TV Series Review: Riverdale

THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS IN THE REVIEW.

Hello readers,

I am back with the first television series review of 2017 and before I start, I would like to wished the Chinese readers a Happy Lunar New Year! May this year be an awesome period and blessed with joys all year round. The television series review I will be doing is for this latest series based on Archie Comics, Riverdale.

Riverdale starred unfamiliar faces including Archie Andrews played by K.J. Apa who is hailed from New Zealand. Despite several changes including Judgehead's usual crown becoming a beanie (played by Cole Spouse) and the physical appearance of Archie differs from the actual comics, Riverdale nevertheless blends the mystery, the tenseness and unraveling secrets between characters and the surroundings. The story follows the town of the same name where on the Fourth of July, Jason Blossom went missing and hence, the sudden disappearance became a talk of the town and the start of the whole drama which will go on throughout the series.

As a person who has flipped through several Archie Comics in my early days, I was rather excited about Riverdale as it was mentioned on the radio channel I usually listened to before school. I remembered especially Archie's friendships with Betty and Veronica because they were crucial in the comics. Here in Riverdale, the pilot episode offered us a wonderful glimpse of the three coming together and you could just feel the tenseness in the relationships, the craving and desire were steady increasing. As the episode continued, we learnt of why Archie seemed indecisive in his own choices, leaving his father giving a thoughtful advise which he mentioned every decision that is made will have its own consequence (great advise). Archie's relationship with Judgehead could be seen when they were at the diner and given the context, it is likely Archie did something which Judgehead hoped he would not make the same mistake with Betty: going the long way round.

With the dramas coming in and the characters' intentions and secrets are slowly revealing time after time, Riverdale had a good start with introduction of the main characters and the retelling of the mystery circumstances around the golden boy, Jason including the ending. This pilot episode was straightforward and that is a good point of the series, not time consuming and definitely cut to the chase. If you haven't watched Riverdale, you should give this series a watch which will leave you praying for the next episode to come faster.

Ratings: 7/10

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Movie Review: La La Land

THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS IN THE REVIEW.

Hello readers,

I am finally back with the first film review of 2017 and I shall start off with this critically acclaimed musical, La La Land.

La La Land is an original light musical directed by Damien Chazelle. Not only did Chazelle directed this beautiful musical, but also wrote the whole screenplay which he had hold on to for many years due to his creative vision. La La Land starred Stone and Gosling as Mia and Sebastian, both aspiring actress and jazz pianist who found each other and shared the common idealistic together. As the film progresses, the audience grows together with the couple as the drama unfolds, the fools who dream and unfortunately not everything ends well.

La La Land started off with a bang on the opening where you see a group of ordinary people coming out of their vehicles and burst into their bright energy as they sang Another Day of Sun. This is typically showing the people, fools who believed in chasing their dreams and it is quite a common sighting especially when one chooses to come to a place to pursue their passion. As the film progresses, there was a canny tribute to musicals we loved in the past and a nod to films like The Artist and West Side Story, whereby the sense of nostalgia, love in the air and on point comedic interaction.

As the story unfolds, I was left bitter and disappointed that the story went with the ending of showing both Mia and Sebastian never ended up together to see each other being successful and do so many bright things in future. It was sad to see two individuals who shared the same dream separated because their paths don't matched at the end of the day. Their ambitions led them to drift apart. Hence, La La Land is a film which tugged on audience's heartstrings and leave you feeling empty where your hopes are cast down, especially the epilogue - I could not help myself but to cry and weep for both characters. That segment was the most beautiful yet sad thing I ever seen on a musical film.

With brilliant directing, acting performances by Stone and Gosling, and great soundtrack, La La Land is a promising musical film with many to offer and is a definite strong contender for its screenplay and acting at the upcoming Oscars. I would recommend this film to anyone of any ages because this film itself offers such a dynamic piece of visionary, for anyone can be the fool to dream and hopefully you will someday find a path which will lead to the place you want to be. While La La Land did left me weeping for days, this film has to be one of the best I have watched since The Artist and so many more films.

Ratings: 9/10

P.S. The soundtrack is a definite must to hear because it is catchy and yet at the same time, it takes you on a magical journey with both Mia and Sebastian. Even by its own (should you not watched the film), the soundtrack is still pleasantly good for the ears.

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Guilt

Hello readers,

I didn't want to start the first post of 2017 on such mood but it has been bugging me and you, as my reader, deserved to know what happened over the past few months.

I was in a depression state which started two months ago. I felt tied down by certain matters that did not allow me to have control over. I started to feel anxious, worried and even overthink about small trivial matters. Over the past weeks, from depression state led to become an angry state. I began to be frustrated with the things around me and questioning what is happening to the people around me and myself.

Sometimes, I do wished that I was holding a gun and pulling a trigger at something, for violence leaves a delight to my bones. However, as time goes by, I knew deep down I wasn't making myself happy and for that I get into a confusion. Anybody who knows me will know that I am making a fool out of myself and therefore, I become someone I am not even familiar with.

This week, I let a friend down and I know deep down I can never retract what I said or wrote. While I thought I was doing a right thing, I forgotten the fact that not everyone believe in the truth. I was questioned and all I could do was to tell white lies. I sat in the dark, cold classroom, only to think that I was paying for my sins I committed. I am not asking for any pity, all I want is to say what I wanted to say.

I even looked at myself in the mirror and questioned about my actions. The more I looked into my eyes, the more I wanted to stab myself. I couldn't believe a person like myself has changed and I was no longer the person I used to be. I wish I could find some help...

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