The Secret Garden (2020)

 

I watched this film last night on HBO GO. I was utterly mesmerized by the heartwarming, fluttering feeling this movie gave me as nostalgia swept over me of how much I used to love reading "The Secret Garden", a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, published in 1911. 

 

Having lost both of her wealthy parents, young Mary (Dixie Egerickx) has to move and live with her cantankerous uncle Archibald Craven (Colin Firth, one of my most favorite actors) at the Misselthwaite Manor and even though she is sour about this fact, she soon realizes how magical the place is to her as she discovers and unlocks all the secrets in that place, thanks to her imagination, rebelliousness and love for exploration. Her own transformation is seen through her discovery of this garden, from her ill-tempered obnoxious self to a kind human being. She has a sickly and depressed cousin, but through the magical garden, they learn to see life in better perspectives.

The garden's idyllic beauty transcends our imagination with its recuperative power that comes with all the lush greenery, colorful flowers, a serene pond, and many more. “The Secret Garden” is a story of healing from loss and grief.  The film is fantastical and majestic - its detailed cinematography inspires awe from the audience. I absolutely recommend this!

8 out of 10.

The Help (2011)

The Help is a emotionally-compelling movie. It has a great message, and though the outcome is predictable, the actors deliver performances. It's an ensemble piece. The film made me laugh, think and even cry.

It starts Emma Stone as Eugenia Skeeter, a college graduate living in Jackson looking for career in writing. She is the film heroine because of her dreams. She inspires people, and she observes things around her, i.e prejudices that inflict upon the help (or coloured domestic helper)

The ladies - Hilly, Mrs. Walters, and Elizabeth Leefolt - are their own coterie, discussing daily gossip and little whispers about their help and the strange diseases they may carry. Skeeter is the black sheep of the group. She stares mirthlessly at the help, not with repulsion but compassion. She talks to Aibileen (Viola Davis, who is so good expressing with her eyes) about divulging her stories working as a maid. Aibileen is at first hesitant. Speaking out could mean a loss of her job or worse - alienation from friends and family. Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), a difficult housemaid, is very outspoken towards her problems and is fairly willing in disclosing her work life.

The Help is Skeeter's story as much as it is Aibileen's and Minny's. These are silenced women allowed to speak, and Skeeter publishes their voice. The Help eventually becomes a book within a film.

It was based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett, which was - thus - a book within a book. The Help is a long movie, but it kind of earns it. Writer/director Tate Taylor uses his minutes to make every character unique in the storyline.

This is a female-dominated plot, and the story is not just a comedy, but it instills in our minds history and fascinating secrets awaiting to be unraveled.

The help are suffocated by the prejudices of society, but the white women are also subdued in how they are bound by social conventions and the obligation of marriage. It's all very interesting.

But most importantly, The Help is endlessly funny, remarkably entertaining, and it hits notes not always meant to uplift. The Help isn't a hard film to disagree with because the issues the film raises are now considered truism. This film is about a time where voices needed to be raised, and were. You feel like you've lived with these characters and, most especially, you enjoyed doing it.

Two thumbs up, 80% for The Help

Black Swan (2010)

Rated : R [See Full Rating] (Restricted) for strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use

I heard of this movie from my workmate, Zak, and I agree with him that this is such a fantastic movie. It's a psychological thriller and the story is unexpected, psychotic, harrowing as it needs to be, yet exhilarating throughout it all. The plotting is crafted with great proficiency and the energy that provokes the carnality within us.
 
Director Darren, Aronofsky, tells Black Swan as a story about transitions of Nina (Natalie Portman) a metamorphosis within herself. It uses a little passion, melodrama as implicit layers eroding below the film's behaviour as a horror film. It demonstrates to us how such a disciplined, poised, and serene art like ballet could lead to such overblown madness. Such tribulation belongs to Nina, a martyr of her own ambition. Nina's shocking transformation disposes of her beauty and makes her a figure whose very success insinuates her downfall. The last line is enough irony to support the paradoxes of her dreams. For me, it's a fantastic finale that will haunt many.

In conclusion I think Black Swan is sophisticated and emotionally deep movie which provide both great aesthetical values and cerebral thrills. Black Swan loves to venture into the darkness in a way it truly succeeds. The blend of art & passion has never been so intense.  

90% for Black Swan.

A perfect world (1993)

It's quite unpredictable movie for me, that a escaping prisoner bonds with the child he kidnapped. Kevin Costner does a great acting there. The plot and the writing are awesome. And it's one of Clint Eastwood's great movies. The boy actor is outstanding. I strongly encourage you to watch this film through to the end and decide for yourself.
Eastwood is not the central character but he is like good seasoning to a dinner.

A Perfect World is outstanding, but you must get through most of it to realize it.

80% for this movie.