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.

Nineteen Candles

By the time you read this, I will be recovering from my massive hangover by eating massive amounts of birthday cake. Okay, maybe I'll try and lessen the massive, but you don't turn your last year of -teen every year, do you?

Last year, I celebrated my 18th birthday with 18 lists. This year, I have neither the time nor the energy to do so - instead, I will give you one list that is good enough to make up for the lack of 18 more. Initially, I wanted to make a list of my 19 favorite films from 1995. It turns out, however, that I have seen only 18 (!) films from the year I was born! That's less than a third of the 2013 films I've seen. So my list is easy; it's all the films of 1995 that I've seen (from worst to best) and then 19 more that I want to see until the 9th of March 2015. Cheers!

WHAT I'VE SEEN

BATMAN FOREVER

A great cast, especially with Jim Carrey as The Joker. How sad that the plot just doesn't hold up. I watched this last year as preparation for Man of Steel (because my knowledge of the superhero movie genre was as big as Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar) and was very disappointed after the previous two Burton Batman films.

RAM JAANE

This is one of my 90s Shahrukh Khan Bollywood guilty pleasure films... but I don't have the guts to rank it higher. It's very colourful and bloody and unrealistic but I sort of enjoyed it.

KARAN ARJUN

Another 90s Bollywood Shahrukh Khan film - but this one also stars now-superstar Salman Khan. Well, it's a weird movie and a very bad example of the lost-and-found genre.

GUNDARAJ

90s Bollywood had it in it, right? This was the first on-screen pairing of now married Ajay Devgn and Kajol and they really don't have that much chemistry. However, the soundtrack is pretty nice in a trashy kind of way.

WATERWORLD

Having grown up on a ship myself, I was very fascinated with the concept of this film. Kevin Costner is always a safe choice for me too. Some of the effects were a bit heavy and the whole story was quite far-fetched but I generally liked this film.

BAD BOYS

Yeah, I remember close to nothing about this one.

POCAHONTAS

Never one of my favorites but I still liked it more than some others. I guess I just never thought Pocahontas was that beautiful... sorry. I'm not racist like that anymore.

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY

In my big Austen phase (right in the middle of my teenage, actually), this movie was a very pleasant discovery. Need I say more than Alan Rickman?

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

I wasn't as blown away by this film than many others, although perhaps I just wasn't paying it enough attention. The twist is very surprising and cool though.

BRAVEHEART

Again; I remember next to nothing about this and what I do remember may come from clips I've seen at the Oscars. I really should give this one a re-watch.

BALTO

So I like animated films about sledge dogs. And I cry when I watch them. Well, actually I haven't seen this film since I was a child so maybe it's very bad.

BABE
One of my favourite films as a child, however I don't feel that compelled to re-watch it before I have my own kids.

WALLACE AND GROMIT: A CLOSE SHAVE

Who doesn't love Wallace and Gromit? The inventiveness and humour of the films are astonishing and they're the perfect mixture of things that will please adults and those that will please children.

CLUELESS

I'm overly happy I watched Clueless while I was still in high school. Not that Danish high schools are anything like American ones but there's a special feeling about this film for me now. And by the way, Paul Rudd - how does he do it? He still looks the same as in this film!

TOY STORY

Even though I practically grew up in the time of these films, I didn't watch them until last year or so. The fact that I love them shows how great they are indeed. All I want for my 19th birthday is a Buzz Lightyear!

BUMBAI

One of my teenage favourites that I have never rewatched - I do own the DVD though. It's not one I'm afraid to re-watch either, after all it stars my once favourite actress and is directed by one of my favourite directors. And it's not one of those cheesy, typical 90s Bollywood films (that I do love but... you know).

DILWALE DULHANIA LE JAYENGE

Yes, the cheesy, perfectly romantic and in part bizarre 90 Bollywood love story still rules. Almost. My nr. 2 of the year I was born in introduced a whole new style into the world of Hindi cinema and sky-rocketed the careers of most people involved. I wish Shahrukh would go back to making such fun movies with actresses his age.

BEFORE SUNRISE

The mixture of almost unrealistically magical love and bittersweet realism is what makes Before Sunrise my true favourite of 1995. It is heart-wrenching, -warming and anything in between and I wish it would go on for much longer than it does. Basically, I want to stay in that music room scene forever.

WHAT I WANT TO SEE

APOLLO 13

Only Best Picture nominee I haven't seen, space, Tom Hanks - what's not to like?

LEAVING LAS VEGAS

I just desperately need to get a different impression of Nicolas Cage.

DEAD MAN WALKING

Susan Sarandon rocks and I need to catch up on famous female performances anyway.

MIGHTY APHRODITE

One of the many Woody Allen films I've never heard of - perfect!

ANTONIA'S LINE

What a better place to start watching Dutch films than this acclaimed film with a weird poster?

ANNE FRANK REMEMBERED

Granted; I'm just going through the Oscars of 1995 right now. But this one does sounds interesting; Anne Frank is kind of a big deal in high school here.

THE FOUR CORNERS OF NOWHERE

Stephen Chbosky wrote a wonderful novel and directed a wonderful film with The Perks of Being a Wallflower, so let's see what else he put out.

RANGEELA

Absolute 90s Bollywood classic that I am yet to see. I do know the title song pretty well though. Happens a lot to me with Indian films, most often I never see the movies themselves.

LA HAINE

I have heard so much about this movie that I almost feel like I've seen it already.

SE7EN

I'm going to watch it for BlindSpots anyway, so that's neat.

HEAT

I quite like Michael Mann and this could be a nice double feature with The Heat.

CASINO

Martin Scorcese is the #1 of the directors whose filmography I need to crack anyway.

AKELE HUM AKELE TUM

This movie has been mentioned in so many other films that I feel my horizon is going to expand instantly while I watch it.

BAASHA

I can handle a Rajnikanth movie a year, right? I mean, this is the first year I'm trying it.

TWELVE MONKEYS

This just somehow looks and sounds absolutely intriguing.

THE BASKETBALL DIARIES

Whatever Leo says does.

DESERET

I need to watch more docs and WOW how does this have such bad ratings yet is in the 1001 bible?

ZERO KELVIN

Norwegian cinema rocks - and this particular specimen looks very fascinating.

I know; KEEP CALM is probably so-18-years-old by Sunday. By today, I mean. Happy birthday to present me from past me! And have a nice Sunday, everyone.

Updated 100 Favourite Films!

Drum roll, please! I finally completed updating my 100 Favorite Films list after what might've been a whole year. You can check out the new list here. There are new images for every movie that has stayed in the list and sad smileys for the ones that had to be kicked out. Or maybe I forgot to add those.

OUT 

Amores Perros
500 Days of Summer
Little Big Man
Hunger
La Strada
Pan's Labyrinth
Sita Sings the Blues
Parineeta
Salaam Bombay
Babel
Yuva
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Volver
Asoka
Monsoon Wedding
E.T.
Pride and Prejudice
The Last Unicorn

IN

Grease
The Perks of Being A Wallflower
Rocky Horror
The Matrix
The Breakfast Club
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Easy A
Star Wars
Scott Pilgrim
Ugestu Monogatari
Before Sunrise
Driving Miss Daisy
Sunset Blvd
American Psycho
Alien
Apocalypse Now
Spring Breakers
Fish Tank

CHANGED

Schindler's List -78

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button -78

Dogville -73

Rashomon -67

Dhobi Ghat -51

Forrest Gump -49

A Single Man -41

Brokeback Mountain -29

Wo hu cang long -29

Kill Bill -28

Khudito Pashan -25

The Silence of the Lambs -25

Moonrise Kingdom -23

Rang de Basanti -23

happythankyoumoreplease -18

Barry Lyndon -13

Romeo + Juliet -12

Slumdog Millionaire -11

La belle et la bete -10

The Godfather -9

Casblanca -8

The Virgin Suicides -7

Up -5

Borat -4

Ratatouille -4

The Tree of Life -4

The Lord of the Rings -4

Little Miss Sunshine -3

Confessions of a Shopaholic -3

The Graduate -3

Singin in the Rain -3

Qivitoq -2

No Smoking -2

Atonement -2

Fight Club +1

Stand By Me +1

Into the Wild +2

Harry Potter +2

In the Mood for Love +2

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind +3

Titanic +3

Sholay +4

Annie Hall +4

Match Point +4

Hanna +5

Clueless +5

The Hangover +5

The Shining +5

Billy Elliot +5

Devdas +5

The Truman Show +6

Das Boot +6

Kal ho naa ho +7

Harold and Maude +7

Lost in Translation +7

Pulp Fiction +7

2001: A Space Odyssey +7

The Lion King +8

Black Swan +8

Moulin Rouge! +8

Anari +8

The Little Mermaid +8

Finding Nemo +9

Dev.D +12

Somewhere +12

Bumbai +13

Sunrise +13

DDLJ +14

Drive +14

Toy Story 3 (replaced all) +14

Dirty Dancing +15

Midnight in Paris +17

Mary and Max +17

Lawrence of Arabia +17

Melancholia +18

Pyaasa +35

UNCHANGED
Dil Chahta Hai
The Dreamers
Dil Se..

Feel free to comment on the list, praise it or smash it, whatever you like.

100 FAVORITE FILMS

as of January 2014

DON'T LOOK NOW

red • Venice • lipstick-biting

QIVITOQ

icebergs • places I've been to • roughian

UGETSU MONOGATARI

mysterious woman • samurai • fantasy

RASHOMON

doubt • investigation • complex

My 9 UNOFFICIALLY Favorite Films of 2013

You already know my 9 UNOFFICIALY Least Favorite Films of 2013, now it's time to take a look at the most magnificent, most wonderful, most splendid film viewing experiences that I've had with some movies from the last year.

Let me remind you once more; I have only seen 35 films of 2013 (one more than in the previous list since yesterday's 12 Years a Slave) due to various reasons, I do not claim this list to represent the 'best' of the year nor am I going so far as to make it an official list. That list is going to be published some time at the end of the year. Or perhaps even later, who knows? I'd love to wait until I've seen 100 films from the year but that's a very high aim. Perhaps 50 or 70 will suffice.

But back to the UNOFFICIAL list - let's start with the bottom of the top then, shall we?

My 9 UNOFFICIALLY Least Favorite Films of 2013

A new year has come upon us in all its shining glory... and I haven't even seen more than 34 films of the last one. There are many reasons for this - lack of money, lack of interest in paying too much money to watch movies, lack of possibility to watch new releases in English (I can't handle German dubs more than 4 times a year), outdated German and Danish release dates, lack of time and the fact that we moved to the country side. So maybe I should be happy that I've even seen 34 movies!

To honor this little bunch of flicks while not dishonoring the film year itself, I have decided to put together an unofficial list of my favorites and least favorites. Be gentle with this one though; I don't deliberately go out and watch the movies that are supposed to be bad, so it's nowhere near representing the worst last year had to offer. Let's start with the top of the bottom then, shall we?

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.

[18!!!] The Upcoming Adult Presents: My Life in 18 Movies

When you read this, I will be celebrating and hopefully having a great time, and I will be 18 years old. 

I could spend my time talking about life, the lessons I learned, the ups and downs I went through, my plans for the future and other stuff that has been said enough in this world. Some may argue that you can't talk about it often enough, and that people need to continue thinking about it. Life. 

Truth is though, I don't want to analyze life too much anymore. Perhaps I will read some philosophic books - always been wanting to check out Nietzsche - and I will certainly watch some philosophic movies, because you never know when you're going to watch one. But I don't want to... I don't want to think about philosophy too much anymore. I want philosophy to just happen and to let it happen instead of trying to control it and put it into every single part of my life. 

Because life's not only philosophy - it's also survival, reasonless happiness and reasonless sadness. Nothing ever happens the way you planned it - and once you realize that, you're happy. At least that's what I think. And that's what I know from my own 18 years of life. I'm not praising passiveness or just-going-with-the-flow-ness here, not even mainstream - so many people don't have the job they want, don't date the people they want to date and don't watch the movies they want to watch. While some of these things can just kind of happen once in a while, we have the power to change them. You've got to fight for the things you care about - but don't try to control the things you can't control, because it will make you unhappy when they don't turn out like you "planned", because in fact, you never planned them.

Did it again - perhaps I can't let go of philosophy. Nevertheless, perhaps I just want to approach philosophy in a different way - a curious, natural, easy way - instead of trying to account for and explain all the things I do and think. 

I may blog on, I may stop blogging. I may become a journalist, a biologist or an actress - but why ruin my youth trying to figure that out, when there's no point in figuring something out that is just going to happen? If I find that I chose the wrong thing, I can just choose  something else, right? It's never too late for anything I think.

And therefore, let's raise our glasses to a year full of laissez-faire, without pressure or bondages as far as that's possible. Cheers!

So, this is my life. My life in 18 movies.

[17] The Upcoming Adult Presents: 18 Male Movie Crushes

Sharing 18 of my top female movie crushes in my last post, I saved the real goodies for this one. Because let's face it - attractive actors are still one of the important reasons I watch movies. And one of the things I talk most about when I talk about movies with people that aren't very interested in movies. 

Nevertheless, I think that actors are getting too much attention and too much room in movies on a general plan, or at least male characters. Do you remember the last time you watched a movie which had a) one male character only, b) more than one male character, but they don't talk to each other or c) more than one male character, but they only talk about women? I'm referring to the Bechdel test, also known as the "sexist" test for movies - and you know, there are thousands of "acclaimed", successful and "important" movies out there that don't even get a yes for question one, "Is there more than one woman in the movie?". Most movies out there are sexist, and I really want that to change. 

So that we can both enjoy the best-looking men on screen, and the most talented women talking to each other on screen, about something else than a man.

Until then, let's enjoy 18 of my male movie crushes in no particular order...

[16] The Upcoming Adult Presents: 18 Female Movie Crushes

The two last lists before my life retrospect are going to be shallow. But in a way they're also going to be the most profound lists in this blogathon. 

What makes us fall in love with a movie character (not to be mixed up with the actor him/ herself)? It's both the looks and the writing - but mainly, it's the acting, isn't it? The actors bring their looks, and their talent, and they become the perfect vessel for our dreams and expectations to both ourselves and other people. A movie character, just like a character in a book or a song, can be everything you want - perfect - in contrary to real people (and actors, as we should remember). 

Although I'm neither a dude nor homosexually orientated, I have often fallen in love with female characters in movies, and it was really hard to choose only 18 of them - I could've chosen about 180. But here they are, 18 of my female movie crushes in no particular order...

[15] The Upcoming Adult Presents: 18 Favourite Character Introductions

Getting into a movie is the hardest part about watching a movie I'd say - and it's also the reason why a lot of people (including most of my friends and acquaintances) choose tv shows over the demanding task of watching movies. A good way to escape the "intro trap" is a solid, either very surprising or very cool character introduction. That way, you have the audience's attention right from the beginning and their curiosity for the character and story will shorten the complicated intro phase.

Even I can have problems beginning new movies, especially when I haven't been in the watching-habit for a while, and I have found entertaining introductions - kind of like a cliffhanger at the beginning of a movie - to be especially effective when it comes to really "stepping into" the movie.

Here are some of my favourites...

[14] The Upcoming Adult Presents: 18 Movies That Make Me Wanna Move to New York

Ever had a place you dreamed of all the time although you had never been there? That's what New York is to me. I don't know whether I'll like New York, whether it will like me and whether it would be just as Woody Allen, Friends and HIMYM make me imagine it. Until I get there and find out, at least I can watch movies. 

Here's what pleased me most of the grand selection until now...

[13] The Upcoming Adult Presents: 18 Most Surprising Peformances

Let me explain this: I honestly thought it was an ingenious idea to list 18 most surprising performances instead of the usual male, female, child and so on. Surprising is a positive word, but a less used one than "favourite" or "best" - at least in the blogging world. So off I went, opened Google, typed "most surprising performances" to get some input - and you can imagine what I found.

Just to make this very clear in case some people looking for something... else... this is simply a list of the most surprising acting performances I've seen. Actors or actresses that have surprised me with a performance of a character that was very different from what I had seen of their work, and what I had prejudiced them to be capable of....

[12] The Upcoming Adult Presents: 18 Favourite Movie Theatre Experiences

"The theatre. That's what movies are made for", says a German ad that has been trying to get people away from streaming movies on their sofas into the actual movie theaters for years now. I have no idea whether it's working, but it's widely known that we don't go to the movie theatre as often as people did back in the industries beginnings. 

There are some good reasons for that - we have television (actually we have foreign tv shows on the internet - German tv truly sucks), we have DVDs, we have iTunes and various more or less illegal ways to watch movies. Why go to the cinema?

I've been trying to go to the cinema more often since I started getting more interested in movies, and it has worked out well so far. Nevertheless, watching movies on the silver screen is insultingly expensive, unless you go to the repertory which only shows two different movies a week... so if you want to watch the latest big movie, you have to go to the multiplex. Which is pretty big where I live, but also pretty much sucks because a) it's expensive and b) they don't show many of the movies I want to see. C) counts for both cinemas in my town: the movies are dubbed. 

But all of this doesn't stop my going to the cinema at least once a month, preferably once a week or once every fortnight. Because watching a movie on the silver screen is not comparable to even watching it on a good beamer. So it's still true: the theatre. That's what movies are made for!

Here's a selection of my favourite experiences of film in its natural habitat:

[11] The Upcoming Adult: 18 Movies That Make You Wanna Start...

I think that all movies leave something good with you. Something helpful, something that can guide you or inspire you in one way or another. Sometimes it's just "I really don't think splatter movies are my piece of cake" or "The Academy f*cked up this year", while other times movies can truly inspire you to make a change in your life. 

Today I want to share some movies that offer various ideas - defined ones - for things to do with your life. Some of these ideas remain dreams to me (New York City is the best example) others I chose because they did have an influence on my own life. 

Here are 18 Movies That Make You Wanna Start...

[10] The Upcoming Adult Presents: 18 Pretty Bad Films With Pretty Great Soundtracks

Is it easier to compose great music than it is to produce great movies? What a stupid question, I guess I'd say - had I not had so many experiences pointing in the opposite direction. Especially Indian movies often have a hard time convincing me of their cinematic quality - that is, since I've grown from being utterly fascinated by epic melodramas such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

However, it's a widely know fact that Indian movies like to focus on the musical aspect of cinema a lot more than movies from any other country. While the dancing varies from era to era and isn't that trendy today, the music has and will probably always be an important part of the Indian cinema. And this may be the explanation for why I've seen a bunch of Indian movies that were not much fun looking at but a lot of fun listening to.

There are some non-Indian movies too though, that shine with their soundtracks only, but as the amount of these is very little, you will find mostly Indian movies in this list of...

18 pretty great films with pretty great soundtracks, in no particular order.

Don't forget that it's a matter of taste - and mine can be a bit trashy when it comes to Indian movie songs. I'm also not saying that all songs from these soundtracks are that great. But do share your opinion with me!

[9] The Upcoming Adult Presents: 18 Favourite Awww Moments in Movies

So you thought my last list was cheesy? In that case I'm happy to prove you wrong with this one. While the list of my favourite SQUEAK moments in movies featured scenes that made me - if not literally squeak - jump up and down out with enthusiasm.

AWWW moments are a very different species however. These moments make you melt in your armchair, bed or wherever you're sitting - so they're basically SQUEAK moments that are so intense you can't even squeak. That intensity required for some more than just flat images, so if you think this list looks like a tumblr page I can't argue.

Here we go, as always in no particular order.

[8] The Upcoming Adults Presents: 18 Favourite Squeak Moments in Movies

We're getting to the real dirty stuff now, so if any guys did somehow, eventually, press the "view" button, they probably shouldn't press the "read more" button following this short introduction. 

Admittedly, dirty is too much said - there are many, many... well, "worse" scenes to find in movies. But then again, I guess the scenes I'm referring to wouldn't be considered especially bad by... anybody. The scenes I am referring to in this list however, do include a huge portion of corniness, female mystery and... attractive actors.

Sure, there are two or three "normally enjoyable" scenes here, so if you can tolerate the rest, stay with us, read on. As for the ladies, I know I don't have to convince you to read about...

[7] The Upcoming Adult Presents: 18 Favourite Nostalgia Movies

How nostalgic you can become once the end of your days is in sight... Childhood days in my case, but it's tragic either way. Yes, nostalgia has entered my world and filled every single corner of it, dripping from the windows like rain after a stormy night and overshadowing my heart like death itself.

It is indeed a kind of death and no matter how hard I try to forget and to live in the now, my mind keeps wandering back to the days when I didn't have to saddle my lasagne before I could eat it, to the days when summer meant strawberries and winter meant snow. 

The days before everybody tweeted a movie instead of watching it, the days when Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicolson seemed in the least attractive to me and aging was a matter of dignity.

... Oh wait, all these things happened before I came to this planet? Who cares, I like nostalgia, once in a while. Here's my favourite movies to celebrate that melancholic feeling with, in no particular order:

[6] The Upcoming Adult Presents: 18 Alarmingly Violent Favourite Movies

Ah, the Oscars. A great excuse to skip school... to sleep after that long, long night. But here I am back, all fresh and excited about the diversity of the 85th Academy Awards - no movie really stood out and that's just great. Nevertheless, let's get back to the celebration of my shortly ending youth, shall we?

In the sixth list of this blogathon, I'll share one of my worst kept secrets - my fascination with violent movies. It's not that I'm a fan of splatter movies, not at all, but well-choreographed, elegant action scenes never fail to take my breath away. That being said, I'm not a violent person, perhaps because I have no talent whatsoever when it comes to stuff like that... I guess. Well, I actually once punched my then best male friend really hard in the face because he wanted me to, so he could laugh at me... he laughed at his own stupidity in the end. Who knows, perhaps I might be the next Hanna some day?

 - But why would I? There's really nothing cool about being good at fighting, nothing at all kids (if any kids are reading this). 

Just read this list, enjoy and do not try any of the stunts at home.