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Reviews
Schpaaa (1998)
I can't see what everybody finds so bad about this film.
Having first seen the film ages ago in 1999, I was quite impressed. I wanted to find a review of it but I couldn't (Its not called Schpaaa here), when I eventually found this site, I was quite dissapointed to see that there was a 5.7/10 rating. I thought, well you know, mabe it wasnt that great. But then I saw it again last night on SBS, and I was still impressed by it.
I think why this is rated so lowly is that the plot is highly unbelievable, Im no expert on Norway, but i'm sure Oslo does not have street kids that are involved with the Yugoslavian Mafia and deliver drugs and beat men up. But if it isn't real, the director has as sure as hell made it look real. He films the graffitied, dark forbidding parts of Oslo making the place seem bleak and inhabitable. The whole landscape is that of grey cement and heav y urbanization, it is certainly the dark side to the otherwise beautiful Norwegian city. The lives of these kids (the youngest being 11) are harsh and damaged, they commit crimes by the dozen are are rebels from mainstream Norwegian society. I think if this had been set in New York or London, it would be alot more believable than in Oslo.
What keeps this film going is the unlikely friendship forged between Jonas and Emir. Emir is the strongest of the "Bunch of Five" but he is constantly bullied by all the others except Jonas, who tries to prevent the ridicule. Emir -who has brain damage from a beating his father administered to him when he was young- frequently attacks Jonas with a knife or by strangling him, but yet the two remarkably still stay friends. Emir is stupid, but we see him constantly wishing for a better life which he knows he will never obtain. The last excruciating scenes are very violent, Emir is betrayed by the other boys and is beaten to a pulp (literally) but their friendship prevails and Jonas comes to his rescue.
I think my view of Schpaaa might be a little bias, considering I was these kids age only 4 years ago, so I can relate to them much better than any adult can.
If you like Ken Loach films or liked Bully or Kids, id reccomend this film to you.
Im giving this 7.5/10, but ill vote a 10 for it to bring its undeservedly low average up. A fine film, though if you ask me again about it when i am a 30 year old man in a boring job, I will probably say its crap. I would have lost the ability to enjoy this controversial teenage Norwegian hit by that time.
Jackass (2000)
Has some good parts.. but for the most part is too hard to watch.
spoilers Because Australia is so slow in getting things, only two episodes have been broadcast so far. Its often very funny, but the thing is that its not for everyone. Teenage boys and girls will love it, but past the age barrier of 20 I think Jackass looses its fans. I find it hard to watch, not only do these guys mutilate themselves with tazers and CS spray etc, they also humiliate the hell out of themselves. This might be humor to some, but its a special kind of humor that will only provoke a laugh in a small minority of us, and a queasy-ness in the rest of us. For instance, the one where one guy dressed up as the devil with a sign saying "KEEP GOD OUT OF CALIFORNIA" and marched around LA, and a man (who seemed quite obviously insane, but had every right to do this) took the sign and broke it and punched the guy in the face... How can anyone find that funny?? Another one, where they were trying to see if you can eat 50 eggs in a row, and they were vomiting every ten seconds and the camera showed a close up of the mushy-egg-vomit in the bucket; Just how are we meant to respond this vile image? All in all I think its pretty bad, but you should watch it because there ARE some very good bits. If not anything else, it's worth watching just for the immense insanity and corageousness that runs deep within this group of individuals. Im seeing the movie next week.
Carry on Abroad (1972)
Pathetically Good
Carry on Abroad is one of the better 'Carry-on' films made. I imagine that the humor in it is outdated for most people, but back in the 70's Carry On Abroad might be the equivillent of todays American Pie.
Carry on Abroad follows a group of sex-mad english misfits on a cut-price holiday to the Spanish island of Els Bells, but when they get there they find the hotel they are staying at to be only half built and fawlty in every possible way. The characters are such an odd lot and ofcourse chaos unfolds as their holiday begins. The whole movie finishes in a big bang when the hotel eventually collapses in on itself. Not a brilliant film in anyway but a good thing to watch if you want something to do.
8/10