peter-bruck

The Ibiza Affaire, a mini series chronicling the events leading up to a major political crisis in Austria in 2019, is the best germanspeaking production I have ever seen.

Presented in cinema scope and at slick pace, cinematographer Kinneast an director Schier playfully lead us through a rather complicated plot that in lesser hands would have been a drag. Resembling such works as The Big Short or Vice, the snappy editing and joyful explanatory set pieces keep the energy up at every moment.

This could have easily ended up a parody, but with the massive talent in front of and behind the camera, The Ibiza Affaire is a gripping and energetic drama, bursting with visual finesse and amusing details that drive home the absurdity of the siruation while never betraying the seriousness of the characters.

The show sets a new standard for Austrian and German filmmaking. The old ways are done. This is the way.

I'm in the minority when it comes to the Annabelle-Franchise.

While the first obviously wasn't a very good movie, I thought it had a nice "Rosemary's Baby"-like setting and a few set pieces that genuinely freaked me out (that elevator scene gave me goosebumps.) That's what a horror movie is supposed to do, right?

Annabelle: Creation was a rather different experience for me. While I was able to appreciate it on a cinematic level, there wasn't a single scene that had me freaked. Some scenes were all too familiar (the movie even borrowed from the last Child's Play TV movie), others were outright ridiculous. And on five or six occasions, the whole movie theater laughed - not in relief but because the doll looked funny instead of creepy or because of the way characters reacted (when a major character dies in a completely implausible way, the hero tells the kids to go back to the crime scene to have a good night's sleep.)

Like all perception, mine is of course very subjective. From the audience's reaction, I guess I'm not the only one who feels this way about Annabelle: Creation, though.

But to end on a positive note: I really appreciated much of the cinematography and was quite impressed by some of the young actresses.

I'm definitely in for the next one.

Jimmy (Liam Neeson) and Shawn (Ed Harris) are gangsters who go way back. While mob boss Shawn may not exactly seem to be happy in his life, at least he seems to be satisfied with who he is and what he's accomplished. He's the guy who is always in control and "doesn't make mistakes". His wild days are behind him. Now he prefers playing things safe and smart.

Shawn's henchman Jimmy on the other hand is haunted by the memories of the people he killed and the evil he's done. He's a disgraced alcoholic who lives off a decade long friendship with and his loyalty to Shawn.

Both men have sons who turned out pretty differently. While Shawn's son embraces his father's sins and then some, Jimmy's son is so appalled by what his father did that he doesn't want anything to do with him.

Now rather unfortunate circumstances force Jimmy to kill Shawn's son (who was after Jimmy's son) and the decade long friendship between Shawn and Jimmy spirals out of control. As does the movie.

Up to this point we have a perfectly fine crime drama that works thanks to credible characters we care about brought to life by fine actors. Unfortunately after the dead sons kicks off the main plot, "Run All Night" turns into a by-the-number post-Taken Liam Neeson outing. I still kind of cared about who is shooting who because the first act left such a strong emotional impression. But it still felt like the Taken-part was shoehorned in to meet the audiences' expectations.

That leads to tonal problems that are amplified by some directorial choices that leap too far to the "Taken"-spectrum of the movie. (Mind certain scene transitions, you will know what I mean).

Now, I really liked the first Taken movie. But the first 20 minutes of "Run All Night" sucked me into something more akin to last year's "The Drop" than to a standard Nesson outing and I wish they would have stuck with what this movie actually was.

So, "Run All Night" is simultaneously a fine crime drama and a standard Neeson actioner. It does the first part far better than the second. "Taken"-fans will get more depth here than they bargained for but no matter where you stand and whether you like drama or action, you're gonna leave the movie with the feeling that it wasn't half bad. Which half that is entirely depends on you.