acupofsaltea - Tumblr blog

[acupofsaltea]

Some of quotes from my favorite tv series.

[acupofsaltea]

About The Fallout

What an emotional drama. People should see this at least once because it holds a great lesson that we might miss in real life. It could be triggering to some people, especially during the opening scene which blasts you with a straightforward and a terrifying tragedy. It's realistic and whatever comes after is generally relatable. That's why The Fallout is so sensitive, heartbreaking, and reflective.

The way the story goes with all the characters–Jenna really plays well as Vada, everybody is playing their part greatly–it helps making the movie more intimate which is actually a successful approach for the theme. It's a rollercoaster of emotions. What I personally like is how different people coping in a different way to the same tragedy. While it's heavily focusing on one's experience, the story actually includes different perspectives like Vada's friends, her parents, even her sister.

[acupofsaltea]

About Call Me By Your Name

Ambiguous. That is the word I've been searching for hours to describe one of the feeling I received from this two hours film and that's not about the diversity of how the movie could be interpreted, but related to the movie's moral value. Definitely comes from how innocent yet it's filled with some questionable choices in which the story has offered, like the age-gap, or how Elio plays with his friend's feelings and that just ends with a disappointing resolution for him. Though to defend that, I'd say the rawness of one's deepest feeling can come up as selfish and unethical–I suppose that's relevant to our experience in a way, the film also shows the process of learning and discovering for the main character to better understand his feelings and embrace it the way it is. Then by following that direction, I consider Call Me By Your Name to be one of the innocently bold, bare, honest, and realistic romance movie.

I remember I didn't find a single line in the film where they say the word 'love' to each other. I suppose it's understandable and considerate, I see more attraction than actual love between them two. I don't know what it's like in the novel, I haven't seen it, but I'm sure it'd be poetic. Now the film is beautifully made, it matches the attitude of the story which helps me to be inside the moments better. Sometimes the scenes felt too private and I was just there like an intruder between Elio and Oliver. Haha. I'm not really into the cinematography, though they're still very nice in a way of capturing the vibes, so does the audio. They're more aesthetic to me which also makes the film quite pleasing.

[acupofsaltea]

About The Menu

Talking about dining experience as its main setting, The Menu definitely serves a series of peculiar turns and events. I suppose dark comedy movies normally create such sensation to me. The movie is filled with interesting dialogues, though I was actually a bit behind at the beginning of the film with those fast conversations and scenes, especially when I had to read the subtitles while also eating my lunch. As it goes by, The Menu is nothing like I have seen before, and I always appreciate a new experience.

To me the story feels like a mockery–the excessive dining for the rich, the detailed critiques, the cheeseburger with its american cheese, even the obsessive Tyler himself, etc. The expensive price is just about unnecessary experiences and meanings. Looking at the art through the lenses of a creator and the enjoyer, it's a play of expectations and obsessions between both side. It sounds complicated and maybe that's one of the problem why eventually the chef decides to excecute the plan. As if the true meaning behind the enjoyement of food has been lost in translation, and he–himself is lost in the system that made him as who he is.

[acupofsaltea]

About Don't Worry Darling

There's something wrong about Don't Worry Darling. If I'm being bitchy, I'd say they really think they created something smart and creative. It looks interesting, until it's not. Can we just talk about the ending? Why did they end it like that? To make it look cool as we're supposed to create our own interpretations? Nah, because to me Don't Worry Darling has too many plot holes for that. It has a strange pace, I wish they slow it down towards the end. Maybe they want to make the sequel to explain everything, but considering all the drama- idk about that. The dinner scene is the turning point where I feel like it starts to get a bit too fast. In my opinion, the story fails to utilize things like the town setting, the system, the victory project itself, backgrounds and stories of other neighbors including the inventors. We barely know about them, let alone what happens to them afterwards. I really like Florence Pugh, but even she couldn't save me from this disaster.

P.s. You know what it reminds me of, the 2NE1's Comeback Home music video. Funny thing is, I've mentioned about comeback home video around thirty minutes in because that's how I think the movie is heading. Now if you haven't seen the video, you should check it out and see what I mean.

[acupofsaltea]

About Mr. Harrigan's Phone

My first thought when I saw the poster and the title was, this is peculiar. I was refering to the assumption I was making to guess what's the movie about. Would this be like in The Black Phone movie? Then I realized it's actually one of Stephen King's stories. Ha! Make sense.

Anyway, I watched it two days ago and had pondered about it for a while- also discussing it with my sister. I really enjoy the first half of the movie, from when Craig first meets Mr. Harrigan and proceeds to work for him until the old man died. Their interactions and dialogues are something, like actually pure and beautiful in a way. Then the second half unfortunately a bit let down. Idk why, honestly, is it due to the horror ended up being just a teaser? Or maybe because the rest seems like it took them miles and seemingly random paths to prove the point and still feel anticlimatic? The destination is sure fine, I was refering to the journey. I personally feel like I would like it better if I read the book- in which I haven't- instead of watching it.

The story definitely leaves a space to create our own theories as to what happen, how they happen, and what they actually mean. The dialogues are the key in this movie. One that is so obvious is the phone it self or the internet and its connection to how it could bring 'horror' into our lifes. My sister said it has something to do with information and communication, and I agree, as John Harrigan said himself,

"Oh, and false information becomes common and accepted as true. And what happens when they start using this to spread more nonsense than is already out there? All of us need to be frightened by this gizmo."

Power would fit into the concept. John Harrigan himself is potrayed as a man with power and someone who's willing to use in any kind of form which I mean morally. So I assume this is where the idea of horror in the story comes from. Like using our power and our words, and leaving whatever the consequences they might have, we move on with them while someone else might lose their future because of what we've said. Well, Craig takes the guilt with him. But it all comes back on how we utilize the technology, the internet, and the phone, or maybe simply our words.

[acupofsaltea]

About Do Revenge

I don't watch a lot of teenlit movies, wait- I mean I used to be a simp for teen romance back in highschool... but I have a terrible memory so I don't remember most of the details. In recent years, getting hooked with the theme has been so difficult for me. I just lost focus somewhere and started to think about random things instead. Thankfully, Drea Torres saved me from actually turning off my TV and walking out from the living room to do something else, like napping. I did this a lot, leaving things unfinished. Anyway the reason is because Drea doesn't look like the protagonist who has the characteristic of.. a typical protagonist, is that make sense? She's such an alpha and quite immoral, she could've been the bad girl in another teen stories. But in here, we're inside her unapologetic and ambitious mind. I'm super entertained. It's like watching a fight match or something. Camila Mendes nails this character. Not to mention Eleanor, who unexpectedly brings the perfect tea into the plot and switches the atmosphere inside the story. I knew Do Revenge was something else, eventhough it feels familiar to me with all those references to the classic teen movies (I love Clueless!!!).

Edit: I'm posting my favorite clip

[acupofsaltea]

About Smile

Definitely one of my favorite film this year- now how many times have I said this? Idk. The thing is, horror and psychological is my kind of a perfect combination. As a horror fan, Smile feels like a reunion between a decent amount of goreness, has a lot of jumpscares that I wasn't able to get used to, perfect slowburn thrills, extremely creepy vibes, plus the disturbing musics that help creating goosebumps, and has left me with a heavy heart as I walked out of that empty cinema with only 11 people inside the studio. Hypothetically speaking, it's not very common for me to find all those items in one place. If I have to put it in a simplest way, then for me Smile is... genuinely creepy. It's unnerving! At times my hands started to move by themselves, lol. Although I wish they put more of Rose's backstory with her mom at the end to explore more the cause of her trauma or showing more of the past victims' experiences, but it was enough I guess.

Its'pattern reminds me of the Ring movie, but with trauma. And I think I like how it was pictured this way, passing trauma to another, a never ending cylce, it was quite obvious thoughout the almost-2-hours film. My biggest confusion in the story is so how do you end this? I think it's a bit contradicting on how the story literally wants us to know that accepting the cause of our trauma is one way to heal it, but it's not? Do we need a sequel to answer this question? Because I think we do, or at least I do. And I definitely don't want the sequel to be full of hallucination, I understand their existences and I'm fine with a few just not most of them, please.

[acupofsaltea]

About Violet Evergarden

First of all, I thought it was Violet Evergreen, so I'm going to use green for the title:)

In all honesty, the genres aren't really my cup of tea for an anime. Nevertheless, Violet Evergarden is still one of the most beautiful anime I've ever seen. I'm not talking about the visual (though they're also very pretty, so does Violet herself and literally everyone in there), but related to the story, the innocence of finding the true meaning of something, a long journey of understanding the beauty of emotions and the purpose of life. It feels calm and creates that nature-like-sensation (a bit random, ik). Also love that Violet got an amazing character development.

It's not just about Violet that is beautiful, but all those mini stories are just as heartwarming as everything else. They're not entirely original but they're not repetitive, they always give a new refreshing plot. Absolutely wholesome, the emotions displayed are too sincere and pure I couldn't even come up with a word to describe what I felt with all of them. Both Violet and all her costumers are catalyst to each other, it's not just about Violet, not just about Ann or the Princess or Oscar, but it's about everything, about everyone's journey to accept and find a new purpose.

Such a great series. Violet Evergarden is one series everybody needs to watch to remind us great things about love and live at least once in our lifes.

[acupofsaltea]

About No Exit

The story is actually quite decent, from mystery to thriller, from normal to chaos. I literally didn't expect it to escalate so suddenly. While personally feel like the twists are a bit funny and worth a little chuckle, I would have never suspected them to form into a dramatic connection. I don't know what happened in the book, but plenty of things in the movie aren't really necessary in my opinion, including the so called twists. Though thankfully, they stopped adding more drama and eventually refocusing on building the thrills for the next 20 or 30 something minutes which kind of a life safer for me because I really thought about dropping it.

I have a confusion about this 'Uncle Kenny', his name was mentioned numerous times, but who is he really other than what was pictured by the kidnappers? I mean like is he in mafia thing or what? His name sounds too important to be left hanging just like that. Anyway, just an additional thoughts, if I made the story I would definitely make everyone dies at the end to make it more depressing lol.

[acupofsaltea]

About The Sandman

I don't know why but I'm pleased to know there's no physical fighting in here and instead witnessing bunch of philosophical fights between these people or mytical rulers that hold on to their own idealisms. I like it, it's refreshing. Fantasy, I think, is a fun genre due to its ability to go beyond reality itself. The Sandman explores the world through the lense of meaning and values, I have questions about how a certain system works in there, but I'd put that aside when I watched the series because I was too occupied in searching for something behind what was shown. The dialogues and monologues are so intriguing to me. They hit, for real. Probably, I should watch it again some time.

My favorite episode would be 24/7. Other than the interesting storytelling style from it, John Dee really catches my attention since the previous episode. His character is well made. He's not merely a side villian in an empty shell, there's actually a pearl inside which I think is the most important aspect a character needs to build as the core of their actions. John Dee's idealism is so clear and beautifully explained, showing both the innocence and compassion, and the cruelness of his nature, a human with a broken sense of morality.

[acupofsaltea]

About I Saw the Devil

I think I in I Saw the Devil could mean us, folks, because we're literally witnessing hell while Kyung-Chul guides us there, introducing everyone the disneyland of serial killer. While I do prefer deep psychological approach in thriller or horror movies, I Saw the Devil does not disappoint me with its rather action touch, offering plenty of disturbing graphics and horrific situations while still maintaining the flow of the characters' emotions. Personally think acting as a less expressive character that carries a great emotional burden is hard, but Lee Byung-hun did it well as Soo-hyeun, allowing me to see the pain from a man who holds so much, a beautifully sad experience for me (is that expression exist? Lol).

Probably the first ⅔ of the film gives us more the journey, introducing hell from the gate until the front of its kingdom. The rest 25 minutes, I was not a mere spectator anymore just about when Soo-hyeun started to loose his grip. Anxious, sad, pity, desperate, they came into me minute by minute, killing me with the slow thrills. It's crazy (I mean everything else is crazy too) and it's so damn good.

P.s. I have a random thought. Eventhough we see all the brutals done by the killers and internally judge those acts as unemphatic and immoral (obviously), aren't we also take the pleasure when Soo-hyeun gives all the torture back and make his revenge? What Kyung-Chul said about enjoying the hunter game could also be directed to us too then, isn't it?

[acupofsaltea]

About Thor Love & Thunder

I chose a wise decision back then when it first came at the theater, that I would wait for the movie to be on Disney+ instead, thank God I did. No offence, Waititi did a good job at making Thor super fun and enjoyable, I was mostly laughing whenever Korg appeared, I love his randomness, been waiting for him since Ragnarok. The film itself is kind of heading towards the same randomness, but not so much. I just feel like there's nothing really important going on in here. Gorr has a reasonable story, but he needs more screentime. I wanted to know more about the depth of his sentiment, his character and all, not just the simple points like I'm reading someone's power point presentation because I think it would make the conclusion more meaningful, more emotional, I mean aren't we supposed to give the man some sympathy? They're talking about love, about something extra sentimental in here, so give us extra emotional depth please because Thor and Jane's story definitely didn't help much. In general, the film is just about filling the context, like the first draft we make before giving it some secondary touch, a lot of things wanted to be said but got a little bit overwhelmed by the excitement of showing them to everyone. I guess...

[acupofsaltea]

Fall (2022)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆☆☆☆☆ | 4 / 10

You know what's terrible about my experience with this movie? It's that I had expected something.. more from it. I have to admit that's entirely my fault. Hehe- No, but honestly what the fuck?

The whole movie is crazy, I gotta say I was intrigued by the idea of two people climbing something so unusual for my common sense to understand in the first place, maybe because dare devil activity isn't really my thing. Props to that idea! Plus, there's plenty of opportunity to create massive thrills for the viewers, especially when you have acrophobia. Now.. unfortunately I couldn't feel satisfied with the most important thing I was hoping to experience from a thriller movie, which was the thrills. The only scene which made me feel anxious was when Hunter jumps to grab the bag and the rope, but that's just it. That's weird, maybe my senses have died.

There's a word that I repeatedly said during the 107 minutes film: stupid. Though without all those stupidities, there'll be no suspense in it. It's a dead end, I want to complain but what can I suggest, sometimes I act impulsively too without caring the consequences. Becky and Hunter, the two dare devils who love the same man, enjoy the same hobby, both are careless and ignorant. Probably one is introverted and the other is extroverted. I personally dislike the two. Still remember the drama between the two bestfriends? It's okay if you don't because it adds nothing to the plot.

Also, did you remember that Becky's phone change during her nightmare up there? It's suddenly an iPhone with three bobas whereas before is only one. I'm just going to assume that since it changes in her dream, Becky deeply wants to upgrade her iPhone so badly it just randomly manifests...

The third act, I don't know anymore what to expect, just like that and I was left unsatisfied. So I went home and I had to tell my family the bad news when they asked me how it went.

[acupofsaltea]

Scum's Wish (2017)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆☆ | 7 / 10

Scum's Wish is a romantic drama anime based on Japanese manga by Mengo Yokoyari. Simply, this is a story about friends with benefits gone wrong. Two highschool students, Hanabi and Mugi, decided to bond with each other after finding out that their love is unrequited. So Hanabi is in love with this teacher named Narumi since she was a child while Mugi likes another teacher named Akane who used to be his private tutor at middle school. Turns out, Narumi puts interest toward Akane and visa versa.

I'm already tired explaining the plot haha.

This love story is like a spider web, I swear! There are more people involved in this shit. I'm going straight to what I thought.

Unrequited loves, complicated relationships, friends with benefits, love confusion, combined with obsession, ambition, and desire, making one giant of a mess that connects 9 people including Hanabi, Mugi, Narumi, Akane, along with some of their friends, relatives, and acquaintances. This is not a triangle love, I've told you this is spider web.

It's emotionally heavy, this is like full psychological genre but wrapped in a romantic plot... wait! but it doesn't feel romantic to me. You can't not feeling depressed after watching this lol because you are meant to feel that way instead of having that butterflies in your stomach or hearing your heartbeat goes faster, neither!

The story explores so much around emotion, internal thoughts, personal motivation, and you get to see each of the main character's story, in detail. I don't have to say anything anymore about character's depth. I'm impressed, with 12 episodes I can hear different perspectives, they're all crazy! They have their own issues and ways of handling feelings. Sometimes, I really wanted to slap all of them and say,

wake up!

Oh, and this anime is not for children. If someone says anime is for kids then ask them whether they think kids are allowed to watch this or not. This one is an R+ with several sloppy kiss scenes. Ew. I hate when it happens.

But if you like intimacy type of romance, you'll get a lot in here. Whether you'll enjoy it or not is not my business😁

Lastly, I think despite everything that happens in this story, I am super glad it ends like it is. It just makes more sense--that's only if we have the same common sense lol. The thing is, I feel like Hanabi as the main female protagonist is so out of focus the entire show after having her heart broken and she's in a journey of bringing herself back on track, finding what she really wants. Not what I was expecting in the beginning, but I'm pleased with it.

[acupofsaltea]

Bulbbul (2020)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆☆☆☆ | 6 / 10

One of Netflix's Hindi-language supernatural thriller movies, telling us the story of a village that is terrorized by a witch who hides in the forest, set in the late 18th century. Though that is not mainly what the movie is focusing on, in here we go with the perspective of a girl named Bulbbul (played by Tripti Dimri) who got married as a child with an aristocrat. Then years later the man she actually in love with returns from his school, which supposedly is her brother-in-law, just around the time when mysterious deaths begin to occur in his hometown.

Now...

Just by reading the premise I think you can already sum up an idea of where's the story heading to.. right? No? I'd say, good for you then. You still have the chance to enjoy the surprise, getting that feeling of enlightenment from its glorified revelation.

Anyway, the supernatural theme feels similar to Inhuman Kiss.. in a way like the sets are a bit dramatical with the use of fantasy imaginary. Plus, both of them are about supernatural creatures venturing the villages and killing people. There's one more tho, but that's kind of a spoiler.

The movie's topic explores the other side of Bulbbul's smiley nature that holds a great tragedy and sorrow. Since the first time I see Bulbbul getting married at the age of--idk, five? it's obvious her childhood isn't going to be normal. She is bound to be with someone that is not her choice, watching her love goes away for years, and abused--both physically and sexually. She's technically died that night. So she dedicated that second chance for revenge and to help someone in need. She probably sees a part of herself in them, caged by duty and completely hopeless.

I feel that the story doesn't put much depth on the characters, at least other than Bulbbul, but I do see a little progression like her husband's guilt at the end. That makes most of them kinda.. simple. I do think it's a bit of a waste. I'm aware that the title is literally Bulbbul but...

Overall Bulbbul is enjoyable to me, it's a good movie for the weekends. You'll see more of a dramatic story than feeling the thrill in it, but it's fine. Despite a tragic life with several disturbing scenes, the movie is still beautiful in its own way.

P.s. Oh! I forgot to mention that I was kinda obsessed with Tripti Dimri in here. Just look at her,

Or this,

I was mesmerized lol.

[acupofsaltea]

Movie: Saint Maud (2019)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☆☆☆ | 7 / 10

Before I get into the review, I just want to express how frustrated I am that I accidently deleted my writing for this movie, so.. I decide to just cut to the point now.

Saint Maud is written and directed by Rose Glass who last year won the Best Debut Director in British Independent Film Awards. It tells about a story of a young private palliative care nurse Maud (played by Morfydd Clark) who works to nursing a dancer named Amanda (played by Jennifer Ehle).

The psychological title sure isn't a lie, it's shown pretty clear. The single perspective makes the story even more focus on the main character and how she ends up being the worst version of herself.

Meanwhile the horror is probably one of the most calming horror genre I've ever watched in my entire life. It has some disturbing scenes but not too much to provoke my sense of unease or anxiety, not even the suspense. For some people who doesn't like disturbing action, Saint Maud is still acceptable.

Saint Maud is a simple and easy-to-understand story. When I first watched it, my only expectation was I found it on Netflix--I take that you get what I mean about Netflix and its' horror movies, but it turned out to be quite enjoyable. It doesn't have the complex plot so I didn't put much effort in understanding the story, it goes with the flow.

Maud, the young woman is a loner, a little awkward overthinker who is so obsessed in saving Amanda, a way to some kind of gaining her own inner achievement. To be honest, I don't fancy her personality a bit. Her head is so full of black and white--bad and good, what should be done and what shouldn't be done. It's like the religion, but instead of utilizing the understanding in a more healthy way, she pursues her beliefs in an obsessive way. A simple minded person who is so focus on what's bad and good that at the time when her belief is being shaken by the external party, her self-destructing mode is on.

Btw, have I mention how much I love the cinematography? Well, they're really--really beautiful.

I might say this is a beautiful piece of work, the acting is brilliant, the story is simple and on point but clear and full of emotions, as I said it is calming. It's definitely worth to watch.