Tag: Jóel Sæmundsson

Solitude was watched as part of the Seattle International Film Festival 2024! It had its showing on Sunday, May 12th as part of the festival, and it was the Seattle premiere of this film!

Gunnar (Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson) is an old man, who lives off on his own large land, with his horses and other animals. He likes it like that. He is self efficient. It is reliable. And he has turned down many offers to sell his land, because he just wants to stay there until he dies. Well, the government won’t wait for him, and because he didn’t negotiate, they bought his land from him anyways due to government legalese stuff. And his land was such a good place and need, he is getting $150 million, which is a lot for a dude that old, to do anything he wants in his life.

So he moves to the city, even though he never wanted to, in Reykjavík, and gets a quick apartment to exist in. Has its own furniture. Now what?

Well, the first person he meets is Ari (Hermann Samúelsson), a 10 year old kid and neighbor, who wants to sell him a newspaper. Literally this is his only human contact, and its frequent enough, so that when he is locked out of his house, he asks Gunnar if he can wait in his for his mom (Anna Gunndís Guðmundsdóttir) to return. Hell, he even becomes a babysitter, and a very nice friend to the family.

But Gunnar is just not used to people so much, he is not used to common social norms, and doesn’t know what actions are inappropriate. He just wants to help people. And when people think he is a nefarious old guy, then that is the only thing he can be to them.

Also starring Jóhann Jónsson and Jóel Sæmundsson.

He’s about to drop the hottest new track of 2024. I think the actor who played Gunner here was a pretty solid dude. He carried pain in his eyes, and felt like he was truly going through these experiences. I think the story is a good idea for one, a nice clashing of generations, and a desire for more innocence in the world. A desire for people to just be good to each other.

But the film didn’t do enough to get that ending. We had a small bit a conflict, and almost no closure, because that is life or whatever. I think there was a lot more drama that could have been explored, and this movie left too much on the table. And that should be a compliment. I wanted more of Gunner and his story about acclimating into city life at his old age, and we just get so little. The snippets we get are good. But why leave it at the simple story? Why leave it so incomplete.

I am not sure what else I can say here. It is overall just disappointment, compared to anything else. Because there is a lot of shit movies out there, and I just want those with potential to really deliver, and not waddle around. For example, the refugee plot line was great! It showed so much character, and had the potential for a lot more. But it was brushed aside so fast that we could barely even have a moment to focus on it with Gunner.

Oh well. If I am alone in this rating, maybe I will be the real solitude.

2 out of 4.

Check out my interview with director Alex Herron here!

Did you know that every week of the year, all 52, there is likely one or two horror movies coming out?

It’s honestly kind of wild. If one wanted, they could dedicate their entire website to reviewing horror films, from festivals, random streaming services, and VOD releases, and probably easily fill out 20 plus a month. Everyone is making horror films, because its a lot easier to be scary, than funny.

Is that why Alex Herron is releasing Dark Windows, his second horror film, after doing more than 100 Music Videos before that? Probably not, but the introduction sounded nice enough for a film I would know one else involved in. So I am going to make my pictures lyrics from music videos he directed instead.

“Shining through the city with a little funk and soul
So I’ma light it up like dynamite, whoa oh oh” 

Tilly (Anna Bullard) is sad. Sad might not be enough. She is downright devastated. Her friend Ali just died. Unfortunately, it seems to have been from a car accident, when things got out of control one night. And Tilly was driving the car.

So she feels like all of her friends and Ali’s family blame her. Thankfully, two of her friends, Monica (Annie Hamilton) and Peter (Rory Alexander) have a getaway planned. Not a cabin in the woods, but certainly a big house in the countryside that they are able to stay in. To swim and be with nature and grieve and hopefully move on.

Things get a little bit uncomfortable right away, when Monica invites Andrew, the boyfriend of Ali who does not like Tilly right now. Then alcohol gets bought. Then the Wi-Fi goes out. And sure enough, a masked person is terrorizing the house.

Also starring Morten Holst, Rachel Fowler, Jóel Sæmundsson, Vanessa Borgli in various roles, and Grace Binford Sheene as Ali.

“All I ever wanted
Was to see you smiling (smiling) “

One of the best parts of Dark Windows is its very limited cast. Outside of a few characters introduced in the earlier funeral scene, that give you enough to guess who might be terrorizing our older teens, its really just about these three individuals after their friend died. It really gives you time to learn not just more about them, but of course, why they all suck.

I mean that in the nicest way. But through some flashbacks, we do get to see that they all had some part in leading up to their friend’s death, and hey, sort of, maybe, kind of, deserve to be fucked around with from it. Since they lied about the events to everyone else and the authorities. I am not saying anyone DESERVES to die, or be stalked, but hey, no one is an Angel here either.

The movie benefits from a shorter run time, because honestly, once they are in the cabin, it takes awhile for anything to happen. Sure we get some glances of someone in the background occasionally, and every once in awhile a new realization about their past, but most of the frights and/or intense moments are saved for an avalanche at the end. Without the ending that we got, this movie would be certifiable dud. So I guess, saving it all for the end is a boon. I love the acting at the end, and I can’t namedrop who is involved for obvious reasons, but they deserve a lot of props for the emotion in that scene, and it really just elevated everything. For reasons I can’t say, I personally felt connected on a similar level almost. No, don’t worry, I am not going to murder or attempt to murder anyone.

Overall, the Windows in Dark Windows I found to be mostly normal colored. I liked the ending reveal and consequences the most, and I think it can be worth it on a slower evening.

2 out of 4.