luukvanriel Reviews

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Good but IMO not even close to some of the best movies

[8/10 · 14 February 2016]

Nobody can deny that The Shawshank Redemption is a good, maybe even great movie. But I think it's overrated. I understand it might touch many peoples feelings, but the movie feels like it is just too clearly designed to evoke those feelings. It is a movie that takes ones hand and tells the viewer a clearly defined, well structured story that follows all the standard story beats one would expect from a prison drama. The fact that this movie has gotten so much praise just goes to show that Hollywood got all the rules of filmmaking figured out. This movie followed those rules to the letter and got tremendous success because of that. In short, the movie succeeds in what it aimed to do. Evoke symphaty where symphaty's due and evoke anger where anger is due. It helps that its very well made and edited.

My gripe with this film is that it didn't do anything new. There is no message left open for interpretation, there is no real meaning behind the cinematography and the music and voice over are quite generic (I love Freeman's voice but it's overdone in this film). When I watch a film I want the story to be shown, not told.

Knight of Cups (2015)

A true poem

[10/10 · 14 February 2016]

I won't mislead anyone. This movie is a tough watch if you don't like movie as a form of art and poetry. This movie requires you to be open-minded, philosophically inclined and love good cinematography and music.

Malick once again put me in a hypnotic state of trance while watching this film. He keeps on going against conventional movie making. His style is hypnotic and gorgeous.

What I took away after and while watching this movie is that it is a observational piece on human behavior. It made me realize how crazy the human race is. The way we enjoy entertainment, treat our women and live our lives. It's all a really surreal thing for a species to do.

Apart from the plot, this movie is mesmerizing and extremely relaxing to watch. The soundtrack is trippy and hypnotic as always and Malick is really settling on a certain (like it or hate it) style of filmmaking. It's very personal whether you like his films or not. To me personally his films are wonderful observational pieces of art that should be stored and preserver for future generations to reflect upon.

His films are also really great material to watch when you're high on psychedelics ;)

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014)

One of the most important series ever made

[10/10 · 18 January 2016]

People often call the exploration and quest to understand it, the most noble undertaking in human history. I wholeheartedly agree. This series is the accumulation of all the progress we have made so far. It is piece of art that will be reflected upon by future generations who have mastered space travel and have discovered the things this series couldn't tell yet.

There are moments that are a bit cheesy but the goal of the series isn't to make a detailed explanation of all the math and science behind the universe, its about objectively packaging our garnered knowledge of the universe and making it as accessible as possible for all of humankind. It succeeds tenfold.

This, along with documentaries like Planet Earth should be considered mankind's greatest works of art. If an alien civilization ever discovers our earth, these two series should be the first things they are shown. They encompass almost everything we know about the natural world and should be mandatory viewing in classrooms.

It changed my perception and made me realize the immense beauty and power of the universe.

Apart from it just being a great series it should also be watched when you're high on weed or other psychedelics. It gave me a really powerful realization of our place in this world.