Sticky: A (Self) Love Story (2016) USA

Privacy please!

Genre:

Documentary.

Length:

Approximately 4-minute read.

Review:

     This film is strictly for adults. But older and matured teenagers can be spared. This is a very good subject for grown ups to open their eyes and youngsters to learn. It's about masturbation. I mean, what's wrong with that! First of all, the film is not fully researched or surveyed kind of perspective. It was more an opinion based theme from the common people and experts. Moreover, it's very fun to watch if your mind is not framed with hardcore religious craps.

     Naturally, humans and other species have done and still doing it since the beginning of the life. Just because the civilisation has flourished with rule and regulation means not this thing is a bad for us in any way. In fact, it helps us in millions of ways. Like if one neutralise (relieves) his sexual urges like this way, the rapes can be prevented. So, this is a wonder film that talks openly the most hesitated topic in the society. In some cases, even among friendships.

     I don't know this writer, director. Well, I don't have to, but I just enjoyed his little film. It was a short documentary like around 70 minutes. Interview style narration, but there were plenty of film clips, just to explain stuffs. There are like millions of films and you will get all the scene situations, don't have to recreate them. They have nicely given some examples. I had seen most of those films, so I managed to understand! But that does not how it works. Because of raw parts were censored. Yet we all know what's behind it, like it was understandable term.

 There is no such thing as sex addiction. It's sexual compulsions, not addiction. 

     There were lots of good things told in the film. I liked the idea of doctors writing a prescription. The films using this concept just to make fun out of it. Maybe that's where what's going wrong. Because most of the trend begins from that platform as many people blindly follows what they see on the screen. So I think it's time to tell the truth. It was very sad how this film opened. It revealed a real life incident of a teenager. The sex education must include this concept as saying there's nothing wrong in doing that. Believe me, most of first experience comes without understanding what they were doing in their early 10s.

     But it has some dark sides too, I mean a person can lose everything he had earned in his life like in a second. It's none other than Paul Reubens of Pee-Wee fame. I mean, come on, people think their children are safe with thieves, junkies, smokers and alcoholics than what people do in their private. It does not mean he had raped somebody or going to. Seems they just have scared of the unpredictability of the future. Not in here, in any circumstances, the future is unpredictable. Other than that, there's nothing wrong with it.

     It has to be private. There's nothing proud to be openly acknowledged as the society is filled with under-aged people as well. But when you come across someone doing it, just ignore it and respect the privacy. I have seen many documentaries on many themes, like most of them are unique, this one as well. They might have already made one or more, but I haven't seen them. I'm really happy I came across it, and I surely recommend it to everybody.

     The only drawback of this film was, there's nothing told from the negative side. Of course, everything has good and bad sides. They have convinced from the good stuffs, but what about the disadvantages. Somebody could make a separate film on that, but people recognise the only negatives and label relieving is a bad thing. It should have been in this film, like 5 to 10 minutes of cover would have worked out. Otherwise, I would have said it was a masterpiece, but it's still good for watching once.

Suitable for:

Tween, Teen, Adult, All

Final verdict:

Ignore, Bad, Average, Good, Excellent

Similar movies:

[I really don't know any similar films, sorry!]

External link(s):

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The Farthest (2017) USA, Ireland

Into the vast space, the man's first exploration!

Genre:

Documentary, History.

Length:

Approximately 6-minute read.


Review:
     From the Irish editor turned documentary filmmaker will take you on an interstellar journey. I am not talking about the scripted feature films with plenty of pleasant visuals. This is real. The real life human effort to see and learn about the universe. It was the first of its kind attempted, and so far only attempt. The film reveals many secrets that you might have not heard before in any space documentaries you have seen. What's special about it is the releasing on the 40th anniversary since the launch of the rockets.

     Well, there are real footages. But not exactly the real ones. Originally they are stills. The spacecraft took a series of picture, those received pictures were put together and formed into the video clips. Or you could say they ran it fast, so it looked like a video. Black and white to colourised, they have done a pretty nice work on that. Though there were many CGI works too for our better understanding what's going on. Like when the spacecraft travelling in the space, you can't send another one to keep picturing it from a pretty close distance like in the filmmaking what a cameraman does with the actors. That's how you would see the voyager's journey here.

     Like any documentaries, this too was a series of interview based film. That would never change for this genre. There were no Brian Cox or Neil DeGrasse Tyson to narrate the space story. But Carl Sagan himself was present with his 80s, 90s press conference footages that are given regarding the latest Voyager's breakthrough. And many people who worked on the project given some precious information and their experience being one of the first to witness the historical pictures. It is a must to observe their expressions, the story that came straight from the source, stunningly.

     The year was 1977. The man was already been on the Moon. The next attempt should have been the Mars. But that's another NASA story. They wanted beyond that, to see the actual universe. The technology was pretty good, though nothing like the present generation. But the great feast is, it was nearly half a century old attempt with outdated technology, yet round the year, every day, hour, minute, never it have ever had taken a rest. Travelling at the speed of 10 miles per second, it took 35 years to get out of out solar system bubble.

 It's a pretty small spacecraft, and it's a pretty big universe. 

     Each phase of the Voyager's journey was breathtaking. It targeted the last four planets of our solar system. Started off with big brother, Jupiter. It was just a passing by and having a close look at the gas giant. Also spied at all of its moons. Then the Saturn, the guy with an icy ring. I really learnt lots about them. Particularly being first visual evidence of such phenomena.

     Then came the surprise. I never knew Uranus, as well as Neptune has rings. Being a space geek, I disappointed myself there. Then they said, this guy is not a photogenic. Yep, he was not. He was too plain. But its moons were another surprise. Like the scared villains from the western films. Particularly, Miranda. Maybe my favourite moon from all of our solar system for being so different. Especially it reminded me 'The Little Prince'. Going to the final guy, Neptune, everybody got emotional, for it is being the final stop.

     That was the last of our solar system. But I anticipated something about Pluto, the dwarf guy. These all happened like less than 20 years, but what came after was only an empty space within our solar system. Like it took next 15 years to exit the bandwidth of our sun. But what I guess is that there would have been some planets beyond Pluto in the ancient time, which some time later had escaped from the Sun's gravity to become the rogue planets. Because they were too far from the Sun and those empty spaces would not have been there without any reason. Is not it?

     The man is not on board, but his creation reached farthest. Now travelling between the stars, nobody knows what comes next. But the Voyager still in touch with the Earth with low signal. I have known about this project since my teenage. But till now I never knew there were two Voyagers. That took me by a surprise. I have known about the on board music, map, human anatomical structure et cetera. It is obviously to make contact with other intelligence in the universe.

     The Voyagers will travel thousands of years into deep space. From all, nobody knows or can predict the result of such unique space project the human has ever conducted. I think there's a possible that this documentary would feature in the upcoming Oscars. I'll be definitely happy for that. It is about the NASA's achievements. The Americans would be proud of it. But the world has too. After all, we're all the human's of the Earth. A must see documentary film by everyone.



Suitable for:
Tween, Teen, Adult, All


Final verdict:
Ignore, Bad, Average, Good, Excellent


Similar movies:
Cosmos: A Space Odyssey, When We Left the Earth, Hubble, Life of a Universe.


External link(s):

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Sachin: A Billion Dreams (2017) India

The face of three generations of Indian cricket.

Genre:

Documentary, Biography, Drama, Sport.

Length:

Approximately 6-minute read.


Review:
     The Indian film market is not made for documentary films. If there's an exception, that has to be not just cricket, but Sachin Tendulkar. I know you know that India is a vast cultural diverse country. Hundreds of language, ethnic, religion, caste, in so many ways, so many people split over the things. But one thing that unites north, south, northeast is the cricket. The '83 World Cup might have been the new beginning, but Sachin was the X factor for the Indian cricket to see a revolution. The sports body saw an opportunity and rebranded themselves with his presence. Because of him, the Indians started to watch cricket, learn cricket. Hence the cricket became a religion and Sachin's a god.

     This is the second biographical-sport film about Indian cricket I'm seeing after 'M.S. Dhoni: An Untold Story'. I liked that it was not a feature film. Feature films are commercialised, skips parts, alters storyline and characters. Not to forget that there's will be boring  music tracks if it is an Indian film. Besides, to see the actors in the shoes of real life achievers, not that good as I always say, why did that guy won the Oscar, who just depicted the one who struggled and achieved in the real cruel world. So hats off to the filmmakers for bringing this up in the best way possible.

     You could call it a prequel to that Dhoni film. Not just because both the films are about cricket or Indian cricket, but they both ran parallel. In a way they are connected. Except, focused on the different person, and this one had a head start like a decade earlier. Most of the achievers in the sports had began with an unexpected gift at their very young age that steered them to choose an apt career. It could be anything. A badminton racquet or a chessboard or a pair of shoes. For Tendulkar, it was a cricket bat from his big sister. He was a naughty boy till he got that bat. With his brother's support, he took the sport seriously and then everything has changed for him for the next 27 years of his life.

     At the age eleven, he first took the bat. Five years later, he was the youngest player to represent his nation. That too was against the arch-rival in their home turf. I don't remember all those, because I was just a baby then. But 6 years later, I joined the fan club of one billion. I'm not a Tendulkar fan, though I always respected him alongside a few other gentlemen like him, Dravid and Dhoni. They are not just the players with good conducts, but rewrote the history. Besides, Nobody needs to be a Tendulkar fan to enjoy his batting. There were many legends before him and after him, but he had found his own unique place that will be remembered for decades, centuries.

 India played themselves into a situation that was not uncommon in those days. If Tendulkar out, India is out. 

     Being young would have been his advantage, but after getting a captaincy, he had struggled. If you are a 70s, 80s kid grown up in the 90s, then you would know the exact reason. In the late 90s, the match fixing event broke out. I remember my first ever World Cup, the '99 in England. But a sad event surfaced in his life. Even I got emotional while watching that part in this film. Those videos I watched 18 years ago and watching the same clips in this film with a backstory, tell me who won't melt down. A true hero. But the film was not just highlighting his achievements, focused on his life journey through the cricket he loved. So you could see everything he had seen his own eyes, like what his teammates achieved too and he was part of it.

     The narration was hopping between the World Cups like the checkpoints. How his cricketing life, as well as personal life shaped every four years were interesting to see. Because he had started his career at a young age, he saw many teammates come and go. The generation after generation for three, the sport too saw the revolution alongside. During his final days, it was the T20 era. The fearless cricket age. Seeing lots of ups and downs, he had marked his presence to inspire the future Indian cricketers. Even the Dhoni, Kohli and many legends of todays world cricketers have said that they have got inspiration from him.

     They have recreated the his boyhood life with the actors. Only in the initial stage to have a perfect start. Because I guess they did not have video clips for those sections. Sachin Tendulkar was born in an average Indian middle class family. But once his cricketing life began, and getting a popular, at least in the Mumbai region was the turning point. Especially after that dream run-fest with Vinod Kambli. Yeah, that's the first thing everybody learns when they wanted to know him.

     This could be most successful film for the director. Well written and directed, but had missed one big thing. Where's the Sudhir Chaudhary? Anybody who is familiar with Indian cricket knows that guy. Yeah, he was there for a few seconds, but I anticipated a small brief or mention about him. My experience was good, though listening all the dialogues, even the real clips in Tamil translation looked a bit strange, but nothing wrong. I really would like to see it again in English.

     They had skipped the IPL part, just like Dhoni's film to make it a united national product. But one of the best parts of that league was, his batting was celebrated even from the opposition fans. So the India united for him, because of him when franchise based regional war were going on. Just over the two hour long, it was a well detailed biopic. If you are an Indian cricket fan, you surely would love it. Even if you are a cricket fan from overseas, there's no reason to hate or ignore it. A must see for all who love this sport, as well as who never heard of it to learn something out of it.



Suitable for:
Tween, Teen, Adult, All


Final verdict:
Ignore, Bad, Average, Good, Excellent


Similar movies:
Fire in Babylon, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, I Am Bolt, Seve the Movie.


External link(s):

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Born in China (2016) US, China

Raising up a child in the wild, ain't an easy task.

Genre:

Documentary.

Length:

Approximately 4-minute read.


Review:
     The common tern we all have heard is 'made in china'. Thankfully, it is not about that cheap thing. It's about those beautiful, magnificent creatures born in those regions. Well, I've not seen many documentaries set in that place. So I was happy to watch it, but wasn't that excited as I do for any Disney films. It was the next destination for DisneyNature after venturing in Sri Lanka for 'Monkey Kingdom'. The tenth film. If you are a DisneyNature fan, brace yourself for the wild adventure.

     From the director of one of the most uneasy war films I've ever watched, 'The City of Life and Death'. That's the best, as well as the worst decision the DisneyNature had made. He's the best choice since the documentary is about china's wildlife. He knows his nation well than any western filmmakers. The production quality was top notch. But he did not understand the DisneyNature's way of filmmaking, if this film is not only made for chinese audience.

     Apart from those, it was quite an enjoyable flick. Little fun in the parts, as well as gets emotional towards the ending. From cranes to giant panda, monkeys, snow leopard and Tibetan antelope, the narration divides four ways. For every few minutes focusing on these creatures' families, the film reveals the story of their young ones from birth to growing to adult. Like how their mother dedicates to raise them, and the lessons they learn from their clan, as well as their own from their instinct. Then final the storytelling comes to halt when those youngsters set to begin their next stage of life.

 The joy a mother receives from raising a cub from birth, however... is worth a thousand farewells. 

     First of all, you must understand the DisneyNature production type. If you know, well, that's good. But if you don't, then know that its products are targeted for little kids. Not like BBC, Nat Geo or any other nature documentaries that expose only reality. Here they identify the character and give a name, then create a story around it in the post production, that's similar to the human's for the kids to understand it better. Especially the harsh parts are trimmed out. Like Disney's fairy-tale, only you are going to witness them in the nature version without magics.

     I'm an adult, and I think it was an okay film. Not because what I stated in the previous paragraph, but I've been following DisneyNature films since its inception and this could be the least best one. I said the least best, not the worst. Tell me who would hate Disney films for being soft and touchy! Yep, only the grown ups do.

     Visually extraordinary, but not the story they have added to it. Narrated by John Krasinki. He did a good job as what they have told him to do. Though my issue is they were lying about everything. I don't think that's what the children should be learning. So on that perspective, this film is not for anyone above 9 years of age, otherwise it will be mislead. I prefer to show them BBC nature documentaries instead. Nonetheless, it is worth a watch once.



Suitable for:
Tween, Teen, Adult, All


Final verdict:
Ignore, Bad, Average, Good, Excellent


Similar movies:
Monkey Kingdom, African Cats, Chimpanzee, Bears.


External link(s):

WCA geolocation:
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