American Hustle

Photo Credit http://i.telegraph.co.uk

American Hustle is the latest film of David O.Russel, director of Silverlinings Playbook. Now I was entertained by Silverlinings Playbook but didn't see the big deal. I love Jennifer Lawrence but don't really care for Bradey Cooper. And it seems that this director likes to continue to work with the actors. In this one luckily there is Christian Bale (I started to like this guy in Batman films and liked him A LOT after The Machinist) and Amy Adams (love her). I don't like Jeremy Renner and don't see his appeal at all but he is also there.

Again this film has the untidy cinematography that I don't really care for. The actors are all good, performances solid, period detail adequate but this director and I so far do not gel well. I liked the soundtrack and Bale, Lawrence and Adams. It is better than nothing no? 

Magic Mike

Magic Mike is another Florida film I watched yesterday. This time it is about male strippers in Tampa. A 19 year old young man is initiated into the business after meeting Mike who is only doing it to save money to start his own custom made furniture business (not doing a very good job) since he cannot get a loan from a bank. The teen's sister is a nice lady and Mike likes her but she is also very different from the people he hang out with and she forces him to face the reality (there is not much future in stripping). This is a slice of life with a smooth character arc. The hot cast does stripping numbers (and they all enjoyed it based on the short "making of" in the dvd) and they look good  but watching anyone stripping for money is not something that I enjoy. Aside from the rather painful to watch strip scenes, I liked the film and Mike character (acted by Chaning Tatum). Recommended regardless of your views on stripping. 

Pain and Gain

Photo Credit http://opionator.files.wordpress.com/

Pain and Gain I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Michael Bay is not among my favorite directors but he has a certain style that I sometimes like (not in films such as Transformers, I didn't even bother with the third one) and this one had it.
It is a true story of three body builders (two of them ex-cons) kidnapping a local businessman and after illegally making him transfer all his assets to them, it didn't take at least two of them to spend the considerable amount of money and the three attempt to do the same to another businessman. Things go wrong and they murder this one and his girlfriend.
The story is chilling and not only the stupidity of the trio but also the incompetence of the legal forces. At least they came through at the end but two people has died.

The film prefers to approach the dumbness of the trio and the incompetence of the police forces in a comedic manner. At one point we see one of the guys grilling hands and feet of the victims (in an attempt to erase their fingerprints) and there is a caption at the corner of the screen reminding us that "it is still a true story". This approach probably didn't go well with the viewers and I don't this film had a good box office. To be honest I didn't mind. Not that I laughed through any part of it but it was refreshing to see evil as just stupid as it really is. Too many films/TV shows depict it as genius, smart etc. But it is not. It is stupid.

So I can't really recommend it in good conscience but I was entertained.

Breaking Dawn 2

Breaking Dawn 2 Well I had to finish it hadn't I? Read the books (actually enjoyed Twilight in a candy floss sort of way but the others were just for the sake of completion) and saw Breaking Dawn at Hawaii with a full theatre of Twihards. Now the Second Part finally showed up in the bargain bin and I watched it. Well it was in the same vein of the rest so go by that. If you have liked them you'll like this one but if they didn't give anything to you, I don't think this one will either. 

My Super Ex-Girlfriend

Photo Credit http://www.hotflick.net/

My Super Ex-Girlfriend a below average rom com but I enjoyed it nevertheless. I like the cast and despite the lack of chemistry between everyone, had a decent time watching it. 

Hayat

Hayat Veda ve Umut'u severek okuduktan sonra Hayat ve Hüzün'ü de aldım. Hayatı Bayram'ın ilk günü İstanbul'a gidip gelirken bitirdim neredeyse. Her zamanki gibi yazım olarak bana bir tat vermese de öykü anlatımı olarak aldı götürdü Hayat. Kolay okuma klasmanında tavsiye ederim. 

True Crime

True Crime is yet another Clint Eastwood film I liked (so far I think I like all the ones I have seen). His character is obviously a role for a younger man but he is great in it and the story is an interesting one. Even though this is not really one of my favorites, I enjoyed it nevertheless. 

The Duchess

The Duchess is last of the romance novels for me this Ramadan. And it is definitely one of the better ones. Despite the lack of intimate scenes I enjoyed it very much. Great read equiavalent of cotton candy. Waste of time and brain calories but entertaining and makes one happy while it lasts. 

Blue Is The Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2)

La Vie D'Adéle - Chapitres 1 et 2 (aka Blue Is The Warmest Colour) I didn't read anything about this film as I'm a spoiler phobe. Palme D'or at Cannes made this one high on the list of "to watch" lists and I like French films. The only thing I have read about it was an argument between one of the lead actresses, Léa Seydoux and the Director Abdellatif Keshishe. She claimed that they were exploited by the explicit love making scenes and he replied that she didn't have any objection pre, during and after Cannes. So I was ready for explicit scenes.

But I was not ready on how explicit they were. There were no boundaries in the lovemaking scenes of the two actresses. None. Everything is shown and I'm not sure how necessary they were to the film. Or now necessary to make them this way. The main thing that ties the two character is how much they enjoy the sex. Still I'm not sure whether we needed to see this much and this long of their intimacy. This is the director's choice however and I respect that.

Spoilers

Setting this issue aside, I liked the film a lot. I don't know about the English title but the French one is apt since the film is about Adéle's life. We are introduced to her when she is in high school. She has her circle of friends and a popular and hansome boy who likes her. She goes out with him and even has sex but she doesn't enjoy it and thinks about the blue haired woman she saw just before she met with him. She is the only daughter of middle class parents who love her, she has a secret stash of candy bars under her bed and she enjoys teaching and wants to be a teacher some day. She regularly writes journals and loves reading novels. By this time I like this girl a lot and want her to be happy. One day a girl from one of her classes kisses her on the lips and she was so happy after that and the next day she kissed her at the loo at school.  And the girl said she was only experimenting and it was just a spur of the moment thing. Poor Adéle was crushed. And Adéle Exarchopoulos is excellent, excellent. I hope that she'll be in more films since her performance was so natural and sincere.

Then her gay friend takes her to a gay bar and she sees the blue haired girl on the street and follows her to a lesbian bar. They meet and after some courtship, become lovers.

Here the story gets interesting. Emma is an independent painter who flaunts her homosexuality and her parents are artistic types who encourage her. They are surprised the middle class concerns of Adéle (like getting a job where there will be a regular salary) but are good towards her. Adéle'a parents meet Emma as her philosophy tutor and have no idea that they are actually lovers. They say to Emma that it is very hard to make a living through art and it will only be possible if she meets and marries a rich man to support her.

So after some years we find them living together. Adéle, despite being very happy with Emma still doesn't come out of the closet, and is not very into Emma's artsy crowd. Emma tries to get her write more stuff to be published (not just her diary) and becomes very close with an ex lover at her graduation party.

This part of the film seemed very similar to me not only because I was a middle class girlfriend in an artsy crowd but also this trope is liked in Turkish cinema as well. In the film Beyaz Bisiklet (White Bycycle) a rich and cultured young man meets a manicurist at a resort town and they get married since they have great sex and love each other but recognise their fundemental differences in the early months of marriage. I like that sad sad film a lot and there is another one called Düş Gezginleri (Dream Travellers) where a doctor meets her elementary school friend who has become a prostitute and they start an affair and move to Istanbul where she stars her own practice and their cultural differences beat their love in the end.

So it happens to Adéle too. Suddenly Emma sees more and more of her crowd and Adéle cheats her with a colleague from work (a man). Emma throws her out of the house (Emma'a house) and breaks up with her.

They meet again after some years and the chemistry is still there but Emma is wise not to start anything since she knows that one cannot build a strong relationship solely based on good sex. The final act is when Adéle goes to a show of Emma. Everyone is so nice to her but it is obvious that she doesn't belong and she loves Emma so much and there is nothing she can do but slowly walk back home alone.

I liked the film a lot and loved Adéle character. I was willing to watch more of her and found myself surprised when the film ended (I didn't realise this film is very long). So I'll recommend with a warning of explicit (and long) intimate scenes.

One more thing to me Léa Seydoux was not a lead in the film. Her role was more of a supporting one.

The Serpent Prince

The Serpent Prince  I realise that this blog is turning into a steamy area. This is not intentional though. And I find the romance novels very good reads when fasting.
This one was not very good. Although there were intimate parts and they were sort of decent, the overall feel of the novel is just average.

White Palace is among my all time favorite romance films ever since I saw it in theater ages ago. Apparently this was adopted from a book (and I think I need to look for it). I don't know how many times I have watched it but I like it everytime.

It is like a fairy tale. Max is a 27 year old comfortably off Jewish man who works at an advertising agency. He is a widow at this young age and remains celibate by choice. Also he is a bit of a neat freak.

Nora is a 44 year old lapsed Catholic waitress at the fast food burger restaurant White Palace. She lost a teenage son (to suicide the film implies) She is divorced and lives alone in a very very untidy and dirty house.

So these two meet at a bar and Nora takes Max home. They have sex and Max despite having no intention to see her again, found himself at her doorstep the next evening. He just feels happy when he is with her and the sex is good. Nora likes Max too.

But of course it is not really possible for this relationship to work is it. The initial hiccups of Max's neat freakiness which Nora after giving him a hard time because he was so thoughtless in expressing his concerns and actually cleaned up. Also Max at one point thought they should have more intelligent conversation (say, instead of watching TV) but figured out pretty early that intelligent conversations are not the required corner stone of a relationship. It is not that Nora is not smart. She is, and I like the fact that she is forward and honest in laying bare all her fears and concerns. Max tries to merge his two lives, the one with Nora and the one with his mother and friends but, as one can easily guess, it doesn't happen.

So after  a disastrous Thanksgiving dinner at one of Max's closest friends, Nora finds out that Max has lied to her again (and actually was trapped into taking her to this dinner) and dumps him and leaves town for good. She knows that the differences between them are too big to overcome and she loves him so she wants him to find someone suitable and be happy.

But it is telling that despite the fact that Max have the far better house, they hang out at Nora's all the time. Max doesn't like his job, he doesn't like his environment and doesn't feel happy, despite the georgeous women practically throwing themselves at him.

And he finds her (through her sister) and makes her take him back.

I just love the whole thing. Both actors are perfect. The performances nuanced and the chemistry is insane.

I'm So Excited (Los Amantes Pasajeros)

I'm So Excited (Los Amantes Pasajeros) is a Pedro Almodovar comedy. Now this is not among the best in his filmography but I enjoyed it as I enjoy all his films. This one is heavy on the sex jokes so it may offend some people. I liked them a lot and the actors were all so good. Banderas and Cruz have cameos in the beginning but the film's three leads are Javier Camara, Carlos Areces and Raul Alevaro as the flight attendants in the business class section of the plane. I loved these three gay men who also have a song and dance number (which they perform seriously to I'm So Excited) which is hillarious and fun.
But again this one is very light and doesn't have the depth of other Almodovar films (even comedies such as Women on The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown).

So all in all I have enjoyed this one a lot but it is not among my favorite films of the director.

The Tall Man

The Tall Man is a film I wanted to watch because I like the director's other film Martyrs very much. And heard good things about it from a reviewer I like. But there was not an urge so I waited until it went to the bargain bin and grabbed it then.

Jessica Biel is a very good looking woman and she is a decent actress but unfortunately her performance(s) do not leave any impact. Someone with a more arresting screen presence would be better suited for the role I suppose.

The film was not as good as Martyrs but it was entertaining and not only full of twists but also interesting arguments too.


Spoilers!


It is about an organisation that kidnaps little kids living in unfortunate circumstances and give them to rich families who want to adopt a kid. So the kids end up being in great environments with loving parents away from the poverty, ignorance and sometimes incest.

But is it fair to do that to a kid? Isn't a mother, no matter how poor the best for her own child. One of the children we get to know is the son of a mother who lost her house and has to live in a derelict apartment with not a lot of material things. And she lets the child watch TV etc. But she obviously loves her child and tries to do the best for him. And he loves her back.

The other kid is a teenager who is a lot older than the other kidnapped kids. Her mother lives with a man who impregnated her sister and when the baby and the young mother is sent to Seattle by their mother, he actually wanted the girl and his son back. Really creepy. This girl observed what's going on and actually wanted to be taken and be adopted by another family. At the end of the film we see her living in a great apartment, taking art lessons and actually speaking. But also wondering whether she did the right thing.

Anway this one is recommended but don't expect much  of a performance.

Separate Lives

Separate Lives is a book from the bargain bin and I didn't even properly check whether I'd like it or not, only that the writer is English and I almost always like English writers (even when I don't so much). So I gave this one a go. And in the end it is one of those novels the Brits call "bonk busters" (a pun to blockbuster I suppose), chick - lit etc. I didn't like it very much since it has a certain awareness and the usual chick lit clichés we know and I like didn't really work but it was an easy read and that's about all I require while fasting. 

Knocked Up

Knocked Up yep, yet another rom com (in seems to be rom com filled weekend for me). But this one is not really that good this second viewing. First off Katherine Heigl may have did well in this one but if one watches all the other rom coms she did after this, it is basically the same character. What's up with that? Such as shame she didn't stay in Grey's Anatomy, her character there was very good and she was doing a great job with it.
And Seth Rogen (who I like from time to time) is at his most annoying. Anyway if I watch it a third time maybe I'll feel differently. 

Roman Holiday

Photo credit: http://torontofilmsociety.org/
Roman Holiday is one of my all time faves. I love Gregory Peck (he is my favorite oldie actor) and like Audrey Hepburn very much. And they are both so good in this. The pic above is not a still from the film but I think a photo taken on the set. But don't they look so good. Ok here is that scene (on the Spanish steps when one was allowed to sit and eat on them - thank God this was a time I visited Rome)

 Photo credit: http://torontofilmsociety.org

She had her haircut and then buys gelato and eats in on Spanish steps and that's when Joe decides to stop following her and join her.

Anyway watching this one again had a great impact on me and I have shed so many tears. Great film.
Oh and now I have turned into one of those old people who complain that they don't make them like this anymore.  But they don't.

Here are some screen shots (basically the story)

Photo credit: http://torontofilmsociety.org/

What Happen's In Vegas

Photo credit: http://www.popcornreel.com
What Happens in Vegas is one of those rom coms that it is good for once but one doesn't need to keep them in the archive. Well I saw it in theatre (when I was going to theater that is) then because I love Cameron Diaz and like Ashton Kutcher.

It is enjoyable and just suitable for a long fasting day. 

Marvin's Room

Photo credit: http://vitormcz.blogspot.com.tr
Marvin's Room is one I have watched years ago and solely for liking Leonardo Di Caprio but it stayed with me more than I thought I would. Probably due to superb performances of Merly Streep and Diane Keaton (for some reason I remember Diane Wiest in this role but I was wrong). Leonardo of course did a great job too. The film is about reuniting of two sisters due to sad circumstances. When they were both young and their father became ill as to require constant supervision Merly ran away but Diane stayed and took care of her father (and later her aunt who is very old) without much complaint. Then suddenly she is diagnosed with leukemia and needs her family to be donors. Meanwhile Merly is a divorced mother of two. Her elder son Leonardo is a trouble youth and is currently at a mental institution. Well they take him out because he is also a donor candidate. And the youngest son (the sweetest kid) joins them in this trip to Florida (from Ohio) to see whether they can save Diane's life.

Unfortunately none of them is a match and then Merly decides to stay there and take care of them all (at a very dramatic scene, Leonardo ran away and then just as Meryl was gathering her stuff deciding to leave the old people and her sister there and bolt, Leonardo comes in the room and asks her where she is going.

Man this film made me cry and cry and cry and cry. It is one of those small but touching USA dramas which are only really good when the acting is good and here it is excellent. It may not be for everyone but I sure liked it even better with this second viewing.

And a pic of young Leonardo and regular Diane Keaton.

Photo credit: http://content7.flixster.com

What's Your Number?

Photo credit: http://3.bp.blogspot.com

What's Your Number? This one is not a much appreciated rom com, only garnered some attention maybe due to the fact that Chris Evans is mostly naked in the film. But I love it. I have seen it three times already including this weekend where I have tried to avoid heavier films. The female part of our couple is Ally who finds out at the same day she is fired from her marketing job that she is considered a woman who slept with twice the usual (accepted) number of men (based on an article done by a research) and when she compared herself with others she finds that the research is kind of true. So she decides to seek the men who she has slept with in order to see whether they are suitable for coming back together. Her promiscious neighbour who is a struggling musician (and also amateur detective). While the search is on, they find that they are very compatible and enjoy spending time with each other.
What I like best about this one is how the two have fun and Chris Evans' character is completely secure in his manhood and doesn't care how many men Ally has slept with.

All in all once again I've had a great time watching this one. 

State of Play

State of Play is a British TV drama (I think already remade by USA film industry at some point). And I remembered purchasing it during my James McAvoy crush phase (this one ended so quickly - sigh) and I decided to give it a go on Friday and Saturday (since it is easier for me to stay late those days and then I can sleep in the morning - fasting changes the time table). 

It ended up being a very good show. Intense with great characters and events happening speedily one after another. But the Brits know how to balance the speed with little time outs that gives not only breathing space for the viewer but also more information on the characters. 

The two guys on the dvd cover are an up and coming politician (the good looking one) and a well established investigative reporter who used to be his campaign manager way back. 

The politician's research assistant dies suddenly and since he is the chairman of a en energy committee that prepared a very important report, his reaction at the press conference (crying) was considered suspicious and it soon became apparent that he was having an affair with her. His wife and children are devastated but the issue does not seem to be as serious (this is a man's world after all). But the journalists found a connection between the contract murder of a teenager (so far involvement in drugs were suspected) and the death of the research assistant more interesting information start to surface. And then we find that the research assistant was actually murdered (and the teenager who was murdered was actually a pickpocket who stole the contract killer's briefcase) and when our journalists start to investigate events got even more interesting and dangerous. 

Of course there is a twist and it was something I could have seen but didn't and all in all I ended up being very happy with this purchase. 

Rouge

Rouge is yet another bargain bin purchase. Not one for monster films, I only got it because I liked the director's first film Wolf Creek (great horror film). And read good things about this one at horror sites (but sadly it is not very well known). And last night I was exhausted and was thinking that I'll probably fall asleep during this one too. But it ended up a very good film. First off I like Michael Vartan (and think him very handsome), and Rada Mitchell and Sam Worthington. And the rest of the cast were all great.

The unfortunate tourists who took the wildlife cruise in Australia to observe the salt water crochodiles in their natural habitat (yeah I too went to observe the sharks in their natural habitat in Hawaii and even though I was in a cage, I ended up being terrified, I'll not make the same mistake again) and the tour was going on just as expected with a variety of tourists with different habits and our protagonist Pete (a travel writer from USA) just wanting to get the whole thing over with while slightly flirty with the beautiful captain. They were hamlessly harrassed by the captain's boyfriend and his friend but otherwise the trip was going to end without incident when they see a stress flare somewhere ahead. And since they were the only boat, the captain felt obligated to inspect. And just as it would in real life some tourist were actually opposed to the idea of going there! Anyway all were sushed by the captain who said that what would they think if they were the one sending the flare and no one came to help. Unfortunately it was too late when they went there and all they could see was a capsized remains of a boat without any living (or dead) people around. And then a crocodile attacked them. They were forced to an island which will be underwater when the tide comes and they need to get out of there and fast.

No sleep during this one. It was intense and interesting. Very well made with the kind of clean cinematography that I particularly like.

This one is probably worth a rewatch. And I'm looking forward this director's other film Wolf Creek 2 (which is getting a very good buzz) 

Im 3 Tagen Bist Du Tot

Im 3 Tagen Bist Du Tot (Dead in 3 Days) is yet another bargain bin purchase and this time I didn't hit the jack pot. It was a rather generic affair with the only novely being the German speaking cast (and I took German as a second language in boarding school for about 6 years so it was interesting to hear it). I actually fell asleep towards the end.
There was not much of a mystery, the cast looked too old for their parts and in the end this one turned out to be a bad one for me. Well, I can't always win them all now can I? 

Just Like Heaven

Just Like Heaven is one of those books I got at an on line bargain bin. And even though I didn't really like it, reading it made me realise that romance novels are just the thing when one if fasting. So I ordered a bunch of them from an online second hand book shop thank God. Back to the book, it is a romance novel but there were not (m)any intimate scenes and the whole thing was a bit disjointed. The couple knew each othe from their childhoods the man being the best friend of the woman's elder brother. So the obsticles were not really obsticles, there was the side plot of the brother being banished from UK which went nowhere and as I told before there were not any intimate scenes. But even more than the lack of them, the overly cute prose was a turn off. Now I'm not anti cute but the prose was like Gilmore Girls (who I like a lot) style but without any wit or smarts. I read a bit about Ms.Quinn and she seems a great person in real life (she even won The Weakest Link) and she is one of the best selling authors in USA. But this one was just not for me. 

American Horror Story (Season 1)

Yet another bargain bin purchase and one I was not expecting to like this much. I liked the story, the actors, the performances, cinematography, sets and costumes. Actually I couldn't find anything I didn't like. Looking forward to season 2 and I heard that the story takes place at an asylum. 

The Paperboy

The Paperboy is one I picked out from the virtual bargain bin (as can be seen on the pic, it was only 10 TL) and I heard that they made a film out of it, starring Zac Ephron -an actor I can't seem to like- and Nicole Kidman (this can be seen on the pic too :) ) and even though I was distant to it and didn't like it as much at the beginning, I really got into it as soon as I stopped seeing Zac Ephron as the protagonist. The book is interesting in the way that nothing really is clearly resolved. The demise of the characters do not depend on whether they are good or not. Things happen and they don't happen. I like the clear, matter of fact prose and enjoyed the novel immensely. I may as well check other books from this writer in the future. Thank God that this ended up being a bargain bin win, I'm now looking forward to checking the remaining novels out.

Bi Küçük Eylül Meselesi

Photo credit: http://www.cinegil.com
Bi Küçük Eylül Meselesi 
Bu film televizyonda kucağıma düşünce hayır demedim. Engin Akyürek "Kara Para Aşk" ta beni dize getirmiş ve Farah Zeynep Abdullah'ta şirin bir kız, rol de yapabiliyor diyerek, oruç kafa beni fazla uğraştırmaz bu film diye düşündüm ve haklı çıktım. Müzik videosu tadında bir filmdi işte.

Spoiler

Film görünürde (her zamanki gibi) herşeyi olan; sağlıklı, güzel, başarılı ve mutlu Eylül'ün erkek arkadaşıyla (ki galiba çocuk kıza aşık ama kız bir sıcak bir soğuk üflüyor) bir yere giderken yolda kaza geçirmesi ve kazadan önceki son bir aynı hatırlayamaması ile başlıyor. Yavaş yavaş bölük pörçük anımsamalarla bu bir ayı Bozcaada'da geçirdiğini ve orada Tekin diye bir karikatürist/sanatçı ile tanıştığını hatırlıyor. Tekin (her nedense ve hiç inandırıcı olmayan bir şekilde) acayip tuhaf kıyafetlerle tipsizleştirilmeye çalışılmış, kendine hiç güveni olmayan, bünyesinde bir çok korkular barındıran, sorunlu ama iyi kalpli ve adada mutlu bir adam. Tabi kıza görür görmez vuruluyor. Nasıl vurulmasın Eylül hakikaten çok güzel ve sıcak kanlı, eğlenceli bir kız. Tek'e biraz yüz veriyor ve aklınca kendini eğlendiriyor ama Tek (Tekin'in kısaltılmış hali) tabii ki bu münasebeti Eylül'den çok daha fazla ciddiye alıyor. Neyse bunlar epey eğlenceli bir flört döneminin ardından bir gece beraber oluyorlar. Eylül sabah çok mutlu uyanıyor ve sevgilisine kahvaltı hazırlıyor. Derken bir anda düşünmeye başlıyor. Gerçekten hayatını bu adamla, burada ve bu şekilde geçirmeye hazır mı? O saniye hem de hiç hazır olmadığına karar veriyor ve adamı öylece ortada bırakıp, "eğlendik bitti, herkes kendi hayatına şimdi" diyerek gidiyor. Ama unuttuğu veya çok kaale almadığı bir şey var, Tekin'in kendisi kadar vurdumduymaz olmadığı gibi, hayli hassas ve endişelere meyal bir adam olduğu. 8 yıldır Bozcaada'dan çıkmayan, kendisiyle güç bela konuşan bir adama dans ettirip, ellerinden tutup yüzdürüp, sevişip sonra da 'hadi byeeee' deyip kaçmanın sonuçsuz kalmayacağını anlayamayan Eylül. Ertesi gün gazetede okuduğu Tekin'in ölüm haberiyle dağılıp sevgilisi (mi?) ile kaza yapıyor.  Sonra bütün bunları hatırlayınca da ikisinin küçük kumsalından tepelere doğru geri çıkıyor. Yani kız kendi hayatına döndü, olan bizim zavallı Tekin'e oldu.

Her

Photo credit: http://myreelpov.files.wordpress.com


I actually was kind of excited when this film became available on my Digidvd. I have heard good things about it and I actually like Scarlett Johanson's voice better than her acting. I'm not as keen as Joachim Phoenix as everyone else seem to be. He is a decent actor but he doesn't really move me. And in the end this film ended up not being to my taste. I fell asleep a few times during and had to rewind. The science fiction parts were not bad but the general mood of the thing just didn't fit me. Well one cannot win them all.

The idea though was very interesting. My friends know that I have this fantasy about a robot husband. He'll look like Takeshi Kaneshiro. Not only he'll cook, clean and arrange (both hard copy and digital stuff) but he'll be hygenic and he'll have the brain of the computer and will be able to access any data on demand. So I can converse with him to my heart's content. But most importantly the best feature of the robot husband would be that he'll not get hurt when I don't want to see him. I'm this way and sometimes want to be alone without anyone around me. It is hard when you have a significant other and people get hurt when you want to be left alone. Robot husband will not be sad at all but will use this opportunity to charge himself or something.

Of course all my friends thought this idea is monstrous and that I'd crave for human contact. But my robot husband's skin would be temperature controlled so that he'll be cool in summer and toasty warm in winter. Anyway in this one the chracter's ex wife comments that he is in a relationship with an operating system because he cannot deal with human emotions. She said he wanted her to be fun, energetic and full of life all the time and was not able to deal with other emotions of hers. I could relate to that part. The thing I found second most hard when I was in a relationship was to deal with people when they are not as shiny and happy.

Spoilers

Anyway this guy totally falls for the operating system and despite the lack of real physical contact he was devasted when it broke up with him. I hope that he'll be happy with her best friend and they'll become romantically involved in the future. Just look at them, they seem like they'll be a good couple no?

Photo credit: http://myreelpov.files.wordpress.com/

C'est La Vie Mon Cheri

C'est La Vie Mon Cheri is a Hong Kong melo I had seen years ago when I was really into Hong Kong films. Well I have found this when arranging dvds and vaguely remembered it as a  good weepie and after having a tiring day I decided to give it a go. Well I had forgotten almost all the film and it was almost as if I was watching it the first time.
Our protagonist is Kit, a songwriter and saxophone player who has a bad temper and tend to insult people around him. Also his career is at a low point. And his girlfriend is a successful pop singer. So they have an argument and he moves to the cheap part of town and meets a lovely young girl who is very bright and optimistic.

The girl is Min and she lives with her mother, uncle and a group of musicians. The musicians perform on the streets at night and are Kit's neighbours.

Min likes Kit and after having spend some time together, they become lovers (and it is such a normal, matter of fact way that was very refreshing). Kit starts to compose again and gains a better perspective on life and became almost optimistic. Alas Min is a recovered cancer patient and the illness return, this time with little of recovery. Kit never wavers in his love even when Min loses all the optimism and gets worse each day.

I was crying all the way but the ending got me the most. The melo was so normal and ordinary - nothing big here, she woke in the night craving red bean cakes (and she is so thin and doesn't have much of an apetite) so Kit goes out and tries to get some to her. Meanwhile her mother who gave up singing and performing wore her old stage outfit and performs on the street and she dies at the hospital alone. We don't even see it. I was really shedding tears by then (three kleenex were victim of the last 15 minutes of the film) and was more affected by the sheer normality of it probably more than I would have if the melo was amped up.

All in all this is a good one. Recommended.

Mandate of Heaven (aka The Fugitive of Joseon)

Mandate of Heaven (aka The Fugitive of Joseon) has indeed applied to many of my kicks.

Cute child actor + a bonus :   The little girl was so adorable that many scenes I cried were the ones including her. And there was this child actor with such adorable saggy cheeks that I wanted to pinch them every time he was on screen. Just look at these two, aren't they cute?

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Handsome lead who is a decent enough actor : I really like Lee Dong Wok and not just because he is handsome but also because he is organic. His teeth are his own, there isn't any obvious plastic surgery on his face and I like him even more for this.

Villains I love to hate :   This show was villain rich. There was the despicable Kim Chi Young and then the most evil Queen. There were also side kick villains with each different personalities

Secondary Male Who Has His Own Love Story : Yeah, here we have a handsome policeman who is in love with our hero's sister. He was very handsome too.

A Logical, Independent, Angel Like Female Lead : Yeah they are not as lively and tend to be stoic but I love this type and the actor was very good.

Great side characters : (as usual with this type of drama golden hearted bandits living in mountains)  I loved these people and their stories. They were all over acting but it didn't hurt.

Lots of action and melodrama : Yep even though the action scenes were only above average and kind of repetitive I enjoyed them and the melo was spot on.

All in all I'm very happy with this one. It was a breeze to watch and just what I needed in Ramadan.

Umut

Umut Ayşe Kulin'in ailesini anlattığı 4 kitaplık serinin ikincisi. İlk kitap Veda çok akıcıydı ve Umut'ta aynen öyle lüp lüp gitti. Ayşe Kulin kitaplarını okumayı seviyorum, yazı dilinde herhangi bir lezzet bulamasam da Sn.Kulin çok iyi bir öykü anlatıcısı. Konu akıp gidiyor ve özellikle oruç kafasıyla bana pek bir iyi geldi zira hiç beyin çalışması gerektirmiyor. Serinin diğer iki kitabını da almaya karar verdim. Hatta mümkünse ramazan bitmeden elime geçirip bitireyim diyorum, zira yeni başladığım The Paperboy bana pek hitap etmedi. 

Inside Llewyn Davis

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Inside Llewyn Davis was a film I have recorded long time ago but never felt in the mood for. It looked and sounded depressing in a too real way and the colour palette I have seen on stills and parts of the trailer didn't appeal to me.
But I had time and I started this with the vague feeling of watching and getting it over with. Why? I like the directors, Cohen Brothers and liked most of their films, very very much. So I wanted to add this on the "watched" side of things. Who knew I'd like it this much? It is a very real mixed with just the right dose of surreal (yeah I do not like full on surreal but love it when a small dose of it is mixed with the real, like Murakami novels) and the colour palette worked so well.

The story is a slice of life of titular Llewyn Davis. He used to be part of a folk singing duo and his partner killed himself (well, in hindsight, that seemed to be the unintentional theme of Sunday film viewing). He has a solo album but things are not going well for him. He doesn't have a house to live in and has to rely on his friends' generosity in sharing their couches (I have been there). His career is not going anywhere and his agent doesn't seem to pay it much attention. Furthermore he is stuck with a cat. He has the option to become a seaman (he has the license and his dad used to be one) but at the beginning of the film he thought this option a bad one "just existing". During the course of the film, he has come to realise that being a seaman is not the worst he could do. In fact he welcomes it and had to work for it.

The lead character was not very sympathetic but the script and visuals and the direction are such at I have started to root for him, wish that something would work out for him.

And this film was one of those cinematic surprises that delights one when you don't see it coming.

Paprika

Paprika written by Tsutsui Yasutaka is a book I have found at a secondhand book store in Koh Samui. It was there, it was cheap and I like Japanese translated to English. So I thought it is a win win situation.

But what I forgot was that I don't really care for surrealism. And this one was surrealist. I know that there is a film adaptation too and I was curious about from time to time, but now that I've read the book, I won't be seeking it out unless it is put in front of me free of charge.

Don't get me wrong, it is not a bad novel, at all. But I just don't like the genre so it didn't appeal to me.

The Wolverine

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The Wolverine is one of those films that I let pass me by. But when it showed up at dvdigi, I gave it a priority. It is so good to watch action films while fasting.
This one is after Wolverine kills Jean. He is an emotional wreck who lives in the mountains without any comfort (such as electricity) etc. Then he meets a young Japanese woman who gives him a message from a yound Japanese soldier he saves from a bomb attack (Nagasaki) towards the end of the second world war. This man is now old and dying and wanted to say goodbye to his saviour. So having nothing better to do, he goes to Japan meets the guy. This man was under the impressiong that

a) Wolverine is tired of regenerating and wanted to be mortal,
b) His regeneration power can be taken away from him and transmitted to another.

So while he is thinking about this,
* he gets poisoned and his power becomes really weak
* The old guy dies and his son plots to harm his daughter (the man's granddaughter) in order to gain the company (everything is left to her)
*Her fiance who is a minister (of economy? internal affairs?) is a shady guy in cahoots with her father
* The daughter is attacked at the funeral and he is forced to run away with her to avoid her attackers (yakuza hired by her fiance at the request of his father)

Anyway, I liked it well enough. I have always like Wolverine and I only like Hugh Jackman when he is Wolverine (gasp! I know I just don't like his performances as an actor, and I don't think he is handsome).

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower is adapted from a YA novel everyone was raving about, and it never captured my attention. I saw some of this on TV and liked the warm colours of the cinematography and Emma Watson so I decided to give it a go next time I was able to watch it in its entirety. So I did. It was about an (probably) abused  (I'm guessing by his weird Aunt) teenage boy whose best friend has committed suicide previous year and he had psychotic episodes and got well and started high school without any friends. OK yes this is as a few first world problems as it sounds and I never sympathised with the kid. But I liked Emma's character (a girl who was a drunk and a slut at her freshman year who wised up at her last year) So I even shed a few tears but not really was into it. It also made me surprised that they didn't figure out the David Bowie song (we could be heroes) I assumed at least they would have hear of Moulin Rouge soundtrack or something. I guess I'm just old :) 

Road House

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Road House was a film I have seen parts of for some reason. And I do like Patrick Swayze (RIP), a lot. So when I came across this on TV I've decided to give it a try and I liked it. It definitely has that 80's feel (which I love), Patrick is at his top foem and despite being a bit sleazy (shocking!), I liked it very very much. Kelly Lynch is also someone I like a lot. There is something about her that appeals to me. Not her directing efforts but herself as an actor. A certain self assurance I probably am imagining. Anyway, this turned out to be a good watch.

Ramadan is going well thank God, especially on weekends where all I have to do is just lie down and watch films. Although this Saturday we had visitors. My paternal elder Aunt and her close friend came for a visit and I was not able to rest as much as I wanted.  

Welcome To The Punch

Welcome To The Punch  is a film I have watched before X-Men First Class (I got it very cheap on amazon) And James McAvoy was so cute in it. The film was decent too. After the film I have watched the making of (I'll confess to wishing to watch James and hear his adorable Scottish accent) and found out that they were aiming for a Hong Kong type of action. Well they went halfway there. The film had the melodrama of the good HK action films but it lacked the tempo and the swagger. The actors were good though and I may even watch it again sometime in the future.