Showing posts with label Jessica Olsen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jessica Olsen. Show all posts

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Movie Review: Gone Girl




“What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What have we done to each other?”



If you have a partner, have you ever thought of these questions? If you do, do you have any answers to any of these? In fact, these questions were asked twice by Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), once at the beginning of the movie, and once again at the end. But despite his “double identity” as both the victimizer and the victim, I don’t think he had the puzzle figured out at all – because he never knew that he was the source of everything, the seed of the tragedy.




Five years into their marriage, the former New York-based writers Amy (Rosamund Pike) and Nick were festering in Missouri after being hit by the cruel waves of economic recession, redundancy and the sickness of Nick’s mother. The initial romance, sweetness and attraction had been worn out by distrust, suspicion and, Nick’s infidelity. Yes, infidelity, the most sinful of all sins in the book of marriage’s vices – one day when Amy was on the street, she saw her husband and his mistress, kissing, hugging, with Nick doing all those little sweet traits that should only belong to her to the other woman. This unleashed the darkest thoughts of a typical “Type A” person: catastrophe, cruelty, and revenge. We didn’t know how and where did Nick hooked up with the twenty-something sexy student in the first place – it might be OKCupid, Bazoocam or even Snapchat – but that didn’t really matter, because what awaited the betrayer was a severe punishment from the icy and villainous goddess whom he had sworn a vow to. She framed a perfect disappearance, a nearly perfect crime scene in their house, and a well-planned fake pregnancy to draw all public attention and hatred towards the man. She manipulated everything as she knew that her fame as the writer of the popular “Amazing Amy” book series would be handy enough. And there she was, driving to a remote area on her own, while her husband was suffering from her vengeance and being accused as the ruthless murderer of his “pregnant” wife…




You might wonder, did the punishment gone too far? Did a disloyal husband have to be suffocated by the harsh accusations from the neighborhood, the media and even the entire America? Well I couldn’t help but believe that was, though a bit out of control, justice be done. I am a woman, and I have no sympathy towards an infidel guy, especially a guy who could even have sex with his mistress in his sister’s house after his wife had gone missing. As what we know from the Game of Thrones, “There is a beast in every man (and woman) and it stirs when you put a sword in his (or her) hand.” If you’re scared, you might want to give yourself and your partner a Type A Personality Test before you plan to tie the knot. And don’t ever attempt to go infidel.

By Jessica Olsen

Thursday, 21 August 2014

Movie Review: Thoughts about Lucy


THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOLERS.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.




“Lucy” is everywhere

  
Lucy is no ordinary action-thriller. Nor is it a valid scientific proof to the false belief that humans are only using 10% of their brains. Rather, it is a thought-provoking introduction to philosophy, which discusses the origin of the universe, the notion of time, and the very existence of human beings.



With extremely negative reviews on the web and a so-so score on Rotten Tomatoes, I didn’t have much expectation when I walked into the theater. But when I sat down, I suddenly realized that I was on exactly the same seat in the same house 4 years ago, watching Inception. This strange familiarity just made me anticipate a little bit more about the latest production of the famous Luc Besson, and of course, it did not disappoint.



Lucy, the leading role played by Scarlett Johansson, is a young woman fallen into the hands of some evil gangs based in Taipei. With a packet of synthetic drug called CPH4 inserted into her belly, Lucy is used by the ruthless smugglers as a drug mule. However, the packet is broken during a fight, and the drug is absorbed by Lucy’s body. It turns out that this CPH4 could gradually unlock the full capacity of the human brain – which only 10% is used by “normal” people as claimed in the movie. And soon enough, Lucy gains access to a variety of superpowers, such as telekinesis, mind control and even telepathy. Sounds like a true planeswalker in Magic: The Gathering right? But unfortunately, Lucy doesn’t find it totally appealing when she manipulates people around her; in contrast, she begins to lose patience and empathy towards them, just as the flavor text on the telepathy card says: “The most disappointing thing about learning telepathy is finding out how boring people really are.”



In contrast, Lucy is more intrigued by the vast amount of knowledge gathers in her head, and the fact that knowledge is passed on, generation after generation. In this way, even after our flesh vanishes, “We never really die.”



After unlocking 100% of her neural capacities, Lucy flies backward in time, until finally reaching the Big Bang period, during which the universe is developed. The physical body of Lucy vanishes, leaving only a message:

“I AM EVERYWHERE.”



So who – or what – exactly is “I”, or Lucy? A subatomic particle, a substance, or something else? The movie did not answer any of the questions, but that is understandable. Everyone has different responses to those statements, and it should be left to the audience to figure out their own answers. Entertainment-wise, Lucy has got intense and exciting actions, and 90 minutes simply slipped away in the blink of an eye. And just like four years ago, I left the theater with a lot of deep thoughts in my mind, and this is what makes the entire experience nothing short of mesmerizing.

By Jessica Olsen