Matt Damon is one of those actors where I basically watch every movie he is in automatically. In general his appearance makes a movie worth watching. When this movie was in the cinemas I decided not to see it as I didn’t find the poster very appealing. Once it was available on DVD I decided to check it out. The question is if a movie set in China in the year 1000, starring Matt Damon (amongst others), works? Continue reading
When the original three Jason Bourne movies came out they had a lot of impact on how others made movies. Director Paul Greengrass became well-known for his way of shooting, quickly labeled shaky cam. Because of that action looked more dynamic and raw. But also the character of Bourne in this spy thriller has had a lot of influence. You can see that realistic approach of Bourne during fights and using the situation in the first Bond movie starring Daniel Craig. After the third Bourne movie both Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon decided they had told Bourne’s story and stepped away from the franchise. The studio decided to make The Bourne Legacy starring Jeremy Renner, but it was disappointing. Both Greengrass and Damon probably felt an itch to return as they are now here for the fourth movie starring the titular character. Continue reading
The inventiveness of the human mind has brought us far in different areas in life. Some of those are things you don’t even think about anymore, like how efficiently the food on your plate was transported there or how certain diseases which killed millions of people centuries ago can now be easily prevented or cured. Despite all those developments there still is a lot left to explore and when it comes to space we have only just started. The last time we were on another celestial body is already 43 years ago and although Dutch businessman Bas Lansdorp has big plans with his Mars One project (which has been receiving a lot of critique), it is something which probably won’t be realised anytime soon.
Fortunately the movies gives us an opportunity to dream about that and in The Martian the human race has come that far and the first people have landed there. Directed by science fiction specialist Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña and Chiwetel Ejiofor the question is whether that dream has been successfully brought to life with this film. Continue reading
The death of Robin Williams was unexpected and shocked a lot of people. It still is hard to understand why someone who gave so much laughter left life the way he did. Like many other movielovers did, I too decided to check out some of his work. I watched Dead Poets Society for the first time and I also felt it was a good moment to rewatch this movie. It’s been a very long time since I last saw it and except for a general summary of the movie I forgot the rest. I was interested to find out if I would still like it as there are some movies you liked when you were younger and on as rewatch don’t hold up. It wondered how it would turn out for this. Continue reading
Ever since watching Neil Blomkamp’s District 9 I couldn’t wait to see what he would be doing next as he was able to tell an amazing story in a sci fi setting. With Elysium, starring Matt Damon, he retuns to sci fi. Will he be able to tell an exciting story again? Continue reading
During the high point of his career pianist Liberace was the highest paid entertainer in the world. His shows, just as his outfits, were extravagant and flamboyant. He was extremely popular and kept his public image under control. He made sure that nobody saw his private side as he knew that if people knew he was gay that he would lose a big part of his fans. With Behind the Candelabra director Steven Soderbergh looks into that private life. Continue reading
Everyone has got actors and actresses they will watch in almost any movie they are in. I have several of them and one of them is Matt Damon. Looking at his career there were some movies that weren’t as good as others, but I do always enjoy his performances. Promised Land is a movie about fracking. If it wasn’t for the documentary GasLand, which I watched last year, I wouldn’t have an idea about what it was. It is a way to extract natural gas from the ground using a combination of chemicals. As that documentary showed, the effects of it can be devestating. It showed that people effected were able to put a flame next to their tapwater and it would catch fire. In Promised Land Matt Damon, together with Francis McDormand, play two gascompany representatives. Their job is to have people sell the rights to their land for a nice bag of money so gas can be extracted. Continue reading
Welcome to the 25th installment of “The Many Faces of…”, this week starring Matt Damon!
Damon grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and lived close to Ben Affleck, who has been a friend of his since he was little and with whom he still collaborates. I high school he acted in several plays. He went to Harvard University but did not graduate as he decided to head to LA to pursue an acting career. He started acting in small movies (his first at 18 in Mystic Pizza) and starred together with Gene Hackman in Geronimo: An American Legend in 1992. He was willing to do a lot for his roles and proved so in 1996 when he lost 18 kg for his role in Courage Under Fire (he had to take medication for years after it because it took a big toll on his body). His big breaktrhough came with Good Will Hunting. Together with Ben Affleck he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. After this his career took off and starred in popular franchises as the Oceans and Bourne series. Continue reading
Adrian Grenier (who most of you will know from the HBO-series Entourage) has become a well-known face in Hollywood. With the fame also comes the curiosity of people wanting to know more about their favorite stars which is where the tabloids step in. Of course they want pictures of a celebrity (if possible in an embarrassing situation). Grenier also noticed this as he started being followed by the paparazzi. When he saw a young boy between these photographers he decided to approach him. The kid turned out to be 13-year-old Austin Visschedyk who had been doing it for a while and could be found late at night on the streets of Los Angeles trying to get some good pictures and make some money. Grenier decides to follow Austin and explore the world of the paparazzi. Continue reading
Determinism and free will are two concepts that are complete opposites. Is your path through life already fixed or is it you who makes all the choices? These are the ideas that The Adjustment Bureau takes to build its story on. Matt Damon is politician David Norris, a very succesful and driven man who is about to make it big in politics and could even go as far as the White House. When he meets Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) his life changes when he finds out that there is no such thing as coincidence. Continue reading