What's Next On My List? Alice In Wonderland

I know what controversy surrounds Tim Burton, ever since he started to cast the same two people in every movie of his. But honestly I don't mind, because they are talented actors who always add something new to the material that is given to them. I also don't care about the peculiar music that is always credited to one person. What I do care about is the movies one by one and although I highly appreciate Burton's vision and his works, sometimes I feel that he is under pressure by Hollywood to produce more, (does the Dark Shadows ring a bell?) while he obviously works better when he takes his time (like everyone else really!). That said, I wanted to talk about this movie as I have seen it for the first time only a couple of days ago:

Alice In Wonderland

Alice, our young lead is tormented by nightmares. She shares the same nightmare for years to come, until one day it all seems to become a reality when she is supposed to get engaged. She runs away and follows a rabbit with a blue coat down his hole, only to find herself in a place called Underworld.

She is supposed to be their savior, as the Red Queen has taken the throne by force from her sister, the White Queen. She is mean and inconsiderate of others and most of the citizens of Underworld wish to see a time where happiness bloomed. In the forest she is taken to the Mad Hatter, one of the White Queen's most trusted allies and she is told that her destiny is that of killing an evil monster that reigns terror on the citizens. She can hardly believe this, as she doesn't think herself capable of killing anyone - not even if her life depended on it. Concerned that she might not be the real Alice, her helpers start to neglect her a bit and she decides to take her destiny into her own hands.

After meeting the Red Queen, she decides that she will help stop her, even if she can't fulfill the prophecy given to her. She meets up with the White Queen and slowly understands that it is not the good guys who are trying to force her into something she doesn't want - she simply needs to learn that somethings in her life she will never be able to control.
After getting their friends back from capture, she heads off to battle with the Red Queen, who chooses her Jabberwocky to fight with Alice. After much struggle she succeeds in cutting his head off. And when offered a chance to stay, she realizes that she is expected home and she needs to start living her life as an adult.

I hesitated in watching this movie, because I don't like scary things, and the trailer didn't exactly scream 'happy fun times!'. Same with any Tim Burton movie really; I always wait. This year, since my sister and I got into the Halloween spirit a bit earlier, we decided to finally watch it as we have heard so much about it. Also, I don't particularly get the fascination that some have with Depp. He is a great actor, I'll give him that, but I'm not in love with him, so I don't really jump over hoops to see his movies. What did draw me to this movie was Mia Wasikowska, who is one of my favorites! And she didn't disappoint! Furthermore, I didn't really know what this movie was about... Oh, booh me all you want, but I have never read the book and I never saw the Disney cartoon. I understood that it was a coming-of-age story, but nothing more.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the story, but I did have a problem... THE GREEN SCREEN IS HORRIBLE!!! Who the hell did the post-production on this? There was only one character, Cheshire Cat who was simply sublime! From animation, to story arc all the way to his voice - the very talented Stephen Fry - perfection! So, did all the money go to animating the cat? Because everything else looked like shit! Also, what is it with animating 70% of a movie where the most important things happen to the characters that are real actors? Honestly, it was really off-putting that I could never get into the story because any time I tried, something horrible happened on screen with animation!

Did I like the movie? Yes, very much. Overall I got what I wanted, even though, right now this story seems more like the collision between 300 other coming-of-age movies I have seen in my lifetime. But that didn't bother me so much, knowing how old actually the source material is. And I was very pleased with the actors as well. One thing, however, that I'm pretty certain should've been cut from the movie is a horrible dance the Mad Hatter did in the end - that alone F*CKING RUINED THE WHOLE MOVIE FOR ME!!!! So if I do rewatch it one day, I'm gonna skip that part!

Watch it? I don't see why not. Opinions are quite mixed on this movie, very probably many had the problems I did, but hey? It was good fun and there are far worse movies out there - trust me! (Does the Dark Shadows ring a bell?).

Until the next item on my list!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Alice - Mia Wasikowska

Mad Hatter - Johnny Depp

Red Queen - Helena Bonham Carter

White Queen - Anne Hathaway

Stayne - Crispin Glover

White Rabbit - Michael Sheen

Chesire Cat - Stephen Fry

Blue Caterpillar - Alan Rickman

Dormouse - Barbara Windsor

Bayard - Timothy Spall

Jabberwocky - Christopher Lee

What's Next On My List? Sucker Punch

I decided on writing something very smart and wise as the beginning of the entry. But nothing really came to me, and you'll see why once you read it. So, this movie... yeah.

Sucker Punch

Our story revolves around five girls, all locked in a madhouse. Babydoll, Sweet Pea, Rocket, Blondie and Amber all part-take in a therapy called 'Theater'. Here, they all assume new identities and live in a fantasy world.

Basically most of our movie is set in this world. The original fantasy is that of the girls living in a brothel where Babydoll is only a newbie who doesn't see clients yet, but she learns a lot from the other girls. When their doctor, Vera Gorski and the head male nurse Blue Jones discover that Babydoll has a kind of hypnotizing dance, they promote her onto the stage. In the movie, whenever she starts to dance, we move onto a completely fantastical world where the girls fight off dragons and participate in wars and so on. They are given guidance by a Wise Man who never appears anywhere else. In the fantasies, unfortunately, Rocket and Blondie die and we soon discover that it wasn't just theater, Blue Jones had actually taken out the girls one by one because of misbehavior. Dr. Vera Gorski finds out that Jones had been forcing girls to get lobotomy without her authorization and he is stopped just before he gets his hands on Babydoll. In the fantasy, Babydoll realizes that this was never her story, and that she is not supposed to get out, she is simple here to help Sweet Pea back her life, outside of this madhouse.

Visually? Stunning. Casting? OK. Story? THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED??! That is actually only the initial reaction, because as you can see when you sit down it comes together, as I too did a pretty good job summarizing it.
Honestly I am really mad at this movie. People said it was bad, but I didn't care. The trailers? I just shit my pants they were so fantastic and honestly, not much was needed to make the movie just as awesome as the trailers. Overall, it is all a big music video and that is fine with me because I like music videos. And this movie? I wanted to like it so much! And the funny thing is that if not for one singular thing that I missed I would have had no problem with it.

Each time Babydoll starts dancing, we immediately move over to the fantasy and we are only supposed to believe that her dancing is so exceptional! We can't! Show us at least two steps from her goddamn dance routine! And that is the only freakin' thing that drove me completely insane and that is why I will never rewatch this movie!
Later on I found out that a lot of scenes that actually make the story interesting have been cut out for some unknown reason. The movie really wants you to think about what happened and why and to see the beauty of it, but no. It just doesn't work if you leave out key elements that make up the story!

Imagine if you were watching Romeo & Juliet and they left out the part were Juliet is given the bottle of medicine that slows her heart down. Now, the death along with Romeo's sappy monologue wouldn't really make sense now, would it?
In the end we are not even sure why should a mad girl escape the place where she is given treatment - I mean Sweet Pea. I only came to the conclusion that she wasn't mad at all and she was just a plaything Blue Jones used to get money. But if she wasn't mad, then perhaps Dr. Gorski should have noticed, as she really was a doctor... Oh I don't know! This movie makes no fucking sense without the deleted scenes! And even then there are huge gaps in it.

I will say this: Original idea that was poorly executed, unfortunately, but perhaps it will give way to new movies like such. Just make sure that you have a working script, and if you decide to just make a big music video, then leave out the dialogue and concentrate on the body language and the songs!

That said, I'm sure you have enough about this movie to make up your mind. I will say that it is worth watching at least once, but don't expect too much.
Until the next item on my list!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Babydoll - Emily Browning
Sweet Pea - Abbie Cornish
Rocket - Jena Malone
Blondie - Vanessa Hudgens
Amber - Jamie Chung
Dr. Vera Gorski - Carla Gugino
Blue Jones - Oscar Isaac
High Roller/ Doctor - Jon Hamm
Wise Man - Scott Glenn

My Top 5 Favorite Manga

Recently I have told you about my favorite anime series and now I would to tell you about my favorite manga. You see, the anime series are usually meant for a wider audience, so many-many times they actually change the story arc of the characters to make it kid-friendly. There are several that I grew up on and then later found out that the manga is about twenty times harsher and sadder - but at the same time also more compelling. It's like they gave me an adult story with the characters I grew up with and it simple added a little extra to it. I really love to read manga, but I decided to tell you about only five because these have a special place in my heart still and they all mark a certain period in my life. Let's get down to it, shall we?

5) Rave

I remember when I saw the first number at the newspaper stand. This was at the time when I watched One Piece everyday after school and I was excited to read about a new journey. I fell in love with the story right away. It tells the tale of Haru Glory, a teenager who embarks on the quest to find the five pieces of the sacred stone Rave in order to bring peace to the world by defeating the criminal group Demon Card. He makes friends along the way and as he gets closer to the end of his quest, he gets stronger. But he couldn't do without the help of his team! Really the story is basically an RPG game in manga version, but the characters are very lovable and the drawing style completely mesmerized me! It was a really fun read.

4) Kodocha No Omocha

This was actually a kind of trauma to me as a kid. You see, the cartoon is about young love, the main character is a Sana, a child actress who has to balance school and work. She falls in love with a bad tempered boy in her class, Akito. Akito evolves into a better person through his love toward Sana. This all adds up to the anime, but then things went a bit south... Akito makes an enemy of a teacher of theirs and he starts ignoring school while Sana is away for work. Also, he finds out that a boy has been idolizing him and after realizing that Akito never noticed him, he contemplates suicide, only to be saved by Akito.

This is to the cost of an almost fatal injury, as the boy says that Akito has to die with him, and the latter gives him a chance to kill, but he misses. He does, however, plunge a blade into Akito's arm, and he almost loses half of his blood supply before reaching the hospital. This alone is quite dark, but the story doesn't end here! Sana has been suffering from a disease that her mother calls 'doll syndrome'. During which she is completely incapable of expressing any kind of emotion. The symptoms of the disease present themselves when it turns out that Akito's father is going to take him away to America, where a renowned doctor will help him recover the use of the injured arm. The thought of losing her only love leaves Sana sick for quite some time. Unwilling to depart, the two run away together, only to be discovered a few days later and taken back home. Sana gets better and Akito leaves. The manga ends with Akito visiting back home, completely cured, and with a bigger heart than before, all for Sana. The story is really beautiful, and there are actually plenty more parts of it that I'd rather not disclose, but after singing the jingle by heart for years I was literally shocked to find out what the manga had held all along. And the thing that got me hooked is actually that neither of the characters ever has to utter the words 'I love you' for the reader to believe that they were meant to be together forever! This manga is a very big part of my life because I feel that I have learned more about people in general than I ever did before.

3) Slam Dunk

I always loved basketball, but this series is the thing that really marked the beginning of a beautiful friendship between me and an actual basketball. I have watched the anime, but after having missed several episodes, I decided to start reading the manga.

In the end I preferred the ending that the manga revealed a lot more than the anime. Our main character is Hanamichi Sakuragi, a bad tempered and rude boy who joins his high school's basketball team in the hopes of getting a date with a very lovely girl. His temper pretty much gets him into trouble every single time, but it is also the reason that drives a couple of old players of the team back to the gym - as they are practically bullied into it. The story ends gloriously, as our team becomes the National Champion and Sakuragi discovers a true love for basketball. For Hanamichi in the anime basketball simply becomes part of his everyday routine, something he won't do without. In the manga it becomes something he can't do without - and yet he has an injury to his spine at their last game and he is forced to retire from sports for the rest of his life. The manga ends with him in physical therapy, reading a letter of that girl he loved so much, who during their travel to the championship became his best friend. The author very cleverly made the reader fall in love with the feeling that comes with loving and living a sport. Then, he took it away. Which, in my opinion, portrays life perfectly!

2) Marmalade Boy

Admittedly the story here is basically identical, the anime although has several other characters involved in the love story of Miki and Yuu. The parents of these two meet during a vacation, fall in love, get divorced and decided to change partners, forcing Miki and Yuu under one roof where they all plan to live happily ever after. Let alone the fact that the children are sure they are insane, they commit the mistake of falling in love with one another. That is when things get really complicated... Yuu has been hiding a secret from all of his family.

He found a letter that his grandmother wrote to his father, where she reveals that Yuu is someone else's child. Yuu goes crazy over trying to find out who his actual father is only to discover that their parents knew each other in college. He comes to the conclusion that he and Miki share their biological father. Incapable of telling her the truth, he breaks up with Miki claiming that he doesn't love her anymore and he moves away to give her time to heal. It is no use as none of them are capable of moving on. Miki goes after Yuu to at least get an explanation, where he tells her the truth. Miki asks Yuu that they spend one short holiday together before having to move on, where they can pretend one last time that they can be together forever. The night ends with the two in each others' arms. They realize that even if they can't have children, even if the won't be able to get married legally, they simply cannot live without each other. They tell their parents that their little secret has been discovered and that they will not break-up, no matter what. Yuu's father gets up and slaps him across the face for never telling him about finding the letter. They tell them that yes, indeed his mother was pregnant with Miki's father's child - she, however, over the pain of the break-up suffered a miscarriage. Yuu was born years after that, and he is not Miki's brother. The revelation that they can be together after all leaves them with such an ecstatic feeling that all seems to fall into place. I always loved how love could overcome anything, and I was especially happy when incest wasn't an issue anymore. I love this manga!

1) City Hunter

There is a movie version of this manga, where Jackie Chan played the main character. The movie played on the comedic element of the manga and it got that dead on. It did, however, leave out the serious stuff and it is that that got me hooked. Ryo Saeba is a sweeper in Shinjuku, where he is known as City Hunter. He does all sorts of jobs, but only for female customers. His past finds him one day, when his partner Makimura is killed. He takes it upon himself to take care of his little sister Kaori. She becomes his new partner, he, however, doesn't teach her how to shoot or to kill.

Kaori always perceived this as a sign of distrust - especially when years go by with her loving him madly and him running after other women. She has a constant fear that he will tell her off one day, if he finds a better partner. On the other hand, Ryo feels that he owes Makimura and he mustn't drag Kaori even deeper into his world, not even giving a chance for her to choose. All things change when an old friend of Ryo's appears - Mitch - with the task of killing him. Mitch is known for stealing his target's lover so that when the target dies, the women don't cry. He ends up falling for Kaori, without being able to shake her from her state of fondness toward Ryo. Mitch refuses to kill Ryo after being unable to get Kaori and that gets him killed. The person who originally hired Mitch is a man, a drug lord who Ryo considered to be his father for years. He nourished him, taught him about arms, wars, he cared for him and now he has come back to take his life as payment. Mitch being only one of the many people Ryo could loose, he sets out to kill his father to save Kaori. After years the two finally commit to each other, reveal their feelings and show signs of actual commitment. Kaori, however, gets amnesia and when her memory comes back she stays quiet about it, disappointed that Ryo made no effort in reminding her about what happened. Knowing, however, that he loves her nonetheless brings them together again.

This manga was written a long-long time ago, and yet I re-read it every year. I just can't get enough of it. It is currently being reprinted in Italy and it costs a lot - but I will get my hands on all of them! You just wait! Let alone the detective stories and the incredible charming characters, I love this manga because it lets me dream. I could imagine that I was the partner of the person who takes down bad guys, who helps the police when others aren't looking; I could be the person who knows guns like the back of their hand and handle people like I've known them all of their lives. Most of all learned from Kaori: The love, that this girl has, for this idiot? Unparalleled. She never doubts him and she is never disappointed. They have a special bond that becomes obvious to anyone who crosses their path. And even if you don't care for the gun part and the detective part - these characters are so down to Earth that you are amazed by the similarities between your everyday and theirs'! There was something fantastic about this manga that has never been replicated.

The author has another series, Angel Heart, which plays in another universe where Kaori dies on the day of their wedding and her heart is transplanted into a young assassin - Shan-In - trying to escape her organization. She finds Ryo and he takes her in as his child, as she has been deprived of a normal life due to being trained as an assassin. This manga is also very beautiful, but Kaori being my favorite character, I can't help, but miss her presence from every single page. She is in a way still part of the story, as her death defines the character changes that were made to Ryo; also Shan-In announces proudly to anyone that her mother's heart is beating in her, as she becomes a better person because of it. Still, I miss her. I think I'm going to go and read the manga all over again!

So, these are my favorite manga, what are yours? Let me know in the comments below!
Until the next item on my list!

Click here to read about my top 15 favorite anime series!

What's Next On My List? Jackie Brown

There is one kind of movies that I love eternally - and those are the ones that manage to fool even me. That's why I love to read crime novels, I enjoy more than anything to try and figure out who the killer is, and if I'm wrong I'm not sad: I am even more excited that the writer managed to fool even me! That is why I LOVE movies that have a perfect crime in them, so I want to pay homage to my five favorite movies of all time, which manage to amaze me every time I watch them.

I wanted to leave this one for last because - it is my favorite; I think really sets the tone as far as ending twists go and I have something about Tarantino that I wanted to share for decades now. You might disagree with me, but maybe you'll share my opinion, either way my number one perfect crime movie is:

#1

Jackie Brown

Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who works for an arms dealer, Ordell Robbie. Jackie is arrested and she is asked to help the police in stopping Ordell. She does help them, but tells Ordell previously that she will trick them so Ordell can leave with the money so she doesn't get killed like Ordell's previous employee.

Her plan is to get Ordell's money from Mexico and during the exchange let the cops follow the trail to Ordell while she takes off with most of the money. The police is told that Ordell only asked for a small sum while she leaves the actual bag full of money behind for someone to get it - but things don't go as smoothly as planned. Ordell's partner Louis becomes too old to handle the job and things start to go south when he kills Ordell's girl Melanie and then arrives without the money. The police desperate to get Ordell rely on Jackie to help them out. She turns to the only person she trusts, a bail bondsman by the name of Max Cherry, who she met when Ordell paid him to get her out of jail. How exactly Jackie gets away with Ordell's half-million is something that you need to discover after you watch the movie!

So, a lot of people are going to hate on me for saying that I don't like Tarantino - but now I'm going to explain it to you exactly why. Ever since I learned about him people always told me "He is a genius." I then told them that I don't like blood in movies - I just simply feel it is unnecessary. (I don't like horror movies either.) "Oh, you need to ignore the blood part, and behind that he is a genius." - I can't ignore it. I can't ignore it because here is Jackie Brown which is a simple masterpiece and there is no unnecessary blood pattern spattered over the audience's face. I can't care for the story if I am constantly reminded of what my organs look like if they are splattered all over the floor! Personally I think that a good story is always a good story - I won't tell anyone to not like Tarantino if they can handle the blood. If they can ignore it and enjoy the story then please, by all means, have a great time. I, however, cannot look over it especially because I have seen that what he can do when the focus is on the characters rather then the horror. So no Tarantino for me, thank you very much.

That said, the movie is indeed brilliant. First of all, it doesn't try to be more than it is. You get the picture right away and you are rewarded with a great twist at the end. The casting is exceptional, and I don't often get it when De Niro plays a character, but here he really took a seemingly boring and not particularly interesting character and turned him into something very real. Same goes for Bridget Fonda, whose character is a real pain in the ass and yet she adds a very important role to the resolution of the story. The last person to whom I want to give all the credit to is Michael Keaton, who plays a cop that is literally the living impersonation of the 90's and a police officer who really wants to make it to the big league. His character is sometimes hilarious, while in the end you understand how strong and confident he is. I don't think I need to tell you about the lead actors, because man, if you want top actors playing freakin' badass characters than you will not be disappointed!

Check out these movies, even if not for the story, do it for he music which is honestly off the hook; trust me you are in for a world of fun! Until the next item on my list!

 _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Jackie Brown - Pam Grier

Ordell Robbie - Samuel L. Jackson

Max Cherry - Robert Forster

Melanie - Bridget Fonda

Ray Nicolette - Michael Keaton

Louis Gara - Robert De Niro

Beaumont Livingston - Chris Tucker

Milestone in view numbers!

Köszönöm, hogy olvasod, klikkelsz, nézed és likeoltad a blogomat!

Ma sikeresen 50,000 fölé kerültünk, ami több, mint, amit kívánhattam volna két évvel ezelőtt, amikor elkezdtem a blogolást. KÖSZÖNÖM MINDENKINEK!

Thank you all for reading, viewing, clicking around and liking my blog! 

We have reached 50,000 views today and I can say that-that is a lot more than I could've ever hoped for when I decided to begin writing two years ago!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU ALL!

Grazie, grazie a tutti di leggere, cliccare, vedere e mettere 'Mi Piace' al mio blog!

Oggi abbiamo sorpassato 50,000 visite e insomma questo é molto di piú di ció che ho sognato due anni fá, quando ho cominciato questo blog! GRAZIE, GRAZIE A TUTTI!

What's Next On My List? Inside Man

There is one kind of movies that I love eternally - and those are the ones that manage to fool even me. That's why I love to read crime novels, I enjoy more than anything to try and figure out who the killer is, and if I'm wrong I'm not sad: I am even more excited that the writer managed to fool even me! That is why I LOVE movies that have a perfect crime in them, so I want to pay homage to my five favorite movies of all time, which manage to amaze me every time I watch them.

I can't even recall when I saw this movie, but I am a big fan of Clive Owen so I got my hands on it. It was actually this movie that started my eternal love for perfect crimes. I always liked detective stories, because you root for the hero so there is a sense of satisfaction when they solve the crime. However, when the protagonist is the villain, then you really don't want them to get caught. This movie gives you the option to choose a side, and whichever you choose - you won't be disappointed!

#2

Inside Man

The story revolves around a bank robbery. The characters are the robbers, the detective assigned to the case and a lawyer who was sent onto the scene by and influantial millionaire who hides something precious in one of the safety boxes inside the bank.

It is unclear at first what the robbers really want at first, but seeing that they have plenty of hostages, the police isn't able to just barge in with guns. The robbers, led by a man named Dalton Russell, make every hostage wear the same gray jumpsuit that they are wearing. This will be important later - detective Keith Frazier is troubled on how to approach the situation when the lawyer Madeleine White appears and asks for an audience with the robbers. She represents Arthur Case, the billionaire who fears that his great secret might be revelead once the box is open.

Upon entering the bank, she has a conversation with Dalton, only to find out that what the old man feared would get lost, was exactly the thing the robbers wanted to get. This is none another then diamonds the man received for his work during the second World War on the side of the Germans. Not wanting to reveal this secret, Frazier never really finds out what it is that the robbers took once the robbery is over. That is, when the robbery is over, the hostages come out along with the robbers, all dressed in the same clothes and the police never does figure out who was part of the robbery and who was just a victim. Not to mention that Dalton Russell is never seen exiting the building. Where is he?

The movie is very entertaining as we don't see the robbery all the way through, we are instead shown clips from the interrogation between Frazier and the hostages. They try to figure out how could the robbers get away and who, among the crowd of hostages, actually is lying. They never really do and the diamonds go missing - even though none of the hostages have them with them. It is also interesting to see that we don't spend too much time inside the bank and it is the tales of the hostages that really give us a whole picture of the story.

There is also a returning comedic element, as Frazier plans to propose to his girlfriend and he keeps talking about it at various inappropriate moments. For example, one of the hostages is a jewller and he tells him that he can give him a discount if he brings a diamond along. Actually, this little comic relief helps a lot in leveling the tension, seeing that there are some really harsh moments that can be off-putting. It is really all just a trick and you need to see it all to understand why the detective had to be comical. The twist in the story is really when you find out how Dalton Russell pulled off the escape - and trust me, you will not be disappointed!

In the end the only thing that I didn't like was Washington's performance. He had a very strange intonation that bothered me allthoughout the movie - the first time I saw it - since then I don't even notice it. I am mentioning it, however, so you are prepared. Also, it was probably added in to enhance that comedic element I mentioned before. And my only comment would be: not enough Jodie Foster!

Otherwise the movie is really in the top ten for me, with a fantastic cast, incredible score and an unparalleled story! Do watch it if you can!
AND WHAT WILL BE #1? Until the next item on my list!

_ _ _ _ _ 

Keith Frazier - Denzel Washington

Dalton Russell - Clive Owen

Madeleine White - Jodie Foster

Arthur Case - Christopher Plummer

John Darius - Willem Dafoe

Bill Mitchell - Chiwetel Ejiofor

What's Next On My List? Graduation

There is one kind of movies that I love eternally - and those are the ones that manage to fool even me. That's why I love to read crime novels, I enjoy more than anything to try and figure out who the killer is, and if I'm wrong I'm not sad: I am even more excited that the writer managed to fool even me! That is why I LOVE movies that have a perfect crime in them, so I want to pay homage to my five favorite movies of all time, which manage to amaze me every time I watch them.

Now you will be hearing about one of my absolute favorite movies. Unfortunately not many people know about it, which leaves me always very sad because it is a real gem!

#3

Graduation

Four friends only a couple of weeks away from graduation, start to struggle as the mom of their friend Carl is sick with cancer and they don't have any more money to cover the expenses. All of them feel that Carl's mom changed their lives somehow and there is no question about wanting to help her.

They turn first to Polly, whose father works at the bank in the town, but after he turns them away, they decide to rob the bank on the day of their graduation. The money is insured, so it will be returned in time - but they need it for an operation as soon as possible. Polly finds that her father is having an affair with one of the workers at the bank; her boyfriend Chauncey feels that they are drifting apart since they applied to different colleges; their friend Carl hooks up with another employee at the bank, complicating the things while Jackson - who turns out to be the smartest of them all - doesn't back out even once. He doesn't know what to do with his life and graduation doesn't seem to help either. He does seem to have a had, however for bankrobbing.

On the morning of their graduation they get into the bank, and everything would be alright - but Polly becomes valedictorian and has to leave them - during which Chauncey shoots Carl because he tries to protect his new girlfriend as she shows up unexpectedly. Jackson handles it at as a hostage situation, as the blood shows up outside on the glass doors. Jackson trades Carl and the girl as two hostages for Polly, but the question is, how will they get out of it without being caught?

The movie has a cast of some exceptional young talents, all people you have seen before. Chris Marquette from The Girl Next Door, Shannon Lucio from The O.C. and Riley Smith from 24. Chris Lowell then landed a job on Private Practice and I'm pretty sure a lot of people know him by now.

I don't really understand why people don't like it. Actually I think that not many people have seen it. There is something really genius about it as these kids do nothing more than be kids. They don't have special weapons or special skills - they have a heart and they will do anything to help a family member in need. The resolution of the movie is really fantastic, as it also involves a common passing: Graduating to a whole new life. Although the bank robbery is essential to the movie's story, still there something great about how these kids grow up over the passing of one morning.

Graduation is about a lot more than excepting a piece of paper and throwing your hat in the air. Not to mention that that is something only Americans do! So, what I'm saying is that the movie isn't only about a robbery that went bad at a point - don't worry, I won't spoil the ending.
The characters are charming, the story has heart and it ties together every subplot that helps the course of the main plot. There is an extra joke at the end that you really don't want to miss out on!

So, if you didn't know this movie I hope that I have written enough to make you curious and you will add it to your own bucket list! It is really a great movie. This means that we have done three and only two of my favorites remain. I just can't wait to reveal them to you!
Until the next item on my list!

_ _ _ _ 

Tom Jackson - Chris Lowell
Polly Deely - Shannon Lucio
Carl Jenkins - Chris Marquette
Chauncey Boyd - Riley Smith

Blogger: The Oldhillers

Kedves olvasók, nem gyakran szoktam írni barátaimról, és nem is szoktam nagyon reklámozni senkit, de az osztályfőnököm csapata (azaz Piknik Underground - róluk ide klikkelve olvashatsz!), utánuk van még valaki, egy bizonyos együttes, akikről szerettem volna megosztani véleményem: The Oldhillers

Tagok:

Kutas Orsi (Bogyó) - ének, vokál 

Szabó Sára Viola - ének, vokál

Lakatos Eszter - basszusgitár

Kutas Marci (Sólyom) - dob

Szűcs Botond - ritmusgitár

Velősy Marci - szólógitár

Készült a Vadvirág Táncházban, Április 5. 2013.

Én személyszerint az egyik énekesnőt ismerem, és hát barátságunk eleje óta járok minden koncertre, amire csak tudok. Nem elég, hogy a kedvenc dalaimat játszák, de azokat egy új feldolgozásban, többek között a duruzsoló női hanggal meghintve, ami ha őszinte lehetek 100%-san feldobja a régi nagy slágereket. Természetesen a kedvenc dalaim továbbra is a saját szerzemények, melyekbe a két énekeslány igazi életet lehel! Nincsen egy láb sem a koncerten, amely kibírja, hogy ne ropja mert kevés olyan együttes van, akik igazán képesek úgy elvarázsolni a hallgató sereget, mint az Oldhillers!

Készült a Rock Randevúban, Február 16. 2013.

Félre értés ne essék, nem csak azért írok róluk mert fényezni akarom őket! De, ami azt illetti, semmi rosszat nem is tudok mondani róluk mert eddig nem volt olyan koncert, ahol csalódást okoztak volna! A csapat remek összhangban van, okosan vannak összeválogatva a dalok és szinte mindegyik koncerten van valami újdonság. Igazán nem lehet őket megunni akkor sem ha az ember nem hagy ki egy koncertet sem! Annak ellenére, hogy a csapat többségét otthona Érdhez köti, szerencsére az előadásaikbók több is Budapestre hozza őket a legjobb bárokban, bár ha rám hallgattok, miattuk még érdemes Érdig is elmenni!

Készült a K9 Sörbárban, Augusztus 31. 2013

Az együttesről azt érdemes tudni, hogy jelenlegi felallása 2011-ben született meg, és azóta meg sem állnak, amikor csak lehet fellépnek. Sok másik zenekarral találkozhat újra az ember a fellépéseik alatt, de az egész egy egyszerű kínszevedés míg végre ők jútnak a színpadra. És, mint minden jó együttesnek az ő kezdeteik sem voltak vihar mentesek, és erről olvashatsz is ha meglátogatod hivatalos facebook oldalukat! (Klikk ide!) Ha elolvasod, és netán te is hasonló amatőr csapat tagja vagy, vagy szeretnél lenni - az Oldhillerstől sokat tanulhatsz szerintem. A csapatot leköti a hétköznapi munka és a tanulás, de ha valamit, akkor azt tudják, hogy hogyan kell egy jó bulit csapni és valóban sosem okoznak csalódást! Ha egy mód van rá, keress rájuk és derítsd ki mikor lesz a következő koncert, én ott leszek az több, mint biztos!

"Meg sem állunk és megyünk tovább."

• Koncert fotókért klikk ide!
• Facebook oldalért klikk ide!
• Myspace oldalért klikk ide!

What's Next On My List? Ocean's Twelve

There is one kind of movies that I love eternally - and those are the ones that manage to fool even me. That's why I love to read crime novels, I enjoy more than anything to try and figure out who the killer is, and if I'm wrong I'm not sad: I am even more excited that the writer managed to fool even me! That is why I LOVE movies that have a perfect crime in them, so I want to pay homage to my five favorite movies of all time, which manage to amaze me every time I watch them.

After telling you about my thoughts on the first installment of the series, I thought I would talk about the second as well. Keep in mind that I will not be talking about the third... You see, one of the reasons why I wanted to watch these movies after so many years of 'not caring', was because the third had a really good trailer and I felt like a fraud if I only watch the third without seeing the beginnings. And well, I was really disappointed in the third one because that is overall just a big movie about pranking, while the others showed a lot more creativity in my opinion. So, we will not cover that, we will talk about:

#4

Ocean's Twelve

So, I wasn't joking when I said that Terry Benedict was always one step behind them. He gets every member of the gang and threatens them with paying back every cent with interest. They all get together, and realize that they need a new job in order to pay Terry back.

This time, however, they are also being followed by a detective, Isabel Lahiri, who had a relationship with Rusty, and followed by another conman: François Toulour. The latter's pride has been hurt as LeMarque (the best thief on Earth) himself has named Danny a better thief - so he challenges them to steal an artifact from a museum in Rome. If they win the bet, then Toulour will repay their debt to Terry Benedict. The question is simply: How will they beat a thief trained by the biggest master on their planet while being chased by a crazy police detective who won't rest until she's got every one of Danny's crew behind bars?

To add to the excitement, the artifact is guarded by a random laser pattern that is impenetrable when turned on. When most of the team is captured, it is up to Linus to come up with a plan, and for that he will need Tess' help. I don't want to spoil too much, but Bruce Willis appears at one point, playing himself! What really adds to the fun in this movie is not the twist in the end, but the minute you understand that they had a plan from pretty much the beginning to the end. And what is genius is that it was all there in front of us! There weren't any decoys to lure the viewer onto something else.

And the other funny character was Toulour. At first I didn't like him, because he keeps bothering our leads, but after watching it again and again I just crack up at what an asshole he actually is.
I really loved the second movie. There are plenty of good sequels out there that people seem to ignore because the general belief is that sequels suck! And yeah, most of the time they do, but if three years are put into a sequel, then there is probably work behind it. I especially enjoyed this story because it takes place in Rome - and I kept seeing myself and the places where I walked and grew up. Again, I was blessed by two great movies before the ending of the trilogy ruined it (is that a rule, by the way? I see a pattern here...). This movie works alone perfectly without the first - however, the fact that we already know and love the characters adds a lot to the story, so be sure to watch the first before you see this one.
There is one point that I didn't like - SPOILER, skip this line if you don't want to know anything from the second half of the movie - in the end LeMarque is revealed. I never liked that, because his identity is kept secret throughout the movie, he is a sort of legend that nobody can reach, and it didn't really add anything to the story in my opinion when we see him. I feel that was unnecessary.

Now that you know, that I won't discuss the third movie, stay tuned to find out what will be #3 on my list of perfect crime movies! I have a really good one for you, promise. Until the next item!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Danny Ocean - George Clooney

Rusty Ryan - Brad Pitt

Tess - Julia Roberts

Isabell Lahiri - Catherina Zeta-Jones

François Toulour - Vincent Cassel

Terry Benedict - Andy Garcia

Frank Catton - Bernie Mac

Reuben Tishkoff - Elliott Gould

Turk Malloy - Scott Caan

Virgil Malloy - Casey Affleck

Livingston Dell - Eddie Jamison

Yen - Shaobo Quinn

Saul Bloom - Carl Reiner

Linus Caldwell - Matt Damon

Basher Tarr - Don Cheadle
and
Bruce Willis as himself