"Problem? I haven't got a problem. I've got fucking problems. Plural."

Four Rooms tells four different stories in one hotel during one New Year's Eve. All those stories focus on Ted the Bellhopper's encounters with the most eccentric guests, for example a coven of witches, a man who has tied up his wife and points a gun at the bellhopper, the children of a Mexican Gangster and a movie star who has made the weirdest bet with a friend.

I remember how this movie was shown on TV when I was little, about ten years old. I wanted to see it, it seemed funny, but my mom decided that it was garbage, and she changed the channel. So I didn't get to see this until tonight. And heck!

At first I thought that Four Rooms was ridiculously extravagant, or extravagantly ridiculous Well, it totally was, but when it first seemed almost annoying (I saw the beginning as a kid, and as a kid everything extravagantly ridiculous is much funnier than when you get older) but as it went on, you get used to it. It might also have something to do with the director - all four stories had a different director. Of course Ted's manoeuvres were pretty much the same, but few stories the ridiculous extravagance were more annoying compared to some other story. And of course the ridiculousness came from different things with different writers / directors, but Ted was pretty much the same during the whole thing. Then again Ted grew tired of the whole thing during the story, but what I mean is his ridiculousness was the same.

The best example of the different kind of extravagant ridiculousness is, well, the director of the last part. Last story, Man From Hollywood, was directed by Quentin Tarantino. And if you have seen his film(s) then you know his style. And it does stand out. I usually don't even notice differences between directors, but there are few whose style I notice. Tarantino is one of them, and then there's Stanley Kubrick, but if a director isn't as distinctive as those, I barely can tell them apart. Like first three stories in Four Rooms could've been directed by the same people for all I noticed, but Tarantino's style was really noticeable. Then again he actually acting there also might have something to do with it, I don't know.

I really like Tim Roth as an actor. I've seen him in Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and in the TV-show Lie To Me. He's been wonderful in all of those. However, in Four Rooms I saw a different side of him. The roles I've seen before have been serious, in their own way, but Ted the Bellhopper is a character that can't be taken seriously. His movement and voice are so ridiculous and the ludicrous situations make the whole thing even more ridiculous.

Four Rooms is a funny movie with excellent actors, and I do recommend it, unless you're not a friend of really ridiculously extravagant comedy. And now the fucking theme song is playing in my head.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8/10 

"Dear Diary, my teen-angst bullshit now has a body count."

Veronica Sawyers is trying to be a part of the most popular girls. all called Heather, in school, when she meets J.D. They accidentally kill the most popular Heather, and they try to make it look like a suicide. J.D. however thinks one kill like this isn't enough

God, I haven't watched 80's high school movies since I watched either Tuff Turf or The New Kids. I've kinda been wanting to watch Heathers since I first saw people quoting it, mostly on the Internet. I don't know, if this movie has been a hit here in Finland or not, but I haven't heard many people talking about it, so I can assume it's either forgotten or it never as so big here. Also what really made me watch this movie right now is probably the music I've been listening to. I mean I've been listening to Chisu and Emilie Autumn and well, simply really dark songs by amazing ladies, and I sort of felt like this movie would be a good to watch right no. (I'll probably watch Girl Interrupted tomorrow, we'll see.)

Anyway, I'm still trying to understand why most of the 80's high school movies I've seen have been really dark and violent and disturbing. The only one that wasn't was Pretty In Pink, which however was a really boring and shit film, and I'm not going to see it ever again. But Tuff Turf was really violent, The New Kids was terrifying and now Heathers. Heathers was actually wonderfully disturbed and it was exactly what I would expect it to be. Too bad they don't make high school movies like this anymore. Sure, maybe it isn't very realistic (or maybe it is in the US, I have no idea how fucked up that place can be) but realism isn't what we need in high school movies, especially if the audience is in high school. People who are going through all that high school shit don't always want to see a movie where the characters go through exactly what the viewer goes through. And at least in Heathers all the violence and murders and suicides weren't there just for the sakes of violence and murders and suicides. They actually had a meaning. I don't know if I can say the same for Tuff Turf.

Also the music had a wonderful effect on the events of the movie. I've never liked the music in 80's movies, because it's sort of disturbing. However, disturbing music goes well with disturbing movie and scenes.

I'd love to write more, but I'm tired and I want to go to sleep. I really recommend Heathers to anyone, who isn't too judgemental on 80's high school movies.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10

"People would be all like: Jane, why do you have a photo of President Garfield on your mantle? And I'd be like: Because I like lasagna, of course."

I seriously couldn't find a poster that was in English and that I could use, so we're going to have to do without.

Anyway I watched the movie Smiley Face from the year 2007. The main character is Jane F, who wants to be an actress. She accidentally eats pot cupcakes made by her roommate, so her day becomes one big weird adventure when she tries to a) Get money for the dealer b) Somehow make new pot cupcakes for the roommate and c) go through the audition. 

I wasn't exactly sure what I would expect from this movie. I sort of expected something less distressing. I mean even though it's a fun movie, it has several very distressing scenes. And most of the effects and music used in the movie were really, well, effective. Basically visual and sound effects and the music made the viewer feel like... Well to be honest when I was watching the movie I felt like I was also stoned. 

I mean I've seen Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, and even that movie didn't have that kind of effect on me. In that movie, even though the effects are insane and the movie is kind of psychedelic, Smiley Face is that but over the top. Smiley Face also had some more realism in it compared to Fear And Loathing. I mean that's just being wobbly. Smiley Face however, well, Jane F wasn't using any harder drugs than marijuana, and she was almost incapable of doing anything. Everything she said and did was just so wrong, and I wanted to grab her and yell at her for being so useless. That kind of made it fun and hard to watch at the same time. Well, that and the mini heart-attacks this movie gave me - there were a lot of those moments when something happens so suddenly you actually get scared.

I truly adore Anna Faris. Most of her characters are truly, well, weird. I've seen What's Your Number like three times, and I adore Faris in it. I've also seen the first and third Scary Movie, though they weren't so good, but Faris was amazing in them too.

I liked this movie a lot, but it also was really annoying to watch. And it gave me a freaking headache. At least I think the movie had something to do with that.

☆☆☆☆☆
5 / 10

"It's like I said all that time ago, if the world doesn't end I wanna be here at home, with you. And that's how I live now."

Daisy is sent from the US to stay with relatives in English countryside. Suddenly the country is in war, and Daisy has to try to survive through it all with her cousin, while looking for the rest of the family.

To be honest I didn't read the whole summary of the movie when I started watching it. I just kinda thought it would be some kind of teenage drama movie about adaptation and life in general. Basically I didn't know what I was expecting. So when there suddenly is people wearing uniforms with guns at the airport and explosions and everything, I started to wonder what exactly am I watching. And even though I sort of realised what was going on, I still think there were so many things I didn't understand. And I really feel like I have to read the book to understand. It's a completely different matter if I can or can't find the book here in Finland.

I loved how the story was happening in the middle of the war and everything, but it still was a development story. The character development with the main character Daisy was actually very good. Though I'm kinda disappointed that all that development sort of happened because of a guy. I mean also sort of because of the war and the situation, but um... Daisy's love for Eddie was kind of playing a major part in the story. Sure, it was a romantic movie, but I still think that Daisy was thinking too much of Eddie and not enough of herself. I mean she and Piper left their shelter mostly because Daisy wanted to find Eddie. I mean I would've understand if it had been Piper wanting to find Eddie and Isaac - I mean they were her brothers. And of course another kind of disturbing side with Daisy and Eddie's relationship, but I don't want to go there. I mean for one thing I started thinking why is it disturbing. I drew to my own conclusions but I'm not going to analyse them here. After all this is a movie blog and not... a blog where I examine things society considers weird and taboo. 

I truly love Saoirse Ronan. She's a wonderful actress, and it's weird to think that she's only two years older than me... 

I really liked the music. Partly it reminded me of the music in Hanna, especially on the parts where the score was sort of like electronic soundtrack music. And I also want to give points for using the amazing music of Amanda Palmer and Daughter. It's always nice to hear your favourite bands or artists in a movie.

 But even though I was totally unprepared for this movie, I really liked it. It was dark and agonising and heart-breaking, but at the same time is was so beautiful and lovely. If a movie is all of those things, there's no way it's horrible. I recommend this movie very much, and if you end up watching this movie, I hope you are more prepared than I was.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10

I also would like to give a little heads up on November. During November I will be participating on National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) which means I have to write 50,000 words in a month. So yeah, that could mean I won't do that much reviews, because I'm busy writing my novel loosely based on a skit by Comedy Bang Bang. If you are also participating, see my profile here.

"My name is Vassily Orlov. Today, a Russian agent will travel to New York city to kill the President. This agent is KA-12."

Evelyn Salt is working for the CIA, and suddenly is accused of being a Russian spy, who's going to kill the Russian president visiting America. 

And that's seriously how much I can tell about the plot. I mean I read that on IMDb or somewhere and I wasn't exactly boiling with excitement to watch this. I just thought Salt would be an action movie that wouldn't actually stand out. But it did stand out with its complex plot and plot twists which just came after another. And what was best about those plot twists is that they never left me thinking "well that was cheap" or anything negative. I was mostly confused but usually the things got clearer towards the end - like it's supposed to go. I like the story and the complex plot, because you can't just watch this movie, you have to concentrate. True, Salt maybe isn't like Slipstream or Inception, which you have to watch at least two times before you figure them truly out. (Actually I've seen Slipstream twice and I still haven't figured it out. I have my theory on it, but it's... sort of lacking still.) But I don't think action movies need to be too complex - Salt just was a bit more complex than action movies usually are, and I loved that.

Actually I wanted to watch this movie because I'm starting to fall for Angelina Jolie. I first saw her in Wanted, and after that in Mr and Mrs Smith. She's a truly amazing actress and she looks how I would like to look. She looks like if she would beat me up and leave me die, I would probably feel happy about it. There are several women who look like that - another one is Natalie Dormer. Anyway, Jolie was a perfect choice for Evelyn Salt, and I couldn't imagine anyone else as Salt even if I wanted to try. But I've mostly seen Jolie in action movies. I wonder if I should try seeing her in other kind of movies...

The ending was also kind of lacking - which gives us hope for a possible sequel. I'd watch the hell out of that, if they're ever going to do it. However I doubt they can still do the complex plot they did now - and the plot twists are already kind of used. Like we don't know everything about Salt, but there's nothing truly horrible to be revealed any more, I think. 

I recommend this movie to anyone who adores Angelina Jolie and loves action movies - especially more complex one. And of course I recommend this movie to anyone who is aching for a female led action movie - you have one here, and this one is good.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10

"If you only look where you can't go, you will miss the riches below."

Engineer Michael Jennings works for about two months for a company in secret, and afterwards gets his memories erased and a big paycheck. This is how the life goes - until a bigger job is proposed to him. Three years working on a job and about 90 million dollars afterwards. Jennings then wakes up three years later, and soon realises the job wasn't that simple: FBI and old boss are on his tail, and he only has 20 items that he sent to himself - though he doesn't remember why.

I actually don't even remember why I had this movie. Because I just started to watch it and then... I didn't even know what it was about. But it was very interesting, and very exciting. And when I started watching, I first thought that "Why am I watching this? I don't even know what this is about, maybe I should just stop." But then I didn't stop, and I continued watching and damn I was hooked soon. I mean the plot, the story is so damn thrilling I just had to sit on the edge of my seat so I could see what happens / has happened. It was really cool.

I was kinda happy about Jennings and Rachel, who were romantically involved. I mean when Rachel joined Jennings, to help him, there wasn't clear leader in their team of two. And there was nothing like "Go!" "No I won't go without you!" bullshit - or  at least at first there was nothing like that. Just in the end. But I hate that fucking clichéd sacrificing yourself and blah blah. Most people in the situation like that would probably rather go with the ones they love than try to sacrifice themselves for the greater good and for their loved ones.

Also I started to think about one thing. I mean basically Jennings had to go with the stuff he had sent himself. He just had to trust, well, himself and just keep his eyes open so he knew what to do and so on. But what if he had done something differently? Would he have dared to try do something different? Would you dare do something different? In a situation like that I think I would be thinking all the time if I'm even going to the right direction. Like what if I had done something a little different and ended up in some other place? I seriously couldn't stop thinking that. Well I don't think I'll get into a situation like that.

Anyway, Paycheck was good. It's not the best science fiction action movie out there, but it is seriously good. I warmly recommend it to any friends of science fiction and / or action. It's very nice, even though it wouldn't make it to be your favourite.

☆☆☆☆

4 / 10

(Note: The rating was edited on 21st of February 2015 after thinking about the movie more)