Skyfall: The James Bond of the 21st century

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR "SKYFALL" AHEAD.

So Skyfall is (thank god), winning critics and audiences alike, becoming the most financially-succesful James Bond movie of all time and getting beat off the top of the box office chart only by the most hated (and in some people, most loved) franchise of all time. As my spoiler-free review already pointed out, I loved the film and the thing I wanted to talk about further is calling it "the James Bond (film) of the 21st century." I will explain why, and furtherly praise Skyfall with spoilers in detail, so if the big, black, bold sign at the top didn't alert you alredy: do not read this, if you haven't seen the movie yet. Just go see it. Or read my review first.

So what I loved most about Skyfall (and most other people) is, that it's fresh. In bold, because it has many meanings, at least in terms of this film. The action sequences are intense and interesting and the film is very well shot. I am not really the biggest expert in cinematography, but even the biggest cinematography n00bs (did I just use that word?) know, that Skyfall is very well shot. I also like something about it, that I can't name otherwise then being colourful. I just like movies that have a lot of different scenes with a lot of different colour schemes and themes in them. This movie opens up with a journey through orang-y Istanbul rooftops, trains and bridges with cold, greenish water underneath, then continues into the bright, flashing appearance of the casino and the chinese dragons, brings on the modern-neony version of Shanghai, takes us  through the grey and the brown of the London's court, underground and MI6's base and finally ends with a green-blue-gray-ish darkness of the film's final shootout in the hills of Scotland.

I don't know why, but it just made me like the movie more, made it seem more fun. The film is also filmed in a fresh and modern way and truly, what a James Bond movie in the 21st century should be. James Bond is a legendary character and this take on it was excellent. It was a perfect mix of the brutal, realistic and dark Daniel Craig James Bond and the campy, funny and traditional James Bond movies. It wasn't either brutal nor campy, but just right, making it both a fun action movie and a serious thriller. It really reminds me of 1996's Romeo & Juliet, as it just as succesfully modernizes a cult story and makes it enyoyable for both fans of that story and the today's audience. I also loved the references to the old movies (The Aston Martin), which just strengthens my claims of the excellence.

The film also reminded me a lot of BBC's Sherlock. It's nothing alike really, but Ben Wishaw as Q reminded me of Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes (he's great by the way, so that's a compliment to Wishaw) and Javier Bardem as Silva reminded me of Andrew Scott as James Moriarty. He's the same type of villain, has a lot of helpers, a computer hacker with skills and sources to do anything and he also reminded me of BBC's Sherlock's Moriarty, of how you can't really decide if he's really creepy or really funny in a gay kind of way at first, but then you soon realize he's a great villain (for me, that was the scene, where he was trapped, mostly when he took out his jaw and cracked the awesome laugh). I also loved the way how they set up the movie at the end. With M's death and a new M in charge and Q & Monneypenny (sort of, it's pretty much, how Gordon-Levitt is Robin), this really sets up for a nice franchise. So slow down, people who want Craig out of the way, because I just can't wait for the next one in this form. Michael Fassbender would be cool as Bond, tough, and they could also keep the Craig-touch. 

So what did you think of Skyfall? Are you excited for the upcoming Bond movies? Who do you want to see play Bond after Craig retires? Comment below, let me know!

'Cloud Atlas' movie review

I have decided to simply not give a fuck of how a terrible movie reviewer I am, but believe me, I am doing my best to review these movies as soon as I can in the world of my stuck-up country (Yes, the movie actually came out yesterday for me). So, with all due respect, here is my review of the highly anticipated epic drama Cloud Atlas, which I have been shaking legs as well for quite some time now, namely after watching the undescribably amazing trailer. The movie is basically a mix of six different stories, spanning from the 19th century to the very distant future. But as we saw in the trailer, the characters are linked through birthmarks and soul and reincarnation and the stories have parallels and connections in them and so on and so on.

But the movie is in average receiving mixed reviews. Some people are calling it one of the best movies of all time and a modern-art masterpiece, and some people are calling it an over-ambitious, over-long mess. We'll get to that later, so let's just take a look at the movie first, like we would with any other. The acting is pretty good, with the actors playing several different roles, my favourite in the movie was probably Jim Broadbent, who is delightful in his present-day story and incredibly despicable in another, (but you're supposed to hate him, so that's good). But overall it's simply tough to look at Cloud Atlas as an another movie, because it tries to be and suceeds at being more then that. The first shot in it, showing our galaxy in a star-filled sky already explains, that this is no ordinary trip to the theater.

I decided to not review this movie after a couple of days of thinking about, and it was worth it. The stories are connected and intertwined in a surprisingly crafty way, making a 3-hour journey through time and space, oftenly shifting stories in a range of 10 seconds, understandable and never boring. Some stories are action-packed, exciting and interesting story-wise, others are beautiful, romantic and funny. The three directors basically each directed 3 of the 6 stories (Lana and Andy Wachowski always work together, so the movie actually has more like 2 directors or 2 director units) and you can see a bit of The Wachowski feel on the futuristic, spectacular ones, but the movie still feels like one, long, connected movie. And even if you don't understand the connections, the actions in one story, that influence the other, you can still simply relax and keep with the batch of the characters, the batch of the story elements, the whole of a very good movie.

All that is backed up by excellent music and visuals. A few scenes in the movie, are as we saw in the trailer, breath-taking and one particular shot, actually quite revolutionary, that you actually wonder "How the fuck did they do that?!", just like people tought when they first saw The Matrix. But overally, I think this is a better film, than The Matrix, because it has heart. And it has lots of heart. Ben Whishaw alone makes his story touching and wonderful, you want to kill Jim Broadbent in one story and just give him a hug in another. Even tough you've seen characters playing different roles, you will be pretty shocked to notice, who was who where. Some make-up didn't go very well (Asian Hugo Weawing), but some makes this a clear Oscar winner for Best Make-up (such honor, right?) I'm also sure, I will buy the soundtrack, which the beautiful Cloud Atlas sextet/march piano piece from the trailer alone made me think. I was only a bit pissed the song 'Outro' by m83 from the trailer, wasn't in the movie. But enough of talking now.

Typing so much of this, I realized, I just cannot sum up all of the greatness. You simply have to see this movie. As we reach our conclusion, I simply say, that you have to see it. No matter, if you will end up loving or hating it, it will be an undesribably mesmerizing cinematic experience. I am not sure, if this will be considered a modern-art masterpiece, but I think it comes pretty close. Even the critics, who gave it bad reviews agreed, that it simply is one of the most ambitous movies ever made, and that you're startled by merely what the movie tries to be (and even more, when it suceeds in some points). So is this movie an overlong, over-ambitious mess. Not at all. Is it one of the greatest movie of all time, that makes you think about the world differently. I don't know, maybe. Is it an inspiring, beautiful, amazing film and one of the best movies of the year? Of course.

Total rating: 9.5 / 10 

So what did you think of the film? Do you think it's a modern-art masterpiece or an over-long mess? Did you feel inspired by it? Comment below, let me know! 

Disney buys Lucasfilm: My toughts

Even tough struggling to write a single word about this hot topic, I've noticed people are talking about this more then about hurricane Sandy, so I figured, that as a (wannabe)blogger/(wannabe)movie reviewer, I am obliged to write down my toughts. So the big news is, that George Lucas sold his production company, Lucasfilm to Disney, for 4.5 billion dolars. The thing that made  people turn on their cameras and wipe the dust off their keyboards the most, is that Disney now owns the rights to Star Wars and already announced the release of a sequel trilogy, starting with Star Wars: Episode VII in 2015.

Now the reason I didn't want to write about this, is simply because I don't care that much, because I am simply not a Star Wars fan. Yes, I've said it - I'm not a Star Wars fan. It's not that I hate the movies, it's just that I was born after the original trilogy came out, I was too young to watch the prequels in theatres and Phantom Menace 3D didn't come out in our country (!). So I only saw all of the movies except Return Of The Jedi once on TV and I liked them, but I was so young, I just didn't have any special feelings towards them. To be honest, I don't really remember them. I remember the story and the characters and everything, but Star Wars never was part of my childhood, I never jumped at any news related to it, I don't hate George Lucas for ruining it with prequels or whatever everyone is saying - to me, they were simply a bunch of nice movies. So these big news just weren't such big news for me, but as I've said - if everyone's talking about it, I have to as well.

The news received pretty mixed reactions. The hardcore fans (*cough* haters *cough*) are of course raging in their race car beds, about how Disney will ruin the franchise and all that. Wait, I tought the prequels already ruined it, is Disney going to ruin it even more? Besides, maybe they forgot Disney doesn't necesarilly mean Mickey Mouse and ruining franchises, as it also owns a couple of other companies, notably MARVEL. One of the more important backnews (let's pretend it's a word) is also, that George Lucas won't direct these movies and will be considered a creative consultant, a.k.a. "we tell the public you're in, go play with crayons". Which means, that Lucas basically let his hands off and any director could direct the new Star Wars movies. There are many different suggestions, some even including M. Night Shyamalan (if you wanna see Jar Jar Binks turning out to travel back in time and pretend to be the good twin of Darth Vader and acidentally become the real Luke's father, go with that). I would like to see either Joss Whedon either Gore Verbinski take the job. Whedon is sadly contracted to The Avengers 2, which are also coming out in 2015, but I think Disney favourite Verbinski would also do a great job. Han Solo is a sort of a space pirate, after all.

But there still are a couple of things confusing about this shocking event. What happened to all the Star Wars movies being released in 3D each year? Are they going to release both Episode IV 3D and Episode VII (possibly 3D) the same year or did Lucas forget all about that? Since Lucas has been talking about 9 movies and the original trilogy considered the middle trilogy from the start, I'm guessing letting his hands off wasn't exactly an overnight decision. So what, he double-booked? I don't know and as I've said, I don't really care that much. I look forward to a Disney Star Wars movie a lot and of course, seeing the first six movies, as in actually seeing them (I did phisically see them, but I think you know, what I mean). By the way, anyone cares Disney now owns Indiana Jones too? No one? Yeah, me neither.


So what do you think about Disney buying Lucasfilm? Are you looking forward to 3 more Star Wars movies? Which director / writer do you think should direct / write them? Comment below, let me know!