My Spoiler-Free Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

Yesterday, December 18th 2015, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was finally released in my country. Before, it was set to be released on the 16th here, which made me make plans to see it on the 17th, my last day of work before the Christmas holiday. It would be perfect to celebrate the beginning of the much-anticipated holiday by watching this movie with your loved ones, right? My brain was so ready to see it on the 17th too. So, when it was announced that it would be released on the 18th, I was SO MAD. Well, I just had to wait for one more day, but still... It's a typical fangirl problem.

So, I watched it alone yesterday because my usual date could not watch it with me due the sudden change and the fact that he is so busy. It was actually good to see it alone. I could focus on the movie and go on the crazy fangirl mode freely haha.

How is the movie? It is AWESOME. Here is a list of things that I love about the movie:

1. They keep the traditional Star Wars things. It felt really amazing to see the writing "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" showed up at the beginning. And then the title and a short explanation of the current situation came up in the famous Star Wars style with the classic theme song as the background music. Man, I almost cried seeing them. The famous quotes like "May the Force be with you" and "I have a bad feeling about this" are kept too, which strenghtens the Star Wars feel of this movie. 

2. The new heroine, Rey. Two thumbs up for Daisy Ridley for bringing this character to life. She is just so lovable and relatable. She has a heart that is pure, kind and brave but lonely and scarred. She reminds me of young Luke, actually. The fact that she is a girl and the main character in the movie makes me really proud. The previous trilogies are led by male protagonists but this time we have a female protagonist, which is really cool. I hope this character will develop and become even better in the upcoming films.   

3. Another new character, Finn. He's just so funny and sweet. And lovable too, just like Rey. I'm still curious about his background, though. I have a feeling he is related to someone from the previous films haha. Well, I hope we will get to know more about his past in the next movies. 

4. The Darth Vader of the new generation, Kylo Ren. If Rey resembles young Luke, Kylo resembles young Anakin Skywalker. Like Anakin, Kylo seems to be very... conflicted. He certainly finds it difficult to control his anger, just like Anakin. I like this villain because, you know, I love complex characters haha. Kylo is involved in two insanely shocking scenes in the movie that made my jaw drop. Prepare yourself for those scenes!

5. The original trio. Luke, Leia and Han don't have much screen time in The Force Awakens. We all love those three characters but I think it's good to make them the supporting characters. The fact that they don't dominate this movie is kind of surprising but it makes the story more natural. These characters blend with the new characters and support the story when it is needed. I like this.

6. The flying scenes. The Millenium Falcon, the X-Wing... Oh, the flying and shooting scenes are cool and fun and so Star Wars.

7. The lightsaber fight scenes. They are not as classy as the lightsaber fight scenes in the prequel trilogy; they are more... rough here. But I think this goes well with the story. The ones who fight with the lightsabers in The Force Awakens are not trained Jedi Knights while the ones in the prequels are trained Jedi Knights in their glorious days. So, it makes sense if their fighting style is more rough. However, I hope we will be able to see the prequels' sophisticated kind of lightsaber fights in the future films. The prequels might not have remarkable storylines but their fight scenes are really, really cool.

8. The famous supporting characters from the original trilogy. Chewbacca! R2-D2! C-3PO! Seeing these characters again after all this time made me smile. I really wish we could also see other characters from the past films like Master Yoda, Obi-wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Mace Windu and, of course, Darth Vader. But I don't think it's going to happen *sigh*.

So, overall, the movie is amazing. As a fan, I'm genuinely satisfied and happy about it. Thank you, JJ Abrams and his crew, for bringing back our beloved saga in a classy way!

Rating  : 5/5

Little Stories about Detectives, Robots and Loss

Getting a job is so hard, isn't it?

Since I quit my old job, I have been job hunting like crazy. I have done many interviews, tests, teaching demos, etc. Sometimes this makes me feel exhausted, frustrated, desperate. I'm not giving up, though. But sometimes I just need to escape from all the job hunting madness. And my way of escaping is, you know, getting lost in the stories of films and books haha.

I ordered a book entitled In the Woods by Tana French earlier this week. It's about a detective who has to investigate a murder case that is similar to his traumatic experience in the past. Yup, I'm in the mood for crime fiction again haha. People say that this book is recommended for anyone who likes Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. Well, you know how I feel about that book (read my thoughts on Gone Girl here), so I decided to order In the Woods. The book is expected to arrive next week and I'm so excited to read it.

A few days before I ordered the book, I saw a movie called The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them. It's a drama about Connor (James McAvoy) and Eleanor (Jessica Chastain), who are perfect as a couple. However, a tragic loss that they experience changes everything. There are moments in this movie where I don't understand what is actually going on. But I think this is good because, I think, that's what would happen when you experience something traumatic like that. You feel confused, lost. Everything seems chaotic and messy. Those feelings are portrayed by Jessica Chastain in a beautifully heartbreaking way. I love James's performance too but I think he needs more screen time haha. My favorite scene involves these two actors and occurs near the end of the movie. The two talk about their memories about the person they've lost and their grief. It's just really sad and heartbreaking. Oh yeah, the amazing Viola Davis is in this movie too. She plays a supporting character here, but you just can't ignore her because she's just so cool.

Another movie that I saw recently is Ex Machina. This film is written and directed by Alex Garland, the one who wrote the scripts of Never Let Me Go and 28 Days Later. It is about a female AI (Artificial Intelligence) named Ava (Alicia Vikander) whose human characteristics are tested by her creator, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), using his employee, Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson). The movie is so tense! And quite scary too, I think. The music and the look of the movie play a huge part in making it tense. There is one piece of the music that sounds like the beat of a heart, which makes me anxious whenever it is played. Nathan's modern, sophisticated house and the huge trees that surround it somehow create coldness that makes me quiver.

There are only four actors in this movie: the three actors mentioned above and Sonoya Mizuno as Nathan's assistant, Kyoko. They all are fantastic in their roles. Alicia Vikander's Ava looks so innocent and sweet, which lets me understand why Caleb is so taken with her. But sometimes you can see something different when she demands answers from Caleb; something that makes me hold my breath. Oh, what she does at the end leaves me completely breathless because it's terrible but she still looks innocent. Domhnall Gleeson plays the naive Caleb successfully and makes me feel related to him. I still can't stop thinking about what happens to him at the end. Oscar Isaac plays his strange character so well. His performance truly deceives me and makes the revelation at the end so shocking. And that Kyoko girl! She doesn't even talk but she freaks me out whenever she appears, especially when she reveals her true self to Caleb in Nathan's room.

Despite all the greatness that I've mentioned, I think the most memorable part of the movie is the ending. It is just so shocking and eerie and thought-provoking. Ugh it's so hard to talk about it without giving spoilers haha. The ending gets me thinking, who is the villain in the story, actually? Do Ava's actions at the end make her the villain? Is it wrong for her to want to live freely? Should people keep trying to build AIs? Should we let the AIs look back on us the same way we look at fossils, like Nathan says? Can we, humans with the instinct for survival, let that happen? Are we afraid of AIs?

So that's all from me today. Wait for my review of In the Woods!

My 2015 Movie List

I know it's a bit late but HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Besides making a list of new year resolutions, making a list of anticipated movies is also a must for me at the beginning of every year. Making that list just makes me so excited to start the new year, and excitement is a good thing to start a new year with, right? So here are the 2015 movies that I can't wait to see.

15. FIFTY SHADES OF GREY
Release Date : February 13 2015 (USA)
Director : Sam Taylor-Wood
Cast : Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson, etc.
Synopsis : A literature student (Johnson) has her life twisted as she begins having a steamy love affair with a charming businessman, Christian Grey (Dornan).
Why I want to see it : Well, I just want to know what makes the story (which is based on a book series that beats Harry Potter as the best-selling book series of all time) so phenomenal despite the negative reviews that it receives.

14. SPECTRE
Release Date : November 6 2015 (USA)
Director : Sam Mendes
Cast : Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Monica Belluci, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, etc.
Synopsis : James Bond (Craig) must work to reveal the truth behind a cryptic message.
Why I want to see it : I've never actually seen a Bond movie until I saw Skyfall, which I think is great. Knowing that the director and the main cast of Skyfall are returning for this one makes me optimistic about this movie.

13. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
Release Date : March 13 2015
Director : Ron Howard
Cast : Chris Hemsworth, Ben Whishaw, Cillian Murphy, etc.
Synopsis : A group of whalers encounters a giant whale (it's a whale and it's giant; it must be SO big...), gets attacked by it and struggles to stay alive in the open sea.
Why I want to see it : When I spotted the phrase "a giant whale", I thought this was a fantasy movie. But, nope, it's based on a true story that inspires the novel Moby Dick. That makes me want to know the story. The trailer looks good too.

12. CRIMSON PEAK

Release Date : October 16 2015 (USA)

Director : Guillermo del Toro

Cast : Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam, etc.

Synopsis : A young author (Wasikowska) is lured by a charming man (Hiddleston) and is brought to his old house. There, she finds some unexpected things, such as a jealous sister (Chastain) and skeletons in the closet.

Why I want to see it : Actually, I'm not a fan of horror movies (or Tom Hiddleston), but this one is directed by Guillermo del Toro, a director who is known for visually stunning films that have unique stories. After seeing the spooky images from this movie, I imagine it would be "a nightmare dressed like a daydream" (Why am I using Taylor Swift's song lyric? Hahaha). Creepy, but beautiful.

11. TOMORROWLAND

Release Date : May 22 2015 (USA)

Director : Brad Bird

Cast : George Clooney, Britt Robertson, etc.

Synopsis : A genius man (Clooney) and a teenage girl (Robertson) team up to unveil the secrets of a mysterious place caught between time and space.

Why I want to see it : I first found out about this movie from its teaser trailer. The trailer doesn't show much but is very, very intriguing. The premise reminds me of Interstellar a bit (especially the ending part), but I bet this one will be more family-friendly because it's a Disney movie.

10. EX MACHINA

Release Date : April 10 2015 (USA)

Director : Alex Garland

Cast : Oscar Isaac, Domhnal Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, etc.

Synopsis : A computer coder (Gleeson) wins a chance to meet the CEO of his company (Isaac) only to find out that he is being used in an experiment that involves a female A.I. (Vikander).

Why I want to see it : The trailer is very intriguing. It's a bit similar to Spike Jonze's Her, I think, but the sci-fi elements seem to be more dominant here.

9. THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON
Release Date : May 1 2015 (USA)
Director : Joss Whedon
Cast : Robert Downey Jr., James Spader, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, etc.
Synopsis : The superhero gang has to team up once again to face a new enemy named Ultron (Spader) and meets two newcomers, Quicksilver (Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Olsen).
Why I want to see it : To be honest, I just want to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen. Their characters seem to have big and mysterious roles in the movie, and they are great young actors. It's always nice to see talented young actors take roles in blockbuster movies and bring depth and humanity into the characters.

8. CINDERELLA

Release Date : March 13 2015 (USA)

Director : Kenneth Branagh

Cast : Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Richard Madden, etc.

Synopsis : Well, you know how the story goes...

Why I want to see it : The trailer is very beautiful. I love seeing movies that are visually beautiful. And the director, Kenneth Branagh (aka Professor Lockhart from Harry Potter hahaha), states that his Cinderella won't be a woman whose happiness is determined by whether she finds a man or not. I really love this idea as well.

7. THE LAST FIVE YEARS

Release Date : February 13 2015 (USA)

Director : Richard LaGravenese

Cast : Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan, etc.

Synopsis : A love story of an actress (Kendrick) and a novelist (Jordan) which is told back and forth, from two perspectives, through songs, and ends with failure.

Why I want to see it : It's a musical and I love musicals! I mean, don't you wish you could sing your heart out like those people in musicals? Hahaha. I really like the premise as well; I've never seen a musical with this kind of story. Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan look (and sound) awesome too.

6. SILENCE

Release Date : TBA

Director : Martin Scorsese

Cast : Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, etc

Synopsis : Two Jesuit priests travel to Japan to find their mentor and spread the teachings of Christianity, but have to face violence as they carry out their mission.

Why I want to see it : It's directed by Martin Scorsese, whose movies are mostly Oscar-worthy, and based on a critically acclaimed novel. From the synopsis, it seems like the story is the kind that has an important message. And, yeah, Mr Andrew Garfield and his beard are in it. It's been a long time since I saw Andrew in a non-Spiderman movie like this.

5. JURASSIC WORLD

Release Date : June 12 2015 (USA)

Director : Colin Trevorrow

Cast : Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, etc.

Synopsis : A genetically-modified hybrid dinosaur is created for the legendary theme park to attract more visitors, but the project does not go well.

Why I want to see it : I saw one of the previous Jurassic movies when I was a kid and, man, those dinosaurs that eat humans gave me nightmares. The trailer of this new installment looks good, even though the story sounds mediocre. I imagine it would be like the latest version of Godzilla, which doesn't have an innovative story but depicts the dreadful atmosphere of being terrorized by giant monsters very well.

4. MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS
Release Date : September 18 2015 (USA)
Director : Wes Ball
Cast : Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Sangster, Rosa Salazar, etc.
Synopsis : Thomas (O'Brien) and his friends must face another phase of the mysterious trials run by an organization, which is also mysterious, called The Scorch Trials.
Why I want to see it : I really love the first book and movie of the saga, The Maze Runner. Even though I didn't enjoy the second book as much as I enjoyed the first one, knowing that Wes Ball and the whole cast are returning for the movie adaptation makes me optimistic about it. The Maze Runner movie is not identical with the book but the changes make me love the story even more. I hope they can do that again with this one.

3. JUPITER ASCENDING
Release Date : February 6 2015 (USA)
Director : Andy and Lana Wachowski
Cast : Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, etc.
Synopsis : Ehm the story is so complicated. I hope my explanation is correct. The Earth turns out to be a planet seeded by a royal alien family to be harvested as soon as the people in it (aka us) reach the Darwinian state of perfection. And then there is Jupiter (Kunis), an ordinary woman from Earth who is believed to be the reincarnartion of some kind of queen in the royal family, which threatens the position of Balem (Redmayne), the eldest child in the royal family, and makes him want her dead.

Why I want to see it : The story is an original one, which is so rare these days, and it is written by the Wachowskis, the creators of The Matrix. They successfully mix science-fiction and philosophy in The Matrix so I'm curious about what they have in Jupiter Ascending. What I really want to know is why the main character who comes from Earth is named after another planet (Jupiter). There has to be something about it hahaha. And, yes, Eddie Redmayne plays the villain here.

2. THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2
Release Date : November 20 2015 (USA)
Director : Francis Lawrence
Cast : Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, etc.
Synopsis: This final installment in The Hunger Games saga is the continuation of Mockingjay Part 1 where Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) leads the revolution against the Capitol.
Why I want to see it : I want to know how it ends. I haven't read the book but I read somewhere that the ending is not like how non-readers expect, which makes me curious. Well, I need to watch Part 1 first (I missed the movie because I was badly ill when it was released *sigh*).

1. STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Release Date : December 18 2015 (USA)
Director : J.J. Abrams
Cast : Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, Lupita Nyong'o, Oscar Isaac, etc.
Synopsis : Err I don't know, they keep it a secret.
Why I want to see it : It's Star Wars everybody! STAR WARS! It is one of my favorite sagas ever. I have no idea how the story would be like because the Darth Vader story, which connects all the previous episodes, has ended. But it's directed by J.J. Abrams and I believe he wouldn't disappoint us. I love what he did with Star Trek and I believe he could resurrect the legendary Star Wars saga in an awesome way. Here's the the first trailer of The Force Awakens, which made me scream and cry hahaha.

Hope these exciting movies can bring some excitement into the new year!