Monthly Archives: October 2021

5 Centimeters Per Second is a Japanese animated film by Makoto Shinkai. The movie is really beautiful to the eye and the animation is fantastic, however the movie’s overall theme made me feel very heavy after figuring out the deeper meaning. The movie  is ultimately about moving on from the past, and about finding a way to become happy in the present rather than just pining for moments that are long gone.

It follows the story of Takaki Tohno and his relationship to Akari Shinohara as they grow distant as more time passes. We are shown the two at three different phases of life throughout the movie, when they are first presented to us it is during the childhood stages to show how close their bond had initially been.

The first part of the film titled cherry blossom focuses on how Takaki met and developed a relationship with Akari in elementary school. However they are separated as both families move and they enter high school, but they agree to stay in contact through letters. Through this part of the film we can see the naive points of childhood romance. When Takaki moves yet again Akari responses by talking about how he is moving away even further, thus alluding to how much further they are moving along in life and that eventually the fear of their relationship dissolving is growing.

these thoughts and scenes are reminiscent to the obstacles of growing older and losing touch with people you had previously been so close with. It is an odd feeling that makes you feel really sad even though you know the reality of it is obvious that you are drifting and it is a natural part of life. However much of youth is believing you can make it work regardless of knowing this like Takaki. The young version of Takaki wants to hold on to the small amount of hope in an unrealistic situation. It also shows us how important older age wisdom is in making decisions, otherwise we will continue to cling onto things, people, and feelings that unintentionally hurt us. This is why instead of narrating the story, we have an older Takaki reminiscing his younger memories. He often uses phrases such as “for some reason” or “I thought” to allude to attempts to feign ignorance to the future and the naive thoughts he had about romance and being able to stay with Akari through all of lifes obstacles.

, Shinkai presents the younger Takaki as constantly struggling. Younger Takaki’s beliefs is meant allude to the traditional ideals of romantic fiction. However the older Takaki represents a realistic take on romance. He often makes comments on events lead by “fate” saying there was nothing he could do about it to stop things. The way he narrates and the frequent pauses he makes shows just how hard it was for him to continue to try and push the harsh realities away. He feels fate is purposefully working against him and keeping Akari away from him.

And this is only the first section of the movie, the other two parts are just as good and if not even better so I highly recommend the movie. Shinkai presentation of Takaki’s emotions shows a bitter and realistic portrayal of our individual desires. It also shows how we are contradictory, uncertain, and desperate for the things we want, and that no matter how impossible the situation, we still believe in and trust the memories that were most precious to us.

Queen is a band that many know well and let’s be honest if you’re going on a long drive and your family doesn’t all karaoke to Bohemian Rhapsody then what are you doing? We have heard their music everywhere even in kids movies like Happy Feet. Even if you have no idea who i’m talking about I guarantee you could ask you parents or anyone in their generation who they are and they will 99.9% say they love them. I grew up listening to queen and rock music in general since my parents are big fans and its safe to say I am a fan as well. When the movie depiction of the band Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody was announced I had to say my expectations were very high for this film and it certainly did not disappoint.

The movie is based on the true story of Queen’s journey from the start to their  performance at the Live Aid concert in Wembley Stadium with heavy focus on the main singer Freddie Mercury played by Rami Malek. In terms of film its pretty average, its pretty standard flow of a band film if you’ve ever seen one. However what made this movie live up to expectations for me was Malek’s amazing portrayal of Mercury and the fantastic soundtrack.

First of all the similarity in looks between Malek and Mercury are enough to blow your mind. When Malek preforms on stage you get so immersed in him as Freddie Mercury you almost forget that he’s just an actor and it feels like you’re really watching him preform.

While it does tell the story of Queen the entire story is not fully authentic. Some real life moments were cut out or modified to further carry along the plot of the story and make it more appealing or generic for Hollywood. However because the movie aims to be of a more PG-13 setting despite the R rated life of the bandmates, sometimes the movie feels as if its lacking something essential.

The movie starts with Mercury then named Farrok Bulsara working as a baggage handler at an airport. he later goes to a pub and watched a band preform where he meets his future love protagonist Mary Austin. He learns that guitarist and drummer Brian May and Roger Taylor just recently lost the lead singer of their band. Upon hearing this he offers to replace their lead singer by showing them his vocal skills. . He goes to audition for them in the parking lot and he is quickly adapted as the lead singer of the band as their auditioning bass man John Deacon joins in with him.  He then changes his name to the Freddie Mercury we all know today and rebrands the band as Queen.

The band gets a record deal and even lands a US tour, he decides to propose to Mary but however during the tour Mercury begins to question his sexuality amongst other struggles. As time goes on they create their masterpiece Bohemian Rhapsody despite the harsh criticism they had to fight against to get it released. However it did succeed in becoming a global hit even with its mixed opinions. This launches them into a world tour where Freddie explores his sexuality and comes out as bisexual to his then fiance. While they call off the engagement they remain close friends and remained as one of the closest and most influential people in his life and even gained most of his will after his passing in real life.

Freddie begins to engage in a relationship with the bands manager Paul Prenter. Prenter attempts to control Freddie behind his back which leads to Freddie firing one of his team members creating constrains between him and the band. His relationship with the band continues to get worse and he finally signs a solo deal. He continues his relationship with Paul that further pulls him into a world of sex and drugs that later leads to bad consequences.

Mary now married and pregnant returns as a friend and urges him to get back together with the band to do Live Aid which he successfully ends up doing. After realizing Paul’s influence on him and for not telling him about Live Aid he finally ends his relationship with him and fires him. With AIDS now becoming a popular topic Mercury realizes he has the illness. He returns to London to  persuade the band to play at Live Aid as a last-minute addition. He tells them about his condition and urges them to forget the sympathies and focus on making music for the longest time that they can.

The film by far has its best scene at the end when they are preforming at Wembley Stadium. it does an amazing job showing Queen’s connection to an audience as Mercury leads an elaborate call-and-response with his fans through the title song “We Will Rock You” “Radio Ga Ga” and “We are the Campions”. The outstanding performance Malek brings to this recreation deserves all the hype its gotten, I can even say the movie is worth watching just for this specific scene because it quite literally gave me chills.

Old is one of the few films I actually got to see in theaters during the pandemic and while personally I did not find it to be the scariest thriller however I thought the concept itself was definitely interesting and something I had not seen before in a movie which prompted me to actually go and see it in person. It is a thriller movie based off the graphic novel Sandcastle produced by M. Night Shyamalan. Through this film Shyamalan teaches us to appreciate life through a new and twisted concept. Old shows a group of families deciding to take on a tropical vacation to make good memories and enjoy time together. They end up on a beach where they enjoy their time until they realize they are beginning to age faster than the normal rate and there is no escape from the island.

The adults begin to realize things are weird when they see their children begin to age into teenagers within hours and then a dead body stumbles upon the beach. And of course upon finding the body like anyone would they attempt to leave the beach however when they do they are knocked out and wake up older than before. It is especially concerning for the adults because as they stay longer on the island they begin to slowly die. The movie kept me pretty engaged throughout and it was hard for me to figure out the ending and it was shocking to find out that the whole thing was planned by the travel coordinators behind the scenes.

As the movie goes on the kids grow into teenagers and the two of them even conceive a child, while it was weird to watch i questioned wether it was really okay even though they were aging both physically and mentally but with no prior life experience. As the adults age many start to die by either escaping the island or from simply aging. One of the adults turns psycho after losing her beauty and becoming a shriveled old hunchback lady, and later her husband turns psycho and attempts to murder everyone on the island due to age and the constant pressure for him to find a solution because he is a doctor. Others suffer from health issues and some slowly age as they begin to lose hearing and go blind and you truly start to feel bad for the position they are in.

However this is a movie that really sits with you when your done, as a teenager myself I did not quite understand the deeper meaning behind this movie but it actually provokes a lot of thought when you put yourself in the perspective of the adults on the island. On out outside it appears to be a basic thriller film about people trying to avoid death on a beach, and if you’re looking for horror like I was you would be very disappointed. The film hits on more adult like issues such as the fear of growing old both. Growing old mentally and physically, fear of losing your beauty and youth, losing the reputation you’ve worked so long for, And most importantly the fear of fighting within marriage in life and then one day having it all end.

The greatest showman is a movie most of you have watched or at least heard of. The movie follows the imagination and growth of the main character Barnum. He grew up poor but had natural talent for promotion selling lottery tickets to people on the streets. Despite his shortcomings he maintained his vision of success and sticking true to himself and pushed forward.  Even in his love life, the father of his love interest didn’t believe in him or his daughters love for him he continued to preserve her heart. The film focuses on the pursuing your dreams and the focal point that being “different” is okay and to always be yourself. The movie overall (in my opinion) was far from a disappointment. The musical theater theme of the movie is spectacular at swaying your emotions  and the songs are insanely catchy. There are a number of lines within the movie that have underlying themes and strong messages that clearly convey to the audience.

Barnum looked for inspiration everywhere around him and grew his brand from the ground up. The idea for his circus came from a comment his younger daughter made. He was never swayed by others opinions and attempted to make what was abnormal a norm where everyone could feel accepted. He recruited “odd outsiders” with impeccable talent to create a circus for them to showcase their talents. These outsiders hid from society because they feel they are too odd in different ways.  They felt ashamed for  not fitting in.  Instead of pushing them away like the rest of society Barnum looks at them, and inspires them to not hide away, because they are beautiful in their own right and that they should be seen and heard.  They end up finally accepting themselves and being different. The song “This is Me” was so powerful in getting this message across to the characters in the movie and the audience watching it. However he had many failures along the way. He had a writer who wrote harsh critics about Barnum and his circus, along with people lining up to protest to take down his circus, he still never felt discouraged even if those around him continued to not believe in his dream. Barnum and those in the circus stayed focused on their goals to preform and embraced who they were.

As the story continues Barnum finally reaches the fame that pined after so long for. But like any other movie he reaches another downfall soon after. Barnum loses track of the most important things to him and shuts out those around him. When he hits rock bottom he is soon reminded of what he was fighting for to begin with. He remembers his family and his coworkers, those who have been by his side through it all. This teaches us one of the most important lessons not to lose yourself in the process. It is easy to become blinded by achievement and success and be focused on “the next best thing” that one can attain.