Señor Wahaj's Blog

[contains spoilers] 

"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than good job." - Terence Fletcher (J.K.Simmons)  

¨A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.¨   -source:imbd

I was browsing an unnamed torrent website for, ehm, reasons and I saw this at the top of the most downloaded. I was planning to watch this in the cinema during the weekend but good luck for me? :D

I saw this this morning before school today and I was left mind-blowned. The movie was well-shot and the editing was precise and on the point and kept me captivated for the duration of the movie. I love when a movie does a series of well-done jump cuts to set the tone of the scene or to express the atmosphere. 

Miles Teller was amazing. I really believed his character, his hunger for more, his desire to become the best of the best. His struggle and suffering was at times unbearable to watch but still I was rooting for him and was disappointed when he failed. I also heard that he specifically learned how to play the drums for this specific movie and I must say that he pulled it off really well. Even though Mr.Teller was amazing, J.K.Simmons was even better. He played this arrogant, short-tempered musician who lived on the fear his students leaked in his presence. He intimidating, he was evil, he was loud, but he was still charismatic.

The best part of the movie was the script, which was well-paced and kept me interested. The pace never fell and I was lost in the movie. I loved how the characters were written in a way that you cared for them even when they were behaving irrationally or the way you would behave if you were in the same situation. You understood their thinking. 

I can´t forget to talk about the soundtrack! It really went well with the theme of the music and it was so good that I instantly downloaded it when I was finished with the movie. I have listened to it twice already! 

The only part of the I was worried about was the ending, which they handled really well and gave me the sense of closure I usually lack from many movies. It was a proper climax and made sense. 

2015 #3

I have been doing a lot of reading lately. Mainly its for my Czech maturita exam, but I still do pleasure reading. I have read quite a few book the past month and I would like to share my thought, shortly, about them. 

1- Ota Pavel - Smrt krásných srnců 

This book is a collection of 7 autobiographic short stories. The author remembers his childhood during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The stories are sweet and cheerful but can be really sad at times. They are very well-written and filled with joy. I really enjoyed reading them and I can easily rank it as one of my most favourite czech books I've read so far. 

2- Bohumil Hrabal - Ostře sledované vlaky 

Okay, so this book was confusing. The thing is that it is interesting and witty, but it was tough for me to keep track of the plot when the author was jumping from the main storyline to the past and then back to the storyline. But once I read the book in one sitting, and you can easily do this because it is a short book, it made more sense. It was OK, I enjoyed some parts but the retrospective element was too distracting for me.

3- Lois Lowry - The Giver

2015 #1 

[includes spoilers]

"People, they love blood. They love action. Not this talky, depressing, philosophical bullshit."  -Riggan [Birdman]

The Plot:A washed up actor, who once played an iconic superhero, battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career and himself in the days leading up to the opening of a Broadway play. -source:imbd. 

The birdman is a movie I´ve heard about a lot, like everyone who cares a bit about movies. It got to the czech cinemas this january so I went to watch it the first weekend! 

The movie easily live up to its hype. It is well-acted and the message it tells us was well-received by me. It also made realize how theater as an art is slowly dying out and how it is poorly received. It really did make me appreciate the art form a bit more. 

The thing I liked a lot about the movie was the acting. The movie is so more enjoyable when the acting is close to perfect. Michael Keaton was amazing and so was Edward Norton. Emma Stone was fine, but I think her getting an oscar nomination was a bit over the top. 

The thing I love was the fact that the movie was shot in way to look like one shot. It looked amazing and It was refreshing to see this technique used once again. BIrdman with its ending, and some supernatural elements, is really open to interpretation, which made me appreciate the movie even more. That brings me to the ending. I can easily think of three ways how the ending can be understood. My take is that it was basically the imaginary version of what happened. It was the version Birdman, Michael Keaton, was expecting when he jumped out of the window. 

"HOME. FAMILY. FUTURE" -Caesar.

So, basically the movie is set in a post-apocalyptic world about 10 years after the first movie ends. Majority of the humans are presumed dead and the apes are stronger than ever. We only get to see Ceasar and his family but I think we can assume that there are many more ape families located all over the world.

CAESAR. CAESAR. CAESAR.

The movie is a thrilling ride of action packed ape scenes. I specifically enjoyed the scenes with Ceasar. As you may have already guessed, I really like my man Ceasar. He’s smart, he’s strong and DAAAMNN, he has some sexy shoulders. I would totally dig him if I were a ape-lady. Okay, I dig him even now... But! back to business. The movie doesn't really rush into anything and I find this to be the strongest point of the whole series so far. They are doing a great work with the story and it truly does make a lot of sense. I wholeheartedly hope that they won’t mess up the next part ( I read somewhere that it’s going to be called “The war of the planet of the apes” and will be released in 2016). Everything just felt so realistic. Yes, I am talking about a movie with talking monkeys which ride horses and shoot from machine guns.

They only thing I didn't like was that during the hand language ape scenes there were no English subtitles available and I had to do real-time translations for my sister. Which I don’t mind that much but let’s be honest, I would have appreciated the movie more if I could only concentrate on it itself.  

If you're the type of person who wants everything in a movie to be scientifically correct then 1.You'll be disappointed 2. Why do you even watch movies? 3. You must suck at parties. 

We get CGI again instead of humans in ape costumes with make-up. It may be the inner hipster Wahaj talking right now but I really liked that oldschool style and am secretly hoping to see that method used somewhere again sometime.

"The past is just a story we tell ourselves." -Samantha.

I finally got myself to see this movie. I've heard so much about it and the reviews were generally positive. Still, I didn't really know what to expect when I started watching it. 

In short the movie was about Theodore and his relationship with Samantha, an operating system. I am mind-blown. I finally understand the hype. They managed to show something so controversial and absurd in a very polite and believable way. During the length of movie I didn't for a second found the relationship between a man and an operating system odd. The plot was so nicely paced that I was intrigued all the time. Mr. Pheonix did a splendid job portraying the confused and lonely Theodore. At times I found the complexity of the operating system scary. Living in the pro technology society of today, I won't be surprised if we see OS-Human love stories soon. It really got me thinking about normal human relationships in general. The confusing beauty of love will always be a mystery I guess.

The melodious score deserves mentioning. It made even the simpler scenes alluring.

I felt that the ending was something I failed to fully appreciate. The way the OS disappear was a bit puzzling but I can live with that. 

"Mutants, we now find ourselves on the edge of extinction." -Professor X.

Wow. This was easily the best X-Men movie to date.

From the start we are exposed to the core problem of the whole movie. They didn't waste any time at all. The fighting sequence at the start was easily worth the ticket price itself and it didn't even have anyone from the main x-men assembly! 

Basically the story is set in the future where mutants are hunted. The humans use wicked robots called the sentinels. They find them and then they kill them. Simple. Their final hope is to send Wolverine to the past so that he can change the events of the past which would result in a different, more brighter, future.

We get to see almost all the characters we know from the older movies. Wolverine is bad ass as always. The most memorable scene of the movie must be the scene with quicksilver. He managed to steal away the movie within those 6 minutes of on-screen time. I was unbearably laughing through it.

The thing I was most afraid of was the whole time travel concept. I think that they did a really good job at that part. Ofcourse, these things can be messy but they managed to do it in a way i found interesting and believable.  

I am finally convinced that the X-men movies can survive without Wolverine being the main focus of them. 

"The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control and not the other way around." - Dr. Ishiro Serizawa.

ROAR, ROAR, ROAR

So, after some unnecessary and meaningless roars I can finally start talking about the movie. I found it EPIC. I can see why some people didn't like it but I went into the cinema expecting godzilla being being epic and destroying buildings and tahts what I got. 

BEWARE SPOILERS AHEAD.

Not being a huge godzilla fan I had no idea that godzilla was actually the nice guy in many of the Japanese adaptations. So, when I saw other monsters in the movie I was a bit confused. Basically they added a pair of other monsters called MUTO, which wanted to have some sexy time and make many babies. Our Mr.Godzilla is something like a nature's prophet whose job is to destroy these MUTOs and restore order mother nature. Basically they tell us that godzilla randomly appears just to kill these MUTOs and save the day. Doesn't really make any sense but who cares? YOLO. When I saw Gozilla for the first time I was mind-blowned. I loved him. I was literally cheering for him the whole movie. The big fighting scene in the end was a pure joy to watch. The MUTOs were tag-teaming Mr.G but he did he gave up? No, he fought like a boss he is and tore those bitches apart. And just when I thought they couldn't make me love Godzilla more he started SHOOTING FREAKING BLUE LASER FROM HIS MOUTH!@%$%#$^@@$ OMFG. SO. FREAKING. GOOD.

Oh, the movie it self was fine. Kinda reminded me of Jaws with the whole suspense building and not showing the big guns until the end. The concept which they were trying to present was bearable and the acting was fine. I enjoyed it. A movie definitely worth watching and spending money on.

"You're different. You don't fit into a category. They can't control you. They call it Divergent. You can't let them find out about you." -Tori.

I heard a lot of reviews about this movie going into it. Some were incredibly positive and some were outstandingly negative. My younger brother even called it a hunger games rip-off (which I find outrageous). The only thing that's same is the genre. A dystopian. You guys should know something about me. I'm totally dig dystopians. it's my most read genre of books.

So the story is about a girl living in a post-war world where the society is divided into 5 "fractions". Every person is divided into these fractions based upon their characters. Every fraction serves a purpose and you can't transfer after you choose one of them in your teens. Before choosing the fraction you go through a test which assists you in the choice of the correct fraction. Easy and simple, huh? BUT it gets complicated! Our beloved sixteen-years-old Beatrice is a divergent! Which means that when taking the test she was chosen for all of the fractions. She is basically too good for the society. Not being able to fit in a fractions makes her uncontrollable and very dangerous to society.

The film is basically an introduction into the world of our Beatrice and I must say that I was impressed. I genuinely liked the concept and the way it was portrayed. I may pick up the books during the summer and read the whole series I have the time to do so.

The movie itself was fine acting wise, no ultra super duper acting performances. The story was quite predictable and was filled with way more romantic scenes than my eyes were prepared for. They choose good-looking actors for the male parts (I know this because of my lady friend constantly talking about them during the movie) It MAY have been targeted for a female audience but who cares, I like it anyway :D 

In the end I would say that I really like the movie and that I am looking forward to the next parts! 

" You know what it is I love about being Spider-Man? Everything!" -Peter Parker.

Oh my. The movie was a let-down. Not a big time let-down, but a let-down nonetheless. 

Let's start from the beginning. The start was fine. It was humorous, goofy and action-packed. Just like I expect my spidey to be. But then suddenly the movie started to remind me of twilight (yes, i've seen all of the parts. I know what I'm talking about) It started to be toooooo emotional. Peter Parker was crying in every other scene. They tried to over-romanticise the relationship so that we would give a damn, but frankly I just didn't care.

I was really looking forward to Electro's introduction and I wasn't disappointed at all. I was pleasantly surprised as it wasn't the way i expected them to do it. But during the course of the movie I had the feeling that they didn't really used his potential. I literally forgot about him during the movie.

The biggest flaw of the movie was the length. It was just too damn long. They tried to add so much so they could have a proper platform for the future movies that it ended up working against them. I could and should have been waaay shorter than it really was. I was actually waiting for it to end. 

The acting itself was fine, Jamie Foxx really did surprise me and now I'm sure that Andrew Garfield can indeed cry like a small girl. I guess that was what they were going for. Emma Stone in it too but I couldn't care less.

BUT I liked the end scene itself. I wont lie... a tear may or may not have fallen... RIP Wahaj's Manliness..

"Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's a ghost, you'll never find him..." -Natasha Romanoff.

I hope and expect everyone reading this to be at least a bit familiar with the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe. If that's not the case, then please the leave the pineapple you've been living under and watch that stuff out! It's truly marvelous! (you get it? marvel comics and everything?.. oh well)

The movie is set after the events of Thor 2. Our good old captain America is still struggling to be a part of the 21st century. If that wasn't enough we find out that S.H.I.E.L.D is all messed up! Full of neo-nazis, Hydra officers and other rats. 

There's this thing about the Cpt. that I really admire, and that's his honesty. He's a simple guy, who just wants to help people and serve the right purpose. The movies exposes us to another side of the Cpt. we haven't seen yet. Sexy Black Widow gets a more prominent role, which is quite nice. Falcon is introduced and I love him! Such a badass move by Marvel. I really appreciated his smooth placement into the movie without any useless backstory. Last but not the least, Winter soldier is introduced! I must say that I don't really like the actor chosen for the role. He's just not memorable enough. I will have to get use to him as he has already signed a nine-movie contract I guess.

As a whole the movie is much more action-packed than the first one with a much more darker tone. People actually feared that the good guys might lose (My younger brothers did :D ). I loved the easter eggs as well! Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and even Doctor Strange?? Oh myy :33 and the pulp fiction reference was just the cherry at the top everything!

THIS SHOW IS AMAZING. Got introduced to it through our english conversation teacher during class. I must say that the man has good taste. I was sceptical at the beginning but as soon as I ended watching the pilot I fell in love with the show. The best part is about the show is the cast. Every damn person does his job so damn well. Especially Adam Samberg. I adore that guy. I got introduced to him when I jizzed in my pants. Oops, that came out wrong. I meant the song "I jizzed in my pants" by The Lonely Island. The chemistry between the cast is just amazing. Jake with Amy, Jake with Rosa, Rosa with Charles, Holt with Terry.. I mean every combo is funny as hell. I've even started to like Andre Braugher, who I've hated since The Mist. Likeable and relatable characters would to no use if the plot and humour sucked. And guess what? They don't suck! It may be that I'm a sucker for the type of humour the show uses but good god it makes me laugh like a baby. 

In short : The Cast blends together perfectly, makes you laugh like a baby. Best SitCom ATM.

I must be honest. I had no idea about this quartet until like today. Don't get me wrong. I knew the songs but had no idea who the artists behind them were. So because I'm in the mood for writing today I decided to give the BRIT awards nominated album "Home" a go. The album bombastically starts with the song "home" and then continues with John Newman, who's a personal favourite of mine. Then the album relaxes a bit until the single "Not giving in" comes up and carries on the vibe which we experience at the start. The album is peacefully ended with "Free". It a album with fresh beats and is pure energy at times. Some songs will catch on a become party favourites if not already. Oh and I did google the meaning of the word "Rudimental" which according to the oxford dictionary means, and I quote "involving or limited to basic principles". 

I give the album 5/8 Pizza Slices.

Best song : "Not Giving In" ft. John Newman & Alex Clare

Oh my god. Lorde has blowned mine mind in a way no other seventeen-year-old has. OK, that may have sounded a bit naughty. The album is so thought provoking that it has amazed me. I gave the album a chance after hearing the mainstream single "Royals" for like a billionth time and after finding out that the song which had been stuck in my head was indeed "Team" from the same album! On a lonely night, yesterday while I was tracking a flight to Dubai, I thought to give the whole album a chance. I am certainly glad that I did! The whole is pleasant for the ears, Lorde's voice is a blessing from the song gods themselves. My favourite single is "Team" because of the amazing refrain. Other singles I personally recommend are "Glory and gone" and "400 Lux". I listened to whole album like 4 times without getting tired of it. If that's not a sign of a great album then I don't know what is. 

I give the album 6/8 Pizza Slices.

Best Song : "Team"

I know that I'm a day or two late but after hearing about Arctic Monkeys dominating the Brit awards I just had to watch them. If you don't know this, I am a Arctic Monkeys fan. In particular of their newest album AM, which is in my opinion one of the best albums released in 2013.

Arctic Monkeys perform 'R U Mine'