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Homevideo (TV 2011)
A really bitter movie about the risks of Web 2.0.
very good and imo in many aspects realistic drama
Mr. Brooks
Not bad, not at all, but it felt a little lost in between the usual killer movie which are always trying to surprise the viewer and a psychological drama. I'm especially not sure if Hurt, although he did a good job, was necessary since the inner conflict could have been shown other wise. The psycho thing would have benefited imho, and maybe the surprise factor too.
Usually precisely characterizing the main persons is important but here showing his other personality from the very beginning sort of simplified it to me.
The Game Plan
Nice Disney stuff.
Hancock
Has not been long since i saw it for the first time, but since i really loved the comedy Superman figure and nothing better was in the program....
i don't think the whole relationship between him and Therons character made much sense. It switched too fast from suspicion, regret, bragging about power, unnecessary sort of childish fight, eternal love, though divided happy ending. Weird. Remove their fight and develop his amnesia better. Maybe a flashback to their cinema visit. When he starts to loose his powers, gets some punches on his head and suddenly remembers some bits again. Be confused about if it actually happened or if he is just making it up because he met her and liked her or whatever.
L'année dernière à Marienbad
In the first hour i thought: what a bullshit movie. It repeated itself over and over and actually has little to tell.
But it had a sort of hypnotic charisma, a beautiful pompous hotel, clear black&white color, sort of annoying music but i liked it in the end, although i'm not entirely sure why.
Die Brücke (1959)
Much better than the remake i saw previously this year.
First hour showed the normal lifes of a school class of sixteen year old boys. Following the front line news and speculating about where it will be tomorrow, being the man in their homes, waiting for letters from their fathers and such.
Most of them are happy when they get their enlistment call in a naive i wanna be a grown up defending my country, believing war is spectacular, fun and glorious attitude. Certainly they grow up fast when they are left alone, nevertheless force themselves to fulfill their duty.
Eastern Promises
I'm not sure if it said actually anything or if it just was pretentious with bad-ass characters. Liked the style but the plot seemed holey.
Stay
Absolutely fantastic cutting. Every single scene change had a seamless transition to the next one.
The actual movie, also great.
Transformers 2
Great action. Removing the mommy's boy is leaving nonsense, and the parents needlessly reappearing later for no use might have been better and shortened it a bit.
Fallen is a joke, less screen time than Megatron although he is supposed to be the big villain of this movie and looses almost instantly?
The army is really supporting this movie? Despite they get their ass kicked in every single scene. How stupid is that?
Last edited by crackajack; 08-29-2011 at 06:29 AM.
Horrible Bosses
Was better than I expected, but frankly: I didn't expect much
Is quite funny and when you're in the mood for some light-hearted comedy it's just right. But don't expect to remember much about it the next day.
__________________ Currently playing: Bioshock: Infinite
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
I kind of liked the first one but didn't like this one. It was way too long, tried way too hard to be a LotR epic, was too absurd; a teenager sword fighting with an experienced certainly much stronger man (if he would have been the son of a blacksmith or at least a farmer and not a normal student it would have made some sense), was too mature for having kids as the heroes.
It just made no sense within its own fantasy logic as eg Pan's Labyrinth did. Those kids appeared like foreign bodies even though the fantasy world has speaking animals, assassin mice and the lion Aslan as the king of all.
It is pretty much the opposite of above mentioned Die Brücke. That movie was a documentary look on kids getting soldiers because the leadership lost scruples to burn their future resources. Prince Kaspian not only uses kids soldiers but also those kids are the ones in throwing anything in the war. In the end not only for defense but for the glory of victory...
Morally imho quite unsettling when war is glorified to be a perfect exercise for kids to grow up.
Hangover
Very stupid movie, even Adam Sandler movies appear like Shakepeare against that. But since i like unreal stupidity i liked it.
Ein halbes Leben (Half a life)
A sensitive story about a father searching for his daughters murderer and the man who did it. He is trying to live a normal life but always awaiting his arrest while DNA methods improve over the years of the plot.
Actually a helpful caring person, he is not plain evil, or a lunatic psychopath. Portraying the murderer like the average murderers probably are: humans doing bad things under certain circumstances.
The end seems a bit bizarre (spoiler if it shows the first steps to adoption of the murderers kid from the mourning parents. he is a single dad when arrested) but sort of similar to Woodsman it's pleading for fair justice.
Everything Must Go
A solid movie with a good ending. Definitely not your typical Will Ferrell outing, but knew it wouldn't be. If you've ever seen Winter Passing, I would say Ferrell's performance is about the same, even with a different character style.
Completely rehashes the first films general plot points and mood and yet manages to be very entertaining. Pleasantly surprised.
Started re-watching this movie again last night. Since I don't think it did that well at the box office, possibly an underrated action/sci-fi movie from the last couple years. Hopefully they'll make a follow-up.
The First Grader
Definitely an interesting movie about an old African veteran who wants to learn reading.
True story that would have deserved a better end product.
Wickie und die starken Männer
Simple kids movie. But i liked it since it had charm and revived the good old animation series.
Sunshine Cleaning
Very nice low-key movie.
Mein Bruder sein Erbe und ich (My brother, his heritage and me)
As above, but it made not much sense in the end. Instead of talking with one another it seemed they ignored one another just to make the short road trip at the end possible.
Eat Drink Man Woman
I really liked the cooking scenes. Sort of spectacular.
The story itself was clumsy sometimes with holes in the relationships of the characters.
Kakushi ken oni no tsume (the hidden blade)
Great portrait of the ending of the samurai era, sticking to honor, tradition, only slowly adapting to western thinking and very rarely counter orders from their clan leader.
De zaak Alzheimer
Sort of similar to a movie i saw not long ago; Fuk sau, although this one here is not about revenge but about taking a u-turn of an aging assassin.
Great idea of a movie. Only negatives were the wannabe cool scenes, camera work and cutting which seemed not to fit to the melancholic theme.
Defamation
A documentation of an Israeli questioning if, although it's everywhere in the Israeli press and in America a rather big organization monitors and does anti-lobbying worldwide, antisemitism still exists today.
If the "worshiping" and the usage as a shield in every case Israel is criticized is right or if it would not be better to look forward which doesn't mean to forget but grow out of the eternal in some way paralyzing victim role.
Der Sohn des Waffenmachers ~ son of the gun maker ??(imdb doesn't find an international title)
Kind of similar to what first Grader showed. Leaving war and aggression behind and trying to step into a new better generation.
Interesting movie with a documentary feel about a Pashtun kid living close to the Afghan border which is struggling about his fathers wish that he should follow his life as a gun maker (without ever going to school).
The story about a kid wanting to go to school is hardly the important part, i'd say it's the look inside the lifes of Pashtuns.
Do the right thing
Original with subtitles. Very rare that german TV shows that.
Interesting study about black people, about the rioting english youth, about the french burning cars in Paris...
It hardly shows solutions, only shows how easy destructive phases can be ignited if the community feels suppressed, feel like people of second or maybe third class.
The story is actually ending quite stupid, imo for various reasons, but more movies about this topic would be good.
Rec
The camera work is a little implausible, too good, for the events happening, but other than that a nice horror thriller.
Obsessed
I can understand when nobodies want to star in a movie, any movie, but why do successful singers also bother to star in such bad movies? Are they bored or have they the same delusion like many people going on stage of those casting shows and singing terrible.
A movie nobody needed because it was done much better more than once before.
Most hilarious scene is the fighting in the end. "Come here", uh, Beyonce is angry... OMG
Black Water
I liked the beginning, but it appeared almost funny when the crocodile always appeared right in the second when they after hours dared to dip their toes in the water. Do they hunt this way, waiting hours while don't eating already killed bodies? A bored or angry animal?
Star Trek
I don't know if i liked it that much because it was really good or because it just was finally a Star Trek movie that was more than a series special, big screen material.
It did a great job of giving the main figures more background than they iirc ever had in the series while still staying close to the source material.
Loved the thick music entourage especially in the beginning.
Do the right thing
Original with subtitles. Very rare that german TV shows that.
Interesting study about black people, about the rioting english youth, about the french burning cars in Paris...
It hardly shows solutions, only shows how easy destructive phases can be ignited if the community feels suppressed, feel like people of second or maybe third class.
The story is actually ending quite stupid, imo for various reasons, but more movies about this topic would be good.
The riot at the end is symbolic of the outrage of the black community of Brooklyn over the Howard Beach murder. When there's no justice, and no coherent voice, there will be violence. I give the film respect for expressing that, without endorsing it. I credit Spike Lee for managing to inject a fair amount of humor and warmth into this film. It could have easily been a disaster.
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