OJT Reviews

Wackadoodle (2019)

Wacky budget entertainment with hilarious ideas

[7/10 · 20 April 2024]

It's not the easiest task to give a review of this odd low budget comedy, made in Tromsø, the "Paris of the North". It's obviously on a tight budget, still it's got some awesome details put into it. It's obviously kind of amateurish, still the gags are of really high quality. If you are intrugued by this, then this a winner. I give this movie a 7/10 on the scale of a future cult comedy.

Wackadoodle (In Norwegian: Tullerusk) is directed by Espen Olaisen and Håvard Walseth, first released in 2019, and enjoys the paticipation of some semi-known actors from the Northern Norwegian movie scene.

The story is about big time gamer and newspaper deliver boy and milk driniking fan Kurt and his equally wacky best friend Kåre. They want to game all day, making a normal life impossible when it comes to growing up as well as tending to girlfriends and other hobbies. However this gaming life is made very difficult by the same overbearing girlfriends, demanding triple work shifts, and rather pervy gangsters and psychologists.

Northern Norwegian movies are still on the rise after Tommy Wirkola released the moviespoof parody on Kill Bill - Kill Buljo. The movie was a revelation in Norwegain fil industry, and a very effective trailer assured Kill Buljo national cinema release.

Kill Buljo was obviously quite amateurish, but still all the qualities shone through, with salty and edgy humor making it a balst. Later on Wirkola went on to make deas Snow (2009) and Kurt Josef Wagle and the Legend of the Fjord Witch, all with the same qualities more or less, and it all sent Wirkola off to Hollywood to work along with the big boys.

Wackadoodle has some of the same playful qualities, less of paody, but more deadpan humor, but it arguably grew out from the succesful story of Kill Biljo, when this showed the possibility to succeed. According to the online newssite iTromsø Kill Buljo started the dream of making this movie, and the work with Wackadoodle started off 4 years later and 8 years before the finished movie premiered on the very best cinema in Tromsø, otherwise known for it's international fil festival.

The humor is the same Northern Norwegian humor, which we know from the Wirkola movies, which really hold no bars when it comes to obscene jokes.

Wackadoodle is a real blast when it comes to the ideas and humor. It's quite obvious years and lots of people has been involved in the script, making it high class. Still a budget of mere $30.000 sets it's undeniable marks. The gags are simply great, and the movie is full of them.

Main caracter Mats Lasse Jangås (Kurt) is doing a great job, so is his wacky friend tarjei Anbyonsen (Kåre) and storyteller/narrator Finn-Arve Sørbøe is simply perfect. Supporting roles are mostly great, but Arne Skog as the pervert gangster Ulf is a scene-stealer with huge qualities.

The movie is filmed in HD with a Canon D7, and editing is quite professionally done.

To break up my 7/10 rating I would have to : All over quality: 6/10, script: 9/10, acting: 7/10, humor: 9/10, parody-level: 6/10, attention to details: 10/10, budget let-down: 4/10, filming qualities: 5/10, effects: 4/10, photo: 7/10, lighting: 5/10, sound: 5/10, music: 6/10, technical quality: 5/10, editing: 7/10, budget-to-product: 10/10, feelgood-factor: 10/10, watch-it-again-qualities: 8/10, compare-to-Hollywood-quality: 2/10.

This movie had deserved a national cinema release on the same scale as Kill Buljo or From here to Haugesund did. It deserves a big cult following.

Being released on youtube will make this movie get a lot of cult fans, and I really hope it also will get an English subtitle version. Search it up, and give it a go. And remember, there's more after the credit roll, even all at the end!

The Abyss (2023)

An inept first catastrophe movie attempt from Sweden

[5/10 · 16 February 2024]

I really was excited to hear about this movie, both as it's the first ever Swedish catastrophe movie, but also that it takes place in the unique town of beautiful Kiruna.

The film is based on an actual possible event. The town of Kiruna is in the process of being moved three kilometers away from where it's situated today due to that the substantial mining underneath is leading to the town's sinking. And moving a town with 23.000 inhabitants is a huge task.

I also had great hopes as I heard talented Tuva Novotny was the lead actress, as an actor always doing well.

The plot is that Novotny's character is in charge of safety in the mines, when the ground it starting to falter around them.

But disappointment was huge both to see silly instructing, bad acting (if not from Novotny) and cliché after cliché, and rather stupid action.

I'm afraid to say that the story is not at all exciting, and even worse, it's boring.

I take it that the Swedes are inspired by the many great catastrope movies coming out of Norway since 2011 (The Wave, The Quake, The Tunnel, The Burning Sea, Troll, People in the sun, Pioneer, etc) but this is not reaching up to any of them.

HIM (2021)

A look at the male role in modern society

[6/10 · 7 January 2024]

In "Him" we follow three angry misunderstood males in contemporary Norway, and we follow them in their life, one day in Oslo. The 11-year-old Harald is a boy who constantly falls outside every group. He's an outsider, not fitting in anywhere. The 30-year-old Emil is unemployed and therefore angry man, looking down on all around him. The third is 60-year-old Petter who is trying to make a making a film about the mal national hero Fridtjof Nansen, facing competition from other female directors. On this day he crashes into a car in the parking lot and makes a hit-and-run. But he is observed and gets a phone call, buy the angry Emil.

They are all in problems with modern-day Norway, where men have lost their dominance as a gender, and losing their reality grip, being bossed around by women.

This is Guro Bruusgaard's feature debut after some short films, as well as working on several other movies and she has gathered a solid bunch of Norwegian actors in this drama, which also has a lot of humor. The movie catches your interest right away and keeps it all the way.

The movie gives no answer, but tells a lot.

Hiding Saddam Hussein (2023)

12 years work with unique story

[9/10 · 31 December 2023]

Hiding Saddam Hussein is made by the Norwegian filmmaker Halkawt Mustafa who has spent 12 years to make the film about the man who hid Iraq's former president and dictator Saddam Hussein.

In 2003, US forces invaded Iraq, leading to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime. The former president had to flee. On the way he ended up at a farmer's. In a small village in Iraq he lives, with his pregnant wife and three children, when life is turned upside down.

The guest farmer Alaa Namuq gets as visitor must be hidden from family, friends and 150,000 American soldiers on the hunt in addition to the 25 million dollar warranty on his head. Here he dig a hole for the dictator to hide in- a hole he is found in 235 days later.

First, the filmmaker had to spend a lot of time getting to know Alaa. Over three years went into winning his trust. But once he had gained his trust, a new problem arose. The film director could find nowhere in the Middle East where both could be safe, and he secretly had him brought Norway. That was the first time we could talk without stress and danger.

In the course of 235 days, the farmer became Saddam's bodyguard, cook, driver, hairdresser, adviser and friend.

But it also had its price. When the former Iraqi president was found by the Americans, Alaa was also arrested and brought to the feared Abu Ghraib, where was tortured.

It's amazing work behind this documentary, where the farmer Alaa tells his story, and why he got through all the trouble when he hid the most wanted man on Earth. Important and fascinating work, and well done from a great film maker.

The God Plant (2018)

Boring and monotonous

[4/10 · 27 December 2023]

This movie may give correct facts, but is quite amateurishly made. The first 25 minutes like listening to the worst teacher you had a school, and it's all about legalization of marihuana.

Finally we get some interviews, but then you should have lost all interest in this, except if you are a fan of the legalization.

I don't think this serves to gain recognition, since the movie doe not help the case.

One actually need to make better movies of they are to have interest outside the milieu.

I can't recommend this to anyone, sorry to say.

I don't doubt it can help epileptics and others, but then the world needs better documentaries to tell this fact.

Den forsvundne pølsemaker (1941)

Classic and silly crime parody

[6/10 · 17 December 2023]

The Sausage-maker Who Disappered ("Den forsvundne pølsemaker") was directed by Toralf Sandø, and is his second movie. He later on became one of the grand film makers in Norway when it comes to numbers.

This movie became a huge hit in the newly nazi- German occupied Norway when it premiered december 26th 1941, though not at all as big as most other war movies. But later on it has held as one of the most important ones when it came to bringing laughter in war time.

The movie's main selling pont was the tall comedian Leif Juster who's comical talent not only was immense, but is still linger in Norway due to among other movies this one. This was the movie that he really showed his slapstick talent for the first time.

The movie has some bad editing, and maybe also some bad dialog, but still this is much beloved. It's made on a minimal war budget, and you could also say it's supposed to be a litt chaotic.

The movie has a lot of gags of what you lack during war time, without addressing the war. It's all about food, sigarettes, chocolate and alcohol, and even ration cards.

The story is about a well known sausage-maker, Herman Brand (H. Brand is read out like "håbrann" in norwegian, which was the fish Norwegians had to see their sausages filled with n the lack of meat during the war), famous for his great sausages. But one day he disappears without a trace, except some broken glass and some blood on the floor. His wife hired the two hopeless private detectives Gløgg (which translates to Smart) and Rask (Quick) to find out what has happend. And the sillyness begins.

The film is based upon basert på the crimeparody-novel "Den forsvunne pølsemaker" written by lawyer Lorentz Normann Kvam (under the pseudo Rocambole Pedersen).

This film was made by the Nazi director Leif Sinding's old company Merkur Film, which is quite astonishing. Sinding was willingly put in control on Norwegian film industry by the Nazis,but had to sell his company Merkur Film. This movie went through the censorship.

Director Toralf Sandø was a political opponent, and just after the war went to make another classic "Englandsfarere" ("We Lave for England") in 1946.

This film is also famous for it's title cut, "Pølsemaker , pølsemaker hvor har du gjort av deg" ("Sausage-maker where are you") which became a huge hit.

Is this film funny? Well, a little, but not at much as you would wish. But if you put it into the setting of war, and also that this was a comic relief under the war, this movie becomes important in the Norwegian movie canon.

This movie is made available through DVD recently, and in 2023 was released on interregional Blu-Ray Disk by Norwegian Film Classics as the fourth release in a new series on classics, NFK0004, with subtitles in English, and is supposed to be held in stock for film lovers.

Wedding Party (1989)

Raised the mark from 4 to 6 after viewing for second time 34 years after

[6/10 · 16 December 2023]

Norwegian infant terribles alternative film maker duo Svend Wam & Vennerød got a lot of criticism during their heydays in the 70'ies and 80'ies.

Wedding Party ("Bryllupsfesten") is their first intended comedy, as most of their movies back then was seen as funny without intention.

But this is quite funny - intentionally - and has a lot of great Norwegian actors in small roles.

The wedding Party is the upper class wedding where things go wrong. Already before the wedding we understand this heads for catastrophe. The movie is a fun depiction of the yuppie-time back in the 80'ies.

Still we have the awkward lines and bad timing in the filming, and the overplay is there, but in a comedy this works better.

Knut Husebø does a great role as the primus, one of Leif Juster's last films and the film's sub plot is making this a great watch, if you can see through the slightly amateurish filmmaking.

This is the wildly drunk wedding party "Wam & Vennerød-style". When I saw this for the first time in the cinema 34 years ago I was a little but nt all amused. Because this is a notch better than I remember it from the cinema at the time. W&V works better as a comedy. And now this is their last film direction together.

This is not too far from the Olsen gang, which is the same type of humor, although here there is yuppie time lurking in the background of the theme. It's great to see several deceased greats, even if the timing is not great in the image changes or in the clip and that some dialogue is a bit stilted, but the dialogue fits better in a comedy. The best part is that the actors clearly had a blast at work.

Knut Husebø is excellent, Heide Steen is full, Monna tandberg is stylish as always. Actually, this is a perfectly fine choice as the first W&V film in Norwegian Film Classics.

I wouldn't have seen this again if it hadn't been for the project "Norwegan Film Classics" which started 2023, where this is movie no. 5. And it's better than I thought earlier, so rating is raised from 4 to 6/10 with a little "age allowance". This is actually very funny to watch. W&V were never boring.

It is likely that the contemporaries judged W&V too harshly, at least in relation to the budgets they made films on, and where would Norwegian cinema have been without them? After all, they showed that there were opportunities for success outside the established film system in Norway.

This movie is made available in 2023 when it was released on interregional Blu-Ray Disk by Norwegian Film Classics as the fifth release in a new series with classics, NFK0005, with subtitles in English, and is supposed to be held in stock for film lovers.

Englemageren (2023)

Investment that turned out a huge loss

[4/10 · 1 November 2023]

We're used to many good movies from Denmark, but if you believe all Danish movies are good, i can assure you and comfort you; they ren't!

There just as many stupid and awful Danish movies as in other countries, we just don't very often get to see them.

But now we have got such streaming offers like Netflix and Amazon Prime, so every little nasty and horrendous movie gets big distribution.

This movie has an OK script until you realize it's over the top stupid. The last part of the movie goes fast downhill. And you are left thinking WTF!?

You won't miss anything avoiding this, maybe just an annoyingly bad movie and - you'll also lose the faith that all Danish movies are good. Well, you were wrog.

Makta (2023–2024)

Funny take on Norwegian power history

[8/10 · 30 October 2023]

This prize winning series, Power Play (in Norwgian: Makta) tell the story about how Norway's first prime female minister Gro Harlem Brundtland came to power in the Norwegian Labour party. Starting in 1974 when she came from noting to be be first minister of environmental issues.

The series tell with hour and wit what happened according to several biographies, the fight for power within the party and the country.

Even if this is going from the mid seventies, the environment is kept in modern Oslo which works fine, sine this is told with humour.

Some of the politicians are spot on played by actors, others are totally unrecognizable. Some will obviously react to this negatively, but I don't find it disturbing for the history telling.

The series won "best seris" at the Cannes Series Festival 2023.

Tore (2023– )

Great premise, but ends up annoying becaose of overplay

[5/10 · 29 October 2023]

Tore is a Swedish series about the undertaker worker Tore, who is 27 and gay, but not out.

The series starts off OK, but once again a Swedish series fails when it comes to pure acting.

I wonder why they are asked to over act, like they are here. Maybe it's to pretend they are Hollywood or something, because I know too many Swedes to know this is not the way they act or react.

Main actor is is also asked to act so silly that he seemingly is 16.

Cringy and strange, and far off reality. Sad that it's like this. If we are to have series about gay persons, please let them act like normal, and not this cringy.

Nightmare (2022)

Creepy and great about sleep paralysis

[8/10 · 30 September 2023]

The Nightmare was far better than I expected it to be, and about a theme that is rarely used in movies, sleep paralysis.

The film is obviously inspired by Roman Polanski. More about this later on.

The couple Mona (Eili Harboe) and Robbie (Herman Tømmeraas), both 25, should have received a fly swatter as a gift when they had a housewarming party. The buzzing from insect wings is constant every time Mona goes to bed in the evening, in the apartment in Bergen she and her boyfriend have just bought at asking price. The home is a big renovation project, and was not even properly cleaned and washed after the previous occupant died under unclear circumstances.

They got it cheap, then it may rather be that the noise from neighbors arguing and children screaming is constant. It's not just sounds that ruin Mona's night's sleep. She also suffers from sleep paralysis and somnambulism. The distinction between what are nightmares and what are hallucinations in the waking state is unclear, for her and for us. Sometimes she hurts herself when she sleeps.

Robbie is rarely present when she goes to bed, he works hard and late, and he usually comes home very late in the evening.

It gradually dawns on us that, by all accounts, Mona's restless sleep is connected to a feeling of stress she feels when she is awake: The expectations of those around her that, with a husband and a house in place - well, it is probably time to get children too? Robbie fusses all the time. They even have enough space!

Mona's fears are fueled by the young, strangely gusty couple who live in the apartment opposite them (Gine Therese Grønner and Preben Hodneland), and also the creepy sleep specialist Aksel Brun (played brilliantly by Dennis Storhøi). He wants to help her, but seems to be more concerned with superstition than with modern medical science.

Writer/director Kjersti Helen Rasmussen's chills has made a sublime horror-thriller that maks me think of not just one, but three great psychological thrillers signed by Roman Polanski. First and foremost "Rosemary's Baby" (1968), then "Repulsion" (1965) and "The Tenant" (1976). And "The Nightmare" does not shame them.

This has become a film with a lot of nerve. However - as so often happens with this kind of elevated horror, it seems that the more the movie tries to explain itself, it loses the grip of being a masterpiece.

Still it is great, and don't listen to the other reviewers, they simply don't get the references. One of the top Norwegian horrors of all times.

Anny - en gatepiges roman (1912)

Movie believed to be lost

[29 September 2023]

"Anny - en gatepiges roman", is believed to be lost. So the votes on this movie is done solely beacuse the movie contains the word "prostitute", som thing also occuring on other lost movies with that word og theme.

The film. Produced by Olav K. Bjerke and directed by Adam Eriksen is well documented, even don to all it's actors, and is with its 68 minutes running time Norway's first known long feature film.

Synopsis: Anny works in a cigar-shop. Wholesaler Willmann fancies Anny and hire her as his housemaid. Soon the two have an intimate relationship. But Anny finds someone new. At a carnival. Her next step is to get Willman's son to get to his father's safe.

Always in Season (2019)

Harrowing and shocking, even if we know

[8/10 · 6 August 2023]

At the time of writing 16% of the votes on this documentary is a 1/10, which in itself is appalling.

This is a harrowing and strong telling of a mother's fight for justice about the lynching and hanging of her 17 year old son Lennon Lacy in an area known for its lynching back in the old days.

The Police and the law enforcement sites suicide even if it's obvious it's not due to his injuries. Still this is the case.

"The more that know about this, this is my way of grieving." That's what the mother says to this.

The movie is a hard watch. The community is dealing with it, and it's very difficult, because it's a big and ugly chunk of the town's history. A strong documentary about a ton of unjustice.

Sweetwater (1988)

Has got a great nerve

[7/10 · 2 August 2023]

Lasse Glom's last feature film before turning to TV-series is this dystopian Norwegian dramathriller Sweetwater.

A family is forced to move out of the city after a harrowing war, finding a new place to live on a big landfill, where they are not alone.

Some of the most profilic Norwegian actors at that time is making out the strange humans meeting up at this landfill. Therefore you don't know what to expect, and I like that kind of movies.

The film gives room for thought, which is what dystopian movies pretty much should do.

This film needs a new restored release, and then i think most will see it's qualities. It's even more actual now than what it was back in the cold war era. So give it a go, if you get the chance.

This movie is made available in 2023 when it was released on interregional Blu-Ray Disk by Norwegian Film Classics as the third release in a new series on classics, NFK0003, with subtitles in English, and is supposed to be held in stock for film lovers.

A Beautiful Life (I) (2023)

Cringy, but with good music

[4/10 · 3 June 2023]

Be aware of this imdb-score, as it's way to high. This movie feel way too amateurish to that standard we've learned to know Danish movies.

The artist which is here portrayed as a genius, both acts like a baby and seems totally out of anything else what may be as star.

He acts like he is quite stupid, he must have been told to be both akward and inept in his way of communication - so how come he is a genius in lyrics and sing writing?

Well the love story also feels both unlikely and worse of all, quite cringy. It feels like romance pulp fiction litterature. It will be quite impressive if you stand watching the whole movie through. I must admit I didn't, as I felt more and more unwell watching. It probably deserves even worse marks, but the idea is OK, and could've turned out a classic in the right hands.

Dawn (aka. Morgenrøde) (2014)

Slow, nightmarish but beautifully bleak

[5/10 · 14 March 2023]

Dawn (Morgenrøde) by Anders Elsrud Hultgren is more a piece of art or hypnotic desert wandering with music.

You will probably not have seen a slower film to date.

Described as a thriller I must say you should expect this from it at all.

Described as a sci-fi I must say you should expect this from it at all... Torstein Bjørklund plays Rahab, a man wandering in a dystopian flatland where water is polluted, discovering someone, an older man, Set, (Ingar Helge Gimle) following him. Probably the first man he has seen for ages.

I can't tell more about what this is about, beacuse it will be a spoiler, though there's not much to spoil either.

The dialog in this movie can be written on a napkin.

Filmed in anamorphic widescreen over a runtime of 70 minutes, this feels even several minutes too long. But when you leave it, you have some kind of piece at mind.

The DVD also contains Q&A from London sci-fi Festival as well as two shorts by the same director.

Merkel (2022)

A hindsight documentary about a rare politician

[7/10 · 5 March 2023]

The documentary "Merkel" about the 14 year German Reichskansler starts with a speech she is to hold at an American University where she is introduced as "the real leader of the European Union".

We then go to see Donald Trump talking about her first in a good way, then in a bad way.

This tells a lot. The first female Reichskansler in Germany came from a small pace in East Germany, then known as DDR, and has kept power as a kansler for the German Christian Democratic Party to su extent that people all over the world are worried when she was to step down.

This documentary is just a lot of clips with her, no narration through the program, except a professor telling about her upbringing, and interviews of persons talking about her, and still we get to know this special modest woman who became a world leader.

I enjoyed this, and leave it with more respect for her than i had before. The world needs more politicians like her, even if I don't particularly like her political party views.

Electric Jesus (2020)

Jesus, I was fooled again by good reviews

[3/10 · 22 February 2023]

I really don't understand what Christians thinks is funny. This is suppose to be funny, and i should have been warned by the title with "Jesus".

These movies tend to be cringeworthy. Well this isn't. It's just plain boring, with inept acting and dialogue.

Music is not so bad, and a cong or two is quite good, but it's not enough to save this movie.

I would say the actors are OK, but they are given a script that was so bad it's impossible to save as well.

And of course, in Christian movies lovers don't even kiss!

This is a movie you can leave on the shelf, or recycle, because it's not a 10/10 which 38% have given this tripe.

If you want a cozy movie not being fun, I guess you can be bored to this, but it's not worth it.

Do yourself a favor - stay away.

For the Love of God (2015)

Total ludicrous

[2/10 · 1 January 2023]

A. J. Miller thinks he is 2000 years old and Jesus Christ and his girl claims she is Mary Magdelene. Yeah, as ludiscrous as that.

It is interesting to listen to this nonsense, but the scarey part is that some actually believs. And making a docyumentary about it is totally OK, butt this is taking them so serious.

The documentary film maker also came in conflict with them after making this. But i find it completely wasteful to do without asking any serious questions.

I don't think this is blasphemy, i think it's insane, and it should be treated with more sense than a fil licking up to their insane ideas.

Passé sous silence: La bataille de Tchernobyl (2006) Season Unknown, Episode Unknown

Incompetence and bad judgement could have made a world wide disaster

[9/10 · 1 January 2023]

This French documentary, The Battle of Chernobyl" should have been shown much more world wide, and thanks to Netflix it's taken up again 16 years later.

This tells more than ever the horror show that the Chernobyl nuclear factory blast both on those who were set to stop the catastrophe and the innocent.

There were done so many mistakes that it'a baffling, but it also told Gorbachev, which is interviewed in this movie, that the Soviet political system had failed.

A lot of people unknowingly risked their lives to avoid a 3-5 megatonn nuclear blast that could annihilate all of Europe.

The movie is telling the horrific story, some of the eyewitnesses, 2.500 died of radiation following illnesses before they were 40.

Thanks to Netflix to dig this up again. It deserves a huge audience.

The Last Norwegian Cowboy (2021)

A movie about work and friendship

[7/10 · 30 December 2022]

The Last Norwegian Cowboy is a charming documentary about 92 year old John Hoiland who is running his large ranch in Montana all by himself. Rich people are lining up to buy his property, but John's wealth is not in the value of the ranch. It lies in the freedom to work his own land.

So goes this description of this portrait, well worth a watch.

Johns father Emanuel came from Norway as a refugee back in 1915, and John inherited a farm that has been his life since.

Director Frode Fimland started off directing with "Siblings Are forever" and this is his sixth documentary - all about humans in their core.

Humanity shown at as ow pace.

Blue Moon (2021)

Suffers from bad script and dull lead

[5/10 · 29 December 2022]

Blue Moon is directing debut from Alina Grigore, who also have written the script. I really can't understand why this movie has won any festival, but it has. The movie has really not anything interesting to tell, and I'm sad to say the script is very underdeveloped.

22 year old Irina struggles to achieve a higher education and make an escape her rather dysfunctional family. She seems all inept in her struggle, until a sexual experience with an artist makes a difference in her life. But can she get out of the family's violence?

Irina is so introvert it seem impossible for her to break out of this. Her nephew is written in as mean character, and with no positive sides. I feel this is also something that lessens the movie.

Too bad, but better work with the characters would have made this into a decent movie.

Even if we feel for Irina, we can't really get any feeling of sympathy.

Luftskibet 'Norge's flugt over polhavet (1926)

Amazing documentation of a historic accievement

[8/10 · 28 December 2022]

Thanks to the Norwegian national library this believed-to-be-lost film has been restored to an 87 minute long copy, thanks to a German nitrate copy found with German text plaques.

It's restored in 2K by Minerva Film in Copenhaven. The movie is believed to have been 20-30 minutes longer than it was at the Norwegian premiere in 1926. The film was re-relaased on DVD in 2012.

The film tells the story about the trip with the airship "Norge", from when the ship was baptised in Italy to the end, with the crew and their work on board.

The 2022 Norwegian animation film "Titina" tells the story in an amazing way with lots of original footage, ad is a pure gem to see. Go see that before to search up this original.

Narvik: Hitler's First Defeat (2022)

Hitler's first defeat

[8/10 · 27 December 2022]

"Kampen om Narvik - Hitler's første nederlag" (in English: The Battle of Narvik - Hitler's first defeat") directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg had a hard time reaching the cinemas, two years after first planned premiere,due to covid and then the eruption of the Ukraine war, but when it finally did it does to full houses across Norway.

The plot follows a soldier, Gunnar, and his family during the outbreak of the war, and the freeing of Narvik, a battle which kept going for 40 days, and we can feel the difficulties of war, with his wife obliged to help as a German translator.

The film is superbly filmed in locations Narvik, Drammen and Rjukan, and the sound is awesome.. the story manages to grip on several levels, and I found it both interesting and good, telling me history I didn't know about from before.

Another good Norwegian war movie, well worth a view.

Say That You Love Me (2006)

Trite

[4/10 · 27 December 2022]

There are good intentions behind this movie which is about youth and sexuality, or rather the trouble girls may counter in today's society where sex is all over.

We meet a girl which is happy and outgoing until she is gang raped by two boys, while another couple knows what's going on.

The film is partly well played, but mostly falls flat in bad acting, and there should have been at least 10 more takes in several of the scenes in this film, sad to say.

It comes out rather amateurish and trite. That said, this might function for a youth audience, which most likely will find many things they can relate to.