With over 4 months to go Oscar-season has started in Hollywood. One of the titles mentioned with recurring frequency is Mystic River, starring Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins and directed by Clint Eastwood. These rumors only increased my curiosity and expectations, so I went to see Mystic River on the day it was released here in the Netherlands. It is not a good thing to go see a movie with such anticipation and my visit to Eastwood’s next installment could only end in disappointment. And it did.

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In order to hide his secretive phone-calls to his mistress from his wife, Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) calls from an old-fashioned phone booth instead of his cellular phone. It’s here where his life will take a dramatic turn while keeping him glued at the same place for more than an hour. The movie is exactly long enough to keep the viewer’s attention, and reminiscent of series like “24″, as it is in real-time. This is not the only nod to the popular television series, since the star of “24″, Kiefer Sutherland, also plays a small but important role.

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Hell really hath no fury like a woman beaten up, shot through the head and left for dead. And. On her wedding day. Four years later when she awakens from her coma, here comes ‘The Bride’…

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Based on an idea by Alain Brigand, 11 directors from various countries were each invited to make a short film offering their own interpretation of the events in New York on September 11, 2001. The only limitation was that, symbolically, each short be exactly 11 minutes, nine seconds and one frame long (11’09”01)…

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It’s 1939. Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt), an Austrian mountaineer, goes off on a climbing expedition in the Himalayas. Bad weather forces the mountaineers to return to base camp. In the mean time WWII has started. So once they reach base camp, they are taken prisoner by British soldiers and held captive in a POW camp. Having managed to escape, Harrer and fellow climber Peter Aufschnaiter (David Thewlis), flee to Tibet. They hustle their way into the forbidden sacred city of Lhasa. There Harrer, of course meets the Dalai Lama. And that’s where it really gets mushy.

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If you were to ask me to list my ten favorite movies (in no specific order) that list would definitely contain Magnolia. I don’t recall having seen a drama that is so intense and rich story-wise than this one. Everything is (nearly) perfect about Magnolia, the acting, the script, the development of the characters, yes even the length that extends to over 3 hours.

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After more than three decades when this movie appeared first on the silver screen, is has finally been released on DVD. It is the perfect format for this classic movie with its long playtime, grand scope and fantastic soundtrack. The DVD has some nice added features in the form of documentaries, featurettes, interviews and photo galleries. However, the most important is that the movie is shown in its full length, digitally remastered and with superior sound quality. This is a masterpiece that deserves nothing more than the best.

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This animated feature written and directed by Sylvain Chomet, combines the traditional drawn images with computer generated ones that makes this film a pure visual smorgasbord. An international production from France, Belgium and Canada; it uses a minimum of dialogue but a maximum of sound for beautiful and entertaining results. It has not one, but two fabulous chase scenes and loveable characters you will take to heart. It is animation with a capital “A” as in art, but big and little kids will still enjoy it…

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In Dark Blue Kurt Russell plays Eldon Perry, a Los Angeles cop during the 1991 Rodney King riots. While the whole city awaits the verdict of the LAPD policemen, Perry continues implementing his rather unconventional methods whilst trying to solve the robbery of a Korean store in South Central, Los Angeles. During his investigation he finds out about the corrupt practices of his chief, Brian Van Meter, but is unable to find hard proof of his boss’ actions. Rookie Bobby Keough, who is strongly influenced by Perry’s hard lessons, has difficulty staying on the good side of the law as well as constantly having to choose between his conscience and the rather onorthodox visions of his trainer Perry. Dark Blue tries to bring back the nostalgia from old cop shows and movies like Miami Vice and Manhunter (both Michael Mann’s by the way).

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Do you feel lucky punk? Well do ya?

Did I have to start with a movie quote containing the word “punk”? Mais naturellement mon ami(e), ‘cos this is my very first CoP review and very special for just that reason. To be honest, I was tempted to write this review in Spanish, but since my knowledge of this language is significantly lower than my appreciation for it, y’all will just have to settle for English. Which is probably just as well’

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