Drive (2011) Review

You know what's the worst thing that can happen to a good director? Selling out. Big time. And do you know what's the easiest way to sell out? Going to Hollywood and making a movie for a big studio. Remember Gavin Hood? His Tsotsi won an Academy Award in 2006. Then he went to Hollywood, directed the god-awful X-Men Origins: Wolverine and is now working for TV. And do you remember Oliver Hirschbiegel? He made the excellent Das Experiment and the highly praised Downfall. Then he went to Hollywood, directed the über-flop Invasion with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and is now making movies back in Germany.

That's why it's a good thing to see a European director coming to Hollywood and making a movie that still has his style and doesn't bow down to any studio executive's demands. Enter danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn and his remarkable Drive.

Drive is a crime movie with a minimal approach. The story is simple, a stunt driver played by Ryan Gosling who is also a wheelman gets mixed up in a heist gone wrong and starts going on a rampage against the people who are trying to get rid of him. That's it, nothing more, nothing less.

What makes this movie so much more than just another crime thriller is the atmosphere and the top notch performances. Gosling is the epitomized coolness, a man of few words and gestures. Carey Mulligan is perfectly cast as his doe-eyed love interest and creates a nice chemistry between the two. But it's Albert Brooks who takes the cake. He is Bernie, Gosling's boss and most terrifying screen presence I've seen since Melissa Leo in The Fighter. Academy, here's a sure bet for the upcoming Oscars next February.

While the film just breathes cool with beautiful shots of Los Angeles, a dreamlike score and long-lasting shots it is the sudden bursts of graphic violence that will leave you breathless and shocked. It might be a bit early to call it but Drive ranks up there next to classics such as Bullitt, The French Connection and Vanishing Point. I honestly doubt that there's gonna be another movie this year that is as badass and cool as this one.

So what are you waiting for? Go and watch this awesome movie, give it the audience it deserves!

Frida (2002) Review

Oh my, looks like I haven't watched any movie for about two weeks, unbelievable! So let's not waste any valuable space on ridiculously stretched introductions and dive right into Frida!

If you're not living under a rock chances are that you've probably heard about Frida Kahlo, one of the most influential female painters of all time. If you haven't heard of her although you consider yourself somehow sophisticated then don't worry, there's always gonna be some snob like me who's willing to help you out of your misery.

Frida is the movie adaptation of Kahlo's life as an artist and especially focuses on her relationship with fellow artist Diego Rivera. Let's break it down into the parts the movie gets right and the ones where it fails miserably.

The film is directed by Julie Taymor, a strong creative force with a great background in theater and opera work. Mostly thanks to her involvement the film at times rises to be more than just your ordinary conventional biopic and manages to live up to the creativity behind the art genius that was Frida Kahlo. It's like a breath of fresh air to have Taymor play out the New York scenes as if being staged in theater or Frida's imaginations after an accident being acted out by Mexican death dolls.

The casting is perfect, Salma Hayek in the title role and Alfred Molina as her lady-killing husband are extraordinary and share a great chemistry on screen. The minor roles are also prominently cast with roles played by Antonio Banderas, Ashley Judd, Edward Norton and Geoffrey Rush. But here the failure starts.

The movie tries to cram an exceptional life into two hours of screen time and the overwhelming amount of supporting actors and events doesn't give the film enough room to breathe, there's a lack of coherence which becomes more evident towards the end of Frida when the audience realizes how pointless and superfluous many parts were. Geoffrey Rush was wasted as Leon Trotsky and can someone please explain to me what Diego Luna's character was needed for?

Don't get me wrong, Frida is a marvel to look at and has moments when it truly shines but it too often feels patchy or messy or, even worse, just like your conventional biopic. If you're a Kahlo fan, there's no way around this film but everybody else might be disappointed in what can only be seen as a missed opportunity.

Don't Look Now (1973) Review

Controversial movies are good. And I don't mean controversial as in "Man, Hostel is probably the goriest and most violent film ever"-controversial. That's what I normally call BS with a capital B. What I mean by controversial are movies that challenge the viewer not on an entertainment basis but on an interpretive one, movies like Don't Look Now.

Me And You And Everyone We Know (2005) Review

I already pointed out in an earlier post how much I like to explore movies off the mainstream. And it seems to just keep going, there's so much more stuff going on than just comic book adaptations, sequels and computer animated children's films. So let's get to business: Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know.

If you haven't heard of her or her films, she's a performance artist-turned-filmmaker and you can feel her origin when watching this movie. I'm not gonna spoil anything for you but it's way more offbeat than I initially thought.

Everything that's happening in the film seems random, ambiguous and improvised and this is essentially the breaking point where your taste has to decide what you'll make of it. If you like your movies in a classic three act structure with flawlessly beautiful people and Hollywood gloss then don't even bother thinking about this film, you won't be pleased.

For everyone else who's more open to experiments there's a lot to be charmed by. The film's improvised but still artsy feeling allows for moments of great emotion and sometimes insane hilarity, as I said I could spoil it for you but I won't, it's just great, these moments made the film for me. If you consider yourself a movie lover who's open to new things then go and experience this unique little motion picture!