Overview: November 2020

Overview provides my readers with a brief overview of the articles or reviews that I have written, as well as additional bite-sized thoughts on films or shows about which I do not intend to write thorough reviews. In November 2020, among other things, I wrote about Danish television and the highly anticipated Danish black-comedy Retfærdighedens Ryttere.

Published Reviews and Articles

• Overview: October 2020 – November 1st, 2020
• REVIEW: His House (2020) – REVIEW – November 2nd, 2020
• REVIEW: On the Rocks (2020) – REVIEW – November 7th, 2020
• Recommending Danish TV: ‘The Mole,’ ‘The Investigation,’ and ‘Cry Wolf’ – ARTICLE – November 10th, 2020
• REVIEW: Artemis Fowl (2020) – REVIEW – November 17th, 2020
• REVIEW: Breeder (2020) – REVIEW – November 19th, 2020
• REVIEW: Retfærdighedens Ryttere (2020) – REVIEW – November 21st, 2020
• REVIEW: The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special (2020) – REVIEW – November 29th, 2020

It would make me very happy if you would support my blog by reading these reviews, lists, or articles in the near future.

What I Didn’t Write About

I watch a lot of films and shows each and every month, but I don’t write extensive, complete reviews about everything that I watch or rewatch. So, in this section of Overview, I have written a few brief additional thoughts on content about which I don’t intend to write full reviews now or in the future. However, I may have watched something this month that I do want to review in the future, in which case I will not make note of it here.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, dir. Tim Hill, 2020:

So, yeah, I don’t really know a lot about SpongeBob. I’ve never seen a full episode of the series, and I’ve never watched any of the other films. But, since I wanted to watch something new (and since it was on Netflix in my region), I gave it a chance. Nevertheless, it was fairly easy to follow the story. From what I understand, this is the first complete 3D-animated SpongeBob film, and, while I’m sure fans of the series may have stronger feelings about the animation change, I thought the 3D-animation worked. I liked the look quite a bit.

All in all, this is a pretty entertaining and very sweet buddy-road trip movie about friendship and working together. It isn’t very memorable, but it is a good-hearted animated film that will probably be a hit with families. Oh, and I thought Keanu Reeves’ appearance was fun.

De Forbandede År, dir. Anders Refn, 2020, Starring Jesper Christensen: 

It’s safe to say that De Forbandede År did not receive the word-of-mouth it needed to catch my interest when it was released earlier in the year. However, the historical drama did end up selling a lot of tickets in Danish theaters, even though the critical reception was ‘just okay’ at best. Now that I have finally seen the film, I can say that while it held my interest throughout its overwhelming runtime, the film, frankly, disappointed me.

Anders Refn’s film is ambitious but incomplete and interesting but rushed. Pivotal events happen off-screen, strong scenes do not get any room to breathe, and they should’ve probably left a couple of scenes on the cutting room floor. It isn’t all bad, though. Jesper Christensen gives a thoroughly committed performance, and the film did manage to shine a light on the many different ways Danes lived in the early 1940s. But, in the end, the film is just a little bit too messy. Hopefully, its sequel will be better.

Undtagelsen, dir. Jesper W. Nielsen, 2020, Starring Danica Curcic, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Amanda Collin, and Lene Maria Christensen:

I have to say that I don’t think a Danish film has disappointed me this much in a long time. However, it’s not because the film is awful. The acting from the four main actresses — Danica Curcic, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Amanda Collin, and Lene Maria Christensen — is uniformly solid, with Curcic, Collin, and Knudsen being particularly good. I even think it, in the first half of the film, is a pretty interesting and upsetting film about work-place bullying and jealousy. But the film really lost me when it basically jumped the shark in the second half of the film. Some events in the film are predictable and almost silly. The film even has a ‘Columbo-moment’ that made me chuckle. As a work-place thriller, Jesper W. Nielsen’s film succeeds, but when it tries to be more than that it just falls apart.

Kød & Blod, dir. Jeanette Nordahl, 2020, Starring Sandra Guldberg Kampp and Sidse Babett Knudsen: 

Kød & Blod, or Wildland as it is called outside of Denmark, is the feature-length directorial debut of Jeanette Nordahl, who, with her first film, comes across as a confident new voice in the Danish film industry, and yet the film, which was written by Ingeborg Topsøe, is, at times, dull and perhaps somewhat unoriginal. I ended up liking the film somewhat, though. I thought that the filmmaker did a good job of communicating how blind loyalty to family can be very harmful. Newcomer Sandra Guldberg Kampp is fine in the film, but it is kind of frustrating how passive and inactive her character is. However, Sidse Babett Knudsen delivered a good performance as a complicated parent that sometimes feels like a crime lord mother hen. It’s not a great film, but it is a solid debut feature film for Nordahl.

But that’s not all I watched this month. For a complete list of my Letterboxd diary for November 2020, click here.

– Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.