Leapsa!!!

De la Bloody Mary

Nu m-as putea lipsi de...

1. Neamtul meu proprietata personala, care momentan e plecat in Anglia, prin urmare sunt in sevraj;

2. Viciile mele, am doar 3, dar bune: tigari, ciocolata, internet;

3. Audiobook-uri. Nu pot sa adorm, nu pot sa spal vase, nu pot sa fac curat fara sa am castile ferm plantate in urechi. Cred ca am "citit" in felul asta vreo 3 biblioteci de dimensiuni medii. Mi-ar fi luat vreo 20 de ani sa citesc pe bune toate cartile alea...

4. Carti propriu-zise, de-alea de hartie :D Imi placeau inca de dinainte sa invat sa citesc, prosteam lumea cum ca as stii sa citesc, dar in realitate le invatasem pe de rost si le recitam urmarind cu degetul pe pagina, asa cum vazusem eu de la maica-mea, cand imi citea. Presupun ca, daca mor de moarte buna, o sa am o carte in mana cand imi dau duhul;

5. Pisici. Enough said;

6. Cada in baie. Nu am una, am numai dus. Si nu, nu pot trai fara ea. Traiesc doar pe jumatate fara ea;

7. Fond de ten. Trist, stiu;

8. Filme. Seriale stupidute, filme de arta europene, block-buster-uri americane cu impuscaturi si extraterestri, science-fiction, horror, drama, comedie, ultimele filme aparute luna asta, filme mute din anii '30; pe calculator, la televizor, la cinematograful ala vechi si trendy din cartier, sau 3D la cel mai mare si mai modern cinematograf din oras. Nu conteaza, filme sa fie;

9. Day dreaming. Petrec mult timp zilnic cu capul in nori, gandindu-ma la ale mele;

10. Stele. Alea de pe cer. E greu cand traiesti in oras, mai ales intr-un oras unde e innorat mai tot timpul. Dar uneori, in vacanta, mai prind si cate un cer de-ala adevarat, cand poti vedea si calea lactee. Cand sunt in Bucuresti si e vara, stau pe casa, lungita pe un izopren, si casc gura la stele. Pana acum nu am fost contactata de nici o rasa extraterestra :D

11. Calatorii, vacante, excursii. Intotdeauna mi-am dorit sa ma fac turist de meserie!

12. Natura. Toata viata am trait in orase mari, si cu toate astea, sau poate tocmai din pricina asta, tanjesc dupa spatii deschise, verdeata, pomi, animalute, pasarele ciripind samd;

Bonus, 13. (Ca sunt nascuta pe 13!) Canapeaua din sufragerie. Intre noi doua exista o relatie speciala!

I Love the Whole World

It kinda makes you wanna... break into song!



Boom-de-yada, boom-de-yada!

Man, I cannot get that song out of my head!

Totally. I'm going again.

Pandorum

"Holy zombie apocalypse! I wanted to see a hardcore sci-fi movie, and I ended up watching another freaking zombie movie?" Something along these lines was going through my mind halfway through Pandorum.

But oh no, Pandorum is so much more than another zombie flick. Yes, there are zombies in it. Legions of flesh eating, martial arts skilled zombies. They're not called like that of course, but the resemblance to, let's say, the dudes from "I am Legend", is uncanny.

I think the writers knew zombies movies have been done to death and they were ideas hunting: the complete destruction of Planet Earth? Nope, it's been done before. A ship carrying our last hope? Done before. Something about cryogenics? Done before. Space dementia? Done before, and much, much better. Colonising alien worlds? Done before. Erm, spaceship with people crawling on dark corridors with blood smeared all over themselves, running away from some evil monsters? Done, done, done.

Well, then, how about ALL THOSE THINGS PUT TOGETHER?

And so we end up with Pandorum, an amazing mess of a sci-fi/horror movie, that in the end still manages to save itself from, well, itself, by having a few plot twists and a cool ending that I really wasn't expecting.

The plot? Well, as I said, spaceship, mission: last hope of humanity, zombies, space dementia, cool ending.

Rating? 6/10. Could have been much worse.

The Men Who Stare at Goats (the book)

Oh man, where do I begin?

Let's start the way the author starts, by saying "This is a true story". Is it really? We have no way of knowing that, of course. Jon Ronson is a journalist and this book is meant to be (not only a bestseller and the base of a movie script to be turned into a future blockbuster, but also a) journalistic investigation.

It most certainly speaks about real events and real people. Events like the Waco incident, the mass suicide of Heaven's Gate cult members, the Abu Ghraib tortures and scandal, Guantanamo Bay torture allegations, Project MK-Ultra and so on. Real people like several Generals and other ex-military people, ex-CIA, ex-Guantanamo Bay prisoners, plus celebrities like Uri Geller and Art Bell.

But that's where the verifiable stops and the insanity begins. Jon Ronson, in his 2 years long investigation of the usage of unconventional methods by the US military and the CIA, claims to have slipped quite deep down the rabbit hole. How real is this rabbit hole and how real are the claims of the people he had interviewed, that we can't possibly know for sure any more.

So the books essentially leaves us with a lot of questions, rather than answers. But those questions are worth asking and the trip in itself is mind-boggling, tragic, comic, absurd and... vonnegut-esque.

I'm looking forward to the movie (with George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey), although I half expect to be disappointed (why in the world did they insist of making it into a comedy??)

Planet 51

Ok, so since I set myself the goal to review all of the movies I watch (mostly for myself, to keep track of it), I guess it's only fair to review Planet 51, an animated film (not Pixar though, this one's made by Illion and it's actually their first movie).

Now this movie got pretty bad ratings and even worse reviews. It rips off a lot of stuff from other movies (the robotic probe, Rover, is clearly inspired by Wall-E), the plot is predictable and also has been done before (see Battle for Terra), the humour is either too non-offensive or too offensive, depending on the reviewer.

I, on the other hand, found myself entertained by this movie (and to be honest, that's all I expected from it. If you want something deeper I guess you should look in some other places than an animation about aliens, that targets mostly teenagers).

The movie is filled with cultural references, including the title. I guess it's the only way in which it entertains. So we have there: Area 51 (the name of the planet hints at it, and there is actually a secret underground military base in a desert of the planet), the hippy movement, the UFO community movement, conspiracies surrounding NASA (the robotic probe manages to completely miss the civilisation on Planet 51, due to its obsession for collecting and photographing rocks), sci-fi, fanzines, horror flicks from the 50s, plus many other references to movies like Alien, Terminator, E.T.

About the plot: A superficial, charismatic, incompetent but well-intended American astronaut lands on Planet 51 expecting to find it devoid of life. But the planet is harbouring a civilisation of green and cute people (they also have antennas!) that are in a development stage corresponding to the American 50s. Now the astronaut, with the help of a few locals, must try to escape the local military, who view him as a threat (and also want to experiment on him), and get to his ship in orbit before it leaves without him.

Make what you will of it, but I give it a 6.5/10.

P.S. And I definitely liked it better than Battle for Terra.

Vrruuum, vrrrrrruuum!

The climate summit in Copenhagen has started today.

And if you close your eyes and listen very carefully, you will hear a very faint sound in the distance.

Is it the sound of polar bears and whales cheering?

No.

It's the sound of limos and private jets.

Vrrruuuum, vrrrruuuuuuuum!

Cum am vazut eu alegerile (pe Antena 3)

Privita retrospectiv, seara de ieri a avut un potential comic enorm. Pacat ca aseara nu am reusit sa ma amuz totusi prea mult.

Singurul post de televiziune pe care am reusit sa il urmaresc pe internet a fost Antena 3. Si asta cu sincope. In vreo 3 minute dupa inchiderea urnelor si anuntarea rezultatelor exit poll-urilor, Antena 3 a anuntat ca avem un nou presedinte, l-a felicitat respectuos pe "Domnul Presedinte" (???) si a incheiat apoteotic cu o muzica victorioasa, in timp ce pe ecran se derulau imagini cu Mircea Geoana aka Prostanacul, acest Winston Churchill al politicii romanesti.

Eu am crezut ca au terminat si ca pleaca acasa, dupa cum prezentasera lucrurile. Ce naiba mai era de adaugat?

Dar nu, s-au intors in studio, si cu vreo 30 de invitati, unul mai inversunat ca altul, au continuat timp de vreo 4 ore sa discute rezultatele alegerilor. Si prin "discutat rezultatele alegerilor" vreau de fapt sa spun ca l-au barfit pe Basescu si pe alegatorii lui. Am inteles urmatoarele lucruri din dicutia aia: Basescu e un loser, alegatorii lui niste idioti (deh, nu putem fi toti la fel de destepti ca Judetul Dolj), Basescu o sa incerce el sa faca rivulutie, ca numai la asta se pricepe, o sa incerce sa fure alegerile samd.

Despre Geoana nu a vorbit nimeni, ca la urma urmelor, ce mama ma-sii poti vorbi despre Geoana. Numai Geoana a vorbit putin despre Geoana, si ne-a asigurat de vreo 5 ori, in 5 discursuri diferite, ca el se mai distreaza ce se mai distreaza si dupa aia se apuca serios de treaba.

Deci cam asta am inteles eu din seara de ieri. N-am vazut nici cea mai mica urma de jurnalism serios, independent, nepartinitor, obiectiv. M-am dus confuza sa ma culc, si de dimineata Basescu il devansase pe Geoana, conform rezultatelor partiale. Imi pare rau ca nu pot sa ma uit acum la Antena 3.