April 30, 2020 by Nostra - 1 Comment

Onward (2020) – Review

The current corona crisis has not only changed daily life, the impact on the film industry is also enormous. Film companies can no longer make new films and titles that are about to be released are postponed, sometimes even by a year. Other titles, the films that are not blockbusters, will appear on VOD platforms without ever seeing the cinema (or only very shortly before the closure of cinemas). One of those titles was Pixar’s Onward, which was recently available for rent in America and is now available on Disney. Continue reading →

April 30, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

Inside look at ‘All or Nothing’ All Blacks club

“rugby world cup 2011 NEW ZEALAND ARGENTI” (CC BY 2.0) by Jean Francois Fournier Photographe

The New Zealand All Blacks are one of sport’s greatest tales, period. There’s an enigma to this team that few others can lay claims to. In soccer, the great Brazil teams of the past had it. The US basketball team in the golden era of Michael Jordan and the ‘dream team’ had it. Finding other teams with this magical essence isn’t easy in modern sport, but the All Blacks are the standout exception. The Amazon film series ‘All or Nothing – New Zealand All Blacks’ is a fascinating look behind the scenes of this sporting dynasty. Continue reading →

April 26, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

Beastie Boys Story (2020) – Review

It is a huge challenge to remain relevant as a music artist. You only have to look at the number of one hit wonders (Big Shaq, PSY etc) who enjoyed very short and extreme success, but did not manage to turn that into a lasting career. Even big artists are only as good as their last album and have to keep trying to stay relevant. If you look at hip hop, the number of real stars is very small. Well-known groups and artists from the 80s and 90s have disappeared or have been mostly forgotten. One of the exceptions to this were the Beastie Boys. A group that started as a punk group in the 80s, made the switch to hip hop and evolved into proper musicians who made what they wanted, even if they were all instrumental songs. After Adam Yauch (MCA) died of cancer in 2012, the other members decided to stop making music. They previously released a book and now there is this documentary, directed by Spike Jonze. Continue reading →

April 22, 2020 by Nostra - 2 Comments

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness – Review

Subcultures are sometimes able to surprise you. I can remember watching an episode of Louis Theroux dealing with exotic animals and it was unbelievable to me that some people would like to keep a tiger. Yet this is extremely popular in America. In fact, it is so popular that only in North America more tigers live in captivity than the number in the wild. Mike Tyson had a Bengal tiger for 16 years, but as the Netflix documentary Tiger King shows, there are always people who are even more extreme. Continue reading →

April 22, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

The tension is palpable with these five blackjack movie scenes

Gambling scenes often make for the best movie moments. That added tension and drama as well as the glamour involved with some of the world’s most impressive casinos can create memories that last a lifetime. With blackjack comes intense concentration and with it being the most widely-played casino game in the world, it has often been showcased in the cinema. Here are five of the best thrilling blackjack scenes in movies. Continue reading →

April 20, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

LA Originals (2020) – Review

The music world has a lot of artists who are famous for their music and personality. Artists who managed to create something special in their genres and thereby left their mark. Think of Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Eminem, 50 Cent, Cypress Hill and House of Pain. However, what all these artists have in common is that they all have tattoos from Mister Cartoon. This Los Angeles artist was involved in drawing and graffiti from an early age. He designed T-shirts for the owners of low-riders. It was only years later that he also put his drawings on the skin of others. And since these people were world famous, he quickly made a name for himself. He partly owed that success to Estevan Oriol, a tour manager for Cypress Hill, House of Pain and Funkdoobiest, who was the only one to start recording gigs on video and taking photos. The two became close friends and together they managed to conquer the world. Oriol wants to show what this journey looked like with this documentary. Continue reading →

April 20, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

Up to Tricks, Tom Mix: five of the greatest bingo scenes from Film and TV

Bingo scenes from movies and television are rare, but, on the occasion that they are thrown up on our screens, they are often exciting. And, as the popularity of bingo continues to heighten, a number of online platforms like Booty Bingo are now offering online bingo games at the touch of a button. Continue reading →

April 8, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

One Cut of the Dead (2017) – Review

A huge number of films are released every year. Many will never receive much attention and no one will remember them. And even if they get attention, it doesn’t have to mean they’re actually memorable. I myself occasionally see in my statistics on this site titles of films that no longer ring a bell, even though I have written a review about it. Only when viewing the stills do I only remember which one it was. However, the reverse also happens. Films that also came out in a specific year, which received little or no attention, but have managed to build a name over the years. That’s the case for the Japanese zombie movie One Cut of the Dead. I kept reading positive messages about it. After watching the film, those are quite justified, this is a movie made for film lovers to enjoy. Continue reading →

April 7, 2020 by Nostra - 3 Comments

Spenser Confidential (2020) – Review

The Netflix exclusive Spenser Confidential is already the fifth film in a row that director Peter Berg has made with Mark Wahlberg. After the terrible Mile 22 and with the thought in mind that generally Netflix movies (with a few exceptions) are disappointing, I decided to give this new title a try. I shouldn’t have. Continue reading →

April 7, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

Not for Resale (2019) – Review

The rise of the internet and digitization has had a huge impact on the high streets. I can remember a time when I was in a record store every week to buy the latest CDs and the amount of money I spent on them. With the arrival of MP3s and the streaming services, these stores could no longer stay profitable and mostly disappeared. The same was also the case for the video rental stores. It was great to spend a lot of time there looking for movies that would surprise you. The only entertainment stores that still exist are the stores where you can buy video games. But this last dodo also seems to be slowly pushed off a cliff with the increasing popularity of digital purchases on both PC and game consoles. Not for Resale dives into this world to see why the owners of gamestores have not yet closed the doors and what their expectations are for the future. Continue reading →