The Screengrab Highlight Reel: Dec. 27, 2008-Jan. 9, 2009

Scott Von Doviak — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Hey, Screengrabbers! It’s me, the Screengrab’s 2008 Person of the Year, here to pass the torch to 2009. But before we do that, let’s take one more look at back at the year that was, in case you missed it while you were on vacation or seeing The Spirit for the fifth time. The end of the year is a time of lists, and we sure had them here: Top Ten lists from Phil Nugent, Andrew Osborne (Parts One and Two), Scott Von Doviak (Parts One and Two and Top 10 Unwatchables), Leonard Pierce (Parts One and Two) and Paul Clark (Parts One and Two and Honorable Mentions). We also compiled the consensus Screengrab Top 10 Movies of 2008, as well as the Top Ten Screengrab Top Tens (Parts One and Two). To get really meta on you, we even had the 2008 Highlight Reel: The Top Twelve Screengrab Posts of the Year.

Whew. Enough with 2008 already. I’m already hard at work on my campaign to repeat as 2009 Screengrab Person of the Year, but until then, here are some notable posts from the year just begun:

Screengrab Predicts the Oscars (Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six)

Forgotten Films: Groove

Reviews by Request: Poultrygeist and Sukiyaki Western Django

A Better Travis Bickle for a Better New Year

Screengrab Review:Just Another Love Story

Unwatchable #57: Phat Girlz

2009 Movie Poster Preview

Screengrab 2009 Preview: Andrew Osborne’s Picks

Screengrab Review: "Just Another Love Story"

Sarah Clyne Sundberg — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:28:00 GMT

Do you ever wonder if certain Scandinavian movies get on the U.S. arthouse circuit simply by virtue of being Scandinavian? The Danish title of this thriller translates literally to "Love in the Movies". Danish writer and director Ole Bornedal kicks off his movie by three clips advertised as "love scenes." In quick succession: One, a dying man, Jonas (Anders W. Berthelsen) lies in the rain as a howling woman kneels over him; Two, the same couple attempt nookie in their matrimonial bed, but fail; Three, a near-naked sexy young couple in a third-world hotel room. The woman, Julia (Rebecka Hemse) is about to shoot her boyfriend through the chest. No lack of passion there.

Next thing we know Julia is back in Denmark, in a car speeding along a highway. She is on the run from traumatic events that transpired in Southeast Asia. Jonas and his wife meanwhile are in their car, with their two kids safely strapped into their seats in the back. Then, Wham! Jonas and family narrowly escape death as Julia's speeding car misses them by an inch and explodes into another car just in front of them. Julia lives, but ends up blind and in a coma. Meet-cute.

Jonas can't get Julia out of his mind. He visits her in the hospital where her family believes he is the boyfriend Julia met in Southeast Asia. Jonas goes along with them on this and starts spending all his free time at her bedside. He becomes obsessed with her. A young woman in a coma is infinitely more thrilling than the wife, kids and mortgage back home, after all.

So it goes. The femme fatale attracts the middle-aged family man. Fragmented memories of the love-of-her-life abusive former boyfriend hover. This can't end well. Peril comes to Europe, from the East. Could this be the director's clever way of highlighting clichés in film? Perhaps, but likely not. Not a bad way to spend two hours, but Tarantino it ain't.

The Screengrab : Just Another Love Story

The Screengrab Highlight Reel: Dec. 27, 2008-Jan. 9, 2009

Screengrab Review: "Just Another Love Story"