Australia

I think this was a beautiful, gorgeous movie. I loved it. It’s a bit long, and the story comes in parts. A typical film would have made the entire story about trying to drive the cattle across the country, but Australia goes beyond that and continues to drive the story forward. It focuses on the people involved, not the task that needs to be done. This is storytelling at a much grander scale.

I do understand the criticism the film has received, both for length and the story, but I feel that mostly stems from the fact that the movie audiences today aren’t used to this type of film. It’s long, epic and dramatic, but on a scale we haven’t seen since back in the days with Gone With the Wind.

Hugh Jackman is wonderful as the Drover. Personally I think this is one of his best performances. It’s really hard for me to imagine anyone else in the role. Russell Crowe was originally cast, but I think he would have made the character much harder, and to me less likeable. It was a joy to see Hugh in a role like this.

Nicole Kidman was good as well, but I was always kind of aware that she was Nicole Kidman. Her character comes across as a bit silly in the beginning, but once the dramatic element sets in and she finally relaxes a little bit Nicole and her character get the chance to shine.

David Wenham made me want to strangle his character, so kudos to him on a good job. He was walking a tight line with regards to not making the character too much like the moustache twirling bad guy, but he managed to make a believable character. Even though I felt like slapping him most of the film, there is a point at the end where his humanity shines through, and I actually felt sorry for him, if only for a moment.

Little Brandon Walters is a gem, truly outstanding in the role as Nullah. I know they spent a long time looking for the right boy for the part and I very much doubt they could have found anyone better. He outshines everyone in every scene he’s in, and plays his part so naturally

If there’s one part in the film that bothered me it’s probably something that occurs close to the end of the film. While I kind of get the thought behind it, the choice of slow motion and dragging it out, especially after a pretty big dramatic scene, it just felt like a bit too much. It doesn’t take away anything from the rest of the film, I just feel that part could have been handled a bit differently.

I think you have to be somewhat familiar with Baz’s previous work to be prepared for this. It’s such a beautiful film, big credit to the DOP in this one because the imagery, be it nature, people or animals was gorgeous. It shows that the people involved were committed to making this film, it truly is a love letter to Australia.

I will definitely be picking this one up on DVD.

Tropic Thunder

I wasn’t that impressed by it. I’m not a big of a Ben Stiller fan, and he did nothing to change my mind here. Felt nearly everyone was just playing themselves, and Tom Cruise’s role was just a desperate attempt to become more likeable to the public, in a hey-I-can-make-fun-of-myself way, especially the bit during the credits. Robert Downey Jr on the other hand was awesome. He carries the film, he's funnier than the rest of the cast put together. The biggest laugh I got from the whole thing was the mock Trailer for Satan’s Alley.

Max Manus

The true story about Max Manus, one of the most brilliant saboteurs during World War II, and his work with the Norwegian Independent Company through the outbreak of World War II in Norway until peacetime in 1945.

You know, when I go to see a Norwegian film my expectations are always low. I’m not saying we make bad movies, I’m just saying the really good ones are rare. Max Manus is the only one where the trailer made me sit up and take notice, where by the end I knew this was something I would have to see in the cinema.

The buzz here in Norway for this film has been very good before the film was released. The reviews have mainly given it 4/6 and 5/6, which I still think is very good.

Now I’m usually not big on war movies, but I thought this movie was very good. Usually watching a Norwegian film I end up saying it was good for a Norwegian film, but this film is just very well done.

The film picks up after Max’s contribution in the Winter War in Finland against the Soviet Union, where he had volunteered. There are flashbacks to this time in his life; they almost serve as transitions between the different stages in his life during his time as a saboteur.

The film flows very well, and even though there are many people coming and going you get a sense of who they were and what they meant to the resistance and to Max.

The few flaws lies mainly with minor actors, who are clearly more used to working on stage than the screen. There were also a few dialect glitches as well, but not enough to pay attention to. Other than the few stage actors, I think all the actors did a great job. Major props go to Aksel Hennie as Max Manus, Nicolai Cleve Broch as Gregers Gram and Ken Duken’s portrayal of Siegfried Fehmer.

I do believe the film deserves some awards notice because I really think this movie deserves an acknowledgement. It’s an amazing story that’s been brought to the screen in a very tight and compelling film. There are heartbreaking parts as well as a dose of humour, and suspense.

I’m giving it a very strong 5 of 6 stars.
If this movie pops up in a cinema close to you I really recommend that you go see it, you won’t be disappointed.

Twilight

I went in to the screening with very low expectations. I’d read both good and bad reviews, and was convinced I’d end up agreeing with the bad ones, as I doubted they’d be able to translate the book to screen in a good way.
It’s not a brilliant cinematic achievement, but I liked it. They managed to take they key points form the book and put together a good story for the film. The changes that had been made in settings or information were for the most part understandable, and as someone who enjoyed the book I have to say I was pretty happy.

I think people who have read the book will get more out of the story, as there are a few threads that never really get to the surface of the film. My main complaint of the film is the editing; it feels fragmented at times. Jumping from situation to situation without letting certain things really develop and some characters left by the side.
I have a feeling there are dropped scenes, and I hope there will be a slightly extended version available at some point as I think the movie would have benefited from an extra 15-20 minutes. I probably would have dropped the flashback and fantasy shots for more story, even though they were short I would rather have had more of the story.

Oldeuboi (2003)

I thought Oldboy was a seriously disturbing film. It's a well made film. The build up was good, but the resolution was just way to disturbing, I suspected the twist, and I was not happy to be right.

Flags of our Fathers

I really liked it. It is a rather slow paced, but it really showed how war affects the soldiers in different ways.
And I was very surprised to see a lot of familiar faces, even in tiny roles. Very good film.

Blood Diamond

It failed to pull me in completely, I found the focus of the story to be on the wrong person; Djimon Hounsou's performance and his character's heartbreaking story gets shoved aside for time spent focusing on the relationship between DiCaprio and Connelly's characters. It isn't before the final act that the focus changes to where it ought to have been all along.

Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee

It was a good film, but a terrible story, makes one ashamed to be a human being. It's just so sick to see what one human can do to another.

Paris Je T'aime

It was okay, I grew bored after a while, I think Gurinder Chadha and Wes Craven's shorts were the ones I liked the most. It was a very nice concept, I just think it would have benefitted from some structure.

The Dark Knight

There was so much going on in this film that when I try to remeber the first few scenes and introductions I'm having a hard time piecing them together.
It is an amazing film, Christopher Nolan has done a wonderful job with bringing this story to life, and his choiche of actors for the various roles just helps build on the script he and Jonathan Nolan wrote. They've taken a story with so many characters and so many conflicts and actions and made something remarkable. This could have easily turned into a big mess of a film, but they've managed to balance almost everything in such a wonderful way. The few flaws that can be found are easy to forgive because of everything they managed to get so right.
My only complaint, might be the same I initially had with the first one; the lenght, but I never really felt that there was stuff they could have cut out, so all in all that is a very minor detail.

Smokin' Aces

My gawd what a messy movie. It had a good idea, but it used way too much time on introducing characters we really didn’t need that much info on, the whole thing was just a big mess.
The big reveal at the end wasn’t really that surprising either, and frankly there were some big faults with the reasoning.