ireviewed Meet the Robinsons

oh yea go ahead and say it. i know its on your lips because it wasn’t just you it was nearly everyone who i asked about this movie. the best i got was “ahhhh i heard about it.” the normal reply i got was a big fat “WTF?”

so let me bring all of you who haven’t heard about it to planet earth. here’s the link to the trailer. go watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S396-fnLldk

for all you lazy people who cant afford a left click here’s the low down.

the story is basically about a child named lewis and in a nutshell this tells the story of one boys journey towards finding his real self and realizing that one does not find himself.. instead he makes himself.

lewis is an orphan and like many orphans dreams of the family he never had. in addition to that lewis is smart. very smart. and of course like all smart people he enjoys inventing things, which don’t seem to work out at times. (which is an understatement but then there’s a reason you call it an experiment right?). for lewis, amidst inventions that don’t work and constant rejections from parents who seem a little more than frightened of him life seems to be hopeless, and so he sets about inventing a machine to find the memories stored in the deepest part of the human mind so he can just maybe find a glimpse of his mother who he longs to see.

just when he seems to have everything working and his life is about change its direction. a mysterious man turns up and well.. changes lewis’s life’s direction. just that he changed it onto the wrong side. before lewis knows he’s involved in a plot as confusing as his life itself. a young boy called Wilbur Robinson comes to his aid and demands that his ruined invention has to be rebuilt and that this mysterious bowler hat guy has to be stopped. what follows is a high speed adventure through that breaks all the laws of the time and space as the two boys set out to do all of this. but seriously whats with wilbur and him trying to hide lewis from the rest of his family.. specially lewis’s hair. and WHAT is this “bowler hat guy’s” beef with lewis anyway. it all comes down to a final showdown between the family of robinsons and the arch nemesis where the truth is brought to light at last and the movie then comes to a close on a heart rendering note.

Meet the Robinsons is not strictly childs play and can be taken seriously by people of all ages provided they can get into the spirit of things. the movie takes its own good time to start up but like any roller coaster once you get to the top you sense that you ought to brace yourself for one heck of a ride.

animations in the movie are great with the usual animated exaggeration of facial features of people but its all been done very nicely and its very colorful and all that. but nothing exceptional. not that it would amtter anyway. the movie doesn’t really depend on the animations to make it as riveting as it already is.

what makes this movie strong is its plot line. yes its one of those movies with a message out to everyone (the message being.. “keep moving forward”) but in this case it blessedly skips the cliche lines and scenes and does it differently.. for real. and that honestly is what makes this movie.

the voice acting was not exceptional but it was absolutely fine and i honestly don’t want to be like those stupid usual critics who mumble about something being wrong just for the sake of it. i liked it as it was. and while we are on the subject of audibles.. the soundtrack was well…. mediocre. except for the final track.

if there was one thing that struck me hard it was the individuality of the characters in the film. And trust me on this one. the Robinsons are all a bunch of characters. and well the animations combined with a strong cast brings it out just fine.

well if you are wondering… Meet The Robinsons is definitely a movie for you to watch. it’s not too cutesy pie and its not cliche. its got a good blend between action and emotional scenes which bring out the reality of life on how a person will behave when the situation calls for it. And the ending just gets stuck in your head. and very much because of the song that plays right at the last point. a must buy. for sure.

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground. ~Author Unknown

Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.  ~Dr. Alexis Carrel

ireviewed Samurai.

Samurai.. directed by tracy holsinger staged at the british council garden.

well oh well.. after many months of having limited myself to sports and studies and an occasional party here and there i finally decided to step out of the familiar walls of my life and experience the art of drama. and what a way to step out. samurai was a treat.. and would have been a treat for anyone who went for it. from the brilliant acting to the costumes and the story itself this play was for everyone.

for the benefit of anyone who missed out on it heres the story of what came to pass that night. skip it if you were there already.

samurai tells the story of a village which was saved from poverty by a golden samurai sword brought by a young boy named Yuki. the sword imbued with magical powers to grant whatever the villagers which for ensured that no one went hungry or unsatisfied again.

the blessing became the doom of the village as the citizens soon became lazy obese and arrogant. having become bored with the monotonous life they lead they ask the sword to show them the future which it seems unable to do which prompts them to sleep instead. moments later “disaster” strikes them when the young boy Yuki returns to take back the sword to the samurai warriors who had loaned it for a period of exactly one year.

outraged the citizens initially refuse and then seem to rethink their actions and pretend to go along with Yuki and agree to hand back the sword. having lost the ability to think of a plan the citizens seek the help of the empress who refuses saying that the sword should be returned.

what follows is a swift change of pace as betrayal follows betrayal and the citizens begin a blood thirsty hunt for the sword which is now in the hands of the boy Yuki and the empress who soon fall victim to the now maddened citizens. moments later the citizens themselves are killed by the guardians of the sword.

at this moment the scene shifts back to the citizens waking up from their sleep commenting on a dream that they all seemed to share. asking themselves the question if they could have been so inhuman they mill about confused. and then Yuki returns.

end of story..

well what can i say. the story itself was brilliant.. but what brought that story to life that night was amazing. basics first.

lights… nice. simple but gave the exact effect needed to portray each scene and to show the emotions with it. however there were several places especially the scenes of the forbidden forest where they could have done with a tad more imagination to give more of an effect of eeriness. but still very solid overall.

music.. once again solid. but i did notice that the speakers were only on one side of the gardens. not ideal but it still worked. thank goodness for BOSE. still very nice soundtrack.. definitely one of the factors that brought the play to life.

backdrops. simple.. i can’t really say much. maybe they could have done it better but i liked it as it was. they went with the whole less is more thing which actually showcased the talent of the actors a whole load better.

and yes moving on.. the acting. i loved it so much.. and why? because of the way each actor portrayed his or her character.. specially utamaro and kung. and even more than the portrayal was how each character evolved and changed throughout the play.

seeing that i went only on one day.. saturday i can’t really give a fair review of the entire cast although i did not hear many favorable reviews on the cast that acted on sunday. but atleast for what i saw.

kung- ryan holsinger. brilliant. hilarious. and truly a pathetic sight during the play. deranged. what more can i say. bravo. (and also i’d like to know how he does that thing with his jaw… does he dislocate it during the show??)

empress-subha. good acting though not the best of the show. but her scene in the dungeon was brilliant. i in fact felt like running up there to help her myself but i restrained myself quite professionally and let Yuki hog the lime light.

Yuki- Jehan. apparently known quite fondly as lil j. he did his role quite well.. though i was told he had a lot of energy i think he could have done with a bit more. but as it was i still liked it.

the royal proclamation reader.- Sulochana. oh that was evil. very evil. she honestly scared the heck out of all of us and gave me goose bumps during her best (and last) moment in the dungeon. honestly. where did she learn to scream like that.

Buncho and Sharaku-Nuzrath and Wassaam respecitvely. they didn’t have especially juicy roles but then they didn’t exactly play their roles in a fantastic way. let’s leave it at average.

Nishimura – Ruvin. sigh.. my least favourite actor of the play. i honestly can’t put my finger on it bu there was something about his acting that put me off. maybe it was his slightly over the top character he was supposed to play which he played a little too over the top. although he did pull off his part nicely where he shows remorse and regret for the murder he committed.

Utomaro- Brandon. OMG! my favourite actor. using exactly the right amount of energy in the right places and playing his character like it should be. the way he transformed from a person unable to think but still being able to play the leader when getting everyone else to think, to a cunning strategist during the confrontation with Kung to a person who was willing to kill for more reasons than a moment of passion. and then back to himself. wonderful. bravo.

overall… what can i say it was fantastic and an awesome way for me to go back to the theater after so long. the chemistry between the cast.. and all the other factors behind the play made this a play which is going to be in everyones mind for a long long time.

kudos to tracy. you are firmly lodged as the best director i know in the sri lankan scene. hope to see many more from you.

You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind. ~Author Unknown

ireviewed The Harlequin Act

http://stfallen.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/the-harlequin-act/

hear ye hear ye..

visit the above link and read… and above all feel.. just like i did. and while you do that take a moment to chew on these facts..

author is very very very young.. ok make that young.. but why i said very very very young is because i was taking the authors age relative to the maturity of the emotions shown through this piece of art.

this is (I will not repeat..) a first write..

this is a first write.. (ok i repeated.. so sue me. once you’ve read through this you wont blame me for being amazed at this fact )

this poem(i shall call it that) had an effect on me that i always feel when i read something that is so hauntingly true. when you think of it.. what are we but reflections of what the rest of the world sees as right.. how many of us do in the end go so far to become this reflection that our true selves only become the ghostly image that we see behind ourselves when we gaze at the mirror. all that we see staring back at us is a face.. a mask that we never knew.. one that we do not recognize.

rarely have i seen a piece of this nature crafted with so much sincerity. it is in this that the author has found her strongest point. i have seen so many of these being written with fake emotions and high language in an attempt to create something that one does not really feel. but this.. this with the simplest language seems saturated to the point of brimming over with emotions and only a philistine would not truly appreciate that.

ah and i could go on and on about this piece extolling its virtues.. but as is the work of a critic i have a few points of constructive criticism to be made. this piece is so full of emotions that it seems that the author is simply letting it all out here.. if there could have been a bit more control this piece would that much better.. but as it is i still love it (and taking into consideration the fact that it is in fact a first write this is indeed on par with some of my favorite poems)

touch of randomness… probably stemming from the above point. a few lines in the poem at times may seem to shift the ideas from here to there and back again in a moment.. but then im just nitpicking here too..

so final verdict.. i love it and this piece should be considered a work of art and a lesson to people out there.. both in the manner that it has been written and in what has actually been written..

my response to it..

never forget who you are.. and if the world seems not to appreciate it thats only a fault of theirs.. not yours.

to put it in the words of william shakespeare…

- God gave you one face… and you made another.

ah yes indeed. the folly of man and his greatest weakness being pride.. someday i hope to meet this author who still remains in the shadows so i can speak and say i have met someone who has realized that which few people ever do.

Intro…..

yea well la-di-da.. this site does exactly what it says.. it reviews “stuff” in the most random way possible.. after thinking for about a week or two on how i was going to write this introduction post i gave up on it and decided to leave this note for all who bother to actually read it. so welcome to the random review zone.. if u want anything of yours… i mean anything at all.. reviewed just send me a mail to ireviewedu@hotmail.com

hmmm…. anythin of yours reviewed… ok that sounded wrong. uhhh i meant anything but not “anything”..

so yea. sit back.. read and enjoy.. who knows you might actually find something helpful.