Where The Crawdads Sing

tags: coming of age, drama, mystery. Netflix streaming

⭐⭐⭐

From IMDB

Abandoned by her family, Kya Clark, otherwise known to the townspeople of Barkley Cove as the Marsh Girl, is mysterious and wild. "Where the Crawdads Sing" is a coming-of-age story of a young girl raised by the marshlands of the south in the 1950s. When the town hotshot is found dead, and inexplicably linked to Kya, the Marsh Girl is the prime suspect in his murder case.

The movie is based on a best selling book which I haven't read and I never had the interest in reading it. I'm not into books about being one with nature and have "spiritual" themes (according to reviews on Goodreads).

Kya, the youngest of 3 children, is abandoned first by the mother who couldn't take anymore her husband's alcoholism and physical abuse. The older brother and sister also leave for the same reason. Kya is left alone with her father who at first is tolerant of her but she ends up all alone in their house. What a depressing story. Who does that to a little girl? Where are the grandparents? Uncles? Aunties?  And who enjoys reading such a stupid story? The mother never came back nor check up on her. She wrote once but the letter was burned by the father. 

Kya had to use her smarts in order to survive, digging up shellfish and sells it to the Black couple who runs a goods store. The couple are the only people who are nice to her. They give her used clothing so she can go to school where the children make fun and gossip about her and call her names. Discouraged, she runs back home and to the marsh where she is at peace. How she lived alone for 10 years since everybody left is a mystery to me.

She learns how to read when she is already a teenager. A friend of her brother shows up one day and sees she is talented in drawing. He teaches her how to read and suggests she submit her work to a publishing company. He becomes her boyfriend, her first love. But he also abandons her for university. 5 years she waits for him then another young man starts paying attention to her and she accepts him. The boy has a fiancée but still wants to have Kya as his sex toy. She rejects him when she finds out about the fiancée. He becomes aggressive and tries to rape her. Then the young man dies, either murdered or by accident.

The movie focuses more on the murder mystery, her trial, and acquittal. The ending reveals if she really killed him. All the clues are there. You just have to pay attention to Kya's poetic and metaphorical dialog. She dies as an old lady with gray hair and still married to her first love but the truth will never be revealed. There is no point anyway.

It is an okay movie, good not great. The acting and cinematography are good.

Father Stu

tags: based on true story, Catholic priest, drama, family, redemption, streaming on Netflix

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Based on a true story, Father Stu is an unflinchingly honest, funny and ultimately uplifting drama about a lost soul who finds his purpose in a most unexpected place. When an injury ends his amateur boxing career, Stuart Long moves to L.A. dreaming of stardom. While scraping by as a supermarket clerk, he meets Carmen, a Catholic Sunday school teacher who seems immune to his bad-boy charm. Determined to win her over, the longtime agnostic starts going to church to impress her. But surviving a terrible motorcycle accident leaves him wondering if he can use his second chance to help others find their way, leading to the surprising realization that he is meant to be a Catholic priest. Despite a devastating health crisis and the skepticism of Church officials and his estranged parents, Stu pursues his vocation with courage and compassion, inspiring not only those closest to him but countless others along the way.

The movie is currently Number 1 on Netflix and I can understand why. It is well scripted and acted, inspiring for everyone not just for Catholics but for all faiths. It's superior to any current movies Hollywood is churning out these days. The soundtrack is awesome also. 

Highly recommended.

Broken Summer

tags: drama, Korean, mystery, revenge

⭐⭐

From Goodreads

A death, a lie, a secret. For twenty-six summers he didn’t have the courage to face the past.

Lee Hanjo is an artist at the peak of his fame, envied and celebrated. Then, on his forty-third birthday, he awakens to find that his devoted wife has disappeared, leaving behind a soon-to-be-published novel she’d secretly written about the sordid past and questionable morality of an artist with a trajectory similar to Hanjo’s. It’s clear to him that his life is about to shatter and the demons from his past will come out. But why did his wife do it? Why now?

The book forces Hanjo to reflect on a summer from his youth when a deadly lie irreversibly and tragically determined the fates of two families.

First time I read a book written by a South Korean set in Korea, one of the free books on Amazon First Reads and the only worth reading. I didn't download books last month because they are waste of my time. I thought this will be different but I was wrong. What else is new? 

The premise is interesting but I was put off right away by the short sentences that remind me of David and Ann reading primers in Kindergarten. Like See Ann run. See David run. Something like that. It's boring. Once in a while there are longer sentences that are more descriptive but too flowery for my taste. Then the author goes back to David and Ann mode. Very frustrating. Lost in translation maybe? 

I liked the mystery enough of the wife's disappearing act and the novel she wrote to be published that might ruin her husband. The book then shifts back and forth from the present to the past 20 plus years. A teenage girl neighbor and friend of Hanjo didn't come home one night and was found dead a few days later. Hanjo's father confessed to the killing and was jailed. So I continued to read regardless of David and Ann distractions until I finished and it is underwhelming. 

Stupid drama annoyed me. It read like a typical Korean TV drama, mystery, incompetent police, social disparity, perceived sexism, love pentagon (oh give me a break!), alcoholism (the ever present soju), suicide, and unnecessary revenge because of misunderstandings and presumptions of the characters. Contrivances abound. The 2 stars are for Hanjo's success story as a painter because that's the only interesting part in the whole novel. How he became successful regardless of his mediocre talent is worth reading but his wife's reason for her actions is unbelievably shallow. 

If you can tolerate David and Ann style of writing, go ahead and download from Amazon First Reads.

The Entitled

 

tags: comedy, Filipino movie, Netflix streaming

humongous goose egg 0

After learning her estranged father is a hotel mogul, Belinda bumbles her way through a new, sophisticated lifestyle with the help of a charming lawyer.

Why oh why was this horrible movie made? I'm not fond of Filipino movies and this one made me more than cringe. This movie is garbage and I hate it. The acting is over the top and dialog is atrocious. The girl Belinda is so vulgar using all the crude stuff [vomit, poop, fart, stomach growling, Brazilian wax, the attorney's d*ck] for what she thinks is "comedy". She is a loudmouth, obsessed with sex ugly lead character and almost everything that comes out of her dirty mouth has sexual reference. When she gets startled or stumbles, she utters male or female sexual anatomy. Each. And. Every. Time. I wanted to drag her into the bathtub and wash her including her mouth with disinfectant soap.

The writer and director think this is funny. Even the poorest people in the Philippines are not as crass as this Belinda creature. I am so ashamed for the Filipino people for creating this dreadful abomination they call a comedy movie and streaming on Netflix.

Not recommended.

Metal Lords

tags: comedy, drama, post-metal music, Netflix streaming, teen movie

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from IMDB

Two kids want to start a heavy metal band in a high school where exactly two kids care about heavy metal. They try to find a bass player, and fail but they do find a girl who is very good at cello. If the three of them can't settle their differences and work together, they're never going to win the Battle of the Bands.

I couldn't care less if the movie is rated unsatisfactory by "professional" reviewers. Yes, it is clichéd and has a predictable ending but it is funny and engaging. I loved it. Sometimes, Netflix comes up with an enjoyable movie about high schoolers that is worth a second watch.

Katla

Katla streaming on Netflix

8 episodes, 40 - 50 minutes

In Icelandic with English subtitles 

tags: drama, fantasy, Iceland, mystery, science fiction, supernatural

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

from Netflix

A year after Katla's eruption, the shattered survivors are still grappling with the aftermath. Suddenly, an ash-caked woman appears on the glacier.

The drama mystery series from Iceland, although not a crime mystery, reminds me of the Welsh crime drama series Hinterland and the Russian movie How I Ended This Summer for its beautiful but bleak scenery. The mystery of the naked woman covered in ashes emerging on the glacier is captivating right from episode 1. More ash-caked people emerge. Fascinating watch.

Highly recommended.

On Episode 5, the little boy who died 3 years earlier appears as one of the ash-caked creatures but his father knows he is not his real son. The mother runs away with him and on the road realizes he is not who he is so she abandons him in the middle of the road. On Episode 6, he is shown looking at a downed small airplane. With his outfit -blue coat over light colored sweater and pajama pants, and his boots - he looks like the Little Prince. Then he starts talking to the dying sheep. Definitely an allusion to The Little Prince novel and maybe a clue as to his origin. 

Spoilers

Racket Boys

Racket Boys - Korean comedy drama sports streaming on Netflix

16 episodes, 85 - 90 minutes, Monday and Tuesday

from AsianWiki

A story of a boys' badminton team at a middle school in Haenam as they compete in a junior athletic competition. The 16 year old boys and girls in Haenam grow as people during this time.

Yoon Hyeon-Jong was once the best badminton player and he now takes the coach job of a boys' badminton team at a middle school in Haenam. The badminton team is on the verge of being disbanded. The players on the team are Yoon Hae-Kang, Bang Yoon-Dam, Na Woo-Chan and Lee Yong-Tae. The players are not very good yet.

Meanwhile, Ra Yeong-Ja is the coach of the girls’ badminton team at a different middle school in Haenam. Her badminton team ranks #1 among their peers.

The drama comedy started airing May 31 and June 1, 2021 and I'm already hooked. The drama has lots of laughs, has quirky characters, and witty dialog. I'm not a sports fan and it's surprising that I enjoyed the competition at the end of the second episode. 

The main story is about middle school boys training and competing in badminton tournaments to be able to continue the school's badminton program. Their coming together as a team is well told and the minor characters also have interesting stories to them. It's a heart warming series and it has a potential to become my 2021 favorite. 

Episode 3 - the boys enjoy jjajangmyeon