Watched in 2023 #1: Glass Onion, Avatar 2, Alchemy of Souls, Sen Çal Kapımı, and more

Last year I had a feature on the blog called 2022 in Movies, where I talked about the movies I watched throughout the year, and I enjoyed being able to discuss something I liked outside of books. This year that feature is turning into Watched in 2023, where I’ll talk about not only movies but also tv shows that I have watched recently.

Before starting with the post, I want to say sorry in advance because I basically wrote an essay on Sen Çal Kapımı (aka You Knock on my Door, or Love is in the Air) but I have been living in the world of this series for the last month (I watched 161 episodes!!), and I have no one to talk to about it, so I needed to share my thoughts and feelings.

Avatar: The Way of Water (4 stars): While I think this movie could have been shorter because nothing happens in the first two hours, I appreciated the visuals so much that after I got used to the meandering pace I actually quite enjoyed the exploration of this world. Beyond stunning visual effects, the movie tells a compelling story, introduces interesting new characters and new parts of the world, and explores complex and captivating relationships. I really enjoyed it and it made me tear up with the ending.

Glass Onion (4 stars): I have a very unpopular opinion: I liked this movie more than the first one. I found the first one predictable and Benoit annoyed me so much. Meanwhile, in Glass Onion, I actually liked Benoit, and I loved to hate all the other characters as well, which were very much caricatures and not real people. This was fun, and entertaining and I found the reveals at the end surprising (even if they weren’t the most mind-blowing plot twists ever). I really appreciated the culturally relevant satire and the overall humor of this movie.

Volver (4 stars): All of the main characters in this movie are women, who are strong, hard-working, and complicated, who support each other in the good and the bad, and who have suffered at the hands of men. The entire cast does a phenomenal job playing these very particular characters. I had so much fun following their story and rooting for them even when they did some questionable things. Men for their part are mostly irrelevant to the story despite the damage they have caused and its repercussions. The movie is full of reveals, filled with a good dose of humor, and it’s saturated with the bright, vivid colors that are common in Almodóvar’s movies; all of this makes it incredibly entertaining and captivating to watch.

Alchemy of Souls Season 2: Light and Shadow (4.5 stars): The strength of this series lies in its characters, I was rooting for all of the main cast (which is numerous!) and that made me feel invested in everything that was happening, even during the points where the overarching plot wasn’t advancing too much. The tension and pinning of the main couple were brilliant, the side couples were adorable, the humor was really good, the overarching storyline was interesting, and I liked the way it ended.

Sen Çal Kapımı (aka You Knock on my Door, or Love is in the Air) (4 stars): I watched this on HBO Max, which turned the original 2 seasons with a total of 52 episodes which were 2 hours each into 2 seasons with 161 episodes total episodes of around 45 minutes each. This is my first Turkish series and I watched 161 episodes of it in around a month, and I can’t really believe it. Overall, I really enjoyed this, mainly because I have never seen a couple that has more on-screen chemistry than the two main characters in this series, it was unbelievable and it made me feel invested in their relationship. I was rooting for them the entire time, their love story was dramatic, angsty, frustrating, beautiful, and epic. There were also some incredible side characters, and I was invested in all the relationships and dynamics between them. There was one character called Erdem who I hated the entire time and never understood why was there, he had even a couple love interests during the show and I thought that was the most unrealistic thing that happened in the show (and a lot of unrealistic things happened!). I didn’t even hate the villains that much.

In terms of plot, this was entertaining the entire time mainly because the plot revolved around the main couple and it was so easy to feel invested in them. Especially the first part of season one was really good. From fake engagements to evil exes to secrets of the past to controlling grandmothers to amnesia to secret babies to manipulation and deceit, everything happened in this series, and it was compelling but also a bit too much. I was frustrated at times, especially towards the end of season one because the characters didn’t get one episode of happiness before something bad happened again and that got to be a bit exhausting.

I think something that bugged me while watching is that often the timeline doesn’t make any sense and the continuity is often lost. For example, at one point they kept saying that months have passed but there was a woman who was pregnant and she wasn’t any further along her pregnancy even when “months” had passed. The last part of season one was particularly rough because Ceren’s storyline was unnecessary and felt forced, the way a character recovers his memory is ridiculous and the last 4 episodes made no sense, had zero connection with the rest of the series and they had a completely different tone. The second season was better and it went back to something closer to the beginning of the series. In terms of the ending, I feel like with so many episodes some characters (like Eyfer and Melo) could have had better endings, and overall I wished the last few episodes were a bit more epic, even if I overall like the endings of all the characters.

What have you been watching recently? Do you have any movie or tv show recommendations?

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2022 in Movies #5: Persuasion, Hereditary, Doctor Strange and more

It’s time to talk about the movies I have watched recently, 2 of the movies I’m going to talk about I watched as part of the film club I participate in: Hereditary and What Dreams May Come, and the other 3 are 2022 popular releases.

Hereditary: I really enjoyed most of this movie, the story is captivating, it had me at the edge of my seat, it went places I wasn’t expecting, Toni Collette’s performance was outstanding and the visuals are incredible. My only issue with this is that it builds and builds and then the ending came and it wasn’t satisfying enough for me, I was waiting for more.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness: I found the whole plot of this revolving around the multiverse really interesting. I really loved the introduction of America Chaves into the MCU, the multiple Doctor Strange were cool, and the storyline with Wanda keeps getting more complex and fascinating the more we see her in different movies and her tv show. I appreciated that there were some horror elements in this, which gives it a different vibe from other Marvel movies. Also, the visual effects in this one were really good. This is a solid superhero movie.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Persuasion: I understand why people dislike this movie, but honestly, it wasn’t that bad. I’ll admit that the romance in this wasn’t good, the performance of the actor playing Captain Wentworth was so underwhelming and he had zero chemistry with Dakota Johnson, so the angst and passion of the book weren’t there. Still, the reason this wasn’t such a big deal to me is that he didn’t feel like the main character, it was almost like Anne’s story and he was a small side character. 

Moreover, I loved Dakota Johnson’s performance as Anne, I loved how cheeky and funny this was, I enjoyed the fact that the main character broke the fourth wall, and overall, I had a lot of fun watching this.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Jurassic World Dominion: This wasn’t that bad. The whole clone storyline that they decided to include in the new trilogy was really bizarre and unnecessary. But getting over that, the movie is entertaining, there’s a nostalgic element with the return of characters from the old movies and there are dinosaurs. I wasn’t expecting much more than that.

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

What Dreams May Come: I re-watched this movie after around 15 years with my film club and the only parts that I remember- which were the different worlds people can create in the afterlife and the depiction of hell- were still there and they were interesting. But beyond that, this was a mess. I hated the way they discussed suicide and people who committed suicide, and the way there were supposed to be punished for eternity. Also, the fact that the kids of the main characters transformed themselves into people of color in the afterlife was a weird choice.

⭐

Rating: 1 out of 5.

What was the best movie you watched recently? Have you watched any of the movies I mentioned?

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2022 in Movies #4: Everything Everywhere All At Once, Personal Shopper and more

Hi everyone! I finally had time and motivation to sit and write the reviews of the last few movies I have watched, and I’m excited to share my thoughts with you today! All of these movies, except for Father of the Bride, were movies I watched as part of the film club I participate in, which has become my favorite weekly activity and one of the reasons I’m watching more movies this year than in previous years and also watching overall better movies.

Without further ado, here are the movies I have watched recently:

Personal Shopper (4 stars): I went into this thinking it was a drama and found myself watching a horror movie and I ended up loving it. The eerie, spooky vibe kept me at the edge of my seat while watching this, waiting to see where the story was going. I have to admit that I got caught up in the suspense and creepiness and maybe lost track, while I was watching the movie, of some of the deeper ways this addressed grief and the re-construction of identity after losing someone that had profoundly shaped that identity. But after the movie ended I discussed it with my film club and I was even more impressed by the way this movie addressed such complex topics.

The Hours (4 stars): This is a captivating film, with great dialogue and fantastic performances, that managed to capture the melancholy and desolation that these women live with, which helps the audience understand the decisions they contemplate making and the ones they make.

Everything Everywhere All at Once (3 stars): I have a very unpopular opinion about this movie because I think it was just ok and it had some big issues. I liked the way it addressed generational trauma, the acting was phenomenal, and the cinematography was great. 

Nonetheless, I don’t think it was successful at integrating the discussions it wanted to have about generational trauma and the sci-fi elements. Also, the breakneck pace of the movie was too much sometimes, which made it disorienting and stressful, and there was a point where the fight scenes, which were used to show the possibilities of the cool sci-fi concept of the movie, became too many and lasted too long and they dragged.

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (3 stars): This is a mix between a western and a revenge film, which has a captivating plot and stunning cinematography. My issue with this is that it tries to cover a lot of topics about the experiences of women in rural Indonesia (sexual violence, revictimization by the police, female friendship, fertility, and more), and by covering so many topics, it only addresses them surface level, it doesn’t present deeper arguments or ideas about any of it. Nonetheless, it’s an entertaining film and it’s a good entry point into learning more about the lives of women in Indonesia.

Father of the Bride (2.5 stars): I’m so confused by all the good reviews this movie is getting. While it’s not terrible, it’s not good either. The writing falls short, the performances fall short at times too especially from secondary characters, sometimes the characters feel like caricatures, and it tries to be funny but it fails every single time and it ends up being cringy. 

Nonetheless, I appreciated the diversity, the fact that it has an almost entirely Latinx cast (even if all of them are white Latinx), and the inclusion of the cultural nuances of coming from different Latin American countries.

What was the best movie you watched recently? Have you watched any of the movies I mentioned?

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2022 in Movies #3: The Handmaiden, Morbius and more

Hi everyone! I hope you all have been doing great lately. I decided that I’m going to stop apologizing for not posting consistently, feeling bad about it, and saying I’ll start doing it to then not actually do it. Instead I’ll post when I have the time, energy, and motivation to do it. With that in mind, I finally have my next 2022 in movies post ready, so let’s talk about the movies I watched recently.

Morbius (3 stars): I heard so many bad things about this movie that I went in with really low expectations and I don’t know if it’s because of that, but I didn’t think this was terrible. It was not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination but it was entertaining and the two lead performances by Jared Leto and Matt Smith were actually decent. My main complaints are that it felt like the female lead was nothing more than a love interest and that the ending was really abrupt, there wasn’t that much tension in the final confrontation and it was over rather quickly and easily.

Little Forest (3.5 stars): This was a character-driven story where not a lot happens, nonetheless, it managed to keep me engaged the entire time. It’s a contemplative movie that shows the main character going back home, leaving behind the things she thought she wanted (a job, relationship, and urban life), and finding the things that actually bring her peace and joy (old friends, hobbies, and rural living). Farming, harvesting, and cooking played an important role in the main character’s journey and are depicted with love and care. The performances of the entire cast, but particularly the protagonist Kim Tae-ri, were remarkable.

FILM CLUB PICKS

As I mentioned in my last post of 2022 in movies, I started a film club with my friends from college and it has become my favorite part of the week. We decided that we would have different cycles of 4 movies each and now we are in cycle 2 which is movies made in Asian countries by Asian filmmakers. So far, we watched a Korean film and a Thai film. Here are my thoughts on them:

The Handmaiden (5 stars): This is a masterpiece. I was absolutely captivated while watching it, the acting is impeccable, the plot riveting, and visually is a beautiful film. This is erotic, clever, disturbing, hopeful and so much more. The twists and turns of the story kept me engaging and at the edge of my seat, but I love that there are enough clues to figure out that something else is going on behind the deception that, as watchers, we are in on. And the reveals at the end are brilliant and satisfying. Also, the sapphic love story at the center of this film is one of the most wonderful and complex relationships I have seen depicted on screen.

The Scent of Green Papaya (3.5 stars): Not a lot happens in this film and not a lot is said, and by that I mean, there’s so much silence throughout the film. I finished watching this and I was a little confused, I didn’t really understand what this film was trying to do or say. It was a warm, tranquil film, with beautiful cinematography, but beyond that, I didn’t get it and my friends in the film club felt the same way. But once we started discussing it and theorizing, we found the main character’s way of looking at everything around her, her attention to detail, how caring she was of everything, her positive outlook on life, her humility, and the fact she felt equal to everything and everyone, her unity of self and world, were the central part of the story. By the end, we arrived at the conclusion that it is a film about everyday spirituality from an Eastern perspective, which is why it felt so different and it was hard for us to understand at first.

What was the best movie you watched recently? Have you watched any of the movies I mentioned?

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2022 in Movies #2: CODA, Lady Bird, The Batman, Spencer, The Farewell and more

Hi everyone! After a month of not watching any movies in February, I’m really excited to talk about some recent developments (aka I joined a film club) and about the 10 movies, I have watched recently: 9 in March and 1 in April, which I included because I wanted to have all the movies that we watched for the first cycle of the film club in one post.

FILM CLUB PICKS

I started a film club with my friends from college and it has become my favorite part of the week. We decided that we would have cycles of 4 movies each and the first cycle is movies directed by women. We have watched movies directed by a French director, an American director, a Chinese-American director and a Peruvian director. Here are my thoughts on them:

The Farewell (5 stars): This movie was fantastic. It was emotional and hard-hitting while having a very particular brand of humor and some very comedic moments. The performances were outstanding and the cinematography was incredible too. I loved getting to see more of China and its culture, and I loved the discussion about the dichotomy between Western individualism and Eastern collectivism and how nuanced the exploration of that subject was. Also, the portrait of the immigrant experience, the way it marks people but also the experience of those who stay behind and how that marks them was really interesting.

Portrait of a Lady in Fire (4.5 stars): This was a very slow, character-driven story. The two main actresses have so much chemistry and the way they portrayed the tension and attraction between their characters was incredible. The cinematography was striking, every image looked like a painting. For most of the film, the only characters on the screen were women and it was easy to feel the difference from other movies. The solidarity, support and trust, the horizontality of the relationships between them were so wonderful to see.

The attention to detail of the director is impressive, even the smallest things in this film say so much. The way it parallels the myth of Orpheus and Euridice, the focus of the female gaze and the way abortion was shown. This movie was thought-provoking and there was a lot about it to discuss. While the ending wasn’t happy, I didn’t find it to be tragic either. It was very profound and powerful. 

The Milk of Sorrow (4 stars): This movie was really powerful and hard to watch. The entire movie was filled with metaphors, that were a bit on the nose but also incredibly effective and impactful. The performances were outstanding and the cinematography too. This explored generational trauma and the ways it expresses itself, especially the impacts of rape on women and how there’s a fear that gets passed down intentionally from those experiences as a way to protect other women in their families. This showed a main character that has to learn to let go of that inherited trauma (at least partially) to be able to live. This also had indigenous Peruvian main characters, it showed their culture and their language and the way they use singing to process their traumas, and that added so much beauty and depth to the story. 

The main character is, justifiably so, mistrustful and a bit paranoid around men and it conveys that feeling so well that it’s impossible to feel at ease when a man is on screen. But also it depicts the way white women take advantage of vulnerable indigenous women and the biggest mistreatment of the main character in this movie ended up being at the hands of a white woman. Overall, there’s so much to say when it comes to this movie because it’s so profound and thought-provoking.

Lady Bird (4 stars): This is a good coming-of-age movie that addresses themes that may be common in this type of movie but it does it in a more nuanced way. These themes go from the complicated relationship between a judgemental and harsh mother and an impulse and self-centered teenage daughter (both characters are much more complex than that), to preoccupations around social class and money, and the exploration of sexuality. This movie feels like an authentic portrayal of teenage years, especially the cringy and awkward moments. 

The performances are outstanding, the way the movie is edited to move quickly from one scene and moment to the next is well-executed and the characters are complex and captivating. Still, the main character is so frustrating at times (which I believe is intentional) that it affected my overall enjoyment of the movie.

OTHER MOVIES

Beyond the movies I watched for the film club, I also watched a few Korean movies, a couple Oscar nominees and The Batman.

CODA (4.5 stars): This is a wholesome and heartfelt movie, that may be have been a little too predictable if it wasn’t because it portrays an experience that’s not often front and center in media. I loved the complicated but loving family dynamics, the way it shows the struggles of all of the family members, and how different deaf characters chose to engage and establish relationships with hearing people. The performances were great and the way this balances drama and comedy was well-achieved.

Tune in for Love (4.5 stars): This movie was adorable. Even if it has lots of emotional and angsty moments because of the main characters’ pasts, their missed encounters, and missed opportunities, Still, it’s just a sweet romance that expands a decade from 1994 to 2005. A really cool thing about this movie is the way they used technology to show what year it was and the passage of time. I couldn’t help but think about the way the evolution of technology has changed the way we establish relationships with others.

Space Sweepers (4 stars): This was fun and entertaining. The found family in this was so endearing, the characters were compelling, complex and also easy to root for, and the plot revolving around this group of dysfunctional people taking care of this little girl was sweet and engaging. While the ending felt a little like they cheated, it fits the tone of the movie well.

Spencer (4 stars): While psychological thrillers about paranoid characters are not usually my type of movie, I have to admit this is a good movie with an outstanding performance by Kristen Stewart. The way it explores the effect on Diana of being at the mercy of other people’s interests and expectations without one moment of privacy or solitude is fantastic. A feeling of dread and paranoia is palpable throughout the film and it’s reinforced by the editing, cinematography, music, and performances.

The Batman (3.5 star): This was way longer than it needed to be and that’s my main complaint. This would have been a lot better if it was shorter because it felt slow and it dragged at certain points. Also, I didn’t love the way Bruce Wayne was depicted like this reclused, uncharismatic guy. I would have liked it if there were more differences between Batman and Bruce. Nonetheless, I really liked that it didn’t feel like a superhero movie, it felt more like a crime film full of mobsters and corruption. And overall, I liked the plot progression and the way the movie ended.

Love and Leashes (3 stars): This was funny, unique and strangely educational about BDSM. I wish we got to see the characters connect a little more outside of their time as dom and sub, but overall, I enjoyed watching their relationship as dom and sub develop. I didn’t love the way it ended, it felt like a cliche ending for a movie that was not, and the big speech at the end by the male lead was a bit cringy. But it was still a fun, interesting movie to watch.

What was the best movie you watched in March? Have you watched any of the movies I mentioned?

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Ranking All the Movies I Watched in July 2020

Hi everyone! After really bad luck with the movies I watched June, I’m so glad to say that I mostly enjoyed the movies I watched in July!

Without further ado, here are the movies I watched:

8. The Old Guard (2.5 stars): It’s not surprising that I didn’t really like this movie because I don’t like action films. Everything was unrealistic, ridiculous, and convenient. Nonetheless, I liked the concept of the movie and it was really cool to see a gay relationship be the main romance in an action movie.

7. Feel the beat (3 stars): This was cute and entertaining. The kids were adorable and the best part of the movie. Everything that happened was convenient and predictable, but I wasn’t expecting anything different. My main issue with this is that the romance was forced and there weren’t enough scenes between the two characters to make it believable or interesting.

6. Bride and Prejudice (3.5 stars): Fun and absolutely unrealistic, in particular towards the end. I had a few issues with it: I didn’t really like Martin Henderson in the role of Mr. Darcy, I felt like the gesture at the end was lackluster and I wish we had gotten a good declaration instead and the ending felt rushed. I liked the changes in the Lydia/Wickham storyline.

5. Austenland (3.5 stars): This movie was fun and absurd. The acting was very good. My only little issue is that the romance was going well, but it was something that was just starting towards the end of the movie and they tried to force it to be a more serious relationship than it was.

4. Emma (3.5 stars): This movie was good. The acting, in particular, was great. My problem was that it felt like a bunch of disjointed storylines; we followed a storyline for a while then jumped into another storyline spent a while there and then jumped again. Also, the Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill storyline didn’t work in this adaptation.

3. Gone Girl (3.5 stars): This was good. I thought I knew the twist since so many people talk about this movie, but I only knew the first one and so many things happened after that which was cool. The first half was definitely stronger than the second. Rosemund Pike did such a great job in this movie! Her acting was outstanding. I felt like there were parts of the movie when Amy acts out of character and that bugged me but that I had more to do with the writing.

2. Kiki’s Delivery Service (4 stars): This was cute and heartwarming. The plot is simple, but I was still interested in the story and the mix between the non-magical world and the little bit of magic that was part of the story.

1. Howl’s Moving Castle (4.5 stars): THIS WAS SO GOOD! this movie was magical and whimsical, I loved the nonsensical magic and world, it was captivating. I loved the cranky old lady/young woman, the adorable kid, and the funny fire demon. I think the romance came out of nowhere but I didn’t care and there was a very random prince storyline that was a bit unnecessary but I didn’t care either. It was just so good.

What movies have you watched and loved lately? Have you watched any of the movies on this list? What did you think about them?

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The Movie Journal: July 2018

The Movie Journal is a feature where I keep track of the movies I watch in 2018 and my thoughts about them. Here are the movies I watched in July:

Get Out (4,3 stars) 

A young African-American visits his white girlfriend’s parents for the weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him eventually reaches a boiling point.

• Directed & Written by: Jordan Peele
• Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford

I went into this movie having no idea what the plot actually was and I was not expecting what happened. Jordan Peele finds a way to use this generic horror movie plot to make a thought provoking movie full with social commentary. Also, the acting in this movie is fantastic and there’s this tension that builds through the entire film that kept me at the edge of my sit.

El Bar (4 stars) 

In bustling downtown Madrid, a loud gunshot and two mysterious deaths trap a motley assortment of common urbanites in a decrepit central bar, while paranoia and suspicion force the terrified regulars to turn on each other.

• Directed by: Álex de la Iglesia
• Written by:  Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Álex de la Iglesia
• Cast:  Blanca Suárez, Mario Casas, Carmen Machi

This movie is entertaining and funny. The acting is really good, even if the characters are a bit like caricatures. There’s a very big plothole at one point in the movie, but I was able to ignore that for the most part. Honestly, it’s just a fun movie to watch and it manages to puts human behaviour under the microscope in a very smart and captivating way.

Table 19 (4,2 stars) 

Eloise, having been relieved of maid of honor duties after being unceremoniously dumped by the best man via text, decides to attend the wedding anyway, only to find herself seated with five fellow unwanted guests at the dreaded Table 19. 

• Directed & Written by:  Jeffrey Blitz
• Cast: Anna Kendrick, Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson

I’m huge fan of movies that are heartfelt comedies with an ensemble cast, so I really enjoyed this one. Also, I love almost anything Anna Kendrick is in, so that help as well. This movie has likable characters, solid performances by the cast, there’s a surprising twist revealed maybe a little less than halfway through the movie that worked really well, and all that makes a charming movie that manages at times to have a real emotional weight.

Jurassic World 2: Fallen Kingdom (4,2 stars) 

When the island’s dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.

• Directed by:  J.A. Bayona
• Written by: Derek Connolly, Colin Trevorrow
• Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall

This is a very entertaining movie, one of my favorite things is that they left the tension build up before the dynosaurs showed up a couple times and it worked really well to convey the scariness of the situation. It’s a fun movie to watch but that’s about it, perfect if you want a family friendly ,enjoyable movie. It had a chance to be a smarter movie with the “do we save the dynosaurs from extintion or not” question, it could have been an exploration of ethics and the responsabilities of humans towards other species, and while that was mentioned, the movie really didn’t go there.

Have you watched any of the movies I mentioned? Did you enjoy them? Do you want to watch any of them? Let me know in the comments! 

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The Movie Journal: June 2018

The Movie Journal is a feature where I keep track of the movies I watch in 2018 and my thoughts about them. Here are the movies I watched in June:

Thi Mai 

Along with her two friends, a determined woman travels to Vietnam to bring home the baby her recently deceased daughter had planned to adopt.

• Directed By: Patricia Ferreira
• Written By: Marta Sánchez
• Cast: Carmen Machi, Adriana Ozores,  Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

This is a spanish film that managed to be both emotional and hilarious. I was scared that this was gonna be exoticizing  in terms of the Vietnamese culture, but it was actually well handdled. My favorite things about this movie were the performances by the three main actresses and the very realistic depiction of friendship, the three main characeters were always there for each other, even when they didn’t always agree with the decisions that the others were making. The only things I would say are that this movie ask for a lot of suspension of disbelief from its audience and it’s not particulary thought provoking. BTW, this is on Netflix!

Ocean’s 8

Debbie Ocean gathers an all-female crew to attempt an impossible heist at New York City’s yearly Met Gala.

• Directed by: Gary Ross
• Written by: Gary Ross, Olivia Milch
• Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Mindy Kaling

I thought this movie was ok and that was disappointing because I expected it to be amazing. It was never exciting, there was no tension, the heist was so simple… honestly I was never scared that they were gonna be caught. There’s a twist at the end that made me think that this could have been a great movie if they had decided to NOT make certain thing a twist and instead show the audience from the beginning; it would have made the movie much more exciting. I also didn’t like that they brought a guy to help them at one point. The performances were good but there was only so much the actresses could do with what they were given.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 

Harry, Ron, and Hermione search for Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes in their effort to destroy the Dark Lord as the final battle rages on at Hogwarts.

• Directed By: David Yates
• Written By: Steve Kloves
• Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

This was obviously a rewatch and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven’t rewatched the last 3 films in the series as much as the first 5 films and it was amazing to see all the little moments that made this movie epic. This time around it even made me cry, which I don’t remember happening any of the other times that I have watched it.

Incredibles 2

Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) is left to care for the kids while Helen (Elastigirl) is out saving the world.

• Directed & Written by: Brad Bird
• Cast: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner 

Honestly, I’m not a big fan of animated movies unless they are very sweet and emotional films. I knew going in that Incredibles 2 was not that kind of movie, but there was an element of nostalgia that made me want to watch it. At the end, I really liked it, my favorite part was how funny it is, especially the scenes with the baby Jack-Jack. Also, I think it was interesting to see the role reversal of Mr. Incredible staying at home and Elasticgirl saving the world, that added some funny moments as well and also made some commentary about gender roles.

Set It Up 

Two corporate executive assistants hatch a plan to match-make their two bosses.

• Directed by: Claire Scanlon
• Written by: Katie Silberman
• Cast: Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs

Most of us have noticed that there has been a lack of old fashion romantic comedies in recent years, lucky for us this movie delivers just that. A lot of rom-coms lately have tried to innovate by being raunchy and Set It Up steps completely away from that. Instead it’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s tropey, it’s everything that a rom-com should be and because of that it’s a wonderful film. The two main characters have a lot of chemestry and both actors deliver amazing performances, which is one of the strong points of the film.

 Have you watched any of the movies I mentioned? Did you enjoy them? Do you want to watch any of them? Let me know in the comments! 

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The Movie Journal: April 2018

The Movie Journal is a feature where I keep track of the movies I watch in 2018 and my thoughts about them. Here are the movies I watched in April:

 

The Shape of Water  (3,7 stars) 

At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.

• Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
• Written by: Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
• Cast: Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon

This movie was simply underwhelming for me. It was not a bad film, the acting was good, the way the movie looked was very distintive but nostalgic at the same time,  it was very clear that it was a tribute to old monster movies, and the sound work was great. Nonetheless, it tried to be reminesent of a fairytale and because of that the storytelling was really straightforward, which could have worked well, but I felt like the story lacked depth, everything was overly simplified, including  the characterization.

The Circle (3,7 stars) 

A woman lands a dream job at a powerful tech company called the Circle, only to uncover an agenda that will affect the lives of all of humanity. 

• Directed by: James Ponsoldt
• Written by: James Ponsoldt, Dave Eggers
• Cast: Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega, Karen Gillan

I found this movie really interesting, the concept is not enterily unique but it’s compelling and it takes things a bit farther than a lot of movies with similar premises. The acting was fantastic and it was actually a very entertaining film. The main problem for me was the ending, which was incredibly disappointing. Another problem is that it brough up really complex and interesting discussions but the main characters had some messed up ideas about them and the fact that their positions where messed up was never addreses in the movie.

Avengers: Infinity War   (3,8 stars) 

The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

• Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
• Written by: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
• Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson

After I watched this movie, I spent a while not knowing how I felt about it and I’m still not sure. The movie is funny, enjoyable and entertaining. Also, it’s interesting to see a movie where everything goes wrong, plans fail, character fails and the ending leaves you waiting.

Nonetheless, the movie lacked a bit of cohesiveness in the way it looks, it felt disperse; different parts of this movie looked like different movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it was like several movie put into one. Also, I felt a completely lack of emotion when it came to deaths and sacrifices, the movie flied through those moments and left me not knowing if the characters died or not, if I should care or not, if I should be sad or not. I think that’s the biggest mistake of the film, because if those moments were more emotional, I would have made the storyline more believable and it would not have felt like everything was gonna be fixed later.

 

 Have you watched any of the movies I mentioned? Did you enjoy them? Do you want to watch any of them? Let me know in the comments! 

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The Movie Journal: February & March 2018

The Movie Journal is a feature where I keep track of the movies I watch in 2018 and my thoughts about them. Usually I do it monthly, but since I only watched one movie in february I decided that doing just one post for february and march was better. Here are the movies I watched:

FEBRUARY 

Black Panther (4.5 stars)

T’Challa, the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T’Challa’s father’s mistake.

• Directed By: Ryan Coogler
• Written By: Joe Robert Cole, Ryan Coogler
• Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o , Danai Gurira 

I loved this movie, this had gourgeous visual, amazing music, the acting was fantastic, the representation was meaningful, there was insightful commentary about race and it was a really thought provoking movie. Don’t hate me but…my only little problem was with the plot, I was left waiting for something more to happen.

MARCH 

 

Love Per Square Foot (4 stars)

Love Per Sq Ft deals with the very common predicaments that faces today’s urban youth; finding a house and finding love. Through the course of this romantic comedy we see Sanjay Chaturvedi and Karina D’souza desperately seeking a house, but realizing the difference between ‘ghar’ and ‘makaan’ (house and home). 

• Directed By: Anand Tiwari
• Written By: Sumeet Vyas, Anand Tiwari
• Cast: Angira Dhar, Vicky Kaushal

This one was a fun movie to watch with really well used comedic elements. I was rooting for the characters the entire film, the acting was really good, the leads had a lot of chemestry and that drove the story and madeit easy to be invested. Also, I loved the cultural insight of life in Mumbai, I found it really interesting.

Game Night (4 stars)

A group of friends who meet regularly for game nights find themselves entangled in a real-life mystery.

• Directed by: John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein
• Written by: Mark Perez
• Cast:  Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Lamorne Morris 

This was unexpectedly funny, it’s an absurd movie that goes all in and embraces that absurdity and it does it with a sharp script, which makes it work.  McAdams and Bateman give really strong perfomances and the acting of the rest of the cast is pretty good as well.

Moms’ Night Out   (3 stars)

Hardworking mom Allyson has a crazy night out with her friends, while their husbands watch their children.

• Directed by: Andrew Erwin (II), Jon Erwin
• Written by: Andrea Gyertson Nasfell, Jon Erwin
• Cast: Sarah Drew, Patricia Heaton, Sean Astin

This has funny moments, not often and not with a lot of sophistication, but they were there. It was an okay film, the acting wasn’t bad. The main problems is that it requiers a suspention of disbelief from the viewer, like a lot of comedies,  but it doesn’t embraces that and pretends to be a more realistic story that it is.

Coco (4.5 stars)

Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family’s ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.

• Directed by: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina
• Written by: Matthew Aldrich, Adrian Molina
• Cast: Anthony Gonzalez (VIII), Gael García Bernal

I wasn’t expecting to love this as much as I did. It had me in tears by the end, it’s a heartfelt and magical movie. The music is fantastic and it contribues so much to the story, especially the song Remeber Me, and the visuals are out of this world beautiful, full of color and wonder.

 

Tomb Raider (3 stars)

Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, must push herself beyond her limits when she finds herself on the island where her father disappeared.

• Directed by: Roar Uthaug
• Written by: Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Alastair Siddons
• Cast: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West 

I don’t really like action films, so I was not expecting to like this, but it was fun for once to see a female character as the action heroin. This movie is full with ridicusly unbelievable stunts and the scrip wasn’t the best either.

I Am Not Your Negro (5 stars)

Writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House.

• Directed by: Raoul Peck
• Written by: James Baldwin, Raoul Peck

This was interesting, frustrating, thought provoking documentary and I thoroughly enjoyed seen it. I do think it was missing some female perspectives, that are mention in passing throughout the documentary but never given as much attention as the males. Nonetheless, this was very enlighting.

Wanderlust (2,5 stars)

Rattled by sudden unemployment, a Manhattan couple surveys alternative living options, ultimately deciding to experiment with living on a rural commune where free love rules.

• Directed by: David Wain
• Written by: Ken Marino, David Wain
• Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd

This was terrible, it wasn’t funny and the script was not good. It was vulgar, dumb and quite forgattable.

Annihilation (4,2 stars)

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don’t apply.

• Directed & Written By: Alex Garland
• Cast: Natalie Portman , Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh

This was intriguing, suspensful, absorving and thought provoking. The visuals were captivating and magical. This was not an action packed movie, it had an intelligent and a bit complicated scientific element to it that was interwoven with existential questions.

 

 Have you watched any of the movies I mentioned? Did you enjoy them? Do you want to watch any of them? Let me know in the comments! 

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