The Best of the Best – Marvel Cinematic Universe

I was thinking of saving this for later when MCU is ready with its plan but they probably will continue making those films as long as there’s audience for them, so as I really liked new Cap America, let’s list things to celebrate the success of Marvel!  So far there have been 13 films that are part of phases one, two and three. Obviously there are tons of other films that are Marvel branded, e.g. X-Mens but I will only include films surrounding The Avengers.

Usually I have in my Best of the Best lists some bubbling-unders and will do that this time too. Though there are only three of them. I’m not a big fan of The Incredible Hulk, the whole Hulk-thing didn’t work for me at all until Mark Ruffalo came along. He’s genious. So that is on the bottom of the bunch and next up is Captain America: The First Avenger, it’s way too American for my taste. Plus Cap is kinda boring. And unfortunately I have to leave Ant-Man out of the final Top-10. I love Paul Rudd but that film was just ok.

10)

Captain America: Winter Soldier

This is really hard as I’m a fan of the whole universe and all these films are entertaining enough and often more. Well, Cap, until the last chapter, has been way too oldie goldie for me and thus this is my number 10 pick.

9)

Thor

I love, love, love Loki as many of you might know but if you take him away from Thor films, they are not very entertaining. Especially the first one.

8)

Iron Man 2

Perhaps. I just checked and I’ve given all three Iron Man movies 8/10 at IMDb. So… I don’t know.

7)

Iron Man

Yeah. Still don’t really know.

6) 

Iron Man 3

Right now it feels like I enjoyed this one the best, I really liked Ben Kingsley’s character.

5)

Thor: The Dark World

Loki. And London is a plus. But mainly Loki.

4)

Avengers: Age of Ultron

It’s a bit messy and too much but I just love it when they’re all together. And Hawkeye’s storyline worked for me. And it was a bit sad too which is usually nice touch to this kind of action films.

2) 

Guardians of the Galaxy

It’s basically tie between this and number two but like said, I love my avengers, so Star Lord and his crew lost. Then again that killer soundtrack gives it an edge. It’s a tie.

2)

Captain America: Civil War

Like said and like I wrote few days ago, the latest installment to the series is a great one! Go see it! Spidey! Whose side your on?

1) 

The Avengers

But it does not beat the original. Josh Whedon is king of this film, the script is absolutely great. And you know; Loki. 😉

What do you think? What’s your favourite?

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February Films Watched

Update!

So, in February I watched following films:

1. Enough Said (2013) ***
2. The Martian (2015) ****
3. The Voices (2014) **½
4. The Riot Club (2014) ***
5. About Time (2013) ***½
6. The Joneses (2009) ***
7. The Imitation Game (2014) ****½
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) ****
9. Clueless (1995)
10. Pride (2014) ***½
11. Room (2015) ***½
12. Brooklyn (2015) ***

And five seasons of Bones. Yes, Bones is ruining my goal of watching 200 films this year like I decided in my 50/50 challenge this year. I also didn’t manage to read a book in February. I’m still in the beginning of one which is not very good and as an excuse, as I forecasted in my previous update from January, my life changed a bunch when I moved to northern Finland, Lapland, to work at a restaurant during the high tourism season. So, I’ve basically been working and sleeping and watching some Bones during few spare hours since the middle of February. 

Looking that list, you can see I didn’t manage to watch any of the films on IMDb-list of Top-250 and the ones that I saw for the first time weren’t that good. They were OK but not great. The Imitation Game, though, was as good as it was a year ago.  And The Joneses was the best surprise of the month as I had never even heard of the film when we run into it while browsing Canal+ Go selection. It’s always nice to look David Duchovny.

Oh, I did spend hours for this list of possible future Oscar contenders, take a look! 😉

Pretty Valentine 2016 Top-10

I wrote this six days ago and I had all the intentions to publish it on Sunday. Apparently my real life kept me so busy, I totally forgot but because there’s never enough beauty in the world, Happy belated Valentine’s Day, folks!

As I’ve been sick and still trying to get over it, I treat myself with some nice photos of hot movie people that I’ve only come across lately or only just realised that these people are actually hot. Counting down from the newest hotness. Hopefully you enjoy watching beautiful people in beautiful pictures as much as I do. Happy Valentine’s Day! 

10)

Freddie Fox. Lovely face, great half-smile. Flamboyant and interesting. English. Check The Riot Club and Pride and what I’ve heard, also Cucumber, the TV series that I haven’t seen.

9)

Julian Morris. Born in London, mother from Zimbabwe, father from South Africa. Smile. Plays cute guys. Check New Girl & Pretty Little Liars.

8)

Aaron Paul. Yeah, from Breaking Bad. Those blue eyes. I love his eyes. And the way he says “bitch”. In Breaking Bad, he’s the ultimate bad boy that you just have to rescue. P.S. I’m still watching Breaking Bad, so please, don’t spoil it to me.

7) 

Tom Hardy. I actually said some time ago (after Bane) that I don’t find him hot. Obviously, there was something wrong with me. Obviously. Idiot (= me). So let’s have another look just to make it obvious that it was me who was wrong and for hotness check Inception and Lawless. For talent; anything he’s done.

6)

Alicia Vikander. What’s not to like? She’s annoyingly beautiful, so talented, stylish and yet she seems to have “’em balls”. She also has Michael Fassbender. Yeah, I kinda hate her. And love at the same time. Check anything she’s done and for hotness I guess The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a good bet, they have nice chemistry with Armie Hammer.

5)

Gerard Butler. Apparently it took multiple viewings of multiple “lady films” for me to realise that Butler is hottie. The voice, charisma or that bad boy attitude. OR accent, obviously. Check P.S. I Love You or The Ugly Truth if you can. But he’s kinda hot also in How To Train Your Dragon (and 2) and that’s only his voice.

4)

Bobby Campo. I saw him in Scream the series (TV) and found him attractive. I’ve probably forgotten his face next year this time but for now, he can be one of my valentines.

3)

Max Irons. Eyes, again. Features of his face too, I guess. Check The Riot Club (which, btw, is nice for anyone, like me, who has a soft spot for snobby English upper class brats that are quite handsome, speak impeccably beautiful English and are arrogant and smart plus dress themselves well) and also Red Riding Hood if you can tolerate the fact that it’s really bad. Max is Jeremy Iron’s son, good luck with living up to his dad’s reputation.

2) 

Oscar Isaac. Talent. Enormous talent. That is just really, really hot. Also, he looks very good and I like his smile. And his body. 😀 But the real point is the talent. He has been the movie world hero of lately to me with his capability of being anything, just check The Force Awakens (for hotness and funny side of his), Ex Machina (for total creepiness) or Inside Llewyn Davis (for being real). He is unbelievably talented and I’m so glad I have so many films of his still to watch. And did I remember mention is musical talent too, the clip is from the film 10 Years, it’s worth to check too, a lot of name actors playing nice small parts.

1)

Domhnall Gleeson. Again, the talent. Then the hair, eyes, smile, the whole package. There is something very endearing in him. I saw him in Soho when they were taking photos for Esquire magazine in London last October. I still regret that I tried to play it cool. He’s hot and so, so talented and I really would like him to be my valentine for real. Love him! Check anything but my favourites are Ex Machina, Anna Karenina and About Time. And I’m sure I will just love him in Brooklyn. ❤

January films watched

Hello there!

I decided I will make monthly updates to my movie lists: 50/50 and IMDb Top-250 everlasting challenge.

As  I mentioned in my review of 2015, I decided I will in reality challenge myself to read 12 books this year (I read eight the last, so it shouldn’t be too bad) and watch 150 films. And as mentioned on the page for 50/50, I will also continue my TV Challenge (although I seem to get lost all the time as I start watching something that is not on that list…).

This year actually started really well when it comes to movies. I watched total of 34 films. Yes, that many. I didn’t have much life in January. But it should change in a week or so, let’s see what kind of an effect it’ll have to my watching habits. I also saw 10 films in cinemas. A lot, huh? But it’s the Oscars time, so… I still need to review Creed, Joy, The Revenant and Spotlight before the gala and I need to watch at least Room and Brooklyn.

Most of the films I saw in January were good or better or at least OK. Few turkeys like Damsels in Distress or Varsity Blues. Yeah, I lost few hours of my life for those ones but then again, I gave four or more stars to 14 films out of 34, I think that’s a lot! So good month indeed. The best of the bunch being Spotlight. Review coming later! The whole list you can see on the page.

Last year I managed to watch only two (!) films from IMDb’s list and I promised I’ll do better this year as most of those films are really good! And I started my year strongly as I watched Spirited Away that was on the list at number 43 when I froze it and also Pan’s Labyrinth on the same day (the 1st of Jan) that is #105. Btw, someone really should have warned me how awful that movie is. I mean how harsh, mean, sad, horrible (and yes, beautiful and so good) it is. It is not the film you should be watching when having a New Year’s hangover… I also added those three films that are now in Top-250 but weren’t then when I cemented my list. I want to watch them anyway and for sure will watch one of them, as that is Room, in this month.

So far so good.

What you’ve been watching in 2016? Any recommendations that I definitely should watch?

Fairytale Year in Review

Now, when the year is almost over and I will be partying mostly what’s left of it and actually hang out with my real life friends, it’s time to take a look at my year in the blog-verse.

I had much less traffic this year than I did in 2014 but then again, I posted much less and I was very inconsistent, e.g. I didn’t write a word for five months… As my new year’s resolution, I promise I’ll try to do better. Apart from Homepage, other favourite posts have been my Analysis of Casablanca (made for school originally), “If You Can Dream It You Can Do It” and many of those Best of the Best lists (which I will be writing one more time this year when listing the best films of the year on the last day of the year). And apparently yesterday’s post of Jared Leto has been a huge success. 😀 My top-3 countries of visitors are US, Germany and for some weird reason, France. “Cary Fukunaga” has been, by far, the most popular search word(s) that will link people to my blog. No complaints there, he deserves all the attention coming to his way. Sunday seems to be the day I should post and the late hour of 11pm is the target time (no surprise there if my readers are from the States). Again, my dear readers, let me know if there are some special posts that you like more than others and I’ll try to do my best and write more about them. 🙂

Then… Let’s take a look how I did with all my self-challenges. Badly being the key word here.

50/50 ended up being 8/113 + 4 that I watched double or more times PLUS those that I will watch during these few days. I think that the next year I’ll go for 10/150 or something like it. Something I can actually reach. I definitely should read more though. The best book I read this year was the familiar one; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. No surprises there. Films I will go through later. But apparently X-Men: Days of Future Past and Star Wars: The Force Awakens are high on my list of movies all in all as I watched them twice this year. And Jurassic World, or perhaps Chris Pratt’s nipples (yay for Chris’ take on objectifying men; it is their time), seems to be THE film for me since I’ve seen it three (!) times since July. Chris Pratt in general was THE crush for me this year.

I did watch two films from my IMDb-250 list. Two. Wohoo. What’s wrong with me, those films are great! I watched The Graduate, not my cup of tea and to me definitely too hyped. Hated the way it looks. Ugh. The other one I just watched yesterday; The General by Buster Keaton (1926). He was a funny man! I enjoyed the film. Obviously it’s old but the story works and so does Keaton. But he’s no Chaplin, I have to say. I will continue tackle the list next year as well (and probably the next one after that too…). I also set up a TV Challenge in September. I haven’t watched too many from that list but I did finish watching the first season of Orphan Black and will definitely continue. I started The Affair and while it’s not bad it hasn’t gotten me hooked either. I didn’t watch five episodes so I need to give it another chance still. And I need to finish Outlander season 1, still four more episodes to go.

On personal side I have two lists; former 101 Things in 1001 Days that I changed to 55 Things in 555 Days; take a look! I only managed to do one so far but that’s kind of huge one as it is living abroad. As I told in the beginning of autumn, I moved to Amsterdam to do my exchange. I’m still there (though right now I’m visiting Finland for Christmas) and I’m planning on staying. I don’t have a proper job, I will loose my student housing in a month and I really need to find an internship to finalize my studies. So, wish me luck! And  if anyone knows any nice marketing/branding/event management internships in Europe (or elsewhere if I can get a permit) preferably in entertainment/sports business, let me know! Oh, I did start to take selfies every month, here’s an example:

I also have my Bucket List here for everyone to see. I haven’t achieved any of those goals, I think I need to start now.

In general note, the end of the year has been great. I loved my studies in Amsterdam, I got to know a bunch of great people that I really, really want to keep in my life in the future too. I’ve been pondering a lot if I’ve deserved all this happiness that I’m feeling now but then again, the spring and the last year were heavy ones, so, I guess, I have deserved some easy times for a change.

New Year’s resolutions? I promise to graduate. I promise to make changes to make me healthier. I promise to be easy on me. I promise to stay in touch with people that matter and I promise to try to remember not to hold on to things that are not worth it and just let them go. Any resolutions there?

I’m not wishing you Happy New Year yet as I hope you’ll come back in few days to see which films I liked the best this year. 😉

TV Challenge

This should probably be labeled as “series challenge” because I’m hardly going to watch any of these from TV… Anyhow. Last Christmas I asked recommendations from my Facebook friends for TV series. I wrote then that I will watch five episodes from first 10 recommendations. To me five is amount of episodes that either entice you or you just don’t care. It’s a fair deal, if makers can’t convince you in that time, it’s their loss.

I have now watched maybe one series, so I think I’ll challenge myself now to actually do it. Here is the list:

1. Masters of Sex
2. Silicon Valley
3. Newsroom
4. Archer
5. The Affair
6. House of Cards
7. Breaking Bad
8. Orphan Black
9. Orange Is the New Black
10. Homeland
11. Sons of Anarchy
12. Fringe
13. Under the Dome
14. Marco Polo
15. Arrow
16. Vikings
17. Looking
18. The Wire
19. Louie
20. Skins
21. Gotham

EDIT. The ones that were suggested afterwards:

22. Outlander
23. Daredevil
24. Scandal
25. The Wire
26. Agent Carter
27. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Ok. That was four that I’ve watched. But not finished though, so I want to finish them. And review in future posts of TV challenge. I would also like to get recommendations from you, what series I should definitely take a look on? I can add them to my neverending list. 🙂

Back on the Saddle!

I thought about this a lot. If I have an interest to write this blog. And if I can find time. But as long as I have time to binge-watch Netflix, I also have time to write my blog.

Let’s take an update.

I live in Amsterdam now. I’m in exchange. For my studies that I started two years ago. If you’re interested in reading more about me and my actual life, not just about movies, feel free to browse “The List Lover” posts that you can find from the left side menu.

I’m still pursuing my dreams. One way or another. I will be studying Business of Sports and Events during my time in Amsterdam. That will start on Monday. And after that I will have my practical training aka Internship time. I have quite big dreams concerning that but I will talk about it later.

So, how about my lists. Well, as you, who have read my blog earlier, know I love the Oscars. And I already made my early (very long lists of) predictions for next February. Check them here. And please feel free to tell me if I’ve forgotten something. Or make suggestions for the best documentary category, I’m so lost with that one. Thankfully, I will be here in Amsterdam when they are having IDFA, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in November, the mother of documentary film festivals.

Then, IMDB top-250. Yeah, I haven’t watched any since January. Yay for me… Tomorrow I’ll be seeing Manhattan though. I’m going to visit the Eye that is contemporary movie culture centre in here Amsterdam and they are showing the film.

Ok. 50/50. I haven’t watched that many films this year to be honest. But I did see 15/64 in cinemas. That’s not bad, I think. I listed the series, just to explain to myself why there aren’t more films in the list.

Well, my Bucket List. I’ve started number 56. Hah, I actually had my IQ tested (66). It’s normal. I never thought it would be very high but at least a bt. To be honest. It’s not. Wow. I’ve been too honest there… Well, what’s written it’s written… I guess. Number 90. is thankfully getting closer everyday.

And lastly, my list of 101 things in 1001 days. The deadline is gone. I managed to do quite many things from the list:

1. Get into some school to study something you really want to study and stay there. 

Still there.

Then I volunteered at film festivals (though I still want to go to Sundance or Toronto), joined Pinterest and Twitter (still using both) and started a blog (actually two but other one is in Finnish). I unpacked and then packed again as I don’t have home in Finland anymore. I saw new artists and tried new foods and restaurants and shot more people with my camera. I got new haircuts and new glasses as well. I made a short film, I used earrings and started to use more feminine clothes altogether. I saw Wicked and Supernatural season 6 (it was a drag…). I visit Lapland and Louvre. I got a bicycle(s, actually). And I got a pasta machine from my friends for my birthday (didn’t by it myself but who cares!). I managed to do 36/101. Not bad. And I will continue it. From now on it’ll be list of 55 things in 555 days.

@Satumaah

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