It’s not everyday ‘goal smashing’ and ‘record-breaking’. Sometimes we need to take a break to relax our minds and souls. And the euphoria of forgetting your present just to be enraptured in a story is one of the great joys of living. Luckily we have people whose passion is to bring other people’s stories to life visually and this is what the movie industry represents… an opportunity to experience a moment in time; whether it is an intense emotional journey, a light-hearted moment of laughter/romance, a fictional world of horror and fear or even a walk through history and time.
I know, you could care less for this preamble but I say all these to say that just because a movie is recently released, doesn’t mean it’s not worth talking about. Every year tons of films are churned out around the world and sticking to latest blockbuster hits sometimes does no justice to all the other great movies that aren’t critically acclaimed. So I shall return back to my habit of sharing films that made an impression on me when I watched them. Starting now:
1.Moana -I’m a huge Disney fan but never has a song so caught my attention that it became the sole reason for hunting down a film. Well maybe this isn’t the first time but it’s a first for me since 2016. I kept seeing clips of the animation from Lira (a south African songstress)’s version of the main soundtrack titled How far I’ll go (which was sung by Auli’I Carvalho in the cartoon) and I kept longing to watch the film. Of course, I hate the cinema rush when a movie is just released so I didn’t go see it then. But watching it now, I’m just in so much awe of this animation. It dealt with a theme of identity, the search to find out who one is meant to be. From the love seeking Maui (voiced by The Rock/Dwayne Johnson) to the dumb chicken, Hay Hay, what’s not to love? Sometimes all we need is one supporter who believes in the road we’ve chosen to follow to allow our hearts roam free and enable us to do great things that can affect all of humanity. The pain of saying goodbye to the familiar just to embrace a calling on the inside while being filled with doubts/questions of if you are on the right path, resonated 100% with me. Then there was the original soundtrack by Mark Macina and all the songs co-written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Opetaia Foa’i, and the diversity (culture of the lead character, Moana) that endeared it to me just the way watching Lilo and Stitch or Pocahontas felt the first time I watched it. If you haven’t seen this animation, please do, it’s really worth watching.
- from the minute I saw Liam Neeson in mid-air on an airplane from the advert of this movie, I knew I would love it. In this movie an Alcoholic US Air Marshall (who happened to have had a bad turn in his life) boards a transatlantic flight from New York to London which is targeted by two guys trying to make a point, that security is an illusion because no one is truly safe because anything can happen at any time. Once again, it took one person believing in Bill Marks (the lead character) to help him solve the mystery, reveal the culprits and get everyone left out alive. Yes, I said left because a few people did die on the plane before he could get a handle on the situation (he killed one person because of his false suspicion), not to mention the bashing he got from the media. This 2014 Thriller/action film was #1 in the box office outwitting the Lego Movie and Son of God and exceeding its $50millon budget almost four times was rated moderately high by IMDb and Rotten tomatoes as above average. Although, I felt the presence of Lupita Nyong’o was unnecessary in the film because it was an insignificant character struggling for limelight attention. Nonetheless, it's a movie I won’t mind seeing more than once.
- when I chose to watch this 2016 film, I didn’t expect it to have a horror edge. I usually don’t check genres when watching a new movie. But from the first five minutes, I knew the film will play tricks on my mind. To be honest, Taylor Kinney was the main reason I watched this film (no offense to Natalie Dormer, she's also a great actress) because he has this look about him that is kind of suggestive. Although there was nothing unique per say about the film because it was quite predictable - even Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb and Metacritic websites rated it poorly - I loved the notion it portrayed, that when you allow sorrow or sadness into your heart, it gives room to more sinister thoughts to creep in which can lead you to do something life threatening to yourself. Plus I admit, I’m somewhat drawn to the supernatural film genre with psychological twists. So, two identical twin sisters go into Aoikigahara forest popularly known as a suicide forest (this forest actually exists in Japan and yes, people do go there to commit suicide), one to discover the mystery behind the forest and the other to find her twin which people say must be dead because no one who stays that long in the forest makes it out alive. So the question is, did they find each other or did only one of them make it out alive? Watch it and find out for yourself.
- As a Naruto fan, I felt his story was the ultimate, no other spin-off would be worthy of my attention. The first time my manga friends told me to read Boruto, I got bored in the first episode reliving Uzumaki Naruto’s initial Kage Bushin & Rasengan moves through his son who is also a Shinobi. It took me almost a year to get back to it but rather than read, I decided to watch the anime and I fell for it. It may not have all the highs and lows like the Naruto story like the death of Jiraiya or a sneak peak into Kushina and Minato (Naruto’s parents)’s life, but what it holds is a strong narrative of how we can take for granted the little joys of life. Boruto initially came off to me an entitled spoiled kid struggling against the preconceived notion that he was meant to take after his dad and grandad and become Hokage of Konoha. But in all fairness, he was just a kid looking for a way to know his father more, have his dad be proud of him and to have a normal life as one happy family without the burden of responsibilities his father’s job entailed. If you have trouble reading, I suggest you wear your glasses whenever you watch a subtitled anime because it does take a toll on your eyes eventually but it will worth your time.
Last but not least, I’d like to say farewell to an actor whose work I greatly respect.
John Hurt. Some of you know him as Gandalf from Lord of the Rings and others as the voice of the dragon in the series Merlin. He has been on our screens for such a long time and now that he is gone I shall sorely miss him.
So what are you waiting for? Embrace the weekend by watching a great movie and do share the details of your recent favourite movies in the comment section. I look forward to hearing
