Avatar 2

 I wasn't really looking forward to it. For one, I can't really recall what happened in Avatar, so it must mean however subtly that it was not of significant interest for me. Second, too much CGIs. Third, it's freaking 3 hours long.

But my friend wanted to watch it, and I'm the kind of person who, when kickstarted something, has the compulsion to end it unless it is unbearably painful to do so (Thanks, Lost).

So we watched it on a Saturday afternoon. I watched it with a friend, and the ticket cost 2 dollars more than usual for reasons I do not know.

But long story short.

The beginning is draggy and soporific, the second half though was stunningly mesmerising and absolutely mindblowing. 

The underwater scenes make Talokan in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever looks amateurish.

The action scenes surpass almost all Marvel movies I've watched (although Gamora is on it).

The movies contain many emotions: anger, grief, cheer, hope, disappointment etc.

Without releasing too much spoilers, I would say I shed a few tears near the end. It was tragic, absolutely tragic.

Is the movie worth the money? Absolutely.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely.

Would I be eager to watch the third? I would place my money for a booking if it's allowed.

Overall, second-best film of 2022. I'm sorry, top spot is still Top Gun: Maverick for me.

It Broke My Heart

 When I was only 18, ten years ago, I asked a question, and the answer broke my heart.

I'm going to admit one thing: with everyone around me getting married, becoming a parent, or otherwise engaged, and I'm gradually becoming the only one staying single, it affects me a lot.

But the thing is, I don't know how to get a girlfriend. I'm not good at intimacy. I do not crave intimacy. 

It all boiled down to my childhood.

As you're probably aware, I never had a happy childhood. My parents did not get along well. They quarrelled a lot, very extensively.

Then their interests don't overlap - in fact, they run in opposite.

I never had a proper family outing, proper family adventure, proper family holiday, proper family occasion or celebration etc. My father did bring us to holiday but it was only for a short period.

Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, and they showered me with love.

But the lack of love between them, and the hostility they hurled at each other, deeply affected them and scarred me more than I cared to admit.

More then I realised, until I actually attempted to confront them.

Because of my childhood, I never actually understand 'love'. I never actually understand 'family'. 

Because of my childhood, I learnt to take care of myself. I learnt to be independent, to never reach out, because often reaching out to either one of my parent led to another conflict - I avoided that completely.

Because of my childhood, I never learnt to socially mingle with anyone. I shut myself in my own world.

And so, all these form who I am today.

And it has become very lonely.

I'm aware I'm a social oddity - I am an odd one out wherever I go.

My parents quarrelled so much, hurt each other so much, it reached a point where I asked my mother 'Why don't the both of you just get a divorce?'

My mother replied, it was because I was still studying.

It completely shattered my heart, and it haunts me even today.

First of all, for obvious reasons they were better off separated. It hurt me to know I was the reason they continued to hurt each other. 

It completely scarred me that I was the reason they continued to conflict. That I was the source of the discontent that dragged on for years.

Second, I was still in school. I hadn't entered university. It was too much for a youth to bear, and it was too much for me to realise it still take years for me to finish study and I would continue to be the source of their pain.

Since then, I decided shutting myself was the way to go.

Because nobody would understand, I thought.

Seriously, unless you live through it, you couldn't possibly understand how hurtful the situation was.

I did not think anybody would understand if I confess it to anybody.

I did not think anybody would take me seriously. We were just a bunch of youths.

While my peers were happily indulging in puppy loves, I was facing a broken home.

There was no way they could understand.

This is not a healthy thought, and I recognise that.

Do not worry, I am not depressed, and I am not even remotely contemplating suicide.

I am facing my inner demon, and I want to get over with. 

It's just a lot harder than I had imagined, and I really don't know how to get over it.

Maybe I should seek medical counselling.

Maybe I should confide in someone. I have never spilt this to anyone physically.

I've put on a facade of happiness and cheerfulness for very long.

It's getting tiring. Especially when I'm not - amidst the wave that everyone has finally found their love.

I need some guidance.

I need help.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

First of all, this was my first time patronising Cathay AMK, and I found it to be leaps and bounds above GV in terms of seats, screen and sound effects; but embarrassingly lagged behind GV in terms of adopting electronic means to get orders and ticketing.

I was a little hesitant about watching this sequel because Chadwick had died. Black Panther wouldn't be the same if the person is not there. But this sequel does manage to deliver a little.

The biggest complaint is that this sequel focuses too much on Shuri. I don't really like her, and she emerges as a Black Panther only like the last 30 minutes of the film. And she isn't a very convincing Black Panther.

It does seem unfortunate that Wakanda is suddenly under attack by Talokan after T'Challa died. But given what transpired in the film, I'm pretty sure even if T'Challa is still alive, the Talokan would have been able to decimate Wakanda similarly rather effortlessly. 

This movie attempts to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, but I personally doubt it worked. There's significantly less jokes compared to other MCU films (but not none, though all seemed a lot more appropriately phrased); and the settings in many scenes are too dark for enjoyment. 

The Talokans are not fascinating in my opinion. Also, where were they when Thanos came?

Good movie, just not the best. I rate it 7/10, I prefer Doctor Strange and Thor better.

Avicii - The Days

I know I've shared this before, but I just really love this song. It's my favourite Avicii's song. And this song never fails to lift me up.

This song is way too underrated.

By the way, I really miss Avicii.

The Flight Attendant 2

 Let's admit it - I watch the show because of Kaley Cuoco. But season 1 was average - it wasn't memorable and didn't contain enough suspense for me to hook me up. Nonetheless, it was a decent show that delivered some fun, but that's about it. Season 2 though was a remarkable improvement, in my opinion. We've reached a stage where character introduction is no longer needed. We know what's Cassie's problem in season 1, she took a while to figure it out, and then we now look at how Cassie deals with it in season 2. Annie and her boyfriend are a lovely couple that I'm glad given a lot more screen time. Shane is a delight that I really doubt convincingly portrays a CIA agent. 

As for the rest, like I said, it's a better show. The suspense is better. The mystery is also better. But I'll admit the psychological battle or the inner conflicts she suffers is boring and mundane. Grace is a fun character but seriously she isn't a convincing killer, and Cassie should have trusted her instinct better. 

My rating: 8/10

Smile

 I travelled to Sarawak, for reasons I'll find time to elaborate in other posts. But I had free time to kill and I decided to watch Smile, a horror movie I've heard raved and praised for its uniqueness. So I checked the timeslot at The Spring in Kuching and found one about two hours later and bought it without hesitating too much as I knew hesitation and unnecessary deliberation had not been proved helpful most of the time. By the way, though MBO in Spring gave me bad impressions, this time GSC seemed to have improved it.

Anyway I went for the 7.15pm screen but was shopping at Parkson shortly before. I went to the counter and paid for what I wanted at about 7.05pm and thought it would be timely then to enter the hall, but I did not anticipate transaction errors the counter might face. It caused me a delay and by 7.20pm I said I couldn't wait anymore and left - the only problem they had was the inability to print the receipt for me. The product could still be paid for and was successfully paid for. I thus left.

I entered the hall late about 7.25pm and thought the trailers would run for 15 minutes, but I was slightly wrong - it had begun, but judging from the looks of it, only for about a few minutes. Anyway, the hall was pretty empty. And I think due to my rush, I was a little clumsy and noisy and disruptive, especially when I on the torch in my phone to find my seat in an otherwise dark room that was suitable for the genre.

Anyway, to the movie.

It was good, but it wasn't 'smiley' enough. The theme of the movie is about an evil entity that smiles. That's it, but 99.5% of the movies involve no smiling. The main character saw a person smiling at her and then slit her own throat, and she thus is haunted by a ghost that no one else can see. That's the gist of it, and she began her homework to find the root of the evil.

Okay, the movie had tonnes of jumpscares. It relies on psychological tricks and appropriately-timed jumpscares to keep the movie alive - and it worked. It scared the shit out of many people. I was in the hall and many people were screaming, some actually tried to leave the hall. I saw a guy standing by the door, not sure whether he had wanted to go for the loo and decided to stay a little to watch what was going to happen or that he was just scared and wanted to go. 

But the jumpscares worked. It reminded me of the movie Oculus, about an evil mirror that curses the beholders. Movies that deploy psychological trickery, if masterfully crafted, could enthrall viewers in manners others genres could not. And Smiles did - a few jumpscares really worked, and it really made the movie a lot more interesting rather than dulling it by repeating what the viewers could have foreseen.

Though, I must add, for the jumpscares to work, you probably do not want to watch the trailers first. I watched the trailers and found how revealing they were and am glad I did not watch it before the movie.

Overall, I give it a 9/10. One of the finest horror movies recently. Horror movies have been on the decline, especially since J-horror and Thai horror had appeared to cease, and quality horror movies had all but came to a screeching halt other than the Conjuring. Smile is a welcome return of the horror genre.

Marcella

 It ain't that bad a series, but it ain't extremely captivating or fascinating either. The titular character, Marcella, is a detective who had temporarily left the police force to cope with the death of her child. She's had a troubled life - estranged husband and two disconnected children. In season 1 she had to deal with a cold case she worked on. In season 2, now that she's back on the workforce, she's dealing with the disappearance of her son's friend, the discovery of his body, and the uncover of a serial killer.

I wouldn't say it's a bad series, but it certainly is pecular. Marcella is not your typical smart detective. She's antithesis of the typical police fictional character - she's smart, but her impulsiveness triumphs more and is obviously more dominant. She's mentally medically ill and she's leading a dysfunctional life and is not enjoying a stable, blossoming romantic life. But she remains sharp, although largely guided by her impulsiveness so it hadn't been always been receptively entertained.

The good thing about the series, like a typical British series, is that the emphasis of the character's personal growth is secondary to the main theme of the show. You'll be spending more time watching the crime rather than the drama of the character's lives. The bad thing is that Marcella is disturbed and I'm not sure how a person like her actually is a model representation of a hero even though it's obviously fictional.

Nonetheless, I've watched season 1 and season 2, with season 3 next. I know that the online consensus seems to favour season 2 over season 1, but I happened to like season 2 more than season 1. I'm not sure why, but I thought season 2 is underappreciated. The complexity of the crime is obviously few notches higher than season 1's, and the crime itself is just more interesting.

I'll look forward to season 3, but Marcella proves to me that British series has always been better than American series.