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dejawolf
Reviews
The Dark Knight (2008)
awesome
since i didn't like the previous movie, i had my doubts about this one. the critics are right, this movie takes itself way too seriously. batman wobbling around in a cheap-looking rubber suits, constantly talking in a grumbling voice... not really my idea of cool. seriously, he walks like a penguin! but it goes to say how awesome this movie must be, for even these things doesn't pull the movie down from its high, dark, horse. this movie is film noir at its finest, where the line between good guy and bad guy is thin as a strain of hair. why? the best bad guys coming out of Hollywood in a long time. crazy, inventive, cruel and chaotic.
Tropic Thunder (2008)
surprise movie of the year
i seriously thought this movie was going to be pretty mediocre, with a few scattered laughs, mostly because of the mediocre trailer. Can't be happier to say that i was wrong! this movie has some of the most hilarious scenes i've seen in a movie in quite a while, and basically makes fun of everything movie, from the over-the top commercialist trailers, to the heavy clichés, actors who takes acting far too seriously, and heavy handed evil producers. oh, and tom cruise is funny. you could barely tell it was him. now why is IMDb forcing me to write at least 10 damn lines for this review. all i was trying to say is that this movie is great, but i'm tired and having heavy iron curtaining and writers block. grrr.
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
this movie is fackin awesome!
i've been holding back on watching this one for a while now. but now that i've watched it.. it might be one of those few movies i'll gladly watch again. lets get one thing out of the way first though, its not anally retentively historically correct, but the general feeling of the crusades is kept intact, and it certainly inspired me to read some more about balian of iberin. and what more can you ask of a historical movie. really..?
it suffers a bit from what most historic epic movies suffers from, a somewhat compressed storyline, you can feel it stutters sometimes, and moves a bit fast in some sections, but ultimately it doesn't draw down the movie as a whole, as most of the characters are fleshed out just enough that you get a feel of their personality, even for the characters who only get a few seconds of screen time. another thing that i really like about this movie is that the battles are not muddled and confusing like in Alexander, where all you see is a lot of smoke, and some guy riding on a horse with a spear.
they are much more brutal and visceral, and wonderfully choreographed. also, there's some classic medieval weaponry featured, and for those who've played medieval: total war 2, you'll certainly recognize it.
oh and the characters are all immediately recognizable, as they each have a very unique and rich personality, and even if you only get to know them for a short while, you feel they have a weight of history with them, and feel a bit sad when they die.
so anyways, if you liked LOTR, brave-heart and troy, i'd recommend you watch this one.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
oh well....
let me start off with the good stuff. this is a breath-taking realistic portrayal of the wild west. the gun sounds are authentic, without any Hollywood soundboard idiot messing it up, there's no gun flashes, instead you get smoke (like in reality kids) the sets are all wonderfully realistic, and beautifully crafted, the actors are crafting masterful characterizations. yet... it all seems to have fallen apart on the cutting board. i came to IMDb, and people write how Robert ford was demoralized by the train robbery. i didn't see that. seemed like it was Jesse James himself who took a disliking on the kid, had him mop the floors for him, and then kicked him out of the gang. or something along those lines. it was very muddled. i'm not an American and haven't watched any Jesse James movies though. and i don't know the story either.
anyways, the first half of the movie started off nice, then got all muddled and started tearing off in all directions, keeping you trying to tie all the loose story ends together while simultaneously listening to what Mr. storyteller is saying, before just crashing off into nothing special, and finally, and thankfully ending. then the second hour started, and it seemed, finally some real story started unfolding. still a bit muddled, but a lot more coherent storytelling that actually tried to go somewhere, you can almost feel the spine-tingling tension building up to the climax. its almost like two separate movies actually.
A Cock and Bull Story (2005)
oceans 12 all over again.
if you loved oceans 12, you're probably going to love this one. it has the same constant muttering of movie stars, haphazard scenes flung together, god-awful smugness, and random cozey-talks that goes nowhere. which is why i don't like this movie. it actually has a few bright moments, e.g when actual parts of the book is strung up. but they're watered out with too much middle-movie nonsense. as for the "novelty" of being a film about making an impossible book into a movie... thats already been done so much better.
its called "adaption". go see that one if you like the idea of this movie, but didn't like oceans 13.
Kunsten å tenke negativt (2006)
awesome movie
what you might expect when entering the theaters for this movie is a sad little feel-sorry movie from ice-cold Norway. I mean, how can a movie with handicapped people be any fun? well, lets start with the colourful ensemble of characters in this movie. first there's of course geirr, an impotent wheelchair bound master of the negative, that looks like he's been to Vietnam and back a dozen times, who compensates his lack of "drive" with a ridiculously large handgun. there's also a rebellious grandmother, a stroke-victim, a paralyzed woman with a grin plastered firmly on her face, and a cast of control-freak "healthy" people. mix this together, and you have a healthy dose of facades being torn down for some self-destructive letting lose. its a fresh breath of air amidst the dreary number of gangster wannabe movies thats been pouring out of norwegian cinemas.
as a bonus on the DVD, you get a small movie about a thug with a bad back filmed in a documentary-style manner, which is also worth a watch.
another glittering gem in Norways collection of weird little movies.
Babel (2006)
great movie
brutal, beautiful, powerful. really liked this movie, its chock-full of beautiful expansive scenery, and long scenes, so that you have time for the scenes to seep in. some people here says that the Japanese theme of this movie doesn't fit into the rest of the movie. for me, it fits in perfectly, its a contrast to the brutal hardships of this world, where what is dramatic, harsh and emotional events a world away, only escapes as a glimpse of "boring news, lets skip to another channel before my friends arrive" to a Japanese schoolgirl. like its subject matter, babel can be misunderstood and misinterpreted, based on the cultural backgrounds of the viewers. so unfortunately, most of the messages this movie contains will be lost on most viewers.
The Departed (2006)
humm, what the hell
don't know why this thing got such high score. its cut like a frickin movie trailer, watching this thing.. feels like watching a 2 hour long movie preview.. jeez. extremely annoying. the story is pretty good though, like the angle. but the cutting.. argh, its so annoying, it gets through everything, and all you can think of is how badly cut this movie is.
then there's the characters. whole frickin bunch of wannabe tough guys. they're so pitiful and lacks so much charisma they need to wade through rivers of blood to get any sort of credibility. waste of time. friggin wannabe Tarantino directors.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
awful, awful tripe
i'm speaking from a foggy memory, i remember watching this movie with my aunt, after a recommendation from my teacher, who said it was awesome. how he could have thought such is mind-boggling. my aunt did not like it either. so what is wrong with this movie? well, i suppose you've heard it all before. the only interesting part of the movie, is during Whitaker's drive. a guy gets mugged, and then ends up ninja-kicking the mugger. that was cool. anyways, i don't think Whitaker himself enjoyed the concept, because clearly, he doesn't give a half-daft sith about acting out ghost dog. all he does is sit around, mumble some bushido stuff, and do everyday stuff. then comes the "action sequence" which is downright dumb. you have these guys acting like cardboard targets on a gunnery range, popping up, and getting shot. if you want to see Whitaker at his high, go watch "the last king of Scotland"
Man on the Moon (1999)
the best movie i've ever seen.
i never knew who Kaufman was. now i wish i had. this movie started out pretty slow. it was Jim Carey, doing a stupid voice that sounds like something i would do when i was around 10. then rolls the end credits, and i wonder if this movie is worth watching. 10 seconds of black screen later, i'm left in the dark, and wonder if this will be another 2001: a space odyssey trial of patience where fast forward becomes a blessing. and then things starts to happened. things goes a bit slow at first, but after a while, i'm twisting with laughter! Kaufman's way of building up expectation, and surprise is epical! seeing how he fooled everything around him, weaving them into his web of surreality opens your mind to how humans can fool themselves into believing almost anything. when the scene with his death came along, i did something i haven't done in 10 years with sincerity. i shed 2 tears, knowing that this fantastic person had died, at an age of 35. if you want to put this into perspective, know that i won't shed a single tear when my mother, or grandmother dies.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
a very good movie
unlike what most of the "haters" think, the movie ending is not some diffuse aliens. the 2000 years after, actually shows the evolved form of robots, after humanity had perished. you can speculate how humanity perished, maybe the magnetic field of earth seized to exist, and the atmosphere was taken by the solar winds, thereby freezing down earth. and whoever survived, was made sterile by solar radiation. or maybe the machines rioted, and killed every last human being. and after this event, machines continued to improve themselves towards a point where they received a higher intellect, and a curiosity for their creators. the ending has a very weird feeling to it. there you have the creations looking back and taking care of its creators, and David being a symbol of their past.
it might also be a sort of reflective lookback for the robots, seeing their past that they destroyed, and now are capable of containing, searching it with intimate curiosity.
but there are bad parts that really were unnecessary. the chase in the woods was downright tacky. i was first confused, and wondered why a large corporation would employ tron meets mad max designs, until i discovered they were part of some sort of religious robot crushing circus. racism at work, fear of whats different.
well, i'm too tired to write up a proper reviews, but those are some of the thoughts that this movie provoked from me.