Scribblings

Review: Millions

Danny Boyle's latest movie, Millions, plays around a bit with the idea of what would happen when one day you find a big bag full of money. It's a concept that has been the basis for many a slapstick comedy, but Boyle takes the premise and turns it into a surprisingly deep family movie that lingers in your mind long after the credits have rolled.

Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Entering the IMAX theater in Amsterdam to watch the new Harry Potter movie, I was a little bit worried. Not so much about the quality of the movie, more about the other people in the theater. It was, after all, a sunday afternoon and the huge auditorium was packed with kids, many of them well under the minimum age limit. Visions of kids crying, yelling or getting up to go to the bathroom flashed through my mind, but the next two and a half hours showed that Harry Potter truly is a wizard: save for laughter at the many funny moments, as well as gasps whenever something amazing happened on the screen, everybody was silent, in awe of what was unfolding before our eyes.

So stupid it could be fun, part 1: Blades of Glory

In this new irregular feature, I will keep an eye on movies that have been announced, where you will probably scratch your head and think to yourself: that sounds kinda stupid. But then when you give it a little bit more thought, it turns out it might not be such a bad idea after all. Case in point: Blades of Glory, a new figure skating comedy starring Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) and Will Ferrell. The two comedy stars “feature as a pair of world class men’s figure skaters who are banned from the sport after their disgraceful brawl during the Winter Games in Salt Lake City.” They then go into obscurity for three years, only to realize that there is a loophole that will allow them to participate in the next winter Olympics. The only snag is: this loophole means they will have to join forces in the competition for pairs...
Just reading this plotline will probably make 50 percent of the potential jokes for the movie flash before your eyes. There will be lots of awkwardness, grabbing in places where men don’t like to be grabbed by other men, and bickering to see who will play the female part of the skating couple. Still, it could be fun, since Will Ferrell are amongst the funniest people in movies and maybe their combination of talents will be able to at least make the other 50 percent of the movie unexpected and fresh. One more hint this might be good: Ben Stiller is co-producing. At least he and Owen Wilson are not in the leads.

Review: Stateside (2004)

Stateside is a movie that shows glimpses of what could have been an emotional and intense drama, but which ultimately left me cold. It deals with a spoiled rich kid who causes a serious car accident, leaving his local Catholic priest paralyzed. His influential father is able to keep him out of jail, but only if he agrees to join the army. Reluctantly the kid agrees, gets the rough treatment from his drill sergeant (a pretty good role by Val Kilmer) who does not like spoiled little rich kids. Then during one of the times when he is on leave he meets with a girl who suffers from schizophrenia, falls for her with a passion and sees that same passion returned. He does not seem to realize how mentally sick his new lover is, though, which leads to much heartbreak.
It’s all not as sugary as it sounds, but it’s not really involving either.

Top Ten Best Moviegames ever

When you think of videogames and movies, you wonder why their relationship is not a bit better. Whenever a new movie based on a videogame is announced, this mostly just elicits groans from fans, while games based on movies are often not received much better. Sadly, for gamemovies, this bad reputation is deserved. There are only a handful gamemovies that can be considered passable, while the rest is mostly nothing more than an easy way to cash in on a franchise that has already proved it's popularity. It's frustrating to say the least, but maybe with the upcoming Halo-movie, to be produced by Peter Jackson, things will change.
Moviegames are a whole different story. While the majority of games based on movies is uninspiring (not even bad, just blah), there are plenty of moviegames that are well made, exciting and a great way for people who love a certain movie to expand the enjoyment they got out of the material. This has been shown again very recently, with the release of both The Warriors and King Kong, the latter one argued to be the best movie game ever. The time has come to make a list of the best moviegames out there. It was easy to come up with ten names for this list, and I could even have made a top twenty without having to scrape the barrell. The final rankings are based on the critical reaction a game has received, with a little bit of my own opinion thrown in for good measure. The ten following moviegames will entertain you without problems, and even with the movie license stripped away they would still be highly enjoyable.

Review: Sky High

I've always wondered why there are no superheroes in real life. They are so present in everyday popular culture, that you would expect that there would at least be one person who dons a cape like Batman and then goes on to fight crime. You know, some rich millionaire who is bored with his everyday life (murdered parents optional), who then builds a cave in his basement and starts using all sorts of high tech gadgetry to put a stop to violence. Or at least somebody in a spandex suit who climbs on top of a high building and then yells: Evildoers, beware! However, no matter how many movies, videogames and comic books are published about superheroes. nobody has shown the guts to become a superhero of their own. A shame, really, but then again, when you see a movie like Sky High you are happy that superheroes don't exist after all.

Scarlett Johansson in Amazon Warrior movie shock!

[movies] Ask your typical Scarlett Johansson fan (or any man with a pulse) in what type of movie they would like to see her someday, and chances are that there will be plenty of answers along the lines of 'some Amazon warrior type thing'. Well, all those people will be more than happy with the news that Johansson is indeed planning to act in a movie just like that. Apparently, during the shooting of The Island, Johansson has expressed an interest to be in a revealing gladiatrix-outfit (settle down) for the duration of a movie and the scriptwriters who were present immediately jumped at the opportunity. The plotline goes something along the lines of 'a gladiatrix from 200 BC exacts vengeance on an army that destroyed her homeland', but I'm guessing that just showing her on a poster in the type of outfit that Red Sonja used to wear is enough for a guarantee of long lines in front of the cinema on opening day. And not just men of course, because lets not forget that this will be a strong female character who takes no shit and who shows all the sexist men from her time that women can handle their own just as well. There: a good excuse to convince your girlfriend to join you on opening night.

INTERVIEW: The Love Bug Rides Again

[interview, movies] Herbie, the lovable little VW Beetle, has many fans all over the world. Not many of these fans are as enthusiastic as Dave Evans though. He is the man behind the Herbie the Love Bug Fan Club and Historical Society and has his very own Herbie to drive around with. It is clear that Dave loves the movies and the car, and he goes out of his way to help other Herbie fans out. I interviewed him to coïncide with the release of Herbie: Fully Loaded on DVD.

DVD-Review: Herbie Fully Loaded

[dvd, reviews] I've always liked the Herbie movies. I can remember seeing the old ones as a kid and finding them hilarious. Sure, they were a little bit predictable and a little too sweet here and there, but whenever they were shown on TV I made sure to check them out, no matter how many times I had seen them before. Of course, I mostly liked the movies with the original driver, Dean Jones, in them. Later movies with other actors just did not feel the same, so I was a little worried about this remake, even though it has a pretty cool cast of actors. Well, I shouldn't have worried: Herbie still has the moves to make me smile.

INTERVIEW: There's a hero inside everyone?

[movies, interviews] When you think of superhero movies, you mostly think of huge, big budget affairs with a lot of flashy special effects and big name actors and actresses in cape and spandex. Canadian movie maker Michael Sparaga proves that you can do without all these elements. His independently made 'Sidekick' has been very well received on the independent festival circuit and shows that, when you have a lot of talent and creativity, you can make your own movie and see it become successful.