[notnicky]

Asian August: Asian/Asian American Representation in Hollywood

In recent years, I’ve seen a lot of talk about how and why diversity and representation matter so much in the media. Despite agreeing wholeheartedly, I always felt that when people talked about “representation”, they weren’t really referring to the representation of Asians in the media. In all my 19 years on this planet, the first real story about Asians that was presented in western media was “Fresh Off the Boat”, so it’s not an exaggeration when I say I was jumping with joy when I heard that a Warner Bros. was adapting Kevin Kwan’s best-selling novel Crazy Rich Asians into a major motion picture. 

The night Jon M. Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians came out in theatres, I bought tickets for my family. We got the absolute worst seats you could possibly get – all the way up front and in the back corner – but I couldn’t care less because I was finally getting to see people who looked like me on the big screen. We rushed into the theatre and to our seats as the commercials and trailers played before the movie began. As I adjusted my lounging seat, I mentally prepped myself. It was just sinking in that I was finally going to see a movie whereby people who looked like me would be the majority. The majority. Soon, the lights dimmed and silence fell over the room. We were watching history. When the legendary Michelle Yeoh stepped into the frame in the very first scene, I felt a sense of happiness and pride that I had never felt before. I wasn’t quite sure what it was until I realized that this is what it felt like to be represented. 

That feeling didn’t go away. Not for a single second throughout the entire two hours. I cried. A lot. Not because there were heartbreaking scenes, which believe me, there are plenty of. No. I cried because I couldn’t believe my eyes. From the montage of local Singaporean dishes being served in the busy food court to the extravagant, sweeping shots of Marina Bay Sands, I was watching a massive part of my life be portrayed so beautifully on the big screen. I swooned as I listened to Henry Golding and his smooth-as-silk British accent woo every single member of the audience. I laughed my ass off watching Awkwafina and Ken Jeong hilariously improvise one line after another. And I sat there in awe, watching Constance Wu and Michelle Yeoh skillfully play a game of Mahjong while delivering beautiful monologues about love and family in Asian culture. 

I’ve seen plenty of stories about love and overcoming obstacles in the name of love. It’s a universal experience. However, I never felt as though I could completely relate to the way those stories were told in mainstream and big budget movies. Whether it was the obstacles a couple faced, or how those said obstacles were overcome, there was always something that felt unfamiliar to me. Crazy Rich Asians was the first time I understood every single step of the journey the characters went through. Sure, I’m Asian, but I’m definitely not crazy rich. However, even though I couldn’t relate to Astrid’s ridiculous shopping habits or the Young’s extravagant mansion, I could certainly relate to the core idea that was delivered throughout the movie. The idea of love and family and how different those two individual concepts are, as well as when they interact, in Asian culture compared to Western culture. For the first time in my life, I felt as though the interactions between each and every character in the film were ones that I had either experienced myself or were extremely familiar with. As someone who grew up with Chinese culture, I completely understood Eleanor’s attitude toward Rachel as well as why she made the choices she did. I understood her reasons and motivations because I understood the culture. Those who felt as though Eleanor’s actions and attitude toward Rachel were harsh and unnecessary definitely did not grow up in a traditional Chinese household. For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like I was on the sidelines, observing part of a story, but rather in the dead centre where I could see and understand every aspect of it.

In addition to Crazy Rich Asians, a film adaptation of Jenny Han’s YA novel To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is also currently streaming on Netflix. Han’s story centres a Korean-American high schooler, played by the extraordinary Lana Condor, who writes love letters which are mysteriously sent out, leading her into a less-than-ideal situation which dramatically changes her life. As someone who was a massive fan of the books, I was extremely excited to watch the story come to life. Not only because I was going to have a brand new, quality romantic comedy to watch, but also because it was one with a teenage Asian American girl in the forefront of it all. Having watched every single rom-com to ever exist in this universe, I was finally seeing someone who looked like me have the love story I had always dreamed of. No longer did I feel as though I couldn’t have the crazy love story that rom-coms showed us because I didn’t look anything like the lead. Both Crazy Rich Asians and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before made me feel as though I was worthy of and able to have that love story that only white people ever seem to experience in romantic comedies. 

If my point still isn’t clear, I’ll spell it out for you: representation matters. And just to make it even clearer, ALL representation matters. Now, in August, we’ve got two brilliant romantic comedies with Asian/Asian American leads, but that is not to say Asians are suddenly just as represented as Whites. Not in the slightest. We didn’t reach a goal, we simply progressed toward it; there is still a long way to go. Many people seem to believe this is a “one and done” deal. It isn’t. Just because we got a lot of Asian representation this month doesn’t mean we’re going to be happy with it and wait another 25 years for more Asian representation. Some people believe that just because we got two minority-led movies means there shouldn’t be any more movies with different minorities at the forefront because “minorities have been represented enough”. Guess what? One representation of one minority doesn’t represent all the minorities that exist on the planet. Furthermore, within each minority, there are many different types of people with many different stories. Not all Asian people are represented in Crazy Rich Asians or To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. These two films represent more of the Asian American experience, but not necessarily the experience of Asians in Asia. It’s a good step but there’s still a very long road ahead. Simply having two stories about Asian people isn’t representative of all Asian people, and therefore there is still a long way to go before people can even begin to think there is enough representation of minorities in the media. 

The way I felt watching Crazy Rich Asians and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a feeling that every person deserves to experience. Everyone has their own story. Our stories make us who we are. Shared stories allow us to feel heard and understood. One day, though it may not be as soon as we hope, I know everyone will eventually be able to share their story and find stories that represent who they are.

[notnicky]

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - SPOILER FREE Movie Review

So, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve written anything on here. I’d blame it on college but really I think it’s just because I’m so lazy. I’m working on that and hopefully, this summer will give me some time to get stuff done. Anyways, here I am, and I’m about to talk about the movie I have so patiently waited THREE years for - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Unfortunately, this movie isn’t out everywhere yet, so I’ll keep this review spoiler FREE, and maybe I’ll get myself to write a spoiler-filled review once this movie is out worldwide. Bear with me, this is long.

1. Cinematography

My absolute favorite thing about this film was the incredible cinematography thanks to Oscar Faura and JA Bayona. Almost all the shots in this film are ones I’d like to hang up on my wall. The scenes on the island are breathtaking, but the cinematography in the second half is on a whole different level. The brilliant use of light and shadows by Faura adds so much to the gothic/horror tone that the second half possesses. The visuals together with the score, courtesy of Michael Giacchino (which I will talk about later), create a striking effect that will be sure to scare the living shit out of you, and sometimes make you feel emotions you didn’t think you could feel in a Jurassic movie. The cinematography in this film is unlike any other Jurassic film, and I say that in the best way possible.

2. Music

Michael Giacchino’s score is absolutely gorgeous. At times, it was the reason why I couldn’t stop my heart from aching, and other times, it was the reason why I couldn’t stop my heart from beating uncontrollably. The music during emotional scenes would be the main factor in me sobbing out loud, and the music during tense scenes would be the reason why I would jump out of my seat. The power that Giacchino’s score has over this film is truly incredible, always being the reason as to why I felt specific emotions during different plot points throughout the movie.

3. Story

I can’t delve too much into this because I don’t want to enter spoiler territory, but I really enjoyed the story. 

All I’ve heard over the past week was “why do people keep going back to save the dinosaurs, just let them die” and “why do we need another Jurassic film?”, and this really frustrates me. This might be because I’ve developed a specific emotional attachment to these animals, but I personally believe that every human being in this franchise is responsible for keeping these animals alive. They brought them back to life, despite none of the dinosaurs wanting to (at least I doubt it), and exploited them for their own gain, so I don’t believe that humans deserve an easy way out of the mess they created in the first place and the dinosaurs certainly don’t deserve to die when they didn’t ask for this shitshow in the first place. The core of Fallen Kingdom explores the ethics behind this choice, which is precisely why I love it so much. 

I know a lot of people think the plot is useless and repetitive, but along with what I previously said, there is so much left to explore about this ethical dilemma. It is incredibly nuanced, interesting, and relevant. Fallen Kingdom shows us the reason why we can’t just leave these animals to die. It explores guilt, empathy, and redemption. But then again, I have a strong personal opinion and I love ethical dilemmas, so I am heavily biased. 

in addition to the core of the movie, there is a plot twist later on that I really loved. I thought it seemed like a natural progression for the franchise, and it opened a lot of new doors for the story to continue through. Although I loved it, plenty thought it was stupid and unneeded, but to each their own.

Despite this, I understand the reasoning behind why some people think it’s a stupid idea to go back to the island in the first place, which I will discuss when I look at the pacing of the movie.

4. Characters

We know that in Jurassic World, Claire started out as cold and calculated and as the events of the movie unfold, she begins to change, as her actions started to become more in sync with her morals. In Fallen Kingdom, Claire has started her own foundation that is dedicated to protecting these dinosaurs she once exploited for money. Though I do wish that we got to see more of how this change developed during the time between Jurassic World and Fallen Kingdom, the way her character has changed for the better and how that change makes her the driving force of this movie is one of my favorite things about it. Seeing Claire having the passion that she lacked in Jurassic World was something that made me love her even more than I already did. Although we don’t see how this 180-degree change develops, we definitely get to see how it influences her actions and choices throughout the movie. Bryce Dallas Howard does a wonderful job at really showing us this profound change in Claire, making us feel for Claire and truly believe that she has a passion for saving these prehistoric creatures.

As for Owen, he is more or less unchanged by the events of Jurassic World, so his character development is much less, or maybe even non-existent, in comparison to Claire. The one thing I can point out is that perhaps his decision to go back to the island and save Blue is an indication of trying to face his problems, rather than simply running away from them.

For those who know me, I live for Claire and Owen’s relationship. Fallen Kingdom builds on their relationship and puts Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt’s natural chemistry to good use. I have always loved that these two characters are polar opposites but work very well as a team, and I was glad to see that dynamic again, although, I wish there could have been more time spent on further elaborating and developing this dynamic, but that’s mostly due to problems with the pacing of the movie.

Maisie, Maisie, Maisie. She is the heart of this film. All the Jurassic movies have had kids in them, but for the most part, they aren’t hugely significant. Maisie changes the game. No more can be said without entering spoiler territory, so I’ll stop there. BUT, Isabella Sermon is INCREDIBLE as Maisie, I am so surprised this was her first ever acting gig. 

As for the supporting characters, I really loved Zia and Franklin, played by the wonderful Daniella Pineda and Justice Smith. The brother-sister relationship the two have off-screen translates very well on-screen and makes for some really fun interactions between these characters. Franklin serves as comic relief in a lot of scenes, and I think the skills he brings to the team are underappreciated. Zia is a badass, however, Pineda’s performance is the reason why and not and so much the story that is written for her.

The villains are a little too “I’m evil!” but for the most part enjoyable. Toby Jones seems to be the villain in every movie I watch so he’s pretty good at doing that. I don’t want to specify certain actors since I’m not sure if its common knowledge that they are villains, but I think the performances by the villans are good, apart from, as I said earlier, sometimes being a bit too cartoonishly evil. 

For the cameos... Ian Malcolm is back, but not for a whole lot, which I think is a shame. Jeff Goldblum is excellent and shines in his scenes, despite not being in the film for very long. Dr. Wu appears yet again, and the one big problem that I have with this movie is how underused he is. His character understands that what he is doing is a whole other level of fucked up but he understands how these dinosaurs work as well as the consequences of what he does. I really wished that his character was more significant because his opinions reflect a big part of the ethical dilemma that the movie explores.

5. Dinosaurs

There are a lot of them and they look incredible. The animatronic Blue, Indoraptor, and T-Rex breathe a whole new life into these dinosaurs, making them feel more like characters rather than just animals for us to be in awe of. My favorite has got to be the Stygimoloch, as it plays quite a significant role in a couple parts of the movie, and also, it's so adorable. OH and I think dinosaurs are really smart, people are dumb, and so maybe people should be extinct, not the dinosaurs.

6. Pacing

Now, this is the biggest problem I have with the movie. From the very start of the movie, AFTER the beautiful opening sequence, that is, everything seemed to be moving at warp speed. There was always something going on and it was just non-stop, not giving the audience a chance to breathe and take in whatever they just watched. There are a lot of character building moments that are ruined by the lack of time the audience gets to process them, making them much less impactful than they could have been if the film had slowed down for just a few minutes. Whenever something significant would happen, it immediately became insignificant because something else would happen not long after. 

The part of the film that takes place on the island moves way too fast, and I really wish they stayed on the island a bit longer, especially considering this is supposed to be the last time we will ever see Isla Nublar. The lack of time we spend there takes away from what should be an extremely significant and emotional plot point not just for Fallen Kingdom, but for the entire Jurassic franchise.

As I mentioned in the “story” portion of this post, the movie explores the reasons as to why we can’t just let the dinosaurs die. Although the movie does look at empathy, guilt, and redemption, it does so through the characters, as if we should already know these characters well enough to know why they are motivated to go and save these dinosaurs. For someone like me who is familiar with these characters and previous characters in the franchise, it is easy for me to understand their motivations. However, the film doesn’t give enough time for the casual viewer to empathize with these dinosaurs and help them understand why these characters feel a responsibility for these creatures’ fates. Again, this has to do with pacing, since with a lot of things happening from the get-go, there aren’t enough opportunities for the story to build and give viewers this understanding. I think the lack of build-up toward the decision to go back to Isla Nublar to save the dinosaurs is the main reason why many people don’t understand why this movie had to happen at all. 

IN CONCLUSION, I really really did love this movie. I’ve seen it twice now and it was better the second time around because my over-excitement for the movie as a whole and for some specific aspects didn’t get in the way and I was able to focus on a lot more things, allowing me to enjoy it even more. To end things, I really need to send my biggest thanks to JA Bayona for his excellent addition to the Jurassic franchise. Whenever people talked about Jurassic Park, they’d always talk about how terrified they were when they saw the T-Rex on screen for the first time. The first time I saw Jurassic Park, I had already seen big scary monsters in the cinema, so the movie never really scared me the way it did some people. However, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom made me feel so terrified at times that I could finally understand where these people were coming from when they talk about being terrified by Jurassic. So thank you JA for scaring me into a true Jurassic experience. Despite major problems with pacing, the film is beautiful when it comes to the visuals and sound, has a really interesting plot, as well as characters that I really love. I know this movie has been met with mixed reviews, and that really bothers me, but I loved it and I hope you at least give it a shot because it certainly deserves a fighting chance. 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom gets 4/5 baby Blue’s

[notnicky]

Thank you, Jenny Han

I remember when my friend told me about this book called “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before”. She had just read it and was bugging me to read it. When she told me the title, I sneered; however, I still ended up buying to book on my Kindle, telling myself it was out of curiosity. Next thing I knew, I had sped past and finished the first book in a matter of hours. Not only did I love the premise of the story (all that fake relationship turning into real relationship stuff, 110% my thing), but I was also so delighted that the author (the incredible Jenny Han) had made the main character Asian, South Korean to be exact. Not only that, the book also delves into how she and her family are extremely proud to be who they are. It was something I had never seen ever before (because I don’t tend to see/pick up books centered around Asian characters), an Asian teen as the lead in a romance novel, and it brought me so much joy, to finally read about a character that I could actually see myself being.

About a month ago, I was on vacation in this beautiful area of Indonesia called Flores. I hadn’t been paying much attention to the books, in fact, I hadn’t even finished reading the second when I heard that the third had come out. So, naturally, I bought the second and third books and started reading them. And so, that’s the story of how I found myself crying in bed until 1 am while my sister was asleep next to me, and how I cried yet again on a boat while hundreds of beautiful islands surrounded me. I reread the first book, and in two days, I had finished all three books and had fallen down a rabbit hole of scrolling through Instagram and Tumblr for Kavinsky and Covey related content.

That week I was on vacation, I had been messaging my friend who first introduced me to the series and convinced her to reread the books with me so I wouldn’t be alone going down this never ending rabbit hole. After we read all three books, we talked at length about how amazing it would be if this were to become a film. Little did I know, my dream would literally come true about a month later. A friend of mine posted a screenshot of Jenny Han’s post announcing there would be not just one, but THREE films. It was around 11 pm when I saw this post and then I proceeded to scream and cry in bed alone. I had actual tears in my eyes.

The next morning, I found the confirmed cast list and cried a little more when I learned that Lana Condor, aka the Jubilee from X-Men Apocolypse, would be playing Lara Jean. I went deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole yet again, finding content all over the internet, checking each cast member’s Instagrams religiously for updates while they were filming in Vancouver. I found solace in several fan accounts that were as devoted as I was, picking apart each Instagram story and Snapchat, trying to determine which scenes they were filming.

After days of stalking the TATBILB tags on social media, I found a couple posts that were, safe to say, pissed at the casting choices, specifically for the Coveys. Now, the book portrays them as Korean-American, yet the actresses playing these characters are Vietnamese-American (Lana Condor), Hawaiian-Chinese-American (Janel Parrish) and Asian-Canadian (Anna Cathcart - I couldn’t find her exact nationality). People were angry that casting non-Korean actresses to play Korean characters was adding to the idea that all Asians are interchangeable, and I do understand where that is coming from, especially as an Asian teen, I totally get it. However, I don’t think it’s fair to say that this isn’t a step in the right direction because it certainly is.

I know, without a doubt, that Jenny Han busted her ass to make sure this cast really was Asian. Not only does physical appearance/ethnicity and nationality play a part in casting for films, but so does talent, popularity and much more. How big are these actors’ fan bases? Can they bring in the money for the production company? Will they be enough to sell the film? If the casting for films was as simple as picking someone who looked and identified with the role, we would have actors from every country by now. Let’s be honest, if Jenny Han hadn’t worked as hard as she did to make sure this cast really was of Asian decent, studios probably would’ve just hired a bunch of Caucasian actors who had strong fan bases and would be able to rake in more money for them. Sure, it would’ve been great to see Korean actresses playing Korean characters, but I am just glad that I actually get to see my ethnicity being portrayed more accurately on screen. Maybe this is me setting the bar too low. Maybe I am expecting too little from the Western Entertainment industry; but honestly, I am just delighted that a studio actually took the chance to produce a film with about an Asian-American romantic lead with an ACTUAL Asian-American playing the role.

Now, to finally get to my main point of why this film means so much to me. As someone who loves movies, I have seen hundreds of them. Many times I like to imagine myself as the main character, but I know there's always something that makes me different than them, something that I can’t really completely relate to. Thanks to the TATBILB films, I will finally be able to watch a movie whereby I could look on screen and say “wow, I could actually be her”, and I have to say, that means the world to me. A big thanks goes out to the cast, the crew and production company of the TABILB film for believing in this story, but the biggest thanks of all goes to Jenny Han. Thank you, Jenny Han, for creating a series that not only ticks off every single thing that I love in a romantic story (high school, fake dating, real dating, the list goes on), but also to bring a character I could relate to on every single level (mentally, emotionally AND physically - seriously I feel like I AM Lara Jean) to life. 

**It also doesn’t hurt that Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) are very very VERY adorable.**

[notnicky]

A Thank You Note to Patty Jenkins

This isn’t a review so much as it is a post about how Wonder Woman and Patty Jenkins have changed Hollywood (or at least I believe they have). At this point in time, I’ve watched Wonder Woman twice in the span of 1 week and both times I found myself staring in awe of Gal Gadot (my imaginary wife) and the other Amazons kicking ass like nobody’s business. Though I am a big fan of superhero movies, I am more of a Marvel fan, as the recent DC films have been quite disappointing with the plots being all over the place. Then came Wonder Woman, the first female-centric superhero film in over a decade, which caught my attention. I’ll just say that this is the best DC film I have watched since The Dark Knight Rises. It’s a true origin story that doesn’t get lost in attempting to connect to the larger DCEU, but rather focuses on telling the story of how Diana, Princess of Themyscira, became Wonder Woman.

Now, on to the main reason why I wrote this post. Walking out of the theater, I felt empowered, like if I yelled “shield!” in the middle of the mall, someone would give me a boost so I could spin in the air and shoot arrows at people. As a 17-year-old girl who is a huge fan of superhero films, I have only ever really seen men rule the screen and kill evil aliens and defeat their enemies. Seeing a powerful, kind, compassionate and incredible woman fight for what she belives in, put a smile on my face that will last a lifetime. The genius behind this film and the smile on my face is Patty Jenkins, and I am writing this to thank her. 

A couple days ago, I came across this THR headline:

What I took notice of, along with many others, was the use of the word “gamble” in the headline. Using the word “gamble” made it feel as though Warner Bros. did not BELIEVE in Jenkins. As though the reception and box office of this film was all up to chance, just like in gambling. People took notice of this and pointed it out, recalling other male directors who had similar career paths as Jenkins, who never received this headline. One important example was Colin Trevorrow, who prior to directing Jurassic World, a film which had a budget of $150 million, had only directed the small indie film Safety Not Guaranteed, which had a tiny $750,000 budget in comparison. Articles about Trevorrow highlighted his incredible leap from indie film to iconic blockbuster film, never implying that the success of JW would be up to chance. This makes it seem as though Jenkins is somehow less qualified for the job of helming a big budget superhero film than someone like Trevorrow, when in reality, Jenkins’ $8 million indie film Monster won an Oscar and outdid other male directors’ pre-big budget films.

I brought up the article to say that I don’t think it was a “gamble” hiring Jenkins to direct this film, but rather a choice to do so. It was a CHOICE to produce the first female-centric superhero film in over a decade. It was a CHOICE to hire a talented female storyteller to TELL the story ABOUT a woman FOR women (and men). It was a CHOICE to show the world what women could do, that they were capable of exactly what men are shown as being capable of. 

The release of Wonder Woman has inspired many people all around the world. For the past week, I have seen countless images of little girls dressed as Diana, going to the cinema and posing with posters and cardboard cut-outs. Each time I scroll through my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook feeds, I see celebrities tweeting, posting statuses and pictures, praising Jenkins and Gadot for an excellent, empowering film. And each time I see these pictures, tweets and posts, I can’t help but smile and think “A woman did this. She MADE this.”.

Watching the success of this film brings joy to my heart, knowing that Patty Jenkins, a female director, has changed the game for women, especially for women behind the camera. I believe that the success of Wonder Woman will prove to studios that women are indeed capable of creating successful films, it's just a matter of believing in them and giving them the opportunity to do so. As a young girl whose dream it is to direct films, I want to thank Patty Jenkins from the bottom of my film-loving heart for bringing this film to life and being the reason behind its success. I know for a fact that you have changed the way Hollywood sees and treats female directors, or at least I know you WILL. I know that because of you and because of this film, female directors will be given more opportunities to tell more stories and to do what they love. Furthermore, the success of Wonder Woman will no doubt inspire young girls to do what they love, regardless of the obstacles they may encounter on their way to success.

[notnicky]

La La Land: Movie Review

Here’s the quick version of my review: I can now confidently answer what my favorite film is. 

A long time ago, in the same place I’m currently sitting, I watched the very first La La Land trailer on my computer. No words, just the sweet sound of Ryan Gosling whistling paired with stunning visuals. I had no clue what this film was all about, but I knew I had to see it. As time went along, trailers dropped and the plot summary was revealed, and of course, it made me all the more excited to watch it. THEN, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling went on some worldwide tour showing off this beautiful piece of work called La La Land and brought back every single film festival award known to mankind. As the film was released in more and more places, the ratings went UP, which seems to be quite uncommon. People were absolutely in love with it. NOW I couldn’t wait any longer. 

Walking into that theatre I was expecting a lot. I walked in having a strong gut feeling that I would walk out a changed person. I was correct. Let me just say straight off the bat that there is not a single bad thing about this film. Every word, every shot, every note, everyTHING was perfect. I have nothing but praises for this film. So let’s get to it. 

Visuals

If I could frame every single shot of this film, I would. To be quite honest, I think I might. The visuals are absolutely STUNNING. Every shot is so precisely thought out to draw you in. The colour palette used throughout the film changes depending on the character and where you are in the story, and it just adds so much to the film. The vivid technicolour keeps you focused on the screen, unable to take your eyes for just a second to sneak a peek at your phone. Additionally, the camera movements are so elegant. The long takes of the film might make some people think “oh god this is boring” BUT the use of such fluid camera movements in long takes keeps you interested rather than boring you. You feel as though you’re following these characters. You’re walking with them. You’re talking with them. You’re sitting with them. You’re by their side throughout their journey. You’re a PART of that journey. I don’t think that words can accurately describe how visually beautiful this film is. This might be one of the top reasons I suggest you go and watch this film RIGHT NOW (or maybe after you finish reading this). **P.S - I love how the colours Mia wears reflects how she changes throughout the film. Truly the only time you need to pay attention to colours in any story because THIS TIME the colours actually mean something unlike all that crap English teachers tell you**

Sound/Music

I’ll be honest, I am not the biggest fan of musicals. Yes, I enjoy them, but I tend to be skeptical about musicals. Like a lot of people, I find it strange when characters start singing anywhere else but in the shower or in the car. However, La La Land has somehow made me feel pretty okay with people breaking out into song and dance in the middle of the street. The most important fact here is that the songs in La La Land aren’t placed randomly so that when characters start singing you feel uncomfortable and wish you could skip the singing. Any time Mia and/or Seb start singing, it is for a reason. It moves the story forward and in fact, I think it helps audiences to better understand certain parts of the story. I would also like to commend Justin Hurwitz for composing such a beautiful score that not only sounds incredible, but also fits into the film so perfectly. There are times in the film where there is absolute silence and those make the moments filled with Hurwitz’s brilliant pieces all the more powerful. The score is whimsical and fantastical, yet still conveys the realism that lies at the heart of the story. I couldn’t stop tapping my feet, swaying my head or humming along, Hurwitz is a HUGE part of the beauty of this film.

Acting

I’ll get straight into it. Emma Stone is good. So is Ryan Gosling. However, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling together are INCREDIBLE. There is no denying their chemistry. Whenever they are on screen together, there is a sense of collaboration that I don’t really know how to explain. They work so well together, building on each other’s characters and making the film even more phenomenal. All of these facts are not new, they have proven it again and again since working together on Crazy, Stupid Love and then Gangster Squad. However, I think this might be their best collaboration yet. They are perfect for the characters of Mia and Seb, and it almost feels like you’re watching their own story of how they go to where they were. The relationship that they managed to create between Mia and Seb is one that’s real and raw and will no doubt pull at your heartstrings. Generally speaking, Emma and Ryan are like Leo and Kate or Jennifer and Bradley. They are acting soulmates.

Story

One huge thing that stuck out to me was how this film was executed. Here you have a simple story about a struggling actress and musician who find each other and fall in love. But, you’re telling that story in one of the most complex forms of storytelling - a musical. Let’s be honest, this could have gone TERRIBLY. It could have been an absolute disaster, but as you can tell, it wasn’t. I am just so incredibly impressed with how Damien Chazelle managed to pull this off. Musicals normally draw people away because it’s not realistic to have characters breaking out into song in the middle of the street. But somehow, Chazelle has managed to seamlessly tell such a realistic story through such an unrealistic medium and the result is a perfection.

Simply put, this film is a masterpiece. Damien Chazelle is a brilliant genius and I am asking right now - Mr. Chazelle, will you PLEASE take me under your wing and teach me, please? I’ll sell my organs if I have to. Justin Hurwitz has created a classic Hollywood style score that makes my heart skip a beat. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are arguably my favorite on-screen duo. What you must know is that this film tells the tale of two love stories. One about love of another person, and one about love of your dreams. Ultimately, the end of the film will reveal to you which one will come out victorious. There have been some discussion about the ending, and I certainly enjoyed it and thought it wrapped the film up perfectly, but that’s my opinion. I’ll let you decide for yourself when you go out and watch it this weekend.

La La Land gets 5/5 tap dancing Emma Stone’s and Ryan Gosling’s

[notnicky]

Parents and Lectures: College Apps Edition

I swear to god if my mother lectures me one more time about my college applications I will break my hand attempting to punch a goddamn hole in the wall. I love that my parents have asked me to be open about the application process and when I am being open and mention minor setbacks, it's suddenly a lecture about how I could have avoided it. Seriously, not everything that goes wrong has to be a lecture or a lesson. Just let it be and try to help because all a lecture does is add unnecessary stress on EVERYONE. Which then leads to more fights and anger. Just stop.

[notnicky]

Psychology Behind Passengers’ Negative Reviews (opinion)

ONE LAST THING ABOUT PASSENGERS I SWEAR I’M SO SORRY. I dragged my family to watch Passengers tonight (merry Christmas to those who celebrate) and on the way home we had a discussion that lead to a breakthrough (as I like to call it). That breakthrough was me explaining the negative reception towards Passengers with psychological theories. This is just stemmed from my constant blabbering about Passengers, but can probably be applied to other movies and situations as well.

WARNING: spoilers ahead

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The first theory is the fundamental attribution error. So I learned this sometime last year in my psychology class and it’s actually pretty interesting. Essentially it’s when people attribute an individual’s behaviour to internal characteristics like someone’s personality, as opposed to the external situation the individual is placed in. 

In terms of Passengers, people have been reacting negatively to the fact that Jim wakes Aurora up, calling it “creepy” and “gross”. Now, this can be seen as an example of FAE. People (critics especially it seems) are attributing Jim’s behaviour (waking Aurora up) to his personality, thus branding him as a creepy stalking. However, in my opinion, attributing his actions to his personality is the wrong move. We know that Jim has been placed in extreme circumstances, where he has been alone for a year on a steel spaceship. As I had mentioned and explained in my previous reviews (spoiler FREE, spoiler FILLED), it is human to want human companionship in this specific situation. 

I honestly believe that the reason people are saying that the twist is so horrendous that they can’t bare to watch the film is because they believe that Jim is just a terrible human being for waking up Aurora and essentially murdering her. I am certainly not saying that what he did wasn’t wrong, because believe me, on every moral and ethical level, it is wrong. But, I don’t necessarily think it makes him a bad person, just because I am taking into count and attributing his final decision to wake Aurora up to the extreme situation he is being placed it. Point is, I understand his behaviour, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I accept it. 

Self-Serving Bias (SSB)

Self-serving bias is ANOTHER theory I learned in my psychology class (didn’t think I’d really ever apply it to something I love as much as movies). This theory is based on the idea that people will do whatever it takes to maintain their self-esteem and view themselves as good people. In my opinion, the negative reception towards Passengers could be partially due to this theory. Nowadays, there are two types of movies: ones that are so out of this world and sweep you away and ones that break down and reflect human society. Passengers is a little bit of both, but at its core, its the latter. 

Jim waking Aurora up reflects the fact that we as human beings are selfish. We tend to do things to benefit ourselves more than others. Jim wakes Aurora up to alleviate his loneliness and perpetual suffering, therefore making him seem selfish (this connects to the previous theory mentioned above). Now, viewers of the film see this behaviour and think: “So the creators of this film are telling me that this movie is about human behaviour. Jim wakes Aurora up, making him selfish. So the filmmakers are telling me I’m selfish? No way.”. Here my friends is a prime example of SSB. 

Since viewers understand that the actions of the characters in this movie are meant to reflect us as humans, what they are seeing is that humans are selfish, therefore meaning that they are selfish. This is where SSB kicks in. Being selfish is seen as a negative characteristic and since SSB causes people to do what it takes to maintain their self-image as a good person, they will instantly reject this to do so. Essentially what I believe is that viewers do not want to believe that if they were placed in the same situation that Jim was in, they would be the better person and NOT wake another person up, sentencing them to death. This makes them feel like they are good people therefore maintaining their self-image and self-esteem. 

To wrap up, I’d just like to remind everyone that this is my personal opinion from a very psychological point of view. This doesn’t mean that every single person who has had a negative reaction to the film’s “twist” thinks this way, it’s meerely a possibility. I really enjoyed this film, but it’s certainly not perfect and has many flaws. Those flaws are a strong contributing factor to the negative reception this film has gotten, once again reitterating that my psychological rant is not me generalizing the cause of the negative reception towards this movie. These theories are widely applicable and can be applied to a myriad of other films and situations (like I mentioned before), just none that my sleepy brain can think of at this exact moment.

I actually never thought I’d apply psychology to something that I love as much as films, so this has been really interesting and I’m certainly hoping I’ll be able to do more with it in the future. 

[dwayne-cirocjohnson]

This captures the whole essence of the controversy in Passengers. It’s exactly what I think and I love the way it is phrased in the original script.

[notnicky]

Passengers: Spoiler FREE Review

Yeah, you’re probably tired of hearing me talk about this goddamn movie, I know, and I’m sorry. But you’re still reading despite seeing the giant title of the post, so I’ll take it you aren’t THAT tired of me (yet).

As I’ve said countless times before, I’ve waited ages for this movie. A whole damn year. I have never been THIS excited for a movie, ever. And that’s saying a lot because I get excited over almost every single movie. Today, I finally got the chance to sit in the cinema and watch Passengers in all its glory. I’ve been pretty antsy this past week after hearing reviews and people telling me the “twist” is gross, creepy and horrific. So horrific that they can’t stand to watch the movie. These reviews brought my expectations of this film back to earth (funny, I know), but I was determined to form my own opinion of the film. And so I sat down, watched the movie and now I have my opinion and MANY MANY THOUGHTS. Again, this is the spoiler FREE review, so if you’ve watched the film and want to read a spoiler FILLED review, here it is. (It’s very long and I apologize)

First of all, I loved the film. Everything that critics and some audience members have called “controversial” is actually why I love the film so much. It brings up a lot of ethical and moral questions, making YOU think about what you would do in that situation. I absolutely love walking out of a cinema having so many thoughts and questions, and the film did just that. I can’t give much away, but I think it’s really important that you go into the movie, blocking out all critics and audience reactions to focus on forming your own opinion, especially about this “twist”. In my opinion, the twist wasn’t “gross” and “creepy”, but rather a natural human reaction to being placed in such unique and pretty horrific circumstances. Many have said the ending was lackluster, and I certainly agree to that. Without spoiling the ending, all I can say is that I personally felt that the ending was a little too abrupt and fairy tale-esque. It seemed like they were trying to tie up the film with a nice bow to make it more “christmassy” because of the timing of the film’s release. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good ending, just not for the right movie. 

Chris Pratt certainly brought his A-game for this film because his portrayal of Jim was wonderful. Jim carries most of the story, which meant that Pratt had the huge responsibility of doing that character, as well as the story, justice. And I must say, I am quite surprised that he did. I am a huge fan of Pratt, but I’ve never seen him as a “serious” actor. The most serious acting he’d done until now was probably Jurassic World or Zero Dark Thirty. I was nervous that he wouldn’t be able to be this “serious” actor, but I am so glad that I was wrong. He did an excellent job portraying Jim. His acting really made me feel for Jim and the circumstances he was placed in. I am really really proud of him for that. As for Jennifer Lawrence, as usual, she was great. I don’t think she’s ever disappointed me with her acting, and this was no different. I could sense that drive and determination that Aurora possessed, as well as the love and hatred during the more intense scenes in the film. Both Pratt and Lawrence have a natural charm and presence on screen that made the film really enjoyable. Together they are a great team and just make watching movies a very enjoyable experience.

The visual aspects of the film were incredible. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen for a second. The cinematography was excellent, especially in the scenes where they are out in space (actually out of the spaceship). The special effects were also out of this world (hah, funny) it truly felt like I was in space. I can’t write this review without mentioning the anti-gravity scenes, especially the pool scene. I would sell my soul to find out how the hell they did that because it was visually stunning and also terrifying (I held my breath and felt like I was drowning too). The set design was so elegant and slick I wanted to be on that spaceship so bad. I kid you not, I would probably wake up on that ship just to be able to explore it. The combination of the cinematography, special effects and set design made the film visually stunning. 

Lastly, the score, composed by Thomas Newman was beautiful. Honestly, I don’t think I would’ve gone through as many emotions had it not been for the score. It guided my emotions and helped me feel what the characters were feeling. Props to Thomas Newman for composing such a beautiful score to be paired with such stunning visuals. 

To wrap this review up, I’d just like to summarize my thoughts. The controversy brought up, in my opinion, is a human reaction to extreme circumstances. The ending was lackluster and didn’t do the story justice. The acting was very very good (shoutout to Michael Sheen for portraying an android to the point that I wanted to be friends with Arthur). Technical aspects of the film really held it all together. Thomas Newman is a genius at eliciting emotions through beautiful music. And lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It made me think and gave me something to discuss, which is what I absolutely love to do. I applaud everyone who made this incredibly entertaining and thought-provoking film.

Passengers gets 4/5 Heavily Bearded Chris Pratt’s

[notnicky]

Passengers: Spoiler FILLED Review

Yeah, you’re probably tired of hearing me talk about this goddamn movie, I know, and I’m sorry. But you’re still reading despite seeing the giant title of the post, so I’ll take it you aren’t THAT tired of me (yet). 

As I’ve said countless times before, I’ve waited ages for this movie. A whole damn year. I have never been THIS excited for a movie, ever. And that’s saying a lot because I get excited over almost every single movie. Today, I finally got the chance to sit in the cinema and watch Passengers in all its glory. I’ve been pretty antsy this past week after hearing reviews and people telling me the “twist” is gross, creepy and horrific. So horrific that they can’t stand to watch the movie. These reviews brought my expectations of this film back to earth (funny, I know), but I was determined to form my own opinion of the film. And so I sat down, watched the movie and now I have my opinion and MANY MANY THOUGHTS. Again, this is the spoiler FILLED review, so if you would like to read my spoiler FREE review, here it is.

First thing I would like to address, the “twist” or “controversy” that has been said to be “creepy”, “gross” and “unforgivable”. I’m getting straight to it: it is not a controversy. It is a human reaction, albeit one with a MULTITUDE of ethical problems, but still at its core, a human reaction. I’ve heard people say that Jim looking up Aurora’s profile and reading her articles is “stalkerish” because he saw her one time and starts to look her up. Don’t you DARE tell me you’ve never seen someone outrageously beautiful and went home to try and find out who the hell they were. If you haven’t, I applaud you for that self-control. However, I know I definitely have. Does that make me a stalker? Apparently so. 

Jim begins to fall in love with the person he thinks she is through her videos and writing. Why is he being blamed for that? Now, I agree that one of the reasons he wakes HER up is because he believes they would be good together and that he might love her. But, he also wakes her up out of sheer loneliness and desperation. He debates it for a long time before coming to the decision to do so. It seems like many people are seeing him as someone who has no morals or ethical boundaries, but he DOES. He isn’t portrayed as someone who doesn’t realize what a horrible thing he’s doing, instead he’s seen trying his hardest to even considering doing the wrong thing. Even when he’s with Aurora, you can feel that he’s holding onto that guilt of waking her up. However, I do think that the guilt could’ve been explored more, since a lot of times it would appear for a while and the disappear. (Perhaps a darker approach to the whole ethical problem would’ve made the story more interesting) Chris Pratt’s portrayal of Jim really made me feel for him. I felt the isolation and desperation for human connection that Jim felt. It helped me understand why he would make such a morally wrong decision like waking another person up and essentially murdering them (as Aurora stated in the movie).

Even though he finally does wake her up, I’d like to address the fact that it isn’t “gross” and “creepy” that he did that. What he did was a natural human reaction. Put yourself in his shoes. And I really mean it. Think about the extreme circumstances his character was placed in. Don’t just say “no way, I have morals! I wouldn’t subject anyone to that horror”. Even if you wouldn’t have actually woken someone up, I don’t doubt for a second that the thought would have crossed your mind at one point or another. It’s the natural thing to do. Imagine being alone for an entire year, and I mean truly alone then realizing that you had the choice of having someone with you. If I were him, I would’ve pressed that goddamn button and killed myself in space OR I probably would’ve done exactly what he did. Maybe that makes me a morally weak person, maybe it doesn’t. I don’t excuse the fact that what he did was morally wrong and selfish, but I honestly think it is completely human to want human connection when you’re bound to be isolated and alone for the rest of your life. And at the end of the day, I believe that’s what the people who made this film wanted you to do. They wanted you to think really hard about what YOU would've done and discuss it. And they certainly achieved that.

Moving on from what I strongly disagree with the critics on, I’d like to talk about the ending. Most critics have said that the film starts out strong, showing potential, but ultimately the ending is lackluster. I agree. In the end, it seems like Aurora has forgiven Jim for what he did and ends up staying with him on the ship instead of going back into hibernation. In a sense, Jim “redeems” himself by offering to give up his life to save everyone on the ship and Aurora takes him back. People have said that this is sexist because she forgives him all too easily. Now, while I agree that it was a little quick, I understand why they did that. Again, put yourself in Aurora’s shoes. The only person awake and the only person she knew was about to die, leaving alone, a lot like Jim in the first year. Ultimately in a moment like that, it would be natural to feel a need for that person, because that is your only source of human connection for the next however many years. That is, unless, you want to wake someone else up, which would bring up back to square one.

Forgiving Jim was one thing, but the choice Aurora makes at the very end is something else. Jim presents to her the option to go back to sleep, wake up in Homestead II and achieve her goals. However, she turns it down and decides to live out the next 80-whatever years with Jim on the Avalon. That seems a little too unrealistic to me. The problem is that Aurora is a driven character. So driven that she would leave everything she knew behind in order to achieve this big dream of hers. The fact that she gives it up all for Jim seems a bit too simple. Now I get that circumstances changed. She fell in love, had her heart broken, then saw the man she loved risk his life for her and everyone else. Naturally, after a near death experience, you would want love. But still, it seems too simple for her to just give it all up. I haven’t read the original script, but from what I hear the ending was written beautifully in the script and the film missed out a lot. I’ll certainly be reading the script in order to understand the ending better. If I had a say, Aurora would’ve gone back to sleep, and Jim would’ve died on the Avalon. Aurora would be able to do what she set out to do, but also perhaps tell the story of what happened. But then again, this would bring up questions as to whether or not Aurora would be able to live with herself if she let someone die while she lived. (However, I think it was really beautiful that they started a life together on the ship. Building that house and everything was really sweet, although not the most suitable ending for the film)

Steering away from the plot points, let’s talk about the acting. I was nervous that Chris Pratt wouldn't be able to be in such a serious role, but I was certainly hoping he would bring his A-game for Passengers. He did. Honestly, I am so proud of him. As a huge fan of his, I applaud him for his performance. I was able to feel that loneliness and desperation of being stranded and alone, but also the happiness and love when he was with Aurora. Pratt’s character carries most of the film and his performance really did it justice.

As for Jennifer Lawrence, I am not surprised that she did a great job. I am a big fan of hers and think that she’s an amazing actress. Her portrayal of Aurora was wonderful. I could see the determination and the emotion in her character. Props to her for the scenes where she is infuriated with Jim because I felt the hatred she felt towards Jim all thanks to her acting.

Now, the cinematography, special effects and set design. This film is visually STUNNING. The cinematography was beautiful, especially in the scenes where they are out in space. The special effects are incredible, most notably the anti-gravity water scene. I literally held my breath the whole time because I was absolutely terrified because I felt like I was drowning too. I would love to know how on earth they pulled that off because it was beautiful. The set design, oh my the set design. The things I would’ve done just to be on that set and see everything. The ship felt like something that came out of my dreams. The design was slick, sophisticated and modern, adding to the whole feel of the movie. I would literally go on this trip and wake myself up just to be able to explore the gorgeous ship.

Last but certainly not least, I’d like to give a big shoutout to Thomas Newman for a beautiful score. To be quite honest, I think the score was a huge factor as to why I went through so many emotions watching this movie. The music guided me. Without the movie, the performances and story wouldn’t have been as good as they were. Honestly.

To wrap this long, long, LONG review up, I’d just like to summarize my thoughts. The controversy brought up, in my opinion, is a human reaction to extreme circumstances. The ending was lackluster and didn’t do the story justice. The acting was very very good (shoutout to Michael Sheen for portraying an android to the point that I wanted to be friends with Arthur). Technical aspects of the film really held it all together. Thomas Newman is a genius at eliciting emotions through beautiful music. And lastly, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It made me think and gave me something to discuss, which is what I absolutely love to do. I applaud everyone who made this incredibly entertaining and thought-provoking film.

Passengers gets 4/5 Heavily Bearded Chris Pratt’s

P.S - shout out to Chris Pratt’s butt

**also if anyone would like to talk to me about the movie, please please please message me!**

[notnicky]

Passengers: Thoughts

On Thursday night I opened up Twitter to a flood of reviews for Passengers. For the last few weeks, I’ve had this strange gut feeling it wouldn’t go over as well as people (myself included) had hoped. After reading multitudes of bad reviews as well as some less critical ones, I have some thoughts I’d like to share instead of yelling them aimlessly at my friends and family who - despite their arguments - do not give a crap about my nonsense babbling (I do apologize for my consistent rambling and do thank them for putting up with it). Apologies in advance as this is quite long, but if you’re interested in my perspective, please read on and PLEASE message me (I would absolutely love to have a discussion with someone who’s just as interested as I am!!)

First off, I haven’t watched the movie. I’m watching it the day it comes out here (Dec. 23). I don’t know any specifics about the twist, just that there’s a big twist that many people did not expect and/or like. Now, many critics have stated that the big “creepy” and “gross” twist is something they did not expect to see in a film that was promoted as a “titanic in space” sort of movie. And I get it. Despite not knowing the specifics of the twist, I get that people are shocked at the fact that the twist wasn’t something disclosed to them in trailers. But here's the thing - that’s what they’ve been trying to do this WHOLE PRESS TOUR. The whole point of Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt being strangely vague is to keep the secret of the twist under wraps. I feel as though nowadays people can’t seem to ever be happy. If a trailer gives you the major plot points, it’s spoiling the entire movie and people don’t want to watch it because they know what’s going to happen. But then, if a trailer hides a plot point for you in the hopes that audiences will be surprised, people are upset that they paid for a movie that they didn’t want. There is a fine line between the two, but I think people have to understand that the line is SO THIN that it’s just very hard to achieve. I would like to reiterate once again that the whole point was to keep this twist a major surprise for audiences (at least for those who haven’t read the script). 

Now, that is not saying that critics are just being whiny and are unnecessarily bashing this film, not at all. In fact, I think the only reason why people have been reacting rather negatively about the twist is because of the marketing of the movie. I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again - whoever was in charge of marketing Passengers is pretty horrendous at their job. AGAIN, I do not know the twist of the film, but I know it's much darker and more ethically/morally tangled than what the promotion for the film has lead on. I truly believe that if Sony had decided to sell this movie is a darker and more twisted sci-fi/drama, it wouldn’t have been bashed this bad. This would have prepared audiences for a little bit of a darker film, that way the twist wouldn’t seem as “creepy” and “gross”. They should NOT have cut a second trailer to an IMAGINE DRAGONS song paired with footage of Jim and Aurora being all in love - it made the film look like a rom-com that wasn’t actually a rom-com. Instead, they should have kept the feel of that mysterious and ominous vibe of the first trailer, but reveal just a little more darkness, hinting at whatever the twist possibly was (but of course without completely giving it away). However, that’s definitely easier said than done, but it CAN be done with the right people and ideas. I understand that the marketing strategy for this film was to sell it as every single genre in order to attract a wider audience, but by doing that, they have now lost A LOT of people who would’ve been filling the seats in the cinemas. 

Finally, the critics have mostly said that the film starts out promising, but “runs out of gas” somewhere along the way and the ending (and most of the third act) is extremely lackluster. As for that, I cannot attest to since I haven’t seen the film, but I have a feeling that is what happened. I’ve also read that the film had potential but didn’t dive deep enough into the many ethical and moral questions the film brings up. As someone who enjoys being put into character’s shoes and having to think about what I would do, I think the idea of having ethical and moral questions is what draws me the film. However, I’m not sure how I feel about the fact that they don’t fully delve into the questions and answers. On the other hand, many have praised Lawrence and Pratt for their acting and chemistry, as well as the set design and cinematography. I think that may be what holds the film together.

For the past two days, I have been constantly checking twitter and literally everywhere else on the internet for reviews, most of which have been negative. Some I believe are a little too harsh, but then again I can’t judge since I haven’t seen the film. In the last few years, I have found myself constantly being influenced by critics and honestly, I absolutely hate it. Especially for this film, it bothers me so much that critics are absolutely shitting on it because I love the idea as well as the cast. I am really trying not to let these critics influence my liking of the film, but it’s definitely hard. Despite that, I am still very excited to watch Pratt and Lawrence, as I love them both AND the set design and cinematography look incredible. These critic reviews have been getting me down but at the end of the day, the only opinion that matters is mine. They’ve made this film for everyone and I think so long as I enjoy it, they’ve done their job. 

**P.S - I really am extremely interested in the ethical and moral dilemmas the film apparently brings up. I am an absolute sucker for movies that make me think!!!

**Also (again) if you’re interested in continuing this conversation, please please please send me a message because I would love to talk to someone who actually cares as much as I do hahahaaaaaaaa

[notnicky]

Hacksaw Ridge: Movie Review

Two weeks ago I avoided by responsibilities and went to watch what I believe is the best movie to be released in all of 2016 - Hacksaw Ridge. I’d seen the trailer a few times and thought it looked great, but was kind of unsettled by the deep southern accent Andrew Garfield had. But anyways, I went to watch it with my dad and boy was it great. I mean really I have no words (well I do but they just aren’t very coherent).

All I really knew about this film was that it was supposed to be based on a true story about some brave guy who went into war without a gun and saved a ton of people. And that Andrew Garfield was the lead and Mel Gibson had risen from the ashes to direct the film. I walked into the theatre googling the film to look at the ratings and for a general summary of the plot, trying to get more hyped for the film. Well, after watching the film, I had so many thoughts that I could not articulate. Essentially, it was amazing. 

First of, the plot. Holy crap. I mean I knew I liked war movies, but Hacksaw Ridge made me LOVE war movies. The story was so insanely inspiring - I honestly cannot believe someone would have the sheer willpower to stick to their values the way Desmond did. The progression of the story and the characters was phenomenal. I really loved the way the film started as it gave me a hint as to why Desmond never wanted to kill anyone, let alone hold a weapon capable of doing so. From the first second he came on screen, I was rooting for him, praying he would stick to his guns (wow, nice) and not give in; and thank God he didn’t. I really can’t believe this was based on a true story. Desmond Doss is one hell of a man and a hero. Andrew Garfield did one hell of a job playing this man. His presence on screen was charming and emotional, he made me laugh, cry, scream and smile. I am definitely expecting an Oscar nomination for him, possibly even a win. Additionally, I know Mel Gibson’s films tend to have a strong theme of religion, and Hacksaw Ridge is no different. I actually really enjoyed the part religion played in this film, it made the film about morals and values, which I loved.

As I said, Mel Gibson rose from the ashes to direct this beautiful movie - and thank GOD he did. The film was so beautifully directed. The flow and direction of the film was incredible. There wasn’t a single moment where I sneakily tried to check the Snapchats on my phone, my eyes were glued to the screen for the entirety of the film (partly because of Andrew Garfield, but that’s beside the point). As someone who watches as many movies as I do, I am rather ashamed that I haven’t watched a Mel Gibson-directed film like, ever (yes I really do need to watch some, especially Bravehart). But, that doesn’t take away from the fact that Gibson is an incredible director who is able to take an incredible story and NOT butcher a film about it, but instead make it just as beautiful. The intensity and suspense of the film kept me on the edge of my seat. I mean really, in some of the scenes I’m pretty sure I was having heart palpitations just because of the tension. 

Finally, I’d like to talk about the cinematography. It was - like everything else in the film - spectacular. The scenes where the men are battling on Hacksaw Ridge with all the explosions and gun fire made me feel as though I was really there, I was terrified. Just seeing dust for a solid 10 minutes accompanied with a ton of gunshots and explosions made it feel so real. In addition to that, the cinematography made me feel. The scenes where we see Desmond running and lifting people up, I could feel the emotions he was feeling, it was all in the shots. The plot and characters were wonderful, but the cinematography was the cherry on top and made everything visually pleasing and I was never bored.

Walking out of that theater, I had no words. My dad and I literally just walked in silence for five minutes before I went “ok so, I think that’s my new favorite movie”. Everything about it was amazing and I am so beyond glad that I decided to watch this film instead of doing some homework, totally worth it. I’d like to think that the film left such an impression on me that every time I’m about to do something questionable I just hear Desmond Doss’ heavy southern accent telling me to do the right thing. I would be shocked if this incredible film didn’t get nominated for a multitude of Oscars, it definitely deserves to (especially best leading actor, director, picture, cinematography and sound editing).

ALSO - I’d like to mention the supporting cast, especially Vince Vaughn, who was pretty damn funny but did a great job scaring me straight as well. The entire cast was wonderful and really added to the quality of the film.

Hacksaw Ridge gets 5/5 praying Andrew Garfield’s

[notnicky]

The Girl on the Train: Movie Review

Basically, I heard Emily Blunt was starring in a movie and I was all in. I did not give a crap about what it was, all I cared was that she was in it. When the trailer dropped, I was so excited. The Girl on the Train had a great cast and a great director and it seemed really intriguing. I counted the days till it’s release. Two weeks before the film was released in theaters, I dragged my family to a book store so I could buy the book since all I heard was good things about the book. So for the first time in literally, YEARS, I read a book. I finished it in 1 week and I absolutely loved it. I haven’t read a book, let alone so quickly, in so long. I was excited at every page and I couldn’t put the book down. Naturally, this got me even more excited for the movie. (ALSO because I just watched Haley Bennett in Mag 7, which she was great in) First of all, the movie didn’t come out here in Indonesia which pissed the living hell out of me. But I finally watched it tonight, and I must say, I liked it, butI am kinda underwhelmed. Here’s why:

Having read the book (as I said before), it kept me excited at every point. The possible suspects kept switching in my head and I just wanted to know who it was so I never stopped reading. There were so many little details in the book that made it so thrilling. Those details were left out in the movie. Considering the book showed Rachel constantly struggling, I was hoping the movie would too. Instead, they picked out the bigger plot points and sped through those without any detail. It almost seemed TOO easy for Rachel, compared to how much she struggled in the book. This made the film disjointed since the plot points and characters/suspects were developed enough. Had I not read the book beforehand, I am certain I would’ve been completely lost.

In addition to that, the book jumps between characters as well as time and that wasn’t well translated into the movie. It was easy to know the character jumps since they had the character’s names come up every time the perspectives changed, but the time jumps weren’t as well executed. There were some time cards, but not all of them were there, which made it harder to follow. Also, that made it seem as though Rachel found a lot of the missing information much faster than she did in the book.

This review isn’t just me talking about the things I wish could’ve been better, I actually really enjoyed the movie and have a lot of things I liked about it!

For the most part, I think the acting was really good. The cast was great and there was chemistry between the characters. I’d like to specifically point out Emily Blunt and Haley Bennett’s performances. In my opinion, they are the reason why the things I didn’t like aren’t that big of a deal to me. They anchored the film and really did great portrayals of such complex and screwed up characters like Rachel and Megan. Emily Blunt is one convincing drunk, really delivering that confusion that Rachel went through throughout the book into the movie. Haley Bennett played an excellent “perfect-on-the-outside-but-screwed-up-on-the-inside” girl, portraying all of the little quirks Megan has. In fact, had the pacing of the film been different, I think her portrayal of Megan would’ve been EVEN stronger. The supporting cast is phenomenal too, especially Justin Theroux - he was scary as shit, I was terrified of him. He did a really good job at playing the innocent guy to the scary “you-knew-something-was-up-with-him” bad guy. The cast (esp. EB and HB) are probably the best thing about this movie and the reason why I liked it more than I would have HAD they not been cast.

Overall, I enjoyed the film, but the pacing and lack of details really made it underwhelming. However, I think the brilliant acting and cast make up for it.

The Girl on the Train gets 3.5 vodka sneaking Emily Blunt’s

[notnicky]

The (very) Magnificent Seven

So, I dragged my dad to watch The Magnificent Seven couple days ago because no one wanted to watch it with me. I was really really excited for this movie. I mean the cast is KICK ASS and when I watched the trailer I was hyped up. It just seemed like such a fun and entertaining movie. Low and behold, it was just as I thought it would be. In fact, I’d say it actually exceeded my expectations.

I was never a big fan of western movies, I honestly just saw them as 90 to 120 minutes of two men covered head to toe in dirt in a standoff. I decided to watch this movie mostly because Chris Pratt was in it and he looked real nice in the trailer - who knew men could look so great covered in dirt?

First of all, I really like the cinematography in this film. Sure it wasn’t outstanding and I think the location definitely made it easy for beautiful shots, but it really was great. It added to the whole “western” feel of the film and it felt like I was actually in the desert. I mean really it was pretty warm in the theatre. The establishing shots of the characters riding their horses through the fields were absolutely stunning, I wish I could’ve been there.

Thinking that this movie would be pretty serious considering all the death that the plot surrounds, I did not expect it to be so funny. The dynamic between the cast was really surprising and it felt more like they were just a couple of guys who wanted to dress up and have a good time. I’m not saying that it was all a joke but that was the dynamic I felt and I really really liked it. It made the whole film a lot more entertaining and enjoyable. The banter and quick remarks from each character were funny and witty. Not only that, but I liked every single one of the characters! Each one had a specific demeanor that made the whole dynamic even more interesting.

Now, I know this review has been rather male-centric talking about the seven ridiculously charming cowboys, but I did not forget about Emma Cullen played by my new girl-crush Haley Bennett. Being the only female character with development, I adored the fact that she wasn’t some damsel in distress and that she wanted to put herself out there and fight for justice. She seeked out these seven men to help her save her ENTIRE town. She’s the reason why these men came together and the reason why her town was safe again. In full honestly, she’s the hero of the film. In addition to that, I loved that the men, especially Sam Chisolm, didn’t argue when she said she was going to fight. Although he was initially reluctant to let her join, he did eventually take her up on her offer to fight with the men. Plus she looked really badass the whole time!

Overall, I’d say this film was beyond what I expected. It was funny, serious, raw and empowering all at the same time. Definitely worth a trip to the cinema to watch if you want to have a good time!

**The one critique I do have is - why wasn’t Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) on the poster? I mean she is the reason why the magnificent seven came together.

The Magnificent Seven gets 4/5 alcohol chugging Chris Pratt’s

[notnicky]

Passengers: Trailer Thoughts

Passengers (2016) Trailer

Before I begin - this is me just typing out my feelings about the Passengers trailer because I’m so goddamn excited but no one I know is as excited about it as I am. I’ve seen it 5 times and I’m still shaking, so someone please send help.

Ok so, first things first, I am still having heart palpitations from watching the Passengers trailer. I have been waiting for this forever. And I really mean forever. The first time I heard that Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt were going to be in a movie together, I almost passed out. My two favorite human beings on this planet in a movie, I was already in for it before I even knew what it was about. THEN, news dropped that it was a movie set in space, which also happened to be a romance. My two favorite human beings in a movie from my favorite genre - SPACE.

Once they finished filming, a gif came out of the film which lasted for less than a second and I literally talked about it for 2 days straight, everyone hated me more than they already did. Couple months passed and then rumours started flying around that a teaser was going to drop soon. And of course, it didn’t but that’s fine, whatever. Anyways after multiple false alarms and me getting my hopes up, the trailer FINALLY DROPPED AND I HAVE OFFICIALLY LOST MY SHIT. 

As I refreshed twitter every 30 seconds in hope of seeing a link to the official trailer show up, I was sorta lowering my expectations because I didn’t think that it was going to actually come out today. Suddenly, my phone chimed and it was a notification from Sony to an actual trailer. I screamed (out loud I’m not just saying I screamed, I actually did). I opened it up on my laptop and I watched the entirety of it in silence and on full-screen mode (just to get the full experience).

Now, my reactions. Firstly, the first sequence before it took a turn for the serious was absolutely adorable, plus Jen and Chris look amazing. I was enjoying it already and then when Aurora asks Jim why he left earth, I knew this shit was getting GOOD. Then it got all dramatic and then even more dramatic, essentially it just got better and better.

This movie seems like its going to be a big hit, considering the script is already online and those who have read it said it's amazing and the trailer actually doesn’t give much away and that there are a ton of twists, which makes me all the more excited. It looks dramatic as hell, which I love. The chemistry between Jen and Chris looks natural and translates really well onto the screen, the romance is going to be good. The set/production design looks incredible, I mean even if I woke up on that ship alone without Chris Pratt I think I’d still be pretty content with the stuff that's on that ship. The score is just something else, matches the tone of the trailer perfectly, adds to the whole intensity of it. And lastly, the cinematography is beautiful. I mean really I’ll probably hang up some shots from this movie on the walls of my college dorm next year.

Never have I ever been so excited over a trailer for any film. I cried actual tears after watching the trailer. I’ve got high expectations for this film, I do hope it goes beyond my expectations. In conclusion, it looks amazing. Plot, characters, set design, score, cinematography, effects, etc, all look out of this world (hah, I’m real fucking funny) and I can’t wait till December 21 comes so I can watch this movie 5 times. 

[notnicky]

The Martian: Movie Review

So I’ve been waiting months for this movie (no I’m not exaggerating, I have literally waited FOREVER for this movie). Mostly because I’m a huge fan of Jessica Chastain and space movies. And it certainly reached my expectations (reached?). Well this movie is essentially Matt Damon Gets Stuck on ANOTHER Planet Alone. Again because he was basically doing the same thing in Interstellar. Well not the same, but similar. In this movie Damon’s character, an astronaut Mark Watney is on a mission to Mars with his team when suddenly a sandstorm hits and he is left behind as his crew presumed he was dead after being hit by a satellite. But of course he wasn’t and I’m sure you can tell just from the fact that Matt Damon’s face is on the poster.

The reason why I was so excited for this movie was actually because of Interstellar. After that, I became obsessed with space movies, and I think its because it makes me feel smarter when I research the science behind the movies. Well anyways, I was so goddamn excited for this movie I literally couldn’t contain my emotions. I went last night to a 9pm screening which was PACKED so I had to sit in the front of the theatre (bummer but I’m watching it again so...) 

The thing that stood out to me was the cinematography of this film. It was INCREDIBLE. I kid you not that every single shot of Mars in this film was visually stunning and is a photo that I would hang on every empty wall in my house. The colours are so vibrant and just aesthetically pleasing that I could watch the entire film without sound and I would still love it. Next up is of course the acting it self. Damon delivers a performance with a balance of humour and heart that it will certainly make you feel things. His monologues on his video diaries he does on the HAB are absolutely hilarious but truthful. His performance makes something that seems so highly unrealistic (surviving alone on Mars for YEARS) a bit more human and realistic. Not only does Matt Damon deliver a great performance, but so does the rest of the cast. From the Ares 3 team including Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Michael Peña, Sebastian Stan and Aksel Hennie, to the team at NASA consisting of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean and Kristen Wiig. Every single character gave a great performance to make me feel literally every emotion you could possibly think of. The plot itself is intriguing at every single moment, making you think, laugh, cry, or maybe all three at the same time. The script written by Drew Goddard adapted from Andy Weir’s book is absolutely phenomenal, making me feel like I was actually there with Mark Watney on Mars (slightly terrifying). And of course the one and only Mr. Ridley Scott who tied it altogether with a fantastic vision. 

Though I really adored this movie, the only complaint I have would be about the secondary characters. From Donald Glover to Kristen Wiig, they needed more development. Glover and Wiig were in the film for approximately 20 minutes in total, mostly standing around and nodding their heads, when in fact, they could’ve added much more to the story. 

The Martian is a film that has a little bit of everything. It made me laugh, cry, scream and all three at the same time. This a bit too far fetched science fiction film has been reeled in for viewers to understand and sympathize with the characters, making everything a little more realistic. This film is a must see with the strong cinematography, acting, writing, directing and everything else. I absolutely loved this film (not like I haven’t mentioned it prior to this) and I am sure you will too. 

The Martian gets 4.5/5 lonely Matt Damon’s

[notnicky]

Recent Kickass Female Characters: Claire Dearing, Jurassic World

**POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD**

Every summer, tons of big budget franchise films are released for the world to watch. This summer’s blockbuster is Jurassic World.

I have  watched Jurassic World twice and I love it. Having watched the iconic original Jurassic Park, I had high expectations for this film. Of course it was everything a fan could dream of, big dinosaurs, those big dinosaurs causing big problems, you know how it goes. But instead of focusing on the film itself, I really was intrigued with the kickass character, Miss Claire Dearing. So I thought I would elaborate my opinions about her wonderful character.

Claire was played by Bryce Dallas Howard (NOT Jessica Chastain, really it’s not THAT hard to tell) and I loved her performance. Claire started off being a woman who was extremely successful and respected for her job. She’s uptight and seems like she’s got her shit together. To be honest, she kinda seems like the ice queen that you sorta wanna be because in one sense she’s perfect?Anyways, yes she starts off having this icy exterior, someone who seems to never let lose because she’s afraid it will look unprofessional. What I absolutely love is that as the film progresses and she goes through somewhat of a transformation where she gets in touch with her humanity and that cold heart of hers melts. A key point was when Owen pulls up to a dying dinosaur and Claire comes with him to sorta gently put it down. That was the first step of her heart ‘deicing’ and her showing emotion to those ‘assets’, understanding that they weren’t just animals made up in a test tube for entertainment purposes. From that point forward she really starts to get in touch with her human side (not that she isn’t human but you know) when she realizes that she needs to save these thousands of people from being killed. 

A big part of Claire that I wanted to talk about was how much of a badass I think she is. Believe me, I love myself some Chris Pratt but I do think his character did overshadow BDH’s performance of Claire. Both incredibly kickass characters, but I do think Claire deserved a bit more credit. Having been a powerful HBIC in the beginning of the film was already pretty amazing, but then trudging through the woods in a pencil skirt and 3-inch heels to make sure her nephews are OK, thats insane. First, she saved Owen from being killed (Clawen trash, yes I love them) and then she outruns a T-Rex to save the entire island from more death. I really think that Hollywood needs more kickass women characters like Claire Dearing. Many people seemed to find the fact that Claire ran throughout the entire movie with heels on was ridiculous but I think it was part of her character and I loved it (BDH did mention she chose to because it was significant to the character). Those heels represent her strength rather than her weakness. I do think it kinda shows a bit of feminism like ‘yeah I'm a woman in heels running from dinosaurs, so what?’ which I personally think is pretty amazing. Something that could’ve been her biggest weakness didn’t end stop her from doing anything. 

Despite what other people may think, I believe that Claire’s journey and transformation throughout this film was great, and that she was a badass heroine that should get more credit. (S.O to Bryce Dallas Howard for doing a great job playing Claire!!!!!!!!) 

P.S. - Claire’s poster should’ve been her with the flare in her hands!!