Hey! So... This time, I am going to write about a movie called Whiplash. It was my first time to see the film, but it's a famous movie, so you may have already seen it before. The film was recommended by my boyfriend, and we watched it together.
As always, I am talking about its story and plot, so if you have never seen the film, and do not want to hear about how the story goes, you should probably go... (Sorry!) But if you are thinking about watching the film for the first time, this is what I will say to you: the movie is awesome; it is very intense, and you'll never forget about this movie. It's about art and madness. Yes, madness... So, if you are feeling like watching a fun, light, and heartwarming film tonight, this isn't the one you would want to turn to. Because this one is VERY intense.
The movie was released in 2014, and was directed by Damien Chazelle who is also a director of La La Land! I have not watched La La Land, but so far, I have only heard of good comments about the movie, so I am excited to watch it hopefully soon! And the film Whiplash has won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, among many other awards, which means that it is a highly recognized movie.
Oh, one thing before I start writing the plot: the film is called "Session" in Japan, so if are a reader from Japan, and thinking of looking for this film in your local DVD rental shop, or in Netflix (That's where we watched the movie!), you may have to look for Session instead of Whiplash.
Ok, so from here, I will write the plot of the movie Whiplash. Andrew Neiman is a freshman in Shaffer Conservatory, which is a renowned school. Although he is not from a family of musicians, he has been playing drums from a young age, and has always loved it. One night, when he was practicing drums alone, he was discovered by Fletcher, an instructor at Shaffer, and also a famous conductor. And eventually, Fletcher invites Andrew to play in his studio band.
Andrew is an aspiring drum player, and he was so happy to get the chance. But Fletcher is a very, VERY abusive instructor. He does not hesitate to yell at his players, insult them, and even employ violence. And from that time, it starts to affect Andrew's mentality. He practices until he bleeds, but he shows up to the band's practice only to be yelled at and insulted by his instructor because he failed to give the rhythm Fletcher wanted. One time Fletcher slapped him in his cheek (several times!), and another time, he even threw a chair at Andrew, though it did't hit him.
Andrew has become so obsessed with being a great drummer, and also so competitive against other drummers in the band, that he even went out to play right after he had an car accident. He was bleeding from his head, and his hand didn't move properly. Obviously, he struggled to play the drums, and instead of giving him kind words, Fletcher went to him, and say, "You're done." And that's when Andrew attacked Fletcher on stage, in front of the audience because he was so outrageous. After that, Andrew was dismissed from Shaffer.
Andrew and his dad went to meet with a lawyer who represents Sean Casey, a former student of Fletcher. At first, Andrew did not want to talk about Fletcher, and his way of instructing. But the lawyer tells that Sean killed himself suffering from anxiety and depression, which is different from what Fletcher said about Sean's death; he said Sean died due to a car accident. The lawyer continues, and says that Sean's parents never want that to happen again to other students. And this leads Andrew to make his mind to talk about what he had gone through.
Time passed, and now Andrew is working in a restaurant while he prepares to apply for a different collage. But one day, he went into a jazz club, and finds Fletcher performing. Fletcher noticed Andrew too, and Andrew tried to walk away, but Fletcher talked to him. The two sits at a table, and talks. Fletcher tells Andrew that he has left Shaffer. And Andrew soon found out that Fletcher left Shaffer not because he decided to do so, but because he had to. Fletcher tells Andrew with a softer tone unlike before, that he pushes his students so hard because he expects one day, some of them may achieve success like jazz legends, such as Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker, and to achieve that goal, he continues to work hard, and does what he believes in. Then he ask Andrew to come in his band to play drums in a jazz festival, which he accepted.
Andrew shows up at the performance. But right before the band's performance starts, Fletcher comes to Andrew, and tells him that he knows Andrew is the one who told Shaffer about him, which became the reason he had to leave the school. Then, he tells his band they are going to open the performance with a piece, one that Andrew was never informed of. But what can he do? The performance starts. Andrew improvises, but he couldn't follow the band. Feeling devastated, he leaves the stage. His dad hugs him tightly, and say that they will go home. But to our surprise, Andrew goes back to stage. He starts to play a piece that he knows (Caravan). Of course, Fletcher was surprised, and comes to Andrew saying, "What the hell?" But Andrew doesn't stop playing, and even cues the band to follow his lead. The piece ends, and other band members stops playing, but Andrew keeps playing his solo. Although confused at first, Fletcher started to guide him. As Fletcher cues the finale, and their performance ends, they both share a smile.
The last scene was so unexpected. I thought Andrew would go home with his dad. And if I were him, I'd do so. He's abused, and bullied so much. The scenes where Fletcher instructs his studio band in Shaffer really breaks your heart. I almost cried! It wasn't about me, but seeing people yelled at with all those nasty words made me very sad.
Is it ok to abuse a person in the name of art? That's the theme of the movie. According to Fletcher, he sticks with his way of instructing not because he just wants to be mean, but for art. He wants to push his students beyond the expectations, and beyond the limits, hoping that someday, some of them reach something beyond those things. And this time, Andrew could achieve that. But not everyone can be the same as him, which is no surprise. As you would know from the film, Sean Casey committed a suicide. Fletcher even killed his own student in a way.
But one thing to remember is that Fletcher is a human too. Sometimes it's hard for him too; he pushes himself too. He's not a robot that never feels. He couldn't stop himself from crying when he announced Sean's death in front of his band even though he didn't tell the truth about how he passed away. But to peruse the abusolate perfection, he never stops being the instructor he is.
This film is so intense. It will make you mad and sad. You can observe Andrew from being a young man who loves playing drums to a suffering artist. And in the end, you can see him breaking through. It is a happy ending, but it leaves you not being as happy as you would in ordinary happy ending stories. But it also makes you appreciate art more. Every artist has their own hard roads to success. You wouldn't see it unless you're close to them. So in this way, art is born from struggles. And therefore, struggles are beautiful in a way.
Whiplash is a movie you'll never forget. If you want to see something very serious, you should watch this. Well, even if you're not feeling something serious, you should watch this film sometime at least once if not tonight!
Showing posts with label Movie Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movie Review. Show all posts
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Friday, February 24, 2017
The Human Experiment.
Hi! I had a few glasses of beer, and I'm feeling good. Anyways, this time, I am going to write about a documentary I watched on Netflix. As it says on the title, the documentary is called, The Human Experiment. Oh, and I am going to write about what was said in the documentary, so if you don't want to know it, maybe you should go explore other articles from my blog! *wink*
The documentary is about how dangerous (= unsafe) chemical substances can be, and how ignorant we are about those threats. It's about how unknowingly we surround ourselves with those harmful chemical substances, and how reluctant large corporations are to deal with a stricter regulation to ensure safety because of their greediness.
When we buy, say, a cleanser from a drugstore nearby, we assume that the product contains only safe ingredients. Sadly, though, it cannot be guaranteed. The film talks about regulation in America, and in the U.S., a chemical substance is "innocent until proved guilty," according to the film. Then, the products we use daily can contain dangerous substances that can affect our health.
And indeed, this is what the documentary wants to talk about. The film says that those chemical substances taken into our bodies act like hormones, and they can cause harmful results. It also says that now we have higher rate of breast cancer in the younger generation, asthma, fertility problems, genetic diseases, etc. They say that newborn babies are already pre-polluted with chemical substances even before they are born. The film features a young couple, for example. They had tried to get pregnant for three years. She is in a great condition; she has a healthy body function, and lives a healthy life. Even the doctors do not know why she has this fertility problem. The film shows the scene where they try an embryo implantation (not their first time), and find out that (again) it did not go well. She cries, buries her face into the bed, and says, "What's wrong with me?" It was a very emotional scene that stays in your mind even after a while since you finished watching the film.
The film also shows different advocates from different aspects (e.g. a cancer survivor, a sister of a boy who has autism, etc.), comments from scientists, and senators who had and have been trying to make better regulations on chemical substances, and fighting with large corporations who don't want strict regulations.
The documentary blames large companies whose priorities are their profits rather than ensuring consumers' health and safety. In order to secure their profits, and manage to sell their products, they have adopted numerous deceptions and distractions through organized campaigns and advertisements. The documentary shows the examples of tobacco industries, lead industries, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) (plastic) industries, and so on so that we see how companies can make them look good by strategically creating their images. These notorious tactics even have their own name which is called "Four Dog Defense," according to the film. I personally liked the naming actually. There's always a genius who can come up with an awesome catchy phrase to describe a thing, you know? Now let me explain what Four Dog Defense is by borrowing words from the film. Well, it's "Four Dog," so there are four stages. The first one is: our dog does not fight. Basically, the company denies that their products are harmful. When somebody presents an evidence that indicates (a) threat(s) that their products can bring, they just deny it, saying, "They're just pure junk science." And when an evidence which they cannot just dismiss, here comes the next stage: my dog bites, but it didn't bite you. In this stage, the company acknowledge that their products can be harmful, but claims that average people do not have to worry. For example, the company can say that they deal with harmful ingredients, but they are under strict control in their factories, so there is no impact to the public health. The third step is: my dog bit you, but it didn't hurt you. The company says that even if you're exposed to the chemical substance, it is not harmful; it can only be harmful if you take an unrealistic amount of that chemical substance into your body, which means that it cannot be harmful with the daily exposure, which is a small amount. The last one is: my dog bit you, and did hurt you, but it wasn't my fault. The company acknowledges that their products are harmful, but claims that it was the consumers' choice to buy the products.
Think about cigarettes. I don't smoke, but I know how a cigarette package looks like. It is a tiny box, but it looks cool and stylish. Some brands are targeted at women, and their packages are very pretty. It does say on each package that it is harmful, but with very small letters. You can easily imagine that a tobacco industry will say that they are aware that their products can cause health issues, but it's the smokers who decided to buy those cigarettes anyways. Now, think about other products you use daily. Cigarettes are an easy example because now people now they are harmful to our health. But what about other things like cleansers, cosmetics, children's toys, etc? You can see the labels, and see what the ingredients are, but can you understand them? Unless you're a chemist, or a toxicologists, you wouldn't really know what is harmful to your and your family's health, and what is not. We consumers have the right to know what is is a product, and decide whether we buy it or not based on it, but we have very little information. Of course, we can do a research, and see if each product we buy are safe to use or not, but do we have the time to do that research for every single product in our houses? Isn't it totally understandable that we assume that the products we see on stores' shelves are all safe?
The documentary mostly talks about the situation in the United States, and does not refer to the situations in other countries that much. But it says that in terms of chemical substance regulation, America is slow in progress. I remember a time when I was wandering around the Internet looking at an American cosmetic brand's website. I will not tell the exact name of the brand for some reasons, so I need to ask you not to ask the brand's name. But anyways, I was looking at the website. I wasn't going to buy anything from the site, but found out that I could not buy some of their products even if I wanted to because they contained ingredients that were not allowed to use (at least in cosmetics) in Japan. At that time, I didn't really think about what "this contains ingredients that are not allowed in Japan" meant to be honest. I trusted the brand, and I trusted the founder of the brand. And in the first place, I did not purchase those products or any other products on the website, so I am not exposed to those ingredients in question. But now that I've seen the documentary, I've started to think about the situation I faced several years ago.
I think the documentary was good to make people think more consciously about the products they buy. It effectively tells that we cannot just assume the products we see at stores are safe to use just because they are stored and sold there. It informs people how we're surrounded by unregulated chemical substances without knowing it. But, to be honest, I do not think the film was perfect. I read a review of this documentary, and it basically shared the same concern I have, so I will share that review here. It is from The Washington Post, and if you're interested, you can read the full article as I showed the URL to the website down below. Here are some extracts from the article:
I don't usually watch documentaries, but I'm glad I did this time! Thanks to Netflix, now I can expose myself to types of movies I don't usually pick! :) I don't have lots of readers to be honest, but if you have any recommendations, I would love to hear! I don't like horror movies, but other than that, I watch all kinds of films.
Alright, thanks for reading my blog! I hope to see you in my next post! Bye!
Reference:
The documentary is about how dangerous (= unsafe) chemical substances can be, and how ignorant we are about those threats. It's about how unknowingly we surround ourselves with those harmful chemical substances, and how reluctant large corporations are to deal with a stricter regulation to ensure safety because of their greediness.
When we buy, say, a cleanser from a drugstore nearby, we assume that the product contains only safe ingredients. Sadly, though, it cannot be guaranteed. The film talks about regulation in America, and in the U.S., a chemical substance is "innocent until proved guilty," according to the film. Then, the products we use daily can contain dangerous substances that can affect our health.
And indeed, this is what the documentary wants to talk about. The film says that those chemical substances taken into our bodies act like hormones, and they can cause harmful results. It also says that now we have higher rate of breast cancer in the younger generation, asthma, fertility problems, genetic diseases, etc. They say that newborn babies are already pre-polluted with chemical substances even before they are born. The film features a young couple, for example. They had tried to get pregnant for three years. She is in a great condition; she has a healthy body function, and lives a healthy life. Even the doctors do not know why she has this fertility problem. The film shows the scene where they try an embryo implantation (not their first time), and find out that (again) it did not go well. She cries, buries her face into the bed, and says, "What's wrong with me?" It was a very emotional scene that stays in your mind even after a while since you finished watching the film.
The film also shows different advocates from different aspects (e.g. a cancer survivor, a sister of a boy who has autism, etc.), comments from scientists, and senators who had and have been trying to make better regulations on chemical substances, and fighting with large corporations who don't want strict regulations.
The documentary blames large companies whose priorities are their profits rather than ensuring consumers' health and safety. In order to secure their profits, and manage to sell their products, they have adopted numerous deceptions and distractions through organized campaigns and advertisements. The documentary shows the examples of tobacco industries, lead industries, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) (plastic) industries, and so on so that we see how companies can make them look good by strategically creating their images. These notorious tactics even have their own name which is called "Four Dog Defense," according to the film. I personally liked the naming actually. There's always a genius who can come up with an awesome catchy phrase to describe a thing, you know? Now let me explain what Four Dog Defense is by borrowing words from the film. Well, it's "Four Dog," so there are four stages. The first one is: our dog does not fight. Basically, the company denies that their products are harmful. When somebody presents an evidence that indicates (a) threat(s) that their products can bring, they just deny it, saying, "They're just pure junk science." And when an evidence which they cannot just dismiss, here comes the next stage: my dog bites, but it didn't bite you. In this stage, the company acknowledge that their products can be harmful, but claims that average people do not have to worry. For example, the company can say that they deal with harmful ingredients, but they are under strict control in their factories, so there is no impact to the public health. The third step is: my dog bit you, but it didn't hurt you. The company says that even if you're exposed to the chemical substance, it is not harmful; it can only be harmful if you take an unrealistic amount of that chemical substance into your body, which means that it cannot be harmful with the daily exposure, which is a small amount. The last one is: my dog bit you, and did hurt you, but it wasn't my fault. The company acknowledges that their products are harmful, but claims that it was the consumers' choice to buy the products.
Think about cigarettes. I don't smoke, but I know how a cigarette package looks like. It is a tiny box, but it looks cool and stylish. Some brands are targeted at women, and their packages are very pretty. It does say on each package that it is harmful, but with very small letters. You can easily imagine that a tobacco industry will say that they are aware that their products can cause health issues, but it's the smokers who decided to buy those cigarettes anyways. Now, think about other products you use daily. Cigarettes are an easy example because now people now they are harmful to our health. But what about other things like cleansers, cosmetics, children's toys, etc? You can see the labels, and see what the ingredients are, but can you understand them? Unless you're a chemist, or a toxicologists, you wouldn't really know what is harmful to your and your family's health, and what is not. We consumers have the right to know what is is a product, and decide whether we buy it or not based on it, but we have very little information. Of course, we can do a research, and see if each product we buy are safe to use or not, but do we have the time to do that research for every single product in our houses? Isn't it totally understandable that we assume that the products we see on stores' shelves are all safe?
The documentary mostly talks about the situation in the United States, and does not refer to the situations in other countries that much. But it says that in terms of chemical substance regulation, America is slow in progress. I remember a time when I was wandering around the Internet looking at an American cosmetic brand's website. I will not tell the exact name of the brand for some reasons, so I need to ask you not to ask the brand's name. But anyways, I was looking at the website. I wasn't going to buy anything from the site, but found out that I could not buy some of their products even if I wanted to because they contained ingredients that were not allowed to use (at least in cosmetics) in Japan. At that time, I didn't really think about what "this contains ingredients that are not allowed in Japan" meant to be honest. I trusted the brand, and I trusted the founder of the brand. And in the first place, I did not purchase those products or any other products on the website, so I am not exposed to those ingredients in question. But now that I've seen the documentary, I've started to think about the situation I faced several years ago.
I think the documentary was good to make people think more consciously about the products they buy. It effectively tells that we cannot just assume the products we see at stores are safe to use just because they are stored and sold there. It informs people how we're surrounded by unregulated chemical substances without knowing it. But, to be honest, I do not think the film was perfect. I read a review of this documentary, and it basically shared the same concern I have, so I will share that review here. It is from The Washington Post, and if you're interested, you can read the full article as I showed the URL to the website down below. Here are some extracts from the article:
"Of course this issue is scary and people deserve to know the risks, but the movie undermines its own argument."
"One of the most affecting stories in the film follows a young man and woman who have tried for three years to get pregnant. [...] But the chemical industry cause her fertility problems? Who knows? Some chemicals [...] might cause fertility, not to mention myriad other problems. But even the woman's doctors admit they don't know why she had trouble getting pregnant."
"By presenting her story, directors Don Hardy Jr. and Dana Nachman are making a case for something they can't prove."
"The movie was nicely shot with flashy graphics to explain the data that does exist. But in the end, this film will persuade only those who already believe."As it says on the review, the film did show data, but did not prove that it's the unregulated chemical substances that caused those people the film featured health issues, such as fertility problem, and breast cancer. I won't say those chemical substances do not have the blame, but I don't think we can say that those substances are all to blame either. This documentary is a great film for those who already believe as the review says, not enough to persuade those who don't believe. There are some holes from which those people can attack, and present their counter statements.
I don't usually watch documentaries, but I'm glad I did this time! Thanks to Netflix, now I can expose myself to types of movies I don't usually pick! :) I don't have lots of readers to be honest, but if you have any recommendations, I would love to hear! I don't like horror movies, but other than that, I watch all kinds of films.
Alright, thanks for reading my blog! I hope to see you in my next post! Bye!
Reference:
- Merry, S. (2015, April 16). 'The Human Experiment' movie review. - The Washington Post. Retrieved February 18, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/the-human-experiment-movie-review/2015/04/16/9d9a7744-df91-11e4-a500-1c5bb1d8ff6a_story.html?utm_term=.a18eb4040e82
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Dr. Strange!!!
I wanted to come to this page and write something at least once a week, but... Hi, I am Yuki and I failed again... lol
So, I went to see Dr. Strange (I mean, what kind of name is that? It's okay, it's okay, though!) on the 28th with my "bae." I usually don't use that word; I always prefer saying "boyfriend," but I was feeling like saying "bae" now. Wow, I know today's post will be full of unnecessary sentences and explanations... Oh well.
Alright, so let me start again. I went to see Dr. Strange. I don't know exactly when it came out in other countries, but in Japan, it came out only this Friday. Finally! Well, first of all, can anybody explain to me what took them so long to release the movie in Japan? People in other countries watched it like months ago, right? That's not fair!!!!!
Ok, so overall, I loved the movie! Obviously(?), this post contains a lot of spoilers, so if you haven't watched the movie (Huh? What's wrong with you?! lol), and would prefer not to know the plot or any information, maybe you should go. Alright, so, it's really weird to say this, but I actually really loved one of the 2 (!) mid-credits scenes! Declining a cup of tea was so Thor, and the auto-filling beer glass (magic!) which made him even happier was so funny. I am not sure which is true at this point, but I think the scene was either filmed only for this mid-credits or it's actually a scene from the next Thor movie. I'm already pumped for the movie!
Now I think I should probably talk about the actual story of the film. Well, first, I promised myself I will always address him as "Dr. Strange," rather than just "Strange" or "Mr. Strange" because that will make him happier, hahaha. He's so proud of himself, and has to correct people when call him "Mr. Strange." So, the basic storyline of this film is as follows: Dr. Strange, a very successful, but also very arrogant surgeon, was living his glorious life. But, one night while he was texting and driving (rather recklessly), he got into a bad accident, and got a major injuries to both of his hands, which made him unable to work as a surgeon anymore. Being so desperate, he ended up going to Kathmandu, Nepal, and becoming a pupil of the Ancient One. There, he literally had to learn everything; he was told to abandon everything he thinks he knows (mostly because he had such an attitude, and acted like he knew everything). But he learned quickly (I mean, he used to be a successful surgeon; he's bright!), and even though he came to the temple just to make his hands able to move freely, and it wasn't in his mind to take any responsibility to protect the world from any threat or whatsoever, he ended up changing his mind, and working to save the world from the Dark Dimension.
The "magic" that Dr. Strange practices is something like "the force" in Star Wars, although Jedis don't make changes in times or talk about different dimensions. It's more of a spiritual practice, rather than "Memorize this spell and a certain move of a wand, and you'll be able to make this object fly in the air," sort of magic, like Harry Potter. (I'm not dissing Harry Potter here! I actually love it, and read all the books and went to all the movies!) Dr. Strange could not save himself with the Western technology and science, so he turned to the Eastern treatment... He actually said it himself in the film.
The artwork they did was fantastic! They were some fighting scenes where the magicians fight with each other by moving and changing up the structure of the buildings on the streets, which requires a lot of techniques. I thought what they did was like kaleidoscopes. I don't really know how to describe it in words, though... You have to see it! And I heard it from a TV program that they actually build a set of a street in Hong Kong! It looked so real! I've never been there to be honest, though. But all those neon signs, casual restaurants, scaffolding that were set up, etc., looked so real, and the staff must have made so much effort.
I also want to mention the casting (only briefly). Dr. Strange was played by the famous Benedict Cumberbatch, and I thought he did an amazing job! I know this is totally out of the context, but let me just briefly say that his face really reminds me of a professor at my school. Ok, that was just nothing! lol So, the character of Dr. Stranger's (narcissistic and arrogant) suited him very well. Oh, and plus, I heard the Ancient One was written as a male in the original comics. But for this movie, they decided to cast a woman. For those who are familiar with the originals, this change may have been surprising. But so far, I've only heard positive comments about that. Well, I didn't think that was a bad move at all either. I thought that was a good way to break the stereotype thing (those kinds of "zen" masters/mentors should be men, or things like that), and it's fun to do something out of expectations. The role of the Ancient One was played by the one and only Tilda Swinton. She's fabulous. Nobody can copy what she does. She is very good at and also famous for playing mystic characters. I remember the White Witch, also played by her, in the film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Lastly, I just want to talk about the most memorable scene, where Dr. Strange trap himself and Dormammu (of the Dark Dimension) into an infinite time loop. Even though Dormammu destroys him again and again, it does not matter at all. No matter how cruelly Dormammu hurts Dr. Strange, because it is an infinite time loop, he comes back, (confidently) saying, "Dormammu, I've come to bargain." If Dormammu wants to be freed from the endless time loop, he has to keep his hands off the Earth, and that was what Dr. Strange offered. And by doing so, he tried to save the planet. The scene gives a strong impression to be audience because that was the first time he actually did something for people other than himself. Until then, everything he does (or doesn't) was for himself only. Everything he did was to raise his reputation. And if he didn't see the odds in his favor, he simply declined because he never wanted to fail, which makes him feel bad about himself. But this time, this time he stood up for people, not seeking benefits for himself. He could go beyond what he had been. And that was a beautiful moment.
Ok! I think I managed to cover everything I have wanted to comment about the movie. Now that I have seen the mid-credits scenes, I am totally excited about those 2 movies! If you did actually end up reading this far, thank you so much! :) Bye!
So, I went to see Dr. Strange (I mean, what kind of name is that? It's okay, it's okay, though!) on the 28th with my "bae." I usually don't use that word; I always prefer saying "boyfriend," but I was feeling like saying "bae" now. Wow, I know today's post will be full of unnecessary sentences and explanations... Oh well.
Alright, so let me start again. I went to see Dr. Strange. I don't know exactly when it came out in other countries, but in Japan, it came out only this Friday. Finally! Well, first of all, can anybody explain to me what took them so long to release the movie in Japan? People in other countries watched it like months ago, right? That's not fair!!!!!
Ok, so overall, I loved the movie! Obviously(?), this post contains a lot of spoilers, so if you haven't watched the movie (Huh? What's wrong with you?! lol), and would prefer not to know the plot or any information, maybe you should go. Alright, so, it's really weird to say this, but I actually really loved one of the 2 (!) mid-credits scenes! Declining a cup of tea was so Thor, and the auto-filling beer glass (magic!) which made him even happier was so funny. I am not sure which is true at this point, but I think the scene was either filmed only for this mid-credits or it's actually a scene from the next Thor movie. I'm already pumped for the movie!
Now I think I should probably talk about the actual story of the film. Well, first, I promised myself I will always address him as "Dr. Strange," rather than just "Strange" or "Mr. Strange" because that will make him happier, hahaha. He's so proud of himself, and has to correct people when call him "Mr. Strange." So, the basic storyline of this film is as follows: Dr. Strange, a very successful, but also very arrogant surgeon, was living his glorious life. But, one night while he was texting and driving (rather recklessly), he got into a bad accident, and got a major injuries to both of his hands, which made him unable to work as a surgeon anymore. Being so desperate, he ended up going to Kathmandu, Nepal, and becoming a pupil of the Ancient One. There, he literally had to learn everything; he was told to abandon everything he thinks he knows (mostly because he had such an attitude, and acted like he knew everything). But he learned quickly (I mean, he used to be a successful surgeon; he's bright!), and even though he came to the temple just to make his hands able to move freely, and it wasn't in his mind to take any responsibility to protect the world from any threat or whatsoever, he ended up changing his mind, and working to save the world from the Dark Dimension.
The "magic" that Dr. Strange practices is something like "the force" in Star Wars, although Jedis don't make changes in times or talk about different dimensions. It's more of a spiritual practice, rather than "Memorize this spell and a certain move of a wand, and you'll be able to make this object fly in the air," sort of magic, like Harry Potter. (I'm not dissing Harry Potter here! I actually love it, and read all the books and went to all the movies!) Dr. Strange could not save himself with the Western technology and science, so he turned to the Eastern treatment... He actually said it himself in the film.
The artwork they did was fantastic! They were some fighting scenes where the magicians fight with each other by moving and changing up the structure of the buildings on the streets, which requires a lot of techniques. I thought what they did was like kaleidoscopes. I don't really know how to describe it in words, though... You have to see it! And I heard it from a TV program that they actually build a set of a street in Hong Kong! It looked so real! I've never been there to be honest, though. But all those neon signs, casual restaurants, scaffolding that were set up, etc., looked so real, and the staff must have made so much effort.
I also want to mention the casting (only briefly). Dr. Strange was played by the famous Benedict Cumberbatch, and I thought he did an amazing job! I know this is totally out of the context, but let me just briefly say that his face really reminds me of a professor at my school. Ok, that was just nothing! lol So, the character of Dr. Stranger's (narcissistic and arrogant) suited him very well. Oh, and plus, I heard the Ancient One was written as a male in the original comics. But for this movie, they decided to cast a woman. For those who are familiar with the originals, this change may have been surprising. But so far, I've only heard positive comments about that. Well, I didn't think that was a bad move at all either. I thought that was a good way to break the stereotype thing (those kinds of "zen" masters/mentors should be men, or things like that), and it's fun to do something out of expectations. The role of the Ancient One was played by the one and only Tilda Swinton. She's fabulous. Nobody can copy what she does. She is very good at and also famous for playing mystic characters. I remember the White Witch, also played by her, in the film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Lastly, I just want to talk about the most memorable scene, where Dr. Strange trap himself and Dormammu (of the Dark Dimension) into an infinite time loop. Even though Dormammu destroys him again and again, it does not matter at all. No matter how cruelly Dormammu hurts Dr. Strange, because it is an infinite time loop, he comes back, (confidently) saying, "Dormammu, I've come to bargain." If Dormammu wants to be freed from the endless time loop, he has to keep his hands off the Earth, and that was what Dr. Strange offered. And by doing so, he tried to save the planet. The scene gives a strong impression to be audience because that was the first time he actually did something for people other than himself. Until then, everything he does (or doesn't) was for himself only. Everything he did was to raise his reputation. And if he didn't see the odds in his favor, he simply declined because he never wanted to fail, which makes him feel bad about himself. But this time, this time he stood up for people, not seeking benefits for himself. He could go beyond what he had been. And that was a beautiful moment.
Ok! I think I managed to cover everything I have wanted to comment about the movie. Now that I have seen the mid-credits scenes, I am totally excited about those 2 movies! If you did actually end up reading this far, thank you so much! :) Bye!
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