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.