It's All in the Mind, Darling

Or, in its fancy title: A View of Paprika, in the Eyes of Inception. I don't think I need to explain what Inception is about, considering that it's a big Nolan hit of 2010. Paprika, however, is a novel written by Yasutaka Tsutsui, which was later translated into animation in 2006. I'm not an anime fan, but when I saw that this was translated, I immediately set myself to see it. I liked the novel, so why not see the adaptation? Usually I'd do a comparative post between the two movies, but seeing as it's in two different mediums, I decided to write about the concept behind the movies, particularly the exploring of the mind. Their concepts are rather similar, which became the reason why I picked up Paprika to read. Usually when I do this there's always a movie I prefer, but for this case, I just really want to talk about the similarity of their concepts and nothing more.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Cast: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller
Director: Lynne Ramsay

In lieu of my previous female directors post, I decided to finally see We Need To Talk About Kevin. I have been aware of its buzz, particularly the acting abilities of Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller. The film certainly did not disappoint, and while I was expecting it to be something else, the narrative of how the film was presented seemed fitting, as it wasn't the final act that was the focus of the film, but the relationship between the mother and her child.

Favorite Movies Directed by Women

Not a lot of women enter the directing industry. This is evident through the numerous films we see, and yet only a handful of them are directed by women. Among these few, only certain people are very well-known or acclaimed publicly, like Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow. I’m not sure about you, but a few of my favorite movies are directed by women. Granted it’s a short list, but I enjoyed these films and recommend that you see them (if you haven’t!). What are your favorite films directed by women?

Chico & Rita

Cast: Limara Meneses, Eman Xor Ona, Mario Guerra
Director: Tony Errando, Javier Mariscal, Fernando Trueba

Chico & Rita had a lot of factors rolled into one. It has elements of love, passion, friendship, patience, and betrayal all rolled into one animation feature. Its medium may be animation, but theirs is a timeless story that hopeless romantics would love. It’s not one of those over the top hopeless romantic films, but this is played out quite subtly, using music as a passage to their love. It’s a beautiful and moving, and quite heartbreaking in parts, as both leads are hard not to sympathize with.

Trailer: Don Jon


You know how romantic comedies are always geared towards women? Well, Joseph Gordon Levitt gets in the action by directing and starring in how would it be like if a romantic comedy was based on a man's point of view. He gives us Don Jon, a man trying to make his relationship work while dealing with a few quirks of his own. I'm not the biggest fan of Scarlet Johansson, but I do like Joseph Gordon-Levitt so this automatically goes to my anticipated list. The buzz for the film has waned down over the months, but this trailer pretty much revived it a bit.

Trailer: Her


Hey there! When this trailer got released, I wasn't sure about Joaquin Phoenix playing the role. I mean, I know he's JOAQUIN PHOENIX, but it's something I never imagined him to do. He's always in heavy movies that this seem like a step out of the recent kinds of films he's been doing. After watching the trailer countless of times, it has grown on me, and this movie is crawling its way to my most anticipated for the latter part of the year. I can't wait to see how Phoenix handles the role, and he has a good supporting cast with him. There's the lovely Amy Adams, rising star Rooney Mara and Scarlett Johansson. I'm not a big fan of Johansson but there are times when she's good in her projects. I can't wait for this to come out!

A brief hiatus

Hi everyone! I didn't realize until recently that I have a lot on my plate, both personally and professionally. The schedules are quickly piling in, and I can't keep up with them as well as keep my blog updated. Despite the not-so-stellar posting record, I won't be able to keep the blog updated until the end of the month. Hopefully I'll find some time ahead to post a few more reviews before August ends! 

One Season Wonder: The New Normal

The New Normal was a show that faced its share of controversy. While the characters seem to be the unconventional type, the show's plot revolves around the joys and pains of parenthood, from the journey to becoming one until learning to let your child grow. The show revolves around unconventional set up of families, with the main focus on Bryan and David, a couple who are starting a family through surrogacy. While it never got renewed, it finished its season fittingly, tying up any loose ends and presenting the viewers with a happy ending.

Skyfall

Cast: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem
Director: Sam Mendes

Skyfall cements my love for Daniel Craig's take on Bond, not to mention that this exceeds its immediate predicessor. This also marks the perfect movie that commemorates the 50 years of Bond, as it pays homage to the previous works. While the movie falls short of logic, it gives a scene-stealing villain, great visual sequences, and an agent who was more of a man rather than an agent. As this commemorates the 50 years, this also gives the closure of one of Bond's beloved characters, and the exit of Judi Dench.

Trailer: Enough Said


This is James Galdofini in one of his last roles before passing away. This looks charming, and has the vibe of a feel-good movie. It's written and directed by Nicole Holofcener, who's made a slew of impressive films. I can't wait to see what she has entailed for her viewers. Her cast line up is also incredible, with James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus heading the movie. I expect this would be critically praised as well, as all her past films seem to have garnered critic attention. 

Monsters University

*This is my entry to the 5 Obstructions blogathon. For more information, click here.
Cast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi
Director: Dan Scanlon

This is the third month of the 5 Obstructions blogathon. For this obstruction, I've chosen to review Monsters University, a movie I haven't gotten around to reviewing. Because of this month's restrictions, I found it that it would be easier to write about a recent movie, as most would have probably seen it and share similar sentiments. This challenge mostly reminded me of the research paper process. Sources can be found under the cut. To the writers whose reviews I've used, if you'd like to find out what words I've lifted from your work, you can view a word document here.

Trailer: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty


I'm not a big fan of Ben Stiller, and the only movie of his that I liked was The Royal Tenenbaums. Masked with an ensemble cast, he can hold his drama chops but I've never seen him lead in one. While the movie doesn't give much away, his character seems to be apart from the usual personas he portray. Hopefully, this is good and brings a starter back to his career. If played right, it might be one of those hidden gem movies. The cinematography looks great, and it somewhat gives of a Stranger than Fiction vibe. 

Mission: Impossible

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emanuelle Beart
Director: Brian de Palma

Back before Bourne Legacy was about to be released, I watched The Bourne Trilogy in order to acquaint myself with the franchise. Despite catching it on television a lot of times, I never really understood it because I had no idea what was happening. After watching the trilogy in one day, I was utterly surprised. It was great! I had found this new love for Jason Bourne and now when I see it on TV, I can watch it knowing that I understood what was going on. So by that time, I was skeptical of Legacy because it can only be one of two: it can be as awesome as the Damon trilogy, or it can be so bad that it ruins the trilogy. I watched it, and it wasn't so bad, but I preferred the Damon trilogy. Another line of movies that I haven't seen is the Mission Impossible series, embarking on the movie wagon during the fourth movie. I quite enjoyed Ghost Protocol that I faced a similar dilemma to my Bourne dilemma. I haven't seen the first three movies, so the outcome could only be one of the same two things. But wrapping this story up, I watched the first installment of Mission Impossible, and it was a great start, although I found it too short (and wished it was longer, it felt like it ended abruptly).

Trailer: American Hustle


The trailer certainly lacks dialogue, but it makes up for the flashy turn of events that are expected to happen. It boasts a good cast line-up, but the performances that I'm looking forward to are of Christian Bale and Amy Adams. Hopefully Bradley Cooper's take on his character is good as well, as I think he made the stakes higher for his career with his turn as Pat in Silver Linings Playbook. Hopefully this doesn't disappoint, as it looks great.