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Reviews
Krabat (2008)
Not as good as it should have been
Hm. I read the book as a kid (a long time ago) and was impressed back then. So no movie could ever live up to that. I've seen it in English but would probably have preferred the German version. To late now. But anyhow. The cinematography is great, the art direction is good (a bit too much 'puppet house style' for me) and the acting is OK. The story is just like I remember it. But without the magic. I do not mean wizardry, of that there's enough. But it never really got to me. Unfortunately. It might be the art direction that does not feel real enough. It might be the acting. I do not know. I need ten lines so here is the tenth line.
Irréversible (2002)
Definately a very, very disturbing and thus good movie
It is seldom that a movie is able to make one think twice about it
(certainly if you see many) Irreversable is one of those movies. If you've seen la Haine and
liked it, or "C'est arrive pres de chez vous', I would recommend this
one for sure (rating it even higher). It is, for instance, shocking without that many shocking images. It's
in the way the camera moves, it's in the editing, the story and the
music. The acting is sublime. The director succeeded in creating an atmosphere that eventually
grasps you by the throat and drags you deeper down into the
movie's gore reality. Such is life, this could happen to you! Yet, it's
gruesome and unimaginable. Although a bit like Memento in it's reverse mode, this movie keeps
you in the simple story where it's very easy to get lost in Memento's
many clever tricks. The irreversibility of life become painfully clear
as the movie unfolds. It is very easy to dismiss a piece of work like this as a cheap
chocker just because the message is too painful and the images
are in your face. After the first 10 too boring minutes this movie
makes you angry, sad and impressed. See this movie!
Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)
original story, great direction
Although in a way a simple love story the story in itself is very original. As before in Delicatessen and City of the Lost Children the art direction and cinematography are again briliant, but this time not distracting from the emotions of the story. Finally a true great movie in the day and age!
The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
Find out what it means if it means anything
this strange movie probably either grasps you totally or it doesn't do it for you at all. I loved it. Especially the small scenes that don't seem to have anything to do with the story and the little hints that you get the third or fourth time you see it. Why doesn't Colin protest when Robbert hits him in the stomach? Why does he 'want' to return? Is he in love with Robbert? Is he just a weakling giving in to a stronger personality like Robbert's? Why does Colin's girlfriend suddenly give him the cold shower when he finally gives in to her wish to commit? Are the man/woman roles of today indeed so confusing? What is this movie actually about? I've seen it a couple of times, a very well acted and one of the most confusing movies I've ever seen. Now I think it's about man/woman roles that have changed since the last decades, from when Robberts father lived, the big strong man who painted his moustache black with mascara, to nowadays when Colin accepts that his wive has children by someone before him and wants to live her own life, at least after he gave in to her wish to commit himself. The end. I won't give it away, but it could be a last desperate attempt of Robbert and his wife to keep the good old times alive as well as the result of the inner weakness of what a man like Colin has become.
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
one of the truly great movies of all time
indeed one of the best movies ever made, if you ask me. All three main characters are very well acted, the whole movie is one big dark menacing entity, unveiling itself slowly but never totally. There is this awful secret that we will never understand but, we will surely understand the evilness of it. This is the dark side, the one we always feel is there but that we never get to see or grasp. Nor do we in this movie, but it graps us to never let go, probably even after we're dead.
Citizen Kane (1941)
boring
this is probably one of the most overrated pieces of celluloid ever made. Why all these people nag on about it being brilliant and stuff eludes me. It seems to last four days (just like the heatwave) untill the end finally comes on screen. And what an end it is! As if we ( the audience ) were ever really interested in that stupid sleigh. People actually consider this Aunt Jemima paced movie a masterpiece.......let them watch Suddenly last Summer for some real uncut psychological drama, if they dare!
Happiness (1998)
brilliant
How come American Beauty, a very good movie indeed, goes for all these Oscars while Happiness, that came out in the same period in the Dutch cinemas, almost remained unnoticed? They deal with the same search for happiness in suburbia. But where American Beauty stops, Happiness goes on. To unveil the real gore truth underneath all these nice neat people. To confront the viewer without escape with the unimportance of existence. All the while remaining funny and entertaining. Maybe happiness went a bit to far for the taste of some. But it didn't go any further than the next corner of the street where you live.
After Hours (1985)
give it a ten to beat mister average
As most of these comments make clear enough already: this is a very special movie, a rare one in the works of this director and a rare one in general. As usual people who have a tendency to like 'the average' dislike something this outspoken and upsetting. This is not an ordinary comedy! So, give it a ten to make the odds right again. It deserves it, anyway.
Ben-Hur (1959)
One of the best
One of the best movies ever made, be it the set design, lighting, camera work, story line, music, editing and, purposefully put in the last place, the acting. But that was the way they acted in those days. Out classes the also pretty good Cleopatra, Spartacus and 10 Commandments, they seem to suffer more under the search for drama than Ben Hur although, again seen through todays eyes, Ben Hur could just as well have done without the over acting. A Rembrant's painting as a movie.