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Amour | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 | Mental | Up There | Hit So Hard | Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet | Happy Happy | The Pool | Son Of Sardar

Amour (12A)

(Michael Haneke, 2012, Aus/Fra/Ger) Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva, 127 mins

Most romantic stories are beginnings; this is the endgame – the "till death us do part", as experienced by a cultured, elderly French couple after the wife's stroke. Call it a last slow dance in Paris. Watching body, mind and possibly love slowly diminish in their claustrophobic apartment, Haneke's gaze is stately and unflinching. However, there's also a slight remove, making this less emotional than you'd expect but rich in deeper themes.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (12A)

(Bill Condon, 2012, Us) Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner. 115 mins

The love/hate teenage supernatural saga comes to a spectacular/preposterous climax, for better or worse. Bella's enjoyment of her newfound vampire skills is dented...

Happy Happy (or, Sykt Lykkelig, to give it its proper name), is an often hilarious snapshot of family life amongst the snowy plains of Norway. Bored with the everyday routine of marriage and lack of appreciation from husband, Erik (Joachim Rafaelsen), Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) welcomes the change of pace and possibility of forming a friendship with the shiny, similar aged couple that move in next door. But though Sigve (Henrik Rafaelsen) and Elisabeth (Maibritt Saerens) may have a perfect exterior, they are not necessarily as happy as they would have Kaja and Erik believe.

Sweet, full of sentiment and utterly delightful, Happy Happy shows just a fraction of the lives of a very interesting and diverse set of characters. As her husband goes hunting for days at a time, Kaja is left feeling unfulfilled and unloved, relishing in time spent with her new neighbours, while her young son Theodor (Oskar...

Headhunters / Hodejegerne Trailer. Morten Tyldum‘s Headhunters / Hodejegerne (2011) movie trailer stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Aksel Hennie, Julie R. Olgaard, Joachim Rafaelsen, and Baard Owe. Hodejegerne‘s plot synopsis: based on the book by Jo Nesbo, Headhunter “chronicles the escapades of a high-living corporate headhunter who steals artwork from his rich clients to finance his expensive lifestyle. When a heist unexpectedly goes south, he discovers he’s in way over his head in a murderous scheme.”

Great movie trailer. I am looking forward to seeing this. The Headhunter certainly gets more than he pardon for towards the mid-point of this trailer. Looks gritty. The Us rights to this film have already been acquired, written about here: Headhunters: Summit Entertainment acquires Jo Nesbø Crime Thriller.

Watch the Headhunters / Hodejegerne movie trailer below and leave your thoughts on it in the comments section. For more Headhunters / Hodejegerne photos, videos, and information, check out our Headhunters Page.

Winner of the World Cinema Jury Prize at this year.s Sundance Film Festival and Norway.s official selection for the upcoming Best Foreign Film Oscar race, Happy, Happy is the feature debut of Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky. The clever new dark comedy is the story of a successful but unhappy Danish couple trying to rebuild their damaged marriage. Along with their preteen African-adopted son, the well-educated Sigve (Henrik Rafaelsen) and Elisabeth (Maibritt Saerens) buy a secluded house in the country next to the less bright but equally unhappy Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) and her surly husband Eirik (Joachim Rafaelsen), who have a son of their own. Since there.s not a lot to do in this isolated locale, the unlikely foursome begin sharing dinners and playing games. These games lead to uncomfortable marital comparisons and during one, it.s revealed that Kaja and Eirik have not had sex in over...

Tomas Alfredson's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, that showcase of contemporary British acting, has opened in the UK this weekend, and that roundup has been updated through today. The entry on Gus Van Sant's Restless has been updated with pointers to pieces related to the Museum of the Moving Image's retrospective, running through September 30. And of course, we've got roundups running on Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive and Rod Lurie's remake of Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs. Meantime, two weeks after the release of Steven Soderbergh's Contagion, we've entered the think piece stage, so that roundup's been kept up-to-date through today as well.

"Imagine that a semi-pagan society quietly survives in the heartland of Russia, amid the leftover Soviet-era factories, the old shops and stores strung along the roadsides, the new concrete towns with their shopping malls." Stuart Klawans in the Nation: "Imagine that the people of...

In a cold, remote Norwegian town, two houses sit side by side. In one, chipper junior-high-school teacher Agnes Kittelsen lives with her gruff, frequently absent husband Joachim Rafaelsen, who makes a habit of telling his wife how unattractive she is. In the other house resides icy, adulterous lawyer Maibritt Saerens and her affable husband Henrik Rafaelsen, who’ve just moved to the middle of nowhere in an effort to save their marriage. It’s no surprise that the teacher and the henpecked husband of Happy, Happy eventually fall into bed together, though what happens next is somewhat surprising, as director ...

The Norwegian Oscar Committee has submitted Anne Switsky's feature directorial debut, Happy, Happy, to Best Foreign-Language Feature Film, after it took the top prize at Sundance. Happy, Happy's victory at Sundance marked the first time that a Norwegian film won fest's World Cinema Grand Jury Prize. The film, which stars Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens and Joachim Rafaelsen, tells of story two couples with complicated and semi-comedic relationships in neighboring homes. The meeting of the pairs causes each spouse to questions their relationships, but despite the drama, Happy, Happy manages to stay charming and true to its title. Watch the trailer below: Toh!'s Sophia Savage confirms the quirky film will have audiences chuckling and charmed, while THR writes: "Kittelsen’s performance is the linchpin of ...

Happy, Happy stars Agnes Kittelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen and Maibritt Saerens in the Magnolia Pictures comedy drama from director Anne Sewitsky. The story follows Kaja, whose family is the most important thing in the world. She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys and isn't interested in having sex with her anymore because she "isn't particularly attractive." Whatever. That's l ife. But when "the perfect couple" moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. Not only do these successful, beautiful, exciting people sing in a choir...

Happy, Happy stars Agnes Kittelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen and Maibritt Saerens in the Magnolia Pictures comedy drama from director Anne Sewitsky. The story follows Kaja, whose family is the most important thing in the world. She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys and isn't interested in having sex with her anymore because she "isn't particularly attractive." Whatever. That's l ife. But when "the perfect couple" moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. Not only do these successful, beautiful, exciting people sing in a choir...

Taking home the World Cinema dramatic prize at Sundance earlier this year, we also adored Anne Sewitsky‘s comedy/drama Happy, Happy when it played at New Directors/New Films this spring. We called it “a joyous journey full of incisive wit and heart that could easily be enjoyed beyond the art house.” The first trailer has arrived and it looks simply wonderful. Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen and Joachim Rafaelsen star and you can see the preview below via Apple.

Synopsis:

Family is the most important thing in the world to Kaja. She is an eternal optimist in spite of living with a man who would rather go hunting with the boys and isn’t interested in having sex with her anymore because she “isn’t particularly attractive.” Whatever. That’s life. But when “the perfect couple” moves in next door, Kaja struggles to keep her emotions in check. Not only do these successful,...

Today's pick for the Sydney Film Festival Trailer of the Day is the sexy, sexy Happy, Happy. Here's what the Sff Program says about the film: World Cinema Grand Jury Prize-winner at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Happy, Happy is a sexy comedy that takes delight in indiscretion and snowy romps. Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) is endlessly chipper (think Poppy in Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky), although sex is in short supply. Her somewhat dour husband, Eirik (Joachim Rafaelsen, Elling) and young son fail to share her enthusiasm when a new couple and their adopted son move in next door. Elisabeth (Maibritt Saerens, Frederikke, Sff 2008) and Sigve (Henrik Rafaelsen) are sophisticated, beautiful and they can sing - in short, they're everything Kaja would like to be...

Caught between humor and drama, the average audience will not put out the effort to stick with this film. Awarding winning short film director Anne Sewitsky showed her debut film .Happy Happy. at the New York New Directors, New Films festival. It promises great things, if a bit thin for most American audiences. The film is screenwriter Ragnhild Tronvoll.s first feature film as well. He seems well matched with director Sewitsky, but both could have used more experience in the other. The film does a delicate balancing act, combining some soul-searching Bergmanesque relationship surgery with a degree of dry humor Bergman never imagined. Eirik (Joachim Rafaelsen) and his wife Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) live a peaceful, boring life in rural...

The feature film debut of Norwegian director Anne Sewitsky promises to be a “comedy about infidelity, moose meat, blowjobs and cottage cheese,” but proves to be so much more.

Happy Happy, which won the narrative World Cinema Jury award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, is a character-driven comedy that centers on Kaja (played with a sprightly brightness by Agnes Kittelsen), a devoted wife and mother who lives in rural Norway and manages to find the silver-lining to every rain cloud. Though starved for affection and regularly mocked by her son (Oskar Hernæs Brandsø) and husband (Joachim Rafaelsen), Kaja is happy enough – that is until a new (and decidedly more modern) family moves in next door. Fascinated by the sophisticated couple (Henrik Rafaelsen and Maibritt Saerens) and their adopted African child (Ram Shihab Ebedy), Kaja strives to make fast friends, and soon find the cracks beneath the surface of their seemingly perfect marriage.

Reviewed by Jeremy Mathews

(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)

Directed by: Anne Sewitsky

Written by: Ragnhild Tronvoll

Starring: Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens, Oskar Hernæs Brandsø and Ram Shihab Ebedy

“Happy, Happy” has a wonderful peculiarity to it. The film approaches such topics as love, betrayal and deceit with a mannered whimsy, achieving its mischievously comedic tone with clinical precision. Its story of two very different couples who live next door to one another in a small Norwegian town seems at first like a cute trifle, then explodes with a torrent of emotions.

Director Anne Sewitsky obviously knew she was making a film with undertones of Greek drama because she included a chorus to chime in on the characters’ affairs. That chorus takes the form of a smiling male vocal quartet singing catchy tunes. Its harmonies bring us to a countryside town where Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) and...

Reviewed by Jeremy Mathews

(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)

Directed by: Anne Sewitsky

Written by: Ragnhild Tronvoll

Starring: Agnes Kittelsen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Joachim Rafaelsen, Maibritt Saerens, Oskar Hernæs Brandsø and Ram Shihab Ebedy

“Happy, Happy” has a wonderful peculiarity to it. The film approaches such topics as love, betrayal and deceit with a mannered whimsy, achieving its mischievously comedic tone with clinical precision. Its story of two very different couples who live next door to one another in a small Norwegian town seems at first like a cute trifle, then explodes with a torrent of emotions.

Director Anne Sewitsky obviously knew she was making a film with undertones of Greek drama because she included a chorus to chime in on the characters’ affairs. That chorus takes the form of a smiling male vocal quartet singing catchy tunes. Its harmonies bring us to a countryside town where Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) and...

It has been another great year of film. I still have but seven movies left to watch before I complete my “Best of the Year List” but we are already looking towards 2011.

The 57 feature films selected for the four competition programs of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival were announced today, and the titles include some exciting works from returning filmmakers. While the lineup isn’t has loaded with big names it does feature the return of James Marsh whose documentary Man on Wire won the Grand Jury Prize at the fest in 2008. Some interesting movies we should mention that appear on the list are Mike Cahill’s Another Earth, Carlos Moreno’s All Our Dead One (Todos Tus Muertos), Anne Sewitsky’s sexual drama Happy, Happy (Sykt Lykkelig) Rashaad Ernesto Green‘s Gun Hill Road, Sean Durkin‘s Martha Marcy May Marlene, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean‘s On the Ice, Dee Rees...

Among this year’s 13 selected (from 1073 - that's about one film for every 100 submitted) international narrative feature submissions, we find one title that is high up on our must see list in Paddy Considine's directing debut entitled Tyrannosaur. Last year we had Animal Kingdom ranked in the same spot. Here are the other 12 from pretty much all over the world. Abraxas /Japan (Director: Dai Sako; Screenwriters: Dai Sako and Naoki Kato) After botching a speech on career guidance at a local high school, a depressed Zen monk with a heavy metal past realizes that only music can revive his spirit. Cast: Suneohair, Rie Tomosaka, Manami Honjou, Ryouta Murai, Kaoru Kobayashi. International Premiere All Your Dead Ones (Todos Tus Muertos)/Colombia (Director Carlos Moreno; Screenwriters: Alonso Torres and Carlos Moreno) One morning, a peasant wakes to find a pile of bodies in the middle of his crops. When he goes to the authorities,...

It's the first day in December, and whether you want to recognize it or not, January isn't too far away. Today the awesome folks at the Sundance Film Festival unveiled their first list of films, international and domestic, which will be presented at the festival. Check it out, and yes there are more to come. Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.For the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, 115 feature-length films were selected, representing 28 countries by 40 first-time filmmakers, including 25 in competition. These films were selected from 3,812 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,943 U.S. and 1,869 international feature-length films.

As we’re getting ready to wrap up another great year of film, some are already looking to 2011 and what it will have to offer and what better way to look a head than with the first round of titles for the year’s first big festival: Sundance.

The list of festival titles isn’t as loaded with as many big name titles as have made the cut in previous years but there’s are definitely some interesting film in the competition line-up including Mike Cahill’s Another Earth which takes place on the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth (wicked!), Carlos Moreno’s All Our Dead One (Todos Tus Muertos) about a guy who finds a pile of dead bodies in the middle of his crops, Anne Sewitsky’s sexual drama Happy, Happy (Sykt Lykkelig) along with the Canadian/Japanese co-production Vampire.

Loads of great stuff on the line-up.

The announcement of the movies playing the 2011 Sundance Film Festival is like looking into our film futures. It's December and most movie fans are looking back at the last 12 months, picking out award winners, writing top ten lists, and chances are we haven't even heard of the Sundance films. They're just titles, people, words on a computer screen. Then in January they unspool on screens across Park City, Utah and become something more. Finally, months later, these are the movies we discuss with our friends and choose on ballots at awards parties. Yet we get to read about them now, a year in advance. Last year at this time, who had heard of Four Lions, Catfish, Exit Through The Gift Shop, Blue Valentine, The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone, Restrepo or Animal Kingdom? Sundance, that's who. All those films screened at the 2010 festival and now many have become not only personal favorites,...

The Sundance Film Festival has announced the films in competition for the awesome and cold film festival running January 20th through January 30th 2011 in Park City, Utah.

This will be my third year attending the festival, and I'm really excited for it! There's a great line-up of films this year! Check out the list below!

From the press release:

Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

On Day One, the Festival will forego the convention of one opening night film and instead screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.

Park City, Ut . Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at http://www.sundance.org/.

On Day One, the Festival will forego the convention of one opening night film and instead screen one narrative film and one documentary from both the U.S. and World Cinema competitions, as well as one shorts program.

John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival said, .The Festival is a challenge to narrowly define. It is all at once exciting, fun, crazy, engaging, visceral, and sometimes even painful. We can explain storylines,...

Here's the first Sundance line-up announcement, of the fiction and nonfiction feature competitions, both U.S. and world. A few things of interest, on first scan: Vera Farmiga's directorial debut "Higher Ground," in which she also stars; "The Ledge," which sounds like this year's try for "Buried"; Iñupiaq Arctic thriller "On the Ice"; "Terri," the new film from "Momma's Man" director; Michael Rapaport's doc on A Tribe Called Quest "Beats, Rhymes and Life"; doc about the beloved Muppet "Being Elmo"; "If A Tree Falls," a new film from "Street Fight"'s Marshall Curry; Paddy Considine's feature directorial debut "Tyrannosaur"; and "Vampire," the new film from Japan's Shunji Iwai, a favorite of mine.

Descriptions courtesy of the festival:

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Another Earth (Director: Mike Cahill; Screenwriters: Mike Cahill and Brit Marling) - On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a horrible tragedy...

HollywoodNews.com: The 2011 Sundance Film Festival has just announced its lineup for January. John Cooper, director of Sundance Film Festival, said, “With more than 10,000 films submitted this year, we have had to make some very tough choices. Yet in the end, I’m excited about the way the program has come together. It’s an incredible honor to introduce these films and filmmaker…these are the stories that will define not only our Festival, but also the cultural year ahead.”

Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. In addition to the four Competition Categories, the Festival presents films in six out-of-competition sections to be announced on December 2. The 2011 Sundance Film Festival runs January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

On Day One, the Festival will...

The Film Stage is headed to Sundance this year and the festival has just announced its line-up. With over 10,00 entries here is what they narrowed it down to. Most initially notable is Vera Farmiga‘s directorial debut, Higher Ground (pictured above). There is a clear lack of stars as NYTimes notes, so the excitement of discovery is back in full swing. The fest will also announce 6 more out-of-competition categories tomorrow. Check out the full list below via the official site.

Us Dramatic

Another Earth (Director: Mike Cahill; Screenwriters: Mike Cahill and Brit Marling) – On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a horrible tragedy irrevocably alters the lives of two strangers, who begin an unlikely love affair. Cast: William Mapother, Brit Marling, Jordan Baker, Robin Lord Taylor, Flint Beverage.

Benavides Born (Director: Amy Wendel; Screenwriters: Daniel Meisel and Amy Wendel) – A high school senior in a forgotten town...

Well, here they are – the Sundance Film Festival class of 2011, split up into 4 categories as indicated by the headers below. In future posts, I’ll be going over the complete list, highlighting titles that need to be, taking into consideration this blog’s specific interests.

Of note, some titles that I listed on my list of 2011 black films on our radar… Gun Hill Road, Rashaad Ernesto Green’s debut feature (which I actually saw a cut of over the weekend, and gave a thumbs up to; but I’ll talk more about it in detail when the time comes), Dee Rees’ Pariah, and Alrick Brown’s Kinyarwanda. Further, titles we’ve previously covered here… Beats, Rhymes and Life, Michael Rapaport’s documentary on hip-hop legends, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Redemption of General Butt Naked, a documentary on the Liberian warlord turned evangelist.

One film I’m surprised isn...

The Sundance Institute announced today the lineup of films selected to screen in the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Tomorrow will see the announcement of the six out-of-competition sections, which will all screen at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival which runs from January 20-30 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

For the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, 115 feature-length films were selected, representing 28 countries by 40 first-time filmmakers, including 25 in competition. These films were selected from 3,812 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,943 U.S. and 1,869 international feature-length films. 92 films at the Festival will be world premieres.

The films featured in the U.S. Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, World Cinema Dramatic and World Cinema Documentary Competition are listed directly below and I've gone through and highlighted a few of the bigger known names to check out. However, Sundance has been introducing us to a...