Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, at least that’s how the saying goes and it seems that director Arne Toonen wants to really flatter Guy Ritchie with this Dutch version of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. It is a movie which was made for TV (financed by the Public Dutch Broadcasting Corporation), but it regularly happens that they are also shown at the cinema. This was one of them (even though it only had a short run) and I unfortunately wasn’t able to see it there. Now out on DVD I finally had a chance to check it out. Continue reading
Category Archives: Mystery
Les Diaboliques (1955)
I’m sometimes surprised that I’m able to watch movies that’s are more than 50 years old without knowing anything about it. Of course I try to do this as well with newer films, but that’s a lot more difficult. Les Diaboliques is a movie that I hadn’t heard of before and wanted to watch since it appears in the IMDB top 250. So going into this blind, does it earn its place in the list? Continue reading
Battleship (2012)
Recently I read an interview with Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg at Kid in the Front Row. They are the ones who wrote the Harold and Kumar movies and were also responsible for American Reunion. In that interview Jon Hurwitz said about review of movies: “reviews bring the reviewers own perspective before they walk into a movie” and I think that is often the case with some of the big action blockbusters that come out each year. Most of them seem to get trashed in reviews and I always wonder what the expectations were when going in to see it. When I go in to see them I usually expect big set pieces, lots of explosions, paper-thin characterisation and just a fun time. It’s the reason I’ve enjoyed movies like Prince of Persia, Battle L.A. and even the Transformer movies. So going into Battleship I had the same expectations. Does it deliver? Continue reading
The Boys from Brazil (1978)
It’s April 5th, which means it is exactly 96 years ago since actor Gregory Peck was born. Ruth over at Flixchatter, who recently added him in the Top 10 Actors of all time relay race list, asked me if I could review a movie he was in. Now looking at his filmography I was surprised that I had hardly seen anything he had been in. Surely I have seen To Kill a Mockingbird (although it’s been way too long ago to remember much about it), but that was it. Something I have to admit is that I thought I had seen him in various Hitchcock movies, but I had mixed him up with James Stewart (sorry Ruth!).
So enough movies to pick from and I finally settled on Boys From Brasil. It’s a title which I had heard mentioned several times and knew it had something to do with experiments by nazis, but that was about it. It sounded like a weird movie, so I was prepared for anything. Continue reading
The 6th Day (2000)
A while ago I really felt like revisiting Schwarzeneggers Last Action Hero. I ordered the DVD and it came with another movie of his, The 6th Day. Having seen it now I’m still not completely sure if I had seen it before, but if I had I had forgotten almost all of it. Continue reading
Topaz (1969)
This is another movie that my father in law suggested I’d watch. I had never heard of it and once I finally got around to checking it out I was happily surprised that this is a Hitchcock movie. It turns out the X-Men were not the only ones who were involved in preventing the Russian missle crisis in Cuba. Continue reading
Steamboy (2004)
Steam. You might think the good old days when it was used to propel trains and boats are over and that it’s a technology of the past, but you’d be mistaken as it’s still used in nuclear powerplants to get the generators going. To me it’s amazing to think that such an old idea is still in use today. Steamboy is an anime in which steam is seen as the future and can be used for progress. Continue reading
Seeking Justice (2011)
Through the years Oscar winner Nicholas Cage has slowly seemed to have lost his focus when it comes to starring in amazing movies. A lot of people are disappointed in a lot of his later movies, but personally I’m a big fan and usually watch anything he’s in, even know if I know in advance what I’m going into. To me Cage is just entertaining to watch, no matter what he stars in. If you are not a fan though, is Seeking Justice a movie that’s worth seeing? Continue reading
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Finally out on DVD as I missed it when it was at the cinema this is a movie I was looking forward to. I didn’t read much of the comics when I was young, so I have no idea how much it adheres to the original story, but the fact that Spielberg is involved was enough reason for me to see it. Continue reading
Headhunters (2011)
The art world is an interesting one where people are willing to pay big money just because it is widely loved. If there is demand there are always willing to help in supplying what they want and Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) is the man for the job. While he has a day job as a headhunters trying to find the right person for a CEO position he also steals paintings in order to be able to make sure he keeps his wife happy and is able to pay for his expensive villa. It is not a job without risks and when one of them doesn’t go as planned Roger doesn’t seem to be safe anymore. Continue reading