Movie Trailer Sunday (130)

Here are this weeks trailers.

 

The Normal Heart

Description: A gay activist (Mark Ruffalo) attempts to raise HIV/AIDS awareness during the early 1980s.

Director: Ryan Murphy

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons and Julia Roberts

Trailer: Trailer "The Normal Heart"

Comment: Mark Ruffalo is an underestimated actor, looks like he finally got his chance to shine.

Devil's Knot

Description: Three teenagers are accused of the brutal 1993 murder of three 8-year old boys in Memphis, Ark. - two of them sentenced to life imprisonment and one to death. The film explores the lives of deeply misunderstood outsiders, their families and communities, and their darkest fantasies.

Director: Atom Egoyan

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Colin Firth, Alessandro Nivola, Dane DeHaan, Mireille Enos, Amy Ryan, Stephen Moyer, Bruce Greenwood

Trailer: Trailer "Devil's Knot"

Comment: I would want to see this film, looks good.

Hateship Loveship

Description: A wild teenage girl (Hailee Steinfeld) orchestrates a romance between her nanny (Kristen Wiig) and her father (Guy Pearce), who is a recovering addict.

Director: Liza Johnson

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Hailee Steinfeld, Guy Pearce, Nick Nolte

Trailer: Trailer "Loveship Hateship"

Comment: I just adore Kristen Wiig and I love to see her in a more serious role. And the poster is stunning!

Perfect Sisters

Description: Tired of their mother's alcoholism and a string of her abusive boyfriends, two sisters plot to kill her.

Director: Stanley M. Brooks

Starring: Abigail Breslin, Georgie Henley, Mira Sorvino, James Russo

Trailer: Trailer "Perfect Sisters"

Comment: This looks stupid.

 

Get On Up

Description: A chronicle of James Brown's rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.

Director: Tate Taylor

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Nelsan Ellis, Lennie James, Jill Scott and Dan Aykroyd

Trailer: Trailer "Get On Up"

Comment: Same director as "The Help", so great expectations.

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 44: The Last Stand

Director: Kim Jee-Woon
Genre: Action
Runtime: 107 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forest Whitaker, Johnny Knoxville, Peter Stormare, Rodrigo Santoro, Luis Guzmán, Jamie Alexander

Description: The leader of a drug cartel busts out of a courthouse and speeds to the Mexican border, where the only thing in his path is a sheriff (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his inexperienced staff.

Review: With the comeback of action star Arnold Schwarzenegger you expect muscles, cool one-liners and explosive action. They are all present, but not like back in his glory days. But his role as sheriff of a dull town is perfect for him and his constraints.
The escape of Cortez is spectacular, but because he spends most time in a racecar you don’t take him too seriously as a villain. There is not a lot of tension when it comes to confrontation with Cortez. Peter Stormare, as sidekick villain Burrell, is a more intimidating bad guy. The last shootout in the town is the most exciting scene of the movie and we see that Arnie is still one of the best action heroes. He even busts out a couple of fun one-liners.
Director Kim Jee-Woon made a visually good looking movie and the camerawork is also pretty impressive. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in his element as sheriff. He’s still not a fantastic actor, but I always like to watch his films. Arnie is back!

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 43: Chimpanzee

Director: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 78 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Tim Allen (narrator)

Description: The 3-months-old chimpanzee Oscar is separated from his troop and is then adopted by the fully-grown male Freddy.

Review: There are only a few animals on our planet that have more in common with us humans then chimpanzees. Their mimics, skills and behavior are all very close to ours. In “Chimpanzee” it’s the very adorable baby chimp Oscar and alpha male Freddy we follow. In the first part of the film we learn about the interaction between Oscar and his caring mother Isha. From far a rivaling group of chimpanzees is lurking to strike. When that happens Oscar and his mother get separated and he finds a surrogate in Freddy. It’s very unusual for a male chimp to care for a baby that isn’t his own.
“Chimpanzee” is a beautiful film. The visuals are stunning, everything is very clear. Especially the night scene with Scar and his group, with thunder and lightning in the background. The story is also vibrant and engrossing. The behavior of these interesting creatures is well captured in detail.
It’s very Disney to create an opposition between huggable heroes and sardonic villains. Scar and his companions are invariably described as an unrestrained mob that is out plundering in the territory of Oscar. The contrast between the ‘good’ group of Freddy and Oscar and the villainous gang of Scar is too heavily exaggerated, because terms like good and bad in nature are barely usable and basically non-existent.
Still “Chimpanzee” is a stunning documentary that will grab people from all ages and keeps your attention at all times. Even with the few little flaws it has, it’s a film I would highly recommend.

Rating: 4/ 5

In My Mailbox (139)

Twelve postcards this week! The first came from London, Great-Brittain. Very cute foxes.

Sent: february 22nd 2014
Received: march 9th 2014
Distance: 424 km (263 miles)
Travel Time: 15 days

Another fox postcard, even more beautiful, from Rhyschiv, Ukraine.

Sent: february 26th 2014
Received: march 9th 2014
Distance: 1,765 km (1,097 miles)
Travel Time: 11 days

From Dorchester, Canada I got this typical Canadian postcard.

Sent: march 6th 2014
Received: march 12th 2014
Distance: 6,245 km (3,880 miles)
Travel Time: 6 days

This third fox card of the week came from Ivacevichi, Belarus. Amazing all these fox cards.

Sent: february 20th 2014
Received: march 12th 2014
Distance: 1,333 km (828 miles)
Travel Time: 20 days

And a card from Barcelona, Spain.

Sent: march 2nd 2014
Received: march 12th 2014
Distance: 1,128 km (701 miles)
Travel Time: 10 days

This gorgeous flower was sent to me from Arborg, Canada.

Sent: march 2nd 2014
Received: march 12th 2014
Distance: 6,574 km (4,085 miles)
Travel Time: 10 days

A wonderful drawing, it's very pretty. The card came from Natzungen, Germany.

Sent: march 2nd 2014
Received: march 12th 2014
Distance: 229 km (142 miles)
Travel Time: 10 days

A very wintery sight, although it felt like spring in the Netherlands this week. It's from Kozelets, Ukraine.

Sent: march 6th 2014
Received: march 14th 2014
Distance: 1,747 km (1,086 miles)
Travel Time: 8 days

And another winter card, this time from Istanbul, Turkey.

Sent: february 4th 2014
Received: march 14th 2014
Distance: 2,092 km (1,300 miles)
Travel Time: 38 days

BARBAPAPA!!! A cartoon I watched when I was a kid. It's from Utrecht, Netherlands.

Sent: march 11th 2014
Received: march 14th 2014
Distance: 117 km (73 miles)
Travel Time: 3 days

And again a fox card, my favorite of the week. It's from Moscow, Russia.

Sent: february 28th 2014
Received: march 14th 2014
Distance: 2,133 km (1,325 miles)
Travel Time: 14 days

From Shanghai, China came these adorable bunnies.

Sent: february 27th 2014
Received: march 14th 2014
Distance: 8,896 km (5,528 miles)
Travel Time: 15 days

And finally from Sydney, Australia I got an autumn postcard.

Sent: march 7th 2014
Received: march 14th 2014
Distance: 16,623 km (10,329 miles)
Travel Time: 7 days

Thanks Egle, Ruslana, Brenda, Viola, Luiseme, April, Angelika, Oksana, Canan, Lotte, Alla, Dan and Sharon for your cards this week!

Top 5 Thursday: Movies from 2003

The beginning of the years wasn’t great, but later on this year brought us some fantastic films. Some of my favorites. Here are the best movies from 2003.

5. Big Fish
I love this fairytale like film, it just makes me happy every time I watch it. And that field full of daffodils, where is my field of daffodils?

4. Love Actually
Somewhat of a guilty pleasure, the ultimate Christmas feeling for me. All those intertwining love stories, I actually love it!

3. Kill Bill Vol. 1
Although the second film is my favourite of the two, this deserves a place on my list. Tarantino hardly ever disappoints and The Bride is kick-ass!

2. Mystic River
Such great acting and a very good story. Even after watching it a couple of times, the suspense is always there. Perfect casting too.

1. Lost in Translation
One of my all-time favourite movies. Who thought that Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson would be a match made in heaven? I certainly didn’t, but I just love them together.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Old School, Identity, Finding Nemo, 28 Days Later,

100 Movies Challenge 2014 - # 42: The World's End

Director: Edgar Wright
Genre: Comedy/ Science Fiction/ Action
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike, Pierce Brosnan

Description: Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.

Review: The trio Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are back in the last part of their so-called “Three Flavors Cornetto-trilogy”. With previous successes “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” Pegg and Frost write the screenplay and play the lead characters and Wright has the honors to direct this comedy.
Twenty years ago Gary King and his friends wanted to achieve “The Golden Mile”, which means that they visit twelve pubs in their hometown Newton Haven and ending in The World’s End. They didn’t make it and now, all grown up, the group of friends is going to give it another shot. But if they will make it to The World’s End or not is the least of their problems.
If you’re a fan of the previous films, like I am, you get exactly what you want. “The World’s End” is filled with the British humor that I love, mostly very subtle and not in your face. The film brought us a very memorable fight scene in a bathroom, which you really have to watch to understand why it’s close to being classic. Off course there is again a scene featuring a fence and a very subtle cornetto remark, both only meant for the insiders.
The entire cast is perfect and they all work very well together. Simon Pegg is the star of the film though, he shines in every scene and shows us that many American comedians still have a lot to learn.
If I want a good comedy, I leave it to Wright, Pegg and Frost, a magical trio. This is really my humor and they can hardly do anything wrong in my eyes. “The World’s End” is again a great film, for the lovers. And I hope the three men decide to make another movie… or two.

Rating: 5/ 5

Quotables: "12 Years a Slave"

This movie left me speechless, what a beautiful film. It amazes me how Solomon Northup survived this misery. Seriously, if you didn't shed a single tear during this movie, you're a robot. Here are some of the best quotes from the film.

Solomon Northup: I will not fall into despair! I will keep myself hardy until freedom is opportune!

Clemens: If you want to survive, do and say as little as possible. Tell no one who you really are and tell no one that you can read and write. Unless you want to be a dead nigger.

Mistress Epps: You will remove that black bitch from this property, or I'll take myself back to Cheneyville. Edwin Epps: Back to the hogs's trough where I found you? Do not set yourself against Patsy, my dear. Cos I will rid myself of you well before I do away with her.

Solomon Northup: [Upon meeting his family again after 12 years] I apologize for my appearance. But I have had a difficult time these past several years.