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De enclave (2002)
An accurate and realistic presentation of history: Schindler´s List Part 2
De Enclave is a Dutch TV series about the mass murders in Srebrenica during the Bosnia war. It tells a part of the Bosnia war, personalized in Ibro Hadzic, who lost all of his family there. It begins with the Yugoslavian tribunal in Holland (7 years after the war), when war criminal Darko Bokan is being prosecuted. Ibro Hadzic worked for Dutchbat during the fall of Srebrenica and saw his family being deported. Years later, during the Yugoslavian tribunal in Holland, he works as a translator. While working there, Ibro keeps reliving has awful past and eventually decides to kidnap Darko Bokan. In the last episode, former Minister of Defence Terhoef from Holland goes to visit Srebrenica twelve years after the horrible incidents. There, he discovers some horrifying things...
De Enclave can be seen as a little war history of Holland. It shows the awful mistakes Dutchbat, the UN and the minister of Defence made during the fall of Srebrenica. It's a history Holland would rather forget: it is shocking, unbelievable and I think a whole nation is ashamed about it. In Holland, the complete government decided to step back because of this history! In this series, you can see why they had to step back and you can see one of the biggest mistakes ever made by `Dutch military'. I can assure you, we're not proud of these facts.
Ramsey Nasr gives away a very good performance as Ibro Hadzic. You can really see his personal dramatic history is making him crazy and you can really sympathize with his character. Frank Lammers as Darko Bokan acts very well also. I was a little less satisfied with the acting performance from Johan Leysen as formal Minister of Defence George Terhoef. Though not bad, he didn't act as good as the other two main characters in the series. One of the most famous actresses from Holland, Rene Soutendijk, plays a little role in the third part as the wife of George Terhoef.
The biggest strength of this TV series is the realistic way history is brought to you at the screen. It's very frightening, as the real thing was, and it just tells you how it was there. No Hollywood, no patriotism, just the awful facts. When you look at it, you obviously begin wandering how many lives could be saved if the mandate was better, the UN brought air support or we simple went to Bosnia sooner.
This is the second movie about the UN mission during the Bosnia war. The first was the BBC TV film `Warriors' , which is an absolute masterpiece on my opinion. Warriors is about the English UN soldiers. If you want to know about the Dutch work there, take a look at De Enclave. Both movies are incredible accurate, precise and realistic. The negative side of the Enclave is that it's a Dutch production, which limits the production budget and possibilities. This makes it a little low budget series, but on the other hand, makes it very realistic.
Anyway, I think anyone who's interested in history should watch this, especially people in Holland. If I'd have to describe it in short:...Schindler´s List Part 2!
The Shipping News (2001)
Brilliant actor´s performances, very good plot
The Shipping news is about a person who had a very bad childhood and is left without good communicating skills (Kevin Spacey). After having the one romance in his life with a kind of hooker person slut (Cate Blanchett), she gets pregnant and they get a child. After having a couple of miserable years in which she still plays the hooker type and has no love for the child or him, Spacey ends up alone with his child after a fatal accident his child's mother had. When he meets his aunt, he leaves with her and his child to his ancestors´ home village. There, he finds out the truth about his ancestors
This is a great movie from beginning to end. The actor's performances are extremely good. Kevin Spacey again acts his ass off and I was deeply moved by his appearance. Another great actor in this movie is Julianne Moore. She seems to pick very good movies to play in and gives away a very strong performance again, I'm really on the way with becoming a big fan of hers. Cate Blanchett, as always, acts very good also. The rest of the cast was also great, nothing but good acting in this movie. This movie really deepens the main character, which is a very big pro by me. The story is brought to you a bit fast though, so you have to keep paying attention. The plot is very, very good and very moving. Watching the movie, you haven't got a clue where the story is going, but I can tell you it goes somewhere! Another very positive thing about the movie is the sound track. It's very beautiful and goes well with the story and landscapes.
SPOILING TIME:
At the end, the Quoyle´s house falls during the very big storm. Bunny (Spacey´s child) sees that, but at exactly the same time, Quoyle finally goes to Wavey to show his love to her. The fact that that happened at the same moment was because with the house blowing away, Quoyle´s hunting past also blows away and he can finally be with another women.
NOT SPOILING ANYMORE:
So, after playing in some masterpieces, Spacey did it again. He now comes up with a very good not-Hollywood-type of movie. His next movie, K-Pax, is also very good and Spacey is on his way to become a really legendary actor, maybe even the best of his generation. Julianne Moore is becoming someone to watch more and more and Cate Blanchett keeps interesting me. In sum, this is a very good movie if you love a good plot, good acting and deepened characters. If you just want to watch a Hollywood movie with action, don't go see it: this movie deserves more than that. 8 out of 10. A very big eight!
The Scorpion King (2002)
Disappointing plot, (under) average acting, though amusing (5/10)
The Scorpion King is to be seen as a sideway of the plot of The Mummy Returns. It's about an Akkadian guy (the Rock) who saved rebellions from the evil ruler Memnon. When you hear this story you could think it´s a very interesting plot, but as you see the movie, you learn that there's really nothing really more about this story then the facts above. I'm sorry, but that's just not enough to make a good movie! The biggest disappointment about the movie came when I found out how he gets to be called the Scorpion King: he gets hit with scorpion venom, and he survives. He gets called a scorpion king just for surviving the venom (and have scorpion's blood flooding in his body for the rest of his life). Again: it's just too simple man! The acting in this movie isn't very good either: The Rock doesn't speak very much in the movie, and we can all see why: he just can't act. The rest of the actor's performances is nothing more then average. So, we have a really disappointing story outline plus we have bad to average acting. But why though did I enjoy myself watching the movie? Yes, I was entertained and I did have enough fun watching the movie. Well, I think it's because it is a entertaining movie: It has many good action, much humor and some good pictures. So, in sum, if you just see The Scorpion King as an entertaining movie, you could have a fun evening. But don't
and really don't expect to see a movie with good acting, a good plot and unpredictability. As to be entertained is just not enough for a movie to get a good grade from me, I give this movie a 5 out of 10. It could as well be a 4, but as I told, I was amused, and that's worth something
but not everything.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Outstanding plot, brilliant actor´s performances
It tells the pretty complex story about a big robbery. There are five suspects for the crime and during the movie, everything gets far more complicated. The story is told by one of the suspects: the cripple Verbal Kint, which is played by Kevin Spacey. Spacey´s actor´s performance is so incredibly brilliant, that one would say he´s the leading star of the movie. But no: they all play brilliant! The actor´s performances of every single one person in this movie is really outstanding. The scene where Verbal walks into the office of the police officer, sits down and looks around is great! When you´ve seen the movie, you know why! As the story goes further, we learn that there´s one person who committed the crime: Keyser Soze. He´s a mythical person, who´s almost been never seen by anyone and is very, very dangerous. From that point on, the big question of the movie is: who of the suspects is Keyser Soze? So, the movie is a really `who did it' type of movie. Normally, those movies aren´t really original, but this one
..really is original. The plot is one of the best I´ve ever seen and the ending is THE best ending I´ve ever seen. The most beautiful thing about it is that after watching it once, you want to watch it a second time immediately. The second time you watch it, you see it from a totally other perspective, because you know who did it. The acting is also in a double kind of way: some scenes can be interpreted in two ways (before and after you know). So, in sum, this movie is brilliant, one of the best ever. As a matter of fact, The Usual Suspects is rated 4th on my personal `best ever movies' list. Kevin Spacey is one of my most favourite actors, mainly for his acting in The Usual Suspects and American Beauty (and let´s not forget The Negotiator and K-Pax). To people who didn´t see Usual Suspects jet: immediately run out of your house, get a copy and watch it, if you want to call yourself a movie lover, you really should´ve seen this one!!
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Great for people who have been reading the book
The books about Potter are absolutely great. So, this movie begins with an extreme advantage: a great plot is already written. The disadvantage is that these books are very popular and thereby everyone would compare the movie with the book. To make everyone happy is an almost impossible task and I would say this movie didn´t achieve in that, but.....they get really close. Many plots, characters and little things out of the book are there. The only thing is, that they couldn´t work out all the characters at a deep level. Thereby, you sometimes miss things on the screen you did read. On top of that, I really missed "Peeves"; the bully poltergeist. But, John Cleese as "Sir. Nearly Headless Nick" was very funny. For me, one of the best parts was the Quidditch game. They really made it look great. Also, the surroundings are great: you really see Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, Privet Drive and Gringots. Especially Gringots, the bank which is run by Goblins looks brilliant. For people who have been reading the first book, watching this movie is a wonderful experience; you see everything come to life. And, at the end of the day, they did really stay close to the book, not changing much. For people who didn´t read it, I think, the movie isn´t really good. I strongly advise to those people to first read the book and watch the movie after that. For me, watching it was a pretty intense experience: I really loved all the books and have much sympathy witch Harry and his friends (and enemies). The actors performances aren´t outstanding, but not bad also. The special effects were sometimes pretty good, sometimes at a medium quality, but also sometimes just not good enough. I mean, don´t expect a quality like Lord of the Rings (LOTR). Last, comparing the Potter movie to LOTR, I dare to say that LOTR wins every imaginable contest with the Potter movie. But, LOTR is something so special, so perfect and brilliant, that every movie loses it to Frodo and his friends. So, in sum, Potter isn´t by far in the same league as LOTR, but it still is a pretty great movie to watch. I´m already waiting for The Chamber of Secrets....
We Were Soldiers (2002)
Great action, but too much Hollywood and patriotism!
"Finally, there´s a big vietnam movie again!" That´s what I thought before I went to the cinema. But, to be honest, this title didn´t meet my expectations. It´s about one of the very first missions of the USA army in Vietnam, where they had pretty more difficulty fighting the vietcongs than they had expected..... The big problem with this movie is that there´s too much Hollywood and USA-patriotism in it. In that way, the picture you get by watching this isn´t the good picture. Everything is seen, as usual, from the American point of view. On top of that, I couldn´t see Mel Gibson as a Vietnam soldier. I just had too many associations witch characters like he plays in the Lethal Weapon series. Of course, he also played in the classic Braveheart as a real strider, but in We Were Soldiers, the picture of him as a leading figure in Vietnam just didn´t fit. There are some things I have to say in defense of this movie: it has great action and sounds. On top of that, they use new camera techniques I´ve never seen in a war movie, which is pretty great to watch. So, in sum, if you want to see a movie which is quite simple, has a lot of action and good camera shots, you should watch this movie. If you love a good script and want good actor performances, don´t go see it. No, I´m sorry, I can´t recommend this movie.
Memento (2000)
One of the most original movies ever!
For people who love to see movies with excellent scripts, psychologic effects and complicated plots, this movie is a must see one! The movie is about Lenny, who suffers from Anterograde Amnesia. This is a memory disease which enables the sufferer to make new memories. So, every day, he experience everything totally new. For example, every human being he has met after his disease onset is seen by him as a totally new person to meet. With this disease, he hunts the people who murdered his wife. The most brilliant thing about this movie is that it is played totally backwards: when the movie starts, you see the final scene. After that, the movie takes you back, scene by scene, to the beginning. In this way, the movie makes you experience it a bit like Lenny. You have to orientate everytime the movie goes one scene back, which makes this movie a bit complicated to follow. But, I can tell you, you will get rewarded with an absolute brilliant ending (or beginning!). Last but not least, Guy Pierce, who´s playing Lenny, gives away his best actors performance of his career so far. After having actors like de Niro and Pacino, we finally get a couple of new great actors in Hollywood.I would say that we have waited long for new great actors, but after Kevin Spacey and Russel Crowe, we´ve got two coming men: Edward Norton and the leading man of this movie: Guy Pierce. To movielovers I dare to say: don´t miss Memento and keep a close watch to Guy Pierce, he really is a coming man.
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
One of the best movies of 2001!!
The year 2001 brought us movie lovers some excellent titles to watch. A Beautiful Mind can be placed along that names, on my opinion. It´s a realistic psychologic movie about a man who´s suffering from schizofrenia. There are a couple of thing that makes this movie great. First of all, the movie makes you understand a little bit how someone who has schizofrenia experience the world. Second, the two leading actors performance (Nash-Russel Crowe-and his wife) is really outstanding. By my opinion Crowe deserved a second Oscar for this performance. The third reason this movie is excellent is that the movie really does something with you; watching this movie certainly should be an emotional experience witch takes you in the life of John Nash, former Nobel price winner. Last, it´s a true story, which gave me an extra dimension to this movie. So, I can recommend this movie to anyone who´s kind of good movies, with a great script and excellent actor´s performances. Aragorn22