basemnt-dwellr Reviews

Wacken (2014)

Realistic Portrayal of the World's Biggest Heavy Metal Festival

[8/10 · 21 March 2015]

Welcome to the holy land of Wacken!

The movie is not a live recording of a concert, but rather a documentary about the world's biggest heavy metal festival. Every year, about 75,000 metal fans from all over the world travel to Wacken, a small village in northern Germany, to listen to more than 100 famous and not so famous bands.

The movie includes interviews with a couple of metal fans and some of the musicians, and of course there is also the music. The filmmakers managed to capture the atmosphere perfectly. Everybody is peaceful, in good spirits, and having lots of fun during the four days of the festival.

I think all those metal fans who have been to Wacken or are planning to go there should see the movie. However, not just them, but also everybody else who wants to know what Wacken is like, should see it. Great movie! And now that I've watched it, I can hardly wait till July 30, when this year's festival starts.

Find Me Guilty (2006)

Funny and Entertaining Courtroom Drama

[8/10 · 18 February 2006]

I had the chance to see the movie at the Berlin Film Festival (actually I saw it twice), and I must say I really loved it. Even during the second screening I still thought it was interesting and funny.

Granted, I like both Sidney Lumet and Vin Diesel so I may be a bit biased, but the audience in the cinema seemed to like the movie too, because after both screenings they applauded.

The movie is a courtroom drama based on real events. The film depicts the longest Mafia trial in NYC history, and most of the dialog is taken from the original records of the trial. In 1987-88, some 20 members of the Lucchese crime family, each with his own lawyer, were indicted on some 76 charges ranging from criminal conspiracy to narcotics trafficking. The trial went on for 21 months.

The film focuses on Jack DiNorscio, one of the accused mobsters (played by Vin Diesel), who decides to defend himself. Even though he spent half his life in jail he doesn't know much about legal proceedings and mostly speaks what comes into his mind thus sometimes making fun of the whole trial.

Actually I was quite skeptical if Diesel could pull it off. C'mon, we all know him from some more or less mediocre action movies, so when I heard he was cast in a Sidney Lumet movie, I was quite surprised, and therefore even more eager to see him in this film. And yes, he is good. He gained some weight for this role and has hair (a wig), so he looks quite different from what you're used to.

During the Berlinale press conference Sidney Lumet said about Vin Diesel: "People make the great mistake with action heroes. They think that because generally the plots are simpler and their behavior is one-note that they can't act. But most of the time they can." And Diesel shows that he can act. With his charismatic persona he manages to carry the movie pretty easily. He has to talk a lot during the film which comes across very believable and authentic, and he shows a wide range of emotions from happiness to anger to mourning to being embarrassed to whatever.

The overall acting is really good, Linus Roache shines in his role as prosecutor Kierney. Contrary to his "Necromonger" role in "The Chronicles of Riddick" he gets a chance here to really show his talent. The other supporting cast is also really fantastic. I'd like to point out Peter Dinklage as lead defense attorney Ben Klandis, and Annabella Sciorra ("The Sopranos") who is really great in her single scene as DiNorscio's ex-wife. In this scene she goes through all the emotions from anger to frustration to jealousy. The other supporting cast consists of New York theater talent, as well as faces familiar to anyone who watches crime shows on the tube.

The film itself takes place almost entirely in the court room, and sometimes it drags a bit although it is not boring. It depends solely on talking, there is no action whatsoever in the movie. As DiNorscio joked around quite a bit during the trial, the film too is pretty funny in parts, and the audience in the cinema laughed quite a bit.

All in all I recommend this movie. But I have to warn the action fans: you might not like this film as it is a total change in comparison to the movies Vin Diesel has done until now.

Am Tag als Bobby Ewing starb (2005)

Forgettable

[5/10 · 10 August 2005]

This film is about a group of people living together in the eighties on a farm during the time of demonstrations against nuclear power.

I thought this film looked like it was made more for TV than cinema. Not worth shelling out your 10 bucks for the cinema.

In the beginning I was reminded of a documentary or a private film by the look of the film, you know, shaky hand camera, the pictures not really in focus etc.

The plot is almost nonexistent, the story line gets not advanced. Possible SPOILER: A woman who got abandoned by her husband and her adolescent son move together with a group of people who share a farm. Coming from the city the son doesn't like it in the village, but after a while he meets some new friends (among them a girl) and starts to like it. The mother starts a relationship with the leader of the group. But when the accident happens in Chernobyl, the group falls apart. That is all. There really is nothing else.

I thought the change in the group came because of the Chernobyl accident. The fact that Bobby Ewing died was not really important for the plot (so why the title of the film?). I don't know, but I thought the film was irrelevant and forgettable.

Van Helsing (2004)

BORING

[3/10 · 12 May 2004]

I wanted to watch the movie although I had heard a lot of bad things about the film. Unfortunately all those things are true.

The opening sequence (shot in black and white) is quite okay, but after that it gets worse. When in the beginning of the movie Van Helsing fights some Hulk-like monster I was already bored and thought "just kill it and let's get over with", but unfortunately the fight lasts quite a while. I could not at all relate with the characters, neither with Van Helsing nor with Anna Valerious, even Count Dracula remains bland and uninteresting. Besides you don't learn anything about their motivation. Also the fact that Van Helsing mostly fights CGI-beings and does not get even a scratch during those fights does not exactly further the tension. In addition the movie is quite foreseeable. And Carl as Van Helsing's sidekick/comic relief is not funny at all and the one liners the characters get to speak are just stupid. The only reason I didn't leave the cinema before the end of the movie was that I was curious about the final fight between Count Dracula and Van Helsing, but even that fight was not worth the wait.

The acting was okay I think, but I had the impression that in a bad movie even decent actors look bad.

The CGI was way too much, human adversaries might have been much more interesting to watch, so it was more like style over substance. Maybe they should have saved the money they spent on the CGI and invested it in a decent script instead.

School of Rock (2003)

Entertaining and funny

[7/10 · 17 February 2004]

When I saw the trailer I thought, "this is one of those stupid films which are supposed to be funny but in reality are just boring". But then I saw the ratings on imdb and read some good reviews in the papers, and I thought, well, the film can't be that bad, just give it a chance. And I do not regret having spent my money for the cinema ticket! The film is really funny, good script, good story development, likeable characters, the kids act quite well, and the music is brilliant (you have to like rock music though). I mean, the film's not really challenging, but hey, what do you expect. It's good entertainment for the full 108 min of the film, and you'll leave the cinema in a good mood.

S.W.A.T. (2003)

what a sh1tty film!

[4/10 · 30 December 2003]

Everything is totally clichéd, the good guys vs. the bad guys. Take a guess at who will win. Yeah, you know right from the start how the film will end. No humor in it, no twists, no surprises. Half way through the film I had to stop the DVD because I felt so bored (anyway, I did watch the whole film) and do something else. I'm glad that I didn't waste my money in the cinema for this piece of sh!t.

And what I thought was really bad, that the filmmakers couldn't get a native as the villain, but it had to be a French guy, their new `enemies' as the French didn't join the Americans in their war against Iraq.

If you like mindless action films, watch xXx instead, that film at least does not take itself so seriously.

The Miracle of Bern (2003)

A good and entertaining film

[7/10 · 18 November 2003]

I just watched "Das Wunder von Bern" and I must admit it is really a good film, not only for football fans (for you Americans: we Europeans say football for soccer). The film is not just a sports drama but deals more with the atmosphere in post war Germany and with the problems and aspirations the people had during that period and what the winning of the world championship by the German national football team meant for the regular people.

Actually this atmosphere is covered excellently. The film shows that the people were still recovering from WW2. There are heaps of debris in the streets from houses destroyed during air raids and many men are still kept as POWs so that the women have to take care for the family. The children play football with a makeshift ball, and most people don't seem to have much money. Everything is shown in subdued colors which really contribute to this mood. Although the story is set in Essen, a city in the main industrial and mining region of Germany, it could have happened everywhere in Germany.

The colors only change during the scenes in Switzerland, where the world championship took place. In fact those scenes are shot in bright and friendly colors. And also the settings are quite different from those in Essen: whereas the location in Essen consists of small apartment buildings, narrow streets and those aforementioned subdued colors, everything in Switzerland seems to be posh and spacious.

Even though the actors are not exactly great names in German cinema, they are quite good. As far as I know the actors who play the members of the German national football team were cast not only for their acting skills but also for their ability to play football. Thanks to that aspect the football scenes are quite convincing (although the spectators in the football stadium in Bern look really fake).

What I really liked though was the fact that the filmmakers used the original radio commentary from reporter Herbert Zimmermann, which is legendary. Every German football fan knows the important parts of his commentary by heart.

All in all a good and entertaining film, although I didn't really like the ending.

The Beyond (1981)

Recommended for fans of Italian horror only.

[25 September 2003]

The movie is very gory, lots of eye poking, people melting because they get sprayed with slaked lime or acid, some guy getting his face eaten by tarantulas, zombies etc. But the FX are pretty dated by today's standards, and some of them look really fake.

At times the soundtrack is awful, and the acting is pretty bad. In addition the dubbing is also bad and makes the bad acting even worse.

The story itself is incoherent and sometimes you just don't know what's going on, and why. And of course there are very many plot holes. Things come up but are never hinted at or talked about again. But the atmosphere the film creates is pretty scary (and I don't get scared easily), and the ending is quite nice.

All in all it is a typical horror movie from the eighties. But if you don't know any films from that period, be warned. Apart from the gore don't expect too much.

For fans of Italian horror movies though it definitely is a must see.

Maniac (1980)

Boring

[1 August 2003]

Hmmm. What can I say? I had seen this film quite a while ago and remembered it as pretty sick and scary. But actually after having watched it again just now I found it quite boring and not half as gory as I thought it would be after having read some of the comments on imdb.

The film is about a man (Frank Zito) who walks/drives through New York City and kills people, mostly women, scalps them and puts the scalps on manikins he keeps in his room. That's basically it. There is no plot and no characterization, and only near the end you realize why Zito kills all these women. All other people are only introduced into the movie to get killed after a short while. You really don't care about any of the characters in this film so after a while I found myself just waiting for the next murder scene.

Also maybe the DVD I watched was cut (it was the UK version) because you do not really see much of the murders. Well, you see something, but usually you just see when Zito starts cutting the victims with his razor and that's it. I thought this was supposed to be a violent and gory slasher film?

The scene I liked best was the subway scene. Of course you know the woman will be killed, but you do not know how and when. That makes it quite suspenseful (actually the only suspense throughout the whole movie).

The effects (by FX maestro Tom Savini) are quite good, and the scene where Zito shoots Tom Savini's character is fantastic. But the pacing is quite slow (in that it is a typical film from the eighties). In fact, the film is dragging quite a bit. And the "music", well, I wouldn't call it that. It's basically just some noise generated on a synthesizer.

So what can I tell you? If you like horror/slasher films from the eighties, it is okay to watch, but if you decide not to watch it, you won't miss anything.

Deep Red (1975)

Great Film

[1 August 2003]

Deep Red is more like a thriller than a horror film. It is about a pianist (David Hemmings) who watches the murder of a psychic and decides, together with a journalist (Daria Nicolodi), to investigate it. So the audience follows them as they try to find out who the murderer is.

The movie is, like all Argento movies, very stylish and you see much of the stuff typical for his movies, like extreme close-ups, a beautiful art nouveau house etc., but this movie also has a good script, unlike some of his other films.

It is very suspenseful and keeps you sitting on the edge of your seat. And of course there are the murders, "celebrated" in typical Argento style: very graphic and gory and with all kinds of spiky things like long knives, wire, pieces of broken glass etc.

Okay, there is a lot of talking in this film, but it never gets boring.

The score from Goblin is fantastic.

Argento's work is very inconsistent, but this is one of his better, I would even say one of his best, movies. Also I think that this film serves as a good introduction for people not familiar with Argento's work because it is not just style, but also has a good plot.

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Not as bad as I thought

[5/10 · 11 July 2003]

Actually, I wanted to see "Identity", but they printed the wrong starting time in the newspaper and the film didn't start until four hours later. So what do you do when you're in the cinema and want to see a movie? As "2 Fast 2 Furious" was the only other movie starting at that time and also the only other one in that cinema which I hadn't seen yet, I decided instead of going home again to give it a try.

I must admit that I do not belong to the target audience. And I am not interested in Japanese cars and street racing either. But I liked the first movie, so I thought, well give it a chance.

The beginning was just ridiculous. The cars looked stupid, you never see such cars on the road. And the race was just totally exaggerated. Nobody would drive over that bridge and risk their expensive car. But after that it got better. They even had some kind of a plot. And Tyrese really showed some acting talent. When I heard they were going to put Tyrese in the movie, I thought "oh well, just another rap musician who can't act". But he really was quite good. I was positively surprised. And also he was quite funny at that. Paul Walker was as bland as he was in the first part, nothing special, just a blond nice looking yet uninteresting guy. Tyrese outshone him in every scene they had together. I liked Cole Hauser (from "Pitch Black") as the bad guy. Devon Aoki was in the film for eye candy only - they should stop putting models into movies. She cannot act and she doesn't look good either. And Eva Mendes - hmmm, she was okay.

All in all a nice diversion for 107 minutes, but nothing special. I didn't feel bored, I didn't regret having watched it, but in my opinion the first one is much better, not only because it had Vin Diesel in it.

5 out of 10 points.

Bruce Almighty (2003)

I did not like it (Spoilers?)

[5/10 · 11 July 2003]

Hmmmm. The film is basically about a guy losing his girl because of his selfishness and winning her back by starting to care about other people. The movie 's got some laughs, mostly the scenes you already know from the trailer, and there may be some things to think about, especially if you believe in God (which I don't do), and that 's it. Well, I must admit, I'm not exactly a fan of romantic comedies, so of course the end was way too overdone for me. The friend I saw this film with really enjoyed herself, as well as most of the audience in the cinema, but the film was not for me.

If you're into romantic comedies, you should like it.

Wrong Turn (I) (2003)

Nice horror flick yet nothing special

[6/10 · 11 July 2003]

Possible spoilers throughout the review

Six young people get lost in the woods and get killed one by one. The only interesting thing about this film is: who gets killed and who is allowed to survive. Actually for me it was clear right after the introduction of the characters who was going to die and who was going to live. Nevertheless I enjoyed the film despite it being so foreseeable. Actually in parts I thought it was quite funny. I liked the scene where four of the young people enter a house to find a phone to call for help, and the owners come home.

The film is a rehash of other teenage slasher films and reminded me in part of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre".

Nothing special but not a waste of time either. I gave it 6 out of 10 points.

Boiler Room (2000)

Realistic film about high pressure phone sales

[8 May 2003]

A few years ago I used to work for a similar firm like the one portrayed in the movie (we did futures trading) and I must say, not only the scenes in the boiler room are very realistic, also the people who work for that company, their clothes, their cars, their racist slurs, how they spend their evenings etc. are described very accurately. So for me it is kind of funny hearing how Greg (Nicky Katt) explains to Seth (Giovanni Ribisi) the rules about how to make good phone calls ("Always Be Closing", "don't pitch the bitch"), because I still remember those exact same rules from my work.

What I do not like are the scenes with Seth and his father (actually I do not like Ron Rifkin's character at all, he is only interested in his career as a federal judge and what the people would think of him). Seth is trying to get approval and love from his father, but his whining is quite annoying, especially the scene where Seth actually breaks into tears.

Also I think the interactions between Seth and Abbie (Nia Long) are superfluous, they do not advance the plot. Maybe they are just put into the film to attract the female audience?

And I find the ending a little disappointing because too many questions remain unanswered.

But overall I like the film.

The acting is quite superb, the whole cast gives a strong performance. I think Giovanni Ribisi as the leading man carries the film quite well (although I would not buy a movie ticket just because he is in a film). From the supporting actors I like Ron Rifkin (although I don't like the character he plays), and even Ben Affleck when he delivers his speech during the interview at the beginning of the movie. And I like Vin Diesel in the buddy role with Giovanni Ribisi. In this film you can actually see that he is a talented actor. In fact the week I saw Boiler Room the first time, I also watched Pitch Black the first time and I was amazed at how well he played those totally different characters in both films.

I also like the hip-hop soundtrack, although I must admit that at first I was a little irritated by it.

All in all a good film to watch.

Ghosts of Mars (2001)

It is not that bad

[5/10 · 3 May 2003]

Oh c'mon! It ain't that bad! I mean, the acting is bad, there are as many plot holes as you can find in a Swiss cheese, but hey, it is still good entertainment for 98 minutes. Just don't expect too much of it.

The plot is very simple and we've seen it all before (it contains elements of "Assault On Precinct 13", "Pitch Black" and some other films), but I liked the way the story was told through flashbacks and even more flashbacks within those flashbacks. (Spoiler) Although I'm asking myself why our "heroes" had to go back after they managed to get on the train. And I didn't like the ending, it was so clichéd (end of spoilers).

The movie is visually interesting to look at and there are many violent fight scenes and when the possessed mutilate themselves it is pretty graphic. The movie is not scary though, it is just an action flick which happens to be set on Mars. And yeah, I liked the music (it is from Anthrax and John Carpenter).

Phone Booth (2002)

Great Film

[8/10 · 30 April 2003]

I just watched phone booth and I found it really exciting. During the whole movie I wanted to know what would happen next, in what kind of situations the sniper would put Stu Shepard next. First, Stu only has to somehow send away the hooker who needs to make a phone call. Then he has to deal with her friends, then with the pimp who wants to beat him up with a baseball bat, finally it's the police, so it's getting worse and worse.

Colin Farrell really does a fantastic job here, he is really convincing as the man in distress. He goes through a whole lot of emotions from being arrogant till breaking down in tears, and you really believe him. Although Stu is not a very likeable character, you can imagine how he must feel being trapped in this phone booth and you start rooting for him. Also the other actors are first class. Kiefer Sutherland's calm and controlled voice (as the sniper) is quite eerie and makes a good counterpart to Colin Farrell's character, who after having spent quite a while in this phone booth is totally stressed out.

The cinematography is also great. I mean, what can you do when a movie is shot in only one place, namely a phone booth? So when Stu is making his phone calls with his mobile phone, the picture gets divided so that you can see him and also the people he is talking to.

The film was shot for about 13 million Dollars, but you don't see it. There are no special effects and stuff, but you don't miss them at all. The whole atmosphere of the movie is so enthralling that it keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time.

Definitely worth watching.

Knockaround Guys (2001)

Nothing special but nevertheless entertaining

[6/10 · 10 April 2003]

The story is another variation of the "fish out of the water" formula. Four sons of New Jersey mobsters travel to a small town in the middle of nowhere to retrieve a bag full of money. The plot is nothing special, we've seen it all before, but it is told well and the film never gets boring.

This isn't wall-to-wall action but actually bothers to develop its characters and take an interest in them. The film starts a bit slow and is pretty talkative, but when the guys arrive in Wibaux, Montana, it gets better.

Barry Pepper, whom I had only seen before as the sniper in Saving Private Ryan, gives a great performance as Matty. I'm sure I will check out more of his work.

Vin Diesel plays the tough guy (whom else), but compared to TFATF and xXx he actually gets to do some acting here. And he plays his role very convincingly.

Tom Noonan as the corrupt sheriff is just great.

The rest of the cast is pretty decent too. I didn't like John Malcovich's accent though, it sounded kind of fake. Dennis Hopper does not have much screen time so I cannot say anything about him.

I liked the film. All in all good entertainment for 90 minutes.

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

One of the greatest westerns of all time

[10/10 · 8 April 2003]

This weekend I got the chance to watch this movie (again) on tv after not having seen it for so many years. And in my opinion it is still a fantastic movie. Although if you've got the chance, you should watch it on the big screen, not on tv.

Best of all is the cinematography. How shall I explain it? The movie starts with three men waiting for a train at a train station in the middle of nowhere. Apart from the station master who wants to sell these men tickets, not a single word is spoken. You don't know anything about these men, you can only guess that the person they are waiting for must be on the next train. The scene is thirteen minutes (!) long, but it never gets boring. The whole film is made like that: many scenes are extremely long, and there is not much talking throughout the whole film, but it never gets boring. Despite its slow pacing the film manages to draw you in completely and despite its 165 minutes the film is not one minute too long.

The characters are portrayed as real people, not 100% good, not 100% bad. The actors are really great. During the movie I was thinking: 'who else could play that role?' and I came up with no answers. Best of all was Jason Robards as Cheyenne and Henry Fonda as the villain (Frank). Charles Bronson as Harmonica is also excellent. But I also liked Claudia Cardinale's character (Jill). She plays a strong woman, quite untypical for a western and for the time in which this film was made (1968).

This film focuses more on the dark side of the west, and the dark side of human nature as well. Contrary to "The Good The Bad And The Ugly" this film is not funny. As a matter of fact it is deadly earnest.

Ennio Morricone's score is just great. It fits perfectly into the scenes and the main characters all have their own theme.

All in all a brilliant film, a must see.

Good Bye Lenin! (2003)

Comedy or drama?

[5/10 · 28 February 2003]

This is the story of a socialist mother in East Germany who falls into coma while watching a demonstration in October 1989 and waking up eight months later. In the meantime the German Democratic Republic and everything which was typical for it has ceased to exist. To not endanger her life, her son fools her into believing the old GDR still exists.

Good idea, but the filmmakers couldn't decide whether to make this a comedy or a drama. The result is, at times it is quite funny, but overall - hmmm - I would not consider it boring, but I didn't find it exciting either. On TV it would have been okay, but not on the big screen.

It was quite interesting though to see the differences which had existed between East and West Germany and how everything has changed in East Germany after the reunification.

It was also fun to see to what lengths the caring son goes to explain to his mother all those changes during the reunification which he could not hide from her (like advertisement, fugitives in the Prague embassy, West European cars in the streets...) to make her believe she still lives in the German Democratic Republic. He even fakes the news on TV.

But at times, especially near the end, the pacing is too slow and after a while there are no new ideas left. They could easily have cut it by 10 minutes.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

Disturbing

[7/10 · 24 February 2003]

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT THE REVIEW

This film was made in 1987 on a very small budget but it uses this as an advantage as it makes everything look more realistic. There is nothing in this film that may distract the viewer from this reality, like big special effects or else. It is simply depressing and has absolutely no humor.

The film is set in Chicago and shot in a working-class area. Everything looks gray, dull and bleak. You wouldn't want to live there. The people in this film are all regular people, not beautiful or rich. This makes it even more disturbing as everything in this movie could happen to me and you.

This is no action film. Compared with films made today, the pacing is quite slow.

Most killings happen off-screen. You only see the results, which is gruesome enough, underscored with screaming. Despite its enormous body count this is no splatter film.

The two main characters, Henry and Otis, are totally unlikeable. But as Henry seemingly kills to release tension, yet without really enjoying it, Otis is even worse. He accompanies Henry on his killings and shows no remorse whatsoever. On the contrary he gets a sick enjoyment out of it. He even films his murders and watches them at home in slo-mo on his VCR.

For me one of the creepiest scenes in the movie is when Henry sits in his car on a supermarket parking lot and looks at all the women who come out of the store, ready to pick his next victim.

The film has no morale. It just shows the life of Henry and his acquaintances from a quite detached point of view. It ends with Henry getting back into his car and driving on. No police are on his tail, nothing, he is no suspect. So you know he is still out there and the next victim could be...

Excellent movie and great performance by Michael Rooker.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Boring movie

[11 February 2003]

And I thought this film was supposed to be good! Well, what a mistake. I remember when it came out, I liked this film. But now, after having watched it again, I must totally revise my opinion. Actually, this film sucks. Kirsty and Tiffany do almost nothing than walk through this labyrinth which is supposed to be Hell, and they're seemingly doing it for hours and hours to find Kirsty's father. But in the end, they don't even look for him anymore. Or did I miss something here? Then there is Dr. Channard, who turns into a cenobyte and tries to kill them. But why? This is not suspenseful or interesting or anything, it is just plain boring. Maybe I'm just too stupid to understand the plot? Maybe there is no plot?

And the special effects and computer graphics - I better not talk about those, they are totally bad. The film is pretty gory and violent though, but this doesn't help it either.

Hellraiser (1987)

Cult classic of the late 80s

[8/10 · 9 February 2003]

Great horror film. Gory and violent, the special effects are terrific, even for today. No CGI used here. The acting is good, and the story is pretty cool. When it came out in 1987, the story was totally new, not some warmed up stuff we had seen a hundred times before. And even after such a long time it is still fascinating. This is the best film of the series, Hellbound is okay, but don't watch the other films, they are just boring. I gave this 8 out of 10.

Pitch Black (2000)

Great Movie

[10/10 · 16 January 2003]

The movie starts with a bang, the crash of the space ship. The scene is about 7 minutes long and it is totally amazing. You see the crew wake up confused and not knowing what had happened. Then, when they open the window-cover, instead of the anticipated dark space they find out that they are surrounded by flames and that they are on a crash course with some planet. When they finally land, there is confusion everywhere. It is kind of realistic (as far as you can say that about a science fiction movie).

The planet is scorched by three suns. The cinematography is quite impressive, the colors are totally bleached so you get a good impression on the intensity of the light. Also the points of view of the aliens and of Riddick are really wonderful.

I find it fascinating how the group of survivors is composed. You don't very often see Moslems or Arabs in movies who are not portrayed as evil but just as normal people. Also I like the changes the characters undergo during the movie. Or maybe they don't change but only our perception of the characters changes. So at first you think "well, these are the good guys, and that is the bad guy", whereas after a while you start to reconsider your opinion.

The main character is of course Riddick, played very convincingly by Vin Diesel. In the beginning of the movie he is really scary, for example when he and Fry (Radha Mitchell) are together in the emergency ship they find on the planet, talking about Johns. They are alone in the ship, no Johns can come to help her, because they are undergoing some hull integrity check and the door has to remain closed during that test, and you find yourself thinking "what will he do to her?" You never get to know what Riddick is thinking because you can't read his eyes due to the "shine job" and due to the goggles he is wearing. So you don't know why he is helping the other survivors to get to the emergency ship. Is it out of pure necessity to get there somehow, or is it because he actually cares for the others? I like it that in the end of the movie he is still willing to let the others die on the planet just to save his own life. Only Fry's willingness to risk her life to save the others impresses him enough to go back with her. But does that really mean that he has changed?

I also like the relationship between Johns (Cole Hauser) and Fry as to who is the leader of the group. In the beginning, it is Johns who they go to, but during the course of the film, Fry is more and more accepted as the leader. Of course that leads to some nice conflicts between the two characters.

I like the ending of the movie.

The acting is really good, better than you would expect of such a movie. Everybody plays his/her character totally believable and although some of the characters remain bland and are only in the film to get eaten by the aliens, the characters are well developed.

The aliens are quite impressive too. You never see much of them which makes them all the more scarier. Unfortunately they are not as scary as for example the one in "Alien" but as the film is more a character based movie than a horror film, it doesn't really matter that much.

There are of course some big holes in the plot, for example that they happen to crash land on the planet exactly when the next eclipse is due, that such a planetary system as depicted in the model cannot exist, and that they land within walking distance to an abandoned geologist's camp, but hell, nobody is perfect. You just have to ignore those things, and actually, they really don't matter. Great movie.

xXx (2002)

Just enough for two hours of entertainment, nothing more.

[6/10 · 18 October 2002]

I just spent 8 Euros (approx. 8.5 Dollars) for a movie which is almost as bad as Mission: Impossible 2 (and that one really s*cked).

1.: The movie is just loud. I mean, I like metal, I like Rammstein, but the soundtrack is just too loud. It kind of smothers everything and there are no quiet moments in between to relax.

2.: There's nothing but action. Okay, I knew that before, but there aren't any quiet scenes. So after a while the action gets boring. And usually I like action-movies.

3.: Ever heard about characterization? The villain remains bland, uninteresting and not really threatening. The same goes for his companions as well as - well - everybody else in this film, including Asia Argento and Sam Jackson. You just don't care about the characters.

4.: The acting s*cked. Okay, Sam Jackson plays his usual cool, but he hasn't got much screentime, so he can't save the film. And Vin Diesel? If I didn't know he can do better (like in Pitch Black, Boiler Room or Multi-Facial, even in TFATF he was better!), I'd wonder what he is doing in Hollywood anyway. Okay, the script is very weak and the stupid lines the actors have to say make a good acting difficult, but he just isn't convincing. I like Vin Diesel, he was the reason I wanted to see this movie in the first place. But in this movie his acting is really bad. And the kissing-scene with Asia Argento is totally unerotic.

5.: There is no suspense or else of any kind! The plot just plays along without any highs and lows. There are no twists, no surprises. Everything is forseeable. And the stunts? Yea, they are good, but do they have to show 25 times how Xander flies through the barbed wire on his motorbike? Once or twice would have been enough. And the avalanche? It was okay, but...

The film is not totally bad though. There are some scenes in it which are totally funny, and some of the one-liners Diesel's got to say were really cool, but those couldn't save the movie for me. And the credits were cool. But I think they should have saved that money and put it into a decent script instead. And maybe Vin should make his next films with a different director where he can show more of his acting ability. There are more people out there than just 18 year-olds, and just action without a decent plot gets boring pretty soon.

All in all it is a movie which you can watch once, but that's about it.

Gamle mænd i nye biler (2002)

Great entertainment, though not for the faint hearted

[9/10 · 30 September 2002]

Yesterday I had the chance to see "Old Men In New Cars" at the Filmfest Hamburg. What a great movie. I hope this film will come into cinemas soon. This is supposed to be a prequel to "In China They Eat Dogs" but it stands very well on its own. The characters we already know from "In China They Eat Dogs" are the same as is the weird, black humor. It lacks the two supernatural beings from the first film, but you don't really miss them. On the other hand, there is more action and more violence in it than in "In China They Eat Dogs". And it is really funny. When I think about some of the scenes, I still have to laugh.

---Possible spoilers ahead---

The film is about Harald, who, just released from jail, wants to fulfill the last wish of his dying foster father: He wants to see his son. Of course nobody knew he actually had a son. The son, Ludvig, sits in a Swedish jail. So our heroes Harald and his two cooks, and Vuk of course, get him out of jail only to learn, that he is a serial killer that starts his "obsession" as soon as he gets the chance. And then, of course, there are our Croatian friends, this time all dressed in black T-shirts with a double-headed eagle on the front and huge (and I mean HUGE) golden necklaces, whom Harald owes money. Harald also needs money to get his foster father a liver transplant in Southern America to save his life. After a bank robbery which fails, the Croatians suggest he rob an airplane while it is about to take two containers with money on board. Now just imagine a deadly sick old man, who is drugged with opium and the last time he flew a plane was about 40 years ago, on the control stick, and the police trying to stop the plane... anybody who is afraid to fly should close his eyes during that scene or you'll never get in a plane again. Absolutely hilarious. And the tricks they used in that sequence are really good. As are the car stunts.

There are several dead bodies, lots of car crashes, the Swedish get their share, the plans our heroes try to carry out are totally impracticable, but they do it anyway and somehow they succeed with them (well, almost), and in the end, everybody is happy. Well, most of them.

I hope this film gets released Europe wide soon, because I have to watch it again. Great entertainment, though not for the whole family.