Thor: The Dark World

Over the past couple of years my siblings and I haven't had that much time to hang out together. I've always been busy with uni and my older sister was always busy with her fly-in-fly-out job. This gap year has been nice though because it means that I can spend more time with my little brother and recently my sister has been in town more so the three of us have been able to hang out more. 

Today we went to go watch Thor The Dark World. We're all big on super hero movies and we all loved the first Thor movie so it only made sense to watch the second one together. 

I enjoyed the movie; not as much as the first Thor, but it was still good. There was lots of good humour and the storyline wasn't too bad either. I love what a great actor Anthony Hopkins is and my favourite character was Heimdall the guardian of the Bifrost :)

I was left asking a lot of questions after watching Thor. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I look forward to future movies and for Guardians of the Galaxy.

A guy had made a replica of Thor's hammer Mjolnir from scratch!! It was amazing! There is a running competition where people can take a photo and post it up on Instagram and Facebook in order to win a Thor prize package worth $500. Fingers crossed we win :)

Warm Bodies

A lot of people I talk to don't really think watching a new movie counts as my 'something new' for the day, but there are honestly some days where there isn't anything else for me to do. 

I was held up with other commitments today and by the time I was free to find something new to do, it was quite late and I was exhausted. 

I decided to watch the movie Warm Bodies. It's a romantic comedy about zombies. Don't be put off by the genre description, it's actually quite a good movie. In fact, I was in a significantly better mood after watching it :) 

I particularly enjoyed the movie soundtrack. It was lots of mellow songs and lots of classics. 

I would definitely watch this one again. I give it 8/10 :)

The Croods

I was in serious need for a chilled night in so my brother and I watched the movie The Croods. It's a Dreamworks kids movie which I have been meaning to watch. 

It was a nice film. Good for all young kids to watch. I particularly liked Eep, the daughter in the movie. I like that she was rough and quite masculine. Haha I've been told that I'm quite masculine too so I can relate :P Also, I'm a big fan of Emma Stone who does her voice :)

My brother really enjoyed it and it was a nice way to end the night. I give it 7/10. 

Epic

My brother is on school holidays and so we decided to hangout  together today because we don't do enough of it sometimes. My brother really wanted to watch the movie Epic, and even though I wasn't as keen on watching it as he was, I still watched it with him anyways. 

Well it turns out that we both really enjoyed this movie. It was funny and had many heart warming moments along with a few sad ones too. Better yet, Beyonce did the voice of the character Queen Tara. Is there nothing that wonderful woman can't do?! 

This is a great kids/family movie for people of all ages. I give it 8/10. 

Paranormal Activity & Wolf Creek

My friends and I have been planning on having a scary movie night for ages and we finally got our chance tonight. There's just something about getting together and inflicting fear into our minds that just gets my blood pumping. Yes, I am a huge fan of scary movies. Even though I get frightened sometimes, I really like that thrill. 

Keeping in tradition of any type of movie night, we gathered a whole bunch of snacks to munch on while we watched. Opposed to having purely junk food, we actually ended up having more good food than bad. For our healthy option, we had carrot and celery sticks with a homemade pumpkin dip, fresh fruit, nuts and roasted chick peas.

We ended up watching Paranormal Activity (the first one) and Wolf Creek. I hadn't seen Paranormal Activity but heard a few good reviews. I thought it was quite good. It wasn't as scary as I had anticipated, but I still found it watchable. For a horror movie, I give it 7/10. 

Back when Wolf Creek first came out, I watched the first half but didn't end up watching the end because I was watching it on a Bali DVD copy and it kept freezing up. The girls and I really enjoyed this movie. Some parts of the movie definitely had us on the edge of our seats and cringing at the blood and gore. What freaked us out the most was the fact that this was based in Australia, so it hit home just a little bit more. I give it 8/10.

If you're looking for a nice way to spend a night in, then you can't go past a movie night. It doesn't have to be with horror movies. Just grab some friends and a few of your favourites and you're in for a great time. 

Despicable Me 2

DESPICABLE ME 2!

There's not much more I need to say really. I loved the first one, and I love this one just as much. I found it to be such a hilarious movie and this time round there was much more minion fun. 

The weather was absolutely shocking today, with heavy rains and strong winds, and I was tired from prac, but nothing was going to stop me from watching this.  

We ended up only being able to get seats 3 rows from the screen and so we were a little worried our necks were going to be sore from looking up, but luckily for us it was ok sitting up that close. I still haven't learnt my lesson from the same thing happening for Man of Steel that I need to go early for popular movies. 


Such a good movie to life your spirits. I give it a much deserved 8.5/10 :)

I couldn't find a movie poster for the minion Dave, but he's one of my favourites too :)

Monsters University

The main running theme of my day today was laughter :)

My friend Nhi (who appears in many of my posts) invited me along to breakfast and a movie with her and her good friend. Not only did I watch a new movie, but I also made a new friend. 

We got up early to grab a bite to eat before heading out to the cinema to watch Monsters University. What I loved about the morning we had was the constant laughs. I find that at the end of the day, even if you don't remember exactly what you were laughing at, you are still left with that residual happy feeling.

There were lots of laughs to be had in the movie too. It was good, and it brought back memories of when I was younger and watched Monsters Inc (which came out in 2001!! whoa time has gone by fast). This one is definitely a kid friendly movie, and it's good for anyone older too. There was even a twenty something year old guy sitting by himself in the row behind us too. In terms of kids movies, I give Monsters University a 7/10 :)

The rest of my day was filled with lots of laughs too and to finish it all off, I saw my brother laughing out loud to himself as he watched YouTube videos. It was that type of laughing where it starts out really loud but then turns into that silent shaking laugh, with the tears as well. I don't know if you've ever seen people laughing out loud to themselves, but I find it absolutely hilarious. Try not laughing yourself when you see it. 

 

Man of Steel

Man of Steel hit cinemas on the 27th of June over here in Australia. As an avid comic book fan, I was super pumped to go see it but had to wait until today because of such a busy week I was having. 

I brought along none other than my comic book partner in crime and brother, Peter. We were running late and so we ended up with seats five rows from the screen and all the way on the side. At first we were pretty disappointed, but once the movie started, it didn't really matter. 

I really enjoyed Man of Steel. With all the Marvel movies that have come out recently, I've become used to these superhero movies being funny, but comparing Man of Steel to the Marvel movies is like comparing apples and oranges...or in this case, it's comparing two different comic universes. 

At the end of the movie, one guy in my row cheered and clapped super loud. Not sure if he really liked it or was just doing that for kicks, but I don't disapprove. I thought it was a great movie too. I give it a solid 7/10.

In the car ride home, Peter and I were discussing the movie, and he goes to me "I like that Superman didn't wear his undies on the outside". Haha I was too engrossed in the movie to even notice. But yeah, I totally agree.

I love seeing all the different types of movie posters. Here are a few I found :)

The Hangover

My something new for today will probably not be something new for a lot of the blog readers out there, but as you will get to see, I'm notorious for not having seen many movies. 

My friend is organising to go and see The Hangover part III in a few weeks time and so I thought I better get going and watch the first one.

....yeah I hadn't seen any of the hangovers before today.

I wasn't sure what to expect other than that it would be a crude humour kind of movie, but I found that I actually really enjoyed it. It actually made me laugh out loud a lot. It's a fun movie. Even though I know people who probably wouldn't like this movie, I say it's not really all that offensive. It's definitely a great guy movie. I give it 7/10.

The Hangover part II is next on my watch list. Looking forward to the laughs. 

Vegetable juice

When I first decided I need a health kick and changed to a vegan lifestyle, I was so into the idea of juicing. All enthusiastic, I went out a bought a juicing machine. 

I use it every now and then, but what puts me off a little bit is the fact that all the left over pulp goes to waste. I didn't think of that at the time I bought it. Nowadays, I try and only juice things that will give me pulp I can use in other recipes. Fresh apple and carrot juice is always good because I can use the pule to make cake or pancakes etc. 

Today I decided to try a new juice recipe. Unfortunately there wasn't much I could do with the pulp so even though I was able to enjoy a nice healthy juice with my dinner, I felt bad scraping the pulp into the bin :( So please, if you're thinking about buying a juicer, don't buy it if you're going to feel guilty for wasting the pulp. 

Mixed vegetable juice

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots
• 4 stalks of celery
• 1/2 beetroot
• 1 green apple
• 1/2 cucumber

Method:
Juice these bad boys!

Also, I watched a movie today called Deja Vu starring Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer. If you're anything like me and you like watching movies without any expectations, don't read the summary on IMdB. I think you'll like it more if you don't know anything about what's going to happen in the movie.

This movie was so good! I found it a real edge of your seat sci-fi/thriller movie. And I really liked the ending :) 

Now that it's coming up to winter (here in Australia anyways) save this movie for a rainy day. If you're into thrillers, this one needs to be on your list of movies to watch if you haven't already seen it. 

Day Zero Project goal #12 - IMdB Top 250 movies

I am notorious for not having watched many movies. That's mainly because I used to spend most of my time doing uni work and would always have other things to do in my spare time. 

Now that I have more free time this year, I decided to make it a mission on my Day Zero Project list to watch all of the movies on the IMdB Top 250 Movies list. The list is updated every so often, but I'm going to go based on the list as of the 15th February 2013. 

Just because the movie is on the top 250 list doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be a good movie in my books, but I'm still keen to get through them all anyways just so that I can say I've watched them.

If any of you haven't been on the IMdB website, then be warned that you could spend hours upon hours browsing through movies, actor profiles, pictures and lists just like I have numerous times in the past.

I've had a really busy and tiring day today, so I wanted to just chill. My 'something new' for today was watching the movie Alien. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it and is a fan of sci-fi-ish type thriller movies. I give it 8/10 :)

Here's my checklist of the Top 250 list. Looking forward to ticking them all off. 

How many have you seen?

IMdB Top 250 movies (15/02/13)

Rank	Title
1.	The Shawshank Redemption (1994)	✓
2.	The Godfather (1972)
3.	The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4.	Pulp Fiction (1994)	✓
5.	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
6.	12 Angry Men (1957)
7.	The Dark Knight (2008)	✓
8.	Schindler's List (1993)	✓
9.	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)	✓
10.	Fight Club (1999)	✓
11.	Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)	✓
12.	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)	✓
13.	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)	✓
14.	Inception (2010)	✓
15.	Goodfellas (1990)
16.	Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)	✓
17.	Seven Samurai (1954)
18.	Forrest Gump (1994)	✓
19.	The Matrix (1999)	✓
20.	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)	✓
21.	City of God (2002)
22.	Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
23.	Se7en (1995)	✓
24.	The Silence of the Lambs (1991)	✓
25.	Casablanca (1942)	✓
26.	The Usual Suspects (1995)
27.	Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
28.	Rear Window (1954)	✓
29.	Psycho (1960)	✓
30.	It's a Wonderful Life (1946)	✓
31.	Leon: The Professional (1994)	✓
32.	Sunset Blvd. (1950)	✓
33.	Memento (2000)	✓
34.	American History X (1998)	✓
35.	Apocalypse Now (1979)
36.	Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)	✓
37.	Django Unchained (2012)	✓
38.	Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
39.	Saving Private Ryan (1998)	✓
40.	Alien (1979)	✓
41.	City Lights (1931)
42.	North by Northwest (1959)
43.	The Dark Knight Rises (2012)	✓
44.	Spirited Away (2001)	✓
45.	Modern Times (1936)
46.	Citizen Kane (1941)
47.	The Shining (1980)
48.	Back to the Future (1985)	✓
49.	The Pianist (2002)
50.	Vertigo (1958)	✓
51.	The Departed (2006)
52.	M (1931)
53.	American Beauty (1999)	✓
54.	Taxi Driver (1976)
55.	Life Is Beautiful (1997)	✓
56.	Paths of Glory (1957)
57.	Toy Story 3 (2010)	✓
58.	Double Indemnity (1944)
59.	Aliens (1986)
60.	WALL·E (2008)	✓
61.	The Lives of Others (2006)
62.	A Clockwork Orange (1971)
63.	Intouchables (2011)
64.	Gladiator (2000)	✓
65.	The Green Mile (1999)	✓
66.	Amelie (2001)	✓
67.	Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
68.	The Great Dictator (1940)
69.	The Prestige (2006)	✓
70.	To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)	✓
71.	Reservoir Dogs (1992)	✓
72.	Das Boot (1981)
73.	The Third Man (1949)
74.	Requiem for a Dream (2000)
75.	The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
76.	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
77.	Cinema Paradiso (1988)
78.	Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
79.	The Lion King (1994)	✓
80.	Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)	✓
81.	Chinatown (1974)
82.	L.A. Confidential (1997)
83.	Full Metal Jacket (1987)
84.	Braveheart (1995)	✓
85.	Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)	✓
86.	Oldboy (2003)	✓
87.	Singin' in the Rain (1952)	✓
88.	Some Like It Hot (1959)	✓
89.	Amadeus (1984)
90.	Metropolis (1927)
91.	Rashômon (1950)
92.	Bicycle Thieves (1948)
93.	Princess Mononoke (1997)	✓
94.	2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
95.	Unforgiven (1992)
96.	All About Eve (1950)
97.	The Apartment (1960)
98.	The Sting (1973)
99.	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
100.	Raging Bull (1980)
101.	The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
102.	Die Hard (1988)	✓
103.	Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
104.	Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
105.	Batman Begins (2005)	✓
106.	A Separation (2011)
107.	Pan's Labyrinth (2006)	✓
108.	Downfall (2004)
109.	Yojimbo (1961)
110.	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
111.	For a Few Dollars More (1965)
112.	Snatch. (2000)
113.	The Great Escape (1963)
114.	Inglourious Basterds (2009)	✓
115.	Up (2009)	✓
116.	On the Waterfront (1954)
117.	The Elephant Man (1980)	✓
118.	Toy Story (1995)	✓
119.	The Seventh Seal (1957)
120.	Heat (1995)
121.	The General (1926)
122.	The Maltese Falcon (1941)
123.	Blade Runner (1982)
124.	Rebecca (1940)	✓
125.	Gran Torino (2008)	✓
126.	Wild Strawberries (1957)
127.	Fargo (1996)	✓
128.	The Kid (1921)
129.	Scarface (1983)
130.	The Big Lebowski (1998)
131.	Touch of Evil (1958)
132.	Ran (1985)
133.	The Deer Hunter (1978)
134.	The Avengers (2012)	✓
135.	Cool Hand Luke (1967)
136.	The Gold Rush (1925)
137.	Sin City (2005)	✓
138.	Strangers on a Train (1951)	✓
139.	No Country for Old Men (2007)	✓
140.	It Happened One Night (1934)
141.	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
142.	Jaws (1975)	✓
143.	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)	✓
144.	The Sixth Sense (1999)	✓
145.	Platoon (1986)
146.	The Thing (1982)
147.	Hotel Rwanda (2004)	✓
148.	High Noon (1952)
149.	Casino (1995)
150.	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
151.	Trainspotting (1996)
152.	The Wizard of Oz (1939)	✓
153.	Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)	✓
154.	Warrior (2011)
155.	Annie Hall (1977)
156.	Good Will Hunting (1997)
157.	The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
158.	Notorious (1946)	✓
159.	Gone with the Wind (1939)
160.	The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
161.	Into the Wild (2007)
162.	The King's Speech (2010)
163.	Life of Brian (1979)
164.	My Neighbor Totoro (1988)	✓
165.	V for Vendetta (2005)	✓
166.	Finding Nemo (2003)	✓
167.	How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
168.	Dial M for Murder (1954)	✓
169.	The Big Sleep (1946)
170.	The Terminator (1984)	✓
171.	Network (1976)
172.	Ben-Hur (1959)
173.	Million Dollar Baby (2004)	✓
174.	There Will Be Blood (2007)
175.	The Night of the Hunter (1955)
176.	Stand by Me (1986)	✓
177.	Donnie Darko (2001)	✓
178.	Black Swan (2010)
179.	Life of Pi (2012)
180.	Groundhog Day (1993)	✓
181.	Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
182.	Twelve Monkeys (1995)
183.	Amores perros (2000)
184.	The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
185.	Mary and Max (2009)
186.	The 400 Blows (1959)
187.	Persona (1966)
188.	Gandhi (1982)
189.	The Graduate (1967)
190.	The Killing (1956)
191.	Howl's Moving Castle (2004)	✓
192.	The Princess Bride (1987)	✓
193.	8½ (1963)
194.	Slumdog Millionaire (2008)	✓
195.	A Beautiful Mind (2001)	✓
196.	The Artist (2011/I)
197.	The Hustler (1961)
198.	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
199.	La strada (1954)
200.	The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
201.	Rocky (1976)
202.	Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
203.	The Wild Bunch (1969)
204.	The Exorcist (1973)
205.	Stalag 17 (1953)
206.	Rope (1948)	✓
207.	Sleuth (1972)
208.	Barry Lyndon (1975)
209.	The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
210.	The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)	✓
211.	Salinui chueok (2003)
212.	District 9 (2009)	✓
213.	Infernal Affairs (2002)
214.	Argo (2012)
215.	Stalker (1979)
216.	Roman Holiday (1953)
217.	The Truman Show (1998)
218.	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
219.	In the Name of the Father (1993)
220.	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
221.	Ip Man (2008)
222.	Ratatouille (2007)
223.	Monsters, Inc. (2001)	✓
224.	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)	✓
225.	A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
226.	A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
227.	Star Trek (2009)	✓
228.	Like Stars on Earth (2007)
229.	Beauty and the Beast (1991)	✓
230.	Rosemary's Baby (1968)
231.	Harvey (1950)
232.	Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
233.	La haine (1995)
234.	Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
235.	All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
236.	Shutter Island (2010)	✓
237.	Rain Man (1988)
238.	Incendies (2010)
239.	The Wrestler (2008)
240.	Nosferatu (1922)
241.	Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (2003)
242.	Mystic River (2003)
243.	Manhattan (1979)
244.	3 Idiots (2009)
245.	Jurassic Park (1993)	✓
246.	Papillon (1973)
247.	Big Fish (2003)	✓
248.	Castle in the Sky (1986)	✓
249.	The Untouchables (1987)
250.	Shadow of a Doubt (1943)