Oldboys (2009) - Steen, Halken and Co. win with lovable senior soccer dramedy

♥♥♥♥

 

'Forgotten, alone and more than 37 km away from home' reads the funny tagline on this poster for Nikolaj Steen's Oldboys

A Danish old-boys soccer team on their way to play a Swedish policemen team forget their goalkeeper Vagn at a gas station. He soon bands up with a Danish robber he happens upon, and together they head towards the match.

Oldboys is written and directed by debuting Nikolaj Steen (Minkavlerne (2019, TV-series)).

The script is full of weak points, (concerning a concussion, the 'forgetting Vagn' scene, igniting a car's engine etc..) Still I laughed copiously; the old men or boys and their coach (Rasmus Bjerg (Player (2013))) are fun, and Kristian Halken (Miss Viborg (2022)) is formidable as Vagn. Oldboys is formulaic and flawed but a lot of fun and with a lot of beneficial heart to it.

 

 

Watch a short clip from the film here

 

Cost: Uncertain; projected 5 mil. DKK or approximately 0.64 mil. $

Box office: Approximately 0.6 mil. $

= Huge flop (projected return of 0.93 times its cost)

[Oldboys was released 20 November (Denmark) and runs 95 minutes. It was supported with 3 mil. DKK by the Danish Film Institute. If made on a very slim 5 mil. DKK budget, the film would rank as a huge flop: It sold 56,820 tickets in its sole release country (Denmark) at a 83 DKK average prize at the time, coming to approximately 4.7 mil. DKK or 0.6 mil. $. The film won 2/7 Robert award nominations (Denmark's Oscar), among other honors. Steen has kept out of cinemas since, instead directing for TV. Halken returned in 4 short, TV and a voice credit prior to his theatrical return in A Funny Man/Dirch (2011); Robert Hansen (Vildbassen (1994)) in Bølle Bob - Alle Tiders Helt (2010). 1.3k+ IMDb users have given Oldboys a 6.6/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Oldboys?

Mennesker Bliver Spist (2015) - Clausen hits home with jewel of a film

♥♥♥♥♥

 

+ Best Dramedy of the Year

 

'Sometimes you've gotta go far to find your way home' reads the tagline on this poster for Erik Clausen's Mennesker Bliver Spist

Herluf is an auto mechanic with a wife who is no longer very impressed with him. Now he is beginning to suffer from dementia, but no one really notices it, which leads him on an unplanned journey.

 

Mennesker Bliver Spist is written by Louise Clausen (Aldrig Mere i Morgen (2017)) and great Danish co-writer/director/co-star Erik Clausen (Cirkus Casablanca (1981)). The title translates to 'people get eaten'.

Clausen's films are especially for Danes. But you don't have to subscribe to every societal opinions of his in order to enjoy Mennesker Bliver Spist, which is his best film in years and maybe the year's best Danish film. (Just as a matter of form, some of those opinions of his include; being a national-conservative is a life-crisis; modern man is selfish and without a sense of propriety; Danes are extremely concerned with possessions and forget the value of human care; and finally, that women are tough on their men.)

Clausen himself is deeply moving and convincing as Herluf. The story, which involves the increasingly blank man going to Poland by mistake, is outstanding and inventive, and it contains a long list of good performances: Bodil Jørgensen (Badehotellet (2013-20)) is matchless as the wife who has frozen herself into an iceberg in their marriage and has begun cheating; Nicolas Bro (Sorrow and Joy/Sorg og Glæde (2013)), Charlotte Fich (Drabet (2005)), Lærke Winther (Mille (2009, TV-series)), Rasmus Botoft (Danish Dynamite (2012, TV-series)), Leif Sylvester (Hodja fra Pjort (1985)) - all are great. Unknown amateur actors also light up scenes; a son, the shop master in Poland and a lady there, Herluf's car-interested old buddy among them, - the cast is terrific.

The title comes from John Mogensen's song Mennesker Bliver Spist i Polynesien (1975), used to great effect in the film. Clausen also pokes fun at modern missing persons searches here, and he generally keeps the film in an often moving farce style. Whatever you'll hold against Mennesker Bliver Spist, you'll easily forgive due to its warm-hearted, funny and edifying qualities. 

 

Related post:

 

Erik Clausen: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

The Great Day on the Beach/Den Store Badedag (1991) or, My Copenhagen Boyhood (actor)

 

Watch a clip from the film here of Herluf being forgetful while on a stage

 

Cost: Reportedly 17.5 mil. $, approximately 2.78 mil. $

Box office: 2.6 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.93 times its cost)

[Mennesker Bliver Spist was released 26 February (Denmark) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place from February - April 2014 in Denmark and Poland. It spent its first two weekends at #1 in Danish cinemas, where it sold 235,547 tickets, a decent haul in the small country. Its only foreign market was Brazil, which doesn't have a listed gross. The film was nominated for 3 Robert awards, Denmark's Oscar. Clausen returned with Aldrig Mere i Morgen (2017). As an actor he returned in Sverige Er Fantastisk (2015); Jørgensen with a voice performance in Albert (2015) and a physical performance in Parents/Forældre (2016). 457 IMDb users have given Mennesker Bliver Spist a 6.6/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Mennesker Bliver Spist?

With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II/Pusher II (2004) - Refn's magnetic snapshot of Copenhagen's criminal underground

♥♥♥♥♥

+ 3rd Best Movie of the Year

+ Best Copenhagen Movie of the Year + Best Crime Movie of the Year + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Sequel of the Year

Its stars are on parade on this gloomy and criminality-teasing poster for Nicolas Winding Refn's With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II

Tonny is let out of prison in Copenhagen with a debt. He is not welcomed with open arms by his powerful mechanic father, the Duke. In the meantime Tonny has become a father, and his mother has passed away.

With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II is the 4th feature written and directed by Danish master filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive (2011)) and the second in his Pusher trilogy, which also consists of his great debut Pusher (1996) and Pusher III (2005).
There are so many well-made scenes in Refn's hard-boiled crime drama, which was his best film up to that point in his impressive career. Pusher II is also a triumph for Mads Mikkelsen (Bleeder (1999)) as Tonny, whom he gives inspired life, and Leif Sylvester (Otto Is a Rhino/Otto Er et Næsehorn (1983)) is outstanding as his cruel father. Refn gets the very best out of all of his very authentic supporting characters, and Peter Peter's (Antboy 3 (2016)) thundering percussion and electro-reliant score elevates the film considerably. Pusher II is a hard-hitting modern classic in Danish cinema.

Related posts:

Nicolas Winding Refn: Top 10: Best drug-themed movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Neon Demon (2016) or, Jesse Goes to Hollywood
Top 10: Best Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
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 II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
Only God Forgives (2013) - Violent beauty in Bangkok
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Drive (2011) - Refn's muscle-flexing audience favorite  
Bronson (2008) or, Violent Man

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Bleeder (1999) - Refn's mysterious second film  
 

Listen to Sad Disco, a song from the film's score here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: In excess of 1.9 mil. $
= Uncertain
[With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II was released 25 December (Denmark) and runs 100 minutes. Refn had no intentions of making a Pusher trilogy until his film company went bankrupt due to the flop of his artistic drama thriller set in Canada, Fear X (2003). In response, he devised Pusher II and III, which saved his finances. He reportedly wrote the script over the course of a weekend. Shooting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, mostly chronologically and mostly using a handheld camera. The film sold 161,988 tickets in its production country Denmark, making it a minor hit locally. The only foreign gross listed is 34k $ in Norway. The budget for the first film was a very low 6 mil. DKK. The budget for Pusher II is unknown, (it was supported by the Danish Film Institute), but if made on another small - but substantially larger, likely 10-12 mil. DKK (1.5-1.8 mil. $), the film's gross would land it as a big flop. It was nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize, won 1/12 Robert award nominations (Denmark's Oscar) and 1/3 Bodil awards (Danish film critics' awards.) Refn returned with Pusher III (2005). Mikkelsen returned in Adam's Apples/Adams Æbler (2005). With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II is fresh at 100 % with a 7.55/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II?