14 posts categorized "Foreign"

February 16, 2012

BULLHEAD

   Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Welcome!

ColeSmithey.comThis ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

 

ColeSmithey.comJacky Vanmarsenille (Matthias Schoenaerts) is not your run-of-the-mill Flemish mafia thug. He has serious emotional and physical issues stemming from an attack by the son of one of his father’s criminal partners. Jacky belongs to a family of Belgium cattle farmers who use growth hormones to increase profits.

Debut writer/director Michael R. Roskam based his gut-wrenching crime drama on the true story of a Belgian veterinarian who was murdered in the mid-‘90s.

The murder of a local investigator causes Jacky to advise his boss not to rush into inking a deal with De Kuyper (Sam Louwyck), an illicit meat market kingpin from a neighboring region. Not that any of his gangster cohorts take the steroid-pumped Jacky seriously enough to follow his instructions. Jacky is of course correct in guessing that a police investigation is in full swing, and the he and his compatriots could be swept up in its net.

ColeSmithey.com

Roskam’s gift for cinematic storytelling comes through in every affecting frame. The filmmaker’s scrupulous use of flashbacks brings the audience into a visceral empathy with Jacky, whose daily injections of testosterone explain much of his erratic behavior and his private turmoil. With his blunted facial features, Flemish actor Matthias Schoenaerts (“Loft”) is ideally cast for the role. Schoenaerts’s gutsy performance is remarkable.

ColeSmithey.com

At heart, Jacky is a sensitive and intelligent guy trapped in a body that doesn’t belong to him anymore. A subplot involving his best friend from childhood seals the film’s character-study aspect with an added dimension of deeply seeded context. “Bullhead” is an unconventional mafia story told through the eyes of a damaged-goods protagonist you can’t help but feel for.

Rated R. 124 mins.

4 StarsColeSmithey.com

Cozy Cole

ColeSmithey.com

September 15, 2011

HAPPY, HAPPY

Welcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

ColeSmithey.com

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

 

 

ColeSmithey.comNorwegian filmmaker Anne Sewitsky makes a thought-provoking and sexy debut with a romantic comedy/drama neatly offset by a cappella musical interludes. Schoolteacher Kaja (wonderfully played by Agnes Kittelsen) was abandoned by her mother as a child. Her desperate need to have a family has driven Kaja into the arms of her unhappy Eirik (Joachim Rafaelsen). Eirik is a closet homosexual who plays cruel games with the couple's son Theodor aimed at upsetting Kaja.

Happy, Happy,' Directed by Anne Sewitsky — Review - The New York Times

In rural Norway's gloom of constant snowy winter Kaja has developed a permanent sense of joy as her primary defense mechanism. Communal inspiration arrives when married couple Genial (Henrik Rafaelsen) and Elisabeth (Maibritt Saerens) move in to the house next door, which Kaja and Eirik rent out.

Happy, Happy Anne Sewitsky

Genial and Elisabeth have their own adopted child, an African boy named Noa who the couple habitually neglect. Communal dinner parties and parlor games reveal problems in both marriages. Katja can't resist throwing herself at Genial, who picks up on the opportunity to exact some personal revenge against his wife. Elisabeth's recent act of adultery was the inciting reason the couple moved away from the city and its temptations.

Sex-Starved Housewives & Gay Iranian Refugees: Sundance Movies

First-time screenwriter Ragnhild Tronvoll makes a few missteps here and there, but makes strong social commentary on the offhand ways seeds of racism, sexism, and anger are planted and fostered.

Rated R. 85 mins.

3 Stars

Cozy Cole

ColeSmithey.com

April 20, 2011

THE DOUBLE HOUR

Welcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.ColeSmithey.comThis ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

 

ColeSmithey.comAlthough not as witty in plot design as debut director Giuseppe Capotondi imagines, "The Double Hour" is an atmospheric suspense thriller that succeeds on the strength of its two leading actors.

Filippo Timi ("Vincere") and Ksenia Rappoport play newly-minted romantic partners Guido and Sonia. Guido is a former police officer who works as a security guard at a frequently unoccupied mansion estate. Sonia toils as a housecleaner for an upscale Italian hotel.

The Double Hour - La Doppia Ora - Right Now On Demand – I Love Italian  Movies

The pair fall into a relationship after meeting at a speed-dating event overseen by a lovable micro-managing hostess (Lucia Poli). Sonia serves as the film's unreliable protagonist whose ulterior motives prove nearly fatal for Guido.

ColeSmithey.com

The narrative structure takes an affected extended diversion before resolving. The effect is disorienting at best, and alienating at worst. Nonetheless, "The Double Hour," whose title refers to the moment when a clock strikes a symmetrical time like 11:11, commands your attention as a mystery whose overleveraged suspense plays against palpable romanticism.

Ksenia Rappoport: „Ranevskaia just goes on loving and perishes…” – 2016  Archive

Not Rated. 102 mins.

3 Stars

Cozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

Featured Video

SMART NEW MEDIA® Custom Videos

COLE SMITHEY’S MOVIE WEEK

COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA

Throwback Thursday


Podcast Series