Happy New Month: Films of May 2012

Topping my 36 films from last month wasn't my intention, but I did expect to have time for a little more than ("just") 26 films. I had some time being sick, but I mostly watched Desperate Housewives then...

But still, I managed to watch a few classics and films I've been wanting to watch for a long time. And then some quite bad films too, but that can't be avoided once in a while.

Although this month held another record in blog stats, I want to excuse for not posting the Fabulous Filmic Fashion Friday post the last two (?) Fridays - I've been extremely busy and/ or sick. I hope I'll have the next post ready for next week. 

Other announcements... well, I might not be able to post from the 22.06 - 09.07, but we'll see. I also changed the sidebar and post layout a little, I hope you like it.

Watched for the very first time:

(500) Days of Summer (2009) Marc Webb - USA

Exactly as fresh and entertaining as I had expected, but much funnier. I loved all the small details and the varying cinematography and other experiments, for example the scene that is shown at two different times with two different dialogues. Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levit are a couple made in heaven, and both play their parts very well. 

Rating: 9.2

A Film the World Has Been Waiting For

Norway, 2011

Få meg på, for faen 

(Int. Title: „Turn Me On, Dammit")

Directed and written by Jannicke Systad Jacobsen

★ Helene Bergsholm, Malin Bjørhovde, Henriette Steenstrup, Matias Myren

      

Since its showing at several festivals last year, this little norwegian gem of a film has been making its rounds through the societies of film gourmets, of course including the filmic blogosphere. I was instantly hooked when I first heard of it, because it was almost too good to be true: a film that revolves around the confusing thing that is (female) teenage sexuality, and that in a realistic and non-vulgar way!

Wiggling big toes. Samurai swords. Awesomeness.

USA, 2003

Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Written by Quentin Tarantino, Uma Thurman

★ Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, David Carradine

    

There was a time when I thought Quentin Tarantino must be a good director since he is admired by so many film-loving people. By that time I had only seen Inglorious Basterds, a film that is surely unique and entertaining - maybe close to awesome - but not completely awesome to me.
Then I watched Kill Bill, and I finally understood.

Fabulous Filmic Fashion Friday: (500) Days of Summer

    4

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER is a charming and sweet romantic comedy from the year 2009 (my movie year, remember?) that had me enchanted from the minute I put my eyes on it. As a wonderful ambassador for its genre, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER had it all - from a great crew to details that made you grin like a Cheshire cat. And before I forget: the cutest vintage-inspired costumes for the main character, Summer Finn.

These oh-so-wonderful costumes were designed by Hope Hanafin, who... isn't very known. In fact I think I've seen none of her other films. Anyway, she was nominated for the CDG Award for Excellence in Costume Design, which is perfectly understandable. Why? See for yourself...

Fabulous Filmic Fashion Friday: Rockstar

I figured this blog needs a new regular feature, so why not combine my passion for cinema with another interest of mine, say... fashion?

The film that has the honour to be the first, is last years' much-talked-about Rockstar, directed by Imtiaz Ali and starring Ranbir Kapoor and newcomer Nargis Fakhri. It can be discussed whether Nargis has the potential to develop some acting skills with the time, but when she keeps her mouth shut she does look very pretty, no matter what she's wearing. In this case she's allowed to wear some beautiful east-european dresses, Kashmir-inspired scarfs and on a whole very stylish clothes.
But also Ranbir's costumes are fitting, and perfectly underline the development of his character. From don't-care-what-I-wear blue jeans to stylish and modern outfits to eccentric harem pants (paired with long hair and beard), there has certainly been thought about his looks.

The costumes have been designed by Indian fashion designers Aki Narula and Manish Malhotra, and costume designer Dolly Ahluwalia.

What makes Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara a perfect summer movie

For the record: I'm perfectly aware of the fact that 1) perfection is subjective, and 2) I don't have a clue what makes a good movie. A film with similar ingredients as Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara might not have worked anywhere near as good, and maybe there are people somewhere in this world, who didn't fall in love head over heels with this film.
But as we continue, I want you to forget all these thoughts and look at Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara from the viewpoint of a summer-craving, adventure-seeking, latinophilic (there's no such word, is there?) fan, and just sense the love...

Success factor #1: Setting

Happy New Month: Films of April 2012

There's no other way to say it - April was epic. Never since I started counting in January 2011, have I seen so many films in one month, and I'm sure I didn't see as many before I started counting.
So that's the first epic thing.
Second one is that I managed to top my blog stats once more, plus I almost reached 60,000 hits on the total count!
And I watched 12 films from the 1001 list, which is pretty cool too, I think.

Last but not least, most of the films that I saw were really good, and I even managed to re-watch a few darlings. But read for yourself...
(And in case you haven't already, check out my updated 100 Favourite Films list).


Watched for the very first time:


A Wednesday! (2008) Neeraj Pandey - India | review
A surprisingly realistic and not religiously motivated film about terrorism with a superb performance by Naseeruddin Shah.
Rating: 8.6


All About Eve (1950) Joseph L. Mankiewicz - USA
I was truly taken aback by the turning point... Otherwise, who wouldn't fall for some old school Hollywood glamour?
Rating: 8.4

Amores Perros (2000) Alejandro González Iñárritu - Mexico
Been waiting to watch this film ever since I first heard of it - this director is starting to become one of my favourites (despite his exotic name). Wanted to write a review, but somehow I couldn't. Anyhow, this could soon make its way into my favourite list.
Rating: 9.4

Against the System

A Wednesday!

India, 2008

Directed and written by Neeraj Pandey

★ Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill

 The first half of A Wednesday seems like a mixture of the most basic, well-known, mainstream terrorism thriller elements; a police officer receives a call from a stranger telling that he has planted bombs in various places of a big city (Mumbai). The police officer wants a proof, he gets it. The stranger wants some terrorists with muslim names to be released.
And that's where the film gets interesting. I don't want to say much about the plot from that point on, except that this is not your typical Indian terrorism film at all.

My Movie Year: 2009

LIST OF ALL ENTRIES

My movie year is a grand blog meme hosted by Andy, the Fandango Groover.
As a participant, I am supposed to present to you my personal favourite year of movies and present my Top 5 movies of that year.
It hasn't been an easy choice, though I knew I'd choose a year after 1995 (my birth year). Many cinema enthusiasts praise the good old times when everything was better, but I like to focus on cinema itself and not the decades. You may ask, why I watch a lot of newer films then, and the answer is - this is my time. This is my youth and my life, and of course I find sometimes find it easier and more interesting to watch newer films.
I do love old films, and lately I've been watching a lot of black and white, even silent films - but many of them still aren't able to match with colour talkies, in my opinion.

The way I chose my year wasn't too hard though - I "just" (took some time) looked out which year was most frequent in my 100 Favourite Films list, and the result was... 2009.

Why

I watched a lot of good movies in 2009, and I went to the cinema much more than in the previous years. I don't know if I became more interested in cinema because of this, or if I did this because I became more interested in cinema - all I know is that 2009 was the year when cinema started not just being entertainment for me, but also an art form that I came to appreciate more than most other art forms.

I also saw many good films of 2009 in the years after that, and this is why I chose 2009 to be MY MOVIE YEAR. All of these films are in the Top 50 of my upcoming updated 100 Favourite Films list, and you can read about them in the current list.

The Films

in alphabetic order

A SINGLE MAN

by Tom Ford

BRIGTH STAR

by Jane Campion

DEV.D

by Anurag Kashyap

SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT

by Detlev Buck

UP

by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson

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My Childhood Heroes, Part I: Hermione Granger

Welcome to the latest strawberry feature of this blog, where I will talk about the heroes and idols of my childhood and take a look at how they have inspired me and made me the person I am now.
Most of them are female, but the word "heroine" makes me think of either a glamorous actress or a drug, so I'm not going to use it in this feature.
This is also going to be quite personal, which some people might like, while others might not.

The first hero that will step in to the spotlight in this feature, is perhaps the greatest one, and also the one that has had the greatest influence on me: Hermione Granger from the HARRY POTTER series.

When I read the Harry Potter books, I thought Hermione was a lot like me, but I didn't like how her looks were described - she didn't seem very beautiful, and as every little girl, my idols had to be not only smart and admirable, but also pretty.
The one person who really brought Hermione to life for me then, and who also became one of my teenage idols, was Emma Watson. Right after seeing the second film (which was the first one I saw, strangely), I went my mum and asked her to cut my hair Hermione-style. So I ran around with straight bangs - and looked like an idiot.
Anyways, as Hermione changed looks after the second film, I did too, and inspired by Emma Watson's personal style, I grew interested in fashion too.

But to get back to the first films (and books); Hermione was quite snotty and bigheaded at the beginning - and I just admired that. The way she seemingly didn't care if anybody was harassing her, I was really jealous of that.
Then, when she locked herself in the bathroom because she was sad, I was close to crying. Though I always had a few close friends when I was smaller, I was more of an introvert because of various things, and the fact that I was always the best in my class wasn't helpful.
But then I found that Harry, Ron and Hermione - they all were very close friends, and they weren't in some big gang or something. So even their friendship became a role model for me, and made me realize that having a few really good friends is so much better than having many meh-friends.

Hermione also inspired me to take interest in school though it wasn't "cool", and though sometimes it was really boring because it was so easy. I also learned, especially through the third film/ book, that I couldn't do everything and say yes to everything. Just because you're smart it doesn't mean your energy isn't used up at some point.

Whenever I sat down and read for hours, and the thought crossed my mind that this was just too nerdy, thinking of Hermione reminded me that being nerdy wasn't something bad - it was okay, maybe it was even cool. Then, with the years I stopped reading that much and started watching movies, but it was still the same thing, and I still sometimes think of Hermione when I feel nerdy. Like right now, blogging... blogging about movies, analyzing movies - let's face it, it's nerdy!
But non-nerdy people are actually quite often jealous of us. And that's not just something I say to make me feel good, it's true, there are people who have told me this.

There are so many things that make Hermione one of my greatest heroes, that I'm not able to express them without writing a whole book about it. But there's one last thing I would like to mention at last: remember in one of the last books, when somebody asks Hermione what she wants to do when she's done with school? And you expect her to say something about a post in the ministry - but she says she wants to help people, maybe expand that Elf-organisation.

And that's when I truly realized that you should do what you want to and what you love, not what people expect you to.

Blood. Music. Ryan.

USA, 2011

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Written by Hossein Amini

★ Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston

        

Even though DRIVE has only been a moderate success at the box office, it's already considered a cult classic by its fans. Once they saw Ryan Gosling driving around in L.A. at night time to the blooming electronic beats of Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx, they were hooked. So was I.

While few films truly live out their ideas, DRIVE has its own spirit that shines through in every single scene. The extreme brutality may seem arty to some viewers, to me it was just perfect. A little shocking at times, but nevertheless perfectly right.
The complete contrast to the brutality is existent in many calm and slow scenes, and both sides are connected in the character of the Driver, who is a quiet yet two-fisted person. If you haven't been falling for Ryan Gosling yet, this movie will certainly make you. Ryan is the greatest star of the movie, taking the spotlight from every single one of the excellent supporting actors and actresses. His character is best described in the lyrics of one of the hyper-cool songs of the soundtrack: „A real human being, and a real hero“.
Though he shows traces of humanity by falling in love with Carey Mulligan's character and being wounded a few times, the Driver is an invincible hero. Maybe it's this utterly cool hero that I've been missing in many films of the recent times, at least he's one of the main reasons why I loved DRIVE. The way his silver jacket with the golden scorpion shines in the light, the dark sunglasses that hide his beautiful blue eyes, and his calm smile... absolutely everything about him is so perfect it hurts.

It is hard for me to write about a film I love, and therefore, this review isn't very long. I want to apologize for this, but the words just won't come... it's only emotions, sounds and images in my head. The pink letters, the short yet always perfectly fitting dialogue, the moment when me and my mum couldn't bear the absurd brutality anymore and were caught by a fit of laughter in the theater... which, in case you would like to know, was after one of the gangsters hit a fork into the eye of another gangster.

The haunting alternation of silence and slaughter, and the moment when everything was over and I realized how outstanding this movie is.

I always fear to be too impulsive rating movies, therefore the rating is a bit lower than I  would actually like it to be.

Happy New Month: Films of March 2012

I feel this has been an exceptionally good month, film-wise.
Even though I have "only" seen 24 films, most of them have been great, and there were many of them that I had been anticipating for a long time.

This month, I tried out two digital "offers" that I found to be quite helpful:
Renting films on iTunes, which is a great way to watch movies you don't get anywhere else, especially when there's no DVD rental store near you.
And the IMDB "Recommended for you" widget that inspired me to watch Mysterious Skin, An Education and Babel, all of which I loved. This is a helpful widget if you can't decide what to watch, because personally there are probably millions of films on my inner watchlist, and another million of films I should watch but have never heard of. So it's nice to have some (very effective) algorithm decide for me, at least once in a while.

Before I start talking about the films I've seen, there's one announcement I'd like to make: I have compiled a new 100 Favourite Films list, and as soon as I get together all the pictures and words, I'll let you now. There are many new films in it, that's all I want to say.

Here's what I have been watching last month...

Watched for the very first time:


An Education (2009) Lone Scherfig - UK/ USA | review
I don't know if you can say that, but I feel that this film set my mind on fire. I really thought about it for a long time, so I had to write a review on it, and it also served as an inspiration for another coming-up post.
Rating: 8.3 (by the way, you can see my new ratings' icon revealed in the full review)

Babel (2006) Alejandro González Iñárritu - France/ USA/ Mexico
At the time this film was released, it was seemingly everywhere - I remember seeing the ads all the time. But I was 11 then, little did I know about this film and its greatness... From the title to the actors, the cinematography, the screenplay and the settings - everything fit so perfectly, it almost hurt.
Also, this was the first time Mexico in the movies reminded me of the real Mexico. My favourite story was the one that took place in Japan, though - that performance was mind-blowing.
Rating: 8.8

What I learned from Lone Scherfig's An Education

UK/ USA, 2009

Directed by Lone Scherfig

Written by Nick Hornby and Lynn Barber

★ Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard

   

Contains spoilers

The message of Lone Scherfig's acclaimed coming-of-age movie is neither surprising nor very eye-opening. Most of us female creatures have heard it at least a dozen times while growing up, from our parents, teachers, the magazines and so on.

We're fortunate. We take our possibilities for granted. We need to fight harder. We need to be able to survive without men's help.

When I hear the expression "early marriage", I think of it as negative thing, something I wish I would never hear again. A picture pops up in my head, showing a young woman, doomed to stay in the house and prepare dinner while two of the five babies are screaming in the background. The highlight of her day is meeting the other housewives at the playground and talking about the latest episode of some soap opera.

But what if early marriage and being a housewife is equal to „listening to Jazz music and going to Paris!“? Now that sounds a lot more fun than sticking your nose into books for years and then working 9-5 while trying to sustain your friend- and other relationships.

What AN EDUCATION managed to do was make me relate to an intelligent girl who wants to abandon her studies in favor of the fun-seeming idea of marriage. And the fact that the film succeeded in doing that is by itself pretty amazing.

Of course, sitting in your cosy armchair, you are forced to question the happiness and bright-looking future of this young girl. Something has to be wrong, life is never as easy as it seems. Which is the reason why most people wouldn't have chosen to abandon their studies in real life, but if the filmic protagonist hadn't chosen to abandon her studies, there'd be one great movie less in the world.

And let's be honest: who has never dreamed of throwing all those school books into the garbage? Who has never dreamed of  taking the easy way, thinking it'd be different in your case, it'd work out in your case? I have.

Without stories like AN EDUCATION, a lot of people might think that way, and a lot of people would take a decision they would be happy about for one moment, but regret later.

You might say now, that Jenny (the protagonist) could have continued her wonderful life full of fun, if only she had ignored the fact that her fiancé was already married. 

Indeed, she could have done this - but it would have made her a cold, heartless shell.
"Your heart can be broken", the film seems to be telling us, "so don't ever rely on the things it holds dear".
Be independent, you can still find love and give away your heart. Just keep your shell safe, so that your heart doesn't become homeless once it's broken. 

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the one of the least romantic and most inspiring lessons I have learned from the movies.

9 Great Bollywood Films You Shouldn't Watch With Outsiders

"Bollywood kitsch revisited by Ritan Chauhan" - image source

It has never been easier to convince friends and acquaintances of the normality and non-kitschy/awkwardness of Hindi films by showing them a contemporary one.
Be it Luck by Chance, Dhoom:2 or Dostana - all of these count as successes for my inner missionary of Bollywood. Personally, I would even prefer many other films over the latter two, films that are more profound, to put it that way. It is important to keep the balance between trash and snobism when introducing your friends to an exotic film industry.

But while my journey through and with Indian films has certainly broadened and improved my cinematic taste, there is another phenomena amongst non-Indian Bollywood-viewers, namely one I don't mention very often.
I'm talking about the side of Bollywood, that is darker than any Anurag Kashyap film you have ever seen... In fact the secret of this darkness is a mixture of bright colours that blind the eye, which is already confused by curtains of glycerin tears, all of this resulting in a never-ending darkness of... greatness.

Believe it or not; the more Bollywood films you see, no matter what quality they are, you will feel yourself more and more accepting and in the end getting closer to the dark side of Bollywood, until finally, it has become a part of you. You may try to shake it off with the help of long Fellini-DVD nights, but there is nothing you can do. Once a member of the club, always a member of the club, that's the only rule.

If however, you feel too ashamed by your little dark secret, there are ways to conceal it. Most of the ways to do this are in fact passive ones, in casual conformance with the motto "Don't ask, don't tell". So don't start a movie blog. And if you have one, don't write posts called "9 Great Bollywood Films You Probably Shouldn't Watch With Outsiders", or anything similar. Everybody will know then, and you don't want that to happen, do you?
Another advice from my side is: don't talk about the films, to any. body. Not your sister, your brother, your parents - even your best friend might be a spy from the commission of officially high-quality motion pictures.

Any unsolved questions? Oh yes, thank you for reminding me: what if the films from the dark side have become such a big part of your life that you loose the ability to distinguish between dark and bright films?
In case you are confronted with this problem, there is little I can do for you. But if you're truly in desperation, this list I just created might be a help for you - these are the worst great films I could think of, and you should never. ever. mention the titles of these films in front of anybody else than yourself or your lawyer. Did you understand me? You look a little pale... Hey, it's for your own safety.
And remember: the higher the film is in the list, the more dangerous is it to mention its name in public.

List of those-who-must-not-be-named-ever-after

9. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) Karan Johar

Too childish for an adult movie to be taken seriously by people from ages 11+... ahem.

Your official opinion: „I'm so glad these freakin' 90s are finally over.“

8. Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) Rakesh Roshan

Almost the same as the previous, but even less realistic. And the two halves fit even less (officially).

Your official opinion: „Well, Hrithik had to start at some place.“

7. Josh (2000) Mansoor Khan

A guilty pleasure that many people don't even know... seriously, Romeo and Juliet in Goa? Awe... I mean gruesome!

Your official opinion: „Shah Rukh can't sing, salla.“

6. Mohabbatein (2000) Aditya Chopra

I still hear Amitabh speaking the introduction-speech... this film is just epic. 

This is the essential epic kitsch fiesta. Which can be seen as a negative or positive description.

Your official opinion: „See, nobody of the youngsters got famous. Told'ya, Aditya.“

5. Murder (2004) Anurag Basu

Most people will either be embarrassed or crazy about the first half, but they most probably won't like the second half. I don't care - and by the way, I have no idea why I like this movie either.

Your official opinion: „Disgusting. Hitchcock for poor teenagers.“

4. Yes Boss (1997) Aziz Mirza

The kitschiest and cutest introduction sequence ever. 

I want this movie to become a teddy bear so I can put it in my bed and cuddle up to it whenever I feel sad.

Your official opinion: „No wonder Juhi never got her big breakthrough.“

3. Action Replayy (2010) Vipul Shah

Why was this film not bad again? Oh yes, because it's freaking hilarious.

Believe me, I wanted to hate it. It wasn't my fault.

Your official opinion: „Annoying and far beyond its time.“

2. Tees Maar Khan (2010) Farah Khan

And the same for this one: I practically hated it before seeing it. 

Little did I know about the genius Akshay Kumar.

Your official opinion: „Another slapstick mass production from the hands of Mr. Kumar. Farah Khan disappoints with her second feature film.“

1. Ram Jaane (1995) Rajiv Mehra

This film... Don't watch it. Just don't. 

You still have time to run away - this is something nobody should know nor like.

Damn. WHY did you do this to me?!

Your official opinion: „Do I need to say anything?“

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I hope this will serve as a little help for you.