3DD!3

A fine, not ground-breaking documentary about endangered animals in Africa, enriched by 3D tricks. Absolutely wonderful landscapes alternate with a crazy ride in a jeep (the juddering camera really bugged me) and excellent views from above à la Google Maps. The best of the animals shown was without a doubt the rhino, with the elephant in second place close behind. Simply a classic offering for IMAX, so don’t expect anything more of it.

Excellent. I have loved cars ever since I was little and this was just perfect. Pixar celebrated its twentieth anniversary in great style. He embellished a classic Disney story with a completely new universe full of cars, each one cuter than the other, whether we’re talking about the self-confident Lightning McQueen, Mack the truck or Sally (darn, I fell in love with a Porsche ;). The story may not be as original as they tend to be with Pixar, but this small drawback is made up for with such care that you (or a car) have no reason to complain at all. By the way, this is the first time this year that I laughed out loud in the movie theatre. PIXAR IS THE BEST. I recommend staying till the end of the credits, it’s worth it.

An excellent concert by one of the best music bands of present times. It’s interesting that the DVD was the result of two concerts edited together and not one single concert as they tend to be. The band chose the best songs from their performances in Huston and Irving, where they were performing as part of the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003 appearing alongside acts such as Metallica and Limp Bizkit. The entire show has the right drive and Linkin Park reel out one hit after another. Especially the second half beginning with the song Figure.09 goes particularly well. I can’t but give it a full set of stars. The set list is as follows: Don’t Stay, Somewhere I Belong, Lying From You, Papercut, Points Of Authority, Runaway, Faint, From The Inside, Figure.09, With You, By Myself, P5hng Me A*wy, Numb, Crawling, In The End, A Place For My Head, One Step Closer.

The Last Stand is definitely the most bombastic part of the whole mutant trilogy. Despite the change in director (Ratner instead of Singer), they managed to film an epic piece of entertainment with great special effects that makes skillful use of the psychology already developed in the first two X-Men. The story revolves around the discovery of a cure against being a mutant (the ever more frequently casted fresh-faced Cameron Bright). Magneto takes advantage of an opportunity and widens the ranks of his followers (Juggernaut, Callisto, Phoenix...) and makes preparations for the long discussed war. Which makes room for lots of playing about. Ratner even came up with several wonderful novelties (the 1 to 5 mutant evolution scale, Wolverine’s improved fighting style) and amazing scenes (Wolverine approaching Jean is absolutely perfect, as well as Xavier testing his strength with Phoenix). But Ratner is no Singer and so his work with character psychology was a little shoddy. He tied up some loose ends from part two and tried to open some new storylines (Angel, Mystique), only to close them again. It’s hard to say how it would have all ended up if Brian Singer hadn’t eloped with the guy in the red cloak, but even so X-Men: The Last Stand is the biggest blockbuster event of this year. P.S. I really like Famke Janssen, but she gave me goose bumps in this movie and I was almost afraid of her.

This is one of the movie milestones of my childhood. This gave me the initial impulse (as a kid) to start looking at movies in greater detail. Spielberg’s adaptation of Crichton’s novel “Jurassic Park" appeared from out of the blue at a time when dinosaurs were my whole life. Back then this was in short "mind-blending" for me ;) . First the digital effects and second the excellent directing and great acting performances make Jurassic Park a breathtaking watch, even thirteen years later. Mainly Sam Neill put on a perfect performance. Then of course the Tyrannosaurus and not to forget Sam Jackson and his “Mr Arnold". And there’s one more name to mention. John Williams.

"Simon's going to tell Lt. McClane what to do, and Lt. McClane is going to do it." Unlike the first two, Die Hard With a Vengeance isn’t set at Christmas time and, after Los Angeles and Washington, tries its luck in New York. The position of director was taken up again by the tried and tested maker of part one, John McTiernan and, instead of being cooped up in a skyscraper, this time we career around one of the largest cities in the USA. The story harks slightly back to part one, but in a completely different style than to what we were used to in previous Die Hards. Even Willis’ McClane is more like Joe Hallenbeck from The Last Boy Scout. And we also have Sam Jackson, who is excellent as McClane’s involuntary partner. Plus, the original dubbing on the VHS is almost as perfect as the dubbing of the cult Pulp Fiction and wisecracks are reeled out left right and center.

How could somebody wreck their life like this? At the beginning everything looked so perfect. A little rough here and there, but nothing too hard to handle. The goods were selling well and business was booming. Why did his friends betray him? For money? Or was it nothing more than business? The life story of George Jung is compelling and, as it draws to an end, truly sad. As it tends to be in similar movies, the contrast between wealth and poverty was presented perfectly. Plus, Johnny Depp in the main role was great, as always. Attracting most of the attention to himself again. But I’ve never seen him looking like this before: a bit chubby and wearing a light blue shell suit.

It’s Christmas again and John McClane is waiting for his wife to arrive at Dulles International Airport in Washington. I know no better way of spending this stifling summer afternoon (12 July 2006, temp. 90°F in the shade) than in the company of John McClane and a band of terrorists capable of any atrocity. Bruce Willis is simply flawless as McClane and 16 years later he’s just as cool as ever. Renny Harlin handles action and suspense perfectly and lots of déjà vu lines like: "Just once, I'd like a regular, normal Christmas. Eggnog, a fuckin' Christmas tree, a little turkey..." They pleasantly lighten the mood of Die Hard 2. Too bad that they don’t make movies like this any more.

The first half hour follows the Quentin movie template to the letter. Perfect dialogs and flawless black humor. "If it’s not too much trouble, could I possibly borrow your ice bucket? I promise I’ll bring it right back." The second part is more reminiscent of Rodriguez’s Desperado - fast moving, action and a massacre in the bar. The turning point between these incongruous halves comes in the form of the “devilish dance performed by the gorgeous and wonderful Salma Hayek (Quentin just has a knack at arranging these things ;-). Maybe it is this incongruousness of the two halves that stopped me from giving this movie a full five stars. Although I found this difference less disruptive when watching for a second time. Maybe third time round I will work up to five stars. Cheech Marin is certainly worth a mention for playing three roles in this one movie: the border guard, the MC of the Titty Twister and Carlos.

So at last I got round to watching Judge Dredd. And I must say that it’s a gem. It really isn’t every day that you can see something like that. The plastic costume and Sly’s angular skull with that droopy lip protruding from the helmet. Sylvester Stallone as Joseph Dredd is just the coolest guy on Earth. Non-stop wisecracks. He shoots first, asks questions later. He serves the law loyally. He’s principled... Superb. The story more or less makes sense, and in terms of special effects, this movie is unique. The actors meet all possible expectations and the director made this blindfolded. Despite all of the absurdity, it’s great fun. The epitome of a Guilty Pleasure. Four is maybe too many stars, but I am still reeling in shock from what I just saw. ;-)