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

Another month has passed and I reached one hundred films for my challenge. But I’m still going to continue, maybe I can reach 200? Here are my favourites of the month of august.

5. Mr. Morgan’s Last Love
“Mr. Morgan’s Last Love” really surprised me pleasantly. It’s such a beautiful story and I loved the chemistry between the two leading characters.

4. Philomena
A heartfelt story and great performances by Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. Better than I thought it would be.

3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Most people think it’s better than “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”,, I think it’s just as good. Very well made and Caesar is the big star of the film. Amazing how Andy Serkis can make you so connected with an ape.

2. Rear Window
Although it’s a very simple set-up, “Rear Window” is such a good thriller. Hitchcock is a master and I loved this movie.

1. Guardians of the Galaxy
Before seeing “Guardians of the Galaxy” I just knew I was going to love it. It met every expectation I had and it truly amazed me. I want to see it again, I loved it that much I can’t wait for it to be released on DVD.

They Almost Made the Top 5: American Hustle, Let’s Be Cops

DVD Collection Update (17)

Ten new ones in my collection. So pleased with them and some lukcy breaks as well. Here they are.

 

First I got a movíe I've been wanting to see it since I saw its trailer. It never played in our theaters, but when it was released on DVD I immediately bought it. And I loved "Nebraska", especially Bruce Dern. He's just great.

"Philomena" is also a movie I've been waiting to see and it also didn't disappoint me. Judi Dench is so good and together with Steve Coogan she forms an amazing duo.

This is just amazing!!! "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is a true art piece. Wes Anderson has become one of my favorite directors.

Finally my country released it! The second part of season 13 of my most beloved show "CSI". That great episode, where Sara is suspected of murder, is on this. I think that's a great episode. And the one where Neal McDonough guest stars, is also awesome.

This was the Lucky break. I bumped into it, knowing I really forgot about this comedy series. "The IT Crowd" is so hilarious, I watched the entire series in just three days. Don't you just love Moss and Roy?

Finally saw it yesterday. I think I expected more, but it was still an amazing movie. I especially liked Amy Adams and Christian Bale. Great performance by Jeremy Renner too.

I'm craving to see "Jurassic World" but because I have to wait for that, I decided to still that hunger by getting "The Lost World: Jurassic Park". Off course not as great as the first, but I love this as well. I just love dinosaurs!

Don't know if "Premium Rush" is any good, but I bought it because of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Yeah, guilty!

"Julie & Julia" is such a feel good film, it makes me smile. I like both Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in their roles, but also Stanley Tucci (who I wish I knew in real life). And all that delicious food....

Last I got season 6 and 7 of "Waking the Dead". Only two more to go and my collection is complete.

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 89: Philomena

Director: Stephen Frears

Genre: Drama
Runtime: 98 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan

Description: World-weary political journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) picks up the story of Philomena Lee’s (Judi Dench) search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.

Review: After fifty years Philomena Lee decides to tell her deepest secret. When she was very young, Philomena became pregnant. Because she didn’t know where to go, she went to an Irish convent. The nuns see it as a sin, so right after the birth of Philomena’s son the two are separated. They are allowed to see each other one hour a day. The child is then taken from her completely, when he joins another family. Fifty years later Philomena tells this story to her daughter, who enlists the help of journalist Martin Sixsmith. Together they try to find Philomena’s long lost son.

Even though Dame Judi Dench is close to 80, she’s still one of the finest actresses in the field. Dench proves that as Philomena, where she can show a bitter side but also manages to give her a humoristic edge. Dench is not the only one worth watching. Journalist Sixsmith is portrayed by Steve Coogan, who also wrote the script for the film. Coogan is a comedian and it’s great to see a heartfelt and more serious performance by him.

Especially the combination of the two characters is what makes this movie interesting. They both have a different way of thinking, but get a stronger band while they get closer to their goal. While Philomena still blames herself and not the nuns, Sixsmith sees hypercriticism and corruption from the Irish convent.

“Philomena” is based on a book by Martin Sixsmith: ‘The Lost Child of Philomena Lee’, from 2009. He wrote it based on actual facts. The movie keeps surprising you and has some funny twist and unexpected anecdotes. Keep your tissues ready, because it’s one of those films.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (101)

Here are this weeks trailers.

Fading Gigolo
Description: Fioravante (John Turturro) decides to become a professional Don Juan as a way of making money to help his cash-strapped friend, Murray (Woody Allen). With Murray acting as his "manager", the duo quickly finds themselves caught up in the crosscurrents of love and money.
Director: John Turturro
Starring: John Turturro, Woody Allen, Liev Schreiber, Sofia Vergara, Sharon Stone, Vanessa Paradis, Max Casella, Bob Balaban, Aida Turturro, Jill Scott
Trailer: Trailer "Fading Gigolo"
Comment: Woody Allen in a movie and not directing. Interesting. John Turturro is very cool, finally a leading role.

A.C.O.D.
Description: A grown man, Carter (Adam Scott), is still caught in the crossfire of his parents' 15-year-old divorce. He discovers he was unknowingly part of a study on divorced children. He's enlisted in a follow-up years later that wreaks new havoc on his family.
Director: Stu Zicherman
Starring: Adam Scott, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Catherine O'Hara, Jane Lynch, Richard Jenkins, Clark Duke, Amy Poehler
Trailer: Trailer "A.C.O.D."
Comment: Looks like a lot of fun. I kinda like Adam Scott...

The Monuments Men
Description: An unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys, seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1, possibly hope to succeed?But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind's greatest achievements.
Director: George Clooney
Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murrat, Jean Dujardin
Trailer: Trailer "The Monuments Men"
Comment: George Clooney is a fantastic director, looking forward to seeing this.

Philomena
Description: When she fell pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee (Judi Dench) was sent to the convent at Roscrea in Co. Tipperary to be looked after as a fallen woman. She cared for her baby for three years until the Church took him from her and sold him, like countless others, to America for adoption. Coerced into signing a document promising never to attempt to see her child again, she nonetheless spent the next fifty years secretly searching for him, unaware that he was searching for her from across the Atlantic. Philomena's son, renamed Michael Hess, grew up to be a top Washington lawyer and a leading Republican official in the Reagan and Bush administrations. But he was a gay man in a homophobic party where he had to conceal not only his sexuality but, eventually, the fact that he had AIDs. With little time left, he returned to Ireland and the convent where he was born: his desperate quest to find his mother before he died left a legacy that was to unfold with unexpected consequences for all involved.
Director: Stephen Frears
Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan
Trailer: Trailer "Philomena"
Comment: I'll probably get this on DVD.

Vampire Academy
Description: Rose Hathaway (Zoey Deutch) is a Dhampir: half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi. This is her story.
Director: Mark Waters
Starring: Zoey Deutch, Lucy Fry, Danila Kozlovsky, Gabriel Byrne, Sarah Hyland, Joely Richardson, Cameron Monaghan, Sami Gayle, Claire Foy, Ashley Charles
Trailer: Trailer "Vampire Academy"
Comment: Never read the books.