I'm one of the hardest people to shop gifts for on Christmas and my birthday. So when my younger sister goes off-the-books (or Amazon wish list), I know she did her research.
She gave me a Walking Dead themed gift package for Christmas:
Archery lessons for two
Zombie Apocalypse themed room escape
"Keep your eye on the" Target gift card
"Survival Kit" Kat bars from Japan (cheesecake flavor)
She hinted being +1 for the archery lessons. I've booked next Saturday for that. The week after will be my zombie room escape. I looked at their webpage and almost everyone gets caught. We'll see about that.
December is when I catch up on all the movies I haven't seen.
1. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) - This movie caught me by surprise. I remember the trailer in theaters last year, but I didn't think it would be so good. Also Rated-R. I didn't think it would be, but it is. The Kingsman are secret agents outside of British Intelligence. Their goals are ultimately the same. The movie portrayed a dark, almost comedic spin to the spy film genre. Colin Firth was pretty good.
2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens - After almost a decade since Revenge of the Sith, we have another Star Wars movie and it's the direct sequel to Return of the Jedi and it did not disappoint. I don't remember much from the original trilogy, but I get the gist of the story and what happened. The prequel trilogy is still fresh on my mind. The Force Awakens takes the best part about the original trilogy and amped it up in the story department with minimal or barely noticeable CGI, relying instead on practical effects. I think the best thing about good CGI is that you never know it's there unlike the prequel episodes. Can't wait for Episode 8.
3. The Divergent Series: Insurgent - this sequel came out back in March. They just started showing it on HBO this month and I finally got a chance to watch it. I can see many similarities between this and The Maze Runner. Overall, it's about the chosen one trope again. These movies get me wondering if the authors wrote the books with their ulterior goal of having a movie franchise made. It's so formulaic.
4. Wild (2014) - Reese Witherspoon deserves the nomination for her performance. She plays a woman who takes on a 94-day hike on the Pacific Crest Trail to find herself or maybe as punishment for losing herself after losing her mother to cancer. I like movies about atonement and reflection.
5. Her (2013) - I think a lot of people were creeped out by this movie when the trailer hit theaters. In the not too distant future, a not too recently single Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) buys an Operating System with real artificial intelligence built in. He sets up his computer and customizes it to his liking, giving the AI a female voice just like Siri for iPhone or Cortana for Windows Phone. He names the AI as "Samantha" and throughout the movie, Samantha learns about the world through her interactions with Theodore as they talk to each other. It's an odd concept, but no matter how weird it is, "falling in love is kind of like a form of socially-acceptable insanity." I know people who are in a relationship even when they've only seen the person online and never physically met them. For better or worse, technology alters the way we love. And even as the world changes, matters of the heart remain the same.
6. This Is Where I Leave You (2014) - Stars Tina Fey, Jason Bateman, Dax Shepard, Jane Fonda, Timothy Olyphant, and other actors. It's a comedy-drama. This is the genre for people who want comedy, drama and subtle romance that is not the centerpiece of the plot. Four siblings are reunited with their mother and friends in their hometown after their father passed away. Their mother requested a shiva (a week-long mourning in the Jewish faith). Things about their past are brought up and they learn more about each other.
7. Wish I Was Here (2014) - Zach Braff's kickstarter movie. I wanted to watch this when it came out last year, but the subject matter about a terminally-ill father was just too much for me to deal with at the time with my father's situation. I finally saw it last night and I just want to say that Zach Braff is a wonderful human being for loving his craft and sharing the creative process with his fans and to the world. The themes have been explored before in Garden State, but I could say the same about all genre movies. I think it's worth repeating.
My family usually spend Thanksgiving in New York City. We tried the whole "having a big feast with out of town relatives" thing, but they live out of town and don't get to come over. So we started doing our own tradition, going to New York City. We explore the museums, Central Park, Rockefeller Plaza, Chinatown, Park Place, Broadway shows, Time Square, etc. We turned it into a sight-seeing Thanksgiving trip.
We're doing something different this year. We're visiting Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, primarily seeing The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It's been 5 years since all of us went there.
I didn't take as many photos as I normally do, but I recorded a ton of clips from Wednesday to Friday. Actually, towards the third day, I didn't take as many videos and just took photos, posting them to my instagram.
I've compiled my videos below on a YouTube playlist, starting with clips I recorded from five years ago. I had them lying around in my external harddrive so I figured, "why not use them?"
1. Spectre - The latest James Bond movie with Daniel Craig. This might be his last role as Bond. If so, it ended on a good note. The opening theme song by Sam Smith is probably one of the best Bond theme songs. It captures the life that Bond (Craig's Bond) has led since Casino Royale. As a spy, it's hard for him to get attached to anyone. All his loved ones leave or die. The theme song captures it. As for the story, it continues the overall arc of Craig's Bond. In short, he learns that all his enemies so far were connected under one person. It's not on par as Skyfall, but it's close enough.
2. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 - I've never read the books, but I thoroughly enjoyed this franchise. I think most people only liked the Hunger Games part of the series (fighting against each other). The series is much more than that and tackles corruption, propaganda and society. I like how this series ended.
3. Strange Magic - This CG animated film is an example that you can't judge a book by it's cover. I heard about the movie earlier this year, but had no plan to see it. I think I probably shrugged it off as another generic Pixar-wannabe film produced and created by George Lucas... of Star Wars fame. Then they were showing it on one of the premium cable channels and I was surprised in the same way as when I first saw Shrek. The Bog King (Alan Cumming), leader of the Dark Forest, hates the notion of love and has ordered the destruction of all primroses, which are an essential ingredient of love potions. However, when he meets Marianne (Evan Rachel Wood), a feisty fairy princess whose heart was broken by a philandering fiance, he begins to change his mind. Meanwhile, an elf named Sunny (Elijah Kelley) makes his way to the Dark Forest to collect enough primrose petals for a potion of his own.
