films

fyre

| nicole

✨ my rating: 2.5 of 5 stars ✨

Worth a watch. The documentary managed to get archival footage and many people’s views – though some of them did seem like they were trying to push the blame, and others seemed morbidly unremorseful about what they did. It also shows the effect of social media and the pervasive celebrity culture that we live in today.

However, I’m aware that the show’s executive producer is Jerry Media, which was also behind the marketing for Fyre Festival. So… I don’t know, it seems quite shady and one-sided to me. Like how they were all pinning the blame on the one guy, Billy, making him seem like the ultimate devious scammer, when there were many of the others who knew what a scam it was and still went along with it. I’m doubtful that this is a documentary that we can trust. Nevertheless, it did raise questions and prompts one to think more about its implications and lack of morality in the circles of the rich and famous.

(Also! I sincerely hope that the workers in the Bahamas get their money given that they literally worked day and night for over a month and didn’t get a cent.)

Fyre; directed by Chris Smith

🌹date watched: 9 feb 2019 🌹

a series of unfortunate events

| nicole

✨ my rating: 5 of 5 stars ✨

I am so happy that this series came out, to do real justice to the books (instead of the older movie which wasn’t that great in my opinion).

I loved reading the books when I was a kid, and I remember going to my school library every week just to read them. This series took the time to really explore the intricate stories of the books, and the characters were every bit as weird and quirky as I remember them to be. The sets were also stunning, almost reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s aesthetic, and shone through in the beautiful cinematography. The actors playing the characters were impeccably chosen and had on-point delivery – Esme Squalor was AMAZING, as were the Baudelaires, Kit Snicket and Count Olaf, among the others.

Plotwise, there were some parts that I found overly exaggerated (cough cough Mr Poe, no pun intended), and repetitive (Lemony Snicket butting in all the time), but funnily enough I kind of got used to it after a while. At the same time, the show does very well in conveying moral questions and reflecting the absurdities of reality in a subtle and refined way, which is what drew me to the books in the first place.

I was also all prepared to be disappointed by the ending, because in my mind, there was no conceivable way to end it satisfactorily given the ambiguity of the books. The mystery of the sugar bowl, for instance. So the theories online about its significance were right! I won’t spoil it, but I felt that the show handled it really well, managing to balance uncertainty with finality, and ending on an optimistic note.

A Series of Unfortunate Events; directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

🌹date finished watching: 2 feb 2019 🌹

never let me go

| nicole

✨ my rating: 0.5 of 5 stars ✨

The first part was promising, but it quickly fell flat. First, the plot was kind of hard to get into as it wasn’t portrayed very smoothly – the entire premise was hardly subtle, with the schoolteacher randomly explicitly talking about it out of the blue. It made it sound absurd and even laughable. There were many unanswered questions – such as why these kids don’t just run away or revolt; and why they’re modelled after the “outcasts” of society. The whole idea of the art gallery was pretty weird too and anyone could have seen from a mile away that it would be debunked (because what the heck Tommy). The dynamic between the characters was also hardly fleshed out. For instance, them basically pinning it all on Ruth as the bad guy, and Tommy playing the victim as if he was forced into a relationship with her. Overall, I really didn’t enjoy the show.

Never Let Me Go; directed by Mark Romanek

🌹date watched: 1 feb 2019 🌹

the end of the f***ing world

| nicole

✨ my rating: 4 of 5 stars ✨

This was surprisingly really good, despite my initial apprehension! When I first heard the premise of the series, I was confused as to its appeal – a psychopath going on a road trip with someone who he plans to kill? Um… weird. Indeed, it’s warped and weird but it’s great.

The actual show is far from this distilled synopsis. It depicts two teenagers with messy and difficult backgrounds, who both feel like outsiders. I thought that the characters were developed really well despite their unlikeable traits – their portrayals succeed at evoking empathy within the viewer even as we’re aware that they’re doing the wrong things. You can see that inside, they just want to be loved, and they’re running from the hurts and pains that they’ve been carrying around.

The flat and dry deadpan humour is also effective in this context, conveying the emptiness they feel inside. It’s realistic in the sense that they don’t offer any glamourised version of the two protagonists’ relationship – it’s not some romantic whirlwind, but it’s more of them each trying to figure themselves out, and understanding themselves better with the help of each other. Also, the soundtrack is lovely and the angsty indie undertones fit the mood and is the perfect backdrop for such a surreal plot. Definitely worth a watch!

The End of the F***ing World; directed by Jonathan Entwistle, Lucy Tcherniak

🌹date watched: 26 jan 2019 🌹

bridget jones’s diary

| nicole

✨ my rating: 1 of 5 stars ✨

I generally don’t watch chick flicks, so heads-up my views on this may be skewed by the fact that I’m not a big rom-com fan. This was an… interesting modern take on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice”. The humour is slapstick, crude, but somewhat charming – though I doubt it would fly in today’s context given many of the sexist stereotypical portrayals of people, especially women. Those bits were a downer for me – I didn’t find it funny seeing her go to the office/party/streets in her underwear, it was just excessive and unnecessary. Also, I’m not really a fan of Colin Firth’s representation of Darcy, not here and not in the 1995 BBC series of P&P either (he portrays Darcy as a piece of cardboard). Overall, it was all right, but I didn’t love it.

Bridget Jones’s Diary; directed by Sharon Maguire

🌹date watched: 23 jan 2019 🌹

the trader (sovdagari)

| nicole

✨ my rating: 1 of 5 stars ✨

This was definitely interesting, showing a part of the world not often represented. I liked the innovative close-up shots, and the honest unfiltered depiction of life in the rural village. However, I felt that it lacked real depth. It’s a documentary and it’s evidently trying to convey a message, but whatever it’s trying to say is very muted. Lacking a sufficient narrative and containing just content, it merely reflected what I perceive is only the surface of their lives. If they really wanted to explore the issues of poverty or the different way of life, a lot more could have been done. There were also some parts that felt rather stilted, and I wondered if it was scripted (probably not), or perhaps the people were self-conscious due to the presence of a camera crew (such as in the scene in the fields when the men and women were talking about beauty). The idea is good, but the film is forgettable.

The Trader; directed by Tamta Gabrichidze

🌹date watched: 17 jan 2019 🌹

lion

| nicole

✨ my rating: 0.5 of 5 stars ✨

Man, this film had potential but it fell flat. It started out good, especially with the talent of the child actor, Sunny Pawar! His acting and the plot up till then really conveyed the panic, anxiety and grief he was feeling at being separated, as well as the dangers of his situation. It roped me in.

Until the child grew up, twenty years later. Somehow, the acting by Dev Patel felt contrived from the start, and he just didn’t seem to fit the role well. The twenty year jump also left the character very two-dimensional, and made the story rather disjointed. It was as if he had zero cares for the family he had left behind, rejecting his identity as Indian and embracing his Australian side – until he, upon seeing a plate of jalebis, suddenly changes his mind. Moreover the romance totally blew it for me. Saroo’s romance with Lucy was excessive, unnecessary and draggy. The whole second half was just a tedious crawl to the end.

Lion; directed by Garth Davis

🌹date watched: 16 jan 2019 🌹

jim and andy: the great beyond

| nicole

✨ my rating: 0.5 of 5 stars ✨

If there’s anything this documentary achieved, it was solidifying my dislike for Carrey and other actors like him. Contrast bearded older Carrey with his younger self, and you can see that not much has changed really – the sense of entitlement practically oozes out, just with a different tone of voice and perhaps more gravitas that age has conferred.

To me, this is not a case of method acting taken to the extreme, it’s narcissism on a pedestal. He spoke of having depression before, and I have nothing to say about anyone who is dealing with their inner demons. What bothers me is his utter lack of remorse, and continual justification of his abhorrent behaviour, as if he was being some great actor who was so immersed in his role, when really he’s just using it as a context for his own problems and issues. For instance, him trying to aggravate the boxer Lawler, when Lawler himself said that the real Kaufman and him were at the very least civil in real life. Watching the footage is like watching home videos of a five year old seeking attention from an exasperated group of adults who all look sick and tired of his antics. When you think it can’t get any worse, it does. In the last part, Carrey speaks as if he’s some kind of otherworldly, enlightened figure, and it’s full of pretentious nonsense with such little substance to it; I can’t even render it as a philosophical musing. As a viewer, it’s frankly quite unpleasant to watch.

Content aside, I felt that the documentary was flat too. If they had interviewed the directors, the actors on set, the producers – now that would have given a much fuller (and less annoying) picture of the situation. As it stands, the documentary seems to just be an ego-trip for Carrey, ending on a note that portrays him as transcendent when in reality, the universe he’s in is in his own head, full of himself. 


Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond; directed by Chris Smith

🌹date watched: 16 jan 2019 🌹

cinema paradiso

| nicole

✨ my rating: 3 of 5 stars ✨

Finally watched this after hearing much about it! I watched the “new” director’s cut version of it, unable to find the original shorter one. It was three hours, but wasn’t awfully draggy.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first part, which chronicled Toto’s childhood days. All the characters, whether major or minor ones, had subtle and endearing qualities – virtues and flaws alike. The purity and wholesomeness of Toto’s friendship with Alfredo, plus the lovely and sweet shots of Italian life really captivated me, and the plot buildup of the cinema and the joys it brought to the people was so lovely. My favourite part was when they managed to cast the movie onto a building so that the people in the outdoor courtyard could see it! It was so heartening :’) I also loved how the director used shadows and light to create striking shots (for instance, when lightning flashed on adult Toto’s face as he was thinking of the past).

However, the last hour of the film grew increasingly boring to me. Toto’s relationship with Elena took centre stage, and masked the more interesting dynamic of him and Alfredo. Adult Toto’s return to the town was dragged on far too long for my enjoyment. I thought that his reunion scene with Elena in the car, for instance, was unnecessary (and the whole part about him following Elena’s daughter around was just weird). And then the ending – some may love it, but it felt so unsatisfactory to me. In retrospect, I guess I can see how it was trying to be lightly touching, in conveying how the movies carried forth his romance in a way… but I just felt like it was off the mark, and once again, really protracted.

Ironically, I think splicing off bits of the movie, just like how they spliced off bits of film, and focusing on the first part would have made it better.

Cinema Paradiso; directed by Giuseppe Tornatore

🌹date watched: 15 jan 2019 🌹