Fargo (1996)

Film: Fargo
Release: 1996, theatrical
Starring: Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy
Directed by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: A man wanting to cheat his wealthy father-in-law out of a large sum of money plans a fake kidnapping scheme that goes horribly wrong.

Hans' thoughts:

Written, Directed, Produced and Edited by the phenomenal Coen Bros. we have Fargo, the story of what too much greed and do to you. Conman and car salesman Jerry Lundegaard finds out he needs a rather large sum of money and so he arranged a fake kidnapping of his wife so he could get money out of his wealthy father-in law. To do that he hires two crooks, Carl Showalter played by Steve Buscemi and Gaear Grimsrud by Peter Stormare. Everything seems to go fine, but when the psychopathic Gaear shoots and kills a traffic patrol officer followed by a likvidation of witnesses the two kidnappers are now at the receiving end of a manhunt. The officer in charge is the kindhearted, highly pregnant detective Marge Gunderson played by Frances McDormand. The film is a lonely one, while all the characters have people they interact with on a daily basis throughout the movie, they all ultimately end up alone in their key moment of the film. Marge Gunderson is a happily married woman, but when she finally catches up to the bad guys she does so completely alone. Jerry Lundegaard is also finally captured alone, and the two crooks that become the driving force behind the event of the film all ultimately meet their fates on their own in some regard. 

Gunderson, our main character, is almost a Christ or Maria character. Being kind and forgiving to everyone she meets she never displays anything that remotely looks like a dark side. She's a lover, not a killer and she simply cannot comprehend the kind of darkness that defines so many of the characters in the film. This could very well have been a very bland character, if not for the excellent performance by McDormand that makes this character seem infinitely believable - like the way a child would see their mother. Kind but firm. A lot of the shots of the film are done from very far away, in the infinite cold landscape of Middle-America where the film takes place. Large empty sceneries with singular characters walking through a very empty world. The snowy environment makes us focus directly on the action, while also providing a sad empty atmosphere. In stark contrast, you have most of the scenes with Marge Gunderson be in company with someone else, either questioning people for leads on her case or being home with her husband. All these shots, with the exception of when she's at the scenes of darkness like the chases or the crime scenes, have warm indoor colours. However all of the police character treat the murder much less dramatically than you usually see in these kinds of stories. Saddened by the loss but with a professional restraint and objectivity - they're at their workplace. It's a very nice change of pace from what you usually see in the genre where characters will become personally involved.

Completely polarizing from Marge you have the silent giant Gaear Grimsrud. Gaear is a taker of life instead of a giver and while Marge will likely make kind idle conversation with other characters Gaear is a man of ultimate materialism. He doesn't interact with others except when completely necessary and he clearly has a very cold darkness inside of him, comparable to the unkind snowy landscape that surrounds the movie. The one that suffers the ultimate punishment however is the movies tour de force, Jerry Lundegaard. He's almost comically tragic in how everything just goes wrong for him at every turn, the same can be said for Steve Buscemi who's in tip top shape doing what he does best in the role of Carl Showalter. He's a fast-talking unlucky man that like Grimsrud takes pleasure in materialism but doesn't stop at the little things. While Grimsrud finds pleasure in a TV-show and a small dinner, the despicable Showalter wants everything that's best in life, women food and alcohol. Some of the best moments in the movie comes from Buscemi as everything just falls apart around him in what should have been an easy bit of money. 

Fargo is not for everyone, the films main driving force is it's celebration of the simple things and it's intimidating atmosphere. It may feel too slow for audiences used to more actiondriven stories about remakable people. For the rest of us, here is a sweet story about a mother-to-be trying to comprehend the significantly darker world around her and her little family. 

Psycho (1960)

Film: Psycho
Release: 1960, theatrical
Starring: Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Next in the series: Psycho II
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: A young woman steals a large sum of money in order to meet up with and marry her lover. Along the way she decides to stay in a remote hotel, run by nervous man and his mother.

Hans' thoughts:

Today considered a timeless classic, Psycho takes what initially seems like a "normal" thriller story and then spins it on it's head when the main character turns out to be someone completely different. Now, had I been talking about any other movie I would've considered that a spoiler and withheld the information. However, Psycho is an internationally recognized masterpiece and it is neigh impossible to be unaware of the infamous shower scene in this film. People who've never seen Psycho, know exactly what the Bates hotel is so I am going to write the rest of this article as a review of what I consider the "actual" movie, the first 30 minutes being a giant fake-out. Okay, I apologize deeply but the movie is now 53 years old and I consider it highly unlikely that nobody in this day and age would not know about the giant change of tone the film suddenly takes. Part of what makes Psycho such a good movie anyway, is that it can still be thrilling, horrifying and enjoyable in spite of people knowing what is going to happen.

Though a bit eccentric, Norman seems like he would've been
the hero in any other movie

Psycho is a horror mystery movie and a very good one, by some considered the movie that kickstarted the Slasher sub-genre. Part of what makes the movie is our main character. Norman Bates. He seems like such a rational innocent man, if a bit weak willed, who just has a deep love for his mother whom he takes care of. This is partly because of the performance of Anthony Perkins. Perkins seems like such a sympathetic person in this picture and the fact that he would hide such dark secrets is truly unthinkable. It is no wonder that Perkins' career would later suffer from typecasting in other movies. He really steals every scene he's in, partially because in other movies he would probably be the dashing hero, saving the damsel in distress from some evil plot. Good old Hitch sure pulled a fast one on audiences with this one.

What exactly is going on in the Bates household however, I won't disclose here. Let's just say that the answer to that question is definitely a surprise. Our other characters also do a very good job. While we don't learn much about them, their motivations are always clear and nothing they come off as for the sake of plot convenience. There is no unnecessary exposition here. It can honestly be compared to the story of Citizen Kane, where we become intimately familiar with a character through the conversations of others. As is always the case with Hitchcock movies, the film is shot incredibly well. The biggest testament to this is the formerly mentioned shower scene, parodied and referenced in all sorts of media since - right down to even Looney Tunes Back In Action, that is far cry from the tone of the original (what else is, Looney Tunes Back In Action was made in 2003. The likelihood of the movie's intended audience having actually seen "Psycho" is.. very small). 

Now, if you know anything about history you're probably wondering "Why in the world was a film from 1960 filmed in black and white?" That is indeed an interesting detail - as the story goes Hitchcock himself felt that making "Psycho" a color movie would render it far too bloody and gory for a wide audience. That's a legitimate reason that I would have accepted - had the decision not been made by someone as sneaky as Alfred Hitchcock. What I mean by this is that Hitchcock had received training in German silent cinema in his younger days, studios well known for their impressive work with light and shadow. I refuse to believe that is coincidence then, that this movie sports a lot of absolutely beautiful lighting work. Shadows showing the duality of characters, or making the sets feel more dark and foreboding.

This poster awaited late customers hoping to
watch Psycho, unfortunately time has taken it's toll
and left this movie without it's biggest twist.

Not to forget about this movie is the films score. While many scenes are as silent as reality, the now iconic screeching theme just MAKES some of the scenes. It just works really well and it may have been an early sign of perfecting the technique of "the jump scare". Only difference being that this is used in scenes that would actually be scary even without the music, amplifying the fear and shock effect rather than triggering a common reflex to high noises as most modern pictures unfortunately tend to do. Don't believe me? Try watching modern horror movies and count how many times the supposed "fear" comes from a sudden high noise and change of imagery rather than being the result of a well-constructed atmosphere.

In the case of Psycho, one could argue that a piece of art is only great in it's completely intended form. With the advent of the internet, many films has lost it's twists (some even before they're officially released). People today will throw around spoilers left and right, assuming everyone has seen the film because of it's age and thus ruining some of the fun for later generations or merely potential viewers. While this is certainly a sad scenario (you try finding someone who doesn't know the truth about Luke Skywalkers parents) I have to admit that most of the enjoyment of Psycho actually comes from the film alone. Plot twist or not, this movie certainly stands on it's own even to this day, and what more can you wish for as proof of a films quality? I say make some popcorn, huddle up in your couch and watch a masterpiece that helped define a genre.

Series of Events: Another (2012)

In "Series of Events" we take a look at finished TV-shows.

Series: Another (アナザー Anazā)
Release: 2012, Television/Simulcast
Length: 12 episodes
Starring: Atsushi Abe, Natsumi Takamori
Directed by: Tsutomu Mizushima
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: The young Kouichi transfer to a new school and class in a small rural town. However, there is a mysterious girl in his new class who everybody seems to ignore deliberately, and his meddling soon opens the door to a mystery and a horrific curse that has haunted the Yomiyama Middle School for ages.

Hans' thoughts:

Based on a novel by the same name, Another proves once again the aptitude the Japanese have for horror. Setting the tone with a low retelling of the beginning of the curse, and some really creepy music, we're introduced to the tale "Mizaki", a person in the 9th grade class 3 who died 26 years prior to the story's beginning. This is just a very good example of things to come, the entirety of the series has the feeling of a really well-told ghost story and the music throughout manages to hold this level of creepiness.

This is also partially because of the series intro Kyomu Densei, while upbeat the use of rhythm changes sounding almost like several different songs blending together. This combined with creepy imagery of the abandoned school building, dolls and several accidents happening just serves to up the creepy even more. I have to say though I am not that big on the closing theme, while certainly pleasant to listen to I feel it is way too reminiscent of ending themes from other series, even those not of the same genre. It also feels really jarring to have this peaceful of an ending theme when an episode leaves off on a chilling cliffhanger.

Character-wise this show really threw me through a loop, when I first watched the series I thought I knew exactly how all the characters were going to be - only to be wrong on so many different occasions. Especially the secondary main character Mizaki would throw me through a hoop a couple of times. Unfortunately our male lead, the character of Kouichi, could've have been written a lot better. He seems way too easily manipulated by the events around him, I don't know whether this was intended to be a character fault of his but he comes off as way too interchangeable, however it's worth noting that by the half-way point of the series he really comes into his own and becomes an interesting protagonist - it's just the initial crawl you have to get over first. There is not much to say about the minor characters, they are all your common high school anime fare. You have the no-nonsense class president, the wisecracking male sidekick and the nervous girl.  The death scenes in this show are on the hand pretty well done, often times coming when least expected.

There is not much difference from other shows, art-wise

Another manages to be cartoon show that's actually scary, something I very much doubt could've been pulled off in western animation, in any case I've yet to see it happen. The withholding of information and the absolute oozing of atmosphere is just a testament to the fact that western writers are far too quick to reveal everything about the main villain, a big problem to me about the slasher genre as an example is that once we know what the deal with the killer is, it stops being a scary story and becomes just a series of imaginative death scenes. Another is a good old fashioned ghost story and really, sometimes that's all you really need to make something scary. The show also manages to not overstay it's welcome and instead only runs 12 episodes. Enough to be given enough time to tell a scary story and wrap things out without padding the story once we already know what is going on.

Another was shown on TV in Japan, but Simulcast throughout most of the west. Simulcast means that episodes of the show were made available for streaming online shortly after it aired on TV. The show was simulcast on the website Crunchyroll.com, where it's still available to watch for free should you be curious to check it out.

The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Film: The Devil's Advocate
Release: 1997, Theatrical
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron
Directed by: Taylor Hackford
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: Kevin Lomax is the most successful lawyer in his hometown in Florida, when he gets a job offer in a prestigious New York based law firm everything seems to be going his way, except for a boss that might have a very different agenda from what he first let on.

Hans' thoughts:

At first glance, this movie seems like it will be pretty predictable. Keanu Reeves plays a young ambitious up and comer lawyer that puts aside his morals to do whatever it takes to win his cases. He's then hired by a major law firm and given the opportunity of a lifetime in the city of New York. Very simple crime thriller-like storyline with a star-studded cast. However, the movie is actually pretty well executed as the young Mr. Lombax loses his ability to keep up with both personal and work related matters as the high pressure makes the world crash around him slowly. Around the half-way point, the movie suddenly changes. Strange things are starting to happen and our main characters mentor and boss seems to be very different than he first let on. That could have been a good enough movie on itself, and I certainly would've enjoyed the movie much more had it not been for the climax of the movie. A film that has till now seemed like a very by-the-book crime thriller suddenly turns into something VERY different. Had this been more clear earlier in the movie, I probably would've accepted it but this turn of events just feels so over the top and out of nowhere that I just couldn't suspend my disbelief any longer when it was time for the big reveal.

On the acting side, it is very hit and miss. While Al Pacino phones it in as Mr. Milton, Keanu Reeves tries his best to be taken seriously with a fake southern accents. Overall, the acting from the minor characters is a lot better but unfortunately not present for for most of the film as the main focus of the movie is conversations between Reeves and Pacino. Charlize Theron tries her best in the movie, but it is obvious she was cast for her looks and not her acting ability. The Devil's Advocate turned out to be a movie with a pretty decent setup that unfortunately just fell flat, what could have been a very good crime thriller about big business and career pressure went down a road where a combination of so-so effects (even by the standards of the era it was made) and poorly argued soapbox ranting that goes nowhere.

There is some very well-shot things in the movie, the look of the sets are pretty well thought out and the references to the city of Babylon fit the themes of the movie. But these are unfortunately not enough to make up for some frankly poorly written dialogue and lack of proper consequence for the characters of the movie. The message of the movie is also vague at best, mostly because of the aforementioned soapbox ranting.

After the Storm (2001)

Film: After the Storm
Release: 2001, Television
Starring: Armand Assante, Mili Avital, Benjamin Bratt
Directed by: Guy Ferland
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: When a luxury yacht goes down outside the coast of Binimi, the race is on for the treasures within

Hans' thoughts:

This movie is based on a short story by the award winning author, Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway was the creator of the so-called Iceberg style, a writing style in which you only get the visual representation. Like a floating camera in the room, you never get to see or hear a characters thoughts. This movie follows that type of narrative, unfortunately it just doesn't do it very well.

Let's start with the feel of the movie. The movie is very slow, making the audience put effort into not falling asleep. I'm thinking it was supposed to feel like a person would on a hot day, the story taking place in a tropic klima. This could have worked with a stronger cast. While Armand Assante did a very good job at portraying Jean Pierre, every other actor just sort of waddled through the movie. Benjamin Bratt for whatever reason choosing to channel Dirty Harry in his performance. None of the other actors do a much better job, as it felt like I was watching a school play. The actors having quickly rehearsed their lines before coming to stage.

As for the look of the movie, this is it's strong point. You get the sense of suspense from when the shark is around in the sunken ship. A dark place where everything is very cramped and claustrophobic. But that's really the only points I can give it.

Unless you really love this story beforehand, I recommend giving this movie a pass.

The Cable Guy (1996)

Film: The Cable Guy
Release: June 14, 1996
Starring: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann
Directed by: Ben Stiller
IMDB page: Link opens in a new window
Description: When the ordinary Steven has cable TV set up in his apartment, he befriends the cable guy, but he might be in for a little more than what he asked for.

Miki's thoughts:

Prepare to watch Jim Carrey in a role as extreme as in his other 90's movies, but ultimately a LOT creepier.

When the ordinary office worker Steven (played by Matthew Broderick) is getting cable TV set up, he enters a friendship that will change his life for better - or for worse. There is no inbetween. Jim Carrey shows his usual brilliance as a master of expressions, using his rubber face to play another whacky character, but something is definitely off here.

It quickly goes downhill for Steven, as what begins as a casual friendship with a well-meaning fun-loving advice-giving guy who just wants a new friend, dangerously turns his life around. In the cable guy's own words: "I can be your best friend... or your worst enemy". I will not tell you any more about the plot, as you should definitely check out this movie to experience Jim Carrey take his wild, comedic acting to a whole new level in The Cable Guy.

I have the feeling that when Matthew Broderick grew up from being known as the chaotic Ferris Bueller, his adult roles were mostly comprised of slightly boring everyman characters, like his character in Deck the Halls  opposite Danny Devito. Steven here is no exception, working an office job and generally being quite bland, but I guess it's the polarization with Jim Carrey's character that is the catalyst of the plot. Generally, his role is to react to the cable guy's actions as any 'normal' individual would.

Jack Black has a small, but to me interesting role, especially because he is one of the most sensible characters in the movie. He, as well as the audience, knows that something is terribly wrong.

Cable guy was directed by Ben Stiller, and he himself has a very clever cameo as not one, but two characters, and their subplot is sort of connected to what is happening between Steven and the cable guy.
All in all, it is difficult to describe this movie, so I would suggest that you watch it, and perhaps I will have a more in-depth review of it in a video sometime. But it is definitely worth watching. The 5.9 rating on IMDB is mainly due to people reacting badly to Carrey's much darker performance. It is dark, but hilarious.

Paranoia (2011)

Movie: Paranoia
Release: 2011, Video
Starring: Brad Jones, Brian Irving
Directed By: Ryan Mitchelle
IMDB page: link opens a new window
Description: The newly divorced Mark Bishop defends himself from what he believes is a robber - suddenly he is pulled into a mystery that he has no interest in being a part of.

Hans' thoughts:

This is a pretty by-the-book thriller. Not that it's unoriginal, but picture the genre "thriller" in your mind and this is somewhat close to what you'd probably come up with. Don't take that as a bad criticism, because while this IS very by-the-book it is also really well made. While the acting from our main actor is kinda wavy at first, it quickly picks up the pace as Brad Jones as "Mark Bishop" apparently settles into his character as the movie goes along and the movie quickly gets good. Unfortunately, at some points the sound can be a bit low, fortunately that's what volume buttons are for, so just turn up the sound when you feel you need to. Now it may seem that I'm bashing this movie, but it really is good and with a nice ending I won't give away here, give it a watch. I at least found it very worth it.