Movies, Drama
The attentive reader of my blog will have noticed that I like movies very much. If I had a 2nd chance to start my work life over, I might put all my efforts into becoming a movie critic for a major newspaper. So when a film about Hollywood is made, the city where so much of the history of film has been written, I am obviously curious. Especially, when the director is Quentin Tarantino, who I boycotted for most of my life but warmed up in Django Unchained (here you find my 2012 review).Once upon a time in Hollywood
Movies, Drama, Phantasy
This is a fairy tale like no other I have seen before. It feels like a Beauty and the Beast inspired Sci-Fi film set during the Cold War USA of the early 1960s. There is real beauty in the love story between a mute woman and a male creature that comes across as a mixture between a mermaid and robot. He also cannot talk but clearly has intelligence and feelings. The film at times becomes rather annoying when the portrayal of the US government and its personnel becomes a caricature rather than a realistic portrayal what the USA military was like during the conflict with the Soviet Union.The Shape of Water
Movies, Documentary
You may have never heard of Gurrumul. I certainly had not when I was asked to see this biopic. After the first 10 to 15 minutes, you realize that you are for a very special story that is deeply moving. It is a remarkable piece of work and I put up there on the level of Searching for Sugar Man, which is my all-time favorite documentary of a musician. The Gurrumul story is so different from Sugar Man that it feels in no way repetitive. But what they have in common individuals whose music and poetic vision is so strong that they find against to odds a large audience.Gurrumul
Movies, Drama
The first third of this Israeli film is almost too hard to bear. A father and mother are visited by the military representatives who bring the sad news that their son has been killed in the line of duty. The next 40 minutes we are shown the horrific emotions that a father would go through at this moment. I was saying to myself, “I am not sure if I want to watch this for another hour or so.” But then the film takes an unexpected turn and we get a break.Foxtrot
Movies, Documentary
Today successful Hollywood actors are widely admired. This was not always the case. Some years ago, I visited LA and learned about the surprising history of Hollywood. The good society of LA looked down on actors. They were only seen as slightly better than prostitutes and so they were not allowed to live in town. The actors needed to move outside the city in a new area called Hollywood. I was reminded of this history in the opening minutes of The Shop around the Corner, which was produced in 1940.The Shop around the Corner