RANT: The Kids should get this Straight (no pun intended)

The Kids Are All Right


C- (3.1)


When The Kids Are All Right was released in the summer of last year, I was wondering what was the hype about this flick until I'd discovered its premise about a lesbian couple and their kids and given how much acclaim this get from the critics, I was dumbfounded by what they are talking about. This is a film with a subject matter that has a 90% success chance of getting an Oscar nomination especially Best Picture. Homosexuality is a darling with the critics and the Academy members which is just one thing I'd hate about these people. Critics would use a film's subject matter depending on how shocking or how observed, they could give this a high to low rating. While the members of each organisation that is active from December would give this a thumbs up just to boast again and again how liberal Hollywood had become. The problems I had with celbrities and politics is that they are so bias to one politics and the hypocritical thing is they don't usually support it even if they attend conventions or lectures of one.

Anyway, there are the very low expectations I have for and against this film and given that I was too mean for this film since it is indie and has an all star cast. Whatever. When I saw it, just at the end credits, I was right the first time and I am pissed.

The Kids Are All Right are about a family headed by a lesbian couple Nic and Jules (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) with their teenage kids Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and Laser (Josh Hutcherson). They look perfect and privilaged. Joni's heading off straight to college and Laser ask her if they could find their sperm donor and that person is Paul (Mark Ruffalo). With Paul, he;'s a hedonistic man of such desires and interests and when he meets Nic and Jules, they become polorised with one another. Nic believes that he is corrupting their kids and ruining them, while Jules was just happy to meet him.

The Kids Are All Right has to be the most pretentious, overrated film of last year. No matter what morals they give out, no matter how universally acclaimed this film is and no matter how observing this film is, it's neither special nor effective. What'll you'll see is a movie filled with liberal cliches thrown at you by Nic and Jules complaining and whining about what they think of Paul and what he's going to do to get their attention. The story of the film feels like a pilot episode of a kids show where the main kid is tired of life with her parents and try to find her real parents but then it's jumbled up.

I may be the only person on this entire planet not to like this film, but there are some issues and points people are missing out on. One point is where this film is completely misandrist - this is a man-hating movie. Ruffalo is a stag, Laser is the stupidest kid while his buddy is some adrenaline skate punk.

There is nothing humourous I find here. Bening and Moore having sex together. We already get that they've been together for 20 years but you can't bring up their infactuation of gay porn. That just make it cheesy. The relationships between Ruffalo and the two women makes this movie feel like watching a film that has the structure of a soap opera.

Despite the fact that the performances from the cast are good, The Kids Are All Right reminds me of being new at a prep school with the most over privilaged kids in town but then you realise that the only reason why you're at that school is not only your family's middle class, but that your parents are homosexuals.

But the good thing is at least the director got the balls to bring this topic up. This is an indie flick and they know what to do here. To be fair, I support gay rights. I really do. But every day and into the future, we get misleading stereotypes of these people. They're interested in fashion musicals, anything in the opposite gender. But in ten years time, the new stereotype of gay couples (and those who have a family) will be modelled as the family in this movie. Over-privileged, middle-class and educated aristocratic families. That's what they are.

Whatever the message The Kids are sending here, it was real. At least they are functioning as a conventional family and its high time that they stop portraying gay couples as overreative. But the worst thing is that this takes itself way too seriously. As you get into the matter, you'll gradually be forced to understand the concept about families all over and over again.

Look. It's an overrated film with no meaning and cannot be counted as a comedy. When this film is shown around your TV, no one will remember it and they never will!

Pulp Fiction - Is This It? The Greatest Movie IMO

A+ (10.0)


Before Inception, before Avatar, before we seen risque in American Beauty and Fight Club, and a philosophical science fiction The Matrix, Pulp was not only the most talked about film of its time and had caused a phenomenon, but also the most influential.

Quentin Tarantino's magnus opus is a pop culture sandwich, an arthouse that has irony everywhere, a web that spreads multiple storylines, a church with morality and immorality, an encyclopaedia of great movies and a study of nihilism, betrayal and loyalty.

It starts out as a couple sit together at a restaurant discussing about robbing it and they did. That was just the start of the film. The film then goes into the ramblings of Jules and Vincent (Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta) two henchmen working for crime lord Marcella Wallace (Ving Rhames) with Vincent having to take Marcella's wife Mia (Uma Thurman) and entertain her. It then goes with an associate of Marcella, Butch (Bruce Willis) then go find his watch only to be coincidently involved with something unrelated.

I don't want to spoil the whole film so here's what I hate about this movie.

Nothing

This is an absolutely flawless film that I definitely enjoyed and showed us what contemporary cinema is all about. It goes beyond conventions of its unpredictable nature and story structure, dialogue but sustaining what's great about each genre of movies. Bringing in an ironic mix of humor and violence (trust me. There is just a few bits of violence) there is.

Tarantino brings the film to such an unique direction making it a neo-noir in its own right with a superb script from himself and Roger Avery. The dialogue is pitch perfect. Smart and witty and memorable. IT has fascinating observations of pop culture such as Mcdonalds and its Quarter Pounders and its competition, the Bible especially the famous verse from the book of Ezekiel delivered great by Jackson. But the script delivers themes of loyalty, morality and betrayal. Tarantino gives us heart that you shouldn't like, but by the time they open their mouths, both hitmen have deep heart inside them.

John Travolta is acting here like he was in the 70s and this is a film that ressurected his career as an actor. He shows that by how much personality his character has, but also the great dialogue from Tarantino. It worked. Jackson is utterly hilarious and thrilling as his partner Jules and has a role of a lifetime in this flick. Everyone in the cast is great here especially Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken and Harvey Keitel.

Also adding flavour to Pulp is the soundtrack which I definitely enjoyed and the lighting makes the movie so cynical and gritty. The well-known dance scene with Travolta and Thurman is greatly choreographed.

More so this should be a guide on how to make a great movie. For all film buffs all from those who has started watching classics to those with the film brain of Tarantino, this is a film that is a definite must see and put into your personal favourites list. It's a landmark movie that redeemed Hollywood (even if it was made independently) to the far top.

This is a movie that defined a generation that watches movies the way they wanted to.

Never Let Me Go - It just couldn't move

B (6.9)


Warning... Spoilers ahead!


Never Let Me Go is a movie that took so long to be released in Australia. For once I wasn't interested in this film even if it had Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley in the cast until I realise that the film involves science fiction and it is science fiction and romance that blends together.


It is based on an acclaimed novel by Kazuo Ishiguro and in 1952 a medical breakthrough had risen the human life expectancy to over a 100. NLMG is three films in one. First, it is 1978 and three children from a boarding school in Hailsham, Kathy (Mulligan), Ruth (Knightley) and Tommy (Garfield) are set to become donors when they've become adults. Their teacher Ms. Lucy (Sally Hawkins) tell them that when they do, they'll never live a happy life or have a longer one. WE then realize that Hailsham is actually a prison and that the kids are clones of middle class citizens. The second section is where Kathy, Ruth and Tommy are teenagers and are set out to their fates whereas Ruth and Tommy become a couple while Kathy watches. Lastly Kathy and Tommy fall in love after Kathy had donated her organs and Tommy set out for his final days


Now I have never read the book but it has a great concept about being human and fate. Before I went and saw it, I presume that this film will have the same appeal to a lot of people as The Notebook. This movie is a romance and pretty much the chemistry between Mulligan, Knightley and Garfield is so poignant and cold at the same time. 


Never Let Me Go has an approach simlar to Blade Runner and Gattaca. It all has to do with not being human. Blade Runner deals with human replicas rebelling against humans for putting them invto slavery. Never Let Me Go has that concept but the trio doesn't go against anything. 


Screenwriter Alex Garland doesn't explain the situation the trio's in and facing and the real world or people who set that up leaving it so dull and dry. And without that, you are dumbfounded into thinking that it was a science fiction flick.


However this film has an excellent cast with Mulligan and Garfield who are both endearing and conflicted respectively while Knightley is great as the selfless Ruth. But all of them has to bring in a sentiment to this adaptation and only give more to the audience and not to the whole movie itself. This could not set up a tone for the film and ends up being a soap opera


Never Let Me Go is a romantic if yet beautifully directed by Mark Romanek and acted out by a young cast. If only it had more.

The King Of Limbs, and DVD releases

For two years, I have been a massive Radiohead fan. Let me give you a brief history of this band if you don't know. Radiohead consists of five members Thom Yorke, Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Phillip Selway and Ed O Brien and they released three albums in the 90s: Pablo Honey, The Bends and OK Computer. When they released their it single 'Creep', the band was unsatisfied and released The Bends. An album with heavy emotion, it was a turning point... had it failed. But's that what they wanted anyway and so when they release OK Computer, it was their magnus opus with political concepts and paranoia crafed into the material. But Radiohead was known for their massive surprise as last decade show that a band can completely change their music for the better. Kid A and Amnesiac was suprising at best with the band practicing the most experimental of their work. Hail To The Thief had a few songs that pulled me in, but it wasn't greater than their other work. But it came with Radiohead's last album In Rainbows where like many of their albums, they didn't bore me and was the usual multi-layered piece they record.

Their new album The King Of Limbs isn't like In Rainbows as it is their shortest record to date with under 40 minutes long. This make me wanting more. It starts off with Bloom where it starts with an arpeggio and then it goes repetitive with Morning Mr. Magpie and Little By Little. By the time it reached to Lotus Flower the only single of the CD it manages to pick itself up but the song is talking about itself and the album as I believed. Codex and Seperator were my favourite songs of the record. Codex calms itself down to bring in a beautiful number of piano chords I've heard from them since Pyramid Song while Seperator which is somehow similar to The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers was a wake up call and brings something further of the band.

This isn't Radiohead best album as with OK Computer, The Bends and In Rainbows but at least it was multi-layered and more pleasing for a Radiohead fan myself. So the first half as I said repetitive but picks itself in the other half. If you liked Radiohead and two of their material then you will like this. If not, at the end of the day you might be thinking it's a concept album about trees (which is funny, given how the origin of the title is from the tree the band used to hang out)  

DVD Releases


I remember back in 2007 where I look up a poster where they state DVD releases and remembering when they were out in the cinema. I checked up for No Country for Old Men where it was released on DVD at April or May 2008 where way back it was in December 2007. So usually it takes 4 months for a movie to get a DVD status in Australia while it takes three months for it in North America.

Now I'm questioning how come the length of time for the movie to be released on DVD is now longer than 3 months. Call me impatient and unreasonably complaining, but I feel like the movie industry cannot care less about the movie to be released on that technology simply because of Blu Ray and how increasingly popular it becomes with the better quality of sound and picture. So maybe they're concerned about the process of the movie to be put in Blu Ray.

For instance I've been waiting for Inception to be out on DVD and it was released in July. I was so impatient that I thought it would be released on November, instead it was out a month after. You do the math and estimate how long it would take. It wasn't the same for Scott Pilgrim though because it was out in August and then got on our shelves at the same month.

Apparently The Town and The Social Network had just got into DVD and Blu Ray this month. For The Town and The Social Network both were released December and January respectively. But how come both movies (both were released in October in Oz) are taken to DVD in March? IT takes three months to make it in America but in Australia we need to do something about it. Now I'm expecting to get Black Swan in May or June and it feels like you're waiting for a good Christmas movie to come out at any time until November. It's a shame.

So why are DVD releases so long to put into place? I don't know but you can answer that question

RANT: THE TEN THINGS THAT ANNOY ME THE MOST AROUND THIS WORLD

I've been thinking about the stuff that is annoying me right now. If you think Charlie Sheen or any celebrity, it will not be in this list. It will be on what happens at school, at the shopping centre, at home or on the web that I spend in my majority of everyday.

10.  kids walks up to you at the canteen when you've bought your food and ask for change.

Do I actually look like a person who just bought something at the store and then gives out change to a hobo because he's sleeping on the sidewalk. NO. Don't give me the intention to snap at you if you ask that question above. You're like NIGERIAN SCAMMERS.

9. Every kid at school or elsewhere loves a certain tv show like Jersey Shore, a song from Ke$ha or a certain type of culture only because it is based on partying.

There's one thing you should know about me. I DON'T PARTY EVER. I was never invited and I don't really give a shit. But the majority of people I know loves to party hard and like the most ridiculous things to appear on tv or on the radio because it does that. There's nothing redeeming about partying apart from having a great time.

8. Flame wars

I usually look at websites that have an interesting article because I want to know what are people's opinions. Their opinions are heard on the comment section and there is one thing that bother me. Flame wars which means to argue online by replying to the comment. What bothers me about it is that it takes days or hours to read over the comments and flaming just wastes my time. I want the decent comments not those stupid ones where they tease the commenter about her size. That is so irrevelent to the story

7. Every Friday kids at school sing that song.

Everyone had said that Friday by Rebecca Black is a terrible song. And so has I. So why do you keep on saying that when every Friday of the week you sing that goddamn song? Cos I don't understand the irony of that habit and if that routine happens every week I rather have my iPod confiscated because I will listen to it.

6. Teachers playing nice

OK I'm entering class right now and I'm so excited because I'm gonna ask my English teacher (just giving you an example) of what music does he listen and... wait. Had I learnt something in class. That's what happen in one of my classes every year. I really like a nice teacher as long as you teach us something that is useful in the HSC. I am more likely to fail a subject if I was taught by a teacher that are so deep.

5. When people say that a certain band or music is gay when they've never heard of it.

Last month, Arcade Fire, a Canadian indie rock band, won the Grammy for Album Of The Year over Eminem's Recovery. Everybody panics as they do not know who are they so they craft a Tumblr spreading the hate of this incredible band. Here's a simple advice to the creator: google. This is a major problem with people these days and music. They don't expand their tastes further and only hear music from the most popular forms of radio. To be perfectly honest, I don't think Eminem is great now when he was in his Marshall Mathers years. Last year I have to face up with an Asian kid at my old school who keeps on saying that Muse and my favourite things are stupid since he never heard their music. To that person. It's prejudice and it's like saying an Iraqi is a terrorist. And at the same time you're joining the bandwagon.

(Tie) 3. Fanboys and teen cultural phenomenons' beliefs and aims

Today you have your Twihards, your Gleeks, your Bieliebers and your Trekkies. I am irritated by these people because often they exaggerate of who they likeby screaming out "IT'S THE BEST" and coming back when we do not like what they like with "OH, YOU"RE JUST JEALOUS BECAUSE...". That latter is becoming a cliche since we are never envious of them if it had a hot guy or girl in it. Bielibers are so stupid they manage to ruin Justin Bieber's gigs because they cannot control themselves. Twihards show that a free vote for all in our country is not a good idea and Gleeks should know better about the songs being covered in that show. So fanboys irritate me because they take their interests way too seriously and it really hurts our society and turn them dumb. Not to mention the numerous amount of death threats you pose against a person associated with these guys.

On the same note, you know what Twilight, Glee and every teenage sensation has in common. They both have pro-Christian values. Twilight promotes abstinence, Justin Bieber and Jonas Brothers both believe in pre marital sex while Glee promotes sex and how they DO NOT sell. I'm not joining any sides here, but for their fans that worship these people, they will feed off shallow beliefs from what these people are telling you or singing whatever the hell it is. So if their passionate fanbase are listening to the messages each teen sensation send in their songs, it will be something stupid and they just go with it. THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT GODS!

2. People ask me if I sing or dance.

Here's the truth: I actually shuffle and can sing a falsetto. But I'm trying to keep a low profile at the new school and I don't want to be so big because of what I do. IF you ask me to sing or dance or if you spread the word of what I do, then I will politely say no because I don't want to snap and you know what happen when I snap.

1. Cliques or popular kids (if there is one)

Cliques are happening in every American high school. We're talking jocks, cool kids, rich kids, geeks and goths. It wouldn't exist here in every school of this country, but had it does then I would be stuck and my life will be a time-bomb. However for Westfields, I honestly do not like being with the most popular kids because despite the fact that they have 1000 friends on Facebook, they are self-centred, arrogant, filthy slobs and the problem is you can't resist the seduction of their random conversations and what stuff do they possess of that you really want to own. If I would join a clique, it will be the Darias where I don't really give a shit about everything with a friend next to you and is a misanthrope (a person who is withdrawn in the human world) in this school. And I will keep