info-5111
Joined Jun 2005
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Reviews11
info-5111's rating
...it's even worse.
All evidence points to this animated film being contrived as a money-making scheme. "Hey, we can create a cheap CGI movie and make companies pay for the celeb voices in advance by inserting their brands in the film!"
The result is worse than crass, it's abominably bad. It's so bad that the film has been stuck in production limbo for a decade and it hasn't aged well. The CGI, the story and the one-liners (oh God, the one-liners...) all bear the mark of genuine and profound incompetence, a complete lack of even the most most rudimentary story-telling skills.
What passes for a narrative revolves around supermarket brands coming to life at night. Rex Dogtective (yeah, go ahead and try to laugh at that one), voiced by Charlie Sheen, mourns his lost love but must soon save his supermarket city from the evil, impersonal Brand X. With the help of ... ah, who cares?
Foodfight! will bore, offend and anger you at the same time, such is its unprecedented badness. Please don't watch it.
All evidence points to this animated film being contrived as a money-making scheme. "Hey, we can create a cheap CGI movie and make companies pay for the celeb voices in advance by inserting their brands in the film!"
The result is worse than crass, it's abominably bad. It's so bad that the film has been stuck in production limbo for a decade and it hasn't aged well. The CGI, the story and the one-liners (oh God, the one-liners...) all bear the mark of genuine and profound incompetence, a complete lack of even the most most rudimentary story-telling skills.
What passes for a narrative revolves around supermarket brands coming to life at night. Rex Dogtective (yeah, go ahead and try to laugh at that one), voiced by Charlie Sheen, mourns his lost love but must soon save his supermarket city from the evil, impersonal Brand X. With the help of ... ah, who cares?
Foodfight! will bore, offend and anger you at the same time, such is its unprecedented badness. Please don't watch it.
I just caught this film at the Göteborg International Film Festival, with the director in attendance. Afterwards he stressed the fact that he's leery of making a political film - in short, it is just a story, based on a short story.
One has to wonder about Garret Dillahunt. Is he an actor who has mastered off-kilter to perfection or is he slightly crazy himself? Between his two roles (!) in Deadwood, his short appearance in The Road and now this film, I've never seen him play a normal or even nice guy. Anyway, he's great at what he does and makes the title character a both pathetic and awkwardly menacing figure. A disabled veteran, he moves in with a former soldier who once saved his life and sets about making his only friend's life complicated. The setting is somewhere in the States or Canada. The wife (Molly Parker, another Deadwood actor) pretty swiftly decides that he ought to move on. The lingering, nervous question is: will they get rid of him in time, before something bad happens.
I'll not tell. The film holds some surprises, though some of them can be spotted from afar. The purpose of the film is not to shock you with plot twists or even lay the groundwork for a thriller climax. It's an opportunity to mull over difficult dilemmas in the company of people who seem real. And, political or not, it obviously puts the spotlight on how war can destroy people, who are then expected to adjust to society nonetheless. It's a good film, though a bit of a downer.
One has to wonder about Garret Dillahunt. Is he an actor who has mastered off-kilter to perfection or is he slightly crazy himself? Between his two roles (!) in Deadwood, his short appearance in The Road and now this film, I've never seen him play a normal or even nice guy. Anyway, he's great at what he does and makes the title character a both pathetic and awkwardly menacing figure. A disabled veteran, he moves in with a former soldier who once saved his life and sets about making his only friend's life complicated. The setting is somewhere in the States or Canada. The wife (Molly Parker, another Deadwood actor) pretty swiftly decides that he ought to move on. The lingering, nervous question is: will they get rid of him in time, before something bad happens.
I'll not tell. The film holds some surprises, though some of them can be spotted from afar. The purpose of the film is not to shock you with plot twists or even lay the groundwork for a thriller climax. It's an opportunity to mull over difficult dilemmas in the company of people who seem real. And, political or not, it obviously puts the spotlight on how war can destroy people, who are then expected to adjust to society nonetheless. It's a good film, though a bit of a downer.
It's a long film - too long some might say, including to some extent me - but I'll be brief.
Under the North Star, based on Väinö Linna's novels is the first of two films dealing with Finland's civil war, contemporary with but not really a part of World War One.
The story begins way before that, however, as farmer Koskela gets permission to turn a marsh on the congregation's property into farmland, and succeeds through uncomplaining hard work. The years pass and his children grow up in a world where class struggle is starting to become a buzzword. All the farmers in this beautiful land of birch forests, lakes and fields may at short notice be evicted by the owners of the land, but the village's local socialist Halme does his best to implement change in a peaceful manner. Others, including Koskela's oldest son Akseli, have no illusions about how to force change down the throats of the lucky few.
There's war and lots of cruelty to be found in this film, but also the patience to thoroughly present the place and the characters before that. The cinematography and music suit the story's slow, serious arc and it's apparent that a lot of effort and, for a Nordic production, money have been put in the film.
It's worth seeing, though not exactly uplifting, especially for those interested in history and politics.
Under the North Star, based on Väinö Linna's novels is the first of two films dealing with Finland's civil war, contemporary with but not really a part of World War One.
The story begins way before that, however, as farmer Koskela gets permission to turn a marsh on the congregation's property into farmland, and succeeds through uncomplaining hard work. The years pass and his children grow up in a world where class struggle is starting to become a buzzword. All the farmers in this beautiful land of birch forests, lakes and fields may at short notice be evicted by the owners of the land, but the village's local socialist Halme does his best to implement change in a peaceful manner. Others, including Koskela's oldest son Akseli, have no illusions about how to force change down the throats of the lucky few.
There's war and lots of cruelty to be found in this film, but also the patience to thoroughly present the place and the characters before that. The cinematography and music suit the story's slow, serious arc and it's apparent that a lot of effort and, for a Nordic production, money have been put in the film.
It's worth seeing, though not exactly uplifting, especially for those interested in history and politics.