Movie Review: Salem Witch Trials

Salem Witch Trials
Alliance Atlantis Communications, Spring Creek Productions, Canada, USA, 2002.

In 1691 the winter has been harsh and Indians are restless. Small Puritan colony in Salem has a fire. Annie Putnam (Katie Boland) is traumatized when her mother Anne (Kirstie Alley) gives birth to a dead baby for the third time. Anne is depressed by losing the babies and does not know what sin she has done. The villagers suspect that evil forces are causing the accidents. Thomas Putnam (Jay O. Sanders) supports a fanatic priest Samuel Parris (Henry Czerny) who is whipping the sin out of the villagers. Samuel's wife Elizabeth (Rebecca De Mornay) is ill. Stubborn and zealous Putnams and Walcotts have a feud with more liberal-minded and business-oriented Porters and Proctors. 

Rev. Samuel Parris and Elizabeth Parris (Rebecca De Mornay)

Thomas Putnam

Anne Putnam

As church won't help Anne, she asks help from Herbalist Bridget Bishop (Shannon Lawson) who is thought to be a witch. Annie sees them meet and gets a hysteric fit and barks like a dog. Previously she saw young William Proctor (David Christo) imitating birds (that was considered unnatural!) so her behaviour was caused by this and the religious stress.

Rebecca Nurse

Israel Porter

Tituba

Joseph Putnam (Zachary Bennett) wants to marry Lizzy Porter (Kristin Booth). Her father Israel Porter (Colin Fox) is in shipping business and accepts the marriage. Joseph is the half-brother of Thomas and Thomas opposes the marriage. Joseph presses Reverend Parris to enforce Puritanism and purge the unclean. Secretly Parris has hots for his Indian slave Tituba (Gloria Reuben) who is the nanny of family's daughter Betty (Elana Shilling) and her cousin Abigail Williams (Sophie Bennett). Tituba is also a fortune teller so that makes her suspicious. Young girls get hysterical so it must be the work of the Devil. The girls blame various villagers for practicing witchcraft. Witch trials are organized to save the village. Not even everybody's pious friend Rebecca Nurse (Shirley MacLaine) is safe from the accusations. Witchfinders Increase Mather (Heinar Pillar) and William Stroughton (Peter Ustinov) arrive to conduct the trial. Scientifically oriented Governor Phips (Alan Bates) has his doubts about the validity of the trial. Thomas Putnam is a professional complainer and many of the accused are his opponents but the Governor is not interested in questioning the religious folks. Twenty villagers are hanged and more are imprisoned.

William Stroughton

Loveless village and oppressive religion probably caused the psychiatric symptoms of the village children and some acted like possessed to gain attention. It has also been suggested that poisonous alkaloid producing ergot-fungi poisoned rye and caused the hallucinations and convulsions of some of the "possessed." The fungus explanation is actually vaguely hinted in one scene. The paranoid atmosphere gave Porters an opportunity to get rid of their political opponents and sexual frustrations and fanaticism of Parris helped to fuel the accusations. There is a film "Crucible" made of the topic, that is more focused on the girls and the trial. "Crucible" was based on Arthur Miller's play that combined Salem's history with an allegory of McCarthy's communist hunts in the 1950s. The mini-series goes deeper into the historic explanations of tensions in the village. "Salem Witch Trials" seems more historically accurate although it has also taken some artistic liberties.

It has good actors and a powerful story about one of the darkest moments in American history. Perhaps the most strongest performances are from Kirstie Alley, as Tom Putnam's wife, who overcomes her superstitions begins to see the real reasons behind the witch hunt and from Shirley MacLaine who finds her own version of religion. Peter Ustinov is also great in one of his last roles. If there is something to complain it is the bad special effects happening in the first few minutes.

Rating: Very good

Starring: Kirstie Alley, Henry Czerny, Gloria Reuben, Jay O. Sanders, Kristin Booth, Katie Boland, Alan Bates, Rebecca De Mornay, Peter Ustinov, Shirley MacLaine, Shannon Lawson, Colin Fox, Camille Wainwright, David Hemblen, Susan Coyne, Nadia Litz, Dixie Seatle, Zachary Bennett, Bradley Reid, Tannis Burnett, Sophie Bennett, Elana Shilling, Amy Stewart, Mairon Bennett, Marisa McIntyre, Sarah Kanter, Nancy Beatty, Tabitha Lupien, Megan Bower, Jackie Laidlaw, Nicky Guadagni, David Christo, Cara Pifko, Hannah Lochner, Linda Prystawska, Arlene Mazerolle, Desmond Ellis, Heinar Pillar, Irene Poole, Adrian Hough, Lindsay Collins, Julian Richings, Chris Benson, Philip Sheperd, Aron Tager, Anne Anglin, Tom Bishop, Anne Page, Tammy Isbell, Paulette Sinclair, Oliver Becker, Araby Lockhart, Jean Daigle, Ned Vukovic, John Watson, Valerie Boyle, Bill Lake, Scotty Cook, Jim Feather, Ken Kramer, Sheldon Yamkovy, Clyde Whitham, Maggie Blake, Sally Clelford, Jason Sharman 

Director: Joseph Sargent

Movie Review: Maleficent

Maleficent

Roth Films, Walt Disney Pictures, USA, UK, 2014.

Young fairy girl Maleficent (Isobelle Molloy) lives in peaceful fairyland of Moors. Young boy Stefan (Michael Higgins) tries to steal a jewel but he steals Maleficent's heart instead. When Stefan (Sharlto Copley) grows up he becomes ambitious and forgets Maleficent. King Henry (Kenneth Cranham) starts a war against the fairies. Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) and the elves fight back and drive away the humans. Stefan wants to be the next king so he betrays Maleficent. Stefan gets the princess and the kingdom. Maleficent grows bitter and wants revenge. 

Young Maleficent

Maleficent

Stefan

When Princess Aurora is born three amusingly inept fairies (Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple) bring gifts to her. Maleficent crashes the party and casts the Sleeping Beauty- curse. What then happens is quite different than in the original story. The three fairies raise Aurora but actually it is Maleficent and her raven Diaval (Sam Riley) who protect the child Aurora from hurting herself until the curse can take its place. When getting to know Aurora (Elle Fanning) better Maleficent wants to cancel the curse but it is already too late. 

Aurora

Thistletwit, Knotgrass and Flittle

Diaval and Maleficent

Reinterpretation of "Sleeping Beauty" is a charming fairy tale that makes an interesting twist to the well-known story. It is something Tim Burton could have made on his best days. The strongest role is Angelina Jolie's who ranges from wounded brave warrioress to mischievous evil witch to compassionate godmother. She is absolutely great and steals the show. The other actors do their best but are mainly supporting actors to Jolie's show. King Stefan becomes a Macbethian lunatic and Aurora is a sweet princess. The tone goes very emotional without forgetting humoristic reliefs obviously from the goofy three fairies but also dead-pan mirth from the raven-dude. It gives a good background story and motivation for one of the classic Disney villains, and also an alternative view of what happened. In the Disney style the fairyland has a population of happy and cute little creatures but also bigger and scarier creatures. It was also great how the bright and happy fantasy land turned darker when the curse was set. The effects are on par of the fantasy movie standard that "Lord of the Rings" has set, and so far it goes that couple of the wood fairies look like Ents. I also liked Lana Del Rey's version of "Once Upon a Dream" in the end.

Wood fairy

Rating: Very good

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Sam Riley, Brenton Thwaites, Kenneth Cranham, Sarah Flind, Hannah New, Isobelle Molloy, Michael Higgins, Ella Purnell, Jackson Bews, Angus Wright, Oliver Maltman, Gary Cargill, John O'Toole, Harry Attwell, Anthony May, James Hicks, Stephan Chase, Mark Caven, Chris Leaney, Jamie Maclachlan, Shaun Smith, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, Eleanor Worthington-Cox, John Macmillan, Tim Treloar, Peter G. Reed, Marama Corlett, Liam McKenna, Steven Cree, Janet McTeer 

Director: Robert Stromberg 

Movie Review: Kiki's Delivery Service (2014)

Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo no takkyûbin) (2014) 

Being, D.N. Dream Partners, Edko Films, Kadokawa, Kinoshita Komuten, Kodama Printing, Nippon Television Network, Oricon, Studio3, Toei Company, Yomiuri Shimbun, Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, Japan, China, 2014. 

Based on the novel by Eiko Kadono (unfortunately the English translations are either sold out or cost an arm and leg). 

Thirteen year old witch-girl Kiki (Fûka Koshiba) must leave home and live one year among normal people. So Kiki and talking cat Jiji move into a small island village. She gets a temporary housing at Osono's (Machiko Ono) and Fukuo's (Hiroshi Yamamoto) bakery. Kiki starts a delivery service that has a bad start as the village kids and grumpy inventor boy Tombo (Ryōhei Hirota) only want to see the witch fly. Not until after doing a job for perky laundry shop owner Sumire (Yo Yoshida) the villagers become interested in the delivery service. Kiki meets also a singer Takara Kami (Yuri) who has lost her will to sing. 

Kiki and Jiji

Osono and Fukuo (at background)

Sumire's laundry shop

Kiki delivers the packages and everything seems fine. When little hippo Maruko falls ill zookeeper Nazuru (Hirofumi Arai) blames the witch. Kiki gets depressed and loses her flying ability. But Kiki's friends still believe in Kiki and help her to regain her self-confidence.

Takara Kami

Maruko

Studio Ghibli made a classic anime about the same story in 1989 with Hayao Miyazaki. It is quite unfair to compare the live action film with the anime as the both films have enough differences to make them frrl like different stories although the original source is the same. Even if it was an adaptation of the anime it would still be one of the better ones. The starting point and the structure of the story are the same but the struggles Kiki goes through have different reasons and many characters are different than in the anime. Most crucial difference is that in the anime version Kiki temporarily lost her powers due artist's block and regains them when he must save Tombo. In the live action film the reason is more dramatic as she loses her skills because people are cruel to her and unjustly accuse her for being an evil witch. It is a growing-up story where Kiki must remember what she wants to be and also learn that she can not please everyone. Although the main characters are older than the characters they are performing, the casting of Fûka Koshiba is well-made and she has got the character of Kiki right with right amount of spunkiness and optimism. Ryōhei Hirota as Tombo does not speak much but makes his character interesting through his gestures that slowly make him the friend of Kiki. The live action version is a nice and colourful children's movie, not as masterpiece as the anime version but generally pleasant and nice interpretation of Kadano's stories.

Tombo

The director of the film, Takashi Shimizu, is more known for being a horror director, Ju-On The Grudge- series being the most well known in the West. Although being out of character as a children movie director, there is nothing to complain. It is still hard to believe it is the work of director of "Ju-On" when you watch the bright-coloured and cute story.

Tadanobu Asano, known for many Japanese films such as Zatoichi (2003), Gohatto and  Lupin III (2014), appears as veterinarian Dr. Ishi.

Dr. Ishi

Rating:Good

Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Rie Miyazawa, Machiko Ono, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Fûka Koshiba, Minako Kotobuki, Miho Kanazawa, Michitaka Tsutsui, Miki Hayashida, Ryohei Hirota, Misato Shimizu, LiLiCo, Yo Yoshida, Hirofumi Arai, Yuri, Kirato Wakayama, Suzuko Hara, Fukiko Hara 

Director: Takashi Shimizu 

Shameless Pile Keeps on Growing: Anttila Bankruptcy Sales

The Finnish department store chain Anttila (and Kodin Ykkönen that was related to it) went bankrupt in July 2016. It is sad because a big part of Finnish commercial history is lost forever and also several jobs. It was a good place to buy movies, electronics music and household goods. It is not the first time there is a clearance sale as Anttila closed its stores in Turku 2014, but reopened in May 2016 with new ownership. It did not survive much longer after that. Despite all the gloom, there have been good opportunities to make cheap finds from the clearance sale (again). My wallet hurts.

Here is some of my loot from the sales during the last two months. Not included here is the box of DVDs (including The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition and a bunch of Finnish classic movies) that got stuck in the warehouse when the bankrupty was declared, although I got it later.

First some various items:

Slippers (no, my shoe size is not 44, but this size was the most comfortable), 6A and 20A fuses, Excellent Houseware lunch box with cooling element, Playmobil® Scientist with a hoverboard and a Playmobil® Knight with steel boxing gloves. Roll of Kodin Ykkönen stickers because why not.

DVDs:
TV shows, scifi, horror and some drama

Downton Abbey Complete Series with extras (I got some of the seasons already but this was cheaper than buying the rest individually) , Silicon Valley Seasons 1-2, Jouko Turkka's Kiimaiset Poliisit (Horny Policemen, not porn but a *very* unconventional cop show), Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul Season 1, Gotham Season 1, Lake Placid vs Anaconda, Poltergeist (remake), The Forest, The Revenant, Curve, Night Visions Scary Fun Box (Bad Biology, Stitches, Chop), Burning Wheels Box (Closer to the Edge, Bensaa suonissa a.k.a Gas in the Veins, Two-Lane Blacktop, The Doom Generation, Rubber), Outpost 37, Zoolander No. 2, Mika Kaurismäki's Tyttökuningas (The Girl King), Leviathan, Halo The Fall of Reach. 

Comedy, animations, action and more TV-shows:

The X-Files Event Series, Good Cop vs Bad Cop Box (Evidence, Verso, Saigon, Maniac Cop, Sinners and Saints), Strangerland, Straight Outta Compton, Michael Bay's 13 Hours The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, Helix Season 2 (I don't have the first season), Get Santa, Hotel Transsylvania 2, Kung Fu Panda 3, Shaolin The Most Spectacular Live Kung Fu Show of the Year, stop-motion film Anomalisa, Ricki And the Flash, Ted 2, Shameless Seasons 1-3.

CDs:
Mainly heavy metal, schlager and old rock 'n' roll

Kaikkien aikojen tanssiorkesterit (Finnish dance bands & schlager music), Symhony X: Underworld, classic jazz Ella & Louis: The Complete Anthology, Progressive Rock Box Set, Nile: At the Gates of Sethu, Children of Bodom: I Worship Chaos, Holy Grail: Ride the Void, Hammerfall: (r)Evolution,
Martti Servo & Napander: Kestävällä pohjalla (Finnish humoristic schlager), Stig: Stig, Suomi Kantri (Finnish Country music), Re-Machined Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head, Fast & Furious 40 Cuts of Cool Cars, Crazy Cats & Cruising, Awolnation: Megalithic Symphony,
Shava: Langaton yhteys (Finnish Bhangra, really!), Halloween Music from the Dark Side (with Radiohead, Kate Bush and Talking Heads), The Best of Horror 75 Original Horror Favourites (lots of horror themed rock 'n' roll and novelty songs), Damien Rice: O, Volbeat: Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie, Kylie: The Abbey Road Sessions.

Movie Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Saturn Films, Broken Road Productions, Junction Entertainment, USA, 2010.

Merlin's apprentice Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) wages an eternal war against evil. Evil witch Morgana (Alice Krige) gains the spell to raise undead. Balthazar captures Morgana in a matryoshka doll along with good sorceress Veronica (Monica Bellucci) and begins searching for Merlin's successor. Young Dave (Jake Cherry) finds Balthazar's magic shoppe and accidentally frees evil sorcerer Horvath (Alfred Molina). Then both of the sorcerers end up in a pot. The accident makes Dave seem like a freak in front of the other kids.

Balthazar

Dave

Becky

Ten years later Dave (Jay Baruchel) is a science geek specializing in the use of Tesla coils. He meets his childhood's love Becky (Teresa Palmer) who now hosts a radio show. The sorcerers jump out from the urn and both of them begin to search for Dave, it is a kind of a bad Terminator and a good Terminator style situation. Dave and Balthazar must find the doll before Horvarth can free the baddies. And in no time the sorcerers are causing a ruckus in Chinatown. Balthazar begins to train Dave, but Dave's romance with Becky distracts him. Horvath also recruits a stage magician Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell) as his sidekick. Not surprisingly Dave must get over his insecurities, save the world and get the girl.

Horvath

Drake Stone

I see faces!

As Disney nowadays often makes reinterpretations of its classic animations, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is a spiritual successor of one of "Fantasia's" segments. Dave casts spells to clean up his lab just as Mickey Mouse did and the consequences are the same. This was a collaboration of Bruckheimer's studio and Disney so this is close to the "National Treasure" movies that means having special effects laden adventure with family friendly humour. It is okay family fun although it is a bit darker than let's say for example  "Enchanted". Nicolas Cage is surprisingly reined in here, and does not have really weird moments. Except that this is one of his funny hair movies and his hair is only slightly shorter than in "Con Air." Basically it is an okay middle-of-the-road fantasy adventure but not much classic material can be seen here.

Ian McShane is the uncredited Narrator. Special effects by Asylum. Obs! Not The Asylum!

Rating: Average

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Toby Kebbell, Omar Benson Miller, Monica Bellucci, Alice Krige, Jake Cherry, James A. Stephens, Gregory Woo, Wai Ching Ho, Jason R. Moore, Robert Capron, Peyton List, Sándor Técsy, Marika Daciuk, Nicole Ehinger, Adriane Lenox, Ethan Peck, Manish Dayal, Oscar A. Colon, Joe Lisi, William Devlin, Victor Cruz, Melissa Gallagher, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Brandon Gill, Henry Yuk, Jordan Johnston, Izuchukwu Mozie, Amit Soni, Maha Chehlaoui, Adria Baratta, Rosie Moss, Ian Alda Director: Jon Turteltaub

Movie Review: Bewitched (2005)

Bewitched (2005)
Columbia Pictures Corporation, Red Wagon Entertainment USA, 2005.

Based on the 1960s-1970s sitcom with the same name.

This is the second film where Nicole Kidman plays a witch. This time she is Isabel Bigelow who moves to San Fernando Valley to find a husband. Meanwhile hopeless movie star Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrell) needs a big hit or else he becomes a has-been. The studio is filming a remake of "Bewitched" and they need someone to play Samantha. Isabel has a nose for the job so she gets the job. In the series Jack will play her husband Darrin and Iris Smythson (Shirley MacLaine) plays her mother. 

Isabel Bigelow

Jack Wyatt

However Jack is in the middle of divorce and career crisis and desperate to boost his career with the series so he tries to take the credit all for himself. It breaks Isabel's heart. So Isabel, Aunt Clara (Carole Shelley) and two non-witch friends Maria (Kristin Chenoweth) and Nina (Heather Burns) cast spells to teach humility to Jack. The spells cause a mess so the best way for Isabel is to try using non-magical means to put Jack into his place.

Maria and Nina

The original "Bewitched" is a series I have wanted to see but I never have had a chance to see although some episodes were shown in Finnish television sometimes in early 2000s. This is not a remake but rather a meta-level interpretation that has something in common with "Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt" where the roles and reality were also amusingly mixed. Many of the fans expecting a reboot of the original show were disappointed. However the story does tribute to the original series.

In "Practical Magic" Kidman was a flirty witch, here she is an innocent witch. Hilarity ensues as Isabel tries to learn living among normal people and using home appliances. Will Ferrell does reliable job again as a pompous star. He seems to have some improvised scenes as often is his style. Storywise it goes as romantic comedies usually go but has a nice retro-feeling as in 50s- or 60s-comedies. It is often quite silly film, but good natured, cute and cheery.

Michael Caine appears as Isabel's dad Nigel who appears when you least expect him and Steve Carell as Uncle Arthur.

Nigel

Rating: Good

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Jason Schwartzman, Kristin Chenoweth, Heather Burns, Jim Turner, Stephen Colbert, David Alan Grier, Michael Badalucco, Carole Shelley, Steve Carell, Katie Finneran, James Lipton, Conan O'Brien, Amy Sedaris, Richard Kind, Ken Hudson Campbell, P.J. Byrne, Carole Androsky, Annie Mumolo, Andrew Friedman, Clay Bravo, Heather Maristella, Jonathan T. Floyd, Ed McMahon, Alison MacInnis, Bridget Brno, Dana Daurey, Dorie Barton, Katie Carroll, Jennifer Elise Cox, Laura Sorenson, Brittany Krall, Dawn Ashley Cook, Julia Decker, Abbey McBride, Jennifer Hall, Roxanne Beckford, Hugh Davidson, Joe Zymblosky, J.J. Sacha, Susan Chuang, Jordan Black, Mo Rocca, Jason George, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Julie Claire, TL Savage, Dianne Dreyer, Kate Walsh, Valerie Azlynn, Jarrad Paul, Victor Williams, Liesel Staubitz, Ruby Rose Skotchdopole, Molly Gordon, Nick Lachey 

Director: Nora Ephron

Movie Review: Practical Magic

Practical Magic
DiNovi Pictures, Fortis Films, Stargate Studios, Village Roadshow Pictures, Warner Bros., USA, 1998. 

Based on Alice Hoffman's novel. 

The women of Owens family have been witches for centuries. The villagers have always feared them. Due to a curse the men of the family die young. Mother of Sally and Gillian died of broken heart after their father died so the orphaned girls went to live with their aunts Jet (Dianne Wiest) and Frances (Stockard Channing). There they learned spellcasting. Romantic Sally (Sandra Bullock) fears that her future husband will die so she does not want to fall in love and wishes for a man who can not exist but fate has other plans. Gillian (Nicole Kidman) is more adventurous and travels around the world partying and having fun. 

Sally

Gillian

Sally marries apple salesman Michael (Mark Feuerstein) and has two daughters. Michael dies in an accident and Sally gets depressed. Gillian has an aggressive lover Jimmy (Goran Visnjic) and she escapes him to go to comfort Sally. Sally abandons witching and opens a herb shop. Gillian's nasty boyfriend causes problems and abuses Gillian so the sisters accidentally kill him. Oopsy daisy! The sisters try to resurrect him using necromancy and Jimmy returns as a vengeful zombie. They have to kill him again but he does not want to remain dead. Also nice cop Gary Hallet (Aidan Quinn) pops in to ask questions about Jimmy. 

Jimmy

Gary

Romantic fantasy drama with two beautiful actresses is a film that has potential to be enjoyable. However the direction is all over the place. The story can not decide if it wants to be romantic drama or horror comedy or murder mystery. The parts do not fit seamlessly and therefore it is not great in any category. The condensation of the novel seems to leave several plot threads loose and unraveled. Some scenes come from nowhere and their importance to the overall story is vague. The ending feels rushed with all too easy solutions. Suddenly the villagers just accept the witches after centuries of hostility. There is some good drama and fun scenes, the actors are wonderful and they have good screen chemistry. But the overall mix has too many lumps to make it go down smooth.

There's a little witch in every woman!

Rating: Average 

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, Goran Visnjic, Aidan Quinn, Evan Rachel Wood, Alexandra Artrip, Mark Feuerstein, Caprice Benedetti, Annabella Price, Camilla Belle, Lora Anne Criswell, Margo Martindale, Chloe Webb, Martha Gehman, Lucinda Jenney, Cordelia Richards, Mary Gross, Jack Kirschke, Herta Ware, Ellen Geer, Courtney Dettrich, John McLeod, Trevor Duncan, Colby Cochran, Caitlyn Holley, Ken Serratt Jr., Rich Sickler, Jeanne Robinson, Deborah Kancher, Peter Shaw, Caralyn Kozlowski
Director: Griffin Dunne