tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35451298287934828802024-03-14T08:37:18.080+02:00Life is like ChocolatEevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.comBlogger308125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-28263157545090951392013-08-23T22:48:00.000+03:002013-08-23T22:57:06.800+03:00Behind the Candelabra (2013) / My Life with Liberace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>"Too much of a good thing is wonderful."</i></div>
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The 1970's was a better time, wasn't it; you could dress up in glitter, frill, fur and eyeliner from head to toe, but people wouldn't automatically assume that you're gay. I guess the stereotype came to be much later. The clothing was one of the best things about the movie. Some of that stuff was just outrageous, and I mean that in a good way.</div>
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Before today I didn't know anything about Liberace. All I knew was that they like to make a lot of Liberace jokes on Glee, so I assumed it had to do with something, um, eccentric. I hadn't heard about the movie either, which is kind of cool, because it hints that A-listers in gay roles is not such a big deal anymore. So I read a couple of reviews, and then decided it could be worth seeing. And it really was worth seeing, because it's nominated for like a million Emmys, and I never really had an opinion about Michael Douglas before, but now I do, and the opinion is that he's so good.</div>
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The acting is no doubt what makes the film stand out. Douglas especially, but Matt Damon, too. He portrayed a character much younger than himself, and you need more than a tremendously convincing make-up to pull that off. The make-up was kick-ass, of course, but still. They were both so shameless, and they owned the characters, even when they did the boldest scenes, put on the most embarrassing costumes and let themselves look the most unflattering. There was not even a trace of the well-known Hollywood superstars, so there's no reason to feel awkward. Bravo! And Rob Lowe with that highly attractive facelift... Scene-stealer. </div>
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(I can't get over Cheyenne Jackson, aka the most hilarious guest star on Glee ever, being a part of the film. I just didn't expect to ever see Dustin Goolsby in a glitter tuxedo. "I'm handsome, I'm good-looking and I'm easy on the eyes. Also I'm gorgeous." Hahahahhaah... Classic pick-up line. And Daddy Hummel aka the brilliant Mike O'Malley had a small role, too! Glee invasion! By the way, keep the jokes coming, because from now on I will get them.)</div>
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I'm tired so that's all I'll say. I hope many people will see the film, and I hope Douglas and Damon will get all kinds of awards. This was a very refreshing movie, I hadn't seen anything like it in a while. A bit sweet and a bit sad and a bit funny and more than a bit outrageously and wonderfully eccentric. I'm glad this made it to cinemas in Europe, even though in the US it was only released on TV. 'Cause it's too gay. Right? Welcome to the year 2013...<br />
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P.S. I know this has to do with absolutely nothing, expect for Matt Damon's BFF, but I feel so sorry for poor Ben Affleck, because people think he'll be a terrible Batman. C'mon, just because the guy has never acted well in anything, doesn't mean he can't pull off Batman! I mean, <i>I</i> could pull off Batman. Just growl and speak in a ridiculously low voice and frown a lot. I bet Benny will be the best Batman ever! Not that I will see the movie, because I think Batman is stupid and Superman is lame.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-78007146878106440102013-08-22T12:59:00.000+03:002013-08-22T13:21:04.161+03:00Kick-Ass 2 (2013) / Avengers assemble, asshole<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>"Act like a bitch, get slapped like a bitch."</i></div>
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Once upon a time my ass was figuratively kicked by <i>Kick-Ass</i>. In other words, I really got a great kick out of the movie. And it really was damn awesome, wasn't it? I remember sometimes calling it my favorite superhero movie, next to <i>The Avengers</i>. 'Cause it's just great fun. The sequel continues to entertain, it makes me laugh out loud, and also cringe, because some of the stuff they pull is pretty yucky. Lawn movers and all. I don't thoroughly enjoy all the violence and the obnoxious deaths, but let's face it, <i>Kick-Ass</i> wouldn't be <i>Kick-Ass</i> if someone didn't get decapitated or their guts spilled out in a hilarious way every once in a while.<br />
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I was hoping that in a new plot twist Dave Lizewski would have decided to grow a mustache. Sadly, that didn't happen, but luckily there's always <i>Anna Karenina</i>. Aaron T-J has been my wet dream for quite a while, with or without mustache, and I enjoyed him again, especially during those last frames. I will be rewinding those seconds and watching them again and again once I get my hands on a DVD. When I'm forty I will totally marry a 20-year-old Aaron Johnson. It is my ultimate goal in life.</div>
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But not even the flawless abs or the awesome scale of supporting characters (from the terrifying Mother Russia and Jim Carey's Colonel to the sweet Team Remembering Peter and Christopher Mintz-Plasse who delivers every time) can outshine the true star of the film: Hit Girl/Mindy Macready/Chloë Grace Moretz. Hit-Girl and Katniss Everdeen should unite to be the most ass-kicking teenage girl duo ever. They'd shoot squirrels and hit President Snow square in the face, with some awesome background music. Anyway. Fangirl brain, stop. Hit-Girl was a big part of the charm of the first movie, but now she has a more significant role, and she gets more meatier stuff, and I loved it. If <i>Kick-Ass</i> was a Kick-Ass movie, <i>Kick-Ass 2</i> was a Hit-Girl movie. High school is tough, growing up is a bitch, and fitting in is pain, even if you are only the most bad-ass girl in the universe. But even Hit-Girl isn't completely immune to boy bands.<br />
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<i>Kick-Ass 2</i> might be an action comedy sequel before anything else, but it ended up delivering a very sincere message, even if it was delivered via disgusting images of spilled guts and severed penises. You can choose what to do with your life; you can choose to be a super villain, or you can choose to do good with what you have. With no power, comes no responsibility, expect that isn't true. I stole that from the first movie, but it's a cool thought. It's what the whole franchise is about: choosing to fight for good, even though you're probably going to get your ass kicked, because you have no superpowers whatsoever. "You don't have to be bad-ass to be a superhero, you just have to be brave."<br />
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By the way, Bechdel test passed! Not bad for a superhero movie. The two most bad-ass characters were female, and I seriously doubt there's ever been a more terrifying villain in anything ever than Mother Russia. And Hit-Girl, she's a total cowboy. In the end, she kisses the good-looking guy, and drives off to the sunset in a motorcycle. I want to be Hit-Girl when I grow up. And I can't wait for Chloë Grace Moretz to grow up and do more amazing movies and blow everyone's minds away. But, you know, not with weapons, but with her talent. I also can't wait for <i>Kick-Ass 3</i>. Not to mention <i>The Avengers</i> sequel. Aaron T-J is going to be in it, as if there weren't enough heartbreakingly beautiful men involved in that franchise already. I'm not sure if my ovaries will be able to handle it, but I will be so pleased to give it a try.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-61479393184842129512013-08-06T21:28:00.000+03:002013-08-06T21:28:46.510+03:00Before Midnight (2013) / bitch-slapped by reality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I didn't love <i>Before Midnight</i> the way I have, for years, loved <i>Sunrise</i> and <i>Sunset</i>. It's a spectacular film, of course. The script and the acting are as top-notch as ever. <strike>When it wasn't depressing, </strike>It was funny. The characters are still spectacular. So, a great movie. BUT. I know what my problems with it are.</div>
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<i>Sunrise</i> was romantic. <i>Sunset</i> was nostalgic. Now, <i>Midnight</i> was realistic. Not that the other two were not; I keep going on about how REAL the story and the characters and the dialogue have always been. Yet, not many people meet each other in a train ans then spend the most significant night of their lives in Vienna. Not many people lose touch to that potential love of their lives for nine years, until meeting them again in Paris. But majority of people, at some point of their lives, are 41 and struggling to maintain their marriages. Which sucks. Why do the romantic and the nostalgic have to give way to the realistic?<br />
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It had to happen, of course. <i>Midnight</i> could not have been another cheerful film about discovering or rediscovering. I don't know what I expected. Less shouting and fighting, I guess? All that shouting and fighting made me depressed. I wasn't ready for that. I had just watched <i>Sunrise </i>and <i>Sunset </i>for the millionth time, and I loved the characters and I loved their relationship. Now, here they were, sick of themselves and their lives and their relationship, shouting and fighting. Whyyyyyyyyyy. It's so wrong. I mean, if a perfect couple like Jesse and Celine can't make it, how could I ever expect to make it? Right? I found myself dreading the time I'm 41. These films have always represented realistic, but ideal life for me. Now I felt bitch-slapped. And naive. I consider myself a reasonably realistic person, aware of the excessively romanticized reality that media is shoving down our throats. And yet, <i>Before Midnight</i> managed to pull the rug from under my apparently wide-eyed, brainwashed, romcom-consuming bubble. Reality sucks! Bring back my unrealistically happy endings!<br />
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The main reason why I know I didn't embrace the third film as much as the previous two is that I'm 24 and single. In <i>Sunset</i> the characters are 32, but I am still able to identify with them and their thoughts (I'd name the second film my favorite of the three). Apparently 41 is too far. I've never had any experiences even close to the ones the characters went through in the script. It felt strange and intimidating, like a sneak peak to the scary adult world waiting for me behind a decade or two. Then again, I'm sure that for someone who has been married or in a relationship with kids for several years, the film does not seem intimidating at all. They can understand what's going on much better, perhaps take it less seriously, and most importantly, identify with it all. What you don't know will scare you.<br />
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So, this is obviously a lost battle. What I need to do is accept the fact that I didn't love <i>Before Midnight</i> as much and as sincerely as I wanted to, hide my <i>Sunrise</i> and <i>Sunset</i> dvd's for a couple of years, sit back, grow up, get married, have kids, have marriage crises, and then watch <i>Midnight </i>again. Then I'll love it. And by that time <i>Before Noon</i> or <i>Before Lunchtime</i> or <i>Before Twilight</i> or <i>Before Whatever</i> will be playing in cinemas, I hope, and I'll go see it and get myself an early midlife crisis, because who knew turning fifty could be that horrifying.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-57872557360587216152013-07-22T19:29:00.000+03:002013-07-22T19:30:05.219+03:00Orange is the New Black is my new bitch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I needed an excuse to order Netflix again, and ta-dah, there was <i>Orange Is the New Black</i>. They were talking about it on the radio, and 'female prison' was pretty much all I needed to hear to know I'd love this show. I watched all thirteen episodes within days and I can't wait to get more next year. Sorry for the attempted prison slang in the title, by the way, I tried my best.</div>
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Piper Chapman is leading a cozy life in New York, with her adorable soon-to-be-husband, Larry, whom everyone will associate with <i>American Pie</i>, but that's okay with me, because I think I've never seen a full movie in that franchise. A relationship she had with a drug dealer a decade back sends her to prison. This educated, privileged woman being in prison is weird, creepy, and kind of funny. This show is no <i>Prison Break</i>, where the emphasis was on the action and building up the next cliffhanger. (They're not trying to break out, which means these gals have definitely seen the later seasons of <i>Prison Break,</i> and they know that no good comes out of leaving that fascinating, claustrophobic milieu behind. Not that I'm bitter. But I am. Still.)</div>
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<i>Orange</i> concentrates on the characters, their backstories (with very <i>Lost</i>-esque flashbacks that I very much enjoyed) and the dynamics. The tone is relatively light, and there are a lot of comedic elements, despite the grim premise of the show. So there's loads of relationship drama, but not the lame kind. And it's not all lesbian jealousy and verbal, interracial catfights. At times, it does get almost <i>Prison Break</i> suspenseful, and pretty damn dark. And ah, the characters.<br />
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Typically for me, I'm not overly fond of the main character trio (except for Larry, perhaps, because he's such a darling), but I adore the variety of supporting characters. There haven't been this many fantastic female characters in the same show since EVER! From intimidating Russian ladies and meth-head Jesus freaks to hot lesbian junkies and transgendered hairdressers, this show has it all, and they all come with enormous amounts of character and attitude, and of course loads of F-bombs. It's pretty fantastic. The men of the show are mostly just evil, or stupid, or both. (Except for Larry, darling Larry. And you know I can't resist a prison guard/inmate romance. Mmmh, forbidden love, bring it!) Perhaps the show does not really do justice to the male gender, but I figure they can take it, for once in their lives. This is the women's time to shine, and show their diversity, and break 96% of all the dumb female stereotypes we've gotten used to.<br />
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Hurray for female prisons! I can't wait for next year. Then I get to do more time. As they say in prison. I think. Here's a trailer.<br />
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Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-20304939030801907122013-05-30T23:14:00.000+03:002013-05-30T23:39:38.665+03:00Spring Breakers (2012) / a chance to see something different<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>"I'm tired of seeing the same thing. This is our chance to see
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I'd been to movies fifteen times this year. After seeing <i>The Great Gatsby</i> last week I counted my 2013 cinema visits so far. So, fifteen. Then I counted the times that had actually managed to blow my mind a little, or shake my core, or whatever. One. That was the first movie I saw in cinema this year, <i>The Impossible</i>, and the core-shaking related to that experience had to do with the unnatural amount of crying, obviously. But one core-shaker in fifteen movies; I don't really like those numbers. Sure, there had been some minor shakes. Sure, I wasn't always looking for an experience that would blow up my brain. Sure, sometimes I just wanted to be entertained.</div>
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But come on. One in fifteen. I was getting really tired of seeing <u>okay</u> movies. <u>Fine</u> movies. <u>Pretty good</u> movies. Movies that weren't bad but they just <u>lacked that something</u>. I saw the <i>Spring Breakers</i> trailer some time ago and was a bit confused by Disney stars in bikinis and all that booty-shaking and James Franco looking extremely shady. Then I saw some reviews. So I thought I'd go see it. Might as well make it one in sixteen, right? Well, turns out <i>Spring Breakers</i> was just the core-shaker that I was longing for. I honestly can't tell you how happy I felt half-way through the film, as I felt my mind sneakily blowing somewhere in the back of my head. I wasn't sure what I was seeing. I had never seen anything quite like it before. It was something different, and I liked it.
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<i>Spring Breakers</i> features four college girls, stuck in a small town with the same old faces, same old lecture halls, and the same old lectures about racial segregation, which I thought sounded so interesting I would've loved to keep listening. Hah. Nerd, I know... Everyone is heading down to Florida for spring break, for some epic partying, drinking and promiscuous activity, but the girls are out of money. They decide they need to go to Florida, whatever it takes. They need to get out and experience something different.</div>
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At some point during the film something quite random and very nerdy popped into my head. The girls' behavior reminded me very much of the Salem witch trials. Being somewhat of a semi-expert (ahem) on what went on in 1692 in the small Salem Village in New England, I thought about the girls in Salem who were bored and frustrated by the lack of meaningful activities and the few opportunities the Puritan society had to offer for them, and thus in accusing people of witchcraft they found a way to acquire power, get attention and feel worth-while. Not that different from the bored college girls who went to look for their end of the rainbow from the mixed madness of booze, drugs, sex, money and guns. Isn't that what power is? What the ultimate meaning of everything is?</div>
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The silent but powerful critique towards modern society is what made the film blow my mind away, way away. I don't really know how to talk about it. The girls set off to look for meaning, thinking they know where to find it, but returning empty-handed. Empty-headed. Empty. Their lives just as empty as before, if not emptier. The world is thoroughly messing us up, and we know it, but this won't stop it. In <i>Spring Breakers</i>, the endless and repetitive shots of naked or half-naked bodies, in close-up and slow-motion, should disturb you or at least affect you in some way. But you see the booties shaking right in front of your face, again and again, and you see the people screaming in the ecstasy of being wasted, young and good-looking, and you just see how embarrassing and almost grotesque the whole thing is. We see so much booty-shaking it becomes absolutely ridiculous. Isn't that the meaning of life, as it's constantly pushed down our throats? Bikinis and big booties, y'all, that's what life is about.</div>
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Many people have said the genre of the film is very difficult to determine, and I agree. But I don't ever agree when they call it a comedy. For me, it wasn't a comedy at all. I also watched <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtzz0jjTEDI">a few interviews</a> with the cast and my mind blew once again, this time because of the idiotic way the interviewers approached the film and thus the actors. I guess the beauty of the film is that there are a million different ways to see it and understand it. But I'd call the movie a tragedy rather than a comedy... A satire, yes, but not in a funny way. A cheery, sexy movie about how awesome spring breaks are? Not. At. All. That's what you'd expect, but not. At. All.</div>
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A few technical details that, in addition to the social commentary, reinforced the process of my mind being blown: James Franco and how he'd somehow managed to transform himself into insane, disgusting, yet somehow appealing maniac, who lives and breaths his twisted idea of the American dream ("Look at my shit!"). The visual look of the film combined to the hectic style of editing, making me feel almost hypnotized. Then the Everytime scene, and thinking about all the things that Britney Spears represents... It seemed both fitting and twisted in this context. There's something else too, but it's been a few days since the core-shaking now that I'm finishing up this post, and I've forgotten the feeling I had right after.<br />
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After the film I saw a commercial on TV, attempting to make men buy suits by portraying a woman seductively lifting the hem of her tiny skirt. I saw Selena Gomez parading around in a music video where every moment, every shot, every body movement and look was over-sexualized, and I thought, "Oh, girl, didn't you learn anything from your movie?". Surely everyone realizes how ridiculous they look? Everything seemed absurd, like everything was a parody of itself. I guess that's what happens when something blows your mind.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-35474783842022602092013-04-11T17:46:00.001+03:002013-04-11T21:29:22.758+03:00JK Rowling: Paikka vapaana<div style="text-align: center;">
Kesti kauan ennen kuin sain avattua JK Rowlingin uuden kirjan. Melkein seitsemän kuukautta. Sain suomennoksen joululahjaksi, mutta lykkäsin lukemisen aloittamista pohtimalla, että voinkohan minä nyt oikeasti lukea tämän kirjan suomeksi. Minulle tuli joku typerä ajatus, että jos luen kirjan suomeksi, en ole oikeasti lukenut sitä, en niin kuin Rowling sen tarkoitti luettavaksi. Kuinka voisin vertailla kirjoitustyyliä ja sanavalintoja kirjailijan aikaisempiin teoksiin kun lukisin oikeastaan vain suomentajan tekstiä? Nuo aikaisemmat teoksethan ovat syy siihen, miksi minäkin haluan lukea The Casual Vacancyn. Samalla aikaisempi tuotanto on myös se asia, joka teki lukemisen aloittamisesta hieman nihkeää. Miten tämän kirjan voisi ikinä lukea olematta vähintään hippusen pettynyt? Miten se voisi ikinä vastata odotuksiin? Miten sitä voisi olla vertaamatta siihen maagiseen seitsemän kirjan sarjaan, jonka voittanutta maailmasta tuskin ikinä tulee löytämään?</div>
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Lopulta järjistyin sen verran, että karistin epäilykseni sekä kirjaa että suomen kieltä kohtaan ja avasin hyllyssä säälittävän kauan odotelleen painokseni. Yhteys Harry Potteriin oli hyvä sysätä mielestä, ja näiden kahden totaalisen erilaisen maailman oli helppo unohtaa olevan peräisin samasta mielikuvituksesta. Suomeksi lukemiseen tottui tietenkin nopeasti, ja vain ajoittain, esimerkiksi slangia ja kiroilua ja muuta kulttuurisidonnaista dialogia lukiessani, toivoin rinnalle alkuperäiskäännöstä. Jossain vaiheessa toki minun on pakko lukea myös Rowlingin ihkaoma teksti, mutta Ilkka Rekiaron suomennos on oikein hyvä. Eikä tarina miksikään muutu vaikka kieli muuttuukin. Tässäpä siis ajatuksiani JK Rowlingin Paikka vapaana -kirjasta, ihan omalla kotimaisellani tällä kertaa. Tuntuu vähän oudolta, mutta niin tuntui sekin kun aloitin kirjoittamaan tätä postausta englanniksi. Luin kirjan suomeksi, joten ajatuksetkin muodostuivat suomeksi. Anteeksi pilkkuvirheistä ja typeristä lauserakenteista. Useamman kerran olen joutunut käyttämään sanakirjaa: 'Mikäs se narrow-minded onkaan suomeksi...?'. Ehkä tämä on kovinkin tarpeellista harjoitusta kanditutkielman kypsyysnäytettä varten...</div>
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Englantilaisesta Pagfordin pikkukaupungista löytyy pelkästään surkeita ihmiskohtaloita. Ihmiset ovat pikkumaisia, masentuneita, harhaluuloisia, katkeria, itsekkäitä, kyynisiä, pinnallisia, säälittäviä, vahingoniloisia, välinpitämättömiä, teeskenteleviä tai yksinkertaisesti inhottavia. Rowling kuvaa laajan hahmokavalkadinsa ajatuksia brutaalin rehellisesti, kaunistelematta, niitä kaikkein kuvottavimpiakaan yksityiskohtia salaamatta. Padfordissa ei ole hyviä, jaloja, tai vilpittömän onnellisia ihmisiä. Hahmoihin tutustuessa haluat kiintyä herttaisen oloiseen rouvaan tai harmittomaan aviomieheen, mutta oletukset herttaisuudesta ja harmittomuudesta murskataan muutaman lauseen kuluttua. Vanhukset ovat ahdasmielisiä ja itsekeskeisiä, aviomiehet ovat kamalia vaimoilleen, jotka vastineeksi ovat kamalia aviomiehilleen, ja teinit ovat ahdistuneita, ilkeitä ja epäsympaattisia. Mitä näistä hahmoista pitäisi ajatella? Onko minun tarkoitus kiintyä näihin säälittäviin ihmisiin? Miten muka pystyn välittämään heidän kohtaloistaan?</div>
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Rowling kertoo miten. Tai ei kerro, mutta antaa vain yhden vaihtoehdon: Jatka lukemista. Olin päässyt kirjassa melkein puoleen väliin kun ajattelin, 'ei tässä oikeastaan mitään ole tapahtunut, mutta hyvä kirja tämä silti on'. Kirja tempaisee mukaansa, joskaan ei samalla, riemastuttavalla tavalla kuin vaikka Potterit. Lukemista on kuitenkin pakko jatkaa, ja viimeiset luvut tuleekin ahmittua melkein kuin Deathly Hallowsin loppu konsanaan: kirjan alas laskeminen ei ollut vaihtoehto. Hahmot tulevat pikku hiljaa tutuiksi (niiden listaaminen paperille oli hyvä idea: keskeisiä hahmoja on nimittäin enemmän kuin sormillaan pystyy laskemaan), ja kyllä vain, niistä oppii välittämään, kuin vaivihkaa. Ilkeydelle löytyy syy, ja se alkaa jopa vaikuttaa sankarilliselta. Pikkumaisuuden voi antaa anteeksi kun saa kurkata hahmon menneisyyteen. Ymmärrät miksi vaimo on niin välinpitämätön miestänsä kohtaan. Saat katsoa tuskallisen läheltä mitä huumekierre saa aikaan koko perheessä. Myötätunto ja kiintymys nostavat päätään, ja lopuksi tunnet ripauksen sympatiaa jopa sitä kaikista vastemielisintä hahmoakin kohtaan. Uskomatonta, mutta totta.</div>
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Kirjan hahmovalikoiman laajuudesta sen verran, että se oli minusta ihan mahtavaa. Kaikkien hahmojen tarinat nivoutuvat yhteen tavalla tai toisella, ja oli vaan todella kiehtovaa lukea samoista tapahtumista ja ihmisistä useammasta näkökulmasta. Jotkut hahmot tietysti kiehtovat enemmän kuin toiset. Teinien edesottamuksista luin kiinnostuneempana kuin paikallispolitiikaa päivittelevien keski-ikäisten, mutta se varmaan johtuu vain siitä, että itse olen tähän mennessä kokenut teini-iän, mutten keski-ikää. Ne harvat sympatiaani koko ajan nauttineet hahmot olivat nimenomaan nuorta polvea. Heidän moraalittomat tekonsa ja karut ajatuksensa antaa helpommin anteeksi kuin aikuisten, koska syyn kaikkeen löytää lähempää, vanhemmista ja ympäristöstä, ja inhottavuuden keskeltä huomaa silti vielä pilaantumatonta lapsen viattomuutta ja toiveikkuutta.</div>
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Tapahtumat saavat siis alkunsa Barry Fairbrother -nimisen miehen äkillisestä ja koruttomasta kuolemasta, jonka myötä paikallisvaltuustoon vapautuu kallisarvoinen ja haviteltu paikka. Kunnallisvaalien ympärille rakentuvan tarinan ei odottaisi olevan niin mukaansatempaava, kiehtova ja syväluotaava kuin Paikka vapaana lopulta on. Ihmiskohtalot kietoutuvat yhteen, syyt ja seuraukset johtavat uusiin, ja pienet asiat sysäävät liikkeelle suuria, elämää mullistavia tapahtumia. Kaikki tarinat saavat omanlaisensa päätöksen; ei ehkä onnellisen, mutta lukijan tyydyttävän. Elämä jatkuu, ja voit vain toivoa, että Pagfordin asukkaat ovat Barry Fairbrotherin kuoleman käynnistämien tapahtumien seurauksena ottaneet edes hieman opikseen karun elämän opetuksista.</div>
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Paikka vapaana oli minusta todella masentava. Haluan aina uskoa ihmisistä hyvää, ja tämä kirja teki siitä todella vaikeaa. Koska eivät pelkästään Pagfordin asukkaat ole kamalia, vaan kaikki ihmiset. Hahmojen ajatusten kuvaukset ovat piinallisen realistisia, ja niistä tunnistaa ihmisluonnon perusominaisuuksia. Katsot ympärillesi ja näet, että maailma on oikeasti ihan yhtä typerä kuin fiktiivinen Pagford. Ahdistavinta on kuitenkin nähdä palanen itseään siellä täällä tuossa kamaluuksien ja yksityisten, häpeällisten ajatusten vyyhdissä. Halusin tehdä eron itseni ja lähiympäristöni, ja kirjan säälimättömän ihmiskuvauksen välillä, mutta pakkohan se oli myöntää, että kaikissa meissä on pikkumaisuutta, ilkeyttä, itsekkyyttä ja inhottavuutta. Jollain lailla tämän myöntäminen tuntuu myös vapauttavalta.</div>
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Kirjan luettuani en kuitenkaan tuntenut oloani yhtään niin masentuneeksi kuin odottaa saattoi. Jouduin räpyttelemään kyyneleitä ja sydäntä väänsi se, kuinka kamala paikka maailma on, mutta masentuneisuutta en tuntenut. En kyllä oikeastaan tiedä mitä tunsin, mutta jotain aika suurta se oli. Sitten tietysti tunsin velvollisuutta rakentaa jonkinlainen alttari Joanne Rowlingille. Jestas, mikä tarinankertoja.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-25001337449072876652013-04-08T20:43:00.000+03:002013-04-08T20:43:28.181+03:00Warm Bodies (2013) / love cures all<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/61cfc470-38a7-44c0-8378-3b711d0560f7_zps7b625613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/61cfc470-38a7-44c0-8378-3b711d0560f7_zps7b625613.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"Don't be creepy. Don't be creepy. Don't be creepy."</i></div>
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Zombie is the new vampire. In the race for the title of the hottest undead, Alexander Skarsgård just got some competition. I wonder which freak of nature pop culture will choose to be the next wet dream for female masses around the world. The could do Frankenstein monsters. Or maybe mummies should make a comeback, but this time, you know, hot. Just think how the bloody bandages would unravel to reveal the toned body of some Hollywood hunk. Mm hm. I'm feeling it. The mummy returns again. Perhaps wearing a cute, red hoodie.</div>
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Let me just say, first, that I really support the idea of banning everyone under-aged from cinemas. I know I was an annoying giggling teenager once, too, but I was never<i> that </i>bad. I totally would've shut up if some scary-looking older female person had turned around and stared at me, pissed off. But no! I want to say, 'Kids these days!', but I don't want to sound that old. Anyway, I really wanted to turn into a zombie and eat the brains of those loud, annoying, inconsiderate, bad-behaving teenage boys. Then I would've learned what the heck is wrong with them, not being able to just SHUT UP. Probably I would've found out something shocking, like, 'I'm a teenage boy, loud and inconsiderate is what I do'. Well. I hope my angry glances taught them a lesson. My glances can be very educative, you know.</div>
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Back to the point. I was always eager to see <i>Warm Bodies</i>, ever since I saw the trailer (which, by the way, reveals too much; Trailers these days! Ugh!). I know my taste in movies quite well, so I know I wouldn't be able resist a romantic horror comedy. With a contributor like Nicholas Hoult involved. And zombies. Zombies are fun. There is a lot of comedy in the way they just say "uuuuuuurgh" and stare. I really want to see the outtakes of the scene where R and his friend have that 'conversation'. And the voice-over made me want to read the book.</div>
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Nicholas Hoult does have a special place in my heart, and the girly, giggly fangirl in me finds him very enjoyable to look at. This is a strange thing to admit, but I found him much more good-looking as a half-zombie-half-human than full-human. Full-human was too pretty, too Tony from Skins. Speaking of too pretty, I kept thinking how wrong the people who compare this movie to Twilight are. If this was like Twilight, the girl would've been like, "Ooooh, I want to be dead like you! Bite me! BITE ME!". I actually liked the girl character, and Analeigh from America's Next Top Model was a lot of fun. I remember watching her in the show, and rooting for her, and I remember Tyra saying that she should pursue acting.</div>
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<i>Warm Bodies</i> was a very sweet, entertaining movie, just what I wanted and expected. The plot was very simple and straight-forward, and it didn't try to be more epic or ground-shattering than it was. I found it a surprisingly sincere and down-to-earth kind of movie. Just enough romance, just enough horror, just enough comedy. Although undeniably predictable, it didn't feel cliched or cheesy. It made me feel good. It's a movie you would hug if you could. Love cures all - even a zombie apocalypse.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-83916019872300338182013-04-02T10:30:00.000+03:002013-04-02T10:30:53.337+03:00Before Before Midnight<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/a3cc1737-74bf-43a3-9c94-7ccb7c80f70a_zps4c7ae851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/a3cc1737-74bf-43a3-9c94-7ccb7c80f70a_zps4c7ae851.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this! The sucky thing is I don't know when my coordinates will match those where the film is playing. I know it's opening in the US on May 24. Guess where I will be on APRIL 24, but NOT on May 24. Damnit. How about an early premiere, just for me, a month in advance? Thanks. God know if it'll ever come to Finland. Uuugh, pain!</div>
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I don't appreciate a spoilery trailer, but I still like this one very much.</div>
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<i>"If there's any kind of magic in this world, it must be in the attempt of understanding someone, sharing something."</i></div>
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<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/74f1db45-932a-4aa5-8a6a-09cfbf33ae0d_zpsa5b0174f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/74f1db45-932a-4aa5-8a6a-09cfbf33ae0d_zpsa5b0174f.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"Do you believe in reincarnation?"</i></div>
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<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/drama-before-sunrise_zps218d512f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/drama-before-sunrise_zps218d512f.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"Actually, I think I'd probably have gotten off the train in Salzburg with someone else."</i></div>
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<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/d992d5a4-a90f-4ccc-8ed2-8637f089d09e_zps3a1c000a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/d992d5a4-a90f-4ccc-8ed2-8637f089d09e_zps3a1c000a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"I'm gonna take you picture. So I never forget you or all this."</i></div>
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<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/178e671c-2b80-4400-93c2-b16f012d1e98_zps501d224b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/178e671c-2b80-4400-93c2-b16f012d1e98_zps501d224b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"I's amazing what perverts we've become in the past nine years."</i></div>
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<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/before_sunset_zps5fb18337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/before_sunset_zps5fb18337.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"You want to know why I wrote that stupid book? So that you might come to a reading in Paris and I could walk up to you and ask, 'Where the fuck were you?'"</i></div>
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<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/beforesunset_zpscd04252b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="368" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/beforesunset_zpscd04252b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"I guess when you're young, you just believe there'll be many people with whom you'll connect with. Later in life, you realize it only happens a few times."</i></div>
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<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/4c9907a4-12f0-444d-a981-1432c22cfc85_zps0b989d48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/4c9907a4-12f0-444d-a981-1432c22cfc85_zps0b989d48.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"I want to see if you stay together or if you dissolve into molecules."</i></div>
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P.S. Talking about sequels I'm looking forward to: Last night I got an exclusive sneak peak to the <i>Avengers</i> sequel. I really had no idea what was going on, and Tony Stark was really lame, he was just sitting by a wall and moping. The whole thing quickly turned into some haunted mansion mystery tale, and then I went to see a play at my old primary school. Also, Captain America was seriously flirting with me, so I hope they won't cut that from the theatrical release.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-3045847952226694922013-03-19T20:50:00.001+02:002013-03-19T20:51:05.822+02:00After Ever After<div style="text-align: center;">
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This is so genius! Also a little bit depressing. Mostly genius, though!</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-85347196744933675292013-03-18T23:01:00.001+02:002013-03-18T23:01:47.673+02:00Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) / afternoon in the land of Oz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/37896e56-4be4-47da-b2aa-73954767d071_zpsa7ee2d61.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/37896e56-4be4-47da-b2aa-73954767d071_zpsa7ee2d61.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"How hard can it be to kill a Wicked Witch?"</i></div>
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I was one of the seven people at the 3:45 pm showing of <i>Oz the Great and Powerful</i> last Friday. I hoped I'd be all by myself; in the last couple of months I have, a couple of times, come very close to attending a private screening, but unfortunately that luxury is still waiting to happen. I bet the cinema staff knows me as the poor lonely girl who goes to unpopular matinees all by herself. Haha.</div>
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I had no great (or powerful) expectations towards the movie, but I like the stories about Oz and I like Kansas and there's Mila Kunis, so I decided I'd go see it. And, yes, all the <i>Wizard of Oz</i> references were awesome, I loved how much good old Kansas sucked, and Mila Kunis and her character were pretty much the best thing about the whole thing. On the other hand, it was pretty Disney (in both good and bad ways, mostly bad), and it relied far too much on CGI and bright colors and fancy, made-up creatures. And even though I love all that, from bright colors to Disney (even bad Disney), you need more than that for a movie to be great. They won't be still watching and making origin story prequels to this one in seventy years...</div>
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The thing about prequels is that it's pretty much impossible to live up to the original. There is no true suspense because we know how things will turn out in the end, more or less. The climax is not truly satisfying, because it's not a happy end, it's a happy middle, and we know that in a few decades all hell will break loose again, and that's when the real hero arrives and saves the day for real. This Oscar person has got nothing on Dorothy: she killed two Wicked Witches, while he kind of just created one. Granted, he does own some nice machines that make pretty illusions.</div>
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The acting was somehow really awkward, or at least a bit strange, but then again, maybe it was supposed to be. I definitely got a very strong <i>Wizard of Oz</i> vibe every now and then, so maybe the acting wasn't bad, maybe it was just somewhat weird to see all these famous, modern (and great!) actors like James Franco and Michelle Williams go all 1930s. I don't know.</div>
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What I did love about the movie was the feeling of good old nostalgia. It's not that I am completely entitled to feel huge amounts of nostalgia about a film I have seen only twice in my life, both times within a few years, but you know me. I have nostalgia for dinner. The transition from black and white to rich, bright colors was expected, but still very cool. I was hoping they had included a change from 2D to 3D to the transition as well, because that would've added greatly to the effect, but I guess the Kansas part was too lengthy, and if it had been all 2D, they couldn't have charged the whole 3D extra for the tickets. Hah.</div>
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I also liked that the China girl was from Chinatown. I liked the Munchkin song. I liked the Yellow Brick Road and the poppy field and the lion, and the flying monkeys that were so scary I felt sorry the kids, and myself. I liked that a villain got a backstory, proving that everything is evil for a reason. I love when they do that. I liked the fireworks and Oz's final trick gave me goosebumps. I wanted to see some ruby slippers, and was a bit disappointed when I didn't.</div>
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<i>Oz the Great and Powerful</i> is essentially a Disney adventure, and we have to take all the good and bad things that come with that. At least the lion is far less annoying in this one, compared to the original.</div>
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<i>"Kansas is full of good men. I don't want to be a good man. I want to be a great one."</i></div>
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(Nah. You just go stand behind your curtain, while we go back to 1939 to see someone save Oz for real.)</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-81695798797887558572013-02-25T14:43:00.001+02:002013-02-25T15:51:17.170+02:00Oscars 2013: The Verdict<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/jennifer-lawrence-daniel-day-lewis-oscars-2013_zpsa2655d1d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/jennifer-lawrence-daniel-day-lewis-oscars-2013_zpsa2655d1d.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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After too few hours of sleep, I cannot be expected to write a coherent text. So I'll just write random thoughts, in a random order. Then I'll maybe sleep some more.</div>
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Kristin Chenoweth was a nice change on the Red Carpet, because she was actually a pretty natural interviewer. The first hours were otherwise full of both amused and agonized sighs, aimed towards the incredibly American Red Carpet people. The Finnish commentators made fun of the waving, which was amusing.</div>
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The dresses were nice, of course, but I was hoping for more color. And there was not one definite favorite, like last year, with Jessica Chastain, oooh, I still just want to stare at it. But some of my favorites were Halle Berry, Jennifer Lawrence, the little 9-year-old Que, Jessica Chastain (doesn't come close to last year's awe, though), Octavia Spencer, Sally Field and Charlize Theron.</div>
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I really did not have any expectations about the host, Seth MacFarlene, but he proved himself to be very hilarious in just a few minutes. Last year they took it so safe with (the ever-charming) Billy Chrystal, so I liked that the jokes were "controversial" this year. I liked the joke about Kate Winslet's boobs, and the one about Daniel Day Lewis trying to free Don Cheadle on the studio lot, the Captain Kirk bit, and John Wilkes Booth ("Really, 150 years and it's still too early?").</div>
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<i>Brave</i> won best animation, which was awesome, because I was expecting <i>Wreck-It Ralph</i> (need to see that, actually). I cheered. You go, best-animated-hair-ever! The guy was wearing a kilt. Which is awesome, too.</div>
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"So you got nominated for an Oscar: something a 9-year-old could do."</div>
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I got my annual fix of Robert Downey Jr. He should've stayed on stage for longer. For the whole show.</div>
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Lucius Malfoy won best cinematography for <i>Life of Pi</i>.</div>
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I really liked the <i>Chicago</i>/<i>Dreamgirls</i>/<i>Les Mis</i> bit! Catharine Zeta-Jones was a bit lip-synced, but awesome, because Velma Kelly is awesome. One Day More did not make quite that big an impact, now that the cast was wearing smart suits and sparkly dresses, instead of muddy rugs. Still, it was great, really great. Jennifer Hudson sang the heck out of the them all, though.</div>
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There was a tie! I didn't realize that can actually happen, but I think this was the third time, or something.<br />
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Adele was so great. I mean, that woman! Wow.</div>
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Jennifer! When they announced her name, I cheered and then said to my friend, 'I hope she does something dorky', and immediately after that she fell down in the stairs. You're my hero, Jennifer Lawrence!</div>
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I liked that there was a theme. It made the show a bit more coherent than usually.</div>
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I was a bit bored about Daniel Day Lewis's win, but his speech was really sweet and funny. I'd like to see <i>Lincoln</i>, starring Meryl Streep. By the way, Meryl Streep! Just her luck, isn't it? She thought she could maybe, just for once, skip the Oscars, because for the first time in her life she is not nominated, but then of course she had to come and present. I love her, and her dress, and just, her.</div>
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So, <i>Argo</i> won the main prize. Ben Affleck gave such a sweetheart speech, and it was difficult to disapprove. He doesn't usually associate his wife with Iran.</div>
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I like that everyone won a little something, and there was not one film to sweep all the awards. <i>Argo</i> won three, including best picture, and <i>Life of Pi</i> won four. So let's call it a tie, shall we? I just typed 'Life of Pie', there. Might be getting hungry. It's always appropriate to have breakfast at 3 pm.</div>
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Overall, it was a very satisfactory year. I have some problems with <i>Argo</i>, but who cares about my problems. Quentin won, and Christoph Waltz, and <i>Brave</i>, and Anne Hathaway, and Ang Lee, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson's uniforms, and Jennifer, and at one point there were five Avengers on stage. Harry Potter danced and sang. Channing Tatum didn't take his clothes off, which was a bit disappointing. Ang Lee thanked the movie god, and I understood what he said in Chinese (he said thank you: what a shocker). Meryl Streep literally did not need introductions. That was hilarious, and so true.</div>
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That's that. I'll keep it nice and short, before the notorious <i>Jaws</i> melody begins to play and they cut me off. Until next year, Kodak Theater! Yeah, I know you changed your name, but there's no fooling me.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-76105676841974913382013-02-24T21:07:00.001+02:002013-02-24T21:07:07.337+02:00Preparing for the Oscars 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/f819eca4-3cf8-4edb-b901-7ee329dc694e_zps3134615b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/f819eca4-3cf8-4edb-b901-7ee329dc694e_zps3134615b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Oscar night is tonight. This year I won't be blogging my way through the night, which is a relief for anyone who attempted to read <a href="http://lifeislikechocolat.blogspot.fi/2012/02/watching-2011-oscars.html">my running commentary</a> for last year's gala. I will, however, as tradition goes, eat until I burst, and enjoy the heck out of myself, even though they will, as tradition goes, be rewarding all the wrong films and people.</div>
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I am unusually undetermined this year. I don't have a clear favorite, or even definite instinctive preferences. Only that I don't wish <i>Argo</i> to win. I'm not really on track about which film is expected to win, but I think <i>Argo</i> has won many other awards, right? I hope <i>Argo</i> won't win. That would be boring. Kind of like the movie. Okay, boring is not the right word. Underwhelming is.</div>
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Here are some categories that I have opinions about. They are very sophisticated and reasonable opinions about who I have determined should win. As you will see, I have really put much thought and consideration on this.</div>
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<b>Visual effects:</b> <i>The Avengers</i>. And the Oscar goes to Captain America! What's the category? Who cares!</div>
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<b>Make-up:</b> <i>The Hobbit</i>. The little brother of<i> Lord of the Rings</i> deserves at least one Oscar, right?</div>
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<b>Costume design:</b> <i>Anna Karenina</i>. Mm-hm. Excellent costume designing here, yes. I'm not talking about Anna's dresses. I'm talking about uniforms that go great with the hottest mustache in history.</div>
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<b>Cinematography:</b> <i>Life of Pi</i>. I'm thinking about that underwater shot where Pi sees the sinking ship. That was a cool shot. Oscar-worthy, perhaps.</div>
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<b>Animated film:</b> <i>Brave</i>. I haven't seen any of the other animations, but I know for sure none of them features as much amazing hair as <i>Brave</i>.</div>
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<b>Adapted screenplay:</b> <i>Life of Pi</i>. Just a hunch.</div>
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<b>Original screenplay:</b> <i>Django Unchained</i>. Tarantino screenplays are hard to beat in originality!</div>
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<b>Directing:</b> Ang Lee. The Academy needs to make amends for robbing <i>Brokeback Mountain</i> that damn Best Picture Oscar. They need to make amends until the world ends. And then some.</div>
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<b>Supporting actress:</b> Anne Hathaway. For looking so damn miserable. And losing all that weight for a film that featured her only for what seemed like fifteen minutes.</div>
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<b>Supporting actor:</b> Christoph Waltz. He should get another Oscar for Hans Landa. That role was a bingo.</div>
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<b>Actress:</b> Jennifer Lawrence / Jessica Chastain / Naomi Watts. I love J-Law. Loooove her. But Jessica Chastain is so cool, too. And damn me, if she wears a dress as gorgeous as the one last year... I'm sold! But Naomi Watts is the only nominee in all the categories representing <i>The Impossible</i>. That film was crazy, I'd give it the Best Picture Oscar just for making me cry so much. So much. So insanely much. But Jennifer it is. Because she's my hero and my girl crush and she's such a dork.</div>
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<b>Actor:</b> Um. I really don't know. I mean, isn't it sort of given that Abraham "DDL" Lincoln triumphs? But I don't know. That would be boring.</div>
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Finally, an in-depth analysis on every <b>Best picture</b> contender:</div>
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<i>Amour</i>. Haven't seen it. It's French. So maybe I wouldn't like it. I'm intimidated by French films. Expect for silent black-and-white ones, featuring a dog.</div>
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<i>Argo</i>. I just don't want this one to win. It was so underwhelming. Bad, bad Middle-East. American heroes, blah. Okay, let's pretend my biggest hero of 2012 was not called Captain America.</div>
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<i>Beasts of the Southern Wild</i>. Haven't seen it, yet.</div>
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<i>Django Unchained</i>. Wouldn't mind if it won, not at all. It's quite a movie. It would actually be pretty awesome if it won. I promise I would cheer. But that's not going to happen, right? It would be too good if it did.</div>
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<i>Les Misérables</i>. I just went to see this one, in the afternoon before the Oscars, so I can't really say anything about it, because I'm too busy humming Do You Hear the People Sing in my head.</div>
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<i>Life of Pi</i>. Strange. I feel like I might be rooting for this one. That one little twist at the end of the film has definitely stuck with me.</div>
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<i>Lincoln</i>. Missed it in theaters. Points for American history. Points for the emancipation of slaves. But I can't imagine connecting with a film like this very much, if at all. Let's just say that I'm prejudiced, and won't be voting for America's favorite president.</div>
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<i>Silver Linings Playbook</i>. I've been having a hard time with this film. I wanted to love it. I didn't. I just liked it. But then again, I was really tired when I saw it. And even if I didn't love the film, I do love Jennifer Lawrence. So I will rooting for <i>SLP</i> as well. Not quite as much as I will be rooting for <i>Life of Pi</i>, <i>Django Unchained</i> and perhaps <i>Les Misérables</i>, but anyway. It's a romcom, in its core. Romcoms don't win Oscars. I'd love if for once they would.</div>
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<i>Zero Dark Thirty</i>. This was a really cool and interesting film, and Jessica Chastain's girl power was amazing. I would totally approve if it won. With all the controversy, though, I doubt it ever could.</div>
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So. I am wonderfully non-opinionated about everything. All I know is that I don't want <i>Argo</i> to win. Which means it probably will. Well. I got what I wanted last year, with <i>The Artist</i>, so maybe this year it's time for another <i>King's Speech</i> scale travesty. This <i>Social Network</i> fanatic will never forgive you, Tom Hooper! Now, if you'll excuse, I'll go listen to On My Own and pretend you didn't have anything to do with all the goosebumps I experienced at the cinema today.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-73473795702274748792013-02-22T23:34:00.000+02:002013-02-22T23:34:23.562+02:00Too early to get hyped for Catching Fire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Too late to get nothing but hyped.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-48853815935853590822013-01-21T23:35:00.002+02:002013-03-20T19:08:54.193+02:00Anna Karenina (2012) / appreciation for Aaron Taylor-Johnson's mustache<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2keira-knightley-aaron-taylor-johnson_zps062098cb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2keira-knightley-aaron-taylor-johnson_zps062098cb.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"You can't ask why about love."</i></div>
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I'm being very honest with the title there. I really am not going to talk about the movie <i>Anna Karenina</i> that much. I'm just mostly going to talk about Aaron Taylor-Johnson's mustache. I wish I was kidding.</div>
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<i>Anna Karenina</i> was very much what I expected it to be. It was quite pleasant to watch, not just because of the certain mustache, but also because of the beautiful sets and the cinematography and the costumes. Joe Wright has directed many films that I have enjoyed watching, first and foremost <i>Atonement</i>, which is one of my favorite films of all time, and which also made me fall irrevocably in love with James McAvoy. And which I haven't seen in a few years, actually! Gee, I need to fix that. And see if it's still favorite material.</div>
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I am one of those people who have always liked Keira Knightley. Admittedly, most of my positive sentiments for her derive from <i>Atonement</i> (and that gorgeous green dress!), but I've enjoyed her other performances, too. If nothing else, she can definitely pull of a sophisticated, 18th/19th century aristocrat lady. By the way, the make-up department should get an Oscar for making Jude Law look so unattractive. That takes some skill, yo!</div>
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I find it amusing that Matthew Macfayden has been demoted from being Keira Knightley's love interest to being her brother. Ouch! The years have not been as kind to Mr. Darcy as they have been to Elizabeth Bennet. (Macfayden is eleven years Knightley's senior, though, so it's only fair that he retires from romantic leading roles earlier than her.) I liked his character, though. Comic relief is always likable.</div>
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The film was a tad too long, and at times felt very aimless. I'm not sure about the necessity of some of the subplots. Like I'm not sure whether I liked the way they used the stage as a device in telling the story. It felt strange, and confusing in the beginning.</div>
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The romance of Anna Karenina and Count Vronsky is the heart of the story, so I guess it is the thing that has to be blamed for the film leaving my mind un-blown. I mean, of course I find the premise completely believable: Bring me Aaron Taylor-Johnson wearing that mustache and the hair and the uniform, and have him shoot a few of those seductive glances at me, and I'll leave my imaginary husband before you can say, "It's ironic that Jude Law plays the decent, saint-like husband who gets cheated on by his wife who falls for someone young and good-looking".</div>
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Anyway. What I most enjoyed about the film was the beginning: when they brought in Aaron T-J (damn you, dude, for getting married and changing your last name into something so long and troublesome to type) and painted the picture about what a charmer and a heart-breaker he is, and then had him and Keira exchange some of those lingering looks loaded with sexual tension, and showed him kissing hands in intense and intimate close-ups. Ooooh. Yeah, after that no member of the audience can blame Anna Karenina for ruining her life for this young hunk of a man.</div>
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Let's review:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2anna-karenina-image01_zpsa7c175be.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2anna-karenina-image01_zpsa7c175be.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best things about <i>Anna Karenina</i>, pt. 1: The smoking hot glances full of pure sex and seduction.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2Anna-Karenina-Johnson-kissing-hand_zpsdaf7a39d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2Anna-Karenina-Johnson-kissing-hand_zpsdaf7a39d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best things about <i>Anna Karenina</i>, pt. 2: The super hot close-ups of kissing of hands.</td></tr>
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Unfortunately, after the hand-kissing and the sex-glancing have worked their magic, and Anna and Vronsky fall in love so swiftly and randomly during one dance that you think you're watching a Disney animation, my interest and hopes for the film drop significantly, not to to be raised again.</div>
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Not even letting us witness the two of them kissing, more passionately and more up close than any of us in the audience feel comfortable watching, could revive the excited feelings I felt in the beginning. Because, in the end, I felt we didn't get to see enough layers in the characters. We see they are both very attractive, but we don't really get why that attraction turned into love. But, well, you can't ask why about love, you know. Still, I wanted to go a little deeper. I didn't end up caring about the characters too much.<br />
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What I did care about, however, was Aaron Taylor-Johnson's mustache. It's weird. One should not look good in a mustache. Who really wears a mustache? Except for Charlie Chaplin and Hitler, and only one of them looks good wearing it. A mustache and a head full of fake blond curls is not the easiest combination to rock, especially if you are obligated to charm all of Earth's female population while doing it. So, two thumbs up for Aaron T-J for showing that mustache can be the new sexy. We can only hope he'll adapt that look to the <i>Kick-Ass</i> sequel, too. Really, honestly, seriously: Not many young men could pull of that look.</div>
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I went to see <i>Anna Karenina</i> in the cinema of my childhood and teenage years, which was so nice, because it had been ages since the last time I went there. The audience consisted mostly of high school kids, who had come to see the film as a class assignment. Me and and my friend felt old, and oddly envious of the lucky 16-year-olds, for having such simple lives, and just hanging out at school, only dreaming about their future, instead of having to live it. Anyway, the teenagers giggled at certain parts that made them feel uncomfortable, and that made me feel uncomfortable. At times I didn't have an idea why they were bursting out laughing. Oh well. Perhaps you can't ask why about unintentional comedy, either.<br />
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Then I came to think that had they made the <i>Star Wars</i> prequels ten years later, Aaron Johnson (or Taylor-Johnson, whatever) could have been the perfect Anakin Skywalker that Hayden Christensen was never quite able to be. He actually might have made some of the awkward romance scenes work, too, with a few of those Glances of Seduction. Might have. Just something I hope to have a detailed, vivid, lengthy dream about tonight.<br />
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Hmm.<br />
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I start writing these things, thinking I have hardly anything to say, because the film didn't have much of an impact on me, but then I end up writing a post, comparable to a Tolstoy classic in length. Oh, the power of a good mustache. I'll finish by quoting the actual novel, and maybe thus fool you into thinking that this has been a very intelligent and sophisticated post, indeed.</div>
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<i>He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.</i></div>
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<i>~</i> Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-20690490421893603322013-01-12T20:00:00.001+02:002013-01-25T12:18:59.566+02:00Life of Pi (2012) / welcome to Pi's ark<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>"It's an amazing story."</i></div>
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<i>Life of Pi</i> scored eleven Oscar nominations earlier this week. I felt the pressure and went to see it. Someone who wishes to call herself a movie fanatic has got to do what someone who wishes to call herself a movie fanatic has got to do.</div>
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<i>Life of Pi</i> begins as tale of our main character growing up, describing the humorous events of how he got his name, Piscine Molitor Patil, and how he then came to be called simply Pi. Things turning more tragic, we then see him leave for a voyage that will change his life. The ship is caught in a storm, and Pi finds himself in a lifeboat, alone with a fierce Bengal tiger. What follows is incredibly beautiful visual images of all the things Pi and the tiger see and experience, equally incredible turns of events, and a lot of growling and exposed, sharp teeth. It all comes down to an ending that you don't expect, or even look for. How you are left feeling, exiting the cinema, is up to you.</div>
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What I expected to get out of this film all had to do with the visuals, because the trailer doesn't give much of a hint about the story and storytelling; it just shows some of those images that you get to enjoy, praising the modern CGI up to the heavens. Really, I love what they are able to do nowadays. The colors are so bright, the details so sharp, the non-existing things so realistic. Still, I need much more than CGI from a film, no matter how incredibly good the technology is. <i>Life of Pi</i> is very much like <i>Hugo</i> was for me last year: enjoyable to look at, a nice story, but not nice enough to stir anything below the surface. Or that's how I felt until the very last minute. Or second-to-last, or whatever. In the end, <i>Life of Pi</i> dived pretty deep. Almost as deep as that endless sea that surrounds Pi and Richard Parker.</div>
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Speaking of seas, this is the second film I saw in cinema this week (don't worry bank account, awards seasons don't last forever...) with the sea doing some serious damage. If I'm not careful, my adoring love for oceans might turn into a trauma of some level. Thanks to the modern CGI technology.</div>
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I think that's all I have to say. I'll let the pictures speak for the visual awesomeness of the film. As for the deep diving, learn more at your nearest cinema.</div>
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<i>"I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye."</i></div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-38187235645723781832013-01-10T22:46:00.000+02:002013-01-10T22:46:35.534+02:00The New Normal / when Klaine grew up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>"I want us to have baby clothes. And a baby to wear them."</i></div>
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I don't know if I really like Ryan Murphy. Perhaps he is not the easiest person to like. But I guess I have to admit the man is a genius on some level. I mean, he once created that show which I kind of liked for a while, I don't remember what it's called, I think it's a four-letter word starting with a G, meaning joy and cheerfulness, or something.</div>
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...You have just read my spectacular introduction to my post about The New Normal, a new-ish sitcom by Ryan Murphy, the man behind Nip/Tuck, American Horror Story and Glee. It tells about David and Bryan, who have a really lovely relationship, but what they are missing is a baby. They find Goldie to be their surrogate, and with her they also get her 9-year old, precocious, eccentric daughter Shania, and her conservative, brutally offensive, and confusingly young grandmother. Together they make a family that ten years ago would've been really strange and groundbreaking and original, but now, with Modern Family and all that, we are just looking at quite a stereotypical 2013 sitcom family. Like, normal. I'm not sure if this what they were going for with the title, but anyways.</div>
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I hadn't watched The New Normal until today. I'd thought I should and would, partly because it's a Ryan Murphy show, and me and Ryan Murphy shows share a nice history (Except for Nip/Tuck. And American Horror Story. Hmm. Anyway!), but mostly because I loved Justin Bartha in <i>National Treasure</i>, more than I love American history. The New Normal just won the People's Choice Award for Best New TV Comedy, actually! I guess I could say that's why I was inspired to watch the first episode, but no, I only just noticed it won. Earlier I just noticed that <i>The Hunger Games</i> and the lovably dorky Jennifer Lawrence won a lot (P.S. I love you, <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20419951_20662753,00.html#21262793">first photos from <i>Catching Fire</i></a>!), and that RDJ always gives the best, sexiest acceptance speeches, and that Chris Colfer also won and said he finds it flattering when people exploit him in their fanfiction, which I thought was both a hilarious and extremely dangerous thing to say. Anyway! I should get some award for rambling. These posts are getting more and more out of hand...</div>
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After watching the first episode (for a random reason I guess we'll never know), I watched the second episode, and then the third, and continued until I'd watched all the episodes that have come out so far. Don't freak out, there's only been twelve, and the episodes are sitcom short. The show is nothing new, really, or utterly genius like Glee, but it's fun and I really like the characters (although some more than others).</div>
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And it's a bit like Glee, to be honest: First, what's up with RM and Ohio? Also, there are at least three actors in the show that have also guest-starred on Glee. And character similarities... The Nana character is offensive and fires her absurd opinions and insults at everyone's faces, but there is reason and heart underneath her plain-colored tracksuits, um, I mean jacket suits. Bryan and David are more or less what we could imagine Kurt and Blaine to be, fifteen years after high school. I mean, you easily could've had Darren Criss play the college-graduate David in those flashbacks, with the big curly hair and dorky/cool glasses. Just add a bow-tie. Well. Don't you worry, Kurt and Blaine! When you grow up you can leave that dreadful place also known as Fox, and move to NBC, and then you can kiss more, like normal couples! (I'm not complaining, of course. No one hugs like Klaine!)</div>
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Ryan Murphy has often said Kurt is based on himself in high school. Now, I don't have to read any interviews to know who Bryan is based on. Come on, who is that name fooling? To rub it on our faces even more, (B)ryan runs a popular TV show called Sing, starring a lot of young people like a kid in a wheelchair who isn't actually in a wheelchair and who wears weird pullovers, and someone I'm pretty sure he called Lea before naming her his favorite. And then once he decided to break up a fan favorite couple on the show so that teenagers would cry for months. Touche. I might be past teenage, but dang it, the sun hasn't shone quite as bright since the damnable day Klaine broke up.</div>
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I feel like I've done nothing in this post but talked about Glee and mocked The New Normal itself. It's not news that I like talking about Glee. Like it's not news that there are similarities in these two shows (I mean, I'm pretty sure some of those lines about daring to dream and being proud of who you are were actually quoted word-to-word from Glee). Like it's not news that Ryan Murphy is most inspired by Ryan Murphy (which is not necessarily a bad thing, I mean, who am I to judge, having once again spent another day watching a show of his). Like it's not news that I don't know where I'm heading to with this paragraph. I think I was trying to make a transition to talk about my favorite characters.</div>
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I love Justin Bartha in this show as much as I loved him in<i> National Treasure</i>. He single-handedly saved that movie from Nicholas Cage, like he almost saved <i>National Treasure: Book of Secrets</i> from yet another Nicholas Cage. He's just a really cool actor. And I like David, the butch gay of the bunch. I also like Shania, the quirky young girl with the personality and the glasses that no one can help but associate to <i>Little Miss Sunshine</i>. (Not a bad thing!) Completing my top three is Nana Sylvester, or whatever her name is, 'the last real American', the biggest Republican in the world.</div>
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The New Normal is a fun, cute show. And there must be something slightly addictive about it, since I just watched all the episodes in one afternoon. I've been mocking it for resembling Glee, but there has really been extremely little singing, and honestly, I wouldn't be fooling anyone if I said I didn't like the Glee parallels. Like I said before in this horribly meandering post, The New Normal is nothing new, though. Except for some idiots in Utah who banned it from the state television, and also for 38 idiots who signed a hilarious petition I found online, demanding NBC to stop airing the show. Christian society and innocent children, and all that, you know. Sometimes I forget how some people still find certain things so new and scary. Oh well! I'll be very happy to keep watching this same-old-same-old, and hopefully they'll even make another season! With the People's Choice Award fresh in their back-pockets, they just might. More Justin Bartha for me! (Please make <i>National Treasure 3</i>! Without Nicholas Cage.)</div>
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I am truly sorry if someone decided to read this post, hoping to actually learn something about the show mentioned in the title. Well, that's not how I roll, unfortunately.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-78786335591443941472013-01-08T22:01:00.000+02:002013-01-11T10:21:02.569+02:00The Impossible (2012) / two hours on the verge of tears<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>"The most scary bit for me... when I came up, and I was all on my own."</i></div>
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When it comes to movies, I'm definitely a weeper. But I tend to save most of the weeping to times when I'm alone: I'm not a cinema weeper. I get a bit teary-eyed, or sometimes I even have to hastily wipe my cheek for an escaped little tear that I couldn't blink away. But I don't openly bawl like a baby. Although apparently there are exceptions. Or an exception. I've never cried in a cinema like I just did! Really, it was exhausting.</div>
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It's been eight years since Boxing Day 2004. Horrible things have happened after that, too, executed by both people and nature, but the tsunami in South East Asia is likely to linger on everyone's minds, because it so closely touched so many people, all over the world. <i>The Impossible</i> tells the true story of one of the families, caught in the middle of the horrifying mayhem.</div>
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The film was good. I can't say I liked it, because I don't think anyone can really <i>like</i> weeping for two straight hours, but it was a very good film. It doesn't feast in the horribleness of the true events, and the wave part itself (even if the one of the scariest, most distressing scenes ever) is over very soon, so the emphasis stays on the family, and their desperate quest to reunite. I was actually really scared, expecting the wave, knowing it would come soon, and I just wished I could have continued to watch the idyllic family holiday in the paradise. The special effects were horrifyingly convincing. I adore oceans, love staring at them, but the sea was the villain in <i>The Impossible</i>. Scary as hell, too.</div>
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Acting-wise the film was quite perfect. Naomi Watts has already snapped several nominations, and for a reason: she had to cry almost as much as I did. The young Tom Holland, playing the eldest son of the family, has also been recognized. Personally, I think his role was the most challenging one, and he quite unexpectedly ended up being the most significant person in the story, for me. He's so going to be a star, that kid. (Just found out Tom Holland was actually playing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-omDVx5IEl4">Billy Elliot</a> in the musical in London at the time I went to see it. I wish I'd remember if he was the Billy in the performance I saw...) Ewan McGregor pulled my poor heartstrings, too, with all that emotion of a desperate father and husband. (Having just re-watched the <i>Star Wars</i> prequels, I couldn't help but wonder, between all the tears, where in the hell was all that emotion when he needed it in the <i>Revenge of the Sith</i>? Oh well, too good acting by him would've looked weird beside all that other awkward, melodramatic "acting"...)</div>
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By the way, Charlie Chaplin's daughter was in the film, too! I didn't realize it when watching her scene; only when I saw her name in the end credits I was able to link it to her face. Thanks for the tears, Geraldine! I must have had dry eyes for at least a minute and then you came along... I must say the youngest brothers acted extremely well, too, for being so young. And they were very cute.</div>
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I have one big critique. The trailer for this film SUCKS! I genuinely hope I had not seen it before seeing the film. It is one of those stupid trailers that give way too much away. I realized that immediately after watching the trailer. Too much information, and not in a good way! It should come with a warning: "Watching this trailer will ruin all the suspense of watching the film for you! Also, don't wear mascara to the cinema."</div>
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To return to the weeping thing (like I hadn't been referring to the weeping thing in every other sentence)... Seriously, this was a cinema crying record! Almost any film crying record! When I wasn't openly bawling my eyes out and getting my whole face soaking wet, I was blinking or swallowing a lump in my throat. I can't come up with a film more emotionally exhausting... Well, <i>Schindler's List</i>, maybe, but that one's in a league of its own.</div>
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<i>The Impossible</i> is not the kind of film you'd want to see again and again. Once is enough. It's heavy, devastating, and exhaustingly moving. It gives you a piece of hope, only to point out how horrible things still are, and there's no way this story can end happily. It reminds you that Christmas 2004 was really not that long ago, and this is a film that many people around the world will not go see, because eight years is not enough to get over certain things. It shows that reality beats fiction, any day. It makes you want to go and hug your family, embarrassingly tight.</div>
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Like I said to my friend when we parted, I definitely need to watch some Glee before going to bed tonight. Isn't that the most wonderfully, pathetically convenient thing about films? However distressing they are, afterwards you can always drag yourself back to your own, simple life, and start worrying about your own, simple problems. Because it was <i>just a film</i>. Even if based on very, very real events.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-50357392611321711282013-01-05T11:43:00.000+02:002013-01-11T23:26:46.390+02:00Lord of the Lists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My annual Christmas holiday <i>Lord of the Rings</i> Extended Edition rewatch inspired me to draw up some lists. They are related to the films, of course, because I sucked at reading the books. Before I get started, however, I'd like to present to you the one and only quote from the books that made such an impression on me that it has lingered in my mind. It's from The Two Towers, uttered by Treebeard.</div>
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<i>"Those were the broad days. Time was when I could walk and sing all day and hear no more than the echo of my own voice in the hollow hills. The woods were like the woods of Lothlórien, only thicker, stronger, younger. And the smell of the air! <b>I used to spend a week just breathing.</b>"</i></div>
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I love the idea of just breathing seven days straight! Haha, that's actually exactly what I felt like doing after returning back to Finland from China.</div>
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Now, from Tolkien's Middle-Earth to the one of Peter Jackson, and my favorite things about it.</div>
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5x <u><b>Places in Middle Earth</b></u></div>
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5. <b>The Fangorn forest</b>. I bet this is one of those places where you'd feel like spending a week just breathing. In the wise words of Legolas: "This forest is old. (Artistic pause.) Very old."</div>
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4. <b>Rivendell</b>. It's pretty and there are pretty elves gliding around and soft, pretty music always playing.</div>
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3. <b>Argonath, the Pillars of the Kings</b>. One of my (granted, numerous) favorite moments in <i>Fellowship</i> is when they paddle past the huge statues along the river.</div>
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2. <b>Anywhere in the mountains</b>. Had I been attending the secret council meeting, I totally would have signed up for the Fellowship, just so I could have seen all the beautiful places up in the mountains. I friggin' love those beautiful mountains.</div>
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1. <b>The Shire</b>. There's no other place in the world, real or fictional, more cosy and inviting than the Shire.</div>
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5x <u><b>Eligible husband candidates</b></u></div>
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5. <b>Aragorn</b>. He's noble and brave and all that jazz. Though he's 87, or something.</div>
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4. <b>Legolas</b>. Well, I think this fellow is ever older than 87. But he's got beautiful hair. I could use the tips.</div>
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3. <b>Eomer</b>. There is almost too much testosterone flowing in the vains of this son of Rohan.</div>
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2. <b>Merry</b>. If I was Hobbit-sized, I'd totally go for Merry. In our mutual Hobbit Hole we'd have a room for Pippin, just like Monica and Chandler would always have a Joey room.</div>
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1. <b>Faramir</b>. In the recent years I've grown past Legolas's pretty blond hair and Elijah Wood's big pretty eyes (not really), and concluded that if ever I happened to find myself in Middle-Earth, I'd definitely marry Faramir. He makes sense to me. We'd totally hit it off, and have all kinds of awesome pacifistic conversations.</div>
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5x <u><b>Women of Middle Earth</b></u></div>
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5. <b>Shelob</b>. Hah. What does it say, when the only fifth female character I can name is a giant spider? </div>
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4. <b>Rosie</b>. And the only fourth one I can name doesn't even have any lines?</div>
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3. <b>Arwen</b>. She's really cool in <i>Fellowship</i>, but then she becomes a bit boring. Props for Jackson for trying to bring in more female energy, but why did it have to be in the form of a boring love story?</div>
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2. <b>Éowyn</b>. Well, Éowyn kicks ass, compensating for the lack of other ass-kicking female characters. She was always a bit too cold and solemn to completely win me over, but one can't help but cheer when she sticks her sword in the middle of the Witch King's face, after delivering the best one-liner in the trilogy.</div>
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1. <b>Galadriel</b>. She is such a goddess, and I always enjoy when she stops by to smile with her sparkling eyes or to give goosebump-worthy voice-overs. "The world has changed..."</div>
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5x <u><b>Villains</b></u></div>
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5. <b>The pink Orc</b>. He's a bit weird. But at least he stands out, with that original choice of skin color. I like how he spits on that huge piece of rock after it almost crushed him to death.</div>
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4.<b> Saruman</b>. It's Christopher Lee, yo. With nails so pretty even Legolas must be jealous.</div>
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3. <b>Denethor</b>. I mean, that man is horrible! Such an incredible douchebag! Luckily he died, so I don't have to worry about unpleasant father-in-laws.</div>
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2. <b>The head Uruk-hai</b>. From <i>Fellowship</i>. EVIL! So evil.<br />
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1. <b>Gollum</b>. Gollum/Smeagol is definitely one of the best villains, not only in Middle-Earth, but also in the whole world. I love/hate him even more after seeing the first <i>Hobbit</i>. And... Andy Serkis. No need to say more. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will go and build a shrine for that genius.</div>
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5x <u><b>Battles</b></u></div>
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5. <b>Sam vs. Shelob</b>. It's a duel, right, not a battle? Still, the little hobbit kicks ass.</div>
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4. <b>Black Gate</b>. "For Frodo."</div>
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3. <b>Moria</b>. The first big battle of the Fellowship, and it is so cool! There are horribly many Orcs, and they even have a gave troll, which at that point of the story is huge, no pun intended.</div>
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2. <b>Helm's Deep</b>. So dreadful, with the rain and all. Even more dreadful is to think that the cast and crew actually had to live through filming all that. Three months of night shoots, if I remember correctly?</div>
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1. <b>Peleanor Fields</b>. EPIC.</div>
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5x <u><b>Random joys of the <i>Lord of the Rings</i></b></u></div>
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5. <b>Horses</b>. They are such cool, beautiful animals! I took a riding lesson a few months back, and I totally imagined being a daughter of Rohan, gallantly riding to war. The horse didn't get it, and rode everywhere else but where I wanted him to go. Stupid animal.<br />
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4. <b>The use of language</b>. It's poetic, lyrical, beautiful. I almost sound like that Selena Gomez song. Anyways, I just love the way the characters speak, the elves and the wizards and the noble lords. Granted, sometimes it sounds a bit corny and silly (mostly when Legolas speaks: "-- unless my eyes are cheated by some spell!"), but it's such a great and welcome change to the way we speak in the real world nowadays. Just read any of my posts. It's coarse and vulgar, isn't it? Haha. I mean, like, yeah, I bet Legolas would like totally chat to his buddies like this, if he like lived like now, like seriously, you know?<br />
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3. <b>The different tongues</b>. When they don't speak English, it's even better.<br />
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2. <b>Accuracy</b>. This is the most historically accurate film ever that is based on fictional history.<br />
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1.<b>New Zealand</b>. Sigh. I'm so depressed I can't go there right now.</div>
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5x <u><b>Songs</b></u></div>
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5. <b>The Road Goes Ever On</b>. It's about going on adventures! Whee!<br />
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4. <b>I Only Wish To Catch A Fish</b>. I love Smeagol and the song is really catchy.<br />
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3. <b>Into the West</b>. I just read the lyrics and actually teared up. Jeez.<br />
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2. <b>Home Is Behind</b>. One of the (multiple) best scenes in <i>RotK</i>. Oh, Billy Boyd. And that barbaric Denethor, and those tomato juice metaphors.<br />
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1. <b>The Green Dragon</b>. Best drinking song ever! "But the only brew for the brave and true... comes from the Green Dragon!"</div>
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5x <u><b>Lines that I always recite</b></u></div>
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5. <i>"<b>Up, up, up, up, up the stairs we go</b>."</i></div>
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4. <i>"<b>They have a gave troll</b>."</i></div>
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3. <i>"<b>My precious</b>!" </i>(Especially the one after Faramir asks, "What did they steal from you?")</div>
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2. <i>"<b>Tree? I am no tree. I am an Ent</b>."</i></div>
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1. <i>"<b>They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard</b> </i>(gard, ga-ga-ga-gard)<i>!"</i></div>
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5 x <u><b>Cool Legolas moments</b></u></div>
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5. <b>The shield surfing</b>. Because it's perfectly logical to do something like that in the midst of a heated battle. Show-off.</div>
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4. <b>The drinking game</b>. "I think it's affecting me."</div>
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3. "<b>You're late</b>. Also, you look terrible. Awesome to have you back from the dead, dude!"</div>
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2. <b>The ward attack</b>. Shoot an Orc, shoot another, mount a moving horse.</div>
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1. <b>The Oliphaunt slayer</b>. A cherry on top is the little head jerk, which Orlando Bloom reportedly uses to hit on women.</div>
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5x <u><b>Friendships</b></u> </div>
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5. <b>Boromir and Faramir</b>. The little we get to see of the relationship between these two brothers is quite wonderful. I love the way Boromir stands up for his younger brother, against their douchebag of a father.</div>
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4. <b>Legolas and Gimli</b>. Great for comic relief, of course. But also quite touching in the end. "I never thought I would die fighting side by side with an Elf." "How about side by side with a friend?"</div>
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3. <b>Merry and Pippin</b>. It is always extra heart-breaking, when the young, innocent and cheerful are forced to go through hell. Merry and Pippin have been the bestest of friends, always, and they manage the scary world they are thrown into together... until they're separated, and that just breaks everyone's hearts even more.</div>
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2. <b>Frodo and Sam</b>. "I'm glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee. Here at the end of all things."</div>
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1. <b>The Fellowship</b>. All nine companions. There were certain "pairs" within the Fellowship, since some were closer to each other than others, but there was still a strong bond in between every member of the group.</div>
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5x <u><b>Biggest shivers and tearjerkers</b></u></div>
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5.-1. The second half of the <i>Return of the King</i></div>
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5x <u><b>Biggest heroes</b></u></div>
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5. <b>Éowyn</b>. I let her snatch this spot from the fingertips of certain noble kings and mighty soldiers, because she needed more devotion than any one of them to become a hero. Nobody asked her to fight; on the contrary, they told her not to.</div>
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4. <b>The Eagles</b>. Middle-Earth's answer to every unsolvable situation.</div>
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3. <b>Gandalf</b>. Well, he's kind of obligated to be a bigger hero than many others, and know stuff that others don't, being a wizard and all. He is always the organizer, the executor, the bigger force behind every turn of events.</div>
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2. <b>Sam</b>. He should get all the credit in the world, or in Middle-Earth, because no one else contributed to the eventual success of Frodo's mission as much as Samwise the Brave. He repeatedly saved Frodo's life, pushed him forward when he threatened to fall, pulled him back when he was at risk of taking the wrong path, and, when there was nothing else he could do, he carried Frodo for the rest of the way. And the audiences everywhere bawl like babies.</div>
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1. <b>Frodo</b>. He might have had all kinds of help on the way, and he never proved himself as a warrior, but he was still the one who, voluntarily, carried the Ring all the way from the Shire to Mount Doom, and bravely suffered the consequences.</div>
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5x <u><b>Words of wisdom</b></u></div>
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5. <i>"<b>All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us</b>."</i></div>
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4. <i>"<b>Even the smallest person can change the course of the future</b>."</i></div>
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3.<i>"<b>It's
a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door</b>. You step onto the road, and
if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept
off to."</i></div>
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2. <i>"The enemy? His sense of duty was no less than yours, I deem. You wonder
what his name is, where he comes from, and if he really was evil at
heart. What lies or threats led him on this long march from home, and
would he not rather have stayed there... in peace? <b>War will make corpses
of us all</b>."</i></div>
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1. <i>"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really
mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you
didn't want to know the end. <b>Because how could the end be happy? How
could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?</b>
But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness
must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine
out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant
something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think,
Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots
of chances of turning back, only they didn't. <b>They kept going. Because
they were holding on to something</b>."</i></div>
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<i><br />"What are we holding onto, Sam?"</i></div>
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<i><br />"<b>That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.</b>"</i><br />
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Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-31866562015746500162013-01-03T19:16:00.001+02:002013-01-03T19:16:13.935+02:00New Year Resolutions 2013<div style="text-align: center;">
After <a href="http://lifeislikechocolat.blogspot.fi/2011/01/new-year-resolutions-2011.html">2011</a> and <a href="http://lifeislikechocolat.blogspot.fi/2012/01/new-year-resolutions-2012.html">2012</a>, I thought I'd make 2013 a bit easier for myself. At least in theory<b>. </b>In avarage, I chose much more recent movies for this year, less Oscar winners, and not a single Hitchcock! Then again, I can't imagine enjoying myself too much with the likes of Mr. Sylvester and Mr. Arnold, running around killing things and being all macho and brutal and manly. But I guess these are classics, too, and I definitely wouldn't watch those movies volunteerily. This makes them perfect candidates for my traditional New Year resolutions! Ahaha, bring the pain!<br />
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<b>January</b>: <i>Alien</i> (1979)</div>
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<b>February</b>: <i>Amadeus</i> (1984)</div>
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<b>March</b>: <i>All Quiet on the Western Front</i> (1930)</div>
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<b>April</b>: <i>Rocky</i> (1976)</div>
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<b>May</b>: <i>City of God</i> (2002)</div>
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<b>June</b>: <i>The Color Purple</i> (1985)</div>
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<b>July</b>: <i>Rambo</i> (1982)</div>
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<b>August</b>: <i>On the Waterfront </i>(1954)</div>
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<b>September</b>: <i>The Terminator</i> (1984)</div>
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<b>October</b>: <i>Raging Bull</i> (1980)</div>
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<b>November</b>: <i>Fargo</i> (1996)</div>
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<b>December</b>: <i>Die Hard</i> (1988)</div>
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Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-52967905617231853442013-01-02T10:29:00.000+02:002013-01-11T23:27:23.308+02:002012: A Summary of a Year<div style="text-align: center;">
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Another year over. It was a good one. I think I say that every year, but never mind. When it comes to films, and getting excited about them, 2012 was actually hands down better than 2011, for me.</div>
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Here's what you will find in this post: three films from 2011 that I have to mention now, because had I seen them last year instead of this year they would've been in my top films in 2011; an honorable mention, because I didn't blog and thus give away top spots in 1997; TV shows that I was hooked on; some people, both real and fictional, that I liked this year; seven films that I liked the most in 2012.<br />
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(The picture above is from <i>Lust, Caution</i>, which I actually saw in 2011. I wanted a picture to reflect something of my 2012 in total, just like I chose such pictures to the equivalent posts of <a href="http://lifeislikechocolat.blogspot.fi/2010/12/2010-summary-of-year.html">2010</a> and <a href="http://lifeislikechocolat.blogspot.fi/2012/01/2011-summary-of-year.html">2011</a> (Chaplin, and <i>The Wizard of Oz</i>). I needed a very Chinese picture, because that's what my year was.<i> </i>I remember really liking <i>Lust, Caution,</i> so there I got my necessary Chinese picture.)</div>
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<u>The Rest of 2011</u></div>
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<b><i>Crazy Stupid Love.</i></b></div>
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I'm always excited when there is a romcom that ends up being exactly what it promises: romantic and funny. <i>Crazy Stupid Love</i> is one of those few movies. Steve Carrell is crazy funny, Emma Stone is crazy awesome and Ryan Gosling is crazy hot, to mention a few merits.</div>
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<i><b>The Flowers of War</b></i></div>
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Before and after spending the summer is China, my plan was to watch loads of movies both made and set in the country. I ended up watching <i>Mulan</i> and the <i>Kung Fu Panda</i>s a couple of times, and one or two really crappy flicks (like <i>Shanghai Knights</i>; they hardly even go to friggin' Shanghai!), and then I got bored, and watched <i>Mulan</i> again. <i>The Flowers of War</i>, however, had a big impact on me. It's one of the most moving movies I've seen this year. Visually, it looks so good. And I adore Chinese women in old-fashioned clothes. Just ask my travel buddies or my chopstick collection; it's a bit of an obsession.</div>
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<i><b>We Need to Talk about Kevin</b></i></div>
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Now this movie... It's perhaps the most disturbing one I saw this year. I have a twisted fascination on this kind of horidness. The themes the film explores really provoke your mind and kind of make your heart ache. I'm looking for the time to really get started on the book.</div>
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<i><b>Titanic</b></i></div>
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One of my absolute all-time favorites returned to cinemas this year, and seeing it on big screen was like seeing it, if not for the first time, then maybe for the tenth time, instead of the millionth time, which was actually the case. It's insane how good and moving and goosebump-worthy the story is, every single time.<br />
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<u>TV shows that I liked</u><br />
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<b>The Office</b><br />
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I already mentioned that Steve Carrell is crazy funny, but so are so many other people on this show. I know I'm a bit uncool for liking the US version instead of the original one, but it's not my fault I got introduced to this one, and so when I tried to watch the UK one it just seemed boring, as if it was all copied from the US one, even though it's other way around. But there's no Dwight Schrute in the UK one. So. U-S-A! U-S-A!<br />
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<b>Friends</b><br />
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No, I was never addicted to Friends before this year. Yes, I know it's weird. I'd seen episodes, because I coincidentally do not live on the Moon, but I never systematically watched the show, episode to episode. Now I did, and I found out that I actually do like Rachel, and Monica is actually one of my favorites, and Chandler is actually the best character. Also, Ross is sometimes incredibly annoying, and Pheobe and Joey show their best qualities when put in the same room alone together. And Brad Pitt is crazy funny. (I don't know why I keep repeating that expression, 'crazy funny'.)<br />
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<b>Episodes</b><br />
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Matt LeBlanc playing "Matt LeBlanc". It's as awesome as it sounds. I love how they make fun of Hollywood. And Matt LeBlanc.<br />
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<b>Breaking Bad</b><br />
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Meet my most recent addiction. I waited a long time before I gave this show a try, because it sounded like I wouldn't like it at all. How wrong was I? Very. There is that less attractive 'violence & drug lords & guns & brutal masculinity' aspect in the show, but more importantly, there are the characters, and what goes down among them and within them. Yo, this show is the bomb, bitch. It's so good.<br />
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<b>Glee</b><br />
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Me and Glee. Unconditional love and endless devotion since 2009.<br />
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<span class="st"><b>아름다운 그대에게</b> (<b>To the Beautiful You</b>)</span> <br />
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You can't really talk about an addiction here, but I have to mention this, because not every year I get an idea to watch Korean drama. Haha. This very stupidly translated show is about a girl who goes to an all-boys school. I don't remember why, but that's not the point. It's actually very funny. And it feels really refreshing to watch a TV show that wasn't made in the US, every once in a while. R-O-K! R-O-K! (Republic of Korea, that is.)<br />
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<u>Some of My Favorite People in 2012</u></div>
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(They are all young and beautiful, which makes me feel a bit guilty, but oh well.)<br />
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<b>Jennifer Lawrence</b></div>
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She's just lovely. So pretty, so talented, so funny, so dorky. So Katniss Everdeen.<br />
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<b>Jedward</b></div>
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I was watching the Eurovision Song Contest and then I saw an interview and then spend some weeks giggling over the wonderful insanity of this pair of twins.<br />
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<b>Dianna Agron</b></div>
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With that face, one wouldn't expect someone to be as sweet and wise and awesome as Dianna actually seems to be. I didn't like Quinn, her character on Glee. Then I read <a href="http://felldowntherabbithole.tumblr.com/post/6453072763">this</a>. That was around the time when I suddenly started kind of liking Quinn.</div>
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<b>Klaine</b></div>
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Klaine is not a person, but two people, so this isn't really fair. But screw fair! Klaine is the light of Glee, so that makes Klaine the light of my life. Now that sounded really sane. I'll take that back and just say that I am a big fan of this particular couple on Glee. Even though they are not together all the time. (Boo!)<br />
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<b>Chandler Bing</b><br />
Because that's what would happen if Chandler was a real person.</div>
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<b>Captain America </b><br />
<b> </b>How to be really cheesy and corny and a disgustingly good human being, without being the least bit annoying? Just try being Captain America. Remember to also posses Chris Evans's flawless physique.</div>
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Finally, my top seven for 2012. Which I won't call a top seven, because I can't afford to be that official. Also, I might need to apologize all true movie fanatics in advance: I don't
have any <i>Batman</i> films on my list. But, to compensate, I do have some male strippers. </div>
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<u>7 Films I'll Remember from 2012 (aka not a Top Seven</u>)</div>
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<i><b>Magic Mike</b></i><br />
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<i>"You are the husband they never had! You are the dreamboat guy that never came along!"</i><br />
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I swear it's not just the excess of semi-nude males. There's something about taking an unexpected topic and turning it into a surprisingly good story about something you wouldn't expect of the unexpected topic. Though I really did enjoy Channing Tatum's 99,9%-naked dancing, too. Duh. And I think Matthew McConaghey gave a heck of a performance. Not anyone could make love to a mirror like that, getting so into it without a single trace of embarrassment.<br />
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<b><i>21 Jump Street</i></b><br />
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<i>"We're reviving a canceled undercover project from the 80's and revamping it for modern times. The people behind this lack creativity and they've run out of ideas, so what they do now is just recycle shit from the past and hope that nobody will notice."</i><br />
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The biggest laughs of the year came from an unexpected address. Pun intended. I never thought I'd had so much Channing Tatum on my <strike>top</strike> list, just like I never thought he could be this funny. But, what do you know, team him up with Jonah Hill and make him say ridiculous things and act really stupidly, and there you go. It's funny. Once or twice the jokes might drop way too below the waistline, but I'll take it. My favorite part is when Tatum's character blames Glee for the drastic change that has happened in the high school world in seven years. Hahaha. And I love the explosions that may or may not occur. This movie is so ridiculous.</div>
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<b><i>Brave</i></b></div>
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<i>"I am Merida, and I'll be shooting for my own hand."</i><br />
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If I gave away prizes for the best hair of the year, there would be no doubt about the winner. The film wasn't maybe quite as magnificent as I hoped it to be, but the female energy, the mother-daughter relationship, and the lack of a love story get a thumbs-up from me. And the animation is gorgeous.</div>
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<b><i>Puhdistus (The Purge)</i></b></div>
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<i>"Älä jätä enää yksin tai piiloudun niin syvälle, etten löydä enää ulos."</i><br />
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The best Finnish movie since... ever. Damn me, for not writing my thoughts down then I went to see this. I remember being very impressed and affected by the film. It really is a pretty depressing and horrifying story, and I rarely like stories that are too depressing, but screw happy endings, this film is so, so good! The haunting atmosphere from Sofi Oksanen's original novel is definitely there, in the camera work, editing, soundscape, and the actors' performances. For me the star of the film was Laura Birn as the young Aliide. This will be the third Finnish film after <i>Menolippu Mombasaan</i> and <i>Hulluna Saraan</i> that I will get on DVD. What an honor!<br />
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<i><b>The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey</b></i><br />
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<i>"I'm going on an adventure!"</i><br />
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This list was originally <strike>a Top Five</strike> '5 Films I'll Remember from 2012'. Somehow I forgot about <i>The Hobbit</i>, and didn't remember to include it until after I saw it; it was always a given that it would be one of my favorites of the year. But somehow it slipped my mind. (And then <i>21 Jump Street</i> somehow tricked its way in, too.) And actually, guess what I just remembered! When I wrote <a href="http://lifeislikechocolat.blogspot.fi/2012/01/hey-2012-show-me-what-youve-got.html">this post</a> in the beginning of 2012, listing the movies I was most looking forward to, I first forgot all about <i>The Hobbit</i>, and hastily added it later, a bit ashamed, after I'd already published the post. Now what's up with all that? Why the minimal amount of conscious hype? I don't know, but I guess being so pathetically dismissive about the movie ended up the reason why I enjoyed it so much: no unrealistic expectations. Just pure, joyful nostalgia.</div>
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<i><b>The Avengers </b></i></div>
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<i>"I understood that reference."</i><br />
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The unarguable entertainment and male beauty bomb of 2012! Saying anything else would be repeating myself, so I'll keep my mouth shut about how much I love Captain America's flying monkey comment, Mark Ruffalo's Banner, RDJ, the little diva that Loki is, Jeremy Renner with a bow, Chris Hemsworth's arms, all the big personalities interacting, clashing and finally getting along, Hulk (smashing), and, basically, just all the awesome superheros doing awesome superhero-like things. Oops, I guess I repeated myself a little after all.</div>
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<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/hunger_games_imax_poser-1_zps89085d86.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/hunger_games_imax_poser-1_zps89085d86.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i><b>The Hunger Games</b></i></div>
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<i>"They just want a good show, that's all they want."</i><br />
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There can be no arguments here: <i>The Hunger Games</i> is my favorite film of 2012, and I will say that, even though this is not a Top Seven. <i>THG</i> as an experience was unbeatable: I'd been looking forward to it forever. I jumped up an down on my seat at the cinema, while waiting for it to start. I enjoyed every moment, got lost in the world of it, and was left extremely satisfied, and perhaps even more excited. I spend days, weeks, obsessing over it, and analyzing every little detail of what was wrong in the screen version of Peeta. I read the books again, I watched the film again, and then again. I actually feel like watching it again right now. <i>The Hunger Games</i> ruled my 2012. We shall see if the odds are on<i> Catching Fire</i>'s favor in 2013.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-74737868412741577982013-01-01T17:38:00.000+02:002013-01-01T17:38:12.124+02:002012: New Year resolution review<img height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2lloyd-back-to-the-future_zps07a04269.jpg" width="640" /><br />
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<a href="http://lifeislikechocolat.blogspot.fi/2012/01/new-year-resolutions-2012.html">The deal was this</a>. I'm going to wrap the thing up very bluntly. Some might be offended by my bluntness, as these are quite big films we're talking about, and I'm just going to bash some of them with no elaborations.<br />
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I'm going to give <span style="color: red;">stars</span> from one to five, according to the level of pain and/or boredom that watching each film caused me. One star being an enjoyable watching experience and five stars being a total nightmare (I probably fell asleep or started cutting my toenails to pass the time and get it over and done with). I'm wonderfully confusing, am I not?</div>
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<b>January</b>: <i>Annie Hall</i> (1977) <span style="color: red;">**</span> Probably kind of liked it, don't exactly remember. I really can't tell if I'm thinking of this film or<i> Manhattan</i>, because I saw them both around the same time, and I'm probably mixing them up in my head. Anyway, still not a fan of Woody Allen.</div>
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<b>February</b>:<i> Mr. Smith Goes to Washington</i> (1939) <span style="color: red;">***</span> I don't know. I have sort of positive memories about this film, but it didn't leave a lasting impression of anything. I like Washington, though.</div>
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<b>March</b>: <i>Apocalypse Now (1979) <span style="color: red;">*****</span> </i>Well, I had to give five agony stars to some film, and when I think about it, this was be most boring watching experience I remember from this year. (This was the bluntness I was talking about.) I didn't get it, at all.</div>
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<b>April</b>: <i>Chinatown</i> (1974) <span style="color: red;">****</span> Not really much more joyful experience than March (although I actually saw this in November, but never mind). I don't remember what was up, probably was too bored to concentrate.</div>
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<b>May</b>: <i>Braveheart </i>(1995) <span style="color: red;">****</span> It was Mel Gibson killing stuff and faking an accent. I guess for some people that's a joyful movie watching experience, but not for me.</div>
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<b>June</b>: <i>Back to the Future</i> (1985) <span style="color: red;">*</span> So good! I want to see some sequels. And a remake, please. This was the black sheep this year, as I'm not supposed to like these New Year resolution films this much. The point is that it's painful.</div>
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<b>July</b>: <i>Taxi Driver</i> (1976) <span style="color: red;">***</span> Not nearly as annoying as I expected! I thought this would be more like that horrible <i>Scarface</i>, but it wasn't actually half bad. I never knew he's talking to a mirror when he says "You talkin' to me". Just like Kick-Ass in <i>Kick-Ass</i>! (Yeah, I know, I'm a real loser, comparing <i>Taxi Driver</i> to <i>Kick-Ass</i>, when I should be comparing <i>Kick-Ass</i> to <i>Taxi Driver</i>, because I'm pretty sure that <i>Taxi Driver</i> came first and they were actually referring to it in <i>Kick-Ass</i>. Oh well, you know me.)</div>
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<b>August</b>: <i>North by Northwest</i> (1959) <span style="color: red;">***</span> Again, at times quite fun and not-that-boring-at-all, but still, it wasn't all joy. Got boring towards the end.</div>
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<b>September</b>: <i>Metropolis </i>(1927) <span style="color: red;">**</span> Quite interesting and quite cool! I just love me some silent films once in a while.</div>
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<b>October</b>: <i>Vertigo</i> (1958)<b> <span style="color: red;">**</span> </b>I'd say I liked it slightly more than the previous Hitchcock.<b> </b>San Francisco is lovely.<br />
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<b>November</b>: <i>From Here to Eternity</i> (1953) <span style="color: red;">***</span> It's like <i>Pearl Harbor</i>! Without most of the cheese. It was a fine movie, I just got annoyed by the super masculine men and super feminine women.</div>
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<b>December</b>: <i>It Happened One Night </i>(1934) <span style="color: red;">*</span> A good old romcom! Literally. It's a romantic comedy that is good and old. It started dragging a bit in the end, but I really did enjoy myself a lot, especially during the first half.</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-48298699669042798662013-01-01T12:33:00.000+02:002013-01-01T12:33:00.562+02:00Films watched in 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2The-Amazing-Spider-Man-2012-upcoming-movies-28934545-1024-768_zps20ce8616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2The-Amazing-Spider-Man-2012-upcoming-movies-28934545-1024-768_zps20ce8616.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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In 2012 I saw 177 movies in total. 74 of these were rewatches (of which about half were either <i>The Hunger Games</i>, or <i>The Avengers</i>, let me tell you...), which makes it 103 previously unseen movies. I saw 18 films in cinemas.</div>
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In comparison, in <a href="http://lifeislikechocolat.blogspot.fi/2012/01/films-watched-in-2011.html">2011</a>, the figures were: 163 films in total; 52 rewatches; 111 new films; 23 films in cinema.</div>
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I saw the most movies (27) in January, and the least (4!!! Seriously!) in June. The high number of rewatches probably has to do with being in China, where I mostly watched my dear old DVDs brought from home. Also, the drop in cinema visits can be blamed on the same wonderful country, because having been (and still being) so broke after coming back home, I've hardly had the money to pay for expensive movie tickets.</div>
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Still, I watched fourteen more movies in 2012 than 2011, so let's call this a victory.</div>
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Complete list below. </div>
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* <i>a rewatch</i></div>
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<i><b>in cinema</b></i></div>
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JANUARY<br />
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<i>Scarface </i><br />
<i>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 * </i><br />
<i>In Bruges * </i><br />
<i>Manhattan </i><br />
<i><b>50/50 </b></i><br />
<i>Source Code</i><br />
<i><b>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo </b></i><br />
<i>West Side Story</i><br />
<i>Horrible Bosses </i><br />
<i>Red Riding Hood</i><br />
<i>Made in Dagenham</i><br />
<i>Super 8</i><br />
<i>Insidious</i><br />
<i>Crazy, Stupid, Love.</i><br />
<i>I Am Number Four</i><br />
<i>Bobby *</i><br />
<i>Captain America: The First Avenger *</i><br />
<i>The Social Network *</i><br />
<i>The Dark Knight *</i><br />
<i>Annie Hall</i><br />
<i>Spider-Man *</i><br />
<i>Let Me In</i><br />
<i>Midnight in Paris</i><br />
<i>Sisko tahtoisin jäädä</i><br />
<i>Kielletty hedelmä</i><br />
<i>Hyvä poika</i><br />
<b><i>Hulluna Saraan</i></b><br />
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~ total 27 (7 rewatches, 3 in cinema)<br />
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FEBRUARY<br />
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<i>What's Your Number?</i><br />
<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame * </i><br />
<i>Mulan *</i><br />
<i>Pocahontas *</i><br />
<i>Fright Night </i><br />
<i>Sophie's Choice </i><br />
<i>The Tree of Life </i><br />
<i>The Help </i><br />
<i>Drive </i><br />
<i><b>Härmä</b></i><br />
<i>The Three Musketeers</i><br />
<i>The Rules of Attraction</i><br />
<i>Blue Valentine </i><br />
<i>Kissing Jessica Stein </i><br />
<i>The Breakfast Club * </i><br />
<i>Ferris Bueller's Day Off * </i><br />
<i><b>Hugo </b></i><br />
<i>The Pianist *</i><br />
<i>Paragraph 175</i><br />
<i>X-Men: First Class </i><br />
<i>Au revoir, les enfants </i><br />
<i>The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love </i><br />
<i>The Celluloid Closet </i><br />
<i>Mr. Smith Goes to Washington </i><br />
<i>Bent </i><br />
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~ total 25 (6 rewatches, 2 in cinema)<br />
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MARCH<i> </i><br />
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<i>The Lion King *<b> </b></i><br />
<i><b>The Iron Lady</b> </i><br />
<i>Dear Zachary</i><br />
<i>Contagion</i><br />
<i>The Devil's Double </i><br />
<i>In Time </i><br />
<i>The Beginners </i><br />
<i>Apollo 18 </i><br />
<i>Frost/Nixon </i><br />
<i>Tarzan </i><br />
<i>Inception * </i><br />
<i>Dr. Fischer of Geneva </i><br />
<i>Jesus Camp </i><br />
<i>Blessed is the Match </i><br />
<i>Election </i><br />
<b><i>The Hunger Games </i></b> <br />
<i>The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring</i> *<br />
<i>The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers *</i><br />
<i><b>The Hunger Games</b> * </i><br />
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~ total 19 (5 rewatches, 3 in cinema)<br />
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APRIL<br />
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<i>Twilight: New Moon</i> *<br />
<i>The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King * </i><br />
<i>Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back * </i><br />
<i>Pokémon: The Movie 2000 * </i><br />
<i>Apocalypse Now</i><br />
<i><b>Titanic </b>* </i><br />
<i>New Year's Eve</i><br />
<i>Life in a Day * </i><br />
<i>The Football Factory </i><br />
<i>Mulan *</i><br />
<i>The Notebook * </i><br />
<i>Limitless</i><br />
<i>The Guard </i><br />
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~ total 13 (8 rewatches, 1 in cinema)<br />
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MAY<br />
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<b><i>The Avengers</i></b><br />
<i>Kung Fu Panda *</i><br />
<i>Hysteria </i><br />
<i>Kung Fu Panda 2</i><br />
<i>The Way We Were </i><br />
<i>Role Models * </i><br />
<i>Shanghai Knights </i><br />
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~ total 7 (2 rewatches, 1 in cinema)<br />
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JUNE<br />
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<i>Lilja 4-ever</i><br />
<i>Tyttö sinä olet tähti </i><br />
<i>In Search of a Midnight Kiss *</i><br />
<i>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon *</i><br />
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~ total 4 (2 rewatches, 0 in cinema)<br />
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JULY<br />
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<i>Mamma Mia! *</i><br />
<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame *</i><br />
<i>Mulan *</i><br />
<i>Music and Lyrics *</i><br />
<i>Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone *</i><br />
<i>Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets *</i><br />
<i>Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban *</i><br />
<i>Glee: the Concert Movie *</i><br />
<i>Bowling for Columbine *</i><br />
<i>Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire *</i><br />
<i><b>Abduction</b></i><br />
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~ total 11 (10 rewatches, 1 in cinema)<br />
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AUGUST<br />
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<i>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix *</i><br />
<i>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*</i><br />
<i>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1*</i><br />
<i>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 *</i><br />
<i>Shanghai Kiss</i><br />
<i>Toy Story *</i><br />
<i>Like Crazy</i><br />
<i>Glee: The Concert Movie *</i><br />
<i>Young Adult</i><br />
<i>The Flowers of War</i><br />
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~ total 10 (6 rewatches, 0 in cinema)<br />
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SEPTEMBER<br />
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<b><i>The Dark Knight Rises</i></b><br />
<b><i>The Amazing Spiderman</i></b><br />
<i>We Need to Talk about Kevin</i><br />
<i>The Hunger Games *</i><br />
<i><b>Prometheus</b></i><br />
<i>The Avengers *</i><br />
<i><b>The Expendables 2</b></i><br />
<i>Before Sunrise *</i><br />
<i>Menolippu Mombasaan *</i><br />
<i>The Social Network *</i><br />
<i>Toy Story 2 *</i><br />
<i>Toy Story 3 *</i><br />
<i>Before Sunset *</i><br />
<i>(500) Days of Summer * </i><br />
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~ total 14 (9 rewatches, 4 in cinema)<br />
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OCTOBER<br />
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<i><b>Puhdistus</b></i><br />
<i>The Greatest Movie Ever Sold</i><br />
<i>Rouva Presidentti </i><br />
<i>The Crazies</i><br />
<i>Magic Mike </i><br />
<i>Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter </i><br />
<i><b>Paranormal Activity 4 </b></i><br />
<i>Braveheart</i><br />
<i>21 Jump Street</i><br />
<i>Dark Shadows </i><br />
<i><b> </b></i><br />
~ total 10 (0 rewatches, 2 in cinema)<br />
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NOVEMBER<br />
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<i>Cabin in the Woods</i><br />
<i>Detention </i><br />
<i>The Hunger Games *</i><br />
<i>Chinatown </i><br />
<i>Back to the Future </i><br />
<i>Taxi Driver</i><br />
<i>The Artist * </i><br />
<i>The Circus * </i><br />
<i>Crazy, Stupid, Love. * </i><br />
<i>Brave </i><br />
<i>The Avengers * </i><br />
<i>North by Northwest</i><br />
<i>Seeking a Friend for the End of the World </i><br />
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~ total 13 (5 rewatches, 0 in cinema)<br />
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DECEMBER<br />
<br />
<i>Metropolis</i><br />
<i>The Five-Year Engagement</i><br />
<i>Canned Dreams </i><br />
<i><span class="st"> </span></i><i><span class="st">From Here to Eternity </span></i><br />
<i><span class="st">Bowling for Columbine *</span></i><br />
<i><span class="st">It Happened One Night </span></i><br />
<i><span class="st">Love Actually * </span></i><br />
<i>Moonrise Kingdom </i><br />
<i>The Vow</i><br />
<i><b>The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey</b> </i><br />
<i>Joulupukki ja noitarumpu *</i><br />
<i>Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace * </i><br />
<i>The Nightmare Before Christmas * </i><br />
<i>The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring * </i><br />
<i>The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers *</i><br />
<i>The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King *</i><br />
<i>Vertigo </i><br />
<i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame *</i><br />
<i>Mulan *</i><br />
<i>Aladdin * </i><br />
<i>Babe * </i><br />
<i>The Kite Runner </i><br />
<i>The Avengers *</i><br />
<i>21 Jump Street * </i><br />
<br />~ total 24 (14 rewatches, 1 in cinema)</div>
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*</div>
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YEAR TOTAL: 177 (74 rewatches, 18 in cinema)</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-60724134951493217312012-12-19T11:43:00.000+02:002012-12-21T20:36:28.228+02:00The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) / back, there, again<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2The-Hobbit-An-Unexpected-Journey-Wallpapers-3_zpsf95f1311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/2The-Hobbit-An-Unexpected-Journey-Wallpapers-3_zpsf95f1311.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>directed by Peter Jackson / starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis, etc... </i></div>
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<span style="color: red;">SPOILER ALERT!</span> I probably can't keep my mouth shut about some spoilery things.</div>
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<a href="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/22012_the_hobbit_an_unexpected_journey_003_zps4b024d5a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://i424.photobucket.com/albums/pp330/kivaeeva/uusi/22012_the_hobbit_an_unexpected_journey_003_zps4b024d5a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure."</i></div>
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I just got back from Middle Earth. I chose to return in 2D. Unfortunately there seemed to be something wrong in the sound system of this particular Middle Earth, and I was constantly hoping for a magical remote to turn the volume up, up, up. It was difficult to get lost in the world of Middle Earth when all the time I could hear grasping and popcorn chewing and some annoying teenages giggling and burping in the back row. But, Middle Earth is full of obstacles and foes, and part of the journey is to fight them off; shut the disturbances out, and just enjoy the biggest nostalgia trip of the decade.</div>
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And that's what the first part of the <i>Hobbit</i> trilogy was. And not just for me; for all the audience and, I can imagine, for most of the cast and crew, too. So what if the whole movie rides on the success of <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>. These movies aren't made to top<i> LotR</i>. <i>LotR</i> can't be topped. They are made because every single person in the audience smiles whenever they hear the Shire theme, and because seeing Gandalf again seems like meeting an old friend, and because everyone gets chills when they hear the familiar cough of Gollum and see those eyes flickering in the shadows.</div>
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I went to the movies today with very few expectations. Of course, this has been a very expected journey, and I've been following the rocky road that the making of <i>The Hobbit </i>has been, especially in the beginning. But there was amazingly little hype, for me. I haven't read The Hobbit. Because me and Tolkien don't have the smoothest of histories. I
took me three years and three restarts and a promise on my eternal soul
(=New Year resolution) to wade through The Lord of the Rings trilogy. So I haven't yet found the courage to try and tackle LotR's little brother, even though it would surely be a much less painful experience. Because of the less intimidating length of the book. And I'll read The Hobbit. Maybe I make the promise as soon as this New Year's Eve.</div>
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So, I went to the movies not knowing what to expect. Well, strike that, I did know kind of what to expect. I knew this would not be like <i>Lord of the Rings</i>. I knew it would be lighter, less epic, less dark, and quite frankly, not as good. Like many others, I assume, I always just looked at this as a wonderful chance to go back to Middle Earth; like I said, a huge nostalgia trip. Comparing <i>The Hobbit</i> to <i>LotR</i> will only lead to dissatisfaction, unless you do it in the spirit of nostalgia. Which I will do. A bit later.</div>
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Now, I will discuss the films in two sections. In <i>The Hobbit</i>, there was some old, familiar stuff, and then there was new stuff. There's no doubt about which stuff I liked more. But I will discuss both.</div>
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<u>New Stories, Faces, Places, Discoveries</u></div>
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Unsurprisingly, I was not as interested in the new characters, places, and their storylines, as I was in the old gang, and all the talk and events referring to what would go down in sixty years. Yet, I did get a little giddy when we travelled on the map (oh, the map, I love you, map!), and got introduced to whole new places and new peoples and new history of Middle Earth! Like, oh, I never knew what was going on on this side of the map! The new cities were quite cool, looking distinctively Middle Earth-esque, but still different from everything else we've seen before.<br />
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I cannot say there were any new characters with the potential to rise to the prestigious company of my ultimate Middle Earth favorites. There were a lot of dwarves, but few I can tell apart in my head, and even fewer that I can remember by name. There is Gimli's old man, Gloin, who shares the same hair with his son. There is Thorin, aka If Aragorn Was A Dwarf. I mostly just found him a bit annoying. He doesn't have a sense of humor, and he's kind of a bore. I guess someone always has to be the solemn and boring leader. What else... One is called Kili, and if Thorin is Aragorn, he is Legolas. "Hello, everyone, I'm here to demonstrate that dwarves can be handsome, too!" He has a brother called Kali, I think. (Apparently it's Fili, not Kali. Haha. Ayways.) Then the chubby one, the comic relief dwarf. And the Cold Feet actor, and his character I actually liked, and he stood out for me a little. And then... a few others. Another potential New Year resolution would be to learn all the names of the dwarves.<br />
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New villains. There was the disgusting pile of fat that was definitely inspired by Jabba the Hut. He even had the annoying, giggling little sidekick. The big white orc was a bit boring, perhaps mostly because he had to do with Thorin's story, and I'm just not really into that. Though he looked cool in the light of the fire, his scars all red and ugly. Also, the dragon's eye was very nicely CGI'ed.<br />
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Finally, a familiar character, with a new face. I haven't heard any arguments about this: Martin Freeman is the perfect young Bilbo! I love Peter Jackson for being so determined to get him for the part. He fitted so well in the hobbit feet and the hair that he didn't feel like a new face at all, but rather someone we've always known. Freeman was born to play a hobbit. Bravo. And the young Bilbo is such a lovable, relable character, and it's such a joy to see him grow into the hero we all know him to be.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The years haven't been kind to us, my dear Frodo. You are chubby and defiled, and I just look waxy."</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<u>Back to the Future</u></div>
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They don't keep repeating it for nothing: <i>The Hobbit</i> really did feel like going back home, in many ways. Familiar faces. Familiar places. Familiar swords. The Ring. Familiar lines (Gandalf just
loves calling his friends 'fools'). Familiar feelings and moods. The
map. Familiar landscapes. Familiar music.<br />
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It is strange how much joy a little melody can arise in a person. Or not that strange, if the melody is the Shire theme and the person is a<i> LotR</i> fan. Even though the new theme music was very good, I just loved that they'd brought back so many pieces from the best film score in the world. It was wonderful, hearing a familiar tune and instantly knowing which feelings you should be feeling in that particular moment. I love you, Howard Shore.</div>
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Seeing Frodo again was perhaps the comeback that I was most delightened by. It was crazy enough, watching one of the production videos where Elijah Wood talks about walking to the set of Shire for the first time, when he was 18. "I'm 30 now", he says, standing there in his full Frodo costume, looking almost exactly like he did back when the teenager me fell for those big blue eyes and put up pictures of them all around her room. Just... can't process how weird and cool and scary and wonderful it is. And then, seeing Frodo wear those familiar clothes, putting up the "party business" sign, and then grapping a book and saying that he'll go and surprise Gandalf and doesn't want to be late... It's almost too neat a way to connect the film to its predessedor, but I didn't mind one bit. It was just damn awesome.</div>
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(It can be argued that Elijah Wood has finally gotten a bit sturdier, and lost some of that wide-eyed innocence that was so charming in his original performance of Frodo. I'll allow him that. He's a friggin' 30-year-old hulk of a man now, even though for me he'll be a Bambi-eyed 18-year-old for all eternity.)<br />
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I'd say the scenes with Gollum were my favorites in the whole movie. It's just endlessly bewildering what the genius of Andy Serkis teaming up with some kick-ass technology can do. And we thought the CGI was awesome ten years ago? Well it's even better now. Gollum just looks insanely good. The riddles and the inner monologues of Gollum/Smeagol, and the Ring, and the damn amazing moment when Bilbo holds the Sting on Gollum's throat, about to finish him off, and Gollum looks so sad and confused and beaten, and we hear Gandalf's words in our heads (<i>"True courage is about not knowing when to take a life, but when to spare one."</i>) and remember the conversation Frodo and Gandalf had in Moria, about Bilbo's pity, and how his decision not to kill Gollum will influence the lives of many, and it's just so cool. Oh, Gollum. He's such a masterpiece of a character, and I feel for him so much I'd give him a hug if he wasn't so disgusting.</div>
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Galadriel is still the most beautiful thing ever. The feminist in me will resist the temptation to bitterly point out that she was the only female chacater in the whole movie, next to a few harp-playing female elves, and she only showed up for five minutes in the middle of a monstrously long movie. Oh well, that's how Tolkien rolled, so I guess I can't complain. She stopped by and was the most beautiful moment in the movie, and that'll have to do.</div>
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Gandalf and Ian McKellen deserve all the praise in the world. Elrond knows headgear is always in fashion. And I don't know if there is anything as legendary as Christopher Lee. The man just radiates legendary.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The old gang back together. Literally, they're all really old.</td></tr>
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<br />
Should I have fun and play a critic for a moment? The story of <i>An Unexpected Journey</i> wasn't very coherent. There was so
much random, seemingly unconnected stuff. Like, all of a sudden I'm
looking at a brown wizard reviving a hedgehog. Maybe for Tolkienists it
makes sense, but I'm just confused. Instead of a clear story arc, there was one action scene after the other.
Oh, fighting rock monster giants. 'Kay. The weird thing is, I wasn't the
least bit bored, not once. It didn't feel like two and a half, almost three hours.</div>
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And really, not having read the book, I
don't know what they could've done better. Sure, they could've spent
the entire time in the cave with Gollum, or travelled forward in time
and went to hang out with teenage Merry and Pippin, but I don't think
that's what happens in the book. But, again, there is not use comparing <i>The Hobbit</i> to the <i>Lord of the Rings</i>. The story is so much smaller in <i>The Hobbit</i>. This is not about the fate of the world as they know it. This is just a little adventure. The lighter mood allows more humor, more slapstick, more burps, more songs, less anxiety, less death, less tragedy, less Oscars. I went to the cinema for a huge fix of nostalgia, and what I got was exactly that. It is clear from the outcome how much Peter Jackson loves the Middle Earth he's created. In case the Mayans were right, I won't mind if this is the last movie I ever saw.</div>
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...I hope they're wrong, though. Because I need to go to New Zealand. So bad. Seriously. Just give me an excuse and I'll go. Money, too. Please.
I also can't wait for Christmas holiday and my traditional Extended
Edition marathon. At least that is something I can make happen. I have to catch up on the <i>Hobbit</i> production videos, too. I think there are a few I haven't yet seen.<br />
<br />
Part two is a year away, and I'm okay with that. The thought of a year's worth of waiting doesn't make me too anguished. I'll be very happy to see the second part, of course, and return to the wonderful world of Middle Earth again. Don't we get to see Orlando, too, next?</div>
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I really want to go on an adventure now! Might start with an unexpected journey to the corner shop.<br />
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<i>"Home is now behind you. The world is ahead."</i></div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-12853041910895035732012-11-24T18:57:00.000+02:002012-11-24T18:57:51.613+02:00From Snow White to Ebony Black: the Evolution of a Disney Princess<div style="text-align: center;">
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What makes a Disney princess? Is it the gorgeous hair? Is it the tiny waist? Is is the cute little animals she always seems to befriend? Is it the stunning singing voice? Is it the kind, good-hearted nature? Is it the weakness for handsome princes and other masculine yet noble men? Is it the mysterious ability to attract evil forces to distress her life? Is it the fool-proof guarantee for happy endings?<br />
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More or less, it is about all of these. Maybe more about the good heart and less about the tiny waist. Or the other way around, I don't know. Anyway, the concept of a 'Disney Princess' means something, at least for me, and it should for generations of little girls before and after me. While boys had superheroes and ninja turtles and jedi knights, we had Disney princesses to look up to and model ourselves after. (I wish I could say that I was one of those cool, modern girls you pretended to be Donatello in their little make-believe games, but sadly, no.)<br />
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When it comes to Disney heroines, some things never change. You can find a few good examples of such qualities above. But some things have changed, parallelling the changing of the world. There's no way there could have been a Mulan or an Esmeralda starring the first Disney feature films, and on the other hand, in this day and age they would not raise a character like Snow White as a protagonist anymore.<br />
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I guess I ended up having a bit more feminist point of view to this post than I was originally supposed to, but never mind. Also, it slowly grew to be monstrously lengthy.<br />
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Warning: There is a chance your childhood idol gets bashed a little. But don't worry, most of MY childhood idols are quite safe!</div>
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<u>1930s: The One Who Started It All</u><br />
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The first Disney feature film gave shape to the prototype of a Disney Princess, one that would more or less be copied over and over again, decade to decade, until this day.<br />
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<b>Snow White</b> in <i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i> (1937)</div>
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<i>"If you let me stay, I'll keep house for you. I'll wash and sew and sweep and cook."</i><br />
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Snow White has it all, from the various animal friends to the magical singing voice, and the evil that she attracts. She looks like a doll, with the skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood and hair as black as ebony. She is entirely and absolutely good; there is not a cruel, unpleasant or impolite cell in her body. I'm completely positive that she actually would not hurt a fly. Kind, hard-working and submissive, Snow White was the image of the perfect young woman, the role model for every little girl who wanted to be accepted in the society and attract a potential husband. <br />
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For a modern viewer Snow White seems incurably dull. She just has the most boring personality ever. She is naive and way too trusting. "The evil stepmother who hates me and makes me work my tush off suddenly sends me to the woods with an armed, menacing man! Oh well, flowers, ah, pretty!" And... "I just woke up to find seven men watching me sleep, but no, this is no time to panic." And... "A creepy old lady practically forces an apple down my throat, and I let her, because she promises that way I'll get my prince." Aw, you ignorant woman!<br />
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The romantic relationships of Disney heroines speak loudly of their core nature, so their princes and their great love stories will naturally also be discussed in connection with each princess. Cinderella started the unquestionably silly tradition of "Love at one sight". You sing a cheesy little song with some stranger, and bam, you know who you're going to marry. Even though you never see them again until they bring you back from the dead with a kiss. This is when the unreasonable expectations towards romance started to build up. Us poor manipulated girls, and the bitter disappointments we're in for...<br />
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DEFINING MOMENT: She wonders into an empty little cottage in the middle of the woods, and her first impulse is, yes, to start cleaning and cooking! Like a good little princess is supposed to. (At least she's woman enough to boss the little men around, and make them behave.)</div>
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<u>1950s: The Damsels in Distress</u></div>
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It took more than a decade for the next princesses to come to life, but they still very carefully followed the familiar footsteps laid down for them. Like their foremother Snow White, they react; they don't act.<br />
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<b>Cinderella</b> in<i> Cinderella</i> (1950)</div>
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<i>"They can't order me to stop dreaming."</i><br />
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Cinderella was my biggest idol when I was growing up. I would always imagine to be her when I had to tidy up my room. "Oh, poor me! I always have to work so hard!" Even on my 'freetime', in my little imaginary games, I pretended to be cleaning and being told off by my stepmother and sisters. (One such play has been caught on tape; in one of our ancient home videos you can see me moving some fresh snow around with my little shovel in our backyard terrace, while mumbling to myself. I remember I was being Cinderella.) At some point I had to look at my childhood idol with new eyes, and see that's she's actually not that great, after all. (Although she'll always have a place in the section of my heart which is ever-reserved for Disney.)<br />
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Cinderella is stuck in an unpleasant and sad situation in life. Her real family gone, and her stepfamily is downright awful. But she sucks it up. Every morning she puts her brave face on and gets up to face yet another day of hardships and labour. How does she manage that? By never ceasing to dream! She believes that one day a miracle will come along, and she will be saved from her miserable old life. Guess it never occured to her that she might actually try to do something about it herself? This reminds me of the Karl Marx quote that compares religion to opium. Dreaming is opium for Cinderella? It gives her some hope, something to hold on to, a promise that a better time will come if she submits to her sucky destiny for a little while longer; so she doesn't try to do anything about it and the evil stepmother and stepsisters keep roaming around and abusing her. Good thing she lives in a Disney movie and not 19th century Europe, so she does eventually get her reward.<br />
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One thing can be said to her favour: That shiny white ball gown with the glass slippers and the headband and the gloves! Prettiest thing ever. (And well, her endless optimism is quite admirable.)<br />
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DEFINING MOMENT: Getting her future husband (whom she danced and sung with ONE TIME, and that concludes the length of their relationship (ok, I'll just go with it...)) depends on her getting downstairs. So she stands there crying and gently kicking the locked door. Try a little, love! Make a rope out of your bed sheets and climb out of the window! Saw a hole on the floor! MacGyver it up! What ever, just do SOMETHING! Oh well, the little animal friends will do it for you. <br />
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<b>Aurora</b> in <i>Sleeping Beauty</i> (1959)</div>
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<i>"Oh, dear. Why do they still treat me like a child?"</i></div>
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<i> </i> </div>
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Aurora is another princess, who just sort of goes with the flow, waiting for things to happen. For someone carrying the title of the movie, she does very little to advance the plot. Heck, she indeed is asleep for the most exciting part of the story! When I looked for quotes on IMDb, I had to scroll down for five minutes before I even found anything by Aurora herself! The movie looks visually great, and the famous waltz is a legend, but other than that, I have incredibly little to say about <i>Sleeping Beauty</i> and thus Aurora. She doesn't really bring anything new to the table of Disney princesses. She's just repeating the old mistakes...<br />
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DEFINING MOMENT: She is supposed to meet with the love of her life (who she, again, once danced with and that, again, concludes the lenght of their relationship (unless you count them getting together "once upon a dream" and you don't), but her godmothers say no, and take her back to the castle. She miserably, and submissively, obeys. Just knock the little ladies out and go get that prince!<br />
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<u>1980s: It's Gotta Get Bad Before It Gets Good</u></div>
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I know everyone is not with me when it comes to this next princess. But I also know I'm right about her. Har har.<br />
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<b>Ariel</b> in <i>The Little Mermaid</i> (1989)<br />
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<i>"He's so beautiful."
</i><br />
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Ugh. <a href="http://lifeislikechocolat.blogspot.com/2011/07/ariel-that-stupid-teenage-brat.html">It is not a secret</a> that I loathe Ariel. It is also not a secret that, growing up, I had no bond to Ariel at all, so I am more that free to loathe her. But come on. She's horrible! As far as role models go, she's right there in the bottom with Bella Swan (granted, still on top of Bella; at least her boyfriend is alive). As a recap, here's why I loathe Ariel.<br />
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I should be happy that for the first time a Disney princess acts instead of just reacting. But she acts stupidly, so no.<br />
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Her life is perfectly fine. She has a loving family, and a safe environment to live in. She has friends. No one makes her clean stuff up, and no one is threatening to kill or harm her. And yet she doesn't appreaciate what she has, not one bit, and just can't stand being who she is, so she keeps dreaming about the greener grass on the other side of the sea level. Like any avarage, obsessive teenage brat. (We've all been there!)<br />
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She has a crazy hair. Kind of cool, but crazy. It doesn't have a
parting. It just flows there, around her head. Crazy. (Okay, that's not a
reason. Let's put that in the "pro" side. And on with the cons.)<br />
<br />
Again, love at one sight? Things really haven't changed much in thirty years, have they... She catches one sight of some stupid prince and then risks her life to get closer to him. Ugh. She never even danced or sang a cheesy little song with her prince! She
hardly even talked to him. Now that's not love, that's a creepy
case of fangirling...<br />
<br />
She's such an annoying little teenager who only cares about what her stupid puberty hormones tell her. And she never learns anything. She only gets the affirmation that being yourself is not cool. You need to have two legs to be happy.<br />
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I will always feel a bit bitter over the fact that Disney decided to celebrate the year of my birth with such a silly little princess. <br />
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DEFINING MOMENT: Coming up with a moment is a bit difficult because, unlike most other movies I'm discussing here, I don't know <i>The Little Mermaid</i> inside out. But I remember when I watched the movie a few years ago, I found her idiotic smile so annoying. Like, after her voice has been stolen by Ursula, she goes to her prince and has to impress her without any words... and she just smiles that idiotic smile and bats her six eyelashes and gazes at the object of her obsessive behavior. And he kind of likes her. Lesson learned, girls! You don't need any verbal talent, or any other talent, whatsoever, you just need long eyelashes. I seriously don't know what was up with Disney that year.<br />
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<u>1990s: The Golden Age </u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
Aka From Reaction to Action! One might argue that having grown up in the 90s, I'm biased to call it the Golden Age, and maybe I am, but it's the truth: The best Disney films were made in the 90s! And so were the best Disney princesses. Whether they are leading ladies or supporting love interests, they show more personality and strong, empowering character than old Walt was even able to dream of when putting together Snow White. These damsels don't sit around waiting to be rescued. They save themselves, and sometimes their princes, too.<br />
<br />
Speaking of which... If the princesses used to be dull, the princes were even more so! The emphasis now changes from the personal hardships and the rescue of the girl to the relationship between the girl and the boy. When they get their happily-ever-after in the end, it is not just a prize she receives for surviving the struggles and dangers; it is actually a somewhat logical ending to a love story that has had a clear beginning and middle, too.<br />
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<b>Belle</b> in <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> (1991)</div>
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<br />
<i> "I want so much more than they've got planned."</i><br />
<br />
Belle is my favorite. I've <a href="http://lifeislikechocolat.blogspot.fi/2011/06/my-dearest-movie-character.html">expressed my love</a> for her before, but here it is once again, in a nutshell:<br />
<br />
On the first glance, there are some considerable similarities in the starting points of the stories of (my all time favorite) Belle and (my all time pet hate) Ariel. Netiher of them are content with the lives they're currently leading, and they both dream about another life in a better place. That's where the similarities end, though.<br />
<br />
Belle was the first Disney princess who stood her ground, used her brain and didn't just drift around acting like a prop, waiting for her prince to save her. She doesn't fall for the first pretty face (though it can be argued whether Gaston has a pretty face or not) just to get to the safe haven of marriage. She wants adventure, but chooses not to pursue her dreams because she cares about her father. Unlike Ariel, who just ditched her father along with her whole life for no good reason, Belle is actually willing to give up her life to save her father's. She is smart. She reads. She knows that makes her a outcast, but she doesn't want to change just to fit in.<br />
<br />
Now, some might call the relationship of Belle and her prince a bad case of Stockholm syndrome, but I just call it seeing past the way someone looks and falling in love with what is inside. It's a horrible clichee, yes, but Disney lives on clichees, and they are allowed that. Belle and the Beast actually share the first logical love story Disney ever brought us: it starts off in a certain way, develops to a certain direction for certain reasons, and when the wedding bells chime, it happens for a reason, because they actually grew to love each other through the adventures they experienced together.<br />
<br />
I'd like to say that Belle is the prototype of a modern Disney princess. She still has the best qualities from her foremothers, like kindness, beauty and that mesmerizing voice, but she takes a far more active role in her story, and is actually one heck of a role model.<br />
<br />
DEFINING MOMENT: The reprise of <i>Belle (Little Town)</i>. After she not-so-subtly turns down Gaston's tempting proposal, and proceeds to run in the hilltops and sing about her dreams of <i>adventure in the great wide somewhere</i>.<br />
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<b>Jasmine</b> in <i>Aladdin</i> (1992)<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"Then maybe I don't want to be a princess anymore."</i><br />
<br />
I granted Jasmine the priviledge to be the only princess (next to Cinderella) to pose with her prince, for several reasons: 1) I didn't find a nice picture with just her in it. 2) Aladdin just might be my favorite Disney prince. He really is 'rather tasty'! 3) I thought I should make amends, because I only gave her a section of her own here on the last minute. For a long time I just didn't think she's much more than a love interest. But in the name of fair game, here she is.<br />
<br />
And now that I think about it, it's silly she hasn't been here all along. She rebels against the system that wants to force her in a certain, oppressed role, and that always earns high points from me. And after all, she's one of the few princesses here who actually is an actual, genuine princess, from the beginning to end.<br />
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DEFINING MOMENT: Running away from the palace in the beginning, and rolling her eyes at her rich idiotic suitors.<br />
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<b>Nala</b> in <i>The Lion King</i> (1994)<br />
<br />
<i>"Pinned you again!"
</i><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">I was so
concentrated on humans (and a stupid mermaid-turned-into-one) that I almost
overlooked this heroine. She is kind of a princess, after all, or at least a
queen! The role
she plays in the story is primarily one of a love interest, but she deserves to be here, because of the awesome character and badassness she shows. And, for a lion, she's quite pretty.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">DEFINING MOMENT: When she tries to talk some sense into Simba, trying to convince him to go back and be a King. And of course, everytime she pins Simba, young and adult.</span></div>
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<b>Pocahontas</b> in <i>Pocahontas</i> (1995)</div>
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<i><br /></i>
<i>"Still I cannot see if the savage one is me."</i><br />
<br />
As far as favourites go, Pocahontas is right behind Belle in my book. There is just nothing I do not love about her. She has such a great, wild, open spirit. She is one with nature, which is something that has always fascinated me in the Native American cultures. She might not know her path from the start, but there is great wisdom about her, and fearlessness, curiosity.<br />
<br />
Instead of reacting to John Smith - a strange, white creature - with hate and fear, she is intrigued by what she has never seen before, and she follows him, and observes him, wanting to learn new things about him and his kind; all this with caution, of course (she's no Ariel (=stupid)). Just think about the anti-racist values she represents! She learns some bad things about the white race, and she knows that some of John's kind are bad and do bad thing (like destroy the forests), but she understands that even though John is white, and shares some beliefs with the mainstream of white people (which she doesn't approve of), it doesn't mean he is automatically bad. She gives him a chance, gets to know him, and introduces him to her own opinions and beliefs. All this with no hate or prejudice. More than a few of us should try and learn something from Pocahontas.<br />
<br />
While the men around her shiver with fear and hate and ignorance, and see violence as the only way out, Pocahontas is like the best diplomat in the world! She tries to get the opposing sides to talk instead of fighting. When the stubborn macho idiots still head for battle, she literally throws herself between them and forces them to see reason. She saves her prince, and a whole lot of other people on the side.<br />
<br />
Speaking of her prince, I haven't said anything about her romantic undertakings yet. I guess that's because the romance is not the most important part of the story, or even the relationship of Pocahontas and John. Anyway. Pocanhontas' first potential love interest is Kocoum. Very much like in the case of Gaston in <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>, Kocoum is the bachelor anyone would kill to marry; everyone except for our heroine. But unlike Gaston, Kocoum is a respectable man, and Pocahontas sees this, and mourns for him when he dies. He is a good man, but not right for Pocahontas.<br />
<br />
John Smith, on the other hand... Maybe this is not the most epic love story of the millenium, either. The movie doesn't end to the chime of wedding bells, after all, like many/most other Disney movies do. Which, in a way, is awesome. Pocahontas and John Smith share a truly meaningful connection, and they come to care about each other a great deal, through mutual adventures and experiences, but there's none of the "you're the One, the only one for me, my life is nothing without you" crap. And, I mean... Does the spinning arrow actually point at John Smith? Or does it rather point at her destiny, which is to prevent a war and save a bunch of lives? I vote for the latter.<br />
<br />
In summary, I just love Pocahontas. She's truly the hero of her story.<br />
<br />
Also, without realizing it, she makes the best joke in the movie: "You have a most unusual name too... John Smith."<br />
<br />
DEFINING MOMENT: The man she loves asks her to leave her home to go with him. And she says no! Now that's a Disney ending you don't see coming. If only the real-life Pocahontas would've been equally badass. (I'm ignoring the sequel where she actually goes to England. Haven't seen it, didn't happen.)<br />
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<b>Esmeralda</b> in <i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> (1996)</div>
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<br />
<i>"So there's ten of you and one of me. What's a poor girl to do?"</i><br />
<br />
<i>Hunchback</i> is a kind of unusual Disney movie with its unusually dark themes (I mean, the <i>Hell Fire</i> scene where Frollo is going mad because he's afraid he's going to Hell for feeling sexually attracted to Esmeralda; would not have happened in <i>Snow White</i>), and Esmeralda is an equally unusual Disney princess.<br />
<br />
She is an outcast, an outsider, which isn't news when it comes to Disney heroines, but Esmeralda actually has to worry for her life and hide from the law because of it. She's sexy and she knows it, and isn't ashamed to use her womanly assets. She's strong-willed and witty and fearless. She's the first Disney princess (after Nala, of course; I just keep forgetting about the poor lion) who is more than able to defend herself against physical attacks, because she's got a mean kick and more than a few tricks in her magical Gypsy sleeve.<br />
<br />
And then of course there's the more traditinal side to her, best demonstrated in the <i>God Help the Outcast</i> scene. Which is nice, because we don't want our Disney princesses too hardened.<br />
<br />
DEFINING MOMENT: The whole Festival of Fools sequence shows all of Esmeralda's best and most distinctive qualities. That shamelessly provocative dance, how she defends Quasimodo when no one else does, and finally the ass-kicking.<br />
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<b>Megara</b> in <i>Hercules</i> (1997)</div>
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<br />
<i>"I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, I can handle this. Have a nice day."</i><br />
<br />
I had a hard time choosing just one quote, because Meg is actually quite the ambassador of feminism, haha. (<i>"I'm a big tough girl. I tie my own sandals and everything."</i>) She's so funny with her witty words and ancient pop culture references! Meg would've rolled her eyes at the fangirling Ariel and slapped her in the cheek. She also definitely has a dark side, which is news when talking about Disney heroines. Would Snow White have worked together with the evil stepmother and agreed to manipulate her prince to help the villain destroy him? Bless her, she's too busy not hurting any flies...<br />
<br />
Of course, in the end, falling in love with Hercules turns her kind of Snow White-ish, but she still remains awesome, and her prince only needs to rescue her, because she rescued her prince first. So yay, Meg. Finally, those crazy hips are just... crazy. Like Esmeralda, she's aware of the affect she has on men, and she uses it when necessary.<br />
<br />
DEFINING MOMENT:<i> I Won't Say I'm In Love</i>, definitely. <i>No man is worth the aggravation/ That's ancient history, been there, done that!
</i> What do you know, not all love stories end nicely and neatly, not even in a Disney movie! Sometimes hearts get broken. Sometimes there are more than evil supernatural forces and stepmothers standing in the way of love: sometimes there are past experiences that hurt too much for a heart to feel free to love again. But it helps to have five sassy muses singing your backgrounds.<br />
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<b>Mulan</b> in<i> Mulan</i> (1998)</div>
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<br />
<i>"You said you'd trust Ping. Why is Mulan any different?"</i><br />
<br />
Next to Belle and Pocahontas, Mulan is the third member of my prestigious Top Three. She's just so incredibly cool and such a badass. (And even though the world of Mulan is so different from the real, modern China, living there for three months made me like her even more. I mean, sympathy, girl! (Kidding. In a way.))<br />
<br />
The beginning of Mulan's story is classic Disney: a misfit, who is an outsider because she's so much cooler than everyone else around her, but no one sees it, including herself. She knows she doesn't fit the expected role of a respectable, presentable woman, but she tries, for her family's sake. She doesn't even dream about a different life, she just wishes she could turn into something else, something that would match the expectations of her environment. Her family loves her, of course, but that makes it even worse for her, not pleasing them, and not being able to bring them that famous Chinese honor.<br />
<br />
Like Belle (I like to draw these parellels, as you can see), Mulan goes to have her life-changing adventure to save her father, even though no one
asked her to. Her family thinks its the worst idea ever -
that is, until she saves all of China. That's usually a handy thing to
do if you're in the need of some honor.<br />
<br />
There is some charming irony in the way Mulan goes from pretending to be an honorable lady to pretending to be an honorable man; and how she kind of sucks at both. And yet, while she's not always very good at being a man, she sort of finds her place and meaning there, among the smelly, hairy, unrefined dudes. I haven't and don't want to see the sequel, but I would like to imagine that after coming home from war, she will find the happy medium between the two extremes that she pretended to be, and understand (while making her family understand) that is what she is, and it's also the best possible way she can be.<br />
<br />
Mulan is wonderfully awkward, thanks to all the pretending she's forced to do, and there is also some really sweet innocence about her: she is capable and ready to kill, but she still makes sure she keeps clean and smells good, and is horrified at the sight of a naked man. And she's so funny, explaning about her 'manly urges', how 'you just gotta kill
somethin'... fix things, cook outdoors'... Haha. Best of all, out of the awkwardness and bashfulness grows a leader, who makes brave and wise decisions, and defies the men who don't take her seriously once they find out she's not one of them.<br />
<br />
Speaking of men, the love story is not really necessary, but I appect it, because it's not like they get married in the end or anything. He just stays for dinner.<br />
<br />
DEFINING MOMENT: Climbing to the top of that pole and fetching the arrow. Now that's girl power for you. She might not have been as physically strong as the men, but she beat them with a little imagination and determination. A classic You Go Girl kind of moment.</div>
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<b>Jane</b> in <i>Tarzan</i> (1999)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<i>"I was saved! I was saved by a flying wild man in a loincloth."
</i><br />
<br />
Some time ago I watched <i>Tarzan</i> for the first time since... I don't know. Ever? Sure felt like it. It is quite a nice story, but I found the movie too late, so there's no special bond. But I do love 1) the song, <i>You'll Be In My Heart</i>, and 2) Jane. She's such a geek! Not a girly girl, in any way, but kind of a tomboy, who likes to get her
hands dirty, and wouldn't bother herself with lipstick or nail polish. She's brainy and science-orientated.<br />
<br />
Jane may not be not revolutionary in any way, but she's a nice add to the mix of Disney heroines. And she's funnier than her man; that's something, too.<br />
<br />
DEFINING MOMENT: Geeking out over monkies and leaves and all the little wonders of the jungle.</div>
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*<br />
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<u>2000s: The New Generation</u></div>
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<br />
It was well into the new millenium, when Disney princesses finally made a comeback, after strange, forgettable movies (like <i>Chicken Little</i>), and the merging with Pixar. But it was not a worthy comeback. I know, I just know this is not only about me growing up. They simply don't make Disney princesses like they used to anymore!<br />
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<b>Tiana</b> in <i>The Princess and the Frog</i> (2009)<br />
<br />
<i>"I don't have time for dancing."</i><br />
<br />
There had been a Native American heroine, and a Gypsy, and heroines from China and Middle-East, but for some reason it was well in the '00s when we finally got our first black Disney princess. There hadn't been a traditional princess tale since Belle, so there was almost a 20-year gap. But unfortunately Tiana is just a shadow of what her collegues used to be in the good old '90s. Poor girl.<br />
<br />
She's not a completely lost case, of course. There is that "too busy for romance" angle, which always gets approval from me. Tiana is also quite a workaholic, and that's something new. She works her butt off, every day, but not because of an evil stepmother or anything - just because she wants to! She dreams big, but not of a Prince Charming: of a fancy restaurant of her own. So no time for princes. (Of course, in the familiar Disney way, time will be made for a prince. Some things never change...)<br />
<br />
DEFINING MOMENT: Singing <i>Almost There</i>.<br />
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<b>Rapunzel</b> in <i>Tangled</i> (2010)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<i>"Have some humanity. Haven't any of you ever had a dream?"</i><br />
<br />
The rest of the post is done, finnished, ready to be published, but all it says under Rapunzel so far is: "In an unpleasant way she reminds me of Ariel." Not an awfully good start? However, after trusting Youtube in refreshing my almost non-existent memories of <i>Tangled</i>, I can say I kind of like Rapunzel! Sure, she has some Ariel-like naivety, and sometimes she bats her eyes just like the good old mermaid brat. But what can you expect from someone who's lived in a tower all her life? Her wide-eyed innocence is sort of endearing. (And what they can do with animaton nowadays is just amazing! The visuals in the <i>I See the Light</i> scene are SO beautiful.)<br />
<br />
Like with Tiana, I just don't have much to say here. Maybe the new generation problem is that I'm sadly not nine years old anymore... Only it's not that! These new gals just lack something, something that clearly got lost at the turn of the millenium.<br />
<br />
DEFINING MOMENT: I'll go with the moment when she goes from blond to brunette, while cutting off 99,9% of her hair, and she's still happy and pretty. I remember that was a twist that I really liked!</div>
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*<br />
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<u>The Pixar Princess</u><br />
<br />
90's were awesome, the best of the best, and I will take no arguments
about that. The new century hasn't unfortunately done much good for
Disney, and the studio's reign as the god of animation is clearly coming
to an end. Practically, it already has. Sure, the studio is still called
Disney-Pixar, but when today we think about great animation, we think
about Pixar. So maybe we should stop talking about Disney princesses and
start talking about Pixar princesses. Now, let's see what we have so far on that front.<br />
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<b>Merida</b> in <i>Brave</i> (2012)<br />
<br />
<i>"I want my freedom!"</i><br />
<br />
Quite famously,
Pixar managed to postpone the creation of its first female lead until
this year. <i>Brave</i> was long time coming, and Merida should've been created years ago, but at least she has a decade's worth of hair! Seriously, that hair is AMAZING! It's the best thing about the whole movie. I could praise that hair all day, and it still wouldn't be enough. I want to marry it. The animator of that hair should get at least an Oscar. And maybe a Nobel peace prize for making the world so much redder and curlier and fuzzier, and thus better.<br />
<br />
Other than the hair (which I kind of feel obligated to praise even further, because I'm concerned someone didn't get how much I love it; IT'S THE MOST AWESOME HAIR EVER), she has more attitude than all pre-90s princesses put together. You might throw some of the post-90s heroines in there, too, and still be just fine. She's incredibly stubborn and wild, and she keeps gasping for freedom. What makes her stand out among some other, undeniably awesome and wilful animated heroines, is that she never gives one serious thought to the option that maybe she should just submit to her fate and do whatever she's expected to do; Mulan tried her best to be a respectable lady, and Pocahontas didn't immediately push Kocoum aside with a frustrated snort. Merida is constanly struggling against her set future, objecting on every opportunity, always protesting and looking for a way out.<br />
<br />
The way Merida puts herself and her wishes before her family, and resorts to hasty, irresponsible and reckless measures to get her way, kind of gives me an unwelcome Ariel-ish vibe (there's the ginger factor, too). But I forgive her for this, because in other ways she's much cooler than Ariel (and her hair is still better because it's curly and more awesomely-animated), and most importantly, her goals never circle around or even include getting a man of her dreams. I very much enjoyed the refreshing lack of a prince or any kind of romance in the story!<br />
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A really cool thing about<i> Brave</i> is that it's faithfully female-centered from beginning to end. The story is not about the relationship between Merida and her father, or Merida and one of her brothers, or Merida and a wizard, or Merida and one of the idiotic suitors, who would of course turn from idiotic to a real charmer, and maybe pull off a mask and reveal his dashingly handsome face. I would actually watch that, if the prince would be the chubby one with the dialect that no one understands. Hahaha... Anyway, point was, that it's really cool that the story is about the relationship between a mother and a daughter. That's incredibly rare, if you think about it. Furthermore, both the mother and the daughter kick so much ass it's almost unheard of!<br />
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DEFINING MOMENT: The whole film is one huge defining moment, showing the best of Merida's nature, but I guess I have to mention the "shooting for her own hand" scene. That was pretty badass. P.S. I LOVE HER HAIR.<br />
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Other Pixar heroines include:<br />
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<b>Jessie</b> the cowgirl! Jessie is awesome because she wears PANTS! First time for everything. No wait, Jasmine wore pants. Because that's what princesses do in Agrabah. And Mulan did too, while
pretending to be a man. And coincidently, Nala did not wear any clothes
at all. Anyways. Bad argument. Jessie can be claimed to be a bit annoying in <i>Toy Story 2</i>, but in <i>TS3</i> she is much more awesome. Plus she makes a fun, natural and unforced love interest for Buzz Lightyear, who is one of my biggest heroes. So two thumbs up for that. YEE-HAW!<br />
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<b>EVE</b>! She's the love interest of the main character of a movie that is essentially a love story, which makes EVE quite a traditional heroine. Of course, her role as a love interest is pretty much the only thing that makes her traditional. She's a killer robot, after all. <i>Wall-E</i> definitely presents the best gender role reversal in the history of animation!<br />
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<u>The Shape of Princesses To Come</u></div>
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What should be expected from the future of Disney-Pixar princesses?<br />
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I have to mention Princess Leia, of course, since due to the whole Lucasfilm thingy she theoretically is a Disney princess now. (I got the photo <a href="http://disneyandlucasfilm.tumblr.com/">here</a>. It's an awesome site, by the way.)<br />
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Other than that, there doesn't seem to be any particularly princess-y stuff coming up from either Pixar or Disney anytime soon. So I don't know when the next animated heroine will hit the screens, or what she will be like, but I have my hopes. Maybe the next stop will be... a lesbian princess! Haha, or maybe not... I'll be happy if that happens in my lifetime, but I'm not holding my breath. Also, could there at some point be someone with a bit fuller, less inhuman figure, and a hair that doesn't makes us all bitterly jealous...? Nah?<br />
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Anyway, the direction where <i>Brave</i> steered the heroine genre is definitely a good one, and I'd like to think that if in my childhood my imaginary games consisted of household duties, maybe the little girls of 2013 will run around with make-believe bows and arrows.<br />
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<i>Brave</i> was clearly and shamelessly about a girl, and what it means to be a girl, and I'm a sucker for that, sure, but maybe on the next level the storytellers should stop making such a fuss about the female-ness of their leading character: Maybe the story should be not so much about the hardships of being a woman, and more about the hardships of being a human, no matter the sex. That being a girl is not the point. The leading character just happens to be female. There's no need for princes or love stories or other unnecessarily girly stuff. The stories could be about old grannies going on adventures with little Girl Scouts, or two gentle female monsters trying to make a living, or a cool racing car called Lightingette McKing, who meets a hick tow truck lady. Girl can be the standard, too.<br />
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As someone might have gathered by now, I am quite passionate about Disney, and those animated, wide-eyed heroines and all that wavy hair has come to mean a lot to me over the years. The business of being a girl can be a tough one, whether you are a pretty orphan with a hellish stepmother, a Scottish princess with a hair to die for, or a Finnish university student with apparently way too much freetime.<br />
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More or less consciously, I have always looked for guidance and example from Cinderella, Belle and Pocahontas, and without a doubt have been modelling myself after them like any other young (or older) girl in the Western world. And quite frankly, there are much worse role models, aren't there? Maybe the established Disney princess gives us unreasonable expectations of hair, not to speak of romance and the chivarly of the opposite sex, but the optimism of Cinderella, wisdom of Pocahontas, diligence of Tiana, bravery of Mulan, independence of Meg, and the pure awesomeness of Belle are all attributes from which we can and should gladly learn some valuable lessons. Long live the Disney princess!<br />
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Thanks for bearing with me. I'm finnished now!</div>
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Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3545129828793482880.post-83173523974060563662012-11-22T00:07:00.000+02:002012-11-22T00:15:18.518+02:00Every revolution begins with a spark<div style="text-align: center;">
And every wait for a Hunger Games movie begins with an incredibly cool motion poster. I remember seeing the similar poster for the first film, and the shivers were huge, because that was the first piece of the movie Hunger Games that we ever got. Now, I think I just grinned and looked stupid. Another cool logo. Tick tock, it's a clock. See the poster <a href="http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=35827">here</a>.<br />
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The premier of <i>Catching Fire</i> is still a year away, so the hype should be kept to the minimum. But I can hardly wait to see the first pictures of Finnick and Johanna and all the other new characters! And the arena, with the pink sky and all! Ok, no more hype.</div>
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<i>"This is no place for a girl on fire."</i></div>
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A year. A friggin' year...</div>
Eevahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04939481691627495836noreply@blogger.com2