MovieRave; Exit Through The Giftshop

I don’t force my friends to see these little independent and foreign film with me; they just know it’s easier to go see it than argue with me, plus I’m usually right (Except for ‘The White Ribbon’. I’m sorry, Sara). Case in point I scoffed at the idea of seeing ‘Robin Hood’ and wanted to go see the documentary ‘Exit Through The Giftshop’, the first film by street artist Banksy.

I got my way. But my friends really enjoyed the film, so all’s well that ends well. And they got popcorn out of it.


The film is taglined as ‘The incredible true story of how the world's greatest Street Art movie was never made’, and follows a man named Thierry Guetta. Guetta, a Frenchman who moved to L.A., has one passion in life: filming absolutely everything. He falls in with a new up and coming art movement called ‘street art’ and film the artists responsible under the guise of him making a documentary.

He films and becomes friends with the infamous Banksy, and Banksy decides to turn the cameras on Guetta and his foray into the art form he loves so much.

This movie is hilarious; documentaries are often serious, and dark, but the subject matter of ‘Exit Through The Giftshop’ is art. How can you take art seriously?

The film shows the highs of art, new artists being creative and making a difference, and the lows, rich socialites and collectors spending millions of dollars on something they view to be ‘the next big thing’, all the while being completely tongue in cheek.

If you want to add another layer to the film, many critics are saying it’s not a documentary; is ‘Exit Through The Giftshop’ an honest look at an eccentric Frenchman’s life, or just another Banksy hoax? It is Banksy, after all.


Basically, the film delves into what constitutes as an artist (“Thierry broke all the rules. But there aren’t supposed to be any rules in art.”), while remaining entertaining throughout.


Love.

MovieRave; The Secret In Their Eyes

This has been long overdue; a couple weeks ago I went to see the film that won ‘Best Foreign Film’ at this year’s Oscars, Argentina’s ‘The Secret In Their Eyes’.


The story is set in Buenos Aires in 1999, but flashes back to the 1970s; Benjamín Esposito is a retired justice official who is writing a novel about a specific case he worked on dealing with the rape and murder of a young girl.
He visits his old boss and the husband of the young woman and tries to make sense of the thirty year old case, and come to terms with his love for his boss.

In the flashbacks, we see Esposito unsatisfied with the two construction workers being tried for the rape and murder, and he knows that they are only being used as a scapegoat. As he gets to know the young woman’s husband, he begins to look through her life and sees within old photographs that one of the women’s old friends doesn’t look right in the eyes.


That’s an awful summary, I know, but there’s no way to say anything without spoiling the entire movie.
I will say this; you need to see it.

So many scenes tugged at the heartstrings; Morales, the husband, waiting at the train station everyday to find his wife’s killer, the turning over of the photographs, ‘TE MO’ becoming ‘TE AMO’ because, remember, the ‘a’ on the typewriter never worked.

Despite the heart warming moments, the end is plain disturbing, yet a relief, if that makes any sense.


I know this is a lacklustre review, but there are so many twists and surprises in this film that any resemblance of a synopsis would be covered in spoilers.

One more reason to see this film?
You’ll never guess the ending. I promise you.


Love.

OOTD + MovieRave; Kick Ass

Grey sweater from H&M; Nude skirt from Zara; Black tights from American Apparel;

Black beret from H&M; Necklace by Pyrrah; Bracelets by Humanity and Chan Luu;

Rainbow studs by Juicy Couture; Ankle boots from Spring; 'A Oui Bit Of Red' nail polish by OPI;

I was unsure about adding the beret to this look, but it was just too plain without it.
I felt very French shop girl in this outfit, which is appropriate since I’m a Canadian shop girl.

Since I felt so French, this polish was a good choice. It's 'A Oui Bit Of Red' from OPI's France collection, naturally.

When I get the opening shift I’m off at six, so I usually call someone to see if they want to get dinner or see a movie.
Unfortunately, no one wanted to see ‘Chloe’, so ‘Kick Ass’ was chosen instead.

SideNote; Did you know that at Scotiabank theatres you get a free medium drink and popcorn with your admission?
Totally didn’t know that and bought tons of food at T And T. Oh well. Now I just have lots of strawberry Pockey. Which is never a bad thing.

Anyway, ‘Kick Ass’.


Loved it. And I totally didn’t think I would.
I wasn’t sure what to expect; some trailers billed it as a comedy, others as an adventure. ‘Kick Ass’ was both, but with twists of drama thrown in.

The film’s about a geeky high school kid who decides to ‘fight crime’ in New York. One of his victories is put on Youtube and he becomes an overnight sensation, and life’s awesome. Until he realizes that there are real bad guys (with guns) out there, along with something even scarier, real super heroes.


One of the things I really liked about the plot was how they didn’t portray Kick Ass, or Dave, as invincible or an anything more than the average teenager. He can’t kill anyone, he doesn’t have any weapons, but he can get stabbed. A lot of superhero movies fail because the hero immediately becomes invincible, but ‘Kick Ass’ succeeds because we watch him struggle to fight crime.

If that doesn’t convince you, see this movie for the cinematography; it was shot beautifully. The camera angles mirror a comic book (which the movie is based on), and during fight scenes we are able to see exactly what the character sees, including every punch thrown their way.
Need another reason? The soundtrack. Listen to the theme. I love Mika.


The cast is pretty solid, complete with a creepy Nick Cage and thirteen year old Chloe Moritz, who I really hope we see more of. The main guy was cute (almost too cute to be a social outcast, Hollywood) and McLovin was in it. I find his so endearing. Don't know why.

Basically? See this movie; it was comedic, dark, colourful, and action packed. And that’s coming form someone who hates action movies.



Love.

P.S. LOL at me trying to find a good place to take pictures in my house. Having said that, I like the ceiling of my basement, and the floor of my kitchen. Very nice for some dimension, or a head ache.

OOTD + MovieRave; 'How To Train Your Dragon'

Gray t shirt from H&M; Nude skirt from Zara;

Black tights from American Apparel; Necklace and earrings by Alexis Bittar;

Black bracelet by Humanity; Labradorite bracelet by Chan Luu;

Black flats from Aldo; 'Suzi Says Feng Shui' nail polish by OPI;

Sorry about the blah photo; I hate rushing off to work.
The outfit is a bit blah itself, but looked great when I added a light pink/nude scarf from Le Chateau, my infamous faux leather jacket, these sunglasses from Urban Outfitters, and my brown faux leather messenger bag from H&M that I’ve yet to take a picture of, but wear every day.
It was kind of ‘faux leather meets voluminous ballerina skirt’, and I was into it.

This is what I wore to work and to gallivant around Robson Street on my break.
The weather’s super weird/lovely in Vancouver now; it’s cold, like fall, but sunny enough to require sunglasses. And it’s windy. It’s like everything I love rolled into one burst of meteorology.

So I caved and bought a Chan Luu wrap bracelet.



Don’t judge, it’s a classic piece.
It’s leather with labradorite woven in between. It was a lot, but it’s one of those things I know I’m going to wear every day, and (spoiler alert) I have.

Anyways, whilst at work a friend texted me to inquire if I would like to see ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ avec herself and a friend. I have had multiple people tell me that I need to see this movie, so I agreed (even though I would have rather seen ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’).


This is my favourite movie of 2010 thus far.
You need to see it.

I think the key to this movie is that they kept it short; it’s about an hour and a half, which was perfect. Theaters are the ultimate ‘boring’ test, I think it has something to do with the fact that the chairs are uncomfortable, and it really shows which movies have competent editors and which need to rethink their career pat (I’m looking at you, ‘Alice In Wonderland’).
I was never bored for a second during ‘How To Train Your Dragon’.

Essentially the plot is the story of a young Viking (voiced by my love, Jay Baruchel) who is too small/weak/uncool to train to kill dragons, unlike the other kids in the village. He then actually meets a dragon up close, and instead of killing it discovers that dragons aren’t all that bad.


The film is really travelling along the ‘Coraline’ road of children’s movies; it’s dark.
At times it’s scary, some of the dragons (one in particular) are grotesque, and it’s not a complete happily ever after.
I don’t know if I find this movie dark because I’ve grown up and am able to recognize these elements, or if society has just added more depth to children’s movies.

Either way, ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ was adorable, scary, and visually beautiful; it’s a new kind of children’s movie, and a new type of theatre 3D experience.

QuestionOfTheDay;
What do you think of 3D movies?
Sitting in ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ really made me realise that this is the new way to watch movies. 3D is only for blockbusters and adventure movies now, but could it ever expand to dramas? In twenty years will all films be in 3D? Do you think it adds to the experience, or do you now care?



Love.

MovieRave; In Bruges

What can I say about 'In Bruges'?

It's offensive, bloody, has Colin Farrel in it, and is amazing.

If you're easily offended, steer clear.
If you like good movies, you know what to do.


Love.

MovieRave; 'Lars And The Real Girl'

You know that movie you wait forever to see? For some reason or another, you just never follow through with going to the theatre, taping it on TV, or renting it from the video store?
'Lars And The Real Girl' was my movie like that.
Finally, I strolled on down to the library and decided to rent it.


This is a romantic movie for those of us (ME!) that hate the 'rom-com' genre.

The film takes place in a small town (I like to think it's a Canadian town, since Ryan Gosling is Canadian); the central character, Lars, lives in his brother's garage. He gets up, goes to his job, and spends the rest of his time alone, despite his sister-in-law's frequent attempts at inviting him over for dinner.
It's not like he has to be alone; people like, girls are interested in him, and he has a great family. He just wants to be alone.

Until he meets 'Bianca'.



She's a sex doll Lars has ordered online; he's created a made-up life for her, and legitimately sees her as a real person. Lars' family is instructed by his psychiatrist to go along with it, and eventually the whole town get's into it.

I wouldn't call 'Lars And The Real Girl' one of the best movies I'd ever seen, but it's undeniably sweet and heartfelt, with its 'teddy bear CPR' scene being, in my opinion, on the of the cutest moments in cinema history.

This film will make you cry, and it will make you cry over a sex doll; the film succeeds by showing the perils of the average relationship, despite how unusual the relationships it portrays are.
It dives deep into Lars' head to explain why he feels the need to create a love interest in his life, but don't we all dream of the thing we feel we're missing?


Overall, if you feel like romance, tears, and the hotness of Ryan Gosling is your thing, I recommend 'Lars And The Real Girl'.
The go watch 'Guys And Dolls', the documentary of real life men with the same infatuation as Lars.


Love.
(But not the creepy kind)

OOTD; Explanations + My Newest Alexis Bittar Piece

_ Gray sweater from H&M

_ Black leggings form American Apparel
_ Rosary by Tarina Tarantion

_ Ring by Alexis Bittar (!!!)

_ My mom's old boots

So remember back in the day when I said that since Christmas is over I'd have more time to post on this blog, and then didn't?

OK, here's what happened; a couple weeks ago I decided on a whim to check the university I'm applying to's due dates, assuming that the application was due March 1st, like it had said previously, and that the portfolio was due some time in April, like it had said previously.

Apparently they can change the due dates on a whim.

I had six days to apply, and not even three weeks to do my portfolios.

Panic.

But I pulled up my bootstrings (I hope I'm using that phrase correctly) and got down to work; everyday I had off was devoted to writing, writing, writing.

I dropped the portfolios off at the post office earlier today, so I'm done, at least for this university.

I still have four more portfolios to due, but that's a completely different topic all together, and one that I don't plan to think about for about a week.

Anyway, on to the outfit; I wore this to work on Friday and then out to see 'The Lovely Bones' and 'The White Ribbon'.


I was impressed by "The Lovely Bones'; it was getting so-so reviews so I didn't come in with much expectations, but I enjoyed myself. Stanley Tucci is fantastic in it, by the way.

But then again, isn't he always?

Then my friend and I snuck into 'The White Ribbon' a German film about a village before World War One.

Don't go see this movie. I have never been so bored; the plot is basically someone is terrorizing the villagers and they want to know who, and in doing so the viewer gets a to see the dynamics of each family. I get what the movie was trying to do, what with the character development and all, but there were just too many characters for any plot development to really happen.

My friend and I didn't even watch until the end; we wanted to catch the 12:45 seabus home versus the 1:15, so we just left. There didn't look to be any conclusion in sight, so we just said "Fuck it."

I was os dissapointed; this film is getting Oscar buzz for Best Foreign Film, and it was something I was really looking forward too.

Onto nails of the day, OPI's 'Gargantuan Green Grape', AKA an excuse to show off my new Alexis Bittar ring.

Don't hate, it was the last one and I just had to get it.

It passed the ultimate test too; on Saturday night my mom and I went to the ballet (That Joni Mitchell one) and a middle aged man passing by me stopped to complement me on it.

So it's got the male seal of approval.

Love.

MovieRave(s); 'An Education'/'Pirate Radio'

It's probably become clear from reading this blog, but I vastly prefer 'films' over 'movies'. It's just how I role, people.

There's an artsy, independent kind of theater in Vancouver's Chinatown that I frequent called Tinseltown.
Don't judge the name, I think it's cute.
Anyway, yesterday, two friends and I decided to see the matinee showing of 'An Education'; though I'd read the review, none of us had a very clear idea about the movie, one of my friends had never even heard of it, but wanted to come anyway. All we knew was that it was getting rave reviews, and that I'd hit Peter Sarsgaard.

If you go to Tinseltown you have to visit T And T first to buy snacks for the movie; it's a chain of Asian grocery stores that get stuff imported directly from Asia.
I don't know if any of you had Asian friends as kids, but if you did, you'll know that they always had the best candy.

Strawberry Pocky is my life. The chocolate ones are OK, I guess, but strawberry's where it's at.
I got nine packets for $5.00. I ate five of them v.v

My friend made us all get this Tao Ti Apple Green Tea; basically, it's green tea mixed with apple juice, but it's so much more than that.



I can't describe the taste, just try a bottle of it.
Just FYI, this picture of the bottle is the Americanized version, but the writing on the bottle I had was in Chinese.

After we were perused the candy aisles, we headed up to the theater to see 'An Education'.


The three of us unanimously loved it; 'An Education' is the story of a sixteen year old girl, Jenny, living in London in the 1960s. Her father presses his narrow minded views on the rest of the family, which causes Jenny to rebel by living anything French, and fantasizing about living in Paris, going to concerts, smoking, wearing black, etc. She is currently studying at a girls school to get into Oxford so she can study English, then basically meet an educated man to marry her. One day she meets David, a cultured older man. he takes her to concerts, on trips, and introduces her to his glamorous friends and his glamorous lifestyle.They fall in love, and Jenny begins to think that there may be no point in her going to Oxford if she stays with David. Obviously, things aren't what they seem and Jenny gets an education in life.

So much could have gone wrong with this movie; the plot line of an older man falling for a sixteen year old girl is creepy, point black, but Peter Sarsgaard is a fantastic actor; he never falls into the 'creepy older man zone;, but remains charming throughout the entire film. Not gonna lie, I'd get in his car if he'd take me to Paris.
The protagonist, Carey Mulligan, is extremely talented; again, the plot could have gone array if Jenny would have been a whiny, 'woe is me', type of character, but Mulligan never let's her slip into that mode. She keeps Jenny strong throughout the entire film.


This is an awesome movie, and I normally hate 'coming of age' stories; it could have been so cliché, but the actors and storytelling never falter. It made me laugh, it made me want to cry, and it made me want to bang Peter Sarsgaard.
Basically, see this movie.

Afterwards, one of my friends had a kind of date (Oooooohhhhh) and had to leave. My other friend and I, having nothing else to do except homework on her part, decided to sneak into 'Pirate Radio'.
Fact; I'd never snuck into a movie before.
I'd never had wanted to see two movies at once, or if I did, no one else had wanted to. Plus, my birthday's at the beginning of the year, so I turned eighteen before everyone else, and if I had wanted to see an 18A (Canada's version of an R) movie, my mom would have just taken me.

But we both wanted to see another movie. The problem?
We had to loiter outside the bathroom for almost an hour, since the showing times were so far apart. Luckily, not much goes on at Tinseltown, so no one was really suspicious.
We did the old 'have a conversation while walking into the new theater' technique so as to arose no suspicions.
And it worked. I'm very proud of myself.

Anyway, the theater for 'Pirate Radio' was packed.

And we were the youngest in attendance, though we probably were for 'An Education' too, I just hadn't noticed.


'Pirate Radio' is set in the 1960s, and about 'pirate' radio station that floated just off the coast of the UK and broadcasted rock music twenty-four hours a day. Apparently it was illegal to play more than one hour of rock a day in Britain at the time, I don't know why. Irregardless, the pirate's weren't really breaking the law, since they were off British soil, and 25 million British people were listening to rock everyday.

But obviously, the British government was not happy about said boats, and Kenneth Branagh hires Jack Davenport to stop them.
The movie doesn't have a concrete plot, but consists of showing the British government trying to take down the stations, and the tomfoolery aboard Radio Rock, the biggest pirate radio station.

I wanted to see this movie because I love Bill Nighy, Rhys Darby, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman; the ensemble cast in this film in incredibly strong. it's basically every British comedic actor come together in a flurry of accents.


I laughed out loud in this film, and the middle-aged men and women around me were in stitches multiple times throughout the film. It is really all ages, with the exception of Phillip Seymour Hoffman saying 'fuck' in every sentence.

SideNote;
This movie was rated PG, and there was lots of fucks and a naked Nick Frost, which surprised me; way to have an awesome rating system, Canada.
For those of you who don't know, the average R rating in the USA gets a 14A here in Canada. For something to get an 18A in Canada, it has to be pretty graphic (I'm looking at you, 'Young People Fucking').

It's so rare that I find a comedy I actually like, I mean besides 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', and I really enjoyed 'Pirate Radio'. It had British humour, but it wasn't 'Monty Python', if that makes sense.
And everyone in the theater enjoyed themselves.

Afterwards, we got sushi ($5.95 for three rolls and miso soup!) and ice cream (Hazelnut ice cream, shaped like a pear, and dipped in chocolate), and called it a night.


Haul time! Since I am now employed, I decided to celebrate by buying myself an early Christmas present.


I'd been looking at this rong since the summer, and I finally bougt it. It's by Rings Eclectic; it looks a but like a compass head.
I love cocktail rings, and I'm super excited for this one.

QuestionOfTheDay;
'Twilight: New Moon'. Did you see it? Did you like it?
Discuss.


Love.

Movie(s)Rave; 'Amelie'/'Breakfast With Scot'/'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind'

Movie wise, I had a busy weekend; my favourite film I saw?
Amelie.

I knew about this movie since it's a famous French movie, and the big HMV on Robson has this poster on it's wall, so I see it every time I go in, but my friend recommending it to me finally made me see it.

I adored it.
It was the best movie I'd seen in awhile. Well, since I'd seen 'Once'.
The plot's a bit tricky; Amelie, a waitress in a café in Paris, finds the childhood belongings of her apartment's previous tenant. She decides to find him so she can see the look on his face when he sees his old childhood toys. once she does this, she's so moves that she decides to dedicate her life to helping others, but she beings to forget that she herself deserves to be happy herself.

The movie's art direction is perfect; I guarantee that you'll never see another film like it.
I also loved the narration of the characters; when each is introduced, their likes and dislikes are included with their life story.
Overall, it's a a charming and quirky film; it made me want to chop my hair into a short bob, and take photos in picture booths.

The true test to any movie, especially one with a female heroine, as they can be whiny and dependant on the leading man, is whether or not we can sympathize with the protagonist. I loved Amelie; she's stuck in her head. She fantasized about happiness, but never takes the steps herself to seizing her dream. Anyone can relate to that.

Plus it's in French, so everything sounds more sophisticated and romantic.


The second film I've been trying to PVR forever, and it was finally on last Sunday morning.

'Breakfast With Scot' is a Canadian dramaedy about a gay couple, Eric and Sam, who have to temporarily adopt an eleven year old boy (Sam's nephew) when his mother dies and his father flees (It's similar to the plot of the Swedish movie 'Patrik 1,5', if that helps). The boy, Scot, is extremely flamboyant, which makes Erik, an ex Toronto Maple Leaf and current sports show host uncomfortable, because he is not publicly out.

What I loved about this film was that the protagonist, Eric, was not portrayed as the stereotypical gay man, as he's pretty much the typical guy's guy. He hates shopping, eats pretzels while watching hockey, and was known in the rink as a fighter.

My two gripes with this film are that Scot character may have been made a bit too flamboyant (No eleven year old can figure skate like that), though you could argue that that is what would happen if a child was left to completely be himself, and that Sam, Eric's partner, wasn't featured enough, though I get that the director wanted to focus on the relationship between Eric and Scot.

The movie's predictable, but it's heartwarming, and it dashes the views of what an 'ordinary', 'conventional' family is.


I know, I know. I'd never seen 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind'.
I'm a horrible person.

Anyway, you probably all know what goes down in this movie, but I'll explain for those who don't:
Joel and Clementine meet, fall in love, then break up and hate each other. Clementine goes to a doctor to have her memories of Joel erased in a surgical procedure. Finding this out, Joel goes and has the same procedure, only to realize during that he doesn't want to forget Clementine.

It's a film about love, plain and simple.
It's bleak, yet hopeful at the same time.
I can't describe it any better than that.

Just go see it, it's a classic.
And 'Montauk' by Bayside will make more sense to you.



Love.

MovieRave/AlbumRave; Once

When I rented 'Let The Right One In' I rented another movie as well, an Irish 'musical' called 'Once'. I've been wanting to see this movie since it came out in 2007, but held off for one reason; my favourite song of all time 'Falling Slowly' is from this movie. I first heard this sing performed at the 2007 Oscars, and it made me cry (though I discreetly wiped my tears away so that my mom and sister wouldn't make fun of me). It was haunting. It was painful. But above all, it was beautiful. I was afraid that the movie would be lackluster, and that every time I heard 'Falling Slowly' I'd think of that lame movie I had to sit through.

Not the case.

'Once' is not the typical musical; while the char actors occasionally sing, they sing for good reasons, ie. they're alone, they're performing, or (spoiler) they're recording.
The movie takes place in Dublin, where a poor Irish street musician meets a young Czech immigrant. Basically they develop a friendship, but previous relationships stop them from dating, even though they're falling in love.
That's as far as I'll go with the plot, since anymore would spoil it.

The tag line of the movie is "How often do you meet the right person?" with the movie's title, 'Once', written underneath. I don't think that needs any more explanation.
The underlying message of the movie asks the question of what we, people in the modern day, do when confronted with love. If it doesn't work with our plans, if it isn't convenient, will we still follow it? Or is true love only true love when it's convenient?
Can we possibly miss our true love because we were too busy to notice?

Because it's an Irish movie, there are few, if no Hollywood clichés. One of the things I absolutely loved about the film was the names of the two main characters. They're never spoken throughout the film, and listed in the credits as 'Guy' and 'Girl'.
Brilliant.

I watched this movie with three of my friends originally, not paying attention. A couple days later I decided to watch it by myself late one night, and it brought me to tears. Now, I will note that it isn't a feat of any movie to make me cry, I'm kind of a pussy in that respect, but I honestly connected emotionally with both of the main characters.

If anyone is looking for a powerful modern film without the typical Hollywood makeover, I recommend 'Once'. This movie pertains to anybody who is caught up within their responsibilities and their view of what 'should' be.
So basically, all of us.

~

One of the reasons 'Once' succeeds and is basically awesome is because of the soundtrack. The day after I watched the movie for the second time, I downloaded the soundtrack. That night I listened to the entire thing, and I don't remember the last time I had such an emotional response to an album.

All the songs are sung and composed by the 'actors' in the film Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (they're actually musicians, not actors, though you wouldn't know it in the film).

As I said before, my favourite song of all time is 'Falling Slowly'. In one of the first scenes of the movie, Guy and Girl sing this song with only a guitar and a piano and it is the most powerful scene in the movie. Naturally, I had goosebumps when I watched this with my friends, but the other three stopped what they were doing to watch, and they commented on their goosebumps. It full on deserved the Oscar it won for Best Song.

While most songs are in the same vein as 'Falling Slowly', 'You Must Have Fallen From The Sky' is a bit more poppy and uptempo, and kind of sounds like the recent wave of powerpop.

Glen Hansard's voice is amazing. Period. He's not the most attractive man in the world, but after watching the film and listening to this album, damn. I dare you to watch him sing and not be attracted to that. I dare you. The last half of 'Say It To Me Now'? Um, yes.

While some people may find this album 'boring', I loved it. It is just beautiful, melodic, relaxing, yet heartbreaking.

'Once' defiantly did not ruin 'Falling Slowly' for me.

If anything, it's made me love my all time favourite song more, because I now know the love story behind it.

Download;

'Falling Slowly', 'If You Want Me', 'Fallen From The Sky', 'Leave', 'Say It To Me Now'

"You have suffered enough
And warred with yourself,
It's time that you won."

Love.

MovieReview; 'Let The Right One In'

Confession: I don't think vampires ever went out of style.

(I typed 'vampies' instead of 'vampires' when I wrote this at first. That's kind of cute I think.)

I know everyone is all "Twilight, True Blood etc." I know 'The Vampire Diaries' is the latest vampy instalment.
But remember 'Interview With A Vampire'? 'The Lost Boys'? 'Buffy'? Hell, even 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', one of my favourite movies of all time, had a vampire moment.

(Btw, see 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'. I promise you you'll laugh out loud. Or at least watch this.)

'Let The Right One In' is a Swedish movie from 2008.

It's the story of a young boy named Oskar, living in Sweden. He's constantly bullied by his peers, yet he's too afraid to stick up for himself. He meets a young girl names Eli whom he befriends, despite the fact that she only comes out at night, is unaffected by weather, can't eat food etc. etc. (You know where this is going.)
The movie revolves around their relationship, and the harsh realities Eli has to face. She can only stay in a town for so long until people start to wonder why people are dying, obvs.


Since this is a European film, the Hollywood clichés aren't necessarily there, which is a nice change in a movie regarding children. I first watched this film with eight of my friends, all girls, who's movie tastes range from mine (I mostly agree with the critics) to the typical teenage girl tastes, and this movie had scenes that shut us all up. All of us enjoyed this film, and we all cared about poor little Oskar and Eli.

Yes, this movie is in Swedish, so yes there will be subtitles. I don't get people's aversion to them personally; I put subtitles on even if the movie's in English. That way my friends and I can talk and not miss stuff. It's a sweet deal.

4.5/5

I didn't give this movie a five, jut because it didn't make me cry, but it's one movie I know years from now I'll still love watching. In fact, I watched it with my parents the other night, and two of the friends who were in Europe are coming over Thursday to see it.
The movie's haunting, beautiful, disturbing, and romantic. It'll please action fans, romance fans, horror fans, everyone.

And no, none of the vampires in this movie sparkle.

Love.