Tag Archives: score: 9

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The Fear of 13 (2015) – Review

The Fear of 13 Review

Nick Yarris has a gift. He is able to tell stories in such a way that as a viewer you want to hear every word he has to say, he is that good in forming his stories. He is able to bring situations to life by painting a colourful picture full of details. It is not often you come across people who are able to do this as well as him. Of course there are great writers who turn out amazing books, tv shows and movies, but how often do you listen to one person talking about his experiences? Nick Yarris is tha kind of man. He’s also convicted to a death sentence and has decided to no longer fight it and tell his story in this documentary. About his youth, his criminal activities and time in jail. Continue reading →

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A Family Affair (2015) – Review

Review A Family Affair

“There is no truth…”

Those are the words which director Tom Fassaert hears from his 95-year-old grandmother Marianne. Fassaert grows up with a father who has filmed a lot of the most important moments in his life, from his birth till the first day of school. In a voiceover he tells how everything in his family was normal, until his grandmother suddenly showed up after a couple years. The impact of her appearing in his life was huge. This was also the case for his father, who had never talked about her at all.

In this documentary he tries to find out why that impact was so huge and which secrets are there which no one is willing to talk about. Even though the family kind of severed ties with Marianna, he decides to visit her, with his camera, when she invites him to come to South Africa. An opportunity to finally reveal the truth. Continue reading →

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The Bridge – Season 3 – Review

The Bridge season 3 review

During the last couple of years The Bridge (the original version) was a great show which managed to keep me entertained during its first two seasons. With its open ending at the end of season 2, I couldn’t wait to find out what Saga Norén (Sofia Helin) and Martin Rohde (Kim Bodnia) would go through next. Something which stands out at the start of this new season though is that Martin seems to be absent. Is the character of Saga enough to carry a whole season? Continue reading →

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The Revenant (2015) – Review

review The Revenant

Although I personally was not a fan of Birdman, the previous film by Alejandro González Iñárritu, I think he is a director whose films I’m always interested in seeing. Babel impressed me and his 21 Grams is in my top 100 favorite movies. On a technical level he has grown a lot and through his collaboration with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (who worked on movies like Gravity, Children of Men, Birdman and The Tree of Life) you are assured of visual splendour. The Revenant is certainly no exception. Continue reading →

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Deadpool (2016) – Review

Deadpool review

A complaint I’ve been hearing more and more about superhero movies, is that they are all alike. Of course that is partly true, but you’d be able to say the same thing about comedies or action movies. It is a genre which has grown enormously the last couple of years and with so many movies it’s easy to see the similarities. Still I think that there is enough variation. If you look at a movie like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which is like a cold war thriller, is it something completely different from a Batman movie or shows like Jessica Jones or Daredevil.

Of course they all have strong protagonists who have to battle evil, but that’s the foundation of the genre. If you take a close look at the details, the nuances you can see….oh, wait a minute, this is the intro I was going to use for the next superhero movie review, but as this is a review of Deadpool forget about all of that. This is not a superhero movie like you are used to. Continue reading →

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Sicario (2015) – Review

Review Sicario

As children, we learn that we have to color inside the lines, that in fairy tales there is only right and wrong, and that the world consists of contradictions: Black / White. As you get older you start to realise life is not so simple, that nuance exists and there is always another side to a story. Not everyone always takes the time to look into the nuance because it makes it easier to form an opinion about something or to make a judgment.

This also applies to the law. Of course a judge looks at the facts of a case and decides if something is right or wrong. But what do you as a police unit against an enemy who is able to do anything and has more money, people and weapons available than you? Should you still have to follow the rules when you see that you won’t be able to win that way? Continue reading →

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The Missing (2014) – Season 1 – Review

Review The Missing

2006, vacation time. The British Hughes family travels to France with their son Oliver to relax. Unfortunately while underway they run into car trouble and are forced to sleep in the village Chalons du Bois. To make sure they are still having fun father Tony (James Nesbitt) takes his son swimming. It is during the world championships football and therefore it is extremely busy. When Tony goes for a drink with his son, the worst thing that a parent can experience happens: In a few seconds he loses sight of Tony and can’t find him anymore. In a panic, he starts searching, but does so in vain. Continue reading →

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Broadchurch – Season 1 – Review

Broadchurch review season 1

Even though TV offers a lot of new shows, I’ve been watching quite a few older shows on Netflix lately. It is nice not having to wait a week before finding out what will happen during the next episode. The fact that I recent years I watched more movies than TV means I’ve missed a lot of good shows, including Broadchurch. It was recommended to me by several people and since season only consists of eight episodes (short series have in fact my preference) it was a good show to start with and finish in only a couple of days. Continue reading →

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The Martian (2015)

Review The Martian

The inventiveness of the human mind has brought us far in different areas in life. Some of those are things you don’t even think about anymore, like how efficiently the food on your plate was transported there or how certain diseases which killed millions of people centuries ago can now be easily prevented or cured. Despite all those developments there still is a lot left to explore and when it comes to space we have only just started. The last time we were on another celestial body is already 43 years ago and although Dutch businessman Bas Lansdorp has big plans with his Mars One project (which has been receiving a lot of critique), it is something which probably won’t be realised anytime soon.

Fortunately the movies gives us an opportunity to dream about that and in The Martian the human race has come that far and the first people have landed there. Directed by science fiction specialist Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña and Chiwetel Ejiofor the question is whether that dream has been successfully brought to life with this film. Continue reading →