Mysterious Skin (2004)

Mysterious Skin, a disturbing drama film about pedophilia and its detrimental effects to victims. It starred the young Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Neil along with Brady Corbet as Brian and Michelle Trachtenberg as Wendy. Rottentomatoes.com gave it a fresh score of 84% and positive remarks from critics. "Bold performances and sensitive, spot-on direction make watching this difficult tale of trauma and abuse a thought-provoking, resonant experience" as quoted. (Source)

Two boys with different characters, Neil and Brian, shared the same abusive experience from their baseball coach. However, the former remembered it exactly what and how it was, while the latter interpreted it as an encounter with aliens. Neil was devastated by the incident, believing that it made a major impact to his orientation. He sought sexual attention from men older than him, generally relating all of them to his coach. Brian, on the other hand, was trying to patch every evidence he could find to truly prove his alien encounter and his weird condition of nose-bleeding. To have a clearer view of what really happened, Brian contacted Neil . The two met at the exact place it occurred and they both reminisced the disturbing incident.

Personal Rating: 7/10

Movie Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close(2012)

Oskar Schell: Can't you even tell me if I'm on the right track?

Thomas Schell: *Shrugs his shoulders* 

Oskar: But if you don't tell me, how can i ever be right?

Thomas: Well, another way of looking at it is...how can you ever be wrong?

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Oskar Schell: But it wasn't working... because people aren't like numbers. They're more like letters... and those letters want to become stories... and dad said that stories need to be shared.

I have read a lot of different points from a series of critics for this movie. There are some(most of them really) who wrote that it was immaturely put together in sequence; and some say that the enigmatic sense of connection to the characters and how it was related to the current events have pulled it off. I honestly think that the cinematography is pretty good and oh the music is somehow..hhmm..ineffable. Sandra Bullock was even in the movie (I only felt her presence in the latter part).

Based from the adapted book with the same title written by Jonathan Safran Foer, the whole catch evolves when a child who has Aspergers Syndrome (a condition similar to autism wherein the nature of social interrelationship is impaired. However, cognitive and motor abilities remain intact.), Oskar Schell, tries to decipher the biggest unsolvable mystery according to his challenging father, Thomas Schell, which eventually turns the course of their lives, in general, to a different route. Furthermore, in the process, he discovers an array of people's lives from different walks of life with the use of his camera; and he understands what brings the society of any boroughs together, LOVE.

For me, one thing's for sure-It moved me.

P.S: It was the debut movie of the kid who played the character of Oskar Schell. He was discovered during his cameo as one of the players in Jeopardy!. He's good.

Personal rating: 7/10

Here's the trailer: