Black Mirror – Season 4 Review: Arkangel

Review Black Mirror season 4 Arkangel
As parents, you must start letting go from the moment your child is born. You ensure that your children get the right skills, but they only learn by gaining experiences and making mistakes. However, that is not always easy because at the same time you want to protect them against everything. So it’s a balancing act in which you also learn and gain experience yourself. In Arkangel, Black Mirror looks at the upbringing of a child in combination with technology and, of course, how this sometimes doesn’t go as intended. Continue reading

mother! (2017) – Review

Review Mother!
One of the most controversial titles last year (if you don’t include The Last Jedi) was mother! This film, directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, caused quite a stir. CinemaScore, a company that measures what a moviegoing audience thinks of a film, scored an F, the lowest possible score. During the premiere of the title in Venice people booed the film. Yet Aronofsky understood these reactions, because it is not an easy film to watch, one that makes you feel uncomfortable and there are a lot of people who are not looking for that when they head to the cinema. It made me (partly because Aronofsky’s Black Swan is my all-time favorite movie, even more curious. And without prior knowledge, the impact on me was even bigger. Continue reading

The Sound of Music (1965) – Review

Review The Sound of Music
I’m a bit behind when it comes to translating my Dutch reviews to this blog (although I’m slowly catching up) and this is a blindspot movie of last year. I knew the music of it, but had never seen the actual film. Which is weird as the rest of my family had seen it several times. Had to change that…on to the hills which apparently are alive with the sound of music… Continue reading

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) – Review

Recensie The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Strange, unpredictable and bizarre. Just a few random words that come to mind when I hear the name of director Yorgos Lanthimos. And even though I have not seen Dogtooth, his previous film, The Lobster certainly had all those properties. But in addition, he also manages to attract you as a viewer into that bizarre world and to hypnotize you, as it were. You want to know more, find out what is going on, even if you have no idea where that will eventually lead. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is his latest film and the question is whether it is just as hypnotic again. Continue reading

Voyeur (2017) – Review

Review Voyeur
Ask a group of people what kind of super power they would like to have and some of the respondents would say they would want to be invisible. The fact that others can’t see them and they can therefore witness moments that were not meant for their eyes/ears is appealing. As people, we are voyeuristic. How else do you explain the immense popularity of reality shows and the infinite supply of “put people in a weird situation and see what happens” programs started by Big Brother. You could even say that we as film lovers are voyeurs, because we experience something that is not our own experience. A little voyeurism may be human, but there are limits. These were exceeded by Gerald Foos, a former motel owner, as this Netflix documentary makes clear. Continue reading

The Hire (2001/2002/2016) – Review

Review The Hire
How many movie franchises can you name on which the best directors like Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, Guy Ritchie, Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Woo, Joe Carnahan, Tony Scott and Neill Blomkamp have worked on, which have also been produced by David Fincher and Ridley Scott? You will probably respond that such a film series does not exist. That is until you hear of The Hire. BMW Films has managed to bring all these names, plus many more famous actors, together to create a series of short films in which a BMW is shown prominently and is driven by “The Driver” (Clive Owen). Continue reading

Pombo Loves You (2015) – Short movie review

Review Pombo Loves You

Steve Warne has worked as an animator on movies like Frankenweenie, Ma Vie de Courgette and Kubo and the Two Strings. But he also wrote, directed and animated this short film in 2015, Pombo Loves You. It’s about a father who shares custody and takes care of his daughter part of the time. When she’s at his place she find a Pombo mask, which brings back vivid and traumatic memories for the father. Continue reading

Brad’s Status (2017) – Review

Review Brads status

Recently I listened to an interview with actor Elijah Wood, who was talking about how he made sure that he did not let his happiness depend on the success of his work, something that, of course, is different in Hollywood. He said that he had learned at home to look for his “success” in himself, to look at the relationships he has and how he contributes in his way to the happiness of others. It was nice to hear. When seeing Brad’s Status I had to think about that interview, because that attitude makes life so much easier and would also help the main character in this film, Brad (Ben Stiller). Continue reading

Williams (2017) – Review

Review Williams
Even though the Formula 1 season has ended, fans of this racing class still can watch more about the sport in the form of movies having to do with Formula 1. Just think of films like Grand Prix or Rush. But maybe documentaries about the subject are even more interesting to watch as they can teach you quite a bit about the history of the sport, including interviews with the drivers. Just think of 1: Life on the Limit or the masterful Senna. This year brings some new documentaries like McLaren, one about Ferrari and this documentary which is available through Netflix, Williams. Continue reading