Top 10 of 2008

That has been one of the greatest movies I have seen in a long time .Very impressive cast and direction by Clint Eastwood. A gripping experience which made the audience in the cinema speechless and touched when the curtain fell. Based on a true story, the direction is very gentle and traditional (as to classic Hollywood pre 50s). An unmissable masterpiece in movie making and storytelling, that should not be missed.

What else is there to say that has no been said about Nolan's over-the-top cinematic masterpiece The Dark Knight. A fantastic entertainment package. Good storyline, great cast and crisp production. Ill refrain from praising all the elements that make this movie great, it is pretty much beyond any subjectivity of opinion. But I want to pen a few lines regarding the half a star that has been deduced from my almost 5-star rating. First of all, Aaron Eckhart was, in my opinion, miscast, both for this role which he does not fill at all. His character(s) stay lifeless and bland, and he made realize that I was watching a product instead of another world whenever he was on screen. Furthermore, I found that the screenwriters (Nolan & Nolan) tried a wee bit too hard to make the ambiguity of good & evil shine through the film, by introducing so many elements of blurred moralities and questions of right & wrong that I feeled smacked over the head with the message instead of subtly delivered. I know American people are said to be incapable of understanding movies without being spoonfed, and this movie shows how even Nolan thinks of that as being true, but we all know it is not and a bit more delicate and suave handing of the film's core philosphy would have done the film good.

Heath Ledger is, we all know it, what makes this movie something else, transforms it into something that is relevant instead of just an action movie. I am not one of those buzzbirds claiming that this role killed him, but it certainly did not make him saner than he was before, to put it that way.

Highly recommended
H.

An gritty documentary portraying the creeping decay of an English suburbian 'working men's club'. While each and every men looks somehwere else for an explanation for what is happening, they all share the gloomy awareness of the advent which pronounces the extinction of a proper homogenous British working class. A very sad but pointagnt documentary you should not miss if you are interested in those kind of issues.

A beautiful movie which makes up in art direction, cinematography and sound (music and editing) what it lacks in narrative. The movie feels like a great idea spun around. I know it is based on a book and I cannot really say to which extent the literate original dictate this style of narration, but the the focus lies on the frail relationship of Oskar and Eli, as well as their alienation with the world around them which ultimately leds to a degree of alienation from themselves. The cinematography is amazing, so is the editing and general direction, which supports the "feel" of the movie. Instead of forcing a chewed story on us, we are granted a glimpse into a few extraordinary events which could happen nowhere and everywhere. The cast is refreshing and believable which is a long throw, considering the fact that Eli is a vampire. There are a few very powerful scenes, which glue you to the screen and you are tempted to whisper the tender words "Masterpiece" in the gloom of the cinema. But I dare say, the movie is refreshing, innovative, beautiful, bold and quirky, but not a milestone in general. It may very well be for Swedish cinema and/or vampire movies, especially after the pain we had to suffer from the recent assgravy that is Twilight.

Highly recommended to every movie fan, if only for the ending, touche . . .

PS.: A remake is already on the way, god save our souls from the dumb and blind

An above average comedy spoofing American movies and the actors in it. I did enjoy Stiller's previous work on Zoolander and Tropic thunder does occassionally take a delightful step over the line of politcal correctness, which makes this movie quite enjoyable. The film is packed with a good cast, but i felt that it would have done better with trimming down the number to be honest.
Robert Downey Jr. steals the show in this movie and is in for a Golden Globe, mark my words.

H.

A family package that does not fail to deliver entertainment, but lacks inspiration and artistic brilliance.

Besides Shrek, I always found that Madagascar was the only (mainstream) non-pixar animation franchise that is worth watching. The premise is as simple as it is effective. Pit some random animals (neglect their biological profiles completely), equip them with some racial traits so that American audiences can understand who they are in a few minutes (funny black guy, gay giraffe, tough black hippo and jewish lion). Furthermore, take some story seeds out of the "I have no ideas" box, such as "true love" and "ancestral destiny" and you have yourself a family movie.

I am not saying the movie is not fun, I laughed a lot and enjoyed it, but the experience feels a bit unispired and ultimately a money-making machine, no comparision to the visionaries that are Pixar Studios. The cast is very good, but unfortunately they are typecasted in their roles (see above) and sometimes tje jokes can become a little repetitive. The animation is pretty run-of-the-mill, the animators had a very easy job because most of the landscape is just desert or dense forest.

Some jokes were so "American" they made me cringe. For example, at one point Alex the Lion confesses to Marty the Zebrea: "I broke your IPhone", upon which the latter goes nuts with anger. That is not funny.

I wished the filmmakers would have had a little more respect for the animals they portray and incorparate at least a few traits they do really possess, but to no avail.

All in all, an entertaining movie, but it hurts me to see how much money and (maybe) talent is wasted by making movies which are "easy" to digest and readable by the "average" person, instead of trying and come up with stories that feel like they needed to be told (Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Monster Inc. etc.)

Henrik

I admit, I am an avid and old school Indy fan, so a lot of my praise for this movie goes out the the remiscient character of the movie. Decades after the last movie, Indy has not lost much of his charm and all in all, Spielberg and Lucas pulled it off, with some minor pitfalls. The cast is very good and with a "pulp" movie in the spirit of old schools serials and b-movies you should not expect great acting, because all characters are simply functional as towards the story, very one-dimensional and caricaturive. Harrison Ford still plays the enigmatic, cynically self-ironic Indy with much verve and flamboyance and it is a delight to see the character come back to life again. Karen Allen proves why she never went on to greater things and her performance here is limited,and without sounding rude, I must admit that the love interest between here and Indy sounds very forced and misplaced. It is always nice to see John Hurt, although I would rather see him in a role where he is not a blibbering idiot once more (He played a similar role in Skeleton Key). Shia Lebouf is obviously supposed to tone the movie down in terms of youth appeal, bu the does a good job and was definitely the best choice of all young Hollywood upstarts.

Like the other movies, the story mixes and throws around mythology, urban legends and science-fiction ferociosuly, bends and throws the story around, becoming increasingly far-fetched as the movie progresses. Without giving too much away, the story works, feels a bit too much for my taste but suits the 1950's setting. Switching the Nazis for Russians just takes one book out of mainstream American cinema and puts in the place of another. Of course, like in all Hollywood movies, the foreigners are nothing but puny fools and retards, which is a shame, because the russians never seem to be truly menacing in this movie, and I think the filmmakers should either had introduced more vicious villains or another sub-plot (between Indy and Mutt ? Indy and Mac) to turn on the screws of suspense.

Unfortunately the movie is plagued with terrible CGi and could not bare watching some of the scenes as it looked like playing a new generation computer game. Be it the jungle, warehouses, ancient valleys etc. CGI all the way. Takes a lot away from the movie magic and this is, to me, the biggest setback of the movie. the Dream factory should still try and recreate and build the dreams, I want big sets, costumes, thousands of actors and special effects out of the toolbox, not the computer.

The movie makes more than nod to the Indy lore and it nicely connects to the series. Indy's fear of snakes, flashbacks to the third movie, a picture of Henry Sr., a statue of Marcus and so on. The music makes a return as well and the John Williams magic works again.

I hope they make another one (or two ?)

Fantastic Ride !

H.

Amazing Pixar short, quality and love for characters & details as usuual.