16 Days of Birthday, Day 11: You Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma-Make Me Happy...

Yes, I did just quote Tropic Thunder. I still find the fake 'Simple Jack' trailer one of the funniest things ever. As much as I'd like to sit here and talk to you about why Robert Downey Jr is the best at being an American playing an Australian playing a black dude etc etc, that won't be the case tonight. No. It's gloomy outside, the polar blast is still lurking around New Zealand (but no snow for Dannevirke...grrrrrrrrrrrr), and I'm feeling a bit under the weather. So I thought I better write a happy post!


You know, there are rarely any moments when I watch movies just to be happy. Usually I just stick a movie in and there you have it (I shall be watching Biutiful later tonight, which doesn't look like it will be a happy ride at all). If I had a type, I definitely do like watching movies which make me cry or really sad. But there are some movies which just make me happy. They make me smile like an idiot at the end, even if they aren't jovial right the way through.

At the moment, everybody seems to hate romantic comedies. Which is probably a good thing, considering that 99% of them are a load of crap and watching two people being in love isn't as interesting as it was back in the days of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. But you know one pretty recent romantic comedy that is actually awesome? (500) Days of Summer. Okay, so maybe it's more of an anti-romantic comedy, but either way, it still speaks the truth about many relationships and why they sometimes don't work out. While I wished that Tom and Summer could have been together at the end, I'm always smiling ear to ear once the credits roll. That's probably because this film, after all the depression that Tom goes through after being dumped by Summer, takes one last stab at happiness right at the very end. It comes in both the form of Tom finally realising that there are more things in life than the love of Summer Finn, and a very clever inside joke between the viewer and the film.

I'll admit, I'm secretly a hopeless romantic. You know, one day, I'd love a guy like Tom Hansen. Yet, another reason why I love (500) Days of Summer is the fact that it is so coy about love, as it's essentially about learning that love isn't the fairytale it seems to be. That's what really makes me happy. Yes, the film looks at a romantic relationship between a man and a woman. But in this one, Katherine Heigl doesn't get the guy who she really hated at the beginning. Instead, we see love happen. It may not be true love, but it's there. Then, we see the ultimate heartbreak through the brilliant expectations/reality scene, as Tom's fantasy falls down around his ears by seeing what actually happens. Yeah, reality will always be there to make sure that we don't live our lives through a fantasy. This is when I feel pretty sad for the guy, which makes the end all the more happy. And while Tom spends most of his post-Summer days in a state of depression, when he finally meets Summer again, he was able to take it like a man. (500) Days of Summer may have it's twee glossy coat, but really, there's a world of depression and sadness underneath it all. But it still manages to make me smile in the end.

Like I did with (500) Days of Summer, I can usually find happiness in the most unlikely films. For example, I always feel really happy when I finish watching Let the Right One In. This film, to me, is one of the most beautiful portrayals of friendship in a film. It features two outcasts, one being a young bullied boy and another being a young vampire who has lived for hundreds of years. Sure, it's unlikely, but this movie is essentially an allegory for having a friend who will always be there for you. My heart always shatters when I see the note Eli wrote - "I must be gone and live, or stay and die" - because this means that poor little Oskar has no-one yet again. But every time I see that amazing swimming pool scene, I'm instantly lifted. I think the bond between Eli and Oskar is so sweet, especially because of how Eli could help Oskar when he was in so much trouble. The final scene, showing Oskar in the train using morse code to communicate with Eli who is in a box, always makes me happy. Mainly because I love how they can help each other so effortlessly, whereas before they met each other, they were struggling to help themselves.
 
There are plenty of other weird movies that make me really happy (seriously, Inglourious Basterds will never fail to make me smile like someone on drugs). Oh yeah, and there are movies which make me happy once they finally end (uh, Sucker Punch, anyone?). But hey, I'm strange like that.
 
What are some movies which make you happy?

365 Days Later...

Yes, this day, 21st October in 2009, I started this blog, for no particular reason at all. Okay, well, I did start it because I had a genius idea to watch a movie a day until the end of November. I did so, and even after that ended, I continued to post my rather juvenile reviews on here. Looking back on the past year, I have done things which I never really expected to do when I opened this blog. So, naturally, I am pretty excited about my first blog birthday!

Anyway, here is a list of major achievements and things I have learnt in this past year (I like lists...maybe this might be useful for some other budding bloggies!):

-It all started with Let the Right One In. I remember watching this film (actually on 18th October, it just took me a while to post a review) and thinking, 'I must write something about that...it was really beautiful'. I wrote something about it, and I must admit, my whole style has changed alot since then. See how short the review was? Moral of the story is: you ain't gonna be great from the very beginning. Some of the posts I have are really crap, but when you get the right time and the right movie, great things happen.

-A review on The Proposal changed things. Okay, I'm over-dramatizing that. A month into this blog, with some advice from a few teachers, I decided to show the local paper what I could do. Turns out, I was very good at writing movie reviews, and I got my own column in the paper for my reviews (starting with The Proposal), every Monday. Now I have people recognizing me in the supermarket praising my work, and apparently people buy paper's specially on Monday coz I am in there. I am personally very proud of that, and I love the way people react when they find out that Dannevirke News' movie reviewer is only 15 years old.
Here's a clipping from the paper:


-I was excited about Inception on January 31st.

-God, I remember this day. Sometimes I go off track, but I tend not to treat this blog as a diary. But then again, sometimes I just wanna let you know what's going on in my life, which I think is okay. Seriously, there aren't any rules to blogging. If I feel like shit, I might just post about it. But usually I try to keep it all movie related. You do what you want with your blog; I can guarantee you that somebody will read it.

-My off month was pretty much May. I know exactly why this was, too. I was preoccupied by other things which I don't feel the need to discuss on the interweb...*grins*. I think I stress too much about how often I am posting, because sometimes I get really pissed when some of my favourite blogs don't post in ages. I don't know if I'm anyone's favourite blog, but I'm sorry to anyone who missed me in May, I couldn't help it!

-This post put me on the map. In the blogosphere, so to speak. One night I decided to vent about the Let the Right One In remake, Let Me In. I mean, considering this was the first movie I reviewed, it had a special spot in my heart. I do take some of my harshness back, because I see that Let Me In has been getting great reviews...but there wasn't any need to remake it. However, this post got linked on Encore's World of Film & TV, which is a pretty well respected blog (and one of my favourites). I was so excited, it was the first time I had ever been linked!

-Christopher 'God' Nolan became one of my favourite people to talk about on June 17th. Which was ironic because by then, I had only seen The Dark Knight and The Prestige. Roll on forward a few months and I am proud to say I have watched (and loved) every single one. Trust me, every time I see the name 'Christopher Nolan', I go all gooey and almost fanboy-like inside.
*I enjoy talking about Leonardo DiCaprio too.

-It was clear that I was pretty excited for Inception by June's end. I dedicated an entire post to the three trailers, which is apparently the most popular post I have ever done. So it should be, too, I spent five hours on it (I was pretty tired after the production had ended though...so that's why it took me so long).

-I became the 613th LAMB! Your movie blog ain't a movie blog until you are a LAMB!


-And then I finally got to see Inception. It soon became my second favourite movie of all time. The first time I walked out of the cinemas in tears from it's greatness (yes, it was strange, but I couldn't help it!). The second time (three days later) I still cried and managed to wow some of my friends in a way they hadn't been wowed before. The third time I went with more friends (for my birthday, I mean how often do I get to watch do two of my favourite things--watch a movie at the cinemas and watch a Christopher Nolan movie--for my birthday?!). Turns out, that was one of the best days of my life.

-I hate Nic Cage, but this post based around his hair has to be one of the favourite I have ever done. A real highlight in my blog life.

-Most of all, I found out that blogging is fun. Being part of this blogosphere has made me feel...special? I don't know, yet, it means a lot to me. The fact that I still watch three movies in one night even though I have study for important exams just so I can give you my opinion on a movie you would have seen months ago...it adds a lot of fun to my life. Knowing that I am good at something and I always want to better myself gives me something to strive for. This all sounds as cliched as Letters to Juliet but it is true. Blogging pretty much completes me.

So if you are a new bloggy, take some advice from me: your blog won't be perfect from the start. You might not have heaps of followers, but they come. Just keep getting better and better, tweaking things to just the way you want them, and the people will come. Also, don't make plans for the future of your blog. If you let everything just fall into place, then you will have one of the reminiscing moments and you will see how far you have come. I mean, this ain't bad for a thing I started as an online diary about movies.

Time to thank a few people:

My friends. Especially you, Maxine, you are always on here. Seriously, everytime I hear you guys have seen my blog, it makes me extremely happy.

The people on Facebook who go to my school and read my blog. It's really surprising when people say 'I've been on your blog and it's awesome', even though they are in a completely different year group and I barely know them! I guess I should be thanking Mark Zuckerberg now, too...

Film Intel I keep finding my quotes on some of the reviews. It makes me insanely happy! Great blog too, definitely check it out.

Any other blog I follow which has inspired me in some way or another.

You, my follower, my reader, the person who makes my day.

My parents for buying me a laptop so it's easier for me to blog all the time (okay, that wasn't the reason they bought it for me...but anyway...)

Lastly, Blockbuster Dannevirke. For all those times I have got movies out. I am seriously lucky I don't have to pay for them...

Oh well, that's a lengthy birthday post from me. Sorry if it bored you, but I'm just amazed at how far I have come. Here's to my first blog-birthday, and hopefully a few more to come!

I can't even be bothered reviewing White Chicks

and if you saw me now you'd be like this...I know I'm slacking off on the job.

In a few words: it sucked, and I really don't get why people my age love it so much. I mean, it's kinda funny, but it just depends where your movie maturity level is at. Mine's definitely not the same as other people's my age. And I felt like I had seen this before.

Anyhoo, why did I abandon my blog for a little while? School. Nearly failed an exam (got another four next week), had to do a whole research project on global warming, and had to prepare for speech finals...doing a speech which I hadn't done since the day after I first saw Inception (which was a damn long time ago, July 23rd, to be exact.) Good news though...

I won my speech final!

^my victory dance=)

This means a lot to me because I have been trying to win a speech competition for six years, but I always come third. And this year, my final year to compete, I finally won. My topic was Facebook, so now I should thank that wonderful website, Mark Zuckerberg (whom I dislike immensely after reading The Accidental Billionaires), Eduardo Saverin (my hero), and all my stalker friends who inspired my speech.

...and that was the only acceptance speech I'll ever have to do.

So happiness all-round! Expect a bit of a run from me when I try and clear out my queue of reviews...