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CollectionsEven though it is a rather obscure feature, since I kept hearing some great things about this flick, my father especially loved it, I was really eager to check the damned thing. Well, I wasn’t disappointed, that’s for sure. To be honest, I still think the structure was actually rather straightforward though. Indeed, it was pretty much following the standard road-trip formula with the traditional rules of the genre including 2 characters from different backgrounds clashing during their travel. Still, beside this rather standard structure, it was such a fascinating and rather unique look on the Amazon and the people living there. Above all, the thing I probably loved the most was this character, Karamakate. Basically, you get to see 2 versions of this guy and, both times, this man was just so complex. Indeed, instead of going for the all wise and mighty native, the makers showed a rather flawed character and that made him even more interesting to behold. Indeed, at some point, you get to see one of the explorers, Theo von Martius, telling him that he is actually crazy, living on his own like this in the jungle and even full of sh*t with his weird rules and those moments were just priceless. Anyway, to conclude, it was quite a fascinating feature and it is definitely worth a look.
A very good movie
Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 19 April 2017 08:54
(A review of Embrace of the Serpent)
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 17 April 2017 06:44
(A review of Burnt)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a really nice cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, there were still too many elements that bothered me. First of all, they made the same mistake made by many other movies dealing with this subject by focusing too much on the characters and not enough on the actual cooking and the actual food. I mean, the food did look awesome but you just get some very short glimpses and those glimpses were not enough. Then, the second mistake they made was that, while Adam Jones's come-back was interesting, they kept referring his troubled past during which he started with nothing, became the best and lost it all in the most chaotic way possible and it sounded much more fascinating than his come-back. Finally, it is a well known fact that Bradley Cooper is fluent in French but, to be honest, I thought his French was actually average at best and, even though I'm French myself, I'm not sure if I would have been able to understand what he said without the subtitles. And, of course, why on Earth would they cast Alicia Vikander to play a French character is beyond me. Fortunately, even though they messed up some stuff, the whole was still fairly entertaining. Indeed, one thing they got right was to show the manic energy coming from such kitchens. Indeed, you could feel the obsession that can be so creative but also really destructive and it is one of the very few movies that managed to convince me that cooking really can be an Art. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was not bad and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A very good movie
Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 16 April 2017 06:57
(A review of Farewell My Concubine (1993))I remember very well when this movie was released. Back then, I was about 13-14 years, it was a big critical success and it even won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. And yet, even though I have always been eager to check this movie, it eventually took me more than 20 years to finally watch the damned thing. Well, to be honest, I have to admit that it turned out to be a tough watch though. Indeed, even though I have myself always been interested in Asian movies, it still struggled to connect with this tale which lasted almost 3 hours. Furthermore, it didn't help that the beginning was rather confusing and messy. Still, when it was finished, I had to admit to that the whole thing was still a fascinating epic tale. I did remind me of 'Stage Beauty' which was made 10 years later but even though they both shared some elements, this movie was definitely from another level. Indeed, the scope was so much bigger, with so many layers, it was just fascinating to behold. It was also pretty neat to see a younger Gong Li at the height of her career (seriously, after all these years, she pretty much still look exactly the same). To conclude, I think it is an acquired taste but it is still definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 15 April 2017 04:27
(A review of Smashed)Since I really loved 'The Spectacular Now', I was really eager to watch James Ponsoldt's previous directing effort. It's only later on that I discovered that both movies were dealing with alcoholism but while 'The Spectacular Now' was probably one of the most original movies I have seen dealing with this subject, this movie was much more straightforward, probably too much, so it didn't have such an impact on me. It doesn't mean that it wasn't any good, in the contrary. Indeed, Mary Elizabeth Winstead easily gave here her best performance so far and, with Aaron Paul, they made a messed-up but still sweet couple somehow. I also liked the way they displayed that when you are drunk or high on something, the most trivial and stupid things become suddenly fun and entertaining for absolutely no reason and, when you get sober, you discover that life is actually pretty boring and depressing. It displayed also how it becomes difficult to tolerate the behavior of the people who are still drinking, not really because you envy them, but more because you finally see how obnoxious and moronic their behavior can be when they are drunk. Still, to be honest, did she really need to tell the truth to her boss? I don't think so, especially since the outcome was just so predictable. In fact, the whole pregnancy gimmick didn't really work in my opinion. I mean, she could have easily told the kids instead 'No, I'm not pregnant. I just don't feel so good today, that's all'. I guess the point was to show that alcoholics always get entangled in some messed-up situations but it didn't really work. Anyway, to conclude, in spite or flaws, it was still a solid drama and it is definitely worth a look.
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A classic
Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 14 April 2017 08:33
(A review of Evil Dead II)Following the massive failure of 'Crimewave', apparently, Sam Raimi thought that the only thing that could revive his career was to go back to his classic directing debut. Obviously, I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, maybe 20 years ago, I was really eager to check it out again. Eventually, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it and I think it is one of the rare sequels to be better than its predecessor. Indeed, they took pretty much the same elements, the horror and the comedy, but they really pushed the formula to the next level this time around. Above all, their masterstroke was to focus on Ash. Indeed, in the first movie, Ash was just some random and boring guy who just somehow survived at the end but it is with this sequel that he finally became this iconic character and easily one of the best protagonists ever displayed in a horror franchise. Seriously, the first 20-30 minutes were just so damned entertaining thanks to a pitch-perfect performance by Bruce Campbell and the look on his face thoughout his ordeal was just priceless. Unfortunately, as soon as some of other rather random characters showed up, it became much more generic and, from that point, the story went on auto-pilot which was too bad. I mean, it was still quite entertaining but it was much stronger when Ash was all alone. Anyway, to conclude, Sam Raimi delivered here a really strong sequel and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 13 April 2017 09:59
(A review of Brooklyn)Since this movie was very well received when it was released, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even though it turned out to be not bad at all, I can't say it really blew me away though. I don't know, maybe it was because the main character didn't have to struggle so much after all. I mean, beside the fact that she got seriously home-sick (which I could really identify with), in fact, she was provided with a place to stay, a job, some schooling and she even managed to find a really nice guy without too much effort. Furthemore, the 3rd act turned out to be almost impossible to swallow. Sure, under such circumstances, it was understandable that she would go back to Ireland but why on Earth would she even consider to stay there? Seriously, at this point, it became for me really difficult to care about this girl and what she was going through. I mean, she managed to build a new life in the USA, she even got married with a great guy but, somehow, it didn't seem to really matter anymore and it made her look like a really shallow individual. On the other hand, it seemed rather odd that, only a few years ago, she had absolutely no future in Ireland whatsoever but, suddenly, she had tons of opportunities when she came back. Eventually, it's only when she was told by the biggest bitch in town about her past that she finally cooled down and left right away. Fortunately, Saoirse Ronan, in her first really adult part, was just so charismatic, she gave another really strong performance and she got involved in one of the sweetest romances I have seen in a very long time. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn't completely work for me and even though I think this movie is actually rather overrated, it was still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 12 April 2017 08:59
(A review of Ruby Sparks)To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this movie but since there was a nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, it was really neat to see Paul Dano playing the lead for once. Indeed, even though the guy is definitely one of the most talented actors of his generation, he seems terribly underrated. Anyway, in this movie, he gave another strong performance playing a smart and really interesting character who was also, sometimes, a rather anti-social douchebag, but it made the guy even more interesting. Concerning the story itself, well, even though it was fairly entertaining, I can't say it really blew me away though. Basically, they came up with a decent gimmick but that's what it was, a gimmick, but not much more than that, I'm afraid. I mean, it's not that I needed some kind of explanation or something more realistic but I never thought that the concept was really fascinating. Actually, you could compare this movie to 'Her' which had a similar gimmick but the big difference was that Spike Jonze really managed to go beyond this gimmick delivering a fascinating character study. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even if I wasn't completely sold, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 11 April 2017 08:49
(A review of Games of Love and Chance)Since I really loved 'La vie d'Adèle', I was really eager to check this first critical success from Abdellatif Kechiche, especially since it won at the time the César for the Best French movie of the year. Well, to be honest, it was a rather tough watch and it took me a while to really get into the damned thing. Indeed, even though I'm French, I still struggled to understand what the characters were saying as they usually spoke in such a heavy French street slang. On top of that, most of their conversations ended up in some big arguments with the characters constantly shouting and swearing at each other. And, yet, it slowly won me over. Indeed, in such an emotional draining environment, a young boy actually falls in love with one of his classmates while she is rehearsing a play written by Marivaux. Of course, in a mainstream feature, you would get a sweet but rather predictable and boring romance but, here, they kept it really grounded in reality and the end-result was just so much more interesting to behold. Indeed, even the rules of love were seemingly really simple in this world (the guy is supposed to ask the girl is she wants to be his girlfriend and she is supposed to say 'yes' or 'no' on the spot), it turnrd out be much more complicated for all the people involved. To conclude, even though it didn't completely win me over, it was definitely one of the most original love tales I have seen in a very long time and it is definitely worth a look.
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A classic
Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 11 April 2017 07:43
(A review of Amélie)Of course, I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I have it on DVD, I was really eager to check it out again. In fact, I remember it very well when it was released in France. Indeed, it was a huge critical and commercial success, everybody was talking about this flick to the point that it was even getting slightly annoying. Anyway, I still saw it in the movie theater back then but, to be honest, even though I really admired the work done, it never completely blew me away though. I mean, it was definitely visually really neat, the soundtrack by Yann Tiersen was just mesmerizing and it was a charming movie, no doubt about it. Eventually, it might be the quirkiest movie ever made, even the best movie in this genre but I’m afraid its quirkiness actually backfired. I mean, the whole thing was all nice and cute but, in my opinion, it is ultimately also rather shallow. Indeed, even though the whole movie tried very hard to convince the viewers that Amélie Poulain was a fascinating girl who will change our life forever, I thought she was cute but not much more than that. It was like those random anecdotes popping up every 30 secondes about the characters or life in general. Sure, it was entertaining but were these little scenes really so fascinating or life changing? Not really, at least, it wasn't for me. Anyway, even if I’m not a huge fan of this movie, I have to admit that it is still pretty good and it is definitely worth, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 7 months ago on 9 April 2017 06:53
(A review of Dheepan)Since I'm big fan of Jacques Audiard and since this movie won the Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival, I was really eager to check it out. I remember that, at the time, it was a rather controversial win since many didn't expect this movie to get this prize, especially since it was competing against the seemingly far superior 'Saul fia'. Well, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, it was still far from being Audiard's best directing effort. Indeed, in my opinion, even though half of it was really compelling and even quite fascinating to behold, the other half, on the other hand, barely worked, I'm afraid. First of all, even though the 3 actors involved delivered some strong performances, they must have been the best looking refugee family I have ever seen which made them maybe easier to watch but it felt also rather misguided and I always felt conscious that I was watching some actors. Furthermore, the fact that they seemed to get along fine right from the very beginning felt too good to be true. Then, you had this completely failed scene where Dheepan gets in touch with a colonel from Sri Lanka. Seriously, the guy orders him to gather some money to buy some weapons but how the hell is Dheepan going to achieve this goal with his job as a caretaker? But then, the colonel and his 'mission' were never mentioned again showing how completely pointless the scene was. They eventually had some bigger problems with some local gangsters but even though it was quite interesting, even this storyline was rather half-baked and towards the end, I had the feeling that I was suddenly watching 'Scarface' or some classic Honk-Kong action flick from the 80's directed by John Woo. To conclude, even though the whole thing was seriously flawed, it was still a compelling tale about some refugees, something really topical nowadays, so I still think it is worth a look but it is probably one of the least deserving winners of the Golden Palm.
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