Movie Review: The Theory of Everything

Hello! It's been a while since my last post, huh? I was sick for about a month, I guess, but I still had to work every day so I used most of my free time to rest instead of writing. But I'm better now and I saw The Theory of Everything yesterday, so I'll write about what I think of it. This post contains spoilers, but the movie is based on a true story of a well-known figure so you probably have known the story haha.

The Theory of Everything follows the story of Stephen Hawking, a brilliant physicist who is famous for his book entitled A Brief History of Time. As he starts his career as a physicist, young Stephen (Eddie Redmayne) is slammed by the fact that he has motor neuron disease, an illness that slowly decreases his ability to control the movements of his own muscles. It is not easy for Stephen to deal with his situation, but his brilliant mind refuses to stop and keeps working to reach success. Meanwhile, Stephen's wife, Jane (Felicity Jones), seems to struggle to cope with the situation as well as she has to take care of her disabled husband, raise her children and reach her dreams.

Poster of The Theory of Everything

The one aspect that truly shines in this movie is definitely the acting. Eddie Redmayne is totally unrecognizable as Stephen Hawking. I like to watch Eddie's interviews so I'm quite familiar with the way he talks, his voice, his appearance as himself, his accent. But I didn't see those things at all when I saw this movie. In fact, I didn't feel like I was watching Eddie Redmayne. In the movie, the way he talks is different, his voice is different, his physical appearance is different, his accent is different, even the way he moves is different. He looks so thin and vulnerable, and the way he moves his lips and legs makes me cringe because it looks kind of painful. He truly transforms himself into the character that he is portraying. Really fascinating. He deserves an Oscar, or at least an Oscar nomination.

Because all the buzz around this movie centers on Eddie, I was quite surprised to see Felicity Jones's great performance in this movie. I love how she portrays Jane here. She seems very strong and fragile at the same time. The way she plays Jane makes me feel like it is harder for her to deal with Stephen's illness than it is for Stephen himself. My favorite Jane scene is when she visits Stephen after he undergoes a surgery that makes him unable to speak again. Jane visits him in the hospital with a spelling board and tries to teach Stephen how to use it to communicate. Stephen seems to be very devastated because he can't even do a simple thing like speaking, but Jane, even though her hands are shaking and her eyes are wet, tries to be strong and insists that life has not ended for her husband. I think it is a very powerful scene.

Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones as Stephen and Jane

For the story, for me it is like a reflection of what I think about marriage and love. At the beginning, Stephen and Jane love each other. Then, they get married and struggle to face their problems as a couple. And, in the end, they figure out that it is better for them to live separate lives. After their separation, they seem to be happier, less tense, less tired. What happens to them makes me think that maybe it is better if we don't get married. I think it is probably better if we let go of the people that we love and let them live in their own paths, let them reach their dreams and be happy. When Jane and Stephen are married, Jane has to leave everything behind (including her dream of getting a master degree) and does nothing but taking care of her husband and her three children. Isn't it unfair for her? When they let go of each other and become friends, Stephen reaches success as a physicist and Jane is able to live for herself. Isn't that better? I'm not saying that you should stop loving whoever it is that you love and forget them. What I'm saying is, if you love someone, maybe it is better to let that person go instead of keeping that person just for you. I believe every person has their own paths and you can't force them to leave their paths to live a new one with you.

To conclude, The Theory of Everything is a great movie that is full of wonderful, powerful performances. Prepare yourself to see Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones in every award ceremony in the 2015 awards season!

Rating : 3,5/5

Movie Review : Interstellar

Hello! I saw one of my most anticipated year-end movies today! It's Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. And, as expected, it is a GREAT movie. I've given details about the movie here, but I didn't really know what the movie was about back then. But now that I know, let me explain what the movie is about (without giving spoiler). It's about a time in the near future when the Earth is kind of "broken". The humans are forced to find a new planet to inhabit. With some new findings that support them to do it, some people from NASA are sent to find a new home for us. 

Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), Brand (Anne Hathaway) and Romilly (David Gyasi) from Interstellar

I love how deep the movie is. I got emotional when I saw how hard it seemed for Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) to leave his 10-year-old daughter Murphy (Mackenzie Foy) for the mission. I almost cried with Cooper when he finds out that his children have grown up without him, that he will never be able to see them grow. My heart hurt when I realized that it must be very hard for Murphy too to continue living on her own while her father is floating somewhere in the outer space. I was emotionally drained at the end of the movie. This is kind of surprising for me because I thought the one that was going to be drained was my brain, but it turned out that it was my heart. Other Nolan movies are very serious and they require us to really use our brains to follow the stories, but this one is different. I like it, of course. I love having my feelings twisted (hahaha).

Cooper, his daughter Murphy (Mackenzie Foy) and their great chemistry

I was also surprised to see so many great actors in this movie! I knew that I would see Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Mackenzie Foy, Michael Caine and Jessica Chastain, but I didn't expect to see Matt Damon, Casey Affleck and Topher Grace! I'm happy that I didn't know much about the movie before I saw it today. I got surprised by the stars and many other things from it. I love surprises!

Another thing that I love about this movie is how its story goes. It goes very smoothly; very comfortable to watch. It sucked me into it. The feeling that it gave is similar to the one that I felt when I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Both of the movies run for a looong time, more than 2,5 hours, but they didn't make me bored at all. They both sucked me into it, made me forget everything about my life for a while (I even forgot that I was watching a movie in a cinema when I saw Benjamin Button). I had to teach after seeing Interstellar today and it was so hard because I still felt like I was in another galaxy (hahaha). How could the writers write something like that? Really, really impressive. I would love to learn how they do it.

I love McConaughey's performance! I've never been a fan of this Academy Award winning actor, but I really enjoyed watching him in this one. I feel so related to his character. Cooper is someone who is good at something but the world holds him back and doesn't let him achieve what he can achieve. It sucks when it happens. It makes you feel trapped and it's frustrating. You want more and you know you have the ability to get what you want but you just can't. At some point it can even make you angry. So angry until you are willing to risk anything when an opportunity comes. I kind of know how it feels like.

So, Interstellar is a must-see movie. It has a deep and mesmerizing story, powerful characters and great actors. Definitely worth to watch!

Rating : 4,5/5

Is Studying Hard and Boring?

Although I've sworn not to watch An Education again after memorizing every single scene of the movie for my thesis (the movie is the medium of my thesis), I must admit that it is a great movie. It gives us a lot to think about and full of fantastic actors doing fantastic acting. The dialogues of the movie are quite quotable too. One of the most memorable ones, and the one that is related to what I want to talk about in this post, is this one below.

In the scene, Jenny, the main character of the movie, is so convinced that it is right for her to abandon education and career opportunities for marriage (Okay this sentence is SO like my thesis haha). Well she changes her mind later in the story, but, at one point, she thinks abandoning education will be liberating because, for her, studying is "hard and boring".

It's sad that a schoolgirl whose main job is studying thinks that studying is hard and boring. But another thing that is even more saddening than that for me is seeing that many people that I know agree with her.

As a student, I could see that most of my friends hated studying and working on assignments. They always complained when they had to face those two things. Well, it's not surprising that they hate doing those things because, for them, studying means reading textbooks and memorizing everything written there and working on assignments means staying up all night in front of our exercise books or laptops.

As a teacher, I can see that the same notion still lives in people's minds. When I teach, I am expected to keep my students quite and do nothing but reading or working on their tasks. When a student is noisy or moves around a lot, that student will be considered a naughty student by the others. When I disguise my lesson as games and play with my students during a lesson, people will think that we don't study anything in the class. When I give my students some fun activities during the lesson, my lesson will be considered as something that is "not worth it". When a student gets bad scores at school, the student will be considered as the one who deserves to be scolded.

So is studying really hard and boring? In my opinion, it's not.

I think the one that makes studying seem hard and boring is actually that notion that lives in people's minds; the notion that always associates studying with things that are hard and boring. I think studying shouldn't be hard and boring. It should be fun and enjoyable because it's way easier for students to grasp the knowledge when they're happy. I've experienced it as both a student and a teacher.

When I was homeschooled, the homeschooling institution liked to do gatherings and give projects to homeschoolers. The projects usually let us apply the knowledge that we had learnt. The projects were quite fun to do, more fun than I expected. Moreover, they made me realize that education can be considered as successful not when a student is able to get a good score during the final exam, but when a student is able to apply the knowledge that has been learnt to real situations. I also learned that learning doesn't always mean learning math or biology; learning things like friendship, love and team-work can also be considered as learning. When I realized that, I started learning with my heart. When I had to analyze literary works during my time as an English literature student, I absorbed all the things that I learned from them with my heart and felt very rich after that.

When I teach my students, I also like to keep my students as happy as possible. I love to disguise my lessons in games and play with my students. Another thing that I really love doing in the class is storytelling. Storytelling allows the students to relax and enjoy the story but also provides exposure to the target language (English), which means they study and have fun at the same time. And watching my students' jaws drop when they're so focused on the stories is the most fun thing ever (haha). I also like to make deals with my students to keep them happy and make sure that the learning outcomes are achieved. For example, I have a group of students who always ask to be given some time for drawing during the lesson. I grant their wish, but they have to promise that they would finish all the exercises that I give them before that. They keep their promises and I keep mine. Everyone is happy, right?

So I think we should stop associating studying and learning with hard and boring things and change the ways we see them. When I started seeing them in a different way, I found studying and learning very gratifying. 

Movies to Watch in the Last Months of 2014

Hi! I've been kind of busy these days because I have a side job now, so I haven't been writing much. I don't know if I can do the recaps again because it takes a lot of time. But so far The Flash  has stolen my heart and I've crowned it as my most favorite new series. I still enjoy HTGAWM but have started having doubts on Gotham due to its poor writing (I still love the characters, though). And I haven't been catching up on Reign. 

But now I don't want to talk abou tv shows. I want to talk about moviessss. We only have about 2 months left this year, but there are still some great movies to watch. Here are my most anticipated movies that are going to be released in the last months of the year.

1. INTERSTELLAR

To be released in : November

Director : Christopher Nolan

Cast : Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Mackenzie Foy.

To be honest, I don't really know what this movie is about. They keep the story a secret, just like they did with Nolan's previous project, Inception. The synopsis of the movie in IMDB describes it as a story of "a group of explorers make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage." Based on the synopsis, I assume that it involves science, space travel and the end of the world. What actually makes me interested in this movie is the fact that Mr Christopher Nolan is the director. I really enjoy Inception and, of course, his Batman movies, so I expect this one to be as good as those films. The cast also seems solid. Here's the latest trailer of Interstellar.

2. THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

To be released in : November

Director : James Marsh

Cast : Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, David Thewlis, Emily Watson.

This is a biopic of the famous physicist Stephen Hawking. It lets us see how the highly intelligent man struggles to fight the illness that paralyzes his body and how his relationship with the woman he loves affects the way he deals with the situation. This movie seems to be a very emotional one. I think I have to bring a pack of tissues when I see this movie because just watching the trailer makes my eyes water. The main factor that makes me so eager to see this movie is Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables, My Week with Marilyn). He's a fantastic actor, one of my favorites, and it's been a while since the last time I watched his movie, so I'm excited to see him again. And they say Eddie's and Felicity Jones's performances are amazing here. They even say Eddie deserves an Oscar! Here's the trailer of The Theory of Everything. Watch and try not to cry!

3. THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1
To be released in : November
Director : Francis Lawrence
Cast : Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jullianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Claflin.

Well, I think this movie needs no introduction. This third film in The Hunger Games saga follows its heroine, Katniss Everdeen, as she leads the revolt against the Capitol. I really enjoy the first two films of the saga, especially the second one, Catching Fire, and am really curious about the ending.I know we all can find out how this movie ends from the book, but I haven't read the book and have decided to stay blind about the ending; I don't want to ruin the fun. My friend who has read the book says that Mockingjay is the hardest one to read and, man, that is my favorite kind of stories (haha). Here's the main trailer of Mockingjay (which is surprisingly short for a main trailer, but pretty intense).

Besides these three films, I'm also curious about some other films like Into the Woods, Big Hero 6 and The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies. But these three films above are on the top of my list.

Hope my list can help you decide which movie to watch before the year ends!

Book Review : The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

I finally finished reading The Scorch Trials! I spent around two or three weeks reading it. I used to be a pretty fast reader but work has made me a very slow one...

So The Scorch Trials is the second book in James Dashner's The Maze Runner series. The book starts exactly after the ending of the first book, The Maze Runner. This means that I can't say anything about this book without giving spoilers about the ending of The Maze Runner. So if you haven't read the first book, or seen the movie adaptation that was released last month, and don't want to ruin the fun by getting some spoilers, please stop reading.

After escaping from the Maze, Thomas and his fellow Gladers can finally be relieved and feel safe. However, it doesn't last long. The second phase of the mysterious trials begins unexpectedly. Teresa, the only girl among the Gladers who is also Thomas's closest friend, is taken away by WICKED and is replaced by a boy named Aris. Then, an odd man appears with odd instructions about the second phase of the trials: The Scorch Trials. Thomas, Minho, Newt and the rest of the Gladers must face the harshness of a scorched land in order to survive. In this phase, they don't have to run in the Maze or fight the Grievers. They have to fight something worse: extreme nature, zombie-like creatures, fellow humans with their own agendas and, the hardest one, betrayals.

The book cover

The book shocked me by putting the characters in a completely different situation. In the first book, the most frustrating thing is the isolation and the fact that the Gladers have no idea what's actually happening to them. In The Scorch Trials, they're sent into an open-space with thousands of possibilities: they could get killed by a wild storm or zombies or other people who are forced to kill them to survive. I like this because it makes things very unexpected and surprising. There is a surprise at the end of every chapter in the book, which made it so hard for me to put this book down. Very, very tense. I don't know the correct English word to describe it, but the best Indonesian word to describe this book is "seru".

What I don't like about this book is the way Thomas reacts to the things that happen around him. In the first book, he is so eager to get out from the Glade and free himself from whoever it is who puts him there. He is very, very eager to break free and he fights so hard to achieve freedom. In this book, he knows that he is used as an object in WICKED's experiments. I expected that it would anger him even more, would make him more eager to fight back. I don't mean to compare this saga with The Hunger Games, but I expected Thomas to do something like what Katniss does in Catching Fire (destroying the arena of the Games at the end). But it turns out that he doesn't. It turns out that he tends to just do whatever he thinks WICKED wants him to do. He finally shows this eagerness near the end of the book, but, still, I don't feel the burning spirit to reach freedom that I felt when I was reading The Maze Runner. When I was reading Scorch Trials, I kept yelling in my head, "Fight, Thomas! Fight!!!"

Despite Thomas's weakening spirit that I don't like, I like how my feelings about some of the characters get twisted in this book. I used to like and trust Teresa, but the way I see her is completely turned around in this book. I've always loved Minho and I still love him here. He is a bit more sarcastic and rude in this one, but it was so uncomfortable when I had to read some parts where Minho is separated from Thomas. I miss Minho sooo much when I read those parts. I like Newt more than before now; I like how he keeps the togetherness in the group. Brenda, the new girl, is also a fun character.

My favorite characters portrayed by the talented actors: Ki Hong Lee, Dexter Darden, Kaya Scodelario, Dylan O'Brien, Will Poulter and Thomas Sangster

So, I enjoyed reading The Scorch Trials, but I still love the spirit of The Maze Runner more. I'm currently reading the third book now, The Death Cure. Hopefully, the final book would be satisfying. I also hope that the movie adaptation, which is coming in 2015, would be good. I really enjoyed the movie adaptation of the first book.

Rating : 3/5

Lesson Learned from a Korean

Two blog posts for today! I just have a lot of things to write about these days...

Well, this post is not about movies or books like usual; I would like to share something that I learned from a random conversation that I had last week with someone that I met at my office.

As I stated in my first post, I work at an English course in Jakarta. Even though I'm a teacher, my boss likes to use me as an emergency admin when the real admin is having her day-off every Friday (I've told him so many times that I SUCK at doing administration work, but he never seems to listen *sigh*). So last Friday I was sitting in the front office and then this Korean mom appeared with her two daughters. When the oldest daughter went into her class to start her lesson, the mom and the other daughter sat in front of me and my co-worker. And then we started chatting.

At first the conversation was all about the entertainment industry in Korea. My co-workers LOVE Korean dramas and Korean boybands and girlbands, but I don't, so I was not very interested at first (I don't hate K-Dramas and K-Pop, I'm just not very fanatic about them. Please don't kill me.). But when it was almost time for the daughter's class to finish, we were talking about our feelings as citizens whose countries were once colonized by Japan.

Okay, let's have a short history class now.

Korea was under the Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945. Meanwhile, Indonesia, my country, was colonized by the Japanese Empire for a shorter period of time, from 1942 to 1945. The occupation of both countries was ended in 1945, which was resulted by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki done by the Americans near the end of World War II. 

So this Korean mom stated that she and most of the Koreans are still very sensitive about the colonization. She said that the history about the colonization is used by the Koreans to remind them that they have to work hard, so that they can prove that they don't deserve to be colonized, that they are not lower than their former colonizer.

And what about us, the Indonesians? This Korean mom assumed that we don't feel the same. Well, maybe she made that conclusion because we can see a lot of Japanese things in Indonesia: Japanese restaurants, Japanese bakery, Japanese school, Japanese cartoons (that we all grew up watching), Japanese dance lessons, Japanese girl groups with Indonesian sister groups (hahaha), etc. This Korean lady stated that she saw a Japanese flag that was used by them during the time of the colonization in a mall. She was shocked to see that the Indonesians felt nothing about that, because the Koreans would feel emotional if they saw one.

Well, I think it is a good thing that the Indonesians have let it go and have peace with our former colonizer. But her statement about working hard to prove that we don't deserve to be oppressed really slapped me in the face. Work hard; that's what we, the Indonesians, must do. We usually just admire the Japanese and the Koreans for how great and tenacious they are. Her statement makes me realize that we shouldn't just do that; we must work hard and be great and tenacious like them. We must prove that we don't deserve to be oppressed, that we are not lower than other countries, that our country is great too.

So the lesson that I've learned from this is, we must use the bad experiences in our lives to remind us that we must fight harder.

That's all from me today. Have a great week ahead! :)

TV Recap : Gotham 1x03 and HTGAWM 1x03

Another TV Recap! Actually, the pilot episode of The Flash was also aired (officially) earlier this week. But since I've watched and made a review of it already, I won't do recaps for that show until the second episode airs next week. For now, here are my thoughts on the latest episodes of Gotham and HTGAWM. I'm kind of busy this week so I haven't seen Reign 2x02 and post this a little bit late. If you don't want spoilers, please stop reading.

Top : Annalise and her lawyer gang in HTGAWM 1x03
Bottom : James and Selina in Gotham 1x03

1. GOTHAM 1X03 : THE BALLOONMAN

PLOT : Long before Batman, there is a vigilante in Gotham called The Balloonman. This mysterious man targets corrupt people. He ties his victims to weather balloons and lets them fly with the balloons until the balloons pop and they fall to their deaths. James, who investigates the case with his partner Bullock, feels a bit emotional about the vigilante case. He feels like the emergence of the vigilante is his fault; because he and his co-workers at the GCPD suck at doing their jobs. Meanwhile, Maroni, Falcone's competitor, makes his debut, first hints of Batman emerge and the Penguin returns to Gotham.

THE GOOD : 

1. The first hints of Batman. In his big house, Bruce follows the coverage of The Balloonman and his victims. When the vigilante gets caught, Alfred sarcastically states that now the criminals of the city can sleep well because the man who targets them has been jailed. Then Bruce comments that the vigilante can be considered as a criminal too because he kills people. And then the news reporter on Bruce's TV asks a rhetorical question, "Now that The Balloonman is gone, who will defend the people of Gotham?" I smiled when I saw the scene. Bruce's comment captures the idealism that the future Batman always holds on to; that a real hero doesn't kill the bad guys but saves and helps people instead. I always love that message that Batman carries in his actions. And who will defend the people of Gotham? I bet that question lingers in young Bruce's mind every night until he decides to put on his bat mask and be that person.

2. Ben McKenzie's and Erin Richards's performances. I really enjoyed watching these two as James and Barbara here! In this episode, Barbara and James try to comfort each other without realizing that they do the opposite to each other. Barbara convinces James that he's a hero because he caught the killer of the Waynes when he was doing his very first assignment as a detective, which slaps James in the face because the man that he caught was not even related to the murder of the Waynes. On another occasion, James asks Barbara if she thinks he is capable of killing someone in the name of justice, which troubles Barbara because it reminds her of Montoya's accusations. They're not honest to each other, and everyone knows that it could damage any relationship. I'm eager to see how things go for this couple. And, by the way, they look cute together (haha).

3. The Penguin's surprise for James. He shows up at Barbara's apartment at the end! How does he find her apartment? Why does he come to see James? Is he going to kill James for ditching him? Or is he going to thank James for not killing him? Or is he going to ask James to work with him? Soooo many questions and I want answers!

THE BAD : Fish Mooney. I thought Mooney is going to be a badass villain, but so far I've been let down. I get bored of watching her glare and say devilish things. It kind of reminds me of the silly villains in Indonesian TV shows aka sinetron. And she seems very careless when doing her moves to take Falcone down. What makes her think that he won't find out about her plans? I mean, look at Falcone's face when he tells her about the accident that happens to his new girl. He definitely knows that Mooney is the one who makes it happen.

GOOD OR BAD? : Renee Montoya. I don't know if I realize this too late, but it seems that Montoya and Barbara used to be dating. So that's why she keeps warning Barbara that James "is not a good guy" and that Barbara "deserves better". It'll be pretty interesting to see how this goes, but it also makes Montoya very... lame. Is this why she's so eager to find the truth behind the Waynes's murder? Because she wants to use it to crush James so that she could win Barbara back? That's so uncool, Montoya, so uncool. I thought she was better than that.

FAVORITE QUOTE : "He killed people. That made him a criminal too." -Bruce Wayne

Rating : 3,5/5

2. HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER 1X03 : SMILE, OR GO TO JAIL

PLOT : Annalise and the gang defend a woman who is accused to be involved in a bombing years before. The woman is involved in the bombing; she fakes her identity, pretends to be someone else and marries an ordinary guy who knows nothing about her true identity. Annalise doesn't win the case because the client herself runs away, but we all learn how unexpected people can be, even those who are close to us. Meanwhile, Nate secretly tries to find information about Sam's whereabouts on the day when Lila Stangard, the victim of one of the mysterious murders, was killed. He finds that Sam doesn't have an alibi, but lies about it to Annalise (This is NOT gonna be good). Wes also tries to find the truth about the murder, now that Rebecca is arrested as a suspect. His speech about Rebecca to Annalise convinces the professor to defend Rebecca. But at the end of the episode, Rebecca confesses to the entire murder. OMG this is so complicated and confusing, isn't it?

THE GOOD : This episode is so intense for me! The story and the characters become even more complicated here, and I've told you, I love complicated! Here are the complicated things that I like.

1. The dynamic between Wes and Annalise. I love the scene in this episode where Annalise comes to pick Wes up at the police station. His speech about defending people who need help and give them fair trials changes the expression on Annalise's face. It seems to me like Wes reminds her what her job truly is: to defend people who need help. It's like Wes is the anchor that keeps the humanity in her. I really enjoyed watching them here. Great job, Viola Davis and Alfred Enoch!

2. Michaela/Aiden/Connor love triangle. Connor once had a one night stand with Aiden aka Michaela's fiancee! Michaela is so not happy about this and Connor seems to enjoy destroying Michaela and Aiden's relationship. I'd love to slap Michaela's and Connor's faces because they both are jerks but I enjoy watching them sooo much. And this complication in their relationship makes it more fun to watch.  

3. Asher Millstone. He's just so funny. I wonder why he doesn't join Wes, Laurel, Connor and Michaela when they're busy getting rid of the dead body in the "3 months later" part, though.

THE BAD : Only one thing: the weekly case that Annalise and the gang handle. I start to feel like those weekly cases don't play any significant role in the story; like those cases are not important. I think it would be better if they could relate the weekly cases with the main plot, like in Gotham.

FAVORITE QUOTE : "Choose your husband carefully, Miss Pratt. You only have yourself to blame if it ends badly." -Annalise Keating

Rating : 4/5

I. Miss. Clone. Wars.

I think it's been more than a year since the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars was canceled following Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm, the home studio of the Star Wars saga. The purchase brought exciting news for Star Wars fans: there will be a seventh Star Wars movie! But it also brought sad news: Clone Wars, an animated series that was aired by Cartoon Network, is canceled. 

I still can't accept this.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is THE BEST animated series ever. It is even better than the second trilogy of the Star Wars saga (Episodes 1-3). It is so rich, filled with so many fascinating stories that reveal so much about the characters and the saga's main plot. It reveals how destructive the Sith Lord's plan is; how vulnerable Anakin is; how strong Obi-wan is; how the Jedi Order slowly falls apart without anyone noticing... It's the best, and I'm sure all Star Wars fans in the world agree with that. 

So why do they have to cancel it? I know it's because Disney has purchased Lucasfilm, but why doesn't Disney just take over the production and air it on their channel? People love the series so I'm sure they will still watch it. Besides, the production team still has so many stories to tell and is fully prepared to realize those ideas (They've prepared seasons 7 and 8!!). So why does it have to be canceled? WHY?????

Ehm please excuse my emotional explosion. 

I'm being emotional about this again because they released an unfinished story arc from Clone Wars last week. The arc is called Crystal Crisis on Utapau and consists of four episodes. It's a classic Obi-wan/Anakin adventure. There's a Jedi Master who mysteriously dies on the planet Utapau, so Obi-wan and Anakin are sent there to investigate. The clues that they find there lead them to a big conspiracy that involves General Grievous and Count Dooku. You can watch the unfinished episodes here.

Anakin and Obi-wan in action, back before the cancellation :'(

In the second episode in the arc entitled In Search of the Crystal, there's a scene that breaks my heart into a million pieces. It's a scene where Anakin and Obi-wan rest at night and talk about Ahsoka, Anakin's former padawan who leaves the Jedi Order (in that very devastating finale of the fifth season which also breaks my heart and makes me weep). Here's the transcript of their conversation.

Obi-wan : You can't take responsibility for Ahsoka's decision, Anakin.

Anakin : How would you feel if I turned into a major disappointment?

Obi-wan : It's not the same.

Anakin : It's precisely the same. You took me under your wing and practically raised me. I'm your padawan, just like Ahsoka was mine. How well would you sleep knowing that I failed you?

Obi-wan : Not very well, I imagine. Luckily, that isn't true and never will be.

How well would Obi-wan sleep knowing that Anakin failed him? You can ask him yourself after you put on your Vader suit, Ani.

Anakin and Obi-wan definitely have no idea what's coming. They don't know that Anakin would join the Dark Side and dedicate his life to kill every single Jedi in the galaxy; that he would eventually fail his own master. It's just so heartbreaking to know that Anakin has no idea that he would do that, which means that the Sith Lord corrupts his pure heart so much when he convinces Anakin to join him. Anakin aka Darth Vader might seem like the evil in the original trilogy of Star Wars (Episodes 4-6), but this little scene reminds me that he is actually the victim. The one who is hurt the most in this tragedy is Anakin.....

I think I'm going to weep again :'(

That's all from me today. May the force be with you all! 

TV Recap : Gotham 1x02, How to Get Away with Murder 1x02 & Reign 2x01

Reign returns with the first episode of its second season while Gotham and How to Get Away with Murder settle down after their explosive first week. Here's what I think about them. I'll try not to make this post too lengthy (hehe). Oh, I have to warn you that this post contains spoilers.

Top : Connor, Michaela and Wes from HTGAWM 1x02
Bottom right : James, Bullock and the Mayor from Gotham 1x02
Bottom left : Queen Mary from Reign 2x01

1. GOTHAM 1x02 : SELINA KYLE

PLOT : Detectives James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) are assigned to handle an abduction case. A homeless teenage boy claims that he and his friend, Cat aka Selina (Camren Bicondova), witness how two mysterious captors sedate and kidnap their fellow homeless kids. The GCPD (Gotham City Police Department) doesn't take this case seriously, which frustrates James. But after the case is blown up to the media, thanks to Barbara (Erin Richards), the GCPD starts to take it seriously in order to save its reputation. James and his partner try their best to stop the child-snatchers. Meanwhile, James might be one step closer to figuring out who the real killer of the Waynes is as he crosses paths with Selina, who witnesses the murder.

THE GOOD : I really LOVE this episode; it's sooo much better than the pilot, I think. Here are the things that I like about the episode.

1. No more boring scenes and bad acting here.

2. Ben McKenzie's performance. We can see how hard he tries to be a good guy in the sinful city. He scolds a police officer who doesn't show up immediately for an emergency situation, pushes Bullock because he refuses to take the abduction case seriously and criticizes the Mayor of Gotham and his plan to keep the homeless children safe (which Jim interprets as an attempt to lock up the children). He kind of reminds me of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's John Blake, the rookie cop in The Dark Knight Rises. Their co-workers might think that they're hot-heads, but they actually just think very critically and fight so hard for what they believe.

3. Oswald Cobblepot aka Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor), who continues to scare me. He hijacks a car from its owner (using violence) and holds the owner as a hostage in order to get money from the man's family. It's just scary to see how he can do violence spontaneously every time someone offends him. His violent scenes are not fun to watch, but this means that Robin Lord Taylor succeeds in portraying the legendary villain.

4. The different side of Alfred. It's quite shocking for me to see Alfred in this show. I'm so used to watching Michael Caine as the kind, old Alfred in Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. And Sean Pertwee's Alfred is nothing like that. He's not kind and old; he's young and kind of stern. Maybe this Alfred is in the phase where he just got out from the military. I hope this means that we'll get to see how Alfred changes from a tough military guy to a fatherly figure. That would be interesting to watch.

THE BAD : Only one scene for Ed Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) and Barbara Kean, respectively. I want more of them!

FAVORITE QUOTE : "Men who are about to die are very honest. It pays to listen to them." - Carmine Falcone

Rating : 4/5

2. HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER 1x02 : IT'S ALL HER FAULT

PLOT : Annalise (Viola Davis) and her new team of law students face a new murder case in this episode. They defend a rich man who is accused of killing his own wife. The wife is stabbed sixteen times in her sleep, and the husband, who is a hunter, does seem to be capable of killing her. However, his knowledge about hunting and killing turns out to be the one that Annalise and the gang can use to save the man. Meanwhile, we also get more details about the two mysterious murders that were introduced last week. I won't tell the victims' identities, but we learn that Annalise's husband, Sam (Tom Verica), and Wes's gothic neighbor, Rebecca (Katie Findlay), are involved in this tangled web.

THE GOOD : My favorite characters are still the four students who now work with Annalise in her firm. They're so fun to watch. Here's the details about my favorite things in this episode.

1. More of Laurel Castillo (Karla Souza). She's not very confident about her own abilities at the beginning. But after Bonnie (Liza Weil) gives her some advice (in a harsh way), she manages to prove that she deserves to be chosen by Annalise to work in her firm. Good for her!

2. New layers in Annalise's personality. Last week, Annalise seemed like a steady and strong woman. However, we see  her showing other emotions this week. In this episode, Annalise begs Nate Leahy (Billy Brown) not to end their affair, gets angry to her dishonest husband, gets scared when she finds out that Sam might be related to a murder, and cries because of the fear that she feels. A layered character like this is always interesting to watch.

3. Everything about Connor Walsh (Jack Falahee)! He is seriously the sexiest guy on TV right now. Even when he's thinking hard to win the case and not doing his hot gay scenes, he still manages to dazzle me. I also like how his personality is not defined only by the fact that he's gay. He's smart, confident, cool, ambitious, canny, sexy and just happens to be gay.

THE BAD : The bad things about this episode are not exactly bad, I think.

1. The law terms, like last week. The case in the episode is easier to follow than last week's case, though.

2. The plot that goes back and forth. They keep jumping from past to present and vice versa. Sometimes it's a bit confusing. You need a few seconds to know when this is, when that is...

FAVORITE QUOTE :  

Me neither, Connor, me neither.

Rating :4/5

3. REIGN 2X01 : THE PLAGUE

PLOT : The plague comes to the French Court and threatens everyone's life. Queen Mary (Adelaide Kane) has to struggle in making the best decisions for France while her husband, Francis (Toby Regbo) aka the king of France, is away to find Lola (Anna Popplewell) and his newborn baby. A nobleman named Edward offers Mary to bring supplies that she needs for her people only if Mary is willing to kill his foe. So the young queen is forced to make a choice, kill an innocent person and save her people or keep her morals. Meanwhile, Francis has his own dilemma: let Lola and his child leave and go back to Mary or keep the child whom he cares about.

THE GOOD : This is a good episode for me. The horror of the plague and the chaos that it brings truly scare me. I'm so worried about my favorite characters' lives. Anyway, here are the things that I like about The Plague.

1. Mary's and Francis's struggles. Well, I've explained the problems that they must face before. I think their struggles here are more realistic, compared to the ones they faced back in the first half of the first season. In this episode, we learn how hard it is for good people like them to stay good when they rule. This is why I don't like to join people when they protest and mock the people in our government; because I don't know their stories. They might face tough choices like Mary and Francis, right?

2. Leith and Greer's relationship that gets more and more complicated. In case you don't know about their history, Leith (Jonathan Keltz) and Greer (Celina Sinden) started seeing each other secretly when he was just a servant and she was a single lady back in the first season. But then Greer was engaged to a nobleman, which forced them to end their relationship. Not long after that, Leith came back with wealth as he was rewarded with a land and money for saving Francis's life. He was wealthy enough to marry a lady by then, but Greer didn't want to hurt her fiancee, who had been very good to her. Leith was broken-hearted and started dating another woman, who happens to be the daughter of Greer's fiancee. In The Plague, it turns out that Greer's fiancee is Edward's foe. So he and his family are all killed by Edward at the end of this episode. So now Leith and Greer are single again, which means that it's possible for them to get back together now. But will they go back together again, after all that they've been through? Complicated, isn't it? I love complicated (haha).

3. Bash (Torrance Coombs) and Kenna (Caitlin Stasey) are safe! I was so scared when I saw the promotional clips. I thought they would die! So relieved to know they're not dead.

THE BAD : Hmm I don't have anything that I don't like about this episode. It's good!

FAVORITE QUOTE : "One life matters. Every life matters!" - Queen Mary

Rating : 4/5

All the episodes are good! It's been a great week for these shows! Hope the next episodes' are great too!

New TV Shows to Watch

My favorite TV shows, Teen Wolf and Pretty Little Liars, are on hiatus right now, so I need to find some new shows so that I won't die because of boredom. I've searched for and read a lot of previews and reviews about new television shows for the fall season. There are three TV shows that I've chosen: Gotham, The Flash and How to Get Away with Murder. I've seen the pilot episodes of all those new shows, and here are my thoughts about them.

1. GOTHAM

New episodes on : Monday (in US), Tuesday (in Indonesia)

Creator : Bruno Heller

Cast : Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, David Mazouz, Camren Bicondova, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Erin Richards, Robin Lord Taylor.

Genre : Crime Fiction

When you hear the name Gotham, the first thing that pops in your head must be Batman. Yup, the Gotham that is referred to in this new TV show is that Gotham, the hometown of the Dark Knight. However, this show isn't going to tell the story of Batman. Instead, it will follow young James Gordon, Batman's future ally, as he cleans the dark streets of Gotham from bad guys in his early days as a detective. James Gordon isn't the only familiar face that you'll see in this show. We'll get to see other popular characters from the Batman universe when all of them are still young, such as the Batman himself, Bruce Wayne; Selina Kyle aka Catwoman; Oswald Cobblepot aka Penguin; Edward Nygma aka The Riddler; and Ivy Pepper aka Poison Ivy.

The pilot episode follows Det. James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) as he investigates the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. He meets their son, Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), and promises to catch "the man who did this". With his grumpy partner, Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue), James is able to solve the case and kill the murderer. Case closed? No. It turns out that the person that they've killed is framed by other people who don't want the truth to come out. When the idealistic James Gordon finds out about this, he tries to find the real murderer, only to find an ugly truth about how things work in Gotham.

I was sooo excited to watch this show before it premiered on September 22nd. When I finally saw it, I was... a bit disappointed. Well, it's not a bad episode. It's just not as good as I expected. Probably because my expectation is too high. The first half of the episode is kind of boring. The case seems too easy and some actors, especially Ben McKenzie and Erin Richards (who plays James' girl, Barbara Kean), show bad acting. The dialogues are kind of... cheesy, especially when Barbara tells Jim to "swim" when he says that he's "out of his depth" (Errr swim?). 

But everything changes as it starts its second half. Well, maybe they try to deceive the audience with the first half, like Gone Girl. The story gets darker after James finds out about the frame-up. Ben's and Erin's performances suddenly escalate. Dude, they're awesome during the second half. The other actors show their best performances too. My favorite is David Mazouz, the kid who plays Bruce aka Batman. There's something about his expression. He looks really wounded and angry. Grrr I love his performance. The guy who plays Edward Nygma is also great, even though he only has one scene. I hope we'll get to see more of him in the future. Robin Lord Taylor is really scary as the young Penguin. His last scene in this episode, where he rips an old man's throat with a knife just to get his bread, made me shiver. That scene lets me know that he's dangerous.

So the pilot episode is good enough to make me decide to watch the next episode. The show has big potential, which I hope will be developed well in the following episodes. I hope the show can be more consistent and get the cheesy dialogues fixed too.

Rating : 3/5

2. THE FLASH

New episodes on : Tuesday (in US), Wednesday (in Indonesia)

Creator : Greg Berlanti

Cast : Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Tom Cavanagh, Jesse L. Martin.

Genre : Superhero

After the huge success of Arrow, the people behind the hit series try their luck for the second time with The Flash. In order to "test" their new project, they even introduced the show's lead character, Barry Allen, in Arrow last year. Grant Gustin was cast and debuted as Barry in two episodes of the second season of Arrow. Fans loved him. So they decided to give a green light to the project.

In Three Ghosts, an episode of Arrow in which Barry appears, we've seen him get struck by lightning. So the pilot episode of The Flash takes place around nine months after that incident. Barry (Grant Gustin) wakes up after being in a coma for months. Soon after that, he realizes that the incident has given him some super strengths. He's suddenly able to run really (REALLY) fast and heals his physical wounds faster than normal people do. In the episode, we also get to learn more about Barry's dark past. When he was a kid, he saw how his mother got killed by a mysterious blurry figure yet couldn't prove it to the police to stop them from blaming his father for the murder. From this, we know why Barry feels like it's his responsibility to use his new powers for good. It's because he knows how it feels like to be helpless and to see people that he loves suffer because of his helplessness.

Actually, the pilot episode will not be aired until October 7. However, the episode was leaked a while ago and I watched it online. Anyway, the pilot is fun to watch. Grant Gustin truly stands out in this show. His version of Barry Allen is smart, pure-hearted and charming (I just can't resist a guy who is smart AND cute like him). His dark past and the wound that it leaves makes him very human too. Besides Grant's flashy performance (I love using the word "flashy" to describe this show), there are pretty cool action sequences too in the pilot. 

The minus point of the pilot for me is the storyline, which, I think, is too fast. Well, of course it's fast; it's a show about the fastest man alive. But I think they have too much to tell in this episode. It's like they cram all of them in it. Because of this, it feels like things are rushed in the episode. I personally think that they shouldn't let Barry put on his red suit in the first episode. I think it would be better if they let him take his time to adjust with his new powers until he is finally ready to put on his suit and take down the bad guys like his fellow hero, the Arrow.

Overall, the pilot episode of The Flash is fun and worth to watch. I'm definitely going to see its second episode.

Rating : 3,5/5

3. HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

New episodes on : Thursday (in US), Friday (in Indonesia)

Creator : Peter Nowalk

Cast : Viola Davis, Alfred Enoch, Aja Naomi King, Jack Falahee, Katie Findlay, Karla Souza.

Genre : Legal Drama

There is a lot of buzz around this new show because Shonda Rhimes, the creator of hit shows Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, is involved in this project. Well I don't watch those two shows so I'm not really affected by the Shonda Rhimes factor. I decided to watch the pilot episode of this series simply because the reviews are good and the trailer is intriguing.

So the show is about a law professor named Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) who teaches her students "not to study law, but to practice law". She has high demands for her students, which make some of them overly excited and even willing to do extreme, risky and dangerous things to impress the professor. Four of the students are involved in a dangerous murder plot that is related to Annalise. Details about the murder itself are still mysterious; it seems like this murder plot is going to be the main case throughout the season.

The pilot episode is basically an introduction to the characters and the background of the story. We get to see how Annalise runs her classes; how she does her job; her students and their complex characteristics; her personal life; and the mysterious, not-yet-solved cases that are related to the professor. I think an introduction like this is necessary for an original show like this; you know, to "set the scene". This show is totally new, right? It doesn't have millions of fans who've been familiar with its characters and their backstories like Gotham and The Flash.

The best thing about the pilot episode for me is the acting. Academy Award nominee Viola Davis delivers a very powerful performance as Annalise Keating. She's totally unreadable. You just can't tell when Annalise lies and when she tells the truth. There's this scene with Annalise and her student Wes (Alfred Enoch) where the professor breaks down and apologizes to the young man for a nasty action she does that he accidentally witnesses. In the scene, Wes looks puzzled. Maybe it's because he just doesn't know whether she truly feels sorry for what she does or just tries to silence him.

I also enjoyed watching Annalise's four students in this episode. There's Wes, the heart of the story who is likable, pure-hearted and sweet, played by Alfred Enoch (aka Dean Thomas from the Harry Potter series). And then there's Michaela Pratt, a beautiful girl who is very opportunistic and cunning, played by Aja Naomi King. Karla Souza plays Laurel Castillo, an idealistic girl who always looks very serious. And the last one is Connor Walsh, played by (the very hot and handsome) Jack Falahee, a gay student who is like the male version of Michaela. Despite all the characteristics that I've mentioned, they all possess one other trait: ambitious. I love watching ambitious students. They kind of remind of myself (haha).

The negative thing about this show for me is probably the fact that it is about law. They use a lot of law terms which I don't understand AT ALL. Well, I'm a literature girl; how am I supposed to know what those law terms mean? I read somewhere that people who are familiar with law think that the actions that the characters do in the show are too unethical and don't actually make sense. Well I don't know about that. As a literature girl, I'll just focus on the story and the character development.

I enjoyed the pilot episode of How to Get Away with Murder so much. Can't wait for the second episode!

Rating : 4/5

I actually didn't want to make this post too long but I just can't help it. I enjoy doing this too much. Hope you enjoy reading this post :)

Book Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I don't know why but, these days, I enjoy films and books that involve crime, murder and investigation. This doesn't mean that I enjoy watching people doing crime, though. What I like about these kinds of story is how they show me the story behind a crime; the reasons why people do it and how it affects people who are involved. I just find it interesting.

So I bought this book called Gone Girl last week, which involves crime, murder and investigation. It's a best-selling book that earns a lot of positive reviews. The author is a former journalist named Gillian Flynn. The story is about a married couple, Nick and Amy Dunne. Nick and Amy are about to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. However, Amy, the wife, disappears from their house in Missouri on the anniversary day. At first, everyone thinks that it is an abduction done by someone from outside the house. But as the investigation goes on, people begin to think that it might not be done by someone from outside the house, but someone from the inside.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The story is told from first person point of view, but the POV is always different in every chapter. The first chapter is told from Nick's POV, the second one is from Amy's, the third one is from Nick's, and so on. The novel is divided into three parts. The first part is called Boy Loses Girl. The second one is Boy Meets Girl. The last one is Boy Gets Girl Back (Or Vice Versa).

The novel starts off as a drama. It's kind of emotional and tragic. In this first part, we follow Nick as he tries to find his missing wife. Meanwhile, we can also learn about Nick and Amy's relationship since the first time they meet (which is seven years before Amy's disappearance) until the day of her disappearance from Amy's diary entries. When I finished reading this part, I felt this burning hatred towards Nick, the husband, and felt very related to Amy, the wife. He's so busy being angry because life is not as good as he expects and forgets that his wife is also a human being who can get hurt by his anger and hatred. As a reader, I knew for sure that Nick doesn't kill or hurt Amy, but, at this point, I thought he might actually kill his own wife.

But then second part starts with a plot twist that comes in like Miley Cyrus and her wrecking ball.

BOOM!

Everything that I had come to believe at this point turns out to be a lie. A BIG LIE! I felt like I was slapped in the face. I just didn't know what to believe or feel anymore. I almost threw my book to the wall when I reached the plot twist. I'm not exaggerating. I know some people who have read this books say that they have predicted the twist since the very first time. And I actually knew the twist before I read the book because I accidentally read a comment on Youtube about it (I hate going through comment sections!). But I still felt shocked when I found out because I didn't think the delivery of the twist would be like that. After the twist, readers will get the truth about Amy's disappearance. And the truth is ugly, very ugly.

So, the ending comes in the final part, Boy Gets Girl Back (Or Vice Versa). The ending is really tragic, especially for one of the main characters. I read somewhere that many people hate the ending, but I don't. It's not that I like it. Dude, the ending is sickening. But I think it's realistic, believable. There is no justice for any of the characters at the end, which hurts, but reflects the reality. In real life, justice doesn't always come to everyone, right? Not everyone can have a happy ending.

Gone Girl movie teaser poster

Gone Girl is the craziest book I've ever read. However, I have to admit that it is brilliant. I think the way the author plays with the readers' feelings by telling the story from Nick's and Amy's perspectives plays a huge part in the novel's success. The story also gives me a lot of life lessons, which are:

1. There's a difference between loving the idea of someone and loving someone for who they really are. I didn't know what it meant before, but this book has taught me what it means. When you love the idea of someone that you have in your head, you could even do terrible things in order to force that person to be the idea, even though it is not who that person truly is.
2. You don't know what you've got until it's gone, just like the tagline on the poster above. If you have read the book, that sentence would make you want to laugh, bitterly. Yeah, Nick doesn't know what kind of wife that he's got until she's gone. Haha.
3. Justice doesn't come to everyone, like I said before.

So the book has been adapted into a movie and it's going to be released on October 3 this year. It's directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network) and stars Ben Affleck (Argo, Batman vs Superman) as Nick, Rosamund Pike (An Education) as Amy and Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) as  Desi (Amy's creepy ex-boyfriend). The movie's early reviews are mostly positive (Well, it is directed by David Fincher, man! His movies are always great!). I also like the cast of the movie. Ben Affleck is perfect for Nick (Nick is described as a guy who is handsome but makes people wanna slap him, and Mr Affleck fits this description. It's a compliment, really!). I also like Rosamund Pike as Amy. She's beautiful but has this little danger in her eyes and deep voice that is sexy and scary at the same time (Grrr). I'm definitely going to watch the movie. You can watch the trailer below.

That's all from me about Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I'm probably gonna write again soon about a new TV show that I just found called How to Get Away with Murder. Yup, it's about murder again! 

Hope you like my first book review! :)

Rating : 4,5/5

Hello!

My first blog post!

My name is Rifa. I am 22 years old and from Indonesia. I was an English Literature student, graduated a few months ago, and I am an English teacher now. I teach in an English course so my working hour starts in the afternoon, after my little students (mostly around 2,5 to 10 years old) go home from their schools. So, I am basically free in the morning.

It sounds great, doesn't it? I don't have to be at my office from 9 to 5 like other workers but still get paid well. I can wake up at 10 a.m. and watch TV or browse the Internet or just be lazy before going to work at 1 p.m. Yup, it's great. But after a while, it gets a little boring.

After graduation, I have this eagerness to do something. Something big. Something that matters. Something new. Something that I've never tried before. Something that people can see. Something that could change the world and make it a better place (Okay, this last one is a bit silly. Sorry.) And writing is one of the things that fit my criteria of "something".

That is why I decided to create this blog. I want to use this blog as a medium to post my writings, which contain my thoughts and my ideas about the things that matter to me. Well, those "things" that matter to me are usually movies, books, tv series and literature. I love those things SO much, so I'll probably write much about them. I am also concerned about feminism and education, so maybe I'll write about them too.

I still have no idea how to manage the layout of the blog because I am certainly not a design or computer person. Hopefully I'll be able to make it look more interesting.

Cheers!