July - Short Reviews

01.07. They Call Me Trinity (1970) - 7 / 10

Damn, I didn't know this was originally in Italian! We watched it in English! I would've preferred the Italian version...

This is the first time I watched a Terence Hill & Bud Spencer movie. If I'm completely honest, I'm slightly disappointed - not because the movie wasn't good, but probably because my friend told me how amazing these films are.

They Call Me Trinity is an excellent spaghetti western, but the film's slow pace is one of its greatest weaknesses. It's too easy to just... not pay attention to what's happening. But still, this film is extremely funny, and the cast is excellent. The experience was amazing - apart from the subtitles that continually had the figure 3/4 in the middle of dialogue.

02.07. Deadpool (2016) - 7 / 10

Still so much fun! I like X-Men, but Deadpool stands out. It's more violent and vulgar than any superhero movie and I love it!

05.07. Dinosaur (2000) - 5 / 10

I haven't seen this film since I was a little kid. I watched this because my little sister has always been enthusiastic about dinosaurs, and her enthusiasm just got back because she started playing Primal Carnage (so she definitely isn't that young little sister.)

But the animation in this film is amazing. It seems different from the 3D animations Disney is doing these days. The characters don't always look extremely realistic when looking at their face, but every hair on the fur of those lemurs is visible to the eye. And every scenery, which apparently are sometimes actual real locations, is extremely beautiful. I can't compare the visual side of Dinosaur to any other animated movie. Nothing comes close.

But that's where that ends. The plot doesn't feel too interesting to an adult, of course children might think it's exciting. The plot and everything else is mostly just typical Disney shit and nothing extremely interesting. The best part of this film is no doubt the visual side.

10.07. The Conjuring (2013) - 4 / 10

The plot is annoying. A white family moves in to a house, shit goes down and no one comes up with the simple idea to MOVE OUT OF THE NEW HOUSE.

There were few scenes during which I had to keep my eyes closed - not because it was that terrifying, but because you just knew there were going to be some jumpscares. Jumpscares are effective in like the very moment they come to you, but they don't leave you paranoid or scared after the movie ends. Jumpscares are a cheap tactic to get you scared on that very second but not a moment longer.

And this movie could've been terrifying if it wasn't for so many "scary" scenes that just looked absolutely ridiculous. And you know what is the most terrifying thing? When you can't see the evil.A few times this movie managed that, and your mind comes up with the most twisted things you can imagine. Many of the spirits in this movie seemed ridiculous, and it could've been horrifying if we hadn't seen them at all.

Decent horror film, but there are so many things that could've been done better.

24.07. Whip It (2009) 9 / 10

I love this! I ordered roller skates bc of this.

Ghostbusters (2016)

Directed by: Paul Feig

Written by: Katie Dippold & Paul Feig, based on the 1984 film "Ghostbusters" by Reitman, Aykroyd & Ramis

Four women band together to stop the ghost invasion of Manhattan.

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I haven't seen the original. I wasn't interested in Ghostbusters until I started hearing all the good things about this remake. Then I heard all the whining about this remake. That made me even more interested and determined to see this movie. And once I started to hear how most of the female audience loved this film, I had high expectations. Funny thing about high expectations - sometimes you're disappointed, sometimes you're not. I was definitely not disappointed - I love this movie so freaking much.

No matter what people are saying, this movie is hilarious. The only reason I didn't laugh out loud in the theatre was that, well, I'm Finnish and didn't want to bother anyone else. Dippold and Feig are extremely talented at writing comedy.

The cast is incredible. I love Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. They are all incredibly comedians, and if you weren't convinced of their skills, this movie will convince you. My favourite thing about the leading ladies is that while they all are very beautiful women, they aren't necessarily considered attractive by the typical Hollywood heroine standards. The most attractive character might be Jillian Holtzmann, and while she's incredible cute (come one, we all have a crush on her) she's still very tomboyish. And I definitely love Chris Hemsworth as the man-bimbo eye-candy receptionist. 

'Ghostbusters' uses the themes of horror and science fiction extremely well. Of course few of the jump-scares are annoying, but since it isn't exactly a scary film, it's easy to just get over them. 

The only very slight annoyance is how the threat of the ghosts doesn't seem too serious. There's not a one second when the audience thinks that everything is going to go to hell. But hey, it's a comedy. I don't think the original movies are any different.

In short, Ghostbusters is extremely hilarious and entertaining film. I'm definitely putting it on the list of my favourites.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

10 / 10

Also yeah I notice my theme week idea didn't go as well as I planned, but I don't think anyone was REALLY PSYCHED about that so we can just forget about it, right? 

We Come In Peace! Alien Theme Week! - Alien (1979)

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Written by: Dan O'bannon & Ronald Shusett 

A deep-space mining crew gets an distress call. While exploring the source, a member of the crew is attacked by an alien life form. The crew member is allowed back to the ship against the quarantine rules, and the rest have to deal with the lethal consequences.

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When I came up with the idea for an alien themed week of movie reviews, Alien was the most obvious choice because of the name and more. It's a classic, and every other movie of this type seems to be copying this one, intentionally or not.

Once the film started, I felt like I had seen this before. There are so many space travel horror movies that follow the exact same pattern than Alien. Now I don't know if Alien is the first one of its kind, but it's definitely the best known. I actually saw Prometheus before any of the Alien films, and it's almost annoying how closely Prometheus followed the same pattern as this one. The writers of that movie should've come up with something slightly different, because if you've seen Alien, that makes Prometheus predictable - and the other way around. 

But it shouldn't be surprising every science fiction horror filmmaker wants to make a film like Alien. Alien's pace is just right - it's slow, but it doesn't feel too stretched. It's making everything even more intense than it'd be with faster pace. But with faster pace it would probably be harder and more annoying trying to keep a track of this movie. 

One really effective thing about this film is how gross everything looks. There's always some gross liquid coming out of somewhere. Otherwise the effects seem sometimes ridiculous, like the little baby alien running away. How can you take an intense, dramatic scene like that seriously when the effects are what they are?

I don't enjoy this movie as much as other people can. I appreciate the horror elements and the value this film has, but I hate space travel science fiction. Simple setting is better, and of course the setting of Alien is simple - it's one ship, barely one planet and so on. Still I felt like I didn't completely understand what was going on.

I appreciate this movie, and I recognise it's good, but I don't really like it, which affects the medium score I'm giving this film.

☆☆☆☆☆

5 / 10

We Come In Peace! Alien Theme Week! - Men In Black (1997)

Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld

Written by: Lowell Cunningham (comic) & Ed Solomon

An NYPD police officer (Will Smith) gets an invitation to join an organisation called the MIB. Their purpose is hide the aliens visiting Earth, and defend the planet against the hostile ones.

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The title of this post might be look all weird for y'all, considering my reviews usually have simple titles: the name of the movie and the year it came out. Well, I am trying new things, and this is something I've been thinking for a while: theme weeks! I'm trying to do these at least once a month, but there will be times that ain't possible. Only problem is, this week isn't going to be a full, since I'm out of town for a few days and realised that too late. Still, this is going to be at least 5 movies. Anyway, the theme for this week (18th-24th of July) will be aliens, so you can expect movies with extraterrestrial creatures, and we are starting with one of my favourites I haven't seen in a while: Men In Black. 

This movie is simply so lovable, and it has affected many people who have seen it. Men In Black has such a nice atmosphere, and it's not gritty and dark as science fiction or fantasy written these days. How many people have seen this movie and were immediately (not entirely seriously) convinced aliens have visited us? When it's a movie like Men In Black, it's so much more fun believing aliens might exist. There are movies that make aliens seem like killing machines whose only purpose is to destroy human race OR they are the kind of wise creatures who are so much better than us. But the aliens in Men In Black are - apart from the villains - almost sympathetic. They seem nice and really ordinary. 

Most of the charm of this movie comes from Will Smith. He is a talented actor, and his experience in comedy such as Fresh Prince of Bel Air has given him the ability to deliver comedic lines wonderfully. For him they are natural, and while Tommy Lee Jones's character Kay doesn't get as many one-liners,  said by him the feeling is different. 

The character Jay is exactly how many of us would like to be in a situation like this. Of course the aliens and secret organisations are all new to him and he is allowed to be openly confused, but he still seems extremely excited about everything instead of being too broody or too angry like most heroes in action. 

This movie was made in 1990s, and the effects aren't what we see in the theatres these days, but they are still pretty damn amazing. When we are used to see the extremely beautiful science fiction, something as simple as Men In Black is a nice change. 

Men In Black is simple science fiction comedy. It's a movie that made me like science fiction, and is still probably the reason I'm not into the kind of science fiction where everything is in space and where you can see the filmmakers tried way too hard. Men In Black has a quite simple setting, quite simple plots and ordinary characters. Jay could be anyone of us, chosen by almost randomly instead of having some kind of great destiny. This is what science fiction needs to revisit. This is amazing.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

10 / 10

Essay: Once Upon A Rainy Day

This is a rewritten version of the essay I wrote on English matriculation examination in the spring 2016. Since the essay I wrote will never be returned to me, I'm trying to remember what I wrote back then. But since the essay was about films - and because I need to write something during Camp NaNoWriMo - I thought I'd rewrite it for this blog.

Of course it's debatable if this could be considered an essay.

Note: I do not own any of the photos used in this essay.

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Everyone has their own way to relax when the weather doesn't let you go outside. Some people snuggle up under a blanket with a good book. Some people drink warm tea and just listen to the rain outside their window. What do I do? I choose a good movie or one I've never seen before, and I lie on the sofa for 1,5 hours or more.

I know exactly where this habit came from. When I was little, my dad took me to the movies with him all the time. It was mostly because he wanted to see the new Disney / Pixar movie. It was easier to take his daughter with her instead of going alone. That's how everything started. It was my dad's movie collection that gave me and my little sister something to do on rainy days when we couldn't go out to play. We'd watch animated movies our dad collected.

Of course I had a lot of favourite movies as a kid, like The Lion King, Shark's Tale, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... But there's a film I consider my first favourite film. That's The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a science fiction cult classic rock musical. I was 12 years old when I first watched that movie - without my parents' permission. That's the first movie that actually made me slightly obsessed. I still know all the lyrics by heart.

When I was 16 I started this blog. In 2013 I started a challenge where I'd watch new movies and write about them and all that. It was quite surprising when a challenge turned into the whole theme of this blog. I started really getting into movies, and the routine changed. There are very few times I just watch movies. Nowadays I think about what I could write about, what I like about the film and what I dislike. Before this blog I watched a movie, I liked it or I didn't, and that was it. Now my love for films is more complicated. A movie might be bad, but I still like it, or the other way around. 

Someone once asked me if this has ruined how I view movies, considering I sometimes take notes. I don't think so. I don't force myself to write about a movie. If there's nothing to write about, I just give it a score on IMDb, and leave it at that.

But I have to be honest: there have been times when I don't have anything to watch or any motivation to watch movies. And these are easy for anyone to notice, when I'm suddenly not that active in my blogging. I can point out the worst time when I had no passion or inspiration. It was around the time we got Netflix. Of course Netflix is filled with amazing movies, but it was so much easier to watch a TV show. But it was actually a TV show that showed me the way back to my passion.

I started watching From Dusk Till Dawn, and once I was done with the show I watched the original movie from 1996. I had previously seen great movies from Robert Rodriguez, and it seemed like he was about to become my favourite director. The only problem is that I have always been a writer at heart. So what really had an impact on me when I watched From Dusk Till Dawn? The writing. 

So it's no wonder I got my motivation and inspiration back when I saw The Hateful Eight in the theatres, and then pretty much everything from the director Quentin Tarantino. 

The biggest reasons for how sometimes I had hard time finding interesting movies was how I had no idea what kind of movies I liked. I couldn't say who was my favourite director, and now that I have a favourite, it's so much easier to say which movies I might like, which is my type and so on. 

I'm sure that without this blog I never would've found my passion. I love films, and I want to be a filmmaker in the future, probably a screenwriter. 

And this is how my way of spending the rainy day has become my greatest passion.

Sharknado (2013)

Directed by: Anthony C. Ferrante

Written by: Thunder Levin

When a freak storm hits Los Angeles, the shark will swim on the flooded ground and fly through the in some fucking tornadoes.

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You might be wondering who would even watch Sharknado, but a better question is who would actually write a review of this movie. That's right, I would. I knew Sharknado was a B-movie, and I knew its reputation, yet I was honestly so bored I wanted to watch something and Sharknado seemed stupid enough. That's exactly what I thought to myself before watching this movie: "Well, this seems stupid, let's watch."

I can appreciate B-movies and cult movies, no matter how stupid they are. The makers of these probably don't give a rat's ass about what anyone else might think. In a way I see that profession as one of the best. You can just come up with whatever and make it, and whenever it's viewed as bad you can say "well DOY." These films are mostly fun because of how stupid they are, but they don't always reach that level of hilarity. Did Sharknaddo reach that level? I don't think so.

Sharknado does have few of those amazing funny details that make it hilarious. First of all, the sharks are so shitty, yet everyone reacts to them so dramatically. One of the most ridiculous things about this film is how serious it seems. The soundtrack is dramatic, so is the acting - honestly, I expected something much, much worse - and the way there's a slight hing of some depth in the main characters, though that is nowhere near as deep as what would actually surprise you. 

But while it's all fun and ridiculous, Sharknado is actually pretty boring. While they are all fighting and running for their lives, nothing seems that interesting. You don't root for anyone, and it isn't that much fun you could watch it alone like the best of B-movies. 

Of course Sharknado is bad, it's supposed to be bad. But it's not bad in the fun way, it's just utterly lame and boring. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm disappointed - I thought this would turn out to be better.

☆☆

2 / 10

Domino (2005)

Directed by: Tony Scott

Written by: Richard Kelly & Steve Barancik

The story of Domino Harvey, who turned away a career as a model to become a bounty hunter.

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If there's a movie I'd compare  Domino to, it's Natural Born Killers. Not that those two films have much thing common, apart from being huge fucking disappointments, and mostly the most annoying parts are similar.

Why did I want to watch Domino or NBK? The stories were interesting. They were simple, yet intriguing. But in both cases the story is ruined by the director trying too hard to be very unique in their style of directing. Even the simplest, most  boring way is better than throwing too many details in one absolute shit show.

In this case the story was ruined by the large amount of characters, while many of them seem like trivialities compared to the main trio. It is hard to keep a track on who did what and who is who. Sometimes even the main plot seems like it doesn't matter, that there's something more important to the movie, but I can't figure out what that could be. 

At first Domino seems visually interesting, but that wears off soon. The way this film is shot is confusing and hard to follow, even if it sometimes looks real pretty. The strongest quality of the cinematography is the colour scheme, yet that is used in very few scenes, contrast to really annoying effects. Those special effects are used so much they lose their effect, which is where Tony Scott fucked up. Those little fun effects would've made this film greate, if they hadn't been used every five seconds. This is why this film's technical strengths became its greatest weaknesses.

The best thing about this film is Keira Knightley, who is an extremely good actress, and since I've liked her since my childhood (Pirates of the Caribbean), it's always wonderful to see her in a movie.

In short, the story was butchered and Tony Scott tried too hard to be artistic instead of making a simple action biography that more people could enjoy without getting a fucking headache from the effects used.

☆☆☆

3 / 10

Knock Knock (2015)

Directed by: Eli Roth

Written by: Anthony Overman & Michal Ronald Ross (story), Eli Roth, Nicolás López & Guillermo Amoedo (screenplay)

Evan's wife and kids are out of town for the weekend, and he's supposed to get some work done. He is interrupted by two girls who are lost. Evan lets them get inside safe from the rain, but it's soon revealed how big this mistake was.

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The first thing I can say about this movie is I'm glad it's over. I didn't exactly enjoy watching this movie, but this is not the kind of "glad it's over" that's result of a really boring, bad movie that mostly made me frustrated. I wanted to see this movie because it is directed by Eli Roth, yet I had no idea it would be this twisted and sick. And when we're talking about horror movies, twisted and sick isn't a bad thing. And the biggest reason for the relief when the closing credits start rolling is the fact that you feel so hopeless during the whole movie. Evan tries his best yet he can't do anything, and all that. While you're watching you think "Even if he is left alive, how could he ever overcome this", and all that.

While Knock Knock is just 99 minutes long, the structure is amazing. The film is very slow, yet that 99 minutes doesn't feel too short. The whole situation develops slowly: at first it's seemingly normal, then turns weird, then turns disturbing, then it's just twisted and you experience all kind of feelings in the "What The Fuck" -spectrum. And that's the most wonderful thing about this film. Every other good technical detail feels kind of blurred after this really fucked up story in general.

Since this film is a remake, it's hard to say which parts of the writing come from the original movie, and what comes from Roth, López, and Amoedo. The dialogue is good. I always say good things about horror movie dialogue: it's natural. Well, maybe not during the most stressful scenes, but when nothing bad is happening, the dialogue is natural, relaxed, and extremely realistic. Another interesting thing are the few humorous moments. The thing is, their timing makes them so bad. They shouldn't be funny but that's why they make you laugh or at least chuckle: they are so horrible, ironic, whatever is the right word.

There are a lot of weird, awkward moments. One semi-annoying scene was when Bel and Evan discussed music, and Evan talks about how diverse his taste in music is. That's like one, two lines, but it feels like it's the writers patting themselves on the back, because they know weird bands or artists they can use in the movie. While all of that chit chat type of dialogue is quite unnecessary, that felt even more gratuitous.

It's hard to say what score Knock Knock would deserve. I was mostly so disgusted and confused it was hard to concentrate to if this is good in the most objective way possible of reviewing a movie. Thinking about the story, cinematography, and all those little things, Knock Knock is average. A viewer's opinion is mostly affected by how you feel during this film. And you without a doubt feel sick and disgusted or maybe even angry about how a movie like this ruined your night. Well yeah, the writers probably wanted that to happen. I don't think a movie like Knock Knock is made so you can enjoy it, it's a sick, twisted horror movie. It's meant to make you feel negatively, so this film definitely did its job.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10

Attack the Block (2011)

"Hurry up guys, we gotta catch 'em all!" "Calm down Biggz, this ain't Pokemon!"

Directed and written by: Joe Cornish

An inner city teen gang defends their block from outer space aliens' apparent invasion.

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My friend Pipsa and I rented two movies today, and since I saw this one last, it's easier to write about this one now. The other one will be in the list of short reviews at end of July.

Attack The Block is a movie I've low-key wanted to see for a long time, but for some reason I never got it. I didn't even know what the plot was though - but once I quickly glanced at the summary and watched first few minutes, it's clear that the plot could be a B-movie. But the technical side of the film makes sure this film is pure quality!

While the plot is simple - aliens attacking and all that jazz - the writing is amazing. The skillful writing is mostly shown through the dialogue. The dialogue is hilarious, and it sounds like teenagers could genuinely talk instead of too childish or too mature. But while the dialogue is so much fun, the characters sometimes drop incredible truth bombs about the society. While you'd easily think that's kind of weird in the middle of alien invasion, they aren't just thrown there. It comes from the conversation, which is weirdly realistic even in this quite absurd scenario.

The writing's finesse can be also shown in the characters. They are anti-heroes, but they are more than just the trope. They do what they have to, and that means they can mug people when they need to, and other times they can save people. It's clear they are teenagers who feel like they can't trust adults anymore. They only have themselves and each other, and all that. That could be analysed better once I've seen this film again.

One great thing  about the monsters of this film is that they are terrifying and quite unique. They easily give you jump-scares, but after the film you don't think they are going to attack you from around the corner. After all this isn't a horror film.

Another thing that makes Attack The Block really stand out it's the cinematography. Mostly it's simple and basic, but there are few extremely interesting angles. Also every shot seems kind of beautiful because of the excellent use of colours. 

There are so many amazing things about this film. It is very easy to enjoy it: it's thrilling, visually beautiful and filled with interesting dialogue and characters. I don't understand how it isn't bigger than it is. It's definitely a movie you should see!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10