It's certainly been a while since my last post.

HAY GUISE WHAT'S GOIN ON I AM HAVIN' DA TIME OF MY LIFE TODAI I HAV ACCOMPLISHED SO MUCH LOL

Not really. 

But I will post a new mini-view up tomorrow!

Why tomorrow?

Because I'm lazy! Hooray!

I hate my life.

Honestly.

Just sayin'.

Inception -- 'Holy cock'

I was the first one in the cinema to say 'awwww' when the end credits of Inception began to roll -- not because I was sad that it ended, no, but because the ending made so much brilliant sense. I saw it coming, just a few seconds before the screen blacked out, and I was all like 'awwww now that was some clever shit right thar.'

Inception is a heist movie about dreams. Dom Cobb (none other than Leo Dicaprio) is an Extractor -- originally working in security of the mind, he specialises in stealing ideas from people's minds through their subconscious. Cobb is a fugitive from the United States; he is forced to work overseas, away from his children. However, Cobb finds himself employed by a billionaire businessman, Saito (Ken Watanabe), who offers him a job in exchange for a clean record, which can apparently be made with one phone call. But the job has a twist: Instead of extracting an idea from a subject's mind, he must instead implant one, through a very difficult, complex process called inception. Cobb assembles a team Ocean's-Eleven-style, including Arthur, his long time associate and Point Man (the subject researcher, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt); Ariadne, a college graduate and Architect (the dream-builder, the lovely Ellen Page); Eames, a snide British stalwart and Forger (essentially an in-dream shapeshifter, played by Tom Hardy), and Yusuf, an atypical Indian scientist and Chemist (he devises the formula necessary to descend into the dream state; played by Dileep Rao). However, the job is blown some setbacks due to an interesting mystery involving Cobb and his dead wife, who makes some eerie appearances to drive the plot.

Inception is some crazy ass shit. Because he's exploring a concept which I have a hunch most of us have never really thought about too deeply before, Christopher Nolan has to set down some ground rules. Remember this is the guy that made The Dark Knight, so note that he knows what he's doing. I'll sum up the rudimentary dream rules for you in a nutshell:

You die in a dream, you wake up for real. However, you can still feel regular pain which doesn't kill you. You can have dreams within dreams. In this case, if you die in a dream, you will ascend to the earlier, shallower level of dream. E.g. if I go to sleep and I dream I'm in a pyramid, and then I go to sleep in my pyramid dream and wake up in the Himalayas, if I die in the Himalayas dream I will go back to the pyramid. Dying in the pyramid will wake me up. Thirdly, you can also ascend dreams/wake up by delivering a "kick." The kick is essentially that falling feeling you get (it's called a hypnic jerk -- this is the bit I'm a bit sketchy about, as this does not actually happen in dreams, but only during hypnogogic state: the period between wake and NREM sleep. NREM is where you DON'T dream). Lastly, time bears a different appearance in each level. In the first level of dream, five minutes of real time represents an hour in the dream. In turn, a few seconds in dream time can mean a couple of hours in the second dream. And so on.

So basically, Nolan's concept of the dream is astounding. He nails the non-linearity of the dream world, and the way he's put together this film is amazing. It took him ten years to write this script. Guy's done some serious work. There are fantastic action sequences, the cast is stellar (despite DiCaprio incorporating a little too much of his character from Shutter Island within the role of Cobb), and the story pulses with an unpretentious dazzle which few would expect from a movie with such hype. Nolan manages to make us care about the characters, and that is the key to a good action sequence -- to have the audience caring what happens. Cobb's relationship with the projection of his deceased wife within his subconscious is also captivating; the tense love between the two is especially enthralling when one considers the indistinct hate that stems from their affection. 

But it's difficult to surpass the excellency with which Inception conveys its events. It's not so much the story itself, which is actually not that complicated once you put your brain through a few paces, but just the way it's told. Nolan's vision of a dream makes wonderful sense (however, please do not believe it to be true. Nolan may yet achieve his secret goal of incepting all of us by convincing us that we live in a dream and must kill ourselves to awaken). I love how the different time durations are always acknowledged and synchronised so that events make chronological sense. Also, the special effects are amazing. Here's a kicker: The state of the level above a dream tier affects how that tier behaves. For example, if one is thrown into a bath in reality, his dream will overflow with water and he will wake. If someone is given a "kick" during one dream state, they will awaken into that state from the one below. If that makes sense. Blah. Watch the movie and it makes perfect sense. 

Anyway, back to the point. Part of the movie involves all the crew in free fall in a van in dream state A. However, only one of them is presently awake in state A. The rest are in states below. Only Joseph Gordon-Levitt is awake in state B; the others are all in states below. In free fall, one is essentially in a vacuum. So Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in a vacuum. But before that, the van in state A is rolling around and shit. So Gordon-Levitt is having these fights in a room where gravity is constantly changing. They did not use CGI to do that. They used a fucking rolling room. 

Anyway, the twist comes right at the end. The thing is, you don't even know if it's a twist. Nolan has his last laugh, leaving the film as open to interpretation as poetry. It's a daring finale for a daring movie. You know what's the strangest part though? With all its complexities and multifaceted vibrance, Inception at its core ultimately delivers a very simple moral, one which I can quote right out of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: 'It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.' 

Inception is a film that will have you rolling your head around. Why? Because the film's events are so open to one's interpretation. The most fantastic thing is, that either way one chooses to analyse them, the elements make sense. It's like a multipurpose jigsaw puzzle. It's brilliant. If Inception has you mindboggled, don't worry, you aren't stupid -- it's driven us all mad. In a good way, of course. The truth kind of is... if you don't walk out of that cinema slightly perplexed, then you probably didn't watch the movie right. 

Here's a tip: When you walk into this movie, pay attention. You will need it. Nolan explores a realm that we are seldom aware enough to explore ourselves, and delivers his own interpretation of it for which you yourself must understand the ground rules in order to take part in this fantastic narrative. The film is trippy, intelligent, and in context of the plot, glowingly astute. Prepare to be mindblown. 

5/5. Do not miss it.

Sydney ft. Get Him To The Greek/Predators

So I just got back from Sydney today. Caught up with some of my friends from there. Was good. If you didn't know, I lived in Sydney in 2008. That was pretty shit but I met some good friends there. And yeah. It rains an awful lot in Sydney. Seems to be the case when a member of my family is there at least. I dunnolol. I discovered how to play Texas Hold 'Em as well as how to play Guitar Hero on Hard, which I'm actually kind of proud of. 

Yeah so when I was there I saw a couple movies:

Get Him To The Greek is kind of a spiritual successor to Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It stars Russell Brand (as Aldous Snow, a has-been rock legend) and Jonah Hill, who incidentally had a small role in FSM as an obsessive Aldous Snow fan. Aldous Snow was in Forgetting Sarah Marshall as well. 

So this movie is weird. I dunno man. It's like... bleh. Jonah Hill (Aaron) is a music talent producer guy whatsit, who has to seek out talent to revive our failing music industry (which coincidentally sucks shit-dick-cock-balls in real life as well). So he has an idea to revive Aldous Snow, a rock musician who several years ago fell out of fame due to his disgraceful music single, African Child (which the movie humorously cites is the third-worst thing to happen to Africa just below poverty and famine). So Jonah Hill is sent off to London to retrieve an erratic, wild rock musician, with a very small time limit to get him to the States. 

So the movie. Alright. Compared to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, this movie does jack shit. As a comedy, it's meh. I'll say this: Jonah Hill and Russell Brand work really well together -- but the movie just doesn't work. There is some absolute gold in terms of humour, but for the most part, it's not quite there. The film relies too much on the depiction of drug use, crude behaviour, brief flashes of sex scenes and unnecessary titties to keep the viewer engaged. It isn't consistently funny. This isn't helped by the fact that it just doesn't know what it wants to be. Get Him To The Greek haphazardly slips between ambitions of being a straight-up rude comedy and ambitions of trying to be deep and meaningful. Because of this the humour is all over the place. At one point I just wasn't sure whether to laugh because I was thinking, 'Should I be laughing at Aaron's heart attack due to ingesting an infusion of drugs or should I be focusing on the tension between Aldous and his dad?' I mean Jesus movie, fucking decide what you want to be!

Overall, GHTTG is meh. 2.5/5. 

_________________________________________________________

Next up, Predators. Predators is supposed to be to Predator -- according to Robert Rodriguez -- what Aliens was to Alien. He says let us forget Predator 2, AvP and AvP: R (the latter two of which are absolute cock-shit-dick-balls) ever happened. Okay, Predators doesn't even draw slightly near Aliens, but then again, how many movies have?

Predators was... interesting. If you don't know already, the film centers on a group of human 'predators' (ha, see what they did there) who find themselves plummeting down to a jungle planet equipped with parachute packs, clothes and weapons, and find themselves the prey in a game reserve set up by an alien race. Onwards! Okay, it starts off really slow. In fact the sluggish nature of the start really pissed me off, and in my opinion marred the rest of the film. It spends way too much time introducing these archetypal characters -- which is actually really pointless because the majority of them die at extremely short intervals afterward anyway. The start also tries too hard to build tension and suspense -- suspense which isn't there. It tries to keep you scared of what the Predator actually looks like by not showing any for rather a long time, which is fucking pointless because most of the people watching the god damn movie have already seen Predator.

Something that also pissed me off was the fact that the big names (apart from Adrien Brody and Topher Grace) who were most used to market the movie were used only for that purpose -- meaning their screen times are very short. Pissed me off. However, Laurence Fishburne's character was great, I loved him. I think he was about the most invested actor in this movie, even though his role is just a wacky cameo. Topher Grace was also brilliant (he played Eric in That 70s Show and Venom in Spiderman 3). His character was great and I think throughout the whole movie, the simple kindness of his character -- who is a complete misfit from the others -- builds far more suspense than any of the shitty emptiness of the early scenes. Lastly, I'm sorry, but Adrien Brody wasn't very good. He just doesn't work as an action hero -- let alone compete with Arnie. He pulls this voice which makes it seem like he's modeled his character around Christian Bale's Dark Knight performance and it's really annoying. He does a very nice final fight at the end, but apart from that he didn't pull the macho-man role off.    

I have to say though, that the action sequences were brilliant in every way. I just wish there were more. There wasn't enough fighting for me, considering it was a sequel to Predator. Don't get me wrong, the deaths were spectacular, but the movie plays it safe in terms of scale and formulaic in terms of story; there aren't enough tricks played. There are twists, but it certainly won't twirl your head around. I hoped for a larger-scale onslaught than what I saw, and the movie didn't quite deliver in that regard. 

Something I did love was the usage of the original film's main theme. Brought about some nice nostalgia. Too bad the film tries to be too nostalgic. You know that scene in Predator 1 where the guy starts stripping to his shirt and pulls out his knives to fight the Predator and buy the others more time? There's a part in Predators which is a massive throwback to that. You know how Arnie used mud to bypass the Predator's infrared vision? Yeah, Brody's character does that too (albeit not coincidentally in the film's favour). And if you remember who had survived the battle by the end of Predator, you will know who survives by the end of Predators within the first five minutes. Oh yeah, also, you know that shot in the trailer where Adrien Brody is standing and being targeted by dozens of laser sights? Yeah that shot was entirely cut out, so don't look for it. Cheap, I know.

In the end, I don't think Predators was as good as it could've been. I mean it's a huge improvement from AvP and AvP:R (I haven't properly seen Predator 2 to judge), but it should've gone for a more all-out-guns-blazing approach. It's too shy and self conscious. A reveal of more Predator gadgets and technology (or even lore) would've been cool, but we don't see that either. What the film delivers is a pretty good revisit of what Predator gave us (lots of gruesome battles, death and ferocious man-verse-alien warfare), but it doesn't bring anything new to the table, and that was quite disappointing. Anyhow, I do look forward to the sequel, with which I hope they'll be much more dynamic.

3.5/5; if you liked Predator, this is the only movie that will give you more quality Predator action (except for perhaps Pred 2, which as previously stated I have not seen).

-Dilan

Toy Story 3/A-Team

I'm not even going to talk about TS3 too much because you can read everything I want to say from all the positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. All you need to know is this: Quality finish to a quality franchise. Be sure to note: This film is NOT a kids' movie. I could hardly find a bit of humour in it that a child would actually laugh at. In fact, there was actually a moment where I genuinely jumped. It was just like a 'holy shit' scary moment.  What the film does is bring us (I'm talking late adolescents, early adults) back to our childhoods. Only thing I was disappointed to see was the omission of some characters (including RC Car, Wheezy, Bo Peep). But yes, TS3 is a nostalgia-fest. Enjoy it while it lasts. Be prepared for bawww at the end. I won't spoil the ending for you but I'll say that it's completely and utterly satisfying. Lastly, the Ken doll voiced by Michael Keaton is pure awesome. 

4.5/5, you MUST watch this. However, if you haven't, watch Toy Story and Toy Story 2 FIRST. 

__________________________________________________________

Alright, the A-Team. I am honest to God going to try and miniaturise these a bit more. I saw this the day after Toy Story 3, so it was nice to watch a film that has virtually zero emotional impact after that. The A-Team is awesome. I loved it. It's just like, 'here's Liam Neeson, here's some black guy from UFC, here's the guy from The Hangover and here's the guy from District 9, and then we'll just chuck in Jessica Biel as well, now sit back and watch some explosions and shit.' The action and visual effects in The A-Team are nothing short of sublime. It's just a never ending thrill ride that keeps going and keeps going... and when you think it's over, keeps going (naturally leaving the ending open for a sequel). 

Note that I haven't actually watched the original show, but I've heard it shares the movie's main traits, namely being loud, rambunctious and pretty funny. Sharlto Copley (dude from District 9) is fucking HILARIOUS. He plays Murdock, who's apparently a crazy pilot. And yeah. It's good stuff.

There are two things I didn't like though. Firstly, the hand-to-hand fight scenes. Lately, directors have this annoying habit of NOT FILMING THESE PROPERLY. The A-Team simply follows suit. These scenes are so quick and terribly edited that you have no idea what the hell is going on. Also, the story. I don't know, it might be just me, but I couldn't follow it. I'm fairly sure it made sense, but it seemed to jump the gun a lot. Things are explained, and only explained once, so if you miss it, you're screwed. I guess the film doesn't do too well in the sense that movies are supposed to show and not tell. However the action and set piece scenes more than make up for it. There is a scene where they fly a tank. Not kidding. It's not even some super sophisticated airship tank. It's just a regular Panzer tank. Also there's a brilliant satirisation of 3D television.

So yeah, drift into Michael Bay mode (expect no narrative coherence, look for plenty of action and explosions) and catch The A-Team. It's lots of fun.

4/5, recommended. 

-Dilan

Sheesh.

Suuuuuch stress. It is so cold that my back hurts all day. It feels like a plank, on the verge of snapping at any given moment. We've had a heap of trouble sorting out shit for our formal. Shit I don't even feel like going anymore. I guess I've learnt a lesson to organise it earlier next year.


You know, I think there needs to be more integration between Tumblr, Blogger and Wordpress. I mean I would switch to Tumblr if it didn't have such a retarded name; I'd switch to Wordpress as it seems more professional but I don't know what the follower system on that is like either.


I really need to go overseas. A break would be nice... in my opinion, the two week period of school between exams and holidays is silly; but of course, Year 10s have work experience and blah blah blah. And God damn it we have so much French homework it makes me cringe and die a little inside. And that's HOLIDAY homework. It's like twelve items -- including three essays. I spent literally all of the latter ten days of last holidays doing motherf***ing French homework. God. It is not fitting that Physics and Math and even 3/4 Psychology leave me unscathed and then French comes and wrecks the whole damn show. Damn it.


I need to branch out more. I would like to branch out more. I don't think I've grown up enough in high school the way everyone else has.


To end -- watch this. I dunno it spoke to me. 

robin hood

gud moovee go watch hurr

Prince of Persia

I've been pretty neglectful of my blog due to exams. So I'm back now, and to cap off the end of exams I saw Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time last night.


Basically the only video game-movies out there are all pretty bad. I've only seen Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (both of which I loved), and Street Fighter (which is terrible). I say most adaptations are bad because most adaptations are made by Uwe Boll. Enough said. No matter how much shit the guy doles out someone keeps giving him money to make movies. 


So here's the first video game adaptation with a decent production value. I'm happy to say that it's not half-bad either. In all the Prince games so far, the Prince never has a name; he's simply referred to as 'The Prince'. So of course, they had to give him a name. 


Jake Gyllenhaal plays Dastan (pretty lame name IMO), a young street urchin who happens to be seen by the king of Persia as he helps an urchin boy out of a sticky situation. The king is struck by Dastan's character and nobility and takes him in to become a Prince of Persia (dun dun dun). Fast-forward several years later, and Dastan, accompanied by his 'brothers' (they're obviously not blood-related), Tus (Dastan and Tus...) and Garsiv (seriously?), as well as the Vizier of Persia and the King's brother, Nizam (okay, seriously, who thought of these names?), finds himself leading the Persian army to victory against the holy city of Alamut. Now here's where it gets funny. The Persians attack Alamut because they receive 'false information' about Alamut manufacturing weapons for Persia's enemies. Okay, now just wait. It is later revealed that Alamut houses the Dagger of Time and the Sands of Time, which is what the antagonist is actually after. I actually love the allegory to Iraq and the WMDs. 


So anyway, Dastan and the Persians take Alamut, and shortly after Dastan finds himself framed for the murder of the King and fleeing from his very own family with the beautiful princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton). 


I'm going to spoil the surprise antagonist for you. Why? Because it's so damn obvious that he's the villain as soon as you see the first shot of him. But how, you ask. Firstly, he's the VIZIER. Who is always evil in fictional stories set in India or Persia: the Vizier. Read Asterix and the Flying Carpet. You will never look at a Vizier in a good light again. However, the main factor is: the guy's bald. Vizier Nizam, played by Ben Kingsley, is bald, and that is what makes him the villain. Baldness equals villainy. Remember that.


Onwards. The most surprising thing about this movie is that the plot is actually good. Like, it stands up for itself and is really interesting. It's a little clichéd but I thought it worked really well, and Nizam's motives are pretty well conveyed (by the way, Sir Ben Kingsley plays a badass villain). There are a couple of plotholes that I spotted while watching it, but the sequences they occur in happen so fast that it's really difficult to pick them up at all. I thought the special effects were beautiful. Pretty much any scene containing sand was beautiful. 


There's a reasonable amount of humour (amusingly often directed at the government's fiendish habits of collecting taxes), although the acting is a bit sub-par. I'll have to say that the opening lines of the early scene where the Persians are about to attack Alamut just had me going 'Oh my God this is going to be such - a - drag.' The action in that section of the film definitely made up for the cheesy acting though, but thankfully the dialogue got better as it went. At first I was doubtful about Gyllenhaal playing the Prince but he actually pulls it off pretty spectacularly, although I still wish they'd picked someone that could do more of his own stunts; there are simply too many shots where we're looking at the Prince's back because it's a stuntman doing all the parkour. Oh yeah, the parkour's great too. But... some more of it would have been nice. 


Something the film is a bit too full of is incessant drabble being fired from Arterton's mouth. She's great and she's hot and all, but oh my God is her dialogue annoying. BLAH BLAH BLAH I'M A SPOILT PRINCESS THAT NEEDS HER PRADA HANDBAGS AND HAS A REALLY HIGH VOICE. Far out. Apart from her there are some really nice characters to go along with the Prince and Nizam. While the dude that plays Garsiv reminded me a little too much of Taylor Lautner, I thought the dude that played Tus was quite proficient. Overall the film's acting is a bit hit-and-miss, which is pretty much exactly what you expect from a video game adaptation. 


My final complaint will be directed at the editing. It will therefore be directed at Mike Newell, the director, who also happened to be responsible for the train wreck known as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the film. The editing is too scrappy. Seriously. Jeez. The action sequences are good only because of the actors in it and the special effects; they could've been great if not for the spontaneous cuts and amateur editing. They just seem rushed. And that's not a surprise, considering this is a Mike Newell film. Go away Newell. I will never forgive you for the shit you vomited out in place of a Harry Potter film. 


Rant complete. Yeah, so Prince of Persia was actually pretty fun. The film stales a bit throughout the midsection, but the action sequences are really cool (there's a particular one between this huge Numidian warrior and an assassin, and they're only using throwing knives) and are well complemented by sublime CGI. The acting is hit-and-miss, but the performances by Gyllenhaal and Kingsley are near-flawless. This is the most professional video game-to-film adaptation I've seen so far (I maintain that Mortal Kombat is still the best adaptation I've seen so far), and it was surprisingly satisfying. 


Recommended watch, but go in with relatively low expectations. 3.5/5. 


P.S. I actually saw Robin Hood a couple of weeks back and was too lazy to write about it, I need to do that. Blah. 

Fernando's First Piece of Advice on Life

'Try to set yourself goals that are near-impossible to achieve-- that way, you will never stop trying; and perseverance is key.'


-Dilan

β Impressions #3

Invasion is pretty fun, although it is a fair bit harder to play as Elites than Spartans. The initial beach spawn is simply far too difficult to cross for those that spawn on the far side towards the cliff. Past that first section though, it's a great, even contest. Plenty of vehicular combat to boot as well. Good fun.


Also, Invasion Slayer is really interesting too, very impressive. In it, you have to capture points in order to gain power weapons or vehicles, and the game functions like a regular slayer game aside from that. Cool stuff. 


-Dilan

Fernando's First Law of VCE

"At any given time, a minimum of one subjects will be shitting a student up the wall. Awareness levels should be adjusted accordingly."


-Dilan

β Impressions #2

I am getting better at Headhunter. The human grenade launcher is kind of like a mix of the Brute Shot and the rocket launcher: it combines the way brute grenades bounce off some surfaces while also being a one hit kill; too bad you can only have one grenade loaded at a time.


I'm having a lot more fun with the beta now I've gotten acquainted with all the new stuff. The map layouts have now been figured out and I've devised tactics befitting my style (you know, run straight at the opponent with whatever gun I have equipped blazing away nonchalantly).


You know what's cool though. Reach goes back to Halo: CE's style of grenade throwing, and I ROCK at it, just like I did back in the days of CE of course. Seriously, I can anticipate a kill and still get it five seconds after I die. One game the score was 49/49 and I just come out of nowhere on a jetpack and get the last kill with a frag grenade from a hundred metres away.


<3


Lovin' it.


-Dilan

β Impressions #1

After ten refreshing games of playing the Halo: Reach beta, I happily post my initial impressions:


I've played ten games so far , and won nine of them with an average K/D spread of 1.4. At the moment there are only two maps: Swordbase and Powerhouse. I prefer Swordbase as I think it brings a new verticality that none of the Halo games ever bore before. Powerhouse is also good, but it reminds be a little too much of High Ground. I'm enjoying the game so far; the melee has been toned down, allowing for fights not to be decided solely by the factor of who presses B first.


There are some new gametypes involved as well. Stockpile is an interesting gametype, and is, as Bungie so aptly describes it, just like 'Capture the Flag on steroids'. The other two gametypes have not been introduced to the beta as of yet, so more on that later on. I will say, however, that so far the traditional gametypes (such as Oddball, CTF and Slayer) are working well.  


The new loadouts are pretty dynamic. Funnily enough, the jetpack is proving to be the favourite on most occasions, while Armor Lock comes in a close second. The other two available are Sprint and Active Camo: Sprint is a fairly default armour ability; however, Active Camo isn't widely used yet as people don't seem to have quite got the hang of how to use it. Perhaps it'll be put to better use as the beta goes on.


The new weapons are fantastic, however you can't help but miss some of the old ones. The plasma rifle finds itself completely replaced by a bulkier counterpart, and obviously none of the brute weapons make a return due to Reach taking place prior to Halo: CE. Also note that for some reason the dual wield function has been removed from the game. Also, I'm particularly enjoying the Designated Marksman Rifle, as well as the Needle Rifle. I've been unable to get my hands on a plasma launcher as of yet. I have to say though, I'm really pleased with the pistol now. It's not overpowered, and thankfully it's not underpowered either. You can get a kill with it if your aim is good enough. Happy face.


We are still waiting on the introduction of the Invasion and Headhunter gametypes, as well as the final map, so I'll post more about my impressions on the beta later on.


-Dilan

Everybody!

Watch Tron!


<3


-Dilan

Iron Man 2

There really isn't that much to say on this one. 


It's as good as the first Iron Man, however with a greater focus on spectacle; not in the sense that a greater portion of the movie is all about action, flashing lights and explosions, but in the sense that the set-pieces are a lot larger. The character development is just as good as Iron Man 1 (it was very good, for those who have seen neither film). 


There are multiple storylines in this film that run in parallel with each other (incidentally much darker storylines than the original film), which actually works pretty well, although it does give the film a bit of an uneven pacing. After about the first 40 minutes, which is jam-packed with action, things come to a halt; from then on until the final act it's all about plot progression, hilarious puns and lots of charm. And that's what's good about Iron Man; it actually has charm, and doesn't solely rely on special effects (cough cough, Revenge of the Fallen). 


Downey Jr. as usual delivers as Tony Stark, which was just about a given. Mickey Rourke manages to send tingles down one's spine as the film's villain Ivan Vanko/Whiplash -- seriously, that is one formidable opponent right there; however, I have a source who tells me his Russian is really bad. Either way, it's a pity that he didn't get more screen time while donning the Whiplash suit. Moving on, most of the old cast returns, Don Cheadle replaces Terrence Howard as Rhodey (and later War Machine), and does pretty well in the role actually; he's not as dynamic as Howard was, but he and Downey work well together. Samuel Jackson is loud and stuff as Nick Fury; Scarlett Johansson is utter hotness as Black Widow, while Paltrow brings some boldness to the table in her reprisal of Pepper Potts. However, Sam Rockwell... I think he's the surprise star of this film. Playing Justin Hammer, an arms dealing competitor of Stark, Hammer serves as a semi-villain as well as a large source of comic-relief; and he does it really, really well. Props to him.


Additionally, I was happy to see that the whole mostly AC/DC soundtrack thing didn't work against the film -- it's never overdone. Ever.


Iron Man 2 delivers like a sequel; it just feels like a movie that's in the middle of a trilogy and it knows it's not done with. It knows that it's good, and it's not afraid to parade it around. It also knows that it's leading up to the Avengers film, and it's not afraid to put plenty of hints out there about it; in fact, the film almost sacrifices coherence to advertise the Avengers. True, IM2 is immensely commercialised, but that level of commercialism is pushing it. 


Overall though, Iron Man 2 shoots to thrill; good film, lots of fun. 4/5 stars, recommended watch.


-Dilan

Life

Is not black nor white. It is not even grey. Life boasts a mixture of bright and mellow colours, some inviting, some sinister, each with its own experience; an experience of euphoria, depression, greatness or heartbreak. It's not often that we observe that we're so very divided -- we always will be. It won't change. But if we try to see how things are on the other side, we might discover that what we may at times be opposed to actually makes a degree of sense -- as long as one doesn't abuse that sense. Of course, balance is crucial. There is certainly a point where one might adhere to the cliché 'too much of a good thing', whether it concerns something academic like studying, or something wild like alcohol. Life is all about balance. At least that's my observation from here. And no, there is no perfect balance. Each of us requires our own balance. Each of us wants something different. If we look, it may well be that we might just find what we're after.


End philosophical rant. Just did a Learners practice test and got 97%. Boo yah. Gonna do a few more and have it booked in by the end of this week. Also, I just realised how much studying hogs up my life in that I cannot play guitar like... ever. I just want to relax. I want to play games. Oh God how I want to play games.


So I came to a resolution. When the next holidays come, I will start it off with a Halo marathon. I'm not going to play Halo: CE, Halo 2, nor Halo 3; no, I'm going to play all three. But wait, it doesn't end there. I'm going to finish them all... on Legen- wait for it... I hope you're not allergic to milk products-dary. That's right. Halo 2. On Legendary. Single-player. Just you watch.  


And then, the next week... going to play KOTOR. Epic nostalgia going right here.


Up this week... French outcome, and on Friday, Iron Man 2 in IMAX. Should be pretty sweet -- as long as it doesn't epic fail like Revenge of the Fallen did anyway. This'll be a mega-epic-super-fail if they mess it up... I mean Downey, Paltrow, Jackson, and Scarlett 'Super-hot' Johansson... surely not.   


Also, carn the Maggies! Bahahahaha. 

-Dilan

Kick-Ass

Kicks ASS. 


The superhero genre hasn't had such a refreshing take since TDK blew our minds back in '08. I won't lie to you, Kick-Ass is an absolute fucking blast. They've marketed it as a shallow comedy riddled with a bit of action and goofs, right? Yeah, it's a lot, lot more than that.


Kick-Ass covers that little concept we've all at one stage pondered (shut up and admit it); what if you were a superhero? Average teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) decides to take the law into his own hands and become Kick-Ass; an amateur teenager in a wetsuit with hardly an inkling of what he's doing. Now where's this movie going... you think you've already answered your question: it'll be a shallow teen romp full of sexually explicit laughs (the films MA15+ rating would influence that part) and a whole bunch of other shit you'd expect in a high budget April release. Fortunately, you're wrong. 


This film is funny. It's satisfying. It's glossy and it's jam-packed with Kill Bill-esque ass-kicking that hasn't been seen for a while. However, it's not just that; the film manages to strike this surreal balance between a superhero universe and the real world... kind of like Batman Begins meets... I dunno, Spiderman? I'm taking this right out of an article I just read, but it's a film that does so many things right that it'd be silly to point out its flaws, which are so few and minor. 


Let me say that this Chloe Moretz chick just blew my fucking mind; Hit-Girl owns this movie better than Batman owned Batman. It's funny because Aaron Johnson's Kick-Ass is actually a pretty useless superhero; he just serves as a kind of bland fulcrum around which the other characters can work their magic. Of course, these characters are Red Mist, Hit-Girl and Nicholas Cage's ex-cop-turned-revenge-driven-vigilante: Big Daddy. There's an interesting background to Red Mist, whom the trailers depicted as a comic idiot. Hit-Girl is just so much more impressive than I thought she would be; it makes me glad to know that Moretz can actually act, and that she doesn't solely rely on using the word 'cunts' and shooting people while doing Matrix stunts to get her point across. She is a genuinely fucking awesome character. On to Nicholas Cage - his last blockbuster, Knowing, was a major flop. He pulls it ALL back with this. Big Daddy is just a downright badass when he dons his costume, and when he doesn't, he's funny as hell. In fact, even when he's being sincere in his costume he's hilarious; why? Because he does an impression of Adam West's Batman. Yeah. Adam. West's. Batman. <3.


Here's the weird part though, while we're on Big Daddy. There is a scene that shows Big Daddy ransacking a warehouse (it's AWESOME). During this scene, I heard a bass line. 'Hey, this sounds like "In The House - In A Heartbeat" from the 28 Days Later soundtrack', I thought. 30 seconds later, I'm going 'Wait a minute... this IS "In The House - In A Heartbeat"... just a remixed version.' So I did a bit of snooping, and found out that a significant amount of this movie's OST is recycled from the OSTs of 28 Days Later and Sunshine; both films with OSTs composed by John Murphy (who shares credit in Kick-Ass's OST) and directed by Danny Boyle. What is up with that? I mean it's not entirely new, and the music DOES fit in wonderfully to add a dark side to the film, but in the end it's just like 'what the hell?'. It's just... weird. 


Overall though, Kick-Ass is a scintillating trip through an intriguing concept. I walked into the theatre expecting a shallow, albeit fun trip through yet another superhero universe, and walked out satisfied by something a lot more creative. After the marketing campaign, you'd think Kick-Ass is a comedy peppered with some action; it's actually much the opposite, and it works. Satirical gore is delivered in just the right amounts, and you're given plenty of Hit-Girl that you're not left itching for more. Aaron Johnson's bland Dave Lizewski is in a way complemented by a crop of dynamic, outstanding characters who interact in a unique manner, yet one that's at the same time similar enough to make it doubtlessly clear that Kick-Ass is in fact a superhero movie. Props to Nicholas Cage, and a standing ovation to Chloe Moretz; I'll say it once again, she was fucking badass. 


You know the ultimate best part though? It doesn't scream 'sequel'. It starts a story and it finishes it. It leaves the possibility open, but it doesn't scream 'omgwtf trilogy' like Clash of the Titans or Daybreakers, and that just finished the film with a cherry on top.  


Definitely a recommended watch, 4.5/5 stars. 

To Whom It May Concern

I completely understand, and I won't say any more because, well, I do.


Stop being so sorry. Really. 


And to leave you less tense (I hope), I'll leave it with this; I came tonight because I wanted to hang out with you. You say we haven't hung out much IRL, I agree, and I want to do so more. I didn't come for the show, and even though I will admit I didn't particularly like it (lol), I wasn't disappointed because I still got to chill with you and that was fun. So I came to hang with you because it provided some circumstances to do so, which are apparently quite rare. I hope this makes you feel better :/, I really do, 'cause you shouldn't feel bad. 


(so I hope you can come to the footy for the same reason as above^),


Sleep tight and don't let the Kraken bite,


Dilan. 

Easter

This one has been incredibly boring. Not that they're ever particularly interesting :/


I went to church this morning. Certainly the most boring part of the day; listening to some old dude deliver the same old story again. Whoopee. The church I go to is incredibly bad, conventional and mundane. I remember going to church in Fort Lauderdale in the USA for Easter last year, that was far more interesting and bearable; those pastors actually spoke on a more personal level to the attendees.


Seriously though, I can't say I like going to church, however much I'd like to...

Clash of the Titans!

Titans will clash! And Sam Worthington will refuse to do away with his Australian accent! Here's the mini-review: Actually, I don't think these are all that mini anymore...


__________________________________________________________
Name is way too long so I'll be referring to it as 'CotT' occasionally. Clash of the Titans is a revisit to the good old days of action-packed blockbusters with decent actors and no substance. Saying that, Clash isn't for those looking for an intelligent, stimulating, dialogue-ridden adventure. Rather, it's a movie that's all about the CGI and all about the action. If you didn't know already, CotT is a remake of an 80s film starring Harry Hamlin.


Firstly, the story: Clash covers the journey of Perseus, a demigod and son of Zeus, who survives an attempted murder; recovered in the sea by an old fisherman and his wife, he lives a simple life with his adoptive family. However, when his family are killed by Hades, the ruler of the Underworld, Perseus embarks on an epic quest for revenge - you know the deal.


Now, I'm going to tell you what's good. The action sequences are filled with immensely gratifying CG. It's great, it really is. There are some absolutely beautiful set pieces and some of the camera shots are nothing short of epic, paralleling to the Lord of the Rings films. The characters are for the most part likeable; Gemma Arterton is totally hawt as Io, and the other side characters are also quite humorous and convincing. The soundtrack is really nice, although it never varies too much and sticks to the basic theme song. 


The story, however, is a bit of a grey area; while it certainly does improve on the story of the original CotT, the fact remains that the original never really focused on plot - you might scoff if you saw the film today, but back then the original actually was a special effects extravaganza. The addition of Hades to the fray adds a nice touch, especially because Ralph Fiennes is absolutely fucking menacing as the god of the Underworld. There are large political allegories going on (the whole 'damn the gods' tag-line is pretty self-explanatory), and it's a relief that this time around the titans actually do in fact clash (unlike the original, where you're just left going 'Why is it even called Clash of the Titans?'). Overall, the story is decent, but because of the complicated nature of the supposed Greek mythology it'll be kind of hard to follow to those who aren't familiar with the events of the original. 


The bad parts? Well, the script is occasionally weak, but it's passable. Unfortunately while the action scenes would have been really good, they're hindered by some ridiculous camerawork which at times might leave you just a little confused. However, the most surprising part comes here. I'll talk about Sam Worthington a bit later - I want to talk about Liam Neeson. I love Liam Neeson. He's great. WONDERFUL, in fact. But in this, he is an absolute douche. He plays Zeus, and he is seriously the silliest character in this movie. You know the 'RELEASE THE KRAKEN' line from the trailer? Well he sounds like a freaking idiot when he says it in the movie, because there is NO REASON to say it that loudly, I swear that line was written solely for the trailer. I don't know what he was doing here; I just don't think he's fierce enough for Zeus to be honest. It doesn't help that his armour looks completely ridiculous. Onwards, I want to point out that the Medusa fight scene was a disappointment. It was really really intense in the original, but it just fell flat in this film despite the brilliant set. 


Onwards to our Sam! Okay, I like Sam Worthington. He seems like a really nice guy. Let's face it, he, along with Anton Yelchin, saved Terminator Salvation from being a downright flop; that was pretty much his big break, and he took it with vigour. He wasn't half-bad in Avatar either. However, this is something that will plague him in the future; his inability to get rid of the accent. Someone tell me, WHY would Perseus, a Greek demigod, sound like an Australian!? Quite frankly, half the time he sounds like a modern day Greek with that heavy-ass fusion of an accent, but I'm pretty sure that back in the day they did NOT talk like that. Also, his performance was kind of wooden. Granted, the script didn't really give him that much to do in terms of dialogue, however it doesn't seem like he really tried to be too dynamic either. However he was impressive in the fight sequences, especially the ones involving Calibos, so that was good. I'll give him a bit of a break; he nailed it two out of three times, and that's a good start for him. I'll leave my criticism with this; Harry Hamlin's Perseus from the original kicks Sam Worthington's' ass; he just said his lines better. 


Here's the part that makes me angry. 3D. Fucking 3D. This movie was optimised in 3D only four months before it was released. Greedy bastards are just hogging the extra funding for the 3D ticket, because frankly, 3D is just a gimmick unless it gets A LOT of work. Like Avatar. That was nice. CotT's 3D however, is absolute shit. The first half of the movie has some decent 3D. The second half of the movie has none at all. So fuck you movie studio, because you just gave us absolutely no 3D where the action sequences are. All the glasses do is dim the movie most of the time, ruining the epic panoramic shots. Jesus, and you can't even take them off, because then the screen is all blurry because of whatever the hell they do with the 3D film. This movie would have been doubly better in 2D. So there you have it; if you have the choice, see it in 2D. I unfortunately, did not have a choice.


So, overall... Clash of the Titans is good fun. There are some very nice action sequences, however lacking a bit of polish. The acting is good, only let down a bit by Worthington and a little moreso by Neeson. The plot is fairly involved, although it isn't told very well. Again, the CGI is absolutely brilliant, with some amazing set-pieces and well choreographed battle sequences. 


A recommended watch if you just want a good time; go into this one in what I like to call 'Michael Bay Mode': expecting a movie with all action and no substance. 3/5.  

hey guise

You know those times where NO-ONE notices you're going through a tough time and you feel completely isolated from the rest of the world even though you act happy in front of your friends because you don't want to impose your problems on them. 


Yeah. 

Protip:

Writing a novel is not as smooth a ride as one might initially perceive.


Also; testicles.


That will be all.

Green Zone

So I finished up a pretty hellish week today, four SACs (School Assessed Coursework, I think the abbreviation is for) in three days of school. So, as I do, I relaxed by seeing a movie with a couple of mates. The usual mini-review:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God damn Americans and your war. So, Green Zone is about Jason Bourne who is a chief in the military. He is stationed in Baghdad, 2003, in the time following the ousting of Saddam Hussein. Jason Bourne is trained to find and dispose of weapons of mass destruction, the existence of which is the focus of this film. Naturally, Jason Bourne, with the help of Mad-Eye Moody, uncovers some sort of conspiracy which inevitably leads to the mind-blowing revelation (hurr durr) of where the WMDs actually are.

By the end of the movie, a general consensus of the movie would center around one word: 'Alright'. How was the acting? It was alright. How was the action? It was alright. Story? Yeah, it was alright. And the script? You guessed it; alright. The story meets a couple of interesting twists, but in the end you know exactly where it's going so that kind of makes them obsolete in a sense. It's not quite the roller-coaster narrative of the Bourne series, but it certainly isn't bad. Matt Damon and Brendan Gleeson play their roles well, but surprisingly enough, the star turns out to be relative unknown Khalid Abdalla, who pretty much serves as a symbol for Iraq as whole; conflicted, broken, yet nonetheless very much human, and just wishing for all this shit to end.

The action is reasonable, but it isn't a focal point of the movie. Some of the action is marred by some overly shaky camerawork, and some of the later, more action packed scenes are extremely grainy for some reason; perhaps it was added as an effect on purpose - either way, it doesn't work. The story, the main aspect, is also decent, but it's simply too late for this film to say what it wants to as it's referring to things that happened seven years back.

One of the things the film could be commended for, however, is the depiction of Iraq at the time. The chaos is well acted out, and the long shots of Baghdad are very effective, and the imagery of guns blazing away into the night and flaming buildings really works well.

Overall, the film is a solid political commentary, one that Americans won't like; but in the end, as was aforementioned, it's just kind of late. Yes, we know the WMDs aren't real. We know this war is silly. Otherwise, it's a decent flick. There is obviously a film Green Zone will be compared to immediately by those who watch it: The Hurt Locker. Green Zone and The Hurt Locker approach opposite ends of the spectrum; Green Zone is a film that incriminates America for its invasion of Iraq, and The Hurt Locker, while not quite blatantly stating its case for the war, does make some attempt to justify it, and that is why The Hurt Locker has been received so well. It sure as hell wasn't as good as six Oscars. Unfortunately though, while Green Zone does state an obvious point of view, in the end the fact remains that the film is mostly fictional; it's kind of a fictional version of the truth, if you can make sense of that. I won't spoil it too much for you.

So - consensus? It's alright. It's a reasonable film, but nothing memorable. Probably not a recommended watch in the theatre, just rent the DVD or catch it on a plane.

Shutter Island.

It probably wasn't the best idea to watch this film in my current state of mind. The film is infinitely depressing, but that doesn't mean it's bad.


Mini-review:


Edward 'Ted' Daniels is a US Marshall assigned to investigate the whereabouts of a missing prisoner on Shutter Island, a mental asylum housing the most dangerous and damaged people in the United States. Daniels, however, has arrived at the asylum with some ulterior motives in mind, and finds himself in the middle of a psychological conflict which even he cannot fathom.


Shutter Island is a psychological thriller, intense to every last second. I haven't seen any other Scorsese films (well, not that I know of anyway) so I can't really compare it to anything, but I can say that some of the images in the film are eerily beautiful while greatly capturing the grim aura of the film's story. 


Be clear on this: watch this film, and you will not feel good afterwards. You may be mind-blown, but the chances are you will feel depressed. The film is very, very down-putting, but it is still extremely good. The acting is for the most part convincing, the cinematography is perfect with every shot, and the story twists and turns rivetingly although it ends up on somewhat predictable ground. 


The aforementioned ending doesn't bring down the film in any way. Although you might hope it would stray a little, Scorsese probably wouldn't be right in changing someone else's story (the film is based on a novel), and the 2 hours 15 minutes running time that leads up to it is one hundred percent thrilling.


Definitely a recommended watch, but be prepared, it is saddening, and it's a movie where you really have to think, one where the details count. 

Sick.

These potatoes are cold. The broccoli is soggy. The roast lamb oozes with toxic oils ready to ravage my body. The house is unwelcoming. The sky instills claustrophobia. I cannot take any more. I cannot take any more lies. I cannot take any more shit. I refuse to take any more. 


You think you know when someone that's lied multiple times is finally telling the truth. You are wrong. 

I await

Yet more bad news, which is getting tediously frequent. 

The Lost Generation.

So my English Language teacher showed us this video in class to display uses of intonation and pitch, and word order in syntax.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA


Mindblown.

Wrong.

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. You know it.

Daybreakers.

So I saw Daybreakers on the weekend. Here's a mini-review:


Ah, what a relief it is to finally see a real vampire movie, where the pale bastards get ashed by sunlight instead of sparkling, where there's no pretentious teenage girl (hold that thought - there is a pretentious teenage girl in the film, but that doesn't make her a bad, nor annoying character) aching for her emotionless dredge of a boyfriend. The relief I feel to see vampires dying by a stake through the heart again is staggering. 


In a nutshell, Daybreakers' story is set in 2019, where the world has been overrun by vampires and just about all of Earth's populace is now a blood-sucker. The existence of the human race is dwindling, with only 5% of its original population remaining, which is currently being hunted and/or farmed for blood. Edward Dalton (played by Ethan Hawke) is a 'vegetarian' vampire hematologist in charge of a project being conducted in order to find a blood substitute for the vampire race to continue its existence.


Naturally, through a sequence of coincidental events Edward stumbles across a group of humans who think they've discovered a cure to vampirism. You get the picture; just a note: the film is not predictable. 


Daybreakers is great, especially for a January release film. There's lots of blood, there's characters that you'll grow to like and hate (Willem Dafoe is particularly impressive, and Sam Neill chips in with a bloodcurdling performance reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's Joker), and the story is original, not an adaptation, not a remake, not a sequel!


The only part where the movie goes awry is the fact that the ending is so abrupt. It almost feels like the film is missing a fourth act, and just when you're expecting an epic finale, it cuts off on you, giving you that feeling you get when you turn around to grab that last slice of cake, only to discover that it was eaten by that fat guy standing next to you. 


Either way, Daybreakers is a riveting, intense ride which will provide a sigh of relief for all true vampire fans everywhere. Definitely a recommended watch-BAT. 

A[n assuredly teary] Farewell

There are many issues going on in my life. My family is topsy turvy, I feel alone and disconnected from those around me, and I finished watching the first season (and therefore entire series) of Firefly and now feel rather down as I feel like there will never be a TV show nearly as well-written, frantic, nor brilliant such as those 14 diamond-esque episodes created by Joss Whedon. The previous sentence probably speaks the truth anyway; I doubt there's anything that'd beat Firefly. Serenity could possibly equal it. Maybe. 


But today, I don't want to write about that. No, I want to dedicate this post to one Benjamin James Reed. It's not likely that Ben will Reed this blog (< u c wut i did thar?), nor that he would really care if he were to do so, but I feel it appropriate to do so anyhow. I've known Ben since the fourth grade, but only really became friends with him in the fifth, I think. Suddenly a few days ago a whole bunch of us find out that Ben's leaving for some reason. I can tell you it took most, if not all of us by surprise.  I'm not going to drag this on because then it'd be like a eulogy; that would be rather disconcerting. I'm going to miss Ben, that's pretty much how I can sum it up. He's a sane person in an insane world. Somehow, admirably, Ben manages to fit in with all sorts of cliques, whether it be the underestimated, the modest, the popular; yet he retains his brains. That's why I know he'll do fine in Perth.


I'll admit I don't know Ben nearly as well as I did two years ago. What I do know of him is that he hasn't changed all that much, apart from doing what teenagers do: he's still hella-tall, he's a fantastic cricketer, his back is always getting injured, he has an undying love for loud music and instruments, he's a hell of a lot more intelligent than he prefers to admit and overall he's a damn good friend to cap it all off.


I wish you good luck in that far-off land of bogans, Ben. Later bro, we'll all miss you.  

People are the root of every problem.

My life is about to change. For better or for worse. I don't know yet. It's a two-sided coin, yet the "good" side is still plagued with a decent bit of bad. Why? Because some people just don't get it. They just don't understand that they are simply going along with the system. They are living their lives so that I can live my life, instead of living their lives for themselves. People just don't understand. 


I haven't revealed much, but I'm posting this because, well, no one will read it, and I need to write about it somewhere, lest I spontaneously combust within the next 48 hours or so. 


Something that really disappoints me is that when you have a vision of people as flawless, or at least as people with integrity and values, they simply show you up later. All people are flawed. I suppose when one makes few mistakes in life, the mistakes they do make are even bigger. This is all vague, yeah. 


Look forward to some happier posts in future, guaranteed. I'm sorry that my first post must be so grim, but I suppose it's all for the better, considering no one will read it. 


-Dilan


P.S. I got a label maker. Epic funsies.