Tag Archives: 2013

by - 4 Comments

The Lunchbox (2013) – Review

Review The Lunchbox

Movies which are set in the present often have the issue that when characters communicate it is really direct and quick. If they are not meeting face to face they will send each other instant messages or tweets. It’s communication which doesn’t have much meaning and is all about instant gratification. The moviegoing audience has become accustomed to it. Not only in the way these interactions are shown, but also the speed with which stories are told. I know quite a few people who refuse to watch older movies because the are too slow (which is a shame of course). So what is a filmmaker to do when he wants to build a relationship between two characters, but wants to do that over a longer period of time without the two meeting each other? Director Ritesh Batra has found a great solution for that in The Lunchbox and the end result is a very strong film. Continue reading →

by - 0 comments

Trophy Kids (2013) – Review

Review Trophy Kids

As a parent you always want the best for your child, as much as you are able to do so. You stimulate them to gain specific knowledge and try to invest in them if they are interested in something. It’s something you do as it might help them later in life and society. I think it’s good to have children try things as it enables them to find out what they like and what doesn’t fit them. There are however parents who have a specific vision about what their child should be and do everything to realise their own dream through their kids. Continue reading →

by - 2 Comments

The Terror Live (2013) – Review

Review The Terror Live

The Terror Live is a movie I had planned to write about a while ago, but the week I was going to publish it, the attacks in Paris happened and that made me think. A lot of the movies I’ve written about this week have something to do with bombs. For the moviegoer they are a source of entertainment, excitement and spectacle. But sometimes we see the real damage they can do in real life. I made me wonder why we’d still choose to see those type of movies? In my opinion it is partly to be able to experience something we normally wouldn’t be able to. We can escape our everyday life for a moment and face our biggest fears, but then in a safe environment. Sometimes though (like after the attacks) fiction and reality come too close together and it will feel wrong to enjoy such films.

In the past various shocking events have had their effect on movies. A scene was removed from Gangster Squad after the cinema shooting in Aurora, Colorado and the director of Die Hard with a Vengeance thought about removing the opening explosion because of the events in Oklahoma. At those moments scenes like could be considered insensitive/in bad taste. Continue reading →

by - 0 comments

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)

Review Tale of Princess Kaguya

When you think of Studio Ghibli the first thing you’ll probably also think of is Hayao Miyazaki, the director of movies like My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, Princes Mononoke and Howl´s Moving Castle. But he started the studio together with Isao Takahata. Takahata was responsible for the heartbreaking Grave of the Fireflies. Does he manage to get out the same sort of emotions with The Tale of the Princess Kaguya? Continue reading →

by - 0 comments

Hokus Pokus Albert Åberg (2013)

Review Hokus pokus Albert Åberg

The majority of the movies made for children play out in huge worlds with lots of adventure. Of course all that spectacle is beautiful for children, but can be a bit too much for the smallest ones. There might be too much happening or it might be a bit too exciting for them which means that as a parent there aren’t too many movies you can take them to. Hokus Pokus Albert Åberg is a film which you can take them to as it is something even the smallest ones will like. Continue reading →

by - 2 Comments

Master of the Universe (2013)

Review Master of the Universe

How can you make it big in the world of banking? At the start of Master of the Universe it is former investment banker Rainer Voss who tells that you start out working lots of hours and not making waves by saying something shocking or political. When other people have formed an opinion about you and are willing to give you big assignment you have to be willing to sacrifice everything for the company. He compares it to working in the army. The fact that banking hasn’t got a positive image after the financial crisis is caused by the way it developed. Continue reading →

by - 2 Comments

Waar (2013)

Review Waar

What’s the last movie you’ve seen made in Pakistan? The only answer I could give myself was that I hadn’t seen any. While browsing IMDB I came across a movie which had a very high score (9) and therefore stood out. It made me curious and I wondered why I had never heard of the film. Was this a relatively unknown masterpiece or simply a heavily overrated movie? Continue reading →

by - 2 Comments

Big Men (2013)

Recensie Big Men

Documentaries about big companies and a specific issue are usually pretty predictable and hardly objective: The big company is pure evil, everything they do is bad and usually this is proven by showing the company wasn’t willing to be interviewed. This isn’t to say that they might talk about valid issues, but every story has more sides to it and not everything is as black and white as they might lead you to believe. Big Men talks about oil company Kosmos Energy which wants to start with the exploitation of a newly discovered oil field in Ghana. Continue reading →

by - 10 Comments

Zero Theorem (2013)

Review The Zero Theorem

Through the years director Terry Gilliam has managed to make a number of widely loved movies. Films like Brazil, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Twelve Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas are just a few examples. He has always been good in creating strange, but at the same time very believable, worlds in which you could lose yourself. With Zero Theorem he tries to do this again, but this time I felt he failed. After watching it I had the feeling I wasn’t watching a recent movie, but something made in the nineties with disappointing CGI and a world which doesn’t feel like it came into becoming a reality in an organic way. The story itself also did not manage to make my heart beat any faster. Continue reading →

by - 14 Comments

Begin Again (2013)

Review Begin Again

Although I really like going to the cinema there are some aspects I do not like. I decided to go watch it at one of the cinemas pretty close to home, but as I am not a fan of football I didn’t know that there was a game on near the cinema. It meant it was almost impossible to find a parking spot and grab a quick bite to eat because of the long lines. I managed to walk into the theater with food in my stomach, right at the moment the trailers had ended (and as that is usually a huge frustration I didn’t have to endure them). I was ready to enjoy the movie, until a woman in the right corner of my eye decided it was a good time to send some whatsapp messages. Don’t know if it was about the film, but that bright screen (she did set the brightness lower, because you know it would be rude not to) was a distraction. I didn’t immediately want to say something about it, but it took a bit longer before I felt I was fully engaged by the movie. Enough about my cinema experience of that day though. How was the movie itself? Continue reading →