Off Screen (2005) - Dutch paranoid bus driver drama proves less than compelling

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Sinister looks and shadows and darkness lurk on this poster for Pieter Kuijpers' Off Screen

A mad bus driver takes a couple of men as hostages in a skyscraper in Amsterdam. He wants to talk to the CEO of Philips... 

 

Off Screen is written by Hugo Heinen (Stroomopwaarts (1991)) and directed by Pieter Kuijpers (Godforsaken/Van God Los (2003)). 

The strange story doesn't succeed in hooking our interest due to the depressing focus on the thankless life of the bus driver. Abused and spat upon, he becomes paranoid. Voilà. This seems apparent and not worth an hour and a half of our precious time in a film that uses numerical graphics to seem to give us the uncertainty: Could the bus driver with his paranoia be onto something real?

SPOILER No he isn't and it's a dull ugh time to watch Off Screen.

 

Related post:

 

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

 

Someone made a video of their favorite 5 films by Kuijpers here, enjoy

 

Cost: 1.5 mil. €, approximately 1.48 mil. $

Box office: 998k $

= Huge flop (returned 0.67 times its cost)

[Off Screen was released 3 February (Netherlands) and runs 94 minutes. Shooting took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The film opened #9 in Netherlands, where it peaked at #6 and grossed 998k $ as the only recorded market, though the film was also released in Belgium. Kuijpers returned with Dennis P. (2007). Jeroen Krabbé (Farinelli (1994)) returned in Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005); Jan Decleir (Loft (2008)) in Matroesjka (2008, TV-series) and theatrically in Someone Else's Happiness/Een Ander Zijn Geluk (2005). 1.3k+ IMDb users have given Off Screen a 6.6/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Off Screen?

The Fourth Man/De Vierde Man (1983) - Verhoeven's amazing Dutch sex thriller nightmare

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A man seems caught in a nightmarish situation with a sinister, cross-wearing lady on this great poster for Paul Verhoeven's The Fourth Man

A predominantly gay writer meets a woman at a Q&A session, who becomes his girlfriend. But he then starts to learn about her former men and their unenviable fates, while he suffers frightening dreams.

The Fourth Man is written by Gerard Soeteman (Floris (2004)), based on the same-titled 1981 novel by Gerard Reve (De Avonden/The Evenings (1947)), and directed by great Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Spetters (1980)).
Verhoeven's grip on the sex thriller is already well-developed here in this highly cinematic and exciting film, which is formed around a very simple story. Jeroen Krabbé (Fogbound (2002)) is outstanding as the pitiful, often amusing rascal hero.
I love all the coincidences and implausibilities in the plot, which leaps forward with a great visual energy, (cinematography by Jan de Bont (Growing Pains (1984))), special effects and a wealth of skin and naughty scenes. 
Verhoeven's direction is strong and distinctive. SPOILER I have a reservation about the grave chamber scene; in it our hero should reasonably first have sex with the guy of his desire there, before surrendering to the grip of anxiety, - this is essentially a psychological error in the script.
The film is like a Freudian nightmare, one left wide open for interpretation. The Fourth Man is a very attractive piece of work, you are likely to want to see more than once.

Related posts:

Paul Verhoeven: Top 10: Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Basic Instinct (1992) or, Irresistable Desire!

Listen to some of Loek Dikker's score from the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain
[The Fourth Man was released 24 March (Netherlands) and runs 102 minutes. Shooting took place in the Holland, including Amsterdam. Verhoeven has said of the film: "The Fourth Man has to do with my vision of religion. In my opinion, Christianity is nothing more than one of many interpretations of reality, neither more nor less. Ideally, it would be nice to believe that there is a God somewhere out there, but it looks to me as if the whole Christian religion is a major symptom of schizophrenia in half the world's population: civilizations scrambling to rationalize their chaotic existence. Subsequently, Christianity has a tendency to look like magic or the occult. And I liked that ambiguity, because I wanted my audience to take something home with them. I wanted them to wonder about what religion really is. Remember, that Christianity is a religion grounded in one of the most violent acts of murder, the crucifixion. Otherwise, religion wouldn't have had any kind of impact. With regard to the irony of the violence, much of that probably comes from my childhood experiences during and immediately following the Second World War. In fact, if it hadn't been for the German occupation and then the American occupation, I would have never been a filmmaker." The film's box office take is unknown; it sold 274k tickets in production country Holland, less than Verhoeven's earlier hits, and it was his last film in his native country. It won a National Board of Review award and was chosen as Holland's Oscar entry of the year but wasn't nominated. It was remade as The Good Thief (2002). Verhoeven considered his 4th Hollywood movie Basic Instinct (1992) a 'spiritual prequel' to The Fourth Man. Verhoeven returned with Flesh+Blood (1985). Krabbé returned in 4 TV credits before theatrically in Turtle Diary (1985); Renée Soutendijk (Suspiria (2018)) returned in An Bloem (1983). 6,355 IMDb users have given The Fourth Man a 7.3/10 average rating.]

What do you think of The Fourth Man?

The Fugitive (1993) - Ford runs fast in Davis' overrated action thriller

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+ Most Overrated Movie of the Year

Harrison Ford is running next to a train in motion on this effective poster, which screams high-octane thrills, for Andrew Davis' The Fugitive

Dr. Richard Kimble is wrongfully convicted the death penalty for the murder of his wife, - but then he escapes!

The Fugitive is written by Jeb Stuart (Lock Up (1989)) and David Twohy (Waterworld (1995)), based on the same-titled 1963-67 TV-series by Roy Huggins, and directed by Andrew Davis (Under Siege (1992)).
The film has an enviably simple narrative thrust to begin with, which I feel is later dissolved by the simplistic cat-and-mouse story that follows, which also gets thick several times; SPOILER as when Kimble's death row bus crashes onto train tracks and is immediately in collision with a train.
Jeroen Krabbé (Sahara Sandwich (1991)) is good as Kimble's deceitful doctor friend, SPOILER but why he and the one-armed man Sykes killed our hero's doctor never becomes clear to me. The smartly handled action pace and James Newton Howard's (Nightcrawler (2014)) great score does a good job of overshadowing the weak points in this massive hit.

Related posts:

Andrew Davis: Collateral Damage (2002) - Good anti-terrorist Arnold vehicle derailed due to 9/11

1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 44 mil. $
Box office: 368.8 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 8.38 times its cost)
[The Fugitive premiered 29 July (California) and runs 130 minutes. Shooting took place in North Carolina and in Chicago, Illinois from February - May 1993. The train crash used a real train in a single take and cost 1 mil. $. The film opened #1 to a 23.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it held the #1 spot in the subsequent 5 weeks, then spending another 2 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#3), ending up grossing 183.8 mil. $ (49.8 % of the total gross) from a reported 44 mil. tickets sold domestically, where it was the 3rd highest-grossing film of the year. It was the first major US film to screen in China in decades, but regrettably its international gross numbers are not made public. It was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning for Best Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones (Cobb (1994))). It lost Best Cinematography (Michael Chapman (Gotham (1988, TV movie))) to Janusz Kaminski for Schinder's List, Sound Effects to Jurassic Park, Film Editing to Schindler's List, Score to John Williams also for Schindler's List, Picture to Schindler's List and Sound to Jurassic Park. It also won 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, 1/4 BAFTA noms and other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 3 notches higher than this one. Davis returned with Steal Big Steal Little (1995). Ford returned with an uncredited cameo in Jimmy Hollywood (1994) and as a leading man in Clear and Present Danger (1994). Jones returned in the flop sequel U.S. Marshals (1998), which is actually a bit better than the original film.The film was remade in India as Nir Nayam (1995). Leslie Nielsen starred in the parody Wrongfully Accused (1998). The Fugitive is certified fresh at 96 % with a 7.94/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Fugitive?