Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 13 November 2017 08:49
(A review of
Nine Lives)
Only a couple of weeks ago, Kevin Spacey was still regarded as one of the best American actors from the last 20 years but, overnight, he turned out to be a major sexual creep and many are predicting that his career is now pretty much over. On the other hand, considering Spacey’s latest movie choices, it seems that the guy himself actually didn’t really care anymore and this movie was a perfect example. I can imagine that when Kevin Spacey read this script, he knew from the start that it was some garbage but he also knew that he would only have to show up for a couple of scenes and do some voice-over work for the cat for the rest of the movie so he basically went for the easy money. Considering the movie itself, it was just such a misguided concept. Indeed, the body-swap thing is an old gimmick which has never been really interesting even when it was something new and this movie certainly didn’t add anything worthwhile to this concept. That’s also the terrible thing about the new possibilities provided by the modern CGI technology. Indeed, nowadays, they are able to create some photo-realistic animated animals which was pretty cool in ‘The Jungle Book’ but, most of the time, they deliver some awul movies like this one or ‘Marmaduke’. At least, they didn’t animate the cats’s lips. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was just so boring, it was a big waste of time and it is obviously not work a look.
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Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 11 November 2017 08:42
(A review of
Lovelace)
To be honest, I wasn't really expecting much from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit it, I haven't seen 'Deep Throat' which seemed to be like an interesting watch since it had such a huge cultural impact but, from what I gathered from this movie, is that it was actually rather lame, pretty much like most porn flicks. Coming back to our main feature, well, it wasn't really good, I'm afraid. First of all, the whole thing had a rather odd structure. Indeed, they first told everything from a rather neutral point of view, basically, the official version, and then they started all over again and told the whole story from Linda's point of view. But why? As a result, the first part felt rather pointless. Then, I'm not sure if I really cared about Linda's version and something with more nuances might have maybe worked better for me. Seriously, it must have been the first biopic I saw during which the main character had to take a polygraph test to show everyone that she was actually telling the truth. In my opinion, it shows how little confidence the makers had in this story and its main source. Eventually, no matter what really happened, it is just rather sad that Linda Lovelace first became the biggest porn star in the world, even an icon, and then, tried to turn everything around and became in the process the biggest anti-porn crusader that ever lived. Unfortunately, this movie completely failed to show this journey by telling the story from her point of view. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I guess it is worth a look.
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Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 10 November 2017 10:35
(A review of
Ghost in the Shell)
I already saw this movie but since it was a while ago and since I had it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, in Japanese animation, it is probably one of the most famous movies in this genre and it is indeed a rather fascinating feature, even though it can be rather challenging. Still, I really loved its mesmerising soundtrack and, even 20 years later, the animation is pretty impressive with some rather breathtaking scenes. However, the whole thing did feel rather outdated during the dialogues scenes as there was no movement whatsoever, except for the lips of the characters when they talked. Concerning the story, it is probably one of the most philosophical animated movies out there which makes the whole thing equally interesting but also difficult to follow and, sometimes, downright confusing. It is basically a movie that you can or should watch several times just to get a better grip on the story and on the interesting concepts and ideas developed. However, to be honest, even after watching the damned thing 2 or 3 times, I'm still not sure if I understood everything. Recently, they came up with a live version which was heavily criticised because Scarlet Johansson played the main character. I still have to see this new version but, since it was a US production, I'm pretty sure they dumbed down the philosophical aspects of this story which was obviously one of its biggest assets. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, even if I wasn't completely sold, it was still a fascinating animated feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 9 November 2017 10:49
(A review of
A Guy Thing)
I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Julia Stiles, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it wasn't good, I'm afraid, in fact, it was even pretty lame. Apparently, back in those days, they still believed that Jason Lee could play the leading man when it was always obvious that he was more suitable for providing some supporting characters but that wasn't even the biggest issue with this movie. Basically, pretty much nothing worked in this movie. The introduction was misguided, the concept was lame and most of the jokes were weak. There were here and there some decent scenes and I have to admit that Julia Stiles and Selma Blair were both quite charming but it was certainly not enough. Concerning Stiles, I always wondered what happened to here as she seemed to have a bright career ahead of her but after wasting her talent in such weak projects like this one, it is hardly surprising that producers would nowadays pick someone else for a high profile gig. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was actually rather generous with my rating here, the damned thing was pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look.
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Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 8 November 2017 11:02
(A review of
Voyage of Time: Life's Journey)
Back in 2016, I was actually planning to see this movie or, even better, the IMAX version, with my film club but, eventually, it wasn't released at all in the Netherlands so I had to pick up something else after all. Well, after finally watching the damned thing, I'm not sure if it would have been such a great choice and maybe I might have dodged a bullet after all. I mean, it was something really original and even though it was labelled as a documentary, it was something completely different than your average documentary and, at least, it was slightly better than 'Song to Song' and 'Knight of Cups'. Indeed, I really liked the idea of Malick showing us the origins of our universe, something he already experimented with in 'The Tree of Life' and some of the scenes were visually quite impressive. Furthermore, for a director who never cared about the plot, it was a natural move to remove entirely any plot and also the characters. Unfortunately, even though the whole concept of the birth of the universe was pretty neat, he just added too many random stuff for my taste. Furthermore, the narration by Cate Blanchett was just so repetitive, rather pretentious and fairly pointless. To be honest, I'm glad the damned thing lasted less than 90 minutes. Anyway, to conclude, with such a director, it could have become a masterpiece but, unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be only decent, not much more than that and it is worth a look only if you are a die-hard fan of Terrence Malick's work.
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Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 6 November 2017 09:51
(A review of
The Caine Mutiny)
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since it has a decent reputation and since I have a weak spot for Humphrey Bogart, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, it took me a while to get into the damned thing. Indeed, they really took their time to set the whole thing up and it didn't help that they focused too much on Robert Francis's boring character and his even more boring romantic sub-plot. In fact, I think I only really cared about the last 30 minutes but this last act was fortunately quite spellbinding to behold. Indeed, Bogart once again really impressed me and you have to respect a famous actor like him with such a status willing to play someone so vulnerable and clearly mentally disturbed. His performance was just really impressive, especially during the climactic scene when his character was in the witness chair. Eventually, I have never been in the army but it must be terrifying when you get to see the highest man in the hierarchy apparently losing his mind in front of you, especially in the heat of the battle. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn't completely worked for me, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 5 November 2017 11:02
(A review of
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016))
Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even though 'Cloverfield' doesn't have a really stellar reputation, I really had a weak spot for the damned thing but, to be honest, I didn't care much for this sequel. I mean, I did like the fact that they went for a completely different approach and used some completely different characters but, as far as I was concerned, the story didn't really work for me. Basically, they tried to mash-up 3 different genres (abduction thriller, alien invasion and apocalyptic end-of-the-world) but this mix seemed to be too much to handle in 100 mins. Furthermore, the beginning was rather awkward regarding how Howard handled Michelle. He was presented as a psycho but, then, he turned out to be a good guy but, even then, it didn't last for very long as he turned to be still a psycho after all. Seriously, guys, just make up your mind at some point. To be honest, the whole thing actually bored me which was rather suprising since I actually have a weak spot for such minimalistic feature taking place in one location with only a few characters. Still, I have to admit it, the directing was decent enough and they kept me guessing for a while. Anyway, even if I couldn't see how this movie was an improvement on 'Cloverfield, I guess it is still worth a look, at least if you like the genre.
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Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 5 November 2017 06:22
(A review of
Loveless)
After watching 'The Return' and 'Leviathan' from the same director, I was expecting again something massively dark and depressing but, to be honest, compared to this 2 previous directing efforts, this movie turned out to be almost easy to swallow. Still, it was far from being a comedy, that's for sure. In fact, this time, I felt mostly anger while watching this movie. Indeed, Andrey Zvyagintsev gave us such selfish and most of the time rather despicable characters, they were possibly the worst parents I have ever seen and it was fairly easy to hate their guts. Sure, they didn't beat or sexually abused their son but the mental mistreatment was massive. My theory is that, after decades under the communist dictatorship, the Russian people suddenly had to switch to the individualistic capitalism and, apparently, this change was so abrupt that they became even more decadent than we are. Basically, the generation of my parents fought to be free and, us, their children took this freedom for granted and became the 'Me' generation, always focusing and obsessing about our needs and what is supposedly important for us. Well, if you would believe Zvyagintsev, the middle-class Russians apparently took this to the next level. In fact, this was only half of the movie and it was quite interesting to behold but, the other half was some kind of thriller investigation involving the search of the missing boy. This part, however, didn't work so well though. Indeed, the outcome was pretty obvious from the very beginning, it was pretty damned slow and eventless and the characters involved didn't evolve whatsoever so it felt rather pointless. Anyway, to conclude, even if it wasn't really a home-run, it was still a solid drama and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 3 November 2017 09:03
(A review of
La Haine)
I already saw this movie, in fact, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released more than 20 years ago, but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, even though it is a huge classic, in France but also abroad, to be honest, I always had some mixed feelings about the damned thing. I mean, sure, it is a well made movie with some solid performances and I have to admit that it is really entertaining but, somehow, I always felt that it missed something to become really amazing. In my opinion, it is a fine movie as long as you don't analyse it too much but, if you start to look into the details, it tends to actually fall apart. Eventually, the main issue I had was that it was so damned pretentious. Indeed, back in those days, Quentin Tarantino had released 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Pulp Fiction' which were amazing and superior to this movie because, among other things, they didn't pretend to be providing some supposedly deep comment about our society. Especially if you are French and familiar to what they were displaying, this movie felt rather condescending. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have never been completely sold by this movie, it is still a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 2 November 2017 10:13
(A review of
My Old Lady)
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Kristin Scott Thomas, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I thought it was rather odd that, even though it was taking place in France, none of the main characters or actors were actually French, even if Thomas was perfectly cast as a half-French woman. Furthermore, this effect was made even worse by the fact that they gave the typical romantic postcard image of Paris. Concerning the story itself, it started like a rather light comedy but, slowly, it became more and more dramatic and, in the 3rd act, the whole thing had turned into something seriously depressing. Even though I'm French, I have to admit that I was really clueless about this whole 'viager' concept but, combined with the rather convoluted family drama displayed, it resulted in something rather difficult too swallow and sometimes even mean-spirited. So, eventually, I never really cared for this story but I have to admit that the main cast was actually pretty good, even Kevin Kline who fortunately toned down his usual hysterical gimmick. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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