Take Your Pills

2018
Alison Klayman

Every era gets the drug it deserves. In America today, where competition is ceaseless from school to the workforce and everyone wants a performance edge, Adderall and other prescription stimulants are the defining drugs of this generation.

Cocaine Cowboys Reloaded

You watch these documentaries and really feel like reality is stranger than fiction. The things happening in Miami in the 80s ... how could that even be?
And it still surprises me is the complete lack of consistency in sentencing these people. I mean Griselda Blanco who was behind killing over 200 people went to prison for about 20 years, got released and sent back to Colombia. At the same time his hitman Jorge "Rivi" Ayala (with a significantly less murders on his hands) who also decided to cooperate was rejected even a shot of parole after 25.

Cartel Land / Matthew Heineman

Just finished watching this documentary about the current situation on US-Mexican border.
Is there any hope, any solution in this madness? Who's interests are being protected by these murders and neverending violence?
What is wrong with us here, in Estonia, whining about couple of immigrants and old russian people not speaking our language? Better pull our heads out of our asses and try to see the bigger picture. There are real problems in the world that surrounds us.

The Age of Adaline

Käisin eile vaatamas. Põhjuseks loomulikult filmi peaosalist mängiv Michiel Huisman, kes ei valmistanud pettumust, sest palja ülakehaga duši alt tulek oli täitsa olemas. Nali naljaks, aga ma arvan, et selle filmi kontekstis see võib-olla oligi ta parim stseen. Mulle tundub, et see roll oli tema jaoks liiga "vanilla", liiga positiivne, liiga üheplaaniline.

Stsenaarium oligi selle asja kõige nõrgem koht, aga eks seda oli ka arvata. Kui tahta antud teemal - naine, kes ei vanane - teha just naisi massidena kinno meelitavat romcomi, siis ei saagi muudmoodi. Peabki läila olema.

Ja mis värk on sellega, et kusiganes filmis süüa tehakse, siis peab lõikelaual mingi paprika vedelema? Kas vabad ja vallalised mehed valmistavad ainult paprikatoite?

Mis mulle tohutult meeldis, oli operaatori- (Davind Lanzenberg) ja kunstnikutöö (Claude Pare). Eriti filmi esimeses pooles oli teatav ajatu atmosfäär ja varjatud pinge just visuaalselt suurepäraselt edasi antud. 

Üllatas Blake Lively ja seda just heas mõttes. Ma pole teda siiamaani eriti heaks näitlejaks pidanud, aga see roll sobis talle. Anda edasi aastakümnete pikkust painavat elukogemust ei ole kerge isegi vanemale näitlejale, aga Blake sai sellega hakkama. Rääkides vanemast näitlejast - selles filmis mängis Harrison Ford! Jaa, tema ise. Ja tegi nii hea rolli, et lausa valus oli vaadata. 

P.S. Kui eile kinno jõudsin, siis ründas mind kõigepealt üks proua lokitangide- ja teine siidripurgiga. Ma olin piletit ostes vaateväljast eemaldanud sõnad "Ainult naistele" ning ei osanud aimatagi, et enne filmi algust keeratakse lokke, määritakse kuhugi kreemi ja kinosaalis toimub ka väike teleturg. Loosimised ja puha. Õnneks olid mul klapid kaasas, sain paarkümmend minutit seriaali vaadata.

Are there any nice people to talk to?

Art and Craft
2012
Cullman/Grausman

Stumbled upon this documentary on iTunes while checking out "The 0.99 Rental of the Week" selection. Ashamed to say I had never heard of Mark Landis - infamous art forger and fake (there might be a question mark) philantropist who conned (another question mark) art institutions and museums for almost thirty years "donating" them pieces by known artists, but actually made in Landis' bedroom while watching reruns of old films. 
The thing with documentaries for me is simple. If I like the main character and I am able to feel empathy or sympathy towards him or her, I'm sold. But this story was something else in its own. Mark Landis was able to fool museums all over US for years, offering them fake pieces, NOT asking money for it and posing as a philanthropist sharing his late mother's or sister's belongings. He had a gift of copying various styles of painting and doing it incredibly fast ... while watching TV. The way he did it, almost without passion, somewhat methodically, but absent-mindedly at the same time.
He had been diagnosed with various mental issues and was under a supervision, but other than that - he was just like your next door neighbour, his rooms filled with sketches, paintings, frames, photocopies. He not once bragged about his work, just said it was an easy thing to do. He knew his craft.
A very captivating film indeed.

One of the aliases he had while visiting museums was Father Scott. He just put on a white collar and said that "“You can learn everything you need to be a good priest from the Father Brown DVD series”

The Counselor (2013)

Ridley Scott and Cormac McCarthy should be a sure thing, but .... despite of the visual excitement it provided, I fell asleep halfway through it. "Don't get involved in drug trafficking" Was that the message of this film? It must have been, because all the other storylines or characters didn't lead anywhere. Even more - they did not even start anywhere. In order to be attached to a film I need to like/dislike a character. I need something to base my likes or dislikes on. This film gave me nothing, so I couldn't help but yawn when Michael Fassbender tried to act the hell out of this.
I have not given up on Ridley Scott, but the days when only the visual counted, are over. At least for me.

Machete tappis Risttuule

Üritasin ka vaadata paljukiidetud filmi "Risttuules". Justnimelt üritasin, sest vaatamata katsest olla avatud ja huvituda, ei suutnud see ... okei, öelgem ta kohta hetkel ikka film ... mind esimese 10 minutiga küll kuidagi käima tõmmata. Andsin talle armust veel 10, aga ei midagi. Kui on igav, siis on igav - isegi kui teemaks küüditamine, mis peaks ju iga eestlase plaksust ekraani külge liimima.
Ma ei ole üldse eriline süngete-õudsete-elame-siin-halli-pilve-all filmide austaja. Mitte et ma neid üldse ei vaataks, vaatan küll. Aga ainult väga valitud asju. Leian, et asjatult ja suure kunsti nimel end pidevalt masendada lasta (mida võib ka "mõtlema panemiseks" või muuks sügavmõtteliseks BS-ks kutsuda) pole mõtet.
Küüditamise teema ja Eesti kurb ajalugu üleüldse võiks muidugi olla meie filmitegijate leib ja või. Aga mina paluks seda oluliselt atraktiivsema sisu ja vormiga. Mitte et stedicamiga tummalt seisvate inimeste ümber tuiutamine omamoodi huvitav poleks olnud, aga just nimelt ainult tehnilisest vaatenurgast see mind paeluski. Sisu - niipaljukest kui seda selle 20 minuti jooksul oli - jäi kurvalt üheülbaliseks. Küüditamine oli raju ja karm ja traagiline - yeah, I get it, let's move on.

Elioni videolaenutusest vaatasin Rodriguese järjekat "Machete Kills". See tõmbas küll kohe tuurid üles ja pulsi pekslema, rääkimata naerulihaste pidevast kasutusest. Tundus, nagu oleks RR teinud selle filmi ainult montaazhitrikkide pärast. Aga vahet pole, väga meeleolukalt kukkus välja.

"Machete don't tweet"

Ellen, Damian ja Mandy

"Ellen" ikka aeg-ajalt hüppab mu telekapuldi nupu alt välja, eriti kui näitlejad külas on, aga ... no ei saa mina tema fenomenist aru. Selleks peab olema vist "keskmine ameeriklane" (mida iganes see ka ei tähendaks), et tema showd lausa kiljudes naljakaks ja meeltlahutavaks pidada. Tema intervjueeritavatest ei saa me üheksal juhul kümnest teada absoluutselt mitte midagi uut ega huvitavat, kolmveerand vestlusele mõeldud ajast kulub mõttetute viisakusklisheede loopimisele. Ja minu meelest ei tunne külalised (just celebritid) ennast temaga rääkides mugavalt. Kokkuvõttes mõjub kõik nii võltsilt, et süda läheb pahaks.
Just vaatasin Elleni intervjuud Damian Lewisega ning mees, kes Jonathan Rossi ja Jimmy Kimmeliga vabalt nalja viskas, niheles proua diivanil nagu kuivanud sipelgas.

Esquire's oli intervjuu Mandy Patinkiniga ja ta ütles nii ilusasti:
If there's one wish that I have in life, it's to connect, to connect to my children, to connect to my wife, connect to my friends, to connect to you. On my tombstone, I'd like it to say: "He tried to connect."

photo by Kent Smith/Showtime

Uus Maailm

Miks sa kirjutad pooled postitused inglise keeles? - Ma olen sellele juba vastanud.
Kas sa pole liiga vana, et olla sõltuvuses teleseriaalidest ja kompudest näitlejatest? - Ma olen sellele juba vastanud.
Kas sa tõesti loed Kroonikat? - Ma olen sellele juba vastanud

Ma ikka imestan, kuidas mõnel jätkub jõudu, et lisaks oma elule ka teiste elusid keeruliseks elada. Kui ei meeldi, ära loe. Kui ei meeldi, ära vaata. Kui ei meeldi, mine jaluta õues ja viska arvuti aknast välja ...

Tegelikult tahtsin täna kirjutada hoopis Jaan Tootseni filmist Uus Maailm, mida ETVst eile vaatasime. (Ja-jah, ma ei käinud seda kinos vaatamas, ei käinud, jah). Mulle see film väga meeldis, eriti helikujundus - Jaan on ju tegelikult raadiomees, ja seda oli tunda. Üle tüki aja nägin eesti dokki, kus ei prevaleeri tegija enda kaadritagused/esised ambitsioonid, vaid kogu audiovisuaal on terviku teenistuses. Väga sümpaatne.
Mina ise kolisin sealtkandist ära just sel ajal kui Uue Maailma asi n.ö. susisema hakkas, nii et huvitav on mõelda, kas ja kuipalju ma kõiges selles osalenud oleksin ... Mnjah. Igaljuhul. Hea film. Köitev on vist kõige tabavam sõna.

Mr. B

I just watched "Traffic" again. It has such a great cast and Soderbergh is so good telling stories like this. I am not so thrilled about the blue-yellow separation trick he used in "Traffic", but it is a minor problem. Especially as one of my favourite actors makes such a brilliant role there. Of course I am talking about Benicio Del Toro who has kept a special place in my heart already since "China Moon" and "Basquiat".
I know that he is considered weird and scruffy and some might even say that he is not such a great actor, but I totally disagree. Yes, he does not play in many films, but the ones he chooses to be a part of usually tend to be quite significant. I doubt "21 grams" would be half as good without him. Or "Snatch". Or "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". Del Toro is just one of these guys who crawls under your skin and stays there. Whether you like it or not. I like it. A lot.

Photo: WENN

Fast Five

Käisime Kertuga eelmisel nädalal üle mitme aja taas koos kinos. Ja muidugi ei hakanud me aega raiskama mingi pagana väärtfilmi peale. Kui Vin Diesel on kinolinal, siis võivad kõik maailma väärtfilmid minu poolest olemata olla. See on muidugi kerge liialdus, aga mitte totaalne vale. Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson ja kihutavad autod on selline kombinatsioon, mis minu puhul kahjuks/õnneks sajaprotsendiliselt töötab. Nii et kui te imestate, et "kes kurat neid Fast & Furious filme vaatab", siis nüüd te teate vastust.
Filmist ka.
Stsenaarium oli suhteliselt üks ühele maha viksitud "Ocean 11" ja "Itaalia röövi" pealt, aga kuna need on head filmid, siis anname andeks. Kihutamist, kõmmutamist ja pasunasse andmist oli piisavalt ning kuigi Müüdimurdjad saaksid enamiku stseenide kallal kõvasti keelt teritada, siis oluliselt haigutama ei ajanud ükski koht. Viimane tagaajamine oli ehk liiga pikk, aga no las poisid lõbutsevad.
Üllatavalt ei kuulunudki selle filmi kõige suuremad musklid Vin Dieseli külge. Tõeiselt laheda rolli tegi Dwayne Johnson, aga tema käed kohutasid nõrgemad mehed ka ilma AK 47-ta ära.

photo by AllMoviePhoto

photo by AllMoviePhoto

The Social Network

Believe it or not, but I just got around to watching The Social Network on DVD. Although I have heard the soundtrack (thanks to my undying love for Trent Reznor) and read a handful of reviews. I did not have any expectations to be honest. Just thought I might like the movie because of the music and maybe because of Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake. Eisenberg was brilliant, really spot on in his mumblings and reactions, best casting I have seen in a while. Timberlake on the other hand was pretty predictable - he just needed to show up and act like the character in many of his music videos.
The movie was interesting to watch, but at some point it just ended very abruptly. I understand there was not much material to pull from RL without getting filmmakers' own asses sued, but still ... I wish there would have been some kind of a different "closure" instead of plain titles.
All and all I truly recommend the film to facebook-junkies out there although all the events and characters are not 100 per cent accurate, so I would not base my final judgements on that. E.g. Sean Parker (played by Justin Timberlake) was not the founder of Napster as stated in the film, but one of the early employees of the firm.
P.S. Check this out, it's quite clever

Catching up

BLogi on kuidagi tavatult unarusse jäänud. Ilmselt on selles süüdi ilusad ilmad ja mõned tööga seotud kohustused. Ja teinekord lihtsalt on selline periood, kus kohe ei kisu kirjutama.

Elan praegu virtuaalselt Cannes'i lainel. Kuigi on festivale (Tribeca, Sundance etc.), mille programm on mulle oluliselt südamelähedasem ja pakutav valik objektiivselt-subjektiivselt huvitavam, ümbritseb Cannes'i ikka mingi seletamatu aura, mis just selle ürituse nii ainulaadseks teeb.

Sex and the City 2 ... waste of time & money

I took a deep breath and started to watch "Sex and the City 2". I was a sucker for SATC series when it started in 1998 and I have probably seen some of the episodes more than ten times. I was quite disappointed in the first movie, but it was worth seeing mainly because of the clothes and some witty dialogue. After reading reviews about SATC 2 (and I mean reviews from people whose opinion really matters and who have made similar film-related choices as me in the past) I decided not to see it unless it comes to telly. But somehow I came across that really cheap DVD today and I couldn't resist.
Needless to say that if I am able to blog while watching a film then it really has to be a bad one.

00:20:00 So - twenty minutes in and nothing interesting has happened. The "girls" look old, even Kristen Davis (Charlotte) has lost her youthful preppy looks. And Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie) is definitely pushing it too far. All her Carrie-gestures, eye-rolling and giggling just feels like a bad remake of an original. The only things keeping me even remotely interested are Samantha's lines.
00:24:00 The braless nanny ... don't even know what to say about that.
00:25:00 A glimpse of Carrie's wardrobe and apartment. So that's how the chosen ones live in Manhattan? Definitely not my style or taste, looks a bit like furniture shop.
00:26:00 What's with the dialogue between Big and Carrie? Boring.
00:28:00 Miranda is still cool and delivers her scene well.
00:29:00 The braless nanny again. In slow motion. Again. I see where this is heading.
00:30:55 offtopic It brakes my heart to see the babies crying.
00:32:00 Ok, first the nanny braless, now Samantha pantless ... and ding-ding-ding! We have Smith Jerrod shirtless.
00:60:00 An hour! An hour and almost nothing has happened worth mentioning. Except some really bad dialogue and constant eye-rolling. It all just seems so fake and clinically constructed. When does the film start?
00:64:30 It looks more like a program on a travel channel. "Beautiful hotel interiors of Abu Dhabi"
Not to mention Miranda's occasional comments about Middle-East culture.
00:68:45 Sarah Jessica Parker in sleeveless top is scary. The woman should really cover up her arms.
00:71:40 And some word of wisdom while warming the milk.
00:74:00 Yawn. If something doesn't happen in few minutes I will stop watching this.
00:76:48 And there he is, approaching Carrie in slow motion. Aidan. Of course.
My DVD player just stopped working. Even the machine understands a bad product. Have to switch to the computer.
00:81:50 The miraculous arrival of Aidan seemed like a promising turning point, but no! The ladies have to conquer the desert first. Just to show off some clothes in a "Book a camel-ride for four" commercial.
00:86:00 Danish architect just passed by at the desert to say he is not going back to the hotel yet.
00:88:30 Now what? Karaoke? Are you kidding me? The SATC first movie really starts to look like a piece of jewelry next to that catastrophe. I feel like literally throwing up now. They should have at least picked some cool and funky song and presented it totally wrong.
00:91:00 At least the danish architect is hot
00:93:00 The first scene I actually like. Carrie's reaction to the bad book review seems accurate
00:95:20 Ok, it finally starts to develop something here. Although we know what will happen, it still beats the travelchannelesque rubbish shown us so far.
00:97:45 Charlotte and Miranda have it heart to heart discussing the ups and downs of motherhood. Not so bad. "Take a sip!"
00:101:30 The scene with Aidan & Carrie at the dinner has tension in it. Feels real.
00:104:00 The girls process the news of Carrie and Aidan kissing. Love Charlotte in that scene. Hate Carrie, so overacted once again.
00:107:00 The danish architect is still hot. And Samantha is Samantha.
00:108:00 The contrast between Carrie's looks and her acting like a 20 year old is just so fake.
00:111:00 Sex On The Beach and its consequences. Didn't we all know that a condom will drop on the table?
00:113:00 Carrie doing the fake-sobbing routine again. Waiting for the film to end. Just discovered it will continue for another 30 minutes. Yawn. Double-yawn.
00:118:00 Carrie has left her passport at the market table. And of course it is still there.
00:121:30 Samantha's little "Bite me!" show seems really tacky. Not funny as it was probably meant to be.
00:122:00 Yeah right, follow some strange women to some "secret room"to be praised for being brave americans. I expected to see the muslim women to drop their burkas and show "the spring collection". And they did! --- Carrie showing her leg under a burka to get a taxi .... yikes!
00:128:00 Another minute of bad dialogue between Big and Carrie, but the ring was a nice twist.
00:130:00 And another corny piece of dialogue.
And a corny end.

How did they managed to pull off 146' film without almost anything happening during that time? I mean, seriously. There is no relevant story-line in that, no character growth or clever twist at the end. Everything is either so predictable or absolutely meaningless. Take the gay-wedding for a start - what was the point of that considering the following (non)events?

To wrap this experience up. Crap.
See, it even rhymes.

Gwyneth vs. Kate

I went for a walk today and stopped for a latte in my local Park Cafe. Their magazine selection contained two copies of British Vouge having Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet on cover.

I read the interview with Kate and just enjoyed it. She is one of my favourite actresses (together with Meryl Streep of course) and as you know I can get pretty obsessed about the people I like. In a good way, I mean. I just try to read as many interviews and see as many films or listen to as many records as I possibly can. And I love Kate. In addition to being absolutely brilliant actress she is just so approachable, so grounded in her choices, not to mention so well-spoken and funny. And all of this comes through in her interviews and even the typical kiss-ass comments from the editors don't change the way she presents herself. Of course she has a "public face" and I do believe that the Kate without journalists & photographers is much different from what we know, but still - she comes across as a real person.

As I had more time to spare I went through Gwyneth Paltrow's interview as well. I don't care much for Gwyneth as an actress, but I don't hate her. And the fact that she is married to Chris Martin and used to be Madonnas BFF makes her at least somewhat interesting. But this interview .... it was just horrible. Gwyneth sounded so smug and unreal, like she was a freakin' Queen teaching all the clueless people out there how to live and bragging about how great it is to be Gwyneth Paltrow. And the obsession that women has about her body! You are thin, you look great - but for crying out loud - stop taking about your butt now! Not to mention her bitching about Madonna ... why on earth you have to say things like that in a magazine? No matter what Madonna did on didn't do, it is not your business to share. So it is safe to say that this interview erased Gwyneth from my good books. At least for now.
I totally understand (as I mentioned before about Kate as well) that the way celebrities present themselves might all be an act and well-calculated strategy and sometimes a bad editor can make a total sweetheart sound like Charles Manson, but still ... I believe you can not hide who you really are, there is always something that gives away the "real" you.

P.S. The clothes Gwyneth wears on Vogue's photos are fabulous. And she looks like a supermodel, no doubt about that. But then again - the photos are taken by Mario Testino. As are Kate's.

Kate Winslet bt Mario Testino

Gwyneth Paltrow by Mario Testino

Cannes 2011

Just glimpsed through the lineup of Cannes film festival 2011. At first I was pretty surprised to discover Woody Allen's "Midnight In Paris" to be the kick off for the whole thing. But as it has Carla Bruni playing the Museum Guide and the rest of the cast is quite star-struck as well it might not be the worst choice after all. At least if gives the opening night its fare share of red-carpet worthy stars.

The Main Competition is pretty descent this year and might I add - the big guns are back. (I highlighted my personal favourites)
Pedro Almodóvar: La Piel que Habito
Bertrand Bonello: L'Apollonide - Souvenirs de la Maison Close
Alain Cavalier: Pater
Joseph Cedar: Hearat Shulayim
Nuri Bilge Ceylan: Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da
Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne: Le Gamin au Vélo
Aki Kaurismäki: Le Havre
Naomi Kawase: Hanezu No Tsuki
Julia Leigh: Sleeping Beauty
Maïwenn Le Besco: Polisse
Terrence Malick: The Tree of Life
Radu Mihaileanu: La Source des Femmes (The Source)
Takashi Miike: Ichemei (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai)
Nanni Moretti: Habemus Papam
Lynne Ramsay: We Need to Talk About Kevin
Markus Schleinzer: Michael
Paolo Sorrentino: This Must be the Place
Lars Von Trier: Melancholia
Nicolas Winding Refn: Drive

I am happy for Almadovar working with Antonio Banderas again (Although the film itself is a bit different from Almadovars usual work. It is said to be quite dark & twisted). I have always liked Banderas, but I feel that Almadovar can really bring out the best of him.

Lynne Ramsay's "We Need to Talk About Kevin" has Tilda Swinton playing Eva and I can not wait to see this. I already know she is going to be brilliant in it, I actually can not imagine anyone else in that role. I do find John C. Reilly to be a pretty predictable choice for Franklin. Kevin Spacey would have rocked this (in my mind), but we'll see.