tim-bishop-90

I saw one of the premieres in Zurich with the director of photography, Noah von Thun, attending and answering questions from the crowd. This movie is one of those very few that kept me focused and completely immersed for the entire ninety minutes. For one, the photography is excellent, with fantastic takes especially of Northern Irish surf breaks. In addition the three main protagonists are all fascinating human beings, each struggling with their own difficult pasts and possibilities of a better future. Lastly, it is a confrontation with the soul of Europe and what its hard borders mean for refugees escaping poorer places.

Well. I think there are a few really good elements in this documentary, especially the darker parts of Mark's path and how his friends tried to help him recover. However, seeing him breaking down that bad, mentally, makes me question if the whole rebuilding process isn't all stacked on only winning again. Because if this is the core meaning of his life, he will never be around for his family, he will keep ignoring his wife and his kids, and he will break again the moment he loses even once. Personally, I don't think that a single aspect of his trauma has been truly resolved. You see this in the closing seconds of the documentary, and you saw it in his eyes when he had to quit the 2023 Tour de France.

Compared to the first season, these subsequent eight episodes lacked pretty much anything I can think of - except for booze. There was so much booze going around to fill up the cinematic bomb crater left behind by season one. Farrell and McAdams try hard but inevitably fall short as their acting can't cover a lacking plot and strange lingering atmosphere leading nowhere. I liked the setting of L. A., but the suburban city of Vinci, where this all plays out, staged an aweful heap of cheap characters. I'm very happy the creators decided to produce an excellent third season as this was probably pretty hard to push through with stakeholders and investors after this wreck came out.

A true film noir with great acting by Pitt and Jones, dazzling visuals and breathtaking views of our solar system. It's a haunting, metaphoric travel into the soul of the protagonist. I personally think, that, if one fails to recognize this and hopes for "the movie to get better", one has only looked for an action-rich SciFi blockbuster - which James Gray never wanted it to be. Many of the scenes (especially towards the middle) reminded me of the quieter scenes in Blade Runner 2049, a personal favourite, and many other of the greats, like 2001 and Apocalypse Now. Highly recommendable.

Well now. I just saw this movie for the first time, after a good friend talked me into it. And I don't regret a second, let me tell you why: First, it's a great reference to Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", where humans are conditioned (no swearing, no emotions, sex is just a habit, etc.) and humanity is violent free, yet uninspired. One of the main characters is also called "Huxley", which in my opinion is a clear honor to the author.

Second, Snipes and Stallone do a great job fighting, as well as punching a few of the funniest lines ever about the new world of 2032. Just the idea of Stallone trying to find his way through this conditioned world where cars are electric, Pizza Hut is a noble restaurant chain and one gets billed for swearing is in itself already quite original.

Third, some of the predicted facts in the movie have now come true, or partly true, which makes this older production seem even more interesting as time goes by. Definitely worth a good look, there's more to the eye than one would expect.