Worth It?

OCEAN’S 8 

Ocean’s 8 is an extremely engaging story, ensembled with an incredibly talented cast like Sandra Bullock, Anne Hathaway, Cate Blachett, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Helena Bonham Carter, Awkwafina, and of course, Rihanna (looove ‘Believe It’, by the way). This set of charming ladies acted under the directing of none other than Gary Ross.

Freshly paroled Debbie Ocean (Bullock) is on a mission: to steal the Toussaint, a $150 milllion necklace. She arranges to use movie star Daphne Kluger (Hathaway) as a carrier during the upcoming Met Gala. She and her old time friend Lou (Blanchett) put together a dynamic team of 6 other women; Tammy (Paulson), mother and secret smuggler, gemstone expert Amita (Kaling), hacker Nine-Ball (Rihanna), fashion designer Rose (Carter), pickpocket Constance (Awkwafina) to pull off this clever heist.

I’m in love with this film, not only because I have a passionate interest in heists (not that I intend to do so!) but also because I simply enjoyed watching the heist unfold on front of me. Each and every movement was a surprise, never knew what’ll happen next. The number of powerful women in this movie awed me. Their acting was impeccable. Every piece of the puzzle was put carefully. This film (and the heist) simply had no flaws. Such diverse characters working together so beautifully just amazed me. Lastly, I’m ready to watch this flick a thousand times if asked to. I’m ready to be  enchanted again. Just find me a temple for these gals. I certainly think this is worth your time. Trust me, it was for me.

-Ra

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QUESALUPA: GOD BLESS THE PERSON WHO INVENTED THIS.

*NOT A SPONSOR!*

Ok, so I’m no food expert, but I know a good food when I see cheese in the poster.           This snack, is filled with the freshest of veggies, which is quite rare judging from my past experiences… or maybe I was just lucky. Anyways, the shell was filled with cheddar and mozzarella cheese (then deep-fried) and it did stretch a lot. But beware, it won’t stretch if you eat it cold. All the hype will vanish along with the taste. I took the chicken version, which means that the flavors would fuse a lot better than the veg version. After the first bite, I noticed the arrangement: chicken, their “signature” sauce, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, corn, topped off with cheddar cheese. I added hot sauce too, and it was nothing but lit. But y’know, the sad part was when I finished it, because unlike a sub or a roll, it doesn’t fill you up as needed.

Yes, it’s worth the hype, but no, not as much for the money because it doesn’t fill you up. But that’s not even a point compared to its taste. I certainly would recommend this heavenly madness to everyone, but not as full-on meal for when you’re starving. I’d recommend this as a snack. But, cheese lover or not, everyone should try this once in their lifetime. I insist.

-Ra

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So I Watched CONTAGION

As I watch this movie during the infamous Covid-19 pandemic, the cough at the start of the movie alone gets me alert. Contagion eerily shows the current situation of 2020 in 2011 as if it were warning us that we might be at the receiving end of something no one, absolutely no one -except Scott Z. Burns and Steven Soderbergh- could have even imagined.

Contagion opens up with Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) is on her way home from Hong Kong to Minneapolis and is pale, coughing, and evidently feverish. Of course, we all can guess what it is but Beth puts it down as jet lag. Soon after reaching home she dies, her son following suite. She is among the many other people who died worldwide from an unknown virus. Her husband, Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon) is fortunately immune but struggles to keep his daughter and himself quarantined. What follows next is fear, panic, and anxiousness. This movie also juggles between different tangents like: the blogger Alan Krumweide (Jude Law) as he claims to be cured of the now declared MEV-1 virus using forsynthia, a homeopathic medicine; Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) as she risks her life to go back to Minneapolis to trace possible patients, carriers and have them quarantined; Dr. Leonara Oranes (Marion Cotillard) the epidemiologist who travels to Hong Kong to determine the index patient; Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) who researches on the virus and struggles to find and antidote; Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurance Fishburne) who leads the matters in the WHO team. The fun part is that we only know as much as the WHO officials know, no more- no less.

What blew me out of my mind was the uncanny resemblance between the current situation and the film. Especially the scenes where they show empty churches, halls, airports, etc. and also when Dr. Cheever says “Stop touching your face Dave, don’t talk to anyone, don’t touch anyone. Keep sanitizing your hand and maintain social distancing” and one more shocking resemblance between the virus that is mentioned later in the movie. But in some scenes when panic-stricken people break into shops and homes for supplies were not relatable for me as in my country, such incidents were never mentioned.

This film is directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Z. Burns and consists of the star studded cast of Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Ehle, Laurance Fishburne, and many more.

This film, alongside the virus repeatedly reminds us to stay home, wash our hands, avoid touching the face, and doing many other things which can prove fatal in these times. Please, social distancing is the only way to contain the virus.

I think it’s worth a watch, especially during this period. I’ll give it a solid 5/5. Also, if you have alot of time in your hands, you can also watch ‘Virus’, a Malayalam film released in 2019 based on the Nipah outbreak in 2018 in Kerala, India. I’ll give that 5/5 anyday too. But I do have a request: Please don’t compare these flicks as they are poles apart. Of course, the theme is the same, but one is fiction, and the other is fact. My take on Contagion is that this is not just a movie, it’s a prediction.

-Ra

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GOD FRIENDED ME (series)

I finished GFM last week with……. considerable opinions. I initially started GFM to pass my time but as the plot thickened, I had to give in to temptation and bingewatched 3-4 episodes in a day. But still, that doesn’t change the fact that I have a lot to say.

I don’t want to complicate things or give any spoilers, so ill say this: GFM revolves around Miles Finer, an atheist, who on one fine day starts getting friend suggestions from an account called GOD, which later on leads us to think whether, “the only difference between God and The God Account is the word ‘account’”. And gets us crazy for who’s behind The God Account. Miles’s friends are Cara Bloom, a great journalist, and Rakesh Singh, his colleague (and expert hacker) at IdentitySeal.

The plot is real interesting, no doubt, has a ambiguous theme, and does make one question whether there is really a superior power above us all or not. Plus, there is a lot of diversity and representation in this show too.

BUT

I have criticisms too…

• The script felt…. Unrealistic and not alive enough, and the jokes too seemed overused and (sorry sorry sorry sorry) childish.
• This show partially passes the Bechdel Test. Why? Because in every single scene where two women come together, they only have one topic: their partner. How things are going, what to do when there’s a problem and so and so.
• Please don’t tell me I’m the only one who finds it annoying that everyone (mostly Parker, Cara’s friend) is so interested in (surprise, surprise) Miles’s and Cara’s lovelife?! It almost deviates the original plot and turns the show into a rom-com, which I’m not a fan of.
• And also, frustratingly for me and conveniently for the show, it somehow ALWAYS manages to exclude the awkward situations. (you’ll get me when you watch the show). For example, there’s a scene in the 2^nd season, wherein Miles’s hater comes up and blames him for ruining his life in front of his fans, and then storms out. I wanted to know how he would react afterwards, what would he say to his fans, would he shush it up and move on, or would he go after the hater, and whatnot. But all I see is Miles’s shocked face and a black screen, which moves on to a completely different scene. And that’s what frustrates me, I don’t know about you guys.
• Okay, so basically every friend suggestion that Miles gets needs some kind of help and is in a big problem. That’s good right? Helping? Not until the problems get repetitive.

I don’t think its “worth a watch”, but if you have nothing else to watch or have nothing to lose, feel free to watch it. I say that cause if you get too involved like me, you’ll only be disappointed in the end. Why? Spoiler alert: This show gets cancelled, and ceases to answer aloooot of questions.

I’m giving a a 2/5. I’m not here to trash this show or downgrade the amount of hard work done to make it, as I’m sure I won’t be able to do any better. And I’m sure there may be more ups then downs, but I just couldn’t see them…. help me. But I made this to help people like me decide whether to watch it or not, and that’s that.

-Ra