Q&A: Anything goes

OK. Here's the time to ask questions. Either ask on the blog via the comments section, on my Twitter and I will answer them whenever possible. You can ask me about anything. Anything on my blogs. Anything about movies, music whatever the topic is. Anything. Anything about what I think in entertainment, culture, whatever. It's all up to you.

But here's a limit. For each Q&A you only get to ask one question. The question should not have something about my personal life. Don't ask me where do I live. Don't ask me what school do you go too because I'm trying to be anomynous as possible on the Web.

Quick music - Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Vampire Weekend

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

From literally one of the world's biggest bands, The Suburbs, their latest album is one of the most addictive albums I have listened from a band. Arcade Fire is a new Radiohead for a new generation. Their contemporary lyrics deal with living in a suburban life and dealing with the national id of yourself. It may not have greater like their previous albums Neon Bible or Funeral (which I haven't heard yet) but The Suburbs is their most ambitious yet.

The album is nominated in both Album Of The Year and the indie-restricted category Alternative Album Of The Year. It may win Album Of The Year based on critical analysis but it certainly will win Alternative.

Listen to tracks: The Suburbs, Ready To Start, Sprawl II, Empty Room, Half Light (No Celebration).

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Reading reviews from Pitchfork is boring unless an album recieves a perfect score. (10.0). Kanye West's latest MBDTF is the first album to recieve that score since Wilco and sparked a range of opinions on Twitter. Besides I would have gave The Social Network a 10.0

 But it's right that the record should receive that kind of score because this is literally a work of art from West as it makes hip hop more into a art form. He's inspired by the all lows to create this classic that is metaphorically an abstract portrait of a modern man.

He may be that genre's Radiohead or Thom Yorke. College Dropout or Late Registration is his The Bends, Graduation is his OK Computer, 808s was his Kid A, this record would be his In Rainbows or another OK Computer but like that album more critically acclaimed.

I never heard hip hop with such ambition and really grandiose as this album and it goes within its hype that may have West forgiven.

Listen to tracks: Runaway, Monster, Power, Gorgeous, So Appalled, Lost In The World

Vampire Weekend - Contra

This is one of those albums that I listen when I feel happy. Let's face it. Hipster culture makes me happy. Music, movies and women who are act like hipsters. Vampire Weekend is one of them. And it's one of their catchiest record to date.

The ambiguous lyrics can be heard from Cousins and Holiday because of the fast pace and the slow but mellow Diplomat's Son which reminds me of a movie made by Woody Allen. But all for a while Vampire Weekend mixes African beats and reggae with pop. It's what indie rock is all about



Listen to tracks: White Sky, Cousins, Giving Up The Gun, Diplomat's Son 

Franchises teenagers can't get enough of

According to the Oxford Dictionary, franchise is a term used to describe a series of operations whether its film or tv for the use of commercialism. Franchises are the back bone of Hollywood's operations since they can't keep going if they are done. Hollywood is totally desperate for franchises coming and going so they can make a shit load of money. And they spend that money to make more movies and to pay their actors in any list based on alphabetical order. If you're an A lister (technically there's no such thing, but i'm telling you) you get about $20 million a year. Currently the highest paid actors are the stars from Harry Potter raking bwtween $15 and $20 million.

I like that process that Hollywood is doing because it's been active for almost eons. But I don't like what Hollywood is changing. Back in the 20th century, Hollywood was making movies with such directors like Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorcese and the Coppolas. In Hollywood there was no such thing as a franchise until Star Trek, Star Wars and The Godfather came in. The Godfather is rather the greatest franchise of all time despite the fact that it is a trilogy. Now we have Twilight, Transformers, Harry Potter, Saw, Hostel and most recently the Fockers.

Currently, this is too much.

In the past, we often got movies that doesn't come up with more than two films. For instance you can't have a sequel to Blade Runner not only because it wasn't a box office success, but because it's based on a Phillip K. Dick novel that doesn't span more than two books just like the Harry Potter series or the LOTR trilogy.

Some of the well known franchises spanned by Hollywood back were Indiana Jones, Robocop (even though it shouldn't be made), Alien and The Terminator. All were good except for Robocop but we're in the 21st century and it's the year 2011 and we are getting sequels. Lots of sequels. The major animation studios Pixar and Dreamworks are releasing sequels to Cars and Kung Fu Panda, a sequel to The Hangover and Zombieland both to be sleeper hits two years ago, a prequel to X Men but this time it's the X-Men and to top off the year's end, Sherlock Holmes.

Is it just me or is Hollywood out of control?

The reason why I'm complaining is there is one too many. Sure there's that excuse that there are more sequels because it was based on a popular book that goes into another story, but it's just that Hollywood is so demanding these days as they are incredibly over-inspired by movies that are considered the greatest such as Gone With The Wind, The Godfather and Indiana Jones as they're like 'ok we can make more money out of this just like _______________ '.

Or maybe it has to do with studio executives having to meet the demands of their audience depending on that franchise. The most prominent target audience today is teenagers and they go to the movies to see the dumbest things or to become absolutely mindless in today's pop culture.

So here's my list of the mindless franchises teens still enjoy.

The Fast and The Furious


What is it: an orgy of cars that go full speed and this is basically a bunch of street racers racing against each other out of all odds in street lights whether day or night.


Teens enjoy it because: It's full of fast cars, hot starter girls and basically all action. Every film is the same plot but in another city. Also there's a lot of hip hop. Cars are made from the Asian car industry and this is a 13 year boy's wet dreams that is shown on the screen

Why I don't: it's just a pointless series of car races that is formulaic in each film. Also sends out a wrong message of street racing to car hoons. This is basically car porn at it's highest.

Saw and Hostel

What is it: Saw is where several people go to some crazy warehouse and is tortured into a round of games by a puppet named Jigsaw. Hostel is where people get tortured and get raped into dead meat.

Teens enjoy it because: They wanted to get scared to the extreme. Also they think torture is enjoyable

Why I don't: critics termed torture porn to these kinds of movies. Saw is released in Halloween every year and it always get ridiculous the more torture it use.

Step Up


What is it: franchise that's about breakdancing and about being a champion at that field

Teens enjoy it because: Teens these days are acting hip-hop and gangsta. Breakdancing is just there.

Why I don't: Dance films like this are so formulaic and generalised and then Step Up 3 is in 3D. A major excuse by dance movies to profit. It's the same as Fast and Furious but this time with dancers. Also a major excuse for Flo Rida to sell his songs.

Transformers


What is it? Two alien robot races fight against each other at Earth

Teens enjoy it because: they're victims of Michael Bay who fools them with explosions, fighting robots and Megan Fox.

Why I don't: Michael Bay spends too much on special effects rather than story. The second Transformers became ridiculous with stupid humor such as a giant Decepticon with giant steel testicles. We would be fooled by the ridiculous amounts of comedy and effects by Bay than not to enjoy it.

Twilight

What is it? Based on Stephanie Meyer's fantasy novels about a love triangle between two hotties and an unattractive emo: steroid abusing werewolf and an emo vamp.

Teens enjoy it because: Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson are both eye candy who constantly go pit bull against each other for that one girl

Why I don't: Do I have to explain? It's a perfectly logical explanation that can last up to twenty lines.

Scary Movie


What is it? A movie that has a thread of a plot from a horror movie, but most of it is based on pop culture.

Teens enjoy it because: The worst humor there is: slapstick comedy, pop culture references or just to be scared.

Why I enjoyed it: Because it's such a guilty pleasure. Not like those Frieberg-Seltzer movies.

Nightmares of a chronic masterbating ballerina

Black Swan


A- (9.4)


There are two kinds of people in this world who see Black Swan. One of them is the ballerina flick gathering awards buzz for both Darren Arronofsky and Natalie Portman. And then there's that kind who quote:

Oh yeah. That ballerina flick with the lesbian scene with Portman and Mila Kunis. I like that!

That second kind would probably be immature about this flick because this movie had totally rocked my world.

Natalie Portman plays a ballerina named Nina Sayers who is elevating to the top of her professional level as she's about to play the White Swan and the Black Swan for the major play Swan Lake. The White Swan is timid and vulnerable she transform herself into the Black Swan where she's the opposite of the White. However Nina wants to make herself perfect for both roles as she is only pressuring herself to impress the perverted ballet director Tomas (Vincent Cassel) and her stage mother (Barbera Hershey). She is bullied by many of her colleagues of the ballet world because of what she is. Nina then encounters a free spirited newcomer Lily (a really hot Mila Kunis) where she's suspicious of her thinking that's she's aiming for both roles and because of that as she becomes mentally damaged.

Previously, Arronofsky had wanted to make this movie into a companion piece to a mixture of this and The Wrestler where it's a romance between the wrestler and the ballerina. If you have The Wrestler and this movie seperately, Arronofsky might have created a series of dark character studies where you wanted to kill yourself. This may be Arronofsky wanting to do a movie hat is simlar to David Lynch's Mullohand Drive or that movie meets Red Shoes another ballerina film that was generic at its time.

Black Swan is a character study of obviously the ballerina. This is Natalie Portman's most challenging role to date and proves that she's one of the greatest actresses of her generation. Nina Sayers is a conflicted character who's a self-loathing, ballerina damaging herself for her aims to be perfect and to impress people who she feels had let down especially her mother who still treats her like she's 12 year old. She fills herself with riddled jealousy and emotional breakdowns so she can get what she wanted. That is where you should understand her and the troubles she's facing. Portman puts in a powerful performance which lets her character go for a hell of a ride just lke Jodie Foster did with Silence Of The Lambs. She deserved all of the accolades that she had received and it's more likely that she may win her Oscar.

It's great to say that Arronofsky is a great director of actors since his supporting cast is also excellent especially Vincent Cassel and Mila Kunis who play provocative players in the game of ballet. Cassel's character is very hard to like and Kunis plays Lily someone Sayers is envious of but they both make a charismatic impact on Sayers' wellbeing. Barbera Hershey is also very good here playing a stage mother who reminds me of Margeret White the overbearing mother from Carrie. But it's Winona Ryder who has a small role as a retiring dancer that steals her scenes to get Sayers out of her emotional level.

Black Swan is has jump-out-of-your-chair moments where it follows the various elements of psychological horror. That subgenre is the most effective out of horror and that is what Arronofsky has done. But be warned. Black Swan is not for the faint of heart if you can't handle moments of sexual pleasure (there's two masterbating scenes and a scene where Portman and Kunis has a lesbian scene) or shocking moments of Portman's well-being.

The choreography is dazzingly well staged as well as the score by Clint Mansell

Arronofsky has put in ambition, jealousy and some moody craftmanship in this masterpiece. Despite the fact that this is the surrealist study of a dancer's angst, the interesting part about this movie is the number of questions I'd been thinking about for the nature of this film and it seems that Arronofsky is trying to send a hint to the audience. Does he want to explore the world of near failures (such as Mickey Rourke from The Wrestler and here in Black Swan) with sexual fantasies and exploration? Is the portrayal of the ballerina accurate given how it;s the pressure that makes Nina tick? What is the meaning of the lesbian scene? And does Sayers has a personality disorder that slowly destroys her?

The ending of the movie seems way too twisted even if it was small. But to me it seems like this is what Sayers would've wanted. But this film had blown me away and needless to say this is one of the scariest experiences I've ever witnessed. This is intense and unpredictable.

But if you want to dismiss it because you think some scenes are way over-the-top. Think about it. You either think it's a generic psychological thriller or how should I think of it. The nightmares of a chronic masterbating ballerina.

To me, black is beauty.

The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender


D- (1.4)

The Last Airbender should be recalled The Last Thing We Would See From M. Night Shyamalan because this is not only a poorly executed adaptation of a TV Series, but also just messed up with a director who just committed career suicide by ruining a once beloved cartoon. Or there should I say one of the worst movies of theis century. Even Armond White didn't like it from the start.

Honestly of all the cartoons I've seen in my current age along with Arthur and Phineas & Ferb, Avatar: The Last Airbender was a cartoon that I absolutely enjoyed. It was a cartoon that has Asian mythology and martial arts suited with Western audiences. But I only watched the first season in which this movie was based on and The Last Airbender had bit the hand.

To tell you the story, it's about two children Katara and Sokka whose powers could use water as their weapon discovered a 12 year old kid in an iceberg near their place. His name is Aang (by the way why the f**k do they call him Aung) played by Noah Ringer, and he is as the title suggest the last living Airbender who can use air as his powers. The Fire Nation led by Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) who had conquered almost everything in the Spirit World, wants the Airbender who is the Avatar, a sorcerer who can master Earth, Water, Air and Fire. Katara and Sokka helps out Aang's quest to master all of these elements so he can defeat the Fire Nation.

Did M Night Shyamalan got paid $72 million to f**k up everything up? On the screen. You know I can tell you that Shyamalan is a huge fan of the show and he wanted to direct this movie because his daughter was a huge fan of the show as well and was intrigued of how big of a fan she is. However anything that was great about the cartoon from Nickeloneon is left out of the movie and I think that Shyamalan wants to put a huge stamp in this movie. And does he ever. Because of that, not only does it appalled me that they destroyed the whole reputation of the cartoon, but the creators of the show still approve of this. The direction of the movie was truly lazy. I was going to give a pass to Shyamalan cos I haven't seen any of his movies The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable or The Happening which were critically panned.

The acting is just utterly terrible. Noah Ringer who plays Aang is awful as he had shown no emotion to his character. So are the people who played Katara and Sokka. They never show any sort of emotion at all. The worst of them all is Aasif Mandvi who plays Admiral Zhao who just irritates me because he doesn't show any personality of Zhao. The only performance that almost matches its character is Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire who plays Prince Zuko. He portrays the same person Zuko was in the cartoon but he's given no dialogue and I can't even help seeing him glare at the camera. However the only great performance I could hand compliments to was Cliff Curtis as Uncle Iroh (his part would've been played by Ben Kingsley) who has most of the movie's humor but couldn't deliver it well.

The cast would've been better if the script written by Shyamalan was improved but the question is why this kind of cast is put in to this movie when most of the characters that originates from the cartoon are almost Asian (Water Tribe was a mixture of Asian and Inuit, the rest of the elements are all of the Asian race especailly Fire which is specifically Chinese) while the rest of the characters are White or Indian. The Water Tribe are all Whites while the rest of the Fire Nation is Indian. That just offends me.

One of the great things about Avatar: The Last Airbender is the level of comic relief. Aang, Sokka and a dude named Uncle Iroh delivers a sense of charm into the humor of the cartoon. Where as this, that is gone. The reason why Aang sucked is because he's joyless. The reason why Uncle Iroh sucked is because he feels bored. THe reason why Sokka is terrible is because he has no sense of humour.

I believe that this movie went along with the script too much. This is based on the first season of the show and the script felt so rushed that there were many holes based on plot and logic all crammed into 99 minutes of film.

The visuals are not as eye popping as it is. The 3D just reflects how everything sucks and in the first seventy seconds they get to throw everything at you and because of the effects I just felt bored.

And can you believe it. The ending is a set up for episode two. I can't imagine what despicable ways M Night Shylamalan would be putting in that sequel. Shyamalan had counter argued that no one appreciated his style and art he has put into his movie. Well to Mr. Shyamalan. The art that you put in this movie is nowhere between Picasso or Monet. This is might have been below Dali under surrealism. No. It isn't.

It's not that your movies are bad, but if people can watch their movies for the following reasons they wanted to watch it, then they should forget about you for a year or two.

If you want a movie completely opposite of this movie, see Inception. But if you want to watch a movie with amazing flashy special effects with choreography, see Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Because if you people are still liking this movie, I don't know what kind of taste do you have in movies.