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The Greatest Showman (2017)
A Showcase of Humanity
Late 2017 in America, begin 2018 in my local cinema, the passion project of Jackman arrived: The Greatest Showman. A movie that Jackman has been wanting to make for years arrives that brings the Logan star back to his roots; singing and dancing.
Jackman takes on the role of P.T. Barnum, the Ringmaster of Barnum's Circus, filled with extraordinary people with mesmerizing skills.
That Jackman could sing, we knew from Les Mis. That he can entertain, we knew from nearly all of his roles. Yet again he delivers a convincing part and is able to carry the movie picking up a Golden Globe nomination in the process.
Michelle Williams performs as usual, with a strong emotional performance. The star, who also has a role in 2017's All the Money in the World also shows us her musical side and performs considerably well.
Rebecca Ferguson, who is able to carry a tune as well, but who is meant to portray the world's best singer, was dubbed over. While i'm very curious to hear her actual singing voice, 'her' song is the movie's emotional epitome.
Pasek and Horwitz, the musical artists behind La La Land come back in a dazzling way with moving, entertaining and exciting songs that carry the right essence for the movie.
In a whole, this movie easy on the eyes, entertains well, but won't be able to get a mass of people behind it.
Let's hope Pasek and Horwitz are not done yet, and let's see what Jackman has left in store for us after his superhero era.
Carol (2015)
Beautiful in every aspect
Todd Haynes outdid himself with this splendid movie. Everything in this movie is truly beautiful. What captures the eye at first sight is the spectacular cinematography, the era of the 50's is shown impeccably well in this film. The music draws your attention and keeps you focused and has the perfect amount of emotionality for the scenes it builds a foundation for. The makeup and hair department deserve just as much praise, as they did a magnificent job as well.
But the most beautiful aspect of this movie is the acting. I never paid much attention to the acting of Kyle Chandler, but he does an extremely good job in this movie. If the category for best male actor in a supporting role wasn't as swamped as it is, he might have had a chance. He captured me with his emotional expressions. Sarah Paulson and Jake Lacy live up to their parts as well. The best part of the ensemble for this movie are the two lead women. I absolutely loved the chemistry between Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, I have seen nothing of the kind between two actresses in any movie. They both deliver incredible, moving and exceptional performances and I am filled with joy that they are both nominated for the Academy Awards for their portrayals of these strong characters, be it controversial categories.
This movie is a must see if you want a strong, moving and different love story.
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Refreshing and enervating
With Josh Hartnett, Morgan Freeman, Sir Ben Kingsley, Bruce Willis, and Lucy Liu this movie attains a star-studded Sin City-like cast. The amount of experience and talent is bombarding when you look at the level of acting of these magnificent people.
This movie is very revolutionary. It's not your ordinary genre- biased movie, but something new. The storyline, which appears quite overwhelming at first works out perfectly throughout the movie. I've always loved non-chronological movies, and this film pulls it off wonderfully.
What struck me the most was the Tarantino-esk dialogues in this movie. Particularly these dialogues drew me to the screen and kept me engaged the entire movie. When i'm done watching and I have no idea how much time has passed, a movie has done its job.
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Extraordinary
I went into the cinema tonight with great expectations of Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of groundbreaking physicist Stephen Hawking. The award season that has really taken off now gave me the impression that Redmayne's acting would be of an immense quality. He didn't disappoint me.
Redmayne delivers an outstanding piece of art. The way he moves as the movie progresses, the way his voice breaks down as we watch him suffer but mostly his face that shows pure emotional mayhem. There aren't a lot of actors who can pull of such an amazing feat by just using their face. This was of impeccable quality. This performance reminded me of Daniel Day Lewis' portrayal of Christy Brown. I never thought anyone could get remotely close to his portrayal, but Redmayne certainly does it. He is without doubt up there with the great performers. His win at the Golden Globes is very well- deserved. I will await with great patience to see if he wins the Oscar for this role, which I think he truly deserves.
Furthermore, the rest of the cast adds to the story in a way that's just right. Felicity Jones' Jane makes a perfect counterpart for Eddie Redmayne's Stephen. Charlie Cox, who I had not yet heard of, does a marvelous job at portraying Jonathan and so does David Thewlis as the professor at Cambridge and Stephens push in the back.
The scenery is great and takes you right to the story where it feels like your there and the music made by Jóhan Jóhansson is extremely moving. All in all, one hell of a movie that I hope will never be forgotten.
How I Met Your Mother: Bad News (2011)
Magnificent
Never have I given an episode of a sitcom a 10. While sitcoms may be witty at times or have excellent writing, a grade that is worthy of a 10 I have never seen before. Until now.
This episode is very good. It mixes humor, which sitcoms are all about with sadness, an interesting combo that is hard to make look interesting. The two are perfectly synchronized in this episode. I would have never thought a sitcom would make me cry. The ending to this episode is one of true brilliance. Marshalls last sentence "My dad's dead?" sent a shiver trough my body. The best episode of a sitcom I have seen so far, kudos to the writers and the cast, Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel in particular for that last scene.
Schindler's List (1993)
Incredible
This is one of the most moving movies ever made in my humble opinion. I'm sure this will be remembered as one of the best movies of all time.
First off, the acting. Liam Neeson is a great actor overall and shows his excellence in this movie, playing Oskar Schindler. For me, the best actor in this movie is Ralph Fiennes. His role as Amon Goeth is simply amazing. I once read one of the survivors of the Holocaust visited the set and started shaking when she met Ralph Fiennes because he portrayed such a resemblance of Amon Goeth. I can completely understand that. The way he acts in this movie, the way his character thinks are very well thought of. Ralph Fiennes is truly terrifying in this movie, which is a remarkable feat and an Honor to witness.
Secondly, I applaud the choice of Stephen Spielberg to film this movie in black and white. It makes the entire war seem sinister, dark and intriguing. The tiny aspect of the movie in color, the young girl in the red coat is beautiful. Just that small thing made my mouth drop, it works really well.
In the end,Stephen Spielberg made a lot of excellent, top-notch movies. In my eyes, this one is his best. I don't think he will ever beat the degree this movie is in. If he does I will be flabbergasted. This movie blew me away.
Without any doubt in my heart, 10/10.
Wie is de Mol? (1999)
The Mole
Wie is de mol?(Who is the mole) is an exciting game show I have personally followed for years and hopefully will watch for many more to come. Wie is de mol? is an exciting and thrilling show about 10 people competing for the prize money, the money the contestants earn from completing assignments in every episode. From that group of 10 people 1 person is "The Mole" with the sole target to sabotage assignments while not incriminating him/herself, thus stopping the money flow and decreasing the prize money.
After every episode the contestants get a test. In this test they are answered 20 questions about the identity of the mole. The person with the least amount of answers right has to leave the show. The contestants have to be smart and very observant to pick up on who might be the mole and not to be left in the dark about his/her identity. Incriminating yourself is actually a good thing to do here for a contestant, seeing people would think you're the mole and would focus their answers on you, forcing them to eliminate themselves from the game. Deciding whether to incriminate yourself by messing up assignments or to make more money is only one of the many dilemmas contestants face during their journey.
Every year when this show is on (January-March) people start discussing who the mole might be and the final conclusion is Always watched by millions of people. This is a show that grabs you, takes you in and doesn't let go. The assignments and challenges the contestants encounter, the battle between them and the alliances they form, it's a big riddle. Who is the mole is, in my opinion, one of the best Dutch shows to date.
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
My favorite Comedy
After finding out about this movie months ago I had to wait for it to come out here in the Netherlands. Luckily this almost coincided with the Oscars. I've become a big fan of Jennifer Lawrence after seeing her good performances in Winter's Bone and the Hunger Games and was keen to see her in this movie.
In my humble opinion, this was a deserved win for Jennifer Lawrence in the category Actress in a Leading Role. She portrays the character Tiffany in a fun way. My only concern before seeing the movie was that she might made it too funny, in a way making fun of bipolar. While that was a small concern seeing the director David O. Russel has experienced Bipolar in his family and knows how to handle this subject. you do have to be subtle when basing a movie on a delicate matter. Fortunately, none of this happened and the movie turned out to be a delight.
First off, the acting. The acting in this movie is of good quality. It's not extremely good, but it's definitely viable. Robert de Niro plays a fun role playing the Football-addicted father of Bradley Coopers character. Bradley Coopers character is portrayed in a good way. His reactions to certain situations or sounds are fun to see. While I liked his acting in this movie it's not sublime and i'm happy to see he got nominated for an Oscar for this role. Jennifer Lawrence takes the lead for me though, with a very good performance in this movie. As I said before, a deserved Oscar winner. The dialogs between Pat and Tiffany(Bradley and Jennifer) are a lot of fun to watch. Their chemistry in this movie is exciting and you can tell they had a lot of fun making this movie.
The story is good. Comedies tend to be a tad predictable, what this movie is too at points but with a comedy it's about the quality of the humor. This movie made me laugh a lot, so it's definitely of good quality when it comes to the humor.
Definitely a recommendation from me if you want to see a fun movie that will make you laugh.
Achtste-groepers huilen niet (2012)
Beautiful
When I was young I read the book "Achtste groepers huilen niet" I cried my way trough the second half of the book. In late 2012 I noticed they made a movie about it, I was very curious to see if they could turn such a sad story into a good movie. I was astonished. One of the best Dutch books I have ever read became my favorite Dutch movie.
Normally i'm not a big fan of Dutch movies, most contain bad acting and a poor storyline, of course with exceptions (Zwartboek and Oorlogswinter).
This movie is outstanding. Casting was done properly, looking at the characters in the book. The movie centers around Akkie, a fierce girl, a fighter. After being diagnosed with leukemia the quest for health starts.
Akkie fights and fights but the leukemia becomes more severe. This is when she makes her doctor, who she refers to as doctor mustache, promise he will make her better. She makes him swear on his mustache.
When later in the movie the doctor walks into the room with a clean-shaved face I couldn't stop crying for pretty much the remainder of the movie.
What makes this movie great is the fact that this is a very realistic story. This happens all the time around the world, and is such a sad fate for the people who suffer from leukemia and other fatal diseases like this.
This is for me, without doubt the best Dutch movie so far.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Small Beginnings
A new movie about from the hand of Peter Jackson about the Hobbits, what a pleasure to see. I was too young to go see the Lord of the Rings movies in the cinema, but have seen them later (multiple times) and I thought that trilogy was one from outstanding excellency so I was eager to see how this one turned out.
The first thing I wondered was how Martin Freeman would do as Bilbo Baggins. The role I have seen him in, Watson in the Sherlock series, is naturally completely different. I was positively surprised. Freeman puts down an excellent Hobbit, scared at first to explore the wide world with a bunch of wild but noble dwarfs but evolving into a hero and companion. All the roles that have appeared in the LotR franchise are still excellent, Gandalf the Grey, Elrond, Galadriel and of course the creature Gollum(who was welcomed by the people in the cinema with me with cheering). The new characters that you meet in this movie stand strong against the already strong cast as well. The dwarfs in this companionship are fierce, funny and a joy to watch.
Once again, I take a deep bow for the effects and scenery in this movie. Everything is worked out in the finest detail, even the most minor details in the background. The landscapes are beautiful, the city of Erebor is beautiful and the underground mines with the countless rope bridges and the place Gollum resides look spectacular.
The storyline, while still not finished at the end of this movie, is of good quality, like we're used to from Tolkien. What I heard before watching this movie was that the story is stretched out way too much over the movie, people were saying they got bored because nothing was happening. I didn't get bored for the full 3 hours of the movie, which is a remarkable achievement by the director.
I welcome a new era of Hobbit movies and eagerly await the next 2 movies.
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Originally Superb
The concept of Cloud Atlas is a special one. When I read that this movie would be 6 stories mixed into one movie I thought about movies such as Pulp Fiction and Inception. Pulp Fiction being a movie where different stories collide and Inception being a movie where events occurring in one stage have an effect on other stages, like Cloud Atlas. I love Inception and Pulp Fiction for these concepts so I was keen to see what Cloud Atlas would bring.
6 story lines in one movie seemed very confusing and I was worried that the movie might be very hard to follow. These worries seemed unfit. I never got confused during this almost 3-hour running movie. Instead I was amazed at how well all the stories are displayed. There is no superior story or story that's let down by focusing too much on another which is remarkable and a admirable achievement by the directors.
I knew I had to see this movie when I saw the directors and the cast.I loved the Matrix Trilogy and V for Vendetta from the Wachowski siblings and Run Lola Run from Tom Tykwer so I was anxious to see this movie. My favorite actor is Tom Hanks so naturally I was happy to see a new movie with him. What I found admirable is his use of different accents in this movie. Next to strong acting his voice is very powerful and diverse in this movie. I have seen Jim Sturgess in the movie "21", a movie in which I found his acting quite strong. I was curious to see what he would bring this time. He didn't let me down, he put down a few very good role. I liked Ben Whishaw in Skyfall and was surprised to see him in another movie already. Although I liked him in Skyfall I wasn't sure he would be able to complete a task as big as this one, but he managed to stand his ground and put down multiple strong characters. I have always liked Hugo Weaving and I loved his roles in this movie. It was hilarious to see him as Nurse Noakes, fun to see him as Bill Smoke, which made me think about his role in The Matrix Trilogy and I thought he did a splendid job at performing Old Georgie. Jim Broadbents roles were very good too, I especially liked his portrayal of Timothy Cavendish. In the movies I have seen with Halle Berry and Keith David I thought they were okay, but not outstanding. They have proved to be worthy actors to me now with strong acting in this movie. Halle Berry for her portrayals of Luisa Rey and Meronym and Keith David for Joe Napier. I had not seen Donna Bae in any movie before but I think she did a very good job in this movie playing Sonmi-451.
The landscapes and sets are beautiful. When you see the voyage of Mr. Ewing the grand ship makes it very realistic and interesting and during the scenes in the Valley with Tom Hanks the forests and mountains are magnificent.
This movie looks very realistic. The ships from the future civilizations look very nice and the make-up work on certain characters is beautifully done, it was so good that only during the credits I realized by which actors some characters were played, which gave me a pleasant surprise. Everything used in this movie to make people look more fitting for their era sometimes makes them look very different and along with that more entertaining.
Overall I would say the concept is revolutionary and fascinating, the acting is fantastic (kudos to the casting team) and the quality is extremely high. Definitely a recommendation, it's something special that has never been seen before.
Twilight (2008)
Such a shame
I really like the concept of this movie. The whole vampire theme interests me. However, it's such a shame they handed Kristen Stewart the role of Bella Swan, the actress who is often referred to as "stoneface" and who even received the "Stoner Award". Kristen Stewart shows about the same level of emotion in every scene she stars in, close to none.
This movie could have been great if the casting was done properly. Although Robert Pattinson isn't a very convincing 17 year old, the role vampire suits him. Jackson Rathbone and Peter Facinelli are both very convincing vampires too, in my opinion. The rest of the cast works, although the group of "friends" Bella has are quite bad. Storywise this movie is good, acting wise it's utterly shameful.
I like the concept and i'm certainly going to check out the books, but this movie just doesn't work for me.
The Bucket List (2007)
Wonderful
The Bucket List is in my opinion very underrated.
The story is fascinating. Two men, terminally ill, enjoying the time they have left to the fullest.
The cast is fantastic. Jack Nicholson, bombarded with prizes and Morgan Freeman, one of my favorite actors of all time. The role of stubborn millionaire fits Jack Nicholson very well, and of course Morgan Freeman in role of accepter of his fate, a role he has played before( The Shawshank Redemption comes to mind). Needless to say, the acting is of superb quality. Morgan Freeman narrating parts of the movie is something he was born to do and has done in many movies. This movie tops my list of "cry-movies" as I call them. I have always said that when a movie makes me cry because it's so beautiful, it deserves a 10. When Morgan Freeman's character dies, tears were running down my face. You have that part, a movie impressing me so much but you also have the part of this movie that makes me laugh so hard.I have never had those two ends of the emotional scale hit me in one movie. On their bucket list, Morgan Freeman has written : "Laugh until I cry." When this happens (when Morgan Freeman tells Jack Nicholson from where his tea actually originates I couldn't stop laughing and I had to stop the movie to catch a breath. This movie worked out so good, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson connecting very well. I would recommend this movie to anyone, it's a beautiful movie that is sadly very underrated.
The Hunger Games (2012)
One of my favorite movies this year.
The Hunger Games, the first movie of the series to come.
I have not read the books yet, which two of my friends keep recommending me to do. I have asked one to lend me all the books, which I expect to enjoy a lot when reading. I can't say yet the books are better than the movies or vice versa unfortunately, but I hope they are on the same level.
I have always liked the concept of this movie, having thought of it before I knew the books even existed. I had never seen Jennifer Lawrence in a movie before so I was interested to see how it would work out. In the end, I think she did a good job. She's a good representation of a rebellious, young girl who doesn't want to go along with the system, but has to. I have seen Josh Hutcherson in multiple movies, movies in which I didn't like him. I did like him in this role and since seeing this movie I have seen him in another movie where I liked him(Bridge to Terabithia). I have always loved Woody Harrelson and although he only has a small role in this movie, I love his character.
The story itself is well-thought of. The concept, yet brutal, is very interesting. I would say it's quite predictable. Of course the main character lives to see another day, of course she ends up with Peeta. Nevertheless, the movie is exciting and fascinating. Good acting, a good story and a good outcome of the movie. I look forward to seeing the rest of the movies of this series.
Nightwish: End of an Era (2006)
And what an era it was.
This is without doubt my favorite concert of all time.
The camera-work, the effects and of course the music. Of course, the rating is high because mainly Nightwish fans have watched it, which is natural. You don't start watching a Nightwish DVD when you've never heard about them.
This DVD shows the quality of Nightwish. During certain songs, they can get the entire crowd silent (Ghost Love Score). You can see people crying during the concert because they are overwhelmed by the music, a beautiful sight. I don't deny being a huge Nightwish fan which might influence my rating and review, but you can definitely tell they are doing a very good job during this concert. This is one the few bands that's better live than in the studio. You can really enjoy their music with the ambiance this concert brings.
Definitely a recommendation if you love this era of Nightwish.
Inception (2010)
Sweet Dreams
Yes, Inception. Christopher Nolan's baby, a product he worked on for 10 years. And what a product it is. Seeing it for the first time in a darkened classroom in Philosophy class because it would be a movie "you would need to think about" didn't work out that well. Phone buzzing all the time because we were watching it during the lunch break and people were wondering what we were doing,people talking in the hallways, people talking in the class ("I don't get this movie, is this a dream? OK, this is stupid..")
A while later I re-watched this movie and then I finally got the picture, this is a movie which was really thought about, which was taken care of and which was handled with precision. It quickly became one of my favorite movies. I have showed this movie to my father who loved it as well, which shows that different kinds of people can enjoy this movie.
The concept is great : breaking into someones mind,stealing from or in this case implanting something in their mind. How Christopher Nolan thought of this completely baffles me.
I have always liked Leonardi DiCaprio and was happy to see him take on the lead role. I think he's a great actor. I saw this movie twice before seeing anything else with Ellen Page in it, but after I saw Juno I realized she's a very talented young actress. She can take on very different roles. Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt,Cillian Murphy and the small role of Michael Caine, a superb cast.
If you're looking for a quick movie you can flick on for some entertainment, I wouldn't recommend this one. Yes, it's certainly entertaining to watch, but not a movie you casually watch because you have nothing to do. You really have to sit down for this one, let it grab and amaze you and enter the realm of Christopher Nolan.
Sweet dreams.
Zombieland (2009)
Brrrrraaains
This movie is my favorite zombiemovie made so far. I really like the cast, although it only contains of 4 people (not counting the small role Bill Murray plays). I mostly love the role Woody Harrelson plays. A tough man who loves to murder zombies on a quest for the last Twinkie out there. I've seen a lot of movies with Emma Stone in them, where I liked most of her roles, including Wichita in this one. Her sister (played by Abigail Breslin) and her are what you could call con artists, manipulating people to get what they want. About Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone : It was quite predictable they would end up together, but fun nevertheless.
Last week, I heard they are planning to release more Zombieland movies, turn it into a franchise or a TV series. I have heard anything from 8-18 parts. To me it's like this : You either get eaten by a zombie or you kill it. I don't think you could make 8-18 movies about that, and I hope it doesn't end up flopping. A great example of a flopping franchise would be Police Academy. I liked the first movie, thought it was very amusing. The second one was okay, but worse than the first one. The five after this one were just dreadful. I hope this doesn't happen to Zombieland, but only time will tell. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing more of Zombieland.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The best movie made to date.
I absolutely love The Shawshank Redemption. When a movie gives me goosebumps, it has done its job. Where to start. The acting in this movie is sublime. I had never seen any movie starring Tim Robbins, but Morgan Freeman is one of my favorite actors. Tim Robbins portrays an intriguing man. He and Morgan Freeman work together extremely well.
The story itself is brilliant. A banker, wrongfully put in prison would not seem that interesting, but with these people and their conversations and companionship it's certainly worth a watch. I was sad when I thought the director killed off Andy Dufresne at the end, but when I realised he had actually escaped I couldn't stop smiling until the movie was over. This movie certainly deserves the #1 spot in the top 250 movies, as it's a must see for everyone.
Little Nicky (2000)
Worse than I expected
Going into this movie after I had already seen several movies with Adam Sandler in them that day, I had expectations of this one being a decent movie. I was proved wrong.
Just like in Billy Madison, the character Adam Sandler plays has a voice that gets annoying very fast. On top of that, his character in this has a problem with speaking because he got hit by a shovel, which by itself is already a reason to doubt this movie.
The story itself is quite poor. Nicky's two brothers escape hell,where Nicky and his family (mum excluded) live, causing the fiery gate to hell to freeze. Nicky is send to earth with a flask from which his brothers have to drink from so Nick can take them back to hell.
There is a scene where Nicky drops by the house of a woman he met recently on Earth and who he flipped off (under possession by his brother). She uses pepper-spray on him, causing him to fall. He does not die though, because when he gets close to the ground his fall is stopped and he floats. He flies back up and explains who he is to her. The woman , who was flipped off, spoken to in a devilish voice and sees Nicky fall down and floating/flying after she pepper-sprayed him (implying she is frightened by him) then suddenly accepts him. Oh, so you're the Devil's son? Well, that makes sense, lets be a couple.
Although I didn't like this movie, I didn't give it a 1. I haven't because it has some funny moments (The Chicago record with the dark message and Ozzy Osbourne. I also liked the reference to Happy Gilmore close to the end of the movie.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
An Excellent Movie
This movie is definitely my favorite movie.
Like every movie of Quentin Tarantino i've seen, the dialogues in this movie are of great quality. Two mobsters discussing the wonders of Amsterdam and its weed or the name of a cheeseburger in Paris makes them seem like normal people. I especially liked the discussion between Vincent and Pitt about massaging feet.
What I found admirable is that a simple feature as a toilet plays a part in this movie. When Vincent and Pitt take care of Brad and his friends who messed up a deal with Marsellus Wallace their last accomplice hides in toilet. When Vincent goes to the toilet at Mia's after their date(or wasn't it a date?) Mia mistakes his heroine for cocaine and overdoses. When Vincent is done at the toilet he finds her. When Vincent goes to the toilet at the restaurant and the restaurant gets robbed.
Overall, I love this movie and I think it absolutely deserves its spot among the best movies out there. Superb acting, good plot line, a must see.