Movie Theater
Until March 2024, I wrote full-length movie, concert/theater, and exhibition reviews that I crossposted on IG and here on my blog.
But then, other things vigorously called for attention—like teaching, writing, doing sports, socializing, and having a good time in general—and I scaled back to micro-reviews that I publish on Mastodon and also collect in this post. (Remember, you should always put what you write on your own website too!)
Enjoy!
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ToC: Movies (Theater Only)
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes
Akuwa Sonzai Shinai/Evil Does Not Exist
Alien
Alien: Romulus
Anatomie d’un chute/Anatomy of a Fall
Apocalypse Now: Final Cut
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Pending)
Beetlejuice (Pending)
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Pending)
Beoning/Burning (Pending)
Cháo gē fēngyún/Kingdom of Storms
Come pecore in mezzo ai
Coup de Chance
[John Carpenter’s] Christine
Cuckoo
Dark City
Dream Scenario
Drive-Away Dolls
Following
Furiosa: A Mad Max Story
Gake no Ue no Ponyo/Ponyo
Giulietta degli spiriti
Golda (Pending)
Gondola
Hauru no Ugoku Shiro/Howl’s Moving Castle
Hors-saison/Out of Season
Kaibutsu/Monster
Kaze tachinu/The Wind Rises
Kinds of Kindness
Klute
Longlegs
Love Lies Bleeding
M*A*S*H
Mars Express
Memento
On the Waterfront
Paris, Texas
Reverse-Thrust Family/Gyaku-funsha Kazoku
RoboCop
Rupan Sansei Kariosutoro no Shiro/The Castle of Cagliostro
Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi/Spirited Away
Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta/Castle in the Sky
The Omen
The Crow (1994)
THX 1138 (Pending)
Tōkyō nagaremono/Tōkyō Drifter
Tonari no Totoro/My Neighbor Totoro
Twisters
Umberto Eco: La biblioteca del mondo
Under the Skin
Until the End of the World (Pending)
ToC: Concerts
Neue Musik: notabu (Becker, Blarr)
Neue Musik: notabu (Halffter, Yun, Schlingensiepen)
Neue Musik: notabu (Bartók, Banasik, Laufer, Blarr, Xenakis)
Neue Musik: Return of the Moon (Pending)
Neue Musik: Set-31: The Premieres
New Counterpoints: Jan Gerdes (Pending)
New Counterpoints: Roman Yusipei (Pending)
Opera: Mascagni & Leoncavallo
Symphony: Brahms, Järvi, Walton
Symphony: Prokofiev, Korngold
ToC: Exhibitions
Group Exhibition “Forthcoming”
Group Exhibition “Speaking Soil”
Hilma af Klint and Wassily Kandinsky (Pending)
Mary-Audrey Ramirez (Opening) (Pending)
Mary-Audrey Ramirez (Closing) (Pending)
Sumi Anjuman (Pending)
ToC: Full-Length Reviews
All full-length Movie Reviews on this blog
All full-length Music & Theater Reviews on this blog
All full-length Art Event & Exhibition Reviews on this blog
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Tōkyō nagaremono
SEP 30, 2024, Metropol Theater
Suzuki Seijun’s 1966 東京流れ者/Tōkyō nagaremono aka Tōkyō Drifter
Suzuki Seijun’s 1966 東京流れ者/Tōkyō nagaremono aka Tōkyō Drifter is an ahead-of-its-time Yakuza thriller that doesn’t romanticize loyalty; an avant-garde movie with hyper-stylized surrealist set pieces; a musical; a Western complete with a signature whistling tune, gunslinger shoot-outs, and a saloon brawl that also involves WW2 American service personnel; and a genre parody. Mine Shigeyoshi’s cinematography is fantastic, and it is particularly breathtaking in the introductory B&W rail yard scene.
SEP 27, 2024, Metropol Theater
Wes Craven’s 1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street
As a first, I saw the uncut version of Wes Craven’s 1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street in a theater tonight. And it was, like, wow. (The U.S. version was cut too back then, but in Europe in the late ’90s, I was able to watch the entire franchise uncut on a Dutch TV channel.) What I never liked was the ending—I loved Craven’s highly ambiguous foggy, dreamy original denouement, but the producer insisted on Freddy’s comeback (which also makes no fucking sense). Nevertheless, absolut classic.
SEP 24, 2024, Metropol Theater
Alex Proyas’s 1998 Dark City
Alex Proyas’s 1998 Dark City shared Blade Runner’s fate to a T: a cut-down theatrical release with an atrocious producer-enforced voice-over (which in this case even gave the major plot point away) that was well-received but then instantly became a classic when the director’s cut came out. Today, I saw that cut for the first time in the theater, and it’s gorgeous. It ticks so many boxes from my personal preferences—horror, sf, Art Deco, memory, The Matrix, you name it—and I love it to death.
SEP 20, 2024, Bambi Theater
Lyda Patitucci’s 2023 Come pecore in mezzo ai lupi
Lyda Patitucci’s 2023 Come pecore in mezzo ai lupi (Like Sheep Among Wolves) is a bleak, brutal undercover/heist thriller that’s also a generational drama, where everything is high-tension oppressive & devastating—from the city of Rome right down to families & particularly men. Besides Maio’s gorgeous cinematography & lighting, Nervi’s score, & Trepiccione’s smack-on editing, there’s Ragonese’s stellar performance, whose superspare but superexpressive presence never needs an extra line.
SEP 19, 2024, Bambi Theater
Federico Fellini’s 1965 Giulietta degli spiriti
Federico Fellini’s 1965 Giulietta degli spiriti (Juliet of the Spirits) was his first feature film in color (35mm Technicolor), with Di Venanzo as cinematographer and (as usual) Rota as composer, and it’s gorgeous. Giulietta Masina, Fellini’s wife, plays the lead, and lore has it that Fellini wrote the story and script for her as a “gift”—which Robert Ebert’s eagle-eyed 4-star review cleverly dissects. The theatrical copy was meticulously remastered and an absolute delight to watch.
SEP 18, 2024, Tonhalle
»Na hör’n Sie mal« — Neue Musik
notabu Ensemble Neue Musik
Fujieda Yukiko & Friederike Möller (Piano & Toy Pianos)
Salome Aldorf & Vera Seedorf (Percussion)
Compositions by Xenakis, Blarr, Banasik, Laufer, Bartók
Highly memorable Neue Musik concert in the Tonhalle’s packed chamber music hall with spectacular performances of riveting compositions, some of which—Bartók, in particular—with stunning difficulty levels. Norbert Laufer and Christian Banasik were in attendance (click thumbnail, left, left to right: Schlingensiepen, Sommer-Sorgente, Banasik, Laufer), as was Oskar Gottlieb Blarr, albeit incognito (LOL not really).
SEP 17, 2024, Metropol Theater
Alex Proya’s 1994 The Crow
While Alex Proyas’s 1994 The Crow is clearly a case of style over substance, it’s still metal in every respect—Wolski’s cinematography and Honig & Smith’s editing that perfectly capture the visual language and pacing of graphic novels, respectively; the incredible soundtrack and Revell’s brooding score; the expressionist urban hellscape of an unrecognizable Detroit; and Wincott’s oozing menace and contempt that delivers a perfect foil to Lee’s haunting and haunted iconic performance.
SEP 15, 2024, Kai 10 | Arthena Foundation
Closing: Mary-Audrey Ramirez’s “Unsolicited Awakening”
PENDING
SEP 11, 2024, Atelier Theater
Tim Burton’s 2024 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
PENDING
SEP 11, 2024, Atelier Theater
Tim Burton’s 1988 Beetlejuice
PENDING
SEP 06, 2024, Palais Wittgenstein
New Counterpoints: »So werden die Steine schreien«
Roman Yusipey (Akkordeon/Bajan)
Works from 8 Composers (click thumbnail for full program)
PENDING
SEP 06, 2024, Palais Wittgenstein
New Counterpoints: Piano Miniatures
Jan Gerdes (Piano)
Works from 20 Composers (click thumbnail for full program)
PENDING
SEP 03, 2024, Metropol Theater
Tilman Singer’s 2024 Cuckoo
Tilman Singer’s 2024 Cuckoo, like many psychological horror thrillers, is also a coming-of-age story. It’s shot on Kodak 500T & 250D 35mm film stock (yeah!) which looks gorgeous; direction & cinematography are excellent; and Schafer delivers a hands-down breathtaking performance. Much is reminiscent of Lynch’s original Twin Peaks—everyone acts ambiguously, ranging from the weird to the bizarre, not letting on if they’re merely quirkily eccentric or lethally malicious. Must watch again next week!
SEP 03, 2024, Metropol Theater
Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 RoboCop
Together with Starship Troopers, Verhoeven’s 1987 RoboCop stands the test of time as one of the most outlandishly violent social satires ever filmed. Even in the U.S. back then, the theatrical version was cut (not to speak of Europe, where I thankfully rarely dwelled at the time), and the uncut/unrated version was only available much later on DVD and then on Blu-ray. Tonight, I saw the uncut version for the first time at a theater—and, I gotta say, this it’s a fucking 10/10 classic.
Addendum: Just read the uncut version was ver-boh-ten! in Germany on all media until 2013. This fucking country.
SEP 02, 2024, Tonhalle Düsseldorf
Compositions by Sergei Prokofiev and Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Simon Trpčeski (Piano), Alpesh Chauhan (Conductor)
Another terrific performance and season opener at Düsseldorf Tonhalle, with my favorite principal guest conductor Alpesh Chauhan and pianist Simon Trpčeski: Prokofiev’s 2nd piano concerto and Korngold’s symphony. The reason I went there was the latter—sure, Prokofiev’s piece is nice and all & has heart-warming biographical details, but Korngold’s only symphony is where it’s at. It’s super interesting & extremely enjoyable and packs a punch, but it’s also very delicate & demanding in terms of balancing its humongous apparatus.
AUG 30, 2024, Metropol Theater
John Carpenter’s 1983 Christine
John Carpenter’s 1983 Christine is still enjoyable to watch. The pacing is a bit off at times, but the special (practical) effects are excellent. Also, Carpenter takes the story seriously, which is a good thing. Stephen King, it is said, found it “boring,” just like Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 The Shining. Well, King wrote some of the best genre novels I’ve ever read, but his taste in film is generally abysmal, and that adaption he directed himself, 1986’s Maximum Overdrive, is a ridiculously unwatchable waste of celluloid.
AUG 20, 2024, Metropol Theater
Alan J. Pakula’s 1971 Klute
PENDING
AUG 19, 2024, Metropol Theater
Ishii Sōgo’s 1984 逆噴射家族 (Gyaku-funsha Kazoku/Reverse-Thrust Family)
I: Just watched Ishii Sōgo’s 1984 逆噴射家族 (Reverse-Thrust Family) w/subs at the theater and now I need a vacation. Kobayashi Yoshinori’s script compresses huge loads of Japan’s historical atrocities & current societal pressures and maps the output onto a family of five who are individually likable except when they aren’t. And with every laugh, you get bizarre slapstick on the outside and murderous madness on the inside, until life collapses literally into a happy wasteland. Terrific movie.
II: Apropos Ishii Sōgo’s 1984 逆噴射家族 (Reverse-Thrust Family), I forgot to mention that the movie’s title sounds whimsical but isn’t. It refers to the Japan Airlines Flight 350 [JP | EN ] accident off the coast of Haneda in 1982. The pilot—who was later diagnosed with “paranoid schizophrenia”—intentionally crashed the plane by applying reverse-thrust to the engines, killing 24 and seriously injuring 95. When the movie came out, everybody understood the reference in the title.
AUG 14, 2024, CineStar Theater
Fede Álvarez’s 2024 Alien: Romulus
I’ll have to write a full blog post (as its basically my home turf), but Alien: Romulus was not only pretty awesome but also did justice to the franchise’s roots. The references—UIs, typography, sounds, dialogues, other things I don’t want to spoil—were almost overwhelming at times, but never annoying even for me who knows the original trilogy’s every scene & dialogue & screenplay by heart (let’s not talk about Resurrection). Also, strong P&P RPG vibes!
AUG 13, 2024, Metropol Theater
Osgood Perkins’s 2024 Longlegs
Osgood Perkins’s script for his 2024 Longlegs is good enough to have warranted a rewrite—obvious weaknesses are the plot’s lack of focus; the story’s lack of a tangible purpose; and an exposition dump; a less obvious is that foreshadowings are either too on-the-nose or missing. But still, it’s highly enjoyable—lead performances are great; Arochi’s cinematography & Battaglia’s sound design top-notch; title card handling’s a blast; & the movie serves plenty suspension & unsettling scares.
AUG 13, 2024, Metropol Theater
Robert Altman’s 1970 M*A*S*H
Robert Altman’s 1970 M*A*S*H robustly stands the test of time. Sutherland & Gould are an incredible team. Skerritt & Duvall inject as much slimy creepiness into their respective characters as Kellerman injects true blue enthusiasm into “Hot Lips’s” transformation from over-the-top bigoted to over-the-top good sports naivete. Altman’s & Greene’s genius dialogue/cut timings enable the lead actors to underplay & still be outrageously funny against M*A*S*H’s insane blood and gore backdrop.
AUG 09, 2024, CineStar Theater
Adil & Bilall’s 2024 Bad Boys: Ride or Die
PENDING
AUG 01, 2024, Metropol Theater
Wim Wenders’s 1984 Paris, Texas
I watched the 2024 4K digitally restored version of Wim Wenders’s 1984 Paris, Texas at the theater, and it’s better than ever. There’s nothing I can add to what’s already been said during the last *what* 40 years, except that Shepard’s dialogues, Cooder’s score, Müller’s cinematography, and Przygodda’s cut hold up exceptionally well, and so does the cast. (Müller never mentioned what he used, but behind-the-scenes shots show an Arriflex 35BLIII, and maybe a Zeiss Superspeed lens.)
JUL 31, 2024, Atelier Theater
Rose Glass’s 2024 Love Lies Bleeding
Rose Glass’s 2024 Love Lies Bleeding is an intense violence- & homage-heavy romantic grindhouse neo-noir pulp dark comedy buddy film period piece thriller with a remarkably clever script (Glass & Tofilska), drop-dead gorgeous cinematography (Fordesman), eerily disturbing “what the hell was that?” sound effects (Davis), intense music (Mansel), and stellar performances (Stewart & O’Brian) that relentlessly cheerfully oscillates between neon-infused gritty realism & fever-dream Americana.
JUL 30, 2024, Cinema Theater
Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2024 Kinds of Kindness
Kinds of Kindness, my first Lanthimos movie, impressed me immensely, most of all part 2. It’s structured like a Concerto grosso in three movements with a set of soloists who modulate the piece’s theme & motifs along different keys, tempi, and moods. The often cited “control” is, I think, not its theme; it rather supports as one motif among many—worship, fealty, projection, coercion, etc.—the theme of extreme kinds of “devotion” that shatter both free will and bodily integrity.
JUL 16, 2024, CineStar Theater
Lee Isaac Chung’s 2024 Twisters
Lee Isaac Chung’s 2024 Twisters is thoroughly entertaining with solid performances, a competent if often predictable screenplay, and enough of Oklahoma’s lovely landscape and its equally lovely mix of Midwestern and Southern speech to hold me spellbound. Also, lots of tornadoes!
JUL 15, 2024, Lichtburg Theater
Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979/2019 Apocalypse Now: Final Cut
Francis Ford Coppola’s 2019 Apocalypse Now: Final Cut is a terrific experience in every respect. It’s a lot better than the abridged 1979 theatrical release, and also a lot better than Coppola’s 2001 Redux version, which didn’t merely restore the movie to its original length but threw back in everything that had been cut out for good reasons in post. Also, the Final Cut version is remastered for 4K laser projector & Dolby Surround and blows you right out of your fucking seat.
JUL 09, 2024, Metropol Theater
George Lucas’s 1971 THX 1138
PENDING
JUN 09, 2024, Lichtburg Theater
Wim Wenders’s 1992 Until the End of the World
PENDING
JUN 07, 2024, Tonhalle Düsseldorf
Return of the Moon (Supernova | Neue und neueste Musik)
Alexej Gerassimez (Percussion); Chorwerk Ruhr; Justin Doyle (Conductor)
Compositions by Alexej Gerassimez, Peter Klatzow, Robert Schumann, Iannis Xenakis, Rebecca Dale
PENDING
JUN 05, 2024, Metropol Theater
Guy Nattiv’s 2023 Golda
PENDING
JUN 04, 2024, Kai 10 | Arthena Foundation
Opening: Mary-Audrey Ramirez’s “Unsolicited Awakening”
PENDING
MAY 22, 2024, CineStar Theater
George Miller’s 2024 Furiosa: A Mad Max Story
Back from the advance screening of George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on a huge multiplex screen: when the post-credits stopped rolling, I wished I could just remain seated and watch it all over again. Insanely good. While Fury Road is primarily character-driven, Furiosa is primarily story-driven. And what a story! As for the action, there’s more than plenty, yet not as much and not as relentlessly spectacular (but still awesome) as in Fury Road—because here, it’s not neded.
MAY 21, 2024, Metropol Theater
Elia Kazan’s 1954 On the Waterfront
Elia Kazan’s 1954 On the Waterfront is a dazzling blend of outgoing expressionism & American realism with a fantastic script, incredible actors—Brando making method acting single-handedly famous—and Bernstein’s only original score. Watching it on a theater screen feels like being knocked over by a freight train. The copy came w/ the original 1955 German subtitle set, a blazing dumpster fire that was hard to ignore: every single line was either wrong, staggeringly skewed, or sanitized.
MAY 21, 2024, Metropol Theater
Stéphane Brizé’s 2023 Hors-saison
Set against Héberlé’s breathtaking capture of seaside Brittany, Stéphane Brizé’s 2023 romantic drama Hors-saison, written w/ Marie Drucker, is entirely focused on its two main characters. Perfectly played by Canet & (Alba) Rohrwacher, they’re comical, melancholic, self-deprecatingly sentimental, affectionate, and relatably confused about themselves, their past, and their future. Everything—along with unexpected excursions—is thoroughly enjoyable, romantic, touching, & resolutely French.
MAY 20, 2024, Metropol Theater
Werner Herzog’s 1972 Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes
Saw Werner Herzog’s 1972 Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes for the first time in a theater—impressively clever use of historical sources, and Mauch’s breathtaking cinematography w/ a single 35mm camera feels like an actor in its own right. Kinski’s not unhinged but menacing—which, according to Herzog, was pulled off by provoking him pre-shot into a rage that sufficiently exhausted him to behave as intended during filming. Sadly, on-set voice recs were unusable and had to be dubbed (w/o Kinski).
MAY 16, 2024, Philara Collection
Opening: Sumi Anjuman’s “Wounds Healed, Tales Etched”
PENDING
MAY 15, 2024, Tonhalle
»Na hör’n Sie mal« — Neue Musik
notabu Ensemble Neue Musik, Mark-Andreas Schlingensiepen (Conductor)
Compositions by Günther Becker and Oskar Gottlieb Blarr
Highly interesting & delightful »Neue Musik« concert with the Notabu ensemble, with 2 pieces by Günther Becker and 2 pieces by Oskar Gottlieb Blarr—the latter had turned 90 two weeks ago and was in attendance. I know him from waaay back, and we had a lengthy chat. When he switches to anecdote mode, nothing can stop him—but he’s always both entertaining and enlightening! He’s still an active composer and frequently attends musical events. Hopefully, he’ll be around for many more years!
MAY 14, 2024, Bambi Theater
Miyazaki Hayao’s 2013 風立ちぬ (Kaze tachinu/The Wind Rises)
Miyazaki Hayao’s 2013 風立ちぬ aka The Wind Rises is not only a fantastic movie, but remarkable in unusual ways. First, the use of human voices for Foley, uncannily effective especially during the Kantō earthquake sequence. Then, its odd genre type: a purposefully fictional biography of an actual historical figure, the inventor of the A5M and the A6M Zero. Finally, most reviews presuppose a fully sympathetic hero, which he’s clearly not—for subtle reasons ad cultural markers worth a future blogpost.
MAY 08, 2024, Metropol Theater
Woody Allen’s 2023 Coup de Chance
Very good in Woody Allen’s 2023 Coup de Chance are the actors, music, pacing, and of course Storaro’s terrific cinematography. The story is neat but not unfamiliar, revolving around some of Allen’s pet motifs. The French dialogues are witty and nice but not brilliant. As for the plot, what “chance” events how & when happen is perfectly fine, but too many unacknowledged implausibilities pile up—need to pile up—to set the stage for them. Thus, an enjoyable movie but far from being a classic.
MAY 07, 2024, Bambi Theater
Miyazaki Hayao’s 2008 崖の上のポニョ (Gake no Ue no Ponyo/Ponyo)
Miyazaki Hayao’s 2008 崖の上のポニョ aka Ponyo blew me away with its incredible hand-drawn artwork, laugh-out-loud humor, loving details, themes & motifs, everything. Yet despite critical acclaim & box office records many reviews went, “not one of his best but…” (as if Miyazaki’s movies were in competition with each other) and more of that “there’s no real conflict” nonsense mentioned before. Such a lovely movie! On top, リサ/Risa was instantly down on my all-time favorite movie characters list.
MAY 01, 2024, Bambi Theater
Jérémie Périn’s 2023 Mars Express
PENDING
APR 30, 2024, Bambi Theater
Miyazaki Hayao’s 2004 ハウルの動く城 (Hauru no Ugoku Shiro/Howl’s Moving Castle)
When I watched Miyazaki Hayao’s ハウルの動く城 aka Howl’s Moving Castle back in 2004 I liked it, but yesterday I realized I love it. Once again, there’s no clear antagonist—except maybe war itself, directly or indirectly supported by a whole cast of contagonists who follow their own agendas without being outright evil (plus a king with manifest Wilhelm II vibes). Finally, I remember Roger Ebert not liking the movie while having only seen the dubbed version and confusing important characters.
APR 30, 2024, Bambi Theater
Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s 2004 悪は存在しない (Aku wa Sonzai Shinai/Evil Does Not Exist)
I: Beyond well-crafted dialogues and Ishibashi’s terrific score, Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s 2023 悪は存在しない aka Evil Does Not Exist falls flat. Nature doesn’t equal art, and both Kitagawa’s cinematography and the quality of his (unlisted) digital camera are mediocre at best. With the sound design, it’s similar. Some indicators & an out-of-left-field ending mark the movie as a parable, but this fiendishly difficult literary form needs a lot more work to not merely wind up being portentously opaque.
II: Bunk. Hamaguchi Ryūsuke isn’t “unpacking” anything here regarding 悪は存在しない aka Evil Does Not Exist’s ending. What this reminds me of most are the reps’ ad-lib justifications in the town meeting scene, in terms of sincerity and explanatory power. The ending would have been perfectly fine for the originally planned wordless 30 min short to accompany Ishibashi Eiko’s live score. For a feature film ending, however, it’s not fine, and hand-waving won’t change that.
APR 27, 2024, Rheinoper
Pietro Mascagni’s 1890 Cavalleria rusticana & Ruggero Leoncavallo’s 1892 Pagliacci
Directed by Christof Loy (production) and Paolo Arrivabeni (music)
Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci were on the usual double bill at Rheinoper Düsseldorf (as a repertoire performance from 2003). Both operas are remarkably emotionally effective, and what Cavalleria’s libretto lacks in complexity it makes up for with arias and the famous intermezzo that are absolute bangers. The stage design was natural/authentic; there was a very clever foreshadowing twist in Cavalleria’s first scene, and the ensemble and DSO were fantastic.
APR 26, 2024, Metropol Theater
Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien
I: The version I saw tonight was the original 1979 cut, which I hadn’t seen in a theater for ages, not Scott’s 2003 cut. The 2003 cut is very good, with tighter pacing for a more contemporary audience and several brief but powerful scenes (some of which even I didn’t know existed) spliced in. But Rawlings & Weatherley’s original cut is unmatched, and so is—rarely mentioned alongside cinematography, art, or music—Leather, Shields, & Rowe’s incredibly visceral sound design and original mix.
II: I never rank films (or books or games), and if you asked me for my “favorite movies” I’d approach three digits in no time with circular breathing. But 3 movies were absolute life changers, as to how I felt and saw the world and myself in it and such, and that was Altman’s The Long Goodbye, Scott’s Alien, and the Wachowskis’ The Matrix. Incidentally, my 3 most life-changing books were Chandler’s The Long Goodbye, Pynchon’s Crying of Lot 49, and @GreatDismal’s Neuromancer. Go figure!
APR 23, 2024, Bambi Theater
Miyazaki Hayao’s 2001 千と千尋の神隠し (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi/Spirited Away)
Last week, I watched Miyazaki Hayao’s 千と千尋の神隠し aka Spirited Away at the theater with a (remarkably crappy) German subtitle set. So far, I’d seen it only in Japanese, and even though my Japanese is way not good enough, the story is told visually so well that—provided some cultural knowledge—it’s always clear what’s going on. Sen/Chihiro’s character arc is also noteworthy; she develops agency much earlier in the story than she would have in any comparable Disney/Hollywood movie.
APR 17, 2024, Neander Church
»Na hör’n Sie mal« — Neue Musik
notabu Ensemble Neue Musik, Mark-Andreas Schlingensiepen (Conductor)
Compositions by Cristóbal Halffter, Yun I-sang, and Mark-Andreas Schlingensiepen
Neue Musik concert with the notabu ensemble at Neanderkirche Düsseldorf: Cristóbal Halffter’s furious 1994 commemorative «Endechas para una reina de España» string sextet; Yun I-sang’s “Monolog for Bassoon”: and, as a premiere, Mark-Andreas Schlingensiepen’s “…in the Struggle for Life,” a complex, demanding piece for baritone, prerecorded voices, vibraphone, contrabass fluite, and children’s choir with texts from Darwin’s private autobiography. Awesome experience, great conversations.
APR 16, 2024, Bambi Theater
Miyazaki Hayao’s 1988 となりのトトロ (Tonari no Totoro/My Neighbor Totoro)
Some claim Miyazaki Hayao’s 1988 となりのトトロ (aka My Neighbor Totoro) has no conflict or dramatic structure, which is nonsense. (And don’t get me started on that vapid conspiracy theory.) What the movie doesn’t have is a human antagonist: it has an antagonistic force instead, manifest as the children’s uncertainty/anxiety about their mother’s condition and the new environment (plus a subtle post-war subtext if you look closely and know some history). So lovely, I again cried in the theater.
APR 16, 2024, Metropol Theater
Christopher Nolan’s 2000 Memento
With Memento, finally, I’ve seen every movie directed by Christopher Nolan, his last four—Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet, Oppenheimer—in 70mm analog and Interstellar also at a state-of-the-art IMAX in The Netherlands. As time and memory and, with that, the slippery nature of reality have fascinated me since I was a kid, Nolan’s movies have a habit of living rent-free in my head for months, even years, and Memento is no different. It’ll take time to digest (and I’m still chewing on Tenet).
APR 15, 2024, Tonhalle Düsseldorf
Compositions by Johannes Brahms, Kristjan Järvi, and William Walton
Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Stephen Hough (Piano), Alpesh Chauhan (Conductor)
Terrific performance this week at Düsseldorf Tonhalle, with my favorite principal guest conductor Alpesh Chauhan & pianist Stephen Hough: Brahm’s 1st piano concerto; Järvi’s commissioned “OHM–TWILIGHT” (tonal, enjoyable, with a Jew’s harp as core rhythm instrument); and Walton’s 1st (which, not counting its Tchaikovsky-style overboard 2nd movement, is also a great piece of music). Particularly the DSO’s brass section, for which both Brahms and Walton are quite taxing, did an excellent job.
APR 12, 2024, K21
Opening: Group Exhibition “Forthcoming: Speculations in Urban Space”
The “Forthcoming: Speculations in Urban Space” opening at K21 was relaxed and not too crowded, so that I could enjoy the artwork more thoroughly than it’s usually possible at opening nights, with subsequent conversation over a glass of wine at early summer temperatures in the garden. This exhibition topic (I once gave a presentation for the Kunstsammlung NRW on “The Vertical City”) with its intriguing and engaging exhibits were right up my alley.
APR 10, 2024, Philara Collection
Opening: Group Exhibition “Speaking Soil”
The “Speaking Soil” opening at Philara was a blast, with 12 young artists in residence from 7 countries who were a delight to talk to (and to their friends who’d come over from Brussels), accompanied by theatrical, musical, and live drawing performances and chilled Muscadet from the bar. At Philara right now, you’ll also find the collection presentation “In Abwesenheit” & “Artichoke Underground.”
APR 09, 2024, Bambi Theater
Miyazaki Hayao’s 1979 ルパン三世 カリオストロの城 (Rupan Sansei Kariosutoro no Shiro/The Castle of Cagliostro)
PENDING
APR 09, 2024, Metropol Theater
Christopher Nolan’s 1998 Following
With the 1998 “Man of the Crowd”-inspired neo-noir crime thriller Following—B&W 4:3 16mm film shot with an Arriflex 16BL on a 6K budget—you get Christopher Nolan in a nutshell: non-chronological structure, a memory thief, final reveals going off like firecrackers. Spell-binding cinematography & music w/ well-placed silence (but undistinguished sound design). The female lead’s acting’s been criticized, but I’d say her acting is exactly what the script demands, done well. Excellent movie.
APR 09, 2024, Bambi Theater
Miyazaki Hayao’s 1986 天空の城ラピュタ (Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta/Castle in the Sky)
Miyazaki Hayao’s 1986 天空の城ラピュタ aka Castle in the Sky, his third feature film & first Ghibli production, is a retrofuturistic steampunk action-adventure fairy tale with a sprawling yet tightly-woven script, environmental motifs, and unforgettable characters that are resourceful, lovable, and always pressing forward. It’s deep and sad and pensive but also funny and hilariously over the top—I’ll never understand how Miyazaki could end his career with that Heron lemon.
MAR 29, 2024, Metropol Theater
Richard Donner’s 1976 The Omen
Donner’s atmospheric 1976 horror thriller The Omen combines slow pacing with sudden gore in a good way fairly typical for its time, accompanied by Goldsmith’s terrific score; Gilbert Taylor’s (!) spooky angles; dubious Latin & made-up Christian bible quotes; and howlers like the EEC (European Economic Community) as stand-in for the new Roman Empire. The script, alas—compared to Friedkin’s 1973 The Exorcist—is more high-concept with flat/unsympathetic characters who are driven by events rather than wants and needs.
MAR 27, 2024, Jazz-Schmiede Düsseldorf
SET-31: The Premieres (Neue Musik)
Aubrey Snell (alt saxophone), Elmar Frey (alt saxophone), Frank Timpe (bass saxophone)
Great (albeit at 35 min short) »Neue Musik« concert with the brand-new Set-31 ensemble, who performed 13 pieces for bass saxophone by various composers, connected by alt sax improvisations based on Schoenberg’s Zwölftonreihen, and a trio for one bass and two alt saxophones composed for the occasion by Christian Banasik (in attendance). Halfway through, Timpe rose to recite Schoenberg’s famous “art” quote, which is referenced in Koreeda’s Monster I saw the other day… synchronicity!
MAR 25, 2024, Atelier Theater
Kristoffer Borgli’s 2023 Dream Scenario
Borgli’s Dream Scenario is highly entertaining with an outstanding, terrific performance by Cage and great cinematography by Benjamin Loeb (16mm w/ Arriflex 416 Plus). Its high-concept script, alas, gets a bit too topical and saggy around the middle; bungles the midpoint with two scenes—one both incoherent and spectacularly cringy—that aren’t quite beefy/pivotal enough to push everything plausibly and necessarily in a new direction; and gets increasingly wobbly toward the end. But still!
MAR 25, 2024, Bambi Theater
Koreeda Hirokazu’s 2023 怪物 (Kaibutsu/Monster)
Like every Koreeda movie I’ve seen, 怪物 aka Monster—stunningly mistitled as »Die Unschuld« in Germany—left me in a kind of trance as if I’d lived and breathed inside this always both sad and hopeful cinematic experience, with Sakamoto Jūji’s incredibly skillful script that engages and surprises at every turn, terrific actors, Ryûto Kondô’s beautiful cinematography, and Sakamoto Ryūichi’s heartbreaking (last) score. Don’t read up on it, just go and watch it. With subs, not dubbed.
MAR 25, 2024, Metropol Theater
Davide Ferrario’s 2022 Umberto Eco: La biblioteca del mondo
Ferrario’s Umberto Eco: La biblioteca del mondo is only marginally about Eco’s library (which, except for one cozyish room, looks spectacularly less appealing than the grand libraries that decorate its many reviews) or his semiotic work. It’s mostly a family interview/archival footage potpourri revolving around his well-known fascination with crackpot arcana & conspiracy theories and his digital book-aversion, inexplicably set to Orff/Keetman’s »Schulwerk« pieces. Nothing deep, new, or inspiring.
MAR 20, 2024, Bambi Theater
Jonathan Glazer’s 2013 Under the Skin
Narratively hyperaustere, visually riveting, and existentially scary movie around compassion and vulnerability that is 85% Johansson’s inhuman gaze under a gritty Scottish rain, 10% Kubrickian otherworldliness, and 5% body horror, amplified by an incredible industrial-infused avant-garde score by Mica Levi—none of which caters to a wider audience. Extra kudos for the idea to make the “handler” alien/scary through flawless, machine-like motorbike skills.
MAR 15, 2024, K20
Opening: Hilma af Kling and Wassily Kandinsky: Dreams of the Future
PENDING
MAR 14, 2024, Bambi Theater
Wuershan’s 2023 封神第一部：朝歌风云 (: Fēng shén Pt.I: Cháo gē fēngyún/Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms
Just back from watching (w/ subs) Wuershan’s 封神第一部：朝歌风云 / CotG I: Kingdom of Storms. Immense epic CGI rampage that is at times as colorfully psychedelic as a Chinese business website, packed with plot, nifty action, and skilled cinematography—in other words, great entertainment! Plus, its narrative theme and attached motifs are not only well wrought but surprise you in good ways. Not a groundbreaking work of Eastern cinema, certainly, but absolutely worth your time & popcorn.
MAR 12, 2024, Metropol Theater
Justine Triet’s 2023 Anatomie d’un chute
Just watched Justine Triet’s Anatomie d’une chute, original version w/ subs, and it’s fantastic—script, actors, cinematography, sound design. Diegetic music only (with one possible exception), which is almost an actor in its own right: overbearing, threatening, raising tensions each time it pops up. Also, French is an awesome language.
MAR 09, 2024, Metropol Theater
Ethan Coen’s 2024 Drive-Away Dolls
Detailed article on Ari Wegner’s B-movie cinematography and lighting for Ethan Coen’s Drive-Away Dolls. Great stuff for a fun movie. (I’m still giggling three days later.)
MAR 09, 2024, Bambi Theater
Veit Helmer’s 2023 Gondola
Just back from Veit Helmer’s Gondola and Ethan Cohen’s Drive-Away Dolls (different theaters, but I count that as a double feature for thematic reasons), each trippin’ out hard in their very own hilarious ways. Great fun!
FEB 02, 2024, Bambi Theater
Lee Chang-dong’s 2023 버닝 (Beoning/Burning)
PENDING
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