Movie Review: Boyhood 2014

Well, first of all I need to start this by saying that I had good expectations about the movie, the brilliant idea that someone made a movie over so many years was new and exiting and the perfect answer of a common complain that the use of different actors for the same character is not good to keep the flow of a movie. That's what Harry Potter is all about, but it doesn't count really in this format.

I knew about this movie for about some time, how can I not hear about it when the idea is so good, then came the Oscars and I finally got my hands on a copy, well then this is what happened, it was one hour into the movie and I realized it was going to be long, like Lord of the Rings long, then halfway into the movie I was wondering about what I needed to do the next day (never a good sign), by the time the movie ended I was "oh...that's it?" what I mean by this is that if you make a movie over 12 years you should make a deep intertwine flowing story, the fascination of watching them grow old fades away rather quickly over the fact that they don't do much, is like watching the mediocrity and boring side of a family, I just didn't get it.

Anyways, the movie follows Olivia the mother of Mason and Samantha and how they live for over 12 years, the idea is brilliant, they often say that movies lose their magic when you get distracted and in most cases it happen by the use of different actors playing different stages of life, but in this case the magic in constant and I repeat myself, such a brilliant idea that I don't get why aren't more movies like this out there, my problem is that there should have been a deeper story, in the end you just saw flashes of different moments that don't really connect, where is the psychological damage? if you put in an abusive father, that has got to leave some sort of trauma, right? there is too much conformism to be something with value at the end.

There should have been more stories that intertwine with the past and the future, with and opportunity like this I guess that I'm angry that it wasn't fully exploit to it maximum momentum. 

The real problem for me is the lack of flashbacks, why didn't the use this option? it would have been perfect, but then maybe and like the movie the script was written in over 12 years, with some more planning it would of been truly a fascinating experience.

Also on the topics of drugs, sex and alcohol, to me it seemed too stereotypical nothing much to say or do about it, it was like watching any other troubled teenage movie, it was a bit too general.

Having said that I think my  favorite part was the Latin guy who got his studies in order thanks to the advice of Olivia, it was a beautiful scene and there should have been more of those in the movie, it was almost 3 hours long they totally could've done it. And yes the Oscar to Patricia Arquette was totally well deserved her character was the true connecting line.

I just hope that now that the idea is there someone would rise to the challenge to make a better one.

The Downward spiral into K-pop

While out in he actual world I came across a music genre called K-pop, the first time was through a K-drama called Boys Over Flowers back in 2011, while the drama was really entertaining and kind of fresh to watch, I was really interested in the OST, a few clicks later I was in K-pop world.

I'm actually one to like Asian cultures specially the Japanese, I've read my fair share of mangas, watched a ton of anime and all that so the transition from Japan to Korea was fairly easy, two more K-dramas and that was it, I was a fan!

My first approach was a girl group named Kara, I like them because they are very bright and energetic, very similar to what I was used to listening to Japanese artists, I particularly enjoyed the dances they are very fun and very good exercise, from Kara I went to SHINee and from them I learned that there are 3 big entertainment agencies in South Korea, SM, JYP and YG, I ended up listening to all their artist and I found my favorite among them, which is Big Bang.

Then Psy came with Gangnam Style and the whole thing exploded, at first I actually wasn't a fan of the song alone I found it very repetitive and plain, but after watching the music video and I found that I kept murmuring the melody all day long. I loved the music video specially because of the cameos.

After that a lot of new groups debuted, I became a fan of B.A.P, Beast, Orange Caramel, Teen Top, EXO and more recently GOT7 and WINNER.

What I find very interesting is that I can actually understand like 40% of what they say in a show, I can sing along to my favorite songs, it's a very fresh feeling actually, it kind of reminds me my way into English, being a native Spanish speaker my favorite groups were all English artists, like Radiohead, Oasis, Muse, Linking Park, NIN, so I learned English through music, movies and eventually books, I sometimes catch myself thinking Korean responses, it was very weird at first but after Gangnam Style it's all more accepted, even though my family still thinks I watch "Chinese people".

Looking back, I think this was all a downward spiral, at first is interesting then is fun then is like I can't past a day without watching something in Korean. specially the K-dramas but that's another subject.

So, if you are curious about K-pop just be aware that it's very addictive and a very expensive hobby,  they have ton of merch that is actually good, before K-pop the last album I bought was Muse's live album H.A.A.R.P. a very common double CD-DVD case, but these K-pop albums are a piece of art, the first thing you notice is the format, I have not seen a classic CD case in K-pop and that's saying a lot, they know their audience and the love to please the fans, so that's always very welcomed and one of the reasons they still sell a good amount of physical music, compared to the rest of the world.

Photo Source: http://24hrkpop.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/kpop-logos.jpg

Movie Review: 2010, Easy A

"Take me away..." be warned you may find that you can't take that song out of your head, warning made, now to the review, I had nothing to do the other day and I thought why not watch a movie, I thought this was going to be a very easy going movie and I was surprised at how funny it was, I liked the main character Olive, played amazingly by Emma Stone, overall the movie is a fun watch, funny witty and sarcastic, who wouldn't love that?.