[Movie] Inception (2010)

Plot:

Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption.

Tagline: Your mind is the scene of the crime

Official Trailer

Just be calm and tackle aspect by aspect sensibly.
*I literally have my fingers floating on the keyboard because I don't know where to begin. *

I first heard about this movie some time towards the end of 2009, where I saw a really small part of the making of the "no gravity" scene. I knew that it's going to be a fantastic watch so I gathered some more information about the movie and discovered who was in the cast and most importantly, who was the director of the movie. Let me start with the cast, I mean just look at those names.

Leonardo DeCaprio: he totally grew, for me, as actor after I watched Blood Diamond and The Departed. After these two movies, I looked more forward to any up coming movies he starred in and I have to say he played his role real well. His character was of the emotional and mysterious type which can be quite a tough thing to act but he did it perfectly.

Ken Watanabe: okay! This man was just pure awesomeness. He played the bad man of the group but I honestly like his characters relationship with Leo's character. They had a lot in common and I have to say that last scene between him and Leo was just fantastic!

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: always been a fan of this actor since the days of 3rd Rock from the Sun and 10 Things I Hate About You and what a fantastic role he had. Definitely my favorite character of the movie! He got the coolest scenes of the movie too...they were stupendous! Loved how he played the cold yet innocent (and I thought he was sweet) and smart character. You can't help it but like him.

Marion Cotillard: don't know her very well, but she had an annoying character. She scared me with her fast, sudden head turns...makes you think her neck broke but non-the-less she did an awesome job too.

Ellen Page: one of my all time favorite actresses! She is just flawless at what she does and I'm glad she starred in such an amazing move as Inception. She needs to gain weight though...she's super skinny!

Cillian Murphy: guy with the freaky eyes...oooh *makes ghost sound*. I like him as an actor (thanks to Red Eye)...he had a small role but it was an important one. Spoiler?

The movie when it comes to the visuals factor was just absolutely brilliant. Just the thought of the amount it took to create such a massive world is just gob-smacking. Also, one to think or come up with such a world is on a thinking level of their own. Pure genius!

I loved the story and how everything came together. I had a moment during a scene where I said to myself "Ooooh so that's why they made him change in to that person...haha awesome!!"...it was truly awesome because it was like you solving the puzzle. This is what I exactly like, and I'm sure most who follow this kind of genre will agree, your brain just constantly working as the movie progresses so as to understand and solve the story.

The science (time, psychology, chemistry, engineering, etc) behind this movie is incredible! This is where the real genius and art appears because it has to be passed on in a way that it's understandable and fascinating rather than boring and useless. It's definitely something new; some people compared Inception to The Matrix but I don't see the comparison because the idea in Inception is more of the real world (dreams) rather than the fantasy world (with monsters, weird creatures, and slow motion dodging bullets and incredible fighting power, etc) which you see in the Matrix. I just truly enjoyed the science that contained this fantastic movie!

Now let's come to the awesome director, who has become my favorite director in this current time. Christopher Nolan ladies and gents! You might remember him from 2 years ago with his fantastic direction in The Dark Night. Epic-ness right there! The direction totally stands out in Inception and once you leave the theater it's almost the first thing that comes to mind..."the movie was very well directed". So hats of Mr. Nolan, you did it again!

Lastly, I leave you with the fantastic music composer, Hans Zimmer, who was also the composer for The Dark Night (go figure - two amazing movies). A fantastic job here too, definitely matched every bit of the movie and I can't wait to get my hands on the Soundtrack! Just watch the trailer and you'll get what I mean.

If you haven't watched this movie yet then I have no idea what it is that you're waiting for exactly! Must see at the cinema as well just to experience the full sounds and visuals package.

Great direction, fantastic cast, amazing story and awesome visuals and music, hands down a 10/10

Post of the Day

:: Sweet Oman was hit by a Tropical Cyclone given the incredibly awesome name, Phet. Parts of the country (especially the coastal regions) was under serious alert for 3 complete days. At first, the cyclone had a different course but then it decided to change it's route and visit sweet sweet Oman. It got pretty intense in some areas, where roads were flooded, water entered homes, PALM Trees fell, and sadly, the thing that everyone was mostly hoping for not to happen, the loss of 16 lives. May they Rest In Peace and may Allah have mercy on their souls. I also hope that the people that have been seriously affected by Phet get back up and going asap. The positive side of Phet is that it left Oman cool and cleaned the air for a couple of days, which was much needed in the current oven heat weather we're experiencing. Al 7amdulelAllah 3ala kulee 7al!

:: I'm sure everyone knows what the Zionists have recently done, right? Despite this being late to blog about, it's still the discussion/debate of today. Plus, I just want to get all my fury out there. Day by day I become more and more astonished by the level of illegal-ness the Zionists are allowed to exceed. YES! Allowed! No one seems to stop them so that means they're free to do what they want. Where is the world from them? WHERE? Despite the fact that the boats heading to Gaza contained many kinds of much needed supplies to the people of Gaza (who have been living in indescribable conditions), the Zionists moved out and attacked those Peace boats on INTERNATIONAL effin' waters. The Zionists claim that it was defense. Um...where is the logic in that? Last but not least, I don't blame the Zionists for what they're doing to Palestine, but I blame the Arab cowards who are just sitting there watching their fellow brothers and sisters get slaughtered in front of their eyes. You make me sick!

God bless Turkey!

These two event's happened very close two each other. It wasn't very nice at all!

:: Now, as for me, I've just been busy with what life has given me so far. As far as things go, school is my main occupation but honestly, I can't wait till it ends...this heat isn't helping me nor the children. I think the heat has some kind of crazy affect on them where they just go wild. Exams start tomorrow...God help us all lol and I officially get off from school on the 21st of June. It's going great...school I mean. All the 29 grades I teach are fantastic...except for ONE, but let's not go into that shall weh lol Anyways, the good thing is summer is JUST around the corner, and I will have more time to blog about all sorts of things InshAllah!

Lastly, savor the small or big moments (happy or sad) for as long as you can! They're truly worth savoring.

[Movie] Surf's Up (2007)

Plot:

Based on the groundbreaking revelation that surfing was actually invented by penguins. In the film, a documentary crew will take audiences behind the scenes and onto the waves during the most competitive, heartbreaking and dangerous display of surfing known to man, the Penguin World Surfing Championship.

Surf's Up Trailer

G's thoughts:

* The plot sounds funny! *

So Surf's Up has just been recently added to my list of favorite animation movies, and I gotta say I LOVE this movie! Now that I remember when this movie was first released, around the same time when Happy Feet was, I kind of expected it to be disturbing as Happy Feet (I had only watched the trailer not the movie) was to me so it kind of put me off from watching it. Four days ago, that changed, I managed to watch the movie 3 times in just 2 days, haha. Yeah I really did love it!

The thing is, I never expected it to be like this, which just tells you never to expect anything from movies...just go watch them lol. From minute one you get the idea that this animation is going to be really good! The idea of how it was made and "recorded" was what made it good. Like it says in the plot, the film was in a form of a documentary. I loved this most of all. The "camera" work was like none other animation I've seen so far. It was very professional and as if it weren't an animated movie but more like a "real life" kind of movie. At one point, I also felt I was watching "Cribs" because of the way the camera moved. That was awesome!

I love Shia LaBeouf and the moment I heard his character speak I immediately knew that it was him. Though I still googled the movie to see who was the cast, and I was right! Now once I made sure that LaBeouf was the main character, I knew the animation was going to be fantastic. He did an amazing job with his part, his voice definitely fits for voice overs.

The other characters were hilariously fantastic too. Each one had their own unique style and brought a nice touch to the animation. The Pengonians were something, haha, thinking about the parts they appeared makes me chuckle.

Now the visual work was great. I have to say the waves were the glory of the movie! They looked very real like and had the "beautiful" factor to the point that you wanted to dive into your laptops screen into those beautiful waters and waves. 10/10 for visuals.

I could not have picked a better soundtrack for this movie. Every song played was perfect for the scene. Most of the songs were of Green Day and they had a beautiful favorite from Incubus too.

A fantastic animation to watch! So watch it if you haven't yet because it's funny, fast-paced and very enjoyable (will have you smiling by the end of it) so hands down it gets a solid 9/10 from me.

Not moving. Not breathing.

It was horrific. One would say, a miracle of miracles needs to happen for him to live.

I am currently in a state of shock since this is my first time I've ever seen, a strong possibility, a dead body. It is impossible to understand how the accident happened because of the point the two cars have been destroyed and I guess I'll never find out.

I was asleep in the back seat on our way back from the Sawadi Resort when I woke to the feeling of the car slowing down and my dad saying;

Dad: "A3ootho belAllah min '3athab eAllah, A3ootho belAllah min '3athab eAllah. Don't look, don't look!"

He aimed that second part to mama since I think he thought I was still asleep.

First I saw the car (silver) and the utterly horrific state it was in. A few seconds away was the other car (taxi) in a milder state than the first. Then, further away of these two cars was the helpless body of an Omani man, in a white dishdasha and a kuma, lying on the hot floor, in a puddle of his own blood that was coming out of his...head. He was on his left side; right arm over the left arm, and right leg over the left leg. I didn't see his face and I didn't want to either. The whole scene was disturbing and heart breaking.

My heart was beating so fast and eventually, I ended up in tears. Seeing the body of a human being...like that...was scary. A lifeless body, not moving, not breathing, while everything else around it is. It makes you realize how fragile and how very human we are.

Like I said, there is no way of knowing what happened (who's fault it was) unless if there were witnesses, but they are probably long gone now. I don't even know if the man was alive when we passed, or on the brink of death or somewhere in between just waiting to be saved. If he has passed on then may he rest in peace and may Allah have mercy on his soul. If he's in a struggle between life and death then God help him because it's not going to be easy getting over something like that. May God strengthen his family also when (I'm sure they've been informed by now) they hear about this horrible news and during the painful time ahead.

I wish people would wake up already and realize how bad the road situation in Oman is! What more do they need to know to tell them that this is a serious disaster that could happen to anyone! If you're not the one who made the accident then someone else would have put you in it.

I love this country, but it's roads are not safe...at all!

Allah Yustur 3aleena wa ye7meena. Ameen.

It's definitely something I'll never forget.

p.s. there's a huge difference between a dead person and a sleeping person =(

Everything 2

Last day of a one week holiday. I actually miss the kids (not all - definitely not the grade 3's and 4's) and my usual..."healthy" routine. I didn't enjoy this break to its fullest sadly. I got sick and everything just clashed with each other. It's true when 'they' say what ever you plan doesn't go as planned.

I went into a reading frenzy from Thursday till Monday (will explain what happened Monday) to the point that I'm reading two books at the same time. The two books that have been occupying my eyes are 'The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown' and 'Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Al Sanea'. I have my light read, the latter (even though somethings have gotten on my nerves badly), and the thrill of the first. So it's somewhat a good balance.
N.B. I think I will start reviewing books.

Come Monday, I stole Sarz's PSP for the rest of my break because I've been having these major urge's to game. I miss it badly and I especially miss my PS2 (which is with my bros in NZ) and all my favorite games (Prince of Persia, Fatal Frame, Resident Evil...). I also really really miss playing Left 4 Dead with my Uni mates and World of Warcraft with friends. So right now, I've got the PSP occupying me and yet again playing two games at the same time. Silent Hill: Origins (Horror) and Final Fantasy: Crisis Core (Adventure). I'd spend hours on this thing! I'm not even done yet.

Everything 2, eh?! Went to B+F today. Fantastic place for lunch or dinner. The atmosphere at night is amazing...leans towards the romantic side actually. Their burgers are pretty fantastic and what separates their burgers from any other place is their juicy-ness. Those burgers are just juicy, YUM! I went for 'Up in Smoke' SS (again, everything 2) while my friend went for the Philly something. Ordered salad, cheese fries and coke/dew. They have strong burgers but everything else is a bit of a let down, especially their DRINKS! Nothing beats Chilies Strawberry Lemonade *craving it*. Oh! Chilies is my favorite place so far. I try to go almost once every week. Crazy I know, but their food is DAMN GOOD!
N.B. Maybe should start restaurant reviews.

I've finally come to enjoy driving here. I actually enjoy it a lot, more than I did in New Zealand. The roads are enjoyable if you pick the right times to go out lol...but honestly, there will always and forever be some jerk (male OR female) that may cause you to curse or honk. It's true when 'they' say stupidity is infinite...something like that anyways. Oh! Here's my ride (not the actual car in the picture):
Black Kia Soul. Weird design, but that's what attracted me to it. Sadly, I had THE moment with a VW GTI *Edit: removed some gibberish here, obviously I don't know much about cars lol*; you know when you get in the car, sit and your bottom fits perfectly, put your hand on the steering and you get that feeling. Yeah! Well that's what I had with the GTI. It was a mean machine but way out of the budget I put (since there is no way I'm letting dad pay for it) for a first car. I went back to the Soul. So if you see a black Soul (tee-hee) with a Palestinian theme interior (tee-hee) then you just spotted G-chan!

With the Soul you get to choose whether you want a vinyl (car sticker) or not which is pretty cool (thought they were illegal though), but I didn't want it. If I'm to add a vinyl to my Soul then it'd be custom made either by yours truly or Sarz, small in size and symbol too. Now I understand why Amarant wouldn't add a vinyl to his Roxy lol. I would love to add some mods to Soul and first on the list is black tints, maybe black rims and get rid of the yellow head lights and replace them with white ones. I don't know, need an experts touch (wish my bros where here T-T). But one thing at a time, eh?!

Back to school on Saturday where something new is added to my schedule. A few weeks ago, Ahmed (grade 8) came up to me and asked if I could start a Computing Club. Now, honestly, that was just awesome getting a request like that. I ended up telling him if he can gather up to 10 students (yes 10 would be great!) to join the club then I'd ask permission from the principle. He replied that everyone will join so I should just start the club. That made me even more happier but I insisted that he gather some names first. He gathered 45 students (from grades 8,9 and 10) in under 2 days. Hence, the En-Tekk (TM) club has been initiated every Saturday from 4pm to 5pm. It's going to be a very diverse topic club and everyone is pretty excited about it so I hope the students won't be let down!
N.B. Will update on the club every Saturday insha'Allah!

I will leave you with this piece from Final Fantasy: Crisis Core OST. Oh! The whole OST is fantastic.

[Movie] The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

Plot:

The astounding, well-documented story of a family forced to relocate near a clinic where their son was being treated for cancer. Strained financially and emotionally, the family discovers their recently renovated home was a former mortuary with a dark history. After experiencing violent supernatural events both inside and out of the house, the family seeks the help of ghost hunters and the Catholic Church, which performs an exorcism.

The Haunting in Connecticut trailer

Another horror. In my eyes, horror movies have been restored because of this movie. Who knew! Actually, my grade 10 student told me that the movie's good and that I should watch it. So I ended up doing just that and I truly LOVED it! I found the story interesting than any exorcism stories out there. It felt much more realistic and had a stronger feel to it. Yeah! I really liked it.

When I read the title the first time, I had imagined something like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", which was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Weird enough when you expect something, the opposite happens. Not always, but much frequently. I really thought that I would hate this movie; blood and gore, and a useless killer out to kill everyone. Didn't see that! Like I said the story was good.

It was pretty horrific. I freaked out a couple of times and looked away at a certain scene but this is what I want from horror movies. I want them to be scary not disgusting. This is what you get from "The Haunting in Connecticut"! What made this movie freaky-ier is that it's based on a true story.

I loved the main actor! Kyle Gallner. I think he played his part very well. The last few scene's of him were my most favorite...his acting was very real and flawless (not trying hard) so hoping to see more of him in any upcoming, not necessarily horror, films. He stood out the most for me compared to the others but his "little sister" creeped me out with her eyes. As if she was possessed or something lool. Kids in horror movies - horrific combination! P.S. There's a Spock look a like if you can spot him loool

I loved the music, especially with the final scene. First horror movie that almost brought me to tears. I liked the place and how the movie was shot. One scene was a bit weak...but the movie was good enough to bother about it. Honestly, I was so happy with this movie that I will have no problem watching it again.

I was expecting a scene from Lord of the Rings with this track.
Such a beautiful piece and fit perfectly with the scene.

A definite recommendation to those out there with the horror bone!

Rating: 9/10

It's all in my head...science, he said

Another week has passed.

It didn't start out as nicely as I would've liked it to, but it sure ended very well. A few students got on my nerves and I actually got a headache...twice! But I still love 'em!

Who has seen the movie A Beautiful Mind? Well I met a student who is so much like John Nash. It's quite worrisome but pretty impressive (you'll understand what I mean if you've seen the movie). You won't believe what grade this students in...grade 2, Yeah! We were sitting at a table in the cafeteria when one of my colleagues called over Anas. He asked Anas a couple of simple (to grade 5+ students) math questions in which he answered all correctly (masha'Allah!). Then the colleague asked Anas to tell us about genetics (waaaa?!)...in which he did to our amazement. He went on about DNA, and if the mother had certain traits, then so will her child. Then he went on about Newton and how gravity pulled the apple down from the tree...

Masha'Allah he knew so much information for his age that I started to wonder if he gets to do what kids do...PLAY! I asked him if he has a Play Station. He does, and he explained to me what games he owns (Golf and Football). I saw kids playing and running around so I wondered if any are his friends.

G: Anas, do you have friends?

Anas: Yes miss. I have a lot!

G: Awesome. Where are they? You can go and play with them, you don't have to sit with us you know.

He starts walking off.

Anas: Miss, I have the closest friends ever! They are up here...

He points to his head with both hands.

Anas: ...it's all science.

He runs off and I just sat there looking at him with my eyes wide open.

Other colleague: Wait! What did he just say?!!

We stared at each other for a few seconds.

G: Have you seen A Beautiful Mind?!

Highlight

The bell just rang, so I walked up to the door, opened it, held it open and said my goodbyes to my grade 2 students who I taught for the first time today. From the looks of it, they enjoyed the lesson.

One boy had his hands over his tummy, as if praying, as he walked towards the door. He had his head down also. Once he reached me, he stood right in front of me with his head still down and hands crossed over his tummy.

Boy: Miss, I lfdsoofafdska.....

He spoke in a really low voice and was only just above my knees tall, so I bent down to his level and asked him what he had just said because I didn't hear. Again, his voice was low and wouldn't make eye contact with me but I managed to hear what he said.

Boy: Miss, I love you.

Okay, honestly! That was the cutest thing I've ever heard! I ruffled his hair and told him thanks and that I can't wait to see him again next week. He totally made the rest of my day!

The fourth

My fourth week as a teacher has so far been the weirdest one. It was such a hectic week with all the final exams going on and craziness of dealing with people who dealt with things in a really bad manner. I got angry, felt guilt, laughed my head off, got bored and fell asleep in the staff room, somewhat "at home", and best of all unleashed stubbornness and determination which lead to a small triumph that I'd probably never forget neither the people that were apart of it.

I love the kids - that's what I mostly like about my work. I have to see their sweet little faces almost everyday may it be during class or just randomly while walking from one place to another. I still can't remember all their names or who and who is in which grade (they all look similar to me at the moment) but I'm definitely getting there slowly.

Highlight

I was on my way out of the cafeteria with my closest colleague when I met eyes with one of my grade 4 students that I taught just an hour before. He stared at me with a cheeky smile on his face, then tilted his head in an upward motion yelling:

Saeed: "Sha5baarich Miss?"

I just gave him the hugest smile I could muster and waved at him.

*Sha5baarich: How are you

7 Things

Kitten tagged me in her post Tagged! . Thanks kitten and guess what! I'm gonna do this right now since I'm in a blogging mood.

1:: Computing teacher much? Yeah! I've just started and I'm loving it! I'm the youngest teacher at the school which makes me closer in age to the kids. Everyone is super nice...and the amazing thing about all this is I get to pass what I learned about Computer Science to the children who have finally become interested in it; where in the end, they could say "Miss G-chan taught me that". Also learning how to deal with kids.

2:: Movies freak. Big time! Give any kind of movie and I will watch despite liking it or not, I will watch it. During my holidays, I'd fit in a movie a day and if that day felt extra lucky I'd watch two, sometimes three movies in just one day. I'm always looking for new movies but I have no problem at all with watching movies I've already seen. Oh! If I loved the movie, then usually I'd write a review here.

3:: The sushi. I don't know if it's actually an addiction or not but I just LOVE sushi! It's one of the foods, more like the only, that I don't mind eating everyday. Actually, there came a time in my life during my undergraduate studies where I had sushi for lunch every single day. Even though I didn't want anyone else to love sushi the way I did (more for me noh!), but sharing is caring and therefore, I'd always "introduce" my friends to it may they like it or not. Sushi is a dish that you must try at least once in your life. Eat it correctly and surely you'll fall in love!

4:: Tall and honest. Somehow I always put these two descriptions together even though they're not related in meaning or the fact that one is an appearance and the other is a personality trait. I am a very tall person, well, that's what I'd be considered here in Oman anyways. Most of the time I don't mind it but then there are these little situations where you'd wish you're a tiny bit shorter. As for my honesty, sadly sometimes it hurts even though when it's not my intentions at all. Honesty is good and I believe that it's best to hear the truth rather than a lie which you might discover that it's not true.

5:: Photography, Drawing and playing the Guitar. I love these things! But there's something wrong...rather than just picking one, focusing on it, and being really good at it I, instead, try to take them on all at once and just be okay in them. It's on and off, as well. Never were very continuous. But I do enjoy them very much.

6:: Arabic is heavy. That's what I've been told anyways. When I speak in Arabic, it takes me a while to put my sentence together or the word I'm looking for. Also, my accent is...let's say, messy. So if I talk to you in Arabic you won't know exactly where I'm from because there are so many accents in my Arabic.

7:: Web Programming. Not only it is my specialization but it's actually something I enjoy doing. I still have space to grow and expand my knowledge in this area but what I'm capable of right now is satisfying.

My two cents!

The seven people I'm going to tag are:

Amarant
Lady MAB
Pepsi Diet
Delta
Diablo
Hamdy Elgammal
Spot

Setting my mind

...on something!

That's it! It's been such a long time since I last wrote here that I actually miss my blog. I miss my readers and the awesome comments you guys left. Therefore, I've decided to update this place once a week (I'll do my very best to do so)...I don't know what form my posts are going to be in exactly, but this place shall be updated!

Also, I've decided I'm gonna give my blog a make-over as in to start anew. Basically it's just going to fit me at this present time.

Lastly, the reason why I have left this place for quite a while is because I managed to find a great job as a Computer Teacher at a very well known school (just completed my third week). The name of the school shall be nameless but all I can give you is that it's quite in the top of the most well known schools list. I will leave the greater details in the posts to come (InshAllah!).

Fin.