Bohemian Rhapsody

Watching ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ reminded me the first time I heard the song played on the radio. It was weird, long winding but refreshing. For me it was something I had never heard before and something completely new to my musical palette. And as a kid a found a bunch of men in a rock band called ‘Queen’ very funny.

Fast forward to the present, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ the movie is killing at both the box office and the award season. Despite its controversy with the Director’s role in the age of #MeToo, there was no denying that the movie struck a chord in a lot of people’s heart.

I personally missed it when it was in the cinemas. I was going through a Netflix phase and kind of fell off the cinema radar. However, another long haul flight means another catch up with all the movies I missed through the small blue screen at the back of the seat in front of me.

The movie opened and closed in a come around way accounting the rise and fall of, well not Queen, but Freddie Mercury as Queen’s front man. Rami Malek of the Mr Robot TV series fame led an outstanding cast bringing to life the many important moments of Queen to us once again. There were initial discussions about whether Rami looks the part but by now with all the nominations and wins he got, that was put to rest. I personally found Rami’s performance extremely enigmatic, which reflects what I read about Freddie Mercury throughout the years in different coverage after his death (I have never really followed Queen and its career at that time as I responded to the music not its artist). Sometimes when actors perform like that you felt they are too try hard but that did not come through with Rami’s Freddie. The arrogant front and the vulnerability deep inside was well balanced. The scene where he called his ex-wife who lives next door just to quench the loneliness inside him at the height of his career was devastatingly realistic.

Allan Leech as the possessive lover with a scorn was a fair delivery. Although I personally still like him in ‘Downton Abbey’ better. It is not that he did not do a good job in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. It was just because everyone else’s presence in the movie was corroded by Freddie Mercury’s presence. This was the same with the band members. They were by no means unimportant (Brian May created the ‘We Will Rock You’ beats, which after all these years are still one of the most catchy and engaging beats in music), but Freddie’s larger than life and over the top lifestyle just kept eclipsing all the other people around him, including the woman whom he was crazily in love and could not let go of. Lucy Boynton as Mary, his ex-wife was one of the outstanding supporting cast in the film. Her subtleness in a lot of scenes through a glance or even a sigh elevated her sadness and self-destructive symbiotic relationship with Freddie in the most natural manner. It was a pity that we couldn’t see more of her. Another one worth mentioning was the surprising turn of Mike Myers as Ray Foster. It was initially beyond recognisable to me but once you noticed, his image just got stuck in your head.

It is a Queen movie, so it is given that the soundtrack is full of Queen tracks, from the titled ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ to ‘We Are The Champions’ and ‘Radio Gaga’. They are nostalgic yet present. Seriously not a lot of songs can withstand the weathering of time and still feel fresh after decades. Queen managed to give us some iconic rhythm that even today when I heard them in the movie, I would go home and dig them out from my iTunes collection and listen to them again. For me it was also fun to see how they were incubated, fictional or not.

Since it is about the rise of Queen, the movie is predominantly nostalgic 80s and sometimes made me feel ‘how could adults at that time think those outfits are trendy and good looking?’ But I guess every generation had their pet love and fails fashion-wise. But for me it was quite truthful, at least from my limited memory.

In all for me, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was a very engaging experience. I never had once looked at my phone for the time, despite being trapped on a flight in the dark. I enjoyed every single moment of it, but probably for some you might enjoy it better if you are truly into Queen and its music.

Virgin Australia Sydney to Hong Kong experience

It’s not usually my habit to evaluate flight experience. However, my first long haul international flight from Sydney to Hong Kong on Virgin Australia had attracted a lot of interests from my friends. So, I thought I will just give it a go.

Before I start, I need to make it clear that this is the first time I flew economy in a few years (I usually fly premium economy) and also this is my experience in one single flight, so it is by no mean representative if it differs from your experience.

Booking

First of all, about my booking experience. I have been a Velocity member for many years as I used to fly Virgin Australia to Christchurch for many years. Adding my Velocity membership to the booking was quite straightforward. I also managed to select my seat at the time of my booking without additional cost, which is extremely reasonable (yes, I am looking at you Qantas on your unreasonable fees for selecting seats at the time of booking). However, I received two emails since then advertising the possibility of bidding for at least $1,000 each way to upgrade my flight to business, which means if I succeeded it will be at least another $2,000 overhead on top of my $750 that I already paid. Considering business class is just over $3,000 I personally felt that it is a bit of trick marketing into paying more for something you don’t need and not that much of a saving. The fact that I only booked it a week out from my flying date, it is a bit over the top to get two such emails in a week.

Check in

Checking in online was quite painless. I managed the process quite easily in between my last-minute packing. I even managed to get my confirmation to be sent to my email address. So, it will just be a simple bag drop the next morning.

When I arrived at the airport the next morning, I found out the usual indicators for airlines at the airport at the drop off area were all gone. So, to save money (on a cab) I picked the closest available spot to get out. Turned out the Virgin area was in the farthest end of the departing hall. Luckily, I managed to find an orphaned trolley so I picked it up quickly to wheel it to the other end of the building.

When I got there, I informed one of the ground staff that I already performed online check in, but just to find out I still need to queue up to check in at the desk. This was not what I expected as with other airlines, I could just proceed to print boarding pass and baggage drop. That added unnecessary waiting for me and I could have not bothered to do online check in. For me that was a disappointment.

Boarding and the Flight

Boarding was quite painless and the ground crew were extremely friendly and patient.

When I was on board of the flight, to my surprise my seat (38D) was not a standalone seat as it was indicated on the flight floor plan when I selected my seat at the time of booking. In fact, there were two other seats next to me. One of them was occupied by another passenger (although he moved somewhere later). This was extremely puzzling for me as I was expecting to be sitting by myself without anyone to my right. I ended up still having the whole row to me but I felt cheated when the seat I chose was not what it seemed to be. Nonetheless the seats were of good size for my miniature frame.

The crew was courteous and friendly. Most of them were pretty attentive and sincere, although one of them seemed to be a bit more stressed than others. During his conversation with his colleague during food service, I understood that his regularly route was Sydney to LA, so probably the Hong Kong shift is not as interesting as he wished.

The selection of movie and TV entertainment was sufficient but not spectacular. There weren’t a lot of interesting options for me. I watched ‘The House with a Clock in its Walls’ at the beginning and then just spent the rest of the flight playing games on my PSVita and 3DS. Probably on the way back would be different as I would be spending more time resting.

Meal services were prompt and friendly, although I personally feel the servings are way too small as I felt hungry most of the time during the flight. I wish there were more items per meal and also bigger serving. Though when I asked for another cup of tea, it was served promptly.

The flight arrived on time and overall it was not too bad although the mainland Chinese tour group caused quite a bit of issues when they started to get up as soon as the plane touched the ground, even though it is still moving at quite some speed and the crew kept on telling them to sit down. But none of them seemed to care.

My luggage was already waiting for me after I passed through customs so I was quite pleased with it.

Overall

All in all, I think the flight was not bad at all. Despite a few hiccups or ‘surprises’ it was still value for money. However, as I said after years on premium economy, my expectations could be unrealistic. I might not be comparing apples with apples on this. I probably will fly them again in the future, but save up some money for premium economy next time 😊.

Kim's Convenience

From time to time you run into something that you can totally relate to. Kim’s Convenience is one of those for me.

The premise was quite straight forward. The Kim family runs a convenience store in a Toronto suburb. Among their regular clients are a number of quirky and unique characters. Adding some dramas among the family members and you got one of the funniest sitcoms in recent years.

In the age of diversity Kim’s Convenience uncompromisingly delivered. The Kim family is Korean (though not all actors are Koreans), then you have Mr Chin, a Chinese friend with his dog Ginger, also Mr Mheta, a local Indian eatery owner and his family, Pastor Nina, the Latin American pastor in a Korean church etc. The diversity of people within this community reflects modern Toronto as a hot pot of culture while different generations are still adapting to their identities and changing the cultural landscape. The fact that the series started with an episode addressing the LGBTQ community’s relationship with the locals had immediately set the tone of the show. And also, how they bring back these characters throughout the series reflected that the writers and producers are not just paying lip service to this cause but committed to it.

Since the main cast is a Korean family, it inevitably deals with a lot of Korean culture and sometimes play running jokes on it. However, what impressed me was that it is not about making fun of it by stereotyping it but laughing at other people’s stereotypical or lack of understanding of the Korean culture. Also, its emphasis on no matter which ethnic group you belong to, you are just a day in day out Canadian made the whole series a lot more relatable. The Kim family and the related gangs all have their day to day issues – from studies, to career, to favouritism within the family, to facing the shock of growing up and gaining independence etc. – they all contributed to the funny and emotional moments of the series.

The series also tackled the generational difference of identity within migrant families. While the kids Jung and Janet considered themselves as more Canadian who happened to have a Korean background, their parents Umma and Appa were uncompromising Koreans. Umma’s obsession in finding a nice and handsome Korean Christian boy for her daughter was extremely funny, especially when Janet went to distance to hide her non-Korean boyfriend from her mom. Then we have Janet feeling insecure because she was being out-Koreaned by her Korean cousin who actually came from Korean to study. Throughout the two seasons that I watched, both generations continued to adapt to the changing dynamic within the family while trying to understand each other more.

The cast playing the Korean family was superb. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Appa was without a doubt a scene stealer. Most of the time he doesn’t need to say a word or do a thing, he could be just looking at something and you already found it funny. He is one of the few actors on screen in any series that I felt like he hit the mark every time he showed up. His fluctuation between pride and ignorance to understanding and acceptance were flawlessly played out every time. Jean Yoon as the mother was also great. Although the character was initially more one dimensional, as the character got more juicy materials, Umma stepped up and became one of the most important moral and cultural compass for her hard-core Korean husband. Jean Yoon meticulous timing delivered some of the best lines in the show (could never forget her comments on her daughter’s fake Korean accent). Andrea Bang as Janet, the daughter who yearned to grow up and be recognised provided the much-needed balance to avoid the show being too stereotypical Korean. She represents the view of 2nd generation migrants who sometimes struggled with her cultural identity while trying to fit into both worlds. Andrea’s performance was great although at times I felt a little overplayed at the beginning. But she certainly found the balance as the series moved forward. Simu Liu as the son Jung was a good choice within the context of the character. However, I felt like there could be more he could do in terms of character development as Jung has a colourful background. I just felt that his story had not been properly flashed out still. Nonetheless, the dynamics between him and Andrew Phung’s Kimchee was always great to watch.

As I said Kim’s Convenience is one of the most diverse show on TV that hit the diversity mark spot on. It’s about the culture but at the same time not overly cultural specific. You can feel that all characters in the show were embraced by the writers and the producers as none of them were presented in a judgmental way. And when judgements were made, they were made within the context and prejudice and ignorance always had to pay the price. That’s what I like about it. It is an open conversation itself on cultural identity, family, religion, sexual orientation and social adaptation.

The World Vs Decluttering

I have already written about Netflix’s Tidying up with Marie Kondo before. For me it was a refreshing show and I learnt a lot about how to manage storage space in terms of how to fold tops, fitted sheets, socks etc. etc. My wardrobe now looks great and tidy and I hope to maintain this state of joy for the longest I could.

However, we are living in a world that every popular thing will at some point invite backlashes. The surge of articles on the Internet, including newspaper columns and blogs against the concept of decluttering because of only keeping things that ‘Spark Joy’ have flooded my screen space in the last two weeks. Clearly, keeping life simple and decluttered is not something that everyone is into.

A lot of those articles were attacking Marie Kondo’s idea of ‘sparking joy’ because not everything needs to spark joy as they reflect who they are and who they once were. Some said it is about how you want to present yourself as a person through what you have in your house (or maybe also stuff you stocked up in the darkest corners of your garage). It is not just about sparking joy but being and reflecting who you are as a person. And that principle applies to all items across the board from clothing, to books and konomos etc.

For me I found these attacks quite amusing. My feeling was – if you don’t like Marie Kondo’s idea just don’t follow it. Decluttering had certainly helped people in the show, so what’s a big deal if that didn’t apply to you. I don’t watch reality dating shows but I won’t go on an all-out war against people who believed contestants could really find true love on those shows.

Decluttering is a lifestyle, not a rigid regiment in life. I once kept a lot of things because of sentimental reasons. But moving from country to country and houses to houses in the last 17 years made me realised that I have been burdening myself with expired sentiments and overloading excess baggage. That’s when I started to get ruthless on my personal possessions. Last time when I moved house I found out there were things in my garage that I have kept for 8 years in boxes without opening them at all. But I have to take them with me because I am moving. That’s when I made the decision of inviting a good friend who knows me very well, and asked her to go through all those and other boxes for me.  I knew if I did it myself they will just be back into the garage or storage. I told her a simple rule – if she thinks I don’t need them, don’t even ask me or tell me about the contents, just throw them. This exercise helped me cleared out a lot of junks that I don’t even know what they were but had never thought about revisiting.

When I decided to renovate my place, I needed to pack and move to a temporary location so my place can be, well renovated. This is when I noticed that there are a lot of things I thought defining who I am became things that I just kept for no reasons. I suddenly realised that I have been depending on objects to tell me who I am (or maybe to impress others with those ‘wow you got this?’) and stop focusing on living as who I am. I went through another series of culling and decluttering. I donated a lot of books and DVDs to the local libraries and schools, depending on the nature of those items, discarded a lot of clothes that were no longer my size (I couldn’t believe I was once that skinny – like 27” waistline?) and removed a lot of household items that I have never, and will never use. I set up a table outside my garage and placed two huge boxes of household items, either new or mildly used and put a note telling people to take them if they need them. I got rid of about one and a half box during the process. And the funny thing is I have never revisited the remaining items in the box in the garage as apparently I don’t need any of those. I will probably ask the local council to take away all the remaining items in the garage at the end of this year as now I imposed a strictly – if not used in two years, they have to go rule.

For me living a simpler and more lightweight life allows me to focus more on how I want to live my life instead of looking at things or worrying about things that are taking up my physical space. That gives me peace and ‘sparks joy’. If decluttering doesn’t spark joy for you then it is not something for you. Maybe you enjoy clutters and clutters spark joy for you. As Marie Kondo emphasised and demonstrated, giving things away are not just about tossing them out, she reiterated the importance of appreciating those items and what they meant to you in your life before letting them go. And I think personally, this is the beauty of her methodology. I am not as forgiving as she is when it comes to that but her approach did trigger me to revisit things I still have and started using them more to understand what they meant to me (yes, if I don’t feel anything anymore from them, they are going).

So there is no need to go up in arms against decluttering or Marie Kondo herself. The fear you created for yourself against Marie Kondo and her decluttering lifestyle is unwarranted if you truly believe in what you believe in. And there is no concrete wall between how you want to live your live as to how others want to live a decluttered life.

Debunking the Myth of Lonely Single Lives

So Christmas and New Year are over and it is just another few weeks before Valentine’s Day. As per usual newspaper columns are churning out one loneliness article after another for single people saying how bad it feels to be alone without a partner and how toxic loneliness is blah blah blah.

 For me I am sick of this.

 The truth is not everyone is built for relationship, or not everyone can be in a relationship. They key to being single is to be content with what you have and not focusing on what you don’t have. It always confound me how some of these columnists throw out notion of being single is bad because they feel so lonely having no company. For me, if you think being single is bad for you, actively find someone. According to statistics online dating sites are extremely active during this period because people are desperate to find a company by Valentine’s Day so they won’t be alone. If that’s the case, instead of spreading negativity like strayed animals spraying on the streets, join these crowds and spend more time swiping left or right, whatever suits you. Nobody needs to read another 600 articles of loneliness during festive season when you are not really making an effort to be content with who you are and what your life is.

 In this day and age of craziness, spreading negative sentiments simply because you have the platforms to do so when everyone is trying to be positive with their New Year resolutions that may or may not fail is not helping anyone. Maybe you find a need to express yourself. Then ring a friend, talk to your parents or see your psychiatrist.

 Being single does not equal to being lonely. People who are relationship-craze will find someone no matter what and no matter what the consequences are for them. But if you can’t find someone for this so called social milestone, then just be content and make the most out of it. When I say making the most out of it, it is not about pretending to be content but look positively around you and what you have. There is nothing called too much solitude if you actually appreciate what you have and stop focusing and moaning on what you don’t have. Not everyone can have it all and being constantly envied about your friends whom you think having it all does not give you a better life. Further, you never know what’s behind the door so this kind of groundless envy is taking you nowhere. If you are scared of being judged by the society or the people around you for being single, then you have failed the fundamentals of living – love yourself. If you can’t love yourself why would you expect others to love you?

 I respect everyone’s social and relationship status as long as they are not wrecking other people’s. But the fact that I saw 4 articles in one week across different news site about how bad being single and alone is really pissed me off.

 One must remember when it involved another person, everything is out of your control. So moaning about something that’s out of control and without fixing who you are internally is just a scam of relationship advice. If you can’t be happy with yourself then probably you don’t even know who you are and what you want, then what makes you think you would be less lonely or happier in a relationship? Nobody in this world has the responsibility to make you happy. If you found the love of your life, which I have a number of friends who did, that’s just a bonus to your existence in this world. And everyone should know that this bonus is not guaranteed. Being content with yourself, and your life is the key to happiness and the key to wipe that self-pitying loneliness talk out of your head. And that is your responsibility. Even when you think that writing about it and telling the world is therapeutic for you, the rest of the world doesn’t need to read about it. Just pay your psychiatrist to listening to your endless moaning. If moaning about being single and moaning makes your happy then that’s your choice, but nobody else need to take that blunt of your inconsiderate behaviour to feed into your happiness.

 Seriously, be happy with who you are and what you have and stop all those moaning and complaining. Your life is in your hands and your hands alone. Nobody else in the world is responsible for your happiness if you are not building it yourself. Anything else are icing on the cake and one should never take them for granted.

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo

‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo’ couldn’t have arrived on Netflix at a better time. This is the time when we all have unsustainable New Year resolutions that we toss out of the window due to various excuses. But, Marie Kondo had made one of them so within reach now. Thank you Netflix.

It is weird that I got hyped up by a show about a decluttering guru helping hoarders or normal families cleaning up. But I must admit that when I saw the show popped up on my recommendation on the day it dropped on Netflix, my heart skipped a beat and I just clicked watch without over-thinking. Now, ‘without over-thinking’ is what Marie Kondo’s no fuss decluttering is about.

Marie Kondo’s pet phrase throughout the whole season is ‘Spark Joy’. Basically you keep things that gives you that spark of joy. This means, sentimental items that would not spark joy moving forward have to go to the toss bin. It is a very subjective way of decluttering but there is more to that. Marie Kondo emphasised on categorising things before going through them. The major categories were clothing, books, paper, konomo (miscellaneous items) and sentimental items. For me this is ingenious as the first three categories were common grounds for most people. I personally experienced that when I packed up for renovation last time and vowed that I will not have that many clothes, buy that many books, and go through my paperwork more regularly. However, it is when you actually saw how much stuff people have when you saw them putting them into one big pile that I thought, “Wow, I am not that bad”. In one of the episodes, just a single member of the family had a pile of clothing that went all the way from the bed to the ceiling. This kind of shock immediately put the people in question into perspective. Marie Kondo’s system basically tackle the hardest and the easiest parts right from the start. Hardest in terms of volume, easiest in terms of sentimentality. It was quite inspiring to see that once put into perspective, how people can let go of piles of clothing and books, when they realised that most of them did not ‘spark joy’.

Paper is a category of its own simply because a lot of us were just always behind paper work, like filing bills and stuff. Also paper included a lot of other things such as school reports and drawings from kids etc. The kind of attachment with paperwork was hard to understand but yet every one of us had experienced it. I remember I had a box of paperwork basically were assignments I scored great while I was at the university. I couldn’t put myself to toss it but I knew I need to let go. So eventually when I moved to my current place, I asked a good friend of mine to come over and go through boxes that were transferred from the garage of my old place and told her, if she thinks I don’t need them just toss them, don’t even ask me. It is only through that, that I managed to dispose of a lot of junks that I got myself attached to with no reasons.

Marie Kondo’s approach to decluttering is extremely systematic but at the same time tackles personal attachments and sentiments head on. The whole ‘spark joy’ concept helped every family in the series to understand the difference between ‘keeping stuff’ and ‘holding on to stuff’. Keeping items that spark joy enriches your life – both in the past and in the future, but holding on to stuff just became a chain around your ankle or weights on your shoulders. Some people got there quickly and some needed a sudden epiphany, however everyone in the series got there eventually. It was quite uplifting to see how people’s lives changed just based on some basic principles. Also what I liked about the series is that Marie Kondo didn’t stay there all the time to hold hands. She taught them the methods, and left them for a few days before checking back in on them. In case they needed further advice, she would provide further advice. This kind of approach helped her clients to understand that decluttering is in fact their own responsibilities instead of relying on an expert to give them a quick fix.

For me letting go of stuff is not that hard as I know my weakness and as I mentioned I had employed radical efforts to let go of things. So what I got most out of the series is the way you store things and keep things tidy. Marie Kondo’s approach to daily chores to keeping things tidy was an eye opener for me. From folding different laundries to how to keep shoes and other things in the house, Marie Kondo’s tips were not only pretty in the eyes but also extremely effective. I remember how I got up after watching two episodes, took out everything from my wardrobe and tried her way in folding tops and pants. The end result was I have the tidiest wardrobe I had ever seen in my life and her method opened up so much more space in a limited space immediately. For me that kind of satisfaction kept me coming back to learn more and I think that is a hooking factor for me.

One other aspect that I did appreciate Marie Kondo was her insistence to greet the house. Her rationale behind is to make sure that the house is respected as being part of the family. Some families followed and some didn’t but all understood the point that their house is part of the family, not just a shell they live in. Looking at it from this angle provided them the determination to respect the place they live in and tidy it up properly. I have never thought of it this way but it is a nice sentiment to something that you worked hard to keep.

‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo’ is addictive. That’s not just because of her personality or her methods, but her unique views about things in our lives and how we handle them (she recommends people to thank the things they had before throwing them away). I am not a very sentimental or emotionally attached kind of person, but even I understood where she came from. That’s how profound Marie Kondo’s approach and personality are. I personally will recommend the show to anyone who, let’s just say, wants to ‘clean up their acts’ :)

Dumplin

In the world of beauty pageant everything seems to be unforgiving. It is even worse when you are the daughter of a former beauty queen, whom, according to most people did not live up to your mother’s fame. That is the premise Dumplin’ was dealing with.

Willowdean, aka Dumplin’ used to have her aunty Lucy to support her and helped her appreciating herself. But with her aunty’s passing life had taken a sudden hard turn. Firmly believe that her beauty queen mother who called her Dumplin’ will not be able to understand her, she shut herself down and her only window to the real world was her friend Ellen. Her mum, Rosie, the local celebrity and beauty pageant icon was busy with every year’s pageant and with a trick of fate, Willowdean decided to enter the pageant to start a revolution. Despite saying she is not the Joan of Arc of the fat girls, Willowdean shifted from feeling she was the person being judged to judging other people. Inevitably things fell apart.

Dumplin’ is a surprisingly heart-warming dramedy that treads the water of body image and public shaming. It did not attempt to provide a social critique but at the same time it looked at the issue sharply from all angles. The idea of whether you are a person with self-confidence or not, judging yourself and other people is just a fair game. Fair game though it is, they were not pretty games. Both Rosie and Willowdean learnt that during the course of the story and this had become the cornerstone of their relationship.

Jennifer Aniston played Rosie, the ex-beauty queen and chair of the pageant. She was obsessed with her definition of beauty, both on herself and on others. Her judgement on her sister Lucy and eventually her daughter, whom she nicknamed Dumplin’ had completely segregated herself from the other two. Jennifer Aniston had come a long way to shed the Rachel shadow since her Friends days. Her subtleness in this role allowed her to show more depths as the ex-beauty queen mother who couldn’t help but being disappointed with her ordinary daughter. She hit several marks effortlessly making some of the scenes extremely funny and in the more emotional scenes she delivered competently enough.

Danielle Macdonald as Willowdean was brilliant. She started off as a girl who was extremely likeable to become the person she used to hate was a great transformation. As the world around her started crumbling down because of her shift from the judged to the judging, she unravelled and disintegrated. This is the point when you found her character extremely annoying and irrational, and such is the power of Danielle’s portrayal of this character. She was deeply and emotionally connected to the character, and in some scenes she outshined everyone on screen.

All other characters were there for comic relief. For some of them we never really knew them, even when the credits rolled. Bex Taylor-Klaus’ Hannah and Dove Cameron’s Bekah were some of them. They pop up every now and then to tie the story together, but then we never really understood them as characters in that world. Maybe because of the need to focus on the two main characters all other supporting characters had been rendered overly irrelevant. For me that was the major weakness in the whole film. Because so much effort was thrown into the mother-daughter relationship, at plot points when there wasn’t much happening, dull moments inevitably got magnified because you have nowhere else to look or nothing much else to look forward to. For me while the main story arch is important, supporting story arches and characters are equally important to enrich the world of the story so it feels less claustrophobic.

The strength of this movie is the message about personal images. The fact that it didn’t limit the judging to only one sector of this small community but everyone involved helped one to think about what does it mean to be judged and to judge. There might not be a universal answer to this question any time soon, but before we got to this consensus, we have Dumplin’.

Ralph Breaks the Internet

The 2012 ‘Wreck it Ralph’ was a surprised hit for me. I didn’t really think too much about it until I saw it and thought “wow that’s clever”. The story ended and things were back to the normal and the bad guy was done and dusted. So usually that’s it.

But then came the sequel. I thought “God! Disney is really milking everything. What else can be done?”. I didn’t think about it that much when the first trailer dropped as it seemed instead of playing with nostalgia in the gaming world, they are just bringing it up to date about the Internet. But then…then…the Disney Princess trailer dropped. I thought “Oh my! This is brilliant! Disney playing with its established franchises and demolishing the stereotypes by turning up the volume in merely 2 minutes?” That is when I thought I need to see this. For if Disney can have fun with itself, the possibilities in the film became limitless.

And so I did. I must say I enjoyed every minute of it. The pace was a lot faster than normal Disney films and the establishment of goals was swift. The curiosity of the arcade characters about the new ‘dangerous but unknown’ Internet plug in was hilarious. And the astonishment that Ralph and Vanellope had when they were finally exposed to the Internet was hilarious. ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ is a film about status quo versus challenging yourself. Ralph representing the status quo while Vanellope eyes were opened and had no idea how to go back to the unplugged world. That doesn’t mean that Ralph didn’t try, but he was sceptical about a lot of things and his experience was not always positive. And the insecurity in him that prompted him to try to protect Vanellope in every way he could became the main dilemma throughout the whole story.

What amazed me about ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ is the way how they packaged a lot of technical terms and jargons into ways that general audience can understand. How they visualised concepts such as Avatars, Net Traffic, Spam Clicks etc. was totally ingenious. The way how they transformed Internet insecurity into something that is completely relevant to the movie was a home run. I don’t know whether the audience would learn more about the Internet after watching this movie but for me it really gave me new ideas to explain complicated computing concepts to other people in the future. Just looking at this aspect of the movie, I could feel that it is more than just a sequel for milking the franchise but the creators did put in a lot of efforts into making this a unique experience.

Now back to the whole Disney Princess part. Without a doubt the Disney Princess trailer was a heavy hitter as a marketing ploy for the movie. But as we all knew, sometimes all the best thing in the movies were in the trailer. Despite being lured to the theatre by this trailer, I was secretly hoping that’s not all we would see in the movie. Luckily, Disney delivered solidly in this aspect. The trailer was just one of the several scenes in the movie that made fun of their stereotypes. The subsequent scenes completely showed how Vanellope was in all ways breaking this model of what to be considered as a princess, and her take on this role was contagious with the girls. The good thing is that the movie didn’t just played on their stereotypes, because that would be just a single note that could get boring very quickly. The movie also played on their strengths and the mutual influence between them and Vanellope gave these princesses more solid characterisation than just mere caricatures of themselves.

There were other great new characters debuting in ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ too. And they all stood out and left great and lasting impressions even after I left the theatre. Shank the main racer in the Slaughter Race game and her gang were serious, funky and funny at the same time. Yesss the Search Engine guru and the way she deployed pop ups on the browsers were one of the funniest things to watch. Also, how she explained to Ralph the good and bad sides of the Internet was spot on. And then you have KnowsMore the search bar that kept trying to predict what people wanted to search for was hilarious. I also enjoy how J.P.Spamley did his spamming and took Ralph a trip to the Dark Web.

For me, ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ had delivered above my expectations and I personally loved it more than its predecessor. And I think that is a good thing. Especially for nowadays with so many mediocre and bad sequels to just make an additional dollar and ruined their own franchises. I hope Disney would not treat this franchise too lazily and lightly, for there was something special here with Ralph and Vanellope’s world. I believe ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ is a movie that can be enjoyed by young and old alike.

Aquaman

Aquaman finally rolled into cinemas worldwide like a tidal wave. The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) hasn’t been as lucky as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It has always been seen as an after thought to cash in on a trend. As a result, there were more misses than hits. At this point Aquaman was in an interesting situation – it doesn’t have much to lose within the box office record of the DCEU, and it has everything to lose within the existence of the DCEU.

James Wan of the horror genre fame (Conjuring, Annabelle, The Nun, Saw etc.) was an interesting choice for the Aquaman movie but Warner Bros surely got it right this time. The fresh take to what is considered as a standalone yet existential film in the DCEU breathed new life into this troublesome extended universe. You can still see the horror roots of this young director right from the opening to a number of scenes, particularly the scenes in the Empire of the Trench. But this completely different approach to Aquaman brought life to a could be stale superhero that has a long history within the Justice League.

Jason Momoa was an interesting choice for me at the beginning as Aquaman for me. However, I was sold when he appeared in Justice League. He was likeable and quickly established Arthur Curry’s persona on the screen. He stood out and delivered. With Aquaman having him leading charge the weight on his shoulder is much heavier. Nonetheless he delivered a totally enjoyable performance that is consistent with his first League appearance but expanded multi-folds in his own movie. Patrick Wilson as his brother Orm brought charm to a could be one dimensional villain. His calculative demeanour and charm at the same time provided some much-needed layering for most DCEU villains. The fact that his motives were justifiable despite his methods were questionable, he presented himself as a relevant member of this extended universe.

However, for me, what I enjoyed most was the presence for two really strong female characters in the form of Nicole Kidman’s Atlanna and Amber Heard’s Mera. Both ladies demonstrated that female characters are no wall flowers or damsels in distress. Both Atlanna and Mera took their fate and destinies in their own hands and acted on what they believe is right. The fact that both came out from Atlanta, where chauvinistic hierarchies were deeply entrenched (come on, forced arranged marriage among royal families in this modern age?), their break outs from this rigid social structure carried a lot more meaning for a lot of girls who went (if they did) to see this movie. Atlanna fought hordes of enemies and has the best survival instincts, while Mera’s power took her dual with Arthur out of tons of tight corners and near-death experiences. The fact that Mera is the voice of reasoning and can talk down Arthur any time she wanted, (the part about Arthur thinks best when he is not thinking, anyone?) made both Atlanna and Mera the most formidable heroes in Aquaman.

The surprise moment for me was the appearance of Randall Park as Dr Stephen Shin. He just appeared in MCU as Agent Jimmy Woo in ‘Ant-man and the Wasp’ and 7 months later appeared in a rival universe’s movie. I can still member how James Marsden’s Cyclops was notoriously killed off early in X-men: The Last Stand when he took part in the Superman reboot. Time has really changed.

The visuals and the score in Aquaman were both stunning and spectacular. I particularly liked the part when Vulko played by Willem Dafoe first opened young Arthur’s eyes to the world of Atlanta, when things that were obvious but not seen suddenly became apparent and sensible. A lot of efforts were also made in creating certain classic scenes from the series, my favourite was the first time Arthur leapt onto an armoured sea dragon. The underwater effect was great and thank God no more bubble talks in this movie. The underwater fight scenes also make sense in how they move and fight and James Wan had delivered spectacular scenes one after another.

While all is good with Aquaman as a standalone movie, it did create a few issues for the movie to exist within the DCEU. The movie is set in a timeline after Justice League, so there were a few issues I couldn’t get over with about the universe’s continuity:

·        After disaster struck why was there no mentioning of other members of the Justice League, at least just in the sense of helping to clean up?

·        Why was there never a call from, for example Bruce Wayne or Diana Prince, when they both have knowledge of Atlantis and there were signs of rumbling from Atlantis around the world?

·        One of the most confounding part for me was Arthur Curry doesn’t even know Mera’s name? When in Justice League it appeared that they have known each other for years because of Mera’s history with Atlanna and Atlantis itself? She was charged with guarding the Mother Box in the timeline of Justice League, when Arthur went there to help her stopping Steppenwolf!

All these non-acknowledgements made the movie not making sense in the continuity department. And for James Wan, who created the Saw and the Conjuring universe, I would expect more from him, even though he wanted to put his own stamp on Aquaman. Yes, the DCEU is currently in a precarious position, with Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck leaving, but not referencing to what happened in other movies when it is supposed to be a shared universe movie is quite unforgivable for me.

If one can look pass the continuity issues with Aquaman in the DCEU, the movie itself is extremely enjoyable and action packed. It is one of the few movies that Warner Bros and DC Comics got it right. Hopefully this could be a second renaissance for this struggling extended universe, despite failing to address the same universe.

To All the Boys I Loved Before

Never thought a teen romance movie on an online streaming service would be that engaging. It’s Christmas and I got nothing much to do so I thought I would just put on something light while I was making my beetroot juice. Read quite a bit about ‘To All the Boys I Loved Before’ so thought that I would give it a try. After all it is a teen romcom how hard would it be to follow the story while doing other things?

I was correct. The story was quite straight forward but it was funny and creative at the same time. The premise was quite simple. A girl who was obsessed with romantic novels wrote 5 love letters to the boys she thought she could be in love with but never sent them out. They were properly addressed but never sent. Circumstances changed and the letters got accidently sent. She had to pick up the pieces while controlling the damages to her and those around her. From that point onward, the question became “Would her high score student status be enough for her to survive this turmoil?”

For me kudos must be given to the casting. Netflix has demonstrated that they don’t stick with the traditional Hollywood casting choices as the front and centre was a mixed family. The well-known name for me here was John Corbett, who was trying to do his best as a single father while keeping together his professional career as an established gynaecologist. With three daughters in the family would his gynaecological knowledge be enough to helped him as a father at all? That was part of the fun watching the movie. Also, the brilliant minds of the girls always managed to cook up something that their father was not prepared for.

As Laura Jean, aka LJ, the middle daughter navigated this mess she created, she also created other opportunities for her own personal growth. Lana Condor was an excellent casting choice for the role as she radiates the intelligence that was clouded by silly romantic novels demonstrated by the character. The way she cooked up schemes after schemes to combat the disasters caused by her love letters was hilarious to watch. However, she nailed it when she told her partner in crime Pete (Noah Centineo) that she could handle it because romantic things are fun when they are fake.

It is a teen drama so of course you have all those typical mean girls’ stuff with over confident girls who think they are hotter than Mars treating other girls whom they deemed geeky, goth and unpretty like dirt. Scheming to get them embarrassed at school and showing off their trophy boyfriends, who might or might not care about them. There were a lot of things happening at school and they seemed like that’s all about their lives. However, ‘To All the Boys I Loved Before’ did not play safe to stay in the stereotypical territory. In fact, they broke down the Hollywood generalisation of how teenagers act in school giving them a bit more dimension in terms of characterisation.

I won’t talk about it too much in details as that could spoil some important plot points for the movie. It is not Oscar winning materials but for me it was a very pleasant surprise to watch something that breathed a refreshing life to the genre instead of sticking with the typical ‘horny boys and mean girls’ formula. I personally think that Netflix proved itself as a serious contender in the film and TV industry with the bold choices they are willing to make for their Netflix Originals materials. If you have a bit of time to kill, I highly recommend this refreshing piece of work for a lazy afternoon or a cosy Saturday night in.

To Act or Not To Act? That is the Question

Sometimes it is hard to figure out what you want. But as a kid there is something I always knew I want – that is to become an actor and perform on the stage one day.

That ‘dream’ of mine came through in some form. I eventually managed to attend Theatre School using my own money and eventually managed to get into a few productions. However, that ‘taste’ is not enough, it will never be enough. At the same time I have to admit that a lot of times circumstances were not with me – I did not grow up in Australia, do not have an established circle of theatre or media friends, and I am never in an ‘inner’ circle. Despite being told time and time again when I got into productions to show what I can do that I should be getting work all the time with the quality of work I delivered, a full time acting career never eventuate, at least at this point of my life.

So some people started asking – why bother? Why persist?

The answer is – that’s the only thing that gives me the motivation to continue to work in a full time job because I am doing this to stay afloat so I can wait for the next opportunity, and God knows when and how long I have to wait.

I still remember how I was first mesmerised by actors on the screen when I was a kid. At that young age, I did not know they were real people and just thought that ‘wow these imaginary people and pictures can make me laugh and cry’. When I saw news of those actors in the papers I thought ‘wow the papers wrote stories about these people, how cool is that’. Until one day in the streets I saw an actor in her flesh. I was shocked and my parents told me she is an actor. That was the moment I told myself – how cool is it to be in a job that you can tell story and drive other people’s emotion?

Many years went by and I was slowly working my way to what I want in my life. Being constantly in a position of trying to see ‘half glass empty’ as a ‘half glass full’ situation sometimes is exhausting. I am not a naturally optimistic person but being pessimistically optimistic sometimes take a toll on your resilience. However, every time when I felt exhausted about not going anywhere in my acting career I told myself if I gave up this dream, there would be nothing left.

My parents once thought that I wanted to be an actor because I wanted to have live that fake dream of being rich and famous. That was never the case. I just wanted to be a person who wants to do a job I love and have passion for and earn a decent living out of it. Being famous is not my thing, if people really know me. Throughout the years, my parents have come to realise that I am serious about the acting business because that is what I wanted. If anything, this is one of the most rewarding part of my struggle to become a full time actor.

I recently read an article about not letting a full time job to get in your way to a successful acting career. While I agreed to a lot of what that article said, for me it is simply not a choice I can make. The choice is there but it is not the one I will make. Having a mortgage and everything, especially when you are living in one of the most expensive cities in the world (I moved from the most expensive to the second most expensive, which is an improvement I guess), I need basic financial security to allow me to pursue what I want. Yes, sometimes I am exhausted from politics and other things at work, but I personally believe I will be even more exhausted if I need to worry about money all the time. Compared to a lot of my peers I am quite lucky as I have a more decent and constant stream of income most of the time. And to be honest sometimes I am glad that I have other works to distract me away from my occasional disappointment of an almost non-existing acting career.

Does that mean I am going to give up? No.

In all the years since I graduated from the Theatre School, I came to understand that you can only work for people who can see and appreciate what you can bring to the table. I may not be in any core circles or industry networks that can keep me employed from one job to another. But I do believe if you continue to do your best, one day hopefully someone will see it and offer you the next opportunity. I might need to trigger changes to my current circumstances but as a forever pessimistically optimistic person, I will need to evaluate all the pros and cons so I can make informed changes. One thing I am sure though is that I do not believe in moaning over my acting career as that is an exhausting and unproductive exercise.  I rather spent that time trying to figure out how to manoeuvre the maze of this industry and hopefully without compromising the integrity and standard I set for myself. I might need to pay or have had paid the price for my stubbornness on standards and integrity, but I believe a baseline is always required if you want to keep your feet on the ground to become a better actor. I just need to own up my choice, as I do for all the characters I portrayed so far.

At the end of the day, if you found a job or career that can make you feel alive when you are doing it, it can’t be wrong right?

Ant-man and The Wasp

After all the crazy events of The Infinity War, Marvel desperately needs some palette cleansers for its fans before breathing in further craziness for the previously named Part 2 movie. This palette cleanser is Ant-man and The Wasp.

Despite mixed review of the first movie, I was a total fan of the first Ant-man. It felt like Mission Impossible without the over-zealous seriousness on Tom Cruise’s face. As Kevin Feige, the Executive Producer of the MCU said, they wanted the Ant-man series to be heist movies. The first one delivered and safely to say the second one did that too.

The story of Ant-man and the Wasp happened after Captain America: Civil War and before the madness of The Infinity War. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) struck a deal with the FBI on house arrest so he could continue to be a responsible father to his daughter Cassie. It is 3 days before the house arrest finishes but some grumpy and uninvited guests showed up and put everything on the line for him again. The Pyms desperately needed his help for he might be the key to unlock the secret to the existence of the original Wasp Janet, Hanks wife, who disappeared in the quantum realm when going sub-atomic in a mission. However, more than one party is actually interested in this knowledge and the technology, so chaos ensured.

What I liked about Ant-man and the Wasp is that, despite the titling, it is basically a Wasp movie as Ant-man failings were frequently covered and dealt with by the Wasp. Hope (Evangeline Lily) who took up her mother’s mantel proved that she is not just a side kick but a formidable partner that can outperform the title character in the last movie (still enjoy how she punched Scott’s face in the training in that movie). There was not damsel in distress as even Janet proved that she is more than what people once thought she was in her role. She is more of a survivor than just a helpless body waiting to be saved. But what I really like was that the motive for Ghost was so understandable that you could hardly hate her for doing what she was doing at all.  A lot of comic fans had issue with the MCU changing the gender of the character, but for me the full scale backstory (littered with Easter Eggs) made the character a lot richer and relatable than its comic counterpart. Things just made more sense with the MCU version of the character. Despite it is about Ant-man and The Wasp, the movie had lent substantial girl power to the whole MCU as none of the female characters were wallflowers. Even Cassie contributed significantly to ensure Scott did not get caught violating his house arrest deal and that was significant in my opinion. I also particularly like how Hope just tied up her hair into a pony tail when engaging in battle with a no bull shit attitude. There is no meticulously permed and straightened hair but just good old practical fighting looks.

Michael Pena returned as the comic relieve Luis with his gang and he certainly delivered again with his crazy story telling technique. Their interactions with the other parties who were after the Pym tech was so funny that I just couldn’t stop laughing. As a bunch of reformed ex-cons trying to sell security systems to clients they certainly built a very interesting dynamic and irony throughout the whole process.

After all Ant-man and the Wasp is an MCU movie, so it still needed to tie into part of the narratives, and particularly explain the world from a more microscopic or ground level point of view about life between Civil War and Infinity War. The most significant part for me was how it casually explained or hinted Ant-man’s role in Avengers 4, which was highly conjectured to be about time travelling and jumping to correct actions avoiding the catastrophic results at the end of the Infinity War. It also hinted on what could be coming in terms of the direction of MCU in Phase 4, where it was predicted that a number of current super heroes will be hanging up their shields and armours making space for a new generation to pick up the baton.

Standing alone, Ant-man and the Wasp is a very independent movie within the MCU as it represents its own genre. Within the MCU it sets up the stage for Avengers 4 and the much anticipated Captain Marvel next year. Personally I think it was a wise choice for the MCU to schedule Ant-man and the Wasp as a silent connector for all the current craziness exploded by The Infinity War. I personally enjoyed and appreciated it a lot.

Ocean's 8

Cate Blanchett once joked about there are only 8 women working in Hollywood, hence Ocean’s 8. But that joke aside, Ocean’s 8 does have the some of the most high-profile female actors in the industry so it is not surprising that it generates quite a bit of buzz for its release, especially it was once a male heavy franchise with the brotherhood of George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

Sandra Bullock played George Clooney’s Danny Ocean character’s sister Debbie. As a con woman she was conned and landed in jail for 5 years. But she didn’t spend her time in there for nothing as she plotted a perfect heist to be carried out as soon as she got out. She then sought out her pal Cate Blanchett to assemble a team of fits and misfits based on their skills. The plot then rolls on to how they put together everything and carried out the heist.

Performance wise there aren’t really a lot of stand outs as it is an ensemble movie. It feels like that the director was keen to make sure everyone has similar screen time while moving the plot forward. It is a wise move but then make it less memorable for each character. Also, during the process there were a lot of side plots that weren’t explored thoroughly making you wondering why. Though some of the loose ends were tied up later, you felt that they came a bit too late in the game to give you that “ah” moment. For me the stand out was Rhianna’s character 9-Ball and her sister. As Sandra Bullock’s Debbie wondered, what did their parents do? They look like social misfits but their technological skills surpassed anyone showed up in the movie (imagine Shuri in Black Panther but in the Bronx in New York). Also, Rhianna’s no bull straight to the point / work attitude made her a much sharper character in all. Sandra Bullock’s Debbie was good but then the web with her ex Claude made it kind of painful to watch for me. My personal point of view was that, if it is a girl power movie, you don’t need an ex-boyfriend side plot to make it relevant. It just dragged the whole level of energy down. Cate Blanchett, one of my favourite actors of the generation, really didn’t do much in my opinion. She was instrumental for putting the team together, but apart from that, I can’t really see what’s her major contribution. That said some of her scenes needed to be scrutinised closely as they became essential to the latter part of the movie. Anne Hathaway’s Daphne Kluger was interesting and at times quite funny. Her diva behaviours were definitely enjoyable to watch, especially her seemingly illogical logic about things. Other members of the party were there for their skills and they have their moments, especially for Helena Bonham-Carter’s amateur con-woman fashion designer. Her lack of professional con skills as compared to others was really funny to watch.

Ocean’s 8 is a heist movie, so in terms of that it has a lot to offer. But as I mentioned earlier, the movie felt more like a drag after the heist was completed and then when I found out more why the story hasn’t ended yet, I kind of already dropped my attention level and picking it up with a level of disengagement was hard. Although the movie had hinted there is more in the dialogue, it still feels a bit too much to me (apart from an outstanding cameo one of the members in Clooney’s franchise). We are here to watch the heist and when the heist is over, to keep the audience attention together we need something more than the reason that it put forward on the screen.

In all I did enjoy it, in the wave of #MeToo and girl power movement, Ocean’s 8 was a display of talented woman don’t necessarily need to play damsel in distress, witches or wall flowers. It was a great demonstration of good actors being put together with chemistry, and there were lots, which I think was no easy task with so many award winners in one movie. The chemistry level displayed probably is the reason why Ocean’s 8 gelled together so well.

Personally, I wish the movie focused more on the characters ability and work together than some insignificant minor thing that trivialised what the group originally tried to achieve. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my time in the theatre and did laugh through a few sequences.

Avengers: Infinity War

Never has the world been so eager to go to war. Infinity War did that. It has already broken a lot of first day opening records across the world and it seems this Marvel machine cannot be stopped, just like Thanos’ quest for the Infinity Stones.

Hype means high expectations, and there is a lot at stake both in terms of the story and the box office. Over 60 characters introduced in the last 18 movies of the last 10 years were assembled against their strongest, and probably deadliest threat – who would be safe if as Gamora said, Thanos managed to get all six stones and snaps his fingers?

There were a lot of storylines to tie together so that the convergence of universes would not look awkward and try-hard. The script really managed to do that. It jumps to different parts of the universe constantly but then none of them made you wonder “why are they there?” Also the way the common thread was weaved through the fabric of the story was clear as despite the Avengers are now divided and separated, they all understood the stake of losing and were, literally, willing to throw their lives to protect others.

The story in Infinity War picked up from where several other movies left off, namely:

  •          Captain America: Civil War
  •          Thor: Ragnarok
  •          Spiderman: Homecoming
  •          Black Panther
  •          Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

So if you are familiar with the endings (and post credit-scenes) of these movies, you will have no problem picking up the progress in Infinity War, as the movie started off right where Thor: Ragnarok left off and jumped right into actions in the 5th gear.  The pace is very fast as there are lots of things to do to refresh the memories of the MCU followers while keeping the new wheels in motion. From that perspective the Russo brothers did a brilliant job, because there wasn’t a single scene that left me wondering “why are they doing this?” Everything made sense from tying up seemingly loose ends from previous movies to establishing new threads of narrative for this and other upcoming movies. I believe one needs to be very diligent and thorough about the whole MCU in the last 10 years to be able to do that. Also probably the dressed rehearsal of Civil War provided the Russo brothers a clear vision on how to approach so many characters in one go and make them make sense again in this mega amalgamation of a movie.

As most people noted, not everyone made it into the movie. The much talked about love-hated-then-loved Hawkeye was nowhere to be seen but was addressed in a dialogue among some members of the group, and so was Ant-man, although nobody knew the Wasp exist yet at this stage. Then of course there are other characters they couldn’t really deal with such as Sharon Carter and Everett Ross, whom, in the super hero assembly against Thanos probably couldn’t offer much. Also Steve Rogers still being on the run did not help with any potential romance with poor Sharon. That said the romance arc between Scarlet Witch and Vision was really too good to be missed. So I am glad that the Russo brothers spent a bit of time to develop that arc in the movie. Very satisfying for me indeed. One of the other surprises for me was the resurgence of a very old character everyone was wondering in the last 10 years.

Infinity War still introduced some new characters, which is the most well publicised Black Order. The children of Thanos, as compared to the daughters of Thanos, aka Nebula and Gamora, who were supposed to be the next power house of destruction, in my opinion were quite under developed. They showed up high and mighty and ended up quite mediocre in the movie from my point of view. However, judging from previous Thanos minions, most of them are like that, which makes it more special when it came to the roles Nebula and Gamora played in Thanos greater schemes of things. And I must commend on the movie’s handling of the relationship among Nebular, Gamora and Thanos, as it at some point made you empathise on Thanos’ seemingly evil scheme despite all the bad things he had done to achieve this scheme. However, I personally would like to see more of the Titan storyline to make it a stronger case for Thanos’ motives as compared to just a story narrative to explain where he came from. The motives were mentioned here and there as emphasis but sometimes for me it is better to witness that struggle and downcast for Thanos so this back story became richer and more formidable as a strong motive of this seemingly evil deed that Thanos wanted to carry out.

As a Marvel movie, you can expect a lot of one liners and punch lines among these assorted groups of superheroes. The bantering exhibited by these group of characters were extremely spot on and what impressed me was that they still behaved in the way they behaved in their own franchises / universes but their behaviours were integrated into the overall tone of the movie flawlessly. They didn’t feel like they were tagged on for the sake of it but they were genuine character behaviours. Also these actors having inhabited these characters for so long in the past 10 years did help a lot to make these characters felt and looked truthful in Infinity War.

If you are never a superhero fan or never care about superhero movies, you will probably don’t like Infinity War or won’t care about it. I have read a review from someone from a prominent publication that when you read the lines you know he has no understanding of what Infinity War or the whole MCU is about. MCU is not just comic fan book tribute or service, but it is also an enormous piece of artwork that you need to actually understand how it was assembled to appreciate its relevance.

For me Infinity War impressed me through its holistic narrative that managed to tie together 18 different scripts written by different people and directed by different directors. That alone is a reason to appreciate it. But more importantly, Infinity War itself told a story that makes you empathise on both sides of the camp, and that, in a context of superhero movies, was an impressive accomplishment. Of course not to mention that it is so action packed and narrative rich that I was not even aware of the passing of time in the cinema. The only thing I really did not like about Infinity War was there was only one end credit scene. Most people in the cinema shared the same “WTH” moment with me when no mid-credit scene showed up when it seemingly acted like one is coming up – yeah it stopped briefly before full credits rolled. Damn you Russo brothers!

The Women of Black Panther

The Black Panther had hit the cinemas like a meteor storm crushing whatever box office records within a short period of time. At the time of writing it is still making it rounds and marking it territories.

A lot of credits were given to The Black Panther for breaking the super hero ethnic mode – being the African super hero that led in technology and skills. It was said to set an example for all ethnic minorities that you don’t need to be white or Anglo to become a super hero. Having said that I still feel that it would be quite amiss not to give credit to the strong female cast in the movie.

Yes, Black Panther is the titular role and everything in the movie is about him and his journey to become King and finding out what kind of King he wants to be. However, it was the women around him who made him who he is. Without the Queen Mother Ramonda, he would not have the wisdom and liberty to become the kind of King he wants to be. Without Shuri, his sister, he will not have the technology he was wielding to get him out of tight corners. Without Nakia, he would not be able to challenge his enemy as he did in the finale and without Okoye, he would not even have an army to back him up or even won the civil war at all.

And these women are not your typical warrior, they are tactical, they have principles, they have the wits to assess situations strategically and they have the courage that outmatched Black Panther himself. Ramonda kept Black Panther’s status in check, making sure he exhibits the behaviour of a real King and guided his moral radar to the throne. When situation eventuated, she was not afraid to get her hands dirty to achieve her goal and prepared to put her life on the line for the throne. Shuri was the tech gal that could easily outmatched Tony Stark. Her execution of technologies and her line of thoughts of how technology can be manipulated to achieve greater goals were reflected in each piece of gear that she crafted or each process or procedure that she carried out. A lot of gadgets were not even seen prior to The Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the function of each piece of gadget was designed with absolute precision. Nakia as a spy was worldly but engaging. Her determination to break out from your typical Wakanda warrior role (as reflected by the fact that she initially refused to put on the armour) forced Black Panther to re-examine what was meant to be a King in this modern world. Okoye’s loyalty to the throne was not blind and her courage to break out of unnecessary traditional bondage of her role provided the world as a stage for her to do whatever it took to bring the kingdom back on to the right track, no matter who her enemy was.

This group of women shaped The Black Panther into what he became at the end of the movie. Without them, The Black Panther was just a title that anyone could take. But with them, it became the heart and soul of Wakanda. Certainly, Black Panther himself did a lot of soul searching but his determination was comparatively weaker than his female counterparts, and this could be seen right from his first reunion with Nakia, which both Okoye and Shuri had predicted the outcome.

Without a doubt The Black Panther broke the barrier of ethnicity when it comes to super hero movies, in a similar way that Wonder Women did with the gender glass ceiling for super hero movies. However, in my opinion, The Black Panther further consolidated the role of women, including ethnic women, as strong characters that are not there to be saved or taken. It showed the world that these ethnic women can shape the world themselves, and in a lot of cases, they can do it better than the main hero in the movie.

There were talks about spin off movies with Okoye and further expanding the roles of Nakia and Shuri in the MCU. At this stage these are talks only. But for me it is quite clear that Marvel had finally opened up the stage of super heroism to a whole cast of women, who can join the ranks of the Black Widow and out matched the likes of Scarlet Witch and command their presence on their own. They managed to do in the TV landscape with Agents of SHIELD, but no the grounds have been broken in the movie world with The Black Panther. Captain Marvel might be coming with a lot of hype and anticipation, but the women of Black Panther had put forward some really big shoes for her to fill.

The Black Panther is great, but it greatness lies in the great female cast and characters more than the title character himself.

Big Little Lies

As per usual I had taken advantage of my long-haul flight catching up with my movie watching. However, this time I decided to do something else. Instead of going through the movie catalogue I was checking out the TV series. One of them particularly caught my eyes – “Big Little Lies”.

The hype around this series has been around for many moons, especially after its successes at the Globes and the Emmys. Also, the premise it visited was particularly relevant to the current social political climate. I checked the details of the series and noticed it has 7 episodes in total – which means a perfect fit for my 9 hours 30 minutes flight.

The premise was kind of similar to “The Desperate Housewives” but with a more serious tone. There were lots of dirty laundry but all of them people were trying to hide. In this glamourous suburb with enormous houses facing an endless stretch of beach and the roaring ocean, all dirty secrets were drowned out as much as possible. These women had made different decisions bringing them to this stage of the lives as the ultimate story unfolded and changed all of them in one go.

Nicole Kidman played Celeste Wright. A woman who gave up her high flying legal career to become a stay home mum for her twins. On the surface she got a pair of beautiful twins and a gorgeous husband, whom in everyone’s eyes couldn’t get enough of Celeste. But beneath this, this “couldn’t get enough of her” had led to serious consequences for the family. Celeste justified every action and decision until to a point that she needed to justify her justification. She did her best but is the best good enough for her? Nicole Kidman layered the character so well that it was haunting. Underneath Celeste there was a bit of Becca from “The Rabbit Hole”. Nicole Kidman had become so competent in playing seemingly strong but extremely vulnerable characters that it is scary. She handled each glance, each smile and each frowning of her forehead with such precisions that she was basically Celeste.

Reese Witherspoon was the outgoing, brave and opinionated Madeline who kept the audience wondering whether it was because of her ex-husband that she became who she was or whether it was the marriage to the current husband that morphed her into the current existence. It turned out there were more to the story and a story that was oblivious to everyone but a chosen observant few. She was always trying to recover as much as possible but it turned out recovery cannot be achieved through conscious efforts but via using the experience as the medicine for others. Reese Witherspoon had proved that she is not a one hit Oscar wonder but an actress with substantial substance. Similar to Celeste, Madeline put on a brave face, but the brave face was in a different context as she had more at stake than ever.

Shailene Woodley’s Jane Chapman could be regarded as the catalyst that triggered numerous chain reactions and slowly deconstructing the town. Being the non-glamour mum who tried to live out a horrid life experience while providing love and support to her son, she was constantly on the edge of the cliff. Madeline’s quick circumstantial friendship had helped accelerating the unravelling of the situation and it finally led to dire consequences for some. Jane’s treatment by the ganged-up mums had made her life even harder than it already was but she was a fighter, and that was the strong common factor between her and Madeline leading to the formation of an unlikely friendship that rocked the foundation of how female bonds should be established in this upper-class beach side community.

Laura Dern ‘s Renata Klein was in for a ride right from the start with the school incident. She represented the group of women who were successful in career but constantly trying to prove that they can be a successful mother too. Her reactions and actions to the circumstances as they unfolded were not unreasonable but at the same time not loveable. Her silent approval to the situation that her “allies” put Jane Chapman into made her the villain without the need to perform any villainous deeds. But was she the villain or she was just being made an accidental-villain that she had to unwilling participate?

“Big Little Lies” is a strong production with a cast of extremely strong actresses. Their chemistry was strong and there were sparks even in the seemingly most mundane scenes of having coffee or just kids pick up. It was the subtleness in everyone that generated tensions. These tensions were magnified by the exceptional “acting out” of the male cast such as Alexander Skarsgård and Adam Scott. The production was an art of contrast without announcing everything with a megaphone. And I think that was why I was so drawn into the story and the characters. The performance of the cast was so right on the money that there were occasions that I was glad that I was watching the whole thing in the darkness of the plane cabin.

For me without a doubt “Big Little Lies” is one of the most emotionally connected TV productions in the recent times. They dealt with real issues that our society is now dealing with but with grace. I just hope that HBO will not be just about milking the success in season 2 (as the book was completely finished with the miniseries) but making it relevant and maintaining the impact without making any of the characters’ storyline looking ridiculous. Personally, I am sceptical about having a season 2 but I will give it benefit of the doubt for the time being. In the meantime, I might revisit this master class again once I got a chance to do so.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

I have always been sceptical of sequels since I developed my own brand of cynicism over producer’s zest for milking something great into bare bones and skeletons.

Jumanji was one of my favourite movies since I started developing my own taste and critique in moving pictures. For me from the scene a kid was sucked into the game, to plot points where someone is surfing down the street on a main entrance door next to a croc; or expecting the worse from the thumping sound of stampede bursting through the library walls, Jumanji had sucked me into its world. The performance from the great Robin Williams for me was unmatched. It opened me up to the new possibilities of films. Jumanji always has a special place in my heart and I have seen it many times on both the large LDs and later DVDs.

When they announced Jumanji “Welcome to the Jungle”, I thought: why can’t they let good things stay as good things? Why must this be milked? And when I saw the initial production pictures, I was totally sickened by Karen Gillan’s “outlandish” outfit in a jungle. I thought do they have to downgrade this once loved movie to something sexist and irrelevant? Then came the first trailer, which provided a bit more context to the premise. Yet I was still sceptical. I wondered how much difference could you make to the story when you simply updated the premise from a board game to a video game? Where is the tension from the dice rolling and don’t know what is going to happen next?

Nonetheless, I decided to cast my scepticism aside and went into the cinema to see it. I believe if I want to make a fair judgment of this movie, the cinema is the only place to do so.

I was glad that I did.

Jumanji managed to redeploy the same formula with updated concepts. You can spot the similarities in structure and story with the first one but the experience was different. In this instalment, players were sucked into the original board game that transformed itself into a video game. The original board game self-consciously transformed itself into the new form to attract a new generation of players. As per usual, it claimed its first victim within the first 10 minutes and the plot fast forwarded to the modern times. And this is the part things changed and got modernised.

The new generation of players now take up “Avatars” in the game, and this completely explained Karen Gillan’s outfit and everything made sense. As a video game player myself, I appreciate how they sarcastically discussed how ridiculous a lot of video games have female players dressed in ways that are totally inappropriate for the adventures they are about to go through. Also the mix of characters against their avatars added additional layers to character development, as sometimes the true identity retained its own character but then other times they need to play along involuntarily the function or place of their in-game avatars. That made the movie very entertaining to watch. I personally think the Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black (whom I usually did not like) and Karen Gillan did exceptional jobs for their characters.

There are lots of modern video game references in the movie, from pop up characters stats, NPC (Non-playable characters), to involuntary cutscenes and level building etc. As a gamer they are all good laughs and Easter eggs. What I appreciate was how they deployed these gags in relation to the story plot, which made them make so much more sense than just simply throwing them out for the sake of referencing them.

The movie also smartly employed time stamped related gags to depict the shift of what was considered as popular culture across 20 years. It was not kind to some of the characters, but then this nod to the older periods enriched the story context making it more multi-dimensional than being just a pure video game adventure movie. Both Tron and Jumanji are “sequels” to the original but by allowing Jumanji to go wild with imagination based on the video game culture, it trumped the Tron sequel which was just a flashier version of the old thing.

Jumanji is by no means without flaws. For example the splitting of worlds and avatars sometimes left me feeling not knowing enough about the avatars because apparently they have their own stories and parts in the video game story, but that was never really more extensively investigated as it focused heavily on how the real life players finally worked together to overcome their trials. Also the fact that the game transformed itself made it a bit more sinister than something that was unknown and triggered, as it was in the original movie. Further I don’t understand how the game landed back on the American shores as it was quite apparent (to me at least) it landed in a French speaking territory when the last movie ended post credit.  But probably a lot of people did not remember that or haven’t seen the original.

In all Jumanji “Welcome to the Jungle” was quite an entertaining movie for the holidays. I enjoyed my ride with the characters and laughed out loud in certain places. But then since it was very heavily culturally referenced, I do not know whether non-gamers would be able to enjoy it as much as I did. Surely they explained certain video game concepts along the way, but then I do not know whether that would be too much for non-gamers to absorb them while trying to understand the gags.

But in the end I enjoyed it and I am glad that I did not go into the theatre with preconceived assumptions. Guess it always worth opening your eyes and mind a bit.

Justice League

Justice League 02.jpg

It is no secret that the DC Extended Universe is lagging behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Not only that it feels like an afterthought after the success of MCU but it also failed to capture the audience with some heavily overused properties. The significant turnaround was Wonder Women, that took the world by “wonder”. Its success brought hope back to Warner Brothers and DC, but how does the latest entry Justice League stack up?

The events of Justice League happened after the events of Batman Vs Superman, the movie in many ways had only succeeded in creating a hype for Wonder Woman, but not critical success for its outing. Batman, acknowledging his mistake was trying to make it right. He acquired the files of Lux Luthor after the events of Suicide Squad and began assembling a team to deal with an alien invasion that he sensed is coming.

Justice League all of a sudden introduced 3 new characters and attempting to speed through their backstory become a necessity. Most of those backstories were told through conversation, which is quite smart, or just critical scenes to bring us up to date about these new characters’ life. However, once all the backstory stuff got dealt with it is time for actions. There are lots of them and they are all spectacular. Similar to Avengers, with so many superheroes on display there are a lot more superpower fanfare. However, for me the missed opportunity was the collaboration of powers among them. Sure, there were scenes they helped each other out, but what I was looking for was things what they did in the Avengers where superheroes complement each other with their superpowers. Like Steve Rogers launching Black Widow into the sky and Ant-man taking advantage of Hawkseye’s arrow. There are lots of group fighting in Justice League but it still feels like everyone was doing his / her own stuff.

Ezra Miller’s Flash was more interesting and fun than I expected. I was quite sceptical when they announced a different acting playing the same role while the Flash series is still doing well on the small screen. But Ezra Miller managed to craft the movie version of Flash into his own, making it a fun character to watch. In fact Flash is the major comic relief in the whole movie. The scene where he told Batman after he nearly threw up sawing those bug like enemies that he didn’t like bugs was hilarious. Cyborg, despite playing an important role in the plot didn’t really get much opportunity to shine. Most of the time in the first half he was angry then later it was all about the mission. Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, well, in my opinion, is what you saw in the trailers is what you get. Not that they are bad, but I was hoping for more surprises as he was hyped as the next major entry to the Universe. I like the fact that they acknowledged Batman’s aging in this movie but wonder whether that would mean Ben Affleck’s Batman would be phased out or playing a much smaller role in the future installments, if there are more. Strangely enough the story line of Lois Lane was the most moving for me, the lost and hope and determination was a remarkable journey in the film despite it was just one of the minor supporting arc. Amy Adams and Diane Lane without a doubt added a lot of meat to the bones for Justice League.

Justice League is a big budget movie and it was meant to be a major entrance to the DC Extended Universe. While it succeeded in bringing a number of superheroes together, I still felt like the movie was a rush out of the gate. Don’t get me wrong, it is extremely entertaining and I enjoyed it. But it didn’t have that solid foundation feel that I got when I saw the first Avengers movie. You can definitely sense that DC is trying to play catch up. Things didn’t fall apart but it was not solid story telling at this point. Maybe DC has some other tricks up their sleeves, but Justice League did not make me want for more in an anticipation sense. I will still see the next one if it comes out, but it was not like “I can’t wait for the next one”. It managed to entertain without a doubt, but it needs to do more to convince audience this is a universe that worth invested into.

Nonetheless, as a first entrance to one of the most recognised superhero conglomerates, Justice League in my opinion did not disappoint. Can it be better? Yes. But it is not redeemable, a definite No. One can only hope from this point onward Warner Brothers and DC will avoid further mis-steps to discredit what is already a shaky ground.

 

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman was a surprised take on the superhero movies. Not only that it is the first female superhero movies that did not overly sexualise their images, it was surprisingly grounded on the common people level. And I think that is what made Wonder Woman stood out not just as a superhero movie but also as a movie itself.

The back story of Woman Wonder had been told again and again in different ways but the innocent and straightforward (even hot headed) approach to achieving world peace laid a great foundation for Diana (Prince) to grow and evolve into whom we previously (or later in terms of timeline)  saw in Batman Vs Superman.

I remember I thought Wonder Woman was under-utilised in Batman Vs Superman and her surprises were mostly taken out in the trailers. So the retrospective background story gave Warner Bros a chance to reposition Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman characterisation that complimented the Batman Vs Superman while completely 3-dimensionalised her to a full fledge character. For me it is great to have Patty Jenkins, a female director, who doesn’t compromise to be at the helm of the movie. As I previously mentioned a lot of female superheroes were overly sexualised in this whole presumptuous male fan boy world. Just look at the standalone Cat Woman movie, together with Elektra and Aeon Flux. Even Black Widow in the early stages were being focused on her looks, which eventually, thanks to Joss Whedon reformed her into a much richer character in the Avengers movies. With Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman’s outfit is more of a utilitarian armour for movement and maximum efficiency. It was not about boobs and booty and with the ferocity Gal Gadot put into the character, she became a superhero that everyone would look up to.

Even though I felt that Wonder Woman will be a different kind of movie I was scared to see it initially because I was afraid that the hype at launch would not do it justice. So I waited till recently and decided to go see it spontaneously and the decision was a correct one. I was totally hooked and engaged with the characters. The pace was fast no question but even that it was possible to craft a number of really memorable characters whom you cared for along the journey. The heartbreaks and disappointment and the struggles all became very real for those characters. It would be nice to find out more but then it will be at the expense of the length of the movie. Steve Trevor took Diana into a man’s world only to have Diana turning the table and having the men following her lead was a great touch to the movie. From how they were sceptical of her to how they just trust her and became her enablers to achieve her goals was a great comrade story to be told.

It is a superhero movie so there is no way that there won’t be special effects. But the special effects were not there for the spectacular spectacular, they were part of the story. This marks a huge difference from let’s say Batman Vs Superman. The no man’s land sequence is still one of the most memorable scenes in recent superhero movie history, if not just movie history. That was the first time you have a full view of Diana as Wonder Woman, not as a costumed hero, but as a full fledge warrior going to war because of the injustice she saw. The first time you saw Wonder Woman as Wonder Woman was a moment of empowerment and belief. That cannot be stronger than anything as supposed to like sizing up some female superheroes’ butts and boobs then their faces.

The other great thing about the movie was that strong Amazonian heavy metal soundtrack. I still remember the brief impact it had when Gal Gadot showed up in Batman Vs Superman. But now in her own movie, the soundtrack not only create an atmosphere for the character but also created a heavy sense of pressure for her enemies. This contrasts with the softer and funnier scenes creating a very sharp image of who we are dealing with on the battle fields. The script paced the different scenes well but the soundtrack gave life to the world itself.

If I want to pick bones out of an egg, the only thing I was not as satisfied was the apparent choice of the final villain. When that character showed up, in the second scene you already knew that that character is the villain Diana was hunting for to bring peace back to the world. However, this did not spoil the movie as such.  Just that it would be great to have been presented a few more choices so we can be left in suspense for a bit longer.

Wonder Woman by no means is a perfect movie but it is perfect enough for me to revisit it again and again in the future. Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman put a great spin on what was considered as a classic American comic hero (well to be fair she is Amazonian not American) so I am glad that they go with her instead of some blonde bimbo with dyed hair. Also the fierceness that Gal Gadot brought to the character made Wonder Woman one of the most memorable superhero characters on screen so far, and to be honest with you, that totally eclipsed all her male counterparts since the start of the DC Extended Universe. It is without a doubt now it brings huge pressure to the future Captain Marvel movie for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

I do not know how the Justice League movie would work out, but I certainly would love to see more of Wonder Woman in action, as long as they got it right. And I hope they would.

Beauty and the Beast

It’s been some time since ‘Beauty and the Beast’ hit the screen. Since then it has gained new life through hopping onto various portable (and not so portable) media and reincarnated itself into a world grossing stage show. However with Hollywood recent years’ of obsession for remakes, it was just a matter of time that ‘Beauty and the Beast’ will be hooked up with the milking machine.

I have been sceptical about the real life remake. After all it is a well-loved animation (especially by me) will really well established characters. Our mind frames were solidly set by the animation itself. So when I first saw the trailer, just snippets of various well known scenes, I can’t help but wonder, ‘would the whole movie hold up?’

Emma Watson, one of the more intriguing actresses of the younger generation was one of the reasons I decided to give it a go. Her growth and evolution as an actress in the Harry Potter series proved that she can act, to a certain point. However her works in ‘The Bling Ring’, ‘The Perks of Being a Wall Flower’, and ‘My Week with Marilyn’ had surprised me not just as an actress, but also as an artist. Her willingness to explore more interesting characters disregarding the importance of those roles made me felt that she is an artist with a clear vision what directions she wants to go. 

Playing Belle is not an easy task. The animated character is too well established and they are big shoes to fill. Emma’s Belle cannot say is weak (in terms of characterisation) but you can certainly see a few moments of uncertainties in the character as what Belle was supposed to do in those scenes. For me this is particularly obvious in the opening market scene as I don’t really know what she was thinking while she was singing about how bored the provincial life was. For me I was looking for the care free and quirkiness in Belle that sets her apart from the crowd. But in the opening scene it just became Belle walking through the village singing for no purpose.

That said, Emma’s performance gradually evolved as the movie progressed. At story points that require deeper and stronger emotional range, Emma Watsons without a doubt delivered. The stiffness and wavering in the earlier scenes were gone. This added a lot of authenticity to what seemingly a story book turned animation turned real life movie. Basically ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is about Belle in terms of performance as most of the other big name actors such as Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Ewan McGreggor are all hidden behind the animated version of themselves most of the time. Kevin Klein as Maurice didn’t really have a lot to show, which was not surprising as Belle’s father has always been a supporting role. However what surprised me was how much life Luke Evans and Josh Gad’s Gaston and LeFou brought to the movie. Luke Evans even managed to make Gaston more lovable than his animated counterpart, which is quite hard to achieve. Josh Gad’s LeFou’s sexuality has been the centre of attention, but then that discussion overshadowed the comic and relevance he provided to this seemingly extremely second line supporting role. He made people wonder where he is whenever we see Gaston on screen. And when Gaston is strutting his stuff, we looked forward to what other silly things would come out of his mouth. The Gaston song in the bar is as memorable as one could expect.

Dan Stevens as the Beast is quietly sadly that it really didn’t give Dan Stevens as great an opportunity to shine as despite being a central character he is closely sealed behind the special effects. Also the CGI team made sure he looks exactly like the one in the animation, so there is really not a lot for him to show at the end of the day.

Transiting from animation to real life, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ had changed things around here and there a bit to make it more believable as a real life story. The Enchantress now has more air time and there are few minor plot point changes to make it possible with real actors. There are also a few new songs written for the movie, which I thought blend surprisingly good with the old songs. The notable ones are Belle’s song about the old Paris she thought she knew and the Beast’s song lamenting on what he brought upon himself because of his arrogance. But the ‘Be Our Guest’ song was just spectacular. It managed to bring back the old charm in a real life format, which I thought was quite amazing. As for the ballroom dance scene, I still think I like the animated version better as the lighting is a bit more hopelessly romantic than the real life counterpart.

Overall ‘Beauty and the Beast’ did not disappoint and it has some great moments. I think for those who haven’t seen the animation will enjoy a lot better than someone like me who had watched the animation so many times that can’t help but keep referencing and comparing. I did enjoy the movie though, and probably will watch it again on different medium. As after all it is a great love story that I think worth telling (and watching).

#StarWars life size #TieFighter
#StarWars life size #TieFighter
#beach #beachlife
#beach #beachlife
#TomoRamen
#TomoRamen
@bohauscafe
@bohauscafe
Wassup dawg?
Wassup dawg?
One year already...
One year already...
A stroll around the city
A stroll around the city
Hide and seek... @pottspointbookshop
Hide and seek... @pottspointbookshop
#legend
#legend
S12.50 Best value for money big breakfast
S12.50 Best value for money big breakfast
Sleepy face #catphoto #catlife #cat
Sleepy face #catphoto #catlife #cat
Retro gaming goodness @sega #gamegear
Retro gaming goodness @sega #gamegear
Sorting out my priorities on a Sunday arvo @starwars #figurines
Sorting out my priorities on a Sunday arvo @starwars #figurines
So cool @koala_living
So cool @koala_living
#StarWars life size #TieFighter #beach #beachlife #TomoRamen @bohauscafe Wassup dawg? One year already... A stroll around the city Hide and seek... @pottspointbookshop #legend S12.50 Best value for money big breakfast Sleepy face #catphoto #catlife #cat Retro gaming goodness @sega #gamegear Sorting out my priorities on a Sunday arvo @starwars #figurines So cool @koala_living