Does he own a shirt?

This radio silence doesn't mean I haven't been watching movies, it just means I am a lazy blogger.

19. Blood Diamond (2006) was a really eye opening experience. I had never really even thought about diamonds and where they come from, and this opened a whole new world of awareness for me, like for example The Cove did. What didn't surprise me was Leonard DiCaprio. I know a lot of people don't see him as a proper actor because of movies like Titanic (!), but I have always liked him and even the accent seemed believable. I usually dislike Jennifer Connelly, but I liked her in this... mostly. Oh but the kids, heartbreaking. And the music was good too! 9!





20. Severance (2006)... I don't have a lot to say about this. Comedy/horror is such a difficult genre, and especiallt after recently watching Shaun of the Dead (which was pure gold), this just fell short and couldn't keep my interest.




21. Crossroads (2002) is one of my favourite guilty pleasure movies. I even saw it in the movies! Seriously! I have a soft spot for Britney, and generally for movies in which singers try to act! I love 8 mile! I have seen Glitter twice! So anyhow, this was on TV and I just had to watch it. Had to, had no other option but to watch. I know most of the lines by heart... yeah.




22. With my mom we watched The Princess and the Frog (2009) which actually surprised me. Lately, I feel like I haven't really felt these new animations, with the exception of UP! They just feel so superficial, rushed, and there's no proper musical numbers. The Princess and the Frog had all needed elements of a good animation - good characters, fresh setting, scary villain, catchy songs, funny sidekicks, moving twists, unexpected turns and a happy ending. And it made me want to make gumbo!






23. Yes, I went there and watched the new Twilight movie, Eclipse (2010). It's mindless entertainment and 18-year-old boys without shirts.





24. & 25. were the first two movies of the Millennium-series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) and The Girl who Played with Fire (2009), which both I have seen before. I think the first movie is actually a good movie, and since I just heard that they are remaking it... oh dear. Although, I have to say, Phillip Seymour Hoffman would ace the role of Bjurman. I just read the 2nd book, and started of the 3rd, so I guess I'll re-watch the last movie soon enough. Entertaining series. And Lisbeth Salander!




26. Forces of Nature (1999) is a blast from the 90s. I remember loving this so much, and it was on TV one night and naturally, I watched it and loved the chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck. I don't generally like these two, but I like them in this movie.



27. The Stepfather (2009) is actually a pretty decent thriller and it made me jump a couple of times. It had people from so many TV series though, which sort of even bugged me, because I kept interupting myself to figure out where everyone was from... but yeah, decent thrillery mood. Naturally a re-make, so I ought to seek out the original.




28. The Alphabet Killer (2008) was a total snoozefest. Do not wasted your time on this. So Bad. I tried to look for a picture, and all the pictures are just of a scene where Eliza Dushku is topless. Blah.

Grädde?

Oh no, I am so behind on my watching. Luckily, it's Midsummer and I have nothing better to do...

16. Open Water 2: Adrift (2003) turned out to be a sequel to Open Water... who knew? Especially, since the Finnish title was "Deadly Sea". Seriously. I thought Open Water was decent, but nothing to write home about. This movie, however, is frustrating and very anti-climatic. I seem to have given it a 3, but I'm not sure why.





OH but movie number 17. oh my. Blast from the 90s! Shelter Island, actually made in bloody 2003, but it could've shaved 10 years of the numbers and easily fooled me. A movie so bad that we actually contemplated turning it off after 30 minutes. We made it through the wilderness, somehow we made it through... well actually, the only reason we made it through was Stephen Baldwins hair. I'll rate the hair a 2, and the movie a 0.5.




Movie number 18 is my only Midsummer tradition. Since 2004, I've watched Danish Midsommer (2003) every single June. Yes, I know the plot already, but no, it doesn't make it any less exciting. I always get something new out of the movie, and it just had very real feeling suspense. It has real feeling chracters, a person named Jannick (!), really creepy old guy... okay, the music blasts on a little too loud, but it's consistent at least. Oh, and whatever you do, do not watch the remake Solstice, trust Americans to butcher the whole movie.

Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?

15! Pure Love! Shaun of the Dead (2004)! I don't even know what to say... I fell in love. It takes place in United Kingdom, it has zombies ("The zed-word. Don't say it!"), it's completely quotable, it has a great cast... oh just everything! It's funny, but it's horror! If you haven't already, go watch it now!

"Isolated? I'm surrounded. "

Oh boy, we're on a roll!

Yesterday I watched movies 12, 13 and 14!



12th movie this summer was Up in the Air (2009). I remembered it vaguely from the Academy Awards, but when my mom asked what it's about, I couldn't really tell before watching. I knew the movie is directed by Jason Reitman, who also directed Juno and I really don't care for Juno. In some parts I could see the Juno vibe becoming stronger, but it was toned down before it became overwhelming. Wit overdoses rarely work. The biggest surprise in this movie was Anna Kendrick! She plays a small role in the Twilight movies, and she is super annoying by definition, but she totally made Up in the Air. I really fell in love with Up in the Air and Anna Kendrick, and I wanted to watch the movie again when the end credits started rolling. It's a solid 9 for now! I just wanted to say in the clouds, up in the air.




13 & 14... yeah. Wrong Turn (2003) and Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007). It's never a good sign, if you are sure that you haven't seen a movie and as the movie goes on, it starts to seem too familiar. It's also never a good sign, if the sequel has got completely new cast and crew. The first movie gave a couple of scares and a lot of icky gore, the second movie... well, was just gross. I'm just not into inbreeding and stuff, you know? I wouldn't really suggest these movies to anyone, and will remember from now on, not to watch them again. Blergh. Not even worthy of ratings. Oh and the funny thing was, the first one had tight shirts and pretty girls, the second one had stripping and boobs! How come I'm not even surprised!

Musicals and end of the world

10. The Road (2009) didn't really do me much, which might make me seem all heartless and shite. No but really, I kept comparing it to Children of Men in my head, and I love Children of Men, so The Road had a lot to live up to. I also stopped watching the movie 20 minutes before it came to an end, but a-ha! Not because I was bored, but because I thought I'll read the book first and watch the movie later. So no grading just yet.



Ah 11. Finnish movie Jos rakastat (2009), 'If you love', a musical type movie of a love gone wrong. The musical numbers are washed up Finnish song and don't really sit well. I expected the movie to suck a lot more, so for surprising me, I gave this movie a whopping 6!

Back in the summer of 97

Movie number 9 on our list is I know what you did last Summer (1997), refreshingly innocent and no nudity! It feels like watching a scary movie from decades ago. I have to admit though, I was always more of a Scream kind of girl, and I still don't fully love this Summer series. I have recently fallen in love with Buffy the Vampire Slayer though, and I thought I'd watch this for Sarah Michelle Gellars' sake. I rated this a 5.




Oh 90's fashion, I do not miss thee.

1-8

Just to get up to speed, I'll give you the first 8 movies:

1. The Uninvited (2009) - just watched this last night, even though I have seen it before. This is actually a remake of a Korean movie called Janghwa, Hongryeon (2003), which I also happen to have in the shelf waiting. Too bad the original lacks Emily Browning, since I love Emily Browning, and I could watch her all night long. On imdb.com scale, I gave it a solid 8. I know, I surprised even myself, but half of that is just Emily Browning points.




2. The next movie on our list is a real gem, if the crappiest movies on Earth are considered gems. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Hills Run Red (2009). Seriously, a movie so bad I can't even comprehend it has a 5.6 rating on imdb.com, mind you only 2000 people have voted on it, so hopefully, no-one else has watched it. As I've said, there's good bad movies and bad bad movies. I was hoping this would fall into the first of the two, but no, when a film maker takes the movie too seriously and lacks any required skill, and takes a huge bite of the pretentious plate, it never ends well. The acting, the cast, the writing, the effects... even the villains were crap! I am trying to come up with something nice to say, but no. Atleast trying to guess where the actors have been before kept me entertained. On a scale from 1 to 10, I'll give this a 0.




3.-4. The Descent (2005) & The Descent: Part 2 (2009) ! The Descent is one the best recent horror movies. It's truly terrifying, absolutely shocking at parts and really leaves with you a sense of anguish. And as can be guessed, the sequel really just tries to ride on the same wave, but not with the same force. It's got the same setting, same characters, and it takes place just a day or two away from the original movie. Somehow in those two days, the monsters have transformed completely and people have become twice as dumb. While it's not as thrilling as the first one, it's still worth watching. The first one is a 10, the second one is just half of that.





5. Fifth movie of the summer is a Finnish movie, Kielletty Hedelmä (2009), or Forbidden Fruit, to keep the international feel going. Director Dome Karukoski has recently taken the place as my favourite Finnish director. The atmosphere in his movies is charming. Right about now, we realized that I am in no way a critic, but just enjoy hearing myself talk. A solid nine. And the girls are so pretty!





6. The Jane Austen Book Club (2007) I had on my shelf for 6 months before I actually watched it on the last night before having to give it back to the library. I turned it on, just to have background noise while cleaning, and after 5 minutes I forgot the cleaning and watched this until 1 am. Ah, Hugh Dancy. Ah Emily Blunt! What is it with me and Emilys? All I know is that I laughed and cried with this movie, and that I took out a Jane Austen book from the library the very next day... I gave it a nine.




7. The Mist (2007) has an ending. It's the ending dreams are made of. It's the sort of ending that completely makes the movie. No, you can't just jump to the ending, you have to watch the movie too. And it's not a bad movie by any means. Sure, the bugs are sort of shite, but it's still a decent movie. But the ending! I'd give the ending a 10, but I gave the movie a 7.



8. The Collector (2009) has a hint on the cover, it tells you not to pick this movie! It says "from the makers of all the bad sequels of Saw". Well, it doesn't exactly say that, but yet. This movie is baaaaad, it's all I hate in bad horror movies and more. I still gave it a 2, because there is a dog and there is a cute, not annoying child actress. One point each.




Ta dah, here we are!