Star Trek Beyond

Heyyyyy

So I saw the new Star Trek a couple of weeks ago but haven’t had time to comment on it. I’ve seen the first two in this reboot series but it’s been a while. Soooo I don’t remember anything haha But I feel like you could probably see this movie w/o having seen the others. Basically the USS Enterprise faces a new enemy so there isn’t too much overlap from the others except really the Spock storyline. I don’t want to say much more or it will give it away! I recommend this to anyone who liked the other ones! I enjoyed it 🙂

The whole movie I kept thinking about the young actor Anton Yelchin. He passed away in a tragic car accident a month before the movie came out. His character provides comic relief and he shines with lovable quirkiness. So sad.

Spoilers:

I loved the new character Jaylah who is based off of “JLaw” Jennifer Lawrence from her character Katniss in The Hunger Games. She is a badass. I thought she may end up with Kirk but no such luck. I also love Zachary Quinto AKA Spock and his will they-won’t they with Zoe Saldana AKA Uhura. The necklace/GPS scene made me laugh out loud haha

I thought the villain Krall was just okay. He wasn’t bad but wasn’t that great. I knew Idris Elba was in it but didn’t realize he was Krall until after! Crazy good make-up/CGI!

I’m keeping this review short, but hopefully there will be more movies soon! Been busy with life.

P.S. I had wanted to see Suicide Squad but it is getting terrible reviews. Seems like DC can’t catch a break haha only the Batman movies were good!!! Have a great weekend 🙂

“Your theory, as you put it, is horseshit.”~ Commander Spock from Star Trek Beyond

Finding Dory and Love and Friendship

Heyyyyyy!

So I watched a few movies last week. I started it off with the new movie Love and Friendship which is based on Jane Austen’s novella “Lady Susan”. Then my friends and I rewatched Finding Nemo to get ready to see Finding Dory later in the week! I’m not the biggest Jane Austen fan so I was surprised at how much I liked Love and Friendship. Kate Beckinsale really delivered as the sarcastic and witty Lady Susan. Seeing Finding Nemo again reminded me how much I love that movie. Finding Dory was no Finding Nemo but it was still pretty good! All in all, a great movie week! 😀

 

Ahhh I love Finding Nemo so much!! The tale of Marlin trying to find his son Nemo is sad, funny, and sweet. I forgot how clever this film was too. Also I probably laughed out loud a dozen times while watching it again. My favorite part though is in the beginning when Dory tells Marlin that she saw where the boat went so he follows her. When she starts swimming away she forgets what she is doing due to her short-term memory loss and thinks he is a random fish chasing her hahah

 

We kept it simple this week with just goldfish and some chocolate chip cookies! This scene in the picture is when Nemo is in the tank in the dentist office. I also love all of those scenes as well. Especially when Nigel flies in and all the fish go crazy haha

Really if you haven’t seen this movie by now you need to reevaluate your life.

Finding Dory had a record breaking opening this weekend. I’m not surprised since Finding Nemo was also a huge success. While I didn’t think it was as great as the original I did think it was pretty good. This movie follows Dory and the gang a little bit after the first movie. Dory remembers something about her parents and embarks on a journey with Marlin and Nemo to find them!

Spoilers:

I loved the new character Hank, who was the seven legged octopus. Bailey and Destiny were also pretty funny. The main critique I had is that it didn’t flow as well as Finding Nemo. It seemed like they were tying a little too hard for laughs and whatnot. I still think most people will enjoy it though! If you were a fan of the original then you should like the sequel. 🙂

Fun Fact: I read that they were originally going to have the Marine Biology Institute be an aquatic park like SeaWorld but then they saw the documentary Blackfish and changed their minds. I’ve seen that documentary and it is life changing. I’m glad they changed it to basically a rehabilitation center for fish.

This movie is about Lady Susan visiting her in-laws while trying to set-up her daughter Frederica and herself (she is a widow). I’m really bad with character names so it was helpful when the movie would introduce the characters and write a little blurb on them. And they were all pretty funny too.

Spoilers:

I really thought Lady Susan would end up with the young guy she befriended! Mr. DeCourcy I think? Instead he became her son-in-law lol She married Sir James Martin who was the most awkwardly hilarious character ever. I laughed out loud at the end when he was telling someone how Lady Susan was expecting. The woman commented that was fast and he said something like how he was surprised when she announced it shortly after getting married….hahah the baby was clearly not his.

As I said before, I’m not the biggest Jane Austen fan but this had so much quick wit and sarcasm sprinkled in that I loved it. I’m going to read the novella it is based on sometime!

Have a great week!

“Suck it, bipeds!”~ Hank from Finding Dory

Me Before You and Bridget Jone’s Diary

Heyyyyyyyy!

Last week I saw the new movie Me Before You (which is based on of the book of the same name by Jojo Moyes). For movie night, my friends and I watched Bridget Jone’s Diary (which for some reason hadn’t seen before!!). I really liked both of them! I’ve read the Me Before You book so I knew how the story went but seeing Emilia Clarke AKA The Mother of Dragons AKA Khaleesi AKA Daenerys play Lou and Sam Claflin AKA Finnick play Will was great 🙂 They had unbelievable chemistry!! It’s funny and witty but also sad so bring tissues. Bridget Jone’s Diary was also great in a different way. This was a rom com vs the dramedy of Me Before You. It was weird seeing Renee Zellweger though before she quit Hollywood for 6 yrs and had major cosmetic surgery. Oh well I loved the movie!! Both must-sees for any romantics out there.

Like I said before, their chemistry was crazy good. This is about a girl named Lou who gets a job taking care of a young quadriplegic man. Her quirky personality annoys Will initially but they gradually form an unlikely bond. She tries to show him to live boldly despite his horrible accident.

Spoilers:

So it was actually pretty close to the book. I only noticed a couple pretty small things like Will not having a sister in the movie but having one in the book. Her character wasn’t that important anyway haha

I wasn’t sure if they’d end it with him dying through assisted suicide like the book. That would’ve changed the whole tone if they did. A lot of people are angry about this ending though. I’m not going to get into this topic but I do think the movie was well done.

I thought it was funny how Neville Longbottom played the crappy boyfriend Patrick. It’s always weird seeing some actor play a different role when you always knew them as someone else! He was really good though 🙂 I loved the Lou birthday dinner when he got jealous of her feeding Will. Like calm down buddy lol

The music was fantastic as well. I remember thinking it paired well with what was happening. The only thing I was surprised about was how Nathan the nurse guy was pretty attractive and young. I don’t know why but I pictured him as older.

Anyways be prepared to cry (I definitely did!). I’m still contemplating reading the sequel After You. I heard it isn’t as good so I’m not sure I want to spoil the first one by reading the second. We’ll see!

I can’t believe I’ve never seen this before. I guess it came out in 2001 so I would’ve only been 10 years old but I could’ve seen it a few years later! Whatevs I loved it. It was certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 81% 😀 It’s about a British woman who chronicles her improving lifestyle through a diary.

Spoilers:

Pretty I sure I laughed out loud at several parts. The only thing I didn’t like was Hugh Grant being the bad guy. I love Hugh Grant! (well except for when he was caught with a prostitute 20 yrs ago…) Notting Hill starring him and Julia Roberts is one of my favorite movies!!! I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her. Ahhhh I need to rewatch that movie lol

I’m glad she ended up with Mr. Darcy! When they said Mr. Darcy I thought of Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice and said his name in my head with a British accent…haha

My friend made scones and we drank tea since ya know that’s British haha Now I’m excited to watch the second one and then the third when it comes out this year!

Next week we’re planning on watching Finding Nemo and then see Finding Dory!!! Can’t wait 🙂 Just keep swimming!

“The only thing worse than smug married couple; lots of smug married couples.” ~Bridget Jones from Bridget Jone’s Diary 

 

X-Men Apocalypse and Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Hey!!!

So my friends and I reinstated movie night and watched Breakfast At Tiffany’s last week (while pairing it with breakfast foods :)! ) I also saw the new movie X-Men: Apocalypse. I’ve seen Breakfast At Tiffany’s before (I went through an Audrey Hepburn phase a few years ago and watched most of her movies haha) and love it. I love Holly Golightly but my favorite character is Cat the cat lol As for X-Men: Apocalypse, Rotten tomatoes gave it a mediocre 48%. I agree with Rotten Tomatoes about 90% of the time, but I disagreed with this. I liked this movie a lot (although it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the first two so I can’t really compare them all) I really should’ve watched the first two last week before again. Oh well!

Either way if you are an X-Men fan, you HAVE to see this!

I found this movie poster which has to be old since the release date is wrong (it actually came out May 27 or I guess May 26 b/c they had Thursday showings). Anyway I don’t understand why Olivia Munn is right next to Jennifer Lawrence. I love them both but Olivia Munn’s character Psylocke is no where near as important as Mystique! Whatevs. And Nightcrawler is pretty important as well and is pushed in the back. I guess they did order of importance using the actor’s “famousness” as well as how important their character is…

I couldn’t even remember what happened in the first two movies so had to read their summaries before seeing this. Honestly not remembering stuff didn’t really matter. They did some flashbacks and whatnot and also explained everything. Don’t fret if you don’t have time to rewatch the first two before seeing this!

I thought it deserved a higher percentage on Rotten Tomatoes. I would’ve given it at least a 70%. I saw X-Men: First Class received 87% and X-Men: Days of Future Past got a whopping 91%. So maybe it wasn’t on par with the first two but it still was awesome.

I decided something after watching this. I like X-Men better than the Avengers. There I said it. I think I even like the old X-Men movies better than the Avengers as well (except X-Men 3 since that suckedddd). The Avengers are just trying to jam pack a million super heroes (I know X-Men has a bunch too haha) but all of theirs have complex backgrounds (since they almost all have their own movies) that must be explained taking precious time. I still like all the stand alone Avenger movies like Captain America and Iron Man (except the 3rd one, I’m sensing a common theme with the 3rd movie being bad in a series haha).

Also X-Men movies are more serious superhero movies than The Avengers. I love comedy but Avengers humor seems forced and out of place. This X-Men movie had a few laughs that worked really well!

P.S. Stay after the credits for one post-credit scene!

Spoilers:

I had read before that Oscar Isaac was playing Apocalypse but I didn’t register it until the credits were rolling. He wasn’t my favorite villain but I didn’t hate him. As for the new young Storm and Nightcrawler…I didn’t really like them either haha I love Quicksilver (HE’S MY FAVE but not to be confused with the shitty Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron) and I love Cyclops and even though Jean Grey was annoying in the original movies I thought Sophie Turner AKA Sansa Stark did a great job!

I like Rose Byrne as an actress as well but her character is annoying. I laughed out loud when Professor Charles Xavier just was battling Apocalypse and was kinda dying and she was just doing CPR on him while being surrounded by superheroes haha

I read the post-credit scene is setting up the last Wolverine movie and may feature the villain “Mister Sinister” because the suitcase says “Essex Corp” and his alter ego is Nathaniel Essex (or he may be the villain in the next X-Men movie since I heard there will be 2 more). Even though the Wolverine movies weren’t as good I still want to see Hugh Jackman in action. 😀

Overall I like the new generation of X-Men. I read JLaw won’t be in anymore (we’ll see if that is actually true whenever the next movie comes out) I would assume that would mean Beast won’t be in it either but who knows. I can’t wait for the next one!!

It’s kind of interesting how Audrey Hepburn is most famous for her role as Holly Golightly in Breakfast At Tiffany’s but she made her film debut in Roman Holiday which she earned her first and only Oscar for! (although she was nominated for Breakfast At Tiffany’s)

I love almost everything about this movie. Only Mickey Rooney’s performance as Mr. Yunioshi makes me cringe. Cat is my fave and spoiler at the end when Holly throws him out of the car he looks so pissed that it makes me laugh lol

Hepburn and Paul “Fred” played by George Peppard’s chemistry is clearly there and I love all of their scenes together. I especially love Fred at the party when he is seeing all this stuff unfold at the party and puts an ice cold glass on the back of some woman so she would get outta the way haha

My friends and I made chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, eggs, and mimosas! Yummy

Fun Facts:

This is based on Truman Capote’s novella so he voiced early on that he wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly. She turned it down b/c her advisor/acting coach didn’t want her image to be tarnished by playing a “lady of the night” haha well Hepburn went on to receive an Oscar nomination for this soooo…

Also Paramount wanted to remove the song “Moon River” from the movie (it was written for Hepburn in only one octave since she wasn’t a singer) but supposedly Hepburn said “over my dead body” and it went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Song!

Audrey Hepburn was paid $750,000 for her role making her the highest paid actress of the time in 1961.

In the novella, Holly is portrayed as bisexual but that was omitted in the film to “suit Hepburn” better. Also Holly is supposed to be 19 but Hepburn is 31.

A must-see for any romantic comedy lover!

Have a great week!

“A girl can’t read that sort of thing without her lipstick.” ~ Holly Golightly from Breakfast At Tiffany’s

Captain America: Civil War

Hey!!!

So I saw Captain America: Civil War on Thursday night with all the other really enthusiastic superhero fans. I was pretty excited since Captain America is one of my faves (Chris Evans need I say more?) and Iron Man is usually hilarious. Also Rotten Tomatoes has it certified Fresh at 91%!! I wasn’t disappointed. It was funny, dramatic, and thrilling. A must-see for Marvel lovers! P.S. Stay after the credits. There are TWO post-credit scenes! 🙂 Also heads up the movie runs really long at about 2.5 hours!

This movie was all about bad blood (no Taylor Swift did not date Captain America) between Captain America and Iron Man. Basically all those gigantic fights between The Avengers and those villains have cost lives and tons of money so the government steps in. Captain America wants The Avengers to be free while Iron Man supports the government interference. There is more to it but I don’t want to spoil it here!

All the fighting sequences were cool and there were plenty of laughs. Although, if I didn’t know this was Captain America 3 I would have guessed it to be another Avengers movie. Almost everyone returns. I’ve said this before, I prefer the one character-based movies. The Avengers are too crowded with their billion superheroes so not enough time can be spent on each character.

Pet Peeve: Why do people feel the need to clap during or after a movie?? This isn’t a live performance so the actors don’t know that you enjoyed it…AND when people clap DURING the movie sometimes lines are missed because NO ONE CAN HEAR THEM OVER THE CLAPPING. Stop. Please. For the sake of humanity.

Random Aside: Also why do the women Avengers suck? I’m all for women super heroes (girl power!!) but Scarlet Witch is annoying (although she has some sick powers) and Black Widow doesn’t even have powers…I still laugh at The Avengers movie poster where everyone looks fierce with their powers and she is just holding a gun. Why can’t the women have more badass powers, Marvel?? Okay wait let me rephrase that (since I just realized X-Men is Marvel and Storm and Mystique are totally awesome)…women of Avengers I mean.

Now that I am thinking about all the super heroes, man there are so many haha Sometimes I am not even sure if they are Marvel or not. Oh well I’ll probs watch them all! haha (but not the Superman/Batman since I heard it was terrible).

Spoilers:

It also goes deeper into Captain America wanting to protect his friend Bucky from Iron Man. MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD

 

 

Since Bucky apparently killed Iron Man’s parents way back when. CRAZY.

I liked how The Avengers finally had to own up to all their destruction. Like they demolish so many things and nothing is said about it later. Well this whole movie was about that guy whose family was killed during one of their tirades.

So I don’t think this was my favorite Captain America (I love the first one!) but it was still great. Even though I don’t like it when they bring everyone back, I LOVE ANT MAN lol and the new Spider-Man actually was awesome and looked like a high schooler. I was a little sad that Mark Ruffalo AKA The Hulk wasn’t in it though. I thought maybe he would be there at the end with the Black Panther on the island or wherever they were.

So, until next time Marvel! I can’t pass up a good superhero movie. 🙂

Bucky Barnes: [In the back seat of a VW Beetle] “Can you move your seat up?”

Sam Wilson: “No.” ~ from Captain America Civil War

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keanu

Hey!!

So I literally hadn’t seen a movie in a month. Instead, I’ve watched House of Cards (fantastic show!!!), The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (hilarious), and have started watching Gilmore Girls for the millionth time haha Getting ready for the revival! 😀 I heard it may come out in December but I hope it’s sooner like June 3 lol GG fans you know what I’m talking about. Anyways my mom was visiting so we decided to see Keanu because we love kittens and Key & Peele. I was surprised to see it got 75% on Rotten Tomatoes since it looked kinda dumb funny. (also that Barbershop movie got 92%!?!? still not going to see it though lol) so I figured I would check it out! It was pretty hilarious but not purrfect. There were some dull moments but luckily at only 1 hr and 38 minutes it didn’t drag on too long. I feel like if you like Key and Peele then you should also like this!

The plot is ridiculous haha basically this guys befriends a kitten but then it gets catnapped so they pose as drug dealers for a gang to get it back. BTW the kittens (they used several for the film) were ADORABLE. And like really well trained haha I was wondering how many takes it took for each shot.

Key and Peele were their usual selves. I loved their sketch series so I figured the movie would have the same kind of humor. I was right haha You have to go into the movie not wanting it to make any sense. Just go with the flow lol

Even though I didn’t think it was absolutely great, I still recommend it! Have a great week 🙂

“That’s the cutest cat that I have ever seen in my life.” ~ Clarence from Keanu

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Hey!

So I took a little break from watching movies after The Oscars haha as much as I love movies, I needed the break! Anyway, I visited my mom and saw the new Tina Fey movie Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. I knew it was based on this real journalist’s life but I didn’t know much else. I love Tina Fey so I had to see it! AND it got an okay rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 63%. I’ll take it!

I really enjoyed this and so did my mom. There was quite a bit of profanity but I thought it was hilarious! Tina Fey totally rocks. The movie is based on the book called The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I haven’t read it but now I really want to. This was Kim Barker’s memoir about her time as a foreign correspondent. Fun Fact: The chief book critic for The New York Times loved the book and said she was like a Tina Fey character. Fey heard about that and then read the book which led it to become a movie!

Barker wrote it to get people talking about what was happening in other countries besides Iraq. I think her story definitely achieved that. She has said that the movie isn’t exactly what happened (since when are movies “based on” or “inspired by” something that all true??? I’d say never haha) but she basically said the essence and the message rang true.

So much stuff happens that it is hard to summarize haha I saw a video with the real Kim and Tina where Tina said that some of the most crazy stuff that happened was actually true.

If you like Tina Fey at all then def go out and see this! Have a good week 🙂

“No, you are a bad friend.” ~ Kim Baker from Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (they changed her name from Barker to Baker for some reason)

 

And The Oscar goes to…

Heyyyyyy!!

THE OSCARS ARE FINALLY HERE!!! They start at 8:30pm on ABC. Red carpet starts at 7pm on ABC or on E! from 5:30-8:30pm. I usually switch back and forth depending on who is being interviewed 🙂 Although I would’ve preferred Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting The Oscars, I’m glad they at least picked a comedian. The Anne Hathaway and James Franco hosting year was terrible lol I think Chris Rock will be funny and probably controversial (addressing the lack of diversity in the nominations) but sometimes the controversial humor is better!

Anyway, in this post I’m going to include my Big 5 (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay) plus Supporting Actor and Actress predictions. I have seen them all! I’ll also pick who I want to win if it is different than who I think will actually win.

And The Oscar goes to…

Best Picture

Who will win: The Revenant

It seems like the Academy is going crazy over The Revenant. It leads the pack with a whopping 12 nominations! The director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu actually won for Birdman last year taking home Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing, Original Screenplay. While I do think this movie was good, it wasn’t my favorite. I am just not a fan of a lot of violence and gore. Also obviously Leo was incredible per usual too haha

Who I want to win: Room or Spotlight

Spotlight had a stellar cast and the movie was fantastic. Room hasn’t had much hype (beside for Brie Larson playing the lead role) but I loved it. I’ve read the book so I was a little biased but I think even if you haven’t read the book you would love it too! The mother/child bond is so strong you would’ve thought Brie and Jacob Tremblay (who is adorable btw) were actual mother/son!

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Who will win: Brie Larson for Room

Ahhhh she was so good in Room!! I can’t say enough about this movie and her performance. It’s kind of funny how Brie was a child actress in Disney Movies and whatnot and then sort of comes outta nowhere giving this amazing performance. This is her first nomination and I really hopes she wins!!!

Who I want to win: Brie Larson

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Who will win: Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

He has yet to take home the Oscar trophy but I think this time he will! Again his performance is Oscar worthy. He has said this was his most difficult role (he ate raw bison liver and also slept in animal carcasses). While his competition is good (I really liked Bryan Cranston in Trumbo), he was better. Team Leo!

Who I want to win: Leonardo DiCaprio

Best Director

Who will win: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for The Revenant 

Just because the movie may win Best Picture doesn’t mean the director will win too. BUT I know the Academy likes Alejandro since they picked him for Birdman. This one could go to George Miller though. ahhh I’m sticking with Alejandro. Let’s see if he wins 2 years in a row!

Who I want to win: George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road or Lenny Abrahamson for Room

Again I love Room so I won’t go on about that again. Mad Max: Fury Road was also an awesome movie with 10 total nominations! Most of the nominations are for random things and not the “big” categories but still. I keep forgetting about this movie since it came out a while ago and not around Christmas like every other movie haha I didn’t think I would like it that much but I loved it!

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Who will win: Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl

It’s weird that she isn’t up for Best Actress instead since the movie is just as much about her character as it is about Eddie Redmayne’s character. I read that they “campaigned” for Supporting thinking she would have a better chance. Oh well! This is her first nomination and hopefully first win! She really stood out and showed her acting chops.

Who I want to win: Alicia Vikander or Rooney Mara for Carol

Again, Alicia was great! Rooney Mara also could’ve been up for Best Actress instead. I felt like the movie was equally about her character and Cate Blanchett’s character. Mara shined in this dramatic role!

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Who will win: Sylvester Stallone for Creed

I’m thinking the Academy will feel nostalgic with this one. Stallone was nominated for Best Actor for Rocky in 1977 but didn’t win. I love Rocky but his role in Creed showcases his acting ability more. Go Rocky!

Who I want to win: Sylvester Stallone or Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies

I thought Bridge of Spies was just an okay movie but Mark Rylance really stood out! I read he is mostly a stage performer but his portrayal as the spy in this movie is definitely Oscar worthy.

Best Original Screenplay

Who will win: Spotlight

I think if there weren’t so many other good movies out this year then Spotlight would’ve won more. It is still really good though! I learned a lot about the Catholic Church cover-up regarding the molestation scandal. Crazy stuff. Also the cast was filled with a bunch of A-listers which doesn’t hurt.

Who I want to win: Spotlight or Inside Out

I loved the animated movie Inside Out. It reminded me of when I moved to another state in middle school. It was more depressing than I thought but it had its happy moments too! It was also very clever.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Who will win: The Big Short

Who I want to win: Room or Brooklyn or Carol or The Martian

I literally want anything other than The Big Short to win haha I wasn’t a fan but I think it is the shoe in to win. I know it got great reviews and everything but I couldn’t get into it.

Well there you go. Thanks for reading and enjoy watching the The Oscars! I know I will 😀

“When they called my name I had this feeling I could hear half of America going, “Oh no! Oh, c’mon why? Her? Again?” You know? But, whatever.” — Meryl Streep, Actress in a Leading Role, The Iron Lady, 2011

 

The Look of Silence and Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

Hey!

This week I watched a couple of documentaries so now I’ve seen all of the ones nominated for Best Documentary! Oscars are now only one week away!! YAYYYYY I’ve seen way more Oscar nominated movies than I have ever seen before so I’m even more excited (if that is even possible haha) There are only a few random ones I probably won’t get a chance to see. Maybe next year I will try to see everything 🙂 The short films were showing at my local downtown theater but I was busy that week and didn’t get a chance to see them. BUT I’ve seen all of the main categories!

So the documentaries I watched were called The Look of Silence and Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom. Silence was about the genocide in Indonesia and a man who confronts his brother’s killers. Ukraine (which is a Netflix documentary and also What Happened, Miss Simone? from last week, Netflix is killing it!) is about the revolution between 2013 and 2014 calling for the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich. Both were very good and super intense. AND I learned a ton since I hadn’t known much about the upset in Ukraine or the genocide in Indonesia. Fair warning, both were pretty graphic.

This was about the genocide in Indonesia in the 1960s. Large scale killings were targeted towards communists and the people in charge of killing could do whatever they wanted with no repercussions. I’m not going to talk about what they did since it was so horrific but if you watch this documentary be prepared for the worst.

Spoilers:

The director of Silence also did another documentary called The Act of Killing where he interviewed known killers and asked them to act out their killings. This documentary showed clips from it. The man (Adi) whose brother (Ramli) was murdered (he never met his brother since he died before he was born) is seen watching the videos.

The ways the people were murdered were horrific but the men who did them and acted like they didn’t do anything wrong was outrageous. The way they explained it was like a normal thing to them.

Adi’s parents are also interviewed and talk about how sad it was to lose their son Ramli. The mom talks about how unbearable her pain was and how having Adi shortly after helped her mourn. Overall this was very well done. This definitely is in the running to win Best Documentary!

This revolution started as a peaceful protest but was met with force. The protesters had to build barricades to protect themselves. Over 100 people were killed with over 1000 injured. They wanted the President Yanukovich to resign since he didn’t support European integration. This showed how corrupt the government is and how a new generation of younger protesters started.

Spoilers:

I couldn’t believe the beginning. The revolution started with peaceful protests but the police attacked them. Innocent people just standing there were beaten with iron bars. How crazy. They fight back later but only because they are getting the crap beaten out of them.

I’m glad that Yanukovich did resign but it seems like the corruption was pretty deep. I learned a lot from this documentary and it started me thinking about how glad that I live in the United States! Crazy stuff.

Well enjoy your week! My birthday is Friday and then The Oscars are Sunday so I’m pretty excited! 🙂

“Smiling Fighter: Do something. Do something for the revolution.

Camera Man: I’m filming.

Smiling Fighter: This is the Ukrainian revolution. It’s fun.

Fighter #2: They’re shooting over there! Don’t go there! They’re shooting over there!” ~ from Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

Deadpool, Amy,Cartel Land, and What Happened, Miss Simone?

Heyyyyyyyy!

So I saw several movies/documentaries this weekend. I saw Deadpool Thursday night and loved it! I wasn’t sure what to expect since I didn’t know much about this character but the movie was hilarious, clever, and had Ryan Reynolds 🙂 Definitely a must-see! I also watched a few documentaries called Amy (based on Amy Winehouse’s life), Cartel Land (based on the Mexican drug cartel), and What Happened, Miss Simone? (based on the late jazz singer/classical pianist Nina Simone). They are all nominated for Best Documentary in the upcoming Oscars. I liked all three but my favorite was Amy since I listened to her music in high school. Although, they were all so different it’s a little hard to compare. BTW The Oscars are in less than 2 weeks!!! 😀 And I’m watching The Grammys tonight at 8pm on CBS! Go T Swift! I love awards season!

I found myself laughing basically this entire movie. Even the opening credits are hilarious. (heads up there is a scene after the end credits so make sure you stay after the movie is over) This character isn’t like any other superhero/villain out there. He knows he is in a comic book and “breaks the fourth wall” by talking to the camera. Deadpool starts out as Wade Wilson, a former Special Forces operative, but then undergoes this experiment to try and heal him from terminal cancer. He ends up with a healing power but is horribly disfigured. He then seeks revenge on the man known as Ajax/Francis.

Spoilers:

I haven’t read any of the comics but some of my friends who have said that Reynolds is perfect to play Deadpool. I noticed that his comedic timing was awesome, and he also had great chemistry with his love interest Vanessa (Morena Baccarin yay love her from the show Firefly). Although my fave character might be his blind roommate Blind Al. She was super funny.

I loved how clever the humor was too. It wasn’t “dumb” humor. I loved how they kept making fun of Ryan Reynolds being The Green Lantern haha There was quite a bit of violence too, but I think the comedy made it less gross if that makes sense. I bet they make a sequel which I will definitely be seeing!!

Fun Facts: A 3 minute test reel was made to try and get the studio into making the movie. Fans loved it so it got the green light. Reynolds kept his Deadpool costume. There supposedly is a sequel in the works which will crossover with Gambit and The X-Men.

Documentaries

I wanted to see Amy even before it got nominated. I loved her album Rehab (which won 5 Grammys). It follows her life before, during, and after she became famous all the way up to to her untimely death at age 27.

Amy Winehouse was an extremely talented jazz singer (my favorite song of hers is Valerie). She only wanted to sing but succumbed to the darkness of addiction. It was interesting to find out that her parents divorced when she was 9. She said she kind of started doing what she wanted after that. Then to become super famous in your early 20s would’ve hard to deal with. It also discussed how close she was with her grandmother and when her grandmother passed away, it really affected her.

A couple of scenes that were hard to watch were when she was so intoxicated at her concert that she didn’t perform, and when they took her out of her house in a body bag. It was pretty sad but a good biopic.

 I had never heard of Nina Simone before seeing this. She was a jazz singer, classical pianist, and civil rights activist. She emerged from poverty dreaming of becoming the first African-American classical pianist. Instead she became a famous jazz singer.

Formally known as Eunice Waymon, this follows her story to stardom. She started playing the piano at a very young age. When she was older, she applied to Curtis Institute to further study the piano but was turned down (she believes it was because of her race). She went on to Juilliard but after running out of money, she started playing at a nightclub. The owner said she could only work there is she sang. So she did and turned out to be really good.

She started to become famous and would marry Andrew Stroud, a former police detective. It made me mad how they showed interviews of him since he abused Simone. They went on to have a daughter (who came out and said this documentary shows the true Nina). Simone loved playing music but often said she was tired. She didn’t want to be responsible for so many people. It turns out later she was suffering from manic depression and bipolar disorder. After finally leaving her husband, she moved to France and Switzerland. She only returned to the U.S. when she needed to work and earn more money.

I also didn’t know how involved Simone was in the civil rights movement. She wrote the song “Mississippi Goddamn” after the Alabama church bombings and the murder of Medgar Evers (a fellow civil rights activist). A lot of people wouldn’t play it because of the vulgar language but it sent a powerful message.

It’s interesting how there are two documentaries about female artists this year. Simone died from cancer at 70 years old but battled many demons like Winehouse. Both were sad but showcased two very talented women.

This documentary follows a couple of groups of people. There is a veteran in the U.S. who has taken it upon himself to try and stop drugs from coming in. Then there is a physician in Michoacan, Mexico who is the leader of a civilian brigade against the Mexican drug cartel.

This is an eye-opening feature about the drug problem in the U.S. and Mexico. People are murdered and families are destroyed. I thought this was good but not my favorite. I often forget how much I like to watch documentaries because you learn so much. I definitely learned a lot about what is really going on down there.

I still have a couple of documentaries to watch but so far Amy is my favorite! Have a great week!

Blind Al: “You know ‘love is blind’ ”

Wade Wilson: “No, you are blind.” ~ Deadpool