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CollectionsTo be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was the last movie directed by Mel Brooks, I still wanted to check it out. Well, as I expected, it turned out to be pretty lame and it is rather sad that Mel Brooks would end a rather prestigious directing career with such a weak feature. I mean, the concept did have some potential and it made sense that Brooks would spoof the vampire genre at some point but it just didn’t work. Of course, the fact that I didn’t care much for Mel Brooks’s work in general (except for ‘The Producers’ which I really loved) didn’t help. Eventually, even though it seemed to be a good idea to unite the most famous spoof director with the most famous spoof actor, I think it was a mistake to have Leslie Nielsen playing the lead. In my opinion, it would have worked much better with a more ‘serious’ actor like Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks as they were not so closely associated with this genre. Anyway, the biggest issue was above all the fact that the most of the jokes were pretty weak and you should know you are in trouble when most of the ladies involved are really good looking with some nice cleavage. Anyway, to conclude, this movie turned out to be seriously weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look, even if you are interested in Mel Brooks’s work.
An average movie
Posted : 7 years ago on 13 June 2018 08:05
(A review of Dracula: Dead and Loving It)
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years ago on 12 June 2018 08:29
(A review of Shock Corridor)I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was added on the’ 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die list’, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, I always had a weak spot for movies about mental institutions and this movie is probably the oldest one I have seen dealing with this subject. Well, I was surprised by how good it turned out to be. Indeed, what I enjoyed the most was the explanation they gave about how these patients ended up in this place. Indeed, the fascinating theory developed in this movie is that nobody is really born crazy. In most cases, for most people, after having a terribly stressing or even traumatizing experience, their brain apparently could handle these tremendous pressure and it just snapped. It displayed that we are basically all on the edge of insanity and this idea was also further developed by what eventually happened to the main character. To be honest, I’m not sure I really cared about the murder investigation though. I mean, I do understand that they needed an excuse to have the main character going there but I think it would have worked better if they went instead for an investigation on how mental instutions were working at the time. Anyway, to conclude, I really liked this movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years ago on 10 June 2018 06:41
(A review of Wuthering Heights)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I'm usually not a huge fan of romantic costume dramas but I was actually surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this one. Indeed, it must be one of the gloomiest doomed love stories I have ever seen and, as a result, it was much more entertaining than most of the other movies in this genre. Basically, it is one of the most famous love stories but what made it so interesting was that the two main characters, Heathcliff and Cathy, never could make up their mind if they should passionately love or hate each other and, eventually, they basically destroyed one another and also the people that happened to be around. On top of that, the cast was really strong, especially Laurence Olivier who was at the top of his game back then. There were still a couple of things that slightly bothered me like the fact that Cathy's brother provided a very convenient villain or how easily Heathcliff went to America and came back as a rich man. Anyway, to conclude, I wonder if this movie was a good adaptation and I might read the famous book it was based on at some point but 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 : 7 years ago on 10 June 2018 11:44
(A review of The Cloverfield Paradox)In 2018, Netflix pulled off with this movie the biggest marketing stunt of the year. Indeed, during the Super Bowl, they finally released the first trailer but, above all, they announced that the movie would be directly available after the game which was something obviously never done before. Seriously, it was a genius move because it turned a rather weak feature into one of the most talked about movies over the year. Unfortunately, the day after this marketing stunt, pretty much everyone was universally complaining how lame this flick actually was and, indeed, it turned out to be pretty weak. I mean, they had the best cast ever seen in a Cloverfield feature (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Brühl, Ziyi Zhang, Elizabeth Debicki) and the concept actually had some potential if it would have been properly developed. Basically, even though it could have been a thought provoking SF flick, it was just very lazily written giving us a succession of rather generic supposedly scary scenes. Some of them were not bad (like the one when they discover Elizabeth Debicki's character) but there was not one moment when any of the character said and did anything remotely interesting regarding the events they had to face. It was also really weak to add some crazy conspiracy theorist predicting exactly what would happen later on. At least, with 'Cloverfield' and '10 Cloverfield Lane', they left the viewers in the dark which was much more effective. Finally, it was pretty obvious that the whole thing didn't have anything to do with this franchise as they just added some rather random scenes to tie it up with the other installments. Anyway, to conclude, from a marketing point of view, this feature was quite impressive but the movie itself was actually pretty weak and I don't think it is actually really worth a look.
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A classic
Posted : 7 years ago on 8 June 2018 09:44
(A review of My Man Godfrey)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', I was quite eager to check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of such classic screwball comedies. Indeed, even though some of them are still really popular, in my opinion, they usually didn't grow old very well. However, this movie was actually an exception and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Obviously, it had all the trademarks of the genre but, even though it might seem really frivolous like the other movies in the genre, I thought it was actually quite sharp and so much satiric. Indeed, in such movies, we are supposed to care about the so-called difficult life of the Rich or Aristocrats but, here, they were all portrayed are completely hysterical and seriously dim-witted and the homeless seemed to be much more sensible. I also liked the idea that if we stopped complaining about our little problems and simply gave the people in need a chance, they would actually grab it with both hands. To be honest, I think it would have better worked if Godfrey didn't come from the same social class as his 'masters' and I didn't care much for the ending which was some typical screwball silly nonsense. Still, to conclude, I really enjoyed this movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years ago on 6 June 2018 09:31
(A review of Delivery Man)To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since it was on TV, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, at first , it seemed to be another rather lame comedy starring Vince Vaughn. Indeed, he was playing his usual character who has become more annoying than actually entertaining after all these years. Furthermore, even though Chris Pratt was pretty good and much funnier than Vince Vaughan, I really hate it in US comedies when they try to convince the viewers that to have some children is just terrible and that it would mean the end of your life. The way the main character would first meet his kids without telling them his identity was also a terrible idea and such a poor way to handle this material. And, yet, from the moment he met the whole gang, I have to admit that the damned thing actually slowly won me over. Indeed, there was actually something touching about them, about the way they decided to create this community sharing the same desire to find their genetically roots. It was so well done that I came to the conclusion that to give your sperm might be actually something beautiful. Of course, it was still nothing really amazing and the whole plan about the main character trying to pay his debts was just a poor way to create a bogus conflict. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that it turned out to be better than I expected and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years ago on 5 June 2018 08:33
(A review of Wild Target)I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Emily Blunt, I thought I might as well check it out. In fact, I did see 'Cible émouvante', the French movie it was based on, ages ago and even though it was nothing amazing, I thought it was miles better than this British version. It's too bad because they had such a strong cast but the whole thing just bored me very fast. The best part was when it was starting with only Bill Nighy who was just spot on even though the guy can't hold a gun properly because he apparently suffers of Dupuytren's contracture, which means he can't straighten the ring and little fingers on each hand. Concerning Emily Blunt, even though she was just as lovely as usual, she tried to be whimsical but it didn't really work and her character turned out to be more annoying than actually entertaining. On top of that, these 2 characters didn't have any chemistry whatsoever. Concerning Rupert Grint, his character was even less interesting as he played some kind of stoned spineless version of Ron Weasley. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing was rather harmless, it didn't really work for me and I don't think it is really worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years ago on 4 June 2018 09:34
(A review of Unsane)Since I always had a weak spot for Steven Soderbergh's work and since this movie was dealing with an interesting subject, I was quite eager to check it out. Unfortunately, even though I did like this movie, as usual with Soderbergh's recent movies, it was still rather half-baked, I'm afraid. I would blame this on Soderbergh's usual rushed production process as this movie was released less than a year after 'Logan Lucky', his previous directing effort. Basically, this time, he tried to mix a really interesting insurance scam with a rather boring stalking thriller. Seriously, everything involving this stalker was just rather tedious but, also, it didn't make much sense. Indeed, if I understood it correctly, the guy killed and took over the identity of another man called Georges Shaw but who was Shaw? He couldn't have been someone already working at this mental hospital because his co-workers would have noticed that someone else completely different was showing up for work but why then bother killing him and taking his identity? In this case, how did he manage to get a job there just when the main character would haven been interned? In my opinion, they should have removed this part of the plot and focus more on the unstable state of mind of the main character. It would have worked so much better in combination with this frighteningly realistic insurance scam which displayed how completely rotten the health system has become in the US. Furthermore, I have to praise Claire Foy who delivered such a strong performance. Indeed, she was quite fascinating to be behold and she displayed something so completely different than what she delivered in 'The Crown' and I will definitely check her future work. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of it flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look even if, as usual with Soderbergh, it could have been so much better.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years ago on 3 June 2018 05:18
(A review of Red Riding Hood)Even though this movie seemed to be pretty lame, for some reasons, I was still eager to check it out. Well, even though I had some rather low expectations, the damned thing turned out to be even worse than I expected. Indeed, Catherine Hardwicke had been heavily and, in my opinion, unfairly criticised for 'Twilight' when, in fact, it became the highest grossing movie ever directed by a woman (at least, at the time). Well, this follow-up turned out to be so much worse. Seriously, it was supposed to be a really misguided mix of the classic Red Riding Hood with some werewolves and pretty much nothing worked. At least, the lovely Amanda Seyfried was a good choice to play the lead but that would probably be the only positive thing I could think of. I mean, once again, Hardwicke gave us another seriously ugly CGI werewolf and even this village looked terribly fake. Then, as I mentioned before, the whole concept was just misguided and, above all, terribly boring. To make things worse, Hardwicke gave us another terribly tedious love triangle involving 3 teenagers. Basically, it seems that she took the worst elements of 'Twilight' and mashed them up with this classic tale which was barely recognisable. Anyway, to conclude, I think I have been rather generous with my rating, the whole thing was just seriously weak and I don't think it is worth a look at all.
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A classic
Posted : 7 years ago on 2 June 2018 10:31
(A review of How Green Was My Valley (1941))Eventually, this movie will be mostly remembered for winning the Best Picture Academy Award at the expense of 'Citizen Kane' but I was still eager to check it out to see if it was actually any good. Well, while the reputation of 'Citizen Kane' has only increased through the years and it is usually considered by most as one of the greatest movies ever made, this movie on the other hand didn't grow old very well, I'm afraid. I can imagine that it had been a big commercial and critical success at the time when it was released but, nowadays, it seems terribly cheesy, at least, that's what I felt like watching the damned thing. I mean, I have to admit that it was well made with some solid performances so it turned out to be OK but not much more than that. Sure, it was dealing with some nice and decent people but, as far as I'm concerned, I would rather have instead the complexity displayed in 'Citizen Kane'. At least, it was very neat to see the lovely Maureen O'Hara who must have been one of the most gorgeous actress ever. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie has a decent reputation, I actually struggled to get into the damned thing but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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