My Thoughts on Shutter Island (2010)

So Shutter Island has been super heavily recced to me by two of my friends (bc we all like the psychological thriller genre) and I finally watched it just now~

Warning: Major spoilers (imma spoil everything)

Warning: I'll talk as if you just watched the movie too bc it's late and I don't wanna spend too much time summarising the movie. If you want a refresher, look here for Screen Rant's review, or Wiki.

So this is really well done psychological thriller that's really intense, filled with little details that allude to the truth, and lots of jarring imagery that all come together in one big, messed-up semi-ambiguous conclusion.

By the time Chuck (aka Dr. Sheehan) gave and lit the second cigarette for Teddy (aka Andrew Laeddis) with eerily familiar movements, I had two major theories about the movie:
1. The institution is indeed experimenting on Teddy, and
2. Teddy was a patient.

I really loved the little details of the movie, like how all the guards were tense around Teddy, or that Chuck only gave ambiguous answers, or the condescending behaviour of the staff towards Teddy, or that Teddy only touched fire (or matches, works both ways) the moment the truth starts being revealed and so on. The little bandage on Teddy's forehead throughout the movie made me certain very early on that Teddy was indeed Laeddis, because Teddy clearly described Laeddis as having a big scar on his face. The bandage mysteriously disappeared when Teddy started confronting being Laeddis, however, which was a bit disappointing. I was expecting the bandage to play a bigger role for some reason, such as being a physical proof of Teddy's delusions.

What I interpreted from the ending of the movie is that Andrew is fully aware of his delusions, and chose lobotomy in order to "die as a good man" and not "live as a monster". This could be from two possible theories behind the plot:
(1) Andrew truly was a patient
(2) Teddy, the Marshal, was psychologically manipulated into lobotomy.

Which, both to me is really WTF? If Teddy/Andrew wanted to die, there are much easier ways aside from lobotomy, like jumping of the cliff into jagged rocks, instead of being a living zombie with debatable consciousness. I would have settled happily with theory (1), of Andrew being a patient (which is the one the movie directs us to), except one tiny plot hole that really frustrates me.

When the Marshal Teddy was interrogating a female patient at the beginning of the movie, she wrote "RUN" on Teddy's notebook when Chuck turned away. This makes zero sense to me. In the case of (1), that patient would have been an actress pretending to be a patient as a part of the role-play. If so, why would she tell Teddy to run? Unless, of course, she's really a patient and is warning the patient Andrew to run. But, why would anyone run experiments with unstable variables. She could have just as easily relapsed into an episode as she is to follow her script.

In (2), the "RUN" would make more sense, except that I feel that (1) ties all the variable up much nicer than (2) does, especially regarding Teddy's PTSD and his wife. I imagine that in (2), Teddy truly does have PTSD and a wife killed by fire, which is what the institution used to manipulate Teddy.

The female patient really does frustrate me.

All in all, I would say that I did enjoy the movie, but I was also very frustrated by it, because of its unbearably slow pace and a plot that is f-ed up. I like happy endings and well-done sad endings, but this plot really only made me go "WTF?" instead of feeling sad for Andrew/Teddy. Not a movie I would want to watch again, like with k-drama Signal. Once is just the right amount for me.

I must say though, I thoroughly enjoyed the cinematography and super intense suspense. I really recommend anyone with 2-odd hours to spare to watch this movie very, very closely.

Me Before You: Review

Me Before You: Young and quirky Louisa "Lou" Clark (Emilia Clarke) moves from one job to the next to help her family make ends meet. Her cheerful attitude is put to the test when she becomes a caregiver for Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a wealthy young banker left paralyzed from an accident two years earlier. Will's cynical outlook starts to change when Louisa shows him that life is worth living. As their bond deepens, their lives and hearts change in ways neither one could have imagined.

I went to watch this movie with my friends despite knowing the not-so-good reviews, especially regarding its insensitivity towards disabilities. It is true that Will views himself as a burden, but I don't find it over-generalising the entire disabled community. I went to watch the movie because 1) fan of Emilia Clarke and 2) love the on-screen chemistry. Warning: spoilers ahead.

Watching the movie made me very, very frustrated. Will has his mind set on euthanasia, and Lou immerses herself in trying to change his mind by helping him enjoy life, even to the extent of ignoring her boyfriend. Over the course of the movie, we see how Will becomes more open with Lou, and Lou becoming more daring to try new things. And then, on the crux of the movie's plot after a super romantic vacation, we find out that Will did not change his mind, at all. He still feels that the paralysis makes him less of a man, less of himself, and he is unable to live with that. Personally, I feel that above anything else, Will is suffering from chronic depression, maybe even PTSD. And Lou's actions in the movie didn't really try to change Will's deprecating self-thoughts. He complains, she lets him. He sits out of activities, she lets him. He self-image did not change at all. He still sits in his wheelchair and does nothing, only instead of staring at a wall, he stares at a pretty girl. Lou's actions seem to want Will to find a new reason for living: her. Even if Will did not go through with euthanasia, they will still be in a super dependent relationship, which will not go so well.

I really wanted to go up and smack Will while watching the movie. Yes, he has had a bad experience, but he is in the best position possible to overcome his disabilities. He is filthy rich. Owns-a-freaking-castle filthy rich. Has-enough-money-to-make-himself-a-cyborg-suit filthy rich. State-of-the-art-prosthetics filthy rich. If he could change his cognition about being useless, then maybe, he wouldn't want to die anymore.

I would like to point out how badly Will's mother handled the situation. She looks more depressed than he is, she coddles Will, and she daily stares at the many, many framed photographs of pre-accident Will. This only serves to cement his i-am-a-lesser-man thoughts, the-accident-has-ruined-my-life thoughts. She seems to have immersed herself in the disability, rather than the person.

At the end of the movie, Lou moves on with her life, seemingly unchanged except for a much heavier bank account. It leaves an unsatisfying, unfinished after-taste. It feels as though the entire movie, the entire encounter did not change Lou so much as an old lady she meets at the bakery.

I cannot say I understand the pain of paralysis, because I've never experienced it, and I am terrified I am much too insensitive regarding this topic. But I still decided to put this up, because at the end of the day, the key to changing someone's mind is to understand the root of the thought. At the very least, get them to accept professional help.

Ender's Game

So I watched Ender's Game just now and I love it! What am I doing watching a movie in the middle of the most important exam of my life (so far) you ask? Well, I kinda lost my sanity a week ago so... Who cares.

The film, the novel.

This is another alien-human future world and focuses on the struggle of a 10-year-old boy, our tactics genius protagonist Ender. The movie does not do a very good job on explicitly explaining the details of background stories, and only a few characters were really developed. One too many characters like Ender's brother Peter ended up as a touch-and-go character. The first 30 mins was confusing and had a lot of holes... It's a movie that grows on you.
The CGI was awesome though! And maybe it's just me, because I don't like to watch action films on the big screen, but dayum was my heart pounding. Like when they pulled the monitor out of his neck, when the mouse jumped into the giant's eye, or when he was commanding the "stimulation" attacks on the aliens.

To be honest though if I was one of the officers that worked my butt off to be able to enter the Battle School or Command Base, I wouldn't be too thrilled to have to take orders from a 10-year-old kid who only enrolled a few months ago and manged to climb up ranks to become "Commander".

Definitely gonna read the book now haha. My ever-growing list of things to do after A's. xD

MUST go and watch Ender's Game! So much better than Thor 2 where Natalie Portman becomes a useless flower vase.. And Loki "dies" again. He 'dies' in every single movie and comes back again with the exact same aim... *sigh*

Ok bye~ My exam ends 28th November AND I CANNOT WAIT.

Gravity (film)

So I went to watch Gravity in the cinemas yesterday~
The thoughts of an audience member.

The film stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney and one other guy. The three people are all the acting faces of the film, and around 2/3 of the movie only has Sandra Bullock. But fear not! You can stare at the bloody amazing cinematography. Click to go to wiki.

What I loved about the movie was how realistic it portrayed space. Both the beauty and horrors of space were all conveyed so well that I really felt like I was in space, weird as that sounded. I kept joking to my friends that our hearts probably pounded faster than the people next door watching Insidious hahaha. My heart really pounded throughout the movie. I thought that Ryan (Bullock) was gonna die all the time even though I know that it's logically impossible, (spoiler) her being the only human left.

Sadly, I did not watch the movie in 3D but I very highly recommend it because the scenery is so beautifully made.

After the movie, my friends and I couldn't walk properly hahaha because it really felt like we were in space (I know I keep saying this, but it's true!) and gravity was unfamiliar.

-SPOILERS-
There was a scene where Ryan was prepared to die by draining all  of her oxygen in the Chinese escape pod(?) thing, and suddenly Matt (Clooney) showed up at the door and was trying to open the damn door that leads to a vacuum even though Ryan didn't have her helmet on! I thought her head was going to explode!
If you think about it, space is nothing. It's a vacuum and the difference in pressure of our bodies and space will cause space to 'suck' out all of our organs and blood through whichever open we have, like our mouths and eye sockets and pores.... (Haha, ok not true. :p)

The movie is PG13 though, so they didn't show that hahaha.

Fun space facts:

Oz The Great And Powerful

The movie is an attempt at a prequel for "The Wizard of Oz", as Disney tries to explain to us how the wizard, Oz, got to the land of Oz in the first place.
And if you don't know the story of "The Wizard of Oz" like my dear, dear classmates, you should just draw a circle on the table and bang your head. Literature, heck, even movies -classics -are lost in my generation. The sad truth.

Anyway, I'm not gonna give a summary of the movie, or analyse it. There are plenty of sites that do that.
I'm just gonna say that I found the movie mildly entertaining, sort of interesting, hated the ending, and didn't like its pace.

Some movies begin with slow steps that slowly crescendo to a big, epic climax. Those are awesome movies.

This movie on the other hand has about the same pace throughout the movie, like in the beginning I'm walking, at the middle I'm jogging, and at the end I'm resting. That's about it to me.

-Spoiler-
And I didn't like the main character. Granted, I don't think he's made to be a likable character, but I really pity Theodora, the wicked witch of the west.

There was innocent, naive Theodora (Mila Kunis) who got caught in Oz's charm (the guy is a smooth flirt) and falls in love with him on day 1. Evanora (Rachel Weisz), her sister, is the true wicked witch but she had managed to deceive Theodora that she is the good witch while Glinda (Michelle Williams) is the wicked one. Then Evanora manages to break Theodora's heart by having her believe Oz (James Franco) didn't love her (true) and had flirted with her (true) and was serious with her (false). So then the poor, heartbroken Theodora got tricked by her sister into eating an apple (surprise, surprise!) that causes her heart to wither away and leave nothing but evil.
And so Theodora, after taking one bite of the apple, becomes ugly and green and evil and swore revenge on Oz. She even has the witchy evil laughter thing and all.

At the end of the movie, the two evil witches were banished from the land of Oz, and Oz himself got whatever he ever wanted (greatness, power, money, Glinda, riches).
A fair ending? Heck no!

In the book "The Wizard Of Oz", the wicked witch of the east (Evanora) got squashed by Dorothy's house and died while the wicked witch of the west (Theodora) was melted by Dorothy and eventually died.
-End Of Spoiler-

So overall while I did, to a certain extent, like the movie, it's not one that I will watch in the cinemas if I had known the story beforehand.

The most entertaining parts wasn't even from the movie. My friend Izzy was sitting beside me in the cinema and every single time something evil just pops up in the screen she'd jump and my chair would jerk too which shocked me. It wasn't the movie that made me jump; it was Izzy. Then I'll laugh at her and she'd be all embarrassed and then it'll happen again. XD

Wreck-it-Ralph

I really really liked this movie. It hit humor, adventure, fantasy and romance genres, albeit the romance was weird. Like all Disney movies, it does have a 'lesson learnt'. 

I do think that this movie is underrated. I liked it better than I liked 'Rise of the Guardians'. :)

If you are a cartoon fan, go and watch. Definitely go and watch.

Movie Review: Rise Of The Guardians

Plot: When an evil spirit known as Pitch (the bogeyman) lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians (Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Sandman, Jack Frost) must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.

My review: An awesome movie, really. A must watch, though not necessarily in 3D. 
For me it wasn't a laugh-until-belly-hurts movie but it has its moments too. While I don't think that it is an epic movie like I did Toy Story 3 & Kung Fu Panda, I will buy the Blue-Ray 3D version. :D
The movie is, in some ways, CUTE (lol).

Rating: 8.5/10 :) 
(I'm picky, so that's really quite high.)

The Hunger Games

Note: contains spoilers

Yes I went to watch the hunger games!! :DD
And also yes, I was one of those hyped-up ones abt the movie, but only because the trailers were pure AWESOMENESS.

So I went to watch HG on sat with Donkey. :)
Ruru was supposed to come but ten she couldn't make it.. Ruruuuuuuuuu.

Sad to say, I was very disappointed in the movie.
Don't worry, the movie's still good, but it just wasn't as good as I was expecting. T_T

Intro:
You know the part in the trailer where Katniss volunteers as tribute in place of her sister Primrose?
Well the trailer made that scene look epic but in actual fact the whole thing happened very monotonously. I wasn't THAT moved by the scene.
But other than that, I think the pace of the intro was quite acceptable. It have you questions but those qns were answered later.

Middle:
Interesting, yes, but I think they focused to much on the 'fight to the death' part rather than the character development or relationship development.
The movie felt like only Katniss and Peeta's personalities were exposed you know. And even then, Katniss has this poker face most of the time so she felt like a really boring person..
But of course she's not as bad as Bella LOL.

The movie was so much bloodier than I expected it to be, mainly because these kind of teen(?) movies usually don't require blood.
And it was so sad. ):
Especially the part when Rue died.. I cried in the cinema. D':

There was this part where a part dog part cheeta monster suddenly lunged out at Peeta and Katniss.
The woman sitting beside me and Donkey SCREAMED, causing the two of us to JUMP. LOL.
And me, thinking that it was Donkey who screamed, hit her. XD
Poor donkey.

Throughout the games part Katniss and Peeta got quite seriously injured and they needed to treat the wounds right?
Well the director just HAD to close up on those scenes and they were so.. Ughhhh. >_<
I think me and Donkey were the only two who were chilled by those scenes. I even covered my eyes haha~

Ending:
The ending is so not complete. D<
Thats's really all I have to say about the ending.

Romance:
The movie showed how Peeta fell for Katniss before the Hunger Games, and then during the games Katniss seemingly reciprocated those feelings.
(They kissed and cuddled and did mushy couple stuff.. At least as mushy as Katniss could be.)

HOWEVER!
It really felt like Katniss only pretended to like Peeta back to save his butt.
When Peeta was in danger due to his leg wound, Katniss kissed him and that movement initiated their whole relationship..
But I personally think that she kissed him to suck up to the sponsors so that they would send medicine.
And surprise surprise! They did send something, only that something wasn't medicine, it was soup.

And then after the games ended, it's like Katniss only kept up the act to save both their butts.
Because at the end when they suddenly announced that the rule of two winners was redundant, Katniss actually proposed that both her and Peeta die together. DEATH BY BERRIES.
And that was an act of defiance to the Capitol. It made the Capitol very displeased and so their mentor suggested that Katniss continue with the love facade as and excuse for her actions.. That she 'could not imagine life without him', so she'd rather die.
Mushy, huh.

So my evaluation of the story:
Good, yes, but I was expecting so much more. ):
More character development (introduce the others characters more in-depth), more relationship development, and less open-endings.
I hate those.

I do know that there are 3 books in the Hunger Games, so an open ending was quite inevitable.. But I still hate it nevertheless. Sighhh...
Gonna have to read the book then watch again. Who knows how long later that'll be.