ayric's Reviews

Smilet i øyet (2002)

6/10

6 February 2004

Untidy and somewhat unprofessional, but it still provides a decent view on the use of Ecstasy. The director's message seems to be ambiguous. I do not personally care if people do drugs, but it is not clear what this film wants us to get from it.

Rating: 6/10

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Vektløs (2002)

8/10

Endresen does it again

6 February 2004

For a while I wondered why Kari Iveland deserved her own documentary, but she quickly managed to make me understand her incredible strength. A terrificly engaging person. Strong and important film about anorexia from the king of Norwegian documentaries.

Rating: 8/10

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Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)

9/10

Extremely moving

27 January 2003

Powerful and moving about Australia's yearlong mistreatment of the aborigines. This film won't undo anything, but it is important to bring stories like this to people's attention, specifically since many western cultures have been grounded on similar crimes. The story is beautifully executed allover from Peter Gabriel's soundtrack to wonderful cinematography and strong performances, especially by the kids. It moves slowly, but the incredible ending, which is comparable to that of Schindler's List, makes up for the pace.

Rating: 9/10

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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

5/10

Tedious road trip

27 January 2003

Far less interesting than the first, and this road trip is honestly getting a wee bit long and tedious. A bunch of characters try to find each other, then they battle some and that's basically it. It goes nowhere. Gollum is almost but not quite as annoying as Jar-Jar and the talking trees are plain ridiculous. The hobbits are still charisma-less and the dwarf is way too much this time around in his desperate side-kick attempts. The last hour is worth the ticket, though. The final battle is tremendous, but the two first hours are at least one too much considering nothing really happens.

Rating: 5/10

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Bowling for Columbine (2002)

9/10

America Explained

28 November 2002

The problems of violence in the States have never been better explained on celluloid. This goes from hilarious to incredibly strong. Moore is much better than in his classic Roger & Me. Every American should be forced to see this movie. But of course, most on the Republican side will hate it.

Rating - 9/10

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Roger Dodger (2002)

6/10

Ruined by Lack of Light

28 November 2002

Quite amusing with Campbell Scott in a terrific SOB-role. The problem is the choices in cinematography. The filmmakers chose to shoot this in extremely dim light, resulting in next to none illuminated scenes. Near the end I was craving to see some damn detail. If they had shot this in a normal style, this could have been gold.

Rating - 6/10

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8 Mile (2002)

8/10

Eminem v2.0

28 November 2002

Eminem is as good as I expected him to be. This is another good movie following the Rocky formula. It serves justice to hip hop, including some great battle scenes (as in rap battle, not Braveheart battle). The ending is somewhat disappointing - it is not really a resolution. One extra scene would make this great.

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

5/10

Improvement, but Still an Hour Overlong

28 November 2002

Better, darker and funnier than the first wreck of a film. Quite sophisticated Hitchcock-like mystery complete with Dutch angles. Kenneth Branagh is absolutely hilarious. However, this is at least an hour overlong and no matter how much CGI Columbus throws at you, you will wish for a premature ending in the middle of a scene for the last part of the movie. Still for kids.

Rating - 5/10

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The Rules of Attraction (2002)

9/10

Justice to Ellis

28 November 2002

This is much more in the spirit of the fabulous Bret Easton Ellis than the rather failed adaption of American Psycho was. Van Der Beek is absolutely terrific as Patrick Bateman's little brother. The movie is inventive, dark and probably the funniest to be released in the new millennium. Rest assured, pietists will have a fit. Boo hoo.

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Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)

3/10

Cricket Torture

28 November 2002

Pretty actresses and charming musical scenes cannot save this Bollywood vehicle. This is cliched, unprofessional and nearly four hours. A four hour film is OK for a solid epic, not for a film about cricket. Believe it or not, the "climactic" cricket match in the end lasts for 70 minutes. The sport is ridiculous enough as it is, no need for a four-hour commercial.

Rating - 3/10

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Igby Goes Down (2002)

9/10

Holden is Back

28 November 2002

This is one of the year's biggest and best surprises and it has been justly compared to Catcher in the Rye. The dark subject material will prevent this from being a heavy Oscar contender. Terrific about being a teenager, and much stronger than Ghost World. Kieran Culkin is superb.

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Insomnia (2002)

4/10

An Insult to the Norwegian Original

28 November 2002

Warning: Spoilers

**SPOILERS**

Pluses for good performances by Pacino and Williams combined with the magnificent nature of Canada (Alaska in the film). What makes this a major stinker is that it is a majorly softened version of the Norwegian original, to meet the commercial demands in the States. Skarsgård's unpleasant personality was the core of the original's success. Some examples of the changes include: the dog Pacino shoots is already dead; Pacino does not feel up high-school girl; Pacino does not have aggressive foreplay; and the ending is awfully moralizing. Complete miss by the overrated copycat Nolan (Memento was not the first of its kind).

Rating - 3/10

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We Were Soldiers (2002)

8/10

Acceptable After the Awful Black Hawk Down

28 November 2002

Far more successful than the unjustly praised Black Hawk Down. This is not a terrific war movie as it does contain some terrible elements, such as, "Tell my wife... I love her... (last breath)". That was not a joke, it is really in there. But where the script is poor, the direction and the heart of the story are excellent. There is more wisdom said about the horror of war in the unspoken words than in the spoken words, and that makes the movie quite powerful at times. This is not an army commercial like the afore-mentioned Scott blunder.

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Ice Age (2002)

8/10

Beats Dreamworks

28 November 2002

In contrast to Dreamworks, Fox try to follow the Disney recipe in their first CGI attempt. And they do so with great success. Where Dreamworks have failed, Fox succeeds straight away to make a film with great warmth and fabulous humor. The animation is not as good as Pixar's and the story is not as well-plotted as Disney's, but other than that this is great fun. I think it also contains the first gay couple (prehistoric rhinos) in animated children's film history. The sabre squirrel is worth the ticket alone.

Rating - 8/10

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Death to Smoochy (2002)

8/10

Terrific Fun!

28 November 2002

Incredibly enough, this smart black comedy was trashed by American critics. Perhaps this is offensive to American family values. There are surely not many other reasons not to like this flick. Death to Smoochy completely ridicules children's television and the clowns, and includes mafia, corruption and murder among other things. The ending is perhaps too joyful for a black comedy, but it still works. If you hate children's television, then this is for you.

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The Mothman Prophecies (2002)

8/10

X-Filesesque Thriller

28 November 2002

Based on a true story, but mostly fiction. An extremely chilling and well-made thriller, playing like a very good (and long) X-Files episode. Daring and great ending. And we have to say this. Laura Linney is perhaps the most incredible actress right now. She's at least right up there with Jodie Foster and Helen Hunt.

Rating - 8/10

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Panic Room (2002)

8/10

After the Failed "Fight Club", Fincher Returns in Style

28 November 2002

Fortunately David Fincher lifts himself up from the mediocre Fight Club to deliver one of the most stylish and exciting thrillers of recent years. That said, our favorite actress Jodie Foster adds an extra level to the film. This is simplistic, straight forward and extremely efficient without using cheap tricks that most thrillers do. It is also fun to see that David Fincher once again takes a stab at Jared Leto's face.

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Unfaithful (2002)

8/10

Positive Surprise

28 November 2002

Awfully presented in a terrible preview campaign, Unfaithul ends up as one of the years's most positive surprises. Brilliantly crafted and loaded with intelligent metaphors, symbols and honest details. Gere pulls off his second great role in a row in this film about infidelity. The message is great too, as opposed to The Bridges of Madison County.

Rating - 8/10

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And Your Mother Too (2001)

4/10

Most Overpraised of the Year

28 November 2002

Sometimes a really, really bad film in disguise manages to fool both audiences and critics. This is a terrible film, yet tremendously praised. It is flawed, it is extremely vulgar in a pathetic attempt to capture the spirit of youth, it has horrible dialogue, and the characters are uncharismatic. Add to that the most disruptive and unprofessional voice-over in history, and you have yourself a failure. How critics managed to step on the honest Kids and praise this fake portrayal of youth, is beyond me. Of course, it is Mexican and "shocking", which may be the reasons.

Rating - 3/10

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Memento (2000)

7/10

Nolan the Hack

28 November 2002

Became a cult film by fooling the audience to think it was original. It is not. The concept of someone with amnesia taking pictures to remember is stolen from Tom Tykwer's Winterschläfer. The backwards story has been done before, for instance by Jerry Seinfeld and in the Korean movie Peppermint Candy. This aside, the film is quite entertaining, yet unimpressive.

Rating - 6/10

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Minority Report (2002)

7/10

Almost There But Not Dark Enough

28 November 2002

Janusz Kaminski is perhaps the greatest cinematographer in the world today, and he is Spielberg's most important crew member. Minority Report is just as beautiful to look at as A.I. Spielberg has created a darker film than he usually does, but he could not resist including another sappy father-son plot point. This is exciting as hell, but Spielberg loses touch in a somewhat dull and too-resolving ending. The film would also be better without some comical elements which interrupt the dark style.

Rating - 7/10

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Moonlight Mile (2002)

9/10

"In the Bedroom" Done Right

28 November 2002

Absolutely brilliant drama about dealing with death. Although In the Bedroom is a really good movie, Moonlight Mile is a notch better as it draws the right conclusions. Jake Gyllenhaal is terrific, and he is rapidly becoming one of the greatest actors of his generation. Ellen Pompeo is a stunning newcomer. The love story in the movie is extremely good and the soundtrack is clearly the best of the year. Go see.

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Spider-Man (2002)

8/10

Satisfying

28 November 2002

Satisfying but not mindblowing. More could have been done with the excellent material, but it still portrays the story well with quite some depth shown particularly in the ending. Parker's inner conflicts are central as they should be. The CGI is so-so compared to Jurassic Park, which is now nine years old. But the costume is amazing. This is a good introduction to the sequel, which will be better.

Rating - 8/10

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Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

7/10

OK Film to Kick Off the Digital Revolution With

28 November 2002

Admittedly, I cut Lucas some slack here. I expected far worse. This is a major improvement to the last crapfest mostly because it is much darker and there is hardly any Jar-Jar-pollution. Shame about the awful love scenes, as they interrupt the otherwise entertaining action. And of course, as always with Lucas, the acting sucks to the next dimension. The Yoda fight is spectacular. Finally, having watched a digital screening, the technique behind this film is clearly the future. Ten years from now everyone will shoot digitally, and I welcome that, as it is far superior and cheaper than film stock.

Rating - 7/10

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Bryllupet (2000)

5/10

Actors Make it Worthwhile

21 April 2002

Bryllupet was made for TV, and it does not even compare to the best Norwegian TV productions. It seems like an educational video on cultural differences. The interesting part of this, though, is to see that Norway finally has actors with star-potential again. Mads Ousdal has already become a respected actor in Norway, but I believe he can go as far as he wants to on his amazing charisma and talent. Susan Badrkhan is, without a doubt, the most beautiful actress to ever play in a Norwegian film. Comparable to Salma Hayek.

Rating - 5/10

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