Elvina

Eyecatching: like with a butterfly net. Only catching flying eyes.

I'm late, but HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY BIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTH DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY *gasp* WYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!

 

I hope all your birthday wishes came true!

Très agréable, l'homme 'pas tout à fait le lézard'!

 

~Elvina

Psycho

 

I'm talking the Alfred Hitchcock version, of course. I have no interest in seeing any of the remakes, especially not now. Hitchcock is a master of suspense, and Psycho certainly wasn't lacking in that regard. Norman, I thought, was creepy, while I liked Marion (Janet Leigh). The shower scene must have been gory for its time, but I found the suspense of this movie far more interesting than the gore (not a gore fan anyway). I sort of figured out what was happening as it got nearer to the end and we learn about Bate's mother and father and the weirdness going on there. The ending was great - full creepiness in that look Bates gives right at the camera... "I wouldn't even hurt a fly". Nicely done, Hitch! Five crazy madmen out of five.

 

 

The Birds

 

Ah, another classic Hitchcock. Due to the recommendations of my friend who is a Hitchcock fan, I'm making my way through the master's repertoire. Rear Window is next on my list. Like the beginning of Psycho, The Birds started out far removed from the memorable movies scenes (which was all I knew of them hitherto). Opening in a menagerie and being introduced to Melanie had me watching closely. I wasn't sure when the birds started getting... peckish (). With most movies I can do other things while watching, but during Hitchcock's I've found that I can't look away from the screen. His movies always get my undivided attention because I don't want to miss anything. So we have 'Tippi' Hedren as Melanie, following an eligible bachelor up to Bodega Bay. On her way to meet him she gets attacked by a seagull. Odd, yes, but oh, well, what can you do... So on they go, their romance striving to spark from the kindling amid some familial tension with the mother (Jessica Tandy from Cocoon!) and an old flame, but then a whole flock of seagulls attacks a children's birthday party... and it gets worse from there. Birds are flocking into Bodega Bay by the tens of hundreds. I don't want to give anything else away but for those who don't care if I reveal something about the ending:

Thrilling I would call this movie, in the true sense of the word. Five plunging seagulls out of five.

 

I definitely recommend Hitchcock to anyone who can appreciate the classics!

I'm not sure if this is of any use, but if you're interested in making a map you might find this GNU mapper useful: AutoREALM. Here are some Tutorials as well, in case they're needed. I'm not planning to join this Quest, but I thought you might find AutoREALM useful. Good luck to all!

I just read the last one, Predator, and I thought it was very interesting. At first I thought there would be a twist to it - like Onyx was the true predator, but then Lupus showed his real canines, so to speak. I thought the sisters' names were too unrealistic and I was confused as to why they would even go back to a concert after that, but the story writing was really good and I thought it was a well contained little piece. I'll surely be reading more of your work in future, Kikuyu.

 

*Edit - And I read the Beginning of Neverland one as well. It was also very well written. You have great talent there, Kikuyu. There were a few parts where certain things were not particularly clear, like the fact that Hook's hooks were his favourite weapons and not yet attached to his stump (which, of course, he didn't have yet). There were also a few parts where the word order in a couple of the sentences was a little backwards, but only in a few instances. I really like the idea of writing a sort of "where it all began" for this story and you seem to have just the imagination and skill to write it. Very nice. Arr!

 

I liked the measure of this piece. It radiated hurt - I know that kind of hurt that only friends can inflict (knowingly or unknowingly). I didn't want to just read it and not leave a comment (I hate it when people do that to my stuff), but I don't have much else for you feedback-wise other than to say it was well written and I liked it.

I think the first version is much better, Reverie. The second doesn't quite (to me) convey that same sense of the dance itself that Wyvern mentioned far better than I could. The second version has more words, and I felt that took away from the quick-dance-step feeling that made the first one so good.

"Alien" - I can't believe that I spent such a long time without having seen this one... "Aliens" was one of my favorite films back in the day, and I watched all of the other films in the Alien franchise back then except for the original that started it all. And now that I've watched it, I can safely that it's possibly the best in the series, with the only possible contender being "Aliens."

I did the same thing not long ago!! Did you watch the extended version? I watched that one and thought it was a great movie, though I do still admit to liking Aliens better. I talked about this with my dad who saw the original and he mentioned that he thought most people in his time were pretty confused by it all because the version they saw wasn't the extended edition, and apparently there were some scenes in there that would have helped add to their comprehension.

 

I remember thinking as I watched Alien recently how much Sigourney Weaver's Ripley reminded me of heroines like those of authors I know like Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Moon. Ripley was playing by the rules with her refusal to let them in before the quarantine period was over, even with Kane all face-hugged by an alien. I was a little shocked to see Veronica Cartwright and Tom Skerritt in it, and I couldn't believe I'd never realised Ian Holm was in Alien, and that he was Kane! I guess I just didn't know my actors as well when I first saw Alien.

Too funny!

This had me chuckling, Kikuyu. Very blasé indeed. I liked it and I sympathise with you. School computers make me want to get in there and tinker so things go faster.

I think some people left the cinema I was in when I saw The Fountain with my husband. While it took us a while to get an idea of what was happening we weren't tempted to walk out - how would we ever know what was going on?

 

We saw it mainly for Weiz and Jackman - both of whom I thought were good in this. There was some confusion (check the IMDb threads to see just how much!) as to the timeline. Some brainiac had stated in a blurb that the story spanned a thousand years, but all but one timeline (the one in which his wife is dying and he can't save her) was metaphorical. The Conquistador timeline signified his desperate search to save his wife, while the journey into the stars signified his spiritual journey as he came to terms with her death and everyone's mortality.

 

It was a very roundabout way to put across a message, but I believe that's what this director is meant to be good at. Hubby and I both came out of the cinema feeling like our minds no longer fit inside our puny skulls and we kept looking up at the sky, the stars, and the moon on the way home. I couldn't say if we'd do that after watching other abstract metaphorical films - we don't make a habit of them. But we thought this film was very interesting and hadn't been a waste of our time, so that's something, I guess.

 

Even though we're all going to die...

 

J/k!

What is AoA?

 

Great link, Valdar!

 

She had curves that just wouldn't quit, like on one of those car commercials where a stunt driver slides a sexy new sports car around hairpin turn after hairpin turn while some poor musician, down on his luck and having been forced to sell out his dream of superstardom for a lousy 30-second ad jingle, sings "Zoom, zoom, zoom" in the background. - Amber Dubois, Denver, CO

Rofl!

A Perfect Stranger

 

This was an interesting thriller/mystery starring Halle Berry and Bruce Willis. Berry plays Rowena Price, a journalist who goes undercover to ferret out businessman Harrison Hill (Willis) as her best friend's killer. Posing as one of his temps, she enters into a game of online cat-and-mouse. Giovanni Ribisi plays Rowena's friend Miles Haley. There are some very interesting cross-currents between Miles and Row - he's obviously got a thing for her, and probably not a healthy one.

 

What I found most interesting about this movie was the twists. I wondered why the director was being so blatant about certain scenes that showed things about one of the characters. They made me unequivocally think - "He did it! Look at him!". Most directors aren't so obvious... but then my premature expectations got flipped on their head and that's all I will say about that! Overall I thought the movie was well done, very interesting, good mystery, and good twists, especially at the end.

 

I give it three Elvis wigs out of five. :ElvisWig:

Elvina, I thought Babel's point was very easy to see. It was a movie about communication (as the title already pretty much gives away) and cultural clashes. I enjoyed it, though I understand it isn't a movie for everybody. More a trigger for the watcher's own thought than really telling coherent, interesting stories on its own.

Yeah, I can see that, and now I remember when it came out people were saying the same thing. Thanks for posting that. I suppose it makes a bit more sense now I know that, but it still wasn't really for me; I'll be keeping my one frowning face for it ( ).

Babel

 

Man, this was a weird movie. I kept watching it, hoping for a point... but there was nothing. Three groups of characters were tied thinly together by a rifle (given by someone from one group, used by someone in another group, wounded thanks to the someone in the second lot). What that has to do with a Japanese girl flashing herself to a bunch of guys or throwing herself on others I don't know. She was traumatised by her mother's death. What did any of this have to do with anything happening to the other groups? I DON'T KNOW!

 

Maybe some people thought this movie was a masterpiece or even just good, but I couldn't believe I sat through an hour and forty minutes of this drivel waiting in vain for some reason to have wasted my time. Cate Blanchett was good in it, Brad Pitt was average. The other actors were pretty average as well, though the Japanese cop was good in the way he reacted to Chieoko (I think that was her name).

 

Garr, this was a pretty uninteresting and unremarkable movie, IMO, no offence to those who might have liked it.

 

It give it one frowning face out of five:

 

 

Catch and Release

 

I really know how to pick 'em. *shakes head at self* This movie almost went for too long - a drama about how a woman and her fiancé's friends all cope when the fiancé dies. At first I didn't know what it was about the big bearded guy that I liked so much... I thought maybe I just had a thing for big cuddly guys who were really sweet... then I found out it was Kevin Smith of Silent Bob (Clerks, Clerks 2, Mallrats, etc.) fame! Kevin Smith in a serious role - this I hadn't seen. I must say I thought he was really great - not just a comedian this guy. Good to see and I hope he does more in the future.

 

Jennifer Garner was quite good - I usually find her acting so. And Juliette Lewis was in it as well, which was interesting. The plot was a little predictable, and overall this is probably one of those movies they'll show at noon on a weekday somewhere down the track. It was interesting discovering along with Garner's character Grey things about her fiancé she'd never known. The movie was really about what she finds out about herself in the process.

 

Okay, but I wonder if I would have been as predisposed if I hadn't been excited to see Kevin Smith in such a role...

 

I give it two and a half Silent Bobs out of five. :chris: ...

Hi Silver Wind!

 

I liked this very much. The imagery (Wyv touched on the 'menacing plant' imagery too) was great. I had a few thoughts as to what might help some parts flow better while I was reading this. I thought you might like to consider them.

 

Tears of poison down her cheeks

a slipper of ivy on her feet

bond in vines she is held tight

while her heart is cased in thorns.

Perhaps "bound in vines"?

 

Dead leaves to make her bed

she lays her head within the brambles

until the touch of moon caress

to call her out from the depths.

How about, "until the touch of moon caresses/calling her out from the depths". I don't know if you needed a specific number of syllables for this style though...

 

Very nice.

 

Elvina

I think the funniest part of The Simpsons Movie for me was seeing Bart's schlong. I'd heard that it was shown but after all that effort to mask it behind pot plants, fences, hoses, people's hands, hedges, and so forth, I was not expecting it when it did appear and I laughed so hard I might have snorted up frozen coke through my nose if I'd had a mouthful at the time.

 

I finally saw Serenity recently - the movie Joss Weadon finally got to make after his series Firefly got cancelled a while back. I'd watched some of the Firefly episodes and liked it, but not all of them. There was something about it I didn't quite get - I think that morbid sense of the funny they have wasn't quite to my taste at the time. They're both (series and movie) space-westerns, which was intriguing and unique, and still is, IMO.

 

However, after watching Serenity I went out and bought both it and the single season of Firefly that was released and they're now a happy addition to my DVD collection. I have to say, Serenity is probably the best thing that could have happened where this series is concerned. The fact that it was a movie meant that Joss Weadon had to reign himself in a apply good cutting methods to keep everything snappy and fast-paced. This is considerably different to Firefly where the scenes can be quite long and slow sometimes. The character Inara (Morena Baccarin) had little role to play in Serenity, but it worked out anyway, and I was happy to see Summer Glau (who played River Tamm) finally take the stage. It was good to see what she could do, and she didn't disappoint. The fight scenes were designed specifically for Summer who is a dancer with amazing flexibility and grace. She was great in her role as River, something that Joss never really got to explore in Firefly's short stint, and Simon the brother (played by Sean Maher) was very good as well. Nathan Fillon as Captain Malcolm Reynolds was great as usual. Somehow this actor manages to portray an extremely tricksy captain with moments of boyish humour who in his darker moments can pull a gun on his friends and crew with the intent of "If you try to stop me, I will shoot you down", and is eminently believable. Gina Torres was also wonderful as Zoe, Mal's staunch first mate and war buddy.

 

There were some major losses to the crew in this movie, which was surprising and sad, but definitely added to its movie appeal as cast members rarely die in series and this is where Serenity originates. After watching this movie I watched the season of Firefly again and enjoyed them all, missing, however, that wonderfully faster pace of the movie. The plot was great and everything tied up neatly. I don't believe you'd need to have seen any of the series' episodes in order to fully understand this movie or its plot, though I had so I could be wrong.

 

The only thing that bugged me a little about this movie was the bad guy (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor). Lord save me from philosophic villains! It was a little unbelievable that this dude carried a samuri sword around to stab at ineffectual Parliment grunts, but I think it was more the way he spoke that annoyed me. Philosophic - more like sophorific! I kept wishing he'd get off the screen so I could get back to the Serenity crew.

 

Aside from that, this movie has excellent entertainment value. I hope you like this one as much as I did.

 

Five stars out of five, because even though the antagonist annoyed me the rest was so good he got drowned out.

 

Well written, good hook, dark prose. I also didn't understand the reference to Thomas as 'Mother', and that made the ending a little flat to me. Otherwise, your writing skill quite impressed me.

 

Btw, Wrenwind - Your avatar looks extremely familiar.

Rofl. I liked it! That was well written and amusing, Degorram.

I'm relieved to hear that, Mynx! As long as the story is bearable I shouldn't be too disappointed, and the fact the original Optimus Prime voice actor is there is a relief! I look forward to seeing it this Saturday though I've heard that watching it doesn't involve much grey matter - as you said: explosions and action pretty much rule the day.

Uh, naked.

 

Bus or car? (That is, public or personal transport?)

Tanned.

 

Star Trek: Original or Next Generation?

Children of Men

 

In the year 2027, humankind faces the likelihood of its own extinction. No child has been born in eighteen years, and the world's youngest citizen has just died at 18. Set in and around a dystopian London fractious with violence and warring nationalistic sects, Children of Men follows the path of Theo Faron, a London peave activist-turned jaded bureaucrat who is drawn back into the world he left by his ex-wife Julian and the unexpected discovery of a lone pregnant woman, Kee. With the hope of the entire world resting on a lone woman, a 'fugee' (refugee) at that - it's up to Faron to take up the desperate bid to get Kee and her child to safety.

 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started watching this movie, but the premise sounded intriguing. It did not disappoint. This movie has a distinct, unique feeling to it, largely due to the way director Alfonso Cuarón filmed it. Very few but very long takes are the hallmark of this movie, and the feeling it imparts on the film is that one isn't 'watching' the story unfold, but is being taken along with Theo on his journey through perils and danger. I was amazed at how 'real' this approach made everything look. When Theo walks into a coffee shop, buys a coffee, walks out again and then the shop blows up - all in a single scene - I was gobsmacked without quite realising why or how it had looked so real. I recommend watching the bonus material to see how they did these takes. Immense choreography was needed as well as a multitude of rehearsals before filming one of these long scenes.

 

Clive Owen was wonderful to watch. He seems to be a big guy with a lot of presence, but he doesn't 'take up the screen' at all, and the fact that he doesn't act like a stereotypical American Hero, dashing through the fray and dodging bullets every step without fear, is refreshing. Don't get me wrong - there is a LOT of bullet-dodging in this movie. Most of it is incidental, however. London is in turmoil. While the government is trying to stem the tide of fugees (refugees) coming into the country from all over the world where everything else has utterly collapsed, a group within the UK are trying to move along the Uprising and get rid of their oppressors. Into this turbulent mix comes Kee, a fugee woman who is somehow, miraculously pregnant. I don't mean this to sound corny, but in a world without children, all people can think of is how they can use Kee and her baby to further their own political ends. Imagine London meets the Gaza Strip and you'll have an idea of what the setting of this film is like.

 

There is swearing, quite a few f-words, I think, and some of the scenes are very graphic - not many in terms of violence but the childbirth came as a bit of a shock to me (I hope I'm not giving away any spoilers by saying that ). Once again, it was done in a long, continuous take and I wondered how on earth they made the baby look so real when there were absolutely no cut-aways where they could have inserted a real baby into the shot. The filming of this movie was impressive. It painted a very real version of a unhappy future where mankind is confronted with it's own demise - and a single beacon of hope for the future.

 

I have to admit that this movie had a 'bookish' feel to it while I was watching - that is, the kind of feeling that always makes me wonder whether the film had been a novel first. Turns out it is a adaptation of P.D. James' novel "The Children of Men". There is a whole era of "British dystopian genre" (as I call it) out there (e.g.: 1984, Animal Farm, etc.), and to me this film carries over that same dystopian, unhappy feel prevalent in those classical books. This movie is more entertaining, though.

 

Michael Cain also appears as Jasper Palmer, and Julianne Moore plays Theo's ex-wife Julian. Claire-Hope Ashitey plays Kee, which is the first role I've ever seen her in, but I'm impressed with her as well.

 

I give this four cool faces out of five - B) B) - because I felt a bit gipped by the ending. If he got shot so much earlier - by Luke in the building before he and Kee walked out - then you think he might be doubled over a little, at least? Grunting in pain a bit instead of just running around like nothing was wrong with him? Yeah, I felt gipped - not that he died, but that there was no foreshadowing of the bullet wound being so mortal that it suggested he might die.

 

 

Theo: "Who's the father?"

 

Kee: "Don't you know, Theo? I'm a virgin." (laughs)