Avgust 2013

1.
A Field in England (2013)

  5,5/10  

Fleeing for their lives, a small party abandon their Civil War confederates and escape through an overgrown field... (90 mins.)

Director: Ben Wheatley

Stars: Michael Smiley, Reece Shearsmith, Julian Barratt, Peter Ferdinando

2.

Arcadia (2012)

  6/10  

Greta's dad Tom is moving the family cross-country in a dented station wagon, promising a California paradise to his kids. All that's missing is Mom. (91 mins.)

Director: Olivia Silver

Stars: Ryan Simpkins, John Hawkes, Kendall Toole, Ty Simpkins

3.

Byzantium (2012)

  7/10  

Residents of a coastal town learn, with deathly consequences, the secret shared by the two mysterious women who have sought shelter at a local resort. (118 mins.)

Director: Neil Jordan

Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Arterton, Sam Riley, Caleb Landry Jones

4.

Clear History (2013 TV Movie)

  6/10  

A disgraced former marketing executive plots revenge against his former boss, who made billions from the electric car company they started.

Director: Greg Mottola

Stars: Larry David, Bill Hader, Philip Baker Hall, Jon Hamm

5.

Coffee Town (2013)

  6,5/10  

A website manager enlists the help of his two friends in order to convince the owners of his favorite coffee shop -- which doubles as his office -- not to turn their business into a bar. (87 mins.)

Director: Brad Copeland

Stars: Glenn Howerton, Steve Little, Ben Schwartz, Adrianne Palicki

6.

Disconnect (2012)

  7/10  

A drama centered on a group of people searching for human connections in today's wired world. (115 mins.)

Director: Henry Alex Rubin

Stars: Jason Bateman, Jonah Bobo, Haley Ramm, Hope Davis

7.

Drinking Buddies (2013)

  6,5/10  

Luke and Kate are co-workers at a Chicago brewery, where they spend their days drinking and flirting... (90 mins.)

Director: Joe Swanberg

Stars: Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston

8.

Du zhan (2012)

  6,5/10  

A drug cartel boss who is arrested in a raid is coerced into betraying his former accomplices as part of an undercover operation. (107 mins.)

Director: Johnnie To

Stars: Louis Koo, Honglei Sun, Yi Huang, Michelle Ye

9.

Emperor (2012)

  5,5/10  

As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S. (105 mins.)

Director: Peter Webber

Stars: Matthew Fox, Colin Moy, Tommy Lee Jones, Eriko Hatsune

10.

Jag etter vind (2013)

   5,5/10  

When grandma dies, Anna has to go back to what's left of the small family, 10 years after she left. There's she confronted with what she fled from back then.

Director: Rune Denstad Langlo

Stars: Marie Blokhus, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Frederik Meldal Nørgaard, Tobias Santelmann

11.

Los últimos días (2013)

  6/10  

2013. A mysterious epidemic spreads across the planet. Humanity develops an irrational fear of open spaces that causes instant death... (100 mins.)

Director: David Pastor, Àlex Pastor

Stars: Quim Gutiérrez, José Coronado, Marta Etura, Leticia Dolera

12.

Lovelace (2013)

  6/10  

The story of Linda Lovelace, who is used and abused by the porn industry at the behest of her coercive husband, before taking control of her life. (93 mins.)

Director: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman

Stars: Amanda Seyfried, James Franco, Peter Sarsgaard, Juno Temple

13.

Magic Magic (2013)

  6,5/10  

A naive young tourist's road trip across Chile with friends turns into a waking nightmare. (97 mins.)

Director: Sebastián Silva

Stars: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Agustín Silva, Luis Dubó, Roxana Naranjo

14.

Nugu-ui ttal-do anin Haewon (2013)

  5,5/10  

The secret relationship between a student and a teacher, will their love last? (90 mins.)

Director: Sang-soo Hong

Stars: Jeong Eun-Chae, Seon-gyun Lee, Joon-sang Yoo, Ji-won Ye

15.

Nordvest (2013)

  6,5/10  

18-year-old Caspar wants to reach the top, no matter what. He carries out small-time break-ins for Jamal... (91 mins.)

Director: Michael Noer

Stars: Gustav Dyekjær Giese, Oscar Dyekjær Giese, Lene Maria Christensen, Annemieke Bredahl Peppink

16.

Pain & Gain (2013)

  5,5/10  

A trio of bodybuilders in Florida get caught up in an extortion ring and a kidnapping scheme that goes terribly wrong. (129 mins.)

Director: Michael Bay

Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub

17.

Paulette (2012)

  5/10  

Paulette lives alone in a housing project in the Paris suburbs. With her meager pension, she can no longer make ends meet. (87 mins.)

Director: Jérôme Enrico

Stars: Bernadette Lafont, Carmen Maura, Dominique Lavanant, Françoise Bertin

18.

Post Tenebras Lux (2012)

  5,5/10  

Juan and his urban family live in the Mexican countryside, where they enjoy and suffer a world apart. And nobody knows if these two worlds are complementary or if they strive to eliminate one another. (115 mins.)

Director: Carlos Reygadas

Stars: Adolfo Jiménez Castro, Nathalia Acevedo, Willebaldo Torres, Eleazar Reygadas

19.

Shell (2012)

  6/10  

The story of Shell, a girl who lives with her father Pete in a remote gas station in the Scottish Highlands, in their struggle against the elements and the impossible love they feel during the last winter that she will be in that place. (91 mins.)

Director: Scott Graham

Stars: Chloe Pirrie, Tam Dean Burn, Morven Christie, Iain De Caestecker

20.

Après mai (2012)

  5,5/10  

In the months after the heady weeks of May '68, a group of young Europeans search for a way to continue the revolution believed to be just beginning. (122 mins.)

Director: Olivier Assayas

Stars: Clément Métayer, André Marcon, Lola Créton, Felix Armand

21.

Sparrows Dance (2012)

  5/10  

A story centered on an actress who has become agoraphobic who reluctantly allows a plumber into her apartment after her toilet overflows. (81 mins.)

Director: Noah Buschel

Stars: Marin Ireland, Paul Sparks, Niesha Butler, Bennie Slay

22.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

  6/10  

After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. (132 mins.)

Director: J.J. Abrams

Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch

23.

Stories We Tell (2012 Documentary)

  5/10  

A film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers. (108 mins.)

Director: Sarah Polley

Stars: Michael Polley, John Buchan, Mark Polley, Joanna Polley

24.

The Colony (2013)

  3,5/10  

Forced underground by the next ice age, a struggling outpost of survivors must fight to preserve humanity against a threat even more savage than nature. (95 mins.)

Director: Jeff Renfroe

Stars: Kevin Zegers, Laurence Fishburne, Bill Paxton, Charlotte Sullivan

25.

The End of Love (2012)

  5,5/10  

When the mother of his infant son unexpectedly passes away, struggling actor Mark grapples with fatherhood and his inability to grow up. And when he sparks with a single mother, he learns how his choices have real-life consequences. (89 mins.)

Director: Mark Webber

Stars: Mark Webber, Alia Shawkat, Shannyn Sossamon, Issac Love

26.

The Great Gatsby (2013)

  6,5/10  

A Midwestern war veteran finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor. (143 mins.)

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Tobey Maguire

27.

The House I Live In (2012 Documentary)

  5,5/10  

From the dealer to the narcotics officer, the inmate to the federal judge, a penetrating look inside America's criminal justice system, revealing the profound human rights implications of U.S. drug policy. (108 mins.)

Director: Eugene Jarecki

Stars: Nannie Jeter, David Simon

28.

The Iceman (2012)

  6,5/10  

The true story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man. When finally arrested in 1986, neither his wife nor daughters have any clue about his real profession. (105 mins.)

Director: Ariel Vromen

Stars: Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, James Franco, Winona Ryder

29.

The Lifeguard (2013)

  5,5/10  

A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. (98 mins.)

Director: Liz W. Garcia

Stars: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Joshua Harto

30.

The Smurfs 2 (2013)

  4,5/10  

The Smurfs team up with their human friends to rescue Smurfette, who has been kidnapped by Gargamel since she knows a secret spell that can turn the evil sorcerer's newest creation - creatures called the Naughties - into real Smurfs. (105 mins.)

Director: Raja Gosnell

Stars: Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Katy Perry, Hank Azaria

31.

Die Wand (2012)

  5,5/10  

A woman inexplicably finds herself cut off from all human contact when an invisible, unyielding wall suddenly surrounds the countryside... (108 mins.)

Director: Julian Pölsler

Stars: Wolfgang M. Bauer, Ulrike Beimpold, Martina Gedeck, Julia Gschnitzer

32.

This Is Martin Bonner (2013)

  6/10  

Martin Bonner has just moved to Nevada from the East Coast, leaving behind his two adult children and a life he spent more than two decades building. (83 mins.)

Director: Chad Hartigan

Stars: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet

33.

Touchy Feely (2013)

  5/10  

A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother's floundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his healing touch.

Director: Lynn Shelton

Stars: Rosemarie DeWitt, Ellen Page, Josh Pais, Scoot McNairy

34.

The Rise (2012)

  6/10  

A young Englishman recently released from prison recruits his three best friends and to rob the local drug kingpin who is responsible for his incarceration. Can he get revenge and win back his fed-up girlfriend? (108 mins.)

Director: Rowan Athale

Stars: Matthew Lewis, Iwan Rheon, Timothy Spall, Vanessa Kirby

35.

Gözetleme Kulesi (2012)

  6/10  

A man and a woman seeking refuge from the world: Nihat at a remote forest fire tower, Seher in her room at a rural bus station. When their lives collide, each now has to fight their battle of conscience before the other. (100 mins.)

Director: Pelin Esmer

Stars: Olgun Simsek, Nilay Erdonmez, Laçin Ceylan, Menderes Samancilar

36.
What Maisie Knew (2012)
7/10 
In New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle. (99 mins.)
Director: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Stars: Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgård, Steve Coogan, Joanna Vanderham

37.

Just Like a Woman (2012)
6/10 
Two women get on the highway heading to Santa Fe. Marilyn dreams of winning a contest held by a famous belly dancing company, while her friend, Mona, has a secret: she's a fugitive from justice - accused of her mother-in-law's death. (90 mins.)
Director: Rachid Bouchareb
Stars: Sienna Miller, Golshifteh Farahani, Bahar Soomekh, Tim Guinee

Predolg sem za komentar ...

Težko se odločim, kateri film bi naj bil tisti, ki bi ga prvega izpostavil pred drugimi. Dejstvo je, da ta mesec nisem gledal nobenega odličnega, sem pa zato bil priča mnogim dobrim, do zelo dobrim filmom. Kar dobrih 20 naslovov je takšnih, ki jih danes lahko mirne vesti priporočam naprej, kar pa je mesec avgust na koncu krepko nagnilo v pozitivno bilanco.

Če že moram, bi začel z multikarakterno dramo Disconnect, ki nas opomni na vse slabosti, ki jih internet – hočemo ali nočemo – prinaša zraven k že obstoječi odvisnosti (od katere bolehamo itak že vsi) in kjer bi četrta zgodba lahko bila tudi tista iz Schwimmerjevega Trusta.

Še ena takšna moderna resnična zgodba je predstavljena v What Maisie Knew, kjer pa se bodo (če že) prepoznali predvsem holivudski igralci in njim podobni zvezdniki/karieristi, ki svojo slavo/denar postavljajo pred družino. Vsaka primerjava s filmom Kramer vs. Kramer ne bi bila poštena, a še ne vem do katerega filma.

Byzantium me je predvsem prepričal z atmosfero – ki so jo sicer kvarili številni flešbeki, brez katerih pa žal ni šlo izpeljati same ideje – in obema glavnima protagonistkama. Vampirji niso ravno moja stvar, je pa mi Byzantum bil všečnejši kot Intervju z vampirjem, ki je prav tako nastal izpod rok Neila Jordana.

Prijatelji akcijskih kriminalk nikakor ne smejo zamuditi Tojevega Du zhana. Kompleksnost anderkoverksega Infernal Affairsa strnjeno v nekaj ur + tipična To zaključna strelska balada odigrana v metalski izvedbi.

Lansko leto Your Sister's Sister ali Celeste & Jesse Forever, letošnje leto Drinking Buddies. Za marsikoga le kič, zame še edina prebavljiva verzija romantične komedije.

Komedija meseca je zagotovo Coffee Town. Sit-com mešanica med It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in osnovami David/Seinfeld pogruntavščin.

In če sem že pri Larry Davidu, naj omenim še njegov (ta z brado je on) Clear History v režiji G. Mottole, poleg katerega bom še vedno prvo omenil Daytripperse, čeprav je režiral tudi nekaj bolj znanih naslovov (če ne poznaš, poimdbjaj). Clear History pa že danes spada pod zgodovino – tisto pozabljeno.

Za lažji pregled, bom ostale filme spredalčkal pod kategorije, kot je npr:

- Sundance nominiranci: vsi trije (The End of Love, The Lifeguard in Touchy Feely) niso nič posebnega. Še najbolj je razočarala Lynn Shelton (Touchy Feely), ki me je do sedaj vedno prepričala, tokrat pa bila preveč zmedena in nedodelana. Sicer pa se že vrne naslednje leto …

- britanski minimalci: še vedno odlašam z My Brother the Devil in The Comedian, sem pa zato preveril ostala dva nominiranca za najboljšega novinca na Londonskem filmskem festivalu … to sta bila še minimalni Shell (ženska verzija irskega Garage (2007)) in The Rise f.k.a. Wasteland, ki še najbolj spominja na lanskega Il Manors. K tej kategoriji bi dodal še Wheatleyev (saj veste, mojster za novodobne kulte) A Field in England, ki pa me ni tako prepričal.

- igralci rešijo film: The Iceman, sicer biografija poklicnega morilca, teče po pričakovanih tirih neke »življenjske« zgodbe, a če ne bi bilo Shannona bi bila ta predvidljivost mogoče celo neznosna.
Ja, v biografiji se igralec lahko izkaže in to priložnost je z odprtimi rokami (in bluzo) zagrabila tudi Amanda Seyfried (dobro zasedene so tudi vse ostale vloge) v filmu Lovelace (porno zvezdica iz Globokega grla).
Veliko breme je ležalo tudi na plečih Nemke Martine Gedeck, ki je v Die Wandu odigrala skorajda one-woman šov – priporočam tistim, ki se jim je scena z Chrisom Hemsworthom in njegovim skokom z motorjem iz Cabin in the Wood zdela najbolj zabavna v filmu.
Še najbolj pa me je prepričal vedno prepričljivi John Hawkes. Arcadia (Hawkes igra očeta treh otrok na dolgi poti v obljubljeno deželo) je zanesljiv primer dobrega ameriškega road filma.

- dokumentarci: kar nekaj jih bom to leto preskočil … npr. ponovno rekonstrukcijo »West Memphis Three« primera – raje počakam film Egoyanov film - , ekološkega Chasing Ice ter vse filmsko/glasbene dokumentarce. Najboljšega (The House I Live In) na Sundance festivalu sem moral preveriti ter spoznal, da sem vse to (U.S. vojna proti drogam ali kot nas učijo tukaj: načrtni genocid črnskega naroda) že videl v mnogih drugih dokujih.
Še bolj tipični predstavnik »nazaj« dokumentarca (ki pa jih že po defaultu ne maram) pa je Stories We Tell. Režiserka/igralka Sarah Polley posluša zgodovino svoje družine, medtem ko njena sestra dahne: »koga to sploh zanima« in s tem zadane bistvo.

- razočaranja: The Colony ni razočaranje, ampak en veliki drek od filma. Razočaranje predvsem zaradi tega, ker sem od tega sila zanimivega režiserja (preverite One Point O in Civic Duty) pričakoval mnogo več.
Pri Emperorju je dobra edina vojna tematika, pa še te ni več, ker je bomba že padla.
Popularna zadeva s Carmen Mauro in njenim likom starke Paulette, ki preprodaja marihuano (»trdih drog se ne dotaknem«) bi naj bila komična – pa niti malo ni.
Mehičana Carlosa Reygadasa sem do sedaj še prebavljal, ampak s Post Tenebras Lux je šel vseeno nekoliko predaleč.

Nazadnje še najbolj zanimiva kategorija, ki pa ne bo imela naslova. Gre namreč za paket filmov režiserjev, ki so prepričali s svojimi prejšnjimi filmi, tokrat pa se ni vse tako izšlo, kot so upali. Čeprav, vseh pet filmov lahko označim za dobre in po svoje zelo zanimive filme.

• Rune Denstad Langlo; Njegov Nord iz leta 2009 sem ocenil tukaj http://odvisni-od-neodvisnih-filmov.blogspot.com/2009/08/nord.html. Jag etter vind žal nima velike podobnosti z Nordom in ga zato izmed vseh petih filmov še najmanj priporočam. Predvsem mu manjka tiste odbite tragikomičnosti, ki pa se je tokrat prelevila le v predvidljivo melanholijo. Spomini na slovenski film?
• Michael Noer; leta 2010 je R (nekaj malega tukaj: http://odvisni-od-neodvisnih-filmov.blogspot.com/2011/04/r.html) imel predvsem to smolo, da je prišel na spored po zaporniških uspešnicah kot sta Celda 211 in Un prophète. Njegove možnosti so bile majhne, pa vendar je Noer opozoril nase. Pri Nordvestu ostaja v podzemlju, ob kriminalu, ob nepomembnih delikventnih, ki v sebi še nosijo nekaj dobrote. Sam sem se ob ogledu Nordwanda spomnil na mnoge podobne filme (Gå med fred Jamil, Adulthood, Pusher), izmed katerih je najbolj prednjačil Loachov Sweet Sixteen.
• David Pastor, Àlex Pastor; ne vem točno kaj, ampak nekaj je na filmu Carriers (http://odvisni-od-neodvisnih-filmov.blogspot.com/2009/12/carriers.html) bilo, kar ga je ločilo od mnogih podobnih filmov. Še danes mi je ostal v spominu, to pa tudi nekaj velja, ali? Španski režiserski dvojec se z Los últimos días tematsko nista mnogo oddaljila od svojega prvenca. Spet je na delu smrtonosni virus in spet smo priča bitki za preživetje majhne skupine ljudi. Pravzaprav se v Barceloni skozi zaprte prostore (odprti ubijajo) prebijata le dva. Eden k ljubici, drugi k očetu.
• Rachid Bouchareb; bom naredil copy/paste starega zapisa: Njegovo ime ravno ne nakazuje na to, a če povem, da je Rachid Bouchareb (Francoz alžirskih korenin), eden najbolj vplivnih evropskih režiserjev, se ne bom zlagal veliko. Njegovi filmi so namreč prejeli prav vse nagrade in nominacije, kar jih uspešen film lahko dobi. Od oskar nominacij (Hors la loi, Indigènes), zlatih medvedov (London River: 
  

  http://odvisni-od-neodvisnih-filmov.blogspot.com/2010/03/london-river.html

  ), pa vse do zlatih palm. Bouchareb je prestal že vse. Z Millerjevo ob sebi se čistega Hollywooda Bouchareb še vedno ni dotaknil (gre namreč za francosko-angleško-ameriško produkcijo), je pa vedno bliže, čeprav mu to verjetno niti ni prioritetni cilj. Just Like a Woman (ali Thelma in Louise plešeta s trebuhom za kruhom) je predviden kot prvi del Boucharebove trilogije o povezavi med ZDA in arabskim svetom in je narejen povsem solidno. Še več: če bi to bila čista francoska produkcija bi film dobival nagrade, tako pa je le eden izmed mnogih „majhnih“ ameriških filmov.
• Sebastián Silva; Čilenec je s filmom La nana (http://odvisni-od-neodvisnih-filmov.blogspot.com/2009/12/la-nana.html) prejel celo nagrado na Sundance festivalu in prav tam je najverjetneje spoznal igralca M. Cero, s katerim je lansko leto doma posnel kar dva filma. Magic, Magic je prvi (moje mnenje o drugem, Crystal Fairy lahko preverite naslednji mesec) ter povsem drugačen od La nane. Čeprav sem pričakoval, da mi (kot mnogim) Magic, Magic ne bo všeč, se je zgodila ravno nasprotno, še bolj pa sta me prepričala Cera ter vzpenjajoča se nova igralska zvezda Juno Temple.

Tako, razpisal sem se bolj kot običajno, še več pa bom mogoče pisal že po mesecu septembru, saj me opomniku čaka že več kot 50 zapisanih filmov – nujnih za ogled, seveda.