Pick of the month

MirrorMask (Dave McKean, 2005)

We wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't even heard of this hidden gem, as it is a very low-key UK production. Although the screenplay is by Neil Gaiman, it didn't seem to gain much mainstream attention (or any attention for that matter). The film's story is basically Alice in Wonderland, but with a twist. Yeah, this is what Tim Burton's Alice should have aspired to. 

In the centre of the film is a teenage girl named Helena. She is the main reason we recommend this film, as it's quite unusual to find such a character in a fairy tale/fantasy movie. You wouldn't normally expect a teenage protagonist to be so likable and capable. Often these characters are portrayed with a God-complex, to care only about themselves and to be annoying brats. Hollywood films have truly perfected this phenomenon to the point that teenagers themselves cannot relate to characters their age in film, or so we have discovered the case to be with us. We can't relate (even when we were teenagers) to annoying and egotistical brats. Yes, teenagers HAVE an ego phase (we've all been there), but we just think that movies tend to overdo it these days.

Now Helena is an utterly normal teenager; yes, she fights with her parents and has a rather antagonistic attitude towards her life, but she also has real problems like people in real life have, eg. her mum gets cancer and her parents' business is going under. That stuff really adds to the film's atmosphere and story. You're actually invested in the character's development. 

The film is visually an absolute feast to watch, and very inventive with it's dreamworld scenarios. The movie is quite the successful mixture of fantasy/fairy tale/comedy/adventure genres, which means, in a word, not to be taken too seriously. This is a film to watch when you want something light but different, in an odd kind of way.

Royal business part I

This particular list will be our top princesses in film. Qualifications are that they need to be a princess for a CONSIDERABLE duration of the film. So none of those who marry to become royalty in the end of the film or who are crowned very early on in the movie. No further explanation required.   

1. Princess Leia in the Star Wars trilogy. Big surprise here, she is after all our #2 favourite female character of all time. She's probably one of the most conscientious leaders you could have, self-sacrificing and determined. 

2. San in Princess Mononoke. We don't claim that she has "royal" blood, but do the other wolves have that either? She's called a princess, and that's good enough for us. She's very committed to her cause, even unto death. Plus the unconventionality did give her extra points in this matter.

3. Nausicaä in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Everyone loves her, she is one awesome leader. Fearless but compassionate. She makes good, well-informed decisions, no matter the pressure around her.

4. Princess Victoria of Kent in Young Victoria. Yes, halfway through the film she becomes queen, but before that she's one spirited princess and definitely earns a spot here. She knows her own mind and won't be told what to do (not that she can't be at fault), but her motives are for her people, always.

5. Sheeta in Laputa - Castle in the Sky. We're not so sure whether she's technically a princess or a queen, considering her young age though, we're pretty certain it's the previous. She doesn't get to perform any royal duties, but she does decide the fate of her own kingdom and in the process saves all humanity. Soooooo....yeah, she's amazing.

6. Princess Ann in Roman Holiday. We're not big fans of the movie, but she's a good character, and a great princess. Heck, in the end it's made clear that what she loves the most is her people and serving them. Kind of ground-breaking for a female character in a Hollywood film at the time (to be honest, it still is a novelty).

7. Sorsha in Willow. Now her best quality would be ass-kicking. She's the only one who is a supporting character on this list, but she is very memorable and super-cool, to boot.

8. Merida in Brave. She's probably one of the best Disney princess role models for young girls. We admire her independence and courage.

9. Ariel in The Little Mermaid. Yeah, she's a bit of a bimbo sometimes, but heck, at least she's got a big heart and she is pretty fearless as well. Admirable qualities, we'd say. 

10. Anastasia in Anastasia. Now, this is exactly opposite to Roman Holiday. So as a princess, she's maybe not that awesome (but to be fair, she doesn't really have a people to look after). Anyway, her story's more focused on discovering her identity.

Officers of the law

So we've listed our top "upholders of the law" whether they're undercover cops or detectives or some other police workers. We've rated them according to their efficiency, tenacity, smarts and interpersonal skills. The main idea, though, is thinking who you would rather have investigating, say the murder of your parents (assuming you're not the culprit). You won't see eg. Ed Exley or Bud White, since they work better as a team so you wouldn't want just one of them: you want them both.

1. Det. Lt. Mark McPherson from Laura. He is THE detective. Super efficient, all around good cop and also can show compassion towards victims and those affected by the crime without having his judgment clouded by emotions. You just know he's gonna solve whatever case he's on. In addition, he's a very compelling character.

2. Deputy Molly Solverson from Fargo. Okay, so McDormand is a great character in the movie too, but we just felt that Molly was a little more persistent and stubborn. We also related to her a lot a lot. She would definitely not give up on any case.

2. Det. Jack Vincennes from L.A. Confidential. He's very much on par with McPherson and Molly in the smarts department, but his motives are more affected by self-interest. He has a strong sense of justice, though. He's so committed that he would make sure that his case would be solved even if his own death intervened. 

4. DCI Carol Jordan from Wire in the Blood. She's an amazing team leader and not afraid to be tough with the people who work under her. She has good intuition and skills to read different situations. She's a bit of a workaholic, but of course, you'd want that from a cop.  

5. Nikolai Luzhin from Eastern Promises. It's difficult maybe to say what he'd be like as a normal cop, but he's pretty damn awesome as an undercover one, so we figured he'd probably be the same whatever he did. Out of all the others, we'd say his character is definitely the most intriguing one, as he has to commit some very gruesome and unsavoury acts in order to succeed in his job. 

6. WDC Annie Cartwright from Life on Mars. She's the one you'd want to break the bad news to you. She has hands down the best interpersonal skills and she's very good at reading people. She's incredibly compassionate without being naive. 

7. Detective Somerset from Se7en. This man is the no-nonsense, hard-boiled, bordering on cynical, police officer. He's seen so many bad things in his job though, hence it's no wonder he can seem even pessimistic at times. 

8. Federal Agent Eliot Ness from The Untouchables. He's the "by-the-book" guy, even though in the end he is a bit more flexible in that department. Also a good team leader.

9. William Costigan Jr. from The Departed. He's much like Nikolai apart from being a little more unstable. It's quite understandable, though, undercover jobs must screw with one's head. Also, it's kind of the point of the film to have such a protagonist....We'd still take him as our case officer, though, since he'd get results for sure.

10. Leigh from Assault on Precinct 13. We don't really know what her position in the police force is, but heck, we'd take her working our case any day! She keeps her cool, no matter what, and is undoubtedly efficient and thorough. 

11. John McClane from Die Hard. Now, we're not so sure about his policing skills (and definitely his interpersonal skills lack a certain something), but he is one tenacious bastard. His head is so thick that it would break through any obstacle thrown his way.

11. Ichabod Crane from Sleepy Hollow. He's sharing this spot with McClane as Crane's physical skills are lacking that something (which McClane in turn has). There's nothing wrong with his detecting abilities though. He's an agent for reformation and new practices, which is always good.

Pick of the month: M

The purpose of this post (and of many more to follow) is to just give you some suggestions what to watch, maybe when you've ran out of films to see (assuming you're an occasional couchpotato :). Since we're not film buffs, our choices tend to fall more on mainstream films rather than high-brow stuff. These are movies we thought were interesting, beautiful, thought-provoking or just flat-out entertaining.

M (1931, Fritz Lang)

Do not be fooled by this film's age. By all accounts, it is a very unconventional movie, even by today's standards. This film was the reason Fritz Lang faced a lot of persecution from his countrymen.  The film presents ideas that make you think and maybe even change your views on certain matters. Cinematography is great and quite revolutionary, considering the movie's age, and the film has an intriguing change in atmosphere. At points, the ambiance resembles those of classic horror films (eg. The Night of the Hunter), and then it suddenly changes completely (but seamlessly), to something totally different and unexpected. If nothing else, at least check it out for Peter Lorre's performance. 

Strange couples

This list focuses on some very odd pairings from film and TV. So, what we define as a strange couple, is how dysfunctional the couple's relationship is but that it still works somehow. The better it works and the stranger the relationship is, the higher the couple lands.


  1. Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler from Gone with the Wind. We made the mistake of thinking that they were a conventional couple, since the movie is such a classic. They are not. They're definitely misfits; she's not a lady and he's definitely not a gentleman. One of the reasons we're so fond of them is because they can be so brutally honest with each other. Essentially, they're a strange couple because of the borderline rape scene.

2. The Narrator and Marla Singer from Fight Club. This one's probably the most dysfunctional hook-up we've seen, hence it places so high on the list. These two are already pretty weird individually, so together they kinda blow the roof off.

3. Bruce Wayne(Batman)/Selina Kyle(Catwoman) from Batman Returns. Here it's the combination of their real selves & their alter egos which creates the strangeness. Two people with massive identity crises makes for an awesome oddball couple.

4. Perry and Jordan from Scrubs. This almost freaky relationship is the only reason to watch this show, honestly.

5. Andy and April from Parks & Recreation. They're the cutest strange couple we have on this list. How can you not like them? They're like two kids.

6. King James I and Princess Anne from Gunpowder, Treason & Plot. Most likely this is the most random relationship on this list. Obviously it's not historically very accurate, but we said strange, right? 

7. Milly and Wolfwood from Trigun. The combination of her optimism and his cynicism make them quite an interesting pair. We would guess theirs is the most functional relationship out of all these others.

8. Niles and Daphne from Frasier. These two are just one of the best comedic couples that exist! They're awesome.

9. Twist and Brian from Spaced. Most awkwardly bizarre couple ever. In reality this randomness would NEVER work. The rest on this list maybe just might, but definitely not this one.  

10. Mr.  and Mrs. Palmer from Sense & Sensibility. Thompson managed to change this from the book into a peculiar but somewhat functional marriage. Plus, it's Hugh Laurie. 

11. Hyacinth and Mr. Gibson from Wives & Daughters. She's shallow, he's deep - how on earth this ends up working out, we have no idea.

Mindblowing duels

We think you know the drill by now. We write lists and then post them here. We decided to continue our "action" themed lists, so this one is with the best one-on-ones in film. Like always, it's all opinion-based.


1. Robin Hood vs. Sir Guy of Gisbourne in The Adventures of Robin Hood. The most classic of duels. It has influenced pretty much every swordfight in film history.

1. Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back.  This one's maybe not as "cool" as the previous fight, but the emotional charge in this whole scene more than makes up for it.

3. Beast vs. Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. Probably the best part in the movie. Also, the music is awesome.

4. Vash vs. Monev the Gale in Trigun. This is the point where the show started to get really good. It made it more than anime. (Couldn't find a picture of the fight, so we had to compromise and just put individual photos).

5. Kenshin vs. Saito in Kenshin.  Now this would be #1 if it wasn't for those annoying and interrupting minor characters. The coolest swordfight ever.

6. Ripley vs. The Alien queen in Aliens. When watching this particular scene, you just wanna scream "kill that bug!" It's pure adrenaline.

7. Indiana Jones vs. The German nazi in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Thoroughly entertaining fistfight. You laugh & you gasp as you cheer for Indy.

8. Blade vs. Frost in Blade. Most likely this will remain our only entry with vampires. The last duel is pretty cool, not gonna lie.

9. Batman vs. Catwoman in Batman Returns. Here it's not so much that the fighting is impressive but more that you just enjoy watching their personalities clash. Plus you want both characters to win, which makes this refreshingly different.

10. Po vs. Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda. The best parody duel ever. You'll cry from laughing so much.

Ladies in action

Our criteria for this list is character development, their contribution to the story and in how much action they take part. So let's start!

1. Ripley in Aliens. There can be no dispute about this matter. The reason we mention only the second film is because in the first one she seems to do things because of her survival instincts but in the second one she just kicks ass. She's the ultimate action heroine. 

2. Princess Leia in the Star Wars trilogy. She doesn't take part in the action as much as some other characters on this list, but she totally makes up for that in character development and how significant she is to the story. She holds a gun pretty darn convincingly as well.

3. Mulan in, woot, Mulan. She is awesome! (Jonna is the reincarnation of her) She's a very unconventional female character for a Disney film. She doesn't really need saving, like, ever. In fact, she saves everyone else. 

4. Nausicaä in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Now who said that princesses are sissies? She's kind of the odd one out. If Jesus was a female warrior, we think he'd be a lot like her. 

5. Selina Kyle/Catwoman in Batman Returns. She's nuts. She's like Susan (from Bringing up Baby), only like an insane, action version of her. She just does whatever she pleases, and we gotta say, it's quite refreshing. 

6. Mason in Strange Days. Holy smokes, is Angela Basset's character awe-inspiring or what! She could have her own movie. The main protagonist of the film would've probably been found from the dumpster with a bullet in his head if it wasn't for her. It's great to see a black woman not in need of rescue and who's not oversexualized.

7. Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. She looks really capable and her physique is probably the most realistic, you believe she'd kick anyone's ass. She is not the main protagonist of this sequel, unlike in the first movie, which makes us kinda sad, since she's a very intriguing character.

8. Leigh in Assault on Precinct 13. She is one of the first proper female characters in action films. She actually does stuff instead of screaming her head off the whole time; she can use a gun and keep a cool head in danger. 

9. Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. Of course we had to add her. It's just so great to see that some people have finally realised that women can be good characters in an action film and that doesn't take anything away from the men in the movie. Plus she has a backstory (weird!) and she's a better shot :O.

9. Susan in Spy. Holy shit her character is great! Part of what makes her such an ass-kicker, is because she's so unassuming at first. It was super awesome to see that someone this sweet could also be intimidating. Plus she's hilarious.

11. Rita in Edge of Tomorrow. We thought the film itself was quite mediocre, but found Rita to be pretty damn awesome . Her fighting isn't really shown, nevertheless she's a very independent character which gives her points in our eyes. 

12. Nikita in Nikita. She'd probably be way higher on our list if it wasn't for that yawn-worthy boyfriend of hers. He does not bring out anything of value or interest in her personality. Otherwise she's a well-rounded character. 

13. Helen Parr/Elastigirl in The Incredibles. She's lots of fun, and as it is a children's film, it's clear that she's supposed to be more entertaining rather than interesting.