Suriname (2020) – Review

Suriname film review

A movie title can create great expectations. Suppose you are asked to write a movie with the title America or the United Kingdom, which subject(s) would you choose to show that cover everything. And what message do you want to convey to your viewers? Surinam is a country with a turbulent history and that according to the opening title has a lot of natural resources (in the top 15 of the world), but that it nevertheless has problems. A fact that makes you think and that you can do a lot with. Unfortunately, it soon becomes painfully clear that a possible message is hard to find. Continue reading

The Circle (2017) – Review

Review The Circle

Working at large companies can be very attractive, especially at the large IT companies in Silicon Valley that have an extensive campus where food is free, you can do all sorts of other activities during working hours and which seem to be place you would want to spend a lot of time. Places where the term “9 to 5” does not seem to apply. In this film The Circle is such a company, led by Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks). It is huge and for many it is a dream to work there. Mae Holland (Emma Watson) does not work there, but is approached by a friend (who has a high position). She is allowed to apply and manages to get the job. She is a call center employee and must work hard to achieve the highest possible score. Continue reading

Assassin’s Creed (2016) – Review

Review  Assassin's creed
Games allow you as a gamer to take control of another character who can perform actions which sometimes would be impossible in the real world. That’s also the case for the Assasin’s Creed games, in which you are a member of secret group travelling through old cities, running with parcours skills across rooftops to fight the Templars. As not all games are set at the same time it introduced the element of the “present”, where a machine (the Animus) is used to allow the main character to jump into the past in order to find artefacts who have a link to the creation story which can influence humanity. With popular game series it seem inevitable that they are turned into movies and unfortunately history has shown it almost always ends up being disappointing (just think of the Warcraft movie last year). Is this one different? Continue reading

The Legend of Hercules (2014) – Review

Review The Legend of Hercules

Each year there are these movies which give you this feeling “it’s probably better to skip this one”. It’s some sort of spidersense you have developed as a movielover and often that sense turns out to be correct. In 2014 the movie Hercules would be released, starring Dwayne Johnson. Not long before that suddenly this movie entered theaters. I don’t know if it was supposed to take some money away from that movie, but The Legend of Hercules looked like a B-movie. So I decided to skip it, but when it recently was shown on TV I decided to give it a chance. I’ve learned a wise lesson from that: Sometimes you just have to watch these type of movies to get a better perspective on the movies which are worth watching. Continue reading

Ice Age: Collision Course (2016) – Review

ICE AGE collision course review

Ice Age, made by Blue Skies Studios is in some regards comparable to Carl Douglas. This artist scored a hit in 1974 with the song Kung Fu Fighting. After that he kept making songs with the same theme, hoping he would be able to have the same success as he had with the original. A couple of years ago I saw a documentary where he was saying he was making a new remix, still trying to make money on that one good idea he once had during pop history. When you look at Ice Age, the first movie was successful both financially as critically. And although the sequels still made enough money, the scores on Rotten Tomatoes tell another story how critics received it. The original had a score of 77%, but the sequels that followed scored 57%, 45% and 37%. Of course Blue Skies has made other movies besides Ice Age (Rio, Epic and the Peanuts movie), but would it be better that the studio faces reality and let these prehistoric animals go extinct? Continue reading

How To Sell a Banksy (2012) – Review

Review How To Sell a Banksy

The art world has fascinated me for years. I wouldn’t call myself an art lover and you’ll be hard pressed to find me in a museum regularly, but it is an interesting world. One which follows trends, just like fashion does. When something becomes a hype the prizes skyrocket, but it is also a subculture in which experts regularly can’t tell real paintings from smart forgeries. Banksy has this image that he goes against that world and through his street art regularly makes important statements. Because of this he has become loved and his work is sought after. The prices collectors are willing to pay are extremely high and of course there are people who want to take advantage of that. In the documentary Banksy Does New York it partly focussed on that when a group of men were trying to sell a Banksy they took from the street. In How To Sell A Banksy Christopher Thompson tries to sell one of Banksy’s earlier works which he scraped of a bridge himself. Continue reading

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2015) – Review

Review Alvin and the chipmunks roadchip

As a parent it isn’t always a joy to go to the cinema. Of course it is great to spend some time with your child at the movies and talk about the film afterwards, but sometimes kids want to head to movies you don’t fancy seeing yourself. Recently I was dragged to a very boring movie about two boring dutch cartoon characters, but the fun my daughter had kind of made up for it. The next movie she wanted to see was Alvin and the Chipmunks and because their weren’t any other movies playing she could see we decided to watch it. This is the third one in the series. The first one wasn’t very good, but I was willing to give this movie a chance. It’s something I shouldn’t have. Continue reading

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) – Review

Batman v superman review

When I heard that there would be a Batman versus Superman movie my heart didn’t start racing at all. Even though the Christopher Nolan Batman movies were worth watching, the last two Superman movies didn’t impress. The fact that Zack Snyder was responsible for Man of Steel and also would be directing this one didn’t make me feel euphoric.

Then I started to think about the central point of this movie. If these two superheroes would fight each other would there be any question about who would win? One is a rich guy with some gadgets and the other one an alien with superpowers who only has one weakness which is kryptonite. Despite all my concerns though I did decide to see the movie, because I expected Snyder wanted to prove himself after the criticism he got for Man of Steel. Besides that the studio behind the movie needs a hit and also show the DC universe is worth checking out as well. Continue reading

Aloha (2015) – Review

Review Aloha

I love to cook and especially during the weekends when I have time to search for a new dish, do my shopping and spend some time in the kitchen. Of course I occasionally pick out dishes which I’ll only make once because I don’t like them, but in general they taste good and the combination of various ingredients turn into a delicious meal.

Making a movie can be easily compared to cooking. There are a lot of elements that come together to deliver a beautiful end product, under the guidance of a master chef. In this case the name of that master chef is Cameron Crowe, who was previously responsible for such films as Say Anything, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky. For Aloha he has managed to pick some very good ingredients in the form of Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Bill Murray , Rachel McAdams , Alec Baldwin and Danny McBride. Together with them he went into the kitchen, but does that result in a flavourful dish? Continue reading