Bombshell

Since the story of allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein erupted, more and more harassment cases are being unearthed, as women bond together to say enough is enough. It also exposes the hush hush culture and environment of high profiled industries, as more women speak up against their abusers, leading to investigations, settlements, and court cases to get justice for the abused. One high profiled case was the Fox News scandal, where news anchor Gretchen Carlson files a lawsuit against then CEO Roger Ailes back in 2016. The lawsuit ruptured the news cycle, as more women stepped out with similar claims, including news anchor Megyn Kelly, who was one of the more famous faces of Fox News. This is a dramatization of the events. I didn’t read much about the scandal’s details beyond the film’s context, so all my thoughts will be pertaining to the film and not to the actual events. (Spoilers)

To All the Boys: PS I Still Love You

PS I Still Love You is one of my most awaited sequels since the first film came out. This was also my favorite book from the series, and judging with how much I adored the first film, I expect to love this ever more. I don't think I loved it as much as I wanted to, but I found the sequel to be as adorable as its predecessor.

Judy

I only know Judy Garland as Dorothy in Wizard of Oz - and that is the extent of my Garland knowledge in terms of her filmography. I’ve read bits and pieces of her life in Hollywood - the pills, the long hours, the scrutiny because she was a Hollywood darling - but I wasn’t really sure what happened to her after her childhood years. I did end up reading her wikipedia page, and to be honest, her page was a bit similar to watching the film. (Spoilers)

Blind Spot Series: A League of Their Own

Whenever I would see A League of Their Own pop out in a list, it's usually associated with the film being primarily about sports. In a way, it is a sports film - women playing baseball during the throngs of war to keep the country's morale and interests up. However, it really isn't a sports film. Sport films are usually those where everything is concentrated on the said sport, and that the sport is the central axis of the plot. This isn't about women trying to overcome adversity against women in sports because while the film addresses the sexism about it, it doesn't show any step going for it. Rather, the sport played as a circumstantial point in where a vast array of characters connected.

Double Feature: To All the Boys I've Loved Before / Our Times

(in participation to Girl Week hosted by Dell on Movies)

I have been on a romance movie kick since the summer, and these were the two movies that started it all. Both movies have a similar vibe: cute teen romance and chemistry between the two leads that lead to their rise in stardom. Both movies also became popular in their respective countries, and as a plus, were written and directed by women.

Meet Me In St. Gallen

Meet Me in St Gallen is set in the span of three days, but in varying years. The main characters, Jesse and Celeste meet in a coffee shop, and their conversation started when Celeste points out that they have the same names as the characters in the movie ‘Celeste and Jesse Forever’. The film has nothing to do with the Andy Samberg/Rashida Jones film, but rather it focused on the connection of two people as they stumbled on in life and love.

Lady Bird

Lady Bird opens with the titular character asking her mother what she felt the first time she drove to Sacramento. It cuts to the two of them sitting inside a car, on their way home from a college tour. When her mother suggested that they ponder on about what they listened to, the atmosphere of the car turns sour and they end up arguing. The opening scene of Lady Bird explores what is to be expected of the film: Christine's want for something more, her relationships around her, and learning more about herself and her roots.

Marie Antoinette

Sofia Coppola writes and directs Marie Antoinette, a loose retelling of the monarch's story - from her beginning as a simple wife, down to her extravagant living and eventual revolution. The retelling is notable for the mixture of classic and modern, making this receive mixed reception. However, I can safely say that this is the only Sofia Coppola work that I have thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end.

Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands is one of Tim Burton's prolific work. This stars Johnny Depp as the titular character, and his life in his neighborhood when Peg Boggs took him in her home. It showed the relationship he had with his neighbors and the family, including his crush on Kim. This had the signature Tim Burton style to it, a style that while charming back then, may not have aged very well.

Elle

Note: spoilers So, what is this film? It stands in the middle of being a plot driven and a character driven film. I might even be wrong. I don't really know what to make of it. When you screaming 'what the hell is happening' every five minutes on the screen, your thoughts about it are mostly up in the air. If you dissect it - acting, dialogue, cinematography, editing, sound, direction - and find that the factors compliment each other, why am I not raving about it? I'm confused with what I've seen, and I don't think I would revisit this film at all.

Maggie's Plan

Maggie's Plan has a refreshing premise. Maggie is an adviser who wants to become a mother. The film starts with her talking to her friend about artificial insemination and finding a viable candidate for what she wanted. She wanted to have a child, and she didn't want to wait for it in a traditional sense. When a mix-up at her school occurs, she meets John Harding, an anthropology professor who is renowned, but lives in the shadow of his more successful wife, Georgette. When Maggie and John strike up a friendship, culminating to a confession that they had feelings for each other. Three years later, that confession had turned to a marriage, with Maggie feeling that she may have made a mistake in entering a union with John. Seeing as how John and Georgette were still friendly to each other, she concocts a plan to get the exes back together.

Sapphire Blue

Sapphire Blue is the second book of the Ruby Red trilogy, with the movie adaptation released in 2014. The movie does recap the main points of the story, but it is about a time traveler named Gwendolyn, and how she must uncover the prophecy concerning her, as well as to find the missing chronograph.

Call Me By Your Name

Call Me By Your Name is one of 2017's highly praised and hyped films. It is about the romance between Elio, the son of a professor, and Oliver, his father's research assistant, as Oliver spends six weeks with Elio's family somewhere in Northern Italy. Of all the films circulating the awards circle, this is the one I am excited yet nervous to watch. With all its high praise, my expectations have been escalating and finally watching the film gave me an anxiety, hoping that it doesn't disappoint.

I, Tonya

Tonya Harding was a known name in the world of figure skating. Her name was familiar even if I wasn’t sure what her story was. This film tells the story of Harding’s life, and the events that led to her peak and eventual lifetime ban in figure skating. This retelling should be taken with a grain of salt, as the film stated that the contents are based on interviews given, and that the statements are contradicting.

Thelma & Louise

Thelma & Louise is about two women who go on the lam when they end up accidentally killing someone while on their way to a weekend getaway. I've always seen this movie pop up in list, and know how it ends but I haven't watched it until recently. This is a fantastic dramatic adventure film with amazing performances by the two leads.

The Solitude of Prime Numbers

It’s rare for a non-English movie that I want to watch be available for streaming, so when this popped out, I took my chance and watched it. This is based from the novel of the same name, and tells the story of Alice and Mattias, two people whom had traumatic experiences that haunted them to their adulthood. The title refers to them being compared to twin prime numbers, that no matter how close they were, they still won’t be together. As much as I liked the book, I wasn’t a fan of the adaptation.

Black Swan

One of the things that I am guilty about when it comes to keeping my blog is how unpolished my work is. I have a tendency to type and publish without proofreading. This leads me to see my errors after my post is up, and while I am now aware that I need to polish my work, I am not good at it. While my blog isn’t my whole life, I though I would mention this in comparison to Nina Sayers’ need to be perfect. She has devoted herself to her dance, wanting to emulate the principal dancer of the company, a woman she thought to be perfect. She has this desire to be perfect in her craft, and I feel like the opposite of her. This incessant need of hers has brought out pressures that she is impervious to, and this is what Black Swan is about. Classified as a psychological horror, this is about a dancer who was cast in the lead role of their production of Swan Lake, and her destruction to fulfill her role.

Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express chronicled one of Hercule Poirot's adventures. Poirot is a detective and is a main character in one of Agatha Christie's series. This has a man getting murdered while on a train heading to London, and Poirot was tasked to uncover whom among the passengers is the culprit. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, this brings another feature retelling to the big screen.

Wind River

When Cory Lambert, a hunter goes out to look for a pack of lions tormenting the herd of a local, he stumbled across a body of a young woman he was familiar with. The location of her death caused the sheriff to place a call to the FBI, thus launching Lambert's involvement in the investigation of her death. This was a feature film of Taylor Sheridan, the writer behind Sicario and Hell and High Water, and being a fan of Sicario, I had to watch the film at some point. *spoilers ahead*

A Clockwork Orange

I didn't know much about A Clockwork Orange before putting in on my watch list. It was a popular film by Stanley Kubrick and has been referenced and parodied again and again in pop culture. It is hard not to associate the color orange, bowl hat, glass of milk, and a mascaraed eye with the film. Since I liked The Shining, I thought I would give this a go.