"Can you fix it?" "Yeah, as soon as I learn how to walk on water, I'll get right on it, Dad."

(my goal is to finish this review before it's May)

Well I watched Pretty in Pink and I thought Tuff Turf would be something like that - a silly 80's high school movie. I was so wrong. A gang of youngsters is robbing an innocent bystander while an unknown biker attacks them. Next day at school the gang sees Morgan Hiller - a new student, and recognises him to be the biker. A not so subtle battle between the gang and Morgan starts, and gets even bigger when Morgan lays his eyes on the gang's leader girlfriend, Frankie.

Explaining the plot as shortly as possible is my least favourite part. I never make them sound as good as they really are.

But yeah, I didn't watch this movie hoping it would be something as silly as Pretty in Pink. That movie was so bad I didn't even do a review of it. No, I hoped that Tuff Turf would be more of my scene. And it definitely was. It is a high school movie alright, but not at all silly. I mean come on, in how many high school movies does somebody get brutally beaten up, find dead rats in their lockers or anyway have to fear for their life? Well, at least not in very many. But when we look at my movie taste, it's pretty obvious that 80's high school movies don't tickle my fancy until there's a lot of violence involved. *

One of my favourite things about Tuff Turf is the soundtrack. It's so marvellously... 80's. And it's mostly good songs. Jim Carroll performs three songs altogether. I really like 'Voices' and 'It's Too Late'. Both are really nice 80's punk, which is one of the best decades for punk, 70's being other good decade. The only song that seemed kind of weird was a version of "Twist and Shout". I love that song, but I don't know, I hadn't heard J.R. & The Z-man's version of that song before, and it just sounded... wrong. But my favourite song of the whole soundtrack is Love Hates, performed by Marianne Faithful. It's playing through most of the movie, and it has a really dark and almost desperate tone. It gave some thrill to the movie even though nothing was happening.

I'd really love to write as much as I wanted, but that would be mostly admiring small little wonders of this movie. To be honest, I tried to search this movie in Manchester, but the staff in the store hadn't even heard of Tuff Turf, and I had to spell the name out for them. But yeah, they didn't have it, so I had to use different sources to see it. But if I see it somewhere, I'm so going to buy it.

I don't know if the acting is so good in this movie. I mean it's 80's acting. I don't think 80's movies are very known for their good acting. But I think at least James Spader did a very good job. And also a certain "Robert Downey". Jesus, it felt weird not seeing "Jr." added to his name in the credits. But Robert Downey Jr. was somehow very sweet in this movie. And it's weird - he looks different but his voice is the same. James Spader also sounds the same, but he also looks the same, so I don't know. But there's a different between these too actors: Downey Jr. looks so much better now, he looked too much like some kind of... I don't know if there's a word for it in English, but in Finnish we use the word "kiiltokuvapoika", and that's exactly what RDJ looked like when he was younger. However, James Spader was very pretty when younger. I don't know when he transformed from pretty to handsome. 

Anyway I have 6 minutes before it's May and I'm pretty sure that now my review is done. 

☆☆☆☆☆

5 / 10

(Note: The rating of the movie was edited on 21st of Febuary 2015 due to thinking more about the movie)

* (Though I'm being quite hopeful with a third 80's movie about teenagers, The New Kids. Though that has more interesting looking genres ((Drama, horror, thriller)). This sounds like my scene. We'll see tomorrow.)

"What's the boy word for 'slut'?" "They still haven't come up with one yet. But I'm sure they're working on it."

Will Hayes' daughter Maya asks Will to tell her the story of how Will met her mother. Reluctantly Will starts telling the story, changing all the names, and suddenly there is three different possibilities for Maya's mother. 

Definitely, Maybe was... well, it was funny. It had a lot of funny moments, and also really not-funny moments, which kind of... doesn't make the movie just "romantic comedy" but a drama as well, but I still don't think there's enough material for a drama, so I'm not tagging the movie as that. 

Basically the idea of the movie sounds very much like the idea of How I Met Your Mother, you know. In the TV show Ted tells very, very, very long story about how he met his children's mother, and the story lasts for 9 seasons / years. Well, Will Hayes doesn't tell the story that long, and when you watch the movie, it's quite different from How I Met Your Mother. I mean that story was mostly about Ted and his friends hanging out and doing crazy stuff in New York. Definitely, Maybe, well... It seems like Will Hayes doesn't have that many friends, and his love life is even bigger mess and all. 

Idea similar to HIMYM was one of the reasons why I watched the movie. Other reason was Ryan Reynolds and Rachel Weisz.

Anyway, after seeing the movie I can realise how I have room for three romantic movies in my life. If we look at romantic comedies, I only like Kate And Leopold. I don't even know why I don't like anything else. Then there is The Fountain, and I don't know if you could call that a romantic movie. It's a very fine drama movie, and it mostly revolves around love. But I can watch The Fountain once a year, because it's a very sad movie. And then of course, there is Secretary. I have no idea to which category that drops into. Romantic comedy or drama? Well mostly it's a story about sexual self-discovery, and I mostly watch it because James Spader, but still. When I have those three, it's very annoying to watch others that are not as... well I don't even know if Kate and Leopold is good, but I like watching it.

I didn't plan on to even write a review of this, because I don't have anything to say. But previously this week I claimed that I make an entry about three times a week. Now I realised that I don't do that, and I felt bad about it, so I made this review, which is one of the lamest I've done. 

☆☆☆☆☆

5 / 10

"I was cleaning the chimney." "We have no chimney." "Whaaat?"

Mostly unknown worker at the Oscorp, Max Dillon, has an accident, and is turned into a creature that controls and is powered by electricity. He used to be a fan of Spider-man, but afterwards feels like Spider-Man has betrayed him. Also, Harry Osborn comes back to town after his father, Norman Osborn, dies from a genetic disease. Harry Osborn thinks that only thing that can save him is blood from someone, who has regenerative abilities - Spider-man. Meanwhile Peter Parker is struggling with personal problems after a promise he gave to Gwen Stacy's father.

The plot seems like any Superhero plot. It's not very good, doesn't stand out, but it's not extremely bad either. But somehow Parker's relationship problems with Gwen Stacy isn't as repulsive as Parker's relationship problems in the three Spider-man movies. I don't know if it has something to do with Parker being very young, and acts his age. Peter Parker in Spider-man -movies seems to be older, but still somehow acts like he was still sixteen. Somehow Andrew Garfield makes those relationship problems less nauseating compared to Tobey Maguire, even though he also is a good actor. I blame the writing.

I really liked how they brought Harry Osborn into the plot - finally. I really like the character, I'm not even sure why. Probably because his fortune in the Spider-Man 3 (That movie is so bad, it was probably written by a 12-year-old) was... Well, it was something I wasn't hoping for. Dane DeHaan was a very good choice for Harry Osborn, and I think I like him better than James Franco, even though I like Franco very much. DeHaan just is somehow closer to Harry Osborn and how I see him. What was unfortunate about TASM2 was how quickly Norman Osborn died. He seriously didn't do almost anything during the movie, and I was used to Willem DeFoe being in every movie even after his character died. 

Jamie Foxx - you might know him from Tarantino's Django Unchained - was magnificent as Electro. His character was pretty interesting. At first he's like a nobody, no one even notices him, and when Spider-man says that Max Dillon is important, the character like... well, it sort of changes him. Of course he still is pretty lonely, but he has some hope. And then the accident happened, and he got a lot of attention, of course, but most of that was unfortunately negative. It was almost painful to see him saying "Stop, it isn't my fault", and all. I liked the special effects of the electricity he used. The bolts were nicely pink and purple and not just the lame electric blue we see all the time, so it gets a bit boring. Also the music used during Electro was nice - well used dubstep in movies is one of my favourite form of movie music.

 J Jonah Jameson was mentioned in the movies, but wasn't shown. Parker sent him photos of Spider-Man via e-mail, that's that. There are two conclusions I came to: 1) The movie is so modern that probably JJJ and Parker won't ever meet. 2) J. K. Simmons did so marvellous job last time that no one wants to replace him. I mean he was the voice of J Jonah Jameson in the Ultimate Spider-Man animation series.

After the credits there isn't a clip about Amazing Spider-man franchise - apparently. I only sat through the halfway through them, so I saw a teaser for my favourite Superhero franchise: Days Of Future Past will be in theaters in May, and that's the next time I will probably go to cinema.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10

"Kids gone for more than a week... have half as good a chance of being found. And half for a month, almost none are found alive."

During Thanksgiving two girls disappear. The police is doing their best to find them, and when the man most suspected walks free, father of one of those girls decides to take the justice in his own hands.

Of course that's just a simple explanation of the plot of Prisoners, which was an Oscar nominee. Didn't win, but in my opinion was the best one of those who were nominated. But then again, who am I to say, right? I'm not part of the academy, I have no say. Also I haven't seen rest of the nominees. Oops. 

Anyway, I love dramas that are so dark they basically become thrillers. One example of these is Jagten aka The Hunt, which was also nominated, but for a ... foreign film? I really don't know the right terms - probably why I wouldn't be accepted as part of the academy. Anyway, Prisoners is a dark drama. It's so dark that it's not basically a thriller anymore, it is a thriller. And it's a one damn good thriller. It's not really scary, but it' really agonizing, which I think is the best quality of a good thriller. Scary is ... you know, a bit more like a horror movie that makes you stay up all night. Agonizing movie is really painful and you can't really relax while watching it. It may haunt in your thoughts for a while, but it really doesn't get you scarred for life.

Prisoners is definitely going to, if I may use my own words again, "haunt in my thoughts for a while". I mean, it's really something that has been always bothering me, you know. Someone disappearing is definitely more scary idea compared to someone being randomly murdered. Because if they are kidnapped, you have no idea how brutally they can be handled. And this is why Prisoners felt so agonizing. When the girls are nowhere to be found, the worst possible possibilities run through my mind. I don't know which is worse: if they are found dead, or if the kidnapper had something else in mind.

It doesn't take long to realise that the end of the movie isn't going to be a happy one. Imagine the happiest possible ending: kids are found and that's that, everyone is happy. But if a movie is nominated for an oscar, if it is as dark as it is almost from the second it begins... you can't see a happy ending. You can't see that coming. And to be honest... I was kinda proven wrong. Not really, not completely wrong, but a little wrong. 

And the acting in this movie is amazing. Jake Gyllenhaal as Detective Loki isn't as clichéd as I thought it'd be. I mean I expected a loner cop who does everything as well as he can but, you know, sucks at social activities and shit. Maybe he's a bit like that, but there was definitely something there that made him more like a human character than "a loner cop". And Hugh Jackman was as brilliant as always, more brilliant than I actually expected. I was close to tears more than twice. You can really feel the pain his characters feel.

Prisoners is an amazing movie, and I recommend everyone to watch it. It's so agonizing that it's almost lovely.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10

"Good call on the cake. I owe you one."

I remember visiting at my grandma's. I slept in the attic, and in the middle of the night I started watching TV because I was bored. I remember The Twins Effect / Vampire Effect being on, and I thought I'd watch it as long as I dared. I was pretty timid those days and I thought that if the movie would be even a bit scary I would stop watching it. Well, I watched it all through, and thus I saw my favourite Chinese movie. 

European Vampire called Duke is trying to get blood from all the royal vampires to open the book called Day For Night to acquire strong powers. Ace vampire hunter Reeve loses his partner, and gets a new one, Gypsy, while Reeve's sister Helen falls in love with Kazaf, who is one of the royal vampires.

The Twins Effect is full of action, which may annoy some of the viewers. What I like about the action is that it's very easy on the eye. It's not confusing and you don't usually have to follow too many things at one. Also, the action is not the type that's in Hollywood movies - mostly gunfire and stuff like that. The action is mostly martial arts, and it's very beautiful to watch. I especially love the sort of useless fight scene between Gypsy and Helen, as well as Helen and Jackie fighting two vampires. It's especially nice to see Jackie - portrayed by who else than Jackie Chan, but who apparently doesn't play himself even though they share the name - fight is nice. I mean Jackie Chan is martial artist, and - apparently - does his own stunts. And well, he really is good. I should watch more movies with Chan in them, just for the sake of seeing him do martial arts, I mean seriously.

Also it's kinda sad how Hollywood movies fail to do what Chinese can do. Or at least Chinese cinema does it better - portraying female characters. Both Helen and Gypsy are amazing characters. I mean, Helen is kinda moody every once in a while, a little petty, very girly and a romantic. Also Gypsy is a romantic, maybe little more boyish than Helen, sometimes really silly. But still, both characters are amazing fighters and courageous. Usually if Hollywood movies have fighter female characters, they are somehow very tomboyish, or incredible sexy. Very few characters are fighters and still like actual human beings. By that I mean not strictly boyish or sexy characters. Of course Hollywood does this sometimes right, but unfortunately often not.

Apparently there are differences between American and Asian releases. I'm pretty sure I have the American release, few scenes I saw in TV have been cut. But then again someone said that some of the scenes cut contained important plot point. I haven't noticed some of those missing, but I can't be sure. I really remember like... one scene missing. And some differences between the translations.

Maybe The Twins Effect isn't the best movie made, but it's worth watching. So if you get your hands on it, I really recommend seeing it. Asian movies are incredibly good.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10

"The human whose name is written in this note shall die."

On this blog I've made it really clear that I love movies and books that sort of force you to think about philosophical or ethical issues. So it's not a surprise that I'm very fond of Death Note - manga and the live action movies. I haven't watched the anime yet, because I've only found dubbed stuff, and I'm not interested in listening to Light or L speak in English.

I'm pretty sure most of people are somehow familiar with the general idea of Death Note, but I'll explain it as quickly as I can. Light Yagami accidentally finds a notebook, which says that if you write someone's name on the notebook they die. Light starts using the notebook to kill criminals under the name of Kira, to create a new world without crime. While he gets a lot of followers, not everyone is happy with the fact that someone has the power to kill people just like that. One of the world's best detectives, mysterious L, starts to investigate the case, and his goal is to capture Kira.

And of course it's not that simple. But the best thing about Death Note is that it's not filled with action or violence. It's mostly a mind game between two great minds. 

I've seen both live action movies previously, and I've even written a review of them. However, I don't have the energy to start looking for the original reviews. I don't even know if I did reviews of them individually or both movies at the same time. Because right now I'm doing reviews of them both using only this one post.

I think the actors chosen are absolutely perfect for the roles. I only have doubts with Erika Toda as Misa Amane. I love the character, but I'm not sure if Toda was a right choice for Misa. And where most actors actually looked like their characters, Toda doesn't look like Misa Amane. And furthermore, Misa is blonde in the manga, but in the movie she was brunette. That was most likely Erika Toda's natural hair colour. I'm not sure if Nana Kitade does acting, but I think she would've looked more like Misa.

I don't really know whose side am I on when I read or watch Death Note. Partly I think Light is doing the right thing, you know. I mean he could do much worse with Death Note, but he chooses to eliminate criminals. But sometimes I think he goes over the top with everything. And you just know when he does things too fast, and thus screws so much shit up. But I don't think I would be doing what Light is, if I had Death Note to myself. To be honest, I wouldn't know what to do. If I found one lying around, I would definitely keep it, be it's owner, waiting for it to become handy or something. That sounds horrible, but the point is, maybe I wouldn't even use it. Maybe I would just keep it - maybe by doing that I'd keep it away from other people, who would do much worse things with it.

I don't even know, if Light is a very likeable character. L is way more likeable. And well, L has a lot more fangirls in the fandom compared to Light. I don't know what makes L so likeable. It's probably his quirky and adorable behaviour. I don't know. 

I wish I'd ponder more about ethical philosophy behind Death Note than talk about Erika Toda's hair or how cute L is considered to be. But I guess the moral behind the story is... that human beings shouldn't play god. (Actually I thought about using that same moral in the story I'm doing for Camp NaNoWriMo.)

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10

"Who writes your dialogue? Superman? -- You know what? You need a good ghost writer. Somebody with talent."

I don't know if I just used some fan made poster, but I though that was actually very nice. 

Defendor is about Arthur Poppington, who is a bit... slow, and he escapes to a character he has created  - a superhero called Defendor. When he almost accidentally rescues a prostitute, who tells him about a person Arthur calls "Captain Industry", he finally has found a way to avenge his mother's death.

I've always enjoyed this kind of superhero arch. I mean, a person who enjoys superheroes so much they want to become one. So these people don't have any powers, but they still do what they think is right. Another example of this is Kick-Ass. What's the most brilliant thing about these arches is that they are a lot closer to reality compared to other "realistic" superheroes. Defendor and Kick-Ass show that a normal individual could do extraordinary things to protect the city and people BUT they'd probably get killed while doing so. Or if not killed, they'd get theirselves very beaten up.

Defendor was weirdly sad. I mean most of the time the movie wasn't sad, but it made you feel that way. I guess it's because of Arthur's character. Woody Harrelson did a marvellous job portraying the character. I mean I've seen Harrelson play mostly bad ass characters, but he also was very good as a bad ass who's a bit... slow. Really I hate using the word slow, it doesn't describe enough, but I don't know what else to use without sounding like an ableist. 

I don't know if I like this movie. It doesn't stand out very much. The story is great and everything, but I've seen better. I've seen a lot better, and I've seen worse. 

☆☆☆☆☆

5 / 10

"You could shake your knuckles at the sky. You could get mad and say I don't got nothing. You could get stuck."

This is the second time I write a review on a movie I've already written a review on. The older one can be read here, but of course I wouldn't read that. I wrote it during the time I wrote like 200 words when doing a review.Jesus Christ, did I even say anything then? And really, the whole review is just full of bullshit. I'm shaking my head while reading this, I swear to god.

Anyway, Hick is a story about 13-year-old Luli, who lives in Nebraska and one day, she just gets sick of all the things she has to deal with at home, she gets really fed up of all the shit she's living in. So, she just runs away, hitch-hikes, and her goal is to get to Las Vegas.

Usually when you watch a movie, it's not so effective the second time you watch it. But with Hick it was different. The movie and the story is really distressing, but I think it was even more distressing now that I watched it the second time. I think it's because I really know the truth, the first time it's more like guessing. This time I know what was truly happening, I knew more than Luli knew. And it's the same thing as with Silence Of The Lambs: You see Catherine Martin getting into the van and you want to yell at her, because you know better. Of course you don't yell. Or maybe you do, how do I know. But the point is, the character can't hear you, and you see them doing a tremendous mistake, and you feel awful because of it. And not the kind of mistake that is pretty comical and hilarious for the audience, but yeah - really distressing one.

But to be honest, the story of Hick is really brutal - and really distressing, I can't emphasize that enough, I think. And to think it's sort of based on a true story. And by sort of I mean it's based on a novel that is a bit based on the experiences of the author. So you have to ask yourself, what has happened to the author, since of course, the story might be coloured a bit. But then again, what didn't the author want to tell? It's really hard trying to figure it out. Of course maybe the information is out there somewhere, but am I interested enough to search for it? No, I am not.

I remember that last time I liked Eddie's character, but this time I was just like "no, no, no, no, you fucking nutjob psycho!" I still liked Glenda, though. She's a great character, really, and has more than one side. Of course Luli's character is great.  None of these characters are close to perfect, but that's the way I like them. I mean what's the point of watching a movie with perfect characters doing everything right? What would be the fucking plot.

Anyway, last time I gave this nine stars. This time it kinda dropped, but still pretty good score, I think.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10

"I'm not a gangster. I'm a businessman whose commodity happens to be cocaine."

Layer Cake is about the drug business. A successful  cocaine dealer has a plan to earn money and then retire early. But then he gets two assignments from his boss - to find a daughter of his boss' old friend, and to find a buyer to 1,000,000 pills of ecstasy. And these two assignments drag him to shit. 

I watched this movie because I saw it in the library. I borrowed it, but never watched. Now I got the chance to watch it again, and I did. I was surprised to see it was directed by Matthew Vaughn. I like his work, he has directed Kick-Ass and X-Men First Class. He's good. And you could see his hand on Layer Cake too. Basically he doesn't stand out that much, but his movies are very good, and they have something special in them. I mean well, at least Layer Cake and Kick-Ass, I'm not so sure about XM:FC. 

I don't like Daniel Craig very much, at least I didn't like him as James Bond. That could've been because of I hate Bond's character. But I very much liked him in this movie. So I guess he can be better than I thought. I don't know, I should watch something else with him in it, so I could be sure. I'm just... trying not to watch so many movies just because certain actors are in them. I mean come on, that's often not very rewarding. One other thing I'd like to say about Craig is that he's a hot piece of ass. There were other actors I like in the movie, but maybe not in so big parts: Tom Hardy, Dexter Fletcher... Hell, George Harris was in that movie, though I had to go almost through the whole before I realised that he was in Order Of The Phoenix.

There's one thing about Layer Cake that was kinda weird. And it's not even that we never heard main character's name. I mean that's great. I mean narrator's name in Fight Club is never revealed but that's okay, it's not necessary info. Not always But what was weird is that I could not realise when the movie happened. Like there were small hints - it was after that, probably before that, but nothing more. Also, at the... well, not end but closer to the end than the beginning, it got pretty confusing. I couldn't keep track on characters or what they were doing etcetera.

Layer Cake was good, but I don't know... Maybe it didn't really stand out. It's worth watching, but maybe not for second time. I mean in the end there was a thing (trying not to spoil so) similar to the end of Looper, which made me love the movie. But in Layer Cake it was quick, it was just like that. So it didn't really make impression like in Looper. Of course it was sudden and like woah, didn't see that coming, but the audience doesn't have enough time to deal with it.

☆☆☆☆☆
5 / 10

" I hate flying. The lines. The crowds. The delays..." "I always kinda liked it. Six hours. One seat. Nobody can get to you."

I'm finally back in Finland, and I can do a review on a movie I saw a week ago. 

I went to see Non-Stop before going to London, because I wanted to see something. I don't know if it was the best choice.

Non-Stop takes place during a transatlantic flight. U.S. Air Marshall Bill Marks gets a text message from one of the passengers. The message says, if they don't get $150 million to an account mentioned, they will kill a passenger every 20 minutes. So, a game starts, and everyone on board is a suspect, even Marks himself.

So yeah, so why would this be a wrong choice to watch? Well, they flew to London. And yeah, I was flying to London the next day, so, you know. It got me a bit nervous. Of course I knew nothing like the movie was going to happen, but it was way too suitable for my situation, so. But that's the only reason for why it would've been a wrong choice for me. I really liked the movie. I like movies that take place in an aeroplane. It's great. It's more agonizing than any other setting, because it's so small. There's enough room to move around and so on, but still, you really can't get away. The characters are stuck there.

Anyway, Non-Stop was brilliantly written and acted. Liam Neeson was especially good, and so was Julianne Moore, who I love so much. I didn't even know she was going to be in the movie but it was a pleasant surprise.

I wish I could really know what more to write, but I saw this a week ago. It's not like I watched any movies in London but still. So much stuff has happened between watching and the review. Anyway.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10