The Iron Giant (1999)

The Iron Giant

While the animations might seem quite outdated by now, it wasn't this movie's best selling point to begin with. The Iron Giant is much like Toy Story a typical story about heart, but the added elements of Sci-Fi and cold war references makes it surpass the cheesy lines and the annoyance of moral.

I'm not singing its praises like many others seem to be, but keeping in mind Toy Story really annoyed me with some of the same choices, this one actually comes out well. It lacks the magic of Pixar and Studio Ghibli, but is still well worth checking out.

Barton Fink (1991)

Barton Fink

This movie is so filled with symbolism and food for thought, you'll have a lot to do digesting it afterwards. Sadly it's not very rewarding as you watch, and there's the big problem.

Goodman is nothing short of magnificent and Turturro delivers as well, but this is mostly about the Coens, their skills and all the layers baked into this movie they wrote so quickly in the middle of their Miller's Crossing work.

A movie that needs several viewings to fully capture it, but as it's so little rewarding as you watch it might well be a decade or two until I find back to this one.

Hard Boiled (1992)

Lat sau san taam

After the disappointing Once a Thief, the famous Hong Kong action director-actor duo got back on track The Killer style with this movie. High octane action movie with bullets flying everywhere and style to accompany it.

Forget counting rounds without having to reload, forget the death count and just enjoy the ride. Hard Boiled most certainly is quite the ride, despite some hiccups where director John Woo proves he could learn a thing or two from the magnificent Infernal Affairs when it comes to playing cops off undercover.

I don't think it reaches The Killer's level of stylish enjoyment either, but Hard Boiled is still one of those John Woo-Hong Kong movies that made most Hollywood action crap look childish in comparison.

The Twilight Samurai (2002)

Tasogare Seibei

Unforgiven in the last stages of the samurai world. It's a slow moving drama without a lot of the typical samurai fights, but rather focus on the man, his relations and the struggles between family man, honor and duty.

The cinematography is at times beautiful, but the narration was flawed and too simple at times. Several scenes feels too lightweight, almost false. As a result it didn't quite manage to connect on the level I feel it ought to have, but it's well worth a look and probably as Unforgiven more the kind of tea others than me drink greedily from.

Head-On (2004)

Gegen die Wand

We follow Turkish in Germany, and the cultural clashes are at least as interesting and important as the rest of the story. As it is; from the initial setting of Turkish culture and our two unlikely leads thrown together after their failed suicidal attempts, writer and director Fatih Akin follows a path we've seen taken many times. Original is far from the best description, and the story suffers from its predictability.

I do however like both leads, and the take on both sex and drug scenes. It's often intense as well as realistic, but the story lacks some depth as well as curve-balls.

My Sassy Girl (2001)

Yeopgijeogin geunyeo

This is most definitely a roller-coaster ride if I ever saw one. It's really a shame the quality varies as much as it does, because there's a truly amazing movie hidden within all the mediocre or even worse than mediocre stuff.

The only reason a movie can survive those lows and still come up with a strong score is some amazing highs, and this one truly got some amazing highs spread through its long running time. Most of them thanks to Gianna Jun as the unnamed girl. A noteworthy performance by the actress from her opening sequence all the way to her final one. I'm not as impressed by the male lead.

Too many Chaplinsque comedic failures and too many cheap melodramatic solutions, but it makes up for its failures with other qualities above and beyond what the genre usually produce.

In the Mood for Love (2000)

Fa yeung nin wa

I like the idea behind it; following the two halves being cheated at, rather than following the usual path of these kind of stories. It also takes giant steps to distance us from the cheating halves of these couples as well, excluding them from shots and hiding them.

Some of the angles taken by director Kar Wai Wong reminds me of those he took in Chungking Express, but this movie is much more focused on the story at hand. I'm just not convinced it actually benefits from that focus.

It played some strings well, but overall I didn't quite feel like singing its song. I do however think this is one of those movies that benefit from a revisit, and I'll probably give it another go in a decade or so.

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Requiem for a Dream

Ellen Burstyn's role is the deservedly highlighted word of this movie, but I don't get the rest of the hype for it at all. Jennifer Connelly is obviously great as always, but what else is new?

The movie isn't very long, but it still got time to bore me every so often. Digging into four addicts, even if they are closely connected, you really shouldn't find time to bore me. Director Aronofsky never get to do more than touch the surface of the characters, and he brings very little to the table when it comes to originality and depth.

Leto and Wayans does well enough, but as I never expect much with them to begin with it doesn't tell you all that when it comes down to business. The music was good. I'll give it that much, and remember it by it and the female performances.

It also tries to be a depressing cautionary tale, but I guess I'm just to damn cynical by now. To succeed Aronofsky would've had to go a lot deeper than he did, but I guess it does the trick for the superficial viewer. At least its praises seems to suggest that's the case.

A Walk to Remember (2002)(2nd)

A Walk to Remember

Since the last time I reviewed this movie, I've actually got around to read the novel. I'm not going to lie; I wasn't exactly blown away by Sparks' novel. Then again it had to be compared to everything else I've been reading lately, and they've been classics.

Still. Sparks' got one thing right. He knew what had to be the center of the story, and stuck to it despite never really managing to tell the story that was hidden within the idea.

This movie goes the opposite way, and digs deeper into stuff it shouldn't have been so eager to examine. I'd be bold enough to say I can easily spot where both the novel and the movie went wrong, but then again that leaves room to make a better adaptation in the future. How many Pride and Prejudice adaptations did they make until the 1995 TV-miniseries staring Firth and Ehle finally got it spot on?

Mandy Moore is the reason to watch this movie, but this movie's Jaime Sullivan isn't ever close to what was intended. It's still got more heart than most of the genre can dream about, and for that A Walk to Remember will still be one of my personal favorites--even if I downgrade its score now.

"Jane Eyre" (2006)

"Jane Eyre"

From what I've gathered this TV-miniseries is the best adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's novel yet, but there's sure a lot of improvements possible. Brontë's novel goes through several important parts and places, and this adaptation doesn't even try to cover them to an acceptable extent.

This is only 202 minutes, and hopefully we'll one day get a worthy adaptation of the novel. It needs at least another 40 minutes to get close to cover the necessities of the story as well as managing several symbolic changes adapting writer Sandy Welch have left out.

Both Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens does well to portray Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. Several of the supporting cast is also good, but they've got even less to work with than the main characters--compared to what they ought to have.

It sounds like I didn't enjoy this at all, but that's not true. A lot of it is really well done, much of the essence of the main characters are well established and we mostly get to understand the choices they make.

I still can't forgive the loopholes left uncovered, the shortcuts taken and the lack of basic understanding of Jane Eyre. Many might consider the novel overestimated, but to me there's no doubt a potential top rating in adapting Brontë's work as it deserves. I hope this years movie will manage better, but I have no doubt there's a TV-miniseries in the future that will blow us away. I'll be eagerly anticipating it.

"Sense & Sensibility" (2008)

"Sense & Sensibility"

From the disappointment of Emma Thompson's work on this very novel, I must admit I was happy to learn that the man behind the excellent Pride and Prejudice TV-miniseries of 1995, Andrew Davies, also had written an adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.

Of course there's no Colin Firth or Jennifer Ehle taking the leads here, and there's not such a material to take from as it was back then. I'll easily admit I've found S&S a mediocre Austen work, or as mediocre as her work ever could be, so it's impossible to expect the quality of P&P even if Davies writes the adaptation.

Still there's no doubt Davies understands Austen, and he's once again done a remarkable job to keep the good parts of the novel. The dialogue, the flow and the progress of the story are all done with both an understanding of the story as well as with an understanding as to how to make sure it works on TV.

While most actors and actresses participating are unknowns, they've done a great job bringing life to the scenes. I especially enjoyed Charity Wakefield as Marianne, Mark Williams as Sir John and Linda Bassett as Mrs. Jennings.

This mini-series will not take you by much surprise, but writer Daview and director John Alexander have done much justice to Austen in this adaptation. Any fan of Austen should enjoy it and so should any fan of the genre as well, but they didn't have the original quality to manage much more than they did. For that I feel Austen alone is to blame, and then there's really not much more to be said.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

Toki o kakeru shôjo

A combination of animated SciFi and harsh coming of age lessons, but it doesn't quite get where it could have gone.

The protagonist is just a little to annoying to ever manage the attachment needed with me as viewer, the setting isn't quite interesting enough and the story never manage to get its heart to shine through.

I did enjoy it, but this is one of those rare instances where you actually can sense the masterpiece it could have been if they had focused a little better on their foundation. It's easy to feel a little cheated when the potential is so great.

Three Colors: White (1994)

Trzy kolory: Bialy

In the second movie of Kieslowksi's Color-trilogy we follow a Polish immigrant in France, and the turns his life takes when his wife divorces him for being unable to please her in bed.

This is the first Kieslowski movie I've seen, that doesn't feel like no-one else could have made it. The theme is a classic one, and the Eastern European mindset shines through like we've seen in so many other movies, but he still delivers a well prepared dish for us. It's got more depth than we usually see in these kind of movies, but it's never close to the depth he showed in the first movie of the trilogy, Three Colors: Blue.

Zamachowski is good in the lead, but not quite great. The support cast is however great, whether we speak of Delpy, Stuhr or Gajos.

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Mononoke-hime

Throughout the first half Hayao Miyazaki brings us into a magical world with characters, charm and creativity, and I felt like he was about to blow my mind like no animation before.

Sadly i didn't enjoy the second half nearly as much. In fact it was at times both going overboard and going under at the same time. It just didn't connect with me, and then it rapidly went downhill as an experience as scene after scene passed by.

It's still well worth watching, if for no other reason so for Miyazaki's ability to set an interesting premise and then invite us in to join the experience.

Castle in the Sky (1986)

Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta

Hayao Miyazaki have worked him self into a position of well deserved fame through his animated movies, as I myself learned through Howl's Moving Castle (a movie which review I haven't gotten around to yet of those backlogged, sorry!). Castle in the Sky doesn't manage to capture me in the same way, but it's still a quite good story.

The life of an orphan mining boy change when a girl fall from the sky, all though rather slowly as she's protected by a force he reckons comes from a stone amulet. She's hunted by pirates as well as by strange agents helped by the army. The boy (Pazu) helps the girl (Sheeta) escape, and find them self in a strange race involving the mythological castle in the sky, Laputa.

Interesting and well worth a look, but it lacks the magic and greater interactions seen in Howl's Moving Castle. I'll definitely keep checking out Miyazaki's work though, because there's no doubt he's extremely talented.

Red (2010)

Red

Over the top entertainment the way movies like Knight and Day and the Charlie's Angels sequel hoped to be. It's witty, it's parochial on several levels and quite charming. The last part especially thanks to the character played by Mary-Louise Parker.

Add Bruce Willis doing what he does best and support from stars like Malkovich, Freeman, Mirren, Cox and Dreyfuss, and you've got an entertaining movie if you like these kind of things.

The action lacked somewhat on the balance between over the top, inventive and suspenseful, but good characters and actors makes up for it overall.

Bicycle Thieves (1948)

Ladri di biciclette

One of those movies that seem to appear on every list from here to Moscow and back again, so there's little doubt there were some expectations finally visiting it. Simplistic, real and emotional are amongst the most used reasons for its fame, and it sure is simplistic.

A man finally gets work in post WWII-Italy, but depends on having a bicycle. Getting it back from the pawn shop thanks to giving up the sheets, getting it stolen is the worst that could happen to his new found happiness. Then we'll follow his Sunday search to get it back.

It's emotional, but the real part I got a little trouble with. Not only are some of the acting terrible (thankfully not amongst the main characters), but some of the scenes go between ridiculous and forced.

It's in my opinion a good movie, but far from the masterpiece many speak of it as.

Star Wars (1977)

Star Wars

The beginning of a franchise I've never got to, until now. I've obviously known quite a lot about the Star Wars universe thanks to numerous references in never pop culture, but I've never really been that enthusiastic about getting to know it my self.

For an introduction to a new universe it works quite well, but as a movie seen on its own merits it lacks a little. It doesn't have neither the necessary charm nor the action or adventurous needed to come over the top. There's obviously also something to be said for the lack of hitting easy targets with those laser weapons of the stormtroopers.

It's more than good enough I'll be looking forward to dip further into Lucas' universe, and I might even have this growing on me in time. Just now it doesn't quite make up for the legend, acclaims and hype.

Anything for Her (2008)

Pour elle

This is a classic three acts thriller, changing direction for each act. While it might not stand out on either one, that's also what makes it stand out enough as a whole. It feels real, it doesn't hand the protagonist remarkable skills or odd abilities to avoid feelings and pain.

Diane Kruger was the main reason I got to this before checking out the remake with Crowe and Banks, and Kruger is as usually brilliant. Still. This is more about Vincent Lindon's character than anything else, and he does a great job coming across as the teacher going to lengths for his love.

For some it might feel to slow in the beginning, but it lays the groundwork for what's to come. It allows us to get to know these characters and their pain. I for one appreciate the way it's done.

Somewhere (2010)

Somewhere

If you've ever watched the stunningly beautiful masterpiece Lost in Translation, it's impossible to not recognize that this is as well a Sofia Coppola movie. However. Stephen Dorff is no Bill Murphy, and the relationship between him and his daughter is nowhere as fascinating and intriguing as the one between Murphy and Johansson 7 years ago.

There's still a lot of good in this movie as well. The slow building, the scenes where words are unnecessary to portray feelings and the gentle touches and glimpses. Coppola has her own style, and executes it very well. The story still lacks the sparks and direction to come close to her famous one.

Dorff is good, but not great. Fanning is however doing a marvelous job as his daughter. The supports are also well cast throughout.