Indie films were never really my cup of tea, but Call Me By Your Name —directed by Luca Guadagnino — might serve as the catalyst that changes all of that. I’d desperately like to refrain from labelling this film, and inadvertently limiting it, by categorising it as ‘a great queer film’ because it’s truly more than that. Call Me By Your Name is a beautiful story of a wonderfully passionate and seductive summer friendship turned romance.
Award-winning director Joe Wright is back with another masterpiece. Much like his previous works, such as Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007), Darkest Hour functions as an absolutely brilliant film which ought to be seen and enjoyed for years to come.
The film showcases the first five weeks of Winston Churchill’s appointment as British Prime Minister during the second World War. Featuring all of his initial trials and tribulations, his determination to never give up and his refusal to surrender Britain. Ultimately, this film encapsulates the details of Churchill’s initiation of battle against Hitler’s tyranny.
Hello.
It’s been quite a few months since I’ve reviewed anything on this site. I’m not going to make any promises but I am thinking of writing a review for the new Logan film as well as an animated film which was recently retitled as Leap, that I quite enjoyed. Obviously it was crucial and expected that I review Logan, fair warning, it completely ripped out my heart and had me wailing in the cinemas. Hey! Twenty bucks completely warrants the freedom to cry in a public place. The only thing shocking about it all was how everyone remained thoroughly composed about the whole thing and walked out of there so nonchalantly. Did nobody else just have their childhood stripped away from them?
I’m sorry, I’m getting rather carried away and we’re not even writing the Logan Film Review right now.
Itazura na kiss. It’s been a story that has been told so many times before. We’ve seen an almost impossible amount of versions of it from almost all of the known Asian countries. It is a rather ridiculously overplayed storyline, however it’s almost become some sort of a classic in the whole romantic comedy community. The story is absolutely timeless.
Great news.
I am officially back; and staying.
I have just finished my final WACE examinations which ultimately means that I am finally done with my twelve years of compulsory schooling and ready to move onto the next stage of my life. Adulthood. I’m sure we’ll continue this great conversation on my other blog: LinnTellsAStory , as today we have much more exciting matters to deal with. Such as the final Bridget Jones film instalment that our inner 2001 selves never thought would come.
It’s here. It’s finally here. The Chihayafuru live action movie that most of us have been waiting for, for at least 6 months, is finally here.
Yes, I am back and with another Marvel Movie to boot!
I know it’s a little late for this review considering that this came out … what two years ago now. However, I had just only recently gotten my hands on it; the morning after screening Dead Pool in fact. So just for the sole purpose of going straight to the point, the film Ant Man definitely trumps DeadPool- on any day, at any time. I’m serious, I really would not be able to handle another round of DeadPool. I’m not hating on him as a character, just his movie.
But we’re not here to discuss the catastrophic mess of that again so let’s go straight to the deconstruction of Ant Man. Now I don’t know about you, but I actually really liked this film. It was funny, sad and most of all it had me actually contemplating who would win – just like what a good action film should accomplish in doing so. Now before we get into all the nitty-gritty details, as always, let us go back to my personal history with the whole franchise.
Personally, I’m not too familiar with the cartoon show but I was a complete sucker for the whole Hank and Jan couple pairing. Which makes sense because they are meant to end up together- considering that they are both insect-related-super heroes; one’s a wasp-lady and the other’s an ant-man (Aside from being completely gorgeous, I mean, how pleasing is he on the eyes? You know he is.)
And they look even better here:
I do like them. I think that they are very cute together but there is one thing that I need to get off of my chest. How does Hank always manage to catch Jan in his massive hands without crushing her entire body- but then again you could say that that’s how gentle Hank is despite his very articulate physique. And so despite my opposing of Hank Pym’s science lab of freely crawling insects, I have a rather soft spot for the Ant Man. (And that is where our origin story began. I’m just kidding.)
Then again, I’m not here to discuss the cartoon but rather the less handsome, less blonde Scott Lang AKA Paul Rudd. Which I have absolutely no qualms about because he and I also have a little history together. See, I first met him when he married Phoebe and I honestly do marvel (Pun Intended) at how much he hasn’t aged because have you seen Lisa Kudrow nowadays? She definitely looks her age.
And… we’re getting side-tracked again.
Unlike most of the other Marvel movies that have been produced, this film isn’t about the origin story of Ant Man. No, it’s about Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and how he is recruited by the Hank Pym ( the original Ant Man) to become the new Ant Man in order to prevent Darren Cross from being a generic bad guy. Thus we shall proceed to the general introductions.
Meet Hank Pym, played by Michael Douglas, who invented the technology to transform himself into Ant Man. Though his super hero identity was always kept a secret, he did a rather terrible job of hiding it since his assistant at that time, Darren Cross, managed to stumble across the chemical’s formula. Hank Pym, sensing Cross’ potential of becoming a complete maniac, kept denying his knowledge of the formula and would not reveal it to Cross; which ultimately led Cross to somehow possess the power to usurp Pym Corp right from underneath Hank. Yeah, I don’t know how this works but it somehow does so let’s just roll along with it.
To be honest, I never really liked Michael Douglas- mostly because he was always type-cast as the antagonist of every film that he has starred in, however it was definitely refreshing to see him take on a role as a good guy for a change. He did an excellent job by the way. I have to commend the techno guys who were able to realistically reverse the clock on Douglas’ face; it was great, no flaws at all.
I would give Darren Cross an introduction as well but he’s slightly crazy and I don’t think I want to go there. First of all that animal cruelty with the goats, I wouldn’t have minded it as much if he had just conducted those experiments on humans but come on, what did the cute, adorable innocent goats ever do to him? In all honesty, I think ‘as a bad guy’ I wouldn’t have even bothered to work out that shrinking formula, I would’ve just sold those pulverising guns. How effective were they? Gross, definitely a yes but they were unquestionably effective.
Moving on.
Here’s Hank’s daughter. I have absolutely no qualms about the actress but the character did annoy me a little at the start. That whole’moody teenager’ attitude did not suit a thirty-year-old woman. However, after that when she finally stopped being so sulky, she was great. I liked her. She knows hand-to-hand combat so she’s not one of those ‘damsels in distress’ and for now, that’s good enough for me.
Finally we move on to the main character. Scott Lang. I do like Paul Rudd so seeing his personality shine through really put a smile on my face. Especially in that scene where he suggested that they call the Avengers. Because really, why are they not solving this issue with the help of the Avengers? That would make everything so much more simple. So it was nice to see Marvel having the capability of ridiculing themselves.
It was also great seeing Falcon, I’m really glad that Marvel was able to establish that Ant Man was no joke, even if it came at the price of humiliating Falcon. Speaking of the fight scenes, I really liked that about this film. The fight scenes, especially the one at the end, actually has you at the edge of your seat, wondering who’s going to win. That suspense, when you think that Ant Man isn’t going to make it. It’s incredible.
Now I just want to give some credit to the side characters as well. First of all the Latino dude, loved him. I loved his long winded story-telling skills to his ability to kick some butt. He was absolutely hilarious, which brings me to- “What?! They actually allowed Anna Akana to starr in this movie?!”. I mean sure, she doesn’t even have a name nor is she even allowed to use her voice. But I still can’t believe it, she’s just a YouTuber and somehow she was able to land such a sweet gig?
I do have some questions on this matter though. In her videos, she’s always exiting with “Stay awesome Gotham”. Which is obviously a Batman referrence and since she’s such a Batman fan, wouldn’t she prefer DC over Marvel. However, AntMan is owned by Marvels and not DC and so if Marvel recruited her or if she auditioned for the part in Marvel, wouldn’t she be killing her chances of ever making an appearance in DC? Thus essentially, shooting her own foot. But with that aside, she was able to meet Falcon and maybe even Paul Rudd. How is this happening? I mean, good for her but man, how sweet would it have been to meet Paul Rudd?
With all that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. And I actually look forward to the sequel. Now in no way am I saying that I ‘loved’ this film but I’m just going to say that I liked it way more than Dead Pool. It just had more substance you know.
I mean come on, in no way did I ever find myself tearing up in Dead Pool. On the other hand, Ant Man had me welling up with the death of Anthony and you cannot argue with the cuteness of the ants when they got their sugar cube rejected by Paul Rudd.
And who’s going to make it into the new Civil War movie? That’s right Ant Man is! I really do hope that he’ll be working along side Tony Stark because I just think the sarcastic nature between the two of them would just ultimately blow my mind. Also since we’re on the subject of Civil War, can we just marvel at the fact that Spider- Man is finally included? Spider-man, after his many years of being a loner, will finally be able to share the screen with the whole gang. I absolutely cannot wait.
And with that I’m out!
Good day.
I’m here today to review the fourth instalment of J.K. Rowling’s book series: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Now if you’re wondering why I’m skipping the first three and jumping straight into the fourth one, it is obviously due to the fact that I’m a rather spontaneous person and therefore it is only natural for me to execute things in a rather spontaneous manner. Henceforth, we shall be jumping straight into the Goblet of Fire.
Only joking, see I’m a forgetful person. I forget things…very easily. And so as to avoid me forgetting certain events in the fourth book, I shall be reviewing it straight away while it is still imprinted in my head. ( I have recently finished reading the fourth book and am now reading The Order of the Phoenix.) However, do not fret, I shall also be reviewing the first three books. All in good time, my friend.
[There will be spoilers- as always]
This is the fourth book. Where things start to get serious. Voldemort’s back. He kills Cedric for pete’s sake!
So it’s not surprising that the books start to get longer from here on out. It took me quite a while to break through this one, considering that the longest it took me to finish the first three equates to less than a week. But I did it and it was awesome.
I’m going to keep repeating this because it’s absolutely true. It doesn’t matter that I’ve watched all of the Harry Potter movies, maybe more than once, because the movies tend to miss all of those tiny details that really ties this whole series together. Therefore, even though I am fully aware of the major events that take place in each of the instalments, everything still seems completely new and wonderful to me.
For example, we really get to see all of those little hints of Ron’s jealousy- not just at the Yule Ball. He’s ALWAYS jealous. Always. It’s adorable and hilarious. Something else that I thoroughly enjoyed were the elves. They talk so much about the elves that serve at Hogwarts. It’s incredible. In addition to that, we are blessed with Dobby’s presence once again. I absolutely love Dobby, I think that he is the most loyal friend anyone could ever ask for.
Speaking of Dobby, did you know that it was him that helped Harry Potter complete the second task with the Gilly Weed? Not Neville? I don’t know how they could’ve missed out on something so completely crucial as that! And since we’re on the whole comparing stage, it was Fred that came to get Ron and Hermione before the second task, not Mad-Eye Moody the imposter. It’s crazy how directors can just change details like that. (Not to mention, James Phelps could’ve received more screen time if they hadn’t done what they did.)
Now onto much more pressing matters- Sirius.
I loved him even more in this book- is that possible? Sirius was … simply adorable. And his love for Harry as his godson is beautiful. He survived off of rats and rodents just for Harry. If that is no love, I don’t know what love is. Plus I loved that Sirius instructed the trio to refer to him as ‘Snuffles’. Because honestly, how adorable is it that he’s a fully grown man that suffered through all kinds of terrors for his loved ones and yet, after contemplating over a secret code name for god-knows-how long, he finally decides of ‘Snuffles’. It’s brilliant!
Since we’re on the subject of adorableness (not a word), Viktor Krum.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I do not at all even consider Viktor as a possible love interest for Hermione Granger. (For one, his English is deplorable and it’s not as if Hermione is capable of conversing in any other language other than English. So there’s our first problem right there.) Plus, they have nothing in common other than Viktor’s primal instincts being conveyed via staring at Hermione while she’s studying.
However, his humungous crush on her is slightly adorable slash hilarious slash slightly awkward.
Exhibit A- Viktor Krum displays his affection towards her by inviting her over during the summer and declares his that she is the only girl that has ever made him feel this way before. Now that line, although cliche, can never really get old. When said by the right person, it is completely timeless. (Not saying that Viktor is the right guy for Hermione.)
Now, onto different matters.
Snape is a vile man. He is completely spiteful and pathetic. I have never liked him one bit! And my feelings of hatred towards this character has only increased as I’ve progressed through the books. He’s a horrible man. His constant need to pick on the trios is absolutely insufferable. It’s pathetic! How old is this guy anyway? Who the heck decided that his level maturity even met with the requirements for this position as a professor?
Example. In the Goblet of Fire, there is a scene where Malfoy and Harry get into a little fight. Harry casts a charm that accidentally hits Goyle instead of Malfoy. And same goes for Malfoy, his charm ends up hitting Hermione- enlarging her teeth. When Snape arrives, Malfoy tells on Harry. SHOCKER. However, when Harry tries to justify his actions by explaining that Malfoy enlarged Hermione’s teeth to a rather painful size, Snape just states that he thinks that Hermione’s teeth look completely normal to him and that Hermione normally looks like that anyway.
Don’t you just want to knock the guy out?
Who cares if he was bullied when he was younger? Serves him right for being such a spiteful person anyway. How does him bullying children that are less than half his age justify anything? It’s pathetic.
And for all those people that despise people like me who do not show any ounce of pity for the man, let’s see how you would feel if the man bullied you- by being a pathetic little snake.
He was selfish man that couldn’t stand that he wasn’t enough of a man for Lily. There’s a reason why he was placed into the Slytherin house. He is spiteful.
Well, I feel that I definitely liked the book more than the movie. It’s just a lot more lovable. With more detail on Sirius, Dobby and everything else.
Greetings.
Let me start off with saying that I am feeling indeed rather embarrassed with myself. I’ve just been checking in with my Linn Reviews statistics for this year and was hit with the shocking fact that I had only written two blog posts through the course of this entire year. TWO!
I find this to be absolutely terrible on my part, how did this happen? Or should I say…. how did I let it slip this far?
Being absolutely honest, this was definitely the biggest year so far- in terms of studying- however, this is simply not an excuse for my lack of writing reviews. It is ridiculously surprising that the amount of views for this year alone trumped the views that I had received last year; even though I had written eleven times the amount that had been published this year. This is not an excuse to slack however.
Therefore, to breathe new life into this blog once again, I shall be writing reviews for all eight of the Harry Potter movies before this year comes to an end. I am also determined to write about my thoughts on the Harry Potter novels as I am currently experiencing the wonders of their magic. [Pun Intended]
The Harry Potter series and I travel way way back. When we were younger, my sister was absolutely in love with Harry Potter and so I was dragged to each and every one of their movies. When they first came out, I was forced to go; along with all my other family members- who, by the way, had no particular interest in them either.
Bear in mind that when the first movie came out in 2001, I was three years old. And as a three year old that was forced to see a film, that was about a boy fighting a nose-less freak, at a cinema- late at night, it was definitely not surprising that I fell asleep through the whole thing. (It was great, I had the time of my life curling into a ball, like a little puppy, and just having a little snooze. Best sleep of my life. Seriously.)
From then on, it became somewhat of an unspoken tradition of mine, go to the cinema and sleep through the new Harry Potter film. Obviously, the little toddler me had no idea how my parents were paying the cinema for my two hours of shut-eye was working out. Heck, all I knew was that the boy who lived did a great job in making me fall asleep every year.
It was odd though. I only fell asleep during the Harry Potter films because I stayed right awake throughout all the other films that I was dragged along to. Such as Zoro II and this Batman movie. After watching Zoro II, that was the first time I fell in love with Antonio Bandaras. I was five… and clearly under-aged. But he was just so understanding about the whole thing. It took him awhile to accept that we couldn’t see each other but he was wonderful. Sometimes he… [I’m sorry, I’ll stop. It was just so hard to control myself.]
So where were we?
That’s right! Harry Potter.
Now after my previous relationship with this series, it’s odd that I’m now currently obsessed with it. However, during my final examination period this year, I just found myself looking at Harry Potter related things online and then channel nine decided to have this Harry Potter marathon over the course of eight weeks. I was then enveloped in this sudden urge to have my own style of marathons and obviously that was unheard of since I was involved in the war- THE EXAMS.
So I decided to motivate myself, I baited myself into studying as hard as I did, all for the sake of being able to reward myself with a massive Harry Potter Movie Marathon at the end of everything. It was crazy. The marathon commenced immediately after I arrived home from my Politics and Law exam and lasted for a duration of one and a half days. It was pretty intense. I mean it, staying up till two AM and surviving off of my sheer love for the series. It started off with me being completely crazy about Hermione and Ronald, as well as their fated bond off-screen as Emma and Rupert. However, by the end of the series, it was all about the Weasley twins and my very apparent attraction towards James Phelps. That’s right. At the age of seventeen, I fell in love with James and it was completely mutual. Despite him being twenty-nine and twelve years my senior, we have decided that it’s a big step from my age gap with Antonio so that makes this completely okay.
But in all seriousness, that was the start of my love for Harry Potter. In a sense, it’s pretty great that I’m completely new to this fandom because that means that I get to experience all the happiness of falling in love with this series for the first time. And I’m at a mature age, where I can fully appreciate it. I don’t care if people on public transport judge me for ‘reading a children’s book’. It’s brilliant and I love it. And honestly, I think that I’m forever going to remain a child. I’m still waiting for puberty to work its magic on me. I don’t think puberty ever wants to deal with me, ever.
So that’s it.
Look out for my future reviews.
And have a great day.
Greetings.
I’m back with another movie review. I know that this is a lil’ different compared to the usual anime reviews and such, however I haven’t had much time to start up any new anime series. I stumbled over this movie, Little Manhattan, that was released in 2005 that starred an adorable, chubby, little Josh Hutcherson.
Now, let me just give you the rundown on my past with young Joshie.
I’ve been a fan of the films : ‘Zathura’, ‘Journey – To the Centre of the Earth’ and ‘Bridge to Terabithia’. Also, unbeknownst to me… he was also that chubby, obnoxious kid in the film- RV. Yes, I do mean the one starring Jojo and Robin Williams [The one and only].
However, I was completely unaware of this movie- Little Manhattan’s existence, until I recently saw Josh’s IMDB. After watching the cheesy trailer and stumbling over the movie online, I just couldn’t resist watching it…even though I was in the midst of studying for my exams… [It was okay though!! I swear. I limited myself, I actually found my performance in studying and focusing better! So what I did was sort out my time and spent 50 minutes of pure concentration on my studies and later rewarding myself with 15 hilarious minutes of ‘Little Manhattan’.]
My thoughts on this incredibly old school movie? I loved it! I absolutely loved it!
I mean, yeah. What it cheesy? ABSOLUTELY.
Was it corny? UNCERTIFIABLY. (I don’t care if that’s a word or not. Because it’s the only way to express my thoughts.)
But it was its undoubtedly cheesy and corny existence that made it so hilariously adorable!
I don’t know…but it was just something about seeing a cute, little Josh freak out and overthink every single detail and going through the stages of paranoia that every single person of the female gender has been a victim off… that was oddly satisfying and oh-so- gratifying.
So to kick this thing off, let’s start with a quick summary of this lovable movie.
‘Little Manhattan’ is set in Manhattan (obviously) and highlights the cruel two-faced nature of love through Gabe’s (Young Josh) tale of First Love. Gabe is a typical 90s kid that lives in the fabulous ‘Big Apple’; New York. At the young cheery age of ten and three quarters, Gabe is quick to become the victim of love as he sets his eyes (and heart) on Rosemary Telesco, the rich, pretty, tap-dancing, karate-loving girl that he used to play with… before kids started reaching that whole gender-segregating phase.
As he starts falling hard, we are given the golden opportunity of savoring every little bit of it as he gets his butt kicked, overthinks everything, goes on dates with her, kisses her, proclaims his false hatred towards her, cries as the sinking feeling of regret hits him hard, declaring his undying love for her (repeatedly might I add) and of course… slow dancing with her.
I don’t know about you, but I found myself cracking up every five minutes, either from the sheer cuteness or how Young Joshie was an adorable, creepy, little stalker. You have got to admit that at least. My favourite seen was how he still, under all that love-sickness, was just a childish little kid. Just watching him yell ‘I hate you’ and then bursting into tears completely makes my day. Does that make me kinda mean..?
But how does that not just crack you up?
It’s inevitable!!
So far, I have come to the conclusion that this film is an absolute MUST-WATCH. Even though, it is no where near the list of my favourite movies, it just definitely something you must pick up.
It’s a light-hearted romantic comedy that everyone can enjoy, so I highly recommend it!
If you’ve already watched it, then tell me what your thoughts are on it!
Did you burst into tears? Or burst into laughter?
Let me know!
Honest Linn 