Expat Mish Blog
I don't hate people, I just feel better when they aren't around










 

Am avut un impuls să scriu prostioare personale pe blog dar m-am vindecat repede, am dat un mail corespunzător şi am salvat ziua (pentru aparenţe). Îmi aduc aminte (fără nostalgie) cum mă ducea pe mine capul să îmi aştern creieraşul meu foarte sucit în scris, când credeam că totul se rezolvă punând gânduri pe hârtie, ceea ce nu e o idee esenţial greşită doar că e doar o soluţie de moment care se întoarce şi te muşcă de fund când te aştepţi mai mult.
Nu vreau nici să dezamăgesc cu gânduri impersonale dar cu asta va trebui să vă mulţumiţi.

Ah, mi-a venit o idee. Să spunem că eşti un băiat de 18 ani în America anilor '70-'80, locuieşti cu părinţii şi îţi petreci tot timpul în subsolul casei lor împreună cu prietenii tăi. Iubita ta este şi cea mai bună prietenă, vă ştiţi de când sunteţi mici şi vă iubiţi ca ochii din cap. La un moment dat vă şi logodiţi, într-atât ţineţi unul la altul.
În momentul ăsta, la 19 ani, tu, băiatul:
a) te însori cu prietena şi continuaţi să vă trăiţi tinereţea pe spinarea părinţilor?
b) pleci în Africa pentru un an să descoperi lumea?
şi apoi, la 28 de ani, indiferent de cum s-au desfăşurat lucrurile în fiecare din cazuri, ce părere ai despre alegerea pe care ai făcut-o?
Pentru acurateţe puteţi înlocui "America", "70-80", "subsol", "vă ştiţi de când sunteţi mici" şi "Africa"cu orice doriţi pentru a spori similitudinea cu propria viaţă plină de patetic.

Totuşi am un gând personal pe care pot să-l arunc aşa, aiurea. NICIODATĂ nu face sex cu un prieten sau o prietenă, nu va mai fi niciodată la fel.
Încă un gând de bine pentru toţi oamenii simpatici care mă idolatrizează şi vrea să fie ca mine: buy wine, it helps.

 

So, given the current state of the government, the economical crisis that hit Romania, the financial troubles that our country is facing and the fact that frankly, my dear, I don't give a rat's ass about those things, I have been watching movies.
Before this baby came along (by the way, I haven't named it yet, anybody who can think of a good name for my precious gets a treat) I only had a handful of free time, a 3850356 inch Samsung TV, a DVD player and some *ahem* legal CD's and DVD's with movies and stuff that were waiting to be watched for a long time.
So I proceeded to make up for the time that was lost working full time. That had consequences, aka I'm still hooked on some TV shows which are cutting into my school time, but this is not the point.
The points are, in absolutely random order:

  • Gangster movies:
The Godfather 2: I didn't like the first one, but I went ahead and saw the second, seeing that it's "the best sequel ever made". F that, I'm not watching the third, way too subtle for me.


American Gangster was better, I must admit, a lot better. We all know Denzel can be a very convincing badass. Unfortunately, this movie is confused, it doesn't know what to show more, acting, writing, music or costumes. It almost delivers in every way possible. Also, the ending is too abrupt. But Denzel makes up for all of it, being a very lovable criminal. Russell Crowe gets the secondary role, although he co-stars. Josh Brolin is a nice touch, too.




Reservoir Dogs looks like a school project that Tarantino did before Kill Bill or Pulp. Not that it's bad, but it's intentionally overdone, a lot of blood, confusion, secrecy, sick people and in the end you really don't know what to think of it, just that you love the style. I'm guessing this guy cannot do a normal movie. But what's normal?

Eastern Promises: well, Viggo was nominated for an Oscar, which could be because of his Russian accent or the general impression that he could kick everybody's ass in 5 minutes. But it wasn't what I needed at the moment, so don't watch the movie if you want to be cheered up, it doesn't work.
The one is a sequel of the other, I think you got that by now. Zombies and stuff, actually a pretty good movie the first one, few Hollywood influences, unlike the second one which actually stars more Americans in Britain then British people. The good thing is that this is not about the blood and the biting and stuff, but the thrill, which makes a good horror in my opinion.

  • Romanians.
Filantropica must be some kind of masterpiece of Romanian cinema, because it's unlike most movies I've seen, and I used to hate Romanian movies. The reason is the second movie, Hartia va fi albastra, which is about the revolution, obviously. Come on, how many movies can you make linked to communism?

Restul e tacere is actually entertaining, like a fairytale, not a very happy one but it was refreshing to see Vizante again.
  • Fantasy/Science fiction:
2001 - A Space Odyssey - are you kidding me?? Greatest movie of all time (see user comment) ? I thought the end was made especially for stoners watching the movie. Now I know what History of the world parodies, but this is ridiculous. I can't appreciate a movie just because it's been an inspiration to others. I really didn't get it.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is a weakness of mine, but I have a feeling I'm not the only one. The saga is almost complete, but remember, Dumbledore is gay!

District 9 is the perfect imperfect movie, unknown director, unknown actors, refreshing script, unpredictable, really cool effects, action, drama, blood. It leaves you with the feeling that the director intended for it to be a bit rough around the edges. Somebody said this is a new genre called reality-SF but Cloverfield was the first.
  • Dramas:
Reign over me satisfied my need of seeing Adam Sandler not being funny, which I loved in Punch Drunk Love. The movie is actually pretty pointless but you get to love it until the end.

Requiem for a dream, brrrr. What can I say, the guy is incredible, Darren Aronofsky I mean, I think I'll be seeing Pi and The Fountain pretty soon, thank you very much.


A Scanner Darkly. Funny story, I was reading the book before I left. I had the movie for a long time but hadn't seen it. After reading half, I lost it somewhere on the way to Timisoara or back, so I gave up my promise of not watching adaptations prior to reading the book. And I loved it. The part that I did read was perfectly portrayed. And of course kudos (whatever that means) to the director, one of my favourites (because he did Before Sunset).



Green Street Hooligans was worth it just because it doesn't go all Hollywood on you; it's also refreshing to see Frodo get his ass kicked.

Assassination of Jesse James is a very stale movie, I didn't get it. To be fair, I saw only 2/3 of it, but it really doesn't have what I was looking for, no action, no tension, not even the right kind of acting. Maybe it's just me.

Saving Private Ryan, on the other hand, was perfect. I never get tired of great war movies, Tom Hanks at his best, classic directing (Spielberg ftw!) and as bonuses Matt Damon and Nathan Fillion!

Shogun is actually a mini-series written for TV. After getting over the initial shock and disappointment, I kinda enjoyed the fact that they did their best to bring it to the screen, although it can never rise up to the book.
  • Sort-of comedies:
Monty Python and The Holy Grail is like a bad joke. That's what I think of it, one huge joke that's just not funny. If this was a stand-up act today, the actors would get boo-ed off the stage in 15 minutes. But I guess some people like it...

Doctor Strangelove was better, I loved the little jokes, two thirds of Seller's acts and general Buck, of course.
  • Relaxation movies:
These... well, these could have been mistakes in other circumstances, but everybody needs a popcorn movie every once in a while. G.I. Joe was an action packed comedy, which I obviously wanted to see ever since it was announced.




Dance Flick was just nostalgia talking, I never laughed at a movie more than when I saw Scary Movie 2 and I just wanted to see something just as stupid. Well, could have been worse.

Idiocracy is not as good as I thought it was, it's just a stupid movie with stupid people (literally). I don't know if this movie was supposed to raise questions about illiteracy but it's waay to americanized.

The Ugly Truth is actually made of two movies, one that's funny and sharp and the second half which is for chicks. That's right, I said it. I don't see how Gerald Butler can fail to become the sexiest man in the world in a couple of years. He just brings it out of women... and some men.

Upcoming: Surrogates, Bruno, Citade de Deus, La vie en rose, Life of Brian, Pandorum, Public Enemies!

 

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