Movie Monday: Hansel & Gretel

"Whatever you do, don't eat the fuckin' candy" - Hansel

My school was kind enough to sponsor my whole course to an iMax screening of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, which was incredibly lovely of them. I guess there are (teeny tiny) perks to being in DVFX.

It seems like there's a lot of fairy tales getting revamped into "for big boys and girls" films, and it's not a trend I'm particularly fond of, but will probably end up following anyway. Now I'm a fan of gore in films, as long as they're not the supernatural type of horror in genre, and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters disappoints in that aspect. The gore just wasn't realistic enough, and it was horribly distracting, and not in a good way. The blood splatters and body pieces getting flown off were tracked right, but they just weren't composited very well, and it was just a big no-no for me.

To be honest, I was quite surprised when I found out that big-time actors like Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye, Marvel's The Avengers), Gemma Arterton (Alice Creed, The Disappearance of Alice Creed), and Famke Janssen (Jean Grey, X-Men) were in this film, just because it seemed like such a ridiculous parody of a movie. I then found out that Will Ferrell was the producer of this movie, so the overall feel of the film plus the actors and everything in it started to make sense.

The crew's attempt in making the story get as far away from a PG-rating as they can only backfired. The gore seems incredibly forced, the scene where Ben tries to touch Gretel's boob was lame, the relationship between Hansel and Mina seemed to sprout out of nowhere, not to mention the nude scene, which just seemed unnecessary. They just seemed desperate to get an R-rating slapped on it, and it just wasn't carried out well.

Despite all the negativity, I did have a good time watching the film! It was an easy watch, with fairly adorable characters, such as Ben and Edward the Troll. Gemma Artenton's badass-ery was flawless, and Jeremy Renner is still cute. The horrible gore, albeit horrible, is still somewhat gore, and I enjoyed watching heads getting chopped off and bodies getting sliced to pieces. The difference between the way Hansel & Gretel talked and how the rest of the village talked was slightly off-putting as well, but the somewhat funny lines seemed to make up for it. Also, steampunk weaponry. Can't go wrong with that.

So overall, I like it. There are so many things that could make this film so much better, but it is what it is, and it's somewhat acceptable. If you don't think so, just think of it as a parody film, and it just might get funnier. If I could change only one thing about this film though, I'd change the movie poster. That pathetic excuse of a movie title font is just horrible and painful to look at.

"I hate to break this to you, but this isn't gonna be an open casket" - Gretel

Replay? Yes.
When? When I'm high on booze, or brownies
With who? Friends who do not go pale at the sight of blood

Image credits to Rotten Tomatoes.

Movie Monday: Knocked Up

"I Googled murder" - Sadie

Knocked Up is a romcom semi-drama, written and directed by the brilliant Judd Apatow.

This film is one of the many movies that has traumatized me into never ever wanting to get pregnant, but despite all of that, I love it. 

I find it hard to describe Knocked Up because it just has quite a bit too it. There's the pregnancy, which definitely was my least favourite part, the two very different main characters and their very different lifestyles, and the interesting supporting characters.

I wouldn't suggest seeing this with your boyfriend/girlfriend, because of the conversations you might have after watching the show. I find the film slightly sexist, in a way where male and female stereotypes are brought up quite a bit. Like girls crying over what guys would think are stupid or being upset after not getting in a club for free, and guys not caring about what girls think are really important or going to Vegas to trip out and get lap dances. However, I do like how they've shown both sides, and it is a film, so it's understood that the actions are all exaggerated.

Judd Apatow's been known to "recycle" his actors in his films, like Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, and even his wife, Lesli Mann, and their kids. Some might think it's because of his limited capabilities as a director, but I disagree. I think that his films just has a certain style, and his close-knit network of collaborators know that and already know how to get to where he wants the film to be. Why cut the tree when it's still making fruit, am I right?

Now I think we all know how unrealistic this movie is. We've got this pretty hot, somewhat successful lady, and jobless chubby loser who's stoned most of the time, who met at a club and had a one-night stand. They then end up being together because of a baby. I'm pretty sure that almost never happens, but it is an exaggerated version of life. And I like it this way.

So remember kids. Wear a condom. That is all.

Replay? Yes.
When? When I've watched too many mindless romcoms and want to step up a notch, without getting too deep.
With who? Good friends who are in a relationship/about to be in one.

Image credits to Rotten Tomatoes.

100!

Hi.

I had just realized that my blog has been up for a bit over a year! It feels like it has only been a couple of months since I started starlightinajar.

Documenting life has always been something I did since young, and it has been present in many different forms. From writing on physical diaries, to blogging over different platforms, to video blogging on YouTube. I guess it's because I have a sort of obsession with the idea of memories.

Memories in your head are altered in some way every single time you recall it, be it in a big way or even down to the minute details. It's insane when you actually think about it, because what you know about a certain event now, might not be how it was when it actually happened. And this is affected by a number of factors, like for example, simply forgetting the details and being forced to make up new ones, or having a change of feelings towards what has happened, therefore changing the overall feel of the the memory at hand.

I've talked about memories in a couple of old blog posts before (here, and here), and I am still constantly coming up with my own hypotheses on how human memories work. I hope to one day, figure it all out, and have control over it. Because having constantly changing memories pop up at the back of your mind is not exactly a very pleasant feeling.

In the meantime, please enjoy my attempt at remembering the good times of the year 2012.

I hope you're all having an amazing start of the year!

Goodnight.

Movie Monday: Fantastic Mr. Fox

"I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice" -  Mr. Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a stop-motion Wes Anderson film, based on the children's book written by Roald Dahl.

In my opinion, Wes Anderson films are not the easiest films to watch casually, but I thoroughly enjoyed Fantastic Mr. Fox. I love everything about it! The sets are amazing, the character design is impeccable, and the double-capture stop motion is lovable. It felt raw, yet extremely polished at the same time!

Because of the double-capture stop motion, which basically means only 12 frames were taken per second and they were doubled up in post to fit 24 frames per second, it made Fantastic Mr. Fox not as smooth as most big-time stop motion animations, such as Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Also because there are working with characters that have fur throughout their whole body, you can see the furs constantly changing positions rather choppily after being touched to reposition the characters. Despite these, what some would consider flaws, it works well for the film as it felt very down to earth, pardon the pun.

I've never read the book before, but the plot was fairly easy to follow. It shows the different issues in Mr. Fox's family, and I believe that it's a story that would work just as well if it had been shot in live action, instead of animation. The story of a man working illegally, then giving it up for his family, yet having to go back to it to provide for his family, and maybe possibly going through a midlife crisis or having an attitude problem. A weird kid no one understands, has to compete with his perfect cousin, and feels unappreciated by his own family. These are things we find empathetic towards, or relatable, and it sells.

So that's my two-cents worth about this film. I like the production because I feel like it's a raw kind of perfect, and I like the story because it's relatable. To be completely honest, I personally do not like the characters and their attitudes, but I think those negative things help develop the story into what it is, and it just makes things much more realistic. People do act or feel a certain way despite knowing better, because such is life.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but it sounds illegal" - Kiley

Replay? Yes.

When? When I've watched too much romcoms

With who? Friends who aren't critical perfectionist, and could enjoy a sweet stop-motion flick about anthropomorphic animals

Image credits to Rotten Tomatoes.

Happy New Year

Hi.

It's a brand new year and I've had a week or two to ponder since I've written my goals for 2012 post. I have finally come to the conclusion that 2012 has been a horrific year in plenty of ways, but despite that, I'm glad that there isn't a lot of things to miss over the past year.

I'm the type of person who gets more upset about missing good things than thinking about bad things. It's absolutely horrible, because half the time, I'd just be thinking of how things have changed and that I'll never get things to be how amazing as they were in that moment.

After all the depressing talks about the past, I've decided to stop thinking about it, in a depressing way at least, and move on! I finally managed to drag my butt back to church today, and Ps Simon talked about how we should move on from both the good things and the bad things. Clinging onto good memories is equally as destructive as clinging onto bad memories. We should just look back, learn from what happened, and move on.

I hope you're all having a wonderful start to the new year!

Good evening.