W.E. (2011) Review

 A couple of weeks ago I watched  Madonna's W.E. It was magnificent, breathtaking, and alluring. It is basically about the story of Wallis Simpson and prince Edward -aka David, to his close friends. It also shows the story of Wallis Winthrop, a woman named after and obsessed with Wallis Simpson in 1998.

To be honest I've never heard of Wallis & Edward's story before watching the film. I haven't seen The King's Speech yet either. Now, I'm hooked. I want to know everything about Wallis and prince Edward, I want to read about their lives before, while, and after the were together. I find their story fascinating to say the least. I think I'm going to order their correspondence letters book and their biographies.

As to the film itself, it is pretty AWESOME. I mean the costume design is just perfect; the clothes are to die for and the hair and makeup is spot on.

 
And the casting is spot on, as well. I mean, they could pass as siblings.

In the film, there is a scene in which Wallis is on a yacht with prince Edward and he presents her with a tray. She lifts the lid and finds a beautiful silver cross with the most beautifully cut stones you've ever seen. He actually gifted her several which she wore in a beautiful silver chain bracelet. Madonna wears a replica of it.

 

To tell you the truth, this film has now become one of my favorites -as if you haven't guessed that already. The cinematography is absolutely beautiful, although there were a couple of transition frames I hated. The pacing of the film wasn't too slow or too fast, it was very smooth and evenly paced, which I like in films. The colorful scenes weren't overwhelming, and the scenes that lacked colors weren't depressing.

As for the story of 1998's Wally Winthrop, it is very predictable. We've seen her story a million times and more, but we've never seen the decisions made by the influence of a dead duchess.

final rating: 5/5

"Another" Anime Review

After watching Madoka Magica and liking it -for the most part- I asked my friend Alaa -who is the biggest anime fan- to recommend something a bit more mature for me. She recommended I watch Another.

Another is a horror/mystery story based on a novel by Yukito Ayatsuji. The story follows Sakakibara Kouichi, a boy who moves with her grandparents to the city of Yomiyama. Basically, there is a curse on the 3rd class of ninth graders. It started 26 years ago when a student died but his/her classmates pretended that he/she didn't. With that, they invited death to that classroom. Each year after a death will occur to the students and their immediate relatives in that class in what will be knows as class 3 calamity. I won't go into further explanation of the calamity because

spoilers.

The series is only 12 episodes, each is about 25 minutes long (roughly 5 hours), so it's pretty easy to wedge into a weekend if you're not busy.  The theme song -as usual in anime as far as I can tell- isn't related to the storyline of the show itself whatsoever, and nor does the name of the anime. Then again, that is the usual problem with translated materials.

The art wand graphics for the series were very normal and mundane, I would have loved to see more risk taking in this aspect in particular because the story has a supernatural element to it.

The characters are portrayed distinctly and are very much one dimensional. Not two characters in the same show share one quality or habit.

still don't get what the dolls have to do with anything

Kouichi is very dull, he is probably the Japanese spokesperson for Gryffindor (no offense to all you roaring lions out there). Misaki Mei is a childish weirdo, Teshigawara is flirtatious jock, Mochizuki is helpful and quiet, and Akazawa is strong, willful, assertive, and takes no one's crap.

no.

The first episodes are a bit confusing cause you don't know what's going on yet, but once the first death happens the show picks up its pace and things start to ravel to Kouichi and the viewers.

this poor kid actually falls down the stairs her umbrella opens and the pointy end goes right through her neck. It was actually pretty epic.

The story line is pretty decent, you can see how this was a book previously. The last two episodes are awesome, the class goes on a trip and the students figure if they kill each other maybe they won't die and a fighting rampage erupts by those 15 year old kids. Which, Japanese people, why is it always middle school kids that die?

I should mention that I have very poor tolerance and resistance towards horror and scary things in general. I still remember an episode in Charmed back in 4th grade which had people haunting the rooms in a painting of a house. To this day I find paintings of buildings creepy. I can actually count on one hand the names of horror movies I've seen (3 if you count sci fi genetic move, The Fly.) When I saw that this anime was rated in the horror genre I was like, "please, as if." They are not messing around. This is very creepy and scary and has ghosts and what not in it. If you can't handle your horror movies do not watch this. Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit.

 

creepy, I tell you

 Final rating: 4/5

Okay, you should just watch this clip because it is ingenious.

This -if you ask me- is the best death scene ever, better than all the deaths in Battle Royale.

"Spread the Love"

My high school's Parents' council along with the student council came up with a mini event at the Bahrain City Center mall this past Saturday. They asked me to help and since I had nothing to do that morning, I did.

The whole project's idea was to give out flowers with a reason of why we love prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The flowers were arranged in this huge cylinder covered in the words "I love Muhammad" in a bunch of different languages.

There were also brochures, booklets, water bottles, and chocolates. I personally preferred to hand out the brochures because I'm a boring person who likes to read random brochures. We gave the flowers, chocolates, and brochures to security staff, cleaners, shop clerks, receptionists, and random shoppers and passerby-s.

People's reactions to the handouts varied, some were happy to take the flowers and brochures, asking us if we had any more different booklets. Some smiled and said grateful words like, "thanks, love", "thank you, dear", "cheers", and "shukran". Some people thought we were selling the roses and some refused to even look at us while we handed things out.

Somewhere around the third "no" some of the volunteers started to complain that those who refused were ignorant haters. I didn't believe that. I might read every brochure given to me, but that's only me. I know for a fact if some of the volunteers were given brochures about Judaism or Buddhism they will refuse them. Some of the younger kids just wanted the chocolates, some people thought the whole point was to exchange and choose flowers, and a couple thought it was the prophet's birthday, but all of that doesn't matter. What mattered were those few who said, "I got a book about Islam in my language but it was to deep for me to understand, thanks for this one" and those who said, "that is a lovely thing to do, what you're doing. thanks."

In the end, not everyone will read the brochures we handed out, the flowers will wither and die, the bottle of water drank and recycled, but some will remember the day a stranger gave them a flower or a piece of chocolate in the mall and smile.

Avalon High Coronation

When I was about 8 years old my dad tricked me into eating ketchup with eggs. I was -and still am for the most part- a very picky eater. After a glass of water I told him that I didn't like it. He told me that we should only say that about things after we've tried them at least once. With that little anecdote as an introduction, I've read manga for the first time today. I know.

I didn't jump into the deep Japanese stuff, though. I picked up the Avalon High Coronation manga, which is based on the Avalon High book by one of my favorite authors: Meg Cabot.

Seriously, I love Meg Cabot.

Meg Cabot's style of writing is very simple, she uses everyday words that don't require a dictionary to understand, and her stories are short and fluffy. In short, her books are quick, funny, and entertaining reads.

I don't like the anime/manga drawing style that much, to be frank. I don't like how everyone looks the same and how everyone seem to have perfect bodies. However, after reading the Game of Thrones graphic novel this one was not frustrating at all.

No high school student is this fit. Believe me, I was one.

The story follows Elle, a high school girl whose parents are both an Order of the Bear believers, which basically means her parents believe in a King Arthur reincarnation. Not only that, but they believe her boyfriend, Will, to be King Arthur. Of course she and Will don't believe that, because "what the hell?"

Anyways, they go on living their life until Will's brother, Marco, who is some other bad guy reincarnated, tries to kill them both. Actually everyone is just some old person reincarnated: King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Mordred, Merlin, The Lady of the Lake, and Elaine of Astolat. I didn't read King Arthur, but there is a characters' index in the end of the book.

Sandor Clegane reincarnated?

I liked how the idea was executed and the merge between the past and the future. I didn't read the original book but I have an feeling that I wouldn't like it. I think this medium serves the story well. I believe this idea reached its full potential in this execution, and beautifully so. I still don't know how I feel about the lack of colors in manga, but so far I'm not really bothered by it. There is still one final installment to the manga adaptations and I'll be sure to pick that up next time I go to the store, which was weird, cause this was the first time I buy books from the store, as in where we buy groceries.

This is a chapter cover. I love how we see the future in the reflection.

I don't know if this is in all mangas or just this one, but I really really liked the ratings at the back of the books, its really helpful if you don't know what the story is about.

I should mention that I finished both these books in about 45 minutes. As I said, quick reads that serve their purpose, entertainment. As for reading more manga, I don't really know. I'll just have to wait and see.

final rating: 5/5
now reading: A Feast for Crows

New Year's Reading Resolutions

Happy New Year to all of you!

For the year 2013 my reading resolutions are to do the A-Z book challenge, read more classics, reread my favorite books all within the 50 book challenge.

Classics list:
1- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgareld
2- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgareld
3- The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
4- A Midsummer's Night Dream by William Shakespeare
5- The Complete Short Stories by Oscar Wilde

Non-Fiction list:
6- Diary of a Young Girl by Ann Frank
7- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling
8- Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
9- Writing in the Dark by David Grossman
10- كخه يا بابا by عبدالله المغلوث
11- بيكاسو و ستاربكس by ياسر حرب
12- طوق الياسمين by واسيني الأعرج
13- العبودية المختارة by أيتيان دي لا بواسييه
14- The True Secret by Amira Ayad

Re-reead list:
14- The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling 
15- The Host by Stephenie Meyer
16- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky
17- Looking for Alaska by John Green
18- Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
19- The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
20- The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
21- Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

A-Z Book Challenge (fiction list):
23- A- Avalon high Coronation volume 1 by Meg Cabot
24- A- Avalon High Coronation volume 2 by Meg Cabot
25- B- Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris
26- C-  Cracked by K. M. Walton
27- D- A Dance of Dragons by George R. R. Martin
28- E- Every You, Every Me by David Levithan
29- F- A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
30- G-The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
31- H- Horns by Joe Hill
32- I- Invisible Monster by Chuck Palahniuk
33- J-John Dies at the End by David Wong
34- K- Kraken by China Mieville
35- L- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
36- M- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
37- N- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
38- O- Othello by William Shakespeare
39- P- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
40- Q- 1Q84 by Haruka Marukami
41- R- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
42- S- Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
43- T- Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
44- U- Ubik by Philip K. Dick
45- V- Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
46- W- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan & John Green
47- X- X by James Galvin
48- Y- The Year of the Flood by Margret Atwood
49- Z- The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

I-must-finish-this-book-to-die-a-happy-person:
50- عزازيل by يوسف زيدان

I challenge everyone reading this to do the same, and create lists because it is so much fun. You don't have to read the A-Z challenge books in alphabetical order, and in case you want to remove a book from a list you must replace it with one in the same category.

Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.

A Young Doctor's Notebook Review

Daniel Radcliffe is starring in a brand new show alongside John Hamm. The story takes place in a remote Russian village in 1917, and Moscow in 1934. Radcliffe plays the young doctor, and Hamm plays the old doctor. The old doctor can travel to his past and relive his memories alongside his young self, but the young doctor cannot travel into the future (obviously).

 After watching the first two episodes of the series I discovered that it is based on a Russian book under the same name. I don't think I will be reading the book, though, as the series are really great and I don't think much additions or cuts are needed.

There's this one character (who plays a dentist assistant?) who is super annoying to the doctor. He likes people to think highly of him. He is an excellent character, very funny and different to the other two in the hospital staff. I like his scenes with the doctor the best, as they have a nice dynamic and funny conversations. There are only four characters in the show and five cast members, so it is very easy to understand each characters and their dynamics with others.

I do wish they've cast actors with Russian accents, as that would have been much more realistic, even if it was just the minor characters and not just the doctor. Another thing I found odd was the fact that both Daniel Radcliffe and John Hamm speak in two different accents. Their accents are quite similar but some things seem different.

John Hamm & Daniel Radcliffe do have similar features: nose shape, eyes, thin lips, but the production took that a step further giving them the same hairstyle.
Both actors did a great job on that front as well, sporting similar facial expressions and the exact nervous jaw stroke.

The show has just the right balance between psychological scenes and gore-y scenes. Although you cringe through a whole season in the second episode of the doctor giving an eight year old girl an amputation with a blunt saw, you still watch. You also keep watching while the doctor tries to pull a tooth from a man's mouth and ends up breaking a piece of jaw bone with it.

The dynamic of the show is really great, the young doctor being really awkward, unsure, and trying to fill the shoes of his predecessor, Leopold Leopoldvich, and the old doctor mature and confident but still unsure in his present life.

final rating: 5/5

Game of Thrones: What to Expect from Season 3 and A Storm of Swords review

 Game of Thrones quickly became my favorite fantasy story ever. The place was previously held by Lord of the Rings, but not anymore. Game of Thrones' characters are very alluring, well developed, and interesting. The setting -in my opinion- is better than any I've seen before. It truly is a marvelous epic story.

What we can expect from the third season is more plot twists. Oh God, much much more plot twists. Characters meeting and having multiple scenes together, including characters you never thought will ever meet. More players star playing the Game of Thrones. More betrayals, love, death, perspectives, failures, success, and a lot more.Characters we haven't seen since the first few episodes reemerge, smaller characters get bigger roles.
Be emotionally prepared, the stuff are more heart breaking than Eddard dying.

Now, I guessed a lot of stuff about the third part before I read it based on the second season. Now, if you know me, I'm pretty much the prediction master when it comes to TV, but Martin continues his mad man fiasco and surprises everyone with more twists and turns and a couple of BAAAM!s and KABOOM!s.

This is as far as I'll go without spoilers from the THIRD book, so if you haven't read that leave now. 

Brace yourselves, spoilers are coming.

What I'm really excited about seeing in the third season is the introduction of characters that were supposed to be introduced in the second season but were left out: Ramsay Bolton, Jojen and Meera Reed, and Ser Kevan.

I'm also excited to watch how the whole Sansa and Dontos situation played out, as they left all their Godswood meetings from the second season. Will Baelish just come out from the beginning and she'd instantly know he was behind it and AGREE to go with him? Sansa is my number one favorite character in both the books and the show, and seeing how she developed and grew throughout the third book is very fascinating. She still put her trust into people sooner than she should, Dontos was bad news, but she clung to a hope she had gained through a children's song. Which, kudos on that George R R Martin, showed the reader that she's just a child. Okay, she did go through a lot and witnessed a lot, but she still lives in her own world, shielding herself from everything bad out there, and when she saw a familiar glimpse of a story she loved when she was back home with her parents and brothers and sister she held on to that.

Will the prologue be filmed or would the murderous plots against Lord Commander Mormont be a complete surprise until the deed is done in a much later episode. Which, okay, let me talk about Mormont for a bit. The guy is built like a freaking bear, he's old, huge, and intimidating. He's one of those people that are probably weaker than they seem but are so badass and frightening they could probably scare an army. Who in their right mind came up with the midevil assassination idea?

Since we are talking about the Mormonts, let us talk about the bear cub. It was no shock that Jorah would come onto Dany sooner or later, I was not surprised by that at all, nor was I surprised by the whole I-will-punish-you-for-betraying-me thing. That whole plot was as predictable as a teen movie. Dany is a kid, she's trying so hard to grow up and prove she isn't but she is, and instead of keeping him as a close, and very wise, counsel she banishes him for betraying her before he even knew her. Back then, he wasn't sworn to her, he didn't know her, he didn't love her. It was a different time. The only thing he did wrong was send Varys a message from Qarth, which shouldn't be punishable by banishment. Sure, Dany did teach her "court"a lesson and they'll think twice before they cross her, but at what cost? Sacking the slavers and freeing the slaves in Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen was badass, though, I'll give her that.

Brienne and Jaime.

I love how Jaime's a lesser jerk when he's around her or when her safety is in the question. Yelling "SAPPHIRES!" and jumping into the bear pit. I know I'm romanticizing their relationship and then some, but I really don't care. I enjoyed reading Jaime's chapters. I'll risk and say they were my favorites in the book, all the excitement and constant flow of the plot, I loved it. I still don't forgive him for Bran, though.

 Thanks to an idiot who didn't tag their post on tumblr, I found out about The Red Wedding prior to reading the book, so on that front I can't say I was surprised. The only thing I can say is Lame Lothar or whatever he's called is such a snake. I trusted him. I thought he didn't know. Roose Bolton, I was expecting as much of him, after all an apple doesn't fall far from a tree. I still love Roose, though, he's one of my favorite minor characters. He was right in doubting Robb as a king. He's a greenboy, and childish still. He lost the north, and his heirs in the process, while simultaneously managing to lose his biggest ally, cause a spread of doubt amongst his troops, and piss of his mom.

Greatjon and smalljon, I'm not sure if they were killed or taken captives, but I really hope it's the latter. As for Robb and Catelyn, good riddance. Robb is an idiot who can't honor anything, especially his dead father. He tries too hard to do the right thing and then ruins everything by being a stubborn little prick. It was a stupid thing to kill Rickard Karstark, and it was stupid to give Rickard reason to do what he did in the first place. He wasn't fit to be king. I'm curious if that was the theme of his royal plot from the beginning, to show that the Stark was less of a north-man than the Snow. I'm also curious to see how Catelyn 2.0 the Zombie edition works out in the fourth book.

Arya is continuing to kick some serious butt, but she's soon finding out that without Jaqen H'gar she's not a ghost, she's still a little girl who cant be overpowered with a hand of a bigger person. I loved seeing her with Sandor, that was pretty cool, seeing the dynamic between them and her seeing him for what he is. I liked the parts of her "prayers" a lot. I liked how her lists shrinks by the end of the book. I hate how she and Gendry got separated. I want to know how she can get "wolf dreams" like Bran and how she saw that Catelyn was actually dead.

Bran's part were fairly dull and slow until he reached The Gift, and then things started to get interesting. Meeting Sam, however briefly, it was awesome. I like his relationship with Meera and Jojen, and how he "reached out" to Hodor and both of them were terrified by what happened.


I liked The fact that Theon's chapters were gone and replaced by Sam's. Sam's chapters were very interesting, smoothly paced, and overall satisfying. I loved Sam the Slayer, I loved Sam the oathkeeper (to Bran's), and I loved Sam the wife savior. I loved what he did when he came back to the wall.

Everything about The Wall is great. Stannis coming to the aid, I almost died. Davos, you brilliant, faithful, wise man. All hail Davos, the onion lord, hand of the king. Rescuing the wall like he did, so much love for this badass.

And Stannis, offering the north to Jon. I couldn't believe it. It shows how Stannis developed as a character. Earlier in the series, he would have never offered a lordship to a bastard, and a brother of a traitor, but know he sees that in order to win compromises must be made. I loved that plot twist.

Because the book is super huge I'm going to just post a Roose Bolton reaction to some major events I haven't discussed:

a) Ygritte and John

b) Ygritte dying

c) JOFFREY'S DEATH

d) Tyrion & Sansa's marriage

what is WRONG with you people?

e) Pyter pushing Lysa out the moon door

f) Tyrion killing Tywin

g) Peach Brothel's scene with Arya and Gendry

h) we find out Joffrey hired Bran's attacker

I) we find out Littlefinger was responsible for every bad thing that happened

final rating: 5/5
now reading: blueeyedboy