I’m not sure if there is a point in reviewing Cache because I don’t think many people could sit through a very slow, fairly long, foreign film with subtitles. I could be wrong though, so I’ll share what little I even comprehend after seeing this.

The Basics: A family starts getting videotapes that show someone filming their flat. The tapes come along with a picture drawn like a child of blood coming out of someone’s mouth. As the film goes on the paranoia of the father increases as the tapes lead him to parts of his childhood he had tried to forget.

The Good: It keeps your attention, even at the very slow/quiet shots of just video of their flat. As the film went on I was more and more curious about where this was going. Who was sending them these tapes? What wasn’t the father telling us? What the fuck is really going on here? I was annoyed and frustrated at times but I desperately wanted to know what was going on.

The Bad: I should have known that with the director Michael Haneke, who also did Funny Games, that he was going to mind fuck me and mind fuck me good. Not everything in it is obvious and you have to pay really close attention, many have watched this several times afterward to try to figure this out. It’s frustrating how slow and drawn out some scenes are and how little any of it makes sense. I will admit I came to realize I missed a huge part of the end scene but now that I realize what the end scene was I’m still just as confused.

If you like mind fuck movies, watch any of Michael Haneke’s films but particularly this one. At least with Funny Games I was left with some answers as to what I just watched. It sounds like I hated this film but I didn’t, I really liked it, I just get frustrated when I’m left guessing, which is what I believe was the intention.

I’ve decided to do more Anglophile reviews as that is what is mostly happening in my life right now. I have a lot of good stuff to share and I think I’m sort of an expert now.

The Basics: Sugar Rush is about a 15 year-old girl, Kim(played by Olivia Hallinan), who has an intense crush on her best friend Sugar (real name is Maria Sweet, played by Lenora Crichlow who is also in Being Human). They live in Brighton England (where I desperately want to visit now because of the pier), which has a lot of character to say the least. Kim’s family are a bunch of characters as well with the mother sleeping around, the father being clueless and the son who is “confused” to say the least.

The Good: There is no show that is so honest and funny as well. You really grow to love the characters, even Sugar who is a bit of a chav grows on you. Kim is by far the best thing about the show. I love how she starts off a bit plain and grows up right before your eyes. I don’t know if it was intentional or if the actor herself was coming into her own. Also the show is blessed with a young Andrew Garfield, who my husband refuses to believe is going to be the next Spiderman.

The Bad: It can be a bit over-the-top with the sexual situations such as swinging and sex shops but that is also part of it’s charm. Also, the show was also cancelled after the 2nd season. The season 2 finale left the viewers on a bit of a cliff hanger.

I definitely recommend, if not just for her:

Apparently when you off yourself, you don’t go to hell but to another reality/world that is best described as a muted version of the real one. In this place there is no vibrant color, so beautiful scenery and no smiles. This is a setup for a strange movie but Writstcutters: A Love Story is much sweeter than you’d imagine.

The Good: Let’s start off with the concept of the movie, which is so very different than anything else, that’s always a plus in my book. I like how light and fun the story is when set in such a dark place. Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) was just perfect in this role, I don’t think I’ve ever liked him so much as I did in this movie. Shannyn Sossamon was lovely and brought a different layer to the story.

The Bad: It might be too weird for some people but that’s a possibility with any movie I love. It’s not super fast paced, which I think was on purpose because of this dull reality they were in, but it moved along quick enough for me.

All I know is I had a big goofy smile on my face at the end of the movie, which says a lot considering it’s a movie that is about suicide.

I’ve seen so many amazing movies lately and can’t review them all. It’s Kind of a Funny Story was a little gem that I don’t think many people heard about but was fantastic.

The Basics: This 16 year old kid keeps thinking of killing himself but never quite crosses the line to actually doing it. One day, when he thinks he’s going to break, he goes to the ER for help. They want to sign him out and send him off to his parents but he insists that isn’t enough so they commit him. From there, things get interesting.

The Good: The main character played by Keir Gilchrist is another young actor who I think we will see so much more of. I knew I recognized him from somewhere and then remembered he is in The United States of Tara. He was sweet, slightly naive and worked so well along with Zach (must look up his named to spell it right) Galifianakis.

The Bad: Ok so I knew how this was going to end for the most part, it wasn’t some big mystery or anything. This movie wasn’t about the plot as much as it was about the characters and how they interracted with each other. Emma Roberts was good in this but I think they could have expanded her character just a bit more.

I like a lot of shows but only the shows that I consider to be incredibly original and well-written do I recommend to others. Keep in mind, I’ve never recommended Gossip Girl, not to anyone. In fact, I had to stop watching it eventually when I realized it was utter shit.

So I’m here to tell you that you have to watch Misfits, there is nothing else like it. Some say it’s like a combination of Heroes and Skins but I think you can’t really compare it to anything.

The Basics: A group of teenagers are assigned community service but when there is a big storm they find they are left with super powers. These super powers aren’t anything like Superman, it’s more like reading minds and the ability to be invisible.

I like this explanation from the site:

Unlike their more conventional counterparts, our misfits don’t swap their ankle tags and mobile phones for capes and tights. Instead, they discover what a pain in the arse life can be when you’re stuck with a super power you didn’t want.

This show has been called a combination of Heroes and Skins but I don’t really agree. I mean I guess on a basic concept but the show seems a lot darker than both of those, it’s not something you can compare to anything.

The Good: It’s pretty much all good. It’s seriously funny but dark at the same time. For someone who doesn’t tend to like sci-fi I like how they go in a very different direction with it. Plus the accents, that’s always a plus in my book.

The Bad: Of course this is a UK show so it’s tough to watch from the US, which is annoying. Also they are known for having very short tv seasons and these are really short. I thought the 10 episode seasons of Skins was bad but these 6 episodes are maddening but I get, they prefer quality over quantity.

So anyway, go see it, cause I told you to.

It was Halloween weekend and we’ve been trying to find really good horror flicks to watch over the whole month. Really scary movies are tough to find when you’ve seen most of them and aren’t interested in the typical/cheesy American idea of a horror movie. See: Foreign Horror Movies

What I did was look for blogs listing the best foreign horror movies and go from there. The movie Funny Games was listed a few times so I thought we’d give it a try.

The Basics: Two young men take a family hostage in their own home to play a few “games.” It must be noted that there are 2 versions of this movie, we happened to watch the German (subtitled) 1997 version but the 2007 American version was written and directed by the same guy shot for shot. I just happen to like the pictures they have for the more recent film better. We only really saw the original film because it was available to watch instantly on Netflix while the newer version wasn’t.

The Good: It’s beautifully played out and never quite what you’d expect. Almost all of the violence is done off camera, which is by far a lot creepier than actually seeing it. The main bad guy breaks down the fourth wall several times (ie. looks to us the audience) and brings us in, which is the last thing you want. We even said at one point “don’t look at us, we don’t want anything to do with this.

Oh and something really interesting I read in the trivia part of this movie on imdb.com: When the film was screened at Cannes in 1997 it shocked the audience badly enough that many viewers, including some film critics, walked out of the screening.

The Bad: Well it was a foreign film so there were subtitles, which I can deal with but one always prefers to concentrate on what is actually going on. A couple times they used some German hardcore rock that really disturbed me, I can’t exactly say why but then I guess that was the point. Paul’s (the bad dude) legs were really skinny too, that distracted me a bit.

Of course I read up on this afterward, which I always do with movies that fascinate me one way or another. I read that a lot of Americans didn’t like this movie because of the reasons I, in fact, loved it. They didn’t like how the fourth wall was broken down and brought the audience into the story. They didn’t like how you could not see the violence. It’s like we have this need to our horror movies to have this specific formula because it makes us feel safe while it scares us. Well, to me, there is nothing scary about feeling safe.

Also, it’s a little annoying how we keep remaking movies shot-for-shot, what’s the point? I get that having a version in English means people who won’t watch subtitles will actually see it but it’s just so bizarre.

Still it’s one of those movies that gets to you and you may never really forget it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

I saw the movie Catfish last Friday. In fact I took a bus to Harvard Square after work just to see it and if you knew my usual commute you’d know why that is impressive. I was worried the film was all hype but the film nerd in me had to see this before others ruined it for me and let’s face it, the internet wants to ruin everything.

The Basics: This guy falls for a girl online, his brother and friend who are filmakers decide to shoot it. Things…develop.

The Good: The story seems pretty basic, you’d think it would get boring but it doesn’t, it has a good flow. The main character Nev is what really keeps the story going, he’s very engaging. I was nearly on the verge of a panic attack at one point, my fingers went numb and my heart was racing so fast. I do get really emotionally involved in movies though, so this may not be the result for everyone. Either way the story really makes you think and nearly a week later I’m still thinking about it.

The Bad: The camera is shaky but that’s to be expected, it didn’t really bother me all that much. The thing that bothered me the most was Nev’s hairy chest, it looked like a sweater but other than that he’s adorable.

ps. Don’t be a dipshit, see this movie before you read up on it or watch the 20/20 special. There are only so many moments in life where you get to really go for a ride, enjoy it. If you do go and read up on it or watch the 20/20 special don’t complain that it’s ruined for you. (that’s what you get for reading what people are saying about it on twitter)

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

You should know ahead of time, the only reason I really saw Eden Lake was because of Jack O’Connell (he played Cook in generation 2 of Skins), and now you know. Oh and it’s also available for instant viewing on Netflix, which lately speeds up the process of me watching things.

The Basics: A couple go on a vacation to this hidden lake to get away but unfortunately a bunch of teenagers decided to spend some time there as well. To say these kids are unruly would be a vast understatement.

The Good: It doesn’t wait too long to get you on the edge of your seat and the villains in this film are so much scarier because they are completely plausible. I think we’ve all met some teenagers who any moment could snap. I was genuinely terrified the whole movie and on the edge of my seat. Oh and the ending gave me chills.

The Bad: There are moments so gruesome you may cringe, squeal and pee yourself a little.

One author I’ve come to love like a best buddy who you find really entertaining but doesn’t even know you are alive is David Sedaris. He is actually the brother of the actress Amy Sedaris, which I think should be reason enough to read his books.

I however, like I do with most books these days, listen to his audio books, which I think adds an extra special layer to the enjoyment of his stories. He doesn’t do much fiction, he mostly shares odd stories of his life and something about his voice I think makes everything that much more amusing.

Here are clever remarks of his from different books:

“If you’re looking for sympathy, you’ll find it between shit and syphilis in the dictionary.”

“We were not a hugging people. In terms of emotional comfort it was our belief that no amount of physical contact could match the healing powers of a well made cocktail.”
— “Naked”

“Follow seven beers with a couple of scotches and a thimble of good marijuana, and it’s funny how sleep just sort of comes on its own. Often I never even made it to bed. I’d squat down to pet the cat and wake up on the floor eight hours later, having lost a perfectly good excuse to change my clothes. I’m now told that this is not called ‘going to sleep’ but rather ‘passing out,’ a phrase that carries a distinct hint of judgment.”

“It was my friend Frank, a writer in San Francisco, who finally set me straight. When asked about my new look he put down his fork and stared at me for a few moments. “A bow tie announces to the world you can no longer get an erection.”

“I recalled my mother, flushed with wine, pounding on the tabletop one night, saying, ‘Love? I love a good steak cooked rare. I love my cat, and I love… ’ My sisters and I leaned forward, waiting to hear our names. ‘Tums,’ our mother said. ‘I love Tums.’”
— “Me Talk Pretty One Day”

If only he blogged or was on Twitter, then at least someone could amuse me while I’m at work. Instead all I have is you people to amuse me and that’s really sad.

1. It’s the best writing and acting on television at the current time.

2. I haven’t loved a show like this since watching Six Feet Under.

3. It’s a very intense show and I found myself both screeming at the tv many times and with an increased heartrate even more times.

4. At first the characters seem extremely unlikable but you grow to love them as time goes on, not Skylar though.

5. It’s really funny, dark funny, but funny.

6. It’s all about meth, who doesn’t like meth?

7. Aaron Paul plays Jesse and you think you’ll never like this obnoxious douchebag but you do, you really do.

8. Also Aaron Paul was on Big Love (he played the eldest daughter’s eventual husband) and I remember finding him utterly unappealing on that show but on this show, I have a bit of a crush.

9. If you ever watched Malcom in the Middle I’ve heard it’s really amusing to watch this show imagining him the same guy.

10. I told you to, so go do it.