Mother/마더 [Madeo] (2009) - Ho's dark crime drama

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The titular character with wild hair and an enticing tagline in bloody red makes up this poster for Bong Joon Ho's Mother

When a young school girl gets brutally murdered in a rural corner of South Korea, a local, mentally disabled young man gets blamed for the crime. But his mother refuses to believe that he could be guilty.

 

Mother is written by Eun-kyo Park (Crush and Blush/Misseu Hongdangmu (2008)) and South-Korean master filmmaker, co-writer/director Bong Joon Ho (Barking Dogs Never Bite/Flandersui gae (2000)).

It is a pitch black murder mystery which gives the impression that the incompetence among provincial police in South Korea is bottomless. It contains many elements which Ho united with a sharper story and direction in masterpiece Parasite (2019).  But the story here is far from as good; less thought-provoking, less provocative overall, and less surprising.

Mother is a somewhat depressing mother story with good acting, which works as a gloomy preamble for one of the best films of our time, Parasite.

 

Related posts:

Bong Joon Ho: The day after ... the 2020 Oscars  
Parasite/기생충 (Gisaengchung) (2019) or, The Haves and the Have Nots 

The Host/괴물 (Gwoemul) (2006) or, A Monster in Korea 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Memories of Murder/살인의 추억 (Sarinui chueok) (2003) - Song performance crowns Ho's rich crime drama

Watch 2 minutes of the film's opening sequence here

 

Cost: 5 mil. $

Box office: 17.2 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.44 times its cost)

[Mother premiered 16 May (Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard section) and runs 128 minutes. Shooting took place in South Korea. The film opened #50 to a 35k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #35 and in 38 theaters, grossing 551k $ (3.2 % of the total gross). South Korea was the film's biggest market by far: Selling 3 mil. admissions, it was among the year's 10 biggest film in the country, grossing 16.2 mil. $ (94.2 %). North America was the 2nd biggest market, and France was #3 with 171k $ (1 %). It won 3/6 Asian Film award nominations and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Film award among many other honors. Ho returned with Snowpiercer (2013). Hye-ja Kim (Late Autumn/Man chu (1982)), who plays the mother, returned in How to Steal a Dog/Gae-leul hoom-chi-neun wan-byeok-han bang-beob (2014). Mother is certified fresh at 96 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mother?

Mary Shelley (2017) - Al-Mansour stumbles badly in inauspicious second work

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Title star Elle Fanning has a strangely green-colored eye on this otherwise almost uniformly grey poster for Haifaa Al-Mansour's Mary Shelley

Young Mary Godwin falls in love with young poet Percy Shelley as she mysteriously authors her masterpiece Frankenstein (1818).

 

Mary Shelley is written by Emma Jensen (I Am Woman (2019)) and great Saudi-Arabian co-writer/director Haifaa Al-Mansour's (Wadjda (2017)), based on the true conception of Frankenstein.

Though failed in almost every way, I still give this surely well-meant (and harmless) second feature from Al-Mansour a generous 2 hearts. We don't get any the wiser on the creation of Frankenstein, and the romance between the two youths, - which is poetical rather than carnal, - never becomes interesting. - For one thing they both seem too young for the dramatic observations that fall out of their mouths.

The actors do nicely and pull the film up, though it is a weak script handled by a director with no discernable independent direction for her film.

 

Related posts:

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

Wadjda/ وجدة‎ (2012) - Bold and powerful first Saudi-Arabian film 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 2-2.7 mil. $ (different sources)

= Uncertain - but likely a huge flop

[Mary Shelley premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 121 minutes. 15 governmental support organs and production companies collaborated in the financing and making of the film. Shooting took place in France, Luxembourg and Dublin, Ireland. The film opened #58 to a 12k £ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #49 and in 30 theaters, grossing 108k $ (4 % of the total gross). The film's 3 biggest markets were France with 557k $ (20.6 %), Italy with 422k $ (15.6 %) and Spain with 360k $ (13.3 %). Apparently the film was not screened in Al-Mansour's own country Saudi-Arabia. If made on a likely 5 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a huge flop or possibly even a mega-flop. Al-Mansour returned with The Wedding Singer's Daughter (2018, short) and theatrically with Nappily Ever After (2018). Elle Fanning (Super 8 (2011)) returned in I Think We're Alone Now (2018). Mary Shelley is rotten at 39 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mary Shelley?

Mirrors (2008) or, The Haunted Department Store

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Three stars put together in a composite image of a house with water damage makes up this poster for Alexandre Aja's Mirrors

A tormented former New York police officer attempts to reestablish himself with a private security job, working in a burnt-out department store, but there an evil ghost haunting its mirrors!

Mirrors is written by co-writer/co-producer Grégory Levasseur (Break of Dawn/Entre Chiens et Loups (2002)) and co-writer/director Alexandre Aja (Furia (1999)). It is a remake of the Korean horror Into the Mirror/Geoul sokeuro (2003).

The strange and not very good story is so also so fanciful that it is hard to get involved with Mirrors. No-nonsense Kiefer Sutherland (Freeway (1996)) is a poor match for the vehicle, although he does what he can here. SPOILER Amy Smart (High Voltage (1997)) dies the most gruesome death of the film by ripping her own jaw off her face.

SPOILER Mirrors ends in an action-like spectacle of nonsense. It lacks frights and tension. Overall it's a thoroughly failed serving of mumbo jumbo.

 

Related posts:

 

Alexandre Aja: Piranha 3D (2010) - Aja's gory sexploitation remake is a hoot 

The Hills Have Eyes (2006) or, My Big Fat Mutant Cannibal Family Trip 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 35 mil. $

Box office: 78 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.22 times its cost)

[Mirrors was released 14 August (Malaysia) and runs 111 minutes. Aja disliked the original story and kept only details from the original film for his remake. Shooting took place around May 2007 in New York, Los Angeles, California and in Bucharest, Romania. The film opened #4, behind fellow new release Tropic Thunder, holdover hit The Dark Knight and new release Star Wars: The Clone Wars, to an 11.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 30.6 mil. $ (39.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 5.1 mil. $ (6.3 %) and France with 5 mil. $ (6.4 %). A straight-to-video sequel was made with Mirrors 2 (2011). Aja returned with The Esseker File (2009, short) and theatrically with Piranha 3D (2010). Sutherland returned in 10 video game, TV, short and narrating credits prior to his physical theatrical return in Melancholia (2011). Mirrors is rotten at 15 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Mirrors?

Madea's Family Reunion (2006) - Perry returns endearing universe in enjoyable first sequel

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Tyler Perry's popular character amusingly replaced as Andy Warhol's iconic Marilyn Monroe art-piece on this poster for Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion

Madea gets a court ordered foster child, who is a rebellious teenage girl, at a time when she is also advising her grown-up nieces: One is falling on love with a solid, sweet bus driver, while the other is marrying her rich, tyrannical boyfriend through a longer period.

 

Madea's Family Reunion is written, co-produced and directed by Tyler Perry (Acrimony (2018)), who also plays title character Madea as well as two other characters. It is based on Perry's same-titled 2002 play, and the film is a follow-up to the first Madea movie, Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005).

Blair Underwood (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2015-16)) is convincing as the cruel tyrant, and in fact the cast is good throughout here, with Perry back as the wise, hard-hitting Madea - and her low-brow brother. The bus scene is fantastically sweet and romantic - the film's best - and the plot surprises, when it sheds a bold light on incest.

Madea's Family Reunion still manages to be funny, entertaining and heart-warming, although it is also theatrical and becomes cloyingly God-fixated in the end around the inevitable wedding.

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 6 mil. $

Box office: 63.3 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 10.55 times its cost)

[Madea's Family Reunion was released 24 February (USA, Canada) and runs 109 minutes. Shooting took place around July 2005 in Georgia, including Atlanta. The film opened #1 to a 30 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and another in the top 5 (#5), grossing 63.2 mil. $ (99.8 % of the total gross). Perry returned with Why Did I Get Married? (2006, short), Madea Goes to Jail (2006, video) and theatrically with Daddy's Little Girls (2007); as a star he returned in Madea Goes to Jail. Madea's Family Reunion is rotten at 26 % with a 4.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Madea's Family Reunion?

Margrete den Første (2021) - Dyrholm commands in Sieling's plush historical drama

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+ Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Historical Drama of the Year 

 

The titular queen stands before a fiery conflict on this dramatic poster for Charlotte Sieling's Margrete den Første

Danish Queen Margrete has managed to unite the previously warring Nordic countries in 1402 and is preparing to strike another vital alliance with the British kingdom, when a man shows up, claiming to be her son and the rightful king.

 

Margrete den Første is written by Jesper Fink (Before the Frost/Før Frosten (2018)), Maya Ilsøe (Absalons Hemmelighed (2006, TV-series)) and co-writer/director Charlotte Sieling (Over Gaden Under Vandet (2009)). It is based on a true story.

An impressive production with sweeping production value, - especially the production design and costumes are commendable, - Margrete den Første succeeds in setting us in the very old times' very top of Scandinavian power with a naturalness that is pivotal in order for the exercise to come together.

Trine Dyrholm (Okay (2002)) is spot-on as the strong leader, whose mind is bent on peace and stability, but whose reign gets shaken to its core by the possibility that her long-deceased son may not have actually died but instead been held captive in Germany for 15 years. Jakob Oftebro (Tom of Finland (2017)) gives one of the most credibly tormented performances of recent memory as Oluf, who is at first rejected as a con artist. His performance makes it almost impossible not to believe that he is her son.

The film rests on this strange story of biological doubt. Morten Hee Andersen (Sygeplejeskolen (2018-19)) is forceful as Margrete's adopted son Erik, who gets furious at the possibility of a true heir rising to the throne. Søren Malling (The Man/Mesteren (2017)) is terrific as the leader of the church. Sieling lets silent moments take place, letting the actors' faces speak for them, which are some of the best moments in the film. It is an exciting, strange story in Margrete den Første, told with a calm seriousness.

 

Related post:

 

2021 in films - according to Film Excess 

 

Watch a short teaser for the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 73 mil. DKK, approximately 11.51 mil. $

Box office: 1.025 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say - but has very far to go to break even

[Margrete den Første premiered 21 August (Norwegian International Film Festival) and runs 120 minutes. 20 companies and foundations cooperated to finance and make the film, including Denmark's current Queen Margrete II and the late Prince Consort Henrik's foundation. These and others involved stepped in to support the film, when its filming was shut down due to China Virus, and the budget ballooned with 8.5 mil. DKK as a consequence. Shooting took place in the Czech Republic. The film has opened to 93k admissions in its first week's release in main production country Denmark, where it is also playing as part of Biografklub Danmark, meaning that many audiences only pay half prize for their tickets. The film is set to open in Sweden on 3 December. Sieling does not have her next project announced yet. Dyrholm returned in Forhøret (2019-21) and theatrically in Ingen Kender Dagen (2022). 119 IMDb users have given Margrete den Første a 7.1/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Margrete den Første? 

The Magnificent Seven (2016) - Fuqua makes a noisy party trick out of the western

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A golden seven across a grey sky with the seven actors in heavy get-up at the bottom makes up this macho poster for Antoine Fuqua's The Magnificent Seven

Seven men gather to help the intimidated citizens of small frontier town Rose Creek fight and prevail over the evil tyrant industrialist Bartholomew Bogue.

 

The Magnificent Seven is written by Nic Pizzolatto (The Killing (2011, TV-series)) and Richard Wenk (Vamp (1986)) and directed by Pennsylvanian master filmmaker Antoine Fuqua (Bait (2000)). It is a remake of the same-titled 1960 hit western by John Sturges, which was in turn based on Seven Samurai (1954) by Akira Kurosawa.

Modernly cast with a diverse group of actors, Fuqua pulls the trigger in the West with mighty explosions, CGI, shoot-outs upon shoot-outs and cocky stars in thinly sketched parts. It rumbles and bumbles, - but why are we supposed to care?

The Magnificent Seven doesn't look or smell like the West we know from the genre's best pictures. It feels phony, unnecessary, long and dreary.

 

Related posts:

 

Antoine Fuqua: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

The Equalizer (2014) or, Mr. Swift Justice

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 90 mil. - 107 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 162.3 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.51 - 1.80 times its cost)

[The Magnificent Seven premiered 8 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 133 minutes. Several other stars and director John Lee Hancock had been rumored to head the remake before Fuqua was hired and assembled his cast. Shooting took place from May - August 2015 in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Louisiana. The film features the last score of great composer James Horner, who passed away in 2015 with his friend and collaborator finishing his work. The film opened #1 to a 34.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 3 weekends (#3-#4-#4) and grossed 93.4 mil. $ (57.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.9 mil. $ (4.9 %) and South Korea with 6.8 mil. $ (4.2 %). Fuqua returned with Ice (2016, TV-series), The Receipt: The Gift (2017, short) and theatrically with The Equalizer 2 (2018). Denzel Washington (The Siege (1998)) returned in Fences (2016); Chris Pratt (10 Years (2011)) in Passengers (2016). The Magnificent Seven is fresh at 64 % with a 6.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Magnificent Seven? 

Mansfield Park (1999) - Pretty abounds in overrated Austen adaptation

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Frances O'Connor looks most becoming, holding a key close to her chest on this poster for Patricia Rozema's Mansfield Park

The daughter of a poor family is given away as a girl to society's finer circles, where she becomes an integral but never equal partaker.

Mansfield Park is written and directed by Patricia Rozema (I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987)), adapting the same-titled 1814 novel by Jane Austen (Sense and Sensibility (1811).

Frances O'Connor (Kiss or Kill (1997)) looks like a Disney character in this most picturesque film, which however for this same reason will have a lot of its male audience punching out. The tone is somewhere between the funny, - which is found in rare snippets in Mansfield Park, - and the dramatic and romantic, which overtakes here in a film that hits many of the right keys but is still ultimately boring, - and too neat.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: In excess of 4.7 mil. $ (North America only)

= Uncertain

[Mansfield Park premiered 27 August (Montréal Film Festival) and runs 112 minutes. Rozema altered much from Austen's novel for her film. Shooting took place in England, including London. The film opened #46 to a 85k $ first weekend in 8 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #19 and in 152 theaters (different weeks), grossing 4.7 mil. $. Regrettably the cost and foreign gross numbers are not made public, so it is impossible to say whether the film was a success or not. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 4 notches over this one. Rozema returned with 4 TV movie, short and TV series credits prior to her theatrical return, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008). O'Connor returned in About Adam (2000). Mansfield Park is certified fresh at 77 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mansfield Park?

My Enemy's Enemy (2007, documentary) - Dark annals of the 20th century explored in great Macdonald work

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A creepy B/W still of the villainous subject below a manipulated version of the American flag with swastikas mixed in with the stars make up this poster for Kevin Macdonald's My Enemy's Enemy

Klaus Barbie during World War II became known as the 'Butcher of Lyon' due to his extensive torture and execution crimes against Jews and others in his path, including countless children. But after the war he was not persecuted - but instead hired by the CIA.

 

My Enemy's Enemy is a terrific historical/biographical/war documentary by great Scottish filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (Chaplin's Goliath (1996)).

It is a deeply upsetting and disgusting story, which shows how the logic of tyranny and sadism function far into the ranks of the West, - along with clandestine veneration for Nazism and fascism. In order to combat Communism, the Americans hired a Nazi war criminal, who for decades since then continued using his violent skills, especially in South America, mostly in Bolivia, - to further damages for the people there.

The span of sources and material is deeply impressive, and Macdonald lets diverging points of view assert themselves without inserting himself personally in this gloomy, worrying, - and fascinating piece of  20th century history.

 

Related post:

 

Kevin Macdonald: Marley (2012, documentary) - Macdonald's great work of the truly inspirational musician

The Last King of Scotland (2006) - Macdonald's Idi Amin thriller debut is an electric accomplishment

 

In this video, Macdonald talks about his most current movie, Life in a Day (2021)

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 198k $

= Uncertain

[My Enemy's Enemy premiered 31 August (Telluride Film Festival, USA) and runs 87 minutes. The film only had a film festival screening in North America. Its 3 biggest markets were France with 175k $ (88.4 %), Belgium with 11k $ (5.6%) and Taiwan with 3k $ (1.5 %). Macdonald returned with State of Play (2009). 619 IMDb users have given My Enemy's Enemy a 7.4/10 average rating.]

What do you think of My Enemy's Enemy?

The Mule (2018) - Drug-runner true story proves another fine fit for screen legend Eastwood

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Star Clint Eastwood's weather-bitten profile set against a wide sky over the flat plains make up this poster for his own The Mule

Earl is in his 80s and has a bitter ex-wife. He doesn't feel that he can contribute with much in the world anymore, when one day he gets offered good money to drive drugs across the Mexican border...

 

The Mule is written by Nick Schenk (Gran Torino (2008)), based on the New York Times article The Sinaloa Cartel's 90-Year-Old Drug Mule (2014) by Sam Dolnick, and directed, co-produced and starring Californian master filmmaker Clint Eastwood (Play Misty for Me (1971)), whose 37th feature it is as director.

Eastwood is once again outstanding, unafraid, stout and freedom-loving, and with a vulnerability here that may have come with old age, which we haven't seen so much of in him before. If this was our last ride with the hero, undoubtedly one of cinema's very greatest, it would be a superb finale.

Dianne Wiest (The 10th Kingdom (2000, miniseries)) and Bradley Cooper (Jack & Bobby (2004-05)) are exemplary as the sour ex and the drug officer on Eastwood's tail. The Mule is a simple, good story that's engaging from beginning to end.

Related posts:

Clint Eastwood: Sully (2016) - Eastwood's miracle landing biopic is inert and overrated  2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
American Sniper (2014) - Eastwood conveys an American man and myth in electric masterpiece  
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess   
J. Edgar (2011) - Eastwood, Black and DiCaprio's great, intense biopic   

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Gran Torino (2008) - Eastwood's actor persona comes full circle in absolute smash (co-producer/director/starring actor)
The Changeling (2008) or, The Christine Collins Story  
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]    
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Letters from Iwo Jima/硫黄島からの手紙 [Öjima Kara no Tegami] (2006) - The Japanese side of Eastwood's remarkable WWII two-parter   
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - Eastwood's Iwo Jima portrayal is captivating and profoundly moving 

Blood Work (2002) - Eastwood churns out uninspired thriller adaptation (producer/director/starring actor)
The Dead Pool (1988) - The highly entertaining last Dirty Harry movie (starring actor)
City Heat (1984) - Eastwood and Reynolds wrestle dispassionately in Benjamin's messy period affair (co-starring actor)
Tightrope (1984) - An undervalued Clint Eastwood sex killer thriller (starring actor)
Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business! (starring actor)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - Siegel, Tuggle and Eastwood's phenomenal prison escape thriller (starring actor)
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) or, Honky Tonk Monkey Business! (starring actor)

The Gauntlet (1977) - Locke/Eastwood cast sparks in corny shoot-em-up (director/starring actor)
The Enforcer (1976) - Eastwood teaches revolutionaries a lesson in third, less punchy Dirty Harry (starring actor)
The Eiger Sanction (1975) - Eastwood's mountain climbing dud (director/star)

High Plains Drifter (1973) - Eastwood cleans up red town in great western (director/star)
The Beguiled (1971) - Intense, erotic Civil War kammerspiel thriller (starring actor)  
Dirty Harry (1971) - Eastwood's great, signature renegade cop character comes to life (starring actor)
Coogan's Bluff (1968) or, Dopes and Hippies, Beat It! (starring actor)  
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - Leone ends his poncho trilogy with certified classic (starring actor)
For a Few Dollars More/Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (1965) or, Return of the Poncho Killer (co-starring actor)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or, Killer in a Poncho (starring actor)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 174.8 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.49 times its cost)

[The Mule premiered 10 December (Los Angeles) and runs 116 minutes. The story of the real-life mule Leo Sharp was altered some to fit the filmmakers' wishes. Shooting took place from June 2018 - ? in Georgia, including Atlanta, in New Mexico and Chicago, Illinois. The film opened #2, behind Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, to a 17.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 4 weekends in the top 5 (#5-#5-#5-#5) and grossed 103.8 mil. $ (59.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 15.1 mil. $ (8.6 %) and Italy with 7.8 mil. $ (4.5 %). Eastwood returned with Richard Jewell (2019) as director and returns in Cry Macho (2021) as the starring actor (as well as director again). The Mule is fresh at 71 % with a 6.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Mule?

Marley (2012, documentary) - Macdonald's great work of the truly inspirational musician

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Dressed in the colors of the Jamaican flag, the instantly recognizable face of Bob Marley makes up the poster for Kevin Macdonald's Marley

An outsider at home due to his mulatto skin from a mixed-race parentage, Bob Marley of Trenchtown, Jamaica nevertheless became beloved by people all over the world due to his fantastic reggae songs.

 

Marley is a biographical documentary by great Scottish filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (Chaplin's Goliath (1996, documentary)).

It is an intense and fantastically comprehensive documentary of perhaps one of the most convincing, prophet-like figures of the 20th centuries. It is full of rich testimony from those closest to the icon, as his music and goodness inspires persuasively.

Macdonald has his focus set on the universal, spiritual heights in Marley's life, which he reflects with beautiful fly-over images from fertile mountain ranges (possibly from Jamaica's Blue Mountains.) Marley is a long but outstanding bio-documentary, which moves deeply.

 

Related post:

 

Kevin Macdonald: The Last King of Scotland (2006) - Macdonald's Idi Amin thriller debut is an electric accomplishment

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 5.3 mil. $

= Uncertain

[Marley premiered 12 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 145 minutes. It opened #19 to a 262k $ first weekend in 42 theaters in North America, where it peaked in 73 theaters and grossed 1.4 mil. $ (26.4 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was the UK with 1.4 mil. $ (26.4 %), North America 2nd biggest and 3rd biggest was Italy with 283k $ (5.3 %). The film was nominated for a BAFTA, a British Independent Film award and a Grammy, among other honors. The-Numbers.com further estimate that it made 6.4 mil. $ on the video market. Macdonald returned with How I Live Now (2013). Marley is certified fresh at 95 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Marley?

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004, video) - Season's cheer now in digitally animated Duckburg

♥♥♥

 

+ Best Christmas Movie of the Year

 

Mickey's happy face dominates this good-time promising poster for Theresa Cullen, Carole Holliday and Peggy Holmes' Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas

A Yuletide potpourri of small stories from Duckburg: Minnie and Daisy Duck compete in ice-skating; Huey, Dewie and Louie attempt to soften Santa Claus' annual verdict and so on.

 

Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas is written by Bill Motz, Bob Roth (Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2005, video), both) and co-writer/co-director Peggy Holmes (Secret of the Wings (2012)), who co-directed with Theresa Cullen (Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999), storyboard artist) and Carole Holliday (Muppet Babies (1986-88), model designer). It is a sequel to Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999, video).

It is a mostly successful attempt at making the classic Carl Barks characters vivacious and applicable in digital 3D animation. The innocent, classical style from the Disney shorts is kept, - so no fart noises or adult references here, to which the team should be owed thanks! This is all very Disney.

SPOILER Unfortunately the fifth and last story is a clonker: Mickey is a super-materialist who doesn't give a rat about Pluto in his zeal to stuff Christmas junk all around his house; meanwhile the seven reindeer talk voraciously. Here it is forgotten that dialog should be kept at a discrete minimum and be secondary in this classical Disney discipline. Otherwise Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas is filled with good Christmas cheer.

 

Related post:

 

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - direct-to-video

= Uncertain

[Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas was released 9 November (USA) and runs 67 minutes. Cullen returned as a storyboard artist; Holliday returned with Witt's Daughter (2008, short), Holmes with The Little Mermaid: Ariels' Beginning (2008, video). 5k+ users have given Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas a 3.6/5 average rating at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas?