Zestful One

Movie Review : True Grit (2011)

Posted by IcedNyior on February 24, 2011  |  No Comments

I’ll have to say that first and foremost, I’ve never watched a western movie. Not in the Cinema, TV or even on DVD/CD. Or, as my friend put it, “you didn’t grow up with John Wayne.”

True Grit is a adaptation of an old book  and 1969 movie. This 2010 movie, however, focuses more point of view of little 14-year-old Mattie Ross (played by relatively unknown Hailee Steinfeld), who travels to the city to avenge the death of her father, who was shot by a conman, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Smart witted and well above the maturity of her younbg age, she persistently looks around for people and resources to help her in her quest, enlisting the help of aging, drunkard and trigger-happy US Marshall, Rooster Cogburn (played by the awesome Jeff Bridges).

The story is what I would imagine a typical Western movie to be like (minus the cliché – two men standing in the middle of the almost empty down, staring down at each other waiting to whip out their guns and start shooting) but oh so much better.

Mattie will charm you from the very beginning with her gutsy determination to make her voice and wishes heard in what must have been a time where women (especially of a young age) were not taken seriously. Rooster Cogburn will remind you of that drunk and awkward man that everyone thinks is useless and selfish but has a soft spot inside. The cocky Texas Ranger (played by Matt Damon) will make you feel like he’s too big for his britches and thinks he knows better than others.

It was rough at times (trekking through unknown Indian territory), witty at some (funny catchphrases and quotes in the movie), brutal and bloody at others (lots of guns, bullets and horse chases) and heart warming at the end. All it all, I personally thought that it really was an entertaining, good movie and well deserving of its Oscar nominations.

Movie Info

* Nominated for 10 awards in the Oscars 2011 – Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Directing, Best Achievement in Sound Editing, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Jeff Bridges), Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Hailee Steinfeld) and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on a Material Previously Produced or Published.

* Interesting Movie Trivia – John Wayne, who played Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 movie, won a Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Actor. Will history repeat itself in this year’s Oscars?

Classification: 18
Genre: Drama / Western
General Release Date: 24 Feb 2011 (Malaysia)
Running Time: 1 Hour 58 Minutes
Cast: Matt Damon, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Hailee Steinfeld
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Thank you to United International Pictures Malaysia for the passes to this movie.

As usual, this post – and all other posts across this blog – are the personal opinions expressed by the writer and do not represent any third party’s view in any way.

How to change the new Facebook Photo “Lightroom” Viewer back to the old version

Posted by IcedNyior on February 18, 2011  |  2 Comments

Don’t you hate the new Facebook Photo Viewer that’s with that “lightroom” effect? I seriously dislike it a lot! Its so annoying and doesn’t enhance the user experience at all, in my opinion.

I found a simple way to walk around this issue. Can’t remember where I saw it la, some tech site I think.

Note : In addition to the steps below, here are more steps to help “remove” the new viewer

• Open in new tab – In Chrome I tried duplicating the tab, it seemed to remove the lightroom effect. Haven’t tried on other browsers tho. This works on other browsers like Firefox
• Refresh the page – Pressing F5 to reload the page also works
• Chrome Extension – If you’re using Chrome browser, download this extension. <—best method!

——————-

Here’s how to do it.

1. Click on the photo and look at the address bar (the URL at the top)

2. Remove the text “&theater” & press enter

3. Then you…..nah, that’s all you gotta do

See screenshot below. Remove the highlighted words

And you’ll get this…Tadaaa!

Hope that was helpful

Do you have any more tips on how to remove this? Will add it to the list on top

Start Living Your Dream Life

Posted by IcedNyior on February 14, 2011  |  No Comments

- Go ahead, text him first, he might be checking his phone, waiting for you.

- Stare into the eyes of the person you like and memorize the color.

- Turn on your ipod and run as far as you can.

- Say hi to a stranger, you never know what they’ll become to you.

- Have a mental health day – you know you need it.

- Don’t go on Facebook/Twitter for a day and see what you can accomplish.

- Give money to a charity, your good karma will come around eventually.

- Sneak out, you might get caught, but it’ll be 100% worth it.

- Tell that one person that you like them, what’s the worst that can happen? he doesn’t like you back? then he doesn’t deserve you anyways, right?

- Treat yourself to something indulgent, you deserve it.

- Smile at a stranger, it could make their day.

- Wink, it’s sexy and makes you feel confident, after all, you are pretty hot ;)

- Go for somebody who is totally wrong for you, they may not be totally wrong after all.

- Stand up for yourself, because if you don’t, who will.

Moral of the story is: It’s 2011, start living your dream life that you’ve always wanted, after all.

Something rather inspirational I read somewhere and decided to paste it here. I know many are out enjoying their Valentine’s Day with their loved ones (be it their significant other or their happy single friends). So in the spirit of spreading love, here’s my favourite medley from Moulin Rouge. Enjoy and have a great night!