stuff by paige

 After having the first few episodes somewhat spoiled for me on Twitter, I decided to give in and watch WandaVision as it was released weekly (thankyou Phoebe for providing me with your Disney Plus password so I could do so). This blog post will follow a slightly different format to what I usually write with, in that I will be discussing the show episode by episode, with a summary of my overall thoughts at the end. This means that there will be potential spoilers, so this is your heads up to stop reading if you don't want spoilers before you have watched the show yourself (and I highly recommend that you DO watch it yourself). Episode One: Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience The first episode throws us straight into black and white in 50's/60's sitcom style, following newly wed and new home owners Wanda and Vision as they tackle suburban life in West View whilst attempting to hide their powers. This episode feels very much like Bewitched, all the way down to the theme tune...

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...

 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...

I have intended to watch Netflix's The Get Down for a long, long time, and I finally got down to it.  Starring, amongst many names, Justice Smith and Jaden Smith, the two season long show follows a group of friends in seventies era Bronx as they find their passions, purpose, and paths in life through music and the relationships they make along the way. Music is the main theme of the show, with genres such as disco, rap and dj-ing explored by the protagonists. This means for an incredibly lively soundtrack which is used as a tool to navigate the narrative and reveal plot aspects. I have been familiar with the shows soundtrack for a few years, due to being introduced to it by a friend, and this made my viewing all the more exciting as I could sing along as I went. The show isn't all fun and music, however. The Get Down is a complex show, exploring not only tensions and drama in the characters relationships but also historical issues through dark themes, for example: poverty, gan...

 As a faithful Instagram follower of the wonderful Florence Pugh, I was recently introduced to the online mini series Star Force (2020), a parody of Star Trek , which has been placed into the cleverly named genre of "sci-fisolation." What shocks me is that none of my fellow film studies friends have spoken about it! Due to the current pandemic, Star Force has been shot, edited and produced via mobile phones and posted to social media platforms, starring a cast of familiar famous faces, one of the most surprising to me being James McAvoy. Despite being created with a lack of resources which a studio would typically use to make a show like this, Star Force features some decent plot points, humour, plenty of sci-fi driven drama, and of course, a great cast. It's pretty enjoyable, I would say, overlooking the somewhat crude special effects.  Star Trek and Star Wars must be quaking in their (space) boots. Watch and follow Star Force on YouTube or Instagram . ~Paige Nicole

 I feel as though I haven't heard people speaking about Jordan Peele's multi-award winning film Us  in a long time, so I decided that it was my job to do so. Starring Lupita Nyongo and Winston Duke, (both incredible actors), the film takes a psychological approach to the horror genre. The story follows a family of four on holiday as they return to the location in which the mother, played by Nyongo, endured a traumatic experience as a child. The secrets of her trauma and the events of the past begin to unravel and reveal as the family are tormented by homicidal versions of themselves (the title of the film is quite literal). The film is visually stunning the whole way through, shot with a vibrant and vintage feel which ties in well with the theme of personal reflection and reminiscence throughout. There are many clever parallels within the movie, one which I really liked being the ballet comparisons between the tethered and their surface selves as they went about their identica...

Like most people in or current world situation, I have been spending a lot of time binge watching things on Netflix.  When I saw Down To earth with Zac Efron suggested on my home page, I was instantly intrigued. Zac Efron has made a documentary?  Huh?  The show follows Zac and his friend Darin as they travel around the world, visiting places and communities and exploring how different areas of society are living sustainably and offering new methods and solutions for the fight against global warming and climate change. A particularly interesting aspect of the show to me was how blatantly aware Efron is of the world he lives in. Hollywood is extremely detached from the reality of our worlds problems, taking their time to promote fads and over consumption rather than tackling real world issues. Efron uses his voice and influence throughout the show to highlight these problems, and shed light on solutions for power generation, food and produce production and consumption...