Tag Archives: 2016

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Hamilton’s America (2016) – Review

Hamilton's America review

As you probably have read in my review of Hamilton, it has been a movie which has managed to take a hold of me. I still can’t get enough of it, even weeks later. And the great thing is that this musical is already five years old and if you want to know more there is a real treasure trove of material you can get lost in. While reading the Wikipedia page I saw that a TV documentary, called Hamilton’s America had been made. A quick search on YouTube immediately made it available. Did this one and a half hour movie manage to further scratch my Hamilton itch? Continue reading →

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Gods of Egypt (2016) – Review

Review Gods of Egypt2018 Blindspot films
When I announced my list of blindspot movies for 2018, I got the most reactions (both here and on my Dutch site) about why I added Gods of Egypt. Why would I want to see this film? Some told me it’s a movie you want to switch off after 20 minutes. Of course I knew about the criticism the movie got, but that made me even more curious. So it was the first movie I watched on that list. Did I start out right? Continue reading →

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The Hire (2001/2002/2016) – Review

Review The Hire
How many movie franchises can you name on which the best directors like Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, Guy Ritchie, Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Woo, Joe Carnahan, Tony Scott and Neill Blomkamp have worked on, which have also been produced by David Fincher and Ridley Scott? You will probably respond that such a film series does not exist. That is until you hear of The Hire. BMW Films has managed to bring all these names, plus many more famous actors, together to create a series of short films in which a BMW is shown prominently and is driven by “The Driver” (Clive Owen). Continue reading →

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The Mermaid (2016) – Review

Recensie The Mermaid

Although everyone will not know director/actor Stephen Chow, his films Shoalin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle were quite popular a couple of years ago. After these he directed a number of films, with most of them not reaching the same level of popularity. One of them is The Mermaid, in which he presents the viewer with another bizarre story. Continue reading →

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Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016) – Review

Abacus Small Enough to Jail recensie
Several films have already been made about the banking crisis in 2008 (eg The Big Short, Margin Call) and the conclusion is often that no one has been prosecuted for it. The main reason for this is that most of them were “Too big to fail”. If they would have to deal with a lawsuit, it would have a huge impact on the financial system. Abacus Federal Savings in New York, a very small bank focusing mainly on the Chinese community in Chinatown, was the only bank that faced a lawsuit on mortgage fraud. A case that could have a lot of impact on this small family business and its customers. Continue reading →

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Bleed for This (2016) – Review

Recensie Bleed for this
Sometimes there are those actors whose potential is obvious, but who don’t always appear in the films in which they can realize it. Miles Teller is a good example of this . Although he was amazing in Whiplash, he was mainly seen in lighter fare like the Divergent series, Fantastic Four, War Dogs, That Awkward Moment and Two Night Stand. With Bleed for This, a biopic, he portrays boxer Vinnie Pazienza. Continue reading →

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Nocturnal Animals (2016) – Review

Recensie Nocturnal Animals
From the first moment you see Nocturnal Animals, where obese women are dancing naked and in slow motion, it is clear that you are going to watch a movie that is different. Tom Ford (fashion designer, but also director) immediately opts for a stylized look at the life of Susan Morrow, the owner of an art gallery. She struggles with her emotions and her marriage with her husband also seems to fall apart. Then she receives a manuscript for a book by her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) dedicated to her. She becomes obsessed with the book and the film shows the viewer both her world and the story of the book. Continue reading →

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The Art of Organized Noize (2016) – Review

Recensie The Art of Organized Noise

Organized Noize will not be a name everyone will recognize immediately. But if you are familiar with the early work of Outkast, Goodie Mob or the songs “Waterfalls” by TLC or “Do not Let Go (Love)” by En Vogue, you will know their work. It is the production team behind the music that put Atlanta on the map as a music city. This documentary, which can be found on Netflix, shows their history and how they managed to reach the top, but also how they eventually lost that position. Continue reading →

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Score: A Film Music Documentary (2016) – Review

Review Score- A Film Music Documentary

Film music can make or break a film. Whether you are aware of it or not (I belong to the latter camp), it sets the tone for what you see. It can create tension, strengthen emotions and can even help making a movie a classic. If you hear the word Star Wars, Psycho or Jaws, you can easily sing the music that goes along with those films. But what has been the role of music over the years, who are the composers behind all that music and how do they work? These are all questions that are addressed in this documentary. Continue reading →

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Bad Rap (2016) – Review

Review Bad Rap
Although I have been listening to hip hop for more than 25 years now, if you asked me to name some American rappers with an Asian background, I would not get very far. The only one I could name is Jin, who became known years ago by his performance on Freestyle Friday at 106 and Park, where he beat other rappers for several weeks. The others tried to use the stereotypical images of kung fu, chinese food, and so on, but Jin went so hard that they didn’t stand a chance. Of course there are many more and this documentary looks at four other rappers, who all try to make a name for themselves. Continue reading →