I happened to catch Matterhorn by accident today on the Netherlands Film Festival, and boy, what an accident it was. It would be a good film, if this was supposed to be an exercise in nothingness. This film completely left me cold. Our main protagonist is a somewhat fundamentalist Christian believer, and I don't know if the intention was to try and make him 'deep' with an expressionless face and hardly any words spoken throughout the film, but I sure was convinced nothing actually happens in the man's brain, and whatever he decides to do, seemed to be completely random fluke occurrences all-the-time. He gives shelter to what appears to be a homeless, mentally handicapped guy. We see our protagonist do other completely random fluke actions now, the reaction from the tightly knit together Christian fundamentalist church on this, and... that's about it. There's no humor, there's no tragedy, the characters are about as bland as haystacks, it isn't even realistic, but to call it absurdistic is also giving it way too much credit. This film truly is, absolutely nothing. Stay away from this one, the most unoriginal people who ever existed appear to have been working together to make their masterpiece, and have succeeded.
Reviews
8 Reviews
Olympus Has Fallen
(2013)
That sure did give me some vicarious shame for FreedomLand.
19 July 2013
Warning: Spoilers
The best way to describe this movie is just one big face-palm, comprised of a lot of face-palms. Normally I absolutely love over the top, not taking itself too serious popcorn stuff. But this actually does seem to take itself dead serious, and that is just...scary. Not that I didn't have lots of laughs, from the opening scene where the President of the U.S.A. is a very muscular guy who likes boxing, to the next where we see he has the literally 'perfect' loving relationship with the First Lady, to the next where our security agent protagonist fails to save her and you'll probably think as I did:"they aren't going to do a trauma thing, are they?" to the very next scene where you'll think:"yeah, they will", immediately followed by some American Patriotism®, and you'll quickly understand where this movie is heading. After a ridiculous plan by terrorists actually appears to be working, you cannot help but root a bit for them, the Americans are so damn stupid they have it coming. The next moment you'll hate the terrorists again because they think it's smart to cut the power in an action movie, effectively making most action scenes occur in darkness. Doh! Curse you terrorists! It's just...horrendously, horrendously (this means I mean it) bad. And not in a it's so bad it's good way...It's just, bad. 3 points for some 'you cannot be serious to have made this movie seriously' laughter.
Summer Wars
(2009)
This is how you make animation!
30 November 2012
As Kenji, a high school student, takes on a job for the most popular girl in school, Natsuki, stuff is quickly spiralling out of control for him. Not only is this job for Natsuki not entirely what he had expected, but an A.I. has taken over his Avatar in the virtual world of Oz, wreaking allsorts of havoc. This is the premise of a roller-coaster ride that is exciting, sweet, strange, touching, funny, cool, exhilarating and most of all, a lot of fun. If someone asked me to make a good animation /science fiction/ romance/ action/ comedy/ drama/ movie about a virtual world, a family, Japanse high school students in a save the world kind of scenario: I'd probably laugh in their faces... Director Mamoru Hosoda however likely said something along these lines:"Yeah, sounds cool!". And continued on to make an awesome movie. It baffles me how he pulled this off with this wacky scenario, every scene sets the right tone, has the perfect pacing and touches the right strings at the right time. Summer Wars (and the also amazing Girl Who Leapt Through Time) made it clear to me Japan has the one of the best directors on the planet in animation with Mamoru Hosoda, and I can't wait to see what more he will conjure up. Highly recommended!
Whisper of the Heart
(1995)
Awww, it's just so...sweet!
13 June 2012
Being a bit of a fan-boy for animated and thus Ghibli films, and quickly making up for the titles I've missed, I knew I had to see Whisper of the Heart, but was taken aback by the title. It just sounds so corny I didn't expect to much so it was lying around for some time. But, as I got myself over that and finally got myself to see it, I was proved wrong. The themes of growing up, finding out about love, finding your place in the world and the downright and pure innocence of the characters just really got me. And I do wonder if kids actually like this film. The way that Ghibli always seems to get me to absolutely adore their films is in a strange melancholy kind of way. The kind I suspect kids (hopefully) don't understand (but perhaps feel). Something about how they make animated films reminds of writings by Ernest Hemingway (if that makes any sense). Such simple stories can have such a powerful impact just by the way they are told: if they are being told through the hands of a master story teller(s). Here it probably has something to do with the intelligent restraint a lot of other -trying to be intelligent/romantic/cool- films completely lack. Never are the characters or the viewer played for fools or talked down to, and even though it's animated, their emotions seem so much more real then I have *felt* in most other non- animated films. You can really tell studio Ghibli cares for their characters, the story and put a real lot of heart in making films like Whisper of the Heart. I guess this is more about Studio Ghibli in general than about the actual Whisper of the Heart, just suffice to say I would dare anyone to watch this film and not have a big smile on their face for at least a couple of hours afterwards. It's just really, really good and I hope more people will see and love Studio Ghibli films as I do, even when they have corny titles.
Black Swan
(2010)
Unpleasant without a cause
7 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Black Swan is almost the same as 'Requiem for a Dream (2000)', another of Darren Aronofsky's work.
We saw the characters in 'Requiem for a Dream' slowly spiraling downwards because of their heroine addiction.
Black Swan tells the story of a girl spiraling down because she is obsessed.
I really 'liked' Requiem for a Dream, drug addiction really deserves the 'unpleasant' card to be played, and because the spiral is so slow, we the audience, keep hoping everything still might turn out fine. Drugs really work on a persons instincts (like it or not, people are still fundamentally governed by their instincts), that's why the 'artistic' unpleasantness works so well in Requiem for a Dream, we understand and feel how the characters are driven to full-fill their 'instincts', the need to get drugs again.
However, this doesn't work so well when showing, and visualizing, an obsessed girl in Black Swan. It was just... very very unpleasant. Obsession is not an instinct, it's a self-taught (or indoctrinated) defect (in the same manner as people can be religious, or start stalking someone).
I had a hard time relating to Natalie Portman's character. I'm a reasoning man, and I can't for the life of me fathom being so obsessed without alarm bells ringing in my head. She doesn't have any alarm bells whatsoever, even when it's all too clear (even to her!) she's being schizophrenic. I know it is my own fault that I don't like this movie, I can't relate to nor do I respect unreasoning people. That leaves only pity. So out of pity I give this movie 6 points out of 10.
We saw the characters in 'Requiem for a Dream' slowly spiraling downwards because of their heroine addiction.
Black Swan tells the story of a girl spiraling down because she is obsessed.
I really 'liked' Requiem for a Dream, drug addiction really deserves the 'unpleasant' card to be played, and because the spiral is so slow, we the audience, keep hoping everything still might turn out fine. Drugs really work on a persons instincts (like it or not, people are still fundamentally governed by their instincts), that's why the 'artistic' unpleasantness works so well in Requiem for a Dream, we understand and feel how the characters are driven to full-fill their 'instincts', the need to get drugs again.
However, this doesn't work so well when showing, and visualizing, an obsessed girl in Black Swan. It was just... very very unpleasant. Obsession is not an instinct, it's a self-taught (or indoctrinated) defect (in the same manner as people can be religious, or start stalking someone).
I had a hard time relating to Natalie Portman's character. I'm a reasoning man, and I can't for the life of me fathom being so obsessed without alarm bells ringing in my head. She doesn't have any alarm bells whatsoever, even when it's all too clear (even to her!) she's being schizophrenic. I know it is my own fault that I don't like this movie, I can't relate to nor do I respect unreasoning people. That leaves only pity. So out of pity I give this movie 6 points out of 10.
Inception
(2010)
Deceivingly excellent
21 December 2010
Warning: Spoilers
When film-makers make a movie that deals with the human subconscious like inception, they have millions of trinkets to play with. Literally, the film-makers own imagination is the limit.
Inception does this very nicely, it creates rules for which the inception (-planting an idea in someone's subconscious while they sleep) takes place, and tries to get the absolute most out of the story, action and graphics within the rules it created for itself for this inception to take place.
Even though I found the movie very entertaining, in the end I felt a bit conned. This was because the movie kept telling me over and over again how brilliant it was, and how superbly complex it was, while in fact, it wasn't complex at all. The basic story is very simple actually. It's just made complex with a lot of gimmicks.
This isn't really a bad thing, all movies do it. So I wondered whether 'feeling conned' is a good argument. I guess it mainly had to do with the ending of the movie. The ending is a cheap way to have your audience question whether it was real or not. Of course, there is no correct answer. And that's OK. But why ask the question than? If it all wás real in end, the movie is that much better. Now they choose to be oh so 'deep' and 'thoughtful'. Where yet again, it really is not.
I guess the 'feeling conned' sentiment comes from all the 'this movie is oh so complex, oh so deep, oh so thoughtful' gestures it makes. But it fails to deliver actual arguments (for me at least)to back that claim up. The gimmicks are (needlessly) complex indeed, the basic story itself is not, not by a long shot.
This all sounds very negative, and the movie doesn't deserve it, it's a very good movie and to all the people I know I recommended watching it. Mainly because it spawned interesting conversations. However, that bitter after-taste of 'feeling conned' has made me come to feel this is a movie without heart. To me it seems they didn't want to make this movie so 'complex' and 'deep' because they loved doing so or because the story deserved it. They only did it to try and trick me to think this was a brilliant movie. And when you try to do that with me, I tend to back away.
All in all, a very good movie, which left a cheesy after-taste. But at least it was a lot better than the Dark Knight (the directors previous blockbuster) which I found horrendously bad (and over-hyped). So, Final Verdict: 7 It would have been 1 or 2 points higher if the movie had more heart. A lame argument I know, but I don't know how else to put in words.
Inception does this very nicely, it creates rules for which the inception (-planting an idea in someone's subconscious while they sleep) takes place, and tries to get the absolute most out of the story, action and graphics within the rules it created for itself for this inception to take place.
Even though I found the movie very entertaining, in the end I felt a bit conned. This was because the movie kept telling me over and over again how brilliant it was, and how superbly complex it was, while in fact, it wasn't complex at all. The basic story is very simple actually. It's just made complex with a lot of gimmicks.
This isn't really a bad thing, all movies do it. So I wondered whether 'feeling conned' is a good argument. I guess it mainly had to do with the ending of the movie. The ending is a cheap way to have your audience question whether it was real or not. Of course, there is no correct answer. And that's OK. But why ask the question than? If it all wás real in end, the movie is that much better. Now they choose to be oh so 'deep' and 'thoughtful'. Where yet again, it really is not.
I guess the 'feeling conned' sentiment comes from all the 'this movie is oh so complex, oh so deep, oh so thoughtful' gestures it makes. But it fails to deliver actual arguments (for me at least)to back that claim up. The gimmicks are (needlessly) complex indeed, the basic story itself is not, not by a long shot.
This all sounds very negative, and the movie doesn't deserve it, it's a very good movie and to all the people I know I recommended watching it. Mainly because it spawned interesting conversations. However, that bitter after-taste of 'feeling conned' has made me come to feel this is a movie without heart. To me it seems they didn't want to make this movie so 'complex' and 'deep' because they loved doing so or because the story deserved it. They only did it to try and trick me to think this was a brilliant movie. And when you try to do that with me, I tend to back away.
All in all, a very good movie, which left a cheesy after-taste. But at least it was a lot better than the Dark Knight (the directors previous blockbuster) which I found horrendously bad (and over-hyped). So, Final Verdict: 7 It would have been 1 or 2 points higher if the movie had more heart. A lame argument I know, but I don't know how else to put in words.
The Reader
(2008)
Thought provoking!
13 August 2010
The Plot: A teenage boy finds himself in a (sexual) relation with an older woman. Part of their relation is based on the boy reading to the older woman. However one day the woman disappears, leaving the teenage boy heartbroken.
Several years later he finds her again as he witnesses (as a spectator) her trial where she is charged for war crimes.
As society passes moral judgement over the woman, so does he. Whether he is right or wrong in doing so is left to the viewer to decide, the movie merely shows us what happens given the choices the characters made.
The acting: Although I don't think anyone could've acted any better than Kate Winslet in this movie, speaking English with a German accent to portray Germans is very disappointing. However, the characters don't speak out every emotion they are experiencing (unlike most US of A movies) which challenges the viewer to think for themselves, is it love, fear, sense of duty, hate, misunderstanding, shame (and i could go on) that motivates the characters actions? Very difficult to pull off, but all actors pull this off magnificently. They force you to look at the complexities of a human being and (rightfully so) deny you the easy way out by simply putting people in 'good' or ' bad' categories and be done with it. (Note: see those reviews that think bad of this movie? Written by people who love doing this and find themselves confronted with their own shallow mind, better to disregard the movie then!)
To sum it up, a very nice thought provoking movie about morals and love. Definitely worth a watch!
Several years later he finds her again as he witnesses (as a spectator) her trial where she is charged for war crimes.
As society passes moral judgement over the woman, so does he. Whether he is right or wrong in doing so is left to the viewer to decide, the movie merely shows us what happens given the choices the characters made.
The acting: Although I don't think anyone could've acted any better than Kate Winslet in this movie, speaking English with a German accent to portray Germans is very disappointing. However, the characters don't speak out every emotion they are experiencing (unlike most US of A movies) which challenges the viewer to think for themselves, is it love, fear, sense of duty, hate, misunderstanding, shame (and i could go on) that motivates the characters actions? Very difficult to pull off, but all actors pull this off magnificently. They force you to look at the complexities of a human being and (rightfully so) deny you the easy way out by simply putting people in 'good' or ' bad' categories and be done with it. (Note: see those reviews that think bad of this movie? Written by people who love doing this and find themselves confronted with their own shallow mind, better to disregard the movie then!)
To sum it up, a very nice thought provoking movie about morals and love. Definitely worth a watch!
Planet Terror
(2007)
Hilarious!
6 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This movie made me laugh so hard, my eyes watered so much I missed half of it in the cinema.
You need to look at this movie as a parody on B- movies. Every single sentence, every word spoken(!) is either an extremely good one-liner, or an omen of something most likely happening in the (very) next scene or following scenes. Only this simple fact me cry out from laugher (*spoiler* and yes, I even couldn't help myself when the little kid shoots himself through (I presume) the head in the car, I tried not to, it was just too painfully obvious when mom spoke just before leaving the car:"Don't point that thing at yourself"... and you can't help but think, just before hearing the loud bang "No mr Rodriguez, you didn't). I guess this movie isn't for everyone, not everyone will 'get' this kind of humour. Yes, everything is over the top. Yes, every horror movie cliché is present, yes, in fact, every cliché done ever in movies is present. But this doesn't mean it is unoriginal. Underlying the seemingly simple story of gore and zombies, is a perfectly thought out screenplay, brilliant script, beautifully directed. I simply cannot find anything wrong with it. This movie is pure, ongoing fun and deserves no less than 10 out of 10. It kicked the movie 'Hot Fuzz' from my number 1 spot to number 2 (go see that too!) in the genre of over the top funny stuff. Go Rodriguez, Go!
You need to look at this movie as a parody on B- movies. Every single sentence, every word spoken(!) is either an extremely good one-liner, or an omen of something most likely happening in the (very) next scene or following scenes. Only this simple fact me cry out from laugher (*spoiler* and yes, I even couldn't help myself when the little kid shoots himself through (I presume) the head in the car, I tried not to, it was just too painfully obvious when mom spoke just before leaving the car:"Don't point that thing at yourself"... and you can't help but think, just before hearing the loud bang "No mr Rodriguez, you didn't). I guess this movie isn't for everyone, not everyone will 'get' this kind of humour. Yes, everything is over the top. Yes, every horror movie cliché is present, yes, in fact, every cliché done ever in movies is present. But this doesn't mean it is unoriginal. Underlying the seemingly simple story of gore and zombies, is a perfectly thought out screenplay, brilliant script, beautifully directed. I simply cannot find anything wrong with it. This movie is pure, ongoing fun and deserves no less than 10 out of 10. It kicked the movie 'Hot Fuzz' from my number 1 spot to number 2 (go see that too!) in the genre of over the top funny stuff. Go Rodriguez, Go!
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