Films 201608-10

Het is gewoon een lijst, een opsomming. Met The Neon Demon van Nicolas Winding Refn als grote aanrader. Sommigen zullen hem ongetwijfeld arty-farty vinden, maar dit is een fantastisch stukje bevreemdende film.

  1. Warcraft / Duncan Jones / 2016 / *(*)
    As an Orc horde invades the planet Azeroth using a magic portal, a few human heroes and dissenting Orcs must attempt to stop the true evil behind this war.
  2. Captain America: Civil War / Anthony Russo, Joe Russo / 2016 / ***
    Political interference in the Avengers’ activities causes a rift between former allies Captain America and Iron Man.
  3. Bastille Day / James Watkins / 2016 / *(*)
    A young con artist and former CIA agent embark on an anti-terrorist mission in France.
  4. Now You See Me 2 / Jon M. Chu / 2016 / **
    The Four Horsemen resurface and are forcibly recruited by a tech genius to pull off their most impossible heist yet.
  5. Marauders / Steven C. Miller / 2016 / *
    When a bank is hit by a brutal heist, all evidence points to the owner and his high-powered clients. But as a group of FBI agents dig deeper into the case – and the deadly heists continue – it becomes clear that a larger conspiracy is at play.
  6. The Mechanic / Simon West / 2011 / **
    Follows an elite hit man as he teaches his trade to an apprentice who has a connection to one of his previous victims.
  7. The Legend of Tarzan / David Yates / 2016 / **
    Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.
  8. X-Men: Apocalypse / Bryan Singer / 2016 / ***
    After the re-emergence of the world’s first mutant, world-destroyer Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.
  9. Allegiant / Robert Schwentke / 2016 / *
    After the earth-shattering revelations of Insurgent, Tris must escape with Four beyond the wall that encircles Chicago, to finally discover the shocking truth of the world around them.
  10. Blood Father / Jean-François Richet / 2016 / *(*)
    An ex-con reunites with his estranged wayward 17-year old daughter to protect her from drug dealers who are trying to kill her.
  11. Miles Ahead / Don Cheadle / 2015 / *(*)
    An exploration of the life and music of Miles Davis.
  12. The Intervention / Clea DuVall / 2016 / *(*)
    A weekend getaway for four couples takes a sharp turn when one of the couples discovers the entire trip was orchestrated to host an intervention on their marriage.
  13. Breaking Away / Peter Yates / 1979 / ***
    A small-town boy obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl.
  14. Swiss Army Man / Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert / 2016 / *(*)
    A hopeless man stranded on a deserted island befriends a dead body and together they go on a surreal journey to get home.
  15. Stripped / Mark LaFleur, J.M.R. Luna / 2013 / *
    Four friends head to Vegas for a 21st birthday in hopes of finding adventure, debauchery and memories that will last them a lifetime. Cameron, the scandalous one of the group decides to record the whole trip, determined to not forget the fiasco . A girlfriend of theirs begs for a ride, convincing them she will disappear as soon as they arrive. When they get to Vegas the guys devise an amazing plan for the night. Things take a turn for the worst when they call strippers that have them travel to a remote location. Little do they know, the strippers work for an organ trafficker. The guys fight for their lives, but eventually get Stripped.
  16. Complete Unknown / Joshua Marston / 2016 / **(*)
    As a man contemplates moving to a new state with his wife for her graduate program, an old flame – a woman who often changes identities – reenters his life at a birthday dinner party.
  17. Amanda Knox / Rod Blackhurst, Brian McGinn / 2016 / ***
    American exchange student Amanda Knox is convicted and eventually acquitted for the 2007 death of another student in Italy.
  18. Évolution / Lucile Hadzihalilovic / 2015 / ***
    The only residents of young Nicholas’s seaside town are women and boys. When he sees a dead body in the ocean one day, he begins to question his existence and surroundings. Why must he, and all the other boys, be hospitalised?
  19. The Face of an Angel / Michael Winterbottom / 2014 / *(*)
    Both a journalist and a documentary filmmaker chase the story of a murder and its prime suspect.
  20. Captain Fantastic / Matt Ross / 2016 / *(*)
    In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.
  21. Viral / Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman / 2016 / *
    Following the outbreak of a virus that wipes out the majority of the human population, a young woman documents her family’s new life in quarantine and tries to protect her infected sister.
  22. The Conjuring 2 / James Wan / 2016 / ***
    Lorraine and Ed Warren travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by a malicious spirit.
  23. Insensibles / Juan Carlos Medina / 2016 / *(*)
    Set in Catalonia, Painless weaves two stories: in one, starting during the Spanish Civil War and running through to the ’60s, an asylum attempts to rehabilitate children who feel no pain, by teaching them physical suffering. In the second, in the present time, a brilliant neurosurgeon who needs a bone marrow transplant, discovers this dark past when he searches for his biological parents.
  24. The Neon Demon / Nicolas Winding Refn / 2016 / ****
    When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.
  25. Lights Out / David F. Sandberg / 2016 / **
    When her little brother, Martin, experiences the same events that once tested her sanity, Rebecca works to unlock the truth behind the terror, which brings her face to face with an entity that has an attachment to their mother, Sophie.
  26. The Wailing / Hong-jin Na / 2016 / ***
    A stranger arrives in a little village and soon after a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman is drawn into the incident and is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.
  27. Ils / David Moreau, Xavier Palud / 2006 / *
    Lucas and Clementine live peacefully in their isolated country house, but one night they wake up to strange noise… they’re not alone… and a group of hooded assailants begin to terrorize them throughout the night.
  28. Don’t Breathe / Fede Alvarez / 2016 / *(*)
    Hoping to walk away with a massive fortune, a trio of thieves break into the house of a blind man who isn’t as helpless as he seems.
  29. Café Society / Woody Allen / 2016 / **(*)
    In the 1930s, a Bronx native moves to Hollywood and falls in love with a young woman who is seeing a married man.
  30. Tokyo Fiancée / Stefan Liberski / 2014 / **(*)
    A young Japanophile Belgian woman in Tokyo falls into a whirlwind romance with a Francophile Japanese student.
  31. Into the Forest / Patricia Rozema / 2015 / **(*)
    After a massive power outage, two sisters learn to survive on their own in their isolated woodland home.
  32. Independence Day: Resurgence / Roland Emmerich / 2016 / *
    Two decades after the first Independence Day invasion, Earth is faced with a new extra-Solar threat. But will mankind’s new space defenses be enough?
  33. Star Trek Beyond / Justin Lin / 2016 / ***
    The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.
  34. Money Monster / Jodie Foster / 2016 / *(*)
    Financial TV host Lee Gates and his producer Patty are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes over their studio.
  35. The Shallows / Jaume Collet-Serra / 2016 / *(*)
    A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.
  36. Straw Dogs / Sam Peckinpah / 1971 / **(*)
    A young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.
  37. Straw Dogs / Rod Lurie / 2016 / *(*)
    L.A. screenwriter David Sumner relocates with his wife to her hometown in the deep South. There, while tensions build between them, a brewing conflict with locals becomes a threat to them both.
  38. Road Games / Abner Pastoll / 2015 / **(*)
    The sun drenched days of summer turn dark and ominous for hitchhiking duo Jack and Véronique when they become inexplicably entangled with a mysterious married couple and a local road kill collector in rural France.
  39. Femme Fatale / Brian De Palma / 2002 / ***
    A woman tries to straighten out her life, even as her past as a con-woman comes back to haunt her.
  40. Nerve / Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman / 2016 / *(*)
    A high school senior finds herself immersed in an online game of truth or dare, where her every move starts to become manipulated by an anonymous community of “watchers.”
  41. Elle / Paul Verhoeven / 2016 / ***
    A successful businesswoman gets caught up in a game of cat and mouse as she tracks down the unknown man who raped her.

0 te vermijden / * slecht, maar bekijkbaar / ** goed / *** zeer goed / **** fantastisch (meer uitleg bij de quotering)

(films vorige keer)

Films 201605-07

Niet zoveel tijd gehad om films te bekijken, de voorbije drie maanden. Niet zoveel goede films ook eigenlijk.

  1. Die Hard / John McTiernan / 1988 / ***(*)
    John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save his wife Holly Gennaro and several others that were taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
    De eerste van een steeds verder uitdeinende franchise, was zonder meer een meesterwerkje. Vol sprankelende oneliners, feminisme en eurotash… what’s not to like.
  2. I Am Wrath / Chuck Russell / 2016 / *(*)
    A man is out for justice after a group of corrupt police officers are unable to catch his wife’s killer.
  3. London Has Fallen / Babak Najafi / 2016 / *(*)
    In London for the Prime Minister’s funeral, Mike Banning discovers a plot to assassinate all the attending world leaders.
  4. 13 Hours / Michael Bay / 2016 / *(*)
    During an attack on a U.S. compound in Libya, a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.
  5. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice / Zack Snyder / 2016 / **
    Fearing that the actions of Superman are left unchecked, Batman takes on the Man of Steel, while the world wrestles with what kind of a hero it really needs.
  6. Enragés / Éric Hannezo / 2015 / **
    After a bank job goes badly wrong, three desperate criminals take a young woman and a father and child hostage – it’s the beginning of a frantic and violent road trip that not all of them will survive.
  7. Criminal / Ariel Vromen / 2016 / *(*)
    In a last-ditch effort to stop a diabolical plot, a dead CIA operative’s memories, secrets, and skills are implanted into a death-row inmate in hopes that he will complete the operative’s mission.
    Dat viel eigenlijk wel mee, behalve dan dat het toch wel heel sterk doet denken aan Self/less, dat… ook met Ryan Reynolds is. Die daarmee twee keer tegen een idiote tegenspeler komt te staan: hier met Kevin Costner en daar met Ben Kingsley. Bah.
  8. Anomalisa / Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman / 2015 / ***
    A man crippled by the mundanity of his life experiences something out of the ordinary.
  9. Marina / Stijn Coninx / 2013 / **
    The true story of Rocco Granata, an Italian coal miner’s son who followed his passion for music against his father’s wishes and social barriers.
  10. Mr. Right / Paco Cabezas / 2015 / **
    A girl falls for the “perfect” guy, who happens to have a very fatal flaw: he’s a hitman on the run from the crime cartels who employ him.
  11. De Surprise / Mike van Diem / 2015 / *(*)
    An eccentric multimillionaire signs an agreement to have his life ended. While selecting his coffin he meets a young woman who has signed up for the same arrangement. Trouble ensues when the couple falls in love and wishes to get out of the contract.
  12. Elvis & Nixon / Liza Johnson / 2016 / *(*)
    The untold true story behind the meeting between Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ’n Roll, and President Richard Nixon, resulting in this revealing, yet humorous moment immortalized in the most requested photograph in the National Archives.
  13. The Brass Teapot / Ramaa Mosley / 2012 / **
    When a couple discovers that a brass teapot makes them money whenever they hurt themselves, they must come to terms with how far they are willing to go.
  14. Girl on a Bicycle / Jeremy Leven / 2013 / **
    Paolo (Vincenzo Amato), an Italian who drives a Paris tour bus, has just proposed to his true love, the German stewardess, Greta (Nora Tschirner), when the young French beauty, Cécile (Louise Monot) pulls up beside his bus on her bicycle – and, in short order, Paolo, following some very bad advice from his friend, Derek (Paddy Considine), finds himself with a German fiancée, a French “wife”, two Australian children who call him “Papa”, and his life upside-down.
  15. The American Side / Jenna Ricker / 2016 / *(*)
    Following a mysterious suicide at Niagara Falls, a low-rent detective unravels a conspiracy to build a revolutionary invention by enigmatic scientist, Nikola Tesla.
  16. Manhattan Nocturne / Brian DeCubellis / 2016 / **(*)
    A well-known reporter becomes involved with a mysterious and seductive woman while trying to find the truth about her husband’s death.
  17. Layer Cake / Matthew Vaughn / 2004 / **
    A successful cocaine dealer gets two tough assignments from his boss on the eve of his planned early retirement.
  18. D’Ardennen / Robin Pront / 2015 / *
    A brutal home-jacking goes hopelessly wrong. Dave, one of the two robbers, manages to run off, leaving his brother Kenneth behind. Four years later, Kenneth is released from prison and much has changed. Dave has his life back on track and is trying to help Kenneth however possible, but is witnessing how the highly strung Kenneth tries to win back his ex-girlfriend Sylvie.
  19. The Family Fang / Jason Bateman / 2015 / ***
    A brother and sister return to their family home in search of their world famous parents who have disappeared.
  20. Anesthesia / Tim Blake Nelson / 2015 / ***
    Multiple lives intersect in the aftermath of the violent mugging of a Columbia University philosophy professor.
  21. Demolition / Jean-Marc Vallée / 2015 / **
    A successful investment banker struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. With the help of a customer service rep and her young son, he starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew.
  22. The Witch / Robert Eggers / 2015 / ***(*)
    A family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.
  23. Fragile / Jaume Balagueró / 2005 / **
    At her new job in a rundown children’s hospital, a nurse desperately tries to keep her patients safe from a plague of random, mysterious attacks.
  24. Another / Jason Bognacki / 2014 / *
    A beautiful young woman is driven into a dark underworld of demonic possession, desire, and extreme indulgences when she learns she may be the devil’s kin.
  25. The Other Side of the Door / Johannes Roberts / 2016 / *
    After her young son is killed in a tragic accident, a woman learns of a ritual which will bring him back to say goodbye, but when she disobeys a sacred warning, she upsets the balance between life and death.
  26. I Spit on Your Grave 3: Vengeance Is Mine / R.D. Braunstein / 2015 / *
    Jennifer Hills is still tormented by the brutal sexual assault she endured years ago. She’s changed identities and cities, reluctantly joining a support group where she begins to piece together a new life. But when her new friend’s murderer goes free and the tales of serial rapists haunt her, Jennifer will hunt down the men responsible and do what the system won’t – make them pay for their crimes in the most horrific ways imaginable. Only this time, no jury may be able to save her.
  27. The Dyatlov Pass Incident / Renny Harlin / 2013 / *(*)
    A group of 5 students go the location of the infamous “dyatlov pass incident”, to make a documentary but things take a turn for the worse to reveal the secrets as to what happened there.
  28. Before I Wake / Mike Flanagan / 2016 / *
    A young couple adopt an orphaned child whose dreams – and nightmares – manifest physically as he sleeps.
  29. La corrispondenza / Giuseppe Tornatore / 2016 / *(*)
    Focused on the relationship between an astronomer and his lover, who spend their years apart.
  30. 20 ans d’écart / David Moreau / 2013 / *(*)
    The thirty-eight year-old ambitious and workaholic editor of the fashion magazine Rebelle Alice Lantins returns from Brazil to Paris and loses her flash memory in the airplane. However, the student of architecture Balthazar Apfel finds it and calls Alice to tell her. She schedules a meeting in the bar where Balthazar is drinking with his friends but he tells her that the device is at home. He offers a ride in his scooter to Alice and while he is putting the spare helmet on her, two coworkers of Alice see from an angle that make them believe that Balthazar is kissing Alice. They take a photo and posts it in the Twitter. On the next morning, everybody is laughing at Alice but the chief editor and her boss Vincent Khan loves the idea that Alice is dating someone twenty years younger. Alice decides to impersonate that she is in love with Balthazar to get a promotion in the magazine. But soon she learns that she should not trifle with love.
  31. 10.000 Km / Carlos Marques-Marcet / 2014 / *(*)
    Alex moves to Los Angeles for a new job; Sergi stays in Barcelona. They love each other, but maintaining a relationship through technology proves challenging.
  32. In Your Eyes / Brin Hill / 2014 / **
    Two seemingly unconnected souls from different corners of the United States make a telepathic bond that allows them to see, hear and feel the other’s experiences, creating a bond that apparently can’t be broken.
  33. Goodbye to All That / Angus MacLachlan / 2014 / **
    When his wife unexpectedly informs him that she wants a divorce, well-meaning but oblivious husband Otto Wall finds himself thrust back into bachelorhood, where he searches for the real thing amidst a string of one night stands.
  34. No Stranger Than Love / Nick Wernham / 2015 / **(*)
    What is stranger than the big hole that opens up in Lucy Sherrington’s living room floor? As it turns out, love.
  35. 10 Cloverfield Lane / Dan Trachtenberg / 2016 / ***
    After getting in a car accident, a woman is held in a shelter with two men, who claim the outside world is affected by a widespread chemical attack.
  36. Cloverfield / Matt Reeves / 2008 / **(*)
    A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.
  37. Midnight Special / Jeff Nichols / 2016 / ***
    A father and son go on the run, pursued by the government and a cult drawn to the child’s special powers.
  38. Signs / M. Night Shyamalan / 2002 / ***
    A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come.
  39. The Secret / Vincent Perez / 2007 / **
    A wife and mother passes away, and spirit returns in her daughter’s body.
  40. Scenic Route / Kevin Goetz & Michael Goetz / 2013 / *(*)
    Tensions rise between lifelong friends Mitchell and Carter after their truck breaks down on an isolated desert road as they start to attack each other’s life decisions with unwavering brutality.
  41. The Ones Below / David Farr / 2015 / *(*)
    A couple expecting their first child discover an unnerving difference between themselves and the couple living in the flat below them who are also having a baby.
  42. Green Room / Jeremy Saulnier / 2015 / ***
    A punk rock band is forced to fight for survival after witnessing a murder at a neo-Nazi skinhead bar.
  43. Avant l’aube / Raphaël Jacoulot / 2011 / **
    Frederic is a young man in social rehabilitation. He has just found a night internship, in an isolated hotel in the mountains when, one evening, he sees his boss, Jacques, together with this son, hiding a car in the parking lot. The day after, he learns that one of the clients left the hotel without notice…
  44. Sneekweek / Martijn Heijne / 2016 / *
    Six friends go to party for a week during the “Sneekweek”. But they are haunted by a secret from their past.
  45. Pour elle / Fred Cavayé / 2008 / **(*)
    With no legal means left to him, a high school teacher devises a daring plan to rescue his wrongfully imprisoned wife from jail.
  46. A Bigger Splash / Luca Guadagnino / 2015 / ***
    The vacation of a famous rock star and a filmmaker in Italy is disrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter.
  47. Cien años de perdón / Daniel Calparsoro / 2016 / *(*)
    A group of thieves led by a man called El Uruguayo stalk a bank in Valencia to steal as many safety boxes as possible and later flee through a dug tunnel that communicates the building with an abandoned subway station. However, the press officer of the Prime Minister discovers what the thieves are actually after: they want to get their hands on box 314, property of Gonzalo Soriano, a former member of the government who slipped into a coma after a severe accident, left documents with compromising information. The gang’s plans start to go awry when the tunnel is flooded by heavy rain, leaving them with no escape, plus to discover that the box really doesn’t contains documents, but an external hard drive full of data about important names in all levels of the Spanish politic. At the same time, a fixer of the government receives the mission to assume the control of the negotiations, looking for recover at any cost the box 314 and the information before the robbers flee with it.

0 te vermijden / * slecht, maar bekijkbaar / ** goed / *** zeer goed / **** fantastisch (meer uitleg bij de quotering)

(films vorige maand)

Tom Vermeir speelt Chet

Tom Vermeir had gelijk: Chet is geen jazz. Hij had dat ergens beweerd in één of ander interview –dat ik vanzelfsprekend niet terugvind in de digitale archieven van de drie kranten en het weekblad waarop we zijn geabonneerd. “Wie naar Chet komt om naar jazz te luisteren, zal bedrogen uitkomen.” Ik parafraseer met heel veel vrijheid, maar daar kwam het op neer, gelooft u mij maar.

In Chet, een concert met veel bindteksten of een toneelstuk met veel muziek (zo liet hij ons kiezen, waarschijnlijk in datzelfde interview), brengt Vermeir een eerbetoon aan trompettist en zanger Chet Baker. Vermeir laat zich op het podium bijstaan door Dag Taeldeman (gitaar) en Frederik Heuvinck (percussie, elektronica) –companen van zijn tijd bij A Brand— en Ben Brunin (bas).

De rode draad door de monoloog, is de val van Chet Baker uit het raam van zijn kamer in het Amsterdamse Hotel Prins Hendrik. Hoe jammer dat iedereen zich vooral die val herinnert, terwijl die man zoveel meer was, liet Vermeir ergens optekenen. Een beetje raar dan, dat de ganse monoloog eigenlijk voornamelijk om die val draait.

Chet gaat over een man die geen voet meer aan de grond krijgt, overvallen wordt door angsten en hallucinaties, en uiteindelijk dan maar gaat vliegen, want vliegen is vrijheid. Wat hem natuurlijk met een helse smak onderaan die hotelkamer doet belanden. Veel meer is er niet aan, aan de voorstelling, die toch echt wel wat diepgang mist, en heel erg met randje van de eentonigheid flirt. Pas op, Vermeir acteert zeer degelijk, dat volstaat helaas niet om te blijven boeien.

Maar geen jazz dus in Chet. Dat was een uitstekende zet van Vermeir. De muziek in de stukken van Chet Baker kregen een poppy jasje om, en dat had een grote meerwaarde kunnen bieden. Helaas probeert Vermeir zelf dan weer iets te veel de stem van Chet Baker te imiteren, wat hem eigenlijk niet lukt. Kijk, de muziek van Chet Baker is vaak aan de monotone kant –luister eens naar het populaire album The Best of Chet Baker Sings, en u weet na drie liedjes al wat ik bedoel. Chet Baker weet daar zelf voldoende subtiele details in te leggen om het enigszins boeiend te houden, maar Vermeir slaagde daar niet in. De begeleidingsmuziek werd dan ook nog eens verder doorgetrokken naar de monotone drone (en niet op een free jazz manier), die van de stukken op hun best soft pop liedjes maakte (denk 10cc –ik hoorde bij associatie meermaals I’m Not In Love). En het is niet dat die mannen niet kunnen spelen, of dat Vermeir niet kan zingen. Het slotnummer, Volare, kwam er meer dan perfect uit –het was bijkanst jazz!

Bijzonder irritant is ook de tenorsax, die Vermeir bijna de ganse voorstelling rond zijn nek draagt, en waar hij ook op speelt. Niet dat ik ook maar iets tegen een tenorsax heb –ik speel zelf een noot of dertig (de rest is wat moeilijker) op zo’n tenor. Maar dat een eerbetoon aan l’angelo con la tromba d’oro, trompettist Chet Baker, een sax in de hoofdrol krijgt, dat vraagt toch nog wel net iets te veel willing suspension of disbelief. Een trompet gelijkt in de verste verte niet op een tenorsax –en dan heb ik het natuurlijk niet alleen over het fysieke aspect.

Het is een beetje jammer. Vermeir speelt goed, de setting ziet er patent uit, en de muzikanten kunnen spelen. Het verhaal is echter te gekunsteld en te ijl, bevat te veel herhaling om boeiend te zijn, en wordt door de muziek nog verder de monotonie in getrokken.

Films 201603-04

  1. Patriot Games / Phillip Noyce / 1992 / ***
    When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets him and his family for revenge.
  2. Clear and Present Danger / Phillip Noyce / 1994 / ***
    CIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.
    Hoewel hij in 1982 al Heatwave had gedraaid, kwam regisseur Phillip Noyce pas echt in de spotlight toen hij in 1989 de filmcarrière van Nicole Kidman helemaal lanceerde, met Dead Calm. Hij strikte Harrison Ford als Jack Ryan –ter vervanging van Alec Baldwin– in de twee vervolgfilms op John McTiernans The Hunt for Red October (gebaseerd op de gelijknamige boeken van Tom Clancy).
  3. The Game / David Fincher / 1997 / ***
    Wealthy San Francisco financier Nicholas Van Orton gets a strange birthday present from wayward brother Conrad: a live-action game that consumes his life.
  4. Carol / Todd Haynes / 2015 / ***
    An aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman.
  5. Frank / Lenny Abrahamson / 2014 / ***(*)
    Jon, a young wanna-be musician, discovers he’s bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank.
    Lenny Abrahamson stond recent vooral in de spotlight voor zijn film Room, maar deze Frank, met fantastische prestaties van Michael Fassbender (in de titelrol), Domhnall Gleeson en Maggie Gyllenhaal, staat toch wel op een iets hoger niveau.
  6. Emelie / Michael Thelin / 2015 / *
    A couple’s replacement babysitter turns out to be more than they bargined for when she subjects their kids to a series of twisted activities.
  7. The Uninvited / Charles Guard & Thomas Guard (als The Guard Brothers) / 2009 / **
    Anna Ivers returns home to her sister Alex after a stint in a mental hospital, though her recovery is jeopardized thanks to her cruel stepmother. Her dismay quickly turns to horror when she is visited by ghastly visions of her dead mother.
    Ik zag de pointe al van vijf kilometer ver aankomen. Helaas.
  8. Midnight in Paris / Woody Allen / 2011 / **
    While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée’s family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s everyday at midnight.
    Ok, maar zeker niet de beste Woody Allen film, met deze toch wel zeer dunne plotlijn. Interessant concept, maar dat volstaat niet.
  9. Dementia / John Parker / 1955 / ***
    This film, with no dialogue at all, follows a psychotic young woman’s nightmarish experiences through one skid-row night.
  10. Vampyr / Carl Theodor Dreyer / 1932 / ***
    A drifter obsessed with the supernatural stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.
    Beide vfilms gezien met live orkestbegeleiding in De Bijloke, en dat was een fantastische ervaring.
  11. Triple 9 / John Hillcoat
    / 2016 / **
    A gang of criminals and corrupt cops plan the murder of a police officer in order to pull off their biggest heist yet across town.
  12. Deadpool / Tim Miller / 2016 / ***
    A former Special Forces operative turned mercenary is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopting the alter ego Deadpool.
  13. Unknown / Jaume Collet-Serra / 2011 / **
    A man awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one, (not even his wife), believes him. With the help of a young woman, he sets out to prove who he is.
    Typische Liam ‘Taken’ Neeson-prent.
  14. The Revenant / Alejandro G. Iñárritu / 2015 / ***(*)
    A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
    DiCaprio heeft alvast zijn oscar niet gestolen!
  15. Ratter / Branden Kramer / 2015 / *
    Emma, a graduate student living alone in NYC, is being watched by a stalker who hacks into the technology that surrounds her – laptop, cell phone, and other web connected devices. This obsession continues to grow as the hacker records Emma’s most intimate moments. When the thrill of watching isn’t enough, the situation escalates to a dangerous and terrifying level.
  16. Red Lights / Rodrigo Cortés / 2012 / **
    Psychologist Margaret Matheson and her assistant study paranormal activity, which leads them to investigate a world-renowned psychic who has resurfaced years after his toughest critic mysteriously passed away.
  17. Backtrack / Michael Petroni / 2015 / (*)
    Psychologist Peter Bower’s life is thrown into turmoil when he discovers a strange secret about his patients. Risking his own sanity, Peter delves into his past to uncover a terrifying secret which only he can put right.
  18. Cannibal / Manuel Martín Cuenca / 2013 / **(*)
    Carlos is the most prestigious tailor in Granada, but he’s also a murderer in the shadows. He feels no remorse, no guilt, until Nina appears in his life and love awakens.
    Zeer sereen.
  19. L’homme qui voulait vivre sa vie / Eric Lartigau / 2010 / ***
    Paul Exben is a success story – partner in one of Paris’s most exclusive law firms, big salary, big house, glamorous wife and two sons straight out of a Gap catalog. But when he finds out that Sarah, his wife, is cheating on him with Greg Kremer, a local photographer, a rush of blood provokes Paul into a fatal error. Standing over the corpse of his wife’s lover, Paul knows that his perfect life has gone for good. But by assuming the dead man’s identity and fleeing for an isolated part of former Yugoslavia on the beautiful Adriatic coast, Paul gets another shot at being himself and, at last, seeing the big picture.
  20. Hush / Mike Flanagan / 2016 / **
    A deaf writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears at her window.
    Onderhoudend, maar daar houdt het dan ook op.
  21. In the Cut / Jane Campion / 2003 / *(*)
    New York writing professor, Frannie Avery, has an affair with a police detective who is investigating the murder of a beautiful young woman in her neighbourhood.
    Al veel beter uitgevoerde versies van dit plot gezien.
  22. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 / Francis Lawrence / 2015 / *
    As the war of Panem escalates to the destruction of other districts, Katniss Everdeen, the reluctant leader of the rebellion, must bring together an army against President Snow, while all she holds dear hangs in the balance.
    Eerlijk? Dan kijk ik liever naar Twilight.
  23. The 5th Wave / J Blakeson / 2016 / **
    Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother.
    Allez, hop. We zijn weer vertrokken voor een nieuwe franchise. J Blakeson is dezelfde regisseur die in 2009 The Disappearance of Alice Creed maakte.
  24. Breathe In / Drake Doremus / 2013 / **
    When a foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family’s relationships and alters their lives forever.
    De onvermijdelijke clichés zaten er natuurlijk wel in, maar al bij al viel het nog mee. Met Felicity Jones.
  25. 6 Years / Hannah Fidell / 2015 / **
    A young couple bound by a seemingly ideal love, begins to unravel as unexpected opportunities spin them down a volatile and violent path and threaten the future they had always imagined.
    Slechte karakterschets. Van dezelfde regisseur die eerder al het barslechte A Teacher afleverde.
  26. Little Dead Rotting Hood / Jared Cohn / 2016 / *
    The residents of a small town discover that something more sinister than killer wolves is lurking in the backwoods: first the wolves start turning up dead…then people.
    Jared Cohn maakt meer slechte films in een jaar dan Pier Aspe gelijkaardige boeken.
  27. The Forest / Jason Zada / 2016 / *
    A woman goes into Japan’s Suicide Forest to find her twin sister, and confronts supernatural terror.
    Daar had ik nu eens zo veel van verwacht. Helaas.
  28. The Invitation / Karyn Kusama / 2015 / **
    While attending a dinner party at his former home, a man thinks his ex-wife and her new husband have sinister intentions for their guests.
    Het begint zeer traag en understated, maar culmineert in een mooi einde en een binnen de verwachtingen vallend eindbeeld.
  29. The Girl in the Photographs / Nick Simon / 2015 / *
    A bored young woman in a sleepy community called Spearfish starts receiving photographs of brutally murdered young women. Are they real or staged? The culprit is either a serial killer or some creep with a sick sense of humour.
    Een mooie, uitnodigende titel, maar een ontgoochelende film.
  30. Rest Stop / John Shiban / 2006 / *
    The film follows Nicole Carrow, a young woman who is threatened by a maniac serial killer, after her boyfriend Jess, is abducted in a rest stop.
  31. Holidays / various / 2016 / *
    Holidays is an anthology feature film that puts a uniquely dark and original spin on some of the most iconic and beloved holidays of all time by challenging our folklore, traditions and assumptions.
  32. The ABCs of Death / various / 2012 / *
    A 26-chapter anthology that showcases death in all its vicious wonder and brutal beauty.
  33. Julia’s Eyes (Los ojos de Julia) / Guillem Morales / 2010 / **
    The story of a woman who is slowly losing her sight whilst trying to investigate the mysterious death of her twin sister.
  34. Remember / Atom Egoyan / 2015 / **
    With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.
    Goed geacteerd, maar ik had de pointe al door na vijf minuten.
  35. Het Diner / Menno Meyjes / 2013 / **
    Two well-to-do couples with plenty to lose have dinner to discuss the gruesome act their teenage sons may or may not have committed together.
    Het boek was beter. Dacht ik toch.
  36. Blood, Sweat, and Beer / Chip Hiden, Alexis Irvin / 2015 / **(*)
    A documentary exploring the explosive growth of the craft beer industry and the struggles of two start-up breweries.
    Interessant, maar zeker geen must see.
  37. The Trust / Alex Brewer & Benjamin Brewer / 2016 / *
    A pair of cops investigating a drug invasion stumble upon a mysterious bank vault.
  38. Made in France / Nicolas Boukhrief / 2015 / **(*)
    After the horrible terrorist attacks that rocked Paris, this daring investigation thriller plunges you inside the extremist muslim groups that grow inside western countries and can strike at any moment.
    Gemaakt vóór de aanslagen in Parijs, werd de release van deze film verscheidene keren uitgesteld. De fictie ging de realiteit vooraf. De moeite van het bekijken waard.
  39. Le tout nouveau testament / Jaco Van Dormael / 2015 / **(*)
    Did you know that God is alive and lives in Brussels with his daughter?
    Een typisch Van Dormael-universum, deze film. Zeker de moeite.
  40. Schneider vs. Bax / Alex van Warmerdam / 2015 / ***
    On his birthday, a hitman reluctantly takes on the easy task of killing a writer, only to find the job a lot more difficult than expected.
    Heerlijk!

0 te vermijden / * slecht, maar bekijkbaar / ** goed / *** zeer goed / **** fantastisch (meer uitleg bij de quotering)

(films vorige maand)

Vacances à Bouillac

Een paar keer per jaar gaan wij naar Bouillac, ergens in het zuiden van de Périgord (Dordogne), zowat op de grens tussen de Périgord Noir en de Périgord Pourpre. Vorig jaar hadden we prachtig weer tijdens de paasvakantie, maar gezien Pasen dit jaar vroeger viel, was het weer net iets minder. Minder bleek in elk geval goed genoeg, om een broodnodige ontspannende vakantie te krijgen.

Minpuntje: ik had mijn sopraansax mee, en nadat ik er een uurtje op geoefend had, bleek ik mijn lippen helemaal de vernieling in te hebben geblazen. Geef mij maar de tenor —size matters, alvast wat de combinatie mijn lippen en mondstukken betreft. Resultaat: ik sta vol aften, ben helemaal uitgeput, en krijg met moeite iets over de lippen.

Dat mocht ginds de pret niet drukken –ik speelde pas op dinsdag, en de aften zetten zich pas donderdag echt door, en toen waren we al op weg naar huis.

Bouillac en die ganse Dordogne regio is een prachtige streek, vol rust en natuur (duh). En het internet is er lamentabel (joepie!).

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Vinyl

Mijn bureau begon te klagen, dat het allemaal best goed is, die platen, maar dat het wel weegt. of ik misschien zo vriendelijk zou willen zijn om alles netjes in de vinylkast te plaatsen?

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Alfabetisch:

  • Ryan Adams1989
  • Tony Bennett & Bill CharlapThe Silver Lining (The Songs Of Jerome Kern)
  • David Bowie ‎- ★ (Blackstar)
  • Avishai CohenInto The Silence
  • John Coltrane ‎- A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters
  • Lou DoillonLay Low
  • Nils FrahmSolo
  • Bill FrisellWhen You Wish Upon A Star
  • GoGo Penguin ‎- Man Made Object
  • Christian McBride Trio ‎- Live At The Village Vanguard
  • Makaya McCraven ‎- In The Moment
  • Lubomyr MelnykRivers And Streams
  • Jason MoranAll Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller
  • Oscar PetersonExclusively For My Friends
  • Max Richter ‎- Sleep Remixes
  • Esperanza Spalding ‎- Emily’s D+Evolution
  • Taylor Swift1989
  • ThundercatThe Beyond / Where The Giants Roam

Christophe Devisscher Quartet @ De Handelsbeurs

“Doordat het luchtverkeer verstoord is, raakt Satoko Fujii niet in België”, stond er op de site van de Handelsbeurs. Het Christophe Devisscher Quartet speelde daardoor niet in een double bill, maar bracht twee sets van (een dikke) 45 minuten. Het was niet de enige wissel, want ook pianist Christian Mendoza werd vervangen (door Bart Van Caenegem). Het kwartet nam eind 2015 het nieuwe album A Fisherman’s Tale op, dat tijdens een JazzLab series tournee in maart werd gepresenteerd.

Devisscher heeft lang gewacht om eindelijk onder eigen naam met een groep naar buiten te treden. Hij speelde lang als sideman in allerlei formaties, van Pascal Schumacher tot Frank Deruytter en Bart Defoort, en het is een beetje een understatement om te beweren dat hij een graag geziene en opgemerkte muzikant is. De muziek van het kwartet is gemakkelijkheidshalve te omschrijven als aan de oppervlakte toegankelijk, en biedt veel ruimte voor ritme en tempo, waarbij elk instrument breed aan de beurt komt.

Christophe Devisscher Quartet, Handelsbeurs, Gent, BE, 24.03.2016

We onthouden met veel gemak het laatste nummer van de avond, La Mariposa, genoemd naar de Chileense vriendin die Devisscher nog heeft gehad. Het is een zeer aanstekelijk en bijna groovy nummer, dat bijzonder energiek inzet, maar door de iets te lange bas- en drumsolo’s een beetje op een anticlimax in de coda leek aan te sturen.

Verder was er ook Oy, genoemd naar de uitroep waarmee in Australië (en ik dacht ook Groot-Brittannië) terecht worden gewezen. De muziek was net zo: als een ongehoorzaam kind leek het alle kanten uit te willen, terwijl het op en tijd in de maat moest worden gehouden. Het was een zeer intrigerend stukje, dat qua sound dicht leek aan te leunen bij het Charlie Brown gevoel.

Meest doordringend was het nummer Nominal Velocity, dat door Devisscher werd opgedragen aan de recent overleden Guy Van de Poel, freelance jazzfotograaf en graag geziene gast bij de Belgische jazzmuzikanten. Nominal Velocity begint als een solo piano ballad, waarna eerst door de bas, en snel nadien ook indringend door de sax van Frank Deruytter wordt ingepikt. Pas dan komen er de voorzichtige brushes van Dré Pallemaerts bij. De piano blijft helemaal de hoofdrol spelen, waarbij de instrumenten als een heel breed klankpallet worden ingezet. Het stuk klonk, zeker in de context, als een golvende klaagzang, waarin telkens voorzichtig wat hoop werd geïnjecteerd. Mooi.

Christophe Devisscher Quartet, Handelsbeurs, Gent, BE, 24.03.2016 // Christophe Devisscher (contrabas), Frank Deruytter (tenorsax), Christian Mendoza –op het concert vervangen door Bart Vancaenegem (piano), Dré Pallemaerts (drums) // A Fisherman’s Tale is verschenen bij Cornfish Music.

Recent bracht Christophe Devisscher ook een album met Carlo Nardozza uit, Duology, met een aantal herkenbare maar toch eigenzinnige interpretaties van bestaand werk. Wij onthouden daaruit zeer graag de (ondertussen tot Belgische standard verworden) Valse des Escargots van Carlo Nardozza en de intrigerende bewerking van het largo van Dvoraks Symfonie Nr 9.