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Review: Låt den rätte komma in (2008)

Monday, January 19th, 2009 | Movies, Reviews | No Comments

Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, falls in love with Eli, the peculiar neighbour girl. “Låt den rätte komma in” (Let The Right One In) is a story both violent and highly romantic, set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982.

The Twilight mania is all around, yet here comes a little vampire gem off the beaten track. Still, a vampire always has to struggle with the same problems: immortality (boon and bane?), lack of love (problematic relationships (humans, were wolfs ;) )), and, last but not least, the lust for blood…

Not your average vampire flick, worth a try even if you are not into the genre (or just if you to want to make head against the current Hollywood vampire hype – I am still looking forward to share a cinema with 98% lusty vampire lovin’ chicks :D – check out my wife’s review here)

It may be of interest that the film is – even if it is sort of an insiders’ tip – currently one of IMDb’s Top 250.

7.5/10 – I really liked it, though I do not share IMDb‘s current rating.

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Review: Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Saturday, December 27th, 2008 | Movies, Reviews | No Comments

Finally a movie off the beaten track: Jamal, a young guy from the slums of Mumbai (a slumdog), get’s the chance to participate in India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” and is only one question away from winning the game. But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? A series of short stories explain the key to each and every answer he gave during the game.

What follows is the rather heart-breaking story of Jamal’s childhood, how he lost his parents, found his one true love and had to constantly struggle with criminals who exploit orphaned children in India. This part is really well done and quite shocking for somebody who grew up in a well protected area. Children being mutilated just for being more piteous while begging to earn more money? This is plain sick!

Based on the award winning book “Q and A” by Vikas Swarup. I guess the book might not have the (minor) flaws of the cinematic instalment.

At first I thought the movie was great* (8) then it dropped to just good (7) half way trough (the part between childhood and the grand finale is too much of a Hollywood mainstream flick IMHO), getting better at the end again, thus I rate this one:

7.5/10 – definately worth looking (I gave this on an 8 on IMDb, no .5 allowed there)

* I was thinking about my scale:

0 – there is no such thing as a 0, this is equal to not voting at all
1 – so bad it’s almost good
2 – Death Race (2008)
3 – a pain
4 – just below average
5 – average
6 – just above average
7 – good
8 – great
9 – awesome
10 – legendary (did I mention I got the Bro Code for Xmas?)

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