BONDING OVER MOVIES

Movies and me have mostly been a 'two years later' affair, mostly due to an unfortunate series of not being able to get tickets because of kiasu crowds, or just plain forgetfulness and other such lame excuses. The month of January nevertheless has seen both my sister and I bonding over movies during the weekend, and to date we have gone through about 6 movies. Here's a short review:

1. The Devil Wears Prada: I was advised against watching the movie when it first came out, but I couldn't remember the reason why I was advised as such. Therefore, I never bothered about the movie or the book which I see displayed in the local bookstore I frequently visit. Personally, I thought the story was alright, and it sort of hit a chord with me as the main character seems to spend so much time and has way too much dedication to her work (which I don't think is the healthiest thing ever) which is how my life is at the moment. Overall, I thought the movie was pretty enjoyable (on DVD and with good company)

2. Let the Right One In: This is a Swedish movie with English subs and was recommended by my sister. From the title it is pretty hard to imagine that it is a horror movie, but it in fact deals with a female vampire and we get a glimpse into their enigmatic lives, for instance we find out that a vampire can't enter our house if uninvited, which is pretty comforting I guess. For someone who get frightened easily, I can say that this was one excellent horror movie and suggest you watch it. I read on wikipedia that there is a plan for a Hollywood remake in 2010, and can't seem to understand the need for such a thing.

3. Apocalypto: I initially imagined this to be a depressing movie for reasons I can't remember. Nevertheless, I sat and watched it and was captivated. Set in the forests, it is about a peaceful tribe whose lives are disrupted when they are brutally kidnapped to be made into slaves. Spoken entirely in Mayan with English subs, I just thought that the determination shown by Jaguar Paw (the central character) was something we can all learn from.

4. [REC] : A friend recommended this movie saying that it made him need to sleep with the lights on! This is a spanish movie in a very blair witch project - esque manner. The only unfortunate thing about the whole movie was that it was in Spanish sans subtitles, and my knowledge of Spanish is too basic to be able to fully comprehend what was being said. I understand the fear of the unknown the movie attempts to depict, and although I did close my eyes at certain points, I doubt I missed much of the horror. It is gore that disturbs me.

5. Children of the Corn: Based on Stephen King's short story, my sister coerced me into watching this movie, which I agreed to seeing that it was during the day and not at night (somehow horror movies at night are 10 times worse) I thought the little narrator was the most adorable boy ever and the story disturbing in true Stephen King's style. The whole thing somehow makes you fear the small deserted town depicted. The moral of the story being too much 'faith' in religion is not always a good thing.

6. The Corpse Bride: This was one movie which I've always wanted to watch, so we did. It was one of those cool musical kinds which while watching, I totally understood the need to make it animated instead of having real life actors in it. I can't imagine how real life skeletons could have made it any better. I kind of enjoyed it.

Reading the reviews above, I realised that I'm not very critical of movies, and maybe I'm not. I've seen many scathing reviews before, and the only complaint I can think of is that any particular movie may only either be a waste of time, or not worth lining up for or something along those lines. However, I'm a bit skeptical about the remake of the Karate Kid featuring Jackie Chan. And I also heard of a planned remake of My Fair Lady. Can't they just re-release the original version?