30 Day Movie Challenge: Part IV

Day 23 – Top 3 actors

Logan Lerman, Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hardy

From the top of my head, these three actors have a filmography that I have followed closely and loved. Not that these guys haven’t misstepped into one or two terrible / cringey projects (Percy Jackson, Jupiter Ascending, This Means War), but I couldn’t name anyone with a clean slate of only high-quality award-winning movies. Besides, that’s not necessarily the point. I could write an endless passage about these guys, so let me try to recap the essentials. Evidently, what makes a great actor is their acting ability and each one of them have proven their expertise repeatedly. Here are the performances you definitely need to watch out for:

• Logan Lerman: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 3:10 to Yuma, Fury. (and most likely Indignation, but I haven’t seen that yet)
• Eddie Redmayne: The Theory of Everything, Danish Girl, Fantastic Beasts
• Tom Hardy: Taboo, Legend, No Turning Back / Locke, Warrior (if you listen to more mainstream opinions also The Revenant and Bronson)

I feel like these actors have very little in common aside from their ridiculous talent. While Eddie and Tom are extremely physical actors, in two completely different dimensions, and have therefore tackled physically challenging roles, Logan seems to be the most typecasted as the young, melancholic character, but this will definitely change in the future. I am always eagerly awaiting their newest projects and have watched many of their movies repeatedly. (Pro tip: watch some interviews with these guys, I don’t know how you can’t love Eddie Redmayne afterwards).

Day 24 – A movie nobody expected me to like

(500) Days of Summer

This is about as cliche as it’s gonna get. Anyone disliking romance movies claims this movie as their favourite – including me.

Day 25 – Top 3 actresses

Dakota Fanning, Saoirse Ronan, Felicity Jones

For some reason, this was a pretty straight forward choice. With two of these actresses being my age, I always held a fascination for their talent. One of the five movies that started my whole movie enthusiasm back in 2005 was War of the Worlds with Dakota Fanning. You cannot imagine the excitement when I was at the taping of The Late Late Show with James Corden and she was the guest for that episode! Giving off a little less Hollywood glamour vibes are the other two women from across the pond. Undeniably Saoirse Ronan has become one of the most renowned actresses these days, with so many prestigious awards raining down on her, yet she seems so grounded and approachable. As for Felicity Jones, I love her involvement in the Star Wars franchise. Rogue One is my personal favourite out of all the instalments. The first of her movies I saw was Like Crazy because my best friend asked me to watch it together with him as we were both in long distance relationships back then. The emotionality and relatability she conveyed, immediately landed her in my mental “to watch out for”-list.

• Dakota Fanning: I am Sam, Hounddog, The Alienist
• Saoirse Ronan: The Lovely Bones, The Way Back, Hanna (Lady Bird is very far up on my watchlist)
• Felicity Jones: Like Crazy, The Theory of Everything, Rogue One

Day 26 – A movie from the year I was born

Léon: The Professional

After googling “1994 movies”, I could have gone with that year’s Oscar winners The Lion King, Forrest Gump or Pulp Fiction (which even opened in the week I was born). However, I mentioned a classic Disney movie already, Forrest Gump was a bit too lengthy for my taste when I first saw it ten years ago and I am NOT a fan of Quentin Tarantino. Léon: The Professional is a special movie. Not because it’s phenomenally good, but because I haven’t seen anything like it before. The relationship between Jean Reno’s and Natalie Portman’s characters is so unique, something that I would have loved to see explored more in Hollywood movies.

Day 27 – A movie that gave me nightmares

Dante’s Peak

I am chuckling as I write this, because of the sheer randomness. I don’t actually remember much about the movie but one scene in the movie haunted a few weeks of my childhood (Spoilers, duh): The two boiling corpses in the hot spring. At that time I didn’t know the context of that horrendous scene, let alone the name of the movie. It only mortified me. By accident, I found it while flicking through the television many years later and I had to laugh out loud when I realised how bad it all was. Funny enough, recently I found out that my boyfriend knew the movie too and had his own memory on it: the terribly executed scene of the acid lake. We rewatched both scenes together and it was hilarious.

Day 28 – An award-winning movie that didn’t deserve it

The Shape of Water

I had a hard time for this category too, but rather because of the sheer multitude of titles that I could have posted. Since I’ve ranted about James Cameron already, I decided to go with a rather recent WTF moment, especially because this was the first Academy Awards that I watched live in its entity. Sure, the cinematography of The Shape of Water was pretty too look at, but other than that? Nah. The story was mediocre at best, a sappy “forbidden” romance blablabla. WHAT ABOUT Get Out, Three Billboards or Dunkirk?? I didn’t stay up until five in the morning for this!

Day 29 – A movie during which I fell asleep

The Expandables

I’m not usually one to fall asleep during movies, not at home and even less in the cinema. But The Expendables was just so boring that I dozed off for a while despite the explosions and noise. I think that was the moment of epiphany that these typical macho action flicks with little plot but a bunch of hyper-muscled typecasted actors give very little satisfaction. More recently I fell asleep in the theatre during Mary Poppins Returns and missed a good 15 minutes or so, but this time it might have just been me being tired rather than the movie being bad.

Day 30 – Favourite non-English movie

Good Bye Lenin!

It’s purely coincidental that this turned out to be a German movie and with Daniel Brühl no less. I considered Juste la fin du monde, Jagten and Train to Busan but despite their individual charm, Good Bye Lenin! just stuck with me more than the others. I remember first watching it when I still lived in Indonesia and the whole history of a separated nation was just that: history. That’s probably why the movie seemed more fictional that it actually was. Funny enough, when I moved to East Germany years later, there were many quirks I realised to be true. And Spreewaldgurken were a highlight in itself when I first found them here.

30 Day Movie Challenge: Part III

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 !!!

 

Day 23 – Top 3 actors

Day 24 – A movie nobody expected me to like

Day 25 – Top 3 actresses

Day 26 – A movie from the year I was born

Day 27 – A movie that gave me nightmares

Day 28 – An award-winning movie that didn’t deserve it

Day 29 – A movie during which I fell asleep

Day 30 – Favourite non-English movie

30 Day Movie Challenge: Part II

Day 08 – A movie that put me in deep thoughts

Silence

Matt Zoller Seitz from RogerEbert.com articulated it perfectly: “This is not the sort of film you ‘like’ or ‘don’t like.’ It’s a film that you experience and then live with.” Writing about this movie faces me with just as much contemplation as when I first saw its credits roll. It’s a story about unconditional faith in a place filled with doubt and persecution; a place not at all so different than some parts of the world today, without many of us ever noticing. Admittedly, I had never heard or thought about the persecution of Christians in 17th century Japan, making Silence an eye-opening movie, a rarity among the contemporary excess of Superhero movies and Romcoms. This was one of the gems that I had to research and look into directly after it ended. As a rather sceptical Christian, the themes of Martin Scorsese’s work hit very close to home and stirred personal questions as well as ineffable admiration towards people with steadfastness in their faith, even when it may no longer look like it from the outside. Father Rodrigues’ journey is a painful one to watch, even more harrowing than the realisation that this movie got snubbed at the 2017 Academy Awards. And it got snubbed HARD. Martin Scorsese would have deserved an Oscar, not to mention Andrew Garfield. Instead they had La La Land in the run for Best Picture. What. A. Joke.

Day 09 – My favourite movie from my favourite genre

Snowpiercer

In case I hadn’t mentioned it often enough, I have a soft spot for (post-apocalyptic) dystopian fiction. People are always perplexed at the specificity of the answer when I’m asked about my favourite genre, both in cinema as well as literature. Unfortunately, most dystopian stories don’t translate very well on screen, because the most interesting aspects, their politics, the government and society are rarely merited their deserved screen time for the sake of the characters and the plot. Snowpiercer is different. Aside from an extensive elaboration on the workings of the Great Engine, it has a classical dystopian arc of rebellion and the ultimate goal of overthrowing the system. What makes this movie unique is the combination of a sophisticated dystopian regime and R-rated action that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Up until Snowpiercer, R-rated dystopias mostly focused on fights, deaths and gore without regarding the deeper sense of the system (i.e. Death Race, Hotel Artemis, Battle Royale and many more). I highly appreciate the intricate synergy of visual delights and intellectual challenge, so if you know more movies like Snowpiercer let me know ASAP!!!

Day 10 – A movie where a character has a job I want

Fantastic Beasts and where to find them

Veterinary medicine comes pretty close, but it’s still not magizoology. Although deeply envious of Newt Scamander, I can’t help but loving his character in general. If the Wizarding World were real, I’d take going on an expedition to find magical creatures with Newt over being Harry Potter’s classmate any day.

Day 11 – My favourite book adaptation

Harry Potter (and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

Out of the eight Potter movies, many agree with me that The Prisoner of Azkaban was the best of the bunch. I can’t exactly say what makes it superior to the rest; it may be Alfonso Cuaron at the helm, the fact that they ditched the rather “children-friendly” style or because the story itself starts to pick up. In any case, shit got real in this movie and set the bar high for the rest of the series. Although the movie saga disagrees with some hardcore book fans, I find the overall adaptation a success. Sure, a lot of details and gags were left out (Peeves, anyone?) but the practicability of translating page to screen has to taken into consideration as well and a 4-hour movie isn’t practical, even though I definitely wouldn’t complain about that.

Day 12 – The best superhero movie

Daredevil

Before you lynch me for choosing Daredevil and remember the 2003 cringey Ben Affleck flick, call me out for being a cheater. Yes, Netflix series don’t belong in a movie challenge but no Hollywood production has ever come close to the ingeniuty of this Daredevil version. I cannot recall what enticed me to start the series in the first place; maybe it was divine intervention to lead me to one of the best cinematic experiences ever. Unlike the CGI-driven, blockbuster action Marvel Cinematic Universe or other superhero movies these days, Daredevil relies on strong character development. Superhero story arcs proof to be repetitive and oftentimes fall into a boring sob story. Matt Murdock actually follows the typical “I’m an underprivileged, even handicapped, orphan that has special skills and made something out of myself to fight for justice” story and if you put it this way, that does sound terribly dull. Yet Charlie Cox’ portrayal of Matt makes him so likeable and the religious themes that establish his moral struggle, especially in Season 3, are an interesting take. Also, he’s ridiculously hot.  Daredevil creates suspense through a solid story instead of explosions, car chase scenes or alien invasions. This doesn’t mean that the stunt team was out of a job because they have created the most intense fight sequences I have ever seen with the renowned one-take hallway fights. I am still in awe about the close to 11 minute (!!!) one-take prison escape that is simply too good to be true. Hopefully, Season 4 will grace the Netflix collection at some point, because not renewing Daredevil would be an even dumber move than cancelling Sense 8.

Day 13 – A movie I wish I saw in theaters

Mad Max: Fury Road

Perhaps another odd choice for something I would have loved to see on the big screen, but excluding everything released before my birth and unknown movies that didn’t hit the theaters (in Indonesia) Mad Max: Fury Road is the one I could kick myself for not bothering to buy tickets for. Not sure how I missed it in the first place, because Tom Hardy and post-apocalyptic wastelands are what I live for. I ended up watching it on a 12-hour flight over the Indian Ocean. Despite the 720p resolution on an eight inch screen the movie was still gripping as fuck and a visual treat. I immediately felt like going to the Burning Man afterwards. I watched the movie twice more in the following two weeks and loved it every time. Lesson learned: I’ll be the first in line for tickets when  Mad Max: The Wasteland hits theatres.

Day 14 – The most overrated movie

Avatar

A close race between Avatar and Titanic: James Cameron takes home the price of most overrated director in any case. I don’t know why everybody loves this movie, the plot is cheesy as fuck, the gist stolen from Pocahontas, the acting mediocre at best. Commend the CGI and visual effects all you want, I walked out of the theatre with a headache after the 3D screening. And no, I am not usually sensitive to 3D. It may be a cinematic breakthrough or whatever, but it left me less than impressed. Equally unnecessary is the production of the sequels, no doubt a farce to grab more cash from this weary universe.

 

SEE THE REST IN PART III !

Day 15 – The most underrated movie

Day 16 – A childhood movie

Day 17 – Favourite animated movie

Day 18 – A movie I surprisingly enjoyed

Day 19 – Favourite war movie

Day 20 – Visually most striking movie

Day 21 – Top 3 directors

Day 22 – Weirdest movie I’ve ever seen

Day 23 – Top 3 actors

Day 24 – A movie nobody expected me to like

Day 25 – Top 3 actresses

Day 26 – A movie from the year I was born

Day 27 – A movie that gave me nightmares

Day 28 – An award-winning movie that didn’t deserve it

Day 29 – A movie during which I fell asleep

Day 30 – Favourite non-English movie

30 Day Movie Challenge

Day 01 – First movie I remember watching

Aladdin

Yes, I started with Disney too. And Jasmine is still my favourite princess to this day.

Day 02 – A movie I basically know the whole script of

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

This movie holds a very special place in my heart. Prior to the movie I have never heard of the series, I watched it in the cinema with my brother and my cousins and we loved it so so much. We played the Playstation 2 game a couple of times from beginning to end, listened to the Original Soundtrack by Harry Gregson-Williams for years, I started reading the whole series and of course we rewatched this movie so many times, (including with the audio commentary) we actually knew every line by heart – and even with a British accent. I look back very fondly on this movie, because it’s been a constant companion during a lovely period in my early teens and since my cousins and I are scattered over three different continents and rarely meet, the memories brought back by this movie is precious.

Day 03 – Favourite Tagline

“Are you watching closely?”

I’m sure there are a lot of better taglines out there, but this one is as good as any with the side note that the movie is probably better than the others. What can I say – The Prestige is what you get when you cross a genius director, a stellar cast and a mind-blowing plot. If you haven’t seen it, get to it I M M E D I A T E L Y.

Day 04 – Biggest disappointment

Eragon

Ugh, where do I even start? I had high hopes for this movie, because for a long while Eragon by Christopher Paolini was my favourite book. It was the only contemporary novel in German language that I had in my possession at that time and I read it from cover to cover at least ten times and more often than not I would find myself just rereading my favourite chapters.

And then this piece of crap hit the theaters.

I tried to sugarcoat it in the beginning but the older I got, the more impossible it grew to deny what a failure of an adaptation this was. The cast seemed quite promising – just not enough to make up for the disastrous script that butchered every scene in the book and robbed the story of its original appeal, making it look like very cheap and lazy, not to mention forgettable, scribbles. Safe to say, Eragon deserves landing a prime mausoleum in the graveyard of cringey fantasy novel adaptations alongside Seventh Son, The Golden Compass and Percy Jackson, just to name a few. The only consolation this movie brought was the soundtrack by Patrick Doyle that was (for me personally) adequately original.

Day 05 – A movie where the soundtrack was better than the film

John Williams – Memoirs of a Geisha

Yesterday’s movie would be the obvious candidate for this category. Memoirs of a Geisha, on the other hand, needs some explaining as to why I chose it. Firstly, I haven’t read the novel, but I loved the movie itself. It was unlike anything I have seen at that time, both visually and story-wise. Albeit, I later found out, factually not very accurate, the movie aroused my interest to research on Geisha culture – and anything that entices me to broaden my knowledge is highly appreciated. Yet even better than the details to the costumes and set, was the auditory experience. John Williams deserved the Golden Globe win (although Harry Gregson-Williams would have been fine as well hehe ) and should have left with an Oscar as well. If you’re not familiar with the soundtrack, listen to it now! Thank me later. It’s no secret that I am no fan of John Williams’ most popular work like Star Wars or Indiana Jones. The upbeat fanfares and the full orchestral force clash with my personal musical taste. And not even Hedwig’s Theme, regardless of how iconic and how much of a Harry Potter fan I am, matches the beauty of some tracks in the Memoirs of a Geisha. In conclusion, the movie was good, but the soundtrack just sends it over the roof (of the Hanamachi).

Day 06 – A movie you hate that everyone else liked

Dirty Dancing

I am prepared to face the hordes of Generation X girls who will charge at me for putting Dirty Dancing here. I understand the appeal it brought when it first came out and who doesn’t sing along when Time of my Life blasts in the club but the overall movie just isn’t for me. At all. Perhaps I act so unappreciative towards it because I watched it thirty years after its release – and in that time there many similarly uninteresting dance slash musical romance movies that all had the same story have sprouted and they tainted me first. Who in the right mind identifies with a whiny privileged white girl who gets her first taste of a “bad boy”? Again, the socio-economic situation in the 80s may have bolstered the originality of the plot and its subsequent success but nothing is more tedious than people sobbing about their love life.

Day 07 – The first movie I saw in theaters

Men in Black II

During a visit to Jakarta in 2003 my (extended) family decided to go to the cinema. I didn’t even speak any English back then and I hadn’t seen Men in Black. All I remember are the huge hall with bright red seats and how it was such a new experience. Cinemas were such a treat back then and not a regular weekly activity like it is in Jakarta these days. Obviously I had no recollection of the movie itself and even after getting acquainted with he series at an older age, it never captivated me, but it will always be my first theater experience.

 

SEE THE REST IN PART II & PART III!

Day 08 – A movie that put me in deep thoughts

Day 09 – My favourite movie from my favourite genre

Day 10 – A movie where a character has a job I want

Day 11 – My favourite book adaptation

Day 12 – The best superhero movie

Day 13 – A movie I wish I saw in theaters

Day 14 – The most overrated movie

Day 15 – The most underrated movie

Day 16 – A childhood movie

Day 17 – Favourite animated movie

Day 18 – A movie I surprisingly enjoyed

Day 19 – Favourite war movie

Day 20 – Visually most striking movie

Day 21 – Top 3 directors

Day 22 – Weirdest movie I’ve ever seen

Day 23 – Top 3 actors

Day 24 – A movie nobody expected me to like

Day 25 – Top 3 actresses

Day 26 – A movie from the year I was born

Day 27 – A movie that gave me nightmares

Day 28 – An award-winning movie that didn’t deserve it

Day 29 – A movie during which I fell asleep

Day 30 – Favourite non-English movie