You Ask How the Watch is Made. Keep Your Eye on the Time.

Sicario (2015)

8.0/10 on IMDb
90% on Rotten Tomatoes
Emily Blunt stars as an FBI agent who specialises in kidnapping cases but, regardless, is chosen for a government task force on drug cartels. As she gets thrown into the deep end at the border of U.S.A and Mexico, she realises how little her colleagues are telling her, and how dangerously suspicious her mission becomes.

Right from the start, this film dives straight into the story. The entire film is intense, which isn't much of a surprise since it comes from the same director as that of Prisoners (2013). While some scenes go on for some time, you don't really notice it because the slowness just helps to build up the intensity of everything. Our protagonist works on a hostage case and wants to seek revenge for the atrocities she witnessed, but not everything is as it seems; she doesn't understand what's going on, no one is giving her any information, and she's left to just follow what her teammates are doing. We as the audience also have no idea what is happening, so these scenes really do cause a great deal of suspense even if they're taking their time to unravel.

Emily Blunt also does an amazing job at being a strong and tough badass of a woman whilst still being emotionally raw and physically vulnerable. While most of the suspense is created through the beautiful shots of scenery and crazy heart-attack-inducing music, Emily Blunt's facial and body language really help to convey that sense of confusion, suspense, and potential horror. No kidding, this woman is slaying it right now; so excited for whatever she's going to be doing in the next few years.

Seriously, they managed to make a rush-hour traffic scene intense. The cars were not moving but man oh man was it intense.

I won't say much else, because the rest is just heavy spoilers, but I will say this: Benicio Del Toro was amazing. That dinner scene... amazing.

I highly recommend this film to be seen in the cinemas, purely for the intensity of the soundtrack, but if you can't be bothered to see it in cinemas, then it's still worth a watch on the TV.


Everest (2015)

7.5/10 on IMDb
73% on Rotten Tomatoes
Based on the true story of a group of mountaineers trying to reach the summit of Mount Everest, this film explores the greatest Everest disaster ever experienced (prior to filming) back in 1996.

With an ensemble cast, and a good story premise, and not to mention the most interesting and tallest heap of growing rocks in the world, the film does a pretty darn good job.

Sure, it's not an amazing film; it doesn't leave you mind blown, and it doesn't really pave the way for future films, but it still does a great job of telling the story of this team of people who want to climb the tallest mountain in the world.

I mentioned an ensemble cast, but it's really just Jason Clarke who shines through as having something to do. The rest of the stellar cast is pretty wasted away, with people like Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightley not doing much, and Josh Brolin and Sam Worthington only doing a bit more.

Nonetheless, Jason Clarke still did a fantastic job, and I'm really happy to see him get more and more roles, even if they include Terminator: Genisys... (although I haven't seen it yet, so who am I to judge, really?)

The film does a great job at really turning you off wanting to go up Everest. It explains to you how dangerous it really is. Once you get to a certain point, you just aren't supposed to live beyond that altitude; your body starts dying... literally. The instructor's job is to not just get you to the summit, it's to get you back down as well, so precautions need to be taken, fitness levels need to be raised, discretion needs to be used; if you aren't walking fast enough, and if you don't make the time window, then sorry, but you can't reach the top of Everest.

And while this is one of those rare and unfortunate events that so happened to turn into a disaster, you walk out of the cinema not wanting to ever climb a mountain. (Although, I still want to do base camping...)

It's also great in that it's able to tell the TRUE story. You should know how annoyed I get about accuracy in these true story movies. One critic on Rotten Tomatoes said: "A very conventional disaster film that has none of the standout features of the genre", which I completely disagree with because they're telling the story like it should be; they're telling the true events of the story, and so I don't think it's fair for you to brush off these events and say that they're too "conventional". These events really did happen! People died, people were hurt, people were traumatised. And it's not like it didn't make for a compelling story; it was really intense and done well! So I give massive props to the film for being able to portray a TRUE story and stick to the story well, while also being entertaining.

So, in the end, I recommend seeing this in the cinemas. It's got some great scenic shots, and seeing it in the cinema really makes you see just how terribly in danger their lives are! You see how high up they are, how small they look when they walk up the mountains, every little detail just makes the film so much more enjoyable, so I think it is worth the watch in cinemas, but I don't think it's worth a bigger screen like V-max or Imax.

A few side notes:

This film didn't make me cry, which is saying a lot seeing as I cry in EVERYTHING; so I guess yeh it kind of lacks in storytelling and bringing that emotional aspect to it; nonetheless it's still engaging enough to hold your attention

You think you're done with the past, but the past is not done with you.

Yay! With Oscar season looming closer we are finally getting into the season of good movies! Unfortunately, the first half of 2015 has not been that great, with very little good original films, but the films coming out from August onwards are (and look like they are going to be) great!

I'm especially keen for The Martian at the beginning of October, but other films that look super interesting are: Sicario, Everest, Black Mass, Legend, Secret in Their Eyes, Bridge of Spies, The Revenant (next year), The Hateful Eight (next year) and Steve Jobs.

For laughs, there's also American Ultra (already in theatres) and The Intern.

Other films that may be good are The Walk, Room (next year), Joy, The Good Dinosaur, and Southpaw (I don't think this is in cinemas still but I will be renting it regardless).

Then there's the franchise films coming out, like Spectre, Mockingjay Part 2, and of course Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.

So those are the films I'm keen to see coming out these next few months; I've linked the trailers to each one so feel free to watch them! But definitely watch The Martian's trailer; it looks so good! It's got a great cast and I'm hoping it marks Ridley Scott's return to form.

But anyway, let's get back to one of the films that marks this great season of movies.


The Gift (2015)

7.5/10 on IMDb
93% on Rotten Tomatoes
A young couple moves into a new home and, upon happenstance, run into a schoolmate of the husband's. At first, things seem friendly, but as this man from the past continually leaves more and more gifts, intrudes more and more into their daily lives, and gives off more and more of a creepy vibe, we start to uncover unsettling details of the two men's past.

First things first, let's give a big round of applause to Joel Edgerton (pronounced Edge-erton by the way (yes, I checked interviews)). This guy deserves massive props because not only did he write this film, direct it, and star in it... it's the FIRST feature film he has directed. And it is AMAZING. This guy is seriously slaying it.

Starring alongside him is Jason Bateman, and while he is the main character in this film, I felt like he was overshadowed by Joel Edgerton and Rebecca Hall's performances. Chris Stuckmann said that he thought Jason Bateman completely disappeared into this role, but to me it just seemed like the same old (albeit more serious) Jason Bateman we've seen in other things. His voice is the same, his body language is the same, everything's sorta the same.

Joel Edgerton, though, did a really great job at being a really creepy guy. Seriously, he gave me the heebie jeebies. Just watching the trailer, you knew he was going to be creepy, but his performance is still great enough to creep you out even more. The directing is also fantastic because it really built up that tension and creepiness. I am TERRIBLE with horror movies, like there is absolutely no way you can get me to watch a supernatural horror movie willingly, so psychological horrors are the most that I can willingly bear (and yes, I watched this film willingly because I thought the creepiness looked great), but this was honestly done so well. There are TWO crazy scenes where the directing builds everything up, and there is so much tension and emotion in it.

Rebecca Hall was also great in this; she is completely different here from her other performances (The Prestige; Iron Man 3), and she even kept reminding me of Anne Hathaway with her short hair and the way she smiles. Her body language and everything was really great and natural, and also helped in building up that tension.

So let's get to the plot.

The plot is pretty creepy. The trailer kind of tells you everything, except WHY. And so I went here thinking it would be something pretty simplistic; like a simple reason that makes sense for everything.

Instead, I was completely blown away by how the plot of this film gradually unveiled itself, and I was so surprised by how realistic this film is.

This film is creepy because you are dealing with things that could happen to any single one of us. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet (but all my comments about spoilers are below), so I'll just really briefly say that a lot of the times, we as humans don't really think of the consequences of minor actions we do or minor words we speak. We forget that our actions and our words affect those around us.

~SPOILERS~ about the ending

Sometimes we don't mean the things we say; sometimes they're just jokes that the 'victim' can just shrug off. Sometimes, we do intend for our words or actions to hurt others, but the victim can still just shrug it off. But this film shows you what happens when it doesn't quite go down that well. Of course, it's a more exaggerated version of when the victim doesn't and can't just shrug it off, but it's still a really plausible and realistic scenario.

In this scenario, all the bad stars so happened to align, and the result is a long series of misfortunes.

What Jason Bateman's character did as a kid could be what quite a lot of people might do (after all, as they say in the film, kids are cruel). It's sort of in our nature to be slightly mean to others.

But I'm not taking his side, because he took it a few steps too far by 1) completely making everything up, 2) not coming out to say that it was all false, and 3) not apologising or even acknowledging that what he did was wrong, even as an adult.

However, it's still a really plausible scenario. Instead of the film going down an obvious plot, such as "You murdered someone I loved and that screwed me up and now your past is going to haunt you", its plot is more realistic and relatable for us as normal citizens, because it deals with bullying. The fact that it is so common to bully someone, or make a joke about someone, or prank them, or 'troll' them, means that this film was carried out really really well for something so realistic to carry such weight for the audience.

Of course, the film isn't saying that these things are downright evil and will definitely lead to a creepy guy leaving weird gifts at your doortstep 20 years later when you've forgotten all about him. Instead, I believe the film is talking about all the chances that Jason Bateman's character had.

He had so many opportunities to right his wrongs, but he didn't.

And I really think that that is the crux of the film's morale.

Everyone does bad things. Everyone can be a bully or a mean-spirited person. BUT, we have the chance to right our wrongs.

Another interesting point is that you can't really side with anyone in this film (except the poor, innocent wife). Simon is evil, and he did a really terrible thing to Gordo. But you can't side with Gordo because, even though he is the victim, his victimisation leads to his evilness. So essentially you have two evil characters here. So, the film is also saying that you could single-handedly effect and change someone's life for the worse, just through a few minor words or actions (or, in this case, a few unspoken words or by actually not carrying out certain actions.

So the film has a great morale to it, and the plot is executed really well. I recommend seeing it, but it's not necessary to see it in the cinemas. I have thought long and hard about this, and I will even say that I think it is worth a second viewing, just to look over at all the hints that are dropped throughout the film. It's a great film about morality, consequences, and retribution, with an open ending that leaves you to decide and make any conclusion you want out of it.

Are You Okay?

In honour of R U OK day (and a friend asking me how to speak to someone who looked like she was having suicidal thoughts), I decided to do a little blog post on some ways you could approach someone who's going through a tough time.

A good rough guide on how to ask someone if they are okay can be found here, but it doesn't give you much information on what to say and when to say it, so I thought I might give some tips from my own personal experiences of having depression.

Also, if you don't believe that these three words can actually save a life, just have a read of this!

Firstly, make sure YOU are okay before you ask someone if they are. If you aren't in the right mental state, then if you ask someone and they unleash a whole can of worms, you might be unable to cope with it, and it might even be detrimental to you, as their can of worms may stack up on your can of worms and bring you down even futher. If this is the case, perhaps speak to someone you are close with, or someone who is close to the person you are concerned about, and they can ask them instead.

So if you've decided you're okay enough to ask someone about their problems, make sure that you have the time and the effort to deal with their problems, if they do tell you their problems. If someone indeed has a problem, I think it's a fair enough assumption that the problem won't be able to be summarised in just a few sentences, and it might actually take a lot of probing and a long chat to get it all out, so make sure you have the time to listen to all they are saying, instead of rushing off to deal with something else. It is seriously such a bad idea to ask someone how they are going, then have them open up to you, only for you to turn around and say you don't have the time or whatever to help them. It would make them feel even worse than they already are.

Okay, so you've decided that you're completely able and capable of asking the person if they are okay. How do you do it?

If it is really obvious, such as a Facebook post, or something serious, you can say something like, "Hey, I know we're not that close but I saw your post/whatever and I was really concerned. Is everything okay?"

If you have noticed something more subtle about them that has made you want to ask them if they are okay, then don't dive straight into it. Just like any other conversation, start off small by asking them just generally how they are going. Then you can go a bit more specific, but still keep it general, like, "How's uni going?", "How is your family?, "How is work going?", etc. If this doesn't open them up a bit more, then that is when you can start asking more specific things, like, "Are you feeling a bit stressed out? How are you coping with all that?", or "It's just that I noticed you looked a bit upset/stressed/worried, and just wanted to check up on you. Are you sure everything's okay?"

If they aren't comfortable with talking about it, don't force it upon them, because it could make things worse and they could get quite angry at you for it. Instead, let them know that you are there for them, by saying something like, "Well I hope you're okay, and just remember that if you need anything, I'm always here to talk to. And if you're feeling overwhelmed by everything, just remember that you've got friends and family who you can talk to as well; just make sure you don't bottle up everything inside."

Another important thing is that you don't always have to suspect something is going wrong in someone's life to ask them how they are going. If you regularly meet up with a friend, it's easy to slip into asking about events or what has happened in the last few weeks rather than how they have been feeling. For example, you might get into the habit of asking, "So what have you been doing these last few weeks?" or "So what are you doing at uni now?", rather than "So how have you been these last few weeks? Everything okay?" or "How's uni going? Do you have any assessments or exams? How are you going with that?"

This means that even if you didn't know the person was struggling with something, they might be able to come out and open up to you about their issues.

So what do you do if they actually DO open up to you and tell you all their problems?

Firstly, it's really important to listen to what they have to say. I know that when I'm upset I usually just want to get it off my chest and tell it to someone... ANYONE actually. Often I'm not looking for a solution, I'm looking for someone to empathise with me. I think back to Parks and Rec where Chris always tries to tell Ann these solutions that he comes up with to her problems, but all she wants is for Chris to sit down with her and say, "Wow, that sucks." Empathising with someone can actually be a lot better than trying to solve their problems for them. It might also be that they've tried to solve their problems and whatever solutions you try and tell them, well, they've already thought of and tried them, and they didn't work. This could make them even more upset.

Another thing is that if you don't show you can empathise with them, they might not want to talk to you in the future. I know a lot of the times when I open up to someone and then not talk to them again, it's because I have this feeling of, "They just don't GET me." So try and empathise with the person rather than solve their problems; it does wonders.

If you still think that you have a solution to the problem, you don't have to straight up offer it. You might ask them instead what they think about the problem, or whether they've thought about what to do. After they say all this, then you may be able to give advice on your solutions to the problem, but obviously use your own discretion.

When it comes to suicide, this is obviously a lot trickier, because often the person might think that the solution IS the suicide. The R U OK article (here it is again for you) has a good summary of things to say when someone tells you they are suicidal. Obviously the most important thing is to try to discourage them from it, but do so really really gently. Tell them that you are really concerned and you care about them and that their lives deserve to continue - all the stuff you can think of, just try not to be too aggressive about it. Recognise that you are not a professional and that there are free professional services out there that they could use - Lifeline, Beyond Blue, Headspace, etc. There are so many avenues for this kind of thing, whether they want to speak to someone in person, over the phone, or on an online chat. Sometimes it's easier telling a stranger all your problems, rather than a friend.

Another thing is to try to ask them about who they could talk to or call when they have strong suicidal thoughts. You can get them to make a list of all the people they could call, e.g. Lifeline, Mum/Dad, boyfriend/girlfriend, best friend, yourself, 000, etc., which would help them when they're in the moment of wanting to suicide.

If you are with someone who is in the moment and wants to suicide, make sure you keep their environment free of anything dangerous, such as sharp items, knives, alcohol, drugs, and any medication which they might overdose on. After you do that, you might want to call Lifeline on 13 11 14, or call 000.

Just remember that whatever the circumstance, be gentle with them and try to listen instead of offer them solutions. Speak to them in a non-judgemental way and let them know that you are there for them and you care about them. And also remember that you aren't the only person who can help; encourage them to speak to others, be it friends, family, or professional services.

One last thing (and this may be really obvious but it's still worth a mention), if you know of others who have been talking to the person, try not to approach the person. If too many people are speaking to the person it can get a bit overwhelming for them. In those cases, it's probably best to reserve it unless you are really close to them, as you don't want to keep asking them about something when others have asked them and are currently speaking to them about the issue.

So, that's all I can think of for now, and if I think of anything else I'll update this post. Hope it has helped and remember that if you yourself are struggling with something, speak to someone! I'm free for a chat whenever =]

Things that I hate

I'm so annoyed at people who bring something up under the pretence of 'checking up on you' when they actually just want to stir up shit or something. Like when someone is literally the ONLY person to actively bring up the topic with you, and at first it seems like a really nice catch up/check up on you to see how you are doing, and you really appreciate their kindness and everything. And then they just start saying all this random shit that makes you really confused and upset and ends up ruining the rest of your night because even though other stuff is happening and you've got other stuff to do, their words just keep playing in the back of your mind. And I don't even get an honest apology out of them and then I find out that the shit they said isn't even true. Like, thanks for being a 'friend', ruining my night and making me feel a lot more insecure than I was already. Why would anyone do that?

Don't get me wrong, I love when people are considerate enough to check up on me, but when you are 'checking up on me' with the goal of dropping a bomb of negative information down on me, then I'd much prefer if you never even spoke to me. Because firstly, if the information was true and I knew about it already, it still wouldn't make me feel any better to remind me of the information, and secondly, if I didn't know about the information (false or not), you just casually dropped a bombshell on me while giggling and smiling about it.

So thanks for being a friend, but if you're going to keep doing that from now on, I'd rather avoid this friendship.