My aim is not to write down movies. I love cinema and have watched a very fair number of films. It makes me distressed that a number of my reviews have been negative. It is just a reflection of the state of cinema at the moment. The last thing I want is to come across as a grumpy cinema hater. I am not.

I have decided that I will mix reviews of new movie together with my DVD collection. Hopefully this will give some balance.
Cinema is an amazing art form and gives us so much. I wish it well and want generations after next to experience the greatness of this medium of versatile and emotional art.

I hope that you will continue to follow me in my quest of giving you reviews of the art of cinema.....

Julie/Julia (2009)
Director: Nora Ephron
Actors: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Chris Messina and Stanley Tucci

What a joy to watch. Here I am feeling that I only review in a grumpy way. That is not true. It is just that films lately have been so bad.
This wonderful film is an exception. A reminder that even in present day good films are being made. That is a revelation, even though it should not have to be.
The film is a parallel story that is finely moved together. It is of course about the great Julia Child and her modern day counterpart who decides to recreate all the cooking during one year.
So far so easy.
Julia Child is of course the master and legend of bringing French cooking to the American audience. Julie has no purpose.
The iconic first scene of the film is a one of joy. Julia Child in a French restaurant in Rouen in 1947 and her first taste of sublime cooking; Sole meuniere.
One of the best scenes describing the joy of tasting something great for the first time. The sensual joy, pleasure and again joy of a taste sensation is marvellous to watch.
The film never reverts to sad melancholy which is a great thing. The story of the lives of Julia and Julie unfolds both as it should and showing the bond Julie has with her non present mentor. The fact that they never meet is a great fact and would have ruined this great film.
Meryl Streep as always show why she is an masterful actress. She is truly wonderful and master both the body language and voice of Julia Child to perfection. It is like one star playing each other.
The film has depth and language and speaks volume.
I feel that I have been seen as a grumpy reviewer and that is no fun. It is just a lack of good films.
This is a great way of entertain yourself and to be inspired. Everything is possible and lets go cooking.
As Julia always said: "Bon appetite"

Rating: 4 out of 5

Prometheus (2012)

Director: Ridley Scott
Actors: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, Sean Harris

I was very excited when booking this movie. In the cinema they said it was fully booked. I had felt a buzz for a while and perhaps this was it. A great director coming back to his original genre. 3D.
Could it get any better?
They guy in the cinema asked if I needed 3d glasses which I declined. Prudent enough I have saved my original pair of spectacles. The auditorium was close to full and the adverts closing. I was so in for a treat.
How wrong I was.
Fair enough the 3D effect was stunning. The added effect put on post production had really paid off. Stunning. Not to much and just right.
So this is the good part. The rest of the film was mediocre to say the least. Visually stunning, bravo for minimising CGI and some profound questions. It should work but sadly not. It is all about questions and no answers. However the suspense from the original never turns up. Perhaps one should never tamper with an original. It feels greatly that there is no suspense whatsoever and only weird creatures that digest humans and the others alike.
The Freudian undertone is not beneficial and adds nothing. How is it that the crew knows about the founder of the company but not as it turns out about his daughter as it later turns out??
There is no struggle and no element of fear. Just weird creatures and a strange but visually landscape. Is this about biological warfare gone wrong, civilisation or the quest of ageing? No one knows.
This film could have been so much more if Ridley Scott had committed himself. It could pose so many moral, ethical and profound philosophical questions. It fails to answer any of them.
We are left with a stunning visual feast with slimy creature and no substance. I rather would have waited for the DVD.

Rating: 2.5 of 5