2012: KJ’S REPEAT MODE

Well, I spent lots of this year listening to old songs – rediscovering old gems I didn’t know I had as well as classics that I wasn’t exposed to earlier. OMG, who knew Foreigner sounded so good?

2012 has been a good year for concerts and lots of what I listened to depended on the concerts I was going. I think the most memorable was the GREATEST HITS CONCERT back in February. a1! The last three days of February was madness and I didn’t regret a minute of it. Plus, I am now the proud owner of TWO autographed albums by a1!

The London Olympics brought back my love of the Spice Girls and the notion of GIRL POWER! Also from UK – One Direction! Liam Payne!!!

Though I have not started watching Season 4 of Glee but I still listen to the songs each week and needless to say, I love their songs from their Grease-inspired episode, Glease. OMG Darren Criss still sounds so good and I love every song from his mouth. #20 is a tribute to him.

Lastly, movie soundtracks! Rock of Ages introduced good ol’ classic rock and Pitch Perfect was aca-madness! Skylar Astin’s voice as well as Anna Kendrick’s performance of ‘Cups’. And, the introduction of Foreigner! They have been featured in several episodes of Supernatural but I didn’t really notice them till now.

CHOICE PICKS:

1. Keane – Sovereign Light Cafe / On The Road / Disconnected
2. Snow Patrol – Called Out In The Dark / The Weight Of Love
3. One Direction – One Thing / I Wish / Save You Tonight
4. Train – Drive By
5. Parachute – Kiss Me Slowly
6. Gotye Featuring Kimbra – Somebody I Used To Know
7. Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
8. .fun – Some Nights
9. Mumford & Sons – I Will Wait
10. The Cab – La La
11. David Guetta featuring Sia – Titanium
12. Matt Nathanson featuring Sugarland – Run
13. All Time Low – Time-Bomb
14. Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
15. 98 Degrees – The Hardest Thing / Invisible Man
16. a1 – One Last Song / Walking In The Rain
17. Bruno Mars – Runaway Baby
18. Foreigner – Feels Like The First Time / Waiting For A Girl Like You
19. Of Monsters And Men – Little Talks
20. Glee Cast – Hungry Like The Wolf_Rio / Fighter / Boys_Boyfriend / Don’t Speak / The Scientist / Hopelessly Devoted To You / Beauty School Dropout

BE YOUR TEENAGE DREAM TONIGHT

Glee Season 2 ended long ago and I remember it fondly because it introduced Darren Criss and the Warblers!

1. Toxic
2. I Want To Hold Your Hand
3. One of Us
4. Teenage Dream
5. Start Me Up / Livin’ on a Prayer
6. Stop! In the Name of Love / Free Your Mind
7. Forget You
8. Singin’ In The Rain / Umbrella
9. Marry You
10. Hey, Soul Sister
11. Valerie
12. Baby, It’s Cold Outside
13. Bills, Bills, Bills
14. Thriller / Heads Will Roll
15. When I Get You Alone
16. Silly Love Songs
17. Somebody To Love (Justin Bieber)
18. Don’t You Want Me
19. Misery
20. Raise Your Glass
21. Get It Right
22. Friday
23. I Love New York / New York

2011: KJ’S REPEAT MODE

Honourable mentions:

1. Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger
2. NKOTBSB – Don’t Turn Out The Lights
3. The Band Perry – If I Die Young
4. Paramore – Monster
5. David Cook – The Last Goodbye
6. Britney Spears – Criminal
7. Katy Perry – The One That Got Away
8. Rihanna – We Found Love
9. Christina Perri – Jar of Hearts / A Thousand Years
10. Bruno Mars – Grenade / It Will Rain

To be honest, I cannot remember much of what happened in the first half of the year except that I was really into My Chemical Romance and The Script (they came to Singapore!!!). Now, at the end of the year, I can tell you Foster The People‘s album, Torches, has made quite an impression on my eardrums. 😉

Take That re-emerged onto my iPod after they contributed to the end credits of X-Men: First Class. Elsewhere, the introduction of the Warblers on Glee Season 2 brought Darren Criss – his amazing form and voice – to our eyes and ears! I’ve never been this excited about a new character before.

Aldous Huxley: After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.

YOU BETTER RUN, BETTER RUN, OUTRUN MY GUN

Hello, yes, this blog is still alive.
I am too.
~~~ 

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE.  
— 4 and a half out of 5 stars

Jacob Palmer: I don’t know if I should help you or euthanize you.

Cast featuring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone? Of course I had to watch it.

Not to mention there’s Goslings’ “photoshopped” abs to ogle at. Seeing him in a comedy is a first and I love that he’s so smooth in this movie! One of the my favourite scenes was when Gosling takes Carell’s character shopping. The velcro-ed wallet was so old-school! And there’s that sauna scene.

It’s been a long time since I laughed so much, got charmed by the attractive cast and felt a fuzzy warm feeling at the end. One of the best romantic comedies in ages.

GLEE: THE 3D CONCERT MOVIE
— 3 and a half out of 5 stars 

I’m a Gleek and I think every Gleek should watch this.

And good marketing there, limiting the movie’s run to only two weeks! Two short weeks!

Lea Michele was simply amazing – don’t you just feel like crying everytime she does a solo? There’s also Darren Criss, doing his thing with The Warblers – the best thing that happened to Glee besides Darren Criss himself. Dancing-wise, Harry Shum Jr. and Heather Morris take the hat. Loved it when they danced to Valerie. And of course, Heather Morris’ boobs were amazing in 3D – she said so herself! Best of all, Kevin McHale (Artie) was dancing too!

Loved the encore performance of Somebody To Love during the credits – one of my favourite songs from the entire series!

BAD TEACHER
— 3 out of 5 stars

Cameron Diaz plays a teacher who is working for the bonus to get a boob job in order to get the attention of Scott (Justin Timberlake), a wealthy substitute teacher. Lots of weed-related jokes and that dry humping scene was kinda eew. Kaitlyn Dever from Justified and Noah Munck from iCarly play kids in Diaz’s class and I just loved that dodgeball scene (“Twilight, look at me”). Now you know you got to hit the ball THROUGH the object of your affection.

But I gotta say, Cameron Diaz looks real good for the age (she’s 39 this year) and set everything on fire with that car wash scene.

TALIHINA SKY: THE STORY OF KINGS OF LEON
— 4 out of 5 stars 

The highlight of SIFF 2011!

This is probably the only time any KOL movie will be on the screens of Singapore so if you saw it, good for you. There are plenty of videos from their Youth & Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak days and it was pretty refreshing to see them so young and… bearded. OMG I forgot how much I missed them all bearded and long-haired.

There was this really old video of Nathan and Caleb singing their gospels and they looked so clean-cut! Not much mention about Matthew (unfortunately) since it was mainly focused on the three brothers and their piercing blue eyes, but I loved that they used the photo where young Matthew broke two arms. Do you know how difficult it is to break both arms?

CHALET GIRL
— 3 and a half out of 5 stars 

Ed Westwick! He is so much more charming with a British accent!

Besides, it’s been so long since there was a British rom-com. And if you don’t know how to ski, watching people ski can be enriching too. Felicity Jones really shined in this and I can’t wait to watch her and Anton Yelchin in Like Crazy!!!

ABDUCTION
— 3 and a half out of 5 stars 

This is the only other movie I’ve seen Taylor Lautner in outside of the Twilight Saga; the other being The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. He was so adorable as Sharkboy!

Anyway, in this movie, his real identity is a mess because he found himself on a missing persons’ website. Internet 101: be careful of what information you give out and always cover your webcam! Despite all the guns and chases, Lautner still manages to find time for some smooching. At least he took Time Management 101. I bet he did most of his stunts! Cool!

This marks the first time I’ve seen an actor from the original Swedish Millenium Trilogy films – Michael Nyqvist on American screens. He will be in MI4: Ghost Protocol while Noomi Rapace will be in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Can’t wait!

FRIGHT NIGHT
— 4 out of 5 stars 

This movie scared the shit out of me. Colin Farrell is very hot as the vampire in the day but at night, those fangs and distorted facial features is just not hot. This vampire is the real deal; afraid of holy water and crosses, loves the fear in his victims and cannot enter the house unless invited. But being an old-school vampire, he morphs into something-like-a-bat in his true form.

But half the time, I was semi-crushing on David Tennant, who plays stylized vampire hunter Peter Vincent with the fake sideburns, eyeliner and leather pants. He steals every scene he’s in and even when he’s about to die, he still has his sense of humour. Totally crazy about him! Anton Yelchin totally kicked ass in the final scene (his suit!), just as those creatures from the soil popped up was so scary! This just shows remakes aren’t always horrible.

ATTACK THE BLOCK
— 4 out of 5 stars 

Sad to say, this one scared the shit out of me too. I don’t like aliens with luminous, multiple rows of teeth! They really love to tear up things with those teeth.

The British slang and humour really helped to make this movie more interesting. The way they swear is very charming! Since the kids are the ones protecting the block, I was really amazed at what “weapons” they kept hidden in their houses! They are concerned with things like prepaid texts as one line explains it all: “I’ve only got one text left. It’s too much madness to explain in one text!” One thing you’ve got to admire is how these group of guys stand up for each other! I’ve got a weakness for this kinda brotherhood thing.

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS
— 4 out of 5 stars 

Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis having benefits equals benefits for the audience. They have such hot bodies! Though the premise is similar to No Strings Attached that starred Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman, this one just packs more chemistry between the leads. Woody Harrelson (Tommy) was hilarious as the guy trying to make JT switch sides.

Tommy: Everybody want a shortcut in life, my guidebook is simple: YOU WANNA LOSE WEIGHT? Stop eating, fatty! YOU WANNA MAKE MONEY? Work you ass off, lazy! YOU WANNA BE HAPPY? Find someone you like and never let ’em go!

A big plus: they used Foster The People’s Pumped Up Kicks during the end credits!