Heist Love: Headhunters (2011) - Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

The Norwegian film Headhunters, with Aksel Hennie and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, is probably the best heist film I have seen in a long time. Aksel Hennie is a well-known Norwegian actor, director and producer, while Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is most well-known as Jamie Lannister from Game of Thrones.

My sister and I love to watch heist movies. And this one didn't disappoint. Full of goony characters and slick art thefts, this movie kept me guessing until nearly the end.

Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) is a headhunter at one of the top agencies in Norway. But he has a short-man complex and a very tall and beautiful Norwegian wife whom he doesn't quite feel worthy of. So he over-compensates by spending astronomical amounts of money on homes, jewelry and an art gallery for her. So he has to subsidize his salary by stealing art.

He has a spectacular system going by scoping out possible heists by interviewing targets as clients. Then at his wife's art gallery opening he meets the taller, better-looking, more successful Clas Greev (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). He finds out from his wife that Clas owns a Ruben and also happens to be looking for a new job. So Roger decides he has to interview him as his next target.

And that's just the beginning.

Warning: it has subtitles. But even if you are averse to reading your movies don't let that keep you away. It's worth every word.

February Favorites!

I saw some great movies, binge watched some good TV and read some fun books. Learn more below!

Movies

The Way - Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez

This movie made me want to sell everything and walk the Pyrenes Mountains.

An unsentimental view of how man copes when his adult son decides to pursue his dreams only to lose his life.

Starring real-life father and son duo, Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez, the movie examines ambitions, dreams, grief and love.

If you love travelogues, don't mind a dose of spirituality and buddy movies, this is the movie for you. And, even though this does take place on a Catholic pilgrimage, it has a mild spiritual overtones.

Not Another Happy Ending - Karen Gillian, Henry Cusick

This British rom-com has Dr. Who darling Karen Gillian and French actor and Scandal star, Henry Ian Cusick.

If you love movies about writers, this one's for you. Jane has been trying to get her novel published. After a stream of rejections, finally the foul-mouthed editor, Willie takes her novel on. Together, they work to make it the "novel of the year". And that's when it all starts to go down hill.

Peruvian Henry Ian Cusick does a brilliant job of playing a bossy French man. And Kareen Gillian is delightful as the lovely first-time novelist, quirky menswear aside. Definitely one to watch.

Horns - Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple - instant view

A quirky morality tale starring Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe examines honesty, revenge and free will.

Ig falls in love Merrin when they are just children. Their love seems destined for marriage until she is found dead.

Traumatized and distraught, he is victimized by the town and his family who believes he is her murderer. After a night of debauchery, he wakes up to find he has grown horns.

Surreal and sad, this movie examines the nature of good and evil.

TV Shows

Justified - Timothy Olyphant - instant view

This 6-season series covers a volatile, recalcitrant US Deputy Marshall's return to his hom-state of Kentucky.

Fielding feuding hillbilly families entrenched in drug wars that would put the mob to shame, Raylan Givens picks up where he left off, running into old enemies, an ex-wife and an estranged father.

Bullets fly, bombs explode and alliances flip.

All in a single episode. Based on Elmore Leonard's short story, Fire in the Hole.

Bosch - Titus Welliver - instant view

Only available on Amazon Prime, Bosch is a video series based upon Michael Connelly's detective Harry Bosch.

Much like Justified's Raylan Givens, Harry Bosch runs along the edge of the law in LA. Described as new noir, the cinematography is shadowed and gritty.

Harry Bosch is maligned, shredded and accused from all sides.

Nevertheless, he solves crimes, closes down delinquents and generally cleans up the mayhem.

Books

Pilgrim Road - Albert Holtz, OSB - Kindle

Benedictine monk takes the reader through a Lenten journey through 40 days worth of pilgrim sites.

Illustrated by the author with small sketches of the pilgrim sites drawn during his journeys, his words will transport you to these saintly sites.

Traveling from Spain to Bogota, then France then England, this book is delightful, thought-provoking and will guide you towards a deeper Lenten experience.

To Catch a Bad Guy - Marie Astor - Kindle

Marie Astor's white-collar crime mystery follows former AG Janet Maple and financial investigator Dennis Walker as they stumble upon one another during their tenure at a financial investment firm.

Dennis is working under cover to investigate the firm's investments when Janet is hired by her friend to join as counsel after getting laid off from the AG's office. 

Sparks start to fly as both Janet and Dennis begin to realize their instincts are right.

A fun romp, there is no gratuitous sex and a smart read.



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The Piano Teacher - Isabell Hupppert (2002))

A deeply disturbing film about a professor of music. In a bizarrely symbiotic relationships with her mother, she is dogmatic, obsessive and unbending. The Piano Teacher is based on the novel Die Klavierspielerin by Elfriede Jelinek who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004.

Unthinkably, a gorgeous young man who is a genius pianist falls in love with her and pursues her with abandon. She spurns all of his advances until he corners her. Then the tables are turned and she beseeches him to dominate her.

A study in control and submission, Isabell Huppert gives a Cannes awards-winning performance of an insanely controlled and then just clearly insane character. To watch her face, so taut with control, give just a glimmer, just a hint of emotion away. That was the joy of this movie, for me.