Music of the Day: Jaymay!

  I'm a little back-logged on movie reviews, I've seen a couple I haven't written up yet which I will get to eventually, but with college application deadlines looming, I am a little stressed. This is a quick post to say, merely, that if you have not heard of Jaymay, you need to go listen to her. Now. RIGHT NOW. Here, I'll even get you started.

This is now one of my favorite songs ever. Those lyrics... Gah. 

This is also absolutely wonderful. 

  Just go listen to all of her songs, okay? Okay. I've been darn-near fixated on her music for maybe 4 months now. She just... gets things. Go listen.

Movie of the Day: In Bruges

  So I'd heard good things about this movie, and particularly the writing, so I was looking forward to it. I'll get right into it.
  The Basic Premise: Two hitmen have a job that goes wrong and are forced to hide out in Bruges (hence the title). Bruges is a city in Belgium, in case you didn't know (which I didn't).
  The Verdict: I'm teetering on the edge of "liked it a lot" and "loved it". This movie is beautifully, amazingly, fantastically written. Extremely well-plotted, as nothing is unmotivated, nothing is unexplained, everything leads back to some more important event later. And such well-handled exposition, which is the mark of a strong screenplay. The music's quite nice, too, though it does detract from the tension some moments should have. The directing and acting are very good, but a tad artsy and in-your-face for my taste. You become slightly too aware of the directing, I think, which pulls you out of the immersive experience of an otherwise great movie. Otherwise, though, the screenplay by Martin McDonagh (who also directed it) astounds. If nothing else, Martin McDonagh has a new fan in me, he's definitely one to watch. I need to watch Seven Psychopaths now; it's his second writing/directing feature and is in theaters currently. I'll give this an 8.8/10, but the screenplay alone gets a 10/10.
  Favorite Line: Very tough choice, since this movie functions so well as a drama and a crime story and a comedy and so much more, all of which is due to some fantastic lines, but I think the very first line of the movie is one of the most gripping first lines I've ever heard, and it really sets up the flexible tone of the rest of the movie. "After I killed him, I dropped the gun in the Thames, washed the residue off me hands in the bathroom of a Burger King, and walked home to await instructions. Shortly thereafter the instructions came through - 'Get the f*** out of London, you dumb f***s. Get to Bruges.' I didn't even know where Bruges f***ing was. *Pause* It's in Belgium."

Movie of the Day: Looper

  "What?! He's going to talk about a movie that is current and relevant?! What a twist of events!"
  So, as the trailer shows, Looper is basically about a hitman who kills people sent back through time by the mafia, but one day future-him comes back through time, and he lets himself escape, and chaos ensues.
  This movie was written and directed by Rian Johnson, of Brick fame. That movie, a cult classic at this point, also effectively launched the career of another incredibly talented actor (one of my favorites) and the star of the movie at hand, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (I recommend Brick if you haven't seen it, by the way; modern film noir in a high school setting might be as intriguing as it gets.)
  Now, I don't know if I'm just really easily pleased or I just happen to watch a lot of good movies, but I've given a lot of high scores in the reviews on here. Looper, though, deserves the high score I'm obviously going to give it, without a doubt in my mind. For being one of my most anticipated movies of the fall season and having been given very high ratings by all of my favorite Youtube reviewers, Looper still managed to impress beyond any of my expectations.
  How do I love Looper, you ask? Let me count the ways. The exposition is handled perfectly, which is the mark of a masterful screenplay. JGL's acting is phenomenal, he completely disappears into the role (like he does in every other role of his). Emily Blunt and Pierce Gognan truly surprised with their acting chops. Rian Johnson's writing is impeccable, layered with complexity but understood with simplicity. His directing style is risky in all the right ways, with all the perfect payoffs; he takes his time when he's supposed to, skips over what he should, is fragile when he needs to be and aggressive when he needs to be. AND THAT ENDING. Perfection. Just perfection. Every time I think of the ending, right down to the song during the credits, I just get a deep feeling of satisfaction somewhere deep inside my stomach. I love it. I'm a little suspicious of the IMDB Top 250 list, but this movie definitely deserves its place on that list. It should probably be higher, even. This rating is solidified in my head the more I think about it. 10/10

  Favorite line: Can't type it here, both for fear of spoiling it and because I don't remember it word for word, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt's final voice-over monologue of the movie. Perfection. Rian Johnson is really one to watch.