DVD Collection Update (20)

Another update, some really cool movies and series to add to my collection. Here they are!

Off course I had to get "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1". I can't wait for the final movie. This movie I really liked, but I think the bigger audience will appreciate it more when the last chapter comes out.

This season was the final chapter of the series. I really hated "Sons of Anarchy" ending, but it was time. I think that it had to end. Lots of people died in this last season, some characters we really come to love over the years.

"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" was really criticized, but I don't understand. It was a good movie. Okay, it was the least one in the series, but it was very enjoyable and beautifully made! Screw those people, I love it.

"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" was on of my favorite 2014 movies. This is just awesome, so it had to be in my collection!

Oh how I love "Intouchables". Such a beautiful movie, it makes me happy!

"Cloud Atlas" was a pretty confusing movie, so time to rewatch it. And I also bought it because I can add another Tom Hanks movie to my collection.

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is also favorite of 2014. I slightly prefered it too the first movie. It just shows how amazing this superhero is, he is actually my favorite superhero. And Chris Evans is just amazing as Cap.

Haven't seen "Chef" yet, but I already know I'm going to love this film. I just love these tyes of movies. And it has a great cast. And I love food.

"Whiplash" is a movie I had to have in my collection. When I first saw it, I wanted to get up in cheer, that's how good it was!

 

I'm a big fan of the Disney cartoon "Beauty and the Beast" and I can't wait to see the live action version it. Untill then I have to do it with the French "La Belle et La Bête". I haven't seen it yet, but it looks like a darker version of the fairytale.

Monthly 4: April 2015

Here are my highlights for the month of april.

 

 

1. I don’t have a lot of plants. Okay, I have one. And a couple on the balcony, but nature takes care of those. So my mom said I should get some cactuses, because they are low maintenance. So I got three and I actually love them!

2. My friend Natascha gave birth to her second daughter Saar this month. She and her husband Mark already had a girl, named Caro.

3. On King’s day it tradition there are lots of flea markets. I always go to them with my mom, but never buy anything. With the exception of this year. I found two awesome DVD’s for only 1 euro each. That’s a bargain!

4. Call me a nerd, but this was my highlight this month, seeing “Avengers: Age of Ultron”. It was freakin’ awesome!!!

Top 5 Thursday: Movies I Watched for My Challenge (March 2014)

I didn’t have as many choices as the previous two months, because the amount of movies I watched that I haven’t seen before was minimal. I rewatched a lot of films this month. Here are my favourites of the month march for my challenge.

5. Hesher
A little weird, but a good kind of weird. I really loved both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman in this film and was surprised by Rainn Wilson. “Hesher” was surprisingly good.

4. Chimpanzee
Such a heart-warming documentary. Oscar is such an adorable chimpanzee. My brother actually interviewed the maker of the film when “Chimpanzee” came out.

3. Cloud Atlas
It’s really wonderful to see how amazing this book was made into a movie, because that wasn’t easy. Sure, the movie had its flaws, but still it was executed very well and I enjoyed it.

2. Captain Phillips
AS you might now, Tom Hanks can hardly do anything wrong in my eyes. His performance is phenomenal and it’s one of his best. “Captain Phillips” is an amazing film that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

1. The World’s End
I’ve already told you a couple of times, on my blog, how great this film is. I was really happy that “The World’s End” met my expectations and that it was as funny as I hoped. My brother and I really enjoyed every minute of it.

They Almost Made the Top 5: The Last Stand

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 41: Cloud Atlas

Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Genre: Drama/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 164 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, James D’Arcy, Ben Wishaw, Susan Sarandon, Doona Bae, Keith David

Description: An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.

Review: I finished the book by David Mitchell in 2011 and I remember thinking this would be impossible to make into a film. The book has six separate stories, all in different eras and told in its own unique way. Directors Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachoswki decided to give it a go.
The stories in “Clous Atlas” shift in time, where some elements from one story return in the other. The makers took a huge risk to change one important element . The book has five unfinished stories and the sixth is told completely. Then the other five stories are completed. De movie shifts between those stories in pretty much every scene. It’s a miracle that this doesn’t bother you, because you’re literally going from one point to another very abruptly.
Another risk is the cast. The most important actors play five or six different roles. Ýou can easily trust actors like Tom Hanks, Jim Broadbent and Hugo Weaving with that task, because they did a great job. The décor and make-up is just sublime.
“Cloud Atlas” could have been a masterpiece, but I stand with my first thought: It’s really hard to turn this magnificent book into a film. It didn’t capture the power of the novel. But that doesn’t take away that you can’t miss “Cloud Atlas”.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (46)

This weeks trailers are about how actions have impact on live throughout the past, a man on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, corrupt cops, surfing and a bachelorette party.

Cloud Atlas
Description: "Cloud Atlas" explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future.
Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant
Trailer: Trailer "Cloud Atlas"
Comment: I read the book last year and it really fascinated me because I never read anything like it before. This trailer looks fantastic and I really want to see this film!

Life of Pi
Description: A young man survives a tragic disaster at sea and is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While marooned on a lifeboat, he forms an amazing and unexpected connection with the ship's only other survivor - a fearsome Bengal tiger
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Suraj Sharma, Irffan Khan, Gerard Depardieu, Adil Hussain
Trailer: Trailer "Life of Pi"
Comment: Another movie based on a great novel. I haven't read it yet, but after seeing this trailer I think I will read it.

Freelancers
Description: The son of a slain NYPD officer joins the force, where he falls in with his father's former partner and a team of rogue cops. His new boss, Sarcone (Robert De Niro), will see if he has what it takes to be rogue through many trials and tribulations of loyalty, trust and respect. When the truth about his father's death is revealed, revenge takes over him, and he won't stop until justice has been truly served.
Director: Jesse Terrero
Starring: Robert De Niro, Forest Whitaker, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Dana Delany
Trailer: Trailer "Freelancers"

Chasing Mavericks
Description: We follow a Jay Moriarty's (Leven Rambin) quest to surf Northern California's most dangerous wave, and the local legend (Gerard Butler) who takes him under his wing. What begins as a mentorship turns into a unique lifelong bond, as the two unlikely friends discover that there is nothing more powerful than pushing your limits and chasing a nearly impossible dream.
Director: Curtis Hanson
Starring: Gerard Butler, Elizabeth Shue, Leven Rambin, Abigail Spencer
Trailer: Trailer "Chasing Mavericks"

Bachelorette
Description: On the night before an old friend's wedding, three frisky bridesmaids go searching for a little fun but find much more than they bargained for. With lovely Becky (Rebel Wilson) set to marry her handsome sweetheart, Dale (Hayes MacArthur), the remaining members of her high school clique reunite for one last bachelorette bacchanal in the Big Apple. Regan (Kirsten Dunst) is an overachieving, ueber-Maid of Honor who's secretly smarting over the fact that she's not the first to marry, while Gena (Lizzy Caplan) is a whip-smart sarcastic who's actually a closet romantic, and Katie (Isla Fisher) is a ditzy beauty who loves the good life. But when Becky insists on keeping the bachelorette party tame, the women proceed with an after-hours celebration of their own.
Director: Leslye Headland
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, James Marsden, Adam Scott, Rebel Wilson, Hayes MacArthur
Trailer: Trailer "Bachelorette"
Comment: It looks a lot like "Bridesmaids", but I love Kirsten Dunst so...

50 Books Challenge - # 17: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Title: Cloud Atlas
Author: David Mitchell
Story: A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation -- the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.
Start: march 26th 2011
End: april 2nd 2011
Comment: When I read the back of this novel, I was very curious about it. I really didn't know what to expect. Six different stories are told and five of them are interrupted half way through. At first you think it are just six stories, but soon enough you'll find out there's more to it. The individual stories have connections with the other stories, which makes it one piece. The great thing about this book is that David Mitchell managed to use six different writing styles. Each story has his own unique style, like a journal, letters and an interview. And they are all set centuries apart. I never read anything like this before. The stories about Adam Ewing, Luisa Rey and Robert Frobisher were my favorites and the story of Zach'ry didn't really interest me much. I don't know why, it was a confusing story. That's probably just me. It took me a while to finish it, because it such good literature. It's not easy to read. Mitchell is a very gifted writer and I'm really looking forward to reading more of his work.
Rating: 4/ 5