Doctor Strange (2016) Film Review

Dr Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is an amazing surgeon until he has an accident and his hands are left injured and shaky. No longer able to work, he sees little point in life until he hears of a man he operated on who recovered from paralysis and he pursues this path, discovering a mystical world filled with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mads Mikkelsen and Tilda Swinton – and I mean, what more could you really want? Magic? Sure, have some of that too.

I wish I had seen this in the cinema- the visuals are amazing. I found the movements that the magic people have to make a bit… geeky, really. Which was odd given how cool the magic itself was. I’m quite pleased that this guy is now in the Marvel Universe – I look forward to what next.

Doctor Strange was nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Clash of the Titans (2010) Film Review

People have rejected the gods, burning the temples and the like. Zeus (Liam Neeson) and Hades (Ralph Fiennes) want to do some stuff about it. Then there is Perseus (Sam Worthington), who does not realise he is a demi-god, being the son of Zeus with a human woman. They need to beat the Kraken, but to do so, much chop the head off Medusa.

Oh, it is so much fun. I saw Wrath of the Titans and was less than impressed, but because it me and I like to feel I have completed things, I decided to watch this, the prequel. It’s a lot better – better story, better performances, just better. Though I have recently had my attention drawn to Clash of the Titans from the early eighties, and I am going to need to track that one down. Apparently it is magnificent.

 

 

The Hunt (Jagten)(2012) Film Review

This Danish film finds teacher, Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), estranged from his wife, trying for greater custody with his teenage son, Marcus (Lasse Fogelstrom) and whose school has closed, working in a kindergarten. His best friend Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen) has a daughter, Klara (Annika Wedderkopp) in the class, and as her parents are fighting a lot, she latches on to the innocent attention that Lucas gives her. However, after he feels she is getting too attached, she feels slighted and makes a comment to the woman who runs the kindergarten, Agnes (Anne Louise Hassing) that suggests Lucas has been sexually inappropriate. Things are handled in a manner that quickly turns almost everyone against Lucas in a most distressing fashion.

I knew this would be a difficult film. It is certainly sadtacular; the whole time, I was wondering that, if I knew a child who had made the type of comment Klara did, would I immediately suspect something? What if it was someone I knew well? Often, you hear of people who suddenly turn out to be a total creep; and the innocence of children is just so important. What do you do? Annika Wedderkopp is gorgeous with her innocence and realisation that she may have made a huge error, and Mads Mikkelsen is able to convey a massive amount of emotion in his stillness.

The Hunt was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year.