Movie - Love, Simon from Greg Berlanti

This movie was adapted from Simon vs. Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Although I feel that I'm getting too old for teen movies, I always enjoy watching them. That's why I decided to stream the well praised Love, Simon this afternoon. First things first, Simon, is a senior in high school with loving parents and a stable group of friends. This guy has a completely ordinary life...Except that he is hiding a secret: He is gay. 

There's a blog where people from his school write (anonymously or not) gossip posts and confessions. One of them caught Simon's eye, as it was a message which addressed the same issue as Simon's: being closeted. He immediately emailed the guy, who only signed as Blue, and they soon start a conversation, which keeps going even though they remain unknown to each other. 

While using the school library's computer to answer one of Blue's emails, Simon is interrupted by the vice-principal and, trying to end their interaction, he goes away without logging off. Martin, a drama club classmate with poor social skills and weird nerdy behavior, comes to use the computer after Simon and ends up reading the whole conversation between the two. 

Martin is desperate to win Abby's, one of Simon's friends, attention, so he sees this as an opportunity to blackmail Simon and threatens to expose the emails if he doesn't help him accomplish that. From there, Simon tries his best to keep his sexuality from being revealed even if it means he has to act against his wishes. He also has to deal with confusing scenarios, his friends' love problems and above all, trying to figure out who Blue is and if they'd ever meet in person. 

So, I never have great expectations towards a teen movie in terms of being realistic. I know they're generally quite flawed and this was no exception. I think it would have been better if the teachers at Simon's school were not so over the top - I'm not American, but I'm sure they don't go around randomly talking to students in the hallways and taking phones away from their hands like the one in this movie did. Also the bullying situation in the cafeteria when the drama teacher intervene with an inappropriate posture and language made me cringe. I get that it's a movie and sometimes situations are exaggerated, but this could easily be avoided. It'd make no difference to the story if these two characters behaved normally. 

I was also confused by the whole shared blog thing as I've never encountered something like that in real life. But I get it - The two had to meet somewhere anonymously.

Martin's character is way too much. I think it'd been more believable if instead of a bizarre kid the person who'd seen the emails was one of the bullies, who rarely made an appearance. Also, I don't think I'd forget to sign off my email account, specially regarding something as important as this. 

One thing that annoyed me in the beginning of the movie and that I've seen before is making family plans early in the day to do the more mundane of activities in the evening, in this case, watching TV. I mean... Do people really do this? But anyway, his parents are the cliché liberal parents who are caring and supportive but don't make a big deal if he sleeps in the same room with his female best friend and gets home drunk. I didn't dislike them (although Simon's dad jokes are terrible) but I feel that I've seen them before too many times. Yeah, that's one of the problems with teen movies. 

However, despite these flaws, Love, Simon has good intentions. I've seen other films with main gay characters but this is the first mainstream teen comedy to feature one and I think that's important and well fitted in today's society. The movie is very entertaining and although it become more obvious in the end, I liked how throughout the film they made it difficult to find out who Blue was. In general I enjoyed the characters and the acting. I recommend it for people who enjoy a cute teen movie from time to time!

Rate: 3/5

Movie - Nappily Ever After from Haifaa al-Mansour

Nappily Ever After is a 2018 movie adapted from the book series Nappily by Trisha Thomas, first published in 2000. I found it interesting that Haifaa al-Mansour, the film director, is the first woman from Saudi Arabia to become one. She has directed other movies revolving women's issues, specially in her home country.

In the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to Violet Jones (Sanaa Lathan), who was convinced by her mother (Lynn Whitfield) from a young age that her natural Afro hair was not beautiful and she had to wear it straightened at all times in order to look perfect. Due to this pressure, Violet was never able to let herself go and be a spontaneous kid like the ones around her. 

Fast-forward to the present, she lives with her boyfriend, Clint (Ricky Whittle), a doctor, has a successful job as a marketing executive and good friends. However, even as an adult, she is still obsessed with her hair and limits her life by the way it looks.

Just before her birthday, Violet sees a small box inside of a closet and thinks Clint will propose on her special day. Her mother comes to the house in the early morning to help her style her hair and look her best when the big moment comes.

When Violet's family and friends are later reunited at dinner, she learns that the little box was actually a collar for her brand new Chihuahua. Her disappointment is visible, and when she confronted her boyfriend, he tells her something that really hurt her feelings: "Being with you is like being in a two-year first date". 
Clint stated that he didn't really know Violet underneath all her self-image obsession and because of that, they weren't ready for marriage. 

This is a turning point for Violet. Angry and upset, and with Clint out of the picture, she does something on a whim after a crazy night when she had too much to drink. Something she never thought she would be able to do. But was it really impulsive or had she been preparing herself for it?

For what is worth, that decision has serious consequences in many aspects of Violet's life and she begins to understand what is really important to her. 

I found this movie very relatable and it's not just about hair - It's about women complying with society's standards by focusing on looking their best, and losing their true self in the middle of the process. It portrays the struggle of Black women to accept their natural hair in a world where the idea of beauty is long straight hair.

It's about insecurities and the fear of being who we are without thinking about who's looking. Because, in reality, no one really cares and the most important thing is learn to accept ourselves in the moments we aren't all dolled up. 

The movie has its faults as I didn't enjoy some of the acting, but overall it's a feel-good watch for a summer afternoon... or for when you're frustrated over a bad haircut.

Rate:4/5

Movie - I Don't Feel At Home in This World Anymore from Macon Blair

While looking through Netflix movies this sassy title caught my attention. I Don't Feel At Home in This World Anymore won the US Dramatic Grand Prize at Sundance Film Festival in 2017. 

This dark comedy tells the story of Ruth, (Melanie Lynskey) a depressed assistant nurse, and the mysterious burglary that took place at her house. Confronted with the police's lack of effort to find the thieves, Ruth is determined to take justice into her own hands. Along with Tony (Elijah Wood), her lonely neighbor, and with the help of her mobile phone, they attempt to track down the criminals and find themselves in a lot of trouble.

The movie is entertaining, although it's quite short (runs for about 90 minutes). I thought of it as a satire to consumerism and lack of authenticity, which is visible in Ruth's frustration about other people and the world. I really liked her character - it's genuine and naive, but also very relatable. It was easy to empathize with her from the beginning by learning what she hates - spoilers, queues at the supermarket and having dog poop in her garden. 

The weirdness of Tony is hilarious and they complement each other really well. I would have liked to see their relationship better developed, but the movie would have to be longer in order for that to happen. I think some characters were dispensable as they added little to the story. 

Although this movie is silly and far-fetched, it's out of the ordinary and unpredictable and the ending part it's up to interpretation.  I think it would have been better if it was longer but over all it's worth watching. 

Rate: 3.5/5

Movie - Funny Games from Michael Haneke

                                                   

A few days ago I was in the mood for a 90's film, so I went to the Cannes Film Festival website to find something to watch. Funny Games was on my watchlist already, and as a thriller fan, I gave it a go. I saw the original movie, from 1997, but there's a 2007 American remake from the same director. 

Georg and Anna, an Austrian couple, go on vacation with their young son Georgie and their dog to a lakeside cottage. There, they meet their friends, Fred and Eva, who have two young adults as guests, Peter and Paul, dressed in white and wearing gloves. 

While her husband and son are outside preparing the boat and Anna is making dinner, Peter knocks on her door asking for four eggs for Eva. Anna pleasantly gives him the eggs, but Peter accidentally drops them on the floor and asks for more. Eventually Paul arrives at the house and because of their resistance to leave, Anna starts feeling nervous and tells the boys to go away. 

When Georg and their son arrive, Georg also insists that they should go and there's when the mind games began. Georg is hit with a golf club in his leg and the family is imprisoned in their own house. Peter and Paul play sadistic games with the victims, creating a true atmosphere of panic which is very well portrayed by the actors.

This is not an easy movie to watch. It's not fast-paced at all - most of the scenes are super slow and the whole interaction between the characters made me feel uncomfortable. But I guess the point of this story is a critique to modern-day violence. The long scenes are suspenseful and there's a cool unexpected twist at the end.
Rate: 4/5

Movie - Crazy Rich Asians from John M. Chu

      

This movie is an adaptation of the trilogy by Kevin Kwan, which I haven't read and most certainly won't, as I've watched the movie and I don't like already knowing the whole story. 

So, the main character is Rachel Chu, a young professor of Economics from New York, raised by her mother, who came to the US when Rachel was a baby. One day, her boyfriend, Nick, invites her to go to his best friend's wedding in Singapore, where his whole family lives. She accepts it only to find out that his family is one of the richest of the island and the wedding is the event of the year. 

Rachel finds herself face to face with socialites who spend absurd amounts of money on shoes and jewelry and make her feel she's not good enough because of her status. His mother, a woman who is all about the traditional family values, also thinks she's not worthy of her son and goes great extents to show it to Nick.

In the middle of this mess, Rachel struggles to prove she's not less than them because she's a daughter of a single mother and is not rich. But sometimes it's not easy to change such convinced minds and desperate times require desperate changes.

I don't usually watch romantic comedies but this one was so advertised I thought I'd give it a shot. It was average. In my opinion it's a good movie to watch when you just wanna see something light without having to think too much. The conflict between social classes is not uncommon in Hollywood movies, but the distinction between Asians and Asian-Americans is, so I think the focus being on these communities was interesting. The wedding scene was really emotional, the scenarios and the music, I loved it. 

However, I didn't like the twist at the ending, it was predictable and extremely cliche. It was an OK watch with its funny moments, but it could have been so much more.
Rate: 3/5

Movie - Welcome to Me from Shira Piven

                                             

                                                 

Welcome to Me follows Alice, a 40-something woman diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. She wakes up everyday at 12h15, plays the lottery every week, and is so obsessed with Oprah Winfrey, she memorized many of the show's episodes. She is very socially awkward and the only people in her life are Gina, her best friend since middle school, Ted, her gay ex-husband and his partner, her old parents, and Dr. Daryl, her therapist. 

One day, Alice wins the lottery: 86 million dollars. Then she moves to a casino, stop taking her meds, and decides to pay 15 million for her own show at a television station struggling with audiences and profits.

Alice's show is all about her - what she eats, traumatic events from her past and conflicts with the people she knew, all presented in a nonsensical way. She is caught up in a bubble of fame and fortune and due to her mental illness she isn't aware of the harm she is doing to everyone around her. Nonetheless she is able to raise the audiences.

This movie is odd and peculiar and not like anything I've seen before. It never gets boring and I kept wondering what was going to happen next. It's not a movie for everyone, as it is a spiral of craziness and some shocking scenes. I enjoyed watching it, however I felt that Alice looked more autistic than someone with BPD. Her behavior was too over the top and some scenes made me cringe, but overall it's worth the watch.

Rate: 3.5/5

Book - Where'd You Go, Bernardette by Maria Semple

"Just because it's complicated, just because you think you can't ever know everything about another person, it doesn't mean you can't try."

Where'd You Go, Bernardette was very popular when it came out in 2012 and a movie adaptation is coming this March. I loved the book's cover and I enjoy chick-lit and light reads, so I decided to read this on kindle.

Bernardette Fox is a woman in her early 50's who lives in Seattle with her husband Elgin, who works at Microsoft, her daughter Bee, a 15 year old school prodigy, and their dog. The book starts with Bee asking her parents to take her on a Christmas trip to Antarctica and them promising her they'd go. 

Bernardette is a wacky character who doesn't like social interaction and is despised by the parents of her daughter's school (a group of upper class moms she calls gnats who desperately want to be the perfect parents) because she doesn't contribute to school activities. She avoids talking to people so much she hired a personal assistant from India to help her with her basic needs. Nonetheless she gets along with her daughter very well, who is portrayed in a very childlike manner, although she is a teenager.

The storytelling is unconventional, being entirely told in the form of letters, e-mails, notes, and occasionally from Bee's perspective. I feel like apart from Bernardette, all of the characters were undeveloped and some of the writings came from people completely unfamiliar, which made it harder for me to empathize with them. 

When I started reading this book I didn't think it'd take so long to get to the main point: Bernardette's disappearance. More than half of the story is an explanation of why she acted like she did, her loss of control, her reckless behavior and conflicts with the people surrounding her. 

The ending part was abrupt, predictable, full of unnecessary information (which got me bored), and obviously unrealistic, but I get the book is a satire of an outcast in an upper class neighborhood and is not supposed to be believable. It also has references to the Seattle area and Microsoft that I didn't get. I did like the writing style, although some of the letters were too big.

The first part was entertaining and I kept reading because I was curious to discover more about Bernardette and what would happen to her, but after I knew where she was it became completely dull. I was disappointed.

Rate: 3/5

Movie - Mid90's from Jonah Hill

*spoilers*

This movie follows Stevie, a 13 year old who lives in what I think it's the suburbs of LA with his single mother and older brother. Tired of his family environment and of being bullied by his brother, he wants an escape. When he spots a group of older teenagers skating in front of a skate store, he approaches them and starts hanging out with them. 

Desperately wanting to fit in with the cooler kids, he learns how to skate and starts doing things he wasn't familiar and comfortable with. The group enjoys being with him and they form an unlikely friendship, which is obviously not approved by Stevie's mother and his brother. 

The movie reflects on growing up, the future and having goals. It also shows what alcohol and drugs can do to a young person. I think the main character looked younger than 13, and I found it hard to believe he was actually accepted in a group where only one person was around his age, and the others 17 or so.

The bedroom scene with the older girl was cringe-worthy, and when his mother goes to the store to yell at the other kids saying Stevie was never going to see them again, he just came back the next day like nothing happened. 

There are movies with similar plots, so it brings nothing new. On a positive note I liked the visuals, the movie looked like it was actually filmed in the 90's. The acting was very natural. It's not a long movie and I didn't get bored, but I feel like it's very forgettable.

Rate: 3/5

Movie - Le Gran Bain from Gilles Lellouche

                                         

Yesterday me and my boyfriend went to the cinema to watch a French movie, Le Grand Bain (Sink or Swim). It was featured in Cannes Film Festival but it was screened out of competition. I've watched some French movies, some from the Nouvelle Vague period and some comedies, which are generally quite funny. 

This one is different from the comedies I'm used to, since it's more dramatic.   Le Grand Bain is about a man, Bertrand, who is in his 40's, has been unemployed for 2 years and is depressed about it. Instead of continuing to spend his days  doing nothing, he decides to join the all-male synchronized swimming team at his local pool. 

There, he is trained by a woman and meets other men dealing with their own problems. Together they are understanding and helpful with each other, while trying to find meaning in their lives. They're teased for doing something associated with women, but they're able to stay focused towards their goal.

I really enjoyed the movie, the visuals and angles were great. I loved the music and the dancing parts were funny. I liked what the movie was about, it caught my attention because the theme is unique and creative. 

It had its silly parts, but overall it was money well spent. I recommend it!

Here's the trailer. I don't watch trailers except in the cinema...It tells almost the entire story!

Rate: 4/5