EskeRahn Reviews

The Edge of the Shadows (2022)

A differet take of a classic category.

[7/10 · 24 March 2023]

I'm no fan of scary movies, but this one is certainly one of the better ones in the category.

It is an interesting difference from what we are used to, that we are not talking vampires, zombies, clowns et cetera, but are entering into the Inuit mythology. And that difference works really well. Especially as this includes some aspects to the characters, that allows for doubt on what is exactly going on at all time, and that is refreshing to the usually pure heroes / pure villains.

Early one, an actor is doing an annoyingly poor job, but it doesn't destroy the film as a whole.

The nature and the abandoned settlements makes a fine frame for the whole thing.

As so many films these days, it is a bit too long, and could have benefited from reduction. But it is not to an extent that I constantly checked the watch.

I guess they loose some audience here in Denmark by the title alone, as we will have a hard time even pronouncing it.

When I saw it in a provincial town, I guess that at the least half the audience was from Greenland, and that is a pity, and it deserves a wider audience.

Maskulin (2022– )

A horrible mess of clichés

[2/10 · 25 October 2022]

An hour wasted.... It's supposed to be satire, but satire is supposed to be funny, and this is not. It is 6x10minuttes of embarrassment over why this what ever produced.

As the 'plot' is so extremely thin, it is really hard to say anything that could not be considered a plot-spoiler.

It is not that the acting is extremely bad. But the script and the dialogue the actors got to work with are so weak, and the characters so thin, that even in the best actors hands it would come out a mess.

I'm amazed that no one stopped this at birth. I guess who ever is behind it must have friends in the right places. I can not find any other excuse for its existence.

Flyvende farmor (2001)

A gem that does not work everywhere

[8/10 · 21 September 2019]

As I Dane I love this film, and the absurd grotesque but elegant humour of the two guys behind, that best can be described as where Tim Burton goes when he is most 'crazy'.

So many things in their films only 'works' if you are Scandinavian, They are frequently casting yesteryears 'superstars' of Denmark (or other Nordics) in odd roles even small ones. And a lot of other 'internal' jokes.

So for everyone else in the world, these films just seems bad, primarily seeing the superficial outer story, not getting that it is deliberate that the story line is as 'bad' as it is, it is parr of the absurdity. And this is reflected by the poor ratings in here, from people far outside the target group, that should never have wasted their time seeing -nor rating- these films.

When it was released I went to the theatre to see this five times in the first fortnight... A bit like re-seeing The Fifth Element, you just see it for the ride.

Ad Astra (2019)

Good names, bad movie.

[4/10 · 20 September 2019]

This is a film that is intended to be a big film, but can not deliver.

Not only is it plagued by numerous goofs of various kind.It also tries to lean on a feeling from Apocalypse Now at several places, without in anyway being able to deliver.

The story/script have very thin parts with odd moves to bring it forward.

The religious stuff added seems like something for the ones that financed the project, it does not integrate well in the context/story (At first I thought it was meant as a sarcastic addition)

Its attempt of a psychological portrait, is really hard to believe, I could not find a human in their. A fictitious thought up personality postulate at best.

I like deep films, this is not deep, just hollow.

Becoming Astrid (2018)

Superfluous remake

[7/10 · 22 August 2019]

This is not a bad film, and quite interesting in its own right. But I would recommend to see the original rather than this remake

But if you want a dramatised version and do not want to hear Astrid Lindgren's own pleasant voice, well then this dramatization is interesting, and add knowledge to what most people know about her - despite a few factual errors.

Checkered Ninja (2018)

Really funny, but not for the minors.

[9/10 · 26 December 2018]

Much better than his previous "Terkel i knibe", but a rather harsh detail very early on, make it unsuited for minor kids. I would say about 13+ as larger kids and adults can better cope with and enjoy his harsh and often grotesque humour, that often is spot on the types it portraits. and very very funny. it has a message too, so not just slap stick and profane language.

The Experiment (2010)

The film does not even understand the title of the text it is based on...

[6/10 · 29 July 2018]

The text behind this film has a title the directly translated would be something like "With the best of intentions".

And the whole point of the original text was to on one side describe what went on back then, but not the least to point out that what we today see as horrible imperialistic thing done to the native people, was seen in an entirely different light when it happened. Back then people really believed that these poor kids would be better of if they were being 'enlightened' by being given a 'Modern Western' upbringing, as the natives were seen as being 'backwards'.

Basically a story we find al over the world from Australia in the south over the Indians in the Americas to Greenland in the north. (and certainly not limited to these three)

So the story is an example of "The road to hell is paved with good intentions".

But this film TOTALLY misses this crucial point, and simply depicts the whole story from a modern point of view, just condemning all they did. And of course it is good that this sad sad story is told, for those that have not heard it, so we in the west (hopefully?) can learn from our faults.

But to me it is MUCH worse that we did these horrible things, and thought they were good!

This leads to the much deeper perspective, that what we today do, and think as good, might in fifty years be seen as absolutely appalling!

And this film COMPLETELY misses the chance to teach us this crucial lesson from the original text.

The film as such, have good acting by the kids, but the main character's role are so horrible one dimensional that I do not think we can blame the actress - it is the director that 'simply' missed the central axis of the story. BUT if you can ignore this blunder - or see through it, the film is tolerable.

(I marked this review as containing spoilers, it can be debated if that makes sense for a docudrama...)

Backstabbing for Beginners (2018)

Important story, a litly 'dusty' as film

[8/10 · 18 January 2018]

This is in genre not on the list docu-drama, where the whole thing are based on the real story and real people in the scandal about Oil For Food.

And as such it is an important film, so those that are too young to have lived it or just have forgot the story have it told/refreshed. (It was big back then).

It is well played by the actors, and the director -as usual- does a good job. But some parts gave me a dry and dusty feeling in the mouth (and no, not due to the sand...), but for obvious reasons not all parts of a real story are equally dramatic, but the slightly boring parts are important to get the full story.

8 is a bit high, but 7 is a bit too stingy...

(I'm not sure about the spoiler tag, since it is based on a real story)

The Commuter (I) (2018)

Partly quite good and partly extremely bad...

[4/10 · 10 January 2018]

Basically a good plot, good acting, a good bit of suspense, action and good effects, so how can this go wrong?

Well parts of it is so ridiculous and stupid that it is hard to believe no one stopped it at the script level.. And parts are just 'over the top', sort of "OK we have paid for effects, so now give us a truck load full" - I was VERY close to leaving the theatre a couple of times....

And this is really sad, as it could have been a good action thriller, as the ideas were good.

I believe that cutting away the bad stuff that sums up to less than half an hour and replace a few minutes, and it could have been great in the genre!

Strip the Cosmos (2014– )

Interesting content in horrible wrapper

[4/10 · 19 October 2017]

It is really difficult to give a fair rating to this series...

The scientific cosmological content is interesting in all 6 episodes.

But as others have pointed out it is presented in a very annoying US typical dumb-down style. And to make all this flash and bang worse it is with a LOT of repetitions (perhaps intended for return from commercial breaks?) and an EXTREMELY irritating voice, that is so far from what could be expected from a serious science series!!

I'm not saying that a narrator has to be 'boring', but this is more like a salesman with a hot dog stand on a street corner trying to grab attention than someone offering serious narration! A guy like Brian Cox do this job so extremely much better, with a high level of seriousness, and still with a lot of spirit and appeal.

So the overall impression is that if you stand the horrible wrapping you will get interesting information, but each episode could easily have been cut to half, removing all the flashing and repetitions.

You Disappear (2017)

Could have been good

[5/10 · 20 April 2017]

The story had the potential to make a really good film.

Unfortunately this realisation of it has some serious flaws. One technical is that the monologue/commenting sound track sounds VERY much like someone reading of a paper. I have no idea if the director or the actor is to blame, if you see this in a foreign language with subtitles you MIGHT not be bothered by it.

A few of the attempts done to dramatize the story, unfortunately destroys a crucial plot element. It is only a few scenes (three!), and small alterations from explicit to subtle or omissions of the scenes would have solved it, but as is it completely destroys the main plot IMHO....

Many characters are portrayed fine by the actors, unfortunately this does not include the leading female role...

SOME parts of the film are really good, and others really really bad, so I ended giving it a (sub)mediocre grade...

Desert Flower (2009)

Cultural imperialism and double standards

[6/10 · 15 April 2017]

This films is one of the worst examples of people forgetting that when you point one finger at something, three fingers points back at you...

Sure I find circumcision disgusting too, and it is good that the story is told.

BUT telling the story using a women sick with underweight like a KZ prisoner, claiming her looks as pretty, sort of destroys the whole project...

OTHER cultures attacks of the female body to suit its ideals we shall see as disgusting, but OUR cultures ideals suppressing females by malnutrition are tooted as positive....

Embarrassing that this obvious dilemma is completely ignored, how blind of our own faults can anyone get? Double standards at its worst?

Rammstein: Paris (2017 Video)

Excellent concert movie

[9/10 · 23 March 2017]

One of the best concert-films I've ever seen. I would have expected it to be really hard to transfer the energy and intensity from this band to the screen. But Jonas Åkerlund does an excellent job! The multiple cameras and fast cuts, works really well. And add on top of that some digital wizardry, and a modest use of digital gimmicks.

Of course there is no way of transferring the feeling of heat from all their pyrotechnic stuff, that is a large part of the scene show, but he has given us other things instead.

Do yourself a favour and do not walk out during the end titles.

The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

Stinks, not funny, and extremely primitive

[5/10 · 19 March 2017]

The worst thing about this film is that it is not funny. They have tried REALLY hard to overfill it with self-irony that does not work in lack of humour... The ONLY time I laughed a bit was a tiny scene an hour in, with some funny musical choices on Robins ghetto blaster. OK there are some rather nerdy references to Old British Robots http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059126, that only old farts like me at 50+ remembers, and numerous other references. But they aren't used constructively. It seems more like stealing ideas was easier than getting them... The 'morale' is so thick and sticky that you choke on it, and they hammer it in all the way along, from about the first to the last scene, as this morale is the only thing this film has to 'offer'... The film lacks so much in charm and odd-value compared to the first that was good. But it is not technically bad, and no major f-ups in the whole thing, so let me be KIND at give it 5/10

Letters for Amina (2017)

Weak start - gets better

[7/10 · 9 March 2017]

The first half an hour or so does not really work, IMHO

Perhaps it starts too close to the book it is based upon (that I have not read) ?

But it gets better and portraits the troubles of a deeply tormented mind through a somewhat violent story.

I think it does a fairly good job overall, so the rating reflects the average. And perhaps I have been a bit too kind as the bad part is in the beginning and not so present when you leave the theatre...

Blinde engle (2006)

A picture poem?

[21 February 2017]

This is as much a picture poem as a film as a film about a film...

I would guess it is a very personal project.

It was not to my liking, though.

It isn't a bad film. But can not think of anyone I would recommend it for.

So as the whole project is beyond me, it does not make that much sense for me to try to put a digit on it...

The person portrayed is an interesting and unusual character, so I do understand why someone would like to try to do a portrait.

This tiny review is entered about ten years after I saw the film when it came out, and as I still remember it, among a thousand film seen since, it is not in the category of immediately forgotten films...

Someone You Love (2014)

Persbrandt is this films only asset....

[7/10 · 21 February 2017]

Once again, a film carried home by Persbrandt.

He just gets better with age.

A rather banal story with plenty of pathos survives on his strength.

It is quite Brando-ish you FEEL him.

The rest -unfortunately- is just rather ignorable predictably hogwash...

Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)

Sex over content

[6/10 · 21 February 2017]

Long film that feels even longer! Whew ... Nice photo, light and cut-work, but an director who absolutely do not know the fine art of suggestions, preferring explicit sex scenes in porn-style. And yes as an old pig young naked pretty girls are pretty to look at, but... And to top it of in the break we were 'treated' with a close-up still of a woman with her face in the crotch of another... The second half, however, is less poor than the first.

The Committee must have had limited selection for this to get the prize - or the jury were sex-hungry.

If they had cut between an hour and an hour and a half out (mainly sex scenes), it would have been better!

Only God Forgives (2013)

For a very limited audience, more art than action.

[8/10 · 21 February 2017]

This is a film that for certain will divide the viewers.

It is an artistic project more than an ordinary action film.

I will expect that most people will hate it, I'm not among them...

When I saw it at the premier several independent people walked out.

So if you have selected it for the action it also contains, well then you should find another film instead. ;)