Netflix Friday - Volume 104

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring.
 

Drama: The Founder (2016)
The story of Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a salesman who turned two brothers’ innovative fast food eatery, McDonalds’, into the biggest restaurant business in the world, with a combination of ambition, persistence, and ruthlessness.
 

Comedy: Drinking Buddies (2013)
Luke (Jake Johnson) and Kate (Olivia Wilde) are coworkers at a brewery who spend their nights drinking and flirting heavily. One weekend away together with their significant others proves who really belongs together and who doesn’t.
 

Animation: Pom Poko (1994)
A community of magical shape-shifting raccoon dogs struggle to prevent their forest home from being destroyed by urban development.
 

Romance: The Vow (2012)
A car accident puts Paige (Rachel McAdams) in a coma, and when she wakes up with severe memory loss, her husband Leo (Channing Tatum) works to win her heart again.
 

Horror: Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2019)
Six people unwillingly find themselves locked in another series of escape rooms, slowly uncovering what they have in common to survive. Joining forces with two of the original survivors, they soon discover they’ve all played the game before.
 

Science Fiction: Boss Level (2020)
Trapped in a time loop that constantly repeats the day of his murder, a former special forces agent (Frank Grillo) must unlock the mystery behind his untimely demise.
 

Crime: Clear and Present Danger (1994)
CIA Analyst Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.
 

Thriller: The Missing (2003)
In 1885 New Mexico, a frontier medicine woman (Cate Blanchett) forms an uneasy alliance with her estranged father when her daughter is kidnapped by an Apache brujo.
 

Documentary: A Lion in the House (2006)
Five families struggle with the ups and down of cancer treatment over the course of six years
 

Family: Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)
The gang is back but the game has changed. As they return to rescue one of their own, the players will have to brave parts unknown from arid deserts to snowy mountains, to escape the world’s most dangerous game.

DVD Collection Update (14)

A very big DVD update this time! Eight new ones in my collection. So lets get started!

I also own the first film, which I prefer a bit over this one, but "Thor: The Dark World" is also a great movie experience. And off course Chris Hemsworth.... just perfect.

I waited a long time to get this, but I finally bought it. Season 3 of "The Walking Dead". It's one of my favorite shows of the moment and it's just awesome. In this season they find the prison.

I got this on the day it was released. "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" is just a must have. Like the first DVD, it's a special edition with a lot of extras and five cool postcards. I think this movie is better then the first, and I already loved that one!

Okay, I can already see you roling your eyes. "Jaws" is awesome, directed by Steven Spielberg and the best shark movie ever made. Any other shark movie is just crap. Just watch this video from Cinemassacre.com: Top 40 Shitty Shark Movies. That's true, but I just felt like watching "Jaws 2" so I thought I would look nice on my shelve next to "Jaws". I know it's not that great, but it's still entertaining.

Back to more serious stuff. Nelson Mandela is a man I have idolized for as long as I know him. I just had to see this. It wasn't perfect, but it shows how great of a man he was, so "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" is worth your time.

There are many films about time travelling, but this is just such a heart-warming tale. "About Time" was just great, I immediately wanted to rewatch it. I just love this movie, to me it was perfect. The subtle humor and the great acting by Rachel McAdams, Domhnall Gleeson and especially Bill Nighy.

I just realized I bought a lot of sequels. "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" is another sequel. Again this was better then the first. I especially loved the moment where Bilbo first meets Smaug, who was perfectly voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. I like Hobbits, there are adorable! Martin Freeman is adorable!

Finding "Pulp Fiction" for only 3 euro's was just damn luck. I always wanted this in my collection and I just bumped into it. I didn't even plan to buy a DVD that day. I don't have many lucky moments, but I treasure it when I do! For a movie nerd like me, this is a happy moment!

Me & 3 Sequel Movies

A lot of sequels came out this year, so I decided to pick some of the most interesting ones. The three I picked where actually on my top five list of movies I was dying to see in 2013.

Monsters University
Genre: Family/ Animation
Year: 2013
Director: Dan Scanlon
Cast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Sean Hayes, Dave Foley, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Charlie Day, Nathan Fillion, Alfred Molina, Tyler Labine, Aubrey Plaza, Bobby Moynihan, Bonnie Hunt, John Krasinksi, Julia Sweeney, Bill Hader, John Ratzenberger
Description: A look at the relationship between Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) during their days at Monsters University, when they weren't necessarily the best of friends.
Opinion: I’m a huge fan of the first. Its sequel is not as good, but also hilarious. It’s filled with a lot of great new characters ans as always Mike Wazowski made me laugh out loud. Art also, my favourite of the new characters.
Favorite character: Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal)
Most memorable quote: “You don’t study scaring, you just do it” –Sully-
Best scene: The first challenge in the scare games, where they have to run through a tunnel with weird spikey things all over the place. Whenever you touch one, that part of your body swells.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Genre: Science Fiction/ Action/ Adventure
Year: 2013
Director: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Jena Malone, Sam Claflin, Toby Jones, Jeffrey Wright, Amanda Plummer
Description: Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.
Opinion: This is based on the best book in the series and the movie did it justice. It’s dark and grim and much intenser then the first one and exciting ‘till the end. Which is an open ending by the way, so now I have to wait for part 3…
Favorite character: Katniss Everdeen
Most memorable quote: “People are looking to you Katniss. You’ve given them an opportunity. They just have to be brave enough to take it” – Gale Hawthorne-
Best scene: When Katniss and Peeta are visiting District 11 for their tour, one of the citizens raises his hand and shows the symbol. The peacekeepers grab him and Katniss screams so they will stop. They take her away and de man is killed. This scene really set the mood for the film and gave me the chills.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Genre: Adventure/ Fantasy/ Action
Year: 2013
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, James Nesbitt, Steven Hunter, Dean O’Gorman, Aiden Turner, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Cate Blacnhett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mikael Persbrandt, Stephen Fry, Sylvester McCoy, Luke Evans
Description: The dwarves, along with Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), continue their quest to reclaim Erebor, their homeland, from Smaug. Bilbo Baggins is in possession of a mysterious and magical ring.
Opinion: I’m a big fan of the first film, but this was even better! The pace is a bit better and it’s filled with amazing scenes. And off course finally seeing Smaug the dragon, perfectly voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.
Favorite character: Bilbo Baggins
Most memorable quote: “It never ceases to amaze me, the gourage of Hobbits” –Balin-
Best scene: Bilbo tries to find the Arkenstone and meets Smaug the dragon.

Favorite of the 3: Though one…. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”

Movie trailer Sunday (92)

Here are this weeks trailers.

Diana
Description: The last two years of Princess Diana's (Naomi Watts) life: her campaign against land mines and her relationship with surgeon Dr Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews).
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Starring: Naomi Watts, Naveen Andrews, Douglas Hodge, Juliet Stevenson
Trailer: Trailer "Diana"
Comment: Just from the look of the trailer, I can see they made the perfect choice for Diana.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Description: The Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf have successfully escaped the Misty Mountains, and Bilbo has gained the One Ring. They all continue their journey to get their gold back from the Dragon, Smaug.
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Evangeline Lilly, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Sylvester McCoy, Graham McTavish, Michael Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O'Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner
Trailer: Trailer "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
Comment: I'm excited!!

Snowpiercer
Description: after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution brews.
Director: Bong Joon-ho
Starring: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris, Alison Pil, John Hurt
Trailer: Trailer "Snowpiercer"

Pawn Shop Chronicles
Description: We follow three twisted tales all connected by items from a Southern small-town pawn shop. A man searching for his kidnapped wife, a couple of white-supremacist meth heads, and a sad-sack Elvis impersonator.
Director: Wayne Kramer
Starring: Paul Walker, Norman Reedus, Elijah Wood, Brendan Fraser, Vincent D'Onofrio, Thomas Jane, Matt Dillon, Lukas Haas, DJ Qualls, Chi McBride, Ashlee Simpson
Trailer: Trailer "Pawn Shop Chronicles"

Killing Season
Description: Deep in the Appalachian mountains, a reclusive American military veteran (Robert De Niro) and a European tourist (John Travolta) strike up an unlikely friendship. But when the tourist's true intentions come to light, what follows is a tense battle across some of America�s most forbidding landscape proving the old adage: the purest form of war is one-on-one.
Director: Mark Steven Johnson
Starring: Robert De Niro, John Travolta, Milo Ventimiglia
Trailer: Trailer "Killing Season"
Comment: Although John Travolta looks like a leprechaun with that beard, this movie looks like a very solid thriller.

Top 5 Thursday: Upcoming Movies I'm Excited About (June 2013)

There are so many great looking movies coming out this year. Many to look forward to, but these five are my absolute favorites and must-sees.

5. This is the End
I don’t know which direction this is heading, it’s either going to be extremely funny and brilliant or simply ridiculous and stupid. I’m hoping (and secretly expecting) the first. Besides James Franco can’t do anything wrong in my eyes.

4. Monster’s University
I love “Monster’s Inc.”, it’s my favorite Pixar film. And Mike Wazowski is my favorite character from the Pixar franchise. Can’t wait to se this prequel.

3. The World’s End
I’m a fan of the combination of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. They already brought us two amazing films, that I can watch over and over again and that are on my favorites list. In my social circle, only me and my brother understand the brilliance of these films.

2. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The trailer premiered yesterday and now I’m even more excited. We got to see a lot, like Smaug the dragon. It looks more action packed then the first installment.

1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
I’ve been looking forward to see it, ever since “The Hunger Games”. I saw the trailer and it looks really awesome. It’s based on my favorite book in the series, so I have high expectations.

They Almost Made the Top 5: The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, World War Z, Kick-Ass 2