Interstellar

Last sunday I went to the movies with my son and we went to see Interstellar, this time it was my choice.

Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar is a movie full of Hollywood pathos. It’s also beautiful, touching and makes you think of what’s coming in the future. Is the earth going to be inviable? When you think about it, we’re talking about big issues here.

In addition to all of that, Interstellar was very entertaining. Both me and my son sat in our chairs, staired the movie, completely focused on what’s happening on the screen. Visually beautiful scenes and interesting plot. It didn’t bother us that the movie was nearly three hours long. I didn’t actually know (all the time, there were some elements that were predictable) what was going to happen nor how would the movie end. It was refreshing.

I have growing respect for Matthew McConaughey. Lately his roles and performances have been quite amazing.

I love Anne Hathaway.

And Michael Caine, well, he’s a legend.

I think Interstellar was much better than Gravity.

Dracula Untold

I had to choose a movie that would interest my husband and I chose Dracula Untold.

I’m not a huge fan of vampire movies, but sometimes circumstances drift into such situation that I have to see them. This was such a time.

Dracula Untold was well made visually. Other that that, well, it was above mediocre. Towards the end it got a bit corny and bloody, of course.

I have no criterion to compare Dracula Untold to another vampire movies, but I think that this was not the best one. In those movies that I have seen, Dracula has been less human, in Dracula Untold he was. He chose the best of other before his own needs and wanted to save his family.

No fantastic experiences or emotions. I saw, it ended, I got out, now I can forget about it.

The Adventures, The Memoirs and The Return of Sherlock Holmes

Three books in one volume, 36 stories, 1099 pages. That was my last project and I liked it. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and The Return of Sherlock Holmes, those were the three parts of that thick book.

It took me a while to read this “brick”. It doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it, I did, very much. I just wanted to concentrate and absorb every detail. I didn’t have to regret my desicion.

Nowadays, when you watch TV or go to the movies, you meet a cranky, impolite Sherlock Holmes. I cannot deny, I love the new Sherlock Holmes too, especially played by Benedict Cumberbatch. But, in these stories, Sherlock Holmes is not so cranky, not so impolite. Absolutely, he is strange, self-esteeming, a bit of a loner, intelligent and original. But he treats Watson and his customers relatively kindly, appreciates them and wants them to solve crimes with him.

There are many familiar elements too. Moriarty, Sherlock’s brother Mycroft (who is short and a bit fat, by the way) and sharp nose and agility, quick-witted mind and unusual methods. There’s strange crimes and even stranger solutions.

I must say, passing of time has not effected these stories. They are still interesting and exciting. I guess that’s the sign of a true classic. And a sing of a great writer, Arthur Conan Doyle. He invented one of the most interesting characters of all times, who, again and again, comes back to TV and movies and gives us pleasant moments of entertainment.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes

First thing that comes to my mind when I think about Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is the stunning realization. The apes were so realistic that I had to remind myself that those apes were not real apes.

Another good thing about this movie was that, in my opinion, it has a message. The human race has good people and bad people. Other species has both too. And you can’t automatically assume that the other is better than another. Respect is the point.

I couldn’t help but compare this movie to the earlier movie, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, with James Franco. Dawn was a little diffrent, but these two movies both have a message and I liked them both equally.

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes was a little bit above mediocre. It was entertaining, had a message and it was visually beautiful. It offered  entertainment for two hours, but still, to me, it was not the best movie of the year. It was okay.

The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair

Joël Dicker has written a thick novel, the edition that I read had 809 pages. I was riveted by the story from the start.

Fist I must share with you my thought, that goes for books as well as movies. To me, most of the time, the main issue is entertainment. Of course the story has to be good and well written, but it doesn’t have to be “high culture”. I’m very happy when I’ve read a book that has captured my attention entirely and has offered me hours of interesting moments with the characters and the story. Same with movies. That entertainment factor may not be the same for everybody but who would read a book (or see a movie) that wouldn’t entertain? I wouldn’t.

Back to the main issue. The truth about Harry Quebert affair has twists and turns, some of them are believable some aren’t. Still, it was good, well-paced and full of surprises. The thing that bothered me is, that at the end of the book there were a lot of twists and turns, maybe even just a little too much. Somehow it was not in line with the atmosphere of the rest of the book.

But, I enjoyed reading this book and I think that The truth about Harry Quebert affair was a fine mystery and one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read this year. Not the most shining star but a bright one.

Winter’s Tale

I’m not a fan of Colin Farrel nor Russell Crowe. In spite of that I went to see Winter’s Tale. I wanted to see something light, beautiful and romantic. I got all that.

The movie engrossed all my attention. It was visually beautiful and a lovely fairy tale for adults. I didn’t expect Winter’s Tale to be one of the greatest masterpieces ever. I wanted it to be entertaining and I wanted it to take my thoughts away for a while. It did just that.

I think that we grown-ups are most of the time too serious, controlled and concerned. We need more fairy tales and fantasy to our lives, at least I do. You dont’ have to take everything so seriously, you can just go with the flow and sink into a light story and beautiful images. It’s refreshing.

The performances of the actors and actresses were average but it didn’t disturb me. And Jessica Brown-Findlay was so beautiful, radiant, I might say.

No matter what critics or other reviewers say, I loved Winter’s Tale. I even liked Colin Farrell, as much as I’m able to like him. And Russell Crowe, well, he was Russell Crowe.

I want more fairy tales, please.

Soon I will read the book also.

The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug

This was something my son had waited the whole year. The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug. Yesterday we went to see the movie and the movie theatre was really full, I say, a lot of people in there. We were prepared, the movie was about to last 2 hours and 41 minutes.

In the Hobbit movies, as well as in The Lord of the Rings movies, all the details are magnificent. Costumes, setup, make-up, everything. Visually these movies are remarkable. So many things that I couldn’t imagine, I have no such imagination. Luckily someone else has.

These movies are also very dark and gloomy, there’s no sun or light. In The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug there’s one scene where Bilbo climbs to a top of a huge tree, sees the sun and dozens of butterflies fly around him. That’s the most bright and happy moment of the movie, but it only lasts for a few moments.

As the movie got on, I spotted many familiar actors, even behind heavy make-up. There was Mikael Presbrandt (my absolute favourite Swedish actor) as Beorn and Stephen Fry as the Master of Laketown. And Smaug, the adorable Benedict Cumberbatch. Well, we didn’t see him, obviosly, because he is a dragon in this movie, but I knew that it was his voice.

Then there’s the lenght of these movies. They all last almost three hours, as so did this Hobbit too. In the middle of the movie I got a little tired and I had some difficulties staying awake. The story moved ahead quite slowly. When the movie got towards the end, it had more action and got more interesting. My son was thrilled, he loved the movie, and I was happy for that.

All in all, a good movie with plenty of beautiful details to see. Now we just have to wait another year to see how the story ends…

The Map of Lost Memories

The Map of Lost Memories, by Kim Fay, has an interesting and exotic theme. The is a heroine seeking an a treasure of ancient Khmer civilization in Cambodia. She, Irene Blum, feels disappointed and betrayed when she doesn’t get the job she deserves. It is obvious that Irene is passed over because she is a woman. The main force in this book is Irene’s need to show to others that she is good and to restore her reputation as a professional, that’s why she want’s to find a significant archaeological discovery. As the story goes, other things come along, family issues, secrets, corruption and more. A lot of fascinating entities and details, so the story must be good, right?

The book is well written, beautiful language and full of well described moments. Still, there’s something missing. I think that the book was long-winded. It didn’t fill my expectations and I was expecting quite a lot. All the elements were there, all the interesting details and exotic places and scenes. Treasure hunting, that’s nothing new, but in this book I was waiting for it to be handled differently and freshly. Somehow I didn’t feel the story that way.

Someone, surely many, will disagree with me about this book. To me, disappointment. To someone else, a great reading experience. I will not miss this book. Surely I will forget it quite soon.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I was very suspicious about The Hunger Games -movies. I watched the first movie The Hunger Games from DVD and it was not so bad as I thought it would be.

I’m not part of the target audience, that’s for sure. I went to see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with my son this week. The movie theatre was full of teenagers, mostly girls, giggling and talking, eating popcorn and candies. I thought that maybe I was in a wrong place. Eventually a few more grown-ups came to the theatre, so I was not the only one.

The movie was, I must admit, entertaining and even a little thrilling. I don’t know if this is embarrassing or not, but I kind of liked it. But, when you start to think about the story, it’s pretty depressing. A group of people are sent to a closed area to kill one another and other people watch, even cheer. Well, not all people cheer, the families of the rivals aren’t that happy because they, almost undoubtedly, will loose their loved ones. A very sick game, I say.

The movie ended but the story didn’t. So now we are waiting the next movie. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay will be split into two movies, part 1 will be in theatres on November 21st, 2014 and the second part on November 20th, 2015. Two more year before I know how the story will end. Interesting to see if my son still wants to see these two movies, he’s 14 now and will be 16 in 2015. It’s possible that he’s not interested in The Hunger Games after two years. We’ll see. Maybe I have to go by myself and join the huge bunch of teenagers a couple of times more.

Thor: The Dark World

Another Marvel-movie with my guys. This time Thor: The Dark World.

Thor: The Dark World was watchable. A lot of action, spacegrafts, battles and weird-looking characters. Still, it was somehow boring. Some big yawns came in the middle of the movie, but I managed to stay awake.

I must say that Chris Hemsworth is a very good choice for the part of Thor. He is charismatic and looks very good, masculine and strong. But the most interesting character is Loki, Thor’s brother, played by Tom Hiddleston. There’s something very interesting about Mr. Hiddleston. He is magnetic and his eyes look straight through you. And some characters in the movie are, in my opinoin, purposeless, like annoying Darcy Lewis, played by Kat Dennings.

The story in Thor: The Dark World is ordinary,  but, I dare say, it’s the same in almost all super hero movies. There was nothing special in this movie, just a lot of fighting and explosions. One guy beats all and saves the universe, and the woman of his dreams. Yet, I like heroes that conquir every misfortune and every bad guy and Thor did just that.

The ending of the movie implicates that there’s still more to come.

I think the first Thor-movie (2011) was better. Anyway, my guys loved Thor: The Dark World. I guess that I’m not necessarily part of the target audience. But, luckily, the movie offers some feast for the eyes, so that the women in the audience get some entertainment too.