Tag Archives: myfilmviews

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Trailer vs. Movie: A Good Day to Die Hard

Time for a new installment of Trailer vs. Movie, this time with A Good Day to Die Hard, a movie which really disappointed me. As a reminder of the idea behind Trailer vs. Movie:

As you know trailers I don’t watch trailers at all. The reason I do so is because I think they give away too much information and therefore you run the risk of having expectations which are too high and of not being surprised when specific events happen. In “Trailer vs. Movie” I check out the trailer of a movie after I’ve watched the movie to find out how much the trailer gave away.

Obviously this will mean I will go into spoilers, so if you have not seen the movie don’t read any further. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Channing Tatum

Overview

Channing Tatum was born on April 26, 1980 in Cullman, Alabama. As he was growing up he was always participating in various sports (football, soccer, martial arts among many others). He eventually went to Glenville State College on a football scholarship, but decided to drop out. He went back home and after doing various jobs he worked as a stripper (Chan Crawford). When he moved to Miami he was noticed by a talent scout. His first casting was that of a dancer in Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” video. He also modelled for Armani and did other commercials. He kept doing his modeling work. His first acting appearance was on the hit show CSI: Miami in 2004 and since 2005 he started appearing in movies, like A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Coach Carter, Step Up, Fighting, Public Enemies, 21 Jump Street and the G.I. Joe movies amongst many others. Continue reading →

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Unraveled (2011)

Review of the documentary Unraveled

When you hear the name Bernie Madoff, you probably immediately think about a white-collar criminal who lost his clients billions of dollars (an estimated 18 of them). The name Marc Dreier might not be known, but Madoff is the reason you might not know him. Only shortly after Marc Dreier was arrested everyone started looking at Madoff, but Dreier also was caught for financial crimes (also hundreds of millions). He did so with his law firm and over the years managed to get more money then he should have by fraudulent behaviour. The risks he was taking were getting bigger and bigger and because of the financial crisis he was finally caught. This documentary was shot when he was under house arrest awaiting his trial and has him talking about what he did and how he feels about it. Continue reading →

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My Filmviews interviews… Paul Verhoeven

Interview met regisseur over Steekspel, Total Recall en Robocop remake

Tricked is the new movie by Paul Verhoeven, which has been made through crowdsourcing. Everyone had the chance to be part of the project by writing the script, make music or simply by voting. The movie was made in 8 episodes. My Filmviews talked with Paul Verhoeven about making the film, the challenges he faced and his thoughts about the remakes of his most well-known movies.

What was the experience with making this crowdsourced movie, Tricked?
It’s a very intensive and long way to create a story. It is cheaper to start with a real story/script instead of doing it this way. It costs a lot of time, you really need the time you have between episodes to look at the scripts. When doing that you need to be honest to your audience – the users – by using what they suggest as much as possible, but you also be keen to change what isn’t right or doesn’t work structurally. You ask yourself: “Are we going to have a problem with this?” or “If we are going to do it this way is it going to be an endless road which we wont’be able to finish in 8 episodes?”. Continue reading →

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Tricked (2013)

Tricked review

After Black Book (2006) movie lovers had to wait a while for the next Paul Verhoeven movie. Two years ago he decided to take part in the “Ziggo Entertainment Experience”, a new concept and a new way of making movies, which he hadn’t done before. The idea behind this “Experience” was that only the first five pages of the script would be written by a professional script writer, in this case Kim van Kooten. Those pages would be made available, after which it was up to the “crowd” (or “users”) to write the rest of the script, come up with new ideas, make the music, promote the concept or simply vote on the ideas of others. Ziggo (a Dutch cable company) created an online platform which would make this possible and make it available to anyone. The movie was made in 8 episodes, which means time was needed between each episode to decide what the script would be. Has Paul Verhoeven, by using this new concept, succeeded in making a movie worth watching? Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Bradley Cooper

Overview in pictures of all the roles of actor Bradley Cooper

Cooper was born on January 5, 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When he finished his studies with a BA in English. His first role was in Sex and the City, after which he also presented Globetrekker and appeared in the TV show Alias. His first movie role was in Wet Hot American Summer. He since has starred in both romantic comedies as well as other type of movies. Movies he was part of include The Hangover, Silver Linings Playbook, He’s Not That Into You, Limitless and The A-Team. 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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Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)

Hyde Park On Hudson review

Hyde Park on Hudson isn’t a title which will mean much to you if you don’t know much of American history (like I did). The title references the house president Roosevelt had near New York. It was a place he stayed regularly if he wasn’t in Washington. The movie is set just before Hitler started his war in Europe. The English see the threat and the king decides to come to Hyde Park to get support from Roosevelt. The movie tries to depict the historic characters as normal people, including their flaws, but does the movie manage to do that? Continue reading →

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The Sessions (2012)

The Sessions review, Helen Hunt, sex, naked

Being human means having some very basic needs. We want to be able to keep ourselves warm with a roof over our heads and enjoy our food. The need for affection and love is very strong too, coded into our DNA. We need to reproduce in order to secure that DNA and make sure a part of us keeps living. Mark O’Brien (John Hawkes) also has these needs, but because of polio can’t move his muscles. He can talk and move his head slightly, but he needs constant help and can’t survive for more than three hours without his iron lung, a big machine which helps him to breathe. He’s very religious and a poet and despite his disability leads a life in which he does achieve a lot. He knows that despite his mental health (and wealth) his body will give up long before he wants it to. At age 38 he has never had sex and when he is asked to write an article about the problems disabled people have with sex he decides he also wants to experience it. Continue reading →