9/30/2018 1 Comment blue valentine (2010)Director: Derek Cianfrance
Blue Valentine is about a married couple Dean and Cindy's relationship. They have a troublesome marriage and eventually fall apart. Nothing major that people would normally think of happened, like cheating or abusing. But in my opinion, this is also the reason why this movie is so depressing--sometimes, in real life, it won't be anything dramatic like a soupy tv show. It just happens and people who are stuck in the relationship won't see the reasons. I decided to watch Blue Valentine because I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and watch an easy, relaxing, romantic movie. All of the posters seemed so sweet and happy, that they deceived me. This movie was a wrong choice. Everything about this movie was the exact opposite of "an easy, relaxing, romantic movie". The entire movie I was waiting for a turning point for Dean and Cindy's relationship to get better and I guess it just slides down and down, all the way till the end. This movie definitely proved what "marriage is the tomb of love" means. They were so in love when they first got together, and how they first started their family. Dean is a good man, although he sucked at communicating and fixing the problem, he loves Frankie who is not his daughter, he tries to support the family financially and emotionally. He is extremely insecure and he won't see it. He twists everything Cindy says into something negative about himself that Cindy doesn't mean, and he blames her, too. He is a romantic and idealistic person and when things didn't go what he expects to be, he runs away and numbs himself that he is satisfy about his life. When they are at the hotel, Cindy asks him don't you wanna do something else, instead of getting up early every day and paint other's houses. And he replies "it is a dream.", he wanted this. Cindy, on the other hand, grew up in an environment where her dad dominants everything. She didn't want Dean to be unconfident about himself while she hopes better in him. She tries to talk to him but at the meantime, she's scared of upsetting Dean. And when she figures that she can't change Dean, she breaks. But what is the real problem between Dean and Cindy? Maybe it shouldn't start like this, when Cindy got pregnant with another man's baby; maybe she always feels guilty for dragging him into her fault and he always feels not good enough for her; maybe it's the burden of reality that they have to support the family; maybe they are just meant to be apart, even though they were once, or are still in love. One thing I find interesting about, is that there were a lot of close-ups on Dean and Cindy's faces while they are having conversations. In the scene where they were in the car driving to the hotel, Cindy was talking about how she met Bobby at the liquor store and they started arguing. There was barely any shots of them being in one picture, while most of other conversations in movies do, they frame two to show one's reaction when the other one is talking. I feel the lack of them two in one frame creates an unsure and uneasy feeling, because I couldn't see Dean's reaction and I don't know if he's gonna explode soon--which somehow works pretty good for the scenes. (It is true that I like dark stuff, but not this. I am so sad. ;( oh, and a dog died in the movie, even sadder now) Rating: 7/10
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9/21/2018 1 Comment Metropolis (1927) Director: Fritz Lang
I THINK I MIGHT HAVE A NEW FAVORITE. I enjoyed watching Fritz Lang's M, but I loved Metropolis better than M. And I think one of the reasons of this is because I often time prefer formalism films than classical films (I paid attention in class, yay me). Wes Anderson's films are the perfect examples of the type of films I enjoy the most. This film is way over my expectations for a silent film. In my opinion, Fritz Lang was so talented on piling up the mood. I first got to know this movie was actually from one of the CineFix videos talking about best shots in movies, and the changing shifts scene in the beginning was in the video. This scene will never be forgotten--it is such an outstanding shot, I cannot get over it. The workers walk like robots with their heads down, and the ones who are walking out are slightly faster than the ones who are going to start working, which shows the unwillingness of the workers. This is actually my first ever silent film. Unlike Birth of the Nation which makes me really impatience, it didn't bothered me at all. Especially when Freder went to the Depth and met the "goddess" Maria, the lines on the screen on the screen make it more solemn and holy. People kneel down for her, including Freder who has just met her for the second time. Now one thing I had mixed feelings about is the over exaggerated actings. I didn't like them for the most parts. But on the other hand, I guess it is necessary for these kinds of films. And weirdly, I liked the Thin Man's acting. (And wow, they are close talkers) When Rotwang, the inventor, finally put Maria's face on to his Machine-Man, Maria starts to dance in front of every one (By the way, Brigitte Helm looked so good.) The creepy moves with all the men's facial expressions and feared eyes in between were so uncomfortable harmonious. I lost my word. The final scene in Perfume: the story of a murderer, where every one was caught into the perfume Grenouille made, was one of my all time favorite epic shot. And I do think this scene is just as good. And in fact, the scene where the peaceful Maria turns on the warning clock, and the kids gather around her resembled the scene from Perfume. I feel really bad that this film is not yet fully restored (at least the version on Youtube is not), I hope one day it would be completed. Rating: 8.8/10 9/8/2018 1 Comment Heat (1995)Director: Michael Mann
Before watching Heat, I have never heard of it, I did not search any information about it, I didn't know nothing about the director. So when the cast came up, I was so unprepared: oh, Al Pacino is in here...and Robert De Niro? HEY, NATALIE PORTMAN (although she wasn't a huge part in this movie, but still, I love her). And it is a long movie. But I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The two protagonists in the movie are Lt.Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), the detective, and Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), the criminal. One of the main reasons I liked about this movie is that they have quite distinct and interesting personalities. If we jump out of the setting and just watch some scenes of them talking, Hanna, the good guy, acts like a moody mafia to me. He unexpectedly yells at people. He doesn't care about fixing his relationship with his wife, or he knows that he is unable to. While Neil, who is supposed to be the bad guy, falls in love with a girl in the coffee shop and cares about other people's well being. I guess this makes the characters more realistic since every coin has two sides, not everyone is perfect. And to be honest, I am extremely bad at recognizing faces, I was quite confused in the first part. I mixed up Hanna and Neil's faces so I was very confused. I usually feel annoyed when movies introduce too many characters at the same time (in this movie, it would be the robbery scene at first, and also the wives of the members) I couldn't tell which one is the justice side and which one is the boss of the robbery crew. I feel really proud of myself of understanding the story in the end and recognizing everyone eventually. Also, the relation between Hanna and McCauley is just fascinating. They respect each other's ability of doing their own job. They are two lone men and they are made to be paired. The scene of them talking in the coffee shop just makes me have goosebumps. It was the point in the movie that I really hoped that they could get along as friends. However, I do think this is their destiny that one has to be gone in the end because in my opinion their relation is built on the contrariety of theirs. Rating: 8/10 9/8/2018 1 Comment *SPOILER* searching (2018)Director: Aneesh Chaganty
Searching is about a teenage girl Margo goes missing and her dad David tries to find her with detective Vick. He logs into Margo's Mac and all her social accounts to find leads. During the process, David realizes that he doesn't know his girl at all after his wife's death--she eats her lunch alone every day, she didn't go to her piano classes for six months, she smokes weed...with his brother. Several days after, Vick calls and claims that they have found the criminal, and Margo, unfortunately is dead. PLOT TWIST. The detective Vick plans all this, because her son was the one who accidently pushes Margo down to the hill and Vick tries to cover for her son, so she volunteers to help David. And it turns out that Margo might still have a chance of living and is saved by the rescuers. First of all, I believe most people have noticed, that this movie is entirely showed through computer screens. The opening scene is the initial screen when a computer is turned on. And it ends with shutting down the computer. Everything happens through facetiming, texting, security cameras, Youtube and news. It is absolutely clever and interesting, it actually cuts off a lot of unnecessary scenes that usually makes me impatient. Without this, the movie would still be good, but probably less fascinating (Because it does take a while to introduce Margo's mom's death which could be bored to me, but the way it presents makes it much better). Chaganty must have spent a lot of time to figure how it is gonna work and he did a good job. However, I do think there's some drawbacks. Several scenes are too vague since they have to do the effects of streaming cameras, security cameras, etc. Because I saw the movie on a big screen, I almost hope that they don't waste the high quality of the big screen. But overall it is still very good. And Aneesh also did a good job on foreshadowing things which I really enjoy. For example, Vick was telling David a story of her and her son to cheer him up. She said her son was stealing money for a fictional charity organization from the neighbours. And David asks her what she did to fix this. She said I told the neighbors she did found the organization to help his son. And it turns out she could do a lot more for her son. When Vick was facetiming David, her son shows up in the background. She yelled at her son and said "let me handle this." Rating: 6.8/10 Director: Jon M. Chu
Crazy Rich Asians is about a American Chinese economic professor who was invited to her boyfriend's hometown Singapore for a friend's wedding. It is also an opportunity to meet Nick, the boyfriend's family. Rachel was born and raised by a single mom and Nick's family was not satisfy with Nick's choice of girlfriend. They are "crazy rich". The couple was tore apart. However, Rachel was able to change Nick's family's mind by her wisdom and charm. She was accepted and Nick proposed to her. I have to admit that rom com movies aren't my type of movie, but I do think this movie is watchable. As a Chinese, the cultural elements are pretty exciting for me to see on a big screen. And this movie totally meets viewers’ expectation where the boy and the girl fall in love with each other, and the mean mom refuse to accept them, but they eventually get back together, happy ending. And this is the reason I don’t watch rom com because under the cover, they are all the same. The boy is always a Mary Sue character who is charming, good-looking, muscular and rich. And the girl, not as rich as the boy, usually pretty poor, but she’s innocent and independent. “You are different than any other girls I’ve met” is the must have line. And to be honest, Crazy Rich Asians is exactly like this. However, rom coms are the ones that we should simply be having fun with it. So I did have a relaxing time. There are several beautiful scenes, such as the friend’s wedding. When the water came out from nowhere, it was really gorgeous. And it’s cool that it starts with Racheal playing a card game and kind of ends with her playing majiang. I try my best not to think too much, but there are still places that didn’t make sense. Nick, who has a perfect boyfriend setting, basically was not there when Rachel had all the problems. For example, when Rachel was going to the party, Nick should at least pick her up, or send a driver (I mean, he’s rich). And the girls, they actually did, they put a dead fish on Rachel’s bed. That is.......like........too much. Plus when Rachel tells Nick, he was like “was that it?” Hm... Rated: 5.2/10 9/3/2018 1 Comment taxi driver(1976)Director: Martin Scorsese
I've always good reviews about this movie from those who like gangster movies, such as Goodfellas, however, I don't think this movie should be appreciated just because of all the guns and fighting. Taxi Driver is about a young man, Travi, who is isolated from the society and longs to do something big to be remembered, and unfortunately, he doesn't care how. He is mentally unstable and works as a night time taxi driver so that he could stay awake all night long. He practiced with guns and planed an assassination which he thought that was his only chance. But he failed. He then met a prostitute named Iris and saved her from the pimp. Travis sure has a very different life than most of us, however, deeply we are all the same. He desperately seek connections with someone—he is lonely, everyone is an isolated individual who longs to connect with others after all. He fell in love with the woman he never spoke to, he said she’s an angel; assassination of candidate once became his goal while he had nothing hate on the candidate; he gave all of his deposits to the prostitute, went alone and killed the pimp…… Did he really fall in love with her; did he really want to do the assassination; did he really want to be a hero…… Or was he just unable to control his urge of violence, was he just desperately making connection to prove his value of existence. In the end, Travis was still driving the taxi and he let the woman he first fell in love with go home. He had it. In the beginning, Travis asks a job that could fill him up at night. Without any extra words, viewers can simply get the loneliness of him. He wasted his time all night driving taxi on the "filthy roads" he hates. Until one day, he had to do something to be remembered and the worst part is he doesn't care how--he could murder, he could save. I love the scene where he started to yell at the mirror "you talking to me?" It perfectly showed how he's broken inside and lost himself in the desire of violence. But maybe in his little corner of heart, there is light because when he got into the dirty side of the society, and saw the helpless girl, he tried. Yes, it is a despair move, but he dared his life after all. This movie made me expose to a dark corner where I have never paid attention to. And that’s why I love films because they make me feel. Rated: 8.4/10 9/3/2018 0 Comments room (2015)Director: Lenny Abrahamson
I was surprised when I knew that the mom got an Oscar award of the best actress because I was so drawn to the acting of the little boy entire movie. It is really hard for me to imagine a nine-year old boy (Jacob Tremblay) could understand the plot and the emotion. To Joy, the ma, she suffered in pain every single day after her kidnap. While the room has been Jack’s whole world. He was innocent and had never seen the outside world. Joy lost her family, freedom, her virginity while Jack didn’t lose anything. He lived happily with his ma. However, when they eventually escaped from the room, Jack adapted everything much more quicker than Joy. Joy’s reaction almost made her unlikeable because at one point (when Jack was doing all fine and wanted to spend time with her, but she yielded at him and blamed her mom for everything), I was afraid that her love may crush Jack and her parents (I understand how much she has suffered, but she needed help and won’t let Jack be). Personally speaking, I would prefer the movie focus either more on in the room, or after the escaping, however, they put equal time in the room. They also put equal effort on the ma and Jack, where I hope they could pick one to focus on. I was surprised when I knew that the mom got an Oscar award of the best actress because I was so drawn to the acting of the little boy entire movie. It is really hard for me to imagine a nine-year old boy (Jacob Tremblay) could understand the plot and the emotion. To Joy, the ma, she suffered in pain every single day after her kidnap. While the room has been Jack’s whole world. He was innocent and had never seen the outside world. Joy lost her family, freedom, her virginity while Jack didn’t lose anything. He lived happily with his ma. However, when they eventually escaped from the room, Jack adapted everything much more quicker than Joy. Joy’s reaction almost made her unlikeable because at one point (when Jack was doing all fine and wanted to spend time with her, but she yielded at him and blamed her mom for everything), I was afraid that her love may crush Jack and her parents (I understand how much she has suffered, but she needed help and won’t let Jack be). Personally speaking, I would prefer the movie focus either more on in the room, or after the escaping, however, they put equal time in the room. They also put equal effort on the ma and Jack, where I hope they could pick one to focus on. Rating: 7.2/10 |
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