Garden State (2004) - Braff's hugely overrated deadweight debut

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+ Most Overrated Movie of the Year

Three stars wearing trash bags screaming on top of an abandoned locomotive make up this quizzical poster for Zach Braff's Garden State

A young man returns home to his mother's funeral. His father also acts as his psychiatrist, who has kept him on anti-depressants ever since he was involved in his mother's accident that left her in a wheelchair. But now he meets a lovely girl, and everything changes.

Garden State is written and directed by debuting Zach Braff (Scrubs (2001-10)), who also stars in it as protagonist Andrew. 
The fundamentally interesting story of the medicating father is what attracts about Garden State, and Ian Holm (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)) is a scoop for the film as Andrew's father.  But Braff in the lead shows no promises as a dramatic actor here, and his character never grabs our interest, perhaps because he is so painfully suppressed and wimpy at the same time, across from Natalie Portman (My Blueberry Nights (2007)) as the film's excitable Manic Pixie Dream Girl-type male fantasy stock character. 
Garden State is overly stuffed with 'mood-setting' hit songs, which doesn't keep it from deflating like a turgid piece of cutesy indie pastry puff. In fact Garden State is at its most aggravating when it is semi-sophisticated.

 

Related post:

 

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

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 2.5 mil. $
Box office: 35.8 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 14.32 times its cost)
[Garden State premiered 16 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 102 minutes. Shooting took place from April - May 2003 in New Jersey, Los Angeles, California and in New York. The film opened #30 to a 201k $ first weekend in 9 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #11 and in 813 theaters (different weeks), grossing 26.7 mil. $ (74.6 % of the gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK and France, each with 2 mil. $ (5.6 %). The film won 1/2 Independent Spirit award nominations, a Grammy and 1/2 National Board of Review nominations, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 3 notches higher than this one. Braff returned with 3 TV and video projects before his theatrical return, Wish I Was Here (2014). As an actor he returned with a voice performance in Chicken Little (2005) and 3 TV and video titles prior to his physical theatrical return in The Last Kiss (2006); Peter Sarsgaard (The Sound of Silence (2019)) in Kinsey (2004); Portman in True (2004, short) and theatrically in Closer (2004); and Holm in The Day After Tomorrow (2004). Garden State is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.44/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Garden State?

The Grudge (2004) - Some scares lurk in Shimizu's flawed J-horror remake

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A terrified eye stares out from a deathly pale face behind pitch black hair on the simple poster for Takashi Shimizu's The Grudge

A man jumps to his death. An old tragedy concerning a boy, who killed his mother, seems to be the underlying cause. Now they haunt a home with a passion.

The Grudge is written by Stephen Susco (Red (2008)) and directed by Takashi Shimizu (Ten Nights of Dreams/Yume jû-ya (2006, segment)) who remakes his own Ju-on: The Curse/Ju-on (2000, video), which he had already remade once in Japan as Ju-on: The Grudge/Ju-on (2002)
The film is entertaining, and it has its scary moments and effects, such as the staircase and bathroom scenes. 
But Sarah Michelle Gellar's (All My Children (1993-11)) character is regrettably blank throughout the film, making the blond actress herself look inauspiciously ignorant in The Grudge. And the many Americans who flock Tokyo in the film seem strange. Overall The Grudge is a mediocre horror.

Watch a 2-minute scene from the film here

Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 187.2 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 18.72 times its cost)
[The Grudge premiered 12 October (Los Angeles) and runs 91 minutes. The enormous success of J-horror remake The Ring (2002) led to the greenlighting of The Grudge. Shooting took place from January - July 2004 in Tokyo, Japan. The film opened #1 to a 39.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week at #1 and one more week in the top 5 (#3), grossing 110.7 mil. $ (59.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 14.4 mil. $ (7.7 %) and Italy with 6.2 mil. $ (3.3 %). It was the first horror film to top the Halloween box office since House on Haunted Hill (1999). It made 9.24 mil. $ on the North-American home video market in its first week of release alone. Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 3 notches lower than this one. Shimizu directed the first, much less successful sequel The Grudge 2 (2006), but not the next, The Grudge 3 (2009, video) or the moderately successful reboot The Grudge (2020). Shimizu returned with The Great Horror Family/Kaiki daikazoku (2004, TV-series) and theatrically with Reincarnation/Rinne (2005). Gellar returned in Southland Tales (2006). The Grudge is rotten at 39 % with a 5.11/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Grudge?

The Great Escape (1963) - Sturges' further manly exploits in war-adventure classic

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An elaborate, dramatically drawn and painted poster for John Sturges' The Great Escape, which effectively screws up expectations

The [in fact far from] true story of the ambitious escape mission from German POW camp Stalag Luft III during WWII by mainly English and American officers.

The Great Escape is written by W.R. Burnett (Sergeants 3 (1962)) and James Clavell (Five Gates to Hell (1959)), adapting the same-titled 1950 book by a survivor of the camp, Paul Brickhill (The Dam Busters (1951)), and directed by John Sturges (The Man Who Dared (1946)).
Compared to some of the other great prison escape films, I don't count The Great Escape among the most suspenseful, and the filmmakers' multi-character approach carries a large part of the guilt for this. Even so this popular classic is ripe with beautiful images, (cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp (A New Kind of Love (1963))) and in the very manly cast especially Richard Attenborough (Secret Flight (1946)) is in top shape in it.

Related posts:

John Sturges:  The Eagle Has Landed (1976) - Sturges' enjoyable, last man's adventure
Chino/Valdez, Il Mezzosangue/Valdez the Half BreedThe Valdez Horses (1973) - Bronson is his own man only in Sturges' good spaghetti western

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3.8-4 mil. $ (different accounts)
Box office: In excess of 11.9 mil. $
= Uncertain - but at least a box office success and more likely a big hit (returned at least 2.92 times its cost in North America alone)
[The Great Escape premiered 20 June (London) and runs 172 minutes. Brickhill played a minor part in the escape mission in the Stalag Luft III camp but lived to tell the story: 50 allied airmen were executed as punishment for the escape, which only succeeded in getting 3 free; two Norwegians and one Dutch. The book had first been adapted for TV in 1951. Many in the star-studded cast had served in the war, including Attenborough, Charles Bronson and Donald Pleasance (who actually spent a year captured in the German Stalag Luft I POW camp); James Garner (The Pink Jungle (1968)) served in the Korean War. Shooting took place from June - October 1962 in Germany. Steve McQueen (The Reivers (1969)) did his own driving in the film's famous climactic motorcycle chase, except for the jump stunt, which was performed by stuntman Bud Ekins. The film changes the actual history on several fronts, making composite characters of altered nationalities and changing many facts surrounding the escape. It was the year's 10th highest rental grossing title in North America and likely similarly popular internationally, although gross numbers are regrettably not reported online. It was nominated for an Oscar: Best Editing, lost to How the West Was Won. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. It has been re-released many times, recently a 2019 re-release in the UK grossed the film another 227k $. An unofficial TV movie sequel was made; The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988). IMDb's users have voted the film in at #137 on the site's Top 250, sitting between Howl's Moving Castle (2004) and All about Eve (1950). Sturges returned with The Satan Bug (1965). McQueen returned in Soldier in the Rain (1963)); Garner in The Thrill of It All (1963)); and Attenborough in The Third Secret (1964). The Great Escape is certified fresh at 94 % with an 8.27/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Great Escape?

Top 10: Best drug-themed movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

 

1. Amy (2015, documentary) - Asif Kapadia

2. Birds of Passage/Pájaros de Verano (2018) - Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra

3. Altered States (1980) - Ken Russell
 

4. With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II/Pusher II (2004) - Nicolas Winding Refn

5. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) - Terry Gilliam
 

6. Easy Rider (1969) - Dennis Hopper  

7. Bad Lieutenant (1992) - Abel Ferrara

8. The French Connection (1971) - William Friedkin

9. Keep the Lights On (2012) - Ira Sachs

10. Kids (1995) - Larry Clark 

Chosen out of 51 titles labeled 'drugs'

Previous Top 10 lists:

Best action movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best adapted movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
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
Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date        
Best crime movies reviewed by Film Excess to date         
Best debut movies reviewed by Film Excess to date     
Best Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Best Disney movies reviewed by Film Excess to date     
Best documentaries reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Best dramas reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Best dramedies reviewed by Film Excess to date

What do you think of the list?
Which drug-themed movies would make your personal Top 10?

Gladiator (2000) - Experience the grandeur of the Roman Empire in Scott's dramatic masterpiece

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Star Russell Crowe stands tall on one of the most iconic posters of the 2000s, for Ridley Scott's Gladiator

Gladiator is the story of ancient Rome's best general, who gets hunted savagely, when the emperor is murdered by his mad son, and the general is demoted to become a gladiator, who changes the foundation of the empire.

Gladiator is written by David Franzoni (Amistad (1997)), John Logan (Hugo (2011)) and William Nicholson (Grey Owl (1999)) and directed by English master filmmaker Ridley Scott (The Duellists (1977)), whose 11th feature it is.
It is a magnificent spectacle, which is accompanied by some extraordinary performances from Russell Crowe (Boy Erased (2018)), Joaquin Phoenix (Hotel Rwanda (2004)), - who is really loathsome and serpentlike and yet still humanly credible as the film's villain Commodus, - Connie Nielsen (Battle in Seattle (2007)) and Oliver Reed (Blind Justice (1988)), truly terrific in his career's last role: Reed passed away from a heart attack during production, and the remaining shots of him were created with visual effects.
The cinematography by John Mathieson (Kingdom of Heaven (2005)) is matchless. The lengthy film is expertly edited, not a second too long. The suspense is intense. SPOILER The ending is a kind of beautiful song to the bliss of afterlife. Gladiator is a triumph for everyone involved.

Related posts:

Ridley Scott:  Prometheus (2012) or, Even Then, Space Eggs Were Bad News
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Robin Hood (2010) - R. Scott's grand film of the English legend 

2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2008 in films - according to Film Excess 

Body of Lies (2008) - R. Scott's terror actioner is a fatiguing turkey 

2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2007 in films - according to Film Excess 

American Gangster (2007) - Great American - now black - gangster picture
A Good Year (2006) - Ridley Scott likes Provence

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Blade Runner (1982) director's cut - Visual extravaganza, great SF 
Alien (1979) or, Space Eggs Are Bad News

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 103 mil. $
Box office: 460.5 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.47 times its cost)
[Gladiator premiered 1 May (Los Angeles) and runs 155 minutes. Scott envisioned Gladiator as a revitalization of the sword-and-sandal epic previously championed by Ben-Hur (1959) and Spartacus (1960). Filming began with an unfinished script; shooting took place from January - May 1999 in Malta, the UK, Italy and in California. Crowe balked at the script problems and himself came up with some of his lines. A replica about 1:3 the size of the actual Colosseum was built in Malta at the cost of 1 mil. $. Reed's sudden perishing from a heart attack during production necessitated 3.2 mil. $ spent to digitally create the roughly 2 minutes of footage with him that was not shot yet. Although Scott set out to portray the Roman empire with unheard of authenticity, the film is ripe with fictionalizations, anachronisms and changes of historical facts. The film opened #1 to a 34.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for another weekend and spent another 5 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#3-#4-#5-#5), grossing 187.7 mil. $ (40.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 47.7 mil. $ (10.4 %) and France with 24.4 mil. $ (5.3 %). The film was nominated for 12 Oscars, winning 5: For Best Picture, Actor, Costumes, Sound and Visual Effects. It lost Best Supporting Actor (Phoenix) to Benicio del Toro in Traffic, Art Direction to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Cinematography also to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Peter Pau), Director to Steven Soderbergh for Traffic, Editing also to Traffic, Score (Hans Zimmer) to Dun Tan for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Original Script to Cameron Crowe for Almost Famous. It also won 2/5 Golden Globe nominations, 5/15 BAFTA nominations, an AFI award, was nominated for a European Film award and a Grammy and won 3 National Board of Review awards among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to 4 notches lower than this one. IMDb's users have voted the film in at #41 on the site's Top 250, sitting between Psycho (1960) and City Lights (1931). Sequel plans have brewed since the film's success: Crowe engaged Nick Cave to write a script, which was eventually discarded. Another plan for a sequel plot is still in development. Scott returned with Hannibal (2001). Crowe returned in Proof of Life (2000). Gladiator is certified fresh at 77 % with a 7.27/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Gladiator?

Gamera the Invincible/Daikaijû Gamera/Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965) - The birth of the child-friendly turtle kaiju

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A sensationalistic, nothing short of fabulous poster for Sandy Howard and Noriaki Yuasa's Gamera, the Giant Monster

Before the film's title sequence a Russian jet plane gets shot down and explodes in Alaska with an atomic bomb, which goes off, and an enormous fire-spouting turtle, who can fly like a UFO, gets created.

Gamera, the Giant Monster is written by Richard Kraft (American scenes) and Niisan Takahashi (Kemeko no uta (1968)) and directed by Sandy Howard (Diary of a Bachelor (1964)) (American scenes) and Noriaki Yuasa (Shiawasa nara te o tatake (1964)).
What follows after the events detailed above is what feels like quite a long movie, though the film is shorter than 90 minutes. The effects impress, as when Gamera the flying turtle knocks over nuclear reactors. But there is also a ridiculous sub-plot about a boy, who really cares for the giant monster.
SPOILER In the end Gamera gets locked inside a giant capsule and sent to Mars, meanwhile the Gamera song, (it's pretty bad yeah), gets played again, and the screen excitedly proclaims as from the mouths of its expectedly enthused audiences; Sayonara Gamera!

Related post:

Gamera franchise: Destroy All Planets/Gamera vs. Viras/Gamera Vs. Space Monster Viras/ガメラ対宇宙怪獣バイラス (Gamera tai uchū Kaijū Bairasu) (1968) - Unmitigated kaiju trash

Watch a great chronological collection of Gamera trailers that runs 20 minutes here

Cost: 40 mil. ¥
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain - but reportedly a big hit in Japan
[Gamera, the Giant Monster was released 27 November (Japan) and runs around 78-86 minutes (different versions). Made as a more child-friendly rival to Toho's popular Godzilla (1954), the film was first intended to feature live rats attacking a miniature city. But the rats gotten for the film turned out to have fleas and were removed, the story was rewritten and resultingly the Gamera monster was created. The cost is under half of the one for Godzilla (100 mil. ¥). The film was reportedly a big hit in Japan, where production of a sequel was instantly begun with an elevated budget on par with Godzilla's. An Americanized version with some new scenes, dubbed dialog and a new theme song was created and released in December 1966. It is the only Gamera film to get a North-American release, and its gross numbers are regrettably unknown. Gamera returned in Gamera vs. Barugon (1966) and 10 later sequels. Howard returned with King of Africa/Caccia ai Violenti (1968); Yuasa with Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967). 2,533 IMDb users have given Gamera: The Giant Monster (the Japanese version of the film) an average 5.0/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Gamera the Invincible?

Go with Peace, Jamil/Gå med Fred, Jamil (2008) - Shargawi's charged Danish-Muslim spiral of violence drama-thriller

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+ Copenhagen Movie of the Year + Best Drama-Thriller of the Year + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.05

A rough male hand with rings, an Islamic tattoo and a lid cigarette makes up the sparse image on this poster for Omar Shargawi's Go with Peace, Jamil

Danish immigrant Muslim Jamil kills a man who has taken part in the murdering of his mother many years ago, a vengeance that mirrors the centuries old Islamic rift between the Sunni and Shia camps. This starts a spiral of violence that is hard to end again.

Go with Peace, Jamil is written by coaching writer Mogens Rukov (Elise (1985)) and debuting co-writer/director/actor Omar Shargawi (Al Medina (2015)).
The problem with this Copenhagen-set Arab revenge drama thriller is its first 45 minutes, in which I didn't care for any of the characters; combined with the fact that we don't know who Jamil murders, or why.
This is a shame. Because with the needed patience, the viewer is then treated to some powerful scenes of Jamil with his father and son, which are very beautiful and full of truth, with tremendous performances to boot. Jamil actor Dar Salim (Lommbock (2017)) has since become a local star, but the rest are amateur actors, and the work achieved is remarkable.
The ending is uncompromising as a strong anti-violence statement. Go with Peace, Jamil is, despite its flaws, a recommendable crackerjack of a movie.

 

Related post:

 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

Watch a trailer for the film with English subtitles here

Cost: 10 mil. DKK, approximately 1.47 mil. $
Box office: 87k $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.05 times its cost)
[Go with Peace, Jamil premiered 28 January (International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The film sold 5,310 tickets in production country Denmark: The Danes did not respond much to the mostly Arab language film, and the country's considerable Muslim minority also did not flock out to see the film. This reportedly gave it a mere 83k $ total gross, - figuring with a tall 15 $ ticket prize, - and the only 2 other markets listed at the film's Box Office Mojo page are Norway and Greece with 2 and 1k $ grosses. The film was shown in several more markets, mainly at festivals. It was nominated for 2 Roberts (Danish Oscar). Shargawi returned with Fra Haifaa til Nørrebro (2010, documentary) and theatrically with a segment in anthology drama Do Not Forget Me Istanbul (2010). Salim returned in Livvagterne (2009, TV-series), 2900 Happiness (2009, TV-series) and theatrically in Submarino (2010). 400 IMDb users have given Go with Peace, Jamil a 6.9/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Go with Peace, Jamil?

The Green Butchers/De Grønne Slagtere (2003) - Great performances in Jensen's hilarious morbid comedy

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+ Best Comedy of the Year

Two of the most beloved stars of Danish cinema are going into a meat grinder on this wacky poster for Anders Thomas Jensen's The Green Butchers, which effectively conveys the film's grotesque humor

Svend convinces his joint-smoking butcher friend Bjarne to open their own butcher shop together. Bjarne meanwhile falls in love with local young woman Astrid, while Svend begins to make a signature chicken sausage for the enthusiastic customers. - Made from humans.

The Green Butchers is written and directed by great Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen (Flickering Lights/Blinkende Lygter (2000)).
The wacky story is infused with lots of sharp humor and kooky dialog by Jensen. Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Beast (2011)), Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale (2006)), - whose semi-bald hairpiece in the film is itself a source of great hilarity as inhabited by the wonderfully gifted actor, - Ole Thestrup (Men & Chicken/Mænd og Høns (2015)) and others give outstanding performances.
The Green Butchers is outrageously funny; it is a local favorite that's stands tall as a Danish counterpart to Alfred Hitchcock's hilarious dark comedy The Trouble with Harry (1955). It is a handsome production and probably one of the funniest Danish films ever made.

Related posts:

Anders Thomas Jensen: The Salvation (2014) - Classic western yarn meets Danish dynamite (co-writer)
Love Is All You Need/Den Skaldede Frisør (2012) - Bier strikes gold with Italy-set romcom (co-writer)
In a Better World/Hævnen (2010) - Bier's Big Moral Drama lives on its actors' performances (co-writer)
Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006) - The two Jensens' satire is unrefined but hilarious (writer) 
Murk/Mørke (2005) or, Shutter Jutland (co-writer)

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

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

Open Hearts/Elsker Dig for Evigt (2002) - Bier's excruciating Dogme chamber drama (writer)

Watch a great scene from the film here with English subtitles; (regrettably the format has been cropped)

Cost: 18 mil. DKK, approximately 2.61 mil. $
Box office: Uncertain - but likely around 18 mil. DKK, approximately 2.61 mil. $
= Uncertain, but likely a huge flop (returned around 1 times its cost)
[The Green Butchers premiered 8 March (NatFilm Festival, Denmark) and runs 95 minutes. Shooting took place in Denmark. The film sold 261,726 tickets in production country Denmark, considered a local success but only netting the film around 17 mil. DKK. It was released in many other markets, but mainly at festivals and without the grosses getting recorded online: Only recorded is the tiny North-American release, which grossed 3k $. The film won 1/8 Robert awards (Danish Oscar). Jensen returned with Adam's Apples/Adams Æbler (2005). Mikkelsen returned in Torremolinos 73 (2003); Kaas in Rembrandt (2003); and Line Kruse (Mifune/Mifunes Sidste Sang (1999)) in Baby (2003). The Green Butchers is fresh at 63 % with a 6.26/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Green Butchers?