Who am I?

My name is Andreas and I'm your average tech nerd who loves to play around with hardware and gossip about the industry with my friends.
Ever since I was a child I've been surrounded by movies. I grew up watching all the animated Disney classics, all the way back to the first ones from the late 1930s.
Directors like Spielberg, Kubrick, Scorsese, Coen brothers, Tarantino, Hitchcock, Coppola, Lynch, Welles, Forman, Nolan, Fincher, Lucas and Rodriguez have also had a huge impact on my childhood. Not only shaping my taste for movies, but essentially shaping the person I grew up to be.

Inspiration

As far back as I can remember I've enjoyed conversing and discussing movies with my family and friends. When I entered my mid-teens that feeling became more prominent and I started feeding it by watching many movie analyses, theories and read about the work that goes on behind the camera.
Some of my biggest inspirations would be: RedLetterMedia incl. the Plinklett reviews, Chris Stuckmann, Rob Ager, TheFlickFloggers, YourMovieSucks, Every Frame a Painting and Roger Ebert. If you too are interested in the aforementioned, then I can't recommend these enough.

And as for the obvious question that I've been asked a lot, namely what's my favorite movie and who's my favorite director? Those are honestly borderline impossible questions for me to answer, as there so many to pick from and they all shine in their own respective way.
For a long time I considered Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) my favorite movie, and if I was forced to label one today it would probably still be my pick.
As for director, I've always been sold when it comes to Alejandro González Iñárritu's work. His respect to detail and audience, perfection and overall ability to direct a project against all odds. Its either him, Kubrick, Wes Anderson or the Coen Brothers, basically for the same reasons.

Blog Guidelines

Essentially just a few things I'd like to get out of the way.

- These are my own humble opinions and impressions, and you are more than welcome to disagree with me.
- I tend to keep my descriptions as short and conclusive as possible, to avoid long drawn out walls of text. If you're looking for more in depth reviews or analyses there are plenty of other places to find this (not from me).
- I don't want to review movies I've already watched, and for better or worse this excludes a lot of movies. If any exceptions to this should occur, I'll be sure to mention it.
- What matters to me is how the movie stands on its own, and not how it treats its source material.
- I will not post only 1 movie per entry, I'd rather wait and collect several per post. Again, if an exception is made I'll be sure to mention why.
- I tend to watch movies that aren't always your average popcorn mainstream moviegoer experience, such as arthouse.
- I don't find Adam Sandler/Kevin James/Kevin Hart (and the like) fart joke slapstik attempt movies entertaining, so don't look here if that is what you're after.
- I will also include series and documentaries, but they won't be my main focus.
- If you often find yourself confused about the critic scores on RottenTomatoes, you will probably think the same about a lot of what I have to say.
- And lastly, my native language is not English, so if you find something sounding quirky then you know why.

The Reviews

I've collected most of the reviews I've posted throughout the years, to keep them in one place. These will be starting off the blog and then I will add new entries as I watch more movies further down the road.
Keep in mind I don't have a fixed time frame for watching movies, so the gap between entries can be long.

- Ant-man (2015) - Definitely my favorite Paul Rudd performance to this date. Interesting main characters and protagonist with a few major bumps such as the "funny side kicks" who were only there to add dull humor and slapstick comedy. The villain was too stereotypical for my taste and not very well acted.
The movie was also soaked with Avengers and Marvel Universe references, which was so much I at some point heard other people say what I was thinking out loud in the cinema: "Ok, we get it it's the same universe *sigh*!". I honestly don't appreciate being shamelessly spoon fed with obvious references every fifth minute.
My rating: 7/10

- Deliverance (1972) - Thrilling and engaging ride with great and interesting characters and developments. I loved it, however, some of the special effects were a little too dated (even for its time) and the villains fell a little flat with lack of motive.
My rating: 8.5/10

- Unfriended (2014) - While I do appreciate when directors venture into foreign territory, this movie came off as being too simple and predictable. The characters were uninteresting and stereotypical and I didn't feel that held up very well with the new concept of storytelling.
My rating: 4/10

- Ex Machina (2015) - Incredibly breathtaking performance by Alicia Vikander (Ava) in an engaging story that will leave you guessing much of the way. Lovely cinematography and lush shots overall. I did however feel some of the plot points were a little too obvious and unfortunately Oscar Isaac's performance and character fell incredibly flat for me.
My rating: 7.5/10

- The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - Simply perfection in every aspect. I don't have much more to say really. A true feat of strength for cinema and it should definitely act as a template for future movies to come of the same genre category.
My rating: 10/10

- The Devil Rides Out (1968) - I found the movie somewhat dated, even by 1968's standards, which did distract me to a great deal. Some of the props and special effects used were insanely bad and the movie started borderlining B-movie quality at some points. The plot was very straight forward, but was constructed in a very untraditional way with certain important characters disappearing for good chunks of the movie for no good reason. I did however enjoy many of the symbolic values many of the shots included and the overall story was okay.
My rating: 5/10

- Poltergeist (2015) - I watched this movie as I'm a huge fan of the original 1982 movie. Unfortunately nothing new was added to the table, as expected. Boring stereotypical characters, even for this type of horror movie. Shot-to-shot ripoffs of the old movie, without serving as homages. Sam Rockwell who I normally love as an actor came off as if he didn't give a crap about the movie with an incredibly poor performance, not to mention the other main cast of the movie. Bad produciton value and horrible CGI, even for 200X standards. Irritating and laughable child acting. Basically just another shameless attempt to milk money from old successful concepts.
My rating: 3/10

- The Martian (2015) - A new take on "lost in space"/"left behind" plots. Instead of using a tear driven way of telling the story it's told with a much more commical relief which was a lovely and original thing to see. I abselutely loved the plot, the characters and the pace of the movie. Great imagery and the score was breathtaking.
I only had minor issues with a few of the zero gravity shots which took me out of the movie as they were poorly executed in comparison to the rest of the movie. And a few technical errors which I though surprising were able to slip through post production.
My rating: 9/10

- Southpaw (2015) - Excellent performance from Jake Gyllenhaal as always, but with a surprisingly good co-star cast. This is especially with the child actor in mind, who did an extraordinary job considering her age. It's always nice to see child actors who don't take you out of the film with their horrendous acting, and is definitely worth mentioning.
Unfortunately the plot did not deliver anything unexpected and was a bit too straight forward for my taste. This type of fighter story has been done to death at this point. The camerawork was very immersive and what generally very pleasing. No shitty shaky cam, thank you!
My rating: 7/10

- Martyrs (2008) - Somewhat confusing at first, but cleverly gives you the plot piece by piece for you to assemble it yourself. Very interesting but at the same time extremely horrific and thought provoking. Lush camera work and pleasing imagery.
Don't watch this if you're easily disgusted by realistic gore effects or realistic cruelty.
My rating: 8/10

- V/H/S/2 (2013) - I got exactly what I expected; poorly executed character studies, laughable special effects, extremely predictable subplots and not remotely horrifying. All that being said I still like when directors team up to do this sort of B-movie experimentation and I found some of the plot ideas somewhat enjoyable and interesting.
Some ideas which could definitely work as standalone movies with the appropriate experience behind the camera (and not fucking found footage!) and the needed funding.
My rating: 5/10

- Blackfish (2013) - Probably one of the most heart wrenching and perfectly executed documentaries I've ever seen. A must-see for everyone! It was surprising to me how much actual footage and proof they had at their disposal to prove their allegations.
My rating: 10/10

- Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008) - Another heart piercer of a documentary. I've never watched a documentary that has made me feel so angry towards a person of which I've never met. The documentary itself was structured very well.
My rating: 8/10

- Hunger (2009) - Unique cinematography and extremely impressive camerawork. Very enthusiastic acting and character work by all of the actors in the movie. Despite being very uninterested in the political messages the movie offered it still kept me sympathizing and rooting for the characters involved.
My rating: 8/10

- Midnight in Paris (2011) - While I'm not usually a fan of both Woody Allen's work and Owen Wilson as an actor I found this movie very pleasant and captivating to watch. The plot premise and idea actually enthralled me quite a lot. I did however find some of the characters a bit too overly dumb and stereotypical which took me out of the movie.
The overall setting and theme of the movie was perfect and most of the acting was spotless.
My rating: 8/10

- Tree of Life (2011) - It's lovely to see actors like Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain venture into movies which are borderline arthouse. The movie was impressively shot and was a huge enjoyment to watch. I did however feel the movie stretch itself a little too much towards the middle and end, which started to bore me and my co watchers. The plot became a little overly pretentious and repetitive.
It's also important to mention; this is not a movie for your average popcorn moviegoer! If you only like movies which spoon feed you everything, you won't like this movie.
My rating: 7/10

- Samsara (2011) - A living proof of movies and documentaries can be interesting and have an understandable plot and message only using imagery and score, without dialogue and actors. Extremely captivating documentary with a very thought provoking concept that didn't bore me for a second.
Similar to Tree of Life, don't watch this if you're only in to average triple A blockbusters with straight forward plots and being spoon fed throughout the movie.
My rating: 9/10

- Grizzly Man (2005) - A great documentary that asks more questions than answering, directed towards both animal lovers and what lies beyond that. I did however feel this documentary was more of a psychoanalysis of the Timothy Treadwell than being a animal/bear awareness campaign, which was a concept that really got to me.
At times it did get a little tedious as the person we are following has quite the persona, and the little deviation there was wasn't enough to level that out. The camerawork was what you could expect from a handheld and found-footage perspective.
My rating: 7/10

- The Town (2010) - I found the character studies a little lighthearted and shallow, which made the movie incredibly predictable and boring in the long run, with the stereotypical Hollywood setup and characters. Jeremy Renner did however really nail his role and it was a shame he didn't have more screen time.
The camerawork was what you could expect from this genre of movie, not really unique or breathtaking.
My rating: 7/10

- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - Probably one of the best politically fueled comedies I've ever seen. Absolutely hilarious and with great writing. The camerawork and screenwriting was also what you could expect from a Kubrick movie; perfect.
My rating: 10/10

- Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (2006) - An over-the-top gore fest with everything you could expect under those themes and B-movie qualities. The acting was horrible, the writing was atrocious, the camerawork was awful and the musical bids actually made me turn down my volume and cringe a little.
All this adds up to a movie that intentionally is so bad it becomes great, with a few dry moments here and there. I watched it with a friend of mine and we had a pretty good time.
My rating: 5/10

- Everest (2015) - Unfortunately this movie didn't surprise in any way and was exactly what you could expect and predict, just by looking at the cover or poster... With only a few interesting characters and performances I felt this movie could have done with a smaller cast as the majority of the characters felt shoehorned, and yes I realize it was based on a a true story, but that really doesn't make the movie any better regardless.
With the above said, the movie sets were great and it was a beautiful movie altogether, unfortunately that just wasn't enough to carry the rest that lacked.
My rating: 6/10

- Pan (2015) - One of the few movies I couldn't watch until the end, as I had to turn it off after 2/3 runtime. The movie has comically cringe worthy over-acted characters, terribly false set and locations (all fucking greenscreen), incredibly miscast actors and a soundtrack that will only leave you guessing and wondering what he hell they were on when they were writing this movie.
If you're looking for a Pan movie check the Disney animated classic (1953), Hook (1991) or Finding Neverland (2004). Don't waste your time watching this crap!
My rating: 2/10 (based on the 2/3 I saw)

- Crimson Peak (2015) - Amazing camerawork, set, cast and colorplay throughout the movie and it was literally candy for the eyes as expected from a Guillermo del Toro movie. The "only" thing I felt fell flat were the plot, which unfortunately drowned the experience a little for me as a few characters weren't being delved enough into, almost as if the movie ran out of time and they had to cut away essential parts of it.
My rating: 6.5/10

- Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - There's a reason why Wes Anderson is one of my favorite directors, especially when he's also fully in charge of the screenplay. Flawless cinematography, amazing voice acting, spot on soundtrack and amazing stop motion CGI mix! This movie had me laughing so much, which is great as most of today's comedies are just dumb Hollywood slapstick Adam Sandler/Kevin James fart joke schlock, insulting your intelligence at every chance they get.
My rating: 10/10

- Bone Tomahawk (2015) - Definitely one of the better horror movies of the decade with interesting character studies from all the actors. Not a single poor performance which is lovely to see with such a big and varied cast. The movie is filmed with a very gritty natural-light western-esk style which is lush for all western movie lovers, horror or not.
My only problem with the movie was the end, which I felt was a little too "easy" and wasn't exactly what the movie was building up towards. But nevertheless a great movie!
My rating: 8/10

- The Revenant (2015) - A true example of how practical filming coupled with masterfully executed post-production adds to a true movie gem. As icing on the cake we also get top notch acting from all of the cast members. Perfection, which is what Iñárritu is very well regarded for (for better and worse).
I only had a few gripes with the movie, one of main ones being DiCaprio's character's "foreign" language, which came off as laughably bad rather than believable. This became very distracting throughout certain parts of the movie, but it wasn't enough to drag the overall experience down.
My rating: 9/10

- Deadpool (2016) - This movie is everything I could ever want when it comes to a true depiction of the Deadpool character. Not only did they manage to fix all the issues that the previous Deadpool (from the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)) introduced, they handled it the right way by gloriously and openly shitting all over the previous decisions.
But all the pop culture references aside, the movie also does incredibly well on its own. The characters are fleshed out as relatable human beings without being poorly written cliches. The overall plot is basically a catalyst for Deadpool's constant joking and 4th wall breaks, which all are absolutely hilarious and perfectly timed.
This movie is not taking itself too seriously and knows exactly what needs to be delivered to the audience.
My rating: 10/10

- Room (2015) - I went into this movie not knowing anything about it plot wise, which I really appreciate because that added to the experience. If you're even remotely interested in this movie DO NOT WATCH THE TRAILERS, they spoil 80% of the movie, and I was baffled to see them after I'd finished the movie.
I was not surprised to see Brie Larson win the Best Actress Oscar Award for this performance, who does an absolutely flawless job. And yet another movie where they carefully cast their child actor, as he makes up a good half of the movie and he definitely also deserves credit for his work.
If you feel uncomfortable tear-jerking, do not watch this as it's an emotional roller coaster, and I must admit I was crying through the majority of it. The movie did sometimes (rarely) show poor production value, which was a shame, and literally is the only reason why it's not getting 10/10.
My rating: 9/10

- Hidden (2015) - Once again, I knew nothing about this movie before I started watching it, other than it was a well-regarded new horror, and for this I'm thankful. The movie holsters some excellent ideas and is definitely worth watching for those who enjoy "mind fucks".
I wouldn't watch this if all you're seeking is edge-of-you-seat remorseless horror that doesn't take any prisoners. I'd call it an emotional thriller with a thought provoking essence at its core.
The movie did however also have a few poor production flaws, and the child actor did unfortunately not always come off as believable nor likable.
My rating: 7/10

- They Live (1988) - Absolutely hilarious movie where the directors chose to cast an ex-wrestler as the protagonist, who actually did a remarkably good job considering his background. Classified as a horror sci-fi, I would personally rather call it a sci-fi comedy.
I did however feel like the first half relied a little too much on shameless exposition and it felt like not enough butter spread out on a large slice of bread. The movie also had a fair share of inconsistencies and odd camera work. Generally what you would expect from a B movie type and luckily most of it added to the charm of the overall experience.
My rating: 7/10

- The VVitch: A New-England Folktale (2015) - An interesting concept and idea, that positively reminded me of The Village (2004), which in my opinion is a widely misunderstood movie. Intense soundstage throughout the movie, immensely building up the horrific and naturalistic nature of the movie.
For those expecting a regular monster horror movie, you will most likely be let down by this experience, very similar to the aforementioned The Village. To me this was more of a time-piece than an actual horror movie, but both elements were executed masterfully. Not a single poor performance, which was important with such a small cast!
My rating: 8/10

- The Invitation (2015) - A movie that will genuinely have you questioning your own paranoia for strangers. Impressive post-production editing and impressive color-play to set the right tone. Great acting from all parts, even discount Tom Hardy (Logan Marshall-Green).
Unfortunately I did have a few moments where I was questioning the protagonist and actually found myself yelling at the screen (lol), because some of the choices made in the movie made little to no sense to me.
My rating: 7/10

- Chasing Ice (2012) - A documentary that was initially supposed to be an art movie, showing the various unique shapes of ice structures, but turned out as a documentary about the rapidly melting ice which has been exponentially increasing since the 1850ies. The timelapses caught are eye-opening in every sense of the word.
It's also about a mans struggle to reach his lifelong goal of successfully capturing this footage from various locations around Greenland and the arctics. Both parts of the documentary resonated well with me and it's overall beautifully shot. It did unfortunately feel like the subject matter was stretched a little too much for its own good.
My rating: 7/10

- American Ultra (2015) - This movie was a big pile of incoherent mess. The plot was obnoxious and straight up disrespectful to its audience, abusing every way to shoehorn in shameless exposition. The relationship between the protagonist and his love interest was the most unconvincing and forced I've seen in a long time.
The movie falls completely flat at every attempt to squeeze in comical relief, and takes itself way too seriously. Several parts of the plot will probably also leave you guessing, as some of the decisions made by the antagonist make absolutely no sense what so ever.
While I appreciate Max Landis' (writer of the movie) open and transparent attitude towards the movie industry, I can't say that he did a good job with this movie.
My rating: 2/10

- End of Watch (2012) - While heavily relying on the now very mainstream form of storytelling that is "found footage", the movie actually manages to execute its plot without becoming repetitive or obnoxious. There are a few moments with some borderline shameless exposition, but not nearly enough to drag down the overall experience.
What really won me over was the natural and very believable chemistry between our protagonist and his partner. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña really deserve more praise than what they got for this movie, and I'd say this movie hasn't received enough recognition for what it is.
Did some research and learned that some of the scenes between the two police partners were 100% improvised and filmed without their knowledge of the camera rolling. If you keep this in mind while watching I'm sure you'll laugh a little extra at some of the jokes being tossed around.
My rating: 9/10

- Jackie Brown (1997) - Definitely one of Quintin's most underrated movies that I've watched. Intense dialuge and monologues, scattered yet sensible plot, experienced camera work and post production, all what we have come to expect from Tarantino's work and this movie does not let down.
There were a few times where the movie became a little easy to predict, and the experience did drag a little due to this which was a shame.
My rating: 8/10

- Zootopia (2016) - Probably one of my absolute favorite animated movies of this decade (so far). Insanely polished animation that I originally thought was Pixar's work, but was pleased to learn that I was wrong. It's nice to see other companies can give Pixar a run for their money.
The movie offered insanely relevant up-to-date social commentary and character studies that most children probably won't pick up on, but will entertain even the most senior of adults. This made the movie really intriguing to watch and I'm already thinking about watching it again as I'm sure I missed several small details and quirks.
My rating: 9/10

- Anomalisa (2015) - Insanely polished animation, that has intentionally been designed to look frail and fragile, to support the plot and its underlying messages. The movie's premise was actually quite horrifying to fall back on, and it's definitely a thought provoking experience.
The writing and cinematography was pretty much what we could expect from Kaufman; near perfect. The voice acting choices were also something extremely different and a very brave choice to include.
My rating: 10/10

- Warcraft (2016) - While I deeply respect and love Duncan Jones' previous work such as Moon and Source Code, I honestly can't say I enjoyed this one at all. I had the feeling throughout the majority of the movie that Activision Blizzard was breathing down Jones' neck forcing him to include a cavalcade of nonsensical gibberish.
This movie is NOT a canon movie when it comes to the lore and events taking place, so everything that happens in the movie has been slightly to completely altered from the original story. Characters are incredibly thin and uninteresting, the plot is a loud and predictable mess and the things they have altered from the original story made no sense what so ever, and was straight up offensive to those knowing the actual lore of the universe.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm a huge Warcraft fan, I even have the 1:1 replica Epic Weapons Frostmourne hanging in my nerd cave, but this movie was everything I feared it would be... A big incoherent CGI clusterfuck, of too many stories being attempted at once, without the time to delve into the individual stories and character conflicts to flesh them out.
I watched it with 3 friends in the cinema, and we were all looking furiously at each other when we left the cinema. This movie is probably the worst one I've ever watched in a cinema, in my entire life.
My rating: 2/10

- Total Recall (2012) - This is one of those movies I don't even know why I watched to begin with. It's not that long ago I watched the original Total Recall with Arnie, which left me thinking why the hell does this movie even exist?
The plot is almost a back to back copy, just with some questionable acting, a couple of homages to the original, some blueish filters and CGI added to the table. This movie had nothing new to offer, and if you've seen the original, which was much better, you have no reason to watch this one.
A pointless and boring experience as a whole and like the movie above I cannot recommend this to anyone.
My rating: 2/10