TV & Film

Little Women (2019) review (spoilers!) by Eloise Aiken

Here's a sneak peek:

I recently watched the 2019 film version of Little Women and subsequently felt the overwhelming urge to read the book. Whilst I had vague memories of my mother reading it to me as a child, I didn’t remember much of the story and to be quite honest, I thought that the whole thing was rather boring and quite dull. I mean, the title isn’t particularly exciting, in fact it sounds quite demure if anything. But after watching Greta Gerwig’s 2019 film adaptation my mind has been changed and I have absolutely fallen in love with Little Women, both Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and Greta Gerwig’s.

I recently watched the 2019 film version of Little Women and subsequently felt the overwhelming urge to read the book. Whilst I had vague memories of my mother reading it to me as a child, I didn’t remember much of the story and to be quite honest, I thought that the whole thing was rather boring and quite dull. I mean, the title isn’t particularly exciting, in fact it sounds quite demure if anything. But after watching Greta Gerwig’s 2019 film adaptation my mind has been changed and I have absolutely fallen in love with Little Women, both Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and Greta Gerwig’s.

This movie felt so modern, yet respectful of the time period, remaining accurate and believable. I think that it was able to feel so relevant and modern because it focuses on timeless themes. It is a story about women and money, love and ambition and the pursuit of the arts. It is just so fantastic and inspiring. I’m now going to dive into the specifics of what I loved about the book and movie (in probably quite an all over the place way), so spoilers (of a story written 150 years ago) ahead!

One thing that I loved about Gerwig’s adaptation is that she focuses on Jo’s writing, Jo’s ambition and her dreams. In fact, this is really at the core of the movie. We follow Jo as she pursues her journey to become a writer. The movie opens and closes with Jo, her writing and her book. This felt so important and I loved seeing the story being set up in this way. In the book, for 85% of it, Jo is focused on her writing and then she suddenly stops writing and loses her ambition to become an author in the last 15%. As I discovered this while reading the book, I felt heartbroken and frustrated. For the whole book Jo had been banging on about how she would be an author and how she would never get married and then she suddenly abandons her convictions and stops writing, gets married and opens a school for boys? No thank you! I was devastated that Jo never wrote a book like she had always dreamed. I did some research, unable to comprehend why Louisa had done this and found out that this was not actually what she had wanted for Jo:

“Publishers won’t let authors finish up as they like but insist on having people married off in a wholesale manner which much afflicts me. ‘Jo’ should have remained a literary spinster…” – Louisa May Alcott

This set my heart at rest and if anything made the 2019 movie that much more special. Gerwig tells the story of Jo in a way that Alcott would have wanted. In the opening scene when Jo is speaking to a publisher, he says to her “Make it short and spicy. And if the main character’s a girl, make sure she’s married by the end. Or dead, either way.” Gerwig addresses Alcott’s struggle with Jo head on and in doing so, told a story closer to that of Louisa May Alcott’s, who never did get married and remained a literary spinster!

Saoirse Ronan is absolutely excellent as Jo. She is fierce yet vulnerable, strong and caring. Such talent, and an absolute highlight. I could not get enough of her. I think my favourite scene from the entire movie has to be when Jo is in the attic with Marmee, and Jo says this:

“Women have minds and souls as well as hearts, ambition and talent as well as beauty and I’m sick of being told that love is all a woman is fit for. But... I am so lonely.” – Jo March

This had me in tears. I was an utter mess. I have thought about this line and this scene so much and continue to think about it. It absolutely stands today. It acknowledges that it is wonderful to be ambitious and driven, but it is also ok to feel lonely. It is ok to want a significant other while wanting a career. It is ok to want and to have both. You are neither less or more of a woman or less or more strong.

In the movie, I actually really liked Amy (shocker I know). Whist Florence Pugh certainly did not look like a twelve-year-old girl, she did play an excellent Amy, especially in the second part when Amy is in Europe. Something that I loved in the movie that I did not feel was present in the book was Amy’s moment where she tells Laurie that she doesn’t just want to be his second choice, after Jo. In the book, Amy doesn’t really have a clear moment where she is conflicted by Laurie falling in love with her so soon after Jo rejected him. I felt like Gerwig gave Amy more substance and built on the Amy in the book. I also like Amy because she speaks her mind and tells it like it is. She has this wisdom that really shines through towards the end "The world is hard on ambitious girls” She was just excellent!

The casting of this movie was just impeccable, and I find it hard to flaw. There was no better woman than Laura Dern to play Marmee, she had this wonderful warmth and strength to her that I adored. I loved seeing Emma Watson in a role like Meg, whilst I have never been able to personally connect with Meg, I felt like Emma did a wonderful job at bringing depth to who Meg is. I thought that Eliza Scanlan was a very lovely Beth, very gentle and warm, I became very attached to Beth and was left sobbing towards the end. Timothee Chalamet was excellent as Laurie. I think he was fun, sensitive, open and vulnerable, all of the qualities that Laurie needed to have. However, I desperately wanted Laurie and Jo to be together which was not the case when I read the book. Maybe it’s just something about Saoirse Ronan and Timothee Chalamet on screen together, I was again, left sobbing.

This story has touched me and will stay with me for a very long time. I keep finding myself thinking about Little Women, the story and the movie. It is so relevant and insightful and inspiring. I am in awe of Greta Gerwig’s genius, the brilliance of the story and the fact that I didn’t read Little Women earlier! There are so many more things I could say. But I think that I may finish this review with a few quotes from the book that I loved.

“I like good strong words that mean something.” – Jo

“I want to do something splendid… something heroic or wonderful, that won’t be forgotten after I’m dead. I don’t know what, but I’m on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all someday.” – Jo

“For public opinion is a giant which has frightened stouter-hearted Jacks on bigger beanstalks than hers.”

“For to be independent and earn the praise of those she loved, were the dearest wishes of her heart, and this seemed to be the first step towards that happy end.”


“Nathan For You” is the Reality TV Show For You by Samar Athar

Here's a sneak peek...

Airing between 2013-2017, Comedy Central’s “Nathan For You” has flown somewhat under the cultural radar. However, nothing escapes my ever-lasting quest to find new ways of procrastinating, which is lucky because “Nathan For You” is an underrated masterpiece.

Airing between 2013-2017, Comedy Central’s “Nathan For You” has flown somewhat under the cultural radar. However, nothing escapes my ever-lasting quest to find new ways of procrastinating, which is lucky because “Nathan For You” is an underrated masterpiece.

The premise of the show involves comedian Nathan Fielder, who has graduated from “one of Canada’s top business schools, with really good grades”, putting his business degree to good use:

“I’m using my knowledge to help struggling small business owners to make it in this competitive world.”

Implementing unorthodox marketing strategies that no real marketing consultant could conceive, and which most attorneys would consider unwise, “Nathan For You” presents an absurdist reality TV show comedy that I deem essential viewing for any conscientious HSC Business Studies student, and anyone who loves dry (and often cringe-inducing) humour.

For example, understanding the need for differentiating a pizzeria from its competition, Nathan recommends a business adopt an ‘eight-minute delivery, or free pizza’ guarantee. When the delivery inevitably takes more than eight minutes, a pizza with a diameter of one inch is offered for free, thus technically avoiding false advertisement.

Similar schemes are hatched to give these small businesses a competitive edge, whether it’s using legal exceptions for theatrical purposes to help a bar circumvent the ban on indoor smoking, or using parody law to use established corporate branding and logos to create the coffee shop Dumb Starbucks, which serves drinks such as a Dumb Venti Caramel Macchiato.

It is Nathan’s earnestness and deadpan, that makes the comedy of the show so innovative. When encountering a business claiming to have the best burgers in LA, Nathan, who despite not eating red meat and thus not trying the burgers, is so assured, he convinces the owner to wager $100 to anyone who disagrees with the claim. Of course, many customers sacrifice earnest honesty for monetary gain, making tall claims about their dislike of the burgers. Frustrated, Nathan asks one “Do you want the hundred dollars, or an academy award?”

Unlike other reality TV shows, where the reality part is more of a rarity, “Nathan For You” offers an antidote: authenticity. Misled by Fielder’s deadpan guise, many business owners believe the advice and schemes to be genuine attempts to assist their business, and thus comply, too polite to question their absurdism. They believe Nathan is a misguided marketing consultant who aims to be helpful, and are willing to give his schemes a go. After his imaginative pitches, they offer encouragement in the form of:

“Mmm.”

“It’s interesting… uh.”

“It’s an idea… it’s definitely an idea.”

“That’s possible… yeah.”

Is it a highbrow social commentary? Is it an elaborate prank show? Is it a documentary on the struggles of small businesses in an increasingly volatile economy?

You have to watch to find out.

Full episodes of “Nathan for You” are available on comedycentral.com.au/nathan-for-you.


Netflix Reviews by Archisha Mishra

Here's a sneak peek...

No Good Nick

  • Comedy-Drama

  • 3 seasons, 20 episodes

  • Nick plots revenge on a family who unknowingly destroyed her life

No Good Nick

  • Comedy-Drama

  • 3 seasons, 20 episodes

  • Nick plots revenge on a family who unknowingly destroyed her life

A Series of Unfortunate Events

  • Mystery, Gothic Fiction, Dark Comedy

  • 3 seasons, 25 episodes

  • Three Baudelaire siblings are orphaned and are taken in by their distant relative Count Olaf who is after their fortune.

Alexa &Katie

  • Sitcom

  • 3 seasons, 31 episodes

  • A teen drama of two best friends, and tension rises as one of them has cancer.

Family Reunion

  • Sitcom and TV comedy

  • 2 seasons, 20 episodes

  • A family struggles to make the transition from life in Seattle to Georgia, where the extended family lives.

Wolfblood

  • Fantasy, Horror

  • 5 seasons, 73 episodes

  • The television series revolves around the life of the species known as wolfbloods.

Team Kaylie

  • TV comedy

  • 3 seasons, 20 episodes

  • Team Kaylie shows what happens when a teen celeb has to give it all up and try to fit in as a normal middle schooler.

ALL SHOWS HERE ARE RATED 90 OR ABOVE BY GOOGLE USERS

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (music review) by Harriet Vitek

Here's a sneak peek...

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, a seven piece ‘rock’ band from Melbourne whose music is just as intriguing as their name suggests. Now, ‘rock’ has been quoted as these genius musicians have made a self proclaimed mission to explore a different genre in each album. In my opinion, an album for everyone.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, a seven piece ‘rock’ band from Melbourne whose music is just as intriguing as their name suggests. Now, ‘rock’ has been quoted as these genius musicians have made a self proclaimed mission to explore a different genre in each album. In my opinion, an album for everyone. One of their earlier albums Paper Mache Dream Balloon follows a type of psychedelic folk style, perfect for an afternoon chill or an intense study session. Disclaimer - this album makes your inner soul boogie and you just may be tempted to rush out and buy an acoustic guitar, so I suggest hiding your wallet before listening. However, if you're wanting something at a bit of a faster pace, dip your toes into a pool of greatness with their more psych rock album of Flying Microtonal Banana or I’m In Your Mind Fuzz. The boys throughout these albums have also not just created a basic 4 chord progression, but rather delved into the land of modal music. Modes are a sort of medieval scale that are used surprisingly often in some of these more progressive artists - even the Beatles used them in their later work! The use of these modes creates this really unique sound which is so common to King Gizz. Now, I could go on and on about all the crazy fun facts about this group however I am going to invite you to listen to their music first and foremost. With the band releasing FIVE albums just in 2017 there is definitely something for you. I would highly recommend this band to anyone, and particularly those wanting to widen their musical horizons and tastes.