If it wasn’t for the return and subsequent recurring appearances of William Hurt’s Thaddeus Ross, then you could remove The Incredible Hulk from the Marvel Cinematic Universe entirely and it wouldn’t change a single thing. Even though the movie hit theaters just six weeks after Iron Man had kicked off the franchise, so-so reviews and middling box office numbers meant it didn’t deliver the hit everyone was expecting.
In fact, it would seem that as of late, the McU would rather pretend that it never existed given how none of the events seen in Louis Leterrier’s blockbuster have influenced proceedings in the slightest. True, it did feature a shoehorned-in Tony Stark cameo during the credits to continue teasing that a much bigger universe was in the process of being unveiled, but for the most part, the movie remains the most inconsequential installment that the McU will likely ever see.
In fact, it would seem that as of late, the McU would rather pretend that it never existed given how none of the events seen in Louis Leterrier’s blockbuster have influenced proceedings in the slightest. True, it did feature a shoehorned-in Tony Stark cameo during the credits to continue teasing that a much bigger universe was in the process of being unveiled, but for the most part, the movie remains the most inconsequential installment that the McU will likely ever see.
- 9/4/2020
- by Scott Campbell
- We Got This Covered
When Wang Quan’an’s new film premiered at the 2019 Berlinale, it was a happy reunion. Not only did his film “Tuya’s Marriage” win the Golden Bear in 2007, but also his later films, such as “Apart Together”, were selected there and Wang Quan’an himself was a jury member in 2017. With “Öndög”, he did not only return to the competition in Berlin, but he also revisited rural Mongolia to shoot this film.
The story opens with the discovery of a body in the middle of nowhere on the vast steppes of Mongolia. This serves as a catalyst for a number of events involving a young cop left behind to guard the body, and a herdswoman that was asked to look after him.
“Öndög” tells a meandering story, that is not driven by any narrative. Rather we are shown important moments that give us a glimpse of the protagonists’ lives...
The story opens with the discovery of a body in the middle of nowhere on the vast steppes of Mongolia. This serves as a catalyst for a number of events involving a young cop left behind to guard the body, and a herdswoman that was asked to look after him.
“Öndög” tells a meandering story, that is not driven by any narrative. Rather we are shown important moments that give us a glimpse of the protagonists’ lives...
- 11/2/2019
- by Nancy Fornoville
- AsianMoviePulse
Valladolid, Spain – The Valladolid Intl. Film Festival (Seminci), the truest event dedicated to international arthouse cinema on Spain’s festival calendar, capped off eight days of screenings, press conferences and roundtables by handing out awards on Saturday evening at the Spanish city’s historic Calderon Theater. The evening’s big winners: Wang Quan’an’s “Öndög” and Karim Aïnouz’s “The Invisible Life.”
After premiering in competition at February’s Berlinale, Quan’an’s Mongolian dramedy “Öndög” has hit its stride eight months later scoring a best film award at last week’s Ghent Intl. Film Festival before repeating the feat at last night’s closing gala along with a best cinematography award for its Beijing-based French cinematographer Aymerick Pilarski.
Set on the seemingly endless planes of Mongolia, the film follows a rookie officer and a veteran shepard tasked with protecting a crime scene from harsh elements and harsher wolves.
After premiering in competition at February’s Berlinale, Quan’an’s Mongolian dramedy “Öndög” has hit its stride eight months later scoring a best film award at last week’s Ghent Intl. Film Festival before repeating the feat at last night’s closing gala along with a best cinematography award for its Beijing-based French cinematographer Aymerick Pilarski.
Set on the seemingly endless planes of Mongolia, the film follows a rookie officer and a veteran shepard tasked with protecting a crime scene from harsh elements and harsher wolves.
- 10/27/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Right from the start “Öndög” is a strange little film full of paradoxes and red herrings. It is the first Mongolian entry in the competition of Berlinale, but its director, Wang Quan’an is a renown Chinese sixth generation auteur who already has a couple of Berlinale Bears in his collection. For “Tuya’s Marriage” (2006) he was rewarded with the Golden Bear paired with the prize of Ecumenical Jury, while he got his Silver Bear for the script of “Apart Together” (2010). “Öndög” is his fourth film with a world premiere at the competition of the aforementioned festival, but this time, sadly, it did not win any awards.
Öndög screened at Berlin Film Festival
“Öndög” opens with a shot of Mongolian steppe from an analogue, 35mm camera attached to the front of a moving vehicle. While it goes not so gently over the sun-bleached grass, we can overhear the conversation between...
Öndög screened at Berlin Film Festival
“Öndög” opens with a shot of Mongolian steppe from an analogue, 35mm camera attached to the front of a moving vehicle. While it goes not so gently over the sun-bleached grass, we can overhear the conversation between...
- 2/27/2019
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
A naked woman is found murdered in the Mongolian steppes. Overnight, a young and inexperienced policeman has to secure the crime scene. Since he is not familiar with the dangers on site, a local herder is sent to guard him and the body.
This resolute woman in her mid-thirties knows how to handle a rifle — and how to scare away wolves. She lights a fire against the cold. Alcohol also helps them to stay warm. At her instigation, the two get closer to each other. The next morning, they go their separate ways.
At the center of this film is a tenacious woman in the uninhabited expanse of the steppe. This otherwise self-sufficient herder, known to everyone as ‘dinosaur’, only tolerates her caring neighbor when there is a problem with her herd. Anything that goes beyond that, she brusquely rejects. As for herself and her future, she has her very own plan,...
This resolute woman in her mid-thirties knows how to handle a rifle — and how to scare away wolves. She lights a fire against the cold. Alcohol also helps them to stay warm. At her instigation, the two get closer to each other. The next morning, they go their separate ways.
At the center of this film is a tenacious woman in the uninhabited expanse of the steppe. This otherwise self-sufficient herder, known to everyone as ‘dinosaur’, only tolerates her caring neighbor when there is a problem with her herd. Anything that goes beyond that, she brusquely rejects. As for herself and her future, she has her very own plan,...
- 2/26/2019
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
At the very end of Wang Quan’an’s enchanting seventh feature, a droll title appears: “Based on True Stories.” It’s amusing because it’s unnecessary; this is the kind of cinema that makes its stories true by telling them, that puts eccentric, real, cyclical life — calf births and lamb slaughters — before its camera and generously transforms it into drama, character, plot, and theme. Starring a cast of first-timers of unfakable authenticity and a series of stunning Mongolian skies, “Öndög” (Mongolian for “egg”) is an art-house proposition to be sure, but within those rarefied confines deserves exposure as vast as the windswept Mongolian steppe against which it slowly burns, sending up a column of smoke that can be seen for miles.
Marking Wang’s fourth appearance in the Berlin competition, “Öndög” also marks a welcome return to the intimacy (and brevity) of his Mongolia-set 2007 Golden Bear winner “Tuya’s...
Marking Wang’s fourth appearance in the Berlin competition, “Öndög” also marks a welcome return to the intimacy (and brevity) of his Mongolia-set 2007 Golden Bear winner “Tuya’s...
- 2/8/2019
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
For its 69th edition of the festival, Berlin presents a varied and unpredictable lineup of international auteurs. Plenty of returning luminaries are present, including some of Germany’s most noted directors, while Canada, Poland, Turkey, Italy, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Spain, France, Austria and Norway all have bids for the 2019 Golden Bear. Notably, the Berlinale features three new features from Chinese directors, including Zhang Yimou’s One Second, Wang Quan’an with Öndög (who won the Golden Bear in 2006 for Tuya’s Marriage and a Silver Bear in 2010 for Apart Together), and Wang Xiaoshuai with So Long, My Son (who won Silver Bears for 2001’s Beijing Bicycle and 2008’s In Love We Trust).…...
- 2/6/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
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