at the movies

Since my move to Brooklyn I have watched quite some movies – what else are you going to do, right?
Lots of them I played on my computer, but nothing beats the theater experience. The great thing about New York is that it has a lot of special screenings where they show classics and cult favorites.

The ones that I saw in the past months on the big screen.
Rating: 1 to 5

The Loop: 3,5
Political satire with razor sharp and witty dialogue. Could’ve used some subtitles with this one. Especially the British slang was hard to decipher.

A Serious Man: 4
Can the Coens ever do something wrong? (eh yes, Intolerable Cruelty.) Here they take on Jewish culture in the 60’s. Full of suburban anxiety. Beautiful photography once again by Roger Deakins.

The Shining: 4
This was shown during Halloween weekend. It was the third time I saw it. I’m not that of a fan, but on the big screen the spooky, chilled atmosphere felt really frighting.

Where the Wild Things Are: 3,5
Probably the most anticipated film of the year. I really liked it. The setting is magical and fascinating. Unfortunately the story dragged on a bit too long.

The Men Who Stare At Goats: 3
Very entertaining, nothing more but certainly nothing less. I’m a big fan of Clooney. He always picks out cool projects to do.

The Box: 0 (!)
Richard Kelly is still a one hit wonder (Donnie Darko). This is an awful, boring, and dated piece of crap. Even Cameron Diaz couldn’t keep me from falling asleep.

The Big Lebowski: 6(!)
Favorite movie of all time. What a joy to see it in a theater once again after 11 years. The house was packed with fans. I never really paid much attention to the character ‘The Stranger’, but the American audience loved him. It only shows that you discover something new with every viewing.

Rushmore: 4
Another cult classic. Like every Wes Anderson film it’s just a bit too long, but whatever. It remains very funny and this time the ‘longing for (teenage) love’-theme became more visceral.

Brothers: 3
Good acting, but the movie isn’t as moving as it tries to be. A (military) family deals with the traumas of a soldier who went to Iraq.

Up in the Air: 4
Another Clooney movie and another entertaining one. It tries to say something profound about America today (how lost we all are), but it doesn’t have that much impact to really enlighten you. Nonetheless, it’s a creative, original and funny take on this theme. I highly recommend it.

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