King’s Road — Film Review By Ray Bennett, August 10, 2010 08:40 ET Bottom Line: Cockeyed comedy involving some very eccentric characters in a trailer park in Iceland. LOCARNO, Switzerland — Danish filmmaker Valdis Oskarsdottir, who won the 2004 best editing prize at the BAFTA film awards for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” has created a winning concoction for her second feature, “King’s Road” (“Kongavegur”), which had its international premiere at Locarno. Set in a bedraggled trailer park in rural Iceland, populated by a bunch of goofballs, eccentrics and sad sacks, the film could be taken as a penetrating satire of all that went wrong in that country’s financial meltdown as much as a genially whacky little romp. With Germany’s Daniel Bruhl adding international star power coupled with Oskarsdottir’s reputation, this affectionate and amusing picture could generate considerable interest at home and abroad. Bruhl plays a young man named Rupert who has fled to escape his hoodlum uncle with best friend Junior (Gisli Orn Garoarsson), who has returned to a shabby trailer park known as “King’s Road” hoping to get some money from his father. Deposited in the muddy park by bossy taxi-driver BB (Ingvar Eggert Sigurosson), who takes most of their money and confiscates their beer, they find Junior’s dad, Senior (Sigurour Sigurjonsson), not at all pleased to see him. Senior has a currency scam going with BB and suffers from assorted phobias that keep him from entertaining his trophy wife, Sally (Nanna Kristin Magnusdottir), who takes to hanging out with a couple of dimwit brothers named Ray (Olafur Darri Olafsson) and Davis (Olafur Egilsson). They have a scam whereby Ray acts as a crossing guard at the entrance to the trailer park where he allows people to cross only when a car approaches. He then fines the stopped driver whatever he can get away with. The inhabitants also include a no-talent songwriter guitarist, who spends his time hiding his constant drinking from his pregnant wife; an old lady who carries around a dead seal made into a handbag; and a couple who spend all day in a broken-down car smoking cigarettes and listening to heavy rock. The writer-director manages to make all the characters stand out, thanks to a smart screenplay, appealing performances and accomplished editing while the band Lay Low sings jaunty numbers on the soundtrack. Many of the characters turn out to be related in some way and the film has a good time sorting out relationships as the comedy turns very black toward the end. So by then, it’s a shame to see them leave. Venue: Locarno International Film Festival Piazza Grande Sales: Beta Cinema Production company: Mystery Island Cast: Daniel Bruhl, Gisli Orn Garoarsson. Director/screenwriter/editor: Valdis Oskarsdottir. Producers: Arni Filppusson, David Oskar Olafsson, Hreinn Beck. Director of photography: Bergsteinn Bjorgulfssin. Production designers: Harry Johannsson, Gunnar Paisson. Music: Lay Low, Lovisa Sigrunardottir. Costume designer: Sonja Bent. No rating, 100 minutes.

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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead — Film Review By Frank Scheck, June 07, 2010 06:20 ET Bottom Line: Enough with the vampires already. A horror spoof that has little reason for being, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead” pretty much uses up its quotient of wit with the title. This low-budget tale combining vampires with Shakespeare has enough prominent names involved to interest video renters, but cult status hardly is assured. Jake Hoffman (son of Dustin, who’s inherited some of his father’s shambling comic style) stars as Julian, a young slacker and improbable ladies man who has resorted to sleeping in his doctor father’s office after being dumped by his gorgeous model girlfriend, Anna (Devon Aoki). Desperate for work, Julian answers an ad looking for a “young, controllable, human theater director” to stage a low-rent, off-Broadway production of “Hamlet.” Or at least a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic, as written by the very pale Theo (John Ventimiglia, of “The Sopranos”), who has a secret agenda involving a 2,000-year-old grudge between him and the real Hamlet, who, it turns out, also was a vampire. Other characters who figure in the would-be satirical proceedings written and directed by Jordan Galland include Julian’s self-aggrandizing actor friend (an amusing Kris Lemche); Anna’s hyper-jealous mobster boyfriend (Ralph Macchio); and a police detective (Jeremy Sisto, clearly preparing for the “Law & Order” role that would come his way after this was filmed). For the record, the film acknowledges its debt to playwright Tom Stoppard via a quick throwaway line, and the Danny Elfman-inspired musical score was composed by Sean Lennon. Opened: Friday, June 4 (Indican Pictures) Production: C Plus Pictures Cast: Jake Hoffman, Devon Aoki, John Ventimiglia, Kris Lemche, Ralph Macchio, Jeremy Sisto Director-screenwriter: Jordan Galland Producers: Mike Landry, Carlos Velazquez, Russell Terlecki Executive producer: Damon Giglio Director of photography: Christopher LaVasseur Editor: Connor Kalista Production designer: Darsi Monaco Costume designer: Cameron Folan Music: Sean Lennon No rating, 83 minutes

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The Lightkeepers — Film Review By Sheri Linden, April 06, 2010 04:01 ET “The Lightkeepers” Bottom Line: Glacial pacing, hokey characters and predictable plotting make for a long sit. However sad the dearth of substantial film roles for older actors, it’s far sadder to watch them partake in anemic affairs like “The Lightkeepers,” a lifeless period romance of the cutesy-cantankerous persuasion. The pristine landscape is the only cinematic element in this stagy story, the second in a planned Cape Cod-set trilogy that got off to an inauspicious start with last year’s “The Golden Boys.” Writer-director Daniel Adams’ goal of telling old-fashioned tales devoid of special effects is commendable as far as it goes, but forgoing 3D doesn’t mean a movie has to be as unrelentingly two-dimensional as this one. The bygone-days subject matter and involvement of Richard Dreyfuss and Blythe Danner might lure older audiences, but word-of-mouth for “Lightkeepers,” which opens May 7, will not be a welcoming beacon. The overacting begins before we even see the characters, with a bit of voice-over sparring between lighthouse keeper Seth (Dreyfuss) and his fed-up assistant (Jason Alan Smith), a younger man who longs for the company of other people, females in particular. It’s summer 1912, apparently a time when “woman-hater” is an accepted personality type. It’s a label Seth embraces wholeheartedly; the only time he uses the pronoun “she” with affection, he’s referring to a boat. But the crusty former sailor doth protest too much, in both senses of the phrase. Seth continues the grating odd-couple shtick with his new assistant, a well-dressed Brit (Tom Wisdom) who claims, unconvincingly, that his name is John Brown and he fell off a steamer. He too has sworn off women. Enter the women. As the independent females who, in predictable fashion, challenge the boys’ club, Danner and Mamie Gummer fare better than the gents. But though their performances are more nuanced, their characters are no less contrived. Gummer plays an artist who never is seen painting; the former is her housekeeper, complete with crucial convoluted backstory. All the drama is in the past, revealed in dialogue, not flashbacks. Present-tense action is static and talky, the constantly coaxing music no substitute for effective pacing. The closest thing to dramatic friction arrives with the brief appearance of Bruce Dern, who starred in “Golden Boys” and has inexplicably returned to the Adams fold. For an even briefer cameo, Julie Harris wisely remains under cover of night. Opens: Friday, May 7 (New Films Cinema) Production: New Films International presents a Cape Filmworks and Dreyfuss/James production in association with Tax Credit Finance Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Blythe Danner, Tom Wisdom, Mamie Gummer, Bruce Dern, Jason Alan Smith, Julie Harris Screenwriter-director: Daniel Adams Executive producers: Richard Dreyfuss, Nick Stiliadis, Scott Fujita, Judy James, Nesim Hason, Sezin Hason, Straw Weisman, Serap Acuner Producers: Harris Tulchin, Daniel Adams, Larry Frenzel, Penelope Foster Director of photography: Thomas Jewett Production designer: Marc Fisichella Music: Pinar Toprak Co-producers: Sanford Hampton, Scot Butcher, Anthony Gudas, Andy Surabian Costume designer: Mimi Maxmen Editor: Dean Goodhill Rated PG, 97 minutes

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