EXixtenZ

There was something about this movie. It was so futuristic, but the jokes were very funny exaggerations of our generation. Like watching television, but having obnoxious ads framing the screen would be overwhelming. It is just the thought that is amusing, if this actually happened I don't think things would go that well and we would probably end up causing our own or the worlds death. I feel like the story was similar to avatar, but kind of a lot cooler, I think, anyways. And I honestly didn't really see where the movie was going at first, because at first people were suddenly going after this guy and then all of a sudden you're playing the game..., but the game part was really cool.
It really kind of weirded me out when they would treat the game pod's like babies, basically. Just the personification of technology is almost going a little too far for me =P. I would definitely recommend this to other people though. I mean, as soon as I got home, I was raving to my boyfriend that we have to watch it! Unfortunately, Netflix doesn't have it...

Snow Crash

..The concept of this book was nuts! I mean, I feel like that about the majority of what we read, but honestly, what is going through your brain when you're creating these things! I feel like this is pretty relevant to our generation, as well as adding a lot of sci-fi, it definitely drew me in as a reader. Snow Crash, made me feel like some intense accident involved a snow storm possibly? But the fact that Snow Crash is like a virus/drug that is capable of infecting the brains of careless hackers and a mind-altering virus in reality. The idea of this is scary, because there's a slight reality to it.. But after watching eXistenz, it made me feel that same overwhelming / impending doom feeling, where ads are flying everywhere and you're so connected that privacy is a foreign concept. I also, not enjoyed the actuality, but thought it was interesting visualizing this horror stricken place, but it's L.A... kind of like Grand Theft Auto..

Warbreaker

First and foremost, because I had never read this before, I didn't imagine this story to essentially be about princess, but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed reading this, because I do not read books like this usually. I mean, I read Harry Potter and fell in love with it, but that even took my Grandma some time to get me to read it, but the magical element of the novel helped engage me more.. One of the things that stood out to me were the cultural differences and misunderstandings and unfortunately, it reminded me of my family from England, in a sense. I say this because, these when cultural misunderstandings are present, it usually forms a bias, which I personally think is wrong. A while ago, my grandmothers (Nanny) sister came to visit and they are originally from England, but Barbara currently is living in South Africa. I had never been in a situation where someone was so racially blunt in public and she made it so casual too. After she said "the blacks" and just the degrading way she spoke of them, made me realize how war can really effect someones views on something. I also really appreciated Brandon's choice to choose the other route, where one of the princesses, in fact the incorrect one, was forced to marry this man she does not want to, as apposed to the common cheesy ending. Overall, it was a nice change of pace from what I am usually exposed to.

Anansi Boys

Anansi Boys was a really good book, in my opinion. So many questions get brought up when a character is introduced to the plot, especially when it is so sudden, and then it turns out to be the main character's long lost sibling! I actually watched that happen in a show I am currently watching on Netflix. This show is about two brothers who fight the supernatural together and all of a sudden, like plenty of seasons later, their long lost brother shows up, which created this very very strange dynamic. It brings up the same issue that The Lost Boys had to face, where someone that you're related to turns into a vampire/werewolf or basically anything other than a zombie, and you have to choose whether to treat them as your loved one or as a monster. I think, as a viewer, I enjoyed this for a few reasons. I obviously like the intense drama behind it all, because I am a girl, and it's just so juicy, but I can't help but think what would I do if I were in that situation. How would I react if my 26 year old sister turned into a vampire? Would I trust her? Would I try to help her? It would be a very difficult personal decision.
Another thing that I thought was clever was the title of the book and the link to the characters with the word Anansi. Of course, I decided to look up what it meant, because I felt that it would help to have further knowledge before going ahead. The definition I got was:

n. A trickster spider (though sometimes taking human form), one of the primary characters in West African and Caribbean folklore.

After discovering this, I thought it was an interesting way to describe ones personality. It makes sense though, I mean we say "Sneaky, like a snake" and things like that, so a trickster spider would definitely fit the category here.

Night of The Living Dead

The Night of The Living Dead seems to have been the oldest Zombie film I have ever watched. These versions of Zombies are so far from what they are today, it's not even funny, but of course they had to start from somewhere. The movie sometimes I feel depends solely on the intense background music, but it completely conveys the mood that it's supposed to. In my Digital 2 class, we had to make a movie trailer into a shorter version and the intense audio reminded me the old-school horror stereotypical sound effects. I feel like they are sort of lame, and I am not sure if it is because I have grown up enjoying much different zombies, but they were funny in the "dumb" sense, but just not scary at all. With everything considered this movie was well done and I personally thought it was aesthetically pleasing, even if the acting was painful to watch every once in a while. I did feel strange going back to this movie, after we have advanced so far as to having regular tv shows revolving around zombies..
I honestly think I did a little bit more laughing than being scared but it was more in just how simple and "innocent" the zombies were, it was almost in a sense cute as a comparison of the times. Sami Raimi was a smart man to film this in black and white, because it makes it that much more dramatic. Yes, I will give it to the actors, because they definitely exaggerate the correct amount, without making it awkward, yet there does seem to be a sense of cliche horror movie too. One thing about the movie that did take me for a turn was the ending. I mean, I am someone who is sheltered when it comes to seeing movies, I haven't even been keeping up with movies nowadays as well as I used to, this movie really kind of stumps you at the end. This became a commonality among horror movies, having a main character or even a character that you get to know over the course of the film and then right at the end, they die. I am one to get seriously emotionally invested into just about everything, so I get taken for a bit of a turn when the character I just learned to love gets shot in the face ... overall though, quite a good zombie for the time it was created in.

Labyrinth

The Labyrinth is such a trip of a movie. Primarily, David Bowie cracked me up. He was just so "evil", but then he would randomly burst out in song. The style of the movie was very enjoyable, in the way it was shot that is. The main girl, Sarah, was a little too 'damsel in distress' for me. She is tended to be a little over exaggerated in her voice sometimes, or in her mannerisms. I understand though that this is an older movie and that in the 80s, these were popular elements in movies like this. This was basically a big pleasure to watch due to the nostalgia of the time, or sense of time for my personal matter. Of course, I wasn't around for the 80s, let alone just made the 90s, so this movie at least fit the idea I have concluded in my head of what the 80s was from the influences then and that are back in style now. For example, David Bowies hair is OUT of this world... I mean, I actually asked my boyfriend, is that his REAL hair or is it a wig? and he replied saying it was in fact his actual hair. I don't really think this would fly nowadays, unless you are of grand importance and can get away with it! Back to the girl though... I felt very annoyed when she became quickly pouty about babysitting and then once her brother goes missing it she takes it completely back. Perhaps, it was because this is a cliche thing to happen and I was expecting it, but it just shows her immaturity at the beginning of her journey. Which allows her to grow during her journey and grow into maturity. For a children's movie, I am very glad this was my first time seeing it, just because it was very intense and there were moments where I actually got that nervous feeling. I can only imagine what little kids felt like after watching this movie, but it was probably some sort of horrified! Because I waited so long to see it, it definitely brought back The Muppets memories and whatnot, so being able to revisit that was also exciting. Although the little goblins are scary, they have a hint of cuteness to how they were designed, whether it is just their size or their rare kindness that shines through. Overall though I really enjoyed this movie, it's definitely out there!

Being John Malkovich

The movie Being John Malkovich was an extremely good one, aside from the the fact that it just quite nonsensical.. The concept of selling tickets to people to enter a portal into their mind, especially a famous one, people would go bananas! I was particularly fascinated when Malkovich went into his own portal, but to be honest, it didn't seem fun at all. It seemed like a horrible acid trip, even though for movie purposes, it had a comical sense. I really liked the actors, seeing Cameron Diaz so young and before all of the big fame happened was awesome. She's a great actress, and so are the others, including the chimp. He seemed to be really important throughout the film, sort of acting as their child, or love child more so. It made me feel warm inside when he helped her out inside the cage, because it really shows the compassion developed between this person and this animal. I sort of felt bad for Craig, well I did at first, but you kind of see how desperate he becomes, as he loses everything and turns into a monster. Of course, I start feeling more sympathy for Lotte, but she also becomes deceiving in a few ways, so in the end I wasn't really rooting for anyone. I will say though, it is a very weird idea and even just to visually see someone else looking through someone else's eyes.
The end was rather...strange. It was in a sense victorious, yet Craig still manages to lose. It was amazing watching him achieve his dream through living through the eyes of John. Of course, that sets it up for a very poor decline for Schwartz but the way both him and Lotte were going at Maxine seemed very selfish on both ends and very..animalistic. Overall, it was a very strange film, not sure if I feel completely satisfied with the result, but I'm glad to have experienced it.