Avengers

82/100 (142 min, 2012)
Plot: Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki and his army.
Director: Joss Whedon
Writers: Zak Penn (story), Joss Whedon (story)
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson

I still believe in heroes

In the last 10 years or so there was a surge of movies based on comic books. Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman, you name it - it probably find its way on the big screen. But what casual movie goers or people who aren't familiar with the comic books don't know is that there are two universes - one of DC Comics where we have Superman and Batman and another one of Marvel - where we have the heroes of Avengers.

The film is the final stage of bringing in beloved heroes from one medium to another. We had two movies about eccentric billionaire and genius Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who saves the world as Iron Man, two films about Bruce Banner aka Hulk - though in this version played by the newcomer to the series Mark Ruffalo, a film about Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and introduction to the characters of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in Iron Man 2 and Hawkeye (Jeremy  Renner) in Thor. All of them plus Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) the man who runs the show, are the Avengers.

Brand new trailer for "Prometheus"

Brand new trailer for Prometheus just aired in UK. It features tons of new footage, first look at some of the creatures in the movie and horrifying screams of the crew. There are more and more glimpses of a certain scene featuring Noomi Rapace, which I hope is not the one rumoured to be as shocking as chestbuster scene in "Alien" - if you saw the trailers and promotional materials you can figure out what happens. We have a lot of new scenes with Charlize Theron, but the best part of the trailer for me is the ending - where disturbing images mix with the screaming. I really don't see how can PG-13 even be an option here.

The Moth Diaries

62/100 (81 min, 2011)
Plot: Rebecca is suspicious of Ernessa, the new arrival at her boarding school. But is Rebecca just jealous of Ernessa's bond with Lucie, or does the new girl truly possess a dark secret?
Director: Mary Harron
Writer: Rachel Klein (novel)
Stars: Sarah Bolger, Sarah Gadon and Lily Cole

Sex, blood, Lily Cole

The Moth Diaries is not yet another teenage take on vampire/monsters legends. It has something movies rarely have anymore - genuine style and atmosphere. Mary Harron who directed American Psycho and captured the essence of the novel without even showing off most of the events is again on the director's seat here. It's bizarre how her career went from being very close to success to approaching the oblivion. Whilst American Psycho was not the masterpiece of directorial work, it was better than most movies out there yet Harron only went on to make TV movie The Notorious Bettie Page (as lovely as the film was it didn't get much acclaim) and then pretty much disappeared.

While a lot of bad things can be said about The Moth Diaries and its story, which is its weakest link of the film, it tells a tale many of people will relate to - the roots of the protagonist's fragility lie in the loss of a parent, here in quite dramatic events. Her father was a famous writer who committed suicide. The main heroine Rebecca, asks interesting questions in her search for her own self - does it mean she is prone to taking her own life too?

Brand new featurette for "Prometheus"

New featurette for 'Prometheus" has just been released featuring the look at the making of the movie and few new shots. We also get a brief commentaries by Ridley Scott and the cast. It's only a little more than month away!

The Ten Best Actors of All Time Relay Race

Nostra from My Filmviews started a blogathon in which the 10 best actors of all time were listed at random, then passed to a new blogger. From there, the new blogger must remove one actor, before adding an actor to the list. Alex from And So it Begins... named me as another participant, so now I must chose. Here is a little more details about the blogathon:

"So what’s the idea behind the relay? I’ve created a list of what I think are the best actors. At the end of the post I, just like in a real relay race, hand over the baton to another blogger who will write his own post. This blogger will have to remove one actor (that is an obligation) and add his own choice and describe why he/she did this. At the end the blogger chooses another blogger to do the same. The idea is to make this a long race, so that enough bloggers get a chance to remove and add an actor. We will end up with a list (not ranked in order) which represents a common agreement of the best actors.

Haywire

79/100 (93 min, 2011)
Plot: A black ops super soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission.
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Lem Dobbs
Stars: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor and Michael Fassbender

They gave her no choice. 

"Haywire" is all you can expect from the movie Steven Soderbergh does during considering retirement from film making - I see that he isn't going to do that after all from the trailer for "Magic Mike" which is a peculiar choice of a story for this director - it's entertaining and quit simple, but it still has distinctive style known from Soderbergh's films - slick cinematography, smooth editing and jazzy, elegant score. Another thing that will hint at this being his movie is the presence of many well known actors, who while still used in too big quantities than it is necessary aren't as underused as in "Contagion".

When it comes to Soderbergh's movies I often complain about that - there are so many well known people in his films and yet we never get to focus on each of them enough. In the effect his films are usually a classic case of style over substance - yes, it's all cleverly executed but who cares if all those stars are wandering around without getting a chance to shine? In "Haywire" we finally have a clear protagonist - Mallory Kane, ironically played by someone unknown to the average movie goer - Gina Carano.

50 wishes

Inspired by this great post by Tyler at Southern Vision I made my own list of cinematic wishes. Most of those are related to the mistakes that were made that I wish never happened or to the material I really would like to see on the big screen.

Screaming Sunday - The Fly

Sati's movie rating - 85/100
Plot: Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), a brilliant but eccentric scientist attempts to woo investigative journalist Veronica Quaife (Genna Davis) by offering her a scoop on his latest research in the field of matter transportation, which against all the expectations of the scientific establishment have proved successful. Brundle thinks he has ironed out the last problem when he successfully transports a living creature, but when he attempts to teleport himself a fly enters one of the transmission booths, and Brundle finds he is a changed man.
The heroes: Jeff Goldblum's likable and bizarre Seth.
The antagonists: One tiny little fly.
What makes it so great? Few weeks ago Alex of "And So it Begins..." asked a question on his blog - what films make you sick? - and I'm astonished I forgot to mention this one. I'm a tough one - there is only a handful of movies that repulse me and it's never anything about blood, surgeries or beheadings, but when it comes to Cronenberg and his gross, disturbing body horror images, that's a different issue. While Naked Lunch and Videodrome I was fine with, Seth's changing, due to Oscar winning make up job is really something that always prevents me from eating long after seeing this movie. It's a great movie, probably Cronenberg's most quintessential and famous, but I can't watch it too often. Also Jeff Goldblum's performance is really mesmerizing and this movie is to "body horror" what Alien is to "space horror".
Best scene: Seth watches as his body starts to rot off, change and collapse in front of a mirror.

The Cabin in the Woods

85/100 (95 min, 2012)
Plot: Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.
Director: Drew Goddard
Writers: Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard
Stars: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth and Anna Hutchison

Run, fall, die

Welcome to the horror galore - "The Cabin in the Woods" is one of the most praised horror films of the past 20 years and rightfully so. Not only is it a skillful horror film, it's also a biting satire on the movie production, audiences, typical storytelling cliches and a parody and at the same time a homage to many classic horror movies. It's outrageous, funny, scary, gory and very satisfying.

From the creators of "Buffy", "Cloverfield" and "Frefly" comes a story that mixes all of those, despite the fact you wouldn't suspect it does - the film begins like an ordinary slasher flick - five young people, being quite stereotypical bunch from such a horror film, go on a trip to the remote cabin, to party, have sex and have fun. Of course there will be a bloodshed, as if always happens when you are a stereotypical horror movie character, but there is also a second plot of the movie, featuring enigmatic characters played by Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford that holds a key to this mystery.

This Must Be the Place

71/100 (118 min, 2011)
Plot: A bored, retired rock star sets out to find his father's executioner, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the U.S.
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Writers: Umberto Contarello (screenplay), Paolo Sorrentino (screenplay)
Stars: Sean Penn, Frances McDormand and Judd Hirsch

Head in the clouds

"This Must be the Place" is a quirky story about a man respecting his father's wishes and going for a journey and in the process of it - growing up. It's yet another of the movies we saw in recent time - much like Mavis Gary in "Young Adult" and Matt in "The Descendants" the protagonist of "This must be the place" is searching for one thing and finds something else along the way. But that protagonist is not an ordinary person - he is a middle aged rock star, whose band was famous 20 years ago, named Cheyenne.

The film is very peculiar - we only know what Cheyenne knows, sometimes even less. He is alone in his journey so for most of it we simply follow him, not knowing exactly where he is going or why does he question people he visits. He travels around United States visiting different people - an elder teacher, a waitress and a single mother among others and he interacts with the people he meets along his way, which brings along a lot of quirky moments such as the scene where Cheyenne plays ping pong or gives the group of girls tips about how to apply lipstick.

Soundtrack Wednesday - Hanna

Track: Container Park

Artist: The Chemical Brothers

Movie: Hanna

Michael Fassbender is David, the android in new "Prometheus" viral video.

"Prometheus" marketing campaign is not just trailers, TV spots, pictures and posters but also impressive viral marketing which includes videos made specifically for the purpose of expanding the universe of the movie. In 3rd video we can see the introduction of David, the android played by Michael Fasssbender. The video runs a bit over 2 minutes yet his acting is already impressing me. Damn it, Michael. Is there anything you can't do?

All Good Things

75/100 (101 min, 2010)
Plot: Mr. David Marks was suspected but never tried for killing his wife Katie who disappeared in 1982, but the truth is eventually revealed.
Director:Andrew Jarecki
Writers: Marcus Hinchey, Marc Smerling
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst and Frank Langella

The Disappearance of Katie Marks

Ironically entitled "All Good Things" is a fascinating and peculiar movie - inspired by true events it begins as if it was a standard romantic comedy, then it becomes family drama only to transform into thriller and then changes into something that would probably be one of Norman Bates's favorite movies. This transformation never feels too bizarre because the film does good job in immersing the story with odd feelings and nuances throughout, but the real story the film revolves around at the very least deserved much better script.

David is a young man, who comes from a wealthy home and he wants nothing to do with family business or becoming his father's heir. One day,during a "meet cute" he meets Katie, lively, lovely and sweet girl who isn't a match for his social or financial status. Nonetheless, or perhaps because of that since it fits into his quiet rebellion against his father, he immediately asks her out and brings her to his house. The girl, though astonished, can totally hold her own, while David remains very shy and puzzlingly quiet as his father throws disapproving looks and scathing remarks his way.

Shame

97/100 (2011, 101 min)
Plot: In New York City, Brandon's carefully cultivated private life -- which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction -- is disrupted when his sister Sissy arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay.
Director: Steve McQueen
Writers: Abi Morgan (screenplay), Steve McQueen (screenplay)
Stars: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan and James Badge Dale

“Life is loneliness, despite all the opiates, despite the shrill tinsel gaiety of "parties" with no purpose, despite the false grinning faces we all wear. And when at last you find someone to whom you feel you can pour out your soul, you stop in shock at the words you utter - they are so rusty, so ugly, so meaningless and feeble from being kept in the small cramped dark inside you so long. Yes, there is joy, fulfillment and companionship - but the loneliness of the soul in its appalling self-consciousness is horrible and overpowering.”

― Sylvia Plath

When I love the movie I usually review it right away. But with "Shame" which is one of the very few movies I give the highest rating to, I just couldn't. I knew I won't be able to review it properly after one viewing and I knew I needed time to see it again. So now that is out on DVD I could finally gather strength to watch the film again and I'm finally able to properly write about it. Because "Shame" is one of the heaviest and emotionally draining films I've ever seen. For me to cry during a movie I need to feel connected to the character or at least be incredibly moved by the story. With Steve McQueen's films "Hunger" and now "Shame" it's difficult to feel the connection - both Bobby Sands and Brandon aren't the kind of characters you can easily relate to. Yet I couldn't hold back tears during "Hunger" and for the last 20 minutes of "Shame" I basically wept uncontrollably.

Inglourious Basterds

95/100 (153 min, 2009)
Plot: In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis.
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger and Eli Roth

"We got a German here who wants to die for his country! Oblige him!"

Some say that the cinema is the true escapism. But for me the escapism only occurs when I'm watching a truly great movie, one that is able to pull the audience in its world so completely, you are not only forgetting you are watching a film, but also you don't question how far from actual reality the events portrayed in it are. "Inglourious Basterds" is one of those movies. It captures the true cinematic magic, that for few minutes alters the history, the real events and presents something incredibly satisfying. It is a movie where the evil is punished and when the actual events are changed in an extremely satisfying way.

Despite the movie's title, The Basterds, the group of soldiers who capture Nazis and scalp them is only a small part of the film. The Basters are lead by Aldo Raine, charismatic and capable leader and they are quite a diverse bunch - there is a psychopathic Nazi killer Hugo Stiglitz, Donny Donowitz who bashes Nazis heads and others, devoted to haunting down Nazis and bringing them justice. A very bloody justice.

What can you see on the new picture from "Prometheus"?

(click to enlarge)

Few days ago a whole bunch of usual character pictures was released in part of the promotion for "Prometheus". Whenever there is something new connected to the movie online I always hold my breath since I anticipate it so much, but with those pictures I wasn't impressed. But, hell, I am now. The above picture has been playing with my mind for two days now. But let me fill you in on the details.

Scene of the Week: Carrie

directed by Brian De Palma

The Prom Massacre

The scene: In one of the most famous scenes in history when Carrie and Tommy get on stage as the Queen and King of the prom, Chris pulls the rope attached to the bucket with pig's blood, which falls on Carrie and knocks Tommy unconscious. Carrie, horrified, disturbed and shocked focuses her rage and her telekinetic powers of her schoolmates and even on Miss Collins, who was her friend - in her demented mind Carrie thinks she is laughing at her. De Palma used split screen here which is extremely effective - at the same time we are able to see the horror and the bloodshed and extremely frightening look on Carrie's face. Originally the entire prom sequence was shot this way but De Palma changed it. The massacre ends with Carrie setting the place on fire and walking through the door. What's adds to the horror of the scene is Pino Donaggio's score, heavily inspired by Bernard Hermann's work, who was originally set to compose music for "Carrie" but he died shortly before the making of the movie.

Rising Stars: Elle Fanning

Today is the 14th birthday of Elle Fanning, one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood. It's hard for me to believe she is just 14 - perhaps because she is so tall (5' 7" (1.70 m)) or perhaps because she was starring in films for such a long time now. She began her career by playing younger versions of her sister Dakota's characters in "I am Sam" and "Taken". Then she started appearing in other films such as "Babel", "Deja Vu" and "Reservation Road". She played young Daisy in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and two major roles in "Phoebe in Wonderland" and opposite Stephen Doriff in Sophia Coppola's "Somewhere" - that role brought her "Actress of the year" award at Young Hollywood Awards. But the real fame came in 2011 with her magnetic and wonderful performance in "Super 8". For that role she won Spotlight Award at Hollywood Film festival and was nominated for Saturn and Empire Awards. And while I adore Elle's sister Dakota and I consider her work to be very good, none of her performances captivated and impressed me quiet as much as Elle's work in "Super 8".  In 2011 she also appeared in "Twixt" a movie by Francis Ford Coppola nobody seems to have seen and Cameron Crowe's "We Bought a Zoo".

Un Balcon sur la Mer

80/100 (95 min, 2010)
Plot: Marc is a successful real estate agent in Aix-en-Provence. One day, he has an appointment with a woman to view a traditional country house. A few hours later, Marc finally puts a name to her face. It's Cathy, the girl he was in love with growing up in Oran, Algeria, in the last days of the French colonial regime.
Director: Nicole Garcia
Writers: Jacques Fieschi (scenario), Nicole Garcia (scenario), Natalie Carter (collaboration) & Frédéric Bélier-Garcia (collaboration)
Stars: Jean Dujardin, Marie-Josée Croze and Toni Servillo

"When I never spoke and you never looked at me"

"Un Balcon sur la Mer" is a delicate and fascinating mixture of romance and thriller. The film's director Nicole Garcia, who was born in Oran, Algeria, when Algeria was a French colony, had to flee in 1962 at Independence, because of the violence that erupted in the area. She clearly had a lot of memories from this time, not all of them bad. That is the heart and the reason of existence of this movie -the memories, the blend of sweet and bitter, that we never forget. The memories in this film deal with friendship and love between teenagers perhaps the sweetest they will ever know, surrounded by violence, senseless attacks and the threat of death.

The film follows Marc, who is married to his boss's daughter and who is a father himself. He appears to be happy, having a loving family and good career as a real estate agent. But the havoc comes in his life when he recognizes his childhood sweetheart Cathy in his new client. We don't know it at first, though. The slick trick the film plays on us is that we know less than the characters we are watching. We see them act and only then we find out why they acted this way. So at first we see Marc looking as if a thunder struck him. And then we see him laughing and crying, as if he found a treasure, he lost a long time ago.

Saturday TV Special: The Big Bang Theory

Plot: The series follows three scientists - Sheldon, brilliant and completely antisocial guy who is afraid of many things including birds and bacteria, Leonard who while being a geek hopes he may find a girlfriend, Raj, goofy romantic who loves feminine stuff and can't talk to women due to being scared and nervous unless he is drunk and an engineer Howard, a self professed ladies men. Their lives change when an attractive aspiring actress Penny moves in to the same building Sheldon and Leonard live and Leonard falls for her. As we follow them and observe their little fascinating world we also meet Stuart, the owner of the comic book store, Amy, who is sorta Sheldon's girlfriend, Bernadette, Penny's friend who becomes Howard's love interest and Howard's mother who is continuously yelling at him and we never see her on screen.

Structure: Each episode follows another adventure - weather it's traveling on the train and meeting Summer Glau, fighting off a bird who sits outside the window or dressing up for Halloween. There are on-going story arcs too, including Leonard's pursuit for Penny and his other relationships with women, Sheldon's hatred towards "Star Trek's" Will Wheaton, Raj's struggle to find a girlfriend and Howard doing the same thing, for slightly less romantic purposes.
Verdict: The show is absolutely hilarious especially because of fantastic one liners and sarcastic remarks five friends throw at each other. The show also uses a lot of nods and homages for science fiction and fantasy genre - the guys are huge fans of "Star Trek", "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings" among many, many others.

What's so great about it? The main source of humour in the series are the difficulties the guys have with dealing with the people - whether it's the lack of physical strength or the fact they are so much smarter the situation they get themselves into always demand them using their assets to their advantage. Most of the troubles their encounter are either because of Sheldon's wacky ideas or because of him succumbing to his phobias - the best episodes deal with Sheldon having a cold and terrorizing everyone around him into helping him.
Whom you may recognize: The five main actors were previously unknown to me, but there are many guest appearances in the show including Eliza Dushku, Judy Greer, Keith Carradine,Will Wheaton and some surprise appearance from "Star Trek" ensemble. Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon delivers absolutely brilliant performance which is worth all the awards he got. The other actors, especially Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar are fantastic too and really overdue for major awards.
Who's behind it? Chuck Lorre, the creator of "Two and a Half Men".
Who will like it? Fans of great sitcoms who aren't too annoyed with laugh track. The show is really funny and even though it's in its 5 season now it continues to amuse with every single episode.
When and where? Thursdays, CBS

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

79/100 (2011, 133 min)
Plot: The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.
Director: Brad Bird
Writers: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner and Simon Pegg

Mission accomplished

I'm not a fan of "Mission Impossible" movies. Not that they are not entertaining and the visual effects aren't stunning, but for some reason they aren't particularly memorable. With James Bond series I remember a lot from the movies - icy Rosamund Pike in "Die Another Day", funny geek from "Goldeneye", The scene where Sophie Marceau tortures Pierce Brosman in "The World is not Enough" and Sean Connery, lots of him, because he is well, Sean Connery. With "Mission Impossible" series apart from the famous scene from the first movie where Tom Cruise hangs from the ceiling and the fact how shocked I was Philip Seymour Hoffman appeared in 3rd one, I don't remember that much. But "Ghost Protocol" is a well made movie with fun characters and for me, the best one in the series.

The film opens with impressive sequence where a man (Josh Holloway) runs out with a bag on his shoulder, escaping two guys chasing him. Then a delicate looking woman (Lea Seydoux) appears in front of him, on the empty street and mercilessly shoots him. As he falls on his knees, the woman embraces him and takes the bag. After that she walks away and leaves him there to die.

Soundtrack Wednesday - Sherlock Holmes

Track: Catatonic

Artist: Hans Zimmer

Movie: Sherlock Holmes

Robert Downey Jr. Appreciation

Just two days ago I was celebrating Michael Fassbender's birthday here on my blog, but today is the day I've celebrated for quite some time now - Robert Downey Jr's birthday. I have a tradition of watching his movies on that day. A year ago I chose "Chaplin", today I think I'll enjoy "Sherlock Holmes" again. His story is one of those that inspire - hopelessly addicted to drugs and alcohol, time spent in jail and many thinking he will never recover, yet now he is one of the biggest stars in the world, he appears to kick off his bad habits for good and two months ago his second son was born. He managed to achieve the impossible - not only did he overcome his addictions but his Oscar nomination for "Tropic Thunder" remains to this day, at least for me, most delightfully surprising nomination in Academy Awards history. Why do I love him? Not only is he a great actor who does wonderfully both in drama and comedies but also he has amazing sense of humour - whether it is a talk show or awards ceremony when he appears you know it will be hilarious. For me this guy is a synonym for charisma. He says something and others follow. Even if it means staring at a cat.

Michael Fassbender Appreciation

35 years ago a little boy was born. Today this boy is a man who went to become one of the fastest rising stars in Hollywood and one of the most magnetic and talented actors. He is Michael Fassbender. From his work in "Hunger" through his adventure with blockbusters in "300" and "X Men" to his courageous and haunting work in "Shame" he has become one of the most desired actors - his upcoming projects include Ridley Scott's Prometheus and "The Counsellor" which hopefully will bring Michael his first Oscar nod, if not more. And on his Birthday I figured I will do seven different things, each with 5 choices. 7x5 = 35.

5 films that fooled me.

It's April Fools, world's most cruel holiday. My mother played a prank on me two times already. Since I have a tradition here of writing special things for days like that one here are five films that I'm not ashamed to admit fooled me completely. I mean I went like this:

It's not only that I did not see those twists coming, it's that even though I probably should see them coming I was completely astonished by things turning out like that in the film and my jaw completely dropped. I'm sure "The 6th sense", "The Others", "Black Swan" and "Shutter Island" would got me too, but I knew the twist before seeing them. Others like "The Usual Suspects" I didn't much like because I did not find the movie to be this exciting. Here we go, spoilers included so watch out: