Sunday films

Yesterday I spontaneosly turned my day into a filmfest, which was rather nice. I started my day by watching some gore-horror or whatever you call it:

"Hostel", director: Eli Roth ("Deathproof", "Inglorious Basterds" etc.). This film has been psycho-hyped and in my opinion beyond its potential, I do not dislike the film at all, in fact I think it is definitely a film that I'll return to several times. However everyone I've spoken to that has seen it has told me to "steer clear of this twisted Gorno flick" and "Oh my GAWD do not watch it, it is the most disgusting thing!" etc. etc. And, I'm not playing cool or anything, but it really wasn't that bad/ that Gory, I had actually hoped that there'd be more grime, pus, blood, vomit and violence...

With that said, this film has an amazing "American Pie"/"Eurotrip"-feel to it whilst preserving a really nasty undertone, and incidentally establishing that Europeans are often psychos who like to pay shitloads of money to slaughter Americans. The setting is positively fantastic, it takes place in Slovakia and the naked terrain and the ex-Soviet buildings create a perfect atmosphere. Definitely a must-see for the gore-people!

"Saw 3d", director: Kevin Greutert ("The strangers", a lot of other "Saw" films). Well, hmm, yeah... Saw I was pretty good, Saw II was alright, I haven't seen the rest, but decided to check out the 3D screens of CPH... And I thought it was a good film. Jigsaw's traps are always very fascinating and gross, and they are obviously the reason for peoples fondness of the Saw movies...concerning the 3D-effects, there weren't a lot of them, but it was cool to get entrails and chunks of wood thrown in your face, I'd wish that they had used it more!
The guy playing the new villain, by the name of Hoffman, is Mr. Costas Mandylor, whom I am unfortunately unable to take seriously because of his role as the Hot Monk aka Friar Fuck in Sex and the City (haha, what a shame indeed), but he is good - not as good as Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) obviously.
I can't really judge this film properly because I had to pee so bad throughout most of the film and was unable to leave the cinema, but it's quite good, I mean it's alright, but it's not necessary to watch...

"Buried", director: Rodrigo Cortés. This film is good, it's very tragic and sad. It's plot is kind of lame and at times very...stereo-american but it's execution is fabulous. It takes place in a coffin in which Ryan Reynolds (Berg!) is buried, he has a cellphone and a few other things at his service, and from thereon begins an amazingly heartbreaking story of a mans desperate struggle to survive.
If you're claustrophobic do not watch this film, the camera never leaves the coffin. I liked it, and it made me feel very sad.

- Andrae

Jarvgasms and stuff

Well well, these days I spend my time looking for a job, listening to:

Pulp's album "On Fire" - very young Jarvis cocker, kinda joy-division-smiths-ish in comparison to rest of Pulp's music, but it's good, it's really good.

...and reading (actually being read to by BFF Anna):

The 'girls' series by Jacqueline Wilson - lovely!

...and watching:

Beverly Hills 90210 season 1 for what must be the fifth time in my life.

- Andrae

The L Word

I am rather ill these days and therefore more or less homeward bound. Not doing anything really apart from smelling, watching random series. they've started broadcasting Skins season 3 on danish TV which is nice, apart from that I am, yet again, completely and utterly obsessed with the L word.
The american TV series about lesbians, it has the tackiest intro-tune ever but it also has Katherine Moennig in the role as Shane Mccutcheon. I am so in love with her. Also, in the role as Alice Pieszecki, dah-dum; Leisha Hailey. These are two incredibly fascinating characters, and oh it is HOT.
And thus I wiki'ed miss Hailey and read that she used to date K.D. Lang...whom I also love. So there. Things are fabulous.

- Andrae

Gotta Move

Edinburgh was fantastic, now I've returned with some new DVD's: "To Wong Foo thanks for everything - Julie Newmar", "Queer as folk US" (season 2) and "Y Tu mama tambien".
Here's a couple of pictures from "To Wong Foo thanks for everything - Julie Newmar", a rather tacky but very fabulous story about three dragqueens ending up in a small redneck town. Starring Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes (Blade), John Leguizamo (the one that played Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge) and the always lovely and very talented Stockard Channing (Rizzo in Grease, Tidy Endings). It is a bit too hollywood-cliché, but the costumes are fierce and the actors are quite good. Against "Priscilla - queen of the desert" this film doesn't stand a chance, but it's the kind of film that's good when you want to chill and be fabulous. Incidentally the stunning Rupaul appears shortly in the opening scene and there's a bit of Barbra on the soundtrack!
Lovely.

- Andrae

Best sing/dance scenes in films p.4: FOOTLOOSE

Okay, tis finally time to cut loose...FOOTLOOSE!
Kevin fucking Bacon dancing to Kenny pissing Loggins. (This does not mean that the "Footloose" dance scene of the film "Footloose" from 1984 directed by Herbert Ross is in fact the best dance scene of the film, it is, I believe, impossible to choose between the dance scenes of this film... we love 'the angry dance' and 'lets hear it for the boy' just as much)
Enjoy!

Ps: since the clip with Will and Kevin Bacon dancing footloose together has been removed from youtube, here's Will, Grace and the fabulous Sandra Bernhard singing "The Midnight train"

- Andrae

OH THE HORROR

Yesterday I went to watch Burtons "Alice in Wonderland" as part of my treatment. I suffer from a deeply profound hatred towards Johnny Depp and it was really quite a brave move to try and accept him in the role as the Hatter. And he was quite good actually, I sometimes even liked him... mainly because whenever he became mad, he spoke in some scottish dialect.
But in the name of Liza, Judy, Barbra and Bette this film is made of pure evil and by evil I mean clichées and not even the good tacky kind, just the kind that makes you physically sick. You would think that the direction of one usually clever and fab Tim Burton and the voices (and occasional face) of Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman would be somewhat good and perhaps even great. Not even these splendid three actors/comedians made up for it. I find that very distressing since those are three of my favorite brits.
I must point out that I love the story of Alice in Wonderland, and thus the plot is not what i hate about this film. I remember that as a kid I thought the red queen and her soldiers were some of the scariest characters I'd ever seen. Their authority and fascism as it was portrayed in the 1951 Disney film was really intense and utterly frightening. I listened to the story on tape and it would give me nightmares. That was one of the things I was hoping to relive when watching this film; the fright, the repulsion. But I did not get scared, and I was never impressed by the animation of the evil (and for that matter the good) characters. The repulsion however was achieved, but sadly for the wrong reason. Which is such a shame. The most prominent crime performed in this film were the lines. The amount of sugarcoated smugness that came out of especially Alice and the White queens mouths was impenetrable and made it impossible to breathe, and very possible to barf all over the lovely red velvet cinema chairs that our old local cinema Park Bio are the proud owners of.
The hyping and "match-made-in-heaven" talk this film has got, it is so utterly undeserved. God. Guh. Do not ever torment yourself by watching this pathetic film. Awful awful awful.

- Andrae