A Stolen Life: A Memoir (2011)

in 1991, Jaycee (born 1980) was a normal 11-year-old kid, doing normal things and living a normal life. everything changed when she was kidnapped, and for 18 years she was a prisoner of the Garridos. she became an object to their abuse and rape. she was not allowed to speak her own name, she became a mother of 2, and was later forced to be their sister. in 2009, after much struggle she finally got her life back, returning as a 29-year-old adult. she survived the impossible situation, living in the backyard of the Garridos, only 2 hours ride from her home, yet so well-hidden even the police officers failed to notice despite their frequent visit to meet up with Phillip Garrido, who was on parole. now, Jaycee lived with her mother, Terry (50), her 2 daughters, Angel (15) and Starlit (11). Phillip Garrido was sent back to prison, sentenced for life; his wife Nancy Garrido sentenced to a minimum of 36 years in prison. she wrote a book, A Stolen Life: A Memoir, and it was published on July 2011.

Jaycee's story about her imprisonment was painful to read. it made the matter worst when Phillip was manipulatively "nice" to her, constantly reminding her that she was helping him with his "problem". the confusion he built up for her, which lasted 18 years, was enough to make one believe what they were told. yet Jaycee returned, surviving not only physically but mentally, stronger than ever. somehow, reading through her book, i felt that her stubbornness actually saved her. it kept her sane, questioning even if not verbally, on what Phillip was doing or making her believe. although she was able to send Philip back into prison, i still find it sad because part of him will always stay with her, especially through the 2 daughters they had together. i was more than happy to read that she now lives a miraculously normal life, and hopefully will be able to read more about her in the coming future.

Dear John (2010)

based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, John was a soldier in battles against the terrorists. back then when he was taking a break at the beach, he met with Savannah, a college student on holiday. for the 2 weeks they spent together, they fell in love. he also got to know her neighbor Tim, whose son Alan had autism (a disorder of impaired social interaction). after John returned to the army and Savannah back to college, they continued their relationship through letters. they were supposed to get back together after 1 year, but the 9/11 attacks made him reconsider joining for another 2 years, a decision he didn't discuss with Savannah. heartbroken, she stopped writing. few months later, he received a letter from her, informing him that she was engaged. depressed, he burned all her letters. after spending many years in the army after making it his career, John was sent home when his father had a stroke and was in critical condition. after his funeral, John visited Savannah and realized she was married to Tim, who had cancer. he left, heartbroken. but that was not the end, for their fate were far more entwined than they could ever imagine.

i had not read any of Nicholas Sparks' novel, nor was ever a huge fan of romance. but the story managed to stay different and out of expectation. it strove far from the typical, pushing its limits on how they missed their chances of being together again and again. it happened so much until we were fully convinced that they will never be together and this film will have a sad end to it. the characters managed to have us feel connected, most visible during their emotional downtime where we would get sucked into their dark pit of pain.

Otters.

these mischievous duo ran wildly in their cage under the hot afternoon sun. dashing from one shed to another, diving effortlessly into the pond of shallow water, dragging leftover fishes from under the pond, apparently from its previous feeding session. the moment one caught us looking with interest, it came forward, staring straight at us, squeaking its most deafening call. unlike the Bird, which we can't quite fathom whether it was food or attention that it sought; these otters obviously wanted food. seeing the snacks we held in our hand only caused them to dash around insanely fast, stirring every last member in their big family.

Shukufuku no Campanella (2010) 祝福のカンパネラ

she appeared when the meteor grazed n hit the chapel. the mysterious girl started living with them, fighting off enemies that burst out of nowhere. the anime was terribly slow paced despite the beautiful drawings, basically had to drag through the episodes. especially with everyone, even his very own mother, showing interest in the only male character, it was more disturbing than romantic (or funny).

Avril Lavigne: R.O.C.K.S. Tee

on October 2011, Avril together with Live Nation, came out with a new t-shirt that will be sold to support the Avril Lavigne Foundation. the 100% cotton tee came in black, with the logo "R.O.C.K.S" being printed across the front. "R.O.C.K.S" stands for "Respect, Opportunity, Choice, Knowledge, Strength". the foundation focuses its support towards children and youth living with serious illness or disability. according to her, they are currently in the middle of some great stuff planned for the Foundation!

Puss in Boots (2011)

Puss was a fugitive, running into a town where he heard about the magic beans Jack and Jill had. while he was stealing the beans, a masked cat named Kitty Softpaws interrupted. he followed Kitty back to a club, where he found out that she was allied with Humpty Dumpty, his childhood friend from the orphanage. Humpty's betrayal was the reason Puss became a fugitive, he was tricked into helping Humpty with robbing the bank. he fled town while Humpty continued his search for the magic beans as they did since childhood. Humpty asked for a second chance and the trio worked together to get the magic beans, which led them to a magic castle that hid a goose that laid golden eggs.

the chemistry between Puss and Kitty was good, she had her doubts as we would expect, but overall, they were a fun pair to watch. Humpty on the other hand, was every bit an annoying egg we won't mind cracking open for breakfast. manipulation was easy and the story flowed the way that it was completely predictable. despite that, it was one fuzzy animation we enjoyed. the visuals were stunning, and the music was awesome. Puss of course, was perfect! charming, sexy, and with a great background introduction on his origin. one particular scenes that got stuck in our mind was the dancing scene at the beginning. it was incredibly impressive! which also caused me to be disappointed because that was the only dance we got.

The Immortals #6: Everlasting (2010)

after all that they went through, Ever and Damen were finally together. all that was left was to seek out the antidote. without the antidote, any exchange of body fluid between them could kill Damen. while Damen was happy with the current situation, planning for a vacation; Ever insisted on researching upon the old lady they met at the dark side of Summerland. the old lady insisted on calling Ever by the name of Adelina, which drew Ever's curiosity on whether they had an incarnation before Damen was turned Immortal. Damen fiercely rejected the idea, but agreed on giving Ever a week's time to research on the matter. when they set out to meet the old lady called Lotus, they were sent on a separate journey in search of their past and soul. a journey which also made Ever realized that there were more than enough people that had been around her for all the incarnations.

as much as the whole Immortals (2009-2011) series went up and downhill from one book to another for me, i was still very grateful to have enjoyed it! there weren't any last minute twist to make the whole story end in one big impact, but i was happy enough for it to reduce speed increasingly while reaching a halt. for this final installment, Ever had transformed into an adult so radiant and reliable that she became instantly lovable; Damen, on the other hand, despite all the unconditional love talks, had became surprisingly stubborn and hardheaded. Alyson Noël truly impressed me by creating a mystical world where the Immortals were well hidden among the unsuspecting humans. it was so spellbinding that i only just realized that it was also partially a romance genre, which most of the time i would choose to stay away from! she had such a beautiful way with writing, making it feels so simple and straightforward, yet so filled with surprises to keep the intensity of the story going. it actually felt sad having to said goodbye to the Immortals (2009-2011) series, but at the same time i'm eagerly looking forward to read her Riley Bloom (2010-2012) series, injunction to to the Immortals (2009-2011) series, for Riley was Ever's younger sister!

Scrapped Princess (2003) スクラップド・プリンセス

she was feared n hated because of a prophecy. even after fleeing the village, her brother n sister had to continue fending off those who aimed to kill their sister. a fun anime that may not seemed to have a flashy plot, but able to entertain just nicely.

Birds.

we saw this couple at the zoo. the male following us along the fences, most probably for food or perhaps attention. it never got tired of us roaming to and fro in front of the cage, like it was some game to it. the female, totally uninterested at us, eagerly tagging behind the male. was it mating season? or perhaps they were one of those species who stick together for life? the male, with its white coat and red feet, looked absolutely stunning even from a human's point of view. we observed further, despite the perfect shot taken, the male still wasn't interested in the female, such irony.

Immortals (2011)

before the humans came along, the world was lived by the Immortals. they couldn't die from sickness, but soon they realized they could kill one another. at the end of the war, those who won were called Gods, and those who lost were called the Titans. King Hyperion declared war against the humans after the Gods failed to save his family from illness. at the same time, he searched for a powerful bow, which he intended to release the Titans with. he attacked holy places and towns, collecting young men to form his army, together with an priestess called Phaedra. Theseus was one among those taken, his mother slaughtered in front of him. with the encouragement of Phaedra, Theseus remained alive and determined to take down Hyperion.

we headed to the cinema after knowing the film was produced by the same bunch of people from 300 (2006), which also had us anticipated a little too much for it to top 300 (2006), or even Clash of Titans (2010). instead of Theseus, we were more eager to watch the Gods fought against the Titans, which turned out to be an absurdity especially with both tribe being Immortals, Titans turned out to be some fast-moving brainless zombies. somehow that didn't felt like the original Greek mythology we would expect. and from what i had read so far, the film had more than a handful of faults for failing to obediently make use of the mythology. however, with a sufficient amount of gore and brute, the action scenes were captivating. introductions of the characters other than Theseus or Phaedra would be an add, but it seemed that the film was made assuming that everyone would be able to recognize each and every one of the Gods by their ridiculous headgear. the characters, including Theseus, was shallow and predictable. there were no depths in the characters, nor had us felt anything for them.

Quiddity.

it became so utterly clear to her, and yet none had even the slightest sense of its existence, hovering closely right above them, gazing upon the clueless masses beneath. her throat grew lumpy, eyes started to sting, forcing herself to switch all her attention to something else, watching as he continued to run around freely, looping and spinning and swirling and jumping, putting out an increasing amount of energy just for the fun of it. but the second he caught her eye, caught her looking at him, she looked away. the last thing she needed was for him to read those particular thoughts of hers. thoughts that needed to be protected from him, just to keep everything orderly and straight, tucked away in its place. it was easier that way.

明らかになった。

So-Ra-No-Wo-To (2010) ソ・ラ・ノ・ヲ・ト

after the long war, she was assigned to a new location, joining other 4 girls to maintain the fortress n culture of the city. together they share their daily life depending n supporting on each other. a relaxing n entertaining anime, presenting their ups n downs.

The Immortals #5: Night Star (2010)

after Jude misunderstood and killed Roman during Ever's last encounter with him, there went her last chance of ever getting the antidote for Damen. Haven swore revenge and boosted her Immortal's power through her addiction to the elixir, and became the most influential girl in school. according to Roman's journals, Damen did something in the past that he tried everything to cover up from telling Ever in this life. Ever found out that during one of her past life as a slave, Damen bought her and kept her away from her family without giving her a choice. not long after, her family died tragically in a fire. she kept her distance with Damen while struggling to determine who was the one for her, Jude or Damen. the Rogue Immortals fought among themselves with the elixir Roman left behind, which caused Haven's addiction to get out of control. she threatened to kill Jude and Miles while demanding for Ever's elixir.

although the books had been going downhill for the last 2 books, i was both happy and surprised to find Night Star (2010) an easy read, almost as easy as Evermore (2009) and Blue Moon (2009)! more and more i grew to dislike Jude's character. for obvious reasons we knew that he was and always will be an extra, a third person between Ever and Damen's relationship. but apparently Ever doubt Damen enough to almost broke-up with him just to see what was it like to get together with Jude. fortunately for us readers, we didn't need to be furthered annoyed by Ever's childish misjudgment and indecisive behavior for the second half of the book. she finally accepted things for what they were and tried to fix all the messes she created in the previous books like an adult. on the down side, they had been trying to get their hands on the antidote since the third book, but after 2 books of different and failed attempts, they were still nowhere near it. the problem got old so quickly that any elaborations on it only made it even more tedious to read. but more than ever, the series left me with hope, for a perfect end for everything, for a reward for following the whole series thus far!

In Time (2011)

the story was set in the far future, where genetic alteration caused humans to stop aging by the age of 25. every extra "time" after the age of 25 had to be earned through labor, else their life would come to an end after 1 year. due to the over populated concern, the poor who lived in the Ghettos had to fight for a living; where the rich who lived in Greenwich, could live for centuries a luxurious life. Will lived with his mother, Rachel, in the Ghettos. he visited the bar one day and met with Henry from Greenwich. Henry revealed that there were actually enough time for everyone, even for those in the Ghettos if the rich from Greenwich wouldn't be so greedy. before committed suicide, Henry transferred all his remaining time to Will. with the Timekeeper from the police force and mobsters on his tail, Will decided to seek revenge by paying Greenwich a visit.

the plot was original and brilliant! instead of cash, we were introduced on how their time was used in everyday life, in paying for necessities, or earning for extra time. the pace was from time to time random, but it remained suspenseful throughout the film. Justin Timberlake had quite a number of failing acts in his previous films, In Time (2011) however, managed to bring him up onto the big screen without further jeopardizing his acting career, which turned out to be a huge relief for us viewers. Amanda Seyfried on the other hand, surprised us in her changed character other than her usual blond sweetie role! she was fierce, she was spicy, she definitely fit the role of a daughter whom a rich father cannot control. there were one fact that we were particularly confused though, with everyone stopped aging at the age of 25, why did the police officers, Timekeepers, even the mobsters looked so old?

Astringent.

she twisted the top from her bottle and glanced toward the kitchen table where he sat. seeing the way his shirt was tucked in tidily, the way it was pressed and cleaned without a stray of wrinkle, she can't help but wonder what was it like to be him. what was it like to live in a world where everything was so orderly, every problem had a logical solution, every question a theoretical explanation. a world where everything was black and white, all shades of gray non-existed. it had been eons since she lived in that world, and now after all that she had experience, there is no way she could ever return. he continued to stare ahead, face stern, body instantly stiffened when he caught her looking at him, bringing his mug to his lips while peering at her from over the top.

しわの欠如。

Haibane Renmei (2002) 灰羽連盟

she was born from a large cocoon, with only a dream as her memory, she didn't know who or what she was. she was greeted by a group of girls with small wings on their backs n halos on their heads, n live them ever since. neither human nor angel, they had to work with the humans to earn their stay in the town. while they tried to search for the meaning of their existence, some of their members went beyond the wall, which was strictly forbidden.

a slow moving anime, it was mostly about their life in the small town. being new in the world, she wanted to know why they were born, n from the pain of losing one member beyond the wall, she struggled to accept that it was meant to be. there were no exact ending to the anime, only acceptance.

Leery.

she pressed her lips together and stared blankly straight ahead, wishing secretly that she could climb inside his head and see the thoughts that he wasn't keen on sharing. getting to the bottom of everything that happened within these 2 days. despite the confident smile he gave her, or the dismissive shrug he hoped she would buy, nothing he told her for the past 10 minutes made the least bit of sense. when he tried to further persuade her that all was fine, she shrugged, fully convinced that something was up, though knowing better than to say it out loud. she looked straight into his eyes, hoping for a glimpse of recognition or defeat where he will then admit and lay out the scheme. but none of that happened as he continued grinning foolishly. surrendered, she pushed her way through him into the room.

隠された真実。

Sleeping Beauty (2011)

Julia Leigh was originally an author of a few novels, she wrote a twisted version of Sleeping Beauty and made this Australian film her debut in directing as well. the story followed a university student named Lucy, who went for an interview for a part-time job. the job required her and some other women wearing only their lingerie to cater for a room full of old men. the employer of Lucy also had a service called Sleeping Beauty, where a girl was chosen and given a drug so that they will be asleep for the next few hours. the service was directed for the grieving, age-weakened, or angry old men. to the chosen Sleeping Beauty, those few hours doesn't exist while the old man would have his personal time with her, doing to her what he desired. when the current Sleeping Beauty was fired, Lucy was chosen to be her replacement. the longer she went through with this job, the more curious she got, wanting to know what happened when she was asleep.

there was nothing Disney about this film, no handsome prince in shinning armor nor awakening kiss for the princess. in fact, it was far from being innocent. for half of the screening time, Emily Browning who played Lucy was required to stay naked, however her being so comfortable in it was far more unsettling than the sex trade itself. the film failed to connect us viewers to its characters. Lucy especially, was cold and indifferent. the idea itself, though original and brave, was difficult to relate, it felt more strange than arousing. there were also other parts that left us puzzled, such as her proposing to her sick ex-boyfriend, or rent a high-class apartment without as much as a second thought, had one wondering what was the purpose of her working. the story was painfully slow, some scenes completely unrelated, some even pointless until the very end.

The Immortals #4: Dark Flame (2010)

Ever performed a binding spell to bind Roman to her, where if the spell was successful, he would hand over the antidote obediently. she needed the antidote to remove the curse Roman placed on Damen. but the spell went wrong when she accidentally summoned the dark powers of Hecate, as the result she was bound to Roman instead. she became addicted to Roman, needing him in ways she never imagined possible. it ruined her relationship with her best friend Haven, whom she turned Immortal the moment Roman taunted to kill her. a decision she immediately regretted when Haven became so powerful in a short amount of time, her abilities stronger the Ever's. again and again she asked Roman for the antidote, through ways even she felt ashamed of. when she finally understood what hold her bound to Roman, she was able to break free from the spell and confronted Roman in a proper way. but just minutes before Roman handed over the antidote, Jude appeared, destroying Roman together with all hopes Ever had of obtaining the antidote.

despite how well written was Evermore (2009) and Blue Moon (2009), the Immortals (2009-2011) series seemed to went further and further downhill from there. ever since Shadowland (2009) required me to drag myself through it, skipping lines just so i can proceed, Dark Flame (2010) to my dismay, was no difference. Ever made more and more obviously wrong choices, Damen retreated and gave Ever the chance to love Jude, and Jude whom Ever entrusted her secrets with more than Damen! after watching Ever rolled herself over and over in the mud just to figure out how to unbind herself from Roman for more than half of the book, she surprisingly did it with some simple repetitive meditation stuff that she already knew all along, the solution didn't quite make sense nor gave me any satisfaction. Ever seemed to never grow throughout the story, stuck in her selfish little world of never taking any advice and being so predictably impulsive. there were completely no progress for her relationship with Damen, it dragged on and on since the third book and it was getting harder and harder to see them going beyond that line.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (2004) 魔法少女リリカルなのは

he had to collect the jewel seeds that were accidentally spread around the world. a failed mission caused him to transform into a ferret. with magical power, she was able to transform into magical girl, together they started gathering the 21 seeds by battling monsters who took hold of the seeds. a magical anime with typical plot, rather dragging despite the beautiful drawings.

Qualmish.

even though she normally wouldn't care less about it, but when she looked at him again, she got this horrible ping in the guts, a persistent reminder demanding for her acknowledgement. a definite warning that indicated it was merely the beginning. the sudden transformation, the sudden switch of attitude, it went way deeper than some covered up story of guilt. it had something to do with what happened last night, something about being haunted by his own shadow. like by giving in to these changes will somehow balance it all. before she was able to give it more thoughts, he smiled while grasping her hand, pulling her up against him as they walked down the dimly lit hallway.

状況に疑わしい。

Trespass (2011)

Kyle was a diamond seller, he lived with his wife Sarah and daughter Avery in a huge mansion. despite looking like a happy family, they weren't. Sarah yearned for more in her marriage while Kyle seemed to avoid getting too intimate with her. Avery ignored her parents and sneaked out of the house for parties. right before Kyle left for a business trip, their house was suddenly invaded by a gang of burglars disguising as polices. the burglars told them that they had been spying on Kyle for some time and was aware of the large amount of cash and diamonds he had. despite their threat to kill everyone, Kyle refused to give in, believing once he did it will be the end of his family.

despite having huge casts, we were surprised to find it boring and somewhat awful. some might called Nicholas Cage cool or calm under such stressful situation, we felt that he was a fool for putting his family's lives in danger by going against the burglars. he was so stubborn to give up his cash and diamonds that it was actually angry to watch! as for Nicole Kidman, despite her strong characteristics turned out of be a weak and typical housewife. unfortunately, both Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman felt wasted in the film, which in the end felt like some cheap and random production.

Britney Spears: Criminal (2011)

Criminal was taken from Britney's seventh album Femme Fatale (2011). it was the forth single of the album, after I Wanna Go (June 2011), Till the World Ends (April 2011) and Hold It Against Me (January 2011). when Britney first listened to the song, she liked it for being different, as if influenced by Madonna and Abba. for the music video, she was a woman in an upper society that fell in love with a criminal, played by her real life boyfriend Jason Trawick. Jason used to be her agent, who ended their professional relationship since May 2010 to focus on their personal relationship instead.

Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School (2001) リアルバウトハイスクール

a high school that even the headmaster approved fighting. the all-time champion, a samurai girl, was called to fend off an invasion, together with a few battle friends. an anime filled with absurdity, n a little too much repetitive humor to be enjoyable.

Capitulated.

there must be a way! clinging onto the falsest of hopes, forcing an enthusiasm that he didn't really feel. he stood, a dark silhouette in the night, the warmth of his sad tired gaze on her was like an invisible embrace that braced them against the cold wind. she knelt, hands on her knees, toes buried in the sand, wishing he would stop blaming himself for not letting things took their own natural course. he shook his head, his gaze so sad, her heart caved in. her voice quivered as her lips trembled so badly she failed to put a complete sentence together. she stuttered, desperately pushing him along, believing that they were just experiencing a temporary setback, and all that they needed to do was to put their heads together and things will be better again. looking up at him, her voice faded, seeing that he had already moved on, retreating to his solitary world where he was solely to blame.

あきらめました。

From Paris with Love (2010)

Reese was the personal aide of the France ambassador. he had a beautiful French fiancee named Caroline, who understood his passion in wanting to join the CIA. because of a shortage of agents in France, his dream came true as he was assigned as a partner to a special agent named Wax. despite his dream, he hadn't expect what it was like to be a real agent. he had to get Wax released from the airport Customs where Wax wouldn't stop verbally abuse the French Customs. he later explained to Reese that he was sent to Paris to investigate a group of drug dealers. during the investigation, they traced the money back to the Pakistani terrorists. they learned that the terrorists planned to blow the Embassy apart with explosives hidden beneath their clothes. he also discovered that Caroline was actually a terrorist assigned to monitor him.

the film failed to impress. the plot was unrealistic, the story was all over the place. most of the time we only watch its actions and totally didn't understand what was going on. the flow was so predictable and commercial that even though the chemistry between the 2 men was great, the characters failed to engage us viewers into experiencing their adrenaline and emotions. at some point, the film even felt ridiculous, it was so packed with actions but when everything was summed up, they ended up killing Chinese mafias and gangsters, Arabic, Indians and Pakistanis, even some Africans at the end. so was it the Americans versus the world now? or was everyone else introduced weapons just yesterday to be so unskilled and killed by just 1 man?

The Immortals #3: Shadowland (2009)

under Roman's spell, Damen was poisoned and lived like a normal teenager instead of an Immortal that roamed the earth for 600 years while searching of Ever's incarnations. after so many trials, they never did success. this time when Damen finally decided to make Ever an Immortal like him just so no harm could come to her, they got together only to be forced separated soon. desperate to save Damen from dying, Ever made the wrong choice by listening to Roman and worst, using his antidote. although Damen immediately recovered from his ill-state, they could no longer exchange body fluid, which means even a kiss could kill Damen by plunging him into the Shadowland, a place filled with darkness and no exit. at the same time, Ever's aunt arranged for Ever to work in her lawyer firm during the summer holiday, which Ever tried to avoid by looking for a job herself. she ended up at the bookstore where Ava took her before disappearing. instead of meeting the owner Lina, she met with her grandson Jude. Ever felt different, knowing there was something familiar about Jude that caused them to be attracted to each other. Damen took Ever on a mind's journey, allowing her to meet her previous incarnations, where she alarmingly noticed that Jude's past incarnations were also always around. Ever tried to convince Damen that she only had eyes for him and not Jude, but Damen insisted on a cooling period for both, with the purpose of giving her a chance to know Jude and made a choice between these 2 men. when Ever desperately tried to reverse Roman's spell on Damen and fighting from being drawn to Jude, she found the Book of Shadow at the bookstore, and with the help from Jude, tried to decipher the powerful book.

Ever was such a lovable character in the first book, but now in the third book, she has gotten annoying and too rebellious for an advice or two, even when it came from Damen. she has gotten so impulsive that only after something went terribly wrong, she started to regret not listening. not to mention all the foolish decisions that she made! the spooky twins however, had advanced into a bigger role than the previous book. despite the creepy silent communication between them, or how they enjoyed having Damen all to themselves while casting Ever aside, they had really started to surface and had me attracted to them and their in depth knowledge on witchcraft. on the other hand, it was quite a let down to see again, another person was there to complicate the relationship between Damen and Ever. i was hoping to finally see where their relationship can lead them for a change only to have the whole Drina-thing happened all over again, the only difference was last time it happened on Ever and this time on Damen. Roman, whom i thought would play a huge part for this book, didn't either. he continued to provoke Ever, taunting her into submitting herself to him in exchange for Damen's antidote. but that's all he did, no big evil plan to take over the world, not even Ever's life. it would have been so much more fun if something would have happened at the end of the book like the previous 2 did. despite all the fun i had going through the book, i felt being left hanging, even suspecting that it wasn't a complete book until i found out that i wasn't the only unsatisfied reader out there.

Taishou Yakyuu Musume (2009) 大正野球娘

being provoked that women should only become housewives, a high school girl was determined to start a baseball team, just to prove that girls can do well just like the guys. new friendship were formed as they learn more n more about baseball. a light anime worth catching, putting a smile on its viewer face every now n then.

Enamored.

he gazed at her as she climbed into the car, big brown eyes wider than usual, cute baby face curving into a grin. she smiled, knowing what he was about to say just moments before he spoke them out loud. she glanced back at him as they backed out of her drive way, mind racing, wondering how many more were still out there just waiting to show up. she rolled her eyes making sure he can't miss it, which caused him to laugh, running a hand naturally through his hair. and when he looked at her again, his expression changed, eyes meeting hers along with the usual wave of warmth that swept her off her feet again and again.

すべてが最高だった。

Black Swan (2010)

Nina was a dancer in a ballet company. her mother Erica was a former dancer who ended her career while pregnant with Nina. for the new production of Swan Lake, the company director, Thomas wanted something different. he forced Beth, the current main dancer of the company to retire and opened an audition for the rest of the dancers. he wanted a lead dancer who could play both the fragile White Swan as well as its dark twin, the Black Swan. after a tough competition, Nina was finally selected as the Swan Queen, playing both the White and the Black Swan. although Nina was perfect for the White Swan, she lacked the passion to dance the Black Swan. she got to know another dancer named Lily, who was so wild and perfect for the Black Swan. with pressure from her mother and Thomas frequent critics, Nina started noticing strange happenings around her, seeing and experiencing things that she sometimes wasn't sure was real.

the film was so disturbing in a bloody way it often made us flinched or looked away from the screen for comfort. the story started out slow, but after the first sign of insanity surfaced, it picked up its pace and pushed us unto one intense ride. for many scenes and characters, they did not progress in a way that they were expected to. the film was both thrilling and horrific, maintaining the dread and darkness, highlighting it with disturbing injuries that gave us more than enough goose bumps to stick around obediently until its very end. it was like watching a distorted version of Swan Lake, where the combination of beauty and horror made it brilliant, even fear itself wasn't enough to turn us away from its attraction.