May - Quick Reviews

17.5. Point Blank (2010) - 5 / 10

I was renting movies but my friend was impatient and pretty much any time I even touch a movie I had to pick that one. So that's how I ended up watch Point Blank, or originally Á bout portant. I didn't know anything about this movie prior to watching it, and I didn't even know it was French.

Point Blank is a decent action thriller. It's thrilling, action scenes look good and the main character is easy to root for. The cinematography is also very nice. More artistic than in most action movies, and very nice colours. But while it all clicks it doesn't really stand out from the typical action movies. So in short, it's alright. If you like action movies, it's worth seeing, but if you'd like to see something different, then maybe this movie isn't for you.

18.5. Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) - 7 / 10

I liked this movie way more than the first time. I actually enjoyed watching this, while the humour was of course sometimes a bit dumb, but like the first one, Horrible Bosses 2 is a dark comedy. When done well it can me hilarious, when done poorly it can be absolutely horrendous. With Horrible Bosses 2 they did an okay job. Sometimes the dark jokes go too far, but sometimes they are also just right.

Still I got to laugh a lot, which is always a good thing when watching comedies.

One thing that bothers me though is that the name is still Horrible Bosses while there really isn't a horrible boss here, not as clearly a in the first one at least. This is what can happen if you make a sequel when you didn't exactly plan it carefully. It has the title, and while Horrible Bosses 2 had a better plot, better twist, it's still carrying the name which is a bit ehh.

There's also a chance I enjoyed this movie more now that I've learned to like Charlie Day. Like I've always found him adorable but because of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia I'm starting to really, really, like him.

20.5. Hardball (2001) - 6 / 10

Hard Ball is a very typical sports drama. It's whole purpose seems to be to get a huge emotional response from the viewer, but when isn't that a purpose of a movie? And Hard Ball definitely succeeds at this in so many ways. It's an average movie, an alright movie, and the story is hardly anything special. However it's well made.

30.5. What We Do In The Shadows (2014) - 7 / 10

I have seen a lot of footage of this movie, so I finally decided watch it. This movie is an excellent mockumentary, and absolutely hilarious. I love how they used very classic vampires instead of trying to make a modern version where they leave out certain parts of the myth or come up with new features for the vampires.

What We Do In The Shadows is a brilliant fantasy-horror-comedy, and in its way very unique. It's definitely entertaining and well made, even if it's not really my type as a movie.

Ant-Man (2015)

Directed by: Peyton Reed

Story by: Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish

Screenplay by: Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, Adam McKay & Paul Rudd

Based on the comics by: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby 

Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

---

Ant-Man? Marvel isn't making movies about the actually interesting heroes, but we get a movie about Ant-Man?

I was very suspicious when Ant-Man was announced. Who actually gave a chicken-shit about Ant-Man? However my mind changed once I learned Edgar Wright was one of the writers. I've liked his style so, you know, even if Ant-Man had been total rubbish, at least there was some skillful writing - not just from Wright.

The most distinct thing about Ant-Man is how much simpler it is compared to the massive Avengers franchise. The story is simple, mostly revolving around a heist instead of some huge, epic fight that will cause millions of dollars worth of damage to the cities. It's simple, yet still interesting enough to watch.

Another special thing about Ant-Man is how much more relaxed it seems. There's no giant need to make it super serious and stuff a lot of philosophical pondering in there, which usually does go to total waste when it comes to superhero movies. Ant-Man is an action comedy, and it usually manages to make even the most important fights quite funny in rather easy ways. Ant-Man does a way better job at making the situation lighter than, say, Avengers: Age of Ultron, where they just zing kind of cheesy one-liners here and there to get cheap laughs from the audience. Could it be because writers of Avengers are working under this huge pressure and they can't really enjoy themselves, while reaction to Ant-Man being announced was pretty much "Why the fuck would you make this movie?"

Of course there are annoyances, which are too common with any superhero movies, and they get recycled over and over again. There's that unnecessary romance, predictable structure, but what's most annoying to me is you can't really watch a Marvel movie unless you've seen like at least three others. I'd love to be able to watch Ant-Man as Ant-Man, because it's actually funny movie, but there's hint to movies I haven't seen, and I don't want to watch. This is the biggest problem with the franchise system - you can't just watch movies individually. Like sure I wouldn't watch Iron Man 3 without seeing the first two, but like this is the first Ant-Man movie and still I have to know so much? It's a buzzkill.

All in all Ant-Man is a very entertaining movie, but it has the same flaws every superhero movie has. Thankfully though it's hilarious and way more relaxed than any other superhero movie I've seen - apart from Deadpool, of course.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10

Carlos (2010) - Theatrical Version

Series directed by: Olivier Assayas

Written by: Olivier Assayas, Dan Franck and Daniel Leconte 

The story of Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the 1975 OPEC meeting.

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I'm tagging this as "mini-series" and "TV" even if I saw the 185 minute long movie cut. Now of course I haven't seen all the footage I could've, but I'm going to write this piece based on what I did see.

I actually chose to see Carlos (or Carlos the Jackal which seems to be the name here and in some other places) very randomly. My friend just picked something out for me because she thought I was wasting too much time browsing in the video store. I had actually knew nothing about Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, aka Carlos, prior to seeing this. I'm not exactly sure why there was such a gap in my knowledge, but as I learned he was an actual person (learned this from my dad before I watched the movie or series)  the whole story became much more interesting. Of course there's the "this is work of fiction" announcement at the beginning, so there's still the "what's true and what's not" since I haven't done research like at all.

Apparently that doesn't matter when watching Carlos. If you know, it's intriguing to see the fictional side of this, if you know nothing, it's intriguing to learn about everything.

In the movie cut the structure is a bit hard to follow sometimes. Characters come and go, time doesn't mean anything... But after I learned it's a mini-series it makes more sense. They had to cut like two hours. Still they saved an awful lot of the OPEC stuff while skipping the 80's completely. Now I don't know how long the OPEC situation is in the series, did they cut a lot or did they want to keep that whole thing, but it felt longer than any other part of the movie. It kind of ate the balance. It seemed like that was the point instead of, you know, Sánchez's life in general.

Also sometimes the music is a bit weird. Like it's good music but feels somewhat ill-fitting for the movie and what it's about.

All in all the story is definitely intriguing and from all the research I did do, Edgar Ramírez is extremely talented and a good choice for the lead role.The biggest problem is how much was cut and how rushed everything feels and what important events didn't make the movie version. Maybe I should watch the whole mini-series some day, to be able to give this a better, more accurate rating.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 30

Day 30 - Your least favourite movie

I can't choose just one because I don't have an actual "least favourite movie". There are several I dislike but I don't really hate anyone with such burning passion it would be my least favourite movie. 

These are all the movies I've only given one star on IMDb. Note, maybe all of these aren't like the worst movies ever made but for some reason I was super angry with them, and also there's a chance I changed the score after seeing it.

• A Change of Seasons (1980)
• This was so boring and just obnoxiously annoying. Why are people like this?
• Batman Forever (1995)
• I have kind of the same reasoning for this as I have with Spider-Man 3. The movie is absolutely ridiculous and kind of embarrasing, and you don't necessarily realise that when you're a teenager who's grasp of corny isn't as accurate as right now.
• Liar Liar (1997)
• I would like this movie way more if it wasn't such a Family Friendly Fun and blah.
• Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
• To be honest, I saw this years ago and I have no idea if that score would be accurate if I watched this now. 
• Manhunter (1986)
• Not at all how it should be.
• Ruby Sparks (2012)
• I didn't even finish this movie.
• Spider-Man 3 (2007)
• Possibly the worst Spider-Man movie out there. It feels like it was written by an angsty 10-year-old, which can be the reason you can enjoy this movie when you're 10 but not really after that.
• Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
• These movies failed to understand what was up with Star Trek. Also casting a white man as Khan? Obnoxious.
• The Mask (1994)
• Again, I have no idea why I've given this only one star. I've only seen it once and that was years ago.
• The Last Heist (2016) 
• Such stupid, disappointing movie that pretty much failed at everything that could've made it even at least a bit decent. Waste of my fucking time

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 29

Day 29 - A movie that changed your opinion about something: After the Wedding

I was so so unsure as to what put in day 29. Have movies changed my opinion about something other than movies? I don't really think so. 

So obviously I had to go with a movie that changed my opinion about a gender. When I watched After the Wedding, a great Danish movie, by the way, I wasn't at all into drama. It seemed boring to be, but hey, I was 17 at the time, wasn't I? 

And still the thing about drama is it can be really boring but it can also be very good if you do it right. It's more challenging than you might think.

Evil Dead II (1987)

Directed by: Sam Raimi

Written by: Sam Raimi & Scott Spiegel 

The lone survivor of an onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits holes up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack.

---

I liked the first Evil Dead and I finally manage to rent the second one. The whole debate on whether or not this is a sequel or a remake did create some confusion when watching, though, but afterwards IMDb gave some real answers though. Thank god for that site, huh?

I was going to start the review by saying how much better Evil Dead II is story-wise, but since it's a sequel and all the inconsistencies in the beginning are there mostly to give a short recap, I can't really say that anymore. Instead I can say that while Evil Dead was mostly horror, ghosts and blood, Evil Dead II gives something new to the story, it gives lore. And for me, interesting lore is always a big plus. The audience wants to know more, they are intrigued.

And luckily Evil Dead II is a wonderful introduction to the Army of Darkness, which is like a big promise on more lore and background to the movies. 

But pretty much whatever I said about the first movie goes here too. The cinematography is weird but interesting. Time is used effectively - movie is only 80 minutes long yet a lot manages to happen in that 80 minutes. The effects are completely awful but mostly they make creepy situations even creepier. 

In short, Evil Dead II may be a weird sequel but it gives something new to the story and I really want to see Army of Darkness already.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 28

Day 28 - Movie with the best soundtrack: Trainspotting

1. "Lust for Life" by Iggy Pop
2. "Deep Blue Day" by Brian Eno
3. "Trainspotting" by Primal Scream
4. "Atomic" by Sleeper
5. "Temptation" by Heaven 17
6. "Nightclubbing" by Iggy Pop
7. "Sing" by Blur
8. "Perfect Day" by Lou Reed
9. "Mile End" by Pulp
10. "For What You Dream Of" (Full-on Renaissance Mix) by Bedrock (feat. KYO)
11. "2:1" by Elastica
12. "A Final Hit" by Leftfield
13. "Born Slippy (NUXX)" by Underworld
14. "Closet Romantic" by Damon Albarn

Seriously, name a more iconic soundtrack.

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 27

Day 27 - Favourite classic movie: A Clockwork Orange

I guess I keep saying "this one was hard to choose", but this one really was. What counts as a classic? Does a cult classic count, because isn't that what A Clockwork Orange is?

I think this is one of the few movies where I actually managed to read the book first. I read it for Finnish class, and I still remember because first I was going to read a detective story but changed it. My reason for changing that was because it was boring and it's really hard for me to read anything that doesn't interest me - and these days even if they do. Anyway my teacher wasn't exactly correct on why I changed the books.

"Ah yes, I did think if it's a bit hard for you to read. So what are you reading now?"

"... A Clockwork Orange."

I think I watched the movie around the same time, so when I was 14 or 15. Of course it's a rough movie but also really impressive.

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 26

Day 26 - A movie that is a guilty pleasure: What's your number?

There are very few romantic comedies I've watched more than once. They usually don't have such a great impact on me. 

Well it's not like What's your number? affected me in weird or mysterious way, it just is a really fun movie. I really like Anna Faris, and the rest of the cast was just as great. I really should watch this movie again, it always makes me so happy.

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 25

Day 25 - A movie that no one would expect you to love: About Time

I myself was very surprised when About Time moved me the way it did. When my friend recommended it to me I was a wee bit suspicious about it. It didn't seem at all like the movies I usually enjoy, but it definitely succeeded all my expectations and actually made me cry.

But did none expect I'd love this movie? I don't know, I mean my friend recommended it to me, so she probably thought I would. But I guess I chose this one because I myself didn't expect me to like this movie.

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 24

Day 24 - Favourite Documentary

I'm going to have to skip this one. I've honestly properly watched one documentary, so can I really call that my favourite because it's the only one I've seen? 

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 23

Day 23: Your favourite character from any movie: Francis Begbie

I mean this is a hard one since my favourites change depending on what movie I love at the moment. And at the moment I love Trainspotting and T2 Trainspotting and I love Robert Carlyle so of course I'm going to say my favourite character is Francis Begbie.

Don't get me wrong, Francis Begbie is an arsehole. He's absolutely awful, and in real life would be so unpredictable it would be terrifying. So no way am I saying Francis Begbie is someone I'd like to meet and be friends with. No way. But there's always something fascinating about the bad characters, you know? Villains, antagonists, or just that one violent shitty friend who still 20 years later wants to kill you.

And especially when reading the book it's clear that Begbie has a certain charm, it's just that most of the time he doesn't use it since why would he use it on his friends? But there was at least one scene in the novel where he was flirting with a woman and I was like whoa, he's really... charming. Almost made me forget he had been abusive to his pregnant girlfriend in the previous pages. Irvine Welsh has written Begbie so well it's incredible. 

And he's the only man capable of rocking that moustache. 

Sunshine Cleaning (2008)

Directed by: Christine Jeffs

Written by: Megan Holley

In order to raise the tuition to send her young son to private school, a mom starts an unusual business - a biohazard removal/crime scene clean-up service - with her unreliable sister.

---

I chose to watch this movie because the plot seemed interesting enough, but mainly I even learned about this movie because Clifton Collins Jr. is in this movie.

Sunshine Cleaning is very simple yet delicate and vulnerable. It's exactly what drama movies should be like, when they are at their finest without trying too much. It's a slice of life, and while it moves you, it also makes you feel good, it makes you smile.

The emotional side of the characters is very easy to relate to. There was a scene where another person told the main character Rose she was nothing, and while I of course share that scene with no basis whatsoever, it was weirdly powerful in the movie. While I usually don't get bothered by this kind of exchanges, this felt very real and when I paused the movie to reply to a text I felt like someone had said something mean to me, that I had read that somewhere, that it actually was about me.

The cast of the movie is incredibly talented. Mostly I admire the talent of Amy Adams and Emily Blunt both show emotion in incredible well and believably for different characters with different personalities. Both are great actresses,

While the plot wasn't exactly what I thought, and I didn't like all the plot points and how certain things ended up, Sunshine Cleaning is still a very nice and emotional drama.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

7 / 10

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 22

Day 22 - Most underrated movie: Ravenous

It's always hard fir me tae say what movie is underrated and what isn't. I'm never entirely sure what's popular and what's not considering I live far in the north, and not always certain what 90's movie was popular in the US since back then I was a little kid and not at all aware of such things. I originally wanted to say the movie Choke here, but there's a chance Choke is more appreciated than Ravenous. Also it might affect that I saw Ravenous last night.

Ravenous is such an incredible movie. It's weirdly hilarious yet dark, mysterious and thrilling and oh, so bloody. And now that I've seen it several times it feels even more better than the first time I watched it.

I love this movie but it seems to be a cult movie and doesn't seem to have a big audience. I know like three people who have seen it, and one of them recommended it to me, and I showed this to another one, so. 

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 21

Day 21 - The most overrated movie: Pulp Fiction

Don't get me wrong, I love Pulp Fiction. It's one of my favourite movies, and it's honestly really great. But the thing is it has become that movie that people always throw out there when talking about movies. It's the movie white straight nerds praise when they want to prove their taste in movies is great. It's not the movie that's annoying me, it's the way it's mentioned in conversations, the way it's used to prove something about what kind of movie fanatic you are. 

The same thing could be said for Fight Club, let's be honest.

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 20

Day 20 - Your favourite actress: Mila Kunis 

My favourite actress was hard one to choose. There are so many actresses I love, and so many times have I watched a movie for them. I just never have gotten like really crazy about an actress the same way I have been with Will Arnett or Robert Carlyle. But still I have so many favourite actresses.

Anyway I chose Mila Kunis, becuase I love her so much. She's talented in both drama and comedy. I personally am not a big fan of American Psycho 2, but there's no denying that Mila Kunis was absolutely terrifying and brilliant in that movie. She was also great in Black Swan. And at the same time she has rocked her roles in That 70's Show, Friends With Benefits, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and all these other comedies.

My favourite movies starring Mila Kunis:

- Friends With Benefits

- Black Swan

- Boot Camp

- Forgetting Sarah Marshall

My other favourite actresses include Ellen Page, Zoë Bell (who's an excellent stunt actress but also great at other stuff as well), Uma Thurman, Morena Baccarin, Kelly McDonald, Famke Janssen, Imogen Poots, Chloe Grace Moretz...

Get Out (2017)

Directed and written by: Jordan Peele

Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parent's for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.

---

Usually when a movie is very hyped there's a chance it disappoints you, but that's not the case with Get Out. Everyone's been talking about how brilliant Jordan Peele is, and I have to agree.

The very first thing I have to say is I can't believe Get Out is Jordan Peele's directorial debut. The film show such profound understanding of cinema, that many directors don't grasp even though they've done more films than Peele. Also Peele's done some  very thorough work. I saw this movie last night and I'm only know writing this review, but during this time I've procrastinated I've re-realised so many moments and details of this movie. They weren't details that made no sense, they were details that either seemed like just an addition to the story or just the kind of stuff you usually have in this genre. The movie itself was completely amazing, but the more I keep thinking about this, the more I'm convinced Jordan Peele is a god damn genius.

All the ingredients of an amazing film are here. The pacing is amazing, so is the build up. The story is detailed, characters carefully planned and multi-dimensional. The soundtrack is incredible and haunting, and it definitely helps to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Get Out also has everything you need from the horror genre. The way the story and the horror progress is amazing and close to perfection. It's just unnerving, then turns into something really disturbing, then turns into absolutely terrifying. All the good elements are there: psychological horror, mind control (or hypnotism) and blood. Also they have manage to keep the audience absolutely excited during the whole thing.

Some of the white audience have been angry at the racism aspect though. But it shouldn't be hard to understand why the white people in this movie are so terrifying.

Get Out is absolutely brilliant movie, and without a doubt the best horror movie I've ever seen.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

10 / 10

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 19

Day 19 - Your favourite actor: Robert Carlyle

My love for Robert Carlyle has taken me to some really weird movies. Weird because what they are about (Ravenous) and weird because they are honestly just so bad (Eragon). The first movie I saw him in was Trainspotting, but before that I had seen one episode of Once Upon A Time, and also that mini series about Hitler that scarred me when I was 14 and we watched it in history class. 

I was going to type "I don't know what made me like Bobby" but I do. He was weirdly hot as Francis Begbie in T2 Trainspotting and that started it all. I wish I had a better reason for this.

Bobby is extremely talented and has done such a variety of movies it's been a pleasure for me to find cool movies starring him. 

My favourite movies starring Robert Carlyle:

- Trainspotting

- T2 Trainspotting

- The Legend of Barney Thomson

- The Full Monty

- Ravenous 

- 28 Weeks Later

My other favourite actors include Edward Norton, Will Arnett, Will Smith, Mads Mikkelsen, Clifton Collins Jr. and James McAvoy. 

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 18

Day 18 - A movie that disappointed you the most: Natural Born Killers

I had such high hopes for Natural Born Killers, mostly since the original screenplay was by Quentin Tarantino, who writes great stuff. While Natural Born Killers managed to satirise the way American media can sometimes glorify serial killers, I think the artistic choices that were made were too much. I was looking forward to something so much more simple instead of some kind of annoying art wank. 

Like yes, it's of course a good movie, I'm not denying that, it just wasn't for me. I just want to read the original screenplay Tarantino wrote. 

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 17

Day 17 - The best movie you saw during the last year: Whip it

It's impossible to choose the best movie I've seen ever let alone from all the great movies I've seen during the last year, oh no. 

But I decided to go with Whip It, because I loved it so much. I actually bought rollerskates because of this movie, and I can't even really rollerskates because the streets near my house are uneven and mostly slopes so... It'd be murder.

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 16

Day 16 - The last movie you saw in theatres: Logan

I'm not really into superheroes. The only superhero thing I really, really like (apart from few more independent ones) is X-Men. Wolverine has always been my favourite character, so obviously I went to see Logan.

I loved this movie very much and I need it on DVD ASAP.

Also I have bitter feelings since someone claimed I was spoiling them when I said we wont see Wolverine anymore, at least not played by Jackman, when I was actually referring to the fact that everyone's been quite clear about Hugh Jackman retiring from X-Men. 

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 15

Day 15 - The first movie you saw in theatres: Pippi Longstocking (1997)

My biggest problem is I have no clue what's the first movie I've seen or hat's the first movie I saw in theatres, because I've always watched movies and my dad has always taken me to the movie theatre with him - mostly so he could see animated movies. 

So I've asked does he know which is the first movie I saw in theatres and he's answer has always been "I don't know, maybe Pippi Longstocking". And I've remembered that so vividly I've always been like no, no, it's probably something else. 

But then I checked online and it seems Piipi Longstocking came out in December 1997. And since I remember exactly in which hall we saw it, we probably saw the movie in January 1998. Imagine, I was about 1,5 years old back then, and I still remember it! Huh.

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 14

Day 14 - Your favourite quote from any movie

Choose Life. 

Choose a job. 

Choose a career. 

Choose a family. 

Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. 

Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. 

Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. 

Choose a starter home. 

Choose your friends. 

Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. 

Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. 

Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning. 

Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. 

Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. 

Choose your future. 

Choose life... 

But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?

Choose life was a well-meaning slogan from a 1980s anti-drug campaign. We would add things to it, so I might say for example... 

Choose designer lingerie, in the vain hope of kicking some life back into a dead relationship. 

 Choose handbags, choose high-heeled shoes, cashmere and silk, to make yourself feel what passes for happy. 

 Choose an iPhone made in China by a woman who jumped out of a window and stick it in the pocket of your jacket fresh from a South-Asian firetrap. 

Choose Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and a thousand others ways to spew your bile across people you've never met.

Choose updating your profile, tell the world what you had for breakfast and hope that someone, somewhere cares. 

 Choose looking up old flames, desperate to believe that you don't look as bad as they do.

Choose live-blogging, from your first wank till your last breath; human interaction reduced to nothing more than data. 

Choose ten thing you never knew about celebrities who've had surgery.

Choose screaming about abortion. 

Choose rape jokes, slut-shaming, revenge porn and an endless tide of depressing misogyny. 

 Choose 9/11 never happened, and if it did, it was the Jews. 

 Choose a zero-hour contract and a two hour journey to work, and choose the same for your kids, only worse, and maybe tell yourself that it's better that they never happened. And then sit back and smother the pain with an unknown dose of an unknown drug made in somebody's​ fucking kitchen. 

Choose unfulfilled promise and wishing you'd done it all differently. 

 Choose never learning from your own mistakes. 

 Choose watching history repeat itself. 

 Choose the slow reconciliation towards what you can get, rather than what you always hoped for. Settle for less and keep a brave face on it.

 Choose disappointment and choose losing the ones you love then as they​ fall from view, a piece of you dies with them until you can see​ that one day in the future, piece by piece they will​ be all gone and there will be nothing left of you to call alive or dead. 

Choose your future, Veronica. 

Choose life.

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 13

Day 13 - A movie that you used to love but now hate: Party Monster

Is this movie bad? I don't even know. I can't say objectively.

All I know is that I liked Party Monster around the same age I liked The Rocky Horror Picture Show. So around 12-13. And watching it now is just too damn painful. Not that I have any kind of serious sentimental bond to it, it's just that it feels so embarrassing. It seems so corny now, and that's painful.

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 12

Day 12 - Your favourite animated movie: The Lego Movie

When The Lego Movie came out, I wasn't really watching children's movies anymore. And I was a bit suspicious because The Lego Movie seemed absolutely ridiculous. Then I finally watched and I think it may have melted my rather cynical heart.

The jokes are funny, the compilation of characters is hilarious, and the cast is incredibly talented. Also, of course, the story is epic and just amazingly great.

California Solo (2012)

Directed and written by: Marshall Lewy

A former Britpop rocker who now works on a farm gets caught driving drunk and faces deportation after living in Los Angeles for many years. His efforts to stay in the U.S. force him to confront the past and current demons in his life.

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This movie was hard to find, since it apparently hasn't come out here in Finland. It wasn't hard to find after I just decided to order it online, but I hate buying movies I haven't seen yet, since there's a chance it will disappoint you and isn't that waste of money? I still absolutely wanted to see this movie, because while Marshall Lewy is a completely new talent to me, you can always trust Robert Carlyle to deliver an amazing performance if nothing else.

I don't regret buying this movie without seeing it first. It's not the typical genre and story I go for, but sometimes it's good to get out of your comfort zone when it comes to movies. 

It tells you something about Marshall Lewy's talent as a writer when the movie starts where it needs to start. There's no extensive background as to who Lachlan is, why he's in Los Angeles. There's little to no set up. We get to see what's the point, we get to see what the main character is going to be struggling with even before we know the main character. Of course this kind of start could be risky, it could alienate the audience if it' done poorly, but Lewy has done it well. The start isn't too fast, but it's fast enough so you don't have time to actually think about not knowing enough at that point. The start is immediate yet smooth.

The story is a bit hard to grasp since there's a lot of details, but of course the main point is the fact that Lachlan faces deportation. However the story can't be summarised to just that, because there are so much happening even though the threat of deportation is the key ingredient. California Solo is exactly what a drama movie should be: a piece of life instead of just a simplified story. The character is more than what we see, there's what happened before and there's what will happen after the events of the movie, and that definitely shows great skills from Marshall Lewy. 

However a little part of me wants to ask what was the point? Not because the movie was somehow incomplete or that I didn't get the main theme, but because of the ending and how everything was concluded. But clearly it was meant to be that way. 

Visually California Solo is a stunning movie. The whole cinematography just screams "indie film", but it looks amazing. Also the music is amazing and well chosen. The entirety makes me feel the same way as when I listen to Delicate by Damien Rice, which is a bit surprising association. 

While the story, directing, soundtrack and cinematography are all amazing, the best part of the whole film has to be Robert Carlyle's performance. Aye, maybe I'm biased, but he's extremely talented. His performance is so emotionally raw and powerful it gives you chills. He's absolutely a brilliant actor, and I can't imagine anyone else playing his character in this movie. California Solo absolutely needed Robert Carlyle, his absolutely perfect for this. 

I liked this movie very much, but I feel like I need to get a little bit older and move around to relate to it even more. But in ten years or so, I'll absolutely return to this movie and see if my gained wisdom gives me another way to look at this. But for now I'll just know California Solo is a beautiful, well-made film, which reminds me why I love drama when it's made this excellently. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

10 / 10

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 11

Day 11 - Your favourite movie from your childhood: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Now I'm not exactly sure if "Your favourite movie from your childhood" means my favourite movie as a child, or a movie from my childhood I still like, so I went with the first one. 

There were so many possible choices for this one.  As a kid I had several different movies that at the time I watched like million times and was obsessed with them until I found some other movie I liked. The movies I liked were Shrek 2 (seriously), Shark Tale, The Lion King 3 and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. After that I think my movie taste took a weird turn, since my favourite movie when I was 12 was The Rocky Horror Picture Show. So I decided to talk about a movie I loved as a kid that's actually, you know, suitable for children.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was so magical to me as a kid, it was amazing. But of course now the movie has lost it's magic because I've seen the original movie and read the novel and realised how much useless shite was added to this one, also I cannot stand Johnny Depp anymore. 

Hannibal Rising (2007)

Directed by: Peter Webber

Screenplay and novel by: Thomas Harris

After the death of his parents during World War II, young Hannibal Lecter moves in with his beautiful aunt and begins plotting revenge on the barbarians responsible for his sister's death.

---

I've been wanting to see Silence of the Lambs and all the other movies again, but I decided to start with Hannibal Rising. Not because of chronological order, but mostly because Hannibal Rising feels so separate from them all. Mostly because Hannibal Lecter in this movie doesn't seem like Hannibal Lecter at all. That's mostly because in Silence of the Lambs (if I recall correctly) Starling asked Lecter why he is the way he is, what happened to him. Lecter replies with "Nothing happened to me. I happened." So everything that Hannibal Rising kind of nullifies that answer completely, thus changing Lecter's character far too much in my taste.

This is why I wanted to watch this movie separately, to distance it from the others. It's more like a film about someone else named Hannibal Lecter than the same person. 

You can see Thomas Harris's skillful writing in the way how history is very present in the story. Not just as in "Harris definitely did his research" but like the war is present in everyone's and it comes up a lot, but that feels natural instead of like throwing in tragic backstories for everyone. But also there's less skillful writing present, inconsistencies in Hannibal's nature. Manners and respect are always important to Hannibal, and he murders a man just because he was rude to lady Murasaki, but he still kind of respects lady Murasaki's ancestors by using their sword, even though lady Murasaki explains she can only touch it once a year to clean it. So where's the line?

Even if Hannibal in this movie doesn't feel like Hannibal, Gaspard Ulliel still makes an excellent performance. He has clearly watched sir Anthony Hopkins closely to get the same kind of manners, but also he's talented enough to not get too concerned with sir Hopkins' iconic portrayal. 

There's also something about the pace of the movie I don't like, mostly because of the beginning and Hannibal and Mischa as kids, however I'm not certain how I would fix that. 

Visually of course this movie is stunning, and they aren't too frugal with the amount of blood and gore. Violence feels more present in the other movies compared to this one. 

Hannibal Rising is a decent movie, and it could be good, but it feels all too distant compared to all the others. Something is missing, yet there's something new and intriguing. That would be good if it really felt the same.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 10

Day 10 - Your Favourite director 

I can't choose only one of these so I'm going to go with both. And this is mostly because I seriously can quickly think of three or four directors on the top of my head, I'm not good at remembering them, and there are only few I've actually paid attention to.

I'm aware that Quentin Tarantino might be a bit obvious choice. His name alone feels a bit overrated when it comes to several of his movies that are always praised. But he's an amazing director and has he ever made a bad movie? No. 

Danny Boyle has made a lot of different kind of movies, but they have never disappointed me. However I haven't seen all of his movies, like I have with Quentin, so I cannot really say that he has never made a bad movie. But I haven't disliked any of the movies I've seen from him. 

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 09

Day 9 - A movie that you know practically the whole script of - Filth

When I saw Filth it instantly became my favourite movie and I saw it so many times I've lost count, which is rare when it comes to a movie I first saw when I was still running this blog. Because usually I don't want a movie that often since I need to write reviews for all the new movies I've seen, so I usually watch the same movie three times a year, max. But Filth I wached several times a week.

Of course there was a time I didn't watch Filth as much as I would've wanted to, but when I watched it again finally, I could still remember almost every line. Almost, since it had been a while, and there were a few funny lines which took me by surprise. 

Still, even though I'm not watching Filth as much as I used to, and it's no longer my absolute favourite movie, I still love it, and peculiarly enough it hasn't lost its charm or brutality even though I've seen it so many times, analysed it and all that shite.

30 Day Movie Challenge - Day 08

Day 8 - A movie that makes you sad: Inside I'm Dancing

or Rory O'shea was here

I've only seen Inside I'm Dancing once, and then it was way too heavy and sad for me. That's pretty much the reason why I haven't seen it again. I feel like once was enough, unless one day  I really, really want to see something sad again.

Of course there are other movies that break me down emotionally, but this one must be the worst, since like when it comes to Edward Scissorhands, I've seen that movie several times. Same with like Moulin Rouge and other simply heartbreaking movies. And I guess the worst thing is that the movie doesn't have to be all miserable. If it is, the effect isn't as grand as when the movie makes you laugh or feel all warm and fuzzy inside and then breaks you down.