Films on order

Hello all,

It has been dead here lately so I thought I would post a little something. I pre-ordered The Lives of Others, a movie I really wanted to see in the theater and could not. It hits home, being the grandson of German political refugees, so I am greatly looking forward to. Anyone else looking forward to any new releases or has enjoyed anything this summer.

BMWRider

I hope you enjoy and find “The Lives Of Others valuable”. I myself was very mixed about the film.

I’m certainly anticipating Criterion’s release of Terrence Malick’s “Days Of Heaven” on DVD.

This summer season has been pretty dry for me. I’ve only been to the theater a few times. I enjoyed “Knocked Up” immensely and was very let down by “Sunshine”.

The Irish film, “Once”, finally opens here at the end of the month so I am absolutely seeing that. And Superbad. 🙂

I saw the Potter film, and thought it was a little hollow, that is all I viewed at the theater. At home, old is in, Hitchcock’s Notorious last night.

Helsinki is horrible in terms of cinemas, at least when compared to the cinema paradise of Budapest. There are basically two multiplex cinemas in this city and then two smaller ones, and that’s it. The number of films on offer is similarly limited, and tickets are expensive. So, I haven’t seen too many films lately.

Not that I would really have had the time, either.

I am, however, planning to go to see the Bourne Ultimatum today. I watched the first two Bourne films yesterday in one go, and while I’ve seen better movies, they were quite ok. In fact, they were really ok considering that they have Matt Damon, whom I traditionally don’t like all that much. I have nothing against him, but something about his face makes me feel uncomfortable. But I didn’t have that with these films.

I’m somehow in the mood for light, action/comedy type of things these days. I tried to watch some Herzog a few weeks ago, but fell asleep. That was Nosferatu — if a Dracula film puts me to sleep, there must be something wrong either with the film or me, huh?

I like the Bourne movies, they are fun and do not require a lot of thought. A movie that has put me to sleep, twice is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

I really like Eternal Sunshine. Charlie Kaufman is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting screenwriters working at the moment. His work reminds me of what Tom Stoppard has been doing with in the world of theatre.

Well we cannot always agree. 🙂 I have Lives of Others, I just need to make time to watch it.

For some reason I keep mixing up “Lives of Others” with “The Secret Life of Words”. The latter I have seen, the former not (mainly because I mix them up and think that I have).

In any case, “The Secret Life of Words” is worth watching. Or at least I found it quite moving.

“Lives of Others” I still need to see one day. If only I had the time!

The summer movie season winds down and my frequency to the cinema seems to be winding up – The Irish musical-ish film, Once is finally (It was supposed to open 2 months ago)opening here in the southwest and a much appreciated surprise is Julie Deplpy’s film 2 Days in Paris – which I thought was going to take months to get here. And then next week the local art house is honoring Bergman with a screening of Persona!

I am one happy movie going lad.

I’m glad matinée prices are still fairly cheap here compared to coastal urban areas.

I watched The Lives of Others last night and am quite impressed with it. Redemption is a theme that almost always works for me, and Lives has it in spades. I never understood how it beat Pan’s Labyrinth, and now I do. I still think PL was movie of the year, period; but I see Lives qualities. The pacing is slow, but the story unfolds beautifully, and in the end it is very compelling. Well worth owning and seeing.