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StockholmJacob
Reviews
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
An improvement...
Entering the cinema my expectations for Episode II were extremely low, as opposed to three years earlier with 'The Phantom Menace'. Perhaps this is the reason I enjoyed this movie so much more, but then again, perhaps not...
'Attack of the Clones' has a lot more of the genuine Star Wars "feel" to it. Although Hayden Christensen's performance as an actor isn't too impressing, it's still interesting to see his character start growing into what one day will become Darth Vader. The love story is intriguing but unfortunately ruined by poor acting and dialogue... George Lucas could use some kind of help with this kind writing/directing as it certainly isn't his field of expertise.
Natalie Portman is gorgeous but surprisingly dull in her performance, I'm thinking this isn't her own fault, but the director's, Evan McGregor is solid but the dialect gets annoying, Samuel L does his job, as does whoever is playing Yoda.
Despite it's few flaws, the poor acting mentioned and in my opinion excessive usage of digital fx and animation, this film is very watchable for anyone who liked the old Star Wars trilogy, I tried to think of the STORY and imagine it being acted a lot better, basically this movie is essential to Star Wars freaks, not because it is an excellent movie in itself (not too bad either!) but because you want to know what happened before the first trilogy. Can't wait to see the third and final episode and find out how Lucas managed to tie it all together!
Vingar av glas (2000)
Worthy of your time
'Vingar av glas' is one of the most recent Swedish movies describing the life of the 'new Swedes' and their situation in society.
This movie is about a girl called Nazli, exquisitely performed by actress Sara Sommerfeld. Nazli's dad is a rather conservative muslim who wants Nazli to marry the son of the father's friend. Nazli however has no interest of getting married, she wants to live like a normal Swedish teenager, which means going out a lot, partying, etc.
This is the 'plot' of the movie, even though things get more intense when Nazli hooks up with Johan (played by Alexander Skarsgård, son of Stellan Skarsgård). Johan hasn't got a job, is in financial trouble and is something of a small 'thug'. Naturally, Nazli's dad does not approve of the young couple and a series of family conflicts begin.
If you've seen a few Swedish movies on this topic before, there isn't really anything new for you to find here, the story is rather basic, which doesn't mean it isn't interesting at all, and the performance of the two main characters make this movie well worth seeing in my opinion.
Jalla! Jalla! (2000)
Uplifting witty comedy
'Jalla jalla!' is an excellent Swedish film about Roros, a muslim immigrant who falls in love with Lisa (played by the lovely Tuva Novotny). This is a common theme in Swedish movies but for the first time it's put out in a funny (!) yet warm way, as opposed to all the racism drama movies.
This was the debut film from director Josef Fares and I look forward to seeing his future movies.