Movie

#Alive relatable to life in 2020?

Standard

The movie, #Alive, shows how easily a virus can become a pandemic and probably describes how many people felt sheltering in place in early 2020. I never thought zombie movies would be relatable to real life, but no one could predict this year.

***Spoilers ahead***

The rundown
It’s a classic story of boy meets girl. Oh, and there is a virus spreading rapidly throughout Seoul, causing people to eat other people. It begins with a young man, Joon-woo, locked in his apartment with few supplies and a sticky note reminding him he must survive. In the beginning, he has water, electricity, and social media to connect to the outside world but no cell service to call. As the days go on, everything gets cut off. He’s desperate, alone, and has a date with a noose. In the act of trying to kill himself, he receives a sign that he isn’t alone. A young woman across the complex with a slew of survival gear and a spiked chair that would make Buffy the vampire slayer jealous teams up with our main man, Joon-woo, to stay #alive.

Why is it a bad/good horror movie?

I don’t think this is a great horror movie, but it was entertaining enough. I wouldn’t say this film is scary, but the faint of heart might find it a little more suspenseful than I did. I think the filmmakers did a superb job of drawing you into the characters and making you want them to survive. In the end, there is a moment that you believe it is over for this duo, and you don’t want that for them. They don’t deserve to die on the rooftop ripped to shreds by the zombies. If you care enough about the characters, I don’t think it can be called a bad horror movie. It had some cheese, but sometimes that’s a good thing.

The creepiest/best/cheesiest scene or quote?

One of the cheesiest scenes is when a fireman zombie, using a thin rope that probably wouldn’t hold the weight of anyone dead or alive, starts climbing up to Yoo-bin’s apartment. Joon-woo attempts to save the day by using his drone to try to fight the zombie. Yep, you read that correctly. To add to the “suspense” of the moment, Joon-woo also has zombies “knocking” at his door. Yoo-bin is unconscious on the floor but comes to just in time to cut the hand off the fireman zombie, and he falls to his final death. The zombies also stopped trying to get into Joon-woo’s apartment for whatever reason.

One other scene that made me chuckle involved Joon-woo and Yoo-bin are waiting for the elevator with a hoard of zombies just outside the glass doors. I’m sure they are panicked, but they looked too casual to me.

Who won the movie?

Kim Yoo-bin – the girl across the complex: She’s a survivor and helps Joon-woo several times. He fails to “save” her from the fireman zombie, but she’s a strong female who saves herself (not saying that she didn’t need help other times). She’s also a believable actress and character. I love it when she fights off the barrage of zombies to get to Joon-woo’s apartment. Shes’ all-around badass. Toward the end, she disappoints me briefly when she suggests they should kill themselves while they’re still human.

3 Good Things & 3 Bad Things

  1. I thought the zombies were believable with the milky eyes, bloody wounds, and movement. I had a tough time deciding how to classify these zombies, but I’d say they’re a cross between the Walkers in The Walking Dead and the zombies from 28 Days Later. If you didn’t know there are different types of zombies, I leave you with this: https://zombie.fandom.com/wiki/Types_of_Zombies
  2. I loved that Yoo-bin’s plant stole the limelight. I hope it survives.
  3. Even though this movie wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen, it still deserves to be seen.
  4. A few things didn’t make things believable or took you out of the story because you were questioning it.
  5. The close up of Joon-woo eating noodles grossed me out more than the zombies.
  6. I wish you would’ve known what happen to Joon-woo’s family. The English translation just said messages. I have to assume they survived because he smiled.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Standard

When I heard about the new Jumanji movie, my 10-year-old inner child screamed in horror at the thought of a remake of one of my beloved childhood movies.

How dare “they” try to bring another movie from my early years to the big screen AGAIN. I was a little judgy about it, but my grandma, who has a major crush on Dwayne Johnson, wanted to see it. I sucked it up and took her to the theater.

To my surprise, I actually liked it (I had similar feelings/thoughts about the remake of IT). There are MAJOR differences from the original and I think that is a huge part of why I enjoyed it. (SPOILERS…sort of) The film goes from two kids/two adults to four kids who change to four adults and one Nick Jonas who later is Colin Hanks, from board game to video game, from the game coming out into the real world to the characters going into the game world. Definitely different.

Homage was paid to the original film with a shout out to “Alan Parrish,” which won some points from me. If they would’ve made the movie more like the original, I immediately thought Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler: Stranger Things) should be young Alan. Alas, they didn’t and I’m okay with the casting. Again, surprised like so many others.

Dwayne Johnson, who I still call “The Rock,” is mediocre, but seriously addicting to watch (he’s way better than his first role in The Mummy Returns). He’s also funny in his own way (see Bay Watch as another example – it’s like a car wreck, you can’t help but stare). Sprinkle in Kevin Hart, who has previous film chemistry with Johnson and is hilarious; Jack Black, who is perfect in his role as a teenage girl stuck in “an old white guy’s body;” and the beautiful and talented Karen Gillan, who is a total badass (might be a little biased because Amy Pond is my favorite Doctor Who companion).

I have to give props to the creators. I was either smirking or laughing through most of the movie, as was the rest of the theater (probably more so because I’m a tough audience). My advice is to go into the movie knowing it is an action comedy that isn’t like the 1995 Jumanji with Robin Williams, who can NEVER be replaced. It almost feels like the creators knew that and took the story into a more modern direction that would have the next generation loving it. I also like to think that the tribute to “Alan” was a tribute to Williams (hey I can dream). I find remakes often include a sentimental salute to the originals to help us cope with the changes to the film.

Go see it, and maybe you’ll join me and the many others who are bewildered by the fact that we actually liked this movie.

 

Disclaimer: I am not a film expert or critic. I leave that up to the professionals, but I hope you take my thoughts into consideration when trying to figure out what to see in theaters this weekend. The movie is a fun, light-hearted piece that is definitely more suited for ages 13 or up (there is some adult humor).

 

-AMS

TFiOS and the “feels”

Standard

“The-Fault-in-Our-Stars”

Okay. I was a fanatical nerd, who couldn’t wait, so I went to the movie premiere of The Fault in Our Stars, which if you’ve been living under a rock, is the story of two teens with terminal cancer who fall in love. The Night Before Our Stars was an opportunity for the Fault Fanatics (that would be me) who couldn’t wait for June 6 to see the movie.

I have to say that moviegoers and fans of the book will probably fall in love with TFiOS the way Hazel Grace fell in love with Augustus Waters, slowly then all at once.

I know it sounds cheesy, but it is true. Maybe it is my natural distaste of book-movies that made me hold back in instantly loving this movie. Filmmakers often don’t do justice to the books they turn into films, but there are always the exceptions. It is especially hard if the book is outstanding and extremely well written. And of course, as much as I enjoyed the film adaption, the book is better…okay? Okay. Don’t throw eggs at me just because I wasn’t instantly smitten with the film and the actors. I was committed to trying to like them, which is why in the end I love them.

Josh Boone and the filmmakers at Fox did a superb job at capturing the elements of John Green’s bestselling novel. I won’t go into details of the film, but I will say you need to read the book before you see the movie. I think reading the book makes the movie so much better (not that it can’t stand alone…because it can). You get all the unsaid jokes, all the emotions that had to go unfelt, all the words that had to be cut, if you read the book.

Ansel Elgort and his winning smile will win you over, too. He’s pretty adorable and I’m a bit disappointed that more reviews aren’t commenting on his performance. Shailene Woodley is stealing the limelight. I’m not saying she wasn’t good, but Elgort shows you that even cute boys are ugly criers. He does a great job of bring Gus to life and being as boyishly charming as John Green wrote the character to be. You can’t help but like Augustus Waters.

Woodley’s performance is also well done. Some reviews are saying her performance deserves an Oscar nomination, but I wasn’t THAT impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I thought she did an outstanding job of making Hazel Grace real for so many people including me. Her chemistry with Elgort is obvious and plays out well for the storyline. The girl can shed some tears, I’ll give her that.

One thing I didn’t like about the movie was the pop up, animated text messages. I thought it was a little too silly, but it was easy to get over because it was meant to make you laugh. In a way, it brought a lightheartedness to an extremely sad story.

Beautifully written, well acted, heartbreaking tale of first love — it will make you laugh and cry just like the book.

Take a box of tissues. It’s okay…even grown men will cry.