Beasts of No Nation

Let me preface this post by saying I broke a rule by watching this film. I did not read the book before seeing this film (which drives me a bit nuts) and by reviewing it, I am going against another one of my rules to avoid reviewing films based on books (a rule which I believe I stated in this blog).  The Oscar rumors taunting this film were just too good for me to resist, so here goes…

Here’s what’s going on:

“Beasts of No Nation” follows Agu, a young boy growing up in an unnamed war-torn country.  When the war comes too close to home, killing his father and brother and taking away his mother and sister, Agu finds himself lost and alone.  A rebel group of fighters with ambitions to take back the country picks up Agu and brainwashes him into becoming the ultimate child soldier.  The film follows his journey, but will he be able to find his way out of war?  Or will he truly become another “beast”?

Overall review:

A

This film is an honest, harrowingly relevant portrayal of child soldiers and the events we may like to think are a thing of the past or a world away.  By leaving the country unnamed, we must realize this conflict can happen anywhere in the world–we aren’t allowed any comfort of the story being unique to its location.  Along the same stream of films like “Invisible Children,” we are not spared any of the gore and the tour de force of this film is the sense of discomfort that it forces on you.  Stand out performances by Abraham Attah (Agu) and Idris Elba (Commandant) keep you hooked until the last moment.  The point-of-view shots that sometimes seem to literally rest of Agu’s shoulders cause us to echo and relate his indecision, fear and frighteningly of all, his transformation to a beast of no nation.

Pitch Perfect 2

Can you believe it has been a whole year?!

I successfully completed my honors thesis with my past blog posts (woo hoo!) so from here on out hopefully my future posts will be a tad less lengthy with less spoilers and less academic, didactic wording.

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To start off my new, refreshed series, I am reviewing Pitch Perfect 2.

As a huge fan of the original, I had admittedly high hopes for the sequel.  I wasn’t blown away, but I was entertained.

Here’s what’s going on:

The Barden Bellas are an all-female acapella singing group who have won the past three national championships with their leader, the spunky Beca at the helm.  When an embarrassing disaster forces the Bellas into suspension, their only hope is to come together with their new freshman recruit, Emily, to win the World Championship of acapella and save the future of the Barden Bellas.

Overall review:

B

The plot is a bit disheveled but delivers on the same awkward moments from the first film.  Riding on the waves of the unexpected cult classic status of the first, the second is still fun but didn’t deliver on memorable quotes and moments quite like the original.  If you’re a fan of the first, it’s definitely worth checking out (if you haven’t already) for a laugh and to revisit the Bellas, but don’t expect anything too original from the first.