That Thing You Do!

No.  This is not a review or reaction, despite the fact that's all I've been talking about in the last three posts!  =P

This is just me sharing a song that's currently stuck inside my head - That Thing You Do!

But wait... a song stuck inside my head?  Shouldn't this be in my music blog instead, then?  

Well, yes.  I thought of that.  But then, I wasn't planning on saying anything about what the song means, nor include the lyrics of the song.  Besides, my music blog needs updating.  There's still so much clutter there at the moment.  =P

So I thought perhaps, it would be better in my random blog or my info blog (even though, they also need updating).  After all, it is quite random, isn't it?  I just found out from somewhere that there is such a thing as a One-Hit Wonder Day, which was supposedly last September 25, 2016. (Interesting info!)  And that was what reminded me of this song and that movie.

Movie!  That's it.  This isn't just any regular song.  It's a song supposedly written and performed by a fictional band in a movie!  So, this post will be comfortable enough in this book and movie blog.  It'll feel right at home.  =D

Review vs. Reaction

Again, before I start off with my first actual review/reaction post, here's another preamble of sorts.  =P

You may notice from my two previous posts here and here, that I use the term recap/review (or sometimes reaction) for the posts I am planning to make.

I always call them 'recap/review' instead of just 'review' because I am aware of movie reviews out there that are meant to be read by people who haven't seen a movie, and used by them to help decide whether they want to see the movie or not.  Of course, such reviews are expected not to reveal certain details about the movie such as the ending or significant plot twists.  And so, I call my works 'recap/reviews' or 'reactions' (and they usually come with spoiler warnings) to make it clear that they contain a recap of the things that happened in the movie or tv show episode.

But notice that I'm now referring to it as a review/reaction (see above).  =P

You see, I have asked some people what their expectations of a movie review are. Most of them have said that they think movie reviews are meant the way I described them above - to help potential viewers decide whether they want to watch a movie or not.
Personally, however, I read reviews after I have seen the movie.  This is because my main purpose usually is to find out if other people reacted to the movie the same way I did.  =)

And so, my plan is now this:

• For movies, particularly, I will be writing review/reactions.  This will be a two part post.  The first part will be a relatively spoiler-free review that is targeted towards people who haven't seen the movie.  The second part will be a spoiler-filled reaction targeted towards people who have already seen the movie.  Whether these two parts will be posted separately, I am not yet sure.  Most likely, they will be contained in the same post, separated by a very conspicuous SPOILER ALERT! warning before the reaction part.  
• For tv show episodes, I will probably just be writing reactions as usual. That means spoiler-filled!
• As for books, I am not yet sure how I'm going to go about writing about books.  Maybe, if I decide to write chapter-by-chapter book posts, those will be purely reactions (spoiler-filled).  But if I decide to make a post about a book in general, it might be a relatively spoiler-free review.  Or perhaps it would be best if I just continue writing about specific elements in books like I did before.  For instance, focused on Snape here, and focused on the Time-Turner here.  We'll see.  =)

I am not a qualified critic.

Before I start off with my first recap/review, I would like to clearly state that I am not a qualified (book or movie) critic.

This is the reason why I try as best I can to refrain from saying outright that something is good or bad, but instead say "I think it's ok", or "I don't like it", or "it works for me". 'I think', 'I', and 'me' are the operative words here. Because pretty much everything I say here reflects how I understand or perceive things, and anything I say about whether something is good or bad is only an opinion based on my own personal preferences and beliefs.

So, why am I writing them? After all, it's not my job or anything. No one's paying me to do it.

Well, it's because this is my blog and I want to! Lol. =P As they say, everybody's entitled to an opinion, and I like to share mine. =) (And also, I often see low ratings and negative reviews for movies I like so I sometimes feel the urge to defend them somehow.)

Anyway, I just want to make sure that would-be readers are aware so that no one will rely solely on what I say. And hopefully, I won't get blamed for wasting someone's time should they decide to watch something I said I liked, or missing out on something I said I didn't like. Just covering my bases. Haha!

In any case, thanks for reading. =)

Almost four years after the last post, I am back! =)

I can't promise that I will be able to do this regularly, but I will try.

The immediate plan is to post my recap/reviews of tv shows I follow here.  This has been a plan for years but I haven't been able to do so.  The closest that I got was posting reactions to the second half of The Walking Dead season 6 on my LiveJournal.  Hopefully, I will be able to continue that here.

I was hoping to start off with the second half of Fear The Walking Dead season 2, but the show still confuses me, and I find I have little to say.  Maybe I'll start off instead with the next show that will premiere next week - Once Upon A Time.  We'll see.

Of course, I will try to post about movies and books as well.

My attempt to explain the Time-Turner events of PoA

Here is the second of two Harry Potter essays I referred to in my last post.  I wrote this as part of a series of posts I prepared before the sixth book came out.  =)

*******

My attempt to explain the Time-Turner events of PoA

In Defense of Snape

I just want to start off by reposting a couple of old essays I wrote regarding Harry Potter books.  These are things I wrote a number of years back which I am very proud of, having received a lot of good feedback on them.  =)  I posted them originally on my LiveJournal.  

Here is the first one.  I wrote it shortly after reading the 6th book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Now that the series is finished, in retrospect, some things I mentioned and speculated upon here have been proven inaccurate.  Still, it is something I would like to share with you.  =)  

*******

'From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork. From here on in, Harry, I may be as woefully wrong as Humphrey Belcher, who believed the time was ripe for a cheese cauldron." 
"But you think you're right?" said Harry. 
"Naturally I do, but as I have already proven to you, I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being — forgive me — rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger."
--Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K.Rowling


Well, that doesn't really sound reassuring, does it? Plus, I realize I should probably examine all six books in order to arrive at more accurate conclusions (or should I say guesses). Unfortunately, that is not feasible at the present time. But anyway, here I go again...

(Oh, by the way, this is quite long. It took me days to get it done. I'd appreciate it if you'll read it through. Thank you in advance. =) )

Selected quotes in blue.
Book and chapter numbers in red.



In Defense of Snape

Building Blocks of Books and Movies

Dictionary.com lists the following definitions:

leaf
noun 
5. Bibliography. a unit generally comprising two printed, blank, or illustrated pages of a book, one on each side.
or
4. one of the sheets of paper in a book

frame
noun
8. Movies. one of the successive pictures on a strip of film.
or
6.a. one of a series of individual exposures on a strip of film used in making motion pictures


To give you an idea of what this blog will be about.  ;)