What I See Is What You Get

Oh well, I expected to have an awful night, but foreseeing this I put on my blond wig, turned off all my brain-cells and sat down in the seat with an open mind to see "2012". And I must say, it ain't as bad as I predicted it to be and Transformers 2 still remains worse in my opinion.
But is 2012 good? Not in my opinion. Actually the trailer showed all the rampage you will see in the movie and besides the disaster there isn't much left to be entertained with. Yes, when the earth starts its self-destruction it's beautiful to see and the special-effects team did its best. But in between these über-visuals I was confronted with so many cliché's, cheesy drama, annoying characters with which I absolutely had no connection with. The movie leans to heavily on the absurd. There are no surprises or plot-twists in this movie and from the moment you see a character you can predict if he/she will survive the disaster or not.
Towards the end it became too dreary and utterly boring and I strongly wanted it to end.

If you're horny for special-effects this movie is for you. All others better stay away from it as it doesn't have anything new to offer you.

My rating: 4 out of 10

A lot can be said about this movie; you can talk about the music, the man, the 50 concerts, his family, his kids, his behaviour, his everything and ultimately his death. But I'll leave you here with my opinion of the movie. I liked it a lot and it touched me at several moments. This was a family visit, as the three of us saw this movie together and my son became sad while seeing it. He'd never heard of Michael Jackson until his death, but when MJ died and he saw his parents reaction to it, he became a fan. He's been requesting his songs and videos daily after it and I've been trying to get him to know some other artists too. For him (and all other viewers), it was a great way to see Michael "alive" doing what he did best outside of a video-clip.
Sure, you can argue with the fact that MJ at times forgot his lines and maybe slipped here and there out of the strict rehearsal he was submitted to. But the fact remains that he was a professional entertainer and he did an excellent job in it. To be able to see what they were planning to do for the 50 shows in London, is fabulous. Especially for the fans. This is it, this was it; a nice ending to the MJ-era!

My rating: 8 out of 10

My wife has left for Hungary for a week! For me this means taking care of my son and ofcourse myself :) And one of the things I can now do without any comments or criticism, is watch horrors and other scary movies. The first one that came to my attention is the currently much-hyped "Paranormal Activity". And I say much-hyped, because even the dutch cinema-chain Pathé has made a copycat-trailer in corporation with the movie distributor to hype this movie even more in the Netherlands. See the trailer for yourself, but it just shows (just like the American one) how the crowd reacts to the scenes on screen. "The scariest movie of all time!" makes you really hyped for a fright-night...

Not! Let me tell you why. I made some tea, sat down and turned on this movie. You can continue to read or just skip to my rating below: a 2. A "2" because there are in total two "scary" moments in this movie. It's one of the most boring productions I ever saw. The actors are crap, the story sucks and is slow and doesn't build up to anything. All it wants you to make believe is that it really happened, just like the classics "The Blair Witch project" or "[REC]" (but these two actually were scary!). I saw this movie with fast-forward on and if you've already seen it in theatres, then I feel really sorry for you. This is a thriller/ horror to be skipped; it's not scary, there's no blood, total and utter crap. This one is not even worth a rental on DVD but should be downloaded straight into your Recycle Bin.
Let the marketing-machine spend all their money on this junk and all involved feel guilty for not spending that money to feed the needy in Africa or wherever.
Oh, I almost forgot, there seem to exist alternate endings! This movie (from 2007!) has gotten a different ending in the theatres than the copy that was once released on a screener (long live Wikipedia!). But both can be seen on YouTube in case you're curious.

Please believe me on this one; if you want to be scared, rent "[REC]", "Eden Lake" or "Martyrs". Don't say I didn't warn you!!! I just wasted a wonderful night and might as well have been trying to break my personal record on "Tetris"...

My rating: 2 out of 10

Last Wednesday I went with an ex-colleague to see District 9. A movie which another ex-colleague suggested to be the best movie of 2009. What I experienced was absolutely not what I expected...
District 9 indeed is excellent stuff and I rate it also among one of the best movies of 2009. This science fiction picture is wonderful. It draws you in and doesn't let go until the end of the credits.

The movie opens documentary-style, which style is used more often later on during the movie. Above the city of Johannesburg, South-Africa, a huge space vessel has been hanging there for the past 20 years. The aliens, clumsy and useless, are put and kept inside the slums, which in the past have been shelter to a lot of native South-Africans. We see the racism and neglect these aliens have to endure and immediately we feel sorry for them and start to connect with them. Then, a mission is initiated by an organisation to move all these aliens from the slums to a camp with better shelter (tents) and housing. This is where it starts and the movie kicks in...

Surprising, exciting, humorous, action-filled and totally different from what we've seen so far this year. This is a movie not to be skipped and especially recommended to lovers of good old science fiction!

And to finish with a line from the movie:"When dealing with aliens, try to be polite, but firm. And always remember that a smile is cheaper than a bullet". Take that as a blink to the "old" Apartheid!

My rating: 9 out of 10

My son had already seen "Up" a few months ago in Portugal and I remember very well how excited he was when he arrived back home with his mother. Both were happy and anxiously told me passages and jokes from the movie. Also, the usual Pixar short movie had to be very funny, dealing with a cloud and his stork.
That was during the summer. Now, autumn, we went together to the cinema and I understood their excitement. This movie is fabulous; it is endearing, touching, exciting at moments and funny as hell!!! We had a great time and I had to ask him several times not to spoil my experience, as he was anxiously shouting out "Oh, this is going to be funny" and "Watch what he's going to do dad!".

"Ratatouille" was OK and "Wall-e" was a bit better, but "Up" is the rise back to the top. Dreamworks and others can better quit with animated movies; Pixar rules!

My son's rating: 5 out of 5 cookies

My rating: 8 out of 10

This week my wife and I went to the cinema to see "(500) Days of Summer". This was a fabulous movie! Once more a very nice and recommendable romantic-comedy, which for once is excellent for men too.
The story is about Tom, which is a dreamer about love, who falls in love with Summer, who doesn't believe in true love. It deals with all the aspects of love and what happens during the first days of romance. To me it was a wall of recognition and I truly loved it. Excellent story, cast and music makes this a movie not to miss. Not only does it give you a happy feeling in the end, but it leaves you a lot of thoughts to meditate on... Highly recommended!

My rating: 8 out of 10

I'm actually pretty disappointed. I really liked parts 1 and 2 of this trilogy, but this latest instalment is just one big disillusion. The story in the first two movies centred around Santi Muñez and the rise of this Mexican youngster in the European football world. But in this last movie he's moved away into the background as if a stand-in. The main parts are moved to the two English characters, whose roles are being played by two different actors than in the previous movies. Also, the story is very simple and centres around the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
I just feel robed; I wanted to know how Santi's life would go on, but instead I was served someone else's story. This has almost nothing to do with the original movies; major disappointment!

My rating: 4 out of 10

When I saw the trailer for this movie, I was in the middle of Heroes' season 2. And after witnessing an piece of excellence as season 1 (and 2 for that matter in a way too) of that TV-show, this movie-trailer felt like a big rip-off of the show. And after seeing the full movie, it confirmed my feelings. This movie deals with "super-heroes" in the same way Heroes did at first, but in an extremely messy and confusing way. In my opinion they tried to put and do a lot in one movie, but fell down to an overload of information and plot-holes. There are several mistakes present in the story of this movie and it doesn't surprise me that this movie didn't do well at the box-office. I didn't feel a bond with any of the characters and by the end I was just hoping it would end. The running-time of 111 minutes is way too long.
This is excellent stuff for adolescents and is top in the B-movie category. I'm sure it will do fine on the DVD-rental market for those naive enough to pick it up without knowing what they're bringing home. One positive note about the camera-work and the use of colour. Nice!

My rating: 6 out of 10

Yesterday I saw the remake of Wes Craven's "The last house on the left". Unfortunately I've never been able to see the original movie (even though that one was based on a movie out of 1960!) but I wonder if it is as cruel and gruesome as this 2008-version. And when I say cruel, it is cruel. There is a lot of "in your face" torture and violence. I was dissappointed that is had less to do with fear, as that is one of the main ingredients of a horror. It is as if this was a eye-blink to "Hostel" and other torture-terrors.

A good horror movie with lots of blood, believable characters and sick scenes. But "Eden Lake" remains king in this horror-genre.

My rating: 7 out of 10

It's taken a while for us to see this movie, but my wife earlier this week mentioned to me that she wanted to see this title. Why? Well, because she heard a lot about it recently... (hype!)
Therefore we sat down and we enjoyed it. I read the book when I was a little kid and didn't remember a lot about the story, so the movie had some surprises ready for me. But on the other side the story was told sssslllloooowwwwly and the characters are pretty pale. Every time I saw Michiel (the main character) on screen, I started remembering Anthony Michael Hall.

No masterpiece, but recommended for older kids who want to feel some youthful excitement.

My rating: 7 out of 10

UPDATE 29/9: Sorry for the inconvenience, but the link to the trailer has been corrected. Please try again :)

It is an eventful day today! The teaser trailer for the "A nightmare on Elm Street"-remake has been released. Or isn't it such an eventful day? Well, if you ask me, I was all hopes while the teaser started playing. But as soon as the name Michael Bay appeared on screen, I turned pale. It was as if I was having sex with the most beautiful lady on earth, only to be revealed to me during the act that she's a transsexual... I've lost every grain of respect for Michael Bay and therefore all my positivity about this movie left my body.

Watch the trailer and please leave me a note: should Michael Bay be raped in every hole in his body by Freddy Krueger's glove?!

I've just experienced an art-movie and I like to express the art. This movie is art in a way that it experiments with the visual and emotional in such a way that it will shock, offend or freak you. I can understand why a lot of people in Cannes were angry after seeing this movie; several stuff is shown fully on screen. If you just had some caviar, then yes, you will get angry after you messed your suit. All others who can appreciate a movie in its finest form, should see this movie. There are some gruel-some scenes in it, but mostly this movie will keep you hooked. Leaving you with to adults who deal with their pain, grief and fear after losing their little son. Freaky experimental movie! Lars von Trier delivered excellence.

My rating: 8 out of 10

Once more an excellent movie; why did I wait so long to see it? "The reader" is on of those movies that it's best not to know much about, by avoiding trailers, etc. This drama touched me deeply and made me change my point of view on this kind of matters (as dealt with in the movie). And which movie is able to bring out a message so strong and tell a story so wonderfully, that it brings out tears?
Maybe not a movie for everyone, but everyone must agree that Kate Winslet put down a perfect character. Beautiful!

My rating: 8 out of 10

Tonight we watched "My blueberry nights" as it was my wife's choice out of the three I proposed. After 30 minutes into the movie she looked at me and asked if I wanted to continue. And I understand why: the movie is slow and doesn't pull you into it. But yet, the stories of the characters kept my attention; more than the role of the main character which is played by the-girl-who-made-jazz-commercial-and-cool-for-jazz-noobs Norah Jones. Leave that girl in the recording-studio next time, as she's just material to fill up the screen and no actress whatsoever.
Absolutely a movie which can be skipped, but acceptable if you give it a try.

My rating: 6 out of 10

Currently there are a lot of movies for kids in the cinema (why they haven't chosen to spread them out throughout the year instead of releasing them all at once is a mystery to me). As we were late for "De indiaan" and my son wanted to go to Ballorig to play, we did a double-activity-day together. So after playing and building together at Ballorig, we went to the cinema to chill out with some 3D-guinea pigs, a mole and a fly. I had my doubts when it was released, but because there wasn't anything else to see for his age at that time, we went and had a good time nonetheless. For parents this movie is a bit too simple and dull (and also a bit worrying because of all the violence and action in it). But for the kids there is a lot of humour and excitement to keep them entertained. Even though there is a overuse of special-effects, it's a nice way for kids to get used to such productions. And the 3D actually was pretty good, I may as well say excellent. This movie made really good use of it and visually it was WAY better than what was used in "The final destination 3D". It actually made the kids grab with their hands in the hands and (at times) scare the shit out of them as they jumped out of their seats!
My kid dug it completely; to me it was better than expected: nice one!

My son's rating: 5 out of 5 cookies

My rating: 6 out of 10

An ex-collegue of mine recently wrote on his blog that he regained faith in the movie industry after watching "District 9". Even though I've yet to see that film, I've regained faith after watching Quentin Tarantino's most recent product "Inglourious basterds"! Quentin keeps doing what he wants to do in his own way, but keeping his respect for the consumers which have paid a ticket to go see his movie. And what he released this time is unchallenged. It's a war-movie, yes, and we've all seen dozens of them. But remember Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown and his other productions? Then you know that you're in for spectacular dialogues, thrilling action, awsome characters and acting and a good story. Quentin once more managed to assemble a wonderful cast of actors and get the best out of them, just as he did with Pulp Fiction. There is one character in special which I would like to mention. It's the role of Austrian actor Christoph Waltzthe, playing Col. Hans Landa. This man is more menacing and creepy than a lot of bad-guys out there. I thought Darth Vader was the baddest, but after meeting this Nazi-colonel I've started to doubt!
This movie is so good and I find it hard to give it a 10 even though I won't do it. It's innovating and close to perfection.
Remember a while ago that I wrote here that I was going to tell you when you should return to the cinema? Well, the moment is here. Go see Inglourious Basterds as this is finally once more the moment to witness a masterpiece on the big screen. And from what I'm able to see, the last one to be seen this year (unfortunately).

My rating: 9 out of 10

I've had a lack of motivation to keep up the reviews here on my blog. Therefore I'm going to write down three of them, as they've been kept inside of me for almost a week now :)

Last weekend I went to see the Belgian production "Suske en Wiske & de Texas Rakkers" with my son. He liked it and from the way he told the whole story to his mother when we got home, I didn't have a doubt. This is indeed a movie for kids, as for me it was pretty boring. I don't know what the producers we're trying to get at (pleasing the elder ones and gaining new fans for the series?!) but the humour in the movie wasn't always understandable by the little ones and could only be interpreted by their parents, but even so it wasn't funny for us.
As this is an animation movie, I expected to see something equal to "Flies to the moon" but it was much worse. There were several graphical glitches to be seen on the screen, which to me felt that the release was rushed and not so professional.
Kids will dig it, especially when it is released on DVD to be seen on a rainy sunday-afternoon...

My son's rating: 4 out of 5 cookies

My rating: 5 out of 10

Tonight I've had a totally new experience in my life. I thought I had seen a lot of horror-movies and I think of myself as a know-know in the genre. But after tonight, I'll have to rethink my personal opinion. I've witnessed the most shocking, disturbing, gross, confronting, sick and sadistic horror ever! Actually, you can call it a drama too...
Pascal Laugier, the director of Martyrs, was going to take on the remake of the first "Hellraiser", but a while ago it was announced that he left that project, much to the dislike of Clive Barker who was very fond of Pascal's expertise. Clive was pissed off actually, because he had seen Martyrs too and found Pascal to be THE person able to remake Hellraiser in Clive's vision. After reading this news I started my search for Martyrs out of curiosity, because for Clive to state something like that it had to be true... This French production rocks!

Martyrs is hard to recommend. You must be sick in a way to see this. You must be able to endure the visual torture which jumps off the screen. At times you'll find it hard to keep your eyes on the screen. And believe me, the plot summary on IMDB lifts just a piece of the veil. Because when the story starts rolling, it will only stop in a crazed frenzy of pain, blood and depravity.
Not for the weak ones; this horror is for a select few. Watch it at your own risk!

To me, it's one of the best movies I've seen this year!

My rating: 8 out of 10

Last night I was talked into seeing "The final destination 3D" and boy did I enjoy myself! It is a movie filled with beautiful people, who look stupidly into the camera and call it acting. This movie (actually, the whole series) is all about how the next person is going to die, just like "Saw" (which also started sucking after part 1). Everything in between the deaths is tedious, boring and towards the end it's lost any thrill the movie might have had and you just want the movie to get it over with. It lacks story, depth and intelligence. This is just a gore-fest (if you can call it that!) for beginners, as the crowd was mostly under 18 and showed their appreciation when people got to their end. The 3D doesn't add anything to this movie, except an itch on your nose from the glasses. Stay away if possible!!!

My rating: 3 out of 10

Tonight we finished watching the eight-episode long show "The kill point". I came by it occasionally and when I read more about it, it attracted me even though the story seemed to be the standard "cops and robbers"-story.
In a big way it was, but because it is stretched into a mini-series, a lot of tension, action, twists and humour is added. In the end we (my wife and I) felt attached to all the characters and were hoping for a good ending for any of the sides.

The story?! A group of five men assault a bank and while they're retreating outside to the escape-vehicle, they get in the middle of a shoot-out, which forces them back inside the bank. There, they're confronted with the need to take all civilians present hostage to get out alive from this situation. Soon a negotiator is present to deal with the felons and thus ensues a game of cat and mouse between the negotiator and the leader of the pack. But little do the cops know, as they soon will find out that they're dealing with a group of military veterans, who recently returned home from serving in Iraq...

The show is fast-paced and filled with action. But I want to express my respect to the actors, as their performance was excellent. Donnie Wahlberg (yes, him!) and John Leguizamo delivered an great job as the main characters. Recommended!

My rating: 8 out of 10