Cheat Work Thursday

This time last year, at 1AM, I just came back from the ED (don't worry, it was a green zone) on one of the many doctor visits and health scares that I've had in the past 14 months. It started with a cold in early November, which came with a low-grade fever but seemed to take more days than usual to go away. Surprisingly, I had another one in early December. And the second one was a doozy. 6 December, 2023. I had severe diarrhea and vomiting late at night that I couldn't pinpoint the cause of, except that I had KFC for dinner that night. I don't think that was it. But it was bad. Probably one of the worst that I've ever experienced in my life. Luckily, it was only for a few hours. After a few trips to the bathroom, I was ok. The next morning, the coughing started, which was also bad. It was dry and strong, and it wouldn't stop. It got worse in the next five days. Eventually, it felt like I was coughing every five minutes. And I started to have a chest p...

Directed by the same director, Edward Berger, Conclave brought me to this movie. So, the beautiful, painting-like cinematography and the attention to details as a way of storytelling are no surprise. But this third movie adaptation of the book , in short, is just omg brutal 🫠. I could only watch it a few minutes at a time. The year is 1917. Seventeen-year-old Paul joins the German Army alongside his friends Ludwig, Albert and Franz to fight in WWI. Once they reach the front line, the merciless reality of the trench warfare snaps the naivete and enthusiasm out of them. It brings nothing but gory and heartbreaking deaths in a stupid formula: you cross to the other side's trenches and kill every single man in them. Then the other side will do the same to you. Eighteen months later, these kids are seasoned soldiers. They have lost friends and make new friends and sometimes get to leave the trenches for five minutes, where we'll be reminded of the humanity on both sides. Thes...