According to some Ed Wood was the worst director that ever lived. Others might think of Uwe Boll, but I can’t confirm either choice as I haven’t seen any film made by these directors. After watching the movie Ed Wood I actually would like to watch at least on of his movies as I got this “so bad it’s good” feeling about them. Ed Wood tries to show how this director ended up in the world of movies and what happened once he did. Continue reading
There are movies which I will watch on TV if I just happen to see it playing (although I actually hate to watch movies on cable because of all the commercial breaks). Coming to America is one of those movies and Groundhog Day is another one. Bill Murray is weather man Phil who, together with his producer Rita (Andie MacDowell) and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott), travels to the little village of Punxsutawney to report on Groundhog Day, the day on which a groundhog does a prediction on how long the winter will last.
Everything seems like routine job and Phil heads back home. They find out quickly they won’t be able to make it because of blizzard and are forced to return to Punxsutawney. It will be Phil’s longest day. Lees verder
As it’s the last day of the year I think there is no better way to end it by reviewing my movie of the year by letting it skip the queue of upcoming reviews. With Black Swan I had the same feeling as I had with The Social Network. I was wondering how a movie about a specific subject, in this case ballet, could be interesting. If you check out the dance movies which came out lately you will notice that most of them are targeting a young audience with the drama in those films being equal to the levels you see in your average soap opera. As I try to never watch movie trailers and try to know as little as I can about films in advance, I was in for a big, but very pleasant, surprise. Continue reading
What’s the most important thing in life and how far would you go for money? Those are the central questions in the Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Humphrey Bogart is Dobbs, a man who lives the life of a bum in Mexico. How he ended up there is not made really clear. He begs for money whenever he sees other Americans so he can continue living. He doesn’t seem to have a goal in his life. After getting his hands on some money he ends up being able to pay for a roof above his head for a night. There he meets an old gold digger named Cody (Walter Huston) who tells him that there’s gold to be found in the dry desert mountains. Together with a friend he met during a small job he did he decides to buy the necessary equipment to head out to the desert and start searching for gold. Together with Cody the three head out of town to begin their search. Continue reading
The second world war has had a big impact on Japan. It lost a lot of power, cities were left in ruins and the military was no longer important. I’ve been to Hiroshima and was at the spot above which the atom bomb was detonated and if you see that place and the accompanying museum you are really at a loss for words. I had the same thing when I visited the Tokyo war museum, in which there were a couple of rooms with the walls lined with only pictures of people who lost their lives during the war. It has made a big impression on me.
Grave of the Fireflies tells the personal story of Setsuko and Seita, brother and sister who try to survive the war. The loss of their mother has already changed their lives, but because of it Setsuko is forced to leave the town and take care of his little sister. As the Americans keep bombarding the country it is very hard to survive as there is hardly anything to eat. Every day they have to search for a way to survive. Continue reading
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
Singing in the Rain is a classic song from a classic movie which I must have hummed quite a few times while walking through the rain, but I had never seen the movie. As it has a spot in the IMDB top 250 it was enough reason to see it.
Singin’ in the rain is set at then end of the twenties, when Warner Bros was the first to release a successful movie with sound, The Jazz Singer. Other studios needed to keep up. Gene Kelly and Jean Hagen are Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont, two actors who have become stars during the silent era of movie. The current movie they are working in is picked to be the first movie their studio will add sound to. Continue reading
Steve McQueen is an icon and he always features prominently on the posters for this movie. Although he’s in this movie he actually does not appear in a lot of scenes. It’s the other actors that show what they got and they definitely impress.
The Great Escape is een movie that’s based on an actual, big scale escape attempt from a second world war nazi camp. A number of British and American members of the airforce have been captured and are held in the camp. These prisoners do try everything to make life a living hell for the captors by constantly attempting to escape. They do this by digging tunnels or wearing a disguise. These are just small attempts that are not on the scale of the great escape as for this escape they plan to do it with a couple of hundred men at the same time. Continue reading
It’s been 30 years since Alien was released and I have to admit that I hadn’t seen it. I have been wanting to see this (and the sequels) for a long time and in 2006 I bought this 25th anniversary box set Continue reading
The next movie out of the IMDB top 250 which I have seen is Requiem for a Dream. I tried watching it years ago, but could not get into it and didn’t finish watching it. I just didn’t like the vibe it gave me. It’s now some years later and seeing it in the top 250 i was curious about it, so i decided to give this film another chance. I’m glad i did. Continue reading