Henry Roth is a real ladies man and has been breaking the hearts of the female tourists of Hawaii for quite a while. One day he meets Lucy at a local cafe. She seems different than the girls he usually dates and she lives on the island. He decides to ask her out on a date. Everything went perfect and they even spend the night together. But the next morning Henry is in for an unpleasant surprise. Lucy doesn’t remember anything and starts freaking out.
While Henry has to win Lucy over every day, since she is suffering from a short-term memory loss, he has to come up with a new idea each day to introduce himself to her. This makes the movie quite different than other romantic comedies and creates some fun moments. I have to admit, after a while this progress starts to become a bit repetitive, but still the movie has a lot of funny parts. It is really nice to see that the end of the movie isn’t an average happy ending. They found a solution, but did not magically change Lucy’s situation.
Driving to their new house, Chihiro and her parents stop by an interesting old road. After inspecting it for a while, they suddenly find an open-air restaurant in some sort of town. But except for the food, it is totally deserted. Hungry as they are, Chihiro’s parents can’t wait to dig in and start eating all the delicious meals. Chihiro is not so sure they can be eating all of this and wanders off.
When trying to get back to her parents after a while, she finds them turned into dirty eating pigs. And as the night falls, the place is filling up with strange gods and spirits. In her first steps to breaking the spell on her parents, Chihiro has to start working in a bathhouse nearby. But the gods and spirits turn out to be the regular guests over there too.
Spirited Away is one of the first adult anime features I've seen and well, I can't say anything has topped it yet. It is set in such an extraordinary world, with such beauty and wisdom. With all these fun, unusual and evil characters and brought with all sorts of layers. With Chihiro you first feel totally lost in this strange town, but as it goes you adept to this amazing place you got yourself into. An epic experience, which well deserves its Oscar. And as with every of these great experiences, you come out just a little different than before.
The battle between Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe for a world record in Donkey Kong. Doesn’t seem too interesting, right? Well, think again. This is a gripping story about one man’s quest to beat a record. But Billy Mitchell is here to do everything in his power to keep him from breaking it.
On the surface, this is the classic story about good and evil. And although we know the documentary was made primarily in the view of Steve Wiebe, the general consensus about the players do seem right. On the one side there's the anti-hero Steve Wiebe. And on the other side there's Billy Mitchell, somehow reminding me of Tom Cruise in Magnolia.
Under the surface though, we find the story of an average guy, who just never could get a break. With 100% dedication he tries to break an unimportant thing like an arcade machine record. But he is so humble in doing this, it is impossible not to root for him. The unique story is brought to an even higher level by the compelling way director Seth Gordon brings the story. This is not a story you will like because you are a gamer, but because you are human. A funny, dramatic, suspenseful and inspirational ride.
Staying in a shabby motel in Lansing, low-rank drug dealer and heavy drinker Vince invites his old high school friend. He’s trying to find out what happened between John and Amy, that one night at their school about 10 years ago. And he’s not planning to stop digging until his version of the story has been proven.
Tape is based on a three-character, one-act play and therefore almost solely depending on its actors and story. And well, they are both worthwhile. Imagine a suspenseful drama you are overhearing when some people arguing. But now, you're overhearing the follow-up argument in their private place and on your tv screen. Linklater makes a daring move by making this one stage movie and is easily able to pull it off.
Sick of working as a file clerk at the local VA hospital, Harvey Pekar becomes interested in writing comic books. Under the motto ‘ordinary life is pretty complex stuff’, he begins writing one with himself as the main character. Soon he will go from a cult hit to appearing on David Letterman, but all in his very own way.
For me, it's a good moment when a movie you don't know anything about, surprises you in most possible ways. Not being familiar with Paul Giamatti and Harvey Pekar at the time, this was one of those movies. Combining documentary with fiction, animation with realtime and a voice over by Harvey Pekar himself, this movie doesn't want to be put in a box. The outcome is an unusual and fresh biopic. So skip all those rehashed biopics out today and check this American Splendor.
