American Hustle

American Hustle, David O. Russell's follow up to hugely successful Silver Linings Playbook is an entertaining mess. It has moments of brilliance, moments of artistic confusion, scenes that are lovely and scenes that are completely misguided. While the cast is excellent, I'm only convinced of the greatness of one performance. Fortunately for the film, this ensemble's efforts are enough to entertain.

Don Jon

I like Joseph Godon-Levitt. I wouldn't go as far as to call myself a fan of his, but he is a talented guy and he seems to be a likable, cool person. He has given us a lot of good performances in many great films - just recently in  Looper, The Dark Knight Rises and 50/50. And now he is trying his efforts in a new endeavor - writing and directing.

Merry Christmas!

Once again this time of year me and Gustav would like to wish you Merry Christmas, lots of joy, great gifts, tons of laughter and love.

TDL's Alphabet Movie Meme

The lovely Katy of The Drama Llama has started a very cool blogathon. You get to answer questions starting with each letter of the alphabet with movie related answers. I made some small adjustments here and there. You can check her original post by clicking the picture above.

Blue is the Warmest Color

(spoilers)

The search for your identity. First love. The yearning to belong. Those are the themes explored in beautiful, melancholic and highly controversial Blue is the Warmest Color. The film is a remarkable work of art - it's 3 hours long and it follows its heroine so closely we are face to face with her for most of the film. You really feel like you are right there with Adele, locked in with all of her confusion and loneliness.

Sarah Paulson Appreciation

Sarah Catharine Paulson

17 December 1974 , Tampa, Florida, USA

I was constantly, always and forever, trying to perform the musical Annie for anyone who would listen, and I have a terrible singing voice. It was the first thing that made me think I wanted to be an actress.

First footage from Game of Thrones season 4!

For me Christmas sure came early today in the form of 6 second look on new season of Game of Thrones. Yes, 6 seconds. I'm that easy to please. Well, when it comes to Thrones. Imagine being washed ashore for 6 fucking months and this being your first drop of drinking water. This is what I'm going through when Thrones is not on air and there are no leaks from the set.

The better quality video should drop in several hours but obviously, I cannot wait.

The 71st Annual Golden Globe Nominations

Today's Golden Globes nominations were shocking, surprising and above all - they chose people who are hot right now and they really want them to appear on that red carper (Kate Winslet, who I'm told just had a baby, I'm mostly talking about you). There were surprises - Rush nominated for Best Drama, snubs - Oprah Winfrey shockingly absent, sources of joy for many - Greta Gerwig nominated for Frances Ha and potential game changers - Idris Elba nominated for Long Walk to Freedom.

The Counselor

Imagine that you are a cook. In fact, you are an excellent cook. You've spent the whole day cooking delicious meals of many different cuisines. By the end of the day you are left with various ingredients. They are all superb individually, but they don't make sense together. You could come up with some new sort of meal and make it delicious, you have a talent for it. But instead you go the easy way - you put them in a shit-stainted shaky bowl, you say it's great and you serve it to your customers.

Making the Case for: George Clooney in Gravity

I usually try to stay open minded when it comes to other people's opinions on movies. No, wait. That's not it. I try to, however, remember that everyone is entitled to have different taste than me. Movies are different, people are different. As many people, as many reactions to certain films. That said, occasionally I hear opinions so shockingly wrong I just roll my eyes.

American Horror Story: 3x07 The Dead / 3x08 The Sacred Taking

I'm not gonna write much about previous episode, The Dead, as it was weak and boring, to the point that I'm in no rush to rewatch it. Axeman/Fiona romance is a snoozefest so far and the only big development was Queenie jumping sides and bringing LaLaurie to Laveau. We also got awful and cringeworthy scenes from Madison who is now the most annoying person on the show.

15 things I cannot wait to see in the future seasons of Game of Thrones

It's been a while since I wrote about Game of Thrones and it feels like I'm dying - no pictures, no teasers, nothing from HBO - so here it goes. There are so many wonderful moments to wait for, not just in upcoming 4th season but in future seasons as well. I normally write only about the upcoming season, but since I spent many hours today reading about Northern Conspiracy (Jesus, I'm such a nerd) I'm gonna list most of my favorite moments I'm looking forward to. I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of great scenes but whatever, hopefully you'll have fun checking this one out.

Breaking Emotions: Hate + Love

This week MettelRay chose Hate and Love as the final emotions for her blogathon. I decided to approach HATE as the scenes which really get me to HATE things and LOVE as the scenes that I love to watch, that kinda make my love for cinema justified - first one is funny, second one is a visual treat and the third one, well, the third one is perfect.

Visual Parallels: Take Shelter + The Hunt

Take Shelter and The Hunt don't have much in common at the first glance. But when you start looking closely similarities arise - both stories center around a man, who despite having a family and people who love him, is utterly alone with his problems. In case of Curtis, the hero of Take Shelter, he is suspecting that he is becoming mentally ill. Lucas, the protagonist of The Hunt, on the other hand has been accused of molesting a little girl in his village.

Mads Mikkelsen Appreciation

Mads Mikkelsen

November 22, 1965 (Østerbro, Copenhagen, Denmark)

I take my work enormously seriously. When I do something it has to feel right. Everything has to be right. I’m not ambitious about my career, but I am ambitious with each job. I can be fairly annoying to work with. No compromises. Let’s put it this way: compromises are from hell

Breaking Emotions: Smiles + Thrills

This week MettelRay gave us Smiles and Thrills to work with. I'm gonna give three examples for each of those. I'm going to share actual scenes too.

A summary? Pussy Palace, undies and George Clooney. My God, that sounds erotic.

Breaking Emotions: Tears + Surprise

This week MettelRay shared another two emotions - tears and surprise. This time I'm gonna do both.

American Horror Story: Coven - 3x06 The Axeman Cometh

This week's Coven brought in quite the cinematic episode. It was very focused and almost felt like a separate movie, with few scenes connected to the main story line. We open in 1919 where we meet the Axeman (Danny Huston) - New Orleans's equivalent of the Zodiac killer. The Axeman killed 8 people and wrote to the newspaper that he won't kill anyone who has jazz music playing in their house.

Angelina Jolie is pure perfection as Maleficent in the film's first trailer.

(I know I'm probably the last one to post it, but in my defense I was making the above graphic)

It's finally here. The long awaited first trailer for Disney's Maleficent. People are really excited for this one, especially for one awesome reason - Angelina Jolie. Not only was she absent from the big screen for a while now, but it's pretty damn rare that someone is literally the only right choice for a certain character. And there is no one in the world more perfect for the role of evil witch Maleficent than Jolie.

12 Years a Slave

Based on true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty, as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.

American Horror Story: Coven - 3x05 Burn, Witch, Burn!

This week in American Horror Story we got to see witch burning, a good old fashioned chainsaw to zombie's head action and another episode of Spalding's little corpse/starlet slapstick adventure. It was, just as it sounds, really fun.

Breaking Emotions: Fear

MettelRay has started another fun blogathon - this time she is posting a list of emotions and participants can share movie scenes that caused them to have those emotions. Yesterday she posted awkwardness and fear. Instead of giving 3 examples for each, I'll give 5 examples for fear.

American Horror Story: Coven - 3x04 Fearful Pranks Ensue

American Horror Story Halloween episodes are always fun, but Fearful Pranks Ensue may just be my favorite episode from the entire show. It was deliciously creepy, delightfully surprising and charmingly amusing. It brought us many answers, many questions, plenty of gore, a jar of acid and a group of zombies.

Tales for Halloween: 7 Tales from the Crypt episodes

Some of you may remember classic Tales from the Crypt series. Based on the eponymous comic books series, Tales from the Crypt is something that you simply don't see on TV anymore - thanks to our PG-13 media, whenever there are re-runs of the series now, it's heavily edited. Why? Because 20 something years ago you could show sex, boobs, gore and say 'fuck!' without people throwing a bible at you and TV executives taking sedatives.

Tales for Halloween: 10 most disturbing movie endings

The most memorable part of the film, more often than not, is the ending. It is the last thing you see before the end credits roll and the last thing you are left with. Sometimes the ending you see is truly shocking - because of the twist, because of how horrifying the events are, because it leaves things open ended. There are several endings out there that are so disturbing they are enough to cause nightmares. And who doesn't love scary stories with macabre twist just in time for Halloween?

American Horror Story: Coven - 3x03 The Replacements

Another week, another trip to the fucked up world of American Horror Story. The latest episode pushed the boundaries and definitely took as further into just how sick the things can get. Incest, bestiality, jar with jizz, animal sacrifice. Fun!

Carrie (2013)

And just like the Devil keeps coming back, so do Carrie remakes.

We all know the story of shy Carrie White. Living in the house with her religiously fanatical mother, bullied by her school mates and finally invited to the prom which goes horribly wrong. Because another thing about Carrie is - she has the power of telekinesis. And that's what makes her someone you really do not want to bully.

American Horror Story: Coven - 3x02 Boy Parts

This week's Coven is still spellbinding - despite lacking an ending to the episode that would really excite you and rehashing some old and been-there-done-that American Horror Story themes, the episode was fantastic. We got two people coming back from the dead, more excellent song choices and a terrific showdown scene between Fiona and Marie Laveau.

Prisoners

(spoilers!)

This line from the film is actually a good advice if you are planning on watching it.

Gravity

(spoilers!)

If you told me that one day I'll be grateful Avatar existed, I wouldn't believe you. But I am now. Why? Because if it wasn't for Avatar and the advancement of technology it carried with it, we wouldn't have Gravity. And unlike the boring, empty and ridiculous spawn of James Cameron, Gravity is a beautiful, emotionally affecting cinematic masterpiece.

American Horror Story: Coven - 3x01 Bitchcraft

It's finally here. The long awaited Coven has began with absolutely delightful season premiere entitled Bitchcraft. I'm already in love with this season - there was some concern about the tone being lighter, and it is - things are less messy, less depressing than in last season, Asylum. The characters are witty, the situations, while still terrifying, have so much energy to them.

Something wicked this way comes - 10 films to watch alongside American Horror Story: Coven

In case you forgotten, American Horror Story: Coven premieres tonight. Finally a show that really leaves you in agonizing pain of wanting more and wishing it was Wednesday just to see the new episode. Here is the list of movies that may keep you busy in the meantime. (inspired by this awesome list of 5 movies with witches by Jess)

Soundtrack Wednesday - American Horror Story: Coven

Track: House of the Rising Sun

Artist: Lauren O'Connell

Series: American Horror Story: Coven

Reasons why I found Breaking Bad finale underwhelming

After Breaking Bad finale was over I was left with immediate "That's it?" thought. While I don't necessarily believe the series finale has to be the best episode of the series, it should at least be one of the best finales that series had. Felina had nothing on Face Off or Full Measures. Hell, it wouldn't even be in my top 20 of the best Breaking Bad episodes.