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SPICYWATCH

Another Tremendous Year

30/12/2018

4 Comments

 
Another year is drawing to a close and what a wonderful year it has been for me. There have been so many highlights and so many special events, holidays and celebrations that I have been able to share with my family, my friends and my work colleagues this year that it is hard to know where to start. 2018 has truly been a year filled with great blessings, personal growth and many, many smiles.
I really like to make a list of the highlights of a year as it draws to close because it is so easy to forget just how many joyful things you do and get to be apart of; and how much you have achieved if you don't take stock on some level.  I always feel so deeply overwhelmed whenever I look back at everything that I have achieved and shared throughout the year and reflecting on a year is a really lovely thing to do that really helps you to count your blessings and focus on the abundance in your life. 
Here are my favourite highlights from 2018, all of which have brought me a great deal of joy, a sense of belonging, a feeling of enrichment and have provided me with many memories to reflect upon during the quieter and more contemplative times of the year. 
JANUARY:  Zoe and Lachlainn's engagement, Seth's 13th birthday, Jubilee Lake Picnic in Daylesford, Australia Day Fireworks, BBQ's and Drinks on the Enfield deck, TRUE - 30 days of Yoga program, Started my new job adventures. 
FEBRUARY: Chinese New Year- the Year of the Dog,  Rockabilly Festival, dinner and coffee dates with friends, Curry/movie night get togethers kicked off. 
MARCH: White Night Festival, International Women's Day, Cooking Day at Enfield  with friends, My Birthday, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Begonia Festival, The Arts Trail, the Egg Painting session at Enfield on Easter Saturday.
APRIL: Craig's Birthday, Eating Hot Cross Buns and good quality Chocolate on Easter Sunday, Dinner Parties, the Autumn School Holiday Break, Movie Nights at Enfield with mates, Apple and Quince harvesting. 
MAY: Mother's Day, The Festival of Light at the Great Stupa in Bendigo, a Daylesford Chocolate Mill visit, meeting Daniel Kish (aka. The Batman- echolocation expert), Spicywatch's 4th Birthday.
JUNE: Zoe's 21st Birthday, Winter Solstice Celebrations, Mushrooming, Completing my Level One Braille Qualification, Weekend Breakfast Dates with friends, the Winter School Holidays.
JULY: Alice in Wonderland at ACMI, Winter Movie Marathon nights, Flashy Cocktails and Long Lunches with my friends, When I Grow Up Art Exhibition, All day Baking and Soup making Sessions, Prospects dinners, eating Homemade Apple Pie with my Family. 
AUGUST:  Dinner parties, Dress-up Events at School (Book Week, 100 days of School, PJ day), committing to 30 days of 30 minutes of extra exercise (which I have continued with ever since).
SEPTEMBER: Father's Day, Seeing the Showcase Performance at school, Commencing 20 minutes of daily Transcendental Meditation (have also continued with this all year), the Spring School Holiday Break.
OCTOBER: Halloween horror movie/ dinner night, Rediscovered the joy of the local Botanical Gardens, School trip to Melbourne Zoo, Landcare Open Day, Cocktail and Perfume Night at The Lost Ones.
NOVEMBER: Bonfire Night, Anniversary weekend at Skenes Creek, Dinner Dates and Movie Nights, Sunday afternoon Live Music at Smythesdale Pub. 
DECEMBER: Dinner Party with friends, Having a KK to spoil and one that spoilt me as well, Staff Christmas function, Student Graduation, the Foundation Team Dinner, Summer Holidays kicking off, Christmas Day, Champagne Breakfasts, Reuniting with my nephew. 


Seriously, it has been the best year, I have so many things to be grateful for and so many reasons to celebrate what a wonderful life I have. On top of all of that, Spicywatch hit 11,000 return readers this month and I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to think that people are not only reading my blog and reviews, but are returning for more, it is just incredible to me. I am truly thankful to each and every Spicywatch reader for their continual check ins to my website, for their beautiful comments and their amazing support throughout the year. 
May 2019 bring you all much peace, much happiness and an abundance of all of the best things in life. I look forward to delivering more reviews and movie information to you all in 2019 and sharing my personal life experiences with you along the way as well.
Happiest of New Year's wishes to you all, may your resolutions be fulfilled, your hearts be full and your hangovers minimal; may you discover many new, enjoyable challenges and rewards in the new year and I hope that 2019 allows you to find your groove in all things,
Sending all of my love to you,
Happy New Year,
From Spicywatch xx
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THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE
Release Date: 2000
Rating: G
Running Time: 78 mins 
This animated movie completely cracked me up, I am pretty sure that I got more out of this than my kids, and that my laugh could be heard three doors down. Created by Walt Disney Animation Studios, directed by Mark Dindal and written by David Reynolds, The Emperor's New Groove took six years to develop and was met with generally favourable reviews for it's fast paced, fresh and hilarious antics. 
The arrogant and unpleasant South American Emperor Kuzco (David Spade) has been turned into a llama by his devious advisor Yzma (Eartha Kitt). When he becomes stranded in the jungle, he finds hope in the form of Pacha (John Goodman) a kind-hearted peasant that agrees to help Kuzco to take back his throne and his natural form. However, Yzma and her bumbling side kick Kronk (Patrick Warburton) have plans to finish Kuzco off and they are trying to tracking him down.
Unlike other Disney animations, there isn't a princess in sight and the only royalty to be seen is unscrupulously sinister, so it would be fair to say that this was definitely a break out film for Disney animations. What this film really has going for it is the humour, it is very funny and witty. Kronk is easily the funniest character in the movie, so it is easy to see why The Emperor's New Groove 2 - Kronk's New Groove was made as a spin off, that character deserves his own movie; and having also seen the second, I can say that it too is a worthy children's movie and a decent sequel.  
FINAL SAY: I was a junior chipmunk, and had to be versed in all the woodland creatures. 
4 Chilli Peppers

4 Comments

Boxing Day

26/12/2018

2 Comments

 
Today is Boxing Day and I have officially dropped out the other end of Christmas. What I am now experiencing is that numb sense of overwhelment and exhaustion that arrives in the days preceding Christmas time. I have indulged in copious amounts of rich and decadent deliciousness, I have drank enough alcohol to challenge the driest of sailors on shore leave and I have received the most amazing gifts over the last four days. In short, it has been tremendously busy and I have been tremendously spoilt all over again. Talk about your first world problems over here, too much of the good stuff for me that's for sure!
However, it wasn't all take and no give, I really had a wonderful time giving all of the gifts that I had shopped for and I made plenty of treats and delicious eats for others to indulge in. I also did my volunteer shift of Christmas gift wrapping and fundraising for the Salvos as well, so I actually got to give over quite a bit of my love this jolly season. Everyone knows that the giving is generally even more special than the receiving at Christmas time and it was so wonderful to spend time with my family and friends over the last few days in an unhurried, indulgent and relaxing way. 
To be honest I haven't even managed to get out of my pyjamas today, I am having the laziest of days and with the fridge full of leftovers, I won't even need to cook this evening either. Unfortunately, my body clock has not adjusted to holiday time yet and insists on waking me up at 6am, which wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't continually burning the midnight oil at the moment as well. I don't think that I have been in bed before midnight since I finished work last week, and the lack of rest is starting to get a hold of me. 
Tiredness affects people in all kinds of ways, some people get cranky and moody, others get dozy, but I get vague, really, really vague. People can have entire conversations with me and I won't hear a word of it because I am off with the pixies. I also do really stupid things like lose my glasses (which are perched on top of my head) or put things away and forget where I put them. I suppose that I am just getting a really good glimpse into my future, because from what I have heard, people in their old age do a lot of wacky stuff like that all of the time. However, I also get really annoyingly foggy and I can't focus on anything for very long, everything seems much harder than it actually is and I am really only good for one thing, movie marathons and TV bingeing.
Am I using my tiredness as an excuse to hit the couch hard for a couple of days? Probably, but I don't feel guilty about that, it is the holidays after all and I have well and truly earned my right to be lazy and disconnected for a while. The time to unplug and tune out has finally arrived, so I think I might watch something a little on the slanted side because my mind is already there after all!
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MIRRORMASK
Release Date: 2005
Rating: PG
Running Time: 101 mins 
A fantasy film designed and directed by Dave McKean and written by Neil Gaiman. This movie embodies all of the elements of a cult film, mostly because it was made for DVD and because it's script is odd to say the least, but I don't think that Mirrormask was ever really aiming for mass appeal. 
We follow 15 year old Helena as she attempts to run away from the circus, yes that's right, run away from the circus. She finds herself on a journey through a strange and and dangerous landscape called the Dark Lands, on a quest to recover a powerful charm - the Mirrormask, that will revive the queen and restore order to this place of chaos. 
This is a visually pleasing movie, with unique concepts and alluring designs. It plays out like a twisted kind of a fairytale and although I really enjoyed the overall vision, the story does feel a bit under developed. That aside, it is still worth seeing, because there is nothing else like it, making it an imaginative, one-of-a-kind experience. 
FINAL SAY: We often confuse what we wish for with what is. 
3 Chilli Peppers​​

2 Comments

Okay, Let's Talk About Christmas

23/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Gimme a high five, a kiss on the cheek and a slap on the arse - work has officially ended! I have now happily navigated (and survived) the Christmas Staff Party, the work place Kris Kringle certificate exchange and the obligatory tipples, cheerful chatter and tears of goodbye that come with all end of year farewells and the much anticipated and fiercely coveted Summer holiday escape. All of my Christmas work events were thoroughly enjoyable, as one would expect when you work with a group of wonderful people, and I was sweetly touched by the outpouring of love and care that everyone in my school community shared with each other over this busy and genuinely exhausting time of the year.
The children (literally dead on their feet by the final stroke of the clock) showered me with much thanks, many hugs and a ridiculously generous cascade of gifts that were both greatly appreciated and overwhelmingly touching; highlighting all of the reasons that the slog is always worthwhile and that we do indeed change tiny minds everyday for the better. It would be more than fair to say that Christmas definitely came early for me. I don't even need to open another gift now, I have already been insanely spoilt and my ego has had a mighty good fluffing up from the many compliments and thanks that the children's parents (who did not hold back their gratitude or appreciations) happily gave to me. 
And so now I move onto more personal affairs, as today I brave the supermarket hordes to shop for my pre-Christmas get togethers and my family Christmas Day lunch. And even though I know that the supermarket is going to resemble a looting escapade during a zombie apocalypse, this is truly a labour of love now and I will undertake it with a lot of thought and loving devotion, because after all, it is Christmas time and therefore an excellent opportunity to spoil your loved ones and indulge in the finer things in life without feeling guilty. 
I have my menu planned, my shopping list written and I have purposely set aside Christmas Eve to prepare desserts and spend some time with Zoe and Seth swanning about the kitchen cooking up some delicious Christmas fare. I like to do all of the hard work and as much of the preparations before Christmas so that on the day I just have to load up the oven and grab a glass of bubbly. No-one should be slaving away in a kitchen on Christmas Day, that is just downright criminal. The load on the day has to be shared; the kids will dress the table (which Zoe has a turned into an art form), I will fill the oven and carve the roasted beasts, we will all do a little dusting and turning out of pre-prepared sweet treats, Seth will organise some appropriate and festive mood music and Craig, as he always does, will provide a jug of good gravy which he makes with the precision of a surgeon. And voila - we will have ourselves a merry little Christmas family gathering. Nothing more to do on the day but pop open the crackers and enjoy a relaxed meal together, which now that I have written about, am getting very excited for.
​Come on Christmas, I am ready for you to arrive!
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LOVE ACTUALLY 
Release Date: 2003
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 135 mins 
Finally a funny and intelligent Christmas themed movie! Thank God for director Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones and About Time) for giving us this clever little romp through the silly season in England, where all things celebratory and love orientated are put into overdrive.
The story begins five weeks before Christmas and is played out by weekly countdown. We follow nine intertwining stories that examine the complexities of the one emotion that connects us all, love; during the one season that no-one can escape - Christmas. 
A stellar ensemble cast pull this all together perfectly; Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Emma Thomson, Martin Freeman, Keira Knightly, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rowan Atkinson, Alan Rickman and my favourite Bill Nighy all shine brightly here. The soundtrack is killer, the interactions between the characters are delightful and there is at least one relatable story here for everyone. One of the best modern Christmas films of our time for sure. 
FINAL SAY: You know I love Christmas, I always will.
4 Chilli Peppers

0 Comments

The Finish Line is Visible!

19/12/2018

2 Comments

 
I cannot deny that the fatigue of a rather long term has begun to set in over the last week. Since the beginning of December I have attended seven dinner events, two graduations, five after hours appointments, two breakfast dates, squeezed in a trip to the movies and not missed a day of work in the process. I have also finished my Christmas shopping, wrapped all of my presents, sent off my Christmas cards, put up the tree and decorations, planned my Christmas menu and volunteered to work for the Salvos and wrap presents on the Sunday before Christmas. I don't want to brag, but I am bloody well going to because I am slamming this Christmas so hard!
With only two days of work left, I am starting to feel the drag of this busy time of the year weighing down on me, which means that I need to shift my focus back to the positive things that have lead to me to this point in the year. I admit that I am ready to unwind a little, and I probably deserve to because I have been going at it like the clappers, and even though work will fall into blissful respite for a while, I still have quite a lot to do between now and the new year, which at this stage looks like a sweet lull from the busyness for me. However, no matter how you look at it, it is always easier to get  more done when you are on holidays and things don't ever feel like a chore when you are marching to the sound of your own drum and don't feel compelled to adhere the time constraints of paid employment. 
Overall, 2018 has been an absolutely massive year for me in every way, absolutely positive that is. I have incorporated so much new learning and self discovery time into my life this year, and for that reason I have a much fuller and richer life than I have ever had before. I have worked really hard to develop routines that have offered me a healthier lifestyle overall; one that embraces me in mind, body and spirit, and I have reaped a  lot of rewards for those efforts. I have also worked harder at my employment, taking on new skill sets and trying out new experiences on a level that I would never have had the confidence to do before, which has pushed me out of my comfort zone but made me grow as a person. And I also believe that I have worked really hard to cultivate meaningful relationships in my life this year by nurturing the positive and uplifting relationships that I am lucky enough to have by spending more time with people who stimulate, entertain, enchant, respect and interest me, which has made my family and social life incredibly enriching and deeply satisfying. 
On all fronts, I feel blessed. Blessed to have had the year that I have had, blessed to be able to spend Christmas time with my family and friends and blessed to have grown as much as I have this year. And even though I have no idea what kind of fuel is carrying me across the finish line of Term Four this year, I am deeply thankful for it and cannot wait to see what lies ahead for the rest of this wonderful season of celebration. 
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MORTAL ENGINES
Release Date: 2018
Rating: MA
Running Time: 129 mins
 
A post-apocalyptic, science fiction adventure movie, directed by Christian Rivers with a screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philip Boyens and Peter Jackson that was based on the novel of the same name by Philip Reeve. Unfairly and harshly reviewed by critics, Mortal Engines didn't receive a lot of praise, and although I agree that the story was seriously lacking in some areas, the CGI and special effects were truly astounding. 
Following a cataclysmic conflict known as the Sixty Minute War, the Earth has become mostly uninhabitable. Mobile predator cities roam the landscape consuming smaller settlements for their resources. Great Britain has combined with Continental Europe to form one huge alliance and Asia has combined with Oceania to form another. Between them, they control much of the power and wealth in the world, with their resources kept separated by what is known as The Shield Wall. However, Great Britain discovers a new weapon called Medusa and plans to use it to take down the wall and everything else in their way as a means to gain greater power. 
The futuristic appeal of this movie is undeniable, it is downright staggering and for that reason alone it is really something that you need to see on a large screen. Unfortunately, the underlying messages about caring for the environment, saving resources and learning from historical mistakes are all buried under the weight of all of those big budget effects, and with a rather underwhelming storyline overall, this movie is seriously going to lacking when it is converted to the small screen.
However, with that being said, I did still enjoy Mortal Engines and cannot deny that I was deeply entertained by some of the smaller and perhaps more interesting, but sadly under-developed, ideas that it harboured. 
FINAL SAY: The Age of the Great Predator Cities. 
3 Chilli Peppers

2 Comments

Stalkers

16/12/2018

3 Comments

 
When people think of stalkers they think of famous people that are in the spotlight getting pursued by weirdos that send them creepy stuff like mutilated dolls in the mail or have creeps turning up at their houses in their underwear demanding a massage; but the truth about stalking is actually way more alarming and far more common than that.
It is only the celebrity stalkers that make it into the news, so we never really hear about all of the other stalking that goes on around us everyday. Turns out, that the real life everyday stalkers are actually very common and according to the National Centre for Victims of Crime statistics, one in 45 men and one in 12 women will be stalked by someone during their lifetime. How creepy is that? I bet you didn't know that there were that many people out in the world with stalker-ish qualities. I have to admit that I was pretty surprised when I read the statistics myself. So, obviously I wanted to know more about stalking, like why does a person stalk and how can you spot stalker behaviour before it gets out of control? 
From what I have read, a stalker's main objective is to induce fear which they try to incite through methods of harassment and intimidation. The official definition of a stalker is anyone that creates unwanted contact between two people that directly or indirectly communicates a threat or places the victim in fear, which means that stalkers can be intentional or unintentional in their actions. 75% of all stalkers personally know their victims, so if you do find yourself being stalked, odds are that you will know the perpetrator. 
Here are the seven types of stalkers to watch out for:
Domestic: A former spouse or paramour. This is the most prevalent type of stalking and can often manifest in the workplace. It also has the highest incident of putting  innocent bystanders at risk.
Lust: A serial predator that stalks victim after victim. Serial rapists and murderers often begin as lust stalkers. 
Love-Scorned: An acquaintance, coworker, neighbour etc. that desires an intimate relationship with the victim but is rebuffed.
Celebrity: Famous people stalker, aka. obsessive stranger. 
Political: A person who's stalking is motivated by their political beliefs.
Hit: A person hired to stalk and murder a person.
Revenge: An angry, aggrieved, resentful and vindictive person that is seeking payback.
Unfortunately, there is no reliable profile to predict who is likely to stalk. Some patterns have begun to emerge from research, and although these fall short of providing a reliable or conclusive checklist, what has been discovered so far is interesting to say the least. Clinical studies have discovered that a large percentage of stalkers are:
  • Unemployed or under-employed
  • In their late 30's to late 40's
  • High school and/or college graduates
  • More intelligent than other forms of criminals
  • Mostly male
  • Often delusional
  • Sometimes narcissistic
  • Usually antisocial 
Interestingly, in another study, most women said that they felt more afraid of being stalked by an unknown stranger than by someone that they knew. And I suppose that it is easier in some ways to see why an unknown predator would seem scarier, it makes them more unpredictable and mysterious. However, the truth is that the greatest danger of being stalked comes from the devil you know, not from the strangers, so don't get too complacent about odd behaviours in people that you already know. 
Some potentially stalking behaviours to pay attention to would include:
  • Someone who has an unnecessary need to contact you but still does, their contact levels will be persistent and incessant. They will use calls, text, emails or even visit in person more often than you feel comfortable with. 
  • Someone who seems clingy or keeps tabs on your goings on. They will always enquire about who you spend time with, where you are going and the details of your future plans. 
  • Someone who knows more about you than you have told them. This means that they have enquired about you to other people or researched you through the people you know and your online profiles. 
  • Someone who is socially awkward, says inappropriate things in large groups of people or is rude or mean to your friends. Many stalkers have these social traits. 
  • Someone who cannot respect your personal boundaries and tries to contact you at inappropriate times, even after you've asked them not to. 
  • Someone who drops in unannounced and hangs around when you don't want them to. 
  • Someone that becomes aggressive, annoyed or intimidating when you try to set up personal boundaries or if you decline an invitation that they have initiated. 
  • Someone that has left signs that they have been to your home, near your car, at your place of employment or on your social media accounts when you have not been there yourself. 
Above all else, if you do feel like you are being pursued or stalked by someone in any way then you really need to take action. Firstly, by telling the person clearly that you would like to be left alone, then by increasing your own personal security (eg. telling friends and family about the stalker, changing your phone number, getting your locks changed, adjusting your daily patterns, not being alone as much as possible) and then if your stalker still doesn't get the hint, then you need to alert the police.
Remember that stalkers are not emotionally stable people, and therefore you cannot rely on them to make the right decisions, so always protect yourself first and never approach them alone. Hopefully, you will never need to employ any of this information, but with many things of an insidious nature, prevention and early detection can be key. So, don't feel like you ever need to put up with being intimidated by someone who attempts to gain your attention and friendship through means of fear, harassment and aggression becasue that's called stalking and it's illegal. 
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INGRID GOES WEST
Release Date: 2017
Rating: MA 15+ 
Running Time: 98 mins 

A black comedy/drama directed by Matt Spicer and written by Spicer and David Branson Smith that premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Ingrid Goes West is a smart and satirical look into the vapidity of social media and the deeply disturbing social problems that have developed as a consequence of everyone's obsession with it, making this film as concerning as it is enjoyable. 
Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza) has a history of mental illness and social media stalking. She discovers Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen) on instagram and instantly becomes obsessed with her boho chic lifestyle, which prompts her to move to LA in an effort to insinuate herself into Taylor's life. 
Aubrey Plaza is dynamite as unstable Ingrid, and Elizabeth Olsen is perfectly cast as the vacuous Instagram junkie Taylor. This is a really watchable and modern take on the Single White Female stalker/thriller trope that will definitely leave you questioning how much you post on social media in the future. 
FINAL SAY: #iamingrid
4 Chilli Peppers

3 Comments

Can a Remake Be Better Than the Original?

9/12/2018

3 Comments

 
So many people have asked me if I think that a remake can be better than an original version of a movie, and my answer is always the same: 'Yes! Of course it can!' With movie technology continually improving, we can now enjoy advanced CGI effects and superior sound and visual experiences, which in short means that we can have a more immersive cinematic experience than we ever could have had before. However, that does not necessarily make the original version redundant or of lesser value and importance, because if I was also asked if remakes were always better the original versions, I would most definitely answer 'Hell No!' 
To this day I still watch a lot of classic movies, and by classic I mean movies from the 1930's to the 1970's. Movies from that time period didn't have a lot of options in the effects and sound department compared to today's standards, so they are often movies that relied on excellent acting and directing to deliver their stories. I have a stockpile of movies on my 'still need to see' list (which seems to be ever expanding and absolutely endless) and around 70% of them would fall into the classic film category. Most of them are very good, some of them are downright legendary and could not be improved upon by a remake, but some of them certainly could. 
To be better than the original movie, there needs to be an improvement on all fronts, and not just in the effects department, because if the storyline is thin then my attention is never held for very long by CGI effects and all of the other bells and whistles that filmmakers feel compelled to throw at movies. For me, there needs to be something fresh about a remake that warrants the movie being remade in the first place. The perspective needs to alter in some way or the story has to become enhanced or given more depth or meaning in a remake. The actors need to be every bit as good and preferably better than the original actors and the director needs to be an avid fan of the original in a way that forces them to keep the integrity of the original intact, in other words it needs to not feel like a director's ego trip, which has happened so many times in remakes. 
There have in fact been heaps of excellent remakes that are deserving of your time, even if you have seen and enjoyed the original version. 
Here is my list of the best movie remakes that I have experienced, in no particular order:
Romeo and Juliet -Baz Luhrmann perfectly remixed this Shakespearean classic by installing a couple of modern heart-throbs and infusing it with a funky fresh soundtrack, and it is slice of pure brilliance. 
Mad Max: Fury Road - I also really liked the original, but the heart-pounding, high octane, adrenaline rush action of the remake was just so damn good, oh and Tom Hardy was in it, definitely a bonus. 
The Jungle Book - Jon Favreau's version of this Rudyard Kipling's classic is a perfect example of how CGI can be used to enhance an experience. It is magical!
Dawn of the Dead - This comedy/ horror homage to George A. Romero from Zack Snyder is a brain eating spectacular, so much blood and tasteless humour! 
Blair Witch - I didn't really like The Blair Witch Project original, but I really got creeped out by the 2016 remake that was simply called Blair Witch. Kept me away from camping for years!
A Star is Born - remade four times, and finally they got it right! The onscreen chemistry  of Coops and Gaga and the modern musical score made this new take an old romance a real winner. 
Ghostbusters - The girls had a swing at it in 2016 and were every bit as good as the boys were in 1984, and they didn't try to 'remake' it so much as have another go at something similar and I enjoyed it a lot. 
The Ring - The 1998 Japanese version was still really good, but the 2002 Gore Verbinski English language remake had an expanded storyline and some extra creepy CGI visuals. The acting was seriously stepped up in this version as well. 
Bram Stoker's Dracula - Dracula has been done to death (pardon the pun) but when Francis Ford Coppola had a go, well it was just magic, finally something Stoker would've loved!
IT - Probably the best horror remake of all time, the effects and storyline have been fine tuned to perfection, unmissable remake material. 
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -Tim Burton takes us on a delicious and disturbing romp into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in this accurate realisation of Roald Dahl's classic tale that his own family were involved in creating.
King Kong - Peter Jackson's epic realisation of Skull Island and the tragic tale of Mighty Kong is by far the best version to see for all of it's impressive CGI effects and in depth story telling. 
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BLAIR WITCH
Release Date: 2016
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 79 mins
 
I was never a big fan of 1999 movie The Blair Witch Project, which got the biggest and most controversial movie advertising campaign that I can recall that year. And even though critics heavily disagree with me here and prefer the original offering to this new version; I am sticking to my horror loving guns when I tell you that this film is genuinely creepy as hell. 
James's sister Heather went missing years ago in the Burkittsville forest whilst investigating the legend of the Blair Witch, convinced that she may still be alive, he rallies together a group of friends to join him in the woods in an attempt to find her and unravel the mystery of the Blair Witch. 
The found footage film style does it make it hard to gauge what is actually going on all of the time, but this film is supposed to be disorientating, that's what the Blair Witch movies are all about so it didn't bother me in the least. I actually liked the 2000 version Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 as well, which also got an absolute slamming from critics.
The acting is actually pretty decent for a low budget horror movie and I thought that Callie Hernandez in particular was really strong, especially since she just needed to look convincingly terrified throughout, which she somehow managed to do with an escalating urgency.  
I personally do find the idea of being lost in the woods for days and days on end (particularly in an unending darkness) a pretty scary and unsettling concept, so maybe that's why I like these movies as much as I do, that and the fact that they are about the legend of an old witch that haunts the woods, and I sure do love a witch tale. 
FINAL SAY: There's something out there. 
​3.5 Chilli Peppers

3 Comments

Carry that Load

5/12/2018

2 Comments

 
Lots to consider at the moment.
The world is kind of whizzing past me in a wild flurry of activity and I am desperately trying to keep a hold on everything and remain positive, polite and jovial. Enjoy the ride Barb...remember you said you were going to enjoy the ride? says the voice in the back of my mind. And then the voice in the front of my mind says, what are you bloody well doing lollygagging about when Christmas is coming in twenty days? You aren't even close to ready for this!  
And I am constantly fighting between these two state of being at the moment, one is a state of blissful acceptance and joyful meandering and the other is a state of slight concern and mild panic. I say mild panic because I am not actually freaking out, but I do know that things are starting to mount up around me and that I am having to try my best to eliminate any clutter as it occurs so that it doesn't get too hectic. However, this need to eliminate the clutter as soon as possible has also caused another condition to occur; the 'too many balls in the air' condition that plagues everyone at some point around the silly season. Curses on the balls I say, I don't want balls to keep in the air, I want a blissful ride! 
Unfortunately, most of these said 'balls' have just arrived of their own volition and have not been of my own making at all, and this entire experience has swiftly reminded me that no matter how good my intentions may have been to remain all zen and joyful on the road to Christmas, that the rest of the world is not always sharing that sentiment with me and that poses a pretty big challenge to my plans. Every year I tell myself to slow down and enjoy the ride and every year it gets harder and harder to follow through with that idea because everyone else seems to be stressing out around me. 
It can be really hard to find enough down time at this time of the year as well, which means that I don't get nearly enough time on the yoga mat, the hiking tracks or the meditation pillow and that generally means that I am not really operating at my most tolerant levels either; and when you go and smash that together with every other pre-Christmas concern and 55 very tired foundation students a day...well, you know where this is going...not to a very zen like place that's for sure. 
However, as I said it is only slight concern and mild panic at this point, certainly nothing that I cannot manage and considering some of the side balls that I have had tossed at me over the last week, I think that I am actually doing okay. Got a whole new mantra going and everything:
Enjoy the ride Barb...enjoy the ride!
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CARGO
Release Date: 2017
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 105 mins 

A post-apocalyptic zombie thriller directed by Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke. Cargo is based on a short film of the same name that was written by Ramke. The short made the finals at Tropfest in 2013 and was later adapted into a full length feature film. After premiering at the Adelaide Film Festival in October of 2017 it was released worldwide on Netflix in 2018. 
When Andy' s (Martin Freeman) wife (Susie Porter) becomes infected with a deadly virus whilst they are stranded in rural Australia, Andy is suddenly left alone to care for his baby daughter in a formidable place full of flesh-eating zombies and ransacked outposts. 
Martin Freeman is definitely a strength to the storyline here, delivering genuine levels of intense concern for the duration. Anthony Hayes is also great and offers a disturbing depiction of an apocalyptic opportunist, Simone Landers is terrific as Thoomi the surviving youngster and David Gulpilil brings enough eerie, silent intensity for everyone on set.
The Australian outback creates a bleak and formidable backdrop to the overall feel of the film and the incredibly enduring indigenous communities that are depicted here are one of the things that I enjoyed most about the movie. This is a really good Australian horror movie that maintains a certain level of humanity within its rather unpleasant storyline, which is so often missing from the zombie horror genre. 
FINAL SAY: They need the dark to hibernate. 
3.5 Chilli Peppers

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Cultural Genocide

2/12/2018

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Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group. When we think about racial genocide we generally think about all of the indigenous communities that were horrifically and systematically murdered, removed or bred out of existence because of greed and intolerance.
Native people with advanced civilisations like the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Incas, the native Mexican tribes, the Apache, the Navajo, the Cherokee, the Yuki, the Indigenous Australian and African tribes, the New Zealand Maori and Inuit tribes were all severely diminished or even completely wiped out when the Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, British, Belgian and Russian explorers began to invade their lands.
These white invaders from across the seas came to rape, plunder and claim the land, at any cost. If they couldn't just overpower or kill the natives outright with brute force, which was often the case, then they crept in, in the most insidious of ways, spreading their diseases, destroying their crops and livelihood and abducting and enslaving their people, eventually destroying entire native cultures from the inside out.
And that, is genocide. And that is the stuff of history is it not? White man comes, white man takes and white man wonders why he is not trusted anymore. And we all like to tell ourselves that this is all just bad water under the bridge, that this type of thing does not happen anymore, that people have learnt from their mistakes and that genocide is not a modern construct but an ancient one. Well I hate to be the one to break it to you, but people haven't learned jack shit from their sordid and generally horrific past exploits because genocide has also feature heavily in the 20th century history as well, and in a lot of those cases, people have actually turned on each other, their very own people and it is just so disturbing. 
There were the atrocities of the Ottoman Empire/ Turkey when the Christian minorities of Armenia, Assyria and Greece were persecuted. There was the starvation of the Ukrainian people during the Soviet Famine of 1932. Then the mass deportation of Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians and the systematic slaying of Poles and ethnic cleansing of the Crimean Tatars by Stalin in 1937-38.  There was the mass killings of the Chinese people by the Japanese in the Nanking massacre followed by The Holocaust - when the German Nazis murdered approximately 3.8 million Jewish people and performed an ethnic cleansing of the Slavic countries. Then there was a genocide that was carried out on the Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot in between 1974 and 1979, and the list just goes on and on.....Tibet, the Congo, Somalia, Chechnya, Myanmar, ISIL... I haven't even touched the sides here, there are literally billions of lives and cultures throughout history that have been destroyed through means of genocide. And genocide is still going on today, it is happening right now and the end is nowhere in sight. 
So what have we learned through all of this killing? What is the take away from all of this bloodshed and civil unrest? For some, they have learned nothing and maybe never will, but for many of us around the globe we have learned that no-one is safe from persecution and that only through a united global mindset will we ever be free from another genocide.
The positive is that most countries have now signed to a peace treaty and will not tolerate the inhumane treatment of any ethnic, religious or racial party; and that is a very good start. We now also place more emphasis on learning from the past and understanding our torn history as humans and supporting the liberation of depleted and destroyed cultures.
It is not okay to not own our history, it is ours, we must own it and learn from it if we are to get better, and I do believe that we can, but it's going to take time and patience and empathy and ownership of what has transpired. And quite frankly, not everyone is prepared to own the atrocities of their own heritage which is going to slow us all down quite a bit, but that doesn't mean that we can give up, it means that we have to push even harder to drive home the message that no-one's culture, religion, ethnicity or race makes them inferior to anyone else and that no-one ever has the right to take that very human right away from anyone else. We have seen enough genocide in our past, wouldn't it be nice to see a lot more liberation and fraternity in our future? 
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JOHN LEGUIZAMO'S LATIN HISTORY FOR MORONS
Release Date: 2018
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 90 mins

Colombian-American actor John Leguizamo brings his one man Broadway show to Netflix in this unmissable documentary about Latino history. Latin History for Morons earned a 2018 Tony Award nomination for Best Play on Broadway and is easily the most interesting chalk and talk history lesson that you will ever sit through.
When John's son falls victim to a white bully at a Manhattan private school for being Latino, John delves into his own history to try and identify the reasons for America's whitewashed historical recount and the hidden heros that have been sadly overlooked. 
The excruciatingly violent past of the indigenous people of America and South America is delivered here in an informative and effervescent way by Leguizamo who manages to illustrate all of the ugliness with a good speckle of humour and an engaging flair. However underneath it all, this is a harrowing tale about all of the native people that were slain and driven from their homes over the past 3000 years and the impact that is still being felt today as a consequence of that.
Everyone needs to see this, it is a powerful and thought provoking watch that offers a great overview into Hispanic culture for people (or morons like me) that don't know a lot about the topic. 
FINAL SAY: Violence is the lowest form of communication.
4 Chilli Peppers 
​

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    Hi, my name is Barb.
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