andredejongh Reviews

The Idea of You (2024)

Well acted! Should have been directed by Nancy Meyers though

[7/10 · 3 May 2024]

It's hard to believe this is made by the same director who made the excellent The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) ... It starts of too clean ... too sterile. And somehow it doesn't let go of this. Which, if Nancy Meyers would have directed it, would have worked. From the hotel scene on there's some more umpf but it still stays sterile. Script wise there are some problems also. And it's not only the flow of this film, which is rather a disturbed flow. But also some dialogue, and character developments. The daughter and the new lover of the ex-husband are staying too one dimensional. There's talk about feminism in this film. But if you notice how director Michael Showalter's male gaze goes all over Anne Hathaway's body, the feminism flies out of the window. Of course Hathaway should be able to play adult sexuality and show nudity and real passion. She does it well, it's not about that. I think she should do more raw emotions like that. But director Showalter is objectifying Hathaway and not Nicholas Galitzine. Anne Hathaway's character is wearing a shoulderless top at one point. And it's filmed as such that it seems she's standing naked there in front of the camera. Again, this would not bother me at all if the artistic intention felt right. Like in a more realistic drama like how Jessica Lange is all sensual and lustfull in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), or again in the hands of Nancy Meyer where in her hands a clean stylised approach would work. Script wise I think you're not being a good mother when you break up with someone whom you really love so that your daughter doesn't have a difficult life at highschool because the people around her behave terrible. At 40 Hathaway's character most know that true love is hard to find. To just quit real love just because society around you is harassing you and your family, isn't a good move. There's real chemistry between Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galatzine. They both give a really good performance. But the script is lacking, the director is just objectifying too much, he's lacking emotional insight and there's too much perfect hair and make-up going on. Hathaway looks too perfectly groomed ... a bit less, a little bit more realism would have been much better. I would wish for a remake where Hathaway isn't being objectified in that one love making scene but still could be just as true to her character's sexual experience. It's not about showing nudity I'm bothered with. Not at all. II's about the intention, the idea behind it all. Director Michael Showalter isn't showing lots of depth. I loved the performance of the two main actors in this film, only they made it worth my while. I believed their emotions.

Savior Complex (2023)

(Evangelical) Savior Complex, times three

[8/10 · 28 September 2023]

Very well produced documentary.... It is not sensational and tells the story calm and collected.... The three key players are three white evangelical American women: Renee, the one who founded Saving His Children, who has had a mediocre high school education via home schooling where her mum taught her (Renee hasn't got a clue about colonialism, never heard of the word, she can't even pronounce the word and doesn't probably even know the concept) at home and who is trying to save black children in Uganda via donations from predominantly white evangelicals whom she approaches and informs via social media. Then we have Kelsey who used to be like Renee but then changed course and tries to save black people from white saviors with donations from a mixed following, whom she informs via social media and then we have white savior number three: legal nurse Jackie who is just as evangelical and wants to save black Ugandan society from mal practice by the other white savior: Renee.... White American women, all from rural USA, all brainwashed their entire lives by Christian organised religion and all three of them continu the white christian tradition of going to African countries as missionaries to directly or indirectly teach the white christian gospel and pretending to help save the non-whites. When having watched all episodes I think all three women meant well, even Renee. Renee is medium literate and finally found her calling in life, she wants to do good (pushed to do so by her life long indoctrination with white christian organised religion in a rural, relatively isolated and privileged white American culture) and really thinks she's doing all she can. But of course she oversteps a line by behaving like a nurse or doctor due to her lack of education and lack of intellectual abilities. She should just have been organising and delegating and let all the trained nurses and doctors do the practical medical work. At first you think that Kelsey and Jackie are doing good to go after Renee, but then quickly you realise they are also fulfilling the role of the white savior and they are trying to tell the Ugandan people what and who is right or wrong... and the No White Saviors organisation is just angry and in stead of building organisations that really help the people of Uganda they are playing saviors who want to free Uganda from white people without any other structural support for a population in need.... which at first seems sympathetic until you realise that they are just being angry and not helping society, not helping the poor women and children of Uganda who are poor, poorly educated, mal nourished and who have, as women not many rights within Ugandan society.... No White Saviors also depends on gifts and funding to be able to exist.... In the end the poor aren't being served and everyone is just serving themselves... In the mean time, thanks to colonialism, Ugandans who are LGBTQi+ are in danger to end up in prison or to get capital punishment, before the Brits occupied Uganda it was not illegal and an integral part of society, but the Brits with their religious puritan colonisers changed Ugandan society for the worst... many of their white laws still are law in Uganda... White people to do good out of name of religion are a plague.... they are not there to really help, they are there to do their god's work to be better cult members (and to make a living in the mean time) and they want to convert the others into their believe system...

Lady Chatterley's Lover (I) (2022)

Beautiful, solid execution!

[10/10 · 7 September 2023]

I avoided seeing this film for a long time. I love for example 'Io Sono L'Amore' ('I am Love) by Luca Guadagnino, which has quite some Lady Chatterley's Lover theme going on. That film is perfection. I remember also seeing a kitschy film version of Lady Chatterley's Lover from like the 1970's which didn't work for me at all. But this 2022 version hits all the right spots. It is so much more than about the eroticism, it is about class society, industrialisation, a ruling class exploiting the classes below them and treating them like cattle, women being used as vessels to produce an heir, the disdain of the upper class for all the other classes below them. The book itself created a big scandal. It had to be produced in Florence, Italy and it could not be sold in bookshops. It was covered in a neutral cover and you had to order it. Anyway, this film is directed by a woman, the music is by a female composer and many other key positions were executed by women. Someone in here wrote in a review that the scene where they dance naked in the rain wasn't erotic. On the contrary. It was very erotic, and beautifully done at the same time. To be honest some scenes were almost soft porn. But the actors know how to make it about emotions and feelings and not about carnal lust. The love making scenes are not designed to arouse the audience, but to make them feel passion and desire. But, we are a 21st century audience, for us to like feel a bit of a 'oh la la' sensation we need to be pushed a little bit more than in the past. Most of us are used to getting and seeing shocking images or erotic arousing content, we are used to nudity and pornography being omnipresent. So the director needed to push the envelope a bit. This film is not a pornographic film though. But a modern general audience is used to so much more than they were used to in the past. And I was pleasantly surprised to see that the actors went full frontal. Because I think nudity isn't something bad or to be ashamed of. And above all it fits the romantic ideas in this film, being connected to nature, shedding of all your clothes and balast and being cleansed by nature, by the rain. And because I think it is a good antidote for the far right, extreme right, fascist forces which are trying to root into our modern societies. This film is a true romantic story, with beautiful intimacy of two young lovers, finding their true nature with each other, across class borders. The reviewer who said the rain scene wasn't erotic also said this film is a suburban adaptation of the book and that the Oliver character was not hairy, masculine or tough. Equaling the smooth skinned Oliver character to being effeminate. When you say this after seeing this film, you are so not getting the overall meaning of this story. Not sure who he or she saw but I saw a 'real man', an educated man with self pride and with agency. Calling this film suburban is hautain, it's snobbery, and doesn't show much real insight from the reviewer. I am glad I watched the film. Passionate, well paced, beautifully acted. A film with many layers and social critique. And most of all a story told and made by many women. Beautiful, moving, and hopeful. NB. I really love the costuming in this film. On par with the time around and after the First World War. Especially the upperclass women became more independent, more 'masculine' so you want, meaning more freedom, driving cars, being independent and more free. Just like how the upper-class started traveling the world as tourists early on for the masses to follow. It were also the upper-class women who had the means to take the risk of being more independent, more free. And you see this very well in this film. Connie's sister driving the car, supporting her sister but she is also sensitive still for the consequences of her actions on conservative society. And as another side-note (I am trying to type this review as quickly as possible) we see that the lower classes are accepting of the love story between the two lovers, they respect Connie and Oliver because they are honest and open. It is the upper-class friends who we see talking bad about it and who are even ignoring Connie.

And Just Like That... (2021– )

It is good, it is really good... and perhaps better than Sex and the City

[10/10 · 21 August 2023]

FIRST: DO ME A FAVOUR.... click on the profile names of the one star reviews telling us this is oh so bad. Many of those have just ONE REVIEW, and that is for this series! So it is safe to presume that these are people with an agenda. An Anti-Woke agenda.... Always click on profiel names to see if they are honest and true enthusiasts, reviewing a film or series out of passion, going back years of reviewing, here on IMDB. If you see profiles with just reviewing one or a few productions on the past like year then mostly they are here to write down negative (or positive for that matter) reviews because a production doesn't agree with their world views, or their politics. I didn't click all profile names of the reviewers here, but the first 5 bad ones, all had ONE REVIEW.... and that's the review for 'And Just Like That'. It is safe to say that these are extreme right conservatives who don't want others to exist, who are anti non-binary people, who are anti homosexual people, relationships, who are anti interracial relationships et cetera. They want to annihilate everyone who is not just like their small minded selves. I am telling you, this is really good.... all the characters, the story lines, the twists.... I see a production made by people who know and who love what they are doing... real emotions, real characters... with a bit of romance and fairytale when looking at fashion and the romanticised life in NY.... but they do the fashion so so good.... and we all fall in love with NY.... what Woody Allen started with his love songs on New York... Sex and the City and now 'And Just like that' continu this view... I say this is even better than Sex and the City because we see so much more real people, more diversity, more real life people.... and no, it is not woke... it is like life around me.... I hope on many more seasons.... and ideally this goes on for like another 10 years.... let's grow old together....

Dramarama (2020)

Beautiful with an excellent cast! Sequel needed!

[10/10 · 7 August 2023]

Beautiful heartfelt, well acted and well directed film! The actors are exceptional to be honest. I'm sure the director had them practice and do a murder weekend or something before they started actually filming. The group of friends feel so real, the actors are one by one giving such good performances. The script naturally is very well written also giving the actors real people with rounded in depth personalities to play. I genuinely enjoyed this. And of course this calls for a sequel. Really, I insist. With such a superb cast it has to happen. And besides this I really am looking forward to see all the individual actors in other productions. Loved it, go see this film.

Faithfully Yours (2022)

Beautifully executed film...!

[9/10 · 20 May 2023]

I recently also watched the Dutch film 'Mijn Vader is een Vliegtuig' by Antoinette Beumer, that film is all but a skillful film. 'Faithfully Yours' is the opposite: a very well made, well directed, beautifully photographed and well acted film. Really very good. Commercially and artistically a very solid film. At times the script is a bit weak, for example when the chief detective of the Belgian Police reacts in certain ways, but also the fact they don't have a body but still they act the way they are acting. And when you learn that one of the characters broke a foot, you already know where this is leading, if you watched some whodunnits in your life time. But, if you decide to go with the flow, then you have a really well crafted, entertaining film. All the actors deliver. From Bracha van Doesburgh, to Elise Schaap, Nasrdin Dchar, Gijs Naber and Hannah Hoekstra. But a special mention for Matteo Simoni: he has a small part in this film but you feel his character profoundly. His passion and instant love for the Bodil character (played by Bracha van Doesburgh), is impressive. This film is certainly worth your time.

Mijn vader is een vliegtuig (2021)

This film is many things but a skillful film it is not...

[4/10 · 14 May 2023]

This film is many things but a skillful film it is not. The actors are good but they do not get space to carry the story, also not Elise Schaap who is playing the protagonist. Antoinette Beumer, the director, is a big name in film and tv in The Netherlands. She is also a sister of Dutch actor in Hollywood: Famke Janssen. This film is a hot mess. It does not have vision and it has no solid soulful, artistic structure. You can see that Elise Schaap and Pierre Bokma are really delivering as good actors but the director is letting this whole project down. The film is based on Antoinette Beumer's own book with the same title. A story in a book is built on words and sentences. Film is first and foremost a visual language where language and music also play an important role. I don't know what it is with Dutch filmmakers. Sometimes you think: 'Yes, now we are going places!' with a tv-series like 'Oogappels' or even with a series like 'Gooische Vrouwen' (coincidentally both tv-series have Wil Koopman at the creative steering wheel) and often, like in this case, you think: 'Oh, we are stuck in the bad part of the 1980's,' film wise. Or you think: 'This is a complete newbie, still a student, trying to make his or her first film.' I really do not understand how this always can happen within the Dutch film industry. Perhaps Antoinette Beumer is too influential and no one is giving her true honest feedback? I mean, the editing is also so bad: the film drags on and on. It doesn't have speed but it also lacks the cool intentional slowness a really well made film can have. The exhibition of the characters and story is also an unclear mess. As a director you need to have a vision with a clear visual language, with clear visual structural ideas. Here you see some use of metaphors which in fact are a bit childlike, it is not the language of a seasoned visual artist. And really, as a film director you need to be a visual artist and not just the captain on board of a ship. Directing is so much more than telling others what to do. And much more than just coming up with a few metaphors and some ideas without real structural roots. Without a real artistic, idiosyncratic language. I also don't understand why this film was the opening film of the Dutch Film Festival, when the film premiered. I mean, why? The film is not delivering. The actors do their best but the script, the directing, the editing, the soundscapes, it all is underperforming, to say the least. It is a mess. Perhaps some other director could re-edit this film? Make something out of it with real soul? Perhaps very abstract and artistic or otherwise, with some unused footage from the cutting room floor, a real coherent commercial film? Some of the language used, the dialogues between doctors and patients, or other medical professionals, it is so archaic, so not in touch with real life. The dialogues and use of language are often really theatrical and old fashioned. And what's up with the nudeness? I am not a prude, the 'Nymphomaniac' films are excellent for example. But here, the revealing of certain body parts feel so much like a Dutch film from the 1970's or 1980's, many of those films used nudeness in a non-functional way. Here in this film it is also superfluous. This film gets just 4 stars from me. (If you watch 'Faithfully Yours', (2022) by Dutch director André van Duren then you can see the opposite: a skillful, beautifully directed, photographed and acted film)

From Scratch (2022)

Sadly almost unwatchable ...

[5/10 · 19 April 2023]

This series is almost unwatchable.... it is sad really because the story is based on real life. On the memoires of Tembi Locke and her life with Saro Gullo (Lino in the film). The dialogues are really bad, I really am very sorry to say this. I really wanted to like it so much. But three episodes in and I really have to force myself to continue watching it. This is an expensively produced Hallmark production, although it has nothing to do with Hallmark. And often a Hallmark production is very watchable. This is just too irritatingly cringy at times. The dialogues are often too childlike, and the characters are staying one dimensional. The actors playing Lino's parents, Lucia Sardo and Paride Bennasai are the real show stealers until episode three. Their scenes in their Sicilian home are really good. Eugenio Mastandrea, who plays Lino is a very good actor. His talent is wasted in this production. And I am sorry to say that Zoe Saldana is not convincing me. She stays too flat, too timid. There is honestly something weird going on with the ratings of this series. Here on IMDB it gets a 7.9 and in Rotten Tomatoes it is getting 92% of the professional reviewers and 86% from the audience.... I mean Oscar winning films get these scores. And 'From Scratch' really isn't of that level. So what is going on? The thing is I almost feel bad about reviewing this not so positively because the story is about real people, real lives. But it is really not good enough. I am sorry. It is well produced though and it looks lush. Ah... for a while I turned on the Italian dubbing in Netflix, then it becomes a bit better. But, no. (PS. Click on the names of some of the extreme high rating reviewers.... not all, but many of them reviewed just a handful of films and all of them just in the past couple of years... I am not saying something fishy is going on with these reviews but, it is really too highly rated)

Respect (2021)

Gorgeous film! And snubbed at the Oscars, if you ask me

[10/10 · 16 April 2023]

I just watched the film RESPECT, with Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin.... somehow this film totally went under my radar.... I just happened to bump into it on Prime Video.... On IMDB it also just has a score of 6.6 .... unbelievable.... this film is made to perfection..... and an impressive role by Jennifer Hudson.... She wasn't even nominated for an Oscar.... the whole film wasn't nominated for whatever Academy Awards category.... how is this possible? And I just read that Aretha Franklin's family also wasn't pleased with the Oscar snub..... they thought Hudson did a superb job.... I never knew about Aretha Franklin's life.... not about her childhood trauma's and the dominant men in her life.... religion played a big part in her life, growing up in church and with her reverend father.... Liesl Tommy is a superb director.... and she tells the story from a female point of view.... perhaps that is why influential men decided to snub this film? Because most men in the film don't come off positively? .... and even religion is being critisiced by Tommy: a character in the film says that during the religious tours (with Reverend Franklin, Aretha's father) he had the best sex in his life.... and Liesl Tommy respects the important role religion played in Aretha Franklin's life .... but the film ends when Miss Franklin is making her Gospel album, recorded live at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles (as we read during the closing credits, this was her best selling album until then).... but out of focus, in Liesl Tommy's film we see in the scenes, in that church, out of focus behind Aretha, a depiction of Jesus. A huge painting against the wall. Of a white Jesus. His white skin behind Aretha. It is Tommy's subtle way to ask questions about which God and which Jesus these people are praying to... of course it is a white man's God.... a white man's Jesus.... a white Jesus. A white cultural leftover from the white European colonisers who enslaved people from the African continent bringing them to places like what is now the United States, and to South Africa where Tommy is from .... Liesl Tommy of course has eye for the suffering of the Afro Americans and the deep racism from white Americans.... but she counterbalances it with depicting some black men being overly dominant and abusive but also being racist themselves towards white men, musicians in this case.... calling him redneck and many other terms, provoking anger by a never-ending repetition of words. I can imagine that this also doesn't fare well with some people seeing this film. Liesl Tommy isn't painting a black and white picture... she nuances it, without denying the severe racism towards black people... Liesl Tommy is South African-American... a woman of colour telling a story about people of colour... and she dares to also have a critical note about them.... again, without ignoring the systemic racism towards black people.... What I also didn't know is that Aretha Franklin didn't come from a poor working class background (systemic racism probably had me assume that most black artists come from poor backgrounds).... she came from educated middle class, well off people .... It is a gorgeous film.... Jennifer Hudson is excellent... and for sure she deserved at least an Oscar nomination... and I think even a win.... she becomes Aretha Franklin!.... you believe the woman on the screen.... and her voice.... and her strength and her weaknesses and vulnerability .... but overall we see a strong, intelligent woman .... And for sure Liesl Tommy deserved to be nominated.... One thing I didn't like was the dominant presence of the dark vignette surrounding the screen,.... like when I work on my photos in photoshop.... it is too clearly visible... you literally see a vignette .... my guess is it should have been more subtle.... Perhaps on a film screen you don't notice it as much? But on a HD screen it really stands out..... Anyway .... go see this beautiful film. Gorgeous!

Last Ferry (2019)

Good one!

[10/10 · 10 April 2023]

Just read a reviewer complaining about the ending and about the absence of character growth... This film is good as it is.... also the ending....(people apparently don't know what to make of it. But Joseph, the sweet lawyer, came to Fire Island for literally some fire in his life. We already saw him being sexually interested in L's body when L was lying on the bed drunk. When he ran away at the end of the film. He stopped. He realised he wasn't chased. And immediately he sensed something bad probably happened to his new lover, L's best friend. And in that realisation moment he calmed down and looked back at the house, where he was coming from. Looking back at and still being attracted to L. My guess is he returned to the house. To be with L). We learned enough about the protagonists to make the story work... I am not missing any character development here.... the acting was top notch in this one... really extraordinary ... especially Ramón Olmos Torres, who is playing Joseph... he is so natural as this shy, socially awkward young lawyer... He should become a big shot Hollywood actor... And Gabriel Sloyer really splashed off the screen: really good actor ... if someone can act these subtle emotions then you can act... I am really okay with the ending, we can fill it in ourselves... I give it a 10 because the score in here is waaaaayyyyy too low.... Production values were quite good, and the casting was really good... Wished I could see more productions of these people...ah and the nice soundtrack is available to stream on Spotify, I saw ...

What's Between Us (2015)

To be able to be true to yourself you need to sacrifice some aspects of your life

[8/10 · 10 April 2023]

Ursina Lardi is a phenomenal actress, she portrays Alice... This story is about her husband finally following his true identity... as it goes, society often forces people to hide their true selves, and even force them to push it away. Frank has been married to Alice for 20 years... he has always had feelings for men but he admits he loved Alice and he loves the family they created... but the time came for him to not be 'sensible' anymore.... he doesn't want to follow societal rules anymore but he needs to be who he is.... Where most films with this subject tend to focus on the struggle of the man.... here we see the struggle it is for Alice.... She is literally paralysed by hurt... also the children are affected by this.... it is not easy on neither of the members of this nice family... if Frank would continue his life with his wife and children he would make Alice happy but he would sacrifice himself .... if he leaves he sacrifices Alice and will hurt her.... there's no winner either way... It is a joy to watch Ursina Lardi.... she portrays an intelligent woman who is willing to do a lot to keep her marriage together... she doesn't judge her husband for who he is but for what he is doing to her, the traumatic change he is forcefully creating.... She starts to questions everything about her marriage with Frank and wonders if her whole life with him has been a lie.... Nice, heartfelt film.

Happiness Adjacent (2018)

Low budget, all filmed on an iPhone 6S, heartfelt protagonists

[8/10 · 9 April 2023]

If you are able to consume a low budget film with not the best sound, where they probably filmed in real time during a cruise and probably didn't have hours to take and retake and retake and retake scenes to get the best acting performances, they probably also didn't have much time to rehearse.... then this is really a remarkable feature.... all shot on an iPhone 6S (so they said in the opening titles (or was it the closing titles?).... During the film you really get invested in the two characters... especially Ian Dick (yes that is really his name :-D ).... creates a character you really feel.... the connection between the two men you feel also.... then it is almost like you are watching something filmed in real life (which in fact is true) and not a produced slick film.... the editing is really good also... one scene they had to use subtitles because they weren't using microphones and the sound of water was too loud.... All in all a lovely sweet film with two endearing GOOD actors who know to translates emotions well to us viewers.... Lovely...

Downriver (2015)

Impressive piece of cinema

[10/10 · 8 April 2023]

Wow... impressive film... written and directed by Grant Scicluna.... how is this man not like making huge films in Hollywood by now? I watched this film in 2023, while it is from 2015.... It is a beautiful love story really, eventually. Against the background of a social drama and murder mystery... it shows uff how childhood isn't always this sunny happy go lucky existence. Childhood can be unfair. It can be traumatic and profoundly harmful. Your neighbours aren't always your friends. Worse, they can abuse you and use you to hide their own wrongdoings or shortcomings. But the protagonist, excellently portrayed by Reef Island (why this man isn't a big superstar of an actor already is beyond my comprehension) is strong, resilient and determined to literally get to the bottom of it all... I got angry a lot at the abusive people and I cried and felt a lot for the young guys finding love and support with each other. Superb film.... Class A.

Hollywood, je t'aime (2009)

Really good!

[9/10 · 8 April 2023]

Wow... really a hidden gem, this film.... I bumped into it by accident, here in 2023... while the film is from 2009. Eric Debets carries the film with his subtle sensitive acting... but I have to say that the majority of the other roles are excellent also... Michael Arrington and Diarra Kilpatrick are hitting a homerun.... we get to see Hollywood for how it is. Not a glamorous well lit, beautifully filtered town.... but the concrete, palm tree-ed, car filled town it really is.... but with a focus on the people who inhabit this town full of actors and other poor people hoping to get a shot in this hard world of industrial cinema. Friends are important, human relations are important.... but just as important is the city in which these human connections exist... Hollywood is made out of cheap concrete, polluting cars, lots of underpaid people looking for better lives. Paris in this sense has more to offer. The main character Jerôme has a small life also in Paris, with a tiny apartment, but the city itself is more breathable, it is walkable, and more human. I really loved this film. Again, Eric Debets really takes you with him with his subtle, calm, sensitive acting. He would have been very good also in silent movies. A good actor knows how to express emotions without words, how to be a mime artist really. With an even bigger budget this could have become a more mainstream film, like you had the Australian film 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' from 1994, made 15 years prior to Hollywood, je t'aime. They should have made a second part: Paris je t'aime where Norma and and Kaleesha would have visited Paris, and live in it like forever? The actors were perfectly cast: Norma, Kaleesha and Jerôme felt real. I'm missing them already :-D. Lovely film ...

Orpheus' Song (2019)

Beautiful love story

[10/10 · 7 April 2023]

Really a beautiful love story.... Kudo's for Sacha Weingarten and Julien Lickert.... they play really believable characters... the mythical context is a really nice poetic context writer and director Tor Iben gives to the whole story... I love the dreamlike state at times.... I might be wrong but I feel some inspiration from Marco Berger's films? Although Tor Iben has a feel for mythicism, for a fairytale like world with a connection to ancient old stories told for centuries... in this case the great Greek Myths... Both Sacha Weingarten and Julien Lickert portray two very believable men with deep complex emotions. It never becomes corny and never too porny ... it's honest and true... Perhaps they could have made the film a bit longer.... a bit more expansion on some parts of the script. The film is now a bit longer than one hour. I understand the budget was probably tight but I think with a bit more script the film could have become a 1,5 to 2 hour feature film... If you like Marco Berger's films I am sure you will appreciate Orpheus' Song also... Again: perfectly cast!

Kindred (2022)

Script all over the place with hysterical characters ...

[6/10 · 6 April 2023]

I am trying to watch this but ufff... first off: this script is overly dramatic, every character is hysterically crazy.., everyone, from Kevin's sister, to Dana's niece and husband, the neighbors... everyone is suspicious of each other .... everyone travelled over from some B-movie into this ...Malori Johnson isn't giving much but one type of stare... From episode one, from since she met the Kevin character, but also already her conversation with her niece and her husband ... an empty stare all the time.... and also when she switches times she is not behaving like a 21st century woman who is educated and feels free and independent... What's going on here? Bad direction? Bad actors? I mean, most of the characters are soap opera style over the top ... While the subject is such an important one to tell and I am normally into all types of time travel stories. I am not just getting irritated and angry at the white characters who are overtly racist (which is a good thing to get irritated about) but I am getting pulled from this screen-world, back to reality because the actors are acting so grotesque or like the Dana character so static, that I am feeling irritated just by the bad acting, and that script, the suspicious hysteria all the time... you'd think this is a story about some mass psychosis or some virus in the air that makes people go crazy ... and the Dana's mother character.... she's from the twentieth century, right? Stuck there in time for over 12 years? But she is behaving like she is from the 19th century, born and raised. Why? It is all these details not matching up... I am at episode 3... I'll try to finish it, but man...

Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019)

Fresh, funny and profound

[10/10 · 30 March 2023]

Lovely, lovely, lovely film.... it totally went under my radar... I saw the title on Prime Video and just the title made me decide to see the film... no idea why but in a split second I knew this film would be worth my while. I see many film titles and not often it works like this. Most of the time I think: 'nah, probably not'. I didn't know a thing, not who was acting in it or what it was about, but somehow I knew this was a film I'd like... Bernadette is stuck, after quite some traumatic experiences.... she isn't a people pleaser and she isn't overtly social. But she is intelligent, smart, strong, sensitive and above all a very good mother. She lives a secluded life and people don't respond well to it: not her husband, not her neighbours and not the people her husband works with. She has a depression, got subscribed pills to help her, but she knows intrinsically she doesn't need these pills, so she puts all the pills in a big glass jar, she knows she's not crazy and she knows she just needs time. But many people around her try to push her towards psychiatric care, even at a locked health institute showing us that official caretakers or government workers often are out of touch with the people in front of them, reacting from a place of commonplace, from what they have learned, trying to make someone fit within a professional mental health care frame and not trying to see who someone really is ... but she's not having it.... finally she finds her way again. Also watch the closing credits... beautiful how real life connects to this story. If you're an artist you need to create, otherwise you're a menace to society. That's a line in this film, and it sums up what this film is all about. Beautiful.

Arcadia (2023– )

Well produced, slow paced. The first season has a cliffhanger ending, so another season is probably on its way

[8/10 · 24 March 2023]

This is a well produced series... it is slow paced. It probably would have worked much better in an 8 million euro 3 hour film in stead of the 8 million euro 8 part series which it is now.... The sets are beautiful and believable. Lynn van Rooyen as Luz is excellent, I bet we will hear from her more in international productions.... the overall cast is quite good. As this first season ends on a cliffhanger, it means that for the viewer the ending is a bit disappointing.... loose strings are not getting tied for us, apparently we need to wait for more information about the who, the what and the why of Arcadia and the main forces pulling the strings in that society.... the storyline overall is quite okay although at points it becomes really too slow. As said, a 3 hour film probably would have given the whole production a bit more umpf.... Arcadia is still worth your while though, although a bit unsatisfying at times. It is very different from the British production Years and Years, which also is about a dystopian society, but within our current time. Years and Years though, is much more rooted in real people, real relationships and it has a real dynamic way of telling a real story with real ideas, real people.... here the ideas are a little bit more philosophical and the characters are more one- (and a half) dimensional.... Though, again: well produced, gorgeous sets and good actors... For season 2 they need to ask Russel T. Davies (the man who wrote Years and Years) for some feedback.

Last Christmas (2019)

Beautiful script!

[10/10 · 5 February 2023]

What to say? I didn't see the finale coming... I was sobbing towards the end.... Gorgeous film really.... you go along with the hyperactive and chaotic and lost Kate, excellently played by Emilia Clark... you get to learn about her life her parents, her job, her home situation, the man she falls in love with, her friends, her sister. Slowly, bit by bit the story unfolds... we get invested in all these characters and story lines, with Kate in the middle... her sweet new love, her immigrant mother and father, the hidden relationship of her sister and the tensious relationship she has with all of them... slowly we learn more about Kate's childhood and that it is no coincidence she falls in love with Tom Webster. Skillfully writen script by Emma Thomson and Greg Wise. The big finale overwhelmed me... I didn't see it coming... but when I told my mother to watch this film she said she saw it coming at this and that point in the film... beautiful... really beautiful. Well done Emma Thompson and Greg Wise! Write some more scripts! You are so so good at it. And all the actors involved: they are all delivering. Beautiful.

Holiday Harmony (2022)

Really good and refreshing! Promising director...

[8/10 · 3 January 2023]

The film starts as your middle of the road romantic Christmas movie... you think okay, here we go, some über-sweet predictable Christmas film for the next 1 hour something: let's relax. Of course it is more or less predictable, but after a while it is all starting to become really refreshing (!) ... it shakes off the standard hallmark-ish style and all of a sudden some real quality is peaking through. 'What's this?!', I thought 'I wasn't prepared for this' My brain had to adapt... even so much that I feel there's an award winning film in here. Almost! But not yet perfect enough. But as said a really well made, well directed film! I sense the director's quality and the talent he clearly has to direct his actors. They clearly had fun together, they were relaxed and there's some real good director of photography at work and editor. There's also some really good casting going on: the kids for example are excellent actors! I then mean: really really good! Class A. And the music is really, really good with a gorgeous final Christmas song, which I really want to listen to outside of this film. Jeremy Sumpter is a real talent to reckon with, Carla Jimenez has a small part but she displays a really strong character, which also elevates this film. Brooke Shields is giving one of her best performances of the last years, with believable accent and all. I feel that director Shaun Paul Piccinino could be a real big Hollywood director. I just feel it. There are moments where this film shines like a diamond. At times I feel a 'Fame' (1980) like quality, or even some real good cinematic (social) drama. The script isn't perfect though.... The Scarlet story line could have been avoided without losing any of the dramatic arch, it would have been even more dramatic and would have added to the quality feel of this film. And there are more rough edges to be polished. Annelise Cepero has a lovely voice and, like the film, has moments where she is a diamond. She starts out as this light weight Christmas movie character but she has her real strong moments and together with the superb other cast members and the really good energy they apparently had together while filming this film, she grows as an actor. But I predict that within 5 years Shaun Paul Piccinino will win an Academy Award for a superb film. Go see this film, it is a nice feel good film but also very interesting because the film, the director and the production really surprise you as a viewer;. I think we saw the birth here of many new careers (of the director, the director of photography, the editor and probably all of the actors). Brooke Shields has shown her versatility in here and I am sure she's (back) on the radar of many very good Hollywood directors and producers.

Don't Worry Darling (I) (2022)

Very good film!

[10/10 · 8 November 2022]

This is actually a very good film, very well directed, and edited ... and Styles is actually a really good actor ... Olivia Wilde can direct. Perhaps in real life she stood on some big toes and that's why people worked hard to give this bad publicity and nasty gossip ... But this is a film people. Worth your while ... I don't know what mass hysteria is going on for people to tumble over each other to say this is not working, or a bad film or whatever. Nonsense. It just shows how bad publicity works. As said, Olivia Wilde most probably stood on some important toes, important players within the industry. She pissed some people off. If all the bad press about affairs, spitting in Cannes and a fired actor with leaked video were left behind, and this film just silently went on to our screens it would have been much better received. The woman can direct and all the actors involved are doing a great job. Perhaps one scene towards the end is perhaps a bit falling out of flow, but no: Lovely film. It is not a blockbuster, perhaps this is why people have a hard time watching this film? Not following overtly some dogmatic Hollywood frame? It is a beautifully made, and layered film. With substance, vision and craftsmanship. It deserves to be praised. And I am telling you, I was ready to sink this film with passion. I started this film with low expectations, willing to quit it all, after like 25 minutes. I didn't. On the contrary. This film will become a classic in the sci-fi genre. I am glad I watched the film.

My Policeman (2022)

Beautiful and heartbreaking

[9/10 · 6 November 2022]

Beautiful and heartbreaking film. That was Great Britain not too long ago. With these vile dehumanising laws. The film starts slowly. In the uninspiring 1980's. I'm not such a fan of flashbacks. I think they could have better told the story chronologically, starting in the late 1950's. Beautifully shot and directed. Harry Styles, David Dawson, Emma Corin, they all play beautifully. But the same can be said about Gina McKee, Linus Roache and Rupert Everett. It's a gem of a film. A bit gloomy perhaps, but it's a story that needs to be told. In many European countries, until recently, homosexuality was so called 'illegal'. Forbidden. Against the law. Even today there are countries in Europe oppressing homosexuals. One group of people forbidden by another group of people. It's still happening all the time these days. If not homosexuals then it's people with a different religion, gender, people who had to flee war and destitute, women even, transgenders and so on and so forth. There's hate between people. Shame where people shouldn't feel ashamed. Indoctrination people shouldn't listen to because the indoctrinators themselves are no saints. Life is short and lives get destroyed by others. Love between people gets destroyed by others. We should fight the indoctrinators. It never ends. One day you have rights but the extremists can't wait to suppress again. Fight for your rights. Your own rights and the rights of others. Fight for your freedom to love who you want and to be who you want. Literally fight those off who want to restrain you. They are the problem. Not you. And not others. Fight hard, fight mean because if you don't you'll end up in the 1950's again. Or worse.

Uncharted (2022)

Very very very light weight

[6/10 · 20 October 2022]

I don't know... Tom Holland is doing a good job and Marky Mark is doing an okay job. For the rest... I mean...it could have been a much more exciting film. Meaning it isn't now. I think for very young kids until 14 or so this can be like an okay film. But this isn't Indiana Jones nor is it like another 80's adventure comedy like 'Romancing the Stone' or The Goonies. It misses a certain kind of richness, a certain kind of dreamlike exciting adventure. It is like a light weight James Bond (with an excellent villainous Bond girl Tati Gabrielle) with some treasure hunt in there, hinting towards Pirates of the Caribbean. It is a pity. It is perhaps well acted, well edited. But it is all just a bit too bland. I miss passion, I miss humour. It is entertaining without a real heart. Spielberg would have handled this film in the right way. It is a well made film, but that is it. People who know how to do their job, rationally. It needs a soul.

The Scandalous Four (2011)

Excellent premisse with low production value...

[6/10 · 5 October 2022]

I mean... yes... nice premisse, nice plot. Some good actors. And I read that the costume department got awarded. Okay... but.... the production value is a bit low here. It is also very obvious that all the actors had to dub their own voices.... it feels a bit like a film student's exercise. The storyline jumps are at times a bit rough, and the characters are looking a bit too much 'real time'. If you know what I mean. You see actors sitting in a set, with costumes on. It is hard to get lost in this film because you are so much aware that there are actors acting, in sets with costumes on speaking lines from a script. That being said: I think there should be a remake of this film, with a higher budget. I like the idea of an upper-class house where the residents and the servants all live their own free lives hidden from the rest of the world. And of course more problems would arise, which are not shown in here. When servants become equals and hold secrets, they become real people demanding more space, more rights. When done like this, this could be a series.

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

Excellent Actors' Director film

[10/10 · 3 October 2022]

Wow ... just watched 'Bodies Bodies Bodies' by director Halina Reijn ... such a good film! I am not exaggerating when saying that this is an excellent film. I didn't think this of her directorial debut 'Instinct'. I heard good things about 'Bodies Bodies Bodies' but this is such a well crafted film, it exceeded all my expectations. It transcends the horror / slasher / gore-comedy genre. It's a directors' film, comparable to or at least touching the likes of Woody Allen, Luca Guadagnino and a new favourite director of mine (who's also an actress like Halina Reijn): Rebecca Hall. Reijn gives her actors so much space to do what they are good at: acting. It makes that this film is rising above the majority of films out there. Being an actress herself, Reijn is even making fun of herself. Having played Hedda Gabler many times herself on stage, she has one of the protagonists say about the actress character in the film, that she 'wasn't that good' in Hedda Gabler. It's comparable to a Hitchcock moment. Hitchcock often appeared for a few seconds in his own films as an extra. Reijn has her own twist on this and puts a reference to herself in there, verbally, via the script. I'm truly impressed. The film has such a wonderful, creative and skillful surprise ending, you can feel Reijn's talent pouring through. My guess is, she'll be artistically exploding and make many more excellent films. Mark my words. She deserves to get many nominations and accolade's. Being a real actors' director sets her apart, she should keep on making this her trademark.