Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020, VOD)

7/25/2020

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020, VOD) - Hilarious Ferrell comeback

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+ Best Comeback of the Year: Will Ferrell + Best Music Movie of the Year

Two united melodious believers adjoin on this poster for Dave Dobkin's Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Lars of Iceland is a middle-aged man living in his publicly shameful father's house. As this arrangement is coming to an end, Lars' dream of going to the Eurovision Song Contest comes to life, performing with his singing partner Sigrit.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is written by Andrew Steele (The Cicada Hunk (2015)) and co-writer/co-producer/co-star Will Ferrell (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)) and directed by Dave Dobkin (52nd St. Serenade (1992)).
Based on the fascinating broadcast phenomenon that is the Eurovision, the world's biggest song contest, which attracts around a couple of hundred million viewers every year, - but is not widely known outside of Europe, - the film has a ball with the outlandish costumes, uncool lyrics and gimmicks that always surround the contestants. The Iceland setting invites more fun, as the Viking-rooted, deeply peaceful and naive residents suddenly have the world's attention, - or at least so they are portrayed here.
Rachel McAdams (The Family Stone (2005)) is funny and does a good impression of the good-natured, comfortable and sweetly naive Scandinavian woman. Will Ferrell (Stranger than Fiction (2006)), who has slumped in countless comedies way under his earlier level in recent years, returns to form here with a very funny performance in a film that is obviously deliberately 'clean' enough for family consumption. (The 'pure' Icelandic protagonists make the absence of foul language and awkward sex scenes auspicious.) Pierce Brosnan (The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (1996)) is great as Ferrell's hugely disapproving father, an exaggerated type of stock character; their scenes together are among the film's funniest.
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, - a title that also matches the awkwardness of the often hilarious Eurovision acts, - also has Dan Stevens (The Guest (2014)) a real delight as the show's popular Russian act, an over-compensating super-macho (but closeted gay) singer of wealth, who tries to lure Sigrit from Lars. Both Stevens and McAdams/Ferrell do quite good accents, and the implicit critique of Russia's anti-gay policies is appreciated much, not least in the (very gay) Eurovision context. The film also has a visiting American quartet of random young tourists, who are effectively set in their place in a few scenes that are also funny because they showcase the rampant anti-Americanism in Europe under President Trump. No doubt much of the inspiration and fun in this film stems from Ferrell's being married to a Swedish woman in real life.
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga takes no new ground, and it isn't a nonstop barrage of laughs, but it's a damn good time with a beloved star returning to something with a sweeter edge to it. And then it has songs like Double Trouble, Lion of Love and, yeah, the really memorable: Jaja Ding Dong!

Watch the Volcano Man music video from the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: None - VOD
= Uncertain
[Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga premiered 26 June (Netflix) and runs 123 minutes. Ferrell was introduced to the Eurovision by his Swedish wife in 1999. He attended the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal to research for the script. Shooting took place in Iceland, the UK, including London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in Tel Aviv, Israel. 3.6 mil. $ were reportedly spent in Iceland, of which 1 mil. $ was the Icelandic government's contribution in the form of a production incentive. The release, which was to coincide with the 2020 Eurovision in May, was pushed out due to the Corona crisis cancelling the song contest. The film became the top-ranked streaming item in the North-American Netflix service as well as in many other markets. The budget and viewership data are regrettably kept secret by Netflix. Dobkin returned with Resident Alien (2020, TV-series) and is slated to return theatrically with Wedding Crashers 2 (announced). Ferrell has 6 upcoming projects, among them a TV-series, currently 5 of them in pre-production and the last one just announced; McAdams returns in Sherlock Holmes 3 (2021). Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is fresh at 63 % with a 5.78/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

7/25/2020

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020, VOD) - Hilarious Ferrell comeback

2020 in films - according to Film Excess

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