We never go out of style.

One of my goals this year is to watch more classics. These are my plans.. sort of:

1910-1919
I haven't watched a single film from this period, nor do I feel any need to immediately do so. I'm not a big fan of silent films/black and white and ultimately I watch movies for my own enjoyment..

I want to watch: Daddy-Long-Legs and Jane Eyre. Reasons behind these choices are: 1) I love the book (Daddy Long-Legs) and 2) I've watched three Jane Eyre adaptations so far: 1996, 2006 and 2011.


1920-1929
When I took film history at the university, we watched a few surreal things but other than that I'm as new to the movies of this decade as I am to the previous one.

Favorite: Pandora's Box (I remember liking it, though not why).
I want to watch: Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens and The Phantom of the Opera (So far I've watched the version from 2004, seen the musical performed live and read the book #livingthehighlifeyo!).

1930-1939
I've only watched about three movies from this period and I'd really like to rectify that! Who knows - I might even like more movies from the 30s than I'd originally thought?

Favorite: -
I want to watch: It Happened One Night, My Man Godfrey, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Four Feathers (the Heath Ledger remake was the first movie I owned on DVD) and Heidi.


1940-1949
It's a shame that I haven't watched more than maybe five movies in total from the 40s. Am a bit apprehensive though, because film noir became popular during this decade and I don't really know how I feel about that genre to be honest.. (although I've only seen The Maltese Falcon, so maybe I shouldn't judge?)

Favorite: Ladri di biciclette
I want to watch: It's a Wonderful Life (a book told me to), Christmas in Connecticut, The Big Sleep and Double Indemnity (watched in april)

My dad was born in 1952. This is the house where he grew up.

 

1950-1959
Ooh! I'm approaching the more familiar decades! Have seen quite a lot from the 50s but want to watch more - especially musicals.

Favorite: Singin' in the Rain (one of my all-time favorite films)
I want to watch: An American in Paris, Funny Face, Daddy Long-Legs (in case the 1910 one is bad), Det sjunde inseglet (a rewatch) and High Noon (also a rewatch)


1960-1969
This must be my favorite decade yet. I love The Sound of Music, Charade and 101 dalmatians. It also feels like I've watched plenty from this era, so I'm not that bothered with expanding my horizons here.

Favorite: Breakfast at Tiffany's
I want to watch: My Fair Lady.

Something to aim for

1. Watch the remaining 13 movies I didn't get to in 2015:

A movie that takes place in your region: Glada hälsningar från Missångerträsk
A movie by a female director: You've Got Mail (Nora Ephron)
A documentary 
A movie based on a true story: The Revenant
A movie that's more than 70 years old: My Man Godfrey
A movie based entirely on its cover: Jane Got a Gun
A movie you watched in school: Psycho
A movie based on a memoir: Everest
A movie with antonyms in the title: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
A movie set somewhere you've always wanted to visit: Kingsman: The Secret Service (England)
A movie you own but have never watched: The Big Sleep
A movie based on a play: The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall
A movie that is directed by + stars that actor/actress: The Gift

2. Reorganize my movies
Since I've reduced my collection to less than 30 movies, I can finally stop using storage wallets/binders. Even though they save space, I never put any movies back inside and consequently end up with dusty, scratched up discs scattered all over my apartment. It doesn't work for me and I'm buying individual cases soon.

3. Make a list, check it twice.. and then buy the movies I know I'll watch v. often

4. Write more reviews

5. Oldies
I don't know what started it (it might have been watching White Christmas?) but I really want to watch lots of old movies this year. Here's what I've got so far:

Christmas in Connecticut
It Happened One Night
The Big Sleep
Double Indemnity
An American in Paris
Funny Face
It's a Wonderful Life

Recommendations in the comments would be very appreciated!

 Also, when the light returns again, I'm going to stay outside.. 24/7!

You win some, you lose some

I decided to challenge myself last year, using this list (an alteration of the Popsugar Reading Challenge). I hoped it would push me to watch stuff I wouldn't normally, but since I made no set plans (turns out I hate deciding in advance what I'm gonna watch) I mostly just went through the movies I'd watched in a month to make them fit the specific categories instead. In other words - it didn't really serve it's purpose. I only ended up choosing to watch Taken, Djano Unchained and the short film Spider, as a direct result of this list. 

These are the 37, out of 50, I managed to complete:

1. A movie that my sister Sara recommended: Kingsman: The Secret Service
2. A season of a TV-show that's based on a book or a movie: Elementary, season 2
3. A movie with bad reviews: Left Behind
4. A banned movie: Fifty Shades of Grey
5. A movie directed by someone under 30: The Usual Suspects
6. A movie released in 2015: Pitch Perfect 2
7. A movie with nonhuman characters: The Wolverine
8. A funny movie: The Heat
9. An Oscar-winning movie: Whiplash
10. A movie in a foreign language (other than English): Astérix: Le domaine des dieux (French)
11. A movie with magic: Seventh Son
12. A movie with your initials (EL): Endless Love
13. A movie set in high school: The DUFF
14. A movie that came out the year you were born (1984): The Terminator
15. A movie that scares you: Event Horizon
16. A movie that made you cry hard: The Green Mile
17. A movie set in a foreign country: Roman Holiday
18. A movie with a number in the title: Third Star
19. A movie longer than 3 hours: Schindler's List
20. A book-to-movie adaptation: Luftslottet som sprängdes
21. A movie set in the future: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
22. A mystery or a thriller: Skyfall
23. A movie with a one-word title: Avatar 
24. Four movies in a day: Glada hälsningar från Missångerträsk, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Home on the Range and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
25. A movie from you childhood: Anastasia
26. A popular director's first movie: Strictly Ballroom (Baz Luhrmann)
27. A movie at the bottom of your "to be watched"-list: Taken
28. A movie you've started but never finished: Django Unchained  
29. A short film: Spider
30. A classic you've never watched: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
31. Finishing a season of a TV-show that you've started but never finished: Castle, season 3 & 4
32. A movie with a love triangle: New Moon
33. A movie with a color in the title: Red Eye
34. A movie set during Christmas: White Christmas
35. A movie someone in your family loves: Breakfast at Tiffany's (my sister Julia)
36. An animation: ParaNorman
37. A trilogy: The Terminator Saga (2-5)

Highlights, 2015

Favorite quote: "You said it yourself, bitch: We're the Guardians of the Galaxy!"
Favorite movie watched in the cinema: Cinderella
Favorite male character: Napoleon Solo
Favorite female character: Katniss Everdeen
Favorite re-discovered movie: The Guardians of the Galaxy 
Favorite "Chocolatebunnymovieclub" evening: Leon and Event Horizon

Funniest quote: "Is this the elevator?" (literally squirted watermelon all over the living room floor)
Favorite classic: Roman Holiday
Favorite animation: Hotel Transylvania and Anastasia
Favorite actor, discovered: Joel Edgerton
Favorite drama: Warrior
Favorite thing to sleep to: The Big Bang Theory and The Decoy Bride
Funniest movie: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Favorite movie night: December 22nd. We watched Abduction, ate saffron cake and painted our fingernails red, green and glittery

Insurance

To make sure I complete one of my goals before the end of 2015, I've actually made a plan:

A movie that takes place in your region: Jag saknar dig 
A movie by a female director: Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow) 
A documentary: Bowling for Columbine  
A movie based on a true story: Empire State/Black Mass
A movie someone in your family loves: Australia
A movie that's more than 70 years old: My Man Godfrey (1936)
A movie based entirely on its cover: 9
A movie you watched in school: Romeo + Juliet/Psycho
A movie based on a memoir: 127 Hours
A movie with antonyms in the title: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
A movie set somewhere you've always wanted to visit: The Piano (set in New Zealand)
A movie you own but have never watched: Hours (with Paul Walker, not Nicole Kidman)
A movie in a foreign language (other than English): Intouchables (2011)/La belle et la bête (2014)
A movie based on a play: My Fair Lady

Good luck, to me..

Something to keep me warm

The Gift 
Swedish movie premiere: 2nd of October
I wrote about my excitement for this movie in May and I'm finally gonna get to watch it! Mostly I'm excited for Joel Edgerton. He is one of my favorite actors and has both written and directed + is starring in this. Normally, I just go to the movies when my family goes (since I don't have a car) but for this, I'm gonna borrow one and go by myself.  

The Dressmaker
Swedish movie premiere: ?
This looks very much like my type of movie; quirky, funny, romantic and a little dark. And full of girl power! Right now I can't find a release date, but I'm excited anyways.  

Secret in Their Eyes
Swedish movie premiere: 4th of December
Normally I don't gravitate towards thrillers, but this looks both well acted and intriguing. Also - a villain that's creepily unaffected by everything.. makes me uncomfortably nervous. It's been a long time since Julia Robert starred in something I've felt this excited about.

Spectre
Swedish movie premiere: 30th of October
I've watched all of Daniel Craig's Bond movies in the cinema so far. Consequently, I can't break the chain now and have to go see it!*

The Martian 
Swedish movie premiere: 2nd of October
I wrote about this in June and I hope to watch it with my dad at some point. He's a big Sci-Fi fan and therefore I don't mind waiting until the movie is released on DVD, if it means we get to watch it together. Plus, if it gets too nerve-wracking I can actually fast forward.. something I've found quite difficult to do in a movie theater.

Winter is coming.

* I'm just kidding. I have no shame! Daniel Craig is the only Bond I like and I don't even care what this one is about! I'll watch it regardless.

Presently watching, this Sunday

I'm almost through the first month of my two year long university education. I've really enjoyed having a "job" again, but reading lots of textbooks have meant less time to watch movies (i.e a good thing). When I've had time to watch stuff, I've gravitated towards easy things like:

* The European Eventing Championships
* "Sommar med Ernst", a Swedish interior design program
* April's videos on Youtube; from her oldest to her newest (currently watching her "March TBR!" from 2014)
* Friends, season 3
* Max Payne/The Bodyguard/Miss Julie (these are by no means things I watch just to unwind - if they were, I'd be done with them already. I'm just slowly making my way through them.. every other week.. in between easier things)

* Also, we're watching Glada hälsningar från Missångerträsk in the cinema today; me, my sisters minus Hanna plus our mom (we all love the book)

The cinema in Umeå (SF).

Currently watching, yo!

Phu! I'm finally done with my exam and the aftermath of it (i.e stress-related anxiety). Just in time for the first (and probably only) heatwave this summer! This does not mean I watch less movies, however, just that I watch them at night:

* Castle, season 2 (starting season 3 very soon)
* The Man from U.N.C.L.E (in the cinema tomorrow)
* Schindler's List (a Chocolatebunnymovieclub pick.. I'm NOT excited!)
* The Bodyguard/Primal Fear/Max Payne  - I'm sort of halfway through all of them..

ChocolateBunnyMovieClub 2.0

Since we've finished 14 movies from our original ChocolateBunnyMovieClub list, we've gone ahead and updated it a bit. This is what we want to watch together, in the near future: 

Movies - new to both of us:

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Die Hard
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Enter the Dragon
From Here to Eternity
Heat
Indiana Jones (one of them - we haven't seen any)
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mary Poppins
Psycho
Roman Holiday
Taxi Driver
The Godfather
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Producers (any of Mel Brooks's movies besides Robin Hood: Men In Tights, really)
The Wolf Man (1941)
Vertigo

Movies - new to one of us:

A Fish Called Wanda
Con Air
Eight Legged Freaks
Jaws
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Pulp Fiction
Schindler's List  

Movies that we're rewatching:

The Jungle Book

ChocolateBunnyMovieClub: The progress

Earlier this year, my sister Julia and I decided to start watching movies together. For once they would be ones that we'd decided on in advance. Ones that were iconic or that we really wanted to watch the other suffer through. So far, we've ticked off 14 movies from our ever growing list: 

* Léon: Post #1 
* The Shawshank Redemption: Post #2 
* Shutter Island: Post #3 
* Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation: Post #4
* Event Horizon: Post #5

* American Beauty: We watched it because I was in a Kevin Spacey-period + I'd been a long time since I saw it and Julia had never seen it. It was much better than I remembered. 

* Pay It Forward: Again, because of Kevin Spacey. Plus Julia wanted to re-watch it and so did I. It was better than we remembered.

* The Green Mile: Julia really wanted to watch this. I already had, many times, but somehow I had repressed how sad it was and so I surprised myself by crying for 60% of the film. Julia cried once. In the end.
 
* The Matrix: Our brother wanted us to see it + I'd always wanted to. Neither of us liked it very much - not because it was a bad film at all, but because it wasn't our type of film. 

* The Princess Bride: I'd heard so many good things about this and I wasn't disappointed. It didn't wow me though, mostly because I'd expected it to be funnier.   

* Third Star: This is the movie that has impacted me the most, in a very "I cried for 20 minutes"-kind of way. I knew this and was obviously not that excited to watch this with Julia. She, on the other hand, wanted to watch it because of that very reason.

 This perfectly illustrates our relationship

Summer-y of things currently watched..

* A woman and her bunny hang out in her parents garden. The sun is shining and the mosquitoes are annoying. Evidently they're having fun because the woman's reading and the bunny's making ecstatic, twirly jumps. They stay outside until the first raindrops fall, 20 minutes later (because obviously that's what the mosquitoes were trying to convey with their relentless attacks). Safe and dry inside, the woman and her sisters decide to socialize in front of The Princess Bride and A Knight's Tale, aided by chips and watermelon. All is well. 

* A woman and her sisters + her favorite (/only) niece go searching for a flee market. It's the middle of the week and, as usual this summer, it looks like it's about to rain. They do get a little lost on the way (the woman could have been a more attentive map reader, I suppose) but find their way eventually. After fleemarketing, they head for the city where the woman FINALLY buys herself a shoe rack and the sisters buy baby stuff. In the evening the woman + her sister Sara goes to the cinema to watch Terminator Genisys. Afterwards, the woman returns home (extremely tired), and then stubbornly assembles her shoe rack. The end!

* A woman and her youngest cousin Lina hang out for two days. They talk for hours about religion, play Mario Kart and Yoshi's Woolly World, feed some ducks and eat some ice cream. Being only 14 means Lina's got far more energy than the woman and so, after the woman's helped her cousin catch her train, she collapses in front of Friends while making a conscious effort to stay awake past 10 PM. She succeeds! 

Unpopular opinions, yo

A popular movie that you didn't like:

Pretty Woman
I can't stress enough how much I hate this movie. How can ANYONE think it's romantic that Edward buys a prostitute? Even if they eventually fall in love, there are still too many disturbing scenes where he has sex with her while having paid for it (the piano scene for example). Plus I feel like Edward's just another stereotypical "bad boy" with lots of money, a hole in his heart and commitment issues.

The Wizard of Oz
I had quite high expectations for this - firstly because it's a classic and secondly because it's quite innovative given that it's made in 1939 (I think I read somewhere that they created the tornado using a sock?). It felt too long, however, without much happening plus the songs are more "I sing when I could talk" than anything else and I'm not a fan of those types of musicals.

Se7en:
Again, this was a case of too high expectations for me. I think the reason I didn't like it was the lack of real suspense - you never got to see the victims before they were killed and that made it hard to root for the villain to get caught. Also, I didn't much care for either Brad Pitt's or Morgan Freeman's characters.

I don't think it's unpopular to hate snow, but I felt it was fitting since I dislike this image about as much as the movies above..

A popular character that you do not like:

Leonard Hofstadter (TBBT)
He's such a love/hate character for me.. (my hate post and love post)

Edward Cullen & Jacob Black (Twilight)
When talking about these two - I feel it's fitting to sum up my feelings about them using this (slightly modified) quote: "I want to fong you, until your insides are out, your outsides are in, your entrails will become your extrails I will w-rip... all the p... ung. Pain, lots of pain."

Again, I'm about as excited for this to become a reality as I am for the 105th Pirates of the Caribbean-movie..

A popular director that you just cannot get into:

Quentin Tarantino
It's not that I dislike his style at all, I'm just not overcome with the desire to watch all his movies/sing his praises like I feel most people are.


A popular show or movie that you have no interest in watching:
Breaking Bad, Dexter, Game of Thrones
Both BB and Dexter are types of shows that (like Tarantino's movies) are too grim for me. I want lots of light in the things I watch! As for Game of Thrones, I just have a hard time with loosing characters and bad guys winning..

10 things I love about Leonard Hofstadter

1. That he's willing to watch sports with Penny and paint "Go sports!" on his stomach (season 6, e 01)

2. His willingness to drive Sheldon wherever he needs to go

3. The enormous amount of patience and understanding he has for Sheldon

4. That he won't have sex with a wealthy woman to secure a donation (season 4, e 15)

5. Those times when he helps Sheldon out by calling Sheldon's mother

6. That he's very open and honest about his feelings for Penny  - he's not afraid to say that he loves her + propose to her a lot

7. His openness about his interests + his devotion to them

8. His behavior towards Amy during and after the wedding they attend (season 5, e 03)

9. That he'll spend the night in front of their building in a hard hat, just to please Sheldon (season 5, e 15)

10. The fact that he bought Penny a car to support her acting career (season 7, e 17)

The Big Bang Theory 

First world problems (Currently watching)

I'm in this weird mood where I don't really want to watch movies (I'm shocking myself here), but read outdoors instead. That's why I've started multiple things, without really committing to any of them:

* Monsters University
* Max Payne
* Body of Proof, season 2
* Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (if you sort of jump through it - does it count as a re-watch?)
* Terminator 2: Judgment Day

* Am also very excited for The Martian to come out! Can't wait to watch it with my father! He's a sucker for all things space-related and since he's always a little distracted when I tell him stuff, I'm almost 100% sure that he's gonna be really excited to tell me about "this new movie where a man gets left behind on Mars" in the fall - even though I already told him about it yesterday! It's in one ear and out the other, when it comes to him.. (it doesn't really help that his hearing never was any good to begin with) <3

It must be the coldest summer I've ever experienced and I still want nothing more than to be outside (sure, I live in the north of Sweden, but June doesn't usually involve nights with a temperature around +3 C)!

Nostalgia: Summertime

In the summer of 1996 I spent many evenings over at my friend Sofia's house, where we watched lots of movies on her living room floor/read lots of David Eddings's books on her roof. To this day, late summer evenings still makes me think of The Bridges of Madison County and The Langoliers.

My best friend Marléne and I grew up together on the same street and spent most of our summers outside (almost never watching any movies). That's why I remember the summer we watched Terminator 2: Judgement Day so well - mainly because I spent the rest of it randomly asking my mother what our hamster's name was (we had a bunny) to make sure she wasn't a robot. Around that time I also watched Twister and Broken Arrow a lot.

In 1997, when I turned 13, my aunt gave me a VHS copy of Dirty Dancing and since I grew up with four younger siblings it was a big deal for me. My birthday became the one day of the year when I got to watch something "grown-up" at home. In the summers that followed, I discovered both What's Eating Gilbert Grape? and Forrest Gump and I started watching those on my birthdays instead. I don't know why I remember this one birthday so vividly, but it was getting dark earlier and had started to smell a little like autumn. We had picked some blueberries in the morning and while my mother made my cake I watched Stealing Beauty on the TV. I haven't watched it since, but somehow the memory of that particular birthday has stuck with me.

Today, I try to watch less movies in the summertime and spend more time outside. Mainly doing stuff like this:

My brother and me and our bunny in the summer of 2008. She was the bossy one that bit us wherever she could (once through the cartilage on my ear). 

2015 - a challenging list

Rules: 1. Complete this challenge before the end of 2015. 2. A movie/show can only be used once - no repeats.

A movie released in 2015
A movie directed by someone under 30
A movie with nonhuman characters
A funny movie
A movie that you sister Sara recommended
An Oscar-winning movie
A movie at the bottom of your "to be watched" list
A trilogy 
A movie with magic
An animated movie
A movie set in high school
A season of a TV-show that's based on a book or a movie
A movie you've started but never finished
A movie that scares you
A movie set in the future
A movie that made you cry hard
A movie with a number in the title
A book-to-movie adaptation
A movie set in a foreign country
A movie with a one-word title
A movie longer than 3 hours
A mystery or a thriller
A popular director's first movie
Four movies in a day
A movie from you childhood
A movie that takes place in your region
A classic you've never watched
A movie by a female director
A short film
A documentary
Finishing a season of a TV-show that you've started but never finished
A movie based on a true story
A movie someone in your family loves
A movie that's more than 70 years old
A movie based entirely on its cover
A movie you watched in school
A movie based on a memoir
A movie with antonyms in the title
A movie set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
A movie that came out the year you were born (1984)
A movie with bad reviews
A movie with a love triangle
A movie with a color in the title
A movie that is directed by + stars that actor/actress
A movie you own but have never watched
A movie in a foreign language (other than English) 
A movie set during Christmas
A movie with your initials (EL)
A movie based on a play
A banned movie

(An alteration of this Reading Challange from Popsugar..)

Celebrating mothers

In preparation for Mother's Day (31th of May in Sweden), I've compiled this list of my favorite female characters that play the part of a mother to a child, in all the ways that really matter:

Hobson 
Nanny

Hobson (Helen Mirren) genuinely loves Arthur (Russell Brand) for who he is - weaknesses and all.  And since she's well aware of these weaknesses she tries to guide (not force) him to better things. She's always waiting for him to find the right way and if he falls, she'll try to pick him back up again. 

Bessie 
Aunt

Bessie (Diane Keaton) is sort of the polar opposite to Hank's (Leonardo DiCaprio) real mother (Meryl Streep). She encourages him to let his guard down by demanding honesty, patiently waiting for him to come to her and tell the truth. With this new, kind approach, she lures him out of his shell and teaches him that he is good enough - without embellishment.

Maleficent
Godmother

Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) is the embodiment of what I feel it's like to love someone unconditionally: You might want to give them away/mash them up and serve them for dinner/never speak to them again.. but you never do! You'd defend that person (in this case the baby Aurora (Elle Fanning)) to the death.

Katniss Everdeen  
Big sister

Even though Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her sister live with their biological mother, Katniss is the one that comforts and supports her sister when she needs it. This could all be attributed to her role as a big sister, if it wasn't for the fact that Katniss is willing to sacrifice her own life to save her sister. That's the essential thing a mother's prepared to do and that's why she's on this list.

Bren MacGuff
Stepmother

"You're not going to be a pop-pop. Somebody else is going to find a precious blessing from Jesus in this garbage dump of a situation." Do I need to give another reason for Bren's awesomeness than this quote (from when Bren and her husband finds out that Juno (Ellen Page) is pregnant)?

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!

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.