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5/10
Nice Costume Drama, but total waste of time
25 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This is a nice historic costume drama, it is well set, directed excellently and acted with love to details. Still this movie is a total waste of time, as the story line is not satisfying. The basic story goes like this: an aristocratic girl is promised as usual in these times to ensure stability of alliances of her family. She is married to a nice good-looking aristocratic young man, who starts to love her and who is committed and monogamous towards his new wife. As she is beautiful and attractive, every other aristocrat around her desires to have sexual relations with her. She is not a flaky dull-minded blond who does not know what consequences follow actions, but does it nonetheless. She dishonors her husband, her family, her husbands family and basically everyone else and is extremely badly skilled at covering up her smiles and blushing, when other aristocrats glance at her with sexual desire. She leaves her husband at the end only to discover that she received not more than a hot flirt in exchange for the destruction of her own future, her husbands future and everyone else in her life.

Now, can anyone please tell me why this story should be worth watching it? Well, I believe it is not even though it is a solidly made movie with solid actors.

Be warned...it's your time.
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9/10
You are not allowed to die before you have seen this movie!
23 June 2012
Wow, what a great movie! Isn't that what we think about many movies? Well, in this case after seeing the movie and the performances of its actors you will not be able to find a single word to describe the beauty of this movie. Just like India is an attack on the senses of light, color and pulsating life, so is this movie. 7 strangers leave their beloved United Kingdom for good to go onto a journey that lets them discover themselves, what matters in life and what doesn't. Judi Dench's voice becomes your own inner voice, the way she expresses her feelings and thoughts will give you a tingling sensation. This movie will leave you with new insights into life, love and what it means to grow older with confidence, trust and a never ending lust for life that still is respectful, caring, witty and will never fail to amaze you.
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Lost (2004–2010)
10/10
The most beautiful and most misunderstood TV series of all times
20 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
1. According to legend tens of thousands of years ago there was a high civilization also in the Pacific Ocean, which was on an Island complex which is called "Mu" or "Lemuria" in today's time. This island complex got "lost" in the sea, the series offers a view into the island, its past and the philosophy of this ancient high civilization. One of those Islands was used by the Lemurians tens of thousands of years ago for healing purposes, as it possesses one-of-a-kind unique geomagnetic properties. It was dedicated to the God which was called Sobek by the Egyptians, who were later the collective basket of the remains of this ancient high civilization after sinking into the sea. A system of underground streams from a cave, where the major concentration of geomagnetic energy resides, were connected by the Lemurians to stream into a specifically built temple on the island with a healing spa at its center to heal the sick.

2. Many thousand years later, most likely around 500 BC, a Greek ship gets stranded on the island including a pregnant woman, who gets separated from her shipwrecked party, but rescued by a hermit-like Phoenician priestess, who lives alone on the island and got shipwrecked herself many hundreds of years before. The pregnant Greek woman bears twins, but the Phoenician priestess immediately kills the mother after giving birth to the twins. She fear other humans and civilization as such and believes to have as purpose to protect the island from humans trying to harness the geomagnetic energy, as she believes by harnessing it it would shut down all geomagnetic centers of the earth and result in the death of planet Earth. She lies to the twins about almost everything, who believe she is her mother. The blond haired Jacob is spiritually and mentally so weak that even after the Phoenician priestess confesses that she killed his real mother to prevent a "profane life" with humans, as humans are evil and only kill one another, he still stays with her. After 30 years the Nameless brother finally discovers with other humans from the shipwrecked party a way to transform the geomagnetic energy of the island into quantum-mechanical energy which would allow him to leave the island and finally go home. The Phoenician priestess kills him by and burns every living human on the island. The island brings the Nameless twin back to life for the 1st time. He decides to kills his step-mother for good. His weak-minded brother Jacob throws him into the central geomagnetic cave believing that his brother would never return from the cave. Instead the geomagnetic energy kills him, but island raises him from the dead for a 2nd time and gives the Nameless brother the power to change into the human appearance of other humans and to transform into the form of black smoke. The whole tragedy is that the island does not need protection, as it is shown throughout the series that the geomagnetic energy is harnessed and manipulated without the assumed consequences of shutting down other geomagnetic centers of the earth.

3. In 1867 a British Slave ship crashes on the island and brings Richard Alpert to the island. He is used by Jacob to manipulate others into following Alpert to the island so Jacob can test them, whether they are Protector-Priest material suitable as his successor.

4. In the 1940 Alpert has brought Eloise Hawking and Charles Widmore to the island as protector party against the US Army, which intended to do H-Bomb tests on the Pacific Island. They kill all soldiers, the island remains free of other visitors until the 1970ies.

5. In the 1970ies the island is re-discovered because of its geomagnetic anomalies by American scientists, who found a scientist community called the "Dharma Initiative" that is supposed to live on the island and conduct experiments in stations that are built over the geomagnetic output fields on the island. One of the experiments go wrong and the energy released causes an accident, in which many people die. Those that didn't die are killed on orders of Jacob which he executes through Alpert and Widmore, who lead killing crews to slay all remaining scientists. They were able to do so by manipulating a young boy, called Benjamin Linus, into following them for Jacob's cause, who arranges the secret positioning of poison gas in the village of the scientists when he is already a young man. They explain him that the island must be protected and killing the scientists would secure the island. Benjamin Linus and Charles Widmore engage into a power struggle after the killing, from which Benjamin Linus emanates as victor, Widmore is banished.

6. In 2004 Oceanic Air Flight 815 crashes on the island by a complex string of interventions and manipulations through Jacob and the tragically manipulated executors of his order Alpert and Linus. On the flight he believes to be on board 6 persons which are suitable as his successors. Here the actual story of Lost starts. None of what happens for most of the 116 Episodes from Seaon 1 Episode 1 until Sesons 6 Episode 14 actually matters for the core story. The lives of the protagonists and characters are shown before the island and their potential and actual future, which is caused by efforts trying to transform the geomagnetic energy into quantum-mechanical energy in order to time-travel. During their time-travel adventures the protagonists manage to release an H-Bomb that was left by the US-Army in the 1940ies. Physical Space is dislocated from Physical time. 2 time streams follow side-by-side. In the 1st time stream all characters die except a handful that manages to leave the island on a plane. In the 2nd time stream all characters believe to have never crashed on the island and to be actually alive, but are dead in reality and need to remember their adventures to die spiritually in peace.
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Day of the Falcon (II) (2011)
8/10
Epic cinematography, lovable development of story & characters
9 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Set in the 1930, two Arabian Sultans agree for a neutral zone within the desert that none of them shall ever claim as his after one sultan has defeated the other. To bind the treaty, the defeated sultan gives - as is Bedouin custom - his sons as hostages for life to the undefeated king. The sons grow up with the family of the undefeated ruler more or less free, but do not return or flee out of honor. A full decade later the ruling king recognizes that his country is not only plagued by diseases he cannot cure, but that all his regions he rules over are hundreds of years technologically behind. An American Oil company finds oil within the neutral zone and approaches the ruling king to gain permission to pump the oil. When the ruling king agrees and thereby breaks the old peace treaty, he gains wealth, but also sparks the flames of war. One of the two sons of the defeated kings, who were life-term hostages is a bookworm and is loved very much by the ruling king's daughter,becomes so his son-in-law and tries his best to become a peace emissary to avoid a war. After his appeals to his own father fail, he must choose a side and fate foresees a transformation of the protagonist. Will his transformation be successful and can he avoid for his country to be torn apart in a civil war and still find love and happiness in his personal life as well as for his to be born nation?

Find out and watch this epic movie with a fantastic soundtrack from James Horner and get drawn in the world of kings, Bedouins and the unforgiving Arabian desert 80 years ago - you'll like the cinematography. My vote: a fascinating 8 of 10.
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The Samaritan (I) (2012)
8/10
Samuel L. Jackson & Ruth Negga as Confidence Artists
9 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This plot has it all: action, drama, unexpected twists, love, murder, living between hope & regrets. Jackson plays Foley, who after coming out of prison after 25 years having killed his best friend, tries to catch on with friends and acquaintances from the past, who are all long gone or live normal lives. Only the son of his former partner, whom he was forced to murder, is interested in getting Foley to participate in a confidence act in order to trick 8 Million Dollars from a very dangerous man. Each confidence artist sets up the the other player with not only dirty tricks but also with unforgivable consequences: Foley is setup to fall into love and a sexual relationship with his own daughter, which gives the twist a quite shocking taste, not only to the viewer but also Foley after discovering it. Trying to protect his daughter he tries to put distance between her and himself without success. She is drawn herself into the world of confidence artists and both father and daughter must fear for their lives to get out of this dangerous web of deceit. How will it end?

You need to watch it in order to find out, I give this one here an honest 8 of 10.
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8/10
Hollywood-style zombie movie made on a shoestring budget - amazing!
9 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Folks, watch this short movie: it is a fan-made short-film based on the world of the famous action-shooter game Left 4 Dead.

It is amazing to see not only that this movie was made on a shoestring budget (it is not disclosed by the producer how much it actually was), but that it has been fully sponsored. You ask about the quality of the movie and its SFX? Watch it for yourself, it is definitely not B-type, it is really really close to full A-Blockbuster movie effects. Lightning, movie set and sounds are perfect. The viewer finds some cosplay characters towards the end of the movie that let you freeze for just a second thinking "...?", but then again the viewer realizes that he is in the action-shooter game world Left 4 Dead, in which cosplay characters certainly have their place - except for gamer-guys in their 16s, which discussion in the gaming community about this movie shows.

Judge for yourself, as fan adaption you can see this movie for free (yup, 0 Dollars) in the internet, google it and watch it, it is amazing to see what they did on a shoestring budget.

My vote: a solid 8 of 10.
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The Captains (2011)
10/10
Amazing philosophic journey through life - ESPECIALLY for non-trekkies!
8 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Upfront folks: I am not a trekkie and will never become one. But this movie is so much more than just for fans of the Star Trek world: William Shatner takes the viewer through the real-actor's world of Captains of each of the Star Trek series. Shatner discovers an important piece of himself in this movie, namely that he was actually embarrassed to be remembered as "Captain Kirk". As Shatner has played many stage roles in theaters, he always wished to be remembered for that. But as he finds out, not only did all other Star Trek Captains also come from a background of playing on stage, they all put as much hard work and personal sacrifices into acting and recording the series for Star Trek as he did. The viewer finds out that both Shatner's and Sir Patrick Steward's marriages failed due to the time they needed to spend on the set. Sir Patrick Steward, known as a true Shakespearean actor intimates, how serious he took the acting of Star Trek - so serious that he caught himself in the thought of not being allowed have fun while being on the set. This thinking changed over time and the viewer learns that role itself transformed Stewart's personality into being able to enjoy himself on the set while still acting to his very best abilities. Bakula and Shatner discover many, many parallels in their personal life while acting as The Captain, it amazes both so much that the viewer sees literally the actual start of a friendship unfolding. Mulgrew is interviewed by Shatner in a style that cannot be described - it must be seen and heard. It is incredibly scary to see how skillful Shatner peels off the seemingly thick actor's skin of Mulgrew literally in minutes to make her open up for a really personal interview that produces intimate information beyond the expected. Shatner himself is transformed through the production of this movie, as interviewing The Other Captains allows Shatner to not only make peace with himself and his legacy for being remembered mainly as being Captain Kirk, but being able to enjoy the thought without feeling embarrassed as he used to be once in his past. Shatner's movie demonstrates also for the non-trekkie how much joy he has brought into the life of people who meet at Star Trek conventions, which exist historically over 40 years already. Listen to Shatner's conversations with The Other Captains like Avery Brooks, who is now a University Professor, about life and also death as well as personal and philosophical thoughts about a possible afterlife.

Anyone will view this movie with astonishment, joy and gratitude for the intimate insight not only into their personal lives but for their views on life as such. My vote as non-trekkie: 10 of 10
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4/10
Predictable cheap story, not credible characters
8 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The story starts out with way too common themes, that have not only been overplayed in various movies already, but are connected in a not credible manner, it is almost a shame to have great actors like Ed Harris partaking in this very predictable movie. These themes are: cop in prison who is innocent and needs to prove it, bad cops that set him up, his long-term partner that supposedly is his friend, but also dirty, the "family members of NY Cops stick together" theme and last but not least the bad and corrupt powerful business magnate who has cops and the mayor in his pocket. The way the themes are tried to be connected are not credible and in some parts outright laughable. Just to mention one that is especially not credible: the actress Genesis Rodriguez plays the girlfriend of the cop-hero's brother. She is much more than just a pretty face and actually a great actress, as will be proved in the 2013 production of The Last Stand alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. But here in this movie, she is either reduced in a non-classy manner to show a physically fit body with emphasis on her push-up bra or elevated to be a top-notch sophisticated thief breaking in a state-of-the-art high-security vault, where priceless jewelery is stored. Her qualification to be able to do so is explained by "having sometimes broken into houses as a teenager in high-school". Let this movie go, folks. Don't say I didn't tell you. Only 4 of 10.
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10/10
Everything that is wrong isn't right. Or isn't it?
8 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Hands-Up question: how many of you reading this, have ever fantasized about killing someone who acted extraordinarily rude? I mean, seriously fantasizing about it and enjoying the thought, killing the obnoxious loud neighbors, the person who just stole your parking spot and especially the bully who picks on the weak to make himself look strong? I got good and bad news for those who raised their hands: the good news is the protagonists of this movie do just that, spreading the message that if you are spreading fears, are a hater of "..." or just without decency in regards to the people around you, watch out - you might get shot in the head. The bad news is that that if you catch yourself dreaming about killing rude or obnoxious people regularly, say once a week, you are actually a borderline-psychopath and are very likely to behave violent towards others at some future point of time. Well, the protagonists cross the border from frequent fantasy to reality. Do we empathize with the protagonist or with their actions or is it a bit of both? I actually think everyone empathizes with the message and the movie might make the viewer act much nicer and with more decency to anyone he meets. Well, it might at least for the next 60 minutes, until the short-attention span generation forgets to be nice and goes back to elbowing. My vote for this dark but with precise presentation of the state of mind of many members of society: 10 of 10.
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9/10
Think Action, think Martial Arts, think Hong Kong? Think again, think Indonesia!
8 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Visually stunning martial arts fights, mainly modern Pencak Silat, paired with epic action-shootouts entraps the viewer in to the world of this action movie. Think Action, think Martial Arts, think Hong Kong? Think again, think Indonesia! The story line plays with the ancient theme of the two unequal brothers who lost sight of each other, good cop vs. bad cop and choosing ones own destiny, not because the movie character likes it but because the character has developed a fixed skill set and excels with this skill set in his world. Both worlds, morally good vs morally questionable, are combined in this movie and the viewers is left with an explanation why the character act the way the act and why they have chosen their path of life. This movie got a good story- line, is well acted with clearly defined and likable characters AND non-stop rushing adrenaline fights. It is this combination that makes me giving this movie the vote: 9 of 10.
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Les Lyonnais (2011)
9/10
Wow, what a great movie!
3 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The stunning performance of Gérard Lanvin as Momon Vidal makes this a must-see movie. Not a single second passes where the viewers would not be taken right into the story. This movie has it all, but the most remarkable and reminding scene is, when the character Momon Vidal defines male friendship as something "holy". Any man, who sees this movie will go into his own mind and search for his own holy friendships, if these two words actually exist as plural. Looking back on his 50 years of friendship between the characters Momon and Serge, Momon actually finds out, whether his philosophic ideal of a "holy male friendship" actually exists or if it doesn't. Watch the movie and find out what great story Edmond Vidal has given us viewers as a marvelous gift. My vote: 9 out of 10, absolutely worth every second.
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Halloween II (2009)
4/10
No likable character makes it impossible to like the movie
3 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Even though Rob Zombie has created a great setting for a great slasher movie, there is not a single likable character in the plot. The most important character Laurie, portrayed by actress Scout Taylor-Compton takes the theme of the mentally heavily unstable sister way over the necessary limit which makes her extremely unlikable, she is disturbing in a very negative sense, it does not add suspension to her character but leads to disliking her. From a commercial point of view I believe she was not the optimum casting choice. As you will most likely fail to like any character in this slasher movie just like me, it is impossible to connect to the great setting or the movie. My vote: 4 out of 10 out of respect for a great director, otherwise I would have given this a 2.
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Faust (III) (2011)
6/10
Not Goethe, but a dark cabinet of psychological disorders
2 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This adaption orients itself on the original and legendary character of Dr. Faustus, but not in the Goethe version. As Dr. Faust is not an invention of Goethe, but actually a 15th century German legendary character, Sokurov portrays here the original story at its source. Faust is not driven by the wish to gain esoteric knowledge, but knowledge of how to seduce Margarethe as quickly as possible. Here lies the core: ANY character, even the ones that are not relevant to the story at all, is portrayed suffering from heavy psychological disorders. You name it, you find it: phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, delusional disorder, schizoaffective disorder, antisocial personality, borderline personality, histrionic and narcissistic personality disorders, even paraphilia (sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are considered abnormal or harmful to the person or others) is displayed by Mephisto, who is shown in this adaption as Moneylender. Wagner, who is Faust's student is shown suffering from classic ego-dystonic sexual orientation. This is actually what the whole adaption seems to be about: showing various characters with heavy psychological disorders who are fitted together in the story-line of the legendary character Dr. Faustus. The idea that Sokorov seems to have intended to portray is that the sexual force is the actual driving force of not only Dr. Faustus, but of most people in the sense of a primal force. My personal feeling is that the portrayal of psychological disorders is not helping to give the story-line of the legendary Dr. Faustus more appeal, but is as depiction of the human soul as dark cabinet unique as such and Faustian in itself as adaption. If you enjoy viewing a world of heavily disturbed personalities that are credibly acted out, this is your movie. If you want to see a movie that saves you reading Goethe's Faust, go find another movie. My vote: 6.5 of 10.
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