ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[memento]

IMDB: A well-written, campy, tacky, sarcastic, (intentionally and brilliantly) overacted and hilarious treat, not to be missed! The only negative is a technical gaffe: the background music is way too loud, and sometimes drowns out the dialogue. But I can't hold that important enough to give this creative confection less than a full five stars out of five! DVD has no extras, other than chapter stops.

[Fran]

Also known as:

Como hermanas (Colombia) Hotel Paraiso (undefined) Tres hermanas y dos novios (Argentina)

From IMDb: 

Before watching this movie I didn't know anything about it except for the fact that it was Dutch. Even though their film industry isn't the biggest of all time, I've already seen several good Dutch productions and I know that the standard level of quality is often very high. That's also the reason why I try to watch as many of them as I can. However, when I saw on this website that this movie had actually been nominated for an Oscar, I must admit that I was very surprised. Not because I didn't like it or because it wasn't any good. No, I was surprised because over here no one has ever payed any attention to it.

"Zus & zo" tells the story of three completely different sisters who don't always get along that well, but who now have to fight for a common goal, called Hotel Paraiso, a hotel on the coast of Portugal that will be theirs unless their brother gets married before a certain age. Normally that shouldn't have been difficult, because the man is gay, but now that he has announced his marriage with a woman, they will have to try to prevent it. To stop their would-be sister-in-law, they are willing to go very far, because nothing or no-one should come between them and their inheritance...

Like so often with Dutch movies, I can't say that I had heard of any of the actors before, except for Halina Reijn. But just like in those other movies, this time too I really liked the performances by all of them. Even though this is a comedy, they never went too far in their performances, but instead made all the characters look very human, with all their little problems, flaws and weird specialties. That's of course not only thanks to the actors, the writer of the script has a lot to do with that too, but still, they did a fine job.

I don't know if Paula van der Oest, the woman who directed and wrote this movie, has ever been in a similar situation, but she sure knows perfectly how to describe the greediness and the double-faced way of acting from people that are about to inherit a lot of money or an important piece of property. She really did a very nice job with it and was able to add some very fine humor to it all. The entire idea behind it makes it all very suitable for a comedy of course, but that doesn't mean that it is automatically good of course. There are many things that could have gone wrong, but Paula van der Oest avoided the traps and made a very good movie out of it.

In the end this may not be the best Dutch movie that I've ever seen, but the humor and the overall quality are very good. I really had a good time with this movie and that's why I give it a 7.5/10.

[Fran]

Summer Movies!

Movies that take place in the summer or have a summer scene
or have a character named June, July, or August,
or, in the alternative,
movies that were released in June, July, or August*

*According to IMDb

[Lynne]

From IMDB:
After their first year at college, the guys reunite for another summer of fun. Jim continues his quest for sexual independence by seeking the help of his old prom date, Michele, after an unexpected call from Nadia who plans to visit Jim. Meanwhile, Kev and Vicky find themselves in an awkward situation after having broken up for a year. Oz must deal with a long distance relationship when Heather heads off to France to study abroad. Old feuds die hard as the ever-so-horny Stifler harbors his hatred toward Finch, who is practicing the Hindu practice of Tantra.

[southendmd]

IMDb:  Bikini Drive-In features most of the actors from "Dinosaur Island" (Peter Spellos, Ross Hagen, Richard Gabai, Michelle Bauer) plus some straight-to-cable softcore veterans like Ashley Rhey. It follows the classic STSWB (save the something with breasts) plot: Girl inherits grandpa's drive in, must raise money in limited time to keep it, dreams up idea of letting girls in bikinis work there. Sound familiar? You probably haven't seen this movie, but you've seen one like it. I give it a solid B for many laughable parts and lots of skin. Skin-O-Max master Fred Olen Ray directs this flick.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  After a nasty argument with her boyfriend Carl, young Gaby spontaneously accepts her girlfriend invitation to join her on a vacation to Manila. Her plans to forget about Carl succeed very rapidly as she meets Dr. Andreas Witzig, a young scholar who plans to marry his fiancee on the island. During the following days, Gaby tries her best to convince the man of her dreams to change his mind.

[Lynne]

From IMDB:
On the hottest day of the summer, a Milwaukee nurse named Ana has just gotten off work to cuddle up with her husband, not paying any attention to an emergency broadcast involving a plague that is sweeping the nation. When her next door neighbor, a little girl, wanders into her bedroom, she sinks her teeth into the neck of Ana's husband Louis and no sooner does Louis die from blood trauma, he's back on his feet and trying to bite Ana. Taking off in her car, Ana watches in horror as the city becomes a virtual 'hellzone' as people begin to feed upon people, until she crashes her vehicle. Rescued by tough lawman Kenneth, Ana and a group of other survivors decide to hide out at the local Crossroads mall where they begin to learn through news broadcasts that the plague is turning civilians into primal, carnivorous cannibals with an insatiable hunger for human flesh and the only way to take these bad boys down is by shooting them in the head (which should terminate all brain activity).

[memento]

IMDB: A documentary mostly edited together from unused footage from The Endless Summer and The Endless Summer II, this documentary gives further insight into the making and success of the original classic surf documentary. It is written, produced and directed by Dana Brown, son of the director of the first two films, Bruce Brown (who executive produced this film). This film likely will appeal only to hardcore fans of the Endless Summer films, but it does feature more of the gorgeous cinematography for which the earlier films are famous.

[Fran]

From IMDb:  Many years after a boy drowns one summer and two camp counselors are killed the subsequent summer at Camp Crystal Lake, a new owner decides to reopen, which sparks a series of grisly murders.

[southendmd]

IMDb:  A young boy's life in turn-of-the-century France. Marcel, witnesses the success of his teacher father, as well as the success of his arrogant Uncle Jules. Marcel and family spend their summer vacation in a cottage in Provence, and Marcel befriends a local boy who teaches him the secrets of the hills in Provence.