Login
Home
587 Lists
7850 Reviews
CollectionsAn average movie
Posted : 7 years, 4 months ago on 10 February 2018 08:24
(A review of The Man with the Iron Fists)When I heard that RZA, the leader of the Wu Tang Clan, was coming with his own martial-arts flick, it sounded like something quite amazing. Eventually, it took me longer than expected to watch the damned thing and, after all, it turned out to be a decent watch but not much more, I'm afraid. First of all, in the contrary to RZA, even though I have heard of these outlandish martial-arts flicks from the 70's, I have actually never seen them and this movie was basically made for the fans of these movies. Anyway, in my opinion, the biggest mistake RZA made was to play the main character. I mean, it was pretty cool that that the main character was a black dude for once but he should have chosen a better actor like Chadwick Boseman or Michael B. Jordan as he certainly doesn't have the acting chops to play a leading man. As a result, apparently to cover up the fact he couldn't really carry this movie on his own, they added tons of characters which was just way too much for a movie lasting around 90 minutes. Still, as expected, the soundtrack was really neat and the whole thing looked pretty good with some rather insane but fun action scenes. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was not bad and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 4 months ago on 7 February 2018 09:06
(A review of High Spirits)Yesterday, I saw 'Byzantium' which was the most recent movie directed by Neil Jordan so I decided to watch afterwards another movie he made which I still hadn't watch so far. Well, before watching the damned thing, I was actually aware of its rather lame reputation and, unfortunately, it turned out to be indeed one of the most pathetic haunted house movies I have seen so far. I guess, or I hope, it was pathetic by design but, even so, the damned thing was just seriously boring and often more annoying than actually entertaining. I won't blame Peter O'Toole who did what he could with this material but you might wonder how he ended up in this mess and the rest of cast was just rather weak. Apparently, Neil Jordan wasn't involved in the editing process and he argued that the end-result was actually really different than what he had in mind but I have some serious doubts that his version might have been actually a major improvement though. Indeed, in my opinion, the concept seemed rather hopeless from the very beginning. Anyway, this movie was easily the weakest one delivered by Neil Jordan so far and I don't think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of this director.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 4 months ago on 6 February 2018 09:32
(A review of Byzantium)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since I always had a weak spot for Neil Jordan's work, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, it was pretty neat that Jordan was making another vampire movie almost 20 years after 'Interview with the Vampire' and it was interesting that he took a completely different approach this time around but, to be honest, I actually struggled to really care about the damned thing. Basically, nowadays, even though vampires might not be as popular as the zombies are, we still get tons of movies dealing with such creatures and a filmmaker really needs to bring something new to the genre to get me on board. Well, in this case, the only really original thing was the fact that these immortal creatures were for once penniless which was rather unusual but pretty much everything else was rather boring and generic, I'm afraid. I don't blame Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton though as they both gave some solid performances, especially Ronan. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't really blow me away, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Neil Jordan's work.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A very good movie
Posted : 7 years, 4 months ago on 5 February 2018 09:03
(A review of The Railway Man)To be honest, I had actually no idea what this movie was about but since there was a nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that I actually really enjoyed the damned thing, even if it took a while to really grab me. At first, it seemed to be dealing with a really cute romance and Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth had a nice chemistry together. Unfortunately for Kidman, even though she was displayed prominently on all the promotional material, she in fact didn't have much to do afterwards since the rest of the movie was very much focusing on Colin Firth's character dealing with PTSD. I think this movie gave another perspective than what we got from 'The Bridge on the Rive Kwai' which might be a huge classic but still gave a rather watered-down view on what happened at the time. Even so, I have to admit that the way they handled this material this time around was still hardly original but Colin Firth delivered here another really strong performance, probably one of his very best, and I was pretty much sold after the heartbreaking ending. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 4 months ago on 3 February 2018 10:17
(A review of The People Under the Stairs)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Wes Craven's work, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, first of all, even though it had some creepy elements, especially its poster, to be honest, it wasn't really scary but it was still fairly entertaining. Anyway, eventually, even though half of it was pretty decent, the other half didn't work really well, I'm afraid. First of all, I thought it was pretty neat that the main character was a black kid from the ghetto instead of the usual middle-class white teenagers. The concept itself of this weird house also had some potential but I'm not sure if they handled it properly. Indeed, this house seemed rather unbelievable with all its corridors, secrets passages and other booby traps and I think it would have worked better with something more realistic. The other thing was that they kept throwing some slapstick jokes which were not bad but, again, it would have worked better if they kept the tone darker and creepier. Finally, since most of the duration took place in this hellish house, the whole thing was pretty much reduced to an endless and rather repetitive cat-and-mouse chase. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't completely worked, I still think it is one of the better movies delivered by Wes Craven and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 4 months ago on 2 February 2018 10:02
(A review of Knock Knock)Since this movie had some rather weak ratings, I wasn't expecting much but since it had been years the last time I saw a movie directed by Eli Roth, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, I didn't care much about the damned thing. At least, it was nice that Eli Roth went for a (somewhat) erotic thriller instead of his usual gross horror stuff but that was pretty much the only positive thing I could find about this flick. I mean, it was rather well made and I don't blame the cast who did what they could with this material but the concept was just so limited and, on top of that, rather poorly developed. Basically, the whole thing was based on the concept of 'what would you do if you were alone at home and two hot girls would stand on your doorstep and offered to f*ck you senseless?'. Well, even though it might be a favorite subject of conversation for many guys, I think it is rather tedious and pointless and it is definitely not enough to spend more than 90 minutes of running time. To make things worse, the guy in this case was actually pretty decent as he didn't flirt with them and made clear that he didn't want to have anything to do with them. Eventually, the morality of this tale is that you should never open your door to anyone for any reason whatsoever which was just rather sad. Finally, the last thing that annoyed me with this movie was that the motivations of these two girls was completely unclear. Seriously, what was actually their goal? Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing was pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A very good movie
Posted : 7 years, 4 months ago on 1 February 2018 09:50
(A review of Toni Erdmann)Since I kept hearing some really good things about this movie, I was really eager to check it out. Well, even though it is a rather tricky movie and even though I took me a while to get into the damned thing, I was eventually really impressed. First of all, even though I did laugh a few times, it was definitely not a comedy but it was neither really a drama. Eventually, it was something really different and quite spellbinding to behold. One thing I was wondering was when did Winfried Conradi started to show this erratic behaviour. Was he always like this or is it something that came later on in his life? Indeed, it was something that was never addressed by this family which might give the feeling that he did this for quite a while but, on the other hand, their bewilderment was an indication they really didn’t know what the hell was going on. Anyway, another thing I loved about this movie is that it didn’t provide some supposedly profound life lessons which was just so refreshing. Indeed, even if Winfried was obviously trying to get closer to his daughter, his method was actually rather toxic and you might wonder if what he did actually change anything after all. And, yet, I was still admiring this man who was at least trying to do something, even if it was something seriously weird. I have to admit that I also liked how they displayed that someone making a lot of money with a supposedly high-social status might still have a rather lame job after all. Eventually, Winfried probably did his best to raise his daughter, he managed to give her a high education resulting in a successful career and, yet, they have become seriously estranged in this process and it was so recognizable and rather heartbreaking. Anyway, to conclude, it was a rather weird but fascinating movie and it is definitely worth a look.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A good movie
Posted : 7 years, 4 months ago on 31 January 2018 10:55
(A review of The Discovery)To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be a decent surprise after all. Indeed, the concept of what would happen if we would find out that that there was an after-life was intriguing but, what was even more interesting, was their conclusion that a massive number of people would then decide to end their lives as a result of this discovery. Basically, it shows that many people, maybe most of us, are actually struggling to comprehend life in general, are struggling to simply move forward and, if there was an easy way out, they would definitely go for it. I felt also a connection with the main character who believed that life is actually really complex and, even though many people are looking for some simple answers, there are actually none and even such a discovery would not change this fact. So, it was an intriguing movie but not everything really worked though. For instance, even though it was obviously not the main selling point of this picture, the technology looked terribly cheap and unconvincing. Furthermore, even though Jason Segel and Rooney Mara had a decent chemistry, I'm not sure if it was a good idea to plant a generic and predictable romance in this apocalyptic futuristic tale. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was not a masterpiece, I actually liked the damned thing and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A bad movie
Posted : 7 years, 4 months ago on 31 January 2018 06:46
(A review of Innocent Lies)To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect from this flick but since it was the first feature film starring Keira Knightley, I thought I might as well check it out. Unfortunately, Knightley had only a very small part with only a couple of scenes and no dialogue whatsoever. Anyway, above all, this movie turned out to be pretty bad. Seriously, the beginning was just really weak but the damned thing kept sinking lower and lower by the minute. Indeed, even though it was visually decent enough, pretty much nothing else did work in this movie. For example, the characters were never properly introduced and, even at the end, you might still wonder who was who and what the hell did they have to do with this story. Why did the English detective brought up his daughter? Who was this young French woman welcoming the main character the airport and constantly following him around? What the hell did in do in France since he didn't have any jurisdiction there? In fact, it was a rather simple story but it was told in such a convoluted way and the end-result was just a mess filled up with some non-sensical scenes. For example, at some point, the main character had sex with one of the main suspects and she confessed pretty much everything during their sexual intercourse and this scene was just so pathetic to behold. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was a big waste of time and you should probably avoid it.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 4 months ago on 28 January 2018 10:46
(A review of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)I wasn't really sure what go expect from this movie but, according to IMDb, it was one of Ben Stiller's best movies, even his best directoring effort so far, so I was quite eager to check it out. Well, after 'Tropic Thunder', Stiller delivered another seriously ambitious directing effort but, to be honest, I actually had a hard time to really care about the damned thing. I mean, basically, it was pretty much a rather generic whimsical comedy with some rather shallow philosophical ideas. In fact, I thought that most of it was actually rather depressing and I think it would have been more interesting if they did take a darker approach to this material. At first, the main character 'zoned out' pretty often and they gave us some rather convoluted visual scenes but it turned to be a fairly annoying gimmick pretty quickly. Then, the guy went on some wild trip to find a mysterious missing picture and, even though it was supposed to be inspiring, it felt rather silly. Eventually, what are we supposed to do, us, the average losers with an average boring job? Should we also drop everything and go instead on a wild goose chase? I don't think so. To make things worse, he ends up becoming some kind of cool dude after going through this journey and all of this mess was just so that he would muster the courage to simply ask his co-worker to go on a date with him. I know, now, you might think that it was just terrible but there were here and there some decent scenes and it could have worked but most of it was still rather tedious. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I guess it still worth a look if you like the genre though.
0 comments, Reply to this entry