MOVIE MARATHON review

Watching movies at home is one of the pastimes I really enjoy. Maybe too simple and lazy for a number of people, but very relaxing (and sometimes even inspiring) for me. I love seeing things unfold…. fiction and non-fiction alike. I even consider my dreams “movies about mixed memories with imagination and illusions”, as science may also suggest. They all entertain me and as you can see, I write reviews about them, too.

Disclaimer: This is only a hobby.

HAHAHAHA!!!!

I had plenty of time during the ASEAN summit holidays, so please bear with me. The initial blitz of watching consecutive films piled up thoughts inside my head and are now swirling more than a week later; I have to decompress my mind a bit and free some space. HAHAHAHA!!!!

AS ALWAYS: SPOILERS AHEAD!

1. THE BELKO EXPERIMENT (2016)

As my mother would say, “Senseless violence.” I once heard her whisper that expression when she “sat in” on a Japanese movie I watched several years ago (Battle Royale).

This motion picture has almost no plot and it’s also not an ‘origin’ film, either. But if you like good old suspense-driven scenes of mediocre gore, this is a good psychological thriller. It’s a 7 for me.

2. THE BRIDE (2017)

Totally frightening! The story appears to be original and is well-told. The atmosphere is also consistent throughout. A good horror movie. 8 out of 10.

3. THE FOREST (2015)

Absolutely the scariest movie I have seen in my life! But maybe that can’t be said by others; we all have different responses to stimuli about horror. The setting alone is terrifying— a disturbing actual place called Aokigahara Jukai, also known as the “suicide forest”/”sea of trees” at the foot of Mount Fuji in Japan. The idea of a secluded suicide destination is spine-chilling enough, adding demonic folklore makes it all the more horrific. The fear is terror in what you can’t see. Towards the end, the line blurs as to what is real to the main protagonist and what is not. My rating: 9 out of 10.

4. MOON (2009)

The ethical question about human cloning becomes more complex when they become fully self-aware, as in they themselves become aware that they’re just clones but acknowledge being human and want to live full separate lives. That is, if human cloning is possible at all. This is science fiction anyway. It might get boring for the first half of the film, but it gets interesting gradually. There is almost just one human character for the most part. It’s a lunar base after all— supplies and co-habitants are very limited. Generally, good enough. 6/10.

5. REMEMORY (2017)

A somewhat literal case of Harvey Dent’s saying, “It’s either you die the ‘hero’, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain”, except you really can’t be the hero.

Curiosity turns into a personal investigation that leads to the disclosure of a previous but unlikely tragedy. Extensive use of the subject machine turns out to have serious side effects on the brain.

The reason why we can’t extract 100% authentic memories, turn them into video and save them is that psychologically, people won’t like the idea. Who would want to take away the “magic” of a point in one’s life if seeing it in a bigger and clearer picture will reveal the flaws of the whole scenario? We treasure memories because there is something nostalgic about how we felt at a certain stage in our lives, who we were with at that time, where we were, etc. We want to think that the circumstances were “perfect”. We are not exactly lying to ourselves; we just tend to exaggerate at times because we always desire to romanticize moments. We love some people and places that much. Sure, the notion of a “memory player” which can be used as evidence for crime investigations is great, but maybe it’s better off limited to that only. This one’s a 6.

But personally speaking, I would want to watch my dreams, not necessarily fused with memories, and save them in some device. J

6. THE GUARDIANS (2017)

I admit it…. I’m a sucker for great visual effects.

Russia is joining the bandwagon of superhero movies. Production-wise, they and the United States are equals. This motion picture has a very simple story and a good set of computer-generated images, almost at par with US’s own. Almost. Some transitions are still not that fluid and realistic. The former Soviet Union’s diverse ethnicities are impressive: they comparatively and literally look different, from (Caucasian) Siberia to (“Asian”) Kazakhstan. While this movie may seem like a start-up copycat of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it still has quite original twists to character design:

Arsus – a Hulk-meets-Sabretooth mutant mix, but he’s a bear and has a machine gun

Kseniya – badass “Invisible Girl”

Khan – DC’s Flash combined with an expert swordsman character like Deadpool, but instead he uses two large sickles

Lernik – the guy who can control energy from minerals inside other objects like rocks, etc. (as what Magneto is to metal)

All of them don’t grow old, World War II experiments of a secret laboratory, very much like Captain America. A female Major mirrors Director Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Russian counterpart is The “Patriot” program.

These Agents are Hot! HAHAHA!!!

Has potential to be very entertaining if you’re a Marvel/DC fan. It’s a 7 out of 10 for me, but only because I’m that shallow when it comes to this genre.