It’s a shame to see how the careers of some actors or actresses develop. On the box of this movie it clearly states “Academy Award Winner” Nicolas Cage. What that cover doesn’t mention though is that he received that statue in 1996, almost 20 years ago and that the quality of the movies he stars in has taken a huge nosedive. The number of B-movies to his name keeps increasing, but there might be exceptions. Is Tokarev one of them? Continue reading
Dwayne Johnson is one of those actors who, with his charismatic appearance, always adds something to the movies he’s in. In the disaster movie San Andreas he stars as a helicopter pilot. Continue reading
When director and writer Brad Bird attaches himself to a project, there is enough reason to take notice and anticipate the end result. He directed movies like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, but was also responsible for the exciting Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Tomorrowland is his newest “live action” movie. Is the end result worth watching? Continue reading
As I consume quite a big number of movies each year, you’d expect that I would also keep up with the latest news and watch the latest trailers. However, this is not the case. If I haven’t seen a new movie yet I usually won’t be able to tell you a thing about it. The reason is that I enjoy that feeling of surprise and shock when watching a movie. The only thing I’ve seen of Kingsman was its poster which had a wardrobe on it filled with nice seats and some guns. I knew that Samuel L. Jackson was in it. Nothing would have been able to prepare me for the spectacle this movie offers.
Had I looked at the writer/director, Matthew Vaughn, I could have known that this movie would have something special. He was responsible for the screenplays of Kick-Ass, The Debt and X-Men: First Class. With Kingsman: The Secret Service he serves up his ode to the spy movies, made popular by James Bond. Continue reading
The quiz show has been a fixed part of TV programming for years on almost every channel. They are programs which are relatively cheap to make and contestants are easy to find. It was the same during the fifties and in America the show Twenty One was the most popular.
The show had two contestants (a challenger and a defending champion) who both are located in a sound proof booth and can’t see or hear each other. The presenter picks out a random card about a specific subjects and the contestants have to pick for how many points they want to play. The more points you choose, the more difficult the question. The winner is the one who reaches 21 points first. A big scandal related to the show was huge news for a while and could mean the end of the show. That scandal is the focus of this film. Continue reading
One of the most visually striking elements from the first Avengers movie was the long shot in which the camera showed all the Avengers in one swooping move through the city. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) managed to beat their enemy by turning into a team. They are now back and this second film opens with a similar impressive scene, all in one shot, where all the Avengers are introduced while attacking a Hydra base. This action filled opening shows a lot of promise, but does Age of Ultron succeed in keeping the movie at that level? Continue reading
If you watch as many movies as I do, it colors the way you experience other films. Whether you’d want to or not you make connections, start guessing how the story will unfold and you hope that you will be surprised. Especially when watching older films you notice the impact of modern films on what you’ve come to expect. The biggest difference usually is the tempo, which is much slower with longer shots. Different techniques are used as well. The Getaway has moments that are typical for the seventies. You immediately notice this at the start of the film, where the only thing you hear is the annoying sound of a machine, played against imagery which stops with a freeze frame. Blood looks different (more like red paint). These are probably things a modern audience won’t appreciate anymore, but I love the nostalgic factor of them. Continue reading
Most big animated movies you watch now are computer generated. There aren’t a lot of studios anymore who still animate by hand, simply because computer animation gives more possibilities and the market has proved that those type of movies are more successful. Fortunately there are still some studios who prove differently. Of course when it comes to animation Studio Ghibli is still showing the heights this format can rise to.
When it comes to stop animation than most people will probably first think of the studio who is responsible for Wallace & Grommit and Shaun the Sheep, Aardman Animations, who definitely make enjoyable films. But to me it is Laika studios who is the current emperor in this arena. The Boxtrolls is just their third movie, but with Coraline and ParaNorman they have already proven themselves worthy. With this movie they raise the bar again. Continue reading
There are times when you are endlessly browsing through Netflix when you come across titles which don’t ring any bells. Parallels is one of those, where I didn’t know the actors either. What I thought was interesting though was the science fiction element of the film (or series, but more on that later) which is all part of the title: Parallel worlds. Continue reading
If there is one genre which has grown a lot in the last couple of years it is the “young adult” one and more specific the movies which are set against a future society where there (usually) is one special person who is the key to solving a huge problem within that society. The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner are examples of it and so is Insurgent.
In the first movie the viewer was introduced to the world of Tris (Shailene Woodley), in which order was kept by placing people in specific factions based on their character. Tris turned out to be someone who didn’t fit to one of the faction and ended up facing the political leader, having to fight her. It was an enjoyable movie which nicely set up the world. With the world building done in the first movie, it was a question what would be done with it in this second film. Continue reading