Random Places

First Impression: Well here’s a random review. I’m indifferent towards Zac Efron (didn’t watch High School Musical) and do find him cute but too pretty for his own good. Wait, so why did I watch this? I was reading the Television Without Pity review and they said the B-plot (about Zac’s nerd best friend Ned) was pretty sweet.

Afterthoughts: The main plot was just as I’d imagined, lots of incest jokes and many gratuitous “sexy” Zac Efron scenes, but I expected all of that anyway so let’s just focus on why I really watched the movie…Ned’s seduction of Zac’s principal Jane. I will never be as huge a nerd as Ned, so his quirkiness is hard to relate and somewhat over-the-top, but what a comedic gem it was when Ned finally had his dinner date with Jane, oh man it was so worth suffering the rest of the film. I do have a bone to pick though, and that was using Cat Power’s song “The Greatest” in that cheesy divorce courtroom scene. I learned of the song through a BSG vid with Starbuck and Kat, so I will never be able to associate that song with any romantic notion whatsoever.

First Impression: I wanted to watch it when it came out, but as usual, I was too lazy to go. Went along with Abha to watch at UBC Norm. I just hoped it was nothing like Ocean Eleven, all “witty” banter with no heist action.

Afterthoughts: The first thing that came to mind while watching the movie, was how much fun the whole cast had in making this movie. Brad Pitt obviously enjoyed his role as the clueless airhead personal trainer. There were quite a few laughs in the movie, especially in midst of violence and gore. I’ve only seen another Coen brothers’ movie, No Country for Old Men, but I could definitely recognize the same twisted humour in both films. (tiny spoiler coming) There was this particular um device that Clooney’s character made, and I must have a really dirty mind because I knew exactly what it was before he moved the chair. Overall a pretty original comedy with great acting. Really loved Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton.

First Impression: Caught the trailer somehow, probably while I was researching news on Matthew Macfadyen, for some forgotten reason. I liked the two movies I’ve watched with MM (P&P and In My Father’s Den, and British comedy are usually funn(ier).

Afterthoughts: Well, the beginning was fairly mediocre. I found there were too many character subplot going on and most jokes were just cheap laughs or already seen in the trailer. It wasn’t until *SPOILER* someone actually “died” that it started getting interesting. Keeley Hawes, who played MM’s onscreen wife, is his actual wife in real life, and they do look cute together. The midget secret lover thing got kinda tiring after awhile, along with Simon high on drugs.

First Impression: I have been looking forward to this movie for so fucking long, ever since I knew it was in production, just because Kristen Bell looked completely HOT in that bikini.

Afterthoughts: Why do I always expect too much from a comedy. It was funny, but probably only for half of the movie. I couldn’t stand Russell Brand and his hobo hair, and can someone please get Jonah Hill off the big screen, he’s not as funny as he think he is. The only redeemable thing about this movie was of course Kristen Bell (looking HOT) as “sexy crime fighter” Sarah Marshall. You can pretty much forget about everyone else.

First Impression: I have pretty much all of Neil Gaiman’s books, and Stardust is one of my favourite. When I heard it was going to be adapted into a movie I had my doubts. It grew when I saw the movie trailer, especially when I didn’t really find Charlie Cox that attractive or charming. And I guess I was a little pissed about what they did to Captain Shakespeare as well.

Afterthoughts: Honestly, I think this was one of the few movies I truly enjoyed last year (that is, watched last year…not came out). I’ve never been a fan of such epic fantasies like Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia. Sure, the movie special effects were low budget, but so what, I thought the film was fairly faithful to the book itself. I think it did a good job of capturing that whimsical and magical, romantic and comedic story. And come to think of it, I think that’s why I like the TV show Pushing Daisies! Anyway, back to Stardust. You know, I didn’t think it was possible. When I saw the trailer, I thought Tristan’s flippy hair looked entirely stupid on Cox, but when Captain Shakespeare gave him that haircut, he literally turned from small town boy “cute” to a fucking man. I also thought Claire Danes was great in this as well; especially her attempt at British accent. And if you need any more reasons to rent this, consider this. After British pop band “Take That” watched a screening of Stardust, they loved it so much that they immediately wrote a song for it. I don’t think the song played in the theatrical release but when this played at the end of the DVD it was just perfect.

Here are two videos for the song. One for those who hasn’t watch the movie, and one for those who did, respectively.

Official music video