Category Archives: Historic

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Saving General Yang (2013)

Review Saving General Yang (2013)

Althought the average moviegoer will mainly watch movies coming out of Hollywood, there are a lot of very good movies made in other countries. The past couple of years I really started appreciating South Korean films. Movies like My Sassy Girl, Old Boy, The Host of No Mercy are just some examples of movie I really liked. The Chinese movie industry has also a lot of amazing films. Most people will know Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but there are tons of other movies to check out like Hero, Curse of the Golden Flower and the many Ip Man films. I have to admit that I should be watching more Chinese made movies, but it is something I don’t get around to often because there is such an overwhelming supply of movies I want to check out. Continue reading →

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Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Review Saving Mr. Banks

Although Walt Disney built his company based on the success of his cartoons, his company also produced many live action movies during the fifties and sixties. One of their biggest hits was Mary Poppins, a movie which I also loved watching when I was growing up. Who would not want to have someone in their home who was able to do the things she does? But with every movie, there is also a story about how that movie got made and in the case of Mary Poppins it was a very difficult one. Walt Disney loved the books about the character and had contacted its writer, P. L. Travers, to allow him to turn that book into a movie. She was very protective of the character she had created and refused Disney the rights, because she thought that a film would not do the books justice. For more than 20 years Disney kept trying to convince her he could do it. In Saving Mr. Banks we see that struggle of trying to secure the rights, but also the creation of a classic Disney movie about a magical nanny. Continue reading →

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The Fifth Estate (2013)

Review The Fifth Estate

History has shown that information is powerful and if you can control and limit it, an organisation (whether that is an organisation or government) can use that to its advantage. It makes it possible to hide the truth or distort it. In the opening of the movie we see how information slowly started becoming more widely available. The invention of the printing press is just one example. It allowed for books and newspapers to be printed.

Technology progressed and with a computer you can now access a lot of information with just a few keystrokes and a click of a button. Companies have had to adjust because a dissatisfied customer can do a lot of damage to your image if he start blogging or tweeting about it. Transparancy is the key and hiding something has become more difficult. Wikileaks has had quite an impact on the world with its publication of highly sensitive information, which gave the world a look into the world of politics, diplomacy and the horrors of war. The Fifth Estate tries to weave the story of the site and the people behind it into a compelling movie. Continue reading →

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Captain Phillips (2013)

Review Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks is one of those actors I love watching in anything. Not all movies he stars in will always be good, but I will see a movie if I know he is in it. In Captain Philips he plays the titular role of a captain who has to deal with Somali pirates who want to take control of his ship. The movie has been directed by Paul Greengrass, who is best known for his work in the Bourne movies. He’s a director who knows how to frame action in a way that involves you and in this case that is a good fit for the type of story that’s being told. Continue reading →

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jOBS (2013)

Review of the movie about Steve Jobs with Ashton Kutcher

Whether or not you have Apple products in your home, you can not deny that the company has had a huge impact on the world of computers, music, telephony and apps. In each of these markets it has managed to change the landscape or even create new ones, with others trying to get the same success. A driving force behind this has been Steve Jobs. With his death in 2011 many felt that an inspiring man had left us. Not knowing much about him I decided to read the biography written by Walter Isaacson. It turns out that he was a difficult person to deal with, someone who did things differently and would ignore specific things if they did not help him in some way. He also inspired and had ways to convince people to do things they might not think possible. He was a perfectionist and even cared about the look of circuitry (it needed to look clean) even if nobody ever got to see it. jOBS tries to do what The Social Network did for Mark Zuckerberg. Does it succeed in its goal? Continue reading →

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The Iceman (2013)

The Iceman movie review

I remember that a some years ago I first heard the story of Richard Kuklinski, a hitman for the mafia who has admitted to have killed over 100 people. He was interviewed and this was a man who talked about his killings without showing much emotion. He sometimes made strange movements with his jaw while talking, but besides that you’d think he was just talking about the weather. He got his name not because of his lack of emotions (even though that also fits him nicely), but because he sometimes froze his victims in order to make it impossible for the coroner to discover the real-time of death. Even though he is no longer alive, his fascinating story has been turned into a movie starring Michael Shannon. Continue reading →

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Django Unchained (2012)

Review of the Quentin Tarantino movie Django Unchained

If there is one director where I never want to miss one of his movies at the cinema, it is Quentin Tarantino. Although I did not see Reservoir Dogs at the cinema, I have been to each and every following release. The movie was released here a while ago, but through various circumstance I was not able to go yet and was afraid I’d miss it, until this past weekend that was. Although it didn’t play on any big screens any more, I was very happy to be able to see it in the cinema. Continue reading →

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The Impossible (2012)

Review of The Impossible, tsunami

There are some events which you will never forget. Whether it’s the death of a celebrity (like Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston) or big events. 9/11 immediately springs to mind, but the tsunami on December 26, 2004 is another big one. Almost 230,000 died as a result, a number you can’t imagine. This movie tells the story of one family during this horrible event. It is based on the story of a real Spanish family. Continue reading →

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Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)

Hyde Park On Hudson review

Hyde Park on Hudson isn’t a title which will mean much to you if you don’t know much of American history (like I did). The title references the house president Roosevelt had near New York. It was a place he stayed regularly if he wasn’t in Washington. The movie is set just before Hitler started his war in Europe. The English see the threat and the king decides to come to Hyde Park to get support from Roosevelt. The movie tries to depict the historic characters as normal people, including their flaws, but does the movie manage to do that? Continue reading →

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Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Review of the movie Zero Dark Thirty

From the moment Zero Dark Thirty starts you know you will be subjected to tough material to watch. With nothing on the screen you hear the panicked calls made from the WTC on 9/11. It is still unsettling to hear and it sets the mood, your mind preparing itself for anything, knowing the movie is based on first hand accounts of actual events. As a viewer you see the circumstances in which suspected terrorists are questioned, all to find the most wanted man in the world, Osama Bin Laden. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who previously was responsible for the Hurt Locker again deals with a realistic depiction of war, the war on terror. Continue reading →