When one psychopath just isn't enough

Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Martin McDonagh is probably the most interesting new director at the moment. I've been waiting to see a new movie from him ever since I saw In Bruges (2008) and indeed it's been a long wait. But luckily it was worth it. Marty, Colin Farrell, is a screenwriter with a writers block, so he seeks help from whiskey bottles. Billy, Sam Rockwell, Marty's friend, is an unemployed actor who runs a dog kidnapping business with an elderly gentleman Hans, Christopher Walken. Billy, who is determined to help Marty find a great idea for a script, ends up dognapping the wrong Shih Tzu. The dog belongs to Charlie, Woody Harrelson, a ruthless mob boss who is willing to kill everyone in town if it brings back his dog. As that wouldn't have made things bad enough for Billy and Marty who gets mixed up in the dognapping, the script they are planning requires psychopaths, so Billy decides to advertise on the local paper that they are looking for psychopaths to interview for the script. So there's some weird people destined to knock on the door when things are already going crazy. There's so much going on in this movie that it's exhausting, mostly it's actually a good thing, but at times it kind of loses focus. Still there's that great mood which was in his previous movie as well and the comedy is extremely dark so I didn't care that much, was mostly just laughing my ass off. But it's not just a crazy violent comedy, there's quite a many witty ideas in it as well. The cast is absolutely brilliant, with surprisingly Sam Rockwell stealing the show from the others. And the mood, it's every bit as great as it was in In Bruges, just for that this movie should have been on my best of 2012 list, but unfortunately saw it only now. The scope of the movie is so large that it does tend to crack from the edges, but none the less it's a great movie.

89%

A mixed bag of shorts

Cinema 16: European Short Films

A collection of short films from selected European directors. I'll go thru them one by one as they are individual pieces, with very little in common, just put together on this DVD.

01 The Man Without a Head (2003) by Juan Solanas

The title says the general idea, a man without a head is searching for his identity. This is stunnigly well made and quite a great little movie. The look and the feel is somewhat similar to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's movies, which is a great thing of course. And the visual part is what makes this one worth watching as it's pure eye candy.
86%

02 Wasp (2003) by Andrea Arnold

A poor unfit mother with four children looking for a solution to her problems from a man in a pub while her children are left to take care of eachother outside the pub. Filled with unglorified realism and raw emotions. Quite a sad little story and you definitely feel sorry for the children, certainly not a feel good movie. Guess I had the wrong mood for this one as it didn't strike me that well, even thou it's a strong movie.
49%

03 Doodlebug (1997) by Christopher Nolan

Early short film from Christopher Nolan, the man behind Memento and The Dark Knight. Can't say anything about the story as it's only 3 minutes long and runs on one idea. The idea is quite nice, but the outcome is a bit too predictable. As a curiosity it was nice to see this one, but in the end it wasn't that special.
49%

04 World of Glory (1991) by Roy Andersson

Roy Andersson is one of the best Swedish filmmakers. It's really a shame he makes movies so seldom. This is him at his best, similar to Songs from the Second Floor, a bizarre, weird, drop dead funny, dark comic piece of art. This man is a genius.
99%

05 Je t'aime John Wayne (2000) by Toby MacDonald

Ok, this movie is supposed to work better if you've seen Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard. Well it should be put IF you like Breathless, you might get more sense out of it. I've seen the movie and still this didn't strike me on any level. A dull movie with superficial characters and little to nothing to offer.
14%

06 Gasman (1997) by Lynne Ramsay

Well made, but quite predictable and pointless. What I liked about this one was the way it was shot, it looked really good. The characters were believable and the cast seemed to hadle the roles nicely, even thou the brittish dialect they were speaking wasn't the easiest to understand. But what I didn't like was the plot, or the lack of it. It was too predictable and pointless, it left me wondering did I miss some higher meaning or what? I got the point and even guessed the title's part of it, but it was a bit of an anticlimax.
40%

07 Jabberwocky (1971) by Jan Svankmajer

Jan Svankmajer, famous for his stop motion meat animations, is the man behind this crazy work. The stop motion animation is good quality and some of the stuff is quite brilliant. But this has no point what so ever, it's just crazy scene after another. And unfortunately it get a bit boring after a while for example to see the cat jump out again. As a shorter version and with a bit more easily approachable point this could have been a masterpiece, but now it feels like it's just visual art put together without any end goal.
41%

08 Fierrot le pou (1990) by Mathieu Kassovitz

An early film from Mathieu Kassovitz, who made the masterpiece La Haine. Well, this was entertaining enough, but left me cold at the end. Again there's no point in this one, well except the obvious white men can't jump. It was well made and the cast was suiting, but left me wondering why did they make it, didn't get the point if it had any.
29%

09 Rabbit (2005) by Run Wrake

The animation looks like it's from an old children's book, but it tells a grim tale about greed. The contrast between the candy colored animation and the quite horrible story is what's best in this one. Definitely a big positive surprise.
78%

10 Copy Shop (2001) by Virgil Widrich

Funny little film about a man who seems to be copying himself endlessly. Brilliantly made, thou at parts the paper effects were a bit annoying. Reminded me of some of the great silent era films, I could imagine Buster Keaton running around like that. Very nice movie.
81%

11 Boy and Bicycle (1965) by Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott's early student work starring none other than his brother Tony Scott. Both brilliant movie makers today, but as we can see from this one, even the best have to start from somewhere. As the title says it's a story about a boy who's riding around a small coastal English town. He's sharing his frustration with the viewer by a voiceover of his thoughts as he's pondering on about life. The text is quite corny and the movie is rather dull. Thou it looks good and some of the compositions are quite brilliant. For a true Ridley Scott fan this is a must see, but the rest can live without it.
44%

12 Nocturne (1980) by Lars Von Trier

Experimental nonsese. That's about all I can come up with this one. Sure some shots looked quite good, the start and the birds, but it had no point what so ever.
18%

13 Before Dawn (2005) by Balint Kenyeres

Wow. The whole movie is one 12 minutes long shot and what a shot it is. Stunnigly beautiful and even thou there's not much actually happening it's surprisingly touching. Sure there's some action, with cars and helicopters moving around, but there's no dialog except for a few shouts. And still it manages to tell a touching story. Hats off for this one.
95%

14 Election Night (1998) by Anders Thomas Jensen

A man remembers he forgot to vote and rushes to the voting polls before they close. On the way he meets a variety of cab drivers who are all in a way racists. This movie was quite cleverly written and nicely avoids being overly preachy. Loved the end twist in all it's irony. Not the most realistic movie, but still very enjoyable.
70%

15 Six Shooter (2004) by Martin McDonagh

Was looking forward for this one as I really loved In Bruges. This was a dark and quite brutal comedy about a man who meets a weird young man on a train. They seem to be from totally different worlds, but there's more than meets the eye. Was a bit of a disapointment as I guess I set my hopes too high. Still it was funny enough to keep me entertained and definitely worth the watch.
72%

16 Opening Day of Close-Up (1996) by Nanni Moretti

A documentary like piece about a man who runs a chain of theatres. This was a bit of an bad ending to the fine DVD as this movie is just boring. Yes it has some nice points about independent films versus the big blockbusters, but it doesn't really give you anything new.
20%

All in all this DVD is quite a mixed selection of shorts, ranging from the utter crap to the masterpieces. Definitely worth watching thou as the gems outshine the bad taste from the rotten ones.

To live and die in Bruges

In Bruges (2008)

Two Irish assassins are sent to Bruges, Belgium to cool off after a job went bad. The assassins, Ken and Ray, are complete opposites of eachother but still in a way the same. Ray is being bored to death of the city and Ken enjoying it's culture to the fullest. They try to enjoy the city in their own way and even Ray starts to find something good from it. But when their boss phones in a new assignment things take a big turn. Not going to give anything else from the story. First of all this movie is quite a masterpiece. One of the best first movies I've ever seen from any director. It's fresh with a brilliant script full of morbid dark humour and truly beautifully dramatic scenes. The cast couldn't be better, Colin Farrell makes one of his best performances. The chemisty between Farrell and Gleeson is just stunning and it supports the story brilliantly. The movie looks beautiful and the mood is right on the spot. It climbs to it's dramatic climax like a jet plane, being hilariously funny at parts and stunningly dramatic at parts. But it's not exhausting, it's a smooth comfortable flight. Definitely one of the best from this year.
96%