The One Where There Is Too Much Wine For Just One Person

Beaujolais nouveau 2012 - the most bitter and loneliest wine I have ever tasted.

However, bitter medicine is still medicine and I believe it made me better.

Stay tuned.

The One Where The Title Can Be Misleading

Amour

I get the feeling that there have already been too many films on how a person can (or cannot) deal with an illness and forthcoming death of their loved one. Or I have seen too many such movies and become fed-up with the topic.
A colleague of mine said that this film should be called anything but 'love'. In a sense, I agree: the fact that it is totally passionless in every aspect makes the story of an old couple all the more moving. Still, I do not really get it why filmmakers have to torture us over and over again with death, feeling of hopelessness and fear.

Stay tuned.

The One Where The Sky Falls

Skyfall

Die another day, the 20th anniversary James Bond movie, was supposed to be a tribute to all the previous films of the 007 series. And, in fact, if you look closely, you can extract exact dialogues and catch various references, you can analyse how the scenes you already know have been put together to create this one film that commemorates all the previous parts. Skyfall does the same thing - only a hunderd times more subtly, with great amount of wit and just better in every way. It is composed not from quotations, but rather made from impressions.
It starts like a regular modern action movie and keeps the scheme of every other 007 film since Pierce Brosnan and Goldeneye. So, for starters, we get plenty of chases - cars, motors, trains - lots of crashes, shoot-outs, blow-outs etc. Then comes the actual main mission. Then there's the confrontation - you get t know the villain (disturbingly brilliant Javier Bardem). But of course there's a twist. And at the end, as expected, comes the final battle.
What is truly amazing and the real reason why you can consider "Skyfall" the crown jewel of the James Bond series: each episode of this film takes you further back in time and into the history of the whole 007 series. From one part to the next, you can observe a certain shift in every aspect: guns - from ultramodern, sensitive to fingerprints handguns, to hunting raffles and knives; gadgets - first multifunctional, high-tech and complicated, the simplest and most basic radio at the end; cars - from modern to the most classic i.e. Aston Martin; music - contemporary beats in the beginning, then mixed with increasing amount of classic old tunes (Thomas Newman did a great job there); scenery - fantastic shots both of glossy, artificial sky-scrapers, as well as those of foggy London, or picturesque landscapes of the Scottish Highlands; you can even observe that the way the actors play also changes throughout the movie.

Try diversifying your daily routine by listening to Skyfall's score while walking through the city, riding a bike etc. Be careful, though! it does make you feel like an action movie character - so don't get hit by a car, unless resurrection is your hobby as well.

Stay tuned.

The One With Mona Lisa, Albert Einstein And Kilts

The Angel's Share

I do not remember when was the last time I laughed so hard while at the cinema.
The film is not just a simple comedy, though. There are some fragments of drama, truthful, touching and sad. More serious episodes intertwine with hilarious scenes of absurd. And then the story transforms into a road movie. And then - into a heist movie. And all that in Scottish kilts!
Despite the general positive vibe, the conclusion seems rather bitter-sweet: yes, a person can change, a convict does not have to become a recidivist. But - this does not hold for everybody; and only if they have a very strong motivation, a solid reason to alter their lives; and only if given a chance by others.

Nice soundtrack. The song that clings the most is actually an oldie:

Stay tuned.