Mystery, Alaska | The ALASKAthon

-Note!- My blind spot entry for this month will be posted on Letterboxd.com, as was last months (12 Angry Men). I want to get used to and make you get used to my blind spot entries and possible (mini) reviews appearing on that platform. Just wanted to make sure you know.

Even though it should be the cinephile's highest aim to be able to approach each genre and subgenre without prejudice, we all have our own little preferences when it comes to the films we watch. Last year, I started keeping a diary on what decades I watch most films from and what suffer most of my ignorant teenage - of course I found my viewing habits concentrated on the last 5 or so centuries. With the 2000s and 2010s taking a lead that is much too strong in my eyes. But it's not only that (sub-contious) skirting of old films that dictates my film viewing habits - much more prominently and, I have to admit, self-consciously, I omit war and sports films.

30 Days of Night | The ALASKAthon

When the success of the Twilight franchise precipitated a swarm of mediocre, over-eroticized vampire novels and cinematic adaptations of these, the vampire trend was officially a thing. Before that, vampire films had been mainly limited to the horror genre for a long period - as far as my limited knowledge of film history goes. 30 Days of Night was released one year before the first Twilight movie and hence its vampires are ugly brutes that want nothing but to kill and feed. Which is a nice exception from the mass these days...

Set in Barrow, the northernmost town in the US, the film takes place during the 30 days of darkness that the inhabitants of the town experience every year. While the sun never sets, the vampires are free to roam Barrow day and night and leave behind them a trail of destruction. The gorgeous Police officer Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett) is the first to find out what's going on and along with a few other people he manages to survive the attacks for a long time.

Insomnia | The ALASKAthon

I've decided to finish the left-up work and continue the ALASKAthon as a final installment on this blog. Maybe it's because I cut my toe and am thus excluded from most fun summer activities or maybe it's because I just don't want to leave my blog as a half-baked mess. Better to end things neatly if you really have to end them. 

My Heroes: Scott Pilgrim (or whatever)

I met Scott about a year ago, when I was on my summer holidays in Denmark. It was a hot summer night and stuff, at least for me - he was chilling up in Toronto. Chilling as in "it was cold". My initial plan of the night certainly didn't include Scott, but then again I didn't know him before that night - how could I have known that he would win me over in a second? My telly-companion that night wasn't as enchanted by Scott, however. Every other minute a sigh or differently disapproving sound escaped from her lips until she finally left me alone. Alone with Scott.

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 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. 

Mission "AFAD" - February 2011

As usually, I learned a few new things this month (not talking about school, guys). But I apart from that, I gained some new cinematic experiences - seeing not more than zero films I'd already seen before.

Counting 23 films...

Among the things I learned are, i. e.: I'm officially a fanatic movie-addict-obsessive, movies being my favorite topic to talk about. I try to keep my friends entertained with other things, though, but... what can I do? I also learned that the German mass is full of idiots concerning the subject of "politics", that I can cry waterfalls watching movies (only film that came near of doing that [twice] was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button but My Sister's Keeper did waaaay better), that the Oscars were entertaining despite James Franco not being the big entertainer - just looking at him was better than sleeping (thanks to you, time difference!). What else... oh, India once again proved it's sense for making good satire (TBL)... I learned, that my prejudice of movies (I can't help it; it's there, right after I've seen a trailer) can turn out as a good instinct, when I still hope that the movie is going to be good, and also is, in certain aspects (True Grit), or it can turn to be a rather false opinion (Tees Maar Khan). Furthermore I learned to wait... for more people to read this blog. They might come, they might not. I am in balance, I do this for myself and for the people appreciating what I do (thanks to the book I'm currently reading, Eat Pray Love).

And finally I learned, that it doesn't feel very different if you're just about to turn 16, than if you're just 15. (PS: The 9th of March).

01.
Ocean's Eleven (2001) USA, English
First view. Wow, I did it: I watched a movie on the first date of the month. No, no, the best thing about it is, that I've finally, finally seen this movie. My friends were already laughing at me. Me, the movie buff, the motion picture geek... I couldn't stand it anymore. So, very secretly, I borrowed this movie from the library, and it was just as good, as I'd imagined. They kind of just put together all the hottest guys at that time, and made a movie out of it. Or maybe not - I'm sad to say that I don't count Clooney, Pitt and Damon to the hottest Hollywood has to offer (think James Franco), but the movie is good... Entertaining.

03.
Ram Jaane (1995) India, Hindi
First view. This film is so trashy, and in many aspects so not-qualitative, that it somehow is... good. I think you all are familiar with that phenomena. You just feel, how much fun the actors had during the shoot, especially Shahrukh. I also found the music quite... entertaining (pam pam the bhangda)... The length is one of the biggest faults, but I only forwarded a little at the end.
And, before I forget, this was the worst dubbing I've ever heard in my entire life. Hey, who decided to launch a DVD without original sound and subtitles? However, I'd incline to call it recommendable.

04.
Jodhaa Akbar (2008) India, Hindi/ Urdu
First view. How wonderful it is, finally watching another well-done historic film, that doesn't focus to much on war and facts, but which also attaches poetic lisense and therewith cinematic beauty.
I recognized, that I've only seen three BW-films of 2008, a year that's often being called a low of modern Bollywood. Jodhaa Akbar is thankfully not a part of that low. Let's just say: The romantic side of me felt good as it hasn't for a long time. And still, the film's not kitschy, 'cause I wouldn't have liked that.

05.
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (2008) India, Hindi
First view. Now this film was on the telly, which is nice, because that's rare these days, but I just didn't like it. My God, what did Kunal Kohli think he was doing? That was just... gruesome. Some scenes were animated so badly, that my mother and I almost bursted laughing, and otherwise every scene was totally predictable. Only good thing were the actors, even the kids, but the story ruined everything.

Jhootha Hi Sahi (2010) India, Hindi
First view. I gave this three Lime Stars in my review, so it's a normal movie, not bad, but also not highly recommended.

07.
Tere Bin Laden (2010) India, Hindi
First view. The second real review I wrote this month, four Lime Stars, I think I said it all. You might also have noticed, that I was starting on seeing some of the "between" films of last year: Not Blockbusters, but also not "tiny pearls" like Udaan.

11.
Nowhere Boy (2009) UK, English
First view. I'd call this one of my filmic letdowns... Went to cinema with two other friends, both Beatles-fans, and... don't know. Aaron Johnson wasn't as handsome, as he used to be (almost not handsome at all), and it was just one shattering scene after the other, almost everyone being negative... No bulbs of light... I just had expected something else.

12.
Das Weiße Band (2009) Germany, German
First view. Nominated for two Oscars, won the Golden Globe for best foreign language film... And I hadn't seen it yet. I was taken aback by its quiet brutality, wonderful cinematography and superb actors...

13.
Tees Maar Khan (2010) India, Hindi
First view. I've mentioned it before, and yes, I liked TMK. Actually, reading all those different opinions on it, I was very sure I was going to hate it - but I didn't. It wasn't as great as Farah's other creations, but come on: it was hilarious! In a different way than TBL, probably just worth 3 Stars, but still... It was more than I had expected. PS: My sister loved it too.

No One Killed Jessica (2011) India, Hindi
First view. Who watches NOKJ on the same day as TMK? Well, someone who can't get enough, I guess. Brilliant film, combining elements of the entertaining mass-film with subtle story and outstanding performance by Rani.

18.
127 Hours (2010) USA/UK, English
First view. No, no, I don't want to bore anyone talking about my new crush... Seriously, I love this movie. I love Rahman's music, which was perfect for the movie, I love the idea of action without action... I love survival movies... And, ok, I love James Franco. Platonically, of course.
I also love Danny Boyle - more of it, more of it!!!

True Grit (2010) USA, English didn't complete
First view. I didn't like it. Sorry, that's all I have to say. I liked the setting and Hailee Steinfeld, but after that boring court scene and not understanding a word out of my beloved Jeff Bridges' mouth, I cut the line.

19.
Into the Wild (2007) USA, English
First view. Wow. That's the best word to describe this movie. I mean, I'd heard what they say about it, but I could not in my wildest fantasies imagine a film so fantastic and touching. Wow. (I know how stupid I sound, thanks).

Monsoon Wedding (2001) India/USA/Italy/Germany/France, Punjabi/Hindi/English
First view. Very sweet movie - I thought it would be like "Bride and Prejudice" or "Bollywood/ Hollywood", so it took me some years till I finally watched it. And thinking about it, this was the time of K3G - as much as I adore K3G and its crew, Monsoon Wedding is a far more realistic film about family and love, also containing so many incredible actors... I really want to see it one more time.

20.
Fire (1996) Canada/India, English
First view. Read about it here

21.
Earth (1998) Canada/India, Hindi/English
First view. Read about it here

22.
Deewana (1992) India, Hindi
First view. They could at least have written on the DVD, that Shahrukh only appears after... not half an hour... not three quarters... one hour! And that one hour was so boooooooring... that I was mad. I skipped all the songs and thought that now they were finally together, but no, there had to be more songs. When Rishi is finally gone, the film gets some charisma, though, especially because of Shahrukh. The girl is also much nicer and sweeter, when Shahrukh is present, and not Rishi.
End was predictable, of course.

La Belle et la Bête (1946) France, French
First view. Last year, we should all talk about an artist we picked ourselves, in art class. I picked Jean Cocteau, whom I adore, but embarrassingly, I hadn't seen any of his films. Now I did, and I'm happy. I love French cinema and the language itself, and this film was a great fairytale movie. It's sad how infrequently we watch fairytale movies nowadays. It's very inspiring... and enchanting.

24.
Water (2005) Canada/India, Hindi
First view. Read about it here

25.
The King's Speech (2010) UK, English
First view. Everyone talked about the geniality of this movie, and as I was also keeping up on the Oscar trends, this was a must see. Colin Firth deserved his Oscar, as well as everyone else. The story and conflict of The King's Speech is very simple, yet it manages to be complex in many ways. Everything comes together in that last scene, where he finally holds his speech... magic.

26.
In My Father's Den (2004) UK/ New Zealand, English
First view. This is also a kind of movie that I adore... Confusing, quiet... mysterious, but not too arthouse-freaky, with too many pervert scenes etc. Matthew McFadyen is also, or has been, quite underrated.

My Sister's Keeper (2009) USA, English
First view. Do you see the similarity of these two movie titles, by the way? I borrowed both of them from a friend of mine. What one can say about this film is: You're going to cry, cry, cry. Just as Johnny Cash predicted. I didn't even know I could cry that much in a movie... But it's also really good.

27.
Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011) India, Hindi
First view. And now we have come to the last film of my February... also the 2nd 2011 Bollywood film, I've seen. It's not bad, at times very entertaining, but I'll forget it very soon... Nothing really special.

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And that's it for now. The month went by fast... but that's good, because I want something else now: I want my birthday, my class trip and my internship in Hamburg (which is in April). And then I want summer.

Mission "AFAD" - January 2011

First of all: The German version of this blog has been deleted due to several reasons. Mainly, it just takes too much time  and energy to keep two blogs and translate every post into the other language. It's easier to write the entries for only one blog, and I can put more energy in it now, and hopefully improve more. Also, I don't really feel like there's a need for the German version, as most Germans understand English very well. So much for that...

Films posters are often beautiful, trying to catch your attention.
This month, I watched farther than only at the posters of these films.

I've been writing a little about this new "mission" I have, and now it's time for the first results, namely of January 2011. A good month to start: new year, new decade.
AFAD = A Film A Day is the name of my mission - off course not the most realistic title, as I watch more than one film at the weekend days, and sometimes 0 films on a normal day of the week (especially on wednesdays, as that's my "Desperate Housewives"-day). But "MAFAD" (maybe a film a day) would sound stupid, so that's why my mission has this particular title. By the way, these are not only Indian movies. If you find the line "first view", it means that I hadn't seen the movie before.
Enough of those explaining words, let's get to the core: The results of my first month.

01.
The Baker (2007), UK, English
First view. I'm always at my guest family in Denmark for New Year (they're kind of like a second family, or some young grandparents), and they have 1000s of TV channels. As I don't have anything to do on the day after New Year's Eve, I usually just watch TV. This was a very funny comedy, that I didn't see from the beginning, but it shows the good side of English humor!

Hangover (2009) USA, English
First view. After watching this I just had to buy it - one of the best comedies I'd seen for a long time. What I realized when thinking about my movie watching habits was, that I don't really watch enough comedies. And I don't mean "Women's Comedies" like SATC, or bad Indian slapstick comedies, I'm talking about just regular ones. Off course, "Hangover" isn't for everyone, you need a special kind of humor, but I don't know anyone who didn't like it.

Dil Chahta Hai (2001) India, Hindi
First view (and I know how embarrassing that is). I wrote a review on this movie, so you can read it, if you want to know more about my opinion on it. I think my last words were "a must-see!".

02.
Aashayein (2010) India, Hindi
First view. I also hadn't seen many 2010 Bollywood films, but why I chose to watch Aashayein is still a big question. Read my review for more informations on this "well, well, well" film.

04.
Dabangg (2010) India, Hindi
First view. Now, were getting to the better parts of 2010. I only rated it 6/10 in my mini-review, but that's because it simply is nonsense. Charming nonsense, but not everyone is going to like it. (I did, so don't worry).

05.
Sholay (2010) India, Hindi
... Ahm... (Clearing throat)... First view.... Jump right to mini-mini-review or let me just tell you that I totally regret not having seen this before. Now I understand why it's one of the most famous Indian movies and why Amitabh Bachchan is a god.

06.
Amardillo (2010?) Denmark, Danish + English (documentary)
First view. This movie is really disturbing, it's about Danish soldiers in Afghanistan, in the camp called Amardillo. I think they showed the unpolished reality and it was a great documentary, but my opinion on the Afghanistan-war hasn't changed. I did think about the issue, though.

Don (1978) India, Hindi
First view. Another classic I was almost forced into seeing, well, not literally, but I wasn't allowed to visit the shooting of Don2 in Berlin by my parents, so this was my replacement for that.
Don original is actually better than the new one, especially because of Big B. Mini-review.

The Pillars of the Earth (2010) Germany & Canada, English (mini-TV-series)
Second view. Didn't watch the entire series on one day, off course, but I watched the last episode on that day, together with my guest mother. I read the book some month ago, while I was on a vacation in Mexico, and instantly fell in love with all about it. It is perfect and though the TV-series isn't, it still does a good job and is so well made. My guest mother hadn't read the book and she was just totally fascinated by the story and everything. Big thumbs up!

07.
The Core (2003) UK & USA, English
Second view. Trashy world-saving movie but with good actors and some funny new ideas.

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (2010) India, Hinglish
First view. My self-education of 2010 Bollywood continues with LSD and my mind is split about it. It had great new and brave ideas, especially the first and second story were great. But then, in the end, I asked myself: What's the point now? Off course, it has some good observations on the modern Indian way of life and stuff, but it just remains kind of unfinished at the end. Also, the third story was rather unnecessary and annoying.

08.
Peepli Live (2010) India, Hindi
First view. I was just back in Germany at that date and so happy that Peepli Live was running at our Independent-kind-of cinema... I watched it with my mother and little sister (12), we all liked it. Actually, I think they liked it a little bit more than I did. It was good, off course, but in some ways a little bit too long and... hm... I can't explain. Funny, usually I always find words for films.

09.
Shakti - The Power (2002) India, Hindi
First view. Bought the DVD on Ebay - thank god. I won't ever watch it again, counts to the poorer films I've seen.

13.
Sarfarosh (1999) India, Hindi
First view. Always nice to see Aamir, Sonali and Naseeruddin, but the script was boring - they could have made more out of the plot. Still, I can recommend watching it.

14.
Love and Other Drugs (2010) USA, English
First view. Went to the cinema with a friend, we thought we could really use a romantic comedy then. Turned out to be a good choice, as there was romance, comedy but also serious matters - plus some really good actors. Definitely worth a watch!

15.
Kabhi Kabhie (1976) India, Hindi
First view. I was so in love with this movie, that I instantly wrote a review/ love song about it. The 70's are not my new 2000's, but I will keep in mind to watch some older films from time to time.

16.
Sehar (2005) India, Hindi
First view. Very big disappointment, even Arshad Warsi couldn't save this un-relevant Police-flick.

20.
Black Swan (2010) USA, English
First view. So sad the movie wasn't released earlier, I hurried to the cinema to watch it at the very first show. It was the first movie allowed for 16 year old, that I've seen at the cinema (I'm still 15, but only until March). I had an older friend with me and she was more horrified by the movie than me, but it was just wow. One of the best movies I know.

21.
Avatar (2009) USA & UK, English
I got the collector's edition DVD for christmas, so it was time to watch Director's Cut - together with my mom. Still one of my alltime-favorites.

22.
Guzaarish (2010) India, Hindi
First view. As you can see in my visual review, a big part of the film concentrated on the beautiful visual side, and there were also many things reminding me of my-biggest-Bollywood-disappointment "Saawariya". Still, it wasn't a poor film, but also not a particularly good film. Bhansali leaves room for improvement, but I think he's on his way back.

Forrest Gump (1994) USA, English
Second view. Hey, at least I have seen it. We watched it at school, because our new topic in English is the USA. The film was as great as it was, when I saw it the first time. Fabulous movie!

23.
The Social Network (2010) USA, English
First view. An entertaining and fast paced film with an interesting plot. Not the very best 2010 Hollywood film, but definitely in the top 10. Especially recommended for everyone with a profile on Facebook.

Dushman Duniya Ka (1996) India, Hindi
First view. I have to questions on this film: 1) Why did I buy it (even though it was cheap, on ebay). 2) What the heck did Shahrukh think he was doing in the mid-90s (aside from the great "DDLJ" and a hand full of other acceptable flicks)???

24.
Rakht Charitra I (2010) India, Hindi
First view. Counts to the best Indian film experiences of 2010, I'm absolutely mad about this film. It was perfekt - blood, great actors, catching story... RGV is back for good! Can't wait for the second part, which I put on my birthday wish list.

25.
Born Free (2010) Music Video/ short film (music by M.I.A.)
First view. A friend from school recommended this to me, as she knew I love M.I.A. - and films. We both found it very interesting, it's a good short film, as you can think and interpret for a long time. This short film will stick with you.

Inception (2010) USA/ UK, English
First view. Another film that I watched due to recommendations. It's not too well-grounded, but still an interesting idea and well-made. I always have mixed feelings about DiCaprio - on one hand, he is one of the best Hollywood actors, on the other hand I always think about how handsome he once was... And isn't any longer.

28.
Udaan (2010) India, Hindi
First view. This was my catch-up-on-2010 weekend, and I watched 5 movies that were either critically acclaimed and/ or discussed much. I think everyone is going to find something good about this film... It is an impressive direction debut with a respectable leading actor.

Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (2010) India, Hindi
First view. No matter how much I like Ajay Devgn, 2010 was not the year where he showed off many new facets. We've seen him in this role a few times, but... he still plays well. Emraan is finally doing something not containing the trade mark "Bhatt", which is an improvement, because I think he's been a little underrated and took some rather bad role choices... One of the best 2010-ers.

Raajneeti (2010) India, Hindi
First view. Didn't feel like watching this at the beginning, because it was so long, but I'm glad I still did. Katrina Kaif convinced me for the first time and most other actors were also good (I didn't like the Irish girl, though). Story was a lot of Drama, but with the right amount of other things (thinking of "Guzaarish", which contained a little too much Drama).

29.
Ishqiya (2010) India, Hindi
First view. My curiosity made me watch this film, because it was contained on almost every single "Best Of 2010"-list. I was a little disappointed by the story and the length of the movie, it sometimes tries to be "Indie" too much. But the actors are totally worth watching and I can understand the hype of the film now.

We Are Family (2010) India, Hindi
First view. As I already said on twitter, this is the absolutely most kitschy film of 2010. I cannot believe why Kajol would agree on playing in it. Nor Kareena and Arjun... though they choose some awkward movies from time to time. Kareena was the best part of the movie and the only reason I didn't turn it off. I simply couldn't believe that scene just before the end... Horrible! Do not watch this, especially if you don't want to get sugared.

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That's it for January 2011.

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.