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Stars Jill Clayburgh and Peter Falk look like a loving couple, slouched by the surf on this TV-poster for Griffin and Phoenix
Two terminally ill people meet each other in a group that deals with relating to death, and they fall for one another. While their illnesses progress, their romance turns into love.
Griffin and Phoenix is written by John Hill (Little Nikita (1988)) and directed by great British Columbian filmmaker Daryl Duke (Payday (1973)).
The film really focuses on these two individual's specific story: We learn incredibly little about his wife and children, and her situation and family, just as the details of their cancers are supplanted by the connection that they allow themselves to enjoy. Instead the film is about that precious time that they share, in which they release an unrestrained, infectious lust for life and joys in their dying moments.
Peter Falk (Target: The Corruptors! (1961, TV-series)) and Jill Clayburgh (Rich in Love (1992)) carry the film formidably and are lovely to a degree in which it feels like we are falling in love with them as an audience. There are fun moments, too, in this tender portrait of a love relationship, SPOILER albeit a short one, as it ends in the inevitable, bittersweet final stop. Griffin and Phoenix is a wonderful film.
Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertain - mainly a TV movie
[Griffin and Phoenix premiered 27 February (ABC) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place in Los Angeles. The film was so well-liked that it was released theatrically in several countries. It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. It was remade with the same title in 2006 by Ed Stone. Duke returned as uncredited director on Shadow of the Hawk (1976). Falk returned in Murder by Death (1976); Clayburgh in Silver Streak (1976). 365 IMDb users have give Griffin and Phoenix a 7.5/10 average rating.]
Wild praise accompanies star Sarah Polley doused by rain on this poster for Isabel Coixet's My Life Without Me
A 23 year-old cleaning lady and mother of two daughters gets an unexpected notice that she has metastatic ovarian cancer that will cause her death soon. She neglects to tell anyone about her situation, while she secretly gathers some last experiences in her still young life. My Life Without Me is written and directed by Isabel Coixet (Demasiado Viejo para Morir Joven (1989)), based on the short story collection Pretending the Bed Is a Raft (1997) by Nanci Kincaid (Eat, Drink, and Be from Mississippi (2009)). The film may be a hit for depressed, younger women, who look for a story to weep over, but for me My Life Without Me's humdrum pace and very female-centric plot wsa too distant and still for me to become immersed. Activities observed include doing laundry, washing and combing hair, cleaning, doing laundry (again), tending children, worrying, - and a romance which seems designed to make the tragedy even sadder. One can't rob My Life Without Me of a certain poetic force as well as a fine cast, (which among others reunites two of the peripheral stars of Pulp Fiction (1994), Amanda Plummer (Ken Park (2002)) and Maria de Medeiros (Mar (2018)), though without giving them a scene together here either), - but this pasty downer wasn't my cup of misery tea.
Cost: 2.5 mil. $ Box office: 9.7 mil. $ - 12.2 mil. $ (different reports) = Big hit (returned 4.40 times its cost) [My Life Without Me premiered 10 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 106 minutes. No less than 15 companies and governmental support bodies were involved in financing and making the film. Shooting took place in British Colombia, including Vancouver. The film opened #60 to a 40k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #53 and in 39 theaters (different weeks), grossing 0.4 mil. $ (4.1 % of the total gross, - betting on the 9.7 mil. $ gross listed at Box Office Mojo.) The film's 3 biggest markets were Japan with 5.3 mil. $ (54.6 %), Spain with 2.4 mil. $ (24.7 %) and North America. The film won a prize in Berlin, was nominated for 2 European Film awards, won 2/5 Goya award nominations, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Coixet returned with 3 other projects (a documentary, a segment and a video) before her theatrical return with The Secret Life of Words (2005). Sarah Polley (Trigger (2010)) returned in Dermott's Quest (2003, short) and theatrically in Luck (2003). My Life Without Me is fresh at 65 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of My Life Without Me?
+ Best Psychedelic Movie of the Year + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year
A truly striking, space-set poster for Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain
The Fountain is a strange journey in three ages: Thomas struggles to save the woman he loves; as a 16th century conquistador in New Spain, protecting her from attacking Mayans; as a neuroscientist in present time, dealing with her cancer diagnosis, and in an organic spaceship in the future. The Fountain is a highly unusual, psychedelic and metaphysical triple story about the search for immortality, which isn't held together by a central suspense curve, SPOILER but one that does find its final release in our natural conclusion: death. Hugh Jackman (The Greatest Showman (2017)) and Rachel Weisz (The Whistleblower (2010)) play the loving, troubled couple, and Weisz relates all of creation to Mayan myths in The Fountain, which is interesting. The Fountain is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Pi (1998)), with Ari Handel (Noah (2014)) contributing story elements. It did not grab me as strongly as Aronofsky's preceding, harrowing drug drama Requiem for a Dream (2000), but it is a sensual, aesthetic waterfall of beautiful sounds, images (cinematography by Matthew Libatique (Ruby Sparks (2012))), music (score by Clint Mansell (United (2011))) and lights. A rare experience and obviously the result of serious, painstaking efforts.
Cost: 35 mil. $ Box office: 16 mil. $ = Mega-flop [The Fountain premiered 4 September (Venice Film Festival, Italy) and runs 96 minutes. Aronofsky developed the film after Requiem for a Dream as a 70 mil. $ package with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett for Warner Bros. But as Pitt dropped out weeks before shooting, the film fell apart, and the sets, including a Mayan temple, were auctioned off. Aronofsky attempted to recast with Russell Crowe, but he was too exhausted after Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Aronofsky was able to reshape the film to a budget half the original size, and the project was again green-lit. Jackman prepared extensively for his performance, training t'ai chi and yoga for many months before shooting. Aronofsky cast his girlfriend Weisz, who visited terminal patients and witnessed brain surgery as preparation. The budget was kept low by minimizing the use of CG effects and using macro photography instead, (blowing up extreme closeups, including deep-sea images of micro-organisms shot by Peter Parks). Shooting took place in Guatemala, Montreal, Quebec, Canada and in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania over 60 days in 'early 2005'. The film opened #10 to a 3.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 10.4 mil. $ (65 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 1.3 mil. $ (8.1 %) and Russia with 0.6 mil. $ (3.8 %). It was nominated for a Golden Globe. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this one. Jackman returned in The Prestige (2006), Weisz as a voice in Eragon (2006) and in a physical part in My Blueberry Nights (2007). Aronofsky returned with The Wrestler (2008). The Fountain is rotten at 52 % with a 5.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of The Fountain?
+ Best Brazilian Movie of the Year + Best Character Study of the Year + Best Political Movie of the Year
Fittingly, Sonia Braga is at the center of this poster for Kleber Mendonça Filho's Aquarius
Aquarius is the second fiction feature from great Brazilian writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho (Neighboring Sounds/O Som ao Redor (2012). Clara is a cancer survivor, widow, mother and grandmother in her 60s, comfortably living in her beach-front apartment, which is in the building Aquarius, which a huge construction company want to tear down to allow for new construction. Aquarius is solidly anchored in its location of Recife, Brazil, where Filho also is from, which it portrays with tenderness and insight. It establishes its pace, which some may call languid, but which is really quite daring, instantly. Daring because all those minutes of running time need material, meanings and focus. Best of course is that the film pulls it off. We do get much more insight and meanings, - poignant observations on the differences between Clara and her children's generations, on child care, death, sickness, sexuality, personal strength through opposition, - even a wry comment on the 'digital revolution' - much more than would have been possible at a tighter running time. Aquarius is a film that hinges on a single performance more than anything else: That of Sonia Braga (Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands/Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos (1976)), who gets a well-deserved and terrific comeback here in her first Brazilian performance in 15 years as Clara, the stubborn, proud, dignified and incredibly beautiful protagonist. Much of the suspense of the film, - clearly a drama but one with a central conflict (that of the company's wanting to rid their building of obstinate Clara) that becomes very tense, - comes from our recognition of Clara's fragility in the situation, despite her personal character strengths. Satisfyingly, though, Filho does not push his plot into the criminal and violent problems of his country that we might expect, but instead leads us to an ending that is both surprising, shocking and thrillingly empowering. Braga is like a force of nature throughout but not least here. Though the film has good supporting performances all-around, one deserves singling out: Humberto Carrão (Aurora (2016)) plays the young, slimy company chief who attempts to harass Clara out of her home with a naturalness that is positively off-putting, - doing a great job in other words. Aquarius is a wholly realistic story with the kind of imperceptible, taut photography (by Pedro Sotero (I Swear I'll Leave This Town/Prometo um Dia Deixar Essa Cidade (2014)) and Fabricio Tadeu (Neighboring Sounds)) that is only commenting imperceptibly on the action, - except for the throwback use of zooms now and then. Aquarius is rich on poignant details that are open for interpretation and implicit social and societal criticisms. It is a very worthwhile and unusual film not to miss.
Watch a trailer for the film with Spanish subtitles here
Cost: Reportedly 3.4 mil. R$, equal to approximately 1.07 mil. $ Box office: In excess of 2.6 mil. $ = Even [Aquarius premiered 17 May (Cannes) and runs 140 minutes. Braga rehearsed for 3 weeks prior to filming. Shooting took place in Recife, Brazil in seven weeks from August - September 2015. The team behind the film spurred controversy at Cannes with a red carpet protest against what they saw as the coup at home against president Dilma. Controversy continued through the film's life in Brazil, possibly leading to its not becoming the country's Oscar entry (much less seen Little Secret/Pequeno Segredo (2016) got that honor instead.) The film opened #56 in 3 theaters to a 29k $ first weekend in North America, its 3rd biggest market, where it peaked at #44 and grossed 285k $ (11 % of the total gross). The biggest markets were Brazil with 1.2 mil. $ (46.2 %) and France with 601k $ (23.1 %). The gross above does not include several smaller markets, whose gross are not made public. The film is set to release in Greece and Poland within the next two months. It has been nominated for a César (France's Oscar), an Independent Spirit Award, won the Sydney Film Festival Best Film award and more. Aquarius is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Aquarius ?
This tongue-in-cheek, well-made poster for Mikkel Munch-Fals' Nothing's All Bad hints at the film's dark comedy elements
A family father visits a prostitute. A daughter with only one breast. A rent boy. A flasher. A lonely widow. All come together in Nothing's All Bad.
There is very little wrong with Nothing's All Bad, the debut film of great Danish writer-director Mikkel Munch-Fals (Swinger (2016)): Its chapter structure foregrounds the filmmaker's urge to over-control his film and seems unimportant. But that's about it.
The actors impress, and especially young Sebastian Jessen (Love Is All You Need/Den Skaldede Frisør (2012)) is great. Nothing's All Bad is a wonderful mix of exhibiting and ironically playing with the ailments and hypocrisies of Danish society, while simultaneously embracing its flawed characters. SPOILER Its both surprising, humoristic and light ending leaves us with a distinct feeling that joy in human relations is a possibility.
Nothing's All Bad, - the original Danish title translates to 'beautiful people', - is something new in Danish cinema, which brazes an important message: That we may be sexual freaks, freaks of nature or whatever you want to call it, but that we're also beautiful people. I heartily recommend it.
Writer-director Fals directs his actors during filming of Nothing's All Bad
Writer-director Fals talks of the film at the Stockholm International Film Festival here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown (but most likely a mega-flop)
[Nothing's All Bad was released September 23 (Denmark) and runs 93 minutes. Its budget is unknown, but it was supported with more than 5 mil. DKK (about 0.9 mil. $) from New Danish Screen, the debuting organ within the Danish Film Institute. It sold only 6,207 tickets in Danish cinemas but was screened at 19 film festivals around the world. However, there is no doubt that Nothing's All Bad lost some money. It was nominated for 6 Roberts, winning Bodil Jørgensen the Best Supporting Actress award, and for three Bodils, winning Kurt Ravn the Best Supporting Actor award. 833 IMDb-users have given Nothing's All Bad an average rating of 7.1/10.]
The young stars of Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's Me and Earl and the Dying Girl; Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke adorn the poster
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is an adaptation of Jesse Andrews' 2012 debut novel, which he adapted himself, with Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (American Horror Story (2011-14)) directing it as his second feature. Greg is a senior high school student, whose mother pressures him into spending time with a girl he knows, who is diagnosed with leukemia. Greg and his friend Earl make short films together and end up having a profound relation to the girl, as she struggles with her illness. The film tells its story in a quirky, possibly a little over-narrated way, but as the aim is to get us into Greg's shoes, I think it accomplishes this well. Andrews and Gomez-Rejon embrace Greg and Earl's film-nerding activities, which are pretty funny, if you know some or all of the titles they are remaking. Most of this will be lost on people with little or no film history knowledge, however. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is earnest, very amusing and boasts some creatively stimulating stop-motion sequences made by Edward Bursch and Nathan O. Marsh. By its third act, the film luckily steps somewhat out of its own irony-infused comfort zone, as the story tightens. The conclusion breaks your heart, even if you are mostly 'just' pleasantly amused with the first two acts of the film.
Connie Britton and Nick Offerman in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
The movie falls in the vein of Stephen Chbosky's masterpiece The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), without achieving that film's complete success. It also bears resemblance to the great Juno (2007), although the themes are switched around from giving birth to death. RJ Cyler (War Machine (2016)), Olivia Cooke (Ouija (2014)) and Thomas Mann (Beautiful Creatures (2013)) give fine performances as Earl, Rachel and Greg, and Mann makes some stellar Werner Herzog impressions that are easily the film's funniest moments, (at least for Herzog fans.) Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation (2009-15)) is dryly funny as Greg's father, but it is Connie Britton (Spin City (1996-00)) and Molly Shannon (Scary Movie 5 (2013)) as the two important moms in the film that really make an impact, and both give great, affecting performances. Finally, Me and Earl makes perfect use of Brian Eno music, especially his The Big Ship (1975), SPOILER which plays during Greg's Stan Brakhage-inspired short film to Rachel in the end. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a film that loves film, loves life, - and which you will love.
The book cover for the movie re-print of Jesse Andrews' novel
Watch the trailer for the movie here
Cost: 8 mil. $ Box office: 8.4 mil. $ and counting = Uncertainty [Andrews' script came to be on the 2012 Blacklist and came to the attention of Gomez-Rejon, who used to be personal assistant and second unit director for Alejandro González Iñárritu, Martin Scorsese and Nora Ephron. The movie was shot in four weeks in June-July 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, among other places in Andrews' family home, which is Greg's home in the film. The film debuted at Sundance to a standing ovation, winning both the US Grand Prix: Dramatic and the Audience Award and was picked up for distribution in a bidding war by Fox Searchlight for a whopping 12 mil. $. Despite great reviews, the film failed to set the box office on fire in a slowly growing release strategy: The film has grossed 6.7 mil. $ (79.8 % of the total gross) in North America, not impressive, especially when compared to the success of similarly themed The Fault in Our Stars (2014), which grossed 307.2 mil. $ on a 12 mil. $ budget! Me and Earl's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are the UK (1.1 mil. $/13 %) and Australia (0.3 mil. $/3.6 %). It looks like it will end up a huge flop commercially. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is certified fresh at 81% with a critical rating of 7.6 on Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl?
'Everyone has a secret ...' the tag-line for Jonas Elmer's In Real Life
In Real Life is the ill-titled comeback for great Danish filmmaker Jonas Elmer (New in Town (2009)). Its much better Danish title means 'The Other Life'.
We follow three people and their search for themselves and a meaningful life: Jørgen is married with kids but decides to live out an old fantasy; Klara loses her boyfriend and struggles to move on; and Mark suddenly sees the end of his unsatisfactory life approach rapidly.
Internet dating is a recurring theme in the film, and in that way it is a modern take on relationships and life. The film's main force, besides its sensitive, probing stories, is its exciting ensemble cast: Uffe Rørbæk Madsen (Applaus (2009)) gives an earnest, moving performance as Jørgen, who lets himself have an affair with a much younger guy SPOILER but then regrets it. Singer Karen Rosenberg (Langt fra Las Vegas (2002), TV-series) impresses in her first meaty role, which SPOILER develops with some resemblance to Catherine Deneuve's in Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965). Then there is Bo Carlsson (The Legacy/Arvingerne (2014-)), who also gives a stunning portrayal of a man, who in some ways hasn't grown up along with his life. And in bit parts, the film has stellar moments with talents Stefan Pagels Andersen (Mirakel (2000)), Sarah Grünewald (A Funny Man/Dirch (2011)), Claire Ross-Brown (Klovn (2005-06)), Sofie Gråbøl (Flickering Lights/Blinkende Lygter (2000)) and Dar Salim (A Hijacking/Kapringen (2012)). Comedian-actor/co-writer Rune Tolsgaard (Drengene fra Angora (2004), TV-series) is the weakest link in the strong bunch but not a complete blank.
Uffe Rørbæk Madsen and Thomas Ernst (Sorrow and Joy/Sorg og Glæde (2013)) in Jonas Elmer's In Real Life
The details: In Real Life has both a fine, fitting score (by Nikolaj Egelund (The Hunt/Jagten (2012))), a professional sound side and strong, confident visuals (by cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen (The Hunt), which suits a serious Danish film, (especially after years of literally and figuratively shaky jobs in the Dogme slipstream.) While there is humor and warmth at play here, the film takes turns for the dark time and again, and at its conclusion, I was somewhat dismayed to see SPOILER that it once again decided to turn to (very disheartening) tragedy. The script, by Tolsgaard and Elmer, (with consultation by Marie Høst Andersen (The 11th Hour/Den 11. Time (2007), talk-show)), is consistently realistic and quite universal. Parts of the film (like its star-studded Danish cast) will mostly be appreciated by Danes, but overall, the film is recommended for anyone interested in a contemporary relationship drama. The film marks Elmer's return to quality, you may say, after years of films and TV that has been below the standard he set with his still not surpassed, inspired, funny B/W debut Let's Get Lost (1997), which is warmly recommended.
Watch the trailer with Sarah Grünewald's beautiful singing here
Cost: Unknown Box office: Unknown = Uncertainty [But the film was definitely a flop, and most likely a big or even a huge flop, financially speaking: The film was the 2nd least seen Danish film in Danish cinemas in 2014 with just 1,139 sold tickets. Its distribution (by Svensk Filmindustri) was despairingly bad; despite its cast, which include several popular Danish figures, and the return of the endearing Elmer, the film was only shown at single events around the country as well as (for a short time) in one province cinema, while it was released as VoD simultaneously. While it is very encouraging that this film was made, it is at the same time very discouraging that it was thrown away in this fashion. The distribution strategy of In Real Life should be counted as an absolute low-point and admission of failure for the Danish film community, not to be repeated with a quality film ever again.] What do you think of In Real Life? And Elmer's other works?
Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson head the no-brainer by Rob Reiner, The Bucket List
QUICK REVIEW:
Two elderly gentlemen meet at a double room in a hospital, because they both are dying of cancer. They make a bucket list and start to see the things they miss in life.
From beginning to end this is an unreal concept-movie. The two distinguished leads, Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption (1994)) and Jack Nicholson (The Shining (1980)) cannot salvage the fortune cookie-wise scenes of Bucket List from their lameness, but they do make the film bearable and sporadically enjoyable. The human relations are portrayed mostly well in the movie, but the whole setup is nauseating and ridiculous: The Great Wall in China, the Himalayas and the Taj Mahal are all visited by the two, (for how could anyone have lived fully without having seen these sights (...)), - without any other tourists in sight!
Suddenly, fat Nicholson is sitting on a pyramid. Both he and Freeman look fit as a fiddle, until they suddenly wear bald-masks that look ridiculous.
Jack Nicholson, director Rob Reiner and Morgan Freeman
Bucket List is directed by fine actor-director Rob Reiner (Stand By Me (1986)), but it is definitely a mistake, and best forgotten. A film that wants to be profound, but more resembles something idiotic: The Bucket List. Related reviews:
