creekdipper

Just saw this on Film Fest Channel (available in the "Free Movies" category on the Charter "On Demand" selections).

Story is simple (no spoilers needed): 38-yr-old painfully shy bodybuilder lives with his mom but is looking for love. That's all you need to know.

Nice lead performance by real-life bodybuilder Kim Kold. Danish; subtitled; directed by Mads Matthieson.

Highly recommended (if Rotten Tomatoes is your thing, it got a 93% approval rating from critics & 83% from audience). I usually ignore RT ratings now since so many professional "critics" allow their personal biases & political views to overshadow any claim to objectivity, but I think they're right about this one (no politics or social commentary involved).

If you do see it on Film Fest On Demand, it's still available on Charter until Jan. 31 (tomorrow) at 11:59 PM. They also have an 18-minute short titled "Dennis" featuring the same character in a similar situation. You can watch it first & it just sets up the longer (1 hr. 39) movie without spoiling anything or showing the same events. It seems more like a short subject or student film or maybe a test run to show investors to get the $ to make the actual film & to prove that Kold has onscreen presence (aside from his hulking figure).

EinCB

Thanks for bringing this film up. It's available on Netflix as well. I'll catch this later.

Dan

Tell me, how do you feel about ethics in movie reviews?

majorjoe23

Criticism and objectivity don't really work together.

Mabuse

Is it a horror movie?

creekdipper

Just in case you were being serious, mabuse, it's a drama (for the general theme, think Marty).

What I meant by "objectivity" is not allowing one's personal preferences (re: genres, themes, etc.) to get in the way of actually judging the quality of a film. For a recent (extreme) example, a Boston Globe reporter cited another professional "review" of American Sniper in which the "critic" admitted that he hadn't seen the film but was only judging by the trailer. If we're reducing "film criticism" to the level of personal preferences & biases, why shouldn't that particular "review" be valid? Heck, why even watch the trailer? Why not just say, "I don't like war films...any war films...so I'm giving this film a bad review." I saw a review of "Fury" that expressed pretty much that idea.

I've seen lots of good movies...and tons of bad ones. By "bad", I mean unconvincing acting, confusing editing, poor cinematography, cheesy or derivative score, incoherent plot, etc. Unintentionally bad...and not even "so bad it's good." And I've seen films that I wanted to be better (because they were adapting a favorite book, had a "message" with which I agreed, etc...but still were "bad" due to things that hurt the movie in ways in which most viewers would agree. I've seen movies that had actors I didn't care for, were about things I didn't care for, were directed by people whose personal lives I ddn't care for, etc...yet were still well-made movies. I may not have personally cared for the movie, but I would still say that it would be really enjoyed by its target audience.

I'm seeing more & more reviews that get horrible reviews because they're not the critic's cup of tea...or because they espouse a message the reviewer hates. With some, I could understand a lukewarm or even slightly negative review due to being a bit on the bland side or not having the biggest of budgets. But to call some of those "a failure in every aspect of film making" (an actual quote) which relegates the film to MST3000 fare is not what I want from a review. When over 80% of the audience who respond enjoy the movie and less than 10% of the reviewers approve, there's a pretty big discrepancy...especially when the reviewers project their own hysterical views upon the film, attack the film because it didn't show the viewpoint the reviewer would have (actual sentiments), and otherwise judge the movie for what it isn't rather than what they see...that makes the "review" worthless.

Many movies regarded as world masterpieces don't appeal to all audiences, but that doesn't mean that the movie is "bad." If a person rejects a movie, for instance, because "I don't like westerns", wouldn't you call that an unprofessional review? A publication probably wouldn't assign an opera critic the job of reviewing a thrash metal band (or vice-verse)...for good reason. Otherwise, just send a five-year-old to watch "The Virgin Spring"; if he/she gets bored, let them assign a bad score to the movie.

The idea that "objectivity" and "creativity" are inherently opposed would logically make all review worthless since there would be no recognized standards by which to judge. And that would be just foolish, as though there are no criteria that can objectively be used to judge how well the artist has achieved his/her objective. Then the only use for reviewers would be for people to (over time) recognize which "critics" share the same taste as the audience member & exclusively read those reviews.

Mabuse

I wasn't joking. Your review said "That's all you need to know" like it was some kind of hush hush taboo thing or something.

Troy Stiffler

This thread was never about Teddy Bear, was it?

creekdipper

I was just trying to give the general one-line tease like what you see on a cable guide & not give away too much about the plot resolution. It's a well-acted little character study...nothing earth-shattering but should hold your attention. I literally wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but the writer/director did a good enough job that it would have been satisfying whichever way it went.

Sorry for the confusion...wasn't trying to be deliberately vague or misleading.

Yep, it was.

I regret getting off-track with the comment about RT; it was just a reaction that I had stuck in my head which should have been in a separate thread (and if the comments...which I inadvertently started above...continued, I was going to say that I needed to start a new thread about pet peeves re: current film criticism & keep the focus here on Teddy Bear). I should have just said that the movie got high marks from both critics & audiences & left it at that; for not doing so, I apologize.

So back to Teddy Bear...I think most here would really enjoy it. By the way, a lot of the movie is in English, even when the action moves to another (non-European) country.

Really like Kim Kold. Obviously, his size will limit his opportunities (but then, could open up others). He's got a great, expressive face and creates a lot of empathy for the character.

Just wondering if anyone else has seen the film & your reaction. It's part of the "Film Movement" series (that I used to pick up cheaply at Blockbuster PPV sales because nobody rented them).

TomOpus

Looking for love in all the wrong places.... or is it the RIGHT place? Hrmm

Solid Snake

Let me fucking put the trailer on here....

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-D9u23pKDq8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

looks interesting...

creekdipper

Thanks for posting that, Snake. Ironically, I have the movie recording right now & it was almost synched up with the opening scene in the trailer (which is the opening shot in the movie). The trailer does a good job of summarizing the main conflict without giving away anything. Don't expect lots of explosive scenes, but if you like good character studies, you'll like this one. Doesn't overstay its welcome, either, and cuts out the padding.

One really interesting thing to note about the main character (Dennis) is how awkward & inhibited he is in most social occasions, but how much he comes alive in the couple of scenes in which he is working out & "posing" in the gym or in front of the mirror.

The other actors do a nice job, too.

Film Fest Channel had a couple of good teasers for other films right before TB started. One was for a film starring Juliette Binoche about a war photographer (also had Nikolaus Coster-Waljau or whatever Jaime Lannister's actor's name is)...it looked good. But I was really intrigued by the trailer for a German "western" called The Dark Valley. Amazon customers gave it a really good rating, and I believe it was Germany's official foreign language entry to Academy Awards.