filmapan

[Here We Go/Jodorowsky] #16

2010-09-02T11:59:00.003+02:00

Here we go.

Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) is a really great movie. I enjoyed the hell out of it at the cinema. I didn't really know anything about it before I saw it, I stayed away from all the trailers and interviews and whatnot on purpose. And I guess this is really one of those movies that you'll enjoy more the less you know about it...

Chirstopher Nolan is one of the most interesting directors working right now and Inception really made me want to see where he'll take his Batman in the next one. It's coming summer 2012. Very exciting...

Another move that I need to mention here, that I watched for the first time about a week ago is El Topo. El Topo (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1970) is a really, really wierd movie. It's kind of a surrealistic western I guess, but there's a whole lot of stuff going on. The one thing that stuck with me the most, if I have to pick one, is the arm-less man carrying a leg-less man on his back so that they together kind of becomes a whole man... Amazing.

I kind of knew what I was in for becuase I've seen The Holy Mountain (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973) before. And that is by far the strangest movie I have ever seen. I highly recommend both of them though, I will rewatch both of them as well. It feels like movies that you can watch a couple of times and probably just get more out of your experience.

Right now I'm out looking for one of his other movies called Santa Sangre from 1989. I guess from what I've read that it's supposed to more of a horror movie that takes place at, and around a carnival. And that, directed by Jodorowsky can't be bad...

The little girl just woke up and I need to fix her lunch. And then we'll go out for a walk...

Until next time.

[Q & A/Option Paralysis] #15

2010-07-14T21:40:00.010+02:00

(Another 6 months, and still nothing new at Filmapan) Shit...

Here's cutting straight to the film-related stuff.

So, where do I start to try to get this up and running again?

Right here:

Q: Best new movie that I've seen at the movies so far this year?

A: Kick-Ass (Matthew Vaughn, 2010).

Q: One movie that didn't live up to the hype that I had created in my mind?

A: Iron Man 2 (Jon Favreau, 2010).

Q: Best old movie that I've seen again in the last couple of weeks?

A: Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986). Also: R.I.P Dennis Hopper.

Q: The movie I'm looking forward to the most right now?

A: Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010).

Q: Some of the movies that I've bought in the last couple of weeks?

A: River's Edge (Tim Hunter, 1986), Chung-king Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994), Happy Together (Wong Kar-Wai, 1997), Hard Boiled (John Woo, 1992), Deep Red a.k.a Profondo Rosso (Dario Argento, 1975), The Smuggler a.k.a Contraband (Lucio Fulci, 1980).

I guess that's it for now...

One more thing. Dillinger Escape Plan released an amazing album called "Option Paralysis" a while back. Make sure to check it out...

While on the subject of good music released so far this year, don't miss The Gaslight Anthem's new album "American Slang" or the new one by Sage Francis "Li(f)e" either.

This is Apan signing out...

[Ninja/The 2000's] #14

2010-01-13T19:25:00.010+01:00

I'm still going steady with the most amazing girl ever, and we've got a little baby-girl that's 17 days old today. Her name is Ninja and she's all kinds of awesome... So this time I won't even bother to tell you that I'm sorry about the delay (even though it's been about 6 months since I wrote anything in here), becuase I'm not...

But, since this is not a blog about my life, I'll start writing about movies again (and once again I'll try to do it once a month, or more)...

Well, I guess it's time for my top 10 movies of the 2000's.

So, in no particular order, here we go:

* Oldboy (Chan-Wook Park, 2003)

* Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000)

* Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001)

* Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)

* Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)

* The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)

* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)

* Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)

* Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)

* There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

I sure hope that all of you (9 people who's reading this) have seen all of them already. Otherwise, just do it...

Well, the little girl is waking up.

Later...

[One of The Worst/A Waste of Time ] # 13

2009-06-30T11:15:00.005+02:00

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen (Michael Bay, 2009) is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It's so full of bad stuff and stupid shit that I don't even know where to start. I think I won't even bother, it would just be a waste of time...

This movie is the true opposite of a good movie. Avoid at all costs (or if you feel the need to throw away two and a half hours of your life, download this as soon as it's possible. Don't give them your hard-earned cash...)

[A New Beginning/The End Begins] #12

2009-06-04T10:07:00.003+02:00

It's been a while. Too long this time, for sure...

Sorry about that.

Actually: No.

The reason for my not-writing-so-much here at filmapan is the most amazing girl ever, so I'm not really sorry... But apan is back now. There'll be some changes though (more about that later). And, yes. This will be a short one...

I re-watched Magnolia (Paul thomas Anderson, 1999) about a week ago, since (for some reason) the most amazing girl ever had not seen it. It's still retardedly perfect, that's all I have to say about it. If you haven't seen it, make sure to check it out, like, this weekend.

You don't really have to run to the cinema to check out Terminator Salvation (McG, 2009), even though it was pretty good. I don't understand the bad reviews that some fan-boy are giving it, I think it is far better than Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Jonathan Mostow, 2003). Of course Terminator Salvation has some stupid shit going on, but young Kyle Resse (Anton Yelchin) and Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) are pretty cool and the action is good. The story of an older John Connor (Christian Bale) fighting Skynet and the Terminators in the year 2018 is not a masterpiece in any sense of the word, but about 2 hours of pretty solid entertainment. It's kind of like, whatever...

Now, the news... I'm going to make this a monthly thing. Just make sure to check in around the 25th of every month for new filmapan stuff.

Take care.

Later...

[Once/Weird] #11

2009-03-19T19:07:00.006+01:00

Last night I watched Once (John Carney, 2006), and it was really good. I have nothing to complain about, it was a feel-good movie with a very basic story, good actors and some cool songs going on. Check it out...

Also. I've watched these:

Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 1999), Human Nature (Michel Gondry, 2001), Adaptaion (Spike Jonze, 2002), Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004).

All written by Charile Kaufman, and all of them really good. Eternal Sunshine is my favorite of the bunch. It's one of my all-time favorites...

And then I saw Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008) at the cinema - Kaufman's first movie as a director. It was pretty good too, and really, really, weird. Weirder than any of the other ones...

The other day I saw Watchmen (Zach Snyder, 2009) too at the cinema, and I think they made a really good job with that one. It is not nearly as good as the graphic novel, but as a movie it works really well. And the new ending didn't bother me that much... I think it's worth checking it out.

That's it for now.

[The Whole Thing/Ninja-friend] #10

2009-02-24T23:34:00.007+01:00

A short one.

I just got back from the cinema, I watched Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008). It was good, and I think Anne Hathaway should have gotten the Oscar for her role here, even though I haven't seen The Reader (Stephen Daldry, 2008). But I bet Kate Winslet is good in that too...

Speaking of the Oscars.

Yes, I saw the whole thing, slept about 1 hour and then went to work. Tierd as shit yesterday.

No Oscar for Mickey Rourke. It made me a little bit sad, becuase I think it would have been cool. But Sean Penn won for Milk (Gus Van Sant, 2008). No probs for me, he seems to be really good in that movie, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. Also, he talked about gay-rights in his thank-you-speech and that is more important than any (let's face it, pretty stupid) movie award show...

Listening to the new ...Trail Of Dead album right now, it's called The Century of Self and it seems good. Much better than the last one...

Also, a secret Ninja-friend of mine gave me a copy of the new Propagandhi record, Supporting Caste yesterday, even though it's not out for another 2 weeks, or something (The Lord works in mysterious ways). Whatever. It's really fucking good and I'm buying it on the release-day. Make sure to check it out...

Well, over and out... I'm off to bed.

[The Oscars/Rediscovered] #9

2009-02-22T14:38:00.008+01:00

Yes. The Bronx put up a really good show. Probably one of the best bands. Ever...

Tonight I'll stay up and watch the Oscars.

Here's the outcome I'm hoping for (not how I think it will be), in the bigger categories:

Best Picture:

Milk (Gus Van Sant, 2008) - I haven't seen it, but I think it's probably the best of the bunch. Fucking stupid that The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008) didn't get nominated in this category though, since it's the best movie in a long time.

Best Director:

David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 2008) - Not his best movie by any means, but he's cool and he makes good movies.

Best Actor:

Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler, 2008) - Just because he's retardedly good in that movie.

Best Actress:

For some reason I'm hoping for Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married, 2008), mainly becuase the movie seems good, I haven't seen it though.

Best Supporting Actor:

Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight, 2008) - I know he's dead, but that doesn't matter here. His Joker was right on kick-ass in every way. Hopefully he would have been nominated even if he was still with us.

Best Supporting Actress:

Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler, 2008) - She's really good in it, and the movie is awesome.

Another thing is that Mr. Springsteen isn't nominated for his end-credit song in The Wrestler, but Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008) has two songs in that category. Stupid...

That's it for now. I'll write again tomorrow, after the Oscars.

For your pleasure my friends:

Rediscovered band of the week - Jane's Addiction. Their album "Ritual De Lo Habitual" from 1990 is truly great. Check it out!

[A Short One/Jason Lives] #8

2009-02-17T00:11:00.008+01:00

This will be a short one.

I just got back from the cinema. I went to see Gomorra (Matteo Garrone, 2008) with some friends. It was pretty good. Not as good as I expected it to be, but still good.

Yesterday I went to to cinema all by myself and watched Friday The 13th (Marcus Nispel, 2009), the remake/reboot of the classic series. It was ok. Much better than some of the later installments like Friday The 13th part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan (Rob Hedden, 1989), Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (Adam Marcus, 1993) and Jason X (James Isaac, 2001). The new movie has some cool things going on, but there's also alot of stupid stuff. Anyway, it was pretty good. I liked the new Jason, even though he's not really as retarded as he's been in the past. He's more of a survivor/Rambo kind of guy, building traps and things like that... And since he did not really die at the end and the movie is number 1 at the box office, I think we can expect a new part 2 pretty soon...

I also watched Friday The 13th part 6: Jason Lives (Tom McLoughlin, 1986) last week because one of the guys at www.chud.com wrote that that's the best one, and I hadn't seen it in a couple of years. He's wrong though, the best one is still, in my opinion, Friday The 13th part 4: The Final Chapter (Joseph Zito, 1984)...

Now I'm off to bed. Tomorrow I'll go to Stockholm to check out The Gaslight Anthem at Debaser, and on Wednesday one of my favorite bands, The Bronx are playing at Tyrol. It will probably be all kinds of awesome...

Later.

[Here We Go/Supporting Caste] #7

2009-01-26T21:43:00.004+01:00

Once again it's been about a month since the last time I wrote anything in here.

But, here we go...

I just came home from the cinema. I decided to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008) after work. It was really good. Not awesome, but good. The performances were great, the make-up FX were cool and, as always with Fincher, it looked amazing. I also liked the pretty simple story of a guy that ages backwards. Not as great as Fight Club or Seven, but better than The Game, Alien 3 and Panic Room. I think that Zodiac is better than this one too.

The other day I watched Joint Security Area (Chan-Wook Park, 2000) for the first time and it was good. Not nearly as good as his revenge-trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance) or I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK. But still pretty good.

Another movie that I watched again, since last time is Happiness (Todd Solondz, 1998). I hadn't seen in a while, but it is still really fucking good. Solondz best movie to date, he'll probably never top it. If you haven't seen it, make sure to check it out.

Right now I'm looking forward to Revolutionary Road (Sam Mendes, 2009), Watchmen (Zack Snyder, 2009), Friday the 13th (Marcus Niespel, 2009) and The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008). I know. I've seen that last one already, but it's one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I want to see it again.

By the way, Choke (Clark Gregg, 2008) will be released on DVD next month. It's based on one of my all-time favorite books, Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. Chuck P also wrote the book Fight Club and he is probably my favorite author. I think they should make movies of all his books.

The latest movie from Kevin Smith, Zack and Miri Make a Porno was pretty good too, by the way.

Until next time. Take care...

Propagandhi will release a new album called Supporting Caste in March too. Should be great. Looking forward to it...

[A New Year/Dazed and Confused] #6

2009-01-05T21:27:00.006+01:00

It's been a month since last time.
Sorry about that.

Anyway, you've probably been busy with your own christmases and new years as well.
But here we go...

Filmapan is back for this new year, 2009.

Today I woke up, went to the dentist and had a tooth pulled out of my face. Then I went home and watched some movies (3 ones that I had never seen before).

I started out with Doomsday (Neil Marshall, 2008) and it wasn't very good. It was like a not-so-cool hybrid between Escape From New York (John Carpenter, 1981) and Mad Max 2 - The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981), kind of like I expected. So you better just re-watch those, or see them for the first time if you haven't seen them before. They're both great.

Then I watched Nacho Libre (Jared Hess, 2006) for some reason. It was kind of bad, I didn't like it. I guess the reason I gave it a shot is that I really like Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess, 2004). It is one of my favorite funny movies, but this one wasn't really funny at all. I think I laughed about 2 times.

Anyway, the 3rd movie I watched today was Slacker (Richard Linklater, 1991) and it was good. It isn't really about anything, and it's a low-budget/debut picture, but make sure to check it out. Speaking of Linklater, I re-watched Dazed and Confused (1993) about a week ago, and it's still amazing.

Also, since last time I've watched the complete last season of The Sopranos. Great show, that one.

Ok...

Best movie of 2008: The Wrestler (I already wrote about earlier, but make sure to check it out).
Worst movie of 2008: Mamma Mia! (This could also be the most overrated film since 1895).

Right now I'm really looking forward to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2009) and Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Kevin Smith, 2008).

That's it for now, and I wish all of you (the 4 people that might read this) a great year!

[Blue Velvet] #5

2008-12-09T22:26:00.005+01:00

Ok. I didn't see The Baader Meinhof Complex at the cinema today like I thought I would. Instead I stayed home and watched Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986) again, for the first time in about 10 years.

Two words for you my friends: Really awesome...

See it again, it's much better than you remember (or just watch it, if you haven't seen it yet. You will not be disappointed).

I think I'll re-watch all of Lynch's films this winter. I'll even give Inland Empire another try, I didn't like it all that much when I first saw it earlier this year. Lost Highway is one of my all-time favorites though, and Twin Peaks is, easily one of the best things ever to show up on TV.

[The Festival/Next Up] #4

2008-12-02T19:25:00.010+01:00

Ok.

Apan is back from Stockholm, and this years filmfestival. It was pretty cool.

The movies that I saw there:

Frozen River - A good, American independent movie about human-trafficing between Canada and the US... Check it out.

Better Things - A pretty boring independent movie from the UK about alot of people that did alot of drugs, other bad things and felt bad about themselves. It felt like the longest shortfilm I've ever seen... Skip.

The Wrestler - The 4th movie from Darren Aronofsky, the man behind Pi, Requiem For a Dream and The Fountain. My expectations were really high for this one, but it did not let me down. In fact, it was pretty amazing. Mickey Rourke was awsome. See it at the movies. I don't care if you download The Hills Have Eyes 2, Transformers or Mamma Mia, but this is the kind of film that we need to support... Believe the hype.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Doctor Hunter S. Thompson - A good documentary about the man himself narrated by Johnny Depp. Interesting and funny. Also: alot of drugs and guns... Check it out.

Chocolate - The new movie from Prachya Pinkaew, the man behind Ong-Bak and The Protetctor. Pretty good, but mostly just great fight-scenes and crazy stunts (as always)... If you liked the other 2 you'll know what to expect.

Ballast - A good, American independent film about some people in a really small town in Minnesota. It's about a guy trying to reach out to his brother's wife and kid after the brother's suicide. Kind of. It was really good though... Check it out.

Ashes of Time Redux - An old film (from 1994) by Wong Kar-Wai about a couple of samurai-dudes and some wine that made you forget stuff. I don't know if it was just my being tierd, but I had a really hard time following what was going on. It wasn't bad at all, just confusing. It looked great too (as always with the cinematography of Christopher Doyle)... I'll give this another chance sometime.

That's it for now.

I'll try to catch The Baader Meinhof Complex at the cinema sometime this upcoming week. It seems interesting. Tell you about it later.

Until next time...

[Festival Info/The Expendables 2010] #3

2008-11-26T20:28:00.013+01:00

So, this is what's happening this weekend:

THURSDAY NOV. 27th:

The Good, The Bad & The Weird (Ji-Woon Kim, 2008)

FRIDAY NOV. 28th:

Tears For Sale (Uros Stojanovic, 2008) & The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008)

SATURDAY NOV. 29th:

Sparrow (Johnny To, 2008), Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson (Alex Gibney, 2008) & Chocolate (Prachya Pinkaew, 2008)

SUNDAY NOV. 30th:

Ballast (Lance Hammer, 2008) & Gomorra (Matteo Garrone, 2008)

... hopefully, it'll all be pretty awesome.

I'm really looking forward to The Wrestler.

I'll try to write at least once while I'm down there...

I watched Blade Runner - The Final Cut (Ridley Scott, 1982/2007)

late last night with my colleagues down at the cinema.

It was great. As always...

Also, check this out:

Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham & Dolph Lundgren directed by Stallone in The Expendables !!!

Coming in 2010... Could be pretty cool.

[Sorry/Where Apan's at...] #2

2008-11-22T00:31:00.018+01:00

Ok. It seems I lied a little in the last post. Sorry...
But I'll write some more stuff before the filmfestival next weekend.

When people ask me what my favorite movie is, I usually say Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999). And that might be true, but the thing is that I enjoy alot of different movies. So right here, right now I'll give you 29 more of my favorite movies (in no particular order). Just so you know where Apan's at...

Requiem For A Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000), Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 1969), Oldboy (Chan-Wook Park, 2003), Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979), Evil Dead II (Sam Raimi, 1987), Happiness (Todd Solondz, 1998), Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976), The Big Lebowski (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1998), The Ice Storm (Ang Lee, 1997), Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986), Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999), Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983), The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson & Frank Oz, 1982), Planet of The Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968), Stand By Me (Rob Reiner, 1986), Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hopper, 1974), La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995), Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975), Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki, 1997), 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968), The Rules of Attraction (Roger Avary, 2002), The City Of Lost Children (Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1995), The Warriors (Walter Hill, 1979), Two-Lane Blacktop (Monte Hellman, 1971), Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004), Lost Highway (David Lynch, 1997), Short Cuts (Robert Altman 1993) and Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982).

Yupp. If there are some of them you haven't seen, just check them out. They're all great...

This last week, I've been kind of lazy (a.k.a I haven't watched alot of movies). But I saw Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green, 2008) at the movies, and I thought it was pretty funny. It was kind of long, and some of the action wasn't all that fun. But the car-chase and some of the smoking/talking about weed-scenes were hilarious...

Also earlier today I watched Kiki's Delivery Service (Hayao Miyazaki, 1989), and it was really good. I hadn't seen it before, so I was a bit bummed out about having to watch the swedish-dubbed version (I was hanging out with a 6,5 year old kid), but it didn't matter that much. I liked it anyway... After that (when the kid had fallen asleep) I watched Halloween - The Unrated Director's Cut (Rob Zombie, 2007) with director's commentary. I kind of like Zombie's remake of the classic Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978), and his commentaries are pretty interesting, so it was all cool...

Now I'm off to bed. Over and out.

[Intro/Vigilante] #1

2008-11-11T21:38:00.051+01:00

Check, check.
This is just a test.

Or maybe a warning.

Filmapan will start for real when I get back from

The Stockholm International Filmfestival on monday december 1st.

So stay tuned and be prepared...

By the way, the new album by The Bronx is out today (it's called The Bronx III). Make sure to check it out. It's totally great...

I watched a movie called Vigilante from 1983, directed by William Lustig (Maniac and Maniac Cop 1-3) earlier tonight. Robert Forster and Fred Williamson were beating up bad guys (who had done bad things to Forsters family). It wasn't very good, but it had some cool music going on though. Just so you know...

Well, that's all for now.

Remember: Somewhere In The Universe There Must Be Something Better Than Man.