Console Wars (2020) – Review

Console Wars recensie

I can still remember it well. It was the early nineties and the second generation game consoles (from 8 to 16-bit) had just come out. One of the local department stores in the center of Rotterdam had a large electronics section on the second floor and the two systems were displayed behind glass: The Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis. It was a time without the Internet where you only heard stories of experiences from those you knew. But these systems were new and what this store had done was put in between the two systems a card with their specifications on it. How many colors the systems could show, what the processor was, etc. It is the first moment I can remember that you had the feeling that you had to make a choice between two systems. Which camp you belonged to. That rivalry in the games industry has never disappeared. You can still see that on almost any gaming forum. And although I now myself buy the systems on which the games I want to play are release (which have been several since), the original source of these wars was in the ‘battle’ between Nintendo and Sega, summarized for me at the time on that little note.

The documentary Console Wars shows how the employees at Nintendo and Sega experienced that time. Continue reading

Song Exploder (2020) – Review

Song Exploder review

Creativity and the creation of a work is sometimes elusive. It is sometimes unclear where the urge to make something comes from, how you come up with a certain idea and why you make choices to achieve the final result. That is something that is part of every creative expression, be it movies, paintings, music or anything else. Song Exploder is a podcast that has been interviewing musicians about a song they’ve created for years. The music itself is separated using the original files, sometimes per instrument. You will hear why certain choices have been made, what feeling is behind it or what message is being conveyed. They are relatively short episodes, often less than half an hour, in which you hear the final song in its entirety after the story and the music. With the Song Exploder series, podcaster Hrishikesh Hirway makes the step towards a visual medium with the same concept. Continue reading

We Are Freestyle Love Supreme (2020) – Review

We are freestyle love supreme recensie
15 years ago there was a group of friends who decided to start a hip hop group. They managed to turn a small basement of a bookstore into a place where they could practice and perform. They made up lyrics on the spot, based on suggestions from the audience. The group Freestyle Love Supreme would remain unknown for a long time, but a number of members have become superstars. Christopher Jackson broke through with his role of Washington in Hamilton, Thomas Kail accompanied the group and also did for Hamilton. And the best known is of course Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote Hamilton and now has a large number of filmroles to his name. He has also written several Disney songs for Moana and Mary Poppins Returns. This documentary shows the journey they have been on and the role the group played in their success. Continue reading

Hamilton’s America (2016) – Review

Hamilton's America review

As you probably have read in my review of Hamilton, it has been a movie which has managed to take a hold of me. I still can’t get enough of it, even weeks later. And the great thing is that this musical is already five years old and if you want to know more there is a real treasure trove of material you can get lost in. While reading the Wikipedia page I saw that a TV documentary, called Hamilton’s America had been made. A quick search on YouTube immediately made it available. Did this one and a half hour movie manage to further scratch my Hamilton itch? Continue reading

Dads (2019) – Review

Dads review

It was Father’s Day recently and Apple took the opportunity to release the documentary Dads on their Apple TV+ service. A documentary that, as the title makes clear, is about fatherhood. Directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, this film features many fathers talking about their experiences with fatherhood. Besides well-known directors and actors, such as Judd Apatow, her own father Ron Howard, Neil Patrick Harris, Jimmy Fallon, Will Smith, Ken Jeong and Hasan Minhaj, there are also fathers from different countries and in different situations. Continue reading

Netflix vs. the World (2019) – Review

Netflix vs the world review

Netflix is ​​a service that most of us can no longer imagine we didn’t have. With its wide range of films and a lot of original series, this VOD service has become a regular destination in the daily lives of many. The company was founded in 1997. This documentary looks at this video on demand giant and in particular how it has succeeded in becoming so successful. Continue reading

Beastie Boys Story (2020) – Review

Beastie Boys Story review

It is a huge challenge to remain relevant as a music artist. You only have to look at the number of one hit wonders (Big Shaq, PSY etc) who enjoyed very short and extreme success, but did not manage to turn that into a lasting career. Even big artists are only as good as their last album and have to keep trying to stay relevant. If you look at hip hop, the number of real stars is very small. Well-known groups and artists from the 80s and 90s have disappeared or have been mostly forgotten. One of the exceptions to this were the Beastie Boys. A group that started as a punk group in the 80s, made the switch to hip hop and evolved into proper musicians who made what they wanted, even if they were all instrumental songs. After Adam Yauch (MCA) died of cancer in 2012, the other members decided to stop making music. They previously released a book and now there is this documentary, directed by Spike Jonze. Continue reading

LA Originals (2020) – Review

LA Originals review

The music world has a lot of artists who are famous for their music and personality. Artists who managed to create something special in their genres and thereby left their mark. Think of Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Eminem, 50 Cent, Cypress Hill and House of Pain. However, what all these artists have in common is that they all have tattoos from Mister Cartoon. This Los Angeles artist was involved in drawing and graffiti from an early age. He designed T-shirts for the owners of low-riders. It was only years later that he also put his drawings on the skin of others. And since these people were world famous, he quickly made a name for himself. He partly owed that success to Estevan Oriol, a tour manager for Cypress Hill, House of Pain and Funkdoobiest, who was the only one to start recording gigs on video and taking photos. The two became close friends and together they managed to conquer the world. Oriol wants to show what this journey looked like with this documentary. Continue reading

One Day at Disney (2019) – Review

One Day at Disney recensie

Since the worldwide release of Disney+, the service releases new content every week. The amount cannot be compared with, for example, Netflix (it is much less) and the strategy is different (weekly release of new episodes from, for example, The Mandalorian, Forky Asks a Question or The Imagineering Story instead of releasing whole seasons), but the service tries to ensure that you return regularly. The documentary One Day at Disney was recently released, which covers a part of the book One Day at Disney Making Magic Every Day and can be seen as a companion piece. Ultimately, it is intended that more individual episodes follow. Disney is known for its magic, but does this documentary also capture that? Continue reading

Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! (2017) – Review

Super Size Me 2 recensie

When Morgan Spurlock made his documentary Super Size Me in 2004, he wanted to show how unhealthy eating at McDonald’s was. He only ate at McDonald’s for a month, always had to answer affirmatively when asked if he wanted to “supersize” and showed what these meals did to his physical and mental health. With his entertaining way of presenting, he was able to make a film that had an impact (and for which he also received an Oscar nomination), as a result of which certain chains seemed to add healthier options to their range. With this sequel, Spurlock wants to investigate whether fast food chains have really become healthier. He does this by opening a fast food restaurant himself. Continue reading