Movies seen in 2010

127   6.8   7.5 

TV, re-watch

Too over-the-top and underlining a "feel-bad" film to really hail as a great movie but still it's probably the best Solar Films production until now. Another fault is how fucking dead seriously the film takes itself, there is little intentional comedic moments in it. Therefore, I decided to take the whole film as a black comedy this time which made it pretty entertaining.

The acting's very good here and there and Jasper Pääkkönen is even bearable.

blue_skies's rating:

553   7.8   7.8 

DVD, 1st viewing

Quite a fascinating portrait of a man dedicating his life for protecting bears who'd eventually kill him. Herzog's overly pessimistic worldview against Treadwell's naive Disney-esque views is hilarious. Actually the whole thing is very blackly comic.

blue_skies's rating:

114   5.9   6.5 

TV, re-watch

The pros: it is fairly entertaining, not too syrupy, it has some funny lines, it has Laura Birn.

The cons: I wasn't really rooting for everyone (except the bad guys who'd be able to bring some ruckus in it) and the whole just felt free of ideas.

blue_skies's rating:

12   5.6   5.6 

TV, re-watch

Not nearly as bad as I recalled it being. At times it's annoying as fuck with those cartoon sound effects, irritating rap scenes and overacting - I guess it is intentional in order to catch the books' atmosphere.

At least it has a distinctive visual style, different camera angles and some of the music is quite nice. All in all it's a pretty well-made children's film. Needs more Sami Kuoppamäki though.

blue_skies's rating:

123   6.3   6.4 

TV, 1st viewing

Fucking bad although not as excruciatingly boring as the third (TURD) film.

No. More. Fart jokes.

blue_skies's rating:

267   7.4   8 

TV, re-watch

Has lost a bit of its impact due to being shown on the telly every single Christmas since times immemorial. However, it is a fine animated classic with a heart-breaking end so highly recommended if you somehow haven't seen it yet.

blue_skies's rating:

25   7.6   7 

VHS, re-watch

It's alright. Nice drawings by Mauri Kunnas and a good enough story.

blue_skies's rating:

1069   4.6   5.1 

TV, re-watch

A beautiful, mesmerizing masterpiece full of Christmas Spirit. The acting is perfect, the script is brilliant and unpredictable, camera angles are fantastic... I can't describe it all really, just a work of genius.

blue_skies's rating:

242   8.2   7.8 

Digibox, 1st viewing

I'm sure this film came from a different planet. At first, the silence of the characters and lack of narrative grated me a bit but I gradually warmed up for it all. When the restaurant scene began - which apparently lasts for 45 MINUTES - I was LOVING it.

The sets and sounds are wonderfully designed. For example the apartments with wall-sized windows where people talk and do things but the camera is set outside so you can only hear cars and other street noise. And the aforementioned restaurant scene is just fully blossomed brilliancy.

There is a load of details in every shot and I'm sure I missed a lot of funny little things on my first watch. Really tempted to five-star it but I'm holding it back for it was a bit slow to really sink in for me.

blue_skies's rating:

950   8.4   8.2 

PC, 1st viewing

The surreal opening sequence repeated midway through the film is one of cinema's highpoints. I literally made this face:

:O

Wonderful and fascinatingly complex film which, I believe, gets better with more views. The chemistry between Alma and Elisabeth is very intriguingly done.

blue_skies's rating:

2356   7.1   7.2 

Digibox, 1st viewing

Pretty good for a "teen movie". Some nice shots. Josh Hartnett is annoying.

blue_skies's rating:

5204   8.1   8.7 

1st viewing

Holy shit, John Doe just proved his place in the "best movie villains ever" list I'll probably never make. I love how he ruins everyone's lives and fucks with everyone and dies and no one can do nothing against him. Just a ridiculously badass character.

The script is really clever too.

blue_skies's rating:

1251   7.2   7.6 

PC, 1st viewing

Funny as hell at times (the last scene eg.) but I found the army of the dead thing a bit tiresome. I guess I missed the claustrophobic feel of the first two films but what the heck, this was lots of entertainment.

blue_skies's rating:

3538   6.4   6.7 

VHS, re-watch

Fucking fantastic.

blue_skies's rating:

1150   7.5   7.8 

PC, re-watch

Bruce fucking Campbell.

Deer.

Hand.

blue_skies's rating:

159   8   7.7 

PC, 1st viewing

The most accurate and heartfelt representation of Finnish culture I've seen put on film and the best Finnish film I've seen. The tearjerker movie of 2010, even more so than Toy Story 3.

Also points for having shots from the exact sauna in my local swimming bath where I too have listened to these prosaic, beautiful and inspiring life stories.

blue_skies's rating:

353   7.4   7.1 

Digibox, 1st viewing

NICOLAS gets the girl. Gotta love that. Pretty cool film with great cinematography and the rumble fish were a nice symbol. Maybe a bit cheesy but what the heck, it's an '80s gang movie.

blue_skies's rating:

659   7.7   7.6 

TV, 1st viewing

Intensive, badass film and cynic as fuck! Gotta love Dustin Hoffman totally losing his temper here.

blue_skies's rating:

56   7.9   7.9 

PC, 1st viewing

After another two days they concluded Bill was not going to die so his mother had all the flowers removed from his room

So I developed a fascination for Hertzfeldt's films. For a reason, this film proves. It's one of the finest depictions of the bittersweet absurdity of life I've seen in films and a thing of beauty. Hertzfeldt's animation looks absolutely fantastic.

I was only annoyed by the narrating voice of his but it's a minor flaw. Get this.

blue_skies's rating:

239   5.2   5.2 

Digibox, 1st viewing

Needs more one-liners and Arnie action but it's still a piece of Art. I was reduced to tears when Arnold got the HANDICAPPED man to WALK. Freaking beautiful shit.

Also:

Baker: Joseph P. Brenner. What's the "P" stand for?
Kaminsky: Pussy.

blue_skies's rating:

674   8.2   8.3 

Digibox, 1st viewing

Amazing film right from the cool opening shot to the badass character that is Hank Quinlan. Lots of memorable scenes and camera work. Also, I came to notice that having Marlene Dietrich and cigarette smoke in the same picture is already enough to make a great scene.

Much like in "The Third Man", the last about 30 minutes left me in awe.

blue_skies's rating:

813   7.6   7.7 

DVD, 1st viewing

Pretty good film, although the subject matter or the animation isn't as interesting as those in the other Miyazaki films I've seen. It's good entertainment and all but scenes such as the overlong fighting scene between Porco and Curtis was just unnecessary.

The two things that save the movie though are Fio (such a lovable character) and this wonderful scene:

blue_skies's rating:

723   8.1   8 

DVD, 1st viewing

A well-built suspense film with its subject matter known also from 2006's "The Lives of Others". Nice, paranoid atmosphere and I like the repetition of the conversation throughout the movie. A bit too slow at times though.

blue_skies's rating:

1137   8   7.9 

Digibox, 1st viewing

A beautiful, honest film about an Iranian girl growing up. A genuinely moving and heart-warming flick with some nice animation, good music and a touch of humour. Recommended.

blue_skies's rating:

117   7.7   8 

PC, 1st viewing

I'm not sure what this film's reputation in internet actually is; I'm sure I've seen that banana figure numerous times in the net. I guess this is a some sort of cult film?

Anyway, it was pretty fun, surreal stuff and the "falling apart" bit was really cool.

blue_skies's rating:

1502   7.3   7.6 

PC, 1st viewing

My Halloween pick! It was lots of fun but I prefer the more badass Ash from the second part to this timid young man. Also, its more comedic approach is more to my liking.

blue_skies's rating:

8335   7.6   8 

Digibox, 1st viewing

Yeah, I saw it the first time indeed. Hadn't missed anything really, it's just a basic Disney adventure movie with pirates 'n' shit. The ghosts were a sorta ridiculous and Johnny Depp does the same "cool & quirky" character as in every film he has starred in during recent years.

Pretty fun occasionally but a rather unexciting film in the end.

blue_skies's rating:

2573   6.6   7.3 

TV, 1st viewing

Surely not one of the best they've done but it wasn't as bad as all the criticism let me expect. Quite an enjoyable, entertaining flick although Pixar's worst along with The Incredibles (haven't seen A Bug's Life yet).

blue_skies's rating:

447   7.8   7.7 

Digibox, 1st viewing

Can't say I enjoyed this. Just a whole lot of empty dialogue with beautiful women and nice, though annoyingly gimmicky at times, cinematography. Also fell asleep during it.

Not necessarily the best film to start with Godard?

blue_skies's rating:

2226   7.4   7.8 

DVD, re-watch

Well, it sure didn't have the same impact as on the first viewing. The plot beyond the birds isn't interesting and I find the two plots irritatingly separated: they don't link together naturally. And fuck that grandma and her whining about her dead husband, get over it.

The birds however are wonderfully threatening and nasty stuff and I also appreciate how influential this film was for horror films.

blue_skies's rating:

1140   6.9   7.3 

TV, 1st viewing

What a weird-ass movie this. I honestly thought this was supposed to be a touching drama like Eternal Sunshine but all of my expectations were - at the latest - wiped out during the scene where Sandler suddenly starts BELLOWING at her sister that he's going to KILL her. Fucking bizarrely hilarious!

Generally, the characters' actions seem surreal and bizarre, like aliens trying to adopt to the humane world of feelings. At best it's hilarious, at worst it's annoying and (I hate this word but) pretentious.

Also, any movie with Adam Sandler, the motherfucking WATERBOY, is seen beating thugs up and meeting his match in Philip Seymour Hoffman is worth seeing.

Forgot to mention that the directing and cinematography is really neat. I almost GASPED during the scene depicted in that poster.

blue_skies's rating:

799   7.8   8.2 

Digibox, 1st viewing

Another great Hitchcock film. The dude sure masters the art of eye movement: I love how you can read the situations through the actors' eyes. And of course there is the fantastically built suspense to it.

DON'T FUCKING DROP THAT WINE BOTTLE!

blue_skies's rating:

569   7.7   7.9 

Digibox, 1st viewing

Original war movie blending documentary and (incredible) animation together. Some scenes were brilliant, especially the "title scene" and the hallucinations and dreams.

However, its gloominess is thorough and heavy to sit through and the obvious intention to shock viewers, especially when they started showing real images in the end, kinda annoyed me.

blue_skies's rating:

876   7.6   7.7 

DVD, 1st viewing

Cool film about the skinhead culture in Thatcherian England in the '80s. Some scenes were really thoughtful, honest and touching. The actors were doing a great job (special mention for the 14-year-old Thomas Turgoose) and overall, Shane Meadows seems to have an ability to make his films feel very realistic. A great soundtrack too.

Not quite as intensively badass as Dead Man's Shoes though.

blue_skies's rating:

247   7.6   7.9 

Digibox, 1st viewing

I know "boring" is a lazy way of "reviewing" a film but can't help it. I didn't really care for the characters and got them confused all the time anyway. Couldn't get beneath the surface.

Some nice shots and thoughts to it though, so not bad.

blue_skies's rating:

795   8.2   8.4 

TV, 1st viewing

Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly.

Orson Welles and the cinematography steal the show here. The shadows look fucking incredible.

blue_skies's rating:

66   7.8   6.8 

DVD, 1st viewing

The world is a lonely place, you're on your own

A great take on solitude by Mika Kaurismäki. The quoted Black Sabbath song fits perfectly to the mood. Although it has some of the humour that his brother's films are known from, ultimately it's a very sad movie.

On the minus side, the acting is not always top-notch due to use of amateur actors and the dialogue is kind of sticky here and there but it still is a fine film and also a possible grower.

EDIT: OK, another lift from 3.5 to 4.0 'cause it deserves to have the same rating as "Mies vailla menneisyyttä" and "Varjoja paratiisissa".

blue_skies's rating:

499   7.5   7.9 

Digibox, 1st viewing

It was great as long as there was tension but as soon as they started actually encountering the body snatchers it lose the nice thrill it was having on. Also the message could've been presented in a lot more subtle manner. Not in this "I DON'T WANNA LIVE IN A WORLD WITHOUT EMOTIONS :'(" kind of way.

Still, it surprised me with how gripping atmosphere it managed to create. Thought it would be a laughable b-movie but, thankfully, it was better than that. The scene where they watch the snatchers gathering up for transporting the pods is cool.

blue_skies's rating:

2044   8.1   8.5 

Digibox, 1st viewing

Now I've seen THE BEST MOVIE IN THE WORLD. Well not quite but you know.

I actually did enjoy this in the end, although about hour in I still thought I was gonna hate this. But the 70-damn-year-old Kane's emotions were so fantastically played by 26-year-old Orson Welles that I just couldn't awe at it. Certainly one of the greatest performances in history. The Rosebud thing is also a brilliant symbol although I have to admit that I had to rewind a couple of times to make out that Rosebud was the SLED and not some chair. Oh well.

A potential grower, definitely.

EDIT: It already grew in my head from 3.5 to 4.0.

blue_skies's rating:

1146   7.6   7.7 

DVD, 1st viewing

Parts of this was just incredibly animated: especially the storm scene was jaw-dropping. However, like Spirited Away and unlike My Neighbor Totoro, not consistently great for the story turned out kinda corny towards the end.

However, it LOOKS absolutely amazing.

This guy should get some new clothes and a haircut though:

blue_skies's rating:

5634   7.1   8 

Digibox, 1st viewing

Weakest Pixar film so far. It was pretty entertaining and funny occasionally and the animation looks really cool once again but it just never gives me the "wow" reaction that most of their other films do. Also the villain's a problem, what the hell was he fighting against? Superheroes because he wanted everyone to have superpowers, what? Did I miss something?

Anyway some characters - such as Mr. Incredible's boss - are much fun and some of the action sequences are well thought out etc. etc. It's just another pretty good superhero film.

blue_skies's rating:

86   8.4   7.8 

TV, 1st viewing

Post-silent film silent film. No dialogue, just amazing photography, a great score backing the story of a family living by themselves on an island. Wouldn't have believed that I would like a film that largely consists of two people carrying water this much.

Also, the best bitchslap scene I've seen.

blue_skies's rating:

3392   7.7   8.1 

TV, re-watch

Dropped the rating little, don't know if it's due to the film or the fucking commercials that efficiently ruined the flow (= why I "never" watch movies on commercial channels before saving them on the hard drive..)

Anyway, it's still a good film with interesting time travel elements and Bruce "sacrificing for mankind" Willis.

blue_skies's rating:

223   8.4   8.2 

Digibox, 1st viewing

The location is genius: the dunes look really amazing. The shots of sand avalanches and the skin close-ups are hypnotizing. Lots of metaphors/symbols I couldn't quite get but it's a really fascinating film with a claustrophobic atmosphere. The score is great too.

blue_skies's rating:

189   8.2   7.6 

Digibox, 1st viewing

Now this was a cool movie. Awesome combination of mid-sixties psychedelia + science fiction reminiscent of what Terry Gilliam would later do + lots of stuff I didn't understand. All in nice, black & white photography. Have to re-watch this sometime.

blue_skies's rating:

2591   8.1   8.5 

Cinema, 1st viewing

I'm starting my Toy Story 3 review with a curse word, my apologies:

Fucking aching near the end, I've never been as close to tears during a film. I seriously had to fight back so that the badass twelve-year-olds sitting behind me wouldn't kick my wimp ass (well, they were probably all snivelling babies too).

I really dug the dark vibe attached to it (the APE was pure fucking TERROR) and how Pixar doesn't wipe away the nasty things about life with a stupid joke like Shrek, for example, is likely to do. The prison film parody was really well thought out and the escape was made highly entertaining and thrilling.

Sure it wasn't perfect throughout. It had the flaws that Pixar films tend to have: it drags a bit in the middle and at times it's annoyingly predictable. Luckily there's not nearly as many of the "oh-we're-in-deep-trouble-now-but-what-the-heck-we'll-be-saved-anyway" moments as in its predecessor. But oh how it improved with the film noirish flashback scene and, especially, the great escape.

Overall, they couldn't have ended the trilogy much better: it is likely my favorite from the three films. Toy Story secured its post as one of the best film trilogies ever with a film which culminates to one of the most bittersweet, sad and beautiful scenes in cinematic history. The way the films have grown up with the audience is unique (if there is a similar example, please tell me!). I'm so happy I'm a part of the generation who has grown up with these films.

Yeah, I know, I'm a sentimental manchild.

blue_skies's rating:

224   7.9   8.1 

Cinema, 1st viewing

The Pixar short film shown before Toy Story 3. Lovely, original idea finely executed. I haven't seen many of their shorts but this is the most memorable of them and has a message.

blue_skies's rating:

108   7.5   7.6 

Digibox, 1st viewing

The worst Bergman so far. It's just very mediocre and has some annoying acting. Seems like his pre-1957 films remain somehow superficial. I was kinda bored.

blue_skies's rating:

2801   6.9   7.2 

Digibox, re-watch

The lowish ratings this gathers really bother me. First of all it's an eyegasm (yes, besides the tits and asses, too) and it is a very interesting, well-made depiction of jealousy. Overall, it doesn't pale in comparison with Kubrick's previous films.

Oh and the orgy scene is one of the best scenes ever crafted. Superb, other-worldly combination of images and sound. Too bad the film doesn't reach the same amount of awesomeness after it and sadly drags a bit.

blue_skies's rating:

1283   5.5   6 

TV, re-watch

The kid is annoying but Arnold, of course, is God. Entertainment, folks!

blue_skies's rating: