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Reviews
Stupeur et tremblements (2003)
Great movie about a horrific office situation
This movie is interseting to compare to "lost in translation" that preceded it in Swedish cinemas. Where Lost in Translation details the bewilderment of a casual visitor to Japan, this details the utter difference between Japanese work culture and western.
The focus in the office really works, the movie would have been exhilarating had there been any everyday scenes from outside the office.
The movie manages to engage the viewer, and you really feel sorry for Amelie when she fails to fit in. At times, she seems almost suicidably stupid when it comes to picking up obvious clues about proper behavior from people who want to help her. You would expect that she could behave more intelligently and less emotionally, but she doesn't. A good sign that the movie really does engage -- you care about the character.
Sometimes the movie is hilarious, especially the scolding that Amelie receives from the boss Ochiri.
Never having been to Japan, this movie seems believeable, and I like its focus on the workplace. I actually think you could use it in education to show people how a dysfunctional organization looks (at least from a modern western viewpoint putting a great emphasis on personal initiative and independence). Compared to my real experience from Korea, it also seems reasonable, even though Koreans are more flexible and less condescending towards westerners. I guess Amelie's being a woman did not help either.
OVerall, a movie well worth watching.
Dark City (1998)
Very nice Kafkaesque movie
This is a tremendous movie I must say! Unfortunately I only got to watch it on a small poor TV, but the style and plot is still captivating.
The strongest point is a very nice style: 50-ish random big city, neither clearly American or European. It is always dark, sun never shines, everything looks a bit run down. Some puddles and rain reinforces the mood.
The start of the movie is wonderful in its total mystery; it is really a whole lot like a Kafka novel as the main protagonist walks around in a strange world discovering ever more of it. And it is really really strange in an absolutely wonderful way.
The basic premise of aliens putting humans in a lab far out in space and messing with their minds is really nice, and the way they do it interesting enough. However, I felt that the movie dropped some in its intensity when the mechanics behind the scenes get revealed. An unseen horror is always more interesting than a seen horror.
The end is a bit disappointing as it all digresses into a "big fight" in classic american style.
But the final end is nice in that there is no complete happiness, only a hint that things could be getting better.
Overall, better than most movies. An 9 out of 10!
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
This is perilously close to a big fat turkey
I have not read the books. But after seeing part one and two of this over-hyped saga on the screen, I am beginning to doubt that there is much to be had by reading the book. Tolkien is simply not a very good author, or the screenplay does not do the books full justice. Judging from the enthusiastic fan comments, the latter does not seem very credible.
Compared to the first LOTR movie, this is much much worse. It actually comes very close to being a real big fat turkey, but is saved by gollum.
It is too pompous.
And the actors are sometimes wooden with horribly, overpompous, lines. Especially Legolas and Aragorn are settled with stupid comments.
The early part of the movie, with the dwarf, elf, and human heroes RUNNING for days and nights on end after a band of Uruk-Hai that kidnapped some hobbits, is plain ludicrous. It brings back visions of Monthy Python's Quest for the Holy Grail.
The scenes where Gandalf returns in a heroic backlight and fog, while playing at some kind of pseudo-religious mumbo-jumbo (with clear Jesus-like connotations), are too just plain too much!
The viking-style kingdom of Rohan is a nice change from the over-designed ultra-big locales of the first movie. But the plot taking place there is rather shallow and obvious.
The battle for Helms Deep is impressive, especially technically. And the comic relief offered by Gimli is nicely put. There are some almost shakespearian moments when kind Theodor (was that his name) seems to give up the battle. Could have been really nice if he had been allowed to lose :)
The scenes with the fleeing women and children feel acutely contemporary, and is almost peace-propaganda. Very disturbing, nice to point out the suffering of civilians in all conflicts.
The saving grace of the entire movie, however, is the torn character of Gollum/Smeagol. He is actually believable, and interesting since he is neither good nor evil. All other characters are clearly one or the other, which is part of why the movie fails to engage. It is too simple, and we know who is going to win.
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Almost a European movie
We just rented this movie to see what it was all about, and the result was quite different from our expectations.
SNF is not just a dance movie. The dancing is one part, and some of the dance scenes are really brilliant (but by todays standards, the music is quite mushy in the rhythm and rather slow). However, these scenes are nicely contrasted with the not-so-hip everyday life of Tony.
Travolta does a very believable portrait of a teenager torn between a rather bleak day life and a hot night life. He feels he could be something, but he has no idea how. He dreams of owning expensive cars, but earns barely enough to support his once-a-week clubbing. He is annoyed by girls that want to have sex with him, due to something that is not entirely clear. But he is really really believable.
Unfortunately, the story does not hang together very well. There is the stuff of a great movie in here, but the story is told in a rather unfocussed way. The end feels like a big "what?", and there are a bit too many unconnected scenes for my liking. The plot just does not follow a logical path.
But it is interesting with the mix of glamourous dancing and social-realistic movie about poor urban youth. Would never be have been made in the past 15 years, due to current Hollywood being scared of such tragic figures.
But it could have been made in Europe, which is big big praise for a American film.
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Lovely comedy about football & cultural conflict
Similar in some ways to Swedish movie "Jalla, Jalla", this movie deals with the collision between "traditional" values in an immigrant family (girls are to get married, life before marriage is preparation for marriage) and the opportunities present to girls in contemporary western society (soccer is a nice way to get scholarships and a wish to be free).
The tone of the movie is quite light in the face of what in many other movies is portrayed as a tragedy. Which is very suitable and makes this movie a nice evening's entertainment, while still illustrating some important and interesting points about culture clash.
The Sikh family of main character 1, Jesminder, is not the only problem. Main character 2, Juliette, also has an interesting family with an overprotective/worried mother who wants her to be more like a true girl (and thus like herself when she was young). And main character 3, Joe, claims that being Irish is a bit like being a Sikh. And he might have a good point...
One slightly unfortunate part of the plot is that it is a bit stereotypical that both fathers are the ones to in some way support the girls. The mothers are considered a bit more conservative, which leaves a bad aftertaste. But not much, really.
But do see this movie if you get a chance!
Boogie Nights (1997)
Does not really interest
The movie tells the story of the rise and fall of a porn star in the 1970s. Not overly much sex, more about the people. And it does not portray the Porn Industry as overly nice either. So it does not fall into the easy traps. But the story does not really captivate, and the causes of the fall are not made very clear, something about there always being a new boy in town and VHS, it seems.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Lord of the BoRing
Seen as a illustration of the book, I guess this movie has some merit. The scenery is amazing, the make up astonishing, the music is just perfect... but behind the perfect production, something is lacking.
For some reason, the movie fails to captivate the viewer. After the intro, it all ends up in a series of "Aaaargh, something is coming, let's run". And some set of characters run, pursued by some set of monsters either riding or on foot. And then the same thing again. And again. And again. And maybe some conflict over the ring, but then it is time to run (and maybe kick a little orch butt) again. And then it ends, and we need to suffer another two movies of three hours before the hobbits have defeated evil, saved the world, and they can stop running and walk home.
Seen as a movie, WITHOUT considering the background in a world famous seried of fantasy books, it is just to shallow. THe characters are never given time to develop, they are basically paper dolls of known types paraded before the camera. The evil is too pitch black without nuance, and the good guys (especially the elves) are too boringly good. It is nice to see that they do have the guts to kill of a few heroes, but even this does not really create any real suspense.
Even action movies should manage to grip the audience for more than half an hour, but this movie does not.
I'm looking forward to the promise of some big battle scenes in the next part, and might see it because of the visuals, but as a whole the ring series does not merit much excitement.
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Good, by nothing special
This movie is competently done, for sure, but it really lacks that special "oomph" that tells a truly great movie. I cannot see why so many Oscars were wasted on it... on the other hand, Americans seem to like this kind of melodramatic movies...
The portayal of the schizophrenia is good, but IF you hadn't know about the illness beforehand, it is kind of given away by the ludicrous plot that Nash invents for himself to star in (it is well-known that the German nuclear bomb programme never got anywhere, and that Russians never infiltrated nuclear devices on US soil).
The real shine is in the acting of John Nash, very believable.
And the part about his early years at Princeton are quite interesting.
All over, a 7 out of 10, maximum.
And why did they gloss over the fact that Nash did some interesting work between his spells of illness in the 1960s, that he actually divorced Alicia, and that he had a child by another woman before her? At least the divorce could have added some tension to the movie...
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Wonderful animated movie!
This movie is just plain wonderful! Incredibly funny, told with a great tempo and with a lot of humour. No dead moments at all! The story is based on a single assumptions, that monsters in the closet are real, and that they scare little kids in order to get energy to power their city. From this assumption, a wonderful story about a big threat to this lifestyle and kids everywhere is spun.
On the visual nitpicking side, the computer animations are better than earlier attempts like Toy Story, but they are still somewhat deficient when it comes to humans. The hair on the main character Sulley is superb, and there is a wonderful sleighride scene with swirling snow that is exquisite! However, the humans are still doll-like, and the complexity of human hair has not been handled. Most of the monsters look like slightly soft rubber, which is a bit disappointing... for some reason, it does not look quite right (except for the furry monsters).
But the movie does not depend on the computer generated graphics to entertain, it would have been just as much fun if it had been handdrawn the old way. Computer graphics allow for more dramatic pans and roller-coaster rides, and are good enough not to detract from the action, which is quality enough.
Here in Sweden, there was a short movie about birds before the main movie, which was just wonderfully hilarious. It would be very nice to see more of that kind; little animated movies are definitely fun before the main course!
Godzilla (1998)
Fails to achieve suspense
IN short, this movie was quite a disappointment.
By showing the monster quite early on, they defuse the rather good suspense mood of the early movie. Since the monster looks and behaves like something out of Jurassic Park, it is not even scary.
The only fun part is watching the monster duck missiles and the US military blowing up parts of New York. With interesting weapons that fail to hurt a big lizard but that do blow up skyscrapers...
A Knight's Tale (2001)
Modern sports fandom translated to the middle ages
This movie is absolutely wonderful, if NOT taken as a "serious" knights-swords-and-fair-ladies movie. There is not a single battle in it, no thrones are defended, no damsels in distresss.
All there is is the play around the sports version of war: tournaments. The main character becomes a major sports star, and it is really a movie about how an everyday man grows into a big star, overcomes difficulty and a terrible adversary, and wins the lady of his heart. And a big pile of money.
The best part of the movie is the way in which they weave modern elements (especially music) into an medieval setting. Details like sports sponsors (watch out for the Nike-like swoosh :) ), prize money, sports pages in "newspapers", fandom, supporters with painted phases, audiences shouting the name of their favorites... all very NOT medieval, but enjoyable nontheless.
I am very happy that I went to see this movie.
Watch it for the style and spirit with which it is told, it is a solid piece of entertainment.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
They made a kid's movie out of a war movie
Saw this horrible piece of moviemaking a while back...
I only have one comment: why did a wonderful triology in the truest war movie tradition, where difficulties mean that people die and the evil enemy behaves like one, become a child's movie where an eight-year-old saves the day? RIDICULOUS!
If you haven't seen it, don't bother. Boycott the other installments of the "new" triology.
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Wonderful movie, wonderful music, wonderful style
* WARNING: CONTAINS A small SPOILER (but this movie is not really about the story anyway, so it probably does not matter :) ) *
Moulin Rouge is all about style and appearance. But what style! The wonderful way the movie is executed makes it incredibly, breathtakingly, enjoyable, despite having a rather pedestrian love story as its "plot".
To be analytical, the basic story: a theatre making a story about two lovers with an interfering rich third man, by a cast living through the same experience, is nothing new. Old idea, but good. The fact that the heroine dies at the end might be strange to American audiences, but is the only reasonable way to finish the movie, without really solving the "problem" of a rich lover and poor loved.
Anyway, this movie lives from its style. The way in which popular songs are used, using lyrics not written for this particular movie as if they were an original musical score, is brilliant. Each song has its own set of connotations, due to the group who first made it popular and the trends it belonged to, and these connotations sometimes make the whole experience quite sublime.
The start, where Nirvana's "Smells like teen spirit" is intervowen with Patti LaBelles "Lady marmalade" is just plain genius! The use of "Sound of Music" is hilarious. You wait and wait for Queens "The Show Must go On", and finally it comes. Elton John's lyrics for "Your Song" are really allowed to mean something more... "Like a Virgin" is a crazy take on the Madonna music video, and the list just goes on and on and on!
The visuals are often stunning, and the way is which realism is completely ignored just adds to the fun (I believe it was a bottles thrown out of a window is made to bounce on the Eiffel tower :) ).
There is a cartload of slapstick thrown in, like the cartoonish climbing of the elephant by Toulouse Lautrec, or the way in which an unconscious actor falls through the hero's roof at the start. Just wonderful!
Never mind the hero blabbing along about "love is everything": anything else would be utterly at odds with the strong colors and high volume of the movie! This is not about being realistic or believable, but about being entertaining! Never mind that the end is given at the start of the movie: that is part of the drama!
All in all, a movie that is a jumble of wonderful scenes set to fantastic music, and with a thread of a plot that is just thick and dramatic enough to carry it all through.
See it!
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Fantastic movie about a horrible war & human condition
I recently saw the REDUX version on the big screen, and I realized how much I had forgotten about this movie from the first time I saw it. This time, the portrayal of a war gone mad, with small men trying to survive and not much else, with no plan or purpose, just came across perfectly. You leave the theater staggering, the movie hits you with a flood of impressions that you just can't ignore. It is an experience rather than a movie!
In the redux version, there are several new scenes that make the movie hang together better, and also illustrate various things in exquisite ways. The little french holdout in the middle of Cambodia, the Playboy Playmates stuck in the mud... they all show a world in which survival is the only remaining motivation.
Every single scene is beautifully crafted, showing some aspect of Vietnam and the war, and also of human behavior under stressful situations.
Italiensk for begyndere (2000)
Wonderful movie about everyday people
Summary: Several complex characters cross paths in a small Danish town, helped by a beginner's course in Italian. Things happen in their life, both caused by and unrelated to the course.
Never mind the "Dogma" certificate: it is not really important, except that the technique it entails makes the movie more believable since the style becomes less glossy.
What makes this movie so restful is that the actors and their characters are very everyday and believable. None of the american style with silicon-stuffed young females and world-travelling executives or big heroes. People do not need to be exasperatingly successful or sexy or whatever to be interesting for a movie: they can be just like you and me!
The story begins rather tragically but develops towards a rather comic and "happy" ending. With many nice turns on the way, some unexpected, some rather expected.
This is a not "deep" or "artsy" movie, just entertainment that is a little less shallow than Hollywood fare.
Memento (2000)
Brilliant movie told in a brilliant manner
First, about the movie: the way it is told, backwards, is a perfect way to get people drawn into Leonard's condition. You have the same sense as he does of there being no past, just the future. Brilliant techinique, creating a movie that you have to think about. More of this stuff and less standard Hollywood-style braindead entertainment, pleaaase!
******** PLOT SPOILER ********
Me and my girlfriend were kind of miffed at first, since we thought the ending just left things hanging... but when you think about it, it actually makes perfect sense. Our interpretation is that:
Sammy Jenkins did exist, and he did kill his wife. Leonard's condition is real. The reason he knows he has his condition is the tattoo of "remember Sammy Jenkins" on his hand. Always, when he wakes up, he is utterly disoriented.
He did kill the man who killed his wife, maybe a year ago. Teddy helped him do it, probably. Since then, Teddy has been using Leonard as a killing machine, getting rid of people for him.
To give meaning to his life, Leonard refuses to keep the proof that he killed his wife's murderer. With that mission accomplished, he has nothing to live for, and that is too painful. So he keep inventing new clues, moving to new cities, and looking for new John Gs to kill.
If you think about it, why does he just jot down Teddy license plate and get it tattooed on him, instead of just writing "kill him" on the back of Teddy's photo? This way, he ensures that he has something to keep him occupied for the next week or so, as he tracks down Teddy. Probably, he has lived his entire life since the condition began ín this fashion.
He has a routine that is used to keep him going, and that routine rests on hunting for the man who murdered his wife. So he needs to keep that hunt going on. In a way, the movie is about the old question of what keeps a man motivated to stay alive and keep going. When you have no memory to live for, you have to live for tomorrow. And then you need some ultimate goal which cannot be achieved, since once you achieve it, life will be over. It is a very interesting look at the human condition!
Actually, considering other interpretations that say that Leonard and Sammy Jenkins is the same man, that he killed his own wife, and that his condition was mental, does not really matter. In a way, what came before his memory loss is of no importance to the current situation. Look at the movie as a study of a strange mental condition, and you can enjoy it, regardless of the ultimate interpretation of what is going on. After all, the memories are not important, right?
Snatch (2000)
Fast-paced, funny, and with engaging characters
This movie is about a few small-time crooks who get involved with a few big-time crooks. The reasons are a boxer, a gypsy boxer, and a very big diamond.
All through the movie, I sympathized with the small guys who kept ending up in worse and worse situations. Like having two big guys force you to do two opposite thingss... you always wonder how on earth they're going to get out of the mess.
It is a rather violent movie, like its predecessor from the same author: "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels". But the violence is never glorified nor dramatized. It just happens that people die when bullets hit them. And bullets happen to be fired by violent people in a violent world.
The style of story telling is like "Lock Stock...": rhapsodic. Short cuts, sometimes back in time, sometimes forward. Two second-long cuts can be enough to give a very good impression of what is happening.
What really brings the humour out is the understated british style. With an american accent and attitude, this movie would have been a disaster.
All in all, a very enjoyable movie. Even my girlfriend liked it, despite some doubts at the beginning.
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Worst Burton movie I've seen
I read the movie reviews, thought "that's not too promising", but when a friend pointed out that it was a Tim Burton movie, I agreed to watch it. Burton usually provides nice twisted stories and wonderful sceneries.
But not this time. There is none of crazy of Mars Attacks, and too little of the moodiness of Batman. None of the skilful storytelling of Sleepy Hollow.
The apes are wonderful and quite believable, except for their wild jumps. The ape city is fabulous. But the rest is rather bland. And the story sucks big time! It is too predictable, too simple, just done without feeling. If anyone is surprised at the end, I am amazed.
The acting is quite OK, Helene Bonham Carter does a wonderful job as an ape. The crazy ape Thade is a lovely psychotic. But the hero is wooden, and the babe unnecessary.
The movie had me twisting in my seat wishing certain scenes would end quickly.
The logic at the end, when here can choose between staying and being everybody's hero and have at least one human and one ape girl to enjoy himself with, but instead goes off into space and into a storm is just mad. If I were the guy, I would stay and not risk the storm again; never know where it would put me.
The one redeeming quality is the few massed scenes were the ape legions leave their city and the attack at the big battle at the end. And the apes' make up, again.