All Forms of Art

  This movie was on my “to watch” list for ages, but having two straight hours to spare is rare. Finally, I had it. The first thing that can’t be ignored is its amazing soundtrack, but we already knew it was good. So, let’s focus on the movie itself. True Stars I knew absolutely nothing about the previous versions -  I didn’t watch any of them - or the story. Maybe because of that, the whole movie was a pleasant surprise. Lady Gaga is a surprisingly good actress. She is very genuine and built a strong, authentic character. Ally is a strong woman who isn’t afraid of being vulnerable.  On the other side, Jack is a star running to the abyss, and Bradley Cooper was simply perfect in his role. He nailed it! He offered us an amazing performance for a splendid Jackson Maine. Fast-Paced Drama If you like a movie that develops quickly, this one is for you. A Star is Born is a fast-paced movie, full of romance and excitement. Yet, it is also heartbreaking. Be ready to drop som...

  A Life on Our Planet is a touching and compelling testimonial by David Attenborough. He is probably one of the men who knows our world best. I have been watching his documentaries since I was a little girl. Once again, I was fascinated by the experiences (and warnings) Sir Attenborough has to offer us. This documentary shows how everything is connected in the wild world and how one single action can be disastrous to it - even before you notice it. In fact, he tells us how he had no idea about the pieces of evidence right in front of his eyes when he was younger.  Wilderness is his home David Attenborough is a legend of biology, and his voice makes us feel like we're traveling. It is magnificent how he willingly shares his amazing experience in the natural world with us. It fascinates me. Did you know that the mass destruction that ended the dinosaurs wasn’t a unique event? It was the 5th time that our planet witnessed the destruction of entire ecosystems. I had no idea...

  Like the previous books from the saga, A Feast for Crows holds your attention from the very beginning.  George RR Martin filled the story with strong characters.  It avoids the  cliché  of damsels in distress and perfect, shiny-armor knights coming to save them.  The characters are not stereotyped, and you can feel their anger, their fears, their love. You care about them (or you hate them). Either way, they look alive.  Reading the Books vs. Watching The Show No matter what you do, you cannot ignore the massively successful show produced by HBO. That brings a few issues. After watching the show, you cannot undo the image of the characters in your head. At least, not easily. I will always listen to the voice of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau whenever Jaime Lannister gives an order. The bitterness in Cersei’s remarks will always be Lena Headey’s. Yet, reading is different and, once more, better. Richer in detail and emotion, it makes a big difference to...

  I picked up this book at someone else’s library, and I started reading it because I was bored. After a couple of pages, I couldn’t stop. Sapiens is a fantastic reflection of humanity and its place in this world. It is an accessible history class, written in a compelling novel fashion. You can either agree with Harari or find it a little reductionist (thousands of years in a few pages can have that impact); you won’t be able to ignore it.  Are WE that special? For many years, we thought that we were special, near-divine. According to Harari, we are just another animal that happened to control the world for several reasons. It seems that a series of random events led us to this point. One of the most curious things I found in this book was that I thought human evolution was a sort of continuum line in which one single species evolved, step by step. Apparently, like with any other animals, different "kinds" of humans shared the world. At some point, all the others were go...

Since I first watched the trailer, I was eager to see this movie. Yet, I must confess, it disappointed me a little bit. Kristen Bell’s character is annoying. At some point, I just wanted to tell her some unpleasant truths.   Good actors are not enough The movie structure is good, but I would like to see more details about the decision to go on the cruise anyway.  The movie was filled with some big names. Good actors and a few good scenes make it watchable. Yet, it needed something more. Many scenes were quite predictable. It is a [comedy] drama The story is dramatic; it’s sad. No matter how many jokes and stupid accidents you may throw in the middle of it. If you’re truly watching it, you can’t ignore how sad it really is. Indeed, it is a comedy-drama, so a few jokes were said here and there, and that’s good. An occasional laugh is always good. I have a problem though: the dramatic scenes. They lacked some emotional depth.  The actors tried their best, but the script...

  Humanity is on edge. A nuclear war ended the world as we knew it, and the survivors settle a colony in space. Now, they face the possibility of extinction. Again. Their only chance? 100 teenage criminals. One hundred revolted teenagers have humanity's fate in their hands. What could possibly go wrong? Life on Earth The kids are sent down to Earth without knowing if the air is breathable. If the planet was habitable at all. As soon as they put their feet on the ground, they realize that that wouldn’t be a problem. Everything else is.  How can a bunch of teenagers, locked in a spaceship since the day they were born, manage to hunt, fish, and build a shelter? How can they survive in an unknown world? Fighting diseases, wild animals… and people. After all, people are living on Earth—a lot of people in different clans and tribes. In the Ark, they lived in peace (did they?), but here, it seems that there is a permanent war. How far will they be willing to go for survival? Surv...

Last season 's finale left us at the edge of our seats, and this second one didn't disappoint. A new apocalypse to avoid, new persecutions to escape, and a lot of new craziness. Five (Aidan Gallagher) was able to rescue his family from the apocalypse and time travel with them. The problem? The siblings landed in the same alley, in Dallas, but in different years of the early 60s.  This separation could be a disaster, but at least for the show, it was a great choice. In the first season, they didn't have the time to explore who they were outside their family, their powers, and responsibilities. Now, they found a way, an alternative, and they generally seem happy. That makes it even more difficult to abandon this new life to save the world and go back to their time. The true Hargreaves The big scary daddy, Hargreaves (Colm Feore), has more secrets than his children could have dreamed. He is involved in all sorts of things: conspiracy, time-traveling experiences, space expl...

Can you hear me? is a Canadian show set in Montreal that will probably surprise you. Three friends with terrible life circumstances have a single precious thing: each other. They don’t seem to have an acceptable lifestyle. They are weird, make unbelievable choices, and sometimes, they can shock you. Yet, you can’t help but feel a little empathy. Friendship Friendship is the main character in this show. In the first episode, after an anger management session, we follow Ada (Florence Longpré) back to her friends. For a while, all we see is a random conversation between a group of close friends. You’ll feel like an outsider in the group.  The three girls (Ada, Fabiola, and Carolanne) have a fantastic connection. Yet they have very different ways of dealing with the world. Ada is impulsive and responds with anger and, sometimes, violence. Carolanne (Ève Landry) simply shuts down. She is the quietest member of the group, and it is difficult for her to open up. Fabiola (Mélissa Béda...

  Dead to Me had finally returned for a second season. Yet, it probably should have ended in the first one. I'm sorry, fans of the show, but this second season was a bit… too much? [SPOILERS] Let's see. The dysfunctional duo can't stop committing crimes and avoiding responsibilities. Now, the two friends are even more involved in terrible secrets. They have no idea how to get out of the madness spiral they're in.   Other than that, we have Jen's (Christina Applegate) neighbor. Could that woman be more annoying and nosy? And how about Steve's twin brother? Twin? For real? Too emotional It seems that they tried to humanize the characters a bit more, but they went too far. Jen confesses to murder, and the cop lets her go. That's nonsense! Why did the cop do it? Because the fragile cop has, after all, mommy issues! Did she miss the part that Jen killed a man? In a time where feminism is such a big deal, this wasn't a good choice. It makes women look lik...

  Many people chose to watch this documentary at the beginning of this new Coronavirus pandemic, during their lockdown. I didn’t. It didn’t seem the better choice for me; the daily news was enough. Now that we start to relax (should we?), the curiosity won, and I gave it a try.  I wasn’t exactly sure of what I was going to see, but I was glued to the screen since the first episode. In the middle of an actual pandemic, it looked a bit creepy—an accurate prediction of the future. First put aside by many people simply as a “documentary about the flu”, it is now one of the most-watched documentaries on Netflix .  Universal vaccine One of the things I liked the most was the idea of a universal vaccine for the flu. It would be great. It would change everything. So, why have we never heard of that team or their work? The flu virus has a lot of strains, and it is always changing. This would make it impossible to develop a single, universal vaccine, right? Yet, their results seem...

In the last book of the series, Lila and Lenú’s relationship remains the center of the novel. A new pregnancy for both of them brings the two women closer again until a tragedy hits them. Freedom from the heart Until the last book, Elena was too attached to Nino, but now he starts to lose his charm. His weaknesses can’t be ignored anymore. He doesn’t look so wonderfully intelligent when Elena starts to be able to see his arrogance. Sometimes, his rudeness towards other people. The spell was broken. Nino is not only selfish but shows a total lack of respect by Elena and other women around him. Slowly, he starts to remind her of his father, the man that abused Elena so many years ago. Elena is now a more mature woman, and maturity brought her some calm and objectiveness. Yet, was she ever happy? Is she now?  Back to the neighborhood and its problems While we were happy to see Elena with a better life and conquering her goals, we miss the complicated intrigues from the neighborhoo...

Since season 1 , The Sinner brings a different look at the usual thriller/crime stories.  The most obvious is the perspective:  The Sinner  doesn't look for who committed the crime or how.  What's important, and what moves Detective Ambrose (Bill Pullman), is the why . The show tries to reveal what lies in a tortured mind. What drives it? How can a regular person, suddenly, become a murderer? This season is no different. The protagonist is Jamie (Matt Bomer), a family man, soon to be a father, who apparently lets his best friend bleed to death. The first two episodes are a bit slow, which you may find a bit boring. Yet, things change significantly after the third one. As soon as the mystery thickens, you won't stop. You'll want to know more.   Jamie and Nick At first, Jamie and Nick's relationship is hard to understand. It is clear that Nick (Chris Messina) had an extreme influence on Jamie, but why? And what kind of influence exactly? As the show deve...

As you already know, if you follow my blog, I’m not the biggest fan of romantic comedies. I find them tiring, and to me, they all look the same. Yet, one of these days, I just wanted to laugh a bit and have a good time, so I risked this Netflix comedy with Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell. I didn’t regret it. I had a lot of fun watching it. How to go around clichés? The characters are interesting, and the story makes you smile from the very beginning. It’s very simple and very cliché - two people trying to set up two other people. Yet, at the same time… They aren’t trying to help them. They don’t even care if they make a good couple. They just want a break!  The terrible workaholic bosses need to be “entertained”, so their exhausted assistants can breathe for a minute. So, how about entertaining them… with each other? Falling apart until the happy ending Obviously, this couldn’t go well, and that’s the biggest part of the fun. This movie shows us that we still can laugh with the fa...

Luna Nera  (Black Moon) is a story about witch-hunting, this time with real witches -  stregas  - in 17th-century Italy. Full of teenage characters, love seems to be one of the main ingredients of the plot. Love secrets, forbidden loves, and an environment of romance clash with the brutal treatment of the women accused of witchcraft. Ade (Antonia Fotaras), the protagonist, is a young woman discovering herself, scared and full of uncertainties. Yet, she bravely accepts her mission, fighting against her anguish and indecision.  The Benandanti The witches' main enemy is a group of masked men that hunts them with no mercy. Their looks are already terrifying, even before they do anything. But, at the end of the day: what's their motivation? What beliefs lead them to that cruelty? Yes, that particular group of women they're hunting were real witches. Yet, if you take a close look at the benandanti criteria… almost any single woman could fit them. In this group, we hav...

For those who follow this blog, you know I was a bit disappointed with this show since season 2 . They wanted to make a tale about everything that could go wrong with a group of teenagers, disguised as an unbreakable friendship pact. Tiring.  In fact, if you think about it, the show started as a teen drama, went to a crime show, and ended up as a slightly ridiculous psychological thriller. Throughout the show, one question remains: is Liberty High the worst high school in human history? (Contains Spoilers)  The Last Season The production finally announced that this one would be the last season of the show. It has been a while now since the show stopped being about Hanna Baker ( Katherine Langford ).  She is now a distant memory, even though they try, from time to time, to maintain the connection with her story. The main ingredient of the show is crime and a guilty conscience.  At the beginning of this last season, the students are at a funeral. Again. We just do...

Dare Me seems like one more teenage show, full of intricate plots and bullying. Yet, you’ll quickly realize that it is not exactly that.  It is more a story about a woman who doesn’t care about the means, as long as she reaches her goals. Oh, you think I’m talking about Beth (Marlo Kelly)? Think again… The Coach From the beginning, the coach (Willa Fitzgerald) is… let’s go with shady. She is full of secrets and half-told stories. Yet, what sets the alarm off for me is the fact that she immediately gets close to one of the girls. This friendship seems to be part of some sort of plan that we are never fully aware of.  Colette gives you a little feeling of discomfort. Since the beginning, you feel that there is something off there. What exactly does she want? To become a teenager again? Are the adult life pressures crashing her? Is she looking for some naive girl to cover for her? If so, to cover for what exactly? We end the season with no clear answers. There is a lot to fi...