December 17, 2019 by Nostra - 0 comments

One Day at Disney (2019) – Review

Since the worldwide release of Disney+, the service releases new content every week. The amount cannot be compared with, for example, Netflix (it is much less) and the strategy is different (weekly release of new episodes from, for example, The Mandalorian, Forky Asks a Question or The Imagineering Story instead of releasing whole seasons), but the service tries to ensure that you return regularly. The documentary One Day at Disney was recently released, which covers a part of the book One Day at Disney Making Magic Every Day and can be seen as a companion piece. Ultimately, it is intended that more individual episodes follow. Disney is known for its magic, but does this documentary also capture that? Continue reading →

December 17, 2019 by Nostra - 1 Comment

I Lost My Body (2019) – Review

The perspective that we have has a huge impact on how we see the world. This can be based on ideas, but also on a physical level. As a child I was always curious what the top of a car looked like (that turned out to be a disappointment when I was older), but filmmakers also use perspective to present the world differently. In E.T. Steven Spielberg often placed the camera at the level of the children, so that you were experiencing it from their perspective. But also Honey, I Shurnk the Kids or a Marvel film like Ant-Man show how different your world is when you experience everything when you are just as big as an insect. The perspective in I Lost My Body can rightly be called unique, because there are few films that show you what you experience as a hand without a body. Continue reading →

December 8, 2019 by Nostra - 2 Comments

The Movies That Made Us (2019) – Review

As someone who grew up in the 80s, I always have a nostalgic feeling about my childhood (like probably everyone has). The Netflix series The Toys That Made Us therefore was something I loved, because the subject was toys from that era. It is a fun series to watch because of it’s quick and often funny editing. When it was announced that The Movies That Made Us would be released, I was very curious if this concept could be translated to films. The first four episodes are about four extremely successful films: Dirty Dancing, Home Alone, Ghostbusters and Die Hard. Continue reading →

December 2, 2019 by Nostra - 0 comments

The Irishman (2019) – Review

A new Scorcese film creates high expectations and The Irishman is no exception. This director is a walking film encyclopedia and has made several classic movies. Add to that the fact that he again cooperates with Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci (with whom he made Goodfellas and Casino) and also Al Pacino, which makes this a title that you want to watch as quickly as you can. After a very short time at the cinema The Irishman is now available on Netflix. Can Scorcese deliver another classic? Continue reading →

November 21, 2019 by Nostra - 0 comments

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) – Review

The Terminator franchise has built a strong foundation with its first two films, which are considered classics. However, it is a shame that there were no films after that which managed to reach the same level. Although I did enjoy Genisys, but not everyone had the same opinion. With Dark Fate, Linda Hamilton returns to this series and the question is to what extent that adds something. Is Dark Fate a return to form? Continue reading →

November 1, 2019 by Nostra - 2 Comments

The Laundromat (2019) – Review

The amount of data that we create as humanity is enormous. To put that in perspective: the amount of data we have created over the past two years is more than all the data that we have made in the entire history of humanity. And with such an overload of data, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get attention for a certain topic. When something is in the news, the period in which that subject is forgotten seems to be getting shorter and shorter. When the Pentagon Papers were published in the early 1970s, their impact was great and they kept the public busy for a long time. And although the impact of the Panama Papers in 2015 was there, with a number of senior officials in various countries resigning, it is not easy to conclude that there has been a fundamental change in regulations to make tax havens disappear. Director Steven Soderbergh seems to have the same feeling and tries to draw attention to this subject again with The Laundromat. Continue reading →

October 30, 2019 by Nostra - 0 comments

The Art of Self-Defense (2019) – Review

I think Jesse Eisenberg is an actor who generally has little variation in the type of roles he plays. They are often of uncertain or clumsy types. If you have seen an actor do something a lot, a kind of tiredness can develop. You simply don’t feel like seeing the same thing again. If you look at the trailer of The Art of Self-Defense, that would be enough reason to skip the film. Still, I didn’t and I have to conclude that this is one of my favorite films of the year. Continue reading →

October 14, 2019 by Nostra - 0 comments

The Farewell (2019) – Review

When The Farewell opens with the text “based on an actual lie”, the viewer has no idea what to expect. Does this have to be interpreted comically? Or is that not the intention? It soon becomes clear what is going on. Billi (Akwafina) is calling her grandmother in China. What is immediately noticeable is that they both do not tell each other the truth. The grandmother does not tell her granddaughter that she is in the hospital for an MRI examination of her lungs, Billi tells her that everything is going well with her and meets friends while that is not the case. Lies are a common thread throughout the film. However, the biggest lie is that Billi’s grandmother has lung cancer, but the family decides not to tell her. The whole family travels to China, supposedly for a cousin’s wedding, to visit her one last time. Continue reading →

October 11, 2019 by Nostra - 4 Comments

Gemini Man (2019) – Review

Occasionally there are new developments within film that may have far-reaching consequences for the medium. Consider, for example, the introduction of sound, color and CGI. Still, filmmakers continue to look for new technical improvements to push the experience even further. As a film viewer, I am always curious whether something could possibly mean a next step. James Cameron previously announced that the following Avatar films would use a higher frame rate. Current films are shown in 24 images per second (24fps) and many consider this the look of film.

That speed dates back to the time that a cameraman had to crank the film through the camera by hand and that was a speed that was manageable. The result is a moving image that is actually jerky and does not feel like what your eyes see in real life. A higher frame rate approximates reality more, but what is the impact of this on the film experience? Cinema visitors could experience that a few years ago with The Hobbit trilogy. The films were shown in 48fps and it divided viewers. Some thought it felt like you were watching a soap opera, where costumes didn’t really look real. Others (including myself) saw the benefits. You are able to follow action much better because it is fluid.

Gemini Man review

Director Ang Lee previously made Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and shot it in 3D and 120fps. That film was not shown in the cinema over where I am. His latest film Gemini Man is however, if you do proper research to see it close to the way Ang Lee intended. Although the IMAX cinemas show the film in a higher frame rate, they are only limited in 60fps. If you want to see it in 120fps, the Dolby Cinema rooms are the only option (they show it in 2K instead of 4K though). Yesterday morning I visited the film in a Dolby Cinema to experience this new format with my own eyes. Continue reading →

October 9, 2019 by Nostra - 2 Comments

Sorry We Missed You (2019) – Review

My purchasing behavior has changed enormously in recent years. I used to go to the shops for games or household appliances, for example, nowadays I order it online and get it delivered to my home the next day. Very handy of course, but a change that ultimately has had a huge impact on the brick and mortar stores. That convenience appeals though and the result is that many well-known retail chains disappeared.

The number of packages that must be delivered daily is therefore huge and with all the attention for the environment it is easy to imagine that this has also been a negative development since more miles/kilometers are likely to have to be made per product. But I never realized what that means for the parcel deliverers. Of course it has created extra jobs, but what does the life of a delivery person look like? These men and women have to deliver 150 to 200 packages in just 8.5 hours. Director Ken Loach shows what impact that might have in his new film, Sorry We Missed You. Continue reading →