Stardust

So I just saw stardust again as it was showing on tv and I can't help to think that it's a really cool movie. It's the classic anti-hero fairytale that gets me in a good mood. It's actually very witty and the story is creative, fun and sweet. It doesn't fall into the the typical romantic comedy pit falls with the hero saving the day, but rather he messes up and falls alot.. and then I guess he saves the day. The cast does a great job in my opinion and it's the perfect magical fairytale feel good movie for any grey, cold day or sunny shiny day.. Whatever tickles your fancy. Seeing as I've seen it (sadly enough) 3 times, I seem to be at a loss of words.. you see.... I guess the point being; it's definitely worth a watch for those adventure junkies out there, and you know who you are!

Avatar

The long awaited James Cameron movie "Avatar" is finally here. James Cameron, behind Aliens and Terminator I and II and a little known movie called Titanic, has been on the slow side the past decade. After watching Avatar I can see why. The graphics alone must have taken years. The visual aspect of the movie is pure ecstasy for the eyes. I had goose bumps for 3 hours straight. It was so visually stunning that the rather simple story was ignored. The colors, the amazing graphics, the wonderful play on light and of course the characters were soaked up and after 3 hours I wished I could have more. It's my new drug of choice. However, a sequel MUST have a better plot. Cameron is good on epic movies, but not for the imaginative stories. Avatar is a classic good vs. evil story. The RDA (Resource Development Administration) the largest single non-governmental organization in human space are a bunch of gold diggers looking for Unobtainium, a highly valuable mineral found on the moon Pandora which humans mine to save the earth from its energy crisis. Together with a military force they dig and destroy Pandora in search of Unobtainium. A research team is also located on Pandora and to encourage diplomacy between humans and the Na'vi they develop so-called Avatars. These avatars look like the Na'vi species, but are controlled by the humans they are made from through a link. Jake Sully is recruited to this research project after his brother a Phd working with the avatars, died. Jake Sully, a former marine, got injured in battle and is in a wheel chair. As an avatar he is able to run, jump and all that jazz which instantly makes him like the new world. Long story short; he tries to save Pandora from the big bad company.

The movie has several peaks, with the main climax being the battle for the tree of souls. If it wasn't for the amazing visual expression the movie would have been a long, boring one-dimensional crap fest. Of course the movie does have some relevance for todays climate crisis, but I doubt it will have any profound impact on todays social conscience. WALL-E does that better in my opinion.

Avatar is an epic movie. It has pictures out of this world. My visual cortex will be completely satisfied for at least a couple of weeks after this. The 3D makes it even more spectacular. It isn't the most innovative movie story wise, but if you can ignore that, then you are in for a real treat of a movie.

Once upon a time there was a blog...

Wow, long time no post... Loads of music experiences, movies and books later and the blog has been on hiatus. Maybe because there is nothing to procrastinate from. The most recent happenings would however be the Mew concert in Oslo a couple of weeks ago which was awesome times three. We had gallery seats which wasn't ideal, but I can pick out Jonas Bjerre from a mile away even without glasses so I couldn't be happier. They started out with the good classics at which point I might have shed a tear sadly enough, and went over to some new tunes. In all the played 6 new songs which is ok, since I still haven't gotten used to the "new" sound. Mew will be performing in Trondheim on february 12th and tickets have already been acquired :D

On monday I'm gonna see Avatar which I'm very much looking forward too. The trailer isn't too convincing in my opinion although I do get the obligatory nerdy chills when I see blue sci-fi creatures running around. It's James Cameron so I'm putting all my faith into that. The man hasn't made anything in a looong while so this better be good! Norwegian critics seem to be positive to the movie giving it 4s and 5s (out of 6).

Is there anything else worth mentioning? Hmm.. no new tv-shows that I like. True blood was a huge disappointment. The series has potential, but it insists on being this emo retarded thing with no deeper meaning than being about vampires. Yeah, it's in the south, yeah it's about vampire racism, but they don't play this further into the current sociopolitical state. It could easily have been paralleled with gay-lesbian rights and the prejudice against Arabs post 9/11, but they insist on sticking to the emo crap when they come close to anything even resembling some criticism of today's society. The intro is seriously the best thing about the damn show.

Well, I shall lay my head to sleep and dream of blue night elven looking creatures. Yes, very sad indeed that I dream of blue elves instead of.. well.. anything other than that would be acceptable.

The new Mew single :D



More at www.mewsite.com

Back in the blogsphere

Thesis delivered and it's TV season! So much to watch and so little time. That might change soon as Pushing Daises has not been picked up for season 2.5 and thus ends with 22 episodes. What a shame. It's probably one of my favorite shows. Fullers talents will not go to waste as he is likely to return to Heroes, but still, it's not the same. Unfortunately it seems they ended with a cliffhanger that obviously will not be followed up so it's too bad they weren't able to wrap up the series. It's talk of continuing the series in cartoon form so that the story will continue there, but it's all rather new, so we will see. I know I'm going to watch the last 4 or 5 episodes religiously with as much candy, hot chocolate and attention they deserve. On that not I'm going to go cry a little in the bath room, brb.


Ok, all cried out and ready to move on. Guitar hero seems to be the everyman's rock dream, and there's nothing like cranking up the star power and go full out! Now, I'm still on medium so I shouldn't brag too much, but these guys are pretty awesome!

David Lynch

Awesome!

David Lynch on product placement


David Lynch on watching movies on a phone. (notice the setup of the clip though with the cozy apple music and the convenient "iPhone" in bold at the end - someone's been having some fun)

The Visitor

The Visitor is coming to Norwegian theatres this friday and was given a 6 (out of 6 possible) in one of the biggest Norwegian newspapers. Grounds to look further into the movie! It's by the director of The Station Agent and the producer of Sideways, which turns up the anticipation even more. It's apparently about a university professor who has a rather straight forward life which doesn't really fulfill him. After the loss of his wife he shut down emotionally and doesn't find any pleasure in living. During a trip to New York for a conference, two foreigners (a man from Syria and a woman from Senegal) are living in his apartment due to a misunderstanding. But as it turns out, this meeting will be his awakening. There seems to be some sort of political agenda in the movie, but according to the norwegian review this is done in a subtle way.

The trailer didn't really mesmerize me, but considering the rating of 8.1 at imdb and the review in Dagbladet it is definitely worth a look.

HIMYM Season 4

They are back on set and filming for the new season yay :D It's sad though that all the focus is on the guest stars such as Britney and that other fella they talk about appearing this upcoming season, cause the show in itself is awesome! Seriously, who cares about them! Neil Patrick Harris is funneh! "Look away Josh Radnor, look away".

Watchmen

Zack Snyder, the director of 300 is currently working on Watchmen which is based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore. The comic was released in 1986-1987 and became an acclaimed piece of litterature. The writer set out to do a comic for adults and so Watchmen is not the straight forward superhero comic, but rather superheroes flawed. The movie is highly anticipated and according to the crew working on Watchmen, the movie is very true to the novel. It's already been filmed but the release isn't until 2009, so this trailer might ease the wait.

Everything is illuminated

Everything is illuminated was shown at the film festival Kosmorama 2 years ago but I wasn't able to see it. I did see it this weekend and it is a sweet little movie. Jonathan is a collector. He collects everything of value to him and puts it in small bags. This obsession as one might call it, started after his grandfather died. Now on the deathbed of his grandmother he is given a picture of his grandfather and a woman that saved his life during World War II. Jonathan sets out to find this woman. He hires a rather disturbed tour guide company and the guide, his seeing eye dog and the grandson take young Jonathan on a trip he will never forget. The images are beautiful and the nature is stunning. The characters seem a bit stereotypical at times. There's the grumpy grandfather, the strict waitress that only serves meat and the somewhat dim-witted grandson that loves Michael Jackson. It atleast feels like they try to portray the east european culture to it's full extent. When (if) you get past that then it's a nice, witty and a little bit sad movie. 7.7 on imdb - maybe a tinsy bit lower in my opinion.

Fun fact: The actor playing the grandson is the front man for Gogol Bordello. Saw them at both the Roskilde festival and the Quart festival and although it's not my kind of music they sure know how to put on a show and put you in a good mood no matter what! It's a lively bunch and they just go nuts on stage!