Delusions of Grandeur

I really gotta stop this updating once a month thing. Hello all! and Sorry I havent been the best commenter on people's ljs either. I really do read pretty much all the journals on my flist so if I dont comment its not cause I dont care! I just lack time and energy lately for this whole blogging and online friend thing. In fact I think I've been a bad friend in general. It's not uncommon for me to end up in a mood and avoid or ignore people in favor of my work or other distractions like movies, tv, books and video games. I know I suck :(
So I fell into one of my moods as I do, feeling put out and went on a big movie spree recently, in part because I FINALLY put in a netflix subscription, and the other reason was I find them rather energizing for my creativity (when they are good anyway). I really cant wait for my classes to end because I so want to use my freetime to write and also take up painting again. Ever since I took that art appreciation class a year ago, I've been wanting to paint again badly. Anyway today I felt pretty good! So I decided to write up an lj post entirely about movies! Yay!

How to Train Your Dragon: I saw this in the theater last weekend and I LOVED it! The story itself is nothing new or very novel, yet the execution was excellent and I rarely enjoy this kind of story as much as I did when I watched this movie. Certainly I would not call myself a fan of the "Boy and His Dragon" stories simply because they are often very narrow in scope, saccharine, conventional and more often than not, just plain dull. This film however is none of those things (well it's a little conventional but forgivable I'd say). I really found myself incredibly fond of Hiccup, he was a little dorky, a little inept, alot scared but never cowardly or pathetic, and he was also incredibly compassionate I thought. Basically he is a very likable lead character, this and the movie taking at least some effort to incorporate girls into what is essentially a typical "boy hero" story made this film very endearing to me. I really liked Astrid, I liked that she was tough and didnt let Hiccup get away with anything, I liked also that she didnt soften on him until she went on a magic carpet ride an amazing dragon ride with him. Speaking of the dragon riding, it is the flying scenes that really carried the film, they are just so free spirited, beautiful, hopeful and pure. I totally had a big silly grin on my face throughout every flying scene!
My favorite thing however was the very strong and sweet bond between Toothless the dragon and Hiccup, it was just so precious and believable and I found myself really caring caring about them from beginning to end. There is a bit at the end that was a wee bit disturbing to me simply because I was not at all expecting it and was surprised in fact the movie went there. ( Just the barest hint of a spoiler~ )
Basically this is an awesome movie, so if you are fond of animated films and open minded about children's films, then I say go see it!

Princess and The Frog: I have very mixed feelings about this movie, my main concern before watching this was how Disney would handle Tiana (the main character's) race, before I watched this I read enough of other people's reactions to know that the film did rather well in this regard. Indeed when I watched it I felt that this may in fact be Disney's most racially/ethnically sensitive film ever produced (which is not saying very much) however, there are two big issues I had wit this film which greatly diminished my enjoyment of it.
Problem the first, Tiana and her beau Naveen spend 85% of the film as FROGS. I knew she became a frog, I knew she was a frog for most of the film, I had no idea however that she would be a frog for THAT LONG. I really hadnt signed up for that, but considering this is a Disney film I should have at least seen it coming -_-
Problem the second, ( cut for spoilers and ranting/ragey typing ) Anyway, the animation is lovely and I did enjoy the characters and the music but I think this is definitely not gonna go on my list of favorite disney films anytime soon. Such a shame. I hope Disney goes back to the 2-D animation again soon though, watching this (and Book of Kells not long ago) I realize how much I've missed it.

Fantastic Mr Fox: I just saw this last night and it was EXCELLENT. Wes Anderson is always amazing, and this movie is no exception. I also find that I am yet to run into a film that is based on a Roald Dahl book and not enjoy it. (well no wait, I didnt like The Witches at all....) Anyway despite the source material being a children's book (albeit one with a slightly dark sense of humor) it has a very adult sensibility. Kind of like Where the Wild Things Are which, despite being a film about a ten year old boy is probably a film that will resonate far more with adults and teens that it ever would with little kids.
Unlike Wild Things though, i do believe this film will be enjoyable and accessible to youngsters, however I think it is probably even more enjoyable if you are over the age of 13. I loved the usage of the stop motion animation here and I think greatly added to the whimsical atmosphere of the movie, the voice cast is excellent and very well chosen (oh man Michael Gabon as the main villain and George Clooney as the hero could not have been more perfect in their roles) and the characters despite all being forest critters feel very human and real. With the dysfunctions of the Fox family the film somewhat reminded me of the Royal Tenenbaums (a movie I also love <3) but this is much more light hearted than that film was. Basically I cannot recommend this film enough, its quirky, its fun, the characters are very engaging, the animation and colors are beautiful and eye-catching, the voice cast is great and the story itself is both thoughtful and ultimately uplifting. Basically very strong all around. Everyone go see it!
(I also wanna add that the score and music throughout the film is also A+ and I found myself dancing to the song in the closing credits.)

ETA: Yes I have seen A2A season premiere and the new DW episode! and I loved both immensely, perhaps I will blog about them in more detail in my next post (or I'll just wait till this week's eps come out and blog about those)

I saw the new Harry Potter movie today and it was so good that I decided to blog about it!.

You know i've seen the last 5 movie installments in this franchise. and I dont remember hating or even really disliking any of them. The first two potter films were nice but not especially memorable (but i could say the same for the first two potter books though I actuallly liked the 2nd one alot) and the 3rd one was filmed in a very interesting way and is possibly my second fave potter film. the 4th one was alot of fun but was basically shot like a major action film. The 5th one had some beautiful shots but the scenes shifted SO fast and the film just felt like all over the place and i barely remember it. But this one is easily my favorite of the bunch and I think is the first harry potter film to really impress me. This film actually MOVED me, the other ones entertained me but this one made me got me in the heart. I cried and I freaked out and I laughed and I was just utterly completely sucked in.

( Something wicked AWESOME this way comes.... )

So so much awesome. Basically a great film, I recommend it to EVERYONE, whether you read the books or not but especially if you did. It actually managed to renew my love for Harry Potter for a whole 3 hours. I might even actually read the 7th book now cause I never did (but of course I read all the spoilers) and now I really feel like I wanna know how events proceed now rather than wait the 5 years the next two films will take and yes TWO cause someone had the bright idea of splitting the 7th book into two parts.

Been a busy week or so, Here's a recap of what I've been up to for the past few weeks-

Firstly my lj has undergone a MASSIVE make over. I changed the layout and made edits to my interests, my communities, my userpics, my profile and did some locking and unlocking on various journal entries. Even my name changed now. I just got tired of the same old "Taima: crash of thunder" thing.
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I recently got into an indie jrock band called "Baseball Bear" and as it is indie AND Japanese there is of course not much info that can be found about them. at least not in english of course. but all you really need to know, is how awesome their songs are.

Here's my favorite
a live performance of Matsuri no Ato and if you like that one then you can find a bunch other videos for them linked to the same YT page. I'd recommend: dakeshimetai, changes, aishiteru, crazy no kisetsu ga, and manatsu no jouken.
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Next, my love for western television has been rekindled with new force, particularly my love for UK tv dramas. They are short, they are well written and best of all they are chock full of ENGLISH ACCENTS WOO! Seriously, so far I've watched Life on Mars S1, most of S2 and all of Ashes to Ashes S1, the spin off for LOM. I know spin off makes people go EWWW, but it's a really great show and manages to be different enough from LOM. I've also become insanely fond of Philip glenister and John simm cause of these shows. and I spent last night perusing forums for LOM and A2A, and watching a bunch of guest appearances of Glenister on various talk shows. It is SO nice to be able to understand everything that is being said on a talk show for a change. ( More blabbing about UK shows under the cut )
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thanks to A2A and LOM, I've been listening to nothing but 70's and 80's music for the past week. and I have no regrets! *goes back to dancing to the Stranglers*
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As far as American tv goes, I'm really into Leverage (a show on TNT) and The Mentalist (bizarro procedural drama on CBS). I will definitely be making posts for all my current show obsessions, down the road. But I want to actually finish some or most of my assignments before I do. Since knowing me I will ramble on immensely XD especially for Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes.
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I've been hella busy with school work, I'm seriously up to my neck in assignments. My English essay, art museum assignment, art project and presentation is on Monday (which I told the teacher I wouldnt be able to make it because I'd be in Virginia. Except. I'm not. XD). Anyway, this is partially why I've been avoiding LJ and MSN lately. The other reason would be all the shows I've been watching in between working. But pffft who needs human interaction when you have TV!
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Thanks to all the shows I've been watching lately I have a affinity for the crime genre lately. If this keeps up I'll be watching The Departed and Resevoir dogs soon. or rewatching Pulp Fiction cause I've been wanting to rewatch for the longest time now. Sam "the man" Jacksooooon!
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Well that's all.

So friends and fangirls, the summer season is upon us! and So with that here's what I will be considering for the summer season and also how I'm faring with the dramas from last spring so far.

So for spring, I dropped Hokaben and completed Zettai Kareshi and Last friends so far.

Last friends: I think the less I say the better. I dont want this to become a big angry ranting post. I think most of us who stuck with the drama till the end felt some level of disappointment and I know a few people who felt betrayed even by the ending. For me it was really like a slap in the face. and that's all say about LF now or ever again. I will say though Juri and Eita were amazing in this from start to finish and it was almost worth suffering through this drama to see them in it. Almost.

Zettai Kareshi: It started out with so much promise. It had a really strong start and I was so sure it would be enjoyable from beginning to end and wrap up itself nicely. Later in the season it started losing it's spark and I was beginning to worry for how it would end...and sure enough the ending was immensely disappointing. It did follow the drama's ending to an extent. but honestly I just found the whole thing a big waste in the end. I do know people who were moved by the end and didnt see it as bad so much as a bit shocking. I just saw it as a letdown and fairly predictable since as Maya Miki's chara said, you cant have a relationship with a ROBOT. I also still feel sad that nerdy scientist and hot bartending lady didnt hook up ;_;

So far I'm still watching Osen and Rookies. I just recently dled eps 6-7 for Rookies and 5-6 for Osen.

Osen: So far I am very much enjoying Osen and I dont really have many complaints about it at all. I just really love the character interactions and everyone is defined and distinct despite being support charas in uniform who could easily blend into the background and become nobodies but I distinctly remember every character and even the parts of their personality. I really love that one waitress who looks gaijin. she's kind of hotheaded which i find really cute. I hope she hooks with osamu's character before the end. Uchi is seriously A+++ in this drama. I dont care what anyone says IMO he's a way better actor than ryo was, is or ever will be. I love how Uchi's character becomes like a friend for Sen, it's clear that everyone kind of idol worhips her in a way except for Uchi's chara who sees her as a normal girl. It's very cute.

As for Rookies I'm having fun watching it. It's a very melodramatic drama but I appreciate it's heart. and also it's many scenes of Ichihara Hayato looking DEAD SEXY. I also find it hilarious that big bad Shinjo (shirota yuu's character) cries as often and randomly as a hormonal pregnant woman.

( As for summer dramas... )

Before I wrap up this post I would like take a moment to flail about my most recent Jdrama obsession. TIGER AND DRAGON!!!!! My god words cannot describe how much i adore this drama and I've decided rather than making this post any more obscenely long I'd rather just give it it's own post. BECAUSE YES IT IS THAT AWESOME. It also will give me a chance to flail about the newfound fascination i have with rakugo thanks to this show. as if I need more obscure geeky obsessions -_-*
Speaking of newfound obsessions. whoever told me capsule was a fucking awesome band deserves a pat on the back now because THEY ARE AN FUCKING AWESOME BAND er duo I dunno wtf they are but it's awesome. I love bizzaro retro/mod thing they have going. the songs delightfully surreal too. I'll be making another post for that as well. SO MANY GREAT SONGS EEE <3