Happy Feet Two (2011)

Happy Feet was an okay film but enjoyable enough for me to watch it whenever it was on TV. I never cared for Happy Feet Two because what could it possibly have that the original movie didn't? Nothing, that's what.

Mumbo (Elijah Wood), the dancing penguin, has a new problem: his tiny reluctant-to-dance son Erik (Ava Acres) runs away because he doesn't seem to be able to find his talent and encounters The Mighty Sven (Hank Azaria), a penguin who can fly. As if having to compete with this charismatic role model wasn't enough, the world is shaken by powerful forces and Mumbo must save the penguin nation.

Snowpiercer (2013)

I remember watching Snowpiercer when it came out because of Chris Evans and honestly, I was expecting a pretty bad and stupid-ish film. Instead, I found myself watching a very smart, thrilling and entertaining film. I've watched it again, years later, and my opinion hasn't changed a bit.

Bong Joon-ho's film (the director of Netflix's Okja) is set in a future where a climate-change experiment brought another Ice Age. The only survivors live on a train hurtling around the globe. But not everyone is equal on that train. There are indeed first class and low-class citizens and Curtis (Chris Evans), the leader of low-class citizens, is determined to get to the front of the train and spread the wealth around.

The Apartment (1960)

I was searching the internet for New Year's Eve related movies and I could find nothing interesting, so I went on Twitter and asked for suggestions. Easy Riders Raging Podcast suggested The Apartment and since I loved Some Like It Hot I (Billy Wilder directed both) gave it a try.

Bud Baxter (Jack Lemmon) is an insurance clerk who has discovered a quick way to rise in his company: it's letting his superiors use his apartment to take their mistresses. Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray), his superiors' boss, finds out and promotes Bud in return for the exclusive use of the apartment. Everything is going smoothly-ish until Sheldrake's mistress turns out to be Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine), the elevator operator Bud has feelings for and complications arise.

Thursday Movie Picks: Television Edition: Friendship

Welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Each week we are asked to pick three to five films (on the last Thursday of the month we pick TV series this year) to fit the week's theme. We are closing the year with another Television edition and what a better theme than friendship? 

First They Killed My Father (2017)

I knew very little about Cambodia's history. Actually, I knew nothing at all so I took advantage of Angelina Jolie's latest movie, First They Killed My Father, to learn something about it, specifically about the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.

Set indeed in Cambodia in the 70s, as the Khmer Rouge invades the country, 7-year-old Loung Ung (Sareun Srey Moch) and her family are forced to leave their home and live in a horrific work camp. As you probably guess from the title, her father (Phoeung Komphaek) is killed and her family is forced to split in order to survive.

Pottersville (2017)

I think we can all agree that Michael Shannon is pretty awesome and I, like many others, would watch anything with him. Even if that means watching a movie with a weird-looking poster such as Pottersville. 

The poster though isn't the only weird thing about this film as the plots revolves around Maynard Greiger (Michael Shannon), a beloved local businessman who, after walking in on his wife (Christina Hendricks) cheating on him with the sheriff (Ron Perlman) -- they are wearing animal costumes and rubbing each other --, gets drunk, goes through town wearing a gorilla costume and is mistaken for Bigfoot. This sets off a huge media spectacle, brings a lot of tourists in town and a host of a monster-hunting show (Thomas Lennon) shows up to catch him.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

I had no interest whatsoever in watching The Greatest Showman since I'm not that big of a fan of musicals, but I had no plans for yesterday, Christmas day, so I decided to spend the afternoon in the theatre and I picked this one because of the cast. I didn't have high expectations or anything, I was just hoping to be entertained that's what musicals are supposed to do, in my opinion. And, in spite of its flaws, that's what it did.

The story is that of PT. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), an ambitious and visionary showman who, after his initial idea of opening a museum turned out to be a fiasco, had the idea of creating a new form of entertainment involving peculiar individuals, in other words, modern-day circus.

Die Hard (1988)

I've seen many action movies over the years, but Die Hard has a special place in my heart. Two are the reasons: it's one of the first action movies I've seen (and probably the first cop thriller as well) and it's one of the greatest I've ever seen (let's make it three since there's a young and good-looking Bruce Willis too). 

It's Christmas Eve and NYPD officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) just arrived in LA to spend the holidays with his family. While he's at his wife's company headquarters for the Christmas party, a group of terrorists take control of the building and hold everyone hostage. It's up to McClane to save them all.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

Remeber when I told you there aren't many animated Christmas movies around? Turns out it's true and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is pretty much all there's left for me to watch and since it looks like quite charming, I decided to give it a try.

Through Sam the Snowman (Burl Ives), the film tells the story of Rudolph (Billy Richards) before he became Santa Clause's (Stan Francis) most iconic reindeer. Born with a shining red nose, Rudolph was actually ostracized by the other reindeer and looked down upon by his own father (Paul Kligman). So he runs away and that's when he meets another misfit, Hermey (Paul Soles), the elf who wants to be a dentist, and together they leave the North Pole. On their journey, they meet up with Yukon Cornelius (Larry Mann), a prospector obsessed with silver and gold. Together they discover the island of Misfit toys and they must face the Abominable Snowman.

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas (2011)

After going through several painful Christmas comedies, I decided to watch one I knew would be terrible and, having not seen the other two movies of the Harold & Kumar series (because I'm awful), I thought watching A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas was the right thing to do.

Six years after Guantanamo Bay (don't ask me what happened because, like I said above, I haven't seen that one), Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) are estranged from one another and live very different lives. Harold works at Wall Street, got married and has his own home. Kumar is unemployed, single and still lives in the apartment he used to share with Harold. Then on Christmas Eve, Kumar shows up at Harold's house with a mysterious package and he inadvertently burns down Harold's father-in-law's (Danny Trejo) Christmas tree. Afraid of how his father-in-law is going to react, the two set out to find the perfect Christmas tree.

The Room (2003)

I love James Franco and for that reason I often find myself watching terrible movies. His The Disaster Artist though seems to be the most hilarious movie of the year and since I have to wait until the end of January to see it, and after being asked to (Sid, I cannot thank you enough) I decided to watch The Room, the movies Franco's in based on. I knew absolutely nothing about the film other than it's considered the worst movie ever made, and guess what, it is the worst movie I've ever seen.

Johnny (Tommy Wiseau) has it all: a high-paying job, a beautiful soon-to-be wife, Lisa (Juliette Danielle), a best friend, Mark (Greg Sestero), and he's the paternal figure of an orphan boy, Danny (Philip Haldiman). All of the sudden, Lisa gets bored of Johnny and cheats on him with Mark while Johnny is completely clueless.

Plácido (1961)

My knowledge of Spanish cinema is limited to a lot of Pedro Almodóvar and very little of Alejandro Amenábar, so I took advantage of Christmas to expand my knowledge and watch Luis García Berlanga's Plácido.

Set on Christmas Eve in a small Spanish town, it follows a 'sit a poor man at your table' charity which consists of wealthy townsfolks having a homeless person over for dinner that night. The celebrations also include a parade and in it there's Plácido (Cassen), a humble three-wheeler owner whose family lives in a public lavatory because of the lack of money, and we follow him as he tries to earn the money he needs to pay an overdue on his truck before midnight.

Thursday Movie Picks: 2018 Movies You're Looking Forward To

Welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Each week we are asked to pick three to five films (on the last Thursday of the month we pick TV series this year) to fit the week's theme. The year is ending soon so this week we are asked to pick movies that will release in 2018 that we are excited about.

Wind River (2017)

Last year, Taylor Sheridan's script made for one of the most complex and intense films of recent years, Hell or High Water. This year, in the role of both writer and director, he brought us Wind River, another brilliant thriller-western movie. 

Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner) is a tracker for the Fish and Wildlife Service in the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. One day, while tracking down a lion, he discovers the frozen body of a young Native American woman, Natalie (Kelsey Asbille). Rookie FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) is sent there to investigate the murder, and she teams up with Cory to unravel the mystery surrounding Natalie's death.

Christmas Vacation (1989)

I read somewhere that Christmas Vacation (or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) is a must during the holidays. It's hilarious and easily one of the best Christmas comedies ever made, it said. It was true.

Clark Wilhelm Griswold Jr (Chevy Chase) is really into Christmas this year and wants to give his family the best Christmas ever. But things never run smoothly for Clark and his family, and, between his obnoxious guests and the bonus check that is not arriving, everything he wants to happen goes against his favour, and the disaster is just around the corner.

Jigsaw (2017)

Although the latest movies were pretty bad, especially the last one, Saw 3D (which by the way was supposed to end the franchise), I had faith in Jigsaw. I thought seven years could be enough to write something good. Turns out I was wrong. 

More than 10 years after Jigsaw's (Tobin Bell) death, bodies are turning up around the city. The police start investigating and guess what, evidence points to one suspect only, John Kramer aka Jigsaw. Meanwhile, a group of five people, Anna (Laura Vandervoort), Ryan (Paul Braunstein), Mitch (Mandela Van Peebles), Carly (Brittany Allen) and a nameless fifth person, are chained to a wall with buckets on their heads and they must play one of Jigsaw's sick games to survive.

Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

While searching for Christmas movies to feel the Christmas spirit, I stumbled upon Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ Tōkyō goddofāzāzu) and, after reading the plot (yes, I did such thing), I decided to give it a chance. I didn't know what to expect because I haven't seen anything from Satoshi Kon, but now I know what to expect if I ever watch one of his movies again, a charming film. 

Tokyo, Christmas Eve. Three homeless friends, Hana (Yoshiaki Umegaki), a transvestite, Gin (Tōru Emori), a middle-aged bum, and Miyuki (Aya Okamoto), a young girl, find an abandoned newborn in the trash. Since Hana grew up without a family and refuses to bring the child to the authorities, they set on a journey to find the baby's parents, starting with a key they found with the baby.

The Ten: Best Christmas Movies of All Time

Just in case you haven't noticed, who knows, maybe you live in a cave or you're an Amish (but I'm pretty sure you don't/aren't otherwise you wouldn't be here reading this), Christmas is coming which for me pretty much translates into food, more food and even more food. And Christmas movies, duh. And thanks to Dell (I cannot thank you enough as I really wanted to do this) this blogathon too.

Christmas Eve (2015)

Patrick Stewart has the ability to fit pretty much any role he's given. That's why I like him and why I decided to give Christmas Eve a chance. How bad could it be, right? Well, apparently a lot. 

It's Christmas Eve, a man driving a van has an accident and ends up cutting the power of part of Manhattan. Because of that, six different groups of New Yorkers get stuck inside elevators. With nowhere to go, they are forced to interact with those trapped with them and their lives will be transformed.

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)

I remember when The Force Awakens came out two years ago. I was so excited about it that my heart was beating faster than usual as the movie started. The Last Jedi, well, it wasn't the same. First of all, I don't know why but I wasn't that excited about it. Now that I've seen it, I feel differently.

Picking up where The Force Awakens left, Rey (Daisy Ridley) is on the remote island hideaways of Luke (Mark Hamill) and hopes to persuade him to come back and join her and the Resistance. Meanwhile, the Resistance, led by General Leia (Carrie Fisher), attempts to survive and escape from the First Order led by General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and the Supreme Leader (Andy Serkis).

8 Women (2002)

I've seen only another film by François Ozon, Young & Beautiful, and I did not like it. So when I saw 8 Women on a best foreign language Christmas movies list, I gotta say I was reluctant but gave it a chance anyway. 

It's set in France in the 1950s. A family gathers to celebrate Christmas in an isolated cottage in the snowy countryside only to find that Marcel (Dominique Lamure), the family patriarch, has been murdered. Eight women are his potential murder: his wife, Gaby (Catherine Deneuve); their two daughters, Suzon (Virginie Ledoyen) and Catherine (Ludivine Sagnier); Gaby's sister, Augustine (Isabelle Huppert), and mother (Danielle Darrieux); Marcel's sister, Pierette (Fanny Ardant); the cook, Chanel (Firmine Richard), and the new maid, Louise (Emmanuelle Béart). 

Thursday Movie Picks: Small Towns

Welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Each week we are asked to pick three to five films (on the last Thursday of the month we pick TV series this year) to fit the week's theme. This week's theme is small towns. Living in a small myself, my picks are nice films that prove living in such towns isn't that boring, interesting things happen here too.

Trading Places (1983)

There are some movies that are on TV around Christmas time every single year, Trading Places being one of those. But every single year I have something better to do (at least that's what I've been telling myself for the past, what, 10 years?) and I never watch it. Part of me always thought it was a dumb movie and avoided for that reason. Then not long ago I saw The Blue Brothers, also directed by John Landis and it was brilliant so I gave this one a chance. 

Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd) is a successful broker with a big house, a servant (Denholm Elliott) and a beautiful fiancée (Kristin Holby). Billy Ray (Eddie Murphy) is a street con artist who gets arrested after Winthorpe bumps into him and accuses him of theft. That's when Mortimer (Don Ameche) and Randolph Duke (Ralph Bellamy), Winthorpe's bosses, bet that they could turn a common criminal into a successful businessman. So Billy is given the job and home of Louis who is then set up for crimes he didn't commit to see if he resorts to crime.

What Happened to Monday (2017)

Almost a month ago, Dell on Movies hosted Girl Week 2017 and kicked it off with his review of What Happened to Monday (you can read it here). I hadn't heard of the movie before but it sounded pretty interesting and I wanted to watch it. Then I found out it wasn't on Netflix Italy but that it would get a theatrical release instead. Thank goodness it was pretty close (November 30) and I didn't have to wait too long to see this pretty interesting dystopic film. 

It's set in 2073 where overpopulation is such a big issue, the government, headed by Nicolette Cayman (Glenn Close), opted for a one-child policy that sees younger siblings cryogenically frozen. There's, however, a set of identical septuples named after the days of the week, the Settman siblings (Noomi Rapace), who, thanks to their grandfather (Willem Dafoe), have evaded capture as each sibling plays her part in portraying Karen Settman, a fake identity they use outside of their apartment. But then one day Monday doesn't come home and...

Saw 3D (2010)

The Saw franchise has had its ups and downs but I think it's only with Saw 3D that it hit the bottom. This film is indeed terrible. There isn't a single good thing about it.

Starting from the plot that sees Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) hunting down Jill Tuck (Betsy Russell), Jigsaw's (Tobin Bell) wife, for trying to kill him in the previous movie. Meanwhile, Bobby Dagen (Sean Patrick Flannery), the leader of a Jigsaw survivor support group, is abducted with his wife (Gina Holden) and friends and they are forced to play yet another sick game. 

Arthur Christmas (2011)

I haven't seen many animated Christmas movies. To be honest, I'm not even sure there are a lot of those (suggestions are welcome). Anyway, I haven't really enjoyed those I've seen and I was expecting Arthur Christmas to be another of those but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

Arthur (James McAvoy) is Santa's (Jim Broadbent) younger and clumpy son whose happiness depends on seeing kids happy on Christmas. So when he discovers his father's high-tech ship has failed to deliver the present to a little girl, he goes on a mission to save Christmas accompanied by his ageing grandfather, Grandsanta (Bill Nighy), and a rebellious young elf, Bryony (Ashley Jensen).

Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

No! Ho! Ho! What a terrible Christmas movie Christmas with the Kranks is. It's not like I had some sort of expectations for this anyway, especially after seeing that scene (impossible to unsee) where Tim Allen is wearing only slips and he is so not rocking a fake tan.

What does that have to do with Christmas? Well, Luther Krank (Tim Allen) and his wife Nora (Jamie Lee Curtis) decide to skip Christmas and go on a cruise instead. That's why Mr. Krank gets a tan. Anyway, it's easier said than done, and their friends and neighbours get pretty pissed off. But when their daughter (Julie Gonzalo) and her finacée (René Lavan) decides to come home at the last minute, they must put together a holiday celebration.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)

It took me ages, literally, to watch Kingsman: The Secret Service, but when I did I absolutely loved it. It was fun and thrilling, and the leading duo, Taron Egerton and Colin Firth, was fantastic. That's why I had high expectations for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, even though Colin Firth's character supposedly died (I knew he wasn't because of the damn trailer) and I was told it was terrible, one of 2017's worst movies even. It wasn't true for me. It did lack the magic of the original, but I still enjoyed it.

When the Kingsman headquarters are destroyed by  the ruthless drug lady Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore) who is planning on poisoning people with her drug so she can sell the antidote, surviving agents Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and Merlin (Mark Strong) discover an allied spy organization in the US and they must work together to deaf their new common enemy.

2046 (2004)

As Christmas is approaching, I thought it'd be nice to watch some Christmas foreign language movies too and 2046 popped out somewhere on a list. Spoiler alert, it's not a Christmas movie. 

The film revolves around Chow Mo-wan (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), a science-fiction novelist and womanizer who writes about a place called 2046 where people go to recapture their lost memories (a part of the story takes place in this fictional world), and his numerous relationship with women and the lessons he has learned from them.

Thursday Movie Picks: Ugly Duckling to Beautiful Swan

Welcome back to Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Each week we are asked to pick three to five movies to fit that week's theme. This week we have to pick among those movies with an ugly main character who eventually becomes beautiful. I've already picked Miss Congeniality and The Devil Wears Prada before so I had to settle for these.

Holiday Inn (1942)

I don't like Christmas movies or Christmas for the matter but I'm that kind of person who wants to watch something that fits the season so each year I watch new ones (by new I mean those I haven't seen yet) as I believe sooner or later I'll find the one that makes me fall in love with the genre. Holiday Inn (Birgit suggested in a TMP if I'm not wrong) is one of those I picked this year and it was so great it made me like the holidays a bit more.

After his co-star Ted Hanover (Fred Astaire) steals him Lila Dixon (Virginia Dale), their third co-star and the woman he wanted to marry, Jim Hardy (Bing Crosby) retires and opens Holiday Inn, a vacation lodge that only opens on holidays. When Linda Mason (Marjorie Reynolds) turns up for an audition at Holiday Inn, Jim has basically won the lottery. They soon become engaged and everything is perfect. Until Ted shows up.

Ingrid Goes West (2017)

I love Aubrey Plaza for two reasons: she's funny and she's got an eye for interesting indies (check out The To Do List if you haven't already, it's a quite interesting watch). That's why I decided to watch Ingrid Goes West and I wasn't let down. 

Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) is an Instagram stalker who confuses likes for meaningful relationships so when Instagram famous Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen) replies to her comment, she moves to Los Angeles using her inheritance from her late mother with one goal: befriend Taylor.

Saw VI (2009)

I didn't enjoy Saw V at all. Nothing worked for me. Too many flashbacks, too much chaotic, random characters, poor gore. Basically it was just an excuse to make another Saw movie. Luckily, Saw VI was different. 

Agent Strahm is now dead, his body completely destroyed, and Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) frames him as Jigsaw's apprentice. Unfortunately for him, FBI agent Erickson (Mark Rolston) finds a tape with the voice of the killer so he has to deal with that. Meanwhile, the unethical CEO of an insurance company (Peter Outerbridge) and his team are abducted and the CEO is forced to play one of Jigsaw's twisted games.

A Cat in Paris (2010)

What was that ugly movie you were watching? are the exact words my mother said as I finished watching A Cat in Paris (Un vie de chat). Well, it's truly a shame people still judge things by the way they look, especially if that means missing out such a nice film.

In Paris, Dino is a cast who leads a double life. By day, he lives with Zoé (Oriane Zani), a little girl who hasn't spoken ever since her father was killed, and her mother (Dominique Blanc) who is a police officer. By night, he works with Nico (Bruno Salomone), a burglar. The two lives eventually cross paths as the ruthless gangster Victor Costa (Jean Benguigui) kidnaps Zoe. 

Bad Santa 2 (2016)

I'm not a Christmas/Holiday person but there are a few Christmas movies I watch over and over again one of those being Bad Santa. I love it and you know why? Because it's not about the Christmas magic and all that, but it's a hilarious, more cynical and realistic approach to Christmas. I was hoping Bad Santa 2 would be the same but unfortunately it was more a bad remake than it was a (decent) sequel. 

13 years after the events of Bad Santa, Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) is down on his luck and he's pulled back for another heist by his former partner Marcus (Tony Cox) and his mother (Kathy Bates) and he still has to deal with Thurman (Brett Kelly), who is now an adult but still acts like a child.

Death Becomes Her (1992)

Goldie Hawn with a hole in her stomach is one of the most vivid movie scenes imprinted in my mind. I guess it's because I was around 10 when I saw Death Becomes Her for the first time, and it's pretty hard to forget something like that at such an age. I was scared though, I thought it was hilarious and my opinion hasn't changed much.

When Madeline (Meryl Streep) steals her fiancé Ernest (Bruce Willis), Helen (Goldie Hawn) ends up in a psychiatric hospital. Fourteen years later she comes back determined to get Ernest back and there's only one way that can happen, Madeline must die. So with Ernest, who has now become miserable to say the least, she plots a plant to kill her. But things don't quite work out as planned.