Why Would I Write

  • Mini Movie Reviews

    Remember when this blog was all about Movie Reviews? I remember.

    Anyway, watched a few movies recently and thought I’d say my piece about them. There will probably be spoilers, so just skip this post if you haven’t seen A Quiet Place, Ready Player One, Pacific Rim: Uprising and Peter Rabbit.

    A Quiet Place

    It’s been a while since my last horror movie (I tend to avoid them like the plague) but this one was pretty good. The movie made great use of sound. It reminded me a lot of Dead Silence – the scenes which were the scariest were the quietest ones. Overall, it was an enjoyable movie even though there were moments I had to watch with fingers covering my ears (horror movies are so much more tolerable when they’re muted).

    I didn’t like the young girl as a character. She felt too obnoxious to me. Like Joffrey in Game of Thrones. It was hard to root for her. However, she wasn’t annoying enough to ruin the movie for me.

    The story was interesting, though I was constantly reminded of the Walking Dead during a lot of the shots. Also, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched if the monsters were replaced with zombies instead. I thought the movie ended well, and it was a good self-contained story (though I wouldn’t be bothered if it had an over-the-top exaggerated sequel – maybe something that bridged it with Edge of Tomorrow lol).

    Rating: 3/3 echolocating aliens

    Ready Player One

    As someone who was a big fan of the book and looking forward to the movie, it was kind of a let down. I mean, I understood why they had to cut out certain aspects of the book and change some challenges in order to make it fit into one movie – but that didn’t make it any less disappointing. The people I watched the film with didn’t read the book and enjoyed it way more than me, so I’d advise to skip the book until you’ve seen it. It’s definitely not a bad movie, the visuals were top-notch and pretty much how I imagined the world would look like but the were way too much for my liking. Would rewatch if I had a memory wipe and forgot how the book played out. Check out these articles if you’d like to know some of the changes that were made for the film.

    Rating: 3/6 challenges that were removed and replaced

    Pacific Rim: Uprising

    I went in the cinema expecting to be let down because of how much I disliked the first movie. It ended up being a lot better than I ever thought it could be. While my friends, who were fans of the first one, weren’t happy with this film, I thought it was one of the better sci-fi films I’ve seen recently (not sure because it was good or other movies have been terrible). The pacing of the movie was great – there were barely any lulls in the action and I enjoyed the acting of the characters (minus the chemistry between Boyega and Eastwood – that felt a little forced). They definitely could have picked a better character to be the villain in this movie, but I’m happy how the movie sets up for a Jaeger invasion if they ever make a sequel. Maybe it was my low expectations for the movie, but I’d easily recommend it over the original. Fun, brainless, robot vs. aliens action, with a crew that could fit in an Alien(R) High School sitcom (why isn’t this a thing yet?).

    Rating: 3/5 friends disappointed in the film

    Peter Rabbit

    This movie was a marketing dream come true: perfect release date around school holidays and Easter, its target audience, and tie-in with Harrod’s set it up to be one of the most successful movies this year. While the movie itself isn’t anything to shout about, I thought it was interesting that they aged up the main character to make it slightly edgier than the story books it was based on. The live-action and CGI mix was done pretty well though I’m pretty sure when we look back on the film in 10 years it’ll probably look outdated. I’m not anticipating a sequel but wouldn’t be opposed to it if there was another one in the future.

    Rating: 3/5 blackberries thrown onto the faces of offended critics

  • Good Deeds

    What is karma? Is it real? Does everyone believe in karma? Why do people do good things? Do they expect others to do the same to them?
    I get that doing good deeds is what makes you a normal human being, and that you shouldn’t expect anything out of it. But if you’re going out of your way to accomplish something – are you still entitled to a perk in the future?
    I mean, think about it, there’s a reason why people believe in karma. Right? Or there’s a reason why religion tells us to be good people. There’s no reason to be a dick. Unless you’re purposely upset about somebody and want to ruin their day.
    I don’t know. Didn’t really have any cohesive thoughts, but I was just thinking about it to myself.
    Over the weekend, I did a couple of ‘good deeds’. I left a note on somebody’s car, telling him that his rear wheel had a flat tire. And I informed a cashier that a whole section of goods they were selling had gone past their expiry date. I don’t expect anything good to happen to me because of those things. Aren’t they just things that people should normally do?
    However, whenever someone does something good, you usually hear about it (here I am blogging about it LOL). People think it’s something extraordinary. Like it’s something special to not be an asshole. Isn’t that kind of weird? I don’t know.
    Where am I going with this? Nowhere.

    I just think that it’s weird that people think being nice is a special thing to do, when in fact – being nice is probably the foundation of being a decent human being. People shouldn’t expect anything when they’re being nice. There’s no reason to.

    Sure, it’s better than being an ass to someone else, but the better alternative is to just be nice, or ignorant. Move on with your life. Don’t contribute negatively.

    But then again, if everybody just ignored everybody, I guess this world would fall apart as well. Hmm.

  • Tony hated cats

    When Tony was a young boy, he used to have nightmares about a man sneaking into his room and taking his toys away. He had made sure to always go to bed hugging his favorite teddy bear, but in the dream, the teddy bear was always on the floor on the other side of the room. He’d cry and scream, and beg the man not to take his teddy bear away. But the man would never listen. He’d always make sure to grab the soft toy before exiting the room.

    However, there was one night the dream didn’t play out as usual. This time, the teddy bear was still in Tony’s clutches. Thinking that the mysterious man would give up if he didn’t find the bear, Tony hid it under his blanket, away from the man. After silently combing the rest of the room and not finding the bear, instead of walking out of the room, the man looked at Tony and stepped towards him. It was as though he could sense the bear under the sheets.

    “Go away!” Tony yelled at the man as he gripped the bear even tighter. He wasn’t going to lose the toy again. Not this time.

    The man wordlessly continued towards the boy. And for the first time, Tony saw the face of the man, revealed by the moonlight shining through the windows of the room. Expecting the face of an adult man, Tony was horrified by what he saw – the man had the face of a cat. The fact that it wasn’t disfigured or grotesque made it much worse for Tony. He let out a scream and woke up crying. He had never felt a greater fear before in his life.

    Since that nightmare, Tony decided to get rid of his teddy bear, thinking that it was a magnet for the mysterious cat-faced man. While the dreams stopped, his fear of cats and anything feline-like remained. He never looked at them the same way again.

    Writing Prompt from Reddit: Wednesday Writer’s Workshop: “Thought” Verb Exercise