Movie Review (4): Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who's the fairest of them all?

Yep, I absolutely loved the trailer when I first saw it.

Narrator: Once upon a time, in an enchanted kingdom, there was a beautiful princess. With skin as white as snow and hair as black as night.

Step-Queen: Blah blah blah. Her hair is not black, it's raven and she's 18 years old and her skin has never seen the sun so of course it's good.

Arghh love how Julia Roberts pushes the stigma aside!

Anyway, this is a remake/revamp of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. There are many twists and changes to the Disney one but I thought it was good. So... it IS a child's movie, with lovely and innocent elements. I wish I can give you an in-depth criticism but I watched the movie wanting to enjoy it so many things went unnoticed.

Generally, it's a light-hearted and enjoyable movie suitable for all ages. The evil queen is not THAT evil and the... ah, I shan't spoil the movie :) Albeit some eyebrow-raising moments, I enjoyed the movie.

Besides, how can you NOT fall in love with a face like this?

I swear, her eyebrows can go twice the thickness and she'll probably still look beautiful. She does fit the Snow White role nicely :) But anyway, just my opinion.

Back to the plot. Standard remakes with new twists. Example, the prince meets the dwarves first, not Snow White. Kinda typical of what we fanfiction writers are already doing anyway. I didn't pay too much attention to plot loopholes so nothing much about that... However, generally, I thought that the rewrite was quite interesting. it's your typical 'step-mother takes over the poor girl's life until she met prince charming' but... different :)

I do like the costumes. it's so extravagant and colourful. and the setting and decorum of the set... there're plenty of things to describe. If you're looking for interesting costumes to work your description on, maybe you can look at this movie. It's not the typical Victorian gowns. :) Even Snow White's wedding dress was not white, but blue and orange :D

The humour endorsed is simple, children-friendly humour. People falling and getting into trouble for the stupidest things (that children will enjoy). Witty comments and dry humour? Nah. Zilch. :)

Could I just say that... their ending song is just... inappropriate. *poker face* I don't even know how to explain it.

Gah, I feel so crappy for posting this redundant post :X

Disclaimer: movie afterthought is not an in-depth review. opinions given are made in the context of writing a fiction story.

Musical Review (1): Wicked

Finally! Let's talk about something else!! Because going on and on about "I Want To Be A Turk!" is just not interesting enough :)

(Taken from google picture search!!)

Yes, I specially went to find the poster as advertised in Singapore. So yes, on Sunday, I watched the musical "Wicked" with my sister at Marina Bay Sands. It's like this newest casino-shoppingmall-hotel-fancyschmancyrestaurantgalore-touristattraction place. Now, if you google 'Singapore', you'll most likely see (apart from our dear ol' Merlion, yes it's a portmanteau of mermaid and lion) pictures like this:

(surprise surprise, i had to google 'marina bay sands' XDDD). Looks like Singapore is still best known for their cityscape (refer below):

Yes, that thing sprouting water? That is the merlion.

Enough bragging on my side. Anyway, I watched "Wicked" and here is my humble review.

Generally, I like it. As with all other musicals I've watched (which is a rather shallow collection of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', 'CATS' and 'Chicago'). it was full of song and dance. However, I feel that this musical is really suitable for people who are musicals-beginners. If my friend has never watched the musical, I'll recommend this to him/her. Provided, of course, he/she has read/watched 'The Wizard of Oz', but I'll talk about that later.

Comparatively, Wicked has a more comprehensible storyline, like Chitty (Sorry! I'm only gonna use my other three musicals for comparison so pardon my lack of expertise!!). CATS and Chicago MIGHT need some (or a lot) of explaining and straining your ears to understand what they were singing. With Wicked (and Chitty), there is a nice balance of song and drama. However, if you're talking about dance and stunts? CATS will fulfill that need better.

I want to talk about the other stuff, like costumes, music and props etc., but I simply don't have time!! I mean, this wouldn't be a writing blog if I didn't talk about the story and writing, would it? So I better get down to the real deal.

To those who have never read/watched "The Wizard of Oz", go read/watch them, you bunch of born-after-2000 babies!! XDDD It is one of the children's classics and it's worth reading. Wicked is best watched when you have the prior knowledge of the events in The Wizard of Oz (i'm going to drop my "..." because I'm lazy!!) Those who remember fondly of Dorothy and Toto, read on :)

Simply put, Wicked is the classic (or cliche, but who am I to judge?) story of the misunderstood-villain. ... That's it. XD that's really saying everything in a nutshell. But here are some things that I noticed in the musical.

My favourite character is Glinda the Good, simply because she has the quirkiest character. the character is the epitome of being naughty while looking nice. It really got me thinking: How do I create a character who is so flawed, yet so lovable? That sounds like a real nice challenge for me. Try creating a character that makes you go 'I will NEVER be friends with her, but if I really am, she'll bring lots of fun."

The only one that I can think offhand is Yuffie Kisaragi (from Final Fantasy 7). She is annoying to the brain cells, but you gotta admit, she's cute :3 Oh gosh... I can't think of others. Any help here? No one of that sort in Harry Potter, huh? Not in Eragon, nor any of my obscure fantasy novels either. Ah, Veronica in the Archie Comics!!! She's... flawed, not that I like her, but she does have her cute moments too. Something like that! (Unfortunately, no one is flawed in Twilight so no comparison there. I'm not really saying it as a compliment :P)

Moving on. Story plot is rather... coherent and it's funny to see how they fit in new details such that it fits nicely into the canon storyline. For example, Glinda gave Elphaba (future Wicked Witch of the West) a black, pointy hat that she didn't want... it turned out to be a staple in the Wicked Witch's costume... carrying it all the way into the main story of "The Wizard of Oz". And they pulled this kind of stunt almost all the time.

I'm amused by this because... it really reminded me of how I squeezed my brain cells trying to introduce new details into my "I Want To Be A Turk!" so much so that my details is the influence of what you see in the canon story...

... Example (since that was quite a chunk to digest), okay, simple one. In order to keep my BC Turks even after the Banora incident, I had to introduce two original characters (Marshall and Patricia, remember?) so that they can die in the Banora incident and not any of my BC Turks XD (refer to Chapter 21 to ). Another example is making Rude like Tifa Lockhart (Chapter 42) many years before the events of FF7 so that it wouldn't feel too abrupt for Rude to say that he likes her (after only meeting her once or twice).

Anyway, they did a lot of those, using new characters to explain how did the Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man come about and all. It was interesting to see how they cleverly fit everything but as a fanfic writer you'll think: Meh, I do that all the time.

Are you anymore convinced that fanfiction has its worth? It's a common writing tactic for fanfiction writers, and all other story developers when they are making a prequel or a side story.

The dialogue was well-written. Every character had a humour that was unique. This is something that maybe we all can learn from. Not everyone shares the same kind of humour. Dry humour, quick-witted ones, animated ones... Well, it's not something I can master anytime so soon, so it's not a priority that I'm looking into. :P

All in all, the musical was not bad. I enjoyed it thoroughly, I didn't really understand why I told my friend that it was alright. *shaking my head* Now, I'm feeling really sleepy and I've yet to start on my work so if you would excuse me... I'm going to do my work XD

Disclaimer: Despite the official term, the above review is not a wholesome and fully critical one. The blog entry merely reviews and reflects the performance on based on story writing and other literary elements.

Movie Review (3): (just) in time!

if you only had a day left to live, what would you do?

THAT, folks, is what you get. yes, i went for another movie today. i don't think u need a summary or synopsis so i'm gonna just jump in.

Yes, the concept that time is money (literally) is very, very intriguing. I was very entertained for two hours :) just... just two things that made me a LITTLE unsettled.

1. loopholes??

not that there were loopholes but... it feels like there were some things that were left a little TOO vague. i mean, in real steel i suppose it was fine to leave things like 'yeah hugh jackman had some scrape that made him all messed up now' but THIS is simply tooo... off. they didn't explain what did will salas' father did, or why giving people in the ghettoes more time will cause disbalance... well.. i hope i didn't spoil anything there. all in all, i think some things can be explained a little more.

2. lacks depth

ahh. not that the story sucked, but it lacks depth. and it was such a pity too, because i thought that it had some potential to be a little more than what i watched tonight. story development was two-dimensional, there was practically no surprise element, no story climax, bleah. the characters were also kinda meh, though amanda seyfried remains hot in my opinion :P

okay, so comparatively, real steel is the better deal (rhyme intended). and off i go to do my powerpoint slides for my presentation on friday :)

Disclaimer: movie afterthought is not an in-depth review. opinions given are made in the context of writing a fiction story.

Movie Review (2): Real Steel

I just came back from the theatres. I watched the movie "Real Steel" starring Hugh Jackman. Now, Hugh Jackman did an awesome job as Wolverine so of course I want to watch Real Steel..........

Of course not. Truth is, the movie didn't even appeal to me.

no matter how I looked at it, it seemed like some random robot boxing movie. and seriously? robot boxing? still, i went to watch because my friends were raving at how awesome it was.

verdict? yeah it is awesome. it is also true that it is a robot boxing movie :P i shall not dwell too much on details, but it's movie worthwhile to watch.

now of course as usual, i won't bring in random stuff unless it had anything to do with writing. I noticed that in the movie, the script 'cleverly' left out details of the characters. So we leave the cinema having a pretty good idea why the protagonist was initially so messed up, but we weren't told the whole tale.

take for example, hugh jackman apparently had this nemesis who taunts him whereever he goes, saying things like 'i'll beat you up just like back then!' so we kinda know that their vengeance runs deep, yet we don't know the specifics.

i really wonder if it's wise to keep details so vague and open to our interpretation. for myself i try my very best to reveal all information and not be too implicit in describing my story. but it is true that sometimes describing things so explicitly takes the mystery away and dulls the story. so... how much should we imply and how much should we reveal?

decisions, decisions :)

Disclaimer: Despite the official term, the above review is not a wholesome and fully critical one. The blog entry merely reviews and reflects the performance on based on story writing and other literary elements.

Moves Like Jagger + Movie Review (1): Suckseed

Wahaha, in the end I've yet to begin on what I intended to write.

Moves Like Jagger. As of now I'm still at a blank Chapter 2, a skimpy last chapter and I don't really know what I REALLY want to write. Just that I loved listening to the song :3 I believed as of now I've listened to the song at least 20 times (will begin count from here) for writing the story so far... and probably another 20 times more for listening pleasure XDDD

i hope i don't end up being so sick of the song that i stop writing the story altogether :P

Okay, let's get the to-says over and done with :D



(taken from google images)

Suckseed is movie based in Thailand, about a group of musically... disinclined boys who wanted to form a band. When their female childhood friend returns after moving to Bangkok, many funny things happened.

Honestly, when I first saw this poster and my boyfriend suggested watching this, i was thinking... Really? It looked pretty... low budget in my opinion. We had nothing else to do and hence it was unanimous that we'll watch this cute-sy, teenage-y movie.

i totally underestimated this movie. i expected myself to have a good time with all the 'teenage woe' kinda storyplots, and indeed they are. however, i left the cinema with a very warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

the storyline is not bad, really! but the thing that captivated me the most was the character portrayal and development. it was a 2-hour worth of heartache and joy watching the movie. the characters were all portrayed very well, and the protagonists have extremely strong character. The way they walked, they way they stutter or yell... it was nice and crisp. Before the movie reached its halfway mark, I found myself engaged with the characters... i felt the heartache of their rejections, i laughed so hard at their crazy antics. it was as if they were very close to my heart. it was heart-warming to see the characters grow up and reconcile.

what's with these and writing, you say? well... i left the cinema wanting to write like that. I mean, the storyboard did a wonderful job portraying each character in their own quirks. I thought back about people who said that they feel for my characters and i always feel awesome hearing how my reviewers can relate to them easily.

it's just a little... reminder at myself to work harder on my character development. For "I Want to be a Turk!", these words are easier said than done. Meia, being an OC, of course gets the most character development. however sometimes i admit i forget about the other characters... like the BC turks, reno and especially rude... argh... so many people. remind me not to throw in ten people within the first few chapters wahahaha XD

i'm still excited to write "I Want to be a Turk" and I hope that I am able to write everything that I intend to write. I am a little concerned that the story might be so long that my readers will lose interest... =((

P.S: the boyfriend thereafter ended up watching "Suckseed" again with his friends... and he told me that he still enjoyed the movie after watching it the second time. that's a first.

P.P.S: Suckseed is no longer in the cinemas... To the readers who are not in Asia... well... good luck finding the movie :P I highly encourage you to go watch it! :D