Day 15 – The most underrated movie
3:10 To Yuma
I suffered anxiety just thinking about this category. I’m not an indie movie connoiseur and usually watch pretty mainstream stuff, so I apologize for not putting anything super fancy here. Westerns have always been a difficult genre for me to grasp, I rarely bring myself to watch one and therefore have very little credentials. Despite all that, 3:10 to Yuma by James Mangold became one of my favourites in my teens. If I had to pinpoint one certain aspect to why I repeatedly played this movie, it’s probably the cast. Christian Bale and Russel Crowe are terrific and I discovered my undying love for Logan Lerman. The soundtrack has since accompanied me in various playlists as well. I’m surprised that up until now nobody I’ve met seems to have heard of this movie – but then again most people in my circle are extreme movie amateurs. (SORRY GUYS)
Day 16 – A childhood movie
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music accompanied the first three years of my life. I lived with my grandmother at that time and while I can’t tell you why we loved the movie so much it played over and over again. Come to think of it, it’s a rather odd choice, considering it was released nearly thirty years prior to my birth and has no cultural establishment in Indonesia. Yet I couldn’t think of any better movie to grow up with and share fond memories with my grandmother. She tells this story to everyone who hasn’t heard it: because I slept in her room and she was in charge to get 2 year old fidgety Nadia to bed. We had a goodnight ritual where we recreated the So Long, Farewell scene. Essentially I was Gretl, I would pretend to fall asleep on the stairs (there was a very conveniently placed step in the bedroom anyway) and then my grandmother, taking on the role of Liesl, carried me to bed and tucked me in… – And then I asked to go to the toilet. It’s been at least a decade since I last watched this musical and I think the only appropriate way to do so is in my grandma’s bedroom with her.
Day 17 – Favourite animated movie
Princess Mononoke
There were so many contenders to take the price but ultimately I decided to crown Mononoke hime (Princess Mononoke) by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. I remember first stumbling upon it on German television when I was seven or eight and couldn’t help but thinking how badass the movie was. Only after revisiting Miyazaki’s work at an older age, did I unravel the actual depth of the movie, especially concerning the environment and coexistence between humans and nature.
Day 18 – A movie I surprisingly enjoyed
How to be Single
I’ve put off filling in this category, because I was too indecisive about what to write here. I’m a very predictable and picky person when it comes to liking movies: I stick to certain genres and rarely wander out of the box and if I do, I’d most likely rant about what a terrible idea that was. I have an internet acquaintance who relentlessly praised How to be Single online, and some time later it came out on Netflix so I gave it a go. This movie had really bad cards: It looks like a typical RomCom, Dakota Johnson was such an unattratictive leading lady given her history of 50 Shades and I consider Rebel Wilson to be rigorously annoying. Yet for some reason the movie had a flow to it that made it quite enjoyable to watch. I no longer recall my own emotional state during that time; maybe I was in need of a cheesy, light movie and that factored into my postive attitude.
Day 19 – Favourite war movie
Black Hawk Down
As a typical Millenial war is a topic that is confined between the pages of our history books. War movies, although often glorifying one side in order to establish a certain protagonist-antagonist foundation, can be used as a reminder of the horrors of war and often the futility of it. I’ve never referred to myself as a pacifist, but I guess I do believe that everything can be solved by peaceful methods – if humans weren’t as shitty as they are. (But that’s a whole different topic). Looking at the variety of war movies I have seen, the inclination is towards stories of World War II as opposed to the Vietnam war or World War I. Yes, Black Hawk Down is defnitely not set during that era, but maybe the visualisation of modern warfare was what struck me the most. There is a certain contemporariness to it that makes it all the more impactful while, in my humble opinion, still more gripping and superiour to more recent movies like The Hurt Locker or Sand Castle. The cast is absolutely formidable and Hans Zimmer’s score is on point. Definitely not to be missed!
Day 20 – Visually most striking movie
Isle of Dogs
The other contender for this category couldn’t be any more different than Isle of Dogs. I considered putting The Revenant here because Alejandro González Iñárritu’s cinematography is indisputably striking. However, when I sat in the cinema for Isle of Dogs I remember literally going WOW at Wes Anderson’s style. I’ve been acquainted with his work for the past decade, but I must admit that this was the first movie of his that I saw in theatres and it was an absolutely brilliant experience.
Day 21 – Top 3 directors
There’s really no easy way to answer if you are considering a director’s entire filmography in order for him to become a favourite. One thing is for sure: I absolutely love Christopher Nolan‘s and Wes Anderson‘s work as a whole, both their oeuvres with a recognition value and a strong individual style. The third spot is harder to fill, because I don’t necessarily remember any more directors whose complete body of work blows me away; usually there are a handful of enjoyable movies and the rest are rather unmemorable or just didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. Take Martin Scorsese for example: I’ve mentioned Silence in this challenge and what an impact it had on me, yet his collaborations with Leonardo DiCaprio (although very well directed) left me rather unmoved. The same goes for Ridley Scott, Steven Soderbergh, Robert Zemeckis or Bong Joon-ho, each of them having movies and a style I deeply admire, but definitely not their whole work. A complete different approach to defining a favourite is of course the consistency in an individual style and in this case directors like Tim Burton deserve a massive amount of appreciation. Lastly, let’s not forget to mention first-time directors like Neill Blomkamp or Wes Ball mount a more than decent production, leaving a lot of room for the future. Tl;dr ⏩ Chris Nolan, Wes Anderson and one of the others – I can’t decide.
Day 22 – Weirdest movie I’ve ever seen
Wrong
Without a doubt the most peculiar movie I have ever seen, because it just throws in so many random details into an already bizarre plot. I’m honestly undecided whether all the oddities are some kind of metaphor or whether Quentin Dupieux just wanted to troll his viewers. Wrong has a similar vibe to The Lobster by Giorgos Lanthimos but it is missing a golden thread which gave me the feeling that it just layered random motives over another. It’s enjoyable and you’ll be going WTF all the way through, however if you ever watch it, let me know so we can discuss!
SEE THE REST IN PART IV !!!
so nad amused 
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