Ida (2013) - Pawlikowski scores big with resounding identity-tale

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+ Best Polish Movie of the Year 

The picture on this poster for Pawel Pawlikowski's Ida shows the identity-shaping haze that the title character finds herself in in the movie

Ida is the 5th feature from great Polish writer/director Pawel Pawlikowski (My Summer of Love (2004)), a Danish-Polish co-production that takes place in Poland somewhere in the 1950's.

Ida is a young girl in a convent soon to take her vows to Jesus Christ and her sisterhood, when her superior tells her that she has to first go and meet her only relative left, her aunt, before she takes the last step. The aunt, a former DA, has shocking stories to tell about Ida's family background.

Ida is a film that has taken a victorious journey through several countries and become a surprise hit. A surprise because it is shot in B/W, in 4:3-format, in Polish, with little music, artsy photography, often hauntingly beautiful, and a 1950's plot about a nun and a dark past. It is somber and gloomy and very Eastern European in all of these respects.
And yet it strikes chords with audiences seemingly everywhere. Because Ida is more than those listed elements; it is also a captivating story of identity, faith, what makes you you, and why you make the choices in life that you do. It's obviously got a story that is fraught with meaningful, thematic material, (because all of this material is contained in its just 80 minutes playtime.) It is inspired by two true stories, which are altered to fit into this joined story.
The praises for the film available are overwhelming, and I don't recommend that you delve into them, because they may leave you expecting something that no film can really deliver. Ida is a carefully shaped little diamond, which comes to vivid life early on in its story and remains there for its concise duration.
Ida lives also on especially two very strong acting performances: Agata Trzebuchowska is debuting in the title lead, and her unafraid, stone-faced strength and curiosity is a firm foundation for the journey of the film. She has announced that, despite her good performance and the film's success, she does not want to be an actress. The other great performance is from Agata Kulesza (Suicide Room (2011)), who is simply brilliant as the semi-alcoholic, distressed aunt Wanda.
Ida is a strong and serious film that you will want to see and form your own opinion about.

Related posts:

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch the excellent trailer for the film with English subtitles here

Cost: Approximately 2 mil.€, equal to approximately 2.16 mil. $
Box office: 11.1 mil. $
= Big hit
[Ida's impressive American result is not unique, in that it has also gotten fine attendances in European countries: The few reported are Italy (where it earned 0.5 mil. euros) and France (421,000 admissions). The film has yet to open in several countries, including Denmark, which will happen on November 27.]

What do you think of Ida?

The Act of Killing/Jagal (2012) or, The Violence of Indonesia Part I

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A colorful, absurdist poster for Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing

This review is based on the 159 minute director's cut version of the documentary, which also exists in a 122 minute theatrical version and an even shorter version, (which is naturally best avoided.)

In 1965-66, Indonesia's new military regime demanded the country's Communists executed. The society's strata of gangsters thereupon carried out 1-2.5 mil. more or less mandated killings, and the group are to this day praised for this genocide. The film documents some of the prolific executioners from then, as they reconstruct their crimes for the camera today.

This hair-raising, deeply unusual war documentary contains despairing and incredible material, e.g. a happenstance real extortion, (the commonality of how it occurs underscores Indonesia's monstrous problems with governance, violence and morality), and morbid reconstructions of torture and murders as well as heart-wrenching testimonials.
By mostly focusing on the executioners, The Act of Killing also becomes a study in the flexibility of the human psyche and its propensity for the most heinous crimes imaginable. One of the film's most troubling qualities is the fact that it accomplishes a portrayal of the killers as humans instead of monsters. Indonesia, on the other hand, as a country, stands out as singularly perverse and despicable to me at least.
The film is a collaboration between Joshua Oppenheimer (The Entire history of the Louisiana Purchase (1998)) and co-directors Christine Cynn (The Globalisation Tapes (2003)) and Anonymous, ('Anonymous' appears 49 times during the credits and cover crew members who cannot be publicly known, because they fear retaliation from the death squads in Indonesia). The Act of Killing takes an at times surrealistic approach to its material and can come across not unlike a bad fever dream, and it is as stirring as it is provocative and oppressive, not a film that goes down easily, but certainly one that burns itself into the memory of those who see it.
Oppenheimer reserved his next documentary, The Look of Silence (2014), to the other side of the story; that of the millions of victims in Indonesia's bloody history.

The film's lead figure, the mass-murderer Anwar Congo here demonstrates how he used to strangle men to death with a metal wire, in Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn and Anonymous' The Act of Killing

Same Congo here in a reconstruction scene towards the film's end, in which he starts to come apart about his past sins, in Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn and Anonymous' The Act of Killing

Watch the trailer with English subtitles here

Cost: Approximately 1 mil. $
Box office: 0.4 mil. $ (US only)
= Uncertainty
[The Act won the BAFTA as Best Documentary in February '14, where Oppenheimer in his speech called for the American government to acknowledge its co-responsibility for the killings. At the Oscars in March '14, The Act was Oscar-nominated as Best Documentary, but did not win. (The happy music documentary 20 Feet From Stardom (2013) did.)]

What do you think of The Act of Killing?
If you are Indonesian, how do you feel about the film and the portrayal of the frightful events in it?

Tom a the Farm/Tom à la Ferme (2013) - Intense, eerie sub/dom-themed sex thriller (without sex)

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+ Best Canadian Movie of the Year

Xavier Dolan plays the lead as Tom in his own Tom at the Farm

Tom arrives at his late boyfriend's childhood home, where his controlling brother lives with the mother, who is to be kept in the dark according to his design...

French-Canadian master director whiz kid Xavier Dolan (I Killed My Mother (2009)) radically changes tracks here with his 4th feature film, which is a creeping thriller adaptation of a play by Michel Marc Bouchard (Lilies (1987)).
Thematically, Tom, at its core, is a reflection on kinky sub/dom-fetishes, - but it's also about big city alienation, loss and psychopathy.
The film bolsters some strong scenes, among them a hot tango-scene, (the closest this brazen picture gets to a sex scene.) And strong acting, especially from Dolan in the lead and from Pierre-Yves Cardinal (Polytechnique (2009)) as the dangerous brother and Lise Roy (The Barbarian Invastions (2003)) as the innocuous mother.
The ending is a bit unresolved, but the film is good.
Dolan's acting talent can soon also be seen in the highly anticipated thriller Elephant Song (2014) co-starring Bruce Greenwood (Flight (2012)).


Related posts:


Xavier Dolan: 2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Laurence Anyways (2012) - Dolan serves a stylish, jumbled, massive transsexualism tale

Watch the trailer with English subtitles here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown
[No financial results are known for the movie, unfortunately. It did win the FIPRESCI-award (critics' award) at Venice Film Festival 2013, where it premiered, and it was also nominated for a slew of awards at the Canadian Screen Awards.]

What do you think of Tom at the Farm?

This Is the End (2013) or, Hollywood Apocalypse

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Hilarity-promising poster for Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's This Is the End

QUICK REVIEW:

Seth Rogen (Take This Waltz (2011)) receives his old, fellow Canadian friend Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up (2007)) in the LAX airport for catch-up and later a party at James Franco's (Palo Alto (2013)) house. But then it starts ... - the Apocalypse!

This Is the End is a crazy-funny apocalyptic stoner sci-fi meta-comedy with lots of memorable moments and lines, in which all the famous actors play outrageous versions of themselves. Funniest of them all, probably, are Craig Robinson (The Office (2005-13)) and Danny McBride (Pineapple Express (2008)).
At some point, though, debuting writer-directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen (The Interview (2014)) let their preferences for vulgarity, obscurity and just plain stoner-randomness get the best of them, so that some audiences will undoubtedly get enough.
This Is the End is mainly for people who are already familiar with the stars in it, as they play on their public images and many of the jokes rely on actor-familiarity. 
The Channing Tatum-scene raises some questions (...), and the SPOILER exorcism of Jonah Hill (especially the puking part) is a low-point for the film. I also didn't feel that I really needed to see SPOILER Seth Rogen piss himself in his face, or Backstreet Boys perform in Heaven.
Still, This Is the End wins on its personalities and many laughs.

Related review:

Seth Rogen: 50/50 (2011) or, Dude's Got the Big C
The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005) or, Let the Sunshine In

Watch the hilarious trailer here

Cost: 32 mil. $
Box office: 126 mil. $
= Big hit
[The film came in 2nd behind Man of Steel's phenomenal 116.6 mil. $ opening on June 12, and still managed a 20.7 mil. $ opening weekend. Due to the film's strong result in the US, it was re-released on September 6. 80.5 % of the film's end gross came from North America.]

What do you think of This Is the End?
What is your favorite line or scene from the film?

The Two Faces of January (2014) - Amini's debut is a delicious but slight Greek period adaptation

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The movie star-loving, lovely Italian poster for Hossein Amini's The Two Faces of January

QUICK REVIEW:

An American and his wife get in trouble in post-WWII Athens, when he accidentally kills a man who has unfinished business with him. With a younger, American guide, they then seek refuge on a Greek island.

This mysteriously titled drama-thriller film (the title is never explained) is very neat, but not exactly beautiful. It spins a decent suspense yarn over the relationship between its three main characters.
The well-playing, appealing actors, Viggo Mortensen (The Appaloosa (2008)), Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man 2 (2004)) and Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)), weigh up for a somewhat slight outing.
January is the feature debut of Iranian-American screenwriter Hossein Amini (Drive (2011)), who has adapted it from a 1960 same-titled book by Patricia Highsmith.

Viggo Mortensen looks anxious in a neat 1960's suit in Hossein Amini's The Two Faces of January

Watch the trailer here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 8.8 mil. $
= Unknown
[- But most likely a flop. In the US, distributor Magnolia Pictures first sent January out on VOD [video on demand] on August 28 and then started its theatrical run more than a month later, on October 3rd.]

What do you think of Hossein Amini's directorial debut, The Two Faces of January?
If you have read Highsmith's novel, how does it read compared to the film?

The Equalizer (2014) or, Mr. Swift Justice

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A simple, neat poster for Antoine Fuqua's The Equalizer

  
Antoine Fuqua (Olympus Has Fallen (2013)) made a great villain out of Denzel Washington (Flight (2012)) in his break-out movie, which also won Washington his Best Actor Oscar, tough crime drama masterpiece Training Day (2001). It escalated both of their careers and was also a landmark for African-Americans, as Washington was the first black man to take the Best Actor Oscar, although the fact that he got it for playing a despicable, violent, drug-taking, morally reprehensible character bothered some. This may be an indirect reasoning for the matching in this year's The Equalizer, in which Fuqua directs Washington again, but this time as a straight-as-an-arrow vigilante hero, making up or 'equalizing', if you will excuse the pun, their past misdemeanor in the African-American mirror of self-reckoning.

McCall is a tough, aging guy who is content with a job at the Home Depot, until his local acquaintance, a young woman who is a prostitute from an Eastern European country, gets in trouble with some nasty Russian hoodlums ...

The Equalizer isn't a societally relevant, troubling, groundbreaking film as Training Day was. Instead, it is a potent revenge thriller, based on a CBS TV-series (1985-89), where Washington hands it out to some really ugly Russians in Boston. For those of us who'll never tire of watching ugly Russian mobsters take beatings and some incidental bullets, Equalizer is a joy. - Most people who have experienced random violence will find it easy to revel in having a guy like Washington clean up the tables of rot which society can't manage by itself.
Richard Wenk (16 Blocks (2006)) has written the simple, solid script. Dissatisfied customers will claim that Equalizer is too much at times, - but I'll say they ordered the wrong dish. This dish is revenge, and that's gotta be cold, just as it is here.
The script's most satisfying turn in my opinion is its finale, SPOILER which is set inside the Home Depot where our hero works: As the militarized Russians enter the Home (Mart), they've sort of asked for what's coming, haven't they? Needless to say, such a location abounds with booby-trap materials...
The Equalizer first of all has bad-ass Washington going for it, and fans of the great will appreciate hit turn here, even if it isn't among his dramatically powerful films. The Equalizer is also a tad long at 131 minutes. - It doesn't have annoyingly superfluous passages but just takes its time telling its story. There's well-produced, fine, professional photography by Mauro Fiore (Avatar (2009)) and a good, tight, slightly Drive (2011)-reminiscent score by Harry Gregson-Williams (Deja Vu (2006)).

The nasty villain is played effectively by New Zealander Marton Csokas (Noah (2014)), who gave me goosebumps at least once. Happening young actress Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass (2010)) is alright as an imperiled prostitute; and David Harbour (Revolutionary Road (2008)) is great as a troubled corrupt cop.
The Equalizer is a vigilante movie with its heart in the right place. I liked the way that the film takes its time closing up shop as well, and finally I must say that I loved the last scene SPOILER of Washington in the American diner, answering some stranger's distress post on Craigslist, just because he can. The Equalizer is all about that guy. The good guy that we all hope is out there.

Watch the excellent trailer for the film here

Cost: 55 mil. $
Box office: 191.3 mil. $ and counting
= Big hit
[The Equalizer continued Washington's impressive box office sway in the US, where it opened first with a 35 mil. $ opening weekend and broke some records, including biggest R-rated September opening as well as becoming Fuqua's best weekend opening. The film has also made decent business abroad and Fuqua has announced interest in a sequel with writer Wenk, if Washington wants to...]

What do you think of The Equalizer?

Stranger by the Lake/L'Inconnu du Lac (2013) or, Danger & Desire

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The colorful, appetizing poster for Alain Guiraudie's Stranger by the Lake

QUICK REVIEW:

Our protagonist is a young man who hangs out a summer on a beach by a big lake, which is also a gay cruising spot. Here he finds a steady but discrete partner. Then one day, a man is found drowned in the lake.

Stranger is a very special film: It has no music whatsoever, no women whatsoever; it takes place almost solely by the lake and is almost totally without any artificial lighting. And it includes lots of nudity and explicit gay sex.
After a while I started to get a little bored during the first half of the film, as we only spend time with our protagonist, and the thriller plot only gets started almost halfway into the movie, which is relatively late. But the tension then builds steadily until the end, at which point it reaches pure nail-biting suspense.
There is something baroque about the human interactions on this spot, and Stranger has a good eye for the fascinating aspects of this reality.
Stranger also has a cool poster (see above) and is a smart film by any measure; a little cold, perhaps, but certainly good. The curious police commissioner in the movie spikes the cruising-'community' very poignantly at one point near the end and approaches what is thematically at the heart of Stranger by the Lake: The anxiety and insecurity of random sexual encounters.
The movie is written and directed by 50 year-old Alain Guiraudie (No Rest for the Brave (2003)), and it is his 7th feature.

Pierre Deladonchambs won Most Promising Actor at the 39th Cesar Awards for his performance in Alain Guiraudie's Stranger by the Lake. Here he is caught in a moment of uncertainty and anxiousness in the water

 Watch the official US trailer here

Cost: 1.3 mil. $
Box office: 1.2 mil. $
= Flop
[Although Stranger by the Lake was a financial flop, it was a critical smash hit: Premiering at Cannes '13, it won Guiraudie the award for Best Director at the Un Certain Regard section, as well as the festival's Queer Palm award, and it holds a 7.8 critic average on Rotten Tomatoes and trickles through gay and/or cinephile circles everywhere due to its unusual material and firm thriller hold.]

What do you think of Stranger by the Lake?
If you have seen other films by Alain Guiraudie, tell us about them, please

Stoker (2013) - Park Chan-wook's over-styled American debut revolts and bores in turns

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Half-faced Matthew Goode and Nicole Kidman and an eerie, full-faced Mia Wasikowska seated for Chan-wook Park's Stoker

At a country residence which looks (just like the family that lives there) like something from a long-gone European past, a nervous and spiteful young girl and her selfish mother have an up until then unknown, self-satisfied uncle Charlie on visit after the family's patriarch's death in an accident.

Stoker is a horrible film, incredibly overrated (6.9 critic-average score on Rotten Tomatoes), and I think many critics carry their curious awe of its Korean director Chan-wook Park (Oldboy (2003)) on them like a lead jacket with regards to it and are afraid to see through the tiring, artsy jumble that is really served here.
The film has energetic photography (by Chung-hoon Chung (Thirst (2009)), but it's all (unfortunately) wasted on futile gimmicks. The characters are dilly-dallying around, while the protagonist (exciting young Australian actress Mia Wasikowska (In Treatment (2008), TV-series), who I like just as much as anybody) remains hateful and introverted, until she at last proves herself SPOILER just as callous and heinous as the rest of her family, as she starts killing at random.
Stoker also has disgusting, depraved scenes (SPOILER like when our anti-heroine masturbates to her murder fantasy) and an odd, extreme silence through its 3rd act.
Since seeing Oldboy, which didn't at all stun me like it did so many others, I haven't watched Park's films until now with Stoker, which is his first film in English. It is written by actor Wentworth Miller (Prison Break (2005-09)) and was a Blacklist [Internet screenplay database service] entry in 2010. 
In my opinion, it's a deadly boring show in hollow style, unnatural design, depravity and bad atmosphere. It is also, tragically, one of the last films produced by Tony Scott (Top Gun (1986)), (along with his brother Ridley Scott and 7 other producers), who, tragically, committed suicide in the Summer of 2012.

Related posts:

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch the trailer for this wrongly hailed 'Hitchcockian' film here

Cost: 12 mil. $
Box office: 12 mil. $
= Flop
[Stoker only made 1.7 mil. $ of its total gross in the States, which is disappointing, seeing as it is Park's first English-speaking film, shot in America, with big stars. It fared better abroad, although it is unreported where especially.]

What do you think of Stoker?
If you are familiar with more of Chan-wook Park's work, please share your knowledge and feelings in a comment

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - A 1960's island youth romance present

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Partly painted poster of the kids in their nature-adventure in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom

QUICK REVIEW:

A former scout flees from home with a same-aged girl on their birth island, where they are quickly searched for by worried parents, authorities and an evil child care woman. - But a fierce storm is also on its way!

Moonrise Kingdom is a mighty enjoyable, classically inventive Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)) yarn, set in a charming island community.
I love the Bob Balaban (Ghost World (2001)) character and all of his odd, small introductions throughout. The escaping youths, played by debuting actors Jared Gilman (Elsa & Fred (2014)) and Kara Hayward (Quitters (2014)), are sweet, and, as usual, Anderson here has an ensemble cast at his hands that is impressive and very good: Edward Norton (American History X (1998)), Harvey Keitel (Smoke (1995)), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)), Bruce Willis (Die Hard (1988)), Frances McDormand (Fargo (1996)) and Bill Murray (Groundhog Day (1993)).
The film also features lovely music, - quite a few old Hank Williams songs, - but one notices its wild pace as hasty a few times, where it seems to inhibit any chance of deeper emotional involvement in the characters and story, which I think is a shame.
On the whole though, Moonrise Kingdom is still an incredible and very good film.

Related review:

Wes Anderson: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - A very very good dream

Notice especially on this delightful character photo for Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom Bob Balaban on the left in the red coat

Watch the stylish, colorful, eye-candy-studded trailer here

Cost: 16 mil. $
Box office: 68.2 mil. $
= Big hit
[Moonrise Kingdom opened Cannes 2012, where it was shown in competition, and it went on to have an excellent American run over the following Summer, where its very American story may have struck a chord that not all of Anderson's pictures have done in the past. It was later Oscar-nominated for Best Original Screenplay (Anderson and Roman Coppola (The Darjeeling Limited (2007)), but lost to Quentin Tarantino and his Django Unchained (2012)).]

What do you think of Moonrise Kingdom?
What is your favorite Anderson-movie and why?

Maniac (2012) - POV-powered doll collector/ex-hobbit serial killer loose in LA

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+ Wildest Movie of the Year 

The gritty, awesome poster for Franck Khalfoun's Maniac

Our title protagonist Frank lives in his LA home behind a mannequin restoration store. He kills women and scalps them, so that he can equip his dolls ...

I give a generous 4 ♥'s for Franck Khalfoun's (P2 (2007)) energetic remake of William Lustig's original Maniac (1980), which especially establishes its effectiveness through the terror and intense repulsion that it instills in most audiences who watch it.
Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)) plays the loathsome lead, and he is really nasty in the part! Just have a look at him here:

The major new element in Khalfoun's Maniac is that it is shot almost entirely in POV [point of view]. This concept is painstaking to accomplish, but very impressively carried out here and at times very uncomfortable to watch, as it feels almost as if we are participating in the maniac's kills.
The murders are incredibly realistically looking and technically astonishing.
But other parts of Maniac do not really add up, for instance; why doesn't anyone ever ask about Frank's lacerated, disgusting hands? And SPOILER the flash-back 'explanatory' scenes of Frank's traumatic childhood are not adequate as a basis for understanding his current blood-lust, as they set out to do. Some kind of physical abuse would almost certainly also have been a part of his experiences. Finally the SPOILER cannibalistic ending of the film is strange in a bad way.
Khalfoun is now in post production with two films; a mystery thriller, i-Lived (2014) and yet another Amityville horror movie entitled, Amityville: The Awakening (2015).
Wood, who is inarguably a scoop for Maniac, has been active in quite a few wild, hair-raising projects recently; namely Brian De Palma's Grand Piano (2013) and the coming Cooties (2014), a highly anticipated horror movie.

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]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Watch the gruesome trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 6 mil. $
Box office: 2.6 mil. $
= Big flop
[Maniac seems to perhaps have fallen into the pit for horror films that we for lack of a better term could call the 'too horrific/revolting/sick bucket', which is only defined by unfair mainstream-feelings, as for instance the at least equally sick Saw horror movie franchise never fell into this category. Being literally inside the head of a brutal serial killer as we are in Maniac was probably, unfortunately, too much for most theaters and audiences, hence the lackluster result.]

What do you think of Franck Khalfoun's Maniac?
If you have seen the original, what do you think in comparison?