Review of the film 'The Accountant'.

Even though I have been watching quite a few movies lately, I haven't managed to watch that many drama films. Most of the movies that I've watched in the last few months have been either animations or action films.

The biggest reason that I don't like watching drama films is that I'm worried that they don't put me on a good mood. Life is pretty depressing already, so why should I watch something that wouldn't cheer me up?

Nevertheless, a couple of days ago I managed to watch a drama film called 'The Accountant' with my friend. This is a movie that had gotten pretty good reviews at imdb.com, so we thought that we should give it a chance.

The premise of the film is that an autistic accountant, played by Ben Affleck, lives a secret life. This math genius is someone who not only excels at uncovering accounting frauds, but he also happens to be an adept killing machine.

The movie about an autistic hitman begins with an introduction that deals with his childhood. Our main protagonist is a young kid who despite his serious behavioral problems has an uncanny ability to solve intellectual tasks and puzzles.

A bit later, when the film moves to his adulthood as a small town accountant, you can't help but to be interested in his life. How does this guy manage his life and deal with us so called 'normal' everyday individuals?

In the first act, thanks to his smart accounting advice, he manages to befriend a local couple. He accepts their invitation to their countryside farm, where he spends time with them and demonstrates his sharpshooting capabilities.

Not long after that, our accountant gets his big accounting assignment (inciting incident). In this task he's supposed to uncook the books of a company and figure out whether there's a problem with this hi-tech firm that is about to go public.

Here he manages to befriend another accounting afficionado, played by the lovely Anna Kendrick. She manages to make our main protagonist seem a little bit more human and not as hopelessly distant and cold.

After pulling an all-nighter (in the picture), Affleck's character figures out where the problems within the company's accounting practices are. Someone high enough in the firm is laundering money for his or her own endeavours.

Not surprisingly, all hell breaks loose when this multi million fraud is about to be unveiled by our accountant. The bad guys go mercilessly after Affleck's and Kendrick's character - and are determined to take care of them for good.

When it comes to the story in this movie, at least during the first ninety minutes or so, just about everything in it seems to work. This is when the autistic hitman storyline works and it looks like those behind the movie know what they are doing.

That is that, during the first two acts of 'The Accountant', pretty much all the charactes are interesting in the film and the story is focused. The storyline about the slow humanization of Affleck's character is something that you can easily follow.

It's not until the last 30 minutes when the film's story unfortunately starts to get off the rails. It turns out that there are simply too many subplots in the film that get expanded and that get attention for no reason at all.

For example, there's the subplot about the federal agent and his female assistant that gets too much attention. Especially when it came to J.K. Simmons' giving that 5-6 minute speech that was all about exposition, I had to shake my head.

Not only did that speech turn the tables around and change the focus of the film, it made Affleck's character inconsistent too. I didn't know who his character really was anymore and what were the values that he represented.

It also has to be said that the stuff about Affleck's family in the third act felt way too contrived. The fact that they made one of the bad guys his brother was just too much and made the film feel like its story was all over the place.

All in all, it's fairly obvious the film would have been much better had the writers trimmed the script and cut many of the side character storylines. These needed changes, in my opinion, would have given the film a much better flow.

As far as I'm concerned, the fact that the writers had too many 'darlings' in the script was unfortunate. These 'darlings' were mistakes that could have been avoided had someone paid a bit more attention to what worked and what didn't.

I mean, even though it's true that there were a lot of good things about 'The Accountant', as a whole these good things weren't enough to redeem the movie. There were simply too many serious problems with its script.

In the end, I just wish that the film would have worked better from start to finish. In that case, 'The Accountant' could have been a really good movie, instead of being a promising film that didn't deliver all the way through.

Looking back at last year & what to do this year.

When it comes to summing up last year's events, not all things went exactly as one might have expected. 2016 as a whole, not only could have been a better year for myself, but it could have been a better year for others too.

Below I'll try to list some of the things that were important to me and that in my opinion are worth sharing about 2016. Some of these things that happened aren't that good but not everything went totally wrong last year.

🔼 When it comes to me, almost certainly the best thing about last year is that I managed to start running again. Even though I was pretty sure that I would never be able to do heavy exercises again, I have now been regularly running 4-5 times a week.

🔼 Just like last year, I managed to write 48 articles on this site that hopefully were entertaining and informative. It took a lot of serious work (700+ hours) and I'm fairly happy that I managed to have a solid writing routine.

🔽 Unfortunately, I didn't manage to write a movie screenplay in 2016, even though it had clearly been a goal for myself. It turned out be a lot harder to come up with a solid & a potential premise than I had thought at first.

🔼 The upside to this is that after a lot of procrastination, I did finally start the project late last year. This time consuming task is going to take a lot of work and probably a lot of help from others is going to be needed.

🔼 I managed to show at least some initiative after entering a television writing competition with my Modern Family spec. This slightly revised script, in my opinion, was good enough to win any competition that's out there.

🔽 Unfortunately, when it came to this contest, it turned out that I had wasted 60$ of my precious money. I didn't even make through the first qualifying round, which just goes to show that most writing competitions simply aren't legit.

🔼 I also showed some initiative when I tried to get a 'real' writing job at Remedy gaming. I thought it would be smart to give these guys a chance, especially considering that I live only like 10 minutes away from the company headquarters.

🔽 Unfortunately, those in charge of games like Alan Wake and Quantum Break didn't [even] write me back. This was one of the biggest disappointments of the year and I can't exactly say that it encouraged me to try harder.

🔜 In any case, when it comes to this new year, I know that I should probably try a bit harder than I did in 2016. Even though I did spend considerable amount of time writing stuff, I could have done a lot more too.

🔜 Hopefully, this year I'll be able to come up with a steady writing routine for my other projects. I should be able to dedicate at least a certain amount of time every week so that I could keep going further with my script.

🔜 I will also try to do my best when it comes to updating this writing blog. Even though it's true that there are times when I don't know what to write about and that I sometimes tend to get frustrated, I still love publishing articles here.

🔜 All in all, I really hope that 2017 is going to be a solid year as a whole. I hope that I'm going to be prolific as a writer and that I'll be able to come up with stuff that is not only going to be good enough for myself, but good enough for others too.

'Storks' is a contrived but watchable film.

At least when it comes to me, one of the good things about last year was that I managed to watch a lot of animated films. I think I saw most of the animations that were released in 2016 and that had gotten decent reviews.

Of those dozen or so animations, none of them were that disappointing. Even though films like Angry Birds and Sausage Party could have been better, most of the movies that were released were fairly entertaining and well made.

In any case, a couple of days ago I managed to see 'Storks', an animated film that was also released last year. This film had received somewhat positive reviews, so I had to check how good the animation turned out to be.

In a nutshell, the story is about a stork and a girl that work in a special courier firm. This special stork powered firm used to be a baby delivering company that delivered babies for couples that wanted to become parents.

In the story we also have a young kid who is bored of being the only child in the family. This kid is more or less being neglected by his career-oriented parents, so he wants a brother or a sister that he could play with.

In the film, the kid sends a letter to the courier firm, which leads to the stork and the girl accidentally creating another baby. This baby has to be delivered to the kid and to his parents, which of course turns out to be easier said than done.

Over the course of the next hour and twenty minutes, our main characters stork and the girl run into all kinds of obstacles. These obstacles include all kinds of complications that prevent them from delivering the baby to the right address.

When it comes to the animation as a whole, I think the film is fairly entertaining and funny. Considering how contrived and derivative the premise is, I didn't expect that it could keep my attention from start to finish as well as it did.

This is not to say that there aren't any significant problems with the film and its story. Like probably many others, I couldn't help but to notice how the movie had problems with its exposition and how things didn't always make sense.

For example, the characters weren't that well drawn or well defined. I think it was fairly obvious that the writers could have done a better job with fleshing them out, even though the characters weren't by definition unlikable.

The story also felt as if it was stretched too thin and that there weren't enough story beats in the script. There were numerous scenes that didn't progress the story that were simply there to add to its running time.

Yet, despite these obvious flaws, 'Storks' as a whole managed to be relatively uplifting and enjoyable. There are certain unexpected moments in the movie that manage to surprise you and that make you feel better about it.

So if you're like me and want to be entertained, there's no reason why you shouldn't watch 'Storks'. It's not a great film, but it's still a solid animation that provides some laughs and keeps you entertained throughout its length.

I'm a big fan of 'The Graham Norton Show'.

Like probably many of you, I have never been that big of a fan of late night talk shows. I have never understood what makes it so interesting to watch stiff hosts interviewing boring celebrities and telling weak jokes to their audience.

In most cases, when it comes to talks shows, we're dealing with a television format that isn't particularly enlightening or entertaining. This kind of format doesn't aim high and in most cases provides empty laughs that you'll forget quickly.

Fortunately, there's at least one big exception to this superficial genre. As weird as it is, Graham Norton's talk show on BBC has managed to entertaing me over the years and has provided me consistent laughs and joy.

One of the biggest reasons that the show works so well is because it doesn't follow the standard late night structure. This is not a show that is based on the host having endless monologues, stupid sketches and short, forced 'interviews' with the celebrities. 

Instead of the host spending the first twenty minutes on some weak jokes and skits, the Graham Norton show moves almost immediately to its guests. Mosts of the guests on the series are introduced almost right away.

Naturally, what this means is that the celebrities are the actual stars on the show. Unlike with the rest of the 'big' talks shows, Graham Norton as a host is just one of the people taking part in the discussion, instead of being the center of the attention.

Unlike with most of the shows, in a format like this there's a lot more time to actually get to know these celebrity guests. This way it feels as if these celebrities were real people who had relatable personalities and had actual talent.

For example, it wasn't that long ago when I saw Matt Damon as a guest on the show. I was genuinely impressed when he told us about what he thinks is important in life - and what in his opinion are the things that don't matter that much.

I also liked it very much when a couple of weeks ago Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt were guests. I was more than impressed when Pratt performed a story-based card trick that surprised everyone in the audience.

Of course, there have been other great moments on the series too. Guests like Hugh Grant, Tom Hanks, Bill Murray, Russel Crowe, Michael Mcintyre, Emma Stone and others have managed to bring laughs to our lives too.

Still, none of these things change the fact that when it comes to the series working so well, the biggest reason for this is its host Graham Norton. He is the one who manages to be a natural and a likable host who keeps things going. 

Unlike with so many others in the business, he doesn't make the show about him. Unlike most hosts, he just blends in and does his best to make sure that his guests feel comfortable and relaxed so that they could be funny.

In the end, when it comes to 'The Graham Norton Show' as a whole, it's a well made series that doesn't follow the standard late night formula. It's a show that manages to avoid the usual pitfalls that most talk shows tend to suffer from. 

The series works because the guests in it, more often than not, turn out to be surprisingly likable, relatable and entertaining. They, alongside with the show's wonderful host keep us smiling and laughing throughout the series.

In that sense, even if you weren't a fan of talk shows in the first place, you probably should give 'The Graham Norton Show' a chance. At least in my view, there's a pretty good chance that you'll like the show and that it will keep you entertained.

'Star Wars: Rogue One' is an entertaining film.

Yesterday I managed to see 'Rogue One', the latest entry in the extremely popular and successful Star Wars franchise. I saw this much anticipated film after my friend gave me a free ticket so that I could watch it with him.

 

That I decided to go watch the new Star Wars film wasn't really a difficult decision. Not only had the critics in general given the movie positive reviews (84% fresh at rottentomatoes), but I had heard good things about it from others too.

In any case, now that I have seen the film, I have to say that the movie was more than a pleasant surprise. Unlike the underwhelming Episode VII: The Force Awakens, 'Rogue One' isn't just a cynical cash grab and a remake.

One of the reasons that the film works so well is because it manages to keep its audience entertained throughout the movie. There are very few moments in the film that don't work and that aren't well thought out.

At least in my view, there's a good balance between drama, action and humor in the film. The movie manages to be at the same time serious and also has some funny moments that lighten up the mood when it's needed.  

That the movie manages to work so well has a lot to do with its well written characters. I was more than pleasantly surprised that most of the characters in the film turned out to be so well drawn, relatable and likable. 

Not only are our protagonist characters professionally written and acted, the writers also managed to make the bad guys interesting. These antagonist characters helped to give the movie its much needed depth that made it work.

Naturally, since this is a Star Wars film, it shouldn't come as a surprise that there were a lot of special effects in the movie. There's a huge amount of technically demanding scenes that required tons of serious artwork.

Thankfully, very few things that we see on the big screen - unlike in the prequels - felt fake. Pretty much all the scenes, including the massive actions sequences, felt relatively natural, believable and convincing.

When it comes to the music in the film, I have to say that unlike with some of the fans,  I didn't have a problem with the musical score. Even though John Williams wasn't able to compose the soundtrack, I think Michael Giacchino did a good job with it.

Still, just because I said all these good things about the film, that doesn't mean that there weren't any problems with it. There certainly were some flaws with the script that were at least in my opinion fairly obvious and should have been avoided.

For example, one of the problems in the story was when the empire decided to test Death Star's weapon. I couldn't help but to cringe a bit when the movie awkwardly went back and forth between the empire and the rebels.

The other minor quibble I had with the story was when the rebels entered the empire's base to get the blueprints for the death star. This section was not only too convoluted and confusing, but the rebels also found their way out of harm's way too easily.

In the end, none of these small issues with the film meant that the movie as a whole was a disappointment. None of these flaws matter that much when you look at the big picture and how entertaining the movie turned out to be.

All in all, when you compare 'Rogue One' to the rest of the movies in the franchise, I think it's easily one of the best in the series. It's clearly better than any of the prequel movies and the episode VII: The Force Awakens that premiered last year. 

So if you want to be entertained and if you have nothing else to do, I'd suggest that you go watch it in theaters. At least in my opinion, there's a good chance that you'll like it, even if you weren't that big of a fan of the series.

Analytical writing vs. intuitive writing.

If there was one thing that I'd like to do better as a writer, it would likely have something to do with my ability to plan stuff. I would like to be better at planning my writing projects, so that my job as a scribe would be less difficult.

No matter what I'm writing and what the project is, it always helps if I have managed to come up with a design, plot, roadmap or a structure that can be followed. Any kind of a solid, semi-detailed plan will help significantly with the project.

For example, when it comes to writing articles on this site, the easiest tasks are the ones where I have managed to come up with a clear plan. Writing point by point critiques of games or tv shows are the least stressing and the easiest tasks to pull off.

In these mini-projects, I more or less know how things are going to go even before I start the actual writing process. I pretty much know what my main points in the article are going to be and that I have figured out the structure already.

Pretty much all I have to do is to check my cliff notes with some thought and start filling in the blanks. Writing the article doesn't require that much creativity and might even make me think that the task is too easy.

The worst thing that might happen is that I need to come up with a couple of extra points that will give the article a better flow. This is something that isn't really that difficult to pull off and can be done relatively quickly.

On the other hand, it's much more difficult to write when I'm dealing with articles where I don't have anything specific planned. In these cases I might just have managed to write the headline and the first two paragraphs, which isn't that much.

If this happens, I mostly have to use my intuition instead of using the rational side of my brain. I'm forced to write with my gut and my intuition, even though I might not feel confident and comfortable about my abilities.

In these cases, it's pretty much a given that I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. All these logical mistakes that are going to happen are the kind of errors that simply can't be avoided and that I just need to get used to them.

The upside to this all, of course, is that if I do get lucky and if I manage to write good stuff without 'a plan', it's going to make me feel good inside. It might even make me feel that I know what I'm doing and that I have a talent.

In the end, none of these things change the fact that when it comes to writing projects, it's still good to use some time with planning. Especially when it comes to your time consuming projects, it's important that you plan your tasks well.

In my case, considering that I'm currently writing a movie screenplay, I just wish that I'd be better at using the analytical side of my brain. If only I would be better at planning the script so that I would have a clearer path to follow.

In that case, not only would it be considerably more enjoyable and considerably more fun to work with the screenplay, but it would also be a lot less time consuming to make the story work and to get the script finished.

The importance of having writing routines.

Without a doubt, one of the most important things about being a scribe is that you need to have writing routines. It's crucial that as a writer you keep practicing on a regular basis - even when you don't feel like doing that at all.

As a writer, you need to keep working on your craft so that you won't lose confidence in yourself. You need to practice so that you have a good grasp of what your abilities are and what you're capable of as a writer.

For example, when it comes to me, there are frequently moments when I don't feel like writing at all. I keep thinking that it's simply not worth the effort and that I am going to fail no matter how hard I am going to try.

In these cases, my inner critic keeps telling me that I shouldn't write because I'm not getting ideas that are good enough. According to my inner self, only the best ideas have potential and that if I'm not happy with what I came up with, I shouldn't write at all. 

Moments like these are when steady writing routines really come to play. These earlier experiences and routines should remind you that you have been going through those moments before and that you managed to overcome them.

For example, when it comes to those supposedly 'horrible' ideas, it's usually a lot more important to worry about the actual execution of your ideas. The way you handle your task counts a lot more than you might think at first.

Instead of being afraid about things that might go wrong, you should most of the time set your desperate thoughts aside. You should try to stop worrying and start asking questions and start finding answers to your problems.

Once you start doing this, the chances are that you'll forget that you had those worries in the first place. You are now much more interested and much more focused on your project, trying to make it as good as possible.

In the end, I'm not saying that having solid writing routines means that you're immune to having any kinds of problems in the future. I'm not implying that writing quality stuff is a process that you can control easily.

In reality, no matter how hard you're going to try, you're almost certainly going to have some doubts about your abilities and about the quality of your work. That's just the way the writing process is always going to work.

At the same time, you most certainly shouldn't forget that you managed to establish a writing routine in the first place. This routine, as whole, made you a better writer and is something that you should really be proud of.