Now Showing: WWII with big bro

You'd wish you were older. You'd wish you were the boss. You'd wish you were the older brother/sister who has all the right to bully your young wimpy siblings. But in the end, you'd wish for nothing in the world having one.

From surviving middle school Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) has opened up his diary again on the silver screen for the next chapter he has yet to survive: his big brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick).

Something that almost everyone can relate to, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2011, directed by David Bowers, based on the novel by Jeff Kinney) now places wimpy kid Greg on the hellish battle zone, assured of his inevitable defeat against his good-for-nothing brother who incessantly makes fun of him--in front of middle school, his teachers and even his crush. The comic and hilarious war of the brothers couldn't get worse when their parents Susan (Rachael Harris) and Frank (Steve Zahn) force them to bond.

The sequel was able to retain the laugh-off-the-seat comedy and incorporate the inspiring lessons on loving you brother/sister despite all the annoying tricks and embarrassments he/she puts you in, that somehow simply serve as memorable times they'd just both laugh about in the future.

It was truly heartwarming when Greg decided to assist his best friend Rowley (Robert Capron) with his embarrassing magic performance to make his mom let Rodrick perform in the band showdown. In the least, it had earned him the passenger seat in Rodrick's van instead of getting rolled up at the back with all his brother's junk.

Now Showing: The line between the living and the dead

"You hurt because you're alive."

You should've been dead. Sometimes you wish you were dead.

It's a question no one can really answer: how would you go on living when your loved one died. Somehow it should have a simply answer of letting the dead bury the dead and move on, but surviving while his brother lay cold was nothing Charlie St. Cloud (Zack Efron) could ever bear.

The movie (directed by Burr Steers) made me reflect about the vague line separating the dead and the living, with people who are still alive and yet live like the dead, with its quite heavy drama of someone with a bright future ahead losing his younger brother and blaming himself for it. But a deal made the two brothers still meet at the woods everyday, and for some reason Charlie could not only see his dead brother Sam (Charlie Tahan), but also see other people who died.

I first thought the arrival of romance to wake Charlie up to reality was predictable, but it actually made me shiver as the plot became more complicated. At first I was shocked that Tess (Amanda Crew), Charlie's lover, already died and was a ghost as well, and seeing her was just like seeing his dead brother. It was a creative twist they made that Tess didn't really die; it was somehow a part of her soul that appeared to Charlie who wanted him to find her after she got lost in an island while sailing. 

The plot was truly breathtaking and unexpected and heartwarming at the same time. The scene where Sam walked out out of the woods knowing his brother won't come anymore (because he had to save Tess) and saying "I love you Charlie" really made me cry. A story of two brothers and of choices, Charlie St. Cloud made me realize that in the end, it's always up to us whether we'll continue to live or waste it away.