Photos from the hospital, Zoe's birthday, and a fat cat. (23 photos)
September 2023
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I’m a web developer based in Düsseldorf, Germany. I make a RSS feed reader called FeedCity. I co-organise the local Homebrew Website Club. I’m also a passionate film photographer, a husband and father, a bass player and guitarist, metalhead, and movie fan.
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🔗 August 2023 – Daniel Pietzsch’s Photo Journal
The latest photojournal entry has been out for a few days.
Zoe's first day at school. I went photographing with Florian at Zeche Zollverein in Essen. It was my mum's birthday. Saw Gatecreeper and Converge live in Dortmund with Bernd and Fred. We went to a horse race. And Bernd and I went on a multiday hike in Austria, where I broke my arm.
🎬 My Old Ass
This review may contain spoilers. Tap or click to view.
One of those watches that I didn’t plan to join. But then Aubrey Plaza appeared as the hallucination old ass of the teenage protagonist’s younger self to tell her about what’s about to come, while she was in the woods with friends taking mushrooms. Unfortunately this didn’t continue as exciting. It’s pretty much a love story. Not really bad, but relatively conventional, which I found a little disappointing given that surprising beginning.
🎬 Blink Twice
I liked how this looked. And I think the story had potential. But towards the end it gets more and more bonkers and I’m less and less convinced by plot and performances. Was ok.
🎬 The Killer
Well, this was not so much up my alley. Some, or even lots of sequences, might have been meant in a humorous way, but I really couldn't tell. On the one hand, it has these super cheesy relationship and friendship scenes. And on the other, it has endless gun fights and car chases, that were not all that inspiring. Apart from the final fight, which was ok. Not quite my type of action film.
🎬 Re-Animator
Quite the movie, and quite up my alley. It could be a little more fast-paced IMHO, but other than that, there's lots of silly fun to be had: all that gut and gore, the fights, and so much more in that grandios finale. And that loose head. If you like splatter movies, you'll definitely like this one!
🎬 Terrifier
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Uff. Mixed bag. Very mixed bag. Mixed black trash bag. Plot is partly eye roller and difficult. And sadly not all that suspenseful the more it gets towards the end. It feels long, too. Some of the gory scenes are actually well done, although some are very over the top and too much in the wrong kind of direction for my tastes. But what makes this worth it, IMO, is Art The Clown: he's really well done - really creepy and evil. His makeup, the way he's moving, that he doesn't make a sound. He certainly has potential to become a new infamous evil horror figure. I'll watch the next ones, just to see how this develops.
🔗 July 2023 – Daniel Pietzsch’s Photo Journal
I created a new photo journal entry.
The summer vacation in Annecy. Düsseldorf fun fair. A trip to the Eifel with Udo. And a trip to Berlin with Zoe.
🎬 A Nightmare on Elm Street
It’s shocking, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen this. What’s also shocking is Johnny Depp’s belly-free shirt. And of course all that blood and gore. I just like those sort of gory special effects. And this type of movie. It’s comfort food. This definitely deserves its reputation.
🎬 No Time to Die
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I might have had an overdose of Bond movies. In the end I just wanted this to be over. And I think Bond, too. And so it was definitely time to die, so him and I can finally have our peace again. Look-wise, this was very good (maybe a tad too much CGI), and also had some good scenes. Acting was good, too. But often enough the action was lacking some originality and it was too much everybody-shoots-at-Bond-with-machine-guns-while-he-has-just-a-pistol-and-wins kind of action for my liking. But, maybe I was indeed just over it. Too much eye-rolling sentimental drama again.
“I showed someone your watch today, Q. It blew his mind!” :)
🎬 Spectre
That was a well rounded and satisfying Bond. It looked great, the plot made sense, it features the usual cool Bond dialogue, it didn't take itself too seriously, and some spectacular action scenes. Can't ask for more. Good one!
🎬 Skyfall
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I found this part of the series a weird one. The pictures are great and much more enjoyable than in Quantum. And I found action, the new characters and all the dialogue much more likeable and interesting again. Lots of great scenes in general. And Javier Bardem was brilliant. But I found the plot was really inconsistent. Towards the end, it's no longer about that mission, and more and more turns into a sentimental nostalgic drama. Complete with Home-Alone style finale. Also, Daniel Craig looked like Boris Becker.
🎬 Quantum of Solace
Solid continuation of the Craig-Bond series. But the action, story, dialogue was all not as good as in Casino Royale. But it has a similarly great opening credits song.
🎬 Casino Royale
Daniel Craig has luminous blue eyes and Sony product placements are all around. But apart from this, Casino Royale was spectacular and entertaining. The stunts and action were all top notch. The poker game was good. The characters were great. It has some very cool dialogue. And overall, the story was fantastic, too. Can recommend!
🎬 May December
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I really like the soundtrack, which consisted a lot of piano playing. Together with the story and filming, this really created a suspenseful atmosphere. Acting was great, too. But in the end, I was left disappointed, as it was all too ambiguous for my liking. I mean, the characters were all somehow fucked up, but it never got past scratching to surface on any of their stories or personalities.
🎬 All the Colors of the Dark
This didn't fully convince me: maybe it was the occasional drop in pace or a sudden strange dialogue or scene of acting. But overall, this was a very solid movie. Had a great story, really succeeded in portraying the protagonist's paranoia, and was atmospheric, too. And this from 1972. Tutto bene!
🎬 Without Warning
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I wanted to watch this mainly because its poster is so cool. And the movie itself was ok, too, as far as I remember (it's been a few weeks since I watched this; and I also fell asleep briefly; it's been a long day). Nice 80s horror charm and some nice and juicy hand-made effects. It's all a bit ridiculous, though, of course. "ALIEN! C'MON! ALIEEENN!" *KABOOM* best ending! ;)
🎬 Kinds of Kindness
I enjoyed this. It had me constantly wondering and wanting to know what happens next. I really liked the quirkiness of it all. But then in the end it left me kind of empty and wondering “why all this?” and “what for?”. All the stories had the same subjects it dealt with, but I couldn’t find any purpose (if there is any), and why it had to be three episodes. So I had the suspicion the movie is just weird for weirdness sake. But maybe that’s just Lanthimos’s thing and I shouldn’t complain. What never seems to disappoint, though, is how he films everything. It’s just fun to watch. Emma Stone was superb once again, but so were all the other actors.
🎬 Mac and Me
Another Mondo Bizarr flick. Reading the summary, I was actually expecting something way worse than this. This was actually high quality and looked a lot like more famous American movies from that time. But rightly so, it's not as highly regarded: it's just all a bit off and wacky at times. But that doesn't mean it's less entertaining! Just more bizarre. The chase scene is fantastic, the musical part at McD is just great and the ending is just the whimsical cherry on top.
🎬 Xaver und sein außerirdischer Freund
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Uff. Ein Außerirdischer hat mit seinem Ufo ein Panne und strandet im Wald unweit eines bayrischen Dorfes. Xaver entdeckt und kümmert sich um ihn. Die Einheimischen sind skeptisch und die Böse-Buben-Gang ist auch noch hinter Xaver her. Aber dann stellt raus, der Mann vom anderen Stern ist eine regelrechte Biervernichtungsmaschine. Damit gewinnt er nicht nur die Herzen der Dorfbewohner sondern auch den Biertrinkwettbewerb im Festzelt. Es gibt Verfolgungsjagden zu Fuß und mit Gefährten und am Ende gibt es ein Heidendurcheinander, aber alles geht nochmal gut aus.
Tja, was soll ich sagen. Hat irgendwie Spaß gemacht das mit der Truppe im Mondo Bizarr zu schauen. Prost!
🎬 Christine
Another classic where I don't know whether I had seen this as a teenager. But I really couldn't remember any scenes. This was fantastic, though. Apart from obvious technological or cultural clues, you wouldn't think this is such an old movie. It really holds up.
Now, the film actually manages to portrait Christine as and actually evil car. The stunts are top-notch - oh my, the whole scene at the gas station! - and the special effects when Christine repairs herself are an absolute sensation. Great characters, too - it's been quite clever how the evilness progressively affects Arnie's own mood.
Bonus was seeing this on the big screen, getting to fully experience the film's awesome sound and music.
🎬 Longlegs
Has tons of atmosphere and Nicolas Cage as Longlegs is actually really creepy. Lovingly filmed. And great acting. I thought the plot pace was a little odd (it's high-paced in the beginning and the end, and in the middle quite slow), and the resolution was not all that satisfying. Overall, though, I was really into it, and didn't notice how time flew by at the cinema.
🎬 Possessor
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Uff! Brutal! And really menacing and suspenseful. Liked this a lot! The gore effects, that sequence when she enters the other body, and how this looked, sounded and felt in general. A few minus points for missing explanations and the what I felt not-so-logical ending. I'd watch this again!
🎬 Challengers
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I wasn't planning on joining Nicole when she put on this movie. But then the characters and plot drew me in. I wanted to know how and why the three ended up where they ended up (the film is very non-linear, which I liked for the most part). The acting was great, too.
But unfortunately, it's downhill from there. It's increasingly less about Art - the only really likeable person - and only very slowly unveils more and more about the relationship between the other two. The soundtrack was irritating. And the ending is not very plausible and it's a collage of infuriatingly endless slow-motion shots.
🔗 June 2023 – Daniel Pietzsch’s Photo Journal
One more month of photos.
A family trip to Belgium, Folkerdey, quite a few things in between, and of course our camper motorway crash false start into the summer holidays.
📖 Tiere essen – Jonathan Safran Foer
Es ist ja nicht so, als hätte ich mich nicht schon öfter mit diesem Thema auseinandergesetzt. Aber diese Buch hat mir den notwendingen Anstoß gegen keine halben Sachen mehr zu machen und mich vollständig vegetarisch zu ernähren. Diese Buch ist natürlich keine leichte Kost. Aber das sollte es bitte auch nicht sein, wenn doch die industrielle Fleischproduktion und Massentierhaltung so ein riesen Haufen barbarische Scheiße ist.
Der Autor selbst geht trotzdem noch recht diplomatisch an die Sache ran, und versucht nicht einem (s)eine Meinung aufzudrücken (obwohl er diese trotzdem für sich sehr klar formuliert). Und mir gefiel auch, dass verschiedene Stimmen und gar Kompromiss-Lösungen beschrieben werden. Für mich aber lässt das alles nur eine Schlussfolgerung zu.
📖 Die Verwandlung – Franz Kafka
Ist die Verwandlung eine Metapher für eine (schwere) Krankheit, habe ich mich gefragt. Jedenfalls fand ich diesen Klassiker sehr interessant und unterhaltsam. Die unterschiedlichen Reaktionen der Mitmenschen auf seine Verwandlung sind einfach gut und glaubhaft beschrieben. Und zudem fand ich Kafkas Schreibstil sehr ansprechend. Hat diese Buch auch vielleicht “Die Fliege” inspiriert?
🎬 MaXXXine
Another very entertaining part of the trilogy. The story – especially at the end – has its weaknesses IMHO (and I couldn't help but be reminded of Once upon a Time in Hollywood). But this just looks fantastic once again, has great acting, and a lot of excellent scenes.
🔗 May 2023 – Daniel Pietzsch’s Photo Journal
There’s a new photo journal entry up!
The circus came to town. Frankeninferno. Camping in Perlenau. And a visit to the Neaderthal museum.