FWIW, I don't expect to be handing out too many low ratings for the films that show up here simply because I try to be a little picky in my purchases. Similarly, I may not feel like writing a review for every single movie I see. I'll admit to getting burned on blind buys based on reviews from some of the other sites I've mentioned previously, but those are few and far between and hopefully I'll get a chance to address them soon too.
For starters:
"Adam's Apples"
This Danish comedy by Anders Thomas Jensen is an excellent and admittedly extremely dark take on the book of Job. Ivan (Mads Mikkelsen) is a priest with a life filled with pain and misfortune. His take on things is to ignore everything that happens to him and just claim that it's all a result of the Devil testing him because people aren't evil. His counterpoint is Adam (Ulrich Thomsen) a neo-Nazi sent to Ivan's church to complete his community service. Adam is frustrated by Ivan's refusal to accept the truth behind his circumstances. When given a choice of a task to complete before his service is up, Adam chooses to bake an apple pie ("cake" in my subtitles) from the apples on the tree in the church yard. Almost from the beginning, it appears that failure is imminent as birds begin to eat the apples. Meanwhile, he has to contend with the other community service residents, his fellow neo-Nazi gang members, and Ivan, as he learns about the meaning of faith and belief.I enjoyed this movie a lot overall. It provides a lot to think about on several levels although I can't recommend it to everyone due to the strong language and violence in several scenes. On a metaphysical level, it provides an interesting view of the story of Job (Ivan) -- is he actually being tested by the Devil or punished by God, or is he just unlucky? The redemption of Adam is shown really well in several scenes as well -- Ivan provides a good witness in his life, although I can't say much for his preaching skills. I haven't seen any other films by Jensen though so I can't compare the spiritual content here with anything else he's done. It's certainly deeper in this sense than most of the other European films I've seen lately (and certainly the Danish ones).
8/10
The DVD I viewed is the Singaporean R3 version available online from MovieXclusive. It's sad to say that this film is not out on DVD in the US or UK even though the film came out back in 2005. The English subtitles were excellent although there were a couple spoken sentences that didn't receive subtitling -- an issue I've seen before on Singaporean releases, although I can't comment on how common it is. The Danish track is available in 2.0 or 5.1 DD and sounds excellent -- check out the storm scene in particular. The only extra however is the trailer.
If you choose to use this e-tailer, be warned -- I do recommend them for excellent selection and service, but the shipping is a little high to the US and you're best off picking up 5 or more DVDs at one time.
"Singapore Dreaming"
My primary experience with Singaporean films until now has been primarily commercial comedies such as those by Jack Neo ("I Not Stupid", "Home Run"). While they are excellent films and bring back a certain nostalgia for someone who grew up in SE Asia, they're not necessarily the same as the mature filmmaking styles that I'm trying to find in the area as well. Although there have been a number of other good movies released from Singapore, it's been very difficult until now to find good DVD releases of them (barring actually going to Singapore). Thankfully MovieXclusive did open their store - linked above - and I was able to pick up this new film as well as several older ones I hope to watch soon.Not as dark as "Adam's Apples" but still not a happy comedy as such, "Singapore Dreaming" takes a good look at the little island nation and what it takes to get ahead there -- as well as all the hot topic issues that have arisen over the past few years. Traffic, foreign maids, US degrees and public urination all get equal time in a very poignant family focused story. It's also a good picture of how money can cause more problems than it fixes.
7/10
The DVD here is excellent as well. There are a few additional extra features here including a "making of" section and some deleted scenes. Good DD 5.1 in "Singlish" with English subtitles. Don't look for this one in Amazon too soon either.
