About Me
Archive for January 2014
After the new year's post marathons of movie reviews, I wanted to start the year by writing an article labelled under Inspirations because it seemed reasonable; the whole self reflecting thing that everyone tends to do at the end of a year. Alhamdulillah, I had an awesome week in terms of writing; finishing a few big articles that I wanted to write for so long. One of them was for an assignment; a 2,000 words essay....man, that was hard. I had a few writer's block moments and the annoying part was that I have to avoid the words 'I' and 'my opinion' since it's an academic essay. I had so many topics in mind to tackle in regards to this post and how serendipitous it was that I stumbled upon an old article. It's an article that tackles a topic that I really put some deep thought into at the first 2 to 3 months of a new year. It's my list of must see/buy items! Haha! Finally, I have a proper name for it. I actually named it my Spoil's list in the middle of 2013...I think. But hey, it's now or never! So many things I missed. I lack discipline in fulfilling the list; especially with the movies! The list has evolved so much and it's much bigger and more specific for 2014. For now, let's just focus on the self indulgence aspect of my life in 2013!
WRESTLEMANIA 29
(Wallpaper designed by Kupy wrestling wallpapers.com. Check it out! It's free and awesome!)
What a coincidence that I just finished watching WWE Raw. Man, where do I start! The show is really starting to lose me...again. The reason for my distaste for it now could be very long and so, let's just focus on Wrestlemania. The wallpaper above is not an official design from the company; it had John Cena and The Rock. I chose this one because these two were the true highlights of the show; having actually fulfilling that Wrestlemania standard of matches. The main event between Rock and Cena was just pure commercialization with not much amount of performance's authenticity. It made me hate The Rock even if he is the baby face. It's reasonable to expect good quality match even from the under cards but--boy--were they boring. The World title match between Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger was just unworthy. I admire the efforts of highlighting new talents because it's pretty obvious that 'The Showcase of Immortals' heavily relies on Legends. But these two weren't ready. I could think of tones of other fresh talents in the roster that could have easily made this match better. I tried to be sympathetic with last year's event but now that I think about it; it was just disappointing. I really hope that this year's could be better; I'm losing interest with my childhood nostalgia more and more. And the fact that The Undertaker will be retiring soon is just not helping! It's bad enough that he only performs once a year but a Wrestlemania without The Dead man is just unimaginable.
LEGEND OF KORRA BOOK II: SPIRITS
Making it's debut in the list, series has been playing a huge roll in my storytelling skills recently. While I still follow Kamen Rider (Kamen Rider Wizard didn't met to my liking), it's this show that wins me the most. During 2012, the debut of Korra has inspired me so much; sparking my passion in those tough situation with my assignments. Yes, this show is that good. The second season premiered in 2013; further expanding the universe of the story with engaging storytelling and character developments. Perhaps, one of the best chapters of the book is the inception of The Avatar. Avatar Wan's story was short, simple, tear jerking (At least to me) and inspirational. This isn't a review of the show so to put it simply, the show is awesome; heavily influencing my storytelling style and heart.
IRON MAN III
Moving on the movie's list, last year's list has became more specific. I've dissected it into titles such as Sequels, New Titles and Animation. I always go for sequels; satisfying the strong fanaticism of superheroes. But as a film student, I now realize that I have to watch more new titles; appreciating films that has original narrative and not a victim of commercialization. Yes--since being under Disney--Tony Stark is heavily commercialized but he's not a victim of it to a point where the story sucks. This is, by far, the best Iron man movie. Click here for the review!
MONSTER'S UNIVERSITY
This is the only film in my animation's list and I admit that it's a shame I only relied on one film. There were tons of good animations in 2013 n I didn't even watched the ever so successful Frozen. Here's the link for the full review.
PACIFIC RIM
MAN OF STEEL
In 2012, this film was the main event; the most anticipated movie in my list...and it was a downer! Sigh, but not in a very drastic way. The film did what I've always wanted with Superman and it's seeing the more human side of Kal-El. In Man of Steel, Kal-El is an alien not a superhero. He wears his people's uniform and symbol. Superman may be the definition of Superhero but he's not in this flick. I'm over selling the film--haha--but it's not all that bad. It just didn't lived up to it's hype. What bothers me was the next decision made for the film series. I do not agree with him meeting up with Batman. He's just not ready. They need to give room for this Superman to age well in cinema; developing a solid story and influence for generations to come. Yes, I care for Superman that much. For my full thoughts of the Kryptonian, click here!
Of course, there were tones of other films both in the list and outside though they're just too many to be covered. Instead here's the link to each review:
Thor: The Dark World, Now you see me, Star Trek: Into Darkness and the best film outside the list; Elysium!
ASSASSIN'S CREED IV BLACK FLAG
Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I'm so excited to be writing about this! Well, perhaps it's just the fact that I just finished it so the influence is quite fresh. Games on the list are fairly new since I've just started getting back into the scene last year; starting with the ever so awesome Connor Kenway! Initially, Watch Dogs was also suppose to be on the list but the released was postponed to this year. To be frank, when I heard that Pirates would be setting of Assassin's Creed, I started to think that the franchise was starting to be a victim of commercialization and repetition due to it's annual releases. Boy, was I wrong! Hahahah! It was epic! While I admit that the story wasn't as strong as last year's, the game play improved immensely; proving that it's next gen worthy. Now, this is not a review and I'm trying my best to avoid reviewing games since I want this blog to be more about my works and inspirations (Assassin's creed being a huge inspiration). So, I guess, I'll stop here with the game.
It's a shame that I didn't write down my thoughts on Assassin's Creed III since I didn't played the game yet in the previous spoil's list. Generally, I loved it all the way even with it's negative responses. Which brings me to the question of what article I'll be writing next. Since I'm technically in my holidays, I'll have more time to write. I have a title in mind and let's just hope that I don't change my mind all of a sudden. Video games as art would be the next title; exploring the medium's possibilities in self expression and my personal history with it. Obviously, it includes the Assassin's Creed franchise. So, here's hoping for better days, have a nice day, dear readers!
