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Rogue One (2016)
The way Star Wars should feel
After a lot of talks and a lot of rumors all over the place regarding this side-story for the Star Wars Universe. Finally, we get a fitting SW story that feels gritty and looks amazing.
Rogue One has three acts where it first introducing the characters, second part developing the characters to react to each other and set up the mission. Third part an epic battle where the actual plans get stolen. (yeah real spoiler ;) ).
The whole universe of SW in this movie just fits the rest of the original trilogy. The costumes the way the world looks like, the struggles on both the rebel side as the imperial side. It all fits good together.
With the introduction of so many new elements some fall a bit short especially how certain characters interact with each other. Maybe on that front Rogue One wants to push a bit too far. The movie is not long enough to put as much in it as it wants.
So lets talk about the third act. The third act is where the most action and the best visuals during the movie come in. The space battle in this act is just great, visually stunning and great use of the characters. Some you will recognize from EP4. A lot attention went into making this a solid SW set up, there is a battle in the sky, a battle on the ground and a battle in space taking place all at the same time.
The main bad guy shows divided side of the Empire, where you see people are still trying to take control of the powers within the Empire. I myself loved this, the struggles it shows the early stages of dominance. Vader is not used as much in the movie as the trailer might say, but I think this is a good thing. Vader is such a powerful character which would have taken away almost all screen time of the rebels or make the movie a Vader movie. Luckily, they used him for the right moments and the right times.
Again, the gritty atmosphere and the different locations this movie takes places are awesome and a welcome addition to the whole diversity of SW planets. You read about them in books but to actually see them represented in the movie is just awesome.
All in all, the movie was a great experience and if this sets up the rest of the spin off movies than keep them coming. Don't expect a 10 out of 10 movie because there are too many plot holes and other little things that make less sense. But a solid SW movie it is. I would put this one right after Empire Strikes Back in my SW list.
9/10
Aku no kyôten (2012)
Watch out for your teacher
Takashi Miike one of Japan's most biggest horror movie guru is finally back with "Lesson of the Evil". Will his absent be too much or will he come with something extraordinary which will give us shivers up our spins? Well at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) we had the chance to see the movie. Mr Hasumi, English teacher at a Japanese secondary school, is every teenager's dream. He is handsome, friendly and cool. He is also popular among the other teachers because of his clever methods of combating cribbing. Mr Hasumi defends his pupils: he efficiently tackles a gym teacher who can't keep his hands off the kids. His motives are however far from altruistic. That's no surprise. The viewer knows right from the terrifying start that disaster is looming. After some more events Hasumi shows his true colors and starts an rampage within the school. For the ones expected a real horror kind of movie you will be disappointed mainly because this isn't one. It is a grim tale about bad aspects in life and which harmful situations you can come across. But it is a typical Takashi movie it again is an reflection of things that are going down in society and all the horrors it can produce. I am not sure if Takashi wanted to make a statement or just give us another bold and bloody movie. After the movie develops it gets more in your face by the minute showing you what harmful products human being are to one and other. Visually the movie has some nice shots in it, you can see Takashi has matured on cinematographic things of his movies. Which for me really started to show in Crows 0 and 13 Assassins. He tries to put down at least the character Hasumi in different lights and really develops the character in the first part of the movie. You will feel that the students really are cannon fodder as the story develops and the subplots are completely destroyed in the second part of the movie. You can see this as a good thing or a bad thing for me it was good to see his main focus was on Hasumi and not all the others. Although 2+ hours was abit on the long side and makes the movie drag a bit from time to time. As I mentioned the second part of the movie is where Takashi shines again in his old ways. You feel the tension rise as Hasumi is changing into a not so perfect and lovely character. Hasumi comes to school and starts playing people out to each other at first in an none harmful way just to set up his master plan. As he does this he gets involved with a student and tries to extort another teacher for having sex with a fellow gay student. After his set up he takes his skeet gun and starts literally shooting the whole class and more! Blood goes everywhere students getting shot full in the face and Hasumi does it with a laugh. Let me say it one more time BLOOD goes everywhere, no resources are spared to throw in the blood! You can say it is literally shooting skeet without remorse all the little subplots of the students are being shot down. Which was remarkably easily done, two loved ones trying to get back to each other just before they do they both get blown away with all the visual violence to go with it. You can say that this is maybe one of Takashi's most straight forward movies, there isn't a deep underlying story to be found here. As Takashi tries to convince us with some Scandinavian folk story it isn't enough to persuade us to believe there is more. The movie is in your face and focuses on the extend of the violence in the shooting. Of course with all the shootings at school lately this topic isn't for the faint hearted since it really blows everyone away. This isn't his best work but it is a signal the master of extreme violence is back and it makes a mark! Just make sure you get through the beginning.
Frankenstein's Army (2013)
The zombots of Frankenstein
It took quite a while for Richard Raaphorst to have his first feature length film canned but now we can all enjoy "Frankenstein's Army", which debuted at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film had its world premiere at a sold out screening of the International Rotterdam Film Festival. And at long last the audience had the chance to have a look at Raaphorst's creation(s) in full splendour. I think a lot of horror fans have been looking forward to the debut of "Frankenstein's Army"; we've been teased by some excellent trailers of his "Worst Case Scenario" and when that project got stuck in development hell, artwork and teasers for his new film surfaced.
In "Frankenstein's Army" everything's filmed from a first person perspective, that person being the soldier Sergei, who's part of a Russian squad that is slowly moving further in Germany. He has the task to document the march of Mother Russia into Germany. So yes, you've read it right: this is a found footage film. When the squadron goes further into the countryside some weird skeletons and soldiers are found. When they pick up a radio signal from some comrades the trail leads them to a church / factory and then shits starts to hit the propeller.
The first half builds up slowly towards the second. Starting off with quite some shots of running and some occasional shooting, it gets more interesting when they come up a village where things don't seem right. The part where they start to encounter the first zombots (as Richard has named his creations) almost reminded me of a mix of the video game "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" and more steampunkish elements. Zombots suddenly appear and create havoc amongst the Russians. The second half steps down a bit and offers a better look at Raaphorst's monsters. The encounter of Viktor -the creator of the monstrous nazi soldiers- provides the director to go all out with special effects in the 'laboratory'. This is a place where a gorehound's heart starts beating faster: there are some geeky references, all the monsters and gory effects are real (so almost no computer effects) and that choice pays off. The effects feel real, the zombots are brought to life in a weirdly, wicked way, most of them wearing working mechanical features that gives each of them a unique look.
Raaphorst reaps I was a bit thrown off because of this film being another one in the 'found footage' style. Even though it doesn't bring nothing new to this way of drawing the audience into the film, it is well done: you know you don't get these lame something-was-there-and-now-there-isn't kind of things but you will be treated with some in-your-face gore and great zombots. Also it was hard to get over the accents used by the actors throughout the film, that is always a hard choice to make. Raaphorst his strength is his vision, visuals and details. I expected the film to be a bit more sinister and dark because of the teasers but in the feature itself there is more focus on gore than tension. Luckily he knows his gore and all the effects are really well done. It's great to see his sketches come alive on the big screen and they work well in all their bizarre glory.
I really hope this film will give Richard Raaphorst a chance to create another feature film in which he can explore more of his directional skills outside the found footage genre and is able to provide us another look in his bizarre, creative mind.
The Big Bad (2011)
Good flick!
Well as it is just released on Video On Demand (VOD) The Big Bad shows that there is a lot possible with a very small budget. The end product is a stylish movie that knows where it is going. Should have been hard for Jesse Gotta to write and play the main role in orderly fashion? Or did she proof us that double roles won't be of any influence in making a good movie?
Frankie Ducane is a woman in a seedy bar at a bad part of town, looking for a man named Fenton Bailey. A chance encounter with barfly Molly tells her she's on the right track. Molly had run into Fenton not too long ago and come away with a cut on her neck and an itch that wouldn't go away. When Frankie leans in and tells Molly what that itch is, the wounded woman goes to the bathroom and tries to slit her wrist. The suicide attempt fails, and after Frankie has buried Molly's body in a shallow grave, things get much worse. A trail of blood is left in her path as she fights every step of the way on the road to Fenton Bailey. And when she finds him, Frankie discovers those feelings that had driven her forward weren't fueled so much by anger as they were grief. "I just miss you both so much," she tells Fenton before . . . well, I'm not going to tell. Suffice it to say the ending is somewhat bittersweet.
One of the first things you will notice as a viewer is the great surrealism in this movie. The tone of the movie is a very dark one but with a bit of fantasy touché to it. Jesse Gotta and Bryan Enk have set up a very nice story and which has been captured and directed in a great way. The Big Bad didn't had a big budget but the movie never feels like a low budget movie thanks to the stylistic way of the movie. The movie shows the love that has been put into it and embraces the fairy-tale related parts into a dark murderous ride. Jesse Gotta wrote the script and plays the main role in the movie she makes sure the character she plays shows the emotion so needs to show and never as character feels empty. But The Big Bad isn't without its flaws a lot of action shots have been shot with a handycam which means shaky and muddled scenes. There could have been a lot more and better ways to capture the images but in the end it is a budget choice. While Gotta did great as a writer some of the dialogue is just not worth the time and just feels empty.
The monologues were just going on too long but never in a way it is annoying but in a way that you as viewer start to question things too much. The effects in the movie are well made and are never to gory and is walking a safe line in this one. Too much gore wouldn't have fit in the dreamy state of the movie and I am glad they didn't overdo it.
The Big Bad ended up as a surprise for me and after seeing a lot of movies lately with a lot higher budget fail miserably this was a nice breath of fresh air. Keep on the lookout for Gotta and Enk they have everything set up great and let's hope their new movie will have a higher budget. But with the budget they had they made this movie into a success in my book, the makeup, editing, the story and the sound just fits everything perfectly. I would say go check it out it is worth the watch.
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