Roseanna

 Roseanna 1993

• Director: Daniel Alfredsson
• Seen by this director: Millenniumtrilogin
• Based on book by Per Sjöwall och Maj Mahlöö
• Cast: Gösta Ekman, Kjell Bergqvist, Rolf Lassgård, Niklas Hjulström, Lena Nilsson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Gösta Ekman – Den enfaldige mördaren, Picassos äventyr, ansikte mot ansikte, probably other Martin Beck films, countless clips from films and TV series.
• Kjell Bergqvist – Sally, Rid i natt, probably other Martin Beck films, countless clips from films and TV series.
• Rolf Lassgård  - En man som heter Ove, probably other Martin Beck films, countless clips from films and TV series.
• Niklas Hjulström – Millenniumtrilogin, probably other Martin Beck films
• Why? Jag läste om hela serien nyligen. I reread the whole series recently.
• Seen: 17 May 2022      

       En kvinna hittas död i Göta kanal. Martin Beck (Ekman) & kompani undersöker. Jag gillar inte polisprocedurfilmer i vanliga fall. Detta är inget undantag. Den är långtråkig. Boken var en av de intressantaste i serien men över lag har böckerna inte åldrats väl. 

       A woman is found dead in Göta kanal. Martin Beck, you know, the famous Swedish murder inspector, investigates with his famous colleagues. Police procedure films are boring. This one is too. The books didn’t hold up well for the second reading. 

2* of 5  

 

 

A Perfect World

 A Perfect World 1993

• Director: Clint Eastwood
• Seen by this director: Sully, Jersey Boys, Invictus, Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The Bridges of Madison County, Bird
• Based on book: no
• Cast: Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Laura Dern, T J Lowther
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Kevin Costner – Molly’s Game, Man of Steel, Swing Vote, Rumour Has It, The Postman, Waterworld, Bodyguard, JFK, Robin Hood, Dances with Wolves, Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, Silverado, Stacey’s Knights
• Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby, The Bridges of Madison County
• Laura Dern – The Fault in Our Stars, Star Wars the Last Jedi, Wild, I Am Sam, Citizen Ruth, Jurassic Park, Wild at Heart
• Why? I remember it as being good
• Seen: Once before. Now 15 May 2022      

       Texas 1963. Butch (Costner) escapes from prison and takes a little boy, Philip (Lowther) hostage. It’s Texas Ranger Red’s (Eastwood) job to catch him. Criminologist Sally (Dern) is assigned to the case. Red is macho but his colleagues are worse but Sally is feisty and smart and gives as good as she gets.

       Surprisingly it works. It’s funny at times, grim at others, and often touching. Costner is at his best, Dern is good, Lowther is outstanding and even Eastwood is almost human.

       It’s no masterpiece but it goes deeper than the feel-good it appears to be at times.      

4* of 5  

 

 

Funny Games

 Funny Games 2007

• Director: Michael Haneke
• Seen by this director: Das weisse band, Cache, The Pianist
• Based on the book: No
• Cast: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Naomi Watts – The Glass Castle, The Impossible, King Kong, 21 Grams, Ned Kelly,
• Tim Roth – The Hateful Eight, The Liability, To Kill a King, Gridlock’d, Rob Roy, Pulp Fiction, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
• Brady Corbet - Melancholia
• Devon Gearhart – Lost
• Why? Tim Roth
• Seen: 15 May 2022      

       Ann (Watts), George (Roth) and son Georgie (Gearhart) arrive at their luxurious summer home and find that their good friends and neighbours are behaving strangely.

       Two young men, supposedly guests of the neighbours, show up acting excessively polite but then they become threatening, then violent, then solicitous and polite again.

       Very creepy.

       Very, very creepy. Horrible. And extremely suspenseful. Almost unbearable.

       It is amazingly well done, but the question is: why make such a sadistic film?

       Warning – this is not a feel-good film. It makes Kafka look like a sit-com. 

3* of 5.

 

 

 

Frances

 Frances 1982

• Director: Graeme Clifford
• Based on book: No
• Cast: Jessica Lange, Sam Shepard, Kim Stanley
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jessica Lange – Broken Flowers, Titus, A Thousand Acres, Rob Roy, Tootsie, The Postman Always Rings Twice
• Sam Shepard – August Osage County, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Pledge, Hamlet, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Pelican File, Steel Magnolias
• Why? Curious
• Seen: 13 May 2022      

       Frances Farmer (Lange) was an outspoken teen-ager in the 30’s and grew up to be an outspoken film actor as an adult.

       It starts out strong but falls into the ‘tragic fall of Hollywood star’ category. Other films have done it better, most recently the brilliant Judy with Renée Zellweger.

       With that said, it is quite gripping at times and especially disturbing are the scene in the mental hospital. Lange is good although she sometimes resembles Jennifer Jason Leigh in Georgia. Or maybe Leigh imitated her.      

3 ½ * of 5 

 

 

 

 

Les Visiteurs

 Les visiteurs 1993

• Director: Jean-Marie Poiré
• Based on book: No
• Cast: Jean Reno, Christian Clavier, Valérie Lamercier
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jean Reno – Léon, La Femme Nikita, Le grand bleu,  
• Why? Remembered it as entertaining
• Seen: Once before. Now 12 May 2022      

       The French nobleman (Reno) and his trusty squire (Clavier) are transported through witchcraft from the 12^th century to present day France. I don’t remember the humour as being this infantile and slapstick. In fact, it’s unbearable. Fast forward is in order.

       How in the world can this be the greatest box office success in French film history?

       Maybe I’m just not in the right mood.      

1 * of 5   

PS I bought Les visiteurs II at the same time. Sigh.

 

The Fault in Our Stars

 The Fault in Our Stars 2014

• Director: Josh Boone
• Based on book by John Green
• Cast: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Laura Dern, Nat Wolff, Sam Trammel, Willem Dafoe, Lotta Verbeek
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Shailene Woodley – The Descendants
• Laura Dern – Star Wars the Last Jedi, Wild, I Am Sam, Citizen Ruth, A Perfect World, Jurassic Park, Wild at Heart
• Willem Dafoe – Lighthouse, Murder on the Orient Express, John Wick, Fireflies in the Garden, Paris je t’aime, American Dreamz, Manderlay, the Aviator, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, American Psycho, eXistenZ, Lulu on the Bridge, The English Patient, Wild at Heart, Cry-Baby, Born on the Fourth of July, Mississippi Is Burning, The Last Temptation of Christ, Platoon, Streets of Fire
• Why? The book was quite good.
• Seen: 10 May 2022      

       Hazel (Woodley) is seventeen and dying of cancer. At a really awful support group where the leader sings about Jesus that she hates but goes to because it makes her parents happy, she meets Gus (Elgort), eighteen and supposedly cured of cancer.

       So, this could be a really sappy film, or it could be well done. The book was unsappy and quite good.

       Problem 1: Gus is really annoying, and Elgort is not right for the part. At least he doesn’t match my image of him from the book.

       Problem 2: It’s way too talky with too many clichés.

       Problem 3: Hazel’s dad (Trammel) is too good-looking (yes, I’m shallow).

       Problem 4: It’s sappy.

       Problem 5: At the beginning Hazel promised this wasn’t going to be sugar-coated and romantic but realistic. She lied.

       Problem 6: Rich American white suburban kids who have their own cars suffer too, even die. I get that. But they’re still so privileged compared to almost everyone else in the world.

       Problem 7: It’s just a love story. Not very believable at that. Zero chemistry between them.

       Woodley is quite good though. It could have been worse, I suppose.      

2 ½ * of 5  

 

 

Precious

 Precious 2009

• Director: Lee Daniels
• Seen by this director: The Butler
• Based on the book Push by Sapphire
• Cast: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Paula Patton – Swing Vote
• Lenny Kravitz: The Hunger Games
• Why? Strong book. Strong film.
• Seen: Once before. Now 8 May 2022      

       Precious (Sidibe) longs to dance on MTV, longs to be married to her maths teacher, longs to be white, thin and beautiful. But she is sixteen, black, grossly overweight and pregnant with her second child. She fantasises about being a film star as her father rapes her. Her mother (Mo’Nique) abuses her, viciously, orally and physically.

       She is offered a place in an alternative school. She feels stupid bur her teacher (Patton) pushes her to believe in herself and learn.

       It’s painful to watch and I want to tell myself that it’s unrealistic and exaggerated. But I know it’s not. 

4* of 5.