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Another Round (2020): Alcoholism

Using alcohol or being drunk is often seen as a very bad thing, especially in a professional environment like a school. But four teachers decided to consume alcohol all day throughout their teaching. Although that might sound very irresponsible, that’s basically what happened in Another Round, directed by Thomas Vinterberg released in 2020. Another Round also known as Druk is a movie from Denmark in association with Sweden and Netherlands to illustrate alcohol influences in everyday life. The movie is a very realistic portrayal of existential crisis and most importantly alcoholism.

Martin is a middle aged teacher who’s kind of going through an existential crisis. He is not very efficient in class which causes the student’s parents to doubt his teaching ability. At home, Martin also doesn’t feel very connected to his children and wife. One day, one of Martin’s friends proposes the idea of testing out the Skaderud theory. Which basically means that they will consume alcohol to elevate their mind and become more efficient in their everyday life. He and his friends use alcohol to escape from their reality of living a boring and mundane life.

At first, alcohol helps Martin to become more sociable, confident and energetic which obviously leads to progress in his teaching. The students become more interested in his lectures and he also feels better about himself. But things tend to take a nosedive from here. Nikolaj wants to increase the amount of their drinking to support their research of the Skaderud theory but Martin decides to stop. But then when he gets to the door, he comes back and joins his friends. This detail shows that Martin is becoming dependent on alcohol and can’t resist the urge of drinking more. Wine and spirits aren't helping him as much anymore but he still wants them. Next morning, he is found lying on the road by his son. The boy couldn’t hide the disappointment on his face but still helps Martin to go back home. The consequences of overconsuming alcohol starts to appear when Martin and Nikolaj have to experience the sense of disappointment and losing trust as their family falls apart. The scene of Martin breaking down on his wife for cheating on him is a realistic depiction of family conflicts when the man of the family has drinking problems. Even when Martin’s wife is unfaithful to him, Martin and his friends are fully aware that these problems come from their absences, lack of care and attention to their loved ones due to alcohol consumption. At certain moments, the men had chosen to drink and be happy rather than be sober and being sad and lifeless. But sadly, this experiment just ends up with even more loneliness and depression for anyone involved.

When Martin asks his wife to go boating with him, his wife replies by asking what happened. Martin just says that he was thinking of her when she was young. It shows that he’s grabbing on to the past and wants to be young again, really missing the time when their love is still burning and to be in the time when he actually had some kind of control over his life. Again proving that he’s currently lost and finds alcohol as a way of escape. It’s also an effort by Martin to reconnect with his wife and fix whatever was wrong between him and his family. Being dependent on alcohol doesn’t only cause separation and isolation between family members but it can also create hatred, prejudices and contempt from people around. The school where the four friends work at and the student’s parents had shown extreme concern of some faculty members using alcohol during working time.

Martin, Peter and Nikolaj after witnessing and experiencing the consequences of their own actions, had stopped consuming alcohol. But obviously alcoholism isn’t that easy to get off, Tommy who’s the only one in the friend group who can’t escape from the trap of alcoholism has soon become violent and self-destructive. Tommy is probably the loneliest person of the four, he lives by himself in a small house with his dog. After seeing Martin’s progress in teaching, he accepted to be part of the experiment immediately and has soon achieved some progress of his own. With the help of alcohol, Tommy finds enthusiasm in his work as a football coach and spreads his positivity to his players. His team played better than ever and had some victories. But that is just the tip of the iceberg, like Martin, Tommy becomes heavily addicted to alcohol to a point that he shows up to the school meeting drunk. That incident got him fired, which just created more time for Tommy to be with his wine. A while after that, the man sadly committed suicide despite of the help and care of the other three friends in the group, especially Martin. Unlike the other three’s stories, Tommy’s story focuses heavily on the impact that alcoholism could have on one’s mental and physical health. It has definitely left the biggest impact on not only the other characters in the movie but also the audiences. Even though it’s heartbreaking, it’s the reality of many alcoholics out there in the real world. There’s a lot of stories out there about successful people who consume alcohol and drugs to support their work but it’s just a very small part of the reality where most alcoholics have to get help from therapy or even rehab to get back to their normal life.

Another Round wouldn’t have been as significant of a movie if it only shows a pessimistic attitude towards alcohol. Alcohol can be unhealthy and leaves many negative impacts but people can’t deny the fact that it has become an essential part of the party culture. Right after Tommy’s funeral, the movie ends with one of the best ending scenes in all of 2020. A party was hosted between the three friends and their students. After all of the tragic incidents that happened throughout the movie, the teachers have had a great time with their students, with alcohol involved. The scene where Martin dancing and running under a rain of champagne would always be an iconic portrayal of how alcohol can be fun and exciting if people use it for the right purposes and use it responsibly.

Drinks with alcohol like wine, beer and spirits has been around for a long time and has been associated with many tragic incidents. But it has also been part of many special occasions and great events throughout history. Another Round has definitely portrayed both sides of alcohol consumption in an unique and memorable way. Over-consuming alcohol can lead to family separations, divorces or even create violent and abusive figures. Although the consequences of liquor have been taught all across the world, people would still be drinking it in celebrations, parties and special events. The most important thing is to consume it for the right purposes and consume it at an appropriate amount.

#another round #druk #mads mikkelsen

Book & movie analysis: Persepolis

For a very long time, Muslim people and Muslim country's image have been depicted by the Western media in a very negative way. This results in the majority of people living outside Muslim countries having misunderstandings and misconceptions of Muslim people, especially their gender roles. Which is exactly why Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian author wrote her famous graphic novels Persepolis, released in 2000 and 2004. These two books are autobiographies of Marjane’s own life, portraying her life living through the Islamic Revolution and many other wars during that time period. Persepolis explores the damages and the traumas that wars do to people and also the gender stereotypes in Islamic countries.

In Islamic countries, where there’s a big percentage of illiterate people, religions are some of the most important things of Islamic people’s life. And one of the most visible symbols of religion in these countries is the veils, the scarfs of a piece of fabric that women use to cover their hair. The veil was created to remain “moral boundaries” among the two genders and the women who wear veils would be considered “respectable women” according to the Quran (Stacey, “Why Muslim Women Wear The Veil,” ISLAM RELIGION). Although there are a lot Muslim women that like wearing their hijab as a way to honor their religion, there are also women like Marjane who’s against the veils. Marjane Satrapi intentionally put “The Veil” as the first story of her book to show her negative opinion towards this piece of clothing. In this story, Marjane was just a little kid and doesn’t really understand why she and her girlfriends have to wear the veil (Satrapi 3). But this attitude of hers continuously appears throughout the two books, even when she’s a grown woman. Muslim women, as oppressed as they already are by their culture and religion, were even more oppressed by laws to always wear the veil (Knipp, “Why Iranian authorities enforce veil wearing,” DW). It’s not simply just a piece of clothing, it is used by the governments to repress Muslim women, to limit their rights to be what they want to be. Instead of just staying quiet and living with the situation, many women like Marjane had spoken up and demonstrated for their own rights as women, despite their image of being controlled by men and having no voice in the society. This corruption of gender images and stereotypes will happen many more times in the books through both female and male characters, which I would explain further in the next parts of this essay.

Like I mentioned before, Islamic countries have lots of people that do not receive any form of education. Especially women, when some Islamic countries don’t allow women to go to school (Brown, “The Taliban are taking away women’s right to learn. The world can’t afford to stay silent,” THE GUARDIAN). Even in the countries that do allow women to go to school, there would be gender segregated schools, and most of the time, the boys would receive a much better education and study in better conditions. For this reason, westerners assume that Muslim women are uneducated and can’t acknowledge the oppressions of their own countries. If we compare this stereotype to Marjane and her friends, there would be some serious misconceptions. Marjane and her family really value education. Marjane herself doesn’t just go to a normal school, she even gets the opportunity to attend a French school in Tehran which enables her to be fluent in multiple languages like French or English. Beside schools, Marjane also receives an education from her parents when her father always talks about their country's political situation and history. They also let Marjane be exposed with both Western and local literature and culture. Marjane as a kid liked punk music and listened to Kim Wilde (Satrapi 126). She even read books by Karl Marx and other Western authors (Satrapi 12). While still maintaining her patriotism and her interest in religion, Marjane onced wants to be a prophet (Satrapi 6). We can’t deny the fact that Marjane has many privileges compared to other Iranian girls but if we take a look at her mom, she’s also very well educated and often expresses her own opinions in certain political discussions between Marjane, her and her husband. Obviously, education doesn't just come from school or books, Marjane was also educated through her real life experience with war, bombs and through the sacrifices of her loved ones. Her grandmother always reminded her of her grandfather and how she has to take these sacrifices seriously and never forget who she is and where she comes from. (Satrapi 291).

If some Westerners think that some Muslim women aren't allowed to go to schools because their religion says that women should be obedient to their husbands and stay at home, they’re completely wrong. Muslim’s religion and philosophy are different from Western’s religion and philosophy but they aren’t as extreme as people think. The Quran has always commanded and encouraged all Muslims including both male and female to pursue and acquire knowledge (Lodi, “Islam doesn’t deny women education, so why does the Taliban,” VOGUE ARABIA). Marji admitted that she’s a very religious person as a child but she has always been a curious person and educated herself all the time. The reason that she gave up her religion also didn’t have anything to do with it limiting her from becoming a more intellectual person, there’s just a lot of bad events that occurred to her at the time leading to her making that decision. Just through a few details of her character, Marjane has succeeded in changing the way people view Muslim women and has completely broken the rigid stereotype of Muslim women being uneducated.

Besides being uneducated, the Western Media had depicted Muslim women’s overall picture as being traditionally feminine, weak, and submissive to men (Jaffer, “Are Muslim women really traditionally submissive,” THE TELEGRAPH). Many of them got abused and violently beaten by their husbands (Stacey, “Does Islam Oppress Women,” ISLAM RELIGION). Or simply, they don’t have a voice in their own household and get controlled by their spouse. However this is not the case in Persepolis, Marjane in the story is a very independent woman, she had left the country when she was very young and is totally capable of taking care of herself. Not only that, Marjane always speaks her own opinion and isn’t afraid of the consequences, even at the time when she’s still in Iran, where people don't take women’s opinion very seriously. One of the most important elements that has created a strong and independent Marjane is the people surrounding her, the role models in her own family, specifically her mom and her grandmother. Marjane’s grandmother and mom both have very advanced mindsets for people of their time. Typically, when a girl reaches a certain age, Muslim parents or Asian parents in general would like their daughter to get married and settle down with a good enough man (Beglin, “Why do Tiger parents want their kids to marry young,” PSYCHOLOGY TODAY). But Marjane’s mom wants the opposite, on the night of Marjane’s wedding, she caught her mother crying in the bathroom. Marjane’s mother said: “I have always wanted for you to become independent, educated, cultured …And here you are getting married at twenty-one. I want you to leave Iran, for you to be free and emancipated …” (Satrapi 317). These words don’t just show the love she has for her daughter but also shows that she’s a modern woman and doesn’t want marriage to define her daughter. Taji’s worried that Marjane will end up like other Iranian women at the time who've got oppressed by their husband and got their freedom taken away. Marjane’s mom didn’t just break the stereotype of Muslim women, she has also broken the notion of Asian parents who are strict and want control of their children’s life. Same with Marjane’s grandmother, she’s also a woman that’s ahead of her time. Long before Marjane’s generation, the prejudices and contempt for women was also tremendous. But Marjane’s grandmother has made a decision that’s considered revolutionary, which is getting divorce. Like how she said, at the time, nobody ended their marriage (Satrapi 333). So this story of Marjane’s grandma had taught Marjane to stand up and make decisions for her own benefits, and it is totally normal to divorce her husband as long as she thinks that it’s the best thing for herself. Grandma has also taught Marjane that getting a divorce is a right of any Muslim woman and not supposed to depend on the men.

In Persepolis, not just a lot of women’s stereotypes get broken but the reader can easily see some very positive male figures throughout Marjane’s life. One of them is obviously Marjane’s father Ebi. From the beginning of the book when Marjane was a child, her father has always been supportive of her and respects every decision she makes. He has also always been honest and open with her about the country's situation. Ebi doesn’t mind explaining things like history or politics to her daughter (Satrapi 19). He’s caring and patient with Marjane and sometimes even treats her as an adult. Him and his wife always want the best for their daughter, they are even willing to let Marjane go to another country just for her to be developed in a more healthy environment (Satrapi 147). Those characters are what differentiates him from the abusive and violent image of Muslim men. Unlike how Westerners portray men in Islam countries, Ebi is the complete opposite of the absent father figure or an oppressive husband (Naderi, “Non-threatening Muslim Men: Stigma management and religious observance in America,” Springer Link). Even in his relationship with his wife, he has always been respectful and listening. He sympathizes with his wife's sadness and maintains the equality of their marriage. Taji on the other hand, still completes her role as a wife and a mother but sometimes, she even has dominance over her husband.

Another man that had immensely influenced Marjane’s life is her uncle Anoosh. Like Ebi, Anoosh is very patient with Marjane and answers every single one of Marjane’s questions. Just after a short period of time, the two have become very close and connected (Satrapi 55). For Marjane, Anoosh is a hero, he gave his life to his idea and went through many struggles before meeting Marjane. On the last time they met each other, Anoosh gave Marjane the second bread swan which makes a pair of bread swans that symbolizes their relationship (Satrapi 69). The bread swans don’t just represent the love Anoosh has for Marjane but the fact that they were made from bread in the prison represent the trauma and suffering that Anoosh has experienced (Goldman, “Persepolis symbols: Bread Swan,” LITCHARTS). Overall, he’s another figure that has changed the way people see Muslim men after reading Persepolis.

Through the five main characters of the book including Marjane Satrapi herself, people can acknowledge how different a local and a citizen in an Islamic country like Marjane and the Western media views Muslim women and men. Persepolis had really given readers an unique experience and a wider insight of Iranians life. Not all Muslim women are illiterate and incapable of saving themselves and not all Muslim men are fanatics and terrorists who oppress and abuse their women. Most of them are just normal humans that have gone through a lot more wars and suffering.

#persepolis #marjane satrapi #Muslim

Black Mirror: Hated in the Nation (2016): "Game of Consequences."

Everyday, on social media, crimes like cyberbullying, harassment and threats happen and people aren’t aware of the consequences they can cause coming from their activities on these platforms. Aired in October 2016, “Hated in the Nation,” arguably one of Charlie Brooker's best creations in the Netflix series Black Mirror, has shown a negative view of the social media’s influences. The story of detective Karin Parke and her partner Blue Colson presented a possible future where technologies or specifically social media are used for the wrong purposes.

The main technology in this episode besides social media is called ADIs which is essentially a type of synthetic bees used to replace the natural bees that were extinct in this particular world. Like social media, these bees were created for positive purposes. The creators obviously had good intentions of coming up with a solution to take care of the world’s environment but because of the users, the bees became corrupted, polluted and were used for cruel crimes like murder. If we compare that to the way people use social media in the modern world, people can see some obvious resemblance. Just like the bees, social media were created to connect people around the world and make human communication, interactions become easier. But because of the irresponsible users, social media has become a weapon of cyberbullying and many more crimes. The ADIs also got manipulated very easily, it was owned by the Granular company but then got controlled by Garrett Scholes and after that, it’s revealed that the government also took part in the project. The bees change their target everyday, just like how the netizens can be mad at one person today but then point their guns at somebody else the next day.

These bees are very cruel: they would follow and chase down their target until the target is killed. Cyberbullying also works in the same way, people on social media wouldn’t stop torturing the subject with the most ugly words until another subject caught their attention. But the sad thing is, there isn’t really a way to prevent this cyberbullying crisis from happening. The owners of these platforms had made their effort in bringing out user policies, even banning people with bad influences from the platform but it would always be a problem as long as the internet is still working. So that’s why audiences can empathize with detective Karin Parke and her partners. They also did their job, trying to protect as many people as possible but they can’t stop the evil reality that they are living in.

In the episode, the audience can see that the ADIs attack in groups and hives and the way they attack represents the negative mob mentality that affects anyone who participates in cyberbullying. Mob mentality is a human's natural instinct and it’s one of the reasons why humans form groups and families. But in this case, where groups of people all come together and attack one single person, it becomes a bad thing. The mob mentality gets into these people's heads and makes them do what the group wants, without even knowing if the information they get from the group is true or not and makes them blinded from the consequences. Most of these people would only say those brutal words comfortably when they’re in a group of people that would do the same thing. Social media has created a perfect environment for public bullying cases like with Jo Powers to happen easier. It creates a larger, faster spread of the information and therefore more and more people would take part in the crime. Imagine hundreds or thousands of people all at once targeting one person in real life. Although that might sound terrible, it happens everyday on social media. Even someone that is intellectual and working in a respected job by the society like Nick, Karin’s coworker who’s also a police officer or the teacher Liza Bahar also got affected by the mob mentality. Liza showed hatred towards Jo Powers by sending her a cake that says “Fucking Bitch.” The noticeable part is that she actually raised the money for the cake from the school’s parents, showing another negative influence of the mob mentality.

Apart from the mob mentality on social media, “Hated in the Nation" also makes people consider the “Game of Consequences” and whether or not these bullies on social media should be judged and bear their consequences. The teacher Liza Bahar says that she was practicing her freedom of speech when using the #deathto, but Jo Powers was also using her freedom of speech when she expresses her own opinion in that article. Same with Tusk, who also was just expressing his own opinion on the kid that imitated his dancing. So basically all of these people do the same thing of using their freedom of speech but why didn’t the people on the internet get punished or bear any consequences while Tusk and Jo Powers had to pay with their death. That’s when the main part of Garrett Schole’s plan is revealed, Garrett allow himself to have the power of judging and punishing these irresponsible people on the internet just like how they gives themselves the rights to judge the victims through #deathto. According to Garrett’s manifesto, people should face the consequences of anything they say or do. The episode ends with a tragic death counts of 387,000 people that used the #deathto, a record in Black Mirror history. This incident is obviously catastrophic and Garrett’s action is unforgivable but people also can’t forget the amount of trauma and pain that these people put on their victims. Even if the victims don’t die from online hatred, they would still be severely damaged mentally and scarred for life. Identical to what Garrett’s flatmate went through and perhaps that’s one of the reasons why he did what he did. The pain would never go away and sometimes; maybe death is the only way they can be free. Besides the people that got consumed by social media, there are still signs of hope with people like Blue who knows how to use technologies the right way and hopefully will complete the full circle of consequences when the last scene shows her following Garrett.

With the advantage of time compared to other Black Mirror episodes, director James Hawes and screenwriter Charlie Brook had used their 89 minutes to its maximum potential. “Hated in the Nation” has every element that makes a Black Mirror episode great and has successfully portrayed the dark side of social media. It’s also a warning for every internet’s users to be careful of their speech and behavior online to be able to keep a clean, healthy environment on social media.

#black mirror #charlie brooker #social media

Moonlight (2016): Masculinity and vulnerability

Growing up, most boys are told that a real man has to be tough, a real man has to be dominant or a real man doesn’t cry, but what if manliness isn’t always about toughness, chaos or violence? That’s the question that director Barry Jenkins wants to explore through his movie Moonlight, adapted from the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Released in 2016, Moonlight centered Chiron and his journey of discovering his true identity and sexuality through three stages of his life. Moonlight digs deep in the concept of masculinity and what actually defines a real man.

Living in a black neighborhood where men are taught not to be soft and taking things like guns and drugs as a standard of manliness, Chiron’s identity was being framed by his community, his peers and even his family at a young age. Observing his peers and the people around him, Chiron understands that he isn't up to the masculine standards or whatever that makes a man, he has to wrestle with his best friend Kevin to prove that he’s tough and that he belongs to the community. Heartbreakingly, Chiron even got neglected by his own mother because of his sexuality. This reality of Chiron’s life was also portrayed through the first scene that shows his appearance, he was running away and hiding from the bullies that kept calling him by homophobic slurs. This detail foreshadows for the rest of Chiron’s life where he would keep running away and hiding from his true sexuality. Masculinity is a complex concept, but in Chiron’s neighborhood it’s simply not being fragile or vulnerable even when being able to express yourself and your own feelings is an important part of a child’s development.

Representing a positive male influence and a father figure in a man’s life, Juan comes to Chiron’s life as a savior, not just in that particular situation that Chiron is being chased down but also a savior for helping Chiron finding his own identity. Juan isn’t Chiron’s father but he’s the perfect example of how every parent should educate their child. Juan is gentle and respectful towards Chiron. He's the only one that shows acceptance and empathy to Chiron up to that time. Juan is not perfect, turns out he’s actually the person who sells drugs to Chiron’s mother but it’s what makes him so human. Juan tells Chiron to become whoever he wants to be and make the decisions by himself, instead of forcing any kinds of prejudices or standards to Chiron’s mind. He also encourages Chiron to explore things by himself and to take control of his own life. Most importantly, Juan helps Chiron understand that as a man, it’s okay to be tender and vulnerable. When Juan opens that window in the flat that Chiron was hiding in, he has also opened his heart and welcomed Chiron into his life. Juan is that spark of light inside the cruel society that enlightens Chiron. Appearing in just a short period of Chiron’s life, Juan had shown love, acceptance, gave Chiron hope and many valuable lessons in being proud of his own self, which is more than anything Chiron could’ve asked for at that hard time in his life. Ironically, the men that see Chiron as weak and soft are the ones that actually ran away from their responsibilities. The father figures in a man’s life or specifically in a black child’s life aren’t always present and this makes Juan's gesture become even more significant. Barely any people could’ve had that open heart and treated people the same as the way Juan treated Chiron.

Going to the second act of the movie named Chiron, Kevin becomes increasingly important to Chiron’s life. Kevin is Chiron’s only friend and Kevin also relates with Chiron a lot. In one of the most lovely scenes of the movie where the two were sitting on the beach and enjoying the breeze, Kevin admits that sometimes all he wants to do is cry and Chiron also opens up about how he cries a lot. It’s what makes the next moment become so beautiful and memorable, when Kevin touches Chiron under the moonlight. It’s a moment of vulnerability and intimacy between the two victims of toxic masculinity standards. As a human, Chiron needs love and demand to express himself; and Kevin is the only one who can give Chiron that kind of affection or connection. Kevin is also one of the only people who will always see and accept Chiron for who Chiron’s is. It’s simply a man helping and empathizing with another man in the journey of exploring one’s true self. Sadly, when Kevin and Chiron go back to their normal life, they still have to keep their mask and external persona up, to keep on performing as “real men”. The following day after that vulnerable moment, Kevin has to punch Chiron multiple times, reflecting on the cruel reality that men have to perform violence and toughness to keep on surviving and not being outcast. Same with Chiron’s breakdown after that on Terrel, since violence and anger would be the only way a man can get some kind of validation or respect in this community. This is also the first time Chiron actually stayed up to the male standards and stepped his first step into being that Black in the third act.

Black has almost given up everything in his past, neglected any softness and vulnerability that 16 years old Chiron had and became the last thing Juan wanted him to be. Chiron chose to survive by being a trapper and built himself a perfect cover up of a real man. But fortunately, that little Chiron is still in him. Despite everything that his mother had done to him, he still allows himself to be tender and shows forgiveness towards her. This is a sign of maturity in Chiron’s personality, he’s healing and willing to be loved rather than keeping all of the hatred that the community thrown at him inside the muscular exterior. When Kevin called him up, something in him was awakened, only with Kevin that Chiron can be himself and only with Kevin, Chiron was able to express his vulnerability. Admitting his lack of physical and emotional connection in the time when Kevin wasn’t around, Chiron allows himself to be held and to be understood in Kevin’s arms. A kind of courage that not every man has to escape that rigid standard of masculinity. Masculinity sometimes isn't exactly about being dominant or tough but it’s also about being strong enough to express yourself, to be vulnerable and to be loved rather than to be feared.

The world is changing everyday and it’s crucial for the outdated standards to change to be able to fit with the modern era. Through Moonlight, Barry Jenkins had made an effort in redefining masculinity in the modern world. The movie had also shown the importance of processing emotions in a healthy way, and that being vulnerable and tender is totally normal. Especially when men nowadays are facing more and more pressure from society. Moonlight will give everybody a better understanding of sexuality and gender expectations, specifically with the older generations, people would learn more about parenting and how a positive father figure should be. Although the actors for the three acts are completely different, they have all given wonderful performances and contributed a huge part to the success of the movie.

#moonlight #barry jenkins #a24

Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (2023): My review

Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, the first movie to start off phase 5 of the Multiverse Saga has finally been released recently on the 17 of February. Directed by Peyton Reed, the man who’s also in charge of the first two Ant Man movies, Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumnia is one of the hottest movies to be in cinema at the moment following the journey of the Lang’s family in exploring the Quantum Realm, this movie plays an important role in the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Personally, I do have a lot to say about the newest product from Kevin Feige. Even before the release date of the movie, Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania had received many negative comments and reviews from critic platforms like IMDB and especially Rotten Tomatoes. Being a MCU movie that has one of the worst ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, many of the Marvel fans and the audiences had raised doubt about the quality of the movie. People expect Marvel to come up with more quality products after the success of Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever in saving the disappointing phase 4. Stepping in the time when every Marvel movie from now on has to contribute in building the story for the next two Avengers movies, Antman 3 has certainly completed its mission of introducing new characters to the franchise and help the audiences to go one step closer to the Avengers: Secret Wars.

On the positive side, one very noticeable improvement that Antman 3 had done is the CGI. Kevin Feige and the studio had succeeded in creating a mesmerizing movie. Introducing a new universe in the movie, the writers had put tons of creativity and imagination into creating the Quantum Realm. Together with the improvement of the CGI, the Quantum Realm appears to be very realistic and unique. From the geographical characteristics, the architectures, the ecosystem and even the creatures that live in this universe have been well-built, although there are still lots of things that the director and Marvel could do to make the Quantum Realm appear more significant to the audiences. The new terminologies and concepts of the Quantum Realm had also been explained quite logically and easy to understand, the audience wouldn’t have any struggle in fitting in with this new land. The comedy element is another big plus of the movie, the funny scenes appear enough to make the movie less stressful, the main comedy elements of the movie is obviously MODOK, although this character could have been given more space to shine but his appearance makes the movie more balanced but not overwhelming like Thor: Love and Thunder.

The performances of the cast in this movie is also decent, since the cast consist of very experienced actors and actresses like Bill Murray, Michael Doughlas, and obviously Paul Rudd who has appeared in many other MCU movies in the past. I’m specifically very impressed with Michelle Pfeiffer in the role of Janet Van Dyne. She is now 64 years old but still delivers an amazing performance and is a great person to guide the younger actors in the movie. From the action stunts to expressing emotions through the eyes and words, Michelle Pfeiffer has definitely shown her class. Can’t forget Jonathan Majors in the role of the main villain Kang the Conqueror who also completes his role perfectly, Marvel had made a great decision casting Jonathan Majors for the long run since this won’t be the only movies he would appear in the MCU. Every scene that Kang shows up, the audience can clearly see the attitude of a conqueror, a villian that is said to be way more dangerous than Thanos.

Unfortunately, although most of the cast did their job and brought out great performances, the performance of Kathryn Newton who plays Cassie Lang had really disappointed me. The character Cassie Lang had lots of emotional scenes where the love between Cassie and Scott needed to be expressed but Kathryn didn’t quite succeed on that. There was almost no facial expression at all of Cassie during those scenes and it made the lines seem forced and a bit cringy. I really wished that Kathryn could have done better so the theme of family can expressed more naturally and become more meaningful. It’s actually not all Kathryn Newton's fault since the scriptwriters could have made the lines of the scripts more delicate and less cliche.

One of the main focuses of the movie is to introduce the new villain Kang The Conqueror. Through Jonathan Majors acting skills, Peyton Reed had somewhat succeeded in introducing this super important character to the next chapters of the MCU. In the movie, Kang is introduced as this guy who has killed countless Avengers in many timelines and universes. But the way that Ant Man defeats him is kind of ridiculous, even though we all know that Kang and Scot aren’t on the same level with each other. Maybe Kang is weakened in the Quantum Realm but he still has many advanced equipment and soldiers that he collected in this new world which didn’t really help him much. The writers could have made the ending of the movie more unique and approach it in a more creative way outside the old-fashion superhero motif.

Overall, my experience with Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania isn’t as bad as the critics online but it’s true that Marvel could have done way better with all the resources they have for this movie. One of the biggest problems of the movie is the emotions and feelings, since most of the characters didn’t have any development. The development process of MODOK isn’t really convincing, leading to an unnecessary death and the lack of emotions that the audiences feel for this character. From the chemistry of Scott and Cassie to the unsatisfying ending, these factors emphasize the lack of feelings that the movie presented.

#antman and the wasp #quantumania #paul rudd #jonathan majors #kathryn newton

Lady Bird (2017): Love = attention ?

One of the best movies to be released in 2017, a movie that is one of a kind in its genre, Lady Bird is written and directed by Greta Gerwig. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet and many other talented actors, this dramedy, coming of age movie follows the main character Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson and explores her complex relationship with her mother Marion played by Lauri Metcalf. Lady Bird is a movie about maturity, acceptance and most importantly love and attention.

The main theme of the movie was delivered through the one quote of Sister Sarah Joan when she was talking to Lady Bird about her college essay: “Don’t you think they are the same thing, Love, Attention.” From the first scene, the center of the movie was presented, Lady Bird and her mother. One special thing about Lady Bird is that Greta Gerwig allows audiences to see from both the daughter’s perspective and the mother’s perspective. The deeply complex relationship between Lady Bird and Marion are exactly the representation of the quote. Finding a way to show our love to somebody isn't always easy and love is also sometimes hard to understand. Marion and Lady Bird are two people who clearly love each other but don't know how to express their love to the other person. Most of the times that these two characters appear in the same frame; they either fight or argue with each other. They fight because they pay lots of attention to one another's actions and personality. An example of this would be the scene when Marion and Lady Bird argue over how Lady Bird doesn’t fold her clothes. While Marion has to take care of the family and deal with financial problems, she also cares a lot about her daughter’s future. Although she may appear as strict or intruding Lady Bird’s life, everything she does starts from love. Another thing people can learn from Marion is acceptance. In the scene at the thrift store, Marion said that she wants Lady Bird to be the best version of herself but sometimes, love is also about accepting each other's flaws and imperfection.

From Lady Bird’s point of view, she always asks if mom likes her, showing how much she cares about Marion’s love for her although she often says that her mom hated her. At the climax of the movie, after Marion found out that Lady Bird completely ignored her advice and applied to a university in New York city without her permission, instead of yelling or scolding her daughter, Marion decided to ignore Lady Bird back. In the scene in the kitchen, Lady Bird tries to explain her decision to Marion but Marion just stays completely quiet and gives no attention to her at all. Even until Lady Bird is about to leave Sacramento to go to New York city, Marion still tries to ignore her. These reactions obviously hurt Lady Bird deeply and helped her a lot in realizing the things she did wrong. Just when the two people stay apart, they realize how much they love each other. Marion instantly regrets her decision not to go into the airport with her daughter but it’s already too late. For Lady Bird, just when she reads the letters that Marion wrote, she finally understands how much Marion loves her and figures out her love for her mother as well.

Towards the end of the movie, at one of the best endings to a movie I’ve ever seen, Lady Bird woke up at the hospital after being drunk at her college party and walking down the street of a city that she’s completely unfamiliar with. She feels lonely and decides to go to a catholic church to find some sort of connection with her hometown. Lady Bird again realizes her love for her hometown and calls her mother to confess her love for Sacramento, also confessing her love for her mother. “Did you feel emotional the first time you drove in Sacramento?” She begins to describe it again “so affectionately and with such care.” Many people believe that attention is something humans rarely give to each other so it becomes more valuable and special, in other words, attention is equal to love.

The connection between attention and love was presented not just in the relationship between Lady Bird and her mother, but also in many other situations throughout the movie. When Lady Bird doesn’t give her best friend Julie as much attention anymore to become friends with the rich friend Jenna, she basically took her love away from Julie and it surely made her best friend sad. In another case, this time a romantic relationship with Kyle, Kyle doesn’t really pay attention to Lady Bird’s feelings, especially when the two just had sex and this truly hurt Lady Bird. Even when Lady Bird wants to go to prom with him, Kyle doesn’t care and decides to go to his friend’s house instead without taking notice of how Lady Bird feels.

After all, though having lots of arguments and disagreements, Christine and her mother have one thing in common is that they both love each other. Through Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig has successfully delivered her message about love, attention and also about appreciating the things that are close to us like family and home. According to the director herself, Lady Bird is a love letter she wants to send to Sacramento, the city that she grew up in. Playing Lady Bird in this movie, Saoirse Ronan has given one of the best performances in her career so far. I can’t really imagine another person playing Lady Bird besides Saoirse Ronan herself.

#lady bird #greta gerwig #saoirse ronan #laurie metcalf #timothee chalameet

Gone Girl (2014): The media and gender expectations

Marriage is obviously not an easy task for any couples out there, some people even believe that marriage is where love ends. What would be the worst scenario if one day your partner finds out that you have been cheating on them? In 2014 the director David Fincher who is known for his amazing movies like Fight Club or Seven released Gone Girl, which is based on the famous novel written by Gillian Flynn. Besides giving lessons about love and marriage, Gone Girl is also a movie that reflects the media industry and genders expectations.

On a normal day, after hanging out with his twin sister at “his bar,” Nick Dunne comes back to his house just to find out that his wife is missing. All in the first 24 hours of the disappearance, the police check the house and Nick spends his day at the police station waiting for the police to find his wife. Amy’s parents even make a conference and a website to find their daughter and Nick is obviously the number one suspect of the case. The media immediately starts to spread the news and make their assumptions about the case. Ellen Abbott is the journalist that’s the most active in spreading news of the disappearance of Amy Dunne. Her channel gets so much attention that Ellen’s opinion of the case becomes the people’s opinion. The way that she makes her theories, the evidences that she provides make Nick become the murderer people’s eyes. People believe Ellen without even knowing the truth and look at the case through different views, at the time, even Nick and the police don't know what happened yet. Ellen Abbott is the symbolic representation of the media industry. The media has the power of controlling people’s opinion about a certain situation. The media caught Nick’s uninterested expressions and from there, decided who will be the victim of the case. Ellen Abbott’s opinion is so convincing that it makes Nick’s twin sister doubt him and even one of the officers that is directly involved in solving the case. Ellen and the media as a whole gave themselves the right to be the judge of the case and make assumptions without waiting for the police or the court to make their final decision. Just because of the pressure from the media and the community, Nick could have ended up in jail for the crime he didn't commit.

Besides Amy, the media is actually the other main villain that made Nick and his people suffer so much. The disappearance of “Amazing Amy” is a great opportunity for people like Ellen Abbott to take advantage of Ellen's channel streams everyday with the amount of attention rising through time until Amy came back. Even when Amy and Nick showed that they’re back with each other happily, the media will still probably try to make more content about the couple. When meeting with Nick and his house to do an interview after almost putting him into jail and changing his life entirely, Ellen simply responded: “ I go where the story goes.” Acting like her and the media has absolutely nothing to do with the case. It’s ridiculous how the media can use its power to indirectly involve in these crimes and doesn’t have to handle any responsibilities or punishments. Ellen even acts so happy for the couple when Amy announces that she’s pregnant, acting like Ellen knew the Dunnes so well but actually she doesn’t.

Both Nick and Amy are unreliable characters. Until today, people still debate if Amy’s a symbol of feminism or a murderer, a monster. Amy grew up with so many expectations from her parents and the society. “Amazing Amy” is the book series for children written by Amy’s parents and it’s obviously based on Amy’s childhood and the expectations that the parents put on her. Amazing Amy becomes the model for Amy to achieve and the shadow that she has to overcome. From these expectations, Amy becomes a person that can show many personalities, and makes the things she says or the action she made so convincing, she doesn't live true to herself. Amy and her parents know how to use the media for people to go on their side. Because of Amazing Amy and the way the parents talk about their daughter in the conference, makes people believe that Amy is the true victim. Amy also planned her disappearance very well. Amy’s plan is made up mostly based on the hate she has for her husband and it’s what makes her a very good villain, her motive is big enough and convincing enough to make a good villain. She’s definitely been through some trauma leading to a genius like herself willing to risk her life just to make another man suffer. But sadly, in real life many women have to go through the same abusive experiences by their partner but end up staying quiet and just getting a divorce (or not), the husband or the one who’s made their life bad got away by just signing a paper.

The media is a huge part of her plan, she basically tries to do everything to lie to the media, making them stay on her side. Amy knows how to use the feminine stereotype to make it part of her plan. From the white, pregnant housewife to the rape and abused victim. All of this really shows how easy the media and the people can get blurred by basically becoming what the people love and want. With her degree in Ppsychology at Harvard, Amy knows what her husband would do, knows how to act like the people’s woman. She used her vulnerability to seduce and take advantage of men. Some people might think that Desi in the movie is just a nice, wealthy guy that’s willing to take care of Amy. But actually Desi also has a certain expectation or a certain type of person that he wants Amy to become. He bought her nice clothes, cosmetics just to make Amy the woman he loved before. Amy with the best monologue of the whole movie has really shown how men expect women to become what they want, “the cool girl” speech of Amy has such a great influence on how the audiences receive the movie’s message. From the audience’s perspective, Amy is the person that tries harder and loves the other person more in the relationship, and that’s what makes her the victim. In a relationship that requires effort and responsibilities like marriage, both people have to participate and Nick certainly didn’t complete his role. That’s the actual reason why she’s the victim, not because she got murdered by her husband. Amy doesn’t just represent all the toxic expectations that a man expects from his woman in a relationship, Amy also represents the stereotypes that society gave to women in general. The contrast between the first scene and the scene at the last part of the movie showed how Amy has officially won. She goes from the face expressions of fear and insecurities to a smile, she now has full control over her relationship.

Gone Girl raises awareness for anybody out there that’s consuming content from the media, the movie has shown how easy it is to get manipulated by it. We have to be careful of the content we see on television or any other devices whether it’s true or not. Rosamund Pike has done a great job in her role as Amy Dunne. She has delivered an Oscar worthy performance and her nomination as the best leading actress is well-deserved. Through the perspective of her character, the message of gender expectations becomes more obvious than ever. Nobody could have played Amy Dunne better than Rosamund Pike herself.

#gone girl #david fincher #ben affleck #rosamund pike

Silver Linings Playbook (2012): My review

The winter season has arrived, what better way to enjoy the chilly weather than watching a romance movie while snucking inside your warm blanket. One of my personal favorite movies to watch during the winter is Silver Linings Playbook by the director David. O Russell. First presented in 2012, this unique movie has all of the good qualities required in a great romance like the chemistry, the conflict, and even some comedy. No questions why it has been nominated for 8 different Oscars and won 1 of them.

Quick summary: Silver Linings Playbook tells a story of a man named Pat who had been put in a mental institution for having an unknown mental breakdown. After getting discharged, he comes back and lives with his parents. One time while having dinner at a friend’s house, Pat meets Tiffany, a person who’s also mentally ill, specifically sex addiction. They get on with each other just because of the fact that they both have mental issues and are “crazy.” They make a deal with each other that benefits both of them and from there, their love story begins.

The first thing that I really like about the movie is that it’s a very well written story. Silver Linings Playbook is really catchy and it got me sucked into it when Tiffany appears. The director and the writers also didn’t rush the story line and let Tiffany and Pat come together very naturally, exactly how I imagined two people that came out of broken relationships would react when getting into another relationship. David Russell even included many comedy details with the participation of Chris Tucker in the role of Pat’s friend from the mental institution. These comedy elements makes the movie become less intense from all the mental health issues of the main characters and makes the movie become more enjoyable in general. I love the way that the director builds up two storylines that are very related to each other. It gives more room for the producers to show more characteristics and different aspects about the characters, especially Pat.

Silver Linings Playbook is such a relatable movie. Although not everybody has the same mental issues as people in the movie does, we can see how we all have a little bit of craziness inside each of us. Everybody has their own problems like for example, Pat Sr. has OCD. These are all really normal real life problems, real life tragedy and it makes the movie become really realistic and close to the audiences. Director David Russell also did a great job in portraying people with mental health, specifically bipolar disorder. He shows the audiences the suffering, the obstacles that people like Pat and Tiffany have to go through and even the medicines that they have to use or how those meds affect them.

The performances of the cast in this movie is absolutely amazing. Robert De Niro has really shown his class in the movie and this is easily one of my most favorite De Niro performances of all time. As a person who doesn't really watch a lot of Bradley Cooper’s movies, Cooper has really impressed me with his performance in Silver Linings Playbook. He had really succeeded in playing a character that had been through tragedies and having a lot of inner struggles. Lastly, I really can’t give enough compliments to Jennifer Lawrence for her performance. If I have to use one word to describe Jennifer Lawrence's performance, I would use amazing. From the facial expressions to the way she says the dialogue, in some way she must have felt really connected with her character. Jennifer Lawrence really deserved her Oscar award for this role.

Silver Linings Playbook is one of the best romances I have ever seen for a long time and it is up there with the Notebook for one of the best romances of all time in my opinion. This movie is definitely worth rewatching and I hope to hear more discussions about it since it's an underrated movie. Besides portraying mental health problems in a very relatable way, this movie also shows the importance of family, friends and also love in general in any person’s life. It also shows the importance of entertainment and art when dancing has helped Tiffany and Pat so much in dealing with their problems, art is the thing that has connected them. David. O Russell has created such a unique love story of two “crazy” but also inspiring people.

#silver linings playbook #jennifer lawrence #david o russell #bradley cooper

Black Swan (2010): What is perfection?

Darren Aronofsky, the director known for his unique movies like Requiem for a Dream (2000) or The Fountain (2006). In 2010, he released a movie with a really small budget but it is still one of the best movies he has ever made. Black Swan, with the participation of many stars like Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis or Vincent Cassel, was nominated for five Oscars. Aronofsky and his writers have succeeded in telling a story of a woman in her prime, Nina Sayers and her journey to score the ballet role that she dreams of. Black Swan digs deep in the obsession of a perfectionist.

I would like to start by asking what is perfection? Perfection is a relativistic concept that anybody will have their own way of defining it. For most people, perfection only comes in moments, maybe just a few seconds but it would make the person feel absolute joy and satisfaction. For Nina, as a true dedicator to her art, she always seeks after that perfection. But her definition of perfection seems a little bit extreme. This mindset of her came from the lack of experiences, the lack of social knowledge under the education of her super overprotective mother. That’s what makes her view different from other people. She always tries to nail every move, master her technique but that’s not enough to be perfect. Like how Thomas Leroy says it, sometimes perfection is also about letting go, losing yourself. To be able to play both the white swan and the black swan, she has to be what each role requires. Nina is a “sweet girl”, a pure, innocent woman who has never let loose of herself so she would fit perfectly for the white swan. The white swan has always been a symbol in art, the swans represent love, when two swans come together, it forms a heart. In this movie, the love is not really about the feelings between humans but it is the love, the passion that Nina puts in ballet.

But what about the black swan? To achieve this perfection for just a few seconds, she is willing to throw away her past identity, kick the “sweet girl” model out the window to really become the black swan. She begins by throwing away all of her stuffed animals and starts conflicts with her mother. From that, she starts to see a different version of herself more often. Nina becomes lost between the two identities that she built up;, she has suffered from her dissociative identity disorder. She started seeing the black version of herself since she first got the role as the Swan Queen. She saw her mother’s paintings moving, she saw the blood coming out of her hands. She hallucinates about her co-worker Lily seducing Thomas to get the role and thought that she was having sex with her but it’s in fact just a dream. All of this imagination comes from the fact that Nina also doesn’t like the black swan as the, black swan is a seductive, wild symbolic model that is totally different from Nina. That’s why accepting this identity is so hard for her. Again, for perfection, Nina is willing to sacrifice herself. She gives away her body to director to get the role, starts touching herself, and has sex with strangers to feel what it’s like to be the seductive black swan. Nina goes out and comes back late, consuming alcohol and drugs to understand the wildness of the character. The audience can see how she’s gradually becoming the black swan. After going through it all, she finally gives up her white swan and finally discovers her true self. The black feathers, the toes coming together, these illusions confirms that Nina has become the black swan. The moment she stabs Lily, but actually stabbing herself, she has officially killed the white swan in her. She goes from white to black, from being forced to kiss to proactively kissing Thomas in front of every other dancer. Nobody knows if she will die or keep on living after this amazing performance, but one thing we can tell is that she feels perfect although the cost of this perfection might be her whole life.

A very meaningful image in the movie is the mirror, according to director Aronofsky, as the mirror is something that is very closely related to ballerinas. They always practice with a mirror in front. The mirror reflects the truth:, it shows the odds, the imperfections of the protagonist. That’s part of the reason why in the scene when she stabbed herself, the mirror behind broke and she also used a piece of the broken mirror to stab Lily. The perfectionism in her doesn’t accept odds. The scratches on Nina’s back is her imperfection but the more she tries to cover it, the more her true self wants to make it worse. At the end, from that scratch, feathers started to grow and her swan wing came out of it. The message from this detail is that odds, imperfections and mistakes are what define us humans, these mistakes are actually the things that reflect our true self, not always the things that we’re good at.

Nina is probably not the only black swan in the movie., Lily is definitely one. Lily used to be Nina’s role model, the person that Nina wants to be to perform the black swan. Lily is wild, she’s a bad girl. She uses drugs, drinks and most of the time she wears black clothes (a hidden message from the director). All of these characteristics make Nina really afraid of Lily taking her role. But at the end, Lily is just there to encourage Nina, like when she comes to talk with Nina after Nina’s harsh day. Lily is the one who unleashed the beast inside Nina by taking her to the club and also awakened the lust inside Nina. The illusions that Lily is seducing Thomas and the co-worker just come from Nina’s fear of losing her one in a lifetime role to another person. The other black swan in the movie people can tell is Beth or Nina’s mother. Although Thomas says that Beth is retiring, Beth is clearly not happy about it., She’s wounded, she’s probably got used by Thomas and those experiences makes her the black swan. Nina surely acknowledges what she’s dealing with from looking at Beth. When Beth said that she’s not perfect, Nina’s true self literally stabbed Beth multiple times, one more time showing how Nina can’t accept imperfections.

Overall, this movie is a cautionary tale to the people out there that is chasing perfection. Perfection actually kills people and it just makes people unhappy. How would you be happy if anything you do is not enough for yourself? Perfectionism would never make people satisfied. Black Swan wants to share the message of being free, accepting yourself more so you can be more happy. Chasing your dream, passion not perfection. This movie also reflects and criticizes the ballet community and the entertainment industry as a whole. It only seeks beauty and youth, makes people working inside have to suffer from keeping weight or having to sacrifice so many things like purity and honesty just to get a small chance to succeed in this industry. Natalie Portman really deserved her Oscars award for this role, I don’t have a lot of words to say about Natalie’s performance in this movie. She must have felt perfect.

#black swan #natalie portman #mila kunis #darren aronofsky

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) My review

From the first movie that came out in 2018, the Black Panther has always been a symbol for the strength of the African community and the people of color in general. It has definitely made an impact on the movie culture. When people see each other, they cross their hands to form an X in front of their chest, it’s the way that king T’Challa greets his people. Following the success of the first movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever by the director Ryan Coogler came out last week with really high expectations from the audiences.

First of all, we should acknowledge what role Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has to play in the MCU and the things that director Ryan Coogler has to do in this movie. Black Panther 2 is the last movie of the MCU Phase 4, and most people already know, Marvel’s haven’t done a very good job in this phase. Most movies like Thor: Love and Thunder or Black Widow have really disappointed the MCU fans so Black Panther 2 will be the last hope of Kevin Feige to gain the MCU fans trust again. It also has to be a good enough tribute to the beloved Chadwick Boseman who played the Black Panther from the first movie and had sadly died in 2020 after a private fight with cancer. Black Panther 2 obviously has to carry lots of expectations from the media but I think that Ryan Coogler has done a great job.

The thing that the Marvel producers have done the most successfully in this movie is the soundtrack. Under the supervision of the talented composer Ludwig Goransson, a person who has composed music for movies like Turning Red (2022) or Venom (2018), the soundtrack of Black Panther 2 is absolutely amazing. The song “Con La Brisa” made the city of Talocan look majestic; it goes so well with the theme of a mysterious, underwater city. I personally have to play this song over and over because of how good it is. The transition from “Interlude” by Stormzy to “Alone” By Burna Boy is also really smooth. The song “Alone” alone, plays such a huge role in expressing Shuri’s emotions in that part of the movie when she’s just lost all her family and getting ready to take revenge. The soundtrack is a big plus to my cinematic experience.

Director Ryan Coogler has also done a great tribute to Chadwick Boseman when the Black Panther’s funeral has really expressed the Wakanda culture when “Death is not the end”. The inner fight of Shuri has also been described very well, the audiences can see her suffer after her brother’s death and the music again did a great job in expressing the people’s emotion in the scene. Shuri’s development to be the next Black Panther is also very convincing, the director didn’t rush the process but instead pushed Shuri in a position when she had no other choice but to become the next Black Panther to protect her country. It is a reasonable move by the writers. Killmonger's cameo is a big plus of the movie too.

Although I love this movie, there are still places for improvements. With the time of 2 hours and 41 minutes, the producers could’ve done a better job. There are parts of the movie that were kind of lengthy, especially in the middle part. I understand that Marvel has to put details to make the movie connect with other movies in the MCU but the parts that have Everett Ross were a little unnecessary, this character’s story could’ve been cut off and won’t leave much errors to the whole plot. At least, they still use the time to build a good enough storyline for Shuri. Another thing that Ryan Coogler could’ve done better is the character’s appearance. The suit for Riri Williams, who is introduced as the next Iron Man, could’ve been designed more carefully, although the suit is meant for a teenage girl, but it kind of reminds me of Power Rangers suits. Tom Holland’s Spiderman has a significantly better first appearance or even Tony Stark’s first time in the MCU made much more impact, especially the suit. Ironheart’s suit might be better than the Mark 1 cause it was made in vibranium, but the design and the CGI of the suit can be improved. I hope that the producers will invest more time and effort in Riri’s suit in her own series next year. The fighting scenes between Namor and Shuri also didn’t quite satisfy me, Namor is a very strong competitor and their fighting scenes could be a bit longer and more memorable. As the Black Panther, Shuri has a disadvantage is that her body is thinner than most superheroes, especially for a warrior like the Black Panther so it makes the action scene not as impactful or as strong as the first movie.

Black Panther 2 really raised my hope for Marvel after a disappointing phase 4 with low quality movies. For me, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever did save phase 4 and it is one of the best superhero movies this year just right below The Batman. But as an MCU fan, I’m really glad that finally Marvel can produce a good movie again and I hope that they can keep this quality throughout the rest of the whole Multiverse saga. I would recommend everybody to watch it as soon as possible while it is still in theaters. The performance of Letitia Wright is really amazing, she did a great job in expressing a young woman with so much pain and responsibility to handle as the princess of the most powerful country of the world. Rest in peace Chadwick Boseman.

#letitia wright #ryan coogler #chadwick boseman #black panther 2

Enola Holmes 2 (2022): Equal rights

Following the success of Enola Holmes, a movie that got very positive reviews from both audiences and critics, Netflix and director Harry Bradbeer continue to launch Enola Holmes 2 in the beginning of November 2022. Many people already said that it’s even better than the first movie. After the journey of searching for her missing mother, Enola opened her own detective agency and she’s going to take on her first case with the help of his brother Sherlock. The message of feminism appears even clearer in Enola Holmes 2.

The movie took influence from the Match Girl Strike, led by Sarah Chapman, the first industrial action taken by women for women, according to the movie. It is obvious that the message that director Harry Bradbeer wants to deliver in the movie is equal rights between the two genders. From her first journey to find her mother, Enola saw her potential to become a detective just like her brother and decided to take action. Opening her own detective agency is not just the urge to prove herself to the world and grow out of her brother’s shadow, but it also shows that women can do things just as well as men or even better. Of course, her business encountered many challenges in the beginning and she had to wait a long time before getting the case of the missing Sarah Chapman. One of the challenges is that many people doubted her and most clients came to Enola’s detective agency to work with her brother: they doubted her capability, her age, or even her gender as a girl. It really reflects the society at that period when women were contempted, didn't have as much voice as men and many women had to work minimum wage jobs in horrific conditions like the match factory in the movie. They had to go against the risk of losing their life everyday working in that condition and also got mistreated or even got assaulted in their working environment. The worst thing was that they couldn't fight or take action against the establishment since they needed the money to survive. Also in the scene when Enola got convicted for murder, when the police come, she could’ve cooporate and wait for them to investigate who the real murder is since she’s completely innocence. Instead, she chose to run away since it’s the only thing she can because of the bias towards men. Enola knows that she’s going to get convicted although she doesn’t do anything. Shortly after, she was still caught and faced death row. The scene when her mother and Edith come to rescue her using self-made bombs to explodes the wall is a great metaphorical image for how women going to escape the bias, the prejudice to be treat equally as men. Enola Holmes is a symbol of rebellion and uprising the prejudices, the stereotype that society gave to women and as a rule, this rebellion will get squashed to uphold the standard that the society established. It’s an explanation why the police immediately put Enola on death row without really investigating the scene thoroughly.

The director and the producers made a very interesting choice when they decided to put the audience’s perspective in Enola but not Sherlock. Enola is a great example of a woman that got covered by a man’s shadow but the fact that Enola is Sherlock’s sister and was raised in the same household helps the director to portray the inequality between men and women at the time clearer. They both came from the family so presumably, they would have the same amount of intelligence and potential regardless of their gender and age. When both the men and the women both have the same intellect and come from the same background, why do the men get more reputation and recognition by the society than the women? Same as the character Mira Choi or “Moriarty” who would be Sherlock’s rival, in other movies or books about Sherlock Holmes, Moriarty is usually a man who is described as having the same mind as Sherlock, which is why this character has beaten Sherlock many times. In this movie, Moriarty is a coloured-skin woman who is also very smart and have high status but still being treated like a “common servant” by Mr. Lyon. Her speech towards the end of the movie really said for the rest of the women in that society “Why shouldn’t I be rewarded for what I can do?” or “Where is my place in this society?” are the questions that every woman in that time wants to speak about. With the way that Harry Bradbeer and his writers are building the story, it seems like Enola Holmes 2 is building up for Sherlock’s story more than Enola’s story. The movie introduced Moriarty, Sherlock’s most famous villain and also at the end of the movie, Dr. Watson showed up at Sherlock’s door and Dr. Watson’s going to be Sherlock’s flatmate. Dr. Watson is a very important character in Sherlock Holmes life, he’s not just a flatmate or a friend with the detective, he’s also a sidekick and trusty partner in solving crime, their journey would be a good idea for the director to explore although it has been popular already. On the other hand, Enola is probably going to marry Tewkesbury, is marriage a sign of settling down from Enola. Is it going to be the end for women when they get married? That’s going to be the question that the next movie will answer.

Enola Holmes' story will still be worth looking forward to and the young detective’s journey still has a lot of potential for the producers to be creative. The story of Sherlock Holmes and Enola Holmes is not a new thing since their story has been a big part of the detective community and the whole community of people who love books in general. This movie overall is a letter speaking for the women who live and work in terrible conditions and can’t speak up for themselves or for the women who live in countries that don't value them as much as men. Sarah Chapman’s story is such an important and influential action in the history of fighting for equal rights from women, Enola Holmes 2 has definitely helped to deliver it to more people and spread the power of feminism to the young women around the globe. Personally, as a huge fan of Millie Bobby Brown, I would still love to see her as Enola Holmes for at least one more time on Netflix, her performance in this sequel is really amazing. Millie is such a talented actor.

#enola x tewkesbury #enola holmes 2 #millie bobby brown #henry cavill

Ex Machina (2015): What is human?

What if one day a robot reaches a level of intelligence that makes it difficult to differentiate them from humans? That’s the question that director Alex Garland wants to explore through the movie Ex Machina. Released in 2015, Ex Machina with a topic that has been discussed and debated more than ever around the world at the time, had immediately caught lots of attention from audiences. Following the journey of a coder named Caleb who has the opportunity to work with his boss Nathan on an artificial intelligence test for a week, Ex Machina wants to show people how close AIs can get to humans.

In the movie, the boundary between humans and artificial intelligence is very fragile. One of the images that metaphorifies the boundary between humans and AIs is the glass wall in Ava’s room. This layer of glass shows how close AIs can get to humans, the way the two characters Ava and Caleb sit and talk together makes it look like AIs or the exact reflection of humans. At the beginning of the first session, Caleb saw a crack on the glass, meaning that conflict had happened in the room and the boundary between humans and AIs was beginning to be erased. The amount of room difference between Caleb’s space and Ava’s space in the room is a notable detail, Ava can comfortably walk around and Caleb only sits in a tiny box. This is the director’s intention since it makes Ava look like “a tiger in the zoo.” Also in the first session, Caleb approaches Ava with questions that make her seem inhuman but at the end, Caleb ends up getting controlled by Ava. It really reflects the reality when most people think that humans are better than AIs but maybe in the future they will manipulate humans.

Many people think that humans are more superior than AIs because they don't have consciousness or emotions. But when people look at Ava, she probably has all of the mental aspects that make humans human. She can understand slang, she can flirt, she’s scared of death, she even makes Caleb fall in love with her and makes him fall for her trap. She really used her “self awareness, imagination, sexuality and empathy” to get out of her prison like how Nathan said. Normally, in the Turing test, humans are usually not allowed to see the computer but having Ava talking to Caleb fully exposed and still pass the test shows how good artificial intelligence can get in being human. Ava is on another level of the Turing test. Ava is so human that she made Caleb doubt himself, he really had to check if he’s a machine or not by cutting himself. AIs afterall is just a program, but like how Nathan said, humans are also programmed by nature and nurture. When humans are born, they’re just a blank piece of paper then get adapted to the environment, learn things through the people around them. Just like how AI is also a robot and it gets more and more intelligent through each line of code. AIs even learn faster since they can learn things by themselves and have no biological obstacles, they can’t really die physically since they can still download their mine into another body if it gets destroyed, the mine stays on the network just like the character Ultron from Marvel. Audiences don't know how old Ava is through the word “one” but people can assume that AIs developed very, very quickly. Ava and Kyoko can communicate without even using voice or body language, this is something humans can’t do. Kyoko didn’t say a single word throughout the movie but audiences can sense that she has a voice, she’s just been muted by somebody.

The whole movie in general is a big metaphor for how AIs are taking over humans. More and more people are depending on the internet and it somehow gives advantages for the AIs to surpass humans one day. With the growth of technology, robots like Ava are more and more likely to appear in the near future, these AIs might already appear, people just don't know. There could be an Ava out there in the real world, just blending into human society without getting any suspicion. The future of robots replacing humans is very possible.

With the small budget compared to other movies of its kind, Ex Machina is one of the best movies that explore the theme of artificial intelligence. I would recommend anybody to give it a try, this movie is worth watching multiple times.

#ex machina #oscar isaac

Call Me by Your Name (2017): My review

In 2017, the italian director Luca Guadagnino has released a movie that became one of the iconic movies in the LGBT community. Call Me by Your Name with the participation of a young talented actor Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer had made the top trending at the time when it appeared on Netflix. The movie tells a story of a summer love between a boy named Elio and his family's new guest from America, Oliver. Call Me by Your Name is a blissful experience to watch.

Take place in the Northern of Italy, director Guadagnino captured some of the most beautiful places for the movie. The beautiful house of the Perlman’s is a vintage house in the Italy countryside, it looks like a mansion that has been passed down from many generations of the family. The color of Call Me by Your Name has a very summery vibe, lots of yellow from the sun, colorful clothes and also the charm of nature. The natural features and the color of the movie really support the theme of summer love and romance. Director Guadagnino had also mastered the rule of show, don’t tell when he uses so many different images and actions to describe the characters. For example, the audiences can see Elio listen to music doing most of his activities alone, showing that he’s an introvert person and also the pink shirt that he always wears kind of metaphor for his sexual orientation.

Another thing that I really like about the movie is that since it’s so beautiful from the visual to the plot. It is like an escape from reality for people in general and for people in the lgbt community. The love story of Elio and Oliver looks like it came from a fairytale where the two men get to love each other and be themselves. Elio’s parents in the movie were also very supportive and even encouraged Elio after Oliver left. In reality, most parents wouldn’t be as supportive or don’t even accept them in the family. One of my favorite quotes from the movie is when the dad said “We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster than we should that we go bankrupt by the age of 30.” This quote says a lot about the father figure in the movie, he’s not just being supportive, he even honors their love and shares his story with Elio.

Although this movie is very meaningful to some people, there are still things that I really don’t like about the movie. Call Me by Your Name’s main character Elio is 17 years old, he’s not even an adult yet and Oliver himself is a 24 years old man. This fact makes this relationship not just very unusual. It’s illegal and Oliver could have gone to jail. Since people really like this relationship and call it cute without considering the real age of the two characters, I find it kind of weird, even awkward when people adore the relationship between Oliver and Elio. It is not their gender that bothered me, it’s the real age of the two main characters. People are literally romanticizing a relationship between a 17 years old boy and a full grown 24 years old adult.

Even though there are some parts of the movie that I don’t like, director Luca Guadagnino actually did a great job in his cinematography and using the rule show, don’t tell. Call Me by Your Name is a decent romance movie and it is easy to watch, just not for an analytical person like me.

6.5/10

#timothee chalameet #armie hammer #netflix #call me by your name

Whiplash (2014): "Not quite my tempo"

Whiplash is a movie that was first released in 2014 at the Sundance festival. This movie is an independent project made by the director Damien Chazelle. Whiplash is a story about a passionate young drummer who wants to be a legend in his own field like his idol Buddy Rich. Beside an excellent plot, Whiplash also gathered many great elements of a good movie like amazing music and phenomenal acting.

The movie’s editing and atmosphere building is absolutely on point. The color of the movie is mainly yellow, makes every scene very warm and close to the audiences. The yellow color is also very suitable for jazz since it’s create a very relax and kind of romantic vibe for the movie. Especially in scenes where Andrew interacts with Nicole. Damien uses his lighting also very effectively, since it helps the audience to know what to focus on and makes the main character shine in the light of the stage. In the last scene when Andrew threw a solo performance, this scene last 9 minutes incorporating with the aggressive soundtrack makes the tension increase immensely. Every drop of sweat, every expressions from the actors makes it such a perfect finale scene. Every minute of the scene is filmed with so many transitions that the pace becomes very fast and helps the audience’s feeling rise, just like how in music when people make their flow faster and faster to create a high point for the song.

Whiplash opens many opportunities for both of the main characters who play Mr. Fletcher and Damien. Especially J.K Simmons who won an Oscar award for the best supporting actor for playing Mr. Fletcher. I can’t imagine a more perfect person to play Mr. Fletcher since J.K Simmons pulled off every scene that he appears in and his facial expressions, his gestures really match a strict teacher. Miles Teller's performance in this movie is also very very good, he’s such an underrated actor and this movie definitely show’s all of Teller’s best elements. For the final scene he actually played the drum for 9 minutes straight and the tiredness and exhaustion of Andrew is very realistic since It’s actually from Teller. Also in the scene when Andrew first experienced Mr. Fletcher’s rage, J.K Simmons actually slapped Teller to create the most realistic scene possible.

This movie definitely was worth the hype that social media gave to it. It’s one of the most intense movies I’ve watched in a long time and it’s such a unique movie experience. I would definitely recommend it to anybody out there looking for a thrilling movie.

#jk simmons #whiplash #miles teller

12 Years a Slave (2014): My review

12 Years a Slave came out in 2014 by the director Steve McQueen is based on a true story. The amazing movie has won multiple awards including an Oscar for the best motion picture of the year. The movie introduced black man named Solomon Northup who was a free citizen until some bad people kidnapped him and sold him to slavery. Following the journey of Solomon finding his way back to freedom, audiences can see the message of human life value and humanity.

12 Years of Slave portayed a dark time in America’s history when racism was at it’s peak, the rich white people buy and sell black people, exploit them and abuse them. The rule of show don’t tell was used to the max by the director. Through many violence scenes, director Steve McQueen wants to show the audience the brutality, the inhumanity of these white people to the black people. The abuse and punish scenes were mostly uncut and people can see the helplessness of the slaves when lots of people are watching them but nobody are willing to help them. The audiences are forced to see these scenes and make them become more sympathetic to the characters. Some of the consequences of this period still exist still today, a wound that can never heal in the black people community.

The acting in this movie is on point. 12 Years a Slave gathered many famous actor like Brad Pitt or Benedict Cumberbatch. Every actor gave an amazing performance, especially Chiwetel Ejiofor, the person who played Solomon Northup. A nominee for the best men actor of the year in the Oscar is absolutely well deserved for Chitewel. The feelings, the emotions, and the intelligence of Solomon were portrayed very well by Chitewel. The actors who played the villians in the movie like the slave owners were also very good. Michael Fassbender played Edwin Epps gave such a good performance that the audience actually hated his character.

Although it is not an easy movie to watch but 12 Years a Slave is a movie that really worth watching and it is one of the best movie to came out that year. The movie would also be very suitable in teaching of slavery in schools besides the violent scenes.

#12 years a slave #steve mcqueen

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014): The fabulous of Wes Anderson

The director Wes Anderson has always been known for his very unique way of making movies. Released in 2014, The Grand Budapest Hotel is one the best movies Wes Anderson ever made and he certainly did put his personal imprints in it. Follow the story of Monsieur Gustave who is blamed for the death of an elderly woman that stayed at The Grand Budapest Hotel, with the companion of a lobby boy Zero. In this post I would like to talk about the amazing things that the director Wes Anderson has done in this movie.

Director Wes Anderson had successfully created a magical world with everything that looked like it came out of a fairy tale. Although the hotels, the city and most of the things are fictional, it still gave the audience a very real experience and happy feelings. Wes Anderson is a master in using color, although the Grand Budapest Hotel is in the middle of a very cold place with snow cover but inside, all the warm colors create a very cozy feeling. All the furniture, the tables, the chandelier, etc was completely real and the crew worked really hard in designing and decorating the hotel. They somehow turned an abandoned shopping mall in Germany into a really luxurious hotel with people inside dressed very nicely. Not just the hotel, the street, the Mendl’s bakery was also made very beautiful and colorful. The color and the lighting also helped a lot in telling the story. Lots of time in the movie that the contrast in color and lighting help the audience to understand the characters. For example in the scene when Zero and Agatha hang out we can see the colorful circles circulate around Agatha’s head and it tells a lot about Agatha. Later in the movie when Agatha, Monsieur Gustave and Zero are sitting in the train, the color turned into black and white to foreshadow Monsieur Gustave death.

Another element that I really like about the movie is the outfits of the characters. The outfits are very suitable for the characters and it also plays a role in introducing them and showing their personality. The guests of the hotels put on very elegant suits with very carefully ironed shirts and pants. For the women, they put on some very beautiful dresses, the perfect example for this is Madame D, she wears very colorful outfits and it represents her interest in art and paintings. The outfits of Gustave and Zero are also very important and they both dress in purple. Monsieur Gustave’s suit shows that he’s a very well-groomed man and takes good care of his look. On the other hand, the assassin Jopling always dresses in black, it shows his danger, and mystery. The pockets in his coat really helped him carry weapons around more easily.

Wes Anderson has never failed to create very satisfying scenes. His cinematography is very pleasing to the eyes, sometimes, every object in the frame was placed very symmetrical, even in scenes with humans. Although Wes Anderson's way of making movies is very controversial and some people don’t like it, personally I was really satisfied with my experience with The Grand Budapest Hotel.

#wes anderson #the grand budapest hotel

Dead Poets Society: Carpe Diem, Seize The Day

Released in 1989, Dead Poets Society by the director Peter Weir became an iconic movie and still has a large audience till today. The movie is one of Robin Williams’ best movies that he ever took part in. The story is about the endless war between the romanticists and the realists, which in the movie is between Mr. Keating played by Robin Williams with his students and the Welton school with Principal Hager and the parents in the movie. Dead Poets Society explores the theme of having a reason to live and following what you want.

First I want to talk about the quote “Carpe diem” by Mr. Keating on his first English lesson teaching the boys in Welton. “Carpe diem” is a Latin phrase translated directly to English as “seize the day”. The quote basically means that people should live for the present, do what they love and what they want instead of worrying about the future. Through the quote, Mr. Keating wants to send a message about having an independent life and independent thoughts. And more importantly, he wants to show his students the importance of having a reason to live, having something that they love and wants to follow. Since we only live once, living only to exist is a waste of life.

An every clear example of “Carpe diem” is the boy Knox Overstreet. Knox accidentally meet Chris and he fall in love with her at first sight. He knows that Chris was engaged with Chet Danburry and his family also have a close relationship with the Danburrys. Knox understands that if he tried to approach Chris, it would probably ruin the relationship with the Danburry and Chet would also punch him. But Knox go for it anyway, although he got punched by Chet but Chris finally gave him a chance. “Carpe diem” he said.

Another student that got influenced deeply by Mr. Keating’s quote is Neil Perry. Neil is a good student in school who is very passionate about acting, after getting influenced by Mr. Keating, he revived the Dead Poets Society and he went to the play audition despite his father's disapproval. Neil spent his life doing whatever his father wanted and he never had the courage to tell his father what he really wanted. After the play, Mr. Perry decided to withdraw Neil from Welton and put him in a military school. Neil played the role of a good son during his entire lifetime and at the end he still decided to kill himself instead of talking to his father. The way Neil follows the passion of acting is like how he wants to run away from reality, where he can’t be himself and has to obey his father. On the stage, Neil can be himself and can live with his passion.

Overall, Dead Poets Society is a movie that speaks for the people that follow romanticism and wants to follow their passion. Director Peter Weir really puts his messages in the movie through Mr. Keating. The cast of the movie were very young at the time but they all gave a really high quality performance. I will definitely rewatch this movie in the future.

#dead poets society #robin williams

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