Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon

The brilliant Brittani Burnham from Rambling Film sets out on her first quest in blogathon land with the Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon. If you would like to join, click on the link above to read the instructions. The theme is as easy as the title suggests. As I have chosen some foreign language titles, I will explain those in English. Off we go!

8 1/2

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Biutiful

Blind Spot Fixed: Rear Window

With the recent release of Grace of Monaco (2014), there has been more talk than usually of the immortal ghost of the fabulous Grace Kelly. I knew about Grace before I ventured into the art of film for my leisure time, since my favorite topic used to be fashion once. She's your go-to choice for random photo collages that are supposed to express 'glamour', 'timelessness' or simply 'the 50s'. Much like Marilyn Monroe, she's a confusing persona and most people would find it hard to determine what kind of celebrity she was. Apparently, she started a promising career in acting before venturing into princesshood by marrying the Prince of Monaco. When you type her name into the IMDB, it says 'Actress, Rear Window (1954)' in a smaller font below an attempt to capture her breathtaking beauty - it was shortly before she met the prince that my blindspot for this month, which is the film she is best known for, was filmed.

Despite James Stewart's charm, Grace Kelly is the dominating star in this light-hearted murder mystery: She plays Lisa, a New York socialite who is in an on-off, love-hate relationship with adventurous photographer Jeff (Stewart). Due to an accident, Jeff is bound to a wheelchair for a few weeks in the hottest time of summer, a time he fills by regarding the goings-on in the backyard of his apartment complex. Most of the evenings, Lisa goes to visit Jeff and tries to talk him into considering a more serious relationship with her. When Jeff thinks he has overseen dangerous happenings from his rear window, Lisa tries to help him figure out the mystery.

The Ten: Most Iconic Movie Characters

What would this website be without the glorious help from other bloggers out there who spend more time producing content than thinking about producing content. One of those angels is Nostra from My Filmviews who puts the best blogathons, memes and similar gifts out there now and then. This time, it's another relay race...

A list of 10 iconic movie characters has been made. That list will be assigned to another blogger who can then change it by removing one character (describing why they think it should not be on the list) and replace it with another one (also with motivation) and hand over the baton to another blogger. Once assigned, that blogger will have to put his/her post up within a week. If this is not the case the blogger who assigned it has to reassign it to another blogger. After you have posted your update leave the link in the comments here and I will make sure it gets added to the overview post.

Another angel is my desi girl Nik from Being Norma Jeane who was kind enough to tag me for this blogathon. I wasn't sure whether I'd dare to participate but okay then, let's get it on with.

Short Break | No Time

A long time before the days of Requiem For a Dream and Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky was "just" one of the most promising graduates from the directing program at the American Film Institute. Apparently, the most important short from his days of studying, Supermarket Sweep, became an actual National Student Academy Award finalist! However, neither this nor his other two AFI shorts Fortune Cookie and Protozoa, are available to common peasants like me. With no time on my hands and a strong desire to participate in French Toast Sunday's amazing director months, I tracked down the last of Aronofsky's short films. It is named, ironically No Time.

If your impression of Aronofsky so far has been that of a highly intelligent director who makes slightly depressing movies - including what is probably the most depressing movie of all time - you will think again once you've seen the precious 1994 short No Time. Where to start? It's pure mayhem from the beginning and then 22 minutes onward until the end. Consisting of several short episodic sequences that bear close resemblance to those sketch shows that seem to have disappeared from [Danish] television, this film is as different from the other two Aronofsky films I've seen, as the black swan is from the white swan. If anyone could've told that this was an Aronofsky film without knowing, I will quit being a semi-critic and watch 1000 more movies before I start writing about them again. 

The protagonists of the short are four friends that may or may not be living together, and whose entertainment options have narrowed down - however, we only find out what has happened in the middle of the short. Anyway, the try to bide their time by playing charade and also going on individual adventures such as playing basketball and fishing. If this sounds pretty basic; yes, it is, but Aronofsky manages to fill every sequence with enormous amounts of slapstick and situational humour that is pushed to an almost grotesque level in the end. This kind of humour is certainly dangerous and not universal at all, even for me, it can go either way. But within minutes, I found myself laughing louder than what is probably appropriate when your sister is trying to fall asleep next-door. No Time worked just as well for me as Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan have, although on a completely unexpected, ridiculous level. I can't wait to finally watch his other three - well, actually four now - movies soon. If you would like to see No Time for yourself, scroll down and hit |>.

All month long, FTS will be highlighting the work of Darren Aronofsky and also posting other related articles and links from around the web. Post your links and find banners here, send an email to lindsay@frenchtoastsunday.com for help and use the hashtag #DarrenAPRILofsky for tweets. 

Big League Blogathon | Field of Dreams

What makes a life truly worth living? Few people living a privileged first world life - and I'm not talking about the top 10.000 - are satisfied by simply existing. Most of us, if not all of us, want to be remembered in some way, go down in history you may say. We want to be someone, to fulfill some sort of purpose in our life, a reason for a different future than one lacking a past that included us. 

Field of Dreams is a movie about this strange human struggle for validation and how people often have very different views on what makes a life worth living. In the middle of the attention, there's hippie-turned-farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) who has built up an idyllic existence with his born-and-bred country girl wife Annie (Amy Madigan) and their daughter Karin. One day he hears a voice telling him to build a baseball field in his back yard, which he does - and as if things couldn't become stranger, the ghosts of old baseball players start appearing on the field. Confused, Ray goes on a quest to find his all-time favorite author Terrence Mann (James Earl Jones) to help him understand the messages he's receiving and the purpose of his Field of Dreams. Terrence Mann was an activist writer back in the 60s and 70s and so certainly lived a life worth living in many ways, however he retreated from the public when he felt people weren't listening to him anymore.

Captain America Blogathon | A Journey Through the Decades Lost

Dear Captain America/ Mr. Rogers,

I heard you've just been unfreezed which is great news and bad news at the same time. It's just a guess, but something bad must've happened or you wouldn't have been melted? Anyway, I'm not as familiar with your story as many other people, not having seen the recent picture based on your achievements in the War nor having read any of the comic books centered around you. However, I'm a big fan of moving pictures - we call them movies or flicks these days - and I have taken the freedom to arrange for you a list of those you may have missed during your... well, absence. There is a movie from each decade since you were frozen and I have tried to choose one that reflected its time very well. I hope this will be a help for you to get used to your surroundings and catch up on the years you've missed.

Spin-off Blogathon | Agent Mariah Hill and Jor-El

It took some time to figure this out, but my final choice for the spin-off blogathon hosted by Sati is a tie between two comic-book-to-movie characters. Funnily, it's a very fair tie in many ways, representing both genders, both comic book giants (DC and Marvel) as well as two different general opinions on each movie. My choices are Agent Mariah Hill, played by the fabulous Cobie Smulders in The Avengers and Jor-El/ Superman's real dad, played by Russell Crowe in Man of Steel. You can guess which of the above characteristics belongs to which character.

Blind Spot Fixed: American History X

I can't discuss American History X - which, just to give you an impression, should land somewhere up in my Top 10 films of all time - without discussing my initial expectations for it. Along with Once Upon a Time in the West, this was the movie from blind spot list that I expected least from, mainly because I knew the least about it. The title had always made me think of some slightly preachy yet solid, typical 'universally good movie' about Malcolm X and black oppression. At least I was slightly right about that last one, but surprisingly there is no trace of Malcolm X in this movie at all. Lincoln may have been mentioned, which brings me to my first point: Movie buffs have been talking a lot about racism in the last two years with Lincoln and 12 Years a Slave being released and overall cherished. These were two movies that left me very cold and didn't trigger much of the aspired emotional reaction in me, which has convinced quite a few people I talk to about movies that I am a racist (jokingly... I hope). For example, one of these people was very surprised when I told him that I had actually fairly enjoyed this year's Fruitvale Station, me being a racist and all. I can't wait to tell him what I think of American History X (hint: it begins with M and ends with ASTERPIECE)*.

Blind Spot Fixed: Memento

Memento was easily one of my blind spot films that I was most excited to watch. It's Stevee Taylor's favorite movie of all time, which in itself is worth a thousand reasons I should watch it, and in the top 10 of countless lists floating around the internet - including many an IMDB Top list. In contrary to many other of my blind spots, I actually knew about Memento a long time before I moved to the island of film lovers (as Ryan McNeil - sort of - puts it: the more movies you watch, the more blind spots you never even knew you had, you discover). I owe this knowledge to one of the sides of Indian cinema that I've always been critical of: it's affection for remaking films from other corners of the world (primarily Hollywood blockbusters). So Ghajini, a 2008 Bollywood hit remake of Memento, marked my first encounter with the Memento Mori story. Ironically enough, this movie was also a Hindi-language remake of the 2005 Kollywood (Tamil-language) film of the same name by the same director. At any rate, Ghajini was fairly enjoyable, mainly because of its cinematography and the man who turns iron into gold, Indian superstar Aamir Khan. However, it didn't ignite a burning desire to watch the original Memento in me.

Blind Spot Fixed: Apocalypse Now

Choosing 12 films out of the hundreds of 'must-sees', 'masterpieces' and 'classics' that waited like blank sheets of paper for me to put my stamp of opinion on was a difficult task in itself. The fortunate person I am, the first film I chose proved even more difficulties. The main one: there exist two versions of it, the shorter one being 'only' 153 minutes long. Still, the 200+ minutes 'Redux' (what does that word even mean) cut might be much better than the original one, think of Blade Runner. Luckily, my helpful blogathon host Ryan McNeil immediately responded with the wise recommendation of the shorter cut - apart from the expected 'You're in for a treat', which he knew because everyone except me has seen these films already. In I went then, used to the 90-110 minute features I have stuffed myself with this whole past month. And you know, I've come to realize that watching movies is quite similar to doing sports - you've got to alternate. Now I do ballet, so 'Don't just do the allegro and ignore the adagio' would be my personal interpretation of the lesson that the Apocalypse Now experience taught me. I guess it translates to 'Don't forget to build up your muscles when training for a marathon'. 

Apocalypse Now is not just a long film - it's  a long war film. Happy times. War films need to be long, seems to be the general consensus. I don't think so, actually, I think war films can work perfectly fine with a running time below 2h. But indeed, Apocalypse Now is a movie that needs room to unfold itself in order to build up its eerie and disturbing atmosphere. Surprisingly, the plot isn't that important - nor are its holes. Basically, it's about great actors delivering great performances in an impossible environment, framed in the most fascinating way you can imagine (Oscar nod: deserved). If you really *have* to have a synopsis though; half-crazy Captain Willard (Michael Charlie Martin Sheen) is sent on a secret mission to exterminate Colonel Kurtz's (Marlon Brando) insane reign over a group of insane people near the Cambodian-Vietnamese border. The film currently ranks #1 at the website moviemistakes.com and deservedly so. You can't expect anything else from a cut-down from more than 200h worth of filmed material, filmed in 16 months though. Famous production history? I didn't know S about this film's production history. However, it was one of the most interesting things I read since researching Blade Runner.

Making the Case for Spring Breakers

Spring Breakers is my favourite film of 2013. I would rob a diner wearing a pink ski mask if I had to, just to watch it again. Or to get my hands on a copy of it. 

Let's begin where it all began with a teaser trailer than in itself is award-worthy. Most teaser trailers are. But there was someone about this one that intrigued me more than most of what I watch on a day-to-day base. Opinions on the movie have been very split. Festival-goers thought it was fine, teenage boys were disappointed by its seriousness, film enthusiasts didn't know what to make of it and the average moviegoer didn't even see it. It became known as "the movie with the two Disney princesses going wild". But it is just so much more than that. It's a film that bends genres, combines them anew and creates something that I've never seen on a screen before. It doesn't work neither as a satire, a full-on drama, a comedy, a music video or a wet-dream, but it's the mixture of all these elements that elevate it to another level of film-making. I won't go so far as saying that Harmony Korine knew what he was doing. Maybe he was. More likely, he wasn't completely. He didn't create an art house film, I think, but neither does his movie appeal to a large group of people. Cult movie might be the right term - or rather: future cult movie. 

Spring Breakers is an experience. Remember all the people mocking Gravity for being too long and having too little actual story? I for one think that both of these movies have some of the best screenplays of the year. And just as furious as I am about the people not 'getting' Gravity, I am about the people not even trying to get Spring Breakers. Of course, one may dislike or not love the movie once they've tried to work out what it was trying to say. Even if you don't arrive at a result, I wouldn't argue with you. But to completely disregard some of the things I love most about this movie, is a sin to me. Its content and ideas go from depicting the hedonic excesses of spring break to exploring friendship between young women to a re-interpretation of the American Dream. Confused? I wouldn't say I'm not. I don't completely 'get' Spring Breakers? But I like it that way. A movie doesn't need to write its intention out. A hint can be enough. And if the hint is as poetically executed as in Spring Breakers, a hint can be equal to perfection. 

Thank you for considering Spring Breakers, Ladies and Gentlemen, here are the categories I'd like to see it nominated in:

Best original screenplay - The dialogue is kept to a minimum and very powerful and the whole story evolved very organically. Also, the whole Britney Spears montage is enough reason for me to make this movie win. In case Gravity doesn't.

Best sound mixing - The voice-over fits beautifully into the rest of the movie and I think the technicians managed to make spring break feel real sound-wise without keeping the attention away from what was important to the story. 

Best make-up and hairstyling - Because pink hair. And seriously, the person that deformed James Franco that way must've really done an effort.

Best film editing - Some found the scenes of the actual spring break to be a tad too long and music-video-esque but I found that they worked very well. I loved the slow pace that was somehow underlined by some very fast-cut scenes. How is that even possible?

Best costume design - Duh.

Best cinematography - Everything looked either absolutely delicious or absolutely disgusting in a delicious way. My favourite thing about the cinematography is probably the lighting though. We don't see enough neon in movies these days. 

Best ensemble - Each of the three ladies was giving her very best and all of their performances felt very natural and honest. Rachel Korine was my least favourite, but even she depicted her character in an interesting, layered way. Selena Gomez was very sweet and her fear came across wonderfully, while Ashley Benson and Vanessa Hudgens blew me away in two very raunchy and sexy performances. And then there's James Franco.

Best supporting actor - Again, I want to say duh. He's completely different from his usual self, not only look-wise, but also in the way he walks, talks, acts and whatever people do. The pistol scene alone should gain him a nomination.

I also would like Spring Breakers to create and to win these fictional categories: Best Poster, Best Use of Pop Music, Best Arrest, Best Nail Polish and Best Asses.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

(MOVIES I THOUGHT ABOUT CHOOSING for various reasons)

This is the End • The Conjuring • The Bling Ring • How I Live Now • Michael Kohlhaas

I'm a Blind Young Lady

The one and only Ryan McNeil is hosting his famous Blind Spot blogathon again next year, and this time, I'm all in. I'm going to watch 12 movies that I've never seen before, but feel very inclined to do. They may have won Best Picture, they may have been major Box-Office successes or they may simply be quite acclaimed. So here are my 12 movies and the months I'm going to (hopefully) watch them in:

January

Apocalypse Now

February

Memento

March

American History X

April

Léon (The Professional)

May

Rear Window

June

12 Angry Men

July 

Once Upon a Time in the West

August

Se7en

September

City of God

October

Goodfellas

November

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

December

It's a Wonderful Life

I can't wait to start!

Breaking Hate and Breaking Love

With these two last emotions, the Breaking Emotions Blogathon comes to an end - and sadly so. Mettel saved the best for the ending and we're going to go full on with the simple feels of Hate and Love. It would've been easy to just write a post on Love, but I decided to look for the devil in me and find those scenes that I despise as well. And then the very best also comes last for me with three scenes I love from three movies I love. Thank you for hosting this epic blogathon, Mettel!

Breaking Smiles and Breaking Thrills

We're mid-way through the Breaking Emotions Blogathon and I can already announce that this is my favorite blogathon of the year so far. Dropping out of the 5 Obstructions sort of disqualified that one from the first spot. This week, participants are asked to show off their dimples (I wish I had really cute ones, but sadly their rather unincisive) while sitting on the edges of their chairs/ sofas/ bathtubs/ beds/ wherever else you like to watch a movie. *

* As always, my choices are in no particular order. 

Smiles

American Psycho • Business Cards

Yes, everyone, I finally caught up with American Psycho just yesterday. And it is brilliant. It's a great slasher film, a great psychological drama and a great satire all at the same time. The awkwardness of it all kept me from laughing but I basically smiled my way through this movie. I knew about the business card scene before but had never seen it - it marked the peak of my smiling curve. Well, apart from the scene where a blood-smeared, naked Christian Bale runs around with a chainsaw.

Aiyyaa • Dreamum Wakeupum

This movie is so brave and colourful, I couldn't help but love it. The only thing I disliked were a certain female side character and, to some extend, the ending. Otherwise, the creativity that went into this is amazing. Showing a woman obsessing about someone in an Indian movie is quite unusual, showing attraction towards dark skin perhaps even more and having a character dream about these absolutely wonderful, cheesy phantasies was the cherry on top. 

Shopaholic • The Google Scene

By now, everyone who visits my blog from now and then probably knows about my undying love for this movie. Rebecca Bloomwood always manages to make me smile. And come on, we've all been in that situation, haven't we?

Thrills

The Deep (2012)

Not to be confused with a certain 70s flick, The Deep is an Icelandic movie from last year that is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat (with one exception - I'm looking at you, Nik). Even the trailer is full of suspense and had both me and my family go "We have to see this". It's the sort of film that'll make you shut up and not complain about a fly for at least a month. Since it's a rather unknown movie there are no specific scenes out there on the internet but that's fine since, actually, the whole movie is one big thrill.

The Hunger Games • Countdown

The Hunger Games has a rather sick premise for a movie (or a book for that matter); you're disgusted by the society it portrays and the way they watch people fight each other and die as entertainment. Like the Romans who watched Gladiators fight each other. However, you're watching these people fight each other and die, and you root for them, you're thrilled - you're entertained.

Talaash • Aamir and Kareena

There's so much to be thrilled about in this movie. Be it the style, the quality of the story, the fact that Aamir and Kareena have great chemistry - anything. What thrilled me most about it are two things: its intelligence and its self-awareness. The scene I chose is not necessarily the best but it's one I keep getting back to. I love the poetry in the dialogue and the unbelievable perfection of Kareena Kapoor portraying a prostitute. No offense; she's one of my favorite actresses. I'm just saying she's perfect in that role. (Sorry for the lack of subtitles).

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Fear and Awkward • Tears and Surprise

Breaking Tears and Breaking Surprise

The Breaking Emotions Blogathon continues with the sound of both tears and jaws dropping to the ground. This week, participants are requested to search out two (sadly) rather seldom cinematic feelings, the first being tears (as in super-sad-Leonardo-di-Caprio-how-am-I-supposed-to-live-tears-feeling*), the second being surprise (as in oh-my-gosh-who-thought-of-this-I-am-utterly-speechless-feeling*). **

* These are my own interpretations of the feelings and do not necessarily express the views of mettelray.

** My choices are in no particular order

In real life, a simple mistake or tiny argument with someone is (sometimes) enough for my eyes to turn damp - an irritating abnormality which makes life unnecessarily complicated. However, I rarely cry in a movie theater, and even more seldom in front of a tv/ laptop screen. Which is irritating too, because I'll sometimes seem like a coldhearted freak. Anyways, when I do start crying, it's not easy to stop.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower • the last 20 minutes

Literally, I started crying the moment Charlie tells Sam how they're both alike and how he thinks she's beautiful each of the two times I saw this movie. Even now, rewatching just that scene, I'm a nanometer away from tears. I also never really stop crying at the end of this one. Every time I think it's getting better, something very sad (Charlie's breakdown) or very philosophical (the ending) happens.

Broken Circle Breakdown • almost the entire movie

This movie is just one big, sad hole. I have never been as big a mess in public as when I watched this Belgian tragedy in theaters. I don't even remember when I started crying but again, after I had started, I never really stopped. This song is very much at the end of the movie and it's sort of a culmination of a lot of sad feelings. So if you need something that fits the weather before christmas movie season starts, do check out Broken Circle Breakdown. 'Cause it'll break you down, guaranteed.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button • the ending

What really got under my skin when I watched this movie as a moody teenager that hadn't seen many great films yet and didn't like showing her feelings to other people, isn't in this video; it's the old Daisy holding the baby Benjamin. I don't know what exactly about this scene touched my so much but it only got worse when I saw what you can see in the above video. I didn't only leave my tears in the theatre, but I got something in exchange although until this day, nobody knows what it was. Something among the lines of joie de vivre but with a dash of melancholy. 

Fight Club

Somehow, I managed to maintain a life completely unaware of Fight Club. Even as a blogger, it took a long time until it was in my movie title vocabulary, meaning that I had heard about it and knew who was starring in it. Otherwise, I didn't have a clue. And honestly, I'm very proud and very happy about the fact that I experienced Fight Club without knowing a thing about it's plot and twist. And neither should YOU, person who hasn't seen this, so don't you dare watching that clip.

Atonement

This one would fit just as well into the tears category but to me, it's the surprising factor that makes it all the more worthwhile and is part of what makes it stand out from other dramatic love stories. That whole backstory, the development of the various storylines and then that tragic ending make Atonement one of my favorite films of all time. And don't tell me you saw that revelation coming when you first saw this one.

Magnolia

This is probably the most WTF kind of surprise of the three movies I've chosen. People had told me that something weird was going to happen but this? I didn't expect this by any means. 

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Fear and Awkward

Breaking Emotions Blogathon: Fear and Awkward

Finally, the first post the Breaking Emotions blogathon has arrived! Well, the emotions arrived on Monday, but you know, time zones and stuff. So let's dive right into this - if you want to read more about the fabulous blogathon, click here. 

* My choices are in no particular order.

28 Days Later • Empty London

I'm generally not scared of anything that has to do with makeup or other practical effects, although I find it very interesting to see how they do things like that. What scares me in movies is always an emotion or an idea, something that happens in my head when I see what happens on the screen. At the beginning of 28 Days Later, Cilian Murphy's character wakes up in a hospital in London to find that there's not a soul there. He walks outside and even there, the city is empty. I've often walked around town on Sundays, when there wasn't a soul outside and imagined being the only person left on earth, which is a thoroughly scary thought. I mean, just being there and seeing the remains of people and signs of what has happened must be horrible.

The Conjuring • Trying to Sleep

This is the only "genuine" horror film per se in this little list, and one of the best I've ever seen. Haters, go away, The Conjuring is scary in a super effective, subtle, old-school way. Now the scene I think I found scariest is when one of the sisters wakes up by her blanket being drawn away, which at the beginning, she ignores - assuming that it's her sister doing this. First of all, the little girl reminded me a lot of my own sister when she was younger, and second of all, the scene reminded me a lot of the horror scenarios that would sometimes mix my head up when I was a child. Again; just that idea of someone playing with your fears, only showing itself to you and no one else, scares me a lot. Plus, the little girl was so convincingly horrified that her terror emerged through the screen.

2001: A Space Odyssey • The Pod Doors

2001 is a very scary film, and without it, I don't think we'd ever have seen an Alien or a Gravity, which were very evidently inspired by this sci-fi classic. HAL, the artificially intelligent computer on the spacecraft, is one of my favorite villains of all time - few real-life performances manage to send a shiver down my spine like Douglas Rain's voice does. Although we suspect HAL of becoming the source of future problems, it is in the famous pod door scene that we realize how big of a threat he actually is. His cold, emotionless way of speaking to the main character Dave, is enough to scare the sh** out of me. Add to that the thought that someone way smarter and way more capable than you, nearly immortal as well, is in control of your life and you've got one of the most frightening scenes in cinematic history.

Spider Man 3 • Peter Parker Goes Emo

It's not like I was ever a big fan of the Spider Man series and would like to pretend that Spider Man 3 doesn't exist. Part one and two both had their problems, and they just got a little bigger and more evident in the third part of the installment. However, the makers managed to put things in there that were completely unnecessary, had nothing to do with the style of the first two movies, and were so bad that the franchise was killed off. One of these things, one might say the thing, is Peter Parker going emo. As in full-on emo. As in embarrassing and awkward in every thinkable way. 

Borat • The Dinner Scene

Nope, I didn't go the easy route and just selected the whole (glorious) movie, I actually did dig for a particular scene that I think made me feel the most awkward (apart from the obvious naked wrestling one). Borat learns about the etiquettes of dinner parties and goes on to use his new knowledge in real life. Mayhem ensues and that's all I have to say.

About a Boy • Killing Me Softly

This is probably my favorite choice in this list, as it proves the point of an 'awkward scene' (or my definition of the same) very well. It's a cute scene in a way; Marcus, the little boy, sings Killing Me Softly in front of the whole school, however, he's not much of a musical talent. He is then 'saved' by Will, who joins in and acts like a cool rockstar, which convinces the audience. So Marcus sort of learns the lesson that in life, attitude is one of the most important things, and Will learns that sometimes, you need to stand by someone, no matter how 'weird' they are. But despite the cuteness and our determination to not laugh or find Marcus awkward - we still do. He is awkward. And so is Will's joining in, until he manages to somehow turn things around through his cool attitude. 

I hope you had as much fun with this blogathon as I've had so far. 
To be continued next week!

OBSTRUCTION 3/5: A Copy-Paste-Review

Sensing a pattern in my posts for the 5 Obstructions Blogathon? At least I'm still in time.

Obstruction #3: Write a review of a movie only by copying and pasting words (at least 5 consecutive words from one sentence) out of other reviews of the same movie.

There are huge, lavishly told stories that hardly touch you. And then there are little stories that go straight to your heart. Just like the rather unglamorously named Stanley Ka Dabba. Can a little child’s life revolve around whether or not he gets tiffin to school? More importantly, can a full-length feature film revolve around that? Stanley ka Dabba does and Amole Gupte, the writer, director and producer shows us how touching and enjoyable a ride it can be at the same time.

OBSTRUCTION 2/5: A Revienterview

The 5 Obstructions Blogathon continues and I'm as late as one can possibly be, but I am here with an ultra-last-minute review of a movie I recently re-watched with my sister. She's also the one I interviewed and if you like what came out of that, tell me. (I have plans).

Obstruction #2: Write a review of a movie but also include an interview about it.

Back in the early days of my obsession with cinema and all things related, one of the rare occasions of me watching something valuable in theaters came up. What made it even better was the fact that my whole family - mum, sis' and myself - went to watch it. A female power night!

Joe Wright's movie is entitled after its main character Hanna (Saoirse Ronan), who lives in the forest of Alaska with her father who teaches her everything you need to survive in the world. From hunting to languages to cooking, Hanna is prepared to be let out into civilisation as a teenager. When the time comes, she has to let herself be found by CIA agent Marissa in order to kill her and then reunite with her father in Berlin. But something goes wrong and Hanna has to go on a long journey that includes many unexpected conflicts.

My love for this movie was strong enough to keep it in my 100 Favourite Movies list for two years without having re-watched it in all that time, and mentioning it whenever I can, be it in one of my own lists, a comment on someone's post or even in real life. And it has only become better with age. Soundtrack, cinematography and direction are all top-notch and the movie is one hell of a stylish ride with the (teenage!) female action hero being only the tip of the iceberg. Despite her sometimes unfortunate choice of roles (cough The Host cough), I still have high hopes for Saoirse Ronan who still appears besides names such as Jennifer Lawrence in lists of the most promising up-and-coming actresses. The girl can portray anything from pitiable loner (Atonement) to brave revolutionary (City of Ember) to the ass-kicking killing machine that is Hanna. Cate Blanchett is a tough opponent and both underline the talent of the other. The action itself is gritty and stylish at the same time and filmed in a way that makes you feel you were actually in there yourself. And then there are also some tender and humourous moments that build a nice contrast to the rest of the movie, especially in the middle part of the movie. I always like when an action movie does that, so it doesn't become too heavy. 

Bottom line: Hanna has still got it.

And as the obstruction demands, I present to you my first interview on this blog. I went down the easy path and had a cosy chit-chat with my sister - if I had been smart enough to check out obstruction #2 at the beginning of the month, I might have had the opportunity to interview someone film-related. But then again, I really liked this interview, we had a lot of fun watching the movie so... enjoy!

The first time we watched Hanna was back when it was released - do you remember your first reaction towards it?

My first reaction was that I was really impressed by the idea of Hanna being so strong and independent. I nearly don't remember though... but what I remember is that I really liked it and that I liked the soundtrack.

Why did you decide to buy the DVD and re-watch it?

I decided to buy it because I was at the store with you and I walked past it and then I just thought like, hey, I haven't watched that for a long time and how I was really impressed by it the first time we watched it. And I couldn't really remember much from it except that I liked it, so I just... well, decided to buy it.

So how do you feel about the movie now?

I still like it, I'm still impressed by the skills Hanna has... and what I noticed was the cinematography. It was different but it was really, really good. I also like the ending, that it's a bit open... but yeah, you can imagine what Hanna's going to do now. A little. 

What is she going to do?

Well, I think... she said that she didn't want to kill people anymore. So I think she's just going to see the world now. Because she was kept in that little house in, what was it, North Pole? And I think she really wants to see things now.

Can you identify with Hanna?

Yeah, a little bit, because she's really strong-minded... and well, she likes her father and wants to do things that he wants her to do. But she's also... she'd rather make her own decision. I don't know, like, the fighting stuff is something she learned so it's nothing I could identify myself with.

What do you think of the acting in general?

The acting was really good, I think. Especially from Cate Blanchett as Marissa, because she's this psycho CIA hunter, and she's really strict. She really did a good job with that. Hanna's father was also very good. Well, you didn't see much of him, but I liked it. Especially his fighting scenes were impressive. I think Saoirse Ronan did a really good job too. She was quite young when she did the movie, but she could mimic the accent pretty good...  and she had to learn all these sentences in Arabic, Spanish etc. so that was really good.

What do you think of the way Germany and being German is presented in the movie?

I think that there's a little bit prejudice in it still. The one guy Marissa knows always has two Nazis with him. Otherwise it's presented pretty well. Well, they shot the movie in Germany, so you see that city as it is. Otherwise the movie's not very German.

Would you classify the movie as an action flick or a thriller?

I'd say it's more of an action movie. But it has also has, like, strings of a thriller. So it's kind of hard to tell.

You haven't seen Kick-Ass yet, but do you think that there needs to be more female action heroes and do you think they work for the mainstream audience?

I think it works, but not like... if they're too typical. If they're always dressed in sexy costumes, I think they wouldn't really be respected as... not role models, but well, as action heroes. Then they'd just be like many other female characters in movies. But generally I think it would work really good, and there should be more female action heroes.

What's your favorite scene?

My favorite scene is when Hanna escapes from the CIA... and the other is when she tells that girls she meets that she can't tell her everything, and that they're friends and stuff, the one in the tent.

And what do you like most about this movie?

I like that Hanna's mother, not her biological mother, but the one that steals her, I like that she says "She'll never be yours", and then that's really true. That's cool.

So do you think the DVD was a good investment and you'll re-watch it again?

Yeah, definitely. And I already have a couple of friends that have to see it.

Thank you for the interview!

As for you guys, I hope I pass obstruction #2 despite my very late post, so you can read the next post in August.

Obstruction 1/5: A Positive Review of a Movie I Dislike

Bored by the unchallenging everyday (or for me rather every week) task of blog writing, Nostra from myfilmviews.com has created his perhaps most ambitious blogathon yet. Over the span of 5 months, the 5 Obstructions Blogathon is going to challenge film bloggers by presenting them with a different obstruction each month - hence the title. If you face the obstruction and succeed, you'll move on to the next round, otherwise you will be punished, simple as that.

Obstruction #1: Write a positive review of a movie you don't like OR write a negative review of a movie you like.

To me, the latter one was too easy. Ripping a movie - anything - apart, is much easier than praising something or explaining things that you like about it. So I'm going with the former possibility and I'm writing about one of the (luckily) few movies that I've seen in the past few months that I've disliked a lot. Here goes my positive review of 'HowFarObsessionsWithActorsWillMakeYouGo' aka Afterschool, the 2008 directorial debut of Antonio Campos.

Mixtape Movies: Coming of Nostalgia

The awesomest of all awesome blogathon-creators, Andy from Fandango Groovers, once again saves me from thinking up ways to fit a lot of movies I want to write about into one post. His latest creation is the Mixtape Movies blogathon, where we can assemble 6 movies that have something in common - a theme - and write about that. One of the 6 movies is a wildcard, a movie that stands out from the rest in some way or another.

This blogathon just came out of nowhere into my blogroll and truly saved my day of blogging. I just don't find the time to write about all of the awesome things I'm watching and the moment, and find it incredibly difficult to fit them all into one post that's not just a series of mini-reviews. So here we have the perfect solution for my misery. I guess I'm sort of cheating in a way anyhow, since 5 of these movies are connected in a  very obvious way, but who cares - let's get started. Oh, and since my poor sister, who's in the hospital at the moment, borrowed my laptop, you're not going to get any photoshop in this post.

Mette's Movie Mixtape:

Coming of Nostalgia

My list is inspired by my several viewing of the ingenious 2010 teen-rom-com Easy A, a glorious weekend of watching (almost) all the movies mentioned in it and my chronic suffering from the Peter-Pan-Syndrome.