Love Jones (1997)

review

When it comes to romantic movies most of them seem to be filled with stereotypes. The characters are card box cutouts and it’s mostly about them ending up in crazy situations. So it’s always refreshing to see a movie where the characters feel like real people. There are a couple of movies where I have that feeling like Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Once. This is another movie that managed to portray people the way they are. Is it as good as those other movies though? Continue reading

Battleship (2012)

review

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

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

After reading about this on Tyler‘s site Southern Vision and knowing that this is a movie that is directed by Werner Herzog (one of my favorite directors) I really felt compelled to get my hands on this movie. I immediately bought it when I bumped into it at a store and was ready to make the journey into the Amazon, together with a crazy or brilliant opera lover by the name of Fitzcarraldo (played by Klaus Kinski) Continue reading

Topaz (1969)

Topaz review
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

Tower Heist (2011)

Tower Heist review
Heist movies have had a long tradition in cinema. You have older classics like The Asphalt Jungle, Rififi and The Italian job but also more recent movies like Ocean’s Eleven and Heat. It’s a genre which keeps thrilling audiences and it all comes down to a small team trying to get something from a highly secured place and the viewer wanting them to succeed. Tower Heist has this too, but can it join the ranks of the previously named movies? Continue reading

The Three Musketeers (2011)

Now this is a movie I really didn’t plan on seeing. Why? Well, first of all it didn’t get very good reviews, secondly it had a cast of mostly unknowns and thirdly the 3D. That was until I saw this movie appear in Tarantino’s list of movies he liked the past year. Now I know he sometimes has a bit of a weird taste when it comes to movies, but it made me want to see it to find out why he liked it so much. Continue reading

The Rum Diary (2011)

The Rum Diary (2011) review

No “Story Behind…” this week as time really hasn’t allowed me to write a new one, but I do have a review:

Hunter S. Thompson was an interesting man, which was made clear by the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in which he goes on a drug filled journey and ends up in the most bizarre situations. If you’d like to know more about him I recommend watching the documentary Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter s.Thompson,which shows that what was shown in that movie was only a small part of a life filled with extremes. Knowing that The Rum Diary was also based on his work I was looking forward to seeing this, especially with Johnny Depp starring again. Continue reading

Headhunters (2011)

Headhunters review

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

Albert Nobbs (2011)

Albert Nobbs review

As you know I usually go into the movies without knowing anything about it. Albert Nobbs was part of a preview festival I went to and apart from a thumbnail of the poster I went in blank. No idea what it was about and who played in it. When the movie started I saw the name Glenn Close show up on the screen and although it vaguely rang a bell I really couldn’t think of a face that matched the name. When the movie started I got an uncomfortable feeling. Continue reading