1/28/2019 1 Comment pulp fiction (1994)Director: Quentin Tarantino
Pulp Fiction is about two hitmen, Jules and Vincent, of a gangster Marsellus Wallace and their philosophy discussions. Their story is interwoven with a boxer Butch and Marsellus's wife, Mia. I have a mix feelings about Tarantino's movies. He often has a very loose storylines with several strands intertwined which I don't like the most. But weirdly he is able to put them into a cohesive story and keep them interesting. The first thing I noticed at the beginning of the movie is all those long lines the characters are throwing out. And their conversation is almost the polar opposite of Wes Anderson's characters, where they are as casual as possible. Tarantino puts all kinds of random topics into characters' conversation, and somehow makes them reappear again and they work well, such as the Royale with cheese. And the interaction between Vincent and Mia is really interesting. *Spoiler*When audiences are expecting something happens between them, Mia ODed. Vincent saved her. And I expected something more happen between them but no, Vincent died. Speaking of Vincent's death, Butch is one of the most frustrating characters I've ever seen in the movie. *Spoiler*When he had to go back to his apartment and find his dad's watch, he was being so careful at first. After he found the watch, HE DECIDED TO EAT BREAKFAST IN HIS APARTMENT. And he saw a gun on the counter. HE DECIDED TO PLAY WITH THE GUN. I don't understand how everything turned out okay for him. Maybe I had too much expectation from this movie. It was good, but I personally prefer Tarantino's Kill Bill. Rating: 8.7/10
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1/23/2019 1 Comment pan's labyrinth (2006)Director: Guillermo del Toro
Pan's Labyrinth talked about an ancient kingdom lost their princess. The king believes one day the princess's soul will return, maybe in another body. Little girl Ofelia and her mom is moving to see their new family. Ofelia saw a faun, little fairies and a labyrinth at the new place. She was told that she is the chosen one, and needs to finish some requests. Just in case you didn't notice, I am really keen on fictional creatures in a fairy tale like story. I loved Fantastic Beasts 1, Tale of Tales, My neighbor Totoro and so on and I loved Pan's Labyrinth. The faun, the fairies, and the monster with eyes on his hands are so intriguing and fun to watch. Also at the end of the day, I am still the old me who enjoy dark content. In my opinion, the twist at the ending is so genius that it makes the movie even more messed up and takes the movie onto another level. It's like an O'Henry's ending, kind of unexpected but makes so much sense. *Spoiler* It reminds the audiences the cruel facts of wars and how all the children are victims. Their life should be filled with fairy tales. Ofelia puts herself into this fantasy. The ending makes the audiences realize that her fantasy doesn't exist. She died but this might be the best ending for her, because she went to her kingdom and became a princess. There are several scenes that gross me out (For instance, the general smashed the farmer's face with a wine bottle.), but overall, the visual effects are still beautiful which is really weird to say because of all the bloody scenes. I love how beautiful and smart this movie is. I wanna hug the faun too D; Rating: 9.2/10 1/10/2019 1 Comment The Favourite (2018)Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
The Favourite is based on English Queen Anne's story. It is mostly true with some fictional interpret on her relationship with Sarah Churchill. IN the movie, when a girl who claims to be Sarah's cousin, Abigail arrives, two women start to crave and fight for the closest spot next to the Queen. It is so messed up, witty, funny and sarcastic at the same time. I just watched Yorgos Lanthimos's The Lobster and I compared him to one of my favorite directors Wes Anderson. So I might as well keep comparing this movie with Anderson's by far the most well-known movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel: 1) One of the most obvious similarities I noticed right away is that both of them are separated in chapters. In The Favourite, every chapter begins with a line that will appear in the later plot. The chosen line is either very funny, weird or important to the development of the plot. 2) The use of colors are particularly noticeable to me in both of the movies. Now anyone who watched The Grand Budapest Hotel would remember the main color of the movie, pink. The whole movie is filled fairy-tale colors, pastel and warm. However the colors in The Favourite, just like the picture above, is cool toned. They provide the audiences a feeling of cloudy and rainy days in England. They also compromise the story pretty well, a tense and dangerous atmosphere. Lanthimos could easily become one of my favourite directors when he comes out with more works. This movie made me become interested in history again. I read the history behind the story and it only makes the movie more intriguing. The Favourite is definitely a dark and messed up comedy, which I enjoy very much (yeah, the old me). I definitely recommend knowing a little bit of the background of what kind of person was Queen Anne and her relationship with Sarah Churchill. *Spoiler*The relationship between Sarah Churchill, Abigail and Queen Anne is so intense and interesting, it never gets you bored during the entire movie. The personal development of the three characters is also well-written and the pace is just right. Queen Anne was very much a puppet controlled by Sarah. She heavily relies on Sarah mentally, emotionally and physically. It gave me a little bit of shock when their secret loving relationship was revealed. I was like "that's where everything goes down, nice." But after Abigail shows up, audiences will naturally stand by her side because of her "innocence" appearance and passive condition. As the story goes on, audiences start to gradually notice the evil side of her until the last 10 minutes where she turned completely into a generally bad human being. Audiences' emotion, at least mine, was kind of swinging back and forth towards all of the characters. *Still Spoiler* Some people say that the ending was unnecessary but I didn't mind it at all. I like open endings. So here's my interpret: Queen Anne sent people to pick up Sarah. She lets Abigail to massage her legs, which is too shameful for the current Lady Abigail. And there is footstep sound in the background (I think)--Sarah came back, the one and the only favourite. Love it. My type of movie. Rating: 9.3/100 |
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