Just Like Heaven

Just Like Heaven is one of those books I got at an on line bargain bin. And even though I didn't really like it, reading it made me realise that romance novels are just the thing when one if fasting. So I ordered a bunch of them from an online second hand book shop thank God. Back to the book, it is a romance novel but there were not (m)any intimate scenes and the whole thing was a bit disjointed. The couple knew each othe from their childhoods the man being the best friend of the woman's elder brother. So the obsticles were not really obsticles, there was the side plot of the brother being banished from UK which went nowhere and as I told before there were not any intimate scenes. But even more than the lack of them, the overly cute prose was a turn off. Now I'm not anti cute but the prose was like Gilmore Girls (who I like a lot) style but without any wit or smarts. I read a bit about Ms.Quinn and she seems a great person in real life (she even won The Weakest Link) and she is one of the best selling authors in USA. But this one was just not for me. 

American Horror Story (Season 1)

Yet another bargain bin purchase and one I was not expecting to like this much. I liked the story, the actors, the performances, cinematography, sets and costumes. Actually I couldn't find anything I didn't like. Looking forward to season 2 and I heard that the story takes place at an asylum. 

The Paperboy

The Paperboy is one I picked out from the virtual bargain bin (as can be seen on the pic, it was only 10 TL) and I heard that they made a film out of it, starring Zac Ephron -an actor I can't seem to like- and Nicole Kidman (this can be seen on the pic too :) ) and even though I was distant to it and didn't like it as much at the beginning, I really got into it as soon as I stopped seeing Zac Ephron as the protagonist. The book is interesting in the way that nothing really is clearly resolved. The demise of the characters do not depend on whether they are good or not. Things happen and they don't happen. I like the clear, matter of fact prose and enjoyed the novel immensely. I may as well check other books from this writer in the future. Thank God that this ended up being a bargain bin win, I'm now looking forward to checking the remaining novels out.

Bi Küçük Eylül Meselesi

Photo credit: http://www.cinegil.com
Bi Küçük Eylül Meselesi 
Bu film televizyonda kucağıma düşünce hayır demedim. Engin Akyürek "Kara Para Aşk" ta beni dize getirmiş ve Farah Zeynep Abdullah'ta şirin bir kız, rol de yapabiliyor diyerek, oruç kafa beni fazla uğraştırmaz bu film diye düşündüm ve haklı çıktım. Müzik videosu tadında bir filmdi işte.

Spoiler

Film görünürde (her zamanki gibi) herşeyi olan; sağlıklı, güzel, başarılı ve mutlu Eylül'ün erkek arkadaşıyla (ki galiba çocuk kıza aşık ama kız bir sıcak bir soğuk üflüyor) bir yere giderken yolda kaza geçirmesi ve kazadan önceki son bir aynı hatırlayamaması ile başlıyor. Yavaş yavaş bölük pörçük anımsamalarla bu bir ayı Bozcaada'da geçirdiğini ve orada Tekin diye bir karikatürist/sanatçı ile tanıştığını hatırlıyor. Tekin (her nedense ve hiç inandırıcı olmayan bir şekilde) acayip tuhaf kıyafetlerle tipsizleştirilmeye çalışılmış, kendine hiç güveni olmayan, bünyesinde bir çok korkular barındıran, sorunlu ama iyi kalpli ve adada mutlu bir adam. Tabi kıza görür görmez vuruluyor. Nasıl vurulmasın Eylül hakikaten çok güzel ve sıcak kanlı, eğlenceli bir kız. Tek'e biraz yüz veriyor ve aklınca kendini eğlendiriyor ama Tek (Tekin'in kısaltılmış hali) tabii ki bu münasebeti Eylül'den çok daha fazla ciddiye alıyor. Neyse bunlar epey eğlenceli bir flört döneminin ardından bir gece beraber oluyorlar. Eylül sabah çok mutlu uyanıyor ve sevgilisine kahvaltı hazırlıyor. Derken bir anda düşünmeye başlıyor. Gerçekten hayatını bu adamla, burada ve bu şekilde geçirmeye hazır mı? O saniye hem de hiç hazır olmadığına karar veriyor ve adamı öylece ortada bırakıp, "eğlendik bitti, herkes kendi hayatına şimdi" diyerek gidiyor. Ama unuttuğu veya çok kaale almadığı bir şey var, Tekin'in kendisi kadar vurdumduymaz olmadığı gibi, hayli hassas ve endişelere meyal bir adam olduğu. 8 yıldır Bozcaada'dan çıkmayan, kendisiyle güç bela konuşan bir adama dans ettirip, ellerinden tutup yüzdürüp, sevişip sonra da 'hadi byeeee' deyip kaçmanın sonuçsuz kalmayacağını anlayamayan Eylül. Ertesi gün gazetede okuduğu Tekin'in ölüm haberiyle dağılıp sevgilisi (mi?) ile kaza yapıyor.  Sonra bütün bunları hatırlayınca da ikisinin küçük kumsalından tepelere doğru geri çıkıyor. Yani kız kendi hayatına döndü, olan bizim zavallı Tekin'e oldu.

Her

Photo credit: http://myreelpov.files.wordpress.com


I actually was kind of excited when this film became available on my Digidvd. I have heard good things about it and I actually like Scarlett Johanson's voice better than her acting. I'm not as keen as Joachim Phoenix as everyone else seem to be. He is a decent actor but he doesn't really move me. And in the end this film ended up not being to my taste. I fell asleep a few times during and had to rewind. The science fiction parts were not bad but the general mood of the thing just didn't fit me. Well one cannot win them all.

The idea though was very interesting. My friends know that I have this fantasy about a robot husband. He'll look like Takeshi Kaneshiro. Not only he'll cook, clean and arrange (both hard copy and digital stuff) but he'll be hygenic and he'll have the brain of the computer and will be able to access any data on demand. So I can converse with him to my heart's content. But most importantly the best feature of the robot husband would be that he'll not get hurt when I don't want to see him. I'm this way and sometimes want to be alone without anyone around me. It is hard when you have a significant other and people get hurt when you want to be left alone. Robot husband will not be sad at all but will use this opportunity to charge himself or something.

Of course all my friends thought this idea is monstrous and that I'd crave for human contact. But my robot husband's skin would be temperature controlled so that he'll be cool in summer and toasty warm in winter. Anyway in this one the chracter's ex wife comments that he is in a relationship with an operating system because he cannot deal with human emotions. She said he wanted her to be fun, energetic and full of life all the time and was not able to deal with other emotions of hers. I could relate to that part. The thing I found second most hard when I was in a relationship was to deal with people when they are not as shiny and happy.

Spoilers

Anyway this guy totally falls for the operating system and despite the lack of real physical contact he was devasted when it broke up with him. I hope that he'll be happy with her best friend and they'll become romantically involved in the future. Just look at them, they seem like they'll be a good couple no?

Photo credit: http://myreelpov.files.wordpress.com/

C'est La Vie Mon Cheri

C'est La Vie Mon Cheri is a Hong Kong melo I had seen years ago when I was really into Hong Kong films. Well I have found this when arranging dvds and vaguely remembered it as a  good weepie and after having a tiring day I decided to give it a go. Well I had forgotten almost all the film and it was almost as if I was watching it the first time.
Our protagonist is Kit, a songwriter and saxophone player who has a bad temper and tend to insult people around him. Also his career is at a low point. And his girlfriend is a successful pop singer. So they have an argument and he moves to the cheap part of town and meets a lovely young girl who is very bright and optimistic.

The girl is Min and she lives with her mother, uncle and a group of musicians. The musicians perform on the streets at night and are Kit's neighbours.

Min likes Kit and after having spend some time together, they become lovers (and it is such a normal, matter of fact way that was very refreshing). Kit starts to compose again and gains a better perspective on life and became almost optimistic. Alas Min is a recovered cancer patient and the illness return, this time with little of recovery. Kit never wavers in his love even when Min loses all the optimism and gets worse each day.

I was crying all the way but the ending got me the most. The melo was so normal and ordinary - nothing big here, she woke in the night craving red bean cakes (and she is so thin and doesn't have much of an apetite) so Kit goes out and tries to get some to her. Meanwhile her mother who gave up singing and performing wore her old stage outfit and performs on the street and she dies at the hospital alone. We don't even see it. I was really shedding tears by then (three kleenex were victim of the last 15 minutes of the film) and was more affected by the sheer normality of it probably more than I would have if the melo was amped up.

All in all this is a good one. Recommended.

Mandate of Heaven (aka The Fugitive of Joseon)

Mandate of Heaven (aka The Fugitive of Joseon) has indeed applied to many of my kicks.

Cute child actor + a bonus :   The little girl was so adorable that many scenes I cried were the ones including her. And there was this child actor with such adorable saggy cheeks that I wanted to pinch them every time he was on screen. Just look at these two, aren't they cute?

Photo credit: http://kdramanmore.files.wordpress.com/

Handsome lead who is a decent enough actor : I really like Lee Dong Wok and not just because he is handsome but also because he is organic. His teeth are his own, there isn't any obvious plastic surgery on his face and I like him even more for this.

Villains I love to hate :   This show was villain rich. There was the despicable Kim Chi Young and then the most evil Queen. There were also side kick villains with each different personalities

Secondary Male Who Has His Own Love Story : Yeah, here we have a handsome policeman who is in love with our hero's sister. He was very handsome too.

A Logical, Independent, Angel Like Female Lead : Yeah they are not as lively and tend to be stoic but I love this type and the actor was very good.

Great side characters : (as usual with this type of drama golden hearted bandits living in mountains)  I loved these people and their stories. They were all over acting but it didn't hurt.

Lots of action and melodrama : Yep even though the action scenes were only above average and kind of repetitive I enjoyed them and the melo was spot on.

All in all I'm very happy with this one. It was a breeze to watch and just what I needed in Ramadan.