Tag Archives: Movies

Bollywood, Free time, Hobbies, Movies

A much needed Bollywood dose

Posted on by cre-cre

Watching a Bollywood movie takes time. Most of them are at least 2 hours long. Imagine watching 3 Bollywood movies, after being on the night shift.

Yep, that’s what I did. 

I just didn’t want to waste my day sleeping. Weekends are short enough as they are.

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The movie selection process was done completely random. Usually, I would look up one of my favorite actors and see what new releases they might have. This time, I just went with whatever I found available. 

I was not disappointed.

My first choice was “Kidnap” with Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan and Minissha Lamba. 

Sure enough, it had drama, action, eye candy (for both sexes) and the most important thing, a happy ending for everyone involved. Yep, a true Bollywood movie. Even the bad guy, Kabir Sharma played by Imran Khan) was off the hook for kidnapping Sonia (played by Minissha Lamba). 

The second choice was “I hate luv storys“. 

I think I picked this one because I liked Imran Khan in Kidnap. But, I also liked Sonam Kapoor in Saawariya. With this one the selection process was not so random. I must admit, I was just curious and I like pretty faces.

Usually, when looking for Bollywood romance I always go for old movies. All of them will be compared against “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (my all time favorite). With “I hate luv storys” I had moments where I skipped forward. This usually happens when I just don’t have the patience for certain scenes. 

It was cute, but not cute enough. 

The last one I enjoyed! I really did. I stumbled on it, and I am glad I did. It was “Chalo Dilli“. 

It was cute and funny. It was relaxing and it had a train ride! It deserves more than what it has on IMDb. This lil gem actually made my day much better. I considered my time (almost 8 hours, with breaks included) well spent. 

What struck me, is that all of these movies are old. 

Chalo Dilli was the most recent one. It came out in 2011.

I really need to get my sh*t together. My life is revolved too much around work. It should be the other way around. I should work so I can live, not live to work. That and I really need a new job, something that has nothing to do with Customer Service, Sales or anything related (if possible).

Books, Free time

A Dog’s Purpose

Posted on by cre-cre

I can’t believe I’m setting up reminders for movies that will be released in 2017. Yet, this is what I am doing. “A Dog’s Purpose” is the first one on the list.

Yes, we love dogs a lot. We even went out with other friends dog owners to see “The Secret Life of Pets” when it came out.

I don’t mind that the movies comes out in January. In fact, it gives me plenty of time to read the novels before we see the movie. “A Dog’s Purpose” is based on the novel with the same name, written by W. Bruce Cameron. There is also a sequel named “A Dog’s Journey” written by the same author.

A Dog's Purposea dog's journey

I realized I love books that have pets in them. I loved “Chez Stinky” by Susan C. Daffron and I am looking for her other books from the An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy series. They are a bit hard to find, I must admit that. Buying them from abroad is not an option. So, most likely I will go for the electronic format or audio book version.

These are feel good stories, and maybe that’s why I get excited when something like this gets released.

I actually realized that most of the movies that do come out now are based on novels or comic books. In a way that is a good thing, but from experience that is not always the case. The movies turn out to be a real disaster and leave a bitter taste.

Then there are those few that break the rule, for example those movies that are as good or even better than the books (like it happened with “Stardust” or “The Princess Bride”).

The trailer for “A Dog’s Purpose” looks really nice, so I’m hoping the movie will be as lovely as possible. *fingers crossed*

Books, Free time, Hollywood, Movies

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Posted on by cre-cre

Alas, our 3 year old tradition is over. We’ve just been to the cinema and saw the last part of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

The Hobbit The Battle of the Five Armies

I believe it was my first time crying in the cinema. I was really heartbroken because I finished the book long ago and the movies were all that I had left.

It was splendid. Everything about the movie was beautiful and it just rocked my socks. I actually wished for the story to not end. I even wished for the movie to alter the ending of the book, so 3 of the main characters (and my favorite ones) would not die. But they did keep the ending.

I guess, I can’t complain. I still have The Lord of the Rings books to read (and the movies to watch). Yet somehow I doubt I will find another Fili and Kili in literature.

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Yes, I have a crush on two fictional characters. I guess that happens a lot these days. I am also sure I am not the only one, since there is a huge fanbase out there as heartbroken as myself.

The Battle of the Five Armies Fili and Kili

All we can do now, is find new movies that will keep us glued to the screen. 2015 is looking pretty promising in terms of movies. That means we will have plenty of opportunities to go out and enjoy ourselves. And 2015 is not that far away; 2 more days left.

I am anxious on how things will turn out in the new year *fingers crossed*. We shall see…

Free time, Hobbies, Hollywood, Japanese, Movies

47 Ronin

Posted on by cre-cre

I missed Keanu Reeves! This was a movie that I was waiting for since the moment they announced its release.

When you watch the trailer and see the posters everywhere and they look so awesome, it gets you so hipped up it’s insane. Heck, it was a full house. Seriously, the cinema was full! There was no place left empty and we were lucky we had reservations made from the day before.

It looks awesome right?!?

47 Ronin

Well, the posters LIE!!! The guy with the tattoos had 2-3 lines and only a 3 min screen time, yet he is on every freaking poster and has no importance whatsoever to the plot. He’s just there because his appearance is eye catching. The Demon also has a few scenes, but again he’s not important to the plot. In fact, they should’ve put Hiroyuki Sanada (who plays Oishi), Tadanobu Asano (who plays Lord Kira) or Ko Shibasaki (who plays Mika) on the posters. They had a bigger part in the story and it would’ve been fair to us, the watchers.

It wasn’t fair, because I was expecting this amazing movie with awesome action scenes. It never happened. It was so straight forward it was sad. They could’ve done so much with the story. I was actually thinking they had two good options: either go for the traditional Japanese way of storytelling (for example the amazing “Seven Samurai” by Akira Kurosawa)  or they could’ve went full Hollywood and just add crazy action and amazing visuals. 

It wasn’t horrible, but it was not what they marketed. I do like watching trailers, but I feel this was the biggest deceit ever.

 

Oh well, I shall live…

Free time, Hobbies, Hollywood, Instagram, Movies, Tumblr

Fangirl mode on!

Posted on by cre-cre

I have so many things to be happy about, yet just one thing gone wrong and my entire good mood went away. So, at the moment I’m trying to get back to my happy place.

I mean, I should be happy. I’ve seen a movie that I wanted to see since last year (when we saw the first part), I have a new game to play, new clothes, I’m free for Christmas and right now I am enjoying my weekend (which is in the middle of the week).

Saturday & Sunday were awesome on so many levels for me.

On Saturday, after work we went out. We had dinner at a chinese place and went to see “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug“. I never knew I had a fangirl inside of me that just needed activation.

Hobbit Poster

First of all, the amount of screen time Kili received in the second part was incredible. They probably realized the power Aidan Turner has on the female population and took full advantage of it. I mean, I have his face on my phone screen. I’m not like this, I swear! But my good he has such a nice eye smile.

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*Instant death*

But back to the movie itself..

I was surprised to see that in the cinema there were parents with kids, old people, couples, friends. I mean this movie was for everyone. It was fun, it had a little bit of romance thrown in, a lot of action (the barrel scene was funny, Legolas being a ballerina and all that), drama and of course the ending that probably killed everyone since it will take another year for the third part to come out.

Still, at the end I heard some people saying they didn’t enjoy it. I was shocked, but then again I recognize the type. The ones that are never satisfied by anything, and always find something to complain about, so they don’t actually count.

Moving on, on Sunday we had a mini team building. It was fun to hang out with people from work. We had dinner, went to laser tag and even karting. There was no difference between us and the little kids that were running around in the arcade. Sometimes, I thought we were worse. Of course there were minor incidents, hitting each other, crashing the karts, little things like that.

We were supposed to also go to a movie, but it was getting late and some of us had work the next day and we just separated around midnight. That was the sad part, but we’ll have other team buildings not to worry.

Oh, and Christmas came early this year for me and Johnny. New clothes, including underwear and socks (it wouldn’t be Christmas without them), a new watch for Johnny, a PS3 for the both of us, and lots of games. My favorite is Kingdom Hearts.

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I used to play this game when I was in high school, but along the way I got addicted to it and they took it away from me. I can totally understand them, but now they have no power over me. I shall play till my heart is content, or till I get annoyed with a certain level that I can’t pass.

Overall, things are great. The fact that I won’t have a full vacation and won’t be able to celebrate the holidays properly shouldn’t count that much. I should try to get the best out of it.

Free time, Movies, Tumblr

Boy Meets World

Posted on by cre-cre

I missed watching a good TV show. I really did! With all the crap that is on TV right now, no wonder we only keep the cable for the Discovery and cartoon channels.

I am very grateful for people bringing up old TV shows to the attention of the world, because this is how I found “Boy Meets World”.

Boy Meets World is a TV show that started in 1993 and ended in 2000. It was never aired on the Romanian cable (which is a pity). I started watching the series about 2-3 months ago (I will be forever grateful to the Internet). It has 7 seasons per total and I am currently at the 5th season. I don’t want it to end.

It’s about a weird kid going through school and life, with funny situations and with awesome life lessons. This one is just a small example of what people today are missing.

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Why can’t they make shows like this one anymore? Seriously, what happened to television. Especially sitcoms like this one. Why did they stop making them?

Besides enjoying this series, I also feel in love with the actors. Never heard of them before, but now I can recognize them without any problems.  They are serious actors and such awesome role models, both in character (in Boy Meets World) and in real life. My favorite by far is Topanga Lawrence played by Danielle Fishel. She’s everything that today’s society tell us not to be, and yet she still is a beautiful woman.

boy-meets-world-cast

I also loved the fashion of that time, with large sweaters, lots of layers and just the lack of technology, especially of cellphones. Whenever I watch a new episode I get a trip down the memory lane, back to my very fun and weird teenage years.

I now understand why people get depressed when an awesome show ends. I still have 2 more seasons, what will I do after that? I need to find more awesome shows like this one.

News

Agneepath (2012)

Posted on by cre-cre

It’s that time of the month when my system just craves for a Bollywood movie.

The lucky winner this time was Agneepath (2012).

Agneepath Movie Poster

The movie is a remake. The original Agneepath was made in 1990, the main role being played by Amitabh Bachchan. Apparently the original was a big success and the producers of the remake were under pressure to make a good movie. So, the main characters in Agneepath (2012) are played by Hrithik Roshan (as Vijay Dinanath Chauhan), Priyanka Chopra (as Kaali), Sanjay Dutt (as Kancha Cheena) and Rishi Kapoor (as Rauf Lala). 

They picked as main actors the most handsome actor in Bollywood, a former Miss World, the guy in Bollywood that is known for his bad guy roles and someone who’s been in the industry so long that everybody knows him. It was kinda hard to go wrong with this casting.

The movie lasts 3 hours, has 3-4 songs in it, not that much action (compared with other Bollywood movies), but it has a good story line.

The movie takes it time telling the story of Vijay, a small kid on the island of Mandwa, who witnesses the lynching of his father. Vijay’s father was a good man, a teacher in Mandwa. His only fault was he was too good. Because of this Kancha frames him for raping a little girl and from there the lynching. Vijay knows his father is innocent and swears revenge. But what can a little kid do? So, Vijay and his mother move to Mumbai where they end up in brothel with Kaali and her mother.

Agneepath movie still

From there Vijay becomes the right hand of Rauf Lala, a gangster who deals with cocaine and human trafficking. Rauf Lala is an enemy of Kancha and Vijay sees an opportunity to get the power he needs to take down Kancha. But Vijay isn’t such a bad guy, even if he kills people and all that. He gives away all the money that he makes, he keeps everyone he cares for safe and in the end he makes up his mind to take down Rauf Lala and Kancha.

In the process, Kaali is killed right on their wedding day, his mother and little sister are kidnapped by Kancha and right at the end Vijay dies, but not before taking down two of the most powerful drug cartels in Mumbai. Its a bitter sweet ending for the main characters because none of them get what they dreamed of and all end up dead.

I can’t complain about the movie, it was good. But it was not my piece of cake since I enjoy mostly romantic Bollywood movies. Nothing beats a good Bollywood romance.

News

Barfi! (2012)

Posted on by cre-cre

Barfi! is the best Bollywood movie I’ve seen so far and one of the best movies out there.

It’s simple, beautiful, funny, and just uplifting.

Barfi

I saw a lot of good reviews on the Internet and I was amazed when IMDb showed 8.2 as it rating. That’s something to brag about, especially in Bollywood where most movies average a rating of 6.

And I was not disappointed. The long wait really paid off.

There are no villains and no heroes, no long songs with many people dancing around the main characters, nothing of the regular flashy Bollywood movies. Instead there are 3 good actors, a beautiful story, beautiful scenery and lovely songs that complete the movie.

The 3 good actors that I mentioned are Ranbir Kapoor as Barfi, Priyanka Chopra as Jhilmil Chatterjee and Ileana D’Cruz as Shruti.

The plot is simple, Barfi (birth name Murphy) is on his death bed. Feeling that the end is near, he tries to take a good photo of himself to send to his good friend Shruti (which always complained she doesn’t have a good photo of him). And from there, a flashback in their youth where they met.

Barfi and Shruti

Barfi, a deaf and mute boy, lives his life with his father in a small town. He is not a character that would make you feel any pity. In fact, he seems more alive than the people with no disabilities. He always causes mischief, always has fun, yet people love him because he brings a smile on their faces.

Then comes Shruti who moves with her parents in the small town. She is set to marry a very handsome and rich man and live a comfortable life. That until she meets Barfi.

Barfi and Shruti kiss scene

He tries to court her and they even share a kiss but Shruti, convinced by her mother that their relationship will not last long and she won’t have an easy life, stays with her fiancee which she eventually marries.

Barfi, heartbroken, tries to cope with the loss of his first love. On top of this, his father gets sick and they don’t have the money for the operation. So, Barfi tries to get money from friends but is unable to get the full amount he needs. He then plots to kidnap Jhilmil.

Jhilmil is a girl that has autism. She and Barfi are good friends, and Barfi doesn’t intend to harm her, he just thinks of it as an innocent way to get money for his father. The only thing is that Jhilmil is already kidnapped. By chance, Barfi manages to recover Jhilmil and get the money for his father, but its a bit to late since his father passes away in hospital.

And he also ends up with Jhilmil who doesn’t want to go back home to her parents (which were never that nice to her).

Barfi and Jhilmil scene

They spend almost half an year together and they fall in love. From there, Barfi is set to meet again Shruti and their lives go on a downhill. Jhilmil goes missing for the third time. Barfi is devastated because everyone believes she’s dead. Shruti leaves her husband and tries to replace Jhilmil but cannot take her place in Barfi’s heart.

Eventually, it all turns out well in the end.

Jhilmil (who was being hidden by her family all this time) and Barfi get their love story, Shruti learns the importance of being honest and making the right decisions even if that means to be left alone. And we go back to the old Barfi on his death bed surrounded by his friends and family.

This was a heartwarming story and it was a nice way to start the Spring.