| Amazing! An American remake of a Danish film beats the original |
[Dec. 2nd, 2009|12:27 am] |
Brothers is a based on a Danish film with a similar title. I must admit that I actually preferred the American remake! Reason number one is that the Afghani soldiers who torture the American/Danish soldier are not the mustache twirling villains that they are in the Danish film. In fact one of the Afghani soldiers in the American version tries to talk another out of subjecting the American to a totally inhumane torture, while in the Danish film all the Afghanis seem to go along with the plan. Secondly, the acting in the American version was so excellent, I never doubted anyone's behavior. Does all this make it a better movie? Well, perhaps it does. I predict that Toby Maguire will win the Oscar for his performance; he will definately be nominated. |
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| Up the Yangtze |
[Oct. 1st, 2009|03:40 pm] |
I rented this DVD because although I rated it low, other viewers were very enthusiastic about this scenic documentary about modern China. On the second viewing, I realized I must have slept through 90% of the film. It was extremely interesting, contrasting the older generation, displaced by the Three Gorges Dam and their daughter, offered new opportunities, unimagined by her parents. I particularly appreciated the firing of an attractive, cocky employee for self-conceit, self-interest and unconcern for the "team." Apparently there are many Chinese only children like him, but his attitude is still considered selfish in China. All in all, I'm glad I watched it a second time. |
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| Paris |
[Sep. 19th, 2009|05:30 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | film | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  grumpy | ] |
A young man, a former dancer, Pierre (Roman Duris) is diagnosed with a serious heart condition. The movie takes place While he is waiting to become eligible for a heart transplant. His sister, Elise (Juliet Binoche), a welfare worker and her three children move in with him to care for him in this difficult time of his life. The plot sprawls all over the place to include many people who tangentially come into Pierre and Elise's life. Fabrice Luchetti plays his type-cast role of Roland, a successful middle-aged man who makes a fool of himself over a girl of 20. Roland's brother has a dream, that is one of the best dream sequences I've ever seen. Most importantly, writer/director Cedric Klapisch makes you feel like you are really there, in Paris. Don't I wish I really were there! |
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| Bright Star |
[Aug. 26th, 2009|11:34 pm] |
Yesterday, I saw Bright Star, the latest film by Jane Campion. In the title role, Abbie Cornish, as Fanny Brawne, was buxom and healthy and Ben Whishaw, as John Keats was skinny and sickly. She was very stylish and created her own fashions; he was, perhaps, the greatest romantic poet. I looked for anachronisms in the film; I even spent almost an hour trying to find out if the bindings on the first edition of Endymion were different from those presented in the movie, to no avail. Everything seemed correctly period. All the clothing (and it was gorgeous, even if not my favorite style) looked hand made. The story and the acting were excellent, and I must admit that I missed some of the film because my eyes were so filled with tears. History has not been kind to Fanny Brawne, but the discovery of her letters to Keats' sister has rehabilitated her reputation somewhat. At the end, she was the ultimate goth girl role model, wandering the heath in mourning, dressed in black clothing of her own making, reciting the poetry of her lover who died at age 25. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews - Best of the Fest, June 19-21 |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|07:59 pm] |
Now that the Seattle International Film Festival is over they have a new weekend long program called Best of the Fest 2009. Of the thirteen films selected, I only saw one, so I used up my vouchers for tickets to see four more movies.
****The First, "Talhotblond" was an film about the internet. I had already seen two internet-themed films, one so-so (We Live in Public) and the other (Four Boxes) was terrible. "Talhotblond" was definitely the best of the lot. MarineSniper and Talhotblond (user names) have an internet only affair and when Talhotblond starts up with Beefcake, MarineSniper kills him, in real life. The film is a documentary, but plays out like fiction (hard to believe this actually happened).
***Shrink, stars Kevin Spacey as a stoned out psychiatrist-to-the-
stars. I think it was popular at Sundance because there are so many industry folks there. Allow me to say it is TOO Hollywood.
***Black Dynamite, the Golden Space Needle winner had perfect attention to 70's detail: the clothes, shoes, make-up, hair, but especially the home furnishings! The plot and acting is Ok, and whether or not you will like it depends on how much you like the Blacksploitation genre that it spoofs.
***Shorts, best of the fest. Some were good, some were not |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews, Sunday June 14 |
[Jun. 14th, 2009|10:41 pm] |
****Hachiko, a Dog's Story
I'm a sucker for a sappy dog story, and sobbed through the whole thing. So sue me.
***Burning Plain
Three seeming unrelated narratives, when you figure out the relationships of the people involved, you can guess the rest of the story including the end. Great acting, especially Charleze Theron.
*****Troubled Water
A Norwegian film, #8 on the Fool's list tells the story from the viewpoint of a convicted child killer in the first half, then in the seocnd half from that of the mother of the victim, with, as they say, an immensely satisfying ending.
***Summer
Three friends as children, teens and adults. Robert Carlysle is great as he remembers his carefree youth that ended one summer. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews, Saturday, June 13 |
[Jun. 13th, 2009|11:52 pm] |
*****North Face
Based on the 1936 attempt to scale the Eiger North Face in the Alps, winner of best Cinematography on the Fools' list as well as being the #2 film of 2009 according to the Fools.
***Forever Enthralled
Kind of a disappointment, the story of Mei Lanfang (Leon Lai) foremost star of the Peking Opera specializing in female roles in the 30s. His contest with an older, more conservative star showed Mei's electrifing personna which could have read the proverbial (Chinese) phonebook to wild acclaim. Unfortunately his true love (a specialist, in what is called, in western opera, trouser roles, Zhang Ziyi) didn't measure up. Perhaps the character wasn't supposed to. The second half of the film dealt with his refusal to perform for the Japanese invaders. If I didn't want to see him perform, I would have watched another film. Unfortunately we did not get to see his triumphant return in 1950.
****Flame and Citron
Two partisans shoot Nazis and Nazi collaborators in wartime Denmark. I usually like Mads Mikkelsen (voted the sexiest Dane many years running) but he seemed sweaty and nervious throughout this film. I guess I would be too had I shot as many Nazis as he did. The show was stolen by his co-star, Thure Lindhardt, a more cold blooded killer, whose compassion for women lead to the downfall of this historical duo. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews, Friday, June 12 |
[Jun. 13th, 2009|12:26 am] |
***Kanchivaram - A Communist Confession
The struggle to organize the silk weavers of Tamil Nadu as seen through the eyes of a man who swears his daughter will be married in a silk sari (normally too expensive for the weavers of the saris to purchase themselves)
*****A Pain in the Ass
A hitman, a mobster, a would-be suicide and a hypo-happy shrink cross paths and much hilarity ensues. I adore the comedies of Francis Veber, and although this is not up to the level of "The Closet," one of my all time favorite comedies, I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.
****Buddenbrooks
An emjoyable treatment of the Thomas Mann novel, with great period detail, the story of a family of Dutch merchants, kind of like the Forsyte Saga. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews, Thursday, June 11 |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|10:19 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | siff | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sleepy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Ella Fitzgerald | ] |
***Four Chapters
Rabindranath Tagore's story probably not suitable for a mainstream American audience about a man on a spiritual quest.
**Home
A freeway is build a few yards from the door of the home of a French family, with dire, unpleasant (no surprise) results. The film is filled with metaphors, I guess.
*****Krabat
A dark fantasy set in medieval Germany, stars David Kross (the young man in The Reader) as Krabat who accepts an apprenticeship with a miller who also offers to teach him black magic. At first he accept the total authority of the sorcerer, but then begins to yearn for a normal life. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews Monday, June 8 |
[Jun. 9th, 2009|12:10 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | siff | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Tallis | ] |
****The Necessities of Life
An Inuit man is sent to a sanitorium in Quebec City for two years, where he eventually recovers from TB.
****Cold Souls
Paul Giamatti (playing himself) has his soul removed and replaced with one of a Russian poet. Trying to get it back he gets involved with soul mules, and soul speculators, etc. Very funny. |
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| WSIFF MIni Reviews, Sunday, May 7 |
[Jun. 7th, 2009|11:50 pm] |
***World's Greatest Dad
I'm not a fan of Robin Williams, so this comedy about teen suicide was better than I expected.
**Spring 1941
I had trouble figuring out what was going on (Icouldn't understand the accented English -- also much shorter than advertised, someone suggested a missing reel.
***Fruit Fly
I'd have liked this gay Asian musical better if the musical numbers weren't so loud and distorted. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews, Saturday, June 6 |
[Jun. 6th, 2009|08:59 pm] |
***Final Arrangements
Perhaps I've soured on French comedies or perhaps the plot points were too similar to Departures, a superior, but very different film, but while it worked as a romantic comedy and everyone around me laughed heartily, it just didn't do it for me.
*****That Evening Sun
Hal Holbrook was phenominal in almost every scene in this film about an 80 something man who leaves the adult home to return to his farm in Tenessee, to find his son has rented it out to some, as he sees them, white trash. Good acting all around. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews Friday June 5 |
[Jun. 6th, 2009|12:20 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | siff | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Machaut | ] |
***Egon and Donci
A space traveler and his mischevious cat set out to visit earth. No real dialogue makes this Czech film great for kids, no subtitles!
**The Missing Person
A so-so neo-noir film with a 9/11 backdrop
*Four Boxes
THe worst film I've seen at SIFF this year. An internet story with plot holes so big you fall through them into another movie. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews Thursday June 4, 2009 |
[Jun. 4th, 2009|10:58 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | siff | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Leonin | ] |
****Seraphine
The life of self-taught primitivist artist Séraphine de Senlis was fascinating. I loved the lighting of the indoor spaces, even thought it made it more difficult to see some of the painting. Unfortunatly, it had an ending that reminded me of Camille Claudel.
****The Country Teacher
A closeted gay teacher learns that it is better to come out right at the beginning, at least in the rural Czech Republic. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews Wednesday June 3 |
[Jun. 4th, 2009|12:22 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | siff | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Carissimi | ] |
I attempted my first and only 6 movie day today, and I will only review the five films I was awake for.
***Kaifeck Murder, directed by Esther Gronenborn (Denmark, 2008) 86 min.
Sort of a mystery/horror (or dark fantasy, if you prefer) blend. Not too shabby on the costumes and an interesting "traditional" explanation.
Festival Screenings:
June 13, 10:00pm, Harvard Exit
June 14, 4:30pm, Harvard Exit
(unrated)Fifty Dead Men Walking, directed by Kari Skogland (United Kingdom, 2008) 119 min.
My feelings about the IRA are too personal and mixed-up to make any coherent statement on this film.
Festival Screenings:
June 11, 11:00am, Pacific Place Cinemas
June 13, 6:30pm, Uptown Theater
June 14, 1:30pm, Uptown Theater
I spent 30 minutes waiting for a taxi and missed the first five minutes of:
****With a Little Help From Myself, about a woman whose eldest son is in trouble with the police, youngest son is riding scooters on the roof, youngest daughter is pregnant and unmarried and whose eldest daughter wedding money was gamboled away by the girl's father and then he dies 1/2 an hour before the ceremony. There's always a solution says the optimistic heroine of this charming comedy.
*****Kabei, our Mother
A slice of life during World War II from the daughter of an anti-war "thought criminal." Director Yoji Yamada delivers the goods as always.
*****Tahan, a Boy with a Grenade
Beautiful cinematography in the mountains of Kashmir, as well as great music, and appealing characters. Director Santosh Sivan is one of my favorites, and although the story was less gripping than "The Terrorist," I still give it 5 stars. Should be called "A Boy and his Donkey." |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews, Tuesday June 2 |
[Jun. 2nd, 2009|10:59 pm] |
**Daddy Cool
As much as I admire Daniel Auteil, this comedy with a fifteen and half year old daughter (who looked 18 as did her friends) was neither cool nor particularly funny. W've seen it done so much better before.
***Cloud 9
Inge jumps into an affair with Karl, despite her 30 year marriage to Werner. Very realistic sex scenes and emotions of these 60 and 70 year olds. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews Monday, June 1, 2009 |
[Jun. 2nd, 2009|01:18 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | siff | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Isabella Leonarda | ] |
***Mid-August Lunch
A man has lunch with his mother and three other elderly ladies. Moderately funny.
****Marcello Marcello
A young man has a fairy-tale quest to complete in order to win a date with the girl he desires. A delight from beginning to end.
****The Strength of Water
A boy experiences the death of his twin sister in an extended Maori family. Powerful, gorgeous landscapes with the obligatory abandoned/trashed cars. |
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| SIFF Mini-Reviews Sunday May 31 |
[May. 31st, 2009|09:06 pm] |
***So Long at the Fair
A fun b&w mystery from the '50s with some plot holes, but who cares! Lots of fun!
****Downloading Nancy
No fun at all. But, some of the best acting I've seen all festival. In fact I think I'll nominate Maria Bello for best actress as the masochistic, self-mutilating, suicidal, Nancy. A slimmed down, Americanized Rufus Sewell was excellent as her clueless golf-obsessed husband, and Jason Patric was as creepy as ever as her internet connection.
****Kisses
Cute Irish kids on the run from abusive families find out that life on the street in the big city is pretty scary. One can only hope they can protect each other at home as well as they did on their adventure in Dublin. |
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| SIFF Mini Reviews, Saturday, May 30 |
[May. 30th, 2009|11:53 pm] |
****La Cienaga, great film, don't see it. Lucretia Martel's first film "The Swamp," refers to the filthy pool at the center of a vacation home visited by irresponsible, unconcerned drunks.
***The Headless Woman, the latest by Lucretia Martel, is about a woman who hits a dog with her car, and wonders if she killed a person since she didn't get out of the car to check.
***Apron Strings, two longtime New Zealand families, one originally European, the other from India, have family dramas, mostly around cooking. |
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