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CollectionsAn average movie
Posted : 6 years, 7 months ago on 2 August 2018 09:21
(A review of Mission: Impossible - Fallout)Even though I have never been a huge fan of this franchise, since I kept hearing some really positive things about this movie (some critics even called it the best action flick released during the last 10 years), I was really eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, I thought it was eventually a decent installment but not much more than that and, as far as I'm concerned, 'Ghost Protocol' remains by far their best movie. I mean, sure, it was still quite entertaining but it just never blew me away. First of all, even though it was just so easy to figure out who was actually John Larke, the rest of the story was actually pretty murky and, sometimes, I was actually having a rather hard time to really follow the plot. Then, I think it was also a mistake to bring back Julia and Ilsa. Indeed, ever since she has been introduced in 'Mission: Impossible III', Julia has always been such a boring character that they keep bringing back every time they need to mess up Ethan Hunt's mojo. Concerning Ilsa, the only reason she was involved was because Rebecca Ferguson was so good in the previous installment but, in fact, her character was not necessary at all and could and probably should have been removed. In fact, I wish they brought back some other IMF agents like Paula Patton or Jeremy Renner or even some completely new agents instead of the same team again. Still, I have to admit that it was a lot of fun. Indeed, the realistic stunts were just amazing, so much better than the CGI overdose you get in other modern blockbusters. Furthermore, as Tom Cruise is getting older, he is getting closer to who Ethan Hunt was supposed to be from the very beginning and Cruise gave maybe here his best performance so far in this franchise. I also want to mention that Henry Cavill was completely badass in this movie and he also gave one of his best performances. Anyway, to conclude, even though I was slightly disappointed, it was still a solid action flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years, 7 months ago on 31 July 2018 09:35
(A review of Dark Places)I already saw this movie but, for some reasons, I wanted to check it out again, probably because I have a weak spot for Charlize Theron. Well, I have noticed that my review after watching the movie the first time around was rather harsh but I do think that it was actually an intriguing story. Unfortunately, there is no doubt that the whole thing was still a convoluted mess though. Indeed, you had some devil worshipping, a so-called 'Angel of Death', some alleged child molestation, a teen pregnancy and even a Kill Club. It's too bad because the concept of examining the life of a woman 30 years after her whole family was killed when she was just a child was such a great concept but the way they handled the main character turned out to be rather misguided after all though. I mean, we are supposed to believe that, of all people, this woman would suddenly become some kind of private detective, even solving this case, when she had no interest in this case whatsoever and when the only the reason she actually got involved was because she was given some money from a bunch of weirdos. Furthermore, I thought it was hard to believe that, after all these years, she didn't ever wonder if her older brother might have been actually innocent since she didn't see at all what happened and since she seemed to have had a pretty good relationship with him before this terrible tragedy happened. On the other hand, this woman was so traumatized by what happened, her whole life and mental state was completely screwed up afterwards so you could argue that she never could analyze rationally what happened. On top of that, I really believe that Charlize Theron gave here another solid performance. Anyway, to conclude, even if I still believe that the whole thing was a missed opportunity, I think it is actually worth a look, at least, if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years, 7 months ago on 29 July 2018 07:10
(A review of Justin and the Knights of Valour)I wasn't expecting much from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. First of all, I was surprised that it was actually a Spanish movie produced by Antonio Banderas but, even though it was an honourable attempt, to be honest, it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. I mean, I have to admit it, for a CGI animated feature produced in Europe, the animation was actually not bad at all but that was pretty much the only positive thing about this movie. Indeed, above all, the main issue was that the story was just so boring and generic and, to make things worse, the main character was even rather pathetic. Of course, I understand that the whole thing was basically about an average boy dreaming to become a knight but they could have chosen someone slightly more charismatic. Coming back to the story itself, as I said before, it was just really generic and most of it was pretty much lifted from some far superior movies. Furthermore, the whole message that you should rather have some knights instead of lawyers was rather misguided in my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, in the over-crowded market of the CGI animation, it was another rather weak effort and I don't think it is really worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years, 7 months ago on 27 July 2018 08:11
(A review of Welcome to the Punch (2013))I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for James McAvoy, I was quite eager to check it out. On top of that, the title did sound really cool. Well, the beginning was really promising with a kick-ass intro and I really enjoyed how they made this cop and this criminal follow their own investigation on the same murder case. However, if McAvoy managed to do a lot with his character, Mark Strong’s character felt eventually too limited. A bigger problem was that there were just too many supporting characters involved and, as a result, none of them was developed at all and they were all rather boring. Another huge mistake they made was that half way through the movie almost all the cops turned out to be corrupt. It was such a lame choice and, from this point, the whole thing seriously lost some steam and I kind of pretty much lost interest. To make things worse, the ending was even more tedious when, suddenly, it turned out that virtually all the characters were involved in some far-fetched conspiracy. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing really had some potential, it turned out to be actually poorly developed but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 6 years, 7 months ago on 22 July 2018 07:39
(A review of Jane Got a Gun)Even though this movie didn't really have a stellar reputation, since I have a weak spot for Natalie Portman, I was still eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, while watching this flick, I felt rather bad for Portman who was also producer on this project. Indeed, the pre-production was rather difficult for this flick as such actors like Michael Fassbender, Bradley Cooper and Jude Law all dropped out at some point, but, above all, Lynne Ramsay, probably one of the main reasons why Portman got involved in the first place, left this movie just a few days before shooting this flick. Well, I finally saw the damned thing and it turned out to be a rather boring Western with a really generic plot. The ludicrous happy ending didn't really help either. At least, it was visually decent enough but there was just no mood whatsoever and, while I could criticise Gavin O'Connor, we have to keep in mind that the guy didn't have much time to prep as he had to start shooting right away. Still, we can only imagine what a fine director like Lynne Ramsay could have done with this material. Concerning the cast, Natalie Portman and Joel Edgerton did what they could and they actually delivered some solid performances but I still had a hard time to really care about their characters. On the other hand, I was actually quite impressed by Ewan McGregor who managed to completely disappear in his character in just a couple of scenes. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing felt like a missed opportunity but I guess it is still worth a look, even if it could have been so much better.
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A good movie
Posted : 6 years, 7 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, 7 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, 7 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, 7 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, 7 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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