Melancholia

Written by : Lars von Trier

Directed by: Lars von Trier

Melancholia is Lars von Trier's view of the end of the world.

Or a metaphor for his own psychological fears.

The film expresses a totally dark view of our existence.

But in terms of the form and artwork, it's a masterpiece. Excellent acting and photography, well edited and full of suspense. Brilliant.

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The Burning Plain (2008)

Written by: Guillermo Arriaga

Directed by: Guillermo Arriaga.

If you liked Babel, you'll like this one. Amazing acting and interesting story structure.

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This is it (2009)

Nahh. I love Michael Jackson's music and scene performances. But this? It's not enough. It was definitely not it.

Twelve Angry Men (1957)

Written by: Reginald Rose

Directed by: Sidney Lumet

It was long since I saw a brilliant movie, but this film went straight into my top ten. The whole story more or less settled in one room, Twelve Angry Men portrays how one man fights against eleven others not to send an accused into death penalty without sure proof.

Twelve Angry Men has something that is rare nowadays - a message that builds up. Acting and cinematography are at master level, but I would say how the story is written impresses me most. Even if some elements would be criticized by scholars today, this script has everything that a great screenplay ought to have - a catching start, an "unsolvable" conflict, interesting characters, a redeeming resolution and several layers of life. But what makes Twelve Angry Men into something more than just a good story is how it carries a strong message of good values without preaching.

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Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Written by: Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson

Directed by: David Lean

Lawrence of Arabia, made by the director of The Bridge on the River Kwai, in my opinion is carried foremost by one thing - Peter O'Toole's portrayal of Lawrence. This figure is defintely interesting with all his contradictory traits; Englishman and Arabic in soul, strategic and impulsive, strong and weak, mercyful and cruel.

The story may or may not have depicted the real Lawrence correctly; in my opinion it doesn't really matter, I want to see a great story that is beliavable in itself.

Even if O'Tooles acting is great and if I enjoy seeing films that mix cultures, I finished the film with the sense that someting was missing. I even dare to think that Lawrence of Arabia film could have been improved on several points. The first thing is the plot - it could be more focused, building up tension towards a climax. The film has several ups and lows, but it lacks consistency in its structure.

Furthermore, some of the mass scenes are simply not believable when it comes to the number of extras. This might have to do with having seen all the modern films where CGI fills in all the thousands of people. But it doesn't make sense when whole nations are in battle and then you see about 200 people fighting.

But I guess the main thing with a film is personal, do you connect to it or not? Do you care about the characters? With Lawrence of Arabia I didn't.

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The Sixth Sense (1999)

Written and directed by: M Night Shyamalan

The Sixth Sense is the rare thing of being a really scary thriller, a very intelligent story and a great piece of movie art. This is a must-see for movie lovers, especially those who like the "artsy" style of directors like David Lynch and Roman Polanski. The story is multi-layered, the dialogue is really interesting and every scene is intense and most of them unpredictable.
Also the acting is great; Bruce Willis and Toni Collette do a superb job, but most breathtaking is the young actor Haley Joel Osment. I do wonder though what happens inside a kid when doing this kind of movie.

The only thing that disturbed me was the ending. Sure it’s a twisty and kind of logical one when you've seen it, but I felt it gave the film a feeling over being overdone. But that doesn’t take away the fact that M Night Shyamalan created a masterpiece in this film.

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My Sister's Keeper (2009)

Written by: Jeremy Leven and Nick Cassavetes.
Directed by: Nick Cassavetes

Interesting to see that 95% of the audience were women. Where are all brave men? My Sister’s Keeper is based on the novel with the same title by Jodi Picoult. What starts out as a pretty unbelievable comedy-drama ends in a a cresciendo of sentimental tears (in the audience), all while watching Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vassilieva and Cameron Diaz acting really well.

Around 2/3 into the the movie it seemed that that they had failed in structuring the story, but then a superb twist appeared and during the last act it was all neatly tied together. Certainly worth watching, especially if you want to be reminded of what a family is. Handkerchief recommended.

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