My dearest movie character

"Tough one", I thought, when learning the Movie Monday challenge of the week. Who could I possibly name as the movie character closest to my heart? Well, it wasn't that difficult in the end. I chose the one that first came to my mind, and did it for a reason.

Belle has been my hero for decades. (I guess you can now say that because the movie came out 20 years ago, haha.) She's always been one of my favourite Disney princesses, but while when growing up Cinderella steadily held the number one position with that dazzling ball dress and glass slippers, last year, when my love for Disney peaked once again, I felt safe to announce that Belle had claimed the title for herself.

And isn't she just thoroughly awesome? She was (one of) the first Disney heroine to ditch the role of a frail damsel in distress. Before her there was the stupid teenage brat Ariel (ugh, my blood just began to boil), the naive Snow White who just went with the flow and the apathetic Aurora who had no personality whatsoever. After Belle there's been other kick-ass heroines like Pocahontas, Mulan, Esmeralda and Meg. But Belle is the mother to them all. She doesn't just react; she acts.

Belle does own all the positive qualities of a textbook Disney princess: she's kind, righteous and caring, she sings like an angel, and oh, how pretty she is. I'm a huge fan of that strand of hair that she has to tuck back all the time! She dreams big and never loses her hope. On the other hand, she stands up for her loved ones, even risks her life for them. She's a bit stubborn and doesn't want to be bossed around. She loves books and stories and is very curious. She's subtly sarcastic ("Gaston, you are positively primeval."). She doesn't want to do something just because "she's supposed to", which makes her kind of a misfit. Her biggest nightmare is to become the little wife to the most desired nuthead of the town, and she will not yield to that even if everyone expects her to. She sees past the monstrous appearance of her prince and falls in love with the kind, brave, yet akward man inside the beast. She doesn't just wait around to be rescued. She rescues herself. And her prince, too, on the way. I call that kick-ass, and awesome, and thus Belle is the dearest movie character to me.

And yes, that yellow ball dress is gorgeous, just gorgeous. Might even beat the glass slippers.



I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. / I want it more than I can tell. / And for once it might be grand / To have someone understand / I want so much more than they've got planned


P.S. I burned my lunch while writing this post. For a change. I can't even begin to count how many meals I've ruined because of blogging. Oh well, I guess it's worth it.

Once upon a time in Nazi-occupied France...

 

Click below for some Basterds highlights.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) - old Captain Jack is getting a bit old

From the moment I heard the first rumour that there will be another Pirates movie, I was suspicious. Yet I always hoped that somehow it would end up being okay; a nice little entertainment bomb if nothing else. I don't need that much to be entertained, really! I went to the cinema with very low expectations, but just this once, that didn't do the trick.

Most of the time I wasn't even entertained, just bored, and on the top of it all, hating the fact that people like money so much, and so my poor eyes once again had to endure that extra strain because of that stupid third dimesion. I missed the good old pirate spirit that just wasn't there. I even found myself missing Orlando and Keira! The most crushing thing to admit is that even goold old Captain Jack didn't have the same charm anymore, so the legendary pirate captain must have lived past his best days. I was hoping the Jack thing would never get old - the jokes, the smirks, the drunken way he walks, the idiotic ways he always seems to get out of tricky spots - but what can you do. It sucks, though.

Sure, there were some occasional moments when it felt like the old movies, when the good old spirit showed up, even if only for a second at a time. The nostalgic value was there, yes, but it didn't save as much as I expected it to. Mostly I was just annoyed that they the staining the good memory of all those awesome characters. On one hand it was good that they'd gone to a simpler direction with the plot - it can't get much more confusing than the web of lies and back-stabbing and side-switching in At World's End - but on the other hand, at least that constant confusion assured that you weren't able to predict every single plot twist and turn of events at least five minutes before they happen. I don't think I was surprised once during the whole On Stranger Tides.
 

Penelope I liked more that I expected (doesn't take much as I didn't expect to like her at all, but anyway). Blackbeard was an okay new character too, but oh well, I'm just rarely into those PURE EVIL vilains; they are much more interesting coming with more than that one single character trait (PURE EVIL) in them. The reward for the most unnecessary and hollow character (in addition to the zombies; if you want someone undead, call the cursed skeletons or Davy Jones's fish people) goes to the replacement of Orlando Bloom's pretty face: the ridiculously muscular clercyman. Apparently he's done most of his God-serving in between fierce sessions of ab excercises and push-ups.

Things I did like: the pirate flag flying at the top of the Disney castle in the logo; the mermaids that actually brought in some nice mythology and action (and the required, boring love story); the Cameo (hahahaha, genius); the undead monkey and The Pearl, even if only miniature versions of them; the Jack/Barbossa moments, because that much charisma and talent can't go unnoticed even if the context and the dialogue were stupid.

Oh well. After all this bashing I think it's more than appropriate to pull the rug from under the whole post and say that I wouldn't mind too much if they did some more mediocre Pirates sequels. I'd go see them anyway, just because... Well I don't know. But I would.

"Why is it we can never meet without you pointing something at me?"

10 of my favourite movie musical numbers

Some time ago I made a list of my favourite musical moments in non-musical movies. So this list is a natural follower! It also happens to match the first challenge in the new Movie Monday blog. (Note: no animations accepted on the list! Why? It would be filled with Disney songs, and I already made that list.)
 

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10. Time Warp in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

This movie is so insane. It doesn't have a sensible moment in its running time! And I appreciate and respect that. Time Warp is the catchiest and thus my favourite song in the musical, so it has the honour to inhabit the last but not... well, yes, the least position on the list. In a list ranking songs according to their ability to get stuck on your head, this would be number one by a bullet! ... Aaaand just when you thought I would get through with this without mentioning the Glee version, I go and mention the Glee version. Because it's brilliant and Kurt is brilliant and so on and so forth.




 9. My Favourite Things in The Sound of Music (1965)

It's just so very sweet, okay? And so is Julie Andrews, ah!




8. Greased Lightning in Grease (1978)

 I used to love Grease, but then I watched it too many times and now I just kind of unactively like it for the nostalgic value. Still, there's no denying the entertainment value of John Travolta's hips and the always-makes-your-feet-restless value of the beat in Greased Lightning.

7. Good Morning in Singing' in the Rain (1952)

I could've and maybe should've chosen the most iconic musical scene in the history if cinema, but decided to go with this one instead without much ado. I just like the melody and the enthusiastic and cheerful mood of the scene. And the tap dance. Oh, the tap dance.

6.  Can I Have This Dance in High School Musical 3 (2008)

Haha, I think it's appropriate to talk about a black sheep here. Me and High School Musicals go way back, and it would've been unfair and evasive to ignore that fact when making this list. Now, about this particular song and scene. Sometimes I've been joking that I want to dance to this at my wedding, and unfortunately it wasn't always pure joking. I have now accepted that this song will indeed have nothing at all to do with my wedding, whatsoever, but while I'm beginning to forget the lyrics to all the other HSM songs, I still find myself listening to this once in a while. It's quite nice, really. And not half as cheesy as it could be.




5. A Little Priest in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

 Well, first, if there's Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and singing involved, it can't end up being nothing too bad. Sweeney Todd is pretty great, and I chose this scene for its quirkiness, its relevance to the plot, and for the pure joy of watching Johnny and Helena work their magic together.




4. Cell Block Tango in Chicago (2002)

Chicago is sexy and chic and just unresistable. It has many, many awesome musical numbers, but Cell Block Tango is hands down my favourite. Those murderesses just kick ass! After this, no one can say that murder is not an art.




3. Somewhere Over The Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

It doesn't get much more classic than this. Judy Garland, stuck in the dull, colourless Kansas, dreams of a better place somewhere over the rainbow, not knowing that's exactly where she will end up soon enough. Oh, I adore this song.

2. Dancing Queen in Mamma Mia! (2008)

This movie is such a joy. It's the ultimate pleasure without a single drop of guilt. Meryl Streep and the girls dancing around a beautiful Greek island, singing this timeless, feel-good ABBA song, is so much fun - just a thought of it is somehow uplifting and makes a smile sneak up on your face. The best thing is, you don't necessarily have to be young and sweet, only seventeen, to a be dancing queen. It just takes some growing back down.




1. El Tango De Roxanne in Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Moulin Rouge! had to be number one, of course. Deciding on just one song, scene, number, was a much trickier job to do. Your Song, Elephant Love Medley and Come What May finally lost, though only by inches, to the dramatic, thrilling, flamboyant, goosebumps-quaranteed El Tango De Roxanne. Oh, how vividly we feel the heart-rending pain of Ewan McGregor. You just want to give him a big hug. But only after he's stopped singing! Don't you dare interrupt the magic in action.

Water for Elephants (2011) - a good try that somehow waters down

directed by Francis Lawrence / starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz

Water for Elephants turned out to be one of those movies that technically have all the ingridients to be great, but for some reason you can't quite put your finger on, they flag in the level of being just okay. It could've been so good: it has a great, intriguing and visually exciting setting (who wouldn't love the circus atmosphere?), a dramatic, moulinrouge-ish kind of story and pretty good actors, too (the main threesome includes two Oscar winners and one of the most recognizable faces in the world right now (not that that necessarily guarantees anything)).

And yet... blah.  There was something missing; that little extra something. I kind of did enjoy myself as long as the movie lasted, but it didn't linger in my mind, and now, a few weeks later that I'm actually trying to get my mind around finishing this post, I can't say there are many thoughts in my head about the film. But I'll try.

Reese Wiherspoon has done some pretty good roles, yes, though usually their just the basic barbie doll roles, but somewhere between those she managed to win an Oscar, too, so she can't be a total loser, right? I'm a bit torn about her, but in Water for Elephants, I didn't like her much, if at all. She just lacked that... that leading lady spark. I mean, in movies like this you're supposed to fall in love with the characters like they fall in love with each other, or at least see what they mean, when they go "Ah, my love, I'd die for you, please let me die for you" and "Your mesmerizing beauty makes me see you in slow motion". (Like in Moulin Rouge!, for example, it makes total sense that they risk their lives for each other and all that, because we see her beauty and soul and his lovable romantic poor man's charm.) I just felt like telling Rob to ditch the colourless, soulless woman and go fall in love with someone of his own age. Rob at least was kind of charming. And you can't tell me I'm biased, because I was always Team Jacob when I had to choose.

So, Robert Pattinson is pretty good in this movie. It's delightful to see the total lack of all those horrible brooding mannerisms, but I'm afraid this is still not enough to shake the vampire from his shoulders, make less people hate his guts for being so famous and popular ans handsome, and make less people faint at the sight or thought of him or anything related to him. But it's a step away from all that, even if only a small one. It's going to take a while for people to take him seriously, and everyone knows that. Speaking of which, I'm actually become kind of a spokeswoman for Robert Pattinson since some months ago I read this interview. I'd kind of felt sorry for him before, but now I've taken up the habit of defending his honour in every chance I get. If you want to hear my speech, please do not hesitate to ask. Haha. But seriously, though. The guy's just taken too much crap for one little mistake, which you can't blame him for, because no aspiring young actor in his good sense says no to a leading role. Okay, shutting up now, before this gets out of hand.

Christoph Waltz masters the art of playing the vilain, of course. In fact, if he was really lazy and just wanted to make some quick, easy money, he could just do all of his roles by standing still and not saying anything, and the memory of colonel Hans Landa in everyone's minds would do the job for him and everyone would be freaking scared of him anyway. So that's all I have to say about that.

I've somehow failed to talk about the film itself, while talking about various other things. Well, first time for everything, right? (A little sarcasm, right there, in case you didn't notice.) Let's do a nice little summary. Good about Water for Elephants: Rosie the elephant (seriously, what a charmer! Hope they treated her alright...), setting (I just love me some circus stories), Christoph Waltz, Pattinson's non-Edward-ness. Bad about Water or Elephants: the lack of that little extra something, the TOTAL lack of chemistry between the two 'lovers', Reese Witherspoon's blandness, the annoying Nicholas Sparks-like vibe the ending gave me.

I've got the book waiting for me on the shelf and I will read it when the moment presents itself, because the story is still okay, and everyone says the book is better than the movie. I just have to imagine someone else's face in the place of the heroine...

"I don't know if I picked that circus. But something told me that circus picked me."

The Breakfast Club (1985) - once upon a time in a Saturday detention

directed by John Hughes / starring Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy

Five high school kids spend their day in detention on a Saturday. All the stereotypical high school types are represented: the jock, the nerd, the prom queen, the weirdo and the problem child. They all come from different directions, diffrent backgrounds, different lives, and at they end of the day they leave to again go their own separate ways, but in between, they might learn something about each other, about themselves and about life.

It's a real travesty that before just a few months ago, the only John Hughes films I'd seen were about an accident-prone kid called Kevin McCallister. I mean, of course I have the highest respect to Home Alone movies, but oh how I wish I had discovered the John Hughes high school movies of the '80s when I was in that particular target age. Better late than never, though! The Breakfast Club was actually the first one I saw, and after that I've seen pretty much all the other big ones (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Sixteen Candles, Some Kind of Wonderful, Pretty in Pink, even Weird Science), but nothing really could beat that first one.

They say that John Hughes was the first film director ever to take teenagers seriously, and potray them in an accurate, realistic way, and I'm totally buying that. That one scene towards the end of The Breakfast Club (where they sit and talk, you know what I mean, I'm sure) is enough to prove that Hughes remembered what it is like to be a teen. My god, that scene is one brilliant piece of cinema. It's almost overwhelming and can't be described in words (at least not in any words I know) how awesome that scene is.

I love all the characters in The Breakfast Club (though some more than other, yes), and I love how they interact with each other. Really, the five individual characters and the group dynamics are what holds the film together and makes it so, so good.

John Bender played by Judd Nelson is the obvious scene stealer. The character just kind of kicks ass. In many ways he's is the central figure of the whole movie, but mostly just because that personality needs to be in the centre. John Bender doesn't give a (excusez-moi mon francais (or something (excuse my lousy French)), but this is what Bender would say) fuck. He doesn't really respect anyone (authority figures the least (but somehow he seems to respect Allison, though, which is super cool) and lets it show. He's rude and out of control and angry and arrogant and awesome. You just got to love that attitude and that fast tongue.

Andrew Clark played by Emilio Estevez is the popular jock, who kind of struggles between being a nice guy and seeming cool among his peers. He's not particularly standout as a character and not very intriguing (at least not for me), so he's quite a tricky character to play. I guess Andrew and Ringwald's Claire are my least favourites of the bunch, because they are the most like they seem, like you'd expect them to be. They don't really hold as much mystery or secrets as the others.

Molly Ringwald plays the popular girl Claire Standish so much better than all the geeky, 'likable' girls she's played in other Hughes movies. Maybe it's because I never found her presence very likable or sympathetic or easy to relate to, so I didn't really buy her as the awkward yet good-hearted heroine in Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles. The haughty prom queen type she does quite well, however. But like I said above, the character lacks the element of surprise to really kick ass.

Ally Sheedy's Allison Reynold is such a weirdo. She doesn't speak much, but when she does, it's golden. I love everything that she says. Or does, for that matter. "When you grow up, your heart dies." And that's all I need to say about her.

What did I do before I had seen Anthony Michael Hall in action? I tell you what I did. I lived in shameful ignorance! I was so clueless! I liked him in Sixteen Candles and Weird Science as well, because he does comedy so brilliantly, but this... I was SO impressed by his acting, especially in the scene I praised above. I'm almost tearing up just thinking about it. Geez, that just hits me so freaking hard. On the other hand, the comedy value is still there ("Chicks can't hold their smoke. That's what it is."), plus Anthony Michael Hall's personality is probably one of the most likable personalities there is, so you just can't help loving that shy, awkward, geeky Brian Johnson talking about the academic clubs he's in. Aww.

So there you go. Add the enemy (the wonderfully horrible principal played by Paul Gleason) to the mix, and you got yourself the most awesome and life-changing Satuday detention ever. The Breakfast Club is the latest addition I've made to the sacred and prestigious group I imaginatively like to call My Favourite Movies. And it's been a long, long time coming...

"You see us as you want to see us - in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at 7:00 this morning. We were brainwashed."

Did I ever tell you I was struck by lightning seven times?

Didn't remember this movie was so freaking wonderful. I bet it wasn't the last time I saw it. I'm becoming such a wuss. Anyway, love you, David Fincher, love you. And loooove technology for making Brad Pitt look like that again.

"I was thinking how nothing lasts, and what a shame that is."

"Some things last."