ajmpro's Reviews

From (2022– )

5/10

2 March 2023

It's a nice little premise, well shot in an American Gothic style with a decent soundtrack.

But, overall, it's utterly ridiculous. There are weird acting choices all over the place - most characters act like they're in a 90's soap opera, reacting to all the gruesome, mind-bending stuff like everyday life's little challenges.

The weird pacing of the plot, its numbing mix of long passages of interpersonal BS drama with nonsensical "revelations" of new mysteries without any connection makes this the equivalent of a Griswold Christmas turkey: it looks great when brought to the table, but once you cut into it, collapses into a dry, meatless mess.

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Ludwig II (2012)

7/10

Weirdness and Kingship

30 December 2012

Warning: Spoilers

The first question anyone with a little knowledge of the reception of King Ludwig II of Bavaria has to ask is: Why do we need a fifth feature film of Ludwig's life? What is shown that wasn't shown before? How can anyone top Visconti's "Ludwig II" (1972) and Helmut Berger's brilliant performance as the king? Of course, there is no simple answer to that. A lot of the new "Ludwig II" has the a clear feeling of remake to it. At some points, it seems that the only reason for the new movie is to present it in better visual quality. That can be a legitimate reason to watch this movie and in terms of visual quality, the movie does deliver, even if it would have been possible to "exploit" the beautiful landscape of Bavaria and the monumental castles much more.

On the other hand, in opposite of the wide majority of the German critics' opinion, the 2012 movie does have its own access to the persona of the eccentric king. Ludwig is portrayed as someone who just didn't fit in. He is very shy, nervous, sensitive and in every way not prepared to be the king, when his father dies shortly after his 18th birthday. What Ludwig loves does conflict with society's values and what is expected of a monarch: He is expected to lead his country into war and to marry for the benefit of his dynasty and country - but he hates everything that has to do with military and just can't love women. Tragedy evolves when he tries to force himself to do both - he is only partially successful, and has to sacrifice his inner well-being to do so.

Ludwig reminded me a lot of a 19th century "Donnie Darko", a "weird" (that means: different) young kid, who happens to be king. I think it's interesting to see him in such a perspective, because from a contemporary point of view, our society finally seems to accept, and sometimes even endorse, that being different can be a good thing. But in the 19th century, being different means to be insane. There is no room for someone like Ludwig, especially not in his position as king.

So overall, I really enjoyed the movie. On the other hand, I did disagree with the proportions of the different episodes of his life. His relationship with Richard Wagner, which of course played a very influential role in understanding Ludwigs character, was nevertheless given a way to big part in the movie. Plus, the "peripeteia" of the tragedy, the turn of events (here: Ludwigs resignation and complete flight from reality), was not really shown because of a huge time jump.

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Otto - Der Außerfriesische (1989)

6/10

Worth watching, but definitely not great

7 December 2007

Otto Waalkes is maybe the most famous German comedian of the 80s. After doing stand-up and a TV series, he started writing scripts for movies, where he played the lead character. "Der Ausserfrisische" is his third movie and in my opinion the best Otto-movie of them all.

But that doesn't mean it is a good movie overall. Most gags are pretty trivial, one might even say stupid. But others really make you laugh - especially the ones taking place in the USA, where the main character Otto has to go to find his brother to prevent the destruction of the beautiful, natural landscape of his home Ostfriesland. The stupid German guy from the countryside in the big city - nothing new at all, but at some points still worth watching. One of my favorite scenes is where Ottos brother Benno explains to him the sign language to be used in a club.

Here is the bottom line: If you do not like Otto Waalkes, do not watch the movie. It will be a tremendous waste of time for you. If you do like him, get yourself a beer, lean back and enjoy this meaningless German movie while falling asleep on the couch.

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Die Einsteiger (1985)

1/10

Incredibly awful movie - so bad you HAVE to watch it

7 December 2007

Thomas Gottschalk and Mike Krüger became huge stars in Germany in the 80s by hosting a radio show. They had such chemistry on the radio that somebody must have thought it would be a great idea to put them on a screen. So the "Noses Movies" (German: "Nasenfilme") where born. You might take a guess where that kind of title comes from. All these movies like "Piratensender Powerplay" oder "Die Supernasen" are 100 % badly done slapstick productions.

It's a shame that "Die Einsteiger" actually has a pretty good idea for a plot - a scientist discovers a machine that allows you to jump into a movie - but the screenplay is absolutely awful. Maybe the worst dialog I have ever seen. And it's also a shame that this movie had a pretty hight budget. They could have done so much with the idea and the budget, but they failed in every possible way.

I would not recommend this movie at all, one exception being made: When you are having beer and pizza with some friends and you want to see a really, really bad movie to make fun of.

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Show Me Love (1998)

8/10

Example of intelligent Danish cinema

25 December 2004

This movie is really a masterpiece of European cinema of the 90s. It is very emotional, sensitive and for sure it has heart. It deals with the problems of the Swedish youth in the village of Amal, but it could take place in every village on the world. Everything has become total routine for those kids: a hockey game on Fridays, afterward drinking booze (out of a plastic coke-bottle) to escape from their little microcosm. The youth is hopeless, they know that they will stay in the village, marry and found a family. But the real misery is, that the majority isn't even aware of the fact, that their situation might be hopeless. In spite of that, they charge every one who is different, not like them. And so is Agnes, a young and intelligent lesbian without any friends. She is falling in love with the most popular and beautiful girl in school - and now they have to decide what to do: breaking out or assimilate. So in my opinion it is not just a movie about two young lesbians with their first experiences, but a movie about our hopeless youth and the importance to be an individual - even in the small world of Amal - and that being different is not necessarily a disadvantage. It is about breaking the waves.

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The Naked Man (II) (1999)

4/10

A thin line

22 May 2004

When I saw this movie, I was on the one hand overwhelmed and on the other hand very disappointed. It is a tragic and in some parts surrealistic comedy that is standing close to Bertolt Brecht's theater dramas and his V-effect and the German Dadaism-Artists. It may be considered as a sequel or even as a conclusion of other Coen - movies OR as just a big piece of humbug. I myself was thinking between these two aspects for a long time. And I came to the conclusion that everybody has to decide for himself. The thing that was really fascinating were the characters: real types - to speak in the traditional language of drama - not complex protagonists made me think about the sense of this movie. And to come back to the title of this comment: It is really a thin line between a very complex piece of film-artwork and rubbish. Decide for yourselves!

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Attention, Papa Arrives! (1991)

9/10

One of Germany's funniest movies

20 March 2004

What happens if your husband is early retired? That is the master question of Germany's famous actor, writer and director Vicco von Bülow's comedy. He understands very well to show the audience the small things of life, that can be funny as well. Although nothing important or extraordinary happens in this movie, it is interesting for every minute. You won't find simple jokes and gags (like in a Zucker movie) in this film, but you will be fascinated about the subtle sense of humor of Loriot. The only thing to criticise is the very poor quality of scenery and camerawork what seems to be an effect of the low budget of this film. But I would consider "Pappa ante portas" (a German-Latin play on words that means "Daddy in front of the door" and is an allusion to the Latin figure of speech "Hannibal ante portas") as one of the ten funniest German movies in the history of German comedies.

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Double Trouble (1984)

10/10

Double Action, Double Fun

20 March 2004

"Double Trouble" is actually not a masterpiece of film-making. But especially in Europe, a whole generation grew up with the movies of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill - so if you like them and their kind of movies, you will LOVE "Double Trouble" it is one of their last movies together: you can see that the main characters are aging, but the dialogs are fast and funny and of course you have a lot of brawls. If it is this what you want to see, your expectations can be fulfilled. But if you are interested in really good movies with an intelligent plot and good acting, this is definitely the wrong movie to watch. Although the movie was shot in English, in my opinion it would be better to watch it in Italian or German, if you understand the language - dialogs often do not work in English.

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