what is the last movie you have watched? (vhs, musical, watching)
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Black Book, a 2006 Dutch release about Resistance fighters in WWII Netherlands. It stars Carice Van Houten (Melissandre/the Red Witch from Game of Thrones) and Sebastian Koch (whom I last saw in supporting roles in Bridge of Spies and The Danish Girl). The film is directed by Paul Verhoeven. It's in Dutch and German, with English subtitles.
Van Houten plays Rachel Stein, a Jewish woman in Nazi-occupied Netherlands. (My initial complaint with the film is that based on her character's background, Rachel should be terrified, but she's not. Van Houten plays this character as if she has not a care in the world. She's doesn't seem affected by any deep emotions -- and later, when she DOES, it doesn't come across as particularly genuine to me.) After a personal tragedy and barely escaping death at the hands of a German ambush, Rachel joins the Resistance and ultimately agrees to cozy up to a Nazi officer to find information. The story ramps up from there, and there's a lot of double-crossing and betrayals on both sides.
The plot is fairly convoluted -- or maybe it's more accurate to say there are a lot of tangents -- but the main focus seems to be on the moral relativism of the characters. Some of the Nazi characters are presented as wholly evil/bad, but most of the other characters -- on both sides of the war -- are presented in shades of gray.
The film really gained its footing and sucked me in during the second half. I wanted to see what happened. But some elements of the movie were distracting. For instance, I thought the production values were pretty bad: the costumes and score, especially. It doesn't have a very current look or feel; despite the fact that it was made in 2006, it comes across like a TV movie from the 80s. And the acting by some of the players seemed "B movie" at best. Van Houten was the star, but she was also the worst actor in the film, I'd say. (And yet, in reading about the movie online, Van Houten was nominated for several awards for the role. Go figure.) In thinking about the movie, I keep thinking that it left some potential on the floor. There are scenes that could have been played up from the suspense aspect, but they're rushed through. And there's a second female character who is so blowsy and flamboyant that she comes across as a cartoon, a caricature. Certainly that role could have accomplished the same thing and been played with more subtlety?
Anyway, not a bad movie, just one that could have been better.
The Wave -- Norwegian tsunami disaster movie. Even though the production was much better than what I expected, it predictably followed every American disaster movie cliches by the book ... and it was too damn long. The scenery or the Norwegian fjords was spectacular, though.
5/10 stars.
I just watched this yesterday. As disaster movies go, it was one of the better ones I've seen, and I don't like disaster movies. The Norwegian angle piqued my interest.
"Lion", new in theaters as of last weekend. Based on a true story of an Indian child getting lost, found by a police officer and sent to an orphanage, then getting adopted by a couple in Australia. As an adult, he manages to find his way back to his mother, who never lost hope he would find his way home.
I watched Krampus on New Years Eve after everyone went to sleep. I hadn't intended on watching the whole thing but there I was at 430am finishing it. I watched it again a few hours later with the girls before I took them home. It's a lot of fun. Loved it.
Sully... then later last night.. Key Largo.... Largo won..
Aw, you didn't like Sully? I think it's a very impressive story. But I'd seen quite a bit of the youtube interviews of the real Sully before I saw the film. He's a great guy. Humble. He kept saying in his interviews that he was only doing his job, the job he trained for. It was all in a day's work, nothing more, to him.
But he never mentioned in his interviews that he suffered terrible PTSD as a result of the incident, and that he'd been required to justify his decisions before a panel that dissected his decision process in minute detail, cross-examining him, step by step.
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