| "You can bet ya life on as it‘s going to be one hell of a deadly game!” |
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Funny Games
DVD/APPROX. 108 MINS/2007/USA MA15+
DVD/APPROX. 108 MINS/2007/USA MA15+
8
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German writer/director Michael Haneke decides to get behind the camera once again and do a complete shot to shot remake of one of his earlier
films Funny Games (1997). I guess with all the success of all these foreign movies getting the royal US makeover it’s probably the best time to
also start cashing in on the box office.
George (Tim Roth - Reservoir Dogs, Dark Water), Ann (Naomi Watts - King Kong, The Ring) and their young son Georgie (Devon Gearhart -
Weeds, Changeling) all head up to their lakeside vacation home for a little bit of rest and relaxation. Little do they know two psychopathic killers
named Peter (Brady Corbett - Thirteen, Thunderbirds) and Paul (Michael Pitt - Bully, The Village) who both look the part of the community by
wearing tennis shorts, white polo shirts, and white cotton gloves get their kicks out of psychologically terrorizing good hard working upper class
families into playing little mind games that end up costing their lives. Peter and Paul first introduce themselves as friends of the next door
neighbours. Peter politely asks Ann if it is ok for him to borrow 4 eggs. Ann is happy to help the young man out, but when he ‘accidentally’ drops
the eggs on the kitchen floor. Ann soon offers to give him another set of good eggs, with he then 'accidentally' bumps her cell phone into the sink
that is filled with water, which renders it completely useless. Once again he drops the eggs onto the floor and requests more eggs from Ann. Ann is
furious at this point as Paul has made his way to the house and demands Ann to give Peter some more eggs and they will leave the house quietly.
Ann tells the two young men to leave her house before she calls out to her husband and son who are currently down on the lake setting up his
sail boat. As George and Georgie return to the house they find Ann in a fit of rage and demanding Peter and Paul to both leave her house. This
sparks the two young strange men to begin playing their twisted Funny Games such as “You bet that you‘ll be alive tomorrow at 9:00am, and we
bet that you‘ll be dead. OK?” with all three family members.
Movie critics worldwide have either something good or bad to say about this movie. Most of them have not seen the original Funny Games (1997)
nor do they get what this movie is all about. Yes a lot of the scenes are all shot off camera, but how many Alfred Hitchcock movies also do the
same? It basically allows you the viewer to think what exactly you think is going on, which everyone can end up thinking differently at each
particular scene. Sometimes you will find scenes like this intense and straight to the point making your skin crawl, and maybe at other times you
will just find it just plain annoying as you want to see what the hell was going on. I’m guessing with movies like this it can have a huge impact on
those who don’t like to see too much violence, heads being smashed in and blood being splattered all over the walls. And for those who enjoys
watching gory movies filled with violence, rape and torture every now and then it’s also good to sit down and to watch a psychological thriller that
is jammed packed with non-stop suspense keeping you on the edge of your seat right to the end of the rolling credits.
The acting throughout Funny Games was board line for me personally. I am a huge fan of Tim Roth as he done a fantastic job with his role in
Reservoir Dogs by playing Mr Orange. But sadly in Funny Games his performance wasn’t as top notched when comparing it to Reservoir Dogs. At
times I felt Roth was holding back with his character, I was just waiting for him to blow up and go completely off his nuts, instead he spent most of
his time confined to one spot. Naomi Watts who is without a doubt a remarkable and stunning actress stole the spotlight in Funny Games, as her
character broke every barrier you can ever imagine. Just when you thought an actress could push the boundaries Watt’s pushes it into a never
ending bliss of pure enjoyment. Actor Michael Pitt character was just plain annoying, though I can’t really say too much on this actor because I find
he is a very talented up and coming actor that is going to go a lot further than a lot of people give him credit for. It’s just a matter of landing the
perfect script that suites his acting abilities and in due time this young actor is going to end up taking out many golden globes.
The one thing that many of you might end up getting a tad bit annoyed with is the long continued shot segments when Peter and Paul are
chatting. Some scenes are shot up to about 3 to 4 minutes of them sitting in a room. Sometimes it felt like you were right in the room with them
and other times it can feel a little claustophobic making you want to fast forward certain scenes. But you can hold in and ride those certain scenes
out, well you’re going to be in for one hell of a cinematic ride.
Funny Games is a movie that many of you are going to either hate, love or simply enjoy watching just once in your lifetime. It is a movie that
everyone can find something amusing about, and get a couple cold chills when watching. For those of you who enjoy watching suspense thrillers
that don’t contain too much graphic content than this is right down your alley. Though for those who are looking for a full on blood soaked killer
flick, then you might want to try looking around for something else to fulfil your blood thirsty needs.
films Funny Games (1997). I guess with all the success of all these foreign movies getting the royal US makeover it’s probably the best time to
also start cashing in on the box office.
George (Tim Roth - Reservoir Dogs, Dark Water), Ann (Naomi Watts - King Kong, The Ring) and their young son Georgie (Devon Gearhart -
Weeds, Changeling) all head up to their lakeside vacation home for a little bit of rest and relaxation. Little do they know two psychopathic killers
named Peter (Brady Corbett - Thirteen, Thunderbirds) and Paul (Michael Pitt - Bully, The Village) who both look the part of the community by
wearing tennis shorts, white polo shirts, and white cotton gloves get their kicks out of psychologically terrorizing good hard working upper class
families into playing little mind games that end up costing their lives. Peter and Paul first introduce themselves as friends of the next door
neighbours. Peter politely asks Ann if it is ok for him to borrow 4 eggs. Ann is happy to help the young man out, but when he ‘accidentally’ drops
the eggs on the kitchen floor. Ann soon offers to give him another set of good eggs, with he then 'accidentally' bumps her cell phone into the sink
that is filled with water, which renders it completely useless. Once again he drops the eggs onto the floor and requests more eggs from Ann. Ann is
furious at this point as Paul has made his way to the house and demands Ann to give Peter some more eggs and they will leave the house quietly.
Ann tells the two young men to leave her house before she calls out to her husband and son who are currently down on the lake setting up his
sail boat. As George and Georgie return to the house they find Ann in a fit of rage and demanding Peter and Paul to both leave her house. This
sparks the two young strange men to begin playing their twisted Funny Games such as “You bet that you‘ll be alive tomorrow at 9:00am, and we
bet that you‘ll be dead. OK?” with all three family members.
Movie critics worldwide have either something good or bad to say about this movie. Most of them have not seen the original Funny Games (1997)
nor do they get what this movie is all about. Yes a lot of the scenes are all shot off camera, but how many Alfred Hitchcock movies also do the
same? It basically allows you the viewer to think what exactly you think is going on, which everyone can end up thinking differently at each
particular scene. Sometimes you will find scenes like this intense and straight to the point making your skin crawl, and maybe at other times you
will just find it just plain annoying as you want to see what the hell was going on. I’m guessing with movies like this it can have a huge impact on
those who don’t like to see too much violence, heads being smashed in and blood being splattered all over the walls. And for those who enjoys
watching gory movies filled with violence, rape and torture every now and then it’s also good to sit down and to watch a psychological thriller that
is jammed packed with non-stop suspense keeping you on the edge of your seat right to the end of the rolling credits.
The acting throughout Funny Games was board line for me personally. I am a huge fan of Tim Roth as he done a fantastic job with his role in
Reservoir Dogs by playing Mr Orange. But sadly in Funny Games his performance wasn’t as top notched when comparing it to Reservoir Dogs. At
times I felt Roth was holding back with his character, I was just waiting for him to blow up and go completely off his nuts, instead he spent most of
his time confined to one spot. Naomi Watts who is without a doubt a remarkable and stunning actress stole the spotlight in Funny Games, as her
character broke every barrier you can ever imagine. Just when you thought an actress could push the boundaries Watt’s pushes it into a never
ending bliss of pure enjoyment. Actor Michael Pitt character was just plain annoying, though I can’t really say too much on this actor because I find
he is a very talented up and coming actor that is going to go a lot further than a lot of people give him credit for. It’s just a matter of landing the
perfect script that suites his acting abilities and in due time this young actor is going to end up taking out many golden globes.
The one thing that many of you might end up getting a tad bit annoyed with is the long continued shot segments when Peter and Paul are
chatting. Some scenes are shot up to about 3 to 4 minutes of them sitting in a room. Sometimes it felt like you were right in the room with them
and other times it can feel a little claustophobic making you want to fast forward certain scenes. But you can hold in and ride those certain scenes
out, well you’re going to be in for one hell of a cinematic ride.
Funny Games is a movie that many of you are going to either hate, love or simply enjoy watching just once in your lifetime. It is a movie that
everyone can find something amusing about, and get a couple cold chills when watching. For those of you who enjoy watching suspense thrillers
that don’t contain too much graphic content than this is right down your alley. Though for those who are looking for a full on blood soaked killer
flick, then you might want to try looking around for something else to fulfil your blood thirsty needs.
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