The Legend of Korra: Finale Recap - The Day of the Colossus & The LastStand

by Daniela

Hello there readers! Long time no see. I guess I’ll get the apologies out of the way. After exams ended I was thrust straight into the world of work once again and let me tell you… retail around the holiday season is no laughing matter. There have been many things that we’ve been dying to write about but so often they have been left as drafts and cast aside, unfinished and forgotten. But hey, now that we’re into the new year, new movies, new music… hopefully we can get back into the swing of things.

This post has been in the works for a while and I have tried to start and finish it on many occaisions. I guess you could say that I’m in denial, I can’t believe that The Legend of Korra is over and that I have to carry on without any new episodes. Mind you it’s already been about a month already. This is not the kind of life I want to live! All dramatics aside, like I’ve said, I’ve tried to write this finale post from different angles. A lot of times it just turned into a scene- by-scene retelling of the episodes. And that’s definitely not what I wanted. So hopefully, I have more luck with this one.

If you’re in the Avatar fandom (hey, even if you aren’t) you will know that the series finale of The Legend of Korra caused generated a lot of attention. All good things, all good things. It was a highly anticipated finale with plenty to offer. So far in the season, we’ve followed Korra’s struggle after she suffers the repercussions from her fight with Zaheer in the Book 3 finale. We watch her start from the bottom as she learns how to walk again and face her inner demons after suffering PTSD from the poison taking over her body. We’re also reintroduced to Kuvira who has taken the role as the main antagonist for the season and appears to be a dictator. The Air Nation has grown and the airbenders are more active in their snazzy new airbender suits. We leave things off after Kuvira’s Gambit, where Kuvira has just fired a blast at our heroes (and Bataar Jr. who is also her fiancée) from her giant mecha suit, the Colossus. The penultimate episode ends ambiguously as we don’t know if our Team Avatar (and Bataar Jr.) has survived. Oooh cliffhanger.

Watch the official Book 4: Balance trailer!

Gone Girl: Hollywood's Redemption

by Justine

As the years go on, the quality of movies seem to decline. When we look at iconic years like 1994 that produced world renowned classics like The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction or even Forrest Gump, what we have begun to produce in the 20 years following seems trivial and completely unoriginal. I'm tired of being able to sit in a movie theatre and be able to predict the entire plot from start to finish based solely on the first five minutes (*cough cough* Pitch Perfect). We've all seen the oh-so-predictable girl meets boy, boy screws up, girl hates boy, boy redeems himself and boom, happily ever after. I am NOT a fan. I'm also not such a great believer in happy endings, somehow I feel that more realistic endings have a greater appeal.

Psychological thrillers are one of my favourite genres of film. Why? Because in order to totally mess with your mind, the writers actually have to sit and think of clever twists in the plot. They have to find a way to lure you into a false sense of security and then turn everything upside down. Admittedly, it has been a LONG time since Hollywood produced a good psychological thriller. Standouts for me have definitely been Primal Fear, Fight Club and of course the unforgettable Silence of the Lambs. It's pretty much impossible to dislike Anthony Hopkins. That being said, Hollywood finally decided to prove to itself, and the world, that they still have it in them to produce something original and hence, Gone Girl.

Now for those of you who are more sensitive viewers, there is a certain amount of nudity, sex and violence so be aware. If you're easily offended by this kind of thing, you're probably not going to want to watch this.

I went to see this film in the theatre with my family. I had high expectations given the hype surrounding it and the fact that David Fincher was the director, myself being an unaware fan of his work (Fight Club (duh!), Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - all of which I only recently discovered her directed). Given my experience with Fight Club I was expecting some kind of crazy twist and the film did not disappoint. I'm going to try my very best here not to give away any spoilers!