[CAN HE FIX IT!?]
Just downloaded Bob The Builder: Can-Do Zoo. It's only a one-hour trial, but provided my laptop doesn't lag on me, I'd like to think I'm pretty quick on the uptake :D
Oh, Chocolatier 3, when will you be released by other Mac game publishers? how I love you so muaksmuaksmuaks...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Bob the Builder...
Monday, February 2, 2009
Avatar: The Last Airbender
This is an upcoming movie (slated 2010 release), which is based on the TV show. Being a very big fan, I wasn't too pleased to find out that M. Night Shyamalan was directing. But that's not the point here. Now, there's hue and cry in the fandom (not unwarranted), as white actors have been signed on to play the four main leads in the movie.
Avatar: The Legend of Aang (formerly : The Last Airbender) is an animated TV series set in an alternate universe where its characters, settings, philosophy, and architecture (among other things) are based on Inuit (for the Water-benders) and Asian (pretty much everything else; do correct me if I'm mistaken) cultures. Now, as much as I would prefer if East Asians were cast, I don't really have a problem with white actors being the leads (except for Jesse McCartney whom I see as mere marketing fodder 'cuz he has a huge fanbase), as long as they will look like their animated counterparts (I'm a purist; deal with it) and be able to fit into the Avatar universe appearance-wise, which is a bit difficult without them going yellow-/brownface (and be offensive), since everything else is borrowed heavily from Asian culture. For me, as long as the movie looks like the TV show it is adapted from (and not LOOSELY adapted), short of being 2D-animated ('cuz then it'll be pointless), I'll be very happy.
Recently, casting calls for extras have asked for "multi-ethnic actors". Now, logic would dictate that as the leads are white, naturally the secondary and minor characters should also be played by white actors, since they will be related to the leads by way of bloodline and/or culture (I'd like to call this consistency in the film). But that isn't so. The casting calls even go to the extent of asking those auditioning to wear traditional cultural ethnic garb, and in one instance, the casting director said to those clad in casual wear, "even if you came with a scarf today, put it over your head so you'll look like a Ukrainian villager or whatever." She even asked for Koreans to wear kimonos.
[I thought they were called 'hanboks'.]
Is it me, or does she sound insensitive and culturally ignorant? She is looking for ethnic actors to make the Avatar universe more diverse, and as the casting director (no less!), she should've realised that casting ethnic actors would create an even starker contrast between the mains and the extras. I mean, talk about being able to differentiate a character's importance to the story just by the color of their skin.
Aang Ain't White has a campaign called Saving The World With Postage, where it calls for fans to write polite and non-flaming letters to the producers to convey their displeasure at the casting. They have pretty useful guides on how to write the letters, and it's quite up-to-date about the dates of the casting calls (where they do peaceful protests; I'd love to participate but I don't live in the States). Do check them (and their awesome visual essay) out; that's pretty much where the latest information on the movie are pooled.
Just today, I found that Jesse McCartney has dropped out of negotiations due to tour dates, and was replaced by Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire fame.
To be frank, I'm shocked at this abrupt turn of events.
I wasn't really expecting McCartney to be in the movie (he was in negotiations for quite some time), but this was something else entirely. It seems to me that a rising Asian star was cast just to appease the fandom, and a not-so-good attempt at that, when they couldn't even be bothered to match the actor to a more suitable character in the Avatar universe.
A lot of people have mentioned that Patel is a welcome addition to the cast since it creates diversity. Yes, there is diversity among the leads now, but the way I see it, nothing's really changed. Dev Patel looks nothing like Zuko (farther from that than McCartney, I'm sorry to say), even though he may have the acting chops. And it brings a chain reaction of sorts: As Zuko is the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, this would mean that Patel's casting would lead to Indian/dark-skinned Asian actors playing the Royal Family, which would lead to the entire Fire Nation being played by ethnic actors, because in the TV show, all Fire Nation citizens (Royal Family included) are of similar skin tone.
[This supports the rumor that Shyamalan wants to play Uncle Iroh. Appa forbid. I shudder at the thought.]
It is decisions like these that are made at our (the fans') expense, at the expense of those of us who would like to see the show done right (and right by us, if I may add). It is good that they are beginning to acknowledge that Asian actors (so far, actor) could be an integral part of this production (it is a step in the right direction), but it doesn't really solve the problem, as I feel Zuko is still miscast, even though Patel is miles better than McCartney.
Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against these actors or the production crew. And although it seems an impossible task (at the moment), I just want to see my favourite TV show of all time be adapted into a movie franchise that remains true to its roots, one that all fans, may it be the utmost-devoted or the casual, could be proud of.
Paper pocket monsters!
My friend linked me to this earlier:
Isn't he just ADORABLE??!
Beanie Babehs!
So I was perusing through the list of widgets that's on Blogger (yes, I actually AM that bored), when I came across...:
The Beanie Babies widget...under the Finance category.
Read More......
The things kids come up with these days =]
Monday, January 26, 2009
Inkheart (2009)
My first movie of 2009. Almost had a heart attack right after I bought my ticket because I misplaced it. In my wallet. Boy, was my face red then.
*spoilers*
Brendan Fraser plays Mo, this guy who can bring fictional characters out of storybooks just by reading them out loud. Unfortunately, he didn't know that when that happens, someone from the real world goes into the storybook. And that was what happened to his wife.
Fast forward 12 years, and he's travelling around the world with his daughter, looking for 'Inkheart', the book he last read aloud from, so that he could read his wife back out. He finally finds the book (it's really rare), when he's betrayed by Dustfinger (from 'Inkheart') who was read out, but now wants in (Mo refuses to do so), to Capricorn, the villain from 'Inkheart'. Bear with me here for a bit, I know my explanation's complicating.
Capricorn's reader Darius has a bad stutter (the characters are read out of books incomplete), so he wants Mo for world domination and stuff, but not before he destroys Mo's copy of 'Inkheart'. Kicking himself, Dusty helps them (Mo, his daughter Meggie, his grandaunt Elinor, and Farid, a boy read out from something reminiscent of '1001 Arabian Nights') escape. Turns out, Mo didn't have to worry about reading his wife Resa out, 'cuz she already WAS out; she's working in the kitchens as a maid. She doesn't have a voice, though, 'cuz she's incomplete. Dusty knew about her, but didn't tell, 'cuz a huge-ass tornado (from 'The Wizard of Oz') was wreaking havoc.
So they head to Italy to find the author of Inkheart, hoping that he would have a copy of the book. He does, everyone meets the author, and poor Dusty finds out that he dies in the end of the book, saving his pet ferret Gwin. Dusty finally tells Mo that Resa is already out of the book and back at Cap's castle, Mo leaves Meggie with Fenoglio (the author), and with Dusty, heads back to Cap's lair.
Meggie finds out that she herself is also a Silvertongue, so Cap's henchmen rounds them up back to his castle. Cap wants her to read out The Shadow (from 'Inkheart'; part of his world domination gig) which is this large black shadow thing that goes around eating people and stuff. It's definitely not good.
So in the end, Meggie writes out her version of the events onto her forearm (it's quite thrilling, actually), got The Shadow to kick Cap's ass, and manages to send everyone but Dusty and Farid back into their respective storybooks (they were too late on the scene). Resa gets her voice back, and Mo reads Dusty back into Inkheart, where he's finally reunited with his wife. All is well, as Gwin was left in the real world, so it's most likely that Dusty probably won't die at the end of the book.
Even though it was kinda slow at the beginning, I liked 'Inkheart'. I especially enjoyed the part Paul Bettany was shirtless (I've to admit, that took me off-guard. Even though I'd seen The Da Vinci Code). But that aside, I love books, and I had a lot of fun doing the 'which character belongs to which book' routine (yes, I get entertained easily). The cinematography was lovely, Toto was so bloody fricken' adorable, and I enjoyed the storyline with its twists and stuffs (not being sarcastic here).
Now, to get the book xD
Happy Chinese New Year!
Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
May the coming Moo year bring all of you health, wealth, and happiness!!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Mamma Mia! (2008)
The storyline for Mamma Mia! is silly and kinda pointless, but I'm an ABBA fan, so I didn't mind so much ;)
[We missed like, the first 10 minutes, so the some bits (like the names) was Wiki-ed.]
*spoilers*
Sophie is getting married, and she finds out that she has three possible fathers, played by Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård and Colin Firth. She invites them over for the wedding, unbeknownst to her mother, Meryl Streep, and then mayhem (and ABBA songs) begin to ensue. The movie ends with the whole father issue still unsolved, with Sophie gaining three fathers in the process. Like Three Men And A Baby.
I liked the movie; it was funny. I thought the three men should've gotten a bit more screen time ('cuz I find them adorable), but that's just me. I'm also a HUGE ABBA fan, since my parents force-fedwould blast it on the car radio whenever we visited the grandparents for the New Year. AND it was a six-hour drive, so I guess the subliminal messaging was pretty successful.
All in all, I loved the movie, but I guess I'm biased in that sense 'cuz I love ABBA.
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