I've seen Hot Fuzz so many more times than this one (I think thrice, so not that many, but still), but Shaun of the Dead is still the best horror comedy out there. I love how funny and British it is without compromising the thrill and gore of zombie flicks. It's the perfect mix of everything.
Tuesday 28 February 2017
Saturday 25 February 2017
The Full Monty (1997)
Directed by: Peter Cattaneo
Written by: Simon Beaufoy
Six unemployed steel workers decided to become strippers to make some money, and on a whim they decide to go for the full monty - complete nudity.
I've owned this movie forever because it's on a box with A Fish Named Wanda and Four Weddings and a Funeral. The latter doesn't interest me at all, and the former is the reason I bought the box in the first place. I thought it was finally time to see this movie.
I don't know how many movies there are out there about male strippers, professional or no. The only one I've seen besides The Full Monty was Magic Mike, which turned into some kind of weird drama which I didn't expect. Still, I liked it. Now The Full Monty didn't turn into a weird drama. The main character's reasons were serious from the very beginning - he wanted to afford joint custody of his son. Still they manage to go through the movie with comedy instead of this movie being completely serious movie, because that couldn't work as well as this does.
One thing I especially like about this film is that the men all look different and they're not all as fit as the blokes on Magic Mike. (If only we'd have similar diversity in body types when it comes to women in movies.) And still even if they had doubts about their own bodies they still managed to go on stage. That's admirable and inspiring.
The Full Monty is a very charming movie. It's funny yet touching, and there just is that something that any american remake could never have - so hopefully there won't be any remakes, because those would fail spectacularly.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
7 / 10
Friday 17 February 2017
T2 Trainspotting (2017)
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Based on novels by: Irvine Welsh
Adaptation by John Hodge
20 years after stealing 16 thousand pounds from his mates Mark Renton returns to Edinburgh and reunites with his friends Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie.
You can't imagine how great I'm feeling right now. I've seen three AMAZING movies in the theater in the last 28 hours and this latest I saw was seriously so fucking great. I'm so psyched I have trouble focusing on this review, but I'll try my best!! I'm probably going to keep this short.
It's been a while since I saw Trainspotting. While it's amazing and fun and all, it's also super rough. I still love it though, and it's one of my favourite movies of all time. I actually own a copy of the novel in "English" but since actual English isn't my first language it's super hard trying to read an entire novel written in dialect. So I haven't read Trainspotting, so I can't really say if Trainspotting is as good as the book, and I also haven't read Porno, so I don't know whether or not T2 Trainspotting is anywhere near the original.
I was a little worried about a lot of things. First of all, character development - for better or worse. 20 years is a long time. If the characters would've seem pretty much same people, it would've felt awful. But it seems there has been some kind of development. It's not like they are over their issues, no, they are pretty much just as bad as they were or maybe worse. Did anyone get better? Probably not, but that's better than everyone staying the same.
I went to the cinema thinking well I can't give this movie 10/10, since I gave the LEGO Batman Movie and Tom Of Finland 10/10, it would be an overkill. But when the movie was ending, I started thinking... was there anything wrong with it?
Not really.
The story is great, so very thrilling, and so much fun. When I think about what it's about, I can't summarise the actual plot easily. It's basically just a revisit to the story, but it's also so much more than that. The original movie had such a perfect ending, but it leaves the audience wondering. T2 Trainspotting gives us the closure we need. But like it's mostly a nostalgic trip, and definitely a good one.
It's amazing to see how the cinematography both hasn't and has changed. There are so many shots that are very similar to the original movie - clearly on purpose. Still there's something that's new, just like with the story and characters. The shots and the editing, lighting and colours are all brilliant. Mixture of old footage and new on is also amazing, especially on a big screen where you can so clearly see the difference. The cinematography is so very enchanting and I loved it very much.. I especially loved the effects where the shots froze. .(Unless the movie was just lagging. I hope not, because they were very effective)
But what I love most about this movie was the soundtrack. The music was perfect, it was so amazing. The only thing missing was Iggy Pop's Lust for Life (there was a remix tho), because I just kept waiting for it, but it didn't play. Still that doesn't matter. The sounds in this movie were amazing and the music was so well chosen and so effective, and just simply astonishing.
I really loved this movie, more than I thought I would.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
10 / 10
One of my favourite songs used on this movie was Silk by Alice Wolf. It's seriously one of my favourite songs and hearing it in a movie made me love it even more. Here's the song
Tom of Finland (2017)
Directed by: Dome Karukoski
Story by: Aleksi Bardy & Dome Karukoski
Screenplay by: Aleksi Bardy
A biography about Touko Laaksonen, who after the war became a gay icon by drawing homoerotic art of men behind the name Tom of Finland.
Tom of Finland is definitely one of the most anticipated Finnish movies in 2017, and with reason. Many of us already know the homoerotic art made by Tom of Finland - art which has made its way to textile and even post stamps. This film directed by Dome Karukoski introduces us to the man behind the stage name - Touko Laaksonen.
The story is both touching and really empowering. It has heart wrenching drama, but it's also a message of hope, which is something we need right now, considering how scary the world feels right now. But it was certain from the beginning that this movie will make people feel all kind of things. People will be furious about it, mostly because people already feel that way about the art. Some people are not into anything that's so blatantly homoerotic. But as Dome Karukoski said today, it's a loud minority that's against this movie and everything it stands for, not a majority.
One of the most important things about the film is how Touko Laaksonen wasn't flattened, which worse director and writer(s) could've easily done. Of course this is affected by the fact that the events of the film take place during several decades, so there's no reason for Laaksonen be the same all through the movie. But I'm mainly talking about Laaksonen was introduced to us as a both sensitive typical artist and as a gay icon. If they would've tried to leave out the homoerotic art, it would've erased a big part of Laaksonen's identity. On the other hand if they had only focused on the gay icon side of him, the character could've easily become flat. And isn't it quite impossible to even take these two parts of Laaksonen completely apart from each other, since they aren't really that separate?
It's also amazing to witness how Laaksonen is affected by where he is and who he is with. In the middle of mostly straight people he has to hide parts of himself, and his Tom of Finland side isn't as visible. But in California, among the gay community, he can openly be who he is. I'm sure many closeted non-straight people can identify with this.
We all know our modern world isn't completely equal yet. Still it's horrible to see how much worse the hatred towards gay people was when Touko Laaksonen was younger. But comparing that to now, it gives us a little sparkle of hope, that maybe we are going in the right direction. And Tom of Finland movie is coming out (by coincidence, as Karkukoski stated) at the perfect time, and I'm not just talking about the Finland's 100th year as an independent country, but these few weeks. As of first of March, same sex marriage is legal in Finland. So this movie clearly couldn't have come at a better time.
Tom of Finland is a wonderful, touching movie about an artist who is so very important to the gay community. It's a touching biography, and everyone who can should watch it. I'm mostly addressing Finnish people right now, of course, but seriously, you should see this film. Many of you are going to, but if you had some doubts, now it's time to throw them aside and go to movies when Tom of Finland comes out on 24th of February.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
10 / 10
Wait a minute, 24th? Then how come I already saw it? Well, it's one of my perks as an intern, I went to see it earlier and got to meet with Dome Karukoski and the lead actor Pekka Strang, it was super awesome.
Thursday 16 February 2017
The LEGO Batman Move (2017)
Directed by: Chris McKay
Screenplay by: Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern & John Whittington
Story by: Seth Grahame-Smith
Batman created by: Bob Kane & Bill Finger
Superman created by: Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster
(wow that's the most credits I've ever had to type)
Joker plans his revenge trying to get him to admit his Batman's number one enemy, while Batman struggles with his greatest fear: clown snakes being part of a family again.
Guess what movie I've been super excited about for a few months? That's right, The LEGO Batman Movie! And I liked this movie so much I didn't even feel ridiculous when I met another film fanatic who was going to see La La Land. Also I met few friends who were going to see Fifty Shades Darker, then I was truly happy with my life choices.
I hate Batman. There, I said it. I hate the movies because they are either completely ridiculous (when Joel Schumacher was directing) or annoyingly dark and brooding (Nolan's trilogy and also the Batman V Superman blah blah). The only live action movie I kind of like is Tim Burton's Batman movies. Burton's movies were dark but not like brooding dark, more like, well, Burton dark.
The first time I ever liked Batman was in The LEGO Movie. He was clearly Batman, but he was also so much fun. Also the first time I saw The LEGO Movie I was like "holy shit that's GOB!!" because I didn't learn Will Arnett's name until the end credits.
Michael Keaton is the perfect live action Batman - and Bruce Wayne. To me he has always looked like the right Bruce Wayne. And Will Arnett will always be my favourite Batman. He has the perfect voice for it, and while he nails the voice he can also be silly with it. Like I can't imagine Christian Bale doing that. Yikes!
Anyway that's how I feel about Batman in general. You know, to give you a little context about how much I don't like Batman movies.
But I loved this one! It is so good! The LEGO Movie is one of my favourite films, and The LEGO Batman Movie is just as good! Of course the universes are a bit different. The LEGO Movie is a mix of, well, every possible universe, while The LEGO Batman movie is mostly DC universe - with a mixture of different villains released by Joker. Also that certain meta feeling is not there, that was in The LEGO Movie, but that might've been good. The difference between the two is that The LEGO Movie was, in a way, about Legos. Now the characters in The LEGO Batman Movie are made of legos, sure, so are buildings and all that, but it's not addressed so much. We don't have to think about it. It could be just another superhero movie, apart from few jokes that require Legos.
This was so much fun! Since I obviously went to see this in English (and since the subtitles didn't work), the audience was mostly grown ups, and every one of us was laughing. And there were so many kind of jokes. One of my favourites is Batman saying it would be stupid to have villains fight villains.
And of course The LEGO Batman Movie isn't just action and fun, even though that would've worked too. There's some pretty deep and important stuff about Bruce getting over his fear of intimacy and all that. Of course all that is kind of sappy, but hey, when isn't stuff like that sappy? It's still really nice to see Bruce Wayne / Batman actually have more character development in The LEGO Batman Movie than in the whole Nolan trilogy. Also there are probably a lot of adults out there who might actually see their own issues in Bruce Wayne, who is not going to just be dark brooding Batman and never let anyone close. And also I mean it gives children a nice lesson about family as well. Altogether all the life lessons in The LEGO Batman Movie were so nice, and even if they were sappy, even someone with cynic's traits might melt a bit. I know I did.
Right now I can't think of anything wrong with this movie. It was a great experience! It has the best parts of a children's movie and a superhero movie. It's an excellent movie, better than any other Batman movie, and the only Batman movie I've given a full 10/10.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
10 / 10
Wednesday 8 February 2017
Article: People go to movies more than in over 30 years
I really don't know how to translate the title of my article. Yes, this is the first official article I've written about movies. It was published on Epari 18th of January 2017, and yes, it took me a while to actually put it here. I still wanted to share this on my blog because I think this blog will last longer than my career as a journalist - because it already has.
I would link to the digital version of the newspaper, but the website isn't working for me, so I can't.
My translation might seem a bit clumsy, but I hope everyone understands it's one thing to write in English and another to write translate a text from your native language to English.
People went to the movies particularly much in 2016. The year 2017 offers a lot of highly anticipated movies.
The year 2016 was particularly good when we look at movies. In Finland, movies were seen in the theatres over 8,7 million times. It's the second most views since 1983, and only in 2015 have people viewed more movies.*
The CEO of Bio Rex Cinemas Aku Jaakkola says the better availability of movies affects the grown popularity of cinema.
"These days you can see movies almost at the same time all over the world. Furthermore, movie theatres have been more invested in. The experience has therefore gotten better."
People go to the cinemas more in financially tense times, even if one might imagine it being the opposite.
"It's this specific modern-day budget escapism. During unstable times movies are a way to get away from the every day life," thinks Mikko Jokipii from Kino Jalasjärvi.
The happy news is that the popularity of Finnish movies is on the rise.
"Our film makers are doing a marvellous job. You can see it in how many people go to see domestic films," says Jaakkola.
Studios are making both independent films such as Hymyilevä Mies but also certain blockbusters like Luokkakokous 2.
"In the rural areas people are more interested in Finnish movies", Jokipii tells.
Even if movie and TV show streaming services such as Netflix and Viaplay are getting more popular, movie theatres don't have to compete with them.
"Netflix and such are competing with typical video rental stores, not with us. Our biggest rival is just staying home in general," Jaakkola estimates.
A lot of anticipated movies
The most anticipated movies of 2017 show the theme of Finland's 100th year of independence.
Aku Louhimies's version of Tuntematon Sotilas has its premiere at the end of the year. Tom of Finland, the biography of Touko Laaksonen directed by Dome Karukoski, is also coming out this year.
"Tom of Finland is definitely going to be a movie which completely divides the opinions of the audiences. Many people are looking forward for it, but in many places it will be condemned very quickly," Jaakkola predicts.
From Hollywood we are expecting for example the eighth episode of Star Wars franchise, and at the end of this month winner of seven Golden Globes La La Land directed by Damien Chazelle will have its premiere.
Movie series
Many movie series are popular. Marvel and DC are competing in making several superhero movies in one year. Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean are few of the franchises getting their newest sequels in 2017. Also the Harry Potter series has been continued by the Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them.
"The pros of movie series' is their certain guarantee of what the movie is going to be like. Also the stories are already familiar to the audience, and they don't have to introduce everything again, Still there are a lot of original movies, and people like them," Jaakkola says.
Jokipii thinks it's good to invest in a good, independent story.
"There are huge franchises but there are no longer so many sequels, which are basically just the same movie in a different package. Good screenplay is the most important thing."
One of the trends one can detect in the movies is apocalypse and post-apocalyptic world, like in Mad Max movies. Same theme can be seen in video games. On the other hand there are also a lot of movies meant for kids.
"There are a lot of big studios making these movies. Everyone knows Disney and Dreamworks, but there's also WB making LEGO movies, and a lot of domestic children's movies. There are so many that families don't have the time or money to see all of them," Jokipii says.
Anticipated films of 2017:
- Alien: Covenant, dir. Ridley Scott
- Beauty and the Beast, dir. Bill Condon
- Hidden Figures, dir. Theodore Melfi
- La La Land, dir. Damien Chazelle
- LEGO: Batman Movie, dir. Chris McKay
- Logan, dir. James Mangold
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, dir. Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg
- Star Wars episode VIII, dir. Rian Johnson**
- Spider-man: Home coming, dir. Jon Watts
- T2: Trainspotting, dir. Danny Boyle
- Tom of Finland, dir. Dome Karukoski
- Tuntematon Sotilas, dir. Aku Louhimies
- Wonder Woman, dir. Patty Jenkins
* For some reason the proof reader botched this up in the original article.
** The name The Last Jedi wasn't yet known when I wrote the article.
** The name The Last Jedi wasn't yet known when I wrote the article.
Sunday 5 February 2017
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie
A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which begun when five criminals meet at a seemingly random police lineup.
The Usual Suspects is a movie I've been meaning to watch since forever. My dad actually owns the DVD, but sometimes you have to rent a movie to actually see it - because you've paid for it and it would suck if you'd basically lose money and not see it.
I didn't know much about The Usual Suspects. Story-wise I only knew that picture of the line up. I had avoided the spoilers almost perfectly. Just almost? I did know about the twist. I didn't know what it was, I just knew there was going to be a huge fucking twist. Also I had seen that one Saturday Night Live sketch, which kind of gives something away. I'm going to link it at the end of the post. Even though I kind of knew something about the ending, I didn't know the story, and I didn't know how to get to the ending and what the ending would actually mean in the story, because a SNL sketch doesn't exactly explain the reference.
It's hard to get in the right mood with the movie. There's no hook before the opening credits, you just have to wait until they are over or maybe fast forward through them. They offer nothing except John Ottman's music, which is of course decent, but not any different from typical movie music. But when the movie begun, it just begun. It was a bit fast, unclear. What is happening, who are these people, oh now we're at now... When they start questioning Verbal it becomes clearer. Still flashbacks are a hard way to tell the story - they are very quick and the audience can feel like something was left out, except I think this is exactly what McQuarrie might've been after.
But once you get used to the pace and the style of story telling, the movie turns into a very exciting thriller.
I guess the only problem in watching this movie over 20 years later is that it's now easier to guess the big mother-fucking twist. It might be because of a certain actor, it might be because this kind of twist is now more common, or it's just the evolution of cinema. But at one point while watching this movie it all clicked together. Of course the SNL sketch helped, and so did that one scene from the first Scary Movie - which is something I haven't seen in ages but it just came to me and I realised that's where it's from!
But figuring out a twist isn't exactly bad, you can also feel super victorious.
All in all, The Usual Suspects is a good thriller, a bit slow but the end makes it so much better. It has definitely aged well. But after seeing it once I don't feel like watching it again any time soon. It might be like some other movies with major twist: once you know it, you can watch it maybe once more to like see it from the new perspective, but that's it.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
8 / 10
Here's the SNL sketch I mentioned. I'd warn you to not spoil yourself if you haven't seen the movie but hey, would you listen?
Friday 3 February 2017
Disco Pigs (2001)
Directed by: Kirsten Sheridan
Written by: Enda Walsh
Pig and Runt were born only moments apart from each other. They are twins all but by blood, and they have a weird connection. They are a notorious duo in their town, wreaking havoc all around, but few days before their 17th birthday, they start to drift apart when Pig's sexual awakening and insane jealousy starts disturbing their balance
I had never heard of this movie until I stumbled upon it in the rental store today. And again, I was taking advantage of a discount where you'd get five movies for a week for 7 euros so I had to find more movies. The name Disco Pigs caught my eye because it was interesting yet told nothing about the movie. It's a name like "Trainspotting" and not a name like "Horrible Bosses".
Mostly this movie made me really uncomfortable. It's mostly the story and the weird relationship between Pig and Runt, and especially Pig as a character made me super uncomfortable with his inappropriate behaviour. He's the exact kind of person I wouldn't want to meet anywhere even briefly, because I'd have to be scared he's going to do something erratic. I've mostly seen Cillian Murphy in really creepy roles like in Red Eye and Batman Begins, and this one is no different. From the very beginning it's like oh no, It's Cillian Murphy and he's going to do something awful again.
There's just something about their relationship that makes me want to tell Runt to run away. And at the same time I see comments about them, like some people don't just want Runt to be safe from Pig, which seems so weird to me.
There's a lot of beautiful imagery in this movie, a lot of beautiful themes. It's very artsy but I just can't help but feel uncomfortable all through the movie. I can't appreciate all the beauty in it because I just can't stand Pig.
Another thing that bothers me is the way they talk. No, not the Irish accent but sometimes the dialogue seems creepily childish.
But I can see it's a great movie. It's well written, it's artistic and magical, it has great cast. I just don't like it on personal level.
☆☆☆☆
4 / 10
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