Rambling Film

I had a busy week, so not much TV here. I'm hoping to finish off Daredevil tonight, but I only got a chance to watch Game of Thrones and Veep this week. That's okay, they're the best shows on television right now. Game of Thrones Beyond the Wall Bran and Meera are still being chased by wights. Poor Meera finally drops from exhaustion pulling that sled. Bran is still getting several visions "uploaded" into his brain. Lots of wild fire, visions of Jaime killing the Mad King, the deaths of his family members, and white walkers. He wakes up, and he and Meera hold each other before the Wights descend on them (aww) then all of a sudden Ghost Rider a hooded figure shows up and kills the remaining wights. He reveals himself later to be Benjen Stark, Bran's uncle who was lost beyond the wall in S1. He was stabbed by a White Walker's sword, and the Children of the Forest saved him by stabbing him in the heart with dragon glass, the same way the White Walkers ...

Take off your mask. Last week I watched a Norwegian film about characters suffering from mental illness, and while I didn't plan for this to happen, this week I watched one from South Korea.  Young-goon (Su-jeong Lim) believes that she's a Cyborg. When she slits her wrist at work, she winds up in a mental institution. She refuses to eat, thinking that she can charge herself to get the energy she needs. She licks batteries and talks to lights. She catches the eye of Par Il-Sun (Rain) another patient that frequently steals things. She intrigues him, and he makes it his mission to get her to eat. Director Chan-wook Park is someone I'm really coming to love. He did Stoker , Oldboy , and Thirst , all great films, and this one couldn't be more different. In fact, this might be one of the weirdest fucking movies I've ever seen. Unlike Elling , my Indie Gem from last week, this one isn't out to make a case for the mental health community. Every part of th...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is movies where that thing we bloggers all need and love; the internet. I'm an admitted internet addict. I'm not sure I could function without it at this point. The Social Network and Disconnect are two of my favorite internet based movies, but I used them in other weeks, so I went with a two documentaries instead. 1) The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz Aaron Swartz was a programming genius who is responsible for things like RSS and Reddit. He was also an activist that wanted all kinds of information to be readily available to anyone, and sadly, some trouble he got into lead to him taking his own life when he was 26. This is a fascinating doc, and in true Aaron fashion, the whole thing is on Youtube. 2) Me and You and Everyone We Know There's a lot of interweaving stories in film, but one of the biggest involves two brothers in an internet chat room, with the youngest one striking ...

Game of Thrones The Wall/Molestown Sansa is sewing away when she gets a raven from Littlefinger to meet her in Molestown. She and Brienne head off. LF swears he didn't know about Ramsay, we know that's bullshit. She details the abuses he inflicted on her and told LF "If you didn't know, you're an idiot and if you did know, you're my enemy." I liked that line. But of course, LF has to get in one last manipulation by pointing out he has the Vale army standing by, Riverrun has been retaking by the Blackfish, and that Jon is only her half brother and she needs people fighting for her. She should've had Brienne kill her. Later, as Jon, Davos, and the rest of them are planning their strategy, Sansa tries to school Davos about the North when she really should've listened to him. She reminded me of Daenerys there in a way, thinking she knows more than she really did. The whole scene rubbed me the wrong way. I loved Sansa in the last episode. I like...

What I knew going in: The premise. Admittedly, I haven't seen a lot of Audrey Hepburn's movies and this may seem like a weird place to start, but Funny Face is one that a good friend of mine frequently raves about. I had to see it for her. Jo (Audrey Hepburn) works at a book store that is spontaneously ransacked during a modeling photoshoot by an ambitious editor, Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) and a photographer, Dick Avery. (Fre Astaire) When Dick stays behind to help Jo clean up, he's intrigued with her. Then when sees her in the background of one of his photos, both he and Maggie are taken in by her appearance and convince her to join them on a trip to Paris for a modeling show. Jo only accepts to see the city, but soon realizes there's a lot more to modeling than she thought. For a musical, the numbers in this film strangely fell flat. What's actually the most memorable part was the dancing. Hepburn has this lovely ballerina body and she looked so gr...

Why have an apartment if you just want to leave it? Elling (Per Christian Ellefsen) is 40 years old and spent his entire life never leaving his mother's side. When she dies, he's institutionalized. There he meets his new room mate, Kjell Bjarne (Sven Nordin) another man in his 40's that was extremely sheltered, though much more outgoing than Elling is. After two years they are off to live in a government funded apartment and must learn how to function on their own. For a movie about the mentally ill, I was surprised at how few clinical terms are actually used in this film. It's quite different from the type of film we'd see in the United States. No one is on medication, and the only disorder mentioned is anxiety, and only twice. No other diagnosis is given. Seems Norway treats mental illness far different than we do here, and that was a nice thing to see. Ellefsen and Nordin have amazing chemistry. Both Elling and Kjell Bjarne are very different indiv...

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is Aliens. I gave myself a small rule, that I couldn't chose any from a theme last year, Alien Invasions of Earth.  Here are a few of my favorites. 1) Alien I'll start with the obvious, even though I know I should try a little harder to think of something more original. But come one, this movie is great.  2) E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial I can't not go with this. E.T holds a special place in a lot of people's hearts. It's another typical pick, but it would feel wrong to leave it out. 3) Space Jam I fucking love this movie. I don't care how ridiculous it is. How can you not love little aliens possessing some of our favorite NBA players?

Game of Ugly Crying, fickle shows, and maximum Selena shade throwing. Let's get to it. Agents of SHIELD Since Civil War didn't get the registration story they decided to dump it on Agents of SHIELD with registering the Inhumans. This episode was dreadfully boring and yet again contained way too much splooging over Daisy. I get it, Daisy is the ultra perfect Mary Sue, everyone must worship her. Too bad Coulson, May, Fitz, Simmons, and Mack are all more interesting. (And since Bobbi and Hunter's spin off didn't get picked up, can we bring them back?) Lash died saving Daisy, and that was sad. I liked Andrew/Lash and it sucks to lose a good character to service a bad one. Next week is the season finale. I thought it was this week, but nope. More suffering. This show is getting fickle again, it can't afford to do that. Game of Thrones This episode was near perfect. They're on fire this season, it's already so much better than S5. This episode was...

Now what? Alex (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is a workaholic attorney whose husband, George (Chris Messina, who also directed this) tells her he can no longer be her "housewife" and needs time apart. He did everything around the house and for their young song. Now Alex tries to manage her fast pace job, her son's school work, her ailing father and her free spirited sister who shows up unexpectedly. I complained a lot last summer about how some films tend to portray working women, mainly the stereotypical "don't need no man" trope that fell upon Bryce Dallas Howard in Jurassic World . Alex could've been a version of that character too, but Mary Elizabeth Winstead elevates her above that. I think she played a woman on the brink of a divorce very well. She's not an absentee mom, she's just used to having help at home whereas she barely accepts help at her job.  Alex of Venice could've hit a few more tropes than just that. Everything ...

This week's theme from Wandering Through the Shelves is another foreign edition. Films in the Spanish language. One of my all time favorite foreign films happens to be Spanish, but when I went to type up this post this week, I realized I've only seen a handful of Spanish films. I'll need to broaden my horizon. Here are a few I enjoy. 1) Pan's Labyrinth This is one of my favorite films. It's so stylish, I loved the dark fairy tale element to it tied into the horrors of living with a crazy tyrant of a step father.  2) The Sea Inside I watched this for the first time during Four Ways a Best Picture and it was one of the stronger foreign contenders for me. Javier Bardem was wonderful. 3) The Orphanage I toyed with the idea of this one or Rec, both are creepy Spanish horror films, but this one is a bit more memorable to me due to its haunting visuals.  click the gifs to be redirected to their makers

Game of Thrones Castle Black Jon is back and he's confused. I think we all would be too if we came back from the dead. He didn't see anything, he can't answer Melisandre's inquiries about the afterlife, but after a "fuck it all" pep talk from Davos he goes out to confront everyone. He's approached by Tormund first who throws in an always welcomed dick joke, then has a sweet moment with Edd that was reminiscent of his hug with Robb way back in the Pilot before he left for Castle Black. At the end of the episode, he hangs Alister (who goes out a smug asshole) two other randoms and Olly, who doesn't say a word. I was hoping Ghost would get the honors of killing Olly, but at least he's gone. The camera lingering on their hung bodies was very disturbing.  Braavos Arya is still getting her ass beat, but after the Waif quizzes her on her entire family and motives (Catelyn mention!) Arya gets her stick up in time to defend herself and Jaquen gives h...

Don't call it Avengers 2.5 You've probably heard by now, but in case you were worried. This is not an Avengers movie. No, this is every bit a Captain America movie. His friends are just along for the ride. Steve, (Chris Evans) Natasha, (Scarlett Johansson) Sam, (Anthony Mackie) and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) are on a mission in Lagos, Nigeria. When something goes horribly wrong, the United Nations throws together the Sokovia Accords, a law saying the Avengers can only act when they tell them to. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) fresh off being guilt tripped by the mother of a man who died in Sokovia is all for it. Rhodey (Don Cheadle) and Vision (Paul Bettany) side with him too. But Cap is against it. Making matters worse, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) is being blamed for a crime he did not commit, and Steve will do anything he can to protect him. Even if that means going against the law. My hype for this movie was insane. I love the MCU, I don't care if I hit fangirl mo...

It's bad, but can it be fixed? This documentary focuses on men that were handed life sentences without the possibility of parole for murders they committed while they were teenager. We hear briefly from them, where they are now, how they view their crimes. The doc's purpose is to show whether or not live without parole is an appropriate sentence for someone whose brain is still developing. We also see a few family members of victims from these type of crimes and how they feel on the subject. I don't do nearly enough documentaries for Indie Gems. I tend to miss a lot of these myself if they're not in the Oscar buzz conversation. That's the sad truth about documentaries, they don't always get seen. The documentary poses an interesting question, and one I can't say I agreed with prior to watching. The argument isn't whether or not they were mature enough to know the difference between right and wrong (they do) but whether or not maturing woul...

This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is movies with androids/cyborgs. These type of films haven't always been my thing. There's quite a few big ones I haven't seen, but here are a few that I like.  1) The Terminator Series I couldn't not go with the most popular Cyborg in the cinematic universe. I've been meaning to rewatch these films for awhile. Maybe I will be the time this is posted.  2) Bicentennial Man I loved this movie when I was a kid. A robot saying something "chaps her ass" never gets old to me. I think Andrew Martin might be the sweetest android in film. 3) Ex Machina   This counts, right? She's essentially an android? Either way, Ex Machina is one of my favorite films from last year. Ava, is so life like if it were for her appearance she'd easily pass that Turing test.  clicking the gifs will redirect to their makers.

What's your desert island band? A punk rock band consisting of Pat, Reece, Sam, and Tiger (Anton Yelchin, Joe Cole, Alia Shawkat, and Callum Turner) have a gig go south and not enough money to afford gas to get back home. They reluctantly take another gig at a skinhead bar. After their set is over, they're about to leave when they accidentally witness a murder. Now the skinheads aren't letting them leave. They barricade themselves in a room with Amber, (Imogen Poots) another person who witnessed the murder while the owner of the bar Darcy (Patrick Stewart) attempts to solve the problem. Things obviously get violent. I remember when this premiered on the festival circuit, and I saw "Patrick Stewart in a punk rock neo Nazi movie" and I was completely sold just because it's so different from what I'm used to seeing him in. He's not in it a lot, but his cunning presence is felt every time he's on screen. It's Yelchin and Poots who do the...

Game of Thrones This week's episode was nearly perfect.  Braavos Poor Arya is still getting her ass kicked by the Waif, though this time Jaquen shows up and takes her back to the House of Black and White, so at least things would be looking up for Arya if she could actually see anything. King's Landing We open with a random peasant talking about Cersei's walk of shame and greatly exaggerating her looking at his dick when he exposed it to her. When he's off having a piss later, Robert Strong shows up and literally smashes his head against a wall. It happens so quickly and nonchalantly all I could do was laugh. Tommen has also barred Cersei from attending Myrcella's funeral. He thinks she's responsible for Tyrstane's death too. Jaime tells him to go to her, then he has a few words with the High Sparrow. Cersei is finally drinking again, so when Tommen goes to her for help all I can do is silently cheer that crazy Cersei is coming back. Meereen Ty...