This page collects MovieReviews that don’t necessarily make it into the best-of list. I also maintain a list of MoviesToWatch. RSS Search
Ich sitze alleine daheim, den Nachgeschmack von Port auf der Zunge. Ich habe gegessen und mir Ashes of Time von Wong Kar-Wai angeschaut. Die Bilder von Christopher Doyle wirken wie ein endloser Traum in falschen Farben, die Filter verfremden alles, was bleiben sind die Gesichter der Schauspieler, die sich ihrer begangenen Fehler bewusst werden, die ihre sich an ihr Lebenslicht erinnern, an ihre wahre Liebe, die verflossenen Möglichkeiten, die traurige Gegenwart. Wahrhaftig, ein Film, wo man sich freut, wenn man Nachts nicht alleine im Bett liegt.
Leslie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Charlie Yeung, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka Fai – da hat es nur geniale Schauspieler dabei. Ich glaube ich muss mir noch mehr Wong Kar-Wai Filme zu Gemüte führen.
Ich sehe gerade, dass ich schon früher über Wong Kar-Wei geschrieben habe. Der Blog ist alt. Ich auch. 2005-01-20 Movies. 2005-01-09 Movies. 2002-12-28!
Tags: Movies 
Astrópía (2007) hat Claudia und mir gefallen. Das Tussi beim Schminken, der selbstverliebte Blonde, das Bild des Paares im Hintergrund, das Gespräch im Kaffeehaus, der stürzende DJ, der erste Gefangene im Gefängnis, die Trekkies im Laden, die Schulterklopferei, die Regelfragen, das LARP Schnippsel aus der Vergangenheit (Brüller!), ihre Reaktion auf die direkte Rede… Wir haben viel gelacht. Wo der Film nicht super zündet, ist er immer noch nett gemacht und für uns gerade ideal nach auswärts Essen und zwei Stunden Wellness/Sauna.
Empfohlen.
Und das Booklet enthält ein Mini Rollenspielt mit super Einführung, und die DVD soll anscheinend Einführspielregeln für Das Schwarze Auge, Call of Cthulhu, und Shadowrun drauf haben. Geniale idee! Danke Dirk Remmecke.
Today we watched Black Cat, White Cat (1998) following a suggestion by a friend of ours. The props, the faces, the set, the chaos everywhere, perfectly caught on film – the result was hilarious!
I totally recommend this movie if you want something crazy & fun. And it has gipsy music. Lots of it. I like it.
I need to listen to more Balkan music. It pains me to remember that my Croatian physiotherapist and movie buff Zoran had given me half a dozen or more CDs full of Balkan music back in the days when I thought MP3s were never going to catch on. I wasn’t ready for the music and didn’t copy any of it. I didn’t even write down any names. The two I remember are Emir Kusturica and Goran Bregović.
Tags: Movies 
We watched the last movie in a series of three movies by Yôji Yamada: Love and Honor (2006). Once again the movie is based on a novel by Shûhei Fujisawa. And once again, I loved it.
As in previous movies, there’s a reluctant samurai bound by love and honor, and there is but a single significant duel. This movie showed some elements of a relationship that I found heart-breaking: A couple keeping secrets from each other trying to protect the other from something they feel would hurt them, and by doing so, hurt them. Growing mistrust. Other people driving a wedge between two lovers. Exploitation.
Maybe I’m just growing old and soft. 
These sad moments make me appreciate my love even more. Was it Aristotle’s theory on tragedy that said the pain you experience lets you appreciate your own happiness? I think my heart must have been overflowing for hours.

Continued from 2007-06-12 Hidden Blade.
Tags: Movies
Comments on 2008-08-24 Love and Honor
Two words: Weich. Eyer.
Just think back to the Hidden Blade. You remember the scene when the guy got his hand shot off? That was awesome. You remember how awesome it was? Think. Now hold onto that thought. That thought is your rock. Stabilize yourself with the rock. Concentrate. Stabilize. Deep breath…
Phew, I think I saved you just in time.
– Marco 2008-08-26 16:20 UTC
Habe den ersten Kommentar von dem angegebenen Link gelesen und meine, der Film würde mir auch gefallen. Nur weiss ich nicht, ob er hier in Rio zu sehen sein wird. Mich ergreifen solche Themen ebenfalls. Im Alter wird es dann noch schlimmer! Diesen Film hätte ich lieber gesehen als “Question Humaine”!!
– Helmut Schröder (Vater von Alex) 2008-08-26 17:09 UTC
Ja, das muss ein schrecklicher Film gewesen sein. Eigentlich lache ich ja immer über die Leute, die im Kino nichts verstehen. Aber so wie du es beschreibst… Da bin ich lieber vorsichtig, haha.
– AlexSchroeder 2008-08-26 21:40 UTC
Philisophic comment on Marcos comment (my opinion):
If you misunderstand strenght for not letting anything emotional touch, you may have hardness but you’re not strong… Real strenght and power can embrace love as it shows and deal with it (however that might happen…).
Anyway, love you Marco! 
– move 2008-08-28 09:57 UTC
I went to see Street Kings (2008) and Definitely Maybe (2008) with a good friend of mine. We always have a hard time picking movies to see because our tastes are so different. Obviously I think I have excellent taste, thus she must have … a different taste. 
Both movies were ok entertainment. Neither movie was worth paying CHF 18 per person (about USD 18 at the moment). Better to join a DVD sharing arrangement at work or via a local association.
Definitely Maybe had a child that was way too wise. This plot element – providing spontaneous insight from the perspective of a child – doesn’t really work for me. I have a demystified view of children, I guess.
Street Kings had a predictable plot about LAPD corruption. It’s scary to realize that so many movies are made about police corruption that it is probably true. I also didn’t like the premise that sometimes we need cops that operate outside the law in order to uphold the law. This is a slippery path to take. I hate it if checks and balances in our political system are cast as random obstacles. They are necessary obstacles to prevent us from turning into the very thing we’re fighting against. Because if we do, “winning” has no value.
Update: Later I watched The Hidden Blade (2004). That was a good movie. I liked other Yōji Yamada movies, too. These I recommend wholeheartedly. 
Tags: Movies 
Comments on 2008-05-17 Street Kings and Definitely Maybe
Yeah, the Hidden Blade was great. It’s got something for everybody. 
– Marco 2008-05-20 10:03 UTC
There are three movies:
– AlexSchroeder 2008-05-20 10:43 UTC
Yeah, I’ve seen several WW2 movies by now. A Bridge Too Far (1977) is a good war movie, but did not touch me in particular. The characters are flat, what remains is a few cynic comments by some of the big shots and some war impressions. I thought the destruction of Arnheim was particularly scary.
What really impressed me was how some of the scenes so closely match what I played through in Medal of Honor: Frontline. It’s scary how similar video games and movies have become in some ways. The game designers and visual artists must have seen all these classic war movies.
I still recommend the movie because of these Arnheim scenes.
Tags: Movies 
I liked Til Schweiger’s movie Keinohrhasen (2007). Simple romantic comedy and I liked it anyway. 
I also liked Nora Tschirner. I remember seeing her in Kebab Connection (2005) and liking her very much back then.
Getting older is creepy. It always creeps me out if ordinary people – co-workers, actors, clients – are born in the eighties. Where were they when I listened to Stevie Wonder wagging his head and singing I just called to say I love you... (dominating the charts for week after week after week).
And here’s another creepy thought: Thank God the Berlin Wall fell and Germany was reunited, for Tschirner grew up in East Berlin. I remember feeling old when my little sister didn’t know what the Iron Curtain was. Before long I will have to admit that I was born in the last millennium!! 
But you have to admit, it is hard to resist these rabbit guys.
Anyway, I sort of recommend it as light entertainment. Depending on how expensive your local movie theater is, you might want to join a DVD sharing club instead. Here in Switzerland I recommend runDVDrun.
Tags: Movies
Smerdyakov mentioned Expelled! (2008) on #hcoop and with some googling I found a review by John Rennie subtitled No Integrity Displayed. for Scientific American.

I remember two books by Richard Dawkins on the subject. I’d recommend The Blind Watchmaker.
I used to be subscribed to Scientific American. I stopped reading it when I realized that I still didn’t get the articles on Physics where as the articles on Biology seemed boring and trivial.
As I grow older, I might have to take it up again. 
I’m reading The Dark Valley by Piers Brendon. It’s broad, it’s sweeping, it has little anecdotes, it has detail. I love it.
I got hold of a huge collection of WWII documents – the keyword is KM99. I don’t know what it means, but hearing Hitler shout “YES! WE ARE INTOLERANT!!” has a certain creepy appeal.
I’ve also finished reading Fingersmith by Sarah Waters which had some excellent plot twists. I liked it. The lesbian element was not as strong as my curiosity would have liked. I wonder whether it is just me or whether there is more tolerance, acceptance, or even a sort of curiosity regarding lesbians that gays do not partake in.
I’ve also seen Transformers (2007). The entire movie could be summed up in 20 seconds of material. Not recommended!! The only funny part was the scene with the soldier trying to reach the Pentagon by phone and getting an operator who tries to sell some premium gold something membership to the poor guy who’s being shot at by aliens. That’s globalized services and capitalism for you, soldier! Those ten seconds are not worth the three hours of simple minded boom bang bonk, however.
I’ve also seen My Blueberry Nights (2007). I love Wong Kar Wai. The movie was typical: Great cinematography by Darius Khondji – and not Christopher Doyle as would have thought. I wonder whether there’s a story in that. Two more or less disconnected love stories. Unhappy endings. In this case the framing story has a happy end, which is new. I think I like his earlier movies better, but still recommended.
I’m looking forward to Love and Honor (2006). The third movie in the series starting with the amazing Twilight Samurai (2002) and continued with the amazing Hidden Blade (2004). All three by Yôji Yamada. The older two are definitely recommend. I haven’t seen the third one, yet.
Hm… Stuff I’ve seen:
Tags: Movies 
Hilarious movie. “Pitbull … Terrier”
– AlokSingh 2008-09-10 16:41 UTC
Hehe. The visuals were stunning! (And I liked the music as well, of course.)
– AlexSchroeder 2008-09-10 21:15 UTC
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