83 Countries In Competition For 2014 Foreign Language Film For 87th Oscars

x80th Academy Awards NYC Meet the Oscars Opening

A record 83 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 87th Academy Awards. Kosovo, Malta, Mauritania and Panama are first-time entrants.

The 2014 submissions are:

Afghanistan, “A Few Cubic Meters of Love,” Jamshid Mahmoudi, director;
Argentina, “Wild Tales,” Damián Szifrón, director;
Australia, “Charlie’s Country,” Rolf de Heer, director;
Austria, “The Dark Valley,” Andreas Prochaska, director;
Azerbaijan, “Nabat,” Elchin Musaoglu, director;
Bangladesh, “Glow of the Firefly,” Khalid Mahmood Mithu, director;
Belgium, “Two Days, One Night,” Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, directors;
Bolivia, “Forgotten,” Carlos Bolado, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “With Mom,” Faruk Lončarevič, director;
Brazil, “The Way He Looks,” Daniel Ribeiro, director;
Bulgaria, “Bulgarian Rhapsody,” Ivan Nitchev, director;
Canada, “Mommy,” Xavier Dolan, director;
Chile, “To Kill a Man,” Alejandro Fernández Almendras, director;
China, “The Nightingale,” Philippe Muyl, director;
Colombia, “Mateo,” María Gamboa, director;
Costa Rica, “Red Princesses,” Laura Astorga Carrera, director;
Croatia, “Cowboys,” Tomislav Mršić, director;
Cuba, “Conducta,” Ernesto Daranas Serrano, director;
Czech Republic, “Fair Play,” Andrea Sedláčková, director;
Denmark, “Sorrow and Joy,” Nils Malmros, director;
Dominican Republic, “Cristo Rey,” Leticia Tonos, director;
Ecuador, “Silence in Dreamland,” Tito Molina, director;
Egypt, “Factory Girl,” Mohamed Khan, director;
Estonia, “Tangerines,” Zaza Urushadze, director;
Ethiopia, “Difret,” Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, director;
Finland, “Concrete Night,” Pirjo Honkasalo, director;
France, “Saint Laurent,” Bertrand Bonello, director;
Georgia, “Corn Island,” George Ovashvili, director;
Germany, “Beloved Sisters,” Dominik Graf, director;
Greece, “Little England,” Pantelis Voulgaris, director;
Hong Kong, “The Golden Era,” Ann Hui, director;
Hungary, “White God,” Kornél Mundruczó, director;
Iceland, “Life in a Fishbowl,” Baldvin Zophoníasson, director;
India, “Liar’s Dice,” Geetu Mohandas, director;
Indonesia, “Soekarno,” Hanung Bramantyo, director;
Iran, “Today,” Reza Mirkarimi, director;
Iraq, “Mardan,” Batin Ghobadi, director;
Ireland, “The Gift,” Tom Collins, director;
Israel, “Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem,” Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz, directors;
Italy, “Human Capital,” Paolo Virzì, director;
Japan, “The Light Shines Only There,” Mipo O, director;
Kosovo, “Three Windows and a Hanging,” Isa Qosja, director;
Kyrgyzstan, “Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains,” Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, director;
Latvia, “Rocks in My Pockets,” Signe Baumane, director;
Lebanon, “Ghadi,” Amin Dora, director;
Lithuania, “The Gambler,” Ignas Jonynas, director;
Luxembourg, “Never Die Young,” Pol Cruchten, director;
Macedonia, “To the Hilt,” Stole Popov, director;
Malta, “Simshar,” Rebecca Cremona, director;
Mauritania, “Timbuktu,” Abderrahmane Sissako, director;
Mexico, “Cantinflas,” Sebastián del Amo, director;
Moldova, “The Unsaved,” Igor Cobileanski, director;
Montenegro, “The Kids from the Marx and Engels Street,” Nikola Vukčević, director;
Morocco, “The Red Moon,” Hassan Benjelloun, director;
Nepal, “Jhola,” Yadav Kumar Bhattarai, director;
Netherlands, “Accused,” Paula van der Oest, director;
New Zealand, “The Dead Lands,” Toa Fraser, director;
Norway, “1001 Grams,” Bent Hamer, director;
Pakistan, “Dukhtar,” Afia Nathaniel, director;
Palestine, “Eyes of a Thief,” Najwa Najjar, director;
Panama, “Invasion,” Abner Benaim, director;
Peru, “The Gospel of the Flesh,” Eduardo Mendoza, director;
Philippines, “Norte, the End of History,” Lav Diaz, director;
Poland, “Ida,” Paweł Pawlikowski, director;
Portugal, “What Now? Remind Me,” Joaquim Pinto, director;
Romania, “The Japanese Dog,” Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, director;
Russia, “Leviathan,” Andrey Zvyagintsev, director;
Serbia, “See You in Montevideo,” Dragan Bjelogrlić, director;
Singapore, “Sayang Disayang,” Sanif Olek, director;
Slovakia, “A Step into the Dark,” Miloslav Luther, director;
Slovenia, “Seduce Me,” Marko Šantić, director;
South Africa, “Elelwani,” Ntshavheni Wa Luruli, director;
South Korea, “Haemoo,” Shim Sung-bo, director;
Spain, “Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed,” David Trueba, director;
Sweden, “Force Majeure,” Ruben Östlund, director;
Switzerland, “The Circle,” Stefan Haupt, director;
Taiwan, “Ice Poison,” Midi Z, director;
Thailand, “The Teacher’s Diary,” Nithiwat Tharathorn, director;
Turkey, “Winter Sleep,” Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director;
Ukraine, “The Guide,” Oles Sanin, director;
United Kingdom, “Little Happiness,” Nihat Seven, director;
Uruguay, “Mr. Kaplan,” Álvaro Brechner, director;
Venezuela, “The Liberator,” Alberto Arvelo, director.

The previous winner was “The Great Beauty,” Italy, by director Paolo Sorrentino.

The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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86th Oscars¨, Tuesday Set Ups

GRACELAND — The Review

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Drafthouse Films does it again, scouring, quite literally, the entire planet for the very best films otherwise virtually unseen by the majority of film goers. In an ongoing effort to bring powerful, hard-hitting films closer to the forefront, GRACELAND caught the attention of savvy film enthusiasts and now has the opportunity to spread its wings amidst a larger audience. Will you be one amidst those many?

GRACELAND tells the story of a working class father, and honest and good young man named Marlon Villar, played by Arnold Reyes. Set in the Philippines, Marlon finds his world thrown into chaos when a kidnapping goes terribly wrong and he finds himself fighting for his daughter’s life. Torn between his love for his own family and the demand placed upon him by his employer, Marlon must juggle a dangerous balance between doing what’s right and doing what he must.

Written and directed by Ron Morales, a filmmaker of respectable technical talent, GRACELAND marks only his second feature film as a director. Having earned his industry chops working on more mainstream Hollywood fare, from SPIDER-MAN 3 to NICK & NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST, its clear that his wide exposure to various styles and genres has allowed him to find his own much more pure artistic vision.

Marlon encounters elements all too familiar, from corruption to class segregation, all of which play into the overall arc of the film that proves not to be a sum greater than its parts, but an experience of which the parts and the sum are of equally high value. GRACELAND catches us off guard, nudging us off the curb into the filthy gutter, drags us through Marlon’s agonizing ordeal, and then just when we thing Morales is going to lift us up out of our shallow grave, instead he throws a few more shovels of dirt on our heads. Why? Because the truth is, real life is rarely about perfect happy endings. Real life is twisted, bent and jaded.

Forget about the flashy, high-action kidnapping films like TAKEN that are short on plot. GRACELAND never sacrifices its heart for a quick and easy adrenaline fix. On second thought, let me retract that statement. Instead, let me say that GRACELAND relies on masterful storytelling and a potent story with more resonant real-world issues to slowly fill the viewers veins with an adrenalized rush. As a suspenseful tale of a man desperate to save his daughter, GRACELAND matches the bar. As an emotional, intelligent case study of life in a world few of us will ever dream of actually stepping foot into, this film will knock you on your ass.

Morales maintains a close and personal vantage point, often uncomfortably so, never allowing the viewer to pull away and remind themselves “hey, this is only a movie.” Even in the films’ opening moments, Morales already has us hating a key character, while empathizing with Marlon and the nauseatingly disgusting situation he is in and must face on what seems a daily basis just to make ends meet. Its this dichotomy of Marlon’s restrained morals and the requirements of his job that give us hope that he will somehow find a way out of this mess.

GRACELAND co-stars Menggie Cobarrubias as the corrupt Congressman Changho and Dido De La Paz as the corrupt detective Ramos. Both men have their flaws, but at varying degrees and with subtly contradicting lines in the sand. Changho represents the “upper class” of the Philippines, fitting as his role takes something of a backseat to that of the detectives, who serves as a sort of intermediary between the very small upper class and the vast lower class. GRACELAND is a gritty, dirty looking film yet also manages to capture a certain untarnished beauty in the way the world looks around Marlon. Morales portrays things as they are, for better or for worse. At times, it even seems perhaps that shots may not have been authorized, perhaps even captured at great risk to the filmmakers themselves. All of this adds to the tension, builds layers upon layers onto the texture of the film. This allows the viewer to get a little dirty. We need to feel some of that to fully appreciate the cinematic environment in which the story is told.

In the end, no one character is quite what they seemed in the beginning. In the end, GRACELAND has us playing everything back in our minds, looking for explanations and justifications. In the end, the truth is that a father will do whatever he must to protect his family and damn anyone that wants to tell him what’s right and wrong in the eyes of those who haven’t walked in his shoes. However, in the end, all actions also have their consequences. GRACELAND is available on VOD/iTunes now and opens in theaters on Friday, April 26, 2013. Be sure to visit the official GRACELAND website for more information and to find a screening near you.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

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AMOUR, THE INTOUCHABLES, SISTER Among 9 To Advance In Foreign Language Film Oscar Race


THE INTOUCHABLES Photographer: Thierry Valletoux Copyright: © 2011 Gaumont

SISTER, AMOUR and THE INTOUCHABLES are among the nine films to advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 85th Academy Awards®. A record seventy-one films had originally qualified in the category.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

     Austria, “Amour,” Michael Haneke, director; 
     Canada, “War Witch,” Kim Nguyen, director;
     Chile, “No,” Pablo Larraín, director;
     Denmark, “A Royal Affair,” Nikolaj Arcel, director;
     France, “The Intouchables,” Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, directors;
     Iceland, “The Deep,” Baltasar Kormákur, director;
     Norway, “Kon-Tiki,” Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, directors;
     Romania, “Beyond the Hills,” Cristian Mungiu, director;
     Switzerland, “Sister,” Ursula Meier, director. (Recent EDA winner for Best Female-Directed Narrative Feature at the 21st Annual St. Louis International Film Festival).

According to the Academy’s official rules, a foreign language film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track. The Academy Statuette (Oscar) will be awarded to the motion picture and accepted by the director on behalf of the picture’s creative talents.


SISTER

Foreign Language Film nominations for 2012 are again being determined in two phases.

The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based members, screened the 71 eligible films between mid-October and December 17. The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.

The shortlist will be winnowed down to the five nominees by specially invited committees in New York and Los Angeles. They will spend Friday, January 4, through Sunday, January 6, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.

The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.

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THE RABBI’S CAT – SLIFF Review

Like the previously reviewed WRINKLES, this hand drawn French animated feature film is based on a celebrated graphic novel. Here the film makers use the medium to tell more of a whimsical adventure story set a long time ago in a faraway exotic land, 1930’s Algeria to be exact. There resides the simple widowed rabbi Abraham, his blossoming teenage daughter, and his cat. One day the feline suddenly gains the  ability to speak. This astounding feat seems to be the catalyst that sparks a series of escapades. A handsome young Russian artist arrives under unusual circumstances. Soon it’s decided that the young man must find the original tribe of African Jews, They enlist the aid of a displaced Russian aristocrat and his beaten-down vehicle and  they embark, along with a Muslim holy man and his nervous donkey, on a journey into the wilderness. Along  the way they get into spirited religious debates and have to deal with some hot-tempered nomads. Although the story involves a talking feline, this is a not a film for the tiny tots as there’s a scene of bloody violence and a sensual love story involving one of the travelers. The animators have done a remarkable job replicating the style of scratchy pen and ink drawings. The character designs range from exaggerated “bigfoot” types (like the rabbi) to standard semi-realistic (the Russian artist). The movement is smooth and flowing particularly in a couple of sequences done in wild 1930’s “cartoony” style to emphasize the slapstick antics. THE RABBI’S CAT is an engaging colorful comic tale full of compelling characters and surprisingly adult themes.

THE RABBI’S CAT screens as part of the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 6:15 PM and Sunday, Nov. 18 at 1:30 PM at the Plaza Frontenac Cinemas

SENSE OF HUMOR – SLIFF Review

Here’s an unusual movie mash-up from French Canadian writer/director Emile Gaudreaullt: a thriller set in the world of stand-up comedy. Films have been made about traveling comedians, spewing jokes while bathed in a bright spotlight against (usually) a bare, brick wall starting with LENNY through PUNCHLINE and the recent SLEEPWALK WITH ME. These guys have their bad gigs, but nothing like what happens to Luc (Louis Jose’-Houde) and Marco (Benoit Briere). First off, they really don’t care much for each other. Luc is a dry, cerebral, observational humorist who considers Marco a hack who relies too much on wacky props and costumes, bits stolen from the internet, and phony sentimentality. But what really irks Luc is the fact that audiences adore Marco. How did these two get paired up for a tour of small Canadian clubs? As part of his routine, Marco singles out a fellow from the audience as a “stooge” to be the butt of pre-written insults and jabs. At one of their stops, a bored Luc joins him in verbally pummeling a shy, somber guy named Roger (Michel Cote). But what the two comics don’t know (but was revealed in the film’s opening) is that the meek Roger, who’s bad-mouthed by his elderly ill-tempered Dad at home and teased at his job as a short-order cook, has a hobby. He’s a serial killer who’s turned the barn of the remote family farm into a torture chamber for his ‘guests”. After that night’s show, the comics retire to their dingy motel rooms and wake up in a cage at Roger’s barn. In tracking to calm him down, the two get Roger to reveal his hidden desire. He wants to be funny, so he can impress the pretty waitress at work. Luc and Marco must try to work together and turn the serious Roger into the life of the party during their evening while attempting to escape their cage while their captor’s at his day job. The three main principals turn in very funny performances and are well served by the actors playing Roger’s co-workers, Marco’s depressed wife, and Luc’s way-too-in-touch-with-her-feelings sister. There’s a great balance between the verbal sparring off the mis-matched comics on the road and the wild slapstick scenes as they try to gain their freedom. This is a very entertaining blend of genres that balances the chills and laughs.

SENSE OF HUMOR screens as part of the 21st Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival on Wednesday, November 14 at 7 PM and Friday, November 16 at 9:30 PM at the Plaza Frontenac Cinemas

FAT, BALD, SHORT MAN – SLIFF Review

The film’s title pretty much sums up the world’s view of poor Antonio. Oh yeah, he’s pretty shy and constantly abused, too. He’s the butt of the office bully’s constant jabs at the little notary office where he works. His neer-do well brother Nardo only calls him to ask for money (and gets furious when reminded of past loans). Even the waiter at his lunch-time restaurant ignores him. Something’s got to change. And, surprisingly, things do change. He gets a new boss who looks remarkably similar (they’re constantly posing for photos together). And it turns out that the support group for shy people he reluctantly joined may just bring him out of his shell. Antonio’s story is told using new animation techniques in this Columbian feature-length film. Live action footage of the actors are traced in the computer and turned into squiggly-lined (the line weight is constantly changing) cartoon characters (a technique used for the recent films WAKING LIFE and A SCANNER DARKLY). Their look is simplified with only a few lines to delineate facial features (eyes, noses,etc.) with solid bright colors. The characters movie against photos and footage of real places (some that include blurry real folks). The  unique animation style helps bring out the humor and pathos of this story of a modern-day Latin MARTY.

FAT, BALD, SHORT MAN screens as part of the 21st Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival on Monday, November 12 at 4:30 PM at the Plaza Frontenac Cinemas

KLOWN – SLIFF Review

I normally do not subscribe to the hipness of using “OMG” but found the obnoxious acronym making numerous appearances in my mind while watching KLOWN. Based on the popular Danish television series by the same creative force, the film fine tunes its awkwardly direct and unbelievable content to fit perfectly within a feature film.

KLOWN follows the antics of Frank (Frank Hvam) and Casper (Casper Christensen) as they embark on the “Tour de Pussy,” an annual pilgrimage to the estate of a wealthy man who hosts the best prostitutes from around the world for just on day of unforgettable debauchery. But, this is the story of their journey, not of the event itself. After Frank makes an utter mess of his relationship with Mia (Mia Lyhne) following some major, unexpected news. He joins Casper for a canoe trip down the river to the big event, but not without making a complete disaster of that as well.

Co-written by real-life comics Casper Christensen and Frank Hvam, and directed by Mikkel Norgaard, KLOWN pulls few punches and shies from even fewer taboos, but approaches the material with a distinctly European style. The film is a hilarious riot, but garners its laughs with subtle, brilliant tastelessness. Structurally, the film resembles THE HANGOVER, but with an ironically higher level of maturity. In many ways, KLOWN combines the vulgarity of this style of comedy with the awkwardness of THE OFFICE and the intelligence of Louis CK’s TV series LOUIE.

The key ingredient to the underlying story of KLOWN, is the young boy named Bo (Marcuz Jess Petersen) whom Frank uses catastrophically as a tool to prove to Mia he is a responsible man. Despite the crude nature of the comedy, KLOWN is actually a movie with a message, nearly invisible but present, as Frank gradually learns how to be a better man. Frank and Casper are polar opposite personalities, but work well together, like Abbott and Costello or Lucy and Desi. Both characters are accidents waiting to happen, walking magnets for things to go horribly wrong.

KLOWN’s real appeal comes from Frank’s misguided actions aren’t without good intentions, albeit microscopic, but are masked by his selfish nature, a trait he is entirely oblivious too. Casper’s relentless pathology for sex only exasperates the many gut-wrenching scenes, dragging Frank and Bo along with him through the muck and filth. There is a very clear and well choreographed chain reaction at play here, allowing the absurdity to play out naturally on screen.

Fair warning goes out to those easily offended, as KLOWN raises the shock bar higher than we’ve seen in American cinema, yet does so with a much more candid, more easily digestible formula to swallow.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

KLOWN will play during the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival on Monday, November 12th (9:30pm) at Plaza Frontenac Cinema and again on Friday, November 16th (9:30pm) at Wildey Theatre.

LE TABLEAU – SLIFF Review

In the TOY STORY trilogy we get to see what our playthings do when we’re not around. Most recently with WRECK-IT RALPH we saw what our video game heroes and villains did after the arcade closes. With LE TABLEAU we see what the paintings do when the artist is away from the studio. It turns out that one of the paintings is a complete world with its own class system. The upper class is the “allduns”, those figures completed by the painter. Then there’s the “halfsies”, those who aren’t quite finished (maybe the lower half or right side are without color). Lowest on the class pole are the hunted, despised “sketchies”, creatures composed of penciled lines and shapes. Of course there’s got to be a forbidden love ala “Romeo and Juliet” with an aldunn lad smitten with a halfsie lass. In trying to reunite the pair, an unlikely trio travels beyond their world into other painted realms and explores the artist’s studio itself. This beautiful animated feature uses many high-tech CGI effects to create a world of living art. And could the desire for the painter’s return be a religious allegory?  Don’t mull over the symbolism too much or you might miss the many imaginative, visual gems in the colorful fable.

LE TABLEAU screens as part of the 21st Annual Whitaker Saint Louis International Film Festival on Saturday, November 10 at 2 PM at Washington University’s Brown Hall

 

BRANDED ( 2012 ) – The Review

BRANDED slithered ( like the flick’s CGI beasties ) last Friday with very, very little fanfare. Kind of appropriate since it’s a film about the evil of marketing…and advertising…and consumerism…the list trudges on and on. And it wants to be a satire / mind-blowing thriller, perhaps like the original ROBOCOP. I doubt if that classic’s director, Paul Verhoeven, could have done anything with this garbled mess of a script. Well, believe it or not, BRANDED had two directors! The best thing I can say about this new flick is that it’s something that Edward D. Wood, Jr. might have had a hand in making if he were still around. That may not be a fair comparison since Wood’s Grade-Z flicks are still pretty entertaining, while BRANDED is a real cinematic endurance test.

The bulk of the film is set in the new Russia. But first we start with a flashback to the 1980’s and the evil ole’ USSR. Young lad Misha is waiting in one of those long, winding lines we always heard about ( usually for one roll of bathroom tissue ), when he’s struck by lightning! Cut to a Polynesian island retreat where the legendary old Marketing Guru ( Max Von Sydow ) meets the heads of the world’s fast food chains. Seems the eateries are floundering and they need the master’s help. Jump to present day Russia where adult Misha ( Ed Stoppard ) is an award-winning advertising wiz working alongside American Bob Gibbons ( Jeffrey Tambor ), who just might be an intelligence agent. Misha catches the eye of Bob’s ambitious niece, Abby ( Leelee Sobieski ). They join forces ( in business and the bedroom ) to produce a big makeover reality TV show. When things go horribly wrong, the Guru swoops in with his master plan while Misha and Abby are separated when he’s thrown in the slammer. Years later she tracks him down. After doing his time, Misha  now tends to a herd of cattle far, far from the urban sprawl. After a ritual involving a red cow ( ?! ), he returns to the big city. Seems that now Misha can see things other folks can’t. The desires for products create weird monsters that threaten civilization. Can Misha stop these consumer critters before they destroy all mankind?

Or something like that. It’s all so pompous and ludicrous. The monsters seen in the poster art and a few TV spots are bulbous, floating amoebas and snails with elements of several artist styles, a bit of Dr. Seuss, Ralph Steadman, and the Chiodo Brothers ( one prominent floatie has a big red nose and a white face like those alien killer clowns ). And they don’t do much besides bounce into each other and burst apart or form bigger, uglier mutant parade-type balloons. An attack from green dragons doesn’t liven things up any. And you’ve got to slog through an hour of heavy-handed satire of burger chains and reality TV before you see them! What did these actors get from this script? My affection for Tambor was truly tested, but his lifetime pass thanks to TV’s ” The Larry Sanders Show ” and ” Arrested Development ” remains intact. Von Sydow has a couple of scenes, but he’s basically doing an extended cameo as he wears different track suits while he lectures in front of some tacky green screen effects. Sobieski is a wild-eyed sexpot ( nearly bursting out of her wardrobe ) for the first half and has strained scenes with a badly dubbed child actor in the second half. For most of his screen time, Stoppard alternates between bored and hysterical. A scene on the dance floor with Sobieski looming over Stoppard overwhelmed the dialogue ( something about how Lenin was a good marketer ).  hmmm, maybe that was a good thing. All the while the film makers are hammering their themes. Yeah, we know fast food’s not good for us! And we shouldn’t trust ads! Mad magazine’s been saying that for nearly 60 years. BRANDED is a colossal, pretentious train wreck of a film that will test any bad movie aficionado. I should just be grateful I didn’t have to pony up a few extra bucks to see the evil marketing monsters in the miracle of 3D! Now if this had been a remake of the classic Chuck Conners TV western, well…

.5 Out of 5 Stars

EASY MONEY (2010) – The Review

Ah yes, the allure of film noir is so very addictive. Set-up saps, dangerous dames, crime bosses, goons with gats, they’ve been a part of American cinema since the 1940’s. One of the genre’s biggest fans is Martin Scorsese ( you could say he put his own spin on them starting with MEAN STREETS and TAXI DRIVER ). Well, Mr. S knows when it’s done well, that why he’s put his name ( as in “Martin Scorsese presents” ) on this Swedish import. Sweden? The land of dour relationship dramas? Well, it turns out that they can make a very engaging crime thriller. Particularly director Daniel Espinosa ( he’s already jumped across the pond to make the recent Denzel Washington spy caper SAFE HOUSE ), who gives us the taut nail-biter EASY MONEY. And if you know your noir, you know there’s nothing easy about going after those elusive big bucks.

The flick open with the daring daylight prison escape of Jorge ( Matias Varela ). Seeking shelter, he’s turned away by his sister’s family. We then meet Mrado ( Dragomir Mrsic ), brutal enforcer for a Serbian drug-running gang led by Radovan ( Dejan Cukic ). Mrado’s life takes a turn when he’s awarded full custody of his sweet 7 year-old daughter from his drug-addicted ex-wife. The film’s main focus, JW ( Joel Kinnaman ) , enters the story. We first meet him as he hits the ” gentlemen’s clubs ” with his wealthy school mates. But they don’t know the truth about JW. He returns late that night to the cramped, run-down apartment he shares with his parents. He divides the next day between college economics classes and driving a taxi ( he’s careful to avoid his rich buddies ). JW is invited by a pal to join him for a weekend party at the country estate of the beautiful Sophie ( Lisa Henni ). JW connects immediately with her, but he can’t keep up the charade for long. The social-climber needs lots of money-fast! It turns out that his taxi dispatcher/ boss is part of a Spanish/ Arabic drug-running gang ( Jorge’s old crew ). Soon JW takes in Jorge and uses his economic skills to help the gang launder their drug money. This puts both men on a collision course with Mrado and the Serbian gang and entangles them in a web of lies and deception.

Espinosa knows that a great crime thriller should have plenty of twists and turns, so I’ll do my best not to spoil the many surprises. What really holds this all together are the excellent performances. Fans of AMC-TV’s ” The Killing ” are familiar with Kinnaman ( earlier this Summer he co-starred in the indie rom-com LOLA VERSUS ) who carries much of the story as the in way over his head JW. He aches to be part of the upper crust, to the point of replacing the buttons on his shirt with a more expensive name brand. He believes he can dip his toes in muddy waters of crime and not be dirty. In that way he reminded me of Montgomery Clift in the George Stevens classic A PLACE IN THE SUN. He wanted to be in the big leagues and one look at debutante Elizabeth Taylor made that his obsession. In EASY MONEY, it’s Henni as the luminous Sophie. When they first meet she’s the flirty, ditzy rich brat, but she’s touched by JW. He’s not like the boys she’s been dating. Sophies’s truly hurt by JW’s secrets. Varela’s Jorge has a more modest desire than JW : he wants to be a part of his family once again. His ties to crime have closed that door. The most intriguing character may be Mrsic’s Mrado. In his opening scenes he’s a seething bruiser, but being with his precious daughter brings out a tender side. He doesn’t want to be like his abusive father, so he must get out of the life. This leads to that ” one last job “, that , once completed , will allow them a new life. And as with most noirs, ” last jobs ” rarely play out without a  hitch . Espinosa shoots the action with vitality and clarity, and stills allows us to get inside the characters’ heads. He’ll often use flashes from the previous scenes that intercut a new establishing shot. Like the very best crime thrillers we find ourselves rooting for these thugs and double-crossers as they react to unforeseen circumstances, especially as JW drowns in deceptions as thick as quicksand. EASY MONEY is brutal and heart breaking, so well done that a sequel has been made in Sweden. Let’s hope Mr. Scorsese will presenting that film in US theatres very soon.

Overall rating : 4 Out of 5 Stars

EASY MONEY screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Tivoli theatre