A hotel room. A bloodied hammer. Someone with a plastic bag on his head. A lost chain with a name on it. References to Psycho. And Joaquin Phoenix in beast mode. Just in the first few minutes You Were Never Really Here grabs you by the throat and never let’s go until the end credits show up. The question is whether or not that’s something you’d want to experience that? Continue reading
While Marvel Studios keeps making record-breaking movies with their superhero movies, their biggest competitor (DC) can’t seem to hit the same highs. After Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy their titles have almost all received negative scores on Rotten Tomatoes and their attempt at creating their own DC Cinematic Universe seem to fail. Although Wonder Woman (played by Gal Gadot) appeared in Batman v Superman, it was time to show her origin story. Is this the movie with which DC finally succeeds in creating something which is generally loved? Continue reading
Matt Damon is one of those actors where I basically watch every movie he is in automatically. In general his appearance makes a movie worth watching. When this movie was in the cinemas I decided not to see it as I didn’t find the poster very appealing. Once it was available on DVD I decided to check it out. The question is if a movie set in China in the year 1000, starring Matt Damon (amongst others), works? Continue reading
Even though I watch a whole lot of movies each week (and read quite a few reviews), it’s simply impossible to keep up with every title that’s being released each week. It means you sometimes miss out on titles which could be interesting. That was also the case with this film. My eldest daughter really wanted to see it and as I know what her taste in movies is (which is slightly different from mine) I decided to just give it a chance. A specific element in the story intrigued me. Continue reading
Each year I organise a filmblog get together in the Netherlands during which I rent out a cinema screen so movie bloggers can meet each other, watch a movie together, battle each other during a movie quiz and basically have a great day. Last year I decided to show this movie. Like last year’s title, It’s Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong, it’s a movie which wasn’t released in the Netherlands so it was a first showing. This wasn’t the only similarity, as this movie also is about two people meeting and getting to know each other while they are struggling with some issues. But why did I like this movie so much and chose to show it? Continue reading
Thanks to Intouchables the career of Omar Sy has had an enormous boost. After that film he hasn’t only appeared in French movies, but also made the move to Hollywood. He appeared in Jurassic World, Inferno, Burnt and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Although he wasn’t bad in those roles he’s better when he is the focus of the movie. Thanks to him Intouchables was a success, but also in Monsieur Chocolate he showed that he was strong in a role that asked for a bigger range of emotions. In Demain Tout Commence this is also the case, although it mainly is about his comedic talent. Continue reading
The original Alien franchise for a long time had been an unknown series when it came to my movie knowledge. Although I had bought the beautiful DVD-set with the Xenomorph head in 2006, it would take four years before I started watching them for the first time. The first movie made a big impression because of it sublime buildup with constant tension and where you felt the fear the crew was going though. The sequel was completely different but also good, but it was the original which conquered a special place in my heart. Part 3 and 4 couldn’t manage to leave a lasting impression and it would take until 2012 (let’s forget Alien vs Predator) before a new Alien movie came out in the form of Prometheus. Although many didn’t like the film, I really liked it because of the search it started. Where did humanity come from? That was the question the crew of the Prometheus was trying to answer and although it never was fully answered I hoped that Alien: Covenant would. Continue reading
When director Christopher Nolan releases a new movie you are more less obliged as a movie lover to go watch it as soon as you can. He’s someone who lives and breathes cinema, who won’t go near filming digitally and isn’t a fan of VOD-platforms like Netflix and the way they release movies. Besides that he also likes to do as much of the special effects practically. Although his movies are a joy to watch from a technical perspective, they sometimes feel a bit sterile. For his latest movie he wanted to bring an important seconds world war moment to the big screen: the evacuation of the troops at Dunkirk. Continue reading
The new series of Planet of the Apes movies, which started in 2011 is one of the better franchises in the past few years. Thanks to amazing special effects and strong stories Rise and Dawn were a joy to watch. War for the Planet of the Apes is the end of this trilogy. Does this manage to close it as strong as it started? Continue reading
When news initially broke that after Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield another actor would be portraying Spider-Man, the reaction mostly was that people weren’t really looking forward to it. The movies with Andrew Garfield told the “origin” story again and most didn’t think it was necessary to go through all of that a third time. But after seeing Tom Holland in the role during Captain America: Civil War, many concluded that his take was refreshing and wanted more. It was cool to see Tony Stark take him under his wings but also fun to see him fanboying when he first met the Avengers. It is quite an achievement that Spider-Man: Homecoming has been realised so quickly after that movie and actually closely fits with that film. Does Holland’s portrayal of the webslinger also work in a two hour long movie? Continue reading