Self
Play God is a humorous documentary that neither apologizes nor whines but simply recounts, with brutal honesty, the story of a failed splatter film project.
Costume Design
Modern finnish movie about two very different young adults that after a chance meeting end up making music together and fall in love. While Nellis parents have the perfect career and man planned, she dreams of becoming a singer. Through a chance meeting at the studio, she meets the young and grungy Hip Hop music artist Sunen and asks him to help her make a demo tape. Not only is the ensuing story about differences growing closer and the difficulties that have to be overcome, well told. Also the music is exceptionally well made. It is quite unbelievable that this is the first feature of the director.
Teenager at Bar
Modern finnish movie about two very different young adults that after a chance meeting end up making music together and fall in love. While Nellis parents have the perfect career and man planned, she dreams of becoming a singer. Through a chance meeting at the studio, she meets the young and grungy Hip Hop music artist Sunen and asks him to help her make a demo tape. Not only is the ensuing story about differences growing closer and the difficulties that have to be overcome, well told. Also the music is exceptionally well made. It is quite unbelievable that this is the first feature of the director.
Isabella
Vares, a film noir comedy from Finland, is yet another twist on PULP FICTION. And, just in case we miss the similarities of splattered blood mixed with outrageous incidents, the movie explicitly references PULP FICTION and has a comedic scene in which two guys argue about McDonald's hamburgers. Still, VARES - PRIVATE EYE, by director Aleksi Mäkelä, manages to be kind of fun even not especially original. The script has more characters than the screenwriter can handle, leaving the audience frequently confused about who is doing what and why. The two best scenes are one about a wacky wedding and another about a guy who answers a cell phone call while he is busy enjoying the pleasures of a sex parlor.
Sini
Pete loses his consciousness while playing in a pop band. The diagnosis is harsh and the doctor cannot say for sure whether Pete will celebrate his 18th birthday. One night, encouraged by the vodka on Jusa's 18th birthday, Pete confesses his love to Kata, his dream girl. Together with Jusa, they go to Lapland where Kata has her summer job. In Jusa's wild company, Pete experiences something which he never felt before as they decide to take a trip to Mombasa via Lapland.
Jukka, 13, is coached in photography by his openly gay art teacher. With his dead father's old camera, Jukka sees Johanna, a beautiful girl in her early twenties being physically abused by her stepfather. With the help of the local fire department, Jukka comes to her rescue. He quickly befriends the girl who works in a nearby supermarket, claims to become her manager and enters her in a beauty contest.
An old dog has a hard time learning new tricks in this drama set in Turku. Ari, a paramedic, is a chronic womanizer; he makes it a point of pride to never sleep with the same woman twice, and his nights are a long series of brazen one-night stands. But when Ari meets Tiina (Laura Malmivaara), something unexpected happens - he falls in love. For the first time, Ari finds himself pursuing a long-term relationship, and he makes a genuine effort to remain faithful to her. But old habits die hard; Tiina introduces Ari to her circle of friends and temptation arises as he encounters Hanna-Riikka, a theology student, and Ilona, who is soon to be married. Despite Ari's feelings for Tiina, he begins having affairs with both Hanna-Riikka and Ilona, leading to an unpleasant revelation on the day of Ilona's nuptials. ~ Mark Deming, Allrovi
