#29 – ANTZ

Director: Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson

“Call me crazy, but I have a thing about drinking from the anus of another creature.”

In a very sophisticated way, DreamWorks managed to make an amazingly funny and political give-peace-a-chance movie with Romeo and Juliet aspects kind of movie… about animated Ants… For kids… But, no way this film is for kids - Yet I am very sure kids can see it, and love it (in the same way kids can see and love Animal Farm), AND I am pretty sure the film makers intended to make a kids flick, I am also pretty sure they knew the kids parents were going to see it as well. First of all I would like to point out, if I may, the absolutely breathtaking cast of voice actors they have gotten hold of for ANTZ. Woody Allen stars as the leading ant, and pretty much plays himself – that’s a questioning, lovesick New Yorker with self-esteem problems. Apart from Allen, there are such names as Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Danny Glover, Jane Curtin, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, Christopher Walken and Jenny from the block! – I can’t think of a better assembly of voice actors in any other movie. The lead role of Woody Allen’s character fits superbly into an anthill, as the colony pretty much is supposed to be some communist version of the community. I don’t think the ants are aware they are being oppressed and exploited by the generals of the colony, before Woody Allens character, starts to ponder about the class separation going on between the elite and the people (read “ants”). Allens role of the ant named “Z” is an abnormal kind of hero in an animated “kids” film, he is in many ways a coward turned hero kind, but his heroism is pretty much derived by luck, more than know-how (maybe apart from the very end, when his heart shows him the way – Yet it still isn’t primarily Z that saves the day alone). Another thing that makes this “kids” movie special is, that there is pretty much swearing going on, and there are very visual shoots of characters dying in war (against those damn termites!) – There is even a dying-in-my-arms sequence. This was a bold move from DreamWorks, and I enjoy anything getting by the censors, that isn’t broad public pleasing. Needles to say, this was a big issue in the states, in the year it was released. The kids won’t understand the political aspects and class-war referenced, nor will they understand the sexual suggestion in the dialog.  ANTZ was also a breakthrough in the animated movie department, and DreamWorks Animation showed its face with this movie as their first full length, as a challenger to the mighty Pixar, by being the first computer animated movie, depicting water. If you liked ANTZ as a kid, you will love it now, if you didn’t like it as a kid, I think you should give is a second chance, and enjoy all the points you missed in your childhood.

7/10 

#27 – Animal Farm

Director: Joy Batchelor and John Halas

“Four legs good, two legs bad!”

The ancient story of power corrupting, has never been shown more clearly as in Animal Farm, and despite the countless examples of this story shown in real life politics, the same scenario keeps on unfolding before our very eyes, all over the world. Based on George Orwell’s classic novel, Animal Farm is a comment on every revolution story, and shows how humans tend to react when given authority – but is shown to us, in way of a farmyard revolution, as the animals join together and get rid of the old dictator (the farmer), and take control of the farm. Animal Farm is a cartoon, but defiantly not for children, it is very violent and terrifying, and several animals are killed… With that said, I do believe that all children should see it, as it teaches a very important lesson, not only about the corruption of man, but also about the responsibility leaders have towards people and animals alike. I was shown this many, many times as a child, and I have not yet tried to become an evil dictator, and I treat people (and animals) with dignity and respect (I am not positive that this can be pined on the viewing of this awesome cartoon, but I like to think so). Every revolution must have its soundtrack, and the soundtrack in Animal Farm is totally awesome, I challenge you to watch this film, and not have the main theme, stuck in your head for days or weeks, the DVD restoration has also really pushed the overall sound of the movie up to another level, that does the movie credit. A different actor voices every single animal in the movie, and with the beautiful narration by Gordon Heath the voice actors are brilliant, as well as the animation style, that calls on many dramatic effects. In my opinion, Animal farm is the most important animated film to be made, and is a must see, for everybody who enjoys the exploration of human nature and the history of repression – it has never been shown better, on the screen. Everybody says that George Orwell’s original book is much better than the cartoon, so I’d better read it then, because it must be pretty damn excellent.

8/10

#25 – Amélie (Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain)

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

“Une femme sans amour, c’est comme une fleur sans soleil”

If you like the colours green and red, you are going to love this movie! Amélie tries much to hard to be art, and forgets about the beauty in simplicity in the process. I find this very ironic, as the main theme in the movie is about finding beauty in the simple little things in life. You can tell that every single frame has been analyzed, pondered and considered very carefully before it was shoot, and I very much doubt that very little, if any, artistic freedom has been used on the set of this movie. The red/green colouring throughout the movie gets frustratingly unpleasant to watch, and most of all looks like a music video from the early 90’s. It’s utterly depressing to watch Amélie mangling in other peoples lives and being confused about some just as boring guy – Not that a movie with a depressing theme always is bad, but I highly doubt that Jean-Pierre Jeunet set out to make that his main message in this movie. The movie is filled with repetitive characters that are impossible to relate too, they are all without dimensions and there is absolutely no growth or transition in the main character, and you are filled with a feeling of dullness and monotonous – no laughs, no cries, no suspense, no anticipation (will se talk to him, wont she talk to him… Zzzzz). This movie is two hours long. Two hours of a cardboard girl skipping around Paris, seeing things in her own quirky and unoriginal way. If I have to point out something positive about this movie, it would be the script. The script is actually quite good, and original. It’s really just a shame that it has been covered in all this red and green plastic, and flat-sided characters. I would have loved to see this script made in the same way as Christoffer Nolans “Following”. A low budget, underplayed approach would have done the script much more justice, and it would have been a better contrast towards the real world, instead of a comic book world where emotions apparently are banned.           This is a movie that tries to be artistic, but fails miserably, as no emotions are provoked or brought out. And that should be the main foundation of art.  I guess it would have worked as a short, but only if Amélie was killed at the climax.

4/10

#24 – American Splendor

Director: Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini

“Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff.”

I find it very intriguing that a movie about ordinary people can be so un-ordinary as a movie… Its funny to think that the ordinary movies we see, are typically about something un-ordinary happening, or some kind of un-ordinary people – or even ordinary people in an un-ordinary situation. American Splendor is about an ordinary man in ordinary situations, don’t get me wrong, Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti) is anything but ordinary, but then again, who is? – He is only un-ordinary compared to the characters you usually see in movies – compared to people in the real world, I guess he is pretty ordinary. Harvey is a comic book writer, he writes about the trivial events in his normal life, and people love it. Border lining between fiction and reality, this feature film/documentary is an original piece of work, and tells about getting through life, and dealing with the dirt that’s thrown in the machine along the way. Now this movie is based on the comics Harvey writes in the film, and I must admit that I have never seen or read these comics, but I don’t think that matters at all. This movie stands alone very well, and I think everybody could get something out of it. The structure is a mishmash of lots of different styles and methods, and they all weave together nicely. It jumps in time, it breaks the forth wall, it shows interviews with real people, it has animation bits in it, and so on and so on. But it all seams quite true to the format the comic book had, as many different drawers drew Pekar’s stories, and they all had their own style – so I guess if you were a American Splendor comic fan, you would be use to seeing all these different lines and styles, in that way the movies stays true to the comic. Paul Giamatti (as always) gives a fantastic performance that really kicked his career into the next level. He is on of those actors that really get inside the head of the role, and you forget you are watching acting at all. This is a rare thing, and not many actors have this ability. He works it to perfection – and you are very aware of what the real Pekar is like, since he also is in the film as himself. A bio-pic about a cynic man who deals with life in his own sarcastic and funny way. Even though it does get a bit tedious and dull at times, you somehow live with it (as Pekar does in his own life), and the feeling of being captivated by boredom in ordinary life is very unusual, and suits the movies theme very well.

7/10

#20 - The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

Director: Terry Gilliam

“Is there a doctor in the fish?”

First of all I would like to apologise, this film review and viewing should have been in between “Across the Universe” and “Airplane!” – It simply got lost in my massive DVD collection – Smugface.

When it comes to living life, the only thing you have to remember is to live it. Death will always be trailing you, and as soon as you give up, or forget to live, death will catch up. A stunning trip through the brilliant imagination of Terry Gilliam, that always is a joy ride. A travel between reality and imagination, between fact and fiction and mostly between truth and lie – all of witch can be pretty vague at the most of times. This movie is the final part of Gilliam’s unofficial trilogy of the three stages of man, and the impact of imagination on them. This one is off cause the stage of the elderly (the others being youth = Time Bandits and Middle age = Brazil). John Neville gives an extraordinary performance as the Baron, and it is actually a role with many coatings. The character is in constant change, and almost in every scene he becomes either older or younger, according to his state of mind, and to how old/young he feels in the given moment, and that is a handsome touch to the feeling of the entire movie, you are only as old/young as you feel – or you can only handle what you think you can handle. It is fascinating to watch this kind of movie set to screen, filled with scenes bigger than most people’s fantasies. Its mind blowing how all this total madness and twistedness can fit into the brain of one man, and somehow not end him up in a hospital – let alone give him the talent to show it to the rest of us – and he proves that CGI is total rubbish compared to the actual thing happening, and also how much it means to build a set, instead of using fucking green screens..! I am grateful that I have been watching Terry Gilliam movies since I was a kid, and to have been able to see these images of wonder and total madness, spiced with ridiculously magnificent stories and magical journeys to the imagination. Thank you Terry.

8/10

#19 – American Beauty

Director: Sam Mendes

“You don’t get to tell me what to do ever again.”

As a comment on everyday life, and the soul killing struggle of pretending that you are normal and like everyone else, American Beauty does it all to faultlessness. This film is one of those kinds of movies, that when you see it, you start thinking about your own life and the things you want to get out of it. The themes in this movie are many, but they all are a comment to everyday life, and can really all be summed up to the main question – Are you happy…?  It is quite funny really, the amazing Alan Ball who wrote this movie, is one of my favourite writers in Hollywood today, but it hit me when viewing this film (and recently watching “Six Feet Under” witch he also did) that his dialog really is very simple, and some would say filled with “clichés” – though filled with imagination and dream sequences. This revelation has totally changed my perspective on the art of writing, and it actually hit me, that this film was really realistic, because of this cliché writing – honestly, nobody ever speaks the way they do in movies, in real life – apart from Alan Ball scripts – And that truly makes his work unique. Our Narrator Lester Burnham is brilliantly played by Kevin Spacey and is the hero in the movie. The character is really lovable. He sticks the finger to the man, and begins his own personal pursuit of happiness, and we all love him for it. But I will rather spend a few lines talking about the awesome character Carolyn Burnham played by Annette Bening. This is in my eyes the most interesting character in the movie, and is often forgotten in the shadow of the mighty Kevin Spacey. The emotions Annette Bening’s character goes through, the mere stress, and set backs, the will to be the best and have success are fabulously portrayed, and Bening lets us feel that somewhere behind this thin shell of emotional stress, there is a person who wants to break out from the fake world the has built up around herself, and she hates, she just isn’t strong enough. By far the most layered character in the film! I could really go on and on about this film, but I will leave with compliments to the directing as well, Sam Mendes is an awesome director, his pace and timing in the underplayed, dark comedy elements are the best in town in my opinion, and some of the best scenes in the film, are the ones without dialog.

9/10

#6 – (500) Days of Summer

Director: Marc Webb

“Roses are red, violets are blue… Fuck you, whore!“

See – This is what I’m talking about, I enjoy films that don’t take them selves to seriously, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that in any kind of degrading way – It just hits me much deeper when a film dares to throw a dance sequence in there (with animated birds) to underline the emotional journey. I remember the first time I saw this movie I really loved it, I had just been going through the same experiences as Tom goes through in the film – I could really relate to the feeling of not wanting to get over a girl – even though it in fact was over. Truly a film about hopefulness in a world of chaos – and remember after summer, comes Autumn.

8/10