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Song for Marion

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Here's a story about Marion and Arthur - an old couple that have been married for as long as anybody can remember.



Marion (played sublimely by Vanessa Redgrave) is such a person that most people would love. She's generally happy and spreads joy around her; she loves her friends and her husband and life in general. She is also terminally ill.
Arthur (played honestly and realistically by Terence Stamp) on the other hand is totally incapable of showing his emotions. He's grumpy, rude, introvert and doesn't understand why Marion insists on staying in the local choir of eccentric old people. He'd rather that she'd just stay at home and stop using the little energy she has left on such nonsense!

The leader of the choir Elizabeth (played enthusiastically by Gemma Arterton) enters the choir into a singing competition - and “The OAPz” becomes a reality.



Arthur finds himself drawn to the choral practices and listens from outside, while he does a lot to pretend he isn't listening at all. Elizabeth, who is the choir leader, spots him and makes it her mission to persuade him to join. There are many cool scenes with that choir. The funniest one is when The OAPz sing Salt 'n' Pepa’s "Let’s Talk About Sex".



The movie is very touching, and it may be a bit predictable. I honestly cried my way through it, so some people would maybe call it sentimental and emotional porn. But what made it work for me was the fact that the sentimental moments were usually followed by a scene where the grumpy old man would bring it all back down and make sure that we don't drown in slush. Call it evening things out, if you must.

We went in to watch this movie without having seen the trailer or having a clue about what the movie would be about. We were both very pleasantly surprised, and I really enjoyed this gem of a movie, even though people may have thought otherwise, since I came out of the cinema with red and puffy eyes. wink

Here's the trailer:


star star star star star star out of 6. yes

Movies we watched, part II

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Here's another post full of movies we've watched - in alphabetical order. It's a nice way to get to see a variation of genres and movies yes

48 Hours
Action comedy with Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte
Zaphira: 4/6 Flarin: 4/6


A Knight's Tale
Historical adventure comedy with Heath Ledger
Zaphira: 6/6 Flarin: 5/6


(The) Beach
Drama with a very young Leonardo di Caprio
Zaphira: 5/6 Flarin: 6/6


Crimson Rivers
Crime movie with Jean Reno (Yum!)
Zaphira: 5/6 Flarin: 4/6


Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels
Comedy with Steve Martin and Michael Caine
Zaphira: 6/6 Flarin: 5/6


(The) Escapist
British prison break movie
Zaphira: 5/6 Flarin: 5/6


Freaky Friday
Teen comedy with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan
Zaphira: 4/6 Flarin: 4/6


Groundhog Day
Old comedy with Bill Murray
Zaphira: 4/6 Flarin: 5/6


(The) Hand that rocks the cradle
Thriller about a mother's revenge
Zaphira: 5/6 Flarin: 4/6


(The) Interpreter
Actionthriller with Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn
Zaphira: 5/6 Flarin: 5/6


J. Edgar Hoover
featuring Leonardo di Caprio as Hoover
Zaphira: 5/6 Flarin: 5/6


Kinamand
Danish feelgood movie about a Danish man who marries a Chinese woman
Zaphira: 6/6 Flarin: 6/6


Little Shop of Horrors
Cult movie from 1986 with Rick Moranis, Steve Martin and Ellen Greene
Zaphira: 6/6 Flarin: 5/6


Midnight Run
Robert De Niro is a bounty hunter
Zaphira: 4/6 Flarin: 5/6


Night at the Museum 2
Ben Stiller comedy
Zaphira: 4/6 Flarin: 3/6


O brother, where art thou?
Comedy with George Clooney
Zaphira: 5/6 Flarin: 6/6


Pulp Fiction
Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in another cult movie
Zaphira: 6/6 Flarin: 6/6


Rocky Horror Picture Show
Cult movie starring Tim Curry as a sweet transvestite from Transsexual
Zaphira: 6/6 Flarin: 5/6


Seven Pounds
Drama with a very grown up Will Smith
Zaphira: 5/6 Flarin: 5/6


Trainspotting
Scottish drug drama comedy
Zaphira: 4/6 Flarin: 6/6


Usual Suspects
Complicated crime thriller
Zaphira: 3/6 Flarin: 4/6


V for Vendetta
Futuristic revolution movie
Zaphira: 4/6 Flarin: 4/6


Wallace & Gromit - Three amazing adventures
Claymation about an inventor and his helping dog
Zaphira: 3/6 Flarin: 5/6


X-Men 2
Comic book movie
Zaphira: 3/6 Flarin: 4/6


Have you watched any of these movies? Do you agree with our ratings? Please do share in the comments below! happy

Valentine's Day: A good day to Die Hard

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Three words you’d like to hear on Valentine’s Day...


I know which words I had in mind:


And I actually got to hear them! Now, how’s that for a Valentine’s Day! heart

A Good Day to Die Hard is the fifth chapter in the series of Die Hard-movies. Here’s how they came out:

• Die Hard (1988)
• Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)
• Die Hard: Mega Hard (1995)
• Die Hard 4.0 (2006)
• A good Day to Die Hard (2013)

Bruce Willies is back as John McClane. This time he goes to Russia to help his son out of prison. Little does he know that his son is now a spy with a mission, and he’s not interested in being interrupted by his Dad.

I won’t go into further details about the whys, whats and wherefores of this movie, because seriously, the script is really weak, and it’s hard to write a good little storyline review without actually spoiling the movie for those who haven’t watched it yet.

Let me just tell you that I have loved all the Die Hard movies so far. But this fifth one in the series didn’t do it for me. I felt severely let down, and trust me: I really wanted to like this.

There was the expected car chase, but the way it was cut didn’t do anything for me. There were three cars in the chase, and half the time I was trying to figure out who was chasing who, and in which direction they were going. Fast cuts and zooming in and out made the scene very hard to understand. And seriously: How believable is it that three cars get to crash more than 100 other vehicles up and down the freeway, and in & out of the city streets without one single Russian cop entering the scene? Not likely, imo!

Bruce Willis has still got that cocky hardnut attitude, which made me love the movies to begin with. He can still handle his huge weapon and open up a can of whipass on some mofo bad guys, and he still looks good at 57, almost 58. It’s definitely not his fault that the movie let me down.

I am actually sad that he agreed to participate in this movie. It ruins some of the magic for me that we have to end the series of Die Hard-movies with a pretty bad one.

Jai Courtney plays John McClane’s son, Jack. He was totally unable to catch me. I still don’t understand the family drama that brought him to Russia to begin with, and why him and his dad stopped talking “some years ago”. Perhaps that is one of the problems with this movie: We’re never really emotionally engaged to any of the characters: We don’t get to know them and never get to really like or really hate them.

The punch lines aren’t as catchy, witty and sarcastic, and aren’t delivered with the same finesse as in previous movies. And yes, we did get a Yippee Ki Yay, but even that didn’t give me the expected thrill.
So Yippe Ki Yay, Bruce. Please don’t say yes to a number 6!

star star out of 6

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Hushpuppy)

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This movie is about a six-year-old girl named Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis) who lost her mother at a very young age and lives with her father Wink (Dwight Henry). Wink suffers from an unknown illness that he hides from his daughter as he prepares her for life without him. They live in an area called the Bathtub – a Bayou community populated by (very) poor people, which is simultaneously cut off from the rest of the world and left unprotected from the Ocean by the nearby city’s levee system. The people are well aware that someday the big storm will come, and only the strong ones will survive.

The storm arrives eventually, and when it subsides, Hushpuppy and her dad meet up with other Bathtub survivors. These people are happy to have made it out alive, but something just isn’t right anymore. The water doesn’t disappear again, and the animals and vegetation around them start dying – even the fish, and something needs to be done - but the question is, what? At this point the children start being taught to learn how to survive. They learn how to take care of people “smaller and cuter than themselves” and how to catch fish with their bare hands and to give the fish a good punch between the eyes once they’re caught!


“Beasts of the Southern Wild” unfolds through Hushpuppy's eyes, and this is a very clever move made by the film makers. We see things the way a six year old would see them. If we had seen the events through the eyes of an adult, this movie would have a completely changed character and possibly would have more focus on abuse, alcoholism and poverty. By seeing the events through Hushpuppy’s eyes, it all becomes more magical and natural, everything around her a meaningful and interconnected web of life and death.


Dwight Henry is just great in his role as Hushpuppy's dad, Wink. He is convincing in every facet of his portrayal of a gruffly loving and yet confused and directionless dad. It’s amazing to think that he’s just a man from the area who rehearsed for his part after working his night shift as a baker.

The star of the movie is however, 6-year old Quvenzhane Wallis. She is no less than phenomenal in the role, and there’s something wrong in the movie business if she doesn’t get to be a great movie star when she grows up.

Beasts of the Southern Wild works on so many levels, and I won’t even try to explain how many. The biggest level it succeeds on though is how it shows a society of poor, underprivileged characters who are not willing to change their lives and lifestyle, because of their immense dedication to their singular and virtually private world. Not even a storm that drowns their homes in water and almost unravels the fabric of their universe can make them want to go to “the other side”.

This is a very good movie that says so much more between the lines than many movies say with the lines. I’m impressed. I’m seriously impressed!

star star star star star star out of 6.

Edit: I forgot to post the trailer to Beasts of the Southern Wild to begin with. Here it is:

Kids today... and a small quiz

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True story, bro! bigsmile

And now for the quiz:

The image of the boy on the first and the third picture is from a movie, that Flarin and I actually watched yesterday. The movie is from 2003.

There's huge kudos to anybody who can guess which movie the image is from!

Movies we watched, Part I

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We watch a lot of movies, and sometimes is difficult to chose between them all. So we made up this system where we watch them alphabetically. First a movie that starts with a number. Next time it'll be a movie that starts with A. Then B. And so on and so forth. It was actually a pretty fun way to pick a movie. Here's our list, and how we rated the movies:


3:10 to Yuma
Western from 2007 with Christian Bale and Russel Crowe
F: 4/6 Z: 4/6

Adams Family Values
Crazy cult movie
F: 4/6 Z: 4/6

Boy in the striped Pajamas
Wartime Drama
F: 5/6 Z: 6/6

The Cleaner
Crime movie with Samuel L. Jackson and Ed Harris
F: 4/6 Z: 5/6

Dragonheart, A new beginning
Dragon Fantasy from 2000
F: 2/6 Z: 3/6

Englegård 3
Swedish romantic drama from 2010
F: 5/6 Z: 5/6

Flushed Away
Comedy animation
F: 4/6 Z: 3/6

Golden Child
Comedy with Eddie Murphy from 1986
F: 4/6 Z: 5/6

Highlander
One of Zaphira's favourite movies with Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery
F: 4/6 Z: 6/6

I am legend
Will Smith and his dog in a zombie-horror drama
F: 4/6 Z: 4/6

Jennifer 8
Crime movie from 1992 with Andy Garcia and Uma Thurman
F: 6/6 Z: 5/6

Kick-Ass
Comedy drama based on Marvel comics
F: 6/6 Z: 6/6

Law abiding citizen
Crime drama with Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx
F: 5/6 Z: 5/6

Mr. Nice
The life story of a British drug smuggler
F: 3/6 Z: 2/6

Needful Things
Supernatural drama based on a Stephen King book
F: 5/6 Z: 4/6

Operation Valkyrie
Tom Cruise in a wartime drama
F: 4/6 Z: 5/6

Planets of the Apes
Sci-fi drama
F: 3/6 Z: 3/6

Quiz Show
True life drama
F: 4/6 Z: 5/6

The Reader
Romantic drama with Kate Winslet
F: 2/6 Z: 2/6

Smilla's sense of snow
Danish crime movie based on a Peter Høeg book
F: 2/6 Z: 2/6

Time Bandits
Fantasy comedy with the Monty Python crew
F: 3/6 Z: 2/6

Uncle Buck

Comedy with John Candy
F: 4/6 Z: 4/6

Virtuosity
Russel Crowe in sci-fi drama
F: 4/6 Z: 4/6

Zathura
Sci-fi comedy drama with Tim Robbins
F: 4/6 Z: 3/6



That's it. Now we'll just start all over again. And I'll be back with another post in 25 movies' time or so bigsmile

If I was a movie star...

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I know I am not. But a girl cat can always dream, right?

Here's what it would look like if me and my friends were in...

Dirty Dancing:


Gone with the wind:


The Matrix:


Shrek:


Star Wars:


Titanic:


Superman:




Get the Gringo

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"Get the Gringo" (or "How I spent my Summer Vacation") starts with Driver (brilliantly played by Mel Gibson) a k a "The Gringo" and his mortally wounded partner, both in clown costumes, driving like hell down a highway with the cops chasing them.

Driver realizes that he can't escape, so he smashes his car through the TexMex border fence, and the Mexican police arrest him. The Texas police try to persuade the Mexican officers to hand the two men back into U.S. custody, but one single glance at two huge bags bulging with a couple of million dollars on the back seat of the car prompts the Mexicans to keep Driver and his "colleague" on their side of the line.

The Mexican police officers "confiscate" the money and put Driver into a very special prison called "El Pueblito". It’s special because the inmates can chose to get their families to live with them, and because some of the prisoners seem to actually run the prison. Driver meets a 10-year-old kid (excellently played by Kevin Hernandez) who is plotting revenge on another criminal, Javi (Daniel Gimenez Cacho), who killed his father. The 10-year old's mother and father were incarcerated for selling narcotics and the boy and his mum are still inside.


"El Pueblito" did actually exist. It’s true that the families of inmates were allowed to live inside the prison walls with them, and it was a thriving community, with residences traded like real estate and drugs and firearms openly sold as commodities. Prisoners were able to shop freely and the drug trade was so viable that it became pertinent in upholding the facility’s economy. The prison was in fact shut down back in 2002, after it was raided by two thousand law enforcement officers. Amazing, huh?


You never really know for certain where things are heading in this movie. There's a couple of sub-plots to keep it moving – someone is looking for the money that Driver and his buddy stole, and we find out the reason why the boy's father was killed, and why the boy and his mum are kept safe by Javi. Then there's the sleazy American on the outside, trying to... yes, well... there's plenty of action going on, and plenty of black humour amongst the violence and gunplay.

Mel Gibson gets older, yes, but he's still got that twinkle in his eye and mischievous grin on his face. His character is morally dubious but charismatic, and it is easy to root for him as the other bad guys are so much worse. Plus he actually shows morality, however strange that may sound, knowing that he plays a hard core, slightly unhinged criminal. The other characters are all pretty good too – the inmates, cops and external baddies are all played with much style and deadpan wit.
The prison scenes are all pretty well constructed and believable too – in fact much of it was actually filmed in a Mexican prison.

I was very positively surprised over this movie. I didn't expect much, but I was highly entertained. We had a good amount of laughter, tension and action sequences – and although I guess ultimately predictable in its ending, the plot twists and turns and never gets boring, and never lets us down. It's Mel Gibson doing what he does best... being the likeable, unpredictable and off-the rails tough guy in an entertaining action movie.

star star star star star out of 6.

Honest Movie Trailers

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Sometimes when I see a trailer for a movie I get all like: "Hey, that looks good, I want to see that!" - and when I actually get to see the movie, it sometimes happens that they've shown all the good scenes in the trailer, and that the rest of the movie is crap. I hate that.

Here's a couple of trailers I found on Youtube that will prevent the feeling of being tricked into watching a movie that can't live up to the trailer. They call it "Honest Movie Trailers".

Transformers:


Titanic 3D:


Twilight:


Snow White and the Huntsman

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I believe that most people know the story about Snow White, whose skin was white as snow, whose lips were red as blood and whose hair was black as the night.


“Snow White and the Huntsman” is true to most of the original German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, that had the title “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. In 1937 Walt Disney produced an animated film based on that fairy tale. But forget about Disney, this movie is much darker than any Disney animation.


The story is pretty much the same: Queen gives birth to beautiful daughter. Queen dies. King remarries new, but evil bird. The story even has the same old mirror in it: “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” In this version the mirror is just cooler, and comes out of it’s frame when replying.



We also meet the seven dwarfs, and they really added something to the movie, so I would have loved to see more of them. The movie itself is pretty dark, and the dwarfs bring in a bit of humour, which is very much appreciated.



Snow White is the girl who shall bring light to the country again. The symbolism is shown as she’s walking through a forest that suddenly comes back to life. Everything turns green, birds start to chirp and squirrels are moving around in the trees. And there are fairies. From a distance they looked very cute, but as the camera zoomed in closer, they suddenly reminded me of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. I found that quite funny.

I quite liked this movie. I liked the darkness of it, although there were some potentially scary scenes that didn’t have the desired magic. Walking through the Dark Forest could easily have been made much scarier than it actually was.

As for the acting: Charlize Theron, who isn’t my favourite actress, was actually good as the evil queen. I enjoyed her cold surface a lot. I didn’t quite understand all that was going on with her role throughout the movie, but that’s not Charlize’s fault, is it!
Bella Swan Kristen Stewart plays Snow White and she suffers from the fact that I ended up really disliking her character in Twilight. I still see her glaring after glistening vampires, and this movie did unfortunately not change that fact. Maybe next time, Kristen.


Chris Hemsworth played the Huntsman, and I liked the way he portrayed him.
And the dwarfs, I have to mention the dwarfs. They were played by Ian McShane as Beith, Johnny Harris as Quert, Bob Hoskins as Muir, Toby Jones as Coll, Eddie Marsan as Duir, Brian Gleeson as Gus, Ray Winstone as Gort, and Nick Frost as Nion. And I loved them all! love

Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Was the movie watchworthy after all?

Yes. I’ll give it star star star star out of 6.