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Reviews
Antichrist (2009)
Haunting movie
This movie is 100% Trier. If you like the kingdom, and his early moves you will love this.
The atmosphere is chilling throughout, and the two main characters are wound tight from start to finish. Thee is no pauses were the audience can calm down.
The gore and sex really is the least thing about this movie. The death of the child is much more frightful, and will stay with you longer than the few glimpses of genitalia and blood.
I had some problems connecting emotionally, which is why I only give it a 9.
As to why so many Danes give it a got grade, check out where the movie has opened so far. Since more Danes have had the chance to see it, its obvious that mostly Danes have had the chance to comment.
Two Weeks Notice (2002)
Unfunny
I like romantic comedies. Sadly this is not one. It is not funny, and not romantic, though it tries to be both.
Hugh and Sandras characters are purely one dimensional. You do not identify with any of them, and besides that the plot is so small it is almost non existing.
Livet är en schlager (2000)
Sweet little nothing
Susanne Bier achieved great fame in Denmark for her previous movie "Den eneste ene" so her new movie was eagerly anticipated in Denmark even though it was in Swedish.
It is a new comedy about everyday people. This time it is about a woman who is crazy about "Melodi Festivalan", a song contest for pop music. Helena Bergström is simply wonderful as the main character and it is mainly because of her that the movie is bearable.
Otherwise the movie is predictable, so sweet it is bad for your teeth and with a ending that might been played down a notch or two.
Pitch Black (2000)
Tour de Force - Heart stopping action
The one thing you'll have to remember when seeing any kind of film, is just what kind of film you are seeing!
This is a Science fiction / Horror movie, and my review is based on it being this genre. So Expect some of the characters to be a little one dimensional, and the script to contain a contradiction or two.
All that aside "Pitch Black" is a very good movie!
If you liked Alien (the first) you'll love Pitch Black. A cargo ship carrying 40 passengers crashes to a desert planet. In the crash a killer in the same weight class as Hannibal (if not in sophistication then certainly in blood lust) escapes. We soon see that he is the least of the survivors concern.
The characters work well together. Our heroine seems a fragile little woman, but her dark side is exposed in the beginning of the movie. The killer is frightening, but his polished roughness brings to mind a feline, or almost feminine quality.
The most refreshing about the movie is the lack of heroes. All characters have their heroic moments, but at the end there is not one individual who saved the day (and goes to sleep to awake in Alien # ?).
All survivors are flawed and have failed in critical moments, which makes you love them even more!
The script does lack a little originality, (you can't help to think about alien) and there are some Discrepancies which are just a little to big to swallow, so all in all I'll give it a 9/10
My recommendation is : Rent it, steal, or go see it in a movie theater, if you like science fiction/horror movies!
Contact (1997)
Excellent Book - Poor Film
When I first heard that Contact - by Carl Sagan was made into a film I was very excited. The book is good in its own way - a little artificial but that is to be expected when a scientist turns to fiction.
One recurring theme in the book is the search for the truth and the search for the numinous experience (the religious). This theme is very much present in the movie. In the book Ellie is an agnostic, a sceptic both as a scientist and in her spiritual life. In the movie she is made a logical positivist. Well this is to be expected since you have to be explicit when making movies.
But in the movie Ellie has to accept the fact that her only way of justifying what she knows to be the truth is by a leap of faith, thus making traditional religion the "winner" of the debate, the book explicitly says that Ellie finds concrete proof of her version of the truth, thus all but eliminating the element of faith.
The movie thus ends with the opposite conclusion of the book.
When the book was about the search for truth, the possibility of extra terrestrial life, and the inherent beauty of life. The movie pretty much boils it down to being an preaching on the gospel of organised religion.
I didn't like it because I've read the book. But as a film it didn't work to well either. Rent this, to see on a rainy day, but be warned its just a 4/10