Robert Koelle

Robert Koelle Pro

Favorite films

  • Gallipoli
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  • Fandango
  • The Constant Gardener

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  • Dracula A.D. 1972

    ★★★½

  • The Servant

    ★★★★

  • The Front Page

  • Knives Out

    ★★★★½

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  • Alienoid

    Alienoid

    ★★★★

    In the first half hour, the following occurs:

    An alien culture disposes of its criminals by imprisoning them inside the brains of humans, who have no awareness. When the human dies, the criminal dies. In 1380, one of those criminals has escaped, but fortunately a portal opens up from which a 21st century SUV emerges, containing the cyborg Guard, and his flying robot/humanoid shapeshifter sidekick named "Thunder," who find, contain, and transport the escapee back to the 21st century. While…

  • Colossus: The Forbin Project

    Colossus: The Forbin Project

    ★★★★

    To me, this was like a Doctor Who story, with very smart people trying to outwit the smarter machine that they designed. Like the WOPPR from War Games, Colossus is a giant computer designed to remove the human element from nuclear war. It will make its own decisions based on massive data inputs, about whether to launch missiles, and where. It's also physically impregnable. When it's plugged in, it quickly notices that there's another machine just like it that the…

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  • Dracula A.D. 1972

    Dracula A.D. 1972

    ★★★½

    "Is this your place John?"
    "Come in for a bite!"
    Urm, maybe a bad idea. You may be the bitten.

    This was better than I expected. I haven't seen many Hammer films, including the Christopher Lee Dracula films. The opening was a recap of the conclusion of a previous film, I gathered. Dracula and Van Helsing both died in 1872, but Dracula's ashes were buried in a way that could be resurrected under the right circumstances and ritual. Oh how…

  • The Servant

    The Servant

    ★★★★

    Did you ever watch Gosford Park or Upstairs Downstairs and wonder, did British "service" survive the second World War, and if so, how did it look?

    This film is the most psychologically cringey I've seen in a while. I had tremendous difficulty watching it. I loved the idea, and James Fox is a reliable actor, although in this film, he's quite different than the controlled politico I usually see.

    The film looks spectacular. The crispest black and white photography, and…

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  • National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire

    National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire

    ★★★★½

    I've never seen any production of this play, and was blown away by the collision between a woman who can't live without her illusions, and a man who has none, and doesn't tolerate illusions of others. I don't know how Gillian Anderson walks away from the stage completely broken, and then can come back for a bow with a smile.

  • The Zone of Interest

    The Zone of Interest

    ★★★★★

    In an interview, Jonathan Glazer made a reference to a second, unseen film that takes place in parallel to this one. It's the film that would show all the atrocities taking place on the inside of the camp wall. Instead of that, Glazer's sound team, who should probably win awards for this, supply the horror that eats away at the audience, as they watch scenes of Höss family domesticity, right outside that wall. There are all kinds of words associated…