The Interior Design Of A Spaceship

When I was watching Serenity the other night, I was wondering why spaceships in the movies and on TV always have such a cold and unfriendly interior design. I’m not much of a Sci-Fi geek, but I have been watching an awful lot of Sci-Fi lately. And I keep noticing the same thing: depressingly gray rooms made of metal and concrete, grills in the floors and zero comfort. How exactly does River Tam handle being barefoot in that thing all the time? And why do spaceships hardly ever have wooden floors, or carpets, or tapestries? Though the Serenity, a Firefly, […]

The Wilhelm Whinny

If you’ve ever seen a movie with a horse in it, you’ve probably heard it: the Wilhelm Whinny. I have no idea if there’s a real name for it, but I’m just gonna call it that in allusion to the famous Wilhelm Scream. Similar to the Wilhelm Scream, the Wilhelm Whinny is a sound file that film producers love to use over and over again. That horse neighing in the movie you just watched – probably the Wilhelm Whinny. (Unfortunately all of my movie editing tools don’t work, so I can’t provide you with a clip.) But unlike the enjoyable […]

International Cinema IV: Denmark to Serbia

Fear not! I have not forgotten about my plan to conquer the world through it’s movies. Actually, I have, but a funny coincidence reminded me that I still had this half started blog entry hidden in the depths of my notes. So finally, five months after the last international cinema, I can now proudly present a new hope. Denmark De grønne slagtere / The Green Butchers (2003) The Danish are flat-out, bug-shaggin’ crazy! When it comes to making movies, their humor is nowhere near as flat as their country. This movie is the best of proof of that. It’s an […]

International Cinema III: Sweden

It’s been a month already since I released the second episode of my ambitious little project to see the world on the small screen, “International Cinema“. To read the introduction and what’s this all about, check out the first episode. This third edition is gonna be a special one just for Sweden. When I started writing all these reviews I realized that I have way too many for Sweden, more than anyone would care to read when published along with 5 other countries. Back when I taught myself Swedish, I started watching a lot of Swedish movies to train my […]

International Cinema II: Finland to Spain

About a month ago I posted the introduction and the first episode of “International Cinema“, my little project to travel around the world in the movies. Today I’m delighted to introduce you to Episode II, this time with slightly less obscure countries, but possibly slightly more obscure movies. Enjoy! Finland Mies vailla menneisyyttä / The Man Without A Past (2002) The best word to describe this movie would be “Finnish”. It’s totally different from what I expected from the title and from some photos I’ve seen. It’s a very very quiet, but good movie about a man who comes to […]

Most Memorable Movie Characters

Inspired by Nellie who was inspired by Britney, this is a small list of all the movie characters I think are most memorable. I have seen far more movies than healthy in the last few years, a habit which is probably not gonna change anytime soon. I recently started renting movies from amazon and my renting list already has over 60 mostly weird foreign movies on it, so I might have to post an update to this list someday…. Hans Beckert (M – Eine Stadt sucht ihren Mörder, Germany 1931) Why would a creepy child murder be memorable? Peter Lorre’s […]

Dead Men Tell No Tales (not even At World’s End)

I have seen Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End last night, and my expectations were pretty much confirmed – the movie didn’t really make sense. (x-posted to the reviews) I’ve been a fan of the Disney ride since 1996 (I haven’t been there again since like 1999, but I’m dying to), so I was all the more excited when I saw the first movie in 2003. I absolutely loved it, it was a solid, spirited story and great escapism. But now imagine the writers – you have a great hit movie, the people are screaming for more, so what […]