Hugo (2011)

Martin Scorsese is a director who usually wanders through mean streets, but with his latest "Hugo" he has fashioned one of the sweetest films in recent memory. While the story is aimed primarily at a young audience this time it is also Scorsese's first exploration of 3D. I've seen it in 2D though and I can tell that it was absolutely gorgeous to look at. It's not only a prime example of state-of-the-art filmmaking by one of the greatest directors of our time but also a dedication to cinema itself and a brief but inspiring lesson in film history.

Prometheus (2012)

Thirty years after his prestigious "Blade Runner" Ridley Scott returns to his science fiction roots with "Prometheus" in 2012. But is it also a return to form? What is proposed to be a prequel to Scotts 1979 sci-fi-horror classic "Alien" was one of the most anticipated films of the summer. While I think those two early films are still his best I was not quite as excited about Prometheus as many others as I have not been the biggest fan of Scott's work in the past years and still feel the loss of the two hours that the unworthy "Robin Hood" stole from me.

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (2009)

- The Boredom Saints

I never cared about the controversy surrounding the first appearance of the Boondock Saints. Troy Duffy's first feature film about the two crime fighting hitmen who, in the name of god, took law in their own hands and made it their quest to wipe out all the evil and corrupt, was heavily accused of vigilantism. Their methods were indeed questionable and the films archaic moral values, that probably originate in an Old Testament's merciless deity and an 'eye for an eye' type of attitude, inevitably provoked big arguements. With its stylized and often jolly approach it probably crosses the line and, in fact, glorifies violence. Therefore it is quite comprehensible why so many critics hated the first film. It still got only a 16 % rating on the tomatometer. But I never even bothered about this discussion as I don't think this movie even deserved to be discussed beyond its surface. I don't think the movie offers any worthwhile commentary on a relevant social subject and in terms of filmmaking it was not much more than another Tarantino-offspring in a post Pulp Fiction era. However, part one featured some really wacky characters, a foulmouth and entertaining script with some very amusing and quotable lines and quite some energy. Now comes the tired and completely uninspired sequel and even the former Saints' loyal followers are now likely to lose their faith.

The 5 Major Types of Moviegoers

I did not have much time to watch (new) movies lately, so for August let's start with something different as I have been planning to do more posts driven by general thoughts on film, news or theoretical discussions anyway. To start off lightly, this is my own definition of the five major types of moviegoers from the average guy to the arthouse fanatic. An important side note: This is meant to be not a ranking but a value-free categorization. Tell me what you think.