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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Passengers

Passengers was 2016's space movie, and was on top of my watch list, but the buzz wasn't favorable so my interest waned. I wanted to give it a chance, and since I didn't read any review or criticism about this, I didn't know what to expect. In general, it isn't as bad as the buzz made it sound. It had good factors and bad ones, but this was a mediocre outing from Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. *contains spoilers*

Everything, Everything

Based on the novel by Nicola Yoon, this is a story about a teenage girl who has been confined in her home due to her sickness, and finds a new path in life when she meets the boy next door. I really liked the book this was based from, and while it flew under the radar, it was something I was going to see when I can. While the trailer shows most of what to expect, this was still a solid teenage flick. *review contains spoilers*

Mickey Blue Eyes

I think Mickey Blue Eyes can fall under one of Hugh Grant's lesser known or forgotten movies. It might have been popular at its initial release but this isn't a movie you would immediately associate with the actor. Grant plays a curator at an auction house who proposes to the love of his life. When she rejects, he finds out that it's because she belongs to a mob family. Now he has to figure out a way to keep true to his fiance while trying not to get himself involved with the mob.

Air Doll

When I first read the synopsis for Air Doll, I thought that it would at least have a similar vibe to ‘Lars and the Real Girl’; since it’s one of my favorites, I dove into this one with a positive outlook. I expected that the movie would either fall on a fantasy-type spectrum, or a philosophical study of humanity. While it does fall under the latter, it was still way off from my expectations. Contains spoilers.

I Killed My Mother

I Killed My Mother is my first foray to Xavier Dolan’s filmography – and I think this movie only gets good at the last five minutes, but those five minutes are enough to change my mind about it. This might be a case of over thinking things, but the beauty of the film only makes sense once all the pieces are together, and that does happen towards the end of this film.

Wuthering Heights

When it comes to classic literature, I live under a rock. I did not know what Wuthering Heights was about. I knew it had characters named Cathy and Heathcliff but beyond that, nothing. Andrea Arnold's adaptation was my first foray into this piece of literature - and I wasn't sure if this was the piece that I should have started with. Wuthering Heights tells the story of two people, and how their love bloomed in the wrong time.

Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain was released when I was in high school, and a memory that I closely associate with it is my friend’s obsession with Jake Gyllenhaal after this film. Brokeback Mountain also caused a lot of controversy during its release, with its culmination losing the Best Picture race after being a strong frontrunner during the Oscar season. This film tells the harrowing tale between two people who developed feelings for each other over the course of summer, and the lives the led afterwards.

Sherlock, Jr

Sherlock Jr is my first foray into silent film. With that said, I'm not sure how to go about this review. Are there any methods or techniques that I should be looking at? I know nothing about the silent film industry so I will be sharing my thoughts about this film at its face value. Sherlock Jr focuses on a movie theater employee who takes an interest in detective work.  His interest gets put into test when a gold watch turns missing.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The first time I watched this film back in 2012, I wasn’t the biggest fan of it. To be honest, I wasn’t over the moon with the book as other people were, so the whole ordeal was just an ‘okay’ for me. Fast forward to 2016, when I gave this film another shot, and developed a deeper appreciation for it. A lot of things have changed in those years, and when you’re someone whose diet has been of safety and security behind the walls of your education, there’s a need to dig a little deeper to the reality that’s going to claw its way into your views and principles once you’re out that gate. My worldview isn’t so jaded now, and I think that change in perspective is what garnered this film a new sense of appreciation for me.

Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong

A movie built on conversation isn't unusual anymore, nor does a city playing a role in the movie's atmosphere. This is the case for Emily Ting's Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong, starring real life couple Bryan Greenberg and Jamie.Chung. The film spans out in 2 separate days, and follows two people around the city of Hong Kong.

Me Before You

Prior to reading the novel earlier this year, my interest in the adaptation wasn’t much – it won’t hurt to miss it, or go ahead and watch it. Needless to say, after the novel (and countless loops of the trailer – thanks, bookstore), the expectations for the movie were a bit high. Emilia Clark and Sam Claflin looked perfectly cast for the role. I ended up anticipating this, and instead I was left with mixed feelings.

Gladiator

When Gladiator was released (and eventually won the Best Picture Oscar), everyone I knew wanted to watch it. They heard it was epic and grand, something expected of a historical film like this. I would have probably liked it as much if I had seen it during that time. This was not the case.

Amelie

I was clearing out my drafts folder (I'm one of those people with impossible inboxes) when I unearthed this old review of Amelie I wrote a few years ago and never got around to publishing. I did end up editing this a bit, but I wanted to preserve my original thoughts on the film, so here is a slightly updated version of the review.