Double Feature: Dude (2018) & Every Day (2018)

Dude (2018)

Director (and co-writer): Olivia Milch

Cast: Lucy Hale, Kathryn Prescott, Alexandra Shipp, Awkwafina, Alex Wolff, Brooke Smith, Jerry MacKinnon, Satya Bhabha

A group of teenage girlfriends deal with their impending graduation from high school. – IMDB

Dealing with high school seems like a central focus of coming of age stories as the next step in life triggers change and insecurities. Dude focuses strongly on its group of four girl friends as they face loss right before their final year. As they each have their own worries, they all individually make their own decisions even if it isn’t always in agreement with their group. Between getting ready for graduation, getting high together and planning out their next step for college, their last 2 weeks before graduation is one filled with both comedic and dramatic moments.

Girl friends stories are always quite endearing to watch. These four friends each have their own unique personality. Two of the girls are specifically focused with Lucy Hale’s Lily and Kathryn Prescott’s Chloe who share the same loss at the beginning which makes each of them cope in their different ways. The film does a good job at building their friendship where they go to events/parties/school together but gradually all have their own experiences which change each of them, giving them their individuality as well. Lily has her encounters which takes her aback while Chloe chooses to pivot her plans to be closer to home. All these things highlighting the process of moving on to the stage and accepting change and separation. In comparison, Alexandra Shipp’s Amelia and Awkwafina’s Rebecca both have rather one goal oriented, giving them a much simpler role but still they add some fun scenes.

Overall, Dude is a fairly basic coming of age teen comedy/drama. The issues they face are fairly relevant and believable and the characters are decent. If anything, the characters do make the film rather enjoyable. Plus, you even get to enjoy a verse or two from Awkwafina rapping. The writers remember that the film is about teenagers so there is a good balance between drama and fun.

Every Day (2018)

Director: Michael Sucsy

Cast: Angourie Rice, Justice Smith, Debby Ryan, Jeni Ross, Owen Teague, Lucas Jade Zumann, Katie Douglas, Jacob Batalon, Sean Jones, Nicole Law, Maria Bello

A shy teenager falls for a spirit who wakes up in the body of a different person every morning. – IMDB

Adapted from the young adult novel of the same name by David Levithan, Every Day stands out from its unique premise where a person “A” migrates through different bodies everyday of the same age. Despite this, they still find a girl Rhiannon (Angourie Rice) who is willing to love them for who they are, putting aside gender and appearances. The story itself feels relevant to today more than anything and tells a story about acceptance and love.

Every Day builds on this premise. The film’s focus in love and acceptance is due to this person’s personality or soul and their connection. Another side of this premise highlights all the different person exist within one community from homeschoolers to extremely religious student. While the story itself seems a little ahead of times for teenagers especially talking about romance in connections and such, the message here is pretty good. The whole body migrating mostly remain a mystery as they never quite figure out what it is however, there seems to be some control as they soon discover which also brings up the question of how unfair it is to take over someone’s life and make them lose out. The whole mystery of the situation also does lead to some unclear moments where A embodies the person but still manages to have their skills. Something that isn’t explored quite enough perhaps but then this is a teen romance drama and not some sci-fi or fantasy film.

The film itself works pretty well as the young cast delivers some good performances. The main constant being the female lead played by Angourie Rice as she faces this person and starts to accept him. Angourie Rice does a great job with the role at hand especially when faced with this odd person who morphs everyday. The conflict, the acceptance, the heartache is all well developed and portrayed by her. The cast which A migrates includes a handful of characters which have more screen time with Justice Smith, Owen Teague, and Lucas Jade Zumann. To be fair, the film itself does a decent job but while I haven’t read the source material, the premise itself has a lot to do with the intrigue. The execution is fairly well where credit is due but there are still parts that feel a tad disjointed.

Music Obsessions – September 2018

Another month has gone by in 2018! Time for the monthly dose of music obsessions! A lot of random spontaneity this time around!

Lie A Little Better – Lucy Hale

If you did catch up with my last What’s Up episode, I talked about revisiting Pretty Little Liars. Which isn’t weird because as I was putting together posts and searching up some names and whatnot for Pretty Little Liars, I came across an article about Lucy Hale talking about how she wrote this song with Drew Van Acker on her mind which for those who don’t know plays a role in Pretty Little Liars and is a gorgeous guy who she has some romance/connection with and well, I personally ship them super hard. Either way, since I hadn’t heard this song or any of Lucy Hale’s songs, I decided to give it a go. Its not the best country music I’ve heard but I think its a cute and fun one. Its growing on me quite a bit.

Dear God – Hunter Hayes

I’m a huge fan of Hunter Hayes and its been a few years since he’s had music (or so it would seem for myself) but this year has seen him popping up again. I love the lyrics and the rhythm of this song as a whole. Really good stuff!

Spark – F.I.R.

If you follow me the Facebook page (you can check it out here), I wrote an extensive post about this one. The Outsiders was a breakout hit for Taiwanese TV series like maybe 10+ years ago and saw the rising of some big Taiwanese stars who went on to make some other movies and progress in their career paths with Blue Lan (I reviewed Easy Fortune Happy Life series HERE) and Dylan Kuo for starters and then also gave the rising of this 3 person rock band called F.I.R. They are honestly the real deal with great vocals and amazing composition talent for all their songs. Unfortunately, it almost felt like their fame came as quick as it left sadly. But now, its nice to see a revival of sorts for The Outsiders in movie form  and they got back F.I.R. to do the main theme song called Spark. I love it so much and have to find some way to see this movie eventually!

我在呢 (I’m Here) – Tank

A complete coincidence that we land on back to back songs for TV series. I’ve actually never heard of this one (as I don’t follow it as much as I did when I was in CEGEP (our 2 years between high school and university)). Tank doesn’t seem to make so much music anymore but I’ve always loved his stuff so I love the fact that this one is a slower, more romantic song and I still like it a lot. Reason being, I’m usually more captivated by his faster songs.

Rumors – R3HAB & Sofia Carson

Freshly released selection right here! Rumors was released this week. If you’ve been following this segment, you know that I love R3HAB. He is a great DJ producer or whatever you call it. It took a little moment to get used to Sofia Carson’s vocals here however, it kind of grew on me as the beat and rhythm went along and it just jived together awesomely.

Tribute to my Dad
Classic Cantonese Pop

80s Canto Pop is really awesome. Well, look past the really cheesy music videos, they still hold so much beauty in both the music and lyrics together. Lisa Wang is a significant pillar in the Hong Kong landscape and she’s done some great music. This is honestly just an example. Either way, if my dad was alive, he’d be celebrating his birthday tomorrow and while I’ve dialed back on getting these posts too personal, I’ve been thinking about things a lot and really wanted to share one of the many 80s classic songs that we used to listen to on car rides and that I still love to listen to and sing to every once in a while. I mean, I could’ve used Cantonese Opera but I’m sparing everyone a long video and their eardrums especially if you aren’t accustomed to it.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to (preferably on repeat)?

TV Binge: Pretty Little Liars [Season 6, 2016]

Pretty Little Liars is one of those shows that really have created something special. Be it the bond of their cast that translate to their social media or simply the story itself being able to run this long while keeping A in the dark and constantly making us follow the girls as they track down and figure out who she is. Season 6 is the big moment. A huge moment where our answer is here. Everyone knew about it jumping into this one. Season 6 is more known as 6A and 6B because 6A is the midseason finale where we get our reveal. 6B continues but is set five years later. I’m going to say right away that while I will try to shy away from spoilers, it is inevitable if you are not at least done with Season 5 (or possibly 6) and it may be confusing. Also, my focus will be more on 6B because I took a break between 6A and 6B and I have more opinions about how they chose to continue 5 years later.

Let’s check it out!

Creator: I. Marlene King

Cast: Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell, Sasha Pieterse, Ian Harding, Janel Parrish, Tyler Blackburn, Keegan Allen, Laura Leighton

Four friends band together against an anonymous foe who threatens to reveal their darkest secrets, while unraveling the mystery of the murder of their best friend. – IMDB

Season 6 of Pretty Little Liars in itself is a discussion piece. It carries to important plots in A and B. The first question being whether the reveal of A made sense in the midseason finale and the second being how they picked up things in B from a five years later standpoint where we haven’t seen and get the bits and pieces that the producers of the show can play around with and reveal. Simply put, I can’t say overall that I’m a huge fan of Season 6 in comparison, however, there are a bunch of solid moments that still build up on the tension and really plays that well which is an incredible compliment in itself especially after six seasons of stringing the audience along and messing with everyone’s mind on who A is and what and why, etc. Alison is back and she’s not dead but just running. The girls are back together and rebuilding their friendship. There are secrets and lies and intertwined are those fantastic boyfriends that pop up and help out.

Season 6A was the journey of sweat and tears as the girls (all five along with Alison) are pulling closer to figuring out who A is. The big reveal that we’ve been waiting for. The plan is an elaborate one and the journey there, not counting the 5 seasons before also a pretty impressively tense one. Although it has been a while since I had watched the midseason finale, I still remember the disappointment. I felt like it was lackluster and far-fetched and just not what I had expected. Every step closer felt like it was trying to build something so unimaginable that perhaps my 30 year old mind was getting too mature to comprehend. I love Pretty Little Liars and I’m never ashamed to admit it because this show has done many great things and created a teen show with not only great friendships and memorable ships but also built up an effective mystery and suspense. That ending just didn’t work for me. I guess if you toss your brain out, it kind of works together in an odd way. I just can’t seem to be convinced. Perhaps its because of that reason, I lost a little faith in continuing 6B until last week. Somehow, setting the show five years later felt like it was also forced. Remember what happened with Glee? Well, the fear of the loss of friction and capability to keep this mystery it had after the big reveal, felt hard to go on, even if I was a fan of the resolution.

I think whats important to grasped here for the producers at least is that while they have moved the show forward 5 years in the setting and all the characters are five years older and have experienced their A-free lives, we haven’t. If we were catching this on TV, it may be a few weeks break and if it was like myself, catching it on Netflix, even shorter (even if I took a break). Our love for their teen characters and their relationships haven’t changed. However, the creators have done exactly that. The girls are distant and don’t communicate as much. Their relationships have all shattered. Every single one of the ships we knew are gone and in their place, we quickly realize that some may go back in a more mature way and others might not. And yet, some things never change, like lying to get A out of the psych ward because Alison wants to reunite with her family. *That’s a spoiler I can’t avoid and can only assume if you’re reading here that you have finished Season 6A, at least.* What is Pretty Little Liars without a few lies, right? While I’m not against change and its truly inevitable and believable that after five years, especially with everything they’ve been trapped in in Rosewood, that they would have hiccups in their relationships, it felt a little drastic that these five years brought on so much change. However, aside from those choices which I have my issues with and will elaborate on next, Season 6B still manages to keep up the suspense as B or Uber A (whatever you choose) wreaks havoc and even raises the stakes more, not to mention the way they ended Season 6 was a total WTF moment that made me want to just buy Season 7 so I could continue,

When it dawned that all those ships have sailed separate ways in Season 6B, I was okay with it. Maybe a little heartbroken and curious, but still, its a fresh start. But then, it seems that these guys that the girls have been with through tragedy is also something they can’t quite let go. A lot of them actually haven’t really let go and we can see right through them, even if they have tried or are moving on with someone else. Relationships are complicated and hard to define sometimes but somehow, their relationships never seem to mature and its for this reason that while I’m the biggest supporter of Caleb and Hanna (aka Tyler Blackburn and Ashley Benson respectively) and their relationship in the first few seasons, I started really feeling like their relationship was broken up for the sake of breaking up. They separated in thoughts and their world. Funny part is that A didn’t break them apart and it only took a different world and career goals while somehow [spoiler alert] he connected with Spencer. It isn’t hard to imagine him and Spencer as we had slight hints and while its not a bad thing and they work together, there is obviously still unfinished business and it feels like it is there to simply create drama and not quite as natural. With that said, this 6B has really made me cheer for the Ezra and Aria (aka Ian Harding and Lucy Hale) angle because it seems they have matured in their own ways and now they are legit and legal and truly good for each other.

Overall, Season 6 did have a lot of great moments but also a good few forced ones that I didn’t enjoy the decisions for. Its easy to still like the characters and their arcs, regardless of what happens and that still remains the strength of Pretty Little Liars. I just hope that with Season 7 being its final season that it’ll turn things over and truly give redemption to some of these characters. After 7 years of hell, I think its important to see them find some sort of resolve and happiness. Of course, life isn’t that clean cut but with Uber A in the horizon jumping into Season 7 and one of the girls’ life already in danger, everyone needs to step up to the plate and own up to what they’ve done. Who knows what will happen but the stage is set and regardless of how flawed Season 6 was, I’m still pretty excited to see what Season 7 brings.

TV Binge: Pretty Little Liars [Season 5]

There’s something quite magical about Pretty Little Liars that’s made it to Season 5.  I started Pretty Little Liars when it was somewhere in the middle of Season 3 a few summers ago and as much as I really didn’t think much of it to begin with, I don’t even know why I started.  Maybe its because I thought I’d be stepping into yet another high school TV series (which I like a lot).  I mean, I’ve liked Gossip Girl, The OC, 90210, and all that stuff.  Its always a fun time.  Pretty Little Liars has somewhat of a different dynamic. It sets a creepy atmosphere and adds a ton of mystery and drama and intensity to 4 girls who has a lot of secrets and gets manipulated by a mysterious person called A through texts and other forms of messages.  Originally they think A is their dead friend Alison but things take a turn around when you learn one thing in Pretty Little Liars:  Never believe anything that happens because any twist can happen and probably will 😉

There is never a series with more plot twists that I’ve seen than Pretty Little Liars.  But the key is, I believe it every time.  Its got some pretty solid characters and somehow finding out who A is never gets old.  Lets stop this rambling and check out Season 5!!

Note: If you haven’t seen Pretty Little Liars or not Season 5 yet, you might want to refrain from continuing.  Possible spoilers (that I will try to avoid) and if you haven’t seen it, you will get lost and confused.

Creator: I. Marlene King

Cast: Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell, Sasha Pieterse, Ian Harding, Tyler Blackburn, Janel Parrish, Keegan Allen

So far, I’ve been happy with Pretty Little Liars. In general, they’ve kept me well entertained and really into it.  But I’d be lying if all the past 4 seasons have been totally and completely great.  Which series has those moments constantly, right? I do give the creator and her crew praise that they can pull so many twists and make this still a pretty intriguing adventure in the search for who is A.  That centre plot is the most relevant and the most captivating.  Whereas, the past season or two (I can’t remember anymore) has had frustrating moments in character developments and relationships (as most teen-based series will have). I never did a full review of the past seasons since I only launched TV Binge segment this year but that’s the overview.

Jumping into Season 5, there are definitely more pros and cons.  The intensity is completely back and the whole dynamic is different because guess what, when we ended Season 4, we now know for sure that Alison is alive and she’s running.  Which means, she isn’t A (or is she?).  Who is after them? After a crazy beginning where they finally think they are rid of A, they come to realize that maybe A just took another holiday to set up for something a lot bigger and badder than before, just showing the girls how intricate the plans can be.  Not that we didn’t know that before.

What’s really great is the change that Season 5 brings.  Aria, Spencer, Emily and Hanna and now Alison are the focal points of this series, there is no doubt about it.  Their boyfriends and family all seem to just be decorating backdrops for them but what I appreciate more is that A is now in the open.  Some of their close ones know about them and as their danger of sitting in orange jump suits grow, the boyfriends have to step up and have a bigger role. It changes the whole chemistry of the situation.  Something that was well needed a few seasons back.  On the other hand, this also gives space for some characters to fall into lesser roles and some lesser roles in previous seasons to have bigger roles. A show like this stays fresh by knowing when to keep and ditch certain characters and so far its been effective enough. Plus, each character can spin something a little more with their back story to make it keep going.

While Pretty Little Liars is about the 4 main girls, I really like the character of Mona because she’s deep and mysterious.  There’s always more to her character.  Its like every time something happens, her layers fall apart.  In the end, Mona is just a simple smart girl who wants to be accepted for who she is. When the main girls get annoying, Mona, even in her evil and bitchy personality is the breath of fresh air and the fact that she’s becoming a huge focus in Season 5 makes this quite awesome.

Mind you, don’t think that I’m saying its anything other than dramatic.  It is pretty dramatic but Pretty Little Liars has its lame and/or ridiculous moments but it has a solid cast and a decent storyline that keeps the audience intrigued, especially when who is A turns to who are A then by the end of this season, we were promised a name to match A.  A is everywhere and nowhere and even when you think you win, you really haven’t.  A is a bitch, whether its a guy or a girl and you never know who to trust.  Just like any series set in some form of fiction, Pretty Little Liars needs you to suspend your disbelief a little and just go with the flow of things while mildly trying to guess who A is.  If you can do that, Pretty Little Liars is a fun ride with some rather effectively creepy moments 😉

Season 5 does pick up after the first few episodes and takes the series into a new direction that I’m rather happy with. Now for Season 6! 🙂

Have you seen Pretty Little Liars? Are you still watching it or have you given it up?