Happy New Year!

Have a good year ahead! :D

The Many (Recent) Virtues of Natalie Portman

'Nuff said. ;)

Swim Until You Can't See Land

Going to ditch the whole 'Submerge Your Senses' thingy and do it more subtly instead. ;)

This is my ode to one of the greatest songs I've heard in recent history.

Hope you like it. :)

2011: Year of the Western

There used to be a time when the word 'Western' was not seen without the word 'spaghetti' and the best thing about the whole genre was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Clint Eastwood, John Wayne and Ennio Morricone's sweeping soundtrack that captured the mood and the dangers of the Western frontier. But thanks to the (almost) runaway success of the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men (which I consider to be a Western, despite not being included in the genre, because of its mood) and the excellent slow-burn of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the Western is making its slow but sure comeback into the mainstream.

2011 will be peppered with Western, Western, and more Western with promising line-ups.

First up is True Grit. Sure, it was released in 2010, but we'll be hearing more about its virtues and whatnots in 2011 when the awards season is in full swing and the movie makes its rounds outside of the US.

According to IMDB, True Grit revolves around a stubborn young woman who enlists a tough U.S. Marshal to help her track down her father's murderer. Reviews have so far been very positive, but it's a no-brainer anyway since this is another work of the (mostly) faultless Coen brothers. 

Here's the trailer:

This here next Western is an unconventional one that I am personally anticipating (would you expect anything other than Mr. Jon Favreau, director of Iron Man and Iron Man 2?): Cowboys and Aliens.

Yes, laugh while you may. Besides being helmed by a director who is known for his inventiveness and ingenuity, the cast billing will floor you: Daniel Craig, Harrison friggin' Ford, Sam Rockwell and Olivia Wilde. I believe you have stopped laughing. 

Official summary for the movie as given by Universal Pictures is as thus: 

"The Old West.. where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world. 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It's a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been..."


And if you need more conviction as to its potential awesomeness, here be its trailer down here:

The Western genre is also being embraced by the animation genre, it seems. Johnny Depp lends his voice talents to the animated film, Rango which, officially that is, is about a chameleon with an identity crisis. 

But from the trailer a few cowboy/sheriff antics seem to be involved. 

Giddy up fellas! We're in for one helluva ride in this here comin' year. Yee-ha!

What I REALLY Want for Christmas

Another Christmas has come and gone without any presents for fortunate ol' me. Celebrating Christmas and the tradition of gift-exchanging is not practised in my family, but I'm someone who so easily gets influenced by temptations around me, so when I see the Christmas decor in shopping malls and hear tales of what others got for Christmas, I can't help but feel a little jealous. Ah well, human nature eh?

If I could somehow choose what I COULD have for Christmas, I'd choose any one of the Criterion Collection DVDs. Yeap, any one will make me extremely, EXTREMELY happy.

(from left to right, up to down: Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) by Jean-Luc Godard; Cronos by Guillermo del Toro; The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie by Luis Bunuel; Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) by Ingmar Bergman; Le Samourai by Jean-Pierre Melville; Eyes Without A Face (Les yeux sans visage) by Georges Franju; Rebecca by Alfred Hitchcock; Under the Roofs of Paris (Sous les toits de Paris) by Rene Clair; 

and Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa)

Other choices that would be just as nice include this gorgeoussss swallow-print blouse by Warehouse:

Love the wonderful print! Check out more about the blouse here.

A Playstation 3 would be nice as well!

Or a new phone (mine is 3 years old now and its speakers have gone soft):

This, my friends, is the Samsung Galaxy S. 

Yes I know, I'm drooling too.

OR... a couple of (original ;P) PC games would be nice too:

Yeah, I'll just keep on dreaming...

Christmas Trees for the 21st Century

Ho ho ho! As the merry festivity dawns upon us, this year it has struck me that Christmas trees are getting odder as they conform to our growing desire to be modernist.

Here are a few examples:

Love those inventive ideas!

I think Taylor Swift did an okay job on her rendition of 'Last Christmas', but it was too rushed in certain parts in my opinion. My favourite version is still Glee's.

Merry Christmas!

Review: TRON: Legacy

Let me begin by saying that I have not watched the original TRON. Going into this movie, I have not an inkling as to what this movie is really about, i.e. the words Tron, Kevin Flynn, ENCOM, all do not make any sense to me. I only know that it had kick ass trailers and what promises to be an awesome soundtrack by Daft Punk (oh yeaaaahh).

And after I was done with the movie, I was ready to dive into watching the original.

TRON: Legacy is basically a passing-the-torch movie involving a father-and-son relationship (Jeff Bridges in a dark robe with glo (I will refer to the painfully cool light strips as 'glo' from now on) trimmings is remarkably reminiscent of Master Kenobi, bringing to mind another father-and-son scifi movie) and another ethical question for the digital age. Much like The Social Network, TRON: Legacy questions the good of allowing excessive digitalisation of our lives. And obviously, judging from the orange glo trims of the enemy, it's not. In this sense, the movie does not open your mind and moves you to have profound thoughts about what our increasingly digitalised lifestyle will amount to in the fast-approaching future, nor does the presentation of the dark, dystopian world of The Grid make you fear it, but TRON: Legacy raises shadows of those issues in a very, very stylish way.

Every frame is, pardon my juvenile self, just so cool. There's impressive glo-trimmed machinery (the lightcycle. is. AWESOME) everywhere you look, super cool glo outfits on various characters, and even Jeff Bridges' lair. The futuristic look of TRON: Legacy has been gotten right down pat. The action scenes are executed very stylishly as well; the disc fight (or is it war?) scene, as well as the Grid challenge are bound to go down as some of the coolest, slickest futuristic duels I've seen this year. Action-wise, you're in safe hands.

What of the characterisation? I thought the cast was solid, all the way from Jeff Bridges' multiple performances (they really, REALLY got his younger self rendered well) to Michael Sheen, who popped out of nowhere to give us a zany version of himself. Olivia Wilde was cute as the quirky but tough wide-eyed wonder Quorra.

But the real redeeming feature of the movie, besides the painful stylishness, is Daft Punk's soundtrack: a harmonious blend of 8-bit, orchestra, and electronica that will stay with you (in your iPod, that is) long after the movie's done. Combine that and the fast-moving glo trims and a furious disc fight and you're in techno-heaven.

And please do yourself a favour and get yourself a mini musicgasm courtesy of Daft Punk:

You're welcome.

Guess the Movies!

Every year I await with bated breath as someone does a brilliant compilation of 2010's movies (this year I found out that it's by this genius dude named Gen I), and this year's one is alreaaady out! And every year, I play a game where I guess the movies featured in the vid!

Here's my list:

1. Iron Man 2
2. The Social Network
3. Never Let Me Go
4. Easy A
5. Kick-Ass
6. Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief
7. Despicable Me
8. Stone
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
10. Scott Pilgrim
11. Black Swan
12. Howl
13. Inception
14. Tron
15. The Town
16. The A-Team
17. The American
18. The Tempest
19. The Tourist
20. The Runaways
21. Resident Evil: Afterlife
22. Burlesque
23. The Warrior's Way
24. Going the Distance
25. Clash of the Titans
26. Alice in Wonderland
27. Buried
28. Salt
29. Predators
30. Machete
31. Due Date
32. Knight and Day
33. Tekken
34. Repo Men
35. Skyline
36. Fair Game
37. Megamind
38. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
39. True Grit
40. Due Date
41. The Killers
42. How to Train Your Dragon
43. Unstoppable
44. Takers
45. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
46. Karate Kid
47. The Girl Who Played With Fire (edit: it's actually The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, so, this is wrong too)
48. Defendor
49. The Losers
50. The Disappearance of Alice Creed
51. Four Lions
52. The King's Speech
53. Despicable Me
54. Letters to Juliet
55. Sex and the City 2
56. Vampires Suck
57. Love and Other Drugs
58. Life As We Know It
59. Morning Glory
60. Remember Me
61. Red
62. Toy Story 3
63. Get Him to the Greek
64. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (edit: no clip of it was featured here. another error!)
65. Cyrus
66. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
67. How Do You Know
68. Tamara Drewe
69. Splice
70. Alice in Wonderland
71. Legion
72. Prince of Persia
73. Biutiful
74. The Lovely Bones
75. Cairo Time
76. Chloe
77. The Debt
78. Shutter Island
79. 127 Hours
80. Shrek Forever After
81. The Next Three Days
82. The Legend of the Guardians
83. From Paris With Love
84. Greenberg
85. Barry Munday
86. The Tooth Fairy
87. Yogi Bear
88. The Last Airbender
89. Youth in Revolt
90. Tangled
91. Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Pussy Galore (edit: should be The Revenge of Kitty Galore, so I count this as wrong)
92. Grown Ups
93. Gulliver's Travels
94. Tiny Furniture
95. Holy Rollers
96. The Switch
97. Made in Dagenham
98. Io Sono Amore
99. The Backup Plan
100. Little Fockers
101. The Corporate Men
102. Tales From Earthsea
103. Hubble 3D

(edit: total 100 movies identified after checking, not 103 XP)

What about you? :P Let's play!

A Lacklustre-Much? Golden Globes

So the Golden Globe nominations are out.

And as I'm wont to do every year, I moan and complain about it.

Let's take a look at the most glaring discrepancy/flaw/weirdness here: the whole Comedy/Musical category. Like the genre of films that it recognizes, it's pretty much a joke. You know that the world's gone topsy turvy when a movie with a serious-ish trailer (that has a track by Muse to boot), that is directed by the acclaimed director of The Lives of Others (that went on to win the Best Foreign Film in the Oscars some years back), features the acting talents of two Hollywood heavyweights as the dramatic leads, is considered for the top prize as a COMEDY.

Yes, The Tourist, I'm looking at you.

I wish I could complain about Burlesque, but there has been no other musical that isn't animated that has been released this year, so I suppose it has been given the obligatory nod. The Kids Are All Right is a no-brainer. The combined acting brilliance of Annette Bening and Julianne Moore is more than enough to sway any jury. But quite a big surprise here is Alice in Wonderland, a movie that I enjoyed for its graphics but was as scatterbrained as the March Hare plotwise and Johnny Depp-wise.

And whaddaya know, both Alice in Wonderland and The Tourist, two movies that I was not particularly impressed with in this category, has given Johnny Depp two nominations as well, in the COMEDY/MUSICAL category yet again. I guess they must really like Mr. Depp with crazy hair; he has won a Golden Globe two years back for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (another dude with crazy hair). I've got nothing against Mr. Depp, really. In fact, I quite admire him for being a very gifted chameleon and a great actor all-around. Maybe I should sit down and watch The Tourist and see what the fuss is all about (despite a 20% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a generally unfavourable review by Film School Rejects). As for Red, well, let's say that was a pretty pleasant surprise. I was bummed at not being able to watch it in cinemas, but I suppose Dame Helen Mirren wielding guns is enough to wow its way into nomination.

Meanwhile in the Drama category, no big surprises there, except for Halle Berry's nomination for Frankie and Alice, a movie that completely slipped under my radar. Ever since the trailers and early reviews for Black Swan, The Social Network, Blue Valentine, Rabbit Hole and Winter's Bone were released, the acting categories were pretty much set, though it was a pleasant surprise to see Colin Firth and James Franco there as well (for The King's Speech and 127 Hours, respectively). Although I'd expected Mr. Franco to be nominated for his portrayal of Allen Ginsberg in Howl.

The Supporting Actor/Actress categories were more of a mixed bag, with Paul Giamatti and Kevin Spacey thrown in as wild cards. Two other surprising noms are Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway for Love and Other Drugs. So this movie is better than the more promising (to me, at least, because of its cynical undertone) How Do You Know? Interesting.

Nods for The Fighter come as no surprise at all, since it has a heavy The Wrestler and even Bronson feel that seems to get favoured come awards season every year. Christian Bale, anyhow, can always be trusted to put on a good performance, he as much of a wild card as Mr. Depp.

Ah, The Social Network. Forgive me for being prejudiced but I'd just seen this movie, and I still can't get the performances of the magnetic leads out of my head. Till today I can still be awed at Mr. Garfield's passionate delivery of the you-better-lawyer-up line to Mr. Eisenberg as the scene replays in my head. Both lead actors had good performances, but I'm afraid they might be on the losing end here, as they are up against some serious heavyweights in each category. If they win they'll end up looking like punks instead of deserving winners.

I am very, very happy for Inception's nominations in the Best Motion Picture - Drama category and the Best Screenplay category, for those were, in my opinion, the movie's best strengths. I do hope it will win, as its win will push forward a (hopefully) revolution and a revelation, that you can astound visually as you can mind-blow and still deliver a great film. (I hope you're reading, Mr. Bay). But at the same time, I am also very hopelessly in love with Aaron Sorkin's awesome screenplay for The Social Network. Well, no matter where the axe falls, I will nevertheless end up with a happy heart, for both screenplays are equally deserving. The King's Speech's screenplay looks just as promising, actually... gah, whoever wins, I'm sure they deserve it.

In the TV category there aren't many surprises this year, as almost every category looks like a carbon copy of the previous year (I wonder what will happen when Nurse Jackie, The Good Wife, 30 Rock, House M.D., Mad Men, Dexter, Breaking Bad and United States of Tara go off the air (though I see The New Adventures of Old Christine has not been recognised this year); I imagine that the Foreign Press will be scrambling to choose their next staple-mates). They're good shows, all of them, no doubt about that, but reading the same set of names every year can be quite tiresome. There are other shows on TV that are just as deserving of recognition, don't you think? That said, I'm happy that The Walking Dead and Boardwalk Empire (though not surprising, really, of the latter...) are acknowledged, though I suspect Boardwalk Empire will end up becoming the next The Sopranos.

I haven't seen many of the nominees for the miniseries category, though I'd just watched half of the first episode of The Pillars of the Earth, nevertheless, I'm all for it as it has great production value and a very strong cast all around. But sadly, no recognition for Rufus Sewell or Eddie Redmayne? I thought Eddie Redmayne did very well as Jack... oh well. Nevertheless, I suspect Claire Danes will win for Temple Grandin, as her performance was completely out-of-this-world, and you'd be forgiven if you'd forgotten that you were watching Claire Danes in the first place. I've been wanting to check out The Special Relationship for quite some time though, as I'm a sucker for politics (I really really liked Frost/Nixon) and the writings of Peter Morgan in general (the super brilliant genius who not only wrote Frost/Nixon but also wrote AND directed The Queen, as well as its predecessor The Deal). The Deal, The Queen, and The Special Relationship are a three-part dramatisation of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's political career, so as a sucker for political movies I'd very much like to complete the trilogy by getting my hands on The Special Relationship). :D

There are some glaring omissions here though; for all it's worth, True Grit seems to have been blindsided (which is nigh impossible, since it features the acting talents of true heavyweights: Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, AND the writing talents of none other than the Coen brothers, both of whom are usually critics' darlings), as is Fair Game, and for the Comedy category, I can think of other movies that seem funnier than The Tourist, i.e. I Love You Philip Morris, The Other Guys, Cyrus, and - AND, what about Scott Pilgrim? Or friggin' Kick-Ass? Those are epic-er comedies than, pfffft, The Tourist!

Something very wrong is afoot in Hollywood. But what the heck, it's not like I can do anything to change it. =__='''''''''''' Do drop your two cents here - every comment counts!

When Surreal Things Happen to People in Business Suits

I'm a bit intrigued by fantastical/science fiction/surreal things happening to people who are immaculately dressed in business attire. The premise, to me, seems more fantastic than normal because fantastic things don't happen to people who wear their sharply-tailored suits, the image of which usually ties one's imagination and opinion to cold, hard reality.

The first movie that comes to mind is none other than Inception.

And the number one image to perfectly sum up what got me thinking of that is:

Another movie that has the same surrealist/fantastic premise that occurs to men and women in business suits is a Brit flick released this year, Exam. The plot: a bunch of men and women applying for the same job are required to take an exam in a locked room, but the exam consists of a blank page and a pencil, and they are not allowed to utilise either one.

Sounds good? I've yet to sit down and watch it though I possess it. I should remedy it soon. =P

Review: Of Magic, Extremely Long and Magical Hair, A Narnian Adventure, Fake Promiscuity, and Social Networking

It's been so long since I've posted a movie review! I initially wanted to write one after watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, but I got lazy. XD Consequently, fate led from one thing to another and before I knew it, I'd already watched 5 movies in the space of a month, and I was suddenly reminded that I used to love giving my worthless opinions on movies in general.

So here I am, back in the habit, and I shall be (probably) double-posting on Blogger and Facebook so... don't be mad. Nobody ever reads this blog anyways, so it won't hurt now... would it? XD


1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

I have been an ardent Harry Potter fangirl since I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as a wee lass of 12. Though my extensive knowledge of the Potter universe has dwindled greatly since then, I still have great attachment and passion for the series (though they are mostly slumbering), and watching HP7 has reawakened them.

Make no mistake, the trio that we've come to love have grown into young adults who are just only grappling with the harsh, unsheltered life outside Hogwarts, and everything is noticeably darker, from Harry's mood swings to the overall colour palette of the film. But that's just only part of why I love the film. Director David Yates executes scenes where urgency and tension are palpable beautifully, with some stunning cinematography and innovative (not creative, mind you) camerawork. The cast turns in good performances on their part as well (there's nary a wooden or bad delivery at all), and I can foresee great careers ahead for Mr. Grint and Ms. Watson especially. The best scene in the whole movie had to be the animated story of The Three Brothers, which was an ingenious move. I would like to hug and kiss whoever who came up with the concept.

However, I do have some gripes about the movie, and most cannot be helped. The movie feels incomplete which is probably acceptable since it is a Part 1 of something, but I remember reading somewhere on Film School Rejects where someone pointed out that if each movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy could feel complete, why not HP7, and it is a very good point indeed, as the Lord of the Rings was originally intended to be one giant book, but had been divided into three main books (six books altogether), and each book had an exposition and an ending and could still belong to a main story arc. So why did Deathly Hallows: Part 1 go down that route? Interesting thought indeed. (edit: read this from the articulate and highly informed Landon Palmer of FSR's article about Serial Cinemas here).

2. Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale

Disney movies (not counting the Disney-Pixar ones, mind you) of late have been quite lacklustre (their previous effort, The Princess and the Frog, was lovely but lacked the adhesive power of such Disney classics as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Mulan, Pocahontas, Cinderella and such). With the release of Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale, Disney seems to have embraced the animation style that brought Pixar movies to the fore of the animation scene in the hopes that this movie will, too, be memorable.

Rapunzel: A Tangled Tale is charming in its own right, and every inch of it is wholly Disney (from the token princess-as-damsel-in-distress right down to the obligatory animal companion and animal comic relief). Heck, it even bursts out into a song or two along the way! The songs are good, but again, lack the adhesive power of songs in the revered Disney classics. The story isn't too original either (though they added healing properties to Rapunzel's hair to punch up the storyline) but the voice acting is actually pretty good, and the visuals are amazing. I especially loved the boat scene where the million lanterns are released into the sky and Rapunzel and her guy break out into a song that I can't remember anymore. The visuals in that scene were B-E-A-utiful. Thank you Disney for totally making forking out RM18 for the 3D worth it with that scene.

3. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Call me corny, cheesy, devout Christian (of which I am not, by the way), or just plain childish and shallow, but I am a fan of The Chronicles of Narnia, both the books and the movies (more to the books anyhoo). Yes, I am aware that no film of the franchise can be said as very good, but I enjoyed them, weirdly enough, bad CGI, wooden acting and all, though it must be said that The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was just terrible.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader fares much better. The CGI is way better, the acting, well, fairly solid at least (Will Poulter as Eustace Scrubb is a good call), and there are some of the wondrous, magical moments carried over from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe that reminded me of why I love Narnia in the first place. The story has been modified from the book for reasons that I cannot bring myself to justify (seven swords? Seriously?). The redeeming scene for me in this movie will have to be the sea of lilies and the wall of water that extends to the sky. They were done exactly the way I'd imagine them to be when I'd first read them in the book, and just because of that, this just-okay film has earned a place in my heart. :P

4. Easy A

I have liked watching Emma Stone (and Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson too, for that matter), ever since watching Zombieland, my next favourite zombie movie after Shaun of the Dead (I'm still waiting to watch La Horde, a French zombie movie; I accidentally downloaded the English-dubbed one and I just hate dubs, yes, even well-done dubs). The trailer was fairly funny, but really the main reason for me to watch this is Ms. Stone and Penn Badgley (still can't get over how cool he made Dan Humphrey seem when Gossip Girl first started out. Now he's just annoying). 

Easy A is a fairly run-of-the-mill teen comedy with an extra kick - Emma Stone. She's as cute as a button, possesses enough spunk and sass to convincingly play a (fake) adulterer and still remain highly likeable and root-able. If the idea of wearing a red 'A' to school, inspired by having to read 'The Scarlet Letter' in class, sounds more than a little far-fetched to you, then avoid this movie, because what this movie aims to do is clearly to deliver some easy and light laughs, make you ponder a while about how your reputation can be ruined in a matter of seconds no thanks to social networking sites and your trusty mobile, and - well, that's about it really. 

5. The Social Network

As someone who is on Facebook daily, news that a movie about Facebook was going to be made by a distinguished director (David Fincher) gave me quite a shock and at the same time, piqued my curiosity. What was so special about Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, and the story of how this infamous social networking site (the bane of any student's existence in this time and age) came to be that warranted a movie, of all things, to be written about it? Really, a movie about the birth of Apple, or Microsoft, or Starbucks, or even Walmart would have made more sense.

But trust David Fincher to make any movie one a hell of a movie. I surprisingly enjoyed The Social Network very much, from the rapid-fire speech delivery (Jesse Eisenberg should be an honorary Gilmore), to the Harvard fraternity politics, to programming-speak that I will probably never come to understand, and to the crazy college partying. That said though, what made the movie were the great performances by almost everyone in the cast, notably Mr. Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield (Justin Timberlake didn't do a shoddy job himself either). Jesse Eisenberg did a great job at being a right-out jerk/genius without being overly unlikeable, and at the same time project a sense of overwhelming loneliness that someone so successful but socially awkward could feel. One is a lonely number after all. Andrew Garfield is commendable as well, as the best friend who is cheated and betrayed after going to great lengths to make the Facebook a success, only to be disgracefully kicked out just for not being there and not seeing eye-to-eye with the boss. 

The Social Network isn't a movie that will keep you at the edge of your seat, watching with bated breath as what will happen to the hero next, but it is a highly, thoroughly engrossing drama about the lure of fame, money, and social status and how it can mess human beings and friendships up.

Plus points for ending the movie with The Beatles' 'Baby, You're A Rich Man', and also for the awesome editing of the Henley Reggata scene. Just awesome.

Whew! So that's it for now! I shall almost be certain to catch Tron: Legacy next week when it hits theatres (sooo can't wait for that! XD), and I have more than a few movies waiting for me to explore, (looking forward to watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) XD.

Here's an epic interpretation of Grieg's 'In the Hall of the Mountain King', brilliantly utilised in the Henley Reggata scene from The Social Network:

Submerge Your Senses 2

Moar Submerge Your Senses material. Yeah, you'd better live with it because I have ridiculous things running around in my brain. :D

Enjoy. :)

Badass Vampires are Still Possible, Right....?

By now everyone has already been acquainted with the way that crap sucky god-awful substantially below par but ridiculously successful megafranchise involving sparkly gay emotionally complex vampires has ruined the reputation of vampires forever.

I grew up with the notion that vampires were evil and badass, (no) thanks to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff, Angel. (Remember those, 80s and 90s kids? :D) When those shows were around, vampires kicked butt and were the epitome of dark, brooding, lethal, and most importantly, sexy.

Though the reputation of the vampire as bloodsucking hunks is still (somewhat) upheld by shows like The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, and (for those who still remember and cherish) Moonlight, the first thing that comes to mind these days when one mentions 'celluloid vampires' is sparkly Edward and his spineless companion. And that, my good people, is just plain WRONG.

Judging by the number of novels possessing titles of Vampire This and Vampire That and thinly-disguised allegories of vampire-related dangers that are populating the market, people seem to have forgotten what vampires are and how best to represent them, as humanised monsters and not monsterised humans, for vampires are, in essence, monsters. And as always the word 'monsters' should go hand in hand with 'gore' and 'violence'. While I do agree that vampires are somewhat romantic creatures (tragic occurrence that led to transformation into vampires, good looks, special abilities, tortured for not wanting to hurt the ones they love, yadda yadda), these books have not just romanticised them, they have softened and neutered them.

The vampires of 30 Days of Night and Daybreakers are new but close to the original concept of vampires. Of course, the former type are vicious creatures with nothing but blood on their mind and the latter have made themselves masters of humans; in short they have evolved, but they are in essence, close to the original vampires in that they want human blood and they will stop at nothing (or at least go to great lengths) to obtain it.

But let's face it. In short, vampires are old news, and are fast becoming stale.

My concern as an aspiring writer and (well okay, MOSTLY) as someone who fantasises and daydreams a lot, is how to reinvent the vampire and still make it sound fresh.

Reading Seth Grahame-Smith's excellent book, 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' has given me a lot of inspirations to continue my fruitless crusade to come up with my own brand of vampires that are true to their bloodthirsty origins but don't sound cliched. His brand of vampires are plausible, and I also really liked the way he tied them into Abe's and, consequently, America's history. Quite genius, really.

And let's not forget Anne Rice's brand of vampires. They are the shiznit of vampires; charming, impossibly good-looking, seductive, sex-driven bloodsuckers with lots of airs and graces. They're awesome, really, but as much as I admire Ms. Rice, those aren't exactly the vampires that I could empathise with, and doesn't come off as 'overly emotionally complex' (read: angsty over teensy things).

I've got a story and a concept in my head, but it needs loads of tweaking and reconsidering before I dare to put it up. :P But in short, it's quite related to religion; it kind of messes with a man's sense of time (imagine seeing the girl you loved thirty years ago again looking exactly the same as she did when you left her, and you get the picture); and it is going to be badassss (well, as badass as I can make it, at least... XP). Was Elizabeth Bathory badass? Was the original Count Vlad the Impaler badass? Then yes, my vampires will probably be badass, since they are basically a technicicalised extension of those infamous historical figures.

Characters and stories usually don't take off in my brain until I've attached some faces to them, and what could be better than assigning completely unexpected people to become vampires? Here's a few:

Jason Statham? A vampire? Are you friggin' nuts? Well no, because having seen 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', 'Revolver', 'Snatch' and 'Crank' (yes, CRANK), I actually believe that there is a good, comedic actor behind that Transporter facade. And he doesn't have to change accents either, because the story will be set in good ol' Britain. 

But he's not the hero of the story, don't worry. He'll be playing a very good friend, a sidekick of sorts, to our main character.

Eva Green possesses just the right sort of mystic quality with make up and a fresh youthfulness without. She could be an exotic temptress one minute and vulnerable sophistication the next. She's my top choice for heroine. :P

Oh and yes, the main character shall be a female vampire. About time we had one of those, didn't we?

I know what you're thinking. No, I don't have a fetish for bald men at the moment, thank you very much. Mark Strong is one actor I've admired for some time ever since watching 'RocknRolla'. At the moment he's being very much underused as a go-to villain ('Sherlock Holmes', 'Kick-Ass', 'Robin Hood', and 'The Green Lantern' - seriously, Mr. Strong? I know how much you love being a villain, but, really?).

Well this time he's got a place in my made-up, nonexistent story as a patriarch (yes yes, how boring that we should get a vampire dad). But in all seriousness, I've got some good stuff lined up for his character. Well, hopefully good, that is.

I've liked Jeremy Northam as an actor since I've watched 'The Tudors' and chanced upon the 1996 Gwyneth Paltrow vehicle 'Emma'. (Coincidentally, Mark Strong played the same character as Mr. Northam in the BBC adaptation of Emma, also released in the same year. Oh, Mr. Knightley. *sighs*). 

This time, Mr. Northam's face will be utilised as the Oxbridge lecturer who never forgot the girl (our dear Ms. Green) who was the 'fire of his loins' three decades ago, even though he's moved on from his restless-youth days and has gotten married with a docile woman with whom he has begotten children. 

And of course, what would a happy family be without its token black sheep? Ed Westwick's pre-dapper Chuck Bass would make a good base, I think, for a young adult who despite the many centuries of walking the earth, still refuses to grow up and thinks that a little sex, drugs, blood and rock and roll won't hurt anyone. But as papa's influential colleagues and elder sister is making the push to quell murders created by rogue (read: evil) vampires that are slowly but surely alerting the police and Interpol and whatever to their presence, dear Ed rebels for good and leaves their side.

Will he ever go back to the light? We shall never know, until I have thought about it. XP

I don't have any plans for Mr. Benedict Cumerbatch, but he was epicly awesome as Sherlock Holmes in the new BBC show, and so suited to be a vampire that I can't help but want to include him, utilise him in the story. He could be one of the rogue vampires, a charismatic, peerless libertine who just wants the world to leave him to his vices and is fed up with the tedious procedures a vampire needs to employ in order to survive in the modern world. He yearns for the old times when a man of considerable wealth could run around without needing to carry an identification card, but at the same time, he totally despises being away from culture and civilisation. Well, I'm afraid that's just about it. Possibly he inspires Ed Westwick's character to join him in temperament and accidentally unleashes a little bloody war between vampires that involves all sorts of gangsters (Russian, Chinese, the like; all lackeys of vampire drug lords and gangster bosses).

Well there you have it, some of the things that have been running around in my head for quite some time now. Do leave a comment if you have any opinions which you would like to express. Sharing is caring, you know! *wink wink nudge nudge is desperate for comments AHEM*

Time for a little nostalgia. The culprit for firing up my vampire obsession when I was much younger. In my opinion the original David Boreanaz-Charisma Carpenter-Glenn Quinn-Alexis Denisof cast was the best that was assembled throughout the show. Erm, yeah, everyone has had their awkward inspiration phases (mine consisted of this, and Charmed), so, yeah. Just watch it. Enjoy.

Let's Collide

Remember this song?

Woo me. XP