Men & Chicken/Mænd & Høns (2015) - Jensen scores with hilarious cinema bizarro original

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 + Best Comedy of the Year + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year

 

Star Mads Mikkelsen, holding a chicken, next to a literal egghead on this poster for Anders Thomas Jensen's Men & Chicken

 

A pair of brothers receive from their recently deceased father a video, which explains that he wasn't their real father. On a small island in a decrepit sanatorium their actual closest relatives reside ...

 

Men & Chicken is written and directed by great Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen (Flickering Lights/Blinkende Lygter (2000)). 

The year's undoubtedly strangest film is also Jensen's best to date (in my book), and certainly his most eccentric, which carries a real brilliance in it. Politically incorrect and shamelessly weird, we here spin around themes of brotherhood, the mysteries of biology and genetics, the absurdities of life, - and violence.

The film has a more or less auspicious framing device and an ending that is rather sudden, but its list of winning performances is long: David Dencik (Gentlemen & Gangsters (2016, miniseries)), Mads Mikkelsen (Bleeder (1999)), Bodil Jørgensen (Se min Kjole (2009)), Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006)), Nicolas Bro (Beast (2011)) and Søren Malling (Karlas Kabale (2007)) are all stark raving mad and absolutely wonderful in the film. It also has outstanding production design and an excellent score by Frans Bak (Albert (2015)) and Jeppe Kaas (That Time of Year/Den Tid på Året (2018)).

Men & Chicken is bizarro and quotable to an incredible extent; an absolute favorite.

 

Related posts:

Anders Thomas Jensen: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

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)

The Green Butchers/De Grønne Slagtere (2003) - Great performances in Jensen's hilarious morbid comedy 
Open Hearts/Elsker Dig for Evigt (2002) - Bier's excruciating Dogme chamber drama (writer)

Grev Axel (2001) - Frödin and Gråbøl pull laughter from 18th century-set crazy-comedy (writer) 

The King Is Alive (2000) - Levring's trying desert theatrics (co-writer) 

 

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here 

 

Cost: Reportedly 36 mil. DKK, approximately 5.66 mil. $

Box office: 4.7 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.83 times its cost)

[Men & Chicken was released 5 February (Denmark) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place in Funen, Denmark, and in Germany. The film opened #79 to a 2k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #43 and in 11 theaters (different weeks) and grossed a measly 30k $ (0.6 % of the total gross). The film was a hit in its main production country Denmark, where it scored Jensen's biggest opening weekend yet and became the year's 2nd highest-grossing local film, selling 351,632 tickets, behind Klovn Forever, coming to 4.3 mil. $ (91.5 %). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 245k $ (5.2 %) and the Netherlands with 113k $ (2.4 %). The film won 3/10 Robert awards (Denmark's Oscar). Jensen returns with Retfærdighedens Ryttere (2020). Mikkelsen returned in Rihanna: Bitch Better Have My Money (2015, music video), Hannibal (2013-15) and theatrically in Doctor Strange (2016); Dencik in Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (2015). Men & Chicken is certified fresh at 83 % with a 6.81/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Men & Chicken?

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016) - Burton and a fine cast bond with auspicious material

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Eva Green clad in leather fronts this fantastical poster for Tim Burton's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

 

The adolescent Jack has an unexciting daily life in Florida. But when his beloved grandfather dies mysteriously, he is driven to visit a strange orphanage in Wales, where he claimed to have previously lived.

 

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is written by Jane Goldman (The Limehouse Golem (2016)), based on the same-titled 2011 novel by Random Riggs (Hollow City (2014)), and directed by Californian master filmmaker Tim Burton (Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)), whose 18th feature it is.

Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)) is well cast as the kind and a bit haunted protagonist; Eva Green (Euphoria (2017)) is charismatic as the orphanage leader Peregrine; and Samuel L. Jackson (Resurrecting the Champ (2007)) enjoys himself as the villain. The unusually beautiful blond that Jack falls for, played well by Ella Purnell (Wildlike (2014)), and others of the peculiar children are also sweet, especially Finlay MacMillan's (Waterloo Road (2014-15)) Enoch.

Burton fans will enjoy recurring imagery from earlier works by the master such as Beetlejuice (1988). The film has fantastical effects, fascinating characters and a strange story. It is spun about 15 minutes too long, but Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is still an imaginative and fun journey to be on.

 

Related posts:

Tim Burton: Dark Shadows (2012) - Fun, flamboyant vampire romp is a celebration of culture
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Alice in Wonderland (2010) - Wasikowska is the perfect lead for Burton's visual wonderland 
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) or, Tim Burton's Bloody Theatrics 
Corpse Bride (2005) - Impressive, loud, hollow, dark doll fairytale 
Ed Wood (1994) - Burton's sticky biopic with strenuous Depp
Batman Returns (1992) - Burton gives us the ultimate, Gothic spin on Gotham City and its sinister characters
Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
Batman (1989) - A huge, glitzy, empty joker
Beetle Juice (1988) - Burton and team serve one of the best horror comedies ever     

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 110 mil. $

Box office: 296.4 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.69 times its cost)

[Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children premiered 25 September (Fantastic Fest, Austin, Texas) and runs 127 minutes. Fox bought the film rights in 2011. Shooting took place in Belgium, England, Florida and California from February 2015 - ?. The film opened #1 to a 28.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained in the top 5 for another 3 weekends (#2-#2-#4) and grossed 87.2 mil. $ (29.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 20.1 mil. $ (6.8 %) and South Korea with 18.6 mil. $ (6.3 %). Burton returned with Dumbo (2019). Butterfield returned in The Space Between Us (2017); Green in D'Après une Histoire Vraie (2017); Jackson in xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017). Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is fresh at 64 % with a 5.95/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children?

Another Round/Druk (2020) - A perfect gem, a wonderful film, Vinterberg's true celebration

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+ Best Movie of the Year

+ Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best $ Return of the Year: 2.43 times + Best Dramedy of the Year 

 

Mads Mikkelsen stops for a sip in the middle of the street with his friends in tow on this poster for Thomas Vinterberg's Another Round

Four middle-aged long-time friends, who are all teachers at the same high school, raddle around an experiment, when one of them seems to have fully lost his life's spark: To work under constant inebriation of at least 0.5 % alcohol in their blood.

 

Another Round is written by Tobias Lindholm (The Commune/Kollektivet (2016)) and co-writer/director, Danish master filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg (Sneblind (1990)), whose 13th film it is. The original Danish title translates to 'heavy drinking'. The film is dedicated to Vinterberg's daughter, who passed away in a tragic car accident during shooting of the film.

Another Round may be the perfect midlife-crisis movie. Because the drinking experiment the four friends embark upon, - inspired by the theory of a Norwegian psychologist that man is made with a half percent alcohol missing in his blood, - is really spurred on by the men's hunger for adventure and youth in their steady, close-knit lives.

The film delves into the special Danish drinking culture, which is especially strong and solidified early on in life, as is evident in the very opening of the film, and certainly local Danish aspects of culture, humor and language will get lost in translation. It doesn't change the fact that Another Round is Vinterberg's best film since his debut masterpiece The Celebration/Festen (1998). It is also the best Danish film in years.

The structure is perfect; the writing is inspired and full of color and fun. The balance between very funny elements and real drama is nailed in Another Round, which alternatively makes audiences laugh as if by reflex, and clench jaws as tears well up in its heaviest moments. The film was intended as a pure celebration of the enjoyment of alcohol but was later developed into also dealing with the shadow side and consequences of binge drinking and alcoholism.

The performances in Another Round are out of the ballpark: Mads Mikkelsen (Valhalla Rising (2009)) goes from nationally (and internationally) endeared to a national hero in Denmark as Martin, the man whose crisis ignites the experiment. Mikkelsen is gold as the man who has stopped being there, who becomes the man that's back in a big way - but due to a helping ingredient. He outdoes himself. Maria Bonnevie (The 13th Warrior (1999)) matches him with grace and honesty as his wife in the film. And the three friends are acted with terrific energy and verve by Magnus Millang (Selvhenter (2019)), Lars Ranthe (Kartellet (2014)) and Thomas Bo Larsen (A Place Nearby/Her i Nærheden (2000)). Larsen is especially poignant as the group's weakest link. The performances by youths are also good.

Another Round is a party you won't want to miss. A complete rescue from the China virus pandemic (for a couple of hours.) A film pulsating with life and energy. A true celebration.

Related posts:

 
Thomas Vinterberg: 2020 in films - according to Film Excess 

Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) - Vinterberg's plush but grating English adaptation

The Hunt/Jagten (2012) - Vinterberg's strongest film since 1998 is a reversed Celebration  

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Submarino (2010) - Vinterberg's elegant, downbeat Copenhagen-set social realism drama
Dear Wendy (2004) - Vinterberg and Von Trier's unpopular, gun-themed mega-flop  

The Celebration/Festen (1998) - Vinterberg's charged, stirring Dogme drama masterpiece 

 

 

Mikkelsen and Vinterberg converse about the film at a virtual interview at the Toronto International Film Festival in the video here

 

Cost: 33.5 mil. DKK, approximately 5.31 mil. $

Box office: Around 22.5 mil. DKK and counting

= Too early to say

[Another Round premiered 12 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 115 minutes. The film has sold 319k tickets in its first 3 weeks in production country Denmark, despite the China virus pandemic, considered a huge win in the small country, although many tickets are sold at half prize due to the film being played as part of the Biografklub Danmark club. The gross so far should come to around 22.5 mil. DKK. The film is coming to several markets in coming months, check out the list here. Samuel Goldwyn Films have acquired the US distribution right to it but have not announced a release date yet, probably awaiting improvements in the market, marred by mass cinema closures due to the China virus. Vinterberg does not have his next project announced yet. Mikkelsen returns in Retfærdighedens Ryttere (2020); Larsen, Millang and Ranthe do not have their next theatrical appearances announced yet. Another Round is fresh at 85 % with a 7.25/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Another Round?

The Meddler (2015) - Stars elevate Scafaria's mother-daughter romcom

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The two central stars in front of a purple-pink background with palm tree contours makes up this poster for Lorene Scafaria's The Meddler

 

Marnie has, after she has also become a widow, moved to Los Angeles, where her adult daughter lives, but she meddles a bit much in her life.

The Meddler is written and directed by Lorene Scafaria (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)). Scafaria's own personal relationship with her mother is the basis of this warm, bright film.

The drama may be in the lightweight category, but The Meddler is an enjoyable time that leaves you with a smile on your face, which is always welcomed.

Rose Byrne (Take Away (2003)) and a delightful Susan Sarandon (Little Women (1994)) elevate the film with depth and comedic knack, and the story gets sound backup from J.K. Simmons (3 Geezers! (2013)), Cecily Strong (Staten Island Summer (2015)) and Jerrod Carmichael (Ferdinand (2017)) as the Apple guy.

The Meddler is a soft present.

 Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 3.2 mil. $

Box office: 5.4 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.68 times its cost)

[The Meddler premiered 14 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 100 minutes. Shooting took place in New York and California, including Los Angeles. The film opened #35 to a 57k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #12 and in 464 theaters, grossing 4.2 mil. $ (77.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 372k $ (6.9 %) and Spain with 354k $ (6.6 %). Scafaria returned with This Is Heaven (2018, TV movie) and theatrically with Hustlers (2019). Sarandon returned in Hell and Back (2015) with a voice performance and physically in The Other Side of the Lake the Purple Girl: Episode IV - The New Visitor (2015); Byrne in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016); Simmons in Ultimate Spider-Man (2012-15) and theatrically in Worlds Apart (2015). The Meddler is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.03/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Meddler?

Monsieur Lazhar (2011) - Fellag shines in Falardeau's heavy, societally critical drama

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A class of children and a happy teacher on the poster for Philippe Falardeau's Monsieur Lazhar

A 7th grade teacher hangs herself in her classroom, and an Algerian refugee gets hired to replace her, but he faces a hard time being himself in the midst of the school's handling of the aftermath and grief as well as in his own tragic life story.

 

Monsieur Lazhar is written and directed by great Quebecker filmmaker Philippe Falardeau (The Left-Hand Side of the Fridge (2000)), adapting the one-character play Bashir Lazhar (2002) by Évelyne de la Chenelière (L'Imposture (2009)).

Mohamed Fellag (The Rabbi's Cat/Le Chat du Rabbin (2011)) gives a very good performance in the title role as the new teacher, to which he brings humanity and dignity.

It is a scorching, unsympathetic image of Canada that the film implicitly draws; female-dictated, conflict-averse, marked by fear of intimacy, hysterically overprotective, exaggerated in its focus on specialists for every possible challenging instance in life, - coupled with habitual rudeness, anxiousness and, which is almost worst since we are here dealing with a school, contempt for classical edification. There are nuances, but because it is so thoroughly an uphill struggle to work in this environment for Lazhar, together with the suicide, - and Lazhar's own story of how his wife and daughters were murdered in an arson attack in Algeria, - the film becomes immensely heavy to sit through.

At the same time it seems like a plot-dictated adult perspective on children that the child students in the story are almost only concerned with the teacher's suicide, which their entire lives seem to circle somewhat unnaturally around. There is a lack of spunk in these Canadian kids.

Monsieur Lazhar is an ambitious and promising societally critical drama, if not the bull's eye that some deem it to be.

 

Related posts:

Philippe Falardeau:  2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Top 10: The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date   
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

The Good Lie (2014) - Under-appreciated true story gem 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 9 mil. $

= Uncertain, - but likely a box office success

[Monsieur Lazhar premiered 8 August (Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland) and runs 94 minutes. Shooting took place in Montreal. The film opened #33 to a 112k $ first weekend in 19 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #21 and in 81 theaters (different weeks), grossing 2 mil. $ (22.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 1.6 mil. $ (17.8 %) and Australia with 1.3 mil. $ (14.4 %). If made on a realistic 3 mil. $, the film would rank as a box office success. The film was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, lost to Asghar Farhadi's A Separation (Iran). The film won an award in Toronto, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. Falardeau returned with The Good Life (2014). Fellag returned in In Turmoil/Dans la Tourmente (2011). Monsieur Lazhar is certified fresh at 97 % with an 8.16/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Monsieur Lazhar?

Midnight Special (2016) - Nichols' strange, cool sci-fi curveball

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A mysterious bespectacled boy reads underneath a blanket on the uninformative poster for Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special

A boy whom a Texan sect is centered around has been abducted, and the authorities send their big guns out to locate him, when among other things they learn that he has divulged some of their secrets, which he couldn't possibly have known about naturally.

Midnight Special is written and directed by great Arkansan filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories (2007)).
It is a strange story about a fantastical boy from a foreign civilization, which is elevated through handsome photography (by Adam Stone (The First (2018, TV-series))), skillful editing, an effective score (by David Wingo (Barry (2018-19))) and an excellent cast.
Jaeden Martell, formerly Lieberher, (St. Vincent (2014)) is tremendously credible as the boy; Adam Driver (Lincoln (2012)) is a delectable NASA scientist; Kirsten Dunst (Luckytown (2000)) finds herself in a very unglamorous maternal crisis in the film; and Michael Shannon (What They Had (2018)) and Joel Edgerton ($9.99 (2008)) are wooden men in the car.
Nichols doesn't miss an occasion to score a facial close-up from anyone in the fine cast, and the father-son dynamic between Shannon and Martell, - when we don't fully know the actual history between the two characters, - is a bit odd. The film remains exciting nevertheless, and it culminates forcefully with a view inside the super-evolved world of the strange boy. Midnight Special is a cool film.

Related posts:

Jeff Nichols: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Loving (2016) - Edgerton and Negga own the screen in Nichols' powerful period drama 
Top 10: Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date 
2012 in films - according to Film Exces [UPDATED I]
Mud (2012) - Career-defining, electric Americana
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]    
Take Shelter (2011) or, Madness in Ohio 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 18 mil. $
Box office: 6.7 mil. $
= Mega-flop (returned 0.37 times its cost)
[Midnight Special premiered 12 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 112 minutes. Nichols wrote the script as a reflection of his becoming a father. It is Nichols first studio production, done so only when he was promised final cut. Shooting took place in Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico and in Mississippi from January - March 2014. Dunst wore no makeup in the film. The film opened #30 to a 190k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #14 and in 521 theaters (different weekends), grossing 3.7 mil. $ (55.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 1.4 mil. $ (20.9 % ) and the UK with 1.3 mil. $ (19.4%). Nichols returned with Loving (2016). Shannon returned in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016); Dunst in Hidden Figures (2016); and Martell in The Confirmation (2016). Midnight Special is certified fresh at 84 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Midnight Special?

Miles Ahead (2015) - Cheadle succeeds with jazz biopic passion project

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Star Don Cheadle blurred out in B/W but with colored specks of reflection on a cool poster for his own Miles Ahead

We meet master jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in a creative and personal crisis. In the same period of time a Rolling Stones journalist gets lucky in approaching the legend after a 5 year break from music. Davis demands a lot - too much - of his wife, and he doesn't create in this period.

Miles Ahead is written by Steven Baigelman (Feeling Minnesota (1996)) and debuting co-writer/co-producer/director/star Don Cheadle (Colors (1988)), with Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson (Ali (2001, both)) contributing story elements.
It is an unusual depiction of a musical giant, which springs along with creatively free interpretations back and forth in time, with an obviously deeply personally involved Cheadle. He makes a distinguished portrait of Davis, and certainly not a romanticized portrait; SPOILER Davis cheats, is unreasonable, addicted to drugs, unpredictable and dangerous, apparently having lost his gift with a trumpet, - which he seems to regain at the very end.
Miles Ahead is perhaps not as fully rounded as it could have been, but it is a worthy venture in free form jazz filmmaking with nerve.

Related posts:

Don Cheadle: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Whedon disappoints with less fun, huge, ugly sequel (actor)
Flight (2012) - Character study masterpiece from Zemeckis and Washington (co-star)
The Guard (2011) - J. McDonagh's uproarious crime comedy debut  (co-star)
Iron Man 2 (2010) - Favreau and Theroux's boisterous, entertaining sequel (co-star)
Boogie Nights (1997) - Anderson's irresistable porn 'Casino' (co-star)

Don Cheadle talks about the making of the movie in this 5-minute video

Cost: 8.5 mil. $
Box office: 5.1 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.6 times its cost)
[Miles Ahead premiered 10 October (New York Film Festival) and runs 100 minutes. The idea for making the film came around during production of Ali (2001). Relatives to Davis finally got Cheadle involved. Cheadle has stated that Ewan McGregor was cast for his box office appeal. Financing was achieved partly through crowdfunding. Shooting took place in Cincinnati, Ohio. The film opened #32 to a 114k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #16 and in 527 theaters, grossing 2.6 mil. $ (51 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were South Korea with 1.7 mil. $ (33.3 %) and the UK with 242k $ (4.7 %). The film won a Grammy. According to The-Numbers the film made 335k $ on the home video market. Cheadle has not directed a feature since, but he has made 4 episodes of House of Lies (2014-16); he returned as an actor in Captain America: Civil War (2016). McGregor returned in Jane Got a Gun (2015). Miles Ahead is fresh at 74 % with a 6.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Miles Ahead?