Happy New Year!

A little update on things now that I remember what to write about...

I got my much expected DVD's and you can read the review of Crank below this thingy.

Dog
My dog still has eating problems. And E my friend, I fed Helka some James Wellbeloved earlier but it wasn't right for her. She got fed up with it in less than a week and I'm not wondering, the portion size was huge! Compared to Nutro it was at least twice as much per day. Currently I'm feeding her Royal Canin and I found out that Nutro is still available in one pet shop in this town so we are hopefully saved. If she refuses to eat Nutro, I'll take her to a vet. But at least I've become an expert in dog foods...

Spielberg, Lucas and Ford
This should in a way be in the "They look the same" section but other people have propably noticed this also.
I was reading an old issue of Empire as I tumbled on this picture. (It's blurry, I know...)

Lucas and Spielberg have always had somewhat matching looks. At first you could tell them apart for the reason that Spielberg wore glasses. Now you can tell them apart because Lucas always wears a flanel shirt and Spielberg wears a baseball cap (imagine if they swithced those!). But look at Harrison Ford. He's becoming one of them! He even has the same squint! (enter Twilight Zone music here)

Happy New Year...?

Review: Crank (2006)

Directors: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Taylor, Jose Pablo Cantillo

Yes, I finally got my DVDs that I ordered from an online store. Of course I watched Crank first since I've seen Lock, Stock... before.

Plot is: Chev Chelios (what a great name) is injected with a Chinese poison that will kill him if his adrenalin level goes down.

The way this movie is shot reminds me of Baz Luhrmann, Guy Ritchie and Sam Raimi's early work. The camera is mostly handheld and in the action sequencens (which there is a lot) it works very well.

Crank's humour is brilliant. The visual jokes that seem a bit cartoonish at times reminded me of Roger Rabbit. Overall there is a surrealistic feel trough the whole movie. I can't wait to see what the writer/director duo come up with next.

This film really was "an adrenaline fueled thrill ride."

Stars: ****

P.S. Yes, Statham is shirtless in this movie too.

My Christmas Is Ruined!

I waited for my DVD package to arrive on Monday. It didn't. I thought that maybe one more day. This morning: nothing. Today was the last possible day for the package to arrive so that I could get it before X-Mas. Damn post office!

Possible reasons why my DVDs haven't arrived:
1. The Post office has really fucked up and sent my package somewhere else.
2. Gremlins. They have stolen my package thinking that inside there was Snow White movie. Since It wasn't, they just threw my precious movies away.
3. Everything else in my life sucks so of course this one little spark of happiness had to be extinguished too.


They stole my DVDs!

Another reason why my Christmas will suck is that my dog hasn't been eating well for a long time and she's had diarrhea too. I think that her food is partially to blame. I want the old food back (not available in this town anymore, damn!)

Anyway, merry Christmas to everyone. I'll just spend mine watching stupid movies on tv and eating chocolate until I puke.

I Spend Money On "Not-Important" Stuff

Which means that I am currently waiting for mail. I ordered two DVDs, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Crank. I got an email that they have sent me the DVDs and now I have to wait 'til monday to get them. I hate waiting! What will I now watch during the weekend?

At least I can say that they are a Christmas present from me to me. And they didn't cost that much. Merry Christmas me!


Now why did I order this movie? Guesses anyone?

Review: Transporter 3 (2008)

Director: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova, Francois Berléand

Latest installment in the Transporter series and since I liked a lot the two first ones, I had high expectations on this one. Let's do this with plusses and minuses:

+ Jason Statham, he is great as Frank Martin
+ car chases and fight scenes
+ plot in general
+ Berléand is always sweet

- the girl, I hated her, really HATED her, she couldn't act for peanuts!
- I noticed at least two gaffers
- plot if you start to think about it

Besides the girl Transporter 3 was an ok action movie. I really enjoy watching the fight scenes in Transporter films, they are so well choreographed (hope I spelled that word right) and the bicycle chase brought some variety to the movie.

Stars: ***

(I really like the way Statham uses his clothes for fighting. That way I get to see ass kicking and Statham without his shirt. No commenting on that E! He is a great actor too!)

Review: Revolver (2005)

Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Vincent Pastore, André Benjamin

Very stylish movie about a con man who gets out of prison and gets involved in a strange game.

I have to confess. I bought this movie because of two reasons: 1. Jason Statham 2. Guy Ritchie 3. Ray Liotta (ok, three reasons) and then there was this guy from The Sopranos (four reasons)

Revolver has great humour and great characters. Liotta's character got the most laughs out of me and not only because he had a wicked tan. At one point of the movie I was completely lost. What the hell was happening?! But then it all started to come clearer. I like movies that can confuse me for a while like that. And the movie was very well directed (and Statham got his shirt off once again..) and the colour scenery was stylish.

Stars: ****

Oh, btw, I wasn't so convinced at first that André from Outkast could act but he was a positive surprise.

Review: The Mexican (2001)

Director: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, James Gandolfini

I liked this movie. It's plot was not great but it was a perfect film to watch on a friday night. The cast was really good and the jokes worked fine. I prefered the Roberts/Gandolfini storyline to the Brad Pitt-getting into trouble because of the gun -plot, though it had its moments as well.

Extra points for the dog and for the car rental scenes.

Stars: ***

Review: Hide And Seek (2005)

Director: John Polson
Starring: Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen

This movie was a pleasant surprise to me. I was expecting solid performances from De Niro and Fanning but not much from the plot. However instead of being a "thriller" it really was a thriller. Not many scare-you-shitless effects spoiling the tension built with small but meaningful things and what's more important, no underlining things with a musical score that is so loud that it will blow you a new hairdo.

One thing I got to mention: Just before the movie started I took my dog out. After we got back inside she went straight on my bed. I asked if she wanted to come with me to watch Robert De Niro and she came running. I guess she really likes Bob because usually I have to really tell her to come watch tv with me.

Anyway, stars for Hide and Seek: ***

Late Night With Jason Statham

Last night was TV night. First House, then The Lost Room, then half an hour of an old Jimmy Kimmel episode featuring Daniel Craig who is just adorable and then finally The Transporter.

It's not so long ago when I watched the film but I thought that I might just check out the opening car chase scene. I ended up watching the whole movie. Here are the reasons:

1. Jason Statham in a suit. Hot.

He can carry me like that any time.

2. That little smirk that he has. Hot.

And look at those eyes!

3. Fight scenes. Statham does his own stunts! Guess who's hot?

Yes! Kick them in the nuts, handsome!

Of course there are other reasons too. But those are the main three. I wonder if it says in his contract that he must appear shirtless in The Transporter series? Sounds like something I might have added there...

One more!

At the moment my favourite pic of him. Hot.

Jason Statham kept me awake! I'm not complaining ;)

Music Rant!

It's time to talk about music. And I remind you right here and now that everyone has their own opinions on things and these are my opinions. So let me put on U2's Joshua Tree LP and we're off...


This album is great!

I listen to rock. Mostly. Earlier on this blog I mentioned that I listen to Phil Collins and Genesis. Genesis has the kind of style that I really like. It's experimental and it has taken influences from many and in return has been the source of inspiration to others. My main interest though is on the melodies and lyrics. To name just one Genesis song as a favourite is hard so I'll name two: Mama and Land Of Confusion.

My little sister has developed a thing for death metal. It's okey if you're a teenage boy who thinks that life sucks and we are all going to die in a horrible nuclear accident and as a result of that you hate everyone... Besides I wast to understand the lyrics as I'm hearing them so I don't have to read them. What's with all the growling and mumbling? Sounds like someone is in the bathroom after a heavy night of drinking.

Then again the music of the 80s is something that I love. ABC, Pet Shop Boys, Ultravox, Michael Jackson, Spandau Ballet... The sound of the 80s was unique and with the New Wawe it changed pop music forever. Synthesizers were new and disco music ruled.


Rush rush where's my yeyo!

Well, I will continue on this subject later. Now I better eat something so I can continue partying.

The H Is O

Meaning that my dog is in heat. No agility for now. We were dogsitting last week and in was a close one. Saturday evening we left and on Sunday the heat was on. The boys started to show signs of what was to come so it wasn't a total surprise.

Right now we have a better winter than last year. Lots of snow, roads are wet and slippery and temperature is around zero. I've had my share of shoveling the snow and now my back and shoulders ache like hell.

Good news from the tv world. The Lost Room still seems promising after three episodes. And tomorrow I can watch Stanley Kubrick's The Killing. For some reason I watched Miami Ink last night and it was quite interesting. I watched it also when I was dogsitting. My aunt has so many channels and for some odd reason there's nothing interesting on for the most of the time. This time was exceptional since I got to watch SpongeBob SquarePants marathon. It is a good show! Though for some reason I have seen the Karate episode three times. Every time I'm dogsitting that episode is always on. Please!


I too want to live inside a pineapple!

These Two Oddly Look Alike... Part 3

No introduction needed here.

Update on everything

Because I feel like a lazy bastard (this is a non-censored blog, live with it) I will put updates on everything right now. Let's get to it.

Movies:
* I watched last night Kubrick's Paths Of Glory. Nice film although I constantly kept thinking that I've seen it before. Or have I...?
* The Godfather; I can watch this movie over and over again.
* The Great Dictator; My little sister wasn't too pleased with me spoiling all the time. And I wasn't even in the same room, I just heard the soundtrack! (=seen this film too many times)
* Romero's Night Of The Living Dead; Had to show it to my sister. It's a classic and it was about time for her to see it (she's 12).

If you look closely, they are always coming from exactly the same spot as before. This is how you save money.

Dog:
We had a competition at the end of the summer season. My girl and I finished second in the "not-competing officially" class.
Now I'm just waiting for her to "get the heat on" but not too soon. Next weekend I'm going to look after my aunt's dogs and if Helka is on heat she can't come with me (sorry boys).

TV:
The first episode of Lost Room seemed promising. It replaced Dexter and if Lost Room goes downhill, I can watch Farscape, which is one of the best scifi-series ever.

This guy will kick Darth Vader's ass anytime

Thankfully House is still on. But we need more quality shows on tv! All current ones come on Thursday.

Music:
I have found the light! And it's called Phil Collins. I got his cd yesterday and before that I've been listening to Genesis. I have to add this link here which leads us to our next subject.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HprVBFYP70M

Games:
My love for the Grand Theft Auto-series has been renewed. I've been playing Vice City for a week now and it seems a lot easier now than when I played it through the first time. And I love the city. The colors, the recemblance to Miami and all the references to Miami Vice and Scarface... Yey! My absolute favourite city of the series is Liberty City but it's always nice to go for a holiday in Vice City.

Such a friendly place!

That's it for now folks!

CNN Uses The Word "Beam" Wrong!

This upsets me right now. Watch the video or read transcript:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/04/cnn-holograms-debut-with_n_141157.html

I read the comments below the story. Surely someone pointed out the incorrect use of the word "beam"? No. All the Star Wars fanatics were there to give praise to the hologram technology that finally brings the R2-D2 projection to real life. Where are the Trekkies?

Here's one. I am a Trekkie and damn proud of it. And I want to correct the usage of the word.

Beaming is a word for transporting physical mass from one location to another. So if you beam my dog from the couch next to me to where ever you are right now, you could actually touch her. This is not possible with a hologram where you get only a 3D image of the dog.

See? The real thing versus the image. There is a big difference.

And I like the original Star Wars trilogy. It's weird that Star Wars fans didn't correct it either...

Live long and prosper!

First Truly Cold Morning, Hooray!

I woke up this morning a bit after 10 am and when I looked out the window there was frost on the ground. Tempeture was one degree below zero (celsius that is, in case someone is wondering) and there was an eerie mist floating around. I have nothing against the mist and certainly nothing against dropping a few degrees under zero. It's been raining so many days that my little doggy-woggy has brought at least a ton of sand inside with her paws.

This is what my dog looks like when it's raining:


I just hope that the rain will stop for now. Snow would be something that my dog would like to have but it would soon melt away and then the ground would be all muddy again. Good thing that our agility practice continues indoors from this week on so no more running in the puddles.

Wil there be snow this winter? Dunno. Last winter was mostly crap. Very little snow and when it finally piled up it melted away almost immediately. The photo on the sidebar where Helka is sitting in the snow was taken on the same day it had snowed. The next day the snow was gone. At least she got one happy day playing with it...

Why Don't They Make Good Stephen King Movies Anymore (or almost ever)?

Well, there you have the ultimate question. I watched Misery during the weekend and it was very good. The mood, the performances (especially Kathy Bates was good).

Last good King movie that I saw was The Green Mile. And before that, the older movies like The Shining, Carrie and Shawshank Redemption. But no good movies lately. Why is it that King's books work so well when you read them, but on film they turn out to be crap? (most of them that is)

The Stand was an excellent book and the series that was made out of it was excellent too. The same thing with Langoliers, both book and series were good. The Shining worked as miniseries also.

But the movies... Needful things was so bad as a movie that it was painful to watch, It wasn't that great either and The Lawnmower Man?! Don't get me started on that!
Creepshow was a mediocre film, Children Of The Corn also (the sequels sucked though) and The Running Man was ok.

There aren't many truly superb King movies, there are those that I mentioned earlier and then there are Stand By Me, Apt Pupil and Pet Cemetary.

I want to see King's horror books turned in to good horror films! The non-horror material works well on the big screen but horror...

Well, I still haven't seen The Tommyknockers. I love the book and I've heard that the movie stinks...

This is a subject that I could go on and on. But I will spare you. For now.

These Two Oddly Look Alike... Part 2

On the left is Brains from Thunderbirds and on the right a live action version of Brains. (Ok, actually that is a meteorologist.)

I Read Darkly Dreaming Dexter

I finished reading the first Dexter book and I must say that I was very surprised of how different it was from the first season of the television series.

Like one of the characters dies in the book and in the tv series this person is still alive and kicking. In the book Deborah is not dating the ice truck killer and the relationship between Dexter and Rita is hardly there at all.

But I understand that changes had to be done to make the storyline last through the first series. And the changes work. The book is more about the things that happen in Dexter's head. In a way it was a positive thing that I read the book only after watching the first season. Normally I like reading the book beforehand.

Knowing that the tv series now has taken a step away from the books, I can keep reading without wondering why it's so different and I can keep watching and enjoying the series.

Do You Know Movie Characters? (another test)

Your result for The Do You Know Movie Characters Test...

Movie Fanatic

Wow!!! Well done. You definitely know your movies quite well. You obviously like movies, and either you have a particularly good memory, or you simply watched many of the tested movies.
We're impressed!!!

Take The Do You Know Movie Characters Test at HelloQuizzy

The Evil Dead Test

Your result for The !!!!!Evil Dead!!!! Test...

Ash

Hail to the King baby! You are the groovy-est! No-one can kill you, no evil dead, deadite, ex-lover, or candarian demon can break your spirit. Top of the heap, you are always the last man standing. And even if you only have one hand, you're still irresistible to the opposite sex.

Take The !!!!!Evil Dead!!!! Test at HelloQuizzy

You scored 87% on deadite, higher than 92% of your peers.

And I got a nice pic of Ash :)

How Monty Python Are You?

Your result for The How Monty Python Are You? Test...

Brian

You are Brian

Not exactly the Messiah, but pretty darn close. Now if you could only vanquish those Romans.

Take The How Monty Python Are You? Test at HelloQuizzy

As an avid fan of the Pythons I couldn't stay away from this test. Not even if someone said Ni! to me several times.

Again I'm Gonna Survive!

Your result for The Worst Case Scenarios Test...

Trooper

You know how to handle about half of the scenarios, which makes you quite a resourceful person. You might have made a few fatal choices, but the right choices certaintly outweigh those. You would be a decent addition to a group of travellers that could be faced with extreme situations.

If you are wondering how you can find out answers to most of the questions from this test, you can find them online if you search for them.

If you liked my test please rate it highly below, and feel free to send me feedback. Thanks!

Take The Worst Case Scenarios Test at HelloQuizzy

Your survival rate is 73% and your "certain death" rate is 13%.

Film Quote-test!! Hooray, My Speciality!

Your result for The Fuck me that's a film quote! Test...

Film critic/ Loser

Obviously got no fu**ing life...Tear up your blockbuster card right now and go and P A R T Y!!!!

Take The Fuck me that's a film quote! Test at HelloQuizzy

Hey, unfair! In my country there is no Blockbuster!
And because I write film reviews on this blog, I consider myself as a film critic, not a loser. Period.

Would I Survive A Zombie Attack?

Your result for The Zombie Outbreak Test...

The Preast

The Preast have a way of handling his emotions, fear, anger and despair. He is a good central of hope for his mates, and can also increase the moral of the group. He is although not the best at planning, and can easily get ahead of himself. Stick to soothing the others, and they'll probably lend you a hand when you need it.

Take The Zombie Outbreak Test at HelloQuizzy

Yes, today is a great day to take quizzes... And according to this zombie test, I have 92% more common sense than other people and scored higher than 73% on strategy. Go me! I'm gonna live! But I still prefer the assault rifle over soothing people if the zombies attack. So screw this test.

Stargåte SG-1 Fan Test

Your result for The Stargate SG-1 Fan Test...

Capt. Carter

Congratulations! You have achieved the rank of "Capt. Carter". You are indeed a fan, although you have done well there is still more to learn, keep watching and you will one day earn the rank of "Col. O'Neill"


Please don't forget to rate this test!

Take The Stargate SG-1 Fan Test at HelloQuizzy

Indeed! :)

Stargate Test Result

Your result for The Ultimate Stargate Test...

Captain

Well Captain, you have proved to be somewhat knowledgable about Stargate, but even you have room for improvement. Let's see you back here for a promotion when you learn more about this great show.

Take The Ultimate Stargate Test at HelloQuizzy

And the percentages are:60% on gatepoints (whatever they are) and 19% higher than my peers.

So Am I A Nerd?

Other test says:
"Hip Nerd: You're a nerd alright, though your interest in random bits of obscure pop culture from music to movies might throw people off. And your appearance only has a touch of "nerd" appeal, but you're definitely a nerd. Anyone who can retain super detailed information about music or movies-i.e. quote them by heart, recall specific dates, etc. is a nerd. A hip nerd."

Spot on. I like quoting movies and sometimes people give me that strange look when I talk about tv-shows that they've never heard of.

Dog update!

It's been a lomg time since I last wrote here about my dog. We are still practicing agility and we were in unofficial contest on 10th of September. We had very fast time but unfortunately we had 15 points so the result was 6th place.

Yesterday we were in our agility club's championship contest and we finished 5th in our class. Again 15 points from the track but a fast time. If we could just have a clean run...

My little girl is preparing for winter and really shedding her coat. I've always thought that she doesn't even have that much hair but my mind is beginning to change. Last two weekends I gave her a really thorough brushing and I was amazed how much base coat there was.

I got a cooling collar for Helka (ordered it by mail and of course it arrived when the weather is cooling) and I'm using it currently as a bark control collar. She has had a real bark collar maybe once or twice around her neck and now she seems to think that the cooling collar is a bark collar! Well, me and my mom had a really good laugh out of it.

Below a picture of Helka with the "bark collar". See how depressed she looks and notice the tail between her legs.

These Two Oddly Look Alike... Part 1.

This is the beginning of the Look Alike-series. If I happen to stumble upon two persons that look as if they could be twins, I'm posting the pictures here.

A Finnish singer Lauri Tähkä looks like the Joker:

Review: Gilda (1946)

This movie is a classic. Everyone who hasn't seen it but has seen Shawshank Redemption, knows the scene where Rita Hayworth makes her first appearance as Gilda.

The plot of the film isn't that original. A femme fatale mingles with two guys who are friends and business partners. However the humor saves a lot. It still makes people laugh after more than sixty years.

It's the preformances of the actors that make this movie stand up from the crowd. Hayworth is excellent and the men (Glenn Ford and George Macready) don't come far behind. The chemistry between the actors works and brings extra dimension.

Film noir style voice over narration fits for Gilda. The movie is beautifully shot and the two classic songs Amado Mio and Put The Blame On Mame fit to the film. Sometimes I find it disturbing when musical numbers are embedded to old movies but not this time.

The most memorable scene is of course Rita performing the latter song. The way she acts, drunken but seducing, makes the scene facinating and funny, and the funniness doesn't come alone from the lyrics.

Director: Charles Vidor
Starring: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready

Stars: ****

Outbreak

It has been about ten years since I last saw this fantastic movie. Outbreak was made in 1995 and I saw it a few years after that on TV. Luckily I taped it back then. And luckily my parents and I still own a VCR (and I think I will never give it up).

So what did I remember of this great classic?
I remembered Dustin Hoffman, the monkey and the little girl, the helicopter chase and the yellow suits. And they were all there just as I remembered them.

What I didn't remember?
Morgan Freeman (I remembered the character though), Kevin Spacey (his character too), and I didn't remember how exactly the virus travelled from Africa to the US.

But hey, I was about 14 years old when I saw Outbreak. And after that I've seen... well, too much movies if you ask my parents.

Excellent Dark Knight Spoof

Unofficial agility contest

We were there on Tuesday. It rained a bit but it was warm. The track was very fast, not many turns, and of course since it was a practice contest there were some obsticles missing (weave poles, seesaw, closed tunnel and tire jump were missing).

Helka and I finished fifth place with over 16 seconds left to spare. We got 20 points for missing two jumps and Helka went to the tunnel when she was supposed to jump.

I am very happy with the result. Last time we finished 7th place with 215.22 points. But at least we finished (two earlier contests we dropped out in the middle since Helka didn't concentrate but ran around without listening any orders):

So we keep improving and maybe some day in the near future we will even get a price.

Collectibles

As a movie fan, it is some kind of obligation to own collectible items, posters, books and stuff. I have many posters, some books and some stuff. I am very proud to own a killer rabbit and a dead parrot. No pictures of them are currently available so you have to settle for a pit witch and a deadite foot soldier from Army Of Darkness and a Pinhead teddy.

A Statement

English is not my native language. Therefore I have mistakes in spelling and/or grammar. Don't let it distract and enjoy the blog.

And read the sentence at the bottom of the page.

Review: The Dark Knight

I'm just going to list the positive and negative things because I'm lazy today and I have to go watch TV.

Good things:
+ Heath Ledger, absolutely my favourite Joker from now on. This is how I thought Joker should be.
+ Harvey Dent until the first half of the movie.
+ Gary Oldman, once more a solid performance.
+ Plot, not bad.
+ Bat suit, cool enough.

Bad things:
- Batman's voice (c'mon does anyone take him seriously with that voice that says "I've been drinking whiskey for twenty years"?)
- Bat car/bike, 'nuff said.
- Russians as bad guys. Why always the Russians? (or the Germans) Why not the Brits or the Chinese? You can make a movie with the Chinese as regular bad guys, you don't have to always use kung-fu with them!
- Harvey Dent in the last half of the movie.
- Bagpipes. Do they really use them in the States in every government official's funeral? Please let me know.

To put it all together shortly:
Heath Ledger IS the movie. Batman movies have always been about the bad guys and The Dark Knight is no exception.

Stars: ****

Oh, and a comment about the whole "should Ledger get an Oscar for this movie" -thingy.
The guy is dead. If he was still alive then definitely yes. But I think that it should be handed to someone whom we can hear say thank you.

Now I'm off to watch telly.

Update: Agility Progress

It's been a long time since I updated my blog. I think it's time to tell what's going on with my little hobby, before I let everyone know what I think about The Dark Knight.

So. Agility is going well. Our team had an agility showcasing day and it was voluntary to take part. Of course I volunteered since my dog and I have very little experience on doing agility in different places and it was a grass base of which we had no experience at all.

I was afraid that Helka (my dog that is) would run away since there was a lot going on at the same time. Horses, cars, kids... But everything went fine. And after the day my little girl knew how to weave fast and with only a little guiding.

Her behaviour was different when we had an unofficial competition and she didn't listen to me and ran around. We didn't finish last and that is our best result so far.

Last week's practice went well. We had little courses to practice turns and handling. I was surprised of how fast my dog was but how well she listened to me anyhow. Mistakes were my fault except for one, but we are still in training and just having fun.

Today is pur weekly practice day and it looks as it's going to rain today. We don't care, we just want to have fun together.

Have A Nice Weekend!

During this weekend there is a big festival in my home town. I hate it.

So many drunken people during the evenings and daytime isn't much better. It's crowded, noisy and messy. Some people become real pigs during the festival. Even now as I write this I can hear a siren of an ambulance or a police car. And I'm not even in the central.

What do I do to get away from all the hassle? One of my favourite jobs... Dog sitting!

I have been a trusted dog sitter for my aunt for almost ten years. She is the reason why I my dog is a Shetland sheepdog and she is also to blame that I even own a dog. My aunt (let's call her S) owns five lovely shelties that live at her house and she partially owns a few more. So now I'm surrounded by six beautiful little dogs who occasionally bark at some noise coming from outside, but I still like it better here than in the stupid festival.

Of course the main reason why I'm a dog sitter this weekend is that S went to the festival. My friends asked me to go there but I had already promised to watch the dogs. And to be honest, I'd rather see my friends outside the festival. I like peace and quiet.

If I would go to a festival, it would be the one where I was last summer. It was clean, people were happy without pouring gallons of alcohol down their throats and there was good music (me and my friend went there to listen to the blues concerts).
Rock festivals are of course a completely different thing than city festivals.

Bottom line: I am currently enjoying very much of my weekend.

Review: The Bourne Movies

The Bourne trilogy is something that I finally watched after thinking about watching it for a long time. My friend had told me that they are good action movies and that I just might like them. She was right.

The first movie starts the trilogy well. Although at some points it gets very annoying to hear the same "I can't remember anything!" sentence all over again. The plot is very good and Matt Damon fits well to the part.

The second movie has the best story. Conspiracies have always interested me. Loved Brian Cox as the corporate bastard.

The ending of the trilogy ties up nicely the whole thing. Mostly very disturbingly directed but in certain scenes the style works.

The Bourne Identity, director Doug Liman ****
The Bourne Supremacy, director Paul Greengrass ****
The Bourne Ultimatum, director Paul Greengrass ***

Running In The Rain Is Fun!

On Monday, me and my little girl went to our weekly agility practice. The weather was ideal: it was raining heavily and the whole sandlot looked like a lake.

Wearing raincoat I took the challenge to make my dog do what she was supposed to, and to my surprise, she did! She followed my orders like a dream. There are two possible reasons for that:

1. The rain cooled her down
2. Due the rain, many dogs were absent (and my dog can concenrate better when there are no others around)

Also, I have to mention one more thing. When there are puddles on the ground, my little doggy goes around them, never through. I think she has picked the habit from me. It reminds me of the dog in the Jack Nicholson movie As Good As It Gets, where the little pooch doesn't step on the lines since Jack doesn't. I thought first when I saw the movie, that the dog had just been trained to do that but when I saw my dog go around the puddles because I did so... It made me so proud.

But during our practice my dog ran through the puddles. Maybe since I ran through them too. And when we got home, she again made sure that her feet won't get wet.

The Best TV-Shows Ever?

My sister made me a harmless question: "What are your top 5 TV-shows?" Yup, harmless indeed. It got me thinking though. So many shows have been on television and yet so few of them I have actually seen. But I have to admit that I watch only quality shows.

The list that I eventually gave to my sister was:
1. The Sopranos
2. Monty Python's Flying Circus
3. Stargate & Star Trek (I was allowed to put 2 shows here)
4. Miami Vice
5. The X-Files

I hope she will never ask my top 5 movies-list, since that one is constantly changing.

Review: Hot Fuzz

Directed by: Edgar Wright, Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

Shaun Of The Dead-posse is back! This time in police uniforms.

Very enjoyable comedy. One might expect a bit of Shaun at the beginning, but this is clearly not a zom-rom-com. Solid performances from Pegg&Frost, well made action sequences, excellent script and many interesting side characters make this movie a must see.

Some of my favourite bits were (and no spoilers here, I hate spoilers):

1. Transmissions from one genre to another
2. "Yarr!"
3. The mumbling farmer-scene
4. The gun montage (yes, even Rocky had a montage, but this one was really well made)

Stars: *****

And I hope the three mentioned at the beginning will make more movies together. Loved Shaun. Loved Fuzz.

Oh, so bored!

For a few days now I have tried to watch Hot Fuzz. I really want to see that movie, but I'm just not in the right mood. You know what it's like... You need to be on the right mood to watch an old classic or a western or a scifi movie. I hate when this happens.

Anyhow, I'm ok. My dog's in heat and she can be really boring during that. She sleeps most of the day (maybe she's charging her energy reservoirs so that after the heat she will be back to her usual self) and she is much more calmer in general.

When I finally watch Hot Fuzz, the review can be found here.

Review: The Fountain

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.

There are a few things that come to mind at the beginning of the movie:

1. Hugh Jackman doesn't look good bald
2. So much cgi! But it's not bad when you think if this film had been made like 10yrs ago (would have looked horrible)
3. Rachel Weisz seems crazy. I mean really crazy. Why does Hugh hang out with that crazy chick?!

Conclusion:
The three stories are in balance once you get into the idea of the movie. It looks beautiful and Jackman is very impressive throughout.
The movie as a whole is weird, but I like it that way. Aronofsky has his own ways to bring images to life and it somehow reminds me of one of my favourite "weird directors": David Lynch.

Stars: ****

(this is how I will review movies. maximum of stars is five and minimum is 1/2. so The Fountain did very well.)

Blog opened!

This is my first entry. I will mostly write about movies and stuff relating to them.
Occasionally I may write something about my dog, so if you're not interested about that, just look elswhere.