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Posted : 6 years, 3 months ago on 22 July 2018 08:12
(A review of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a really nice cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. On top of that, it was definitely one of the best titles ever conceived for a movie. First of all, even though I had seen already 3 other movies directed by Dito Montiel ('Fighting', 'The Son of No One' and 'Empire State'), I actually had no idea that the guy was actually first a successful writer (in fact, before that, he was also a musician and even a model at some point). Well, even though the whole thing was nothing original, it was still a really solid biographical drama and easily by far the best movie delivered by Montiel so far. Indeed, he managed to create some interesting characters who felt really genuine and he also succeeded in getting some pretty intense performances from the whole cast, especially with Shia LaBeouf and Channing Tatum. I also did appreciate the fact that, even though these characters would often get in trouble, they were not necessarily some criminals which was rather refreshing. Still, with Montiel writing the book, the screenplay, directing the movie and having no less than 2 actors playing him, the whole thing still felt slightly like an ego-trip, especially with such a title. Another small detail that slightly bothered me was the fact that Robert Downey Jr., Eric Roberts and Rosario Dawson were all supposed to play characters around the same age when Roberts must be about twice older than Dawson. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really groundbreaking, I really enjoyed this flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 20 July 2018 10:08
(A review of Alice)I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago, I thought I might as well check it out again. To be honest, it didn't really impress the fist time around and, even after rewatching the damned thing, I still think it is one of the weaker movies delivered by Woody Allen. First of all, it really had a hard time to care about this boring spoiled rich woman who was apparently going through some kind of middle-life crisis. Furthermore, every time Allen tries to mix his usual comedic style with some fantastic elements, his movies usually looses their sharp edge. As a result, they become just too whimsical and this movie was a perfect example. A least, Mia Farrow, who was basically playing the typical neurotic characters usually played by Woody Allen himself, delivered a solid performance, in spite of how shallow her character actually was. Even though the rest of of the cast was interesting, their characters were in fact even less developed and, therefore, they were all rather tedious. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was definitely a minor effort from Woody Allen, I have to admit that it was still watchable and it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 19 July 2018 09:07
(A review of Trolls)To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I have seen all the previous productions from DreamWorks Animation, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, is it me or are the concepts developed by DA becoming only more and more lame? Seriously, to make a movie about these dolls was just a terrible idea and, yet, it was still apparently quite successful at the box-office. Anyway, I still didn't care much for the damned thing. I mean, except for their goofy hair, the characters didn't even really look like the dolls but, at least, I have to admit that the animation was not bad and some of the other characters were actually pretty neat. Another thing that bothered me was that, except for one new hit song from Justin Timberlake, they only recycled some old hits which was rather lazy in my opinion. Finally, the biggest problem with this flick was probably that the story was just so derivative and boring. Anyway, to conclude, you might argue that I was not exactly the target audience for this movie but I would rather watch anything else from Pixar with my kids, even one of their recent sequels, because I'm sure that we would all have a great time.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 18 July 2018 09:13
(A review of Ant-Man and the Wasp)I already saw this movie but since I just bought a brand new awesome TV, I was quite eager to check it out again. I actually recently rewatched 'Ant-Man' as well and, to be honest, even though I really loved the damned thing the first time around, it wasn’t as good as I remembered. Well, I'm afraid this sequel will probably go down as one of the most forgettable installments in the mighty MCU. Indeed, basically, half of it was not bad but the other half was only decent at best. For example, it was a great idea to expand the characters of Hope van Dyne and Hank Pym but, as a result, Scott Lang was pretty much reduced to a supporting character in his own franchise. I had also some issues with the plot. Indeed, it was really neat that, following the events of the previous installment, they would try to rescue Janet van Dyne but, unfortunately, they had to add some villains somehow and they were both rather underwhelming. Sure, Ghost was a cool character but her motivations were rather weak and it was pretty obvious that, if she would have simply asked, they would have helped her so this conflict was rather bogus. As for the other villain, Walton Goggins's character was even less interesting as he was basically a walking cliché. Eventually, after the massive hits of 'Black Panther' and 'Avengers: Infinity War', it seems that Marvel decided to take it easy with their last movie released in 2018 but who could blame them? To make things worse, the second time around, this movie was even less impressive and it seems that my rating was too generous for this movie the first time around. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was visually pretty neat with some solid action scenes and it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre but, like everyone else, I’m now convinced it is one of the weaker MCU instalments.
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A very good movie
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 17 July 2018 09:57
(A review of Short Term 12)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Brie Larson, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, I was seriously impressed by the damned thing and I'm not surprised that it gave Larson's deserved breakthrough. The first thing I enjoyed was the fact they didn't give a tedious introduction to make sure that the viewers understood what was going on. Sure, Rami Malek was playing a new employee on his first day so they gave him a few tips, obviously, to still informed somehow the viewers but, fortunately, they didn't focus too much on his character. Anyway, the way they presented this foster-care facility felt so realitisc and, very often, it felt like watching a fascinating documentary. I have to admit that I did struggle a little bit with how much time they spent on the private life of the co-workers and, to be honest, I don't think that someone with so much personal baggage like the main character was actually really suited for this kind of job. On the other hand, it was really interesting to see someone so damaged who has decided to help such kids in need until she got to the point that she couldn't handle anymore the pressure because her work reminded her that she should also face her own demons. Anyway, to conclude, it was a very strong and realistic drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A bad movie
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 15 July 2018 09:37
(A review of Lucky Trouble)To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Milla Jovovich, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though it was pretty neat to see her in a Russian movie for once, the damned thing turned out to be pretty terrible, I'm afraid. Basically, it was some kind of awful mix with some romantic-comedy, some sport elements and a family feature. Concerning the rom-com aspect, it was rather cringe-inducing as Jovovich and the lead actor didn't have some chemistry whatsoever, without mentioning the fact the guy spent the whole duration giving her some big fat lies. But, then, the movie focused mostly on the main character getting involved in some completely convoluted and ludicrous plot around a junior football tournament and then Jovovich was pretty much stuck the whole thing waiting for her fiancee to show up at their wedding (hopefully, I hoped she got a big fat check because it was obvious that it was the whole point for her). Concerning the rest of the movie, it was never funny or entertaining and it was rather awkward to see this 'trainer' pretty much abusing these kids to make sure that they would loose. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was just terribly and you should pretty much avoid it.
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A good movie
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 15 July 2018 02:38
(A review of The Death of Stalin)Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I was really eager to check it out. Well, eventually, I really enjoyed the damned thing and it turned out to be one of the most hilarious movies I have seen so far with my film club. Indeed, it has been years since I have seen such a sharp dark comedy and the jokes were just constantly spot-on. What also made this movie worked was the fact that it was based on some historical events and, through the whole thing, you keep wondering if it all really happened this way. Well, as a matter if fact, it was apparently historically fairly accurate as, for example, Beria was indeed a real notorious sexual predator and Vasili Stalin was such an alcoholic that he died at only 40 years old. Still, even though it was really funny and it gave a chilling vision of the Soviet Union history, it was pretty much a big farce but not much more than that in my opinion. In my opinion, it mostly had to do with the fact that they never focused on one character so none of them was really developed. The best example would be the pianist who showed up for only 2 or 3 scenes to constantly say that she hates Stalin. As a result, almost all the characters were limited as one-note jokes and you never get the opportunity to learn or care about them. Still, the damned thing was just so entertaining and it has been a while since I have seen such a fun dark comedy so it is definitely worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 14 July 2018 08:03
(A review of The Sicilian)Even though this movie has a rather lame reputation, since it was the last movie directed by Michael Cimino that I haven't seen so far, I still wanted to check it out. The first weird thing about this movie was that, in spite of its title and the fact that it was adapted from a book written by Mario Puzzo, it was actually not about a member of the Mafia but about some of kind of Robin Hood character. Well, even though the whole thing had some potential, it still turned out to be pretty weak. Basically, pretty much like 'Heaven's Gate' which was one of the most notorious flops in Hollywood's history, Cimino delivered here another bloated epic which never really worked. I mean, there was a couple of scenes that were actually pretty neat but most of it was just neither really interesting or entertaining. One of the biggest mistakes they made was also to give the lead to Christopher Lambert. I mean, sure, I have to admit that he did look good but the guy has always been a rather weak actor and he gave here another poor performance. As a result, I never really cared for this character who was supposed to be fascinating. Anyway, to conclude, it was easily Michael Cimino's weakest movie and I don't think it is really worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 12 July 2018 08:46
(A review of Ice Age: Collision Course)To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but I have seen all the previous installments in this franchise, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I always had a weak spot for 'Ice Age'. Indeed, it was a nice little animated feature and it mostly worked because it didn't pretend or have the ambition to be something else and the concept worked fine but, in my opinion, it was something too limited to be really expanded. Surprisingly, Blue Sky still managed to turn it into a hugely successful franchise but the sequels all turned out to be rather weak and this last installment was easily the weakest of the bunch. Indeed, by now, the makers were seriously running out of ideas so they gave an even more preposterous storyline than usual. As a result, you end up with Scrap, still by far their best character, going into space with a spaceship which was more ridiculous than actually entertaining. Another issue with this franchise is that they keep adding so many characters, most of them barely interesting or fun, and by now the whole thing has become just so over-crowded. To conclude, the whole thing was actually pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of this franchise.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years, 4 months ago on 11 July 2018 09:11
(A review of Walk of Shame)To be honest, since this movie has a rather lame reputation, I wasn't expecting much but since I have a weak spot for Elizabeth Banks, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, unfortunately, it turned out to be indeed pretty embarrassing, especially for Banks. I mean, she is actually a really solid actress and, after playing so many supporting characters though her whole career, she was finally getting the opportunity to play the lead for once but it's such a shame that she chose such a lame project. Seriously, the concept was pretty weak and except for the fact that Banks looked quite gorgeous as usual, this flick didn't have anything else to offer. Basically, the whole idea was about her walking around LA in a slutty dress and being called a hooker. I mean, how did she come to the conclusion that the end-result would be hilarious? She probably thought that since it was a R rated comedy, it would be a sure hit but she was seriously mistaken. At least, James Marsden was not bad and they had a nice chemistry together but since they spent maybe 10 minutes together, it didn't have much impact. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was a waste of time and you should probably avoid it.
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