FILM: The Danish Girl

I've been meaning to watch this film ever since it came out.
It's an incredible true story of a transgender woman's strength and perseverance to become the person she was always supposed to be.
There is still a lot of transgender stigma today, but in the 1920's being transgender was almost unheard of. The word 'transgender' had not yet been coined (it was coined in 1965). When today, there may be a considerable amount of bullying involved, the film shows how in the 1900's bullying was only the beginning. Transgender people were considered mad; most likely considered schizophrenic. The film shows the incredible leaps we have made in understanding the phenomenon, but also shows the internal struggle of a woman trapped inside a man's body (and vice versa) - highlighting that although we have made leaps and bounds towards social understanding, the mental strain of it is just as hard today as it was then, we simply have more psychological research and acceptance in the field.
Eddie Redmayne is, yet again, flawless. His acting is always so outstanding, you entirely forget the actor every time. He is not afraid to take on challenging and controversial roles. He entirely steps out of his shoes and becomes another person. In this case, he seamlessly acts two people at once; Lily, and the man she uses as her cover up, Einar. Eddie Redmayne pinpoints the exact issue at hand in this film; the misunderstanding that Einar/Lily is not mad or schizophrenic or in need of psychological
help; all she needs is to be accepted as a woman, and to see herself as a woman.
It shows that psychological help isn't only needed for the mad, but for the distressed, for those who struggle, for those who are misunderstood, for those who are misrepresented or unrepresented.
Despite this film being set in the 1920's when our medical aid was not nearly so advanced, it still rings true today to many such cases, which are becoming more and more common as it becomes more and more accepted in society.
Watch this film if you are ready to learn, ready to have your mind blown, and ready to take on a whole new understanding of the way a mind works.

FILM: Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

This film starts off really well.
Our protagonist, Jake, is a teenage boy with, what seems, quite a dull life and not very nice parents. We don't see much of his life at home other than one encounter with the 'cool kids' from school, which makes us assume he hasn't really got much of a life.
He was very close to his Grandfather growing up, who told him many fabulous stories about a home for children with special abilities.

The background to the plot is set out well. It does take up a bit too much time and introduces us to some unnecessary characters (I consider characters unnecessary when they haven't contributed to the development of the characters/plot), but we quickly understand the relationship between Grandfather and Grandson, and the essence of the film's plot. The Grandfather is played brilliantly by Terence Stamp. Unfortunately, this excellent choice of casting doesn't last long - Terence Stamp's character is frequently discussed but not seen very much.

FILM: True Grit

I worked out just how much I liked this film about five minutes in.
Our protagonist is Mattie Ross, a gutsy fourteen year old girl who stands up to the growling drunkard, Rooster Cogburn (played brilliantly by Jeff Bridges), and the man she seeks revenge on: the infamous Tom Chaney.
Hailee Steinfeld plays Mattie brilliantly, making the viewer wonder where the character got her gutsy courage and independence from, while also highlighting her childish innocence and vulnerability.
Jeff Bridges excellently pulls off the (secretly soft-hearted) dangerous and irresponsible Cogburn, while Matt Damon plays a Texas Ranger who, unusually for Matt Damon, is an unattractive character we deeply dislike.

The acting and characterisation in this film is so wonderful because the characters each have such detailed traits; traits that frequently contradict one another.

BOOK: Exodus by Julie Bertagna

The first time I read this, I must have been about ten years old. My mum's old friend use to give me books every birthday - this was one the first he gave directly to me (as opposed to mum, who would read them to us).

Having never read anything like it before in it's style or genre, I was blown away. I fell into it's world like it was my own secret place that no one else knew about. It influenced my writing and my thoughts so much that I started reading bigger, more difficult books, turning away from books by Jacqueline Wilson and Enid Blyton.

I recently re-read this book for the fourth time. I acknowledge now that the writing is not spectacular - it's one of those books that makes less and less sense as the plot fills with action - the surroundings aren't described enough so you don't quite understand how some things come about. There's also a very hurried love affair that doesn't quite click with the reader.

FILM: La La Land

I have two words for this film: magically spellbinding. 
In my opinion,  this is easily one of the most beautiful films of all time.

When I first saw Mamma Mia, I cried with joy. Literally, tears flowed from joy. I went to see it again the following weekend and then went to the sing-along on the same day.

I love this film FAR more than I loved Mamma Mia. I'm going to be re-watching this film many many times. I cried with joy, with happiness, with awe, with exhilaration, with understanding, with sadness...I'm pretty sure I cried throughout the whole film, because it understood me and the desperate dream.

The singing lacked a bit - neither Gosling or Stone have much power to their voices, but a Streisand type voice wasn't really
necessary for the film.