Tag Archives: Drama

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Philomena (2013)

Review Philomena

Based on a true story

Whenever a movie opens with these words I always start to wonder what is expected of the viewer to do with that information. Should it immediately make you feel a certain way causing you to experience the movie differently? Does the film follows the true story closely? Movies like The Butler and Fruitvale Station were also based on true events, but both of them added things which did not happen or were not accurate. Then there is the example of Fargo, which also starts with those words, but actually wasn’t based on anything real. When Philomena started and I saw that text all these questions ran through my mind… Continue reading →

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Fruitvale Station (2013)

Review of Fruitvale Station

New Year’s Day 2009, Oakland. After a small fight breaks out in a subway, Oscar Grant and his friends are detained on the platform of Fruitvale Station. Various people are using their phones to record what is happening. The situation is chaotic and the people involved are on edge. The group starts arguing with the police officers and when the police decides to cuff Oscar Grant they are not able to. A few moments later he is shot in the back by one of the police officers and dies as a result.

When the video of this tragic event appeared online it received a lot of media attention. By many it was seen as an example of extreme and unnecessary force used by the police. This movie is based on that event and tries to give the viewer an idea of what the last day in Oscar Grant’s life looked like. Continue reading →

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De Marathon (2012)

Review

My whole life I’ve lived in or around Rotterdam, a city I love with a passion. For those that don’t know the city, it has been one of the biggest ports of the world for years, which always gave it a working class feel (although that has changed a bit through the years). People from Rotterdam have their own way of speaking and their own type of humor and this movie is set in “my city”. The Rotterdam marathon is something I’ve never participated in, but I have stood at the sidelines since my father ran it two times (if I remember it correctly). Suffice to say I was interested to see if this movie would embrace its locale to the fullest. Continue reading →

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Robot and Frank (2012)

Review of the movie Robot and Frank

Growing up the visions of the year 2000 were always interesting to see and I always loved programs which showed the future. Robots would be everywhere and could do a lot. It never happened that way, but still we all have things in our house which you could label robots. Just think about a dishwasher, microwave or phone which you can actually talk to and have do things. But still, I still dream of the day that something which actually looks like what we think a robot is, will be in your home, helping you with everything only for the price of electricity and maintenance.
In the world of Robot and Frank that dream has been turned into a reality, but it doesn’t mean everyone is happy with that development. Continue reading →

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The Thieves (2012)

Review of the Korean film The Thieves

The Thieves could easily be compared to a movie like Ocean’s Eleven. With a star-studded cast of well-known Asian actors from Korea, Japan and Malaysia, including Yun-seok Kim (The Chaser, Nameless Gangster, The Yellow Sea), Simon Yam and Gianna Jun (My Sassy Girl), the movie tells the story of several crews working together to pull off a big heist in a casino in Macau. The movie was a smash hit and was seen by almost 13 million people when it was playing in the cinema. Unfortunately it seems that in the west it hasn’t received the attention it deserves. Continue reading →

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Wages of Fear (1953)

Review of the movie Wages of Fear

Last year I saw Les diaboliques, directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. It was a very good mystery/thriller, but I never bothered to check out more of Clouzot’s work, until someone suggested I’d watch Wages of Fear. After having done so I have to make sure to check out more of his work, because this movie is stunning, thrilling and will probably have you biting your nails. It proves that a movie doesn’t need fast paced action to be thrilling to watch. 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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Paris, Texas (1984)

As you know the relay races have been going on for a while now and they have pointed me to some great actors, actresses and directors. In the best actor relay race Tyler from Southern Vision added Harry Dean Stanton and I had to admit that I didn’t recognise him. Tyler suggested to see Paris, Texas and I bought the DVD on his recommendation alone. I consider Tyler a very knowledgable movie buff, who watches stuff I never even heard of. So what did I think about Paris, Texas? Continue reading →

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Les Diaboliques (1955)

Les Diaboliques

I’m sometimes surprised that I’m able to watch movies that’s are more than 50 years old without knowing anything about it. Of course I try to do this as well with newer films, but that’s a lot more difficult. Les Diaboliques is a movie that I hadn’t heard of before and wanted to watch since it appears in the IMDB top 250. So going into this blind, does it earn its place in the list? Continue reading →