Words on Bathroom Walls

Words on Bathroom Walls is an American drama (2020) about a teenager named  Adam Petrazelli (Charlie Plummer) who suffers from schizophrenia. He moves to a new school after a psychotic break which leaves him alienated from his peers.

 Adam’s constant companions are his imaginary friends Rebecca (Anna Sophia Robb ) a hippy who wants him to be in tune with his feelings,  the bodyguard (Lobo Sebastian)  who protects him, Joaquin ( Devon Bostick) a sleazy bro and the darkness (Jared Bankins) a dark mist of negative energy.

Adam tries his best to ignore his imaginary people as they hinder him from being present in his everyday life. Adam is able to relax from his mental illness when he’s cooking. His dream is to go to culinary school to become a chef. He makes a friend at his new school called Maya (Taylor Russel) who has her own secrets.

I enjoyed watching this movie and thought it handled the subject matter sensitively. I hadn’t thought about schizophrenia before and how it could affect a young person. In the movie, Adam tries his best to ignore his delusions, but the other characters can see that he’s distracted. I can see how difficult it would be to ignore delusions and pretend that everything is okay. It would also be difficult forming relationships because you would be worried if they will accept you.

I thought the performances in this movie were wonderful. Charlie Plummer played Adam with a realistic vulnerability and had great chemistry with the rest of the cast. All the characters were complex and played brilliantly by the actors. Taylor Russel and Charlie Plummer had great chemistry.

I think this movie would be suitable to watch with family with older children or teenagers. As an educator, I would suggest it for a book and film study for English or wellbeing course.  

UnIndian

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UnIndian is an Australian/Indian produced movie starring Brett Lee, a former Australian cricketer and Indian actress Tannishtha Chatterjee. Cricket is a popular sport in both countries so having Brett Lee as a lead was a draw card. I don’t watch cricket at all, but I was curious to see Brett Lee in a film. This film was a passion project for producer and writer Anupam Sharma who has been working in the film industry showcasing Indian cinema. Many patrons helped to produce this film and there is a lengthy amount of credits thanking organisations and individuals in the opening.

Meera (Tannishtha Chatterjee) is a single mother to Smitha (Maya Sathiamoorthy) and working in Public Relations for Cochlear. She is pressured by her parents to marry again. Her parents are convinced that is the only way she’ll ever be happy.

 Will is an English teacher, who teaches Australian culture to international students. He meets Meera at a Holi festival and is instantly smitten. Will’s best friends Tinku “TK” ( Arka Das) and Mich (Adam Dunn) help him, telling him the differences in dating an Indian girl. Meera and Will have to fight for their relationship, against the wishes of her family and culture.

I thought the movie was okay. I didn’t find it funny, but I thought there were some cute moments. I could relate to trying to balance two cultures. The acting in the film was amateurish. I didn’t think there was much chemistry between the leads. The dialogue was a bit corny which may have attributed to some of the poor acting. Brett Lee tries his best, fully embracing his role. Maybe he’ll get better with practice.

The parts of the movie I did like were the dance numbers which is the norm in Bollywood movies. The dance scenes were so entertaining, over the top and frivolous which is exactly how it should be. I loved the ending credits where they had a dance scene with the production staff.

I would watch this film again despite its flaws. It’s an entertaining and feel good film. You can see the love and effort put in the film.

Our Souls at Night

Addie (Jane Fonda) and Louis (Robert Redford) are two senior citizens who have been neighbours for many years. They both lead solitary lives after their spouses have died. Addie asks Louis to sleep in her bed every night to ease their mutual loneliness. They talk in bed together and reminisce on their families and relationships. The couple’s relationship becomes more complicated when the neighbours find out about them and Addie’s son arrives with her grandson in tow. Addie and Louis contemplate their growing attraction towards each other and what their future will bring.

I liked how this film explored aging, relationships and isolation. While Addie and Louis had friends, both were lacking intimacy in their lives which made them lonely. Not just physical intimacy but having someone to talk to about their inner thoughts. It’s easy to forget that older people want those things too.

 I thought the romance between the two was interesting because of the maturity and life experience that they both had. Jane Fonda and Robert Redford played the characters with ease, having worked with each other before in four different films. I think they both gave an understated performance, as their characters were mild mannered people.

The movie goes at a gentle pace, highlighting the staid lifestyle of the two main characters. They don’t do anything exciting, just go about their day in their small town. They both live in big empty family homes, with floors that creak just like their bones.  However, when the two characters get together, they have more fun. Sometimes, things are just better with company.

I wasn’t fond of the ending, but it was a happy ending. I would have liked the movie to end more triumphantly. I wouldn’t see this movie again, but I don’t regret watching it. I would recommend this is a movie to watch with your parents. The themes in this movie would be a good avenue for discussion.

Heartthrob

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One of my guilty pleasures is that I love watching movies or reading books about obsessive love. I love the melodrama, the stalking and final moment when the main character realises what’s really going on and how the stalker/lover becomes unhinged. I do know that it would be a horrible experience in real life to have a stalker in real life. But I don’t mind it playing out fictionally.

Heartthrob is about an unlikely romance formed between Samantha (Aubrey Peeples), a popular girl and a shy nerd Henry (Keir Sinclair) over the summer. Sam likes how Henry is different from her friends who only care about hooking up and partying. Henry is thrilled to be with Sam and strives to be the perfect boyfriend by spying on her constantly. His jealously eventually drives them apart and leads him to do dangerous things.

I knew it was going to end tragically, I just didn’t know how it would end. I think the whole mess would have been avoided had Henry talked it through and was more rational. Although I do understand his motivation. Sam is his first love and he’s thrilled to have a popular girl validate him. Sam is more rational than Henry having a bit more experience in relationships. She knows that life will go without him if they break up whereas Henry feels that Sam is the best thing that has ever happened to him.

The acting in this film was okay. No standout performances. The cast are relatively unknown actor with a few credits to their names. The film was made on a small budget but not much is needed for a simple story. I think this is a good movie to watch with friends, especially if you have friends who like to give a running commentary. There’s lot of things to discuss in this film and you can always talk about your high school experiences.

Entertainment Monday: Kingsman: The Secret Service (Monday 2 March, 2015)

Kingsman is a British action comedy film about a secret spy organization known as the Kingsman. After one of the Kingsman dies in a failed rescue attempt, the society needs a replacement member. Harry Hart (Colin Firth) reaches out to Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (Taron Egerton) to be the new Kingsman. Gary or Eggsy as he prefers to be known in the film is a hooligan who sees getting into the Kingsman to be a way out of his dismal life. Eggsy has to compete with other candidates to become a Kingsman in a series of dangerous challenges. In the meantime, Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) is plotting to cleanse the world in a most evil way.

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The movie is a celebration of the British spy genre, all the Kingsman are aristocratic and dressed in tailored suits with gadgets built into their accessories. My favourite gadget would have to be Harry Hart’s bulletproof umbrella that is also a shotgun. Eggsy is a wonderful contrasting character to the other upper class spies as he’s a working class lad. There are plenty of snide remarks made against Eggsy about his background but he refutes them easily because he’s use to being insulted.

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I thought Taron Egerton was engaging as Eggsy and it was nice to have a newcomer in the lead role. I always associate actors with their previous roles so it was good to have a fresh face and not know what to expect. I thought he was the ideal choice for Eggsy because he looks ordinary and unassuming yet he’s strong and intelligent.

Taron Egerton as Eggsy

There were other newcomers in the film as well such as Sophie Cookson who played Roxy, a fellow Kingsman candidate. She reminded me of Emma Watson because of her small figure and brunette hair. Another standout newcomer is  Sofia Boutella who plays Gazelle, the henchwoman to Valentine. Sofia Boutella is a professional dancer so she excelled in the fight sequences.

Sofia Boutella as Gazelle

Colin Firth was perfect in his role as a gentleman spy, walking tall and talking in clipped tones. Firth was able to balance the upper class mannerisms without being a snob.. Samuel L. Jackson was an interesting villain, although his characters actions were bad, he had a likeable personality.

Colin Firth as Harry Hart

The action scenes are pretty good although the scenes are sped up in some instances and some victims get some awful blows. The only thing I didn’t like about the movie was a part in the ending which was a sexual scene which I think cheapens the movie and was unnecessary. It would have been better if they used the end clip when the credits rolled up as the end of the movie. Kingsman is a fun action movie with a bit of everything. It’s definitely a good movie to see with friends and for date nights.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a sequel in the future or a possible franchise. 

Entertainment Monday: Jersey Boys (July 14, 2014)

For the 4th of July weekend a couple of weeks back I visited with my family for a few days and mom and I decided to go to the movies and watch Jersey Boys, Clint Eastwood's movie adaptation of the Broadway play about the life and times of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

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Jersey Boys the movie somewhat follows the tradition of a play translated to the big screen by having the characters speak in asides to the audience.  So it tries as much as possible to stay true stylistically to a play, which I like.  The movie chronicles the founding and rise to fame of The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi.  The story line is entertaining and easy to follow.  It's not one of those movies where you have to figure stuff out, it is what it is.  Frankie Valli as the lead singer with a unique vocal range has the star power that carries the group to success, but they must fight through the financial hardships brought on in large part by Tommy DeVito the band's lead guitarist.

The music is a sampling of many of the Four Seasons greatest hits (penned by Gaudio) including such songs as Ragdoll, Walk Like a Man, Dawn, Big Girls Don't Cry and December 1963 (Oh What a Night) as well as other hits.  If the actors do their own singing then the singing is really quite good and far, far better than the singing in the movie adaptation of MaMa Mia for example. If you love the Four Season's music you might take a critical eye to the song performances, but if you are simply a movie-goer looking for a fun movie then the music performance is not an obstacle to your enjoyment.

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The personalities, both their personal and professional dynamic are interesting and portrayed quite well.  Tommy DeVito's character is both very likable and also very easy not to like at the same time.  He is established as the driving force behind the band but comes off as someone who is looking out only for his own best interests, while veiling his monatary gambles under the guise of group management and marketing.  I think all the characters are likable but faulted, falling victim to some of the pitfalls that many famous bands fall victim to, especially in regards to relationship fidelity.  

Overall the movie is a good movie and worth the ticket price if you are a fan of plays.  If you don't particularly enjoy plays then the style of the movie may not appeal to you, but I think it's still worth the Red Box rental on a rainy night or cold winter night. 

Maleficent

Sleeping Beauty is one of my favourite fairy tales. I heard the story many times as a child and I liked the magic, fairies and happy ending. In the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty, the evil fairy’s name is Maleficent. Maleficent is a re-telling of the fairytale Sleeping Beauty from the point of view of the villain Maleficent.

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I had watched Sleeping Beauty as a child and I always thought Maleficent was pretty scary with her big horns and black clothing. The new movie shows how Maleficent became an evil person and why she cursed Sleeping Beauty.

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Maleficent is played Angelina Jolie who has extremely high cheekbones thanks to contouring. She looks beautiful in an otherworldly way. While she looks menacing in the trailer and publicity stills, I didn't find her scary in the movie at all.  Maleficent was the main character after all and watching from her perspective made her more sympathetic.   

Princess Aurora is portrayed by Elle Fanning.  She’s everything that sleeping beauty is meant to be. Aurora is beautiful, sweet, innocent and beloved by all.  Personally I found her a bit dull because there isn’t any dynamic about her.

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My favourite character was someone that I thought about throughout the whole movie. I have deliberately not mentioned the name of the character as I don’t want to spoil it for you.  This particular character was good at the start but turned evil. I was waiting for them to show some redemption as it’s typical in Disney to have an evil character who softens. Usually it’s the comedic henchmen or hunky bad boy who has a change of heart after meeting the heroine but it wasn't so in this case.

Overall I thought Maleficent was cute, simple and entertaining film. I think it’s a perfect movie to see with girlfriends and family.