The Movies That Made Us (2019) – Review

Recensie The Movies that Made Us

As someone who grew up in the 80s, I always have a nostalgic feeling about my childhood (like probably everyone has). The Netflix series The Toys That Made Us therefore was something I loved, because the subject was toys from that era. It is a fun series to watch because of it’s quick and often funny editing. When it was announced that The Movies That Made Us would be released, I was very curious if this concept could be translated to films. The first four episodes are about four extremely successful films: Dirty Dancing, Home Alone, Ghostbusters and Die Hard. Continue reading

Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! (2017) – Review

Super Size Me 2 recensie

When Morgan Spurlock made his documentary Super Size Me in 2004, he wanted to show how unhealthy eating at McDonald’s was. He only ate at McDonald’s for a month, always had to answer affirmatively when asked if he wanted to “supersize” and showed what these meals did to his physical and mental health. With his entertaining way of presenting, he was able to make a film that had an impact (and for which he also received an Oscar nomination), as a result of which certain chains seemed to add healthier options to their range. With this sequel, Spurlock wants to investigate whether fast food chains have really become healthier. He does this by opening a fast food restaurant himself. Continue reading

Frank and Ollie (1995) – Review

Frank and Ollie review

Frank and Ollie is a documentary that had been on my IMDB “to watch” list for a long time, but was actually not available. It was therefore a positive surprise when I saw it available through Disney+ and could finally see it. I am always fascinated by films that are about making films and I was curious to know what this film had in store. Continue reading

Free Solo (2018) – Review

Free Solo review

When I was in Greece last summer, I visited a beautiful bay surrounded by rocks about 15 meters high. Of course I wanted to enjoy the view and decided to climb it. Atually the word climbing is perhaps a little much, because nowhere did I have to hang on a ledge or look carefully at how I could get up. There were many flat pieces and certain sections almost looked like stairs. Once I was on top, I already had the feeling of being quite high and I could imagine the consequences of a fall. It is therefore difficult to imagine that someone climbs a mountain range, El Capitan in Yosemite Park, of 2307 meters high. Without a single form of security. However, that is what Alex Honnold had in mind and that has resulted in the documentary Free Solo. Continue reading

Who Is Arthur Chu? (2017) – Review

Recensie Who is Arthur Chu

Who Is Arthur Chu? That was the question I asked myself when I saw this title. Since Jeopardy! isn’t a show that’s available here I didn’t know anything about him. In this game show the answers are shown and the participants have to guess the question. Arthur Chu also participated and managed to win a lot of money. However, the way he played earned him a lot of criticism from the show’s fans, who felt that he was playing in an unfair way by not playing in a fixed order. Some people called him a “Jeaopardy! Villain”. This documentary spends little time on his participation, but focuses more on his life afterwards. Continue reading

Minding the Gap (2018) – Review

Recensie Minding the Gap

The first idea you might get when you see the poster for this documentary is that it is a film about skating. A topic about which interesting documentaries have been made (Dogtown and Z-Boys), but that’s not what Minding the Gap is. Bing Liu is a skater who, within his circle of friends, is the one who has enjoyed filming and editing everything from an early age. From the start of their teens, the boys spend every moment they can skating and therefore have a close bond. They grow up together, but as they age, the mutual dynamics begin to change. What starts as a skate film develops to more than that during the running time. A journey of discovery that is not only about finding your own purpose in life, but also dealing with the past and knowing how to handle that. Continue reading

The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story (2019) – Review

The Boy Band Con the Lou Pearlman story recensie

“Industry rule # 4080, record company people are shady!”, those are the words of A-Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip in “Check the Rhime”. In this YouTube Original documentary, former members of various boy/girl bands, including The Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, talk about their experiences with businessman Lou Pearlman. After years of working in the aircraft industry, he was inspired by the success of New Kids on the Block to also enter the music industry. He set up a record label and started a talent search to put together his first band, The Backstreet Boys. He provided shelter, dance lessons and everything the boys needed and spent a lot of time with them until their breakthrough. He was seen by the members of the band as a kind of father figure, a story that other groups tell as well. Yet Pearlman turned out to be a man with two faces. That became clear when bands were already a huge success, had sold millions of records, but the first check they received turned out to be even less than the minimum wage. In addition, it appeared that their mentor had also made themselves a member of the band and as a result managed to earn even more money. Continue reading

Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers (2018) – Review

Bob-Lazar-Area-51-and-Flying-Saucers-Netflix recensie
For centuries we have been wondering if we are the only ones in the universe and in the last century the idea of ​​Martians and UFOs began to appeal to the imagination thanks to various films, the events in Roswell and the mysterious “Area 51” army base. And although enough footage has been through the years which shows unidentified flying objects, there was never enough evidence that conclusively determined that we are no longer alone. Until an interview took place with Bob Lazar in the 1980s. A researcher who worked for the US Army just outside Area 51 for a few months had an almost unbelievable cliam: He has seen several flying saucers and was hired to investigate how the engine of such a saucer, which could generate a gravitational field, worked. An extremely fascinating story, but does that also result in a good documentary? Continue reading

F*** You All: The Uwe Boll Story (2018) – Review

Fuck-You-All-The-Uwe-Boll-Story-recensie
Uwe Boll is probably one of the most hated directors ever. This German is now no longer behind the camera (he runs a number of restaurants), but his films have caused a lot of controversy through the years. When directing he was someone who did not avoid controversy and at one point even stood in the boxing ring against film critics after he had challenged them to fight or simply shut up about his films. In this documentary, director Sean Patrick Shaul looks at this man, his films and the people he worked with. Continue reading

Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (2018) – Review

review Struggle- The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski
From the moment we are born, we are slowly taught how to behave, what social norms are and how to think about certain things. All so that you can ultimately find your place in society. But what if that wasn’t the case? If you believe artist Stanisław Szukalski, that would result in much more creativity. He invented his own alphabet at school and his father supported him in it, even when the school complained about it to him. He continued to use it and turned out to be very talented as a sculptor. His works were compared with those of Michelangelo and at the beginning of the last century he was well known. He received orders from world leaders, but despite all that success, he was forgotten. He moved several times and eventually ended up in Burbank, America, where he grew old.

Art collector Glenn Bray happened to come across a book by him and was fascinated. Not long after he saw a drawing in a shop that clearly came from Szukalski’s hand, he got into conversation and found that he was alive and even lived near him. He decided to make contact and visit. It would be the beginning of years of friendship and everyone who met him realized how brilliant Szukalski was. One of those people was the father of Leonardo DiCaprio, George DiCaprio and he decided to produce this documentary about Szuskalski with his son. While making it, they discovered that he was more complicated than the man they knew. Continue reading