What I’ve Been Watching: June/July/August

Yeah, I’ve watched a few things these past few months. Once again, I’ve listed the order I’m reviewing/ranting about them down in the list below. The bolded ones are my favorites out of the bunch and I’ve included trailers for each one. Without further ado, let me share them with you =)

Movies                                              

Horror

• The Ring
• Mirrors
• Occulus

Science Fiction

• The Force Awakens
• Mockingjay
• Star Trek
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond

Historical

• The Duchess

TV

Science Fiction

• Mr. Robot
• Stranger Things
• Voltron: Legendary Defender (cartoon)

Realistic

• It’s Okay That’s Love (Kdrama)
• Unreal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ring

This was a decent horror movie but I don’t understand why it’s considered a classic. There were some scary moments (omg the part when the girl climbs out of the TV..*shudders*) but the storyline especially the backstory behind the videotape wasn’t really that compelling to me.

 

 

 

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Mirrors

 

My thoughts: This actually might be the worst horror movie I’ve seen in my life. People told me to watch it just for the scene where the girl in the bathtub peels off her face with her bare hands but the special effects were so bad that I just laughed. There was no sense of character, plot, or logic. In this one part, the security guard goes into the abandoned house and he’s looking at the mirror and for some reason, a random bird flies out of a bush inside this decrepit, old building. Please, director. You’re not scaring anyone and you know it. This movie was a hot mess; please stay away from it with a ten-foot pole.

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Oculus

 

I’m a little embarrassed to admit I haven’t finished this movie and I don’t really care anymore. It was just a little boring. I stopped halfway through and at that point they were still setting up the scare. It is one of the smarter horror films though that doesn’t rely on jump scares to frighten and actually has a compelling storyline.

 

 

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Mockingjay

 

I actually liked it more than I thought I would and I discuss why here.

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The Force Awakens

Ummmmmm, I was slightly disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I completely adored the action scenes especially the one at the end with Rey. I love that a woman is the main protagonist of such an iconic series (how many times in blockbuster movies do you see women going through the hero’s journey?) It was almost jarring to see a woman being part of big prophecies that are usually reserved for underdog heroes (usually white males). Love C3PO and the return of Chewbacca, Princess Leia, and Hans. What I didn’t like is the fact that the character development was a little off especially for Finn and at the end, SPOILER Hans died and everyone was like ok, moving on now.

Star Trek (2009)

Rewatching this movie after watching Star Trek Beyond really shows how much these characters have grown. I really loved the plot in this one and the development of the crew’s relationships along with its trademark humor. This movie definitely has a focus on Kirk and Spock. I know that the first two movies don’t stick all that much to the original but I think they stand really well on their own. Aside from the lack of female presence, I completely adore these movies as far as blockbusters go. They have just the right balance of scifi opera fun with smart and poignant character relationships and moments.

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Star Trek Into Darkness

• My favorite of the trilogy so far
• I did wish they had casted a POC for Khan because that was what he was but Benedict Cumberbatch is a magnificent actor albeit a little too dramatic at times. But he actually makes a challenging opponent.
• The scene with Carol Marcus still makes me cringe so hard and it’s so blatantly gratuitous that I’m wondering what the writers were even thinking at that part.
• The ending where Kirk is risking his life always makes me emotional *sigh* I just love Kirk and Spock’s relationship
• I love the chase scene between Spock and Khan

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Star Trek Beyond

• The action scenes really shine esp the ones on the ship (I mean what did I expect from The Fast and Furious director)
• I completely adore the relationship between Bones and Spock
• I seriously wish Uhura had more to do than just say pretty things; it’s a disrespect to her character
• I love the addition of Jaylah but her story arc was done by the middle of the movie and then she was just pointless after that smh so much potential

 

 

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The Duchess

I don’t think you can go wrong when Keira Knightley stars in a period piece even if the hairstyles are so freaking ridiculous haha. Her acting in this one is brilliant per usual and the storyline is heartbreaking. I’m actually quite surprised at how complex the person she was arranged to be married with was. Clearly, the audience was not meant to like him but he shows a depth that could have been swept under the rug. Another surprising thing was that this movie is actually quite a nod to feminism which was cool. The ending was a little unsatisfying for me mostly because I just wanted her character to be happy…

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TV

Science Fiction

Mr. Robot

Currently on: Season 2, ep 2

Mr. Robot is sort of a cross between Fight Club and American Psycho. It might be a show about hacking but it’s predominantly interested in the human psyche and social commentary: our reliance on technology and societal constraints. The social commentary can get annoyingly heavy handed in my opinion and simplifies the issue way too much which is ironic since this is a pretty complex show in terms of character. It’s definitely not your average digestible drama with a linear, fast plotline and easily labeled characters which is really refreshing. It’s slow and oftentimes confusing (imo) because it alternates a lot between the Elliot’s state of mind and what is actually happening. I’m in love with Rami Malek’s acting. You really can’t keep your eyes off him (the things he does with his eyes). In addition to brilliant acting, the cinematography is uniquely stylized and its electronic score is to die for.

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Stranger Things

The hype is definitely deserved for this show. It’s an 80’s inspired supernatural show with horror elements that’s very reminiscent of things like ET, Stand by Me, The Goonies, Super 8 (coincidentally my favorite movie ever), and Stephen King novels. In fact I’m starting to think that ’80’s parents don’t know where their kids are half the time, that all ’80’s boys really like Dungeons and Dragons and that ’80s high school kids were actually separated into the loners and the popular kids. But it does enough things differently that make it stand out. The mystery aspect (what is this weird demon thing and where the fuck is Will) is consistently engaging and kept me on the edge of my seat. The acting is so well done and I love the chemistry between the group ensemble. The themes of friendship and loyalty between the characters are heartwarming and really make you care. There’s also a few truly creepy scenes that were really exciting. Btw my header came from the lovely makeitstranger.com logo generator.

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Voltron

I adored this so much that I did a full review of it here.

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Realistic

It’s Okay That’s Love

On the lovely recommendation of Summer over @xingsings, I decided to watch this kdrama. Her review does it way more justice than I do so you should check it out. I must say the strength in this drama lies in its character chemistry, both between the main characters and the side characters. And it’s so refreshing to see a kdrama embrace female sexuality more. It reminded me a lot of It’s Kind of a Funny Thing by Ned Vizzini where it explores mental illness in a humorous and endearing way (albeit at times really inaccurate) and it has a little romantic subplot between our two main characters who have mental illnesses. It definitely leans more towards the vibrant and optimistic side of things than the dark but it doesn’t skimp on the dark emotion especially near the end.

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Unreal

This show was such a pleasant surprise. Never in my life did I think I would like a show about a fictional version of The Bachelor. But I love it. The characters are despicable but utterly compelling, especially the two main ones whose relationship resembles Walter’s and Jesse’s from Breaking Bad. The writing is top-notch and the drama doesn’t hold any punches. It just gets more and more dramatic and intense as each episode goes on but never in a way that I felt was unbelievable or shocking just to be shocking. The ways in which Quinn and Rachel manipulate the show and the contestants is so disgusting but so clever at the same time, you can’t help but see how it unfolds. It was also a very unique satire on reality TV and the way that women tear each other apart.

Which ones have you seen? What did you think of them? Are you planning on watching on any of these? I would love to hear your thoughts! =)