When Animals Dream/Når Dyrene Drømmer (2014) - Artsy, ineffectual Danish horror debut

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Two menacing, opposite realities seem to be lurking on this poster for Jonas Alexander Arnby's When Animals Dream

In a fishing village in Jutland, Denmark, a young woman begins working at the fish factory, where she soon gets the attention of the opposite sex. Meanwhile she changes physically, which is somehow connected to her mother ...

 

When Animals Dream is written by Rasmus Birch (Miss Viborg (2022)) with Christoffer Boe (Allegro (2005)) and debuting co-writer/director Jonas Alexander Arnby (Hjemvendt (2001, short)) contributing ideas. The English title is a literal translation of the original Danish title.

With a not exactly thrilling lead performance (from debuting Sonia Suhl (Søvn (2018)), who seems a bit old for this to work as a puberty fable, (she was 19 while playing 16), When Animals Dream ventures out with a quiet style that's so underplayed and, regrettably, half-baked that one can barely even call this werewolf movie a werewolf movie. Scenes of identification with the protagonist and scenes of terror are missing, and the film also lacks an escalation and a wildness to it. 

There are a couple of good scenes: SPOILER In one the girl is pushed down into the fish offal by the factory, and in another she chews on glass in front of her father.

Aesthetically an artistic style has been attempted here, but it is too unclear what is aimed for. As a horror flick, When Animals Dream fails.

 

 

Watch a short clip from the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 4 mil. €, approximately 4.01 mil. $

Box office: Around 149k $

=  Box office disaster (returned 0.03 times its cost)

[When Animals Dream premiered 19 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of main competition) and runs 84 minutes. Shooting took place in Jutland and Copenhagen, Denmark. The film sold just 3,296 tickets in Denmark, which, at an 85 DKK average prize comes to just under 38k $ (25.5 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was Germany with 81k $ (54.4 %). Denmark was the 2nd biggest, and Argentina was 3rd biggest with 17k $ (11.4 %). The film was screened on a long row of film festivals and also had releases in a few other markets that are not listed on its Box Office Mojo site, likely because the grosses were too negligible. The film won 2/9 Robert awards (Denmark's Oscar), among other honors. Arnby returned with Exit Plan/Suicide Tourist/Selvmordsturisten (2019). Suhl returned in Teenland (2014, short) and theatrically in Søvn (2018). When Animals Dream is fresh at 73 % with a 6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of When Animals Dream? 

Newcastle (2008) - Overly laid-back surfer boy guilty pleasure

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Four well-shaped surfer boys very closely knit together on this poster for Dan Castle's Newcastle

A group of friends take the gay twin/black sheep along with them for a weekend trip in the dunes with surfing on the menu.

 

Newcastle is written and directed by debuting Dan Castle (...Lost. (2000, short)).

It is a surfer movie with handsome surfing footage - and (too) much of it. But the film's problem more lies in the story around the surfing, which is too scattershot and drowsy to awaken significant engagement from an audience.

The pretty, swearing Australian cast are cultivated, - especially the well-shaped guys, - by the camera, but the story isn't chiefly about Fergus the gay dude, (who regrettably doesn't get to have a romance.) It is a bit about the former star big brother Victor; a bit about the sexual exploits of the heteros, - including one scene of unsafe sex, which isn't followed up on, in a kind of reckless manner. It is also a bit about a coming surfing competition and a bit about the group's good-looking klutz, who has a driving accident with the tent dragged after the automobile! Israel Cannan (Home and Away (2004-05)) is sexy as the insecure character and truly looks like a pretty but not too bright surfer bum.

Newcastle is a harmless skin-centered flick, a bit of unfocused diversion.

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 260k $

= Uncertain but likely a huge flop (projected return of 0.52 times the cost)

[Newcastle premiered 25 April (Tribeca Film Festival, New York) and runs 107 minutes. Shooting took place around April 2007 in New South Wales, Australia. A projected low budget cost of 500k $ would rank the film as a huge flop theatrically. Australia was the film's biggest market with 138k $ (53.1 %); Japan 2nd with 114k $ (43.8 %); and UAE 3rd with 4k $ (1.5 %). Figures from the North-American release are unreported; the film's 4th and last (minor) market was Lebanon. Castle has since made a documentary and B/W Hollywood romance Can't Be Undone, which hasn't been released. Newcastle is fresh at 61 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Newcastle?

Now You See Me (2013) - Cocky stars trapped in empty construction

[ZERO]

 

+ Worst Movie of the Year

+ Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

 

 

A cast of well-dressed stars walk all over the title on this poster for Louis Leterrier's Now You See Me

An odd quartet of magicians stage big magic shows, in which they inexplicably steal from the rich and let some of their loot fly out to their audiences.

 

Now You See Me is written by Ed Solomon (Super Mario Bros. (1993)), Boaz Yakin (Fresh (1994)) and Edward Ricourt (Jessica Jones (2015, TV-series)) and directed by Louis Leterrier (The Transporter (2002)).

A depressingly bad, completely empty film, it is hard to watch Now You See Me and not lose some measure of respect for its stars, whose glow inevitably dim from this sorry affair: Particularly Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers (2012)) is enormously bad here as one half of the film's insultingly poor romance, in which he commands and yells at Mélanie Laurent (La Rafle (2010)), - until she falls for him! (You try to make sense of it.)

The stars have ego-polishing parts mostly played with the cheekbones and a bit of cocky attitude that are so hollow and toothless that one will afterwards feel like a long break from Jesse Eisenberg (Cursed (2005)) and Woody Harrelson (Rampart (2011)) as the champion sleek fellow magicians of Now You See Me. As part of the plot, Morgan Freeman's (War of the Worlds (2005)) character sells his integrity (to Michael Caine (Peeper (1975))) for 5-10 mil. $, - a situation that isn't very fictitious in this instance, one might ponder, - and he explains at one point in Now You See Me that a new sucker is born every minute here in the world.

Leterrier's movie certainly treats its audience as suckers with a ceaseless barrage of ridiculous, ugly, stressful, frenzied nonsense here, which is never fun, romantic, nor thrilling. Making Now You See Me even worse is that a huge audience actually seemed to like it.

 

Related posts:

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

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

Clash of the Titans (2010) - Leterrier's CGI-stuffed remake is surprisingly good 

 

 Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 75 mil. $

Box office: 351.7 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.68 times its cost)

[Now You See Me premiered 21 May (New York) and runs 115 minutes. Laurent was paid 571k € for her performance. Shooting took place around January 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana, New York, Chicago, Illinois, Las Vegas, Nevada, and in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #2, behind Fast & Furious 6, to a 29.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#3-#5), grossing 117.7 mil. $ (33.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 25.7 mil. $ (7.3 %) and China with 22.9 mil. $ (6.5 %). Most of the cast but not Leterrier returned for the obligatory Now You See Me 2 (2016). Leterrier returned with The Brothers Grimsby (2016). Eisenberg returned in Night Moves (2013); Ruffalo in Begin Again (2013); and Harrelson with a voice performance in Free Birds (2013) and physically in Out of the Furnace (2013). Now You See Me is rotten at 51 % with a 5.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Now You See Me?

1995 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Top 10 of the Year

 

 

1. Casino - Martin Scorsese + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Epic of the Year + Best Gangster Movie of the Year + Best Las Vegas Movie of the Year + Best True-Crime Movie of the Year 

 

2. Smoke - Wayne Wang + Best Big Hit Movie of the Year + Best New York Movie of the Year + Most Deserved Hit of the Year

 

3. Dead Man - Jim Jarmusch + Best B/W Movie of the Year + Most Under-appreciated Movie of the Year + Best Western of the Year 

 

4. Leaving Las Vegas - Mike Figgis + Best Drama of the Year + Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year

5. Seven - David Fincher + Best Detective Movie of the Year + Best Serial Killer Movie of the Year + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 97.92 mil. $ range

 

6. Heat - Michael Mann + Best Heist Movie of the Year + Best Los Angeles Movie of the Year + Best Thriller of the Year 

 

 

7. Frasier - season 3 - David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee + Best Returning TV-series of the Year + Best Sitcom of the Year 

 

8. Die Hard with a Vengeance - John McTiernan + Best Action Movie of the Year + Best Villain of the Year: Jeremy Irons as Simon Peter Gruber/Colonel Peter Krieg 

9. Pocahontas - Mike Gabriel, Eric Goldberg + Best Family Movie of the Year + Best Huge Hit Movie of the Year + Best Musical of the Year

10. The Crossing Guard - Sean Penn + Best Crime-Thriller of the Year + Best Huge Flop of the Year

 

Other great movie of the year (in alphabetic order):

 

 

Kids - Larry Clark + Best $ Return: 13.6 Times the Cost + Best Independent Movie of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actress of the Year: Chloë Sevigny + Best Youth Movie of the Year

 

Other good, recommendable movies (in alphabetic order):

 

12 Monkeys - Terry Gilliam 

 

 

Bad Boys - Michael Bay 

Congo - Frank Marshall + Best Ensemble of the Year: Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Tim Curry, Grant Heslov, Joe Don Baker, Bruce Campbell, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Joe Pantoliano, Delroy Lindo, John Hawkes, James Karen 

 

 

Desperado - Robert Rodriguez + Breakthrough Actress of the Year: Salma Hayek + Best Erotic Movie of the Year

Dracula: Dead and Loving It - Mel Brooks

 

 

The Flower of My Secret/La Flor de Mi Secreto - Pedro Almodóvar + Best Melodrama of the Year

 

Get Shorty - Barry Sonnenfeld + Best Crime-comedy of the Year

Mighty Aphrodite - Woody Allen + Best Big Flop Movie of the Year 

 

Nick of Time - John Badham + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year

Othello - Oliver Parker + Best Shooting Star Actor of the Year: Laurence Fishburne 

 

 Showgirls - Paul Verhoeven + Best Dance Movie of the Year

Bottom 7 of the Year

1. The Quick and the Dead - Sam Raimi + Most Deserved Flop of the Year + Worst Poster of the Year

2. GoldenEye - Martin Campbell + Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

3. Nixon - Oliver Stone + Most Expensive Flop of the Year: 30.16 mil. $ range

4. Four Rooms - Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino

5. The Doom Generation - Gregg Araki

6. Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls - Steve Oederkerk

 

7. Sidste Time - Martin Schmidt

 

Other failed, poor and/or mediocre films (in alphabetic order):

 

 

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah/ゴジラvsデストロイア (Gojira tai Destoroyah) - Takao Okawara + Best Kaiju Movie of the Year + Best Poster of the Year 

Kun en Pige - Peter Schrøder

Mallrats - Kevin Smith + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.4 times the cost

Species - Roger Donaldson + Best Monster Movie of the Year

[33 titles in total]

Notes:

1995 blasts off at Film Excess with no less than 4 masterpieces already presented here on the first version of the annual lists:

Martin Scorsese's big, gaudy Las Vegas gangster epic drama masterpiece Casino beats the house as the year's best film; Wayne Wang's sensitive Brooklyn drama masterpiece Smoke takes silver; and Jim Jarmusch's singular B/W death journey western masterpiece Dead Man bronze. The list goes on with Mike Figgis' remarkable, hard-punching alcoholism drama Leaving Las Vegas; David Fincher's trendsetting jigsaw serial killer thriller Seven; Michael Mann's fantastic heist action-thriller Heat; David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee's return of sitcom favorite, masterpiece Frasier - season 3; John McTiernan's macho, cat-and-mouse action ride Die Hard with a Vengeance; Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg's musically triumphant family animation adventure Pocahontas; and finally Sean Penn's dark, brooding drama The Crossing Guard.

The less enviable list only packs 7 titles so far: Sam Raimi's vacuous western style exercise The Quick and the Dead is the year's worst film; Martin Campbell's charmless Bond revamp GoldenEye takes silver; and Oliver Stone's self-indulgent, overlong biopic - also the year's most expensive flop - Nixon takes bronze. The list continues with Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's inauspicious anthology attempt Four Rooms; Gregg Araki's youth provocation The Doom Generation; Steve Oederkerk's disappointing comedy sequel Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls; and finally Martin Schmidt's hammy teen horror Sidste Time.

Among the other noteworthy films of the year are Larry Clark's great transgressive youth examination Kids; Frank Marshall's hammy sci-fi actioner Congo; Mel Brooks' funny, last directorial effort Dracula: Dead and Loving It; and Paul Verhoeven's scandalous stripper drama and major flop Showgirls.

Among the other great filmmakers who churned out sub-par products in 1995 were Kevin Smith (Mallrats) and Roger Donaldson (Species).

Among the stars who affirmed or re-affirmed great audience power were Bruce Willis (12 Monkeys and Die Hard with a Vengeance were both big moneymakers); Brad Pitt (Seven and 12 Monkeys), Morgan Freeman (Seven), Robert De Niro (Casino was nearly a theatrical hit and Heat certainly was), Forest Whitaker (Smoke and Species), Jim Carrey (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls), Will Smith and Martin Lawrence (Bad Boys), Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye) and Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas). No female stars in the batch yet.

And in the other group of less lucky stars of the year, who failed to catch big audiences: Jack Nicholson saw his drama effort get a minuscule North-American release (The Crossing Guard); Anthony Hopkins similarly couldn't get American audiences excited for his presidential epic (Nixon); Johnny Depp was good in two flops (Dead Man and Nick of Time); Kenneth Branagh (Othello) and Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman (The Quick and the Dead).

Later updates of the lists will explore many more titles of the year.

 

Biggest flops of the year:

[The loss is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]  

 

1. Nixon - 30.16 mil. $ range

2. Showgirls - 29.92 mil. $ range

3. Nick of Time - 27 mil. $ range

4. The Quick and the Dead - 16.2 mil. $ range

5. Othello - 8.6 mil. $ range

6. The Crossing Guard - 6.2 mil. $

7. Mallrats - 5.1 mil. $ range

8. Mighty Aphrodite - 4.6 mil. $ range

9. Kun en Pige - 2.8 mil. $ range

10. Sidste Time - 0.28 mil. $ range

= Combined losses: 130.86 mil. $

Biggest hits of the year:

[The gain is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]  

 

1. Seven - 97.92 mil. $ range

2. Pocahontas - 83.4 mil. $ range

3. GoldenEye - 80.84 mil. $ range

4. Die Hard with a Vengeance - 56.44 mil. $ range

5. Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls - 54.92 mil. $ range

6. 12 Monkeys - 38.02 mil. $ range

7. Bad Boys - 37.56 mil. $ range

8. Desperado - 16.2 mil. $ range

9. Get Shorty - 15.79 mil. $ range

10. Heat - 14.96 mil. $ range

= Combined profits: 496.05 mil. $

 

1995 titles currently on the watch-list:

 

Evil Ed, Piranha, Jeffrey, Cyclo, Safe, The Cure, The Mangler, Friday, The Four Corners of Nowhere, Citizen X, Notes from Underground, While You Were Sleeping, Billy Madison

Previous annual lists: 

    
2021 in films - according to Film Excess 

2020 in films - according to Film Excess 

2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2019 in films - according to Film Excess 
2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess  
2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2016 in films - according to Film Excess

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
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] 
2013 in films - according to Film Excess    
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]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
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  
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   

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

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess   
2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

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

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

What do you think of the 1995 lists?
Which 1995 titles would make to your top and bottom lists?
Which worthwhile 1995 titles are missing on the watch-list?