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All reviews - Movies (7779) - TV Shows (10)

An average movie

Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 30 June 2020 12:35 (A review of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie)

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the damned thing but since it was produced by DreamWorks Animation, I thought I might as well check it out. Indeed, since this movie had been more or less a flop at the box-office and, with such a seemingly lame title, I was pretty sure it would be really weak. However, I have to admit that I was actually rather pleasantly surprised. Sure, it still didn’t reach the level of the most average Pixar productions but, at least, it was miles better than the abysmal ‘The Boss Baby’ also released in 2017 by DreamWorks Animation. Basically, it turned out to be a really daft animated comedy and its whacky humour actually worked fine. I also enjoyed George and Harold, above all they had such a good chemistry together and their relationship was pretty neat.  Concerning the story itself, even though the way Mr. Krupps suddenly became Captain Underpants was pretty cool, they did struggle to further develop the story from this point though. Indeed, even though this transformation was pretty cool and unexpected, it also turned out to be terribly unpractical, something which was pointed out by the main characters almost right from the moment it happened. Basically, it was funny for 2 minutes but, to build up the whole plot around this idea was a little bit too much. Furthermore, from the moment that Captain Underpants basically came to life, the whole thing became increasingly messy and chaotic but it was also definitely part of its charms. Anyway, to conclude, even if I had some really low expectations, I have to admit that it turned out to be a decent watch after all and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 



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A good movie

Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 28 June 2020 09:44 (A review of My Queen Karo)

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Matthias Schoenaerts, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I have always been interested in alternative lifestyles, it was the first movie I saw dealing with the squatters in Amsterdam and only therefore I thought the damned thing was pretty neat. However, I didn't like much the idea of telling this story from the point of a view of a child. However, in this case, it was based on the childhood of the director so you might argue that she knew what she was talking about. Still, in my opinion, it is usually a misguided approach because the whole thing is always written by an adult pretending that they know exactly how a child would act in such a situation when it is usually based on preconceived assumptions. Anyway, if you would believe this movie, such a commune was definitely not the best place to raise a child, not only for the lack of rules or security but, above all, because it might be so terribly confusing. On the other hand, it seems that her parents, Raven and Dalia, didn't really know what they were getting into and, pretty much right from the start, they were not on the same line. Anyway, instead of spending more time on them which would have been much more interesting, they spent most of the duration on Karo but the only thing we really learned about this young girl, after all, was that she was struggling a lot in this environment which turned out to be some kind of experiment doomed to fail in our capitalist society. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't completely work, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject. 


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An average movie

Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 28 June 2020 06:46 (A review of Red Lights)

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since there was a really solid cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, it turned out to be rather difficult to judge this movie. I mean, sure, at least half of it was pretty much some garbage. However, there were some bits here and there that were actually not bad at all. For example, the scene during which they unmask Leonard Palladino was pretty neat and if they would have given the same focus on the rest of the movie, it could have actually worked. The characters had also some potential. For example, Elizabeth Olsen, whose character was included only to make sure that Tom Buckley could get laid, managed to do quite a lot with a really thankless part. Still, I think it was a mistake to kill off Sigourney Weaver's character half way through,  afterwards, the whole thing became even more sloppy than it already was. Finally, the ending was also really baffling. I mean, it was pretty obvious that Simon Silver was a fraud and the fact that he wasn't even blind was also hardly surprising. However, what was more surprising was the fact that, at the very last minute, they gave Tom Buckley some paranormal powers. Seriously, it came really out of nowhere and displayed once again how sloppy the whole thing was. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of a nice cast, they couldn't redeem this rather trashy material and I don't think it is really worth a look.


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A good movie

Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 27 June 2020 07:14 (A review of The Gambler)

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, for Rupert Wyatt, this movie was such a weird career move. I mean, back in 2011, he had managed to relaunch the Planet of the Apes franchise with 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' which had been a big commercial and critical success. However, he declined to direct the next installment because, apparently, he felt he didn't have enough time to reach the release date. Instead, he decided to direct this rather obscure remake of another obscure movie from the 70's which would be eventually released also in 2014, the exact same year 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' came out... Anyway, after all, this movie didn't get much love when it was released but I have to admit that I always had a weak spot for movies dealing with gambling degenerates. In this case, even if the story was rather generic and predictable, I really liked the tone though and the main character was maybe not fascinating but still interesting enough. It was also neat to see Mark Wahlberg finally doing something else than his usual action flicks or comedies. On top of that, he did deliver a solid performance, even though it is always hard to swallow it when he is playing some supposedly super smart character but I have to admit that, this time, he almost convinced me. Concerning the rest of the cast, they were all fine, except for Brie Larson. I mean, she wasn't bad at all but her character was rather thankless and seriously underdeveloped. In fact, from all the characters, she was the only me who didn't make much sense and, basically, she was there just to make sure that the main character would have a (completely random) love interest. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was nothing really groundbreaking, I thought it was still fairly entertaining and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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A bad movie

Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 26 June 2020 09:16 (A review of The Last Days of American Crime)

After this movie had received to some really bad reviews, I didn’t expect much from the damned thing but, since it was on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I think there was in fact a couple of good ideas but most of it was just terribly average at best and some of it was some total garbage. Eventually, the most bewildering thing was why such a generic action flick required a whopping running time of 150 mins?!? Seriously, it was as if they forgot to actually edit the damned thing and put every single shot in the actual movie. As a result, they did end up with a whole bunch of scenes going on for way too long with no actual purpose whatsoever. At least, they could have given us plenty of interesting or fun characters, after all, there was apparently plenty of time for that but, no, there were only 3 characters who were not even developed at all. I almost forgot that there was in fact a 4th character played by Sharlto Copley but his sub-plot was so half-baked and completely useless, I wonder why he was even there at all. Seriously, who was this guy and what did he have to do with the rest of the story? It’s too bad because the concept was not bad, at least, it was not much worse than the concept developed in ‘The Purge’  and this movie did manage to spawn several sequels. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse, the damned thing was pretty bad and you should pretty much avoid it. 



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A good movie

Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 25 June 2020 01:22 (A review of Always Be My Maybe)

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. There has been recently a resurgence of the romantic-comedy genre on Netflix but this movie was easily the best one I have this so far in this genre on the streaming platform. Indeed, even if the story was nothing really ground-breaking, the main characters were so well written, they were some really convincing and relatable fully-fledged human-beings. Furthermore, Ali Wong and Randall Park were both charismatic and had some great chemistry together. Eventually, the only thing that didn’t really work for me was that some of the supporting characters were rather weak. Seriously, Keanu Reeves and Jenny were just so annoying. Of course, it was done on purpose but I never thought that they were entertaining. Furthermore, Sasha Tran seemed to be such a strong and smart woman, it was rather hard to believe that she would start a relationship with such a massive douche-bag like Reeves (as portrayed in the movie, not in real life) or a long term relationship with Brandon who was not much better. Anyway, as long as the movie was focusing on Sasha and Markus, it was however pretty much pitch-perfect though. Indeed, the way they met, how they connected as kids, the awkwardness when they were teenagers, how they fell apart and how they got together… Everything was believable and entertaining to behold. Finally, during the last act, in the romantic-comedy genre, there is always some kind of conflict during which the main couple gets separated but it is usually pretty lame and bogus. Not here though, the reason why Sasha and Markus might not make it as a couple after all was quite realistic. Of course, it was pretty obvious that they would still end up together but their journey was still quite compelling. Anyway, to conclude, even it didn’t revolutionize the genre, I really enjoyed this romantic-comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 



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An average movie

Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 24 June 2020 09:24 (A review of The Incredible Burt Wonderstone)

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, even if the damned thing had some potential, it turned out to be rather weak, I’m afraid. The first issue was that, even if the opening scene with these 2 boys becoming best friends after discovering they both love magic tricks was promising, within 5 minutes, it was pretty much ruined by the fact that, as adults, they couldn't stand each other anymore. From this point on, Burt Wonderstone became just so lame and annoying. To make things worse, during the 3rd act, they completely flipped around again this character as he suddenly became aware that he had been a major douchebag for so many years. Basically, his personality kept changing drastically any time it was needed to move on the plot. Concerning the rest of the characters, it was not much better, I’m afraid. For example, it was sad to see the lovely and talented Olivia Wilde playing such a thankless and eventually rather boring character. Concerning Steve Buscemi, Jim Carrey and James Gandolfini, their characters were slightly more interesting and/or fun but they were not developed enough. Eventually, the only one who managed to be entertaining was Alan Arkin. To be honest, Arkin did deliver his usual no-nonsense performance he gives in pretty much all his movies but, in the contrary of the rest of the cast, he did manage to find the right tone. Indeed, he was the only one who seemed to be an actual person and not some kind of annoying heightened caricature. Anyway, to conclude, even if I have seen worse, I didn’t care much about the damned thing and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 



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An average movie

Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 23 June 2020 10:09 (A review of The Nun)

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but, since I did like ‘The Conjuring’ franchise, I thought I might as well check this spin-off/prequel. Last week, I actually saw ‘Annabelle’, the first spin-off based on ‘The Conjuring’ and, to be honest, I had a really hard time to care about the damned thing. With this in mind, I seriously lowered my expectations with this flick, especially since it didn’t seem to have a stellar reputation. Well, eventually, I thought it was not so bad after all, at least, it was much better than ‘Annabelle’. In my opinion, what mostly worked with this flick was the fact it was from the beginning until the end really creepy. Indeed, this movie had a really nice mood and this nun was a solid bad guy. Furthermore, Father Burke and Sister Irene were both some charismatic characters but, to be honest, even if these 2 characters were interesting, they were actually barely developed at all. I thought it was also a little bit confusing that Sister Irene was played by Taissa Farmiga who is actually Vera Farmiga’s sister. Indeed,  Vera Farmiga had played Lorraine Warren in ‘The Conjuring’ franchise and, since both characters had some visions as a kid in combination with the timeline, it seemed possible that Taissa was playing a younger version of Vera’s character but, obviously, these two characters were eventually not related whatsoever. A bigger issue was that, even though the story was at first pretty straightforward, unfortunately, it became increasingly messy. Seriously, towards the end, they were more and more scenes which barely made any sense. Anyway, to conclude, it is possible that my rating was actually generous here movie but it was actually fairly entertaining and I think it might be worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre. 



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A good movie

Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 22 June 2020 10:17 (A review of The End of the Tour)

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. First to all, I have to admit that I have never read ‘Infinite Jest’ and, to be honest, it felt rather weird to watch a movie about a writer without actually reading the book that started the whole thing (I had a similar experience with ‘Capote’ but I did read ‘In Cold Blood’ eventually). Well, this movie definitely made me feel even more guilty about the fact that I still haven’t read this American classic and, at least, it made me even more eager to read it at some point. Anyway, somehow, for some reason, I really got into this movie. I guess it did work because these guys never really talked about the book after all and focused more on Wallace himself and his new relationship with a journalist who happened to be a writer himself. Eventually, on one hand, you had David Lipsky who was obviously envious of Wallace’s huge success as a writer and, on the other hand, you had Wallace himself who was envious of pretty much everyone else as his success never helped him to become more adjusted to our world. Eventually, it was pretty neat to have such articulate characters talking to each other and I was above all impressed by Jason Segel. I mean, Jesse Eisenberg was not bad at all but he was basically playing another version of a character he had already done so many times before while Segel completely disappeared behind his character and, as a result, he delivered here the best performance of his career. Of course, I have no idea who David Foster Wallace was in real life but Segel made his character so complex, so fully fledged, so human, it was just quite spellbinding to behold. Anyway, to conclude, even thought the whole thing was nothing really ground-breaking, it was still an interesting watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Foster Wallace.



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An average movie

Posted : 4 years, 9 months ago on 21 June 2020 06:49 (A review of Chuck)

Since I have seen all the 'Rocky' movies, even the recent 'Creed' installments, I was quite eager to see this movie focusing on Chuck Wepner, the guy who was actually the inspiration for Rocky Balboa. Well, eventually, to be honest, it turned out to be a decent watch but not much more than that, I'm afraid. First of all, there was eventually even less boxing than in the actual 'Rocky' movie. To make things worse, in my opinion, his fight with Mohammed Ali felt rather anticlimatic. Basically, the guy didn't do much during this fight, excepting getting beat the sh*t out by Ali and surviving this ordeal for 15 rounds. Another mistake they made was to put too much focus on his relationship with his wife Phyliss played by the alway amazing Elisabeth Moss. In fact, his relationship with Linda turned out to be even more poorly developed. I guess, the bottom line is, was Chuck Wepner such a fascinating character after all? After watching this movie, I have some doubts and it seems that Sylvester Stallone had already managed to make the most out of this story. In fact, one point of this movie was to show that, even though Wepner became slightly famous thanks to 'Rocky', at the time, he didn't get a dime for it. However, you shouldn't forget that, back then, Stallone was himself a struggling actor with barely any money at all so he shouldn't be blamed. At least, the whole thing was well made, Liev Schreiber did deliver another solid performance and the guy was always convincing. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't really blow me away, it was still fairly entertaining and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 


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