Trainspotting

“It’s shite being Scottish! We’re the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate the English. I don’t. They’re just wankers. We, on the other hand, are colonized by wankers. Can’t even find a decent culture to be colonized by. We’re ruled by effete assholes. It’s a shite state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and all the fresh air in the world won’t make any fucking difference”

Mark Renton, the film’s protagonist, said this as Tommy tried to convince them (Renton, Sick Boy, and Spud) to take a short trek with him.

This line stuck with me because I found it funny that they think they’re so oppressed—them, white males from a first world country. Although I do not want to invalidate such feelings, I just think it’s coming from such a limited perspective.

Straying away from that, I did like the film. Its approach to drugs was very unique even until now. It used drugs as a main story element in a way that did not romanticize it. It showed the problem with using drugs and how it affects one’s relationships with others. In the film, we see how it affected Renton’s relationship with his parents, how it caused the death of Sick Boy’s baby, and how Tommy’s life spiraled down and eventually led to his own demise because of his addiction to drugs. The film showed the context of how they used drugs, when they used it, why they used it, and what they used it for. It is a relatively comprehensive context on the characters’ lives without revolving too much on drugs alone.

Personally, I think Mark Renton’s character was actually a good one (a good character, not a person). Of his circle of friends, he was the only one who got out of that kind of lifestyle. However, he had to leave Scotland and never (at least not until Trainspotting 2) show his face again because of how he chose to turn his life around. I especially appreciated his concern for Spud who was actually a good friend to all of them. At least he wasn’t completely selfish with his exit plan. Additionally, Mark Renton being portrayed by Ewan McGregor was such a good casting choice.

Two more notable elements throughout the whole film that make it so great are actually the Scottish humor, which is mostly because of their peculiar accent and intense curse words, and of course the killer soundtrack. Ever since I watched this film back in high school, I’ve been more open to electronic music and just other genres of music in general. The dance music, most especially, makes you feel like you’re high with them. And that makes for some really immersive experience!

For those who haven’t watched Trainspotting 2, I urge you to watch it. It is a fun sequel that will make you want to watch the first film all over again.

Repo Man

Directed by Alex Cox, Repo Man is a science fiction film that was released in 1984. The film is particularly about punk teenagers in pursuit for a Chevy Malibu car that is believed to be linked to extraterrestrials. To be frank, this was my least favorite film from the rest that we have watched in class. I was excited to watch it, but it did not exactly pan out well for me; or at least the movie did not go how I wanted it to. I may have expected too much from the movie, which led to my disappointment. But do not get me wrong, the movie was still in a way, interesting, but not really something to be raved about to this day in my opinion. I do like science fiction movies, but I guess the movie was too old for me since it definitely had the 80’s vibe to it and it somehow seemed like a big mess with all the elements that was stuffed into it. Despite this view of mine, I see the movie as something that is still entertaining to watch because of the mix of extraterrestrials, government agents, teenagers, and so on; and the fact that it also does not need to be analyzed. Although, it is not really something that I would watch again. The scene that I think has great metaphor to our lives is the need for the characters to be welcomed by the vehicle. By this it means that the character would need to be focused on driving and nothing else in order to be able to ride the vehicle. It shows the importance of being aware and well-informed before making decisions.

Sorry to Bother You

The 2018 science fiction dark comedy film, Sorry to Bother You, directed by Boots Riley is mainly about a financially struggling black activist and telemarketer who learns to use his “white voice” to go up the ranks of his job. The main character, Cassius, is conflicted throughout the movie in whether he would continue to strip off his morals and self – identity in exchange for a higher – paying job. The film sheds light in a unique way, to various issues that are prominent in the world today. These are issues such as racism, commodification of humans, social classes; and of course, the root of it all, capitalism. These issues were presented in an interesting way that will keep you hooked on watching the film. I, for one, was completely engaged in this film. This reminded me a lot about the 2017 horror film, Get Out, directed by Jordan Peele that tackles the issue of racism in a unique way. Similarly, this film is something that I would highly recommend my friends and family to watch not only because of the issues that it elucidates but also because of the way the film approaches these issues. Detrimental human greed is very apparent in this movie, driving Cassius and Detroit to turn away from their friends and of course, seeing the capitalist business take advantage of vulnerable humans to garner greater profit. It shows the power of money in making people do unimaginable things to each other.

With all the issues that were portrayed in the film, the most relevant to the youth is the part where a white woman threw a can of soda at Cassius and said, “Have a cola and smile, bitch!”; and this became viral on the internet. This particular part shows the blatant disrespect for black people and the failure of the media to portray a more meaningful message from the protest. This is highly relevant in the world we live in today. This is wherein stories about celebrities getting lip surgeries, buying billion-dollar houses and even a Kardashian simply eating Kit-Kat, are given greater attention to rather than the billions of people who starve each day and die every second due to hunger. That certain part highlights the issue of our failure to use technology – more specifically the internet, as supposedly a means of reaching out to those who are in need, rather than giving greater profit to those who already have more than enough to feed billions yet do not do so.

Sorry to Bother You was my favorite film in our Com 111 class because of the conflict Cassius experience in his personal and work – life. I know it is easier for myself to say that one should not sacrifice his own morals and self – identity to make a living since I am a student only a student who is not in dire need of money. But I also know that is our responsibility to stand up for what is right and true because there are others that suffer due to our apathy.

Velvet Goldmine

I wasn’t much of a fan of David Bowie but, I have always known he was famous. Although, I never really knew what he was famous for. The 1998 movie Velvet Goldmine by Todd Haynes gave me an idea and the curiosity to understand why David Bowie became famous. It was because of his contribution to art rock or glam rock that catapulted him into stardom. This was also true for Brian Slade, which was shown in the film Velvet Goldmine.

The start of the film almost said it all for people with queer personalities. The beginning of the film featured Maxwell Demon, a stage name by Brian Slade, facing an assassination threat before his concert. Despite the threat being quite actionable, Brian Slade push through to perform as Maxwell Demon and was shot dead in the stage. It was a really odd introduction to the movie, but it made sense later on. It turns out that the assassination was Brian’s own plot all along, as he wanted to exit the spotlight without explanation. For people with queer personalities, this was has always been their bane, the need to explain themselves for their choices and actions to people who would never understand them in the first place. Throughout the film, self – discovery and experimentation was highlighted. Especially when Curt Wild was introduced in the movie. At first, it seemed like Brian Slade was just a big fan of Curt Wild, a famous singer in his own right. At the time, Brian Slade was not at the peak of his popularity and he wanted to work with Curt Wild. The beginning of their relationship was professional, and the film showed they were both interested in women. Although in the movie, it was being hinted that there may be something deeper in their sexuality. Towards the end of the film, Brian Slade and Curt Wild began to be involved sexually. But before this was possible, they first had to admit their own sexuality to themselves.

Although, I could not relate myself to Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine it offered me an explanation towards something I never understood. Through the film, I was able to see how people with queer personalities acted, I was also able to see why they do the things they do. The reality is, not all people feel, want, and need the same mainstream things in life. Despite the movie revolving around Brian Slade and all the drama surrounding his character, I believe that Christian Bale’s character, Arthur Stuart is also worth a look since the movie was portrayed through him. Arthur Stuart was first introduced as a fan of Maxwell Demon, a fan that saw the death of his idol through his own eyes and; together with the death of Maxwell Demon, was the death of his glam rock days. Moreover, Arthur Stuart represents the ‘others’ in the realm of people with queer personalities. Through him, we would see people who are in self – discovery, who would try things but find out it is not for them. Ultimately, Velvet Goldmine is a genius in a way not many films are, providing a perspective for both sides of the coin.

My Own Private Idaho

The 1991 film, My Own Private Idaho, was directed by Gus Van Sant based on a number of Shakespeare’s works. The movie started out really slow, and I guess what added up to this slow pace was how I did not really understand some of the scenes. Because of this, I immediately had the perception in my head that the movie was going to be boring given that I am not one for emotional movies. I was basically dragging myself throughout the start of the movie before it finally built up its story. This movie particularly follows two friends on a journey towards personal discovery. In watching them go about their journey, it gave a mix of emotions that was greatly perceivable with the good acting of Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix. The story depicted the reality of our own journeys, in which we try to find ourselves in the mix of things that we go through in life. It perfectly portrayed the inevitability of all the sadness and letting go that we have to go through in our path towards truly discovering ourselves.

What struck me most about this film was Mike’s character, one of the main characters portrayed by River Phoenix. Especially during the scene when Mike and Scott’s ride broke down and they were forced to stay the night in the open. In this scene, Mike kissed Scott and told him about his feelings, but Scott did not feel the same. His character showed so much sadness through poverty and all the rejection and failure he had gone through. He was rejected by his best friend, he would often drift from the scene due to his narcolepsy, and together with this he failed to find his mother; which was also the moment when Scott met a girl named Carmella. His character is relatable during the times when I would feel as if I am consequently experiencing bad luck with all the change that I just could not catch up to. There are times wherein I feel as if I have been consistently rejected by people and positions in which I supposedly thought was for me. There are times where I had to let go of the things that I wanted in order to give way to the people whom these things were meant for. I think at some point in our lives, we all had to let go of something we wanted, and we all had been rejected. I believe that this is part of our growth and self – discovery either way, we learn the things that are actually meant for us because of the doors that closed on us; and when we get rejected, we learn to that we can do better and become better version of ourselves.

Ultimately, despite my opinions in the beginning of the movie and all the weird scenes in the duration of the film, I found My Own Private Idaho as a relatable film. Not because of what Mike and Scott did, but because of how these actions and weird scenes portrayed Mike’s character. I believe that even the happiest bunch and happy – go – lucky all experience some sort of sadness.

Shin Godzilla

Even before watching Shin Godzilla, I had already enjoyed the previous reincarnations of the film. Personally, I found all of the Godzilla movies I have watched to be enjoyable because of its action – packed scenes. Although, Shin Godzilla is not the same as the other Godzilla films I have watched since those were Hollywood – made movies. Instead, Shin Godzilla would be the first low budget Godzilla film I would be watching, which I thought of as an interesting experience.

It is also worth noting that I do not always watch movies to critique or break down, most of the times I just enjoy the movie and what it does.

This 2016 science – fiction movie was co – directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi. Shin Godzilla was particularly captivating for me due to its relevance in relation to politics and current tragedies that various societies face today. Evidently, it stood as a great analogy to the 2011 nuclear disaster and earthquakes in Japan. Despite featuring a giant monster that attacks people, a deeper meaning behind it can be witnessed as one goes through the film. In the various scenes that portray the people’s reactions and the governments’ response to such a great attack, it commendably illustrates the tragedy and challenges that a society goes through when facing a precarious situation. Shin Godzilla cleverly depicted the power of films in presenting and reflecting prevalent events that societies experience. It greatly manifests the immense capability of one’s imagination to creatively present the reality that people face; and subsequently bring to light various lessons in which we can learn from. Personally, I believe this is what separates Shin Godzilla and other Godzilla movies from other giant monster movies like Jurassic Park. It is how Godzilla’s might bring all people together to face a threat to their existence.

To me, Godzilla stands alone in calamity and disaster movies. I would consider Godzilla movies as a calamity and disaster movie despite it not having the usual natural causes the movie – world had always showed us. This is because it fundamentally has the same effect as these so – called calamity movies such as 2012, Geostorm and Armageddon (to name a few), which was bringing together people who previously had different and varying agendas to commit to a single cause to save mankind. In my opinion, Shin Godzilla did not fail to portray this either. Furthermore, I would also say that Shin Godzilla was as good as the Hollywood – made Godzilla movies I have watched. Although honestly, I still prefer the big budget Godzilla films because they make the movie effects realistic, which touches me deeper emotionally since it they make it look real. In my opinion, the Hollywood – made Godzilla movies sends a more moving message to all of humanity because of the said realistic movie effects. Despite this and all the other challenges of creating a low budget film, especially on the heels of the same movie done with a big budget, Shin Godzilla was still a great movie to watch.

Futureless Things

The film is set in a convenience store, the most common and mundane thing that Koreans have in their country and culture. It reminded me a lot of K-dramas, because there is absolutely no modern K-drama that doesn’t feature a scene of a character eating ramen in a convenience store. I feel like the social and cultural importance of convenience stores in Korea have the same amount of importance of a sari-sari store in the Philippines.

Aside from convenience stores, the acting in the first few minutes of the film reminded me very much of a K-drama. I even recognized some actors, and I was thinking: “We’ll finally get to watch a normal film in class.” However, I shouldn’t have expected that, given the films we’ve watched before.

It’s like a mesh of all the mundane things–not only the convenience store, but also the things happening inside seemed boring at first glance: the gambling, the issue of North and South Korea, learning English, homosexuality; all that stuff. It tackled a lot of relevant issues in Korea, one would immediately think it’s a commentary. It’s mundane until someone is killed. It’s mundane until a cult-like crowd forms outside the convenience store. It’s mundane until magic happens and a man gets trapped inside a box. It’s mundane until the film ends with a random dance. It’s a crazy story about the menial things in life.

The stories revolve around the cashier and the different lives they have. Some of their lives are intertwined. I like the way that given the short amount of time they have each because of the large cast, we still get to see a glimpse of them and feel for them. I especially think that the convenience store is the perfect location for this, because people of all walks of life go to a convenience store. You can’t really dictate the kind of customers you have, because the convenience store has all sorts of basics and food that every human being needs.

I honestly feel like I didn’t understand the movie, but at the same time, I feel like there’s no point in trying to make sense of it in a way that I try to connect everything. It feels like the movie isn’t really asking to be taken that way.

It’s nice to see this side of the Korean film industry because I mostly watch the usual, all-too-familiar tearjerkers and dramas. Even the title Futureless Things is unique and would probably invoke some sort of curiosity. I have not figured out why that is the title, but I guess it has something to do with the way the stories were told–as if there is no timeline and everything is just happening in different universes, but in same forms. The concept of time is different.

The Endless

The science – fiction and thriller movie, The Endless, by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead features a brotherly love tested by differing opinions between the two real – life named characters that was previously part of their 2012 film, Resolution. Although the characters were first introduced in smaller roles in Resolution, it presented no hurdle to understand the development of the characters to those who haven’t seen the prior film. But of course, watching the movie Resolution would have given the audience a better and deeper understanding of the main characters, Justin and Aaron but sadly, I was not one of those who have watched Resolution.

The story revolves around their journey back towards Camp Arcadia, a cult they used to be a part of. Showing no bias, at first, I did not think of their old cult as a bad group. Although it was difficult since most of the movies I have watched that involved cults, also involved weird and dark characteristics of the group and their members. But seeing Justin having mixed feeling towards returning to their old cult in Camp Arcadia, also gave me an idea of what it was going to be like for this movie. Despite watching Justin and Aaron throw inside jokes about their cult, which sort of sends a notion that they were not going in too deep as they were from before they left, it still felt like they were already in too deep and was only going deeper. What I wondered about for the most part of the film was why they would both agree to go back to Camp Arcadia given the traumatizing memories they both endured during their stay with their old cult. To me Justin and Aaron showed a strange willingness to be stuck in a time loop brought about a sense of detachment from themselves due to the mediocrity of their realities. Although the movie gave pretty strong ideas and arguments on why Justin and Aaron wanted to go back, and went back for the cult, I still found it unrelatable. But I am guessing it was only unrelatable because of all the films I have watched which showed cults were always a bad thing.

In the beginning, I found the film to be moving really slow, but I did not know if people shared my opinion since I am the type of person who cannot sit through a film unless I am in the cinema. But since I gave the film a chance, I was able to appreciate it, through its unique and well – made plot. Despite being a low budget film proves that not all movies need a big budget to be compelling. Personally, I am no fan of the horror/thriller genre of film as they tend to focus on inflicting unexpected shocks rather than having a well – placed narrative. Unlike most horror and thriller films I have watched, the combination of Benson and Moorhead’s solid and creative narrative, together with accenting suspenseful music created a film that would not only terrify all audiences but also something that would keep them guessing and ultimately, enjoy.

Futureless Things

Kim Kyung – Mook’s film, Futureless Things, uses satirical comedy to portray harsh realities in South Korea. Although, it could also be said that this state of affairs is also present and widespread in other developing countries such as ours. The main conflict in the film was the survival of the convenience store, although I did not really figure it out until towards the end of the film.

Uncommonly, the film only used one setting in the movie, a convenience store and for the most time, I was waiting for the film to leave the convenience store to follow a character, but it never happened. Instead, it showed different characters, who were all part-time workers, and the random stories they experience during their shifts. At first, it seems that these stories were not connected due to the way the film was structured but towards the end, one will see how it is all tied together by the performance of the convenience store. One would wonder why Kim Kyung – Mook particularly chose a convenience store as a setting for this movie, but personally I found it brilliant. Convenience stores attract all kinds of people, varying from businessmen to homeless people. The variety of characters and their personal stories, all contributed to the demise of the convenience store and proved the setting to be a great choice. Personally, I do not think a different setting would have made the film any better than it is. Example, if it was set in an office, although one can argue that there also many different personalities in an office, it would take away the random and absurd storied of the customers that go to the convenience store throughout the day. Furthermore, one could also suggest that maybe a grocery would have also been an excellent choice, but what makes the convenience store a better choice was the intimacy. Unlike a grocery, a convenience store is much smaller thus making the interactions between the setting and characters more personal. The cashier in a convenience store does not even need to move from his or her place, in order to spot pilfering.

At first I found the movie really confusing and I could not make sense of what was happening. Until I figured out the reason why the clock was always shown, which was Kim Kyung – Mook’s way of telling the audience that the prior shift has passed. But even then, I was not really sure of what was going on in the film. I did not find any connections from the stories of each worker and customer, it seemed like it was just a bunch of random work stories you would talk about with your friends. The movie went on with this flow, but in the end it made sense. To my own surprise, I found the film amusing, given that I have a bias towards English and Hollywood films. Despite the confusing and disorganized structure, Kim Kyung – Mook was able to tie it altogether because of the convenience store.

Trainspotting

Trainspotting is a film directed by Danny Boyle, which was released in 1996. Honestly, it was quite a disturbing and peculiar film. Actually, scratch that – it was VERY disturbing and peculiar. I mean, come on, that toilet scene was completely revolting. It’s jaw – dropping seeing how illogical the actions of the characters were sometimes, but I guess it’s just the emphasis of them choosing not to actually live life and instead just heroin their life away. Now, with all that disgust aside, I actually think that it is in fact a brilliant approach to the issue of drug addiction. The film was just so raw with regards to how it presented it; and by raw I mean it just completely showed how unpleasant heroin is physically that you just ask yourself “Is that really how much angst they have to live their lives in that way?” (well, aside from the fact that they were addicted). If the scenes where they were hooked on heroin wasn’t surreal enough, the withdrawal was just as terrifying. I didn’t even know how to feel because it was just so horrible seeing how hard drugs can really put a human being into that position in which Mark Renton was in. I couldn’t imagine myself surviving the hallucinations that he was experiencing, it seemed so traumatic and well, it has done a great job in never making me want to try hard drugs – ever. I’m fairly sure that anyone who watches this film would feel just about the same. Thinking about it, the film presents a great parallelism in whichever addiction we currently have in our lives. It really comes down to what Mark Renton said in his monologue wherein it’s either you ‘choose life or choose heroin’; similarly, in our lives, whether we choose life or choose our own addictions in life. Despite the peculiarity of the film, given that it follows the lives of heroin addicts, it still really captivated me. It left me wondering about the things the rest of us are addicted to; whether it be nicotine, drugs, social media, food, pleasure, or whatnot, and how each of us chance on overcoming these addictions. The film made me realize that we all have a certain thing in which we are addicted with yet are fully capable of escaping. The lives of the characters showed various problems that came along with their addiction that made them appear to be trapped in such condition. Withdrawal in particular, evidently made it even more difficult to just stop using the drug. This is highly relative to any addiction there is and consequently highlights the fact that we will always tend to go through the worst before finally being able to be free from our addictions that chains us from living the life that are meant to serve our essential being well. Definitely, in spite of these problems, the film excellently revealed that life itself comes with numerous challenges in which it is always up to us whether we choose to continue to strive on. This lesson that I gained from the movie really stuck with me and gave me a better perspective in dealing with various obstacles I will come across with in life.