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The most impressive thing about Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, after Sakamoto's performance itself, is the recording quality.

There is clarity across the whole audible sound spectrum, you can hear Sakamoto's feet pressing the pedals, his every breath, the rising and setting of the dampeners. When he is turning his score, you immediatly hear that it was printed on thick, heavy paper. It is absolutely clear that the sound crew on this recording were true professionals.

The Director, Neo Sora, always has the camera slowly gliding or zooming. This constant gentle motion helps the viewer to enter an almost meditative state and concentrate on the music.

From time to time though, I would have preferred more shots of the beautiful Yamaha grand piano doing its work instead of what felt like overly avent-garde shots of shadows, reflections or the studio's wall panels.

Even more I would have preferred shots where Sakamoto's eyes are visible. He knew that this would be his last public performance, and he is putting all of his soul into it - one of the two lines of dialogue in the movie is him saying he needs a break because he is pushing himself too far - so his face is full of emotion during his whole play. But we almost NEVER see his eyes clearly - they are almost always blocked by microphones, his hair or the frame of his glasses.

I don't think the decision to film in B&W was the right one; the set looked like it was already mostly black, so you are only loosing some clarity of the picture and probably some deatails on Sakamoto's face, without really gaining anything. This is however only my subjective opinion.

The lighting however is beautiful. The light cuts clear lines and shadows, and the varying illumination helps maintain visual alternation troughout the movie.

Of course quieter parts are part of a concert like this. Unfortunately though, a cinema isn't a concert hall, so you will here a constant white noise from the AC unit, which you usually don't notice on "normal" films, and if you are unlucky also people talking, opening soda cans, leaving the venue, etc.

I think this performance is best enjoyed at home with some high fidelity headphones.

Sakamoto displays an incredible connection to the instrument in his performance. If you are a fan of his work, or just this style of classical music in general, this is a film for you.

Rest In Peace Ryuichi Sakamoto, 1952 - 2023. The world is poorer without you.

In roughly 1.5 hours, Aura Satz takes us on a surreal journey to sirens worldwide, be it in the ghostly streets of Fukushima, snowy landscapes in the baltic, or a fascinating siren graveyard in the USA. The eerie shots are not accompanied by the actual noise of the sirens depicted, but by alternative siren sounds thought out by various sound artists.

With this sometimes alarming, sometimes soothing audiovisual backdrop, Satz lets people from various backgrounds ask, and attempt to answer, questions like: What does the sound of a siren invoke in different people? What can we learn about a society from the way they use sirens? What kind of siren systems did first nations people invent?; as well as broader questions, like why we seem to ignore the sirens of climate change, and can there be an emergence in an emergency?

If you are like me, and 89 minutes of flashing lights and surreal alarms sound exciting to you, you will enjoy this thought-provoking feature.

For me, Avatar is the greatest piece of Art ever created.

Every frame exists for a reason, nothing is there by accident.

The performances by Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana are terrific. The performance capture system brings all the depth of their acting to the screen, and they make use of it. Not for a second do you doubt their perfomances as Jake, a soldier who is determined to brave every challenge and learning the Na'vi ways, and as Neytiri, a fierce warrior defending her homeworld.

The supporting cast is awesome as well, with, among others, Laz Alonso giving a remarkable performance as powerful warrior Tsu'tey, Joel-David Moore bringing us the curious scientist Norm Spellman, industry legend Sigourney Weaver giving life to the seasoned scientist Dr. Grace Augustine, Steven Lang portraying the big bad Quaritch, and Michelle Rodriguez becoming good-natured pilot Trudy Chacon.

The Special Effects in Avatar are impeccable. There was so much technology invented or refined for this movie, some by Cameron himself, like the performance capture system or shooting with a virtual camera system, which have revolutionized the industry.

No one needs suspension of disbelieve for this film, because there is nothing that is unbelieveable. The fantastic acting, writing, CGI (courtesy of Weta FX) and sound design made sure of that.

Thanks to this, Cameron lets us escape for about 2.5h to a world more beautiful than you could ever imagine, which is at the same time alien but also familiar.

Cameron does not start the story at a point where the main protagonist, Jake Sully, is already acclimated to Pandora, but instead lets the audience share his journey from his arrival on Pandora until he feels at home there. Thanks to this, the viewer is invited to see Pandora not from the eyes of a Human, but from that of a Na'vi; the Humans are the real aliens in this film, and that makes the audience subconciously evaluate their actions more objectively than if we would identify with them.

Throughout the film, Cameron maintains a perfect mixture of gripping action, deep emotions and wonderful scenes in the breathtaking pandoran environment.

The Score by the late master James Horner is the best I've ever heard. Like with his other scores, he excels at writing recognizable themes for different characters/factions, with the RDA getting a violent theme full of metallic sounds, while the Na'vi and Pandora get a heroic theme that sounds like it was recorded with instruments you would find on Pandora, without drifting off into western stereotypes of tribal music.

One reason why Avatar became the most successfull film of all time is the universality of it's story. Humans losing our connection with nature, as well as the damaging profiteering of megacorporations are something that everyone can relate to, be it in cinemas in the US, China or the Phillipines. This has made this movie a worldwide cultural phenomenon. No matter where I am in the world, I can talk to people about Avatar. Maybe they don't know it by name, but as soon as I say "the movie with the tall blue people", they know what I talk about.

Avatar is still incredibly relevant, even 15 Years after its first release, with its core messages of environmentalism, anti-colonialism and overcoming our differences.

I do not care what you are doing right now. Driving a Car? Operating a Nuclear Power Plant? Climbing Everest? Conducting open heart surgery?

Stop it. Go Watch Avatar now. At least if you have never seen it before. Otherwise maybe finish the open heart surgery first.

Then go on and watch Avatar: The Way of Water.