Casablanca

Its alright. Takes a bit of getting into but it’s a hell of a lot better than Chinatown which is a similar style to this movie. Once again, I think I’m a bit too young and naive about World War II to fully enjoy and appreciate it. I’m just going to go straight into the notes as I can’t think of anything else for this ‘opening paragraph’ haha!

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I watched it and I loved it. The storyline is somthing I’ve never seen before and was so refreshing. The cinematography was fantastic, I love how they shot the memories and their erasion.

Sorry, I’m just not feeling like writing a proper review right now. Maybe later. I just want you to know that I’ve watched it because now I’ve watced 156 movies. I do urge you to watch this movie, its really, really good and you’ll love it, I know it.

156/212

Kate
xoxo

PS: I’m watching the MTV Movie Awards tonight, are you? I know its a popularity contest rather than actual quality of the movies but whatever, I’m still a teenager, I can enjoy MTV crap lol

A Matter of Life and Death

“This is a story of two worlds, the one we know and another which exists only in the mind of a young airman whose life & imagination has been violently shaped by war.”

The opening is a bit like those weird videos you used to have to watch in Science class. However, The voice over guy has such a great voice that it has me totally interested! There’s no point starting a movie like a science lesson unless the voiceover man has a voice that could read the Yellow Pages and you’d still be hooked. It was a very positive opening.

I know it’s a technique used to make women more ‘beautiful’ and it was used a lot with Marilyn Monroe because she looks terrible some days, but there’s no need for the camera to go so out of focus that it leaves the audience wondering if they’re eyesight has gotten worse.

The movie makers were very clever in only mentioning ‘heaven’ twice considering its all about life after death and that the place the dead went to was ‘heaven’. I am not a religious person and therefore I love this idea of life after death because there’s no God and no Jesus and stuff like that. The dead are given pretty white wings but that’s about as religious as it gets. Its about the theory that you continue your life after you die but its in a more pleasant world. And you get free Coca-Cola up there!

Colour is a great tool when it comes to life and death movies. In this one, death is in black and white and life is in Technicolor. That’s appropriate for this movie because its all about life being more wonderful and loving than death. Another example is Corpse Bride where life is miserable and therefore is very dark and grey colours but death is bright colours and full of life and jazz music. It depends on the topic of the movie and it worked very well for this movie which celebrates life and love [but death isn‘t too bad, you just have to wait for your friends and family to join you].

Another part of the death theory expressed in this movie is that when you die, you get given a guide to help you on your way to peace. This movie is about when your guide gets lost and can’t find you. The pilot was supposed to die and move on but his guide, a Frenchman [Conductor 71], can’t see him in the English fog; “Your time was up. But I missed you because of your ridiculous English climate.”

Hats off to most of the actors because almost all of them had to stay perfectly like they were frozen in time, and I tried to spot them moving and I didn’t.

“Ah, these English! What is the good of kissing a girl if she does not feel it?”

The women’s tear on a rose is given as evidence in the pilot’s case as proof that the woman loves him. Incredibly romantic and poetic.

Now… there is A LOT of America vs. England. Well, mainly America dissing England and pointing our all things wrong with England and all of England’s mistakes. Unfortunately I can’t remember a lot of it as I was interrupted at that point in the movie by a family matter. But I think England won eventually so hurrah! But its still very interesting to me as I’m an English girl in America. I’ve received mainly praise for being English but I wonder how they’ll act come 4th July when they celebrate getting their land back from *cough* us…

At first I didn’t like the ending but then it took a twist and it was all happy again! Incredibly romantic and cheesy but it works because of when the film was made.

Very good film, I’ll probably watch again some other time and I think you should too.

147/212

Kate
xoxo

The Princess Bride

Ergh. The past few films have been letdowns for me. I’ve read about them or heard others talk about them and I watch them and I just feel like “huh… I don’t see what’s so special.” Unfortunately, The Princess Bride is another. Its funny in places but I didn’t think it was hilarious. My only notes were about the scary eels, the scary rats and quotes. It’s a nice little film that I’d probably watch again on an afternoon where I have nothing else to do and it’s the only descent thing on TV.

Inigo Montoya: [looking down cliff, waiting to kill Man in Black] Hello there. Slow going?
Man in Black: [climbing up cliff] Look, I don’t mean to be rude but this is not as easy as it looks, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t distract me.
Inigo Montoya: [apologetic] Sorry.
Man in Black: Thank you.

Vizzini: Finish him. Finish him, your way.
Fezzik: Oh good, my way. Thank you Vizzini… what’s my way?
Vizzini: Pick up one of those rocks, get behind a boulder, in a few minutes the man in black will come running around the bend, the minute his head is in view, hit it with the rock.
Fezzik: My way’s not very sportsman-like.

As you wish.

123/212

Kate
xoxo

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Loved it. Thought it was absolutely fabulous!

I love the first scene because it is so iconic! The dress, the hair, the sunglasses!

Dolly [Audrey Hepburn] sleeps in full makeup, gorgeous hair, the most fabulous sleep mask and earplugs that I thought were earrings! Then she has milk in a champagne glass!

I didn’t realize Hepburn had such comical timing!

‘How do I look?’ this movie is just filled with iconic-ness!

Great cinematography, its shot so beautifully. The colour of it all is just stunning.

I love the sets of the apartments! They’re so fabulous and exactly how I want my first apartment to look like [a girl can dream!!!]. My favourite part; Paul’s gold, sparkly telephone!!!

Longest cigarette holder ever! Once again, another iconic prop.

Only downside of this movie is the racism towards Japanese people. I read that that was the one thing that the director wanted to change after he’d made it and that if he could, he would love the film. Its just… incredibly racist and horrible but unfortunately, that’s what it was like back then. Just got to try and laugh at it and be thankful we’ve changed.

Audrey Hepburn has a great singing voice, ‘Moon River’ is a lovely song. Wonder if she could really play the guitar…

Oh, wait, there was another thing that I didn’t quite like. There was far too much talking and very fast talking at that.

Obviously, I love Holly’s iconic wardrobe but I adored her tiaras! Especially the pink one

When she kicks the cat out, oh my God, saddest moment in cinema EVER!

I love this movie, I can totally see why its so iconic. Wonderful.

105/212

Kate
xoxo

Lost In Translation

I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll mention it again; I love Bill Murray. I love this style of acting and comedy.

I loved the typical Japanese jokes, especially the short jokes, like when Murray was in the lift and he was surrounded by small Japanese men. And the tiny shower! Also loved the jokes about mis-translation and miscommunication like with the prostitute and the ripping tights!

I thought it was very interesting to see how the people that worked at the hotel and with the advert people were so nice and kiss-ass to Murray‘s movie star character Bob. I wonder if all ‘celebrities’ get treated like that in hotels.

3 minutes in and we see the image that’s on the poster for this movie. I thought it was clever that they chose that image for their promotional material.

The themes for this movie are interesting, at least to me in my current state; loneliness, alienation, insomnia, existential ennui and culture shock. When I say my current state, I mean that I’m in a different country and am currently experiencing some of those themes but not all of them so there’s no need to worry, mum! I think its because of where I am right now is why I enjoyed this movie because I can relate to the characters. I think relating to characters is so key in making a movie and keeping the audience’s attention; there has to be some of the character in the audience.

I loved that in Bob’s photo shoot for the advert [the reason he’s in Tokyo], you can see that his suit is pinned at the back so that it fits better! The reason I loved that they showed this is because the audience, and ‘normal’ people aren’t supposed to know that that’s what they do to make the clothes look so good on celebrities! Very ballsy in my opinion!

Beautiful shots of Tokyo. I love cities, with their skyscrapers and everything. I’m not much of a country girl so I think that’s why I love the shots of this wonderful city.

Aw. The relationship between Bob and Charlotte [Johansson] is sweet in a weird ‘he’s-too-old-she’s-too-young’ kind of way. I did love how they both just light up when they’re around each other. And I love the hug at the end; there’s just so much emotion in it! It’s the most emotional hug I’ve ever seen on screen.

To be honest, this ‘review’ doesn’t do the film justice. It’s a great movie and I recommend it to all!

104/212

Kate
xoxo

The Last of the Mohicans

Good film! Bit weak at moments but its good.

As a Brit, I feel terrible that I didn’t know France and England went to war over America. *shameful*

Why is it in films about Native Americans, there is always an adopted white person?!

I thought it was good to show the two sides of Native Americans, just like there are two sides to white people.

I thought it was funny that the English in this movie are portrayed as posh tossers. “Make the world England.”

I could totally see where Pirates of the Caribbean got a lot of their cinematography inspiration from.

There is a fight just after the middle of the movie between the English and the Hurons and its just crap. The Hurons are really going for it but the English are like “oh golly gosh, what the devil is going on here, I’m awfully confused, old chap.” If anyone saw this movie then went to England now, they’d get one hell of a shock when they realize we’re not actually like that.

I loved the sibling-ness about this movie. My brother may be a pain in the ass but I know I’d go ape if anyone hurt him.

Yeah… I can’t really see why this movie is in the top 500 films of all time as its not really that special in my opinion. Oh well, all to their own opinion.

97/212

Kate
xoxo

Sophie’s Choice

It could have been made soooo much better! Me and mum decided that the beginning and end needed to be a lot shorter but keep the middle where she’s in the camp the same. I know this movie is supposed to be a classic but I was just begging for it to end. The pink house was pretty, Meryl Streep is still awesome, the make-up in the camp scenes was fantastic, the little girl playing Streep’s daughter did some brilliant acting and 2hrs 20min is too long to find out what Sophie’s big choice was. There, that’s my review. I’m sorry, but I’ll never watch it again, its just too damn boring.

84/212

Kate
xoxo

2 Days In Paris

I liked the use of photography in this movie because its about a holiday and the photos are like vacation photos. At one point, every word Marion [Delpy] said had a photo that was displayed. I loved that effect.

The main guy, Jack [Goldberg] is the biggest hypochondriac EVER and moans about everything and I was just like ‘how the hell can anyone love him?’. He had his moments and he was funny but that was about it! He found something wrong about everything! He was actually worse than my granddad Tony and I can say what I like about him because he doesn’t have the internet!

“No sarcasm in Paris.” “Ok, I’ll be quiet for 2 days.”

The couple are constantly arguing, I don’t see how they could be together but they somehow are and I believe it!

This movie is kind of like Meet the Parents but in French and a tad more realistic. And a photo involving helium balloons and a reproductive organ.

There’s a freaky scene with a freaky man who just stares at our couple, mostly Marion and its in a way like he’s about to suddenly make-out with her! Its so freaky but Jack’s reaction [big eyes!] is quite funny.

The film is kind of like a rom-com but more realistic and doesn’t really follow the rom-com rules if you know what I mean… like, there’s no slapstick or stuff like that… and no Jennifer Aniston…

There’s a little theme about it being a ‘small world’. Jack reads a book on the ‘small world’ theory and therefore spent most of his time in Venice looking for people he knew and never did. In Paris, Marion is constantly bumping into people she knows. Jack finally finds people he knows but its really bad because he’d told them the wrong way to the Louvre the previous morning and they’d been walking ever since. It made me go ‘ooooooooooo gutted!’

There was a sweet yet sad moment when Marion and Jack had just argued and Marion sees what she wishes was happening in the crowd which is her and Jack dancing and laughing to the music.

Lovely film, really sweet and funny.

75/212

Kate
xoxo

True Romance

I loved this movie, I thought it was clever how it manages to waver between romance and thriller and back again. I also loved the little cameos of famous actors who would normally be leading men but instead had no more that 10min airtime. Now, my brain has suddenly shut down so my review will probably A. not give it justice to how good it is and B. not make sense. Apologies in advance.

Funky opening music.

Our two main characters fall in love which started over their love of movies. That’s how I want to find love, in the cinema! The pair are so sweet and adorable together, they’re just totally made for each other. She’s the sweetest girl who has bad luck with jobs [she was a call girl when she met him] and he’s an adorable film nerd who works at a comic store. And normally I roll my eyes when people in movies fall in love after knowing each other one night but for some reason, I totally believed them in this and believed that they had fallen for each other in one evening. It made a nice change from freaking Disney ‘what’s your name? We’ll be married in the morning’ s**t.

It’s CRAZY!Gary Oldman! However, he is on the fine line of being awesome crazy and incredibly annoying crazy. He plays a white pimp who talks and acts like a stereotypical black guy. I hate it when white people do that [my brother does it, ergh, hopefully he’ll grow out of it… “I’m a gangster” no you’re not, you’re a tall white boy who cuddles his mummy when he’s got poorly tummy]. Anyways, CRAZY!Gary Oldman manages not to completely p**s me off so he still remains cool. Also he has dreads which is also weirdly cool on him. Then he kills Samuel L.Jackson who has about 3 lines and I guess that shocked me because I’d of thought he’d been in it till the end but then I realized that these big stars only have small roles in the movie.

Elvis lives! Well, in Christian Slater’s head. And I loved that you never see ‘Elvis’ completely; he’s always either not in focus or you only see him from the neck down but you just know its him.

Slater’s character’s sunglasses are Elvis sunglasses. They’re pretty damn cool in a Halloween costume kind of way.

He kills for her and its ‘so romantic’. I can see why a guy getting into a fight with another guy over a girl is romantic but killing is a bit… extreme… no?

OMG! His dad is the bomber from Speed!! Then the dude from The War At Home and My Name Is Earl is in it too! I think that’s one the things about the little cameos by people, you can go “OMG its him!” and then he’s gone! I don’t know why but I love tiny parts for big stars, it just shows how awesome they are!

I loved that he could just say ‘hello baby’ like Elvis to his friend [dude from The War At Hom] on the phone and his friend knows exactly who he is! I love that, when friends know each other so well that they know who it is just with two words!

I thought there was some good music where the dad knows he’s about to die and you can see it in his eyes but he tries not to show it but the music tells it all, that he knows its his last couple of minutes. Amazing what music can do, isn’t it!

OMG ITS BRAD PITT! Now, let me just say this, I’ve known a few stoners but Brad Pitt is the best stoner I’ve ever seen. He’s totally out of it and has about 7 lines, two of which I find to be quite legendary, he‘s all buddy to this guy and totally relaxed and stoned then the guy leaves and he‘s like “Don’t condescend me, man. I’ll f****n’ kill ya, man.” when he looks like he couldn’t kill a fly even if it landed in his eye. And then another time when the others are leaving, “Hey! Get some beer and some cleaning products!”

There’s a scene where she gets really beaten up and its horrible to watch, especially as the blond and injuries look so real! Then after a while, she finally gets him with fire then stabs him then shoots him then whacks him. The whole scene is so emotional, probably the most emotional scene I’ve ever seen in movies. I could totally feel what she was feeling, it was so powerful. She was killing him, crying hysterically and getting the hitman [dude from The Sopranos] back for beating her up. Its just so damn powerful. I went from ‘you go girl’ to feeling complete and total pity for her.

I thought it was very symbolic that there is a scene where everyone is shot dead except our main couple and the dude from War At Home and the whole room is covered with white, pure feathers. I don’t know why I think its symbolic but it just felt it to me.

I don’t know how the couple got away with it but after everything they went through, I don’t even care that in real life they’d get caught. They have a son and he’s the cutest, happiest little boy ever! And they name him Elvis, how cool!

67/212

Kate
xoxo