Movies that I managed to see this October.

So even though I haven't been able to see that many movies lately, I've still managed to see some of the recently released films. I've managed to watch with my friends some of those movies that I thought looked interesting and that would be worth watching.

Indeed, even though things have been a bit challenging lately, we've tried to find time to do things together. As long as it has been possible - either in person or through skype / discord, we've managed to spend time together watching these movies.

So this time I have three interesting movies to review. I watched an animation about a girl and a Yeti called 'Abominable', a Sherlock Holmes spin-off movie called 'Enola Holmes' about his sister and 'Borat 2', a sequel to the popular Sacha Baron Cohen comedy film.

In any case, the first movie that I watched with my friend is 'Abominable', an animation from the Dreamworks studio that I watched with my friend. We watched the movie, because as fans of animations almost every animated film is worth seeing.

Premise-wise, we're talking about a movie where a Chinese girl in a big city befriends a Yeti that escapes from a research facility. Together with the help of some side-kicks, they try to avoid the bad guys and try to get the Yeti to its homeplace in Himalayas.

Quality-wise, I have to say that we were both positively surprised by the film. 'Abominable' as a movie manages to be genuinely entertaining and story-wise has a good & uplifting message in it (95% fresh rating by the audience on Rottentomatoes.com).

Indeed, as we follow our likable characters, you can't help but to be interested in what happens to them. As they get closer to their destination, you can feel how they keep growing as characters and become better as human beings (especially the self-centered guy). 

Story-wise, the only real problem in the film is that as our heroes ran into obstacles, the Yeti creature too many times comes up with magical skills out of nowhere to save them. These transitional scenes were almost too lazy and could have been better.

Still, when you think about the film as a whole, considering the entertaining nature of the film, those aspects didn't bother me too much. They weren't too serious, so if you haven't seen the movie yet, you should give 'Abominable' a chance at some point and check it out. 

So the second movie that I watched with my friend is the recent Sherlock Holmes film 'Enola Holmes'. We decided to give the film about Sherlock's sister chance once we noticed that the film was released on Netflix and was available for us both to watch.

Indeed, even though the reviews hadn't been that good (6.6/10 at IMDB.com), we thought that the adventure / mystery movie would be worth our time. It was likely that there would be enough redeeming qualities in it that we would be able to appreciate.

So when it comes to the basic premise in the film, the story is basically about Enola trying to find out what happened to her mother. Once her mother one day disappears and she doesn't contact Enola for quite some time, she feels like she has to spring into action.

Plot-wise in the movie, it won't take long before in in the story things start to get complicated. Once Enola hops on a train to go to the big city to find out more, she meets a young man who is being chased by an assassin trying to kill him for some weird reason. 

Later on, it's revealed that this young handsome man is a heir to a powerful family and that a big political decision in the kingdom is about to occur. Together they try to find out what is going on (women's suffrage) and how to save the day & stop the bad guys. 

Quality-wise, it has to be said that even though there are a lot of good things that can be said about the film, it didn't turn out to be as good as I had hoped for. It's not good enough, even though it has high production values and the acting is really good.

Story-wise, the biggest problem with the film is that it doesn't have a proper finale or a climax. The arc about Enola trying to find her mom (it's hinted that she's on dangerous mission) goes absolutely nowhere and turns out to be a huge dud (she just shows up at the end).

In that sense, even though 'Enola Holmes' has its moments and is fairly entertaining in many places, I can recommend it that much. I can't give it a high score, because even though it looks good and is well acted, the ending for the film really is that big of a disappointment.

The third and the last movie that I managed to see this month is 'Borat 2' that stars comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. This is a sequel to the comedy film that was made in 2006 about a Kazakhstani man Borat's documentary adventures in the United States.

So when it comes to the first 'Borat', the reason that the film was so popular and highly rated is that Borat's awkward character ran into all kinds of hilarious situations. Especially when it came to those interviews with various famous racist republicans, the movie was a laugh riot.

Sequel-wise, once 'Borat' became a household name in the U.S, it wasn't that easy to trick people anymore. Since almost everyone now knew the guy - with the exception of some hillbillies - he had to come up with something new this time.

Indeed, this time that 'Borat' is on mission (to bring a gift to the Trump administration), he not only has to wear disguises to fool of his targets but he also has a partner. He's this time accompanied by a young Kazakhstani woman who serves as a crucial sidekick.

Not surprisingly, like in the first movie, together these two run into all kinds of wild & ridiculous situations. We have the usual republican targets that include pro-life 'doctors', stepford wives, hillbillies, fundamentalists and 'America's mayor' Rudy Giuliani.

Quality-wise, it has to be said that me and my friends found the movie to be a laugh fest. As we watched the film during our pizza evening, I was totally laughing during most of the scenes in the film (warning: some of the bits were a bit too crass). 

Story-wise, it has to be said that the plot was okayish but could have been better too. There were some moments that weren't really that strong (especially the break-up with his sidekick) and you kinda felt that that movie lacked a direction in certain places.

Still, when you think about film as a whole, 'Borat 2' in my opinion managed to be a film worth watching. It's a film that has lots of laughs in it, so if you're a fan of political cringe comedy like this, I think it's a safe bet that you should give it a chance and watch it.

Spiderman: 'Homecoming' & 'Far From Home'.

So when it comes to my favorite superhero it's not exactly a secret that I'm a fan of the Spider-man character. This is a superhero that I've been able to relate to the best and have found his and adventures to be worth following (in movies).

Indeed, especially when it comes to the first two Sam Raimi films that starred Tobey Maguire, those movies were like they were made for me. Especially when it comes to the second one in the series, that film really managed to impress me. 

At the same time, once we were done with those two movies, things started to get considerably worse in the series. The third film was already a mess and when it came to the Andrew Garfield ones that came soon after, those movies were almost completely unwatchable.

So not surprisingly, when I noticed a couple of years ago that the franchise was being rebooted again - the second time in less than ten years, I wasn't getting excited. I didn't have my hopes up, because I didn't think these films in the franchise would get any good again.

Nevertheless, a couple of weeks ago me and my friend decided to give these new spidey-films a chance. We thought that maybe we should check them, because even though we had our doubts, there wasn't really anything else that we had in mind to watch.

So when it comes to these 'new' films, the first Spider-man movie that we watched naturally was 'Spider-man: Homecoming'. The film stars Tom Holland as our beloved Peter Parker/Spider-man who is trying to sort his problems and save the world from the bad guys.

Character-wise, it has to be said that right from the start the film manages to get something right. Once we're introduced to our protagonist, we notice that our spider-man is a likable character instead of being an unlikable jerk (the Andrew Garfield films).

Soon after, we're also introduced to the rest of the cast - the side-kick, the villain (Michael Keaton as Vulture) and Parker's crush. We get the usual beats like Parker being a student, the villain doing his things and spider-man trying to save the day - which seem promising. 

However, as the movie keeps progressing, goes past its midpoint and is about to reach its climax, it becomes more and more apparent that there's isn't much of a real story here. Even though the story beats keep coming, these short five minute cycles don't add up to much. 

Indeed, the biggest problem with the movie is that there just isn't any overarching plot or theme that would make it memorable or meaningful. The story just plods along without giving you anything that would make you feel (the film has seven credited writers). 

Quality-wise, the movie also suffers otherwise from the script being all over the place. The jokes are too crass, they don't fit in and there are even some problems with over the top 'virtue signaling' (Keaton's daughter is black, Lincoln statue racism 'joke' references etc.).

So not surprisingly, once me and my friend were done with 'Home-coming', we weren't that excited about watching 'Spider-man: Far From Home' as our next movie. Even though Holland as spider-man was pretty good, we thought that the next film wouldn't be that great.

However, having now seen 'Far From Home' too, it has to be said that this spider-man film turned out to be a much better movie than the first one was. Both me and my friend were pleasantly surprised over the quality of this movie.

Indeed, the second film - that this time takes place in Europe (in Prague, Paris, Venice, Austria, London & Berlin) - is way better written as a whole. It manages to learn from almost all of the mistakes that it made in 'Home-coming' both story- and theme-wise.

In practice, what this means is that 'Far From Home' does its best to keep things as positive as possible. Almost everyone in the cast seems to be having a good time (the characters are more likable too) and you can't help but to be invested in what happens to them.

Story-wise, we have much clearer and better arcs that not only involve Mary-Jane and Peter Parker as a couple, but also our hero's struggles with the villain. There's a lot more (emotional) interaction between the characters that give the story meaning.

In hindsight, the only real problem in the film is that the villain by Jake Gyllenhaal doesn't make enough sense and there are some plot contrivances too. Some of them were a bit too lazy for my tastes (like Mary Jane finding the villain's broken device) and were a bit lacking.

Still, when it comes to the the film as whole it has to be said that 'Spider-Man: Far From Home', quality-wise was a positive surprise. It turned out to be much more entertaining than what I had expected based on the first part in the 'new' re-rebooted series.

In that sense, if you haven't seen the latest Spider-man film in the franchise yet, I think it's safe to say that you should give it a chance. If you're a fan of superhero films and especially the Spider-man character, you should give this one chance and not be discouraged.

After all, even though the second Sam Raimi film with Tobey Maguire is still the best in the series, this latest movie is a pretty good one too. It's a pretty solid film and despite my initial low expectations managed to keep me entertained and thrilled me from its start to its finish.

Blake Snyder's beat sheet for my children's book.

So when it comes to my book writing project, it can finally be said that I have more or less completed the book. After spending tons of time writing and rewriting it, it looks like that in its current form the book is starting to get as good as it can only become.

Indeed, even though I've said it before, this time the 'story about a nine year old girl who helps others and tries to find out what happened to her father' is pretty much completed. The story works from its first to its last page and there is a nice, balanced flow in every chapter.

In any case, in order to illustrate the story a bit, I thought about showing how closely the structure in the book follows Blake Snyder's beat sheet. This is the story formula (click the link) that in my opinion is the best when it comes to explaining story in lay-man's terms.

So in the book, the first thing that happens in the story is that in its short prologue I sum up who my main character (Valerie) is and what she does [theme and set-up]. She's a curious girl who likes to help others - even homeless people - which gets her sometimes in trouble.

Arc-wise, when it comes to the story, the biggest and the most important 'goal' that she has is that she wants to know what happened to her father. This is an issue that her mother has said that she simply doesn't want to talk about until she becomes older.

Not surprisingly, since our protagonist is being raised by a single mother, financially they're not doing well. They live very frugally, which means that Valerie can't afford to have any hobbies that she would like to have - which is also why she has no friends either.

This lack of having no friends and hobbies also manifests in school where at the art class Valerie tends to draw paintings that are a bit depressing. This leads to Valerie visiting the school psychologist to talk about what to do about her problems in life [debate].

Story-wise the first big moment in the book happens [catalyst] when a new student joins Valerie's class. The new student is a girl who also happens to have a single mother - although this one is an extremely well off go-getter who only cares about her career.

Not surprisingly, Valerie and the new girl (who is overweight) quickly become friends and become a duo that has an opportunity to do things together. For once the girl has a real friend instead of her just playing alone with her expensive toys and games.

Entertainment-wise, the story really gets going [break into two] when the girl go to visit different places [fun and games] with their class. We have the usual visits to an amusement park (Valerie's friend helps her with the expenses), to the museum and some other things too. 

For Valerie, there are quite a few things that she tries to do during these parts [B story]. Even though she's not yet doing anything about her father, she tries to 1) help the neighbour who sleepwalks, 2) help the homeless man 3) find the elusive stray cat and 4) help her friend. 

Indeed, this section in the story is also when the new friend wants to change her life. Instead of being an overweight girl who likes to eat to feel better, she wants to do something about her weight problem - which leads to her to taking dancing as a hobby.

Story-wise, this is when things in many ways are at their best for both the characters. Even though they haven't yet managed to reach their goals and solve their problems, it seems like things are going their way and that 'nothing' is going to stop them. 

However, once we reach the half way in the story [mid point], this is when things slowly start to get worse. Valerie starts her quest to know what happened her to father and there are some hints that her friend's mother has some plans too that the girls won't like.

Indeed, after Valerie tries to find some information about her father from some letters that her mother keeps in her room, she wants to know more. She goes to social services office, where she sneakily manages to get information that her father is in prison serving time.

For Valerie this is obviously depressing (is she a bad person too she asks) but her friend has even worse news. The girl's greedy mother announces that she's getting a promotion in a couple of months, which means that they're going to move again then [all is lost].

Naturally, this leads to both girls getting depressed [dark night of the soul] and thinking that there isn't anything that can be done about the whole thing. They can't stop her mother's plans and it looks like that their friendship is soon going to be over.

Yet, even though things do admittedly look genuinely bleak for the girls at this point, this is still not a reason to give up. Even though things seem hopeless and horrible, all is not lost and they have to keep going and make the best out of their situation.

Indeed, once we get to the third and the final act in the story [break into three] Valerie's friend's dancing hobby becomes even more important to her. Even though her transformation doesn't always go as well as she would have wanted, she does do her very best here. 

Even more important in the third act of the book is the storyline - the most important arc in the book - that has to do with Valerie's father. This gets to the forefront again when Valerie goes to visit the homeless man - who is sick - at the hospital.

Indeed, when she visits the homeless man and tries to make the man contact his family before it's too late, she also thinks about her own father. As she writes a letter on the man's behalf, she decides that she should contact her father too (she writes a letter for her dad).

Resolution-wise, after all these events in the story, when we finally reach the [finale], we have all kinds of threads to resolve. There is the father question, Valerie's friendship, her friend's transformation, the sleepwalking neighbour and the situation with the homeless man too. 

In theory, when it comes to concluding these storylines, if I hadn't properly introduced them (setup, theme, premise), in that case the story might have gone pretty much anywhere. Had I not taken care of the stuff in the first act, I guess anything could have happened.

However, based on how things were built especially in the first part, all these storylines get a resolution that is more or less satisfying to the audience. Based on the themes and the setup that I came up with, I had no choice but to do what I did here (uplifting resolutions).

Indeed, even though in the case of the sleepwalker there is a fairly tough lesson to be learned and the same goes for the girl's greedy mom, for others I had to be as gentle as possible. This includes the storyline with Valerie's father that actually has an open ended resolution.

In that sense, when I look at the story in the book as a whole, in hindsight it's pretty clear that I managed to come up with a fairly well structured story here. I managed to come up with a story that works and makes sense when it comes to the crucial and important stuff.

After all, even though I had no prior experience in writing books, the story is really surprisingly solid here. The characters in the book are likable and relatable (which is crucial) and as a reader you want to know what happens next to them in their storylines.

Beat sheet-wise, it has to be mentioned how closely the book follows the late Blake Snyder's story structure (beat sheet calculator). Once we get past the first act, most of the beats happen almost exactly on the pages that they 'in theory' should occur. 

After all, even though the first act is bound to have some variance, the rest follow closely the beats. 'Fun & games' starts on page 56 (in theory 57), midpoint is in the middle, 'all is lost' is on page 134 (in theory 136) and 'dark night of the soul' ends on page 156 (154 in theory).

Still, when it comes to this whole thing, even though the book works and seems to be really solid, that still leaves us with one important question. Is this book that I've been working on for so long good enough to finally be published by one of the book companies out there?

After all, even though the book is now good, previous versions and attempts haven't been enough for any of the publishers. They haven't been good enough and instead the book companies have played it 'safe' with publishing others who have a built-in audience already.

Still, when it's all said and done, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the remaining publishers that are there. I'm trying to be optimistic and not give up, because even though it's hard to get published nowadays, this book that I wrote - at least in my opinion - really is worth publishing.