Head-On (Gegen die Wand)

A few years ago I had nothing good to say about Faith Akin’s 2007 film On the other Side. But Head On, which is only secondarily about the challenges of being born in Germany into a Turkish immigrant family, is a deep film.  Primarily it is about self-destruction and the strangeness of love. Sibel and image [Read More]

In Time

Western democracies with the exception of the USA are remarkable in that life and death are a rather democratic affair. Especially in countries where the government runs most of the health care system (e.g. Britain, Canada, Australia) a worker may get a heart-transplant before a CEO get one. We don’t cut up workers and give image [Read More]

Inception

The dream world is a miraculous space. The mind apparently needs to dream to keep things together. Sometimes watching dogs sleep I get the impression that they too dream. One of the most amazing dreams is when you within a dream you dream that you are falling asleep and starting to dream. Then you wake image [Read More]

Ted

I don’t know the reason why children like teddy bears and safety blankets so much. All I know is that like most kids I enjoyed them so much that I never wanted to give them up.  Unfortunately, one day I left my teddy bear behind in a hotel room and the hotel staff claimed that image [Read More]

Red Dog

If you don’t understand many peoples’ love for dogs, this film explains dogs can be humans’ being best friend. Based somewhat on a true story, this comedy takes you on a tour of Western Australia.  Even if you don’t care much about the canine species, Red Dog is a very special dog and image [Read More]

Hugo

Hugo is the most wonderful film I have seen in a long while. It is much deeper than the Artist,which was good and imaginative but did not reach the psychological sophistication of Hugo. Both films tell take us back to a time when movies were new. If you love movies, you don’t want miss this image [Read More]

This Means War

Many of the comedies staring Reese Witherspoone are quite fun.This Means War, however, is painful to watch. Reese plays a marketing manager who has fallen on romantic dry land.  A friend put her profile on dating site. So far so good as hook. But then it becomes painful. Two guys who are working as James image [Read More]

The Artist

Recently a friend watched a film that I had seen before. I did not see it but only heard the dialogue through the speakers in an adjacent room. It quickly became obvious that without the pictures films don’t work. The Artist, however, shows that even decades after sound movies (talkies) displaced silent films, it is image [Read More]

Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass reinvents the superhero genre (Spiderman, Batman, etc.) by making fun of the genre but also working with it. The film is billed as a comedy. There are a large number of funny scenes that will make you laugh.  But at times it also falls back on the genre that it makes fun off, image [Read More]

The Election is fought over economic philosophy

David Brooks is providing the best possible interpretations what Republican intentions are all about. Instead of picking Spain and Greece he could have cited the Northern European countries which have been quite successful in reforming their welfare states. He notes correctly that Barak Obama outlined a very different position that economics policies will bring new image [Read More]