36 followers

148 daily readers

rank of 63

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Filmsi - A not so serious look at films and film reviews

Anything film =D

[ October 2010 ] [ December 2010 ]

Filmsi - November 2010

Japanese Film Festival 2010

The 14th Japanese Festival for 2010 is here and if you have a chance you should really check it out. It’s a chance for the mass to taste the films from somewhere else that isn't the US. So those keen film goers should go and see at least one of them. With continual increasing price of going to the movies it seems that it's no longer the cheaper option for a good night out anymore. But I do recommend it though and from the turn up at yesterday's screenings it seems to be quite popular. And of course it's all English subtitled so everyone can enjoy it.

If you are Sydney sorry about the delay but you missed it for this year as it ran from 22-28 of November but those in Melbourne still has a chance as the festival will run in Melbourne from 2-7 December (YAY). Here's the site to get more information like what movies are on and session times; Really Long Link

I went to see yesterday Sword of Desperation and I wished I could have watched more but I didn't get a chance. So I will do a brief review of the film.

Sword of Desperation is based during the times of the Samurai thus it's traditional Japan. The story is about Sanzaemon (who is like a warrior or a solider of the ruling elite). The country is under serious financial problems with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. For the sake of the nation Sanzaemon kills Lady Renko to eventually end her evil reign or more her influence on Ukyo Dayuu. But to everyone's surprise and especially to the surprise of Sanzaem he is leniently punished. Instead of death he is sentenced to confinement for a year. Even after his release Sanzaemon grudgingly appointed as the Head of Attendants to Ukyo Dayuu. There he is then recruited in a sense to protect his Lordship from threats of a rival clan.

Sword of Desperation was definitely an interesting watch not exactly an action movie but more a drama piece. And in terms of story development that's pretty much it. Not a lot happens in Sword of Desperation and although always intriguing to watch nothing much happen but it may seem a little slow for some. I liked it but it may be because I'm always interested with slowing moving movies and wondering where is all this going. I don't like predictable movies like any good movie buff and Sword of Desperation is definitely not predictable. And those thrill seekers out there, there’s a nice juicy twist in the end enough to satisfy your thirst.

Sword of Desperation was a good watch and don’t be phased by it’s not so appealing title I’m assuming it was lost in the translation. If you’re in Melbourne it will be screening on Sunday 5 December at 7.50pm. I suggest that you get in earlier to purchase the tickets the Sydney screenings were pretty popular and some of the movies sold out pretty quick. So I greatly suggest that you all check out the Film Festival and have a good ol’ wholesome fun.

Much love peace
Samira =D

Add Comments

Vote

[ Link ]

November 29th 2010 @ 04:42

Posted By: Samira - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

Mean Girls 2

Why do people have sequels? Why kill a perfectly fine and good movie and decide to ruin it by making another one? This time taking everything that was good with the first one and getting rid of it. I think most people are over seeing a similar story and even the same cast all over again. Audiences just don't like it because its shit. That's why its no surprise when I saw that they were a having a Mean Girls 2 I nearly cried. I love Mean Girls it was the best thing that happened to teen movies in a long time but can't it be left alone? Can't it end without risking it coming back to life? OH WHY OH WHY??
But this time I think even the producers know that Mean Girls 2 will be so shit and that no one will go watch it and if they do they will hate it and that is probably why it didn't even make it to the cinema. Mean Girls 2 apparently will be released on DVD at least that was what was said in the trailer for it. Thank God for that! But it looks so shit I doubt anyone is going to be rushing out to "own it on DVD"

Here's the link to the trailler from YouTube
Really Long Link

Add Comments

Vote

[ Link ]

November 25th 2010 @ 13:27

Posted By: Samira - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

You Know I'm No Good

Villains. Any self-respecting film needs one possibly lurking in the shadows waiting to jump and take some sort of vengeance against the innocent. And they may be the most hated characters in most films but deep down inside everyone loves them. Okay, may be not everyone and it may be just my thing. I mean being badass is kind of sexy. With the release of Harry Potter 7, I feel a need to appreciate some villains. As you know without them there wouldn't even be movies. Oh with so many deserving villains where do I begin?!

Voldemort/Tom Riddle

Does someone need a hug?

The billion dollar enterprise that is Harry Potter is basically what I grew up reading and watching and therefore when I think about Lord Voldemort only warm fuzzy feelings come to mind. The simple evil vs. good premise interestingly carries this entire series. And most people would not call Voldie their favourite character but I beg to differ. Let's really have look at this for a moment - poor Voldie/Tom Riddle had no parents and was kind of isolated as a child. As great he was in his talents he never had the love that he needed from anyone. He just needed a hug. There is a good possibility that all the shit that went down wouldn't have happened if someone for god's sake gave the poor kid a hug. Also let's face it the entire series would be kind lame and boring without him. So here's to Voldie and his badass ways.

Darth Vader
No list of villains would be complete without the ultimate villain; I would be simply committing some sort of crime against humanity (an insult to the film industry at least). I'm no huge Star Wars fan thus my unworthy and humble opinion should be mostly disregarded. But I can't help be incredibly drawn to Darth. It's like he and I go way back. Yes he is some crazed revengeful badass that raged some horrible things and is the original Dark Lord (DL). But give the poor guy a break, his childhood was spent as a slave in a poor little village with only his mother. And it's hard to be in love with a Queen and pretend that there is nothing going on. He was just a troubled person. I'm sure in the wonderful of world Star Wars fanboys some have already psychoanalysed Darth and just concluded that he had borderline personality disorder so technically Darth, my fond friend, only really needed to see a psychologist.

The Joker
The representation of The Joker in the original Batman comics and previous movies may be different. But I'm can only clearly remember the version in the latest Batman movie The Dark Knight. And what a character The Joker is, one has to admit that yeah sure he's kind of a mad man but at least he was smart. Why can't real villains be this interesting? No, I kid I wouldn't want crazed man with face paint running around in the city, what would all the hipster kids do when they wanted to party?

The Wicked Witch of the West
I don't know about you but I wouldn't be too happy that some punk kid from Kansas dropped a house on my sister than stole her shoes. The green faced villain was apparently a very bad person but if you look at it carefully I didn't see anything she did that could be considered wrong. If you take the word of the "Good" Witch of the North then fine but I don't believe it until I see some proof of her misdeeds. Can't a witch mourn for the lost of her beloved sister and seek the shoes that are rightfully hers considering they were her sisters. In any case sweet but dim-witted Dorothy stole someone's shoes! That is an offence in most countries.

Dr. Evil
Oh Dr. Evil, more funny than evil was probably one lazy kid who thought may be I should just blackmail people for money rather than getting a job. Not always the brightest bulb but he does his best to come up with some elaborate ploys to reek havoc for fun. May be he should try out some cooking classes or some new hobbies?

Dracula
Before Edward Cullen and his vegetarian family there was the original vampire who wasn't so pansy and didn't sparkle in the sun and that my friends was Dracula. Who was actually scary and was incredibly sexy in like I'm going to suck your blood kind of way. This time I know I'm not the only one that thinks vampires are sexy or else there wouldn't so many vampire themed shows and movies that capitalizes on sex appeal.

Goldfinger
There are so many James Bond baddies out there but for some reason the one that I always remember is Goldfinger. Hey I'm all keen to bad mouth lavish fat cats like Goldfinger but come on its Goldfinger. The ultimate Bond villain, he is the standard in which all Bond villains are now compared to. Plus there is kind of something adorable about him in like fat boy kind of way.

This incomplete list of baddies has to end here for now at least. But never fear my “quest” to weed out the most memorable and scary villains out there in wonderful Hollywoodland. I know to some this might be a weak list but did I mention it was incomplete and I will update with some more so be patient please.

Ohk, thanks and bye
Samira =D

Add Comments

Vote

[ Link ]

November 23rd 2010 @ 10:41

Posted By: Samira - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

OMG Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, 2010

As you may have guessed from the title I saw HP 7 P1 and as you may be able to assume I'm a big fan of the entire Harry Potter series and therefore would have it watched the first day it came out but I'm lazy. But I did watch it on its first weekend therefore that’s still pretty good for a supposed big fan.

First and foremost I don't actually remember the book, I mean I remember the general premise of the book but not the details therefore I had nothing fresh to compare it to. Thus I loved this; it was so awesome like OMG SO AWESOME OMFG!!!! Cue the fan-girl screaming! I'm tempting to end the review here but then I would be disappointing everyone with my laziness.

So for those who are not in the loop with HP, read carefully here’s the low down. And those who haven't seen the 6th one - go see that one first or I'm just being a little shit and ruining it for you.

As you may remember the great Dumbledore is dead (a minute silence please) and the wizarding world and the general world is in the shits. The Dark Lord (DL) has risen and darth eaters roam and torment anyone and everyone. DL or Voldie (my personal pet name) is search for Harry, which is kind of weird because he is living among the Muggles with little or no protection. HP 7 P1 starts off as the pervious books and movies do just before the kiddies go back to school thus the end of summer. But this time Harry does not wish to return to the beloved Hogwarts and after an attack from death eaters at Fleur and Bill Wesley’s wedding. Hermione, Ron and Harry go into hiding to find the remaining last Horcruxes which needed to destroyed for the DL to be defeated. Since this is only half the book so most of this film is focused on the relationship between Harry, Hermione and Ron. And most of the film is spend with them wondering and trying to figure out what the other Horcruxes are and where they could be and how to destroy them.

The film along with its character has grown up and it is darker than the previous one which in itself was quite dark too. Look I don't want to sound like an annoying parent or adult and say this may not be for kids any more. But the truth it's actually it seems that it has gone beyond the kid’s film genre and although I would not say the book isn't a kid’s book any more I would say that film on the other hand isn't for kids which I feel is a little paradoxical The film is based on the book but for some reason when it's on film it's feel rather inappropriate for the kiddies.

But thankfully I'm a not a child nor a parent and therefore I don't care. I had a blast watching it. Despite it's near 3 hour screen time it was engaging enough for people to not notice. Although in retrospect not much happens in terms of development of story, sure there is a lot of action but not much story telling. And although by the end of the film it had probably covered about half the book which then suggests to me that they missed a lot of things that were in the book. Because I don't remember the book I'm not sure what parts they missed, let's hope it wasn't like HP 6 when they missed an entire battle scene which really ticked me off. But so far the film itself it pretty amazing however as in the book the story becomes more complicated and actually picks up in the later part of the book. I hope in the Part 2 of the film does the same thing and keep to the excitement like in the books.

A tender moment between friends, right?

So those you who haven’t seen HP 7 P1 what are you doing reading this blog? Go now and watch it! Like seriously don't waste your time reading about it just go watch it.
Here's my rating of the film which is 8/10, do it coz I can!

Samira =D

Add Comments

Vote

[ Link ]

November 23rd 2010 @ 06:41

Posted By: Samira - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

The Social Network, 2010

Well now that my exams are finally over I can finally go back to lazing about and watching movies all day. I have wanted to watch The Social Network since I first heard about all those months ago. And as some of you might recall I wrote about its release and trailer which I think I posted up before. I know you film buffs out there may have seen it or have read other reviews on it therefore I'm sorry for the delay and lack of exclusiveness.

The Social Network - the modern day drama. Its sassy, witty, sharp and totally snarky and pretentious, yeah just the way we like it. I'm a Gen Y I'm not going to lie we are snarky bunch at the best of times and say what you may about the youth but this film was to put it simply - freakin' awesome. It was intense from the opening scene with the lead Mark Zuckerberg (just in case you missed it the creator of Facebook apparently) and his then girlfriend Erica Albright. Honestly though if you blinked for few seconds I think you would have missed it - that's how fast paced this entire movie was. I have seen some fast paced movies in my rather short lifetime but this has to take the cake. I don't want to sound like I'm writing an English essay here but I feel that the speed of the movie is so perfectly paralleled with internet and of course the speed in which the world works now. Thus unsurprisingly this no relaxed lazy Sunday afternoon drama.

So going back the opening scene (a paragraph later and I'm still on about the opening scene) we the audience is introduced to Mark Zuckerberg and immediately I don't like him and yet I'm intrigued. He is obsessed, crazed, nerdy, timid boy who is completely snarky BUT a totally genius (what a babe). After bitter break up with Erica Mr. Zuckerberg does what any young boy would do - get drunk and write some nasty things about your ex. But of course he does it incredible fashion, instead of writing horrible things about your ex and then sending it to her, he blogs and make sure that it's floats in the interwebs for eternity. But of course Mr.Zuckerberg is not done in his drunken state - he decided to hack into the Harvard school site and creates a site where male students can rate female students and compare them to other female students, you know in a completely sexist yet in slightly glorified way. So the next 15 minutes or so was followed Zuckerberg hacking into the Harvard system and of course there was bunch technical jargon thrown around and because I'm not computer nerd I felt like he was speaking in codes. But it didn't matter what he was saying as long you got what was happening in the end. So with creation of FaceMash (the sexist rating site) Zuckerberg gets into ridiculously amounts of trouble and notoriety. And therefore he is approached by the Winklevoss twins and their friend Divya Narendra, you know the stereotypical Harvard students - beautiful, athletic and rich and although as intelligent as they are, they need Zuckerbeg the master of all computer nerds and did I mention a genius to help them create what will eventually lead to Facebook.

So with that premise the movie follows the raise (and I would like to say fall but that hasn't happened yet) of Zuckerberg and Facebook (or originally called The Facebook). With the finanical aid of his best friend Eduardo Saverin (a rather cute Jewish boy) the two create Facebook.

The film is set out like a flashback as currently Zuckerberg is being sued by his BFF and the twins- their friend. So amongst the settlement talks Zuckerberg recalls how he got to where he is now.

Look, like I said before there is something about Zuckerberg that is incredible annoying, arrogant and really snarky and generally he is an asshole, so there was little sympathy that could be given to him when he is being sued by two different parties. Honestly I thought he deserved what he got as he did kind of screw both the twins and his BFF over. Despite his arrogance there are some moments where it seems that it was just a little too much for him to handle. Basically this is simply a classic tale of how money and success can ruin relationships and lives just played in modern context. Thus questions of friendship and loyalty play central to the story of the movie. Zuckerberg is never the hero and is never truly a victim nor was he a villain which kind of leaves his character in cloud ambiguity. But I like that about him I like the fact that you can't really figure out what kind of person he is. The real hero in my unbiased opinion would be the character of Eduardo (the BFF), the loyal friend being screwed over by Mark would have been a low and painful blow and if I was in his position I would be pissed too.

The best part of the film would be the screenplay - it was so smartly written and incredibly entertaining to watch and David Fincher (the director) is of course another genius therefore the movie was bound to impress. The role of Mark Zuckerberg played Jesse Eisenberg was well casted - not to sound cheesy but it seemed that Eisenberg was made to play this part. He looked and sounded and acted the part so well.

I know it may be a little snarky at times and can be confusing a lot of the time but it's worth the endearment despite its slightly weak ending. But don't let that discourage you because this smart, sassy drama piece should not be missed. And of course it is a movie therefore the element of truth is probably blurred and I guess we probably won't ever really know how Facebook was created but the fact it was somewhat based on a true story made it even more exciting. It was truly a movie of it's time.
Now that I have started giving ratings this is my rating for the Social Network which is 8.5 out of 10.

Here's the trailer for those who haven't seen it yet
Really Long Link

Peace out
Samira =D

I'm the CEO, Bitch!

Add Comments

Vote

[ Link ]

November 14th 2010 @ 04:42

Posted By: Samira - Category: No Category

Email this Post to a Friend

1 Posts

2 Posts

1 Posts