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JosipVujcic
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Unbreakable (2000)
A serious movie with comic book rules. Really? - Oh yeah!
Is it possible to take the premise of a comic book, with all of it's rules and regulations - and make a serious drama about it. After watching this movie I know it is. Shyamalan took a classic 'superhero-origin' tale and brought it as close to reality as possible. The result was stunning - an intriguing psychological drama which keeps us glued to the screen like a thriller. Shymalan directed it in marvelous long scenes which kept our mental state close to the heroes. A boring chit-chat in the train you feel you were in, the drowning in a pool you feel you're going thru... he just sucks us in there. He also teases us with shooting the characters from quite a long distance, behind a chair... avoiding any clishees. The opening scene with the baby just made me chill. It is scarier and more disturbing than any horror I've seen recently - and there are no monsters or ghosts... just a hurt little baby.
As for the actors - Bruce is doing well by 'following' Shyamalan. He has talent and it would be a shame if he would got lost in 'Die Hards' & 'Armaggedons'... Here he is quiet and vulnerable... and he plays a 'superhero'! On the other side we have Samuel L. Jackson. He is just amazing in this role. Mr. Cool is so believable as this shattered (in more than one meaning) man who is trying to lead Bruce's character to his destiny. Other actors include Robin Wright Penn (who is as good her character allows her) and a great young actor Spencer Treat Clark who had quite a year with Unbreakable and Gladiator.
It will sound silly - but just imagine the opposite of Kevin Smith, and you will get this movie. Both are swarming with comic book flavour - but use it in most different manner. Oh, yes - I almost forgot - this one also has a surprise ending... though much more predictable than the one in 'The Sixth Sense'. However the ending really wraps up the story in the best possible way and I would be disappointed if Shyamalan did a sequel (I hear he's doing).
OVERALL: **** & ½ / *****
Keeping the Faith (2000)
You know there's this priest and this rabbi and they love the same girl... Only in New York!
Do you know how many jokes I've heard about a priest and a rabbi? NONE - not a single one... but that's because I don't live in America. However this movie is no simple joke - you could say it's about faith, you could say it's about friendship - and you wouldn't be wrong. After all it's written and directed by two best friends... however it is also a movie about New York. Maybe the most beautiful aspect of this movie was that it was mostly filmed on location, and boy could these guys pick them. The production design team certainly did their job wonderfully because all of the locations look stunning, and the views are just amazing. This is helped by the fact the Norton & Blumberg lived here for quite a while...
As for the friendship part of the movie it provides us with an intriguing trio of a priest, a rabbi and their mutual girl-friend. Even if he could've easilly went for a silly romantic comedy (with Ben and 'Dharma' that wouldn't be so difficult) Norton kept his cool and decided to make it more like a drama. Actually some of the deleted scenes were hilarious - but in the 'cheap' sense and that's probably why Norton cut them out. This is a first movie for Edward Norton as a director, just four years after he stormed on to the screen in Primal Fear (where he desearved an Oscar... but failed to get it). He didn't quite storm on as a director with this film - but he didn't flunk also... I would say this is a good (not excellent but still good) start for his directing career. He has a nice visual style and a great sense of casting. Just to add that Anne Bancroft and the great Milos Forman complete the list of actors. As for the 'little' roles, usually looked over in other movies, he also picked magnificient actors.
This movie is not 'fall-off-your-seat' comedy, or some thoughtful drama about faith and religion. It's a more quiet movie, and thow sometimes just a little boring - it still has it's moments. But what is the greatest achievement of this movie, and the reason everybody should watch this, is that it actually makes you CARE for the characters, and even if you don't seem so interested in what's going on - you will still want to know what happened to them. Even if it is predictable... Once again - a good start for Norton, and I hope I see him direct again soon.
OVERALL: *** / *****
Death and the Maiden (1994)
3 characters, 1 location - and the suspense never ends!!!
Roman Polanski has proven himself as one of the leading directors for quite some time - but nobody seems to take any notice! (yes I know people try to forget him becouse of the 'incident'...)
The same applies for Sigourney Weaver. I've gon mad when a certain guy said how it's funny that Sigourney Weaver actually made other movies except Alien(s) - but nobody saw them! I showered him with titles such as 'The Ice Storm', 'Gorillas in the Mist', 'Working Girl', ...... and finally 'Death and the Maiden'. Off course - he saw none of them! It's sad how (in my humble oppinion) the best actress we currently have is so underrated. But hey - tell me who else got a leading actress Oscar nomination for a sequel of a Sci-Fi movie...??? She also was nominated for both leading and supporting actress in the same year (Gorillas & W. Girl) and strangely lost both!!! The Academy kept ignoring her Oscar worthy performances in 'The Ice Storm', 'Map of the World' and one of the best female performances of the decade 'Death and the Maiden'. She is unbelievable in this movie - the woman we saw as the World's heroine is so fragile and shaken in this movie that it is astonishing. She plays a sexualy molested (in the worst possible way) woman with all of her phobias and stirred feelings to the perfection - withought crossing the fine line to overacting. The scenes where she tortures Ben Kingsley are just amazing - as is the whole movie.
It takes strong actors and a brilliant director to make a movie which virtually takes place in one house - and has only three characters; and yet it never loses the suspense even for a minute.
This is a masterpiece, and one of rare movie that can be watched both by art-movie philes and the 'regular'-movie fans. This is Roman Polanski at his best since 'Chinatown' and Sigourney at her best ever!
Mister Frost (1990)
Weird, confusing, dream-like... I love it!
If you now nothing about this movie than you're in for a few big surprises in the opening 15 minutes. The movie changes the tone and the direction af the story. That's exactly why I won't reveal the story. So what's it all about - well just imagine what would Silence of the Lambs be if almost the whole movie consisted of Foster / Hopkins talks. Not for everybody I admit - but intriguing never-the-less...
Jeff Goldblum was borned to play Mr. Frost - the role that suits him perfectly. He underplays it so good where other actors would definetly overact. His face says a thousand words... Kathy Baker, on the other hand, does her job almost as well. This is a fine underrated (mostly TV based) actress who surely has the 'leading lady' quality. Alan Bates who plays the detective also gives a great performance.
The director just seems to keep out of the way of the actors, under-directing it (with not so wealthy production the movie does have a slight 'TV' tone to it) thow he does have his moments...
Well - in conclusion - the movie's weird, it tries to confuse you, it seems more like a dream than a movie. That's why I love it. So if you are a patient man and have nothing to do tonight between 3 & 5 AM rent this movie!
Tri muskarca Melite Zganjer (1998)
He bakes cookies and she eats them - they're perfect for each other. Somebody please tell them that...
"Tri muskarca Melite Zganjer" (The Three Men of Melita Zganjer) is the best product of Croatian cinema since Croatia gained independence. It is also the first Croatian non-war movie. The movie is a romantic comedy about an overweight girl and a stuttering baker guy who are in love with each other but are too clumsy and shy to get involved. They are portrayed by two young actors - great newcomer Mirjana Rogina and home favorite Goran Navojec, the biggest young Croatian star after Goran Visnjic ("ER", "Practical Magic").
The movie is filled with great comedy moments, especially involving the "Mexican" soap opera on TV (the soap opera was actually filmed for the movie, with Croatian actors, in Spanish - and the leading character Melita watches it on her TV).
The director, Snjezana Tribuson (the only Croatian female movie director) did a great job and has given an example for future Croatian film makers to follow.