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markwatney94
I am a 26 year old student from Kassel in Germany, and currently I am studying space engineering at the German Space Agency in Bremen. I dedicate a lot of time to my hobbies, which on the one hand include listening to, covering and re-recording my favorite punk/alternative rock music. On the other hand I am fascinated by astronomy, spaceflight and everything that has to do with that, hence my current study program at the German Space Agency. My main hobby, however, is the love for and committment to movies. That is, watching them, analyzing, comparing, rating, sorting them, talking about them, and thinking a lot about them everywhere I go. I frequently watch YouTube reviews, talkshows, analysis/essay videos and fun stuff about movies like Honest Trailers, Cinema Sins or HISHE.
As you can probably guess, my favorite movies are the ones that unite my two fields of interest and fascination: movies about science and space, which does not mean sci-fi like Star Wars or Alien, but rather science-fact films that are as realistic as possible (like The Martian), or handle certain themes very well and delicately, like Contact. Other than that, I would not say I have a favorite genre, but I am interested in historical dramas (with Apollo 13 being the best stand-alone film ever made in my opinion), historical thrillers (like Valkyrie) and well-made war films (Saving Private Ryan). I especially like films that are grounded in real-life events and historical themes but then exploit those with new ideas like Ron Howard's Robert Langdon movies or the National Treasure films. Even though these stories can be somewhat far-fetched, they nevertheless provoke second thoughts and have led me to study certain historical and contemporary topics more intensely.
I always look forward to award season and the film year's culmination in the Oscars. Generally I watch every movie that either interests me, is popular or has good critical or user ratings.
I enjoy watching big franchise films, superhero films, and Star Wars movies without being the greatest fan, I rather somewhat swim along on the hype wave.
Genres that usually don't produce many films I deem really good are for example comedy, horror and fantasy, but of course there are exceptions.
In my opinion, the greatest contribution ever committed to film came 15 years ago from New Zealand when Peter Jackson and his team took one of the great stories of world literature and with an unparalleled amount of commitment, talent, passion and love crafted, in the greatest and biggest film project in history, an 11 hour long epic story that transcends the meaning of a movie for me.
Also really important for me are original film scores, which I like to listen to very frequently. While Howard Shore's score for the Lord of the Rings is unarguably the best of all time, I love the work of other great composers like John Williams, Hans Zimmer, James Horner and Alan Silvestri.
As for TV shows, I don't watch them at all, with one exception: I am a giant Game of Thrones geek.
Well I have a lot more to say about films but that must do for now. If you want to learn more about how I view and rate movies just click through some of my lists. Feel free to comment and link to your own channels, I would love to learn something about your movie world :)
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The Da Vinci Code (2006)
A movie with flaws - which are greatly exceeded by the merits it has to offer
Even if many people and critics denounce The Da Vinci Code as an average mystery-thriller, it is far more than that. For me there is hardly a more interesting premise than to combine real historical events with a compelling story that evolves around those things. Dan Brown manages to delicately explore famous artwork, architecture and sights and weave an interesting, complex and twisted story around them. The plot is basically a treasure-hunt including codes and puzzles that need to be solved in time, and this makes for a thrilling and compelling movie experience, which - if you are willing to get yourself into it - on top of that offers a big amount of knowledge. The thought provoking themes and theories that Dan Brown explores in The Da Vinci Code have even led me to start reading the bible, which makes all the protest from church officials and catholic groups around the world somewhat ridiculous considering this book makes people concern themselves more with religion and its scripture.
Screenwriter Akiva Goldsman did a good job in adapting the novel by cutting the unnecessary stuff out (sometimes the novel goes in pages-long details about historical events) and keeping the right stuff in. While the story is compelling, the villain's plan is maybe a little bit over-complicated and ludicrous. The method of giving the historical background in old-fashioned flashbacks with voice-over was the right choice. It is these flashbacks where you can learn a lot about European religious history. Of course not all presented facts in the novel and the film are true, but if you choose to get yourself into the theories you may experience a fascinating movie with very surprising twists, some stunning visuals, extraordinary beautiful music and some interesting characters.
Director Ron Howard did some great work on The Da Vinci Code, however, he does not manage to deliver a constantly solid film: There are scenes which are emotionally and intellectually involving like the one in Teabing's ballroom explaining Leonardo's Last Supper and the mystery about Mary Magdalene. Here Ron Howard merges the three characters Langdon, Neveu and Teabing together with the TV showing the Last Supper (which almost acts as a fourth character) in a very investing and lucid dynamic interaction which helps to clearly understand the somewhat complex topic without being too dry and fact-laden. Another great scene takes place in the chapel behind Westminster Abbey where Teabing confronts Langdon and Neveu, which features Langdon's reflection about Newton's achievements, shown in another stunning animation. The ending scene however, in which Langdon eventually solves the code and makes his way through the evening streets of Paris to the Louvre, stands out most: the magic of a Parisian evening, the beauty of the Louvre and its Pyramid - greatly captured by Salvatore Totino's cinematography - paired with the impact of the story and your desire for it to be finally solved, Tom Hanks reciting the poem and, above all, Hans Zimmer's wonderful score make for one of the most cinematic beautiful sequences I've ever seen.
On the other hand, there are some scenes that feel a little bit rushed and unconvincing, like the unrealistically fast responds of the people in Langdon's auditorium at the beginning of the film, major parts of Langdon and Fache's conversation in the Louvre, the scene with Silas and Remy in the Temple Church, the Teacher's POV scene with Remy and some of the flashbacks concerning Silas and Sophie Neveu's past, respectively. The subplot concerning bishop Aringarosa, though important for the narrative, is not very interesting either.
Nevertheless, Alfred Molina gives a solid performance as Aringarosa, as does Jürgen Prochnow as Andre Vernet, director of the Swiss Bank. Throughout the film, Etienne Chicot performs really good as the grim police officer Collet, whose authority appears somewhat stronger than in the novel, especially with respect to Capitaine Fache, who is not perfectly portrayed by Jean Reno in my opinion, with his lines sometimes sounding too forced and static. Similarly, Audrey Tautou's acting - while Sophie Neveu is a likable character and has her moments - is not always quite believable. Jean-Yves Berteloot's acting as Teabing's servant Remy is not really impressive as well. In contrast, Tom Hanks is, as usual, very pleasant and convincing; in my opinion he is the best actor working today and I deem him the perfect casting choice for Robert Langdon. While Paul Bettany gives a very dedicated performance as Silas, the best both written and acted character, however, is Sir Leigh Teabing, portrayed by the remarkable Sir Ian McKellen. Every second he is on screen he steals the show and is a pleasure to watch. This refers especially to the ballroom scene in Château Villette and the plane scene where he gives, as I perceive it, one of the best little speeches in movie history, concerning history and him "creating" it now.
Nevertheless, what truly elevates all the scenes and makes some of them so emotionally impacting, is Hans Zimmer's amazing score. On the one hand the themes consist of old-fashioned ecclesiastical appearing choir movements - supplemented by bells - and, on the other hand, of modern fast-paced staccato choir pieces paired with heavy orchestration and synthesizer elements, resembling the thrilling treasure hunt against the clock. The main theme "Chevaliers de Sangreal" develops a single minimalist motive by continuous augmentation into a phenomenal climax. Hans Zimmer uses this sort of relatively simple but all the more effective technique quite frequently, like in Inception and Interstellar. The Da Vinci Code's original score is, I claim, truly Oscar-worthy. The Academy chose to ignore it, the Globes, however, did not.
In conclusion, this is a very special, highly original movie which explores great themes, and it deserves more attention and certainly better ratings. If you let yourself in for it and are not too nit-picky, you may well have a truly rewarding experience with The Da Vinci Code.
Angels & Demons (2009)
This movie made me love and visit Rome
An exceptional film on so many levels, Angels & Demons combines an exciting and compelling story with interesting characters and some amazing visuals. The latter are, of course, due to Ron Howard's visionary direction, but to the remarkable setting as well. I regard Rome as the most beautiful city I've ever visited, where antiquity, Renaissance and modernity meet. My love for Rome, however, wasn't sparked until I saw Angels & Demons. For me there is hardly a more exciting premise than to explore all the ancient and Renaissance artwork and buildings in a fast-paced treasure-hunt. Dan Brown has a talent for weaving a twisted and involving plot around these historical events and famous sights. After seeing Angels & Demons I traveled to Rome and visited all the major locations as well as smaller ones like the Chigi Chapel and Santa Maria della Vittoria.
At some points, the story may appear somewhat far-fetched, but if you are willed to ignore some of the historical errors (like the myth of ''La Purga''), this film offers you not only code-solving in a scavenger-hunt, but a real historical sightseeing tour. What is truly exceptional about this movie is that the major part of the plot takes place over the course of about 7 hours, as well as at night, making for a particularly tense and dark atmosphere. In general, Akiva Goldsman and David Koepp's script even improves on the mostly already good novel, i.a. by adding a great prologue and cutting out the love story (which is refreshing to see in a big blockbuster) and some over-the-top moments like Langdon jumping out of a helicopter. The character's are mostly well-drawn, especially Camerlengo Patrick McKenna, brilliantly portrayed by Ewan McGregor whose calm yet emotional acting gets the viewer involved in his fate. McKenna is a really ambivalent and layered villain with terrible means but nevertheless understandable motivations. The assassin, very well portrayed by Nikolaj Lie Kaas, is more than the average action movie assassin as well. While he is cruel, he is shown to regret some of his deeds and to have some moral principles. It is unrealistic, though, that he can conduct the executions on St. Peter's Square and on Piazza Navona unnoticed (the latter being way too under-crowded compared to the usual Roman evening). Pierfrancesco Favino gives a very convincing performance as Inspector Ollivetti, as does Stellan Skarsgård as Commander Richter, though it isn't clear why he is so hostile to Langdon. Unfortunately, Ayelet Zurer is not that memorable as female lead Vittoria Vetra, and does not manage to stand out and show her presence on screen compared to the strong presence that Tom Hanks has. He, as usual, delivers a solid performance, with some dramatic and even some subtly funny moments.
Director Ron Howard and DP Salvatore Totino really create a visually stunning movie with an appropriate style. Many location shots are beautiful compositions of camera movement, colors and lighting. This applies both at night – to scenes at Castel Sant'Angelo, at The Fountain of the Four Rivers and to the stunning VFX establishing shot of the crowded St. Peter's Square – and in daylight, to the aerial establishing shots of St. Peter's Basilica and the Pantheon. Other notable cinematography includes tracking shots of white smoke rising in the Sistine Chapel's chimney, resembling the Antimatter-pipe tracking shot at CERN, which underlines the film's central theme: the connection between religion and science. A major part of the film consists of fast-paced sequences, in which the arc of suspense is kept high with a lot of clever action, and Howard understands to stage that and the code-solving very cinematically in scenes like Langdon discovering St. Peter's Square and Bernini's Four Rivers are the second and fourth altar of science, respectively. Most of the exposition is given ''on the run'', avoiding it to be boring. Nevertheless, Howard does not miss to give the film and the audience time to breathe, with scenes like Langdon washing and redressing himself, emphasizing his emotional involvement in the events, and with some beautiful imagery, too, like the statue of St. Teresa slowly melting after the fire action scene. There are some sequences that do not quite live up to the rest of the movie, e.g. the whole sequence at CERN, or Langdon trapped in the Archives' vault, which – though a suspenseful scene – does not really push the narrative forward. I appreciate, however, the producers' bold choice to include the brutal, hence striking and powerful imagery of the cardinals' executions in the theatrical version.
Since the crew was only partly allowed to shoot in Rome, Production Designer Allan Cameron and his team had to rebuild all the great architecture and artwork. He and his Art Director recreated the sets with so much detail that the transition is hardly recognizable. The Behind-the-scenes-footage shows the commitment of the whole crew in creating this film, which was worth while, for I think the Production Design in Angels & Demons is really Oscar-worthy. The major Visual Effects shots include CGI extensions of sets that were rebuilt only partial (like the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, and St. Peter's Square) and look all very realistic and impressive. The most Oscar-worthy part of the film however, is Hans Zimmer's score. Though he did reuse themes from The Da Vinci Code, he rearranged them, and made an impressive mixture of old-fashioned choir movements with strings and modern fast-paced orchestral pieces with synthesizer elements. Particularly great music plays during the Prologue, the great scene showing the preparation of the Conclave, and in the songs ''Air'' and ''160 BPM'', another showcase of Hans Zimmer's minimalist but ingenious technique of developing a single motive into an epic orchestral climax.
In the end, Angels & Demons is one of my favorite movies of all time for so many reasons, and its few flaws do not even begin to matter against the merits, excitement and beauty that Ron Howard, Hans Zimmer and company put into this film.