I want someone to eat cheese with..

What do we really want in life? Money? Power? Material goods? Or really just someone to eat cheese with?
This is a nice one. Easy flow, quite funny, real-life type filming,.. you have to watch it "as is", not comparing it with similar movies or you might be disappointed. There's no "story" really, we follow a guy who has problems with women, work, always says the wrong thing at the wrong time, and substitutes it all with food.
The good thing with movies like this is, you can watch it again and again in the future. I have good memory when it comes to movies, so I usually remember "plots", "stories" and "bad guys" within a few minutes of a movie, if I watched it before, so it's no fun to watch anymore.
Jeff Garlin did ok and I always liked Sarah Silverman anyhow, so there's a plus for me as well.
I want someone to eat cheese with... yeah, who doesn't..
Anyhow, 7/10 for me.

Boarding gate movie

There's another 106 minutes lost that I'll never get back.. Another proof how a trailer can make a totally wrong impression.
Anyhow.. boooooooring, sloooow, used story, virtually no action and even those minutes sucked, really bad performance by both Madsen (kinda surprised he took a project like this) and Argento. Honestly, there isn't a minute that I enjoyed in this movie.
2/10 for me.

Upcoming movie trailers..

Some trailers of the movies I'm looking forward to watch..
(in no particular order)

The Life Before Her Eyes


The Signal


Chapter 27


An american crime


Paranoid Park


Chop Shop


Quiet City


Hallam Foe


Starting out in the evening


My list is actually a lot longer, but this should be enough for today..

Juno soundtrack

Ok, this CD has been playing in my player practically non-stop for the past 2 weeks or something, I'm not sure it I should be getting worried, but I know I have to post this to remember it. It's a great compilation! Kinda reminds me of Garden State compilation which is still my nr.1 movie soundtrack.. ever!
Go.. buy, rent, borrow this thing and have a listen!

Lars and the real girl

Now this is an interesting one.. It's one of those movies you're either going to like or totally dislike.
Ryan Gosling plays a young man, who finds a strange way of dealing will his lonely less after his father died. He orders a real-size, anatomically correct sex doll, which he treats as a real life girl. Now all you pervs out there, don't get any ideas, this is a PG-13 movie! With support by his brother and his wife, the whole community, he gets over his problems and starts a normal life.
It's interesting to watch and imagine, what would happen if this was real? How would people really react? It's nice to imagine everyone would be supportive, but it's really unlikely. Would he be committed in a day or two?
Interesting movie, but it is pushing the boundaries of credibility a bit. Still, good performance by Ryan Gosling and worth the look in my opinion.



I'd say 8/10 for this one.
Remember.. Bianca's in town for a reason.

Juno

It started with a chair...
I actually got the soundtrack to this flick first and after deciding I like the sound, I watched the movie as well. And I liked it. It's not your regular teen comedy, but then again it is. What saves/helps this movie to raise it above the rest (beside the comedy and easy flow of the movie), is the lead actress Ellen Page, a 19 years old which has a great future ahead of her imho. I first saw her in Hard Candy, where she did an amazing job at only 16 and later discovered, she did 24 movie appearances already.
Well worth to watch.



Dad: Did you see that coming?
Mom: Yeah... but I was hoping she was expelled, or into hard drugs.
Dad: That was my first instict too. Or a DUI... anything but this!

Has to be 9/10 for this one.

The Darjeeling Limited movie

I've heard about this movie from a friend and finally got a chance to see it. It's one of those indie, comedy, soul searching type of a movie, with a bit of a hollywood feel to it. Good cast (Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman), real/great locations...
It's about three brothers, who get together on a train to go to India in search of their mother, who kinda disappeared after their father died. The only reason they get together in the first place, is because one of them had a near death experience.
You should watch this one, makes you think about life, family and values afterwards.



I'd give it 7/10.

Die Hard 4..

O MY GOD.. yes, that's how I'm starting this thread.. O MY GOD.. I'm an atheist, but respect all religions so this has no special or religion-related meaning.
What to say about this movie.. I don't really know, have I changed so much over the years, or does this movie really suck? I mean, I kinda liked (well, not really liked, but I haven't disliked either) the first three movies.. sure, they were action packed to the max, loads of guns and shooting all over the place, but this.. now.. part 4.. geez. It's like stumbling into Van Damme or Seagal movie. (warning: spoilers ahead) Sooooo many cliches & stupid special effect: from flying cars, jumping on and off F-35 fighter plane, driving helicopters and monster trucks, explosions all over the place.. to the classic 1 man, 1 gun against 10 guys with machine guns and guess who wins crap.. not to forget, computer hacking with fancy displays, typing 50 lines for one word input box.. or hacking into top security system (that would probably take hours if not days with a super computer) with a cell phone, and on and on.. I thought it would never end. Of course, there's also the classical criminal thing: "why do you talk so much instead of actually shooting him and getting rid of him, just so he can escape (again) and shoot YOU????". Following the rules of "How to make an action film " for dummies book, there's also a hot oriental chick (strangely no nudity this time), teen daughter which hates her dad but is happy that he saves her from the terorist after she gets kidnapped, a geeky hacker, heads of all US security agencies that don't know a thing,..................
Like said, I'd expect something like this (one man show) from Van Damme or Seagal movies, but not here. Bruce Willis at least knows how to act, those two don't! I guess Willis did a good job, with the script provided.. He did look the part even with a bit over the top wounds and things like that.
Anyhow, I still don't know if my taste in movies has changed and Die Hard 4 is no different then the first three parts, or did this movie really sucked? I guess I won't wait long for an answer. One of out TV stations usually has an action week in December, and Die Hard 1-3 is usually on the menu. Will compare then..

Luc Besson

Today I want to write a few words about one of my favorite, it not the favorite, director Luc Besson.
Born in 1959, Luc Besson spent the first years of his life following his parents, scuba diving instructors, around the world. He already showed amazing creativity as a youth, writing early drafts of Grand bleu, Le (1988) and The Fifth Element (1997), as an adolescent bored in school. He planned on becoming a marine biologist specializing in dolphins until a diving accident at age 17 which rendered him unable to dive any longer. He moved back to Paris, where he was born, and only at age 18 did he first have an urban life or television. He realized that film was a medium which he could combine all his interests in various arts together, so he began taking odd jobs on various films. He moved to America for three years, then returned to France and formed Les Films de Loups - his own production company, which later changed its name to Les Films de Dauphins. He is now able to dive again.

I'll write just a few of his titles that I love:
Leon the Professional - ranks in first top 5 of my favorite movies
Nikita - again, has to be in top 10 of my favorite movies
The Big Blue, The 5th element, Taxi, Subway, Angel A, The Transporter, Danny the Dog, Colour me Kubric, Hitman,... and others. It's really amazing how much creativity and talent some people have.
(P.S. Amazon created a nice Luc Besson collection, take a look).

Here's a song by Slovenian singer (Anja Garbarek), based on Angel A movie, that's also featured in the movie. Have a listen, it's great..

Lost in translation

One of my favorite movies is Lost in Translation. I've first seen it back in 2003, bought the DVD as soon as it got out and now seen it at least 50 times. I love movies that can make you think about life, yourself, values, your future and your past without all those special effects. It's almost fruitless to summarize the movie, each viewer has his or hers own thoughts and feelings about it.
Basic story follows two people Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson). Bob is a "semi-retired" actor, visiting Japan to do a whiskey commercial. Charlotte came to Japan with her husband, photographer. In a way, they're both lost, both have a fog over their life, one about his past, the other about her future. This makes for a strange connection between them and develops into friendship.
Overall the movie is amazing. Written and directer by Sofia Coppola, it is amazingly done, from great scenery, sounds, to great acting from both main actors. Some could call it a bit slow, but it's exactly that which I like. In real life friendship takes time to develop and that is excellently port raid in this movie. It's not an action movie people!
For relaxing times.. make it Lost in Translation time.
I have to give this one 10/10.

Lord of war..

I think everyone should watch this movie. Not just because it's a good movie and Nicholas Cage has done a great job, but because of the story itself. We all know wars are a huge business opportunity for weapon dealers, who don't care who they sell as long as they sell. And we all know that wars only benefit governments and individuals, either for profits, natural resources, political strength and so on.
Lord of war shows us a small insight into conflicts all over the world, insight into weapon dealing, extortion, corruption, killings and who's really pulling all the stings in the background.
I'd give it 8/10.

Superbad..

Watched Superbad yesterday.. (warning: some spoilers) What's there to say, yet another teen comedy about teen boys and their dreams about girls? True, but it has it's moments as well. We follow the story of two guys, seniors, best friends, who are getting separated due to different collages. All they want to do (at least one of them does) is have a great party and get laid before the high school is over. Of course, the moral person inside them wakes up and they change their plans a bit. There's also a third character (my favorite btw) who, in a way, is the one that can make things happen or ruin their party plans all together.
It's a teen comedy, lots of cursing, alchocol, dreaming of girls, police element, fantasy theory where a chubby guy ends up with the cutest girl in school.. yeah, right.. Overall, not bad to watch, I'd give it 7/10.

Azuloscurocasinegro..

Azuloscurocasinegro or DarkBlueAlmostBlack is another movie some of you might like to watch. Directed by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, it show a life of Jorge, who's stuck in a job he doesn't like, having to take care for his father after his stroke, having issues with his (girl)friend/neighbor, dealing with his brother while he's in and out of prison and having to impregnate his brothers girlfriend.
It's a easy movie, there's no one really big climax or center point, but it's in no way boring either. It has a steady pace, great transitions, equality on all sets and segments. It pulls you in, often makes you try to identify with the main character and at least one of the problems he faces. Acting is really good, script is well written, makes it really hard to find a bathroom break.
It's a life story, from ups and downs as we all know them. I'd give it 8/10.

Scary movie(s)

I've read somewhere a few days ago, that the scariest movie of all time is The Exorcist by William Friedkin (btw: Amazon has a whole new set of 5 (!!) Exorcist movies for around $19 atm). Now, don't get me wrong, I own a copy of that DVD and I do "like" the movie, but the scariest movie of all time? Hmm.. When I think about the fact that the movie was filmed in 1973, I can imagine it caused a stir back then. Not to mention it became the benchmark for a lot of horror movies over time.
True, some scenes in there are disturbing even today, but overall, I wouldn't really call it THE scariest movie of all time. It's in top 5, no doubt. I guess our generation if a bit more used to disturbing imagery, massacres and suffering all over the world. There are also a lot of new and good movies in this category, that were made in the past 10-15 years as well. I know for a fact, that during a particular Grudge scene, my heart stopped for a minute or two. There's also The Ring which has it's elements as well (original and american versions). The Shining comes to mind as well, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho, The Thing, Nightmare on Elm Street,.. and many more. But anyhow, in a way it's interesting how movies like that appeal to us, how we like to be scared. Matter of opinion really, I know I like it.. sometimes..

Paris Je T'aime

Ok, here's another quirky movie for you: Paris Je T'aime. You take 21 directors, give each 5 minutes, set it in Paris and base it around "love". The result is an interesting representation about love and Paris from different points of view. I remember reading about this movie a year ago or something, when I was still a big Natalie Portman fan. It features great directors like Tom Tykwer (True, Run Lola, Rum,..), Isabel Coixet (My life without me, The secret life of words,..) and Wes Craven (The nightmare on elm street, Scream,..), among many. The actors list is impressive as well: Steve Buscemi, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Juliette Binoche, Willem Defoe, Nick Nolte, Ludivine Sagnier, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Emily Mortimer, Natalie Portman, Gerard Depardieu,.. to name a few. There are a few sections that are a bit strange or odd, but it's just 5 min, you can get through then, believe me. I'd give it 8/10.

The secret life of words

I've been read some interesting stuff about this movie and thought I should keep an eye on it. Well, I finally saw it. And I liked it. In a way it's a mix of one of my favorite movie Lost in Translation and An Officer and a Gentleman. Starring the lovely Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins, it show the story about getting through life's obstacles, either physical or emotional. It's a "dialog" movie, there are no special effect and stuff like that, just great script and great acting. Directed by Isabel Coixet and produced by Pedro Almodóvar. If you get a chance, check it out. I'd give it 9/10.