Another Hollywood remake from a European original.

I notice that in the Philippines, most stories in TV drama or film are rehash of old movies. In Hollywood, there is the same pattern of remakes from European films (mostly Scandinavian) or Asian horror films. A new film Contraband is no exception.

I haven’t seen the original Iceland version, but you can hardly identify the genre for this one. Is it heist-action or suspense-drama? Critics in the US categorize this movie as B-movie, but come on, Mark Wahlberg plus Kate Beckinsale plus Giovanni Ribisi in one film? You consider that B-movie?

The acting is great. The story average. But it keeps you at the edge of your seat because it is fast-paced, vacillates from New Orleans to Panama, to New Orleans to Panama. My gauge if I like a movie is through the sleepy mood meter when watching it on a last full show. If I feel sleepy or if I want to just shut my eye, then the movie sucks (big time). If I feel otherwise, and awake the entire proceeding of the movie, then it must be good.

For Contraband, I feel the latter. But I have one question though. Is it really a practice among shipping vessels that they would hire non-shipping employees to ride and help in the ship, the way Mark Wahlberg’s role and his brother in law did in the movie?

If you want to unwind this weekend, catch a movie. Watch Contraband.

Read this. Read this. Read this.

It was 1933. William E. Dodd was appointed by then US President Franklin Roosevelt to be the country’s ambassador to Germany. When he entered Berlin, the seat of its assignment, he already foresaw that this country is on a brink of authoritarian regime led by Adolf Hitler. The book is based on letters, journal write ups, and memos from that era that was well-research by its compelling author, Erik Larson.

The Dodd family

As Janet Maslin of The New York Times describe it:

“In the Garden of Beasts” has the clarity of purpose to see the Germany of 1933 through the eyes of this uniquely well-positioned American family. There are hindsight-laden books that see the rise of Hitler as a parade of telltale signs. There are individual accounts that personalize the atmosphere of mounting oppression and terror. But there has been nothing quite like Mr. Larson’s story of the four Dodds, characters straight out of a 1930s family drama, transporting their shortcomings to a new world full of nasty surprises.”

The book was already chosen by Tom Hanks for a film adaptation. One of 2011′s best historical non-fiction.