The Gold Rush | The ALASKAthon

The Gold Rush is the last new-to-me film in the ALASKAthon, which means that my gap year is coming closer. This, I hope, is a good enough excuse for this review being somewhat rushed. There really aren't enough hours in the day, especially when in some of them, you get to see your friends for the last time in a year.

It might interest you that my aversion towards silent films has lessened quite a bit during the last year. From vehemently stating that "I hate silent films" to finding them okay to actually finding myself enjoy them once in a while, I have undergone what some call "a snobformation". Jokes aside, Chaplin delivers another heart-felt and fun comedy on a serious enough topic in this film. He once more shows off his physical skills and talent for physical comedy, while the story - of course - isn't complicated at all. The sets are amazing and the pieces that were actually filmed in real snow are rather impressive too. Sadly, Chaplin outshines most of the other actors, and the girl in particular doesn't get a very important or rememberable role. His "cabin friend" makes for a funny side character though, and he and Chaplin play off each other very well.

I'm happy I watched The Gold Rush, since it makes for an interesting change in the many recent films I watched for this blogathon. It seems that Alaska was never very popular among filmmakers but Chaplin saw its charm already in the dawn of the days of filmmaking. Again, I'm sorry if this review seems rambly and short. There was no other way.

SPECIAL ALASKATHON MOVIE BREAKDOWN

How capturing/ engaging/ interesting is the film? (out of 5 northern lights)

How gorgeous does the film - or the Alaska in it - look? (out of 5x Timothy Treadwell's hair)

How much does the film itself make you want to go to Alaska? (out of 5 sledges)

THE GOLD RUSH

1925 • USA • English

director Charles Chaplin

author Charles Chaplin

★ Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain, Tom Murray

Alone in the Wilderness | The ALASKAthon

The wish to just pack up our dearest belongings and burn or leave the rest, to wander off into the wilderness and start a new life without the complications of modern society - I think most of us have felt that wish one or several times in our lives. It's something that I've always associated Alaska with - the goodbye to society, that crazy breed as Eddie Vedder calls it in one of his songs. In the course of history, there have been a number of women and men who succumbed to this wish, which I do not doubt burnt much harder in them than it does in most of us who have not succumbed to it.

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. 

Wendy and Lucy | The ALASKAthon

- Chris from Movies and Songs 365 also reviewed Wendy and Lucy -

In the ideal case, an independent movie is more than just a movie produced by a small studio or on a small budget. It's a movie that aspires to walk off the beaten path, to swim away from the mainstream as we like to say. To achieve this, independent films can tell stories that big studios find too risqué to produce, explore themes that won't please a large percentage of the shrinking amount of moviegoers. Or it can use uncommon ways to bring its message across, play with the technical side of filmmaking or choose the long way instead of the easy one. 

In the last weeks, I have been lucky to experience many of the aforementioned techniques or paths an indie film can choose. I had the chance to see Linklater's brilliant interpretation of a coming of age film, Boyhood, to luxuriate in Ayoade's twisted stylistic rhythm in The Double and to experience the orgasmic fusion of low-budget South Korean filmmaking and Captain America gone dirty in Snowpiercer - among others. This week's film choice for the ALASKAthon is another indie movie that takes a different perspective on a certain story than a big studio would have abandoned - a very unusual perspective, indeed. 

Grizzly Man | The ALASKAthon

The concept of craziness is a crazy one. Though it may seem like there's far between the people who see themselves as normal and someone with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, depression or anorexia, there is something seemingly 'crazy' about everyone. Think about it: haven't you called most of your friends crazy at least once (probably more often)? What's more, haven't you called yourself crazy at least a dozen times? Having quirks is part of having a personality, being a grown-up person. Though even babies and animals are often describes as 'acting crazy' or 'having a crazy fit' or simply being 'a little crazy'. Where is the line between an actual mental illness - insanity - and the common craziness of humanity, of life?

Timothy Treadwell, the curious protagonist of Werner Herzog's 2005 documentary Grizzly Man was probably more than 'a little crazy', but at the very least, this describes him pretty well. The self-proclaimed protector of the grizzly bears spent more time in the company of those animals than any other human has ever done. For 13 summers, he set up his tent in remote areas of Alaskan national parks and studied grizzlies, of which 5 years were recorded on camera, adding up to 100 hours worth of material. Treadwell's remains were found at the end of summer 2003 along with those of his girlfriend Amy Huguenard - they had been killed and torn apart by a gigantic male bear. 

Blind Spot Fixed: Rear Window

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

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

Musical Chairs (2011) | The Thin Line Between TV-Trash and Guilty Pleasure

With tv-shows gathering more viewers than many films and producing higher quality than ever, the bad reputation of the tv-film is nowhere near upgrading itself. For centuries, tv-films have been regarded as the black sheep in the world of film - and there is a reason for this. One half of the tv-films I watch are German, the other half are Disney Channel movies - and few of them are rememberable for cinematic quality. Tv-films have low budgets and lower pressure than the next blockbuster, they are filled with clichés, stereotypes and most of the time don't have to be seen from beginning to finish. They are escapism in snack form - a little bit of adventure to finish up your ordinary work day.

Musical Chairs fits in to much of the criteria I just summed up, yet it has something else to offer as well. Telling the story of a group of people in wheelchairs who decide to start ballroom dancing, it's a typical feel-good, joy-of-life story that is supposed to be inspirational and uplifting. There's a couple of love stories involved, many typical rom-com elements and characters bounding to stereotypes. But Musical Chairs manages to make its character just realistic enough, the dialogue just cheeky enough and the story just fresh enough to be different from the rest of its tv-film siblings. The performances range between okay and really good, especially leading lady Leah Pipes makes the struggle and the fear of her character seem relatable instead of whiny. Some of the side stories are very cute while others are a bit unnecessary, so the runtime could've been cut with 15 minutes or so. But it's not like the film ever gets boring. You know where it's going but still, you are invested in the journey of these characters and the execution of the plot. Furthermore, the visuals look less cheap than expected and some shots have a cinematic quality to them, while the sound design is delicious. It's okay that most of the soundtrack is composed of the same ballroom track then and that there is your usual dose of melodramatic slow-motion.

This isn't the renaissance of the tv-film or the rise of feel-good films but an enjoyable flick that won't hurt anyone and really does add some adventure to your ordinary day.

MUSICAL CHAIRS

2011 • USA • English

director Susan Seidelman

author Marty Madden

★ Leah Pipes, E.J. Bonilla, Laverne Cox

FINAL FRAME | STRAWBERRY

Beyoncé, eat your heart out!

Why The Grand Budapest Hotel Is Definitely Worth a Visit

- http://thegrandbudapestrp.tumblr.com/

Aren't we all more or less attracted by shiny objects? As toddlers we were. In kindergarten we were. In high school we really were. And even though we're getting better at hiding and transferring this primal instinct, we still are: attracted by shiny objects.

Wes Anderson is one the most talented, living craftsmen who make shiny objects. He taps the sunshine, freezes the quicksilver and literally blows the dust from the treasures of ancient (European) families. I have talked about Wes Anderson and his films before, at length. With the surprising arrival of The Grand Budapest Hotel to a cinema "near" me, I finally have more to talk about. A wise man once said that it is "the most Anderson that Anderson ever Andersoned" or something among those lines, and it's about the truest thing you could say about this film. It has the carefully and lovingly designed sets that create an atmosphere of a doll's house, the craziest... oh well, there's no evading the word, quirkiest characters, played by the most hyped actors. It has the props, the songs and the poetry. And - this is probably the most important thing - it has Europe. If we're being very black-and-white about it, Hollywood produces glamorous, entertaining movies while European films are thought-provoking and low-budget. Europe would not have made a film like The Grand Budapest Hotel. Nor would the United States. It's an inbetweener, a curious outsider, a cinematic weirdo. And that's part of why I love it so much.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is not just a film though, it is a place as well - and this is important to remember. It's a similarity that the film shares with Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom, which just so happen to be some of my favorite Wes Anderson movies. To be true, most of his movies are some of my favorite Wes Anderson movies. Still, his latest work stands out from the little crowd. It's a pink bubble of nostalgia, romance and Ralph Fiennes being funny. Shining bright till the credits. 

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

2013 • USA/ Germany • English/ French

director Wes Anderson

authors Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness, (Stefan Zweig)

★ Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan

FINAL FRAME

„You're looking so well darling, you really are.“

Big League Blogathon | Field of Dreams

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

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

Blind Spot Fixed: American History X

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

Blind Spot Fixed: Memento

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

Writing Elsewhere - Divergent: 5 Options For This Future Franchise

In the future, I will assemble posts that I've written for other websites under the tag 'Writing Elsewhere'. As you may know, I was selected as a writer for The Artifice about a year ago, but after I had written my Love Actually Review, I never got around to writing more for the site. I'd like to change that and at least write one post per month there. The content will be a little bit different from my usual blogging content, since there are stricter guidelines for tone and quality on The Artifice, so that's exciting for me. 

The first post I wrote is a post about the upcoming Divergent Franchise - I compare it to 6 other big YA franchises of the last few years and try to decide how the turnout for this one will be. I hope you'll enjoy reading it!

CLICK TO READ

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Perdition

Do you remember back at the beginning of summer, when I wrote one of those rambles you're hopefully not missing so much (or should I hope you do?) on the Percy Jackson series? If you've read it - and you should, if you're going to stick around to read about Sea of Monsters - you've probably figured out the following: Percy Jackson is not my favorite fandom, the books are not one of my favorite series of all time and neither is the first movie. But I enjoyed the material for what it was. Simple yet very intriguing entertainment. Yes, there's a lot of Harry Potter in this, yes the first movie is very different from the first book - and yes, it's trashy. But it knows what it is and hence works perfectly well.

This month, new material was finally released in the shape of a sequel movie to The Lightning Thief. I'm writing movie because - like every fan should know and/ or finally realize - the movies and books are two very damn separate things. Sea of Monsters starts where the first movie ended, and like the book it centers around a new quest for Percy and his friends; the tree that guards Half-Blood Camp is slowly dying and can only be saved by the Golden Fleece, which is currently owned by a blood-thirsty Cyclops living in the middle of the dangerous Sea of Monsters. There are a lot of details that are similar to the story in the novel, actually more than in The Lightning Thief and the tone is typical Percy Jackson. Everything's very light-hearted, propped with one-liners and the cast seems to be having fun. Now that's all I expect from the Percy Jackson series by now. Fun, just plain fun. I don't need accurateness or plausibility or award-winning performances. This is not the place for stuff like that. As long as I get Logan Lerman being absolutely lovable (and talented), Alexandra Daddario sporting her incredible eyes and everyone else being either funny or hot, I'm fine. And the acting isn't even terrible. Douglas Smith owned the role as Percy's Cyclops brother Tyson and Anthony Head was a far better Chiron than Pierce Brosnan. Even the CGI was fine this time (keyword: adorable rainbow ponies aka Hippocampi).

I understand why some people didn't like Sea of Monsters. 6.5 on IMDB is an understandable average, because clearly this isn't a critic's movie - nor a universally appealing entertainer. 38/64 on Rottentomatoes? Fine with me. What I don't get though is the shit that this movie gets from the people that were supposed to back it up. The ones that knew what they were getting into, knew the source material and enjoyed it. The worst thing is, they don't even tear Olympus apart by pointing out all the things that went "wrong" technically - directing, soundtrack, editing, whatever critics could probably argue wasn't all that great from an objective point-of-view. No, the Percy Jackson fandom, or a big part of it, is pissed off by the fact that Riptide isn't the cursed blade from the prophecy (it's still a cursed blade and you don't know how they're going to continue that plot). Because Kronos was defeated (as if). Because of stupid details. Just chill, people, and accept the fact that a book and its cinematic adaptation can be very different from each other, okay? Just saying. Because if nobody goes to watch Sea of Monsters, or at least buy it, we're not getting The Titan's Curse. We wouldn't want that, would we? 

PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS

2013 • USA • English

dir. Thor Freudenthal

authors Marc Guggenheim, Rick Riordan

★ Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Brandon T. Jackson

Final Frame: STRAWBERRY

OBSTRUCTION 2/5: A Revienterview

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

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

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

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

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

Bottom line: Hanna has still got it.

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

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

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

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

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

So how do you feel about the movie now?

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

What is she going to do?

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

Can you identify with Hanna?

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

What do you think of the acting in general?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What's your favorite scene?

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

And what do you like most about this movie?

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

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

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

Thank you for the interview!

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

Fabulous Filmic Fashion and more: SPRING BREAKERS

FABULOUS FILMIC FASHION is back with a bang, providing you with the hottest summer wear from the coolest flick of this year so far. And probably a lot bit of non-fashion related raving. Spring Break Forever, Bitches.

Harmony Korine's layered, colourful and inspiring portrayal of the annual American celebration of hedonism entitled 'Spring Break' is by far my favorite movie of the year so far. Since his latest movie is the first I've seen and on the way to become my favorite of 2013, I can't help but notice how similar these circumstances are to my introduction to Wes Anderson through Moonrise Kingdom last year. If you remember, it was one of those instant favorites that soon led to an obsession, making me watch every single one of Anderson's movies (even though they're not that many).

Much like Moonrise Kingdom, Spring Breakers is a very stylish movie with visuals that are almost painfully beautiful, the bright colours burning their way through your retina into your heart. A small and interesting difference between the two movies may be that while there's one incontestably heavenly creature in Moonrise Kingdom and the rest are rather quirky beauties, in Spring Breakers each of the four main characters is an incontestably heavenly creature (look-wise anyways) and Alien is a rather quirky... beauty.

Bully - Be Nice or Die

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

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

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

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

BULLY

2001 • USA/ France • English

dir. Larry Clark (1st watch of mine) 

written by David McKenna & Roger Pullis

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

FINAL FRAME: STRAWBERRY

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.

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

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

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

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