Prince Caspian

I just watched the second movie of the Narnia series, "Prince Caspian." I know. I know. It came out a long time ago, but I liked it. The special effects were cool. I liked the mice characters. :) Kinda like Puss-'n-Boots from "Shrek." It definitely had a different feel from "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe." That one felt more magical. This lacked a bit. Maybe because the bad guys are human... Some parts were still really cool though. The magical trees are much better than LOTR's Ents. They were so much more lively and flexible.

And what's up with Susan's stupid lines? In the first movie, she said something like "Just because you're given a sword doesn't mean you're a hero!" to Peter as he was trying to find a way for them to cross the river or ice crossing or something. And in this movie, to Peter, she says, "Just exactly who are you doing this for, Peter?!" as he's trying to save the Narnians. The answer is kinda obvious? He's doing it for Narnia? For his country? I give this movie ***.* (3.5 stars).

Defiance

Oh! I cannot wait until this movie comes out. I love love love movies about war and survival. But I gotta wait until next December, I think. Oh the torture!

Valkyrie

This movie is "eh." Maybe it was just "eh" because I was sitting in the second row third seat from the aisle, and I had a hard time understanding some of their accents? And they talked really fast sometimes! Damn! Should I go back to my ESL classes??!! Hahah! I thought I would absolutely love this movie because I love almost anything that has to do with war and victims of war, but this one was just okay. Some moments were really intense, and I certainly don't have a problem staring at Tom Cruise for a couple of hours. (Too bad he's weird. His hot points went down after that whole Katie Holmes thing started...) I've never heard of Operation Valkyrie until now. Since this movie was just based off of a true story, I don't know how much of it is factual. But it's good and sort of comforting to know that there were people trying to overthrow Hitler. All of these people were true heroes. They sacrificed their lives and their families to fight for righteousness and freedom. This movie gets ***.* (3.5 stars). :)

Seven Pounds

Excellent acting. (There's talk of Will Smith getting an Oscar?) Beautiful and interesting story. A bit of a slow beginning. Makes you think. What would you give for love? What would you give to erase mistakes you've made? What would you want to do before you die? What are you taking for granted? What would you give your life for? How would you commit suicide? (Yikes! Don't like that last question too much, but it is kinda interesting... :\) This movie gets **** (4 stars). :)

Best Movie of the Year Goes to...

Gran Torino. I haven't seen a lot of the new releases so don't know how this compares to other '08 releases, but I'm sure a lot of others will agree that this is yet another fine movie by Mr. Clint Eastwood.


What's it about? It basically tells the story of an old white veteran (who seems to hate everybody except his late wife) who gets to know... and eventually like... his Hmong neighbors. This Hmong family clashes with an Asian gang, and Walt (Eastwood's character) gets involved. It's sort of silly to think of a 78-year-old man being an action hero, but with Clint Eastwood, not only does he deliver, but he sure is scary. His words and menacing eyes can make anyone pee in their pants.

One small detail included in the movie that many people will not get is the tattoo of one of the Hmong gangsters. Two Chinese characters for "family" is written proudly across his chest. Another member kept using their blood lines as an excuse to get Walt's neighber, a teenage boy named Thao, to join their gang. After refusing to partake, this gang commits horrendous and unspeakable acts to their "family." It makes you think what does "family" really mean. Is it defined with a family tree? Is it defined with love for each other? Walt struggles with this throughout the movie...

This film kept my attention from beginning to end. The dialog is hysterical, particularly the racist bits. The story and the lives of these people seem so real. It deals with family, honor, violence, vengeance, love, life and death... I don't want to give anything away so will stop here. Just wanna say, this movie gets ***** (five stars). :) It is so awesome.

Day or Night?

It's the night of December 12 (but technically, it's the 13th). Tonight's moon is supposed to be the brightest for this whole year. I tried taking a look earlier, but it was raining. Yay!! It's raining!! It's actually raining!! So before retiring for the evening, I looked out the window and saw that it's so freakin' bright outside! Looks like the sun is about to rise. Beautiful. Coupled with the smell of rain, it was even more beautiful.

Crumple or Fold?

A while back, I was asked, "Do you crumple or do you fold?" "Huh?" I looked at my friend in confusion. "You know, when you go to the bathroom, do you crumple or fold the toilet paper?"

Ooooh!! Never thought about that actually, but I think I crumple then fold. Crumpling makes it a little fluffier, otherwise, you would have to use layers upon layers of folded toilet paper to get a good thickness - one that won't tear through and you'd be wiping your ass with your fingers. Don't want to do that! But then just crumpling doesn't give you much control of the paper. It can fall apart and lose its shape easily. That's why you have to fold, er, rather, wrap your new creation to seal it. If you do the crumple and wrap, you'll always have a good wiping experience. :)

Good luck and have fun!

New Year's Resolutions

Okay, so I'm starting to think about resolutions for the coming year. I don't even know why I bother because I never follow through with them, but I guess it's a standing tradition, so why the heck not?!

I've come up with two so far:

1. Draw that darn wedding portrait of my parents. (I said I would in 1997. Pretty sad. I know...)
2. Work out enough to fit into my old clothes comfortably! I'm sure this one or something similar is on nearly everyone's lists. All the luck to you!! And me!! Heehee...

That's it for now!