visions of clarity...do as infinity

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Movie Reviews~

Hello

It was unseasonably warm today and is supposed to continue for the rest of the week! I for one, welcome the sunshine with open arms.=)

Anyway! Here are some of the movies I've seen recently:

Clockwork Orange
After hearing about ultra-violence and the Korova Milk Bar, I had pretty high expectations for this film.. And truth be told, I wasn't blown away by it but it did evoke many interesting moral questions and some feelings of disgust [for those idiot friends, and the violence]. The violence wasn't as bad as I expected, I think it was more of the way the scenes were carried out in a very theatrical fashion that disturbs you. Plus the whole psychological training thing was awful and the final rejection from society that made the whole thing seem like such a farce. We also got into a whole discussion about Classical Conditioning, being the Psych students we are..=P

Overall, it's a pretty good film though I don't know if I'll watch it again. It explores interesting issues and is also presented in a very unique manner [from the setting, to the dress, to their language].=)

パプリカ / Paprika
I had been dying to watch this when I was in Singapore and it was first released, but I didn't manage to find the opportunity so I had to watch it here instead.=) [Thank goodness for someone's LCD screen! xD] Paprika had an interesting premise about the creation of a device where you can enter a person's dreams and help them solve their problems through that. However, when the device falls into the wrong hands and the subconscious is invaded, things can definitely go awry.. The beautiful soundtrack and superb quality of animation definitely aided in the fantastic presentation of the story which was pretty solid in my opinion.=D

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and the theme song is STILL stuck in my head because it is just that catchy. Some scenes were pretty disturbing because of the depiction of how humans can become, but the issues that they were trying to address were fascinating and I will rewatch this film for sure.

Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Starring the ever-wonderful Dustin Hoffman and Natalie Portman, this film was enjoyable from start to finish. Using a magical toy store as a backdrop, it explored the perennial issue of believing in a "child's world" of magic and fantasy and dealing with the reality and groundedness of an "adult's world". The wonders of the Emporium capture perfectly a child's perfect playground, with anything they could ever want. However, the looming of Mr Magorium's departure grounds the movie and lends it a more serious note. What I liked most though, were the excellent performances and great soundtrack that really appealed to me and worked well throughout the movie.

It's a really good film that isn't the least bit contrived and is really joyous to watch. The storyline really pulls you in and allows you to enjoy the Wondrous Emporiu from the whimsical opening sequence, to the final ending credits.

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas
I finally got the DVD and I finally sat down to watch this classic in stop-motion films! In a similar vein to Corpse Bride, this animation is full of song and dance, as well as dramatic moments that are sure to appeal to everyone. The thing about Tim Burton films is that they are always a bit dark, so I don't know how appealing it is to parents and kids but to me, I really enjoyed it. Despite how gruesome and gory things were depicted, they were always depicted in a humourous or cute manner so they kind of contrast and create an interesting image! I am also a complete sucker for musical films so thumbs up for that! =D

This is a film I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed as a post-Halloween movie and is something I wouldn't mind watching again.=D Plus the DVD extras are fantastic!!! Haha.. I wish they had created some videos of the other worlds located within this universe of The Nightmare Before Christmas [like of Easter, St Patrick's Day and Valentine's Day] though. Those would be so interesting!

Ahh. I love watching movies and examining them a little more in-depth.=D I'm looking at this class for next semester on Japanese Cinema, we'll be doing films from Kurosawa Akira and other excellent Japanese filmmakers. I hope I can get that class.. It looks really time-consuming but so fun!! xD xD xD

The Singapore Food Festival is coming up next week and I have 2 exams on top of that so it'll be busy busy busy this whole weekend and next week!!! =(( Hopefully I will actually be able to sleep over Thanksgiving..

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Byakko No Hirasawa Susumu]
[mood : tired. so tired.]
[food : sweet and sour pork... *reaches into the heavens*]

YX: O yarr! I keep forgotten about the different time zones.. X__X They still confuse me. Sigh.

Jiamin: I am not understanding you.X__X

Labels: Clockwork Orange, movie review, Mr Magoriums Wonder Emporium, Paprika, The Nightmare Before Christmas

Sunday, November 02, 2008

A Spooky Halloween! xD

Hello!

So, 2 days ago, we celebrated Halloween with the Hong Kong and Taiwan Student Associations at a huge party in Trotter House.. Then carried on the Halloween spirit with a screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas at my house! xD

I baked a fabulous [if I do say so myself.. No pictures though. I forgot! =(] chocolate cake plucked with great foresight from Pierre Herme's Chocolate Desserts, which I purchased for [nearly] a song on Amazon. The texture was surprisingly light and fluffy for a cake that resembled a brownie. And although I used Ghirardelli chocolate [premium chocolate for a poor student such as myself.. Valrhona or Scharffen Berger will be saved for when the parents are around.=P], the chocolate flavour was intense and lovely [no brilliantly delicious Valrhona notes but still] and the cake wasn't too sweet. The best thing about it was that the cake was chocolatey yet light, so you didn't feel too full after eating it. Delicious!

Anyway, speaking of Amazon... I love Amazon! And I hate it at the same time. My love-hate relationship stems from their absolutely fabulous deals on cookbooks! All sorts of cookbooks! But ESPECIALLY my weakness: The dessert section. It's terrible! The prices are too amazingly fabulous to resist [especially when you consider the price of cookbooks in sunny ol' Singapore]. When my parents come over, I am buying a crapload of cookbooks and bringing them back to Singapore.=D =D =D

O dear. I got sidetracked by food once again! xP So. Where was I? Oh yes. Halloween!

Before the 2nd half of my costume arrived, I was simply goth girl [without the black lipstick.. Forgot to purchase that.xP]. Haha..

My witch's cape didn't quite work out as planned, but it did act as a good coat! Haha..=P I love the hat!!! xD Thanks Lihui!!!
Me with the East Ann's animal farm and a very sexy devil..=P

Cookie attack!!!

Apart from the obvious purpose of Halloween celebrations [you get to dress up in whatever you like! You get to take endless photos with your friends! You get to eat endless amounts of candy!], there was also a Haunted House, a live band [Go Shuying! xD] and a clubbing dancefloor in the basement.=D

But we mainly kept taking photos.=P Haha..

The witch and her 2 black cats!~ Meow~

A piglet and a witch! xD Haha.. Kawaii~ I loved East Ann's animal farm! So cute! xD

Best Witches! xD I love American Halloween candy.. Kawaii!

And in our extension of Halloween..

We watched Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas!!! =D =D =D It's gruesome and disturbing yet cute and enjoyable. Haha. =) And the songs helped in making it a very entertaining show. I think I can see why it's such a hit around Halloween. And the characters are really like, lovable because they endear themselves to you in a good way.^_^

The story was tied together well but I thought the romance was rather contrived..=P

So Halloween weekend is drawing to an end.. And Daylight Savings Time has been put in place. We are now 13 hours behind Singapore.^_^" The further away you are, the more distance you feel from everyone there...

Coming up in my next post: Movies I've been watching lately! Stay tuned. ;)
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : 平成十七年七月七日　アリス9号]
[mood : pleased]
[food : I want PANCAKES!!! xD IHOP!]

Labels: edibles, Halloween, movie review, Pierre Herme, The Nightmare Before Christmas

Welcome

visions of clarity...do as infinity
by witchstone

My Emotible!
starry-eyed: filled with such youthful hope and optimism that one's eyes twinkle even when it's dark

Wish List

ie: motivation to save money!
- clothes
- shoes [heels! boots!]
- the perfect tote
- coats/outerwear! [Soïa & Kyo, Burberry...]
- Gackt - nine*nine
- Gackt Photobooks:
1 The Gift The Sixth Day & Seventh Night Tour Document (2004)
2 Crescent Photobook (out of print)
- Cookbooks!
1 Thomas Keller The French Laundry Cookbook
2 The Nobu Cookbook
3 Emily Luchetti A Passion for Desserts
4 Alice Medrich Pure Dessert
- Anime/Manga
1 Rurouni Kenshin
2 xxxHOLiC
3 Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-
- Proficiency at Japanese!
- Learn French for Food!

Links

My Flickr Page
spoonerisms*inc a food blog (by wendy & I)
my translation blog

witchstone...

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Checklist: EAT!

The Common Grill, Chelsea
The Black Pearl, Ann Arbor
Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes, Detroit
Bella Ciao, Ann Arbor
Craft, NYC
Momofuku, NYC
Alinea, Chicago
The French Laundry, California
Goto, Singapore

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