Awake [2007]

***

"You have to live, Clay." -Clay's mother

Back in 2007 I was not the movie buff that I am today for one main reason- there were a lot of movies my parents wouldn't let me watch due to that oh so interesting R rating (I was only 15/16 that year). Well, Awake was a movie I really wanted to see back then but alas I was not allowed. Today I got the chance to finally watch this movie that I have wanted to for the past 3 years!
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The movie's main character is played by Hayden Christensen who is of Star Wars and Jumper fame while his love interest is played by Jessica Alba of Fantastic 4 fame. There is also Terrance Howard of Iron Man fame that played the heart surgeon. This movie, in other words, had quite the star cast considering this movie was the first for the screen writer/ director behind it.
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~Synopsis~
The twenty-two year old Clay Beresford is a genius of finance secretly in love of his mother's secretary Sam Lockwood. Clay has a complex, expecting recognition from his mother Lilith Beresford that he is as capable as his father was, and he needs heart transplantation. When Clay finds a donor compatible with his rare blood, he requests his friend Dr. Jack Harper operate him under the protest of his mother that wants the famous Dr. Jonathan Neyer responsible for the procedure. On the eve of his heart surgery, Clay marries Sam and during the surgery, he experiences an "anesthetic awareness" that leaves his conscious but paralyzed. Clay witnesses the dialogs in the room and discovers dark secrets about his surgery.
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~Characters/Casting~
Clay (Christensen): Clay, the main character, was a very interesting one. At first in the movie he seemed way to submissive to his mother (in fact ditching his love interest when his mother is near, and going as far as hiding their engagement), but the reason to this is revealed later on in the movie and this made me realize that Christensen was able to portray the character very well. As far as being an 'awake' patient, I found his portrayal to be very believable- though this is considering my far from extensive knowledge of being awake while under anesthesia.
Sam (Alba): I'm not used to seeing Miss Alba playing such a manipulative character! Oh my gosh, you have to see this movie simply to see the way Alba plays the Sam character. She is able to.... ah snap! I can't really say anything about her character without ruining the movie :(
I feel like this movie was well casted, especially when it came to the mother and surgeon characters. The others were good as well, but the ones casted for Clay, Sam and the Mom were really good choices.
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~Overall Impression~
While this movie is listed as a physiological thriller, it really isn't all that much of a thriller as it is a story about how a character's situation from child hood can really screw him over in the long run.
Not much is revealed about how Clay got his wealth, but it is very apparent from the start as to why he still has the wealth; and it is even more apparent why he was chosen for.... -AH SNAP. Like this is about to be a serious spoiler so do not read it if you're planning on watching this movie because it's a movie where not knowing what's going to happen 'till it does is what makes this a good movie- ... being the patient to kill.
The way this movie was executed was tre perfecto. The story was amazing and the casting was top notch. There's really nothing I can complaine about with this movie. There is really no soundtrack to comment on and I can say the medical practices in this movie were not dead on which is the main reason why this movie gets a 3 stars rather than 5. The medical staff was dangerously short, and I'm pretty sure if the staff was that short an realistic replacement would have been found rather than some last minute one.

Victorian Romance Emma (anime review)

****

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# of Episodes: 24 (12 per season) + recap ep
Rating: early Teen
Genre(s): Romance/Drama/Slice of Life
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My friend Elijah (who is an anime geek to the extreme) is a genius for giving me this anime to watch! I finished both seasons in a matter of days because I just could not stop watching except to eat and let my eyes take a break because I get bad headaches if I don't. Ha ha *sweet drop*
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~Synopsis~
William Jones’s trip to visit his governess Kelly Stowner yields more than just an opportunity to reminisce on old times; he also ends up falling in love with her maid, Emma. However, trouble arises from this relationship because William is a member of the gentry and with his father looking to raise his family’s status by marrying into the nobility, this relationship meets with some major resistance. It also does not help that Eleanor Campbell, the daughter of a viscount has fallen in love with William and seeks to gain his affection. [The Nihon Review]
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~Initial Impressions~
When I first started watching this series, I was a little surprised by how it captivated me. Normally a series that is this slow would make me want to stop watching... ok, that's a lie BUT STILL I did consider dropping this series after a few episodes simply because of the premise but episode one just would not let me do that.
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~The Music/ Dub~
This is the type of series that a Japanese dub just doesn't really work, so when I tried to hunt down an English version to no avail I was pretty sad. The reason why I just can not give this anime a perfect score is because of the lack of a fitting English dub, not to say that the Japanese one wasn't good... it just wasn't fitting!
The music on the other hand was sweet and very Victorian sounding :D
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~The Visuals~
If I lived in the Victorian era, I'm pretty sure it would look like this anime does. The animation was very calming, and really help with setting the happy and sad and dramatic moods in this anime. I adore the color pallet!
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~The Story~
Slow romances usually don't go as well as this one did! Especially the ones where a master falls in love with a maid. AH, usually they are too funny or too fan service filled for me to care but this one.... was really well done! It's not your typical maid series.

Valentine's Day [2010]

You would think a movie with this much "star power" would have WOWED the audience.... well, I was part of an audience viewing this movie on some random Thursday and it was extremely disappointing! First off, having so many starts in one movie was a failure in itself... because of all these stars, the different stories were rushed rather that developed to the point where I could attach myself to the characters. Second, Taylor Swifts' character made me want to barf. She was so annoying and I felt sorry for Taylor Lautner :( Anne Hathaway's character was a hoot- she played an adult phone entertainer.
What really got me about this movie was how almost every couple broke up (except the high school couples who were just too lovey dovey)- all except the one George Lopez was apart of T_T Overall, this movie was just ok. There were no extremely heart wrenching moments and I didn't feel the need to cry at all. BUT the little boy who tried to give flowers to his teacher was an awe worthy moment. You're better off waiting to rent this one.

Darker than BLACK (anime review)

****

[watch legally for free on FUNimation's DTB Youtube]

I'm surprised it took me this long to watch the first season of Darker than BLACK, but the second season (Gemini of the Meteor) started this Fall 2009... usually when something really good gets a second season, my anime friends like to chat up a storm about the first season and this means spoilers galore! It took me little over a month to watch all 25 episodes and the 1 ova episode, but this is because I tend to watch 15+ anime at the same time (more recently more because I've been watching some old anime I never saw such as Speed Grapher).
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Darker than BLACK is an original anime (meaning it is not based on an anime, manga, game, etc but is an original creation by the company that made it) produced by studio BONES. It has two manga adaptations. Season 1 (Kuro no Keiyakusha) ran for 25 episodes and had one ova (it's known as episode 26, but takes place in between episodes so is not actually the end of the series but more of an extra episode). The second season premiered during the Fall 2009 season of anime and has 1 ova episode planned, but this ova is set to tell more so Hei's story from before season 1 started. FUNimation entertainment has the license for an English dub and season 1 has already been released completed in English.
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In Tokyo, an impenetrable field known as "Hell's Gate" appeared ten years ago. At the same time, psychics who wield paranormal powers at the cost of their conscience also emerged. Hei is one of the most powerful of these psychic agents, and along with his blind associate, Yin, works for one of the many rival agencies vying to unlock the mysteries of Hell's Gate. [ann]
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I was expecting this anime to let me down mainly because when people overly fan boy/girl over a series, it ends up being extremely cliched or something I've just got no interest in seeing (there are a few cases where a really popular anime was one I liked). I found it to be brilliant to add a payment for these 'powers' used in the anime, which without would have made this over used "we haz powahs!" concept even more over used and I probably would have been bored within a few episodes, but add the amazing character relations and this mysterious grim reaper type character BA BOOM you got a winning series :]

Jennifer's Body [2009]/ Surrogates [2009]

***

The premise for this movie was that popular girl Jennifer (Megan Fox) can get any boy she wants and all girls want to be her. Well... one day at a concert miss Jennifer is used as a virgin sacrifice, only she is not a virgin. Instead of just being killed, a demon is transferred into her body for all of eternity. This demon has to feed on flesh in order to sustain itself. The only way to rid earth of this demon is to kill Jennifer via her heart...
I'm not one who chooses readily to go to this type of teenage horror flick but my friends wanted to go and my vote to go see Fame had become out numbered. BUT I actually enjoyed the movie. The background music was really good, and the story was not half bad. If only there would be a sequel :)

***1/2

The movie is about how individuals can live their daily life's via surrogate robots. The best part is that if your surrogate self gets 'murdered' or 'harmed' that the you in a stem chair should not sustain any damage. One day people start dieing in their stem chairs after encountering a hooded man with a very deadly weapon.
This movie had a concept that could have worked out very well, but the movie had been too short which also resulted in it seeming rushed. If I had the choice to watch it again, I would because it was a good start of a movie but I wouldn't pay to see it in a theatre.

Baby Mama [2008] [dvd rental] (mini-movie review)

***

The premise for the movie itself was not what made me want to watch this- it was the leading ladies. The movie did it's best not to drag, and the over the top comedy that Saturday Night Live (of which Faye and Poehler are pretty big parts of) is known for was not too present in this movie. Big plus! This was a hearwarming movie that was actually able to teach a small lesson in the end. Go watch this when you need a decent movie to watch =D

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince [2009][movie theatre] (movie review)

***

~Summary~

Emboldened by the return of Lord Voldemort, the Death Eaters are wreaking havoc in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that new dangers may lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. He needs Harry to help him uncover a vital key to unlocking Voldemort's defenses, critical information known only to Hogwarts' former Potions Professor, Horace Slughorn. With that in mind, Dumbledore manipulates his old colleague into returning to his previous post with promises of more money, a bigger office, and the chance to teach the famous Harry Potter. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry's long friendship with Ginny Weasley is growing into something deeper, but standing in the way is Ginny's boyfriend, Dean Thomas, not to mention her big brother Ron. But Ron's got romantic entanglements of his own to worry about, with Lavender Brown lavishing her affections on him, leaving Hermione simmering with jealousy yet determined not to show her feelings. And then a box of love potion-laced chocolates ends up in the wrong hands and changes everything. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof with far more important matters on his mind. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again. [official website]

~Impressions~

This movie is most definatly one for the fans of Harry Potter (more specifically the ones who have read the books) because there are many moments that non-readers will be confused on. Several of the actors did a superb job with playing their characters while others just didn't cut it. I have to point out Tom Felton's portrayal of Draco Malfoy in this film because in past films I found his acting to be too over the top while in this one he played the distressed 'chossen one' that the character in the book version was suppose to be. What I am saying is that Mr. Felton has finally become the Draco I've read about.Daniel Radcliff continues to be a very annoing Harry, but he did hit the mark when having to force Dumbledor to drink.... oh crap. That would be a spoiler, so you'll just have to go see the movie to know what Akia is talking about :]~Film~

This film in the Harry Potter series has the same feel as the previous one. If you're looking for the magical feel the first few films had, well, you will be dissapointed. This film is much darker than others, but it is also a little too light hearted. I bet this is the reason HP 6 got it's PG rating when, if the book was followed, the movie should have at least been rated PG-13.