The number of films (and with that, of course, the number of reviews) that I have watched in recent months continues to decrease. And that’s not because there is nothing to watch, on the contrary. My Netflix list is still huge and I keep adding titles and my IMDb list of movies I want to see consists of 379 titles. Still, I find my escape from reality a lot less in films the last couple of months. Partly because films don’t wow me as much anymore and I’d rather prefer to walk outside for one and a half to two hours in quiet areas, than to sit at home for an even bigger part of the day. Still, I was curious about the latest film by director Spike Lee. You can have different opinions about his films, but no matter what you think, you’ll have to agree that they are always unique. Da 5 Bloods is his latest and is available on Netflix. Continue reading
Category Archives: war
1917 (2019) – Review
That war is hell is of course nothing new. We see it almost daily on the news and war movies and series also show the horrors. Whether that is Vietnam or the second world war. In recent years, the first world war has again become the subject or part of films. For example, Wonder Woman partially took place in this setting and last year Peter Jackson impressively succeeded in transforming the existing jerky black-and-white images into a smooth, colored and narrated document about how the soldiers’ lives in the trench war looked like. And with 1917, director Sam Mendes brings the First World War to the big screen in a way that has never been done before. Continue reading
The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot (2018) – Review
What’s the first thing you think about when you read the title “The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot”? Is it a cheap Roger Corman exploitation film? A bizarre action movie? Or do you start yelling about spoilers? No matter what it is, the title immediately catches your interested and makes you curious. And no matter what your expectations are, chances are big that they won’t be met by what this film offers. And in this case that isn’t a bad thing. Continue reading
Avengers: Endgame (2019) – Review
After my wedding last week and short honeymoon, Avengers: Endgame was the next big event on the calendar (I have to admit that I, only for a moment, thought about heading to the press screening a day after the wedding, but decided that would probably be a bad idea). A film that isn’t only the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War, but also a title that Marvel has been working towards for the past eleven years. A sort of end to an era, just as film lovers felt about Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and other franchises. Although it is not the last Marvel film, it does largely feel like the last chapter in a series. After more than twenty films in this series, the fans have come to know and love these characters and Endgame takes them almost literally through the entire MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Is it one of the best superhero films? Continue reading
Love, Death & Robots (2019) – Review
Although a load of new content appears on Netflix every week, I generally take the time to watch what interests me. I add it to my viewing list when it is announced and I often see it a few weeks after it has been released. However, last week was a week in which I could not wait until the releases of Triple Frontier (review will follow), season 2 of The OA and this series, Love, Death & Robots. With Tim Miller (director of Deadpool) and David Fincher as executive producers and a science fiction approach, I was very curious. I had not seen the trailer and I was totally unprepared for what I would experience, but when I started watching, I couldn’t get enough of it. Continue reading
Brothers (2017) – Review
Within in Europe (and probably elsewhere too) there have been people who decided to go to Syria to fight there, usually with a religious motivation. Some return and the news about them is usually negative. But what do you do when you find out someone within your own family was seen last in Syria? That’s the idea behind Brothers (Broeders). Continue reading
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) – Review
Up till now most people I talked to about upcoming Star Wars movies, responded that they were looking forward to them. That changed when it came to Solo: A Star Wars Story. Personally I never had a huge connection with Star Wars (only watching them for the first time on VHS in my late teens) but I have been enjoying most of them (forgetting about the first three prequels), so to me this would just be something along the same lines as Rogue One only this time with a character we already know.
Of course Han Solo is one of the most iconic characters in history and maybe that’s the reason people were hesitant about a film looking at his backstory. As we’ve seen with for example Alien: Covenant, sometimes you don’t want answers to some questions. I personally didn’t need an explanation how the Xenomorphs came into being. They should remain a mystery as that just adds to the legend of a character. Some people had the same idea about Solo. But the film is now here so we can find out if this is a film that should have been made and if it indeed demystifies the legend that is the man who did shoot first. Continue reading
The Sound of Music (1965) – Review
I’m a bit behind when it comes to translating my Dutch reviews to this blog (although I’m slowly catching up) and this is a blindspot movie of last year. I knew the music of it, but had never seen the actual film. Which is weird as the rest of my family had seen it several times. Had to change that…on to the hills which apparently are alive with the sound of music… Continue reading
Birth of a Nation (1915) – Review
I have to admit that I wasn’t really looking forward to watching Birth of a Nation. Because of its racism it is a controversial movie, but at the same time it’s also one which has been very important to the medium of film. Plus it’s also a movie with a running time of tree hours, which is very long for a silent movie. I decide to take my time watching it on a lazy Saturday afternoon and just experience it. Continue reading
Their Finest (2017) – Review
“Film is life without the boring bits” is one of the lines from Their Finest and an important reason why we love movies so much. If they are good, they offer a world for one and a half to three hours in which something is constantly happening, whether it is a lot of action or small personal moments. It is a period in which you do not have to do anything yourself and yet experience a great deal. Really good films are able to move you or give you a different view of something that you normally do not think about. And that all starts with someone who has a good idea and knows how to turn that into a fascinating script. That is partly what this film is all about. Continue reading