Favourites #11 : Speeches

I don't know about you, but I love listening to inspirational speeches they often have in movies. I regularly view some of them because they are actually inspirational, while others can be rather trite but still, I watch them to see how the actor immerse his or herself into their role when one of these speeches come along. Sometimes I wonder if they even believe what they're saying at all, or were they just concerned with their paycheck.

Because these guys weren't...

Anyway before I proceed, I don't know if you have seen this, but it's a mash-up of inspirational speeches found in movies as far back as It's a Wonderful Life [1946] to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End [2007]. Very cleverly made too, if I may add;

I cracked up that they finished it with "independence day!", but all the same I was intrigued because whoever made that must have a really good memory to string the clips together like that. I'm much too lazy to come up with something like that, so I'll just give you some of the inspirational speeches from movies that I watch regularly;

Read all about it... CLICK HERE

Favourites #10 : Superheroes

Those who went to school with me might remember that I had a hobby that gave my parents and teachers plenty of headaches; I was obsessed with superheroes, to the extent that I must have written and drawn no less than thirty different series of them in exercise books. Most were simply my version of the popular superheroes at the time, but there was a handful of them that I created and those were the only ones that I finished drawing from cover to cover.

Too bad I threw them all away in a tantrum. Can't remember why.

Apparently my superheroes were not immortals...

As an adult, I barely draw anymore. I'd hate to give up my love for all things creative and artistic, but if things don't look up, I might just have to. Well, at least there are superhero movies I could enjoy.

Speaking of which, Superhero movies is pretty much a genre that is here to stay, and frankly I welcome it to stay for as long as possible. But all the same, superhero movies are a bit of a hit-and-miss type of thing because for every one superhero movie that I like, there are heaps that I simply loathe. For example, I never reviewed Ghost Rider [2007], but that was a god-awful superhero movie, wasn't it?

Even my love for badass bikes and leather jackets couldn't save it...

Sometimes it's not even about B-list superheroes. Other big names like Superman had also fallen out of my favour since he was all about whining, stopping Lex Luthor's real estate scams and rescuing kittens. So yeah, being all powerful does not guarantee that I will like it, as evidenced by this list of five superheroes that I like;

Read all about it... CLICK HERE

Favourites #9 : Pixar

"Can Pixar make a bad movie?" I can't help but wonder every time they release a movie. I bet I don't even need to introduce it to you because... well, how can you not know what Pixar is, assuming that you weren't born in the 70's. To date, Pixar has released eleven full-length feature films, with another three planned over the next two years.

The following are my favourite Pixar movies, listed from the one I like most to the one I like the least. However, do not take it to meaning that I dislike the ones listed lower on the list, because there's just no way I could dislike a Pixar movie. I don't know how, but they always come up with an original and interesting concept for their movies and let their imaginations run wild with it, while taking us along for the ride.

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Favourites #8: Movies From '87

Yeap, you read that right. This particular Favourites entry is going to feature some of my favourite movies released in the year 1987. Why '87, specifically? Am I just picking numbers at random and feature movies released that year? Of course not. I'm sure you're perceptive enough to guess that I was born that year and today, April 11th, is my birthday!

So I searched for movies released that year, and imagine my delight to discover that some of my favourite movies are coincidentally as old as I am. Not that I'm that old to begin with, but I'm at least two decades old yet these movies didn't seem like they have aged a single day.

Read all about it... CLICK HERE

Favourites #7: Women in Film

You know, I have been accused of being a sexist this one time. Granted, it was an off-hand remark but it got me curious anyway. Turns out she was joking, citing that I almost never feature women in this blog of mine. That's not at all true (that part about me being sexist and all), although I can see why she would think that. I must have written on and on about actors and directors I admire, and safe to say they're all pretty much of the XY chromosome.

I sure as hell never said that you can't...

However, it is completely baseless to say that I don't admire any women in the industry. It just so happens that the ones I admire work mostly behind the scenes, and it's never a question of cup size either. So yeah, some of my favourite movies were made possible by these people who happens to be female - I'm a firm believer in meritocracy, mind you.

Read all about it... CLICK HERE

Favourites #6: Movie Theme Songs

Choosing a favourite movie theme song is almost as hard for me as listing down my favourite movies of all time. But I haven't been able to shake the thought off my mind all day, so I thought I'd put it down into writing just so I could have some peace of mind.

Although a brilliant mind is never at peace. You can tell by their hair...

Now, I did not Google for anything, because my aim is not to list down the best movie theme songs, these are merely my personal favourites. Note the complete absence of the legendary John Williams. It's not that I don't find his works to be any less epic, if anything it's the opposite. I was just unable to choose just one out of his amazing body of work, so I decided to regard him as being in a league of his own and proceed with movie theme songs that I actually listen to on a regular basis.

But before we get to that, you might be wondering why is this even worth undertaking? Well, imagine this; once I got into a fistfight (I was a child, so nothing brutal here). It was a very Karate Kid-like thing because I was on the losing side when the other kid got a little arrogant and lowered his guard. I seized the chance and swung my entire arm to his face... and missed.

Yeah, I got my ass handed to me that day. But had it all take place in a movie, there would have been a killer soundtrack to my attempted finishing blow to the bully. If it was a movie, I wouldn't have looked like such a doofus. Here are some tunes that would have made me look badass, while others were simply great songs to listen to.

Read all about it... CLICK HERE

Favourites #5: Martial Arts Movies

They sure don't make martial arts movie the way they used to. Sure, you can see elements of it incorporated into virtually any kind of movie; may it be science fiction like The Matrix [1999] to the newer James Bond movies. What I'm talking about here are martial arts movie in the truest sense of the genre;

Martial arts movies are really about an alternate universe where authority figures doesn't seem to exist, and regardless of the nature of dispute, everything can be solved by the good ol' street justice. Whoever can kick ass in ways cooler than the opponent (usually the protagonist) wins, and they can rest assured that there will be no repercussions whatsoever.

"Lawsuit? What's that?"

The Mafia is extorting your restaurant for money? Don't call the police, just call for backup in the form of a kung-fu master from Hong Kong. Poachers stole your elephant? Don't call for the wildlife authority, try tracking it down yourself, yell "where's my elephant?!" in every room you break into and proceed by breaking the bones of everyone who give you quizzical looks.

Caught my drift yet? 

Nobody watches martial arts movies to get awed by the story, or to be blown away by some critical social commentaries. Instead, it's really about watching people who are very light on their feet doing things that makes us look down on our flabby stomachs with shame. If you're watching it for the story, you are missing the point, and not to mention missing out on the spectacular human feats. However, you will notice the complete absence of wuxia movies because... well, even I draw the line somewhere.

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Favourites #4: Directors

Woody Allen by William Medeiros

If you remember correctly, I've already featured a favourite director of mine, it was an entry about Quentin Tarantino. But believe it or not, if I were to list down my favourite directors ever, he wouldn't actually be in my Top five.

So without further ado, here's my list of Favourite Directors; whose works I immensely enjoy, and it has nothing to do with their popularity or how much money their movies made. These guys don't just tell a story, they take us into different worlds.

Some are new, others had long established themselves as iconic Hollywood directors. But they all have one thing in common; I'd go see their movies in a heartbeat.

Read all about it... CLICK HERE

Favourites #3: Tough Guy Actors

As we discussed fairly recently, this segment of the blog will feature either movies, directors, actors or anything relevant to movies, things that I like. This time around we're gonna look at my favourite Tough Guy actors. Please note that Tough Guy actors does not always mean "Action star". How do they differ? Well, it's pretty self-explanatory that they are nothing like Edward Gaylen or Zac Gayfron, that much is clear.

So perhaps this little graphic will shed some light on the matter?

So with that in mind, here are some actors known for playing tough guys. Some are just good at it, others because they can't really play anything else.

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Favourites #2: Psychological Thrillers

At first, I simply sought to write about some of my favourite thriller movies. Little that I know it would be this hard. You see, I thought I'd start with thrillers because I initially thought that out of all genres, I don't have that many to choose from when it comes to thriller movies. But then I sat down and started listing down some of the thriller movies that I've enjoyed watching... I ended up having a list of nearly a hundred titles.

No, that won't do. So I narrowed it down to just Psychological thrillers, the sub-genre I enjoy the most out of all thriller movies. After that I narrowed it down further to thrillers with similar feel, atmosphere and scope just to give it a sense of validity. These are the ones in the top ten.

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Favourites #1: Quentin Tarantino

Just like the title suggests, I'll be talking about my favourites; may it be movies, directors or actors. None of it are in any particular order, they're just the ones who happened to be in my headspace at the time they are written. This time around we're gonna look at...

Quentin Tarantino

Love him or hate him, you have to admit that he is truly one of a kind. Some say he's all about blood and gore, and to those people who say that, have you actually seen a Tarantino movie? You could tolerate non-scary horror movies with random bloodshed and characters with no survival instinct, yet so much controversy surrounds Tarantino's rich and colourful movies.

Really, all the violence, blood and gore in his movies are there for a reason, they work for the story instead of the other way around. Sure, sometimes Tarantino himself makes it hard to be likable since he can be a bit of a douche. But then again, the dude has plenty of talent, and that means there's a lot I would let him get away with.

Read all about it... CLICK HERE