Shark Night 3D

Lets think for a second. What is the perfect summer movie? We need a list:

# Hot college girls
# Body parts flying off
# A script written in 15 minutes
# A cast no one heard of
# A soundtrack filled with party songs

Ok, now we have the perfect movie, or do we? Shark Night 3D is one of the latest shark movies, released in 3D ( wow...im suprised ).  With the combination, a college party movie with sharks, you know what you are served. On paper it sounds like the next Lorenzo Lamas production, but is it really that bad?

Tulane University in Lousiana. 7 college students take a holiday trip to Lake Pontchartrain, just to party, have fun and live their lives at a summer house. Everything is going great, until one of the students Malik ( Sinqua Walls ) is attacked by a shark, and lost his arm. His friends try and get help, but the shark attacks their boat, wich crashes into a harbour. Trapped out on an island, they try to plan a way out.

Shark Night 3D is not the worst movie ever. There´s actually a few funny scenes, like when the redneck boys turn up and try to start a fight. I was kind of hoping for a banjo duel and the classic line :- Squeal like a pig boy ;). But all together, this is just another typical college movie, made for that type of audience. So if you´re around 18 and you jump easily out of the cinema seat, this is perfect for you. I prefer something more tasty, like Braindead. If you´re gonna make body parts flying off, might as well go over the top and make it nastier than ever.

Rating: DD

Dream House

The Amytville Horror is a classic horror movie from 1979, based on a true story. A family moves in, hoping to start a new life. But it turns out this house is haunted, and hell is about to begin. Since this movie came out, there have been remakes, sequels, prequels...the list never ends. And of course alot of horror movies have borrowed basically the same idea, just with a different twist. Here we have a interesting cast, Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts. With a cast like this, is Dream House a shocker that will please horror fans?

A successfull book publisher Will Attenton ( Daniel Craig ) lives a normal family life, with a beautiful wife Libby Attenton ( Rachel Weisz ), and their 2 young daughters. Living in a beautiful house, Will is very pleased with his life. Untill, strange things begin to happen. Strange sightings begin to make Will wonder, what is going on? He begins to search for answers, but the real truth may be way bigger than he could ever imagine.

Let's be honest. Dream House is not anything you will remember for its originality. You know what will happen, and the few moments where we are supposed to have some kind of suprises, youre just left with another typical main stream movie. Daniel Craig doesnt even look like he is having fun at all, he´s only doing this for a pay check. So we are left with a very boring horror movie, that just dont work. There is one positive thing, and that is Naomi Watts. She at least tries to deliver a personality as his neighbour Ann Patterson. My advice, if you really love this type of horror movie, go rent The Others with Nicole Kidman, it is a timeless classic.

Rating: DD

Real Steel

Rocky Balboa is one of those legends in motion pictures, you dont get tired of. Anything is possible, as long as you have hope, and belive in yourself. When i first saw the trailer of Real Steel, i instantly understood we are dealing with a mix of Rocky Balboa / Robocop and Kickboxer. Its almost like every young boy´s dream, fighting robots with lots of power. We even has Steven Spielberg as an executive producer, so is this a movie all male have been waiting for?

Charlie Kenton ( Hugh Jackman ) drives his truck around the country, to make cash on robot fights. He owes people money everywhere, and with no luck in robot fight, he is beginning to be desperate. Charlie is to be in court, about the custody to his son Max ( Dakota Goyo ). He lets his aunt Debra ( Hope Davis ) have him, on one condition, that her new husband Marvin ( James Rebhorn ) pays 100.000 dollars, and the boy is theirs. But the deal is only between Charlie and James, and no one shall know. Debra lets Max stay with Charlie over summer, so he can get to know his father better. While Charlie keeps working on new fights, and on a new robot, a new side of him opens up, about his son Max. The road ahead will change both of their lives.

This is an odd mix of action and drama, mixed together with a strong message of fatherhood. And suprisingly it work. Hugh Jackman fits well as Charlie, with an obsession for more money. At moments its loud, lots of punches, and pretty good soundtrack ( Limp Bizkit is even in here ) . Its almost as if director Shawn Levy wanted to travel back to the 80´s, and make a tribute to some classics, mixed into each other, and still spice some things up. Real Steel is both a fun time, as well as a good father/son story ( not many movies bring this subject up very often ). Forget about daytime tv shows about relationships, Real Steel bring this up in a whole new level, that actually work. Some parents need to listen more to their kids, they are more clever than you think.

Rating: DDD

Hamilton - I Nationens Intresse

If you never heard of writer Jan Guillou´s famous books, about swedish intelligence officer Carl Hamilton, then my advice is to take a look at one of his books. Hamilton has become a legend in Sweden, maybe because there are not many swedish fictional characters like Carl Hamilton. Almost like a mix of James Bond and Maverick in Top Gun, but with bigger guns. Several actors have potrait Carl Hamilton on the big screen, last time it was Peter Stormare back in 1998. This time around, Mikael Persbrandt have decided to portait Hamilton in his own way.

Carl Hamilton ( Mikael Persbrandt ) is on a secret mission on the border between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. A truck filled with GPS controlled artillery shells have been stolen, and Hamilton goes undercover to recapture the artillery shells. A meeting is arranged, but something goes terribly wrong. Everyone gets killed by mercenaries, except for Hamilton who manages to escape. Back home in Sweden, his commander is very dissapointed that the mission is not successful. When the news comes out that weapon technician Gustaf Hammarsten ( Martin Lagerbäck ) is kidnapped in Somalia, swedish primeminister agrees to hire security company Spectragon, to rescue Gustaf. Hamilton is included in the rescue operation, but he sense that there is something wrong. Someone is not telling the truth, and he is willing to find out what is really going on.

Finally................it has taken a hell of a long time, but here we actually have a great swedish movie. Is it even possible? Yes, i know....its hard to belive. But here is the truth, Mikael Persbrandt is amazing as Carl Hamilton, both his acting skills and for his brutality. Hamilton - I Nationens Intresse is even better than i could ever had expected. Director Kathrine Windfield manages to deliver a very stylish action movie. But at the same time she also brings up political subjects, from different parts of the world, wich works very well with the storyline. If the jury of Guldbaggegalan are reading this, Persbrandt should be nominated for best actor next year for his performance. This may be his biggest performance ever in a motion picture so far. Now i understand why Peter Jackson wanted to have him in The Hobbit, he is pure gold.

Rating: DDDD

Paranormal Activity 3

Its amazing how big the Paranormal Activity movies has become in America. The budget is very small, but the box office profit is incredible, people love documentary made horror. I can understand why, if it´s done in a effectively way, it works very well. When the first movie came out in 2007, i thought to myself:- Oh no, not another Blair Witch Project rip off. But it was actually ok. And the sequel was better than the first one. So this time around, we have a prequel. Can Paranormal Activity still work, or should the chapter have been closed earlier?

2005. Katie (Kate Featherstone) and her sister Kristi (Sprague Grayden) finds old vhs tapes in a box, recorded back in 1988, wich contains videos of family members  Julie Bittner (Lauren Bittner) and her boyfriend Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith). They have 2 children, Katie and Kristi. Dennis works as a wedding videographer, who owns a lot of camera equipment. While filming in his own home, he notice that strange things are happening. His daughter Julie is filmed talking to her invisible friend Toby. Dennis is not worried though, since this must be her imagination. But suddenly more things begin to happen, wich affect the whole family. Who is this Toby, and what does he want?

To be honest, there is not alot of suprises for beeing a prequel, until the last 20 minutes of the movie. Then we actually get some nice suprises. Paranormal Activity 3 won´t change anything with this genre, it is exactly what you expect, well made horror with small details. One of the problems though is the lack of new ideas, but still not ruin the concept. I was kind of hoping on more details, why this haunting have followed this family for so many generations. Maybe we will have some more answers in the 4th movie, thats beeing made. Untill then, this one is worth renting. This is actually not that bad at all.

Rating: DDD

Sleeping Beauty

While most critics hated Sucker Punch, alot of people was suprised why actress Emily Browning choosed to be apart of that movie. Maybe she just wanted to kill zombies and show herself in short skirts? Personally i didnt care much for the movie itself, it was filled with action, but with one messed up story that made no sense. When i heard Emily Browning was to do an updated version of Sleeping Beauty, the classic fairytale, i didnt really bother to read about it. Until i heard the reviews from the Cannes Festival. Some called it disgusting, while others thought it was in the style of director Almodovar. So, is this a brand new start for Emily Brownings career?

Lucy ( Emily Browning ) is an college student, working as a waitress, as well as a prostitute at an exclusive bar. She often visits a so called friend, known as Birdman ( Ewen Leslie ), where she drinks and pretend to be interested in his life. One day, she gets an offer from an add, to be apart of a gentlemens club, dressed in lingerie. She begins working for this exclusive gentlemens club, but things are becoming different than what she thought this would be.

If you hate european cinema, in style of director Pedro Almodovar, then stop reading right now. Sleeping Beauty is definitely not for everyone. On the other hand, if you love intelligent film making, then this might actually suprise you. Its a slow motion picture, but somehow director Julia Leigh manages to capture the feeling of female sensuality, in a different way than most movies. There is a lot of nudity, and sexually revealing scenes, but they have a purpose. Some of the scenes shot at the gentlemen´s club remind me of Stanley Kubrick´s last motion picture Eyes Wide Shut, very elegantly made. There are some controversial scenes, that could be offensive. All together, this is a pretty solid piece of work, quite different from anything ive seen for quite some time. And Emily Browning does a very good performance, as a new generations Sleeping Beauty, stuck in a destructive world. Its a shame some parts are very boring at moments, since alot of scenes makes a strong impact. This could have been even more controversial. But it definitely worth watching, youre not gonna find anything like this in your dvd store on new releases, trust me.

Rating: DDD

Texas Killing Fields

Do you remember Gunnery Sergeant Hartman´s classic quote in Full Metal Jacket? :- "Holy dogshit! Texas, only steers and queers come from Texas, private Cowboy! And you don't much look like a steer to me, so that kinda narrows it down!" Its still as funny today, as it was back in 1987. When you usually think of Texas, you usually think of lots of deserts, country bars and pick up trucks. I watched the trailer of Texas Killing Fields last summer, while it was to premiere at the 68th Venice International Film Festival. And just at that moment, i got excited. There seemed to be something interesting about this movie. In a way it reminded me at moments of Lone Star, one of the 90´s best motion pictures, directed by John Sayles. But is Texas Killing Fields another classic?

League City, Texas. Detective Mike Sounder ( Sam Worthington ) and his partner Brian Heigh ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan ), are investigating murders, happening at an oil field. Theres just one big problem. The detectives cant work on this area, since its located outside their legal resoponsibility area. But even if they have been warned, Mike´s partner Brian refuse to let these cases go. And while the investigation keeps going, Brian is getting closer to make his life more risky. With a serial killer on their hands, things are about to become very dangerous.

Even if the location shots are nicely made, with the right Texas feeling, this isnt a new Lone Star classic. Its a pretty simple story, made with a quite simple budget. Director Ami Canaan Mann have managed to put together an intelligent puzzle, with simple details, and with a good performance from Sam Worthington ( anyone remember his performance in Clash Of The Titans? ). If theres any flaws, then its the slow storyline at moments. Wich is a shame. This could have been more psychological, telling more details about the murders ( this is actually based on true events ). But not to worry, if you love thrillers, then this should find your satisfaction. Texas Killing Fields is at least an interesting view on how a serial killers behavior can affect a whole community, as well as the people working on the cases.

Rating: DDD

Its 2012, time for a brand new start

A new year is here, and with this new year, i will continue reviewing movies of all genres. 2011 had some great movies, as well as some awful ones. So lets look forward to whats out this year, and more sexy movie reviews will be coming, to a computer screen near you ;)