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CollectionsTo be honest, even if āNow You See Meā was not bad, I didnāt think it really required a sequel but since it had been fairly successful at the box-office, I guess it was inevitable. First of all, it was rather disappointing that Isla Fisherās character completely disappeared but, apparently, Fisher got pregnant and I have to admit that Lizzy Caplan was actually a decent replacement. Anyway, coming back to the movie itself, well, at least, it wasnāt worse than its predecessor but it wasnāt really an improvement either. Basically, the major mistake they made with this franchise was that even though it was based on illusions, in contrary to āThe Prestigeā which remains the best in the movie in this genre, the illusions displayed in this movie were just really over the top and, above all, they looked so fake. Another thing was that, even though it was just so cool that they hired Daniel Radcliffe, his character unfortunately turned out to be rather disappointing. I mean, sure, I got the joke when Walter Mabry said that he played around with magic while he was at school but lost interest but, seriously, whatās the point to have Radcliffe being involved in a movie about magicians without him playing an evil magician as well? At least, the cast was really good and they seemed to have some fun but, to be honest, I really struggled to care about the damned thing. Still, I guess it might be worth a look if you really enjoyed the previous instalment.Ā
An average movie
Posted : 6 years ago on 4 March 2019 10:08
(A review of Now You See Me 2)
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A good movie
Posted : 6 years ago on 3 March 2019 08:48
(A review of Climax)Since I have always been interested in Gaspar NoƩ's work, I was quite eager to check his last directing effort. Pretty much like some other directors like Michael Haneke or Lars Von Trier, NoƩ is a rather challenging director always delivering some really dark movies so I was ready to see again something hardcore and possibly even rather unpleasant. Eventually, it turned out to be provably his most accessible movie so far but, be warned, it was still far from being a feelgood flick though. Still, even though I really liked the concept, I think it could have been better developed though. Indeed, the first part with all these amazing dancing scenes was just really powerful and I was hoping that, when they would start drinking their LSD laced sangria, they would have some kind of burst of creativity and land in some fantastic world. In fact, to be honest, since it was directed by Gaspar NoƩ, I was expecting the whole thing to turn into some kind of explixit orgy at some point but there was after all eventually very little sex and mostly off screen. Instead, NoƩ decided that all the characters involved should have some kind of massive bad trip so the whole thing basically turned into a long and slow nightmare. I mean, it was not bad and well done and actually rather expected from this director but it was unfortunately never really spellbinding. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its limitations, it was another visceral experience coming from this director and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Gaspar NoƩ's work.
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A good movie
Posted : 6 years ago on 2 March 2019 08:26
(A review of To Stay Alive: A Method)To be honest, it is a really obscure flick, in fact, I had actually never heard of it and I ended up watching the damned thing because my sister had given me this DVD as a gift. Well, at least, it was definitely something original and it is rather tricky to describe it. Indeed, it is not really a documentary and I think the best way to describe it would be to call it an auditive poem on how to become/to be an artist. I first wanted to call it a visual poem but it wouldn't have been accurate since nothing really noteworthy occurred visually speaking but it was above all about what the people involved had to tell us. To be honest, I wish they focused only on Iggy Pop and Michel Houellebecq as they were much more interesting and charismatic than the 3 other obscure artists. Of course, I get that their addition was to show that being an artist has nothing to do with being famous but I just didn't care enough about what they had to say. I also thought it was rather anticlimactic to show Iggy Pop driving a very expensive car (was it a Rolls Royce?). Sure, maybe it wasn't his car at all but I think it vastly contradicted what they said through the whole thing. Eventually, even if he had been through all this sh*t through his whole life and career, at the end, he still managed to reach some material comfort or even some luxury. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn't always fascinating, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in experimental movies.Ā
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years ago on 1 March 2019 07:33
(A review of The Purge: Anarchy)Even though I wasn't exactly blown away by 'The Purge', since this sequel seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, first of all, I want to point out a major flaw in this concept. Indeed, it is rather ridiculous to believe that crime would drastically drop if people were allowed to do whatever they want during one night. Indeed, for example, a murder is very often an impulsive act and a thief would rather operate some other night when not everything is in complete lockdown. So, the concept is rather ridiculous but it doesn't mean that it can't be entertaining and I have to admit that this sequel was an improvement on its predecessor. Indeed, this time, we finally got to see the Purge going on in the streets which was something seriously lacking in the previous movie. Then, I also enjoyed the fact that they started with various storylines but I would have preferred that they kept these storylines separated. Another issue was that none of these characters was interesting or charismatic enough. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of the fact that I still believe that it is a rather half-baked concept, I have to admit that it was a decent watch and it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 6 years ago on 24 February 2019 12:40
(A review of Some Velvet Morning)It seemed to be a rather obscure flick but since it was directed by Neil LaBute, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be a nice surprise and, to be honest, it has been a while since LaBute had delivered something interesting like this, in fact, everything else he had made during the last 15 years was actually rather disappointing so this little movie was a neat return to form for this director. First of all, I always had a weak spot for such minimalist features involving only a few actors (in this case, only 2) and just one location. Of course, to make it work, you need some really strong actors and you need some really snappy dialoguesĀ but in both areas, I was more than satisfied. Indeed, Stanley Tucci and Alice Eve were fine here and LaBute wrote some nice exchanges between the 2 characters. There was one detail that bothered me though, it was the fact that Velvet's place didn't felt lived in at all and there was no way that even a high-end call-girl like her could afford a place like this on her own. However, it turned ot to be explained by the twist at the end. Usually, I don't really care about such twists because it means that everything you have seen was just fake which means, as a viewer, you have pretty much wasted your time investing in characters and relationships which were in fact completely bogus but, in this case, it did work. Indeed, it explained why it didn't add up that Velvet was living in this place but it didn't ruin the relantionship between the 2 characters and, in fact, it gave this relationship some extra meaning. Anyway, to conclude, even though the damned thing was nothing really groundbreaking, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Neil LaBute's work.Ā
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years ago on 24 February 2019 08:21
(A review of The Warrior's Way)I already saw this movie but, for some unknown reasons even to me, I decided to watch it again. Basically, the first time around, the main reason why I was interested in this movie was because I have a weak spot for Kate Bosworth and Geoffrey Rush. Anyway, the second time around, since I didnāt remember anything about it, I thought I must have seen it at least 10 years ago but I was surprised to discover that I saw it only 3 years ago. I guess the best explanation is that the damned thing was/is just so damned boring and completely forgettable. The most hilarious thing is that I have seen this movie twice by now and, both times, I actually really struggled not to fall asleep during the damned thing. Concerning the concept, I have actually nothing against mixing the martial-arts genre with the Western genre but I don't think it was as original as the makers tried to convince the viewers. Basically, the story was just terribly generic and predictable. Then, the other thing that bothered me was how fake the whole thing looked. I mean, I do have to admit that some of the scenes were visually neat but it was pretty obvious that most of the movie was shot with some blue screens and the end-result was far from being convincing. Maybe it would have worked better if they had tried a more realistic and grittier approach instead of such a weak CGI environment. Eventually, the only interesting thing for me was that Kate Bosworth's character did fall in love with the Asian main character which I honestly didn't expect but even this aspect was barely developed since they kissed only once. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was rather weak and I don't think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of this kind of mashups.Ā
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A classic
Posted : 6 years ago on 22 February 2019 09:13
(A review of A Matter of Life and Death (1946))Since this movie has a really good reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, I have to confess that I was actually really tired even before I started to watch the damned thing and I actually struggled not to fall asleep through most of the duration. Itās too bad because it was actually pretty good, in fact, it was easily one of the best movies I have seen so far directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and I guess I should check it again at some point in the future. Anyway, it was probably their most ambitious and most surreal picture, some kind of surreal romantic take on the PTSD syndrom. That was probably the most interesting thing about this flick the fact you can watch it as something quite literal but also as something quite metaphorical but, on both levels, it actually worked fine. Furthermore, it was visually really striking and they definitely went all the way to deliver something really original, especially for the time period. Eventually, the only critic I might have was that since the concept was pretty far-out, the characters were barely developed but maybe thatās what the material needed. Anyway, the cast involved still delivered some solid performances. To conclude, it turned out to be a really original feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Ā
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A good movie
Posted : 6 years ago on 20 February 2019 11:17
(A review of Alita: Battle Angel)For how long have I been waiting to see this movie? 10 years? 15 years? Indeed, when I was kid, I bought the comic-books with my brother, I really loved them, and when I heard that James Cameron would adapt them, it sounded really awesome. However, somehow, the guy got completely obsessed with 'Avatar' and it seemed that this project would be stuck in production hell forever. Fortunately, Robert Rodriguez came on board and even if he wouldn't have been my first choice as a director, I still wanted to check the damned thing, in spite of the negative hype it received even before it was released. Well, eventually, I have to admit it, it didn't turn out to be a masterpiece, but it was far from being a failure either and I enjoyed most of it. Indeed, even though it felt rather derivative by now, the world created was interesting enough and visually quite impressive but I wouldn't expect less from Cameron. Above all, they completely nailed the main character. Indeed, that was probably what bothered me the most with the recent US adaptation of 'Ghost in the Shell', not the fact that Scarlet Johansson might have been miscast, but the fact that they completely ruined the Major as a character. With this movie, however, Alita was just as fascinating as she was in the comic-book. Not only the way she looked worked very well (the controversy about her big eyes turned out to be completely unjustified after all) but, above all, she was just so charismatic, complex, and completely faithfull to the comic-book. As pointed out by other critics, she should be remembered as one of the best CGI animated characters ever created alongside Gollum and Caesar. The rest of the cast was also fine, except for the kid who played Hugo who was rather weak and unconvincing. Concerning the story itself, it's a shame that they tried to adapt the first 4 comic-books as it turned out to be just too much material for 2 hours of running time. In fact, I believe that it would have worked better as a TV-show. As a result, everything was rushed and barely developed. For example, it was really cool that Alita became a bounty-hunter but, eventually, she didn't do any bounty-hunting at all. In my opinion, they should have spent most of the running time on this and keep the motorball for a possible sequel. However since the motorball is something quite iconic with this character, it was expected that they would bring it already but it should have had much more impact. I mean, right in the middle of her first and only game, she suddenly ran off to help her boyfriend which felt just so anticlimactic. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of it flaws, I still think it was a rather faithtfull adaptation and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you have been a long time fan of the comic-book like me.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years ago on 19 February 2019 11:57
(A review of Serena)Even though this movie was a big critical and commercial flop when it was released, since I have a weak spot for Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even if it didnāt turn out to be a complete failure, it wasnāt really far from it, Iām afraid. I mean, it might have been interesting on paper but pretty much nothing really worked with this flick. First of all, even though Lawrence and Cooper are some of the most interesting actors at work nowadays, they were actually both pretty weak here and not convincing at all. It didnāt help that their characters were never really fascinating or entertaining at all. Susanne Bier was also an interesting choice and, even though her first English speaking feature (āThings We Lost in the Fireā) was decent enough, this time around, she never seemed to be able to properly handle this material. I mean, sure, the whole thing was pretty to look at, the time period was fairly well displayed but her directing felt completely flat. Apparently, Darren Aronofsky was attached to this project and you might wonder what he could have done with this material. On the other hand, even though this story was probably supposed to be some kind of epic doomed romantic tale, it felt rather derivative and it just never grabbed me. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, the damned thing was really weak and I donāt think it is really worth a look.Ā
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A good movie
Posted : 6 years ago on 17 February 2019 05:28
(A review of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part)Since I really enjoyed 'The Lego Movie', I thought I might as well check out this sequel. Well, to be honest, it took me a very long time this time around to get into the damned thing. Indeed, during the first half, the very same concept that I enjoyed some much the first time around started here to get on my nerves. Sure, when it was new and original, it was really fun but it seemed now so random and even slightly obnoxious. Fortunately, at last during the final act, the whole thing started to make more sense and it became finally entertaining. It seemed that they lifted a lot of their ideas from the 'Toy Story' franchise but they could have used some worst inspiration. Anyway, I really liked how they managed to bring the little sister into the mix and the typical brother-sister rivalry was very well handled. Still, it took them such a long time to finally get there and everything else happening before was only barely entertaining. Eventually, I wonder how they will manage to bring something new and interesting after that. Anyway, to conclude, even though I think they have pretty much exhausted the potential of this franchise, it was still a decent sequel and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Ā
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