Eagerly anticipating this month ... (6-25)

Eagerly anticipating this month ... (6-25)
Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value (2025)
Showing posts with label Line Kruse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Line Kruse. Show all posts

5/17/2020

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

♥♥♥♥


+ 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?

9/17/2019

Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006) - The two Jensens' satire is unrefined but hilarious

♥♥♥♥

Two distinct layers of society, members of the lower class and of the higher creative class, meet on this fun-promising poster for Tomas Villum Jensen's Clash of Egos

Tonny, a modern caveman recently released after serving a stint in prison for violence, works at a garbage station and has just lost visitation rights to see his children, when he snaps over an awful local art film that he has recently bought tickets for.

Clash of Egos is written by Anders Thomas Jensen (The Salvation (2014)) and directed by Tomas Villum Jensen (Love at First Hiccough/Kærlighed ved Første Hik (1999)). The Danish title translates to 'highly charged bomb'.
Both Ulrich Thomsen (Hitman (2007)) as Tonny and Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Max (2000)) as the art film's director Claus Volter are excellent and play their opposed characters with real panache.
The central idea of a primitive brute meeting a pretentious art film snoot is funny and original, and the film has lots of funny moments.
Clash of Egos could have been even better, if the production hadn't looked like rubbish; if Volter's ridiculous art film had been presented sharper; and if the writing had been a little smarter here and there. But these minor complaints don't rob the film of its considerable laughs and primed stars.





Watch a clip from the beginning of the film here, where Tonny has made the mistake of taking his kids to see an inappropriate art film in the cinema

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Uncertain - likely in excess of 2.82 mil. $
= Uncertain - but likely a huge flop
[Sprængfarlig Bombe was released 25 August (Denmark) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in Denmark, including Copenhagen. The film sold 272,140 tickets in production country Denmark, making it a solid hit locally in the small Danish market. It was shown at 4 minor film festivals and released in 2 foreign markets subsequently, likely with negligible grosses. If made on a realistic 20 mil. DKK budget, approximately 2.95 mil. $, the film should likely rank as a huge flop theatrically. It was nominated for a Robert award (Denmark's Oscar). Jensen returned with Ved Verdens Ende (2009). Thomsen returned in Der Liebeswunsch (2006); Kaas in Pu-239 (2006). 2,225 IMDb-users have given Sprængfarlig Bombe a 6.0/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Sprængfarlig Bombe?

Eagerly anticipating this month ... (5-25)

Eagerly anticipating this month ... (5-25)
Kleber Mendonca Filho's The Secret Agent (2025)