Movie Trailer Sunday (135)

Here are this weeks trailers.

Gone Girl
Description: On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) reports that his beautiful wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, Carrie Coon
Trailer: Trailer "Gone Girl"
Comment: I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie.

God's Pocket
Description: Mickey Scarpato's (Philip Seymour Hoffman) crazy stepson, Leon (Caleb Landry), is killed in a construction "accident," and Mickey quickly tries to bury the bad news with the body. But when a local columnist comes sniffing around for the truth, things go from bad to worse. Mickey finds himself stuck in a life-and-death struggle compounded by a body he can't bury, a wife he can't please, and a debt he can't pay.
Director: John Slattery
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Glenn Fleshler, Caleb Landry Jones, Eddie Marsan and John Turturro
Trailer: Trailer "God's Pocket"
Comment: After watching this trailer you just realize how we are going to miss a great actor like Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Third Person
Description: Three interlocking love stories involving three couples in three cities: Rome, Paris, and New York.
Director: Paul Haggis
Starring: Liam Neeson, Olivia Wilde, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Maria Bello, Adrian Brody, Kim Basinger
Trailer: Trailer "Third Person"
Comment: Some people I really love watching are in this movie: Franco, Kunis, Neeson, Wilde, hell yeah!!

Jersey Boys
Description: The story of four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic 1960s rock group The Four Seasons.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Erich Bergen, Michael Lomenda, Christopher Walken
Trailer: Trailer "Jersey Boys"
Comment: I saw the musical not that long ago, I'm excited about the movie. I didn't expect Eastwood to be the director though!

Maps to the Stars
Description: Complex look at Hollywood and what it reveals about Western culture.
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: John Cusack, Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, Carrie Fisher, Olivia Williams, Sarah Gadon
Trailer: Trailer "Maps to the Stars"
Comment: John Cusack is my weakness....

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 53: About Time

Director: Richard Curtis
Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 123 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy

Description: At the age of 21, Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.

Review: Time travelling isn’t that hard. Lock yourself in a closet, clench your fists and think of a moment in your past. Et voilá, when you leave the closet you enter your own past and you can make right what you did wrong. That’s how it works in “About Time”. In this romantic comedy we follow a few years of the life of young lawyer Tim and his American sweetheart Mary. The couple is surrounded by some eccentric friends and family members.
With “About Time” director and writer Richard Curtis added another great film to his consistent oeuvre. Like other movies in the genre, this movie doesn’t lean on a storyline that brings two lovebirds together in the end. This film is a chain of everyday situations. That this keeps your focus is because of the pace and the likeable characters.
The time travelling itself gives us some hilarious scenes, like where Tim is trying to help an actor who keeps forgetting his lines, or his first night with Mary. Every joke hits the mark, the characters manage to touch you and the actors are doing a fantastic job. Domhnall Gleeson is endearing as Tim, Rachel McAdams is charming as ever and Bill Nighy shines in every scene he is in. This man has a certain charisma you just can’t get around.
With the sweet and optimistic tone is “About Time” an absolute favorite for me. This is definitely a movie I will watch again… and again. And I don’t have to clench my fists and get into a dark closet for it.

Rating: 5/ 5

In My Mailbox (144)

I got twelve postcards this week! From Yekaterinburg, Russia I received the first of the week. I love this postcard, with the sunflower umbrella.

Sent: february 8th 2014
Received: april 13th 2014
Distance: 3,534 km (2,196 miles)
Travel Time: 64 days

From Rauma, Finland I got this funny Spongebob postcard. I don't know why Spongebob, but still it's funny!

Sent: april 10th 2014
Received: april 13th 2014
Distance: 1,456 km (905 miles)
Travel Time: 3 days

This is a very impressive landscape. The card came from Taipei, Taiwan.

Sent: march 31st 2014
Received: april 13th 2014
Distance: 9,462 km (5,879 miles)
Travel Time: 13 days

As almost every card from Ukraine, this one is from its capitol Kiev. I don't know exactly what it is, but it looks like a fairytale.

Sent: april 9th 2014
Received: april 16th 2014
Distance: 1,717 km (1,067 miles)
Travel Time: 7 days

I didn't know who it was, but when I looked closer I realized it was Freddy Mercury from the band Queen. I love their music and Mercury was a fantastic singer. The card came from Novosibirsk, Russia.

Sent: april 24th 2014
Received: april 16th 2014
Distance: 4,887 km (3,037 miles)
Travel Time: 23 days

These joyful running children came from Diadema, Brazil.

Sent: february 13th 2014
Received: april 16th 2014
Distance: 9,782 km (6,078 miles)
Travel Time: 62 days

Yeah, another mapcard. This time from Fairmont, West Virginia, US.

Sent: april 9th 2014
Received: april 16th 2014
Distance: 6,463 km (4,016 miles)
Travel Time: 7 days

Another postcard from Rauma, Finland. This is such a gorgeous bear, I just love this card.

Sent: april 12th 2014
Received: april 16th 2014
Distance: 1,456 km (905 miles)
Travel Time: 4 days

My favorite of the week, a card I had already received from someone else once, came from Vorst, Germany. It's one of my all-time favorites! Wolves are so amazing.

Sent: april 12th 2014
Received: april 16th 2014
Distance: 34 km (21 miles)
Travel Time: 4 days

Cute squirrel!!! The card came from Ufa, Russia.

Sent: april 5th 2014
Received: april 18th 2014
Distance: 3,301 km (2,051 miles)
Travel Time: 13 days

From Dreieich, Germany this puppy was send to me. Adorable!

Sent: april 14th 2014
Received: april 18th 2014
Distance: 231 km (144 miles)
Travel Time: 4 days

You just gotta love tea. It's from Taipei, Taiwan.

Sent: april 5th 2014
Received: april 18th 2014
Distance: 9,462 km (5,879 miles)
Travel Time: 13 days

Thanks Lena, Nuna, Vivian, Zoya, Polly, Natasha, Anne, Anna, Gina, Travelbat, Seisenbacher and Ching-Hui for your great postcards this week!!

No Top 5 Thursday

You might have noticed that there was no top 5 thursday this week. Work was just too busy that day, so I didn't have the time and energy to put it up. Next week it will be back again.

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 52: Admission

Director: Paul Weitz
Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 103 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Lily Tomlin, Michael Sheen, Wallace Shawn

Description: Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is a Princeton admissions officer who is up for a major promotion. She takes a professional risk after she meets a college-bound alternative school kid who just might be the son she gave up years ago in a secret adoption.

Review: Two of Hollywoods favorite comedy stars are joined together in “Admission”. Fey plays Portia Nathan, an admissions officer at Princeton, who is an absolute control freak. Rudd is teacher John Halsey, who’s school is visited by Portia.
Tina Fey is known for her amazing humoristic timing and her great comedic ideas. And Paul Rudd is someone very often seen in Judd Apatow movies and he knows how to win over a crowd. Both actors are holding back in this movie, it could have been a lot better. The story isn’t the flaw, because that’s just fine. There aren’t a lot of jokes, the romantic storyline is very bland and the melodramatic touch is just minimal.
“Admission” isn’t a movie that I will remember for a very long time, it’s very average. Maybe they should give Fey and Rudd another chance, because they both have the potential to make a great comedy together.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 51: Dolphin Tale

Director: Charles Martin Smith
Genre: Drama/ Family
Runtime: 113 minutes
Year: 2011
Starring: Nathan Gamble, Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Kris Kristofferson

Description: A story centered on the friendship between a boy and a dolphin whose tail was lost in a crab trap.

Review: Winter is a very special dolphin. In the winter of 2005, when she was only a couple of months old, Winter was found by fishermen. Because her tail was severely damaged by a crab trap, they had to amputate it and she eventually got a prosthetic tail. This true story is combined with the fictional story of Sawyer Nelson, who has trouble socializing with other kids. He helps a fisherman when Winter is found and becomes fascinated with dolphins and other marine life.
For a family movie “Dolphin Tale” manages to check every box. There is a positive moral, it has tension, pace and humor and the characters are real and likeable. Off course you shouldn’t expect memorable performances or mind blowing cinematography. What we do get is a film that was made with love and is a joy for the entire family.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

In the Picture: The Characters from "The World's End"

I finally saw it this year and it met my expectations. It’s a fantastic comedy, this is how comedies should be made! And it also brought some great characters. Here are the characters from “The World’s End”.

Gary King
Played by: Simon Pegg
Gary King is a middle-aged recovering drug addict. He is still stuck in his teenage life, because he wants to get the old group of friends together again. Gary is determined to finally finish “The Golden Mile” because they didn’t manage that back in the days.

Andy Knightley
Played by: Nick Frost
Andy used to be Gary’s best friend, but nowadays Andy is a more serious man. He is a lawyer. Andy doesn’t want to be a part of the reunion, but when he starts feeling sorry for Gary he decides to take part anyway.

Oliver Chamberlain
Played by: Martin Freeman
Oliver is a serious business man, an estate agent, who is still working while trying to finish “The Golden Mile” with the guys. He only got into the group because Gary thought his sister Sam was hot.

Steven Prince
Played by: Paddy Considine
Steven used to be Gary’s fellow rock star in training. They were very similar when they were kids: Cool, good-looking and both into Oliver’s sister Sam. Steven is now an architectural consultant and hasn’t heard from Gary for a very long time.

Peter Page
Played by: Eddie Marsan
Peter is from a wealthy family and that was the only reason Gary wanted to be friends with him. As a child, Peter was bullied and when he revisits New Haven he sees his bully again.

Sam Chamberlain
Played by: Rosemund Pike
Sam is Oliver’s sister and caught the eye of both Gary and Steven. Gary had a fling with her when they were younger, but she always regretted that. Nowadays she is more into Steven.

Favorite Character: Gary King