A title like Happy Valley immediately makes me have an association with a couple of things. I think of Bob Ross, with his “happy little trees” and the fantasy that comes with it, but it could also be the place where the minions live. However, the title is anything but that. Happy Valley is a hard and exciting thriller set in a valley where happiness and joy are hard to find. Continue reading
During one of my blogathons I read on Rodney’s Fernby Films, that this movie had a lot of impact on him, which made me curious about it. For him growing up it was a movie (besides The Neverending Story) which gave him the idea he could be more than he was. It was the main reason for me to add this movie to my Blindspot series this year. Of course it also helped that this is a science fiction movie from the eighties, which also comes with a lot of nostalgia. Continue reading
The number of movie franchises which are focussed on the “young adults” market keeps steadily growing. The Hunger Games movies always felt like they had a little bit of an edge over the competition. The were more raw, which isn’t a surprise with its strong resemblance to Battle Royale. Each movie manage to raise the tension. When this movie played in theaters I didn’t manage to go out and see it, but was looking forward to what this franchise would bring next. Continue reading
Ant-man. It isn’t immediately a title which sounds like something worth watching and had this movie been made about two decades ago, chances would be that it would have been a pretty terrible film. The times have changed though and every year various superhero movies are released. The Marvel Studios managed to have a lot of success with the Avengers movies (and the standalone movies leading up to it). Last year their Guardians of the Galaxy, with a group of completely unknown heroes, was an unexpected success. And now there is a movie about a person who can become as small as an ant. Does Marvel succeed in bringing this concept convincingly to the big screen Continue reading
Why do audiences keep visiting new Terminator movies? Since the second movie there really haven’t been any great films in this series, but still new installments are being made. I do keep having hope that the new one will be good, but I have been disappointed time after time. My feeling about this movie in advance wasn’t positive at all. But Arnold Schwarzenegger is back and even James Cameron had positive things to say about this new part. Two important reason for me to still head to the cinema to see how good/bad Terminator Genisys is. Continue reading
In general my knowledge of Mexican culture is minimal, especially since I live in Europe. The things I do know are usually from American shows and movies, but it isn’t much. The Book of Life though is a nice introduction though to a part of the culture. Continue reading
Whenever director Neill Blomkamp has finished a new movie, I always look forward to it. The South African director had his big breakthrough, partly thanks to Peter Jackson, with his fantastic District 9. Not only the story it told was fascinating, but the effects were extremely convincing (which isn’t a surprise if you know he has a background in 3d effects). He followed it up with Elysium starring Matt Damon, which didn’t exactly receive glowing reviews, but which I personally really enjoyed. Chappie is his third movie. If you look at his first short movie from 2004, Tetra Vall, you immediately see the similarities between the main character from that with this movie, also a police robot in Johannesburg. Has Blomkamp managed to turn that short film into a fascinating feature film? Continue reading
Starting to watch a new series is always a gamble: Often you don’t know in advance if it’s something you’ll like. How many episodes do you have to watch before you can decide to stop or continue? Probably two or three episodes should be enough right? But even then it can get better or worse. Les oubliées, also known as Forgotten Girls, consists of six episodes, so you would expect that three episodes in you’d be hooked. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case for me at that moment. Continue reading
During the first two seasons of House of Cards, Frank (Kevin Spacey) and Claire (Robin Wright) Underwood have succeeded in reaching their goal, the top when it comes to politics: The White House. In order to get there they have made many enemies and the rules didn’t seem to apply to them. After that successful climb to the top you are expectinga fall, but do these two political veterans manage to keep their position?(this review contains spoilers)
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There were a couple of years where I just stopped watching TV shows. The main reason for this was the fact that they take up so much time when compared to movies, but last year I decided to dip my feet into the world of television again and have loved shows like Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, Black Mirror, The Bridge (original version) and many more. Recently I watched this Australian show, which because of its length, just six episodes, was nice and short. Lees verder