arts // no. § theotherpress.ca What if you didn't love those boys before? » A movie discussion of ‘To All the Boys I've Loved Before’ Sonam Kaloti Arts Editor All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a teen romance movie directed by Susan Johnson, based on the book of the same name by Jenny Han. The movie has sparked tons of conversation on social media. The lovebird stars of the film Lana Condor (playing Lara Jean) and Noah Centineo (playing Peter Kavinsky) have gained a massive following across their social platforms because of this film. The movie boasts an impressive score of 96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The plot follows protagonist Lara Jean who writes love letters to the five boys she has crushed on without the intention of ever mailing out the letters. They remain her secret until, one day, the letters are mysteriously mailed out to all the boys. It is then up to shy Lara Jean to engage in multiple awkward confrontations with these boys to fix everything. After a casual discussion with some people about how they felt unsafe publicly discussing their negative views on the very popular movie, we decided to open the conversation up further to find out what having a negative opinion on this film with so much positive traction really means for the individual. The Other Press interviewed two Douglas College students: Johana Martinez, a second-year student in the Child and Youth Care program, and Akshay Mishra, a first year studying Computer Science, to gain a broader outlook. “Seven out of ten ... wholesome,” said Mishra, beginning with a rating. Martinez said that she liked the film and it felt as though she could relate to the protagonist thinking back on her own high school experiences. This movie sits well with many teenagers to young adults because of how the protagonist, Lara Jean, has never had a boyfriend and does not understand how to cope with her feelings, which most people do struggle with and can relate to. On the critical side, Mishra said, “A lot of interactions with [Lara Jean] seem very awkward and forced, [which] show lack of experience.” Mishra then brought up plot holes in the film such as how Lara Jean “mentions five boys she loved before, [but the movie] only shows three dudes.” He also mentioned his dissatisfaction with Lara Jean’s motivations and the lack of detail regarding her past relationship with Peter. Martinez said that the movie's plot was “like a lot of Wattpad fanfiction ... in how [the film] is super cliché,” but she noted that cliché is a respected staple in most romance movies. We then delved into the topic of mob mentality and if that may have played a part in the film’s outstanding success due to more people watching and enjoying it. “Absolutely,” Mishra said. “Listening to another person’s opinion of a movie before watching it yourself can definitely skew your feelings about it. If you're told a movie is good before seeing it by someone you trust, you will be more inclined to look over its faults and blindly follow their opinion.” Martinez agreed as well. “If you have a really big group of people hyping [To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before] and being like ‘Yeah, this movie's so great!’ ... you kind of feel like you re influenced by those group of people, ora little bit pressured like ‘Oh, I should watch this, too! or be like, ‘T should watch this because people are talking about it and it gives me something to talk about and it makes me feel like I’m in the conversation or that I’m in this ... trend that’s going on,” said Martinez. “I think it’s more to do with fitting in and that’s some of the reasons why people would watch it. Or being like “Why are these people watching this? I want to know what all this fuss is about because I don't get it.” We discussed the threat of unhealthy repressed feelings due to the lack of a safe platform to voice opinions. It feels as though there’s a frightening connection between that lack of a platform and what it could mean to be “brainwashed” by the media into liking a movie with sucha heightened esteem. Martinez said that the film “being super popularized makes you feel like you have to know it ... you have to actually like it ... and that’s what makes people Image of ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ via Netflix who don't like [this movie] feel repressed because they feel they can’t share why they don't like it because others [will say] ‘I don’t care!’ ‘T don’t want to know! Which goes into a big negative circle. We've gotten to the point where if your opinion isn't [a] positive opinion on something, then it’s the wrong kind of opinion. People should be able to have their own opinions and express them—and if they can’t do that, then we're obviously doing something wrong with the world [and] with the media.” Mishra summed up our discussion on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before ina way that we all could agree on: “Having a controversial opinion on anything is always a little scary. But it is an ‘opinion; if not everyone agrees it’s all right, you do you boo boo?” Conjuring the Nun was a mistake > ‘The Nun’ film review Sonam Kaloti Arts Editor kek YY hat’s the opposite of being at the edge of your seat? Because that’s how I felt watching The Nun directed by Corin Hardy. I had never watched a horror movie in theatres before and to be frank, I do not watch horror movies much at all; I hate the dark and find enough spooks within my own (very scary) life. We didn't get a clear idea on the motives for any of the characters’ actions. Therefore, we might assume that the reason the Nun is so angry the whole time was because her skin is almost as bad as mine. (Spoilers ahead!) The film begins with the stars of the movie, Father Burke (Demian Bichir), Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), and Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), striding on over to investigate the suicide of a nun in Romania, as you do, followed by many paranormal events that force the group to stay longer. It’s quickly apparent that the Nun is dim-witted—for example, the demon buries Father Burke alive, yet leaves him the bell within the coffin to ring for help. Lucky for us, Father Burke is no parental figure within the Goosebumps series; he immediately believes there is a Promotional image for ‘The Nun’ demonic presence and does not have to be told twice. In contrast to Father Burke’s fearless determination to rid the evil, The Nun provides us comic relief in the form of the character Frenchie: A good-looking French Canadian with legs that run faster to the nearest all-you-can-drink bar than the amount of time it takes him to rip out a giant wooden cross from the abbey graveyard prior to that destination. Sister Irene has her share of screen time due to her strange but quickly accepted psychic abilities—nobody really has time to ask questions. My favourite scene is when Frenchie is lifted off the ground and the demon says something cringe-worthy along the lines of, “You've failed everyone you care about!”— which hit a little too close to home for probably most of the audience as they were watching this movie in theatres at two in the afternoon. “I’m French Canadian!” Frenchie says, spitting back at the demon who dares to call him simply ‘French’. This is apparently a harsh comeback since the demon flies back from the force of his words. Frenchie was my favourite character, even if he’s far too melodramatic. His comedic relief, though timed terribly, still has effect. The problem is that relief comes when we don't need it, such as during a scene where tension is finally building. I will say that tension is built nicely throughout the beginning and middle of the film because of the amazing set and usage of the darkness surrounding the characters on screen. The mystery is taken away far too frequently towards the end of the movie because we see close-ups of the demon constantly and its screeches sound like an aspiring actor in a high school Halloween maze. Nonetheless, the demon nun is a scary concept and that alone saves face for all the face we had to see. I rate this movie a 2/5 because I should have been easy to scare, yet it felt as though I was watching a two-hour-long stand-up comedy routine. When tension is there, it quickly evaporates thanks to poorly- placed comedic relief. There are too many plot holes regarding why we should care about some characters we aren't properly introduced to and what the heck is going on. It lost me when they closed a demon portal with the blood of Jesus Christ, because they just have that lying around. I’m going out ona limb to say it probably wasn't the real thing. Despite all that, I'd probably watch it again just to see Sister Irene spit Jesus’ blood on the Nun's face one more time.