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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söndag 18 oktober 2009
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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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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Men Who Hate Women (2009)
Written by: Rasmus Heisterberg and Nicolaj Arcel
Directed by: Nils Arden Oplev
Men Who Hate Women is the first in the bestselling "Milennium" book series by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. This is a well-made thriller directed by Nils Arden Oplev, who formerly directed the Danish TV crime series The Eagle. What lifts this film up above other contemporary Swedish films in the genre is the depth of the characters. Almost every character is original, interesting and peculiar. If this has to do with the massive input form Danish film professionals I don’t know. I just know that Danish films often have good character casts. Sure, in this film the protagonist Mikael Blomqvist could be made into something more than just another cookie-cut Michael Nyqvist character, but it works well enough.
The story also is very well structured. I haven’t read the book, but I am sure the scriptwriters have done an amazingly good job here. Especially the editing of all the still pictures used to find the murderer in the story are well put together and partly resembles the style of the classic JFK.
Since this is just the first of three in a series, the whole picture will come when having seen all three, but as a stand-alone film Men Who Hate Women works well enough.
The camerawork is excellent and the acting is good for being a Swedish film, which otherwise often tend to have "stage" acting. When will we see a Swedish film where the characters speak like normal people? Anyway, this film is above the standards we have been used to in many areas. It’s a clear four-P in this forum.
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Directed by: Nils Arden Oplev
Men Who Hate Women is the first in the bestselling "Milennium" book series by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. This is a well-made thriller directed by Nils Arden Oplev, who formerly directed the Danish TV crime series The Eagle. What lifts this film up above other contemporary Swedish films in the genre is the depth of the characters. Almost every character is original, interesting and peculiar. If this has to do with the massive input form Danish film professionals I don’t know. I just know that Danish films often have good character casts. Sure, in this film the protagonist Mikael Blomqvist could be made into something more than just another cookie-cut Michael Nyqvist character, but it works well enough.
The story also is very well structured. I haven’t read the book, but I am sure the scriptwriters have done an amazingly good job here. Especially the editing of all the still pictures used to find the murderer in the story are well put together and partly resembles the style of the classic JFK.
Since this is just the first of three in a series, the whole picture will come when having seen all three, but as a stand-alone film Men Who Hate Women works well enough.
The camerawork is excellent and the acting is good for being a Swedish film, which otherwise often tend to have "stage" acting. When will we see a Swedish film where the characters speak like normal people? Anyway, this film is above the standards we have been used to in many areas. It’s a clear four-P in this forum.
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Spirited Away (2005)
Written and Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
Sprited Away is a 2-hour animated Japanese feature film. This is a touching story about Chihiro, a 10-year old Japanese girl that is taken to a fantasy land and faces challenges of spirits, magical beings and the ruler and sorceress Yubaba. Step by step the shy and scared Chihiro learns how to deal with impossible problems and grows in maturity.
The power of Spirited Away lies in the strong story anatomy and our total dentification with the weak little Chihiro in her struggles. There is also a sense of childish freedom in the variety of figures and characters. Due to many horrid scenes this film should probably not be seen by small children, and it is good that it is rated at 12 years. I you want to see something completely different, watch Spirited Away.
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Sprited Away is a 2-hour animated Japanese feature film. This is a touching story about Chihiro, a 10-year old Japanese girl that is taken to a fantasy land and faces challenges of spirits, magical beings and the ruler and sorceress Yubaba. Step by step the shy and scared Chihiro learns how to deal with impossible problems and grows in maturity.
The power of Spirited Away lies in the strong story anatomy and our total dentification with the weak little Chihiro in her struggles. There is also a sense of childish freedom in the variety of figures and characters. Due to many horrid scenes this film should probably not be seen by small children, and it is good that it is rated at 12 years. I you want to see something completely different, watch Spirited Away.
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tisdag 6 oktober 2009
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
Written and Directed by: Audrey Wells
Touching and entertaining American romantic comedy set mainly in Italy. All the Italian cliches are there, but since they are commented by the characters they kind of enrich. Not so few scenes have a shallow and low-budget feeling over them, and Italy and Italians are portrayed in a very stereotype, exterior way, but the greater heart and joy of the story embraces us and makes us forgive the faults. Under the Tuscan Sun is a soul-rich film about hope and meaning that is brave enough to include also life’s difficulties.
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Touching and entertaining American romantic comedy set mainly in Italy. All the Italian cliches are there, but since they are commented by the characters they kind of enrich. Not so few scenes have a shallow and low-budget feeling over them, and Italy and Italians are portrayed in a very stereotype, exterior way, but the greater heart and joy of the story embraces us and makes us forgive the faults. Under the Tuscan Sun is a soul-rich film about hope and meaning that is brave enough to include also life’s difficulties.
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fredag 2 oktober 2009
The Milk of Sorrow (2009)
Written by: Claudia Llosa
Directed by:Claudia Llosa
Peruvian drama about a young native-Indian woman in Lima that suffers from “scared breast”; the consequences of being the child of a raped woman. Thanks to both brilliant acting/directing and good camerawork this is a very beautiful film, and there is a lot of held-back pain being portrayed here. But somehow the story never reaches its possible potential. It didn’t really touch me nor did it release the possible energy it could have. Probably a script issue.
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Directed by:Claudia Llosa
Peruvian drama about a young native-Indian woman in Lima that suffers from “scared breast”; the consequences of being the child of a raped woman. Thanks to both brilliant acting/directing and good camerawork this is a very beautiful film, and there is a lot of held-back pain being portrayed here. But somehow the story never reaches its possible potential. It didn’t really touch me nor did it release the possible energy it could have. Probably a script issue.
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Mid-August Lunch (2008)
Written by: Simone Riccardini & Gianni Di Gregorio
Directed by: Gianni Di Gregorio
An Italian bachelor sees himself forced to take care of four old women. So good to see a film portraying old people. If you are looking for lots of gags or action, see something else. This film is calm and doesn’t really have much of a plot, but it has a lot of heart and is worthwile just because of the warmth towards older people it leaves in you.
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Directed by: Gianni Di Gregorio
An Italian bachelor sees himself forced to take care of four old women. So good to see a film portraying old people. If you are looking for lots of gags or action, see something else. This film is calm and doesn’t really have much of a plot, but it has a lot of heart and is worthwile just because of the warmth towards older people it leaves in you.
P P P
300 (2007)
Written by: Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad and Michael B. Gordon
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Fictive historical action-adventure drama about the Spartans. The film is a mix between live-action and animations. This film is visually well-made, but the extremely graphic violence makes it partly unenjoyable. Further, it is not only the shown violence, it is how they show it. This film overtly glorifies violence. It is cut with slow-motion effects and rock music when people cut and butcher each other. What could have been an interesting historical drama instead was made as a conscience-void slaughter-glorifying computer-game-generation product. I am afraid what this film does in the hearts of young people with few healthy male role models.
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Fictive historical action-adventure drama about the Spartans. The film is a mix between live-action and animations. This film is visually well-made, but the extremely graphic violence makes it partly unenjoyable. Further, it is not only the shown violence, it is how they show it. This film overtly glorifies violence. It is cut with slow-motion effects and rock music when people cut and butcher each other. What could have been an interesting historical drama instead was made as a conscience-void slaughter-glorifying computer-game-generation product. I am afraid what this film does in the hearts of young people with few healthy male role models.
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