The Snowman

 tags: mystery-crime, Norwegian, serial killer



Book description from Goodreads

Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier in the day. Around its neck is his mother’s pink scarf.

Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he’s received and the disappearance of Jonas’s mother—and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised—and constantly revised—by the killer.

Fiercely suspenseful, its characters brilliantly realized, its atmosphere permeated with evil, The Snowman is the electrifying work of one of the best crime writers of our time.

A movie apparently will be made based on this chilling novel and fans started an online discussion as to who will be best to play Harry. Their number one choice is the Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård. The movie is originally to be directed by IMHO the most overrated director, Martin Scorsese. I didn't like the idea because he might cast his favorite actor, Leonardo diCaprio as Harry *I shudder at the thought*. Thankfully Scorsese is replaced by Norwegian director, Tomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In) and I hope the producers and director will resist the urge to cast a bankable but "short-in-stature" American actor as Harry Hole.

Let's take a look at Harry's statistics and the only 2 actors that are almost perfect to play him:

Harry Hole
Norwegian

age in The Snowman: almost 40 (born in 1963)

height: 6 feet 2 inches

eye color: blue

hair color: blonde

Trond Espen Seim
Norwegian
43 years old
height: 6 feet 2 inches

eye color: blue

hair color: blonde

I vote yes yes yes to Trond. He may be a few years older but he has the correct height, eyes, and hair. He also has acting credentials as a police detective playing the Norwegian P.I. Varg Veum.  

 

Alexander Skarsgård
Swede
38 years old
height: 6 feet 4 inches

eye color: blue green

hair color: light brown

My second choice. Although Alexander is nearer Harry's age, he's much too pretty and too tall.

Two Korean Movies - The Pirates AND Kundo: The Age Of The Rampant

Korean movies currently streaming on Netflix and Amazon.

The Pirates

tags: period action and comedy


Brief description from Amazon.com

On the eve of the founding of the Joseon Dynasty, an unprecedented robbery shocks the nation-in-waiting: a whale has swallowed the Emperor's Royal Seal, and a bounty placed on its retrieval. Now, every infamous gang of thieves, thugs, pirates, and government agents take to the seas, battling the elements, creatures of the deep, and each other to possess the mother of all rewards.

Kundo: Age Of The Rampant

tags, period action, comedy, and drama

from wikipedia

The year is 1862. The late Joseon dynasty was a period of social and economic unrest in Korea, and it was also a time of great tyranny. Due to continuous natural disasters and poor harvests, poverty, hunger and death are rampant. The aristocracy rule the country and, concerned only with their own wealth, they exploit and persecute the poor.In these turbulent times, a band of fighters named Kundo rise against the authorities. They raid corrupt officials, then share their booty with the vulnerable and impoverished. While the king stands powerless against them, Kundo becomes a figure of fear to undeserving nobles, and a ray of hope in the lives of long-suffering citizens. The members of Kundo believe that their cause is more important than their own lives.

Highlight: final battle between the butcher [wielding two large meat cleavers] and a master swordsman. 

The Vanishing Game

 tags:  adventure, mystery, short story, travelogue-ish

A down-on-his luck actor is paired with a weather-battered Land Rover Defender on a seemingly innocuous courier job. But some things are too good to be true and this innocent journey quickly unfolds into a dangerous plot with a shadowy cast of characters.

William Boyd was commissioned by Land Rover to write a novella. The Vanishing Game is the result. He was reportedly paid a low six-figure sum according to the Guardian interview.

He told the Guardian that despite the payout he had "total liberty to invent but it would be nice if Land Rover was mentioned" and in the 17,000-word story the character, Alec Dunbar, drives a Land Rover Defender.

"It was a most intriguing job to be asked to do. I would recommend it to any novelist, if they got the chance," he said. "Novelists have always written to commission, for example Charles Dickens. If I was approached to write a Batman movie I would assume it would have to feature Batman. There's really no difference in this case."

Boyd admitted he had "no idea how I'll be viewed" but added that he didn't "really care, to be honest". 

I've read 4 William Boyd novels. The Blue Afternoon is my favorite. I'm a bit conflicted with this very very short story. It is interesting and well-written but the ending is vague and left me wondering. I think it's still worth an hour of my time though.

If you have an hour, or 45 minutes if you're a fast reader, to spare, you can read/watch it at thevanishinggame, or download the ebook format with several photos to your device for free from Amazon.

The Dark Valley (Das Finstere Tal)

tags: drama, German language (Tyrolean), late 19th century, mystery, revenge, Western

Description fron Amazon

A lone rider arrives in a small high mountain village; nobody knows where he is from and nobody wants him there. Greider introduces himself as a photographer from America, and the town patriarch, Old Brenner, provides him with shelter for the harsh winter ahead. The village cut off by snowfall and barely a ray of sunlight reaching the valley, a tragic accident leads to the death of one of Brenners beloved sons. When another son is mysteriously killed, it is clear this is not a coincidence, and this visitor carries a secret with him.

I was wowed by this dark Austrian/Dutch/Italian produced vendetta film from the first frame to the end credits. I watched it not having seen any American westerns, although I've seen several times the spaghetti western Django with Franco Nero, one of my favorite shoot-em-up movies. 

The movie is deliberately slow to build with concise dialog but everything is done on purpose for the atmospheric feel and story. The cinematography is simply breathtaking. The alps is beautiful as the backdrop to the rustic village setting and the dark clothing of the inhabitants. Acting is top-notch too, specially the lead, English actor Sam Riley as Greider. Although it's easy to guess who Greider is and his motive, I was surprised as to the evil person's reason for his crime against his victims. I enjoyed this movie very much and will watch it again. 

Currently streaming on Netflix and Amazon

Highly recommended in German with English subtitles. English dubbed is also available but the voice actors sound cartoonish and unnatural.

BMX Bandits

tags: Australian, comedy, rewinding the 80s

Product Description from Amazon

The future Academy Award® winner made her movie debut at 16 years old as the pouffy-haired star of this action/comedy about a cache of stolen walkie-talkies, three BMX-riding friends, and the ruthless bank robbers who will pursue them through every graveyard, shopping mall, construction site and waterpark in New South Wales, Australia. It's a high-flying ride to adventure filled with wild stunts, cool BMX outfits, creepy innuendo, cheezy synth music, an obnoxious fat kid, and gobs of fast & furious fun. John Ley (Mad Max), David Argue (Razorback) and Bryan Marshall (The Long Good Friday) co-star with thrilling cinematography from future Oscar® winner John Seale (The English Patient) in this Down Under 80s cult classic from Ozsploitation master Brian Trenchard-Smith, the legendary director of Turkey Shoot, Dead End Drive-In and Stunt Rock! 

16 year old Nicole Kidman and her wild pouffy hair

I have never been a fan of Nicole Kidman and have seen just a handful of her earlier movies [I honestly can't recall which ones] but not this way back when she was just 16, prebotox and ice queen persona. 

It's not a bad movie at all. It's kinda cheesy and there are none of the amazing Travis Pastrana stunts but I enjoyed it a lot. Nicole's stunt double is obviously a man which distracts a bit but over-all the movie is better and more watchable than what is being produced lately by Hollywood.

Currently streaming on Netflix and Amazon

Highly recommended 

Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead

tags: comedy, horror, zombies

Summary from Wikipedia

Continuing from where the previous film ended, Martin wakes up in a hospital after crashing his car while trying to escape from Colonel Herzog after finding one of the Colonel's coins in his car and placed under arrest when the police suspected that he killed his friends, laughing off the zombie explanation. The arm he sawed off to halt a bite infection has been replaced, but he discovers it’s Herzog’s undead limb that’s been attached to his missing appendage. He then escapes from the hospital and his zombified arm kills a police officer. Martin soon realizes that Herzog is coming back for revenge. The gruesome Nazi Zombies are back to finish some 70-year-old business: completing Hitler’s order to wipe out an entire town in retaliation for Norwegian anti-Axis subterfuge. However, Martin is not willing to die yet. En route, he gains variably competent allies in Glenn, a gay staffer at a local WWII museum, and the self-styled “Zombie Squad”, a trio of nerdy American siblings who've been waiting and preparing for the zombie invasion that popular media has taught them will surely come. Things improve a bit once Martin (whose zombie arm suddenly arbitrarily starts helping the good guys) manages to revive a troop of Russian POWs executed by the Nazis for the final battle against Colonel Herzog and his Nazi Zombie battalion.

Sequels are usually inferior to the first installment but in this case, the second is better. It is the best zom-com movie, better than Shaun of the Dead with more laugh-out-loud scenes. The movie is filmed entirely in English, has the same amount, if not more blood, gore, and spilled guts. It's really hilarious with its in-your-face politically incorrect scenes: everyone getting blown to pieces including the elderly and babies, zombies killing a wheelchair-bound guy; no one is spared. Quoting the policeman watching the battle scene: "It looks like a video game." Oh, and I really like the gross-sweet ending too.

Currently streaming on Netflix and Amazon. Watch the first one before viewing the sequel.

Multiple viewing is highly recommended for zombie movie fans.

John Wick and The Equalizer

Ugly and Ugly

Negatives:
Both movies have
>clichéd dialog and story lines
>"retired" protagonists compelled to come out of retirement
>ageing actors are embarrassingly unfit, they move slowly like molasses during hand-to-hand fights
>overrated directors
>extremely annoying music

Positives:
Zero

Not recommended.