Filmfetish Friday: Howl, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Mine Vaganti

About the author

As a freelance journalist, Anouk (26) usually writes about what other people do or like. In her precious spare time she watches arthouse films. Not a few. A lot, thanks to her trusted Cineville pass. Here she can finally share her film-fetish with the world.

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To watch or not to watch? Anouk will tour around Amsterdam’s cinemas and answer this crucial question every Friday. Without mercy, of course. Sucky movies will be slaughtered, cinematographic pearls will be appreciated as such. Or the other way around. After all, good taste is in the eye of the beholder.

Howl

Poetry, James Franco, New York in the fifties, James Franco… This could have been a film I like, but I just don’t get it. It’s about the world famous poem ‘Howl’ by Allen Ginsberg, one of the writers of the ‘Beat Generation’. While hearing James Franco (as Ginsberg) read from it, we see beautiful animated scenes illustrating his words. We also see parts of the lawsuit that was held against the poem, because of its perceived ‘obscenity’. Why was it considered obscene? No idea, I had to read that in the paper afterwards.. The reason I’m still recommending this film is because I desperately hope that I’m not the only one who doesn’t have a clue. I’ve never felt so ignorant before.

Watch this film in: Cinecenter

Pirates of the Caribbean 4

It’s good to have a lot of money, because then you can ‘buy’ actors like Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz and Geoffrey Rush. You can also buy amazing special effects, good set builders and Hans Zimmer (who manages to have ALL his soundtracks sound exactly the same). The money is dripping off the screen, and what a waste. Pirates 4 is a dumb, unenergetic film that assumes that the audience has no brain at all. The action scenes are boring, and the dialogues are too. Johnny, please, stop doing this. That Keith Richards plays your pirate father doesn’t make it cool either. Go work with Tim Burton again!

Watch this film in: Pathe (all of them), The Movies, Studio K.

Mine Vaganti

According to my father, all Italian men are gay. That’s why I think he secretly wrote the script of Mine Vaganti! Tommaso Cantone, the youngest son in a traditional, warm and eccentric family, finally wants to tell his parents he’s gay (and that he didn’t study economics, but literature). At the ‘moment supreme’ his older brother steels his show: he admits he’s gay too. Chaos, panic, a heart attack, drama! Tommaso keeps his mouth shut and works in his parents’ pasta factory for a while. Not a good thing if you want to be a writer. Does he dare to come out of the ‘armadio’? Yes, that’s Italian for closet. Very entertaining!

Watch this film in: Rialto, Cinecenter

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