Wer

Photo credit: http://www.covercity.net/
Wer was the weekly horror addition to the Dvddigi list. I like to check those out (I left Red State about a third of the way) since sometimes there is unexpected good stuff. Wer was one of those. At first I thought it was going to be the type of film that seemed to be shot from an amateur camera (apparently there have been in fashion) but it was not. And then I thought it was going to be artsy horror with everything implied but it was not. It suddenly got very violent and very gory. In the end I enjoyed it very much but I wouldn't call it a must see.

The Newlyweds

The Newlyweds was one of the novels I bulk bought from a sudden discount at a website and I thought it would be romance novel about two people who married on line.

Instead it had a more interesting (to me) story about how a woman tries to change her and her parents' circumstances even to resorting being registered to an on line marriage site (this site is US Men seeking wifes from Asian countries). She experiences good and bad and I enjoyed reading her story and even cared enough to worry about her at some point. And into the first third of the book I knew it was not going to be a modern fairy tale. And it was not. And that was not so bad.

MaddAddam

MaddAddam is the last book of the triology and it was a such a fitting end to everything. Now there will be spoilers.

Margaret Atwood instantly won this reader's heart with The Blind Assassin and with this triology she is firmly included among my all time fave novelists (formerly three now four, I'm lucky). Her prose, as my other fave writers is deceptively simple. The sentences flow by without clutter and pretension. When I read her words I want to grab a pen and write and write and write...

As for the triology, MaddAddam is a worth edition to dystopian fiction that I recently discovered that I liked all along. That was a surprise but not an unpleasant one. In these novels we meet with interesting characters and her vision of future seems to possible that it is even more scary. My favorite character was Toby (I guess that is what the writer is intended) but I also symphatise with the fragile Snowman, tragic Snowman with love of words and not that much of mental strenghth. I liked it that his death actually meant something and saved some people. Zeb is not really my type of person but he was fascinating to read about and I really liked Adam One, who might have been a different sort of a villain but he is not. I liked many of his ideas and I felt really bad for him when he died.

Crakers were hillarious and it was good to see that people and pigoons have come to an agreement.

All in all these three are now among my favorite novels and I have already started The Handmaid's Tale and I'm not feeling any amount of Atwood overdose. 

Lunch box

Lunch box ended up being a critics' darling and a well liked Indie film in India. I was never that eager to watch it, although, now that I think of it, I like most of the Indian indies I have seen.

Maybe lead actor Mr.Irfan Khan was the turn off. I used to like that guy (especially in Maqbool) but now I don't as much. His acting has become self aware and only a star can handle that and this Mr.Khan is not a star.

That's him down here

Photo credit: http://www.movieweb.com

Luckily I really liked the actress, Ms.Nimrat Kaur

Photo credit: http://mimg.sulekha.com

The film was very nice and I liked it a lot. Also shed lots of tears as I usually do during this type of film. All in all it was a fine viewing experience that didn't particulary impressed.
Now one thing made me very happy that I didn't look into this film that much during the height of its popularity was that I was wonderfully surprised by this guy

Photo credit: http://image.songsuno.com/

Mr.Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is a very very good actor and I hope that he'll not turn into Irfan later in his career. So far I have watched him in Kahaani and Talaash and was very impressed, according to wikipedia he was also in New York, Dev D and MunnaBhai 2 but I haven't recognised him there. Anyway he was great in this one too. A supporting role made really memorable.

All in all I can recommend it even if you don't much care for indie films (my sister doesn't and she seemed to enjoy it a lot).

Trance

Photo credit : http://lostinreviews.com

Trance was totally outside my radar (a rather weakened one I'm afraid) despite starring James McAvoy (I really like this guy, find him handsome and a good actor too) and being directed by Danny Boyle. Well I was not about to pass it up when it showed up at Digidvd and it ended up being a film whose visuals I like but the story not so much. It was convoluted (and without surprises, it is always cheché la femme in this type of film) and never really made me invest into anything about it. But I like Mr.Boyle's visual sensibilities and enjoyed it on that regard.

Cold Eyes

(Hahahaha the photo came of as Old Eyes - I suck at taking pics even with a fancy phone)

Cold Eyes was inspired by the Hong Kong film Eye in The Sky which was good but not that great. And again I was strangely reluctant to choose it from 'to be viewed' file. But I like Han Hyo Joo, the lead actress and Jung Woo Sung, despite not being a fave actor, never dissapointed me so far. And in the end I ended up liking it better than the original.

Spoilers from hereon:

The film started with introducing the key players. We know they are that because of the actors. We have the rookie, the seasoned cop and the villain all in a subway train vagon. We quickly find out that this was a test for the rookie to see whether she can enter into the survaillance cop team or not. She passed with highest score but somehow the team leader and the manager act as if she barely made it and furthermore when they ask her which nickname she prefers, she choses Reindeer (everyone has animal nicknames) but her firs morning she is introduced everyone as "pig" - heh.
The villain is a chilling psychopath burglar mastermind acted very well (once again) Jung Woo Sung, and the cat and mouse game was very well filmed. I was captivated with what's going on in the screen and in the end was perfectly satisfied. There was also a nice touch of Simon Yam (the lead actor of the Hong Kong version) cameo.

Inuyasha

Inuyasha was one of those connection findings. It so happened that one of my favorite Korean TV drama actors started a show called Gu Family Book (aka Kangchi The Beginning) and the character he was going to play was a half demon who tried to be human. A lot of people commented that it sounded like the anime Inuyasha. So when I have found a good deal for the dvd of the show I decided to give it a go.

Now I'm not really into anime. I of course love Candy as much as anyone in my age group. In fact I think she is responsible for my not shunning from this form of art. Then came the Ghibli series I so much loved, Marco, Flander's Dog, etc. There was of course Fuji TV's Heidi (actually I have been called Heidi when I was about 4-5 since apparently I ran like her!) and others that I loved the stories and images of. Then I checked out "cool" stuff like Ghost In the Shell, geek stuff like Ninja Scroll and Samurai X but I remained on the edges only seeking Ghibli stuff, particularly Hayao Miyazaki directed ones. There is Avatar: The Air Bender of course but it is an exception (God how I love that show)

Well Inuyasha in its 167 episodes was not something I'd binge watch. But I have kept at it (and actually finished Kangchi before finishing Inuyasha) and I really liked it.

The titular hero is Inuyasha. His, now deceased, dad was a powerfull dog demon and his mother was a noble. Inuyasha has a half brother (same father) who is a full demon. This is one of my favorite characters and he is called Sesshomaru.

Here is what he looks like

Pic credit: http://www.topwallpaperpictures.com/

Spoiler:

No wonder I go for him because he is the strong silent type. Hardly says a word and he was also a bit of a demon racist at the beginning but I had a feeling that he is going to be a Zuko or Snape type of character. And he is! Not only he saved a little human girl but also he ended up helping Inuyasha and the gang various times dealing with Naraku. Oh and he lost one arm early in the show (a bit like Yang Guo - heh) and continued to be just as awesome with a single arm.

Our heroine is Kagome, who is the reincarnation of a priestess Kikyo (who had an affair with Inuyasha which was sadly destroyed by Naraku). Kagome is a happy go lucky high school girl who got thrown into the feudal era Japan and not only that but stuck with Inuyasha who wants to go full demon and needs a certain sacred jewel to achieve that. The problem is that everyone wants this jewel for its amazing powers. And Kagome manages to break it and the shards are scattered all around picked up by various characters and Naraku is aiming to collect all of them and achieve ultimate power. Eventually Kagome falls for Inuyasha.

The gang is a great one. We have a taoist priest called Miroku who is after Naraku because he put a wind tunnel in his hand (passed over to him from his dad) and this will eventually devour him if he doesn't kill the one who put it there. The wind tunnel is all powerful and sucks everything around when its activated.

There is Sango, a human demon hunter whose father and whole villiage is tricked and massacred by Naraku who also took her younger brother Kohaku (who was the instrument Naraku used in killing every one of that demon slaying tribe). Sango's first priority is taking Kohaku back and then killing Naraku for revenge.

Lastly we have Shippo a fox demon kid whose family was killed by other demons (and they were in turn killed by Inuyasha) and he is totally very very cute and more helpful to the group then one might think.

Kikyo was reanimated by a witch and she also wants to kill Naraku (who is in love with her) there is a wolf demon whose tribe's majority is also killed by Naraku (the villian has henchmen and they do most of the killing on Naraku's orders). He is very into Kagome and has two of the precious shards on his legs.

Lovely Sesshomaru has a side kick, a tiny talkative and sycophant Jaken and then there is Rin the human girl and there is Aun his two headed dragon (Sesshomaru is so cool). The thing about this little group is that Jaken and Rin are no help to Sesshomaru at all but he still has them around :)

The villain Naraku is a suitably despicable and scary creature. I don't really want to talk about him.

And then there is Inuyasha who is impulsive with a quick temper but he has a kind heart and I like it that he never forgets Kikyo even when he starts to like Kagome (and he is always honest with her). He was a great hero.

All in all this one made me laugh, cry (some episodes were so touching, Shippo and Sango/Kohaku were the ones I shed tears over most) and generally had a  good time. I even had withdrawal symptoms.

The Year of The Flood

The Year of The Flood is the second book in Maddadam triology. And it is a worth follow up to Oryx and Crake. There is not much I want to say about it except that I think everyone should read it and baske in the wonderful prose of Ms. Atwood. 

Galiz Kahraman

Galiz Kahraman Bir türlü yazmaya vakit bulamadığım ne kadar çok şey birikti. Öncelikle Galiz Kahraman'dan başlamak istedim zira yazarın eserlerini çok severek okuyor olmama rağmen her nedense bu romana elim bir türlü gitmedi. En sonunda okumaya başladığımda önce pek ısınamadım ama sonrasında yine beni aldı götürdü. Bu roman diğerlerinden biraz farklı zira Sn.İhsan Oktay Anar belli ki bir şeylere çok sıkılmış, içerlenmiş ve şiddetli tepki göstermiş. Romanda ha bire giydirmiş, durmamış yine giydirmiş. Başlıktaki "Galiz" sözcüğü cuk oturmuş bu bakımdan. TDK sözlüğündeki anlamı "kaba ve çirkin, iğrenç" olarak geçiyor. Alışık olmadığım sert usluba rağmen akıp giden cümleler edebi olarak beni yeni etkiledi ve bir zaman sonra yazarın eleştirdiği kişi ve durumların galizliğine ikna oluverdim hemen.

Bu roman bu yazarın eserlerini daha önce hiç okumamış birine tavsiye edebileceğim bir başlangıç romanı değil. Puslu Kıtalar Atlası - ki bende mükemmel bir romandır- daha iyi bir ilk seçim olur. Ama daha önce bir kaç romanını okumuş olan birisi kaçırmasın derim. 

2 Guns

Photocredit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk

2 Guns was another Digidvd choice presented and I kind of hesitated to chose it. I like action films, love Denzel Washington and don't have Mark Wahlberg but was not in the mood for pseudo action those of directors from ex SSR countries since they mostly dissapointed me.

Not this one though. It was very entertaining with the story of two undercovers (one DEA agent, the other a U.S Marine) partner in crime without being aware that they are on the same side. Add to that corrupt Marine officers using them to rob a bank where corrupt CIA officers store their bribes form drug cartels and the whole thing was even more fun. I love the performances, the chemistry and the costumes. Denzel aged very well and pulls off that goatee like a boss. The action was clear and the script entertaining. All in all this ended up being a lovely surprise I was not expecting at all. 

Spread

Photo from http://www.timeoutabudhabi.com

Spread was one of the film selections at Digidvd and I decided to give it a try since I like Ashton Kutcher. Well not enough to seek the films he acted in or watch the sitcom etc. but enough to pick a film out of a selection because he is in it. This one is not a happy story of a hustler/prostitute who is just carpe dieming his way out of rich and successful older women of LA. At the beginning of the story he just doesn't seem to realise or care about what he is doing and enjoying it to the full. But as time passes and as he falls in love with a woman who is a female equivalent of himself, the truth hits him like a hammer.
I guess this film is not well liked and no wonder. It is a very harsh film not being good to any of its characters. But also not harsh enough that it ends up being one of those slap like films that leaves you dazed afterwards. And the only happiness we get out of the ending is (SPOILER) that our protagonist seems to wake up to the fact that what he did was not a good thing and he chose hard work over luxuries gained by selling his body.

The Secret History

The Secret History I got this from a second hand bookshop on line before Ms.Tartt had won the Pulitzer (for another novel). The novel is one I liked. The story and the telling of the story and the smart and entertaining prose were not in sync with eachother but in a clash I feel. And this to me worked in advantage. I will read more of Donna Tartt if I can. 

Two Mules for Sister Sara

Clint Eastwood Western Collection was a very cheap deal I have found by chance. Now I had seen some of the films in it but I figured since I love Mr.Eastwood's filmography so much, I might as well have as much as I can. 

The first film I have chosen to view from this was

Two Mules for Sister Sara and as with most other Shirley MacLaine films I have seen, I remember a lot from it. I love her for some reason. Not only she is a good actress with exceptional on screen presence, her facial features are very pleasant for me. I don't need to say more about Clint Eastwood. He is a good actor and a good director and adds value to everything he is in (still!). I was in the mood for some UST and this film delivered in spades. Clint and Shirley meet cute (heh - he saves her from a trio of villains who wanted to rape her) in Mexican desert (filmed on location) and since Shirley is a nun and Clint is a good guy, also because their purposes for the journey somehow matched, he agrees to escort her to her destination. Only Sara is not what she seems to be which Clint doesn't really see since he has falled for her hard. All in all I'm not in love or anything but I had a decent enough time with the whole thing. I miss the slow pacing of the old films. 

The Face Reader

The Face Reader turned out to be a mediocre film. Apparently it was well recived in S.Korea and got some awards but it was not really to my taste. Firstly the cinematography was of the cluttered variety that usually turns me off. Secondly it has the S.Korean film chacteristic of starting as a comedy and ending as a melodrama which may have an adverse effect on unsuspecting viewers.
The story is about Prince Suyang's usuring the throne (now I'm familiar with that one due to The Princess' Man - good drama btw) and it is a sad and horrible story in itself. Our protagonist is a face reader who can predict a lot about a person by studying his/her facial features. His family was ruined due to an unfounded treason charge (a frequent reason for noble families losing their statures in Joseon times) and he and his brother in law lives at a remote mountain shack making caligraphy brushes while his intelligent and competent son is living with them, constantly unhappy about their misfortunes and his missed opportunities.
The plot starts with a kibang madam approaching our guy for a face reading contract. And once the boy leaves home without permission to find his own fortunes, he and his brother in law thought this would be a way to get some recognition and help him out one way or another. At first the smart madam makes them sign a contract while they are drunk and once our Guy gets the hang of things he manages to go in employment of the vice premier (who is the main obsticle in Suyang's approach to the throne). Some events later he had so face Suyang and his wrath with terrible consequences.

The eponymous face reader is acted by Song Kang Ho - my favorite S.Korean actor. He is, as usual, excellent in the role and looks the part perfectly. Suyang is acted by another favorite of mine handsome and talented (though not in the level of Mr.Song's) Lee Jung Jae. The son is acted by some plastically enhanced actor who was surprisingly talented (if only his face looked natural) and the stupid brother in law is acted by Jo Jeung Sok who is not a fave of mine and he was obscenely overacting which jarred especially when paired with sublime performance of Song Kang Ho. I seem to remember Jo being a relative of somebody and he is well liked (just not by me).

Another actor I like Baek Yoon Shik has a little role as historically popular Kim Jong So.

Anyhow this is not recommended unless watching Song Kang Ho gives you pleasure (in that regard I was well rewarded).

The Master's Sun

Photo credit: http://darkangelhome.wordpress.com/

The Master's Sun is the drama I have been so eager to watch and  I have marathoned the last 7 episodes on Saturday (it was a rainy day and perfect for a drama marathon) I had not done that for years!

The first reason I was eager for this drama is the male lead So Ji Sub. He is one of those perfect looking people as far as I'm concerned. Flawless (the others include Takeshi Kaneshiro, Charlize Theron, Song Seung Hun). And I also think he is a good actor, especially in comedy. But to be honest I wouldn't care even if he was not since looking at him makes me happy.
As you can see in the above pic, he is the icy chaebol with unseen emotional wounds and she is the Candy whose life is ruined after she started to see ghosts (I think this one is lifted from The Ghost Whisperer). When she touches him, the ghosts dissapear so she sticks to him like a glue after a chance encounter and manages (of course) to break his icy barriers and reach into his actually kind and good (of course) heart. But he is wounded for a reason because he was kidnapped for ransom when he was a teenager and he has found out that the kidnapper was partnered his first love and girlfriend at the time. Furthermore this girl died when escaping from the police. Also the ransom (a very expensive diamond necklace) was never found.

Secondary lead is the guy in Answer Me 1997 and he is the professional bodyguard/security expert employed by our lead's estranged Dad who works in the mall our chaebol owns and spies on the son for the father. The secondary female is a model who is our female lead's school friend but she doesn't like her (of course).

Our kind hearted older man is chaebol's secretary who is totally in team Tae Yang (female lead's nick name) but with secrets of his own.

I have shed many tears over the stories of the individual ghosts and laughed out loud during funny scenes.
I like Hong sisters but they tend to repeat themselves and this one reminded me of Best Love (excellent show) but I'm not complaining. I enjoyed this to the last drop.

I had a pic of my own dvd (now will be on the "good for repeat viewings" shelf but my phone went down the toilet just as I was flushing (ewwww I know but since it was flushing, I got it out) and had to buy a new phone and forgot to take a pic on the new one. Hopefully will remedy that tomorrow since I like this Singapore dvd with good English subtitles (Kang Chi dvd was from the same company).

Highly recommended.

And here is the pic of my dvd of it

Red

Red ended up being not what I expected. There was hardly any gore and the story flowed rather abruptly. It is a short novel and the free kindle version had a bonus story called The Passengers which was alright (gorier).

Now I liked Ketchum's Offseason and loved his The Girl Next Door but after these two I'm going to give him a break for a while. What this book did was make me miss Richard Laymon books.

And a note for the kindle edition. It was chock full of typos so don't get that one if you want to read this. 

The Enforcer

The Enforcer is a film I have found in the bargain bin and of course purchased since I love Clint East Eastwood. And I have found out that this one is the third Dirty Harry film. Now I like Dirty Harry (despite often disagreeing with him) and this one was a decent effort. Nothing more, nothing less.  

Vulture Peak

Vulture Peak Loved the previous three John Burdett books with Thai detective Sonchai but this last one didn't seem as good as the others. It is not international locations etc. but the condescending tone of the novel that left a bad taste. 

Crows Zero

Crows Zero Now I like Takeshi Miike and have seen a surprisingly large amount of his filmography. But this film is more aimed to a younger audience I suppose - but then again so did Death Note and I liked it a lot. While I still admire the visual sensibilities (one of the few directors whose cluttered cinematography does not really bother me) and the off rhythm that oddly works well as far as I'm concerned and is excess appeal to me.
But knowing nothing of the famous manga the film is adapted from I kind of regret purchasing the sequel already. Well at least Oguri Shun is decent eye candy and pulled of the style really well. 

Death Note: The Last Name

Death Note: The Last Name I thought I somehow lost this dvd since I looked for it like a crazy person, even to the extent of going into my rather intidy dvd cupboard to no avail. But now that I have new shelves and I'm actually trying to list all my dvds, this one popped up from a carton to my utter delight. Now Death Note is well liked both as manga and film but it is special to me since it introduced me to one of my favorite actors Kenichi Matsuyama. I love this guy's face. And of course loved L (I almost always like the good guys no matter who play them). Just look at him

Photo credit http://ilarge.listal.com/

Granted, he may not be for everyone but I thought he was great. And it is not just the character (who is a very interesting one) but the actor. I have watched him in other stuff since then and always like him.

So the second viewing of Death Note: The Last Name was just as entertaining as the first one and I'm happy not to have lost the dvd.

Oryx and Crake

Oryx and Crake  The joy of discovering a writer whose works you immediately connect is unfortunately not a common one - at least for me. There used to be only three writers whose works give that wonderful, tingly thrill, and those are Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy and Haruki Murakami. Yes there are novels and other works of art that gave me that certain feeling thank God but a writer whose prose is so tailored to my reading needs and desires is such a blessing that I want to shout over the rooftops and weep.
Since Margaret Atwood is such a writer as far as I'm concerned. The Blind Assassin was wonderful and Orxy and Crake is also wonderful.

Now I never thought I'd be into dystopian novels. But now that I think of it, I love Blade Runner and liked Brazil to bits, so the feeling must have been there, lying dormant among my usual optimism. Well the author who took it from that dusty corner and placed it at the display window is Paolo Bacigalupi and his The Wind - Up Girl. And now that I liked Oryx and Crake so much so that I immediately started the sequel The Year of The Flood and already purchased MaddAdam.

Well I don't really want to talk about the novel itself since obviously I recommend everyone to go and read it (or listen to it if that is your thing) but it is so well written, so beautiful in its prose that it makes one pick up a pen and write something.

Thank you Ms.Atwood.

I'm really into audiobooks now, being a woman of habit and one who approaches anything new cautiously with hesitation, it took me a while to get used to them. But they do combine two things I love, literature and walking. So now I'm deeply into them and here is a special shout out to Mr. Campbell Scott, whose acting leaves me void but whose reading of this book was so so good now I'd have liked it even if it was read by Kristin Chenoweth but he did the novel justice in my opinion. So there.  

Larry Crowne

The first time I watched Larry Crowne was on a plane from Hawaii to LA. And despite liking it, I was not really in a film kind of mode I suppose.

I liked it much better in this third viewing (hey, what can I do? I like films like that). Yes it is not that good a film, yes the jokes are embarrasing, yes it is too obvious but there is a certain sweetness to it that appeals to me and I love Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

Just look how cute they are (cute like puppies!)

Photo credit: http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/larry-crowne-review/

The East

The East is a film I ended up liking a lot. Well, it is not that good a film, in fact it is rather mediocre but I liked the story (a corporate agent goes undercover in an environmental terrorist organisation) and the actors and the cinematography. And I do like Alexander Skarsgaard, the man is so good looking and a decent actor too. He looks kind of like a bear in the first scenes but then cleans up very nicely (it was funny to see the female lead drooling the way probably most of the women who watched the film did at that scene).

Anyway, I liked the message: it is better to convince people and do good legally since "an eye for an eye" idea, while seemingly satisfactory, is not really the solution to the problem.

Photo credit: http://themovieblog.com/2013/interview-zal-batmanglijs-on-his-environmental-espionage-thriller-the-east/

So all in all I like it but it is not for everyone.