When I think of director Robert Rodriguez, I do not immediately feel that I should see every project he does. His first film El Mariachi was good, I have been able to enjoy the Spy Kids films for what they are and Sin City is perhaps his best, but the feeling of Grindhouse-like films that he has done a lot (eg. the Machete titles) prevails. I did not really have any expectations about Alita: Battle Angel, but the fact that this is a project that James Cameron wanted to make for nearly twenty years, besides Avatar, and he was also involved in developing this Rodriguez version, could result in something interesting. I decided to watch the film the best way possible, in a Dolby Cinema. Is Alita: Battle Angel worth it? Continue reading
Tag Archives: score: 8
Cold War (2018) – Review
Poland, the 1950s. Wiktor (Tomasz Kot), together with a number of colleagues, travels through the country to ensure that traditional music is not lost and does so by recording it. They start an organization to perform this music and Wiktor meets the rebellious Zula (Joanna Kulig). The two are getting closer and closer, but as the success of this folklore group increases, the regime also sees it as a perfect way to promote itself, something Wiktor is not enthusiastic about. He devises a plan to escape with Zula to the west so that they can be together and do what they want, but whether that is realistic, is the question. Continue reading
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018) – Review
When Netflix released the first interactive show on Netflix last year, Puss in Book: Trapped in Epic Tale, I was very curious about the concept. But when I played this short film, I did not get any interactive options. I did not investigate it any further, but the concept (which incidentally has also been used for some movies in the cinema) of leaving making choices about what happens to the viewer, is fascinating. Is it still a movie? Or is it more a game? Last Friday, Netflix released the first Black Mirror film, Bandersnatch, which also uses this concept. Again I did not get it working. Since Black Mirror is one of my favorite series and I had to see it, I decided to find out how you can watch it. My phone did not work (probably because it does not have a standard Android version), a Samsung tablet did not offer the option either. Apple TV, Chromecast and a Samsung smart TV were all the same story and the Netflix site does not offer an extensive list of supported devices. Eventually it worked on another smart TV from Samsung and after a lot of frustration I finally managed to enter the world of real interactive TV. Continue reading
Rounders (1998) – Review
Listen, here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.
Sometimes there are those movies that you forget about almost immediately after seeing them because they are so bad, but there are also good movies that you would love to forget so that you can experience them again for the first time. That is certainly the case for, for example, the films from my personal top 100, but there are also films that fall outside of it and where I wish for the same. Rounders is an example of this and since it is a film that I have not seen for at least 15 years. The only things I remembered about it was that Matt Damon is in it and that John Malkovich has a bizarre Russian accent. A nice moment to revisit this poker film again to find out if I still are able to enjoy it as as when it was just released. Continue reading
Blast of Silence (1961) – Review
When I did a “Ten best Christmas movies relay race” last year on the Dutch version of my site, there was one blogger who added this movie, which was a movie no one heard about and it remained in the list. It was a good reason for me to add this film noir from the sixties in my blindspot list for 2018 and watch it around Christmas time to make up my mind about it. Is Blast of Silence a Christmas movie and should you have seen it? Continue reading
Roma (2018) – Review
Thanks to Gravity, one of my favorite movies, director Alfonso Cuarón is someone whose work I always look forward to. Of course he made great movies before this film, like Children of Men and he’s someone who is able to realize his vision in an almost magical way. Just think of the long shots in Children of Men and where you wonder how they have been madeor the system that was developed to project the light of the CGI environment onto the helmets and faces of the actors in Gravity. He’s a director who is able to make the most technically difficult shot seem effortless and make you wonder how he does it. When watching Roma, you might think that he keeps things simple here, but if you look closer you realise this isn’t the case. Continue reading
Aquaman (2018) – Review
You only have one time to make a first impression and when DC, inspired by the success of Marvel and their “shared universe” of films, tried the same thing, it was not really successful. Batman vs. Superman disappointed and the same was true for Justice League. Where the Marvel films were mainly light-hearted and entertaining, that was not the case in the DC universe. That does not have to be a problem, as the Batman films of Christopher Nolan have proven that a realistic, dark atmosphere can work, but the general public doesn’t seem to look forward to the films of the studio as much. Wonder Woman might have been the exception, but that also succeeded because it had a different tone. Aquaman was introduced in the In Justice League film and Jason Mamoa gave the character both a serious as a lighthearted feel by for example joking about Batman. Now the character gets his own movie. Is this another disappointing DC movie or has the company finally found the right balance? Continue reading
Wellington Paranormal – Season 1 – Review
With Thor: Ragnarok Taika Waititi has shown to a big audience the brand of humor he’s into. Movie lovers though already knew what he was capable of with movies like Boy, The Hunt for the Wilderpeople and What We Do in the Shadows. That last one, in which a “documentary crew” follows a group of vampires who are living together was both bizarre and hilarious. In that mockumentary there was a part where two police officers who weren’t the brightest ones, Officer Minogue (Mike Minogue) and Officer O’Leary (Karen O’Leary), visit the house to investigate. With Wellington Paranormal these two characters have their own spinoff show. Continue reading
Three Identical Strangers (2018) – Review
I Am a Killer (2018) – Review
What is the reason that we have such an interest in crime in films and series? Is it the ‘shock value’ of what people are capable of or is the fascination deeper? Do we want to see if someone is really so different from ourselves, could we also do the same if we were in the same situation? When I saw the Netflix series I Am a Killer appear on the service, it seemed to me that it was mainly to sensationalise. A documentary series where you come face to face with the monsters the media describes them as. Yet the curiosity did dominate and I decided to watch. Continue reading