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Leviafan (2014)
Could happen anywhere
If this had been a Hollywood-movie, it would have had a happy ending. It is not a Hollywood-movie, it is a Russian movie, but not an anti-Russian one.
The inspiration for this story was something that happened in the USA - this is described in the trivia section. Look up Marvin Heemeyer, Grand Lake, Colorado, USA.
It could happen anywhere, just change a few details of who/what/how/why.
Some people with greater insight than me can explain the details of the symbolics used - as I know, a Leviathan challenge is one, that no human should attempt, it requires divine skills, hence the reference to Job.
There are many subtle details in the images rolling over the screen - I wish I could understand Russian, so that nothing was lost in translation.
Interstellar (2014)
A huge disappointment
It is normal for films to have some plot holes, like driving through a corn field at high speed with a flat tire. I can live with that.
It is to some way believable, that the US government should deny having been to the moon and at the same time having NASA running with star-trek-like technology like cryo-sleep, advanced robots etc.
But here is a key point, where it failed utterly: The books say STAY. He left Murph, while she was making a big issue about it. I thought at that time, that it meant: Don't try to leave the earth (don't run away from problems) - stay and fix the problems instead. That would have been a very good point.
Instead, it is one big contradiction. Cooper himself is - through his daughter - trying to make himself stay and not leave.
Of course this is because of love for his daughter. Not hard to find out. But if he had stayed, then there would have been no mission, there would have been no "quantum-message" sent/received from the black hole, and the population on earth would have starved or suffocated to death. Is this what he wanted?
By the way - I never figured out if the earth was saved or not in the ending. Murph finds a solution to the magic equation, but what does that yield? Did they leave the earth in a massive space ship, or did they save it? We never know.
As others have pointed out, it is not easy to relate to the characters - I personally lost track of how many people were on the Endurance, and frankly, I lost interest too. I liked the robot,though.
Klovn: The Movie (2010)
Avoid at all costs
As a Dane, I must warn against this catastrophe.
The fine line between very funny and plain stupid and dumb has been crossed by miles here.
I was never a fan of the TV-shows "Klovn" either, so maybe I am biased.
Sort of reminds me of when small children say "Fart!" and run away laughing ...
I know I may sound like a sour old man. I may not know a lot about jokes, but I know what I like ...
If you have the choice between watching this movie and do something very tedious and boring instead - then get the boring job done!
You will like yourself more for this decision afterward.
Nine Dead (2009)
Very good
Very good movie indeed. I don't understand why other reviewers find the ending terrible - do you need to get everything spelled out and bent in neon?
Very good point that nobody is innocent, they have just not received a sentence for their crimes, so they can merrily believe, that they have done nothing wrong. Which is arrogant, wrong and not insightful.
***spoilers here***
Let me bend the end in neon to those, who thinks it was terrible: - All that happened in the room was broadcast on some media channel - at some point we see the room on a computer monitor, indicating that there is a camera down there. The villain even says, that it has been broadcast for everyone to see, so as we see the district attorney flee like a dog, thinking that she can just continue her lifestyle like nothing happened, she has not learned anything. Do we need to see her arrest, trial, punishment etc?
Maybe the point is, that it is the most cynical who is able to take advantage of the situation who survives. Don't come with morale and ethics and such expensive concepts - when it comes to survival, people will do anything. And it usually pays off. And that's the true horror in an otherwise civilized world.
Arven (2003)
Inheritance
Whatever you do in life, don't inherit a steel mill! And if you do, quickly leave the board to its own devices as soon as possible, and get on with a happy life instead. Running a factory with problems gives NO way for personal agendas or even - feelings.
I agree with some of the other reviews: It could have been interesting, if the mother had had her own dilemmas showing, or if the son had confronted her with what a bitch she was. But the point is exactly, that you must be careful when inheriting a steel mill - it may end up eating all you really had, and leaving you with only money-problems and responsibility.
Sorte kugler (2009)
Good positive movie
Too many people focus on what's wrong with everything and everybody, and tends to excel in sarcasm, so they can pour their personal pain out over everybody, who happens to be close by. Just like one of your teachers in school.
Then it takes a dramatic event (a kick in the behind) to look at life in a bigger perspective and focus on the happiness which is here now, instead of being grumpy about what went wrong some time ago.
This is not new or very deep psychology, but it is always fun to watch the transformation from a grumpy "everything-is-wrong" person to a happy "I like things as they are" person, especially when it is done with wit and humor.
You may or may not like the style. I liked it.
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Why "salvation" ?
They have turned Terminator into a soap opera. There can be a Terminator 5, 6, 7, 8, .... simply because neither T3 nor T4 live up to the promises made by T1 and T2. And neither will T5 or T999.
We all know, that Kyle (and T-800-Arnold) must be sent back in time, because that's what happened in T1 and T2. It didn't happen in T4 either, so maybe in the next Terminator movie. Maybe. Unless it can be postponed, while the makers squeeze some money out of the audience.
The movie is so full of quotes from other movies (Matrix, Alien, even Mars Attacks), that it does not have an identity of it's own. What a shame.
The story is not well-told. It looks like, they scanned a computer program over a database of movies to see what works (sells) and what does not. "Hey, that lift-scene in Alien was good, we must use it too."
Why is Skynet so incompetent, that it is unable to protect it's own base a little bit better? After killing a few robots they are able to land on the roof with slow-moving helicopters ...come on! There are a gazillion other big holes in the story which simply makes it lack any credibility. There is not space enough on the internet to list it all.
I liked a few things, though. The Marcus man/machine (which could actually have been an interesting character, if they had had some story-writers not thinking like 12-year olds) was a good idea. He was even the main character. The rebellious bad guy turns good. The eternal conflict between good and evil - in most American films, the good side wins, because that sells better.
The CGI Arnold was expected. But I had expected to see a factory spawning Arnold's by the 1000's. They made one (1) which was shown for less than 20 seconds, and which was easily defeated. They only did it because they felt they had to, I guess. Maybe there will be more of them in T5, if they make T5.
COME ON, YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS. But these days, it is not about creating quality (not to say "art"), that the makers can be proud of. Everything is sacrificed, because the one and only thing that counts is revenue.
They re-write the script until the audience likes it enough ... no artist does like that. It's next to prostitution.
A shame and a big shame. It could have been an interesting movie.
And by the way - why is it called "Salvation ?" Nobody gets saved ... nobody even wins. The voice-over in the end clearly points out, that there will be a sequel and then another sequel and then a new one ...
Big-time disappointment. An insult to the fans. Be ashamed. Be very ashamed.
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
Was that it?
I was really expecting something here. Well, good actors are always nice, but WHERE WAS THE PLOT? Make love, not war, was that it? Really a predictable film, I was expecting to be surprised, but it had the depth of a Donald Duck story.
I am truly disappointed. Watching it is a way to spend some time, if you have nothing better to do, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
There were moments, where the film was being close to be funny, but they drowned in boredom.
The title of the film is what is happening to the viewer. It is intolerable cruelty to have to watch it all! Especially when there is no plot, at least, not an unpredictable one.
Knowing that the Cohen Brothers have made other films, which are fun to watch, this film really stands out as a disappointment - the script could have been written by a high-school student (maybe it was).
Bænken (2000)
Not a Hollywood movie
I can see on the message boards, that this film does not come with English subtitles - only Danish for the hearing impaired, so foreigners don't get much help ... however, the Cinema version should have English subtitles.
It is actually a great shame, because this film is not really about something special Scandinavian.
Above all, it is good to see, that really good movies touching important themes can be done without a Hollywood budget.
There is an old quote in Danish culture: "People say that Jeppe is drinking, but they don't say why Jeppe is drinking". This film illustrates this point very well.
But the film is part of a trilogy, so maybe they make a boxed set in the future with English subtitles ... one can only hope.
Fail Safe (1964)
An early Terminator
This is a cold war film, and several times the issue of machines taking over the decisions is mentioned. My point is, that it addresses many of the same issues, that Terminator 1 and 2 does. Many other people have written comments about this movie, I agree with most of them. This is an excellent film, still scary today.
One detail worth noting is, that it is real time. When the pilot of the planes says, that there is 14 minutes to the target, then it is 14 real minutes. Many modern films cheat with this time, if you see a bomb counter getting very close to zero, then the hero always have 5 minutes anyway and stops the bomb at 00:00:01.
This one is true in time - which makes it more realistic and scary - but there is no hero able to defuse the bomb.
Sic transit gloria mundi (That's how the glory of the world ends).
Pusher III (2005)
Yuckk
Pusher 3 only makes sense, if you have seen the two first ones. First of all, those are FUNNY MOVIES, it is not social realism.
It is a combination of black humour and violent action. Everybody laughed at Milo and Frank in Pusher 1, where Frank had yet another problem, and Milo said with a heavy accent: Well Frankie, how many problems you really have, huh?
Pusher 2 also had some good jokes in it. "Can't we just rob the shop? No my brother did that last week".
But Pusher 3 has a totally different style. It starts out with Milo being very very stressed, and that stress-feeling works well in the movie. Then things start to slip out of Milos control. This plot can be made in many intelligent ways and hit some climaxes of various kinds. But it wasn't. It slowly loses energy until it reaches a very bloody and very long ending scene. Well, I have nothing against bloody endings, but they must be motivated by a good build-up, and in this case, it doesn't work. Especially when it is so long.
However, the music / sound effects work great. There is an eerie feeling throughout the movie, but he could have spent 5 more minutes (the double amount of time) on writing the script.
So my overall conclusion is: He ran out of ideas, but he had a deadline. I am not going to recommend this film to anybody, be warned against it!
Gamle mænd i nye biler (2002)
Old wine in new bottles
The name "Old men in new cars" clearly makes you think of the expression "Old wine in new bottles". In this case it is not in any negative sense - the film shows a lot of inspiration from other movies.
Some inspiration comes from Danish folk humor, like "Olsen Banden", some come from the precursor "I Kina spiser de hunde", some come from "Pusher" and so on.
Other inspiration comes from American action comedies - if you say Blues Brothers, you say car destruction and especially police car destruction in a very large scale.
So that's how I see the old wine in new bottles - these good old themes still work fine. By the way, that's how most sequels work ...
There are many other quotes in the action scenes. I won't reveal them all here, but there is some hot action in the Copenhagen Airport as well as in the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen (Olsen Banden quote here).
The characters in the movie are very one-dimensional with the potential to be one-and-a-half dimensional later on in the movie. This is also typical for action comedies, and as such the stage is set for absurd situations with creative solutions to it.
Do see the movie as pure slap-stick bizarre humor, no one should search for more here!
The King Is Alive (2000)
Cordelia ....
Well, they sent it on TV between midnight and 2:00 am - it seems like the right time to watch it, and then go to bed afterwards ...
No, it was not really living up to my expectations. I think the Dogma concept is good, because the film then gets closer to what's really happening between the involved characters when you cut all the unnecessary effects and mood-making music out. But then again, this concept requires some interesting action between the characters.
I cannot say, that I know King Lear (the Shakespeare version) very well, if I had known the play, I would probably have been able to predict much of the film.
Well, a crisis can bring the best and worst sides of a character on display - and we certainly see some bad sides. Oh yes, the paint of civilisation and culture can be very thin, and behind this paint you may find an animal.
If you then compare it with "Italiensk for begyndere" (Italian for beginners) or "Mifunes sidste sang" (Mifune's last song), you see the same but opposite thing: A crisis can certainly bring people to view their life in a more constructive way. And if you dare do, you may win.
When the film had ended, I thought to myself: "Oh that's why I haven't seen it before ..." The film has its own beauty. The quality of the work of the cameraman, actors, etc is good. But the script could need something more. A plot maybe wouldn't hurt.
War of the Worlds (2005)
Yawn
Oh dear, what a waste of time.
Tom Cruise wants his children to call him "dad" and not by name. That's what the film is about. In the meantime, a lot of Martians are creating a lot of destruction, but we don't see much of it, and it is not really related to the story.
Does it have a happy ending? You bet.
Is it too happy? You bet.
Do the children call Tom Cruise "dad" in the end? You bet.
I went out of the cinema totally speechless. The film was just so bad or disappointing, that I couldn't find the words. It think, I came up with a sigh ... well, to be positive, the special effects aren't that bad.
Der Untergang (2004)
A must-see
The underlying point is the crimes, that Adolf Hitler committed against his own people as well as what we have already seen him do to other nation's people.
There are so many historic details, which are more clear, if you have seen miles of documentary. As an example: When Eva Braun states, that she will stay with Hitler, he kisses her in public. This is the only time he ever done that - he never showed any devotion or love previously. When Hitler kills himself, one of Goebbel's children says "Volltreffer" (clean hit) - which was a remark often used, when the Russian artillery played their music.
There is a long scene, where you see the madness in the streets of Berlin, while you hear the voice of Eva Braun writing a letter to her sister. You hear her tell about her jewelry, while Germans are killing Germans, because Adolf Hitler said, that if you become scared and flee, you should be arrested and shot. A 14-year German soldier-boy kills his fellow 14-year soldier, and then kills himself ...
Much of the film takes place in the bunker, but we also follow a small (fictious?) boy, who fights the Russians and even receives acknowledgment from Hitler personally - only to find his family shot later by the Nazis, because they did something wrong.
You almost never see the Russian soldiers, which is a good effect. The Russian soldiers were not the enemy. You see the enemy all the time, the enemy being the Nazi spirit. You see Germans killing Germans, you see the madness of Goebbels, who is unable to exist without his Fuhrer. He and his wife are so dependent on Hitler, that they choose to kill their own six children. The scene (and the scenes leading up to it) is indescribable - watch the film. Many other high-ranking Nazis kill them selves, when they hear, that the entire thing is over, the capitulation is a fact, and the fighting has stopped.
I have read some other comments, and some of them point out some interesting things. There is a reference to Bach's mass in b minor, the "Crucifixus" part when showing Adolf Hitler. There are other musical quotes, which of course are chosen deliberately. There are also remarks made by various people, which are related to quotes from Jesus facing crucification.
I do not see that as any glorification of the Nazis. The film only shows, that the Nazis thought themselves as the ones, who were going to save Europe - now only death awaits.
The film both starts and ends with some quotes from Traudl Junge (the real person speaking), which leaves no doubt, that this film is intended to warn people against people like Adolf Hitler.
A film like this should be made by Germans in Germany. It could never have been realistic and mind-blowing, if they had been English-speaking actors with a funny German-sounding accent.
And there are no one-liners, even though there is some very dark humor in the film - as the end approaches, and the people in the bunker awaits the end. The film is not entertainment, it is honest, dead-serious and black.
A true must-see, it should be mandatory to watch this film in the schools.