Whale Rider

 

The Whale Rider 2002

• Director: Niki Caro
• Seen by this director: North Country
• Based on the book by Witi Ihimaera
• Cast: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis, Grant Roa, Mana Taumaunu, Rachel House
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Keisha Castle-Hughes – Game of Thrones, Star Wars III
• Vicky Haughton – King Kong
• Cliff Curtis – Doctor Sleep, Sunshine, The Fountain, Blow, The Piano
• Rachel House – Eagle vs Shark
• Why? A good film.
• Seen: Once before. Now 3 April 2024 

       Paiklea (Castle-Hughes) is a Maori girl. Her twin brother and mother died when she was born.

       The ancient legend is that the man Paikea became a whale rider and led the Maori people. The tradition is that a first-born son will be chosen to be a whale rider. Pai’s grandfather (Paratene) can’t forgive her for being a girl. He’s convinced that her twin brother was the chosen one. He was convinced that her father (Curtis) was the chosen one but he fled to Germany to become an artist.

       Pai defies her beloved grandfather and tradition, and trains in secret to become a whale rider.

       It’s a film to love. And see many times. 

5* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Department Q - A Conspiracy of Faith

 

Department Q: A Conspiracy of Faith (Flaskpost från P) 2016

• Director: Hans Petter Moland
• Seen by this director: Ut och stjälar hästar, Aberdeen
• Based on the book by Jussi Adler-Olsen
• Cast: Nikolai Lie-Kaas, Fares Fares, Pål Sverre Hagen, Jakob Lohman, Amanda Collin, Johanne Louise Schmidt, Jakob Oftebro
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Nikolai Lie-Kaas – The Whistleblower, Fasanjägare, Kvinnan i rummet
• Fares Fares – Chernobyl, Rogue One, Jalla jalla, Fasanjägare, Kvinnan i rummet
• Pål Sverre Hagen – Ut och staller hästar, Kon-tiki
• Johanne Louise Schmidt – Fasanjägarna
• Jakob Ofterbro – Drottning Margareta, The Snowman, Bron, Kon-tiki
• Why? The first two.
• Seen: 1 April 2024 

       A bottle is found. It contains a letter written some ten years ago by a child begging for help. The case is given to Department Q, Danish cops Carl (Lie-Kaas, Assad (Fares) and Rose (Schmidt).

       Missing kids, religious sects, existential debates between Assad (sort of Muslim: ‘there’s something bigger than us’) and Carl (surly atheist).

       Dark, twisted, suspenseful and great acting. Just like the first two.      

4* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Raisin in the Sun

 

A Raisin in the Sun 2008

• Director: Kenny Leon
• Based on the play by Lorraine Hansberry
• Cast: Sean Diddy Combs, Sanaa Lathan, Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad, Justin Martin, Bill Nunn, David Oyewole, Sean Patrick Thomas
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Sean Diddy Combs – Monster’s Ball
• Sanaa Lathan - Contagion
• Bill Nunn – many
• David Oyewole – The Cloverfield Paradox, A United Kingdom, Selma, Interstellar, Nightingale, The Butler, The HelpSmall Island, The Last King of Scotland, As You Like It, Derailed
• Sean Patrick Thomas - Till, Honeydripper, The Fountain, Save the Last Dance
• Why? It’s a good play.
• Seen: 31 March 2024 

       Chicago 1959. Lena (Rashad) has just retired from her job as a maid for a white family. She is about to receive a check for ten thousand dollars, life insurance after her husband. Her son Walter (Combs) wants her to invest the money in a business deal he’s cooking up with two friends. He’s fed up with his job as a chauffeur for a white family and not having more money. His wife Ruth (McDonald), who does ironing for white families, is just tired. Lena is going to help Beneatha (Lathan), Walter’s sister, through med school, but she’s not going to invest in his liquor store scheme.

       It’s a classic play with Sidney Poitier as Walter in the 1961 film. Combs is not Poitier but he does a fine job as do the entire cast.

       See both versions. 

4* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unknown Soldier

 

Unknown Soldier 2017

• Director: Aku Louhimies
• Based on the book by Väinö Linna
• Cast: Eero Aho, Johannes Holopainen, Jussi Vatanen
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? The author
• Seen: 30 March 2024 

       1941. Finland and Germany are allies. Germany invades the Soviet Union. Finland does the same.

       War is hell. And stupid. War films are boring. And stupid. These Finnish soldiers, are they meant to be presented as heroes? One or two of them maybe see the Russians as humans, but kill them anyway. Most of them see only the enemy and kill them. They’re all invading another country, they are all on the side of the Nazis.

       I haven’t read the book but Väinö Linna’s trilogy on the Finnish civil war was brilliant. This film is not. I fast-forwarded most of it. 

1* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pixie

 

Pixie 2020

• Director: Barnaby Thompson
• Seen by this director: St Trinians 1&2
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Olivia Cooke, Ben Hardy, Daryl McCormack, Colm Meaney
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Olivia Cooke – Life Itself, Ready Player One
• Ben Hardy - Bohemian Rhapsody, X-Men Apocalypse
• Colm Meaney - many
• Why? Might be good.
• Seen: 29 March 2024 

       ‘Once upon a time in Western Ireland…’ is how this film describes itself.

       Drugs, priests, jealousy, murder, revenge. Pixie (Cooke) is a tough bird and she’s got ambitions. When her plans go wrong, she makes new ones.

       It’s Irish. It's entertaining, and its drug-dealing, machine gun-toting priests (and nun) earn it an extra ½ *.

 3* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life, Animated

 

Life, Animated 2016

• Director: Roger Ross Williams
• Based on the book by Ron Suskind
• Cast: Documentary
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Documentary
• Why? Possibly interesting
• Seen: 29 March 2024 

       When Owen Suskind was three years old he stopped talking and no longer had contact with his family or the world around him. He was diagnosed with sever autism.

       Later it was discovered that he connected to animated Disney films and through them learned to communicate with others.

       He grows up and as the film is being made he moves into his own home in an assisted living residence. It’s interesting but not as gripping as I expected. I’m happy for him that the Disney films helped him but it felt too sugar-coated. 

2½ * of 5   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Craft

 

The Craft 1996

• Director: Andrew Fleming
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Rachel True, Skeet Ulrich
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Fairuza Balk – Almost Famous, American History X
• Skeet Ulrich – As Good As It Gets
• Why? Might be fun.
• Seen: 27 March 2024 

       New girl in a Catholic high school in LA, Sarah (Tunney) has magic and joins the school’s three tough girls who are witches.

       It’s a mix of real teen suffering and angst, some class-race-gender issues. It’s fun but actually a bit serious too. 

3½ * of 5