Happy Valentine

Hi.

This week is what I call Valentine's week. It's definitely not just a day. It's a week filled up with people going "I wish I had a Valentine this year" or "I don't need a Valentine and I'm good on my own" or "I am desperate someone just be my Valentine please" and instagrams of bouquets and romantic dinners or a bed with Gossip Girl playing on a laptop.

I have no opinion of Valentine's Day. I don't hate it, but I don't like it either. It just seems really commercialized and I feel sorry for guys who feel forced to get their girlfriends outlandish presents, but to each their own. Anyway, I recently saw a typography post on Tumblr and recognize it as one that an old boyfriend of mine did, and it got me feeling nostalgic.

I have known this guy practically since I was only a year old. We used to go out on dates every week, and when I'm dying in school, I would always look forward to spending time with him over the weekend. We would talk on the phone after school, though I can't even remember what we would talk about, but I just remember it being nice and lovely and something about Pokémon.

We would meet at the mall on Saturdays, planning to go on a movie marathon, but end up only watching one movie and spending a couple of hours playing games at the arcade. I even remember bringing home multiple stuffed animals one Saturday after he won them from some games. After that, we would go for dinner and he would surprise me with a cake or chocolates. It was all so cute and sweet, and we would even hold hands, and it was all so adorable!

I remember standing by his side while everyone sang him the birthday song one year, and his whole family, friends, and schoolmates were all at his dinosaur-themed birthday party at KFC. I was the only one there who wasn't family nor schoolmate, and I felt special, standing beside him while we held hands as he closed his eyes while making his wish. He then so spoon-fed me cake, even though it was his birthday, not mine. It was probably one of the cutest things that has ever happened to me.

The whole thing seemed so perfect, too bad it didn't last. I moved to a city two-hours away and it just got too tiring for both parties to meet up every week. I guess we both just grew out of it. The last time we met, it was awkward, and our moms forcing us to get together did not help at the slightest. I'm not even sure we're friends on Facebook.

It was so cute, and romantic, and innocent, something you would see on chick flicks, minus the mind games and sex. It was the epitome of young love. Well that was it was. Young love. We started our romance when we were six, and it unfortunately ended when we were about ten years old. It was great while it lasted. It probably will be the best relationship I'll ever have in my life.

I hope you all have a cute romantic love story to share you your future children, or cats.

Goodnight.

VLC is my current bestfriend.

Hi.

In the span of a month,

I have watched:

• one season of My Mad Fat Diary
• one season of The Carrie Diaries
• two seasons of Girls
• one season of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
• two seasons of Don't Trust the B- In Apartment 23
• two seasons of Breaking Bad
• four seasons of Community
• one season of The Biggest Loser

I have seen:

• Pitch Perfect (twice)
• High School Musical 2
• Resident Evil
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse
• Resident Evil: Extinction
• The Devil Wears Prada
• Super High Me
• Fab Five: Texas Cheerleading Scandal
• Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Wreck-It Ralph
• This is 40

I have caught up with:

• Cougar Town
• The Simpsons
• 2 Broke Girls
• New Girl
• Modern Family
• Big Bang Theory
• Family Guy
• How I Met Your Mother
• Two and a Half Men

I have:

• a lot of movies to watch
• three short films to finish
• a lot of shit to do
• and two long-time drafted posts on Blogger

I need to get my shit sorted out really soon. I hope you have your shit sorted out.

Good morning.

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.