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

♥

 

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?

Girl (2018) - Debuting Polster impresses in insightful trans drama

♥♥♥

 

Star Victor Polster's angelic visage adorns this turquoise back-colored poster for Lukas Dhont's Girl

Lara is 16 years old, studies ballet and is transgender. She is fighting to cover up her male characteristics and struggling with the waiting period up to the genital operation that she looks forward to.

Girl is written by Angelo Tijssens (Iceland/Ijsland (2010, short)) and directed by debuting Lukas Dhont (Headlong/Corps Perdu (2012, short)).

It is an impressively bold and tender performance from debuting Victor Polster that drives Girl, which dwells on him for every moment of its running time. Some of its many shots, particularly of the ballet studies, become a bit monotonous.

Lara gets support from her father and surroundings in general, - SPOILER the film only has a single scene of group pressure, a very mild form of abuse, - and for this reason it is hard to comprehend what exactly drives Lara to genital mutilation in the film's end, - which can also ruin the opportunities for a successful gender switch operation. Several scenes of the physical issues of the trans affliction, - especially the explanation of the operation, - are very unpleasant to witness. But Girl is certainly enlightening.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 1.5 mil. €, approximately 1.81 mil. $

Box office: 4.1 mil. $

= Minor flop (returned its cost 2.26 times)

[Girl premiered 12 May (Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard section) and runs 106 minutes. Dhont and Tijssens found inspiration and insight for the screenplay from Nora Monsecour, whose personal story is the basis for it. Shooting took place from August - September 2017 in Belgium, including Brussels. Polster, 14 years old at the time, got consent from his parents to do the film's nude scenes. The film was not released theatrically in North America. Its 3 biggest markets were France with 2.6 mil. $ (63.4 % of the total gross), the Netherlands with 1.2 mil. $ (29.3 %) and Greece with 72k $ (1.8 %). The film was nominated for a Golden Globe, won 5 prizes in Cannes, was nominated for a César award, won 1/4 European Film award nominations, 4/9 Magritte award nominations (Belgium's Oscar), and it was also Belgium's official Oscar entry of the year. Dhont has since only made Our Nature (2021, short). Polster is returning in Les Rivières Pourpres (2021, TV-series). Girl is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Girl?

Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) - Production prevails in flawed Vermeer biopic

♥♥♥

 

Sensual, carnal lust issues from this steamy poster for Peter Webber's Girl with a Pearl Earring

Johannes Vermeer is a prominent artist in the Netherlands in 1655, but he works too slowly, and now his new housemaid catches his wandering eye.

 

Girl with a Pearl Earring is written by Olivia Hetreed (Birds Like Us (2017)), adapting the same-titled 1999 novel by Tracy Chevalier (New Boy (2017)), and directed by Peter Webber (Emperor (2012)), whose theatrical debut it is.

It is a decently made but not very inspired nor deep period film. It is a painter biopic that lets one become fascinated with things such as how colors are created for the paint that goes into the paintings, but we don't get very near to the artist himself.

The many Brits in the cast are fundamentally unfit to capture the Dutch environment, it seems. The story doesn't swell up to greatness here, and Cillian Murphy (Anthropoid (2016)) is miscast: He and his romantic interest, the picturesque Scarlett Johansson (Lucy (2014)) regrettably do not suit each other.

 

Related post:

 

Peter Webber: 2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Hannibal Rising (2007) - Harris returns famed cannibal in sub-par origins flick

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 10 mil. £, approximately 16.3 mil. $

Box office: 33 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.02 times its cost)

[Girl with a Pearl Earring premiered 31 August (Telluride Film Festival, US) and runs 100 minutes. The rights were bought, before the novel was published in 1999. Production was set to start with Mike Newell directing and Kate Hudson and Ralph Fiennes starring in 2001, when Hudson withdrew. Shooting took place in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The film opened #32 to an 89k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #17 and in 402 theaters (different weeks), grossing 11.6 mil. $ (35.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 5.9 mil. $ (17.9 %) and Germany with 3.3 mil. $ (10 %). It was the 14th highest-grossing (part-) UK film in the UK of the year. It was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Cinematography (Eduardo Serra) to Russell Boyd for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Costume Design and Art/Set Decoration to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, 10 BAFTAs, 3 British Independent Film awards, a David di Donatello award, won 1/3 European Film award nominations, was nominated for a Goya award, won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. Webber returned with Six Feet Under (2004, TV-series)) and theatrically with Hannibal Rising (2007). Colin Firth (Fourplay (2001)) returned in Love Actually (2003); Johansson in The Perfect Score (2004); and Tom Wilkinson (Belle (2013)) in If Only (2004). Girl with a Pearl Earring is fresh at 72 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Girl with a Pearl Earring?

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

♥♥♥♥♥

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 Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009) - Six puts Dutch film back on the map with notorious gross-out horror

♥♥♥

This chilling poster for Tom Six's The Human Centipede (First Sequence) lets the viewer imagine for himself, what is actually behind the glass ...

In Germany, two American and one Japanese tourists are kidnapped by a prominent, retired surgeon, who, in his own words, doesn't like humans. What he does like is a twisted plan for the three: To form a human centipede, mouth-to-anus.

The idea behind The Human Centipede (First Sequence) is deeply sick, but the Dutch writer-director Tom Six (I Love Dries (2008)) carries it out with an admirable determination and enthusiasm.
Dieter Laser (The Elixirs of the Devil/Die Elixiere des Teufels (1976)) makes an eminent villain out of the doctor and is the best part of the film. The acting of the American girls by Ashley C. Williams (Julia (2014)) and Ashlynn Yennie (L.A. Slasher (2015)) is just so-so.
Although the revolting details are almost entirely implicit in this the first film in Six's Human Centipede trilogy, the film is still extremely disgusting to watch (and listen to.)

Related post:

Tom Six: The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011) - Six's rancid meta nightmare

Here is a very short video of Tom Six, posted in 2017

Cost: Estimated 1.5 mil. €, equaling approximately 1.7 mil. $
Box office: In excess of 325k $
= Mega-flop
[The Human Centipede (First Sequence) premiered 30 August (London FrightFest Film Festival) and runs 92 minutes. The idea came to Six when he talked with a friend about possible fair punishments for child molesters. Inspirations count Pier Paolo Pasolini's infamous Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom/Salò o le 120 Giornate di Sodoma (1975), films of Takashi Miike, David Lynch and David Cronenberg, the Dutch version of reality TV phenomenon Big Brother as well as historic facts of WWII, not least the medical experiments of Joseph Mengele at the Auschwitz concentration camp, which also informed Laser's performance. Another factor in that was the actor's knowledge of his own father's active service for Nazi Germany during the war. Six has alleged he did not disclose specifics about the plot's 'centipede' to the film's financiers, who remained in the dark until the film was finished at which point (he claims), they were happy with it. Shooting took place in Holland. Paintings of conjoined twins in the doctor's house were done by Six. Laser remained in character while filming, which led to him shouting, kicking a cast member followed by an on-set fight and him hurting one at another instance. The posters' claim that it is '100 % medically accurate' is a catchy tagline but at best a contested fact. The film was released unrated in North America: It opened #71 in 1 theater to a 12k $ first weekend, peaked at #44 and in 19 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 181k $ (55.7 % of the total gross) there. The gross listed above only accounts for 4 markets, of which the 2nd and 3rd biggest are Peru with 72k $ (22.2 %) and Taiwan with 61k $ (18.8 %). The film played almost exclusively at horror film festivals around the world. Roger Ebert refused to give the film a star rating, stating, "It is what it is and occupies a world where the stars don't shine." It netted in excess of 2.1 mil. $ on home video sales. It is impossible to know whether the film was profitable in the end (especially due to home video sales) with so little known of its theatrical run and expenses, but the figures known indicate it was a theatrical mega-flop. It has nevertheless gotten two sequels: The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) (2011) and The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence) (2015). The Human Centipede (First Sequence) is rotten at 49 % with a 5.1 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Human Centipede (First Sequence)?

Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery's last Bond adventure is a colorful romp

♥♥♥♥♥

Explosive entertainment under something resembling a disco ball on this poster for Guy Hamilton's Diamonds Are Forever

QUICK REVIEW:

James Bond kills his arch enemy Blofeld in the beginning of this, Bond movie # 7. But when he subsequently follows a mysterious diamond hoax from Holland to Las Vegas, it is revealed that Blofeld is still more alive than ever!

Sean Connery (The Hunt for Red October (1990)) was brought back to the 007 well for his last film as Bond after George Lazenby's underwhelming single stint as the gentleman spy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). And Diamonds is just what every fan of the early Bond films could have ever wished for: An incredibly extravagant film, which contains the franchise's wildest car chase up to this point, through Las Vegas, along with another fun chase in a Moon Buggy in the Nevada desert!
The film also has Jill St. John (The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)) as the excellent Bond babe Tiffany Case and a bizarre gay villain couple, (called Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint.)
How exactly the diamonds fit in remains unclear to me, but Diamonds Are Forever still stands as a Bond classic in my book. It was written by Richard Maibaum (Thunderball (1965)) and Tom Mankiewicz (Live and Let Die (1973)), based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and directed by Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger (1964)) as the second of the four Bond films that he directed.

Related reviews:

Bond franchise: Skyfall (2012) - The overly celebrated third pout from Daniel Craig as Bond in slick production
A View to a Kill (1985) or, Once a Gentleman, Always a Gentleman! 
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (spoof comedy - not part of the franchise)
Dr. No (1962) - Bond # 1 is one attractive package

Watch the original trailer here

Cost: 7.2 mil. $
Box office: 116 mil. $
= Blockbuster
[Lazenby had signed on for 7 Bond films (!), but wanted out after the first one after the advice of his agent, (strange agent, hu?). United Artists wanted Connery back for just about any prize, and he finally landed 1.25 mil. $, - a record sum at the time, - for the job. - He proved to be worth it. The film grossed 43.8 mil. $ (38 % of the total gross) in North America. Many critics have criticized its 'campy' humor, preferring, ostensibly, the mock-gloom of the latter, 'serious' Bond entries.]

What do you think of Diamonds Are Forever?