The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Movie Review (No Spoilers)

I may not have read all the Lord Of The Rings books but I have watched the Peter Jackson Movie Trilogy 10 hours straight. Yes, I did that. It is a day I will never forget. So naturally when I heard a movie trilogy coming from Tolkien’s The Hobbit novel, I was all excited. I was even more excited to hear the movie was releasing on the same day as the US Release Date. And so I went… and enjoyed quite a lot. This is not a usual movie review I do. This is more of a review as a whole.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a movie for the brain rather than brawn. Oh, don’t get me wrong… it has its fair share of action scenes. If you are a hardcore fan of the Lord Of The Rings movie series, there’s quite a lot of references in this movie; references only the true fan could recognize. When I mean a lot… I mean A LOT! It’s fun how they included these references for the amusement of the fan. Kudos to the Writer and the Director. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey tie things up pretty well with the original trilogy. On Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, you may remember Bilbo Baggins telling a story to some tiny Hobbits and scare the living day light out of the lot. I won’t spoil you here… watch The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and you’ll find out something very special about it.

CGI looks good as always. Can’t say much about the 3D gimmick.

We have good cast this time around as well. Dr. Watson delivers a pretty awesome Bilbo Baggins. It’s always nice to see some of the old cast especially Gandalf The Grey. I personally like Gandalf The Grey better than Gandalf The White. Seeing Gandalf The Grey again is pure joy for me.

The new movie is not dreary and boring as the first LOTR. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is action packed (even felt like too much). I never even felt 3 hours pass by and wished for more.
This movie is a prequel movie and is rightfully so. I’ve seen a lot of prequel movies and yet they are horrible. Usually prequel movies all have a plot where they will shoehorn everything in and try to tie things up. Let me tell you, that doesn’t really work (*cough*Phantom Menace*cough*). But, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey truly deserve to be titled as a prequel.

But of course it is customary to speak about the bad as much as the good. Having a trilogy of Lord of the Rings movies meant this one is easily compared with it for the nitpicking. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey follows the exact same formula as the 1st LOTR movie; Fellowship of the Ring and therefore there is not much of originality. The music from this movie is not on par with the previous trilogy. There are some parts where we’ll hear “remixed” versions of the previous tracks and they stand above the rest, meaning the original music outshines and stands above the new movie music. But an exception should be given to the song titled “Song of the Lonely Mountain” which is absolutely spectacular. You’ll hear it if you stay long enough for the credit roll.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. This is the first of the new trilogy. There are two more movies coming out; “The Desolation of Smaug” & “There and Back Again”, due for theatrical release in 2013 and 2014.

I’m finishing this review with a YouTube upload of Song of the Lonely Mountain. But I do wish you listen to it after the movie… because it makes such a good emotional feeling after that.

Broken Hope

 

Nothing even comes close to the pain

Of a broken heart withered in chain

Even by a hope size of a grain

Can’t erase the mark of a stain


We learn the lesson every time so much

Not to get broken by a single touch

Lesson repeats such and such

To the day we all walk with a crutch

© All Rights Reserved. Udana S. Wijesuriya.

Image courtesy: slodive.com

Press Start

Your eyes are no longer distant

Feel that you’ll be here in an instant

All the times our friendship has gained

I feel that everything has changed

I felt that when you said “hello”

You heart felt the same deep below

Is it a time to start a new game?

New "save status" with your name

© All Rights Reserved. Udana S. Wijesuriya.

Image courtesy: brittonnicolson.com

Twihards

I’m not a Twilight fan… nope. I haven’t even touched a book, let alone open one and take a look what’s inside. But I have seen the movies… of course I have. I have a bunch of friends (girls to be precise) who are nuts about Twilight (and Vampire Diaries for that matter). They pretty much insist that we see it. All of them do… all the Twihards. Yes, that’s what the Twilight Fans are known as. Very much like how we are called "Potterheads".

I never understood the concept of Twilight. For me, Vampires do not sparkle in the sunlight and Werewolves can’t transform at will. Therefore, you can catch me scratching my head every time I see a Twilight movie.

Up until today, I saw Twihards as a bunch of girls fantasizing about 100% true love from monsters. Always saw them living a life via Twilight which they can’t have. But not today.

Well, the final Twilight Saga movie came out and I went with the Twihards, who I know will remain as my best friends forever, to see it. I couldn’t say no to them… ever. The movie was better than expected and I thank the director and whoever’s in charge of fight choreography. I’m not going to go into details about the movie and review it… no.

Anyway, after the movie we all went out for a lunch. And while we were waiting to get served, the bunch started talking about Twilight. Of course the boys didn’t join in and neither did I but I couldn’t help but noticing what they were talking about. I was totally surprised, they were not talking about how handsome the Vampire guy is or how cute the Werewolf guys was… but rather discussing the movie as a whole… or the series as a whole. I said to myself… “Are we so different?” No, absolutely not. After a good action movie or a superhero movie, the boys would break into detail how it deviated from the comic or how a certain action scene was executed. And yet, here we see the girls discussing Twilight. At the moment I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of admiration for the lot. They were happily discussing it much like we usually do. It was such an emotionally powerful moment for me. I never ever expected it. I felt ashamed for never seeing their opinion. But now I do. I saw the love for the franchise in their eyes. There was so much they didn’t speak, but let out with a sigh and a small laugh.

If there are Twihards reading this blog post of mine… just know that I still don’t like your Twilight Saga… but I do like your love for the franchise.

"Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?"

The Dark Knight Rises Movie Review (No Spoilers)

I always thought Super Hero movies to be fun movies; I guess Spider-Man and Iron Man left that impression on me. Despite being a Marvel Fanboy at heat, I do have more DC Comics at home than Marvel. Undoubtedly, my favorite DC hero is Batman and you can imagine how excited I was to hear that Christopher Nolan is doing a series based on the Dark Knight. But as soon as I saw the first movie, my initial reaction was the same as the famous joker quote; “Why So Serious?”

Anyway, not going to review the trilogy here, just the last one. Here’s The Dark Knight Rises… as I see it.

Plot
Oh let me tell you, Nolan had done a super job trying to knit all three movies together. If you haven’t seen Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, then go watch ‘em before you watch The Dark Knight Rises. This isn’t Expendables you know (Seriously, I watched Expendables 2 without watching the first one since all it has is just killing). Unlike the 2nd movie, I didn’t felt bit bored. TDKR even threw in some good jokes here and there. Major plus point of this movie is that they kept all the reveals to the end. It’s like reading a Sherlock Holmes novel or watching Doctor Who. I can’t go in more without spoiling you.

I’m praising the overall flow of the movie which is executed very well indeed. I kept on anticipating things to happen but the movie kept giving me surprises; which I found rather entertaining.

Action
I’ll give it a solid “Good”. I expected a bit more Batman than Bruce Wayne. I’m sure those who saw the movie knows exactly what I’m talking about. Never-the-less all the vehicular chases got me intrigued. The flow of the movie made up for all the lack of action. But I guess more action could have ruined it.

Actors
What can I say, with an awesome ensemble cast, you can’t possibly go wrong. In my opinion Anne Hathaway is the best onscreen representation of CatWoman (er.. no I’m not talking about her physical appearance here). Wayne, Alfred, Gordon and the new cast member for the good guys (hem hem) are all believable and perfect. What can I say about the villains?… well, same as above.

Visuals
Well, no doubt about this one… done very well; The Gotham Skyline and a very nice “Invasion Sequence”. There was a cool new vehicle (I don’t want to give away) and the scenes associated with it were done right. It gave a sense of power and freedom. Bats being bats they do fly you know (hint, hint).

Music and Audio
Whoa Nelly! Now this is what I’m talking about. The score, the sound effects are absolutely perfect. I enjoyed the movie at Majestic City Platinum Theater and let me tell you, they have a super sweet sound system complimenting the movie. The audio throws the audience straight into the heart of the movie; especially the “Rise Chant”. I couldn’t help but murmuring it without any idea of what I’m doing. Yes, Amazing Spider-Man… you can learn from this.

Continuity
Indeed, for the fans it’s the little little things which makes the movie special. Generally, as I said before, all three movies are tied together and all the loose ends are closed. However, at the very end the fans are teased with a possible spin-off movie series. “Of What?” is up to you to find out.

Afterthoughts
Not much can be said since that I have already told what must be told. All-in-all The Dark Knight Rises is the Swan Song of the trilogy and rightfully so. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing, so I’m happy that the series came to an end without making it go stale. The upcoming Superman movies are going to be similar in tone to the Dark Knight Trilogy judging by the trailers. I’m not skeptical whether or not the formula would work since pretty much if you have read both Batman and Superman comics know that they are indeed the same.

Chance…

I’ve been wasting time

Trying to find my love for you

Taking no chances

With my broken heart

All my life,

I waited for the songs you sing

Hoping for the best, my love

Wishing for the stars to sing

Now that I know you there

But your words will say

And if they speak my love

I will win the world today

I will make no mistakes

That I’ve learned

Wishing so secretly

Ending for the deep heartaches 

 © All Rights Reserved. Udana S. Wijesuriya.

Image courtesy: http://www.aaoceanfront.com 

Workplace Discrimination

It’s been exactly one and a half years for me at my first job. Over the course of that time, I saw a lot of things that should have been on my blog a long time ago. But, like how they say… “Better Late Than Never”.

Workplace Discrimination is such a big word. However, I’m fairly certain that there is no straight definition to it. I’ll leave that to that. These days majority of organizations treat their employees equal. There are no “Bosses”, there are no “Sirs” and there are no “Ma’ams”. But there are those certain few who wish to be superior than others... and this is where Workplace Discrimination starts.

Newcomers do get pushed around a lot. This is mostly done not by the “Big big guys” but rather from the “Middle big guys”. Am I speaking from experience? Maybe, maybe not.

Employees at some point may have met elsewhere before…. may it be at school, institute or university As academic as they may be, that life is a personal life. One of the problems creating Workplace Discrimination is mixing up this personal life with the work life. This put in danger both the people associated and project itself.

I’m a QA Engineer. And yes, we do get less of a salary than the developers and have less of a technical knowledge than the developers. But this doesn’t say by any means that the developers can take QA people for granted. Same principle applies to any two (or more) positions such as this. A job is a job no matter what it is.

There is much more to say but I’ll stop now. You can agree with me on the points or not… it’s up to you. But remember one thing everybody… “Respect; you have to earn it!”

Image Courtesy: http://www.haberlawoffices.com

The Amazing Spider-Man Movie Review (No Spoilers)

Just enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man thanks to Dialog’s The Amazing Tweet Up and thought to write bit of a review on it since Spider-Man is and always will be my favorite Marvel Super Hero. I have mixed reactions on it (Don’t get me wrong here, I enjoyed the new movie).

Plot

It is evident from start to the end credit scene (if you stick around to watch it) that this movie is the first of a potential Trilogy. I say this because there seems to be a story arc going on and therefore I will have to reserve my judgment till I see all three. Unlike the previous Spider-Man movies (yes, it is mandatory to compare the both) The Amazing Spider-Man story is sticking (pun intended) more close to the original Comic Book series. This greatly explained why Hasbro issued a toy line based on the comic book series under the flag of the new movie. Overall, the plot is not a huge improvement over any other “pop-corn flick”.

Action

Now this, I have to praise. We can’t compare The Amazing Spider-Man action to more recent action movies like The Avengers or even Transformers: Dark of the Moon, but there was definitely good stuff going on. Having said that, the new movie got more action than any previous Spider-Man movies and that’s a plus point. However the credit of this must go to the visual brilliance which we will talk in few moments. Good action choreography but wish we had more from it. Here’s hoping for the next movie.

Visuals

In terms of visuals, The Amazing Spider-Man easily surpasses the previous trilogy. The audience is immersed in all sorts of web swinging acrobatics that had nothing to do with the 3D gimmick; which is a good thing. The visuals can be enjoyed even without the use of 3D. There was nod to a certain scene from all 3 previous movies and it was done right and better than the predecessors. One of the reasons the action of the new movie looked great is partly because of the visuals.

Music and Audio

This is again mixed. On the original trilogy, the theme music was catchy. In fact, lot of critics and fans alike praised the opening credit sequence of the 1st Sam Raimi movie. This however, fails to deliver when it comes to the music aspect. Other than couple of background music and one particular song (Till Kingdom Come - Coldplay), the rest is forgotten on The Amazing Spider-Man. But the surround sound effects immerse the audience on the scene. It is good on that note.

Continuity

What I like about Marvel movies is that they tug on the heart-strings of fans with various little nods. This movie ranks high in that category. These are the little things only the true fans would know and with it they respect the fandom. I won’t spoil you guys on them, but if you are a “True Believer Of Spider-Man”, this is the time to test your faith. Again, this looks like a potential trilogy and a tie-into The Avengers 2.

Overall

The Amazing Spider-Man failed to step up to the expectations of the awesomeness that is The Avengers; which concluded not too long ago. But it is not for once a total failure at all. I was very skeptical of whether or not ‘Web-Shooters’ concept will work on the big screen but they pulled it off nicely; exceeding my expectations. Overall, The Amazing Spider-Man is a good family movie and I highly recommend for any Spider-Man fan to go and see it. This is indeed a welcoming reboot and a reboot done right. Kudos to everyone who worked on the movie and I am eagerly waiting for more. Excelsior!

A little talk with SLT...

Here is a rough English translation of the conversation I had with SLT ADSL Customer Care regarding the recent Island wide issues with the connection.

Me: Hello, I called regarding a connection issue I’m having with ADSL. I called yesterday too.

SLT: What can I do for you?

Me: It’s regarding an issue I’m having with ADSL.

SLT: I can hear some noises maybe your phone line is faulty.

Me: [Fixing the spiral telephone cable which came loose by me] Sorry about that, my telephone cable came loose, There we go... I fixed it, now can you hear me?

SLT: Yes.

Me: Good. I can’t access most of the usual sites I visit, especially Facebook. Some sites take a lot of time to load while others don’t load at all. I saw that the issue is island-wide. Saw tons of posts at Elakiri and users have tweeted on your SLT Twitter account.

SLT: What is that? I don’t know. About ADSL, are you using the old package?

Me: Yes, why?

SLT: You have used more than the limit.

Me: For the record, mine is unlimited and even if you do have a FUP.. I haven’t exceeded 25GBs.

SLT: It’s 20GB.

Me: Whatever it may be, I barely use 10 or 15GBs a month. I’m not a heavy user. So, what about the issue?

SLT: To fix that you need to switch to a new package.

Me: What? You can’t force people to change packages like that… it’s illegal.

SLT: Hold on. [Goes away. Can hear another lady talking “Just tell him that he exceeded his limit”. Coming back]. You have exceeded 20GBs.

Me: Look, please take a look at your own Twitter feed. This isn’t just my problem. Whoever maintains your official Twitter account acknowledges the issue. Many complains.

SLT: They have exceeded as well.

Me: Listen, trust me I barely exceed 10 GBs, let alone 20 or even 15.

SLT: [Asks for my home and Mobile number. Gives me a number and told me thank you for calling.]

I report, you decide…

The Seven Potters

You can call this story cheesy or whatnot, but one of the most unforgettable days of my life was the day I read the final Harry Potter book. I wanted to share this now because J. K. Rowling announced today her return to the literature world. Happy for you ma’am.

Now that the introduction is all said-and-done, I’ll tell you the story in which most Potter fans can relate themselves to. As a fan I was obsessed with Harry Potter those days. How much our fictional hero is similar to me is quite uncanny. Long story short… It was nearly time for me to read the final Potter book and boy was I nervous.

As the release day grew near and near I couldn’t sleep even. The book was preordered and all, just like every time (I’m not taking a risk by not ordering) and there I was on the day of the release all holed-up inside a tuition class. I had come to an agreement with my mom the previous day; when I return home with the book, No disturbing me till I finish reading. And the class was over, I ran straight to the bookstore (stopped on my way for Thimira to pick up his book too).

I arrived at Gunasena, Kiribathgoda with a huge smile on my face. The sales lady made sure to point that out for me. I knew she understood. I paid the rest of my money, thanked the cashier and went outside. On the doorstep was a poor lady holding a baby. I remember thinking to myself that on this happy day no one should be left sad. Keeping just enough money for a bus ride home, I turned my wallet upside-down and emptied the rest of the money for the poor lady. I didn’t wait for the reaction because I took the next available bus and went home.

There was my mom waiting with a grin on her face. She knew of the promise and I darted upstairs to the shower and into my room.

With a deep breath, I opened the book and that’s all I can remember of any real life event.

I raised my heads just few chapters away from the finale, the clock told me I was reading for 6 hours straight. 11 ‘O’ clock… Nah! Not hungry… and I started reading again.

The reality hit me the very moment I finished the book. I closed it slowly and turned it over to take a look at the cover. It was over… it was all over. Years of waiting and it all came down to this. A huge dread swept over me. It was like saying goodbye to a best friend. I thought I’d be happy to finish the series but I was not. The realization of the series coming to an end was incomprehensible.  For the first time in my life, I felt without a purpose. I knew this had nothing to do with the plot of the book where many of my favorite characters are now dead. This was more than that. I went downstairs to see if I can scavenge something to eat, only to be surprise with a plateful of my favorite goodies and a bottle of Coca-Cola waiting on the table. It was my mom. She knew I’d need something to celebrate finishing the book. She knew how I felt about the series. She knew of the emotional attachment. Most importantly, she knew… me.

I ate what was on it, I ate it all. It was a very quiet “dinner”. I went back to my room, picked up the book on the bed and placed it on the last empty space of the cupboard holding the 6 previous Potter books. What a sight to see… all 7 Books united in one straight line. The huge smile returned to my face. With the smile intact, I closed the door… that’s all there is, there isn’t any more.