joris-nightwalker

This pre-Hebdo documentary about cartoonists and freedom of speech is almost not worth being called a 'documentary' rather than an accumulation of interviews by a bunch of self-righteous white men proclaiming their own importance. Admittedly, there are some women and people of colour who get a say. Admittedly, some of the cartoonists live in the line of fire and see people getting killed in their direct vicinity. That's exactly why this documentary has some very good parts. Especially the interviews with Ángel Boligán and Nadia Khiari I found quite interesting. Apart from that, this feature wasn't enlightening at all. Just a bunch of clichés from bourgeois people like Jean Plantureux, Michel Kichka and Baha Boukhari. Also, there's almost no backstory or social context given. For some cartoonists, like Rayma Suprani, I deemed that necessary. This is pretty weak and forgettable stuff for an otherwise very important topic. Footsoldiers of democracy? Most of them really aren't.

This is without any doubt the best (semi-)biopic I've seen in years. Maybe because it felt like a very personal movie, but that's not the only reason. Mark Ruffalo is probably one of my favorite actors and for some reason it took Hollywood years to give the man the acting jobs he deserves. As Ned Weeks (who's actually a fictitious Larry Kramer - written by Larry Kramer) Ruffalo finally proves himself an actor who manages to get under your skin. While this movie reminded me of the miniseries Angels in America and the documentary Sex Positive, it certainly comes out as one of the best films concerning gay topics in a long time (apart from Pride, which is probably one of my favorite pictures about homosexuals ever). With incredibly strong speeches from Ruffalo, but also Taylor Kitsch, Joe Mantello (goosebumps!), Julia Roberts and Jim Parsons, this is a very actor-driven feature. Probably because it originally is a theater play. Although The Normal Heart sometimes is a bit too sentimental, it never bothered me due to the fantastic writing and dialogue. In a time that was emotionally devastating, everyone tried to cope with the new situation in their own way. Some people are more sanguineous than others and that makes social relations hard, even impossible in some cases. On the other hand everyone tries to find love, tries to be appreciated and cared for, even the most spirited and loud of all. The Normal Heart is a film with a heart, a lot of pathos, layered characters, top notch acting and superior dialogue-writing. HBO did it again.

Another picture that had way more potential than its final product. When a young woman with dissociative identity disorder is brought to some kind of madhouse, people start killing themselves for no apparent reason. With a bunch of eccentric characters and a visual style that provokes Sin City comparisons, this comic book adaptation will certainly entertain people and capture their attention till the last minute. Unfortunately it all feels a bit rushed, bloated and shallow. With b-listers like Garret Dillahunt, Gina Gershon, Kunal Nayyar, Billy Campbell and Richard Riehle, this movie has some fun acting and prevents from feeling amateuristic, but in the end it's just too much a "been there, seen that" movie...