Freaky Friday (2003) - Lohan/Curtis delight in M. Waters' solid body swap comedy

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+ Best Fantasy Movie of the Year

Colorful hijinks is promised from the two game stars, who have swapped outfits on this poster for Mark Waters' Freaky Friday

A mother and her teenage daughter don't get along and mock each other. Now fortune cookies from a Chinese restaurant cause them to switch bodies, until they learn to respect and love each other again.

Freaky Friday is written by Heather Hach (What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012)) and Leslie Dixon (Pay It Forward (2000)), based on the same-titled 1972 novel by Mary Rodgers (The Rotten Book (1969)), which was previously adapted as the hit movie Freaky Friday (1976) as well as a same-titled 1995 TV movie. This one is directed by great Michigander filmmaker Mark Waters (Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)).
Freaky Friday distinguishes itself as a surprisingly good and funny high-concept chick-flick fantasy romcom; it is totally banal and predictable but well-made.
The story is handled very well, and the film has funny scenes (like the talkshow and rock concert scenes) and good performances from Lindsay Lohan (Just My Luck (2006)) and especially Jamie Lee Curtis (Scream Queens (2015-16)), which make it thrive. Body language and phrases are aptly swapped between the two characters, making this a funny and well-written hit for all.

Related posts:

Mark Waters: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011) - Waters and Carrey's great family movie 
Mean Girls (2004) - Lohan, Waters and Fey's high school satire triumph

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

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

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 20 mil. $
Box office: 160.8 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 8.04 times its cost)
[Freaky Friday premiered 4 August (Hollywood, California) and runs 97 minutes. Jodie Foster, star of the 1976 iteration, declined the offer for Curtis' role, which Annette Bening was then signed on to play but dropped due to family obligations; Curtis only got the role 4 days before filming began. Filming took place in California, including Los Angeles, from October - December 2002. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release S.W.A.T., to a 22.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 4 weeks in the top 5 (#4-#4-#2-#4) and grossed 110.2 mil. $ (68.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 11.9 mil. $ (7.4 %) and Germany with 6 mil. $ (3.7 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, in line with this review. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe. Waters returned with Mean Girls (2004). Lohan returned in 3 shorts before her next theatrical appearance in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), Curtis in Christmas with the Kranks (2004). Freaky Friday is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Freaky Friday?

Faces (1968) or, John Cassavetes' LA Misery circa 1968

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A hype-filled poster with a strip of pictures of faces from the film, John Cassavetes' Faces

SPOILER At an overwrought drinking  party of three people, a man decides to leave his wife, who goes on to have sex with a younger man - and attempts suicide.

Faces is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker John Cassavetes (A Woman Under the Influence (1974)), whose 4th feature it is. It is an intense and impressive B/W drama, which feels a lot like a play. The title is highly auspicious, as the film is ripe with facial close-ups.
The cinematography (by Al Ruban (Love Streams (1984)), Maurice McEndree (Devil's Angels (1967, actor)) and Haskel Wexler (Face in the Rain (1963))) has a curious, youthful feel to it, whereas the characters are a heavy Los Angeles-set gallery of ennui, despair, quick remarks and an endless pool of unfunny jokes, which the characters themselves laugh loudly at.
Gena Rowlands (Gloria (1980)) is fantastic in Faces, but the film, which is a strong example of its time, certainly, does impress me as somewhat self-indulgent and self-centered.

Related posts:

John Cassavetes: The Fury (1978) - De Palma's telekinetic powers run amuck! (starring actor) 
A Woman Under the Influence (1974) or, Family Dysfunction (writer/director)
The Dirty Dozen (1967) - Aldrich's rough WWII super-entertainment (starring actor)
Edge of the City (1957) - Poitier gleams in Ritt's idealistic debut (starring actor)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 275k $
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain (but reportedly a 'surprise box office success' - source: Jesse Ziegelstein, UCLA Film and Television Archive)
[Faces premiered in March (Beverly Hills, California) and runs 130 minutes, - a Criterion release cut runs 147 minutes, and Cassavetes' long cut ran 183 minutes and is lost. Cassavetes wrote, directed and financed the film with his wife Rowlands in the main part, shooting most of the film in their own Los Angeles home. Post production reportedly took 3 years. Info on the film's box office earnings are regrettably not available online. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to two notches better than this one. It was nominated for 3 Oscars: It lost Best Supporting Actor (Seymour Cassel (Little New York (2009))) to Jack Albertson for The Subject Was Roses, Supporting Actress (Lynn Carlin (Insight (1974-80))) to Ruth Gordon for Rosemary's Baby, and Original Screenplay to Mel Brooks for The Producers. The film won 2 awards at the Venice Film Festival. Cassavetes returned with Husbands (1970)). Rowlands returned in Nick Quarry (1968, short) and theatrically in Machine Gun McCain (1969). Faces is fresh at 85 % with a 7.2/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Faces?

Final Destination 3 (2006) - Winstead bores in Wong's dumb turkey

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Something goes haywire on a rollercoaster full of young people on this excitement-building poster for James Wong's Final Destination 3

A deadly rollercoaster accident is presaged by our protagonist, who gets off the ride in the last moment along with a group of morons, as the accident actually takes place, whereupon the saved individuals begin dying one by one ...

Final Destination 3 is written by Glen Morgan (Willard (2003)) and co-writer/co-producer/director James Wong (The One (2001)), who also directed the franchise's first film, Final Destination (2000)).
Boring Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Sky High (2005)) is our lead, and she plays across from Ryan Merriman (In the Rough (2017, TV-series)), who plays a boring guy, and the rest of the cast is rounded out by college-aged twits, one stupider than the next.
The opening disaster is a lot of fun and handsomely staged, but apart from that the film, including its elaborately staged death scenes, is pretty lame. Nothing from the previous two films is reinvented, and nothing is added to the established rule book of Final Destination either.
Final Destination 3 is a really poor one, SPOILER and it has an enormous train-centered finale, which seems like it is simply added to boost the running time.

Related posts:

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Final Destination franchise: Final Destination 2 (2003) - Ellis's sequel is a ridiculous but impressive and entertaining array of wicked mayhem
Final Destination (2000) - Wong's entertaining death chiller kicks off a lucrative fatalistic teen franchise (also directed by James Wong)

Watch a clip from the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 117.7 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.70 times its cost)
[Final Destination 3 premiered 9 February (Thailand) and runs 93 minutes. Shooting took place in Vancouver, British Columbia from March - June 2005 with reshoots in November 2005. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Pink Panther, to a 19.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more week in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 54 mil. $ (45.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 15.8 mil. $ (13.4 %) and Germany with 4.9 mil. $ (4.2 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Wong returned with Dragonball: Evolution (2009). Winstead returned in Bobby (2006). The franchise continued with The Final Destination (2009). Final Destination 3 is rotten at 43 % with a 5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Final Destination 3?

Fantasia (1940) - Disney's classical music experimentation, an animated feature unlike any other

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Beloved Mickey Mouse, with cherubs, a flying horse, intense darkness and a prominent foreign last name stand out on this original poster for Disney's Fantasia

Fantasia is Disney's 3rd feature film, a grand, experimental expedition that combines animation with classic music; 8 sequences with each their piece of music.

The film has no less than 25 story and writer's credits, (too many to list here), and the following 12 directors handled the various segments: Debuting James Algar (The Wind in the Willows (1949, short)), debuting Samuel Armstrong (Dumbo (1941)), debuting Ford Beebe Jr. (Challenge to Be Free (1975)), Norman Ferguson (The Three Caballeros (1944)), David Hand (Pluto's Judgement Day (1935, short)), debuting Jim Handley (Pinocchio (1940, assistant director), T. Hee (Pinocchio), Wilfred Jackson (Cinderella (1950)), Hamilton Luske (Alice in Wonderland (1951)), Bill Roberts (Mickey and the Beanstalk (1947, short)), debuting Paul Satterfield (Bambi (1942)) and Ben Sharpsteen (Polar Trappers (1938, short)), all working under the ultimate leadership of the film's champion and father Walt Disney.
Some of the finest classical music ever made (conductor Leopold Stokowski) plays to more or less abstract animations; of the orchestra, lines and circles, Mickey Mouse, - who was reestablished as the iconic animated Disney character that he is with Fantasia, - grotesque gods, animals, ghosts etc.
Fantasia is Disney's fantastical gift to us, his audiences past, present and future, which is a playful time with musicality, movement and expressions. It is an enchanting and beautiful animation, (if a bit long at times.)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 2.28 mil. $
Box office: 76.4 mil. $ - North America only
= Mega-hit (returned more than 33.50 times its cost)
[Fantasia premiered 13 November (New York) and runs 126 minutes (several shorter cuts exist). Development began in 1936 with Disney's intent to reestablish Mickey Mouse with a film that used classical music actively and in a new way, and his meeting and cooperation with the enthusiastic conductor Stokowski was instrumental for the creation of the film. The Disney company, far from the established media giant of today, went financially out on a limb to create the very costly and risky endeavor, which among other things revolutionized cinema sound, presenting the first stereophonic sound experience for audiences. Developing this took approximately 1/5th of the film's total cost. The film originally played successfully in North and South America as a roadshow engagement with elevated prices, but as the new sound system had to be installed at every venue, - and because WWII shut the film out of most of Europe for its first several years, - it would not be until 1969 that Fantasia began to turn a profit, as college kids embraced the film for its psychedelic qualities. The film was re-released several times; the 1990 reissue grossed 25 mil. $ domestically. It also became a highly profitable home video title for Disney; one estimation puts its profits from this venue at 120 mil. $! Fantasia won 2 honorary Oscars in 1942. It also won a National Board of Review award. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Disney had envisioned Fantasia as a film that would be shown in a new version every few years, which didn't happen, but a sequel was released with flop Fantasia 2000 (1999). Disney returned with Dumbo (1941). Fantasia is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Fantasia?

Top 10: Best Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

1. Hunger/Sult/Svält (1966) - Henning Carlsen

2. Italian for Beginners/Italiensk for Begyndere (2000) - Lone Scherfig

3. The Art of Crying/Kunsten at Græde i Kor (2006) - Peter Schønau Fog
 

4. Only God Forgives (2013) - Nicolas Winding Refn

5. Love Is All You Need/Den Skaldede Frisør (2012) - Susanne Bier

6. The Great Day on the Beach/Den Store Badedag (1991) - Stellan Olsson

7. The Mysterious X/Det Hemmelighedsfulde X/Orders Under Seal/Sealed Orders (1914) - Benjamin Christensen

8. Benny's Bathtub/Bennys Badekar (1971) - Jannik Hastrup, Flemming Quist Møller

9. The Boss of It All/Direktøren for Det Hele (2006) - Lars Von Trier

10. Qivitoq (1956) - Erik Balling 

Other Danish masterpieces reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order):

Burma VJ/Burma VJ: Reporter i et Lukket Land/Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country (2008, documentary) - Anders Østergaard
Zentropa/Europe (1991) - Lars Von Trier 

Other great Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order):

A Hijacking/Kapringen (2012) - Tobias Lindholm
A Royal Affair/En Kongelig Affære (2012) - Nikolaj Arcel
A Soap/En Soap (2006) - Pernille Fischer Christensen 
A War/Krigen (2015) - Tobias Lindholm
A World Not Ours (2012, documentary) - Mahdi Fleifel
Armadillo (2010, documentary) - Janus Metz 
The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Bear/Drengen Der Ville Gøre det Umulige/The Boy Who Wanted to Do the Impossible (2002) - Jannik Hastrup 
Dogville (2003) - Lars Von Trier 
The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1/De Unge År: Erik Nietzsche Sagaen Del 1 (2007) - Jacob Thuesen
Family (2001, documentary) - Phie Ambo, Sami Saif 
The Five Obstructions/De Fem Benspænd (2003, documentary) - Jørgen Leth, Lars Von Trier 
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo/Män Som Hatar Kvinnor (2009) - Niels Arden Oplev
Klown/Klovn: The Movie (2010) - Mikkel Nørgaard 
Nothing's All Bad/Smukke Mennesker (2010) - Mikkel Munch-Fals 
R/R: Hit First, Hit Hardest (2010) - Tobias Lindholm, Michael Noer 
Speed Walking/Kapgang (2014) - Niels Arden Oplev
What's Wrong with This Picture?/Tid til Forandring (2004) - Lotte Svendsen

Other good, recommendable Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order):

A Funny Man/Dirch (2011) - Martin Zandvliet
A Stranger Knocks/En Fremmed Banker På (1959) - Johan Jacobsen 
Antichrist (2009) - Lars Von Trier
Allegro (2005) - Christoffer Boe
Applause (2009) - Martin Zandvliet
Bleeder (1999) - Nicolas Winding Refn
Boy/Dreng (2011) - Peter Gantzler 
Brotherhood/Broderskab (2009) - Nicolo Donato
Brothers/Brødre (2004) - Susanne Bier
Camping (2009) - Jacob Bitsch 
Cecilie (2007) - Hans Fabian Wullenweber
Daisy Diamond (2007) - Simon Staho 
Dancer in the Dark (2000) - Lars Von Trier
Danmark (1935, documentary) - Poul Henningsen 
Epidemic (1987) - Lars Von Trier 
Fighter (2007) - Natascha Arthy 
Flame & Citron/Flammen og Citronen (2008) - Ole Christian Madsen 
The Hunt/Jagten (2012) - Thomas Vinterberg
In a Better World/Hævnen (2010) - Susanne Bier 
In Real Life/Det Andet Liv (2014) - Jonas Elmer
The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear/Den Utrolige Historie om den Kæmpestore Pære (2017) - Amalie Næsby Fick, Jørgen Lerdam and Philip Einstein Lipski 
Klown Forever/Klovn Forever (2015) - Mikkel Nørgaard 
Long Story Short/Lang Historie Kort (2015) - May el-Toukhy 
Melancholia (2011) - Lars Von Trier
Northwest/Nordvest (2013) - Michael Noer 
The Salvation (2014) - Kristian Levring
Shake It All About/En Kort En Lang/Shake It (2001) - Hella Joof 
Sorrow and Joy/Sorg og Glæde (2013) - Nils Malmros 
Stolen Spring/Det Forsømte Forår (1993) - Peter Schrøder
Submarino (2010) - Thomas Vinterberg 
Teddy Bear/10 Timer til Paradis (2012) - Mads Matthiesen 
Terribly Happy/Frygtelig Lykkelig (2008) - Henrik Ruben Genz 
Truth about Men/Sandheden om Mænd (2010) - Nikolaj Arcel 
We Shall Overcome/Drømmen (2006) - Niels Arden Oplev 

Mediocre, poor and/or failed Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order):

A Family/En Familie (2010) - Pernille Fischer Christensen
A Fortunate Man/Lykke-Per (2018) - Bille August 
Accused/Anklaget (2005) - Jacob Thuesen
All for One/Alle for Én (2011) - Rasmus Heide 
Chop Chop/Fukssvansen (2001) - Niels Arden Oplev
The Element of Crime/Forbrydelsens Element (1984) - Lars Von Trier 
The Elite/Eliten (2015) - Thomas Daneskov 
The House that Jack Built (2018) - Lars Von Trier 
The Keeper of Lost Causes/Kvinden i Buret (2013) - Mikkel Nørgaard
Memories of My Melancholy Whores/Memoria de Mis Putas Tristes (2011) - Henning Carlsen 
Open Hearts/Elsker Dig for Evigt (2002) - Susanne Bier 
This Life/Hvidsten Gruppen (2012) - Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis 
Ticket to Romance/En Enkelt til Korsør (2008) - Gert Fredholm 

Danish turkey movies reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order):

AFR (2007) - Morten Hartz Kapler
How to Get Rid of the Others/Hvordan Vi Slipper Af med de Andre (2007) - Anders Rønnow Klarlund 
Take the Trash/Blå Mænd (2008) - Rasmus Heide 

[79 titles in total]

Previous Top 10 lists:

The best action movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best adapted movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best 'box office success' movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Top 10: Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date Top 10: Best crime movies reviewed by Film Excess to date   
Top 10: Best debut movies reviewed by Film Excess to date


What do you think of the list?
Which Danish movies would be on yours?
What worthwhile Danish movies are missing?

Finding Neverland (2004) - Forster and an inspired cast strike gold with story of Peter Pan's creation

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+ Best London Movie of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Freddie Highmore

A splash of fantastic imagination and two fresh-faced major stars tempt on this poster for Marc Forster's Finding Neverland

Scottish writer James Barrie locates his inner boy again, as he connects with a London family consisting of a widow and her four sons, which enables him to invent and write the adventure of Peter Pan.

Finding Neverland is written by David Magee (Life of Pi (2012)), based on the play The Man Who Was Peter Pan (1998)) by Allan Knee (Little Women (2005)), which centers on the true story of writer J.M Barrie's creation of the Peter Pan character in the early 20th century. The film is directed by great German filmmaker Marc Forster (Machine Gun Preacher (2011)).
Finding Neverland is a heartbreaker and an extremely soothing watch. It has wonderfully adventurous parts and outstanding performances from Johnny Depp (Dark Shadows (2012)), Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road (2008)), Julie Christie (Don't Look Now (1973)) and the boy actors, particularly Freddie Highmore (I Saw You (2002, TV-series)).
Not all of the visual ideas are resolved completely satisfactorily, but the film is splendid.

Related posts:

Marc Forster: 2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]  

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
World War Z (2013) - Forster, Pitt and Co.'s preposterous zombie junk   

Machine Gun Preacher (2011) - Butler finds faith and a Sudanese purpose in Forster's incredible true story 

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

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 116.7 mil. $
=  Big hit (returned 4.66 times its cost)
[Finding Neverland premiered 4 September (Venice Film Festival, Italy and Telluride Film Festival, Colorado) and runs 101 minutes. Shooting took place in the UK, including London, in and around June 2002. The release was halted for a year due to a rights dispute with Miramax, who were releasing a major Peter Pan (2003) film, (which became a huge flop). The film opened #26 to a 220k $ first weekend in 8 theaters in North America and peaked at #8 and in 1,411 theaters (different weeks), grossing 51.6 mil. $ (44.2 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 9 mil. $ (7.7 %) and Italy with 8 mil. $ (6.9 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal to its rating here. The film was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning one, for Best Score (Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Horsemen (2009))). It lost Best Picture to Million Dollar Baby, Actor (Depp) to Jamie Foxx in Ray, Adapted Screenplay to Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for Sideways, Art Direction, Editing and Costume Design to The Aviator. It was also nominated for 5 Golden Globes, 11 BAFTAs, won 3 National Board of Review awards and many other honors. The film has since been turned into a successful stage musical. Forster returned with Stay (2005). Depp returned in The Libertine (2004), Winslet in Extras (2005, TV-series) and theatrically in Romance & Cigarettes (2005), Christie in The Secret Life of Words (2005)) and Dustin Hoffman (Marathon Man (1976)) in I Heart Huckabees (2004)). Finding Neverland is certified fresh at 82 % with a 7.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Finding Neverland?