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Fandango (1985)
Does in fact offer the good old-fashioned escapism that it promises
Five college friends drive off into the Texan desert for a final hoopla before the responsibilities of adulthood set in. Among the several American coming-of-age movies of this period this one is a little different. Why? Well, because the writer and director Kevin Reynolds isn't concerned with naturalism or subtleties. His approach is taking us on an adventure sprinkled with more than a hint of nostalgia. The trouble with that is that when Judd Nelson or Sam Robards have their emotional outbursts, they feel mannered and out of place. The upside is that Fandango does in fact offer the good old-fashioned escapism that it promises - and that these five guys were looking for. It's like a Hal Needham version of the coming-of-age subgenre, interspersed with a hint of Spielbergian sentimentality. Although it isn't really close to reaching it, Fandango actually aspires for greatness.
The Holdovers (2023)
The dramatic potential is never completely fulfilled
Nostalgia is the most obvious driving force behind this small retrospective about a disillusioned teacher (Paul Giamatta) and the bond he forms with one of his students (Dominic Sessa), who is "holding over" during the Christmas period at their New England boarding school in 1970. Not for the first time, Giamatti is perfectly cast by director Alexander Payne (Sideways), and whenever the film feels mannered or inane, Giamatti's presence keeps it watchable, even downright fascinating at times. Still, the dramatic potential the story undoubtedly has is never completely fulfilled, partly because the story is too designed to create a certain cosy feeling, and partly because of some anachronistic elements which make you all too conscious that this time capsule is not real, and that you're simply watching a film made in 2023.
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
A spirited buddy movie with a rare combo of revisionism and optimism
Michael Cimino wrote this modern western tale about two outlaws and drifters who strike up a friendship while on the run, and star Clint Eastwood was set to direct himself before deciding to give Cimino, who had co-written Magnum Force the previous year, his big break in the directing chair. This move was probably a stroke of genius, because it ensured that Thunderbolt and Lightfoot didn't end up as just another dour, humourless Eastwood action flick, but rather as a spirited buddy movie with a rare combo of revisionism and optimism. Much of the latter effect is down to the Lightfoot character, who is wonderfully portrayed and given an intoxicating joie de vivre by a young Jeff Bridges. Bridges is even able to draw out a smile or two from Eastwood as the two embark on a potentially ill-fated road trip. The rivalry between Bridges and George Kennedy, as Eastwood's former bank robbing partner, is among several highlights in this enjoyable yarn.
The Great Dictator (1940)
A true triumph of moviemaking and ethics
Not much is more difficult than making valid satire without the luxury of temporal distance, and not much is more difficult than combining satire and comedy into an amalgamation of intelligent and entertaining art. With The Great Dictator, his first sound film, Charlie Chaplin succeeded on both those accounts, just as WWII was breaking out in Europe and Hitler revealed himself to be the madman the pessimists had prophesied. With its large budget and wonderful sets, The Great Dictator has grandeur and panache, but as always with Chaplin's films, it's the little man and his girl who are the emotional focal point. And although Chaplin technically had left his Tramp character behind, the Jewish barber we meet in this film retains most of his characteristics. Again the theme is the little man's heroic fight against injustice, only this time the injustice is more elaborate and emblematic, giving the filmmaker a lot more ammunition - so to speak - to work with. The picture goes from wonderful slapstick comedy via delightful absurdism to heartfelt humanism. And it never feels forced, conceited or dull. A true triumph of moviemaking and ethics. And, sadly, also a film of eternal relevance.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
So in love with its own perceived sophistication and intellectualism
This goody-goody picture about an unconventional English teacher who awakens a "passion" in his prep school students through literature and poetry was both a commercial and critical success at its time of release, hailed for its dramatic power and Robin Williams' performance. But if you can sit through it without feeling unpleasantly, almost suffocatingly manipulated - not to mention rather cheated - I applaud your tolerance. The script, by Tom Schulman, is so in love with its own perceived sophistication and intellectualism that any concern for truthfulness is flimsily brushed aside. And the director, Peter Weir, never lets his young cast breathe and create discernable characters in their own right. Although Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke look great and demonstrate hints of talent in their parts, their minutely controlled performances reveal them to be puppets for Weir's melodramatic agenda. And the ever so sympathetic Williams is his willing adjutant.
Smile (2022)
Another surprisingly effective game of tag
Parker Finn is the name of the young filmmaker behind this surprisingly effective supernatural horror flick. The basic concept here is about to turn into a subgenre of its own - as with successful films such as Ringu / The Ring and It Follows, the premise is inspired by the game of tag in that the characters "inherit" a curse from a previous victim. When it works as well as it does in Smile and did with It Follows, it's because the filmmakers are able to make the threat palpable, almost corporeal; you feel it closing in and the deadline approaching. So even when Smile resorts to its cheapest shots of jump scares and an ending which perhaps isn't the film's most inspired feature, Finn is still able to retain a sense of integrity to his story that not too many films in this genre can match. Sosie Bacon, daughter of Kevin and Kyra, gives a very effective, physical performance in the lead.
Så som i himmelen (2004)
Nyqvist and Hallgren are wonderful in the leads
This is a sentimental, bitter-sweet tale, but it's expertly told and fashioned by Swedish veteran filmmaker Kay Pollak, in his first film since "Älska mej" almost twenty years prior. Michael Nyqvist plays a burned-out and semi-retired renowned conductor who finds new inspiration after being introduced to the small and by all accounts inconsequential local choir in the village he has moved to in order to find peace and quiet. Seasoned viewers most certainly will recognize a certain congruity in how the story unfolds - but perhaps not quite in how the different character arcs collide and make for interesting, oftentimes dissonant relations. Although "Så som i himmelen" is a story about music, Pollak is far more interested in the human condition than he is in the power of the song. So when you find yourself uplifted by it all - and you will - it probably won't be due to the auditory experience, but rather because of the peculiarities of the personage created by Pollak and his actors. Nyqvist and lead actress Frida Hallgren are wonderful in the two leads.
No Way Up (2024)
Teenage fantasy survival tale
How about making a disaster movie by amalgamating Airport, The Poseidon Adventure and Jaws? If such an idea sounds too good to be true, it's probably because the filmmakers won't be able to transcend the teenage fantasy survival tale that such a combo positively screams - and which is clearly demonstrated in No Way Up. Like many a lower-budget disaster film, No Way Up alternates repeatedly between fairly tense, well thought out elements, and moments of completely irrational silliness. The result is that the film never really elicits any sort of true suspense, despite some fine special effects and a moving performance from young Grace Nettle in an otherwise lacklustre cast.
Sällskapsresan eller Finns det svenskt kaffe på grisfesten (1980)
Impossible to dislike
This may not be much of a comedy in the fundamental sense, but Lasse Åberg's Sällskapsresan is a fine little feel-good flick and a valid peak at the first wave of Scandinavian sun travels to the Canary Islands. In the midst of all the obvious buffoonery made to mock and make fun of everything from Swedish stereotypes and snobbish businessmen to Catholic chastity, the film has a sincerity and an authentic charm that makes it impossible to dislike. Stig-Helmer Olsson, played by writer/director Lasse Åberg, and his Norwegian buddy Ole Bramserud, played by a bubbly Jon Skolmen, make for a delightful duo.
9/11 (2017)
The link to actual events is weak
Charlie Sheen finds himself stuck in an elevator in the North Tower of the World Trade Center with his estranged wife Gina Gershon and a few other random New Yorkers in this little suspense film looking to capitalize on the September 11 attacks. The link to actual events is weak, however, and the film doesn't have the budget or scope to transport you back and make you experience the magnitude of the events. Instead, the film plays as the stage act from which it was adapted, with the occasional bouts of character-based suspense and ticking clocks as its best assets. The picture is oddly star-studded: Whoopie Goldberg plays the elevator dispatcher, Luis Guzmán a building custodian, and Jacqueline Bisset appears as Gershon's mother.
Say Anything... (1989)
A cut above its peers at the time of release
This sweet high-school romance, Cameron Crowe's first feature, was hailed for being a cut above its peers at the time of release, mainly because the characters and the challenges they face are utterly ordinary and therefore feel authentic. Crowe's script is clever, but not so clever that it comes off as showboating - it's clear that he remembers many of the mechanisms at play for a first love. John Cusack and Ione Skye became representatives for the offbeat 1980s youngsters, and the film gained a cult following, not least due to the emblematic scene where Cusack holds a boombox in the air outside of Skye's bedroom to express his love for her. Yes, it's fifty-fifty romantic and tacky.
The Guilty (2000)
Obscure, close to brilliant crime thriller
A wonderfully intriguing and at times playful script forms the basis of this close to brilliant, obscure crime thriller. The director is Anthony Waller, not known for anything in particular except the 1995 chiller Mute Witness, and together with his fascinating and rather effective cast he is able to instil a cat-and-mouse feel which gives the story an urgency and fluidity to make The Guilty into an enjoyable little flick. There is a particularly delightful Hitchcockian segment around the halfway mark where Waller intercuts between a breaking-and-entering and our hero's quest for coming to the rescue. And although there might be one or two more flaccid moments towards the end, Bill Pullman's smug presence ensures that every piece of excess feels in place.
Priscilla (2023)
Life under Elvis' controlling but also loving care
Priscilla is a far more condensed and controlled look at the life of Elvis Presley than Baz Luhrman's Elvis, and this time we view it all from the perspective of Elvis' would-be wife Priscilla, who starts out as a shy, impressionable 14-year-old and ends up, well, a shy, impressionable 20-something. Sofia Coppola, the director, has a clear vision and a wonderful command of her craft, and along with the fine casting choices of Jacob Elordi as Elvis and Cailee Spaeny in the title role, the picture transports you vividly back to a magnificent-looking 1950s, with its perpetually sparkling clean cars and decent girls in cute little dresses. Coppola is out to portray the restricted life Priscilla lived at Graceland under Elvis' controlling but also loving care. However, like Luhrman's film, also this one might as well have been titled Elvis instead of Priscilla, because it is his character that is under scrutiny here. Mrs. Presley, on the other hand, always stays a comfortable cushion away from analysis. She's looked at superficially, like the pretty little girl Elvis himself viewed her as, which may of course be Coppola's point in calling out what she believes was a vacant world to live in. But it arguably isn't the only possible point of view for a film about one of the 20th century's most famous couples.
Body Double (1984)
The film reaches its zenith through a lengthy Hitchcockesque segment
Brian De Palma returned to the erotic thriller sub-genre after the successes of Blow-Out and Scarface. But while his wonderful 1980 entry Dressed to Kill was playful and sexy, Body Double ultimately goes from playful to absurd and from sexy to vulgar. After a straightforward set-up, our out-of-luck protagonist Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) is offered to sublet the amazing Chemosphere house in the Hollywood Hills by acting colleague Sam (Gregg Henry). There, he finds himself slowly turning into a voyeur and stalker, looking through a telescope at a beautiful female neighbour whose nude erotic dancing in her bedroom quickly has Jake more than intrigued. The film reaches its zenith through a lengthy Hitchcockesque segment in the middle part in which Jake shadows his neighbour after suspecting that she's being targeted by a suspicious third party. This cat-and-mouse game is so obvious in its inspiration that it almost turns parodic, especially as Jake's claustrophobia takes hold, but De Palma plays his instrument well and the suspense is retained. That is until Body Double moves into its third act, with Jake's foray into the pornographic industry. Enter Melanie Griffith as porn actress Holly Body, exit suspense and eroticism, despite the fact that Griffith initially seems well-cast and brings some zest to her role. The reason the film ultimately doesn't quite work, is that De Palma starts dissociating himself from his material and lets his characters run their own course. The ending is mechanical and cold, like a horror movie without heart and soul.
Tár (2022)
A welcome return to a bygone tradition of big budget movies for adults
Todd Field's only third feature in his more than twenty years as a director has some of the same qualities as 2001's In the Bedroom and 2006's Little Children in that his stories become remarkable through a cumulative series of seemingly unremarkable, everyday occurrences and interactions. Tár is in many ways a welcome return to a bygone tradition of big budget movies for adults - a serious drama which can afford to present its setting and characters comprehensively and uncompromisingly from within. Nothing is appraised or brushed aside in Tár, as we get to know the world of symphony orchestras and their star conductors, often referred to as "Maestros". You must make your own conclusions. And astoundingly, the deeper we delve into this particular niche of the modern art world, Field is able to create an unorthodox tension and suspense from a seemingly mundane spiral of work pressure, power struggles and our modern connectivity. Lydia Tár is in many ways a traditionalist trapped in hypermodern reality, but don't think Field is making something as simple as an elegy - his film is not an attack on social media and wokeism as much as it's placing these power-mechanisms in a historical tradition. Cate Blanchett gives a complete, absorbing performance in the title role, for which she was nominated for most of the major awards, but inexplicably lost to Michelle Yeoh in many of them.
Whiplash (2014)
Chazelle brings his own rhythm and timing to this one
Damien Chazelle's directorial debut about a young, talented jazz drummer (Miles Teller) at the fictional Shaffer Conservatory in New York City and his clashes with the school's star conductor and talent scout Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons) is a story of the axis between authoritarian rule and fear culture on the one hand and great talent and musical prowess on the other. Still, the film's greatest merit isn't as an homage to music, but rather as a visual masterpiece and an uncompromising delve into the psychological aspects of this story. Chazelle brings his own rhythm and timing to this one, freely ignoring Terence Fletcher's "time" at his peril.
Doraibu mai kâ (2021)
Never quite comes alive
This adaptation is loosely based on Haruki Murakami's homonymous 2014 short story about mourning a loved one who wronged you never quite comes alive. The director and co-writer Ryusuke Hamaguchi has a penchant for dwellingly understated scenes, but he cannot quite lift the story up from its inherently literary quality, making every incurred and discussed emotion in this decadent picture feel academic and thought-out. There is, however, fine cinematography and some creative ideas in the mix that might hold your interest, albeit hardly for the excessive 179 minutes. With Hidetoshi Nishijima and Toko Miura in the leading roles.
French Connection II (1975)
The film's best scene has Gene Hackman firing on all cylinders
Shipping Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle across the Atlantic to France, where he meets up with political exile director John Frankenheimer, does give this freestanding sequel to The French Connection a certain autonomy, even if the filmmakers ultimately end up sacrificing suspense and urgency along the way. The plot again revolves around heroin-smuggling led by drug kingpin Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), but this picture only really comes alive and starts feeling authentic once it delves into Doyle's budding heroin addiction following a kidnapping. The film's best scene has Gene Hackman firing on all cylinders - drunk and in heroin-withdrawal, he alternately lashes out on and leans on his French colleague Henri Barthélémy (Bernard Fresson), and there's a riveting authenticity to Hackman's work in this and contiguous segments. And it certainly makes "Popeye" and also the film's rather predictable finale more relevant in the process.
The Deliverance (2024)
The basic horror premise is telegraphed and sadly formulaic
Another accomplished, brooding Glenn Close performance keeps the first part of this film watchable, even downright interesting at times. There are some effective elements of social drama at play, something about growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, the silver spoon, the racial divide, or whatever cliché you'd like to use to describe that something is not quite right in those allegedly United States. Unfortunately, the turning point and basic horror premise is both telegraphed and sadly formulaic, so that when it comes, it doesn't hold your interest, even if some of it is skilfully made.
Malice (1993)
A 1990s thriller in all its glory
A 1990s thriller in all its glory, with a delightfully convoluted script from Aaron Sorkin, who was fresh off from A Few Good Men. The neo-noir and whodunit elements are rather elegantly woven in with the main story, and although the characters director Harold Becker creates never feel more than one small step away from stereotypes, he keeps his film so busy and in locomotion that it's easy to be in for the ride. At least up until the ending, which arguably delivers a little too heavy on genre tropes. An all-star cast is lead by engaging and fun - if not exactly subtle - performances by the three leads.
Gifted (2017)
Not necessarily as authentic as it may want you to believe
Everything feels a little too neat and mellow in the opening of this bighearted film about a seven-year-old mathematical genius (Mckenna Grace) living with her underachieving, self-sacrificing brother and de facto guardian (Chris Evans) - so much so that it attains that good old TV-movie feel. Then the plot thickens, and director Mark Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man) is able to give his story the complexity and flow it needs to get going and become engaging, if not necessarily as authentic as it may want you to believe. Little Mckenna Grace sometimes delivers lines which are too obviously scripted, and there are character relations in here which come off as a little too tried-and-tested, but the ending has both purpose and poignancy and hits all the right manipulative buttons.
Thief of Hearts (1984)
Only in the 1980s could a film combine this level of tackiness with such sincerity
A bored married woman (Barbara Williams) has her intimate diaries stolen by a professional burglar (Steven Bauer), only for him to seduce her by creating a persona based on her dreams and inner secrets. Only in the 1980s could a film combine this level of tackiness with such sincerity. The writer and first-time director Douglas Day Stewart, penner of An Officer and a Gentleman, lacks a talent for subtlety and finer details, but what he succeeds in is creating a picture with a surprising amount of integrity and cohesion. And Bauer and Williams, although arguably not setting the world on fire with chemistry, both create interesting, off-beat characters in their own right.
Barfly (1987)
A mannered and attention-grabbing Rourke
Mickey Rourke's larger-than-life performance as Henry Chinaski, a stand-in for writer Charles Bukowski in this semi-autobiographical tale, is so mannered and attention-grabbing that it becomes more of a distraction than anything else. On a surface level, the film has got everything going for it - a seemingly perceptive peek at a vagrant, alcoholic lifestyle led by the struggling artist waiting to be discovered, which he of course was - Bukowski, that is. The film is set in contemporary times, but the characters and settings are really very much mid-century in essence. And the director, Barbet Schroder, isn't quite able to bridge that gap. The film never feels rooted in authenticity; it remains a construct, an artistic experiment posing as storytelling. With Faye Dunaway as Rourke's alcoholic mistress, Frank Stallone as his nemesis, J. C. Quinn as a sympathetic bartender, and Alice Krige in a rather absurd turn as his would-be publisher.
No Man's Land (1987)
Has more aspirations for itself than it has been given credit for
D. B. Sweeney plays a rookie cop and hobby mechanic who is persuaded by his boss (Randy Quaid) to go undercover in order to infiltrate and take down a luxury car theft operation ostensibly led by the flashy Ted Varrick (Charlie Sheen). Although not garnering the ravest reviews back when it was released, this film written by Dick Wolf has more aspirations for itself than it has been given credit for. As a look at the subculture of mechanics and garages, it is worthy and knowledgeable. And despite being far more predictable as a procedural, arguably lacking in suspense and nerve, you do ultimately care a little bit for Sweeney's character - and perhaps even Sheen's. The former brings the right level of blue-eyedness to his part, and the latter demonstrates that his talent was arguably underrated. The love interest is played by model Lara Harris. Also with R. D. Call as Sheen's rival.
Quislings siste dager (2024)
Portrays Quisling with a fairly dignified level of balance
It probably was about time that Norwegian cinema tackled this elephant in the room and made a biopic on Vidkun Quisling, the man who appointed himself Minister President and collaborated with the Nazis during the German occupation of Norway between 1940 and 1945, and paid the ultimate price for his actions when in October 1945 he became the last person to be executed in Norway. The director is Erik Poppe, who has handled Norwegian national traumas skilfully before, notably with Utøya 22. Juli in 2018, and he manages to portray Quisling with a fairly dignified level of balance, even if his dissection becomes lingering at times. The running time most certainly could have been trimmed a little; there are a few too many meetings behind closed doors. And although there is a disruptive dissonance between Eidsvold's imitative rendition of Quisling's intonation and demeanour on the one side, and Danielsen Lie's overly modern approach and delivery, their final scene together ultimately does evoke some of the intended emotion and bond between their two characters. With beautiful CGI recreations of 1940s Oslo which elevate the overall impression.