PRAG av Ole Christian Madsen (2006)
Med Mads Mikkelsen, Stine Stengade, Borivoj Navrátil, Jana Plodková, Josef Vajnar, Nicola Meisselová

VISS SPOILERVARNING

Inledningen gjorde mig rätt sur. Det här är en dansk film som utspelas i Prag. Det var faktiskt därför jag såg den. På grund av Prag. Jag har varit i Prag. Två gånger. Prag är förmodligen den vackraste huvudstaden på jordens yta. Jag kan inte svära på det, för jag har inte varit i alla, men den är utan tvivel den vackraste jag har sett. Den utklassar det påstått eviga Rom. Och så har filmteamet lyckats leta reda på några gråsjaskiga hyreshus i en avlägsen förort (förmodligen en förort till en annan tjeckisk stad) och presenterar dem som Prag. Med undantag av en kamerasvepning över Karlsbron och slottet och för all del ett par scener på torget i gamla stan och en på den judiska kyrkogården som helt missar att visa hur spektakulär kyrkogården är, framstår denna vidunderligt vackra stad som en trist betongförort längs tunnelbanans blå linje i Stockholm. Man kan undra över skälet till att ställa upp kameran i betongförorten. Prag följde ju så att säga med på köpet när man valde inspelningsplats. Kan det möjligen tänkas att det danska filmteamet var ansträngt patriotiskt och inte i en danskproducerad film ville visa upp en stad som utklassar inte bara Rom utan för den delen även Köpenhamn? Man kan undra. Särskilt som tjeckerna, framför allt läkaren och sköterskorna i sjukhuskulverten, framställs som något slags bisarr, militäriskt robotlik variant av stereotypa, känslolösa östatsmänniskor från sovjeteran. Vad i hela fridens namn är avsikten med detta? Jag förstår det inte. Tjecker är normalt inte militäriska robotar utan känslor. I verkligheten är de riktiga människor. Inte helt oväntat, kanske. Varför framställs de som parodiska östatsmonster i filmen?

Fast nu är ju Prag en spelfilm, inte en film gjord av en turistbyrå i avsikt att locka turister till staden. Och som spelfilm har den sina avsevärda poänger.

Musiken är en av dem. Den skärande, märkliga, monotona och mycket dystra stråkmusiken inte bara illustrerar temat, den koncentrerar det. Sorgen som vilar över huvudpersonerna – och betongförorten Prag – får ett påträngande fokus.

Mads Mikkelsen gör sin roll enligt modellen stenansikte som försöker dölja sina känslor men inte riktigt lyckas, och själv lyckas han inte riktigt i rollen. Han har nog fel sorts ansikte. Det är inte vidare känsligt och gör sig bättre som endimensionell skurk i en trekunda så kallad James Bond-film utan Sean Connery. Fast han misslyckas inte heller och eftersom Stine Stengade är en förnämlig skådespelerska fungerar det här dramat väl.

När man i tidiga medelåldern drabbas av en livskris som inte bara vänder upp och ned på tillvaron utan består av flera hårda smällar på varandra, ser tillvaron lätt endimensionellt dyster ut och det är lätt för den drabbade att se vems felet är, vem som är syndabocken. Men så enkelt är det ju sällan. Det känns både trovärdigt och sympatiskt att även Stine Stengades sida av saken så tydligt framkommer, eftersom det här annars skulle ha blivit ett enkelspårigt drama om en man som bryter samman utan att tittaren får veta hur hans fru har uppfattat situationen och varför hon har handlat som hon gjort, vilket skulle ha gjort Prag till ett banalt otrohetsdrama i stället för ett mångfacetterat och därför trovärdigt och gripande relationsdrama.

Och smällarna är som sagt flera, förvecklingarna kommer på varandra. Ingen av dem känns påklistrad, ingen av dem osannolik. Tvärtom är samtliga intressanta dominobrickor i den rad som faller samman i Mads Mikkelsens psyke. Och de hänger samman. Alltsammans utspelas dessutom mot bakgrund av hans i livet ständigt frånvarande far, som bott i Prag och dött i Prag och som sonen nu i sällskap med sin hustru åkt dit för att hämta hem. Och som fortsätter att spela en väsentlig roll i sonens tillvaro även bortsett från att han i och med sin död på nytt väcker dennes besvikelse och frustration till liv, eftersom Mads Mikkelsen oväntat kommer sin far närmare inpå livet, får veta saker om honom som han aldrig kunnat ana.

Händelser som dessa, om än inte identiska, drabbar förr eller senare de flesta av oss och i någon variant drabbar de miljoner människor varje dag. De berör oss. De handlar om vilka vi är och varför vi handlar och reagerar som vi gör. Med det lyckas Prag, för filmen är inträngande trovärdig där den försöker – i relationsdramat. Det känns mindre uppmuntrande att den även så övertygande lyckas få den tittare som inte besökt staden att tro att Prag är en trist betongförort längs blå linjen i Stockholm. Även om det här som sagt inte inte är en reklamfilm från en turistbyrå skulle det knappast ha skadat att visa upp Prag, kanske i synnerhet som sorg och skönhet så ofta gör sig så väl ihop.

Kör hårt,
Bellis

Sprutor är inte min favoritsport. Igår fick jag ännu en. Inte så styv i korken idag, om man så säger. Lite knockad. Kurar under filt i soffan, tuggar vindruvor, ojar mig lite och ser gamla gangsters på dvd. Det regnar ute. Såklart. Det är ju fortfarande november.

Idag fyller Mads år. Och Boris. Och Jamie Lee. Men det visste ni säkert?

Och vad har dessa med mig att göra? Inte ett smack.

Bad-Fucking-Ass!

In Clash of the Titans, the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods. But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world. Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld. With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth. Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds. Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.

When I was quite young I rented the old Clash of the Titans movie (it released sometime close to Star Wars).  I expected it to be a classic campy fantasy movie.  It was pretty awful.  I’m all for old-fashion special effects, but come on.  It wasn’t the classic it was made out to be.  This version looks better.  Granted this trailer is nothing more than a testosterone filled Hollywood version of a music video, but I’m sure the movie will be better.  It’s undoubtedly a big budget action movie, but it has some serious talent and shouldn’t be ignored as a 300 copycat (although that wouldn’t be the worst thing, 300 was a lot of fun).

And yes, I rolled my eyes too when the line “Titans Will Crash” came on the screen.

Click on the picture to watch the trailer (there are some awesome posters out there, but they haven’t offically been released yet).

From Yahoo.

Or try Coming Soon.

Or try YouTube.

- izi

Voici donc la bande-annonce du nouveau Clash Of The Titans, le remake d’un film que vous avez forcement vu un jour, vu qu’il est passé une bonne cinquantaine de fois sur M6, et qui raconte la guerre faisant rage entre les Dieux et que seul Perseus peut empêcher de voir dégénérer en Enfer sur Terre.

Liam Neeson est Zeus, Ralph Fiennes est Hades et Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator Renaissance) campe un Perseus visiblement tout en sueur et crasse. Il y a aussi des scorpions géants et des méchants monstres. Cool. Faut dire que ça passe encore mieux en mode plein écran sur un téléviseur HD de 107 cm.

Eh bien voila la bonne surprise du matin, moi qui attendait ce teaser je fut vite récompenser ^^.

Bon ça m’a l’air d’être plutot pas mal tout ça, faudrait juste en voir un petit peu plus pour vraiment avoir la bave aux lévres.

(Puis voir Mouloud Achour ce fighter sur grand écran je ne veut pas manquer ça ^^)

Vuelven los griegos (aunque nunca se fueron) de la mano de Louis Leterrier, siguiendo la senda abierta por 300 y allanando ese camino para los que estén por llegar. Así son las modas, duran poco pero el tiempo que viven es de gran intensidad. Ahora el objetivo es Furia de Titanes, que ya en su día fue un exceso (y avance) dentro de los efectos especiales y que hoy aparece disfrazada con píxel y tecnofilia. Se apuesta por el espectáculo y por las reminiscencias a la cuestionable pero icónica obra de Zack Snyder, aún fresca en el imaginario público que desea más sangre, más arena y más músculo. El omnipresente Sam Worthington es Perseo, dios hecho hombre (vengativo), que tras perder a su familia a manos del dios Hades, pretende equilibrar la balanza echando a perder su plan para hacerse con el trono de Zeus. Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Danny Huston, Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen, Jason Flemyng, Alexa Davalos, Izabella Miko, Nicholas Hoult y Pete Postlethwaite acompañan al australiano en esta odisea, presumiblemente uno de los taquillazos de 2.010.

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SAM WORTHINGTON stars in the LOUIS LETTERIER directed 'CLASH OF THE TITANS' remake

Directed by Louis Letterier and set for release on March 26, 2010, ‘CLASH OF THE TITANS’ will star; Sam Worthington (PERSEUS), Liam Neeson (ZEUS), Ralph Fiennes (HADES), Danny Huston (POSEIDON), Gemma Arterton, Alexa Davalos, and Mads Mikkelsen.

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Voici quelques projets d’affiches qui sont plutot pas mal dans l’ensemble. Je trouve qu’elles ont un coté épique que j’aimerai voir dans le films mais ne nous emballons pas trop vite car pour le moment on a vue aucune vidéo du films puis Louis Letterrier est certe un bon metteur en scéne j’ai bien peur qu’il nous fasse un travail trop lécher pour ne pas froisser les prod .

Bon les photos ne sont pas de bonne qualité mais ça donne déja une idée assez précise que ce qu’on pourrait avoir sur le mur de nos chambres

Celles qui sont dans la suite me plaisent assez, surtout les deux dernières ^^

Maintenant reste plus qu’a attendre qu’un trailer pointe le bout de son nez

Gladiator, de Lord of the Rings trilogie, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Dark Knight en Slumdog Millionaire. Iedereen kent ze wel, deze blockbusters uit de 21e eeuw die de verwachtingen meer dan waarmaakte.

Er is echter veel meer. Sinds de eeuwwisseling zijn er namelijk ook heel wat prachtige films gemaakt die niet massaal in de bioscoop zijn verschenen en die nog steeds consequent over het hoofd worden gezien. De komende weken zal ik aftellen van 16 naar 1 voor de beste onbekende pareltjes van de 21e eeuw. Deze week de nummer 4: Efter Brylluppet

Waar ligt de grens tussen één van de beste drama’s ooit gemaakt en de gemiddelde aflevering van een soapserie. Het antwoord is eigenlijk heel simpel. Bij Efter Brylluppet van Susanne Bier.

Op Efter Brylluppet kan namelijk iedere filmcriticaster een hele hoop aanmerken. Het verhaal is te voorspelbaar voor woorden en ook wordt er wel erg nadrukkelijk gezocht naar de emotie. Zo zijn de close-ups niet te tellen en vloeien de tranen rijkelijk. Ook de muziek van onder meer Sigur Ros helpt niet om het soap gehalte te verlagen.

Waarom dan toch op plek 4 in deze lijst van onbekende pareltjes zult u misschien denken. De reden daarvoor is erg moeilijk te geven. Eigenlijk kan ik maar één verklaring geven en dat is, omdat het gewoonweg werkt. De emoties ogen oprecht, de tranen komen op de juiste momenten en de close-ups voelen niet aan als goedkoop effectbejag maar staan in dienst van het verhaal.

Misschien wel het allerbelangrijkste reden waarom Efter Brylluppet zo’n fantastische film is geworden is echter het acteerwerk. De film moet het niet hebben van special effects of technische hoogstandjes maar is een kleine en intieme acteursfilm die staat of valt met de geloofwaardigheid van de personages. En gelukkig hebben de Scandinavische landen naast enkele uitstekende regisseur ook een keurkorps aan fantastische acteurs en actrices.

In Efter Brylluppet zijn de hoofdrollen weggelegd voor Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen en Rolf Lassgard. Die laatste twee spelen het echtpaar Hansson dat zich opmaakt voor de bruiloft van hun dochter. Mikkelsen is de ontwikkelingswerker die per toeval via zijn werk in contact komt de mannelijke helft van het echtpaar Hansson en zodoende op de bruiloft wordt uitgenodigd. Daar ontmoet hij ook de vrouw des huizes en naar later blijkt zijn ex, mevrouw Hansson.

Deze driehoeksrelatie is het uitgangspunt van Efter Brylluppet. En hoewel het misschien wat karig lijkt blijkt het, dankzij het acteerwerk van de hele cast en vooral van Rolf Lassgard, meer dan genoeg om als kijker twee uur lang door een emotionele achtbaan te gaan die pas ophoudt als de aftiteling al lang en breed van het beeldscherm is verdwenen.

Eis om in deze lijst te komen was dat een film minder dat 50.000 stemmen op IMDB had. Vanwege deze regel heb ik helaas Mulholland Drive, Magnolia, Garden State, The Wrestler en The Fountain nipt buiten de lijst moeten houden. Deze pareltjes hier nog even noemen kan echter nooit kwaad. Ook staan er geen documentaires in de lijst waardoor Young @ Heart ontbreekt.

En abril estábamos hablando del reparto de “Clash of the Titans”, y siete meses más tarde, con la película ya en estado de post-producción, tenemos hasta fecha de estreno en España. El tiempo vuela.

Para el día 26 de marzo del año próximo será ese estreno. Eso sí, siempre y cuando su distribuidora española respete la fecha inicial, y no nos haga la puñeta como está ocurriendo con algún que otro film pendiente de estreno (ejemplo: “The road”).

Para verla en la pantalla faltan casi cinco meses, y ahora arranca la campaña publicitaria. De momento, lo que se ha podido ver, han sido algunas imágenes y poco más. Pero hoy ya se han filtrado varios teaser póster. O… mejor dicho, muchos. Un total de nueve, que ahí es nada.

La calidad de los pósters es bastante mala, y el tamaño, pequeño, pero es lo que se ha publicado en las páginas norteamericanas que he consultado. Supongo que dentro de unos días irán llegando con una calidad superior (estaré pendiente de ello).

Pues bien.  Ahora ya podemos ver a sus protagonistas. Perseo a lomos de Pegaso… Medusa… Andrómeda a merced de Kraken…

Como ya comenté en anteriores entradas, la película está dirigida por Louis Leterrier, y la protagonizan Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Alexa Davalos, Gemma Arterton y Mads Mikkelsen.

Os dejo los pósters, y algunas imágenes del film de buena calidad (para compensar).

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Mas información sobre la película, pinchando en los enlaces de abajo

“Furia de titanes” – Primera imagen de la nueva versión del mito de Perseo

La nueva “Furia de Titanes” contará con Liam Neeson en el papel de Zeus

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Visto en:  Filmofilia

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Swanson: 

Posted by Missberlish

Nej, jag har inte slagit ihjäl dem men väl bedövat dem tillfälligt med elpistol. De ligger bakom kaffeapparaten och skräpar. Vakterna alltså. Hemskt ledsen, men jag har verkligen försökt komma loss ur deras KGB-grepp. Det är inte alltid så lätt. Vad annars? Jag är vederbörligen vaccinerad. Jag tillbringade gårdagkvällen på ett nyöppnat lagom dekadent berlinerhak i Byen som ser ut som det legat där i hundra år. Blev kåt på en svart soffa från 1910-talet. Behärskade mig när jag var halvvägs ut genom dörren med den och ställde lydigt tillbaka den. Men det knastrade och skorrade i “vill-ha-nerven”, det gjorde det. Och så käkar jag nyttigt, låter bli eldsvattnet och laddar för Tompa Waits livesläpp i november med de däringa gratisfilerna jag kunde ladda ned från hans hemsida. Jag jobbar. Jag dansar lite. Jag blir andfådd. Har börjat ta mystiska piller som är nästan svarta och avlånga och får mig att tänka på vampyrer. Det blir nog  bra, detta. Systemet rasslar igång, det slutar ömma så förbannat. Själens russinskrynklor rätas ut, man blir som en slät och fyllig druva på nytt.  Och i helgen ska jag se det här:

Ja, det är en blond Mads Mikkelsen som skymtar förbi där. Oj, oj, oj.

Men nu börjar stasigubbarna kvickna till igen. Jag tar ett hastigt farväl. När ni minst av allt anar det dyker jag upp igen. Kanske med ett mårddjur under armen. Go’kväll.

Rodrigo Gudiño (Rue Morgue Magazine, The Facts In the Case of Mister Hollow) is to direct his first feature, Cut Throats Nine.

STYD have the news that Rue Morgue Cinema are behind the remake of the 1972 Spanish/Italian grindhouse western Condenados a vivir. Harvey Keitel (Pulp Fiction, Smoke, Bad Lieutenant, From Dusk Till Dawn and so much more), Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, Valhalla Rising) and Roy Dupuis (La Femme Nikita).

Cut Throats Nine follows a wagonload of convicts as they travel the northern mountains to carry out their death sentences. Following a surprise attack from a gang of bandits, only the sergeant, his beautiful young daughter and seven of the most sadistic, murderous men alive survive the assault.

Cut Throats Nine is described as a “crowd-pleasing experience that pushes the relatively subdued excesses of both the western and the horror movie into creative new territory.” Now that sounds like my kind of movie.

Great cast, cool story with a grindhouse history to it. Sounds very good indeed. Has a touch of Inglourious Basterds, but sounds as if we would actually see the nastiness they commit in this film. Who else would you like to see in the film playing the rest of the nine?

Here’s a press release about our friend Rodrigo Gudiño’s upcoming feature directorial debut, Cut Throats Nine. Couldn’t be prouder of you, buddy.

Rue Morgue Cinema in association with Someone At The Door Productions, is proud to announce its flagship feature film CUT THROATS NINE, a high action remake of the Spanish/Italian western Condenados a vivir, has attached veteran Hollywood actor HARVEY KEITEL (Pulp Fiction, Bad Lieutenant). Keitel joins a growing international cast comprised of Danish superstar MADS MIKKELSEN (Casino Royale, Valhalla Rising) and Canadian luminary ROY DUPUIS (The Rocket, La Femme Nikita).

CUT THROATS NINE will be helmed by award-winning director Rodrigo Gudiño (The Facts In the Case of Mister Hollow) from a script by Gudiño and Joseph O’Brien (RoboCop: Prime Directives) based on a story by Joaquin Romero Marchent and Santiago Moncada. Marco Pecota will produce the film for Rue Morgue Cinema/Someone At The Door Productions. Award winning cinematographer Derek Rogers C.S.C. (Cube, Resident Evil: Apocalypse) is slated to lens the picture, with Kyle Glencross (300, Dawn of the Dead) handling the film’s special effects.

CUT THROATS NINE follows a wagonload of convicts as they travel the northern mountains to carry out their death sentences. Following a surprise attack from a gang of bandits, only the sergeant, his beautiful young daughter and seven of the most sadistic, murderous men alive survive the assault. CUT THROATS NINE in an original crowd pleasing experience that pushes the relatively subdued excesses of both the western and the horror movie into creative new territory.

CUT THROATS NINE is set to go into production in Toronto in early 2010.

Rue Morgue Cinema in association with Someone At The Door Productions has two other films in development, including the animated feature “Weaver Island” and the caustic drama “Grown Up Suzanne”

The 2009 London Film Festival is still going, though it’s over for me. I’ll admit to feeling pretty burnt out. Illness has made my voice as deep as Dr. Mrs. the Monarch, and my brain as mushy as overcooked Maris Piper potatoes. How I managed to make it through three films on Monday is beyond me, with an imminent coughing fit scratching away at my uvula for most of the day. I trust that every festival-goer in those three rooms will be glad to know I didn’t ruin their entertainment, even the latecomers who kept swapping seats throughout, driving me into an almost murderous rage.

It took until last Friday to realise that the latecomers who had plagued me throughout the festival were return-ticket-holders who were being allowed in at the last minute — a theory postulated by fellow festival-attendee and friend of the blog Mr. Millan. He’s a more understanding person than I am, but even so, when people were still stepping over us twenty minutes after the lights had dimmed, all sympathy vanished. While the audiences at the festival were generally wonderful, attentive and respectful, this late attendance and the inability of some patrons to sit in their allocated seats really ruined some movies. It’s hard to concentrate on the really rather important opening scenes of movies when people on either side of you are arguing over who gets what seat.

One selfish person who seemed affronted by the suggestion they get the hell out of someone else’s seat managed to completely distract me during the opening moments of Nicholas Winding Refn’s gruelling Viking Grrrr-a-thon Valhalla Rising. A title card flashed up with something on it about clans going to the ends of the Earth and killing each other with a variety of gruesome implements. I think it did, anyway. For all I know it could have been talking about Viking couture and ancient Scandinavian infrastructure investment, so annoying were the lady’s adamant pronouncements that she was not going to move. She did, though. And then sat in someone else’s chair, meaning she put up the same struggle three minutes later. This second disturbance was during a series of moody shots of some gruff looking gents huddling on the side of a hill, so it wasn’t so bad.

If there was any image that summed up Valhalla Rising, it would be of gruff looking gents huddling on the side of a hill. There was a lot of it. The thin story follows the final journey of mute Viking warrior One Eye, played with silent intensity and motherfucking epic badassery by Mads Mikkelsen. Disclosure: he only gets to dole out a bit of ultraviolence here and there as Winding Refn’s carefully paced movie grinds toward its inevitable conclusion. The movie has been marketed as a Viking combat actioner like The 13th Warrior or the deeply tedious and offensively stupid Pathfinder, but it’s much more meditative than that. Audiences may not be prepared for the funereal pace of the actual film. That said, when it kicks off between our taciturn anti-hero and some gruff gent who had just been huddling on the side of a hill, One-Eye is a riveting protagonist, effortlessly and brutally destroying all foes. He’s the Viking Brock Samson, and very fetching he looks in his leather jacket and trews.

After escaping from capture by some folk whose identity might have been revealed in that title card I didn’t get to read thanks to the annoying lady, One-Eye and a tag-along boy (Are, played with mischievous charm by Maarten Steven) come across a band of idiot Christian Vikings, who think they can reach the Holy Land — from Scotland, mind — via teeny boat, in order to crush the infidels in the name of Christ. This does not go well. A long stretch of the movie shows the band of zealots — plus One Eye and his adopted companion — sitting in a boat surrounded by thick fog, desperate for water. When they eventually land it seems they are in Hell, but in fact they have found the endpoint that One Eye — who appears to be psychic, considering his rather accurate visions of doom and misery — has been heading towards all along. Does his journey doom them, or do they accidentally doom themselves? One-Eye appears to be the only person who has any idea of what is going on. He is yer actual one-eyed man who is king in the land of the blind.

As with Von Trier’s Antichrist, nature is the enemy here, even more so than the various warriors dispatched by One-Eye. Though our hero and the annoying band of treacherous Christian Viking jerk-offs come up against a very real antagonist in their final destination, the thing that finishes them off is their inability to comprehend and adapt to their surroundings, or to move past their ignorant superstitions and suspicions. Though One Eye’s feelings are unclear, it’s likely he does think he has reached the afterlife, which is a forest where only predators lurk. The Christians, on the other hand, bicker about whether it’s the Holy Land or Hell, and their foolishness and fear of the landscape is the end of them. One Eye is lucky. He soon realises what his visions have been showing him: the moment of his death, which he embraces gladly. I didn’t get to see John Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road at the festival, but I’ve heard troubling rumours that the final act is more reassuring than the one in the book. Funnily enough Valhalla Rising has an even darker final act than McCarthy’s book. In this world there is only madness, loneliness, and death. It’s worse than having your movie-going experience disrupted by thoughtless Londoners.

It’s not all death and misery. Valhalla Rising is staggeringly beautiful, with Refn and cinematographer Morten Søborg filling the screen with terrifying close-ups of rugged tough guys contrasted with imposing hillsides, dark forests, overwhelming mists and breathtaking skies, almost exclusively depicted in murky greens, blues and shocking reds. Along with Enter The Void, it’s the film festival choice I’m most pleased with getting to see on the big screen: both movies would be greatly damaged by being seen first on a small screen. Though much of the movie is taken up with aimless wandering and muttered conversations, the atmospherics are perfectly handled by Refn. The imagery looms down at you, as if choking you. At times I felt like I had a mute Viking badass standing on my chest, it was so oppressive. If the narrative leaves you unimpressed, I can’t imagine the grimy precision of the mood mechanics won’t make an impression. I left the room annoyed by the longueurs but unable to shake the memory of the experience. It’s possibly the best deeply flawed movie I’ve seen in a while, something I can’t in good conscience rave about but want to recommend to everyone.

Unlike Metropia, which is just deeply flawed. As with Gerald McMorrow’s Franklyn, I would love to be able to praise Metropia unreservedly for being so defiantly odd and ambitious, but the unsatisfying narrative, murky visuals, and deathly pace are hurdles too big to jump. As far as I could tell it was set in the future, in a Europe suffering from oil shortages. That’s what it says on the film’s Wikipedia page, so I’m going with that. The title cards that set up the background were obscured by — yes — several people coming in late. Seriously! You thought I was over-reacting in the first half of this post? No! We’re talking about a screening that was delayed by about twenty minutes so the director could introduce it! This was going on all the time, and I seemed to be the douchebag-magnet. God!

Roger — The protagonist of Metropia –  is a paranoid loser who resists using the underground rail system run by yer bog-standard sinister post-dystopic corporation Trexx (not named after the brand of vegetable fat). This same corporation — which, wouldn’t you know it, is totes ev0l — is using a microchip-laden shampoo called Dangst to monitor and control the minds of those who use the product. Well, I say control, but in fact Roger just seems to be plagued with chatter from Trexx worker Stefan — voiced by Alexander Skarsgård — who gives him vague suggestions and listens in on Roger’s dreary thoughts, which revolve around his fear of the underground trains, his potentially adulterous girlfriend Anna, and the woman featured on the side of the mind-controlling shampoo bottle. And I thought I’d had shitty jobs in the past.

As with much post-PKD SF, the potentially schizophrenic protagonist is manipulated by forces greater than him to do something something [vagueness supplied by movie, not by blogger]. In fact, Roger’s complicity in some kind of shareholder battle between Trexx CEO Ivan Bahn and his daughter Nina (voiced, respectively by Udo Kier and Juliette Lewis) seems more accidental than anything, and has barely any effect on him. At the start of the film he’s cowardly and having relationship troubles, and in the final scene he doesn’t seem any less plagued by his nervousness, and his relationship has been saved by events outside his control. I’m not saying a movie has to follow rules of narrative, but if you’re going to try something different, make sure it’s worth doing that. Bring something new to the narrative melange. I couldn’t care less about Roger at the start of the film, and that opinion didn’t change one jot by the end. Plus he looked like a creepy-ass bobble-head and he freaked me out.

I’m a sucker for visually innovative movies, so none of that would matter if the film looked great, but even though Metropia is certainly distinctive the animation is an additional turn-off. As the Wikipedia page details, the bizarre characters are actually photos of random people manipulated using Photoshop and Adobe After Effects, then animated in front of photos of European locations. I doff my cap to director Tarik Saleh, lead animator Isak Gjertsen and art director Sesse Lind for creating something this distinctive, but the murky visuals have the unintended consequence of being soporific. Saleh talked about the movie, and his charming anecdotes about the movie energised the room, but by the mid-point it felt like the audience was flagging. The biggest obstacle is the inexpressive facial animation. Vincent Gallo and Juliette Lewis’ dialogue is already mumbled (as per), making comprehension an issue, and with the fleshy bobble-head faces being animated as minimally as they are it’s all but impossible to become emotionally invested in what’s going on. The cluttered absurdist plot doesn’t help.

Responding in such a negative way to a movie when the director is in the room is something I never thought would happen to me. Throughout Metropia I was annoyed and frustrated, but a little voice was telling me, “Dude, the guy that made this is behind you. Have some respect.” And I should, really. Unlike the really unforgivably dreadful movies I’ve seen this year — such as Lesbian Vampire Killers, The Proposal, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li — this was made with passion and love by a group of individuals who obviously believed in what they were doing. It’s not a lazy cash-in or tacky exploitation flick, but sadly it’s also a rote SF movie with a unique aesthetic that gets in the way of telling the story. Nevertheless, as with Franklyn, I wish all those who worked on the movie the best of luck in the future.

Nope, saying that doesn’t make me feel any better about criticising the film. ::sigh::

Niclas Winding Refn is clearly a favourite of the film selectors at the London Film Festival.  Entries into his Pusher trilogy of films made their debut in London as did his last film, the controversial Bronson which featured a bravura performance from British actor Tom Hardy and possibly my favourite scene of the whole year so far where asylum inmates dance to It’s A Sin by the Pet Shop Boys.  Now, he is back with an all together different beast and “beast” is certainly the right word as Valhalla Rising sees Refn reteam with fellow Dane, Mads Mikkelsen who will be most familar to the majority of readers as Le Chiffre in Casino Royale.

Valhalla Rising is a stark brutal film which opens with Mikkelsen sat atoop a windswept craggy hill in a wooden cage with little protection from the elements.  We don’t know how he came to be there nor the identity of his captors.  All we know is he is there and we quickly learn that he can fight as he is made do for the amusement and sometime financial gain of his masters.  Tended to by a young boy, he appears to have little ahead of him except hunger, exposure and more fighting.  However, upon being traded to another tribe, he makes his escape.  What follows is part-supernatural, part-spiritual, part-fight movie as Mikkelsen’s One Eye stumbles upon Christian Viking missionaries who see his value whilst seeking to convert him at the same time.

This is an interesting film full of ideas about the nature of belief and about the supernatural.  During his Q&A session, Refn said that all he wanted to do was to avoid the banana skin of the Viking film which has killed many a career.  Well, he has managed that, mainly by not producing a Viking film at all.  Rather this film has shades of Herzog’s Aguirre: Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo in its flawed dangerous mission films whilst seeking to channel the director’s latent sci-fi leanings.  It is difficult to judge Mikkelsen’s performance as he is completely mute as is much of the first 20 minutes.  Having said that, I felt the silence worked as it allowed the audience to take in the impressive visuals.

Clearly, this is not a film for everyone.  Its stark sensabilities such as very little music, a mute protagonist and occasional sci-fi and horror cinematic language means that it will alienate most mainstream cinema audiences.  If Bronson was a violent crowd pleaser, anyone expecting Bronson 2 is likely to disappointed.  Not all of the film’s messages come across and overall, I would say this film ranks higher on the interesting scale than the enjoyable scale.

6/10

Un film del 2009, regia di Nicolas Winding Refn, con Mads Mikkelsen / Gary Lewis / Jamie Sives / Alexander Morton. Prodotto da (100min)

Avventura / Azione

Per anni One-Eye, guerriero muto dotato di una forza soprannaturale, è stato prigioniero del nemico Barde. Aiutato dal giovanissimo Are, l’uomo uccide il suo carceriere e insieme al ragazzino inizia un lungo viaggio nel cuore delle tenebre. In fuga dai minacciosi cacciatori di teste, One-Eye e Are si imbarcano su una nave vichinga che però viene risucchiata da una misteriosa senza fine. I fuggiaschi riescono fortunosamente a raggiungere a terraferma dove i Vichinghi troveranno la morte, mentre One-Eye scoprirà la sua vera forza.

I don’t know what they’re saying, but who cares. Enjoy!

Voici donc en exclu, sorties tout droit de ComingSoon, la première image de The A-Team version Joe Carnahan (Narc), quelque peu déprimée mais au complet, avec, en partant de droite,  Futé/Bradley Cooper (The Hangover), Looping/Sharlto Copley (District 9), Hannibal/Liam Neeson, et Barracuda/Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson.

Liam Neeson semble donc avoir un nouveau plan de carrière, à base de rôles badass. Franchement, c’est tant mieux, autant je hais de tout mon être cette outre à foutre de Luc Besson, autant Taken, c’était pas mal, en grande partie parce que, si bien manger est sans conteste le début du bonheur, voir Liam Neeson, en full-mode Steven Seagal, frapper des types au visage, leur casser les jambes et les tuer sans broncher l’est aussi.

Tant qu’on y est, voici deux autres photos du film, l’une présentant le personnage de Jessica Biel, qui joue un colonel de l’armée, pourquoi pas; et l’autre dévoilant que la toute nouvelle Agence Tout Risques utilisera le même vieux van GMC, ce qui est plutôt kiffant.

Puisqu’on est sur le sujet de Liam Neeson, voici, encore en exclu, un photo de tournage du Choc Des Titans de Louis Leterrier, signées EW, dans lequel Liam Neeson incarne Zeus, et Sam Worthington Perseus, et sont aussi présents Ralph Fiennes, Danny Huston, Gemma Arterton, mais aussi Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale), Polly Walker (Rome), Jason Flemyng et Pete Postlewaite.

Et voici des images du film mises en ligne par Empire.

EW balance aussi cette image de Iron Man 2, dans laquelle on peut voir Tony Stark, en armure, posé dans un café, en train d’attendre un double latte.

Enfin, SplashNews a quelques images du Green Hornet de Gondry, présentant nos deux héros masqués, le Frêlon Vert (Seth Rogen) et Kato (Jay Chou) en plein milieu d’une scène d’action.

Sinon, USA Today balance la pré-affiche de Date Night, la nouvelle comédie de Shawn Levy (Une Nuit Au Musée) avec Steve Carell et Tina Fey.

La revista Empire llega este mes cargada de novedades de Clash of the Titans, remake de Furia de Titanes que dirige el galo Louis Leterrier. En la película seguimos las aventuras de Perseo, que fue incapaz de salvar a su familia de Hades, el vengativo dios del inframundo que pretende derrocar a Zeus y hacerse con su poder. Sin nada que perder Perseo se pondrá a la cabeza de un grupo de guerreros y adentrándose en mundos prohibidos, combatiendo bestias y demonios, intentará truncar los planes de Hades. Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Danny Huston, Gemma Arterton, Mads Mikkelsen, Jason Flemyng, Alexa Davalos, Izabella Miko, Nicholas Hoult y Pete Postlethwaite forman el reparto de la cinta, que se estrenará el 26 de Marzo de 2.010.

When I saw comments on Facebook that people had been to see the second Stieg Larsson film, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and that it’s not as good as the first, I needed to check out the reviews in the press. I did, and for the most part they agreed, although it’s still a watchable film.

What I hadn’t realised until I read those reviews, was that the films weren’t written or directed by the same people. I knew they’d originally been intended to be shown on television, and the decision to detour via the big screen was taken as millions flocked to see the first film. I wonder why? It seems strange to treat the last two thirds of the trilogy differently, seeing as they were filmed in sequence and with the same actors. One complaint is that they have no nice cameos from the big names in acting, like they do in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Apparently the script is no better than dozens of other police films, riddled with clichéd lines. The consensus is that Noomi Rapace is very good as Lisbeth Salander still, and people in general appear to have enjoyed a long lesbian love scene. Well, it is Sweden.

On the same day as I did my research into the film reviews, I came across an article about Noomi’s next film. She has been offered a role playing opposite Dane Mads Mikkelsen, and Harvey Keitel and Elliot Gould. It’s called Clean Out and is to be directed by Barthélémy Grossmann. So things are looking good for Lisbeth.