Change Your Image
phoenix2149
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Redbad (2018)
Could've been the "Dutch Braveheart"
Stumbled upon this movie searching for something completely different and yet the same (Radboud hospital, named after main character) some weeks before the opening. Saw the trailer and was intrigued by it. An epic Dutch movie.
Epic it was not but it was quite good nonetheless.
Filming is great! I really loved the cinematography. The in-out focus, dark, decolorised and high contrast feel to it. Really liked it. Felt dramatic as it was supposed to be.
Music is Good, but sometimes felt a bit out of place/repetitive.
Acting, overall good performance, but the villain(s) was /where a bit stale apart from the priest he was fun/nasty. To be honest I loved the fact that the movie through the priest depicted that faith and its motivations isn't all we believe(d) it to be.
Acting was with ups and downs but I really liked Gijs Naber. He depicted the struggle of a beaten, honest and progressive leader he doesn't want to become, the flashbacks/dreams really support the character and him growing into the leader. But sadly on moment supreme it was a bit flawed, mostly due to lack of writing and shooting I think, that it didn't get the epic feeling Braveheart had. And I think Braveheart is a similar story (not exactly the same) where fate brings out the "real leader" that progresses an era.
The majority of battle scenes are great! A bit chaotic here and there and some "stupidity" where clarification is given on things that are very logically shown.
There are a lot of quiet parts in the movie, some of which seem boring/not needed making the film sometimes feel too long. Some tighter editing could've avoided this.
As mentioned before the Moment supreme of the movie, battle of battles was chaotic, illogical, funny (in wrong way... flying basket with ..... you'll see) and not epic. Some stronger and longer (in stead of a lot short ones) could have made that battle grand!
So in all a great movie and I wasn't disappointed especially for a Dutch (and some English) movie. But it could have been more epic.
I would say go and see it and judge for yourself.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)
The day StarWars evolved
I did my best to keep it spoiler free, but seriously... haven't you seen it yet??!!
Not a fanboy but a fan of StarWars. I find this important to say as fanboys tend to not be able too let go of the "true" star wars... This can be seen in the horrendous StarWars is dead (to me) rants here on IMDB. Please please please see the film before reading these rants even if they are not spoilering, and please place your own objective opinion without ranting like a fanboy on steroids.
I loved this movie. Saw it three times now before writing this review and here is why:
First time I was, for a lack of better word, skeptical. Didn't really know what it all meant and where it is going (towards). But after the second and third view I absolutely left the cinema happy and positive to how it'll evolve in 2019.
Sure there are some things less attractive moments, like Canto Bight or "vegany" moment of Chewbacca, but some equally important for the story telling and good vs evil. Essentially this is what the StarWars is all about. Light vs Dark. There is a lot of humour built in, some are really very funny and some quite dumb (or better said, misplaced or not necessary), had some really good laughs.
I absolutely loved Mark Hamill his performance in portraying Luke as a rather depressed and withered Jedi Knight because of what he feels as failure.
I also loved that there were hints to the previous movies as well as new usages of the force were introduced.
I like and dislike the Rey character. she is bright, enthusiastic, genuinely good, innocent and funny. She senses and uses the force too awkwardly fast. Sure she had some lessons maybe even a good read in the Jedi texts (Page turners they are not... hilarious) but it is just not covered too much in depth. Kind of similar to the training of Luke by Yoda but I find that less disturbing or more detached in a way.
I like Ben, he reminds me of the good parts of Hayden as Anakin becoming Darth Vader. He is clearly frustrated, internally struggling and wanting more power and Adam Driver does this very well. This, like in Revenge of the Sith, show why the dark side (read evil) ultimately always fails. Yes, fear and oppression work up until the people revolt and turn against you.
Poe, Finn and Rose have their parts to play. Typical "flyboy" and poor choices here and there but hey they are young as was Luke, Han and Leia with their poor choices in the past movies.
I went in (imax) 3D, Dolby Vision 3D and 2D. By far I will advise GO TO A DOLBY VISION version. I was literally blown away by a few scenes.
The film works to the an end for a beginning of new hope (intentionally don't mean/relate to A New Hope) where innocence and hope rise once more due to the interventions of Luke, Leia, Finn, Rose and Rey. Poe less so, but I hope his character will grow more in Episode IX.
9 out of 10 because of some scenes I found a too thick Disney morale embedded within them.
The Walking Dead: Pretty Much Dead Already (2011)
Man they hit me hard!!!
This is probably (probably, definitely) the best ending to an episode I have ever seen. This is "hope" gone wrong, in every direction! This is what I expect in an excellent horror/drama feature.... period! This is a fantastic series!
The digital jury decides it should be at least a 10 line text, so I will try to do it.
Since I watched the series I was a bit cautious, the acting could be a bit better at times, but kept curious of the characters involved. Felt the hope, anger and disappointments. It grew at me, the people felt real. I was disappointed in the possibility it would have ended at season one.
This is the one of those moments you seldom feel (and people seldom appreciate!!!!) like the ending of say.... The Myst, or The Road all together!
This ending lets you feel a world without hope, losing hope.....
Let Me In (2010)
Best copy in years
I've seen the original several times and every time I'm intrigued.
I saw "Let Me In" and I thing Reeves didn't get the heart of the story right. It felt a bit out of sync or something... I think if you didn't see the original you'd like this movie though. It's almost a direct copy and paste and lip synced to English with some twists here and there.
For me a one time show.
**Spoilers from here on**
Cloe Moretz and Kodi Smit-McPhee are good little actors, but it felt a bit forced or "stiff". (freely translated from dutch) Like the scene where Abby returns from the shower and begins to dance. In the original you felt more joy in the scene. Here it just didn't catch my interest.
The few scenes where some CGI took place (e.g. the tunnel scene) was so obvious that I found it ugly and distracting. The same goes for unnecessary blood and gore... e.g. the scene were the neighbor eats/drinks from her own arm, come on... this could be done a bit more subtle.
There were some improvements though. You really felt the detachment of Owen, from his parents. This was better orchestrated in this version. I also felt the manipulative personality of Abby was a bit more clear in this version, although the "age" of the character wasn't... Cloe is just to sweet looking.
Endgame: If you saw and liked the original, don't bother. IMO
Thank you for reading my first review on IMDb!