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berrie-j
Reviews
The Major and the Minor (1942)
A charming treat
Being entirely unfamiliar with Billy Wilder's work (indeed, I haven't seen any of his classics), this is his first film that I watched since I started reading Cahiers Du Cinema's excellent Masters Of Cinema introduction to Billy Wilder.
The film's plot is deceptively simple. What appears to be a light hearted comedy is in fact a very effective way to evoke moments of uneasiness about norms and cultural conditions of age (difference) that still resonates with today's audience. Some of the humor is rather vulgar (although this makes sense in the context of Wilder's upbringing and oeuvre as I have read), but the film still provides a few laugh out loud moments.
Cinematographically this film might verge a little on the plain, but it does have a few beautifully glamorous shots of Ginger Rogers. Rogers is an absolute charm here and her chemistry with Ray Milland is wonderful. I also thought Rita Johnson as the antagonist managed to bring great screen presence to her rather shallow role.
De poel (2014)
Unfortunate - Avoid!
'De Poel' got some good press and as such I was reasonably excited to see this film. An actually suspenseful Dutch horror film; almost too good to be true. As it turns out, it was too good to be true. From the very first scene the acting is unbearably unnatural, the dialogue is clunky and the timing as far from subtle as possible. There is no motivation for what's happening to the group of campers and the "other" perspective (somewhat reminiscent of security camera footage) does nothing to create suspense. Because I don't want to sound bitter for the sake of it I will say that some of the acting between the sons was believable, as was some of the (funny) bickering between husband and wife. When the screening I attended was over, the audience collectively made a sound of disbelief and laughter.