A Very Long Post About Star Wars (And Yes, There Will Be Spoilers)

Part 1 – We Need To Talk About Legends

My father knows his children well. In 1997 when the Star Wars Special Edition was being released in theatres, he took his three kids to see A New Hope, with the promise that we would love them. I was 16, my little sister was 9. My father was right. We were hooked. But the movies weren’t enough. I needed more.

I started reading the novels of the Extended Universe, the EU. I read the campy wrongness of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, I read about the powerful Nightsisters, the courtship of Princess Leia, the rise of Tarkin, the complex awesomeness of Mara Jade, and Luke’s Jedi Academy. I read about the new generation: Jacen and Jaina and Kyp Duron and Tenel Ka. I devoured the novels revolving around the Yuuzahn Vong. The internet happened and I discovered fanfic. One of my close friends in high school was my Star Wars BFF and we talked about the fic we were writing. My Star Wars BFF also chased me around her house when I accidently blurted out that Chewbacca had died in the latest book.

By the time I got to university, I didn’t have time to read Star Wars novels anymore. I only heard second hand about Jacen’s fall, about Ben Skywalker, about Mara’s murder.

And then Lucasfilms got sold.

30 years later. 30 years after ROTJ. In the EU, this was the point where the Galactic Republic finally defeated the Yuuzahn Vong. Han and Leia lost their youngest son. Luke had trained hundreds of Jedi apprentices. Jacen and Jaina transitioned to adulthood. I can’t imagine skipping the twenty-five to thirty books I had read beforehand and jumping directly into The Unifying Force novel. But here’s where we are, and from here the story picks up…

Part 2 – The Force Awakens, A Jacen Vs. Jaina Rematch

I haven’t read any of the new tie-in comics or novels yet. I’m fairly certain everything will pale in comparison to the novelization of Revenge of the Sith, which was emotionally damaging and heart-breakingly beautiful. All I have is the movie I have seen.

I love this movie, I really do. I couldn’t sleep for two hours after I’d seen it (the movie finished at 2am) because I couldn’t stop thinking about the universe that had lain out before me. Same but different. Like coming home two decades later and seeing it with grownup eyes.

The heart of this movie is unquestioningly Rey. Daisy Ridley carried the movie with the force of her acting. I can’t even explain how looking at Rey’s face on-screen made me feel… like I was about to vomit with excitement perhaps? That moment when she resists Kylo Ren’s mind-reading and mind-reads back at him… if anyone has watched the Avatar cartoon, they’ll understand why it reminded me of Aang and Ozai metaphysically battling for bending supremacy.

John Boyega’s Finn was a stroke of brilliance. That man is amazing. In the history of Star Wars, the evil grunts are always evil, always disposable. We know nothing of their exploits and feelings. But the reticent Stormtrooper, that’s a new angle. It humanizes individual enemies instead of painting them with broad strokes. Finn was the perfect foil to Rey. I know he has a smaller role in the next movie and that makes me sad.

There are no words for how adorable BB-8 is. I swear to god I will crochet one for myself and pet it every day. Its dejection when Finn says Poe is gone, its confusion at whether to believe Finn and tell Rey about the resistance base, its attempts to stay in one piece on the Falcon, how it tries to wake up R2. And at the end, BB and R2 and 3PO talking together like the cutest little droid family ever, oh my gosh.

From what I saw of Poe I liked. Hotshot pilots are always welcome, the younger the better. The instant bond between him and Finn was fantastic and their reunion at the base was perfect, as well as his reunion with BB.

I screamed “whaaaaaat” when Rey turned towards the garbage spaceship that was the Falcon. I laughed through Han’s typical tactic of trying to talk his way out of owing someone money (you’d think people would give an old war hero a break, damn). The strained reunion of Han and Leia broke my heart. Sorry to go all #Force4Ham right now but “have pity, they are working through the unimaginable.” And then the final tender caress when Han knows it’s over, Leia back at the command centre feeling his presence fade through the Force, the broken & defeated look on her face when Rey finally arrives, because only another Force user could truly feel her pain and offer compassion. Chewbacca with his head in his hands, deep in mourning.

(Aside Number 1: son of Han Solo my ass, let’s not play games, call him exactly what he is… the son of Leia Skywalker Organa)

I could have done without the heavy-handed Nazi flavour of the First Order but otherwise I loved the direction they were taken. Love the Flametroopers, loved Captain Phasma (wish there had been more of her), loved that Star Destroyers and Tie Fighters were still around. Snoke is the biggest mystery to me right now, I am salivating to see who he actually is and how he turned Ben Solo into Kylo Ren.

I still smile every time I think of Kylo flipping out when he hears bad news, demolishing an entire control panel wall with his lightsaber upon hearing bad news. He’s like a petulant teenager in a very unique position of power, a marked contrast from Vader’s terrifying silence. It was shocking to see how much of a youth Kylo still is, I do believe the woobiefication has already commenced. It was interesting to hear a different interpretation of the dark side, that one could be “seduced” by the light side, that Vader had actually fallen from his dark destiny as opposed to turning towards the light.

If anything, the ending was my least favourite part of the movie. It was too subdued, not celebratory enough, but I understood why it was done the way it was. I am so excited for Luke’s return, for more Jedi and Force mythos, for Jedi Temple exposition, and an extended training sequence between Luke and Rey.

(Aside Number 2: why do I suspect that it was Snoke leaving Rey on Jakku?)

I also look forward to hearing why Ben Solo went to the dark side. In the EU, Han and Leia’s children didn’t have the luxury of their parents’ attention, and were instead cared for by nannies and the galaxy’s deadliest bodyguards. But they didn’t bear any ill will towards Han or Leia because of their upbringing, and when they were pre-teens they happily went to Luke’s Jedi Academy. Danger and the dark side were always there, but those kids loved their parents more than anything. The Solo family was the bedrock of the EU. That’s clearly not the path taken here, and it will be interesting to see why it was not to be.

Part 3 – The Light and the Dark; The Force Awakens Soundtrack

The music of Star Wars is one of my great loves. John Williams is a fantastic movie soundtrack composer and to me, Star Wars is his best work. His soundtrack for The Force Awakens is good, but only good. To be quite frank, he hasn’t made a great Star Wars soundtrack since The Phantom Menace. Across the Stars was a great track but I didn’t even like anything from Revenge of The Sith.

But I digress. This soundtrack has one shining track of brilliance, and that is Rey’s Theme. It manages to be quiet and poignant while signifying something epic and transformative underneath. There are hidden depths lurking beneath those lilting bells and violins, a promise of a difficult but magnificent future. In her track, we hear promise and hope. This isn’t just a fantastic track, it’s magical and perfect.

The other standout track is Han and Leia, due to its generous callback leitmotif, but this time we hear a tentativeness, we hear the estrangement, the regret and lost years (Hamilton: “They are working through the unimaaaaginable”). I can feel my heart being squeezed to shatter, thinking about what they must have endured, apart, after their son became an agent of evil. And yet, they remain strong to their particular causes. They’re strong people. But it makes you wonder if family was ever something they could really do together. I’m reminded of how I used to write Bones fanfiction about how Brennan and Booth were terrible for each other, that any relationship they embarked on would be doomed to failure.

I particularly like Snoke’s track too, due to its blinding creepiness. I’m reminded of the scene between Palpatine and Anakin in ROTS, during the opera when the senator tells the young Jedi about Darth Plagueis. Ominous chanting, impending doom. But this track… this track. It feels… small. It was recorded in a small room, with two few voices…

This brings me to my main criticism and it’s not a criticism I thought I would endorse. John Williams has always recorded his Star Wars soundtracks using the London Symphony Orchestra. This time, he recorded in Los Angeles at the behest of J.J. Abrahams. You can sadly hear the difference. Play the opening theme from The Force Awakens then play the opening theme from The Phantom Menace and it becomes very clear. There’s a certain grandiose reverberation that has been lost in this most recent soundtrack. I sorely hope they allow J.Will to conduct with LSO again for episode 8.

Part 4 – Final Thoughts, a Legacy Unfolds

When I first heard that Disney had optioned more Star Wars movies, I was cranky as hell. Once you’re a certain age and your favourite movies issue closure, you don’t really want things to change. But Disney has a marketing department that is vast and unrelenting, like the Empire itself. Star Wars wasn’t even my One True Love growing up, that coveted spot will always belong to the X-Files. When the last X-Files movie came out, I didn’t even think about seeing it. I had my closure already, I was content to let that can of worms lie dormant. It was a movie marketed nowhere near as aggressively as Star Wars.

Disney’s ceaseless promotion of the Star Wars brand was quite effective in stirring up my enthusiasm. Clearly, they know what they’re doing, inciting excitement in adults and children alike. I don’t know if I’ll keep watching new Star Wars movies into my older years but knowing me I probably will. I hope I will. I’m not confident in the direction the brand will go and I would have been fine with no more movies, but here we are. And it’s all still magical.

Review – Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Full disclosure: I only read the first Hunger games book and the first third of Catching Fire (it was a pdf copy and I just couldn’t continue). But I’ve read the synopsis on Wikipedia so I know the major deaths/outcomes and conclusion. I am NOT ready for that terrible terrible death that happens in Mockingjay. D:

Katniss was always cool, we all know that, but this was the movie that made me really adore her. Katniss is everything teenaged me would have wanted to be, and everything that adult me realizes I could never be. She is a rule breaker, the girl who doesn’t smile when you ask her to unless it serves her purpose, confused and bold, impassioned behind a mask of ice. But beyond all that, she is powerful and competent and a threat. Her actions, no matter how insignificant, can topple an empire. She is the unwilling metaphor who did not wish for the future she was given, but love and family thrust her down a path she could have never predicted.

The only times I ever teared up in the movie were the parts with Cinna and Effie. Oh my gosh Cinna, Kravitz is like a beacon of pure sanity in these movies, there is nothing I do not like about him. I love that he used fashion to stick it to the empire, even though it cost him in the end. But I get the feeling he knew what he was doing when he took that chance with Katniss’ dress. And Effie, oh my gosh Effie, I totally bawled every time she was like “we’re a TEAM and I will bedeck the TEAM so help me god”, like, bless your heart my dear, you love your bb victors so damn much and she was SO NOT COOL with the Quarterquell.

When I first started getting into the Hunger Games series, I was massively on Team Gale because I wanted Katniss to be with someone she had already felt longterm friendship/affection for, not someone the system had coerced her into pretending to love. But then I read what happened in Mockingjay and, well, as my Chinese coworker said, “he went all communist by the end, ugh.” But Peeta definitely is growing on me, especially once I read all the articles about how the Peeta/Katniss relationship is basically gender-flipped tropes. Peeta is compassionate and emotional and bakes bread and Katniss has to save his ass all the time? Beautiful. I am NOT ready to watch what happens to him in Mockingjay.

But I found it interesting that compared to the books, they definitely tweaked how Katniss felt about both Peeta and Gale. In the books she’s very “how the hell should I know what love is?” but in the movies she’s more like “you’re both lovely but now is not the time dammit!”

I do wonder though, what the heck the rest of the world is thinking while shit goes down in Panem. Like, I guess Panem gave the United Nations the middle finger or something? And, like, China and Indian are just watching from afar and shaking their heads while curing cancer and sending space missions to Mars? And do Canadians download illegal bootlegs of the Hunger Games and watch it going “wtf eh?” NEW HEADCANNON.

But seriously though am I the only one weirded out by the lack of Asian people in the Hunger Games movies? It’s not the best series diversity-wise. Hell, they even upped the ante with a “token black district”. :P

Review – Thor 2: The Dark World (Spoilers!)

When I came in to work this morning, I announced that I had seen Thor 2 the day before. Immediately, the coworkers around me mentioned that they loved the Thor series because LOKI and omg isn’t Loki awesome? I, on the other hand, have never much fallen into the fangirl/fanboy spell Loki seems to cast upon its watchers. I watch Thor for THOR and his bulging biceps and chistled jaw.

But Thor 2? Well, okay, I see it now. Loki is kind of amazing in this movie.

I truly enjoyed this movie, it was the perfect blend of action, mythology, comedy, and tragedy all rolled into one. Some random thoughts I’d like to share:

1. I’ve often said that I’m sick of movies with massive casual first world genocide while the hero and villain battle it out (see: Star Trek, Superman, etc.) and thankfully Thor didn’t fall into this trap with destroying thousands of innocent Londoners. The trade-off, I suppose, is that a shitload of Asgardians died, bringing me to point two...
2. OMFG killing Frigga, I... ugh. She was so badass fighting Malekith and then they fridged her to increase Loki’s manpain? Wah. Also, I know too much of actual Norse mythology not to be irritated by it, she’s one of the most important Norse gods! That being said, the funeral scene was one of the prettiest scenes ever (and gave me mad Game of Thrones feels, haha). Speaking of manpain...
3. Yeah, I totally fell for Loki’s manpain. I know, I know, it was all a massive gambit in the end. But dude, he really did love Frigga. When Thor made him drop his illusion in the dungeon and he was all broken and in despair... so woobie omg. And when he tells Thor he didn’t sacrifice his life for him, you know every step he has taken was not all for his long con, he wanted vengeance for his mother as well.
4. Can we talk about Jane for a bit? Actually, can we talk about Aether Jane for a bit? I honestly thought that they were foreshadowing that she was going to go evil, with the black eyeballs and the electric blue irises and visions of destruction she was having. Now THAT would have rocked my world a little bit. It’s the only real disappointment I have, but nothing a little fanfic won’t fix. ;)
5. It was nice to see Selvig and Darcy again. Selvig was especially hilarious with his aversion to pants. BRO, I know that feel. Also kinda hilarious-awesome was Loki pretending to be Captain America. “Let’s have a discussion about truth and justice!” LOL.
6. Since I am a massive appreciator of Thor, I would like to squee about him a bit. OMG SQUEE! Hooray for his shirtless scene! And he’s just so straight-forward and earnest and adorable. I laughed so hard when he had to take the Tube back to Greenwich and the woman was all “oops the subway shifted and I had to fall against your rugged manly chest, sorry!” I’d do the same thing haha.
7. I loved that most of the movie took place in Asgard, and I was quite impressed how they managed to make Asgard both timelessly ancient but technologically powerful as well. It’s like... by virtue of being part of the Marvel universe, they need to tread that science fiction line despite the fact that we’re dealing with ancient gods here.
8. I just KNEW this whole mythology is building up to the Infinity Gauntlet. All this talk about stones and we’ve already seen Thanos, eeeee can’t wait! On the other hand, all this Guardians of the Galaxy business looks terrible. As the guy sitting next to me in the theatre said, “I don’t want to watch a movie with a talking raccoon in it.” FOR REAL BRO.
9. I dunno guys, for some reason I got major OT3 feels when it was just Thor and Loki taking Jane to Malekith. Like, I would be completely satisfied with a movie just was just the three of them slogging through some godforsaken land while Loki snarks and Thor beats things up and Jane figures shit out. LOL sounds like one of those last Harry Potter movies.
10. Overall impression: solid movie with action, humour, and just enough complexity to make you salivate for a sequel!

Rating: 8.5/10

From CDs to iTunes Downloads: a Great Gatsby Soundtrack Review

I’m interrupting my regularly scheduled blog topics to insert a very important post about Baz Luhrman, movie soundtracks, and how single song downloads have changed the way we listen to music. Yes, that’s right, this is a Great Gatsby OST post!

First off, listen to the soundtrack. You can either sample it on iTunes (I think it released yesterday) or listen to the whole album free on NPR: First Listen: Music From Baz Luhrman’s Film The Great Gatsby.

Now, personally, I’ve got real soft spots for previous Baz Luhrman soundtracks such as Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. The music from Romeo + Juliet instantly takes me back to grade 10. Everyone had that CD. I remember a couple of the older kids in our drama class even created this cool contemporary routine with the Radiohead song on that soundtrack in the background. Not only that, the artists selected for the album and their varying styles of music are so indicative of the time period; grungy rock giving way to peppy pop.

The Moulin Rouge soundtrack isn’t quite the same, since it was a musical itself a lot of the movie’s songs are included on it. But I think the runaway hit from the soundtrack, Lady Marmalade with Pink and Lil Kim and Christina Aguilera and Mya, kind of sums up the time period well in itself. Trashy pop y’all!

The thing about the above two soundtracks is that I bought them as CDs. And while it’s relatively easy to skip around to your favourite songs, it’s much easier to just listen to the whole thing in one sitting. Which means that you eventually learn to enjoy most of the songs, while your favourites are little nuggets of joy in the course of your listening experience. That’s how it used to be. But with the advent of iTunes, you don’t need to get the whole album anymore. You download your favourites and leave the rest alone. That’s how I usually do it these days, haven’t listened to a whole album through since maybe 2005. Until now!

If you clicked on the link above, you’ll see that there’s a 57 minute track with the whole Gatsby album on it. And I’m kind of digging listening to the whole thing as opposed to my favourite 3 songs. And the best part is that all the songs are good, but when my favourites pop up... nugget of joy! It’s making me very nostalgic for that old way we listened to music. Anyways, my favourites are:

“Over The Love” by Florence + The Machine – her singing is so epic and it almost feels like they couldn’t create a score to match that epicness. ;)

“Hearts A Mess” by Gotye – this is WAY better than his song with Kimbra. It gives me a lot of “Talk Show Host” by Radiohead (from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack) feels.

“Into The Past” by Nero – the closest thing to dubstep on the album, which y’all knew had to be represented for our current time period. It’s got a dreamy electronic feel to it.

Overall, extremely enjoyable album; I like it better than Moulin Rouge but Romeo + Juliet still holds the #1 spot.

Rating: 8/10

Bollywood Movie Review: Agneepath (2012)

I don't usually watch Bollywood movies and have a whole lot to say about them, but for some reason my brain can't stop thinking about this movie. To start off, let me say that I liked it. It wasn't particularly spectacular or mind-blowing but I did find the movie to be enjoyable. Then again, I haven't seen the original Amitabh version, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. ;)

If you don't want to be spoiled for the rest of the movie then I would suggest not reading forward! It's pretty long review too. Apparently I had more thoughts than I originally realized.

You could tell just by watching this movie that it was a remake of a 70s Amitabh movie, simply by virtue of the story/plot as well as Hrithik's acting method... STOIC VENGEFUL YOUNG MAN. Of course, Hrithik being Hrithik he also showed emotion as only he can: with those wonderfully wounded soulful eyes of his. Ahem. But I digress. Yes, great emotionality, especially anything concerning his family. The scene where he sits outside his mother's house wolfing down her food and confesses to Kaali that he's been waiting 15 years for his mother to love him is quite the tear-jerker. Hrithik does a great job of balancing Vijay's cold-hearted killing with the love he has for those close to him.


"I may be a stoic killer, but wait till you see me dance!"
Priyanka was enjoyable in the role of Kaali. She kept the peace and cheered Vijay up, and the audience laughed their assess off when she preened like a peacock or yapped away. I think she looked fantastic and her outfits were all pretty as well. The picturization for Gun Gun Guna was one of the best parts of the movie; I definitely wouldn't mind having it on a song DVD. And to be honest, when she suddenly died I was really sad, mostly because I thought: "she died before consummating her marriage with the hotness of Vijay? THERE IS NO HUMANITY!" :P But after the movie I watched the picturization for "O Saiyan" (which was cut from our version of the movie) and realized that they had consummated the relationship, so I was satisfied, hahaha.


"Pay no attention to my extremely botoxed lips!"
But without a doubt, the movie belonged to Sanjay Dutt. He was pure nightmare fuel as Kancha, a heartless monster who used the Bhagavad Gita to explain and rationalize his lack of morals. O_o That was one of the most interesting aspects of the movie actually, just seeing how the unquestioningly evil villain could twist Krishna's words about removing desire and attachment to attain bliss and enlightenment into a rationale for unchecked profiteering, power, and cruelty. Kancha was absolutely wacked out of his gourd and I still sort of don't believe that Vijay could have killed him because DID YOU SEE THE SIZE OF THAT GUY?


"We wants more cocaine, preciousssss..."
This review wouldn't be complete without mention of the songs, specifically Katrina Kaif's item number "Chikni Chameli". In my opinion: a big fat meh. The dancing wasn't that great and I don't even really like the song all that much. I feel like the combination of Katrina dancing for a song sung by Shreya didn't give the song that low-down dirrrty factor they were going for. Katrina does great item numbers, but she has a certain amount of sexy class when she does them. And Shreya's voice was just somehow too innocent sounding for a hot item number. I find it interesting that in this movie Shreya did a typical Sunidhi song and Sunidhi did a typically Shreya song (Gun Gun Guna).


"What I am doing in this movie? Even I don't know."
While we're on the topic of the songs, I just want to say that I really liked the song "Shah Ka Rutba", it's a great qawali and quite catchy. Actually, it's interesting that there's one mega-Muslim song (Shah Ka Rutba) and one mega-Hindu song (Deva Shree Ganesha) in the movie.

Some final thoughts. It was interesting to see Rishi Kapoor in such a horrible role, he played a great villain... I still haven't recovered from how he was trafficking those poor young girls, so disgusting! The movie had some great shots that I'd love to turn into desktop wallpaper too; the one that sticks out in my mind is when Lala is in the hospital and Vijay comes back to the head-quaters to sit in Lala's seat. The background is a dark green and there's a rich maroon blanket draped over the chair and the spotlight hits Hrithik just right... *_*

Alright, enough my gushing! As far as criticisms go, the one thing that I couldn't ignore is that movie has a very dated plot, but it's a remake so you can't really help that. It's a very long movie, almost three hours, and the first half seemed to drag a bit more than the second half. It was also quite a melodramatic movie, but again I sort of knew it was coming because Karan Johar directed it. ;)

Overall, I'd give this movie an 8.0/10. Solid movie with good songs and some awesome acting, just remember that you will basically be watching an overwrought 70s remake. ;)

Full Of Warm Food And Happy-Making Music

Say it with me, Torontonians... "Lousy Smarch weather!"

On a day like this it's no wonder my motivation to spent time out in the world was especially low. Therefore, the evening was spent making homemade tuna bisque, plus I started watching A Crude Awakening. Things I have learned tonight: butter makes everything delicious, and never underestimate the power of human rapacity.

In any case, it's time to enjoy a new song. I bring thee some Canadian content, a new Danny Fernandes song called 'Take Me Away'. LOL @ his vision of Toronto in the future.



Did I mention there is a BENNY BENASSI REMIX of this already lovely song?! Oh yes, there is. Enjoy, my pretties. :D

You're Waiting For A Train

Last weekend, I saw Inception. And I loved it more than I have loved a movie in a very long time. One of the things I liked best about the movie was the soundtrack, which I had to have. As it were, I have Thinky Thoughts regarding it. First, a few general comments:

- Apparently, Hans Zimmer scored the movie without having seen it; he just a brief summary of the story as Nolan told him. This is mind-blowing. Zimmer is a freaking genius.

- Specific attributes I enjoyed in the soundtrack include: use of rock guitar within orchestral structure, and creating music based on a few repeated notes and motifs, as opposed to the bold, epic stuff like Zimmer did with Gladiator. Which is another soundtrack I love, but it's very different.

- Every song is subtly creepy; Nolan originally wanted movie to be a horror film and it shows.

Of course, I have Thinky Thoughts about each song on the track. Be warned, HUGE SPOILERS approacheth! I kind of just went free-form, stream-of-consciousness with how each song made me feel/remember.

Half-Remembered Dream - strains of Time at the end, only made haunting. Short track, not much to say about it, but it sets the tone.

We Built Our Own World - unforgivably tragic, it reminds me of limbo; I see Cobb and Mal making sandcastles, I see him and Ariadne walking through dead streets. It reminds me of Mal holding a knife and Cobb taking it away.

Dream Is Collapsing - FRIGGING AMAZING, guitars alongside violins making magic. Sounds like time is running out, like things are unraveling, like fighting in zero-gravity, like a cascade of kicks that must be perfectly timed, like IMPENDING DOOOOOOM. So powerful.

Radical Notion - like a mixture of Dream Is Collapsing and We Built Our Own World; tragic but tense at the same time. Sounds like carefully planning out the inception in the latter half of the song, or when they're deciding on their next move in level 1, maybe even the initial heist with Saito.

Old Souls - Dreamy and nostalgic but shaky and edgy somehow too, happier times between Mal and Dom in limbo, or "you know where to find me", the children locked up in memories. Also, Ariadne manipulating and creating for the first time. For some reason, it reminds me of music from Shenmue taken to a whole new level.

528491 - CREEPIEST SONG ON THE SOUNDTRACK. Starts off vaguely disconcerting with rushed tenseness but the end is freaking terrifying. WHEN DOES THAT PART HAPPEN IN THE MOVIE I NEED TO KNOW. When the water bursts in at the beginning? When the train rams through level 1? NO IDEA.

Mombasa - Killer track, screams precision and 'action sequence', Cobb running through crowded streets and Arthur kicking ass on the way to the elevator. Use of electric guitar = A++ awesome; possibly the most fun track on the OST.

One Simple Idea - This is all Cobb doing the Mr. Charles gambit, everyone watching and waiting and hoping Fischer's militarized mind doesn't turn on them. Not the most memorable track, IMHO.

Dream Within A Dream - initially a callback to Dream Is Collapsing, but the orchestra sounds a lot more electronic somehow. Then it turns into a creepy version of Time. Really captures the essence of all the inception scenes, from jumping off buildings to kidnappings to the van flying off the bridge.

Waiting For A Train - reminiscent of Old Souls. This track is fairly long and quiet, Cobb remembering Mal or telling Ariadne exactly what happened. The hotel room scene, Mal jumping, especially at the end when things are still dreamy, but sad and nightmarish sounding. And then, non, je ne regrette rien, back to fighting in a hallway or shooting armed men on a snowy mountain, the dream is collapsing.

Paradox - Quiet, so quiet, walking down decrepit streets while tombs tower around you, slits of sunlight peeking between each structure, happy memories and creations that have decayed with time, and somewhere inside this world she's waiting for him. I know it has nothing to do with the paradox scene with Ariadne and Arthur, but that's what the music reminds me of.

Time - Oh this track, it moves me so. It's definitely the Cobb/Mal love theme. They are the heart of this movie. This song is epic and moving and tragic and hopeful all at the same time, so much done with eight little notes. Beautiful pace, beautiful simplicity and complexity, effective use of guitar, and randomly creepy ending that gives you a jolt like the final scene of the movie.

In conclusion: GO SEE INCEPTION. ;D

Unexpected Awesomeness

Oh my gosh, I'm sort of in love with this video. Done for a dance song? And it doesn't suck? BE STILL MY HEART!

The song is 'Bruised Water' by Chicane feat. Natasha Beddingfield.



Aww, it's so lovely. :)

Hooray For The Film Festival

Today I went to the gala world premiere of 'Dil Bole Hadippa' at TIFF with my sister. Of highest importance besides the actual movie was the chance to see actress Rani Mukherjee. And we were successful!







We tried to get her to take a picture of herself with us, but it didn't happen. We seriously tried; she was standing an inch away from us and we were begging for her to take the picture, but she walked on by due to time restraints.

The movie itself was really enjoyable, a solid hit for sure. Great music with excellent picturizations, colourful and interesting. It wasn't too long for a Bollywood movie either; no scene seemed particularly wasteful. Shahid and Rani can not only act really well but also danced fantastically, of course. Great chemistry as well between those two, I'd love to see the pair of them again in another movie. :)