Some years ago Quentin Tarantino shared his list of his 20 favorite movies since 1992, the year he started directing. There were three Korean movies on his list: The Host, Joint Security Area and Memories of Murder. Memories of Murder is about a police investigation into a number of serial killings that took place between 1986 and 1991 and is based on real events. Continue reading
What is the value of art and who decides what something is worth? Those are questions Exit Through the Gift Shop posed last year. These questions are not new however as Orson Welles (who directed Citizen Kane) asked these same questions in this 1972 documentary.
He looks at the subject differently though as he chooses to focus on a master forger and a con man. Welles, who also shows up several times, tries to make those watching to think about what’s real and what’s fake. Continue reading
Nope, it’s no sequel to Tarantino’s Kill Bill, but a documentary about soul singer Bill Withers. Is this film also interesting for those that don’t know him or simply don’t like his music? Continue reading
This Argentinian/Spanish film (its original title is El Secreto de Sus Ojos) won the Oscar for best foreign movie in 2010. It’s also the most viewed film of all time in Argentina (3 million viewers). After hearing some good stories about this movie I was really looking forward to seeing it.
The movie is set in Argentina, where Benjamín Espósito (Ricardo Darín) retired a couple of years ago after having worked as federal agent for several years. There is one case that he still can’t let go and he wants to write a book about it. When he was still investigating crimes, together with his partner Pablo Sandoval (Guillermo Francella), there was a case in which a woman was raped and murdered. As he sees the extreme love of her husband after her death touches him so much that he swears to find the person responsible. Continue reading
The King’s Speech is expected to be one of the big winners during this weekend’s Oscar ceremony, so I though it would be a good moment to review it. At the BAFTA’s the movie already won several prizes, including best actor (Colin Firth), best actress (Helena Bonham Carter), best supporting role (Geoffrey Rush) and best screenplay. What’s the reason this movie has won so much and has such a big chance of winning? Continue reading
127 Hours is tells the true story of Aron Ralston, a mountain climber who had an unfortunate fall, where a rock fell onto his right arm, trapping him. (for those who don’t know the story there is a spoiler following, highlight to read) [spoiler]In the end he had to cut of his own arm to survive.[/spoiler]
Even if you do know the story, is this film is worth watching? Do you really want to be stuck in one place for almost an entire movie, like we’ve seen in Buried? Continue reading
How do you make a movie in which a director, who has been dead for 30 years, plays the main part? Double Take tries to give a possible answer to this question. Alfred Hitcock “stars” in this movie where he meets an older version of himself. The makers have managed to find an interesting way to bring their story to life. Continue reading
Robert Duvall has been acting since the sixties. He has acted in a lot of well-known movies like The Godfather series, Apocalypse Now and Falling Down. When I hear his name I always have to think about his role in Falling Down. He played a likeable cop who is about to retire and has to chase a lunatic who is terrorizing the city. It’s the first time he really stood out for me and I have been enjoying his acting ever since. He was also excellent in We Own the Night for example.
Duvall really makes Get Low the movie that it is. He’s the recluse Felix Bush, who lives alone on his own piece of land. A lot of stories are being told about him, although no one seems to know whether or not they are true. Because of these stories everyone seems to fear him, especially when he suddenly rides into the nearby town. He knows a lot of stories are told about him and he has an idea which allows him to hear all of them. Continue reading
Akira Kurosawa is one of Japan’s most famous directors. His influence on other directors has been very big, someone like George Lucas was inspired by Kurosawas movies and the Magnificent Seven is a movie that is based on Seven Samurai. With this movie Kurosawa was the first to use various techniques in one movie. Examples are the shot of the bad guys appearing on top of a hill or the slow motion shots.
Seven Samurai is set in feudal Japan. When the villagers of a small town find out that there is a gang about to raid the village just when the crops are harvested, they decide to search for samurai that can defend their village. Continue reading
It’s not often that movies based on someone’s life are funny. I Love you Philip Morris is one example I can think of, but so is Charlie Wilson’s War, despite the serious subject of the tension that was brewing in Afghanistan between the local people and the invading Russian army.
Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) is a politician from Texas who lives a very luxurious life while he has his seat in the American Congress. He likes his women, booze and drugs and really has fun with it all. When he sees the situation in Afghanistan on TV something changes. He decides to do something about it and finds out that America is hardly spending any money on getting the Russians out of Afghanistan.
He’s helped by Joanne Herring (Julia Roberts) who, although she’s not a politician, does know the right people to get things done. There is also help from CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who really doesn’t care what the people within the CIA think of him. Together they try to make some money available for Afghanistan. Continue reading