I have not seen the original film that this was based on; in fact, I was not even aware that this was a remake until about two minutes ago. But I see that as a good thing rather than a bad thing because it allows me to judge this film on its own merit rather than as an interpretation.

Overall, I really liked this film. For the most part it was excellently written, shot and acted. However, there were a few shots (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've seen the film) where it felt like the director had censored himself a bit in order to achieve a lower rating. This was completely unnecessary it ended up with an…

It's a shame I watched Brothers after seeing the TV show Homeland, as in part they touch on similar ground, so I almost felt as though I'd seen the story of Tobey Maguire's troubled Marine before. That doesn't take anything away from Jim Sheridan's powerful family drama, which tackles some sensitive subjects carefully and, almost like a stage play, allows three talented actors to get their teeth into some well rounded, interesting characters.

Maguire here proves with the right material, he has acting chops as decent as anyone of his generation (something who anyone witness to his three average to poor Spider-Man films would have reason to doubt). He brings a real character journey to his war veteran Sam, from…

I have to admit that I am a big Jim Sheridan fan and have enjoyed the majority of his movies from My Left Foot and The Boxer to In America. A re-imagining of a Danish film by Susanne Bier this is a melodramatic movie following a family in turmoil.
Marine Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is a happily married man with a beautiful wife and two lovely young daughters. Favourite son of former marine (Sam Shepard) he is about to embark on another tour of duty in Afghanistan . Before he leaves he welcomes home his estranged brother from a prison term for robbery. Jake Gyllenhaal is the troublesome younger brother who is the black sheep of the family and…

Remakes zijn in volle opgang: binnen enkele maanden wordt de behoorlijke geschifte remake van Abel Ferrara's 'Bad Lieutenant' het dichtstbijzijnde bioscoopcomplex binnengesluisd (met Nicolas Cage als een aan cocaïne verknochte arm der wet) en deze week is het de Deense parel 'Brødre' die ten slachtoffer gevallen is aan Hollywoods remakekoorts. Het thema van dit bescheiden arthouse succes, het onzekere lot van een gevangen soldaat in Afghaans oorlogsgebied, is natuurlijk gefundeness fressen voor het Amerikaanse publiek, dus werden er drie knappe en getalenteerde koppen (Portman, Maguire en Gyllenhaal) en een getalenteerde regisseur aan boord gehesen. Missie geslaagd? Nipt.

Zoals het wellicht elke Amerikaanse remake van een Europese parel betaamt, werd het geheel extra overgoten door een flinke portie pathos en heb…

When I read that Susanne Biers acclaimed piece of cinema 'Brødre' was being remade I had immediate feelings that fans will get a kick in the guts while a new and wider audience will receive a mediocre retelling of this powerful story. Further down the page it read that David Benioff (The Kite Runner) adapted the screenplay, this rose my expectations a little, then read that Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In The Name Of The Father) was attached to direct. The pain stopped after this line, I felt confident and honestly excited. Sadly, after viewing the new film 'Brothers', that pain came flooding back.

'Brothers' tells the story of two different yet so similar siblings who have taken different…

I haven't watched a Hong Kong movie since Infernal Affairs, so I wanted to check one out. Unfortunately I made a poor choice.

This is a very typical mob movie in Hong Kong, with rival gangs and the police in the middle. It even resembles the classic mob movie Godfather with the two opposing brothers.

Unfortunately the plot has so many holes that I don't even know where to begin. For instance, why is the woman accompanying the little brother in Thailand? Is she supposed to be his body guard? I know he was supposed to lure 9 out of HK, but Ghostie should have been closer, instead of risking the death of both bro and the woman.

One big…

Visi (nu vismaz Eiropā) tāpat zina, ka oriģināli šis ir Dāņu režisores Sjūzenas Bieras filmas ar tādu pašu nosaukumu 1:1 Holivudas pārlikums. Protams, ka vidusmēra amerikānis i nenojauš par tādas Dānijas pastāvēšanu un labākajā gadījumā domā, ka tā ir kaut kur vēl aiz Aļaskas un, ka tur nav elektrības, kur nu vēl kino. Un loģiski, ka amerikānis nekad neko nav dzirdējis par šo gabalu, tāpēc speciāli viņam arī šis kino tiek pārfilmēts viņam saprotamā valodā un ar viņam saprotamiem aktieriem galvenajās lomās. Un tieši šie aktieri arī ir šis versijas lielākais klupšanas akmens, jo katram no viņiem jau ir savs zīmogs un sava „firmas zīme” un kaut kā viņi šādā nopietnā vēstījumā neiederas. Nu, sasodīts, kāda gan vienmēr smaidīgā un…