Black Swan 5/5
Might be the most serious review I've done so far. Fully expected this to be another artsy film that will bore me to death. instead i got peak. there are so many ways to interpret the movie, and the allegories feel so tasteful and nuanced. its clear that its a sort of retelling of swan lake, but it's also this raw and sort of perverse coming of age story. the dichotomy between white and black, and the touches of red, are so beautifully portrayed where it was clear symbolism yet visually stunning. i love how the pinks are used to show nina's girllish innocence, but also how infantilized she is by everyone around her. i also enjoyed the exploration of nina's sexuality, on one hand her sexuality was forced and exploited, but it was also a crucial part of her growth to let out this repressed urge inside her. ballet being a physical manifestation of her emotional repression is also done so well, her obsession with perfection was so engrossing and disturbing (in a good way) to watch, especially the psychosis scenes. i also loved the relationship with her mother. i think the mother's overbearing behavior stems from her own experience of being sexually taken advantage of, and she wants to coddle nina and protect her from it, but she takes it to the extreme. there's just so much more to yap about, but go watch it!!
Sinners 2.5/5
I really wanted to like this movie and I tried so hard to lock in but it just wasn't doing it for me. the smokestack twins lore was great, and their dynamic was amazing. its just that i felt like that they wanted to do a music movie but one of the writers just really wanted to add vampires lol
Your Name 4.5/5
I fully thought that this movie will be so corny, but holy shit its so good. im such a sucker for romance, amnesia, and time travelling, and this movie has all of it. the music and animation are amazing, and the characters were so likeable. the romance was done so well, they deadass go against the laws of time/space just to meet each other. the symbolism of the red string of fate with her ribbon is also beautiful. also this movie feels similar to eternal sunshine, and i fucking love that so much. im such a cornball but i love when media portray love as a transcendental force that doesn't gaf about anything and just does its thing depsite what time and space or whatever says. my 0.5 gripe with the movie is how they needed to add jiggle physics on a highschooler, no bueno.
I want to eat your pancreas 3/5
i dont know why there is so much hype with this movie. i cant deal with the manic pixie dream girl trope anymore. like the mc's personality is that he has no tomodachis like buddy...otherwise the plot is fine, just highschoolers dealing with a very strange and messy relationship. looking back, i actually quite like this weird dependent dynamic they had, but its just that the male mc had nothing to offer lol. the twist was kinda crazy tho, i really liked that. i like how you know the girl dies but not know how, and that reveal definitely made me feel something. watch it if you want, the visuals are stunning and the plot is fine if you need a self-insert.
Look Back 4.5/5
This movie was absolutely devastating. holy shit its one of the saddest things ive seen, and whats surprising is that the concept isn't that complicated but I fully did not expect the effect it had on me. the movie's strength lies in what was left unsaid. the most heartbreaking part was how the main girl never got to tell her friend how much she truly meant to her. her pride and her desire to be a role model prevented her from really conveying how much she loved her, and it was just heartbreaking. she never got to express how her friend also changed her life, and gave her the courage to pick up drawing again. the film was also just such a visual treat, the coloring and movements feel so dynamic, and so much love was poured into this. i love this movie, definitely go watch it.
Rosemary's Baby 4/5
I missed the first part of the film but I still really enjoyed it. what was so striking was just how ahead of its time this movie was. it was just so sad to see rosemary being gaslit and manipulated for the entire film and have no agency over her own pregnancy. the metaphor with the devil baby was also done so well, and really solidifies the message. I highly reccomend this movie.
Little Miss Sunshine - 3.5/5
I really liked this movie, it was so cute and the characters were so lovable. I love depressed gay steve carell. and the end credit song was great! It definitely left a good impression, and im a sucker for dysfunctional families, and i thought that i would hate the teenager guy, but i ended up really liking him and actually got sad when he found out he was color blind. my only gripe with this movie was that it made me cringe when they did sth crazy hahaha.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - 5/5
I think i just saw peak. this show is honestly so amazing, and i love every single character, every dynamic, and every bit a of detail. the female charcters are written so well, which is so refreshing for an amime, like I love how hawkeye kept mustard in check, i love how winry is kind and caring without forsaking her strength. every plot point and character had a purpose and had meaning, and acted as a foil to one another. i love alphonse and edward's relationship, its so touching one of the best depictions of siblinghood in media like ever. every homonculi is so intricately written, and i love greed/ling, and the character development. i could yap about this show for the rest of my life.
Link Click S1 - 3.5/5
I was overall very impressed with the production value of this show, and i was very delightfully surprised by the yaoi undertones lol. i really like the animation and i love the intro and outro song. The transition into the outro is also so peak. i just wasnt always that locked in on the show, but i will watch season 2.
K-pop Demon Hunters - 3/5
It's a great movie and nearly all the songs hit. this movie is such a breath of fresh air from the slop that disney and pixar are making recently. this movie is so creative and you can really feel the passion from the people involved, and this movie proves that kids movies can still be enjoyable. also i love jinu!!!! only reason its 3/5 is that I wouldn't really watch it again since it do be a kids film, and im a little too grown for cornballs.
the secret history by donna tartt - 4/5
despite the length of the book, it never felt too long. i love the dark academia vibes and i was just as engrossed as richard was with the greek students. like i never read a book quite like this one. my gripe with this book, which is kinda big is that most of it was vibes rather than substance, and sometimes richard would say some random ass shit and im like bro sybau. also i wish i got to see more of richard's manipulative and impulsive liar trait. another thing is that after they murdered bunny, it was just like random slop for a bit.
perfume by patrick suskind - 4/5
This book was such a ride. it was dark and moody, and so gross but so addictive. the descriptions of each scent was so incredibly vivid, like it was so peak. not much to yap about but its a good book if you like romantically gross stuff.
11/22/63 by stephen king - 3.5/5
this is probably one of the longest books i have ever read and funnily enough, i felt like not much happened?? i actually really loved the plot when the main guy went to texas and lived his life there. it was so slice of life and charming. weirdly enough, i was not a big fan of the lee harvey oswald parts and it feels especially frustrating when everything he does becomes irrelevant towards the end of the plot (like how his plan barely worked bruh). the ending was appropriately bittersweet, and i loved the relationsip the main guy had with the librarian lady. overall, decent read.
the book thief by Markus Zusak - 3/5
im going to get so much flak for this. this book was fine, but did not blow me away. the prose was too flowery for my liking, and it felt like it was trying too hard to be a modern classic. it has been a couple months since i read this, but i cannot say that it made a lasting impression on me. the thing that actually did make me sad was when Rudy died and that final quote from death.
East of Eden by john steinbeck - 5/5
This is one of the best books i have ever read. every character feels so real, and they have so much depth. i love every everything about this book, the message was clear and not in a cringe way. i dont know, i was so hooked for the entire thing and i loved the able and cane allegory, and the naming of each character was so deliberate. every arc of the generation was written so well, and i especially liked Cal's pov as we got to see the perspective of the "inheritenly evil" character, and sympathize and grow with him. there's themes of nature v nurture, evil and good, redemption, family, jealousy, and love, and Steinbeck ties it all together in such a masterful way. I love this book with all of my heart.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - 5/5
I am so glad i finally read this. wow. this book felt like a loving punch to the gut. it is so unapologetically descriptive about the trauma Hassan went through, and the sheer guilt that the mc felt. I felt like screaming at the mc so many times, and its weird cause i can perfectly imagine myself acting the same way as him. i wanted to cry so bad for this book but i was at work, and i cannot lose aura there. i will definitely read more from Hosseini.