Girlhood (2014) – Review

review girlhood

Based purely on the title you could assume that this is the sequel to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, a movie which personally didn’t move me as much as it seems to have done to other reviewers. Besides the title though, this movie doesn’t have many similarities. Girlhood is set in France and follows sixteen-year-old Marieme (Karidja Touré). Continue reading

Les cowboys (2015) – Review

Review Les Cowboys

If you have kids then you have the natural instinct to watch them, be there for them and protect them. Nevertheless, from the start you should already slowly let go so that they can learn from the mistakes they make and ultimately spread their wings. However, when you see that the freedom you give them is a bit too much, you’ll have to restrict it again to make it safe.

It is a constant process that I’m constantly working on myself, but the older your children get, the more you realize that you can’t and shouldn’t try to check everything. There is a chance that it all goes incredibly wrong. I regularly read about parents who left their child home alone and they ended up inviting friends who brought alcohol and they had to be hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. With those stories in mind it is important to inform rather than to limit so that you keep talking to each other instead of having a teenager who shuts you out and starts having secrets for you. That is exactly what the main character from Les Cowboys realises. A secret that will affect the whole family deeply. Continue reading

Playtime (1967)

Review Playtime

Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot was my first experience of watching Jacques Tati and his most famous character Monsieur Hulot. THat movie really didn’t have much story to it, but felt almost like a comedic documentaire about the events that take place in a hotel near a beach. The DVD set of his movies also had his fourth movie Playtime in it, which has been on my to watch list for years. I had gotten very curious about it and was interested to find out how it would compare to Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot. Continue reading

Paths of Glory (1957)

France, the first world war. Both the Germans and the French have dug themselves trenches and are in fierce fights to conquer just a few metres. With so little changing it’s bound to be a long trench war. Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) of the French army receive order from his superiors to attack the “Ant Hill” and take it. Although Dax makes it clear that it is a suicide mission as more than half the soldiers will be killed before they are even near their target, his concerns are noted, but the attack still has to take place. Continue reading