Author: justmiaslife
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“Joker: Folie à Deux”: That’s (not) entertainment

In 2019, Warner Brothers still had a big smile on its face: While the DCEU kept going downhill because they couldn’t manage to find the right dark tone for their films, ‘Hangover’ director Todd Philipps came around the corner and created a surprise hit with “Joker”. Not only did it earn the studio over a…
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“The Apprentice” or the American nightmare

There was a time, way before the ‘Winter Solider’, when Sebastian Stan was simply the pretty boy of network TV. He stayed in the background and embellished the overall picture, be it in “Gossip Girl” or “Once Upon A Time”, but for a few years now you can see that the actor has realized where…
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Review: “Whiplash”

Shortly after Damien Chazelle released his eighteen-minute short film, titled “Whiplash” in 2013, in which J.K. Simmons plays the eccentric and manipulative music professor Fletcher pushing the young Andrew Neiman to peak performance, the young director won the “Short Film Jury Prize” at Sundance, which supported him to make a feature-length film out of this…
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Essay: “Afire” and the glowing embers

It is night and he looks out at the open sea. Until now, he has ignored this beauty, this glitter on the water – he didn’t even wanted to notice it. But now that the emptiness envelops his body and takes over his soul, he suddenly pays attention. How a single fire, a blaze within…
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Review: “The Zone of Interest”:

“The Zone of Interest” is the very reason cameras were brought into existence. There was no visual horror provided in this film but it captivated my senses with a subtle chill thinking about what has really happened. From the first moment on it gave me goosebumps all over my body and an uneasy feeling in…
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“Poor Things” Essay: The free and uncensored life of Bella Baxter

Yorgos Lanthimos starts where most other film-makers have already left off. He is not afraid to take unconventional ideas and package them in such an original way that they develop a life of their own – as if a foreign body suddenly begins to mould itself into something new. Anyone who has not yet seen…
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#LFF23: “Priscilla” Review

A haunting – at first look beautiful – tale, which unfortunately corresponds to what really happened behind the glitz and glamour. Sofia Coppola is the master of showing what womanhood means and letting her main character strut through empty Graceland rooms with curls in her hair, dark shadow on her eyes and one dress more…
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#LLF23: “Maestro” – Review

No maestro has yet fallen from the sky. In its sophomore feature, one can certainly acknowledge Bradley Cooper’s ambitions, and I respect many of the creative choices of this unconventional biopic, but neither Cooper’s prosthetic nose nor the structure want to work for me. I can well imagine that there will be a high abandonment rate…
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#LFF2023: “All Of Us Strangers” Essay

EXT. A NEAR-EMPTY TOWERBLOCK IN LONDON The dark blue sky aches as much as the tears shed by the angels. A silhouette appears next to the flickering evening light as the horizon begins to burn. Melancholic music sets in while the skyline of the metropolis burns itself into the memory as much as Adam’s sadness itself.…
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“Oppenheimer” Review: Why it will unleash the power of the Oscars

For the first time on July 16th 1945, a light dawned on mankind, bringing forth the darkest of all sides of humanity. One man’s brilliance conjured up a fireball. An American prometheus who once only wanted to explore what happens to stars after they die. The bigger the celestial body, the greater its demise. Instead,…