Dr Blood ! (drblood)

"Sommer '04 an der Schlei" is pretty much a vehicle to showcase a lot more of German actress Martina Gedeck than you'd normally see. It has at least three close-up sex scenes which are pretty much the only reason why most people want to watch it in the first place.

However, if you get past that aspect of it (and it's really hard to since Martina Gedeck is gorgeous for an over 40 year old woman), the movie is a lot like the French "slice of life" genre (if there is such a thing) mixed with a bit of Mike Leigh. It's a drama without a real beginning or end but with a lot of characterisation and interplay between the characters.

If you watch the trailer for "Summer 'O4", you'd be forgiven for thinking this was some kind of story about paedophilia. Although there is more than a suspicion of that in the plot, it's a lot more about love and relationships breaking down. If you are expecting another "Lolita" this isn't it at all.

I really don't know how I feel about this movie. On the one hand, I really liked Martina Gedeck and thought that Robert Seeliger was excellent in his role too but, on the other, I didn't like Svea Lohde (who played Livia) or Lucas Kotaranin (her 15 year old boyfriend Nils). The teenagers really were just ciphers to the main story of Miriam and Bill's more than telegraphed affair and they didn't really act so much as just exist in the film to create a few red herrings.

"Summer '04" is just one of those films that is really well done but leaves you with more questions than answers probably due to the script and incongruous ending. In words of less syllables, it just makes you wonder, "What the hell did I just watch? And why?"

It's all shot beautifully though and makes you think that it really is Summer on the River Schlei (to quote the German title). The features on the DVD reveal that the title was originally "Sommer '01" and it was filmed during bad weather in 2006 but I don't think the date has any significance whatsoever.

It's a strange film, easy to follow but ultimately pointless. I'd give it 4 out of 10 since it intrigued me a lot more than it eventually delivered. Plus I could watch Martina Gedeck all day.

I've read a lot of reviews of New Moon since I watched it myself and one thing I've noticed is that the Twihards are divided over whether or not New Moon is better than the first Twilight movie. There are some that say it is close to the book and those that say not but, since I haven't read any of the saga novels myself, I have no opinion about that whatsoever.

Is New Moon better than the Twilight movie though? That's the problem because some of it is and some of it isn't. The romance, action and hotness of everybody involved has certainly improved this time round and it's starting to move right into "Interview with the Vampire" territory so that's no bad thing. But (and there's always a "but") the story still moves too slowly and there are too many characters to keep track of even if they only have minor roles compared to the big triumvirate of Bella, Edward and Jacob.

The story is much as before, i.e. Bella loves Edward and wants to be a vampire so that they can be together forever, Edward doesn't want to take Bella's humanity away, and so it goes on. This time though Edward leaves Bella because he wants her to be safe and so she drifts into the world of werewolves as Red Injun Jacob reveals his feelings for her during Edward's absence.

To tell you any more would spoil it for you but I have to say that the CGI werewolves weren't too bad considering that they are still CGI and fake as hell and that both Edward and Jacob spend a lot of time with their shirts off (which I'm sure will please a lot of little girls). Unfortunately Bella doesn't spend any time with her shirt off which would have certainly made New Moon 100 times more enjoyable for me.

Aesthetically the film looks really good and ithe camerawork is consistently better than in Twilight. There wasn't too much of a distracting soundtrack to this either with the music being quite minimal and unobtrusive. That works in New Moon's favour but perhaps not for future CD movie soundtrack sales. I only noticed two songs in the whole thing so where the rest of the album would come from I have no idea. I only mention that because I went to Burger King and got the little burgers with the free New Moon coupons with them and I know one of them was for money off the soundtrack CD. I won't be buying one anyway. (BTW the "Burger Shots" suck!)

I'll add more to my review later once you've all had chance to see New Moon for yourselves.

The bottom line is that I enjoyed it. I'd rate it as about 6 out of 10 (and half of that again if seen as a horror movie which it really isn't). I still think of the Twilight series as being the Dark Shadows of the 21st century.

Great stunts, brilliant use of CGI, and there are even one or two love stories going on amongst all the action. This is simply one of the best films that I have ever seen. Watch out for the very important drop of blood!

Some interesting ideas and very charismatic acting will keep you interested especially as it's a film that you may have to watch more than once to understand everything that is going on.