3DD!3

A brilliant idea, masterfully brought to perfection, despite the bizarreness on the way. Now I finally understand the thousands of references found in American pop culture. Slim Pickens’ rodeo ride, the War Room. Truly an essential piece of cinematography. Peter Sellers excels, Sterling Hayden, ranting on with that cigar in his mouth, is the epitome of the military and George C. Scott steals almost all the scenes only and only for himself. Great.

Modern-day realism in an old-school blazer. Dominik changes the rules of storytelling, while also balancing the human and political angles. Bush and Obama are depicted often as ridiculous figures thanks to their speeches about unity and faith in the stars and stripes in this game dominated by Pitt’s Cogan. The actors are perfect, the message short and sharp. Everything stands on the last few lines. America is not a country, it’s a business. Now fucking pay me.

They’re back with all the trimmings. Jokes with the perfect punchlines, crazy stories and, most importantly, constant quality throughout the season. Lister and his relationship with the vending machine, Jesus and the unforgettable gag with the moose. If it weren’t for the wrinkles on the faces of the crew, these episodes could have come straight out of the golden age of this series, the first three or four seasons.

Clint robbing dead bodies while humming a merry tune, a nun who drinks a bit too much and a great western. The brilliant one-liners during the verbal exchanges of the incongruous duo and the ever-perfect Ennio Morricone make this movie an entertaining and inventive watch.

An inoffensive detective movie, nicely thought through with a star cast. But Kaufman doesn’t steer the movie as well as it deserves, everything passes by nicely, but not dazzlingly. Not even the suspense is enough to keep you pinned in your seat. Great lines and I quite like these USA/Japan culture clashes. But even so, I think that next time I’ll try the book instead.

Bloodbath. It really reminded me of The Raid, but without the martial arts. Instead we got neat shooters with all the ammo modifications imaginable (a little and big boy’s dream) and classic fisticuffs... right down somebody’s throat. Urban makes a perfect Dredd, better than Sly in reeling off great lines, commanding greater respect. Lena Headey as Ma-Ma is a decent opponent and the new girl makes for pleasant viewing. Slo-mo was in charge of the visually powerful scenes (evidently low-budget) and the 3D might have looked good if only those bastard distributors had put it on general release. If it doesn’t earn, it doesn’t earn. More bodies for recycling.

1: No shit. Great casting, I was really surprised by Martin Freeman. Cutting Brit humor, great one-liners and all that in an excellent detective story. The setting in the present is no problem, in fact it breathes fresh air into Doyle’s classic story. 2: Not as snappy as the first episode, but thanks to cyphers, codes and the exotic from China it’s still really engrossing. 3: A whirlwind of cases and the final confrontation with M are a great ending to the first three episodes. Pleased to see Golem and Czech curiosities. I’m intrigued to see what comes next.

Love resists the law... this time of gravity. The visual side is captivating, the story about the rich and the poor in an original setting. Laws don’t work the way we are used to, so who ever wants to spend almost two hours squabbling about whether or not the blood would rush to the hero’s head or that the fire is burning somewhat slowly and would go out during the first time climb into the upper world, can. Solanas sacrificed these details to allow him to tell a story which, apart from the slightly hurried finale, has no flaws. Both Kirsten Dunst and Jim Sturgess are well cast and know what is expected from them. Overall, it’s simply a well-made fairytale that takes place in an eye-pleasing world.

I should have expected this. Liam Neeson is still cool and I still enjoy his bloody solutions to problems. Maggie Grace isn’t as tiresome as in part one and the driving school episode is pretty funny. The rest is just painful, a sequel based on public demand, directed by action-bungling Olivier Megaton, and the result is as it is. Sometimes it aspires to being a Bourne, sometimes a Bond, but Bryan has his own way of doing things. We saw that in Paris. With any luck, part three will set things straight. And the remaining two sons are fine pieces of work who will make decent enemies for the aging Neeson.

Because yesterday was somehow never-ending, I thought I’d try Ferrara’s version. Honestly, it’s not bad, just a little boring. A less subtle approach, a little more oomph would have helped. This is more like an ode to the good side of people when it’s already too late. How human. William Dafoe plays his role, but his talents remain inadequately tapped. A good bit was the power outage with the Northern Lights. Nice music. And Skype rocks! Al Gore was right.