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Dec. 16th, 2010 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arishaI haven't properly updated my list of movies watched/books read since August, so here you are, a bunch of very short reviews just so I can catch up!
Movies:
The Ring, 2002
Interesting enough but I much prefer the original. I definitely prefer a creepy atmosphere to watching people electrocute themselves. Most American horror movies just make me feel sick. D:
Death Note, 2006
I'd seen the live action movies and didn't feel a need to watch the anime, but then I discovered my local library has it so I borrowed it. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, but when the plot started getting bigger than Light vs. L I lost a lot of my interest in it. Also, Misa could've been so much cooler omg. But overall I liked it.
Battle Royale, 2000
Isn't this movie supposed to be some sort of fantastic cult classic? I kind of didn't like it at all. And not even because of the violence, but because the backstory didn't make sense and the story was all over the place and the ending was pastede on. Seriously the most interesting scene was the one at the very beginning where you see the winner of the previous battle.
The Thin Man Goes Home, 1945
My favourite of the series since After the Thin Man, although I don't remember why.
Despicable Me, 2010
My co-workers built this up for me way, way too much. I'm just indifferent to this movie. :|
Bye Bye Birdie, 1963
omg I enjoyed this movie way too much.
My Favorite Wife, 1940
My least favourite Cary Grant movie so far. It just should've been so much more interesting than it was, but instead of actually making use of its interesting backstory the story just devolved into stupid bickering and I almost didn't even bother finishing it.
T-Shirt Travels, 2001
A really interesting documentary that starts with the question of why so many people in Zambia can be seen wearing used American t-shirts and goes on to discuss the country's history and why it has been unable to break out of poverty. You can watch it on YouTube!
Tiger Spirit: A Reunification Road Trip Through the Two Koreas, 2008
An interesting look at the relationship between North and South Korea, but there was really not as much to this documentary as I thought there would be.
Marie Antoinette, 1938
lol I am so not a history major; my favourite parts of this movie were the ~romantic subplot~ parts. Also, Norma Shearer's overacting kind of gave away that she had previously worked in silents, haha. I am being mean but actually I thought this movie was pretty good.
Oh! My Girl!!, 2008
A Japanese drama about a child actress who ends up living with her uncle and her manager when her mother abandons her. Pretty good and pretty cute although I have no desire to watch it again.
Inherit the Wind, 1960
A movie that fictionalizes the Scopes Monkey Trial. I confess I don't know a lot about the trial, but I really enjoyed the movie. Also Gene Kelly is in it and he needs to be my boyfriend like yesterday.
Puzzle, 2008
Another Japanese drama, this one about an English teacher who can't actually speak English and the students with whom she spends her weekends solving mysteries. This show is formulaic and kind of ridiculous but I loved it anyway. It had a lot of funny moments and the clues often had something to do with language, which are two things I am down with. x)
Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo, 2010
I love this show and I will cry if it doesn't get a second season. It follows a group of foreigners who are living in Japan and the woman who is trying to teach them Japanese. The foreigner characters are pretty stereotyped but the show is funny and each episode comes complete with one or two Japanese lessons and the last episode made me cry. Also I got a huge confidence boost because I could understand this show without subtitles! So yeah, second season now please~~~~!
The Crazies, 2010
Yeah, I don't get American horror movies. :/ This was two hours of people I didn't care about having to suffer through horrible situations. No thanks.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One and Tangled, 2010
lol you already know that I am in love with both of these movies. xD I saw Tangled for the second time today and it was just as good as the first time! <3
The Big Bang Theory (Season 1), 2007
I started watching my mom's DVDs of this show kind of on a whim. Sheldon is my favourite. xD
Tron, 1982
I'm seeing the sequel on opening day so I figured I should finally watch the original! It was not half as bad as I had been led to believe, and in fact it was quite different than Kingdom Hearts II had led me to believe. Both of my favourite characters died though. :( But one of them was a bad guy so I guess that was to be expected! haha.
Also, after watching this movie, the trailer for the new one made SO MUCH MORE SENSE! xD I am excited to see Patroclus in a Disney movie el oh el oh el.
Books:
Lost Japan, Alex Kerr
My main impression reading this book was that if Mr. Kerr and I knew each other in real life, we would hate each other. THAT IS UNTIL I GOT TO THIS PART WHICH WAS SO GREAT I HAD TO TYPE IT UP:
When I first heard about Huis ten Bosch I was baffled. What interest could a reconstruction of a Dutch town possibly have, when in Kyoto and Nara, Japan had its own traditional cities? I went to visit Huis ten Bosch on behalf of a Japanese magazine, intending to write an exposé of this cultural travesty. But what I found there took me completely aback. It is perhaps the single most beautiful place I have seen in Japan in years. ... To my great embarrassment as a lover of Japanese art, I could hardly bear to leave the place.
MAN I KNOW RIGHT
I have yet to visit Huis ten Bosch (I had planned to but in the end didn't make it there), but I'm happy to know I'm not the only one who tends to think that theme parks pwn real life. ^^;
I also enjoyed the part of the book where he compared the sort of people who study Chinese with the sort of people who study Japanese, all "people who study Japan usually prefer stability" or whatever. haha, yep, that's me~~
Goddess of Yesterday, Troy High, Ilium
My reviews of these books can be found on my super secret and spectacularly nerdy new Trojan War blog! >xD I have also finished reading Olympos, Ilium's sequel, but I have yet to write the review for it because I am trying to figure out how to intelligently describe how disappointed I was by it. :/ (And not just because Patroclus didn't end up swimming back across the Atlantic, either!!)
Movies:
The Ring, 2002
Interesting enough but I much prefer the original. I definitely prefer a creepy atmosphere to watching people electrocute themselves. Most American horror movies just make me feel sick. D:
Death Note, 2006
I'd seen the live action movies and didn't feel a need to watch the anime, but then I discovered my local library has it so I borrowed it. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, but when the plot started getting bigger than Light vs. L I lost a lot of my interest in it. Also, Misa could've been so much cooler omg. But overall I liked it.
Battle Royale, 2000
Isn't this movie supposed to be some sort of fantastic cult classic? I kind of didn't like it at all. And not even because of the violence, but because the backstory didn't make sense and the story was all over the place and the ending was pastede on. Seriously the most interesting scene was the one at the very beginning where you see the winner of the previous battle.
The Thin Man Goes Home, 1945
My favourite of the series since After the Thin Man, although I don't remember why.
Despicable Me, 2010
My co-workers built this up for me way, way too much. I'm just indifferent to this movie. :|
Bye Bye Birdie, 1963
omg I enjoyed this movie way too much.
My Favorite Wife, 1940
My least favourite Cary Grant movie so far. It just should've been so much more interesting than it was, but instead of actually making use of its interesting backstory the story just devolved into stupid bickering and I almost didn't even bother finishing it.
T-Shirt Travels, 2001
A really interesting documentary that starts with the question of why so many people in Zambia can be seen wearing used American t-shirts and goes on to discuss the country's history and why it has been unable to break out of poverty. You can watch it on YouTube!
Tiger Spirit: A Reunification Road Trip Through the Two Koreas, 2008
An interesting look at the relationship between North and South Korea, but there was really not as much to this documentary as I thought there would be.
Marie Antoinette, 1938
lol I am so not a history major; my favourite parts of this movie were the ~romantic subplot~ parts. Also, Norma Shearer's overacting kind of gave away that she had previously worked in silents, haha. I am being mean but actually I thought this movie was pretty good.
Oh! My Girl!!, 2008
A Japanese drama about a child actress who ends up living with her uncle and her manager when her mother abandons her. Pretty good and pretty cute although I have no desire to watch it again.
Inherit the Wind, 1960
A movie that fictionalizes the Scopes Monkey Trial. I confess I don't know a lot about the trial, but I really enjoyed the movie. Also Gene Kelly is in it and he needs to be my boyfriend like yesterday.
Puzzle, 2008
Another Japanese drama, this one about an English teacher who can't actually speak English and the students with whom she spends her weekends solving mysteries. This show is formulaic and kind of ridiculous but I loved it anyway. It had a lot of funny moments and the clues often had something to do with language, which are two things I am down with. x)
Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo, 2010
I love this show and I will cry if it doesn't get a second season. It follows a group of foreigners who are living in Japan and the woman who is trying to teach them Japanese. The foreigner characters are pretty stereotyped but the show is funny and each episode comes complete with one or two Japanese lessons and the last episode made me cry. Also I got a huge confidence boost because I could understand this show without subtitles! So yeah, second season now please~~~~!
The Crazies, 2010
Yeah, I don't get American horror movies. :/ This was two hours of people I didn't care about having to suffer through horrible situations. No thanks.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One and Tangled, 2010
lol you already know that I am in love with both of these movies. xD I saw Tangled for the second time today and it was just as good as the first time! <3
The Big Bang Theory (Season 1), 2007
I started watching my mom's DVDs of this show kind of on a whim. Sheldon is my favourite. xD
Tron, 1982
I'm seeing the sequel on opening day so I figured I should finally watch the original! It was not half as bad as I had been led to believe, and in fact it was quite different than Kingdom Hearts II had led me to believe. Both of my favourite characters died though. :( But one of them was a bad guy so I guess that was to be expected! haha.
Also, after watching this movie, the trailer for the new one made SO MUCH MORE SENSE! xD I am excited to see Patroclus in a Disney movie el oh el oh el.
Books:
Lost Japan, Alex Kerr
My main impression reading this book was that if Mr. Kerr and I knew each other in real life, we would hate each other. THAT IS UNTIL I GOT TO THIS PART WHICH WAS SO GREAT I HAD TO TYPE IT UP:
When I first heard about Huis ten Bosch I was baffled. What interest could a reconstruction of a Dutch town possibly have, when in Kyoto and Nara, Japan had its own traditional cities? I went to visit Huis ten Bosch on behalf of a Japanese magazine, intending to write an exposé of this cultural travesty. But what I found there took me completely aback. It is perhaps the single most beautiful place I have seen in Japan in years. ... To my great embarrassment as a lover of Japanese art, I could hardly bear to leave the place.
MAN I KNOW RIGHT
I have yet to visit Huis ten Bosch (I had planned to but in the end didn't make it there), but I'm happy to know I'm not the only one who tends to think that theme parks pwn real life. ^^;
I also enjoyed the part of the book where he compared the sort of people who study Chinese with the sort of people who study Japanese, all "people who study Japan usually prefer stability" or whatever. haha, yep, that's me~~
Goddess of Yesterday, Troy High, Ilium
My reviews of these books can be found on my super secret and spectacularly nerdy new Trojan War blog! >xD I have also finished reading Olympos, Ilium's sequel, but I have yet to write the review for it because I am trying to figure out how to intelligently describe how disappointed I was by it. :/ (And not just because Patroclus didn't end up swimming back across the Atlantic, either!!)
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-12-17 08:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-12-17 07:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-12-17 11:45 pm (UTC)And The Big Bang Theory has become my new favourite TV show. All the characters are graet but yea Sheldon's character has got to be the funniest. Cannot forget the ball pit scene XD
Oh, T-Shirt Travels, 2001 sounds interesting, thanks for the link.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-12-19 06:52 am (UTC)