Dismaland: Not the Happiest Place on Earth

Well, here's a theme park we won't be going to anytime soon.
It's called Dismaland, a Bemusement Park --the name of which pretty much speaks for itself.

The park is the brainchild of UK'e ever-elusive street artist, Banksy, who's known for his works that  aim to unnerve people in its realistic dark humour. What makes this park even more 'special'? More artists of the same dark inclination has joined in to create this 2.5 acre gloomy gallery.

A sneak peak.
Dismaland puts sad satire on Disneyland's familiar attractions.

Dismlaland pokes eerie fun on society's typical brand of amusement.

Dismaland feeds anarchic symbolism in almost every corner.

Other lovely yet disturbing installations riddle the area.

There is no doubt that Dismaland is intriguing, awe-inspiring, exhilarating, and even enlightening. One thing's for sure though, you don't leave Dismaland a happy camper. Dismaland makes you think, question things. It changes you. For the good or for the bad is entirely up to you.

If you're in the mood for doom and are anywhere near the seafront of Weston-super-Mare in England, then come over from August 22 to September 27 of this year. Dismaland is ready for you.

One piece of advice: Leave the kids behind. While I agree that kids need to have their eyes open to certain truths in the world, what's wrong with holding onto rainbows and unicorns for a while longer?



*Photos from the Dismaland website, The Guardian, and Time

Ant-Man Very Late Review

Well, this was a pleasant surprise. Like a baby firecracker that hits you in the face with a big, glorious boom kind of surprise. Yep.

To be honest, I had very little faith in Ant-Man, pardon the pun. But him being one of the not-too-popular characters of the Marvel universe (at least, in my universe), I didn't think much of him. In fact, I even tried to convince my kids that we didn't need to watch his debut movie. The only reason why we still did was because my train-crazy son saw Thomas the Tank Engine in the trailer and got all pumped to see that part --and that part alone. That and my other son was craving for movie popcorn. So before I knew it, we were running to catch Ant-Man on its last week.

And it was a whirlwind on fun!

The plot wasn't exactly new. You know… awesome technology. Bad guy plans to use it as a weapon for war. But its nanotechnology so it makes it more special.
The real backbone of the story was this though --FAMILY. How you sacrifice, do stupid things, create little mistakes that lead to huge cracks for the sake of the people you love. Now THAT'S special.

What really got us going for this film, however, was the brilliant use of comedy. Scott/Ant-Man was hilarious. And so was his best friend schemer, Luis, whom I have to say was my favourite character in the entire film.

We also like how The Avengers was seamlessly woven into the film. From Doctor Pym openly saying how he wouldn't want Tony Stark to get his hands on his nano-invention. From Ant-Man stealing a valuable equipment from The Avengers secret facility. And from the inch-high hero actually duking it out with Falcon.

In other news, my 14-year old science geek was more into learning about the different kinds of ants, which the movie introduced with the funniest of circumstances --(that and how to crack open a safe using plain household tape and/or liquid nitrogen). While my 11-year old train geek couldn't get over the fact that Thomas the Tank Engine had so much airtime. Educational and Entertaining! Ant-Man is quite a package.

All in all, Ant-Man is an exciting, laugh-a-minute ride!
If, like me, you've been having doubts on its cinematic greatness… bite your tongue. And run to the movie house nearest you. You still have a few days to catch this little bugger.