"I'm handling the Aaron Stampler case." "Hmm, The Butcher Boy." "Yes, thank you, I forgot his real name."

A "hotshot" lawyer takes a case, where an altar boy is accused of murdering an archbishop. The boy was found covered in blood, but he claims to have blacked out. 

I remember that I just wrote a review of The Fracture, and I said I don't usually watch lawyer-crime-case-court-whatever movies, and yeah, they usually do have the same principle, and they go the same way. Yeah. Well, why did I want to see Primal Fear? Well it was Edward Norton's film debut. I mean I usually don't want to see my favourites' debuts because, hey, it's usually a small part, understandably. But Norton was nominated for the academy award for this role, so of course I had to see it.

And now, I'm not denying that Primal Fear would be different from all the other... this kind of justice system movies. I mean the structure was similar to everything I've seen - which means The Fracture and 2,5 seasons of Boston Legal. Primal Fear wasn't even darker than The Fracture, and to be honest, The Fracture was more intelligent, since even though it would look like an obvious case, but then there is no evindence. Well in Primal Fear, there's no motive and, well, not really evidence, but the case seems like a sure thing. I would like to explain more what happens, because if the case is like a sure thing all through the movie, then what is the point? Well, what indeed.

I didn't like most of the characters. I mean everyone seemed to be annoying in their way. Okay, Aaron (the boy accused of murder) was probably the only one I liked, but that was mostly because he seemed adorable and charming. And that doesn't really give depth to a character. Something else does, though, but um... 

God, I wish I could spoil the movie. I mean from the start it was boring but then it got really interesting and man, the movie fucked me up. Seriously, I don't remember the last time this has happened, maybe it hasn't. This movie will fool you once, twice... who knows. I don't even know what to say about it. I feel like I should write much more and go to depths but I can't I'm still a bit "Woah", I mean oh my god. 

Did I like this movie? Hmm, maybe not. But at this point, it's not even about liking something or not, it's about the emotions the movie makes you feel - if any. And feeling really fucked up and cofused is an excellent feeling for a movie to make you feel so, yes, absolutely this is a very good movie and worth watching. I don't know if it will be that amazing for the second time watching it but at least for the first time it's astonishing. And, the best part, the movie doesn't hurry. It's not throwing all the twist into your face as quickly as possible. All the plot twist creep up on you and that way they really, really startle you. 

I mean I could give this movie a full 10. It's probably worth it. But then again I didn't actually like it that much, but this is the least I can give it:

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10

"I'll be in my office, the big one with a view!" "They all have views, you dumb shit!" "Not looking this way, cupcake!"

A beloves kids show host Rainbow Randolph is fired, and he is then replaced by Smoochy the Rhino. Randolph starts planning his revenge, while Sheldon Mopes, the creator of Smoochy, is annoying many kind of people with being so upright. 

I saw the cover of the movie when searching for other movies and I almost couldn't believe my eyes. The movie seemed absolutely ridiculous - the story, the costume, everything in it seemed like a fucking joke.

I thought though, that this was the first movie I saw that was directed by Danny DeVito. Well, apparently he has also directed Throw Momma from the Train. (And well Matilda, but I have never seen the whole thing, even though I should (from obvious reasons)) And to be honest that explains a lot. I was very young when I saw that movie, and well I was kinda drawn to its dark humour, the same humor that is present in Death to Smoochy. Of course I don't remember much from that movie.. But the humour in Death to Smoochy was really, really dark. But I liked it, mostly. 

Best thing about the whole movie was how it had two sides: firstly there's the kids show part. Like everything is colourful and they are singing silly, meaningful songs (My favourite being My stepdad is not mean (He's just adjusting)), And then again there's the almost gangster movie -like side to it, where everything is dark and everything is straight from all those crime thriller movies. And it's amazing how well it actually goes with the kids show vibe. It's weird, yes, but it's still amazing.

There's something weird about Sheldon Mopes' character. I mean he's something most movie watchers would find terribly annoying, being all non-drinking, non-swearing, all for healthy food and against selling out and all that. He's a character that we could find very annoying, but it's the way he's written and portrayed - almost mockingly. We know nobody is like that. But then again you got to admire the poor lad, though, I mean trying to be all that pure is probably hard in a corrupted world like that. But of course he was very much... human, he wasn't just all goody goody kids show host, but lost his temper at few points and all that. So he had his flaws, but maybe the part that would annoy most viewers is how good he tried to be. Then again that should be admirable, but in movies it might be just plain annoying (says someone who adores Charles Xavier because how good he's trying to be so.)

Of course the actors were well chosen, I can't say anything bad about anybody. And I have to confess, this is the first movie I've seen Robin Williams in. Yeah, it's weird, and I don't even know why I haven't watched any of his works before. I mean if I should've watched anything it's Dead Poets Society for millions of reasons. But I haven't, but I will. Danny DeVito of course was absolutely weird choice for his role, but he was so good in it. And Edward Norton rocked guy-liner and pink clothes.

So was this movie absolutely ridiculous? Oh yes it absolutely was ridiculous. That's why I liked it, I mean partly I was thinking "Oh god what am I even watching", but it was definitely worth it. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10

"May those who love us, love us. And those who don't love us - may God turn their hearts. And if He cannot turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles, so that we may know them by their limping."

Brian and Jake, a catholic priest and a rabbi, have been friends since their childhood, Their life gets a new twist, when their childhood friend Anna decides to visit New York. Both Brian and Jake fall in love with Anna, but how can a rabbi ever date someone who is not a Jew, and how can a catholic priest date, well, anybody?

Actually there would be no way for me to watch a movie like this. Like romantic comedy is almost too bad as itself, but mix it with religion? Pardon my French, but fuck no. However, how could I turn down a movie that's actually directed by Edward Norton? Like I've seen Edward Norton act, and the man is amazing. So of course I wanted to see if he's any good at directing. I mean I've watched a movie directed by Josh Radnor and another one directed by Sir Anthony Hopkins because of the same reasons. I love it when actors start to direct things, I mean they surely have experience and so on. But then again Josh Radnor and sir Anthony Hopkins had also written their movies, so there's that, their movies are so fully their movies. Keeping the Faith was written by Stuart Blumberg.

Well first of all Keeping the Faith is almost so purely a romantic comedy. I mean, the romance was not quite romantic, until it was basically over very tragically and then there was this big romantic gesture and the happily ever after. And of course the comedy part came mostly from one goofy, clumsy character, but to be honest even though it was much fiddling, I actually laughed out loud at many parts. And usually when a comedy consists of a lot of fiddling (Really, I have no idea if that's the right phrase, can I trust dictionaries anymore?) it's mostly embarrassing, Good examples are Fawlty Towers (Very embarrassing) and Starter for 10 (Too embarrassing, never watch Starter for 10). I guess there has to be just the perfect amount of fiddling for it to be funny. Even though religion played a big part in the story, it was also very well blended in. It didn't really stand out any more than, well, any different job the characters could have. And by stand out it didn't seem more annoying like "ugh this is a religious movie about religious people". Of course it did stand out in a way, because if you are a priest or a rabbi, then religion is a big part of your life, I'm not denying that. I'm not sure how to put it into words but yeah. 

I never would've thought that religion would actually give an extra spice to a romantic comedy. But it really gave the story something a lot different. Of course there probably has been a movie about a rabbi falling in love with a non-Jew woman, and a movie about catholic priest falling in love with someone. But it's actually weirdly nice to see the two  combined. Of course I hate love triangles as much as anyone. I was actually hoping for some sort of polyamory. And even though the ending probably didn't hint about polyamory, I can always pretend that's exactly what happened. 

I wouldn't exactly call Keeping the Faith best of its genre or anything. It was good movie, and it made me feel good, but then again it wasn't anything truly special - especially when it didn't have that polyamorous relationship. Still it's worth watching. And I really kinda hope I would've written more but then again I already wrote quite a lot, and I don't know what else to write about. So anyway..

☆☆☆☆☆

5 / 10

"What did he say?" "He said the train is lost." "How can a train be lost? It's on rails."

Three brothers decide to go to a spiritual journey more or less eagerly, a year after they last met at their father's funeral. 

Wes Anderson did it again, or actually he had done it before but still. The Darjeeling Limited may not be as close to visual perfection as The Grand Budapest Hotel or Moonrise Kingdom, but the use of colours and the cinematography and almost everything in The Darjeeling Limited is very pleasing to the eye, and extremely beautiful. "Aesthetic" seems to be kind of a meme or a joke on some parts of the internet at the moment, but I still can't figure out a better word for the visual side of The Darjeeling Limited.

How about the story, then? I sort of wanted to see this movie because of the story - even when I had no idea of who Wes Anderson was. I saw a commercial on TV million times, because it was a movie of the week once, so I saw the commercial about ten times that week, maybe more. I mean of course the idea is very simple: it's sort of a road trip of three brothers through India. Of course India is a place that is probably used million times in movies like this, but it's no surprise. I mean India is culturally very rich country, and the spiritual side there seems to be very strong. (Of course politically etc. India has many problems, but let's not go there.) I myself have wanted to go to India, ever since I saw The Real McCoy (A Finnish documentary on Andy McCoy), and a lot of time of the movie was spent in India. Anyway, I really liked the story. I think I have to watch it a second time at least, to truly get everything.

That being said this post here had some interesting takes on the symbolism of The Darjeeling Limited. I've never gone so deep into symbolism* especially if I haven't seen the movie more than once or twice. Then again there's no point in reading the symbolism thing, if you haven't seen The Darjeeling Limited, it would mostly just spoil something and not let you figure stuff out yourself. (Good for me to say since I didn't even try before I saw that post and then read it like, 'Yes, yes, I agree'.)

Music is also very well used in Wes Anderson's movies. I guess I haven't really talked about it the music in Moonrise Kingdom or The Grand Budapest Hotel, but music in those movies was a lot different compared to The Darjeeling Limited, even though the music in the two was pretty similar. Anyway, the music was wonderful in The Darjeeling Limited. It was a nice mixture of Indian music and "popular music". Even though not all the songs played were to my taste, they suited the movie very well, and that's the most important part. And some of those songs took a while - I had to think if this song really suited this scene, but then it just sort of did. Amazing.

If for one thing, I'm starting to like Wes Anderson more and more. He seems to be becoming one of my favourite directors. (Who are the others, I have no idea, apart from Tarantino, maybe). His movies, especially this one, seems to be proving how movies are not (only) for entertainment but also art. And as an art from, I think movies are my favourite. I mean they have all: the visual art, the music and the story. Amazing.

Do watch The Darjeeling Limited. Even if you wouldn't like it, it's something I think everyone should see. Then again everyone should see at least one movie directed by Wes Anderson.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

7 / 10

* Unless we think about my 21 page analysis on Filth, however I never got any confirmation to my interpretations, but then again I could never ask something like that from him, I mean a simple "This is very good work" was enough for me. But it would be amazing to start analysing movies more precisely here, but that would require much more work and I guess I'm not ready for something like that just yet. Maybe one day.

"I love you, but you don't know what you're talking about."

A young boy escapes the camp of khaki scouts to run away to an adventure with his crush.

That's maybe the shortest plot summary I've ever written.

I wanted the watch Moonrise Kingdom mostly because it's directed by Wes Anderson. I've only seen one movie from Anderson before, but that's one of my favourite movies. Which makes me want to tell you, if you haven't seen Grand Budapest Hotel, go watch it, immediately. I saw Grand Budapest Hotel few months from now, if I recall correctly but the day before yesterday I watched it again with my mother, and that's why I decided to watch Moonrise Kingdom.

First of all the best thing about these two movies by Wes Anderson is the fairytale -like aesthetic atmosphere, that is created by the wonderful use of colours. I've never seen anyone use colours so well before, even though colours are also close to perfection in many works of Bryan Fuller (especially TV shows Hannibal and Pushing Daisies). But colours in Wes Anderson's movies aren't close to perfection, they are perfection. Especially light and pastel colours are amazing, like the light pink colour of the Grand Budapest and also the greens and blues in Moonrise Kingdom.

Then the story of Moonrise Kingdom... Even though love story of two about from 10 to 13-year-olds (I'm really bad at figuring someone's age so I have no idea how old the characters were) is not actually very... Well I'd sort of be afraid that the writer would get it somehow wrong. And Moonrise Kingdom was written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, and both are old men, far from the age of the characters Sam and Suzy. I mean grown-ups writing a story like this, they could make the kids too innocent or not innocent enough. However, I think Moonrise Kingdom was quite successful on that part. The characters were kids and nothing more or nothing less. Of course few parts made them seem wiser than most adults in the story, but how is that bad? And it was wonderful how the romance between the two wasn't at all belittled. I mean it could be too easy to give the idea that "Well the characters are kids, what to they know, they might fall out of love with each other, because they are kids and they don't yet know everything life has to offer", etcetera. I admit, I usually am guilty of such cynicism, but I'm glad this movie didn't try to ruin the wonders of Sam and Suzy's romance. And also it wasn't made too sexual, only how kids would actually do that. 

The casting was again amazing. I mean all the children were chosen very well and Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward were perfect for their part. And I love how some more famous actors were also chosen there, like Bruce Willis and Edward Norton. (Also how come it's always Wes Anderson's movies that remind me how much I like Edward Norton? I mean he was wonderful in Grand Budapest Hotel and here his character was probably my favourite.)

Maybe Moonrise Kingdom wasn't as good as Grand Budapest Hotel, But then again Grand Budapest Hotel was the sort of masterpiece I wasn't expecting Moonrise Kingdom to be as good. But it's still worth of seeing at least once.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day."

Ted Crawford shot his wife, so the case seems like a really easy one for Willy Beachum, an attorney who is about to get a promotion. But even when the whole situation should be clear and simple, there is no evidence, and everything seems to go wrong for Beachum, but well for Crawford.

I just accidentally started watching this movie last night. It was on TV and I just sort of stayed on the sofa and watched through it. Well yes, I was tired when I watched it, but I think my opinion is still valid. Not that anyone said otherwise, it's just that usually I should write the review immediately when the movie is still fresh on my mind, but last night I had already switched off my computer, so I went straight to bed after the movie. Anyway, I think I have something, even though this review might be surprisingly short.

Even though I wouldn't call Fracture the best or even one of the best of thrillers, it was very good. It kept you on your seat (Well I was too tired to move but anyway) when you started understanding what was going on. It was really thrilling, and the whole murder case was really... well I've watched a lot of Boston Legal (which is a comedy and probably not the best thing to compare to Fracture, but I'm usually not watching anything with law stuff, I don't know the correct term) but I had never seen a case like this one anywhere. I mean in the murder... We all know he did it. It was shown to the audience, there was no question of if he did it or not. The question is how the fuck did he get rid of evidence. And to be honest, I sometimes had to even question if Crawford had actually done it. Pretty weird feeling to get, when you've seen it, but you still have to doubt it.

I've never seen Ryan Gosling in a movie. I mean I knew he is a liked actor, and I can see why. He is charming and good at what he does, and of course his good looks are a plus. I've mostly been listening to his music, so he's one of those people who is good looking and good at many things, which is sometimes really annoying. I think I might like Ryan Gosling. I don't know. And of course sir Anthony Hopkins was just as brilliant as he always has been. And I loved the two working together - the characters had great chemistry. And of course sir Anthony Hopkins is always amazing as dangerously intelligent murderer, no matter if the character kills ones or many times.

I recommend Fracture. It's thrilling, but not the kind of thrilling that makes you stay awake the night. And I loved how open the ending was, even though we all know what's going to happen. Not the best movie I've seen, and probably not going to be my favourite, but still good. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

7 / 10