26.Apr.2009 Sunday Salon: Foreign Movies + Little Things for Me

I spent pretty much the entire week finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Finally! I finished the series and joined the shrieking fan club. Both reviews of The Tales of Beedle the Bard and HP and the Deathly Hallows coming soon. Not that they need any review. But I should put some of my thoughts down.

I watched 2 foreign movies this week. I won two tickets for Summer Hours at Dendy Cinema just next to Sydney Opera House, a French movie about heritage and loss of it. To be honest, I found it boring, though I didn’t yawn as much as I probably would have normally. It’s probably the language was such a barrier that I didn’t feel connected to the characters and the topic was pretty lame in this recession time. Two brothers and a sister was left with a big mansion, valuable, paintings and furnitures, of a deceased well known painter who inherited his wealth to the sibling’s mother (who then died too). The oldest brother would like to keep things intact, mostly for sentimental reasons, while his younger siblings don’t feel the same because of their different circumstances. The younger brother has been living in China and will continue to, possibly for more years, and the younger sister is looking to get married and move to USA. So both of them prefer to sell everything. The big brother has no choice but to do what the majority wants to. There’s not much drama or humour. It’s a very quiet movie that is probably for people who ever feel the loss of their heritage.

Second is Laputa: Castle in the Sky by Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. I couldn’t remember for the life of me whether I’d watched it or not, but experienced a series of dejavu along the entire movie. Oh well, I’m writing it down now, so that won’t happen again! The movie opens with an attack scene of a bunch of pirates to a flying plane. A girl tries to run away and she drops to the earth. Magically her necklace glows and she floats nicely to arms of a young boy, Pazu. Later on they find out that both the pirates and another group of people on the plane want to capture the girl, who of course will be the key to find Laputa, the Castle in the Sky. The movie is cute and comical. I think the audience would definitely fall in love with the adorable bunch of sky pirates, who consist of a big bust grandma who the other pirates call Mama. The only thing that I feel lacking is the depth of history of the Laputa. I feel like it’s something that can be developed a lot further and deeper. They also spend very little time at the castle itself, spending most of the time running away and hiding (which serves a lot of the comical moments).

Both will go to my list of foreign movies watched for the OT Film Mini-Challenge.

Following the read-a-thon last week, I have to mention that I found out I won a mini-challenge after my round-up post! That’s Book to TV cross-over mini challenge by Kathrin. So I won a book. Yay! That’s 2 read-a-thon in a row that I won a mini-challenge!

I also got another book from debnance at readerbuzz for joining her Bookcrossing mini-challenge. I picked Mr. Fooster Traveling on a Whim: A Visual Novel by Tom Corwin, because it sounds like a quirky fun little book.

More! Somehow I received a series of awards in the past week. Aaww how sweet! (Prepare for a lot of aaww moments) So I’m gonna list them here to acknowledge the people who have been nice to me :)

Suko from Suko’s Notebook passed me this award ages ago, for “being honest and speak their minds in a thoughtful manner“. Suko has been a loyal visitor and commenter of my blog. She was there when I hadn’t got involved much in book community and nobody commented except her ;). Aaww… much love for Suko <3

I got this Lovely Blog Award from Kathrin from Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic and Callista from SMS Book Reviews. It’s given for newly discovered blog. Thanks you two, it’s nice to discover your blogs too!

I received Premio Dardos Award from Mark from absorbed in words. “This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his or her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.” From his blog it seems that Mark likes Murakami too, so that’s probably why he passed me this award :P

Let’s Be Friends from Teddyree from The Eclectic Reader. “Blogs that receive the Let’s Be Friends Award are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.”

I’m not sure if I’m not interested in self-aggrandizement, but I do want to make friends. Aawww.

I find it too hard to pass along these awards and select only a few bloggers, so I’m not passing the torch. Boohoo. I hope it’s okay. Thank you all, I really appreciate the gesture :D