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flaviu1965
Reviews
Män som hatar kvinnor (2009)
Remarkable!
Wow! If you only think that, mainly, what we do know about Scandinavian cinema regards Ingmar & Ingrid Bergman, Max Von Sydow or Liv Ullman... How sad can it be for a really good movie like this to not have an international promotion! Sorry, I cannot recall the actors' names (sorry again!) but I think it's one of the best thrillers I've seen lately. Precisely (director) driven, beautifully played, great score, very interesting screenplay (and, I have no doubt, a great novel as its source...) all comes to almost 2,5 h of really "who dunnit" master work. I just saw it 20' ago, so I might be still excited by it, but I cannot make any comparison to any other Hollywood high/medium budget nice stories, with super-stars trying to be good detectives or profilers and failing to it. The first thing that comes to my mind is "Se7en", a movie that kept me to the edge of my seat. I felt almost the same now... Finally: all my respect to these high-class actors (the old Vagner, Martin Vagner himself, as supporting actors) but all my esteem for the roles of Mikael & Lisbeth. I hope to hear more from them. Don't miss it!
Volkodav iz roda Serykh Psov (2006)
Nice work, rebiata!
Not surprisingly, the new wave of Russian directors & films kick some asses, for sure. For the ones who haven't seen "Admiral", "Mongol" or "The 9th Company", "Wolfhound" might be quite a nice surprise. This movie is very well made, full of high tension fighting scenes and quite a nice plot (slightly touched by clichés like LOTR or Conan, of course). No, it's not Peter Jackson, no Hollywood sky-high budgeted movie: it'a a nice movie from Russia. I think we'll hear about Mr. Ledbedev (the director) quite soon. Anyway, this is only the first book from the four ones on the subject,right? What it's more interesting is that, even the leading lady-actress starred in "The Bourne Supremacy", the rest of the cast is quite new to us. And they don't disappoint, if you just don't make the big mistake to compare them to the Hollywood stars, living in a different system with different rules. Before 1989, living in Romania, I was intoxicated with Russian movies (the war ones, quite good, the classics - exceptional, but some of them were really crap), maybe more than other people behind the Iron Curtain. Now, it's good to see there is a new fresh breath in the Russian movie-making.
Echelon Conspiracy (2009)
Good for a rainy Saturday evening...
Nice, not boring, cliché-oriented, Martin Sheen & Ving Rhames among others, nicely packed "Eagle Eye" 50% clone, super computers going wild, the human brain winning again, the assumingly good guy in top position being called to some committee... Seen these before? So did I, but, as I said, for a rainy Saturday evening it's quite OK. It could've been worse, could've been a lot better. The script started really interesting, but lost something on the way. Nothing to do with the acting, just some childish solutions when there was room for more strong approach. Anyway, you can stay to the end credits, enjoying some action and "what's the next camera watching?"...
The Escapist (2008)
Stunning!
Absolutely stunning! Brian Cox has proved again (if necessary!) that the British actors are on top of the list. Remember "Red", another brilliant interpretation of Mr. Cox and forget Agamemnon from "Troy". Anyway, the whole cast was clever chosen, with Joseph Fiennes in plain form, completing the picture of five men seeking for the daylight... The sound is fantastic (in 5.1, the prison sounds are shivering!) and the whole plot (not to mention the ending!) keeps you on your seat, thinking what could be the next move. Thank God for the "pause" on the remote... It's a delight to see this movie, well-directed and brilliantly played. OK, there was "Escape From Alcatraz" and others, but this one has such complex characters (Rizza comes first to my mind) , beautifully led by Brian Cox, and the ending (maybe we had another one in our minds, who knows?) gives you something to think about. Quite rare these days, isn't it?