At first, I didn’t plan to watch this movie at the cinema. I did want to watch it, but I intended to wait for the movie to be available for download. But the buy 1 get 1 free ticket promo by my debit card provider was too good to resist, so last Saturday A and I watched it.

This movie is about a post-apocalyptic Earth where the atmosphere is no longer good for living things. Animals are all already wiped out, and people can only grow corn. The United States have collapsed into poverty. The main character was Cooper, a widowed man with two kids. He was a NASA pilot, but he became a farmer after an incident. Cooper and his daughter, Murph, are very close. Murph constantly tells him about the “ghost” in her room which knocks down some books and other things off the shelf every now and then. At first Cooper doesn’t really pay attention to it, but one day, the “ghost” leaves a string of binary code in the form of dust trails that turns out to be a coordinate for the new NASA headquarter. One thing leads to another, and Cooper is sent to an interstellar mission to search for another inhabitable planet for the sake of the humankind.

I must admit that I don’t really understand space science, so it was kinda hard for me to fully grasp the theories presented in the movie about wormhole, black hole, the time differences, etc. I got out of the cinema with a headache due to that fact. There were also a lot of spinning in the scenes plus bright lights. My head couldn’t take that much pressure all at once, so I needed to stop myself from puking. Yes, it was that bad for me.

But in the big picture, this movie isn’t so bad at all. The idea of exploring the universe and searching for another planet for us to live in is so interesting. I’ve always wondered if there are other planets with living things out there since I was a kid. My 12-year-old self would love watching Interstellar. Plus, there isn’t any sexual scene in this movie, so it’s actually appropriate for kids who are curious about space, stars, planets, and such.

It is, however, a little bit slow and boring at the beginning. I almost fell asleep three times during the first 30 minutes. There are several scenes which are not important and can actually be cut off from the movie (like the one when Cooper and his kids drive through a corn field chasing a drone). However, just like other movies by Christopher Nolan i.e. The Dark Night trilogy, it gets better and the end is quite satisfying.

My last words are: you’d like it.

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I’ve always been drawn by the idea of telling stories from the point of view of the bad guy. I remember reading a Harry Potter fanfic told from the point of view of Draco Malfoy and it was so stunning. Since then, I’ve been wondering about how stories would’ve turned out if the bad guy was the main character. When I first heard about Maleficent, I knew that it would be interesting. And the character would be played by Angelina Jolie!

After waiting for months, I had to wait for five more days to see this movie since it’s just premiered today in my country. I must admit that I should’ve known that if a story is told through the bad guy’s point of view, we will easily fall in love with them. This is what happened to me when I watched this. Maleficent is just a poor girl who is mistreated by a man she loves who betrays her for power and throne. He takes away her wings and leaves her. She shuts herself and turns the beautiful kingdom of Moors into a dark forest surrounded by high thorny plants. A few years later (or months? I didn’t really pay attention.), the man–who is now king–and the queen have a daughter named Aurora. The king and queen throw a christening party at the castle, but Maleficent is not invited. Together with her new alley, Diaval the raven, she comes anyway. The famous scene in which Maleficent puts her curse on Aurora happens and then she flees, leaving the whole castle in horror. The story then goes as it was told in Sleeping Beauty: the king destroys all the spinning wheels in the kingdom and sends his daughter away for her protection. Maleficent and Diaval continue monitoring Aurora and keeping her alive so the curse can be fullfilled.

However, problems arise as Maleficent finds herself grow more and more fond of Aurora. The girl thinks that Maleficent is her fairy godmother, knowing that she’s always been there since she was little. The relationship goes deeper and deeper that one day Maleficent tries to take back the curse but fails. Then Aurora’s 16th birthday comes and the curse is fullfilled, leaving Maleficent devastated.

Compared to the films I’ve seen lately, Maleficent is very short. It’s only about 90 minutes (or 97 according to Wikipedia). It leaves several things unexplained, like what really happens at the castle in the end or the thing that’s bugging my mind: “Doesn’t Aurora feel sad about the death of the father she’s only known for a day (or two)?” But the question put aside, I think Maleficent is good. It resembles Frozen in which the phrase ‘true love’ isn’t interpreted as romance. Maybe Disney wants to change the perception that’s been planted by a lot of fairy tales that in order to get a ‘happy ever after’, a girl needs a boy who can save her from desperation? I don’t know. But they’ve surely done good things with these two movies.

Also, let’s talk about these cheekbones. Irene Adler could cut herself slapping Maleficent’s face (and then get her own sleeping curse.)

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To be honest, I wasn’t really into the X-Men series. In fact, I just watched First Class a few months ago when my boyfriend insisted that it was a good movie. Days of Future Past was the second movie of the series that I watched and the first one I saw in theatre. And now I can say that I am officially a fan.

Since I haven’t watched any other parts of the series, I’m not quite sure about the timeline of Days of Future Past. (But hang on there, friends. I’ll be there sometime soon.) All I could see was that the movie opens in a dark time, like the world is almost at its end. The only mutants I already know are Wolverine, Magneto, and Professor X (no kidding); the rests are mysteries. Apparently, the mutants are being hunted by some things called the Sentinels. Prof X and Magneto send Wolverine back in time to try to stop Mystique from doing her first murder ever which had initiated the manufacturing of Sentinels, and thus changing the future/present. But the mission is not as easy as it seems. Well, you know… shit happens and problems arise and our heroes have to struggle. Typical superheroes movie, but it’s still Marvel, so it’s still awesome anyway.

All in all, I like it. The story is engaging and, most importantly, understandable for someone with a limited knowledge of the series like me. Also, there are some fresh and smart jokes every now and then. My favourite part was a scene in which Quicksilver rearranged a whole room in slow motion.

Oh and yes, Quicksilver made an appearance and he has a small yet important role in this movie. As you might have already known, Quicksilver and his twin sister, Scarlet Witch, will also appear in the next Avengers movie. Since I really love X-Men’s Quicksilver, I can’t wait to see the Avengers’ version of him.

Now I know what I missed. I should start binge watching the other parts of this series. And as for this movie, I’d say… Go watch it, you guys!

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On 30 April evening, I walked out of the cinema thinking “Man, I grew so tired of superheroes fighting supervillains who are actually nice guys with bad luck.” Brilliant scientists’ experiments gone wrong, some random dudes fall into a tank full of dangerous things, fathers sacrificing themselves for their kids (then turned into monsters), et cetera. So tired. It’s like the same thing repeated over and over again.

Well, it’s not the writers’ fault. The core of every superhero story is actually alike. But I’m sick of watching them over and over again without a new twist. This is how I feel with the newest installment of Spider-Man. I pity Electro. Though he’s a little bit weird and creepy, but I feel that it isn’t his wish to be a villain, let alone a supervillain. He does like the attention, but he is a nice man on the inside. He’s just been mistreated by Oscorp and in the end, ***SPOILER*** he dies (or explodes, to be exact). Your job is to uphold justice, Spidey; where’s the justice in that?

Watching The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has made me realise that I prefer superhero movies where the enemies are aliens trying to take over the Earth. It makes a lot more sense (if I could say so?) and in my opinion, killing bad aliens are justifiable.