While Unbreakable did not really leave a lasting impression on me, it was very different with (what at the end of the film turned out to be) the follow-up Split. A film that I was a huge fan of and I could not wait to see the third part in this trilogy, Glass, in which the characters from the first two films come together. Continue reading
Category Archives: Suspense
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018) – Review
When Netflix released the first interactive show on Netflix last year, Puss in Book: Trapped in Epic Tale, I was very curious about the concept. But when I played this short film, I did not get any interactive options. I did not investigate it any further, but the concept (which incidentally has also been used for some movies in the cinema) of leaving making choices about what happens to the viewer, is fascinating. Is it still a movie? Or is it more a game? Last Friday, Netflix released the first Black Mirror film, Bandersnatch, which also uses this concept. Again I did not get it working. Since Black Mirror is one of my favorite series and I had to see it, I decided to find out how you can watch it. My phone did not work (probably because it does not have a standard Android version), a Samsung tablet did not offer the option either. Apple TV, Chromecast and a Samsung smart TV were all the same story and the Netflix site does not offer an extensive list of supported devices. Eventually it worked on another smart TV from Samsung and after a lot of frustration I finally managed to enter the world of real interactive TV. Continue reading
Rounders (1998) – Review
Listen, here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.
Sometimes there are those movies that you forget about almost immediately after seeing them because they are so bad, but there are also good movies that you would love to forget so that you can experience them again for the first time. That is certainly the case for, for example, the films from my personal top 100, but there are also films that fall outside of it and where I wish for the same. Rounders is an example of this and since it is a film that I have not seen for at least 15 years. The only things I remembered about it was that Matt Damon is in it and that John Malkovich has a bizarre Russian accent. A nice moment to revisit this poker film again to find out if I still are able to enjoy it as as when it was just released. Continue reading
Blast of Silence (1961) – Review
When I did a “Ten best Christmas movies relay race” last year on the Dutch version of my site, there was one blogger who added this movie, which was a movie no one heard about and it remained in the list. It was a good reason for me to add this film noir from the sixties in my blindspot list for 2018 and watch it around Christmas time to make up my mind about it. Is Blast of Silence a Christmas movie and should you have seen it? Continue reading
Aquaman (2018) – Review
You only have one time to make a first impression and when DC, inspired by the success of Marvel and their “shared universe” of films, tried the same thing, it was not really successful. Batman vs. Superman disappointed and the same was true for Justice League. Where the Marvel films were mainly light-hearted and entertaining, that was not the case in the DC universe. That does not have to be a problem, as the Batman films of Christopher Nolan have proven that a realistic, dark atmosphere can work, but the general public doesn’t seem to look forward to the films of the studio as much. Wonder Woman might have been the exception, but that also succeeded because it had a different tone. Aquaman was introduced in the In Justice League film and Jason Mamoa gave the character both a serious as a lighthearted feel by for example joking about Batman. Now the character gets his own movie. Is this another disappointing DC movie or has the company finally found the right balance? Continue reading
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) – Review
The number of reboots the Spider-Man movies have had during the last 16 years is 3. The amazing thing is that even being so close together, the makers still thought it was necessary to tell the story again about how Peter Parker became Spider-Man. Any superhero or moviefan knows the story, so you could ask why they’d do it. You might be surprised that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse also tells the origin story (several times actually), but now from the perspective of different characters and a lot of humor, diverting expectations and making sure you won’t be annoyed. And that original approach is a property the whole movie possesses, which makes this not only different from you average superhero movie, but also a superhero film which you should have watched before making your list of favorite 2018 movies. Continue reading
Mandy (2018) – Review
Upgrade (2018) – Review
Every year there are only a few films in which there are shots that amaze me. Moments where I wonder how they are made or that overwhelms me visually (but that might be a subject for a separate article). When you watch a lot of movies it’s much more difficult to get wowed and you hope to see inventive imagery that feel fresh/new. Initially, I had no idea that Upgrade would be a title that had such characteristics. It starts as a fairly average science fiction story, but from the moment above I could not wait to see what else the film had in store. Continue reading
Searching (2018) – Review
How much time do you spend behind a screen every day? If you had an app that would keep track, you might be shocked. We know the interfaces that we use in detail. Nevertheless, in many cases, films and series often choose to present us with an interface that is unfamiliar to us, even if it takes place in the present. A screen that has been specially designed for a film and should look sleek. As a result, as a viewer you have no strong connection with what you see. Searching is an exception. It is a film that takes place completely in operating systems that we know: Windows and Mac OS. Continue reading
The Meg (2018) – Review
If it wasn’t clear before, the moment Jason Statham (playing an expert in saving people from the deepest parts of the ocean) swims towards an enormous prehistoric shark singing Dory’s “Just keep swimming”, you know that this is a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously. And it shouldn’t, because this is a monster movie that has a ridiculous idea behind it. A billionaire has invested a lot of money to find out if the Marianas trench is even deeper than we thought. The first mission doesn’t go as planned and Jonas Taylor (Statham) is called to save the people from the bottom of the ocean. There they find the biggest shark that ever lived, a megalodon, which escapes from the deep and starts terrorizing people. It’s up to Taylor and the group he is working to kill it. Continue reading