For the first time this year, I watched three movies in a single month. In fact, I watched them all in a span of just five days. I think it's because I knew Justice League was coming out in mid-November and I figured that by the time it hit the cinemas, two of three movies I really wanted to see would no longer be showing. As such, I had to make sure to catch them while they were still being screened.
Bad Genius
This is hands down my favorite movie of the year. I learned about this Thai movie through word-of-mouth. It was supposed to be this really good film so I did a bit of research and I saw that it won all sorts of international awards. I knew then that I had to see it. And now that I've seen it, I can say that it exceeded my already high expectations. Bad Genius is smart, edgy, fast-paced, and well-written. The film is inspired by real-life news of students cheating on the SAT and I first thought that it would be like the 2004 film The Perfect Score but it turned out to be much more complex and layered. Despite reading about all its awards, I didn't think I would feel as tense as I did watching it, which is even more impressive because I still felt the intensity despite having to read subtitles. You also can't help but root for the lead character Lynn, who is portrayed so incredibly well by Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying. Apart from the amazing storytelling and the great performances (I also loved the performance of Thaneth Warakulnukroh who portrayed Lynn's dad), what made this film powerful and compelling is its underlying social commentary. I was so blown away by this film that I was so tempted to applaud once the credits started rolling. :) Seriously, if you get a chance to watch it, you should.
Loving Vincent
I didn't know about this film until my friend mentioned it to me. Shortly after, I saw the trailer and I knew that I had to see it as well. Not only is Loving Vincent the first fully painted film, it is painted in the very unique and recognizable style of legendary Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh and many of the characters and scenes in the movie are inspired by his art. The film is set a year after Van Gogh's death and the story is about the lead character's search for truth regarding the artist's demise. I am a somewhat familiar with Van Gogh's art (I am fortunate to have been able to visit the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam) and the fact that he had mental problems and that he took his own life but this film provided me with more glimpses into his life and the challenges he faced due to his condition. It also provided a bit of intrigue and doubt that kept me really interested to see how the story would unfold. Loving Vincent has its own fair share of awards and I'm really happy I got to see it. Read more about this film in their official website: http://lovingvincent.com/.
Thor: Ragnarok
November hasn't all been about award-winning artistic films. I also got to see a blockbuster in Thor: Ragnarok. I think Marvel has figured out its formula of using lots of solid superhero action sequences framed by many comedic moments that don't take the superheroes too seriously and the same is true in this third installment of the Thor franchise. Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song is played in the major fight scenes, adding a tremendous amount of edge and oomph. Cate Blanchett plays Hela, the goddess of death, and she is a great addition to the film. I also love how Loki, despite being a supervillain, is able to switch quite seamlessly between good guy and bad guy while still maintaining his character's integrity (credit to Tom Hiddleston for being able to pull this off). Thor has always been one of my favorite superheroes so I love how he seems to grown into his power over the last few films. I'm in the minority in that I'm still a bit partial to the more serious superhero film styles so I think I still like the first Thor a bit more than this one but I definitely like this a lot more than the second one. I have to say though that I thought the final post-credits scene was not worth staying in the movie theater for. :)
Bad Genius
photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Genius
This is hands down my favorite movie of the year. I learned about this Thai movie through word-of-mouth. It was supposed to be this really good film so I did a bit of research and I saw that it won all sorts of international awards. I knew then that I had to see it. And now that I've seen it, I can say that it exceeded my already high expectations. Bad Genius is smart, edgy, fast-paced, and well-written. The film is inspired by real-life news of students cheating on the SAT and I first thought that it would be like the 2004 film The Perfect Score but it turned out to be much more complex and layered. Despite reading about all its awards, I didn't think I would feel as tense as I did watching it, which is even more impressive because I still felt the intensity despite having to read subtitles. You also can't help but root for the lead character Lynn, who is portrayed so incredibly well by Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying. Apart from the amazing storytelling and the great performances (I also loved the performance of Thaneth Warakulnukroh who portrayed Lynn's dad), what made this film powerful and compelling is its underlying social commentary. I was so blown away by this film that I was so tempted to applaud once the credits started rolling. :) Seriously, if you get a chance to watch it, you should.
Loving Vincent
photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_Vincent
I didn't know about this film until my friend mentioned it to me. Shortly after, I saw the trailer and I knew that I had to see it as well. Not only is Loving Vincent the first fully painted film, it is painted in the very unique and recognizable style of legendary Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh and many of the characters and scenes in the movie are inspired by his art. The film is set a year after Van Gogh's death and the story is about the lead character's search for truth regarding the artist's demise. I am a somewhat familiar with Van Gogh's art (I am fortunate to have been able to visit the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam) and the fact that he had mental problems and that he took his own life but this film provided me with more glimpses into his life and the challenges he faced due to his condition. It also provided a bit of intrigue and doubt that kept me really interested to see how the story would unfold. Loving Vincent has its own fair share of awards and I'm really happy I got to see it. Read more about this film in their official website: http://lovingvincent.com/.
Thor: Ragnarok
photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor:_Ragnarok
November hasn't all been about award-winning artistic films. I also got to see a blockbuster in Thor: Ragnarok. I think Marvel has figured out its formula of using lots of solid superhero action sequences framed by many comedic moments that don't take the superheroes too seriously and the same is true in this third installment of the Thor franchise. Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song is played in the major fight scenes, adding a tremendous amount of edge and oomph. Cate Blanchett plays Hela, the goddess of death, and she is a great addition to the film. I also love how Loki, despite being a supervillain, is able to switch quite seamlessly between good guy and bad guy while still maintaining his character's integrity (credit to Tom Hiddleston for being able to pull this off). Thor has always been one of my favorite superheroes so I love how he seems to grown into his power over the last few films. I'm in the minority in that I'm still a bit partial to the more serious superhero film styles so I think I still like the first Thor a bit more than this one but I definitely like this a lot more than the second one. I have to say though that I thought the final post-credits scene was not worth staying in the movie theater for. :)
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