December, 15th

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

William Shatner … Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Captain Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy
James Doohan … Captain Montgomery “Scotty” Scott
Walter Koenig … Commander Pavel Chekov
Nichelle Nichols … Cmdr. Uhura
George Takei … Captain Hikaru Sulu
Kim Cattrall … Lieutenant Valeris
Mark Lenard … Ambassador Sarek
Grace Lee Whitney … Commander Janice Rand
Brock Peters … Admiral Cartwright
Leon Russom … Starfleet Commander in Chief
Kurtwood Smith … Federation President
Christopher Plummer … General Chang
Rosanna DeSoto … Azetbur
David Warner … Chancellor Gorkon
John Schuck … Klingon ambassador
Michael Dorn … Colonel Worf

Synopsis: Three months until Captain Kirk and most of his senior staff go into retirement. Sulu has got his own ship now, the Excelsior. But then the klingon moon Praxis explodes. This polutes the atmosphere of the klingon homeworld Qo’noS (Kronos). The Klingons have no choice but to negotiate a peace treaty with the Federation. But there are forces in motion that want to prevent that this happens.

My Opinion: “There will be no peace as long as Kirk lives” (Star Trek IV). This time one had to fear that they mean it. VI is my favourite movie of the old Star Trek series. There is a great final battle but that’s not the end but is marking a new beginning.
Nicholas Meyer is directing a Star Trek movie for the second time after II and he did again an excellent job. Besides being the director he also worked on the screenplay for II, IV and VI and thus for three of the five best Star Trek movies.

January 2010

November, 3rd

Rambo

Sylvester Stallone … John Rambo
Julie Benz … Sarah
Matthew Marsden … School Boy
Graham McTavish … Lewis
Jake La Botz … Reese
Tim Kang … En-Joo
Paul Schulze … Michael Burnett

Synopsis: In Burma a civil war is causing countless deaths on a daily basis. But John Rambo isn’t interested in war anymore. He lives a quiet life in Thailand and doesn’t care about the world. But one day christian missionaries want to rent his boat to get into that war zone. And when they don’t return he does what he was born to do.

My Opinion: A very bloody movie. Make sure you have a bucket under your TV to catch all the blood that is dripping out of it. But it’s also a very honest movie; it does not hide or glorify the truth of battle. After the first, this is the best Rambo movie and it brings the story full circle. I don’t think Stallone should make another one. Just like with Rocky he finished the story of the character in a satisfying way and he should leave it at that.

BTW: Check out the body count chart.

November, 5th

V for Vendetta

Natalie Portman … Evey
Hugo Weaving … V
Stephen Rea … Inspector Finch
Stephen Fry … Deitrich
John Hurt … Adam Sutler
Tim Pigott-Smith … Creedy
Rupert Graves … Dominic

Synopsis: England has become a totalitarian society. The world lies in ruins but “England prevails”. The High Chancellor -with the help of his Fingermen – rules with absolute power. Anyone who opposes him gets incarcerated and/or killed. But then there’s V. V is more than a man. V is an idea and you can’t kill an idea.

My Opinion: For me this will always be 1984 Part II. I always enjoyed the special irony that John Hurt played the protagonist in the original movie has become the antagonist in this one. I also love V’s blunt honesty. Actually I love everything about the character and Hugo Weaving’s portrayal of him. E-V was great, too.
Stephen Fry became a relevant name to me when he read the British Harry Potter audio books and this was the first time I ever saw him. I didn’t even know he was an actor until that time. Since then I have watched a lot of Youtube videos with him (and Hugh Laurie),

And for those of you who had difficulties to understand V’s elaborate style of speaking, here’s a translation.

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

November, 13th

Babylon 5: In the Beginning

Bruce Boxleitner … John J. Sheridan
Mira Furlan … Delenn
Richard Biggs … Stephen Franklin, M.D.
Andreas Katsulas … G’Kar
Peter Jurasik … Londo Mollari
Theodore Bikel … Lenonn
Reiner Schöne … Dukhat

Synopsis: In the Earth year 2278 the emperor of the Centauri Republic, Londo Mollari, is telling the story of the great Earth-Minbari war that nearly led to the extinction of mankind. A misunderstood gesture made an Earth Alliance cruiser fire upon a Minbari vessel, thereby killing their leader. The Earthlings have awoken the dragon and it is furious.

My Opinion: I believe this movie also works if one has never seen a single episode of the show. But if you intend to watch the show you should not watch this movie before because it is highly spoilerific and would diminish your enjoyment of the show. And even though it’s slightly retconning the show’s history with characters meeting here for the first time, I think it’s the best TV show TV movie I’ve ever seen. It was one of my first DVDs and I have watched it countless times. “They never ran out of courage. But in the end, they ran out of time.”
And once again my alien-mask-senses were tingling. One of the Minbari was played by the same guy who played Byron in the fifth season; that was no biggie. But I also knew the other one from somewhere. The eyes and lips, I knew them – but from where? Of course! Ethan Rayne!!

November, 14th

Star Trek

Chris Pine … James T. Kirk
Zachary Quinto … Spock
Leonard Nimoy … Spock Prime
Eric Bana … Nero
Bruce Greenwood … Capt. Christopher Pike
Karl Urban … Bones
Zoe Saldana … Nyota Uhura
Simon Pegg … Montgomery Scott
John Cho … Lt. Hikaru Sulu
Anton Yelchin … Pavel Chekov
Ben Cross … Sarek
Winona Ryder … Amanda Grayson

Synopsis: The Romulan mining ship Narada has accidentally travelled back in time after their home world had been destroyed. Now the crew wants revenge with whom they deem guilty of this: The Vulcans and Spock in particular. But they arrived in a point in time where Spock is but a small boy and the famous James T. Kirk hasn’t even been born yet. And when they destroy the USS Kelvin, they change the timeline forever. Will Kirk ever be captain of Starfleet’s most famous ship?

My Opinion: If you ask me this movie was the best that could have happened to the dying Star Trek franchise. It’s not perfect, I’ll give you that (Why not insert a “Three Years Later” right before the end scene?) but it plays in a totally different league than the abysmal Nemesis. I loved all the characters and they have received an appropriate persona upgrade. And I have no problem with still enjoying my Wrath of Khan / Voyage Home / Undiscovered Country / First Contact whenever I want. I only hope that the Star Trek numbering curse is broken and not just inverted (that now the odd numbered are the good ones).

Gladiator

Russell Crowe … Maximus
Joaquin Phoenix … Commodus
Connie Nielsen … Lucilla
Oliver Reed … Proximo
Richard Harris … Marcus Aurelius
Derek Jacobi … Gracchus
Djimon Hounsou … Juba
Tomas Arana … Quintus
Ralf Moeller … Hagen

Synopsis: The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who challenged the emperor. Basically the tagline of the movie but it pretty much sums it up. General Maximus was supposed to give Rome back to the people but the son of the emperor had other plans, mainly: becoming emperor himself. Their fate won’t be decided on the battlefield but under the eyes of the cheering crowd in the arena that is the Colosseum.

My Opinion: This movie is the reason I never bought Spartacus or Ben Hur on DVD. I’ve seen them quite a few times when I was young but I fear they can’t hold up with this one anymore. In the beginning I didn’t even want to watch it because I thought the age of sword & sandal movies was over but I was wrong. It’s an awesome movie, I love the story and I love the action. “Is Rome worth one good man’s life? We believed it once. Make us believe it again.”

November, 30th

Catch and Release

Jennifer Garner … Gray
Timothy Olyphant … Fritz
Sam Jaeger … Dennis
Kevin Smith … Sam
Juliette Lewis … Maureen
Joshua Friesen … Mattie
Fiona Shaw … Mrs. Douglas

Synopsis: Shortly before their wedding Gray’s fiancé was killed in an accident. His (and her) old friends try to comfort her when she moves in with them. But then she begins to learn things about him she never knew; with the biggest shock being that he’s already a father. And while she tries to cope with all that she falls in love with his one friend she never thought she would even like him.

My Opinion: I enjoyed this movie very much. I thought the entire ensemble delivered very well. I really liked that it didn’t just have the major love couple but also the supporting characters were also involved in love activity. I really liked the “meta irony” to see Kevin Smith’s character around someone who doesn’t swear at all and he can’t either. Of course this movie is – like most of its genre – clichéd, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. I also think that it is – despite it following the standard romance plot – a nice change due the background story and the “other woman” (who happened to be played by Juliette Lewis…).

December

October, 4th

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Sean Astin   …    Samwise ‘Sam’ Gamgee
Sean Bean   …    Boromir
Cate Blanchett   …    Galadriel
Orlando Bloom   …    Legolas Greenleaf
Billy Boyd   …    Peregrin ‘Pippin’ Took
Ian Holm   …    Bilbo Baggins
Christopher Lee   …    Saruman
Andy Serkis   …    Gollum / Voice of The Witchking
Ian McKellen   …    Gandalf the Grey
Dominic Monaghan   …    Meriadoc ‘Merry’ Brandybuck
Viggo Mortensen   …    Aragorn
Craig Parker   …    Haldir
John Rhys-Davies   …    Gimli
Liv Tyler   …    Arwen
Hugo Weaving   …    Elrond
Elijah Wood   …    Frodo Baggins

Synopsis: 3000 years ago an army of Men and Elves defeated the dark lord Sauron. But his power was embedded in the One Ring, and that was not destroyed. The Ring found its way into the hands of Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit. And now the task of destroying it became his. But the Ring can only be destroyed where it was made: In Mount Doom in the heart of Mordor and there Sauron and his armies are rising again. His journey begins in the Shire, the homeland of the Hobbits and leads from there over Bree, Rivendell (the home of Elrond), Moria (a dwarf mine deep in the mountains) and Lothlórien. But Frodo is not alone on this journey; he’s accompanied by friends and allies of all races who stand against the dark forces: Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Wizards and Men.

My Opinion: I love this trilogy, maybe even a bit more than Star Wars but I am still undecided on that. I’ve read the books both in German and English but I have to say I like the films better. Most of the actors are really great, especially when they deliver speeches. The only somewhat problematic actor is Elijah Wood, especially in the later movies when Frodo becomes more and more influenced by the Ring. One gets the feeling he has only one facial expression left.
But still: Great story, awesome New Zealand Middle-Earth nature shots and superb special effects (even when they sometimes forgot to put a CGI arrow in Legolas’s bow ).
I also don’t mind the deviation from the books, e.g. no Tom Bombadil. It doesn’t really have an effect on the story at all; the only thing I really noticed was that they didn’t explain the origin of Merry’s sword which is important in the Battle on the Pelennor Fields. (In the books they find the weapons in old grave hills, they were forged to be used against the Witch-King of Angmar (leader of the Nazgûl) when he was still a man. That’s why Merry could stab and wound him and then he could be killed by Éowyn in Return of the King.)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Sean Astin    …    Samwise ‘Sam’ Gamgee
Orlando Bloom   …    Legolas Greenleaf
Billy Boyd   …    Peregrin ‘Pippin’ Took
Brad Dourif   …    Grima Wormtongue
Bernard Hill   …    Theoden
Bruce Hopkins   …    Gamling
Christopher Lee   …    Saruman the White
Ian McKellen   …    Gandalf
Dominic Monaghan   …    Meriadoc ‘Merry’ Brandybuck
Viggo Mortensen   …    Aragorn
Miranda Otto   …    Eowyn
Craig Parker   …    Haldir
John Rhys-Davies   …    Gimli / Voice of Treebeard
Andy Serkis   …    Gollum
Liv Tyler   …    Arwen
Karl Urban   …    Eomer
David Wenham   …    Faramir
Elijah Wood   …    Frodo Baggins

Synopsis: The fellowship has broken. Frodo and Sam are looking for a path into Mordor and they get unexpected help in the form of Gollum who has been a ring-bearer for nearly 500 years before Bilbo Baggins got the ring. But the enemy does not know this. Saruman thinks Merry and Pippin have it and his Uruk-Hai are bringing them to Isengard. Aragorn, Gimli and and Legolas are following them and they get also unexpected help. And they need it dearly since Saruman is unleashing his armies onto the kingdom of Rohan.

My Opinion: Of all the music in the LOTR movies I like the themes regarding Rohan and its horse-riders best and besides Aragorn, Théoden king is the best speech giver in the movies, may it be the one before the charge out of the Hornburg or the one before the charge on the Pelennor Fields. Forth Eorlingas!
But my favourite dialog scenes in this movie are the dialogs/monologs between Gollum and Sméagol, Andy Serkis did a great job there.
And my favourite change in comparison to the book is the addition of Haldir and his Elven archers to the Battle of the Hornburg. They honour the alliance once forged between Elves and Men. But I am also glad that they cut out Arwen’s appearance again, that would have been a bit too much.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Sean Astin   …    Sam
Orlando Bloom   …    Legolas
Billy Boyd   …    Pippin
Bernard Hill   …    Theoden
Lawrence Makoare   …    Witchking / Gothmog
Ian McKellen   …    Gandalf
Dominic Monaghan   …    Merry
Viggo Mortensen   …    Aragorn
John Noble   …    Denethor
Paul Norell   …    King of the Dead
Miranda Otto   …    Eowyn
John Rhys-Davies   …    Gimli
Andy Serkis   …    Gollum / Smeagol
Liv Tyler   …    Arwen
Karl Urban   …    Eomer
Hugo Weaving   …    Elrond
David Wenham   …    Faramir
Elijah Wood   …    Frodo

Synopsis: Frodo, Sam and Gollum have found a secret yet dangerous path into Mordor which leads them in close proximity to Minas Morgul from where Mordor’s armies are starting their final attack on Gondor. And while Saruman’s army was beaten on the Hornburg the war is far from over. Rohan and Gondor have to stand united or they will fall. And even then it might not be enough to beat Sauron. Their only hope is to draw his armies out and give Frodo and Sam a chance to reach Mount Doom.

My Opinion: Oh boy, what a number of battle scenes. But my favourite scenes were again the panorama shots: When the 6000 riders cleared out of their camp and when they charged the Pelennor Fields. But my favourite scene is when Pippin lights the beacon of Amon Dîn and then the other beacons are lit all the way to Edoras. But I wouldn’t want to have the job to to sit a mountain top and to stare at another mountain top whether there was a fire lit or not.
What I also liked was the (for a film) unconventional ending with its “25 endings” similar to the book even though they left out the liberation of the Shire. And once again a few tears rolled over my cheeks when Frodo and Gandalf departed from the Grey Havens towards the undying lands of Valinor.

October, 30th

The Matrix

Keanu Reeves   …    Neo
Laurence Fishburne   …    Morpheus
Carrie-Anne Moss   …    Trinity
Hugo Weaving   …    Agent Smith
Gloria Foster   …    Oracle
Joe Pantoliano   …    Cypher
Marcus Chong   …    Tank

Synopsis: By day, Thomas Anderson is a software programmer in a respectable company. By night, Neo is a hacker. For years he’s been searching for an answer to a question that is gnawing in his mind: What is the Matrix? The answer to that question is beyond anything he could have imagined and will change his life forever. And it will change not only him, but the world.

My Opinion: It’s still a great movie and was certainly a milestone in film’s history. Just the amount of movies that have re-used or parodied the bullet-time effect is incredible. The effect scenes like the shoot-out in the foyer or the final battle between Agent Smith and Neo are wonderfully choreographed. And you can even see the details because there are not 20 cuts and angle changes in 30 seconds like in more modern action flicks.

November

September, 1st

No Reservations

Catherine Zeta-Jones … Kate
Aaron Eckhart … Nick
Abigail Breslin … Zoe
Patricia Clarkson … Paula
Jenny Wade … Leah
Bob Balaban … Therapist

Synopsis: Kate’s life is the kitchen. She’s the head chef of a famous restaurant and she’s the best. But then her sister dies in a car crash and suddenly she has to take care of her niece. And to make matters worse, her boss hires an additional chef, Nick, whose specialty is italian food. And from where Kate is standing, it looks like he’s taken over her kitchen!

My Opinion: I really liked this after the disappointment that was Alex & Emma, especially since it has this melodramatic element of her adopting her niece and the difficulty to adjust to this new situation that both of them have. What I also liked was that the basically mandatory bump in their relationship wasn’t caused by him this time, but by her. And I loved it when she threw a raw steak onto a customer’s table because the previous two weren’t rare enough for him.

September, 2nd

Three Days of the Condor

Robert Redford … Joseph Turner / The Condor
Faye Dunaway … Kathy Hale
Cliff Robertson … J. Higgins
Max von Sydow … G. Joubert
John Houseman … Mr. Wabash
Addison Powell … Leonard Atwood

Synopsis: Joseph Turner works for the CIA, but he is no field agent. He reads books from all over the world to find codes, patterns and new ideas for the CIA. But one day when he’s out getting lunch for himself and his colleagues all of them are killed. From now on he’s on the run from people who want him dead and he doesn’t even know why. And they are not foreign agents, they are CIA, too.

My Opinion: That was a very interesting thriller from before the cell phone and computer age. I really enjoyed it how they conducted they spy work in this “old-fashioned” way. The drawback of modern day movies and shows is that whenever they need an information important for the plot they go to a computer, log into a magical database, type “open sesame” and whatever information they need appears immediately. Even face recognition from a bad surveillance camera shot takes no longer than a minute. And due to its age this movie was different, Condor needed more skill to get what he needed and he had to do actual footwork. Yes I liked it.

September, 3rd

Reclaim Your Brain

Moritz Bleibtreu … Rainer
Elsa Schulz Gambard … Pegah
Milan Peschel … Phillip
Gregor Bloéb … Maiwald
Tom Jahn … Bernd
Andreas Brandt … Karl-Heinz
Robert Viktor Minich … Harry
Ralf Knicker … Sebastian

Synopsis: The TV producer Rainer is very successful in creating shows like “Get Your Own Superbaby” and other brainless activities. But when he has a car crash he also has a revelation. Humankind can’t be that stupid, the viewing rates can’t be real, it’s impossible that people actually watch all that BS. He teams up with others. At first they want to prove that the rates are manipulated only to learn that they are real. Then they decide to hack the system and make their own rates to crush the crap and help better programmes along.

My Opinion: The entire movie is very anvilicious but I still enjoyed it a lot. The supporting characters (the paranoid sociophobic person and a bunch of unemployeds with all kinds of problems) made this movie worthwhile. I also enjoyed both lead characters but they didn’t feel as realistic as the others, more like “we act the way we do because it says so in the script”.
I also liked the ending when they moved to Haßloch (a real test market town in Germany) and began to manipulate purchase statistics.

September, 4th

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Jason Segel … Peter Bretter
Kristen Bell … Sarah Marshall
Mila Kunis … Rachel Jansen
Russell Brand … Aldous Snow
Jonah Hill … Matthew the Waiter
Paul Rudd … Chuck

Synopsis: Peter is a composer and musician and he loves his girlfriend, the famous TV star Sarah Marshall. But then she dumps him and his world breaks apart. After a period of crying and bad one night stands he decides to take a vacation in Hawaii. But guess who’s already there? In the same hotel. Sarah and her new rock star boyfriend. That sounds like fun…

My Opinion: This was an interesting take on the genre. The characters were all very detailed and actually multi-dimensional. Even though Sarah was the bad guy of the play, it turns out that she really tried to make their relationship work and that he is at least partly at fault. Everything considered I have to say I like the middle part of this movie best. It started really slow until he arrived in Hawaii and the end was very conventional (I loved the Dracula musical though!) but the entire time on Hawaii was really good.

PS: I don’t think that I would have been able to ghandi out of that one scene.

September, 7th

Legally Blonde

Reese Witherspoon … Elle Woods
Luke Wilson … Emmett
Selma Blair … Vivian
Matthew Davis … Warner
Victor Garber … Professor Callahan
Jennifer Coolidge … Paulette
Holland Taylor … Professor Stromwell
Ali Larter … Brooke Taylor Windham

Synopsis: Elle Woods’s dream is it to marry her boyfriend Warner Huntington III. But he has different plans. He dumps her because he wants to marry “a Jackie, not a Marilyn”. And because she wants to prove her worth to him she also matriculates on Harvard Law School. Elle is not dumb, but she is the prototypical California Barbie and most people make her feel it – until she accepts the challenge.

My Opinion: I love this movie. It’s so perfectly harmless yet Reese is so cute in it. I especially like the time when she starts out at Harvard and is so different from every one else and nobody really knows what to make of her; or the scene where everyone has a black PC notebook and she sits between them all (already looking different with her parrot-coloured clothes) and opens her orange MacBook.

September, 15th

Samurai Commando – Mission 1549

Yôsuke Eguchi … Yusuke Kashima
Kyoka Suzuki … Rei Kanzaki
Haruka Ayase … Nohime
Masatô Ibu … Dohsan Saito
Takeshi Kaga … Tsuyoshi Matoba / Oda Nobugana
Kazuki Kitamura … Shichibe Iinuma
Koji Matoba … Yoda

Synopsis: In 2003 an army experiment went terribly wrong and an entire unit vanished into nothingness. Soon they discover that this unit has been transported back in time – into the year 1547. Suddenly all over Japan anomalies are forming that could be described as black holes and which threaten to destroy everything. In order to prevent this catastrophe two years later a second unit is sent back to repair the past and safe the future.

My Opinion: When I saw that DVD in the store, I knew I wanted to check it out but I was also quite certain to watch a cheesy B movie (a Samurai and an attack helicopter on the same battlefield?!) but this movie is actually pretty decent. They have thought of a reason why changes in the past don’t immediately reflect in the future and they even thought about the fact that tanks and helicopters need fuel. Also the costumes and the special effects look quite good. Ironically the basic principle was the same as in western movies with hierarchy. The designated hero was an outsider and they killed his superiors off until he was in command and was able to save the day.
I’m sure that I will watch this again.

Yojimbo the Bodyguard

Toshirô Mifune … Sanjuro Kuwabatake / The Samurai
Tatsuya Nakadai … Unosuke, gunfighter
Daisuke Katô … Inokichi, Ushitora’s rotund brother
Seizaburô Kawazu … Seibei, brothel operator
Takashi Shimura … Tokuemon, sake brewer
Hiroshi Tachikawa … Yoichiro
Eijirô Tôno … Gonji, tavern keeper
Kyu Sazanka … Ushitora

Synopsis: Sanjuro comes into a small town were two rivalling gangs fight for dominance and the town is suffering. Both sides have attracted criminals to work for them but none of them is a real fighter. Sanjuro decides to play both sides against each other and offers them both his help and through trickery he reduces their numbers to a manageable amount.

My Opinion: A plot which has been re-used many times ever since but it was great to see in this Kurosawa movie. The best moment for me was when Sanjuro fought against a gunslinger with a knife – and won. The irony is that I was made aware of this film because it was the favourite movie of Kevin Costner’s character in The Bodyguard and now I really like it, too.

September, 16th

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Riisa Naka … Makoto Konno
Takuya Ishida … Chiaki Mamiya
Mitsutaka Itakura … Kousuke Tsuda
Ayami Kakiuchi … Yuri Hayakawa
Mitsuki Tanimura … Kaho Fujitani
Sachie Hara … Kazuko Yoshiyama
Yuki Sekido … Miyuki Konno

Synopsis: When Makoto slips in the chem lab one day she falls backwards onto what looks like a walnut. Later that day she drives down a hill towards a train crossing when her bike brakes fail and she falls directly in front of the oncoming train – but then she’s back on top of the hill again. She has acquired the ability to travel back in time and she’s decided to have fun with it – until she learns that it can also hurt people.

My Opinion: This is not a saving the world time travel movie. This is about a young girl growing up and falling in love. It is a slow and quiet movie, sometime a bit to slow for my taste but it conveys its story really well to the viewer and I really enjoyed watching it. As to the animation: Like with all manga and anime (that I know) it uses the art of showing only detail where detail is necessary. It’s not a Pixar animation where you can see every single hair but that doesn’t matter because it isn’t necessary.
There are also the huge eyes but if you compare American/European smiley drawings with their Japanese counterparts ^_^ then you begin to understand that in this culture emotions are expressed more through the eyes rather than the mouth.

September, 28th

The Bourne Identity

Matt Damon … Jason Bourne
Franka Potente … Marie
Chris Cooper … Conklin
Clive Owen … The Professor
Brian Cox … Ward Abbott
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje … Wombosi
Gabriel Mann … Zorn
Julia Stiles … Nicolette

Synopsis: When he wakes up on a fishing boat in the Mediterranean Sea, he has no idea who he his. He only knows that he had two bullets in his back and the address of a bank in Zurich in his hip. He learns in Zurich that his name is Jason Bourne but the scavenger hunt has just started und suddenly he’s not only a hunter but also the hunted. His companion Marie and he drive halfway through Europe to learn the answer to the question: Who is Jason Bourne?

My Opinion: I really like this movie. The story is somewhat plausible, the hand-to-hand combats are awesome and Matt’s German is actually understandable. And I love it when Franka Potente curses in German. I haven’t seen this movie in a while and I noticed that you can actually follow the fights with your eyes. I never understood why more recent movies like the third part of this trilogy choreographs one hell of a fight but then chooses to not show it by using a “shake cam”.

The Bourne Supremacy

Matt Damon … Jason Bourne
Franka Potente … Marie
Brian Cox … Ward Abbott
Julia Stiles … Nicky
Karl Urban … Kirill
Gabriel Mann … Danny Zorn
Joan Allen … Pamela Landy
Marton Csokas … Jarda

Synopsis: For two years Jason and Marie have been hiding. But they have become sloppy and a Russian killer finds them in India and kills Marie when he tried to kill Bourne. Bourne was supposed to be the fall guy for a murder and cover-up in Berlin. Now they’ve made him angry and he wants revenge. And CIA Deputy Director Landy wants him caught or dead because she believes him to be the murderer of her agents.

My Opinion: I fully understand that Marie had to die in order set the story in motion; otherwise he would have never come back. But I was still sad, because I really liked her in that role.
But overall I like this movie, too. What I especially like about these movies is that they actually shoot at the actual locations and that most of them are in Europe. Granted, they still use Hollywood geography where you can run from Berlin Zoologischer Garten to the Friedrichstraße within 5 minutes, but at least they didn’t shoot somewhere and claimed it to be Berlin (or Paris, Moscow, …).
I also really liked how he confessed to the young woman whose parents he killed, though my Russian isn’t good enough to judge Matt Damon’s Russian.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Matt Damon … Jason Bourne
Julia Stiles … Nicky Parsons
David Strathairn … Noah Vosen
Scott Glenn … Ezra Kramer
Paddy Considine … Simon Ross
Édgar Ramírez … Paz
Albert Finney … Dr. Albert Hirsch
Joan Allen … Pam Landy

Synopsis: Six weeks after the events in Berlin and Moscow Jason tries again to find out who he really is and where he came from. But there are still high-ranking CIA officers who can’t let that happen, because it would endanger a number of secret and illegal operations. So once again they send out killers to stop him and everyone he comes in contact with, even other CIA personnel. Luckily for him, he’s not the only one who wants to find out the truth.

My Opinion: This time they overdid it with the shaky cam. The fight between Desh and Bourne was nearly unfollowable, and even in the quiet scenes when Jason was talking to Marie’s brother or to Nicky it appeared as if the cameraman had Parkinson’s.
But I still thought that it was a good conclusion to the story, especially with Bourne choosing not to kill one of his assassins when he was helpless and getting rewarded for it in the end. I also like the final scene which made the imagery becoming full circle with the first scene in Identity.
If it were for me, I’d like to see another Bourne movie.

September, 29th

Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope

Mark Hamill … Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford … Han Solo
Carrie Fisher … Princess Leia Organa
Peter Cushing … Grand Moff Tarkin
Alec Guinness … Obi-Wan Kenobi
Anthony Daniels … C-3PO
Kenny Baker … R2-D2
Peter Mayhew … Chewbacca
David Prowse … Darth Vader
James Earl Jones … Darth Vader (voice)

Synopsis: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away … c’mon, really? A synopsis for Star Wars?!?

My Opinion: Ever since I got them on DVD, I only watched the original theatrical cut. Han shoots first as it should be. I would have taken the digital remastered version from 1995 where George only cleared up the picture and made some small corrections (it was available on VHS), but the 1997 version was already too much, if you ask me. And since there’s either the original or the 2006 DVD edition, I stay true to the original.
And I made a habit out of standing up when Luke, Han & Chewie start to walk towards Leia and snap into ten-hut when the soldiers turn. It must look ridiculous from the outside – I don’t care, it’s my form of paying tribute.

Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Mark Hamill … Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford … Han Solo
Carrie Fisher … Princess Leia
Billy Dee Williams … Lando Calrissian
Anthony Daniels … C-3PO
David Prowse … Darth Vader
Peter Mayhew … Chewbacca
Kenny Baker … R2-D2
Frank Oz … Yoda (voice)
Alec Guinness … Obi-Wan Kenobi
Jeremy Bulloch … Boba Fett
James Earl Jones … Darth Vader (voice)

My Opinion: Who would have guessed that Darth Vader is Luke’s father? Many consider this the best part of the trilogy but I still like Jedi a tiny bit more. This movie has so many great scenes, first the battle on Hoth, in the end this amazing light sabre fight and the revelation and in between the Dagobah story. I love Yoda. It’s so great when it’s revealed who he is and how he tries to train Luke and how he pulls the X-Wing out of the swamp. CGI-Yoda totally loses against Puppet-Yoda, no question about it but I will not speak of the trilogy that must not be named any further…

Star Wars – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Mark Hamill … Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford … Han Solo
Carrie Fisher … Princess Leia
Billy Dee Williams … Lando Calrissian
Anthony Daniels … C-3PO
Peter Mayhew … Chewbacca
Sebastian Shaw … Anakin Skywalker
Ian McDiarmid … The Emperor
Frank Oz … Yoda (voice)
James Earl Jones … Darth Vader (voice)
David Prowse … Darth Vader
Alec Guinness … Obi-Wan Kenobi
Kenny Baker … R2-D2 / Paploo

My Opinion: Oh, I love the original ending, this private celebration on Endor, the right music and the right Anakin Skywalker ghost – not this totally over-the-top “the entire galaxy celebrates” ending of the Special Edition.
It’s funny how it’s always the little folk that brings the plans of the Big Bad crushing down, whether they are called the Ewoks or the Hobbits. And I really liked it when Luke gave his father a fire burial and when he saw the three Jedi ghosts, it was the perfect ending.
Too bad that we’ll never learn how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader…

October

August, 12th

Top Gun

Tom Cruise    …    Maverick
Kelly McGillis   …    Charlie
Val Kilmer   …    Ice
Anthony Edwards   …    Goose
Tom Skerritt   …    Viper
Michael Ironside   …    Jester
Tim Robbins   …    Merlin
Clarence Gilyard Jr.   …    Sundown
James Tolkan   …    Stinger
Meg Ryan   …    Carole
Adrian Pasdar   …    Chipper

Synopsis: Lt. “Maverick” Mitchell – a slightly maniac F-14 pilot – and his RIO Lt. “Goose” Bradshaw have been accepted into the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School – more commonly known as “Top Gun”. There they will learn the finer arts of aerial dogfighting. That is, if they don’t get thrown out due to Maverick’s behaviour. And the competition is hard, Top Gun accepts only the best pilots to begin with.

My Opinion: This movie has incredible flying scenes even after all these years. No crappy CGI but real planes flying in real air. And a great soundtrack, too. Ironically I haven’t seen that movie that often but I seem to know it by heart due to the many parodies on many scenes of that movie.
And while I recognized Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli in Heroes) at once, it took me a while to recognize Goose as Dr. Greene from ER.
Too bad, that there aren’t more good airplane combat movies out there.

August, 14th

Hot Shots!

Charlie Sheen    …    Lt. Topper Harley
Cary Elwes   …    Lt. Kent Gregory
Valeria Golino   …    Ramada Thompson
Lloyd Bridges   …    Adm. Thomas ‘Tug’ Benson
Kevin Dunn   …    Lt. Cmdr. James Block
Jon Cryer   …    Jim ‘Wash Out’ Pfaffenbach
William O’Leary   …    Pete ‘Dead Meat’ Thompson
Kristy Swanson   …    Kowalski
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.   …    Wilson

Synopsis: In this parody of Top Gun (amongst many others) Topper Harley is a Navy fighter pilot who has mental issues – especially when someone compares him to his father. He and his wing serves on the carrier S.S. Essess and it’s their task to destroy a nuclear plant of Saddam Hussein’s. But there are also saboteurs who want to prove the ineffectiveness of the current Navy planes in order to sell them new ones.

My Opinion: While I still enjoyed this movie very much, I had very few laugh-out-loud moments. There were more sentimental smiles every time I recognized the movie that was spoofed in this scene. But what I found very amusing was to see “Alan Harper” (Two and a Half Men) as ‘Wash Out’. I hadn’t seen this movie since before I started to watch TaaHM. This was also the first time I watched this movie in English and have to say that there were some good puns in the German dubbing that weren’t in the original and I was a bit disappointed. I was like “I wonder what the original version of ‘Mach 1, Mach 2, Mach 3, Mach Feierabend!’ or ‘Heb nicht ab vom Acker ohne deinen Tacker!’ will be.” and then there was … nothing.

Hot Shots! Part Deux

Charlie Sheen    …    Topper Harley
Lloyd Bridges   …    President Thomas ‘Tug’ Benson
Valeria Golino   …    Ramada Rodham Hayman
Richard Crenna   …    Col. Denton Walters
Brenda Bakke   …    Michelle Rodham Huddleston
Miguel Ferrer   …    Commander Arvid Harbinger
Rowan Atkinson   …    Dexter Hayman

Synopsis: Topper – who lives in a buddhist monastery now – is contacted by the CIA. They want him to rescue a rescue team that tried to rescue a rescue team that tried to rescue some hostages from Iraq. In order to accomplish this they meet with their contact deep in enemy territory – and the contact (codename “Bench Press”) happens to be Ramada.

My Opinion: This time they spoofed the Rambo and other commando team movies and I enjoyed this more than the previous one. Especially in the beginning with the monastery and the Kickboxer fight. Or the scene on the jungle river (In Iraq?!? ) where Charlie Sheen meets his father (one starred in Platoon, the other in Apocalypse Now) and they congratulate each other for Wall Street. Or the scene with the body count – “Bloodiest movie of all time”. So great.

August, 16th

Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Uma Thurman    …    The Bride
Lucy Liu   …    O-Ren Ishii
Vivica A. Fox   …    Vernita Green
Daryl Hannah   …    Elle Driver
David Carradine   …    Bill
Michael Madsen   …    Budd
Julie Dreyfus   …    Sofie Fatale
Chiaki Kuriyama   …    Gogo Yubari
Sonny Chiba   …    Hattori Hanzo
Chia Hui Liu   …    Johnny Mo

Synopsis: Four years ago the head of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad decided to kill on of its former members: *beep* a.k.a. Black Mamba. They killed 9 members of the wedding party including Mamba’s unborn daughter. They should have killed 10. Mamba has survived and now she wants revenge. Her first targets are O-Ren Ishii a.k.a. Cottonmouth and Vernita Green a.k.a. Copperhead.

My Opinion: “If on your journey you should encounter God, God will be cut.” I love the mixture of English and Japanese in this movie (Japanese/Japan is a very fascinating language/country for me) and the Katana is one of if not the most elegant blade weapon(s) and I love fighting scenes with them. But the scene that sends shivers down my spine is when Hanzo shows Mamba his collection. The respect and reverence she showed towards these instruments of death and the music that is played makes me want to be there in that very moment. From the moment she enters Hanzo’s sushi restaurant until he gives her her own Katana is the highlight of the movie for me, not the big end fight. But of course I enjoy that, too.

August, 31st

Nikita

Anne Parillaud    …    Nikita
Tchéky Karyo    …    Bob
Jeanne Moreau    …    Amande
Jean-Hugues Anglade    …    Marco
Jean Reno    …    Victor nettoyeur

Synopsis: When a couple of junkies break into a pharmacy they are cornered by the police and most of them get killed. But Nikita survives and kills a cop. She’s sentenced to 10 + 30 years. But then a government agency takes an interest in her, trains her and makes her an assassin. From now on she lives a public life as nurse and a secret life as killer.

My Opinion: The only thing I found interesting was that the training took actually several years (and were depicted as such) and that several jobs took months to plan – in modern day movies such an operation is often just a matter of days to plan and execute. But I had hoped that this Luc Besson movie would be somewhat the template for the character of Sydney Bristow in Alias. But it was not. This movie was so slow-paced it was nearly standing still. OK, there was another thing I found interesting: Jean Reno in the role of a cleaner, I assume that’s where Besson got the idea for his later (and way better) movie Léon.

September

July, 12th

13 Going on 30

Jennifer Garner    …    Jenna Rink
Mark Ruffalo   …    Matt Flamhaff
Judy Greer   …    Lucy Wyman
Andy Serkis   …    Richard Kneeland
Kathy Baker   …    Bev Rink

Synopsis: It’s 1987 and Jenna has her 13th birthday. But it ends in disaster and she wishes nothing more than to be 30. And then her wish gets granted. When she awakes it’s 2004 and she’s Jennifer Garner and editor of the glamour magazine “Poise”. But she’s still 13 and she finds herself in a world where everything is different and – most importantly – where she’s different.

My Opinion: Jennifer Garner is a great 13-year-old. It’s funny to watch her react to things like a small girl would react. I also liked the fact that it turned out to be her that sold the front cover topics to their competitor and not Tom-Tom/Lucy because that would have been too obvious. What I didn’t care much about was Mark Ruffalo, I have nothing against the actor, I just don’t care about him in any of his movies.

And now:

‘Cause this is Thriller!

July, 15th

Highlander

Christopher Lambert    …    Connor ‘The Highlander’ MacLeod / Russell Edwin Nash
Roxanne Hart   …    Brenda J. Wyatt
Clancy Brown   …    Victor Kruger / The Kurgan
Sean Connery   …    Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez
Beatie Edney   …    Heather MacLeod
Alan North   …    Lieutenant Frank Moran

Synopsis: Connor MacLeod of the clan MacLeod was born more than 450 years ago in the highlands of Scotland. He’s immortal and he’s not alone. Only a severed neck can kill him, when the stroke of a sword will release the power of the Quickening. Now the time of the Gathering has come, where only a few of them are still alive and they will fight for the Prize. In the end, there can be only one.

My Opinion: Love the first Highlander movie as well as the TV show, especially since I love sword fights and japanese Katanas. I love this whole Immortal mythology where guys like Ramirez have been walking over the Earth for more than 2400 years (or Methos in the TV show, with more than 5000 years the oldest known Immortal). And Queen’s soundtrack to this movie is superb. A lot of famous songs came out of it (“Princes of the Universe”, “Who Wants to Live Forever”, “A Kind of Magic”).
What I found funny was that the french-american Lambert played the scottish MacLeod while the scottish Connery played an Egyptian in the service of the spanish king.

July, 16th

Kleinruppin forever

Tobias Schenke    …    Tim / Ronny
Anna Brüggemann   …    Jana
Michael Gwisdek   …    Erwin
Tino Mewes   …    René
Tobias Kasimirowicz   …    Mathieu
Toni Snetberger   …    Niklas
Sebastian Kroehnert   …    Max
Michael Kind   …    Koslowski

Synopsis: In 1967 the (east german) parents of the twins Tim and Ronny are killed in a car crash. Tim gets adopted and grows up in Bremen where he becomes a tennis player who is about to go to college in Florida. But one sunny day in 1985 changes everything. His school class goes on a day trip into the “Zone” and suddenly Tim stands face to face with his brother – a brother he didn’t know he had. But when it’s time to return home his brother knocks him out and takes his place. Suddenly Tim finds himself stuck in East Germany – and of course every one assumes that he’s Ronny.

My Opinion: This movie manages to show the life in the GDR frighteningly accurate. All the tiny details you can only spot if you have lived there but also the big picture with the banners and the attitude of the people who have positions of power. But it’s also a good romance movie about a guy who wants to go home badly (and of course runs into trouble with the Stasi) and the local girl who hasn’t known any other live than this.

July, 28th

Independence Day

Will Smith    …    Captain Steven Hiller
Bill Pullman   …    President Thomas J. Whitmore
Jeff Goldblum   …    David Levinson
Mary McDonnell   …    First Lady Marilyn Whitmore
Judd Hirsch   …    Julius Levinson
Robert Loggia   …    General William Grey
Randy Quaid   …    Russell Casse
Margaret Colin   …    Constance Spano
Vivica A. Fox   …    Jasmine Dubrow
Adam Baldwin   …    Major Mitchell
Brent Spiner   …    Dr. Brackish Okun

Synopsis: July 2nd. Aliens come to Earth but they don’t bring Elvis back. Instead they blow up the usual suspects (L.A., NYC and Washington D.C.). July 3rd. We take all our CGI F18s but these bastards have shields that can withstand a nuke. Dammit! July 4th. Aliens seem to use an operating system programmed by Microsoft since it is vulnerable to viruses written on an Apple notebook. A nuke under the banner of Jolly Roger takes care of the rest.

My Opinion: This time I decided to watch the theatrical cut again and I actually noticed (most? all?) the missing parts and I think they give this film a bit more depth (But what is depth in a puddle? ). It’s still a very enjoyable film if you want to stress your subwoofer. The logic in this movie is as missing as in the Transformers movies but the jokes are not as mundane as the pee jokes. Until I read the name I never noticed that Jasmine was Vernita Green from Kill Bill. And I liked to see Mary McDonnell (President Roslin in Battlestar Galactica) and Margaret Colin (Eleanor Waldorf in Gossip Girl) again.

August

June, 3rd

Transformers

Shia LaBeouf … Sam Witwicky
Megan Fox … Mikaela Banes
Josh Duhamel … Captain Lennox
Tyrese Gibson … USAF Tech Sergeant Epps
Rachael Taylor … Maggie Madsen
Anthony Anderson … Glen Whitmann
Jon Voight … Defense Secretary John Keller
John Turturro … Agent Simmons

Synopsis: The AllSpark is a mystical cube which can create life from lifelessness. Many eons ago it got lost, but Megatron – leader of the Decepticons – has found it on a planet called Earth. But he crashes here and freezes into a form of stasis in the arctic. But his arrival did not go unnoticed and many years later the Autobots under the lead of Optimus Prime also arrive on Earth. And now the hunt for the AllSpark begins. The question is whether the Humans can help save their own planet or whether they will be a mere annoyance that stand between the Decepticons and the AllSpark.

My Opinion: Robots that turn into cars, trucks, helicopters and tanks – need I say more? It’s a great fun flick whose sequel is about to start in the theatres. I enjoy such harmless movies where I don’t want to think and don’t need to think from time to time. The only thing that was a bit annoying was the final fight where one often couldn’t make out who’s currently fighting who.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Harrison Ford … Indiana Jones
Cate Blanchett … Irina Spalko
Karen Allen … Marion Ravenwood
Shia LaBeouf … Mutt Williams
Ray Winstone … ‘Mac’ George Michale
John Hurt … Professor Oxley

Synopsis: 20 years have past, the Nazis are gone and Marcus Brody and Henry Jones, Sr. have died. But now there are Russians and they want to discover the secrets that are behind some mysteriously formed yet perfectly carved crystal skulls. And Indy is right in the middle of it. This time the treasure hunt leads to South America, in the Amazon River region and back to the time of the spanish conquistadores. And Indy is not alone. He’s accompanied by his friend Professor Oxley, his former companion Marion – and someone he didn’t expect.

My Opinion: I don’t have anything against the chosen subject – this time aliens. I mean, c’mon, we’ve seen the Ark of the Covenant and even the Holy Grail and they’ve done miraculous things. So why not aliens. It was a very good movie; still I didn’t enjoy it as much as its predecessors. It lacked a bit of the charm of the previous movies and there were too many over the top elements in it. For example Indy’s survival of a nuclear explosion in a refrigerator that was blasted through the desert, or their triple fall down a waterfall.
My favourite of the series still remains Last Crusade.

June, 6th

Cars

Owen Wilson … Lightning McQueen (voice)
Paul Newman … Doc Hudson (voice)
Bonnie Hunt … Sally Carrera (voice)
Larry The Cable Guy … Mater (voice)
Cheech Marin … Ramone (voice)
Tony Shalhoub … Luigi (voice)
Guido Quaroni … Guido (voice)
Jenifer Lewis … Flo (voice)
Paul Dooley … Sarge (voice)
Michael Wallis … Sheriff (voice)
George Carlin … Fillmore (voice)
Katherine Helmond … Lizzie (voice)
John Ratzenberger … Mack / Hamm Truck / Abominable Snow Plow / P.T. Flea Car (voice)
Michael Keaton … Chick Hicks (voice)
Richard Petty … The King (voice)

Synopsis: Lightning McQueen is a race car and THE newcomer of the current racing season. But he’s also arrogant and egocentric and these treats nearly cost him the Piston Cup championship. But he hasn’t won either. His two closest opponents (Chick Hicks and the current champion The King) and he got over the finish line at the same time. The next race will decide who gets the Piston Cup. But McQueen gets lost on his way to California and ends up in a small backwater town called Radiator Springs along the old Route 66. And since he got in trouble with the law he has to repair their old main street before he’s allowed to leave. But when he’s allowed to leave – does he still want it?

My Opinion: As all Pixar movies, this is a great flick. The characters are all excellently drawn (both literally as well as metaphorically) and the story is very charming. I really love the diversity of the supporting characters like the Sarge or Luigi and the references to “our” world such as Sally’s tramp stamp on her rear. I also found it quite fascinating that some of the nature shots almost looked real, for example when Lightning and Sally were racing through the forest and the puddles.

June, 7th

Shooter

Mark Wahlberg … Bob Lee Swagger
Michael Peña … Nick Memphis
Danny Glover … Colonel Isaac Johnson
Kate Mara … Sarah Fenn
Elias Koteas … Jack Payne
Rhona Mitra … Alourdes Galindo

Synopsis: Bob Lee Swagger was an Army Rangers sharpshooter but during a mission in Ethiopia his spotter gets killed and he has to escape without any backup since this mission was an illegal operation. Three years later he has retired and lives in the Rocky Mountains until his government needs his help again. Someone wants to shoot the president from over a mile away and they need his expertise to find the killer. But suddenly Bob Lee finds himself being the suspected killer and is hunted by every law enforcement department the US has to offer.

My Opinion: It’s a very interesting thriller with nice references to the JFK murder. Mark Wahlberg might not be the best actor but I think he plays roles where his character is of a simple nature (like his role here or in Four Brothers) very well and believable. I also liked how they managed to show many different landscapes in which a sniper has to work in (steppe, a city, forest, snow, …) without making it unrealistic.

Martian Child

John Cusack … David Gordon
Bobby Coleman … Dennis / The Martian Child
Amanda Peet … Harlee
Sophie Okonedo … Sophie
Joan Cusack … Liz
Oliver Platt … Jeff

Synopsis: Originally his wife and he wanted to adopt a child. But then his wife died and now he’s alone. But he still decides to adopt a child and he chooses the child that is “allergic” to sunlight and who is not an Earthling at all but a Martian. Over the next months David tries to bond with Dennis and to get him out of his shell but it’s a laborious experience for both of them and everybody who tries to help.

My Opinion: This is not really a comedy. It’s a story about a guy who learns how to be a father and a child who learns how to be a son (that’s the tagline of the movie but it pretty much sums it up). It’s a very empathetic movie without cheap jokes and it’s great to see when they finally bond. It was a blind buy for me, I didn’t really know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the movie that I didn’t expect.

Office Space

Ron Livingston … Peter Gibbons
Jennifer Aniston … Joanna
David Herman … Michael Bolton
Ajay Naidu … Samir
Diedrich Bader … Lawrence
Stephen Root … Milton Waddams
Gary Cole … Bill Lumbergh
John C. McGinley … Bob Slydell

Synopsis: Peter works in a software company and he and his colleagues are scanning program code for possible Y2K bugs and change the code to a 4 digits system. But his work doesn’t fulfil him, he feels useless and the job is repetitive and tedious. When he seeks counselling he gets hypnotized but never awakes from it because his shrink dies of an heart attack. From now on everything is different. Life is easy, he goes to work when he pleases, he works only on stuff that is actually useful and he even gets promoted for it – while his friends get fired due to “reorganization”. But they have a contingency plan – they plan to steal “virtual” money.

My Opinion: This movie feels so real and Peter’s life before his hypnosis is pretty much the same that I am currently leading, especially the boringness at work. Now I only need to find the diner where Jennifer Aniston is working and I will get hypnotized, too.
The supporting characters are also very great, especially Milton and his stapler.

June, 16th

Alex & Emma

Luke Wilson … Alex Sheldon / Adam Shipley
Kate Hudson … Emma Dinsmore / Ylva / Elsa / Eldora / Anna
David Paymer … John Shaw
Sophie Marceau … Polina Delacroix

Synopsis: Alex owes some guys 50 grand due to gambling problems and of course he doesn’t have the money. But he’s a writer and he promises them a hundred grand in 30 days when his new book is finished – but he hasn’t even begun it yet. He needs a stenographer to type 300 pages in 30 days and thus he hires Emma to type while he’s dictating his story.

My Opinion: Let’s face it: Most of the romance movies have the same basic plot. Boy meets girl. Boy either doesn’t like girl or doesn’t really care. Eventually they fall in love and sleep together. Then boy makes huge blunder and girl runs away crying. Boy makes huge apology gesture and they live happily ever after. The End.
I don’t have a problem with that but it means that the story depends heavily on the characters and how the previously mentioned plot points are executed this time. And in that regard Alex & Emma fails. It’s like watching a village creek flow for 92 minutes. Nothing extraordinary happens, not even the blunder was a big deal. They even had this basically cool idea to “jump” into the story Alex was writing and Emma interrupts him and demands changes. There was so much potential to use (for example) rewind effects or morphing effects to change to story while telling but they barely made use of such devices. And what’s worse: The story Alex was writing was boring as hell.
This was a blind buy, of course.

June, 17th

Spider-Man

Tobey Maguire … Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Willem Dafoe … Green Goblin / Norman Osborn
Kirsten Dunst … Mary Jane Watson
James Franco … Harry Osborn
Cliff Robertson … Ben Parker
Rosemary Harris … May Parker
J.K. Simmons … J. Jonah Jameson
Ted Raimi … Hoffman
Bruce Campbell … Ring Announcer

Synopsis: Peter Parker is a young high school student when he’s bitten by a genetically enhanced spider at a research facility. His DNA is rewritten and he becomes stronger, faster, he can climb walls and shoot spider threads from his wrists. After he has made a terrible mistake that cost his uncle his life he decides to use his new powers to help people: He becomes Spider-Man. But where there’s a hero, there’s a villain: The Green Goblin.

My Opinion: I love this movie, it’s great. All the actors did a marvellous job, especially Tobey and Willem – I loved Willem Dafoe in the scenes where he “talked” to the Goblin and I really liked this bitter ending where he (Peter) has to decide to stay alone in order to not endanger the people he loves and cares for. “Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ This is my gift. My curse. Who am I? I am Spider-Man!”. *awesome*

June, 27th

Bring It On: All or Nothing

Hayden Panettiere … Britney Allen
Solange Knowles … Camille
Gus Carr … Jesse
Marcy Rylan … Winnie
Cindy Chiu … Amber
Giovonnie Samuels … Kirresha
Francia Raisa … Leti
Gary LeRoi Gray … Tyson
Danielle Savre … Brianna
Jessica Nicole Fife … Sierra
Rihanna … Herself

Synopsis: Britney is the cheerleading captain of the Pacific Vista Pirates. But then her father gets fired and they have to move to Crenshaw Heights. She swore to her old team that she would never cheer again. But she has no place to fit in on her new school – except for the squad.

My Opinion: This movie is soo bad, there are no words for it. The only reason for buying it was Hayden Panettiere (Claire in Heroes ["Save the cheerleader, save the world!"]). But her acting is so over the top, it’s as if Ecstasy had taken Ecstasy. But like a train wreck one can’t stop watching.

Fanboys

Sam Huntington … Eric
Chris Marquette … Linus
Dan Fogler … Hutch
Jay Baruchel … Windows
Kristen Bell … Zoe
Seth Rogen … Admiral Seasholtz / Alien / Roach
Danny Trejo … The Chief
Ethan Suplee … Harry Knowles
Billy Dee Williams … Judge Reinhold
William Shatner … Himself
Carrie Fisher … Doctor
Kevin Smith … Himself
Jason Mewes … Himself

Synopsis: Linus is a great Star Wars fan, but he is also dying of cancer and he won’t make it to the premiere of Star Wars: Episode I in 1998. So his best friends (and also Star Wars geeks) decide to break into the Skywalker Ranch to watch a raw edit of the movie. On their road trip to San Francisco they meet other fans, Trekkies and even William Shatner…

My Opinion: This is a geek fest par excellence, no doubt about it. Every other sentence contains a reference to the trilogy, either as direct quote or in the spirit. When you know the movies by heart it’s very easy to predict what they are going to say, but that just means that you are as geeky as they are.
But the movie has also a lot of sentimental scenes that are similar to those in Be Kind Rewind and they are very well placed to interrupt the geek fest without destroying its spirit.
But the most astounding thing about this movie and watching the guys on their journey is that you forget how bad Episode I really was.

July

May, 1st

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

William Shatner … Admiral James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Captain Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
James Doohan … Scotty
Walter Koenig … Pavel Chekov
George Takei … Hikaru Sulu
Nichelle Nichols … Cmdr. Uhura
Bibi Besch … Dr. Carol Marcus
Merritt Butrick … Dr. David Marcus
Kirstie Alley … Lt. Saavik
Ricardo Montalban … Khan
Judson Earney Scott … Joachim Weiss

Synopsis: The Enterprise has become a teaching ship and Captain Spock is in command. When Admiral Kirk is on inspection and takes the ship for “a tour around the block” they get a disturbing call from Dr. Marcus. Someone is trying to get his hands on the “Genesis” project, a secret research project to create life on lifeless planets. But this Genesis device could also be used as a terrible weapon. And Kirk’s enemy is no other than the genetically enhanced Khan. He tried to kill Kirk and take his ship fifteen years ago.

My Opinion: Still a great movie. I really liked how they used the fact that space is three-dimensional, a fact that even especially Sci-Fi shows forget too often. I also liked how Khan used quotes from Moby Dick, but replaced some of the places with astronomical locations. Technically he couldn’t have this knowledge, he was in stasis and shortly after his defrosting he was banned to Zeti Alpha 5. He also couldn’t know that the Klingons have a proverb: “Revenge is a dish best served cold”. But I am willing to overlook that because Montalban was awesome when he said it.
And I loved those close combat scenes, it reminded me of the old battles between sailing ships.

May, 2nd

The Final Countdown

Kirk Douglas … Capt. Matthew Yelland
Martin Sheen … Warren Lasky
Katharine Ross … Laurel Scott
James Farentino … Wing Commander Richard T. Owens / Richard Tideman
Ron O’Neal … Cmdr. Dan Thurman
Charles Durning … Sen. Samuel Chapman
Victor Mohica … Black Cloud
Soon-Tek Oh … Simura

Synopsis: Warren Lasky is a civilian consultant whose task is to evaluate the efficiency of the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. But shortly after the Nimitz has left Pearl Harbor on December 6th, 1980, the ship encounters an electromagnetic storm none of them has ever seen before. And when they are clear of the storm there are not where they are supposed to be. It’s still December 6th – but 1941, one day before the Japanese Empire started its attack on Pearl Harbor.

My Opinion: What if? I really like the questions this movie asks – whether or not one is allowed to interfere with things that already happened. And I liked the faces of the senator and the japanese pilot when Owens told them what was about to happen. And I have to say: I love aircraft carries, they are beautiful. And I love it to see planes starting from and landing on them and this movie had plenty of such footage.

May, 3rd

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Russell Crowe … Capt. Jack Aubrey
Paul Bettany … Dr. Stephen Maturin, Surgeon
James D’Arcy … 1st Lt. Tom Pullings
Edward Woodall … 2nd Lt. William Mowett
Chris Larkin … Capt. Howard, Royal Marines
Max Pirkis … Blakeney, Midshipman
Billy Boyd … Barrett Bonden, Coxswain

Synopsis: During the Napoleonic Wars the english “HMS Suprise” has the orders to sink french ships or take them as a prize. But their first battle against the “Archeron” doesn’t go well. The “Archeron” has the better armour, longer guns and is still faster. But Captain “Lucky Jack” Aubrey will hunt her from Brazil to the Galápagos, no matter the cost.

My Opinion: A great movie about naval battles. Since it is a movie from this age there’s very little nostalgia in it. Men get shot, stabbed, they bleed and die. We see the carpenters who repair the ship after a fight, we see the superstition that most of the crew shares, we see how young many of the crew are. It has nothing in common with the “fencing pirates” movies of the 50s and 60s. And it is also set in a great scenery along South America’s coast and the Galápagos islands. I also like the soundtrack very much to which I am listening right now.

May, 20th

Clerks

Brian O’Halloran … Dante
Jeff Anderson … Randal
Marilyn Ghigliotti … Veronica
Lisa Spoonhauer … Caitlin
Jason Mewes … Jay
Kevin Smith … Silent Bob
Scott Mosier … Willam the Idiot Manchild

Synopsis: Dante is a convenient store clerk who isn’t supposed to work today but has to come in anyways. Together with his friend Randal who works at the neighbouring video store he philosophizes through the entire spectrum of topics while unwillingly “serving” customers. When they don’t work (which they mostly don’t) and don’t philosophize they play hockey or drive to a wake or talk to friends and girlfriends. And so the day goes by…

My Opinion: I got the idea of watching this again when I stumbled across the “ABC” dance video of Clerks II. It’s funny how a movie is able to not to have an actual story and still be very entertaining for 92 minutes. I have always loved the part where they discuss the morality of destroying a Death Star while it’s still under construction and thus having a lot of external contractors like roofers and plumbers are on board.

Clerks II

Brian O’Halloran … Dante
Jeff Anderson … Randal
Jason Mewes … Jay
Kevin Smith … Silent Bob
Jennifer Schwalbach Smith … Emma
Ben Affleck … Gawking Guy
Trevor Fehrman … Elias
Rosario Dawson … Becky
Scott Mosier … Concerned Father
Kevin Weisman … Hobbit Lover
Jason Lee … Lance Dowds

Synopsis: 10 years later. The Quick Stop has burned down and Dante and Randal are “working” in a Mooby’s fast food restaurant. But not much longer. Dante will marry in a few months and he will move to Florida. Today is his last day. Randal plans to give him a going-away present in form of a “donkey show”. But apart from that there hasn’t been much change. Jay and Silent Bob are still selling drugs in front of the store and Dante still feels that he hasn’t found his purpose in life yet.

My Opinion: A nice continuation of their story and when you watch both movies together you see the parallels they put into it much more clearly. And I really liked the addition of Rosario Dawson who was great as Becky. It was also great that Silent Bob who always had the one big speech per movie didn’t know what to say this time: *theatrical pause* and then “I’ve got nothing.”.

The movie posters were also hilarious:

May, 21st

Big

Tom Hanks … Josh Baskin
Elizabeth Perkins … Susan
Robert Loggia … MacMillan
John Heard … Paul
Jared Rushton … Billy
David Moscow … Young Josh

Synopsis: Josh is a 13 year old boy who loves to hang out with his best friend Billy. But he’s also starting to get interested in girls and when he’s humiliated in front of the girl he likes he just wishes to be big on a Zoltar magic machine. And his wish is granted. When he wakes up, he’s an adult who has to flee from his own house. Billy helps him to find a room and a job in New York City. Then they start to search for the Zoltar again. But life as an adult isn’t as terrible as it seemed in the beginning.

My Opinion: It’s a nice comedy flick which I enjoyed very much. Tom Hanks is a great actor who can play like an innocent child as well as his more serious roles, like The Green Mile or Saving Private Ryan. And Elizabeth Perkins was great, too. They were a great it-wasn’t-supposed-to-be couple and I especially liked the scenes where she tried to hit on him and he reacted like a 13 year old.

There still one thing I can’t get out of my head. I am aware that there are more movies out there like this (e.g. 13 Going on 30 from 2004). And even though I have seen the extended edition now I still have the following image in my head: After Josh had become a kid again he goes to school again and sits in his place when a new red-headed school girl comes into class and gets seated behind him. He turns around and she smiles to him.
I don’t know from which movie I got that scene but I always associate it with Big.

Son of Rambow

Bill Milner … Will Proudfoot
Will Poulter … Lee Carter
Jessica Hynes … Mary Proudfoot
Neil Dudgeon … Joshua
Jules Sitruk … Didier Revol

Synopsis: Will Proudfoot is growing up in a very strict christian society. He isn’t even allowed to watch documentaries in school. Lee Carter is the troublemaker of the school who makes pirate copies of theatre movies. When their paths cross nothing will be the same. Together they make their own movie where Will is the son of Rambow and Lee plays Colonel Trautman. But their secret comes out and suddenly everybody wants to have a role in it.

My Opinion: It’s a funny film with funny being not in the “hilarious funny” category but more in the category of “decent humour without forgetting that it wants to tell a story”. Even though the actors were children (who did a great job) I had the feeling this movie carried a sentimental tune similar to the one in Be Kind Rewind. I also liked it that the movie had no problem with switching to a more serious tone after the accident when you don’t know what has happened to Lee.

June

April, 10th

They Call Me Trinity

Terence Hill … Trinità
Bud Spencer … Bambino
Farley Granger … Maj. Harriman
Elena Pedemonte … Judith
Steffen Zacharias … Jonathan
Dan Sturkie … Tobias
Gisela Hahn … Sarah

Synopsis: Trinity comes into a small town where he meets his brother Bambino again. Bambino is the Sheriff there after he accidentally shot the real Sheriff (i.e. he thought the Sheriff was pursuing him, but he wasn’t). Trinity takes the role of the Deputy Sheriff and together they help a group of Mormon settlers who have trouble with a man who wants their land for his horses.

My Opinion: Except for the early movies, Bud Spencer & Terrence Hill movies are always harmless fun. They are childhood favourites of mine and have a certain cult status here in Germany. This is mostly due to a very unique dubbing of these movies but I still enjoy them very much and I own pretty much all of them.

April, 15th

Trinity Is Still My Name

Terence Hill … Trinità
Bud Spencer … Bambino
Yanti Somer … Trinity’s girl
Enzo Tarascio … Sheriff
Harry Carey Jr. … The Father
Jessica Dublin … ‘Farrah’ the Mother
Emilio Delle Piane … Parker
Benito Stefanelli … Stingary Smith
Jean Louis … Murdock

Synopsis: Although Trinity promised his brother to go the other way, he follows him through the desert until they meet again at their parents’s house. Bambi has to promise to make an honest horse-thief out of Trinity and he really tries. In the next town they pretend to be secret federal agents and get “bribed” by the local gangsters to “look the other way”. But where money is that easy to be made there must be more money to be made…

My Opinion: I started to watch this right after They Call Me Trinity but had to pause because I had to get up early. So I finished today. My favourite scene was when they ate at that french restaurant and the Maitre D’ tried to take away the food or when he tried to flambé the dessert.
One of the side effects of that aforementioned dubbing is that the dubbers didn’t really care that there was a previous movie and they simply changed the character’s name. And often there’s even more than one german dubbing and even different german names for the same movie. Sometimes there’s a comedy dubbing and a more serious dubbing of the very same movie and sometimes there are two dubbings because East Germany and West Germany made a version of their own.
For example: In West Germany this movie is called “Four Fists for a Hallelujah”. In East Germany it was called “The Little One and the Tired Joe” which were actually their names in the first movie (“Bambino” is italian for baby or infant).

Man of the East

Terence Hill … Sir Thomas Fitzpatrick Phillip Moore
Gregory Walcott … Bull Schmidt
Yanti Somer … Candida Austin
Dominic Barto … Monkey Smith
Harry Carey Jr. … Holy Joe
Riccardo Pizzuti … Morton Clayton

Synopsis: A young Sir from England comes over to California after his father died there. He inherits his farm and meets three of his father’s friends. Bu they are three gunslingers who hate progress. But over time they will become friends and change their respective lives in a way none of them had anticipated.

My Opinion: This is one of my Hill favourites. I love to see him ride bicycle through a western town and to suddenly start reciting a poem by Walt Whitman or how he tried to explain how fertile the earth on the farm is by squeezing a pile of horse shit.

April, 28th

Batman Begins

Christian Bale … Bruce Wayne / Batman
Michael Caine … Alfred
Liam Neeson … Henri Ducard
Katie Holmes … Rachel Dawes
Gary Oldman … Jim Gordon
Cillian Murphy … Dr. Jonathan Crane
Tom Wilkinson … Carmine Falcone
Rutger Hauer … Earle
Ken Watanabe … Ra’s Al Ghul
Morgan Freeman … Lucius Fox

Synopsis: When he was a kid, his parents were shot by a mugger. When he had the chance to take revenge he missed it. For seven years he wandered around the globe to study crime. But it’s only when he meets Ra’s Al Ghul that his life gets a purpose again. Back in Gotham City at day he is a (drunken) billionaire who parties too much while at night he becomes the greatest fear the underworld ever had: Batman.

My Opinion: Great restart of the franchise. I always liked the first Batman movie and since I’ve never read any Batman comic I imagined that was the way Batman was supposed to be: noir and serious. Oh, I liked the 60’s show with Adam West, but one couldn’t take it seriously (“anti-shark repellent” anyone?). And I like comics in general – I don’t have that many, but I can certainly see their charm. But when it comes to a comic-to-movie adaptation I expect a bit more seriousness. I can accept super-powers of any kind and have no problems with their origin but the characters have to be “well drawn”. They have to feel like real people and not behave like a Saturday morning cartoon show. And it that regard the old Superman movies (except maybe part 2) and also Batman 3 & 4 failed.
Batman Begins then was great. The background of Bruce Wayne hasn’t really changed but the way it was told was great. I also liked that Gordon had become a three-dimensional character (no surprise when played by Gary Oldman). This is certainly a movie that doesn’t try to make puns for puns’s sake. I love it.
Let’s just hope that the third movie (that is hopefully coming) isn’t a letdown like the third parts of the recent X-Men and Spider-Man trilogies.

April, 29th

Iron Eagle

Louis Gossett Jr. … Charles ‘Chappy’ Sinclair
Jason Gedrick … Doug Masters
Tim Thomerson … Col. Ted Masters
Larry B. Scott … Reggie
Caroline Lagerfelt … Elizabeth Masters
Jerry Levine … Tony
Robbie Rist … Milo

Synopsis: Doug is a teenager about to graduate from high school but then his father gets shot down in his F-16. He is falsely accused of having violated the airspace of a north-african country. He’s trialed, found guilty and will be hanged. Doug is also a hobby Cessna pilot who has flown hundreds of hours in the F-16 flight simulator and when the Air Force shows no intention of rescuing his father, he decides to do something about it. He and Col. Sinclair steal two F-16 and try to rescue his father.

My Opinion: This movie is so bad. Seriously. It came out in the same year as Top Gun and Top Gun won. The story is ridiculous and very patriotic. But I love that movie in all its cheesiness. It has nice flying scenes and it has a great collection of songs in it, especially since Doug can’t really hit a target without listening to music. This movie was the reason that the F-16 “Falcon” was my favourite plane for quite a while.

March, 1st

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Kristy Swanson … Buffy
Donald Sutherland … Merrick
Paul Reubens … Amilyn
Rutger Hauer … Lothos
Luke Perry … Pike
Michele Abrams … Jennifer
Hilary Swank … Kimberly
Paris Vaughan … Nicole
David Arquette … Benny
Stephen Root … Gary Murray
Thomas Jane … Zeph

Synopsis: Buffy is a normal highschool freshman and member of the cheerleading squad. But then she meets Merrick and he shows her what she really is: The Chosen One, a Vampire Slayer. Born with the strength and skill to fight the Vampires, to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. But she wants to stay a normal girl and wants nothing to do with such rubbish.

My Opinion: This movie may not be what Joss Whedon had intended or will do on the TV show. But it definitivly falls into the category of “guilty pleasure” and is a lot of fun if you’re willing to accept its cheesiness. And the dialogue is unmistakably Whedon. Also, Lothos used a Samurai Katana, that’s a plus in the book.

March, 7th

Underworld

Kate Beckinsale … Selene
Scott Speedman … Michael Corvin
Michael Sheen … Lucian
Shane Brolly … Kraven
Bill Nighy … Viktor
Erwin Leder … Singe
Sophia Myles … Erika

Synopsis: For centuries Vampires and Lycans (Werewolves) have been fighting and killing one another. Selene is a Death Dealer, a Vampire specialized in the hunting and killing of Lycans. But her latest hunt brought up several mysteries. The Lycans have suddenly guns that can fire bullets containing a light-emmiting liquid – fatal for Vampires. Where did they get those? And why were they following that Human who seems important to them? And Lucien, the ruthless leader of the Lycans, is supposed to be dead for 600 years. But is he actually dead?

My Opinion: What I really like about this movie is it’s style. The look of the snobbish Vampires versus the more ragged look of the Lycans. The darkness and the rain and the soundtrack. The story and the acting is ok, but not overwhelming. But if one wants to have a nice brain-free evening with a lot of shootings and a bit of mythology in the mix, this is the movie for it.

March, 8th

The Incredible Hulk

Edward Norton … Bruce Banner
Liv Tyler … Betty Ross
Tim Roth … Emil Blonsky
William Hurt … Gen. Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross
Tim Blake Nelson … Samuel Sterns
Lou Ferrigno … Voice of The Incredible Hulk / Security Guard

Synopsis: Bruce Banner has been hiding for the last few years. Currently he works in a lemonade factory somewhere in Brazil. But then an accident happens and his pursuers find him again. In the following struggle the Hulk comes out and Banner awakes in Guatemala. He has to find a way to undo this mutation and for this he needs the research data that was recorded during the original accident. But that brings him too close to the love of his life. And two soldiers want to find him at any cost but for different reasons.

My Opinion: When I went to the theatre to watch this movie I was a bit uneasy because I didn’t like the first movie that much. But I thought that Edward Norton and Liv Tyler would make it at least a decent movie and I enjoyed it very much. The Hulk felt much more real and three-dimensional than the one in the first movie. I was glad that they didn’t use the split-screen again but went back to the classical movie approach. The story was predictable – he wanted to lift the curse but ultimately had to embrace his alter ego in order to save the world – but that’s what I expect from a (super)hero movie.

Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr. … Tony Stark
Terrence Howard … Rhodey
Jeff Bridges … Obadiah Stane
Gwyneth Paltrow … Pepper Potts
Leslie Bibb … Christine Everhart
Shaun Toub … Yinsen

Synopsis: Tony Stark is the CEO of Stark Industries. They manufacture and sell the most advanced weapons technology in the world. One day Stark is kidnapped and is forced to build a new weapons system for a group of terrorists. But Stark builds something else: an armored suit that he wears to break out of his prison. When he returns to the civilized world he reflects what he has seen on the other side of the world and he decides that weapons production isn’t a good idea after all. But he can help people if he would wear that new suit of his more often…

My Opinion: This was a blind buy for me. Tony Stark’s character is very two-dimensional, even after his change of heart. I would put it closer to Underworld than to The Incredible Hulk, more visuals than actual story or profundity. What bothered me, was the fact that they invented a superhero that has no actual superpowers and yet he survives the most absurds stunts as if he had superpowers. First when he crashed into the desert and again when he tested his rocket-boots and crashed without armor into a concrete wall. It may have looked funny but it didn’t help with the character’s credibility.
I find it interesting that movies about a teenager who has been bitten by a spider or about people who are born differently are more serious than a movie about a guy who’s inventing the newest weapons.

March, 18th

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Arnold Schwarzenegger … The Terminator
Linda Hamilton … Sarah Connor
Edward Furlong … John Connor
Robert Patrick … T-1000
Earl Boen … Dr. Silberman
Joe Morton … Miles Dyson
Leslie Hamilton Gearren … Twin Sarah

Synopsis: A decade has passed since Kyle Reese was killed and the Terminator was destroyed. But now he’s back. Another T-800 was sent back through time. But he’s not here to terminate. He’s here to protect John from the more advanced Terminator model T-1000 – a shapeshifter. Sarah, John and the T-800 have their hands full with staying alive and preventing the apocalypse. They have to destroy Skynet before it’s even made.

My Opinion: I had totally forgotten how young John was. I remembered him at least four years older – maybe due to new series. But I still like the movie very much. Robert Patrick is a great adversary with cool morphing effects. And while some of the jokes that John made the T-800 do were a bit childish I liked their interaction. I also liked how the T-800 killed nobody and still had an amazing rounds per minute ratio.
For me, it’s the best part of the trilogy – let’s see how the fourth part will be.

April