3DD!3

I always enjoyed Emmerich’s megalomanic demolition of our Mother Earth, and the promise that this time destruction would be ultimate left my humanity-hating self excited to the max. The trailer massage did not disappoint and the movie in itself came up to my expectations. Don’t get me wrong, it is complete bullshit, with a stupid script, but it has a certain charm. The “last minute" escapes are just mouth watering. The whole driving through L. A. scene is so ridiculously cheesy and cool, it may well make it into my TOP movie scenes. When there’s no destruction going on, we have great actors who are fun to watch. I strongly recommend watching 2012 in a movie theater. Same as with all destruction movies. - Whoa, that’s a big plane. - It’s Russian.

This is not the Wild West we know from old Westerns with John Wayne or the younger version of Clint. This is the stone cold reality of the late eighteenth century. The main heroes aren’t heroes at all, but ordinary people who might even miss, talk tough, fall off a horse or maybe their eyesight is just not as good anymore. Eastwood, Hackman and Freeman are great actors and the amazing finale which shatters all the Western movie clichés is just the icing on top of this extraordinary performance.

Definitely the surprise of the year. I really didn’t expect D9 to be this good. The original approach of the guy who I’d almost written off during the test shots for Halo blew my mind. Blomkamp knows his stuff. He’s good at provoking mixed feelings, where you don’t know whether to laugh or be disgusted. The whole movie is supported by an amazing performance from the unknown Sharlto Copley and his Wikus is everything but a good-guy main lead. Regardless everything he does at the beginning, the viewer still can be on board with him. Most of the people and the prawns, are bastards anyway. When I think about it, the only actual good guy was Chris. :-) It’s the best sci-fi so far this year (but this will probably be beaten by Avatar which comes out December 17th). This year’s Terminator can go take a walk. - Should I shoot the little bastard? - , you can’t shoot it now, it’s illegal to do that.

Terrible crap. I was rather perversely looking forward to watching this movie (?), but it really was a bit too much. I forced myself to watch through to the end, so I would never have to go through the experience ever again. Oh yeah, and Lorenzo Lamas is an excellent actor in comparison with the rest of the ensemble. Never again.

A solid and mainly atmospheric sci-fi horror that has a couple of really nice aces up its sleeve. Both Foster and Quaid are very good and the former is the powerhouse of this movie. The surprise in the finale got to me and I was pleasantly surprised in fact by the overall feeling of the movie. This style simply appeals to me. I wasn’t bored for a moment.

The first hour drags on a bit and unlike the straightforward story it needlessly draws out events, but the last half hour redeems the movie’s reputation. Slater is cool and Wes Bentley also tries hard. King’s short story is a lot better, even though it isn’t one of my favorites, and the same applies to the movie. Nothing earth-shattering, but worth a watch (or a read). P.S.: I was annoyed in the introduction about the furtive verbal confusion of scumbag Dolan with mega-swine Flagg. King fans will know what I mean.

Pilot: Very promising. Despite a couple of illogicalities, the plot still has a lot to give and it was up to the screenwriters to seize the potential or not. The actors, headed by Elizabeth Mitchell, give fairly solid performances, and let’s hope it stays that way. We’ll see how things pan out...

Cinema and theatre intertwine in this intriguing drama about change, manipulation and art. Rudd’s acting is great and his transformation from shy loser to the Paul Russ we all know today comes about convincingly and naturally. Oh, and Rachel Weisz... is simply amazing. Her approach would probably change me, too.

Season one: It took a while, but Mad Men got to me in the end. I normally reject these office series right away (I have some bad experiences with them), but this one held me in front of the screen and in the end I grew fond of it. It’s really well written and the acting is great. January Jones is scrumptious and in my opinion the as yet unknown Jon Hamm really shines out. His Draper is captivating and the flashbacks are some of the high points of the series. And you get to learn something about advertising too. And that could come in handy one day. Season two: More powerful every minute. Where Draper’s story was the main attraction of season one, other characters that were more in the background before are joining in. Betty’s story is gaining speed and is very compelling, the same as what’s going on around Peggy. The Marylin Monroe lookalike Joan, who is simply enchanting, is becoming more significant. Also excellent was the inclusion of real events and their effect on the staff of Sterling Cooper. A brilliant idea. Season three: It could have the alternative title half-life and that isn’t usually necessary. If you watch the episodes like me, to the end of the credits, maybe you’ve noticed that the last thing we see is the words - AMC: Story matters here, and that’s the most important thing. A series that beats one competitor after the other just with its story doesn’t need shocking twists and cliffhangers. Simply good honest work. Not only did this season surpass both of the forerunners, it also closes one chapter in a way almost never seen these days. As for the actors, there’s nothing to criticize, but I’d like to single out Abigail Spencer as the teacher of my dreams. Season four: The mad advertisers from New York are hit by changes. Not only at the beginning of the season, but at the end too. The last episode was seriously surprising, but isn’t the best of the season. Season four brought two episodes that were so dazzling that they blotted out everything else. I’m talking about the episode where Don and Peggy are given some room to themselves and it’s a wonderful demonstration of their acting skills, good to excellent writing and a magic that only the Mad Men can boast. The second episode I want to mention is almost film noire style, interspersed with excerpts from Draper’s diary. A very refreshing insight into the thoughts of a character who is famed for not opening herself to others. I’m a little worried that season five might lose that aura, but if I trust anybody to do their work right, its the guys from AMC. Season five: After a long pause, the Mad Men have returned with fairly slow tempo and the first double-episode was “just" good. But the tension build-up works excellently and the nearer we get to the end, the better it is. All of the characters are moved to greater depression and Draper is showing signs of tiredness. Satisfaction and happiness are even more fleeting here than in real life (and that’s saying something). The endeavor to land Jaguar, the situation with Peggy and the finale are the high points of the series. I can’t wait for the coming episodes. Season six: Going Down? This time, most of the staff of SCDP had a good year in terms of stories (just Roger was a little in the background) and the new old friends and the merger made for some interesting moments. But all the same, the powerhouse is still the main character. All the years that the Mad Men have occupied my life, I might easily think that there is nothing more to be told. We already know everything about the characters. Nothing can surprise us. Even so, it’s these familiar characters who draw our attention with their stories and the time that is going by changes them as much as us. The care that the screenwriters devote to this, the twists that they gradually construct and the endings that grab you by the heart. Draper overdid it this season, but it wasn’t his fault. He was trying to start a new life, but he should really have tried to fix the old one. People are fragile, easily excitable and he loomed over them (esp. in season one) like God. Unerring and eternal. Bad decisions caught up with him in season three and he’s still paying for them. That makes the point of departure of the final season even more intriguing. It really needs balls, don’t you think? To admit that your work is based on lies and is superfluous because if a product is actually high quality... it sells itself. The final season has the atmosphere of a sort of melancholic farewell, although very inconspicuous at the beginning. All characters are appropriately looked after and the finale is powerful, although still pleasantly ordinary and realistic. I was really glad to spend my time with these people and I’m gonna miss them. I say farewell with a smile. We’ll meet again soon in season one.

Borat was still rather normal, Bruno, on the other hand, is a total, self-indulgent pervert who has lost one but important advantage over his Kazakh brother: the moment of surprise.