time. I wanted the operation to succeed so bad but at the same time there was this little voice that told me not all secret rescue missions end up successful.

I'm glad that the one portrayed in argo did though. 

The film set me thinking a bit about life as well. (as do all other movies, since my brain likes to think so much about everything that it drives me crazy) The uprising and riots brought to my mind about the recent Arab springs. It seemed like although we've progressed through time, and decades have passed, some things in life still keep recurring. 

things like war, conflict. What really is the price of peace? Is peace even achievable in the first place? 

On the other hand, I'm awed by how people can still stand by their beliefs (like the house maid) despite going against the majority. To do that requires a lot of faith and courage. And of course, the main lead in the movie, Tony. Kudos to all those putting their lives on the line for others, and possibly receiving not much recognition for their heroic deeds too. He's risking his life not for his family (which most people will do I guess) but for strangers that he do not know who were kept as hostages in a foreign land. To do a rescue mission like that really requires commitment, faith and the believe in something bigger in yourself and that other people's lives do matter. 

//

on a random site note, I'll get started on the Life of Pi. The trailer's wonderful and the scenes are really pretty. I can't wait for the movie! 

movies- the perks of being a wallflower

I've wanted to watch this movie for a while ever since the trailer came out. The title appealed to me a lot. The perks of being a wallflower. So oxymoronic right? What perks could there be by being a wallflower? Wallflowers aren't being noticed, so what benefits are there being one?

//
I am a wall flower. I think so. I've gone through high school being pretty much a low profile person. I don't mind. But being frank, sometimes I do wish I can be noticed, well, probably not as much as I hope to be appreciated. Charlie in this movie really struck a chord with me. He's like me in many sense, trying to figure out one's place in the world (or school for that matter), holding up and trying not to break down, wanting to have friends, make friends, and when you have friends, you're so scared of losing them.

It's an endless cycle.

This teenage thing really made me reflect a lot on those days. My school days were pretty drama free (unlike Charlie's) but on many levels and occasions, I felt like I could understand him.

Understand how he felt so desperate in finding friends, hoping to be understood, have company and just not be lonely. not be a lone. not be the loner kid.

But what's wrong with enjoying your own company right? We need alone time sometimes. Some down time. Some your own time. Solitude.

In this era where everyone's connected and everyone else seems to know every other people, you do feel the pressure to keep up. I don't know, I guess I'm kind of the rebel. While at times I'm pretty desperate for friends, other times I'm just indifferent. I'm just tired of trying so hard.

//

I'm happy for Charlie though. In the end he's recovering well with the help of a psychiatrist. And I like his friendship with his English class teacher. It's always good to have a mentor.

He's busy participating.

I guess I should too.

While I enjoy watching from the sidelines, maybe I should just try and enjoy the game too, shouldn't I?