stuff by paige

In all honesty, I had forgotten that Amazon Prime had a streaming service until I started getting advertisements for this show, and was instantly intrigued - sorry Netflix, but it just looked too good. And good it is! The Wilds is an intense and exciting show which follows a group of girls, some friends, some strangers, as they find themselves stranded on a deserted island after their plane "crashes" on it's way to a girl power centric trip to Hawaii. All is not as it seems, and every episode leaves you second guessing characters intentions, relationships and what exactly is going to happen to the girls.  This guessing game is not helped by the non-linear narrative, as the story is revealed through pre-stranded flashbacks, stranded flashbacks, and present day as the girls are interviewed about their experiences on the island, leaving a lot of questions to be answered in the very final episode, and even potentially in a future season. The show does a good job of explorin...

 If you can handle blood, violence and subtitles, you HAVE to watch Alice in Borderland. Adapted from a manga series, Alice in Borderland follows Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) and his friends as they find themselves transported into a desolate alternate version of Tokyo, where they are forced to compete in games to collect cards and extend the days they have left to live. The show is a perfect combination of everything I enjoy about anime and live action - lots of action, tension and crazy story concepts with the element of seeing a real flesh person going through those things, making things seem so much more real and intense.  The show being live action also meant that the cinematography elements hit even harder, especially in the first episode where the setting is established through eerie extreme longshots, emphasising just how desolate Tokyo had become. The games are extremely difficult and usually result in the losers of the games meeting a gruesome end; rather reminiscent of t...

 Part of my reasoning for watching this film was because Natalia Dyer is in it, and to say I've only ever seen her in Stranger Things (2016- present)  and Hannah Montana: The Movie (Dir. Peter Chelsom, 2009), that isn't much to go off of. However, I quite enjoyed it. Yes, God, Yes is a comedic coming of age movie which follows a young Christian girl at a Christian camp as she explores her sexuality within the constraints of religion, and discovers that even those who shame her are committers of "sin" themselves. The film very effectively captures the cringiness which comes with growing up, alongside the double standards which come with gender and sexuality. This film is extremely well shot, with wonderful lighting and many visually beautiful settings - wow, how we do love cinematography. The acting is also great, Dyers performance in particular being very convincing, and also slightly comparable to the character she plays in  Stranger Things ; a "good girl...

 It has been years since I watched a k-drama, and even longer since I watched one the whole way through. However, I decided to trust my friends judgement when they suggested Itaewon Class to me, and I was... pleasantly surprised?  As you would expect from the term k-drama, the show is literally jam packed with drama, revolving around a variation of high stake themes and expected themes, such as death, violence, romance, business, revenge, friendships and familial relationships. There is always something exciting and dramatic happening plot wise in every single episode, and at times I felt as though I had seen a whole series worth of content in one episode. This I felt was emphasised with the extreme time skips which carry the narrative forward, for example when the series moves on ten years within the first few episodes. I initially started watching the show by myself, however halfway into the first episode I realised my boyfriend was watching over my shoulder. Slightly confu...