Happenstance Found

23yo dude. Malaysian. I talk about movies. Not a professional critic.

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tumblr tuesday: turns red

No thoughts head empty. Except for the red floof. Here’s a selection of the frankly ebullient Turning Red fanart you’ve all been making. It’s long. This is a long post.

@monniponi:

@zeigarian:

@molleyc:

@c-art-y:

@blackhuajia:

@tropicalfreckles:

@raven-s-art:

@sapphickx:

@soda-squids:

@pinapaliart:

@auridi:

@munespice:

@maryheart22:

@nightsky-wonderer:

@yarart4ever​:

@jaess-jinx:

@ivysundews:

@teadrawstuff:

@suukhei:

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Cake (2017,short film)

Cast: Maxine Peake, Letitia Wright

Director: Alan Friel

Cake is delicious. Cake is a desert that associates with birthday and wedding day that creat festive atmosphere. Cake is especially extra mouth-watering if there’s one last piece left, would you rather leave it to party guests tobe polite or volunteer to have the last piece without tricks? The 6 minute-long film, Cake focuses on two women played by Maxine Peake and Letitia Wright walking alone together on a wasteland, exhausted and nowhere to go, Peake’s character suggests 3 ways to end their lives. The first option is to just sit on the road until they die from starvation or dehydration. Second, Peake’s character suggests to pulls the trigger on Wright’s character’s head and third, vice versa. However, they both collectively agree that none of the options are great. Then Peake’s character comes up another new option 3.0, which she suggests to fire the bullet to their heads in an alinement (seen above), ends their lives at once. Pertinently, Wright’s character refuses to do it in such way and suggests that they both keep walking. Peake’s character rebuts by shouting, “Where to!?” as they seem to be the few people who are alive in the post-apocalyptic world. Seem to be out of options, Peake’s gives the last option which she first asks her fellow sufferer on how she would do if there’s a last piece of cake. Bewildered, Wright’s character thniks that all she needs is to ask and gets agreements from everyone who might want to eat the last piece of cake. However, Peake’s character thinks that is barbaric and impolite. She thinks that the person who wants it should say no, despite, the people around her might think that’s a lie, then, she finds a chance to take the last piece and avoids social judegement. Again, Peake’s character contrives a new option 4, she puts the last bullet in the glock and demands the two of them to have eyes closed,then placed it on the ground; whoever wants the last piece of ‘cake’, take it. Turns out, Wright’s character takes the last piece but she misses the head and accidentally shoots the sign. Peake’s character screams, “WHAT THE FU..” and the film ends.

Without any contexts, we won’t be able to know how they would end alone together and what had heppended to the world but they seem to went through a disastrous event that wiped out most humanity. Those who were alive are probably unable to survive for long. Thus, one of the characters fell into desperation and thought of ways to end this quicker. Well, most of her ideas seemed to be impractical and the only idea that was carried out, didn’t work either. For being six minutes, this is a great film as it is definitely a no-brainer. I actually spent minutes thinking how they would end their lives but the ending was unexpected which the last scene almost looked like dark comedy. Regardless of what will happen to the duo, it does leave an infinite conjecture.

[seekinghappenstance]

Take Shelter (2011)

Director: Jeff Nichols

Cast: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain

Pshychological thriller is always my go-to genre. This film was a gem that I accidentally found by typing “top 10 Jessica Chastain movies” in the search bar then Take Shelter became one of many psychological thrillers that I liked. I have always liked Chastain’s acting ever since I watched Molly’s game which can be comparable with I, Tonya. Both biographies are simply astounding and have amazing stories that are worth to make into movies. Judging by colors and catastrophic tone of the poster, I would assume a high budget disasterous movie but in the trailer, Curtis (Michael Shannon) who is the only person seemingly hearing and seeing thunder and storm which suggests that he may have some sort of mental illnesses. This may not be another natural disaster picture, instead, Take Shelter depicts a man suffers from mental disorder who believes a biggest storm is going to strike the town and trying to take his wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain) and daughter to the tornado shelter that he built.

This film doesn’t take long to reveal to viewers that Curtis is crazy. Instead, viewers are slowly brought into his mind to experience what is it like to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia while feeling the need to protect the family. As the film develops, Curtis becomes petulant and sensitive as part of him seems to know that all he sees is not real and his paronia leads to several arguments with Samantha. Of course, Samantha does realize her husband weird behavior but when confronted, Curtis brushes her off or fudges it. It even got to the point that Curtis breaks work rules by using equipment from his construction job and signs a new loan that he can barely afford to start building his shelter without telling Samantha. When his boss found out that he has broken rules, he is fired, indirectly causing his close friend to have two weeks’ unpaid administration leave who later spreading rumors that Curtis is crazy. To add insult to the injury, Samantha is also angry at him for burdening financial responsibilities as they have more expenses coming up. Although Curtis has mental illness but his relationships with his wife, close friend and boss may be the catalyst that further affects his mental state. The whole movie feels ominous with a man seeing portentous storms and dreams “irl” and in his sleep that are almost inexorable. Frankly speaking, Curtis is lucky to have Samantha as his wife who really wants to help and listen even though they have a few arguments but those are not irascible fights but valid and that comes from a caring heart.

This outlandish film is underrated and it is often overlooked. However, this B-movie has everything it needs for a thriller. The tension lasts a bit longer which I like. Personally, I think Jessica Chastain nailed her role, especially when her role,Samantha chides her headband for not telling her about his shelter project (yeah not fair), her emotion was so raw. Michael Shannon shines in his own performance during the Lions club community scene as well. Some of the viewers may have ambivalent feelings toward the film but for me it’s not hard to understand at all except for the final scene. Nichols left an open-ended scene showing Curtis, Samantha and their daughter looking at the storm circling in the sky at the beach. Supposedly, Curtis is the only one who can sees the storm as he suffers from mental illness. My guess is Curtis is so sick to the point that he hallucinates himself into seeing “more things” other than just storms, completely dillusional. Anyway this movie would be extra suspenseful in a stormy night with raw performances from the two brilliant actors.

[seekinghappenstance]

The Assistant (2020)

Cast:  Julia Garner, Matthew Macfadyen, Makenzie Leigh, Kristine Froseth, Noah Robbins and Jon Orsini

Director: Kitty Green

The world is in chaos. 2020 is a mess. I just turned on the tv and escaped from the reaity to live in a production office to observe a young woman named Jane (Julia Garner) working as an assistant. This film is what it is about but also sending out important messages in a subtle way.

Jane as an assistant at film production company is far cry from the glamorous lifestyle we would imagine other than being chauffeured daily to work. She’s the first to arrive, of course, she needs to photocopy schedules, write emails, tidy up places and take good care of smallest things before she has time to make herself a cup of coffee. It is a no lively place to work that she can gossip with other colleagues. Most of the time, she is keeping a poker face, even to the two other male assistances whose behavior alternates between patronizing and disrespectful (seriously just eat your turkey sandwich). Jane’s tasks are high stress, she’s expected to instant responses to emails and set up everything for tomorrow. Throughout the whole movie, all shots were tight and gray, indicating how tedious and stifling the workplaces usually are which I agree. As the movie progresses, Jane also discoveres that her boss is using his position to have sex after discovering an earring on the carpet in her boss’ office. Though she doesn’t have solid proofs but she still decides to reach out for HR department, hopping for resolution. She is asked to keep her lips tight. Dishearteningly, she’s back to her work desk, finishing up tasks. I also realized that Garner had to wear the same outfit from the start and the end of the movie which could indicate how long her lousy shift really is.

It is a good thing that the director, Kitty Green chose to discuss sexual misconduct and toxic workplace in this film but the film was anti-dramatic and flat that I couldn’t pay anymore attention to the plot. The film did shift my attention to my mobile phone that I kept fiddling with, as I didn’t want to look into it anymore which is what happens at workplace irl as employees was mistreated and HR department would not want to investigate the case due to male-dominated company. Getting bored of the movie could mean the movie is bad but in this case, Green has successfully presented the film in such way to reflect most companies that overlooked misconducts just like my very reaction to The Assistant that should have desserved more attention.

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I, Tonya (2017)

Cast: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Julianne Nicholson, Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney

Director: Craig Gillespie 

I’ve never been a fan to love ice-skating, #1 I’m not good at as I find difficulty to find the balance to support myself and #2 the blade. However, my fear for ice-skating doesn’t take away the temptation to watch this movie. At first, I did not expect how much the movie would give but Margot Robbie and Sebastian Stan (DC & Marvel crossover) were what really made me to select the movie with my remote. The movie narrates a story about an unlucky girl, Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) who came from a tumultuous family and she was physically and emotionally abused by her mother, LaVona Golden (Allison Janney) in her daily basis. Tonya was brought to the rink by her mother at 4 to be professionally trained. Tonya became a very talented ice-skater as she grew older but sometimes her performance got dwindled as her dress might look slightly unflattering and tattered that cost her the competition despite her talent on ice. The judges have always disliked Tonya which she quickly realized it. Tonya had never experienced love and had always wanted to be loved. She once thought Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) would love her and she was right, but Jeff was violent and he would hit Tonya during a heated argument and a small disavowal between these two; they would make up, then he hit her again, then make up....The cycle never halted, eventually, their relationship ended up in turmoil so much so that Tonya had a restrained order against him and finally ended up in a divorce. Tonya and Nancy were once friends but things were quickly went to another path after Nancy got attacked. At the end, Tonya paid the highest price that she was banned to compete and participate in any ice-skating related event and competition.

The highlight of the film is none other than the infamous “incident”. I wasn’t even born when that incident happened but after finished watching the film, I was intrigued to find out more about the incident. Indeed, Tonya and Nancy were both victims. One was a victim to domestic violence and another one was victim to the attack. However, Tonya’s life had never been easy and life was not being fair to her as there was never an evidence pointed out that she was the attacker nor the schemer but she ended up having to lose everything. On the flip side, Nancy had lived in a much more comfortable household and yes, she was the victim but that did not take everything from her.

MEDIA

Until this day I still think many people have aware that media is powerful enough to shape a person’s reputation as easy as pruning bonsai, unless they are celebrities. In the past, the media would find a way to pair Tonya and Nancy up as the biggest adversary for each other. Somehow they even recreated a new character for both athletes. Tonya as the evil and ambitious girl & Nancy as the princess-type and nice girl. Now that the public was completely blindsided by the “new images” of the girls, Naturally, the public would have the tendency to think Tonya was unedequette and impolite, almost acting like savage since she came from a lower-class family. Thus, her demographics and “new images” seemed to add up. There was hardly a moment that the public would think Nancy was uncourteous even if her reaction to Oksana Baiul winning first place was caught on tape. The public could not forgive Tonya because she was the villain and Nancy was any other kind-heart Disney princes. All these sensational and repetitive headlines had successfully carved a permanent mark on people. I’d say the biggest winner is the media.

Post-movie reaction

To fight evils with evil and to cure ills with poison, once the movie was out, the public had started to side with Tonya. People started to question why Nancy needed an apology from Tonya in 1994 and why the world still owes Tonya an apology. The future of Tonya Harding would have been secured if media had been kind, but it is what it is. More than 20 years have passed, Tonya and Nancy were no longer skating on ice. Both women have children, especially, Tonya had now lived with a rather happily life as she found a man who treats her well and makes her happy. Well the whole essay is not looking like critique. However, the successful film is raw and honest which is audience wants to see. Nothing’s watered down and nothing’s too exaggerated. Kudos to the director, writer and the cast for being honest in the film and this film is the public apology to Tonya Harding.

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In the Tall Grass (2019)

Cast: Harrison Gilbertson, Laysla De Oliveira, Avery Whitted, Will Buie Jr., Rachel Wilson, Patrick Wilson

Director: Vincenzo Natali

I AM CONFUSION

Usually people would get lost in a jungle or in a mountain, but this film narratives two siblings trying to look for a child who is lost in tall grass or a family looking for two siblings who have also lost in the tall grass or a boyfriend who is looking for his 6 months pregnant girlfriend (one of the siblings) whom he has lost contact with for 2 months because she is lost in the grass. At this point, inside the tall grass could be cursed and haunted but no, the known law of nature and physics of time and space don’t seem to apply in this slightly overgrown meadow. The space is warped and the time is distorted. Every exclamation the siblings yell can be heard from the certain direction then the shouting seems to be switching to other direction the next second they talk/shout. Space doesn’t make any sense in the tall grass and that’s why they are fumbling around as they thought they had all control of their sense of direction. Just like the deep ocean, inside the tall grass is unfathomable, before looking for the lost child, the siblings has lost each others in the grass as well. Cal (Avery Whitted) accuses his sister Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) moving circuitously and she is the reason why they can’t find each other. Becky disavows, so does Cal. After a polemic argument, they both have come to a conclusion that this place doesn’t make any sense. After a disappearance comes another slaughter, in the core of tall grass, there is a giant rock which it will possess the person who ever makes contact with. Present and past are happening at once in the tall grass, time flows erratically and spasmodically, nobody knows exactly the timeline is (time loop). Nice person could be murderous and dead person could be alive at certain time and point. 

The story already seems ingenious and arresting if you only read the synopsis and that is how I decided to binge watch the whole thing. The result is not enjoyable at all (most of the time) as it is boring. At first I thought it was a good concept: missing in tall grass. It just doesn’t happen irl or show in any other films and they really think out of the box for this, just when you think you can’t get any more confusing, physics has entered the chat. I was spending half of my time looking for clues and trying to guess who were the possible killer, eventually, I gave up and started checking my phone involuntarily as I was so over it. The plot is sporadically written which it’s not a rare phenomenon that has never unprecedentedly happened in movie industry. I just had to point out Becky’s travailing scream and her normal responsive scream. I’m not grumpy about how much she screams but every time her yelling is not making me feel terrified, not even intimidated. Becky is very pregnant and her condition still doesn’t meet the quality of perilousness for this film.  Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) did it better in A Quiet Place. However, there’s a scene of Becky being fed residue of her own flesh from her own dead body (could be past/future-Becky or stuck in time loop) by Ross ( Patrick Wilson) is the goriest scene out of the entire film. This scene simply is the most horrifying scene in the entire film is because there’s no jump scares and gore, just enough blood to keep it at pg-13. There is also a fair amount of camera shots and movements of the grass and mud to showcase the characters’ predicament, and a few close-ups of the sweaty face and chapped lips with the additional inhaling and panting sound effect that really tells audience something detrimental is impending.

Overall, I still think I made the wrong choice of choosing this movie. All these pillows and blanket I had prepared before the movie were more than a redundant decor in the living room. I did not get scared or feel threatened. Maybe this film will work like the classic “The Shining” as the film previously received many mixed reaction as well but now it is one of the favorites by many people. Unfortunately, this film is more effective when it lets camera deliver the scares and articulate the horror. rather than its characters and dialogue.

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Sunshine (2007)

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh, Cliff Curtis, Troy Garity, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Chipo Chung

Director: Danny Boyle

Similar to my last review, In the heart of the sea is a story about whalers-turned-castaways learning how to survive in the cruelest way after a shipwreck caused by a monstrous giant whale, while, Sunshine is all about survival and a team of astronauts being saviors to mankind. The 2007 sci-fi film is just as intense as the adventurous film, In the heart of the sea, but this post is not a comparison essay and I want to focus more on the plot and characters from Sunshine. 

In 2057, humans have faced the coldest catastrophe on the earth as the sun has entered the phase of solar cooling. The sun has become inactive; the earth is freezing cold; leading to a global calamity. At this rate, a crew of eight pilots is ready to aboard spaceship Icarus II to take on the mission to jump-start the sun by dropping a bomb that is as powerful as nuclear bomb to reignite the sun, hoping to restore the heat and light energy that emits from the sun back to the earth. While on the space journey to the sun, the crew discover a distress call from Icarus I when they past Mercury. Icarus I was the first batch of astronauts to attempt the mission which they had failed. The crew members believed that there is no signs of life on Icarus I since it has been years that the original crew members did not make back to earth. However,  the crew members dispute whether course should be changed to commandeer Icarus I, in order to collect the payload which gains them 2 chances once they failed to restore the energy of the sun at first attempt. Engineer Mace (Chris Evans), however, opposes the idea. Eventually, they decide to navigate Icarus II to Icarus I when Captain Kaneda (Hiroyuki Sanada) asked Physicist Capa (Cillian Murphy) for his advice which he suggested to rendezvous with Icarus I. Little do they know what really awaits them is the unimaginable danger that makes everything seems bleak and hopeless.

These people are travelling in space to reach the sun which is pretty much unbeknown to human. Travelling in space should be a phobia. I have watched several sci-fi movies that take place in space and spaceship but Sunshine is extraordinary and underrated. As bad things happen one after another; from Navigator Trey (Benedict Wong) forgets to realign sun shield causing huge damages to spaceship and Captain Kaneda perishes in the line of duty trying to make repairs for external part of spaceship to oxygen gardens and oxygen reserves being destroyed by reflected sunlight and insane and atrocious intruder and former Icarus I captain, Pinbacker (Mark Strong) infiltrating Icarus II. All these chain reaction of events are bombarded and affected to all crews because of the sense of responsibility to safeguard a second chance of life for a planet which turns out to be rewarding to human race and rueful yet vehement to the crews of Icarus II. 

Of course, I was expecting some oxygen quantity dwindling is going to happen on spaceship which leads to hosting a democratic and contentious “Trey deserves to die” voting session. they agree to kill Trey who is still unconscious after being sedated, for fear of that he would commit suicide. When Mace decides to kill Trey, he discovers that Trey has committed suicide which everyone assumes. However, the truth of the death could be done by Pinbacker who sneaks in Icarus II (which confirmed by the intelligent computer) and tries to stop the mission by killing everyone. As soon as the computer has detected the fifth unknown crew member, I thought it would be an alien but it’s actually an insane and disfigured captain. As much as I enjoyed this movie, I still wouldn’t think a person could be alive without putting on spacesuit. I mean what about space radiation? extreme temperature? Pinbacker can’t be the lucky survival just give us aliens.

On the bright side, the existence of Pinbacker didn’t really much bother me as I was completely stupefied by the cgi which was beautifully contrived and created. I love the flames gushing from the sun, it just seems real. No wonder the sun got Searle enamored almost completely hypnotized, eventually, he died after exposing himself to the unshielded sun to stare for one last time at the observation room. 

Some argues that Pinbacker has never really existed and concludes that Capa is delusional as he may suffer from mental distress after the death of Captain Kaneda which causes him to hallucinate. Some of the theories also suggest that Pinbacker is real and his existence is just another way for the director Danny Boyle to convey a certain message, most probably his views on God and atheist that relate to spiritual content as Pinbacker can be seen to appear on video saying “ We are dust, nothing more. To this dust we will return. When He chooses for us to die, it is not our place to challenge God ”. At the end of the movie, Capa has successfully and finally reached the bomb control after being interfered by Pinbacker a several times, he then watched the sun slowly ignite and illuminate at the edge of the sun. The earth has been showered in daylight, again. Beautiful story. Beautiful ending. Sunshine does rack up tension and fear but this film always gets the loudest comment about how outlandish the movie is. It is not outlandish but rather whimsical as I would think. The earth will get cold in 2057? hell nah global warming is still the real issue. But using “earth became cold” as a theme is brilliant. Something used to be warm turns cold and something used to shine now fades, this is scary.

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In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, Cillian Murphy, Benjamin Walker, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Ron Howard

In the Heart of the Sea is based on a nonfiction book penned by Nathaniel Philbrick and is predicated on real life tragedy of the Essex —a whaling ship that was sunk by a humongous and fearsome white whale. The events later became the inspiration for Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick. The film is set in 19th century, a time when people light up oil lamps using whale oil, especially sperm oil which has been known to be an efficient oil for lighting fuel. During that time, the world loves a good whale oil, leading whaling to become one of the biggest industries. Novelist, Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) has finally tracked down Tom Nickerson (Tom Holland), after catching wind of the tragedy happened 30 years ago. Nickerson worked as a cabin boy and became a castaway on Essex after being the vessel was annihilated by a herculean sperm. Initially, Nickerson refused to spill the horrific and strange tale, but later changed his mind after his wife intervenes. In Nickerson’s tale, he narrates story about ins and outs on the Essex that focuses  mostly on first mate, Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth). 

The veteran whaler, Owen Chase who would like to sign up for the vessel’s captain to participate in whaling. However, the veteran whaler is hired as first mate because of low status. Chase is unsatisfied with the owners’ decision, instead, the title of captain is bestowed upon George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) who comes from a prominent and well-established whaling families. In truth, Pollard is inexperienced. Anything happens In the heart of the sea never rains but pours. First, the first mate and the captain always have conflicts due to Chase being discontented for not receiving the title of captain and Pollard being jealous of Chase’s skills on the ship. Suddenly, no one seems to put their differences aside to work together to hunt down more whales at new place. Whaling is not always full of joie de vivre. The crews are quick to learn that the mythical herculean white whale is aggressive. The creature damages and overturns the ship, unscrupulously and vehemently. Many crews have been killed by drowning and falling debris. Of course, the whole ship is on fire fueled by whale oil which nearly kill them. As a result, those who are survived from whale attack are stranded at sea and sustained by limited food and water until they have to be cannibalistic after running out of supplies. From standoff adversaries to whaling yarn to survival tale, the transition is dramatic because no one would have thought that whaling can go wrong with crews on huge ship. 

Here’s a few honorable moments I’d like to mention from the film. One of my favorite scenes is when Nickerson is commanded by Chase to crawl into the gory hole of a whale with a bucket to collect the precious oil as the teenager is the smallest size of crew member. While filling up the bucket Nickerson almost throw up (same when I was watching), imagine how strong the smell would be inside the whale’s hole  (it might smell like fish and blood). The scene looks disgusting (as it should be), according to the Holland, the goriness and blood are actually made of jello.

The next scene is cannibalism. This is the scene that I did not see it coming as I was expecting the castaways were able to make their ways back home before taking survival to the most extreme. The idea of cannibalism starts to burgeon after one of the crew members has died on whaling boat. They have shown hesitation, reluctance, and sadness before they cannibalize the crew member whom they perceive him as one of their dearest comrades. However, we don’t get to see them chewing on the dead man body which may have earned the film an Oscar nomination. If the scene actually exists I’d think their emotions are going to be melancholic and powerful as they require mettle and daring in order to survive.

The other scene is a pure sadness that brings friendship and brotherhood to another level. The indefatigable friendship between first mate, Owen Chase and second mate, Matthew Joy (Cillian Murphy). Chase is the first who discovers Joy’s head injuries after Essex was destroyed by the white whale. The aftermath has caused serious injuries on Joy’s head that Joy tries to hide it from his crew members, however, Chase eventually found out everything after questioning Joy many times. Days later, the crew members have found an isolated island and quickly learned that the island is inhabited where there is no sources. Before the crew members left, Joy has made the decision to stay as he is too emaciate and weak to leave. Chase tries to comfort Joy by reminding him that they are going home soon, hopping to change his mind and he doesn’t. Chase did his best to comfort Joy by promising that he will send boat to him, then he will play cards with him when he gets home, (probably) knowing that Joy will pass away very soon. Ugh, my heart is with you, Matthew. Here’s the most saddest scene in the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Es-7__fJn8

Overall, the movie is great at story-telling but it is lacking the vision but it is not too bad with many amazing scenes and acting skills. However, this film flops with $11 million box office debut. The only answer is that the film being released alongside Star Wars: The force Awakens. Undoubtedly, Star Wars has created an universal brand that holds a special place in many people’s hearts and Moby Dick is just a classic novel that no many people can be able to recall. Considering that Moby Dick stories may be new to many of us including myself and this is why lightsaber is more appealing to all gen. On the contary, I still find the high budget film In the heart of the sea is one of the genuine story-telling movies. 

[seekinghappenstance]

The Shallows (2016)

Cast: Blake Lively, Sully Seagull (a literal seagull)

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Slightly dramatic, very detrimental,  kind of menacing, and lots of goriness, The Shallows, is the reason why everyone should see it, especially for Jaws fans. The film is what you want to see in a shark survival movie. Although The Shallows prioritizes storytelling over characters development, but it still manages to tighten audiences’ jaws. Lively’s character, Nancy may not be as memorable as the setup and background are too brief and short. The film begins the narrative with Nancy intends to drop out from med school and goes on a beach in Mexico for surfing after losing her mother due to cancer. That’s it. This is all we know about Nancy; her mom has passed away,which, is upsetting; then, she goes on a beach and she encounters a shark. Don’t get it wrong because this film really understands the need of most shark fans by adding the right amount of perilousness which is not uncommon to see in shark movie, unless it is a parody by college kids.

There’s no many shark scenes in this film and this is what makes it cliff-hanging, who’s gonna win? The shark? or The girl in orange bikini who knows how to surf? The only answer can only be the heroine, I mean, what kind of shark movies that has no survivors? To survive from shark attack, not to mention, shark that can defy physics laws, Nancy has to save herself using her wit and strength. Fast forward to Nancy swimming swiftly to the rock for her safety after being attacked by a shark that leaves a gash on her thigh. Nothing is more gruesome when Nancy stitches her wide open wound using her jewelry, giving viewers an opportunity to experience at second hand, to be able to understand her helpless situation. Nancy is not too far from the shore but the lurking shark makes it impossible which leads Nancy and viewers to brainstorm in this complex situation. This is a one woman show and Blake kills it. Every good movie brings out real emotions and we see Blake single-handedly carries the whole movie with so much physical moves as she spends most of the time in the film diving, screaming for help, and battling with shark. Blake’s repertoire will go to waste if viewers don’t emotionally attached to her role, Nancy as the film is heavily relied on action (YES we do connect to her throughout the entire film). 

When we are cheering for Lively for being superb, there’s another amazing actor that we do not want to ignore. Although Lively has proven herself on screen, Sully’s character, Steven manages to catch the spotlight for himself despite being a seagull. Sully plays a temporary comrade to Nancy who is stranded on the rock. Yes, Sully may not fight the shark with Lively, however, he certainly spices up the film a little. In the film, Lively has a little conversation with Sully in limited scenes. The very scene symbolizes how lonely and helpless Nancy really is which is a bonus point that contributes to ratings.

Overall, the film is very satisfying and menacing. Again, Lively’s screen time is everything, especially, her swearing after firing a flare at the shark with the flare gun she found on the buoy. However, what the B movie really lacks is the character building which is not being focused but it gets a pass for audiences who got intrigued by bikini girl and shark. Currently there’s another shark-thriller movie, 47 meters down on showing at theaters and I haven’t had a chance to see yet but I do think it is going to be a great one,at least, better than The Shallows which has potential to offer more in the film. This B movie deserves a solid A-.

[seekinghappenstance]

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Zendaya, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson

Director: Michael Gracey

A film is just an extended fantasy and an insatiable craving for all of us that we have been making up in our heads. There are varieties of genres to fulfill our fantasies that are impossible to see in reality and The Greatest Showman has successfully accomplished it, leaving a scatter of applause from viewers in the theater just like how the audience cheer in the circus. 

The original musical film tells a story of P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) who was a destitute man, later became prominent and rich after founding Barnum & Bailey Circus. The story follows Barnum as he recruits a bunch of performers who comply with a specific standard ‘quirky’, ‘unusual’ and ‘curious’. In the mid-19th century, people are still pretty much narrow-minded and lack the senses of diversity and acceptability. Needless to say, they hate the circus and perceive them as monsters, at the same time, some of them enjoy the show as they have never seen anything like this which generates a generous revenue for Barnum. Due to unsatisfying reactions from local toward the circus, protesters start a fight with the troupe, eventually, causing a fire at the circus. Barnum faces with the financial difficulty of rebuilding the circus. His partner Philip Carlyle (Zac Efron) financially offered to help to rebuild it under condition of becoming a full partner, which Barnum accepts. Finally, Barnum changes the business to a tent to save money. The new circus continues to grow successfully and Barnum passes on the show to Philip in order to spend time with his family.

The film is meant to be uplifting, showstopping, dramatic, and lots of dancing and singing. The film provides many catchy soundtracks that boosts up the qualities and syncs with dance moves in term of audio visual. The dance, acting and song are in sync which is pleased to watch. There’s something about the film that is able to pull it off which most people think Beauty and The Beast live action movie has failed. It’s hard not to make comparisons between the two films as both films are musical. Musical genre has left me a long lasting bad impression after watching Beauty and The Beast as it was so tedious and dull, mainly because of bad script and songs. On the contrary, the whole theme and picture of The Greatest Showman is so lively and energetic. 

I’m the kind of person who don’t really mind for castings as long as they show dedication to acting. Everyone gets a pass. Frankly speaking, I would have never thought Zendaya would be cast for this movie, surprisingly, her performance is just as incredible as the rest of the casts. Zendaya seems to be the second choice of actress to cast, but she definitely pulls it off in her limited screen time. I can really see her hardwork and dedication to her role Anne Wheeler. According to Zendaya, she had to do lots of training for her role who is a trapeze artist after she was told by the director, in order to use her own stunt double as little as possible. To increase star quality, Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron are certainly wisely cast. Hugh Jackman is already amazing and incredible to begin with. Zac Efron used to be and still is everyone’s childhood crush and his chemistry with Zendaya is indescribably sweet and it’s only interpreted by their legitimate and pure performances on screen. Then we have Rebecca Ferguson as Jenny Lind who gives an unforgettable and powerful singing performance on screen. The only thing is that her haunting singing voice isn’t hers but it is Loren Allred’s. Why not just cast someone who is equally capable as Rebecca but this time with someone who has singing backgrounds?

Overall, the entire film is very satisfying. Some said the film was too sugar-coated and sanitized but I do agree that it needs to show a darker side in the era. For instance, Philip’s parents do say something unpleasant to hear to Anne who is a African but it’s definitely watered down. Instead, they would have said the n-word to her. We do see a lot of diversity happening on the screen which is politically and socially acceptable and welcoming. The soundtracks definitely have impacts on the whole production at certain point that paint the film in a bright color. Putatively, it wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for the amazing songs. Those are definitely a bop. I would recommend this delicate film to those who have never seen musical films, and to those who have always hated musical films, for sure, this film will show a different yet exquisite side that makes it stand out.

[seekinghappenstance]

Red Eye (2005)

Cast: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox, Jayma Mays

Director: Wes Craven

The genre of the movie is thriller ,specifically, psychological thriller. The movie doesn’t have to include jump scares like general horror/supernatural movies, maybe, one or two is enough but more importantly, the movie scenes have to be tense, nerve-wrecking and menacing to fit in the genre. I discovered the movie when I was casually flipping channels with the remote, then there was an intense fight involving with two people, one man aka Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) and one woman aka Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) on the TV screen. Fast forward to next scenes, the woman fell down the staircases as a result of struggling. That is when I decided to re-watch the film on my laptop to comprehend the entire plot, hoping to evoke terror in my heart that I was craving.

The movie is about a hitman aka Jackson Rippner who is plotting to murder the current US deputy secretary of Homeland security, Charles Keefe who is on a vacation with his families, planning to stay at Lux Atlantic Hotel in Miami. Jackson had acknowledged that a young woman, Lisa Reisert who happens to be the hotel manager and not to mention, he had also sent another killer outside Lisa’s father’s house in standby mode so he could force Lisa to “cooperate” on this assassination. Lisa is being forced to make a call from in-flight phone to have Keefe’s room switched to a targeted room where a missile launched from a boat in the harbor will strike. Despite being under pressure, Lisa pretends to call her co-worker to make the arrangement for Keefe’s families that Jackson orders during a storm that disrupts the sky phone service until Jackson knew her sneaky plans. She then writes a fake bomb threat in soap on the mirror, hopping anyone to notice, again, her plan fails the second time after Jackson checks on her. Fortunately, Lisa has a narrow escape from Jackson, soon after, the plane lands, Lisa then stabs Jackson in the throat with a pen and runs away in a chaos. Lisa quickly drives away from the airport and calls her co-worker to inform Keefe’s to leave the room before the missile is being launched while her gadget’s battery is running low. She attempts to make another call for her father to make sure he’s fine but the mobile couldn’t afford another call due to drained battery. Ultimately, Lisa finally makes it at her father’s house but she has to face both Jackson and a killer hired by Jackson to protect her father.

Please do keep in mind that the movie is from 2005 and I never expected anything high tech and exquisite CGI to be seen/used throughout the movie. As for this movie, the non-verbal comm is extremely essential element to the movie that helps developing intensity and faze to the audience, not derision which is definitely not the reactions you’d make while watching Rachel‘s impressive acting skills that never fail to gnaw your knuckles. It is undeniable that a skillful acting is required for Rachel and Cillian to implicates the audience of Lisa's helpless situation and Jackson’s psychotic and extreme behaviors respectively through nonverbal comm, not through dialogues. Most of the scenes on the plane had made me sit on tiptoe; narrow my eyes and frown as Lisa was being threatened by Jackson, followed by, a violent headbutt on Lisa’s forehead by Jackson that made her loss conscious after figuring it out that Lisa had tried to leave a message on her book to signal other passenger for help. I must emphasize that loud thudding sound was astonishing and, as usual, the loud sound failed to get the passengers’ attentions but it seemed logical as we don’t really hear any sound irl unless it is edited with some “THUD” sound effects like the movie did. Most of the setting in this movie was on a plane flew at more than thousand feet and you can picture the whole scenario in mind which is extremely anxious as a killer is sitting next to you if you enjoy this movie in a theater as the order of cinema chairs is similar to airplane seats. I’d have to say that this is a brilliant idea to connect with audience to directly feel the freaky atmosphere from the picture which I didn’t have the chance to experience.

However, there were scenes that against the law of nature. It was illogical and unnatural. In defense of the movie, that is actually the styles that can be seen in movies early 2000′s and it just no longer make any sense in these days. One of the scenes includes Lisa trying to hide from airport polices’ arrest by pretending a surveyor and simply throwing away her outerwear, even the polices had been given details about Lisa’s appearance. Despite all the ridiculous scenes, both Rachel and Cillian are powerful enough to carry the entire movie with their conspicuous talents. The acting skills are the core of entire production by reason of the movie only centers around two characters. The movie itself is being carried and brightened up by real skills. I wouldn’t be mad if Lisa and Jackson were played by other actors and actresses on one condition: they must know how to act.

Overall, this movie received decent review from rotten tomato. In my opinion, this movie is not so bad that I leave the theater halfway while the movie is still playing but not so remarkably good that I would bring it up in every single conversation. Another unpopular opinion is I have mixed feelings toward this movie regarding it should be in the psychology category as I don’t really think it fits but somehow I still think it feels right to be in the category. The main reason being there’s not many disturbing scenes like heads being chopped off that you could recall. A movie like Red Eye is probably too much for audience back in 2005 (probably). Here’s my thoughts: Did I get scared in the movie? Not really. Did I get unsettling feelings in the movie?Yes. Will I watch it again? Definitely. Do I recommend this to people? Hell yes. Forgot to mention that Jackson’s name is not real, he made that up by looking at Lisa’s father’s initials J.R. on his wallet. One word, SICK.