coz1kan Reviews

Ally McBeal (1997–2002)

the best....

[10/10 · 20 August 2007]

I'm in the middle of season four as i write these words. It's been a few years since the last time i watched Ally McBeal but somehow it was time again to visit the old gang at Cage & Fish.

I absolutely fell in love with this show, it's characters and story's a few years ago and I'm falling in love all over again. This show, it's heart, gentleness and (sometimes)idealistic look at life and love can get me to weep like a little schoolgirl (and I'm a man, age 32).

The story's about fulfilled and unfulfilled dreams, lost loves, Christmas spirit, special friendships,The passing of time and meandering moments, etc. have me glued to my television once again.

Hot Fuzz (2007)

better then Shaun.... i don't think so.

[6/10 · 11 April 2007]

It wasn't bad, just disappointing. The basic story was good and it had some nice funny bits, but overall the characters and story didn't work for me the way they did in Shaun of the Dead.

Shaun was very funny AND serious. The bit where he shoots his mum and the end with Ed were actually moving. Also, the pacing, framing and choice of music were bloody perfection. No matter how funny it got, i believed the characters, their actions and what was happening in the story. I was involved! Hot Fuzz never really made me believe in that world and the story taking place. It was mainly just silly. It had holes the size of my socks and i didn't think all the characters worked. I thought it was a bit of a mess. A fun mess, but i was hoping for a movie that got to me more than just a few laughs.

And it reminded me WHY i hate movies from directors like Michael Bay. The action scenes were not done with a great deal of thought or cinematic feel. Just - get a lot of camera's running + shake them about a bit + cut it together in a pace were no shot can be seen longer then a second + add to that a loud soundtrack = and you have yourself an action scene. I HATE THIS! This is not John Woo style (or even Rodriguez).

I expected better choreographed visual action sequences from a guy like Edgar wright and a better story+characters from the guys that brought us Shaun of the Dead.

Sl8n8 (2006)

So-so Dutch Horror

[6/10 · 12 October 2006]

I was looking forward to seeing this movie. I'll give a standing ovation to ANY Dutch genre movie. I would like to see more commercial / entertainment oriented Dutch movies being made. And i would LOVE to see a GOOD genre movie. Sl8N8 was not bad but also not nearly as good as i hoped it would be.

It starts pretty good:

*SPOILERS*

I've seen many horror films but it's pretty rare that you see the killing of a child. And this is how the movie starts - they kill a child! My hopes for a raw and gritty horror movie seemed to be answered but then the camera started to shake. And oh-my-god did it shake. I couldn't see what was happening anymore. Then we get a very very very long introduction of our lead character with a lot of cheap and false "jump" moments. (But the car crash scene was very well made.) Then, finally, we get to the 'horror'. This was what frustrated me the most. The characters were, i hate to say, silly. The shaking of the camera only got worse. The plot, who the killer was and how exactly he took control over his victims, was unclear. The actions of the characters were unbelievable. And what's up with all the fades to black?

Despite all this, there were also some good points: the most important being that there were, for a Dutch movie anyway, pretty nice gore scene's. The basic idea was nicely done. In between the mess, that this movie unfortunately was, there were some nice intense scene's.

So for that, and the support of a Dutch genre movie, i rate this 6 out of 10. It's more a movie to watch on DVD then in the cinema.

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Brutal and poetic

[9/10 · 14 February 2006]

A lot of reviews seem to be based on more than it being a film. For me it's simple; I don't care about the subjectmatter. I don't believe in god and have no relationship with the person Jesus what so ever. I take this movie as just that, a movie. A fictional representation of an idea, a story. And as a movie it lacks story and character development, but, and this is a big but, it's visual power is incredible. It's a visual feast. Lushes to the eye (and also great music and sound) And seeing that cinema is the VISUAL art of expression, i must say that i was very impressed with this film. To think that Martin Riggs did this, Mad Max made this, William Wallace directed this, very nicely done.