Cinderella Movie Review

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    Last week was crazy. I hadn’t been to the cinema since December, but last week I went there twice. First was on Wednesday, when I watched Cinderella. Second was on Friday, when I watched Sponge Out of Water. In this post, as stated by the title, I’m going to review Cinderella. Next post will be Sponge Out of Water 😉
    Cinderella 2015 Teaser Poster
    Can we talk about the teaser poster first? When I saw it, I knew right away that it was Cinderella’s poster. It was only a glass slipper, a Disney logo, and “March”, but people understood what it meant. So smart!

    I’m sure you guys know the story of Cinderella (who don’t, right?) and I’m also sure that everybody has watched the old animated version at least once in their lifetime. So, I’ll just skip the usual part in a review where I give a short synopsis and move right on to the differences between the animated version (on which this film was based) and this new live action one.
    Hayley Atwell as Cinderela's Mother
    First, Cinderella’s mother is alive in the beginning of the story. And the character was brought to life by non other than our very own Hayley Atwell! She’s gorgeous as usual. I miss Agent Carter so much and seeing her in Cinderella with blonde hair broke my heart just a little bit. Haha *end fangirling* This live action movie gives us a hint as to why Cinderella’s mother died and then why Cinderella’s father chose Lady Tremaine as his new wife.

    Second, Cinderella and the Prince meets before the ball. There is a scene where Cinderella can no longer take the abuse that her stepmother and stepsisters do to her and she escapes to the forest riding a white horse. There, she meets the Prince who is hunting with his men. The Prince introduces himself as Kit, an apprentice, but Cinderella doesn’t reveal her identity. This meeting is the backstory of why the Prince invites every maiden in the kingdom to the ball, noble or not. After that meeting, however, Cinderella goes back to her house–something that I didn’t fully understand.
    Cinderella and the Prince dancing at the ball
    Third, and my most favourite difference, Disney added diversity in to the cast. The Captain, the Prince’s right hand, is black. And we can see in the ballroom there are Arabians, Indians, East Asians, and many more. This is a good effort of Disney and I respect them for doing that, although there are reviews out there which say that the diversity looks too forced and/or isn’t diversed enough, but hey, at least they tried. And I hope it’s a good start of a long line of more diversity in fairytale movies (and all other movies, generally speaking).
    The glass slipper
    The shoe doesn't fit
    I must admit that I watched Cinderella with an expectation that it would be like Maleficent, in the sense of more mature theme. But no, Cinderella is a children movie. Aside of those three differences I have explained, it’s an exact reenactment of the animated version. One of my friends suggested I watch Into The Woods if I want a version with twists. So maybe that’s what I’m going to do tonight. But in general, Cinderella isn’t that bad, nor is it good. It’s somewhere in between; more like an ‘okay’ movie. I give this movie three stars out of five.

    Have you watched Cinderella? What do you think of it?

    Images are from: 1/2/3/4/5

    23 March 2015

    Weekend Links

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    Ooops… Only one post this week? Heheh. I was actually busy with a project deadline and yet I procrastinated by going to the cinema twice(!!!) to watch Cinderella and Sponge Out of Water with my friends. It was bad, I know. But in my defenses, I had promised my friends before the project deadline was announced, so…

    Anyway, I didn’t get much time to be online this week, but I managed to bookmark these links only for you, my dear friends. Hope you enjoy them.

    • I have several deceased friends who are still on my Facebook friend list. It breaks my heart whenever I see their profile are in random tag posts (usually spams or hacked posts). I found this article about what we can actually do to our deceased friends’ online accounts and I think I may let their families know about it.
    • Need cute prints for your walls? Look no further! Here are some awesome prints you can download, print, and hang for free.
    • My husband and I laughed for about 5 minutes non stop after looking at this. It loops endlessly so had I not click that little close tab button, we would be laughing for hours.
    • My favourite blogger, Anna, whose blog inspired me to start blogging five years ago, is finally back in action! If you’re not following her yet, here’s my #1 favourite post to get you started.
    • I’m a big fan of emojis and the changes in iOS’ new emojis are quite… confusing for me. Here’s one of the changes I can’t get.
    • I read Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and loved it. I read Will Grayson, Will Grayson and loved it too. You know the similarity between the two? They were both co-written by David Levithan. He’s just released a spin-off of Will Grayson, Will Grayson and I can’t wait to read it!

    Go and have fun this weekend!

    22 March 2015

    Things I (and You) Need to Stop Doing Right Now

    Stop crying over the past. Who you are today isn’t defined by your past mistakes. It’s okay to look back, but only to reflect so that you won’t do the same mistake. Don’t live in the past.

    Stop putting things off today. Do what you can do today, but don’t push yourself.

    Stop worrying too much about the future. Your future depends on what you do in the present. Remember: you build your own future. You choose your own path that will lead you to a certain point in the future. Plan it carefully.

    Stop hating yourself. Stop blaming yourself.

    And most of all, stop comparing yourself to someone else. You are precious.

    18 March 2015

    Weekend Links

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    This week was kinda hectic with a lot of phone calls from new clients, managing current clients, and finishing translating projects. It’s nice to finally get to stay home and cuddle with my husband while watching Jess playing with a piece of paper. I still have another translating project, but I think I’ll just put it until tomorrow and enjoy this Saturday instead.

    Fun links this week:

    • Who is (or are) your favourite blogger(s)? Show your support by giving them some love.
    • As for “reviving the blog” project, I’ve managed to constantly post three posts a week for these past few weeks (yay, me!). There are several things I still need to do, though, and these tips from Anjali and from Naomi have been very useful.
    • I’m a very, very bad procrastinator (who’s with me?), and this links list to websites to productively procrastinate is not helping the case. Haha
    • Cats are suuuuuuuuuuuuper busy, you guys!
    • My small business is growing and lately I’ve been digging productivity tips. This one is my favourite.
    • I’m a huge fan of handwriting fonts, and I’m so excited to try this handwriting font creator!
    • I’ve just found a spare time to create a new Facebook page for this blog. I’ll appreciate it if you like it. And if you have, thank you! 😉

    Have a fun weekend!

    14 March 2015

    Kingsman: The Secret Service

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    Kingsman: The Secret Service Poster
    Have you seen this movie? Well, if you haven’t, you should!

    Kingsman: The Secret Service is a spy movie. As stated by the title, its main focus is on a secret service agency called Kingsman. When one of the agents was killed, the agency started searching for a new candidate to replace him. While other agents promote educated, high class young people, Harry Hart aka Galahad choose Eggsy, a military-school-drop-out-turn-criminal young man whose father was a candidate who was killed in his last stage of the test to become a Kingsman agent.

    While Eggsy undergoes his training and test to become an agent, important people are going missing and Valentine, a businessman, is expanding his telecommunication business and producing SIM cards that will be distributed for free for everybody in the world. These SIM cards provide “free calls, free internet, forever”. Turns out, Valentine has a bad, hidden agenda. Then a twist happens and Eggsy has to save the world (just like any other hero).

    Before deciding to watch this movie, I had already heard people talked about how good it was. So I had a really high expectations when I bought the ticket. And I was satisfied with it! The story is not particularly good, but I really like the action and the music. The director, Matthew Vaughn (Kickass, X-Men: First Class), smoothly used slow motion in a hilarious way that even the most violent scene becomes funny. Watching this movie is almost like watching a Marvel movie, with the action and the cleverly inserted humours.

    Also, who doesn’t like men in suits? Or men in suits kicking ass? Or Colin Firth in suits kicking ass? *scream*
    Colin Firth in Suit as Harry Hart in Kingsman: The Secret Service
    And look at this hottie? Doesn’t he look a lot like Josh Hutcherson? They both look so cute and so hot!
    Taron Egerton as Eggsy in Kingsman: The Secret Service
    And how about Nick Fury without his eyepatch and with more swag?
    Swag Nick Fury aka Samuel L. Jackson as Valentine in Kingsman: The Secret Service

    Oh dear, how I love this movie!

    Images via 1/2/3/4

    12 March 2015