August 3, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

Hamilton’s America (2016) – 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 →

May 6, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

Les Misérables (2019) – Review

During the opening moments of the French film Les Misérables, in which you see large crowds of people during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, you get a strange feeling looking at it with the reality of today. In a society where you ensure that you keep enough distance from each other, it makes you feel uncomfortable. Obviously this was not the vision for the makers of the film, but it is almost alienating to see. The title might suggest that this is a new version of the famous book by Victor Hugo. There is no direct link however, but the events do take place in Montfermeil. It is the place where Hugo wrote his book and director Ladj Ly tells his own story. Continue reading →

April 30, 2020 by Nostra - 1 Comment

Onward (2020) – Review

The current corona crisis has not only changed daily life, the impact on the film industry is also enormous. Film companies can no longer make new films and titles that are about to be released are postponed, sometimes even by a year. Other titles, the films that are not blockbusters, will appear on VOD platforms without ever seeing the cinema (or only very shortly before the closure of cinemas). One of those titles was Pixar’s Onward, which was recently available for rent in America and is now available on Disney. Continue reading →

April 26, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

Beastie Boys Story (2020) – Review

It is a huge challenge to remain relevant as a music artist. You only have to look at the number of one hit wonders (Big Shaq, PSY etc) who enjoyed very short and extreme success, but did not manage to turn that into a lasting career. Even big artists are only as good as their last album and have to keep trying to stay relevant. If you look at hip hop, the number of real stars is very small. Well-known groups and artists from the 80s and 90s have disappeared or have been mostly forgotten. One of the exceptions to this were the Beastie Boys. A group that started as a punk group in the 80s, made the switch to hip hop and evolved into proper musicians who made what they wanted, even if they were all instrumental songs. After Adam Yauch (MCA) died of cancer in 2012, the other members decided to stop making music. They previously released a book and now there is this documentary, directed by Spike Jonze. Continue reading →

April 22, 2020 by Nostra - 2 Comments

Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness – Review

Subcultures are sometimes able to surprise you. I can remember watching an episode of Louis Theroux dealing with exotic animals and it was unbelievable to me that some people would like to keep a tiger. Yet this is extremely popular in America. In fact, it is so popular that only in North America more tigers live in captivity than the number in the wild. Mike Tyson had a Bengal tiger for 16 years, but as the Netflix documentary Tiger King shows, there are always people who are even more extreme. Continue reading →

April 6, 2020 by Nostra - 0 comments

The Gentlemen (2019) – Review

Although director Guy Ritchie has been working for more than 20 years now and is responsible for titles such as Aladdin, The Man from UNCLE, and the Sherlock Holmes movies, it’s his first two movies that are still my favorite. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch were delightful British gangster films that stood out for their pacing and humor. With The Gentlemen, Ritchie returns to his roots. 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 →

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 29, 2019 by Nostra - 0 comments

Ad Astra (2019) – Review

The science fiction genre is enormously broad, from futuristic worlds to realistic environments in which only suggestions are made that there is something special. It is that variety that makes it one of my favorite genres, because it can really go anywhere. Ad Astra opts for the realistic approach and is set in the near future. 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 →