Watched in the cinema (149th visit in 2024)
It seems as if the success of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" in 2018 has encouraged the big Hollywood animation studios to leave the perfect recreation of reality to one side for a while and instead go all out artistically again. The makers behind "The Wild Robot" are also following this trend in their adaptation of Peter Brown's three-part children's book series, with the backgrounds in particular being inspired by Impressionism. As the…
Watched on Netflix
It is now 52 years since a horrific massacre took place during the Summer Olympics in Munich, which ultimately claimed the lives of 17 people. Unsurprisingly, there have been numerous attempts to commemorate this incident over the years. Of course, "Munich" should not be missing from this series. Director Steven Spielberg tells less about the terrorist act itself. Instead, his film is dedicated to a hit squad that, following the motto "an eye for an eye", wanted…
Watched in the cinema (107th visit in 2024)
Sometimes it takes a little longer. "Am I OK?" is actually a little older, the dramedy premiered at the beginning of 2022. It makes you wonder why it was able to disappear into obscurity afterwards. In the USA, it was added to the program on the streaming service HBO Max at the beginning of June. In Germany, where this service does not exist, it took a month longer. However, the film is…
Watched on Blu-Ray
Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks led the way and the rest enthusiastically followed suit: Computer-generated animated films with great family appeal are not only good for box office takings in the triple-digit millions, those who incorporate cuddly characters can also look forward to a veritable shower of merchandising money. It was no wonder that Universal Pictures wanted to get in on the action at some point - the pie was too big for them to stand idly by.…
Watched on Netflix
Last year it was a bit like an advent calendar: on four consecutive days, Netflix added a short film to its program based on a story by Roald Dahl and directed by Wes Anderson. It started with "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" about a man who wants to learn an unusual gift so that he can cheat at cards. On the second day, the streaming service released "The Swan", in which a boy is terrorized by…
Watched on Netflix
Fans of Wes Anderson were given a lot to look forward to last year thanks to Netflix. More specifically, the streaming service added four short films to its program that were directed by the cult director and based on short stories by Roald Dahl. The most attention was paid to "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar", which won an Oscar for Best Short Film this year. Not only is it by far the longest of the four…
Watched on Blu-Ray
For a long time, it looked as if the Americans would decide among themselves who would take the crown of CGI animated films. Disney and Pixar were the most promising contenders, but DreamWorks and the then still-existing Blue Sky Studios also raked in millions for their respective studios. However, nobody expected that a French animation studio would suddenly be at the top with "Despicable Me". Firstly because traditional animation was still very popular in the Grande Nation,…
Watched on Netflix
Fans of Wes Anderson were given plenty to look forward to in 2023. Last year, for example, his new feature film "Asteroid City" premiered, in which he told the story of strange occurrences in the desert. At the end of the year, the cult director returned with four works in one go. To be more precise, four short films based on short stories by Roald Dahl that were released on Netflix in the course of 4 days.…
Watched on Netflix
Is streaming the death of the film industry or a chance to create something new? Where other directors are still grappling with a changing industry, Noah Baumbach made a commitment early on and chained his fate to that of Netflix. First came 2017's highly acclaimed "The Meyerowitz Stories." In 2019, he followed up with the divorce drama "Marriage Story," which was in the running for several Oscars. His third consecutive film made exclusively for the streaming service…
Watched in the cinema (103rd visit in 2023)
How does the love for horror movies begin? Is it fond memories of movies you probably saw way too early? Maybe you didn't sit through all parts of "Friday the 13th" or "Nightmare on Elm Street". But it was enough to fascinate you, to disturb you, to burn into your minds and awaken the desire to shudder and creep. What the parents think of it is a moot point, but somehow the…
Watched on Disney +
James Cameron is an avid fan of oceanography. He can even count himself among the few people who have dived down into the West Pacific Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench - the deepest point of the world's oceans, the last unexplored territory of our planet. It seems only logical, given this circumstance, that Cameron also has a distinct fascination with shipwrecks and their salvage: everything that the sea has swallowed up in its intimidating grace…
Watched on Blu-Ray
Films can show you the world through the eyes of another person. The camera can make something visible and comprehensible that would not be visible without the camera, a different perspective. Not only in the sense of a different perspective, but in the sense of a completely different perception and processing of reality.
For example, the world that Paul Thomas Anderson shows us through the eyes of small businessman Barry (Adam Sandler). He has a small flat…