Movie night: "Waiting for my niece"-edition

Since both me and my sister Hanna have been home during the weekdays (she's waiting for her baby, I'm waiting to start my summer job) - we've been hanging out; eating ice cream and watching movies. We saw Gravity at her place and then we watched both Honeymoon and Fifty Shades of Grey at my parent's house, with our sister Julia (she hated the latter movie and I couldn't agree more). 

The greatest benefit of living in the north of Sweden is the constant daylight in the spring- and summertime. I took this at 1 AM in the morning.

 On Sunday, I went to visit my other sister Sara for a few hours. I had a long make out session with their Dalmatian Freja (the love of my life) and then I went home to watch Cinderella on repeat.

10 things I hate about Leonard Hofstadter

1. Him apparently calling an eternal "dibs" on Penny - regardless if he's with somebody else or not.

2. Him contemplating cheating or actually cheating on the women in his life.

3. His constant negativity towards any change in Penny's career.

4. His utter lack of faith in her abilities.

5. The fact that he never ever seems caring towards Penny when she makes a mistake. Instead he uses that mistake to feed his own insecurities. 

6. His need to refer to her as unintelligent.

7. Him apparently calling an eternal "dibs" on Penny - even if he goes after other women.

8. The way he prioritizes sex above everything else.

9. If he's not over Penny - why does he date other women and then not tell them about her?

10. The fact that he doesn't keep Penny as a friend when another woman comes along (she's a huge part of their group of friends).

The Big Bang Theory

It'll be an exciting summer..

* The Water Diviner
Swedish movie premiere: 8th of May
Funnily enough, I saw a picture of Jai Courtney with a mustache and I clicked on it. I then spent the first minute of the trailer just laughing at his facial hair. And then I was intrigued and now I want to watch it. That's how they get you these days; out with anything subliminal and in with the mustache.

* Hot Pursuit
Swedish movie premiere: 22nd of May
My sister Hanna laughed at this trailer. Nothing is as funny as watching a movie with her because she laughs at the stuff that I'd never find funny otherwise. And she has the best laugh! 

* Paper Towns
Swedish movie premiere: 24th of July
This is sort of a catch-22 for me: I really don't want to see this, because it's based on one of my favorite books (I don't want them to destroy it). But at the same time - I want to see it, because it's based on one of my favorite books!  

* Fantastic Four
Swedish movie premiere: 7th of August
First of all: this looks much more well-made than the first two Fantastic Four movies. Second of all: it seems like a great cast (Jamie Bell!).

* Dark Places
Swedish movie premiere: 14th of August
Gone Girl was very fascinating; based on a book by Gillian Flynn. And this movie is also based on one of her books. And so I must watch it. 

Get here, already! I've taken my allergy medicine. I'm ready for you!

A life with him would never be boring..

Sherlock: That was no accident! It was by design!

[reveals grenade + part of toilet hidden around his waist]

Now, do I need to elaborate or can we just crack on?

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Retiring Gollum.

I've spent the past month watching a lot of Kevin Spacey's movies. His three best performances are:

1. Verbal Kint
The Usual Suspects
Not only does he make Verbal feel like the most vulnerable, relatable character of the bunch (a necessity since you're watching the story from his point of view) but he also makes him seem like a competent criminal. That's a tough balancing act.    

2. Lester Burnham
American Beauty
I firmly believe that no one can play "awkward" as well as Kevin Spacey (by awkward I mean when he incoherently tries to get his point across) and it shows in this one. I also think that this is the role that best uses his ability to deliver deadpan lines.

3. Jim Williams
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Jim is one of those unpredictable characters that you never really get to know. The ones that keep surprising and confusing you with their constant double entendres. It's like everything he says to John Cusack is flirtatious and at the same time.. not.

If only.. #2

lexie.grey@seattlegracemercywesthospital.org

Grey's Anatomy

My movie collection

I did a clean-out at the beginning of the year, where I went from 111 to 43 (got rid of two more yesterday) movies. The reasons behind me keeping these particular once vary - some are my favorites, some I watch a lot and some I just can't stand to give away. The main goal though was to keep only the movies I watch a lot or that I'd take with me if there was a fire:

From the top left: The Other Sister, Sherlock Holmes, LOTR: Fellowship of the ring, Lost in Austen (mini-series), Tangled, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Usual Suspects, The Hunger Games, Die Hard 4.0, Blood Diamond, A Good Day to Die Hard, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Forrest Gump, Chocolat, Bambi.  

The only movie I don't watch that much out of these first sixteen ones is Bambi, but it's my favorite Disney movie and my ex-stepdaughter LOVED it when she was little - so I'm keeping it for sentimental reasons too.

From the top left: Avatar, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, The Hobbit, The Host, 102 Dalmatians, National Treasure, Pride and Prejudice, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, Letters to Juliet, Yes Man, Something's Gotta Give, Possession, Mamma Mia, High School Musical 3, The Breakfast Club, The Phantom of the Opera

I don't really know why I can't seem to get rid of Possession, because it's not a favorite of mine nor do I watch it a lot. I just.. can't.

From the top left: Titanic, Elizabethtown, Prince of Persia, Arthur, You've Got Mail, A Fish Called Wanda, Singin' in the Rain, Romeo + Juliet.

I was about to get rid of A Fish Called Wanda, because I haven't watched it in several years, but it reminds me of my father so I'm keeping it!

From the top left: What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, The Princess and the Frog, Wild Child

I kept The Princess and the Frog because I love the music. I remember falling asleep when we saw it in the cinema and I never watch it the whole way through.. but still.

A review: Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland takes place in Victorian England; a very fitting backdrop for the free spirited and determined Alice (Mia Wasikowska) who wants something more out of life than to simply conform to society's strict rules for the perfect behavior and appearance. Ever since she was a little girl, she's felt different. She's had dreams of the strange "Wonderland" every night and even though her father has done his best to convince her that they are just dreams, Alice doesn't hesitate to follow the white rabbit when it does show up in real life one day. Falling down the rabbit hole, it turns out Alice's father was very wrong. Wonderland IS a real place; a dictatorship where the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) rules mercilessly. To aid her, she has the monstrous Jabberwocky. If, however, Alice fights the Jabberwocky.. the people will rise up agains the queen's tyranny once and for all.

The first half of this film consists of both undefined characters and surroundings. There are no real connections made between us as viewers and the myriad of characters that we're hastily presented with. And even though them turning into background actors might help the movie feel even more surrealistic and dreamlike, it doesn't help the overall plot. If the Jabberwocky indeed threatens the population, I want to care for the population! Otherwise I won't root for Alice to kill it. And it's hard to care for the people of Wonderland when you don't know the people. This is why, when Alice meets the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), there's finally a character besides her to sympathize with and care for.

Maybe because she's convinced that she's in her dream, this Alice is completely fearless and wholeheartedly goes after what she wants. Even if she's afraid to do it! After discovering Wonderland's realness, she keeps on going with her gut anyway, making all the decisions and bowing down to no one. The "my path is the right one and no one can tell me otherwise"-thinking is a trait that I feel normally would have been ascribed to a male character (or as Alice puts it: 'I'll decide where it goes from here.'). That's why I feel that Alice is not just a new female warrior to add to the list but one with a fresh point of view as well. And so, for me, she becomes the entire reason to watch this movie.

©Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Used with permission.

Ambition for: May

If I watch some of these, I'll be content:

* Dumb and Dumber (since I watched Dumb and Dumber To in April and disliked it)
* Something with Leonardo DiCaprio - maybe Inception? Or Romeo+Juliet?
* Daybreakers
* Apocalypto (I just remember having to put my head between my legs during the sacrificial scenes..)
* Monsters University
* Home?
* Chances Are (the first Robert Downey, Jr. movie I watched but that was like.. 15 years ago now)
* The Pickup Artist/Only You?
* Oooh! The 4th Transformers! (because it was so bad that I need to re-watch it and reminisce)
* Ooooooh! Abduction!! (because it was so bad I laugh/cried the whole way through it with my sister Sara and her boyfriend Henrik (and I need to re-watch it and reminisce))
* L.A. Confidential (I've already started it, but I got bored..)

Not that I look forward to the pollen but summer is taking its time, it seems..

In the spotlight: April

I watched about 50% of the movies I had planned to in April. For that, I blame Kevin Spacey!
Here are my favorites this month, in no particular order:

* The Usual Suspects
Love, love, love. Love, love, love. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! (it's eeeeeeeaaaaasy)

* Shutter Island
Don't watch this, unless you're prepared to have someone physically restrain you (so you won't fast forward to see how it ends)..

* The DUFF
If I had a spirit animal - it would be Bianca. Seriously, I'm just one "lucky party shirt" away from being her.

* Pay It Forward
I love it for the acting. 

* World War Z
This is the perfect zombie movie for me; not too scary, not a lot of jump scares and the search for a solution. It soothes my nervous heart! 


And my non-movie favorite:

* My sister is due on May 5th. So anything involving that! I couldn't be more excited!! (I feel like adding an additional 1000 exclamation marks at the end of that sentence, but I don't want to seem crazier than I already do..) <3