What is something that everyone should see/read/watch?

[owidjaja]

- Battle Royale (book). Not too "light" aha, but its really good. If you liked the Hunger Games, it's got a very similar premise, but tbh I think Battle Royale does it better. I also really enjoyed the movie, but its in Japanese so you have to get used to subtitles!

Yessss I agree with Battle Royale! Amongst the people in my year group who were obsessed with Hunger Games (hated Jennifer Lawrence's performance tbh whoops) and Divergent, Battle Royale was the OG dystopian 'have-to-kill-everyone' style of books- great for those who are morbidly curious because the descriptions are on point!

Since I'm always loitering around here, I might as well recommend some movies:
- The Shape of Water- Beautiful cinematography! I love how the filters used made it look like we're looking through a tank filled with water. It's kinda sad everyone's gonna know this movie as the 'fish banging movie' but the whole point of this film is that it's supposed to be an adult fairy tale. I love the casting of Sally Hawkins as Elisa- she's not conventionally considered as attractive (not saying she's ugly- she's not usually compared to a model) because the whole point isn't to change your appearance, unlike Beauty and the Beast where the theme is people should value your personality but then the Beast turns into a hot dude so he can be paired with a pretty girl (double standards much). Instead, they want to tell the story of the untold- you have the homosexual, the African-American, the disabled. I'm so glad they won Best Picture and Best Director! This video essay makes you appreciate this film even more!

- Call Me By Your Name- Another Oscar nominee! Slightly different to The Shape of Water since it's a bit more light-hearted but it can be a bit heavy, especially the ending A lot of people want gay representation in films and I think this film does it justice. Going to see Love, Simon with my friends but I'm really reluctant to see it. All the critics are raving about Love, Simon and gay representation but my main problem is that Love, Simon is now gonna me known as 'that gay movie' because of the way it's been marketed. Even in the trailer, Simon literally says 'I have a secret- I'm gay.' (paraphrased) The thing  I love about Call Me By Your Name is that the trailer implies it will be a story about two guys falling in love but that's not what's driving the plot. Plus, the director doesn't want this film to be called 'that gay movie'- he wants us to understand the struggles of these two guys and he does it extremely well with his long, close up shots and sometimes it feels like you shouldn't be watching the movie because it's so personal to the characters. Check out this video essay if anyone is interested!

Heads up- there is nudity in these films if anyone is gonna see it.

[appleandbee]

To be honest, great TV series has been great for changing my perspective in different ways. When you see the same characters over many episodes, they start to grow on you and develop empathy for characters that are remotely similar to you. I also find the creative process of developing a TV show interesting and inspiring. My personal favourites are Stranger Things, Suits, Sense8, Black Mirror (no deep character work since it's an anthology, but the sci-fi themes are very good), Gossip Girl, Master of None, 13 Reasons Why (depressing and many people are against watching it, but I think it's a good show to watch once), Crazy Ex Girlfriend and How to Get Away with Murder. Those are the shows that keeps me wanting to know what is next. I'm also planning on watching House of Cards and The Handmaid's Tale. TV series may not be the best recommendation if you are doing VCE though 

In terms of films, I love Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name, Birdman, A Separation, Moonlight, Shape of Water and Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel (I really like how Wes Anderson shows a quirky side of humanity with his characterisation and development of unlikely friendships).

For books, I really enjoyed Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, both by Mohsin Hamid and The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Both very accessible and relevant in today's political climate in regards to India and the US today. Also The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz), Conversations with Friends (Sally Rooney) and Sour Heart (Jenny Zhang) discusses many coming-of-age and gender issues in an engaging literary fiction manner. Frankenstein (it's an accessible modern classic) and well as anything by Dostoevsky if you like classics. If you are after non-fiction, I would recommend Poor Economics:  A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty (Duflo and Banerjee), as it is very well-researched yet accessible to people with no Economics background. Also The Brain That Changes Itself and The Brain's Way of Healing by Norman Doidge, both books cover various themes in Neuroplasticity through using a patient's story.

[K888]

When Breath Becomes Air is a must read IMO

Also, I think everyone should watch Spotlight.

[peterpiper]

Going to see Love, Simon with my friends but I'm really reluctant to see it. All the critics are raving about Love, Simon and gay representation but my main problem is that Love, Simon is now gonna me known as 'that gay movie' because of the way it's been marketed. Even in the trailer, Simon literally says 'I have a secret- I'm gay.' (paraphrased)

This was very much my impression of it as well. I went to see it and it wasn't bad. I think there were moments where I felt it was executed in a better way than I would have anticipated from my first impressions from the trailer. However, overall, it probably wasn't the greatest movie I've watched in its own terms, and there were substantial reasons behind this, which involve specifically the character-work (this becomes more evident in the climax and resolution/ending). The movie sacrificed nuanced portraits of characters for a more plot-driven movie - and I think this could be taken in either direction. It made itself more accessible, easily enjoyable for a wider audience. But as a consequence, it loses its potential to explore other more complex experiences ie. It feels a little superficial in the way it deals with the LGBT theme. This isn't to say that love, Simon wasn't enjoyable. I think I laughed quite a bit and felt whatever responses some scenes were engineered to evoke/provoke. But I just think it's a shame that what I find to be the most important element in any movie/story is lacking in this movie. In all fairness, people have responded positively to this movie and in the end that's really what movies are for. So the fact that it has been able to do this, is indeed worthy of your time!

[EEEEEEP]

I HIGHLY recommend this book! It's a beautiful book about a  Chinese-American physician  who describes her experience living with her parents and dealing with their expectations.

it will bring you to tears . It truly is an amazing tale.