Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

★★★★☆

This movie is a surprise gem. I wasn’t really sure what it is about when I decided to watch it only that I heard quite a few people were talking about it.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was a fun movie to watch but also an emotional roller coaster for me. The story telling in the movie was very rich. The adventure between the characters was not an excited one and it was shown in detail, but it did not feel like the story was dragging. There were times in this movie that would make you smile but also there were a lot of moments that made you want to cry. The movie gave out a very warm and touching feeling thought it is a happy story. It is amazing how they can present a sad story in a happy and delightful way.

The cast was amazing in this movie. The performance of Thomas Mann as Greg was incredible. He perfectly showcased the awkward teenagers we all once were. The perfect performance from the cast allow me connect with the characters in the very beginning of the movie.

With all the adventurous, sci-fi young adults movies out there, this movie is very refreshing and charming. Filled with insight and deep thought, this is one of those movies that make you start thinking about your life after watching it.

Man Up (2015)

★★★★☆

Romantic Comedy can be a hit and miss sometime, the last few ones that I watched were not that good. After hearing some good things about Man Up, I decided to pick it up and I am glad that I did as it was a pleasant surprise.

This story follows Nancy, who was being mistook by Jack as his blind date and she decided to play alone and see what happen next. Story line of romantic comedy can be quite predictable, as they always seem to follow the same kinds of formula when it comes to the script. I think Man Up is among on of them but I quite like how the story played out, as it is a very modern and realistic story. The setting and the characters of the movie are very modern which a lot of people can relate to. This is one of the reasons why I connected with the characters very easily.

The creation of two very diverse characters in the movie is very successful. The contrast of the two lead characters creates such incredible chemistry between them making their interaction very fun to watch. Unlike other typical romantic movie, it is fun to see that in Man Up that the guy character is the emotional character while the female character is the rational one. I really like the scene where Jack was hurt and was hiding in the toilet, and then Nancy went and comforted him. This led to a deeper level of character development and let me know more about the characters. I really connected to the two characters in the movie as I found myself really care about what would happen to them next.

This movie is very causal and fun, there were a lot of times that I smiled to the scene and there were also some good laughs too. It is the kind of movie that is perfect for a night in.

Dark Places (2015)

★★☆☆☆

Being a huge fan of Gone Girl, I was really looking forward to Dark Places. However, I must admit that I am disappointed.

Reading the book first or watching the movie first is always one of my biggest dilemmas. While I enjoy reading the book first to get insight about the story, it’s always rather disappointing when you watch the movie after. Gone Girl was one of the few that I did not have this feeling and I was hoping Dark Places would be the same.

Like Gone Girl, I decided to read the book Dark Places by Gillian Flynn before watching the movie.

I love Gillian Flynn’s writing style and the ending of her story always caught me off guard, I did not want to spoil myself for the ending when I am reading her book. However, after knowing the surprising ending and all the details about the plot, the movie of Dark Places became kind of a pain the watch.

I admit that I was not very fair when I watched this movie, as I love the Gone Girl story way more than Dark Places. However, thought the story line is not as interesting and intriguing as Gone Girl, I believed that there are a lot details that the movie can harvest from the book.

When I watch a mystery movie, I always enjoy the suspension when unveiling the truth. However, it appeared to me that Dark Places failed to build up the tension I was looking for. The 113 minutes movie filled with minor details and developed into a plain and tasteless movie. The movie detailed the process of the lead character investigating the case but not the emotion side of her. Even with the excellent performance from Charlize Theron, the movie failed to capture the characteristic of the complicated lead character. With this and the lacking of tension, Dark Places had became a long and dragging movie that I did not quite enjoy.

Ant-Man (2015)

3/5

I think I would probably watch anything coming out from Marvel, so when I saw the trailer of Ant-Man, I already know I would go and watch it. From the trailer, we can already tell that the movie is more Guardian of the Galaxy than Thor or Captain America, but without any other Marvel super hero in this film, this seems like a good way to go.

I would not say I am disappointed with the movie, as I did not have a high expectation to begin with. Ant-Man is not a bad film, but definitely not the best from Marvel. The beginning of the film was rather slow in pace, There were a lot of details that I think I would forgot right after watching the film. The background introduction was used to explain and build up the last climax fight but it took away too much screen time in my opinion making the actual too short and fast.

Despite the pace, Ant-Man is a quite a entertaining movie. There were some good jokes in it. Ant-Man is not a very appealing super hero so I think making it funny is a good way to go and the writer successfully utilise the size differences point to create some very amusing scene. My favourite would be that Thomas the Tank Engine one.

All in all, I do not think you would be missing out if you did not watch Ant-Man, but if you are looking for a movie to sit back and relax, Ant-Man would be a good choice. As it is very light weight and entertaining.

TV Series: Murder in the First

After watching the amazing How to Get Away with Murder, I continue on the murder theme and started watching Murder in the First. To be honest, I am not impress with the series.

The shows followed the homicide unit of SFPD and revolves around one major case throughout the first season. There are only 10 episodes in the first season but it still made me think that it is too long. There are not much going on in the one big case throughout the one season. Most of the details are told in the first few episodes and I think the show drag on too long on the trial making it dull to watch especially near the end. The only reason why I endure the show to the season finale is to see how the case unfold and it ended too abruptly in my opinion.

The main focus of the show is the investigation on the murder, which I quite enjoy in the beginning, but there are also a lot of side lines include in the plot that are either not being elaborated enough or just simply not necessary. For example, the romance between the two lead characters are way too cliche. Partners do not always have to be romantically involved with each other. This romance part also seems too out of the blue without much development in the beginning. I just do not found the necessity for the romance to be in the story line.

The show was being renewed for a second season but I do not think I will continue watching it as I think there are better alternative short series like this.

(Photo credit: impawards.com)

TV Series: How to Get Away with Murder

I don't even know how to begin describing how much I love this series. It has been a while since I discover a show that is so addictive and I had to marathon it just to found out what happened. I watched episode 6 to 15 in a row til 5 am in the morning. I was really sleepy but I could not stop until I get to the end of it. I think this shows how good a series is.

The show is about a law professor and her five students entwined in a murder of a local student. The way the show was cut was very intriguing. It showed clips of flashback of the murder in every episodes and you have to keep watching in order to know what exactly happened that day. The shows also offered a lot of twists that gave me a lot of 'wow' moments. You just cannot tell who was lying and who was not and things happened when you least expected. There were cliffhanger in every episode that just makes you want to keep watching.

Another thing that makes the show so good is the lead actress, Viola Davis. The lead character Annalise Keating was a very complicated character, there were a lot of different sides of her that was shown throughout the series. In the beginning of the season, Annalise was shown as a brilliant, independent, charming professor. But in the later of the series, you found out that there were a lot happened in her childhood that made her behaved the way she behaved. And there were another side of her that she only show to close people in her life. She was such a complicated character that Viola Davis nailed it with her incredible acting skills. She is one the main reason that the show is so amazing.

Before starting the series, I heard a lot of great things about the shows and had very high expectation for it and it lives up to my expectation. Actually, better than what I expected. I highly recommend this show if you have not watch it and I cannot wait for the next season to come out.

(photo credit: impawards.com)

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I (2014)

4/5

This is one of the movie that I really looked forward this year. Following the amazing Catching Fire, I had high hope for this movie and it did not fail my expectation.

Unlike the previous two movies, this one focus more on emotions. It did a great job in showing how damaged Katniss was and how the whole war thing started. As a big fan of the book, I always hope that book adaptation are true to the original story and like Catching Fire, the script of Mockingjay is very well written and did not disappoint the book fans.

When watching this movie, it took me a while to get used to the slow pace of this movie. Catching Fire was a very fast pace movie, everything happened so quickly and right to the point in that movie. However in this one, they show you a lot more details of events. It makes me feel like we are changing from a fast dance song to a slow ballad. The good thing about a slower pace in this movie is that it allows the emotions of characters to be shown more delicately and make me feel more about the characters.

There is one thing that I never really noticed or thought of when I read the book but it was very obvious in the movie. Nowadays, war is not only about force and army, but also publication. It is easy to see how the capital and 13 both used television to gain supporter and how a song can be an important in rallying supporters. Internet has become such a power tool, the most random things can become viral within minutes. There might be one day that war might happene online instead.