Princess Switch 2: Switched Again! (2020)

It’s very hard to imagine people whose favourite time of the year is not Christmas. Honestly, there is nothing about Christmas that you can’t love – the weather, hot chocolate, cookies, gifts, Christmas movies, and just this super warm feeling that the whole month of December gives you. I’ve always loved Christmas movies. Really, most of them are rom-coms and most of them are pretty unrealistic but also so believable at the same time. There’s nothing like a good Christmas movie to put you in a Christmas mode, if you’re not already – and that is why I recommend watching The Princess Switch 2.

The Princess Switch 2 is the sequel to The Princess Switch released back in 2018 starring Vanessa Hudgens in a pretty awesome double role. If you haven’t seen the first movie, you’ve really missed out and you should definitely watch it before you read on here!

The Princess Switch 2 follows Vanessa’s character Stacy going to Montenaro for the coronation of her other character Margaret along with secretly planning a romantic reunion for Margaret and Kevin. The movie is such a feel good movie that you can’t even sit there and find any faults with it.

The movie runs for just a little bit under three hours and puts Vanessa into a new role as well, and really she pulls off all three roles amazingly well. The movie runs on Vanessa, her clothes, her Christmas vibes and pretty much every time she says anything I’m instantly transported back to her saying ‘Troy’ with her soft smile.

The movie has a pretty normal plot, nothing too fancy and yet the movie is pretty perfect. Right from Christmas decorations to feel-good moments, The Princess Switch 2 ticks all the boxes of a good, light Christmas movie.

10/10 recommended!

The King (2019)

The King follows Timothée Chalamet as King Henry V who’s forced to ascend to the throne of England after the death of his father and his brother. The movie runs for nearly 2 hours and 20 minutes and is a slow but really engaging historical drama.

I went into the movie without actually knowing anything about England’s (or more specifically King Henry’s history) but that doesn’t matter one bit. From the very beginning each character is introduced so effortlessly that when you reach the crux of the movie, you know exactly who everyone is.

Its no saying that Timothée Chalamet does a mind-blowing job. Every single movie I watch of his, I am regularly amazed by his acting. From the very first scene he appears in, you will want to keep watching The King just for him. That being said, no other actor in the movie disappoints either. Robert Pattinson plays the son of the King of France and I had completely forgotten that he indeed was an actor. Far from his roles of Cedric and Edward, Robert Pattinson delivers a French accent with such finesse that I was silently rooting for him for a bit there.

The ending of the movie did actually surprise me and I was glad for it. Filled with war, death and mild heartbreak, The King is a perfect step away from those rom-coms you’ve probably been binging on these last few months. If that doesn’t appeal to you, just watch it for Timothée Chalamet and come back here when you’ve inevitably become a fan as well.

Rating: 7.5/10

3 Bollywood movies reviewed;

1. Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020): The best part about this movie is how effortlessly it delivers its core message to you. Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan follows the story of Aman and Karthik who live together in Delhi and suddenly find themselves fighting homophobia from Aman’s family in a small town in India. The movie runs for a little over two hours and without being overly emotional sends you all the correct messages. From quirky costumes, to soulful speeches and kissing, the movie ticks all the boxes that a regular rom-com in India would with but with a gay couple. The dialogues are so good and simplistic that they make it extremely easy for a conversation to start in a regular Indian household. There’s no reason that I wouldn’t watch this movie all over again.
   
   Rating: 4.5/5 
2. Pati, Patni aur Woh (2019): A remake of a 1978 movie, this new version follows pretty much the same story – A middle class Indian man is happily married until one day is realizes that he is bored of his life and needs something new and the something new turns out to be a girl. The movie is fun and has some really good dialogues that will make you seriously laugh. Though I was not a fan of any of the leads, Aparshakti Khurana makes it all worth it with his hilarious deliver and crazy good acting. The movie is not bombarded with songs and is a super light watch.
   
   Rating: 3/5
3. Thappad (2020): Literally translated to ‘Slap’, Thappad is the story of Amrita whose husband slaps her in the middle of a party they are hosting and the slap leads to her re-evaluating the whole relationship. The movie is so brilliantly made and has such great acting that you cant help but follow it completely. The script moves in one clear direction and you can see this right from the start. The first half might seem a little slow to some people, but the whole process of Amrita realizing what happened and deciding what to do makes the first half so important. Taapsee Pannu makes you cry for her, makes you want to fight for her, and makes you cheer for her. The second half of the movie hits you hard and fast and before you know it, you’ve watched a really great content driven movie.
   
   Rating: 4/5

To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020)

Netflix’s To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You released at 4:00 PM Singapore time and I finished watching it at 10:30 PM Singapore time and all I have to say is that there is absolutely nothing that will disappoint you about this absolutely cute movie.

From Peter Kavinsky saying ‘Break my heart’ to the amazing music playing throughout this one hour, forty-three minute movie, you will fall in love with these two all over again.

If you’ve read the book, the movie does not give you any surprises but I will admit that Noah Centineo will melt your heart away like book Peter can never do. I watched the movie with a big bowl of popcorn and a million scenes made me desperately want a Peter Kavinsky (so I went and bought an ice cream).

The movie ends almost too soon and makes you want to re-watch it almost immediately. Lana Condor does both cute and beautiful so effortlessly that you’re just left mesmerized.  The really crazy thing is that I always wanted John Ambrose to look not as cute Peter as does but Jordan Fisher is so dam cute with his stupid smile and his stupid, stupid jokes that you can’t help but root for him just a little bit before you go back to Peter Kavinsky.

To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You is such a light-hearted, fresh watch that you can’t help but leave your screen smiling. So if you’re in a really bad mood, or if you’ve been watching really heavy shows, just throw away everything and watch this and make your day brighter!

Rating: 8/10

Joker (2019)

The first thought that comes to your mind when this movie starts is that you probably won’t be able to sit still for a really long time after this movie is over.

Joker tells the story of a middle-aged man who lives with his mother, goes to court-mandated therapy and works as a freelance clown. But when you really watch the movie, you realise that Joker tells the story of a man who is only defined by how society is treating him.

Joker runs for 120 minutes and doesn’t let you guess even for one minute what exactly is going to happen. You obviously know someone will die, and that someone will be blamed and that the seemingly normal middle-aged man will become The Joker – but you never know when. 

The movie made me feel many different emotions right from mild terror to sympathy. I once remember reading that your circumstances play a great hand in making you who you are, and Joker makes you feel like nothing other than your circumstances could make you who you are. Thats how powerful Joaquin Phoenix’s acting is.

There were atleast five different scenes that absolutely shocked me and blew my mind – things I did NOT expect. There were five different scenes that made me feel horribly sympathetic towards this man that everyone was neglecting. (Eg: He keeps a journal and he writes, “I think my death will make more sense than my life”.)

Joker works in so many various ways. The script works. The timeline works. The acting super works. The music works. The make up works. And most importantly, the but-for causation works. [But for that one thing that happened to him, would he really do everything else he did?]

If I have one thing to say about this movie, its this: Watch it.

Spiderman: Far from home (2019)

I was SO reluctant to watch this movie after watching Homecoming because I really disliked Homecoming. I remember watching Homecoming and thinking that Spiderman’s been ruined for me. It seemed so childish and it seemed (to me) that anything was happening – that Peter Parker was not actually being Peter Parker. Only after watching Far from home did I realize how much of Peter Parker he was being. He was a sixteen-year old teenager living a secret life, his mentor had just died, he himself had “Blipped” (as the movie puts it) – he was being as much of himself as he could be.

Far from home takes Peter Parker and his friends on a European science trip for the summer vacation. Peter has decided to not be a superhero this summer and has an elaborate plan to win over the girl he likes and get to kiss her on top of the Eiffel Tower.

Everything about Far from home is really, really good right from Happy and Aunt May’s summer fling, to Ned and Betty’s one week romance. The movie flows so easily and flawlessly that it never seems like too long. My favourite part of the movie is easily MJ (Zendaya) running to give Peter the tightest hug ever – little victories for Peter who seems to be losing way too much in this movie. The movie has mind blowing special effects and no scene bores you, in fact no scene even lets you think for one second that Spiderman’s been ruined for you.

I liked the movie so much that even I was surprised – especially considering that I didn’t care one bit for the first movie. All in all, Spiderman: Far from home is a really good movie and if you do watch it: there are two post credits scenes (and neither should be missed because wow).

Avengers: Endgame scenes that made me ugly cry!

After watching the movie twice and still crying at so many parts, I decided to make a list (this is a normal list making obsession,) – To be honest, I cried a lot in this movie. This is however just a list of scenes that made me like crazy cry, bawl my eyes out and use extra tissues cry.

1. Natasha and Clint go to get the soul stone.
   Really, did you NOT cry in this scene? First, Clint Barton is my baby. Second, Natasha is his. It hadn’t even hit me that someone was going to have to be sacrificed to get the stone. And when it did hit me, I realized why these two had been sent together. Right from the moment they came to know about the sacrifice up till the moment Widow sacrifices herself, I was crying. Literal tears were continuously rolling down with every new dialouge because these two were being huge tear-jerkers.
2. Tony Stark’s death and funeral.
   I’m not sure there are actually people who didn’t cry for this. Right from ‘I am Iron Man’ to that super emotional funeral, I was sitting there and crying. I knew going into this movie that either Iron Man or Cap were going to die. As I had to make peace with this, I decided I wanted Cap alive. But watching Tony Stark actually die – I did not anticipate the emotional mess it made me. Whenever I’m rewatching old movies now, and I see Tony Stark: I’m sad all over again.
3. Peter realizes his Gamora isn’t back.
   Watching Gamora tell Peter Quill that she has never loved anyone as much as she’s loved him and then seeing them separated made me SO angry. What is it with superhero movies and love stories? Let them be happy for once! So when 2014 Gamora saves Peter in Endgame, you can see his eyes become light and happy. And it sucks because you know that this Gamora doesn’t even know he exists. And then you see him knowing it too. This scene was so small and random and also had Nebula’s funny comment, but it made me cry so much.
4. Bucky says goodbye to Steve before he goes to put the Stones back.
   I love Bucky. And I love Bucky and Steve together. When Steve decides to be the one to return all the stones to their original places, he’s supposed to be back in five seconds. Before leaving, he tells Bucky, “Don’t do anything stupid till I get back.” and Bucky replies, “How can I? You’re taking all the stupid with you.” – that is when I started crying. Their friendship is so underrated, especially considering that Steve was ready to give up everything for Bucky. Steve is supposed to be back in five seconds and still Bucky says goodbye like they will never meet again. When Steve stays and lives out his life, the only thing I kept thinking about was – Steve didn’t have Bucky. 

 

Other than these scenes, I was crying for majority of this movie. I watched it twice and I was still crying for majority of the movie.

 

Shazam! (2019)

Shazam is a DC movie. A superhero movie, in fact. Now before my brother showed me the first teaser released for this movie, I only knew one Shazam – that crazy music app that identifies what music is playing.
Shazam at the outset seems like a children’s movie. It also seems like a big joke and not really a DC superhero movie.

It is.

Shazam is a children’s movie because Shazam, our superhero, is a child. But Shazam is also a really good movie with a great script and some really good dialogues.

Shazam (not-so-secret citizen name: Billy Batson) is played essentially by two actors, both of whom do complete justice to the superhero. Zachary Levi is Shazam and Asher Angel is Billy Batson (and is so adorable!).

This movie, surprisingly has everything. It has humour, sarcasm, action sequences and love. The basic story line revolves around Billy Batson who runs away from every foster home he’s placed it in search for his birth mother. When he finally lands in a decent group home, various circumstances lead him to a mysterious cave where he inevitably becomes Shazam.

The movie progresses at a decent speed and has quite a good ending (with two post credit scenes so don’t miss out on that!).

Overall, Shazam packs a punch in the good way and is definitely a watch if you thought the DCU was getting nowhere.

Boy Erased (2018)

Boy Erased is a movie based off a book.
Its also a movie that I was really excited to watch.
Boy Erased is the story of a 18 year boy, who is the son of a pastor and who is sent to gay conversion therapy. From brilliant acting to a brilliant soundtrack, this movie has everything (including Troye Sivan)

The main lead – Jared – is played by Lucas Hedges and in my personal opinion, Lucas Hedges’ acting is impeccable, especially considering that his parents in the movie are played by Nicole Kidman and Russel Crowe (If I was Lucas Hedges, I would be freaked!).

The movie had two trailers before its release and I remember one of them ending with the lines ‘Stop Erasing’. This was what made me really look forward to this movie. I knew the basic story. I knew how it was going to end. But I needed to know how it was going to reach to that ending.

The movie starts with Jared’s mother dropping him off to Love In Action gay conversion therapy assessment program. Over a run time of 114 minutes, the movie depicts Jared’s life during the program with regular flashbacks of his life before the program. The movie is brilliant. There are no other words to describe it. Nicole Kidman’s acting is heartfelt and honest coupled by Russel Crowe’s acting that is equally brilliant.

There’s a part, towards the end of the movie, where Jared is talking to his father and he says,
“I am gay. And I am your son. And none of these things are going to change. So if you want to be in my life, I’m afraid you’re going to have to change.” – This is the heart of the movie.

Through powerful acting and meaningful dialogues, Boy Erased successfully gets its message across – The truth cannot be converted.

This movie is a definite must watch! 5/5 in my opinion (Plus, I cried, like always)

Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Whom?

I had to wait a whole 10 days before I watched the new Fantastic Beasts movie after its release here. For obvious reasons, I’d stayed away from in dept reviews and youtube channels analysing every single scene. Inspite of all of this, I’d come across various reviews and restricted myself to just reading the titles of these. Most reviews conflicted me greatly. Some people loved the movie, some people hated it, and there were none in between. And so when I finally went for the movie, I was SO excited but also a tiny bit worried – I didn’t want to not like it after having loved the franchise for so many years.

The title of the movie is Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindlewald – to be completely honest though, not much happens in the movie related to his actual crimes? More so, it feels like nothing actually HAPPENS in the whole movie. Everyone is running around looking for Credence (Ezra Miller – He’s alive, yes!) and Credence himself is running around to figure out who he really is. The first half of the movie goes terribly slow with the plot not really adding any value.

The movie introduces a ton of new characters and most of them do absolutely nothing! Nagini, a pretty girl (Voldemort’s future bestie, yes;), Leta Lestrange (who I completely fell in love with before they just killed her off!!??), Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law lives up to all his hype but AD literally does nothing in the whole two hour run), Nicholas Flamel (Why, why is an absolutely old man who cant even shake hands with you there in this movie? What is he doing? Who is he talking to? What’s happening?)

Funnily, by the end of the movie, a few things happening around seem to be predictable and I think it was mostly because of this predictability that the movie closes with a mind blowing plot twist that I fail to understand how JKR is going to incorporate in her vast Potterverse.

The movie isn’t great, but I’m hard wired to not hate Harry Potter related things and thus I didnt really come out disappointed. There were moments I completely loved – like when they zoomed in on Hogwarts and played the familiar Hedwig’s theme (my heart melted), or when they showed the Ministry of Magic, and when they showed Newt (Eddie Redmayne) and his brother hugging their hearts out. Personally to me, this movie felt more of a filler movie that has been pushed out to continue the storyline barely, but having said that, I’m now desperately waiting for the next one.