Tag Archives: 2008

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Horton Hears a Who (2008) – Review

Review Horton Hears a Who

My daughter has now reached an age when she often asks whether she can watch a movie instead of TV. I do not know if that’s because she finds it fun or because they are long, but it’s nice to see that she enjoys them. That means she regularly watches movies that I refuse to see (especially the ones about talking puppies, there are really too many of them), but if I decide to join in then I make sure I might enjoy this. After a short search on Netflix I came across this title. Since this film, like The Lorax, is based on the books by Dr.Seuss I decided to try it Continue reading →

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Searching for Debra Winger (2008)

Review Searching for Debra Winger

The way in which women are depicted in the media is often a subject which keeps women busy and a documentary like Miss Representation already shed some light on the subject a couple of years ago. In that film a lot of famous persons were interviewed (including actresses like Rosario Dawson, Geena Davis and Jane Fonda). Actrice Rosanna Arquette decided to make the documentary Searching for Debra Winger in which she tries to give the viewer an idea about how women working in the movie industry experience it. Continue reading →

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102 Minutes That Changed America (2008)

Review of the documentary 102 Minutes That Changed America (2008)

Translating real events into a compelling movie can be very difficult. You have to stick to the facts, but also still tell a story within those facts. Various movies have been made related to 9/11 and although they might have captured part of what happened you still know you are watching something which was recreated. If you were around on 9/11 you will remember the day vividly. Most people will know what they were doing and how they heard about it. They remember the impact it had on everybody, even if you were not living in the United States. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of movies and documentaries about it and was not expecting this documentary to add much. As it turned out I was quite wrong. Continue reading →

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Ip Man (2008)

Ip Man (2008) review

The way you discover a new movie can set some expectations about it. If I see a lot of positive scores for a movie I expect that I will also like it, which doesn’t always happen of course. If close friends suggest a movie you assume you will absolutely love it, because they know your tastes (of course it doesn’t always work if your taste in movies is very different). This movie got suggested by me by a friend who does have the same taste in movies, so I was looking forward to it. I quite like martial arts movies, so going into this blindly I didn’t know this movie was semi-biograhical, telling the story about the man who would be Bruce Lee’s teacher. The movie also happens to be in the IMDB top 250, so I was surprised I had not seen it yet (since I’ve worked through most of the list). Continue reading →

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Seven Pounds (2008)

review

There are some movies that manage to grab your attention within the first few minutes and that don’t let go until they end. A very effective way of doing so is showing something which will happen later in the movie. In that respect Seven Pounds immediately had me and I was glued to the screen in this story about one very unique man. Continue reading →

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Religulous (2008)

As I was recently listening to the Slashfilm podcast about Prometheus, they mentioned an interview with Ridley Scott on movies.com (the following sentences contain some minor spoiler for the movie). Ridley Scott mentioned that their one of the considerations for the movie was that the reason the architects wanted to destroy the earth was because they sent and embassador who ended up being crucified around 2000 years ago. Had this idea been used in the movie I’m sure it would have been very controversial. This documentary makes fun of religion, which is controversial, and comedian Bill Maher goes head on, interviewing people about religion and not holding back in letting them know his own opinions about it. Continue reading →

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Doubt (2008)

review

As you probably know I’m not a big fan of Meryl Streep, despite her being a good actress. It means I often skip movies she’s in and with that I also run the risk of missing a very good film. I hadn’t seen Doubt yet and wasn’t planning to until recently Viola Davis was added in the best actresses relay race and read that one of her best performances was in this movie. Seeing Philip Seymour Hoffman was also in this movie I just had to give it a spin. Continue reading →

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Capturing Reality (2008)

Art of documentary

Part of my moviewatching is a steady diet of documentaries. It’s a part of moviemaking that doesn’t seem to get as much love as the big movies, even though more documentaries are made than “normal” movies. A lot of people might think that they, like the title says capture reality and you can’t do much with that, but if you’ve seen your fair share of them you know they each have their distinct styles. Some directors make them as “flies on the wall”, just being there and not intervening. Others narrate and put their own opinions into it. This documentary looks at the process of making a documentary and interviews tons of directors and let’s them talk about how they think about them and what a documentary should be. Continue reading →

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Waltz with Bashir (2008)

Looking at the above image you might think Waltz with Bashir is an anime, but appearances can be deceiving as this actually is a documentary. Director Ari Folman was part of the Israel Defense Forces when they invaded Lebanon in 1982, starting the Lebanon War. Talking to an old friend he hears his nightmare and is surprised that he can not remember anything about it. He does dream about something which he can’t completely explain and decides to meet up with other who were in Beirut to find out if he can remember what he experienced. Continue reading →