I can't adequately explain how much I loved this movie. Every scene, ever song, and every part of this ride was absolutely perfect. This is going to be a movie I watch on repeat as soon as I can to learn more and more and evaluate it further and further. Still over a week out, it's stained in my head.
0 Comments
I've been reading a fair bit as my outlet during these past few months.... My direct reading list is accessible via Goodreads here if you're interested. It's not a loooooooooot, but it's enough to escape for a bit. Below are a few thoughts from my recent reads and watches.
Signature of All Things: Elizabeth Gilbert Boy. After reading Eat Pray Love (one of my favorite books really), this was quite the different book. It's weird reading this piece, and empathizing with a distant character but understanding the underlying challenges, but I needed to finish it. It's like when you're working on your creative project, but then something comes and you get derailed. This book will derail you as soon as you get accustomed to it. Opposite of Loneliness - Marina Keegan. An oldie but a goody piece. This was instrumental for me to take a read again. We have our own circles, we have our own nets and comforts and everything. But there is still so much more ahead of us. HAMILTON MUSICAL This one gets it's own emphasized area as I must have watched it 34 times already (and half that again of the first act... ok, only slightly hyperbolic). I loved everything about this (despite the historical inaccuracies/lens that wasn't quite all to accurate to the truth - but honestly these sprinkled in provides a bit of an invite to curiosity and research). Even the minor choreography is so impactful (Angelica is leaning forward when Hamilton is asking for their father's permission, the letter in the background from the upper deck, the staging locations and how they use the circular movements to both highlight and embrace moments or movements). During Helpless/Satisfied, I constantly watch Peggy as it's so fascinating to see the scene unfold. All the use of the characters to distinguish scenes and coloring spectrums from - they're all different colored suits and then share a blue coat tint as they join together and unite. It's absolutely beautiful and I love every moment. Some thoughts from The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron.
Occasionally I find myself reading real stories about WW2 and when one of my preferred authors published a book about a young woman during this time period, of course I read it. And while right now may not be the best of times to read a historical piece about a dark time, staying inside for the safety of the masses cannot be compared to the hiding for your life. This isn't an in depth review. It's reflections. The first moment I knew I had to write something about this was when this line came along. "Di velt iz sheyn nor di mentshn makhn zi mies," he said. "The world is beautiful, but people make it ugly." (Chapter 3, pg. 7 of 26) Yes. This is all true. But in this story, and in so much else, the world is also beautiful because the individual people who make it beautiful too. And with everything going on, this is a nice reminder. So here are a few more absolute gems. "Sadness can become cruelty." (Chapter 4, pg. 23 of 30) "Death really isn't so terrible, I think. It's losing the chance to live that's sad." (Chapter 14, pg. 24 of 29) "I don't want to love anyone. Not during a war. Love will make me hurt." (Chapter 22, pg. 26 of 34) "We'll never get them back," he says. "Even if the war ends. I didn't know I was living in days that I could never get back." (Chapter 23, pg. 22 of 34. "The sky is so full and bright above us, shining down in all the hidden places," (Chapter 30, pg. 9 of 18 - because of course I'm including nods to this title as it is so poignant) "...pointed one finger and firmly told an ever questioning Oprah to 'Vait a minute." (Author's note, pg. 9 of 19 - I love this woman more even more) "How many people have the privilege of summing up the life of a person they admire so much?" (Author's note, pg. 17 of 19 - I <3 this author for bringing this forth too) It really is a beautiful book. And the author shares the vivid scenes while also explaining the exigency in the world during that time (and so much more can be extrapolated). It's a reminder (as always) - people can be cruel, but people will also be good. I never really forget, but it's absolutely still there.
They just are cutesy and I feel like endorsing them a tad...
Recommends of the weekend: Little Italy (the awkward is endearing) and The Spy Who Dumped Me (girl power!) This isn't a movie review, it's not even a book review.
It's more a reaction (note, this page will be adjusted, so if that line didn't make sense to you, welcome! this is my site!), but if you really need a quantifiable explanation - twelve. Twelve what you ask? That's on you. Driven to Distraction by Edward Hallowell is a wonderful read. There are variations of the book as well. They even have a brief version for those of you who get, ahem, distracted. The thoughts and processes that went into this book are wonderful, and that allows a bit of a connection between the reader and the author. Oh, they know what they're talking about and I trust them. But for me, it also is an opportunity to think. Always there is the evaluation of self, but that's even pointed out. So yes, you can work on yourself, but there's more to it. Individuals with ADD or a similar neuro-concern are people. I am not trying to belittle the situation, but to provide a starting ground. When you interact with people, you can adjust how you are communicating or approaching the situation, and that can benefit both ways. For me, this means when I am interacting with a student and they are agitated, that provides an opportunity a new approach. Take a walk. Listen. And really hear what they are saying. For my Media Literacy class, I wrote the following review of a review website. At the end is my personal review on the movie Divergent.
On metacritic.com, I looked at the differences between the critic and user reviews for the movie Divergent. Divergent received mixed reviews both from users and critics. There were a lot of positive user reviews, a few mixed user reviews, and a good amount of negative user reviews. Critics on the other hand had a good amount of positive reviews, a lot of mixed reviews, and two negative reviews. These numbers make since because users tend to love something or hate it while critics analyze the work more for its merits. The user reviews of this movie were mostly supportive of the work. A lot of the first reviews were from individuals who had not read the book prior to watching the movie, so it was nice that they pointed this fact out in addition to their opinion. The less-supportive reviews point out that it is just another Young Adult novel turned into a movie or particular characters in the film are not as they should have been. The critics of this movie wrote more about the plot relation in the movie and I found these the most helpful of reviews. There were a lot of mixed reviews from the critics, pointing out that it was a long movie or that it had a repetitive storyline. The positive critic reviews were either compliments of directing or summaries of the work. As a whole, the critics’ reviews were more about the movie and not about specifics. This was appreciated because the users definitely filled these gaps. Some of the positive user reviews note that the other critics should have done their “research” and read the books first. I disagree with this notion. I believe that books and movies are two different forms of entertainment with different ways to share a common goal of telling a specific story. And I doubt that these individuals have read all the book of all the movies that they have ever seen and enjoyed. I found it interesting that people whose entire post was a complaint about the lost scenes from book to movie were still giving it a good score. In this aspect, the critics reviews, though way shorter of reviews, were more helpful. Personally, I do not listen to critics reviews until after I have seen the subject of their review. My personal preferences are different from them and I will not have the same movie experiences as they did. For example, I hated Captain America: Winter Soldier (despite Captain America being my favorite Superhero) but I adored Godzilla, but based on public opinion, Captain America was a great movie and Godzilla was just another large monster movie. My own likes in movies are not going to be the same amongst friends, let alone strangers, so I will choose my movies, tv shows, or music based on my own preferences. Occasionally I will watch or read a review afterwards to see what the reviewer noticed that I did not. Typically this is through a YouTube station that I already watch material of and I am watching it just as much for the reviewers as for what is being reviewed. Through this, I will remember instances from the subject again and I might or might not share their opinions. When I watched Divergent, I loved it. And since I had various groups of friends who wanted to see it, I went back and watched it a second and third time and still loved it. I thought that this dystopian movie was paced enough that though I knew that two hours had passed, the movie was still keeping me entertained. As a college student who has taken several personality assessment tests, I had something to relate to in this movie. Watching the characters develop, I was getting a desire to do something brave. Though I have read the book as well, but I enjoyed the movie more. Most of all, this movie offered a principle idea that just because all signs point one way, you still have the freewill to go the other direction. |
AuthorI don't watch much media. I enjoy it, I just don't get to it that often. But this page is geared towards the pieces that make me want to type something up - be it a specific scene that resonates or any other reason. I'll still enjoy it. Archives
January 2021
Categories |