Turist (Force Majeur)

 

Turist 2014

• Director: Ruben Östlund
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Johannes Bah Kunke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren, Vincent Wettergren, Kristofer Hivju, Fanni Metelius, Karin Myrenberg Faber, Brady Korbet, Johannes Moustos
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Johannes Bah Kunke – Äkta Människor
• Kristofer Hivju – Game of Thrones, After Earth
• Brady Korbet – Clouds over Sils Maria, Melancholia
• Why? Curious
• Seen: 5 February 2023      

       With all the hype around Ruben Östlund I can’t help but be curious. He’s the pride of Sweden at the moment, after all, with all his Oscar nominations. So, let’s take a look.

       A Swedish couple and their two small children are on a skiing holiday in the Alps. On their second day they’re having lunch on the hotel terrace when a controlled avalanche suddenly isn’t in control but races towards them. They panic and run. They are unharmed but their happy holiday is suddenly not so happy anymore.

       This is not a disaster film, nor a skiing film, but a film about the expectations and demands we put on each other and on ourselves, and what happens when reality tears them apart. It’s an unusual film. If it’s typical Östlund I can’t say but I will definitely be seeing more by him.           

4* of 5 

PS It seems there is an important gender analysis in there, as well as a class and environmental analysis of the ghastly luxurious skiing industry but I’m a little too overwhelmed by the film at the moment. It will have to wait until next time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stronger

 

Stronger 2017

• Director: David Gordon Green
• Seen by this director: Undertow
• Based on the book by Jeff Bauman and Bret Witter
• Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jake Gyllenhaal – Life, Prisoners, Proof, Brokeback Mountain, Day after Tomorrow, The Good Girl, Donnie Darko
• Tatiana Maslany – Orphan Black, Woman in Gold
• Miranda Richardson – Testament of Youth, Hatty Potter, Made in Degenham, Young Victoria, Paris je t’aime, Gideon’s Daughter, Wah-Wha, Phantom of the Opera, The Hours, Black Adder, Sleepy Hollow, Dance with a Stranger
• Why? Gyllenhaal and Maslany
• Seen: 4 February 2023      

       Jeff (Gyllenhaal) loses both legs to the Boston Marathon Bomber in 2013 but what he witnessed just seconds before the bomb went off helped the FBI catch the bombers, which makes him a hero. While struggling with rehab he has to deal with publicity, public appearance and his boisterous hard drinking and argumentative family. It’s his ex-girl friend Erin (Maslany) who understands what he’s going through and gets him through the nightmare.

       Gyllenhaal and Maslany as well as Richardson as Jeff’s pushy loud-mouthed mother make this an emotional powerhouse.      

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Super 8

 

Super 8 (2011)

• Director: J J Abrams
• Seen by this director: Star Wars, Lost
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney, Kyle Chandler, Ryan Lee, Zack Mills, Riley Griffiths, Ron Eldard
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Elle Fanning – Mary Shelley, Maleficent, Ginger & Rosa, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Reservation Road, Babel, Taken
• Kyle Chandler – First Man, Manchester by the Sea, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Day the Earth Stood Still, King Kong
• Ron Eldard – A House of Sand and Fog, Ghost Ship
• Why? Sci fi lite
• Seen: 3 February 2023      

       Four boys and a girl are making a zombie film to enter in a film festival.

       Just that sentence itself sends out warning signals but I’ll give it a chance.

       They happen to witness and film a train wreck and there is an alien involved.

       It’s not bad, actually, thanks to Joel Courtney who is appealing as the young main character, and Fanning who, as we have seen in other films, is a good child actor, though totally wrong for the role as Mary Shelley. Some of the smaller roles are good too, especially Eldard. The story is entertaining and for a Friday evening sci fi lite it fulfils its mission admirably. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dry

 

The Dry 2020

• Director: Robert Connolly
• Based on the novel by Jane Harper
• Cast: Eric Bana, Genevieve O’Reilly, Keir O’Donnell, John Polson, Julia Blake, Bruce Spence, William Zappa, Matt Nable, James Frecheville, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Joe Klocek, BeBe Bettencourt, Miranda Tapsell
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Eric Bana – Hanna, The Time Traveller’s Wife, The Other Boleyn Girl,
• Genevieve O’Reilly – Snowman, Rogue One, The Fall, Forget Me Not, Young Victoria, Star Wars III; Matrix
• Keir O’Donnell– The Runaways, Lost
• Julia Blake – X-Men Origins Wolverine
• Why? The author.
• Seen: 3 February 2023      

       Federal cop Aaron (Bana) returns to his hometown in rural Australia for the funeral of his childhood friend who has apparently killed his family then himself. It’s not that simple, and Aaron stays to look into things, but an old tragedy haunts him and the hostile town still blames him.

       Another book by Jane Harper, The Lost Man, is one of the few police novels, or novels at all, that I rated 5* on Good Reads. The book behind this was not as all as good. In fact the film is much better – slow, deliberate, atmospheric. It’s well acted by all, and the tension builds up so slowly that even the climax sneaks up on you.

       This is one instance when the film is better than the book. 

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Boy

 

Old Boy 2003

• Director: Park Chan-Wook
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Choi Min-Sik, Yoo Ji-tai, Kang Hye-jeong
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Choi Min-Sik – Lucy
• Why? Its reputation
• Seen: 28 January 2023      

       Dae-su Oh (Min-Sik) is held captive in a hotel room for 15 years with no explanation. He is released, still with no explanation, and now he’s filled with a deep lust for revenge.

       Also with no explanation, an address on Kungsgatan in Stockholm is showed, and that is the coolest thing, being I’m a Swede, about the film. I can understand that many viewers love the film. I usually enjoy this kind of meaningless surrealistic film but this one is just off enough that I found it boring and dozed off towards the end. 

2* of 5

 

 

 

Fear of Rain

 

Fear of Rain 2021

• Director: Castille Landon
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Madison Iseman, Katherine Heigl, Harry Connick Jr, Israel Broussard, Eugenie Bonderant, Julia Vasi, Enuka Okuma
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Katharine Heigl – Roswell
• Why? Of possible interest.
• Seen: 1 February 2023      

       Rain (Iseman) suffers from a kind of schizophrenia with severe hallucinations. Her parents Michelle (Heigl) and John (Connick) are in despair but try desperately to help and support her so that she doesn’t need to be institutionalised.

       At school her friends have turned against her, afraid that her craziness is catching, or only because they are cruel. A new boy Caleb (Broussard) befriends her and is the only one who believes her when she says that her neighbour, who happens to be their weird English teacher (Bonderant), is holding a child captive in the attic. Everyone else says she’s hallucinating. But is she hallucinating Caleb too?

       Some viewers object to the offensively unrealistic view of mental illness but I don’t know. From close personal experience of hallucinations in the family, I know they can take any and all forms and can be very scary. I find the film riveting and the acting convincing. Yes, there are some glitches and faulty editing but I like it.      

3 ½ * of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lakeview Terrace

 

Lakeview Terrace 2008

• Director: Neil LaBute
• Seen by this director: Nurse Betty
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Samuel L Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Samuel L Jackson – 51^st State, Glass, The Hateful Eight, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Django Unchained, Jumper, 1408, Star Wars, Kill Bill, Changing Lanes, The Red Violin, Jackie Brown, The Long Kiss Goodnight, True Romance, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, Jungle Fever, Mo’ Better Blues, Sea of Love, Do the Right Thing
• Patrick Wilson – The Conjuring, Prometheus, Phantom of the Opera, Angels in America
• Kerry Washington – Django Unchained, The Miracle at Santa Ana, The Dead Girl, The Last King of Scotland, Ray, The Human Stain, The United States of Leland, Save the Last Dance
• Why? Samuel L Jackson
• Seen: 31 January 2023      

       Widowed LA cop Abel (Jackson) is strict with his two resentful kids. A new couple Lisa (Washington) and Chris (Wilson) move in next door in the comfortable suburb. Abel doesn’t like the fact that Chris is white. He is jovial and smiley and vicious.

       There is a lot of tension in this complex story. There are difficult racial, gender and political issues. It’s no doubt realistic but it’s also hateful, and whatever point it’s trying to make, it’s not made.

       The whole neighbourhood will probably go up in flames anyway as there are repeated references to the approaching forest fires.

       It wallows in poison. The acting is good (can SLJ be anything but good?) but I just don’t like the film.

2 ½ * of 5

PS Personally I’m cheering for the forest fires, nature’s way of fighting back against greed and crimes against the environment.