How many movie franchises can you name on which the best directors like Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, Guy Ritchie, Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Woo, Joe Carnahan, Tony Scott and Neill Blomkamp have worked on, which have also been produced by David Fincher and Ridley Scott? You will probably respond that such a film series does not exist. That is until you hear of The Hire. BMW Films has managed to bring all these names, plus many more famous actors, together to create a series of short films in which a BMW is shown prominently and is driven by “The Driver” (Clive Owen). Continue reading
Tag Archives: 2002
Russian Ark (2002) – Review
After seeing the fantastic (it ended up in my top 10 of the year) Victoria last year, a two hour long movie shot in one take, I was very interested to see this movie which has been shot in the same way. According to IMDB: “2000 cast members, 3 orchestras, 33 rooms, 300 years, all in one take”. I had bought the film a couple of years ago after the rave review, but never bothered taking the plastic of and actually watching it. So a good reason to add it to my blindspot list for this year as it would make sure I’d finally come around to seeing the movie. Continue reading
Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002)
Out of all comedies I know Kung Pow might be one of the most unusual ones. Although Woody Allen already dubbed an Asian movie with his What’s Up Tiger Lilly before Steve Oedekerk did, the latter one took the concept to its extreme. He took the kung fu film Tiger and Crane Fist (also known as Savage Killers), wrote a whole new story for it, added himself to some of the scenes and badly dubbed all the voices himself on purpose. The result is movie unlike any other. Continue reading
Cypher (2002)
After recently watching the amazing Gattaca I was searching for a similar technothriller. A quick search on IMDB suggested I should check out this 2002 movie in which Morgan Sullivan (Jeremy Northam) is leading a normal and boring life. He is looking for a challenge and a certain thrill. He gets to opportunity to apply for a job at one of the two biggest companies in the country. His work? Industrial espionage, which would allow him to travel a lot away from his nagging wife. He is hired and is sent to various conventions, having to sit through endless and boring presentations which he has to secretly record and send back. When he meets the mysterious and very attractive Rita Foster(Lucy Liu) she shows him that the work he is doing might not be what he thinks it is and that a whole other reality is hidden behind it. Continue reading
Bus 174 (2002)
The discussion is as old as time: Are people a product of their environment or is most of it genetics? After watching this documentary my conclusion would be that environment is the biggest influence. This documentary is a riveting example of it. A failed robbery aboard a bus, which then changed into a hostage situation (and was broadcasted live) was something which kept Brazilians glued to their TV in 2000. The perpetrator, Sandro Rosa do Nascimento, was unpredictable, threatening, but also in control of his situation. This single event is used to make clear that there are some pressing issues in Brazilian society, which might have led to this hostage situation. Continue reading
Cinemania (2002)
As a movie blogger we all have a healthy “obsession” with movies. Most of us love reading about upcoming movies, checking out the latest trailers and discuss the latest movies we’ve seen. Movies are a big part of our lives, but there are people where that healthy “obsession” turns into something which takes over their entire lives. Cinemania looks at 5 of these people in New York who’s lives only revolve about going to the cinema. Continue reading
Être et avoir (2002)
A one-room school in rural France is the setting for this documentary made by Nicolas Philibert. He travelled through the countryside for months trying to find the perfect location to show the hard work that is done in these schools and the importance for their communities. Continue reading
Nid de guêpes (2002)
The Nest, as this movie is also known, is a movie which I knew nothing about. I can’t remember where I read it, but someone described it as a French version of Die Hard. Which for me was enough reason to track down this movie to find out if this was the case. Continue reading
The Cat Returns (2002)
Those who regularly read my blog know that I’m a big Studio Ghibli fan. With much more detail and deeper stories than your average Disney movie, they are in my opinion the best in the business. The Cat Returns has also been made by studio Ghibli. Haru is a schoolgirl who saves a cat from being run over by a car on her way home. She doesn’t think much of it, but during the night she gets a strange visitor, the king of the cats. The cat she saved turns out to be the prince’s son and the king wants to reward her for her deed. Continue reading
The True Story of Killing Pablo (2002)
Pablo Escobar is a very famous name and I didn’t know much about him expect that he was a druglord. I didn’t know that he was the first person to become a billionaire by doing his drugs trading. Of course it’s not surprising that to get there he used a lot of violence, but something which is shocking is that he didn’t seem to care who was killed.
Whether it was someone in government (even on commercial flights) or killing civilians with carbombs, it didn’t matter.
He was so powerful that after he was convicted he managed to agree with the government he could stay in his own prison he built for himself. No government officials were allowed to go there, not even the police. So he still could do what he wanted. It’s really unbelievable stuff.
It’s a well-made documentary that uses a lot of interviews with various people who were part of either government or people that tried to hunt him down and capture him. They all their part of the story and it shows how difficult it was to find and kill him.
The images are sometimes very explicit, so it’s not something anyone will want to watch, but if you want to know more about this notorious drugdealer it’s a documentary you’ll want to see. Definitely recommended.
Score: 8