Here's to the ones who dream

La La Land (2016)

8.9/10 on IMDb
93% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: A must-see; Watch it in cinemas; I'm buying the DVD
Watch it if you: Want a touching and emotional romance that so happens to be a musical;
Want to get some of the best songs ever stuck in your head for the next year;
Are a fan of either Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, or both
A jazz pianist dreaming to open a jazz club, falls in love with an aspiring actress against the backdrop of the beautiful land of LA.

First of all, I love both Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.

For anyone who hasn't yet, you will be doing a great disservice if you do not check out Emma Stone's great lip sync battle on The Tonight Show.

As for Ryan Gosling, I completely forgot how sexy this guy was. When was the last time he was in a romance? I can't remember, but it's been too damn long. This guy exudes charisma, just look at him.

Also, while this movie is a musical, there are apparently people who hate musicals and still loved this film. I guess because the film is more a romance drama focusing on the leading couple.

But the music is great in this, I was super impressed with the directing, acting, performance, and general set pieces.

The opening scene took my breath away; it's a musical done in a traffic jam on a highway, and it's done all in one take. I thought, "WOW! What an opening!" Little did I realise that the entire movie was just chockfull of crazy long takes that are seamless. SEAMLESS, I tell you!

While Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are not the best singers, I thought it was still really endearing and more realistic to watch. And anyway, cast for acting first, singing second. These two certainly were able to portray their emotions through their performances even if their performances themselves weren't perfect. If they had gotten broadway actors, it just would not have been the same. After all, as I said, the story isn't JUST a musical.

There is even one scene where nothing is happening except Emma Stone singing for three minutes. There is not a single camera cut; it's just a close up of Emma Stone's face the entire time. And you know what? I cried! That's how powerful the song, and her performance, was.

Then there's the fact that Ryan Gosling practiced the piano for 2-4 hours every day for 6 days a week so that the long takes could show him playing the piano! That is dedication, and I was really impressed during that take, and even wondered whether another person's hands were edited in. I was so glad to find out that was actually Gosling's hands in there!

I seriously hope these two win their respective Oscar categories (because we know for sure they will be nominated).

There is a bit of a lull in musical numbers in the middle, and that's to reflect the progression of the storyline, and thats when you start to really love the story itself, and not just the music. The story is really emotional, I was blubbering by the end of the film. But apart from that, it's also a great piece of artwork. All the scenes looked beautiful; the cinematography here was amazing.

It's also very nostalgic of old school musicals. It even felt to me like I was watching a stage musical, but on screen. Particularly because of the one-shot takes and the style of the dances and songs. It also felt like the time setting kept changing because it was a great vintage love story, but in a modern setting.

Overall, I really loved this film. It's in my top two at the moment, and I'm not sure which position it's in (the other movie is Arrival, and it's just hard to compare movies of completely different genres).

It's a musical, but I don't think you need to like musicals to appreciate it. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are great in their third appearance together; the movie looks, sounds, and feels amazing. It's a very thoughtful movie, with a lot of heart in it, and I would highly recommend it.

(Also, John Legend's in it!)

My first oil painting!

I just did my first oil painting!

I was inspired by Leonid Afremov’s vibrant night landscapes, and I thought I would try my hand at doing something similarly dark and vivid.

I have canvases that my mum bought me some time ago (we are talking over 10 years ago) with outlines on them, and I wanted to do a bright painting on another one of them, but figured I would just use this café one as target practice so I don’t mess up the other one.

Here’s what the reference picture looked like. Since it’s a day scene I had to change it to a night one in my mind:

(Sorry it's blurry but the photo is pretty tiny)
I figured this painting would be better to do in oil, as they are more vibrant, slower to dry, easier to blend, and would just be a good change (I have only ever used acrylic and poster paint and whatnot).

My last painting was done just over five years ago, and seriously I now remember why I stopped painting after that, despite every intention to do so.

Painting is actually really tiring!

This painting took me approximately 8 – 8.5 hours, split into four sessions.

Blank canvas with outlines.

Session #1 – 2 hours
Colour blocking with yellow and adding brown for a bit of base shading.
I didn’t realise the café had so many windows, and then I thought of the streetlamps as well as reflections off the building, and the result is a lot of yellow.
This was also the day that I realised that no, you cannot wash oil paints with soap and water. You need turpentine. Which smells like death.

Session #2 – 2 hours
Realised it needed more red, not brown, to make it brighter. Added dark green for bushes and dark brown for upper storey.
I should have just put dark green everywhere but for some reason I was thinking of putting bright fluro green in parts where the dark green wasn’t.

Session #3 – 2.5 hours
Blue time. Added dark blue to the bushes, as well as light blue spots (for ‘flowers’, lol). Added blue to the door, signs and tarp cover thing on the right. Put yellow over the lights again because I did not like the red I added the last session.

Session #4 – 2 hours
Did not like the first storey so I decided to use a fine brush to do some outlining. With the black, I also added in the lamp and sign detailing. Added colour to the bushes and ground reflections. Added yellow light reflections to the bushes and painted in some door handles. Darkened the upper storey again.
So there it is, my first oil painting!

How did I fare?

Well here are my goals for this painting, and my thoughts on them:

Successfully do an oil painting: I guess it was successful. I made it in the end.

Make it as bright and vibrant as possible: Lol, this could definitely be a lot more vibrant

Let go of reality (I tend to be a perfectionist and try and make things as accurate as possible; now I'm trying to rid myself of that and be a bit more surreal like Afremov): This was really hard to do. I wanted to do like big blocks of colour for the greenery like in Afremov's paintings, but it was so hard because I kept thinking, "No one is going to realise that is meant to be a plant." I will just have to keep aiming for this on my next painting (if I do one, lol).

Minimal mixing; use original colours and if it needs mixing, do it on the canvas: The thing I found to love with oil painting is that it is great with mixing; it is so easy to blend colours together while looking natural. In my last painting, I struggled to do the treek trunks because I would have to constantly mix, then add super fine lines, to try and blend it and shade it correctly. Here, you can just put one dark colour on one side, one light colour on the other side, then paint alternatively and they will sort of end up blending into each other naturally.

Looking forward to my next oil painting, I just need time to recover.

I am one with the Force; the Force is with me.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

8.3/10 on IMDb
84% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe’s thoughts: It’s alright; Signed, sealed, and recommended by Chloe (I put both of these because it’s somewhere in the middle of the two statements)
Watch it if you: Are a fan of Star Wars (obviously); Want to see some cool CGI and action scenes

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.

Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy....

Basically, this film is centred around the events of the opening crawl of Episode IV: A New Hope, so that's not a spoiler, and if you think it's a spoiler then what are you even doing here, go watch the original movies!

I for some reason was not that excited about this film. I think it was just a mixture of the first trailer (think back to the terrible ongoing siren, together with the "I rebel" line), and the news about 40% of the movie being reshot, that just made me feel really uneasy about the whole thing.

And while there certainly are a lot of flaws in this film, it turned out to be pretty good!

Some standouts of the film were that it was fun, enjoyable, had great action sequences, cinematography, and CGI, and actually had a different feel to other Star Wars films (and not just because they did things differently with the opening crawl and the soundtrack).

But unfortunately, I didn't feel satisfied with the movie until quite late into the film.

In fact, the whole first part of the film is pretty bad. It's really messy, with scenes shoved in randomly, the movie making us feel like we were just hopping from planet to planet for weird expositionary scenes, and it felt like they were trying to put in all this information they thought was necessary, when in actual fact it was really redundant.

I mean, seriously, in the first half an hour we probably hear of a defected Imperial pilot carrying a message about five times, and it's like... We get it; can we move on now? That probably would have been better if they could have changed it and made it into some part of an opening crawl to make a tighter, shorter, and more cohesive film.

But instead, what we got was a badly written, and quite frankly a bit boring, first half with a lot of unnecessary scenes (telepathic tentacles, really?).

Thank heavens this was only the first part of the film though! Perhaps this is why they ended up rewriting 40% of the movie; they just realised how terrible it was!

The film gets better towards the middle, and once it gets over the hump it really picks up in the last act. So much so that you actually kind of forget how messy the first part was.

Later in the film, we get introduced to the planet Scarif, and I loved the concept of it; it looked really cool, with all its beaches and everything. But it also provided a really great war zone.

The action and fight sequences in this film really did look really gritty and combat-like, and it was just so different to other Star Wars films I thought it did a great job at that.

It also felt like a different Star Wars movie because of some of the portrayals of the Rebel fighters. It's not like a cookie-cutter bad-guys-are-bad-good-guys-are-good film; you get into some real sketchy morales here, and there is one scene near the beginning where you're just kind of left there like, Oh... that guy's a dickhead! And it was interesting to see glimpses of that in this film.

Which brings us to the characters and actors.

I liked the acting here; it was interesting seeing Felicity Jones in an action role since she looks so sweet and like she wouldn't hurt a fly.

I also found it amazing that they were able to cast a child actor that resembled her. That is so hard to do, and although she looked more like Felicity Jones in the trailer than in the actual movie, I thought that was a solid effort (although I'm not sure if they used a bit of CGI to make her look like her likeness).

Donnie Yen as Chirrut was great in this, but his character seemed a bit... unbelievable. I see the necessity in some of his characterisations, though, to explain bits about the Force and show the power of it all and how it has this sort of religious feel to it, but some of it seemed really ridiculous.

One last character I wanted to talk about was Forest Whitaker's Saw Gerrera. I have mixed feelings about this, because I'm glad he didn't really act like how he normally does, but what was up with his voice? I felt like clearing my throat every time he said something; it was really weird.

Apart from those minor issues, though, I found the acting to be pretty good, and the characters quite enjoyable to follow.

Another thing that I really liked about this film was that it addresses and shuts up one major flaw in the original series. There is one thing in A New Hope that is so ridiculous, yet this film centres around a really smart and reasonable excuse to explain that flaw away. Although, it doesn't make the same flaw in The Force Awakens go away...

So it wasn't a fantastic Star Wars film, but it was really enjoyable, if you can get past the mess that is the first act. The action sequences, cinematography, set pieces, acting, and CGI were great. The soundtrack wasn't the best (my heart would leap, and then just break, every time we heard something that sounded like a familiar theme, only for it to change and feel a bit weird at the end), but apparently they only had about a month to do it.

It's also really interesting and exciting to see how they blended it into Episode IV; this was probably the rewrite they had to do, since it was reported that it was the ending they had to change. And even without this ending, they had great continuity, with characters showing up from previous films, and even having some motion capture done for characters so that we could see familiar faces (even though the actor/s may already be dead by now). They did a really good job with this motion capture business, but it was still heading towards uncanny valley territory, although I think it wouldn't have been as bad if it weren't for my mum constantly whispering into my ear that it was CGI.

One last thing: Darth Vadar isn't in this film much. He doesn't do much here, and is a bit of a let down. He looks super short in this film, and not as authoritative as a result, but you know what? He more than makes up for it at the end of the film.

A few side notes:

Baze looks like he's carrying a Dyson on his back, it's hilarious.

K-2SO reminded me of TARS set to 90% sarcasm

"Be careful not to choke on your aspirations, Director."

"Are you kidding me? I'm blind!"

How sad was it when that Organa guy was all like, "I'm going to Alderaan to warn them!" (paraphrased)

How do they come up with such cool character names?

That scene where they all come out of hyperspace like MY GOODNESS that was amazing!

Delicious blue milk makes an appearance

Wherever you are in the world, I will come see you.

Your Name (Kimi no Na wa) (2016)

8.8/10 on IMDb
97% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: A must-see; Watch it in cinemas; I'm buying the DVD
Watch it if you: Want a great fantasy story mixed in with some romance, mystery, and drama; Want to see a beautiful animation; Don't want to miss out on one of the best movies of the year

Mitsuha and Taki are two high schoolers who have never met. Yet one day, they begin to dream that they are waking up in each other's bodies.

I heard about this at first after I saw Kubo and the Two Strings, and people were discussing which animated films would be nominated for the Oscars. A lot of people seemed to think that Your Name would not only be nominated, but also should nab the Oscar ahead of other animations this year, such as Zootopia, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Finding Dory. I remember searching this film up, but upon seeing that it was a Japanese animated film that wasn't out in Australia yet, I proceeded to forget about it.

Then, recently, through word of mouth, I heard that this was a really great film and decided to check it out.

Since it's a foreign and unknown film, there's only limited screenings of this movie, currently with two sessions everyday at Macquarie and George Street (and maybe at other cinemas, but it's definitely not showing at Castle Towers or Parramatta).

There's also an English dubbed version, but since I despise dubs with a passion, I went with the Japanese version with English subtitles, and I would recommend this because I don't see how some of the Japanese lines and expressions would translate very well with an English-speaking person (some lines probably got cut in the dubbed version), and I also saw the English dubbed version of the trailer and the voices sounded so cringeworthy.

Also I thought it was pretty easy to follow along with the subtitles. They appear for long enough for you to be able to read it and also watch the movie, and there was never a moment where I missed out on something because the subtitles disappeared too quickly.

So now, onto the movie.

I didn't know much about the movie going in, but I was so surprised at this!

It started off as a cute little romance comedy, and then it turned into a great fantasy story with a little bit of drama and thriller elements thrown into it.

The plot was really fascinating, and I don't really want to talk too much about it because I don't want to spoil anything, but it was seriously a very emotional ride. By the end of the film, I was wailing like a baby, and we had agreed that the one word to describe the film was: heartwrenching.

The animation is also amazing; at some points I was like, "Woah, that looks so realistic!" and at one stage of the film, there is this beautiful shot of scenery, and I kept thinking, "Wow, that is beautiful, I want to go there even though this is just an animated film!"

Overall, this was a brilliant film. It was definitely not what I was expecting, but in the best sense. The story is heartwrenching, and you get so emotionally invested in the characters and you just want the best for them. And that's a credit to the director, who's done a solid job at incorporating all these different elements into a cohesive story.

I seriously recommend this; I will root for this to win an Oscar, I will buy the DVD, I will rewatch it and cry again until my eyes run dry, and then I'll move on to all the director's other works.

"Are you a seeker of truths?" "More of a chaser."

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

7.9/10 on IMDb
76% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: It's alright; Watch it in cinemas (maybe)
Watch it if you: Are a huge fan of the Harry Potter universe... like a really huge fan
The film takes place in the roaring 20s of New York City, where Newt Scamander, author of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them textbook, accidentally lets loose some of the beasts he carries in his briefcase. Meanwhile, animosity between muggles (or "No-majs") and wizards are brewing, all the while there being the Dark Wizard Grindelwald to be feared.

Okay, so I didn't really have huge expectations for this film. I was pretty keen for it at first, but once they announced that there would be FIVE in this series, I just dropped all my expectations. And you know what? The film was actually alright. It wasn't the best; far from it. I don't think it lived up to the franchise, and I think that if it wasn't part of the Harry Potter universe, and if there wasn't such a huge fanbase and capitalising on fan nostalgia, I think this film would be pretty forgettable. But it was still a decent watch, and was still enjoyable.

I really liked the idea of exploring wizards in an American setting, and I really wanted them to explore this a bit more. There's a few jarring moments where goblins and house elves talk with New York accents, and there's even the dropping of the term "No-maj" to reinforce how simplistic and slang-like the Americans name things, but apart from that, there wasn't much else to show how wizards acted differently in other countries. I suppose that's not really a fault though, since you can't expect them to be too different just because they are in a different (but still English-speaking) country.

I also liked some of the magical creatures that they showed, but I honestly felt a bit confused by some of them. When we are introduced to them, there just seemed like there was way too much going on, it was a bit overwhelming. Most of the creatures we see weren't even the focus of the film, and the ones that were a focus felt like they weren't explained that well, so I was a bit confused about what they could do, and what made them special (and Eddie Redmayne's socially-awkward way of saying things meant it was even harder to understand what he was saying). The beasts seemed a bit forgettable, which is quite sad because the film is named after them after all, and the trailers made it seem like they would be the main focus on this film.

There was one moment where there was a huge amount of wonder thrown into these beasts, but because we got all this information all at the same time, it just seemed like the information was really diluted. And I get that they will expand on these in future films, but it would have been nice to focus on these creatures a bit more. After all, they seem more like side quests and side stories, and they don't even really help in the end battle. I get that they are animals (rather than, say, X-Men or superheroes with their own special abilities), but it would have been great if we could see the greatness of some of them in battle (but then maybe it would be too much like Pokemon in that way).

So this film, to me at least, felt like it was trying to balance numerous side quests on trying to catch all these Pokemon fantastic beasts, that the main story felt pushed out of the way a bit. And as a result, the villain and the ending didn't seem as satisfying to me. Of course, they will have more sequels, but having five Fantastic Beasts movie in total is no excuse for having a watered down first installment. You can make this film a set up for the next four, but at least make it a decent set up.

A lot of this had to do with pacing of the film. I don't know what it is, like which particular scenes, but sometimes I just felt like they were spending too much time focusing on one thing, or they would end a scene abruptly and cut to another one. The pacing just felt off, and it made the film less enjoyable.

I think a really obvious example of this was the multiple endings this film had. Seriously, this film had a number of endings on par with The Return of the King, but without the epic 9 hour trilogy that preceded it. I kept thinking the current scene would be the last scene, and that I'd have to get ready to leave but then, nope! There's another scene coming on. Is that the end? Oh, nope! They're wrapping up that character again. Oh look, they're wrapping up that character AGAIN! (Not even exaggerating when I say they wrapped someone up like three times in that ending.)

I did say that this filmw as enjoyable, though. So while I sound like I'm hating on it, it wasn't all bad.

I think, despite all of this, the film still was pretty enjoyable, because it just took an established universe we all know about, and explored a different time period, a different country, and completely new characters we have never seen before. And I think that alone was enjoyable, even if it wasn't executed the best.

Another thing is the acting.

The directing may not have been the greatest, but the acting was seriously great.

I had no idea that Ezra Miller was going to be in this (was he even in the trailer?), and he was really good. I got some very We Need To Talk About Kevin reminiscent vibes from him, but more creepy and tragic, and he did a great job at this. His body language, his emotional performance; they were great.

Colin Farrell also did a fantastic job; I thought he was such a standout. He hasn't been in many things lately (I don't watch True Detective), so it was great to see him on the big screen again.

And then there's Eddie Redmayne. In real life he is such a loveable goof that I don't even think he was acting in this film. He was probably just being himself (seriously, have you seen his interviews?), and it completely worked as the introverted loves-beasts-more-than-people Newt Scamander (although phrased like that he sounds terrible, but you get what I mean). And I can't fault him for playing himself when we well and truly know that he can portray other types of characters (e.g. Les Miserables, The Theory of Everything, The Danish Girl).

I thought Dan Fogler was great as the No-maj that gets caught up in all of Newt's shenanigans. He was actually pretty funny (loved everytime he let out a laugh), and was quite a loveable character by the end. There is one surprisingly touching scene that revolves around him, so it's great to see a Harry Potter film where we care about a non-wizard.

I also loved loved loved the constant use of apparition throughout the film. It was really cool to see how they could so intuitively apparate in everyday life and in battle.

So in the end, I found this film enjoyable, but forgettable. I was looking forward to a film where the focus would be on these amazing new creatures, but instead we got some random side quests shoved into another plot, and it just didn't seem to work out. I also felt like the CGI was not the best in this film, with some of the background sets and even some of the beasts not looking the greatest at times.

Is this a decent film? Sure, it's alright. It's not terrible, but it's not... FANTASTIC (lol, I had to). Am I worried about there being four more movies? Of course I am. The film was enjoyable, and a decent watch, but it's not worth another 4 movies.

A few side notes:

I can only understand some things after reading up on them in the Harry Potter wikia; how do people pick up on these things? (for example, the article on Leta Lestrange; all that information went over my head in the film)

Can someone tell me what the villain says at the end, and what the heck it even means?

Loved the themes on the salem witch trials

Someone explain this to me: is it not possible to just use accio or reducio spell on these beasts (and one insect)?

I loved the costuming in this; the wizarding council looked like they were straight out of the card game Coup, and Redmayne and Farrell looked so cool in their coats

Click for some notes on SPOILERS:

• After we saw Grindelwald's hair, and then we saw Graves hair, I was thinking, "Oh, is he the same character but with dyed hair? Oh wait, no, it's Colin Farrell. Does everyone just have the same haircut here?"
• *Deep sigh* I am so not keen on Johnny Depp in the sequels. I feel like he ruined that final showdown. #BringBackColinFarrell #MakeColinFarrellGrindelwaldAgain
• Apparently the obscura is what killed Ariadne Dumbledore? I think that's pretty interesting. I don't remember too much of the books and I think it was only touched on in the films, but it looks like an interesting thing to explore in future films.
• How on earth does a No-maj bank accept EGGS as collateral? They haven't seen Game of Thrones, they don't know how cool eggs can be.

I’m going to live to regret this.

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

(All the posters for this film are really bad, but I hated this one less than I hated the main poster that they use)

8.0/10 on IMDb
72% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: Signed, sealed and recommended by Chloe
Watch it if you: Are interested just based on the trailer; Want a thrilling story-within-a-story film
Susan seems to have the perfect life: she is the successful manager of a famous art gallery, she is married to a very handsome man, and together they live in a house that looks like an art gallery itself. Yet one day her ex-husband sends her a manuscript of a novel he's written. The novel is brutal, violent, and terrifying, and it's dedicated to her. As she begins to read the novel, she is forced to re-examine her past with the first man she loved.

I wasn't too sure what to expect with this film, since the trailer did a good job at keeping the plot hidden while still intriguing me, and to be honest it's still a really weird film to try and explain or wrap my head around.

It's not that it was confusing or mind-blowing, it's just that it's a film more focused on themes and messages rather than plot.

This is because the film is actually a story within a story. More specifically, it's a novel within a movie. The novel is actually super interesting, but the main story isn't as interesting.

However, the way that these two are combined through alternating scenes is a really clever way at integrating the two stories together, to show the parallels and contrasts between fiction and reality.

I don't want to elaborate too much on this, but after watching the movie, I'd suggest checking out this spoiler-filled article that explores the ending and major themes of the film.

The performances in this were great, and I was actually quite surprised at the number of familiar faces in here.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams star in the lead roles, and while they were about 90% the reason why I watched this film, I have to say it wasn't their movie; it was the two supporting actors that stole the show.

Yup, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Michael Shannon were the best actors in this film! Particularly Aaron Taylor-Johnson; he completely disappeared in his role, and the only thing I could think of was just how far he had come from his Kick-Ass days.

Apart from that there's not much to say since I don't want to spoil things; there's a lot more to explore after you end up finishing the movie, but if you haven't yet, all you can really talk about is the cast and the general premise.

So in the end, this at first appears to be a random film that's about some random thing that's happening, but at the end you realise how the inner novel story is very intrinsically related to the outer main story, and how these both show us different aspects about humanity.

A few side notes:

Amy Adams should not wear make up, ever; I personally think she looks so much better with natural or no make up

I can't believe Tom Ford, the director of this film, is the same Tom Ford as the fashion designer; that's very impressive

The first five minutes are... difficult to watch.

I like how Isla Fisher is like Amy Adam's likeness, since they often get confused for each other

Help me get one more.

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

8.7/10 on IMDb
85% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: Signed, sealed, and recommended by Chloe; Watch it in cinemas
Watch it if you: Like war dramas; Want war scenes akin to Saving Private Ryan; Don't mind very brutal and gruesome violence in the name of war
Directed by Mel Gibosn, Hacksaw Ridge tells the true story about Desmond Doss, a combat medic in World War II who refused to handle a gun, yet managed to become a hero of the war, being the first conscientious objector to win a Medal of Honor.

Ah, Mel Gibson. Terrible human being, but great director (just look at Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto). And once again, he has made a great film.

It's a long one, at 2 hours and 19 minutes, and I think the first act really should have been cut down, because it felt too slow and irrelevantly dragged out. I understand that it helped to develop Doss' character, and it was necessary, but I think it was just too long for it.

However, the great thing about this film is the final act, once they head straight into the battle. The film actually picks up way before this, when Doss first enlists, but in that last act, my goodness, the film just goes all out, and the impact of everything hits you HARD. The entire last act is a crazy, action-packed and adrenaline-fuelled sequence, that I couldn't help but think of Saving Private Ryan.

Mel Gibson truly did a great job at showing us the gruesome and tragic nature of war, more so than other war films, so that we could understand the protagonists ideals and values against holding a gun, and we are able to respect his decision for it.

Apart from this last act, another great factor of this film is the acting capacity here.

There were seriously great performances all around, both from the main characters and the supporting ones.

I honestly did not realise that the entire cast consisted of Australian actors just feigning American accents. All except Vince Vaugh, an American, and Andrew Garfield, a British native. I really applaud Gibson on this, as well as those supporting casts. My particular favourite of the supporting cast was Luke Bracey; dang he is one handsome fella!

(Luke Bracey is the hunk on the left)
Andrew Garfield as Doss was amazing, and he looks to be a strong contender for Best Actor at the Academy Awards. He is such a goofball, though; he is like the quintessential awkward dork, but it's so pleasant here because he is a goofball of just charm and optimism, even in the face of war and almost certain death.

Also, even though Doss' ideals mainly stem from his religion, I don't think that this was a very religious film. At times it might have seemed a bit over-the-top, but I don't think it really beat you over the head with a Bible; it was more just emphasising how important Christianity was to the protagonist. And to audiences, we see this as being more to do with his spirit, hope and optimism, as opposed to his religiosity.

Hugo Weaving was another great supporting actor. Man, he portrayed such an emotional and traumatised character, some times you even forgot that this is the same guy who played Elrond and Agent Smith! He completely disappeared and was so believable. There is one particular scene where you just know that it will be played when his name is called out as a nominated Best Supporting Actor. And I have to say, most of the times that I teared up were because of Weaving's performance. He truly carried all of the scenes that he was in.

Lastly, I have to give a mention to Vince Vaughn. Even though he was in The Lost World, it's easy to forget that he's actually a good actor when he's not playing a stupid character. Honestly, he was great in this and while he took on a serious role in a serious movie, he managed to pull it off while still being the funniest character in the film! Please do more films like this, Vaughn, please.

So all in all, I am very happy that I saw this film. The first third is really slow and dragged on quite a bit, but trust me it'll be worth it when the shock of the second half hits you. If you like the Omaha Beach scene in Saving Private Ryan, you will love the last act of this film. It's great to watch on the big screen because of the immersive experience of seeing and hearing the chaos of everything.

The Day of the Drunkards

Here is my second response to a writing prompt (my first one is here)! This time the prompt was:

"You wake up, still drunk, the morning after your first big college party. A zombie apocalypse happened overnight, but none of the zombies seem to be giving you any notice. You soon realize that the alcohol in your system doesn't make them sense you are human..."

Hope you enjoy!

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“Quick!” I gestured to the girl, pointing at the ever-growing pool amassing on the floor. She stood motionless, instead glancing at the dead man next to the shattered wine bottle. I hopped over to him and rolled his body out of the way. There was no time to deal with him.

“Quickly, come on, it’s alright,” I grabbed her by the hand and pulled her closer to the floor.

“Mummy says I shouldn’t drink that stuff,” she said innocently.

“Mummy’s not here, so you have to listen to me, okay? It wasn’t okay to drink that stuff before, but it’s good for you now, understand?”

She stared back at me blankly. There was no way I could get through to her with words, and we were just wasting time at this stage.

“Look, it’s perfectly safe, I’ll show you,” I bent down and started sipping at the red ambrosia. I didn’t need to look up at her; I could hear her bending down and following suit.

“Good girl,” I whispered, wiping the liquid off my lower face. She needed it more than I did. I calculated that I still had some left in my system, for the time being. She, on the other hand, well… she hadn’t had anything at all. I wondered how she survived for so long.

It was quite early on that I figured out it was the alcohol keeping me alive. On Day One I had woken up later than usual, not even hung over but still drunk. The night before was my first ‘letting loose’ event, and being a petite girl with absolutely no tolerance for alcohol, it managed to stay in my system for a while. In any other situation I would have been terribly ashamed of myself, but this time it was the key to my survival.

When I left my dorm room, I noticed it was unusually quiet, but I thought everyone else was just hung over. It was only after a bit more wandering around that I realised a lot of people were just dead. I first came across the zombies stumbling their way slowly through the hallways, gurgling incoherently guttural sounds, and wearing clothes that looked a little worse for wear. To be frank, I just assumed they were all hung over from the night before.

It was only when they started attacking the Non-Drunks that I realised something was terribly wrong. Day One was a big blur for me; it felt so long ago. All I can remember was the terrible looting that followed. When people started raiding the liquor stores before the grocery stores, I realised it had something to do with the alcohol.

During the raids of Day One, I managed to grab a couple bottles of vodka. My small stature allowed me to go quite a bit undetected amongst the chaos. And the high alcohol percentage of the vodka meant that it would last me for quite some time. I knew I was going to run out soon, though, and I couldn’t get my hands on anything else, so I went and grabbed a trolley-full of liquids, be it water, cordial, juice, milk… you name it. After all, you could die faster from dehydration than starvation.

At night, I made my way to a friend’s house nearby to the college. They were filthy rich, and I knew they had a wine cellar. When I reached their house, I found it abandoned save the young son dead in the cellar.

The house was littered with empty wine bottles, but luckily there was still a few days’ worth left in the cellar. My guess is that as they began to run low, they attempted to obtain more, but were attacked by the zombies. And since the zombies didn’t go for the alcohol, that left a decent amount to me.

The girl finished sipping the wine, and sat up.

“What do we do now, miss?”

“Well firstly, that was my last bottle so we will need more of that; it’ll help us. If you’re tired you can sleep first but I may need to wake you up to help me later.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to set up some bait.”

I walked off, grabbing all the empty wine bottles that were sporadically placed in the house. I started filling them up with other liquids; the vodka bottles with water, the white wine with diluted apple juice, and the red wine with red cordial. I stared at the red wine bottles. They were the bottles I had the most of, and the red cordial was a poor imitator. I figured I may have to put some blood in them.

I went back down to the cellar to grab the dead man. The girl was asleep already; I guess the alcohol helped in that. I figured she drank enough to keep her safe while she slept, so I had no issues with leaving her alone in the house.

I struggled to drag the man up the stairs. It would have been easier to carry everything out in the cellar, but I didn’t want the girl to wake up to a messy pool of blood. The stain of the red wine on the floor looked bad enough as is.

By the time I managed to drag him up the stairs, I was exhausted. But every second counted, so I quickly got to work.

I had strangled him, so he wasn’t already bleeding. I’d have to make a cut somewhere.

I went back down to the cellar to grab a piece of broken glass from the bottle he had smashed into my head shortly before he breathed out all the air in his lungs. There were plenty of empty bottles around, but he just had to choose my last full bottle. Once he died I couldn’t even think about the gravity of my first murder; I had to get the girl to drink.

I sat back down, cradling his head in my lap. I placed one of the red wines at an angle, close to his neck, and made a cut. The blood oozed out, and in the bottle it was already starting to look more like red wine.

There was plenty of blood in this man to distribute amongst the red cordial, and by the time I was done I was quite happy with my efforts.

The sealing of the bottles were much more difficult to pass off as the real thing, but I figured they would look okay from a distance.

I filled the trolley up with the bottles, and strategically placed a small towel on top so as to have some of the bottles peeking through.

More effort was exhausted as I dragged both the man I had just drained of blood, and the young boy who was already dead when I arrived. I lugged them to a nearby alley that I could see from the living room, and I knew that it could be easily accessed through the main bedroom’s window.

I then went and woke up the girl and explained to her my plan. Once she was stationed at the living room window, I quickly but quietly wheeled the trolley next to the men. I tried to make it look as natural as possible, as if they were trying to hide and sleep in a safe place, but I made the trolley stick out a bit so that it could be seen.

I went back to the house, and checked in on the girl.

“What do we do now?” She asked. I handed her the binoculars, and grabbed the shotgun from off the table. I started heading to the main bedroom next door.

“Now, we wait.”

Now that's a proper introduction.

Arrival (2016)

8.5/10 on IMDb
93% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: A must-see; Watch it in cinemas; I'm buying the DVD
Watch it if you: Are a sci-fi fan; Are a fan of Amy Adams; Are a fan of Denis Villeneuve's other works; Aren't expecting an action-packed alien invasion, but a more serious drama

Aliens have arrived on the planet, with spaceships hovering above 12 different locations across the globe. As people the world over anticipate the worst, world leaders try to figure out what these aliens want, why they are here, and whether they are friendly or hostile. But to do this, they need to understand how to communicate with the aliens, and so they hire a linguistics professor to decipher what they are saying.

It's really hard for me to review this film because I don't really want to talk too much about it, and besides I'm also still in the middle of processing it all.

What I can say about this film, though, is that it is a fantastic sci-fi drama. It has emotion, heart, politics, and a very intriguing and unique plot (based on the short story Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang).

Without giving away too much, I thought the most interesting thing was that while this film has global stakes, with talks of extraterrestrial beings threatening global existence, its main focus is on humanity, and more specifically, individuals. And I think that was so interesting, because I really was not expecting it to focus so much on the human condition.

Most of this can be credited to Amy Adams' amazing performance; she is absolutely breathtakingly and viscerally real in this film, it is so easy to forget that this is Amy Adams. You believe everything she says and does, and she completely transforms and gets lost in her character.

The same cannot be said for Jeremy Renner though. I was a bit disappointed with his characterisation. It's not like he was a bad actor, it's just that he didn't have much to do here. I feel like he could have been replaced by an unknown actor and it wouldn't have made that much of a difference.

However, this film is definitely not what I was expecting, and I loved it.

The cinematography was great; every scene looked beautiful.

The script and the writing were fantastic; apparently the film did a really good job at adapting the story it was based on.

The score was pretty intense. In some moments I felt like it did not fit the scene, but for the most part it really made you feel as if you were living the experience of these characters.

The directing was great too. I loved Prisoners (2013) and Sicario (2015), so I was really excited to see another film by Denis Villeneuve, and he did not disappoint. Some may say it was a bit slow-paced, but I didn't realise that until after the film when I was thinking about it, since it adds to the suspense and intensity of the film, and makes it feel like the events are playing out quite realistically and naturally.

So all in all, this is a great film that I would definitely recommend people to watch. It's not a crazy Independence Day type of alien invasion film; it's more of a drama, and it works very well. It's also a fantastic piece of sci-fi, and while it may be confusing, it opens up a lot of discussion on humanity.

"Only assholes drink Mr. Pibb." "...Then drink up."

Oscar season is here, which means watching heaps of movies when I should really be studying!

And what better way to kick off the season than Hell or High Water? Seriously, the TL;DR version of this blog is that it's a really good movie and I'm so happy there's FINALLY a good movie this year again!

Some other movies that look really interesting for this month (click for trailers):

[Out Now] The Accountant: currently at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes but some YouTube reviewers that I follow really liked it so I will have to check this one out

[Out Now] Hacksaw Ridge: getting good reviews and looks like an interesting story

[Out Now] The Light Between Oceans: looks like a heartbreaking film, starring Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender, and by the director of Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, both films that I loved

[November 10] Arrival: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, the director of Sicario and Prisoners, alien invasions... of course I'm going to watch this film.

[November 10] Nocturnal Animals: Amy Adams again, and I've seen the creepy and unsettling trailer twice already in cinemas... and looking forward to seeing creepo Jake Gyllenhaal again since he was great in Nightcrawler (2014)

[November 17] Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: the hype is sort of settling down, since I'm a bit annoyed they're making five of these... but who am I kidding we all know I will still go and watch this anyway

[November 24] The Founder: Michael Keaton as the scumbag founder of Maccas?! Yes, please!

So it's starting to look promising!

But back to the beginning of Oscar season...

Hell or Highwater (2016)

8.2/10 on IMDb
98% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: Signed, sealed, and recommended by Chloe
Watch it if you: Are keen for a really good modern Western film, or just keen for a really good movie in general!

Over the course of one week, two brothers rob a series of Texan banks operating under the company about to foreclose on their family home. It's a difficult task as they need to outsmart a soon-to-be-retired Texas Ranger, but come hell or high water they plan to make this heist a success.

What I loved about this film was that it felt very real. And that's largely due to the great performances by the cast, but it was also a fantastic job coming from the director and the writers of the film.

Chris Pine was one of the main reasons I wanted to watch this film, and he did a great job, completely disappearing into his role. Many times throughout this movie, I even forgot it was him acting!

Ben Foster was also really good (boy has he come a long way since X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)), and Jeff Bridges is, needless to say, superb here.

But not only were the main cast great, every single supporting character and extra that appeared for just one scene was perfect. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were just normal people living in a Western town and asked to join the film randomly. Everything just came together so well to create that sense of realism for us.

Another thing that I loved was the relationships between the cast. For example, there is one really emotional and very real scene between Chris Pine and Ben Foster that just shows a great moment of brotherly love. They could have easily edited it out, but I found myself grinning from ear to ear as I was watching it. And even the relationship between Jeff Bridges and his buddy cop partner Gil Birmingham were great at showing a relationship that looks like it's just filled with insults, but in reality is a very tender and close relationship and you can see that they both care for each other deep down.

So yeh, basically all the performances were great; everything was really subtle and real. Nobody overacted or oversold themselves.

One downside is that subtitles would have helped a little... especially with Jeff Bridges. Although it's not a big deal because you can get the gist of what they are saying anyway.

So if I haven't sold you on the cast and the acting, then I guess I've done a bad job at writing up this review, but the film had many other upsides to it too.

The writing as I mentioned was great, and got really intense in some moments. No surprises there, though, since it was written by the guy who wrote Sicario (2015), one of the best films of last year.

I was mostly surprised at how funny it was though! I was expecting a really intense and serious drama, but the comedic relief was so perfect in this, once again making it seem realistic, since we all know that real people still have humour in the face of seriousness.

The director also just did a fantastic job overall. I don't recognise any of his other films though, so he seems to be someone to watch out for. The cinematography, editing, pacing, and just everything was done really well.

(One of the funniest scenes of the film)
It's unfortunate that this film didn't have much marketing, since many haven't heard about it at all (and I only heard about it through the YouTubers that I follow), but it is an indication that maybe it's the smaller films we should be keeping an eye out on, as I think this will be potentially the best movie of the year.

I also really liked the reason that the brothers decided to do the bank robberies. At first it sort of seems quite simple, but you later realise that it's more than that, and it gets quite emotional.

So Hell or High Water is a great Western, but it's set in the modern age. We don't see a bunch of cowboys, or a bunch of crazy shootouts because it's the 21st century, but there are still a few of those around, and they're done really well. Overall it's a very entertaining, emotional, and even surprisingly funny film that I'd definitely recommend.

Dormammu, I've come to bargain!

Doctor Strange (2016)

8.0/10 on IMDb
91% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: Signed, sealed, and recommended by Chloe; Watch it in cinemas
Watch if you: are a fan of Inception/Matrix; are a fan of arrogant Benedict Cumberbatch; don't mind the whitewashing
Doctor Stephen Strange is one of the world's best neurosurgeons, but when he gets involved in an accident that ends his career, he turns to the mystical world in an attempt to get his former life back.

If you haven't already seen the trailer, then be warned. This film is like Inception on acid. No, it's more than that. It's like Inception, plus Matrix, plus X-Men, plus Ant-Man, on acid.

The special effects in this film is really what makes this an incredible experience, and sets it well apart from other Marvel films. The mystic quality of this film allows them to just go crazy with the effects and illogical physics, and while there is A LOT going on in some scenes, it really works, and it looks incredible.

But bringing it back on a smaller scale, the movie was great in its performances. The whole cast is really great, particularly Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, and hey, even Tilda Swinton was good.

And yes, while there was a lot of whitewashing blacklash about this, if you put that all aside, Tilda Swinton is a great actor, and that showed through here. Every time she talked I felt like she was tucking me in for the best sleep of my life. I felt like everything was going to be okay. Every time I saw her face gently smiling at me someone, I felt like all my worries just disappeared. She was great at portraying this ancient mystical being that's so in tune with her spirit.

Was it weird that everyone was wearing ancient Asian outfits despite only one major character being Asian? Yeah, a little. But you get past that because of the actors doing a good job.

The humour was also sometimes a hit or miss for me. Sometimes it got really funny, but other times it just seemed too forced. For example, Benedict Wong was so funny in The Martian, just by his facial expressions and physical humour, but in this film I just really did not think he did a great job here (and yes, I know that his character rarely laughed, but I just felt like those jokes were not funny enough to be a running gag in the film).

Overall, I enjoyed this film, but I don't think it's a top Marvel film or one of those ones you would keep going back to, to rewatch. I think it's fun, has a great cast, an intriguing premise, and a good break from the other Marvel movies, as it's more magical, mystical, and surreal. But it's nothing spectacular; the script isn't the best, and nothing really stands out for me. However since it's an origin story, hopefully the next appearance of Doctor Strange will be better.

A few side notes:

Apparently it's good in 3D. I don't like 3D, and always try to avoid it, but let me know if you think it's good with the goggles.

Some of the scenes here were filmd by a handheld cam, and while it wasn't anywhere near shakycam level, it still felt a bit awkward at times

How funny is it that Benedict Wong stars alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, as Wong

One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl... Three for a girl.

The Girl on the Train

6.7/10 on IMDb
44% on Rotten Tomatoes

Chloe's thoughts: Proceed at your own risk
Watch it if you: Really want to see how they adapted the novel; Want to see steamy (literally) sex scenes with Hayley Bennett
Rachel catches the same train every day, sitting in the exact same seat in the exact same carriage. Her dull life of routine monotony is made bearable by her vivid imagination, as she creates fictional stories for the people living behind the houses that she passes by every day. Yet one day, something so out of the ordinary occurs to her favourite couple that it shocks her to her core. Later, she discovers that Megan, the wife in her idealised couple, has gone missing. As she alerts the police of what she saw on the train, the situation spirals out of control and Rachel starts to wonder if she herself can be trusted.

I saw this trailer earlier this year and was so excited for it to be the next Gone Girl that I went and read the book. It was a pretty decent read, since I read it in about 4 days, so I wanted to watch the movie. I knew the reviews were terrible, but I felt like I still needed to watch the movie anyway (even though I always end up hating book adaptations).

This is definitely not one of those films where the critics were wrong. This was a pretty bad movie, and I would not recommend it.

The movie felt really long, even though it was 1 hour and 52 minutes total. But honestly, I was sighing and shifting in my seat uncomfortably even 15 minutes into the film; it was just SO BORING. I started worrying about the rest of the film.

The interesting part starts about 30 minutes into the film, but it feels like an hour into the movie. So when you look at your watch you have to give an even greater sigh at the thought of still being here for the next 1.5 hours, even though the scene you just saw was pretty interesting.

The main issue with the film is that they were just trying to overdo it. And by 'it', I mean everything.

Firstly with the acting. The acting was great, don't get me wrong; Emily Blunt was really good. But sometimes... she just went too far. It's a testament to her acting ability, with the camera trained on her for really dramatic long takes, however I just don't think the director gave them good direction, because some of these long long long monologues felt repetitive, slow, and way too long.

All of the other actors were good actors too. I don't think performance was ever the issue, but directing and writing. The script was quite bad at times, but at least the actors did what they could with it. I was happy to see Anna being portrayed by Rebecca Ferguson (the badass woman in yellow in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation), although sometimes I really did not like the performance by Hayley Benett (from the Magnificent Seven; sometimes referred to by others as Poor Man's Jennifer Lawrence). I'm not sure if it was deliberately meant to be so unemotional, but I wanted to sleep or just hit fast forward every time she was talking. I seriously did not care for her character at all, even though I did care for her when reading the novel.

Secondly with the transitioning. I really did not like the way they handled this. The novel jumps from the present to the past (from 6 months ago and then leading up to present day) and it also jumps between characters (Rachel, Megan and Anna), and the movie tried to emulate this but it was not executed well enough. The novel is done in a diary format, so I guess the filmmakers thought it would be necessary to tell the audiences what time period we were in with each scene, but the fact that the film jumped A LOT and that they didn't transition it well enough meant that it was STILL confusing. Which just means they were being lazy at not integrating the time jumps that well.

Another thing is that at each transition, they would also put a title card with the character's name on it.

Do you know how stupid that is?!?!? This is not a book where the narrator is talking in first person and so won't reveal their name; this is a movie where we can clearly SEE who the scene is focusing on. So they would have TWO title cards, one with the character name and then one with the time period, and then a scene that was not really well integrated into the film. Why not just have one title card with just the time period?

In the end, this is NOT the Gone Girl I was expecting it to be; I am seriously disappointed. Emily Blunt is amazing, but her performance gets lost in super long scenes and a poorly directed movie that had some serious potential to be great.

~SPOILER~ about the characters and ending:

The movie makes Rachel out to be a batshit crazy woman, when, if you think about it, everyone is actually insane:
-Rachel: alcoholic, depressed, victim of domestic abuse (both physical and mental) without realising it
-Tom: murderer, physical and emotional abuser and manipulator, serial cheater, sex addict, has anger-management issues
-Anna: cheater (indirectly), insecure, dependent and submissive
-Megan: sex addict, serial cheater, depressed, struggling with previous trauma
-Scott: emotional abuser, has anger-management issues