26 April 2012

Top 5 Cartoons

Nr. 5: Who Killed Who? (1943)

Directed by: Tex Avery


Nr. 4: Northwest Hounded Police (1946)

Directed by: Tex Avery



Nr. 3: The Hunting Trilogy (1951-1953)

Directed by: Chuck Jones

Rabbit Fire (1951)



Rabbit Seasoning (1952)



Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1953)




Nr. 2: Duck Amuck (1953)

Directed by: Chuck Jones



Nr. 1: Snow-White (1933)

Directed by: Dave Fleischer

22 April 2012

1920

This is the first list I make of movies released a certain year. Obviously, to make such a list, I have to have seen a lot of movies from that specific year. I started with 1920, but I don't know which year will be next.

I made an advanced search on IMDb and found that there are eighteen feature films with more than 200 votes released 1920. I have seen eleven of those, the rest of them don't sound as if they are going to interest me enough to enter this list.

What's great about old films is that many of them are legally available online for free at archive.org, youtube for example. I will make a link to where you can watch each of these five movies.


Top 5 Movies Released 1920


Nr 1: Way Down East (1920)

Directed By: D.W. Griffith
Genre: Drama, Romance
Watch Online

Nr 2: Prästänkan (1920)

Aka. The Parson's Widow
Directed by: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Watch Online

Nr 3: Why Change Your Wife? (1920)

Directed By: Cecil B. DeMille
Genre: Comedy
Watch Online

Nr 4: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. (1920)

Aka. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Directed By: Robert Wiene
Genre: Horror
Watch Online

Nr 5: The Penalty (1920)

Directed By: Wallace Worsley
Genre: Crime, Horror, Drama
Watch Online


Way Down East is a film about a girl's loss of innocence. The main character, Anna Moore (Lillian Gish) is tricked into a sham marriage by a womanizer, who leaves her alone and pregnant. Having a child without a husband was considered shameful those days and the girl struggles to keep it a secret when she starts working on a farm. This is also a film about the inequality between men and women and I'm sorry to say that some of the probems this film deals with hasn't changed much.

Prästänkan: A young man and his girlfriend arrives in a small Scandinavian village, where the man applies for the post as new parson of the village. He gets the job but there is one problem - he has to marry the widow of the former parson. The young parson and his girlfriend has to pretend that she is his sister so that she's allowed to live there.

Why Change Your Wife? is a comedy about a relatively young man who divorces his boring and too mature, young wife played by Gloria Swanson. He marries another young woman, but quickly finds her to be too childish. On a vacation they happen to visit the same hotel as the ex-wife, who has changed and no longer behave like an old lady. This might be the first silent comedy I've seen that's not slapstick, and it was actually great. Romantic comedies hasn't changed much, they were only better before.

Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. is one of the most well-known silent movies today, with over 20000 votes on IMDb. It's about a man telling a horrifying story about a killer somnambulist (a word I thought sounded cool but didn't know what it was, so I had to ask google translate). What I like most about this film is the amazing style of the set construction. This is also known as the first movie with a twist ending.

The Penalty is a crime movie starring one of the biggest stars of the 20s, Lon Chaney. He is a criminal mastermind in San Fransisco who plans to take revenge on a doctor, who mistakenly amputated his legs when he was young.

18 April 2012

Top 5 Most Anticipated Films 2012

It's getting late to post this list, but I can honestly say that none of the movies released this year so far would have made it to the top 5 anyway. It's also usual that the best movies are released late in the year.

It's not only a good thing for a movie to be highly anticipated, because the audience will expect a great movie, therefore the risk of people being disappointed is high.

I will try to guess what I will rate each of the five movies in this list and when I have seen them all I will make a post where I follow up how it went, which will be sometime at the beginning of next year.


Nr. 5: Dark Shadows


Directed by: Tim Burton
Stars: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Release date: 11 May

Tim Burton + Johnny Depp + Helena Bonham Carter. Sounds familiar? This is a vampire movie, which there aren't a shortage of nowadays, but I don't think this will be just another one of them.
Barbaras, played by Johnny Depp, is a rich, powerful man in the 18th century America. He breaks the heart of a witch, who curses him, makes him a vampire and buries him alive. He wakes up in 1972 and finds the world changed and his estate in ruins.

I think I will rate this: 7
Nothing really indicates that this will bad, but not much indicates that it will be great either. I think it will be a good movie, but maybe not a favorite. I'd say it will be a strong 7 or a weak 8.


Nr. 4: The Dark Knight Rises


Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Stars: The usual ones + Liam NeesonAnne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Lewitt
Genre: Action, Crime
Release date: 20 July

The movie itself is maybe not one of the personally most anticipated movies of the year, but I'm very curious to see what kind of respons this one will get. The Dark Knight is by many considered one of greatest movies ever, but I think many can agree that Heath Ledger's amazing performance as The Joker was the big reason behind that. Really interesting however to see how good the final entry in Nolan's Batman trilogy will be. Commercially it feels as if Christopher Nolan will never fail.

I think I will rate this: 8
I think it will be a degree lower than The Dark Knight and about as good as Batman Begins.


Nr. 3: Seven Psychopaths


Directed by: Martin McDonagh
Stars: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, Abbie Cornish
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Release date: Not decided but probably sometime late in 2012


The director of In Bruges returns this year with his second feature film. I think we can expect another crime/comedy with lots of black comedy and obviously lots of great actors.
In Bruges was so good that I will look forward to anything made by this director in the future, but honestly, McDonagh is in a tight spot where nothing less than great is expected of him.

I think I will rate this: 8
I don't think Seven Psychopaths will be even close to as good as In Bruges was, but I really hope so. It's hard to guess as Martin McDonagh is a new director, but this is what I believe.


Nr. 2: Django Unchained


Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Leonardo Dicaprio, Jamie Foxx, Kurt Russell, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, Sacha Baron Cohen and more.
Genre: Western, Comedy
Release date: 25 December

Quentin Tarantino is a big fan of westerns, but he has never made a real western, only movies with western elements, so I guess this is something he has wanted to do for a while.
The Plot (taken from Wikipedia): Django (Jamie Foxx), a freed slave, treks across America with the German dentist turned bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), to retrieve Django's wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from the charming but sadistic Francophile plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his entourage of ruthless slavers.

I think I will rate this: 9
I love westerns and I love Quentin Tarantino's movies, so I don't think it can go wrong. Also the actors are great and Tarantino always seems to get the best out of them.


Nr. 1: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey


Directed by: Peter Jackson
Stars: Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Christopher Lee, Luke Evans and more.
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Release date: 14 December

The very long awaited prequel to The Lord of the Rings, about Bilbo Baggins joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield, to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug.
I have read the first 40 pages of the book and I plan to read it before this movie is released, so it's going to be really interesting to compare them.


I think I will rate this: 10
I'm a big fan of this The Lord of the Rings and there's really nothing that indicates that this won't be great. It's such a huge production that it couldn't go wrong. I think I will rate this 10 or possibly a 9. Anything else would be a huge disappointment.


Other higly anticipated movies 2012: The Master, Gravity, Lincoln, Lawless*, Moonrise Kingdom, The Great Gatsby, The Impossible, Only God Forgives, Untitled Terrence Malick ProjectStokerThe Amazing Spider-Man, Prometheus.

* It seems as if there are going to be two big movies named Lawless released in the coming years, one 2012 and one 2013.

List of upcoming movies from known directors


15 April 2012

Actor look-alikes

CHECK OUT MY NEW LOOK ALIKE POST
Celebrity look alikes 2


While I'm currently working on some more serious lists, I decided to make this list, just for fun. I'm not saying that these are the ones that looks most alike in the world, but I wanted to include only the ones I thought of myself. At least one in the couple has to be associated with film.



Top 5 Actor look-alikes.



Nr. 5: Peter Lorre - Pete Doherty



Maybe not always, but in the movie "M" Peter Lorre looks a lot like Pete Doherty, mostly because of the eyes.



Nr. 4: Richard Gere - A mink



I don't know if this mink is an actor, but you all know Richard Gere. You could also say he looks a like a dog or any other animal. If the mink would smile as Gere, I don't think you could see who's who.





Nr. 3: Matt Damon - Mark Wahlberg


I have always thought of these two practically as the same person. It happens sometimes that I realize quite late in a movie that the main character was Mark Wahlberg and not Matt Damon or vice versa. Actually, they don't look too much alike placing their pictures side by side, but there's something about them that makes me look at them as almost the same person.




Nr. 2: Harrison FordDennis Quaid


Dennis Quaid looks a lot like a younger Harrison Ford. Before, when I didn't know as much as today about movies, I thought I was watching Harrison Ford when it actually was the less known Dennis Quaid



Nr. 1: Javier Bardem - Jeffrey Dean Morgan


When I was looking for pictures of these two I found the same picture when I searched for Javier Bardem as when I searched for Jeffrey Dean Morgan and I wasn't sure who it actually was.



10 April 2012

Top 5 Shorts 10-20 min

This is the second post in my top 5 shorts series. To read the first one click here.

Nr. 5: The Great Train Robbery (1903)

Genre: Western

The first western ever made, it simply shows how a usual train robbery works, without any kind of side plot. The interesting thing here is that it reflects the reality from when it was made. 

Directed by: Edwin S. Porter

Nr. 4: Validation (2007)

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Over a hundred years later this short was made. It's a very optimistic and consciously a little cheesy story about a man that offers free compliments to anybody.

Directed by: Kurt Kuenne

Nr. 3: Vinni-puhk (1969)

Genre: Comedy, Family

Winnie the Pooh, in Russia. Personally, I like this much better than the Disney version. 

Directed by: Fyodor Khitruk

Nr. 2: Meshes in the Afternoon (1943)

Genre: Mystery, Experimental, (Horror)

A experimental mystery short. I don't know what to say about it, just watch it yourself. The man with the mirror-face is one of the creepiest characters ever.

Directed by: Maya Deren

Nr. 1: Ilha das Flores (1990)

Genre: Documentary, Comedy

A short documentary about the class differences between people, that at the same time manages to be both tragic and funny.

Directed by: Jorge Furtado


More recommendations: My favorite shorts

Feel free to comment and tell me about your favorite shorts.

07 April 2012

Time travel

Time travel is one of those sub-genres I always seem to find interesting, even if the movie were quite bad. I started a time travel maraton this week, saw five time travel movies I hadn't seen before, which resulted in two of them ending up in this list.

When I made the list I didn't just look at the overall rating I gave to the movies, I also took into account how much the time travel part contributed to how good the movie was. For example, I liked Twelve Monkeys a lot but not because there was time travel in it.

Top 5 Time Travel Movies


1. Back to the Future (1985)
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Genre: Sci-fi, Comedy

2. Frequency (2000)
Directed by: Gregory Hoblit
Genre: Sci-fi, Drama, Crime

3. Primer (2004)
Directed by: Shane Carruth
Genre: Sci-fi

4. Los cronocrímenes (2007)
Aka: Timecrimes
Directed by: Nacho Vigalondo
Genre: Sci-fi, Crime, Thriller

5. Midnight in Paris (2011)
Directed by: Woody Allen
Genre: Drama, Comedy

You all know Back to the Future. I normally don't like 80s comedies that much, but this one is an exception. Also, it does take time travel seriously and makes it funny without making it too silly.
Frequency is the first film to appear on a list for the second time. It's an interesting story about a son that by mistake contacts his father 30 years earlier on a radio.
Primer may be the movie in this list with the least plot holes and is also the most scientific one. It's a low budget movie that's quite hard to follow, but the story is well written and interesting. I'd say, use subtitles, it'll make it easier.
Los cronoscrimenes, or Timecrimes, has kind of the same theory about time travel as Primer, but focuses more on the story than the theory.
Midnight in Paris was a great movie, not about the science of time travel, but mostly about what you make out of the oppurtunity, which is kind of unusual.

For more recommendations:
Check out this thread: Time travel
Or this list: Time Travel Movies

03 April 2012

My Childhood Favorites

It's easier to make a top 5 list of favorite movies from my childhood than a top 5 list of my current favorites, because the ones I liked extra much when I was little I remember well and it's easier to judge them subjectively. It's not easy though to choose five though, it would be easier to make a top 10 list, but somehow I managed without feeling too bad about leaving out some favorites. This is the result I came up with:


Top 5 Childhood Favorites



1. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)


A perfect family movie which will never be forgotten. Aliens should be displayed friendly like this more often! Can't think of any greater movie experience for a child than watching this one.




2. The Fox and the Hound (1981)



We had a lot of VHS cassettes at home when I was little. I watched The Lion King, Toy Story and all those disney classics a lot and liked them much, but still, this was my favorite animated movie. I don't know how many times I watched it. 



aka Pippi Longstocking on the Seven Seas

One of the most well known movies based on stories by the Swedish author Astrid LindgrenOne of my biggest dreams when I was little was owning this movie so I could watch it as much as I wanted. I didn't realize then how easy that dream could have come true if I had just told my parents.




4. Alive (1993)


I believe I was a little older when I watched this and it was a experience I remember well. I like movies about surviving.I still like this movie a lot and it's in my dvd collection.




5. Home Alone (1990)


One of the most entertaining family movies that I watched many times in my childhood. Also enjoyed the sequel almost as much, but hated the third one.



Felt a little bad to leave out Titanic, I remember well how thrilling I thought it was watching it for the first time when I was about 10 years old.


A scene from Pippi Longstocking


If you like to you can comment and tell me about your childhood favorites!