Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 30 September 2018 07:22
(A review of
The Frozen Ground)
Since Nicolas Cage and John Cusack have both became some VOD specialists for already a couple of years, I wasn't really expecting much from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I must admit that I was actually rather surprised by the damned thing. Indeed, eventually, it turned out to be a really good story. Still, in spite of this strong material, they didn't manage to turn it into a great movie, I'm afraid. First of all, it felt as if they tried to cover too much ground, especially during the first 20 minutes, and I had a hard time to follow what was exactly going on. I mean, in who's appartment was Cindy at the beginning? How did she manage to escape? Where was Bob Hansen ? Why did he leave her alone? Why didn't the cops arrest him at the time? It was a rather shaky beginning and it is pretty obvious that this story would have better worked as s TV-show or a miniserie like 'True Detective'. Concerning the acting, Nicolas Cage and John Cusack were not bad but there was also nothing really remarkable about their performances. On the other hand, I was actually rather impressed by Vanessa Hudgens. Indeed, each time she was left her on her own in the streets, the movie pretty much forgot the main plot about the serial killer and became an harrowing tale of a young prositute trying to survive. Seriously, they could have made the movie only focusing on her and it would have quite spellbinding. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing was rather half-baked, it was still a really good story and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 29 September 2018 08:05
(A review of
Johnny Suede)
Well, it is another movie I wanted to see for many years. Not only because it was Tom DiCillo's directing debut but also because it was starring a young Brad Pitt just around the same time he would finally get his breakthrough with 'Thelma & Louise'. Unfortunately, I wish I could say it was worth chasing this movie for so many years. Indeed, the damned thing turned out to be pretty weak, I'm afraid. Apparently, DiCillo did blame Brad Pitt for his rather poor performance but, even though Pitt indeed was not exactly strong, I think the whole thing was above all rather poorly written. Indeed, it was apparently supposed to be some kind of quirky and whimsical indie feature, definitely DiCillo's speciality but it was never really entertaining. Basically, there was no plot but a succession of rather random scenes involving the main character but since the guy was not interesting at all, it became quickly rather tedious. Concerning Pitt, you could sense his potential as he was already quite charismatic but it was also pretty obvious that he had no clue what to do with this character. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, I still think it was pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you want to see Brad Pitt before he became one of the most famous actors in the world.
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Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 28 September 2018 08:56
(A review of
A Shot in the Dark)
Since this movie had a really solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. Following the success of Inspecteur Clouseau thanks to a great performance by Peter Sellers in 'The Pink Panther', it made sense that they would quickly release a sequel focusing on this character and it turned out to be a great success. Well, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, to be honest, I didn't really blow me away and I was actually expecting more from it. I mean, sure, Peter Sellers delivered a solid performance but I never thought he was actually really hilarious. At least, I did like the fact that, even though Clouseau was really over-the-top clueless and incompetent, all the other actors played their characters very straight , except for Commissaire Charles Dreyfus who was rather hysterical. This contrast was pretty neat but, still, most of the jokes were rather silly. For some reasons, Peter Sellers didn't show up for the following installment which was a huge flop but he would make a come-back 10 years later to play Jacques Clouseau. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, I guess I will never be a really huge fan of this franchise but it was still quite entertaining and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 27 September 2018 09:03
(A review of
Glitter)
Of course, since this movie has such a lame reputation, I wasn't expecting much but, after all these years, I still wanted to check if it was really so bad. And, indeed, I have to agree, it was just really weak. However, to be honest, I don't think that Mariah Carey was so bad though. I mean, sure, by playing a singer, she didn't take any risk but, even though I have never been a fan, she does have an impressive voice and, at the time, she looked seriously sexy. Unfortunately, pretty much everything else in this movie was just so tedious and borderline pathetic. Indeed, first of all, they used pretty much all the clichés involved in such stories about a rising singer and, to make things worse, there was absolutely no edge whatsoever. I mean, for half of the duration, there was no conflict at all and the best thing they could come up with was to have her breaking up with her boyfriend who was becoming a jealous douchebag. Anyway, to conclude, I actually don't think that it is one of the worst movies ever made but there is no doubt that it is still seriously weak and you shouldn't waste your time like I did watching the damned thing.
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Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 26 September 2018 08:29
(A review of
Juice)
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since it has a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though it was nothing really groundbreaking, it still turned out to be a decent watch. To be honest, I wasn’t not sure about the beginning. I mean, it did feel realistic but it was also rather whimsical, probably too much. Then, the plot was rather thin as it was about 4 guys messing up with a gun but not much else. Eventually, what made this movie really stand out was the character Roland Bishop. Indeed, it was such a dark and complex character thanks to a strong performance by Tupac Shakur. Thanks to this character, the apparent frivoulousness displayed at the beginning disappeared and was replaced slowly by a violent and grim reality. Of course, you might criticize this character as being just nother average psychopath, which wouldn’t be completely false, but he might have been the only one correctly assessing their bleak future. Concerning Tupac Shakur, not only the guy was regarded as one of the best rappers ever but he was also terribly charismatic and actually a pretty good actor. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even though it was not a masterpiece, it was still an interesting watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 24 September 2018 08:38
(A review of
War Dogs)
I already saw this movie but I thought I might as well watch it again. The first time around, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was the last movie directed by Todd Phillips that I haven’t seen so far, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that I really have a weak spot for this kind of stories and, while the whole thing was nothing really groundbreaking, this tale was pretty wild, awesome and entertaining to behold. In fact, as far as I was concerned, I thought it was much more fun than ‘The Hangover’. Obviously, a lot of it was made up (for example, these guys never went to Irak to deliver some weapons) but it didn’t really bother me. Something more disappointing was the relationship between Miles Teller’s character with his girlfriend played by Ana de Armas though. Indeed, it is such an old trick to have the girlfriend complaining about the fact that the main character didn’t tell her the truth. Not only it has been done to death before but, above all, it is such a drag. Another issue was the character played by Jonah Hill. Indeed, Efraim, was such an unreliable loose canon but this was also just so predictable. I mean, even though it was supposed to be funny, it was rather annoying that they got busted apparently because Efraim didn’t pay a simple bill. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really original, I thought it was actually quite entertaining and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 23 September 2018 05:18
(A review of
Catch Me If You Can)
Not to be confused with the great movie directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, the only reason I wanted to watch this flick was because it was Stephen Sommers's directing debut but, to be honest, I had some rather low expectations. Well, it turned out of be some kind of mix of a vintage version of 'The Fast and The Furious' and a 80's high school comedy and this mix was as weird and misguided as it sounds. The message was also that gambling is not something to really worry about, at least, as long as you keep winning. In fact, the whole thing was just so daft that it could have actually worked if they had chosen a much darker tone. But, unfortunately, the damned thing was just so cheerful that it became pretty much impossible to swallow all these ridiculous scenes. The ending was a good example. Let me sum it up: the school wins the football game, the main character wins the final race, the school is saved, he wins a scholarship and gets the girl. I mean, seriously? Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was really weak and I don't think it is worth a look at all.
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Posted : 6 years, 8 months ago on 22 September 2018 09:15
(A review of
Brick Mansions)
I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I haven't seen the original version, 'Banlieue 13', and since it has a decent reputation, I might check it out at some point but, to be honest, I didn't care much for this remake. Indeed, as usual with a Luc Besson production, the damned was pretty weak and boring. I mean, there was a few good ideas and some of the action scenes using parkour were actually pretty neat. In fact, I discovered afterwards that David Belle actually invented the disciple known as Parkour which was pretty cool so no wonder that the guy was so impressive during those scenes. Unfortunately, Besson remains a rather weak writer who keeps lifting some obvious elements from other movies. Of course, you could argue that Quentin Tarantino does exactly the same thing but, with Besson, it makes his movies so generic and tedious to watch. To make things worse, will all respect to the late Paul Walker, the guy was just a rather boring actor and he played here the same character he kept playing through most of his career. Anyway, to conclude, it was all rather tedious and I don't think it is really worth a look.
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Posted : 6 years, 9 months ago on 22 September 2018 06:42
(A review of
Caddyshack)
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since it is considered as a classic comedy, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, pretty much like some other classic comedies made at the time like 'Animal House' or 'Vacation', I really struggled to care about the damned thing, I'm afraid. I mean, I didn't really mind that there was no plot and that the whole thing was just completely random. First of all, I didn't care for any of the characters involved but, above all, the biggest issue I had is that I never thought that it was really funny. The reason why was there was no plot was due to the fact that the actors were constantly improvising and, at some point, the running time was over 4 hours so they had to cut more than 2 hours of material and the majority of the plot was lost during the editing. I don't know, maybe I should rewatch it at some point while I'm aware of the fact that the actors are actually improvising the whole thing. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't really work for me, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 6 years, 9 months ago on 21 September 2018 08:33
(A review of
Underworld: Blood Wars)
To be honest, I wasn’t interested in this movie but from all the movies I suggested to watch with Nick, my step-son, it was the only one he was really eager to see. Well, once again, I was just terribly bored by this damned franchise. First of all, even though they spend the first minutes reminding us what happened in the previous instalments, I was really struggling to remember what the hell happened in the previous movie which I saw about 6 years ago. Wasn't it taking place in the future? I also completely forgot that Theo James was also involved. Anyway, it was pretty much the same story, there is this big war between the Vampires and the Lycans and you have the super warrior Selene stuck in the middle. Seriously, how they manage to release 5 movies with this material is really beyond me. On top of that, all the new characters added this time around were not interesting or entertaining whatsoever. At least, Kate Beckinsale has recently claimed that she won’t be returning for yet another instalment so maybe we are finally done with this franchise. Anyway, to conclude, my rating was really generous for this movie, the damned thing was just so tedious and I don’t think it is really worth a look.
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