Thoughts

I seem to be losing track of days. Didn't even realise I should've posted this yesterday. *headdesk*

1) First, a personal note- I have 60 followers now! Woo Hoo!! Totally psyched and thanks everybody for following this silly little blog :D

2) I recently realised that I have to post my "Big End of the Year Bonanza Post!" or something to that effect in which I list my favourite films, performances, scenes and shots of the year and also my "The Social Network Film of the Year". I still haven't started because I wanted to watch Shame and My Week with Marilyn before making it, but I have not gotten any such opportunity yet and chances of me catching them anytime soon look bleak. Hopefully I will post them within a week, and by that I mean the next ten days.

3) When I was in 3rd Grade, I had declared that Daniel Radcliffe was the most perfect and wonderful person ever. A decade later, I am proud of my younger foresightful self. He recently spoke about his support for LGBT rights and also, how he has a man-crush on Ryan Gosling. I mean, is he awesome or is he awesome?! And then he talked about how he is a bit "miffed" about the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 Oscar snub. He makes valid points here, about how the awards are snobbish. They are. I really don't think they will invite the golden trio to present any awards, and I shall hate them forever.

4) Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be making his directorial debut this year with a romcom. He will star in it too, along with Scarlett Johannson and another female lead that is yet to be cast. How brilliant! I love JGL and I think he is just bubbling with talent. I mean he has the most impressive roles lined up- in Lincoln, The Dark Knight Rises and Django Unchained. *Swoon* ScarJo is also going to star in Can a Song Save Your Life, which is going to be made by John Carney. Carney had made the wonderful Once and this does sound good. The always excellent Mark Ruffalo will co-star. I am quite looking forward to both these films.

5) The queen of ubiquity, Jessica Chastain, will be starring in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, along with Joel Edgerton. This is fantastic. I have always had this romanticized idea about the character of Eleanor Rigby, from the famous Beatles song. I even wrote a post about it, aeons ago. How lovely that Chastain would play her in a film, even though I think it has more to do with the name than the story in the song. The film will be about a couple, played by Chastain and Edgerton, and I don't think will follow the song so much. Pity, but meh. I like it.

6) Trailers- Seeking a Friend for the End of the World which has Steve Carell and Keira Knightley. I really like the premise and I have thought about things like this. It looks really smart and sweet and I hope it is just that. End of the world is also the theme of the next film, Iron Sky in which space Nazis attack the world after they had been hiding on the dark side of the moon for the past 40 years. It sounds insane, but deliciously so. I don't know anyone from the cast, but I think I will catch this. The Bourne Legacy which has Jeremy Renner taking the helm of the Bourne series from Matt Damon. It looks nice enough and it has Ed Norton, so yaay! I saw The Bourne Identity this week, and I like the whole idea. Red Lights has a pretty solid cast with Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro and Elizabeth Olsen. It looks scary-ish. The king of the trailers this week is *obviously* Miley Cyrus-starrer LOL. LOL jk. Why does it have Douglas Booth? He went from kissing Matt Smith to kissing Miley Cyrus. LOL. Poor Demi Moore though. The real king of the trailer is of course that which stars my other fake husband Andrew Garfield being all sexy and Spidey and spandex-y and stuff- The Amazing Spiderman. I love how vivid it looks and I do like the flashy suit. I am excited for this!!

7) Finally, the Oscar luncheon took place this week (oh the daydreams that followed...). This picture is just gold.

Your argument is invalid.

Tata.

Ooh it's Awards Time for me as well!

The fantastic Diana from Aziza's Picks has honoured this wee blog of mine with the Liebster Blog Award, which is given by fellow bloggers to certain noteworthy blogs that do not have 200 followers yet. I think it's an excellent way to promote blogs one likes and thinks deserve more recognition.

So for me to be a proper recipient, I have to
1) Thank the award-giver- thank you Diana again. You are awesome :D
2) Put the Liebster Blog Logo on their post- done.
3) Pay it forward as it were to 5 other blogs I think deserve this award. So here it goes-

a) Stevee from Cinematic Paradox who is ab fab and her blog is ahmazing, especially with the new look.
b) Andy from Andy Buckle's Film Emporium whose reviews are always excellent.
c) Mette from Lime Reviews and Strawberry Confessions who loves Bollywood more than most Indian people I know.
d) M. Hufstader from The Smoking Pen and Feed Me A Stray Cat! both which are brilliant blogs- one full of badassery and the other with every thing else.
e) Lesya from Eternity of Dream whose blog is just beautiful to look at and her posts are always great.


Who needs the Oscars eh? This makes me happy :)

Boys just wanna have fun.

        After watching Chronicle, one of the many things I said to a friend about it was "Despite being really stupid, teenage boys are such geniuses." I mean as disgusted and sensible I tried to be at the beginning of the film, I could not deny the fact that the three adolescent protagonists, who suddenly find themselves with superhuman powers, were having way too much fun and I could probably not think of half the stuff they did. The most creative thing I came up with (before becoming a superhero obviously) was to spy on my favourite actors in filming locations. Well, that is me, and this is my review of Chronicle.

       Shy and lonely Andrew, who has a sick mother and an alcoholic abusive father, decides to buy a video camera to record his daily life. He goes with his cousin Matt, who is amiable albeit a bit pretentious, to a high school party where popular student Steve tells him that he and Matt have found something and they need it on tape. Whatever this thing is, it provides them with telekinetic powers that grow stronger upon constant use. What first starts out as three teenage boys having fun with their new-found abilities soon turns into something much more sinister than what they bargained for.


            I must admit that I had brushed off this film and any thing related to it. I hadn't even seen the trailer before watching the film, but all that has paid off extremely well in my opinion. It was a superhero film (sort of) unlike anything that I have seen before. The entire film is shot in a "found footage" sort of way though it is never made clear who would look for such footage- one of the few dodgier aspects of the film, but I overlooked all of that on account of all the fun I was having watching this.

             The majority of the film deals with how these three guys learn to use their powers, not in a Spiderman "with great power comes great responsibility" way, but rather in the only way they know- scaring little kids with flying soft toys and blowing up skirts of girls. As it is all shot on video, per se, their reactions are often stupid and funny and so very convincing that I couldn't stop grinning. It somewhat follows the same sensibility of a reality tv show for me because it's ridiculous, yet hilarious. As the powers increase, so do their tricks and they are quite cool. Even though I feel the end becomes too special effects-gimmicky and it could have been a bit longer to make it seem less out of control, I like the descent into darkness and the obvious repercussions of fiddling with things that are unknown to us.


          If you would look to your right, I gave the film a 10 out of 10 rating. The reason is simple- it is a bloody ballsy film to make, and that too by mostly first-timers. The director Josh Tank and the writer Max Landis are both 26 years old, which is amazing. The script may have had elements of a lot of different films like Blair Witch Project or Spiderman or even something like Superbad, all together it is quite original and even the contrived parts became compelling due to the genuine performances by the leads. Tank does interesting work here by taking the "found-footage" concept and not giving us something we have grown to expect. I mean for a first-time director it must be extremely tempting to use all the various techniques shown in films and to stay true to this form of film-making, which must be very difficult on a creative level, I thought was quite commendable.

         The cast is made up of relatively-unknown actors with Dane DeHaan as Andrew, Alex Russel as Matt and Michael B. Jordan as Steve. A massive reason why this film works so well is because of their honest portrayal of the three boys. The whole film could have been about the "found-footage" craft, the reason why I usually ignore such films, but instead it focuses on three very different and very realistic characters. While DeHaan has the more weighty role as Andrew is the sad and disturbed member of the trio who is more affected by his power, I think it could not have worked without the slightly pathetic though inherently good Matt and the popular and sincerely nice Steve. The latter part of the film did depend on Andrew the most, but I enjoyed the first part more when all three of them are filled with unadulterated glee and mischief because of their kick-ass abilities. Which is why that even the unbelievable sci-fi aspects of the film end up looking like this may have been real life, for how else would boys react?


        It is interesting to note that my first film of 2011 was also a unlikely superhero film- Green Hornet. Yes that was majorly disappointing, but with the exception of The Dark Knight Rises, I think Chronicle has definitely set the bar for superhero films for me this year. Yes no one really is a superhero in this film, and that is why it is unique because what else do you do with superpowers? The teenage boys know.

Woody Allen at the 2002 Oscars

I stumbled upon this during my random Youtube searches. Isn't he just amazing? It's been a decade since then, and this maybe the big year for him at the Oscars again. I wish he comes.

Thoughts

I'm on a movie-watching high and it feels great bitchezzz! Yeah I think this will result in a jinx and a loss of followers. Moving on.


1) I WANT TO WATCH THE WOMAN IN BLACK! JKNCHSJRFMJCFRKJDFJD!! My Daniel Radcliffe!!! Ebert didn't like him much and though I agree on the part that he does not look like a father and husband in any way, he is still good. I know it.
#foreverinlovewithdanrad


2) After the wonderfully youthful and unique Submarine, Richard Ayoade will be directing The Double, which is based on a Fyodor Dostoyevsky novella. It will star Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska and is about a man who meets his doppelganger and is driven mad by this discovery. I love the cast, I love the director, I love the idea; I think it will be suffice to say that I will be majorly looking forward to this, whenever it comes out.


3) Emma Watson is reuniting with Harry Potter-director David Yates for the drama Your Voice in My Head in which she will play a suicidal young woman saved by a dying psychiatrist. I'm sorry but this sounds like a huge misstep by both Watson and Yates. As much as I love her, I don't think she has the acting chops for such a role, and even though I get that he wants to do something smaller after the massive Harry Potter films, Yates is going too soon into the overly sentimental and depressing territory. I hate the story and it just looks a bit desperate for both of them. Also if Tom Hanks really is cast as the psychiatrist (the studios want him or George Clooney), it will  make everything that much more weepy.


4) This week I finally saw the original Star Wars trilogy (yes, yes I know that I live under a rock) and I have written down a lot of thoughts while viewing them. I swear to write a post on this. Just one thing- what's the deal with the episodes? Why does it start with the fourth one? Why not just make it episode 1? I tried reading up on this on Wikipedia, but couldn't because there were too many words and nerdiness and whatnot. Help.


5) Due to the soul-crushing boredom of my endless existence (I just saw Withnail and I), I joined Twitter this week and the film blogging community has been very sweet and kind and welcoming. Thanks everyone :)


6) Trailers: Henry Cavill is an idiot in The Cold Light of Day when he doesn't seem to realise that his father, BRUCE WILLIS, is in fact a CIA agent and then he gets into shit in Spain and blah blah. Who knows the ending to this movie?! (A: Everyone). Why even bother; I'll see Man of Steel for Cavill. A very imaginative and novel PSA in the form of the next film's trailer- 7500. This is why you don't use electronics in airplanes, kids. Finally, a film I will actually watch- The Hunger Games. It doesn't really show much more than the previous trailer, but I do love Elizabeth Banks's look so much and Stanley Tucci's hair is crazy.


7) Humans. This.

I'm not ashamed to say that I am really really attracted to him.

Very soon Martin Freeman will get one of these t-shirts.

Toodles.

The Month that was- January

        One of my many new year resolutions (won't be able to tell you even 5 of them if you ask me now) was to start keeping track of how many films I see every year. So with this in mind, I will do a monthly round-up of all the films I see every month on the last day of that month itself, or on the first day of the next month. I will also mention any TV shows that I have seen or any books that I have read.

Firsts:

1) Giant- As beautiful as Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean were, this film is just too long and forgive me for using the phrase, too American. I couldn't care less about the beginning of oil mining in southern states of US (with the exception of Daniel Plainview's tale duh).

2) Young Adult- Oh Mavis Gary, you are my role model. I am going to be her when I grow up, or sort of grow up.

3) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Amazing looking film with subtle yet brilliant performances especially from now Oscar-nominated actor Gary Oldman. A bit slow and distant, but I think I need to watch it again.

4) Carnage- Hilarious, rude, uncomfortable and also great ensemble piece though I loved how wicked Christoph Waltz was.

5) War Horse- Ugh. Sap sap sap. Whoever voted for this in the Oscars, may the John Williams' score haunt you forever.

6) Brokeback Mountain- I've been meaning to see this since it released, and it just became one of those unfortunate cases when I kept postponing it. But god has the wait been worth it! Amazing love story.

7) Love and Other Drugs- Little Jake Gyllenhaal marathon I had after watching Brokeback. Stupid, confused film but man did he and Anne Hathaway look faaaiiinneee...

8) The Descendants- Nice enough, though not as memorable or impactful as some of the other films this year. Loved Shailene Woodley.

9) Moneyball- Again, too American. Also too sports-y. I tried caring, but couldn't.

10) Horrible Bosses- Funny. I can watch the "That's Not My Name" scene on loop till the end of time.

11) Christopher and His Kind- BBC film about author Christopher Isherwood starring the Doctor and my soulmate though he doesn't know it yet, Matt Smith. It was okay and Smith was quite good.

12) The Artist- Oh this was all kinds of loveliness. So impressed with Dujardin and Bejo.

13) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (twice)- O David Fincher, how I love thee. Loved it. Screw everything else. Also get me that t-shirt.

14) City of God- So that's what all the fuss was about... One of the scariest and most unforgettable films I have seen.

15) Bringing Up Baby- How adorable were Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn? It would have been absolutely perfect if the ending had been a bit longer.

16) It Happened One Night- The first films to win the Big 5 at the Oscars, and with good reason. Fantastic film.

17) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang- Robert Downey Jr. has to be the most charming snob ever. I loved him in this.

18) Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope- Finally started on this legendary trilogy. Quite liked it. Han Solo is hot.

19) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strike Back- Definitely the best of the bunch. Han Solo is super hot and of course Leia loves him.

20) Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi- The least impressive of the three, but still quite good and a nice ending. I don't understand the episode business. Also, I love Han Solo.

21) We'll Take Manhattan- BBC film about photographer David Bailey and his first muse Jean Shrimpton and how they started the youth culture in the 60s. I'm partial because I bloody adore the 60s. I am becomign a fan of Helen McCrory. Karen Gillan is very pretty but my goodness Anuerin Barnard is gorgeous!

Rewatched:

1) Midnight in Paris- My first film of 2012, and a brilliant way to start the new year. 

2) Ratatouille- My favourite Pixar film ever. Paris and food go together so well.

3) Hugo- And yet another film set in magnificent Paris. Cried a lot this time too, and was blown away by the 3D.

4) Zodiac- Part of my Jake Gyllenhaal mini-marathon. None can do a modern thriller like Fincher.

5) Shaun of the Dead- After finishing Black Books, I needed more Dylan Moran. Oh this film will never get old.

6) Submarine- I need to reevaluate my top films of the year. I can predict this getting quite a high rank, because it really was one the best of the year. So sweet, so beautiful and so funny.

7) The Social Network- My idea of a perfect film. Curse them Oscars, they can never touch its brilliance. Also, I noticed a lot of little things this time 'round that I had never seen.

8) Super 8- Again, this too will have to go in my top films list. Watching this again, I realise how superb the cast was- so many kids and all of them hit the mark, but none more than the heartrendingly sincere Joel Courtney.

Shorts: 

Hotel Chevalier- After Moonrise Kingdom's awesome trailer, I needed me some Wes Anderson. It's a bit mundane, a bit romantic, a bit sad and very colourful. Prime example of the modern auteur's work.

TV Shows:

1) Season 2 of Sherlock- I will write something on this, I promise. So very good, and ugh I want someone to love me just how Sherlock and John love each other. I'm a Freeman Fangirl and I want to marry and have babies with Benedict Cumberbatch's voice. Also, I regret nothing.

2) Season 1 of Mad Men- I have to finish this show. Really entertaining, and quite scandalous. Don and Betty Draper are impossibly good-looking. No one could ever look that good.

3) Series 2, 3 and 4 of Doctor Who- The famed David Tennant series. It's clear why he was so adored as The Doctor; Tennant's portrayal of the 900 year old time-travelling alien is the most human one of the modern series. And I loved Donna Noble to bits.

4) Black Books- Saw all the 3 series, and may I just say THAT WAS TOO BLOODY LESS!! Oh Bernard Black, marry me please. So fuckin' epic and it didn't even end. Plus I feel I am remarkably like Fran.

Books:

1) The Hours by Michael Cunningham- I had been looking for this one for ages because its movie adaptation is one of my most favourite films ever. Very beautifully written, even though I feel it left me a bit underwhelmed as the film is actually a tad better..

2) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein- No I had not read this. After reading it, I realise what an incredible piece of inspired casting it was when they made Martin Freeman Bilbo Baggins. No one else can do the character justice. I found it really funny and enjoyed it immensely, till about the last part which I felt was anti-climactic. It was actually a very LoTR sort of ending, but I don't know... I was expecting something else. Anyhow, can't wait for the movie even more now!

Final tally- 

Firsts- 21     Rewatched- 9 (including TGWTDT)      Short- 1 

Total- 31

So there you have it.