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Should I review every film I've seen in these five years?

Unfortunately, there's not enough time in the day. I'll post some old thoughts in the meantime!

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Back!

You are lucky you missed my Parasite (2019) era. It's all I could talk about.

Hoping to get my old films back, too!

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Lady Bird (2017) Greta Gerwig

Lady Bird’s relationship with her mother may be one of the realest depictions I have ever seen in a film. I also love the relationship she has with Julie, Kyle, Danny, and Miguel. (Julie is Lady Bird’s foil but yet they’re such a great pair! Plus, the scene of their verbal battle at school is iconic) They are all so messed up, but we still hold our affection for them. The audience needs to have an empathetic approach to appreciate the protagonist Lady Bird as a character. If you’re too detached, she’s a monster. But don’t accept her blindly, you must evaluate her flaws to understand her world and her role within it. Lady Bird and the others are understandable yet difficult. No one is perfect; everyone is complex.

Lady Bird is learning that sometimes our parents/friends are right. Sometimes, no one is right. Sometimes, you are the problem. Sometimes, our expectations don’t meet reality. We are fragments of our environments (like our parents- oh no!- and friends) yet we’re individual with our unique sets of talents, interests, and personalities (in the end, has Lady Bird changed?). The most meaningful scene from the film is the ending. A drive and voicemail message depict Lady Bird’s development into a more understanding and adult-like character.

In her interview with Entertainment, Greta Gerwig said she wanted to make a movie about what “home” means. She explains, “The way it is difficult to see it clearly when you’re there, and that it’s not until you’re gone that you look back and understand what it was.” Lady Bird’s presentation has touched me as I now live away from where I call home. Like Lady Bird, I carry myself and my home with me. We will go one our own but we can never truly be alone. 

Home is home. 

“We're afraid that we will never escape our past. We're afraid of what the future will bring. We're afraid we won't be loved, we won't be liked. And we won't succeed.” - Parish Priest

“Different things can be sad... it's not all war.” -Lady Bird

Kyle: You don't have a cellphone?

“Ladybird”: No

Kyle: Good girl. The government didn't have to put tracking devices on us. We bought them and put them on ourselves.

I love the scene when Lady Bird is shopping with her mom. 

No one grows up alone. The people who surround us, shape us. 

I highly recommend Lady Bird. The humor and the verisimilitude of the film left me laughing and aching (and referencing the movie for a week). 

These are some thoughts I had last year, my first year at college. I think Lady Bird and 3 Idiots hit me the hardest (as college movies). 

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We entered the 2019 Adrenaline Film Project! We created the film in 72hours with a given prop, line, and genre. And... WE WON THE MENTOR AWARD! 

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I’m proud to announce that Clever Elsie will be having a LIVE stage play this April! (Produced, Written, and Directed by Me) 

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I thoroughly enjoyed Split (2016). There’s phenomenal acting (most notably James McAvoy) that otherwise would have not made it believable. It’s also a really fun idea for a thriller. 

I finally saw Unbreakable (2000). I have to admit, I was not expecting that ending! (Maybe I should have expected it from M. Night Shyamalan?)

Now, I’m super excited to see Glass when it’s released this month!!!

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iconic meddling XD

what a gem...

Rear Window (1954) Alfred Hitchcock

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The Seven Samurai (1954) Akira Kurosawa

The Seven Samurai to The Magnificent Seven...

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The General (1926) Buster Keaton

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“Life is a race. If you don’t run fast, you’ll get trampled.”

The astronauts pen, a symbol of excellence. 

“Sir, if pens didn’t work in outer space. Why didn’t the astronauts use a pencil? They’d have saved millions.” 

Start college, take classes, make good friends, watch this movie, and cry. So touching! So much to learn! 

3 Idiots (2009)

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Didn’t you ever go to sleep without putting all your clothes away perfectly? Like even once? And don’t you wish you Mom hadn’t gotten angry?

Laby Bird (2017)

This really struck me when watching this movie. So relatable: we wish our parents could think back to when they were in our place. No matter how “good” one says another has it, everyone suffers, and sometimes, we want a little sympathy. 

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The name, Lady Bird

Father Leviatch: Lady Bird, is that your given name?

Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson: Yeah

Father Leviatch: Why is it in quotes?

Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson: I gave it to myself. It’s given to me by me.

She's so bold! Even though I think she's terrible, I still like her, you know?

Lady Bird (2017)

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Feminism: Nair’s Monsoon Wedding

The Hindi film industry is the largest in the world. Its influence touches billions of people each year, so the messages it presents is important. Director Mira Nair fuses elements of American and Hindi film to produce Monsoon Wedding that is both innovative and true to the two Wedding film traditions. The Feminist values of Monsoon Wedding lead the future of both film cultures. 

Although film culture is typically unforgiving of unvirtuous women, Nair successfully builds empathy for Aditi’s affair. Wedding films typically feature a romantic cycle that includes a “blocking figure,” typically a male character that attempts to keep the couple apart. However, in her narrative, the “blocking figure” is Aditi’s internal conflict. Contrarily, she has a supportive father, and her strongest advisor is her cousin Ria. No man, or any person for that matter, but herself, controls her. After she admits to her affair and argues with her fiancé Hemant, Aditi is visually compared to tangled wires, representing her complex emotions. Nair demonstrates how women are not simple figures. Aditi does not easily fall in or out of love, do what she is told, or do what is expected of her from society. Now, Aditi is the final decider of her future: who she will choose to love.  Despite Aditi and Hemant being introduced through an arranged marriage which are more practical than romantic partnerships, they begin a spontaneous romance from their emotional connection. Although Hindi films typically depict veiled sexual symbolism, Nair decides to give Aditi an unsubtle traditional western love scene with Hemant, showing Aditi fully controls her sexuality. Overall, Aditi’s narrative inspires women to control their lives.  

The story of Alice and Dubey voices the underrepresented lower class. Alice and Dubey represent the traditional and the contemporary. When they meet, Alice is a servant and wears traditional Hindi clothing, while entrepreneur Dubey dresses casually and uses a cell phone to discuss stock markets. But in the scene, they are surrounded by marigolds, a flower of luck, passion, and fertility and a symbol of their love story. Alice and Dubey fall in love at first sight. Unlike Dubey, Alice is a Christian with an American name. She has a rural accent but uses urban dialect, suggesting her background. Despite this, Dubey persistently and formally courts her, including a grand romantic gesture with heart-shaped marigolds. This is one example of the traditional grand Hindi gestures that few lower-class characters in Hindi film culture enjoy. When Alice is caught playing dress up, Dubey silences the assumptive male point-of-view and instead of a thief, sees her for who she really is. He forces the men to apologize. Alice and Dubey are married despite their difference in caste, wealth, and religion. Their story shows how love surpasses all social divisions. Alice’s story is hopeful for all women to find love despite their circumstances.  

As Aditi is getting married, the Verma family reunites. Uncle Tej’s presence upsets Ria because he sexually abused her as a child. As she struggles with this, she discovers he has found a new victim, her young cousin Aliyah. Immediately, she speaks out to her family and confronts her Uncle Tej, which troubles her Uncle Lalit. India is typically a patriarchal society, so as the head male, Lalit has full authority on the decisions within his family; however, he is not oppressive. It is evident that he loves and wants the best for his children and wife, and the film suggest that after his brother died, he raised his niece Ria as his own daughter. Lalit depends financially on his brother-in-law Tej. He provides opportunities Lalit cannot afford like offering to pay for Ria’s full American education. In the film, Lalit struggles financially as he prepares the wedding for his daughter Aditi. However, he wants to protect the family’s reputation with a grand wedding and fulfill his daughter’s wishes. Lalit realizes Tej can alleviate a lot of their financial and educational burden but prioritizes the safety and well-being of Ria and the other girls. The patriarch chooses to advocate for the vulnerable female. In a dramatic scene, Lalit comes to a decision and decides to exile Tej from the wedding during their ancestral ceremony; he breaks the cycle of silence to the patriarchy in the presence of their ancestors. Here, Nair delivers the message that family overcomes all, even economic opportunity. It shows that there is no excuse for sexual abuse. Lalit also comes to terms with his sensitive son, who enjoys activities like cooking and dancing that do not fit the masculine stereotype. He is a model male feminist. Also, the two cousins—Ria and Aliyah—abolish the cycle of abuse, demonstrating female societal power. In the Wedding genre, the final celebration typically includes everyone in the story; in this film, Tej’s absence proves the reconstruction of society. The love story of Ria and Lalit demonstrates how familial love prevails over money. 

Nair succeeds in delivering a truly empowering feminist film. The narrative of Monsoon Wedding presents that love prevails over all: social expectation, classism, and money; women also have power to control their own destinies. In the end of the film, the families—including Aditi, Hemant, Alice, Dubey, Ria, and Lalit—all dance in the rain without a care because the love and celebration cannot be repressed. The marriage genre embodies the truth of a culture and holds its value; we in turn, play out the narratives in our own lives. Love remains constant across cultures, and films demonstrate how to love and should be representative of all types. Films like Monsoon wedding are necessary because the industry is responsible to challenge and change the stereotypes of gender roles and the female narrative on and off screen.  

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Hauntology: del Toro’s El Espinazo Del Diablo (The Devil’s Backbone)

Hauntology is a philosophical film term to critic the construction of contemporary Spanish cultural identity. In this, a ghost works as a moral rectification where “accepting the past as past permits the nation to live with its troubled traces in order to also honor that very same past” relating to cultural memory. In film, the present must correct the past for a better future. Using the theory of hauntology, Guillermo del Toro uses The Devil’s Backbone as an allegory for the post-Spanish Civil War. 

Horror critic Roger Luckhurst describes a ghost as “a signal of atrocities, marking sites of untold violence, a traumatic past whose traces remain to attest to a lack of testimony.�� In this film, the spirit Santi haunts the orphanage wanting Jacinto, the one who killed Santi after catching his attempts to steal gold.  He represents the revenge of the innocent and the dead with no testimony. Santi is determined to have his story known and to have his justice, so he clings to life not wanting to be forgotten much like those who died in the Spanish Civil War. He brings back the necessity to relive and morally amend an unfinished past like Spain must. Jacinto represents the aggressors, and the enemies in the war willing to do and cover up anything. Jaime, who saw Santi’s murder, represents those who have witnessed war trauma. He buries the truth and suffers the worse psychological damage. His flashbacks represent the call-backs to trauma many victims experience. As believed in Freud’s theory of insistent repetition, his solution is talking. Carlos is an outsider and the first to discover the truth. Carlos is not afraid of the ghost, only curious. This haunted protagonist uncovers the disturbing past, when he finally faces Santi. Here, Carlos’s investigations and Jaime’s eventual confession surface the atrocious murder. The narrative reaches full climax in the conflation of a past unfinished desire with Carlos’s present vengeful retribution. His solution is to fight back against Jacinto; insurgence is a popular Spanish storytelling trope symbolizing the people taking power.  

The bomb is an important motif in the film. After Jaime has just witnessed the death of Santi, the bomb drops out of the sky in the center of the orphanage in front of him, and Jaime is in awe of the magnificent destructive device. Its detonation would have killed them all; instead, it is their savior. The bomb is a reminder of the war outside. “If you put your ear on it, you can hear it ticking. That’s its heart. It’s still alive, and it knows we’re here,” Jaime says. An active bomb signifies that danger is still present; threat is slowly ticking down, waiting, inevitable. Like the Spanish, the orphanage is spared for a later purpose but not from suffering. The bomb cannot be moved, even after it has been deactivated; like the Spanish Civil War, it is a scar from their horrifying reality in their center. The bomb could also symbolize Spain; the film questions whether the country is still alive after it has been “deactivated”; with this interpretation, its heartbeat is positive.  

In the film’s resolution, the orphanage symbolizes the Spanish Common People. Their small-scale conflict represents the greater Spanish struggle. One boy points that their enemies—Jacinto and friends— are bigger and stronger; however, Carlos assures him that they are greater in number. This commemorates the power of the united Spanish people. The champions— the orphans, the professor, and the widow— are desperate people, who do not have family, wealth, power, or opportunity, but they have each other. Jacinto's greedy search for gold causes him to kill others, and eventually causes his own death when the gold’s weight drowns him. The boys do not desire gold; they value their lives and justice for the innocents. Lying, stealing, and murdering Jacinto represents the crooked government. The death of Jacinto is a cathartic resolution that endorses Spain’s democracy and the people’s power. The vengeance should have liberated Santi’s ghost, but he now looks more corporeal. The ghost cannot be exorcised, and neither can the Spanish trauma. Like Santi, the Spanish past cannot be erased. The comfort that the boys grow with Santi embodies the hopes for the Spanish future with Spanish remembrance as a source of their identity. 

This hauntology acts as recognition for Spain and a moral liberation for the historical past. This film brings the war to the active present. Dr. Caesares explains how tragedy and revenge repeats itself, and someone dead is left to resolve it. The Spanish nation needs to justify the past. The film has moral to not let us forget and repeat the past for a better future.  

I’ve been a fan of del Toro for a while. Personally, I enjoyed this film more than El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth). I could devote my life discussing the symbolism and cinematography in this film but I decided to spare you and focus on the historical context. Hope you enjoyed!

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Coming of Age Film: Taika Waititi’s Boy

Taika Waititi is a brilliant director from New Zealand’s blooming film industry. Boy is his masterpiece that fulfills the features of the Coming of Age genre.  

The film opens with a “Mihimihi”, a traditional Maori coming of age presentation. It belongs to Boy from the small town of Waihau Bay. Boy excludes a “Whakapapa” or core of who he is. Instead, Boy enthuses over his father. Waititi builds empathy for the protagonist through his innocent illusions. Boy’s introduction demonstrates that he does not recognize his own poverty, loneliness, or abandonment. His absent father’s romanticized success is his own imagination desperately needing a role model.  

Coming of Age stories stereotype the protagonist. Boy is an “outcast,” and his reality is different than his self-image, shown when he tries to impress his crush with his “Michael Jackson dance moves.” However, Boy’s teacher believes he has “potential.” In the film, Boy humorously searches for the word’s definition. 

When his grandmother Nan leaves town for a funeral, Boy is left in charge. He provides well, until the arrival of his father Alamein surprises Boy. Boy rejects his responsibilities in his father’s presence. For example, he neglects feeding his younger cousins. Alamein and his “gang” recruit Boy to find Alamein’s buried cash; Alamein tells him this is his “potential.” Boy will do anything to please his father. Digging all day, he sacrifices his well-being. Stealing weed from his friends for Alamein shows he sacrifices his friendships and morals. Boy’s awe for Alamein’s “cool car” symbolize his fantasy to escape his situation despite his poor education, poverty, and a broken family.  

Boy finds the money, only for it to be eaten by his goat. Seeing Alamein’s outrage, Boy realizes his father only cared about the money and not his friends or family. This purges Boy’s belief of his father as a hero. When the upset Boy falls into water, he goes through a near death experience common to Coming of Age films. Weirdo, the loner that Boy once harassed, saves him. The audience implicitly compares negligent Alamein to this helpful stranger. Waititi encourages weirdness, if it means you are good.   

Boy confronts his father. “I thought I was like you,” he explains, “but I was wrong. I don’t have any ‘potential’.” This is ironic because Boy’s compassion that makes him unlike Alamein, is his potential. The next morning, the children reorganize the house symbolically reassembling the family. For example, Rocky fixes a picture of the once happily married couple sustaining idealizations of idyllic families. Boy picks up his father’s gang jacket knowing in truth, Alamein was not respectable. He is free of his father’s illusions about getting money to go anywhere, do whatever, and be anyone; Boy recognizes his home, his people, and his purpose are here.  

Boy finds that Alamein has finished Boy’s mask. Boy began this wood carving in attempt to be like his father, who was once well-known for carving. This is the first meaningful gift Boy receives from Alamein. In Maori culture, carving is a creative skill taught only to boys that can be lucrative and is often the first way boys provide for their families. This represents Boy as a provider. Maori masks are believed to call a god’s presence. Alamein leaves the mask to watch over the family personifying Boy as the new patriarch. This also represents that Alamein is connecting to his former self. The mask’s symbolism is auspicious for the family.  

Coming of Age protagonist have skills that grow throughout the course of the story. Their awareness of these abilities usually come with suffering but help them defeat their antagonist. Boy’s talent is his comfort with being different. This confidence helps him to overcome Alamein. His imagination, reliability, and nurture contribute to societal good and his “potential,” and after Boy abandons who he is, he returns stronger. Boy no longer neglects his duties to his family and friends like his father as Boy learns what it truly means to care for others. Boy finds his “Whakapapa”. 

Fulfilling the genre, normalcy returns with Nan, and Boy reunites with his friends, who explain they are “self-employed” throwing mud at cows. They are being children while they can. Waititi warns about growing up too quickly. Later, Boy and his younger brother Rocky visit their mother’s grave, where they find their father sitting alone in silence. Finally face to face, Rocky asks, “How was Japan?” referring to Alamein’s “samurai training” excuse for his absence. Disillusioned Boy only smiles letting Rocky revere Alamein and be a child. Boy allows to Rocky conserve naivety. Everyone must grow up and learn; Boy has learned he wishes to remain a child.  

This Coming of Age story traces Boy’s growth from naivety to maturity, concern with the welfare of others, and discovery of his place in the world scheme. In Boy, children are celebrated, and Childhood is treasured. Boy addresses many problems of indigenous culture such as the poor education system, poverty, alcoholism, and drug abuse. However, Waititi’s characters show optimism, and Waititi honors Maori culture through Boy’s perspective.

Boy is a really sweet and funny film, and the acting is amazingly charming. Boy welcomed me to the personality of Taika Waititi that allowed him to now become one of my favorite directors. He incorporates his quirky sense of humor well in all his work. I mean, just look how he combined Maori and Thriller dances. (I hear he may have choreographed this himself? He certainly seems enthusiastic!)

I am unashamed to plug his TED talk. (If you know me, you know I love TED talks.)

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The Babadook Scene Analysis

In The Babadook directed by Jennifer Kent, the Babadook represents Amelia’s depression that haunts her and threatens her child. The Babadook is first known by her son Samuel representing his ability to see Amelia’s suffering. He develops an obsession with fighting it to protect his mother. His behavior causes problems those who do not understand including his mother. However, Sam remains fiercely loyal and protective of the mother that emotionally neglects him. The characters are unable to move forward, until they rectify the trauma of the past. Amelia’s pain symbolized by the Babadook possesses her as Sam's birthday and the anniversary of her husband’s death approaches. The scene where Sam stabs Amelia in order to exorcise the Babadook is their first act to progress. The effective horror techniques of lighting, dialogue, and physical ironies allow this scene to be one of the most jarring in the film.  

The scene is set in their home. Home, however, is where one should feel comfort not fear. The dark mis-en-scene creates unease. Mother, son, and home seem disheveled. Amelia looks very tired in her night clothes. Sam is framed on the left, which helps the audience feel closer to him, signaling he is the focus of this scene. The actor’s large expressive eyes help audiences understand his feelings. All shots are close-ups to foster empathy and capture expressions. Ambient sound is silent. This all helps audiences focus on their exchange. Amelia slowly approaches Sam. Her sweet tone says, “Samuel, I’m sorry.” Sam is shocked; her gentle approach is unlike the solemn mother who never shows vulnerability. Next Amelia saying, “I understand you’re scared” is the first time someone tries to understand Sam’s feelings. Amelia moves from the right-side of the frame, which feel most distant to the audience, to the center when she says, “I haven’t been good since your dad died. I haven’t been good at all. I’m sick Sam.” This is the first time she admits her trouble with his father’s death. The situational irony is that the child pities his mother. All these elements help Amelia charm Sam and audiences; Sam’s expression softens proving they work.   

Amelia moves into the light, emphasizing her and promoting positivity, when she tells Sam that they will be staying with their neighbor Mrs. Roach for the night.  There is irony within the audience, who should be relieved that Amelia is finally seeking help for herself and her son; however, to the audience, this seems too good to be true. Amelia has already displayed aggressive behavior like cutting the phone wire in order to keep them isolated inside the house. It is unlikely a sudden visit by Mrs. Roach has spurred self-reliant Amelia to change. Here, the lighting and verbal irony contrast in meaning and build skepticism. For the first time, Amelia asks what Sam wants: “Do you want that?” As Amelia moves into darkness kneeling before Sam, roles reverse as Sam looks down on Amelia. In the next shot, Amelia is barely visible in the darkness creating apprehension, and she whimpers like an animal. Her unfamiliar actions alienate Amelia.  

Uncharacteristically concern, Amelia curiously studies Sam’s face like an animal reading its prey. She says, “I want you to meet your dad. It’s beautiful there.” The dramatic irony creates dread because Sam’s father is dead. Audiences question whether Amelia is delusional or manipulative. Light on Amelia’s face is enchantingly angelic aiding her seduction. Her hands come to Sam’s shoulders then neck. As she says, “You’ll be happy,” Amelia’s white hands are emphasized as they greatly contrast darkened Sam.  Audiences anticipate the prophesied scene from the Babadook's book where Amelia strangles her son. Suddenly, Sam screams lifting a knife over his head. In a close-up, the knife enters Amelia’s chest. Here, he audience's anticipation is broken with Sam, who has always been dutifully protective of his mother. This is a shock not only because it is different from Sam's previous behavior but more importantly, it is startling to see a young child stab his own mother. The initial shock meets horror when audiences realize what he has done. He stands back with fear in his eyes as dramatic chase music score ensues. Fortunately, Sam, unlike the audience, realizes his mother is possessed. Amelia’s face twist as she gives an unhuman groan and pulls out the knife. The surprise stabbing creates the most exciting moment of the film.  

This scene is the beginning of family’s solution. In the end, when the manifestation of her pain is expelled from her body and attempts to attack her child, Amelia chooses to protect Sam. She envelops her duties as a mother and no longer allows the Babadook to harm Sam. After, her depression, The Babadook, lives hidden from where anyone may see it. Feeding the monster represents her tending to her darkness. She controls it and no longer allows it to hurt anyone. When Sam asks to see The Babadook, Amelia replies, "Maybe when you're older;" this is hope that Amelia will one day let Sam understand her pain and work together to heal. This film is hope to those suffering from trauma and disorders.

After watching this movie, I was asked what I believed the Babadook represented. Interestingly, my strongest opinion was the representation of depression. Maybe because it (in my analysis) fit so well or because it is so pertinent to personal experience and my community. Anyway, I just think the Babadook is an interesting allegory. 

Do I think this movie is scary? Yes. My fearless roommate (whom I forced to watch it with me) disagrees. At least, she got to hear me preach on healthy relationships and fostering positive environments :) 

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Ending my first Semester with a great film. Great job team!