Movie Review: Mary Poppins Returns

THIS REVIEW MAY HAVE SOME SPOILERS.

I remembered being one of the people who would enter a video shop and rent Mary Poppins every Monday. Sitting in front of the television, I would then try to imitate Julie Andrews’ Mary Poppins as she sang A Spoonful of Sugar as well as convincing that there is such world out there if you think of the impossible possible. Of course, I still remembered the animation that would take on a larger form of entertainment in the movie as I was too young to understand and feel the story. This happened in 2005 and 13 years later, I get to relive the trip again through Mary Poppins Returns.

Set many years after Mary Poppins had successfully taken care of the Banks family, this time, she returns to help Michael Banks’ family as they are experiencing the likelihood of losing the house as well as the recent loss of the wife/mother who indeed made a significant impact to the family. Its premise remained the same as how anyone would recall from the original which indeed would make any viewers who were entertained by the original movie even more excited. At least, to me, I think that Mary Poppins Returns is a lovely sequel that successfully capture the essence of what makes Poppins Poppins.

Firstly, the original music has some likeness to the previous movie especially songs like Trip A Little Light Fantastic and A Cover Is Not A Book. The music does remind me of what makes Mary Poppins such an interesting Disney movie and I was even more impressed with the production especially when the choreography performed was magnificent that I wished I was part of that world. Secondly, I applaud the fact that the movie remained firm to its decision to have 2D animation – which is already a lost art form that has since been replaced mostly with the use of modern 3D tools and computer animations. I mean, there were a few computer visual effects here and there like the part where Mary Poppins and some characters were in the porcelain bowl. It was truly thrilling to see this aspect. Lastly, the cast were splendid in their own roles and especially Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s synchronous chemistry. I also enjoyed the special appearances by Dick Van Dyke and Meryl Streep, another elevation towards the movie’s light-hearted attitude.

Although Mary Poppins Returns may not provide so much originality and mood as the first one, it still indeed provide the magic that makes Mary Poppins – a movie for family and everyone to enjoy especially during these holidays. I really loved this latest sequel and lots of tremendous respect to the people behind the scenes and the cast for bringing this adaptation back to the screen and making me falling head over heels for the animated characters as well as the soundtrack and the world that most of us know.

What an incredible gift to the cinema this season.

Ratings: 8/10

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Movie Review: Roma

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS.

When life gives you lemons, you take the lemons and squeeze them to become the juiciest lemonade in the hot summer time. Roma indeed was the juiciest drink in the winter and given how the setting was, I would say the movie was a well-crafted story that brought much happiness to audience on such relatable scale.

Roma is a movie set in the turmoil period of Mexico of 1970s and a nostalgic letter to domestic life of most families regardless of who you are and where you are from. It is the celebration of life in times of crisis and happiness that makes the movie on a relatable note especially when the movie is viewed in a living room. I watched the movie with my family members and for the first time, most of us enjoyed such movie where the story brought some joy. As you know, I have always been the one among my family members who truly enjoyed movies and some genres or stories don’t seem to get along well with them.

However, Roma was different from the movies I tend to view. It started off with the scene where we see a domestic family’s helper washing the yard of the house (possibly from the poops left from the dog). We then start to be introduced to the house through scenes of living room, kitchen, outside drains of the house and to the family whom the helper is serving. She isn’t the only one helping the family but there are two more helpers who were as good as her in the domestic chores. As the movie progresses, we then see the story goes from a happy portrait to a sad period, a chaotic period – the helper was three to four months pregnant, the wife of the family trying to hold herself together to make sure life was going well especially for her children and of course, the protests and the events that bring some turbulence to the story settings.

We know, life can never be smooth. There will always be ups and downs in life and the only way to bring about is to keep carrying on with life, always being firm in choices and then being together as the remaining family, keeping the spirit is still the best thing on Earth. That was what came to me even when the movie progresses, and it end – the celebration of ups and downs which we know as life itself. Life still moves like how the tides turned in the waters. Life is about appreciation of things that happened in the present and learned through the past to bring about more positive change to the future, and that is why Roma is a celebration of humans regardless of circumstances.

Roma, if possible and only possible, is a consideration to movie industry that we should not look upon lightly. It should be recommended to your friends, your family and even to the world. Take the time off and watch this crisp black and white movie about celebration of life as we know. Roma is a wonderful movie and one of the best storytelling in intense, sentimental imageries I have ever seen.

Ratings: 8.5/10

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Movie Review: Cold War/Zimna wojna (2018)

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Every love story is the best especially when one is spawn from the love of both parents, and this movie, Cold War is the one which seems to be a love song to the director’s parents. Cold War is a movie that looks like montages placed together to create an art which pushes the boundary of what is defined as love, no matter how turbulent or volatile the fragile love is.

Turbulent as what the movie title suggested, Cold War is a movie that requires one to watch and interpret for their own instead of entering the cinema and leaving the place with a story that contents a person’s heart during the holiday season. It is no holiday season movie especially when it lacks the kind of warmth seen in movies like “Love Actually”, but it was still entertaining.

Set between 1949 and 1964 in a post-war Europe, Cold War tells a story of a relationship between two leading characters and how they are constantly being in this tug of war that never seem to end. It is not a common love and yet the turbulent relationship between the two people is somewhat relatable at some level. Between acts in the movie, we are shown that the characters first met during an audition held to fine pick individuals to be part of an exciting opportunity - a communal singing group travelling around Europe as a new folk act, an art in the making unlike the ordinary.

The attitude of the movie initially got me on the soft note that this was a romantic film as what was advertised by Amazon Studios - a hopeful glimmer of love in the conflicting harsh period of the history. Due to the movie being penned on the perspective of the leading woman, Zula, we managed to see the dynamics of the new world she was in and the love between her and Wiktor, her counterpart in the movie. I think what got me to realise and change my perception of Cold War was the scene act set in Paris, France. It is a crucial act to realise about the indifference of the relationship - one not understanding the life in Paris and its people, another not understanding the other person’s inability to accept the things the way they are.

As the movie progresses through more acts and cuts in between, you learned that Cold War is not about the unlikely relationship that is torn by the external factors, but the internal factors. Had the characters learn to be more patience and understanding, they would not have such difficulties and painful realisation that anything they do is improbable. That is why Cold War moved the audience - through the painful process of conflicting internal emotions and sympathy from song to song (“Two Hearts” is repeated in several acts but offered different emotional interpretation), and nostalgia imagery.

In conclusion, Cold War is at best, one of the anticipating foreign movies to look out. I would not suggest watching the movie if you are one for romance or similar to New Wave. However, at the very most, I believe Cold War is a movie that is best interpreted when you have a look at it for yourself and I think that is an experience that can never be taken away.

Ratings: 7/10

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Movie Review: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

THIS REVIEW CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald has been a long wait for most Wizarding World fans and audiences who have been following these magical stories since they were young except the fact that this franchise started off two years ago. You would have expected that a sequel to do even better than the first film and provide more insights to the story and characterisation that make you go, “Oh my goodness, no wonder this and that…” feeling. Unfortunately, the movie was a little step back in terms of storyline and sadly to say that it was too rushed.

Why rushed? I mentioned rushed because Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – this title suggested that the movie focuses on the notorious wizard himself and all the bad deeds he had done to suggest that he is evil and purely sinister, and the group of wizards wanting to step up and stop him (even the trailer seemingly showed something along the line), but non, the storyline build up was off and the plot felt cluttered. Too many things happened in one movie when they can be spread in other movies since this franchise is expected to have three more sequels. Each focal point of the story is swapped with one another and despite all talks and revelations, we do not get much new information coming from the story or the characters. Hence, this unbalance plot terribly drags the sequel into a long soap opera series and this is an unlikeable move on J.K Rowling’s part (she is the screenwriter for both movies).

With the unbalanced storyline that is at stake of making the movie exciting, the main characters that we see from Fantastic Beasts have slowly made its way to the backstage and they seem somewhat neglected. Not only were some characters neglected, inconsistent characterisations from this sequel does not lived up to the previous movie especially how and why would some of them considering taking a certain action when they were initially promoted this way. Queenie was one of the characters, in my opinion, had a drastic characterisation change and I was quite disappointed because since Queenie is a Legilimen (someone who has the ability to extract feelings and memories from another’s mind), I believe she should know that Jacob does truly love her for who she is and to see her joining the dark side makes me feel that she did not really love him deeply. How can she not think for the man who truly love her and instead join a cause that brings nothing but more malevolence? This is not what I believe someone who has the capability to feel would do and this is shameful. Most importantly, if you truly love someone, why would you do this to someone as genuine as Jacob?

Apart from the major shift in characterisations and story plot, I still enjoyed watching Newt Scamander especially again his lovely interactions with his creatures and making a trip back and forth with Jacob. Moments like these I have mentioned are part of the reasons what kept me on my seat and thanks to the phenomenal acting coming from Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Eddie Redmayne and Dan Fogler, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald managed to overcome the shabby storytelling and redundant moments.

In conclusion, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald has the charm to keep the audience with wizarding excitement. However, while using fanciful spells on production value does make up the cool aspect of the wizarding world, story and character developments again sits at the top level of delivering a decent movie. Whether to be enjoyable or not, these developments should not be ignored. A movie should not be delivered if there is no solid story narrative/direction and a character should not be overwritten just because you feel like doing it. In recent months, J.K. Rowling seems to be putting out promises that people never asked for nor living up to the world that she had already created from the beginning. The trust that she has for the cast is truly not there and the story that she has presented on final screen shows that everything is just coincidental – characters borrowed from Harry Potter franchise just merely telling me that Rowling is not putting much thought into the product she is selling. Not to forget, the movie has some contradictions that seem like an easy step to bring some mockery to Rowling’s writing.

You cannot sell a product without recalling the objective of why you create a product, a franchise and Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald is a fine example of an average product with poor scope.

Ratings: 6/10

P.S. I gave 6/10 as the ratings because despite what went wrong in the movie, the cast were truly magnificent in playing their respective role and it is no fault of them that the story was seemingly lacking a purpose.

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Movie Review: Venom (2018)

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS.

When you start watching a movie, all you want is to see the beautiful visuals presented in the whole duration, good dialogues, masterfully captured soundtrack echoed through the landscape and of course, entertainment. We watched movies because we want to be entertained, we paid the money for the tickets because we want to entice by the characters, the actors who played them and the overall of the picture. This is something that Venom struggled at the starting of the movie, but still it is unfair to say, “Yeah, the whole thing sucks – does not combined well with the fact that this doesn’t resonate some Spider-Man universe/elements in it”.

Venom sadly is a film that has been unjustly reviewed and not only does the film get ridiculed for poor plot, but also been constantly told in the face that it needs desperate need of stronger attachment to Spider-Man. I think it is important to start off the review talking about the criticism because the reviews are way off about the whole overall of this latest anti-hero film. I am talking about the fact that there might be people being buy off to compose a negative review on Venom for audience to turn their heads to watch A Star Is Born and other films in competition for Number One spot on box office this month.

Okay, back to the review that I will be writing which I need to get my momentum back after nearly a year of disappearing and constantly using Instagram to serve my laziness. Venom, starring Tom Hardy as the host of the supposed symbiote, Eddie Brook, is a film that I find neither good nor bad, but it was worth the watch thanks to the later adjustment of the pacing in the movie that somehow got me out of this fading synchronisation. What I meant was the beginning of the movie was a bore – from an awful music chosen for scenes like Eddie on the motorcycle and riding through parts of San Francisco as an introduction to his character, an uninteresting opening that includes showing how the villainous symbiote is, and of course, the way everything until the middle part was just totally off and not incredibly funny despite dialogues trying to break the ice.

The interaction between Eddie Brook and Venom thankfully made its way in the middle part of Venom, which makes up as the selling point of the whole presentation of convincing us to like the film. It was funny, witty and yet at the same time, it feels like two buddies with differences just lightening up the film which is supposedly to feel scary. The humour inside Venom does tickled and do a trick to make us still find the film enjoyable, so does the music that somehow doesn’t sound too awful and it seems like we were watching a typical hero film by Marvel/Sony. All in all, the performances put up by Tom Hardy as Eddie Brook/Venom were very much the thing that made the story so much juicer and hungrier because the relationship between two were in our hearts when we watched on to the end.

The rest of the cast members were fine, just not as remarkably as what you would want to see in the story but still they delivered a decent performance that allows the film not to be miserably sank. The action sequences in Venom were perfectly alright, but it just needs more kicking and feels to them to make the story knockably strong enough to overcome flaws that were obvious in the beginning of the film, and at least, leaves the audience some realisation or takeaway, some wow when they come out of the cinema.

Venom is a film that could have been a great introduction to the cinema or to newer audience if whoever in charge of the film realised some good and bad points of the story to market the film. I did leave the cinema with the feeling that I have been entertained and yet it is surprising that not everyone feels that way. Maybe, Venom has yet to understand the general audience and no, no, the film is not a loser. Venom is a good loser who has yet to figure out itself and hopefully when a sequel is in progress, maybe it can try to work things out to reconcile with the audience.

Other than that, I did like the film.

Rating: 6/10

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Movie Review: Black Panther

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

The first quarter of 2018 has just passed and here we are, already hearing people talking about movements and how much there is a need for change in our society, the world and individualists. Remind me why #MeToo movement is a crucial thing that needs a voice, remind me of how much Harvey Weinstein needs to be brought for judgement and every other man who could have keep to themselves to prevent further allegations or another Salem witch hunt. The words can go on and on, but that is not why I am here today to type after two months of disappearing, juggling with school work and the examinations that could somehow ease my GPA.

I am here today to give you my long due review on the Marvel’s most-anticipated entry, Black Panther starring King T-Challa (portrayed by Chadwick Boseman) as he comes to term with the grief he had for his late father and trying to hold his sovereignty when several threats came to take upon his place. Along with the leading protagonist, he was joined with several characters who would provide support and some wise words, ensuring his journey would be smooth-sailing. As I try to hold my biases for this well-diversified film, I shall provide some background of how I felt prior to watching the Black Panther, along with explaining some aspects of the film.

Two years ago, the same year when Captain America: Civil War was released, I had the opportunity to join my sister on a little adventure to catch the blue carpet premiere of the film at Marina Bay Sands, where we got the chance to experience the intense moment in which we prided ourselves as Team Captain America supporters. I bet some of you may remember that evening in April 2016 where this awaited film was premiered on our little red dot, making us one of the first few Southeast Asia countries to be selected for this film to be premiered. My sister and I even saw Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie and Joe Russo at the premiere, which they played their respective characters; Captain America/Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier and Falcon, and on the other hand, Russo served as the co-director, screenwriter and producer along with his brother on Captain America: Civil War.

I still remembered the excitement at the blue carpet premiere despite not being a really huge fan yet of the whole Captain America hype back then, and now to think back – I am still glad that I got to the chance to experience the whole hype at the venue, and this is how I felt when Black Panther was set to release this year after the full trailer and television spots dropped last year and in early this year. I remembered watching the film last Saturday in which I was greeted by how beautiful Wakanda was, residing in an isolated place, hidden from the outsiders where you see how advanced, very much advanced than Tony Stark’s inventions are here in this South African-inspired country.

Not only was I very much in loved with Wakanda’s beauty and spirit, I was actually surprised by how funny King T-Challa was with his sister, and honestly I find that rather lovely to see these two characters going on battle (very technological, I know), and seeing how T-Challa was lucky to be surrounded by women who are smart, quirky and very skilled in their combat since they are trained well to serve their nation. So much for talking about my favourite moments in Black Panther that I have yet to talk about the music, overall and even the main antagonist, Erik Killmonger (portrayed by Michael B. Jordan).

For the music in Black Panther, I love the curated soundtrack done by Kendrick Lamar and some of the singers and rappers involved. Their music very much touched my heart and as someone who had been some time in the dark, I wished this music would have come sooner because honestly, this soundtrack hands down to be an incredible effort to suit with the story plot of the film and highlights so much of each main character’s desires, hopes and dreams. One of the songs that really stood out to me was All the Stars by Kendrick Lamar and SZA because of its compositional lyrics; an outstanding message of hope and how much light there is if we just hold on, just as how much King T-Challa would have for his nation as the threats come in the way and putting him down. All in all, the curated soundtrack for Black Panther was well done, basically summarising much of the film’s main story.

Marvel has also been known for not doing justice to the antagonists in most entries of the cinematic universe, one of which was Doctor Strange where you have several prominent stars acting the antagonists with so much aura but to only to be washed down as such minuet characters with lack of substance. However, Erik Killmonger was different. Having to hold back and carrying so much rage, fighting through his time in a special squad and carrying many kills with glory, I can understand why he looked forward to this day in which he would want to take the throne in Wakanda. He may not be the rightful king, having to carry around such ominous promises and vengeance, still it was not partly his fault for who he was but to look at the ancestors of Wakanda, carrying so much secrets and burying down, only to create such spiteful individual that would come and threaten the harmony of the beautiful nation.

In conclusion, Black Panther was brought to us at the time where we could learn so much from this isolated advanced nation. Adding on to the fact that our world has rapidly changed and so many talks about being different in colour, size and everything that now matters, Black Panther serves as a wonderful film that shows how much diversity we can be, if only we start talking about the right issue and not trying to seek out flaws and then just tarnishing people for their deeds. If we set the right example, show the right path with calamity like how King T-Challa does in Civil War and Black Panther, I am sure that we can even move forward from slightly outrage issues that could have been better if there is an actual goal to achieve. If I can watch Black Panther again, I would not mind going back to enjoy each moment of the film ranging from the beauty of the country, the fighting, the spirit and everything else that I may have missed out from the film before Avengers: Infinity War is released next month. Wakanda forever!

Ratings: 8/10

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Movie Review: Lady Bird

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS.

When I think of Singapore, I think of the good and bad memories I had growing up in the little red dot. Being raised in Singapore since young, I identified myself very well with the culture and very much appreciate the things that most of us would have taken for granted until we left home and explore the whole universe, comparing the places we visit to the ones we are very much fond of.

That was what I could see and imagined when I watched Lady Bird which starred recent Golden Globes winner, Saoirse Ronan as Christine ‘Lady Bird’ McPherson, a high school senior coming to terms as she navigates her senior year with various experiences that occurred throughout the film and most importantly, her relationship with her mother.

From the beginning, I knew I was going to sit back and enjoy the film for its story happened to come straight to the point and made me felt I could relate so much with the character Lady Bird. She is somewhat funny and yet tried to make a point that she wants to experienced cultures especially going over to the East Coast, believing that she never really is fond of Sacramento where she comes from. I should I have noticed that at the beginning of the film, it showed a quote that somehow if I remembered correctly, it has got to do with Sacramento. Linking the ending and the quote raised the bar for the story because sooner or later, you understood what has happened and how everything hits you back like it reminded you of something; home.

Lady Bird talks about not only the coming-of-age for the leading character and her peers, but also the identity and how important it is to treasure whatever you have especially when someone is gone, and you soon start to accept and showed how much you cared for him or her. When I talked about this, I am referring to the relationship between Lady Bird and her mother. Both have their similarities when it comes to trying to make a point or even just a conversation; there is bound to be a time when you feel that you either agreeing or disagreeing with someone, or just cannot understand each other. Personally, anyone can relate either the two characters for one just does not want to show how much she cared or loved her daughter, and another feeling that she is already the “best version” of herself and yet not appreciated despite the apology.

There were times where you laugh at some moments that occurred in Lady Bird. Sometimes, you feel a pinch of sadness and wondered how a film like this could very well, made you think of yourself; a reflection of yourself when you were 18 or from the past. Therefore, I enjoyed Lady Bird for its story made me thought of things I did in the past and looking at Lady Bird was an image of myself. Its ability to tell such profound and simple coming-of-age story made me not regretted taking my time off from school work to watch the film, plus can you believe that this reflective, such personal story that got me to try controlling my laughter and joyful tears in school has a duration of 93 minutes?

As such, it is with pleasure that I recommend anyone regardless of where you are from, or how old you are, to give Lady Bird, a thoughtful consideration of watching.

Ratings: 8/10

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Movie Review: The Shape of Water

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS.

Unrealistic yet captured with dedicated cinematography and its boosted soundtrack, The Shape of Water is a film which provides certain amount of decency that could have at least been maintained and achieved. However, director Guillermo Del Toro seems to lack the ability of recognising the picture itself does not require as much booster as he thought it would need.

The Shape of Water follows a story of a woman, Eliza who has a few friends and works for a somewhat government kind of laboratory place as a cleaner. Because of something that happened in her early days of her childhood, Eliza was a muted woman who learned how to use sign language and her friend is there at work to be her interpreter. One fine day, while Eliza and her friend were at a special unit, they were introduced to a recent asset found in South America, resulting in their encounter that would change Eliza forever. Living alone and does masturbate in the bath, the story would follow her exchanging conversations with the creature and how the love story unfolds as consequences come about became ahead of time and very unfortunate indeed.

I followed the beginning of The Shape of Water in which I found myself slowly stepping into the Cold War era, and here we have - some good old American values, the American Dream were common. The blues coming from the sea, the mesmerising score that was played, and the way we were introduced to the story, it sets the mood and tone that could easily made me consider that The Shape of Water was going to be my favourite on my recent watchlist, but it did not and here I am going to speak up about how I felt watching the middle and the ending.

I found myself cringing at the fact that Eliza and the creature have sexual intercourse, and how the story goes about in the middle. It looked to me like this has got be some kind of joke in which I have no offends but to question Del Toro’s; why are you making up the stuff that seems unnecessary in the story plot? This further extended to the part where I felt that Sally Hawkins’ performances as Eliza seemed to fall flat here and obviously, this does not play good. This could be seen from the scene in which Eliza found herself singing and suddenly we are introduced a completely different theme that does sounded like a joke. Broadway-like segment seems very redundant to even consider adding into the final cut for Hawkins’ Eliza was already good enough without having the Broadway-ish to prove how much she loved the creature and he would never understand. A great suggestion for this particular scene would have to focus on Hawkins’ trying to voice her singing and all is done naturally; no need for La La Land’s out of the dream box moment. Otherwise, I would have related more to The Shape of Water than I had now while I write this review.

In conclusion, The Shape of Water could have been better. It may have touching characters and somewhat a story to tell, to make changes. However, some things could have been avoided at all cost because the acting assemble were good enough to capture your attention especially when Eliza started to sing (remove the Broadway-ish adventure filter) how she felt for the creature; the singing voice that tugged your heartstrings. While I continued to feel displeased about The Shape of Water, the original music score by Alexandre Desplat, the cinematography and the directing were done beautifully well, made me feel like there is so much to tell from the story and this is disappointing because the chemistry, couple development between Eliza and the creature only lasted a few minutes. I felt the whole bonding thing was very rushed to begin with, not to mentioned this is unlikely, especially to swim in the water in the bathroom without giving thoughts about the neighbours or the theatre goers, or to even let Eliza made love with the creature like it was an object for her sexual fantasies.

Regardless of that, The Shape of Water is still a breathable story out of the water in which it still instilled positivity and some love that made you follow the whole film despite its cringing moments to come to think of them and some horror elements.


Ratings: 5.5/10

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Movie Review: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS.

I like to believe that every film, especially one that involves an unsolved case, has at least find some closure towards the ending. A bittersweet thing to hear and awed by audience, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is one of those films in which you like to hope there is something to let go or hopefully some justice to be served.

A film that took off with the beginning that has my mind thinking of John Wayne or any old country folks’ town feel, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri reminded me of how our world is shaped in especially in the United States of America where some things that took place are still happening today and still a conversation opener or topic in people’s mouth. We were introduced to a woman of the story, Mildred Hayes, and her persistent hope of having her daughter’s case to have justice and peace since we told that she was raped while murdered outside the abandoned road that holds the focal point; the three billboards that seemingly feels long forgotten and completely out of our industrial world.

Academy Award and recent Golden Globes winner, Frances McDormand portrayed as Mildred and over the course of the film, I totally felt for her character. Not only McDormand’s character, but also the rest of the cast which I would like to take this paragraph to talk about how uniquely the characters were and how much I could identify myself with some of them. In my opinion, the uniquely written character development for all was the crucial point of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Their embracing flaws and the way they hold themselves, made this film possible to understand even without knowing every detail front and back of how wrong the community was in the film. Seeing Mildred was a glimpse of reflection, asking yourself whether how would you even cope such unhappiness after whatever happened and people letting you down gently or just with intention, especially how she just looked at the deer while standing next to the billboard, talking about Angela like she was just there. Just a deer and her expression made me admired her stubborn bravery for what she went through and trouble she did for the three billboards – and this showcases McDormand’s fine portrayal of a broken woman with the world on her shoulder.

Sam Rockwell’s portrayal of a misunderstood police officer, Dixon, has drawn some sympathy out of my heart as well. From the beginning, I had this impression that Dixon was just a guy looking for some fight or trouble in which Willoughby (played by Woody Harrelson), his chief officer often acts as a father figure to stop him from laying his hands on the people despite their wrongs. The impression I had of him seemingly lay a foundation of what I believed him to be – thinking that he was the police officer that you tend to see on news channel sometimes, especially where one involved racial conflict or other interests that have been on the news before. However, as the story almost reached its conclusion, I found myself seemingly sorry for how I misjudged a character, just as how I tend to misjudge a person in life. As what Willoughby mentioned in his final letter to Dixon, he had the potential to be a better cop; to be what he could be – a detective, but somehow, he was just lost and all he needs is to embraced love and let go of hate.

All in all, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is one of those films in which you genuinely find yourself associated and feel for the characters in and out. It is one of those stories that feels so genuinely from the bottom of your heart that you hope that things would become better as time passes. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri represents and embodies every human being in the community, the society and the world; that things could work out better in time regardless of whatever happened, whether have you been hurt before, love before or anything. If you are need of finding a film to watched or rushing to try watching at least one film off this current awards season, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is there for you to be included into your watchlist and definite watch for this season.


Ratings: 8/10

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"Haunting"

Hello readers,
I have finally uploaded an original song of mine titled, Haunting on SoundCloud. It is one of my favourites out of many songs I have on my possession and since this has been teased on my social media accounts frequently in 2017, I thought, as a reader, you deserved to have a listen to my original song; my personal record that can justify my feelings and actions I committed last year, and most importantly, my absence from Devil In The Skull.

Do give a listen and let me know what you think of Haunting! Also, let me know what kind of songs do you usually listen to in the morning and what are you expecting from me, so that I can understand you; each and every one who hold different opinions and thoughts, and I want to hear them. I have also uploaded Haunting as a video on YouTube which I will include here on this post.

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