Deny Everything

Best of 2011 Part 2! The Top 5

by Joel on 26 januari, 2012

Time for the infamous top five. I got to say I’m a little bit surprised not seeing more controversy among the comments on part 1. Check it out here, it also contains info on which films I haven’t seen and my main criterias on which films I have chosen from.

In the last post I didn’t go into that much detail on my ranking of the films I thought I’d go through it swiftly here because its quite simple. After deciding on the bunch of films that is the core group f this list I simply ranked them against each other until I came up with the order of the list in these two posts. Also my main feeling that I went with was how entertained I was by the film since thats my main reason for going to the cinema.

5. Drive

Being a huge fan of both Gosling (thanks to Blue Valentine) and the director Nicolas Winding Refn (mainly for the Pusher films) this was of course a must see for me. It certainly lived up to most of the hype having a ton of great acting performances but also really memorable scenes. The only thing that ruined it a little for me was the ending I did wish he had been a little more conventional with it. For people that liked Drive I recommend that you check out the Stuntman. Its obvious that Drive was inspired by it and its a solid film that is a forgotten gem in many ways.

4. Play

Ruben Östlund is one of Swedens most critically acclaimed younger directors. Play is his third feature and it might be his best so far. The plot is simple its about a gang of teenage boys robbing other teenage boys of their wallets and cell phones. However, they do it by approaching them friendly and luring them into a trap where the victims more or less hand over their valuables willingly in the end. Ruben has his own cinematic style that is based on really long uninterrupted takes but it never gets boring or uninteresting and his amateur actors always excel in amazing naturalistic performances. I can’t find who is in charge of international sales but I’m quite sure it will get some international distribution after being screened in Toronto and Venice.

3. Fast Five

If I had anticipated 2011 films beforehand this would have been one of my biggest surprises. I’ve always been a fan of the first film but for some reason I hadn’t seen any of the sequels until this one and wow was I blown away. It probably has some of the most over the top action scenes since 70′s James Bond films. Hell the final car chase was alone worth the admission fee. Just see it if you haven’t yet!!!

2. Real Steel

This was another film I wasn’t really expecting to be this good. At first I wasn’t that interested in seeing it but after reading a review that hinted that it might be a Joel Burman film and hell yeah it was! Sure its completely done through the Rocky under dog formula but I got to say its one of the best in that sub genre. The main thing I really liked was how it brought me back to my childhood of seeing all the cheesy 80′s classics. I had huge problem with the alibi sub-plot of Hugh Jackmans girlfriend. Other than that this is pretty much as good as it gets entertainment wise.

1. Gränsen aka Beyond the Border

So time for the big one, the one I’d really recommend that you see because I’m fairly sure you haven’t if you don’t live in Sweden (unfortunately not that many Swedes have seen it either).

Gränsen is about a group of Swedish soldiers who are guarding the Swedish side of the Norwegian border during World War II. One night a couple of the soldiers are involved in a gunfight with the Nazis and they flee into Norway. From that point on its a nonstop-action/chase film a la First Blood. Script wise its a great evidence of how good it can be when simplifying rather than overdoing which unfortunately is something that we are good at in Sweden. More or less all elements are really good but I’d especially like to highlight the acting, the action sequences and the set design and whats even more incredible is that it was financed outside the tax funded Swedish financing system which more or less deducts 1,5 million dollars from the budget to begin with. NonStop Sales is handling world sales and I know that for instance UK has bought the DVD rights for it.

Beyond The Border – Trailer from NonStop Sales on Vimeo.

Thats it for my take on the cinematic season of 2011. Please let me know in the comments what you think and if you for some reason are interested in an audio version of my list feel free to check out this filmyarn podcast where I talk about it.

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Best of 2011 Part 1! Films 6-11

by Joel on 26 januari, 2012

I’m not a list guy, hey I don’t even grade the films in the posts in here that can be mistaken for reviews. Still I decided to scramble together my own top ten of the year mostly because I’m a fierce advocate of blockbusters and commercial films and I’d thought it would be a good diversion from all the other lists containing the same 25-30 films.

I have gone by the imdb release date for a film which for instance makes Senna illegible. I’m also including Swedish films on the list. The format of ranking eleven films come mainly from the fact that I started this post before seeing a film that would later land on it. I also find it appropriate to have eleven films on a Best of 2011 list.

Here are the ones I haven’t had the chance to see yet so if you come here to rant about the Artist or Beginners save your keyboards for other blogs and yes I know its a bunch of them and a list loses credibility when not having seen such and such film etc, bla bla…

Beginners, The Artist, Young Adult (want to see it real bad), Midnight in Paris, Attack the Block, The Muppets, The Skin I live In, Take Shelter, Incendies, 50/50, Melancholia, Super 8, Shame, We need to talk about Kevin

Honorable Mention – Tree of Life

I got to say that I feel caught in the middle of the Tree of Life ranters and ravers. Sure it looks good, but it also drags a whole lot but I’ve seen a lot worse than this at the cinema 2011. However, had I not been fore warned by seeing Thin Red Line at the cinema (the closest I’ve ever been of a leaving a film mid through) I’d probably had been a lot more disappointed. Just wanted to throw it out there.

11. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The original Planet of the Apes franchise (5 features between 1968-1973) is probably my favorite franchise but after the total Tim Burton fiasco remake I didn’t expect very much from this one. I got to say it was a positive surprise holding up better than I could wish for. My favorite part was not the big action finale but the tense build-up that was the first half of it where some scenes even dipped its toes in the darkness of the Conquest of the Planet of the Apes which its a re-hash of.

10. Captain America

Time for another surprise, I was a huge Spidey and X-men fan boy growing up but never really got into the whole Avengers thing (beside following them in Secret Wars). As with the Apes rehash I was pleasantly surprised by it. I really liked the aspect when they turned the Captain into a rallying propaganda machine instead of having him fight in the battles.

9. Gone aka Försvunnen

This was a film I didn’t know of until a week before its theatrical release and its also the first Swedish film on the list. Försvunnen is clearly inspired by Steven Spielberg’s the Duel and in this case thats a great compliment not all comparisons between modern films and classic 70′s are. The story is very simplistic, its about a women relocating to the north of Sweden who is being followed when she is on the road. Its being sold internationally by sales agent Yellow Affair.

8. Soul Surfer

OK, here we go, if more people had actually seen this film I’d be afraid of a sh*t storm of comments. However, knowing the blogging crowd I’m certain people will let me know what they think about it without having seen it. To me its one of the most underrated films of last year.

7. Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids is the reason this list consists of eleven entries. To me the highlights of the film was the comedic acts (the airplane sequence!!!!!!) rather than the notion that this is supposed to be a ground breaking film for women. I don’t agree on that since most of the main cast in the Bridesmaid group still play very stereotypical characters but very funny ones. Definitively check it out possibly the funniest film of 2011.

6. Whats your number

I know 95% of you guys think I’m joking about this one but I got to say I was really entertained by it. Sure it was a tad predictable but so what????? Not all stereotypical rom-coms suck (I’d bet you hate this one Castor)!!!! One last thing I’d like to bring up is that I really like how the Anna Faris character feels genderless in the fact that she gets to behave like most slutty (sloppy) guys do in rom-coms and she isn’t really judged by it in the end. To be honest I felt this one probably was more revolutionary than Bridesmaids. Hows that for a final conclusion!

I’ve decided to split this list into two parts because the length it took me to even come this far! Let me know what you think so far if you are calm enough to be able to scribble some thoughts down. Also if you have guesses on the top five that I’ll hopefully publish tomorrow let me know!

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2012 Perspective

by Joel on 10 januari, 2012

2012 has so far been been a time of reflection and some new opportunities that hopefully will reveal themselves as the year unfold.

With that in mind and the fact that I’m struggling with a longer post I thought I’d share this fascinating clip that I found in my twitter feed with the following caption…

Varning: Följande film kan utlösa existentiell kris. http://t.co/XJcXHJZM! (Animerad infographic över universum)

10 January, 2012 09:22 via TweetDeck ReplyRetweetFavorite

@Flowervalley

Anna Blomdahl

I imagine that the caption translates for non Swedes so I won’t bother translating it especially since I think Flowervalley is being overly dramatic about it being a possible source for existential crisis.

I must say that its quite captivating and it sure set some things in perspective in all its Tree of Lifeness/larger than life aspects.

I’ll do a more proper 2012 new years resolution post later that will be more about my expectations of the new year.

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My most anticipated 2012 release…

by Joel on 3 januari, 2012

The last couple of days I have been involved/browsed through discussions on most anticipated film of 2012. So I finally browsed through the theatrical release schedule on IMDB to see what I look forward to the most.

First of all I’m a big comic book geek but I’m huge Batman/Avengers fan. My fiance will drag me to at least one them but unfortunately we don’t have a IMAX screen in Stockholm so there goes that reason for seeing Dark Knight rises in the theaters.

My honest answer to most anticipated release without checking the release list is the Muppets. It premieres in Sweden in february (and people wonder why illegal downloads are huge here???). I’ll definitively see it and I’m quite sure I’m gonna love it.

When it comes to the ”real” 2012 releases I don’t see that many films that really captures my interest except one that immediately caught my eye. Here’s the trailer, note there is a spoiling comment on the clip if you access it through YouTube.

There are several reasons why this heartwarming tale melts the frozen scandinavian heart of mine.

Drew Barrymore – Drew is one of my favorite actresses even though I haven’t given her that much credit in the blogosphere (note to self). If I get to go on a tangent I admire her from a producing standpoint in the fact that she has established herself as a real producer not only as a famous name exec.
Nostalgia – I grew up being a fan of whales and I remember when this story hit the TV-stations during a Christmas break. It became a news serial for a couple of days that I followed closely. I even included it in a yearly chronicle I had to compile for school.
The Conflict – As some of you may have understood from posts in here and in different podcasts I prefer simplistic and commercial stories when they are well made and this look pretty much like its exactly that. 2010s version of a film with similar qualities was the Soul Surfer which I really liked.
The Trailer – I GET GOOSE BUMPS FROM 1:44 AND ONWARD. There is no surprise that some of the comments on the trailer are about people crying to it.

Before you guys bring in your chainsaws in the commentary field, I’m fully aware of this not being a future Silence of the Lambs or Shawshank Redemption but I still appreciate a good and well told story when I see it and as of now this looks pretty promising.

My only issues would be the cold war scenario and the fact that Kristen Bell feel shoe horned in the trailer. I’ll bet five bucks that her sub-plot is the Prendergast vs Wifey (Falling Down reference) of this film. Getting back to the cold war scenario it feels a little old and contrived. Even if these events happened I think they have played out their role and should have been left out.

So whats your thoughts on Big Miracle? You think I’ve slipped on my ass and cracked my skull open or does it have a nice feel good potential?

I’ll look into the Swedish releases and hopefully give you a pick from that line-up as well.

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MAMO – 10 Podcasts in 10 Days

by Joel on 2 januari, 2012

I’m sad to say I’ve finally reached the the end of this podcast round-up. I wish I’ve could have included a couple more but I’ll try doing this feature again next year with 10 different podcasts. As you might get I don’t listen very much to music.

The Mamo cast is by far the show I listened to the least episodes of and I haven’t been able to retrieve that much info on it. So this plug will be more content driven. As I have understood it Mamo is part of the Row 3 site somehow and I think both hosts are named Matt.

They have a really relaxed atmosphere in the shows due to often recording at resturants, pubs, festival screenings (TIFF). It really gives it a casual feeling that more podcasters should try for.

The format is also not very strict. Its more like a regular conversation often about one or several theatrical reviews with some with other random topics thrown into the mix. I really love that they often connect to the boxoffice side of things often analyzing how films will do or are doing compared to estimates.

Unfortunately I can’t embed any shows in here but here is a link to their iTunes account and here is what I think is the podcast archive on Row 3.

So check out for the Mamo episodes I can especially recommend their episode on Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

Enjoy!!!

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MILFcast – 10 Podcast in 10 Days

by Joel on 2 januari, 2012

The MILFcast (Man I Love Films) is the movie podcast where they don’t do film reviews! No they don’t!

Time for another podcast plug this time its one thats slightly more humor oriented and chaotic (in a nice way). Its hosted by Kai and Heather and the show has a very fixed formula including segments like Heather explains her facebook update and the main discussion which is chosen by the guest on the episode and its never a theatrical film review which is refreshing.

Another thing they like on the MILFcast is playing games. First up is a silly game called Kai is always right which is more or less what it sounds like. =) The other one is called The Game and consists of three rounds of identifying films from taglines, actors, directors etc. As the Demented Tower The Game has its own season finale.

The thing that make the MILFcast pop out is that it can be kind of crazy and loud sometimes, especially depending on who is guesting. To be honest this was another podcast where it took me a couple of episodes getting into it. The basic bantering formula among the hosts is that Kai is the know it all and Heather’s the loose cannon and free spirited tinker.

So now over to the embeds, as the case with one of the filmyarn episodes I recommended bad technical quality (Ep. 24) doesn’t automatically make it a crappy show.

Episode 24 would probably make a top 5 list of all time favorite podcast episodes thats how good and out of control it is!

I’ve also included the first Milfies episode that was released a couple a weeks ago and it actually totally deviates from the usual format but its still pretty good!

Here is the iTunes link for the Milfcast and here is their podomatic profile!

Enjoy!!!

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Happy New Year!!!

by Joel on 31 december, 2011

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The Demented Podcast – 10 Podcasts in 10 Days

by Joel on 31 december, 2011

Time for another Podcast. I just want to take the chance and say that the order of these podcasts are not ranking from best to least best etc. The five first podcasts were first because I find them all to be great starting points for newbie podcast listeners. Today I’ll highlight the podcast that has the best film triva game on their show, The Demented Podcast.

The Demented Podcast is hosted by Nick Jobe (founder) and Steve Honeywell. The current format has consisted of them two discussing two subgenre films with a guest. Example of subgenres that has been talked about on this season are time travel and neo westerns. Its always a great discussion often centering around films that aren’t that known so it can be helpful to track them down if you want to see them unspoiled.

However, the reason why the Demented Podcast make this round-up is because of Nicks genius Demented Tower challenge which is a film trivia game consisting of four different rounds of challenges.

Topics – Identify 5 different movies from a common topic
20 Questions – Identify a Director, Character, Actor or Film through asking 20 yes or no questions only.
Patterns – Find the common denominator between five films
Show and tell – Identify from which film a scene is through a vague description.

I have embedded three of the latest shows for you as suggested listening to understand the Demented Tower because to be honest it took me a couple of listenings to understand the brilliance of it.

Here you can find their iTunes link and here is their podomatic account.

Enjoy!

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Film Yarn – 10 Podcasts in 10 Days

by Joel on 30 december, 2011

Today I’m plugging a podcast that I’m fairly new to. Scott on Frankly My Dear plugged it on their show and I’m not kidding when I say that I found the best individual podcast episode I’ve ever listened to on it.

The podcast is Film Yarn. There are several contributers on it but I’m mostly familiar with Fredo and Frank (Frank is unfortunately now retired but still does random occurances) who I believe founded Film Yarn. Beside the more regular discussion about one film episodes they have their own unique (at least to my knowledge) mini podcast, the chronicles.

The chronicles is basically a mini review/review that is recorded just before and after seeing a film its a great contradiction in all its spur of the momentiness. Its a great episode format that you need to check out. Its always so interesting to hear if a film holds up to hype or not and in this case I think its really an honest opinion since its recorded so directly upon the screening.

I don’t have that much other to say than Fredo & Co has a great bantering chemistry and I do like that there is a whole lot disagreement from time to time. Over to the recommended episodes. Unfortunately Film Yarn isn’t on podomatic so I’ll just have your word that you’ll visit their site and listen to the shows I’ll write about now.

Episode 102 – Fredo and I discuss the US version of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, we somehow got a hangup comparing it to the original and the books and I also get to show off some exclusive trivia on the franchise that might be even be news worthy.

Episode 71 – In this awesome chronicles episode Frank goes to see X-men First Class with a bunch of his friends squeezed into a mini van. By the way this was the life changing episode I talked about earlier. Its insanely good in so many ways that it almost feel like an audio play. I won’t go into any spoilers but its such a great show and you really should check it out.

Episode 45 – This is also a brutally good episode about the interesting doc Catfish. Again I won’t spoil it but its really worth checking out in all its meta craziness!

I could probably list five more episodes or so because they have such a vast vault for being such young podcast (18 months old) and to be honest everything is covered inthere, from bombs like Sucker Punch to modern classics like Blade Runner and Fast Five.

For info on how to subscribe to Film Yarn check out this tumblr page that also has the entire archive of podcasts on it.

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Frankly My Dear – 10 Podcasts in 10 Days

by Joel on 29 december, 2011

Time again for a podcast, this time we go to Utah for the mormon cast! Just kidding its the Frankly’s.

Frankly My Dear is co-hosted by IRL married couple Scott and Whitney. They have a more flexible format than most pods in this round-up series. For the most part they do a theatrical review or something called ”you choose” which is exactly what it sounds like.

When Scott and Whitney receive receive listener feedback the first mailer/commenter in get to choose a film that that they’ll review on these episodes. Its truly a great format for discovering new and unknown titles. I have a bunch of them scribbled down on grocery store receipts and other weird stuff after listening in. So these are really worth checking out if you want to broaden your film horizon.

When it comes to their other main features you have a lot to explore since as I said in the beginning they don’t really have an episode template they go by.

Scott and Whitney are also really funny to listen to since they are super familiar with each other (duh?), they are easily one of the best co-hosting duos in their best shows. Also they have really awesome in- and outtro music!!!

Now over to the embeds! Unfortunately my favorite episode (Buffy Vampire Slayer special) is not available on Podomatic. So I’ll go with one you choose episode and one theatrical review episode instead.

SORRY FOR THE CLUNKY EMBEDS BUT I’D RATHER HAVE THEM THAN LINKING TO THE INDIVIDUAL EPISODES!

Here is their iTunes feed and here is their podomatic profile

Do you have a film that you want Scott and Whitney to review? Let them know by e-mail or commenting on one of their shows at their podomatic account!

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