Not too long ago I reviewed Red Planet, which I quite liked up till the moment that some unnecessary elements were added (like a robot turned enemy). I wished that it would have just been about the survival of the crew and with Europa Report it seems that this is the movie I wanted to see. In this case the journey does not go to Mars, but to a moon of Jupiter. So the story is of the type I would like to see, but question is: Is it any good? Continue reading
Recently I watched both these documentaries. In advance I obviously knew what one was about because of its title but as I watched the other one it became clear that both of them tackle the same subject, but approach it in different ways. They are both about the drug laws in the United States. Continue reading
In general I don’t tend to watch many movies from India. I have seen a few, but the length is a major factor as is the fact that these movies tend to be very different (usually with lot of singing) means I often don’t connect as much to them. If you look at the IMDB top 250 there aren’t many Indian movies on the list. Actually there is only one and as I do like to still watch as many out of the list as I can I decided to check this one out. Continue reading
There are times when you wish that a director has more movies to his name and for me Thomas McCarthy is one of them. In his career he only directed three movies, Win Win (2011), The Visitor (2007) and this movie, The Station Agent. They are all excellent movies about relationships. All his movies have a soul to them, a realistic depiction of life and how people interact. The Station Agent had been on my “to watch” list for a while after another blogger reviewed it. Continue reading
With the 5 Obstructions blogathon about to kick off this Saturday (June 1st) I thought it was only appropriate that I’d review the documentary that inspired me to start it.
Director Jørgen Leth made the art film The Perfect Human in 1967. It looks at a man and a woman and what makes them perfect. It shows how they dance, eat, what their ears and other body parts look like. The movie is considered an art house movie which almost feel like an anthropological study. I have never seen it myself, but this documentary/film hybrid shows parts of that original film. Director Lars von Trier had the idea to work with Jørgen Leth and asked him to remake parts of The Perfect Human, but each time with an obstruction in place. Working with restrictions can push people to come with ingenious solutions (as the movie Apollo 13 shows) and The Five Obstructions also shows the results of that. Continue reading
Some movies linger in your head for days. The first movie I remember doing that was Donnie Darko. It was something like you wanted to make sense of, a puzzle which needed to be solved. Through the years I have seen other movies that have done this, one being Primer, directed by Shane Carruth. I never have been able to make complete sense of that movie (which I do not mind because Carruth himself has said he left out some essential parts to keep you guessing), but I still remember it fondly. It’s no surprise then that I was looking forward to his second movie, Upstream Color. I mentally prepared myself to be challenged and not being able to find answers again, but was that necessary? Continue reading
As you may know my favorite movie is Black Swan and when I read that director Darren Aronofsky bought the rights to Perfect Blue I knew I had to watch it. In Requiem for a Dream he has remade one of the scenes exactly. Watching Perfect Blue I could also see that Black Swan has some similar subject matter. Continue reading
Professor John Oldman (David Lee Smith) has decided to stop his work at the university, back his bags and move somewhere else. His friends and colleagues decide to give him a farewell party at his house. He’s loved by those around him, so they wonder why he has decided to leave. It seems like he never ages and when he tells he actually doesn’t and has been living for 14,000 years they do not believe him. The immediate connection I made while watching this was a version of Highlander without the swords and a fighting. Can that be worth watching? Continue reading
When the Wu-Tang Clan burst on the scene, they offered hip hop with something the fans had never seen before: A hip hop supergroup in which each of the members had their own distinct styles. Compared to other hip hop at the time, their music was very raw. It struck a nerve and the group gathered a big group of fans, a lot of them wearing that distinct “W”. With such a big group, getting them all together was always a challenge and as the solo careers of each of the members soared, it became even harder. Concert promoter Chang Weisberg wanted to do the impossible: Get the whole group together at the festival he was running: Rock the Bells, an annual hip-hop festival which stars the biggest hip hop artists. This documentary follows him on his journey to make that dream a reality. Continue reading
