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Reviews
Rocketman (2019)
To infinity and beyond
Mad Mike is a maverick, a man who deep down inside knows he has failed in life and desperately seeks something to be remembered by. Even if it kills him.
This film is one of those rare gems where you get up close and personal with the hero of the story and, no matter their peculiar view of the world, you root for them. Why? Because you see who they truly are: a human being. Mike may think science does not exist and that NASA is part of a global conspiracy, but deep down inside he is just a hurt man struggling to find some kind of meaning in life. We applaud his spirit and bravery and shake our head bewildered at his outrageous claims. But just because we don't always agree with him doesn't mean we can't like him. And that is what the film is really about to me: Connecting to one another despite different opinions or even world views. In a time where partisanship and Trumpian rhetoric divide the country even further, understanding a man like Mike can only help bring us back together. Mike's story is a perfect allegory for what America needs: To listen to one another again, to find acceptance and tolerance despite disagreements. Why not applaud a flat-earth daredevil for his bravery who has the balls to climb into a home-made rocket instead of just knocking him for his idiotic world view. Time to find good things in people again and not get stuck on beliefs. To infinity and beyond.
Privacy (2012)
Smart (phone) Movie
I saw this film at a screening in Amsterdam and thought it was very timely. For anyone paranoid about "Big Brother watching you" this film is not for you. In this day and age where everyone just gives up their privacy via social media, this movie makes you think twice about how you use your technology.
When a Stranger Calls (2006)
Hitchcock would have been proud!
Wow! This is a highly entertaining, sitting at the edge of your seat type of film. Brilliantly directed, West delivers thrills and scares with confidence and precision. Despite that for most of the time we just see a teenager on the phone in an dark house, both script and direction kept me engaged and scared. I also think the design of the house and all the moving backgrounds added a lot of suspense. Hitch would have been proud. This is really a well made movie. Hats off to the filmmakers.
I disagree that the script is dumb. The story is what it is, and I think it was superbly executed. I bought every motivation and really liked how simplistic the plot unfolded.
West, like Zemeckis in What Lies Beneath, made the house a character and the design helped create a terrifying and unsettling atmosphere.
Great score, great cast, a lot of suspense and thrilling action make this one for the home collection.
My only negative comment would be about the climax. I would have wished for something more exciting or surprising. But the end scene almost makes up for that.
Enjoy!
Silent Hill (2006)
Unscary, uninspired, and nowhere nearly as good as the game
there is a reason why very few horror films come out of France. the french are usually not good with minimalistic, nihilistic, or disturbing imagery. quite the opposite actually. unfortunately, that is the sensitivity needed for creating a scary, modern Japanese horror film or game. gans, whose brotherhood of the wolf i love, completely failed in recreating the haunting and freakish atmosphere of the terrific silent hill franchise. his film is bland, borderline boring, completely unscary and uninspired. as for the screenplay, the plot is annoying and the characters are completely one-dimensional. there is no sense of discovery, no element of surprise or fear of the unknown. gans's monsters just show up, move at the pace of snails and are evaporated by the rising sun before they can really do any damage. as a fan of good stories, atmospheric cinema, silent hill and scary movies, i find myself disappointed on all levels. stay away from this stinker, rent the games instead and be afraid...be very afraid!
Frog-g-g! (2004)
Its not easy being green
I was truly looking forward to this title. It sounded and looked fun. The idea of someone making a cheesy 50s monster movie could have been worth a few laughs, but instead this title only bores. First off, there is almost no Froggg in the entire movie which is the biggest disappointment. I have to sit through 75+ minutes of lame drama and dialog to get a few glimpses of the Froggg humping a bare breasted chick. Why? On top of that the film lacks any sort of fun plot. I mean give me something thats a bit more interesting than just a bunch of talking heads. I wanted to see some hot chicks search for the creature in the swamp, I wanted to see some cuties dragged off to his lair in desperate need of rescue (Creature from the Black Lagoon stuff), I wanted to see a few goofy action scenes of the Froggg going on a killing spree, or it maybe escaping a silly trap. Something exciting! Geez, have fun with it, be creative! Who wants to sit through endless and tiring dialog scenes in a creature flick? My advice to the filmmakers: Keep going, your concepts are good, but your execution needs to be a lot more inspired. Have some fun with the creature, put the humor in the action and most important...put more creature in a creature movie!!!