Top 5 movies seen this summer (June-August)

I haven't watched movies regularly this summer, which is the reason why I haven't been active on the blog.

So, here's a list of the five best movies I've seen this summer, chosen from about forty seen movies.

#5. Patrik 1,5 (2008)
 aka: Patrik, Age 1.5

#4. Absentia (2011)

#3. The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

#2. Moolaadé (2004)
aka: Dalecarlians

#1. Masjävlar (2004)

Top 5 Movies Seen in May

#5. Dazed and Confused (1993)

#4. Strangers on a Train (1951)

#3. A Hijacking (2012)
aka Kapringen

#2. Women in the Dunes (1964) 
aka Suna no onna

#1. Hot Fuzz (2007)

Top 5 Movies Seen in April

#5. Body Heat (1981)

#4. My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989)

#3. Paha Maa (2005)
aka Frozen Land

#2. Das weiße Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)
aka The White Ribbon

#1. Jagten (2012)
aka The Hunt

Top 5 Movies Seen in March

#5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Director: John Ford

#4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
 Director: Stephen Chbosky

#3. Stalag 17 (1953)
Director: Billy Wilder

#2. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Director: Wes Anderson

#1. In the Name of the Father (1991)
Director: Jim Sheridan

Top 5 Movies Seen in February

#5. Purge (2012)
Original title: Puhdistus
Directed by: Antti Jokinen
Genre: History, Thriller

#4. Before Sunrise (1995)
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Genre: Romance, Drama

#3. Life of Pi (2012)
Directed by: Ang Lee
Genre: Adventure

#2. The Impossible (2012)
Original title: Lo imposible
Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona
Genre: History, Drama

#1. The Sessions (2012)
Directed by: Ben Lewin
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance

Top 5 Movies Seen in January

#5. A Royal Affair (2012)
Original title: En kongelig affære

Directed by: Nikolaj Arcel
Genre: History, Drama

#4. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
Directed by: F.W. Murnau
Genre: Drama, Romance

#3. The Third Man (1949)
Directed by: Carol Reed
Genre: Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller

#2. Flight (2012)
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Genre: Drama

#1. Django Unchained (2012)
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Genre: Western, Action

December

Top 5 Movies Seen in December

#5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (1999)

#4. End of Watch (2012)

#3. Breaking the Waves (1996)

#2. Dogville (2003)

#1. Adams æbler (2005)

Seen in November

Top 5 Movies Seen in November

#5. The Hurricane (1999)

#4. Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)

#3. Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil (2010)

#2. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

#1. Match Point (2005)

Top 5 Movies Seen in October

#5. Tsotsi (2005)
Directed by:Gavin Hood
Genre: Crime, Drama

#4. Körkarlen (1921)
Directed by: Victor Sjöström
Genre: Horror

#3. The Brotherhood of War (2004)
Original title: Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo
Directed by: Je-kyu Kang
Genre: War, Drama

#2. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Directed by: Terry George
Genre: History, Drama, Biography
Sub-genre: Genocide

#1. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Directed by: Lars Von Trier
Genre: Drama

Seen in September

Top 5 Movies Seen in September

#5. Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

A really good film about the famous escape from alcatraz. It's kind of a straight forward retelling of a true event, which for me is just the way it should be told. If not for anything else, watch it to learn the story about the escape. Or watch it because Clint Eastwood is great.

#4. Network (1976)

I had put off this movie for a long time, because I thought it would be a super-serious conspiracy film, which I'm not that fond of. I was surprised to find that it was such a fun and unique movie.

#3. Cinderella Man (2005)

Cinderella Man is a depression era set boxing movie, which are two elements I almost always enjoy. Watch this when you're feeling bored with your work, it may make you appreciate it more for a day or two (before you forget about it again as humans tend to do).

#2. Encounters at the End of the World (2007)

Encounters at the End of the World is a documentary about basically anything going on in Antarctica. It's about the animals, nature and work, but mostly about the people living there. Everybody has their own reasons for being there, but many of them seem to have in common that they wanted to "get away" or simply go for an adventure. A really enjoyable documentary which is made even better by  Werner Herzog's distinctive way of narrating it.

#1. The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Even though Idi Amin was a terrible person, I'm sure he was also very funny, like Forest Whitaker in this movie. I assume one has to be very charismatic to become a dictator, which in this movie is very well displayed.

My ratings in September:

Top 5 Movies Seen in August

#5. The Color Purple (1985)

Genre: Drama
Stars: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Oprah Winfrey

Injustice is an easy way to capture the attention of the audience. The Color Purple is a good example of that and I think it works. The film follows a black woman for thirty years in the early 20th century America. Her father gets her pregnant, gives away her child and offers her to an older man for marriage.

#4. Intouchables (2011)

Genre: Drama, Comedy
Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy

One of the best feel-good movies I have seen, Intouchables is a movie about the friendship between a handicapped man, Philippe, and his new assistant, Driss, who has no experience of working with people. He does not take the handicap too serious, which is just what Philippe needs.

#3. The Graduate (1967)

Genre: Drama, Comedy
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Katherine Ross, Anne Bancroft

The 60's won last month with three movies in the top 3. The Graduate is a movie about a student who is seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson. He falls in love with her daughter, which is of course a problem.

#2. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Genre: Drama, Comedy
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight

A sad, funny and artistic film about the friendship between a Cowboy-dressed male prostitute (one hell of a stud), and a social outcast thief. Together they try to survive in New York without work living in a dilapidated apartment. 

#1. The Great Escape (1963)

Genre: Adventure
Sub-genre: Prison
Stars: Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronon (To name a few)

Prisoners of war plan a major escape in this movie from 1963. This is an entertaining movie that should fit almost anybody. There's Action, Adventure and Comedy. There's definitely no Romance though and the cast can't be more male-dominated.


This is how my ratings were distributed in August:

This month was more about Quality than Quantity.

Top 5 Movies Seen in July

#5. Tillsammans [2000] aka Together

Directed by: Lukas Moodysson
Genre: Comedy

A bunch of friends live together in a house to live more simple and be more environmentally friendly. They don't accept televisions or any other modern, unnecessary things. A woman tires of her husband and takes her daughter with her and moves into the house.
A great swedish comedy with a different kind of concept, be sure to watch it!

#4. Rio Bravo [1959]

Directed by: Howard Hawks
Genre: Western

John Wayne stars in this movie as a sheriff in a town that has imprisoned a notorious bandit. The brother of the bandit is rich and pays thughs to free him. The sheriff doesn't want to hire any town people because they will only get themselves killed. In the end, there are one sheriff and three deputies to fight the thugs. In between all this there is both Comedy, Romance and of course a great shoot-out.
One of the most professional westerns I have seen.

#3. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada [2005]

Directed by: Tommy Lee Jones
Genre: Western, Adventure

A western set in contemporary times. A border patrolman accidentally shoots a mexican ranch worker, Melquiades Estrada. He flees the scene but is later caught by the collegue and friend of the victim, Pete Perkins. Pete had promised Melquiades to bury him in his hometown in Mexico if he happened to die. Pete takes the law into his own hands and kidnaps the border patrolman and takes him along on the journey as punishment.

#2. Dances With Wolves [1990]

Directed by: Kevin Costner
Genre: Adventure, Drama, War

A western set during the Civil War. Lt. John Dunbar requests a position on the western frontier, but finds it deserted when he arrives. He decides to stay there anyway, but soon finds himself threatened by Indians. He attempts to befriend the Indians and is quickly respected by the tribe.
I watched the director's cut which was almost 4 hours long, and it didn't feel too long. I haven't seen the theatrical version so I can't say which one you should watch.

#1. Blue Valentine [2010]

Directed by: Derek Cianfrance
Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy

Blue Valentine shows us the rise and fall of a relationship and how it could end if you stop caring about each other. This is a depressing film that manages to be funny at the same time. The acting is great and the dialogue is very well written both in the funny and tragic parts.


Worst movie seen this month: Liar Liar (1997)

I knew Jim Carrey could overact and yet I wasn't prepared for this. I cannot understand how this could be funny.

This is how I rated movies in July

Top 5 Movies Seen In June

1. Secrets & Lies (1996)

Directed by: Mike Leigh
Genre: Drama

One of the best drama movies I've seen. If you like drama, don't mind that the movie is over two hours long, because it was never boring.

2. The Haunting (1963)

Directed by: Robert Wise
Genre: Horror
Sub-genre: Haunted House

A great haunted house movie. The voice-over is strange but incredibly great and adds to the earie atmosphere.

3. Rebecca (1940)

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Genre: Mystery, Film-Noir

A great movie and surprisingly the only movie directed by Hitchcock to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

4. Naked (1993)

Directed by: Mike Leigh
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Sub-genre: Black Comedy

A brittish drama/comedy with great dialogue and some very random characters.

5. The Innocents (1961)

Directed by: Jack Clayton
Genre: Horror
Sub-genre: Haunted House

Another great movie about a haunted house.


Worst movie seen in June: Runaway Bride

Biggest surprise of the month: Knocked Up
Never thought I would like it, which I did

Total number of films seen: 25

Top 5 Movies Seen In May

I didn't watch as many movies in May as in April and March, but I almost only watched movies worth watching. This is how I rated movies I watched in May:

Nr 1. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

Directed by: Jim Jarmusch
Genre: Drama, Action

Nr 2. Dead Man

Directed by: Jim Jarmusch
Genre: Drama, Western

Nr 3. Sunset Blvd

Directed by: Billy Wilder
Genre: Drama, Comedy

Nr 4. Ariel

Directed by: Aki Kaurismäki
Genre: Drama, Crime

Nr 5. Shame

Directed by: Steve McQueen
Genre: Drama

Top 5 Movies Seen in April

April was a great month for me, much better than March. I got a few new personal favorites and saw many movies I enjoyed. The posts I made this month had a significant impact on what kind of movies I watched, for example, many time travel movies and movies released 1920.

This is how my ratings were distributed in April:

Nr. 1: Melancholia (2011)

Directed by: Lars Von Trier
Genre: Drama, Sci-fi

Nr. 2: Vozvrashchenie (2003)

Aka: The Return
Directed by: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Genre: Drama

Nr. 3: Down By Law (1986)

Directed by: Jim Jarmusch
Genre: Comedy, Drama

Nr. 4: Way Down East (1920)

Directed by: D.W. Griffith
Genre: Drama, Romance

Nr. 5: Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

Directed by: Woody Allen
Genre: Drama, Crime

Melancholia is one of the best drama films I've ever seen. It's about the life of two sisters and the people surrounding them during a time when another planet is about to pass close to the earth. The movie is divided into two parts, which I liked. Visually it was perfect and the story and acting is superb. I like catastrophe movies but there aren't too many serious drama movies like this one in that sub-genre.
If possible, watch it in Blu-Ray.

Vozvrashchenie is a film about the return of a father that abandoned his family years ago. When he returns, he takes his two sons on a trip. The older brother respects him, unlike the younger one, who shows his disappointment. I had been thinking of watching this for a long time and I'm glad I finally did. It isn't a happy movie, it's dark, tragic and depressing. Great acting here too, The actor who plays the younger brother does some of the best acting by a child I have ever seen.

Down by Law is a great comedy by indie director Jim Jarmusch. It's about three men, the DJ Jack, the pimp Zack and the Italian tourist Roberto, that by mistake ends up in prison and share cell. I don't know if a have seen a more real comedy than this one before. The humor that developed between the characters, especially between Jack and Zack and the way they "handled" Roberto's slightly irritating style, felt very real. I would recommend this one to anybody that likes unique comedies.

Way Down East was also represented in my list of top 5 movies released 1920, where you can read my comment about it.

I normally don't like Woody Allen movies that much, but sometimes he makes really great movies and Crimes and Misdemeanors is the best one I've seen from him so far. There's two stories in this film, one about a respected man whose reputation is at risk when his mistress threatens to expose herself to his wife and one story about a married documentary filmmaker who falls in love with another woman.


Worst movie of the month: The Children
A horror movie me and my girlfriend watched a few days ago. Terrible acting, bad story and not scary in any way. Halfway through we made it faster with 3x speed, which made it more entertaining.

Check out my list of the best movies I saw in March:
Top 5 Movies Seen in March

Top 5 Movies Seen in March

At the end of every month I will post my top 5 list of movies seen that month.

This has been a okay month for me. I haven't found too many new favorites but a lot of decent movies.
This is how my ratings has been distributed in March:

As you can see I've watched a lot of movies, and especially rated a lot of them between 5 and 7. I consider a movie I rate 5 to be okay, and a movie I rate 7 to be good. It depends a little on the expectations too of course, if I rate a movie rated 8,3 on IMDb 6 it's probably a disappointment.

Top 5 Movies I've seen in March

1. Celda 211 (2009)

Director: Daniel Monzón
Genre: Action, Drama
Sub-genre: Prison

2. The Help (2011)

Director: Tate Taylor
Genre: Drama
Sub-genre: Injustice

3. Frequency (2000)

Director: Gregory Hoblit
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Sub-genre: Time Travel

4. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

Director: Robert Aldrich
Genre: Drama, Horror, (Black Comedy)
Main theme: Jealousy

5. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Director: Arthur Penn
Genre: Crime, Biography
Sub-genre: Bank robbery


Celda 211 was a great movie about a prison riot. Great story and acting and the only movie this month that entered my Top 100 list on IMDb. The prison sub-genre is one of my favorites so it's no big surprise I liked this one.
The Help was a movie about the situation of the colored population and especially the maids in the 60s America. I thought, as Emma Stone was in it, it was going to be a comedy not in my taste, but I was wrong. I obviously hadn't read too much about the plot before watching.
Time Travel is something of a favorite sub-genre for me too, so it came as no surprise that I did like Frequency. It was a really interesting story which kept me entertained until the end.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? was a great movie. I consider it mostly to be a comedy and a drama about jealousy, although it has horror elements.
Bonnie and Clyde is one of the better bank robbing movies I have seen, and a true classic.

This months biggest dissapointment: The Maltese Falcon
I really tried to like it, but I couldn't.

This months biggest surprise: The Help
I didn't expect such a well-made and serious film.