Category Archives: Romance

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Her (2013)

Review Her

Technology is developing at an exponential rate. The machines which once were considered supercomputers and occupied whole rooms now fit in the palm of your hand. That exponential growth does not seem to stop anytime soon and many futurists already try to look ahead and predict where it will lead us. Ray Kurzweil is one of them, who predicts that there will be a moment where our minds simply will not be able to keep up with artificial intelligence, which will end up changing society. He even thinks there will be a moment where we no longer will need our physical bodies anymore and we can just upload ourselves to a computer, basically granting us eternal life and opening up new experiences. It is a subject I have always been interested in, seeing where technology will take mankind. Her is one vision of a future which to me does not sound that far-fetched. Continue reading →

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Bro’s Before Ho’s (2013)

Review Bro's before Ho's

Relationships can be hard and brothers Max (Tim Haars) and Jules (Daniel Arends) learned that at a very young age. When their mother leaves the house after a fight with their father he tells the two that they should never start a relationship as all women are bitches/ho’s. The two make a pact to never do so and grow up sticking to it. The two go out as much as they can and try to sleep with as many women as possible. That all changes when Max meets Anna (Sylvia Hoeks) as he falls in love with her, but when he finds out that his brother is seeing her he has to decide whether to go with his feelings or stick to his agreement with Jules. Continue reading →

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Wan Pipel (1976)

Recensie Wan Pipel (1976)

Although I watch a lot of movies every year, there are not many which are set in Surinam. The country has a strong connection with the Netherlands as it is a former colony, where slavery was used in the past. When slavery was abolished a lot of people from other countries (China, India, Indonesia) moved to Surinam to build a future there. It means that the country has a very mixed population. Wan Pipel, directed by Pim de la Parra is the first Surinamese movie made after Surinam gained its indepence in 1975. Continue reading →

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The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Review The Grand Budapest Hotel

There are some directors whose work you’ll recognize almost instantaneously because of their style. You know that a Michael Bay movie most likely will have some explosions, lots of shots of barely dressed women and a saturated color palette. Quentin Tarantino is known for his dialog and homages to other films and I could name many other examples. If you watch one of their movies you will realize their hand eventually.

One of the most instantly recognizable styles is the one used by Wes Anderson. His movies have a very specific look, where the sets almost have a dollhouse quality to them, often with bright colors and a feel of another time. There are a couple of camera moves he also loves to do, like moving it along one axis….along with the action, often through walls, instead of cutting between faces during a conversation he will actually swing the camera around. The characters in his movies all seem to be unique as well, their clothes having some distinct features which make them stand out. I have to admit that initially I was not a huge fan of his style as I thought his movies were simply strange, but especially with his last couple of movies he has managed to win me over. The stories he tells seem to have become stronger and therefore I was very much looking forward to his new film: The Grand Budapest Hotel. Continue reading →

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2014)

Review of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

As adults we seem to be focussed on the practical things of life: Work, our family and friends. The moments where we don’t have anything to do are far and few between. You might still daydream, but I’m sure it won’t be as much as when you were a kid. A time when you could imagine anything and where you didn’t have the life experience yet to realise a lot of those daydreams would never be realised. Walter Mitty is a character though who has kept daydreaming and who zones out when he imagines the most fantastic imagery. It could be him saving people or standing up for something which in reality he doesn’t. He has never realised those dreams, not been anywhere and is stuck in his job. Continue reading →

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About Time (2013)

Review About Time

What if you were able to manipulate time? How would you use it? Would you think about making a lot of money and buy a sports almanac or would you try to make other changes to history? Playing around with time has always been a very entertaining concept in movies, it is something which sometimes challenges conventional thinking and that is the reason I like the films so much. In About Time, a father (Bill Nighy) tells his son Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) about a big family secret: All the men in the family can travel through time. No special machines required, simply standing in a dark place and clenching your fists is enough to travel. The only restriction is that you can only travel back to moments in your own life. Although the power can be used for a lot of things he decides to use it to find a girlfriend. Continue reading →

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Bounty Killer (2013)

Review Bounty Killer

With a huge supply of movies you have to make choices about which ones to see. Which way that is done differs from person to person. I usually do that based on IMDB scores, but I sometimes watch movies which don’t score high because a specific actor is in it or if I usually enjoy the director’s work. Bounty Killer is a movie I was given and I decided to watch it without doing any further investigation. Continue reading →

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Frozen (2013)

Review Frozen

I used to love watching animated movies. If there was a new one I just had to check it out as soon as possible. But something has changed and I’m not sure what it is. Even though every year has some great animated movies, there are a ton of horrible ones. I guess I have seen too many bad ones to be excited about what is being released. Last year I could not be bothered to check out movies like Planes or Turbo because the concept behind them just felt like marketing and nothing more. Movies just to sell toys. Still I did watch some animated movies. One of them was Epic and that film disappointed me and probably also made me a bit more cautious. Still I was quite intrigued by the teaser trailer for Frozen and since this is a Disney movie it could be good. Tangled was a lot of fun, so chances were this one would be enjoyable too. My trip to the cinema confirmed my hopes. Continue reading →

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Review The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy told an epic story, filled with adventure and when The Hobbit trilogy was announced people were expecting the same. Last year’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey did not manage to match those expectations. Although I did enjoy it, the movie felt too long, with not much happening. As someone who has not read the books a lot felt like filler. It is not a movie I am tempted to revisit. Now having seen the second movie I would almost be inclined to say that most of the first movie could have been scrapped with only some small portions added to this one. If you have not seen the first one you could easily see this second film and not miss out on much. The hobbit and the dwarf continue their journey to reclaim the city of the dwarves. Continue reading →