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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Los Bastardos, Primer, Renaissance

Los Bastardos (2008)

One thing is clear: I think I will never watch this movie again.
It is about two brothers who are undocumented Mexican day-laborers in L.A. They do different work every day, but this day the job is special. There are more cash and has something to do with a shotgun.
Most of the scenes are extremely slow and boring, the production is very simple, some of the acting is poor, but the story is not so bad. Surprising and shocking ending.

My rating: 5/10


Primer (2004)



What if you could clone yourself and make your “double-back-in-time” to change the future?
This plot (sorry for the spoiler) reminds me about a classic Calvin & Hobbes cartoon, where Calvin makes a time-machine box so he can go back in time and tell a copy of himself do to the homework he was supposed to do that day.
In the first twenty minutes or so of this movie it is a bit difficult to understand what the characters are talking about. It’s a lot of tech-language. Then it slowly starts to make you ask questions.
Beautiful shot, good acting, suitable soundtrack, and you have to do a lot of thinking yourself.

My rating: 7,5/10


Renaissance (2006)



This is a very beautiful and stylish sci-fi animation about a missing important scientist, who the police with the strong captain Karas are searching for.
The images are in black and white, except for a few scenes where some colors are added. It’s a thrilling story, a bit dark, and reminds me a bit of Sin City.

My rating: 7,5/10

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Music News

It is hard to keep track of all your bands' updates and news all the time, so I searched through a list of favourites, finding out if I could sign their mailing list. At the same time I looked after new stuff: albums, side projects etc. Maybe this post will be informative to you too.

(NA= new album,LP) (NE= new EP) (S=on spotify) (D=dissolved?)

- The Ponys, NE "Deathbed Plus 4" (2010)

- Harmful, NA "Cause" (2010) (S)

- Working for a nuclear free city, NA soon

- Humanzi, NA "Kingdom of Ghosts"

- A Toys Orchestra, NA "Midnight Talks"

- All the Saints, NA soon

- Ambulance Ltd, new project "The Red Romance" (S)

- Autolux, NA "Transit-Transit"

- Blackmail, side project "Scumbucket" (S)

- Calla, (D)

- Cul de Sac, (D)

- The December Sound, NA soon

- Devics, (D)

- Electrelane, (D)

- Experimental Aircraft, NA soon

- Explosions in the sky, NA 2011

- Film School, NA July 2010

- George Dorn Screams, NE

- Interpol, NA 7th September 2010

- Junius, NA "The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist" (2009) (S)

- Kinski, NA autumn 2010?

- Kristin Hersh, NA "Crooked" (?)

- Liam Finn, side project "Barb"

- The Lovetones, NA "Dimensions" (2009)

- Pagoda, NA "Rebirth" (?)

- Pelican, NA "What we all come to need" (2009)

- Say Hi, NA "Oohs and Aahs" (2009)

- Scout Niblett, NA "The Calcination of Scout Niblett" (2010)

- Soundpool, NA "Mirrors in your eyes" (2010)

- Tears Run Rings, NA "Distance" August 24th 2010

- Tool, NA 2010?

- Viva Voce, new project "Blue Giant"

- The Walkmen, NA "Lisbon" September 14th 2010

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Kick Ass, Bored To Death

Kick Ass (2010)



Suitable title for this action and comedy packed movie. Since it is such a big picture I won’t work my ass off to tell you what it is about. I laughed a lot, got surprised and I enjoyed almost all of it. Suitable soundtrack many places (minus for the use of music used in “28 Weeks Later”), great action scenes, unpredictable, original and great entertainment.
Kick Ass reminds me a bit of “Defendor” with Woody Harrelson, but that movie is more serious and better in some ways.

My Rating: 8/10


Bored to Death, season 1 (2009)



So I have watched the complete first season of Bored to Death this weekend. I discovered the show by an accident and after reading the reviews at imdb.com, seeing who the actors in it was and the fact that it was a HBO show, I would give it a try. I was not completely satisfied after two episodes, but it was a bit entertaining, and I finished it. What’s great with the show is the weird humor and some of the stories. The cast is great: Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and guy from “Hangover”, Zach Galifianakis, and there are some cool guest appearances like Jim Jarmusch.
In average I think I laughed out loud a couple a times in each episode.

My rating: 7,5/10

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Linkeroever, A Nyomozo

Linkeroever/ Left Bank (2008)



I had to see more movies from the director of “Dirty Mind”, Pieter Van Hees, and bought this straight from play.com since I couldn’t find any suitable subtitles to this horror/drama flick.
It starts up interesting, with references to David Lynch and Roman Polanski. It is about a 22 year old runner, who meets an interesting archer and falls in love with him. She gets sick and has to be away from running for some weeks, and during that time she tries to figure out what happened to her boyfriend’s last tenant, who once mystically disappeared.
The cinematography is very beautiful, and the soundtrack is powerful and suits the mystical story. The main character girl is very cute and we get to se her naked a bunch of times.
Other good shit: disgusting scenes (a lot of puking, gruesome wounds etc) and an exciting ending.
One of the bad things in this film is probably the script. The story develops too slowly, and the movie feels much longer than its actual length.

My rating: 7,5/10



A Nyomozo / The Investigator (2008)




This Hungarian thriller was very clever and good.
“Malkav” works in a hospital styling and “finish the look” on dead people. His mother is ill, and he wants to earn some quick money so he can afford her an operation in Sweden. He is offered a job that is to kill another man.
My attention was caught at the very beginning of the film by its great cinematography, smart and funny dialogs and the exciting story. There are a lot of pretty actresses here, macabre deaths (from different “patients” of Malkav), and reminds me a bit like movies from Polanski, Aki Kaurismäki (the cold atmosphere) and the Poirot movies (with the characters and the investigations). As said, really great thriller, this deserves more attention!

My rating: 9,5/10

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Naj Sul, Mr. Nobody, Exam, Rampage

Naj Sul/Daytime Drinking (2008)

This South-Korean movie was way too long and boring. It is about a twentyish boy who is supposed to meet his friends in Jeongseon, but no one shows up. Then he meets different people, and every one of them makes his trip worse.
Boring, flat production, lack of soundtrack, gray and cold weather which suits the life of the boy.
The highlights are the dialogs. They are smart, funny and make it worth to watch the movie.

My rating: 5,5/10


Mr. Nobody (2009)

The average imdb rating on this movie is 7,5, and I can’t understand why it is so high.
This sci-fi movie is very beautiful shot, with a great cast and soundtrack, but is sooooo boring. I was hoping for a lot of cool sci-fi things, but instead of that, all you get is boring and uninteresting love/family scenes. I gave this up after about 30 minutes.


Exam (2009)

This movie starts great. Nice shot, beautiful soundtrack and an interesting plot: 8 candidates in a room, 80 minutes to solve a mystery. They are disqualified if they try to communicate with the one guard or the boss, or they spoil their paper.
This movie reminds me a bit of “Cube” without the deadly traps, but they may have to cooperate to succeed.
Unfortunately there are a lot of weak elements here. Firstly, I think the acting is stiff and bad. Secondly, the characters are a bit stereotypes, and for the third, the ending is kind of stupid. Hard to explain, but this was not my movie.

My rating: 5/10


Rampage (2009)



Woah! This is probably the sickest watchable movie I have ever seen. I use the phrase “watchable”, just to compare it with a lot of sick not-watchable movies like “Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma”, “Sweet movie”, “A Hole in My Heart” etc.
This movie is about 23 year old Bill who is doing a killing spree in a town. (Sorry for the spoiler)
I think it is hard to evaluate the film because of its gruesome story and meaning.
The cinematography is good; shaky and looks sort of real. The acting is good. There are a lot of nice action scene and effects. I wished the soundtrack was not so toned down, and some of the editing is a bit disturbing, but maybe it suits the theme of this film. I don’t know much about the director Uwe Boll, but I have heard that he is a legend of computer games and has made a lot of bad movies. I think this is one is brave, and I really wonder how it will be received by the different people out there. This is not a bad movie, just hard to swallow.

My rating: 7/10

Monday, June 7, 2010

Deftones - Diamond Eyes


After reading a lot of good reviews for Deftones’ last album, I really got excited. Now, after listing through the album for the 5th or 6th time, I don’t know how exactly to put it. I’m not thrilled. I think it is too noisy and chaotic, and I can’t get a hold on the songs. I think the best track is “Risk”. What I liked about the album before this, “Saturday Night Wrist”, was that it was very variable, it had powerful and great songs like “Hole in the Earth”, “Cherry Waves”, “Mein” and “Xerxes”, and I would be pleased if Deftones continued working with that style.

My rating: 5/10

Deadgirl, Patrik 1,5, Dirty Mind

Deadgirl (2008)

Man, what an excellent movie… Just kidding, this was shit. It is about Ricki and JT who are supposed to be in their late teenagers, but look like they are in the mid twenties. One day they explore this closed, old hospital and find a dead girl inside. Well, she is dead, but she is alive too, and JT finds her so attractive that he wants to do her. Ricki does not share the same feeling about the girl, maybe because he is in love with another girl in his class, a girl he dated 5 years ago. JT brings another friend to make love with the zombie, and Ricki think this is crazy and want it to stop.
Sure you can’t expect a lot of quality from low budget zombie flicks, but there are lots of irritating things here. The script is really bad. I wonder how many times the say “man” or their names in the dialogs. “Man, Ricki…” etc. There are a lot of plot holes, bad acting and bad editing. The main character Ricki (Shiloh Fernandez) reminds me of the girl from Twilight; nail biting and the same weird face expression all through the movie. The other guy, JT (Noah Segan), is actually not so bad.
Some things are good, though: the cinematography is not as bad as you would think, and there are some scenes that are pretty nasty. The soundtrack is not too bad either, and the movie is watchable.

My rating: 3/10


Patrik 1,5 (2008)

Why did I bother to watch so much of this shitty movie?
It is about a gay couple wanting to adopt a baby. They get a letter in their mail, saying they may adopt “Patrik 1,5”, but when the boy is “delivered” at the door, they see that Patrik actually is 15 years old. And worse: Patrik is homophobic and a bad boy. And it is more: everyone in their street despise them being all gay.
Yes, the movie is pretty predictable. And it has a lot of dull humor; the only funny moments are with Torkil Peterson’s character, maybe because Torkil always is a funny actor.
The script is weak, the soundtrack is horrible, and there’s the “SFSGTA” (Stupid Fight, Splitting, Get Together Again). I quit watching after the second "we don’t need each other, even though it is not true…”. A lot of clichés: Torkil’s character has a tough/troubled daughter, who we definitely know for sure will match Patrik. Bahh.

My rating: 2,5/10


Dirty Mind (2009)







Nice… This Belgian movie really kicked ass.
It is about shy Diego, working with his stuntman-brother at film sets. One day he has to step in for his brother doing a stunt, and it goes bad. Then he wakes up at the hospital as a completely new man: Tony. Tony is cool, tough and the girls are attracted to him. Some staff at the hospital believes that Diego/Tony suffers from a case of Frontal Syndrome, and the pretty neurologist Jaana is doing some investigation on him.
The cinematography is very stylish, tough and original. There are lot of cool stunt scenes, beautiful pictures, great acting, great soundtrack and great script.
- Funny, awesome movie!

My rating: 9,5/10

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Juni mixs






Two new CD compilations for my car this month, with these bands: Bear in Heaven, Clutchy Hopkins, Blackmail, The Growlers, Nasekomix, Devastations, The Big Sleep, Son Lux, Phantogram, Twin Tigers, Nedry, The Pack A.D., Funki Porcini, Gravenhurst and Blitzentrapper.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

In Search of a Midnight Kiss, Noise, Nue propriété

In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007)

This is a very amateurish American romantic movie about some lonely twentyish guy putting out an ad on a dating website New Year’s Eve. He agree to meet the first caller, a blond annoying girl with a lot of problems. We follow them the whole day.
Like I said in the beginning, this is a low budget movie. The cinematography is nothing fancy at all, but that is not so important to me. The actors are okay, the soundtrack is okay, the story is a bit boring sometimes, but it has its funny moments too. I wished the girl was not so annoying, and I don’t understand why she freaks out in the middle of the film after hearing some lame confession from the guy. In almost every romantic comedies these days there is always a stupid fight, and then they get together again. I actually thought about to stop watching after a while, but did not want to go to sleep, and did not feel like to try another movie, so I watched the rest. It was watchable.

My rating: 6/10


Noise (2007)



Oh my god, what an amazing opening scene; a girl walks in a train/metro one night, and after a while she discovers that everyone in the wagon are shot dead.
The story follows that girl as the only eye witness, her life of being scared that maybe the killer will find her sometime. The story is also about a police man with tinnitus, who gets placed in an investigation caravan and has to take interviews from people that may know something about the murder of a woman, which the police think is connected with the train deaths.
The cinematography is very great, the soundtrack is powerful, and the police man character is great. The story flattens at sometimes, but in overall it is interesting and exciting.
Unfortunately some of the action scenes are a bit dark, so it is a bit difficult to se what is happening. The ending is maybe too short. Great thriller, not straight forward; you have to think a lot yourself, and that is cool.

My rating: 8/10


Nue propriété/Private Property (2006)



Touching and powerful drama about a dysfunctional family. A mother lives with her two twins in their late teenage years and the father lives with another family. At the beginning the tone between the mother and the sons is cheerful, but when the mother says she want to sell their house in order to start a new life, there are conflicts. This movie reminds me a bit of “The Squid and the Whale”, but this is more tragic.
The cinematography is great and has a lot of interesting camera angles, the acting is great, the script is great; a lot of funny and strange scenes/dialogs. The story is maybe a bit slow sometimes, but the tension builds up over time and suddenly explodes. There is not any soundtrack until the end, but in a way I didn’t miss it a lot. The ending is touching, and there are a lot of symbols.
I don’t understand why this movie didn’t win more prizes.

My rating: 8/10

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

English

From now on I'm going to write this shit in English. Maybe I will get more readers, and I get a chance to improve my English writing. Btw, the counter on the right side is very new, that is the reason why the numbers are so low...