Ruffles Original Chips

Rating: Meh
Notes:
It's a bit too salty for me. The texture is nice though.

Movie: Godsend

Title: Godsend
Director: Nick Hamm
Notable Actors/Actresses: Cameron Bright (played Adam Duncan)
Written by: Mark Bomback
Music: Brian Tyler
Release Date: April 30, 2004
Running Time: 102 minutes
Rate: 2.5/5
Rated PG-13

Review:
I haven't watched much horror movies, so this movie pretty much thrilled me. True, there may have been some inconsistencies, but I wasn't focused on that. Was too frightened to do so, lol.

But the ending was very unsatisfying. I like my happy endings, okay. Obviously, the director couldn't decided which ending to choose (the dvd had, like, 4 alternate endings), and chose this one because no one died in it (well, except for Adam I, but you get the point, yeah?)

The mother was so in denial, that it became annoying. Richard was aggravating. Paul was okay.
Cameron Bright did a really good job with his acting, and it truly was chill-inducing.
The overall story was nice, but the ending really spoiled it.

Recommended to: Those who don't really expect anything from Robert de Niro, and just want to enjoy an hour of mindless scares. Those who are NOT accompanied by someone who feels the need to analyze every detail of inconsistency.

Movie: The Invasion

Title: The Invasion
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel, James McTeigue (uncredited)
Notable Actors/Actresses: Nicole Kidman (played Carol Bennell), Daniel Craig (played Ben Driscoll), Jackson Bond (played Oliver), Eric Benjamin (played Gene)
Written by: Dave Kajganich, The Wachowskis (uncredited)
Music: John Ottman
Release Date: August 17, 2007
Running Time: 99 minutes
Rate: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (5/5)
Rated PG-13

Based on The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
Review:

This is such a surprise. Wikipedia said it sucked.

My own mother didn't like it. 

I loved it. 

Now, I have never seen the previous versions, so, yeah, I might be biased.

But I really loved how Nicole portrayed her humanity. People have said there was no psychological insight, but I actually disagree.

When emotionless aliens/humans promise of a world without suffering, you have to stop and think. Isn't what we're all trying to achieve? We're all trying to reach a utopia that meets all our wants and desires. (Except the virus "achieves" this by removing desires.)

This movie is so suitable for a Halloween movie! :D 

My only critique is is that the ending ended a bit too...perfect.

The virus ended up becoming only a faint nightmare that will soon be forgotten. 

My theory on why the emotionless who promote an unsuffering world and yet wants to cause suffering to those immune?

Those infected are still, biologically, semi-humans. Humans naturally have a fear of those different from them, so the virus plays on that natural fear, and multiply it. 

Okay, so you've got some blood (but it's not the focus), you've got a car chase (which makes sense, kinda), and you've got technical jargon that sounds smart and yet you really don't understand (lol, this detail makes me laugh.). 

I just wonder how the diminishing population of the Emotionless will react to the vaccine. 

My mother while cleaning the bathroom: "After I watched this movie, I become cleaner." (Translation, "After I watched this movie, I had the desire to make things cleaner." Don't make fun of my mom, okay~ :D)

Recommended to: The youngsters who haven't watched the original movies (like moi), and like movies that have action, thrills, and also psychological aspects. The best thing about this movie is that it is kind of logically plausible.

Movie: Premonition

Title: Premonition
Director: Mennan Yapo
Notable Actors/Actresses: Sandra Bullock (played Linda Hanson)
Written by: Bill Kelly
Music: Klaus Badelt
Release Date: March 16, 2007 (USA)
Running Time: 96 minutes
Rate: ☆ ☆ ★ ★ ★ (2/5)
Rated PG-13

Review:

I confess. I checked Wikipedia on this movie before I watched it.

Wikipedia said it sucked. Hmm, why did I watch it, then?
Well, it was movie night, and I didn't choose the movie. :I

Anyways, what this movie is basically about is a mother who, by chance, was granted the power/curse of skipping days. She goes from Thursday, to Monday, to Friday, or whatever...you get the idea. Problem is, the whole movie is centered around her husband's death in a car accident (severed head, anyone?). I actually perceived the skipping timeline as more of her skipping alternate realities (it didn't happen that way though. A shame.). Oh, and did I mention that blonde assistant manager who seems way-too-familiar with her hubby?

The movie was labeled as a psychological thriller, and it did a good job on living up to expectations. Confusion? Check. Suspense? Check. Emotional trauma/drama? We're good to go. Logical (ish) explanation for weird phenomena? Ehh....we'll put you on hold.

I actually liked the movie. I really liked the crow symbolism, and Sandra Bullock's amazing performance with her acting. The movie started to fall into a deep pit of mehs when we reached the scene where Linda asks Father (the priest) for help (Bill Kelly, I have a facial expression of disbelief, right now.). His diagnosis?

Those who are faithless are like vacuums. Nature abhors vacuums, it wants to fill them up. So these faithless people are more influenced by the forces of nature and the unexplained.

...This is the point where my eye starts twitching. *is non-religious*

True, faith can mean many things. It can mean love. It can mean hope. But if a conversation like this happens in a church, and a Father speaks it, the first thing you think of is "Are you trying to convert me? Eheh, nice try." The emergency cynicism kicks in to make up for the lack of logic that I'm absorbing from this movie. (I need mah logic. It tastes good.)

So, I guess the theme was "Get a religion, or suffer from premonitions."? Right, I'll totally do that. (Oh, whatever happened to Doctor Roth, and after Saturday, when he said she wasn't "committed". That is still confusing me.)

And the final question?
How the heck did Linda get pregnant by the end of the suckish movie?

...Wikipedia, stop bragging about how right you are. >_>

Recommended to: Those who do not mind a religious explanation for everything that does not make sense. And those who have a tendency to go to the bathroom during the climaxes of movies. You guys won't miss anything good, here! :D

Movie: The Lovely Bones

Title: The Lovely Bones
Director: Peter Jackson
Notable Actors/Actresses: Saoirse Rohan (played Susie Salmon), Mark Wahlberg (played Jack)
Written by: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens
Music: Brian Eno
Release Date: November 24, 2009 (Royal Premiere), December 11, 2009 (USA)
Running Time: 135 minutes
Rate: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ★ (4/5)
Rated PG-13

Based on The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Review:
This movie made me cry. ;_; Susie and her dad has a really nice and touching bond. The movie knows just how to tug your heartstrings and make those goddarn tears flow. The actor for Mr. Harvey is really good. You hate him with all your might. Or maybe it's the script-writing, I don't know. The music is also extremely goosebump-inducing. Not like "THE GHOST IS GOING TO EAT YOU." but more like "The threat is here, and is waiting for it's chance to strike." Am I making sense?

I checked Wikipedia and am pleasantly surprised that the book on which the movie is based upon was written by a new author. Not so pleasantly surprised to find out Len and Susie's mother had an affair. (Did I mention that the name Len makes me feel a bit giddy and nostalgic? You don't see it much in America.) Luckily, that particular detail is left out in the movie. But why did the father suddenly go to the cornfield? I can see why he did in the novel (considering I never read it), but not as much in the movie. Oh, that's right, because of the whole "Susie still influences life in the afterlife". Strange explanation, but an explanation nonetheless.

I really like how the movie made it a bit more innocent during Susie's first kiss with Ray. It's a bit more reassuring than Wikipedia's "Susie made love with Ray" for the novel. I guess I'm just a bit old-fashioned in a more promiscuous modern world.

All in all, a touching movie. But it's not for people who aren't willing to sit through watching pools of blood on the floor and sink. (Just remembering it makes me feel creepy.)

And if you want a blunt, cold theme lacking of any consideration, you could say the moral of the movie was that "Everybody dies. If you die early, you must let go of your past. If you lost a close one, the pain will go in time. If you're a rapist, you'll die in an accident." But really, the movie has so many important emotional scenes that it almost makes up for the disappointing death of Mr. Harvey. (I really wanted him to have a more punishing punishment than falling off a cliff. Personally, I'd rather see him face life in prison where he'll be able to remember all the girls he killed and go insane. But considering he's a rather sick man, he'd probably remember all the wrong things. Yeah, I guess killing him off is better.)

Recommended to: Those who can stomach some blood scenes and are interested in an emotional movie and are not insulted by a slightly different sort of take on Heaven.

Book: Little Women

Author: Louisa May Alcott
Score: 8/10

I read it once before, forgot the story, read it again, and quite enjoyed it. Little Women is a story about how four girls, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy grow up. Beth dies early, he reason for her death is unknown (at least to me), despite the fact that she survived scarlet fever. Perhaps she died of frailty. The person most connected with her was Jo, a tomboyish girl who refused to be controlled. Despite the tomboyish nature, she was the object of affection of Laurie, the next door (rich) neighbor until she ultimately friend-zoned him. Ouch. Well, in the end, Amy and Laurie made a cute couple, as did Jo with Mr. Bhaer. I'm so glad Amy dumped Fred Vaughn, but the age difference between Jo and Mr. Bhaer seemed slightly strange. (She was twenty-five, he was forty.) A shame that Beth died. I think she was really cute with Frank Vaughn. Despite the marriage pairings, Louisa May Alcott did a really nice job on trying to focus more on the pre-marriage aspect of the girls' lives, which I respect. The story was really true to life, clashing personalities and all. The antics between Jo and Laurie were particularly funny. I really liked how strong the girls' characters were. They thought for themselves, weren't perfect damsels in distress (aka Mary Sues) and didn't pine away for lovers. (May I also add that Beth seemed more of a symbol of lost childhood than a Mary Sue?) All in all, a very nice read.

P.S. On a completely random note, I just don't consider people poor if they could afford a servant, despite how nice and homely Hannah was.

Book: Castle in the Air

Title: Castle in the Air
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆  (4/4)
Quote: "The djinn had stolen away Flower-in-the-Night, whom Abdullah loved more than his own soul, just at the moment when she was about to run into his arms, and there seemed nothing he could do. He wept."

Editorial Review: Abdullah was a young and not very prosperous carpet dealer. His father, who had been disappointed in him, had left him only enough money to open a modest booth in the Bazaar. When he was not selling carpets, Abdullah spent his time daydreaming. In his dreams he was not the son of his father, but the long-lost son of a prince. There was also a princess who had been betrothed to him at birth. He was content with his life and his daydreams until, one day, a stranger sold him a magic carpet.
In this stunning sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones has again created a large-scale, fast-paced fantasy in which people and things are never quite what they seem. There are good and bad djinns, a genie in a bottle, wizards, witches, cats and dogs (but are they cats and dogs?), and a mysterious floating castle filled with kidnapped princesses, as well as two puzzling prophecies. The story speeds along with tantalizing twists and turns until the prophecies are fulfilled, true identities are revealed, and all is resolved in a totally satisfying, breathtaking, surprise-filled ending. (From Amazon)

Summary: Abdullah was a daydreaming carpet seller, whose relatively normal and boring life was interrupted by a seller who sold him a magic carpet. After that, things got a bit out of hand as one by one, it seemed that his daydreams were coming true. Setting out on a journey to rescue his princess, he meets and sees with his own eyes the magical world that he lives in. There are several characters that reoccur from the previous book, but even without reading it, the main storyline is still enjoyable.

This book is witty, entertaining, and charming.