Review – Sabaton, Eluveitie & Wisdom

Posted on 20 martie 2013 by breathemein

I went last night to see a metal show – I haven’t seen one in a long-long time, so when I bought the tickets, last November, I thought „hmm, why not? they are pretty good”.
I kinda waited for this show, because I felt like I needed the out-of-the-ordinary experience, since my life is filled with going out for a coffee or other drinks, going to a club, walking the dog and oh-so-mighty going to work. Metal was good for me, so I tried to review the concert on the spot, step by step, as everything happened.
The outcome? Sort of a tweeted review, if only I had tweeted it (I still don’t use my Twitter account, so you get the picture). Here comes nothing!

Wisdom not so wise, creatively speaking
Lead singer that stars in a Pantene comercial and also does air guitar
Kinda copy cats – Metallica & Bon Jovi circa 80s
Really really average singer, with high school lyrics and GOT references
Necesary time to pass for you to like Wisdom – one shitty beer from Turbojalle (play on words, omg, I am so witty!) (pic here)

Eluveitie – awesome start!!!
* metal is a genre that can be done in pairs – you get introduced by someone you like and you stay there, as some of the couples present there proved*

Awesome vocal, awesome drummer, Anna missing, but it’s still a great show
Lots of people stuck in the 80s – hairwise
I can’t say too much about Eluveitie, because they were too awesome to make time to record any of it
This, adding my unnecessary swelling of the hands when it gets crowded, made it a little tough to keep track of things (pic here)

*All the cocalari!!! Cocalari metalisti, but still…*

Sabaton ruled the house
Their raw power, and drums and guitars moved an entire mass of people
Romanian flag and also goosebumps (according to Sabaton’s lead singer)

Omg, he’s got the moves like Freddie!!!
I want to hit the drums, not play them! Omg, I forgot how to human!!!!

The Ting Tings – That’s not my name… Oups, error!
Sabaton is a magical show – the lead keeps appearing and disappearing on the stage, makes me think he’s related to Flash
We got to chose the next song, but then we didn’t. Into the fire!
Still wanna be a drummer! Muhaha!
Now I’ve learnt how easy it is to become an arena band – Iron Maiden style
Swedish time!!! A lifetime of war – easy pick
Swedish – such a beatiful language, I can’t understand shit :))
ABBA, wtf is wrong with us? :))
Weird music, omg!
And then some emo stuff…
So I had to go, cause of all that tiredness and stuff… (pic here)

Overall:
Wisdom 4/10
Eluveitie 10/10
Sabaton 8/10

Review: The Gathering Dead – Stephen Knight

Posted on 15 martie 2013 by breathemein

Mai tineti minte cand v-am zis cum e sa citesti o carte nasoala si sa ramai atat de plictisit, incat nici n-ai curajul s-o termini, nici ce-ti trebuie ca s-o tradezi?

Cartea de care vorbeam atunci era partea a doua dintr-o trilogie si devenise usor plictisitoare, intesata de detalii si fara sens pur si simplu. Ce m-a salvat a fost World War Z a lui Max Brooks, o carte cu zombie, ca deh, I am a big fan.

Dupa gura aia de aer proaspat in biblioteca mea (virtuala, ca am citit-o pe Kindle), am mai citit niste carti si cartulii si povestiri scurte. Am marcat drept „to-read” pe Goodreads mai multe carti din categoria „zombie” si „undead”, printre care si The Gathering Dead de Stephen Knight.

Cele 487 de pagini nu m-au speriat, asa ca am purces la citit.

N-am putut sa nu observ ca se pune foarte mult accent pe rasa. Se specifica (des si foarte des) „the black man”, „the black soldier”, „the black girl”, fara a pune prea mult accent pe trasaturi de caracter. E o poveste cu zombi si soldati, asa ca pregatiti-va de multe descrieri de whatever they do si de descrieri de arme si tot felul de prostii, descrieri atat de seci si de plictisitoare, incat am senzatia ca-l citesc pe Sadoveanu din nou.

Ca o paranteza, mai-sus numita carte-capodopera a lui Brooks m-a introdus (si) in lumea fortelor armate, dar cu atata inversunare si entuziasm, incat nu m-am plictisit deloc, chiar si de armele si vehiculele inventate (cred eu, n-am experienta militara).

Ca o alta paranteza, toata seria The Morningstar Strain a lui Z. A. Recht (mi-ar fi placut sa cred ca e un „pun” adresat sintagmei „zombie apocalypse”, dar chiar asa il chema pe autor – Zachary Allan Recht) e plina de tactici din armata si marina si e atat de fascinanta si bine construita, incat nu m-am plictisit deloc pe parcursul celor trei carti.

Inchidem parantezele si revenim la subiectul initial. The Gathering Dead e o carte plictisitoare in mare parte si cred cu sinceritate ca nu se va intampla nimic pana la final.

Spoilers: o echipa trebuie sa culeaga si sa livreze un om de stiinta care are ceva habar de zombi. La cum se prezinta actiunea, presimt ca vor muri cu totii, negri sau nu.

Pana acum, cea mai tare chestie din carte e, citez:

“Thanks for keeping the seat warm,” Finelly said.
“Man, you’re lucky it ain’t wet,” Earl said.

Pagina 382 din 487.

I have no hope left for these characters.

Pot doar sa sper ca voi gasi o carte pe care s-o citesc si sa-mi faca placere sa-i fac un review, dar pana acum tot ce m-a prins m-a facut sa citesc in continuu, asa ca n-am mai avut chef sa comentez ceva, ci doar sa pastrez in mine o bucatica din respectiva carte.

Review (and disappointment): 2CELLOS & Naya Rivera – Supermassive Black Hole

Posted on 3 martie 2013 by breathemein

I am late to the party, yet again, but I can’t help it! Life gets into the way everyday, so… Some news just arrive a lil’ bit late.

First of all, I love 2CELLOS. Who does not know what 2CELLOS are, please check their Youtube channel for further information on the matter.

Next, I love Naya Rivera. If you don’t know who this lovely lady is, then maybe you’re not a Glee fan (like yours truly), so I’d go ahead and suggest one of her songs in the TV show. Mostly covers of Miss Tina Turner, Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse. Regardless, she’s kept in the background, used when the producers want to teach us about mean & vile things to say, or about LGBT, or when they want an awesome number on the TV show, spiced up with some Latina sexyness.

I also love Muse. Ever since I was a little girl, Muse was among my favorites, and that didn’t change a bit through out the years.

I also love „Supermassive Black Hole” by Muse. It’s one of their songs that always had a place in my playlists, and rare were the moments when I used the power of skipping songs when the song came up.

So I thought „hmm, „Supermassive Black Hole” covered by 2CELLOS and Naya, this MUST be awesome!”

Except it wasn’t. The video looks kitsch-ey, Naya Rivera looks like a trashy Catwoman, even though her level of hotness is usually over 9000. 2CELLOS blend ok in the futuristic background, I don’t get what’s with the 3D chess game, but ok…

The song is the worst part of this combo. I haven’t heard a song so bad by 2CELLOS (not counting the weird collaboration between them and RHCP). Naya’s vocal abilities aren’t used full power. We’re given some weird auto-tune or whatever that is, in a lame atempt to copy whatever Matt Belamy managed to make out of „Supermassive Black Hole” something incredibly awesome.

Review: Black’s Game (2012)

Posted on 18 februarie 2013 by breathemein

Missing good movies? Why not rewatch? Why not European movies?

In our first years we were taught that only Romanian films are good, with few American exceptions. Years have passed, and we discovered that films can be seen in the exact year they are released, through that magical thingy called cinema. Some more years have passed, and we discovered the internet and it’s power to deliver information in a second. I remember the first years of the internet, after the 00s, when CDs with films that became cult movies were passed between brothers and colleagues and neighbours.

Those were great movies, because we had easy access to them and because most of them were original scripts or good adaptations from other books and media.

Year have passed yet again, and after 2010 I don’t seem to recall that many titles of great movies. I sometimes watch European movies, because of their ingenuity and realism, because they don’t rely on special effects, because they want to tell a good story really, really well with great actors.

Last night I saw a good movie. After failed attempts with Rise of the Zombies, Horrible Bosses and few more titles, I watched Black’s Game.

Stereotypical as it sounds, the first thing I thought was „hmm, Icelandic, must be good”. I am a little bit judgemental and I am sure that, if I had the cance to see the same movie, made in USA, with the same action and title, I wouldn’t have made the effort.

So, on a Sunday night, after walking our handsome pouch, we hit the play button, expecting good cinematic experience.

Yes, it’s violent. It’s about drugs and sex and rape sometimes. It’s about the traps we set for ourselves, about our bad choices and consequences. It has great music, resembling the soundtrack of The Boondock Saints (but just at times, not always).

I loved the casting. All the actors were credible, especially Thor Kristjansson (Stebbi) and Damon Younger (Bruno). Even though the film was doubled in English, it was great. I usually preffer my movies in their native tongue (this is how I found out what a great language Swedish is), so I will check out the original version with English subtitles.

They said the story was inspired by true events and it felt real and cold. The editing and they way they filmed certain scenes were great.

Black’s Game is a crime thriller, not Reservoir Dogs good, but with a strong story, with believeable characters, a great director and a great soundtrack. It’s rating, of only 6.7, reflects the reality, it’s a good movie in a sea of really, really bad Hollywood work.

Django Unchained – a review of some sorts

Posted on 3 februarie 2013 by breathemein

I know I am late to the party, but I just saw Django Unchained and it exceeded my expectations.
In a fit of fury, I went to the cinema Saturday morning, at 11 am, to meet my beautiful Tarantino. At first, I thought I have the room all to myself, but in the end I found out that 3 is indeed a lucky number.

Warning! This will not be a review per se, but I will list what I loved and what I didn’t about Django Unchained.

I loved the acting. I found Christoph Waltz a bit overrated, even though funny, but one-dimensional in his role as Dr. King Schultz.
I found Jamie Foxx‘s role as a taciturn, sensible and perseverant nigga, a man of great strengths with few weaknesses, very realistic, even though a bit exaggerated.
I found Kerry Washington unexpectedly good. I thought she was just pretty, but the whipping scene really made me cry.
I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was playing himself, an arrogant SOB with money, boredom and semen to spare.
I found Samuel L. Jackson amazing as a racist slave, but when is he not amazing?

I found the story believable. Love and slavery don’t go hand in hand (for practical reasons, of course), but sacrifice and love do.
It’s all about principles, whether you’re a dentist turned bounty hunter, or a slave turned bounty hunter, or a slave and that’s all, or a white rich boy without a soul.

I really loved the scenery. It looked almost vintage and so not-professional. I liked the rolling credits, rolling credits everywhere!

I loved the music and the costumes, but I must admit I loved the music more.
I loved the fights, and all the shooting.
I loved its pace, cause I knew there was something wrong with the pace in the second half of the movie (thank you, internet!), but I found no such nuisance.
I loved its ending, perfect for the story. I felt that everyone who needed to be dead (yeah, including Schulz) was dead. It did the whole movie justice.

What did I not love? Easy to say. Tarantino as a dead beat guy – he acted horribly and his belly was fat. Also, Jonah Hill playing himself: a big fat doofus.

All in all, a 10 from me. Best movie in years.

PS: I think, just think, that it was better than Pulp Fiction. I will re-watch them both to have an honest opinion.
PPS: I like it when Tarantino (re)writes history.

Pic from here.

BtVS – Characters

Posted on 14 decembrie 2012 by breathemein

Continued from here.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is all about characters. Oh, you thought it was a vampire TV show? You are so wrong.

First of all, vampires are not the only bad things that happen in Sunnydale. Sunnydale is the fictional town where Buffy moves in order to move on with her life after burning down school property.

Second of all, in Sunnydale a lot of things happen, things that almost end the world (countless times), things that are so weird that you don’t know what to do with them (Dawn), things that are fucking scary (Hush), things that are weird and sad and no one knows how to react (The Body), things that resemble love and lust (Innocence), and I could go on. But you should know that these things keep the story moving and make the characters evolve.

Buffy starts out as this insecure girl, a little overwhelmed by the sudden power given to her, not so much on the bright side (academically speaking), but fierce, powerful and brave. At first, a little lonely and awkward, she starts caring for the nerdy girl and her BFF, as well as for the father figure that is Rupert Giles. We see her trying to play it cool in front of the boys (Angel), trying to make friends (Willow and Xander), trying to be a good girl while solving the problems in her unique way (Rupert), trying to be a better daughter and sister, trying to stop the first apocalypse (the Master), the second one (killing Angel), the third one (killing the Mayor), the fourth one (killing Adam), the fifth one (sacrificing herself), the seventh one (killing the Turok-Hans and closing the Hellmouth). She’s trying to cope with things like sleeping with a guy and his sudden loss of interest in her, the death of her mother, exes of her boyfriend, her exes, her strained relationship with Willow, with Giles and with Xander, the sudden apparition of her sister, her resurrection. The only evolution we see in Buffy is that she gradually starts to accept her fate. She becomes more aware of her mission and her rights as a Slayer. She becomes this powerful woman, that’s left her childhood behind and is ready to embrace whatever kind of evil life may throw at her. She becomes a responsible leader, being an example for everyone in her life, she becomes selfless and caring with people around her. Pic here.

Willow, the nerdy BFF, shy and scared of the likes of Cordelia, grows to be this strong powerful witch, after losing the ones she loved the most. In the beginning her talents were used for research, especially hacking some police archives or something similar, but after the second season, she started doing magic, resulting in her nearly destroying the world. After a crush on Xander and a failed relationship with a werewolf, Willow embraced her witch side and tried loving a woman for a while. Losing her made Willow abuse her powers and use black magic, but in the end those powers helped Buffy “share” her super-strength and Slayer-characteristics to the army of Potentials. A long way for the scared little geeky girl. Pic here.

Xander, the male friend attempting jealousy in weird moments, was not the scholar, but not quite the clown. Providing comic relief was, for about 2 seasons, his “deal”. But then he was molded into something more. Being only human, he was far from the researcher type, far from the hero type, but mostly stood by his friends when no one else would. He has the ability to see and understand better than others, due to his beautiful soul, and he has to power not to judge his friends and he helps them overcome their darkest times. Also, he has the uncanny ability to attract demons, culminating with his relationship with Anya, the retired demon of scorned women. Pic here.

Giles, the archetypal father figure, is seen mentoring Buffy, mentoring Willow, mentoring Faith, sleeping with Buffy’s mom, trying to make Buffy more independent (in her days after the resurrection) and involved in every little aspect of her life. A younger version of Rupert, called the Ripper, is summoned in few episodes and we can see that the now serious and a bit too British Giles was a wild child, practicing dark magic and singing in a rock band (actually, Anthony Stewart Head has a wonderful voice). At first, he seems dull and out of place, but with time his role is increased from Watcher to father, doing him great justice. Pic here.

Spike was part of the Big Bad in season 2. He was a puppy-dog vampire, promoted from drag to annoyance to dangerous and finally to potential lover from season 2 to season 6 (keep in mind that he didn’t appear in all of the episodes in those seasons). He goes through serious torture to finally get his soul back, because he loves Buffy so much and he wants to be with her, without hurting her or making her feel ashamed. In the end, he becomes the champion without whom the world could not be saved. In my opinion, his transformation is the best example of an evolution in a character. His role, though small in the beginning of the series, grew bigger and became more important when the show became darker. Pic here.

Cordelia, the Bee Queen of Sunnydale High, transforms herself from vapid egotistical bitch to superhero (but this will happen in Angel TV show), after a brief moment that was her relationship with Xander. Pic here.

Oz, the werewolf that I thought was Willow’s soul mate, is an equilibrate character. He doesn’t evolve, he doesn’t involve, he just leaves Willow to “find” himself. Pic here.

Tara, the greatest love in Willow’s life, is introduced as this shy girl, that takes interest in magic and witchcraft and, as the time goes by, she becomes more and more involved with Willow and the Scoobies. She goes from shy to no identity whatsoever to powerful woman and witch in just 2 seasons, only to be killed by a human. Pic here.

Anya is the ex-demon stranded on Earth, flunking math and scared of rabbits. Oh, and also she has a relationship with Xander. She is introduced in season 3, after Cordelia wishes that Buffy never came to Sunnydale, but is immediately liked by the viewers and she stays as a regular until her death in season 7. She is awkward, has a very poor sense of what behavior is deemed as appropriate, she is very blunt and honest in her opinions and usually provides comic relief. In my opinion, we would all be Anyas, if socially accepted rules weren’t thought since early years. Pic here.

Dawn, the sister that was the key, is annoying and remains annoying throughout the series, without being funny.

Faith. The rogue Slayer. Five by five, if you know what I mean. She’s the dark Buffy, if you want, starting as a scared, insecure Slayer, getting promoted to Lieutenant Evil, then put in a coma (by badass Buffy) and then coming back, as an important ally against the Turok-Hans. Pic here.

Angel. Oh, Angel. The love of her life… Or so we thought. He is boring, with his hidden weird ways, with his soul and his mystery, eventually deemed too good to be true. He doesn’t evolve, he just moves on. Actually, he did evolve. From drunken Irish to killer vampire to vampire with a soul to killer vampire once more to vampire with a soul (again?!) and then to LA. There, he has another deal, with Cordelia and other demons, making babies with Darla and whatnot. Pic here.

The list is not complete. There are so many great characters, like Joyce Summers, Ms. Calendar, Darla, Drusilla, Jonathan, Snyder, Kendra, Riley, Warren, the Potentials and so on, that contributed to the evolution of Buffy and her friends and to lead us into the final battle against evil.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Posted on 13 decembrie 2012 by breathemein

I can easily admit that, even with all the Friends and the Scrubs and The Walking Deads, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is (still) my all-time favorite TV show. Joss Whedon’s creation started out as a feature film, but after 5 years it became a mid-season replacement for a soap opera with no future.

I still remember how I stumbled upon one of its first episodes, in a Saturday afternoon, and how it changed my life. The TV station that aired it didn’t do it justice, since I couldn’t see all its episodes. I remember there were only bits and pieces from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th seasons. I always felt that, even with the light connection between us, me and Buffy had something special, something that could be developed into something more.

That something came in February 2007, when I remembered that somewhere in this world there is Buffy and there are vampires and other kind of monsters and I felt the urge to reconnect with it.

I watched all of the seasons (7), all of the episodes (144) at least 10 times each. I think I broke some records of some sorts, laughing, crying, hoping, chocking, felling… things while watching it. I grew with Buffy and Willow and I wished my father was more like Giles. I wanted to go to Buffy studies and I wanted everyone to love this show as much as I do.

I got used to people not wanting to see it and I got used to people mocking me for loving a kids TV show. It doesn’t bother me anymore that people don’t want to see the jokes in it, the magic in it, the awesome empowering fights, the great music, the great ideas. In time, BtVS became my magical little moment, where nothing bad can happen and good people always find their way home.

Everything started in 1992. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a blonde ditzy girl, with superpowers and a mission. Mission that kinda stood in her way, because she wanted to date boys and be a pretty cheerleader. So she burnt the school’s gym and that would be all for the feature film. Also, Luke Perry and Donald Sutherland are in it.

In 1997, people on WB wanted a replacement for Savannah, so they did Buffy. And they made it legendary.

This article is the first in a series of Buffy-related articles. Stay tuned for info about Characters, Story, Superpowers, Metaphors, Buffyverse, Music, and so on.
Pic here.