Tanya Mangaser

Doctor Strange. Never heard of this comics superhero and have never even seen the trailer before I watched this film. But I came out of the cinema totally entertained (as expected of a Marvel movie) and, surprisingly, spiritually uplifted and inspired. You can strip back the mind blowing effects (I've read it's better seen in 3D) and still come up with a wonderful, profound and thought-provoking film with strong messages about life at it's core. One of the best superhero films I've ever seen in terms of story, character development and special effects (awe-inspiring). I had a lot of realizations and would like to share them and some quotes from the film. 1. Death gives life its's meaning (From the Ancient One, portrayed brilliantly by Tilda Swanton) 2. Life, even with serious disability, is still life and can still be lived to the fullest. There is always hope. 3. Sometimes our ego and the thought that we already know everything prevents us from acknowledging that we are spiritual beings and from embracing the supernatural and the divine. 4. We may be well-read, highly educated and may seem to know everything about the world but may actually be missing out on knowing what is truly essential. 5. “It’s not about you”. My take on this is that you can be miserable forever and have the whole world revolve around you or you can choose to go beyond your misery and look out for less fortunate people and help them so you will forget your own problems. 6. Inspite of physical disabilities, you can still achieve great things as long as you harness the power of your mind and have faith and belief that life is still worth living. The power of the mind can heal. 7. You don't have to understand everything about something to believe it. 8. There are endless possibilities. It is you and your choices which will determine your future. 9. Do not mess with the natural order. Someday, it will come back to us and we have to suffer the consequences we know not yet. 10. Sometimes, there is no black and white and you have to use your judgement and make difficult choices. 11. You do not become an expert overnight. Everything requires study and practice. 12. You can choose to use things for your personal advantage but it is better use what you have to serve the greater good and a higher purpose. I'm very glad I saw this film. Great casting and superb acting. (Benedict Cumberbatch is one of my favorites now. I've been intrigued by him and after reading about him and watching his interviews and clips of his past films/shows, I've now become a Cumberbatch fan (never saw Sherlock TV show which I just learned was really good)). Loved the musical score. Doctor Strange has a mix of everything - drama, romance, great action sequences with Kung fu/martial arts, some elements from Harry Potter, The Matrix, Karate kid, Inception, Thor, Iron Man, Ghost, Ground Hog Day, Superman 3, Back to the Future, etc. This movie is a must-see! It’s one of my favorite movies and one of the best superhero movies ever. Benedict’s casting as Doctor Strange is perfect.

I found it really hard to move on from this show and I still go back to rewatching so many of my favorite scenes/episodes and behind the scenes videos months after I finished watching it. Her Private Life is one of the best rom coms I’ve seen and had easily become my favorite among all the rom coms I’ve watched. Fun, heart warming and heart fluttering with a good story which tackles light and fun themes such as fangirling as well as difficult and serious issues like abandonment, going through family tragedies and forgiveness, etc. The chemistry of the leads was just amazing that you would think they are a couple in real life. Their relationship seems so authentic and organic it’s like you’re watching a real life couple and not just a tv show. The sweet and romantic scenes will take your breath away as it was so natural and beautiful to watch it didn’t feel like they were acting. (Watch the behind the scenes and you will see that their great chemistry is apparent on and off camera. And most of the couple’s scenes were unscripted like the cooking scene). The kissing scenes (there were a lot) were so natural and the best I’ve seen in any rom com I’ve watched. This is Kim Jae Wook’s first lead role in a rom com and he nailed the role of Ryan Gold. (If he looks familiar, he was the cool, cute but aloof waffle maker in Coffee Prince). You will wish you have your own perfect boyfriend like Ryan. If you liked What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, this is even better. And all the songs in the soundtrack were all so good you would be dancing to the beat of “Help Me”, fall in love all over again with the songs, “Maybe”, Think of Me”, “Story of Us” and just feel good listening to “Smile Again” and “Happy”.

The scriptwriter brought to life a great male character in Park Saeroyi and Yi-Seo was a delight to watch as she was fearless, had guts with wit to boot. I’m really glad I watched Itaewon Class as it was truly an empowering and inspiring story with so many life lessons that it touched me deeply. It reminded me that we should always stay strong in the face of adversity and never lose hope knowing that nothing is impossible in life. It also made me put things into perspective and made me realize that I have no right to complain as there are other people who are going through far worse than me. Saeroyi gave us one hell of a ride as he journeyed from one of the worse possible situations anyone can be in and emerge the victor in the end. He stuck to his principles although the consequences would bring him pain and hardship. I highly recommend this k-drama which showed the triumph of the human spirit. And the OST was one of the best I’ve heard so far. All the songs were great with modern upbeat sounds and with more english lyrics (probably to cater to international fans). I especially loved the songs, “Start Over”, “Still Fighting It”, No break”, “Diamond”, “Someday, The Boy”.

CLOY, “you came to me like a gift” but what have you done to me?...tsk tsk. I can’t get you out of my head... Crash Landing on You is the first korean drama I’ve ever watched and I just watched it with my husband in March 2020 out of curiosity during the covid-19 lockdown since everyone seems to have seen it (some multiple times) and many friends raved about it in their facebook posts. I still can’t get over this show although I’ve finished watching it more than a year ago. We thought of trying to give CLOY a shot after watching Parasite and being impressed with this film (Parasite’s historical Best Picture win at the 2020 Oscar Awards which is a first for a foreign language film made us really curious to watch this Korean film). Korean dramas have always been popular in the Philippines but I never tried to watch any since I have this impression that korean dramas are too cheesy or corny but I should have known better and have been proven wrong after watching around 30 korean dramas as of this time) If you still haven’t watched CLOY and for some reason still hesitating to do so, I highly recommend you just see it. You will not regret watching it. It is a masterpiece in so many levels and could become one of your favourite shows of all time. It’s up there as one of the best I’ve ever seen. And what’s good about it is that the writer was able to convey a love so deep (5 love languages clearly shown), unconditional, selfless and self-sacrificing while maintaining wholesomeness and purity and there are no sexual references at all. The pure look of love, the warm embraces and sweet kisses were just endearing. And the comedic parts were really laugh out loud funny. (I can go on and on about how funny and entertaining it is). The suspense and action sequences were great and thrilling. (Captain Ri, how can anyone not admire and love you?) I can’t praise the writer enough for the brilliant script and story line and for seamlessly connecting little details. What is there not to love? This show has everything you can ask for - superb acting (every character is memorable and the chemistry of Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin was really great), breath-taking scenery (Switzerland was just so beautiful) and to top it off - the great soundtrack (Although I don’t understand the words, the songs were all so good I just listen to it over and over again). It was our “date night” show for a week and my husband and I both loved it. I had butterflies in my stomach while watching it and and made me go back to the time when we fell in love (the last time I felt like a giddy lovestruck teenager was when I read the Twilight Series. And the excitement and our anticipation each day to watch the next episode was like the time we were both still reading the Harry Potter Series). We honestly yearned for a reunification of North and South Korea while watching this. This is truly a gem of a show.