I actually rewatched ‘Smile’ recently and I enjoyed it even more the second time around so I was quite eager to check out this sequel. Ever since I saw the trailer, I was intrigued by this movie and, well, I wasn’t disappointed after all, that’s for sure. First of all, with horror sequels, they usually just keep repeating the same beats over and over again which is always so lame. However, in this case, even though the concept was the same, focusing on a really famous popstar changed completely the whole vibe which was so cool. On top of that, the way they portrayed the life of such a huge popstar seemed so realistic and the way it was mixed with a basic horror storyline was very well handled, even better than in the previous movie. Indeed, even though many people might dream of becoming super famous (even myself when I was a little kid), this movie perfectly displayed that, in spite of all the glamour, fame and money, this type of lifestyle seems actually terribly lonely and isolating after all. I mean, what’s the point of all this if you can’t share it with anyone and if you fee like sh*t most of the time? There is also such a creepy scary aspect with all this people who don’t know you at all and still want something from you. This, of course, worked perfectly well with the horror genre. Finally, while Sosie Bacon was really good in ‘Smile’, Naomi Scott was actually even better here. Indeed, she was actually pretty convincing as a pop singer but, above all, she displayed so well the torment that she was experiencing. In fact, even without this demon/entity chasing her, you might wonder if her life would have been so preachy (probably not). Eventually, the only thing that bothered me here was how a completely random character managed to find her to tell her the in’s and out’s of what was actually going on in her life. It seemed way too convenient and a rather lame way to avoid that the movie would be only about her being tormented by this entity (which would have been fine by me). Seriously, how plausible was it that the guy would manage to find the cell phone number of such a big star only a day after Lewis Fregoli died? And why on Earth would she listen to and believe on top of that the completely weird far-fetched story from some total stranger? However, it was all fixed by showing that most of what the main character experienced actually never happened at all but they got me worried at some point. Anyway, to conclude, I really have a weak spot for this horror franchise and I will definitely check the next instalment.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, unfortunately, it turned out to be another useless misguided US remake of a perfectly fine movie (after watching ‘Speak No Evil’ less than a week ago, I should probably watch something else in the near future). To be honest, it had been a while since I saw ‘Turist’, almost 10 years, and even though I did like it, it didn’t really blow me away though. Still, what really worked with this movie was that, even though there were some humorous moments, it was never really a comedy or then it was a really dark one. Anyway, what was intriguing was I could never exactly pinpoint what was the genre here. Well, all this was actually gone with this US version which was a rather lame basic comedy without the satirical sharp edges displayed in the original version. I have to admit that Julia Louis-Dreyfus was actually pretty good here though and she actually managed to find the right tone. Unfortunately, it was such a mistake to get Will Ferrell for this movie and, in my opinion, he was completely miscast here. Indeed, the guy built a whole career playing some really pathetic characters so, of course, he would run away if there would be an avalanche and, since it was expected, such a crucial pivotal scene felt completely unclimactic here. As a result, since his character was pathetic and unlikeable, it was almost impossible to care about what he and his family was going through. The two boys were not given anything to do, they were not developed at all and I couldn’t even tell you their names even though I saw this movie yesterday. Like I said before, Louis-Dreyfus was not bad though but I was just wondering how could this woman have been really in love with this man even before the whole avalanche drama. To make it work, they should have chosen someone very average looking, like they did in the original version, or they could have gone in a completely different direction and choose a big star like Brad Pitt, George Clooney or Tom Cruise, someone you would never expect to act like that. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be pretty weak and you should probably avoid it. 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was directed by Ridley Scott, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it will probably go down as one of his biggest flops and, to be honest, I didn’t think it deserved a better fate. I do have a weak spot for such post-apocalyptic futuristic tale, which was probably another reason why I was curious about this movie, but it seemed that Scott turned out to be a rather poor choice to direct it. The issue with this story was that it did feel rather generic and the way it was handled by the veteran director made it so flat. Seriously, it was like there was no pulse whatsoever throughout the whole duration. I think he would have been better suited to direct something more like ‘World War Z’ with some big action pieces. Here, there were a couple of action scenes which were obviously well made but it was obviously not the point of this movie. The focus should have been the characters and what they had become in this wasted land but it was something way too subtle for a visual technician like Scott (his only movie where he managed to do something like this was ‘Thelma & Louise’ and I’m actually not a fan of this movie). There were basically only 4 characters and, except for Hig, they were totally half-baked. Indeed, the only positive thing here was Jacob Elordi who was not only quite charismatic but he also managed to bring a lot of depth in his character. He did feel really stunted emotionally and I did appreciate that he took his time to finally start having a relationship with Cima (in fact, I would have dropped the final scene and let the characters start their relationship on their own terms, not because Scott needed to wrap his movie). Concerning the other 3, well, I’m afraid it wasn’t really great. Margaret Qualley had a rather thankless task here playing the love interest and it didn’t help that her character fell in love with Hig within 5 mins but she was simply not given anything else to do. Sure, Josh Brolin was fun and had the best one-liners but that’s basically all he was reduced to be, some funny sidekick who happened to be a lethal killing machine. Out of these 4 characters, the most bewildering and useless one was played by Guy Pearce. Basically, he was added to the mix only to make sure that Cima wouldn't be alone (because, of course, there is now a way a pretty woman like her could survive such an apocalypse without a man) but his character was just too similar to Brolin’s character (hell, they even looked very similar). It was interesting that, from the moment that Bangley came back in the story, Pops had no dialogue anymore and he almost completely vanished from the movie. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t completely awful, it might be the most forgettable movie ever delivered by Ridley Scott.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was starring James McAvoy and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. I actually saw the Danish version with my film club in the movie theatre and, to be honest, even if it was not bad at all, it didn’t really blow me away so I have to admit that I was rather sceptical about this US remake. On the other hand, it was definitely an intriguing story and the idea of James McAvoy playing this character was really cool so it still could work. Something that did bother me with the original version was that the Danish couple was just so tedious and spineless, I just never really cared for them at all. At least, with Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy, they did get some really charismatic actors this time around, even if this couple still remained spineless but it was also the whole point of this story. Something I was really missing with this remake was the culture clash aspect. Indeed, in the Danish version, it was dealing with a Danish couple going to a foreign country (the Netherlands) to visit a Dutch couple so everything felt strange and alien for them. However, this aspect was here completely downplayed as I didn’t feel such a huge cultural gap between this US couple who already lived in the UK for a while and this British couple. Basically, there was one boring regular couple and a more unconventional seemingly free couple but the whole cultural aspect was actually pretty much gone which was too bad. The main attraction here was obviously James McAvoy who was basically born to play such unhinged psychos but, to be honest, I think I actually preferred Fedja van Huêt. Indeed, I believed he brought more nuances to his character. To be honest, it was never clear why Ben and Louise were interested in Paddy and his family since they didn’t have anything in common. This aspect was also better developed in the Danish version as van Huêt was often weird but also very often actually really fun and charming. Finally, they obviously completely changed the ending and, this time, this US boring regular couple of course had to prevail so the whole message that middle-class people are just so polite and boring that they might cause their doom was obviously completely lost here. Eventually, I think the only real issue was that it came too fast after the original version (only 2 years) and a bigger gap between the two movies would have been nice. Anyway, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch. 

I had actually already seen this movie a few years ago but, after some technical issue on this website, my review was deleted so I thought I might as well check it out again. On top of that, I will watch soon the sequel on Netflix so it was another reason to rewatch this movie. Well, even though I thought it was not bad when I first saw it, I actually enjoyed it even more the second time around. Sure, at the end of the day, it was maybe nothing groundbreaking but it had been a while since I had seen such an efficient horror movie. Indeed, as usual with this genre, they went for some gimmick, but there was something really creepy about all these characters smiling so weirdly. The fact that I’m not great with eye contact in general because, somehow, I have some kind of phobia that people would then start acting weird like they did in this movie if I make eye contact with them, probably also helped. In general, the damned thing was really creepy, more than most modern horror flicks, and I did remember that Caitlin Stasey’s death scene was really gnarly (and it still was when I saw it again). In fact, the rest of the movie was not so gory, it was more some psychological horror which I actually find more interesting. On top of that, for once, the fact that nobody believed the main character was very well done here and it was completely understandable that everyone would consider that she was having some major nervous breakdown. It also had to do with the fact that Sosie Bacon, Kevin Bacon’s daughter, actually gave here a solid performance, so much better than what we usually get with this genre. I also really liked the idea that she thought she could beat this evil entity who actually just tricked her, that was a neat conclusion. Eventually, the only thing that didn’t really work for me was this weak love triangle involving the main character, her ex who was a cop, and her fiancé who was probably the most half-baked character in this movie. Indeed, I wasn’t sure if Jessie T. Usher should be blamed but they clearly never managed to properly flesh out this relationship. Anyway, to conclude, it was actually a really solid movie, no doubt about it and, now, I’m really pumped to see the sequel which might be even better.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was included in ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list, I was quite eager to check it out (For some reason, I also thought that it was included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list but it was apparently not the case). I have to admit that I had never heard of Humphrey Jennings before watching this movie but he apparently became famous with such short movies he made in the 40’s. To be honest, even though I understand why it was included, I wish they didn’t add this introduction by Leonard Brockington. Indeed, I loved the fact that there was no commentary or narration and removing this intro would have made the whole thing even more evocative. Concerning the rest of the movie, it gave a pretty good look on how life was back then during WWII in England. Personally, I have always been intrigued by this time period in Great Britain as their experience of WWII was so different to what happened in France and in the Netherlands and the other countries occupied by the Nazis. Of course, they still had to face the Blitzkrieg and suffered great losses but they basically remained undefeated after all and you could say it has shaped this country much more differently than the rest of Europe, maybe even leading to the recent Brexit. Anyway, it gave a pretty neat time capsule showing how British people lived at the time and I can understand why Jennings was considered a poet of the English cinema. Of course, it was still some propaganda but the approach chosen by Jennings was so subtle, without the introduction, it would have been the most subtle propaganda movie I had seen. 

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this movie but, since I have a weak spot for Milla Jovovich and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I’m glad that after more than 20 years, Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich are still get along as a couple and still make movies together but, dear God, their stuff is just so boring though. For Anderson, it was yet another video-game adaptation and I have to admit that I had never heard of this game before watching this movie. I did some digging and the game did look pretty neat and, right there, I could spot the first huge mistake they made with this adaptation. Indeed, the game was taking place in some fantasy world in which you are fighting some huge monsters. However, for some reason, this movie started in our world with some US ranger played by Jovovich who went through some portal to end up in this fantasy world which was such a lame generic approach. To make things worse, she didn’t come alone and ended up in this desert with her squad whose members were all so boring. It was especially hilarious with the lovely Meagan Good who was probably the least convincing soldier I have seen with her makeup and fake eyelashes. The fact that they all got killed fairly early on made this whole approach ever more pointless. I have to admit that, when the movie finally focused on Milla Jovovich and Tony Jaa, it was still not great but, at least, it was watchable. I did like that they were never able to really communicate since they didn’t speak the same language. Unfortunately, this decent duo was ruined as, for the final act, they then brought back Tony Jaa’s team who were just as underwhelming as the US soldiers at the beginning (they tried to explain why they let him rot in this forsaken desert but it was hardly convincing). Of course, one of them played by Ron Perlman somehow spoke English better than I do so they could easily explain everything to Jovovich’s character and the viewers which finally ruined any shred of (slightly) interesting mystery left about this strange world. Even though they hoped to launch another franchise like they did with ‘Resident Evil’, this movie was a flop so the idea was dropped but I don’t think we will miss anything. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse, the damned thing was pretty lame and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

I already saw this movie but, since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, I have to admit that, except for a few notorious bits, I didn’t remember it at all. The cool thing was that, since then, I had seen many vintage experimental shorts, some actually much more wild than this movie so this rewatch was a completely different experience. To be honest, the first time around, I had no idea how to handle this movie and I was rather bewildered through the whole duration (it is still a challenging movie though). With this rewatch, I was actually surprised by how fairly straightforward it was, at least, during the first scenes. It was also neat to recognize Luis Buñuel in the first scene, something I obviously didn’t pick when I first saw it (Salvador Dalí was also there somewhere apparently but I didn't spot him both times I saw this movie). Anyway, at some point, it did become obviously really strange though and, to be honest, I’m not sure if I’m a huge fan of such surreal experimental filmmaking but it was bold, that’s for sure. No matter, it is still probably the most famous surrealist movie ever made and it was quite intriguing. Indeed, the combination of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali sounded awesome on paper, these guys didn’t disappoint and they definitely delivered one of the weirdest movies ever made. It is interesting that Buñuel’s career really flourished afterwards as he became arguably one of the greatest masters in this Art but you might wonder if Dali really cherished the experience since he wouldn’t be really involved in any other movie afterwards. In fact, they were supposed to work together again on ‘L’âge d’or’ but they had apparently a major falling out so Buñuel took care of it on his own. Anyway, even though the damned thing might not be an easy watch, it is a classic and pretty much a must-see for any decent movie buff.

Since this movie had been very well received, I was quite eager to check it out. The funny thing was that I ended up watching it with my brother while he was visiting me. Sure, technically, the two characters were not brothers, they were cousins, but they were practically acting like brothers. Furthermore, my brother and I are half-French, half-Dutch, him living in France and me living in the Netherlands so our complex roots is a big part of our identity, at least, it’s definitely for me, so what these two guys were going through really intrigued me. Concerning Jesse Eisenberg, this movie was indeed quite an impressive step-up as a director. His first movie. ‘When You Finish Saving the World’, was a solid drama but there was some stuff didn’t really work. Here, he basically focused once again on only two characters which seemed to be his specialty somehow but it worked so much better though. Above all, these two guys were just so complex and fascinating, right now, that’s where Eseinberg’s talent as a storyteller can be found. Of course, the one who stole the show here was Kieran Culkin who even won an Academy Award for his performance. And, indeed, Culkin, who once started in the shadow of his super famous brother Macauley, had become quite a strong actor and he was quite spellbinding here, delivering the most charming and obnoxious guy in the world (how is it even possible?). I actually finished ‘Succession’ recently, which was really brilliant, even better than this movie as a matter of fact, and, to be honest, I did feel that the two characters played by Culkin were actually slightly too similar but it was a minor grip though. Still, I could see so much possibility and also so much pain in Benji, it was rather heartbreaking. If you would put him side by side with what his grandmother went though and still managed to achieve, it made him actually even sadder and even more pathetic. Obviously, Eisenberg didn’t end up with the juicy role (he actually contemplated playing Benji at some point) but he should be praised as well though. Indeed, even though David did have a steady job and a seemingly lovely family (the one and probably only thing which really seemed to bring him happiness), like Benji, he still seemed to be a major loser though with so massive anxiety and some major difficulties to connect with other people. Above all, his constant fascination and resentment towards Benji was so well handled and once again quite fascinating to behold. Basically, Eisenberg delivered here some massive losers barely capable to function in this cold hard world but they were both so complex and so interesting, it was some very strong stuff. It’s too bad that the movie eventually didn’t have much else to offer and, especially the other characters were barely developed at all. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn’t a real home-run yet, Eisenberg is definitely getting closer though and the damned thing was actually quite fascinating.

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but, since it was starring Vanessa Hudgens and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the damned thing was a mess, that’s for sure. First of all, the title didn’t make any sense. Indeed, the character played by Evelyne Brochu was not French at all, she was Canadian, from Quebec, to be more specific. I was then really surprised to discover during the end credits that it was actually a Canadian production since I would have expected something like this from a Hollywood production. So, basically, it was a Canadian movie about a Canadian woman, with only Canadian relatives, living in New York and, yet, it was called ‘French Girl’? Once again, speaking French doesn’t make you French, otherwise, I guess that Zach Braff’s character was English then? Then, the movie itself was a weird mix of some Quebec comedy (which was actually almost not bad) with a classic Hollywood romantic-comedy (which was super generic) and this mix was odd at best. Indeed, through most of the duration, Zach Braff’s character was talking in English while the Canadian characters were talking in French and, yet, everybody seemed to understand each other which was just weird. It felt like watching ‘Meet the Parents’ except that it was taking place in a foreign country which was supposed to be hilarious which was obviously not the case at all. Concerning Vanessa Hudgens, she was just lovely as usual but she played the most arrogant smug character I have seen in a very long time. Above all, it was hardly believable that such an overachiever would go that far just to get an old flame back. Seriously, try to imagine as if the conclusion of ‘The Bear’ was that Carmen Berzatto would have gone through all this trouble just to get back his ex-girlfriend who was actually in love with someone else. The whole subplot about the family farm being in jeopardy was also so tedious. In fact, Zach Braff and Evelyne Brochu had a decent chemistry together and they actually made a sweet couple but the whole setup would have (slightly) worked better if he, at least, tried to speak French with her family. I shouldn’t forget to mention how he pretty much violated the corpse of their old grandmother in order to get some old ring. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was rather harmless, it was still pretty lame and I don’t think it is worth a look.