Scud at the Movies : Part V

These are the movies I watched over the weekend:

The Best:

After The Wedding. This is a surprisingly wonderful film about Jacob Petersen (Mads Mikkelsen of Casine Royale) who runs an orphanage in India. To get additional funding, he flies to Denmark to meet with the financier but unknown to him this won't be just an ordinary business trip. In a span of a few days he would meet his past that he never knew existed and is confronted with the dilemma - choose his past or his present life in India. This is a touching, understated, and uplifting Danish film about familial love and commitment.

Breathless. Jean-Luc Goddard's breakout film is about a thief (Michel) who exudes coolness even though he's wanted by the police and an American girl (Patricia) who becomes romantically involvd with the thief. There is a wonderful 25-min scene, which apparently is the most widely known from the film, set in Patricia's hotel room where Michel flirts and Patricia resists. The scene has great dialogue and superbly shot in an obviously cramp room. I highly recommend this movie although this is not your typical thriller that we see these days.

Mamma Mia! - An enjoyable musical about a soon-to-be-bride's search for her father in a Greek island featuring ABBA songs. Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stelan Skarsgaard star.

The Mediocre:

You Don't Mess with the Zohan. A sometimes funny movie about an admired Israeli counter-terrorist, played by Adam Sandler, who fakes his death to escape to New york and become a haistylist. This is just an OK movie that's not worth watching on the big screen. Buy the dvd instead or borrow a dvd froma friend or an officemate just like I did.

The Worst:

Tarnation. The dvd back cover says that this documentary was in the Top 10 Films of 2004 including The New York Times. I'm confused. The first hour of the film is a mish-mash of (home) videos and photos of the director (Jonathan Caouette) growing up in Texas. I thought the documentary was a tribute to his mother. It was not. When Jon leaves for New York does the film become interesting & heartbreaking. We see how deranged and delusional his mother is. We see an ironically sad but hilarious reunion with his father who he has never met. These scenes were shown in the film's last 30mins. Too bad the first hour was not even half as good.