stuff by paige

 It took me a while to get around to watching this film - I just hadn't found myself in the mood to watch a teen dramedy. However, after reading a Twitter post about the writer and director, Alice Wu, I decided to finally give it a go, and I am very glad that I did. The Half of It follows introvert Ellie as she helps Paul, a jock from her school, by ghost writing love letters for him to the most popular girl in school, Aster. The twist is, however, that Ellie herself is also romantically interested in Aster, which sets up for a rollercoaster of a coming of age movie.  Alongside the laugh out loud development of Ellie and Pauls friendship, the romantic scenes, and the heart breaking reality of lying to a friend, this film explores some really complex themes surrounding small town mentality, sexuality and religious pressure, academic pressure and planning for the future, and the hardships, stereotyping, and racism faced when immigrating into a small town. I really really loved ...

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...