Thursday Movie Picks #14: Found Footage Movies

Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks! Hey we're in the third week of the Halloween Edition! I hope you've enjoyed reading mine and other participants picks the last two weeks and even check out some of those movies yourself. It's a new week so continue to brace yourself for some scary flicks as for 5 Thursdays in the month of October, the themes will all be Halloween related. 

October 2 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 - Zombie Movies
October 16 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 - Vampire Movies
October 30 - Haunted Buildings

As you can see there are some fun themes in the coming weeks. So if you haven't join us already, now is definitely the time to.

Before we start let's go through some of the simple rules for the newbies; Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. For more information and future topics please visit the Thursday Movie Picks page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Found Footage Movies

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I suppose there have been found footage movies before, but it was probably Blair Witch Project that made it one of the trendiest sub genre in horror movies. What with it being cheap to produce, with stories that have mainstream appeal and has resulted the best of them being extremely profitable. I'm actually really tempted to flip it and go for found footage movies that aren't horror, but since this is the Halloween edition and I have not pick much scary stuff in the past 2 weeks, I'm going to keep it simple and stick with horror.

So here are some of my favourites in alphabetical order:

Paranormal Activity (2009) - "After moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence."

A lot of the found footage movies have characters walking around investigating some supernatural occurrence. This one has that and surveillance footage of a house that seems to be haunted...which is exactly what people are curious about right? Will supernatural stuff make an appearance when no one is watching? Paranormal Activity certainly serves that and if you haven't watch too much of the trailers or clips online, this movie can be a real scary one to watch. One thing that ruins it a little I guess is who edited the camcorder and the surveillance footage together?

Quarantine (2008) and [Rec] (2007)

So I'm picking both the original and the remake. They're both pretty similar being about a group of people being quarantined in an apartment building when there is an outbreak of a mysterious virus, and I enjoyed watching both movies. The found footage style of camera work, which makes the audience feel right there, certainly make these movies two of the scariest zombish-creature movies I've seen. Plus the story starts at possibly the beginning of an epidemic with what seems to be patient zero, so like the characters in the movies we have no idea what's going on. 


Before I started with this list I imagined there were a lot of found footage movies out there but there really isn't and few good ones.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?

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Check out my past Thursday Movie Picks

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)
 

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Weekly Recap #12: Blindless, Gotham, From Dusk Till Dawn...

Read

Blindness by José Saramago

The book has an interesting premise of a blindness pandemic. I think it is less about not having sight but more on exploring what people would do when they know they are not monitored by people around them. Will they continue to regulate their own behaviors like they used to or will they not, now that there is no one to literally see and judge them doing uncouth and uncivilized things. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie which was made a few years ago. The book went to some dark places and I wonder if the movie took it that far.

Fallen by Lauren Kate 
This is another YA book that has been turned into a movie, set to be release next year. I've never been attracted to angel theme books because I don't like when books get religious and preachy. The very few angel theme ones I've read are on the fantasy, romance or apocalyptic side. Fallen is more fantasy/romance and I like this the least. Firstly it has a love triangle which is just so overused in YA books. Secondly we all already know Daniel is a fallen angel and that Luce and Daniel are a cursed couple (its in the book synopsis) and the book in the doesn't really go beyond being just a story about Luce finding out what we already know about Daniel and Luce. Thirdly nothing is ever explained. The shadows? The love story; we are just suppose to take that Luce and Daniel have this epic eternal love without giving any foundation to their love story? Why are they cursed? Fourth, why are the fallen angels all in one place masquerading not only as humans and but also that they are friends even when they are on different sides. I suppose things are left unresolved for the purpose of enticing its readers to read the 2nd book (it's a 4 book series), but having read the first book...not sure I'd pick up the second

TV

Downton Abbey Season 5 Episode 3

Edith has become irritating again. It was a bad idea bringing the child so near and now she's meddling in the rearing of the girl. Whoa Mary! Will she drop Gillingham...sure looks like it. And can everyone stop inviting Miss Bunting upstairs!

Gotham Season 1 Episode 3

Am I missing something from the end of episode 2. So Gordon and Bullock caught the creepy kidnappers, but obviously something bigger is going on there right? I thought episode 3 was going to dig deeper into the case. But instead it's about a balloon vigilante?

Revenge Season 4 Episode 2

What is wrong with Charlotte? she like latches on any new guy that comes around? And now with the fire? She's getting nuttier and people are so going to find out because it's so obviously arson...

From Dusk Till Dawn Season 1 Episode 1

I vaguely remember the movie. It had George Clooney and Selma Hayek with a snake and crazy club filled with vampires...that's about it. It has since been made into a TV series and I'm so glad one the cable channels is airing it albeit a little late. The first episode is explosive! Even though I can't remember which actors played what role in the movie, every time I see Seth Gecko speak I can imagine George Clooney speaking the same lines. Clooney obviously played this role in the movie and I'm right after checking IMDB. I love how they dressed the Gecko brothers in this. They look like they jumped out of some fashion magazine of course and just so out of place. Which in a way works because they so obviously are and so out of their depth with the turn of events or more like Richie being a little trigger happy. And Richie and those glasses...he does look insane doesn't he? Overall this series looks promising. I like the dialogue between the brothers, their relationship is interesting and I can't wait for the second episode.

Thursday Movie Picks #13: Zombie Movies

Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks! We're now in the second week of the Halloween Edition. Once again brace yourself for some scary flicks as for 5 Thursdays in the month of October, the themes will all be Halloween related. 

October 2 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 - Zombie Movies
October 16 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 - Vampire Movies
October 30 - Haunted Buildings

As you can see there are some fun themes in the coming weeks. So if you haven't join us already, now is definitely the time to.

Before we start let's go through some of the simple rules for the newbies; Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. For more information and future topics please visit the Thursday Movie Picks page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Zombie Movies

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Ah zombie movies...I'm relatively quite new to them having only begun seeing them in the 2000s with 28 Days Later which have been argued to not technically be a zombie movie since the infected didn't die first before reanimating. Anyhoo...I have like most of the ones I've seen and 28 Days Later is a definite favourite, but it won't be part of my picks this week as I'm going for Hidden Gems.

Fido (2006)

Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead are the more popular zombie dark comedies so I thought I'd highlight Fido for one of my picks. Fido pretty much begins where Shaun of the Dead ends but set in the 50s. So imagine a world like Pleaseantville where zombies have been domesticated by having them wear collars making them controllable and productive members of society. In this world having a zombie servant becomes a desirable thing because it's all about keeping up with the Joneses right? Until of course...accidents happen.

Warm Bodies (2013)

So we already have a zombie comedy, let's now have a zombie romance, Romeo and Juliet style. Don't worry there's no tragic suicides here because Warm Bodies is light hearted fun comedy/drama/romance set in a zombie apocalypse. Plus R the Romeo in this tale is already dead. Yep he is a zombie. His brain has limited functionality (he can't even remember his name), just enough for him to know he is hungry and needs to eat people. That is until he eats one boy's brains and inherits his memories and the emotions tied to it. R soon find himself falling for Julie, a living girl from the boy's memory, and goes to great lengths to protect her from his fellow zombies. You're probably now thinking how the romance part works out since Julie is human and R is dead...it works out...you'd just have to see it.

World War Z (2013)

After the delays, the reshoots the movie had and how different the story was reportedly to be from the book, I had expected World War Z to be disappointing. So I was quite surprise that it turn out to be an entertaining, heart pumping and action packed zombie flick. I'm not a fan of fast zombies...but it does make this zombie infested world extremely scarry. World War Z follows Gerry, a UN investigator, fly around the world to investigate the disease. So basically through him we see the zombie apocalypse on a global scale, which I don't think any other movie has done before, and certainly effectively gives a certain sense of escalating claustrophobia as we come to see no corner of the earth is untouched by the pandemic. I would also recommend the book. Other than the zombie apocalypse affecting the whole world, the story is vastly different. The major difference probably being that the book is made up of a series of accounts of the war by characters from different parts of the world from various backgrounds told to a UN agent interview style.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?

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Check out my past Thursday Movie Picks

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Weekly Recap #11: Downton Abbey, Gotham, Revenge

So the past two weeks or so I've been watching a lot of TV because it's that time of the year where all the TV show have their series and season premieres. I think this is the first time ever that we've had so many scripted TV series making their premieres on the local cable channels the same week or some even within 24 hours of their US/UK premieres. These cable channels have finally figured that they either air these show immediately or not ever bring these shows in at all because no one will be watching them if they bring them a season or two late like they used to. 

Anyway...here's a recap of some, not all, of the series I've been watching.

The reality TV shows:

Amazing Race 25

Still love this show. It always fun seeing the contestant completing the challenges and navigating foreign countries under time and budget constraints. This is probably one of the most challenging game shows to play and I suppose especially to produce from a logistical standpoint. 

Survivor 29

Similarly I still love watching Survivor mostly for the strategic games the contestants play. It's still early days; the fun usually really begins when the tribes merge and the alliances start to come into play more.

X Factor 11 UK

I've only seen the US version which did not get a 4th season. The UK version is I believe where the show originated from and so the format is of course similar. Currently the contestants are at the judges houses. Thus far only the male solo acts have given amazing performance. 

Scripted TV:

Downton Abbey Season 5

The first season was the best. Each subsequent season after were inferior and this new one continue to be so. Mainly because the characters are acting so stupidly and the newer characters are just so very weak. Lady Rose I suppose was introduced to be the young blood in the Crawley family after Sybil death but argh she is just like the annoying teenage cousin. Then there's Miss Bunting who's suppose to be Tom's new love interest. She gets invited to a big dinner at the Crawley's and somehow makes comment after comment that insults them. 

Gotham Season 1

Not really a fan of most of the DC superheroes, but this seems really interesting having the story start off where it all began when Bruce parents were killed and yet not have Bruce be the protagonist. It's fun seeing all the younger versions of the characters in the Batman universe. It does get a little campy in the second episode with the two kidnapper characters. I'm also not getting why James Gordon is being frank with Bruce with the failings/corruption of the police department. Bruce is rich and very mature for a child, but still a child. Still I'm enjoying most of the show so far.

Revenge Season 4

I've been binge watching season 3 so that I could watch the season 4 premiere. It surprises me that I continue to enjoy this show which essentially is a revenge soap opera. But honestly it is a fun series with a lot of clever set ups which doesn't necessarily mean they all play out smoothly for Emily. Sometimes it's more fun when it doesn't and we get to see the characters carry out their contingency plans if they already have one or if they don't...just scramble. We lost two major characters in season 3 which was incredibly unexpected and so sad but I suppose necessary to illustrate the stakes. Now I'm looking forward with what they'll do in future episodes with the reemergence of a major character.

Thursday Movie Picks #12: Unstable Characters

Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks! The Halloween Edition! Brace yourself for some scary flicks as for 5 Thursdays in the month of October, the themes will all be Halloween related. 

October 2 - Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)
October 9 - Zombie Movies
October 16 - Found Footage Movies
October 23 - Vampire Movies
October 30 - Haunted Buildings

As you can see there are some fun themes in the coming weeks. So if you haven't join us already, now is definitely the time to.

Before we start let's go through some of the simple rules for the newbies; Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. For more information and future topics please visit the Thursday Movie Picks page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Unstable Characters (characters that seemed off...eg. Donnie Darko)

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Stories with unstable characters are always interesting because things are almost never as they seem. Here are some of my favourites as usual in alphabetical order:

Orphan (2009) - "A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be."

There are so many creepy kids movies that it can be a sub genre itself and Orphan is one of the newer entries. Esther the orphan is the creepy kid in this movie and she is definitely weird. She wears clothes that look like they belong to a few decades before and always has this ribbon choker thing around her neck which reminds me of an eerie folk tale of sorts of a ribbon wearing woman. Possessing a mature intelligence, Esther charms her way into the hearts of her adoptive parents, but its clear to us pretty soon that Esther has more than some anger management issues

Psycho (1960) - "A Phoenix secretary steals $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother."
This is a classic. I'm not sure anyone could ever go into this not knowing anything. I kind of wonder if I had known nothing of Psycho, would I have guessed when Marion first meets Norman that Norman was off his rocker? 

Stoker (2013) - "After India's father dies, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her unstable mother. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him."  

The story is somewhat similar to a certain Hitchcock movie (which I heard it was inspired by and shall not be name here so as to not be a spoiler) but has a different interesting twist to it. In Stoker, India is a quiet loner who has just lost her father and the arrival of her creepy Uncle Charlie is about to further shake her idyllic existence and awaken a suppressed side of her. Visually Stoker is just so pretty to look at despite the disturbing premise. Everything is just so stylish and immaculate which just heightens the suspense and tension incredibly well as we wait for that something terrible we know is coming to finally come out.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?

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Check out my past Thursday Movie Picks

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

Thursday Movie Picks #11: Nautical Movies

Hello and welcome to the eleventh edition of Thursday Movie Picks! I hope you've been joining in the last few weeks but if you haven't what are you waiting for? It's never too late to join. For new folks, the rules of this weekly series is simple: Each week there is a topic for you to create a list of three movies. Your picks can either be favourites/best, worst, hidden gems, or if you're up to it one of each. For more information and future topics please visit the Thursday Movie Picks page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Nautical Movies

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I think I'm out of my depths with today's theme. I haven't watch a lot of nautical movies and the only one that I really love is Master and Commander: The Farside of the World, which I've already mentioned on another blogathon. So I can't really do my usual favourites and have to find another angle with this theme. 

With Halloween coming up, I'm going with Scary Nautical Movies. Only one of my picks is a hidden gem, the others are I'd say entertaining watches.

As usual here are my three picks in alphabetical order:

Ghost Ship (2002) - "A salvage crew that discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea soon notices, as they prepare to tow it back to land, that "strange things" happen..."

I love ghost stories and haunted house movies, so a movie about a haunted cruise ship was incredibly appealing. I mean whatever happen to all those lost at sea ships right? I don't remember the Ghost Ship being at all great, there were a few scares here and there, but it does have that unforgettable scene in the beginning when the passengers were dancing.

Open Water 2: Adrift (2006) - "A weekend cruise on a luxurious party yacht goes horribly wrong for a group of old high-school friends."
This is the sequel to Open Water. The premise of this sequel is similar in that it's about people stranded in open water. The first movie involved a couple being left stranded by the people in their diving trip while they were still underwater. On the other hand Adrift involves a group of friends stupid enough to all jump into the water before putting the ladder out so basically they could not get back on the yacht. Adrift is I'd say more entertaining since it does have more characters who are pretty dumb. In the first movie, the couple was pretty doomed. All they could do is hope that the people in the diving trip remember they were unaccounted for and come back. In Adrift, the group of friends have this yacht in front of them but could not work together and find a solution to get on board.

Triangle (2009) - "When Jess sets sail on a yacht with a group of friends, she cannot shake the feeling that there is something wrong. Her suspicions are realized when the yacht hits a storm and the group is forced to board a passing ocean liner to get to safety, a ship Jess is convinced she's been on before..."
Out of the three this is the one that I actually like. A hidden gem too since I don't think it's been widely seen. Triangle has a lot of crazy stuff going on and is certainly one of those mind fuck movies that's best going in with knowing as little as possible and would probably benefit from a few watches. I checked out the IMDB board of this movie today and there were lengthy lengthy theories and analysis threads.

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So that's it...my three picks. What three movies made your list today?

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Check out my past Thursday Movie Picks

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If you are participating be sure to add your blog post to the linky widget below (Enter your Blog Post URL, your Blog Name and your email {which will remain hidden}). Please also visit the other participating blogs, spread the word about this meme, and also link back to my blog on your own Thursday Movie Picks post :)

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Participating Blogs/Bloggers

From Forever Ago #2: Fort Siloso, Sentosa

Fort Siloso now a military museum, Sentosa Island, Singapore, circa 2010

old cannons at Fort Siloso now a military museum, Sentosa Island, Singapore, circa 2010

Built in the late 19th Century, Fort Siloso is now a military museum. I wish I had taken better photos during my last visit in 2010. It was a hot day that day and my prime objective was probably to get some shade.