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Tuesday, July 12, 2022

The Lord of the Rings


The Lord of the Rings has finally entered my reading world!

For many years it was Harry Potter. I just didn't feel The Lord of the Rings calling out to me. Then one day I decided to buy the collection online. I started with The Hobbit. It was tough reading for the first 60 pages, but I persevered. Once I got comfortable with the storytelling style, and the small typeset, and with the help of the maps, I was able to absorb into J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastic world.

After The Hobbit, we spent a good 10 hours one free day watching The Lord of the Rings movies. Yes, they were long! But I enjoyed it, and I then started reading the books. And I'm glad I watched the movies first before reading the books. There is so much more detail in the books! Obviously. I'm currently in Part 3 - The Return of the King and I have just loved the ride.

Now, I need to get a move on because I've just bought the second installment of James Patterson and Bill Clinton's collaboration, The President's Daughter, which I'm itching to read. But, first things first...


P.S. I swear Albus Dumbledore is Gandalf! It has to be the same person! Perhaps someone out there can write a piece of fan fiction on how Dumbledore and Gandalf are one and the same?

Saturday, September 4, 2021

ENGLISH INTERNET HUNT COMPLETE!!!

You should definitely give yourself a pat on the back for making it to the end of the English Internet Hunt! Not many get this far and do it right. To be prepared for the video call, you should have written down:

- a sentence
- a keyword
- a paragraph

If you don't have any of these things, I'm sorry to say you've done it wrong, and should go back to the start to watch my video in the whatsapp group again.

If you've done it right, I'll see you soon in our weekly Google Meet video call!

Regards,

Mr. Duncan

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows




A substantial portion of this book sees Harry Potter being hunted by Death Eaters with pretty much nowhere to go. It did get a bit tedious reading of Harry, Ron and Hermione disapparating from field to field up and down England, oftentimes spending days or weeks doing next to nothing. All the while, Harry is trying to piece together information about the Deathly Hallows which his two friends don't believe in. Their friendship is put under heavy strain and Ron storms off in frustration, only to return later. It's not pleasant reading.

But it does pick up eventually and builds up nicely to the finale where Harry returns to Hogwarts to take on Lord Voldemort.

What was striking was just how different the book is to the movie. Or in other words, how much they had changed the movie adaptation when compared to the original script in the book. As someone who had watched the movie before reading the book, I was confused about how exactly Voldemort had died. It is crystal clear in the book.

Professor Snape's role and intentions are brought into the light at the end after Harry extracts his tears before he dies. We learn that Snape is in fact the true hero who has always been loyal to Dumbledore and who never ever lost his love for Lily Evans, Harry's mum. His love for her was more powerful than ever contemplating siding with Voldemort again..

I had liked Snape from the start without knowing if ultimately he was really with Dumbledore, or Voldemort. So it was highly satisfying and emotional when in his memory he summoned his doe patronus to demonstrate his love for Lily. That moment also clarified that it was Snape who led Harry to the sword of Gryffindor in the lake earlier in the story.

A great finish to the book and what a fascinating journey the Harry Potter series has been.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Another Harry Potter book read and one more to go!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was another spell-binding read which has left me with an even greater thirst for more.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

From Harry inadvertently using Proffesor Snape's old potions book to Dumbledore's seemingly foolish and wasted death for a fake locket. Learning more about Lord Voldemort through Dumbledore's pensieve was intriguing, as well as getting to the 'crux' of the matter with Voldemort's horcruxes.

The artwork on the book covers continues to impress me. The illustrations were done by a Jonny Duddle, and I was fascinated to learn of how he prepared and undertook the illustrative work. Take a look at this news article about Jonny Duddle and this collection of Harry Potter book cover illustrations as they progressed from original sketches to front cover publications. And here is a video of the illustrator, Jonny Duddle briefly explaining how he produces his artwork.

Hope you enjoy those links. I have started book 7 already and can't get enough of it!

Monday, April 3, 2017

Beauty and the Beast - the movie review



Beauty and the Beast - the movie was much anticipated, particularly here in Malaysia after the ridiculous short-lived ban for a scene purported to be 'gay' but which in fact showed no more than a few men singing and dancing jovially.

Despite my eagerness to see the movie, I left the theatre hall happy for my children, but a little disappointed for myself.

I personally gave the movie a very generous 7/10, not because I don't like the story Beauty and the Beast, but for a few reasons which I'll discuss below. 


Firstly, I just don't think the acting was too great. Particularly from the two lead characters, Belle and Gaston. Emma Watson and Luke Evans were definitely the right picks for the roles but they seemed limited in their acting capabilities of Belle and Gaston. They just didn't get fully into their characters.

Emma Watson, as Belle, was simply not happy enough when she should have been elated

With the case of Belle, she just seemed too flat throughout the movie. There were not enough plateaus and valleys, not enough emotion and genuine feeling. Her reactions didn't match up with the events.

In the scene when the Beast had her father locked up and Belle was trying to negotiate his release, she remarkably failed to show the kind of fear, heartache and confusion that such a situation would warrant. It all seemed to pass by in a rush.

It was almost as if the movie producers placed more emphasis on rifling through the story line over quality acting.

Emma Watson was a beautiful choice for Belle but she was simply not surprised enough when she should have been shocked; not sad enough when she should have been distraught; not happy enough when she should have been elated.

I just wasn't buying the acting.

There were moments where the characters were quite obviously trying to use the same lines from the cartoon while mixing them with their own new lines, which in some cases worked, but in others made the dialogue feel a little awkward and strange.

Gaston was perhaps played slightly better overall, but moments where the acting seemed terribly limp when he was trying to impress Belle and offer his hand in marriage at the beginning of the movie, for example, really made me wonder whether Luke Evans was truly imitating the cartoon Gaston, or playing a much more diluted version of Gaston.

However, it soon became apparent that the Gaston of the movie was a lot more lethal and horrible than in the cartoon. Punching Belle's father in the face, leaving him for dead in the forest for the wolves, and using a gun to shoot the beast three times, all gave him a steely, nasty appearance. I was left feeling immensely glad when the bridge he was standing on, crumbled, leaving Gaston to fall to his death.

Gaston (left) was a lot more lethal in the movie than in the cartoon

It was personally sad for me as I always liked Gaston in the cartoon - a little short of a few brain cells but patriotic in his desire to protect and defend his town and the villagers. It was a completely different Gaston in the movie.

Another curious development surrounded Belle's father. In the cartoon, he is clearly shown to be a somewhat crazy workman whose inventions invariably implode on him. In the movie, Gaston built his case against Belle's father that he was mentally challenged, but in the scene at the pub where he is eventually taken away by the asylum, Belle's father didn't come across as crazy at all. His testimony of the Beast was clear and coherent. In fact, he wasn't portrayed as being crazy in the slightest, throughout the movie. Fair enough, he lost his bearings leading Gaston through the forest, but who wouldn't?


It was not all doom and gloom however. I thought Lefou was the best of the human characters and played his role very well. Of the non-human characters, I was fascinated with the performance of Lumiere, the candlestick, which I thought was greater than in the cartoon. He was my favourite character by a mile which says something about the standard of the human actors/actresses.

Lumiere was a bright spark in the movie


I also enjoyed the little additions they made to the original story to give us a second opinion on the classic fairytale. 

The special effects were amazing. The castle and grounds looked stunning. The sets were fantastic. The wolves were frighteningly realistic. The Beast looked great. There was no problem on that front. The crowning moment was definitely the song "Be Our Guest," led by Lumiere. The glorious effects were astonishingly beautiful. It was the one 'WOW' moment of the entire movie.

The crowning moment was Lumiere leading us through the song "Be Our Guest"

As with any Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast is peppered with songs, most familiar favourites and some new ones. Now, Emma Watson, Luke Evans and Dan Stevens are not stellar singers but they did a good solid job with their vocals. I especially liked the addition of a new song sung by the Beast after he let Belle leave the castle and released her as his prisoner. I thought that was a great addition to better gauge his feelings on that extremely difficult moment for him.


CONCLUSION

While it will have impressed the casual observer and Disney-lover, I think that this production, while a good and worthwhile story that it is, is littered with flaws, and should serve as a quiet reminder that the lack of good acting is glaringly noticeable and cannot be overlooked in order to rush through a story line.

FINAL RATING

A very generous 7/10. Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and the brilliant effects saved it.

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