Whew. It's raining here like there's no tomorrow. Looks like the rest of the week will be dominated by this damn typhoon. Urgh. Anyway, here's what's been happening since my last blog.
[1] I got 1 year older - Not much to say, except that it was pretty much a non-event.
[2] Watched a few movies - Again, I'm finding time as well as new ways to watch movies. Mini-reviews below.
[3] Whole lotta shit happened.
So yeah. That's mostly it. So I turned 20 [human years] a few days ago. Nothing much happened. Some friends on FB and twitter greeted me, nothing else happened [read: all the plans made were scrapped, just my luck] and I'm one year older. Feels good to be alive, right?
Anyway, on to ranting... Skip this space [and prob a quarter of the damn blog] if you've a mind to do so...
I hate getting promised something and then ending up with nothing. I mean, Fate shrugged and said, "Screw you, [insert name here]." And that's not funny. I mean, hell, I'd rather people not plan/promise and get surprised than when they plan/promise and I get disappointed. It's shit, you know?
This is what happened: my mother told me [due to my rather insistent bugging] that she'd take me to the cinema on Sunday [this past Sunday] to watch Deathly Hallows 2 [since I got jack squat on my birthday]. Now, just to be clear, I had not asked her - true, I was bugging her, but what else to do at home, anyway? Also, this would have been the 3rd or 4th movie I'd ever watch in a cinema, everything else is on Tape/VCD/DVD/Internet [mostly pirated, too]. And, of course, as usual, shit hits the fan and everything goes down on me.
Not only did it rain [fuck you, troposphere], my aunt got some weird pain in her stomach/abdomen as well. Well, how did I not see that coming? Mom said after: "well, let's just get it on CD." I go: "yeah, sure." [look away, roll eyes]
Now, some people say it's almost immature for a 20 year-old to be crying over spilled milk. Frankly, I can't give a shit. One, it was a promise. Two, I haven't been more than a few hundred meters away from this house since last August. The last time I asked for anything was a trip to the mall for Christmas, which also got promised and, guess what? Here I am 7 months later, stuck at home. I can almost foresee this next Christmas. Damn.
It is fucked up. I mean, ok, there's a legit reason, sure. But not even the most legit of reasons can make this any less shittier. A fucked-up situation is a fucked-up situation, whatever your POV might be. The only saving grace [if you can call it that] was me getting P1000 [don't jizz - it's only about $20+] which I can't really spend since I don't go anywhere.
Nothing much else to say about that rant. I'm over it, just venting.
Anyway, I watched a couple movies, as I tend to do when I somehow grow tired of my PC. Yes, it does happen.
Coming Soon - It's a Thai movie, which, as far as my meager research went, has not been given one of those [mostly-crappy] Hollywood remakes. IMHO, Asian horror is a unique set of thrills and chills, set apart from most of its Western counterparts, and they just don't work when translated forcefully. It got suggested to me.
First things first - I watched the whole movie on Youtube [fully english-subbed], so if you've a mind [or an appreciation for Asian horror or just horror in general] then go ahead and search. Shouldn't take too long. Ok, now that that's over with, off to my mini-review.
The movie centers itself around a movie. Yes, a movie about a movie [that kills people], and no, this ain't some bizarre "Inception" joke. The main characters work for a movie theater, which is scheduled to premiere the movie soon [thus the title]. Now the main protagonist gets approached by some hoodlums to switch the reels over so they could pirate it [typical]. Guy agrees after a little grappling with his conscience, and off they go. What happens next is the more-or-less signature Asian horror set-up of telling you a story/mystery that reels you in and then once you're hooked, you're screwed [in essence, giving you enough rope to hang yourself]. There's a romantic side-story, the usual "urban legend/curse" thing going on, but in essence, the story is not about the jumps [there are some, of course] or the characters but the movie [read: the movie within the movie] and the mystery/hype around it. Oh, and speaking of hanging - it's an integral part of the story. That's not much of a spoiler, so don't worry if you plan on watching it at all.
Usually this is when I start griping, but I don't gripe about horror movies in general. To each his own, right?
Overall not the best or the most atmospheric Asian horror movie, but it's plenty good. Oh, and btw, best line ever: "Do you really want to see me die?!?"
PS
While I was watching this in the middle of the night, my dad was asleep in the adjacent room and he was groaning and moaning, like a frigging ghost. Damn. Nearly scared me enough not to finish the movie. LOL
The Tournament - I stumbled into this movie browsing through torrents [I'm allowed to specify that as long as I don't link to it, right?]. Apparently it's a straight-to-DVD movie, just another action flick that didn't get enough exposure. But hell, it was worth it [and definitely deserving of more than the straight-to-DVD treatment].
Now, usually, I don't like spoiling these mostly-unheard-of movies, but story-wise, there's not much to spoil. It's formulaic, and I say that with all kindness, because story or not, the action carries everything else, and that's what makes an action flick, right?
The story goes like this: Every couple years [7 IIRC] a tournament between 30 of the world's best assassins is held in some remote city. Last man/woman standing gets the fame, the glory and some cash. Now the champion of the last tournament comes out of retirement to join the next one coz he's hunting his wife's killer. So anyway, the motley crew of 2 hackers takes over some British city [handy for all them damn CCTV cameras] and the bloodbath ensues. Each contestant is implanted a chip/detonator so they/the people running the show can track where each one is. Apparently, it wasn't implanted well enough, coz one guy then takes it out and a priest of all people ingests it. Said priest is then helped by this Asian assassin girl [woman is more fitting perhaps?].
Generic plot, really, and no, I'm not spoiling all that - it's all in the frigging trailer, for chrissakes. Watch it enough times, you can prob figure out who screwed who and why. But again, it doesn't matter.
My review is thus short: epic action sequences, could have been more epic perhaps, but it's great for what it is. There's some hand-to-hand combat, a few shootouts, some crazy car scenes [only one real chase scene, which is good]. My favorite scenes are when this parkour/free-running guy [apparently he's actually one of the inventors of the sport] goes off on everyone from the rooftops and then later on in some epic car scenes and the final chase scene. If I had any gripes about the movie, it boils down to a few things:
1 - People engaging the Asian assassin in CQC? Really? What are they, retards? We have more ways of kicking ass in here than bullets have calibers.
2 - Some scenes you can call to the letter, like minutes before it happens. Then there are some frenzied scenes where everyone's shooting everyone else. The ending for example, I knew the trick before it got revealed. Again, no biggie, since story should be the least of one's concerns when watching action flicks, but hey, I gripe.
Overall, if you like movies where people try to kill each other, explosions, action sequences, etc, then it's a good movie. People who like deep, mentally-tasking storylines should look elsewhere. Personally, I liked it, was laughing the whole way as people get gunned down left right and center.
Anyway, yeah... That's mostly everything. I hope this typhoon GTFOs soon. Damn, I hate this weather.
[1] I got 1 year older - Not much to say, except that it was pretty much a non-event.
[2] Watched a few movies - Again, I'm finding time as well as new ways to watch movies. Mini-reviews below.
[3] Whole lotta shit happened.
So yeah. That's mostly it. So I turned 20 [human years] a few days ago. Nothing much happened. Some friends on FB and twitter greeted me, nothing else happened [read: all the plans made were scrapped, just my luck] and I'm one year older. Feels good to be alive, right?
Anyway, on to ranting... Skip this space [and prob a quarter of the damn blog] if you've a mind to do so...
...
I hate getting promised something and then ending up with nothing. I mean, Fate shrugged and said, "Screw you, [insert name here]." And that's not funny. I mean, hell, I'd rather people not plan/promise and get surprised than when they plan/promise and I get disappointed. It's shit, you know?
This is what happened: my mother told me [due to my rather insistent bugging] that she'd take me to the cinema on Sunday [this past Sunday] to watch Deathly Hallows 2 [since I got jack squat on my birthday]. Now, just to be clear, I had not asked her - true, I was bugging her, but what else to do at home, anyway? Also, this would have been the 3rd or 4th movie I'd ever watch in a cinema, everything else is on Tape/VCD/DVD/Internet [mostly pirated, too]. And, of course, as usual, shit hits the fan and everything goes down on me.
Not only did it rain [fuck you, troposphere], my aunt got some weird pain in her stomach/abdomen as well. Well, how did I not see that coming? Mom said after: "well, let's just get it on CD." I go: "yeah, sure." [look away, roll eyes]
Now, some people say it's almost immature for a 20 year-old to be crying over spilled milk. Frankly, I can't give a shit. One, it was a promise. Two, I haven't been more than a few hundred meters away from this house since last August. The last time I asked for anything was a trip to the mall for Christmas, which also got promised and, guess what? Here I am 7 months later, stuck at home. I can almost foresee this next Christmas. Damn.
It is fucked up. I mean, ok, there's a legit reason, sure. But not even the most legit of reasons can make this any less shittier. A fucked-up situation is a fucked-up situation, whatever your POV might be. The only saving grace [if you can call it that] was me getting P1000 [don't jizz - it's only about $20+] which I can't really spend since I don't go anywhere.
...
Nothing much else to say about that rant. I'm over it, just venting.
Anyway, I watched a couple movies, as I tend to do when I somehow grow tired of my PC. Yes, it does happen.
Coming Soon - It's a Thai movie, which, as far as my meager research went, has not been given one of those [mostly-crappy] Hollywood remakes. IMHO, Asian horror is a unique set of thrills and chills, set apart from most of its Western counterparts, and they just don't work when translated forcefully. It got suggested to me.
First things first - I watched the whole movie on Youtube [fully english-subbed], so if you've a mind [or an appreciation for Asian horror or just horror in general] then go ahead and search. Shouldn't take too long. Ok, now that that's over with, off to my mini-review.
The movie centers itself around a movie. Yes, a movie about a movie [that kills people], and no, this ain't some bizarre "Inception" joke. The main characters work for a movie theater, which is scheduled to premiere the movie soon [thus the title]. Now the main protagonist gets approached by some hoodlums to switch the reels over so they could pirate it [typical]. Guy agrees after a little grappling with his conscience, and off they go. What happens next is the more-or-less signature Asian horror set-up of telling you a story/mystery that reels you in and then once you're hooked, you're screwed [in essence, giving you enough rope to hang yourself]. There's a romantic side-story, the usual "urban legend/curse" thing going on, but in essence, the story is not about the jumps [there are some, of course] or the characters but the movie [read: the movie within the movie] and the mystery/hype around it. Oh, and speaking of hanging - it's an integral part of the story. That's not much of a spoiler, so don't worry if you plan on watching it at all.
Usually this is when I start griping, but I don't gripe about horror movies in general. To each his own, right?
Overall not the best or the most atmospheric Asian horror movie, but it's plenty good. Oh, and btw, best line ever: "Do you really want to see me die?!?"
PS
While I was watching this in the middle of the night, my dad was asleep in the adjacent room and he was groaning and moaning, like a frigging ghost. Damn. Nearly scared me enough not to finish the movie. LOL
The Tournament - I stumbled into this movie browsing through torrents [I'm allowed to specify that as long as I don't link to it, right?]. Apparently it's a straight-to-DVD movie, just another action flick that didn't get enough exposure. But hell, it was worth it [and definitely deserving of more than the straight-to-DVD treatment].
Now, usually, I don't like spoiling these mostly-unheard-of movies, but story-wise, there's not much to spoil. It's formulaic, and I say that with all kindness, because story or not, the action carries everything else, and that's what makes an action flick, right?
The story goes like this: Every couple years [7 IIRC] a tournament between 30 of the world's best assassins is held in some remote city. Last man/woman standing gets the fame, the glory and some cash. Now the champion of the last tournament comes out of retirement to join the next one coz he's hunting his wife's killer. So anyway, the motley crew of 2 hackers takes over some British city [handy for all them damn CCTV cameras] and the bloodbath ensues. Each contestant is implanted a chip/detonator so they/the people running the show can track where each one is. Apparently, it wasn't implanted well enough, coz one guy then takes it out and a priest of all people ingests it. Said priest is then helped by this Asian assassin girl [woman is more fitting perhaps?].
Generic plot, really, and no, I'm not spoiling all that - it's all in the frigging trailer, for chrissakes. Watch it enough times, you can prob figure out who screwed who and why. But again, it doesn't matter.
My review is thus short: epic action sequences, could have been more epic perhaps, but it's great for what it is. There's some hand-to-hand combat, a few shootouts, some crazy car scenes [only one real chase scene, which is good]. My favorite scenes are when this parkour/free-running guy [apparently he's actually one of the inventors of the sport] goes off on everyone from the rooftops and then later on in some epic car scenes and the final chase scene. If I had any gripes about the movie, it boils down to a few things:
1 - People engaging the Asian assassin in CQC? Really? What are they, retards? We have more ways of kicking ass in here than bullets have calibers.
2 - Some scenes you can call to the letter, like minutes before it happens. Then there are some frenzied scenes where everyone's shooting everyone else. The ending for example, I knew the trick before it got revealed. Again, no biggie, since story should be the least of one's concerns when watching action flicks, but hey, I gripe.
Overall, if you like movies where people try to kill each other, explosions, action sequences, etc, then it's a good movie. People who like deep, mentally-tasking storylines should look elsewhere. Personally, I liked it, was laughing the whole way as people get gunned down left right and center.
Anyway, yeah... That's mostly everything. I hope this typhoon GTFOs soon. Damn, I hate this weather.
