Peter Murmann

Miles Ahead

21 July 2016

A couple of months ago, I watched the documentary on Jimi Hendrix Hear my Train Coming. Starting in his teenage years, Jimi was only interested in two things: his guitar and women with music clearly in first place. The film draws much on live performances where the genius of Hendrix becomes very clear. At the end of the film, we learn that the estate of Jimi Hendrix “commissioned” the documentary. Only then did it become clear that we are watching a sanitized version of Hendrix’s life. The man died from a drug overdose. But in an effort make Jimi appear as likable and charming as possible and increase for his estate sales from his music his death is portrayed more as an accident of someone how dabbled a bit in drugs. Miles Ahead takes a very different approach.

Movies, Comedy

My Fat Greek Wedding 2

16 July 2016

I laughed tears on during the original My Fat Greek Wedding. The sequel is not nearly as funny. From the beginning, you wonder whose wedding it will be this time. First it seems, grandpa might get his way and the 17-year-old granddaughter is getting married a tiny bit early. But then the film wonders in different directions. It becomes more a meditation on family life, getting older and the difficulty of keeping romance in marriage. Perhaps Mia Vardalos (director and lead) on purpose made this film not as funny as the first one.

Humor, Situations

Disunited Kingdom

28 June 2016

This will be painful years. Let’s hope anything good will come out of it.

Movies, Phantasy

Finding Dori

27 June 2016

All weekend I have been reeling from the Brexit vote shock. The only time my mind could forget this calamity while watching *Finding Dori* at the cinema.

Movies, Documentary

Vor der Morgenröte (Before the Red Sun rises again)

6 June 2016

Stefan Zweig is one of my favorite German writers. I already reviewed on these pages the film Secret Burning based on his novel and his Chess novel. Both are fantastic. This film is about the life of Zweig. I knew how Zweig’s life ended but I had no idea of his years in Exile. Zweig was a Jew and he—unlike so many others who ended up in concentration camps—had the good sense to leave Austria and Germany shortly after the Nazis took power. The film covers his exile years. Its method is to pick out 5 episodes in a ten year period. Vor der Morgenröteis as poetic as Zweig’s work and it is a major accomplishment. The performance of Josef Hader as Zweig is stunning.

Movies, Documentary, Drama

Purple Rain

1 June 2016

Prince’s premature death prompted me to see Purple Rain for the first time. The film feels a bit like Flashdance. Incidentally, Jennifer Beals, the star of Flashdance was asked to play lead female role but declined. The plot is apparently based on Prince’s life but the main story is Prince’s talent. No plot can compete with his musical genius. The movie’s ending, where Prince shows off his musical talent, is worth seeing.

Movies, Documentary

Amy

22 May 2016

Since every person now has a smartphone, documentaries of people living today will much easier to do because so much film material will be available on each person. Compared to the documentary on Bob Marley that I covered earlier, a lot of film material was available on Amy Winehouse. Relatively cheap digital video cameras were around when she turned 14 and she and her friend started to interview each other like teenagers do. Documentaries on popular musicians are generally wonderful because we love to hear the music again that accompanied our own lives. Amy is a rewarding film to watch.

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