A Single Man (2009)

I don’t know why I did not hear about this movie earlier.  That is sometimes the problem with the blockbuster mentality, is that the fantastic films get lost because they don’t get enough advertising.  In a way, I think this film found me.  For 3 years, I didn’t hear anything about this film and suddenly I saw posters of it in new magazines and saw people reviewing it or heard people speaking about it and how good it is, so I got it.  That was an incredibly valuable decision I made.

I have to admit, I was never a huge fan of Colin Firth, but at the same time I never disliked him either.  I enjoyed the roles he played in films and I really enjoyed the films as well, but I was never sold.  Consider me all in, buying everything, even if it’s not on sale!  In A Single Man Colin was unbelievable.  But it wasn’t just him.  The cinematography was exceptional; I could look away for one second!  The combination of every carefully planed shot with the skillfully edited pace and the amazing score that draws you into this man’s reality, it’s just magic. 

I have never felt this way when watching a movie, where every fiber in your being is drawn into this film.  Not once did I think a shot looked bad, or even just acceptable.  Every shot in the film looked as though it was planned for hours, even days and because of that you simply could look away.  My favorite part is where Colin Firth has an extremely emotional scene and the camera is right up in his face, and as he gives in to his emotions the camera does not move away, they don’t cut to another perspective.  They just stay on him as he bares his soul and is phenomenal.  I’m also a huge fan of Julian Moore and her tragic character was like a breath of fresh depressing air.  That is the only way I can describe her role. 

I can go on for pages about this film, but it still won’t do the film justice.  So my only advice is to go get the film and watch it as soon as possible.  I didn’t have popcorn while watching this, but I think it was better, because I could devote all my attention to the film.  Personally I think you need to see this film by your lonesome self so you can feel and experience the film with only your emotions and the films emotions in the room.  It is a definite must see for every one, this wonderful story of love, loss of love and the best and worst moments in life.  I can’t guarantee that you are going to feel good after this film, it’s not meant to make you feel good, but there is some deep beauty within this heartbreaker.  And at the end of it all it is life.  Beautiful. Ugly. Truthful.  

Sucker Punch (2011)

I really wanted to see this movie.  I didn’t see a trailer, I just saw the poster.  But then it came out and I didn’t go see it and it came on DVD and I didn’t rent it and Heinrich gave me the movie and I didn’t watch it.  Until recently.  I want to say I don’t know why, but I know why.  Before I watched it I didn’t realize why I haven’t watched it, but afterwards I knew the reason I only watched it later was because I was meant to watch it later.  If that doesn’t make sense, I’ll get to that later.

This movie was weird, let’s just be honest.  Not in a bad way though, but there were parts which I wished was longer and others shorter.  What it is, is this continuous jump between fantasy and reality and reality in fantasy and fantasy in fantasy and suddenly it feels like I’m in Inception and need to keep track of where I am.  Not that it’s hard to do though.  The transitions between this reality and fantasy is absolutely flawless and I love it when you can transition from one scene to the next but you can’t see a cut. 

Now Zack Snyder is known for his fantastic look and at many parts in the film I was gob smacked at how some of the effects where done, because it is real life action mixed with a lot of CGI, but then they go slow-mo and the effect is still flawless, so I can’t fault them on that.  I was however more interested in the real life story taking place in this house, instead of seeing the alternate reality of fighting which symbolizes them completing the task.  The reason why I’m so torn is because I love the reality part and I love the fighting part, I just which that they won’t substitute each other’s in between story.  It seems like it was two movies and was cut into one.

Yoav

But all that is just technicalities, because at the end I’m still blown away with this film.  The ending really stuck with me.  The last few words.  And that is why I only watched the film later, because I needed to hear those words at the perfect time.  Very simple but power full.  And I suggest you go watch the film as soon as possible, and maybe try and watch it in HD, it really is worth it.  The soundtrack is absolutely awesome!  They used South African musician, Yoav, to do pretty much the whole score for the film and I love it.  The soundtrack is on repeat on my iPod!  Especially their version of Sweet Dreams and the various versions Where Is My Mind?.  You won’t need to put Salt & Vinegar spice on your popcorn to take your breath away, the movie will take care of that!  Get the Blu-ray, get a large popcorn and watch it!  You have all the tools you need. Now fight!

Safe House (2012)

End of last year I edited a movie review at work about this movie Safe House.  Now I am no fan of Denzel Washington, I never was.  Ryan Reynolds, well, he is okay – good in a RomCom, generally likable, but I’m not crazy about him.  And then the film was shot primarily in Cape Town.  After seeing the trailer I was quite looking forward to it, regardless of the actors, and I can tell you now the movie delivers!

Safe House has such an energetic feel to it, but at the same time it is slow moving at bits.  The best way to describe it is to compare it to an iced lake.  Still on top, but you can see the water rushing below and now and then you step on a piece of ice that breaks away and water splashes out on top.  The film has an interesting grungy look; I assume the director wanted to use film specifically to get that film grain.  The action scenes are amazing; they don’t shy away from it.  The car chasing seen through the streets of Cape Town blew my mind.  This is just the tip of the iconic mountain. 

The acting from Denzel and Ryan is amazing.  I have a new found respect for both of them.  But the one thing that Ryan should not do, or practice a bit more before he tries it a gain, is speak Afrikaans.  If that was not subtitled in the film I would not have known what the heck he was saying.  But I’ll give him props for trying. 

It’s not the average run of the mill action film.  It is quite psychological in all.  The downside is the typecasting of the other actors made me recognize the real bad guy quite early on, but it was more of a “It’s probably him!” moment than a “It’s him! It’s him!” moment.  Regardless of that, you still have to go see it, and see it on the big screen.  Seeing South Africa shot without desaturating and bleach bypassing it to show the so called "Harsh-African-Sun" is amazing.  It just goes to show that when you know what you do you can make anything look the way you want it to look.  You better take someone with you to this movie, and make them buy popcorn as well, because ten minutes into the movie mine was already finished.  This way you can share with the other person, because one large popcorn simply isn’t enough.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (2011)

I read the Twilight books. Okay, wait I listened to the audiobooks... I tried reading them and that was torture.  However the audiobooks where a lot of fun and I enjoyed them (except for my new found hate for the word 'riley', because that is the only adjective that Stephenie Meyer knows).

I really enoyed Twilight as well as New Moon, I even did my honours thesis study on New Moon.  Eclipse, well... Let's just say there is no light during an eclipse.

So now you've got the backstory, which I think was needed.  I was excited to go see Breaking Dawn seeing as it was also the book where something actually happens! However I was not that excited that I simply HAVE to go see the midnight screening of it, so one of our friends asked Heinrich if he wanted to go with her and I felt it was okay, we'll just go watch it again at another time.  Two days before the midnight premier, she phoned me, saying she had an extra ticket and asked if I want to go? So I decided, ag why not! So there I was going to the midnight premier of Breaking Dawn.

It does have a very thin storyline, but other than that you can't fault the movie.  What the director did in this movie is what I think was missing in Eclipse: every scene, every shot was used as a chance to convey some additional message.  I may be looking at the movie from too much of a technical aspect, but I can't help it.  The brilliant lighting, the use of colours in the imagery was breath taking.  Even from the first shot, right up until the end.

I want to say there is a specific favourite part or a part that really stands out for me, but that wouldn't be fair, I will say that the one scene I didn't expect and I was really fantastic is the nightmare wedding Bella has. Absolutely stunning!

All round it was just a general improvement from the other films, the actors were makeuped better, everyone looked more beautiful, the acting was great, the editing, the camera work as well.  Every shot felt like it was properly planned and that no other way would have worked as well as the ones that were used.  What was strange was the change of music, it was more upbeat and lively in comparison with the other films, however I still think that it was appropriate, because the tone of the last book is also much different from the tone in the first three. And the special effects, especially the way Bella looks was SO good, I kept on wondering how they did it.

My only bad point is that the credit sequence is cheesy and very 80s.  I can see why they thought it would be appropriate with the dramatic change in colour, but it simply did not work for me, and I'm a strong believer that the titles and credits should fit with the theme and style of a movie.  It's the difference between excellently planned finishing touches and unplanned laziness.

And I also blame the titles for making me miss part of the movie. I found out from one of my co-workers that after all the credits there is another part of the film.  If it wasn't for the horrid titles, I would have stayed to watch them all, but not to worry.  I've been wanting to go see the film again, so when I do, I'll stay through the titles (maybe play with my iPhone until the bad part is done) and see that last bit! So if you haven't seen Breaking Dawn, even if you are not a fan, go and see it. It is part of the filmic culture and you need to see it, even if you still don't like it at the end, but I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Harry Potter still rules though!

Stir of Echoes (1999)

When I was a child, my parents where quite strict about obeying film ratings.  Not like most of the parents today, my younger cousins have seen films which I felt where inappropriate to 16 year olds, and they were nowhere near that age. I'm wandering... So as a child, a lot of the scary movies I was not allowed to watch.  So naturally as soon as I was old enough I watched all of the movies that I wanted to watch when I was still too young.

One of the films that really stuck with me was Stir of Echoes... This film had one of the most memorable shots.  A girl gripping the floor so hard with her fingers that her picking nail breaks off on the floor.  The problem was that for years i could only remember this scene, and one or two bits, but no name, no actor.  Luckily, our post production coordinator is really sharp on his movies and actors and so on, that when i told him about this scene, he immediately knew which movie it was.

So I searched for this 90's film and found it this weekend.  And boy did I enjoy this again.  Th is film has an exceptionally creepy boy - who even freaked me out a little bit, which says a lot because it takes a lot to freak me out, and even though I am not a big fan of Kevin Bacon, I did enjoy his stunning performance is this film.
 What I liked most about this film is how everything fits together so perfect.  There are no gaps with empty visual, empty story line, but at the same time it is not crammed with information.  The storytelling is fluid and natural and everything is well planned and very well executed.  Some of the  effects are real give-aways of the time when it was made, but then at the same time there are visuals and effects expressing certain feelings and ideas, which was much better executed than. It would have been executed had it been made recently - good example of not having something makes you do something that was even better, if you had your first option.

My recommendation for everyone, especially if you like some suspense thrillers, get this movie a large box of butter-lovers popcorn and watch it.  You won't be disappointed!

No Butter for Losers!

Wow!  A long time has past since I've been active on my blog... I know the first rule to blogging is 'blog regularly', but unfortunately I was not in a place to write, or when I was in a that so-called 'place', I was too busy.  I'll try and make an effort to make time and find a 'place' not just for the reader's sake (is anyone even out there?). but mostly (at least at this moment) for mine.

This might sound all doom and gloom, but it's actually not (or my sub-conscious is just suppressing it - whatever works for you).  I am glad to inform those who do not already know, that I did in, in fact, win the iPhone 4s!! Jay!! If you read my previous post you will know what I'm talking about, there was some difference though: I did not go buy it in New York.  Instead, when the iPhone 4S was released, Smokoo (the company who ran the competition), had a poll asking what we want.  One person winning the chance to go to New York and getting the new iPhone, or thee people not going to New York, but each getting the new iPhone.  I opted for the second option, and luckily so did 70% of the voters.  Lucky, because my name was drawn second from the bag of names.


A couple of weeks later the directors from Smokoo came to my work to hand over my brand spanking super fast iPhone 4s.  I had some difficulty with Vodacom with doing a SIM-swap, but that is a story I prefer not to relive. 

So to all those haters out there, who kept on saying what a scam the whole competition is, thank you.  Thank you for not entering, which just increased my chances of winning.  I tried and won and guess what, you are still a loser!  Hopefully you have learnt your lesson and will start being a winner soon. (And no, I don't work for Smokoo... unfortunately...)

 Maybe soon I will be struck with a great idea and shoot it on my HD capable phone and upload it for all to see, then you can review those films and tell me all about it.  Don't go anywhere, I'll be talking about a couple of shows and films soon! Why don't you get a large popcorn while you are waiting and don't be stingy on the butter! I know I won't be.

Smokoo and The Big Apple (No Worms Allowed)

Now just to warn you in advance: this is not a movie or TV review.  But it is my blog, and I did say I was going to rant and rave about what ever I want to - isn't that the whole point of a blog?

Recently I stumbled on a link as I was doing a Google Search.  I got to another blogger's site, where he was saying something about removing a post about Smokoo.  Smokoo is a pay-to-bid website.  As the word clearly explains: you PAY to BID.  Every bid you place costs R5, and if your bid is the last one when the timer runs out you win the bid.  Because every bid increment is only 1c or 5c, the final price you pay for the item if you win it is most of the time less than 10% of the actual price of the item.  So the blogger writes that he removed the specify post (but slyly gives a link to the original post as it appears in Google's Cached memory).  So I read his post - and it was quite shocking to see someone blatantly attacking a company with unfounded accusations.  The title alone labelled Smokoo as the biggest scam in South Africa, which I think is absolute rubbish and borderline libel.  A scam means you are taking from people by tricking them or stealing from them, through whichever means.  Smokoo does none of that.  


I discovered the site while it was still in it's very early stages and I was intrigued by this whole concept.  I was skeptical to begin with, because they were offering great items like iPhone's, PlayStation's and HD TV's for ridiculous prices and my logic said 'There had to be a catch'.  However, after reading their How It Works section it all made sense, after reading the rest of the website it was clear that there was no catch, just a clever concept.  I bought a couple of bids and tried bidding, unfortunately up to date I've not secured an auction, and it's not because they 'scammed' it away from me.  As a non-winning participant I can say that the reason I have not won anything is because my bidding strategy was... well non-existing.  However, I'm working on it.  


I studied the website and the auctions for about three months, looking at what items sold at what prices and how many bids, and it is really true what they say on their blog.  Some items they make HUGE profits, and I mean HUGE!!! Like +500%, but on other auctions they didn't even come close to breaking even, nowhere close, like selling an iPad 2 worth R10000, while only getting R50 from the whole action and bids.  Or a PS3 Slim where they only made R200 on a R4000 item.  And I also noticed that on average of the three months that I monitored the website I found that they had pretty much equal amount of items that made profit and items that had loss.  However, in total they still made a profit, and a pretty good one (but come on, hellooooo, wakey wakey, it wouldn't be called a business if it didn't make any profit!?).  So good profit that I think their company could grow leaps in a short time, and the items on auctions are a testimony to that.  They started off auctioning smaller items like a iPod nano, and steadily grew to bigger and bigger items.  Now some of their items are humongous: a car! A trip to space! Insane!


So basically my rant is about people like the blogger mentioned who are quick to jump on a box an yell 'Wolf!'.  I understand that that is their opinion and everyone is entitled to one, but when you look at the cold facts, there is nothing that shows Smokoo as being a scam and if you talk nonsense, spreading lies, don't be offended when they ask you to retract your words.  The instructions on the website are very clear, and they also give lots of tips and advice that tell newcomers to just observe the auctions and learn from them before they start bidding.  And if people don't want to loose a bid, well then, don't bid!  I think many of the people hating on Smokoo are people who are pissed off that they didn't think of the concept first or they didn't bid with a strategy and are sore losers.  I know I'm very jealous that I didn't think of this concept, and I take my hat of for the guys at Smokoo for doing so.  You deserve every bit that is coming to you and you all just continue growing and selling great items, ignore all the haters.  My mom always said, the highest branches get's the most wind.  But there's lots of fans who love your website and love following you on Facebook, especially with all the fun and regular competitions you've got going there, and I'm one of them!  


I'm especially looking forward to the 'Fly to NY to buy the iPhone 5', I've got something funky planned for this week, to make sure I increase my chances to win! I'll update this post as what I'm doing is revealed, but watch this space and what Facebook and Smokoo's page.  Go like them and you'll see what I reveal!


And a last message to all the haters, do us a favour: If you don't like something, don't do it.  But then don't come moaning in my ear when I'm sitting in New York buying the iPhone 5 or enjoying the items I win on Smokoo and you're not!  


[EDIT]

So I thought I'd have a little fun, play around in Photoshop and create a 'marketing campaign', I visualized winning the competition, and this was the result: