Welcome to the annual overview post. I didn’t get a chance to get to it yesterday so I’m doing a quick one with the look forward to 2019. We could do two posts but I’m honestly not really in the mood to overload anyone with these posts. Its more of a reminder of what I’ve achieved in 2018 and new or adjusted plans to work with for 2019!
OVERVIEW OF 2018
2018 was a rough year in general. I had some PC issues in the beginning of the year which caused a whole lot of crazy as I had to get another PC built which put a lot of stuff behind. We had some other personal issues that caused a lot of worries and issues. However, 2018 is over now and as I look back, there were some really nice achievements and that is what matters. I started Tranquil Dreams to focus on the positives in the first place so that is what we’re going to do right now.
How about some stats to start? I haven’t done those in a while, it feels like at least.
Total Posts in 2018: 374 posts
Total Views: 69,450
Top 5 Countries: USA, India, Canada, UK & Hong Kong SAR
Top 5 posts published in 2018
Blood in the Snow Festival – remote coverage of 8 films
Montreal Comiccon coverage for Game Warp Podcast
Ultimate Decades Blogathon co-hosted with Drew’s Movie Reviews
Started up and co-host Movies and Tea Podcast with Elwood
Set Up the Facebook page for Tranquil Dreams
What’s Up segment on Youtube
Set Up a Weibo social media account
What to Expect in 2019!
2019 is here! A lot was done last year when I look back so I’m hoping to keep up and polish some social media skills and hopefully promote the blog a little better. Its all about working on the content right now. A lot of my issues this past year when I look back is procrastination and that sprouted from lack of organization or following through with tentative schedules and just not having the motivation from all the garbage that life threw at me. Then I added on a few segments as well (probably should of mentioned in the above section).
Resolutions: Less Procrastination (because none would be impossible) & Better Organization
BOOKS
Goodreads Challenge: 40 Books (might increase to 50 depending on what happens)
More focus on Graphic Novels and Comics
Getting back to reading Classics
Other TBR books that I own, outstanding book requests and blog tours
MOVIES & TV
What stays the same: Most movies and TV from Netflix and rentals and Web series on Youtube as well as film festival coverages
Adding in focus on Chinese language Asian movies and TV series (could be China, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, Singapore)
FOOD & DINING
Battle of Ingredients, Goodfood recap, Food Festivals and Restaurants
Baking Through Disney revival (whether its Disney reviews and conceptualizing baking projects)
WEEKLY/MONTHLY SEGMENTS
Music Obsessions (first weekend of each month)
Wine Recap (10th of each month)
Weekly Adventures (15th and 30/31 of each month)
What’s Up (everyday Wednesday – possibly back to video format)
Sunday Lists (biweekly to monthly frequency)
The main shift this year is the focus on Chinese language Movies, TV and possibly books since I’ve been meaning to get back to some Chinese reading. I’ve felt like a part of what started off a lot of my interests in the first place so when I moved into blogging and gave up a lot of it, its been always something that I’ve been trying to get back to. Its a risky move because no one really reads those posts but this space is about my interests and I do want to share those interests with you especially since a lot of it is now moved to more modern platforms like Netflix and Youtube having access.
Other than that, after some thought, I’m also heading back to more food-oriented content. It might be a slow start but I have changed my approach on the Baking Through Disney project and will start on reviewing Disney films while figuring out how to approach the design for baking. That way the project doesn’t get held up and ends up falling apart again.
As for What’s Up, as I’ve mentioned before, will end up going back to a video and written format. Both formats are fun to do so depending on time, I will work on trying to have both of them paired up.
Its kind of long but quite a bit of the same going on! A lot of the repeat for those new to the blog to see where you can navigate.
Welcome to the November 2018 edition of Wine Recap!
This past month, we’ve been slightly on a break due to various reasons. One is due to decrease of alcohol due to some health stuff my husband is dealing with. We wanted to lower the alcohol consumption to lighter varieties and we’re having this feeling that perhaps he has grown an intolerance to white wine so we’ll see how this segment shifts from here on out. The second is that the SAQ, which is the entity that governs our alcohol distribution in Quebec, is having union negotiations and strikes and such and for personal reasons, its been making us going less so I’ve picked up only two things from the grocery store this past month.
With the holidays coming up, I promise that December will make up for this month. I’d say I’m about 80% positive that it will.
Beach Day Every Day
Producer: Beach Club
Alcohol Content: 6.5%
Location: Quebec
A light refreshing alcoholic drink is really what Beach Day Every Day is. Its a drink great to have on a hot summer’s day. Very fitting for its name. It actually tastes a lot like Crush with hints of alcohol, making it a rather relaxing one to have. I bought this one at the grocery store (maybe an IGA, if I remember correctly).
Henry’s Hard Soda
Producer: Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Co.
Alcohol Content: 4.2%
Location: USA
Surprisingly, it seems that I’ve been choosing a lot of citrus flavors. This one is an orange flavor which actually didn’t taste of alcohol at all but almost felt like I was drinking something identical to Crush or any other orange soda. You can’t say that its not true to be fair. Its pretty tasty and the orange flavor is full, plus it also wasn’t too sweet. I don’t mind drinking this one again, although I am curious what the other flavor tastes like. It should be coming up in next month’s since we bought one can of each flavor from the grocery story (Metro in this case).
Revisit: Madjack Iced Tea
Just to keep it real (and because there wasn’t anything else here), I did end up buying a pack of Madjack Iced Tea flavored drinks this month. It spanned over the month to drink so that is also why we didn’t buy much of anything else. It is always our fun light drink to have. For my initial thoughts, check out April 2018 recap HERE.
That’s it for this “wine” recap. Not any wine at all but its the alcoholic content that matters in this segment. Its alcoholic drinks in general (for anyone new here).
Nightmare Cinema is a 2018 horror anthology featuring nightmare stories told by five renowned directors. It was an opening film at the Fantasia Festival and the screening was preceded by the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Joe Dante, one of the five directors of this film.
Nightmare Cinema (2018)
Director: Mick Garris, Alejandro Brugués, Joe Dante, Ryuhei Kitamura, David Slade
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Eric Nelsen, Sara Elizabeth Withers, Zarah Mahler, Mark Grossman, Richard Chamberlain, Maurice Benard, Elizabeth Reaser, Adam Godley, Orson Chaplin, Faly Rakotohavana
Are you ready to enter the world of The Projectionist in the old Rialto Theatre? This Nightmare Cinema brings 5 complete strangers where their darkest fears are the focal point of the story on screen. This anthology features five decent lengths short stories pieces that each have their homage to a nice variety of horror genres but adds in their own twist to make it more modernized or more entertaining or even more intense.
The opening segment takes no time to introduce us we follow a young girl into the theatre where she sees a movie with her name as the main feature called “The Thing in the Woods”. Directed by Alejandro Brugués, an Argentinian director known for his work in Juan of the Dead and The ABCs of Death 2 segment, this segment pays tribute to the 80s slashers that many still love. As with many slashers, there is a campiness to it as well as a dark humor that surrounds it with both great effects and well-timed moments. Probably the least serious and frightening of the five tales but also a great way to start off this anthology especially with this genre being one of the most popular in the horror subgenres. There is an artistry to the way it is filmed and even the way the story is written with a fantastic twist which honestly is what makes it stand out.
The second segment follows with “Mirari”, directed by the ever so renowned Joe Dante as he takes the audience to the horrors of plastic surgery and boy, do things go horrifyingly bad. While the story does keep you guessing for most of the film, it is the one that feels more mysterious and suspenseful because of the premise. It plays on the obvious expectations that the audience will have, knowing that there is no way that this plastic surgery won’t go wrong. What keeps the audience under the wraps is when it becomes apparent that the people around our victim all become rather sinister.
The third segment “Mashit”, directed by Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura, known for The Midnight Meat Train among many films, enters the world of a Catholic school and possession. Its bloody and eerie. Some scenes brings up memories of The Exorcist if it was done in this day and age with some outstanding effects that will send a chill down your spine. There are a lot of elements that work here including creepy children and scary makeup. The best part here is the use of light with the hallways covered in sinister colors and then adding in this gloomy backdrop that highlights the bloody parts. However, some parts do get a little overboard and ticks those over the top boxes a little too much.
The penultimate segment is directed by David Slade, the man behind the disturbing indie film, Hard Candy as he presents “This Way To Egress”. Not surprising to see that this story follows a mother of two who visits a psychiatrist office who believes she is going crazy. Her world falls into this ugly reality. This is helped by the stylish black and white feature especially making it more psychologically disturbing as you wonder whether the world are full of monsters or her mind is turning everything into monsters. It straddles the line of truth and fiction while tackling some serious subjects as her story unfolds. While it never quite hits the disturbing levels of Hard Candy, This Way to Egress does pack an effective punch and amps up on the tension as we near the end of this anthology.
The final segment “Dead” along with the intermission segments with The Projectionist is directed by Mick Garris. A great finale to wrap up the anthology as it takes a look at some The Sixth Sense area where a young boy wakes up from being dead for essentially 17 minutes to realize that he can see the lost souls. There is much more to the story than that but the dead are all creepy. There is a great amount of tension arising from the circumstance that he is put in. Dead ends the anthology packing quite the punch. However, the films merit is in creating this character, The Projectionist, portrayed by Mickey Rourke who is a mysterious fellow as we see him more and more in the intermissions between segments as he hints towards what this Nightmare Cinema is all about and well, the final scene shows that there is potential for these stories to just keep on going.
As with any horror anthology, it is about the sum of its parts as much as it is about the big picture. Each of the five stories here pack in some homage to a certain genre and boast the talent of the director and their artistry. Both the cinematography and the atmosphere is top of the line. The soundtrack also builds the mood and tension for each of these scenarios. Even when the story feels like it takes it a little too far or gets a little silly, these elements pulls it back into place. The structure of the horror anthology though is where it stands out because it goes from something more comedic like The Thing in the Woods and builds up both the seriousness and the intensity so that when you reach the final segment Dead, it is pretty much an intense segment from start to finish. With the vast amount of horror subgenres here, there is bound to be something for every horror fan.
2018 looks like such a busy year coming up! Before we got into it, it seemed like it would be at least. As I was compiling this list and looking back at release schedules, I can’t say that I’m particularly inspired. There are definitely some interesting titles coming up. Of course, adaptations (from books and movies) along with sequels even reboots, and superheroes seem to be dominating a lot. As you will soon see, that mutants and mutated creatures seem to also be taking on a special theme here also.
I’m doing things a little different today. We’ll start with some movies that I’m worried but intrigued then head into some honorable mentions and finally wrap things up with our Top 15 anticipated movies, in the order of release according with Cinema Montreal and Collider (usually its only the first site but their releases end in August so I had to fill in the blanks).
The Movies I’m Worried but Slightly Intrigued
Slender Man (May 18, 2018): I don’t know the lore a lot about Slender Man except from video games but he’s this tall faceless creepypast Internet meme and to myself, that doesn’t sound very scary but in the right hands to execute it and decent story, it might just work out.
The Predator (August 3, 2018): Predator movies are pretty alright. I mean the first one was fantastic (even if I make fun of the effects now in the most endearing way) and its had a somewhat bumpy ride with the AvP however, Predators was pretty good so I’m staying optimistic about this one until we finally see a trailer then I’ll decide how I actually feel about its potential.
Halloween (October 19, 2018): Someone’s hell bent on beating the amount of movies for Friday the 13th franchise or something because I have no idea where this could go but look, Michael Myers is a great slasher icon so why not give it a chance until we actually see some footage. This will be its 11th movie in the franchise after the last two were reboots so who knows, right?
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (November 16, 2018): The first was entertaining and exceeded my expectations. So why not? Plus, Johnny Depp has been a tad rocky of late but I’ll give him a chance here.
I know that I’m missing some big titles. Solo, Deadpool 2, The Incredibles 2, Wreck-it Ralph 2, Sicario 2 Soldado are just a few off the top of my head. A little justification probably would be that after I saw A Force Awakens and felt completely like I was barging into someone else’s life story, I felt that unless I actually caught up with Star Wars, it wouldn’t be fair for me to go into any of these movies. Maybe I’ll get around to it this year. Deadpool 2 is a similar reason because I haven’t seen the first. As for Disney sequels, they have yet to fully convince me that they are worth my time yet. I’ll still see them if I get a chance. And then there are movies that I feel sequels aren’t necessary. Sicario was perfect the way it was, just grim enough and outstanding characters. I’m not sure that I’m ready for another one of these depressing things. At least at the start of 2018, I’m already starting off with a bit of some small snags and its only the first day so grim movies aren’t appealing at this very moment. I struggled with putting Fantastic Beasts in worried but intrigued or this part of unjustified, however, I did find that Fantastic Beasts was fun and harmless for what it was and that had to do a lot of it exceeding my expectations of what it had to offer, in case you wondered why that made it and not Sicario (if my husband reads this, he will definitely disagree).
Honorable Mentions
Peter Rabbit (February 6, 2018)
Black Panther (February 16, 2018)
The New Mutants (April 13, 2018)
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (July 20, 2018)
Venom (October 5, 2018)
Bumblebee (December 21, 2018)
Aquaman (December 21, 2018)
All of these movies have a fair chance of me going to see it in the theatres. I do like the Black Panther addition to Marvel and The New Mutants looks very engaging but I’m wondering if it has to do the X-Men franchise. Perhaps some of you more knowledgeable about the Marvel universe can shed some light on that. most of these to be fair or some kind of Marvel or DC or Transformers and adaptation like Peter Rabbit. The only one out of those is the sequel for Mamma Mia! which I do love the first one even if Pierce Brosnan singing can be slightly cringe-worthy. I’ve never felt that need to watch DC films but Wonder Woman was pretty great (review coming up) so since I like Jason Momoa, maybe I’ll check out Aquaman if I have time.
Moving onto the main feature of this post!
Top 15 Anticipated Movies (in order of release date)
The God Particle (aka Untitled Cloverfield Project) February 6, 2018
No poster, no trailer, two delays on record already. Cloverfield and 10 Cloverfield Lane has both exceeded my expectations and had two different tones to it with a small possible connection to everything. Titled with The God Particle but some still refer to as Untitled, this one holds a really nice cast (although I’m not a huge fan of Ziyi Zhang). However, looking at the general plot, it seems cool. But these Cloverfield films have all been incredibly vague until right before their release so hopefully, some time this month, we’ll start seeing a cryptic trailer or something.
Annihilation
February 23, 2018
I know that January and February are the centre of crappy movies and this one is an adaptation and could fall flat but look, Alex Garland wrote and directed both 28 Days Later and Ex Machina and those two movies are some of my absolute favorites. This one has a lot of potential, especially with its fantasy elements. I’ve never read the book its based on but hey, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson and Oscar Isaac have proved that they are involved in some good stuff so I’m pretty excited to see this one. Not to mention the trailer showed a pretty bad-ass creature design so consider me sold on the idea.
Tomb Raider
March 16, 2018
Probably one of my top anticipated movies in this list is Tomb Raider. I love the video game franchise an this one looks like what they’ve been aiming to reboot in the games as well in the origin story style. Alicia Vikander is a very talent actress and she seems to have the role in plus there’s Daniel Wu and I love him and love that he’s gaining success in Hollywood. Its look action-packed and fun. It might not live up to the video games as you aren’t in the character but it sure seems close enough so I have high hopes for this one.
Pacific Rim: Uprising
March 23, 2018
I like Pacific Rim a whole lot. Pacific Rim: Uprising looks pretty awesome. Its full of action with giant fighting machines and looks visually stunning still. The cast is pretty great with John Boyega, Scott Eastwood and Charlie Day. I don’t have any profound reasons for this one but I just think it’ll be fun theatre visit.
Ready Player One
March 30, 2018
I read Ready Player One and thought the book fell short a little of my expectations and all the awesomeness of what it had to offer however, I do have to say that I can totally see this working as a movie plus under the helms of Steven Spielberg, this one has a very small chance of failing. I’m hoping that I didn’t jinx it. Ready Player One has the potential of building a fantastic world. I’m a sucker for reality and animated blends in the world so I’m really sold in this idea. Plus, while I think that Tye Sheridan as the beginning doesn’t quite fit the image of Wade Watts from the beginning of the book, he is quite a good young actor and I like Olivia Cooke a lot as well so lots of good already shown here. I sure hope it lives up to its expectations and if it does, this one is going to be super fantastic.
A Quiet Place
April 13, 2018
Emily Blunt and John Krasinski teams up to be a movie couple. Plus, John Krasinski takes on the director’s seat in this one as well. I’d like to see how his vision will turn out for A Quiet Place. I love horror movies that use silence to its advantage. It can make for a very intense movie experience. I’m guessing the best example would be Don’t Breathe. The trailer seems to hide enough of the horrors to still make us wonder what is in store. I don’t have a habit of watching horror in theatres but I have a feeling that I’m going to make an exception for this one. Although, the timing of the release might be the tougher element to work with here.
Rampage
April 20, 2018
I’m an unapologetic The Rock fan. I haven’t seen all his movies and I do blame part of my love on my husband’s love for his roles. However, he always delivers these fun adventurous movies in some rather absurd way. Rampage is adapted from a video game and that also scores some points for myself. At the same time, it feels like this one has some more emotional elements to it and I’m huge on creature features so lets say that this one falls into my soft spot and I can’t wait to see it! The trailer boasts on the director of San Andreas, while I did enjoy it, I’m not exactly sure thats a selling point for many people to be fair.
The Avengers: Infinity War
May 4, 2018
I had discounted this movie for a long time. Marvel movies are decent and they have their entertainment value but I always find them slightly lackluster particularly The Avengers were both okay but also was missing something. Infinity War is still a huge chance on this one but it does seem to bring together both The Avengers and all their hard work in building these characters over the many many movies over the last few years (maybe decade) and the Guardians of the Galaxy universe so I’m pretty excited to see where this goes. Plus, they’ve had some nice comedic fun moments in these so I’m ready to give this one a go although I have a few previous ones to catch up with.
Ocean’s 8
June 8, 2018
Other than Rihanna and Awkwafina making me doubt this movie a tad, I’m actually very intrigued by this movie. Cate Blanchette and Sandra Bullock are awesome in a ton of stuff that I’ve sen them in plus I have a girl crush on Sandra Bullock ever since Speed. There is a strong cast. Plus, it looks like a fun time. To be fair, this one originally didn’t make the list however the trailer changed my mind a lot.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
June 22, 2018
I have regrets about watching this trailer because I feel like it reveals WAY TOO MUCH. However, I loved Jurassic World and I also like Jessica Chastain. Plus, dinosaur movies are fantastic. What can I say? I’m going to be there no matter what.
Ant-Man & The Wasp
July 6, 2018
I remembered liking Ant-Man more than I would have expected and looking forward to a sequel. It hit some nice comedic points and was a fairly easy-going film to watch. I’ll probably need to rewatch it before I go see this. However, Michelle Pfeiffer is also listed in this so count me in.
MEG
August 10, 2018
So far, The MEG has no trailers except we know that Jason Statham is part of this. Let’s just say that I love a good shark movie even this technically is about Megalodons who were thought to be extinct.
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
November 2, 2018
Come on. This is like a weird take on The Nutcracker with The Nutcracker music. It has Morgan Freeman as well. I’m totally sold on a fantasy like this one. I didn’t even know if its existence until I saw the trailer and then I was just really into it.
Mulan
November 2, 2018
Mulan’s live remake, according to IMDB is only in pre-production right now and only has Yifei Liu as Mulan casted. Which could mean that it might not be released in 2018 for all we know. However, I’m a sucker for the Mulan story even if I think there are certain flaws to it. I loved the animated version and it’ll be interested to see how they approach this one.
Mary Poppins Returns
December 25, 2018
You know what? As amazing as Julie Andrews is as Mary Poppins and how much I don’t think anyone could replace her, I do kind of see Emily Blunt fitting those shoes well. Mary Poppins Returns might not exactly be necessary and could only be seen as something of a cash grab but the talent in the movie is undeniable and just for those two reasons, I’m ready to give it a chance.
Tranquil Dreams 