The Perfect Guy (2015) – Review

Review The Perfect Guy

We all have our personal obsessions. Healthy, positive obsessions are nothing to worry about, whether that’s very temporary, like really obsessing about something you would love to buy and reading lots about it/watching YouTube reviews and not being able to wait till it arrives on your doorstep (or is that just me?) or wanting to learn everything there is to know about a specific subject. An obsession can give you a drive, a motivation to do things and push you towards an impressive end result. But an obsession is also able to go the other way, making you lose sight of everything else and get you to a point where you no longer function normally and might hurt others by your behaviour. The Perfect Guy shows what can happen in such a situation. Continue reading

Dheepan (2015) – Review

Review Dheepan

Jacques Audiard is a director who has proven that he can make fascinating movies. He made The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Un prophète and De rouille et d’os (Rust and Bone). All films which stood out and Un prophète is still one of my personal favourites. With Dheepan he won the Palme D’Or at the Cannes film festival which made me really look forward what it had to offer. Continue reading

Phantom Boy (2015) – Review

Review Phantom Boy

When it comes to animated movies almost all of them involve either talking animals or princesses. That doesn’t mean there is something wrong with that (the recent Zootopia is a good example), but I often get the feeling there aren’t enough variety within the genre. So it was refreshing to see Phantom Boy approach its story differently, with a lot of originality as well. Continue reading

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2015) – Review

Review Alvin and the chipmunks roadchip

As a parent it isn’t always a joy to go to the cinema. Of course it is great to spend some time with your child at the movies and talk about the film afterwards, but sometimes kids want to head to movies you don’t fancy seeing yourself. Recently I was dragged to a very boring movie about two boring dutch cartoon characters, but the fun my daughter had kind of made up for it. The next movie she wanted to see was Alvin and the Chipmunks and because their weren’t any other movies playing she could see we decided to watch it. This is the third one in the series. The first one wasn’t very good, but I was willing to give this movie a chance. It’s something I shouldn’t have. Continue reading

Ellis (2015) – Review

Review Ellis

Ellis Island, New York. A deserted, slowly decaying building in which the paint is peeling away from the surface seems to be way past its former glory. But this place, on this island is important, because its the spot from which most of America was populated. It’s the place where millions of Europeans, from various countries, arrived after a long journey by boat, hoping to start a new life and making the American dream a reality. These were people who left everything they cared about behind and faced an uncertain future. Ellis is the story of one of these people and tries to make this place on Ellis Island come alive again. Continue reading

Killing Them Safely (2015) – Review

Killing them safely review

When you are the head of a police force which regularly runs into violence and where police officers are attacked during arrest, then you would be open to any means to neutralise the danger. Of course weapons are effective, but the risks are huge. Pepperspray might work, but it’s not something which will stop everyone. The taser seems to be the perfect solution, a device which will immediately floor the attacker. When you hear it has no risks attached, you receive that device with open arms.

For the only company in the world who makes tasers, Taser International, it meant a quick growth with orders from all over the world. But are those tasers really as safe as the company claims? Continue reading

For Grace (2015) – Review

Review For Grace

What do you think about the balance between various things in your life? Do you have the feeling you spend enough time and give enough attention to both work/studying as family, friends and hobbies? If I look at my own life I think I have found it. Of course that has meant I’ve had to compromise in some way. Could this blog be better? Yeah, I would like to spend lots more time on writing reviews and improving their quality, write more articles etcetera. But I’ve made the decision to keep the amount of time I spend blogging at a level where it gives me some sense of satisfaction even if that means I’m not operating at the highest level.

That is very different for chef Curtis Duffy, who lives for cooking. He worked with the talented chef Charlie Trotter, he was “chef de cuisine” at the three Michelin star restaurant Alinea, made the move to Avenues and was responsible for this restaurant in getting two Michelin stars. But working there made him feel he wasn’t reaching his full potential. It limited him because the kitchen was too small and it was a challenge to keep the restaurant running while understaffed and even not having enough cutlery. He decides to quit and start his own restaurant, Grace, in Chicago at a time during his life when he is having some personal issues as well. Continue reading

Vleesverlangen (2015) – Review

Review Vleesverlangen

How big is your longing for meat? Are you someone who has to eat a piece of meat every day because you will get the feeling that you haven’t eaten anything if you didn’t? Documentary maker Marijn Frank has that feeling and it’s strong. So strong that according to an MRI-scan she thinks more about meat than about sex (of which this documentary shows some explicit images). She wants to understand that obsession, especially because she has made the choice to not give her daughter any meat. Her “relationship” with meat is complex and in this documentary (Vleesverlangen means longing for meat) she investigates this. Continue reading

The Fear of 13 (2015) – Review

The Fear of 13 Review

Nick Yarris has a gift. He is able to tell stories in such a way that as a viewer you want to hear every word he has to say, he is that good in forming his stories. He is able to bring situations to life by painting a colourful picture full of details. It is not often you come across people who are able to do this as well as him. Of course there are great writers who turn out amazing books, tv shows and movies, but how often do you listen to one person talking about his experiences? Nick Yarris is tha kind of man. He’s also convicted to a death sentence and has decided to no longer fight it and tell his story in this documentary. About his youth, his criminal activities and time in jail. Continue reading

A Family Affair (2015) – Review

Review A Family Affair

“There is no truth…”

Those are the words which director Tom Fassaert hears from his 95-year-old grandmother Marianne. Fassaert grows up with a father who has filmed a lot of the most important moments in his life, from his birth till the first day of school. In a voiceover he tells how everything in his family was normal, until his grandmother suddenly showed up after a couple years. The impact of her appearing in his life was huge. This was also the case for his father, who had never talked about her at all.

In this documentary he tries to find out why that impact was so huge and which secrets are there which no one is willing to talk about. Even though the family kind of severed ties with Marianna, he decides to visit her, with his camera, when she invites him to come to South Africa. An opportunity to finally reveal the truth. Continue reading