Haywire (2011)

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Haywire (2011)

Haywire is an excellent action movie with an okay plot that falters a bit in the last 15 minutes. But it’s hard to care too much about the story, which doesn’t matter in the end because you enjoy the great actors playing interesting characters and most of all the excellent fight and action scenes that are really impressive and well done. Seriously, those fight scenes alone are worth watching the movie. They look real, happen in interesting locations and have some surprises. And Gina Carano owns all of them. I read some reviews claiming that the movie only exists to show off Carano’s fighting skills and though that makes it sound like a movie I’d normally not be interested in, I totally fell for it here. Most of this wouldn’t matter, if the movie wasn’t directed by Steven Soderbergh because his skills are visible in every scene. It is not a movie he will be remembered for, but he is such a talented director and every scene shows that. I really like the underdog nature of this film and it reminded me a lot of The Limey, Soderbergh ‘s great movie with Terence Stamp that is similar in spirit (and has the same screenwriter). Anyway, it’s a very entertaining movie and if nothing else you get some great actors enjoying themselves (like Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas and Antonio Banderas who are all excellent).

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12 Years a Slave (2013)

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12 Years a Slave (2013)

(spoilers ahead, even if the movie only has few surprises, since the title tells you most of it, but I will discuss almost every scene of it)

12 Years a Slave is an extremely powerful movie. It doesn’t let you off the hook in showing you what slavery was like. And you have to keep in mind that the protagonist, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) was probably better off than the average slave. He had some opportunities because of his education and he didn’t die as a slave. But despite that relatively narrow focus, the movie manages to give a realistic portrayal of slavery. I found the film very impressive, especially the way it was directed by Steve McQueen. I had seen Shame and was impressed by it too but I didn’t feel an emotional connection to it. 12 Years a Slave goes straight to the heart by its sheer force of filmmaking and I appreciate that a lot. Every aspect of the movie – the acting, the music, the script, the cinematography, the editing, the production and costume design, the sound design – is not just a showcase for talent but actually increases the emotional impact of the movie.

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Miami Vice (2006)

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Miami Vice (2006)

(spoilers ahead!)

There is not that much to say about Miami Vice as a movie except that I found it pretty disappointing. I’m confused by the critical acclaim it got but then again, it seems like a movie that is more or less forgotten by now and that I understand. It’s a bit of a mess, a plot that’s hard to understand but in which also nothing really happens most of the time. The movie on the one hand appears so gritty and realistic but then on the other hand relies on big romantic love and sex scenes that totally feel out of place. I didn’t feel a lot for the characters either. I like both Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx but they were so damn serious all the time that I found it hard to care about them. And why is Justin Theroux in this movie? He has about two lines of dialogue and his face is obscured most of the time. He could have been an extra and it wouldn’t have made a difference. The whole opening sequence was great, though, it felt like the movie was trying something different, there was an interesting mood going on and John Hawkes is just brilliant. But after his death (so after about 15 minutes) the movie quickly deteriorated into long talks between people who didn’t trust each other, dance scenes, racing boat scenes, container boat scenes, plane scenes and a confusing shoot-out finale. And one of the most pointless final shots I can remember. It’s hard not to compare this to Michael Mann’s Heat and not feel sad. (This article seems to explain why the movie is such a mess.)

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This 60s Movie: Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light) (1963)

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This 60s Movie: Nattvardsgästerna (Winter Light) (1963)

Within my project to watch any movie I’ve missed in the last 7 years (since I've become a teacher and time has become increasingly shorter), I started a new project for myself. Watching a random movie from a certain decade, that I haven’t seen yet, to see how far it represents its time. We start with my favourite decade: the 60s.

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Crank: High Voltage (2009)

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Crank: High Voltage (2009)

I like to listen to podcasts on my way to work and one of them is “How Did This Get Made” which deals with bad movies. I like bad movies, either because they are funny or because there is a big fascination with, well, how they got made and ended up so bad. The podcast is often funny, so I don’t want to miss out and slowly watch all the bad movies they talk about. Which is a bit masochistic I guess.

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