Tag: Reviews

Posted on

rafenew.world – The Book Episode IV Part One

The wait is over! All my full movie reviews are now available in print:

Not the book you need. But the book you deserve!

rafenew.world – The Book Episode IV Part One (Cover)

Order your copy now! (Printed on demand)

Or get it in a Book shop of your chosing via ISBN: 978-3-7519-9952-6

About the Book

This defining movie guide and blog companion contains a plethora of equally passionate and subjective movie reviews published by the title-giving nerd on his blog rafenew.world between 2015 and 2020.
The second chapter gathers even more (German) pieces written for his former website nidwirkli.ch between 2003 and 2006. Some of the older texts may not have aged too well. But they bear not only witness to the coming of age of the author’s writing style, taste and character – they document two decades worth of evolution in cinema, pop-culture and society itself.
Each one of the more than 160 articles comes with its own QR Code, providing an interactive experience including free videos, graphics and even more digital content available on rafenew.world.
Being first and foremost a vanity project, this title delivers hours and hours of reading material, opinions, trivia, callbacks and, most important, fun for everyone lucky enough to have been a child in the eighties.

About the Author

Raphael Röthlin – designer and software engineer by trade, nerd at heart – was born and raised in a small Swiss farming village. Today he works and lives in the city, in a nice apartment – without a cat, but making the best of the situation.

Ordner now and enjoy!

Posted on

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Rating: 1.5

DAMMIT! I’M SUCH A FOOL! I just realized: I WAS THE ONLY ONE AT THE SCREENING  AND DIDN’T MAKE ANY «SOLO» JOKE at the concession stand! That might have been a better starter to a conversation in which I learnt that an almost empty theatre didn’t really matter nowadays (in some aspect) because movies are delivered digitally now and don’t wear with every projection.

Which wouldn’t make much of a difference because «Solo» isn’t any good to begin with.

Even beforehand, I had pretty much made up my mind about Alden Ehrenreich’s Han-thankful job and his more than Han-likely success in taking over Harrison Ford’s iconic role. Ehrenreich surely didn’t help but after seeing «Solo», he cannot be made solely responsible for this disappointment of a movie. I doubt even Mr. Ford (or Harrison, as I like to call him, though he’d rather I wouldn’t) himself could have made this Han-inspired, Han-funny wannabe Star Wars «adventure» work.

It’s too generic even for a franchise as formulaic as the Star Wars universe. I haven’t seen such an empty, self-serving and Han-motivated mess of jumbled together bits and pieces of canon and fan service in a long, long time. (Not unlike this very review you’re reading right now).

There were some nice ideas in there that I might have liked but they were presented in such a Han-connected way I couldn’t have bothered less.

#notMyStarWars

And now a personal message to my co-worker Cello: Don’t go see that movie! I can’t tell you why because of spoilers. Just don’t!

Posted on

The Post

Rating: 2.5

«Hit the big story hard!» Spielberg’s latest surely isn’t one of his greatest achievements but solid enough to get out of the cold weather and a surprisingly relevant experience given today’s state of the media industry and the current political climate at that.

Especially interesting to see his depiction of how news were made before distractions like computers, internet, social media (and iFrames) got so damn important and complicated.

If anything, «The Post» excels as an inspiring reminder that journalism has to be about more than clicks, user engagement and the occasional Raclette-Schieber.

(Shame though I still couldn’t find a theater playing «Three Billboards…». The Oscars are getting awfully close now and I still haven’t found my favourite).

Posted on

My sister finally watched «Guardians of the Galaxy»

Rating: 4.5

We did it! Thanks to the rafe new world sister watch initiative, my sister finally watched «Guardians of the Galaxy». I’m proud to say this goal was achieved in less than 48 hours thanks to my constant nagging and a website specially made for this purpose: sisterwatch.rafenew.world.

But did she like the movie or is she just a bad person? I’m very honoured to let my sister speak for herself in her very first guest article on rafenew.world:

And a very special THANK YOU to my mother who did her part in working on my sister in this matter. I love you, mom! And since there’s still hope for my sister, I imagine she does, too.

Posted on

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Rating: 1

Just another very gorgeous looking, very soulless version of how Luc Besson thinks movies are made. I more and more wonder how he managed to create «Léon» where he still seemed to care about characters and storytelling (I think, at least; haven’t watched it in ages).

Posted on

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Rating: 4.5

What a great sci-fi fantasy action comedy! I laughed my ass off and if you’re an eighties kid, you probably will, too.
In the end there was not a dry eye in the house (and that wasn’t because of the 3D glasses).

Posted on

Gantz:O

Rating: 2.5

Man, full CGI movies have come a long way since «Final Fantasy – The Spirits Within»! Just discovered this gem on Netflix. It’s probably not really that good a movie per se but its stunning CGI-work and over-the-top action  are just too damned impressive not to be blown away by it.

Give me more…!

Posted on

Logan

Rating: 3.5

Logan’s fun: A movie as solid as adamantium yet tender and bloody like a delicious steak.

Posted on

Luke Cage

Rating: 2.5

Is it just me or are the Netflix-Marvel series getting slower and slower? I haven’t completely finished «Luke Cage» yet, but after experiencing the rather unmotivated and quite disappointing twist in one of the last episodes, I kind of wish the producers wouldn’t be as comfortable with their current modus operandi as they seemingly are (e.g. slow-paced drama instead of, well, a little bit of something else, too. A tiny little bit more trust in the viewer’s suspension of disbelief, maybe?)

Granted, as a white male living outside of the USA, I’m obviously not in the immediate focus group of «Luke Cage», and I must say, as far as I’m able to judge, they did a pretty solid job not to alienate folks like me completely. But while watching the episodes I always felt reminded of how little a clue I have of what it must be like to live in country still disrupted by racial tensions. (Not unlike watching «The Shield» or «The Wire», where I felt like I just crashed a party where I maybe, definitely didn’t belong.) Even listening to the wonderful soundtrack, I kept myself asking: Am I allowed to enjoy this music or do I not get to like it because I wouldn’t understand it anyway?

I guess it’s more than fair to give a black male his own show, hell, even the skinny dark haired chick got one, but it feels a little bit like… going through a checklist. Maybe not unsimilar to the creation of «Power Man» when he first was conceived in the comics in the midst of the blaxploitation-thingy of the 1970s. (Nothing wrong with that, I hope they’ll do that in the current presidential election.)

And of course, as always the characters and performances are superb (except the character in the above mentioned twist that felt really out of place) and the soundtrack and photography are well above average… But somehow I didn’t really feel that involved this time. It’s more like the next 007 movie: There is one available,… I’ve been waiting for it, so I’ll watch it. But that’s pretty much it, which is somewhat disappointing, as solid as «Luke Cage» as a whole may be.

I guess I’ll wait for the next caucasian, pale sorcerer to win me back. And not to forget: The references to some comics-related visuals alone make «Luke Cage» a must see for all comic book fans.

marvel-luke-cage-poster2