10 Favourite Movies in Alphabetical Order

I did one of these posts years ago, with 21 movies, and it has been one of the most viewed posts I've ever made. So I thought, now that my taste has changed and evolved and all those things, I might do another one. I planned doing one before, I just couldn't get 21 movies. I have no idea why it was so hard, but after like seven movies I thought that nothing was good enough. Now I found ten movies, though that was hard too.  If I regret anything on this list, it's that there isn't enough women in these. Nobody makes movies about women, not enough at least, and that's affecting my list quite a bit. 

I won't explain the stories here, I don't think I have to. If you take an interest in any of these, there is iMDB. I'm only telling what I think, or otherwise it would take me days to finish this, and then it would be way too long. 

So now, ten very good movies. Maybe being my favourite has nothing to do with rating, maybe it does. You will see.

1. Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)

Some of you might wonder, how can I say Birdman is one of my favourites, if I only saw it two days ago. Well I just know. Birdman was an amazing and stunning movie. The story was great and shocking, even. The filming was amazing and something I had never seen before, and the soundtrack was also very, very good and something new. Birdman just was something very different with it's dialogue which was very real. And the filming made it seem like something more than a movie, it was clearly and simply just Riggan's life, and we saw it with the eyes of the cameraman, we were intruding. There's nothing I don't like about Birdman, I will fight you on this.

10 / 10

2. Death To Smoochy

Death To Smoochy is, well, it's not the most serious movie of the ones I have on this list.  It's directed by Danny DeVito and it's about two kids' show hosts. I guess that tells enough. But there's something very entertaining about Death To Smoochy, and it's a wonderful satire about show business. I love it because of how half of it's is colourful and cheerful, like a kids' show, and the rest is dark like some gangster movie. It has amazing actors, and I made my new year's resolution after this movie. Also it showed me how brilliant Edward Norton's facial expressions can be - usually he doesn't look that extravagant in drama. But seriously Death To Smoochy is very good if you need something fun and cheerful but then again don't want to feel nauseated by something too sweet.

9 / 10

3. Fight Club

Fight Club is something that changed my life when I was 15 and read the book. It was so real and so brutal. I watched the movie when I was 18, and at first I felt like it wasn't at all as good as the novel. Then I saw the movie again and, yes, it was as good. Fight Club is visually something amazing, and I truly love how it looks. It has great actors, even though I usually don't like Brad Pitt, but I do like him in this one. The special effects in this movie are also brilliant, and the directing is magnificent - but do these things even matter? Fight Club's writing is something so amazing that even though they would've actually made the movie crappy, and not just made it look like that, it would've still be very good because of the story. Fight Club is a cult classic, and it needs to be seen. 

10 / 10

4. Filth

I've seen Birdman once, Fight Club twice and Death to Smoochy three times, but Filth... I've seen it so many times I've lost count. I really like the story, and Filth actually made me like Irvine Welsh, and that of course led to Trainspotting and all those other things written by him. Filth is so great, I actually made 21 page analysis on it, when we only needed to do 5-10. Yeah, I guess I was just a tiny bit excited about it. Filth is also very brutal, and it's hard to tell a genre to the movie, because it's sort many genres, but not enough of any of those. But Filth is so brutal it's not for everyone, it's very distressing, even though it's hilarious. I guess that partly that's what makes it so good.

10 / 10

5. Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted was one of those movies that's been quoted all around the Internet and there are so many GIFs made of it, etcetera. So I finally decided to watch it, and when I did it had been a really long day, and, well, Girl, Interrupted is very dark movie, which is kind of why it might have been a wrong choice during a long hard day. But I watched it and it was amazing. I liked the story, and I think I kind of like sad and dark stories like Girl, Interrupted - not that it's that sad, it's just... yeah. The acting was amazing and I truly love Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. They are both so amazing. And the story was amazing, I think I need to read the novel.

10 / 10

6. Heathers

Heathers, too, is one of those movies  that has been quoted very much online, and that's why I took an interest. Heathers was actually very interesting, and the story was something I had never read or seen before. Heathers also was very distressing. It had great costume department, and the writing was just so amazing. I heard there's a musical based on Heathers. I don't plan on watching it, I think the movie was good enough as it was.

8 / 10

7. Leaves Of Grass

When ever there are twins in a movie, they either are exactly alike, or completely different. In Leaves Of Grass, they were different, and it seemed almost unreal, since Edward Norton played the both. It was actually hard to even grab the concept, that they both were Norton. I kept seeing the other brother as Sam Rockwell, and I have no idea why,  that idea just kept coming to my head. The story of Leaves Of Grass was interesting, and it has largely influenced my current story (along with Survivor written by Chuck Palahniuk). Leaves Of Grass was very good and unpredictable.

7 / 10

8.  Primal Fear

I usually don't like movies about trials, because they usually go the same way, the main character lawyer man wins the trial, but it usually comes with a twist. I don't know if the writers think that twist makes the movie any different from others, because that twist is what's made the type so clichéd. And, well, Primal Fear seemed like that too, but the twist was much more complicated and came in several parts, and I felt so cheated when the movie ended. If you want your mind fucked, Primal Fear is perfect for that. Otherwise it's just a decent movie, but oh hell...

9 / 10 

9. The Silence Of The Lambs

I still remember the first time I saw The Silence Of The Lambs. It was so brilliant and exciting and I think I threw up afterwards, but I don't know if that had anything to do with the movie. But The Silence Of The Lambs is something everyone (who isn't too scared) should see. Anthony Hopkins as Dr Hannibal Lecter is one of the two fictional characters I'm actually scared of (The other one is in Primal Fear but that's much more complicated). The Silence Of The Lambs is a brilliant movie with wonderful lead actress and main character. Clarice Starling is hundred times better than any male character would be in her shoes. Clarice Starling is my heroine. 

10 / 10

10. The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest is a wonderful comedy, and I had to argue about this once. Just because The Grand Budapest doesn't make you piss your pants from laughing so much, it still is a comedy, but much more subtle. Anyway, visually The Grand Budapest Hotel is the most amazing I've ever seen. The colours are wonderful. The story might get boring after some time, but since it's funny and visually so amazing, I think it will continue to be one of my favourites for a long time. The movie has wonderful actors, wonderful cinematography and music. Everything just clicks.

10 / 10.

So there they are now, ten of my favourites. Last time I had so many action and superhero stuff there, and now it's dramas and comedies and few thrillers. I hope some people will find something good to watch with my list.

Thank you.

"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker."

A reformed poker player has to go back to playing big stakes to help his friend with his big debts. 

At first I actually thought that Rounders would be silly and maybe naive and I don't know, somehow romanticising the glamour of Vegas. But I was wrong, it wasn't romanticising anything. It wasn't glamorous, and it didn't even take place in Vegas. 

It would be way easier to watch movies like Rounders and Casino Royale, if I knew anything about card games, but I don't. I only know how to play Hearts and Black Jack (or a game like blackjack, but the cards you get aren't hidden), and I don't think I'm very good at either of those, to be honest I keep losing at Hearts when I play against computer, and I think I beat my dad once at Black Jack. I once had Texas Hold 'Em on my phone, but I didn't get the hang of that. And this is why, when in movies someone's hand is revealed, I have no idea if it's good or bad, I can only guess from the reactions of everyone. And I have no idea how well someone won and whatever. I don't know. But still it's interesting to watch a movie where card games are played. It's interesting, and, well, you learn a lot - except how to actually play. I know how you need to pay more attention to the opponents than their possible hand. I don't know, all these movies make me kinda want to play cards.

The atmosphere and colours in Rounders actually reminded me a bit of Fight Club, which was made year later. Rounders however  wasn't such a visual experience as Fight Club, but the colours were well used. 

The story wasn't that good. It's used a lot, how the characters need to get a certain amount of money to pay their debt and then they have to do something really desperate to get the money. It's used in various movies and various episodes of TV shows. Rounders didn't even have any special twists or turns to spice the story up a bit.

However, it was enjoyable to watch. It wasn't too boring, even if it wasn't that thrilling. You don't grow to like the characters, which sometimes is really refreshing, because you don't have to be nervous for them or whatever we usually feel for our favourite characters. Rounders wasn't great, but it was visually neat, and even though the story has been used over and over, the story isn't that bad. It wasn't ruined with, like, useless sub plots. It was alright.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6/10

"You're doing this because you're scared to death, like the rest of us, that you don't matter. And you know what? You're right. You don't."

Riggan Thomas is an actor known from his iconic role as the superhero called Birdman. He wants to be taking more seriously as an actor, which makes him do a play for the Broadway. During the events he struggles to restore his ego, family and, of course, his career. 

I've wanted to see Birdman Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance ever since I first heard about it. It had good actors in it, including Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton. I didn't even know so much about the plot until I started getting really, really excited about it. And then I found out my city's movie theatre isn't even going to show it, so I had to go to a bigger city to see it. And the premiere here in Finland was 16th of January, so... yeah, I didn't see it as early as I wanted to.

I had really high expectations about this movie. Like really high. And usually when I expect this much of something, the movie usually fails me a bit. Like with American Beauty - everyone said how wonderful it was and all that, and it was disappointing. Still sort of good, but disappointing. However, Birdman Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance lived up to those expectations.

First of all, the story. It felt like something quite usual with some extra spices when you quickly read the summary on iMDB or anywhere. And then I saw the trailer and everything, and it seemed like Birdman was going to be something really unusual. Maybe not the story and the themes, they are pretty regular, But I enjoyed the story and the writing. The dialogue was so real, but it didn't seem like the writer was trying too much to make the dialogue between characters natural. And of course the dialogue had that... thing that movie dialogue usually has, something that can't happen in real. For example, in real life you never could do one big monologue without anyone interrupting, apart from special occasions. But I don't think dialogue has to be exactly like in real life to be good. The text, the story under the dialogue has to work, the characters have to be good, and them the dialogue will be good.

The filming was also great. Mostly the movie was made with very long shots - and it seemed like it hadn't been edited at all, but that the camera was rolling the whole time and they just did the movie like that. Of course that's not how it happened, but the effect was great. Everything seemed so very, very smooth. The camera work was very excellent. It felt like it was mostly filmed by hand, and that the cameraman was also a character, that didn't say or do anything. They just were there during any moment of someone's life, and they were almost intruding, staring at intimate moments and all that. It was very interesting. I have a feeling Birdman could have a very good chance to win the "Best Cinematography" Award. What did I originally bet, The Grand Budapest Hotel? I have a feeling I'm betting on the two on almost every category.

Also the music was amazing. Mostly there were only the drums, which was actually weird and I actually didn't think that would work. But the drums, percussions, whatever, actually did suit to every scene they were in, and any emotion. It was surprising, but it's good to know that. When it weren't the drums, it was the sort of music you hear in some action and superhero movies. And that kind of string music was mainly used during the most dream-like parts of the movie. Both the percussion and the strings worked perfectly for their moments. 

I really, really, really liked Birdman. It had the sort of Slipstream feel to it, which is something I'm really starting to love in movies, ever since, well, Slipstream (directed by Sir Anthony Hopkins). And Birdman affected me very much, and I don't even know why. It made the audience laugh, it made the audience feel horrified and uneasy. And it made many of us think. Also one of the best things is that the movie doesn't have just one simple solution to it. Was Riggan just delusional? Was everything just a dream? Or maybe everything that happened was true just the way it was? I don't know, and I don't want to know. What I want to do is go read different kind of theories about the story. I did read one theory, and it seemed like a very good theory. I just need more, and I need to see the movie several more times.

If Birdman doesn't win Best Picture or Best Directing or Best Cinematography, then I guess I don't know as much about movies as I'd like to. (Or maybe the academy is just full of idiots, which seems more likely.)

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

10/10

"1,2,3,4, I won't take no anymore. 5,6,7,8 - I want you to be my mate. 1,2,3,4 - you're the one that I adore. 5,6,7,8 - don't run from me cause this is fate."

Megan doesn't like kissing her boyfriend and only has pictures of girls on her locker. That's why her parents draw the conclusion that Megan has to be a lesbian. She is sent to "sexual redirection" school, where young homosexuals are taught how to be straight. Megan has to make a choice between trying to be straight for her parents, or to live life as who she is.

I have only seen few GIFs of the movie, and I didn't even know the plot until I decided to watch the movie.

The movie was actually much better than I expected. I've had the idea that LGBTQIA -movies, especially ones about lesbians, always have a tragic ending. But this one was actually so positive and cute, and a wonderful satire. The atmosphere and music made the whole thing feel like a weird satiric fairy tale. Also the movie showed how idiotic it is to try "converting" homosexuals etc. to be "normal" straight people. However the film did not explore how abusive said conversion therapy can be, but that probably was because they still wanted this movie to be very light-hearted. And I think that was the right direction to go. Of course But I'm A Cheerleader  was partly very cheesy and so on, but in general it was very cute. I want to see more movies about lesbians, but movies like this, and not tragic movies where the lesbians either die or become straight. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6/10

"Remember those posters that said, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life"? Well, that's true of every day but one - the day you die."

A husband and a father, Lester Burnham is getting deeper and deeper into a depression, until he has a mid-life crisis after getting infatuated with his daughter's best friend.

I had heard about American Beauty for the first time a long, long time ago. I've probably been aware of it's existence since it came. Of course I wasn't really interested until I started liking drama. I've also have had it for a while, waiting to be watched. Why I chose it tonight, I have no idea.

First of all American Beauty made me feel a bit uneasy about older man liking a minor. just like Down In The Valley made me feel uneasy. However in American Beauty the age difference was much clearer, and it was sort of the point. That's why Lester Burnham kind of got his mid-life crisis and suddenly also grew a backbone. But still in movies like this the infatuation, was it mutual or not, is most of the time really, really creepy.

There was something weirdly similar in American Beauty to Fight Club. The biggest similarity was of course the scene where Lester Burnham quits his job, when he blackmails the boss and gets one year salary and benefits. It's very similar where The Narrator in Fight Club tries to get paid even though he wouldn't be actually working for the company anymore - and then he beats himself up and pretends his boss did that. And partly the philosophy that Fight Club has is also present in American Beauty. The difference is, that American Beauty isn't yelling it at the viewer's face. And of course it might be hard to see that in American Beauty if you're not familiar with Fight Club.

One thing I liked was how you can't really deduce how much time do the events take. It's said in the beginning though, about how long it's going to be until the Burnham dies, but still it's hard to say how much time has passed since that and that scene. But then again in the beginning Burnham narrates and says, "in less than a year". How much is less than a year? Seasons don't really change, not the way you could guess how much time has passed. And I really like this in a movie. It's better than knowing that exctly 1,4 days after, etcetera.

The acting was very good in this movie, so was directing and editing. The story however... it was well written, and had some parts that were really brilliant, and the writing made American Beauty very quotable movie. And well, it was decent. I was maybe waiting for something more, and I think the end was made too long, there was a moment where it could've ended, and then it would've been perfect. But I guess this is the problem with popular movies that are often thought as magnificent - you expect too much of them, and they don't live up to your expectations. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

7 / 10

"The world will break your heart ten ways to Sunday. That's guaranteed."

Pat get out of mental institution, and he plans that with positivism he may win back his wife, who had moved out and left him after his violent outburst which led to beating her lover unconscious. He tries to figure out a way to contact her, which is hard because of the restraining order, but then he meets Tiffany. With her help, Pat might get his letters to his wife, but of course Tiffany has something to ask for return.

Silver Linings Playbook seemed like a regular romantic drama comedy, and I mostly based that opinion on the fact that is was nominated for the Oscar. Usually if a movie is a comedy and it's nominated, it's pretty regular. Nominated dramas can usually be more complex - however they hardly are. But to be honest, I didn't know everything about the plot. I didn't know that Pat was in a mental institution. I only knew that Jennifer Lawrence's character Tiffany had some mental issues, but I had no idea Pat was in the same boat. Of course that made Silver Linings Playbook a bit more interesting, but of course mental health as a theme isn't exactly ground-breaking, but it adds a certain something, if it's well written.

So was it well written? Well, of course Silver Linings Playbook is nothing compared to Girl, Interrupted, which displays mental health much better. Then again mental health or mental issues weren't exactly the main theme or main point of Silver Linings Playbook, which was kind of annoying. I have no idea how the novel is, I haven't read it. Maybe the novel portrays and examines mental health more and better than the movie, or maybe the point wasn't to examine that. Maybe it was supposed to be a love story, that just happened to be between two mentally unstable people. Partly Silver Linings Playbook reminded me of Filth. Of course Pat is not at all like DS Bruce Robertson, but they both seemed to be obsessively determined to get their wives back. The difference is, that the other character knew when to give up. 

To be honest, I can't say I could call this movie a comedy. Once again I'm simply relying on the genres mentioned on iMDB. Partly the movie was the sort of "feel good" movie, it possibly may make the viewer happy. But I don't now if it'd a comedy. It wasn't exactly funny, it didn't make me laugh. Sure, partly it was light-hearted, so it wasn't 100 % serious drama, but there are many dramas that aren't completely serious, but they still aren't classified as comedies. The line has to be drawn somewhere though, like if a movie has a funny scene or it's partly light-hearted, it doesn't mean it's a comedy.

Jennifer Lawrence did a good job as Tiffany, and I'm not blaming it on her, that her character was basically a bit darker version of manic pixie dream girl. Bradley Cooper on the other hand wasn't as good, he seems to be similar in every role he does, he does everything the same way. Sometimes you can't even tell his smaller parts apart, because mostly he even plays characters that have little or no depth. Pat's character had some depth, but in a sort of cliché story it didn't make much difference.

Silver Linings Playbook may be a bit fresh movie, but it isn't really special. The story isn't ground-breaking or even really good, it was just decent. If I liked something, it was the editing. It was pretty cool, and I hope the editor is doing well and getting some really cool movies to edit. 

☆☆☆☆

4 / 10

Maybe I also should mention something about the Academy Award nominees of this year. I'm betting on The Grand Budapest Hotel or Birdman winning the best picture, Michael Keaton winning the best actor and Rosamund Pike winning the best actress. Also The Grand Budapest Hotel is also probably getting best cinematography, and Birdman best directing, and Interstellar best visual effects. 

And even though I'm betting on Rosamund Pike, I'm kind of hoping Julianne Moore would win best actress, and X-Men Days Of Future Past best visual effects. And of course I'm rooting for Edward Norton to win best supporting actor. 

However I'm not going to watch the gala. It represents so many things I'm against, and like a wise man once said, it's rich people giving prizes to other rich people. And of course the academy is incredibly sexist and racist (every actor / actress nominee this year is white, and rarely women are nominated for best directing etc.) I'll just check the winners the morning after, since I'll anyway be asleep during the gala.

"You're cheating on me, Max. Maybe not with another woman, but with diamond."

Jewel thieves have retired to an island, and everything seems like a paradise, until an old nemesis, FBI agent shows up, and is suspecting the thieves to steal another diamond.

That poster doesn't look at all like the movie was. After the Sunset was actually really cheerful movie with less action than you'd first think. I mostly became interested in this film because it's directed by Brett Ratner. He's also directed Red Dragon and X-Men: The Last Stand, the least liked movie in the X-Men Trilogy. Brett Ratner might not be as good as many other directors, but his works are decent and worth watching, especially Red Dragon, which is my second favourite movie of those featuring Hannibal Lecter. 

Definitely Ratner has done better job with Red Dragon and even X-Men than with After The Sunset. After The Sunset isn't actually as brilliant as many other movies like this one. One thing was surprising though: the surprise. They give such a big foreshadowing in the beginning, and the viewer might think that "this really gave the ending away now, didn't it". But the foreshadowing was actually a genius move, even though it usually is a cliché and makes the film too predictable. Because of the foreshadowing, there were so many times when you could think "this is it, this is what they were talking about". but since it happens so many times, you can't see the real plot twist before it's thrown into your face. So even though the movie isn't even averagely good.

And okay, I have to admit, this movie was also pretty funny. I laughed out loud several times. The humour isn't actually clever or anything, but it's created by funny or embarrassing situations, and the rest is something you'd find funny if your friends would say. Yeah. 

The music in the movie was brilliant though, and really suited  the surroundings. So if there was anything really, really good in this movie, it's the soundtrack. It's fun. Of course the actors and actresses were good. Pierce Brosnan was alright, this might be one of my favourite roles from Woody Harrelson, Naomie Harris was as lovely and badass as ever, and oh, Salma Hayek. I think I'm truly in love with Hayek, she's a beautiful woman and a talented actress. 

So, in short, After The Sunset isn't anything special or even good, apart from one plot twist, humour in small doses and excellent acting. The movie might be worth seeing one time, but one time only. After that it will probably turn into something really boring.

☆☆☆☆

4 / 10

"They say the sound part comes first. They say, when you experience a spiritual truth, that it comes to you as a sound that goes through you, changes your vibration, gets you back in the harmony."

A convicted arsonist looks to manipulate a parole officer into a plan to secure his parole by placing his beautiful wife in the lawman's path. 

- Anonymous

The poster there says "A Psychological Duel". However Stone was much more than a duel between the two men, and it was much more than the summary right there. Of course that wraps up the story and the events rather easily, but there was more than what can be expressed via a short plot summary. If someone asks you what movie is about, the easiest way is to explain what happens, right? But all things do not really happen, they are not events, they might be ideas and thoughts. In Stone one of the most important element was the development of the characters and the idea of god, and if there is any, and how the characters searched for god or for something. 

The first scene of the movie is very "disconnected" from the movie. And even though it happened so much earlier than anything else, it gave the audience something important. We learn a lot about people when they are under very much, when they are about to die or lose something. In the first scene the main character's (played by Robert De Niro when he was older) wife tells him she's going to leave him, because she can't take it anymore. The wife, Madylyn, says "You keep my soul in a dungeon." And then Jack rushes up to the second floor and holds their daughter on the edge of the window and says, if Madylyn leaves, he will drop their daughter. And this scene is what our interpretation and stance on Jack will be based on for the rest of the movie. No matter what he does, you will keep that first scene in mind, especially when he's with his wife. And that first scene was a brilliant move from the writer. And this shows that no matter what, your past will be there. You can maybe grow from it, learn from it, but it will be there. This actually can be seen as one of the themes in the movie.

I really don't feel like going into detail with Jack's development, since that seemed to change the least, except maybe compared to Jack's wife. But then there's the convicted arsonist, Stone, who wants to get out of prison and is ready to do almost anything for it. This means also sending his wife to Jack and all that. Stone was almost desperate for getting out, so desperate he started to learn about religion - since many people find religion in prison. And he read the bit that I have on the title of the post right there, about the sound. And even though he at first only tried to get out, spiritual ideas changed him. At first he's a man who wants to get out of prison, and then suddenly he doesn't think it's that important any more, it felt like he would be fine with whatever decision people would come up with. Also his sanity would be at question during many scenes, I think it was wonderfully portrayed.

If there was one thing especially amazing in this movie, apart from extremely well written screenplay, excellent actors and a lot of chances for analysing and interpretation, it was the music. It was simple, but a bit hauntingly disturbing, which suited perfectly with the picture the audience sees. Music and the photography / cinematography of this film made the Stone an absolute piece of art rather than just simple entertainment.

Of course Stone was a tough movie, and partly difficult. It's one of those who need a lot of interpretation and several times of viewing. If you want a simple movie night, Stone is a bad choice for that. However if you want something more, something you admit you might not understand all the way through, then it's a perfect choice. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
9 / 10 

"Walked up and down it looking for one open face, but most people I've meet hardly seem like human beings to me anymore."

The events of the story are set in motion, when a delusional man who believes he is a cowboy falls in love with a young girl he meets by accident.

The story was interesting, something that definitely stood out. Of course it's not addressed from the beginning that Harlan's delusional, it's brought to attention little by little. And the more you find out about what's going on inside Harlan's head, the more distressed it makes you. Especially when he at first seems harmless, and then suddenly you realise this might not be the case. It's also wonderful how the story goes on. Because it begins with Tobe, the girl, and the beginning is through her eyes, but after their first one night together, the story starts to involve Harlan's point of view more and more, until it becomes mostly Harlan's story. And basically Down In The Valley is Harlan's story, but less through his eyes and through first Tobe and then her little brother Lonnie. And it's wonderful how the writer, David Jacobson, realised how he can make a story about a character but still not make the story only from his point of view. This is something movies can do more than let's say novels. In novels that sort of change is confusing, unless it's subtle. Well the change was subtle Down In The Valley, which is sort of why you almost forget how it wasn't about Harlan from the beginning.

I love how the music, cinematography and many other little details made Down In The Valley seem weirdly like a modern-day western. Especially towards the end it's less clear when the story is taking place. That also is never addressed directly, but at the beginning you sort of figure out when it's taking place, but Harlan kind of shuffles the idea. The character really mixes the idea of modern world and the old, wild west. 

The delusion of being a cowboy was also made well. Harlan didn't really think he was in the wild west. He was aware of the time he was living in, but he longed for the wild west so much it made him delusional. 

One thing bothered me all through the movie. The young girl, Tobe, is apparetnly 17-year-old, if you can trust the people on iMDB message boards, Harlan's age is never said directly, but Norton was around 35 when the movie was shot. The age difference was never stated, and nobody actually even mentioned it. Of course Tobe's father wasn't at all pleased about Harlan, but he didn't either mention age being the problem, Maybe it was so obvious. Anyway, this is the subject I was reading about on the messaging boards on iMDB. To summarize what was discussed there, the age difference between Harlan and Tobe was important. It made it seem even more forbidden. And someone also mentioned how Tobe being young was something Harlan saw as innocence, which also reminded him of the old times which he longed for. 

Down In The Valley was surprisingly good film, I didn't expect to like it this much. The tempo is just right, the story is good and the actors are excellent at what they do. However it wasn't exactly surprising. The story was new and interesting, but there wasn't anything that would surprise the viewer. And plot twists and surprise is kind of important in cinema these days - plot twists are what we remember.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10

"We are the sin eaters. It means that we take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us, so that the rest of our case can stay pure. "

The Bourne Legacy takes place around the same time as the events of The Bourne Ultimatum. 

Aaron Cross, a new hero, experiences life-or-death stakes that have been triggered by previous events.

- Universal Pictures

Right now I'd like to state that I haven't seen The Bourne Ultimatum, or the two movies made before that. That's mostly because action movies are mostly tiring and repeating, and it's hard to find a really original action movie. In that genre everything is already done before, and the film makers are basically recycling two or three different kind of plots. I would've thought that I wouldn't have understood The Bourne Legacy at all, since it's more like a spin-off with new main character and all that. The plot, however, isn't too complicated, so even though a new viewer might feel a bit lost at the beginning, everything starts to make more or less sense eventually. Of course there are questions like, what are all the operations here, and all that. So yeah.

The plot wasn't exactly very rich. Still they made the movie two hours long. It could've been cut a lot shorter than that. There was such uselessly long car / motorcycle chase scene, that could've been half of the length. And many of the action scenes could've been shorter, and the point still would've been made. Eventually the question is, was the movie even necessary? Does this movie, in any way, make the other movies deeper? I mean the books probably give more depth to the story, but I read the movies are loosely based on the books. But I'm pretty sure the world of movies could survive without this one.

I like Jeremy Renner as an actor. He does good job most of the time. However it's kind of sad how often his put in action movies. I think I need to see him in some kind of drama or thriller to be sure how good he actually is. 

Sure, The Bourne Legacy is decent entertainment. Maybe I've just becoming more, I don't know what's the word that wouldn't offend anyone, mature with movies. I used to like action, but nowadays I see how a good drama or a thriller is always, always more complex and better than an action movie.

☆☆☆

3 / 10

"You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else."

I've written about this movie before and I will again.

An insomniac office worker goes to support groups to help him get sleep. Then he meets Tyler Durden, who changes his life when they start an underground fight club.

I read Fight Club when I was 14. It sounds bullshit, but it really has defined much of my life philosophy. There's something wonderfully nihilist and emptying in the novels of Chuck Palahniuk, and for a 14-year-old that was mind-blowing. And even if Chuck Palahniuk had a different message he tried to give the readers, there's wisdom in Fight Club even if you take most of the ideas without much interpretation. I'm not saying everything about the idea of Project Mayhem is glorious and should be done, but Fight Club could be one of the best examples if we think about nihilism in the modern literature or pop-culture.

It's funny how the first time I watched Fight Club I thought it was good. Then I read the book and I though the movie wasn't as good as I thought. Now I watched it again, and it is good. The ideas the book have are wonderfully put in the movie, and there isn't many big, important parts missing. Sure, not every line made it there, but nothing is twisted or warped because it's not exactly how the book is. Of course there's the ending, that's quite different, but the ending in the movie is quite open for interpretation, even though few things wouldn't make sense, if you think that the ending was like in the book, but not just as clearly. But the ending in the book is perfect, and probably it's that one thing that sticks with you if you read it. And at least in my mind I can somehow combine both endings in my head, and that right there is a perfect ending.

Of course Fight Club has a downside to it - reading / watching it for the first time is magical, when you realise what's going on. Of course the plot twist in Fight Club is one of the best known plot twist, so people might now it even if they haven't read the book or seen the film. So when you know it, watching or reading it isn't the same anymore. But it's not necessarily any worse, on the contrary. The second, the third, the fourth time you can see things the first time you didn't pay attention. Other characters reacting to the narrator doing something or saying something, because this time... you know, and you understand.

The cinematography in this movie is something brilliant. Partly the movie is like the house Tyler lives in: the quality, the effects... it feels like the movie could fall apart. The disc actually felt like it wasn't original, but a pirated copy, and the label was printed on a cheap printer. The comparison of hotel rooms and Tyler's apartment, everything in this movie just builds up the weird effect the movie has. Fight Club is very well made film, and everything seems precise and everything has a reason, even though that may seem sort of ironic.

Fight Club is a classic - or a cult classic - and everybody should see it at least twice. I'm not telling you to think about nihilism when you watch it, I'm just asking you to watch it and experience something so brilliant...

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

10 / 10

"Everything you have seen here has been an illusion."

A illusionist Eisenheim arrives to Vienna, and meets his first love. Because of this love, and his magic he gets a dangerous enemy: The Crown Prince Leopold, who has the police in his pocket, and wants them to arrest Eisenheim whenever they get the chance.

Movies about magicians always have that weird effect. You watch it, and you want to know how the tricks are done. Partially you know, that the tricks are made by using special effects. But of course the story needs to have some sort of explanation to the tricks and illusions, and that that explanation or answer is what the viewer craves for. Another good example of this is The Prestige. The Prestige keeps the viewer wondering how the tricks are done. The difference between The Prestige and The Illusionist is that The Prestige tells you what is behind the tricks. The Illusionist explains two tricks, and other one is only shown briefly in the book, and other one is explained simply by fast shots of previous events and the things we didn't yet see. 

First it felt like the sort of love triangle between Eisenheim, Leopold and the Duchess was unnecessary, like love triangles usually are. This time that wasn't the case though. The love triangle and events produced by that love triangle were necessary for the plot. If there wasn't a love triangle, the story would be different. Most of the plot twists are relying on the cruel nature of Leopold and his response to the romance between the Duchess and Eisenheim. If it wasn't for Leopold's acts, the story could not go the way it went. To be honest, the whole romance part of the movie at first seemed like it's going to be really unnecessary, but it was actually a great part of the film.

There is a lot of things in common with The Prestige and The Illusionist. Both take place around the same era, both include romance as an important part of the movie, and there's even a love triangle, which in The Prestige is actually much more complicated than that. But in The Prestige there are two magicians against each other. In The Illusionist, it's the crown prince / police against the magician. 

The actors in The Illusionist did a marvellous job. I had never seen Jessica Biel in a movie before, but I think she's very talented, however how can anyone judge after only one movie? You need to see at least two different roles until you can know if someone is good or not. 

The cinematography was also wonderful. Several scenes, if not most of the movie, seemed like it was filmed through a altered lens, but it probably also was made using special effects. That made many scenes look like they were flashbacks or otherwise like it was not happening at the same time as everything else. It was very nice, though it was not easy to notice. I can't say if it was for one or two scenes or through the whole movie. It could've been through the whole thing, but I doubt it. But it was at least used during the only sex scene in the movie, which was actually very classy and very well done. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10

"We are animals, Professor Kincaid... with brains that trick us into thinking we aren't."

A small time pot-grower tricks his identical twin into visiting him in their home town, to have a perfect alibi, for his scheme to take down a local drug lord.

I don't actually see myself why comedy is one of the genres. I mean sure, partly the movie was funny, but I don't think it was so funny it would be called a comedy. But there are others who say it's a comedy, so who am I to argue? Because, you know, maybe my sense of humour didn't cover the humour in this movie, you know?

Anyway, my first idea of the movie was how it reminded me of a TV show. Not like any TV show in particular, but like if the story would've been made longer, even maybe just like six episodes long, then it could've been a TV show. I don't know why, I just think that the story could've been made longer and maybe add some events here and there, and it would've been a perfect TV show. Of course no regular TV show, probably something very marginal, but what could be compared to Breaking Bad. I have no idea where this thought came from. It probably wouldn't even work but I just couldn't take that thought off my mind.

Also it was sort of weird how the movie seemed to have it's ending but then it went on for at least ten minutes after that. It was okay, though, not like it was forced. It was kinda like it had it's climax, and then it started to softly fall down from that climax, until it had a smaller climax before it actually ended. That was actually surprisingly nice. I mean usually the plot structure is the same in movies as in short stories, you know, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Usually movies go that way, unless they are, well, truly a work of art. Of course most movies are mostly art than entertainment - depends on who makes the movie and why they make it. But I mean that yeah, usually the last climax is the biggest one. Maybe it was here, too, but I didn't interpret it that way. 

The actors and actresses were wonderful. Susan Sarandon player the mother of Billy and Brady, and even though her part was small - not any less significant though - I always enjoy seeing her in movies. I mean come one, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was my first favourite movie (I was 12 though) and I still love every single actor from that movie. Tim Blake Nelson, who also wrote and directed the movie, was surprisingly good. Mostly I haven't liked him in the roles I've seen him in but this time his character was, well, different. Not as ridiculous. And Edward Norton was good. I always seeing actors playing two roles in a same movie. 

Leaves of Grass was a good movie. Not really different, and not going to be my favourite. But it was good. Though it wasn't the first movie I watched this year, since yesterday I had two friends over and the first movie we watched this year was actually Death to Smoochy. Yes, Again. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

7 / 10