Some post-Oscar sentiments 2011

Voilá, a more or less brief summary of the thoughts than ran through my mind in the Oscar Night.

(It turned out to be 'less brief'. So, if you're still dying to get inside my head, proceed by clicking below.)

Golden Globes 2011 and my two (or three) cents

As for the results, I won't comment much. I leave the profound analysis and stabbing critique for the Oscars (just wait for it. Haha.). This time I'll keep this short and simple... Here are my two, or three cents.

1) The Social Network has a lot of friends. Including me! Since my number one of 2010 is apparently too animated to win anything other than the award for the best animation (YAY, though), I have my two thumbs up for David Fincher, Aaron Sorkin, Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and co. Though I want Inception to win something as well (something other than techinical awards would be nice too... Music, maybe?), I'd be happy to see The Social Network win the most important awards. (Black Swan might still make me change my mind, but I wouldn't count on it.) I watched the trailer again the other day (while waiting for the DVD that's all I can do...) and damn, it could win some award just for that.

 2) Biggest. Thrills. Ever. (So far.) So, Chris Colfer did it, then. I can't tell you how freaking thrilled I am for this! When I found out I felt like screaming and crying and jumping, and I did all of those, but only a little, because I was in a public place. Chris didn't only deserve this as an actor, but as a person, too. I've never been so happy for him, but something tells me I will be even happier some day, because this won't be THE peak his career, no way. More about the subject (= more love for Chris Colfer) here.

3) Memorable Moments. Since I wasn't able to watch the show (damn you, Finnish TV companies!), I had to let someone else to gather some of the best moments of the night. Under the link there are a few things worth watching, like everything with Ricky Gervais (he's just so shamelessly rude, it's quite wonderful, really), one of the most inspiring acceptance speeches ever (I'm not only happy for Chris, I'm also happy for those kids who get the inspiration and encouragement they need out of this), and the bit with Robert Downey Jr. I'd almost forgotten how damn charming and charismatic he can be. Aw, make him host the Oscars next year or something!

The biggest movie event of the year is only five weeks away! I personally can't wait.

2010: A Summary of a Year

2010 is almost over. Can you believe it, because I can't! The year has been pretty good, I've seen many awesome films (and quite a bunch of less awesome films as well, but that's unavoidable, I guess). I hugely regret that I didn't make a list of all the films I watched during 2010 (it did cross my mind, damn it), because I'm pretty sure I've broken a personal record. 2010 was also the year when I started blogging, so I guess we can say my year hasn't been a total waste!

To wrap the year up, I look back to the various phases I went through this year. (A phase: A period of time during which I am hugely enthusiastic about something or someone, and can't fully concentrate on anything else.) There's been unusually many of them! Also, I'll very reluctantly make an unofficial top five of my favourite movies of 2010. Don't take it too seriously. There are too many potentially awesome films I haven't yet seen! It's mostly there just for show.

**

My SIX PHASES of 2010

The Robert Downey Jr. phase (January - March)

Not often I go see a film in the cinema twice. Even less often three times. But I did see Sherlock Holmes three times, and I can only blame the unbeatable charm and overflowing hotness of RDJ. During the phase I also watched a lot of lousy films from his early career (and one damn good one that led to another phase later on) and the fourth season of Ally McBeal. That's when the phase probably reached its peak and I was more fanfirl-y that I've been in years and it was highly disturbing and I'm glad it's over now. (And I'm only half-kidding.) I'm still very much RDJ's girl, and I regret I managed to miss Due Date in cinemas.

The River Phoenix phase (March - April)

The short-ish but passionate River Phoenix phase was triggered by the end credits of Stand by Me, as my even-slower-than-usual brain realised that the charming young fellow in the film was actually River Phoenix. Many of his film are almost impossible to come by, but judging by every film I have got my hands on, River was spectacularly talented and an amazing person and all the praise he's ever got is most definitely deserved. Also, when it comes to talking about River Phoenix, one can't get away without mentioning that he has one of the most photogenic faces EVER.

The Lost phase (~April - June)

My Lost phase has been going strong since 2006, but this year it culminated around the series finale in May. All year long I had been regularly freaking out once a week, as the final season teased and shocked and thrilled me to pieces. Lost is the most popular label on my blog, which shows that the Lost phase still isn't over. Just this week I completed a project I had been fantasizing about for years, as my Complete Lost Marathon finally ended. Lost truly has been one of the highlights of the year, but it was also a significant highlight of the whole decade. Dude, it's been awesome.

The Charlie Chaplin phase (June - July)

This is one of the few times ever I've become this excited about something that could easily be considered 'intellectual' (not that Lost, for instance, isn't, ahem). Thanks to RDJ (yep, I still think I owe him this), I read Chaplin's autobiography, loved it, and watched all of his films I could find. Oh and loved them, too, to say the least. I found it quite amazing that I so thoroughly enjoyed something that had been done before the 90s, or even before the invention of talking pictures! So uncharacteristic of me. Chaplin's films are wonderful, oh so wonderful and I'll be eternally grateful to RDJ. Haha.

The Disney phase (August - September)

Before and especially after our spectacular trip to Paris - which included that fateful visit to Disneyland - I couldn't make myself watch anything that wasn't animated and or didn't have a happy ending and a few cute animal friends. I watched more Disney films in a month than I did during the whole year when I was five. And oh did I have a blast! By the time I got annoyed at The Little Mermaid and actually began to look the films critically (first time for everyhing), I figured the time had come to finally shake the phase and move on. Luckily, an old favourite was coming back from a summer hiatus.

The Glee phase (October - December, and beyond)

 Glee, oh Glee! Just when I thought Lost had left a hole in me that nothing could ever fill, along came season two of Glee, and reminded me that there is one show out there that has that potential. Not that the hole is completely filled (won't ever be), but it doesn't ache anymore. Glee has been quite a dominant factor in my life recently: I created a blog dedicated to it, I'm listening to the songs on repeat, I ordered a ticket to their live concert and I want to marry Chris Colfer (oh, if I were a boy!). Glee has quite a steady position in my life, and this phase will continue to live on... Side by side with whatever I next get crazy about.

**

My (unofficial) TOP FIVE of 2010

Rare Exports

Okay, so. Rare Exports is here, because 1) it was a good film and 2) because it's not every year Finns make a film that one might even consider when thinking about the best films of the year. I might have liked The Deathly Hallows a bit more, but hey, the patriot in me wanted to give this film some more credit. (And I make sure DH pt. 2 will be on my top five of 2011. Promise.) And it's not only that it is a rare export when it comes to domestic cinema. Rare Exports is an imaginative and bold piece of work, it creeped me out, it made me laugh and gave me chills and, quite unexpectedly, a touch of Christmas spirit as well.

Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass kicked off my summer of various action adventures, such as Robin Hood, Iron Man 2 and Prince of Persia, and ended up kicking the crap out of all the rest. It is an entertainment bomb. It introduced two bright stars of tomorrow, Aaron Johnson and Chloe Moretz, and also features the brilliant Christopher Mintz-Plasse. One of my favourite moments (in addition to everything that includes Hit-Girl) still is when the main character is worried that if he dies, he won't find out how Lost ends. What a relief I don't have to worry about anymore! Because, on some of my less proud moments, I did. Anyway, Kick-Ass kicks ass.

Inception

Er, what? What is Inception doing this far from number one? Wasn't it pretty much the most mind-blowing thing I'd seen in ages, a complicated and intriguing masterpiece by the genious also known as Chris Nolan, and simply just the grandest cinema experience ever? Well, yes. As you can see, I haven't numbered the top five, even though they are supposingly in the order of superiority. It just felt wrong. When my friend asked me what my five favourite movies of 2010 were, he also asked me to mark put a star after each film that was so damn incredible you forgot it was a film you were watching. (continues below)

The Social Network

(cont.) (He asked me for the list in Facebook. By the way.) Inception was the only was that I starred. So why oh why are The Social Network and another film topping Inception? Well, quite frankly, I don't know. I'm just listening to my gut. I can't say which one I liked more, because they are so very different. Both left me in awe, but in different kinds of awe and for different reasons. I actually at one point promoted Inception to number two, but finally dropped it back down again, because this was the original order on the list in Facebook. And as we know, Facebook is the bible of today's world. And yes, The Social Network is freaking genious.

Toy Story 3

So here we are, then. 2010 is just about in the bag and my most favourite film ended up being... not a sci-fi epic nor an origin story of a web page... but a third instalment of an animated film series. Um... okay? I guess what happened here is that number three and number two were too busy wrestling with each other that they forgot one little Toy Story 3. Whoever saw that coming? ... I did, actually. (Just remembered that I did!) Here's a direct quote (with spelling errors and all, sigh... 'askes'... I should probably fix that) from my Inception post from July:

" So - if someone askes me in the end of this year what was the BEST film of 2010, I will probably say Inception. If they ask what was MY FAVOURITE film, I will say something else. Something silly like Toy Story 3 or Kick-Ass or Harry Potter. "

And yes, I don't think this is such a scandalous or unexpected choice after all. I mean, whoever has seen the film knows it's brilliant in so many wonderful ways. I'm definitely campaigning for Toy Story 3 to win the best picture Oscar, and not only because I like underdogs and tend to fly the flag of those who REALLY don't stand much chance of winning, but also because I think it has a tremendous amount of potential. I mean, don't you want an animated picture to win the Oscar some day? So why not now? (Yeah, yeah, okay. In my dreams. Anyway.)

**

Okay. So. A wrap-up of a wrap-up... 2010. What a year! And I have a sneaky feeling that 2011 might be even better! There sure are a big bunch of films worth expecting on the way. 2010 took us beyond infinity, but who knows, we might go even further next year.

Happy two thousand and eleven, everyone! Enjoy the fireworks tonight!

Globes 2011 nominees

The nominees for the 2011 Golden Globes just came in! Do check them here. Both Inception and The Social Network got multiple nominations, expectedly and deservigly. I still have a lot of films to see from the list, but I can say I want Andrew Garfield to get that award! And the golden dude, too, later on. No matter how awesome the other nominees might be...

P.S. I've been babysitting my nephew today, and we've watched Cars three times. And now I just put it on for the fourth time. I didn't want to, but he started to threathen the life of my Lost box set, so I gave in. That sneaky little boy.

The Social Network (2010) - Eeva likes this

 directed by David Fincher / starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara

... And she likes it a lot! When I first heard that there would be a 'Facebook movie', I was like 'oh MAN'. When I heard it was going to be directed by David Fincher, I was like 'okay, man'. Then I saw the trailer and I was like 'YEAH, man!', and now I'm running out of man-related ways of expressing my expectations. Anyway. I liked it and I liked it a lot.

In the fall of 2003 Mark Zuckerberg is dumbed by his girlfriend. So, he sits down in front of his computer in his dorm room at Harvard university, and does what every self-respecting gentleman does after a break-up - creates a site where you can rank the girls of the campus according to the level of their hotness. Of this fierce, drunken session of programming, begins Mark's accidental journey that leads him to becoming the world's youngest billionaire. Oh, and facing a teeny weeny law suit, filed by his (ex-)best friend. And that's The Social Network for you!

What do 500 million people do about two hundred times a day? Well, a lot of things, but certain 500 million people go to a certain website called Facebook and see what their 673 friends have been up to lately - like what did they have for dinner or did their pet hamster have a birthday or whether they're planning to take a shower before or after Grey's Anatomy - and in return, they do those 673 people a favour and describe their own plans of the day in great detail. And yeah, I'm one of those 500 million people, and even though I don't have 673 friends (only 165 - I've lost one again, I just noticed), I'm still an active user and not all my status updates are hugely informative and necessary so I just stop mocking now.

Facebook is obviously a huge phenomenon. It's become such a natural part of our world, that you just assume that every person you meet is on Facebook and it's easy to forget that there are still people who don't like telling their real name or posting pictures of themselves online. Remember that time when you didn't dare tell your first name on an internet forum? Because I hardly do, but that was just a few years ago, really. The film really got me thinking, among various other things, about when you put something in the internet, there's a good change you never get it out again. "The internet's not written in pencil, Mark. It's written in ink." Indeed. I immidiately started thinking if there's something in my blog that my future employers, or future ex-best friends who want to sue me, could use against me. This is serious stuff. Just think about the chicken.

Back to the movie, now. I could babble about FB a lot more, it's just a fascinating and funny phenomenon, it somehow tells a lot about the world we live in, the need of popularity, selling of the self-image and satisfying the need for social contacts with a touch of a finger (because sometimes "Liking" something is all the nurturing your relationships need...). Anyway, I want to babble about the movie too. Because it was gooood!

A story about creating a web page paralleled by a story of a law suit doesn't sound like a movie many people would like to see. Throw a former boy band member to the mix and you've got the perfect ingridients for a guaranteed flop! Or you can give the project to David Fincher and let him make it a real gem. I'm not sure how he didn't, but I enjoyed every minute of the origin story of a web page, I even got a kick out of all that geek talk I didn't understand a word of. And I enjoyed the popstar, too. Hats up for David Fincher. Seriously. One heck of a superman, he is. (I first wrote 'hell', but then thought my future employers might disapprove that. Please hire me, I'm really not as bad as I sound.)

Jesse Eisenberg is AMAZING. He pretty much has only that one expression on his face throughout the whole film, but that's all we need because he damn rocks that expression! I loved those bone-dry, sarcastic, harsh comments he kept throwing around. His character is a socially handicapped a-hole, really, but Eisenberg plays it so damn well that he never annoys you - too much. Please someone give this guy some awards. Also, Justin Timberlake was surprisingly good! I mean, not that surprisingly, since Fincher hired him in the first place, and sure I'd heard a lot about him beforehand, but anyway. I didn't have to Cry Me A River, because he pretty much Rocked Your Body.

However, it wasn't Mr Popstar, who Brought Sexy Back (yeah, yeah, that was the last one, I promise. I don't know any other songs, anyway). I keep falling more and more in love with Andrew Garfield! That guy is just so freaking adorable and so freaking talented it almost hurts! Plus he's so freaking likable I bet I'd like him even if he played Hitler. (... "I'm really hoping it's 'Cats that look like Hitler', because I can never get enough of that." Hahahaha. Oh god.) I don't need to beg anyone give this guy awards, because they'll be pumping them out for him long after he asks them to stop. Cuz he's just that good, y'all.

The Social Network is unexpectedly dramatic, fascinating, compelling, intelligent, profound, looking past the programming and web sites and status updates, and telling something rather timeless about friendship, success, power and loyalty. I also want to compliment the music and the editing and the dynamics of the film. All that over-lapping dialogue was just genious.

Last but not least, the humour of the film was awesome. Unexpectedly so. (The film was unexpected in many ways...) Mark's sarcasm went down with me so well, and the twins, the 'Winkelvi'... "I'm six-five, 220 pounds, and there are two of me." They were played by one single guy, by the way! (I just looked the actor up and the he's name is Armie Hammer. I've decided not to use smileys on my blog posts because there'd be no end once I'd get started, but I have to make an exception. Armie Hammer? :D:D:D:D Seriously? :D:D Oh, I don't know, maybe it's funny only because it's way past midnight and my head's a bit sore. Anyway, he could play Prince William. Same jaw.)

The Social Network was so enjoyable I don't want to flatten my post-cinema experience by pondering about truthfulness of the story or trying to find something to criticize. Though it'd be interesting to know how the real Mark Zuckerman would react on the story of his own life (not going to happen, I guess, I remember reading he's not planning on seeing it - I understand why) and sure, it wasn't a perfect movie. But let's not go there, today. The Social Network will quite certainly be on my top 5 of 2010. It's been a very good year, and I'm already looking forward to the Oscars, so I can once again watch and curse while they award movies I don't like or haven't seen. But let's not go there, either, not yet.

Finally, two trivial facts. 1) While writing this post I've been checking my FB profile every five minutes or so. 2) When we left the cinema today and said goodbye, my last words to my friend were: "I'll talk to you later... on Facebook." Funny world...

"A guy who makes a nice chair doesn't owe money to everyone who has ever built a chair."

A film about Facebook? Lame? I don't think so.

Eeva likes this.

I've been looking forward to this film since I found out it's being made. Not only because I'm a slave of the site, but also because of the director David Fincher. And because I love almost every movie he's ever made.

I think this will be awesome. The trailer certainly suggests so.

If the trailer doesn't work, here's a link.