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Possum (2018)

Great performance from Sean Harris!

This is definitely an audience splitter, since the material itself is very dark and not so frequent on entertaining scenes. When that is said, the movie is very interesting and has a great atmosphere overall.

The main character played by Sean Harris, is a career turning point for the actor, as it is above everything else he has done before! it's emotional and gripping till the very end.

When the movie ends, everything comes together and all the plot points from before suddenly makes sense. Some of the scenes building up in the beginning, can feel a bit tiresome because of the slow tempo and the long unbroken cuts. Some of the scenes might feel a bit irrelevant, although not lesser interesting because of that.

A very solid produced film, with great performances and a very nerving atmosphere that haunts you long after the movie ends.

The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015)

A very unusual Psychological horror

The quality of this film is very high, as both the actors and direction are a feast for the eye. The character are executed with a very hard-to-learn 17th century dialect, while still having the emotional debt and impact for it to be scary.

The cinematography is something different in terms of "standard" filmmaking. This is meant with a context to the movie being bleak and dark, whilst the dialogue and tempo matches the tone. This makes up for some high quality close-ups, long drawn out pans of the scenery, and slowly zooming in with tangering background-music.

When it comes to the story, it's so intense and mysterious that it holds the drawn out parts interesting. It's a long and slow movie, but it has a slow burn that sticks in the mind - and is certainly something to analyse on for future viewings.

Wind River (2017)

Mysterious and chilling experience

A few movies tend to have the right recipe for a "Slow burn", while this one nails it completely. The slow building narrative, is perfect for getting to know the characters, which makes their motivations towards solving the mystery much ore enjoyable, and is something to look forward to. The few moments of action keeps the pacing to a relatively solid tempo. Also the choreography in which the gunfights are presented, shows how keen the director is on detail and quality.

Jeremy Renner delivers a surprisingly emotional performance, that keeps the audience hoping for a catharsis climax - because of his character being extremely authentic to how someone would behave, if dealing with the tragedy of loss. Overall a really gripping thriller, that sticks in your mind long after the credits.

Logan Lucky (2017)

Clever heist movie

Starting off to seem like a revenge-tale-drama, the movie turns into one of the best heist movies ih've ever seen. The plot is fairly simple to begin with, while the characters are presented with more complexity than you would expect from this kind of movie.

Adam Driver really steals the show, as the protagonist's veteran brother. Where he could have been a cardboard character, who's only premise was comedic relief, he ends up as charismatic and sympathe.Also all the other actors gives a really convincing southern-state accent throughout the runtime. All of the scenes bring something fun or interesting to the table, which is expected from a film with a simple plot, but this one seems to have a heavy focus on the dialogue - which is also fun and brilliantly executed.

The only negative aspects of the movie, might be the clarity of the narrative. It's a small detail in the storytelling that seems to hide where the plot is going. It makes it seem like some of the progression is made up on the get-go, although it's unclear to me if this is intentional. Apart from that! a really solid directed film, with a brilliant ending.

Sicario (2015)

Another brilliant piece of Villeneue

The exciting crime-drama from Canadian director Denis Villeneue, brought the already-perfect work of cinema to a more popular genre. His early work with films such as "enemy" didn't seem catch the audience as much as Sicario did.

We follow Emely Blunts character who dwells into the unknown territory of federal organisations, when hunting down mobsters and drug-lords in Mexico. The longer into the plot we go, the more interesting it gets!

The acting is really good, and the cinematography and setting is extremely satisfying to watch. From beginning to end, the film keeps us guessing in different directions, while the best parts of the plot are almost hidden in the details. This makes the film hard to follow for the first viewing, which is why you should watch it at least twice! Because there's a ton of details and characteristics to analyse on.

The Girl on the Train (2016)

Drawn out, but worth it

I haven't read the book, but i can tell that this thriller needs a bit more runtime. From the opening scene, to the flashbacks, there seems to be some plot points missing (maybe in the editing-chair). That's noticeable around the characters introduced in the end, such as the caterer at Tom's birthday and such. This is a shame because it wouldn't need more than a few minutes of screen-time in the early hour of the film, but ends up being a cheap way to tie up loose ends. Maybe it worked on paper, but is lacking on the emotional storytelling displayed on the big screen.

With that said.... the film is still a really pleasant viewing. The characters are well written and acted. Especially Emily Blunt - who delivers a performance as a drunk, confused and distrusted woman caught up in a mysterious crime. The plot is well structured to leave the viewers surprised and captivated up until the end, even though it lacks in disposition. The interesting actors and emotional performances - makes up for most of the errors in the directing.

The movie is not perfect, but also far from being bad.

John Wick (2014)

A fresh kind of action

The new franchise to boost Keanu Reeves acting career, is certainly gonna go down as the best action movie of 2014! It has a great cast with very serious and grim performances, while still being charming and intimidating.

The film starts off with a very generic plot - "mans wife dies, leaves a dog - home-invaders kills dog and steals car, man sets out to avenge the crimes.". Even though it had me bored for the first 10 minutes of plot-building, I got so immersed as soon as the action and dialogue started popping. The cinematography and style is so beautiful and different from other action films, which makes it a unique and fresh breath into the genre. The film is also filled with stunning performances from Reeves and the compelling antagonist - even a surprise performance from Willem Dafoe.

One thing I noticed during the action, is the fact that the kamera-work has shy completely away from "shaky-cam", which is much harder to achieve and so pleasant to look at. It makes the action more tangible and easy to follow.

Even though the plot is not really a new thing, it's unveiled and structured with such grace, that the only critique - is the simplicity of it all. But overall a really satisfying action-flick, that clearly blew me away.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Good but still disappointing

To get this short: the good aspects of the movie are the good actors, good jokes, great effects, and the God-like soundtrack. The charm and tempo sets off the continued franchise in a way, that gets the smile going from beginning to end. Overall it's a fairly interesting film.

The bad aspects of the movie though... First is the wasted potential! this is meant with both the antagonist and the setting of the film. It starts off with introducing the villain Helen - the God of Death, which is supposed to be an important character for the franchise! but ends up being wooden, dull and boring in general. She is presented with no personality whatsoever, and with the sheer motivation of "conquering the world", which is fine if the character is deep, but being so one-dimensional makes it such a cliche that really falls flat. This is especially noticeable when considering that it's double oscar winner Cate Blanchett playing Helen. This is of course a HUUUUGE waste of potential.

The other is the fact that in a time with so remarkable CGI, they put most of the runtime outside of Asgard... Maybe it's because Marvel wanna tie up the franchise in a climax there, but for now it just comes off as a cheap way to avoid any world-building. In the end - this movie leads to nowhere, with almost zero consequences from bumping into the God of Death. Good movie in general, but also a big disappointment when considering the circumstances.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

A famous case of unconventional storytelling

Being the early successes of Tarantino's work, is something that lasts for a long time - all things considered. The style and and themes of this movie is definitely different from many other gangster-dramas. The theme is very dark and cruel, with long drawn out dialogue that represents some of the worst aspects of human beings. The charming actors holds the movie to such a high standard, that you can't do nothing, but love their long and tedious monologues.

The writing is supreme, the actors fit perfectly for the style, the cinematography is okay, and the dark comedy is hilarious. The reason this is not a top class product, is based on the fact that the narrative seems disjointed from having solid plot-structure, and therefore seems like the events are just randomly connected without a deeper meaning. With that said! the movie is great anyway.

The Dark Knight (2008)

The perfect recipe for a superhero movie

Only three years after the critically acclaimed "Batman Begins", Christopher Nolan continues the soon-to-be legendary batman-trilogy. It surpasses the hype built up from batman begins, and delivers on the expectations from the new recast of everyones favorite Batman-villain.

I remember the controversy that boiled up before the premiere, about who was going to play the joker. When the first pictures of Heath Ledgers makeup-face was revealed (the close-up one), people criticized the casting choice heavily! They couldn't believe that the guy from "Brokeback Mountain" and "10 things I hate about you", could surpass Nicholson's Joker in any way. But BOY! where they wrong.... Ledger goes on to deliver the best performance in the entire franchise, and probably goes down as one of the best villains in superhero-movie-history. Which is unfortunately a title delivered to his grave.

The film is really high on both action and drama! And the effects works so well, being that a lot of em are practical, which is a fresh thing to see in the uprising of the CGI movies. The drama between the characters are extremely emotional for at comic-book movie, but is minimalisktic when it comes to the number of dramatic characters. The heavy drama mostly revolves around 4 people - Gordon, Wayne, Dent and Rachel. The side-characters withing the drama works as pressure points for the individual motivation - which is not made into sub-plots, but rather background motivation for the supporting characters. It's something that would ruin some film in another genre, but it's executed to perfection and works so well with Nolans dark Batman-universe.

This is definitely a milestone for film-making, as Nolan shows how you revive a dead franchise from the claws of the God awful Schumacher-films. Also the use of practical effects goes way longer than any action movie i have ever seen! Not to spoil anything but.... They flip a truck vertically over the chassis (if you can imagine).

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Classic that's gonna last forever

Some movies are focused on being fast and interesting in the pacing, and other movies tend to the slow and satisfying build up to the grand finale. This is a movie that is somewhat on both ends. First of all - the film is long and takes it's time to resolve the issues that the protagonist encounters. Everything around the main plot is essential to almost every character in the film, which is one of the most important aspects of this title. The subplots all resolve around themes like humanity, depression, and the concept of miss-fists in society.

Tim Robbins plays the protagonist who's convicted of murder, and as we follow his life through the prison sentence and the impact he leaves on the other inmates, we get to see another side of each and every one of the stereotypes - that society usually depict as one sided criminals. The story is moving, heartbreaking and thoughtful. Morgan Freeman is also great and leaves us with one of the best supporting characters of all time.

So far ih've established that the story and characters are almost perfectly written and executed, but there's other things to consider. The cinematography is on point, and really captures the setting of life in prison, but also the claustrophobic and powerles feeling that the characters are induced with.

To round up! the movie is a perfect mix of interesting and thoughtful scenes with a good tempo, and a slow build up to a grand finale - with a satisfying catharsis in the end. The actors does a great job that makes us love and hate them in different ways and reasons. It's also a film that has something for everyone, and should be taught as a moral story in school. No film-school though! there are better examples of cinematography, but everything else is perfect, and the small details with the camera-work is not artistic as other films, but that's not bad and wouldn't fit the narrative anyway. One of the best movies of all time - No doubt!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

Love the 3 first - hate this one

Gore Verbinsky's style cannot be replicated, as seen in this poor try-hard of a sequel. By try-hard, I mean that it's trying to blend too many different genres into one movie. First it's a flashback with a simple revenge tale, then it's lighthearted comedy for like an hour, mixed with some action and adventure. Later it tries to be dramatic and deep, but ends with an edgy and pointless climax.... if you can even call it that.

The actors are wooden and boring, the effect seems like downgrades - compared to the previous movies. The dialogue seems rushed and ends up being the worst part of the long drawn out dramatic scenes.

The movie never seems to find the right tempo or theme, as it shifts in between scenes from being witty - to being childish - to being downright sad. The problem here is that you don't care about the sad parts, because the characters have such a short buildup, that you never get to feel any empathy for em. "Bad in every way"

Suicide Squad (2016)

The worst of the worst

This movie had so much potential but ended up being a total letdown. I'm not basing my review on the sheer fact of disapointment, but on the movie in general. The story is bad, the villain is awful, the characters are written so lazy, and the tone is inconsistent. Some moments of the movie are really good though! the fight scenes in the mall - and the one between the antagonist (God) and Diablo, the bar scene (no, no - the uncut one), the backstory for Harley Quinn, and some of the joker parts. The editing seems to have left the film with a bit of controversies (to say it mildly), because the rest of the movie is either crap or poorly directed.

The worst things about this movie is the flat characters, the cheesy dialogue, and the awkward character interactions.

the good things about the movie are the few good scenes, the charming set of actors that keeps it somewhat interesting, and the effects that holds up to the standard of a superhero movie (I know it's antiheroes, but the writers didn't). Also the movie never slows enough down to being boring, but is still really bad.

Mother! (2017)

Wrongly advertised - but great in every other aspect.

To make things clear! this is definitely not a movie for everyone, but for the ones who enjoy a dark, psychological, and other-worldly experience - this is a complete masterpiece on that matter. From the slow building beginning - to the bombing finale, there is a really good pacing that makes the narrative interesting. From the perspective of someone who doesn't care about religion, the characters are so well written that every dialogue and confrontation, is made so intense and gripping that you can't stop watching. When I first heard that people walked out of the theater from watching this movie, I couldn't believe it since the psychological parts are really exciting. Later on i realized that the R-rating and the bloody parts, may be too much for some people who expected a Haunted house kind of horror. In time where Hollywood has become so vanilla when it comes to horror movies and psychological thrillers, it's so refreshing to see that there are some great directors left, who are not afraid to dial the tone of the violence up to the extreme, and makes it so convincing (even thought it's almost a fairy tale) that you can't be anything but shocked (in a good way). This is NOT a horror movie though... so just disregard the weird advertisements, and watch the movies if you like intense psychological thrillers, that are way deeper structured than most movies today.

Wonder Woman (2017)

Great Superhero movie in an era of cheesy garbage

With the new era of superhero movies, turning away from the Grimm Burton-style batman, the genre is slowly diving into a comedy-heavy CGI mess... But this movie really stands out in the first 2 acts, as the action is alternative and fresh and the effects dialed down to a minimum. This could sound like a critique but is actually a compliment. See a lot of superhero movies tend to throw as many special effects on the screen as possible, which not only confuses the viewer at some points but also covers the fact that the script is poorly written, and therefore a need for CGI distractions.Wonder Woman stars off with the cliché start of a hero-story, but goes deeper than just hero vs. antagonist. It shows the fear and strategy of war and really moves on the setting of the timeline. The actors are charming and really knock it out of the park when it comes to convincing the audience of their empathy. The biggest critique I have, is based on the final act of the film, which shy away from the deeper and more meaningful narrative. The ending leaves us with a very CGI-heavy and over the top dragonball-style-fight. This is the worst part of the movie - even though it's well made - it's still a complete shift in tone so that the tempo build up from the rest of the film, is completely ruined. It also ruins the first good antagonist from DC in a while (last one was Bane from the dark knight trilogy), from being a totalitarian war tyran - to being a literal God-of-War.... And the medieval skyrim-style armor doesn't really make it any better. Overall! the music and effects are great! actors performing really well! and the war narrative fits good until the end. The final act is boggus, and the antagonist turns to garbage. Really a shame that this could have been way better, but still a good movie.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Too much style, not enough substance.

It's difficult to have a lot of strong cast members if you have to give everyone of them a deep character to portray. This is one of the 3 main problems with this movie, because even when the great effects and cinematography works, the acting and story lacks any interesting points. In the end we are left with a narrative not more advanced than a low budget crime-drama. It's a shame since the choice of actors actually seems to be a good round up, but get's too little screen time to convince the audience of anything but a mediocre performance from nearly everyone onboard of this "train wreck" (see what i did there). it's not entirely bad though, since there are some enjoyable scenes with good writing and camera-work, but it get's overshadowed by the errors in the end.

pros:

• good cinematography
• great line of cast
• some great written dialogue (at times)

• stiff acting
• weak story
• slow boring pacing with a dull soundtrack

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

Not what it seems

To begin with the movie holds you going, with a mystery so conveniently drawn that you have to keep watching. This kind of tensions-driven unclarity is the only interesting part of the first act. The second act tho! is soooo good that it hold the whole movie standing, and without the abusing undertone, this movie would have been a complete flop. Jumping ahead to the final act, which is... well... surprising. I must admit that I'm really not a fan of those type of endings, but it's still an enjoyable refreshment from the claws of cliché-hollywood! It may sound like i didn't like this movie, but that's not the case! I just didn't like all of the decisions from the production. The actors are great! especially John Goodman, who is portraying this love-hate character in the perfect resemblance of.... oh! no spoilers ;)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Drama and comedy at the highest level

I went to see this movie because I hadn't seen any trailers to it. It's something I do because trailers are unreliable and spoiling, but also this case was based around the sheer number of good reviews. I can't even describe how surprised i was when i started to invest in the drama, and I really got my money worth when seeing it in the theaters. This is a movie that grips you good from the start, and holds the tension of the backstory right up until the end. The characters are phonemically written, and the actors did a hell-of-a-good job portraying them. This is a movie that could have been written off with a "strong protagonist"-cinda-story, but unfolds to a much more deep and philosophical tone. To be honest! not much happens in this film, but because of the powerfull characters within - every little detail about their lives, becomes of great importance throughout. I can say without a doubt, that this is my favourite movie of the year (2017...Ofc.)

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

A type of Psychological thriller that we need more of

It came as a surprise to me when I found myself really enjoying this movie. Not because it was a bad trailer, but because I didn't expect it to be so tense right from the beginning - considering how the pacing of "the lobster" was. It starts off really slow and seems rather artistic in style. All the slow building up to a final climax, is made so intense in a way we rarely see on the big screen. It really stuck to me because of the surreal style. Most movies these days tend to explain every detail of the plot through simple dialogue or voiceover, where this movie makes you a bit confused (to say the least), and leaves the viewer with a lot of content to digest and make up their mind. The story itself comes off weird and fascinating, mostly because of the disjointed acting and surreal-like atmosphere (and that's not a bad thing).

The characters in the movie really does something that makes the audience linger to understand their actions, which I think is on purpose so that nothing in this movie is predictable. The cinematography is great, actors are splendid, and the setting is nothing short of amazing. The only thing holding this movie down as to becoming a masterpiece, is the really slow pacing and the lack of any catharsis.

All in all - a really great movie that will stick to your thoughts long after the credits roll.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Too much style, not enough substance.

It's difficult to have a lot of strong cast members if you have to give everyone of them a deep character to portray. This is one of the 3 main problems with this movie, because even when the great effects and cinematography works, the acting and story lacks any interesting points. In the end we are left with a narrative not more advanced than a low budget crime-drama. It's a shame since the choice of actors actually seems to be a good round up, but get's too little screen time to convince the audience of anything but a mediocre performance from nearly everyone onboard of this "train wreck" (see what i did there). it's not entirely bad though, since there are some enjoyable scenes with good writing and camera-work, but it get's overshadowed by the errors in the end.

pros:

• good cinematography
• great line of cast
• some great written dialogue (at times)

• stiff acting
• weak story
• slow boring pacing with a dull soundtrack

Logan (2017)

Dramatic and perfect in every way.

My expectations for this movie where pretty high, while the feeling i had walking out of the cinema was based in pure satisfaction. The start is setting up the later on too-old-for-this-sh*t Logan, who is driven by the existence of the former school leader and teacher Charles Xavier. The bond between him and Charles has changed a lot since the older x-men movies, and has created this humorous yet desperate feeling towards the plot.

As the plot unravel and we get introduced to more characters, the action holds nothing back from there on, and until the end. When I say "holds nothing back" I mean that this is definitely not a movie for people with weak stomachs... there is a LOT of blood-shed and a sh*t-ton of violence, but that's no minus at all, because it's executed and acted so well in every action scene there is.

Building up to the grand finale leaves every viewer with a lot of emotion towards the new character/characters, and ends in a way it's meant to.

Probably the best marvel movie with everything a superhero movie needs, while still being a very well polished dramatic experience. And that is why i'm giving it 10/10.

A Cure for Wellness (2016)

A new classic to freshen up the genre.

I went to see this movie with hopes of great cinematography and brilliant storytelling. I would say that I'm both satisfied and unsatisfied at the same time, for the reason of both good and bad elements in the movie. The only compromise i had to make in my decision of the rating, was if the cons mattered more or less than the pros. So far I have my pros in the corner of the cinematography and breathtaking acting, during great performances by Dane DeHaan and Jason Isaacs. The story puts us right into the eyes of the well educated business man Lockhart, where Dane delivers a shockingly good presentation as a man running into a lot of trouble, having to endure blackmailing, car crash, isolation, stress, mental and physical torture, et cetera.

When it comes to the cinematography it's amazing as hell, because of the beautiful lined shots for each scene perfectly blends in on the thriller genre, also the dark close ups, hidden views and alternate angles gives the movie a shiny (if not well polished) look.

Coming to the cons of the film.... In the beginning of the movie we are introduced to the characters, the place and the secrets, which is perfectly constructed for the length of the movie. In the second act we see pieces of a dark puzzle starting to get some resolve, although some pieces might have to be called out in a second viewing. Towards the final we get an awesome action packed ending with the twist coming together with story-line from the beginning. Although... that is definitely not what the audience is expecting judging from the first 2 hours of the film... Which I would say is a failed misstep on the theme that the story takes so much time building up to, with a finale that would be epic in any superhero-movie, but is way too over the top and flamboyant for the theme in specifically this type of movie, which is why I must pull it down to a solid 8/10 from a could-have-been 10/10 for me otherwise.

All in all still a very good movie and definitely a must watch for the psychological thriller-lovers out there.

Silent Hill (2006)

A poor acted mess...

From the opening sequence to the arrival at Silent Hill, there seems to be a problem with the script, since the actors don't really know how to make the viewers care for the character before they split their ways. When we get to the confrontation of the film, there's no holding back from the screen-writers when it comes to the use of poor CGI. After the second plot point it seems to reveal a third act with some resolution, but that's stretched way too far into what can barely be called a climax. The basic problem with this movie is that it doesn't know when to stop.