Au Revoir to Cannes 2014 | Blue Is the Warmest Color

Yesterday was the last day of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. It was also the day that I saw last year's Palme d'Or winner La Vie d'Adèle, Chapitres 1 et 2 or Blue Is the Warmest Color for the first time.

Do you remember the time when a beautiful, fresh French face made a short but effective appearance in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris? Back then, it was still questionable whether there was more behind that intriguing smile. Not anymore - last year, Léa Seydoux (the actress behind selfsame smile) was awarded the Palme d'Or along with her director Abdellatif Kechiche and co-star Adèle Exarchopoulos. The two ladies are the only women to have won the award beside Jane Campion. Blue Is the Warmest Color is indeed a very feminine film that explores women in various ways. Firstly, there is the most apparent theme - homosexuality. The films main character, Adèle, finds out that being with men doesn't give her the same sort of satisfaction as being with a woman does. More so, there is one particular woman that Adèle falls head over heels in love with: the artistic and charming, blue-headed Emma. The two spend several years together as Adèle finishes high school and starts studying to be a teacher. Meanwhile, Emma is becoming an acclaimed artist and doesn't have as much time for her girlfriend anymore. After Adèle cheats on Emma with a male colleague, the two break up, leaving Adèle cold and lonely. 

Blind Spot Fixed: Léon, The Professional

Life has taught me that it's always easier to just give your thumbs up to something than to back off and share your doubts on it. Add to that the fact that I can't really get angry - like, ANGRY angry - and think fighting is sort of useless, and you have me slightly afraid of the reactions to this post. Let's cut to the slack: I wasn't the biggest fan of Léon, my April entry to the Blind Spot series. It's a movie I've been aware of for a long time now and I've been close to picking it up several times on flea markets and the like. As all of the movies I chose for this blogathon, it's one of the highest ranked films on IMDBs Top 250 that I haven't seen until now - and this is a list I have only had good experiences with so far. Not that Léon was a bad experience. In fact, I acknowledge it to be a good, solid film with an unusual story and great characters. Still, I'm not a fan.

Bully - Be Nice or Die

The embarrassing discovery of a misspelling on the banner for this months' LAMB MOTM, whose name I mistook for being "Buddy", could be seen as a foreshadowing of my experience of actually watching this movie. Bully, although only one consonant away from it, is anything but a movie called "Buddy".

Based on a real story and the book written by Jim Schutze, BULLY centers around a group of lazy teenagers that do little less than sleep with each other. One of the kids is Bobby, who treats his "friends" like s*it, especially his childhood best friend Marty. One day, Marty's new girlfriend Lisa decides that the Bully must die. No one disagrees.

If you're searching for a discomforting and unsettling experience, with anything in it that could be described as sick, inhuman, immoral or similar - except cannibalism - you'll hit the jackpot with Bully. It's a story that has a lot of ingredients I love in movies, some I like, and some that make for interesting, challenging watches but I know will upset me in a bad way. The first group (ingredients I love) are the teens and the splash of coming-of-age. In this case however, they don't really come of anything, although they go through some typical coming-of-age phases and actions. There is also the crime element - who doesn't love a good crime story? In this case however, we already know who did what, why and how, so it's more of an insight scoop on the crime. Ingredients I like are the psychologically disturbing elements and character treats, the social commentary/ criticism and Los Angeles setting. But now to get to the core of it all: ingredients I do like but don't enjoy. These are thought-provoking and discomforting in a great way, something I need to experience once in a while but really rather wouldn't sometimes. That's hard drugs, a loooooooot of sex including rape (I'm not prude or anything, The Dreamers is one of my all-time favorite movies, but I don't think anyone would really enjoy the scenes in Bully), teenage pregnancy and prostitution. And we're not talking Pretty Woman prostitution, but the Mysterious Skin/ Christiane F sort of thing. 

So where does all of this leave me with Bully? This is not a movie I enjoyed. It's a movie that made me want to dig a big black hole in the garden and hide in it - either that or surround myself with sunshine, rainbows and innocent little children for a month. I would want to re-watch Bully anywhere in the vicinity of the next, say, 10 years. That being said, I do think it's a great movie, and in that way, it was an enjoyable experience. One that tested and probably crossed my boundaries and made me face some conflicts and perceptions of life that I don't usually consider. It's a well-directed, well-scripted, well-acted movie and I have nothing to complain about it whatsoever. So in the end, I appreciate the fact that this depressing and thought-provoking indie got chosen to be the LAMB Movie of the Month, because I got the chance to watch something I had never heard of and maybe would've never seen otherwise.

BULLY

2001 • USA/ France • English

dir. Larry Clark (1st watch of mine) 

written by David McKenna & Roger Pullis

★ Brad Renfro, Bijou Phillips, Rachel Miner + more (incl. Michael Pitt)

FINAL FRAME: STRAWBERRY

HAPPY NEW MONTH: Films of January 2013

The first year with four different numbers since 1987 has begun.

And with it, Award-o-mania, which took hold of me as soon as the Oscar nominations were announced. Having seen each film that's nominated for more than 1 of the precious statues, except for the ones that will be coming to our theaters in February, I'm kind of fed up with 2012 movies right now. It was a rewarding experience though, to watch all these films I had been anticipating, and most of them turned out quite all right. I'm also playing with the idea of hosting a little blogathon about award snubs, something I've been wanting to try for a long time now, except I'm a bit of a coward. If you all promise to consider joining I would take it up on Sunday though.

Otherwise I discovered an awesome tv series this month, with the side effect of me not wanting to watch movies anymore until I've finished the series. Furthermore, I just bought an HDMI cable today, so I'll be able to watch the rest of the series on my TV which is so cool! Not so cool for all the films that want to be watched, but whatever. 

At least I did manage to squeeze in a lot of them last month...

WATCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

Happy New Month: Films of December 2012

2012 is coming to an end, but I still don't have the feeling that it is...

I was just browsing through all the posts I wrote this year... it was definitely a good year. One of the best years ever. A beautiful year with many wonderful journeys, some new friends, a lot of great new art (movies, books etc.). 

And also blogging-wise, I think it was successful. There were of course times when I had to go on hiatus for a while, I even seriously considered closing the blog but then... I just couldn't. This is the only place where I can express myself without boundaries, writing-wise. Well, except for that novel I'm working - yeah, I said it. It was meant to be a secret but then I though I might as well share it with you... I don't know what the outcome is going to be, but I hope to write about two pages everyday from now on. That would mean the novel would be finished in about three months - I guess.

It's funny you know... just when I was thinking of letting go of that pressure to write something "big" (meaning "long(er)"), just waiting for the right feeling to come on a sports game (Murakami) or on the train (Rowling), the idea just came right out of nowhere. 

But enough about that... let's just see what the future will bring, shall we.

And until then, let's talk about movies.

WATCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

200 Motels (1971) Tony Palmer, Frank Zappa - USA

I really don't wanna know how many drugs went into the production of this movie... but at least now I have a quite exact idea of what it's like to be stoned. Watch it if you want something completely confusing and ridiculous.

5.0

Happy New Month: Films of September 2012

The new month starts with an announcement: I will take a break from blogging for a few weeks. 

It's all going great at the time with statistic records, lovely comments and all that jazz. I want to thank you, as always, for joining the discussion of the amazing art of film, for you recommendations, criticism and everything else. My writing, I think, is getting better and better and I have written many things that I'm actually quite proud of. And I'm having fun doing it.

The reason why I want to take a break now, isn't because I want to stop doing what I love - writing - but because I want to do even more of it. I don't want to tell you too much, but I have a little project going on at the time and I would like to devote some more time to it. 

You might now that it's Lime Reviews' 2nd anniversary this month, the 22nd October. Of course I'll celebrate this a little, and update my 100 Favourite Films list some time. But otherwise I'll spend my fall holidays writing about something else than movie - and going to London, which is so great! I have a list of London-based movies I would like to watch, and I've already seen two of them, so at some time I will post something about these movies and my experience. 

Getting back to last month's movie experience: it has been a great month for movies. Especially my Journey to Wes Anderson Land has been a wonderful experience, and the first of its kind to me.

Here's what I've watched...

WATCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

A Clockwork Orange (1971) Stanley Kubrick - USA/ UK

Happy New Month: Films of August 2012

You guys are simply too awesome!

Ever since March 2012, my stats have been going higher and higher each month, and I am so happy about this. Every new month is truly a Happy New Month, so I want to thank everyone who has been following and reading the ramblings I put out here. Thank you.

As I said in the latest Pensieve post, my life is if not chaotic at least very stuffed at the moment, by which I mean that there are lots of things for me to do. Everything of this is my own choice off course - I want to get an education, a driver's license and so on - and yes, it's more important than blogging. If not, I guess I'd have to get worried about my life.

So there's a bit of cutting down on blogging, I'm satisfied if only I can post once a week next month. But like I know my readers, I'm sure you won't abandon this little blog.

Anyway, what's also more important than blogging about films? Watching films. And I've managed better than I thought to squeeze in a movie here and there, especially a lot of classics...

Blood. Music. Robert.

Also read: Blood. Music. Ryan.

France/ Canada/ Portugal/ Italy, 2012

Cosmopolis

Directed and written by David Cronenberg

Based on a novel by Don DeLillo

★ Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon

                    

Obviously, Cosmopolis is a film that causes opinions to differ. It is theatric and filled with complex dialogue and ambiguities, and there was a moment where I could have chosen to think, "This is it. I'm out". But I decided not to. Mainly because the introduction sequence was so classy.

Classy is the right word. It describes this film very well. I read that some people found it stylish but in its content too self-indulgent and pretentious, but I don't agree. While watching the movie I considered this opinion, but was immediately captured by the story itself again, deciding I wouldn't jump on either side of the fence before finishing the movie. It's like certain books that you find hard to get through; the dialogue is tiring and confusing, and you just don't "get" what it's supposed to tell you. Then the revelation when you're finished and can't get this work of art out of your mind, you keep dwelling on it, certain scenes and underlying thoughts keep popping up in your head. You realize the works value.

Happy New Month: Films of July 2012

It's never too late - I hope the fifth is okay for a monthly recap.

So, school starts again tomorrow after six wonderful weeks that just passed by. I went to a music festival for the first time in my life, went on a roadtrip with a friend for the first time in my life... hey, I even managed to finally see The Avengers!

I didn't care about not seeing many movies, because there are things more important than cinema in my life (by the way, that is my proudest piece of writing ever because I managed to express my inner chaos as close to perfectly as possible). At the same time these six weeks also revitalized my passion for this art - and for ballet too, in case you care - and I can't wait to dive into blogging, watching etc. again, although I'm also going to have to focus on school more this year as this is my 12th year (only two more until graduation, from now on).

Don't worry though, I'll try not to ever fully abandon the blog. There's even a slightly updated layout on its way. 

But firstly, here's what I watched last month - not much, but mostly good or okay stuff.  

Cousteau Mini Blogathon: Voyage au bout du monde

YEAR: 1976; DIRECTOR: Philippe Cousteau, Jacques-Yves Cousteau

With this review of Voyage to the Edge of the World, my Cousteau Mini Blogathon comes to an end. It was out of a spontaneous mood that I started this little project, knowing that it would catch little interest among my readers as Cousteau with his 4-5 films isn't exactly a man of the cinema (although he won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature two times). 

I'm still glad to see that there was a handful of people that read my posts, and maybe it's not too much to hope for that someone got inspired to watch some Cousteau film. 

World Without Sun remaining my true favourite of the three movies I watched and reviewed for this event, I did enjoy Voyage to the Edge of the World. It was the most conventional documentary of the three, with a special 70s flair to it. Something about the lighting. 

Being accustomed with J. Cousteau's voice-over from the first two movies, it was an interesting alternation to be listening to his son Philippe during the underwater sequences of this movie. Clearly, Jacques himself has grown much older since the 12 years older World Without Sun, which is why he didn't participate in the diving this time. It was amazing to see what the Arctic sea looks like under the surface, regardless of the fact that we've seen it before many times. The feeling that we are the first to see these intriguing shots, and the scientists' enthusiasm just really comes across. Like, "whaaat, the iceberg is actually 7 times larger under the surface?!".

I just love it when films are able to capture me like that. And that without really proving or discovering anything - quite an accomplishment for a nature documentary. 

What Voyage to the Edge of the World did was show things, and show a few people's love for those things. As well as their fear. But no risk no fun, right? I'm pretty sure this was the mantra of the people who made this. Climbing a giant sphinx-formed iceberg and diving into its grottos is near to suicide. But when you get the best and never before seen shots of more than 1000 year old chunks of ice, forming a complex tunnel system, that's pretty much worth it, I guess.

And although Voyage to the Edge of the World neither had a title as catching, nor an ending sentence as inspiring (though it was quite great) as the ones of Cousteau's previous films, it still lingers with me. 

Adding up to the knowledge I have gained from the previous three nights.

The final frame

Cousteau Mini Blogathon: Le monde sans soleil

YEAR: 1964; DIRECTOR: Jacques-Yves Cousteau; WRITERS: J. Cousteau, James Dugan

Aside from winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and starting with the same two words, Le monde sans soleil („World Without Sun“) has nothing much in common with the previously discussed Cousteau film Le monde du silence („The Silent World“).

While the latter is a fairly interesting depiction of ocean science in the mid-fifties, accompanied by beautiful underwater shots, the film I'm writing about today both has beautiful underwater shots and a story, even conflicts.

The most interesting of these is the question whether, and under what circumstances, man is able to survive deep down under the surface of the sea - and even more interestingly; what impacts such a way of living has on the human body and soul. Cousteau and his scientists have dived deeper since their last journey on film, and instead of taking small trips to the mysterious silent world without sun, they now spend most of their time in it. The "Continental Shelf Station Two" has become their home for the next 30 days, and during that time the men themselves grow more and more silent. 

As in The Silent World, a few enviromentally and morally questionable incidents can be found in World Without Sun, but generally it seems Cousteau has grown more aware of that problem. His fear for shark remains just as strong though, and each time one of the "beasts" enters the surrounding waters, you can expect to hear creepy tunes á la Spielberg's Jaws.

Another of the scientists admits in one scene, that he is afraid of sleeping at night, for he feels he is surrounded by creatures that seem to origin from his worst nightmares. Personally, this was one of my favourite scenes, at least for its great narrative, cutting from the mentioned scientist to shots of those night-active and wondrous creatures that are then accompanied by a monologue of the man. It's hard to explain, but I really liked it. 

Generally, fewer of the scenes seemed as artificial as in the first film, though I don't know the cause for this. Maybe Cousteau listened to his critics. But of course most of the scenes don't even have any potential to seem artificial, as the main part of the footage consists of underwater shots or shots of the crew that don't include dialogue. I loved the diving parts - often it felt like the men became real creatures of the sea, as elegantly and casually as they were swimming around with the fish. It made me want to learn diving too, so I understand that the film caused an intense interest in sport diving. 

If you don't know much about Cousteau yet and would like to start out with something you most likely are going to enjoy, I recommend watching World Without Sun. The same goes for anyone interested in documentaries, as this one really is a must-watch, not only for winning the Oscar. 

World Without Sun is my clear favourite of Cousteau's filmic work until now and I am very surprised about its quality after the more or less disappointing The Silent World.

The final frame

If I caught your interest, read the first post in the Cousteau Mini Blogathon: Le monde du silence

Cousteau Mini Blogathon: Le monde du silence

YEAR: 1956; DIRECTORS: Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Louis Malle; WRITER: Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Having read and heard much about Cousteau, I actually don't know a bit about him. The Cousteau Mini Blogathon, consisting of three famous documentaries by or with the famous scientist and filmmaker, is supposed to change this. 

In case you know even less than I do, here's a brief summarization of what I know: Cousteau invented a lot of cool stuff for ocean science and discovered many new animals and plants. Furthermore, he was just you know, cool like that, and he hated sharks. He also wrote tons of books. Oh, and his ship was called the Calypso.

Moving on to my first Cousteau film, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Palme D'Or, the only documentary to achieve this aside from Fahrenheit 9/11.

If I were to sum up my viewing experience in three words, I'd say: „boring... disgusting... fascinating“.

BOREDOM

I have often been slightly ashamed when I was bored by an acclaimed film, especially if it was very calm and nothing much happened. Keyword silent film. However, I decided to think differently from now on, because trying to not be bored by a film I was bored by, would be just like trying to be bored by a film I was entertained by - and I would never do that. 

The Silent World wasn't about suspense or science, it was about something entirely else, which I will talk about in the last paragraph. So, obviously, I found it boring. Although I'm interested in oceanography and similar. A man diving through an abandoned shipwreck for 10 minutes is boring, though fascinating as well. But we'll get to that.

And before I forget it: many scenes on board seemed like the scientists were acting. Badly. 

DISGUST

It's not like I'm one of those extremist biological and ecological food maniacs, but I do care about the environment and the way we treat other life-forms. So watching some so-called scientists massacre sharks just because they want to eat a whale cadaver isn't exactly what I find entertaining, nor even acceptable. Same goes for the same "scientists" placing dynamite in a coral reef in order to "study" the animals in it. However, wikipedia tells me that these two points were criticized by many people and that Cousteau changed his mind later on and became very much environmentally active. Thank God.

FASCINATION

The thing The Silent World became most known for was its revolutionary and extremely fascinating underwater shots and cinematography, and I completely understand that. Even today, being spoiled by documentaries like Blue Planet and what else their called, much of the material is capturing and soothes the mind (except when sharks are around). There was even one thing I don't remember having seen before: corals deep under the surface, like 60-75 meters, were illuminated, and you could see the bright colours that became even brighter the deeper you went. 

I can only imagine what it must have been like to see this in the mid-fifties. 

The final word

Despite its many flaws, The Silent World remains a must-watch for people interested in documentary and oceanography, and I don't regret having seen it. However, there are better films of the like.

Happy New Month: Films of June 2012

I can't go on calling every month legendary, can I?

Honestly, I'm afraid the bubble is going to burst some time... just like with the financial crisis. I'm on my way into a film crisis, am I not?

Whatever, I'll enjoy it as long as it lasts.

So, I watched a lot of films last month. No idea how or why I did it. Well, one reason is that I was trying to compensate for my lack of movie watching during the Roskilde music festival, which I attended at the start of July (who would've thought there'd be a cinema there!). Also, there movie I watch the more I want to see, and I had a lot of free time in the last weeks of school... so I stayed awake late and watched a whole bunch of classics and must-sees. 

I also bought many DVDs on the flee market, for example Ratatouille and Never Let Me Go, so I managed to finally re-watch them. The cherry on top of course was re-watching The Dreamers, an incredibly experience (no, I don't own the DVD yet, sadly). 

By the way, my stats were topped again, thanks to everybody who out of some reason stopped by and read one or two of my posts. I'm not really prolific, so I'm really thankful for the increase in followers and everything, really my heart makes a jump every time I see a new number (except when someone leaves of course). 

I hope you'll take the time and read about the record high of films I watched this month. 

On Re-Watching The Dreamers

It had been almost exactly two years since I had seen The Dreamers, when in the middle of June 2012, I found that I had to re-watch it. That very night. 

Two Boys Grow Up

UK/ USA/ France, 2002

About a Boy

Directed by Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
Written by Peter Hedges, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz
★ Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz

            

I have the feeling it's not only me who is tired of seeing all these absolutely current-treasure-y super positive reviews on my blog, and that's why today, I'm going to write about a film that I liked.

A film that made me smile almost all the time, but never made me feel, "God, this is awesome!". Perhaps the reason for my reaction is that I had already read the ingenious book by one of my favourite authors, Nick Hornby, and there was no way to top that. Or perhaps it was just... well "just" a good film.

But this is not a bad thing, and actually there's almost nothing bad I can say about About a Boy. It had humour, an interesting narration, a good story (obviously) and a good soundtrack. It was good.

Sometimes I wonder what it is, that makes some movies great, and others good. I thought it might be predictability that would "spoil" a movie, as I already knew most of the plot of this movie (it felt as if only one scene had been changed from the book). But then again, why would people - including me - re-watch films then?

Today I've come to the conclusion that it's sheerly impossible to put a finger on that particular, I don't want to say "x-factor"... let's say, "factor of awesomeness". You can't explain why and how the strawberry explodes, and why it doesn't - all you know is that it does, in some films.

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

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

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

Happy New Month: Films of February 2012

The first ISHQ-issue containing my articles came out yesterday - my God, I can't believe it! I'm totally excited to finally get to see them in print!

Sorry for starting with something so completely egoistic, but it's very important to me.
Anyway, I went to the cinema to watch Hugo on the last day of the month, and that was actually my fourth visit to the cinemas this month, of which one was a double bill. You can read my first thoughts further down the page.

What else has been happening this month? Well, the Oscars of course... I'm still a bit tired, but never mind - it was worth it.
Most surprisingly, I watched only good films this month, can you believe it? There was indeed no trash whatsoever! The lowest rating I gave a film is 6.4. I also believe I've never seen as many black-and-white films in one month as this time, which is related to the "Tagore in Films"-DVD-Box I got as a christmas present. You can look forward to a whole post on the six (?) films.

Furthermore, you might remember my post on Kate Winslet, where I listed five Kate Winslet films I wanted to watch before I turn 17? Well, as there are only 9 days left, I'm in quite a hurry, but there's only two more to go: Heavenly Creatures and my long-awaited Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And my expectations for the latter are sky-high, so I prey for not being disappointed. In any case, I'll also do a post on my reactions to the five films by the time I've watched them.

So, let's take a lot at what else I have seen this month...

One Night, One Cinema - Two Films

There's a first time for everything, isn't there?

Hysteria (2011) & Intouchables (2011)

Watching two films after each other in the cinema was an unthinkable thing to do for me - until quite recently, when me and two friends decided that we had to see the two films that were running in the repertory the next week. So yesterday we went, and I tell you: it was fun.

This might be due to the films we saw, which were comedies (the first one especially), but really: it didn't feel odd in the slightest. It was more like a DVD-night in public, to a certain point. 

As mostly in the repertory, the films were current indies, and as mostly I felt utterly happy to be able to see them. While there has been a lot of talking about Intouchables (which was also released in our multiplex, that's why), I'd probably never seen Hysteria if it weren't for our awesome little cinema.

Why has nobody made a film about the invention of the vibrator before? That is one of the best ideas for a comedy I have ever heard of. Certainly, there were some holes in the script and a few odd scenes, but in a nutshell it was pure fun - I haven't laughed that much for a long time. My risible muscles were truly sore. 

Intouchables however, played on a totally different level. Firstly, it was much more emotional than the previous, more realistic and also profounder. Secondly: Omar Sy is a man you ought to keep an eye on. His performance had many layers and facial expressions and body language were impressively unique. The film on a whole was a very fitting mixture of realism and vision or inspiration, there were scenes where the audience laughed its hearts out, and others were it kept the tissues near. All of this, I realize, sounds like the description of a fairly original film, but there is something quite special about Intouchables. It is a film that might inspire you to do things you've never done, but also one that might make you feel very content about your life and being. It shows what wonderful people live "beneath" and "above" the middle class - us, if I'm allowed to say that - and... well, some other great philosophic stuff. You know what I'm trying to say - it just sounds so worn out when I'm putting it into words.

Conclusion: 

1. Watching a double feature in cinema is great.
2. If you need a light and extremely funny comedy, watch Hysteria.
3. If you need a great current film, watch Intouchables.
4. If you have the possibility, watch both films in the same cinema, the same night.

Have you been to a double feature in cinema? What are your experiences?