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Bad Match

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The Netflix movie Bad Match is listed as a scary and suspenseful movie. What it should have been listed as is downright awful.

The movie is about a guy named Harris who uses a knock off version of Tinder called Head Over Heels to have one night stands with women. He is a self-absorbed individual who does not care about anyone’s feelings but his own. He matches with a girl named Riley Miller who ends up getting quite attached to Harris after their night of passion. He tries to ignore her, but she keeps trying to contact him through text, phone call, and his work phone. When he tells her that he does not feel the same, she pretends to attempt suicide to get him to come over to her house. When he gets there, and tries to get her to come to, she opens her eyes. She then says, “Gotcha!”. He tells her that what she did was messed up, and then tells her to never contact him again. From there, his life begins to spiral out of control. He gets fired from his job for posting negative tweets about his job on Twitter, and he claims that he did not post them. Additionally, he gets arrested because there was child pornography found on his laptop, which he also claims to not have downloaded. He gets arrested, and is told by his lawyer to plead guilty (where he could potentially get off with a fine). Harris insists that he did not download anything of that sort. His friend bails him out of jail. From here, things become hectic, disorganized, and ridiculous. He tries to get Riley to confess to hacking his account, and to downloading the child pornography. He goes to great lengths to do this. He even creates a fake identity to contact her after she filed a restraining order against him. He kidnaps Riley, and holds her hostage at his former workplace. They get into an altercation, and long story short, he kills her. The final scene is him getting a phone call from his lawyer saying that he is off the hook for the charges because someone he trash talked online during a video game was the one who hacked his Twitter, and downloaded child pornography on his computer. A security guard sees him sitting next to the dead body, and calls for back up.

There were a lot of things I disliked about this movie. One of them is how quickly everything escalates. Everything happens at an unusually fast pace, and goes from 0 – 100 at the drop of a hat. The second thing I disliked was that the character named Riley faked a suicide attempt to get Harris to come over to her house to check on her. That is beyond messed up, and sheds a negative light on mental illness. Additionally, it says to people that those who attempt suicide are either joking about it, or trying to get attention. It is messed up, and should not have happened. A third thing I disliked was that someone essentially ruined Harris’s life over a small insult exchanged online through a video game. It was small in the grand scheme of things. The consequences of not only Harris’s actions, but also the insulted gamer’s actions ruined two people’s lives. A fourth thing I disliked was that Harris took matters into his own hands, and killed Riley. He should have left things up to the authorities and his lawyer. If he hadn’t jumped to conclusions, Riley wouldn’t be dead, and he would have been off the hook eventually.

There was not much that I liked about the movie. I liked how his friends called Harris out on his shenanigans. They told him he was using the girls he matched with on Head Over Heels for sex without any regard for their feelings.

Overall, it is not the best movie on Netflix. I suggest the next time you are going to watch something on Netflix that you swipe left on Bad Match. One thing that I can say for sure is that it is still a better love story than Twilight.

KAYoung

Flatliners — Flatlined — DNR

“It’s a great day to die!” – Jamie, the evening he was flatlined

If you have intentions of watching the 2017 remake of Flatliners, I highly suggest that you reconsider and re-evaluate your movie options. The box-office failure stars some well-known actors and actresses such as Ellen Page (Juno) and Diego Luna (Rogue One), had a $19-million budget (made $2-million opening weekend), and scored a solid 2% on Rotten Tomatos. Unfortunately, they did little to contribute to the movie’s success or to shock it back to life to unfold and showcase an interesting and complex story line. I wish I could tell you that the worst thing about this movie is the lack of a plot line or failure in character development but then I wouldn’t be doing my job.

Five medical students go on a dangerous experiment to gain insight into the mystery of what happens after you die. The unsafe experiment begins when they trigger near-death experiences by stopping their hearts for short periods of time. As their trials become more perilous, each must confront the sins from their past while facing the paranormal consequences of journeying to the other side. However, the sins of the people are not fully explained — which is irritating and makes it incredibly difficult to want to root for any of the characters. The movie opens on Ellen Page’s character driving with a young girl who is presumably her younger sister. Page makes the mistake of checking her phone while driving which ultimately results in her crashing her car into the side of a bridge and flipping into a lake – causing the younger sister to die while Page manages to get out of the sinking vehicle. The movie flashes forward nine years and shines light on Page’s character, who is studying to become a doctor, and her cohort of four other individuals who also lack in the character development department. While the movie started out with a crashing bang (literally — Page’s character flipped her car into a lake) it failed to provide an explanation of the relation between Page’s character and the younger girl and leaves you to assume that they were siblings. It does not shed light on the car crash until right before Page’s character dies.

The overall premise of the movie is that young childhood trauma prompts Page’s character to be interested in the concept of the afterlife. She has one of her coworkers stop her heart and then bring her back to life so she can see if there is indeed an afterlife of some sort. Afterwards, she can magically play the piano and can recall even the most minute details. Because of this she was suddenly excelling in areas that she had not been successful in before, prompting her coworkers to want to do the same. Page had her heart stop for one minute and her coworkers wanted to have theirs stopped for a longer amount of time. In spite of their medical training, it comes as something of a surprise to our “heroes” to learn that temporarily killing themselves might bring about unintended consequences, and all of them begin to experience spooky visions and hallucinations. It takes them an incredibly and unreasonably long time to figure out why this is happening, and the film promptly devolves from a goofy ‘90s throwback into a thoroughly flat movie filled with cheesy jump scares and plenty of angry figures with dark eye makeup glowering in doorways.

In my previous movie reviews, I list what I liked and did not like about a film. Unfortunately, there is not much I can say that I liked about this film. I did like the concept of trying to figure out what happens after a person dies. I guess the thing that I liked most about this movie was when the end credits sequence appeared on the screen. Because there was a lot about this movie that I disliked, I will not go into too much detail about it. I disliked the lack of background information on the characters. If there had been more, such as knowing what their sins that they had to confront were, it would have made it possible to like these characters. Because there wasn’t, to me, it wasn’t even remotely possible to

The movie barely started out strong, and continued to end dull. In other words, the original Flatliners movie should have had a ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ order attached to it to save the director and cast dignity.

KAYoung

Coco: Seizes the Moment

coco

“You don’t have to forgive him, but we shouldn’t forget him.” – Miguel, talking about his great, great grandfather, Hector

Pixar’s movies all have one theme in common. They all seem to revolve around the preservation of memories. “Coco,” the new Pixar film, is a loose variation on that theme. Set during Mexico’s annual Dia de los Muertos holiday, it illustrates in great detail how families celebrate and honor – and remember – their dead loved ones. And like the holiday, the film is not at all mournful, but joyous. It is the story of a 12-year-old boy who magically traverses between the Land of the Living and the Land of the Dead, which is not at all a gloomy place. It’s an enchanting city, glowing with vibrant color and garnished with chimerical creatures, or “spirit animals.” It’s no exaggeration to say it shows us things we’ve never seen before, something that happens so rarely in modern cinema.

Despite his family’s generations-old ban on music, young Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead. After meeting a charming trickster named Héctor, the two new friends embark on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history. The story is filmed with vibrant colors, lovable characters, and surprisingly unexpected plot twists. I won’t elaborate on the plot twists to avoid any potential spoilers.

There wasn’t much in this film that was not likable. It was colorful, the music was phenomenal, the representation of another culture was well done, and Dante the dog was hilarious. The colors on the screen popped and lent a hand in showcase the Mexican Day of the Dead festivities which shows that family is everything, and that even when they are gone they are still around us.

What was disliked (or difficult to swallow) was the fact that Hector was murdered by his best friend, Ernesto because he was engulfed with the fame he was receiving from using the music his friend wrote. Ernesto was willing to take all the credit, fame, and the ability to be kept preserved in the Land of the Dead because he was known for Hector’s songs. It was frustrating because not only did he not give Hector any credit, he murdered him in cold blood and greed. The reason it was so aggravating was because the only person alive that somewhat remembered Hector was his daughter, Coco, who was rather old and nearing death. If she forgot who Hector was, his spirit would be gone forever.

Overall, the movie was fun to watch. It challenged me to think about a culture different from my own. It also hit me right in the feels when Miguel was singing “Remember Me” to his great grandmother to keep her from forgetting her father, Hector. The movie is out on DVD now — if you have not seen it, I highly suggest you seize the moment, and take in this wonderful Disney-Pixar movie.

KAYoung

Black Panther: Welcome to Wakanda

Black Panther

“Black Panther: We can still heal you.
Killmonger: Why, so you can lock me up? Nah. Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, ’cause they knew death was better than bondage.” – Black Panther (2018)

Black Panther takes place after the events of Captain America: Civil War. T’Challa returns to the technology reclusive Wakanda so he can serve as the nation’s new King — after the death of his father, King T’Chaka, When a powerful enemy suddenly reappears, T’Challa’s reign as king, and as Black Panther, gets tested when he’s drawn into a conflict that puts not only the fate of Wakanda at risk, but the entire world. While faced with treachery and danger, T’Challa must gain the support of his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people.

This movie was fantastic in a number of ways. Prior to sharing why I thought it was fantastic, I am going to share what I disliked about the movie. First off, there was not much about the movie that I did not enjoy. In fact, Black Panther quickly became one of my all time favorite Marvel movies. As a Marvel fan, something that I disliked about the movie were the number of plot holes and things that did not make sense throughout the film. A few things that did not make sense that stuck out to me were Black Panther leaving Wakanda tech in the field, T’Challa not only survives a great fall, but snow is what keeps him alive, and everyone speaks English in Wakanda. Each of these will be explained in the following paragraphs in the order they were listed.

Thanks to T’Challa’s younger sister, Shuri Wakanda is, hands down, the most technologically advanced nation in the world. She made a variety of high-tech tools that have aided the citizens of Wakanda and helped them lead better lives. Despite the fact that the high tech tools could do some good in other countries around the world, all of the Wakadan Kings to date have chosen to isolate themselves from other countries. Following suit, King T’Challa is concerned about the possibilities of what could happen if Wakadan technology were to be used outside the nation. After successfully stopping the Nigerian militia towards the beginning of the film, T’Challa leaves Wakandan technology out in the open for anyone to find and study.

Don’t get me wrong — I was ecstatic to see that the Black Panther had survived his initial battle for King against the Killmonger, but something that I questioned was how he managed to survive the fall off the cliff in the river after already bleeding out. Yes, in superhero movies it is understand, and expected, that they are able to do things that normal people cannot. However, during the ritual combat, he was stripped of the Black Panther powers — leaving him just like everyone else — as a normal human. After arriving to Wakanda, Killmonger asserts his blood right and challenge T’Challa for the right to reign as King. Because it is a ritual combat, T’Challa is stripped of his Black Panther powers by drinking some sort of potion. At the end of the battle, T’Challa was essentially defeated due to being badly injured. Furthermore, Killmonger throws T’Challa off of a massive cliff and into the water that was hundreds of feet below them. Yet, despite the injures and the great fall, T’Challa survives and is pulled out of the water by a fisherman from a neighboring tribe. After being saved by the fisherman from a neighboring tribe, T’Challa is kept in snow. This somehow managed to keep him alive. Yes, it is true that cooling down the body restricts blood flow, but the neighboring tribe did not use Wakanda tech. This means that there is no healing properties in the snow — it is just regular water.

The last thing noted that did not make sense to me was that everyone speaks English in Wakanda. This was interesting because this country was never colonized. Because English is a colonial language, it would have had to been introduced by outside explorers. Wakanda was never claimed by Europeans like other African countries. During the most important moments of the movie, the ritual combats, everyone was shown speaking English. However, there are a few moments where the characters are speaking in their native tongue — but they mostly speak English. I acknowledge that a movie made in the US is going to be recorded in English. However, the director could have attempt to develop a way to make audiences members think that people of Wakanda were speaking a different language as they went about their day-to-day lives.

Now, after describing what did not make sense to me in the movie, next will be what I found to be absolutely amazing in it. First, the movie paved the way for other superheroes of color. Black Panther broke the ice when it comes to the fact that positive representation matters. The film positively portrayed African Americans and has received all of the due credit for it. After being part of a group called Diversity Initiative Leaders on my college campus for two years, I have become more conscientious of positive representation, privilege, and stereotypes. Seeing this movie definitely made me check my privilege because, as a white individual, I cannot relate to the struggles that the main antagonist, the Killmonger, had gone through growing up. Seeing him portrayed as an African American that came from a broken home and troubled childhood made him a villain that was easy to sympathize with. However, I cannot relate to his struggles. This made me strive to advocate for those who are struggling like he was. I also acknowledge that it is easier for me to say that I am striving for to do that rather than actually doing it. My youngest brother is African American, and I have begun working with him and my father to help advocate for him. It is a small step in the direction of advocating for others.

A second thing I really enjoyed about the movie was the representation of women in the STEM field. Shuri, T’Challa’s younger sister, designs and builds all of the technology he uses as Black Panther. Her being a brilliant and talented scientist not only positively represents women in the STEM field, but also people of color. Also, the bond between Shuri and T’Challa was a wonderful portrayal of brother-sister dynamic. They supported each other and cheered each other on. Furthermore, Shuri’s ability to mock and make fun of her brother is something I admire. She isn’t afraid to trick him and point fun at him. He takes it well and it emphasizes the strong bond they have. My favorite moment where Shuri was poking fun at T’Challa was when she saw whatever shoes he was wearing (I think they were sandals) and she yelled, “WHAT ARE THOSE?!”. It was a good comedic moment and a funny reference to pop culture vines.

To keep this post from getting too long-winded, I will share one last thing that I enjoyed about the film. The last thing I enjoyed was the strong bond that was briefly shown between the Killmonger and his late father. It was short (I wish they would have shown more of it) and it showed the love his father had for him. The brief scene showcased his father telling him stories of Wakanda. It tied back into the movie when Killmonger was dying. He said, “Can you believe that? A kid from Oakland walking around, believing in fairy tales”. This quotation stuck with me because I interpreted it as seeing Wakanda was a way of him holding onto his father.

Overall, Black Panther is an exceptional Marvel movie. Marvel has definitely outdone themselves with this one. Despite the three things that didn’t make sense to me, it is a fantastic movie and is one of my all time favorite Marvel movies to date. I am interested to see where the director takes the story of Black Panther going forward.

KAYoung

The Greatest Showman review

Hello people of the inter-webs, I am the honest, artistic and single. C.M. Young and I’m going to dazzle you with The Greatest Showman review – what I like, dislike about it and my thoughts of it. (Spoilers ahead if you haven’t see it and want please stop reading this then go see it and back here because I get very lonely, if you have or don’t care to see it continue on my friends.) Okay for those who are left, thank you and tell me do you wanna go? Where it’s covered in all the colored lights, Where the runaways are the night? Because it was amazing and I loved it. If you can forget all the historic inaccuracies with the real PT Barnum and the wrongful treatment of the animals, you’ll enjoy it the movie.

But first off let’s begin with what the movie is about. The Greatest Showman is about the story of PT Barnum (portrayed by the great Hugh Jackman) starting Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, but in the movie it’s just know as the Barnum’s Circus during the late 19 century and at the beginning of the movie the song The Greatest Show showed Barnum dancing and singing as the people cheer, and then we are shown a flashback as a young Barnum is full with dreams of a greater life for me and a young Charity, Barnum’s future wife. Then as a adult he and his family are very poor and not live the life he promised Charity. From that now we see how the Circus of “freaks” with a what some people of that period called them, (The Circus features a three leg man, a dog boy, a “Irish” giant, bearded lady, twins who both have albinism and African acrobat brother and sister duo. The sister is named Anne Wheeler a trapeze artist (portrayed by the lovely Zendaya.) takes off with large audiences while receiving poor reviews. As Barnum is blinded by the cheers of the people, he loses his way and lost everything when the building houses the circus is burn down to none thing and “cheating” on his wife with Jenny Lind a famous opera singer. At his lowness point, the “freaks” he tried to distance himself after he gains favor with the aristocratic patrons he longed for as a low class child, the “freaks” remain him that it wasn’t the reason why he started the circus in the first. It ends with the same song as it begun with a new circus place and Barnum gives full control of the circus to his partner Philip Carlyle (a playwright who is portrayed by Zac Efron.) so he focus on his family.

Now to my review: What worked was the right choice of casting Hugh Jackman as the title character. Hugh Jackman was the great showman with his amazing singing voice, he portrays Barnum as a man who wants his children to not suffered what he want through as a child who was looked down because of what his family’s status in that period of society, who loves his wife and two daughters and can clearly see the showman within him even before the circus. I also liked Zac Efron and Zendaya’s characters, the small star-cross lovers subplot was amazing, that was my favorite part of the movie. When I hear Never Enough — another song from the movie — I can still see Philip reach to hold Anne’s hand and feel sad when he pulls back after notices his parents nearby. Because, well, everyone knows that in time period African Americans were not treated with the upmost respect, they are only seen as “the help” as Philip’s father puts it and a interracial couple was more then taboo back than. But I do admit that the intimacy those characters had was beyond great. But I do also have to admit that we were suppose to believe that Anne would love Philip right away. Someone like her in that time period doesn’t simply fall in love with someone on a dime especially a white man who in that period look down on African Americans. Where as we can clearly see Philip became enchanted by this beautiful vixen. Which is total unrealistic of the time period. That was the only thing I disliked about the movie. Besides that I love it, I love the story and the music. My favorite songs from the soundtrack has to be The Great Show, A Million Dreams, Come Alive, This is Me (which won a best original song at the Golden Globe Wards), Rewrite the Stars and From on Now. The movie was so good, I saw it again a week after the first time. Good movie for the family to watch. I would seriously recommend it to my friends to go and see it.

-C.M.Young