{015}; Here, There, and nowhere.

Where will we go from here?
How would I know.

Where are we heading?
I would love to know, too.

Is there an end game for all of this?
I have no idea.

There are hundreds of unanswered questions during the four years of Bachelor degree, and that multiplied like blood cells after graduation. It's startling, and also daunting, to be leaving school; the only place where our identity can manifest fully. In the real world ahead, we have to conform ourselves to the society above us. I've had a fair share of that myself due to some experience working part-time/freelance.

I used to hate the society I am living in. I hated the way people interact with each other, and how they depend their whole lives on the collective identity based on the imagined community. I hated that people refer to themselves as a collective individuals rather than their individual self.

Collective, collective, collective. We, Us, Ours. Them, Theirs, You People. Kill, War, Genocide.

Then, what am I without the society? What is the society with out people? It's undeniable that I, too, am a part of the society I loath. There is no escape, and we are all trapped here together. I cannot escape my nationality. I can pretend like I am not a part of all this, but at the end of the day, this society is inescapable.

People around me called me an ungrateful little shit.

But what is there to be grateful for? My family worked my ass off to earn this place in the society, yet I have to be grateful for something that does not exist, rather than being thankful for my family and their hard work? I don't understand, and I might be better off that way.

Now that you are very sceptical about me, lets get to know each other once again.
I've realised that I haven't had a proper self introduction yet. So here it is.

My mother gave birth to her first child, me, on the 1st of September, 1993, making me the first grandchildren of my grandparents before my brother was born four years later. Disobeying the traditional Thai belief that the child has to be named by a respectful monk in order to have a prosperous life in the future, my grandfather named me himself after an angel in heaven.

I’m basically the girl version of Raphael in Thailand’s Buddhism context. Actually, I’m more like Lucifer, but that is not the point.

The name is Rata, by the way.
It’s a name of a red flower in Māori (Metrosideros fulgens), and it’s a kind of rodent in Spanish (La Rata).

My grandpa didn’t expect me to take Spanish in college, so yeah. Apparently, it has quite a good meaning in New Zealand, a place I’ve spent some time in while i was growing up. I was too young to remember the details, but I remember it being awesome.




In the year 2000, my mother moved me to a British international school (St. Stephen’s International School BKK), and I stayed there for ten full years. During my ten years in the school, I’ve never thought the British accent was sophisticating at all. On the contrary, I tried my best to imitate different American accents from films and other medias. I’ve never actually look up to the British culture I grew up with while I was in school. I used to joke around about how the teachers are not making sense when they speak with a British accent, let alone northern accents.

Oh, how the table have turned.

After leaving school to undergrads, I then realised how sophisticated everything was in school. All the tea time, the way we are taught to hold ourselves, the language we use, and so on so forth. College is a wild place, and our school was a school for richer kids. I’ve never thought of myself as a snob, but I have to admit that I was. I am truly sorry. Our school was very small, therefore I don’t usually meet new people much.

I think it was during the iGCSE period (Year 10? I think so…) that I’ve realised that I can not do math. The core Math course was too hard for me to do, and I was thankful to every gods in the world that I’ve received a C for that. My brother, on the other hand, is a mathematic genius. This is not a gender/sex thing, it’s just that I wanted to be less like my brother, and more like myself. So that’s why I seek out a different path. I am also a bit of a rebel, and I want to prove to my parents that I can get by without being good at math because, in real life outside the text book land, there are these little thing called calculators, and it’s every offing where.

So I stop. I stop doing math completely. I cannot find x. After iGCSE, I’ve decided that math and I are over. I’ve chosen Literature simply because I thought I would be better off writing an essay than solving someone else’s problem.

I’ve found my way of life.

There was a gigantic fight four years ago between me and my whole family because I was seeking an alternative path. I understand them completely, but they also have to understand the fact that it is my future, and not theirs.

Will my life be easier if I’ve taken a business course rather than a Liberal Art major? Maybe. It’ll sure be less complicated, with less philosophical questions where the answer is another question. I wouldn’t care so much about gender equality, nor the fact that people are inhumane to the point that they might as well be the new Hitler of the 2000s. I might not have a critical opinion like I am now. I might see the world differently. Liberal Arts is a degree where you need to use what you’ve learnt and reflect it upon yourself, and the people around you. It’s the tip of the ice burg I want to remain on. Seriously, I would not want people unleashing what is below my superego. It’s too dark for the society to handle.

I see people being all literate on the internet, calling other people stupid and ignorance, when they, too, is illiterate as fuck. I am sorry, but there is a balance of being selfish, and being a member of the overall society. I simply do not understand why the people around me think that the bigger picture is not important. A nation cannot exist on its own, and therefore we should consider the world as one nation, regardless of our differences. Aren't we all the population of the world? Why only care about your/our people without giving two shits about the rest of the world?
Liberal people trying to be free of all identity boarders. Illiterate people wants something to hold onto to feel like they belong in the little community they are in, and that makes it easier for the hegemonic group to interpellate them with the imagined community ideology, making them unreasonable robots (no offence to robots).

You see, most people in the country were taught, since birth, to not ask question.
At home, it’s annoying for kids to ask questions simply because the parents does not know the answer as well.
At school, if the student ask questions, the student is viewed as not paying attention, and therefore will get their points deducted. Seriously, the teacher does not make any sense, but due to the ego and the cockiness of the teacher, we are not allow to not understand them. Shitty, I know.
We can not question religion, nor any practice leading towards religion. Let us not get into that real deep, or this entry might gain a lot of hate from the supernatural believers, and they might send me rape threats. Oh, I am not overreacting. Welcome to Thailand.

You are going to regret being outwardly critical in this place, especially if you are a radical feminist. Rape threats on all your houses.

This entry is going to go on forever.

Let’s end this right here, shall we?

I want to conclude this with a more positive note. I am not a hateful bitch who criticise everything, but I’m the bitch that believe in equality in its different forms, and in factual arguments. To me, religion is irrational and can not be proven. It’s one man’s word against physical evidences from sciences. Let me quote my friend here:

“But isn't it funny? a person who believes in something no one else does is considered a maniac but if a group of people believe in the same thing, it's religion?”

It is hilarious, but it’s the joke that might get us killed.

The four years in a Liberal Arts school taught me not to associate myself with people who does not see human being as equals. hey are not stupid, oh no. They are just people with too much insecurities that everything is threatening. What a shame.

After all, as I’ve mentioned above, I am a part of the society I loath, and it’s my responsibility as well to make this a better place for myself and everyone in it. Why? you might ask. Well, I may be a selfish motherfucker, but I am a selfish motherfuck that lives in this society. Thailand is my home, no matter if the people are culturally illiterate as fuck, it is still my home.

Liberal feminism seek to educate.
Dear god of feminism, please give me the strength not to kill people.

With hope at last,
Rata Pengmesri


PS: Please don’t send me rape threats. I might be a free-wheeling bisexual, but I am also asexual … except if you are Aaron Johnson, then please.

{teatime de ratata'} 001: St. Regis Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

Introducing this new section of 23km-down the rabbit hole blog, {teatime de ratata'} or #teatimederatata on instagram. Since my passion is to exploit the capitalist leisure phenomena, I usually spend my free time in a cafe or a tea boutique. With this regular leisure of mine, I've decided to turn it into something that may, or may not, be useful to people -especially afternoon tea lovers like myself- living in Thailand, or those who will be coming to Thailand.

Disclaimer: This series of blog entries/reviews are not aimed to discredit anyone, or any place. It's purely the writer's opinion and personal experiences on that particular place and time.

I do believe that, like all things in the universe, there is no place that is all bad, or all good. Just because some of these places got very low ratings does not mean the place is bad, it means that I didn't like it.

Just because I didn't like the place does not mean the place is bad.

Kay broh? lol


---------------------

001: St. Regis Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.
(February 14, 2014 | 3:00PM)

I arrived at the hotel via the BTS (skytrain, Ratchadamri Station Exit 4) at 3PM. My friend has booked a table for 3 at 3pm that day because, apparently, there won't be any tables for walk-in customers on special occasions.

Located on the 12th floor of this lavish hotel in the middle of Bangkok, the St. Regis Lounge was decorated with bronze and brown interiors. The moment I stepped out of the elevator, I was greeted by no one. The staff are busy serving tables (mostly foreigners) that they have ignored the existence of new customers. I was half expecting that the tables would be filled with people, but there are only 3 tables visible in the front and about 7 in the inner corner of the lounge. There were only about 4 to 5 staff members and I have to wait for about five to ten minutes for one of the staff to take notice of me and ask if I've already reserved a table beforehand. It's not their fault I am a socially awkward person in which standing in the middle of a tearoom, not knowing what to do, does not really help me to be less awkward.

The table the staff led me to was next to a pillar, in which it blocks all the view I was expecting to see. The only available set was the Valentine set. At the time, I didn't really care which set they have because I'm the type who could eat anything and will eat everything. When my friends arrived, we call the staff to order our set. There are about 6 to 7 types of tea available on the menu. I called the staff 3 times before they've noticed us calling for their attention. I asked them on the different types of tea, but they are only able to tell me if that tea is black, green, or red. I was quite surprise that a tearoom staff does not have the basic knowledge of the different types of tea they are offering, but not everyone is picky when it comes to tea. Most people would rather focus on the food, methinks.

I ordered the vanilla bourbon tea because that's the closest blend to my favourite from TWG (yes, St. Regis serves TWG teas) because the blend gave this soft and sweet scent of vanilla. I usually go for the Midsummer Night Tea because of its chocolate and mint scent. I prefer black tea, but red would do just fine. I also have my tea without any sugar because I don't like the sweetness of the sugar to ruin the sweetness of the tea itself. I love my tea black, like my soul.

There is nothing much to say about the tea because they are just typical TWG tea in which I think tea people are quite familiar with already. I was expecting more types of tea for a tearoom in a luxurious hotel, but they only have the basics such as earl grey, english breakfast, chocolate and vanilla bourbon. There are others as well, but not that various.

❥ My Blanc shades, I love you.

The champaign that came with the set was alright. Yeah, it was just alright. I wasn't expecting any dom perignon or anything, so it was quite alright. I only drank half of it because I don't feel like drinking any alcohol with tea.

Now, moving on to the food. As always, we start from the bottom and work our way up. The 3 tier stand filled with pink deserts and food was served ten minutes after our order. There were 2 of each on the stand, and there are three of us.

Thanks to the filter grid app ❤

1st floor: The lobster sandwiches was nice. Actually, those lobster sandwiches were so nice we have to order more of those as an A La Carte. The rest? Inedible. The salmon smells like it has been in the fridge for a few days. The beef was quite alright, but I was expecting more from a very well known hotel chain.

2nd floor: SCONES. There were 4 scones, two plain and two rose scones for Valentine's day (yay for all my badass single ladies out there because even scones came in pairs lol) The scone itself wasn't bad, but the clotted cream ... are you kidding me. First things first, you do not leave the cream in room temperature for more than an hour because it will melt. Second things second, how are we going to eat one scone with one teaspoon of clotted cream? I purpose the hotel to give their customers the right amount of cream to the amount of scones. I have to call the staff over from their busy task for more clotted cream. I don't mind if you are using a thicker whip cream instead of clotted creams, but please put an appropriate amount on the table for us to eat, much appreciated.

3rd floor: The abomination of St. Regis' Valentine's day afternoon tea set. Everything was made of roses. Rose cake, Rose mousse, Rose this, Rose that. Each of us took one bite of each desert and shook our heads in disapproval. We gave up trying to finish the top floor of the stand. The desert looks so good, but tasted so bad.

The Lobster Sandwiches that cost 500 THB ☹

I was unimpressed by the food and also the service of the place, period. From the price I am paying for the whole thing, this experience was not worth it.

Rating: 4/10

Thumb ups:
- The utensils was easy to use and handle. I really love their knifes and forks. Their utensils are practices are beautiful, they goes well with their overall atmosphere and interior.
- The way their food looks. The food was well decorated and the lighting helps it to look good on picture. Do not let that fool you.

Thumb downs:
- The food, period.
- The service, and the amount of staff is too little that they cannot attend every customer when they are needed.

The Price:
- 2,500 THB (£50/$77)

x

☁ The food looks so nice.

PS: Thanks to Melody19s and Palayate for coming out with me on Valentine's day. Lots of love, xx 

{M4} Gates (An Introduction)

After a long and stressful week of final exams, I am now free. FREE.
So I grab Helle, my penny board, and my Canon 60D for a little filming session on the road. I didn't go far, the locale of this video is the park at the back of my neighbourhood. I wanted to make an experimental film, so I did, and so I will. This is the start of my gigantic project; 'Mon' which means 'My' in French, and Mondays (much horrify. such terror. wow) and also Monsters. The film is based upon Freud's Psychoanalysis theory of the Uncanny and the id, also the theory of reel-life and real-life of people. We compare our backstage with people's font stage too much that we tried to make our backstage as good as people's front stage. We ended up trying too hard that we loose ourselves.
Don't go calling the depression help line/call centre just yet, I am perfectly not depressed. Not yet, anyway. Apart from the fact that I do not believe in any religion, but -at the back of my mind- I believe that the monster under my bed, or lurking in the shadow in the darkest corner of my room, is scared of me as much as kids are scared of them monsters. Maybe the reason why they are always in the shadow is because they, too, are afraid of us. Maybe they are not our counterparts, but a part of us. A part too deep inside we only see them in the dark.

I am sane.
But everyone thinks they are sane,
even the ones in the asylum.
I am sane,
as sane as sanity could reach me.

Embrace your monster.

23km Down the Rabbit Hole Production.

See you next week with a heaps of stuff (i.e. videos and blog entries) and new announcements coming this way.
Stay tuned.

Love, as always.
xx

Project:Mon

{M3} Rainbows are circles.

[This review contain spoilers for both the book and the film, please proceed at your own risk. If you haven't already watch the film, then please do. If you haven't read the book, then please do so. Also, this review will focus more on the film and it's cinematic effects, but the plots will also be mentioned as well. I got into a habit of not giving a proper title to my reviews, but you'll know soon enough what its all about. There would be no screen caps since the movie is still in theatres. Critical analysis of this movie will be out as soon as the DVD is out because there are aspects I would like to add to this review, aspects like how the romance plays out in the story, and a more in-depth analysis of characters and conventions. This, of course, will be right after The Guardians of the Galaxy.]

PS: Lily Collins is so pretty in this movie. The two main reasons why I went to watch this film even in the mist of projects and exams are because;
1. Lily Collins
2. Someone very special to me gave me this book as a souvenir from his trip to London long before it was made into a film. I remember finishing the book in 2 days, but spent the rest of the week sobbing in the corner of my room.

Excuse the grammatical mistakes, or any spelling mistakes, or just mistakes in the content. I was in a hurry to get everything down before memories start drifting away. I am a very forgetful person, and this has to change as soon as possible.

I've tried my best not to start my reviews off with a little, spoiler-free, synopsis and some little facts about the cast and crew. However, I think I've failed, miserably. I will not mention how sad the film was for me, because I believe the dolefulness cannot be measured, and is different from one another. Some might not think it's sad. Some might think it's sweet. Some might cry their heart out. Some might call it stupid. Films are personal preferences, and one should not judge another's preference based on their own preference. It was painful, but I walked out the cinema smiling. Maybe I've become attracted to sad love stories that gave me heartaches, but would also gave me warmth.

"Love, Rosie" starring Lily Collins and Sam Claflin
Directed by Christian Ditter

"Love, Rosie" is a film based on a novel "Where Rainbows End" by Cecelia Ahern which was published in 2004. The story is, basically, about two best friends, Alex and Rosie, falling for one another over and over again. It sounded simple enough to be just another chic-flick you take your girlfriend to watch on weekends. Do not let the simplicity of the plot fool you.

The way the story was told in the book was by letters, and then text messages, then came the internet and IMs and E-mails. It started off with Rosie inviting Alex to her 7th birthday party via a written letter. The use of letters had an effect on the story, not only because it's rare to have a book written completely in letters, but it creates an effect of ambiguity. What the reader knows is what was written by the characters. What they wrote may not exactly be what they were thinking at the time. They might have some other hidden thoughts or agendas, the ones that cannot be written. However, by using written messages as the main medium of communication all throughout the story shows that, no matter how far away they are physically, they will always think of one another first, and keeping in touch with each other is their priority.

As the adaptation goes, things has to be changed in order to suit the film's intention and its market. Some effects would work perfectly fine in books, but would look bloody ridiculous on screen. (The word 'bloody' was inserted there as a joke, but you'll fine out why later.) This is one of those examples. As stated above, the book was written purely as letters and E-mails without any dialogues, but that wouldn't work on screen. Imagine going into the theatre just to watch two characters reading letters in voice-overs. This film is a story 'based on' a book by Cecilia Ahern, and was told in a non linear narrative with some flashbacks into their past. It wouldn't be fair to judge this film according to the book because they are two different medias, and that both of them served it's purpose. The book gave us nostalgic feelings, and a little ambiguity for us to prey that the two get back together in the end. On the other hand, the film gave out the same vibe as other romantic love stories, just more melancholy and more painful to watch. The film served the book's purpose of telling a story of two best friends finding their way back to each other after thinking it was too late to be realising that they are completely in love with their childhood friend. Another major change in the film was the age they finally reunited. They were in their thirties in the film, but they were in their fifties in the book, which was even more heartbreaking. They spent most of their lives being with someone else, even when they knew there will never be anyone else for them other than each other. How misunderstandings could lead to a life time of misery.

Moving on to the cinematography of the film, the use of the vintage filter made it more nostalgic in a way that people would want to go back and hug their childhood friends. The majority of the film was in a warm tone, yet when they were in Boston, everything became cold and dark. The differences between Dublin and Boston were shown clearly in the film. Scenes in Dublin were mostly shot in warmer tone than scenes in Boston. Apart from the filter and the tones, the use of film grains emphasised the fact that they -the production crew- tries to create a nostalgic effect because we relate grained film with the old days. The scenes were also more grained in Dublin than in Boston.

There are not as many love scenes between Alex and Rosie since they spent most of their time apart, or was trying to figure their life out. However, overtime they kiss, the camera suddenly zoom into their lips in an extreme close up shot. This shows intimacy between the two of them, narrowing the audiences' attention to the hesitation they shared. This shot only occur when Alex and Rosie were about to kiss each other, and not when they kiss someone else. Moreover, when Rosie was crying after she've found out that she was pregnant, the camera zoomed into her face but is not stabilised. It felt as if the director was shaking the camera up and down on purpose, which made the scene not too still and more realistic. There are several long shots during the film which reveals the scenery of the town there were in and the roof top of Rosie's new place. Also, at the very end where the camera pan out of Rosie's hotel room and to the over landscape of the place. Not just the plot was beautiful, the cinematography was also beautiful. What I like the most is the way there were voice-overs before the scene shifted to the character who was talking. It hooked the montage together, linking it into one.

No films would be a 100 percent perfect (except for films that were made by Joss Whedon, purely because I am a part of the Whedonverse and that anything Joss does will be perfect.), and there are some aspects that obstructed the flow of the story. First of all, the way they tried to exaggerate their British accent gave me a headache. Don't get me wrong, I love listening to people with British Accent. Still, by adding the word 'bloody' in the middle of a sentence does not make it British. Besides, only the two main characters seems to be having the accent, where others speak normal English, even their friends from the same school, or Rosie's mother. I am well aware of the fact that Rosie and Alex were from Dublin, but that does not make it alright for just the two of them to be having a distinguish British accent. Further more, Rosie and Alex were supposed to age. Rosie looks like she was 18 since she was 18, until she was in her thirties, and so is Alex. There are make ups that would make actors look older than their age, or even younger. It was just strange watching a film where the characters were supposed to age, but they look exactly the same.

Let's talk about the title of the book for the last paragraph. For the title of the review, I wanted to point out the fact that rainbows are circles, and the end is also the beginning. The story's main problem started off before the school dance, which may be the reason why Alex came back -after all these years- to ask Rosie to go on a dance with him. Imagine a rainbow. Rainbows don't end. There would be no rainbows without any rainstorm, right?

{M2} 12% of the Galaxy

Hello there,
and welcome to another film review by me.
I don't usually do review of films that are still in the theatres because some people might have not seen it yet. I'm still a noob at this, so I have to watch the film over and over again to write a review.
However, this movie is one of the very best ones I've seen so far.
I think there's a lot of hype leading towards this film, by Marvel itself and the fans, as well as the media. By building this kind of tension, people will automatically expect the highest from this film, even before the trailers were out. Let me tell you this, all the expectations you had when you first saw the poster, the film will meet it. As a fan of Marvel and it's cinematic universe, I'll have to say that this is the mixture we've been longing for. James Gunn has finally succeeded what Iron Man 3 failed to do, and it turned out superb.

By the way, I participated in this game by sending in questions that I would like to ask James Gunn after the special screening of the movie with James Gunn in Thailand. I said my favourite scene was when the Nova comrade calls out Rocket's name before the thing crushed him. 
The question I was going to ask him was "Why did you choose xxxxxxxxxx for the end-credit scene, and how important will this character and the guardians be in Phase 2-3 of Marvel's cinematic Universe?"
I was chosen to be one of the people to attend the screening with the director, but I was too slow to call them and confirm my place. I wanted to cry my heart out, but I can't. I can watch this movie again for the 3rd time, even without James Gunn. OH MY GOD RATA YOU SLOW AND STUPID BITCH.

Let me tell you beforehand that there will be spoilers.
The first spoiler is that LEE PACE is the hottest villain in blue skin and purple circle lenses.
Dude, just look at him man.

Credits: ☁︎

Moving on to the actual review -hot guys nearly excluded. First, let me talk about the time. It started off in 1988, right ? And then it shifted to 26 years later, which is THIS YEAR. The whole movie, from the start to the finish, gave me the impression of the now. It's not a space movie that sets tooooooooooo far in the future that it seems so unrealistic. The cinematography was done beautifully that there is always this little glimpse of the now, as in 2014, and Earth. This anchored the movie and gave it a realistic feeling, rather than a film with fighting aliens. The two, the now and the science fiction future, blended together so well that it didn't feel awkward seeing a cassette tape and mini troll dolls popping up every once in a while. I think this mixture hooked the audience into the universe of Marvel. We've seen what Tony could do with his toys, and SHIELD's gadgets, so seeing all the holographic technologies in this movie doesn't feel so out of place and/or out of time.

To emphasise on this even more, the soundtrack of the film are all from the past, and from Earth. I'm pretty sure, way before this film was made, no one could ever put these two together, let alone blend it in this well. Who would ever think that 80s/90s music would go well with a sci-fi space narrative ? Then again, it wouldn't be as blended as this if the whole concept of the movie wasn't based on the 90s. The base of this movie is what makes it blended so well with the OST, and anchored people to Earth. Since the movie started off on Earth in the 90s, with normal stuff happening with mom passing away and stuff, it gave the film some sentimental values before shooting off to space with all the explosive thingy. Sentimental values are crucial in order to hook audience in. They didn't want the audience to travel to a completely different universe, but a slightly altered version of our universe. This is what I like about Marvel, they know people. All their films, and some of their comics, are set on the now. By setting it in the present day, and linking it to Earth (New York, especially) gave the audience this sense of reality, and the suspension of disbelief. Marvel created a universe within our world, and blended it together, mixing the fiction with real places.

Moving on to the characters. Let me spoil you again that Lee Pace is the cutest Ronan anyone could imagine. Lets not talk about Lee pace, just for now, or else I wouldn't be able to stop.
We have our orphan superhero, and a group of A-holes who are only 12% a dick. A typical team of losers (and by losers, I meant people who had lost someone) combined their forces to save the Galaxy from the cutest villain ever, Ronanny. Sorry, Ronan. For god's sake, why did you cast Lee Pace for such a cruel character. He should be cast as Carina or something. Sorry, again. Please, Rata, stop blabbing about!
Right, characters. Well, it's Marvel, so you can go on and expect a group of orphans coming together as a team. This is like a smaller scale of The Avengers, with different characters blending together, forming a team. Each and every single one of them came from a different background and planet, with different purpose and hidden agendas. I won't spoil you anymore, but Lee Pace, people. And I haven't mentioned how hot Zoe was in the film, even without proper brows.

"You're Welcome"
Yeah, right. We are, and always will be,
forever thankful,
at least until A2.

Narrative, yes. The narrative of this film was great. Everything was organised in a chronological order and sequence. Very Linear and all. However, lets talk about how the screenwriter, James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, dropped a massive chunk of humour into the film, but still sustain the seriousness of the film without turning it into comedy. Lets take a look back to Iron Man number 3 (And I am assuming you, readers, have already watched it because there will be a major spoiler soon) where the "Mandarin" was just a face, played by a drug addict actor to lure people to the wrong direction. That was supposed to be the big BOOM of the whole movie, but you've ruined it by turning it into jokes. I understand that Iron Man was supposed to be filled with little humour here and there because that's how Tony Stark is, but isn't this too much of a joke? It took away all the seriousness of the film, and pulled the whole film downhill from that point onward. On the other hand, The Guardian of the Galaxy managed to sustain the seriousness of the core problem and plot, even when a big chunk of humour was thrown into the film. The humour didn't touch the core plot of the film, which is why it could contain its seriousness. I thought this was going to fail at the very end, but it turns out that the core plot remain untouched, even after the failed dance-off of Peter. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this film is a serious film. What I'm saying is that this film should be taken seriously and not just 'another space movie', because there is so much more than just sequence after sequence of explosives. To be very honest, the review is kinda the same style of the film I'm reviewing. This is as serious as it gets, really. James Gunn, whatever you are doing, keep doing it. You are on the right track. We've had enough seriousness in Cap2, and too much humour in Iron man 3. We need a little bit of both, just like this one.

I don't really have to talk about the computer effect in this film, it's Marvel, dudes.
'Nuff said.

My favourite scene was one of the few sentimental scenes in the movie, it's the scene where Saal called out Rocket's name before the Nova ship exploded. That's all I'm going to say because saying more than this would be spoiling the film. That was my favourite scene because that's the major plot twist of Rocket's life. It's like he's asking Rocket to take over control of the Nova army and protect Xandar. Bradley Cooper voiced Rocket, man. Just saying, I just want this out there.

To conclude this pathetic and nonsense film review, I would like to rate and criticise this film. Firstly, this film is in Marvel's Phase 2 (With everything after the Avengers) and is the only film that does not lead to A2, but is leading to the third phase. I'd like to rate this film a 9.5/10, minus 0.5 solely because  of the make up effect on Nebula and Ronan. The circle lenses are too obvious that I can see the border of the lenses and the colour of it. I used to wear purple lenses like Ronan's and a black one like Nebula's. Also, the blue guard that took Peter's cassette player had red eyes from wearing lenses, and that's not healthy for his eyes. Circle lenses are too obvious and some of the actors seem to be allergic to lenses, so please use CGI instead, if possible. Like, seriously, people here wear those to make their eyes look bigger, which they believed to be cuter. Lee Pace is so cute in purple circle lenses y'all.

Look closely at their eyes.

As of my theory, I think this whole thing is leading towards the Dr. Strange movie and the 3rd Avengers, because other films before this one all led to either this, or A2. This is just my theory, though. I might be wrong. However, I cannot wait for the 2nd Avengers Film. I cannot. I can't even. I have lost the ability to even. Can we just fast forward to the premier date of A2 now, please ? I want to see my Elizabeth Olsen on screen with Aaron Johnson and the gang already. Joss Whedon, please get well soon. If you enjoyed The Avengers, then this is a film for you. It's funny, and a bit sad, with lots of action sequences and good music all throughout.

Wait, hold on. Blue Alien? Excuse me? Is the blue alien in Agents of SHIELD a Kree ?

The Galaxy's mightiest hero had proven their abilities, and formed a team. Now it's time for Earth's mightiest heroes to join force once again to protect their home from some foreign attacks.
Thanos can wait for another phase before actually doing something big because Ultron was the first in line after Loki.

Well, this has been quite a review. I wasn't planning to write this tonight, but I couldn't sleep. It's now 3am in the morning, and my brain is no longer working, so I might have missed something or there might be a whole bunch of typos. I'll add something, or change something, when I remember it.
But for now, bye.

PS: Quack-Fu for Phase 3. Oops, a spoiler.

{M1} Romanticising Love

There are films, and there are stuff that cannot be unseen.
If people ask me what my favourite movie is, I wouldn't be able to answer them.
I don't have an all-time favourite movie. My list changes more frequently than the exchange rate, or the stock price. It's like asking me to choose between my bunny and my brother -I cannot.

To exemplify this even more,
I separate movies into the following categories:
- Movies I enjoyed watching (movies for entertainment purposes, mainstream cinema and the likes)
- Movies I enjoyed analysing (emotional movies and less mainstream, maybe)
- Movies that cannot be unseen (and is still giving me nightmares and making me question its existence)

So, let me share with you some movies -with love as the main theme- I'm currently enjoying, as of now. Most of them are under the first two categories. There's only one movie franchise in category three, and that is *cough* Kick-ass *cough* 
Let me tell you before hand that I am not a true believer in love,
I believe in compatibility, which means my opinion may disagree with your point of view.
I believe that love exist, but love is not the prime aspect that keeps two -or more- people together.
I don't, by any means, look down on love, or think it's nonsense. So don't get me wrong.
In other words, I relate myself to Sam, but admire the love of Karenin.

Lets get started, shall we?
They are not ranked, by the way. I love them all equally, I really do.
Although I would pick Anna Karenina over anything, any movie, or even anyone. wahahaha.


kay;

"Anna Karenina" (2012)
Directed by Joe Wright,
Based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy,
Screenplay by Tom Stoppard.  

This, ladies and gentlemen, 

is one of the best screenplays I've ever had a chance to experience.

And, also, the best Love mumbo jumbos I've ever seen.

Every archetypes of romantic discourse are in there, and is represented as equals, no love is greater than others. This is why this film is awesome.
However, people would relate to at least one kind of love, and view them as the greater love than other loves. Its normal; we relate ourselves with the spectacles we experience.
It's romantic, yes, but it also shows the tragic side of love, as well.
Since not every road are paved with roses.

Cinematographically astounding, smoothy connected screenplay,

and costume perfection; All In One.

This very scene -The Waltz Scene- amplifies Anna's desire for passionate love,
and is the scene where everything kicks it.
The love shared between her and her husband, Karenin, is like a steady candle flame,
and now that a bonfire is in front of her, the bonfire she had been longing for,
who wouldn't take the risk?
She got married when she was eighteen with a man too good to be true,
but a relationship too unfaltering that turns her cold from inside out.
(I would go deeper into the cinematographic aspects of this, 
but lets save that for later,
we are here to talk about this pink mist people called Love.)
Vronsky was the complete opposite from her husband,
Young, irresponsible, passionate and cheeky.
Well, I shouldn't have used the word 'cheeky' but you get the idea.
He is the bonfire of passion that would keep her warm,
and is the fire that would burn her to ashes.
Young love versus Lasting love,
your choice.

"It would be a sin to help you destroy yourself." 

- Alexei Karenin

"Stuck in Love" (2012)
Directed and written by: Josh Boone

Why do you believe, or not believe, in love?

Was it when you saw your mother with another guy,

or was it when you saw that your father is still waiting for her to come back?

Yes, people are afraid to get hurt, 

that's why some people decided to shut themselves away from love.

"Don'ts keep people safe,"

I agree.

Samantha, played by Lily Collins, also agrees with this,

at least during the first half of the film.

The love shared between Sam and Lou may not be perfect,

but they are compatible.

A relationship wouldn't work if one constantly tries to save the other,

the two should try saving each other together.

So, Sam and Lou's relationship is the example of walking into love,

while Sam's brother's love is an example of falling -head first- into love.

Sam's brother romanticise pain, and love, and the pain from love.

He has the soul of an artist.

That, for me, is irrational, but love is supposed to be irrational, right?

Still, I never could understand his view point.

Moreover, the love their parents shared play a big part in their lives.

Sam saw her father setting up a place for her mother every year, 

waiting for the chance that she might come back.

Because of this, Sam viewed love as irrational, and her father as well.

Little did she know about their relationship.

People lost their way when doubt blurred their sight,

and people make mistakes 

because we are only human.

Yes, her father waited,

but it wasn't an irrational wait with sobbing, begging and being sulky.

Well, maybe a little stalking, but it wasn't a big deal.

He waited in peace

-with occasionally hooking up with people and going on dates- 

because he knows, deep down,

that she would come back.

He believes in the love they shared.

"A realist just sees that face and packs it in with every other pretty girl they've ever seen before. The hopeless romantic becomes convinced that God put them on Earth to be with that one person. But there is no God and life is only as meaningful as you fool yourself into thinking it is."

- Samantha Borgens 

ps; Josh Boone also directed the adaptation of the ever famous YA book by John Green,
"The Fault in our Stars"
In theatres now in most countries,
except for the one I'm in.
Thanks a lot, man.

"Much Ado About Nothing" (2012)
Directed and written by Joss Whedon.
Based on the play by William Shakespeare 

This film is about love, and other stuff as well.
But I just want to put this here to show how amazing
Joss Whedon
is.
He created this during his hiatus after wrapping up
The Avengers,
and he did all this
IN 12 DAYS.
He also composed the soundtrack for this film as well,
using the dialogue from the play as lyrics.
Joss Whedon is a genius.
Welcome to the Whedonerse.

This has nothing to do with the post,
or anything to do with the romantic love discourse.
I just want to put this here while I wait for A2,
Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda,
what more can I ask for?
#fangirling

Seriously, guys.
Go watch this movie,
it's superb.

And that's it for my first serious (?) post.

Analysing the different types of love from movies, and all that.

The thing about films, and understanding films, is that different people would see different films, yet the same moving pictures.

When we watch a film, our brains link what's happening on screen to your past experiences and your personal belief. This is why film interpretations varied from people to people, community to community, and so on so forth.

There's this saying;

"Not two persons ever read the same book." (Edmund Wilson)
This could apply to films as well.
It depends on you, really, and how you view the film.
Except for some really crappy films, *cough* Twilight *cough* 
Even that is debatable, I think.
I rarely say a film is crappy, because filmmakers had put a lot of effort into making it.
The editing team had done some really kick-ass job putting all the scenes together, at least respect them and their work. To edit a film you would kill yourself after watching it is a big deal, alright.
Imagine editing Twilight for a month or two, everyday.
Imagine that, and give the editing team a pat on the shoulder when you are done.


Bye.

R5 - Here comes Forever (Acoustic)