Film Diary: 2020
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- DirectorGarson KaninStarsGinger RogersDavid NivenCharles CoburnAn unemployed woman discovers an abandoned baby on the steps of an orphanage, and accepts an offer to take responsibility for the child in return for a job.
- StarsEmma StoneJulianne MooreJewel JordanEver wonder what's happening inside your head? From dreaming to anxiety disorders, discover how your brain works with this illuminating series.
- DirectorAlasdair MacmillanStarsPetula ClarkJohn CleeseAntony HopkinsA classic live performance with the actor and raconteur. Peter Ustinov shares his comical stories with a celebrity audience.
- DirectorCraig BrewerStarsEddie MurphyKeegan-Michael KeyMike EppsEddie Murphy portrays real-life legend Rudy Ray Moore, a comedy and rap pioneer who proved naysayers wrong when his hilarious, obscene, kung-fu fighting alter ego, Dolemite, became a 1970s Blaxploitation phenomenon.I had no idea who Dolemite was until this film, but I'm glad I watched it. It's a real feel good with Eddie Murphy in absolute top form. And the rest of the cast too.
Sometimes you just want to watch cool people in the '70s making intentionally bad movies and drawing unexpectedly large audiences. Against all odds. Fool triumphant, as Blake Snyder would probably say. Except Dolemite isn't a fool, of course, people just think he is.
Welcome back Eddie Murphy! Great to see you. - DirectorJon FavreauStarsDaniel CraigHarrison FordOlivia WildeA spaceship arrives in 1873 Arizona to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. All that stands in their way: a posse of cowboys and natives.Yes! They played it straight! I was not expecting that. A much mellower tone than I thought they would go for. Really a straight-forward western with aliens in it. Actually quite realistic in its own way.
- CreatorMark GatissSteven MoffatStarsClaes BangDolly WellsMorfydd ClarkIn 1897 Transylvania, the blood-drinking Count draws his plans against Victorian London.I fall into the category of people who thought they should have left the last episode out, I'm afraid. But for what it is, that one is alright too. It's just that they don't really mesh well, and the first two were so brilliant in tone and style that I felt unwilling to give that up for the finale. I understand that they wanted a bit of a twist, but maybe what they already had was twisted enough.
The cast is fantastic. Claes Bang lives up to all expectations. I don't see anything strange in him romancing men and women alike, because of course he does. That's always been Dracula. He drinks Harker and sucking blood is the vampire's kiss. There was always a certain amount of sexual tension and desire, I think. I also liked the idea of Dracula taking on some of the skills and mannerisms of the previous victim, which provides a great way to show his vanity when he kills a man in order to learn the language and impress his dinner-lady. I would have liked that to come back on several occasions, though.
Making van Helsing a nun who's lost her faith was a stroke of genious. The entire convent in fact, is just filled to the brim with acting brilliance. They managed to make Jonathan Harker feel sympathetic, which isn't necessarily a given (I do like him as played by Bruno Gantz, but otherwise feel he often becomes a bit of a plot contrivance to get things going), as well as his fiancee, who really proves to be a tough sort too.
The special effects are amazing, with a mixture of what looks like stop-motion, puppets and costumes filled with acrobats and contortionists - the feat of making something so unnatural look and feel so real is no small one. As well as the boody horror inserts of flies walking on open eyes and nails peeling off. Terrifying in the greatest sense of the word.
Setting each episode in a fairly closed milieu works very well, even if it was probably done partly to save money. The original story is a monster in the house, after all. The castle looks great (and that set certainly couldn't have been cheap). The ship has a very "The Upper Berth"/"Room Nr. 13" (even if it's very clearly a No. 9, nudge, nudge) feeling to it with the cabin that hides something secret and hideous. I think the twist of van Helsing being the bad thing herself was a little too last series Sherlock, but at the same time I can't deny that it did give me a kick to be fooled.
Then there's the last episode. The living corpse in the fridge was definitely my favourite part. I had an idea that van Helsing would in fact be the same woman still, having been bitten by Dracula repeatedly in the previous episode and turned into a vampire unbeknownst to him - that also being an explanation for him not being able to drink her blood now. She would have kept the same age physically and had to start the vampire research program to feed herself in a more ethical way until Dracula washed up. This would also have provided her with the moral dilemma of essentially being the same thing as Dracula, while still dedicating her life to hunting him down. Who's good and who's evil sort of thing. But no. She's a decendant of van Helsing, which I'm not sure makes much sense anyway, but the biggest problem is that we suddenly have a completely new protagonist. It's the same actor, but certainly not the same character, and I don't care as much for her because I don't know her that well.
I was hoping from the get-go that Mark Gatiss would cast himself as Renfield, which he did. Sadly only in modern day, and as a margin-walking character. I was looking forward to seeing the goofier side in play, but there wasn't really any time for it. Howerver, Renfield is still on the lose, so who knows?
Just placing Dracula in a modern setting works fine. It's been done before and will be again. There are problems he has to overcome, borderlining on "Dark Shadows" in ridiculousness. Van Helsing is a little too well prepared, which makes Dracula seem out of touch at first. But he soon takes to the new times, a bit like Jack the Ripper in "Time and Time Again". He's still a menace, but maybe not the worst one around. The ending becomes a little anticlimactic just because it isn't the original van Helsing who battles him, since she is long dead. I did appreciate the Peter Cushing curtain-jump, though. Had it been a stand-alone episode, or the start of another series, it would have been alright. But as an ending it doesn't quite live up to the build-up. And sadly that's what one first remembers after watching the series.
Still though. For the most part it was really bloody good. - DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsGregory PeckRobert MitchumPolly BergenA lawyer's family is stalked by a man he once helped put in jail.Crazy Robert Mitchum. Need I say more? He's charming in his panama hat and loose shirt, but you really don't want him following your family around.
Felt very similar to Scorsese's remake really. Both good. Oh, and the Bernard Hermann score is a classic, of course. - DirectorDick PowellStarsRobert MitchumCurd JürgensDavid HedisonDuring WWII an American destroyer discovers a German U-boat, and in the ensuing duel the American captain must draw upon all his experience to defeat the equally experienced German commander.Mitchum vs Jürgens. The Germans are doomed by history to lose, which makes the battle feel a little futile.
Jürgens's submarine captain becomes sympathetic mainly because of the situation of being trapped in a tin can under water, with an enemy ship above, as well as just doing his job, in contrast to one of the younger crewmen who insists on hanging pictures of Hitler everywhere and heiling them.
Mitchum is somewhat sympathetic too, but mainly through hearsay. It is rumoured among the crew before he shows up, that he is hiding in his cabin because of sea sickness, and probably suffering from PTSD due to a previous heroic mission. But none of this really shows or affects his actions later, which is a shame, I think. I would have liked to see him struggle more to get the approval of the crew. Fighting against anxiety to make the right choice in a stressful situation. Mitchum is just too cool here. Without the backstory there would be no personality. I would have loved to see him more as the drunken sheriff in "El Dorado", for instance. - DirectorMicke EngströmStarsBjörn ArnoldHans ArnoldYlva ArnoldDocumentary about the horror- and surrealist-artist Hans Arnold (1925-2010). A documentary that took 12 years to finish.Huvudsakligen intressant för att man får se så mycket av Arnolds konst genom åren. Jag hade gärna sett mer av hur han skapade den, vilka tekniker han använde, osv.
- DirectorGuy HamiltonStarsRobert MitchumFrance NuyenBarry SullivanIn WW2, a US lieutenant stationed in India shoots dead a British NCO and admits his crime but his reason for the murder is so bizarre that it puzzles his defense counsel.
- DirectorKjell-Åke AnderssonStarsRolf LassgårdMaria LundqvistJerka JohanssonAutumn 1978 in suburban Sweden. Everything seems to be fine with the middle class Bendrick family with their two teenage children and a younger son, until the mother starts seeing her first love again after 20 years. Just like their badly built house, the family façade starts slowly crumbling into pieces. The daughter, 15, finds her first love, and the boys too are puzzled by their own questions around adolescence and sexuality. The father tries to keep up a happy face, while the youngest son is the first and the most sensitive to realize how the family is heading towards a disaster.Väldigt bra skruvat familjedrama som urartar i komik. Jag gissade på förhand vilka hemligheterna som de respektive familjemedlammarna hade, skulle vara. Jag hade ett par rätt, fast på lite andra sätt än jag trodde.
Frun: affär (rätt, fast främst för att hon är uttråkad och less på ett inrutat liv)
Mannen: avskedad från jobbet (faktiskt tvärtom först, sedan husets förfall som han döljer för frun. Kan hända att han faktiskt blir avskedad i slutet, dock)
Äldsta sonen: gay (kanske, även om det inte framkom direkt. Däremot är han mycket avundsjuk på sin bästa vän, som sedan blir en fiende när vännen våldtar hans syster)
Dottern: snattare (fel, fast det nämns att brodern ibland stjäl saker från affärer. Istället är det våldäkten hon döljer för föräldrarna)
Yngsta sonen: skolkare (lite rätt. Hans problem är att han inte har några vänner i skolan efter att kompisen flyttar)
Framförallt Rolf Lassgård är förbaskat bra som en skrattande pappa som verkligen tror att allt är bra, tills motsatsen bevisas och han försöker släta över och låtsas att allt är bra i alla fall, tills det är omöjligt och han får ett nervöst sammanbrott. Den obekvämaste scenen är när äldste sonen faktiskt vill tala ut, vara allvarlig och få stöd. Han frågar pappan om han någonsin har haft ångest. Paus. Pappan ser först ut att överväga ett ärligt svar, innan något annat tar över och han skämtar bort det istället. De kunde ha kommit varandra riktigt nära där, men han schabblar bort det. Barnen, som varit in och ut ur ångest, klarar sig hyfsat bra trots allt som händer, medan pappan är helt oförberedd. Hans trygghet är byggd på felaktiga grunder, hans liv krackellerar, och när det väl brister så brister det ordentligt.
Dessutom är miljöerna, rekvisitan, kostymerna perfekta. Fotot är snyggt. Och det är fördärvat roligt mitt i allt elände. - DirectorColin NutleyStarsRolf LassgårdHelena BergströmJohan WiderbergOlof lives alone on a farm after the death of his mother. Unable to read and write, he is dependent on his younger friend, Erik. Olof advertises for a housekeeper, and Ellen arrives. During summer Olof's heart and Erik's desires develops.
- DirectorTommy Lee JonesStarsTommy Lee JonesTerry KinneyFrances McDormandAn aging cowboy must choose between his desire to remain free and the responsibilities of maintaining a family.
- DirectorTage DanielssonStarsGösta EkmanGrynet MolvigToivo PawloYoung Dante Alighieri inherits 17 million from his father the sausage maker on one condition - he has to give up smoking in 14 days. But the days go on and he simply can't quit. He hires a detective agency to physically stop him. He has an uncle, who inherits the money if Dante fails, and the uncle tries to keep him smoking.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsDeborah KerrRobert MitchumPeter UstinovIn Australia's Outback during the early twentieth century, the impoverished Carmody family lives a nomadic life out of their wagon, but the mom and son want to settle, while the dad is against it.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsRobert MitchumKen TakakuraEiji OkadaAmerican private-eye Harry Kilmer returns to Japan to rescue a friend's kidnapped daughter from the clutches of the Yakuza.
- DirectorDick PowellStarsRobert MitchumRobert WagnerRichard EganIn 1952, during the Korean War, two American pilots become bitter enemies over the same woman but must shelf their personal feud when confronted by deadly Chinese MIG fighter jets in battle.
- DirectorMolly HartlebStarsTuva NovotnyLinus WahlgrenOla RapacePuck has managed to get a job working for the eccentric Nobel Literature Prize laureate Andreas Hallman. Hallman is charming and genial, but also a neurotic tyrant. He forces his wife, his three grown children and a daughter-in-law to live in seclusion together, separated from the rest of the world. One night, after the daughter-in-law's birthday dinner, Hallman's eldest and favourite son dies. The question is whether the son, who was frail and sickly, died of natural causes or not.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsSpencer TracyKatharine HepburnAldo RayPat is a women's sports sensation unless her fiancé is around. Her new shady manager Mike keeps them apart and develops feelings for her.
- DirectorBirger LarsenStarsTuva NovotnyLinus WahlgrenOla RapacePuck Ekstedt, doctoral student in literature, is invited by her supervisor Rutger to spend Midsummer with him and his wife at their summer house on an isolated island. When he reveals that the young historian Einar Bure will be there too, Puck gladly accepts. When she arrives to the Midsummer party on the island, she finds a bunch of young people, whose lives are entwined since their student days. She quickly notices a web of tensions between them, both erotic and distressing. These tensions grow, when Rutger's former fiance Marianne Wallman unexpectedly turns up with her girlfriend Viveka Stensson. Next morning Puck stumbles upon Marianne's dead body in the wood. Puck and Einar go with the motor boat across the lake to call for Einar's friend Christer Wijk, chief of the national homicide investigation team. When Christer arrives to the island, the boat's motor breaks down. There is no other boat, and no telephone, so now all of them are isolated together on the island. The murderer must be one of the Midsummer celebrators, because there is no one else here. Christer's suspicions are focused on Georg Malm, a former lover to Marianne, but the next day he is found murdered as well.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsBob HoskinsCathy TysonMichael CaineA man recently released from prison manages to get a job driving a call girl from customer to customer.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsMarisa TomeiRobert Downey Jr.Bonnie HuntAs a teen, Faith was told that her destiny is a man named Damon Bradley. Years later - Faith is about to marry another man - a Damon Bradley calls to wish them all the best. Faith blows off the wedding and follows Damon to Italy.
- DirectorRuben AlvesStarsRita BlancoJoaquim de AlmeidaRoland GiraudFor thirty years now Maria and José Ribeiro have been living on the ground floor of a Haussmannian building in one of the most exclusive districts of Paris. Everybody loves this nice couple of Portuguese immigrants, Mario for being a topnotch caretaker, José, a construction site supervisor by trade, for helping to do all kinds of jobs in the house. So, the day Maria and José announce their wish to return to Portugal, everybody is crushed. No, they just can't let them do a thing like that...!
- DirectorAnthony MathileStarsVictor AnderssenTony BanksSonja BenavidezCome Rain or Shine is an unusually frank and humorous music documentary about the band Genesis getting back together for their first tour in 15 years. Director Anthony Mathile followed the band for nearly a year to create this film which explores the relationship of three band members and the mechanics, decisions, and debacles that go into producing a stadium tour for a legendary band of this scale.The search for the perfect stool. A quest for the ages. Starring Phil Collins.
- DirectorJohn G. AvildsenStarsRalph MacchioPat MoritaElisabeth ShueA martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.