Movies I Watched for My Challenge (April 2014)

This month had one movie that really stood out, one surprisingly good film and the others where average or above average. But I had to make a top 5 and I managed. Here are my favorites for this month.

5. Dolphin Tale
Okay, it's not a good movie, but I liked that this movie has heart. It targets a certain audience and it manages to do that well. I highly enojyed it and I can't wait to see its sequel.

4. Thor: The Dark World
Not as good as the first, but still a joy to watch. It was very well done, I especially liked the connection between Thor and his brother Loki.

3. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
This movie was made with a lot of love and showed us the very interesting story of the life of Nelson Mandela, one of my personal heroes.

2. Warm Bodies
As Graham Norton once said on his show, this is a zomromcom. Translation: it's a zombie romantic comedy! This was a very entertaining movie, I didn't expect that at all. It was really funny and it's hard to find a movie to compare this too.

1. About Time
I loved every minute of this film. It's not another time travel movie, it's so much more then that. This movie is very Original, fresh and filled with actors who make their characters super likeable.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Springbreakers

DVD Collection Update (14)

A very big DVD update this time! Eight new ones in my collection. So lets get started!

I also own the first film, which I prefer a bit over this one, but "Thor: The Dark World" is also a great movie experience. And off course Chris Hemsworth.... just perfect.

I waited a long time to get this, but I finally bought it. Season 3 of "The Walking Dead". It's one of my favorite shows of the moment and it's just awesome. In this season they find the prison.

I got this on the day it was released. "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" is just a must have. Like the first DVD, it's a special edition with a lot of extras and five cool postcards. I think this movie is better then the first, and I already loved that one!

Okay, I can already see you roling your eyes. "Jaws" is awesome, directed by Steven Spielberg and the best shark movie ever made. Any other shark movie is just crap. Just watch this video from Cinemassacre.com: Top 40 Shitty Shark Movies. That's true, but I just felt like watching "Jaws 2" so I thought I would look nice on my shelve next to "Jaws". I know it's not that great, but it's still entertaining.

Back to more serious stuff. Nelson Mandela is a man I have idolized for as long as I know him. I just had to see this. It wasn't perfect, but it shows how great of a man he was, so "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" is worth your time.

There are many films about time travelling, but this is just such a heart-warming tale. "About Time" was just great, I immediately wanted to rewatch it. I just love this movie, to me it was perfect. The subtle humor and the great acting by Rachel McAdams, Domhnall Gleeson and especially Bill Nighy.

I just realized I bought a lot of sequels. "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" is another sequel. Again this was better then the first. I especially loved the moment where Bilbo first meets Smaug, who was perfectly voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. I like Hobbits, there are adorable! Martin Freeman is adorable!

Finding "Pulp Fiction" for only 3 euro's was just damn luck. I always wanted this in my collection and I just bumped into it. I didn't even plan to buy a DVD that day. I don't have many lucky moments, but I treasure it when I do! For a movie nerd like me, this is a happy moment!

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 49: Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Director: Justin Chadwick
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 146 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris

Description: A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's (Idris Elba) life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

Review: The British Justin Chadwick got the honors to direct the story of Nelson Mandela’s life. Mandela’s life was extraordinary: from a boy in a village he grew out to be a lawyer, was called a terrorist, a convicted criminal and eventually became president. The perfect story for a Hollywood film. Maybe “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” was a little bit too ambitious.
Autobiographies lend themselves for documentaries, it’s much harder to make it into a feature film. “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” often feels a bit messy, but it’s saved by the actors. Idris Elba is fantastic, with a convincing South African accent and a believable transformation from a short-tempered man to guru. And Noamie Harris touches you with a heart ripping performance as wife Winnie Mandela.
Because I idolized Mandela, it’s easier to see pass all the flaws. It’s an ode to the man who made such a difference in the world. Although it’s not the one people hoped for, it’s a warm ode to Nelson Mandela.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (97)

Here are this weeks trailers.

12 Years a Slave
Description: 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, personified by a malevolent slave owner (Michael Fassbender), 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 (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life.
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Michael Kenneth Williams, Alfre Woodard, Chris Chalk, Taran Killam, Bill Camp
Trailer: Trailer "12 Years a Slave"
Comment: This is definitely one of those stories that will makeme cry.

The Fifthe Estate
Description: Triggering our age of high-stakes secrecy, explosive news leaks and the trafficking of classified information, WikiLeaks forever changed the game. Now, in a dramatic thriller based on real events, "The Fifth Estate" reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century's most fiercely debated organization. The story begins as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) team up to become underground watchdogs of the privileged and powerful. On a shoestring, they create a platform that allows whistleblowers to anonymously leak covert data, shining a light on the dark recesses of government secrets and corporate crimes. Soon, they are breaking more hard news than the world's most legendary media organizations combined. But when Assange and Berg gain access to the biggest trove of confidential intelligence documents in U.S. history, they battle each other and a defining question of our time: what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society, and what are the costs of exposing them?
Director: Bill Condon
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Br�hl, Anthony Mackie, David Thewlis, Alicia Vikander, Peter Capaldi, Carice van Houten, Dan Stevens, Stanley Tucci, Laura Linney
Trailer: Trailer "The Fifth Estate"
Comment: I love Benedict Cumberbatch, not so much as a blonde but he's still awesome!

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Description: Based on South African President Nelson Mandela's autobiography of the same name, which chronicles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild the country's once segregated society
Director: Justin Chadwick
Starring: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Tony Kgoroge, Riaad Moosa, Zolani Mkiva, Jamie Bartlett, Lindiwe Matshikiza, Deon Lotz, Terry Pheto
Trailer: Trailer "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"
Comment: Nelson Mandela is oneof my heroes and inspirations.

The Counselor
Description: A present-day Southwest lawyer gets in over his head in the drug trade.
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, John Leguizamo
Trailer: Trailer "The Counselor"

Seventh Son
Description: In a time long past, an evil is about to be unleashed that will reignite the war between the forces of the supernatural and humankind once more. Master Gregory (Jeff Bridges) is a knight who had imprisoned the malevolently powerful witch, Mother Malkin (Julianne Moore), centuries ago. But now she has escaped and is seeking vengeance. Summoning her followers of every incarnation, Mother Malkin is preparing to unleash her terrible wrath on an unsuspecting world. Only one thing stands in her way: Master Gregory. In a deadly reunion, Gregory comes face to face with the evil he always feared would someday return. Now he has only until the next full moon to do what usually takes years: train his new apprentice, Tom Ward (Ben Barnes) to fight a dark magic unlike any other. Man's only hope lies in the seventh son of a seventh son.
Director: Sergei Bodrov
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Ben Barnes, Djimon Hounsou, Alicia Vikander, Antje Traue, Olivia Williams, Kit Harington
Trailer: Trailer "Seventh Son"