Reviews

Amazing and amusing, well worth watching. Still wondering why they keep all these museum items in the air. There are many much better and more fuel effective turbo props and even jets on the market to reasonable prices. A little modernization would not hurt even when it comes to personnel management. Management by fear will hold Buffalo back just as much as outdated planes.

The movie is about a young man, 15 yo Olof, leaving his home and starting a life on his own. An Australian friend said: "This is Art House". I don´t agree. This movie captures ordinary people in the early 1900-hundreds, struggling to survive in a harsh environment and dreaming dreams ordinary, poor people dreamt, and still dream. The dream of a better future. That is, in a way, as mainstream as It could be. Another thing is that Olof´s saga is told with an outstanding level of cinematography. Jan Troell masters his tools extraordinarily, telling the story with extreme close-ups, astonishing panoramas, over-exposures, beautiful colors and grainy black&White footage. The sense of pictures and details characterizes Jan Troell´s work. It´s no wonder this amazing movie led him to the assignment of directing "The Emigrants" and "The New Land". Those movies made him internationally famous. Watch this, and you will see why.

"Defending Jacob", from Apple TV, is a mini-series I have seen with great pleasure. In eight episodes, we get to follow a small family: A father, A mother and their teen son, Jacob, through a grueling crime drama. The story begins broadly, then focuses more and more on the small family, it´s shortcomings, it´s loneliness and it´s increasing vulnerability, as justice gradually comes closer. The intrigue is sophisticated. Unlike other series in the same genre, it is exciting, throughout the last episode. Of course, Michelle Dockery, who played Lady Mary in Downton Abbey, is perfect as Jacob's mother. But the question is whether Chris Evans, in the lead role as the father, is even more impressive. Here is an actor, obviously talented far beyond the parts he had in "Captain America", "Avengers" or, for that matter, "Knives out". In "Defending Jacob" Evans shows real emotion. I truly want to see him continue to develop his talents, and the register of emotions he shows here. In this series, as a character, he carries not only the burden of a father in a family in crises, but also the heavy burden of the lead role. He does both beautifully.

This is a rather slow, but important story about the big issues in life, all against the backdrop of scenic, rural landscapes; photo is truly amazing. Ben (Joshua Jackson) is a young teacher with an upcoming wedding. His girlfriend, and wife to be, hates motorcycles; they are too dangerous. In the opening scene, Ben is told by his doctor he has incurable cancer. What is there to do? Shall he cancel the wedding? Should he quit his job? Is there a future? The first thing he does, is to buy motorcycle. Then he sets out on a journey westwards, without timetable or defined destination. It turns out to be an inner journey, in open air and without proper protection, except for the helmet. It also makes one of the best road movies I have ever seen. Ben asks himself: What should a man experience, if there's only one day, one week, or perhaps a year left of life? The film felt too long after 30 minutes. After 60 minutes I wanted it to never end, just like Ben's journey into the unknown west.

I saw this movie at the Swedish Premiere, during the Stockholm Film Festival in November 2018. Director Brady Corbert introduced his work, prior to the viewing. More memorable than the movie itself was the discussion with audience and director afterwards. Brady Corbert is a young, talented man with a sombre approach to the world, to people and to humanity. He is also, on top of that, rather self-important. During the Question Time, he received courteous but constructive criticism. An answer I will remember is this: "If there's any shortage in my movie at all, it might be that it can be seen as in some parts slightly entertaining." That statement says a lot about the director's view of life, people, art and the audience, paying to be entertained. Sorry Brady, but this is just not good enough, in fact it's not even worth the price of a Cinema ticket.

The director and scriptwriter Maria Blom, who directed the Swedish master piece "Masjävlar" here made an unbelievable mistake. The characters are so exaggerated that hardly no one can recognize them, whether it is the subclass Blom wants to portray or the wider, upper middle class she obviously seeks to charm. A fine character actress, like Gunilla Nyroos, suddenly turns into a Puppet on a String under Bloms direction. That is misuse of this most talented actress. Responsible for this is Blom, who has earlier proved she can do much better than this.