August in Movies

Thanks to the 16 Days of Birthday marathon that took up most of this month, I watched a lot of films that I'll never have time to review. So let's just make a new feature: a monthly review with a list of all the movies I watched this month and the few words I have to say about them. Cool? Cool.

The Movies I Haven't Seen Before...

Quiz Show

Magnolia - Paul Thomas Anderson entertains me for three hours...well, six, if you count the rewatch I had to do so I actually 'got' the film.
The Lincoln Lawyer - Waaaaaaaaaait, Matthew McConaughey can actually star in a good movie? Wow, what a revelation.
The Way Back - A movie I can't stop recommending. Saorise Ronan still makes me jealous.
Rabbit Hole - The poster is freaking beautiful. So was the movie. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart were brilliant.
Conviction - Not as bad as people made it out to be, but yeah, it was weak. Juliette Lewis was great in her small role, though!
Sucker Punch - I can't believe that this movie was my most anticipated of 2011 once. It was so awful!
Red Riding Hood - Amanda Seyfried was pretty, but that was all.
Secretariat - I like horse movies. And the horse didn't die at the end of this movie, which was even better.
The Romantics - Ummmm...the ending of this movie really pissed me off. I still love Anna Paquin, even though her American accent always sounds like the accent she uses in True Blood.
Love and Other Impossible Pursuits - Natalie Portman is awesomeness. This movie was kinda bland, though, but I liked it enough.
Perrier's Bounty - Cillian Murphy being badass. Well, kinda. Irish comedies are still the shit, though.
Strange Days - Ralph Fiennes being badass. And sex on legs. Wholey crap this movie was awesome. Kathryn Bigelow is my idol.
Brighton Rock - I watched this while on the lookout for snow. Needless to say, I think I may have missed the point because I was so excited about snow. Mind you, it was a bit of a mess.
It's Kind of a Funny Story - This was pretty alright. If only Emma Roberts would get some better roles...because she was kinda good as a depressive teenager.
Paul - Now this movie was funny. Apart from Seth Rogen. Even as an alien, he annoys me.
Biutiful - I can't believe that I liked this movie. It was bloody depressing (for some reason, I have this recurring image of Javier Bardem all frail and wearing an adult nappy and it just makes me want to cry), but it was good.
Quiz Show - Probably the best movie I watched all month. No, that's not because Ralph Fiennes was flawless and so sexy I just about died.
Heartbreaker - I don't care what y'all say, this movie is awesome. I had a good laugh...which is something that movies rarely achieve with me.
Breaking the Waves - Ahead of watching Melancholia at the NZFF, I decided that I probably should watch a Lars von Trier movie. This one was pretty good, but it was as depressing as hell. It was also the last R16 I saw while not being 16.
In Bruges - "You're a fucking inanimate object!" Hilarious.
Battle: Los Angeles - While it looked good on my new Blu-Ray machine, I am unfortunately not a teenage boy so I did not understand all of the explosions.
Taxi Driver - I love 70's movies. This one was absolutely fantastic.
Crazy, Stupid, Love. - I want a Ryan Gosling. It's like he's photoshopped.
The Tree of Life - Tree's have become so much more appealing to me.
Carlos the Jackal - The movie version, not the TV show. I don't know why, but Saturday is suddenly foreign movie night.
A Clockwork Orange - My first Stanley Kubrick movie. I get why y'all love him. This movie was seriously good. Apart from my mother insisting on walking into my room everytime the movie got a bit R18.
Solomon Kane - My brother and mother wanted me to watch this. It was exactly what I thought it would be...average.
Just Go with It - Whhhhhhhhyyyyyyy does everything have to be so cliched these days?!
Eagle vs. Shark - A Kiwi film for something that you will see on the net sometime at the end of the week. Yes, you should be excited.

Movies that I have already seen but watched again because I'm cool like that...



(500) Days of Summer

Never Let Me Go - I still cried at the end of this movie. A lot. It was much less awkward than crying quite loudly in a cinema which only had four other people in it.
Limitless - There was a special at work and I felt like rewatching this movie. I don't know why I like the movie so much...it's like, I can see the flaws, but I just really enjoy it.
Sunset Blvd. - I love movies about Hollywood. This one is probably the best...even though Gloria Swanson freaks me out a lot.
(500) Days of Summer - The awkward moment when you can turn (500) Days of Summer into a musical because you know all of the words to the songs in the soundtrack.

How about you, have you seen anything good in August?

Just Link with It

Tuesday Movie Night is not happening like it usually does. Unfortunately, the only DVD release in NZ this week is Fast Five, which I can't watch since I haven't seen the first four movies (nor do I want to). So instead, I got Just Go with It on Blu-Ray, mainly because I missed it when it first came out on DVD about three weeks ago. And I don't like missing out on major releases, no matter how bad they are.

As I watch Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler try to be funny, check out these posts...

At nearly the same time as I posted my review on The Tree of Life, Mette from Lime Reviews posted her take on it. Glad to know that I'm not the only 16 year old who liked it!

One of my favourite Bette Davis films is Now, Voyager, and Anna at Defiant Success quite liked it too.

Midnight in Paris has finally been given a release date for NZ: October 20. Growing more and more certain that I'm the only film-lover who hasn't seen it, Andrew at Encore's World of Film & TV gives it a whirl.

Nikhat at Being Norma Jeane - who now has a very dapper Ralph Fiennes as her site's banner - has reviewed In Bruges, which I watched on my birthday (first R16 and Blu-Ray movie, wahoo). When times get tough, I'll always say "You're a fucking inanimate object!"

Who doesn't love a bit of Philip Seymour Hoffman? Blahblahblahgay certainly does, sharing five of Hoffman's best movies that you may not have seen.

Does everyone remember The Social Network? Well Max and I stir up some conversation about it on Anomalous Material, with the latest instalment to the 'Conversations' feature we have on there.

Let's face it, Quentin Tarantino creates some really brilliant characters. Tyler at Southern Vision realises this, and gives some of Tarantino's characters posters to their own movie.

Enjoy, and have an awesome week!

Classic - Magnolia

Magnolia opens with three stories: One about a resident of Greenberry Hill in London being murdered by Joseph Green, Stanley Berry and Daniel Hill; another about a scuba diver killed by a firefighting airplane, and the fact that the scuba diver actually encountered the pilot of the plane a few days before; and finally a 17-year-old attempting suicide by jumping off the roof of his apartment building, only to have his mother accidentally shoot him as he falls past her window. What do all of these stories have in common? They're all a matter of coincidence. So what does this have to do with a mosaic of stories about a police officer who lost his gun (John C. Reilly); a dying TV producer (Jason Robards), his mentally unstable trophy wife (Julianne Moore) and his lonely but kind nurse (Philip Seymour Hoffman); a Cocaine addict (Melora Walters) and her fractured relationship with her quiz show host father (Philip Baker Hall); a misogynistic man (Tom Cruise) who endorses 'Seduce and Destroy', which allows men to get their way with women easily; a former quiz champion who apparently needs braces (William H. Macy); and a young intelligent boy (Jeremy Blackman) afraid of disappointing his father?

Well, for most of the film, it would appear that these stories are just thrown together into one film, holding little resemblance or connection to one another. But what writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson wants us to realise is the fact that there are a lot more connections between one life and another that comes down to pure coincidence. In three hours, Anderson does everything he possibly can to get his point across, and there is definitely no other way that the point could have been achieved. First, he uses a lot of examples just to show how widespread coincidence can go. Since he used a lot of examples, he does everything in his power to make sure that his many characters don't succumb to two-dimensionality. And guess what? They don't. Every character is carefully crafted, so it is a lot easier to believe in them all, and stay with each of them throughout the whole time. When Anderson gets to his point, its glorious. An unlikely event allows all of these characters to save themselves in some small way, and it's beautiful to watch.

The fact that Paul Thomas Anderson made this film three hours for a potentially mainstream audience is a bit of a stretch. But it also shows that Anderson may in fact be one of the most talented modern writers/directors around. Magnolia is nothing short of epic, and it also remains completely engaging for the entire running time. It's also a film that requires multiple viewings, as there will always be something new to discover. I had to watch it twice to entirely get the gist of it, but had I had the chance, I'd have watched it a few more times. On the second time around, I realised how much attention to detail Anderson gave. It's ridiculous the amounts of times the numbers 8 and 2 show up, because of the many references to Exodus 8:2 which gives this movie most of its meaning. Also, on a second watch, many of the themes in the movie became a lot clearer to me. Other than the theme of coincidence, the one theme I was most impressed with was that mistakes from the past cannot simply be erased. A lot of movies that deal with forgiveness always make sure that once a person is forgiven nothing else matters. This movie, however, realises that forgiveness is generally a good thing, but the past never really goes away. I think this was probably most evident in Frank (Cruise) and Earl's (Robards) story, but it could be found in just about any of the others.

Being a multi-plot film with several stories and well-built characters, a strong cast was needed. Anderson got nothing less. If I had to choose two of my favourite performances in the movie, I'd probably go with Tom Cruise and Julianne Moore. Now, for some reason, I've always pictured Cruise as someone who often plays the nice guy. Here, he is the complete opposite. He offended the crap out of me while he was trying to sell his 'Seduce and Destroy' book, as he looked like he didn't have any respect for women at all. But I'll always remember him sitting by his dying father's bed, refusing to cry...and there, the man is changed. Julianne Moore has always been one of my favourite actresses, and I really liked her performance here even though her character was pretty shaky and crazy. The scene where she breaks down in the pharmacy was quite memorable. The film is filled with many brilliant performances, whether it be from a calm Philip Seymour Hoffman, a bed-ridden Jason Robards, an on-edge Melora Walters, a smitten John C. Reilly or an insecure William H. Macy...everyone is brilliant, which I think is a rarity in multi-plot films as actors are usually never given the chance to shine as much as they do here.

Providing a lovely final touch is Jon Brion's brilliant score and the heavy influence from Aimee Mann's music. The song opens with her cover of the song 'One' by Harry Nilsson, which is perfect for all of the characters introductions. Also, a song of hers, 'Wise Up', was at one point sung by each of the characters in the middle of the film. I felt that this sequence was a little bit indulgent on Anderson's part, but hey, not every film can be perfect, right? As a character study, though, this film gets pretty damn near to perfection.

THE VERDICT: Paul Thomas Anderson may just be one of the best writer/directors out there, as Magnolia clearly shows. It's an epic drama that is engaging through its entire three hour running time, and has enough material to last over several watches.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

Cinema - The Tree of Life

In third form English we are taught how to 'read between the lines'. Now this is a concept which many of us ADD teenagers have a lot of trouble with...it's like every bone in our body does not want to find the deeper meaning in something that seems pretty clear to begin with. Reading between the lines is a skill which I've had to hone in over the past few years and I've actually become semi-good at it. The world seems like a better place once you think about everything like your looking through a lens that's on 10x optical zoom. You see, I'm a thinker. I think far too much. I believe that every single thing that I do, see or have happen to me has a deeper meaning than what would appear. So yes, it came as no surprise that I genuinely liked Terrence Malick's latest The Tree of Life. This film is one that requires more than enough reading between the lines - because it is all the deeper meaning which makes the film work. In the 24 hours since I've seen the film, I've thought an awful lot about not only what the film was trying to say, but just about life in general.

I often find myself asking existential questions, but I never thought that anyone would have the courage to make a movie based around human existence. That's what Malick does: shows us a bit about the world we live in and the kinds of people that we all are. What Malick has also done is make a film which is open to many different viewpoints, and the audience can leave the cinema interpreting certain things in their own way.

I don't know whether there is a right or wrong way to interpret The Tree of Life, and it will probably become clearer to me after another watch, but this is how I got it: Towards the beginning of the film, Mrs. O'Brien (Jessica Chastain) says that there are two ways through life, the way of nature and the way of grace, and that we must choose one. She explains the differing two: "Nature only wants to please itself. Get others to please it too. Likes to lord it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy when all the world is shining around it. And love is smiling through all things." and "Grace doesn't try to please itself. Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries." Mrs. O'Brien is someone who lives by the way of grace, and comes across as a heavenly, peaceful person. However, Mr. O'Brien (Brad Pitt), is someone who lives by the way of nature, believing that the only way to get through this world is to be fiercer and stronger than others. As a child, their son Jack (played at first by newcomer Hunter McCracken, later by Sean Penn) finds it difficult to choose which path he should take. He toys with both, but then comes to the conclusion that he should follow the way of nature, with twinges of rebelliousness and experimental violence. Through that, we are essentially watching the loss of innocence through growing up - and young Jack's world being put through the perspective of the way of nature.

Now, as I said, there are loads of ways that this film can be interpreted. That is mainly due to the fact that every single scene has more than two meanings, and some of the scenes don't fit with what everything else is trying to say. In the grand scheme of things, this movie is quite messy. Instead of following the conventional path that most movies adhere to, this one adopts an unconventional non-linear storyline. The film opens with the O'Brien's finding out that their son has just died, and from there it zig-zags between the modern day Jack and Jack growing up in the 1950's. In between all of that time, there is a sequence showing the formation of the universe, Sean Penn's character walking through a desert like area and several seemingly irrelevant shots of different things (oh, and dinosaurs, which made perfect sense to me right away). That is not to say that all of what happens in this movie are generally bad, incomprehensible things. As I said, this movie requires a bit of reading between the lines, and I'm positive that every single thing in this movie has a meaning. The problem I have with it all is the fact that it probably makes more sense in Malick's head and in his script. Some of what he was trying to say didn't translate well to the screen.

For the most part, though, this film doesn't have any right to translate well on screen. For some reason, the meaning of life and all of these existential questions aren't the kind that makes for a good film. However, you really have to admire Malick's ambition. It's become the norm to make films just for those with ADD and who need explosions every five seconds. Malick, however, has created something which is as rare as they come. He mixes arthouse obscurity with a Hollywood budget and effects, which makes for one of the oddest marvels the cinematic world has seen in recent years - if ever. Now, I probably can't judge or anything considering that I haven't seen all of the films that every cinephile should have, but this movie is truly one of a kind. It has achieved something that no film has achieved before: provided a poetic and beautiful look at life in general, doing it in the most unconventional way possible. It's a film which is complicated, yet it doesn't waste it's time with expository dialogue. Instead, there is barely any dialogue, with the pictures, the faces, telling the story. The whispered narration, which comes and goes when you least expect it, is there to aid the film through each existential phase. It's also a film that is a visual treat - and that doesn't mean that it's made in 3D.

When the film is not answering questions about the way of nature and the way of grace, it serves as a brilliant coming-of-age drama looking at the dynamics of family and parenting. I think this is mostly due to the brilliant and believable performances from Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain as the parents, and the three inexperienced child actors who look like they have been acting all of their lives. Pitt's character is one that really angered me in this film, as he is so obsessed with power and the idea of being better than everyone else in order to lead a good life. I did fear him, as he had this quiet stare that was as menacing as it was inviting - he was still a good father who obviously loved his sons, but he kept trying to push his ideals onto the poor kids. Jessica Chastain, the golden girl of the moment, was brilliant in her role as a young mother. Every move she made, every look she gave, was just so motherly...I guess when we see her character floating around beneath a tree it's obvious what we should think of her: a heavenly, guardian-like figure. The three boys, Hunter McCracken, Laramie Eppler and Tye Sheridan all show natural fun in their sun-kissed portrayals of wondrous youth and staying outside until dinnertime. McCracken, in particular, excels with his confused character, showing the battle between grace and nature in his face.

Then there's the small matter of Sean Penn. He doesn't have a leading role, but I do have to say, he adds a lot of the finishing shine to such a movie. His character, mostly silent, except for the narration, wanders through life misguided and still saddened by his brother's death. In his scenes, he can be seen in a normal city, flattened by huge glass sculptures of buildings. All of this artificial beauty is around him and yet he can't be happy. Everything is dark and dreary, as opposed to the sunlit cascades of his childhood. This is yet another thing I picked up from this film - it's also about the disillusion of adult life and what our world has become. I suppose that this isn't a major theme in the film, though.

After the cityscapes and business end of Penn's time on screen, he is seen wandering, aimlessly, just as he would down a street in his city. Except, this wandering provides a gateway to forgiveness and reconciliation. This is just another thing which The Tree of Life handles. It looks over many things in life, and doesn't particularly teach anyone how to live their life or what the right path to follow is. Instead, it just wants to say a few things about our lives that we probably haven't thought of ourselves. It wants to alert us to the fact that not everything in our lives are as they directly appear.

The Tree of Life is an over-indulgent, sometimes boring, self-absorbed piece of work. That's what it appears to be on the outside. But on the inside, the film is a poetic, beautiful, dazzling, unique, amazing masterpiece. I can immediately predict that this film will be widely loved in the next few decades, and people will remember 2011 as the year that Terrence Malick brought us The Tree of Life, which was met with polarizing reactions. Then, I'll be able to say that I saw it when I was 16 years old, and it was the first time I'd ever been wholly affected by a movie and realised that films can do things that films could never do before. It's hard to describe such a film as The Tree of Life, as there never has been, and probably never will be, a film like it.

THE VERDICT: Beneath its arty veneer, The Tree of Life is a magnificent film about the meaning of life, using brilliant visuals and some minimalistic, yet effective performances. It's not for everyone, but it will be a renowned classic in a few decades time.

What I hoped for:

What I got:
I'd love to say I could give it a rating - but I really can't. I want to give it a full rating, but there are many things I didn't like about the film which could make me give it a low rating that it doesn't deserve. And I just don't feel right about giving it a rating either, so, sorry to disappoint!

Cinema - Crazy, Stupid, Love.

There were four trailers played before I saw Crazy, Stupid, Love. The first was one for an upcoming Anna Faris comedy called What's Your Number? which looks devastatingly obvious. I'd be surprised if Faris' character doesn't end up getting with Chris Evans' character, even if she has to look back through all of her ex's to realise that he is the one. After that came Friends with Benefits, which of course has already been released in the US to mediocre reviews...but we all saw this movie in No Strings Attached, right? The next one, Abduction, was just a random one to show us that no matter how hard he tries, Taylor Lautner will always be a brooding teenager. Then came along New Year's Eve, which is along the same lines as Valentine's Day - meaning that not only does it have the same director, it will also have the same ill-attempted twists and eventual cliches in every story. You see, what the rom-com genre has become is a web of cliches and predictability, because there are only so many ways that a love story can go.

However, with Crazy, Stupid, Love, the movie doesn't try to do five hundred things at once, ending up in a big hot mess of stereotypical soup. Nor does it just focus on two people going through something as hard as love. Instead, the film has a few stories, which are given the right amount of attention, and have a few twists here and there which can't be seen from a mile away. It all starts with Cal Weaver (Steve Carell), a lovable schlub who has been married to Emily (Julianne Moore) for 25 years - but she has decided that she wants a divorce because she slept with colleague David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon). Cal, now all alone and on the verge of depression, spends his nights at a bar telling everyone the story of how his wife cheated on him. Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling), an impeccably dressed ladies-man, notices Cal and decides to teach him how to 'embrace his manhood'. Now we have Cal Weaver, on the brink of divorce, dressing like he actually should, becoming a bit of a ladies man himself. Just as Cal becomes a master of winning women, Jacob meets the lovely Hannah (Emma Stone), who he actually falls in love with - as opposed to just taking her home for one night. And then there's also the story of Cal and Emily's 13 year old son Robbie (Jonah Bobo), who happens to be in love with his 17 year old babysitter Jessica (Analeigh Tipton)...and he's never giving up on trying to win her over.

The best thing that Crazy, Stupid, Love has going for it is the fact that the several stories within the film are finely balanced and they each run a lot closer together than it would appear. Along with that, the film manages to recycle ideas, but make them look as good as new. Not only do they look new, they also become painfully real. Crazy, Stupid, Love knows that it is about finding love and being in a relationship...all that kind of stuff. But it doesn't spend time trying to make any single people jealous by watching people be cute together. Instead, it just draws you into what it's like to find love/fall out of love/be in a relationship. Which is cool, because in each story there is a phase of a person's romantic life: first crush/unrequited love, bad break-up, finding 'the one'. The way each of these phases intertwine and cross paths which each other is something which I thought was pretty cool. Needless to say, in a world where 90% of romantic comedies suck, this one doesn't.

Half of Crazy, Stupid, Love's success can be attributed to it's enormously talented cast. There's Steve Carell, in Date Night mode...except swapping the stupidity for a little bit of sadness. Ryan Gosling, the man of the moment, shows that he can do comedy. The only problem I had with him in this film was the fact that I kept comparing him to how he was in Blue Valentine. That's not a good idea. Julianne Moore is as good as she always is, being as radiant as ever. Emma Stone is a little cutie pie, again showing off the natural humour and charm that she put to good use in Easy A, just in reduced amounts. Marisa Tomei is a standout, playing the crazy five-years-sober teacher. She has some very fine moments, given the amount of opportunity she has to make people laugh. Young Jonah Bobo does a pretty convincing job as a lovelorn boy who is both misunderstood and misinformed. As for Kevin Bacon...well, everyone seems to hate Kevin Bacon these days.

If there is something that I didn't like about Crazy, Stupid, Love, it would have to be that the film's tone was pretty uneven. Other than that, I found this movie pretty darn enjoyable...it would be the perfect date movie, if I had a date. I was in absolute hysterics at one point (if you've seen the film, you probably know which scene I'm talking about). Hey, romantic comedies don't have to be all bad. What's Your Number?, Friends with Benefits, New Year's Eve and...uh, Abduction: I know it's too late, but take note for next time.

THE VERDICT: Crazy, Stupid, Love is a perfectly sweet and funny romantic comedy that doesn't let predictability stop it from achieving almost greatness - and the cast is pretty cool, too.

What I hoped for:

What I got:

What's Happening Where I Am: Cinema and DVD releases here, 25/08/11

Cinema Releases

Crazy, Stupid, Love. - This movie is one I have been looking forward to since I saw the awesome trailer back in April. And whaddya know? I'm going to see it tomorrow since I have the day off. Partly because I like Ryan Gosling and his abs. Partly because it has my two favourite redheads - Emma Stone and Julianne Moore - in it. Partly because it just looks like a good time. I need a good time at the movies.

Priest - Yo, Paul Bettany. Enough with this lame horror bull-crap. Yeah, I saw Legion. I'm sorry but, me and my friend like to laugh at this movie a lot. We have so many inside jokes built up around it...and it doesn't look good on you. Now I know you're a good actor. You just need some better movies. Oh, and Cam Gigandet...you can just go away. I'm sick of seeing you in every bloody movie. Just because you were in Twilight doesn't mean that your Jesus Christ.

The Guard - How did I only realise today that this has Mark Strong in it? Sometimes I have to wonder about the extent of my film knowledge. This looks like the kind of Irish film that I've found myself liking a lot, lately. In fact, I just like Irish stuff in general. Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy, four-leaf clovers, leprechauns...it looks like it has a lot going for it, huh?

The Tree of Life - So yeah, after like, three months, this movie finally decided to show up in New Zealand. And to reward myself for waiting so bloody long for it to come out, I'm going to see it tomorrow. After watching Crazy, Stupid, Love, since I figure that's the right way around to do it. I must admit, I'm quite excited to see it. I had hoped to have watched a Malick film before this one, but complications with the Fatso system ensured that I get works by Kubrick and Scorsese instead. But the thing that I'm most excited about is finally getting to see who this Jessica Chastain is. By the looks of the filmography she's working on, I'm pretty sure she'll become one of the best actresses around.

DVD Releases

Battle Los Angeles - Geez, people should stop making movies like this. Where people get entertained by explosions and gun fights and chases...I get turned off. In fact, I get bored out of my brain. Which means that this movie was pretty boring for me. I can see that they were trying to do what District 9 did, but they did that with far too many characters, a hell of a lot more money and less heart. Aaron Eckhart is still my main man, though.

Heartbreaker - While watching Heartbreaker the other night, I learnt a few things:
1. Romain Duris is a very good looking man.
2. Vanessa Paradis is very pretty.
3. French comedies are hilarious.
4. This movie is absolutely hilarious.
5. Romantic comedies are better if they are in a different language.
6. People who have been doing dramatic films all their career are very funny.
7. A movie can still be great even if it is predictable.
I want to review this movie. It was brilliant.

So, what are your thoughts on these films?

Links and a Whole Lot of Other Things

The '16 Days of Birthday' marathon is over, which means two things: I'm back to boring normal blogging and I have a hell of a lot of stuff to catch up on. So here's a very unstructured post detailing the current and future state of the blog.

Daily posting will be no more.
Thanks to the Rugby World Cup, our school terms have been stuffed up so this term we students have been overloaded with work. This term is especially busy as we have to finish all of our assessments before exams. Which means homework - lots of it. That also means that I will have less time to myself at night. My posting will become pretty sporadic, as opposed to my daily routine, so sorry about that!

I'm becoming a useless commenter.
If you often comment on this blog (and thank you!) but I don't comment on your blog...it's not that I don't like you. I usually read most of your posts on my iPod but forget to comment on them. Or, I just don't have much time to comment. Sorry guys, every weekend I try to catch up on all of your wonderful posts! Also, you may have noticed that I don't respond to your comments as fast as I used to. Sorry again...I'm getting quite useless at maintaining my blog!

I have watched a crapload of movies.
Of course, I wasn't reviewing any movies during those sixteen days. According to a list that I made in Science, here are all of the movies that I watched around the marathon:
-Magnolia
-The Lincoln Lawyer
-The Way Back
-Rabbit Hole
-The Romantics
-Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (or The Other Woman)
-Conviction
-Sucker Punch
-Red Riding Hood
-Secretariat
-Strange Days
-Heartbreaker
-Brighton Rock
-Biutiful
-Paul
-It's Kind of a Funny Story
-Perrier's Bounty
-Quiz Show
-Breaking the Waves
-In Bruges
Of course, I won't have time to review all of these films - in full form, anyway. If you have a particular movie out of this list that you really want me to review, please comment and tell me which one. It would help me a lot.

Thank you!
If you said Happy Birthday yesterday to me via the blog, your blog, Twitter or Facebook, I love you. Thanks...it means a lot!
Also, I got nominated for 'The Liebster Blog Award' by Maria Sofia of FilmFLARE and Anna of Defiant Success. Thanks a heap! By now this little award has made it's way to pretty much all of the blogs I love, so I don't want to copy. Plus, I couldn't nominate just five blogs!
And everyone who kept up with the marathon...you're all brilliant people, really!

What lies in the future for Stevee.
Now I have a blu-ray player (cheers Ma and Pa!) I'll be getting into the old blu-rays a bit more now. Tonight I'll be testing it out again with Battle: Los Angeles (the only release this week unfortunately). As for my future movie watching, I have a pretty wacky double feature on Friday: Crazy, Stupid, Love followed by The Tree of Life, which both come out in cinemas here this week. Thank goodness for the day off school we have! Next Friday I'm going to see Melancholia which is playing at the Palmerston North division of the NZFF. Exciting!

And now for some links...

Andy and his Film Emporium takes a look back at the 'Blockbuster' season. The guy has seen craploads of 2011 releases - I feel so inferior! He takes a risk by placing Captain America ahead of X-Men: First Class. But but but X-Men: First Class has the nicest chewing gum ever! (I don't know if you have it anywhere else...I think it's just an NZ thing, but the 'mutant' chewing gum is so nice!)

Kano's Lay-Z-Boy Theater did a Girls of TV tournament and is now focusing on the Guys of TV. The best thing is that the only program that I watch is True Blood and that program has a lot of hot guys in it...so I'm having fun voting for all of them!

Toby at blahblahblahgay reviewed Senna, a highly acclaimed doco that I really want to see - despite not knowing a thing about Formula One.

Candice at Reel Talk has given us nine tips for back-to-school. Gah, I hate the back-to-school blues, but these tips are sure to make school kinda okay!

My new movie blogging soulmate and soon to be birthday girl Nikhat at Being Norma Jeane has made my ovaries explode today thanks to her assortment of screenshots of Ralph Fiennes in Quiz Show. He was so sexy in that movie I nearly fainted. My goodness, I love Ralph too much!

Meek's Cutoff is a movie which I unfortunately missed at the NZFF, but I'll see it soon anyway. Bonjour Tristesse does an awesome review on it.

Tyler at Southern Vision has been defending Lars von Trier quite a bit, with a post defending Antichrist and then a post defending von Trier on a whole. I just had my first von Trier experience with Breaking the Waves, which was recommended by Tyler himself!

My partner in crime Max, writer for Anomalous Material wrote a brilliant review of A Separation, which looks like a perfect movie for me to connect to. Hopefully I can catch it at the NZFF...but that doesn't look likely.

Joining the list of bloggers moving on to bigger and better things is Ryan McNeil (formerly known as Hatter), who has opened up a new swanky website called 'The Matinee'. It promises to be awesome!

That's all I have. I hope y'all have an awesome week, and I'll get better at maintaining the blog soon!

16 Days of Birthday, Day 16: The Best R16's I Watched Before I Was 16

So yes, today is the day. The day that I am finally 16...the age I have been waiting to see since my Dad first bought the local Blockbuster. Now the only movies I can't get out myself are the R18's...but no one seems to make those anymore. The censors never stopped me, though. I've been watching R16's for the past five years. But today I'm watching In Bruges, on my brand new blu-ray player (yay!), which just so happens to be an R16...and the first one I have ever watched legally.

To celebrate myself finally being 16, I shall list 16 of my favourite R16's. And I'm sure some censor Nazi will come along and arrest me for watching all of these movies while being underage...or something like that.

American Beauty
Age watched at: 15
Sam Mendes' brilliant debut feature which won a whole swag of Oscars and has some brilliant performances by Annette Bening and Kevin Spacey is a movie which I can't wait to own now I can go out and buy it for myself. Hey, it might not be 1999 any more, but this film still has some relevant things to say about the modern world.

Black Swan
Age watched at: 15
The funny thing about this movie is that I told everyone that they have to be very mature in order to handle this movie. This was coming from someone who wasn't legally allowed to watch it! Oh well, I watched at least 5 times as a 15 year old...and I still think I'm more mature than others!

Blue Valentine
Age watched at: 15
This movie was supposed to be an NC-17 in the US, which is the equivalent to an R18 here, all thanks to one not-so-bad sex scene. Wow, the censors sometimes get pretty touchy! I still feel pretty emotionally damaged by this film, though. I cried far too much at the end, and just about made a vow that I'd never get married.

Carrie
Age watched at: 11
As I said in last night's post...I got pretty obsessed with this movie. Which was dumb since it was an R16 meaning I couldn't get it out every time I wanted to watch it. I also think this was the first 'true' R16 I saw, with all the language and violence and whatnot.

The Departed
Age watched at: 13
I watched this one when it was on TV because of my devotion towards Leonardo DiCaprio. It's fair to say, I really do love this film - it's one of my favourite Scorsese movies. Now I can buy it, and watch it over and over again!

District 9
Age watched at: 14
Oh, this movie is just hilarious. Wikus van der Merwe is pretty much my idol - everything he said pre-prawn days was bloody funny. Unfortunately, the amount of cursing and violence in this movie tried to ensure that little 14 year old me shouldn't have been watching this movie...but there's no way that I could have waited to see this brilliant sci-fi for another two years.

The Godfather
Age watched at: 15
Of course, this movie is essential for every person who even wants to consider themselves as a cinephile, so I didn't really want to wait much longer than I did to watch it. I actually watched part of it back when I was 12, when it was on TV once. It's fair to say, the only thing that worried me about this movie was the fact that I took so bloody long to see the film.

The Hangover
Age watched at: 14
The Hangover is probably one of my favourite comedies. I pretty much love gross-out comedies, and this one is the best. It was my favourite movie for quite a while (yes, I realise that might be worrying, but I did watch it every day for a month), but now it's a movie which I like watching when things get a little on the tough side - it always cheers me up.

The Hurt Locker
Age watched at: 14
I'm probably going to go buy this movie very soon. Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar winning bomb disposal film is one which I really like for a whole lot of reasons: Jeremy Renner, the manliness of it all and the heart it has. Thanks to it's censor rating, I had watched every other Best Picture nominee before I got around to watching the winner - and while I don't think it was as good as some of the other nominees, I was definitely on Team Hurt Locker rather than Team Avatar.

Inglourious Basterds
Age watched at: 14
I should really stop choosing favourite directors that always make highly-censored films. First there is David Fincher, who hasn't made anything too bad in a while but I'm sure that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will be an R18; then there is Quentin Tarantino, who has never made anything under an R16. I was pretty pissed that I couldn't watch Inglourious Basterds when it first came out, so as you could imagine, I was pretty excited about the DVD release. Luckily, my expectations were reached.

Knocked Up
Age watched at: 12
As I said, I love gross-out comedies. Judd Apatow was at his best when he made Knocked Up, the hilarious pregnancy tale starring Seth Rogen before he lost weight and Katherine Heigl before she became the new Jennifer Aniston. I remember I got a poster of this to proudly display in my room as a cool R16 that I saw - I thought I was so grown up.

Let the Right One In
Age watched at: 14
In last night's post I shared with you the first review I ever did on this blog, which just so happened to be about this film. I feel like this movie is a little too tame to be an R16, but it is a really violent and sadistic film beneath it all, rather than being a lot more up-front about it.

Magnolia
Age watched at: 15
I only watched this movie for the first time around three weeks ago, as Tyler from Southern Vision wanted me to watch it so much (it's his favourite movie), and I genuinely loved this movie. Paul Thomas Anderson has quickly become one of my favourite directors, and all three of the films of his that I have watched are to be added into my top 100 - this one probably coming out on top. Such an epic multi-plot film, featuring a side of Tom Cruise that I didn't ever think I'd see.

Memento
Age watched at: 14
Ah, well, this is my favourite movie of all time, so it's a bit of a no-brainer on this list, huh? I think that Chris Nolan should make some more R16 movies now that I am 16 and I could watch them with no strings attached. He's a good man, so he'll listen to me.

Pan's Labyrinth
Age watched at: 14
So yeah, this is a fairytale, right? Well it is, but not the kind that gets given a G rating. Instead, it's the kind that literally scared the bejesus out of me and featured some very beautiful-yet-odd images. I need this movie in my collection, pronto.

Psycho
Age watched at: 11
Back in the day, I used to be a real censor Nazi. I used to be so touchy about people my age watching R16's. One day Mum was like "Oh, I think it's time for you to see Psycho", so I was like "No Mum! It's an R16! I can't watch it!" After fighting with her for a while I finally got it out and we watched it together. There was my first introduction to Alfred Hitchcock. We've both watched many Hitchcock movies together, and I pretty much love them all...and I love my Mum, too.

Taken
Age watched at: 15
Okay, so this is just a fun one. I was like the only person in Dannevirke who hadn't seen this movie, until I watched it around a month ago. As you may know, I'm going through a bit of a Liam Neeson phase, and while he may star in some really crappy movies these days, Taken is seriously the shit. Like, I could watch Liam beat the crap out of everyone he comes across all day - but alas, this movie was enough. He was badass in this movie, and the movie itself was surprisingly very good!

What are some of your favourite movies that you watched underaged? And now this marathon is over, did you enjoy it?

16 Days of Birthday, Day 15: Movies that Mean Something to Me

Well we're nearing the end. Tomorrow I will be a legal 16 year old. Today I'm just a young 15 year old.Aren't birthdays just wonderful things?
For today's topic I've chosen something which I can get really sentimental over...the movies that mean something to me.What do I mean by this? The movies which I look at and have all of the sentiment for. To put it in simple terms these movies feel like pets to me. Nice fluffy ginger kittens if you want to get specific.

My first obsession with a movie.

Back in the early days of my interest in film I got a magazine which listed the top ten scariest horrors ever. I became obsessed with this page even though I never really had the balls back then to watch the movies on the list (although if I remember correctly I've probably watched at least half of them by now). One of the movies on that list that interested me the most though was Brian De Palma's 1976 classic Carrie. I was so interested by that iconic image of Sissy Spacek in a prom dress soaked in blood. So I got the movie out - this was probably in early 2007 - and watched it with my Mum. After that I was obsessed with the movie: I had to know every little detail of the movie and I read the book several times. The worst thing is that I don't even know why I was obsessed with the movie...

A movie which I have an undying love for.

Back in April 2008 I watched Gone with the Wind for the first time. At that point I didn't actually know that it was nearly 4 hours long so I was a little confused when it just stopped in the middle and then there was a little hand on the screen asking me to flip the disc over. That day I watched the whole thing thinking that I hadn't seen anything like it before. Truth is I still haven't seen anything that comes close to the sheer epicness and the masterful piece of film-making that it is. The technicolour is enchanting, the story is amazing and the acting is brilliance...it's truly one of a kind for me. It affected me so much that I made this huge booklet describing everything about the making of this movie (and no one, to this day, has ever seen it).

My favourite Christmas movie.

Some of you might like to watch a particular film on Christmas day. I usually catch The Wizard of Oz as it is always on TV that day. But the movie that I watch every year without fail is Meet Me in St. Louis. I don't really know why...it just fills me up with joy every time I watch it. My Christmas day just isn't the same without Judy Garland singing 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas', Tootie getting up to all sorts of mischief and the final scene showing the Saint Louis World's Fair. Rather than being like a fluffy ginger kitten, for me this is more like an old friend who likes to bring around honey all the time

The first movie that I ever blogged about.

This movie just so happens to be in my top ten favourite movies of all time. Back on October 21st, 2009, I started this blog by writing this review:

Today I watched a Swedish Horror movie called 'Let the Right One In' (2009). I'd heard many good things about this film, by reading reviews on imdb.com and in Empire magazine. This movie sure was great. You see, people tend to think that Twilight dominates the vampire genre, but it doesn't, not compared to this film. Sadly, I think people don't watch subtitled films because 'they're too hard to keep up with'. Well, this was the first subtitled film I'd ever watched, and I didn't find it hard at all. In fact, I completely forgot that the characters were talking in some language that sounded like gibberish. The story revolves around a young bullied boy, who meets a strange girl in the courtyard outside their block of apartments. The girl has a secret though...she's a vampire who feasts on the blood of innocent people in Stockholm. While watching this, I didn't feel that it was that freaky, but after thinking about it, it was quite a violent and sadistic film. I will remember this film forever as the best vampire film. Don't knock it until you've watched it.
10/10

If my reviewing skills haven't become any better since then, I sure do write a lot more! I love this film a lot more than I did back then, though, thanks to it's beauty and thrilling cross between horror and arthouse.

My favourite experience at the movies.

Technically, there are three favourite experiences that I've had, and they're all for the same movie. You probably already know what they are: the three times I watched Inception. It's pretty much impossible for me to choose which screening was my favourite. The first time was amazing, because well, it was my first viewing of the movie after months of anticipating it, and it turned out to top my expectations. I like the effect it had on me afterwards, too: I cried once the credits rolled and I was shaking for quite a while after leaving the cinema. The second time was cool because I got to take two more friends, and everybody started clapping at the end. The third time may have been the most fun because I got to take six friends with me for my birthday party. We had a grand old time, but the funniest thing was when the audience all got really pissed off at the end.
So I guess I should thank my friends for making those experiences awesome: Maxine (who saw it with me all three times), Kieran and Megan (who saw it with me twice), and Cassie, Tania and Georgia.

And, of course, my favourite movie...

Over the past few weeks, I've been thinking that Schindler's List might be my favourite movie, but I really can't place it over Christopher Nolan's Memento. While Memento may not be a film that I have watched that many times, nor a film which I feel like watching often, I still absolutely love it. I really do like movies that aren't in chronological order. Memento is the king of movies that aren't in chronological order. I always feel like I have this movie all figured out, but then I remember that it's going in the opposite direction to me and I have to figure it out all over again. Usually I forget small details that make this movie make sense, so it's always like watching a new movie for me. Such a rare trait that it possesses - and that's why I love it.

So what are some of your 'fluffy ginger kitten' movies?