A long time ago I discovered a wonderful trailer to Cashback, an adaption of an 18 minute short film to a feature film. Yesterday I got time to buy this film and it is one of the most artistic films I’ve ever seen.

The story tells us about Ben Willis, a guy who’s suffering from insomnia due to a recent break-up with his girlfriend. That’s why he takes a job at a supermarket and works the night shift. There, with no sleep for two weeks, he discovers a tremendous gift: the ability to stop time and to draw and unclothe women, for he is an artist drawing still life. This may sound pornographic, but the R-rated imagery in the film is incredibly artistic.

The film is mostly about love and how love is “sometimes hiding between the seconds of your life”. It is a very poetic and charming film. The shortfilm was made two years earlier and was nominated for an Oscar. Later the same team tried to develop a feature film, and with succes. A little known fact that the 18-minute shortfilm has been put in the feature film itself, making it a sort of extended cut. If you want to see a beautifully photgraphed, lyrical and poetical film, this is the one you are looking for.

9/10!

More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460740/

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Me and Thijs Vandenbussche went to see Wall-E yesterday afternoon. We both looked forward to this moment (seeing the film, that is!) and were not disappointed. The film opened with a funny short film by Pixar about a cute little rabbit, a carrot and a mean magician. This was just a starter for what was yet to come.

Wall-E is without a doubt Pixars best creation and the film is no exception. Wall-E is better than Finding Nemo with terrific music with some oldies like Michael Crawford and Louis Armstrong, and the film score composed by Thomas Newman (Finding Nemo, The Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption). Wall-E is the story of a wonderfully curious little robot and the tremendously beautiful searchrobot EVE (a nice hint to the Apple products). Wall-E quickly falls in love and they have a wonderful time, until EVE discovers a secret plant that her people need and she goes back to where she belongs with Wall-E holding onto the spaceship! The story is magnificent and I think I never laughed so much at an animation film like I did at Wall-E.

I thought with The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and recently Ratatouille, Pixar must take a break from the succes. But this is absolutely not true. Wall-E is the best Pixar movie to date and is a real homage to well-known comedians like Charlie Chaplin and brings new life to the science-fiction genre (a great homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey!) If you have the time, GO and SEE this film! It will entertain you immensely. I recently said The Dark Knight was the best film of 2008 so far… but now I begin to doubt. (edit: but even a genius can change his opinion…Wall-e’s proven that it’s always possible to make an even better film than the best one at the moment)

9/10 !

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First my apologies for saying today’s film review would be the Pixar animation film Wall-E, but a slight change in plans..I went to see The Dark Knight…and I can say I’m not disappointed.

As always with my reviews I give my opinion about the film, but not an analysis. I try to avoid spoilers but just let people know if the film’s worth seeing. No doubt about it. Batman Begins was already teriffic but they’ proved they can do even better by making the sequel, The Dark Knight. The film is awe-inspiring and the cinematography is really superb. Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart and the wonderful Maggie Gyllenhaal (that blows Katie Holmes’ performance of the character to hell) are sublime actors.

If this film doesn’t get the late Heath Ledger an Academy Award nomination for his performance as The Joker, then Speed 2 is the best sequel ever made. His performance is truly amazing and psychopathic. He’s just simply amazing. The action sequences are the best I’ve ever seen and the story is solid. But however there are some bad things about it, but nothing to worry about. I felt like Bruce Wayne didn’t have much to do in this film, though it was in the center of Batman Begins. Ok it may not have been necessary, but I would like to have had a bit more Wayne. Apart from that some minor storylines were not really necessary the script was fantastic and very believable.

This is without a doubt the best film of 2008 with terrific music, good story and a superb cast. But does this film earn the number three spot in the IMDb Top 250? I think not. The film should be in the top 250 for sure, but third is overrated. This film is a must see so what are you waiting for? Go see it now!

Greetings,

Michiel

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The Godfather (1972)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola
With: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, James Caan…

The Godfather is without a doubt the best gangster movie ever made. It starts with the aging Don, Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) on the day of his daughters wedding, Connie Corleone (Talia Shire). Her brother, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), has just come back from World War II to come to the wedding. The Corleone family is in the Mafia business, but Michael just wants to lead a normal life. Sollozo is a drugs dealer who tries to get protection from the Corleone family in exchange for money, but Don Corleone turns the offer down, not wanting to have any business with narcotics and drugs. After the denial of this offer the not so pleased Solozzo guns Don Corleone down, nearly killing him, and son Michael has to take over and fight against Solozzo.

This film has an uniqueness to it, and so does the Corleone family. When all Mafia families are all plotting against each other in their own families, the Corleone family has an important difference: loyalty. That’s why we love these characters so much and ultimately care about them. This film is a must see. For long it has been on IMDb’s number one in the top 250, but has now been surpassed by The Shawshank Redemption. Marlon Brando, who received an Oscar for his role, is terrific and brings a wonderful performance. Along with the films great cinematography, cast, editing and fantastic music by Nino Rota this is a classic.

Along with the recognizable image (and voice!) of Marlon Brando and some very memorable lines (I’ll make him an offer he cannot refuse) this Best Picture Oscar winner is worth it.

9/10

Want to decide for yourself whether this film is good or not?
After a bit of searching we came across this film on dvd for just $9.99 at amazon:

We also found the blu-ray version, which was cheapest on amazon too:

This version isn’t cheap, at 79.99 $ , but you get 4 discs for that price ( 2 sequels and 1 bonus disc). It’s been completely restorated, and is definitely of better quality than the DVD version.

(More in-depth reviews coming later!)

Michiel

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