🎥 Marriage Story (2019) ★★★★½
Poignant film about love, with great acting (and even great singing) by both Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. The neoclassical soundtrack sounded a bit off to me though.
🌱 Plane crossing the blue sky behind our blooming almond tree.
🎥 Philomena (2013) ★★★½
Based on true events, this film shows in an excellent way two different perspectives on the evil crimes of Irish catholic nuns in the 1950s. Judi Bench in one of her best roles I’ve seen.
🎥 A Serious Man (2009) ★★★½
Beautiful art direction and of course brilliant dialogues, but that’s ‘just’ something you’ve come to expect from the Coen Brothers.
🎥 Zulu Dawn (1979) ★★½ & 📺 Shaka Zulu (1986) ★★★½
I expected Zulu Dawn to be a less problematic celebration of colonialism, but the triumphant music still made it painful to watch. Shaka Zulu on the other hand was a great rewatch of one of my favourite childhood TV series!
🎥 Barton Fink (1991) ★★★★
Strangest Coen brothers film I’ve watched so far. John Turturro as Barton Fink was a pleasure to watch. John Goodman as his evil neighbour even more so!
While fighting a (mild but nevertheless serious) Corona infection I had plenty of time to watch the excellent presentations of Micro.camp 2022. While I enjoyed every one of them I especially want to thank @cygnoir, @cliffordbeshers, @kaa and @martinfeld for their inspiration!
🎥 Turning Red (2022) ★★★
My daughter hated the boy band songs at first, but then she found out they were written and even partly performed by Finneas O’ Connell…
🎥 Raising Arizona (1987) ★★★½
“Everbody freeze! Everbody down on the ground!”
“Well which is it young fella? You want I should freeze or get down on the ground? Mean to say, iffen I freeze, I can’t rightly drop. And iffen I drop, I’m a gonna be in motion. Ya see”
🎥 West Side Story (2021) ★★★½
Steven Spielberg at his best. A feast for the eyes and an ultimate blend of cinematography with musical theatre. But - as with almost every musical I’ve seen - I still have a certain antipathy against singing actors (or acting singers).
🎥 Miller’s Crossing (1990) ★★★★★
In many ways the perfect film. Top notch acting, and written and directed by two of the most original film makers in film history. And yet it also seems one of the most underrated films in history. How come I just watched it for the first time?!
I have been using Chronosync for years for my backups. It now allows you to sync to and from iCloud storage! I’ve been using it satisfactorily in beta for the last couple of months and I’m still amazed how well it works! Can wholeheartedly recommend it.
🎥 Shame (2011) ★★★½
I very much love the work of Steve McQueen, both his films and his art installations. All his projects have a very personal and a distinct, sober style. Strangely enough I haven’t seen 12 Years a Slave yet… Time to watch that one very soon.
🌱 It’s official. The spring has started on our side of the planet.
🎥 Zero Kelvin (1995) ★★★★
At the time, this was one of the most thrilling films I had ever seen, with Stellan Skarsgård in one of his best ever roles. Would love to watch it again sometime. But I can’t seem to find it on demand…
I always thought Wentelteefje was a peculiar Dutch name for a dish as simple as French Toast. It appears though that it has a peculiar name in many more languages. No matter what the name: our love for pan fried bread soaked in milk, sugar, eggs and cinnamon seems universal!
Currently reading: On Benefits by Lucius Annaeus Seneca 📚
🎥 My Own Private Idaho (1991) ★★★★
Loved the improvisational style of many scenes by River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. The joy of acting is clearly showing off in this masterpiece by Gus van Sant.
For some reason, the Brewdog beer brand is very popular over here. This ‘post modern classic’ Punk IPA certainly is tasty.
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🎥 A Humble Life (1997) ★★★★½
While preparing for an upcoming lesson on ‘portraits’, I stumbled upon an old favourite in my film collection. One that only could have been made by Alexandr Sokurov. Such a captivating combination of narration, sound and astonishing imagery…
🎥 Patriot Games (1992) ★★½
🎥 Spider-man: No Way Home (2021) ★★★★
After weeks of Corona related madness at home, my daughter and I finally went to the nearest theatre and watched the highest grossing Spider-man movie in history. The reviews indeed were to believe.
🎥 Point Break (1991) ★★★
I liked this one by a little bit better then the one I watched a few days ago. But, now I’ve seen 4 films by Kathryn Bigelow (I watched The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty a few years ago), I’m still not a fan of her work.
🎥 Blue Steel ★★
Written and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, produced by Oliver Stone. I expected something better.