Trollhunter (2010) – Review

review Trollhunter

When you search for the “found footage” genre on Wikipedia you’ll see that once The Blair Witch Project came out it caused an explosion of titles which also used the technique. Most of those movies are titles you’ve never heard of and that’s probably for a good reason. Making a found footage movie can be done cheaply. You don’t need great equipment for the images to look good and the way the camera itself is used doesn’t have to be tight (shots don’t always have to be in focus or steady). Of course there are various exceptions of movies which did have a budget and chose to use it to tell the story in an effective way (Cloverfield, Chronicle, End of Watch and Europa Report are a couple of examples). The Norwegian film Trollhunter recently appeared on Netflix over here and also has been shot in this style. Is this a better way of approaching the Norse mythology than the horrible Trolls did? Continue reading

The Magnificent Seven (2016) – Review

Review The Magnificent Seven

When I watched Seven Samurai for the first time, about seven years ago, it was a movie which really impressed me. A beautifully shot film, with characters you cared about and impressive fights set in the pouring rain. And although I wrote in my original review that the 1960 version of The Magnificent Seven was based on the Kurosawa movie, I had forgotten it. While watching this new version I immediately was thinking about Seven Samurai and it proves how a classic can take a place in your heart. Is that something which this update, with actors like Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio and others also manages to do? Continue reading

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) – Review

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 review
There are characters on the silver screen you love to spend time with and which you look forward to returning. Of course baby Groot is one of them, but so is the rest of the crew in Guardians. A group which was forced together through circumstances and which managed to win the hearts of movie audiences. With its humour, nostalgia for the eighties, strong soundtrack and lots of action that wasn’t a surprise. All those ingredients are present as well for this sequel. So if you have seen the original you probably won’t even hesitate going to the cinema to find out what adventures await the guardians this time. Continue reading

Kong: Skull Island (2017) – Review

Recensie Kong Skull Island

To me the original 1933 King Kong remains the ultimate King Kong movie, one which was way ahead of its time. Despite its age and many other films which has depicted this prehistoric monster it is still great to watch. When watching monster movies you can only hope for characters to survive, because there realistically isn’t anything which can stop them. That’s also the case for the creatures in Kong: Skull Island (which you could call the real “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) Continue reading

American Honey (2016) – Review

Recensie American Honey

When you consider the way road movies work, they seem very simple: One person or a group of people travel from point A to point B and on their way encounter things. A good road movie however is much more, characters gain new insights and learn more about themselves because they are facing situations they haven’t encountered before. You got consider these type of movies to be extremely concentrated version of life, where it isn’t about the destination, but the journey itself. Continue reading

Imperial Dreams (2014) – Review

Review Imperial Dreams

That it’s hard to grow up in a poor neighbourhood is something which we’ve seen in many movies throughout the years. The recent Oscar winner Moonlight is a good example of this, but usually these type of films have the same storylines. Because of that you can usually see what’s going to happen from a mile away. Is this Netflix-exclusive an exception? Continue reading

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) – Review

Review Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The Harry Potter franchise was (and of course still is) a very successful range of books and movies. I once started watching the films, but I’ll have to admit that I eventually stopped watching. After a couple of them I simply lost interest and I never returned. I didn’t know J.K. Rowling kept writing books and was involved in expanding the universe which in the end has resulted in this film, the start of a new franchise. It wasn’t a movie I had any feelings about, but which I decided to give a chance. Continue reading

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016) – Review

Review Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Although Tim Burton has been making movies for a long time and has delivered quite a few good ones (Big Figh, Big Eyes, Ed Wood), he’s never been a director to me who made my heart beat faster. That’s mainly because of his dark style, which I’m simply not a fan of. That was also the main reason that I didn’t see this film in the cinema, but now that it’s available via VOD, I decided to give it a chance (despite signals by various people that this was a bad movie). Continue reading

The OA – Review

Review The OA

Brit Marling is an actress who might not be well-known to a big audience, but I have been watching her movies with great pleasure. Whether that’s Another Earth, where a second earth appears next to ours, Sound of My Voice which deals with a cult of the rebellious The East. The special thing about her is that she wasn’t only in front of the camera, but also wrote and produced these titles. They stand out by their science fiction/mysterious elements which usually it doesn’t focus on. What makes all these movies great is the personal stories that are told. Netflix only announced the show a few days before it was released and surprised everyone. Is this show just as surprising? Continue reading

The Handmaiden (2016) – Review

Review The Handmaiden

When I took my first steps into the world of South Korean cinema a couple of years ago, Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy was one of the first movies I saw. I was deeply impressed, as you can imagine if you’ve seen the film. I watched other movies he made like Joint Security Area, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Lady Vengeance en I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK and really enjoyed his work. His foray into American cinema was visually beautiful, but the story was a bit too strange for my taste. With The Handmaiden he returns to Korea and manages to impress again. Continue reading