Marriage Story- Poignant tale of loss

Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story is a poignant tale of a couple’s lost love eventually leading to a painful divorce. Charile Barber (Adman Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) are a couple at loggerheads in their marriage. Charlie is a successful theater director and Nicole has given up her mainstream acting career in Los Angeles to join Charlie’s theater company in New York as his lead theater actress. A life Nicole once wanted with Charlie now seems monotonous and unfulfilling. The couple sees a mediator who asks them to write down what they like about each other. Charlie reads out his letter but Nicole is hesitant to do so and walks out of the mediation.

At first there seems nothing wrong with this couple. But what is truly brewing is the life-crisis faced by Nicole. She feels by marriage she has lost her individuality. Her career and dreams have taken a backseat and are secondary to Charlie’s dream and his life choices. Their marriage is moving forward as per Charlie’s plans and his ambitions and Nicole’s desires are long forgotten.

Nicole temporarily moves to her mother’s house in West Hollywood with their son Henry after she is offered a role in a television pilot. There is meets Nora (Laura Dern) a matrimonial lawyer who comforts Nicole. In essence it was after meeting Nora that Nicole gathers courage and determination to split from Adam and put her career first. Nicole also reveals that she is troubled by Charlie’s affair with the stage manager of the theater company. With Nora’s support Nicole claims her long lost self again by deciding to be on her own and pursue her dreams.

Nicole serves divorce papers to Charlie when he flies to Los Angeles to tell her the news of his McArthur Fellowship Grant. Charlie is baffled and heartbroken. He decides to fight back for his son Henry’s custody. He looks for a lawyer in New York but he is advised that since their marriage took place in Los Angeles and his wife and child live in Los Angeles, they are a Los Angeles based couple and must hire a lawyer in LA.

Charlie is a well meaning but rigid person. We see his rigidity and fixation when he insists that Henry live in New York with him and he fails to see any reason why Henry should live in LA despite Henry telling him that he loves his friends and cousins in LA. Adam runs from pillar to post to hire a lawyer in LA after it turns out that Nicole has consulted practically every lawyer in town thereby making them unable to represent him. Charlie is caught off guarded by circumstance and one cannot help but feel sorry for him. He ends up hiring Bert Spitz a sensible family lawyer.

Charlie rents an apartment in LA to be closer to Henry and strengthen his custody case. But the struggle of managing his theater company in New York while keeping up with his scheduled visits with Henry in Los Angeles takes a toll on him. Charlie fires Bert who advises him to drop his New York plea instead he hires Jay. Jay and Nora fight aggressively in court and attempt to present one another in bad light. Things get ugly as both Nicole and Charlie unveil petty details about one another.

The last blow for Charlie is his failed meeting with the Elevator. An Elevator spends a night with Charlie and Henry to access their living situation where Charlie accidentally cuts himself. Eventually after the long and bitter fight, the couple decides to relax their demands and agree on mutual divorce with 55-45% custody in favor of Nicole.

A year later we see that Charlie has had a successful run at the Broadway with his theater company and Nicole is nominated for an Emmy Award for directing an episode of her show. She is living a new life with her Boyfriend. Charlie tells Nicole that he has taken up residency at UCLA and will be living in LA near Henry. Charlie finally did what Nicole had been begging him to do for years but a bit too late. It appears that Charlie has learned to become a little more flexible in life. Later, Charlie gets to read the letter Nicole had refused to read before the mediator and he gets emotional by all the wonderful things Nicole as to say for him. After the Halloween party Nicole lets Charlie spend an extra day with Henry. A marriage broke but a family stayed together and all is well with this family. Life can be hard sometimes but there is nothing one can do about it except to accept things and try to make the best out of it.

Who was wrong who was right?

This beauty of this drama is that it makes us feel bad for both Nicole and Charlie. During the divorce both of them blame one another but in essence no one is wrong. We get to see the reality of both their lives, no one is trying to hurt the other but they both get hurt, they both lose. This emotional tale is strong yet subtle in the reality it depicts. It captures the emotions perfectly and portrays the sadness and pain of a breaking marriage in the most realistic manner.

Why you should watch this movie?

IMDb Rating- 8/10

Rotten Tomatoes- 95%

92^nd Academy Awards

WINNER Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in Supporting Role- Laura Dern

NOMINATED Oscar Motion Picture of the Year

NOMINATED Oscar Best Performance by an Actress in Leading Role

NOMINATED Oscar Best Performance by an Actor in Leading Role

What we can learn from the Kardashian-Jenners

The Kardashian-Jenners are pretty much the loudest people on the planet with their constant attention grabbing antics and a whirlwind life which is captured and paraded on the social media. There are a hundred things wrong with them but there is something they are doing right, you have to admit. Here are some things we can learn from the most famous family in Hollywood.

1. Business Skills- People have been dissing the family since forever with comments that none of the Kar-Jenner sisters have any talent. Not true. These women are business moguls, every single one of them. In the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad Robert Kiyosaki says that rich people make money in the real sense. He says that guide to be rich is to start a business, use your mind, and be creative. No matter how small just starts your business, take a risk. That’s the way to be rich in the long run. Poor people tend to play safe by going for jobs which are more secure as compared to a business and that’s why they are poor in the long run though comfortable in the short run.

Kim has her brands SKIMS and KKW Beauty. Kourtney has her lifestyle website called Poosh. Khloe has her Good American Brand and Revenge Body. Kendall is a model apart from owning a clothing line and Kylie is the youngest self made Billionaire. Well not really self made but she did take her parent’s money and triple the value by selling Lip Kits so you gotta give her credit for that. The best business woman of them all is Kris Jenner.

2. Developing a Thick Skin- Cyber bullying is a real thing. One bad comment can spoil your day. Now these women are always in public eye. They have one negative story after the other going around about them. But nothing seems to bring them down. The key point is that things affect you only if you let them. Everything will eventually die down if you act unfazed.

3. Family First- It’s truly amazing that these women love and support each other no matter what. Sisters, step sisters, half siblings and God knows what. They stand for the concept of a strong tight knit family and that is a treasure.

4. Cleanliness and Organization skills- Watch Khloe’s Khlo-C.D. series on YouTube and you will know what I am talking about. Spotless homes, made beds, organized closets these are some things we need to follow. Whenever I am cleaning my room I put on a video of the House Tour/Room Tour of one of these sisters just to get that cleanliness vibe.

So it can be safely said that they are pretty darn good at their jobs having us hooked all the time!

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more good vibes!

The Stranger- Ending Explained

Netflix’s mind boggling thriller The Stranger is full of plot twists throwing constant curve balls at the viewers. If you have read Harlen Coben’s novels, this thriller comes as no surprise but if you are new to him, this show will be easily the best thriller you’ve ever seen. Spoiler alert!

Intrinsically interwoven plot revolves around the mystery of the beheaded alpaca, naked Dante found seriously hurt in the jungle, sudden disappearance of Mrs. Price and the stolen money from the football club.

The stranger is a young woman on a mission to expose secrets of random people as to make the world a better place. She is driven by the trauma caused to her by her own family secrets. Sounds crazy? Wait till you hear the rest of the plot. The stranger tells Adam that his wife faked her pregnancy. A lie which saved their marriage. Adam confronts her. In a typical fashion she says there is more to this and poof! She disappears after sending Adam a text that she needs some time apart. The mystery thus begins and is ultimately connected to the money stolen from the football club. Heidi is sadly a collateral damage due to Katz’ desperate ways to protect his rich client from exposure by the Stranger.

Confused by the ending ?

The show ends with the revelation that Mrs. Price has been murderer by Tripp who stole the money. She was going to expose him so he murdered her and blamed her for stealing money. Adam kills Tripp. The cop Johanna reaches on time to witness the entire scene. Instead of turning Adam in she helps him get away with the murder.

So Corrine is dead. This fact is made public. Who killed her is not made public. Tripp is dead. Johanna portrayed that Tripp and Corinne were killed by Katz. The stranger – Chrissy Killane is caught but she absconds. I believe she is still in touch with Adam and his family after all it turns out that Adam is her brother as they share their father. But this fact is kept hidden from the authorities. Adam will certainly do this for Chrissy after she saved his life. Katz is caught for the murder of Heidi and eventually blamed for the murder of Corrine and Tripp.

So the show began with secrets and ended with even bigger secrets. The Stranger created a real mess which ended in the death of Corrine, Heidi Ingrid and Tripp. Nevertheless the show is a superb thriller. A must watch if you love a good thriller.

Spinning Out – The Best show on Mental Health

Netflix’s Spinning Out is a breath of fresh air in the genre of mental health dramas. It is based on the lives of figure skaters struggling to excel in a super competitive environment while balancing love, work and family.

It throws light on Bipolar Disorder through the protagonist Kat. Kat and her mum Carole both have Bipolar. Carole is a single mum of two daughters. She has messed up her daughter’s upbringing by being off her medications frequently. Kat is recovering from a fall during a skating event. She is nervous, socially aloof and failing at skating after she developed a fear after her fall. While her younger sister Serena is the new favorite in the rink. Kat’s Best friend Jen is a vibrant young skater who is pushing herself beyond her limits to perform so as to fulfill family expectations despite her serious hip injury.

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These three young women are tested by circumstances at home and at their skating career and sadly, they all fall flat on the ground. Kat goes off her meds to overcome her fear at the rink and ends up having a manic episode thereby hurting her boyfriend and partner Justin. Under aged Serena gets involved with a doctor to overcome loneliness and poor Jen breaks her hip permanently by pushing her limits at the rink.

Why is the show so impressive?

Well if you look at Carole you may realize that you might have met or known a few people like her in your life. Unpredictable, mean and a total bitch at one moment so much so that you fail to understand what’s driving them but totally composed and in-control at other moments. It makes us realize that this unpredictability, rashness and rowdiness is a symptom of a very complex disorder and people inherently are not bad. It is important to understand people before judging them.

We understand how bad a manic episode is. Don’t hate people because of an episode. Understand!

The show gives an important message- take your meds! It’s okay to be different. You can’t control your circumstances but what you can control is how you manage yourself. Manage yourself well by taking your meds. It not only helps you but your family and friends too. Don’t we all like shows with good messages.

Anne with an E – Season 3, Perfect ending for our lovely Anne

Anne with an E Season 3 premiered on Netflix on January 3rd, 2020. Our lovely Anne is back and this season we see her growing into a pretty young woman something which has been the subject of her prayers since eternity and it is ever so enchanting. If the rumors are to be believed then this is the final season of Anne with an E and the show will not be coming back for a Season 4. Quite frankly, I do not find it disappointing at all, here’s why. SPOILER ALERT!

Anne is turns 16. She and friends are growing out of their childish affairs and begin to develop an eye for suitors but Anne is adamant to be the bride of adventure. A head full of dreams and eyes onto the future, Anne feels the need to go backwards to learn about her roots. She wants to know her heritage, her parents and most importantly she wants to know if her parents loved her. This idea of finding her parents scares the Cuthburts, understandably so. Marilla and Mathew love and care for Anne in their own way. Marilla is petrified that Anne might leave them if she finds her distant relatives but Mathew is more understanding. The journey back to the orphanage is hard for Anne. In the church records Anne finds that her parents indeed died when she was three months old. This is such a relief for our poor Anne because she knows that her parents did not abandon her but in fact their death was the reason for their parting. Oh! also Anne is Scottish. That explains the red hairs and freckles.

When Bash’s wife Mary is near her end, Anne asks her to write a letter for her infant daughter Delphine so that she grows up to know that her mother loved her. This is so deeply touching and emotional. That is the beauty of the show. It is so raw, real and yet so simple and thought provoking.

This season Anne makes a new friend Ka’kwet. She is a native Indian. A sweet charming girl but sadly the government school she is enrolled in wants to turn all Indian children into sophisticated Canadians and so these Indian children are separated from their parents, given Christian names, forbidden to speak their tongue. As you can tell it is heart-wreaking to watch. Ka’kwet did not get a happy ending. She was stolen from her parents and we can only hope she learns to become happy in future despite misfortunes like Anne did. After all, Anne and Ka’kwet are kindred spirits.

Anne advocates for gender equality, freedom of speech and press through the school news paper run by the children and Miss Stacy. It leaves quite an impact on the authorities and eventually they have to give in. Not surprising at all, Anne always gets what she wants with her determination and courage.

And finally, there is Gilbert Blythe. The handsome Gilbert Blythe. Anne develops feelings for him. He too has feelings for her but he is seeing a city girl Winifred and their courtship is almost heading towards marriage. But Gilbert, sweet Gilbert declines the marriage to Winifred, her father’s wealth and a promising career at Sobmorne Medical School because he finally acknowledges his love for Anne. Well, after a series of miscommunications, frustrations and tears that have the viewers on the edges of their seats, Anne and Gilbert are together! Anne is going to college, to Queens with Diana and all the other girls. Gilbert is going to University of Toronto but they have finally declared their love for each other and are together romantically. This is just perfect and we are overjoyed for Anne. There is one more wonderful news. Miralla and Mathew tracked down the hostess of Anne’s parents and in her old house they find a book given by Anne’s father to her mother. This as Anne rightly says is the final piece of the puzzle! Anne learns she looks like her mother with her red hair and freckles. So this Season is perfect right?!

Anne is young woman, off to college. She and Gilbert are together and know our Anne now knows about her heritage. What more can we ask for?! And that is why I am not disappointed that there won’t be a season 4.

This show is the most beautiful and touching tale of love, heart break and hope. In Anne every girl sees herself, the youth, the struggles, the joy of friendship and longing for romance. With her intelligence, maturity and courage Anne of Green Gables is certainly ahead by a century and we love her so.

Rating: 4.9/5

Verdict: Must watch for everyone!

YOU Season 2- Joe & Love the perfect match?

YOU Season 2 premiered on December 26, 2019 on Netflix. The much awaited thriller series was certainly engaging but definitely not half as good as Season 1. The punch line for Season 2 is– Joe meets his match, that he certainly did. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t watched Season 2 already click away or be ready for some major spoilers.

Candace returns to haunt Joe after discovering what he has done to Beck, with Candace lurking around Joe can’t have a freshstart so he runs away. Why not kill Candace instead of running away? Just athought. Anyway this time Joe is not as bad and creepy as in Season 1. Maybe that’s what is missing from this Season.

Joe Kidnaps a guy named Will, steals his identity, moves to LA but later lets him go. For the record Will is the only person to have walked out alive from the weird soundproof glass safe, except for Joe himself. Joe kills Jasper a guy seeking his money back from Will not before Jasper cuts-off Joe’s twinky. Joe meets the Quinn twins Love and Forty. Love is a young widow and Forty is a power hungry writer/drug addict. Joe falls for Love but this time it is Love who initiates the relationship. Joe finds out that this family is messed up. Forty killed his nanny growing up whom he loved. Love is blamed by her family for not taking enough care of Forty and their parents are rich ignorant assholes nevertheless Joe is dedicated towards Love. Out of nowhere Candace shows up and freaks Joe out.

While living in LA Joe befriends a 15 year old Ellie and her sister Deliala. Joe plays dad to Ellie which is kinda cute but it gets boring quickly. Joe accidentally kills Anderson a celebrity who is about to drug and rape Ellie and later starts sleeping with Ellie’s sister Delaila when Joe and Love break up.

Here is when the things begin to get crazy. Deliala becomes suspicious of Joe so she breaks into his house and finds the keys to the storage facility where Joe has kept the giant glass safe. Delaila then reaches the storage facility. Joe finds her there and kidnaps her. He promises to release her after 16 hours and begins planning his exit from the city and from Love’s life. So Joe is good this time. He acknowledges that he is getting too attached to Love and hence he plans to leave. However, Forty kidnaps and drugs Joe, forces him to help him write script for his new movie which btw is an adaptation of ‘The Dark Side of Love’ by Beck. Forty is so annoying, the fact that Joe does not kill him is a miracle. Joe wakes up after the night which he can not remember and goes back to the storage facility to release Delaila before leaving town. When Joe reaches the safe he finds that Delaila is dead. Killed in cold blood. Now the show turns into a Hangover movie where Joe is trying to figure out what happened the night before and who killed Deliala. Now again Candace comes in to expose Joe’s reality to Love. Phew! What a mess.

Here comes the twist. Love kills Candace and it turns out Love killed Deliala as Joe and her were sleeping together. Love confesses that she had killed their nanny while growing up as she was sexually abusing Forty. Love is so crazy that even Joe is freaked out. Love’s plan is to blame all the murders on Ellie. Joe is shook. He attempts to kill Love but she reveals that she is pregnant just in time. Forty meanwhile meets up with Dr. Nikki to learn Joe’s truth. When Forty is about to shoot Joe the cop shoots Forty.

The end? Forty is dead. Joe is about to become a father so he does not leave LA. He pretends to love and care for Love but Joe has already become fixated on the girl next door.

Now what is interesting is that Joe always wanted to be loved and Love loves him. But Joe wants a sweet innocent girl. He can’t fathom being with a twisted chick. In short when Joe is confronted with his match he rejects her. So deep inside Joe hates himself as Love is a true reflection of him. Hmm. This show had so much potential but it feels like the writers were trying too hard.

Rating– 3/5

Verdict– You can watch the show for Penn Badgley’s superb performance but the story line is sure to disappoint.

Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

Mark Manson’s Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is hands down one of the best self help books out there. It is crisp, quirky and funny. Mark’s motto is plain and simple- Do No give a fuck which can be safely modified as do not give too many fucks. Mark tells us to choose our fucks wisely, but what does that really mean? Here is a breakdown.

1. Prioritize: Not giving a fuck is all about prioritizing as what things are important to you, what matters to you and what does not. And so the idea is to give your time and energy to only the important things in life.

2. Be comfortable in your own skin: Don’t run after the trends or things that the society tells you to do, have or be. If you have an old phone, that’s okay if you’re okay with it. No need to buy a new one just because everyone around you is telling you to. You simply don’t give a fuck! If you are missing out on parties and outings in order to ace at the exams, that’s perfectly fine. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad about it. The point is to be comfortable in being different.

3. What is Happiness: Mark says that happiness comes from solving problems. Problems are a constant in life and when you figure out what to do about them that is growth. So in a sense growth is when your problems are changing and evolving. Let me explain. My car was old and I wanted to change it. That was a problem. I needed a new car. So I saved up enough money over time to buy a new one. Great! But now I am worried about paying the instalment every month. This is a new problem that needs some action and planning. But my problems have changed over time and that is growth.When we solve one problem there is going to be another so keep solving problems, that’s how we achieve happiness.

4. Don’t expect to be Special: According to a study I read online most millennials end up being depressed because they want too much and too fast. When that does not happen, well it’s a bummer. Mark says that we have been told that we are special and different and unique all our lives by television, self help books and gurus so much so that some of us actually begin to feel entitled. We have grand hopes, dreams and visions even before we have begun. Instead we must focus on self-improvement. Work with what you have, see how it goes and focus on improvement. In other words keep it realistic. Not everyone is Kylie Jenner.

5. Take Responsibility: We all have that one friend who never takes responsibility for anything and blames everything on everyone around them. It’s so annoying and a real turn off. Well that applies to you too. Taking responsibility of your life not only gives you more power but it is also the first step towards solving problems.

This book contains Mark Manson’s personal philosophy and not giving a fuck is just one of them. The book is thought provoking and one of my personal favourites.

Rating: 4.8/5

Verdict: Definitely a must read for anyone interested in the self help genre.

Thanks for joining and stay tuned for more good vibes!

How to make New Year’s Resolutions and keep them

A new year and a new decade is upon us. So begins the buzz about New Year’s Resolutions. If you still have not made any resolutions for 2020 yet here are some tips on making resolutions and keeping them!

Picture credits – Artchetype Studio

1. Make Resolutions for every month: Break down your New Year’s Resolutions into monthly resolutions and then break down those monthly resolutions into weekly tasks. This will make your goals achievable and realistic.

2. Keep a Diary or a Planner: If you are really serious about organizing your life and achieving your goals, some sort of tracking is must. You can do it with the help of a diary, a planner or even with the help of your smart phone. Knowing that you have completed your day’s task and being able to see what your next day looks like will turn you from a planner to an achiever. Guaranteed!

3. Set Definite Goals: Instead of setting a goal for yourself like ‘I will work out more’ set a goal something like – I will work out on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday every week or I will go jogging on Saturday and Sunday. Having very specific goals increase your chances of actually achieving them.

4. Share your Goals with a like-minded friend: Having your friends to check you on your goals is a great idea. This way you will answerable to your friend and they will be answerable to you and both of you will mutually benefit and encourage one another.

Picture Credit- The Ink Bucket

Hope these tips are helpful. Happy 2020!

About this blog…

Whether you are in dark place right now or a happy place, this blog is sure to take you by the hand towards goodness. Through posts in the form of book reviews, Netflix stuff or even random advice the purpose of this blog is to promote self care and self love. We value ourselves and each other.

If winter is here can spring be far behind..

-BP Shelly

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