Anatidaephobism

Brazil (1985) dir. by Terry Gilliam.

After 1984 came the 1985 version of a futuristic dystopia. More corny 80′s, but indeed - also more fun.

Milk (2008) dir. by Gus Van Sant.

 - Length: Too long.  - Diego Luna is adorable.  - Sean Penn deserved that oscar.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) dir. by Wes Anderson.

Classic Wes Anderson. A bad story with a horde of shallow characters wrapped up in astounding design (3 oscars for that), a nice score (1 oscar for that) and all the stars Wes could assemble. Fiennes is really good.

One Day (2011) dir. by Lone Scherfig.

A pretty acceptable romantic drama.

The Lives of Others (org. Das Leben der Anderen, 2006) dir. by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

Eine Sonate vom Guten Menschen.

The Fifth Element (1997) dir. by Luc Besson.

Terribly dated. Goofy. Fun at times.

Death at a Funeral (2007) dir. by Frank Oz.

The Crucible (1996) dir. by Nicholas Hytner.

Immense acting performances. I just fell in love with the character development of Reverend John Hale (Rob Campbell). Winona Ryder and her warband of young witches are almost too annoying to endure.

White Oleander (2002) dir. by Peter Kosminsky.

Alison Lohman stars as a piece a clay changing appearance and personality as she changes family and environment.

Blue Velvet (1986) dir. by David Lynch.

A piece of Twin Peaks, in periods erotic, in periods genius, in periods plain bad, in periods something in between. Dean Stockwell as Ben is all I could wish for, except I wish he played a part in the actual plot.

Driving Miss Daisy (1989) dir. by Bruce Beresford.

Morgan Freeman at the top of his game. A well-deserved Oscar for Best Makeup. Not the most exciting drama, not the funniest comedy, not much happens.

Sherlock: Season 1, Episode 2 - “The Blind Banker”. Directed by Euros Lyn.

“I mean, I love to go out of an evening and wrestle a few Chinese gangsters, you know - generally - but a girl can get too much.”

Notes on a Scandal (2006) dir. by Richard Eyre.

An excellent portrayal of loneliness as a mental disease...

American Hustle (2013) dir. by David O. Russell.

Quills (2000) dir. by Philip Kaufman.

I’ll always admire a film portraying themes as sex and pornography without actually becoming somewhat pornographic itself.

The opening sequence is perfect containing a better plot twist than most thrillers. The Napoleon scene and the torture scene that follows are almost as brilliant introducing the cynical Dr. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine) as a central character. Unfortunately the film mainly continues to fall in standards and the end sequence seems rather forced and unnecessary.

The two oppositional key figures Marquis de Sade (Geoffrey Rush) and Abbe du Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix) are played equally impressively. I don’t really like the sort of stereotypical portrayal of the insane inmates at Charenton though.

Captain Phillips (2013) dir. by Paul Greengrass.

Another astounding performance from Mr. Hanks. The film itself is half an hour of unnecessary scenes too long.