Campus Life No More

Hey Bloggers,

I know it's been a while since my last post but I know that everyone has been busy with finals. I hope you've all aced your grades and can enjoy your summers with ease!

Campus life seems such a distant concept to me now. I've been on internship for the last four months and have not stepped foot there except for the one mandatory day we had to come back. Sad point is that with the end of my internship, it marks the last day of my semester and being in college. Graduation is coming up in June and you know I'll writing about that but till then, I'll promise to come back and write a bunch of new posts to interest you all. Have fun with your summers and make sure you have the best experiences of your lives.

Movie Review: Scream 4

I hope everyone has been enjoying a great April but it's now time to review the latest movie for this blog. I've waited 10 years for this sequel to come out for this film franchise so what better selection to review than one of my favourite horror movies. The review today is the teen-horror slasher flick: Scream 4!
(NOTE: This review does not contain any spoilers)
The Premise: It's been over 10 years since the latest serial killings and Sydney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell) is settling down to a life of notoriety and seclusion. She's become a successful book author detailing the struggles of being a victim and her rise to be a strong female figure for helping women overcome their obstacles. When the last leg of her book tour takes her back home to Woodsboro, it seems that someone (conveniently wearing the Ghostface costume with a love of horror movie questions) plans to restart the killings with new victims and a whole new set of rules.

There are two core groups interacting in this movie with their own storylines that intertwine. The first follows the original three: Sidney Prescott, Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and his wife Gale Riley (Courtney Cox Arquette). This group I can reference as the adults and the original generation because everyone is a character that is clearly over the age of 23 and has lived through the events of the first trilogy whether it be a victim or a spectator watching the news. This story follows Sidney trying to protect the people around her with Dewey leading the investigation with his police force and Gale trying to uncover the identity of the killer while reverting back to her journalistic ways; even though she`s been officially retired for 10 years.

The other core group in this film focuses on the younger generation and the teenagers who are now the new targets of Ghostface. Jill Roberts (played by Emma Roberts) is Sidney's cousin who, along with her friends, start receiving mysterious threatening phone calls and attacks from the masked killer. This generation love the humour and camp of the original "Stab" films while not taking the threat serious until more bodies start to pile up. New rules are defined and a new killer is on the loose but which of the new teens will even make it to a sequel?

The Good: I know when I was watching this movie with my friend Nikki, I reverted back to my six year old self and became a fanboy again so I'll highlight all the great points. This movie brought a legitimate sense that this was a horror movie. I know that sounds a little confusing but if you think about the string of movies we've had in the last 10 years that were "horror movies" that tried to scare us; there was only gore and flash instead of suspense. Scream 4 definitely brought back this suspense and paranoia that kept us at the edge of our seats. It was never just dead air and then the killer jumps out with loud music to scare us then went back to nothing; there was anticipation that you knew Ghostface could appear any minute. 

I have to say that the murder scenes and twists were great. After coming on the heels from Scream 3 and the lackluster deaths from that film, it was a nice change to see something new and not a paint-by-numbers string of events. The first 10 minutes alone were shocking! We all had heard that four well-known actresses (Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell vs. Lucy Hale and Shanae Grimes) were going to appear in the opening kill but distinguishing which two were the real victims and the two that were part of the "Stab" franchise to psych us out kept us guessing. I had made a guess and I thought I was right for a split second then a twist happened and I was proven wrong. I was not expecting what came next at all!

Finally, the big reveal at the end with whom the killer is was actually believable. Sometimes a horror movie throws in a random character with an explanation that completely comes from left field leaving us to wonder who came up with this idea. The killer's reason this time actually made some sense to why they did it compared to random secrets and the urge to kill in reference to some lackluster films in our past. To be honest, I actually didn't realize who the killer was until five seconds before they pulled off the mask. I'm great at mysterious and guessing the end story but this time I got the killer wrong and I loved that!

The Bad: There are only two things that I didn't like about this movie. While I did think that all the death scenes in this film were great, there was only one death that I absolutely hated because it kept trying to make a joke. Like come on! You can extend a person's death scene in a movie for a short while but everyone in the theatre was laughing because it was overacting 101 and ending with such a idiotic joke. It was a hilarious moment and Scream is known for making fun of the random death scenes but this one was somewhat unnecessary.

The final thing that I think this movie was missing was a great chase scene. There were a couple of good scenes throughout the film with Ghostface running after the victim but nothing that compared to the anticipation of what we'd seen in previous films. Even at the end, there was a mini chase but not one that left you worried that the killer would appear at the next second to cause Sidney some grief. It didn't make an overall impact on my opinion of the film but it would definitely have added a nostalgic aspect to the film to put us in the point-of-view of the heroine.

The Results: 4.5/5!

The decision with this score is not based on the fact that I loved this series and loved this film; it was just generally a great film. The acting was good and the atmosphere of of Scream 4 was perfect; Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven brought back the suspense and horror that we truly needed with this series. The past horror movie references were fun and not used in a convoluted way. Scream 4 brought a great mix from the older survivors to the fresh new young cast. I would recommend people to watch this film even if you don't like horror movies because in no way is this a movie that focuses on being the scariest. I would love if this film was the beginning of a while new trilogy but the way it ended, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the last. Let's cross our fingers people!

Agree or Disagree with the review? Post your comments below and share your thoughts with what you thought about the movie!

Top 10 Best Female Fighters of Tekken

It's time to bring you the next article post in this website's line up. I felt like this time I would write a new entry relating to video games and one of my favourite series. I'm going to be featuring a new Top 10 list that focuses on the power, style and fighting technique of those deadly female fighters from the Tekken video game series.

There have been quite a few female fighters in the Tekken series but to narrow this down, I'll only list fighters who are currently in the game's line up (i.e. Jun Kazama and Michelle Chang will not be listed as one is "retired" and the other is "missing).

10. Alisa Boskonovitch

Alisa has proven to be a powerhouse when it comes to power and fighting style. Her premiere in the Tekken 6 console version highlighted her ability to assist Lars in taking down armed guards and robots. I felt she was a little annoying at some points during the story mode but a great ally to have in the game. However, due to the fact that she is a half-human half-cybernetic fighter, I don't feel it is completely fair to place her higher in the list because of the enhance fighting capabilities. That and her somewhat over the top fighting moves place her in the number 10 spot.

9. Julia Chang

I will be honest that Julia is not one of my favourite characters in the Tekken series. I find her somewhat boring and unoriginal in comparison to her adoptive mother, Michelle Chang. It's like when Kira from Mortal Kombat was created using the same designs as Sonya Blade; more of a carbon copy. Her storyline is touching and she can do some good moves but in comparison to the rest, she still doesn't rank higher on my list or pool of fighters.

8. Panda

Wait a second, let's take a moment and answer the two questions that are flowing through your mind right now: (1) Yes, the Panda is a girl and (2) Yes, there is actually a fighter in Tekken that is a Panda.

Great. Alright, lets commence...

The animal characters are a hit-and-miss with me. Sometimes they're enjoyable to play as but most times I feel they're a gimmick with a tendency to make an important fighting moment really humorous. I don't personally use Panda as a fighter on most occasions because I feel her fighting style is slow in comparable to more agile fighters. She does bring a comical aspect to a series and we always need that.

7. Anna Williams

One of the deadly William sister assassins. What she makes up for in fighting is accumulated in her desire to destroy all those who come in her way. I've played both as Nina and as Anna and what I've determined is that Anna is more stiff in her fighting style. May have to do with the high heels but she doesn't rank higher on the list. She does make a great neutral/villain in the series and you've got to love the strange animosity in her sisterly relationship with Nina.

6. Ling Xiaoyu

They're pros and cons when dealing with Ling as a fighter. She is very agile and acrobatic so she could easily be a quick fighter to work with. I recommend new players to the series to practice using her for a while because it would be easier to distinguish the mechanics on how to play. The downside is I don't feel she could deliver a big punch when fighting some of the more powerful fighters in the game. Also she does lump in to the annoying category. You can be peppy and perky but mix that together with a boy crazy crush, anime style and big Panda pal and you've got a recipe to annoy players left and right.

5. Zafina

She's the newest female in the series and can I say...weirdness. Her fighting style can only be described as like a scorpion who is ready to strike at any moment. She's mysterious and I would love to see how the series developers incorporate her further in the series now that her responsibility of warning about the temple is over. I feel that if they utilize her correctly, then she could become one of the strangest yet important characters of the series that isn't a Mishima.

4. Asuka Kazama

Earlier, I had pegged Asuka to be higher on the list but then I determined something. She's a good fighter, almost in the same league as Jin and Kazuya, but her fighting style is really similar to that of Jun. I'm a fan of originality to a point and Asuka is a great character to play as when you're fighting against another competitor but she's not the be-all-end-all of fighters in the game. A lot of you would place her at number one or in your Top 3 and that`s fine; we all have our own opinion as our best fighters and Asuka isn`t in my Top 3.

3. Nina Williams

The other Williams sister Assassin. I must note that Nina is the only character to have a spin-off game created specifically for their character and storyline. She's agile and quick, secretive and deadly, and actually has a full-grown son who fights against her in the game (let's not dig into that chestnut). As an assassin, she fights right to the jugular which many of the other characters do not. She's powerful and work her way around many of the other fighters in the game. I really love her storyline and can't wait to see what happens next in terms of her and her son Steve Fox. 

2. Christie Monteiro

I don't think many people are familiar with the Capoeira fighting style. It's a perfect mix of moving to the beat and fighting against your opponent; Christie definitely uses it to her advantage to defeat her opponents. She's fun, quirky and definitely makes the game enjoyable when you get to interact with her in the story mode. The reason she's not number one is that sometimes you have to utilize the moves correctly to make it effective and if you can't then you may have a problem. While her fighting stance is similar to Eddy Gordo, I find her effectiveness to be more precise.

1. Lili Rochefort

Many of you are probably going "WTF" right now but you'll probably agree with me at some points. Her fighting style is incredibly unique; it's a mix of acrobatics, ballet and fighting. Her storyline is interesting and could be vastly adapted more to be more complex. I love her rivalry with Asuka because it shows the cattiness of the characters and gives them more personality. Also, you just end up liking her. She may not be one of the strongest female characters in the game like Nina or one of the most agile like Christie but you can agree that she is the most technical and unique female fighter in the game. That's why Lili Rochefort earns the top spot on the list.

Agree or Disagree with the list? Share you opinion below and tell me where you think each fighter should be placed on the list!

Movie Review: Red Riding Hood

On today's post, I'm going to be reviewing one of the latest March movies that I have recently seen. Through my better judgement regarding my personal choice of movie genres, I went with friends to see: Red Riding Hood!

The Premise: Valerie (played by Amanda Seyfried) is in love with a woodcutter, Peter (Shiloh Fernandez). Though being "engaged" to another man (the union has been established by her parents), she plots to run away with him but is stopped when her sister is found dead through the recent attack of the wolf. Soon the wolf attacks become more frequent and an outside witch hunter, Father Solomon (Gary Oldman) comes to the village of Daggerhorn to slay the wolf.

The Witch Hunter Father Solomon played Gary Oldman

The movie revolves on the theme of the villagers trying to take down the wolf. Paranoia sets in due to Solomon telling them that one of them is actually the wolf in disguise and the entire town falling into disarray at the prospect of them dying or being turned into a wolf themselves. Also at the heart of this dark tale is the love triangle between Valerie, Peter and Henry with Valerie and Peter trying to be together without being discovered.

The Good: I'm not a fan of love stories because sometimes the two romantic leads don't have a connection to carry the film. However, I really felt for the two main characters and believed that there was a good enough connection that was believable. The movie I feel was carried by the acting because all the characters, from the main to the supporting, kept things in perspective throughout the entire film and didn't overact. Another good point is that since the film is an interpretation from a fairytale, it surprisingly wasn't that terrible compared to a variety of other films we've seen adapted from outlets like books, comics and video games.

The Bad: I have to start this off because I know what we are all thinking: "They made a movie about Little Red Riding Hood?!" The movie is loosely based off the fairytale and I felt that the idea was stretched out for over an hour and a half to create a plot. Whenever it made references to the children's story, I found it laughable especially at the iconic Grandmother's bedroom scene with the big eyes, ears and teeth. I think the movie took on an interpretation from the darker Grimm's fairytales and I'm happy about that because it wasn't just childish fluff. However, even though this is a darker film, it in no way compares to other dark films in the genre especially those created by Tim Burton.

The Results: 2/5!
Even though this film is not in my genre (I'm a horror, action, fantasy or drama kind of guy), it was surprisingly a pleasant film. It wasn't terrible compared to the other adaptations we've seen so many times before but let's face it, it's not amazing. The script was alright and I give respect for creating an overarching plot to a short children's story about a little girl in red meeting a big bad wolf. The one thing I truly feel that lacks is presence and spark. There's always something about certain films that set it apart as inspiring pieces and I feel it's just a movie about love and a werewolf (think New Moon instead of Blood and Chocolate). I recommend watching the film if you're in the mood to see a movie and possibly the nostalgia of a story you've known since you were a kid. It's not a movie that will change your life but hopefully it's one that can keep your interest for over an hour.