Happy New Month: Films of December 2012

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

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

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

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

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

And until then, let's talk about movies.

WATCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

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

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

5.0

Happy New Month: Films of November 2012

Yes, I'm still here. 

Hope you didn't miss me too much, but it's going to continue almost like this for a while. I'll try and write a little more, but I can't promise anything.

Good news is I'm getting back into my film-watching mood/ mode, which really satisfies me more than I would have thought. So even though I don't write much, I do watch more again.

I'm also in SUPER-CHRISTMAS-MOOD/ MODE!

Here's a song for the christmas mood - can't get it out of my head. Need to see Top Hat really soon.

And a video of the christmas choir I'm in, it's from last week. I think we're getting really good. (It's a danish/ scandinavian tradition that girls sing at christmas, with the white dresses and the lights).

Happy New Month: Films of September 2012

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

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

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

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

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

Here's what I've watched...

WATCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

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

Happy New Month: Films of August 2012

You guys are simply too awesome!

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

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

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

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

Happy New Month: Films of July 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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. 

It's not just about the costumes.

Denmark, 2012

En kongelig affære

(Int. title: „A Royal Affair“)

           

Directed by Nikolaj Arcel

Written by Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel

★ Mads Mikkelsen, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Alicia Vikander

        

Who would have thought that the co-writer of the Danish slapstick-animation Rejsen til Saturn would turn out to be such a great director? Arcel, who is also to be applauded for his screenplay for the original first Millennium film Män som hatar kvinnor, clearly waisted his talent on that annoying movie we just recently saw in class. But as I go on looking through his filmography, I find that he has written the screenplay of one of my favourite films as a child, Klatretøsen (Catch That Kid), so I guess Rejsen til Saturn was one of those bloopers everyone has to experience once in a while.

A Royal Affair revolves around the Danish King Christian VII, who is known to be mentally ill, while the politics are mainly controlled by a council. Christian VII marries the English princess Caroline Mathilde, who becomes immensely disappointed by her marriage to the partying and straying king. However, everything changes when Christian hires the German Joseph Struensee as his private physician. Struensee brings the heretic ideas of the reconnaissance to the Danish court and a tragic love story develops between him and Queen Caroline.

Happy New Month: Films of May 2012

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

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

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

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

Watched for the very first time:

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

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

Rating: 9.2

Happy New Month: Films of April 2012

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

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


Watched for the very first time:


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


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

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

Happy New Month: Films of March 2012

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

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

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

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

Watched for the very first time:


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

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

Happy New Month: Films of December 2011

Happy New Year, guys! I wish all of you the best for 2012, cheers to a bunch of good new films, the upcoming award season, joy and happiness - and everything else!

Before I start looking at the film-year as a whole, I put some words together on the surprisingly not-so-few film experiences I've had last December.

Sadly, there's only one Indian film on the list, but I'm planning on catching up with the 2011-releases as soon as possible. More to that later.


Watched for the very first time:

Sita Sings the Blues (2008) Nina Paley - USA
The Ramayana how I would've made it. Without having read the whole original text, I hope I have the right to say that in my opinion, Nina Paley included a remarkable variety of aspects of this ancient holy text - and that seemingly effortless, with a lot of humor and especially a lot of creativity.
The songs that surprisingly turned out to be Old Hollywood style, were just my thing, too, even though after a while they all sounded the same.
This movie can be seen for free legally - check it out whenever you have the time: link.
Rating: 8.0

Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008) Woody Allen - USA/ Spain
I have a hope that I'm not the only crazy person out there who buys loads of DVDs and then watches the oldest buys last? However, I had this Woody-Allen DVD-Box that I got really cheap, and I felt the time had come to finally watch this (I have a friend who is totally in love with it... mostly due to Javier Bardem though).
And what is my conclusion? Well... it's nice. Nothing more, nothing less. Flirty, light, entertaining - and it has a dash of philosophy.
Rating: 7.4

Happy New Month: Films of November 2011

I am able to announce at this point, that the list of my top 100 favorite films has been created by now. All I need to do is write a few words on each of the films.
Moving on to the films I've seen this month...

Seen for the first time:


Männer ticken, Frauen anders (2011, TV) Rolf Silber - Germany
(= It's hard to translate, sorry...)
So boring, I turned it off after 15 minutes. It sounded good.
Rating: 1.5

Den kroniske uskyld (1985) Edward Fleming - Denmark

(= "Chronical Innocence")

I can't believe they made such a disappointing film from that book... One of the main actors seemed as if he had never acted before, the music was terrible and important parts were left out. The book is a Danish must-read from the sixties.

Rating: 2.8

Konferenz der Tiere (2010) Reihard Klooss & Holger Tappe - Germany

(= "Conference of the animals")

I didn't completely dislike this film, there were some funny ideas in it, but in the end it didn't really have a soul. Plus I've read that there were quite a few factual errors in it, for example the kangaroo in the film is a male, even though it has a pouch.

Rating: 3.6

L'arnacoeur (2010) Pascal Chaumeil - France

("Heartbreaker")

Finally another fresh and different romantic comedy. Vanessa Paradis is a better actress than I'd thought and Romain Duris was the perfect cast for the Heartbreaker. And due to my passion for DIRTY DANCING, how could I not like this film?

Rating: 7.3

Evil can arise anywhere...

... as long as the situation is right - is what Lars von Trier said as he was asked to explain his film DOGVILLE.

Dogville (2003)

Dir./ Writer: Lars von Trier

★ Nicole Kidman, Nicole Bacall, Chloe Sevigny, Paul Bettany

Before I saw DOGVILLE, I knew what minimalism looked like in paintings and pictures, in architecture, furniture and fashion. But minimalism in films I hadn't fully understood yet. How can you make a minimalistic film? Cut all side plots, cut most of the dialogue, reduce it to one or two characters? I had seen the second suggestion in VALHALLA RISING, the only Mads Mikkelsen film I haven't been able to like – which, let me tell you, is very uncommon. I don't know if that film was minimalistic, though, and I didn't know that DOGVILLE was. Until I watched it. Already in the first minutes I realized it was different, and a few minutes later I knew how it was different. It was minimalistic, and I was crazy about it.

Happy New Month: Films of September 2011

As usually, I'm a little late with this, but who cares, I didn't have the time.
After changing the name of this monthly write-up last time, I also decided to adjust the structure a bit this month. Hope you'll like the changes.

Seen on Silver Screen

Ein Tick anders

Ein Tick anders (2011) Andi Rogenhagen - Germany

A beautiful, humourous film about a teenage girl suffering from the Tourette-syndrome. As an exception from a numerous amount of other films dealing with "retarded" people, this film never gets sulky, nor does it look at the "retard" as un-normal people who you can laugh about, like many Salman-films (Indian superstar, for those of you who don't know him). It reminds of last years award-winning German "Vincent Will Meer" in various aspects, but is lighter and more realistic, and for me easier to relate to, because the leading character is a teenage girl. It's also predictable in many terms, but that doesn't degrade it to an "okay" film only, in my opinion.

Rating: 7.0

The Infidel (2010) Josh Apignanesi - UK

I heard some people from New Zealand complaining about Hanna arriving at their cinemas after about 6 months - now this one (like most rather unknown, non-American films) reached Flensburg after about one year! Not that I had anticipated - in fact, I didn't know anything about it until I decided to watch the trailer on my weekly what's-running-at-the-repertory?-surf. It looked funny, and as we're... 1/8 (?) jews, my sister and I decided to go check it out. It was all right, better than many critics thought it was. Ah, critics, they're good at a lot of things, but they should really update their attitude towards comedy.

The film throws a funny perspective on Judaism, Islam and multi-culti London. I was also funnily surprised to realize that the family was Pakistani, meaning I could understand them talking Urdu.

Rating: 7.0

Joadeiye Nader az Simin (2011) Asghar Farhadi - Iran

My expectations were high for this "Masterpiece from the Berlinale", to quote renowned German magazine Der Spiegel. After both director Farhadi and the leading actors had taken the German film festival by storm, the film was eventually distributed to almost every indie cinema in the country - and yes, some day it reached the far north of my home town. One of the minuses of the film is, that it's extremely dialogue-loaded, which might begin to annoy one after a while. However, it deals with many important and interesting issues of the Middle East, especially the rights and lives of women. The actors are none less but brilliant, and the direction is very realistic and relatable. 

Rating: 8.4

Happy New Month: Films of August 2011

At the start of 2011, I started a "mission", trying to watch about one film a day to build up a better knowledge of films and get some "good viewing habits".

I didn't always watch a film a day. But sometimes I watched two, or three, or four. It depended.

After 7 months now, I found that this mission had somehow come to an end, and that the monthly posts needed to have a new name and maybe a new meaning as well.

The new name, "Happy New Month" posts, is a lot more fitting, as it both celebrates the past month as well as the start of a new, hopefully happy, joy- and film-full month.

Cheers to the first edition of Happy New Month!

23 films

Mission "AFAD" - April 2011

With 24 films, this month ranges 2nd in this year's record - 7 films less than January. Though I did cheat a little bit by watching 2 short films, just to increase my film list for this month.
Some of my achievements include "breaking in" to a new film industry by watching a South Korean film, going to the theatre three times (and it were three different theaters), watching my second Telugu film and also checking out some Parallel Hindi Cinema films.
This is also the first month that I've seen more non-Indian films than Indian ones, for this year. And, if you're following me on twitter you already know: I bought the highest amount of DVDs at once, that I've ever bought. I think it were about 40 DVDs.

24 films... and I know, these are only 22, because there were no posters for the short films

Bheja Fry (2007) Sagar Ballary
India, Hinglish - First view
I reviewed this film in my "Introduction to Hindi Parallel Cinema", a post that I worked on for a rather long time, and that I thought (and still think) is my best post until now, though sadly, I gained very little response for it. Okay, I didn't receive any kind of response for it. But never mind, I'll get over that.
Shortly: A good film. Earned three Lime Stars.


Mixed Doubles (2006) Rajat Kapoor
India, Hinglish - First view
And this is the second film, that was featured in the article. I think I made some kind of Parallel Cinema evening at the start of the month. It earned four Lime Stars, and I think it's a particularly well-done film of the newer Hindi Parallel Cinema.


Bommarillu (2006) Bhaskar
India, Telugu - First view
I chose "Bomarillu" to be my second Telugu film, for I had initially planned to start my career as a Telugu-watcher with Siddhart-films, because I already know him. But, as you all know, a certain "Arundhati" interfered that plan. Contraire to "Arundhati", "Bomarillu" is completely blood-free, and there's even just a very tiny, small, little dishoom-scene. The film also saved my personal Siddhart, meaning, well, we had some trouble after "Striker" because I didn't like his looks in that one, but he's back again, all mine. I found his character in this one a bit too daddyrules-like, but he still did a good job as an actor. Genelia was also sweet. Maybe the film was a tad too long, but it was still enjoyable and funny.


The Wild Bunch (1969) Sam Peckinpah
USA, English - First view
After Jack L. wrote about Sam Peckinpah (he even watched his entire filmography - I think I should do that with some classic Indian directors, too...), I recognized I had not seen any films of this famous director, so I instantly decided to watch his most known one: The Wild Bunch. It is a very classic western film, also very calm in a way (yes, despite the frequent bloodshed), so you have to be prepared for what you're going to watch. If you are, you will hopefully enjoy this film, because it is a great study on male friendship, men getting old (or should I say: cowboys)... and some other things.


Almanya (2011) Yasemin Samdereli
GER, German/ Turkish - First view (theatre)
While I was in Hamburg for my internship, I watched almost no films - and it was a 2-week-internship. The phrase "I can count them on one hand" (don't know if it exists in English), is very fitting for this matter: I did watch 5 films, only. Three of them in a theatre - actually, in three different theaters. Oh, how I love exploring new cities, and new theaters - as a matter of fact, exploring various theaters in a new town is a great way of getting to know the town.
The film is about Turkish immigrants in Germany, and is narrated in a very light and funny way, reminding me of my forever-favorite TV-series "Türkisch für Anfänger".


Så Som I Himmelen (As It Is in Heaven) (2004) Kay Pollak
Sweden, Swedish - First view
While I was on vacation in Sweden last summer, with my mother, sister, best friend, and best friend's mum, we watched the start of this, but found it very strange and turned it off again.
Indeed, it is a film not particularly appropriate for a DVD-night, or even for watching with many people at all. I watched it by myself, and I must say... Well, it's a typical Swedish film. Very philosophic, rough at times, but also with a great sense of humour to it.
The search for perfectness in art is something that has always intrigued me. I'm a perfectionist myself, even though I can be chaotic in certain situations, and I find that films dealing with this subject are exceptionally interesting. The last time I saw this, was in "Black Swan", and in this one it was a little different, because it's about music. But not only that: while in "Black Swan", the un-perfect happens to be perfect, this is not what we see in "As It Is in Heaven".
I can recommend this film to those who like to explore the topic I mentioned, and who are into films that are... well, a bit different (though, since I've seen "Harold & Maude", I haven't really been actually surprised by any film).


Ek Hasina Thi (2004) Siram Raghavan
India, Hindi - First view
I even did a real review on this film. If you want my opinion, you can read it.


Hanyeo (The Housemaid) (2010) Im Sang-soo
South Korea, Korean - First view (theatre)
And here we have the mentioned Korean film. As I said, it was my very first one to see. I watched the trailer in another theatre, and in that moment I decided: I want to watch that film. I have to.
Artistically, it is an incredibly precious film. Furthermore, it is great for those who are curious for new film industries. But when I had just watched it, I felt a bit disappointed. I felt that the makers focussed so much on the artistic perfection, that they forgot to drag the audience into the film.
Now, about two weeks after watching the film, I've had much time to think about it, and I've come to the conclusion, that this is just what the makers wanted. They wanted the audience to really feel that coldness of the Korean upper class. And it is real upper class. Not what you see in, well, old Jane Austen films, or "Match Point". No, this is modern, modern, really modern and incredibly rich, snobby upper class. And it's fascinating. It's like another world, so scary, so cold. So... intriguing in a way.
This is one of the most interesting, and thought-provoking films I've seen for a long time. Already, I have spent much time on thinking about it, and I can still go on. It's one of those films that will follow you forever, I think.


Never Let Me Go (2010/11) Mark Romanek
UK, English - First view (theatre)
After hearing that the novel I'd just read had just been made a film of, I was very happy, and very curious. Because it was starring Keira Knightley (and Carey Mulligan, but that wasn't what interested me most). And because the book was incredible.
Then, after the abroad release, I read some mediocre reviews, and began to get worried. But when it finally released in Germany, I still went to the theatre, and the old excitement came back up to the surface. I might also mention, that it was my first time to ever watch a Digital Cinema film, which is basically a film that "comes out of the screen", meaning there's no projector, but the film is somehow digitally saved somewhere. While the quality of the film was excellent, I still have some doubts about this new "project", because I think that it will make film piracy much more accessible.
The film itself did not disappoint me. It was my first Carey Mulligan film, and she was great in it - "An Education" is calling "watch me!". Keira Knightley was fabulous as ever, and Andrew Garfield made a good contrast to his breakthrough role in "The Social Network".
However, even though it was a great film (you really need some warm, romantic, true-love films once in a while - especially after watching "The Housemaid" the day before), I found it much more prude than the book. Don't get me wrong: the film did involve some open-minded sex scenes - but only between Andrew and Keira. The leading character, which was played by Carey, did not have sex until she was about 30 years old (at least it seemed to be that way). In the book, she has sex with various boys when she's about 18, in "The Cottages", but in the film, we only see her listening to Tommy and Ruth having sex, or sometimes listening to music so that she would not hear them. I think including those scenes from the book would have given the film a bit more credibility and open-minded-ness.
Nevertheless, it's definitely one of the good films that are based on books. You can also watch it, if you haven't read the book - but make sure you do read it afterwards.


Ek Chalis Ki Last Local (2007) Sanjay Khanduri
India, Hindi - First view
Read my review here.
A weird film that I did not complete, though Abhay was cute as ever.


Action Replayy (2010) Vipul Shah
India, Hindi - First view
Read my review here.
Didn't expect I'd like it - but I did.


How I Met Your Mother - Season 2 (2006/7) Carter Bays/ Craig Thomas
USA, English - First view
Maybe you know that I love HIMYM - or maybe you don't. Well, you know now. I watch all the episodes chronologically. But I don't rush myself - what'll happen, when I'm done? No, I'll rather take it calmly.


Anari (1959) Hrishikesh Mukherjee
India, Hindi - First view
Read my review here.
Lovely Raj-Kapoor classic.


Sønnen fra Vingården (1975) Morten Korch
Denmark, Danish - First view
Danish classics are another thing I love. Especially the kitschy Morten Korch ones. That's what I call high quality mainstream entertainment. How come mainstream films were so much better back in time?


Faded Secrets of Yesterday (2008) Bahaish Kapoor (short)
India, Hindi - First view
I don't usually watch many short films, but I felt like doing so this month. They're an important part of the film industry, and, well, short, which is great. This one was cute, but a bit too old-school. A bit trying-too-hard.


The Mexican (2001) Gore Verbinski
USA, English/ Spanish - First view
Let me first tell you: Mexico is not always exactly how it's portrayed in the films. Firstly, it can be incredibly dense, and not as dry as many think. Secondly, Mexicans can be really nice and friendly. Many of them are.
Otherwise, I really enjoyed this thriller-comedy. I never knew that Brad and Julia made a film together. They're cute as a couple. I don't know if this film would have worked without them, the way it did (it was planned to be a Indie-film without stars).


Qivitoq - Fjeldgængeren (1956) Erik Balling
Denmark, Danish/ Inuuit - First view
Ah... there's a big story behind this one. It was shot in the home village of my Danish guest mother, who is actually a Greenlander. But, in some way, they are Danish, right? However, her parents are in this film, and her mother is pregnant with her. That's funny to see. There are many other people in it, who she knows. Not to forget the biggest star of old Danish films: Poul Reichhardt. Isn't it funny, that the film was shot in exact that village? By the way, I'm going to Greenland for a month in... 7 weeks, and we're going to visit the village. We'll stay there for two weeks, I think.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award and a Palme d'Or.
Oh, and it's a very good film.


The International (2009) Tom Tywker
UK/ USA/ GER, English - First view (only start)
Boring. Incredibly boring. It thought Tom Tywker was a good director - he's known to be one of the good German directors who made it in Hollywood. But... it was boring. That's why I turned it off after 20 minutes.


Wild Target (2010) Jonathan Lynn
UK, English - First view
... Just to tune into this amazing British comedy with some of my favorite British actors. I think I'm really falling for the English humour and films! It's hard to describe, why this film is so good, because it's a comedy, and just like a joke, you can't explain a comedy.
Oh well, just watch it. You won't regret.


The Lovely Bones (2009) Peter Jackson
USA, English - First view
My mother and I were very excited for this one, when we saw the trailer in the theatre, but she went watching it and told me it wasn't that good. So that's why I didn't watch it back then.
I'm so glad I watched it now, because I liked it very much. Peter Jackson is one of those names that can almost guarantee for a good experience, and Saoirse Ronan is one of the child/teen actors that I find the most promising at the time. The "between"-scenes are beautifully made, and make you think about death - and also life. Also the screenplay is very well-made, and the search for revenge never gets boring, even though you know who the murderer is, from the start. There are some really stress-filled scenes, like the one with the diary, and I'm always in awe of a director, who can manage to transform a film-viewing-experience into a sports.


Ahista Ahista (2006) Shivam Nair
India, Hindi - First view
The only Indian film I watched and didn't review this month. Abhay Deol was - how often can I say this - cute as ever, and he had a good chemistry with Soha Ali Khan, who I haven't seen for a long time. The story was light and easy... I was sick of heavy dramas this month. But the end wasn't good... Crying...


Aftermath (2008) Bahaish Kapoor (short)
India, Hinglish - First view
Heard a lot about this. Was okay. But I've seen better.


All About Steve (2009) Phil Traill
USA, English - First view
This month was also a month for comedy. After finishing the second season of HIMYM, and after "The Mexican" and "Wild Target", I decided to try this little known comedy. Mainly because the story sounded funny, and because I adore Sandra Bullock - Bradley Cooper's not bad, too. I was actually surprised by how funny it turned out to be. I didn't even expect a real comedy, I thought it would be a normal, decent rom-com. But I forgot, that Sandra Bullock never makes a "normal" film - she's contributed something new to every genre she played in.
The idea itself (a funny, "unnormal" person is in love with someone and follows him/ her) maybe wasn't completely new, but the director added some fresh air to it, also with the quirky side characters.
This is a throughout born-and-bred feel-good-film. Why? Because you feel good while, and after, watching it. Recommended.


Wimbledon (2004) Richard Loncraine
UK, English - First view
After last months' "Match Point", already one of my favorites, I once again watched a British film about tennis. You're right: "Match Point" isn't really a film about tennis. But there's a lot of tennis in it.
We thought we should watch a British film on the day of the royal wedding in London... Just kidding: the television channel thought they should broadcast a British film on the day of the royal wedding.
But not even this is really a film about tennis: it's more what "All About Steve" wasn't - a rom-com. A good one, I'd say. Predictable end, but funny moments, and entertaining sports sequences with some thrill.

Crocodile Dundee (1986) Peter Faiman
Australia, English
I told you: this was my comedy month (at least the last two weeks). I'm almost entirely sure about having seen this classic before, when I was much younger, but I didn't remember most of it.
I must say that this is a real good old-school comedy film. It's probably been copied many times, and that's why the plot seems so familiar: adventurous wild-life-man falls in love with city girl and tries to live in... hey! That's "Tarzan", isn't it? Wow, honestly: that thought never crossed my mind until just now. Interesting.

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I also found out during my internship, that I do not want to work in the fashion industry - at all. And that I don't want to do something that has to do with crafts (which is almost the same, right?). Not that I'm not good at it - everyone praised my work - but it's just not me. I need more thinking logically and abstract, and more... don't know. Travel, other people. Okay, I know that this is what many people think the fashion industry is all about. But it's not. And it's not me. 

The thing I'm best at is school... However, I'm considering pilot as an option at the moment...

That would be cool, don't you think?

Different people, other cultures, travels - and the flying itself!

That's more likely to be me.

I'm sorry - somehow I tend to ramble a lot in the AFAD-posts.

My Cinematic Alphabet - World Edition

Here is the promised World Edition of what I did earlier with Indian films.
It was not easy to create this one, as I've already seen 1000s of films, and off course do not have some kind of record of films viewed. These might not be my total favorites, because like Jack L., I wanted to create a list that's a bit different from others', and also I needed to find examples for all letters of the alphabet.

A is for Atonement [UK]

Avatar is one of my favorites, but off course, no one can beat Mr. McAvoy and Mr. McEwan

B is for Billy Elliot [UK]

Black Swan is too new, and only seen once, but it was considered, just like Bright Star

C is for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [USA]

This one is probably on most lists, but it truly deserves it

D is for Dirty Dancing [USA]

A bit kitschy and mainstream, but so lovely 

E is for The Exorcist [USA]

Tight battle with E. T., but Horror needs some more appreciation

F is for Forrest Gump [USA]

Why do I keep commenting my selections?

G is for The Godfather I [USA]

Part Two was also great, but Brando really is the Godfather

H is for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [UK]

Picked as a symbol for the whole series

I is for Into the Wild [USA]

J is for The Jungle Book [USA]

Did I ever mention I love Disney? This is not my favorite, however, but just came into my mind.

Picking "Becoming Jane" would be a cheater, I thought (and maybe too embarrassing)...

K is for The King's Speech [UK]

Hyped for a reason

L is for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Little Mermaid [UK/USA]

... No, I was not able to decide...

M is for Match Point [UK]

Woody at his very best

N is for Network, The Social [USA]

Come on, how could I not cheat for this one

O is for Olsen Banden (all films) [Denmark]

These three guys are the loves of my life (don't tell James... whether Franco nor McAvoy)

P is for The Piano [Australia/NZ/FR]

I would have taken The Pianist or Pride & Prejudice, but then again... so mainstream, no?

At least one learns certain things from this one - how to buy a piano without money, in example.

Q... hm....

R is for Rataouille and Radio Rock Revolution [USA/UK]

Who can choose between a cute rat... or a good meal, and some rockin' roll?

S is for Same Same But Different [Germany]

Everyone knows Slumdog Millionaire, and it's fantastic, but: You HAVE to watch this film.

Do not miss it if you call yourself a movie buff, or whatever else fancy name you can imagine.

T is for Titanic [USA]

What was that? I'm not a film buff, I'm a typical teenage girl with a bad taste for cinema? 

How dare you - away from this blog. Titanic stays here.

(Can you imagine Leonardo actually ever looked handsome? It's unbelievable, these days.)

U is for Up [USA]

Couldn't think of many U-films, but whatever, Animated Features are often underrated among intellectuals.

V is for The HangoVer [USA]

You'd have killed me for selecting Valentine's Day, but I couldn't think of any other films.

W is for Das Weiße Band [Germany]

Sometimes, but only sometimes, German directors can be genius. 

X is for... well, I'd pick X-Men: First Class, but there's only one reason for, and one against this:

For: James McAvoy

Against: I haven't seen it, and the last time I watched X-Men with my family, I had to repress hysterical laughs every 10th second.

Y is for Yes, Man! [USA]

There is a God hidden inside of Jim Carrey. By the way, ever tried that Yes-programme?

Z is for Zweiohrküken [Germany]

Hate him or love him... Til Schweiger. I tend to the last one, even though his films do look a bit similar. For the non-Germans: This is the guy who died in "Alexander". 

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

Mission "AFAD" - March 2011

In a way, it's funny that the amount of films I watch each month has grown smaller in every post I've done until now. On the other hand, it's not that funny, because off course, I'd like to fulfill my mission, which would make about 31 films per month. 21 out of 31... It's okay, but not perfect.

21 fillums....

But you know, I was on a class trip this month, and I had to write an important book project for school as well. So that might be an excuse.

I also made a little improvement on this project, namely I'll cut writing the date, when I watched the film.

The films will still be in the order of when I watched them, but I don't think you're interested in the exact date - also, it's a bit irritating when reading, at least that's my opinion.

Striker (2010) India, Hindi

First view. It's striking (haha), that I didn't watch this film before, as it's available on youtube for free (legally, I mean), and the youtube-release even was parallel to the cinema release. The film, however, turned out to be one of those films you want to like, and you know many people are going to like, but you just don't. 

Siddhart performed as fantastic as in RDB, but I liked his look in the last one much better; he was a little less muscular there, and his hair was shorter. Almost falling asleep during the (frequent) carrom-scenes, wasn't helping me like it either. I mean, it's a great idea and "special offer", the camera was really good... But nothing for me. I don't even really remember the second half.

Terminator Salvation (2009) USA & more, English

First view. Spent a weekend with my Danish guest family to celebrate my birthday, and as always, we ended up watching an action flick - entertaining, (often) exciting and not too complicated. I don't know, how many terminator films they've actually made, I know I've seen one with Arnie... Whatever. Well, you know what you can expect, and if you know that, this film is actually action-flicky satisfying. 

Not that I'd have watched it otherwise... But did I mention I really like Sam Worthington? Like, in action flicks? An action flick with him never fails - he's some kind of new Arnie. Just a bit different.

Black Friday (2004, but was released several years later in India) India, Hindi

First view. Good camera, good plot... But boringly made. You knew what was going to happen, because you saw it in the beginning already, also too many side plots.

I did like the idea, and also the braveness of the director for making a film about this, though.

Babettes Gæstebud ("Babette's Feast") (1985) Denmark, Danish & Swedish

First view. Oh, how I love Danish films. And old films. And old Danish films. If you've ever seen a Danish classic, you know what I mean (at least I think so - I don't really know, what "outsiders" meaning not Danish people think about their film industry). The Danish director Susanne Bier just won an Oscar for "Hævnen" - which I absolutely must see - and when I walked around the Danish library of Sydslesvig (district where I live, which has shifted being Danish and German in history), this film popped up in front of me. I only read "Oscar", and had to rent it, then. It's a rather quiet film, but with this awesome sense of humour, that I love about Denmark and the Danes, and with a story so heartwarming, that you almost have to wipe a tear of your eye after finishing it.

Arundhati (2009) India, Telugu

First view. What I think has already been expressed deeply in my review, so if you have a few more minutes, I recommend reading it. In a nutshell: Good film.

Match Point (2005) UK, English

First view. What a film - what a film! (I know, F. Scott Fitzgerald told us to "cut those exclamation marks", but I couldn't help it). "Match Point" was only the second work of hyped director Woody Allen I watched, and in contrary to "Vicky Christina Barcelona", this indeed is a master piece of cinema. By the way, I forgot how hard it is to write about incredibly great films. Music and picture are combined in a way I haven't seen before, the story exposes human desires in a yet subtle way and don't let me start about the actors. 

Chokher Bali (2003) India, Bengali

First View. Good that the DVD had subtitles - I just realized it was filmed in Bengali. That would explain, why I didn't understand everything. Actually, I did think it had a Bengali-cinema-touch to it... off course I knew, that it was based on a Bengali novel, though. Hm, seems like Bengali is very similar to Hindi, as I did understand a lot... Interesting. The film itself is, well, very Bengali; slow-paced, quiet and very, very subtle. Personally, I liked it. Aishwarya Rai and Raima Sen are to fantastic actresses, and Rituparno Ghosh is also one of the directors I admire (though this was only my second film of his, first one was Raincoat). If you like the style I mentioned, you should give this film a try.

Milk (2009) USA, English

First view. If you'd ask me, why I watched this film, I could imagine so many intelligent answers, but I must admit that the only reason I rented it (from the Danish library), was James Franco. So, starting with him: his hair cut wasn't the cutest, but he assured me that he's a good actor, and not only a cutie I met by incident, just because he starred in a Danny Boyle-Rahman film. Only thing that frightens me a little is, that his performance of a gay person was really convincing. But also the film itself is good, very good. 

My Name Is Khan (2010) India, Hindi

Second view. Why do those DVDs I get as a present or buy myself, always lay in my shelf for at least one month? I got MNIK as a christmas present, and only now, I managed to watch it - together with my Mum and sister. It was also the first time I watched the director's cut, but I think I like the cinema version a little more. It was less filmy. 

Billu Barber (2009) India, Hindi

First view. After thinking this thought I mentioned, when watching MNIK, I pushed myself a little and watched the three DVDs I bought for a gift card from my uncle and aunt - Billu Barber, Dostana and Salaam-E-Ishq. This one was a good take on how to combine regional setting and conflict/ story with some filmyness and also making it a mainstream-film, actually. I liked it, not because of SRK (not his best performance), but because of Irrfan (for non-BW-ers: the cop from "Slumdog Millionaire").

Azaad (2000) India, Hindi

First view.  I'm warning you: Do not watch this film. If you see it on a flee market, walk by. Don't buy it. If you still do so, you're probably just as Bollywood (and film) addicted, as I am. The DVD even looked really bad, I think the only reason I bought it was Shilpa Shetty. She's not even in the film for a long time. Well, no more details, just don't watch this boring, 3 1/2 hours old chewing gum.

The Truman Show (1998) USA, English

I only watched the end, but my mother told me what it's about and I really need to see the whole of it.

Dostana (2008) India, Hindi

First view. Putting this in the DVD-player, I was awaiting some nice flowing-by entertainment for about 2 hours, so I'd never thought it was that hilarious. John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan really are the Jodi No. 1 in Bollywood - and by the way, this is the first time I noticed this side of Abhishek. He was the most convincing of the two.

Mehndi (1998) India, Hindi

First view. A new mission of mine is, to watch a film of my favorite directors/ actors etc. whenever it's their birthday, and I started with Rani. As I've already seen her latest motion picture, I wanted to check out her debut "Biyer Phool", but apparently, it has somehow "vanished". Next one was also unfindable, I already knew "Ghulam" and KKHH, so that left "Mehndi" for me. If you want some of that rocking-Rani, just younger, less experienced and in a not-so-good production, watch it. The story is actually rather interesting, and at least full of Girl-Power. I wouldn't watch it another time, though.

Inside Man (2006) USA, English

First view. My submission for the LAMBS in the Director's Chair-event featuring Spike Lee. Read my review here. 

Salaam-E-Ishq (2007) India, Hindi

First view. I liked it better than I thought I would, many people not liking it, though off course, it never came near the f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s "Kal Ho Naa Ho". Biggest fault was the length. And Sohail Khan.

Raja Hindustani (1996) India, Hindi

First view. E-Bay is such a nice invention. You can buy DVDs for 1,40 EUR. Okay: Aamir Khan was the star of this film, and I wouldn't have liked it without him. But he's in it, and Karishma Kapoor was also all right, so I could really indulge in a heavenly demonstration of 90's Bollywood, including horrible fashion, loud and shrill songs / Karishma-voices, dishoom dishoom and Switzerland. Oh no, I mean Palankhet.

7 Khoon Maaf (2011) India, Hindi

First view. Did I write somewhere, that NOKJ was the best of 2011's Bollywood until now? I changed my mind now, "7 Khoon Maaf" takes the lead for incredible usage of daaaaark humour.

Priyanka gets better and better every time I see her (this month I even watched three films starring her), and when I watched "Krrish" about 4 years ago, I never pictured her in a film like this (though I was only 12 then, I did think about stuff like this). And who does not catch him/herself singing "Daaaaarrrling" during the first Russian-Indian song-mix I've heard until now? 

"Daaaarling, dadadam, dadadam dadadam...".

The Last Song (2010) USA, English

First view. I have a sister. Who... is very interested in Disney films and those stars and you know... She has a big collection of all those movies, and I can tell you: High School Musical outshines its sequels by far, though the second one was ok as well. Zac became to muscular in the third film, so that's why...

Okay, you're probably not interested in that. However, I think that Miley Cyrus is a good actress objectively (and that has nothing to do with me watching "Hannah Montana" when I was smaller - by the way, don't you think the series is not as good as it was once?...). (Clearing throat). Where was I? Yeah, the film is very sad, and maybe a little predictable, but so many movies are predictable. Is that always wrong? Everyone knew the Titanic was going to sink, so basically, it's the way that matters. And "The Last Song" is not as bad as it sounds, starring Miley Cyrus and being based on a Nicolas Sparks novel (haven't read any of his books).

Saudagar (1991) India, Hindi

First view. I'm planning on writing a big article/ kind of love-hate letter about 90's Bollywood, which is partly why I watched "Saudagar". The other two reasons: 1) It's Manisha Koirala's Bollywood debut film (and I miss her...), 2) It's available on bigflix.com - free and legally. And 2 1/2) It's by Subhash Ghai. Not my favorite director, but he did make "Taal".

Anyways, even if you love Dilip Kumar or Raaj Kumar, this is not the biggest must-see. It's actually rather boring and long-drawn. But it's also very 90's, so... love-hate.

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PS: I'm going to Hamburg on Sunday for a 2-week internship at a hat maker, and I'm really excited. We have to do an internship from school, and I think it's a great idea. Not only is the hat maker situated in a beautiful old mall (see picture above), and also an interesting craft, but also: Hamburg is the 7th largest city in the EU, the 2nd largest in Germany, really beautiful (and big, I love big cities), and also full of shopping possibilities, cinemas (where they show more than just the mainstream flicks at our cinema) and Indian shops (YEAH). Meaning I can walk around in a beautiful city (maybe with a Starbucks in my hand, just really cool [we don't have a Starbucks where I live]), maybe buy some beautiful clothes and off course buy some (or many) Indian DVDs. 

I'm also a little scared, but never mind. And maybe hysterical. I... won't bother you any more with these thoughts and my personal life.

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.