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kimbistrups
I mostly watch movies in these genres:
Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Animation and Sci-FI, but I also enjoy a nice horror-movie now and then, and I absolutely adore great detective movies, and have a soft spot for Queer Cinema.
I also watch quite a lot of series mostly comedy or crime!
I don't really care for Westerns, Mob-flicks, War-flicks and most thrillers.
I prefer films that have:
happy endings, intelligent plots, characters with depth, understanding of their own genre and realistic dialogue
If I could choose from any fictional character I would without a doubt be Dumbledore!
Reviews
Partners in Crime (2015)
Too bad it wasn't very good
First of all I must confess that I am a hard core Agatha Christie fan. Have been for ages. I have got all the books and also all the films and shows that have been put out on DVD/BD in any understandable language. So you can imagine how excited I was when I heard of this show and the prospect of bringing new life to the all too often forgotten heroes that are Tommy and Tuppence. I love the books and how well they work together as a couple.
If you can imagine how excited I was you will have no trouble imagining my disappointment in the show.
First of all I thought the writing was way off. They didn't capture the soul of Tommy and Tuppence at all and they turned the two stories into a much more farcical and lighthearted piece of family entertainment than I think was ever intended by Mrs. Christie. It became all together unbelievable, unlogical and unbearable. I know that the writers wanted it to be lighthearted and a bit fun but I think it was one of the two biggest mistakes of the show.
The acting was actually rather good for most parts with the one exception of the leading man David Walliams. Seeing as he was producing the series and was one of the people who got the idea originally he would have been hard to steer clear of but he just wasn't suited for the part. I suspect that the writers might have had him too much in mind when writing the scripts and that his involvement in the entire process is partly the reason for the shows and the characters failings. David Walliams acting is not engaging. Tommys lack of ability is not endearing and his lack of logical sense and thinking is down right annoying. Mr. Walliams presents Tommy with so little presence and wit that you never really like him. And I do believe that you have to like the hero of the show. I actually was so annoyed with him that I was hoping for him to be killed of. So David Walliams was the other big mistake of the show in my opinion.
I think that it is very unfortunate that went this way for the show. It did succeed in loosing almost half it's audience from part 1 of the Secret Adversary (more than 8 million viewers) to part 6 the third part of N or M (just a bit more than 4.5 million viewers) a total of 4 million viewers who didn't bother with it.
The novels and short stories about Tommy and Tuppence are really good and the earlier BBC series from the 80's and the French TV production from a few years back are all good. But it would have been great to have had a straight forward adaptation of the stories. I'm not a purist so I don't mind that they set the plots in the 1950's even though the stories span over approximately 50 years from the 1920's to the 1970's. That could have worked. But don't change the feel of the characters and the stories so drastically. If it's not broken don't fix it. Stick to the way Mrs. Christie intended it. After all she knew what she was doing and this production team obviously did not.
Frozen (2013)
One of the best animations for many years!
Let me just say it - I loved "Frozen"! It takes me back to the 1990's golden age of Disney, and I think the quality of this one is just way up there right alongside titles like "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", "The Lion King" and "Pocahontas" from that period.
I feel like Disney may have hit a new stride with three out of the latest four tiles *("The Princess and the Frog", "Tangled" and now "Frozen") in the same league as those movies.
I think that with "Frozen" Disney have once again demonstrated why they are still 76 years after "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" undeniably the number one cartoon and animation studio in the World - with only Studio Ghilbi giving real competition.
The story, while loosely build on the story "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen, is very inventive and contemporary. The main characters present a variation and though some are fun and likable they are not all that obvious. At the same time the sidekicks are very good and very funny and they work very well in the story without ever taking too much of the focus.
Some people have complained about the music and the singing. I love it. I must say that I feel this music and the songs are on the same level as in "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin" and "The Lion King" and I think it is both very, very nice and quite honestly high time that Disney returned to the animated musicals that were so very successful in the 1990's, and with "Frozen" I think they did just that and they did it very, very well.
I am very much looking forward and hoping to see more Disney releases like this in the (near) future. And did I say - I love it!
Cars 2 (2011)
So wrong, so bad and so uninteresting!
First of I want to make it very clear that I'm a huge Disney/Pixar fan. I own all of the feature length films they have ever put out on DVD, I watch them regularly and I enjoy them very much. To me what makes them special is that they represent the highest quality of animated films in that while they are expertly executed and produced they are also imaginative, innovative, interesting, engaging and funny. This goes, in my opinion, for all of Disney/Pixars 14 feature length films out on DVD with the one sad exception of Cars 2.
The story in itself is without a doubt the weakest and least imaginative of all the Disney/Pixar movies to date (I haven't yet seen Planes, but I'm not exactly holding my breath for that one either). I fail to see how the executives at Disney/Pixar could be fooled by a plot that is so thin and uninteresting that it makes the Tinker Bell movies seem levels above.
And what on earth possessed Mr. Lasseter to make him "okay" the ridiculous levels of violence and weaponry displayed in the movie. And how did he think that a spy movie would be interesting to children. I have watched it with children ages 8, 9 and 12. They all had a hard time following the plot, and while the smaller ones were scared at times the big one simply wasn't drawn in at all.
As others have said before me, it seems that this movie (and the "Planes" spin off) was only made to make money on more merchandise. What I don't understand is, why they had to change the whole concept of the first movie "Cars" that centered around old fashioned values and friendship into some deranged global good/bad war over fossil fuel/CO2 neutral fuel. I just don't get it. And I didn't like.
I can't recommend this film to anyone who liked the other Disney/Pixar movies. And I must say that it has been a great relief to me that Brave and Monsters University both proved to be back to the old standards - and I'm very apprehensive about Planes...
El Dorado (2010)
Making up for a poor script with an abundance of stunts and chases
I am a total sucker for adventure movies. I have watched all the best of them; Indiana Jones; Romancing the Stone; National Treasure; The Da Vinci Code; King Solomon's Mines; Jewel of the Nile. And now I have watched one of the poorest attempts at replicating them: El Dorado.
As it say's in my headline summary "El Dorado" is based on a very poor script where the "archaeology" plays an extremely small role. Because of that it seems that the director has decided on filling the very obvious plot holes with endless and pointless chases, shoot outs and ever changing hostage and blackmail situations. The problem is that no matter what happens and how many twists are used to try to confuse or shock the viewer we always know what is going to happen long before it does and all of the smoke, screens and mirrors never really cover up the fact, that there really isn't much of a story to engage in.
These shortcomings are furthermore enhanced by the very poor acting displayed by the majority of the actors. Some of the minor supporting actors are actually quite good, but they just can't carry the weight of the rest of the cast and the very poor script.
Add to that the lacking of either skill or vision (possibly both) in the special effects/CGI section of the production crew. The CGI portions of the movie (especially the ending) are so bad, that most people would expect more from the graphics of a 10 year old, cheap PC game.
On top of all these shortcomings comes the ending of the movie which I will not reveal. I just want to say that it is bad. Very bad. In fact so bad and so badly thought through, that you can't help but wonder how (in actual history) the Incans could have possibly lost to the Spanish when they had such great powers on their side.
It seems to me that the best part of the movie is actually the stunts and chases which are rather imaginative and well performed, so if you like that, you might like the movie - it's actually the reason why I gave the movie 3 instead of just 1 star...
So just to sum it up, El Dorado is a very bad movie, based on a very bad script, with rather bad actors, containing very bad effects and CGI and with a very bad and unfulfilling ending.
Contracorriente (2009)
Hauntingly beautiful movie!
Contracorriente (Undertow) is simply a gem of beautifully shot pictures, perfectly cast actors, an extraordinarily well written script and masterful direction.
I did not initially expect Contracorriente to be a movie that would haunt me for days after watching it, as it seemed to be a perfectly straight forward story judging from the text on the back of the DVD-case. I was even a bit worried that it might be cliché or simply cheesy. It was not however. Not more than a few minutes into the movie I started to suspect that I might have grossly misjudged the nature of the film and I was happy to be proved wrong.
The locations, the people, the acting, the language were all so beautiful and the very delicate and slowly evolving story made for so much more than simple entertainment. Especially the subtle hint of possibility in the ending left a very warm and hopeful feeling but the movie as a whole makes a very strong and lasting impression.
I was very moved by this movie and the very strong statement that it makes and a variety of the most beautiful and strong scenes have stayed in my thoughts for days on end for both the sad parts and the joyous moments.
I can only recommend that you watch it if you haven't already - and I am looking forward to seeing it again soon myself and expect it to be something that I will do more than once.
2012: Ice Age (2011)
A disaster of a disaster movie!
I have to start off saying that I'm a real sucker for disaster movies. I just love that genre, so I was thrilled to find this at my local movie rental. I had never heard of it, which made it even more thrilling. But I was soon to discover why I hadn't heard of it. It was in every way a disaster movie - not just the plot - the story - the effects - the directing - the acting - the costumes! And no, it was not just bad - it was a disaster. Starting with the plot it hardly even tried to pretend that it was in any way or to any extent based on facts of geology or any related science field. The geography was appalling - how could a volcano eruption on Iceland send a glacier rolling over North America? And at the same time apparently wipe out Northern Europe - or at least Oslo? The effects were so cheap and so poorly done that I have 10 year old games for my PC with better graphics. And all the turns and twists in the plot that the Hart family went through were not just unlikely but extremely unbelievable and at the same time not at all compelling or moving. The directing was so bad and so were the actors. I have to say, that at many times I actually sat there in disbelief with both the acting/directing and the plot that there was no other appropriate reaction than laughing. So to sum it up - it's funny 'cause it's bad! And if it got buried under an avalanche well it wouldn't be a loss!
Mamma Mia! (2008)
If there ever was a feel good movie, this is it!!!
I didn't have high hopes or expectations for this musical film and sometimes that proves to be the key to a great experience. But that is only part of the explanation, why this film left me with a warm and happy feeling that everything is okay, and if it isn't it will always work out for the best in the end however long and complicated the journey might be. The other part of the explanation is that this is a good if somewhat naive story with some of the best actors in the world, and without any doubt the best actress in it. Bless Meryl, for she blesses us! The music is as wonderful as it ever was and even if some professional singers might have been able to deliver the songs much better in a strictly musical sense, I don't think anyone could have made it feel as real and fun as these actors did. I didn't mind that Stellan and Pierce didn't hit all the notes, it's not that important. What is important is, that you like them and you believe them, and you want them, all of them, to be happy and have fun in the sun on that gorgeous island. Watching this film is actually a little bit like taking a small and fun vacation, with good friends, lovely music, sun and even eyecandy for everyone, and when you come home, even though you haven't got a tan, you still hum the tunes. So bon voyage!
Broderskab (2009)
A violently honest end honestly very violent movie!
This is a very strong movie in many respects. It has a compelling and very strong story to tell, concerning subjects of great importance, and in many ways, as the movie shows, very contradictory. It has at least four very strong performances by both of the two leading characters (David Dencik and Thure Lindhardt) and some of the supporting characters (especially Nicolas Bro and Morten Holst). It contains some very strong but also very different situations of on one hand very strong violence and on the other hand strong love and passion. One of the biggest strengths of this movie is, imo that a lot of things are never said, but only hinted at or shown by facial expressions, gestures or in some cases simply silence. Those elements added makes it a movie worth watching - if you have the stomach for it! I for one must say that the last 15 minutes of the movie left me with a very cold and very unpleasant feeling, that I have not yet been able to shake completely off two days later!
The Big Bounce (2004)
It could have been so good...
When I saw this movie I hadn't heard much about it, and if I had heard something, I might not have seen it. That wouldn't have been such a bad thing!
There are some good actors in this movie (Freeman and Sinise), unfortunately we don't see them much. Then there are a couple of semi-good actors (Sara Foster, Charlie Sheen) and we see much too much of them. Then there are a couple of "underdogs", actors that we don't expect a lot from, and we don't see them much either (willie Nelson, Vinnie Jones) and that's a shame because they actually deliver some of the movies funniest and/or most credible performances.
What about Owen Wilson you ask? Well, he's Owen Wilson, just the way he is Owen Wilson in a lot of other not so good movies that have only reached large audiences because of his name (Drilbit Taylor; You, Me and Dupree; Marley and Me). No, don't get me wrong, he's not bad, he's almost never bad, but he's just not that good either.
And then what about the plot? To be perfectly honest I think that there might just have been enough plot for about 45 minutes, tops, and that might actually have improved the movie, which is unbearably slow paced at times and not at all the LOL-comedy it tries to be!
So no, when you ask me so directly I have to say that I would not recommend it unless you want a perfectly harmless movie with so little plot that you can make out with a boy- or girlfriend half the time and not miss much...
The Bucket List (2007)
Pretty good movie but nothing special!
Just so we understand each other; I think this is a very decent movie! I was not bored, but neither was I surprised while watching "The Bucket List"! I only laughed a few times, and I didn't even cry at the end, so I have to say that it was only moderately entertaining! Most of us would agree that it's almost always a pleasure to watch these two masters (Freeman and Nicholson) do the magic that they do on screen, and they do it well in this movie, and highly compliment each other. The trouble is, that there's just not that much new under the sun! I like the slow and easy pace of the movie, the no-nonsense tone between the two main characters and I like Sean Hayes' part as well, for the small amount of comic relief it brings, but there's no way of escaping the fact that there is very little story to tell, and what little story there is has been told many times before, and in some cases have been told better or more convincingly.
I must applaud the movie for not getting to sentimental and clichéd until the very end, and then it is only to be expected from this genre.
Cloverfield (2008)
Not at all what I expected!
First of all, why "Cloverfield"? Second; what is that monster, where did it come from and why and how did it end up in New York City? What are the little offspring? Are they somehow poisonous? Is there a reason for all of this happening?
And by asking these questions I believe I have struck the nerve of why this isn't a good movie!
Cloverfield leans upon (at least) two different types of movies; the classic monster movies and "the Blair Witch"/horror-suspense genre. But what we normally expect from those genres are explanations. They take the time needed to build a myth or tell the story and background, with answers to most of the questions I asked above. Sometimes these answers are highly imaginative if not far-fetched but that is partly to be expected in this genre and we often accept them. Cloverfield however does not offer any explanations, does not build a myth, does not really tell a story or give us a background for us to engage our imaginations in and does not answer our questions. This reduces the movie to a mere action-without-a-real-plot movie and leaves me pretty unaffected by the story that has just been told!
I can imagine that this would have been a pretty effective game for Playstation or other platforms, but even then I would have liked a little more background story!
Cowboy Junction (2006)
More like Cowboy Junk!
This movie is a rather quaint combination of a very thin plot idea stretched way too far and the seldomly successful occurrence of the writer, the producer, the director and one of the main characters being the same person, in this case Gregory Christian. Now sometimes people get away with doing that, but through watching "Cowboy Junction" I think it is obvious that Gregory Christian would have more than just a hard time getting the opportunity to do any of those four jobs in anything but a very low budgeted indie for the simple reason that he does not show mentionable talent in any of the four fields of work! To be fair Gregory Christian was not the only bad thing that happened to this movie (all though he happened a lot) the other two principal actors are not much better although James Michael Bobby compensates greatly for lack of acting skills by his very good looks and sexy/charming smile! The plot in it self is so thin that it didn't take too long to figure out the "big secret" that "turns out" to be pivotal to the plot towards the end! Another disappointment to me was that the sex scenes weren't even that good for a movie that tries to play the sexual notes. I would actually go as far as to say that the best thing about this movie was the music, and the music wasn't even that good!!!
10 Attitudes (2001)
Worst performance by a cast in any movie!
10 Attitudes!
This is by far the worst acting performances I have ever seen in a movie. These actors ineptly try to portray gay life in L.A., but with laughably bad dialogue and very unconvincing performances they accomplish to make a movie that is essentially un-funny, un-touching and unfulfilling to watch! To top that of the direction is in my best judgment not existing, the sound is very badly recorded and at many times it is very hard to distinguish the dialogue from the background noises. The only positive thing I can say about this movie is that the idea is okay and I think that in the hands of someone more capable it would have turned out to be a movie worth watching!
I would recommend this film to no one with a pulse and a measurable IQ!!!
When Love Comes (1998)
A pleasant surprise!
I didn't know much about this movie when I bought it on DVD the other day. I didn't know any of the actors in it nor did I know the director, so I guess it's fair to say that "The clean slate" was in use.
The movies opening was not very reassuring, as I normally don't like the present day narrator style, where the narrator is guiding us through an otherwise chronological story that is being played out in the past. But in a matter of minutes I had forgotten all about that, and just enjoyed this romantic drama. I liked the way everything was told in a straightforward way, not trying to only hint at things, but simply stating the facts. I liked that the feelings portrayed were so tangible and real that I had no problem relating to them. But there is no doubt in my mind that what really carries the movie through is the actors headed by Rena Owen and Dean O'Gorman who gave stunning and very moving performances. I also really enjoyed the music, and especially the song "Another You" struck a nerve with me.
So in conclusion I would have to say that to me "When Love Comes" was a very pleasant surprise.
Bent (1997)
Tragedy abundant!
This is such an extraordinary movie, that I'm not even sure it's possible to convey it. It contains everything that a good movie should. Dynamic characters, a good plot that is not too obvious, love, hate, violence, decadence and death. All the actors are very good. Every scene seems to have a point even despite the pointlessness of the violence and the killing.
As i watched it, and time progressed I figured that the time Horst and Max spent in Dachau was supposed to be a catharsis for Max, teaching him not only that love is the only real reason to live, but also teaching him how to love! The film ends in the spring of 1945, and I was feeling so sure that the two of them would be together to experience the liberation by the Russians and so when i finally realized what was really going on I was horrified. It just seemed so pointless and meaningless. But then I suddenly got it. It was not pointless. Their lives had not been without meaning and their deaths weren't either. They loved each other and died for each other.
The film was just positively full of beautiful and captivating moments set in the stark contrast of the concentration camp. The scene where they make love without touching. The scene where Max warms Horst. The scene where Horst knows that he is going to die, and gives Max the secret signal that says he loves him. I think that he does so to save Max's life. And the very powerful scene where Max put's on Horsts shirt and kills himself.
This is a hard movie to watch. It's a hard movie to feel good about. But once I really took it in, once I understood it's underlying existentialistic points I actually did feel good about it, and would recommend it to you.
Everyone (2004)
An emotionally disturbing movie
"Everyone" is a very good movie, with great performances by most of the cast. It's got a rather simple plot, it's not hard to figure out what is going to happen, but that is not the nerve of the film. This film is really about people. People in love, people in doubt, people in denial, people in grief.
The story revolves around the gay couple who are getting married on their three years anniversary that also happens to be the day that one of the grooms brothers lost his son, three years earlier. They are preparing a rather informal ceremony and celebration and we follow them and their guests all through the day.
It's an emotional roller-coaster ride, and there is no rest; You go straight from one disaster to the next and there are only few truly happy moments on what was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives! I won't reveal the ending, but I will say, that it is a film that tends to haunt you for a while after watching it. Not just in a bad way, but you can't help but think about your own life after wards...
Saudade - Sehnsucht (2003)
No need to waste your time watching this film!
This is by far the most uninteresting movie I have ever seen! Poor script, poor and unconvincing acting, poor direction and very poor visual quality.
And that's actually quite a shame, because the story could be interesting if it wasn't told in such a straight forward, no mystery sort of way. Everything is way too obvious, except the ending, which is perhaps the most untied ending I have seen in a very long time!
The upside of the film is that the actors are all beautiful, some of them even amazingly so, and so is the setting; summer in Brazil. Also the music is quite good. At some points it's even the best part of the film! And those are the reasons why I gave it two stars instead of just one!
So in my opinion it was quite a waste of time and money!
The Trip (2002)
One of the most emotionally captivating movies I have ever seen!
"The Trip" is, in my opinion anyway, a film that any hotblooded person will be sure to like. The topic is not very controversial today, but it depicts a time where gay people had to fight very hard for their rights, and even to be regarded as normal, sane people. Spanning over 11 years the film explores a love story between an openly gay, gay-rights activist and a not so altogether conservative but closeted writer in spe. As I said in my headline, it is a very emotional and captivating film, and it is certainly in my all time top ten, even if it is one of the saddest endings I have ever come across (I will give you no clues as I don't want to spoil the ending for you, as I just know you're gonna see it soon!). It's not overly sentimental or rosy colored in any way, and I believe that it is the frankness and straight-forwardness of the film, that makes it both credible and engaging. And for those who thinks that sounds too serious. Don't worry, there is quite a bit of comic relief and humor in the film. But non the less; be sure to have some Kleenex close by when you watch it! Happy viewing!