[Movie Review] The Huntsman: Winter's War

Photosource: http://screencrush.com/the-huntsman-winters-war-posters/

Part of the Huntsman series, Winter's War strives to tell a long-ago story of what transpired before Snow White's tale was made known. Cast includes Charliez Theron, Chris Hemsworth and Emily Blunt etc, this movie seeks to draw the viewers into a fantascial adventure filled with magic and beauty.

The plot was largely vengeful, a little whimsical, pricked with lots of strong emotions (centering around love and hatred) and some predictable twists.

Photosource: http://www.movementmagazine.com/reelreport/the-huntsman-winters-war-new-trailer/

I enjoyed very much the beautiful getups of the two glamourous queens, each powerful in her own way. I also loved the stark beauty of the snowy settings, a frost that touches the soul but warms the heart.

A line by the evil mirror also struck a chord, resonating with my sentiments; it said to the vain Queen Ravenna, "I am merely a reflection, your mind is already made up"...

Go for the movie for its lovely settings and entertaining fights between men and creatures, good and evil - a rather good rendition of a very dark fairy tale.

Ode to Escapism

The fading shorelines are dressed for sunrise,

Seagulls reflecting on the crystal clear waters;

The dawn is cold in its fiery disguise,

A breath is drawn, and eyes are closed,

To the halting ascent of the red sun,

Dragging itself from the comfort of horizon's hug.

The thousand-year trees rustle their leaves,

As if in prayerful gesture for another new day;

Darkness is drawn back into a palette of hues,

Blazing slowly into blinding whiteness,

The winds begin to chase the waters gently,

Foaming together to lick the earth awake.

Dreams in the night flee like dust particles,

Leaving the dreamers in a slate of blankness,

Free to chase the wild dreams of the day-

And on this day many, many centuries ago

The knights pouring their sweat and blood;

Onto lands we stand today, lakes we swim in.

The keyboard warriors and pencil pushers-

Fighting today's battles in technology's ease,

Pouring their might, energies and youth -

Engaged in treasure hunts with the hands of time,

Who finds and loses, who never finds way back,

Tucked away in the thick foliage of uncertainties.

The colorful palette of hues takes over the skies,

Taking down the sun into its dark hide;

The Moon treads gracefully to celestial thrones,

Watching every tide and turn with keen eyes,

Reminiscing about the children of long, long ago,

Wondering whose forms they have taken today....

copyright © ArcticStar 2015. All Rights Reserved.

It's Your World...

Memories, floating on my mind's oceans,

Like diamonds sparkling on the waves -

Waves that part gently, pulling apart

To come back together like a puzzle.

The silent calls of the wind,

Echoes bouncing off contours of rolling hills,

Dancing canopies on pillars of wood,

These are all the elements of your world.

The poignant petals of white clouds,

Pinned across the gloomy gray skies;

The cascading sash of intense hues,

From rainbows to the borealis -

From frosted windowpanes to tinted lenses,

Screaming robins out in the cold open;

Beauty, in physique, tones and touch -

These are all the elements of your world.

The angry claws of flames,

Scratching against the fireplace;

Cracked lips making way for pearl teeth -

The smile that turned the night into day.

These are all the elements of your world -

The darkness, the light, the monochromatic;

It's your world - filled with shades of gray,

A world I could never be able to penetrate.

copyright © ArcticStar 2015. All Rights Reserved.

All The World is a Stage

As I watched the end of a 1000-episode Taiwanese drama coming to a closure finally - after having dragged on for 3 years, a lot of emotions hit me suddenly, and I must say I am surprised. After all, I have never been much of a TV fan except some glimpses of them, or listening to them playing in the background while I do my stuff in the room. Furthermore, this was a Taiwanese drama series - I usually watch American or French TV, thank you.

But, one has got to admit, after catching glimpses of a drama series for three years, you kind of identify with the characters, sharing a familarity with them, like old friends. This feeling is probably akin to how some of us feel close to the characters in "Lord of the Rings" or some of those Superheroes flicks that go on and on.

We not only identify with the characters and their lifestyles, but inevitably, recognize the coincidences of their plights or habits with ours.  Well, I certainly found myself identifying very much with Becky in "Confessions of a Shopaholic" or Elle in "Legally Blonde", cliche as it may sound.

 

That's when it all hit me, how our lives alone are dramas on their own, and we are performing on an almost daily basis.  "All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players," quipped Shakespeare, centuries ago.

The only difference between our dramas is the number of viewers we have, monitoring our life's progress constantly. At home, whether we mingle with our neighbours or interact with our family members / housemates, we are performing, whether we like it or not. Whether we portray ourselves as loud and sloppy at home, whether we portray ourselves as considerate neighbours, we are acting, and people living with and around us are all privy to our behaviours. Whether we choose to smash the ceramic vase in a fit of anger to display our feelings, or whether we choose to portray a calm facade in times of crisis, it is a performance we put up.

When we commute to work, whether we dress up or not, we have audience. If we drive a swanky car and turn heads on the roads, we are putting on a show, and we revel in the attention garnered.  Whether we give up our seats for the needy due to kindness or fear of being glared at by watching eyes, it is an act - act of kindness, or act of social obligations, we are performing. At work, whether we look around to see if anyone is peeking at our laptop monitors, or put up a sales presentation, we are essentially performing as well. It is a different stage now, a professional one where stakeholders and reviews result in compliments or criticism, and has an impact on your "ratings".  Some of us put on a mask in these settings, just so our best sides are being portrayed to the audience at large; it does not matter whether we had a rough night or do not believe in the company's products at all - as long we we could pull off the show, we are deemed good.

The same goes for social  events, meetings with friends, or other functions that we attend. The ways we interact with others, the words we choose to utter, the clothes we choose to wear, and the people we choose to be seen with, are all part and parcel of a peformance. There are some who choose to play down on their wealth, to portray a humble and simple front; and there are those who may prefer to flaunt their wealth, putting up pretenses of possessions they may not have.

   

Some of us want to hide our sorrows and problems, whereas others create drama with their issues wherever they go. If we piece all these together, or have just that one watchful audience following all the events of our lives; it is all a very entertaining and meaningful drama.  The audience - whether people in real lives watching us from different angles, or followers on our social media platforms - form impressions based on the shows we put up, the facades we choose to exhibit. Therefore, like it or not, we are acting on a daily basis, performing for strangers, performing for people who know us, performing actively on life's stage, dancing the dance with steps that only we could master and singing the tunes that only our hearts know best.

Years later, we look back upon our own lives and deeds, viewing them like filmstrips running through our minds' eyes, and either rejoice in the beautiful memories or wonder why we did not put up a better performance when we could. You don't need to be an actor or actress to act well; just perform well on stage of life, in your own movie, and that would be akin to producing the best movie requiring the highest skills and accolade.

                    

Dark Room, Golden Drapes, Stifling Silence

Entering the doors only to catch the last glimpse of the setting sun, before the night was plunged into utter darkness. The orange-pink streaks across the skies now look like angry scars across the sky's darkening skin, draped over the world robbing it of all colours. The memories are invading my personal space, parting through the deafening silence to penetrate my being ever so gently....

Photosource: http://www.remodelista.com/posts/a-glamorous-hollywood-dressing-room-from-the-desk-of-lola

And I clutch the golden silk drapes across the open windows,
Palms and fists holding the smooth, cool drapes tightly,
Clutching them as though it were my very own heart -

Can't breathe, the pain of missing what's no longer around,
Can't think, as the darkness looms heavily over me,
Can't feel, as the warm tears sweep across pale skin.

The room that we used to spin around on moods that were light,
The hall that hurtful words and debris of vases filled on other nights,
The antique clock that never failed to chime every sixty minutes.

The moon has risen to watch over me, to watch this tragedy,
Slowly unfolding with the final strains of our favourite songs;
Mayhaps the night is silently mocking me, mocking us -

On this night so dramatic, terrifying; making the world so huge,
Magnifying the lines that hold the earth intact,
Pushing back the boundaries of the lonely planet -

Making it frightening to even miss you, or the memories,
Every deep breath hits my chest painfully,
This is not the night to think of those who no longer reside here...

And just as I'd imagined, your footsteps were heavy and steady on the wood-panelled floorboards, walking towards me, coming in my direction. The breezes part the golden drapes to let in more moonlight, painting a part of the dark world colourful; and then the footfalls stopped. I did not even know when they'd stopped, or why, but the house, vast as it is, seems to close in on me now - the walls are inching in closer, my breath is coming in shorter and faster gasps -

In the distance, the full moon looks on through the open windows, my golden silken drapes fluttering on its sides, like the beautiful face of a lady with golden tresses; it was almost mesmerizing.

Then it all became black....

copyright © thearcticstar 2015. All Rights Reserved

Inspired by the song "One More Time" by Laura Pausini 

Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

Following the sequel of "The Lord of the Rings", this current Hobbit movie and its characters should feel like old friends by now - Gandalf the Wizard (played by Sir Ian McKellen), Thorin Oakenshield (played by Richard Armitage), Bilbo Baggins the Dwarf (played by Martin Freeman), Bard the Bowman (played by John Stephenson), Thranduil the Elves King (played by Lee Pace) and his son Legolas (played by Orlando Bloom) etc.

Photosource: http://screenrant.com/hobbit-3-battle-five-armies-posters/

Bard's original intention of launching an attack against Lonely Mountain to regain some of the wealth meant for rebuilding Laketown which was ruined by Smaug the dragon. Thorin was smittened with the gold and jewelry and was willing to sacrifice friendship just to retain these material posessions.

Thranduil and his army of elves had also set out to battle Thorin's kingdom for a necklace of white gem, in the midst of it all lending aid to Bard in the form of supplies.

At the same time, Azog and Bolg ascended upon the mountain with the armies of orcs, goblins and giant bats to declare war. As such, an alliance was formed between the men led by Bard, elves led by Thranduil and the dwarfs led by Dain to fight against the hideous, half-creatured orcs and goblins. Legolas and Tauriel fought on the side, alongside Thorin who has awoken from his insanity and led his army to join in the fight.

There were some heartbreaks as some of the characters were sacrified, Kili the dwarf amongst them, as Tauriel mourned. Thorin and Azog engaged in an exciting fight in which they managed to kill each other in the end, eliciting victory on the part of Thorin but nonetheless, still heartwrenching as he made peace with Bilbo before he died.

Photosource: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/JoshWildingNewsAndReviews/news/?a=109291

Just as everyone was exhausted, especially after Thrandiul withdrew his army of elves, the Wizards Radagast and Beorn came to aid with their huge fleet of Giant Eagles. There is no need to announce who won the battle in the end.

Overall, the movie though long, is very entertaining with swordsmanship at their best, interesting characters and lots of action. Amongst these, one may also be fascinated by the ethereally, fantasical and surreal beauty of Middle Earth and the rest of the landscapes, and the enjoy the heart-warming fortification of unity. Of course, to admit, the lovely elves are quite an eyeful too, as glacial as their beauty may be. Be prepared to be dazed at this transformation into another world, another era altogether.

This is the third installment of The Hobbit series, and makes one yearn for more after the movie.