"The sea keeps things in perspective, which is easy to lose."

Year: 2003

Director: John Mackenzie 

Writers: Desmond Lowden (book), Timothy Prager

The workaholic head of the compliance section of a New York bank flies to Monaco to investigate unusual deposits from an offshore bank and meets a down-on-his-luck international film star who has become embroiled in criminal activities.

- Anonymous

I mostly wanted to see this movie, because it was a thriller and because of Michael Keaton. 

I've only seen Keaton in two action movies (Batman, Batman Returns), a fantasy comedy (Beetlejuice) and a drama (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)). Did this movie give something new from Keaton I didn't already know about? No. This definitely was just a mediocre performance from Michael Keaton. He can definitely do much better. I also very much like Michael Caine, but his character seemed sort of useless. I don't know why his name is mentioned second, he hardly did anything compared Judith Godréche, who did do a good job, though I haven't seen her in any other movie, so I don't exactly know what kind of performances she usually gives.

First thing I noticed, again, was the music. Considering this movie came out in 2003, the music seemed a bit odd. It was more like music in the thrillers of 1980s, 1990s. It vaguely reminded me of the music in Manhunter. The movie wasn't exactly distracting, but I would've gone to another direction with the film score.

The story of Quicksand wasn't extremely original. The fact that a man who has no history of any kind of crimes or action (though that was left kind of vague) is suddenly in the middle of a total chaos, and is framed for a murder, etcetera. That part is nothing new. But I don't know if I've ever seen a movie where the main character of an action movie would be a banker. Still, banker or not, the main character is a 30-50-year-old straight white man, so that is absolutely nothing new. In short, Quicksand isn't offering anything new, original or tremendously exciting to the audience.

Quicksand was too awfully graphic. The violence and blood wasn't exactly too graphic, except for few parts, but mostly I'm talking about a few rape scenes. You can't exactly see too much, but usually even remotely graphic rape scenes are extremely tasteless, and of course might be really horrifying to the most sensitive audience and rape survivors, which is why I'd recommend to avoid this movie, if you tend to get really uncomfortable and triggered by rape. But luckily this movie didn't have way too graphic rape scene that would've lasted like way too long. It was short, but it's enough to make you uncomfortable.

I really don't know what to say about this film. I don't know if I should even recommend it to anyone. I mean it's not really bad, but it brings nothing to the table. This movie sort of reminded me of why I've been avoiding thrillers, even though I sort of love them: thrillers are repeated, and there are very few thrillers that are original and actually very exciting. My honest opinion? If you want thriller, stick with Silence Of The Lambs, it never lets you down.

☆☆☆

3 / 10

"I hope life on Earth is everything you remember it to be."

Year: 2009

Director: Duncan Jones

Writers: Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker

Sam Bell has a three year work contract on the moon, where he sends resources to earth for the power problems. He spends his time alone, with the computer GERTY, until he gets into a crash. He doesn't remember anything, and when he finally gets outside, he discovers something that will make him re-evaluate everything he thinks he knows about his job and his past and himself.

I mostly decided to watch Moon, because of Sam Rockwell. I'm really starting to like him as an actor, ever since Choke and Seven Psychopaths. But I think his performance in Moon might be his best performance yet.

The first thing I actually thought about this movie was how amazing the theme music was. It was slightly eerie and chilling yet enchanting, which is why it was perfect for this film, which turned out to be both. And the music was astonishing in it's simplicity. Apparently the score to this movie is composed by none other than Clint Mansell. Clint Mansell must be one of the best composers, his work is amazing in The Fountain and Black Swan, but his work in this movie was hauntingly beautiful, but yet so simple. The score of Moon might be now my favourite score. 

The writer(s) kept the story going smoothly from the beginning to the end. There wasn't a moment during the movie, when I would've felt bored or dissatisfied with the movie. I kept watching all the way through without getting frustrated with bad or typical writing or too basic directing. No, Moon was definitely well written and well directed. 

The story of Moon kept me on the edge of my seat. It was suspenseful, but not too much - after all, Moon wasn't science fiction horror, it was a drama. So it didn't have any kind of jump scares, which is definitely a plus. Most importantly, this movie actually made me feel confused just the right way. Not confused, like "I have no idea what is going on, I'm going to quit this right now", but the way I had to see things unravel, bit by bit. And it was definitely worth it to sit through the whole thing and finally get clear answers. But when I finally got the answers, the story still developed, which was marvellous: the point of the movie wasn't just finding answers to all the questions you asked yourself while watching, but everything had to resolve too.  Moon was mysterious, suspenseful and touching. It was definitely an emotive movie.

So, emotions, check. What about thoughts? Was Moon thought provoking? Absolutely. This is how I think science fiction should be. It should not be just action and blasting with guns. Compared to Star Wars kind of science fiction Moon was almost delicate. Yes, it was about science, but it was about the questions we have to ask about science. Can we do this? Maybe we can, but should we? Is it morally right to do this? This is exactly what I want when I am watching or reading science fiction. I want something deep, ethical questions, anything.

I honest to god can't think of anything I don't like about Moon. Everything just clicked, the story, the cinematography, the music, the pace, the cast, which was mostly Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey as GERTY... But still, Moon was an amazing experience, and will definitely be one of my favourite movies. 

I recommend Moon to everyone who likes science fiction and thought provoking movies, and especially thought provoking science fiction. Absolutely beautiful movie.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

10 / 10

"What is this? A center for ants?"

Year: 2001

Director: Ben Stiller

Writers: Drake Sather, Ben Stiller, John Hamburg

A clueless fashion model Derek Zoolander loses the award of Male Model of the year to his rival Hansel. After Zoolander decides to retire, a controversial fashion designer Mugatu gives him an amazing deal - but Zoolander doesn't know he's being brainwashed to kill the Malaysian prime minister.

Zoolander is one of those movies that I watch so I can understand so many references I've seen online. Also because it seemed so absolutely ridiculous that I had to see it, just to make sure it's really bad.

And of course the movie was absolutely ridiculous, right from the start, and that's necessarily a bad thing. It would've been bad, if they would've tried to make some sort of deep and meaningful ending the viewers would learn something from. Those endings tend to ruin a perfectly and ridiculously hilarious movie. But no, Zoolander was hilarious all the way, and that was magnificent. 

Of course few things ruin the hilariousness a bit. I mean no matter how hilarious Zoolander was, it wasn't really original. Naturally some jokes were, but it used the clichés and stereotypes the fashion industry is full of. Dumb models, for example, haven't we be using them enough. Okay, in this case, maybe that cliché hasn't been used so much on male models, I don't know, but models in general it's been used way too much. But of course putting fashion industry behind political assassinations was hilarious and sort of original. But majority of jokes were typical and not at all surprising.

But I gotta tip my hat off to the brilliant cameos. I don't even care for the rest, but the one with David Bowie? Amazing.

I don't really have much to say about this movie, but it was definitely a wild ride. I recommend this to anyone who hasn't seen it, though I'm pretty sure most people have, and I'm just late. But I'm definitely glad I saw this. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10

"Just once I want my life to be like an 80's movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life"

Year: 2010

Director: Will Gluck

Writer: Bert V. Royal

A small lie about how Olive spent her weekend spreads, and soon the whole school knows about it. When Olive promises to help a friend, pretending to have sex with him, makes everybody call her a slut.

Easy A is one of the very, very few teen movies, that actually make me laugh. And of course, Easy A isn't just fun and games: even though it's a comedy, it has some pretty heavy stuff. The movie seems like a really funny, easy movie, but it gets almost unbearably heavy towards the end, it's frustrating.

I love the story and the writing in this movie. The story is something that could at least partly tempt the audience of teenagers, and even some older and / or more mature viewers. It's a simple story, but still it has good themes, and of course the message it sends is very important. And the dialogue in this movie... It's seriously so amazing. It's funny and fresh, maybe not exactly realistic, but this movie has some of the best lines in these kind of movies. The dialogue is pure gold.

If there's anything that I wonder about this movie, it's how quickly the rumours spread. Mostly I'm surprised, because I don't think I've ever heard a rumour about someone's sexual life. I understood sort of , if someone was taking money for sex, that I could see spreading, but I don't know. Maybe it's just Finland, or maybe I'm just hanging around with the kind of people, who really don't care about other people's private lives. Could be the latter one.

And now to the message and purpose etcetera, the moral behind the story. I hate the people in this movie, I mean the other high school students, and some of the adults too. I mean, a girl "sleeps" with too people, and she is considered a slut, I mean really? Two people? Okay, to be honest, even if a girl would sleep with a hundred of guys, there still would be no reason to call her slut. I'm writing this, because some people still are struggling with this: someone's sex life is not anyone's business, and anyone should be able to have or not have sex as much as they want, if it's consensual, and you have consent. Another notable thing about this movie is how the guys who pretend to sleep with Olive aren't considered as "man-whores". There isn't even a proper "bad word" for a man who sleeps around. Even that tells you something about the double-standard. Anyway, the guys get praised and called studs while poor Olive gets called a skank and a slut and every bad word there is for a woman who sleeps with a lot of people.

This will bug me forever, and it should bug you too. If it doesn't, watch this movie. If you have seen the movie, and it still doesn't bug you, then I don't know, you really should think about why it doesn't bug you - you might have been influenced by institutionalised misogyny.

But I have to love Olive as a character. I mean she's a really hilarious girl, she's truly amazing. She's an example how someone can have to extremities in them. I mean Olive is strong, she's really strong, because she can handle what people are throwing at her. But that doesn't mean it doesn't get to her, or that she doesn't care. She is both strong and vulnerable, which shows how well written she is. I just had an argument about how it's hard for actors and actresses to play confident AND insecure characters, like as if they couldn't play both. Well, Emma Stone proves she can play both strong and vulnerable, confident and still insecure in the same role. I love both the character Olive and the actress Emma Stone very much. And Emma Stone can rock any kind of role, she's truly amazing actress.

Easy A is fun, but still holds an important message. It's both light-hearted and heavy, a perfect amount of both. I warmly recommend Easy A to anyone, because even if you'd only be into some really artsy movies, and couldn't even dare to look at Easy A, it's a good example of well-written comedy with a two-dimensional female leading character.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10

"We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all."

Year: 1985

Director & Writer: John Hughes

Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought.

- A. Nonymous

When I sat down to watch this movie, I mostly had one question in mind: is The Breakfast Club overrated?

Mostly what this movie has been praised for is the story and the writing. Though some of the praise would make you more think, what writing? It's said of a lot of scene how they were ad-libbed. I am quite suspicious of many of those claims, I mean if they all were true, basically it would mean there'd be only very little on the script, and that the actors and actresses were just thrown into the situation. I believe some of the scenes were ad-libbed, but definitely not everything. 

Of course the very idea of the story is good, well, now it has become a classic. I mean members of different cliques or stereotypes thrown in together... And of course I like the idea. It's the kind of idea you can get gems out of. And, well, John Hughes did get gems out of the idea. Some of the scenes were very touching and real in the way that it doesn't just feel like scripted bullshit mumbled by only decent actors. They felt real, and that's what's important.

But  apart from few deep and touching and funny scenes, The Breakfast Club was sometimes incredibly boring. It was kind of disappointing. I'm not a big fan of 80s movies, apart from Heathers, which is amazing, but I was sort of hoping for The Breakfast Club to be more amazing than it was. I probably was expecting too much, or maybe I'm too old to get it. Well, too old compared to the characters I mean.

So all in all, I wouldn't say The Breakfast Club is overrated. It's written well, and it's somehow so very truthful in the dialogue and everything. Of course there is clichés, but I can definitely understand why people like it, even though I wouldn't be so thrilled.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10

Brains. Beauty. Bravery. These girls got it all... They just don't know it yet.

The House Bunny

Year: 2008

Director: Fred Wolf

Writers: Karen McCullah, Kirsten Smith

Starring: Anna Faris, Emma Stone, Kat Dennings, Colin Hanks

I actually don't know how to review this without talking about plot twists, so this review contains spoilers, 

When Playboy bunny Shelley is kicked out of the playboy mansion, she finds a new home and a new purpose: she becomes a house mother for a sorority full of socially awkward girls. The sorority is about to lose their house if they don't get enough pledges, and Shelley decides to help them.

When I first stumbled onto this movie, I don't know what I thought specifically. I just looked at the poster and thought, well, Anna Faris is great, I maybe should watch it.

Of course this movie had a bunch of clichés and stereotypes in it. Shelley was a stereotype of  a dumb blonde, who has a heart of gold anyway, and the girls in that sorority were such stereotypes of awkward nerds. Stereotypes are always boring. Everyone gets sick of stereotypes, because usually they make there characters one-dimensional. But the characters in this movie weren't actually that one-dimensional, but more about that later. 

This movie also featured that stupid trope of how the awkward girls got popular when they all of a sudden became hot, with help of Shelley. At that point of the movie, I was feeling pissed. But later on, and this is the part were I will probably spoil the movie, the girls luckily realised they don't have to be pretty or popular, they can be themselves. Though they did get some influences from Shelley, and they kept it. I mean they were starting to become mean and judgemental, but Lilly, who hadn't said pretty much anything through the whole movie, luckily talked some sense into them.

And all in all I think The House Bunny had a nice message for girls, I mean eventually it was that you should be yourself, though if you change, it also is okay. But you shouldn't try to change for a guy. That's what I got from the movie, of course someone else may disagree. And of course there's always a chance that The House Bunny is just a comedy and doesn't have a deeper message, but I don't think so. 

The House Bunny was actually quite funny, funnier than I thought. But they made that one date rape joke that kind of ruined some of it, I mean that was obnoxious.

The House Bunny was an alright movie, and apart from the message I interpreted, I don't think it's anything special. It might be worth watching, but there sure as hell are a lot better movies out there.

☆☆☆☆☆

5 / 10