Frihet bakom galler (No burqas behind bars)

 

Frihet bakom galler (No burqas behind bars) 2012

• Director: Maryam Ebrahimi &Nima Sarvestani
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Documentary
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Documentary.
• Why? The subject.
• Seen: 16 July 2023      

       How can there be freedom in an Afghan women’s prison? This Swedish film shows us.

       Most of the women in this prison are there because they’ve ‘fled from home’, sentenced to up to fifteen years, more than the one there for murder. They crowd together with their children.

       One woman was arrested for running away with her boyfriend to marry against their families’ wishes. He’s in the men’s prison on the other side of the wall. They risk further punishment by smuggling letter to each other.

       Another fled with her five children because her husband beat his wives and children so badly that one wife and one child died. She was sentenced to fifteen years.

       That’s why, for these women, prison is much better than home. 

5 * of 5 

 

SPOILER PS One of these women now lives in Sweden. Another was reportedly stoned tp death by her family upon release from prison.  

 

 

 

 

 

The Hunt (Jagten)

 

The Hunt (Jagten) 2012

• Director: Thomas Vinterberg
• Seen by this director: Far from the Madding Crowd, Dear Wendy
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Tomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkupp, Alexandra Rapaport
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Mads Mikkelsen – Arctic, Rogue One, Doctor Strange, Casino Royale
• Tomas Bo Larsen – Vågen, Dear Wendy
• Annika Wedderkupp – Qeda
• Why? Possibly interesting. Good reviews.
• Seen: 14 July 2023      

       Lukas (Mikkelsen) is 42, works at a creche where the kids all love him. He has a new relationship blossoming with a colleague Rapaport), when little Klara (Wedderkupp), the daughter of his neighbours and best friends, says something, that she later retracts, saying she just said something stupid, that gets Lucas fired and the whole town against him. Violence ensues.

       What a depressing film. What monsters good people can be. 

4 * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

Final Fantasy

 

Final Fantasy the spirits within 2001

• Director: Sakaguchi & Sakakibara
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Voices of many
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Only voices
• Why? Sci fi.
• Seen: 15 July 2023      

       A scientist and her motley crew of soldiers battle aliens in a dystopian New York.

       I seem to have stumbled into another animated film. This one is evidently based on a computer game but not being a gamer myself I have never heard of it.

       Visually it’s very impressive indeed. The story is fine.

       Great entertainment. 

3 * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

Mimic

 

Mimic 1997

• Director: Quillermo del Toro
• Seen by this director: The Shape of Water, Pacific Rim, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Alexander Goodwin, Giancarlo Giannini, Charles S Dutton, Josh Brolin, F Murray Abraham
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Mira Sorvino – Union Square, Angels Crest, Reservation Road, Lulu on the Bridge, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Beautiful Girls
• Jeremy Northam – Our Kind of Traitor, The Man Who Knew Infinity, Eye in the Sky, Glorious 39, Creation, Gosford Park, Happy Texas, Gloria, Amistad
• Giancarlo Giannini – Quantum of Solitude, Casino Royale, Fever Pitch
• Charles S Dutton – American Violet, Honeydripper, Secret Window, A Time to Kill, Alien 3, Mississippi Massalah
• Josh Brolin – Dune, Hail Caesar, True Grit, Milk, No Country for Old Men, The Dead Girl, The Mod Squad
• F Murray Abraham – Inside Llewyn Davis, Amadeus
• Why? Possibly interesting.
• Seen: 13 July 2023      

       Epidemic, vaccine, three years later, mutant killer cockroaches. Yeah, I can see the possibilities here.

       Only it’s boring. Lots of dark tunnels, yucky bugs and slimy guts, lame dialogue. I’m having a hard time bothering to pay attention.

       Not my cup of bug. 

1½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

My First Mister

 

My First Mister 2001

• Director: Christine Lahti
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Leelee Sobieski, Albert Brooks, Henry Brown, John Goodman, Carol Kane, Mary Kay Place
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Leelee Sobieski – Public Enemies, Night Train, The Glass House, Deep Impact
• Albert Brooks – Drive, Taxi Driver
• Henry Brown – Mortdecai, Avengers, Contagion, Proof, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Shakespeare in Love, Sliding Doors
• John Goodman – Atomic Blonde, Kong Skull Island, Inside Llewyn Davis, Dancing on the Edge, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Artist, O Brother Where Art Thou, The Big Lebowski, Sea of Love, Raising Arizona
• Carol Kane – Thanks for Sharing
• Mary Kay Place – Lonesome Jim, Human Nature, Girl Interrupted, Being John Malkovich, Citizen Ruth
• Why? The director
• Seen: Once before. Now 12 July 2023      

       J (Sobieski) is a sullen tattooed, pierced, black leather clad Goth outsider. She hates her suburban existence, longs for a boyfriend, writes obituaries about herself, and shoplifts.

       Chance brings her together with middle-aged, pedantic Randall (Brooks), manager of a gentlemen’s clothing store. Something connects them and after telling her to get rid of the silver in her face she can start working in the shop.

       She’s 17. He’s 49. She cuts herself. He’s lonely and afraid. They cautiously decide to try to be friends. To share – music (not successful), memories (painful). It’s not easy, but of course….

       Clichés, yes, contrived, yes, but quirky enough to work. Mostly. 

3 ½ * of 5   

 

 

 

Thanks for Sharing

 

Thanks for Sharing 2012

• Director: Stuart Blumberg
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad, Joey Richardson, Patrick Fugit, Pink, Carol Kane, Emily Meade, Isaiah Whitlock Jr
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight, Now You See Me, Avengers, Shutter Island, The Kids Are All Right, Reservation Road, Zodiac, Rumour Has It, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, My Life Without Me
• Tim Robbins – Then She Found Me, The Secret Life of Words, War of the Worlds, Mystic River, Human Nature, High Fidelity, Mission to Mars, The Shawshank Redemption, Jungle Fever, Twister, Bull Durham
• Gwyneth Paltrow – Mortdecai, Avengers, Contagion, Proof, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Shakespeare in Love, Sliding Doors
• Josh Gad – Murder on the Orient Express, Beauty and the Beast
• Joely Richardson – Snowden, The Last Mimzy, Return to Me
• Patrick Fugit – White Oleander, Almost Famous
• Carol Kane - My First Mister
• Emily Meade – The Leftovers, Fringe
• Isaiah Whitlock Jr – BlacKkKlansman, Main Street, Cadillac Records, The Wire, 1408
• Why? The cast
• Seen: 11 July 2023      

       Adam (Ruffalo) is a sex addict and goes to meetings. He’s been sober for five years. Mike (Robbins), who also does AA and has anger issues, is his mentor. Neil (Gad) gropes women on the underground and is sentenced to take part in the program. He doesn’t take it seriously.

       We follow these three men. Adam meets Phoebe (Paltrow). Mike’s alcoholic son (Fugit) returns after being gone for some years. Neil is a sleazy creep and also a doctor who gets fired for filming up a colleague’s skirt and is forced to take his addiction seriously.

       This is not a comedy, nor is it feel-good. Addiction is hell.

       Ruffalo and Robbins live up to my high expectations. 

4 * of 5   

Beauty and the Beast

 

Beauty and the Beast 2017

• Director: Bill Condon
• Seen by this director: Dreamgirls
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, and the voices of many top-notch actors
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Emma Watson – Little Women, The Circle, Colonia, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, My Week with Marilyn, Harry Potter
• Dan Stevens – Summer in February, Downton Abbey
• Luke Evans – Crisis, The Girl on the Train, High-Rise, The Hobbit, Tamara Drewe, Robin Hood
• Kevin Kline – Ricki and the Flash, My Old Lady, The Conspirator, As You Like It, Prairie Home Companion, Orange County, Wild Wild West, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Ice Storm, Dave, Chaplin, The January Man, A Fish Called Wanda, Cry Freedom, Silverado, Sophie’s Choice, Hamlet
• Josh Gad – Murder on the Orient Express
• Why? Oh, why not?
• Seen: 10 July 2023      

       If you don’t know the story, Google it. In this version Belle (Watson) is a bookworm and her village regards her with deep suspicion as odd, peculiar, an outsider. She lives with her father (Kline) and through circumstances somewhat beyond her control, she ends up at the castle, prisoner of the Beast.

       Oh yes, it’s a musical, but that isn’t really an essential element. I love musicals but not all films have to be musicals, do they?

       I’ve not seen any other film versions of this, so I’m unburdened by comparisons. I’m enjoying this. If you can get past the romantic stereotype of a feisty (beautiful) young woman taming and loving the tormented hero, you might enjoy it too. It’s lavish, amusing at times and though it’s far from Hermione Granger, it’s a good roll for Watson. It’s one of the better fairy tale films, in the same category as Branagh’s Cinderella. Maybe even a little better (sorry, Sir Ken.) 

3 ½ * of 5   

 

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Dear Evan Hansen

 

Dear Evan Hansen 2021

Director: Stephen Chbosky

Seen by this director: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Based on book: no

Cast: Ben Platt, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, Amandla Stenberg, Colton Ryan

Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:

Ben Platt – Ricki and the Flash, Pitch Perfect

Julianne Moore – Wonderstruck, The Hunger Games etc, Crazy Stupid Love, Shelter (Six Souls), The Kids Are All Right, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, Children of Men, The Hours, Far from Heaven, The Shipping News, The Fugitive

Kaitlyn Dever – Short Term 12

Amy Adams – Arrival, American Hustle, Man of Steel, The Master, Sunshine Cleaning, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Amandla Stenberg - The Darkest Minds, The Hunger Games

Why?  Possibly good. A musical.

Seen:  7 July 2023

Evan Hansen (Platt) is entering his senior year in high school. He suffers severely from social phobias. When one of his classmates, Connor (Ryan) commits suicide, the parents mistakenly believe that Evan was his best friend. Evan is unable to find a way to deny it, even though they were more enemies than friends.

The lie grows and goes viral. Not good.

Behind the story is the message that depression and anxiety are crippling so many teenagers in this modern society to the point that they can’t function without medication, even (or especially) those who hide behind an energetic smiling façade.

It’s an emotional roller coaster. Or let’s say, they know what buttons to push and I’m as willing as anyone to have my buttons pushed, so there’s a tear or two involved. Sure, it’s naïve and contrived but there are many strong moments.

 

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Les Misérables

 

Les Misérables 2019

• Director: Ladj Ly
• Based on book: no, not really, but sort of…
• Cast: Damien Bonard, Alexis Manenti, Djebril Zonga, Issa Perica, Al-Hassan Ly, Steve Tientchu
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sadly, none of them
• Why?  Sounded good, many awards.
• Seen:  8 July 2023 

It’s not Victor Hugo but the title was chosen deliberately, and the characters are aware that their situation is similar to the novel.

Racial and ethnic conflicts are rife in this Parisian suburb. Police brutality is a way of life, tension and hostility are rampant.

A kid with a drone video camera happens to film a shooting.

It’s not the Paris we tourists see.

The revolution is not over, people. 

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Code 8

 

Code 8 2019

• Director: Jeff Chan
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Kari Matchett, Robbie Amell, Sung Kang, Stephen Amell, Laysla de Oliviera, Vlad Alexis, Greg Bryk, Kyla Kane
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Kari Matchett – Maudie
• Why?  Sci fi
• Seen: 6 July 2023 

Those with powers are hated, feared, hunted, arrested, killed for using them.  They are unable to get anything better than menial jobs, if that. Spinal liquid from those with powers is classified as a dangerous drug. Big money. So far just a heist film but switch the drug to heroine and crack and the Empowered to blacks and other oppressed groups and it seems to have something to say. The film has a little more depth than your usual heist film, a little more human interest, and the sci fi bits have merit. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boyz n the Hood

 

Boyz n the Hood 1991

• Director: John Singleton
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Cuba Gooding Jr, Laurence Fishburne, Ice Cube, Angela Bassett, Morris  Chestnut, Tyrell Ferrell, Nia Long
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Cuba Gooding Jr – Selma, The Butler, As Good As It Gets,
• Laurence Fishburne – Passengers, Man of Steel, Contagion, Bobby, Akeelah and the Bee, Matrix etc, Mystic River, Othello, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Class Action, The Colour Purple, Rumble Fish, Apocalypse Now
• Angela Bassett – Black Panther Wakanda Forever, Black Panther, London Has Fallen, Akeelah and the Bee, Music of the Heart, Contact, Strange Days, What’s Love Got to Do with It, Malcolm X
• Morris Chestnut – Nurse Jackie, The Call
• Tyrell Ferrell – White Men Can’t Jump, Jungle Fever
• Nia Long – Dear White People, Alfie
• Why?  A modern classic.
• Seen: Once before. Now 5 July 2023 

It’s what it is. Boyz n the Hood, south LA in the 90s. Tre (Gooding) grows up with his father Furious (Fishburne), who tries to raise him to be a good man. It’s not easy in the hood, where drugs and violence are rampant.

It’s an important film about life in a black ghetto in LA, America, a realism that white America knows little about, and cares less.

Things haven’t got better. 

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Mimzy

 

The Last Mimzy 2007

• Director: Robert Shaye
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Joely Richardson, Rainn Wilson, Timothy Hutton, Chris O’Neil, Rhiannan
• Leigh Rynn, Kathryn Hahn, Michael Clark Duncan
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Joely Richardson – Snowden, Return to Me
• Rainn Wilson – Utopia, Blackbird, Juno, Six Feet Under, Almost Famous, Galaxy Quest
• Why?  Sci fi
• Seen:  4 July 2023 

Nerdy Noah (O’Neil) and his genius little sister Emma (Rynn) find a box of mysterious objects on the beach at their family summer cottage. We already know from the intro that it’s from a scientist in the far future who is trying desperately to save our planet from environmental destruction.

It’s a good premise in a cute story. I know, I know, ‘cute’ is a terrible word. Is ‘sweet’ better? Another adjective might be ‘white’ (almost only), or ‘bourgeois’, or ‘American’, or ‘Daddy-hotshot-lawyer-Mummy-pretty-housewife’ or ‘lovey-dovey-perfect-nuclear-family’? All of which lessen the film’s impact considerably.

All this notwithstanding, the film is growing on me. It’s clever and the kids are appealing, especially smart little Emma. It’s rather exciting too.

So, if you can get past the sugar-coating, it’s worth seeing. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Backwoods

 

Backwoods 2006

• Director: Koldo Serra
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Gary Oldman, Virginie Ledoyen, Paddy Considine, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Lluís Homar
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Gary Oldman – Crisis, Darkest Hour, The Space Between Us, The Batman Trilogy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter, The Book of Eli, Rainfall, Dead Fish, Friends, Lost in Space, The Fifth Element, Immortal Beloved, Léon, Romeo Is Bleeding, True Romance, Dracula, JFK, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Prick Up Your Ears, Sid and Nancy
• Paddy Considine – Journeyman, The Girl with All the Gifts, Macbeth, Pride, The World’s End, Red Riding, Hot Fuzz, My Summer of Love, In America, 24 Hour Party People, Born Romantic
• Why?  Gary Oldman
• Seen:  3 July 2023 

Two unhappily English married couples – Paul (Oldman) and Isabel (Sanchéz-Gijón), Norman (Considine) and Lucy (Ledoyen) – are heading for Paul’s late grandmother’s old stone house in Northern Spain. They stop at an isolated taverna. The locals – all men – are hostile. The two couples continue and arrive at the house. Paul loves it. Norman is doubtful. The women hate it.

While hunting, Paul and Norman find a little girl imprisoned in a run-down shack. They free her and take her back to the house.

It gets scary.

Some viewers hate the film. A few love it. I’m in the middle. Strong performances by Oldman and Considine carry it. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

Shakespeare connection: Gary Oldman is in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Paddy Considine is in Macbeth.

 

 

 

Terms of Endearment

 

Terms of Endearment 1983

• Director: James L Brooks
• Seen by this director: As Good as It Gets
• Based on book: by Larry McMurtey
• Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Jeff Daniels, John Lithgow
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Shirley MacLaine – Downton Abbey, Rumour Has It, In Her Shoes, Guarding Tess, Postcards from the Edge, Steel Magnolias, Sweet Charity, Gambit
• Debra Winger – Rachel Getting Married, Urban Cowboy
• Jack Nicholson – The Bucket List, About Schmidt, The Pledge, As Good As It Gets, Mars Attacks!, Batman, The Witches of Eastwick, Prizzi’s Honour, Reds, The Shining, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Shining, Tommy, Chinatown, Five Easy Pieces, Easy Rider, The Little Shop of Horrors
• Jeff Daniels– The Martian, Looper, The Lookout, Good Night and Good Luck, The Squid and the Whale, Imaginary Heroes, The Hours, Pleasantville, Speed, Ragtime
• John Lithgow – Interstellar, Dream Girls, Orange County, Third Rock from the Sun, Footloose, The World According to Garp, Twelfth Night
• Why?  I remember it as good.
• Seen:  Once before. Now 2 July 2023 

Aurora (MacLaine) is an overprotective, neurotic, rude, interfering, domineering and unkind mother. Her daughter Emma (Winger) is tied to her forever, even after marriage to Flap (Daniels) and moving to another state.

I don’t like these people. I don’t like the film. MacLaine is good but both she and the role in Sweet Charity are so much better. I really dislike Nicholson as the obnoxious drunken ex-astronaut, not just the character but Nicholson himself who is just playing Nicholson.

Why did I like this the first time? 

2* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Princess Bride

 

The Princess Bride 1987

• Director: Rob Reiner
• Seen by this director: The Magic of Belle Island, The Bucket List, Rumour Has It, Misery, When Harry Met Sally, Stand by Me, Spinal Tap
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Peter Falk
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Cary Elwes – Ella Enchanted, Twister
• Mandy Patinkin – Life Itself, Dead Like Me, Lulu on the Bridge, Impromptu
• Robin Wright – Blade Runner 2049, Wonder Woman, Everest, The Congress, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, Nine Lives, White Oleander, The Pledge, How to Kill Your Neighbour’s Dog, Forrest Gump
• Chris Sarandon - Fright Night, Edie & Penn, Dog Day Afternoon
• Christopher Guest - The Invention of Lying, Mrs Henderson Presents, A Mighty Wind, Waiting for Guffman, Spinal Tap, All in the Family
• Peter Falk - Colombo
• Why?  Recommended by some nerdy friends
• Seen:  2 July 2023 

From the title one might guess that there are also princes, romance, sword fights and all that. One would be right. Also, villains and danger and adventure. It’s all narrated by Granddad (Falk) to a sick grandson, which is annoying from start to finish.

I don’t see why my nerdy friends and almost everyone on IMDb like this. There’s far too much heroic deeds of derring-do and dewy-eyed damsel in distress for me.

It’s said to be a parody, a comedy. But why parody such a dull story and what’s funny about it? It’s dull, as well as tediously male-dominated.

Nope. Not for me. Sorry, nerdy friends. 

1 ½ * of 5