PatrickRijnders Reviews

The Pirate Fairy (2014 Video)

Pretty fun

[7/10 · 17 January 2015]

Once again the people at DisneyToon create a girlie fairy movie, and again I find myself enjoying it. How is this possible? I'm a serious, adult animation buff! I'm supposed to snort and say: Bah, this straight to DVD drivel is beyond me! Oh well, credit where credit is due, the people at DisneyToon sure know how to craft an entertaining bit of fluff. The animation looks good, the plot twists keep the story chugging along nicely, and how can you not like Tinkerbell and her adorable friends? Plus, there are some cool nods to Disney's original Peter Pan movie.

Bring on the sixth Tinkerbell movie I guess...

Watership Down (1978)

And this is a kids movie?

[7/10 · 31 August 2014]

I can remember watching this movie as a kid. I can remember enjoying it, but not much else. I have two kids and two rabbits, so when my wife picked up this movie for our movie night, I didn't think much of it. I especially did not expect my kids to end up traumatized by it, haha! Well, maybe it's not that bad, but mu daughter spent quite a bit of time watching this movie from behind her hand, while my son wandered off and started playing with his Lego because he could not stand it anymore. Have kids gotten this soft over the years? I will admit that it's quite bloody here and there, but back when I was a kid it just did not matter that much, I guess.

The Fault in Our Stars (2014)

Lovely movie

[8/10 · 31 August 2014]

Honestly, I'm not so much for tearjerkers. Especially when diseases are involved, I'm normally not interested. So I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. Part of this is because of the leading actors. The girl is a strong character who forgets her disease to follow a dream, while the boy is a fun character whom everybody would like to have as a friend. And there's plenty more great characters in this movie, especially Willem Dafoe in his role as the writer of the book that inspires a trip to Amsterdam. Ah, and to see Amsterdam in this movie, it's wonderful. I live ten miles from Amsterdam and have been there too many times to count, so it's funny to see a movie about people whom it mattes so much to, to go there. The city looks grand, and it's a great supporting character. All in all, great picture.

Nacho Libre (2006)

A fun movie, but more for the characters and situations than for the actual jokes.

[8/10 · 13 April 2007]

How bad is the situation with the big Hollywood movies if a movie that isn't entirely successful in it's execution can entertain me so much that I would almost consider it a masterpiece? Put Nacho Libre up against some of the legendary comedies and it probably wouldn't stand a chance. But when you put it in the ring with some of the recent successful 'comedies', Nacho Libre all of a sudden seems like the epitome of all things funny.

Now let me clear up one thing before I go on: It isn't really fair to use Nacho Libre as an example in a discussion on how average Hollywood comedies are nowadays, because it's really a fun, well made picture. The thing with this second movie from Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess is just that, when it comes down to it, it really isn't as hilarious as I had hoped. I'm a huge fan of Napoleon Dynamite, and even though Nacho Libre shares certain style elements with that earlier picture, the movie never really graduates from 'something that is fun to watch' to 'something I want to see over and over again'. I'm sure I'll pop in the DVD someday in the future, it just won't be in the 'watch over and over' pile next to my TV that Napoleon Dynamite is still in.

In Nacho Libre, Jack Black plays Nacho, a friar in a monastery somewhere in Mexico, who feels it's time to start following his dream. All his life he has wanted to be a luchador, a wrestler, and when he sees a poster for a local tournament for new talent, he decides the time has come. He teams up with a local petty thief to form a tag team, and it soon becomes apparent that they are two of the most hopeless wrestlers in the history of wrestling. Still, the money is good, and Nacho feels like his day to shine in the spotlights might still come. Of course, Nacho has to keep his identity a secret or he will be kicked out of the monastery, even though he would love to reveal how much of a real man he is to the new sister at the monastery, the lovely sister Encarnacion.

More than anything, Nacho Libre seems to be an exercise in style. Music, images and pictures combine to create a melancholy mood, which gives this movie a bittersweet vibe that was also evident in Napoleon Dynamite. But while Dynamite complemented this with some scenes that were absolutely hilarious, in Nacho Libre there is never really a standout moment that makes you crack up as much as you would like to. Make no mistakes about it, Jack Black is brilliant as the main character, as he is perfect in the role of outrageous, lovable loser Nacho. And many of the other supporting roles are also perfectly cast, like Hector Jimenez as Black's partner Esqueleto, and Ana de la Reguera as Sister Encarnacion. And sure, the movie has plenty of moments that will make you smile, most of the comedy coming from small things like Nacho trying to show off his body to Sister Encarnacion while they are talking to each other, or the dimwitted Esqueleto telling Nacho he has never been baptized because he only believes in science. Maybe Nacho Libre will improve in repeat viewings, and at the very least you will always have Danny Elfman's wonderful music to listen to.

Inside Man (2006)

With Inside Man, Spike Lee has crafted a very original and exciting thriller.

[8/10 · 14 March 2006]

Spike Lee is one of the most consistent directors out there. Save for some more uneven pictures like She Hate Me and Girl 6, Lee's body of work is just plain impressive. And while Inside Man is not up there with Do The Right Thing, Clockers and 25th Hour, it is definitely an entertaining and intelligent thriller that does things a little differently than most cookie cutter thrillers you see in theaters nowadays.

A bank robbery in New York has gotten out of control, and it's up to police detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) to act as hostage negotiator and get the bank personal and customers out safely before things turn even worse than they already are. This turns out to be a tough case, since the leader of the bank robbers, Dalton Russell (Clive Owen), turns out to be a very smart individual, who has everything planned to perfection, and who throws up surprise after surprise for Frazier and his men. But while the people around Frazier are slowly getting more and more nervous, he himself does not lose his mind, and begins a high stakes battle of wits with Russell. Things are further complicated, however, when the mayor of New York introduces a mysterious woman to Frazier. This woman (Jodie Foster) wants to protect something that is hidden in one of the safety deposit boxes inside the bank, and she will stop at nothing to force Frazier to let her inside the bank and make sure nothing happens to the contents.

This all sounds like an intriguing premise for a thriller, but the movie goes a few steps further than just having an interesting plot. Because while Inside Man does hit all the right notes when it comes to keeping you guessing about what is really going on, it is also very successful in mixing the grittier moments with comedy elements. At times, Inside Man is very funny, but in a way that does not deflate the tension. The dialogue is sharp, with the conversations between Frazier and Russell being especially fascinating, and both actors are at the top of their game in this new movie. Washington's Frazier is an intense but laconic individual, who has a permanent smirk on his face but who reads the bank robbers intentions better than anybody else, while Owen is charismatic and fascinating as the mastermind behind the bank robbery. I was a little disappointed however with Jodie Foster's role. While her part is potentially fascinating, she does not really get the chance to do anything with it other than look cool and act tough. Yes, we all know that she is very good at that, but with a bit more background story, and a bit more screen time, her part could have been even more interesting.

With Inside Man, Lee showcases an interesting way of directing thrillers. He ignores the usual build up that you see in thrillers, which consists of an introduction, a chronological development of the main intrigue, followed by a final act in which everything is wrapped up neatly (even flashing forward several times, thus revealing some important developments before they have happened), and this only serves to make Inside Man a movie that is more than your regular suspense movie. I enjoyed this original approach very much, even though he does take quite a long time to wrap things up at the end.

Chicken Little (2005)

Chicken Little is fun, but not as memorable as Disney's best animated flicks

[6/10 · 14 March 2006]

Watching Chicken Little made me feel like an old man. Before the movie was five minutes old, a whole storyline had already been told, and it took only about ten minutes for another one to be dealt with. This all in the frantic, seemingly unconnected way that you see in many animated TV-shows, but which you don't really expect in a Disney movie. It made me shake my head and wonder how I was going to be able to bear even the slight 75 minutes that this movie was going to last. Luckily, things picked up later on, but Chicken Little is still one of Disney's most unsatisfying animated features in the long history of the studio.

Chicken Little centers on, well, Chicken Little, a diminutive little chick who does not seem blessed by life. He's very small, nearsighted and has an imagination that is a bit too wild for most people who live in the small village that Little and his dad call home. It's especially dad who bears the brunt of his son's wild imagination. When Chicken Little one day rings the town alarm bell because he thinks the sky is falling, this starts such an outrage that even Hollywood shows up to make the movie version of this event. But Chicken may actually have been right, since there is an alien invasion on the way to earth, and the only people who can save the earth are Chicken Little and his friends.

This movie does not really have a storyline, but more a collection of jokes and cool ideas that are connected very loosely. Everything happens so fast that you hardly have the chance to breathe in between the different set pieces, and characters are not introduced, they are just there all of a sudden and you are supposed to understand their connection to the main character as soon as possible, because there are more characters on the way. This makes for an almost unbearably hectic first twenty minutes, after which things luckily mellow down a little bit. And it's the moments when the movie actually gives you the chance to follow what's going on that Chicken Little turns out to be not that bad at all. Chicken and his friends have some funny dialogue, there are some nice parodies of popular movies and the resolution to the story shows a warmth that you would not expect after all the zaniness. Sure, it's also quite corny at moments and doesn't have an original feather on it's chicken skin, (besides which, the animation is not as impressive as in most other recent cgi movies) but if you can bear the scatter shot way of telling the story, you will probably be able to enjoy what's going on.

Reign of Fire (2002)

Enjoyable and thrilling

[7/10 · 27 September 2002]

It's easy to knock this movie for not bringing the thrills that the poster promises, but when you get over the initial disappointment Reign of Fire quickly turns out to be quite an interesting movie. Admitted, it has it's flaws, but the entertainment value of this movie is high enough to make you forget the plot holes that are big enough for ten male dragons to fly through. Actually this movie is worth the asking price alone for the laugh you will get when you see Matthew McConaughey for the first time. He does a pretty good job in this movie, but with a look like this I think he could have killed those dragons by just letting them have a look at him.

And somebody needs to tell him that cigars are not for chewing on, but for smoking.

(7/10)