Category: Pop culture reviews

Caught this in theatres not long ago, and it’s pretty good!
Here’s why. (Spoilers are hidden, highlight to read)

Safe House (2012)
Rating: 8/10

Knew nothing about this movie before watching it, not even what’s it about or the trailer. All I knew that it was an action film starring Ryan Reynolds. Might also be the reason why I didn’t understand the first 30 minutes of the film, which I found boring and confusing. I did not know what a safe house was, who the bad and the good were, or what Ryan’s character role was (dun dun dun… safehouse-keeper).

The action sequences were good but rather generic. I have no idea if some parts were meant to be jumpy because Dian beside me jumped at some sudden parts (bombings etc) but I was still throughout. The buildup was also just average for me but there were definitely moments that kept you on the edge of your seat
(e.g. Matt immobile on the bed while talking to his boss, Frost aiming the gun at Matt).

Brilliant acting from the 2 guys in the poster above. Same goes for their characterisation and the dailogue between them. And it made me think alot and I like it when movies make you think. Is the character that everyone perceives as bad really the villian? Who are the true monsters here? Don’t kill the innocent, but how do you define “innocent”?

The movie got progressively better and better. But what really blew me away was how ironic and iconic the movie was. For example, scene of the CIA, the “guest” and the “keeper” in the safehouse at the beginning. Another similar scene with the 3 parties at another safehouse at the end. However, the characters’ identity were totally reversed by the end of the movie. Elaboration:

• Beginning: Matt is the keeper, Frost is the captured guest, CIA are the supposedly good guys
• Ending: Matt is being watched by his boss (CIA) like he’s the guest. And his boss wants him to lie and cover up the truth of his misdeeds. Intense moment whereby I was willing for Matt to not reveal the file’s whereabouts because it’s evident that once he does, he’s “screwed” like what Frost said.

You have no idea how much I love this role reversal. And the friendship that develops between two very unlikely people. Loads of twists and turns and you keep wondering who exactly is the bad guy. Those gangsters with guns? Who do they work for? Who is the traitor? Is there one? Which CIA boss is right?

The ending was the best. You wonder what’s become of Matt and what actions he’s gonna take. One of the final scenes was extremely gratifying. At the same time, it was open pretty open and people could intepret it however they wanted to. Example:

• The smile he shares with Ana – do they reunite?
• He leaks the file that everyone’s been after anonymously – what are the consequences? Does he become everyone’s enemy, like what Frost had mentioned earlier? Has he another Tobin Frost? Will he constantly be in danger and on the run? What does his promotion mean? Will he become like the CIA?

On Valentine’s Day, I watched Chronicle aka the worst film ever. Can you believe it? Fancy watching such a shit film on such a promising day. Actually I planned to blog about the day itself but this ended up being a huge rant on the movie so they shall be separate posts.

This movie is a waste of time and money and also a mood-spoiler. So unless you have extra money, time and mood to waste, I highly recommend you NOT to watch this piece of shit. Can’t even believe that it has positive reviews! Yuckity yuck. Quite a pity because the posters, taglines, trailer are all pretty good. But the film itself is excrutiatingly painful to watch. Painful because it’s so stupid and boring.

The film was entirely from the angle of footage and recordings which I found to be redundant, because it did not help to move the storyline along or make it more realistic. Just more painful. The average person does not enjoy watching a film with messy and shaky footage so unless your plot is good, don’t use this approach!!!

All of the characters were not likeable at all, from the main trio to everyone else. No one has depth, whether emotionally or mentally. The 3 guys were super irritating and idiotic, and everyone else was irrelevant. I don’t even understand the purpose of Matt’s girlfriend other than making the film more annoying. Simply put, Chronicle is about a stupid boy who think he’s the shit, wants to be the shit, and has no regard about human life.

Also, many films on my 365 list are the kind where something bizarre and inexplicable happens. But sometimes you just get it, you don’t question it. Because of many reasons such as you can see the motives and themes behind the film. E.g. Midnight in Paris, Triangle, Black Swan, After Life, etc. But for Chronicle, I was just super pissed off that I didn’t get any explanation on how they just found a hole, touched something glowy, and got stupid powers.

The only plus point was its theme about how sometimes when people get so angry, they let their anger take over and control them and do things beyond imagination. But even then, it’s so cliche so I won’t even give Chronicle half a star on my list. Every. Single. Thing. Sucks. Even the ending. Which left a bit of possibility for a sequel – I BEG YOU, PLEASE, NO.

The first half was the worst because it’s more like a series of scenes about teenage boys doing stupid stuff rather than an actual storyline. The only reason I continued watching was because I went to read the entire movie plot on Wiki with my phone and it seemed more promising. Boy, was I wrong. Come to think of it, it was the first time a movie was so bad that halfway through I had to Wiki it. Heck, it was the first time I had to Wiki a movie plot while in theatres.

In conclusion, Chronicle is a sorry excuse for a film and I truly am baffled as to how it got such positive reviews and how so many people on Tumblr liked it (I did a search and browsed through a few pages). I do wish people would take down all the posters and the cinemas would take it off the box office because it does not deserve a place anywhere, other than lists such as “Worst films of all times”.