conny-noren Reviews

The Last of Us: Long, Long Time (2023) Season 1, Episode 3

Amazing depection of love and life

[10/10 · 16 February 2023]

This episode captures so very much of what I've felt lacking in the numerous movies and series about post apocalyptic life. The longevity, the deeper connection between humans on a regular day-to-day level.

Nick Offerman is simply outstanding in this role. From the first time we see him until the last, he portrays Bill so very well. The Bill and Frank dynamic is perfect, and the episode does a great service to both the show in general and the genre of "after the world ended" as a whole.

There are a few episodes in shows that you just don't forget, that keep on living with you. This is one of them. It's gonna stay with me. For a long, long time.

Station Eleven (2021–2022)

Another post-pandemic world is possible

[7/10 · 30 December 2021]

Time and time again I have sat through series and films about the end of the world. In fact, it's one of my favorite genres. Station Eleven offers something different from every other production I've seen before.

The storyline is skillfully crafted, we see moments of great intensity and deep vulnerability. The acting leaves little to be desired, and the overall quality is very, very high.

Station Eleven is not a show about the end of the world. Yes, that element is indeed constantly present, but it takes a much different course from other that explore that theme. We follow life in a different fashion. Subjects are not zombies or murderous bands of gun toting macho men.

A breath of fresh air is what I would call it, after completing five episodes. We see a world "after the incident" that centers around art and explores different sides of what it's like to be human. Alongside the dangers and gritty aspects of a civilisation that exists only as tiny remnants of what once was, like crumbs on a dinner table after the worlds greatest feast.

Stowaway (I) (2021)

Absolutely worth the time if you appreciate what's great about the movie

[7/10 · 8 June 2021]

There are enough reviews covering flaws and percieved negative aspects. I won't be covering that. Instead, I'd like to focus on why I choose to give the film a 7/10, a score that's quite a bit higher than the average.

In every piece of creative work, you point your attention and focus towards the things that are positive. Try hard enough and you spoil the positive by focusing solely on the negative. And maybe it works the other way around. At least for me, there are quite enough positive things about Stowaway to make it well worth the time to watch the movie.

Firstly, the premise itself. There are things we know, and things that are left to our imagination. We are given enough information about where the crew are going and what the mission is. We also learn a bit about the background of each crew member. There are enough small gaps in the information for us to fill in, and we are left wondering about some things. That's one thing I enjoy, not being washed over with all the information available. I enjoy have a sensation of things, instead of being everything handed to me. Thus, I wonder about the backstories, certain crucial aspects of "how" and "why" behind the story. We get the view only of the crew, we don't take part in all the communications with the ground. It's very focused on what the crew go through, in all aspects. Some important things are never explained, and I kind of like it that way.

Second, the technical stuff. It's no space opera. This is a story that could just as well be told on a boat, submarine, in a mine shaft or any other unhospitable environment. But the space tech (albeit not 100% factually accurate as I've read) is very enjoyable. It's not overly sensationalized or flashy. It's tech, as tech tends to look. Relatable. During the opening sequence, I could get the same sensation as what I imagine the crew had. It's very well done.

Third, the acting. I really enjoyed the performances from all four actors. They brought their own nuances and interpretations to the movie, and I liked all of it. I found the actors to be well in tuned to their characters choices and take on things.

It's a story about insanely difficult choices, about sacrifices and humanity. A story that takes place in a very interesting setting. We are left guessing about some things, and maybe that's not for everyone. Yes, there are a few things I would have changed if I could, but not many. I can see the movie taking many different turns if you had thrown in additional plot points, but I'm actually happy with the final product.

Get the Gringo (2012)

A good piece of entertainment with Mel Gibson at his best

[7/10 · 14 July 2012]

Mel Gibson has had a bit of controversy in his career, and went off the radar for a few years. Between 2003-2004 and 2010, he didn't make too much noise. In 2010 he return to cinema with "Edge of Darkness", and in 2011 starred in "The Beaver". Now he's back with the 2012 release "Get the Gringo". Hit or miss?

First off, this is Mel Gibson. A hardened Hollywood veteran who have given us many a great moment on the big screen. With "Get the Gringo" we not only get Gibson in a starring role, he also is credited with the screenplay, along with Adrian Grunberg and Stacy Perskie, none of whom are new to the world of cinema. Adrian Grunberg also directs this movie, and does a good job at it as well.

The story is that Gibson, a career criminal, gets into a bit of a pickle. He finds himself thrown into a Mexican prison, left to fend for himself. Not only does he need to keep himself alive on the inside the prison walls, he also needs to protect himself from forces on the outside. He makes friends with a rather odd sidekick, a ten year old boy who has a few tricks up his sleeve.

This is not your run-of-the-mill action movie. The dirtiness, sweat, grime, filth and corruption is vividly shown. The environments are very believable (at least to one who have never spent any time in a Mexican prison) and the daily life inside the walls of this particular Tijuana establishment is shown for what is is - a harsh living for both inmates and their families. Still, they portray it with a healthy dose of joie de vivre.

You won't find any perfectly made up Hollywood starlets in "Get the Gringo". You will however find a Mel Gibson in the same prime as when he played Martin Riggs in the "Leathal Weapon"-movies. His character (whos name we never truly learn) has the same type mischievous attitude and street smart - a style well becoming of Mel Gibson. Co-stars Kevin Hernandez (the boy) and Dolores Heredia (the mother) do a good job at wining the sympathy of the audience. Peter Stormare also has a role in the movie, playing less of a "whacky" role than we are used to.

Aside from good acting, you'll find this is a movie with a few quite gruesome scenes. It's not a movie to be watched with your ten year old child, it's rated "R" in the USA and minimum ages 14-18 in many countries - and rightfully so. Thrown into the mixed bag of laughter and general action are scenes of torture and very graphic violence.

The great selling points of "Get the Gringo" are, as I see it, two things. One is a Mel Gibson in great shape. He delivers a good performance and shows us that he still has what it takes. The other is the general feel of the movie. The camera work, the way we get to experience the prison and the persons in it. All in all, an hour and a half of good entertainment.

Rating - 7/10

The Thing (I) (2011)

At best an average horror movie to newcomers, to veterans - at best a disappointment

[5/10 · 12 July 2012]

What happened at the Norwegian research facility? This question from John Carpenters 1982 sci-fi horror classic "The Thing" has echoed for years. A research facility left in complete chaos, dead bodies strewn across the area. Gruesome death - but why, and how exactly? Someone, somewhere got the idea to produce a prequel to the movie from 1982, and this prequel was finally released in the year 2011, almost thirty years after the original.

The new movie is also called "The Thing", which may bring some confusion to the viewers who may see it as more of a remake. In any case, the movie picks up some time before the original. We witness how scientist Kate Lloyd, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, is recruited by a Dr. Sander Halvordson, played by Ulrich Thomsen. She is asked to join on an expedition to Antarctica, and being the curious creature she is, naturally agrees.

At the station, she joins a team of Norwegians and three Americans. The Norwegians unfortunately get rather little character development aside from Dr. Sander (who is not Norwegian, but actually Danish). Of the Americans, we get some time with the two helicopter pilots Sam Carter, played by Joel Edgerton, and Derek Jameson, played by Adewale Akinnuoye- Agbaje.

The events we know are coming unfold early in the movie. No time is wasted on building the characters or any particular suspense, all hell breaks loose and the paranoia is unleashed. Or rather, the CGI monsters are unleashed. The action is very in-your- face, and the gaps in between fending of horrific monsters give little tension to the viewer. The exception to the rule is once scene where paranoia begins to set in.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead does a decent job at taking the lead in the movie. She does not become the invincible heroine but rather does what she must do, by necessity rather than choice. Co-star Joel Edgerton delivers a rather flat performance, he represents something of the American good guy, come to save the day. The end scene ties it up very nicely with the original, but that may be one of the few high points in this modern day production.

It's hard to know if the screen writer Eric Heisserer, director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. or the producers are to blame - but someone has along the way been given a golden opportunity. Whereas the Carpenter original was a more direct adaptation of the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W Campbell, the 2011 movie had free reins. They could have given us a chilling, haunting, psychological thriller with great suspense, instead we are led into a movie that more resembles a splatter movie than the classic original. This movie is at best an average horror movie by itself, but seen as a prequel it cannot amount to anything else than a disappointment.