Happy Halloween!

Hello readers,
Today is the last day of October and it's an All Saints' Day, also known as Halloween. I am writing this post using my phone, so pardon the format which I know it is weird since I mostly post using iPad.

Till today, I have no idea how Halloween even occured. I used to hear from my father that the idea of Halloween came from somewhere in Europe. I think it is funny how every celebration has a urban legend. I love urban legend, you can't even tell whether it truely happened or just a story back in those old days to scare kids or even the local adults.

Since I live in Singapore, there is no such thing as Halloween (try tricka treating and see what happened). However, you can still celebrate this event by taking a trip to supermarket such as Cold Storage. Cold Storage has some unique masks and plastic weapons including a trident. They do sell some fake blood and plastic knife which you can pretend you accidentally harm yourself or even self-harm. You can also watched some Halloween specials on television such as the latest episode of American Horror Story: Freak Show.

I hope everyone has a good Halloween and again, happy tricka treating!

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"Goddess" by Banks

Hello readers,

I will be writing a music review on this dark, R&B singer, Banks who released her debut album last month, Goddess.

Before writing, I shall explained about this beautiful lady. Banks stood out from the featured page on YouTube with her song, Beggin For Thread and I have to say she has his mysterious aura which made me wanted to check out her other music videos. From the comments I have seen on her YouTube page, there has a comparison made between Banks and Lana Del Rey since both started off as indies which I shall dismissed they have different music genres and 'storytelling'.

Now back to the review, Goddess is an album which brings this dark, beautiful aura and with 18 songs (I bought the deluxe version), all the songs are entertaining. Some of the songs like You Should Know Where I'm Coming From are acoustic and her vocal is mystifying. Drowning and Brain are songs which you need to watched the music videos and take note of the femme fatale's persona, they are very chilling and beautifully written. Overall of Goddess is that I have no disliking of the songs and because of that, this album is something I can listened to on repeat.

If you were to ask me what is my favourite song off Goddess, I would say Stick as the drumsticks and the female Justin Timberlake-inspired vocal style are so sick. Banks is simply the interesting singer-songwriter of 2014 I ever discovered through indie music channel. Definitely recommended to listen and if you haven't, go to Spotify!

Ratings: 7.5/10

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Term 4 Week 6

Hello readers,

This week is exciting, especially when you have a public holiday (Happy Deepavali!) and a school holiday the next day. Besides that, I have been involving myself in many events such as yesterday's Student Leaders Forum. This was my first time being in a forum with many different student leaders instead of just Student Council.

The forum took nearly 3 hours including the talks by the school leaders. We were placed into clusters and discussed about different issues and suggestions on improving the school for next year. I did talked to other student leaders who were mostly class chairpersons. After discussing, every clusters were to present their ideas to everyone and I was amazed with each and every opinions the leaders shared.

For the whole student leaders forum, I was actually writing down point forms and sentences as part of my secretary job which helped me to write a report for 2 hours today. I am pleased with myself for writing a full report since I never got a chance to really do that officially. I know it is weird for people to like writing but to be honest, writing for a big event helps me to keep awake instead of dozing off to Neverland.

Besides Student Leaders Forum, I was a game-in-charge along with my fellow Ex-co mate for a game called, Minesweeper. The game was for the event, Student Council Selection Camp. As 2014 is coming to an end, we had to recruit new councillors not through interview but through physical activities. There were four more games besides Minesweeper. I have to say most of the councillors were in good conduct, however since this was just a one day event, it was not enough to know their true character.

As holidays are coming, I can't wait to explore more interests and since Spectrum 8 and NUS Chinese Instrumental Examination are coming next month, I am going to work hard not for the people but for myself!

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2 years anniversary in advance!

Hello readers,
October 19, 2014 is coming and that marks the two years anniversary of Devil In The Skull. Since 2012, I have been happy to blogged about anything that I have found through Twitter, IMDB (Internet Movies Database) and other websites.

Again, my purpose of having this blog is to spread the wonders of films and other entertainment such as music. This year, I have ventured into trying food reviews such as my review about Din Tai Fung (link here) which has been read by many readers like you and topped my posts as the most read.

I wish Devil In The Skull a happy two years anniversary in advance and would like to thanks each and every readers who have been following this blog in the wonderful journey. To celebrate this joyous occasion, I have revamped the blog with a new touch. :)

Thank you, everyone!

Crissie

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Movie Review: The Great Gatsby (2013)

Hello readers,

I am here today to write a review on this profound The Great Gatsby which I watched it yesterday on my laggy laptop. This film is based on the 2013 version which you can easily tell by the cast including of course, Leonardo DiCaprio as the amazing Jay Gatsby. I remembered wanting to watched The Great Gatsby last year after watching the trailers and listening to the soundtrack. However, I was hold back by other commitments and thus, I was not able to watched the film.

So here I am going to write up for The Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby is told from the narrator, Nick Carraway (Tobey McGuire)'s perspective. The film started off with Nick telling his therapist about his good, old days back in 1922 where Roaring Twenties was happening and as a Yale graduate, he moved into a small cottage in West Egg and got a job in a firm based in New York. While West Egg was a neighbourhood for the 'newly rich', Nick has a cousin, Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) who was married and lived on East Egg which was known for the oldest, wealthy people.

There you go for the summary of Nick Carraway and his lovely, blonde cousin, but this is not the most interesting part. Nick has a next door neighbour who always held big, crashing parties and guess what? None of the guests ever met the neighbour. Here you know the obvious, the neighbour was Jay Gatsb (Leonardo DiCaprio), the man who swept away on headlines.

I have given the full summary of the characters who are in this film. The Great Gatsby is an enchanting film which would grab you in and joined the fun in the Roaring Twenties. People dancing to Charleston, big band playing Foxtrot and also alcohols are cheaper for the wealthiest. But there was something troubling in this film, I shall described this as 'Roaring Twenties in a Great Depression Era'. Why that? The Great Gatsby is not only a wild, happy going film but a sadness being covered up by the roaring culture.

I was moved by the flashback scene which featured Gatsby and Daisy, who were former lovers before separating as the war came. Gatsby showered her with love and did all his best to practically impressed her. Sadly, Daisy went along and married Tom Buchanan, a business tycoon. The Great Gatsby is a film which shows the vulnerability of the amazing man as his past was revealed. While watching the film, something touched me. Not only was the Gatsby's character a pity, but how about the author? F. Scott Filtzgerald was somehow vulnerable in the Roaring Twenties.

Although I haven't see the previous versions of The Great Gatsby, I would like to praised the director for his well research into the classic novel and for his beautifully, powerful scenes which totally let me felt I have spent my 142 minutes wisely. The film production of making the 1920s setting was very well done and does absolutely need a standing ovation. If you haven't watched The Great Gatsby, I recommend this film as it will touched you and make you fall in love with the Roaring Twenties, the glamour and sadness of 1920s. Do checked out the soundtrack of the film as well!

Ratings: 9/10

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TV Series Review: How To Get Away With Murder

THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Hello readers,

I am here today to reviewed a latest legal drama television series, How To Get Away With Murder. I decided to watch the pilot episode today cause I am running out of television series to watched and also I heard about this series which I am curious what it is about.

How To Get Away With Murder is a television series about a law professor who decided to get students from her class to show their ability to handle the case about a woman, a man and the aspirin. I thought this series was about how a professor and students worked together to handle cases in courtroom but there is a bigger picture throughout the series.

In the opening of the pilot episode, the students were seen carrying out an unknown body and were arguing about the consequences of disposing of a body. Since the students were uncertained about their decision, one of the students decided to use the coin and flipped for the right decision. The scene soon showed a '3 months later' sequence where the students attended a class taught by Professor Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) and she introduced the class which she like to called it, How To Get Away With Murder.

Viola Davis' performance as Professor Annalise Keating was impressive, although I am new to watching her acting. She portrayed the character as a tough woman who has seen many courtroom cases and yet at the same time, portrayed a character who is under pressure by marriage. The students' cast are not too bad, although I don't really remember them except for a few students. The plot of How To Get Away With Murder has many twists and as the pilot episode goes, there are many hints which may get you shocking. There are a few dirty tricks in the episode as the professor and students try to win the case. An example of dirty tricks is when student Connor (Jack Falahee) had sex with an I.T. nerd, just to get the evidence to help the case.

How To Get Away With Murder is a series which featured law in a twisted way and yet giving suspenseful hints throughout the pilot episode and maybe even the whole Season 1 of the series. Go watched the pilot episode and you will understand the review I wrote!

Ratings: 7/10

P.S. The series was created by executive producers of Scandal. I have to say both series' lead character are quite similar.

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TV Series Review: Stalker

THIS REVIEW CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS

Hello readers,

I am writing this review at this hour cause I just finished watching the pilot episode of this latest thriller crime television series, Stalker which aired this week. The series starred Dylan McDermott as a transferred homicide detective from New York and Maggie Q as a detective probably been stalked before.

Stalker is another television series similar to Criminal Minds but it mainly focused on cases regarding stalking (obviously) where victims felt insecure and receiving threats or things which bothers them for a long period of time.

The pilot episode started off with a woman coming back home, leaving a voice message to a friend that she was hungry. After coming out of her car, she received a phone call from an unknown person who was watching her move like arriving home. We soon see a man standing outside her house and later chased the woman and started pouring kerosene on her with absolutely no reason. The woman soon entered her car and again kerosene was poured. Well, it is obvious she was killed after the unknown person set the car on fire.

I will not give more spoilers but I have to say, Stalker is creepier than Criminal Minds since the stalkers portrayed in this series are more 'stalkerish'. Imagine you are being watched 24/7 and this has been going on for maybe, a year for example. That is how those victims feel whenever they received such threats or a scary surprise. I cannot imagine how my life is if there is a person who created an obsession over me. Yucks!

The cast of Stalker is well... alright. At the start of the episode, my first impression of Dylan McDermott's character was, "Is he a stalker?". His expression does looked like a delusional fellow who is obsessed with this blonde woman (who I assumed it was his ex-girlfriend) and the child. However, as the episode goes on, I think Dylan is fine. For Maggie Q, her expression in this series is quite similar to her previous television series, Nikita. She has this strong presence and yet gorgeous at the same time. From the pilot episode, I look forward to knowing the characters they are playing since this is just the beginning.

Looking at the overall of pilot episode of Stalker, I felt the critics are missing out the point of the series. I think the storyline of the episode was alright and I don't feel the series is "chock full of perverted subjects and ugly storylines, making it hard to watch even for those who like to watch". The stalkers portrayed in the series isn't really that perverted but I would say they are 'perfectly creepy'. Another critic has mentioned the series is an "exploitative, misogynist trash". I know there are people out there who feel that treating women in a harsh way is bad or there ain't woman rights. I think it is a coincident that the victims in this episode are female and the storyline just happened to be torching of victims.

For the ratings of this pilot episode, I would give this a 6/10. 4 out of 10 is gone because this series is kinda average but at the same time, it is a series I would still be able to watched. If you haven't watched the pilot episode of Stalker, I think you should give a thought about watching this series, especially if you are someone who has watched Criminal Minds or maybe, Law & Order: SVU?

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