Tag Archives: score: 8

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Cartel Land (2015) – Review

Review Cartel Land

Last year the documentary Narco Cultura already showed that in some places in Mexico drugs have a firm grip on several towns. Cartel Land also makes that clear during its opening when several familymembers tell how a large part of their family, including children and a baby, were murdered by a cartel as they were working on a citrus farm. The reason for this was that the owner of the farm didn’t pay enough “protection money”. It immediately sets the tone for this documentary and it’s not difficult to understand that residents, both in Mexico and America, take matters into their own hands and go head to head with the cartels. It results in a raw, but very impressive documentary. Continue reading →

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Spinning Plates (2012) – Review

Recensie Spinning Plates

Cooking for me is a fun hobby. I really enjoy taking the time during weekends to choose which new dish I’m going to try, do errands and then with some nice background music start preparing the ingredients. If the end result also tastes delicious that is simply a wonderful feeling. For some people cooking means even more, people who have made it their profession. Even within that line of work people have different objectives. The documentary Spinning Plates shows three restaurants and the ideas and dreams that live within them. Continue reading →

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Straight Outta Compton (2015)

ReviewStraight Outta Compton

When it comes to westcoast hip hop there is one group which managed to put California on the map: N.W.A. with their debut album Straight Outta Compton. The group consisted of Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr.Dre, DJ Yella and MC Ren and they stood out because of there violent and controversial lyrics. As the group was formed at the end of the eighties not everyone will be familiar with their story (although most people will know Dr.Dre and Ice Cube). This movie changes that. Continue reading →

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Give Up Tomorrow (2011)

Review Give Up Tomorrow

Imagine that you’re doing well with your studies. You’ve made many friends while going to classes and regularly go party with them. While going out one night a lot of pictures are taken by others and you return home from a nice night. Shortly after you are arrested and the police tells you that you’re a suspect in a murder that has been committed on the other side of the country. Although you might initially be in shock you probably won’t worry much as there are dozens of people who can confirm your alibi. That’s exactly what happened to Paco Larrañaga in the Philippines. And at the beginning of this documentary, he is waiting for the day of his execution, with no more legal means to challenge this decision. Continue reading →

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Project Almanac (2015)

Project Almanac review

While some women just can not get enough of romantic comedies, I have that with movies about time travel. I still have a list of movies I haven’t seen which have some sort of time in them. When I heard about this movie, I could not restrain my curiosity. Not every time travel movie is good of course, but because I’m a big fan of the concept in movies, I can easily forgive some rough edges in them. Continue reading →

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What Happened, Miss Simone? (2015)

Recensie What happened, Miss Simone

Nina Simone is a name many people will recognize. The singer had hits with songs like “My Baby Just Cares for Me,” “Feeling Good” and “Is not Got No, I Got Life”. They are songs that I know, but I knew nothing of the artist behind them. This Netflix documentary shows what kind of life Nina Simone had, which is a lot darker than you’d expect. Continue reading →

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That Sugar Film (2014)

Review That Sugar Film

Most people will know that sugar isn’t good for you, but how much sugar do you think you consume each week? It’s something which is present in more products and in bigger amounts than you might think and according to this documentary we all eat a kilo of the stuff each week. Can you imagine, like That Sugar Films shows, that the whole family is sitting around the table with a kilo of sugar in front of them, eating that with a spoon? It might seem weird, but that’s what we are doing without knowing it. Damon Gameau, who has made this film, tries to show the effects of sugar on our bodies. For the last couple of years he hasn’t eaten sugar and decides, a bit like Morgan Spurlock in Supersize Me, to start eating products with sugar in them. Specifically so called “healthy” products, so no ice cream or soda drinks. Continue reading →

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Songs from the Second Floor (2000)

Review Songs from the Second Floor

When I recently saw the movie A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence by Roy Anderson it was a unique experience. Each scene was filmed from a fixed perspective, without any camera movements. What happened in front of the camera often was bizarre and surreal. It isn’t often you see a whole army that lived centuries ago walking into a bar in a modern setting or a movie that shows the life of two salesmen trying to sell comedy items. Although that movie had characters and dialog which regularly returned, its structure was unconventional. A film which makes you look differently at the medium. I didn’t know yet that this movie was the third on in a trilogy, which started with this one, Songs from the Second Floor. Continue reading →

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Carol (2015)

review Carol

Past weekend the 13th PAC festival was held in the Pathé cinemas in The Netherlands. It is held twice a year and have been visiting for a couple of years now. Each time it is held various quality movies are shown which will be released here in a couple of weeks or months. It makes going worth your time, also because the movies are the ones you might not pick out yourself if you had the chance to. The atmosphere during that day is always nice as you are sharing the same experience with a big group of people from 10 in the morning till 11 in the evening. This time Carol was the opening movie, starring Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchetta which is based on the novel The Price of Salt. Continue reading →

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What We Do in the Shadows (2014)

Review What we do in the shadows

My knowledge of vampire movies is extremely limited. The horrible Dracula Untold is the last vampire related movie I’ve seen and I honestly can’t remember the one before that. When I initially heard about this movie I wasn’t interested in seeing it at all. A mockumentary about vampires didn’t sound very appealing to me and I didn’t add it to my “to watch” list. That all changed when a friend of mine showed me the trailer. Continue reading →