In 1984, The Terminator stormed onto screens with a singular vision: gritty, relentless, and terrifyingly original. James Cameron’s low-budget sci-fi masterpiece gave us Arnold Schwarzenegger as the perfect killing machine, a role that became one of the most iconic in film history. Fast forward to 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Cameron upped the ante, crafting one of the greatest action films ever made—a thrilling, emotional…
There’s a point at which nostalgia stops being fun and starts feeling like exploitation. With The Expendables 3, that line is crossed, trampled on, and left in the dust. What began in 2010 as a tongue-in-cheek love letter to ‘80s and ‘90s action cinema—a franchise designed to unite aging titans like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis for one last hurrah—has, by its third installment,…
Hayao Miyazakis Wie der Wind sich hebt (Kaze Tachinu, 2013) ist ein Film, der sich anfühlt wie der letzte, zarte Pinselstrich eines großen Künstlers. Es ist nicht nur eine Biografie, sondern eine Meditation über das Leben, die Liebe, die Kunst und die Komplexität menschlicher Träume – ein Werk, das sich deutlich an ein erwachsenes Publikum richtet und thematisch wie atmosphärisch deutlich reifer ist als seine bisherigen…
Arnold Schwarzenegger has always been the quintessential larger-than-life action star, commanding the screen with explosive charisma and iconic one-liners in films like Commando (1985), Predator (1987), and The Terminator (1984). With Sabotage (2014), however, Schwarzenegger steps into murkier territory—an ultra-violent, morally ambiguous crime thriller that trades the fun, over-the-top escapism of his earlier films for gritty realism and nihilistic brutality. Directed by David Ayer (End of…
By 2013, the golden era of ’80s action heroes was long gone, but Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger had found ways to keep their legendary names alive in modern Hollywood. Escape Plan serves as a team-up vehicle for these two titans, promising a prison-break thriller that capitalizes on their combined star power. Directed by Mikael Håfström, the movie offers a handful of fun moments and a…
The Last Stand marked Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first starring role after his tenure as the Governor of California, and it seemed designed to reintroduce him as the action hero fans loved in The Terminator (1984) and Commando (1985). Directed by South Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-woon, the movie mixes high-octane shootouts, small-town charm, and a touch of humor. Throw Johnny Knoxville into the mix as comic relief, and…
By the time The Expendables 2 hit theaters in 2012, the idea of reuniting every major action star of the ‘80s and ‘90s had lost some of its novelty. The first Expendables (2010) was a fun but flawed celebration of testosterone-fueled mayhem, weighed down by tonal inconsistency and a meandering plot. With The Expendables 2, director Simon West doubles down on the nostalgia, leaning hard into…
While embezzling $14 billion from a Chinese bank for the US government, two Western bankers grab $15 million in cash for themselves. They store it in an upright bass case and wander the streets of Shanghai, waiting for their morning departure. When the more experienced of the two insists they spend their last night partying in a local club, the night takes a wild turn. Goodbye…
Hayao Miyazakis Ponyo ist ein Film wie das sanfte Rauschen einer Meereswelle, die zugleich das Versprechen von Abenteuer und die ehrfurchtgebietende Macht der Natur in sich trägt. Als eine der charmantesten und visuell lebendigsten Arbeiten aus dem Studio Ghibli-Kanon, greift Ponyo (Originaltitel: Gake no Ue no Ponyo) Themen auf, die sich durch Miyazakis gesamtes Schaffen ziehen – Liebe zur Natur, kindliche Unschuld und die Fragilität des…
