The first movie I saw from director Felix van Groeningen was The Broken Circle Breakdown , which I absolutely loved. It made me curious about his other movies, especially after hearing that his latest movie Belgica (which was released this year) was also worth watching. So I decided to check out the DVD of Friends Like These to find out if I would like to check out more work of his. 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
Professor John Oldman (David Lee Smith) has decided to stop his work at the university, back his bags and move somewhere else. His friends and colleagues decide to give him a farewell party at his house. He’s loved by those around him, so they wonder why he has decided to leave. It seems like he never ages and when he tells he actually doesn’t and has been living for 14,000 years they do not believe him. The immediate connection I made while watching this was a version of Highlander without the swords and a fighting. Can that be worth watching? Continue reading
Being a comedian can be a tough life, especially if you have worked hard at your piece and don’t get the laughs or even worse get comments from the crowd while you are doing that. They call these people hecklers and I have to admit that I have been one on one occasion. I went to a comedy night and one of the comedians that was supposed to be there didn’t show up, so the organisers had a replacement comedian. Well, he was supposed to be funny but instead he wasn’t and constantly was making comments that were inappropriate. After a while I couldn’t stand it any more and frustration took a hold of me and I yelled: You are not funny! I got more laughs than he did so of course I became his target. I basically didn’t care because I just had to tell him. This documentary is about those people…and not only those at comedy shows. Continue reading
Sienna Miller and Steve Buscemi star in this remake of the 2003 dutch movie with the same name, made by director Theo Van Gogh (who was murdered in 2004). I have not seen the original, but since I am a big fan of Buscemi I was interested to see what this movie was like (which he also directed). Continue reading
After my review of yesterday’s Sound of Noise I just happened to watch another movie which has a strong link to music. Yesterday’s movie was a lot more light-hearted than this one though as the music is just one small part of the story. Continue reading
Through the years I’ve seen lots of movies where people are stuck somewhere. It can be in a building (Die Hard), a coffin (Buried), under a rock (127 Hours) or in a phone booth (well..Phone booth). Never before had I seen a movie where the main character is trapped inside his own body. Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) wakes up completely paralysed. His brain is fully functioning, but he can’t express himself anymore. The only thing he can move is his left eyelid and it is his only way to communicate with others. By using this form of communication he is able to express himself and write a book. The amazing thing about this movie though is that it is a true story. Continue reading
Héctor (Karra Elejalde) is renovating a new house which he has just bought with his wife. After some hard work it’s time to relax a bit in the garden. He sits down, takes out his binoculars and sees something strange happening in the bushes. He decides to investigate and with it start a journey which will surprise you. It’s an experience which you will remember for a long time. Continue reading
Helvetica (or the similar Arial) is a font which surrounds us in our daily life and is one of the most succesful fonts ever made. Various companies use it for their logo and it’s used extensively in many fields. For something which is so widespread we actually know nothing about it. Should you be interested in its history? How interesting can a documentary about a font be? Continue reading
São Paulo, Brazil. A city in which an estimated 17 to 20 million people are living and a place where a lot of poor Brazilians move to in the hope to start a better life. It’s a city with a lot of skyscrapers, but a lot of favelas as well. The difference between rich and poor is very big, which has resulted in an extremely high number of kidnappings. Not a day goes by without at least one happening and the ransom is usually very high. To prove that the family needs to pay the kidnappers use violence and it’s “normal” to cut off an ear of the victim and mail it to the family. Continue reading