My Movie Alphabet

Mettel Ray Movie Blog, a blog I recently discovered, is hosting a Movie Alphabet Blogathon. I guess I have made some unorthodox choices but I like them so there's that. Hope you like them too :)

12 Angry Men

One of the most inspiring and thrilling films that I have ever seen. My own warped moral sense has been hugely influenced by this film- everyone deserves a chance.

Anthonies- Perkins and Hopkins

These two Anthonies have played my favourite movie villains of all time. Anthony Perkins played Norman Bates, the troubled momma's boy proprietor of Bates Motel, in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Anthony Hopkins played Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs for which he won the Best Actor Oscar, and he was only in the film for sixteen friggin' minutes!

The Beatles

Well apart from the fact that they are one of my most favourite bands, The Beatles have also starred in very entertaining and fun movies where they play themselves. While A Hard Day's Night is the most Beatle-esque of the lot, Yellow Submarine is one groovy animated film. And Help! is awesome because of Ringo Starr.

Casablanca

I think this was one of the first films that after viewing, I felt that I had just witnessed perfection. There is nothing that is unnecessary or out of place. The romance, the dialogue, the leads, "As Time Goes By", everything is just lovely.

David Fincher

Fincher Fangirling time! I love how well-made his films are. They are not touching or wildly ambitious or any of that, but his precision and perfectionism are evident in the high craftsmanship of his films. Also no one does a modern thriller better than him.

Ewan McGregor

The most underrated leading actor ever. He comes in brilliant movies every year where he is great, but no one ever notices. WHY?

Fight Club

How does this even exist? It's so bloody awesome!

The Graduate

A romance. A coming of age story. A cultural milestone. Mrs. Robinson's devastating legs. The Graduate is all of these things. Eternally rewatchable.

The Harry Potter films

Because I wouldn't be me without them.

Indian Cinema

Yes technically these are only Bollywood films, since I am most well-versed in them, but I have watched a few movies in other Indian languages too and intend to increase my knowledge of them soon. Anyways these are the films I grew up with. My first stepping stones, and I still do love many of them.

Johnny Depp

Because whatever you might say of his current career choices, the man is a fantastic actor with some amazing performances to his name and I love him for it. Still, buck up Johnny!

Kirsten Dunst

I did hate her as Mary Jane Watson, which was my first introduction to her (I think... I might have seen her in Jumanji before though), but with every other film that I have seen of hers, she started becoming one of my most favourite actresses. Must ask- am I the only one waiting for a Dunst-Sofia Coppola reunion?

Let the Right One In

The film that restored my faith in vampires. A most innocent tale of doomed love, beautifully shot by Tomas Alfredson. Also that pool scene.

Michael Cera

I know what you're thinking- he looks exactly the same in all these pictures. Michael Cera is my favourite typecast actor, but if you actually look at it, all his roles are slight different from each other. His films make me happy and so he is kind of one of my favourite leading men.

Network

This film is brutal and brilliant and forever relevant. The performances are to die for. Also "I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

O-Ren Ishii

One of my favourite supporting characters of all time. She's like the coolest underworld boss ever. Added to that her army called the Crazy 88, her mood changes, her mocking, her fighting skills and of course her backstory.

Paris in films

Yes I know this isn't a movie or character or movie personality, but Paris is my favourite movie setting. To me at least, the films set in it have something magical about it. As Gil Pender says, "Because you look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and when you think that in the cold, violent, meaningless universe that Paris exists, these lights, I mean come on..."

Quentin Tarantino

He is actually the coolest. His characters, his dialogues, his women- everything is mindblowingly awesome. And I love his love for films. It's inspiring (and also a bit daunting since he's a genius and all). Nothing gets me as excited as a new QT film.

Ryan Gosling

Uhduh. Look at who's making this list. Not only do I think he's the sexiest human being ever, I also believe he is one of the best actors of his generation and I will stop at nothing to watch a new Gosling movie when it comes out. Plus he's like a real-life superhero and gets ballet lessons.

Stanley Kubrick

I have a real respect for film makers who fashion a unique look for their films- one glimpse and you just know that it is them. Kubrick's films are like that. No one did adaptations like him, or classical music. 

Titanic

The heart wants what it wants. I really thought about putting something more mature or cool here, but eh. I love this film. It is my earliest proper memory of visiting a cinema theatre. My first love is there. I love Kate Winslet and this film is soooooo much better than Avatar, it's insane.

The Usual Suspects

Congrats to all the uber clever people out there who guessed the twist in the first five seconds of the film. I didn't and when it came, I was totally floored. Kevin Spacey is ab fab.

Vivien Leigh

No I am not her biggest fan. That is someone else. But her performance as Blanche Dubois is almost unparalleled in my eyes. Also in spite of hating the film, her Scarlett O'Hara is one helluva character that she completely brings to life, and no one else could have played her but Leigh. Very few actors can give such great performances even once in their lifetime; Leigh did it twice. And her tragic life make them all the more potent.

Woody Allen

Once again, this is my list and who else could I have chosen? My favourite filmmaker of all time. His films compliment all my moods- happy or sad. They are just what I need when I watch them, it's uncanny. But I love it, and I absolutely worship him for it.

X-Men: First Class

X is not a very easy letter, is it? Still, the McFassy bromance makes this a worthy enough choice. I had fun watching it. Described it as girl porn (this was pre-Magic Mike times). Love Charles and Erik.

"You've Got A Friend In Me"

Ha I cheated! Well not really because the moment I thought about the letter 'Y' for this list, this song started playing in my head. And after all, the Toy Story trilogy is a story about friends. True friends. I love Pixar's ability to make these wonderful, human characters from anything and everything, like a cowboy doll and an astronaut action figure.

Zoolander

This is my favourite film from all that feature the Frat Pack. I mean a male model brainwashed to be an assassin- where do they get these stuff? Also David Bowie mediating a male model catwalk-off- genius.

Thoughts

Hellooo people! What do you think of the new banner? ^^ Anyways, thoughts for this week-

1) So apparently Johnny Depp was never going to be in the next Wes Anderson film, named The Grand Budapest Hotel. Sorry Johnny! Anyways you know who is? Saoirse Ronan, who I love. And she's going to be the lead. Also Anderson has reported that the film will be set 85 years ago in a Hungarian Hotel and has been inspired by the works of Billy Wilder and Ernst Luitsch. How insanely awesome is that? Ronan is insanely talented, and she will be starring alongside Ralph Fiennes and Anderson regulars like Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman.

2) That's only the first of the many excellent casting announcements from the past week or so. Benedict Cumberbatch will be playing The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein in an upcoming biopic directed by Wicker Park and Sherlock director, Paul McGuigan. Then uber-talented heartthrobs Colin Firth and Michael Fassbender will be starring in a film called Genius abut Thomas Wolfe and Max Perkins, a publisher to the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. It will be written by John Logan, who has written things like Hugo and Skyfall. Juliet Binoche and Clive Owen will be starring in a romantic drama together called Words and Pictures about a relationship between two teachers in a school. I can just imagine how great both of them will be together.

3) In TV world, Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm are going to star together in a British series called A Young Doctor's Notebook in which both play the same character in different stages of his life. It is based on the semi-autobiographical short stories of Mikhail Bulgakov chronicling his work as a doctor during the Russian Revolution. I love everything that Radcliffe is doing post-Harry Potter and this seems like another excellent project. Also speaking of Harry Potter, David Yates is making the new Tarzan movie. Like why? Do we need a new Tarzan movie? And apparently the studios are considering people like Alexander Skarsgard, Tom Hardy and Henry Cavill. Hot men, but once again, why?

4) Oh Disney bought Lucasfilm and all and there's going to be a Star Wars Episode VII and Harrison Ford wants to reprsise his role as Han Solo. Obligatory big movie news update over.

5) Apparently Channing Tatum is this year's Sexiest Man Alive. 'Cuz of that male stripper movie and all. This is all I have to say to that. Miranda Kerr is the Sexiest Woman Alive. 10 happy Legolases for her.

6) Trailers- I don't really have any trailers. Let's watch The Amazing Spider-Man's Honest trailer instead.

7) Happy 2nd blog birthday to Lime Reviews and Strawberry Confessions run by the wonderful Mette. This post is a must read! Anna from Defiant Success has written two brilliant posts- enumerating her favourite British actors, and book vs movie: Fight Club. I love Fight Club in all its forms obviously.

8) Finally, I want to marry this poster-

The details! :O :O

Bye guys!

"I always thought it is way more important to be funny or to be honest than to look a certain way."

Emily Jean Stone made a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation when she was 15 for her parents to try and convince them to let her move to Hollywood to become an actress. She put Madonna's "Hollywood" as the background music to it.

This is one of the many things that make Emma Stone such a charming and awesome person, and she is also a wonderful actress and charismatic comedian. I absolutely adore her, and think she is, like the MTV Award given to her, a true trailblazer. Also she is absolutely gorgeous and has my dream voice.

A VERY 24TH HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAKE BFF, EMMA STONE!!!

The Month that was- October

         This post was supposed to be published yesterday, but goddamn Breaking Bad! I couldn't stop watching it. So good.
         Anyways October started out with me falling very sick and then I came to Dubai for vacations, where I still am. Movie-wise, it was a good-ish month. I saw 40 films, which means I have crossed 365 films this year so yaaay for me. One film per day average reached! I have two more months but November is exam month and god knows how that is going to go.

Firsts:

1) Husbands and Wives- This perhaps is the first Woody Allen film that I felt was too old for me. Still, loved Judy Davis.

2) Eyes Wide Shut- A very interesting film. Didn't know what to expect but I did like it a lot. 

3) People Like Us- Saw it in the flight. It was timepass-worthy but the film was just sappy, and not even good sappy.

4) Safety Not Guaranteed- Oh this was a quirky little indie gem. Loved Audrey Plaza and Mark Duplass in it.

5) Bright Star- Though this film did not quite deliver, what with my sky-high expectations, it looked beautiful and Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish were excellent.

6) On the Road- Again, this was beautiful to look at and brilliant performances from Tom Sturridge (yaay!) and Garrett Hedlund, but it was not anywhere near as impressive as I had hoped it would be. Plus the 2 years of waiting and not getting what I wanted was kind of supremely disappointing.

7) Little Shop of Horrors- Haha this was fun. I do like a good musical now and then.

8) Revolutionary Road- Wow I have wanted to watch this forever, and this one definitely delivered. It might have my favourite Leonardo Di Caprio performance. Lovely and sad.

9) Forgetting Sarah Marshall- This was really funny. Jason Segel is oddly attractive.

10) Shortbus- Remember the scene in (500) Days of Summer when Tom and Summer scream out  "Penis!" repeatedly in a park. Wouldn't be surprised if this film was the inspiration for that. Shit that was graphic.

11) Ruby Sparks- Presently my favourite film of this year, tied with The Avengers. So cute and smart and Paul Dano is adorbs.

12) Malcolm X- I did have issues with the story, or maybe the man himself, but this was a pretty amazing biopic and Denzel Washington was incredible.

13) Your Sister's Sister- As simple and wonderful as they come.

14) Side by Side- Very informative and interesting. Fincher is king!

15) Festen- Fucked up families FTW! Possibly my favourite first watch of the month.

16) Looper- I caught myself gaping many times during this film. Very cool.

17) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg- It looked pretty and the story was nice but good lord, so much friggin' singing! I mean all my years of Bollywood movie watching failed me in this film.

18) The Girl- Yes, I liked it more than you. Creepy Hitchcock was kind of fun.

19) Marnie- Had to watch this. Really liked it.

20) Misery- That wasn't scary at all. LOLjk, Annie Wilkes haunts my nightmares.

21) The Lost Boys- What the hell was that? It was so ridiculous and fun at the same time, but more ridiculous than fun.

22) Skyfall- I repeat- Best. Bond. Ever.

23) Manhunter- I did not like this at all. From William Petersen talking to himself to that awful soundtrack to Brian Cox's slightly boring Hannibal- couldn't care about it at all.

24) The Trip- This was so funny. I'm so working on my Woody Allen and Michael Caine impressions from now on!

25) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter- Same reaction as The Lost Boys except this was more fun than ridiculous.

26) Halloween- That really wasn't scary at all. Moral of the story- do not have sex while babysitting on Halloween, kids.

 Rewatched:

1) Rushmore- Yep, it continues its reign as my favourite Wes Anderson film. Olivia Williams is so beautiful in this.

2) The Social Network- Damnit Andrew Garfield deserved more attention!

3) The Royal Tenenbaums- Yeah I still don't like it that much other than its look, music and Margot.

4) Mean Girls- I'm still naming my band You Go Glen Coco!

5) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2- I was sick and suddenly started really craving this film. It's so good! Why would Oscars choose War Horse over it, why why why? (Okay I know why. The answer starts with Steven and ends with Spielberg).

6) Brave- Saw it in the flight. It was a less rewarding experience this time, but Merida and her hair are awesomeness themselves.

7) Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind- This might be the greatest modern day romance film there is.

8) The Brothers Bloom- Though Looper is a better film, this is my favourite Rian Johnson film. Bang Bang rules!

9) Reservoir Dogs- For its 20th anniversary. No one killed Nice Guy Eddie people!

10) Inglourious Basterds- Showing my little brother some essential films. He loved it. "That's a bingo!"

11) The Truman Show- Also showed it to my brother and same reaction. If we lived in a fair world, Jim Carrey would have an Oscar nomination for this role.

12) Blue Valentine- I could not connect with it so much the first time I saw it. This time though, I was very much affected. I didn't cry or anything, but this film has scared me to my inner romantic core. Ryan Gosling deserves all the awards and OHMYGODHEISSOSEXYITKILLSME!

13) The Silence of the Lambs- Brother. He loved it, especially Hannibal's violent escape. Had to cover his eyes for Buffalo Bill's "transformation" though.

14) Skyfall- Saw it again, with a friend this time. Daniel Craig gorgeousity :)

Books:

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling- She really did not want anyone to think she was the same person who wrote those Harry Potter books, did she? To be honest, it really was not that good. Too many characters, too much going on, and the ending is plain depressing.

 Final tally:

                                 Firsts- 237                        Rewatched- 114                      Shorts- 16

                                                                            Total- 367

Shit November's here! So failing my exams. 

Thoughts

It is the strange feeling writing a post on a tab but my brother has hijacked well, his own laptop. And now I am reduced to this silly piece of technology. Ah, c'est la vie.

1. So apparently Johnny Depp dropped out of Wes Anderson's next, The Grand Budapest Hotel and has been replaced by Ralph Fiennes. If you remember, I was overjoyed when the news had first come out of his casting because I had been praying for him to get a non-absurd money-accumulating role, but nooooo! He really knows how to test my loyalty. I was actually depressed when I found out that he had dropped out. But it seems that all hope is not lost and cinematographer Wally Pfister wants him as lead in his directorial debut Transcendence. Please please please let this be good. I miss the time when Johnny Depp's career did not make me cry. Pfister also wants Christian Bale as co-lead so we may be looking at a Public Enemies cast reunion. Big Yes!!

2. Oh by the way, I hope everyone is safe from Hurricane Sandy. I would comment on calling a scary hurricane Sandy, but as learnt from sitting in a quiz once, hurricanes are usually given the names of women or um, pets (?) in this case because people hope that they will be as calm and nondestructive as the things they usually name. So yes, I hope Hurricane Sandy ends up being as harmless as it sounds. And that was all for the general knowledge segment of this post. Moving right along.

3. Loads of links- This post was supposed to come ages ago, back when the awesome Cinematic Paradox run by Stevee Taylor aka my blogging soulsister turned 3! She also updated her top 100 movies out of which I have seen 93. How many have you seen? Andy Buckle of The Film Emporium got to interview friggin' Paul Thomas Anderson! So cool! Since Halloween is tomorrow, a couple of Halloween-themed links- Sati's 7 Days of Halloween and Alex's Top 10 Horror Films. I posted my own Top 10 last year. I am still happy with my list, but I would put Suspiria somewhere in there if I had made it this year.

4. Hey did you guys notice that I have tweaked the blog's design a bit! How do you like it? Also I changed my about page a bit, if you're interested in that sort of thing... you know like getting to know people etc.

5) Two superhero teaser posters- Iron Man 3 which shows the various versions of the Iron suit and Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in their midst. It is intriguing enough, especially if you love the awesome Iron suit as I do. The Wolverine does have a pretty rad poster but after the utter disappointment of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I am still not too buzzed about it.

6) Trailer- Iron Man 3 has a cool and sort of dark trailer out. Something has happened that is making Tony Stark reflect back on his life. Also his suits might have gone nuts and there's a new baddie in the form of Mandarin, played by Sir Ben Kingsley. I do like it a lot and am already dying to watch it, as Iron Man is my favourite superhero, but the lack of zingy one-liners in the trailer is slightly worrying. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters has another ridiculous trailer out. This film is going to be such shit. Also why is Hansel American and Gretel British???? 

7) Living with a cinephile must be very affecting. My twelve year old brother has made his top 25 films list, which both of us would like to share with you- (25) The Hangover, (24) The Social Network, (23) The Silence of the Lambs, (22) Star Trek, (21) Scott Pilgrim vs The World, (20) Kill Bill Vol. 2, (19) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, (18) Ghostbusters, (17) Inglourious Basterds, (16) How to Train Your Dragon, (15) Shaun of the Dead, (14) Wall-E, (13) Transformers, (12) Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, (11) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, (10) Hot Fuzz, (9) Kill Bill Vol. 1, (8) Spider-man, (7) The Toy Story trilogy, (6) Up, (5) The Dark Knight Rises, (4) Ratatouille, (3) Iron Man, (2) The Dark Knight, (1) The Avengers.

8) Finally, Halloween is tomorrow and as usual I am in a place which doesn't really celebrate it and I am left to wishing that I was somewhere that does. Given the chance, I would dress as one of my many role models, Wednesday Addams-

"What are you, darling? Where’s your costume?"

Still, my best friend might be going as her, so yaay(?)!

Happy Halloween everyone! Stay safe. Byee.

"Hello, I'm Matt Smith, and I'm wearing a fez!"

For those of you who have been following this blog for the last year or so must know of my celebrity crush on this guy. He kind of has all the features I find attractive in a male human person. Also he is an ab fab actor and plays my favourite incarnation of possibly my favourite television character. And he's turning 30 today, so a very happy birthday to you, sir. You are infinitely cool and adorable and awesome.

(This was the picture that started it all actually).

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MATTHEW ROBERT SMITH!