Todo Sobre Mi Madre/All About My Mother (1999)

"To all actresses who have played actresses. To all women who act. To men who act and become women. To all the people who want to be mothers. To my mother."

I discovered this film, which was my very first Almodovar, at the library, whilst actually searching for something totally different, but as usual, I got sidetracked, and this jumped out at me. I took it home, watched it, and that was it. I was hooked on Almodovar. I think I must have watched this film at least three times straight before it made it's way back into it's case! Since then, I've watched 14 films directed by Pedro Almodovar, and own most of these. I practically ran to the cinema to see Volver on the first day of it's release, actually it's first showing, and sat in a deserted cinema screen, barely containing my excitement!


Cast: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes,  Antonia San Juan, Penelope Cruz, Candela Pena.
Director: Pedro Almodovar


Tragedy strikes on Manuela's son, Esteban's 17th birthday. Following a performance of 'A Streetcar Named Desire', starring his favourite actress, Huma Roja, he is killed in a car accident. Devastated, Manuela embarks on a journey to Barcelona to find the father Esteban never knew, having been told 'your father died long before you were born.' The reason for this is apparent when her ex-lover's identity becomes clear, he is a transvestite junkie named Lola, who is dying from AIDS related illness. Along her journey, Manuela meets Agrado, Lola's transsexual best friend; Huma, when 'Streetcar' comes to town; and a church social worker, Sister Rosa; each with their own journey, and story of pain, laughter and ultimate strength to tell.

Watch the trailer here.

Links: imdb, wikipedia, Sony offiicial site, Almodovar official site.





All About my Mother/ Todo Sobre mi Madre




Sister Rosa (Penelope Cruz)




Manuela & Rosa




Agrado (Antonia San Juan)




Manuela (Cecilia Roth)




Manuela & Rosa.
 




Requiem for a Dream (2000)

"In the end it's all nice." - Sara Goldfarb

I love this film. I discovered it by accident, I suppose I was just curious, but the first time I watched it, when I got to the end, i just put it back to the beginning and watched it over. It's based on the book of the same title by Hubert Selby Jr. (1978), and while I do love the film, I'm a massive fan of the book, to which the film doesn't quite do justice. However, it is well worth a watch and completely unmissable if you aren't prepared to check out the book. It was directed by Darren Aronofsky (Director of Pi), however, in my opinion this film is miles ahead of Pi, which I was very disappointed by.

Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans.
Director: Darren Aronofsky.

This is the story of four people. Each has a dream. But each has a weakness, and addiction is set to turn their dreams into nightmares. Sara Goldfarb, an elderly, lonely widow wants to be on television, she wants to be liked, she wants to fit in the red dress; Harry, her son and his girlfriend, Marion, dream of opening up a store to sell Marion's designs, and best friend, Tyrone. C. Love, has hopes of getting away from the streets. However addictions to heroin, cocaine and speed (diet pills) have plans of their own.

Watch the trailer here.

Links: imdb, wikipedia, official site.




Requiem for a Dream.




Harry (Jared Leto) & Marion




Marion (Jennifer Connelly)




Tyrone. C. Love (Marlon Wayans)




Harry & Marion




Sara & Harry Goldfarb




Marion




Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn)





Die Fetten Jahre Sind Vorbei/The Edukators (2004)

"Jedes Herz ist eine revolutionaere Zelle" / "Every heart is a revolutionary cell"

This film I found during my studies of German, and have loved it ever since. Please don't be put off by subtitles, or you'll be put off of most of the films I can recommend, even if you're not used to watching foreign films, I guarantee within half an hour you'll forget it's even in a foreign language. :)

Cast: Daniel Bruehl, Julia Jentsch, Stipe Erceg, Burghart Klaussner.
Director: Hans Weingartner

This is the story of three young activists in Berlin. Jule is over her head in debt due to a car accident, that has left her footing the bill of rich businessman, Hardenberg. On being evicted from her flat, she moves in with her boyfriend, Peter and introverted roommate, Jan. She soon finds out Peter and Jan's secret. They are "The Edukators". Breaking into the villas and mansions of the rich and wealthy, they re-arrange furniture, always leaving a note: " Your Days of Plenty are Over" or "You Have Too Much Money". Jule soon convinces Jan to break into Hardenburg's luxury villa, but the plan goes wrong. Forced to kidnap Hardenberg, they flee to a remote chalet, putting their friendship, trust and political views to the test.

Watch the trailer here.

Links: imdb, wikipedia




The Edukators




Peter (Stipe Erceg), Jan (Daniel Bruehl) & Jule (Julia Jentsch)




Peter, Jan & Jule




Jan & Jule




Jule, Peter & Jan




Peter & Hardenberg (Burghart Klaussner)




Jan & Jule.

For the 'Top 10 Movie Quotes' swap. Thought i'd post them here as well :) Of course, there's not just ten, it's just too hard to choose!






Lucas: Joe, I think it's going to be OK.
Joe: What makes you think that?
Lucas: Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear.

Empire Records




Dan: Didn't fancy my sandwiches?
Alice: Don't eat fish.
Dan: Why not?
Alice: Fish piss in the sea.
Dan: So do children.
Alice: Don't eat children either.

Closer




Tyler Durden: Hey, you created me. I didn't create some loser alter-ego to make myself feel better. Take some responsibility!

Fight Club




Manuela: You are not a human being, Lola. You are an epidemic.

Todo Sobre mi Madre/ All About my Mother




Agent Smith: I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.

The Matrix



Clementine: I apply my personality in a paste.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind




Ricky Fitts: Never underestimate the power of denial.

American Beauty




Peter: It's not who invented the gun. It's who pulls the trigger.

The Edukators




Sara Goldfarb: It's a reason to get up in the morning. It's a reason to lose weight, to fit in the red dress. It's a reason to smile. It makes tomorrow all right. What have I got Harry, hm? Why should I even make the bed, or wash the dishes? I do them, but why should I? I'm alone. Your father's gone, you're gone. I got no one to care for. What have I got, Harry? I'm lonely. I'm old.

Requiem for a Dream




Jules: There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you. I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before you popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice. Now I'm thinkin': it could mean you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here, he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could be you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be a shepherd.

Pulp Fiction




Joel: Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind




Sam: If you can't laugh at yourself, life's gonna seem a whole lot longer than you'd like.

Garden State




Tyler Durden: You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.

Fight Club




Giosue: "No Jews or Dogs Allowed." Why do all the shops say, "No Jews Allowed"?
Guido: Oh, that. "Not Allowed" signs are the latest trend! The other day, I was in a shop with my friend the kangaroo, but their sign said, "No Kangaroos Allowed," and I said to my friend, "Well, what can I do? They don't allow kangaroos."
Giosue: Why doesn't our shop have a "Not Allowed" sign?
Guido: Well, tomorrow, we'll put one up. We won't let in anything we don't like. What don't you like?
Gisoue: Spiders.
Guido: Good. I don't like Visigoths. Tomorrow, we'll get a sign: "No Spiders or Visigoths Allowed."

La Vita e Bella/ Life is Beautiful

Another swap challenge from Swap-bot.






This time to take a picture of something for each colour in the list:

• Black
• Red
• Light/Sky Blue
• Royal Blue
• Navy Blue
• Lilac
• Purple
• Pink
• Brown
• Orange
• Green
• Turquoise
• Yellow
• White
• Cream
• Peach
• Grey
• Silver
• Gold
• Copper
• Fluorescent
• Rainbow

Hope you enjoy the pictures. Some are taken near where I live, and some in Brussells, as we went for a weekend there recently. I know the portrait ones are a completely different size to the landscape ones, and I couldn't tell you why. I tried resizing but it doesn't want to play. :( They were all taken on the same camera, it just decided to do that...who knows why!


Here goes :)



Black

Never really found out what it was, but 'twas a prettyful building we kept passing in Brussels.





Puss...in flip flops! He sat himself there, honestly. Odd cat.







Red

I found this pretty poppy, near the church down the road.




Bloemen tegen mijnen/Des fleurs contre des mines: I found this in Brussels, round the back of a folk festival. Every handmade ceramic 'poppy' in the field is a symbol for amputation and protest against the maiming caused by anti-personnel mines. The poppies are sold for 50 Euros each, the profit of which going to APOPO, to fund demining operations and buy an armoured bushcutter to speed up the demining work. APOPO is training African Giant Pouched rats to search for landmines, and also to detect TB in human saliva samples. Each individual poppy was handmade by Anita Huybens. Read more here.









Light/Sky Blue

Part of the haunted house type ride at a fair that was being set up near where I live.






Royal Blue

Central Station, on the metro in Brussels






Navy Blue

Yeah, I'm wearing odd socks. Sue me.







Lilac

A prettyful flower.






Purple

And another.






Pink

Oh, and another.






Brown

Chocolates, what else, in Belgium?!




The remains of a very chocolatey Belgian waffle!






Orange

Check out his orange beak :)






Green





Turquoise

Well, it is turquoise, not many things are!







Yellow

The metro stop near the Atomium.




A very yellow sweet shop in Brussels.






White

This way to...?






Cream

Pretty church in Bruxelles







Peach

Lily. Poisonous to puddy tats...AND stain clothing. Not a great combination. Good job they look pretty, eh?







Grey

War memorial in the local church graveyard.






Silver

Is my flute :)




End of a long, hard day.






Gold

On a building in Brussels.





Copper

Mm.







Fluorescent

This is just in case you're stuck in the dark somewhere and desperately need a shot glass, I think. ;)






Rainbow

Also at the fair :o

For a swap on swap-bot, i went on a scavenger hunt!





The categories were the following:

• Achievement
• Anatomy
• Architecture
• Children
• Close-Up
• Eye
• Happiness
• Hobby
• Lover
• Movies
• Music
• Nostalgia
• Pattern
• Speed
• Technology

Here's what i found. :)




Acheivement

My sister at her graduation, last year.







Anatomy

Wriggly toes.







Architecture

The Atomium in Brussels.







Children

Deserted playground.







Close-up

'Red Star'







Eye

My eye.







Happiness

Family.







Hobby

Not my hobby, but clearly is this fisherman's!







Lover







Movies

DVD collection.







Music

My flute.





We found this awesome band outside the Atomium in Brussels.







Nostalgia







Pattern

Mishmash.











Speed

Speedy boat.







Technology

"Technology is supposed to free you, but instead, it's a terrible trap." - Dylan Moran.