"The carpet match the drapes?"

It is seldom you find something off-beat on television or in film. You know something, anything that doesn’t follow what you’re used to. Something that steps outside of our world. Not sci-fi or fantasy, but simply a world where behaviour is off, but at the same time familiar.

I stumbled upon Strangers with Candy this morning. I had no intentions of watching anything at all, but then something made me stay for two minutes and I was hooked. I simply had to continue watching this gloriously odd little movie. I’ve never seen the show, which apparently is better, but if it's anywhere near this, it had to be glorious.

It messed with everything and was cruel and demeaning of everyone and thing. Still it was adorable. Just because it wasn’t what was expected. It is way too seldom you see a movie that goes against expected behaviour. Basically it was just another teenage movie, but no-one acted like they should. They acted like…like when you imagine things. It was like one of our “stories” only it was film.

It was highly pleasurable.

Let's rent!

I should’ve been studying. Instead, I’ve been losing myself in the world of blogs. This little one gave me gold.

The clip is an excerpt from Yugoslavian director Dusan Makavejev’s Sweet Movie from 1974. The film was banned in several countries for its offensive content. Anyone who’s seen it?

I believe I am fair when claiming that this wonderful eight minute video must feature one of the more harmless parts of the film. I’d say Mousse is represented in Miss Yugoslavia.



Sweet Movie even has a sploshing scene, and I am loathe to admit that maybe sploshing isn’t my thing after all. And this I say in spite of all the chocolate. Beware, because this is close to porn.

Rerun of review

It's getting tiresome, my movie review sharing. I can sense it. But when am I not tiresome? People, I aim to tire! Bad publicity is also publicity. And cookies for the people!

...aaaaaaaand they excused her behaviour. The Mousse is too cute, Lolita exclaimed smiling and gave Mousse a warm and friendly hug. Right? Right.


Next was not a great movie. But good. Jessica Biel was in it. And, to quote Tiny, she's just plain boring. Nicholas Cage did what he could and the film got, unusually enough, better towards the end. You know, it was one of those films that you think ok, it's an interesting plot, but they will screw up with the ending. They didn't. Anyway, the greatest attraction was our (mine and lil bro's) own side plot about Knut the Danish dwarf, Nichals Cage's little helper. He was awesome, making cameos a little here and there. We even came up with sequels, after the movie ended.

Turistas. Now this is the kind of movie where you think you have it all figured out. And we sorta did. Stupid, back-packing bikini-models get caught by super evil human organ dealers. And the ethnic minority gets killed first. And it was exactly that. And so much more! Great dialogue, plausible situation-handling, true characters. Felt like a documentary. It felt like me. Without, of course, the looking good in bikini. Do watch this movie!

Zodiak. I don't know. I had heard it was great. That's never a good start. I hadn't heard there was a real life story behind it. It got better when I did. Um... It was long. It was good. Cutie Jake Gyllenhaal was in it. End of story.

The Grudge 2. Haven't seen the first one. So what happened was that they tried to scare me with a little girl-boy with heavy mascara (we already have plenty of those carefree slouls walking the streets in reality) who was probably scary and mysterious sometime in the prequel. But just as in The Ring 2, you get too much visible monster for your money. And it would've helped if they had thought of an actual plot. Booo!

I say

We lack an Ape, and for that we grieve. Having her physically close was an ephemeral luxury.

What we have, is the possibility to watch movies. So, in order of watching:

Scary Movie 4 was almost not worth watching. I’m easy when it comes to parody. Very easy. So it wasn’t a total waste of time. The problem was that the difference between parody and mindless repeating of long scenes without any real twists was... blurred. Or maybe it was clear.

Apocalypto. It’s rare, but sometimes it takes a megalomaniac with immense resources to create something that feels innovative. My anthropological self is critical, yet strangely pleased.

Bug. Loved it! Questioned things like are your personality enriched or impoverished by your relations to other people? And paranoia, how far can you let it go? Great dialogue, great actors. But I did feel a bit sorry for my hungover brother who said it was a simple movie about giant bugs and not as he put it, “psychological shit”. He was proved wrong.

The Pursuit of Happyness. A true underdog-achieving-the-American-Dream kinda movie. But without the magical solutions to your problems. You suffer with the main character, who is skillfully humanized by no less than Will Smith. And by letting us viewers suffer, we also gain something from watching the movie. The key with this movie is that it delivers. They successfully use details to make us get the picture. A 14$ debt and a panicked voice explains and makes you connect. At the same time, it’s never pitch-dark. Which is its point, really. And with that they succeed as well, without ever going anywhere near comedy.

Needy.

Listening to Red Hot chili Peppers, wearing sandals, feeling dirty and eating salty waffles.

I need new music. A pair of shoes. A shower. Sugar.

And I need you to stop looking at me like I'm going to change your life.

I hate mirrors. Yet I'm unmistably drawn towards them.

Anywho, I've been watching films, with an urgent need to share.

Office space. One of those movies that have been on my to-see list because it's constantly quoted and referred to. It feels good to have seen it. I even got a few laughs.

The Omen was what I wanted and nothing more. The exact same story as in the original version (except for a 9/11 reference and whatnot), but a little more human and way better special effects.

The Devil's Rejects: As you might know, I loved House of 1000 Corpses. Now this film wasn't exactly what I had expected from a sequel. The sick horror/comedy feeling that you experience in the prequel has evolved into sick thriller/comedy/drama. It doesn't aim to shock, it aims to... explain. Or at least lets you dive into the characters' lives, relations and history. At first I think it's rather painful to watch them so closely, to see them as normal people, with normal trains of thought. They almost look pathetic. The pain! It's daring, what Zombie does. But as the film goes on, you start to love them again. And again. And again. And again. It's a great movie.

The Mothman Prophecies was a disappointment. We were promised a Mothman. What we got was a lot of indications, by both men and moths. But no Mothman. Note to self: Don't watch prophecy movies, they are built on nothing but loopholes.

Lord of War with Nicholas Cage, who I thought was going to ruin the movie, simply with his presence. Nothing wrong with Cage. It's just. His face. It's strangely stonelike. But he was great. Also, it's nicely shot and had an interesting and dynamic plot.

Planet Terror: Cool. Humorous. Absolutely tantalizing.

This is England: The best thing about this film was the high quality acting. And the successful projection of a genuine 80's feeling. It is quite enough to make it worth seeing. But don't expect to be offered any new takes on, or original explanations to, human behaviour. Or even interesting human fates. Expect to be a little moved and depressed.

The Number 23: I've liked Jim Carrey ever since Dumb and Dumber. He does a good job in this captivating thriller. See it!

Blades of Glory: It's entertaining, though not worth obsessing over. It has some beautiful Zoolander-passages, for sure. However, it is slightly exaggerated at times, without getting away with it by being exaggerated through it all. No, wait... It aims to be exaggerated and ends up unoriginal. Still good. The awesome final skate, to Flash, by Queen.

"I just cried a little... He's fish-boy now."

Tonight, as I made Marty watch House of 1000 Corpses with me, it struck me that it shares many passages with The Rocky Horror Picture Show (no linkage needed, none at all!). I know, most horror flicks presents a number of universal qualities, but these two aren't "most horror flick" material. (Especially since RHPS isn't a horror movie, per se.) These films are about freaks, acting it out, inviting non-freaks as their victims. There is also a flat tyre in rain, gratitude turning into captivity, awkward dinner, heavy make-up, shrilly girl-laughter, intense sexual liberation, and crawling in dirt with torn clothes in the end. Less scalping and maiming and wearing old dead men's skin in RHPS than in House of 1ooo Corpses, but still, same message.

There really are no limits to what we can do.