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Posted : 7 years, 5 months ago on 15 January 2018 10:32
(A review of Joe)There is no denying that Nicolas Cage, like many other great actors I used to love, has been wasting his talent with some Direct-to-DVD garbage already for many years. Fortunately, from time to time, but unfortunately, more and more rarely, he would still be showing up in something actually decent and this movie was definitely one of these very welcome exceptions. To be honest, it was pretty much straightforward and I guess it was missing something to become truly remarkable but it was still a really solid drama. First of all, David Gordon Green managed to deliver quite a realistic and to be honest rather depressing background for the characters. Of course, Nicolas Cage was pretty strong delivering one of his best performances in years in order to create one of his most complex characters. I don't think it was a coincidence that the main character was called Joe. Indeed, it was pretty much an average guy, neither great or awful. In fact, he seemed to be really struggling in life in general, barely keeping his head above water, only to be able to be at least functional. Suddenly, he meets this kid, also very wel played, who has been dealt only some bad cards in his life, and yet, this young boy still want to keep fighting, even if it seems to be completely hopeless. Even though Joe has been described as a role-model, in fact, I think it was actually the other way around, and it was this kid who turned out to be his role-model after all. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't seem to be much, this movie actually worked for me and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 5 months ago on 14 January 2018 10:28
(A review of Spy)Recently, I saw 'The Heat' which turned out to be terribly weak but since this movie had been rather successful at the box-office, I thought I might give Paul Feig another chance to redeem himself. Well, even though this movie was indeed an improvement, the improvement was unfortunately only minor, I'm afraid. At least, there was a nice cast involved, the concept had some potential and there were some decent jokes. And, yet, it still didn't really work. The first thing that annoyed me was that the whole thing was just a mess. Indeed, it was too long and they kept switching from ideas every 5 minutes. For example, at first, it seemed that the main character would be a really incompetent agent because of her lack of field experience but, then, she became suddenly some kind of super-spy. Then, most of the supporting characters changed side at some point or another which became really tedious very quickly. Finally, most of the jokes were rather lame and Jason Statham, who had a great opportunity here to make fun of his usual action flicks, was completely wasted with a rather boring and unfunny character. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, I still didn't care much for the damned thing and I don't think it is really worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years, 5 months ago on 14 January 2018 06:56
(A review of You Were Never Really Here)To be honest, I actually had no idea what this movie was about but since I have always been a big fan of Joaquin Phoenix, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, since I had to keep guessing what the hell was going on at least during the first half, it turned out to be quite fascinating but also slightly frustrating at the same time. At last, when it became pretty obvious what the story was actually about, I can't say I was really blown away. Indeed, it was rather preposterous but, eventually, I don't think that Lynne Ramsay actually cared much about the plot. I think she was more interested in delivering a specific mood and, in this area, she definitely succeeded. Indeed, the combination of striking visual scenes with a strong soundtrack was just really neat. And, of course, her other goal was to show one of the most tormented souls I have ever seen and Joaquin Phoenix was once again pretty impressive. Indeed, I think he was in every single scene and he was just so intense, as a result, his portrayal was at the same time heartbreaking and spellbinding to behold. Anyway, to conclude, even though the story didn't really work for me, thanks to some very strong directing and acting, it was still really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 5 months ago on 13 January 2018 08:45
(A review of China Moon)I was pretty sure that I already saw this movie but since it was a very long time ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, after re-watching the damned thing, I'm pretty sure now that I never saw it before. Anyway, it turned out to be a pretty decent neo-noir feature. Indeed, the mood was nice but what I enjoyed the most was the cast which was really neat (Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe, Benicio Del Toro). Unfortunately, they made 2 mistakes preventing this movie from being more than just a decent watch. First of all, they took too much time before the murder actually took place. As a result, they didn't have enough time to develop the investigation which had to be wrapped up too quickly. Then, the other mistake they made was to have Benicio Del Toro being also involved in this murder conspiracy. Basically, all the characters were pretty much involved and guilty in some way or another which was rather far-fetched. In my opinion, it would have been more effective if Del Toro had nothing to do with it and tried to figure it all out putting all the pieces all together while Ed Harris would try to find a way to get out of this mess. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still not bad at all and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 5 months ago on 12 January 2018 10:15
(A review of The Last Samurai)I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, the first thing I noticed while re-watching the damned thing was that it was actually pretty much 'Dances with Wolves' in Japan. As a result, they made a similar mistake which was that, in 'Dances with Wolves', Kevin Costner actually became a better Indian than the Indians themselves and, here, Tom Cruise pretty much mastered the art of being a samurai in a few months when it would take an actual samurai years to reach this level. Another thing that bothered me was that they never clearly explained why there was actually some rebellion in Japan at the time. Finally, even though it was interesting that the main character was suffering of PTSD, it didn't really make sense that he would go to Japan to crush another rebellion, even for a lot of money, since he would already know what the outcome would be. Concerning Tom Cruise, the guy was and still is seriously charismatic but, as usual, even though his performance was solid, he didn't take enough risks and, as a result, it all felt really safe and completely predictable. At least, I did like the fact that the Japanese characters were always talking Japanese to each other and not suddenly in English just only because it would be more convenient for the American audience. Anyway, eventually, the whole thing was still visually really neat and, in spite of its flaws, it was fairly entertaining and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 5 months ago on 11 January 2018 10:39
(A review of Mannenharten 2)To be honest, I didn't expect much from this movie but since my wife really enjoyed the first installment, we still ended up watching this sequel together. First of all, even though my wife was really convinced that 'Mannenharten' was a nice movie, we both could barely remember what exactly happened in this movie when we actually saw it less than 2 years ago and it shows, in my opinion, how completely forgettable the damned thing actually was. Anyway, once again, I really struggled to care about this sequel. At least, it wasn't not really worse, it was about the same level but it wasn't something that the makers should be really proud of. Basically, they followed the same formula, delivering several half-baked romantic little stories, and, in my opinion, this gimmick has become such a lazy way to write romantic-comedies which can already be pretty tedious even without using this gimmick. At least, the cast was decent but they really deserved some better material. Anyway, even though the damned thing was rather harmless, I thought it was still seriously boring and I don't think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 5 months ago on 10 January 2018 10:38
(A review of Stand Up Guys)Al Pacino used to be one of my favorite actors but unfortunately, pretty much like Robert De Niro, he has spent the last 10, maybe even 20 years, wasting his great talent with some really weak movies. With this in mind, I wasn't expecting much from this movie but since the ratings were actually decent, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though it turned out to be watchable, it was still nothing amazing though. In fact, pretty much half of it was really generic or even some serious garbage. At least, they gave us the opportunity to spend a whole day with Christopher Walken and Al Pacino which was pretry neat. I wish they did bring Alan Arkin earlier in this story as it got even better when he was involved. Eventually, it all boils down to the question if you should give the makers some slack for giving us a rather weak story just because you love, or used to love, so much the actors involved. In my case, with such movies, I'm never able to stop wondering how awesome it could have been if they had been provided with some stronger material. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was worth a look, if only for the cast involved.
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years, 5 months ago on 9 January 2018 10:45
(A review of Into the Inferno)Since I always had a weak spot for Werner Herzog's work, I was quite eager to check this movie, especially since it was available on Netflix. First of all, I have noticed that, by now, I have seen more documentaries directed by the German master than his actual fictional work. Anyway, once again, Herzog picked up another fascinating subject, probably one of his most interesting so far. As a result, he delivered a really strong feature, especially visually speaking, and the damned thing really had the potential to become amazing. Unfortunately, like most documentaries coming from this director, there was just too much random stuff added to the mix. I mean, the scientific approach was really interesting and, even though the spiritual and superstitious elements didn't really appeal to me, their inclusion was understandable. However, the discovery of some ancient skelet in Africa deviated too much from the subject and it was the same issue with their trip to North Korea. I mean, it was actually pretty neat to see this country as I never got the opportunity to see it like that but the link with the main subject was just too thin in my opinion. Still, even so, it was a really nice documentary and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in volcanoes.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 5 months ago on 7 January 2018 09:30
(A review of Grace of Monaco)To be honest, since this movie had been a big critical flop, I wasn't really expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Nicole Kidman, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, as I expected, it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. First of all, even though Nicole Kidman did try, I never thought I was actually watching Grace Kelly on the screen and she never really disappeared behind this icon. However, a bigger problem was that it was such a boring story. I mean, I have to admit that, even though Kelly was really gorgeous, I was never really convinced by her potential as an actress which was reinforced by the fact that she had made only a dozen of movies. Well, her life as Princess of Monaco seemed even more dull and I really had a hard time to care about her supposedly difficult life as a royal figure. I mean, to make us believe that she might have had any impact on the political life in Monaco was rather pathetic and ridiculous and her romance or lack of it with Rainier was just as tedious. Anyway, to conclude, I don't think the damned thing really had any potential and I don't think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you think that Grace Kelly was a fascinating woman.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 5 months ago on 7 January 2018 09:08
(A review of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water )Is SpongeBob still really so popular? I remember that, 10 years ago, he was pretty huge and I even went to see 'The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie' with my kids in the movie theater when it was released. With this in mind, I thought I might as well check out this sequel. Well, it turned out to be a decent watch but not much more, I'm afraid. On the other hand, you shouldn't probably expect something really amazing from this material. Anyway, what was slightly disappointing was that the title and the posters were actually rather misleading. Indeed, it was only during the last 20-30 minutes that SpongeBob and his buddies got out of the water and it was even later that they finally became some kind of goofy super-heros. By the way, from the moment they got out the water was definitely the best part of the movie. Indeed, they then became CGI animated and it was something really different than what they gave us in the TV-show. Before this moment, it was just some really generic plot about Plankton trying to steal the secret formule for their supposedly amazing burgers but it was something that had already been explored too many times in the TV-show already. At least, the wacky humor was still pretty neat, even after all these years. Anyway, to conclude, I'm not sure if it it is really worth a look but if you are a fan of this TV-show, you will definitely love the damned thing.
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