This is the third film I've recently seen by Danish director Susanne Bier. This movie has been remade in English as Brothers, which I have not seen.
Previously by Bier, I've seen After the Wedding and Things We Lost in the Fire.
She's an incredible talent, her Danish-language films produced by Lars Von Trier's Zentropa Productions.
All three are family dramas, done mainly with digital hand-held cameras to give an immediate, intimate look at the different stories. In Brødre, the more stable brother is an Danish Army officer presumed killed in Afghanistan. His irresponsible brother steps in to take care of his brother's wife and child. Through their shared grief, they begin to feel things for each other.
It's not giving away much to reveal that the brother presumed dead isn't. This isn't your typical Hollywood film, where the third act "Big Surprise" is the missing brother showing up. We know within 20 minutes of the start of the film that the brother is not dead. Instead, he is taken captive by Afghans and put through a horrifying experience that will play an important role in the plot when he returns home to his family and brother.
I do think that the development of handheld digital cameras as well as lessons learned about lighting from the Dogme '95 movement have created opportunities in film where the acting and story is more stage-like. Thus a realism in film is enabled that wouldn't otherwise be possible.
I hope that the American remake is as true to the story and as immediate as this one.
Finally got my missus to watch Mission To Mars. She quite liked the film and I've always liked it - the effects for the seeding of Earth depiction were gorgeous and the CE3K ending fitted well. Need a sequel to what happened to the character who went to the stars in the Martian ship... 10/10
Then same day watched Big, second time I've seen this (on DVD, never saw it on its release). 10/10
Finally ran my print of FOG ISLAND. It's a dupe but a very fun picture. 6 out of 10 for a PRC thriller withan exceptional cast - George Zucco, Lionel Atwill, Jacqueline de Wit, Veda Ann Borg, Jerome Cowan, Ian Keith and George Lloyd. Very, very gruesome final reel.
Finally ran my print of FOG ISLAND. It's a dupe but a very fun picture. 6 out of 10 for a PRC thriller withan exceptional cast - George Zucco, Lionel Atwill, Jacqueline de Wit, Veda Ann Borg, Jerome Cowan, Ian Keith and George Lloyd. Very, very gruesome final reel.
Sherlcok Holmes-As already stated, the action can get a bit tiresome as the film constantly has the characters either running from or fighting someone. It was fun non-the-less and I look forward to a sequel. 7/10
The Fantastic Mr. Fox- Far better than what I was expecting. Funny, but strange film. Can't really say much else as the film is more an experience than a story. 7/10
The Inglorious Basterds- Quentin T has finally shown some signs of growing up. I was disappointed that the main characters of the title were not focused on more, or given that much of a backstory, but the story that was told wasn't bad at all. I would have enjoyed the film a lot more if QT hadn't ruined the film with all his little trademark moments (out of place music, and unnecessary scenes of him showing off his dialogue, etc...) and a weak ending. 5/10
Extract- Mike Judge's new film is unfunny, uninteresting, and just plan bad. 2/10
I fully expected this last Hughes Brothers post-apocalyptic/wasteland outing to be another by the numbers film. But what makes it watchable are the performances, some nifty camera work and the satisfying ending. It's no classic and it cannot touch "The Road Warrior". I also cannot stand the washed out photography which gives the movie a very cheap look. And the pace is leisurely and for a movie in the genre that it is is, it could have stood 1-2 more action scenes. But ultimately I got my money's worth and was pleasantly surprised on how satisyfing the ending was to me.
Yesterday I went to the local cinema and I watched the new Sherlock Holmes movie. First and foremost I must admit that the casting decision of Robert Downey Jr was genius.
If you have not seen this movie but have seen Guy Ritchie`s earlier efforts such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels among others you will recognize it, it certainly looks like a Guy Ritchie movie, he really put his own touch to this movie too.
If the filmmakers intended to make a brand new updated modern version but still set in the 1880`s and if they also wanted to make an original and different take on the Sherlock Holmes franchise then they really succeeded because it is really that. But good? That`s another story, yes Downey Jr was good and yes I even liked Zimmer`s score a lot (even if I actually thought I heard some parts that sounded a little bit like John Barry`s Persuaders theme in some places, actually that was what came in my mind when watching the movie but I might be wrong). Anyway I would give it a solid 4 out of 10.
Incredible cast in what is essentially a stage play. Brilliant script delves deeply into the heart of love and betrayal. Though it's running time is short, it still get's a tad draggy at the 3/4 mark.
Barely noticed the music score by Angelo Badalamenti until the end credits. Varese Cd will either be short or padded with various artists doing versions of Harry Nilsson songs.
Jennifer's Body - 4/10 - It's pretty much a straight to DVD quality film. Paranormal Activity - 3/10 - A whole lot of nothing. I'm sure in the cinema the bass and the bangs would have been more effective, but there wasn't really anything to the film.
Switch Back - Nice little suspense drama about a serial killer, an FBI agent and some random people they come in contact with along the way. Doesn't appear to have any replay value, so get it cheap or rent it. Don't read any detailed reviews about this, or it will ruin the entire film - 7.5
Pacific Heights - Keaton, Modine and Griffith are all great in this drama/thriller about what can happen when you rent out an apartment to the wrong person - 9
Man vs Wild: Season 2 - Bear Grylls is at it again: eating gross things, diving naked into frozen lakes in -60 degree weather and bouncing around from glaicer to sand dunes to mountain tops to water-filled caverns of terror just to teach you how to survive in case you accidentally become trapped inside a volcano or land on the sun. This series is hilarious and a lot of fun. Bear takes far too many risks than anyone would who's actually trying to survive and escape, but its all about having fun and being entertained. I've already started Season 3, and cheated on Season 4 because a friend said Will Ferrell was in an episode, so I watched it on Youtube during lunch today - 9
Other similar-feeling DVD's: The Fugitive - 9.5 Flowers in the Attic - 9.5 Man vs Wild: Season 1 - 9
Start watching Ferrell in part 1 of 5, which is actually the most boring episode Bear has done, but it's still fun.
Quirky film. Beautiful moments. Good performances, particularly the heroine and Stanley Tucci, who's doing signature character work here. The set pieces reminded me of WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, which has a similar, post-life, atmosphere, though this film tends to picture Heaven as some kind of sorority party, and the ending is muddled, especially regarding the Tucci character.
Good effort, though I can't imagine its getting a lot of people to come see it, beyond those who, unlike me, read the book.
BTW: Look for Peter Jackson doing a cameo in a camera shop in the background, as Mark Wahlberg talks to Rachel Weisz in the foreground....
The score is by Brian Eno, and I found it mostly unmemorable.
Alien Hunter - A very inappropriately titled movie, which might lead you to believe it's like Predator. Well, it's not. It's more like Mission to Mars meets The Thing, but with very bad special effects the majority of the time, and dialogue which isn't interesting or really relevant to anything the story's about. Way too many reaction shots of characters that don't give us anything, and far too much male-female dynamic (with no nudity, no sex, not even any kissing) which is tiresome and corny. Scientists find something buried beneath the ice, bring it back to the lab, it thaws, boring stuff happens and the movie ends. I have seen far worst attempts at this kind of story. IMO, The X-Files did a better job at it than any other after The Thing. If anything, the movie should have been called Alien Entity or Alien Force - 6
Heist - Hackman, Rockwell and DeVito go for the gold in this semi-interesting caper that has a lot of twists, but that isn't very meaty or complex. I can't imagine ever wanting to see it again. There is one sexy scene with a short-haired blonde's ass in faded cut-off jeans walking away from the camera... - 7.5
The Lost World (1925) - This is one instance where the DVD cover was telling the whole truth, yet for the first time I didn't really pay attention to it. I thought this movie was about dinosaurs (T-Rexes, Brontos, etc), not about a baby crocodile and iguana (as the cover depicts) with horns and fins glued to their backs and creeping through the same miniature landscape scene after scene. There were no "true" dinosaurs. I imagine this film was fantastic for its time, but it just wasn't interesting enough once the "dinosaurs" were revealed. The woman who brought along her purse dog was annoying. The whole Native American element was silly. The only thing that really shined was the score - 6
Wrongfully Accused - One of Leslie Neilsen's worst spoofs. While it does have some very funny moments, everything's just far too obvious and plain - 6
2001: A Space Travesity - Absolutely the worst Leslie Neilsen spoof ever created. None of it was even funny. It was just dumb and boring. It does contain a lot of fairly hot women, though... - 2
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy- Only seen two episodes so far, but excellent mini-series, 10/10 so far.
Pretty Poison- Strange Anthony Perkins movie about a day dreamer whose imagination leads him into a far more dangerous world than he ever imagined. OK, not great, but a good watch none the less. 7/10
Edge of Darkness - Mel Gibsons first acting feature in about 7 years is pretty darn good, except for the sillly final scene which is so hokey it almost ruins it. But overall this tough, gritty crime drama has alot going for it, particularly Gibsons "right at the breaking point" performance, and he even dons a very good "Bahston" accent. The drama is punctuated with some scenes of extreme violence so its not for the squemish. But overall this is a taut, well executed drama that is crisply directed by Martin "Casino Royale" Campbell. And again, my only really big gripe is what looks to be a tacked on ending that smudges what is a good standard thriller. I can only think that Campbell was forced to do it since he never has had anything in his repetoire that remotely resembles this botched scene
Been there, seen that with a good supporting cast pretty much wasted on this strictly by the numbers horror film. The lead, Odette Yustman, is nice to look at and is approprately engaged in the film (unlike many of the audience members I'm guessing), but that's about it. Even the usually interesting evil Nazi backstory didn't make much of an impact.
I found this surprisingly conventional. Unspectacular cinematography, at times so wonderfully old-fashioned that I was thinking "it takes an allegedly hyper cool director kid like Tarantino to make such nicely slow story-telling possible again in today's cinema". Excellent introduction scene.
