TIGAER-DESIGN.COM_.v5 – Digital Art by Christian Hecker

Alright, chris went to see a movie again. The best of it… a ridley scott movie! I love his work. I recently heard something that describes his specialty perfectly: his movies not necessarily have the über-explosions to create ‘action’… but tons of detail. It just looks much more realistic than in other movies. And his attention to detail really makes ‘body of lies’ an outstanding, realistic spy movie. Forget james bond! We can only guess what possibilities spy networks have these days, but i think this movie gets pretty close.

The acting of our main characters works out pretty good. Even if dicaprios performance reminded me on his character in ‘blood diamond’ and ‘departed’. Not a bad character! To see russell crowe as a fat, old, grey haired supervisor… needs some time to get used to it. Really outstanding was the performance of mark strong. From his first line to the last one… you never know what’s really going on in his mind. He’s always leaving you guessing what plans he really follows. Awesome. Definitely worth a nomination for best actor.

The story is very up to date to current happenings in the arabic regions. Terror and how to fight it properly. A lot of things are happening and you really need to think to understand what’s going on there. It’s not a ‘sit down and eat popcorn’ movie. It’s exactly what it wants to be. A very tension packed, realistic spy movie.

7.9/10

Body of Lies on IMDb

A week ago i had the pleasure to watch the new hellboy 2 movie. I really liked the first one, even if i regret that i missed it when it was on big screen back then. The humor and the way they approach the visual fx really hit the nerve of my taste. The new one wasn’t any different. The thing that fascinated me the most was the underworld marketplace thingie. So maaaaany different creatures. Amazing designs. Also the look of how they told the story of the golden army, at the beginning of the film, looked great. Nice animations. Today it’s hard to find movies that try out new things and hellboy definitely is one of those.

The acting, through the bench, was good. That’s what i liked about the first movie. All the characters played their roles in a believable way. Only thing i missed was the ‘Meyers’ character. I liked him in the first movie. The good thing is that the replacement works quite nice too. Especially since he’s german… like me. Hehe.

All in all i have to say that it’s a perfect popcorn movie. Lots of fun and a feast for the eyes. I enjoyed it a lot.

8.0/10

Hellboy II – The Golden Army on IMDb

“How pride can make the human mind so incredibly numb. Paths of Glory is a classic from 1957, directed by Stanley Kubrick. It’s a war movie what brings up the questions why all of mankinds weirdest things always seem to happen in war times. Naturally you would say it’s because of all the tension that the human psychiology can’t handle. And maybe that’S the point. This translates even into the present day.

As a sidenote it’s important to say that this movie was never shown in france till 1975. The movie wasn’t indexed but no one tried to get it through the french censors. That speaks for itself i think.

The movie stars Kirk Douglas, playing a colonel who is in command of french troops in the first world war. He’s ordered to command an attack on a hill with, of course, a worn out and tired troup of men. He’s leading the attack nonetheless, which miserably fails. Higher rank officers say these men were cowards and want to state an example on chosen soldiers from the regiment. To kill them for insubordinating the orders given and other ridiculous things. Kirk Douglas’ character is trying to help the death candidates in an unofficial hearing/tribunal. Without any luck. Desperately he must watch how numb and blinded the military sees its soldiers as plain ‘material’, not humans.

You clearly see this is one of kubricks earlier works. You can also kind of feel that’s it is one of his works. Hard to explain. I think it’s something about how he’s portraiting the characters. Much like his later ‘full metal jacket’ movie he’s showing us how insanely stupid men become when they lose control about what really makes us human. May it be because of circumstances or losing perspective about what really matters. This, of course, happens in war too often. Writing this as someone who has never been to war or ever held a weapon in his hands may be stupid too. On the other hand i don’t think i’m far away from the truth.

This movie deserves a clear recommendation.

8.3/10

Paths of Glory on IMDb

“The truth is out there!” That’s what it’s all about. The last months i took myself the pleasure to watch the whole x-files. Tv series and movies. In chronological order. Even the ‘lone gunmen’ spin off. Even if there’s a ton load to say about the whole thing i want to make it as short as possible.

The x-files, to date, is one of the most successful tv series dynasties ever. I can remember having problems to find sleep after the ‘tooms’ episodes! Yes, i grew up with the x-files but lost contact when mulder disappeared later in season 7. Now i had the chance to see the whole package and i damn enjoyed it a lot! It was like a trip back in time when i watched the first episode, the first season in general.

Story wise i think we all kind of know what’s going on in the tv series. While there’s a red line of well organized mythology episodes, there are also episodes that do not walk hand in hand with the big conspiracy soryline. There are also some incredibly funny episodes mixed between the other pretty serious thematics. The writers really did let their imagination go wild sometimes. It resulted in very enjoyable 45 minute episodes. To see what mulder and scully have to go through to find the ultimate truth is pretty heartbreaking sometimes. All the happenings result in a personal happy end between the characters of mulder and scully at the end of the series. While that is a point that makes you happy when you finished the final episode… there’s this kind of open end solution they chose. For me a kind of message that, all they did go through, counts nothing. Which is sad. They know the truth, yes. Nonetheless.

My rating: 8.5/10

The X-Files on IMDb

The X-Files – Fight The Future

The first movie was really well done. Even people who did not watch the xfiles in tv, should have a good chance to enjoy the movie. The movie consists of a different atmosphere somehow. I would go as far as saying the whole chemistry of the actors worked much better than in tv. Not exactly sure why. The movie drives the mythology storyline of the tv series further and creates quite some tension. Technically the camera and fx, for that time, work pretty good. Some nice matte painting work later on in the movie. So basically, if you want to understand everything in the tv series, you should have seen the movie which plays after season 5 (if i remember right).

My rating: 7.5/10

X-Files Fight The Future on IMDb

The X-Files – I Want To Believe

This second movie, for me, came too late. The story is a standalone one and none of the mythology ones. The open end of the tv series leaves a lot of space for further movies. When it comes to the story then it’s somehow nice to see how it’s going with mulder and scully. How they live. What they do. Still followed by their old demons? Mulder is a nice wreckage. Pretty much what i expected. It’s good to see him that way. It’s realistic. It’s visible that both of them tried to get everything behind them. They clearly got older and tried the live with the, earlier mentioned, demons. The fbi calls and wants to hire mulders expertise with the paranormal. Mulder only accepts the call when scully helps him. So she, kinda unwillingly, does. This leads to complications later on in the movie. Definitely a movie for the fans. Not exactly for other viewers. The story itself is a bit wishywashy somehow. Nonetheless it’s a heart warming feeling to see mulder and scully doing something together after all those years.

My rating: 6.7/10

X-Files I Want To Believe on IMDb

“Do what you need to do long enough, and you will get what you want! And being paranoid and ignorant really helps the cause.” That could be the main line for the plot. Basically it’s very hard to describe the movie since the story is so messed up. Not in a negative way! It’s really fun to watch these characters live through all the crazy things that are happening to them. There is not a single character in the movie that does not contribute the the crazy story. All of them are linked in one way or another. You are temped to say that the story represents the everyday madness that’s going on these days. By that i mean… there ARE stupid people out there! There ARE ignorant people out there! There ARE overly paranoid people out there! And, again, there ARE stupid people out there! So basically the movie covers all stupidity happening every day out there. And it’s hilarious!

All performances were amazingly well done. Especially mr. Pitt and Clooney shoot the bird. The characters they give are soooo… undescribable. To use the word ‘stupid’ wouldn’t really work. Special characters, very well played! It’s really fun to see John Malkovich’s character going nuts.

If you haven’t seen it. Try to check it out!

My rating: 7.75/10

Burn After Reading on IMDb

Lets make some noise! That might be the first line of the screenplay and the first 10 minutes of the movie. A very nice introduction of the main characters in the beginning! Somehow it’s hard to believe that this movie took more than 10 years to get done. Good things need time! The whole jungle setting with some lost actors believing everything is fake… gives some hard laughs! Stiller, downey jr., black and the rest of the crew do a great job drawing a funny caricature of the movie biz. Beside them… tom cruise really shoots the bird with his performance. You might have your opinion about his private life but he IS a damn good actor. The humor throughout the whole movie is pretty hard and surely not everyone’s taste. So it’s surely no kiddies movie. There is also lots of explosions and body part action going on. It’s so overdone that it’s funny again. I really liked that.

This movie is perfect popcorn entertainment! Very funny! Should be seen with a bunch of friends on a lazy evening. My recommendation!

7.6/10

Tropic Thunder on IMDb

On deviantart journals i started to write some personal reviews of movies i had the pleasure to watch. No matter if new or older releases, dvd or big screen. I now decided to move that part onto my website, just for fun. Maybe there are some people interested in them. A few… almost… no one i guess. lol Whatever. I’m a movies fan and added a new category to the site where you can find my opinions of recently released movies. I hope the number of articles will grow over time. For now there are 8 reviews (and counting). Check it out if you’re interested.

Regards

Alright. Lots of you have already seen the movie. The movie got released in germany 1 week ago. So… pretty new around here. Saw it today with lots of recommendations in mind. I told everyone not to tell me anything about the story. So i went into the movie without being toooo spoiled about story and everything.

Basically the movie fulfilled everything it promised. I think it’s pixars absolute masterpiece, stroke of genius, and won’t be easily topped by any coming animation feature. The fact that you can follow the both main characters through the whole movie without them really ‘speaking’ is what i hoped for and remarkably realized by pixar. Beside the main plot with the machines… there’s also one with humans. Pixar does it very well showing us how we might end up when everything continues the way it is now. Making everything faster, bigger, more comfortable, easier etc etc etc – even the most unnecessary things become improved moreee and mooore… updated, upgrade, pimped – it sometimes is ridiculous. And we take it… take it take it take it… until we can’t say ‘stop’ anymore. Because we became to tired or lazy to do anything for ourselfes.

The movie, from my pov, should be seen more by adults and not necessarily children. Of course all characters are funny and cute and children surely go crazy! But i think the main plot behind the movie/story is a very serious one. And i doubt too many adults actually realize it because they think it’s a kiddies movie.

The sound and music work so amazingly good. It’s almost magic. The sound effects done by ben burtt (who also ‘created’ r2d2 sound wise) really makes everything appear alive. You immediately look at wall-e as a living character. Not some bunch of bolts and metal. He got a big big heart. All that is so well transported through the sound effects and soundtrack.

The love plot between wall-e and eve is also very lovely visualized. Especially the beginning. When they later dance between the stars, with that great wonderful musical background… that’s when you sit there and smile. You feel for the characters. You want them to be happy. You want them to successfully complete their mission. You’re right there with them.

In the end i must say for what it wants to be… it IS what it wants to be. A wonderful love story. Pixars stroke of genius.

9.5/10

Wall-E on IMDb

This is a special one. For me, surely, one of THE movies in 2007. I must admit that i missed it when it was on the big screen. Unfortunately. So this review goes with the dvd.

The story is about a young man who just graduated from college. His situation, familiy wise, really makes him angry and he wants to get out. It doesn’t matter where… just out of everything. So he leaves everything behind, spends his money to welfare and wanders off. Without letting anyone know where he’s going. His dream… alaska. On his way he meets a lot of people. As well as their problems. He’s a good listener and tries to help where he can… nonetheless always his target in sight… alaska. He sees the good and bad in people and learns to understand why they are how they are. People tend to like him very much. Nonetheless he’s looking for his own peace in being alone. When he finally got what he wanted, destiny crosses his way. Unexpected things happen and perception finds him. “Happiness is only real when shared…”

It’s a long trip following that young mans trail through the united states. Nonetheless it captures you. I immediately got hooked by the main character. Played so great by Emile Hirsch. Also every single other character in this movie seems to have the perfect pick. Especially Vince Vaughn’s character later in the movie. There are several intense moments where you could shed a tear or two. Sean Penn who directed the movie, once again, shows his talent. In amazing landscape shots he really manages to show the danger and beauty of the wild. The camera work not perfect in technical terms… but exactly perfect for this movie.

This movie is a rough ride that everyone should have taken. It may widen your horizon…

9.0/10

Into The Wild on IMDb

A few days ago i had the chance to watch babel. I heard a lot about the movie over the time. Nonetheless i did not have high expections. I already knew about the plot and was waiting for the things to happen. What the movie manages to show in a very very nice way is how dynamics in life work. How the smallest thing happening on one side of the globe can affect things taking place on the other side of the planet. All the little connections that have to happen to make a specific event occur. I can recommend that movie to everyone who’s not wasting a second thinking about what he/she is doing or saying. It’s definitely worth thinking about what you’re doing… since even the smallest action can do so much to others. Unfortunately mostly negative. The acting from all participants of the cast is very solid. Especially mr pitt. I never liked him since he’s one of those hyped people. But he’s doing his job very well and believable.

a 8/10 rating from me.

Check it out… worth it!

BABEL on IMDb