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Posted : 7 years, 11 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, 11 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, 11 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, 11 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, 11 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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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 11 months ago on 8 April 2017 08:31
(A review of Identity Thief)To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Jason Bateman, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, it turned out to be rather lame, I'm afraid. I mean, identity theft is a rather fascinating subject and I'm rather surprised that they don't try to make more movies about this subject. For some reasons, one of the first major production about this topic turned out to be a comedy and it seemed to be really tricky to try to deliver something funny about something so serious involving some victims whose life can be really shattered about such crimes. And, indeed, the whole thing never worked. I mean, they even ended up with such scenes involving Jason Bateman completely smashing a guitar on Melissa McCarthy. Seriously, that was basically the level of the humor displayed in this movie. To make things worse, not only the jokes were often cringe-inducing but it was also fairly unconvincing. I mean, of course, they went on a road-trip which must be the most overused gimmick ever but how could they bond like this? Seriously, because of her, the guy had no money left, he will probably loose his job as well but, still, he actually sympathized with her but for what reason exactly? Anyway, eventually, thanks to Bateman and McCarthy who did what they could with this material, it was still watchable but, even so, I don't think it is really worth a look.
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A classic
Posted : 7 years, 11 months ago on 7 April 2017 09:30
(A review of The Evil Dead)Of course, I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago, maybe 20 years ago, I was really eager to check it out again. Obviously, it has become since then a major cult-classic but, to be honest, even though I did like it, I have never been a really huge fan and, to be honest, this re-watch didn't change my mind. I mean, sure, I have to admit it, it is definitely a fun horror-comedy, no doubt about it, but, at the end of the day, I think it was above all a cheap flick that Sam Raimi made at the time to start up his career. Eventually, after all these years, if you look back at his legacy, it still is pretty much his most acclaimed directing effort which is, at the same time, pretty neat but also pretty sad, when you think about it. Since then, they have recently released a remake which was approved by Sam Raimi and since it was fairly well received, I was really eager to check it out but, eventually, I was amazed by how underwhelming this remake turned out to be after all. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I have to admit it, after more then 30 years after its release, it still holds up pretty well, it is still really entertaining and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 7 years, 11 months ago on 6 April 2017 09:23
(A review of People Like Us)To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a pretty cool cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, even though the beginning was promising, as soon as the main character got this bag full of money and learned his father's secret, the whole thing became just so damned predicable and I lost pretty much all my interest in this movie. I mean, just take a look at the poster, it is no rocket science to guess what will eventually happen to these characters. In fact, it reminded me of a Canadian movie I saw recently called 'Juste la fin du monde' which was also dealing with a young man going back to his family after a very long absence. The big difference between the 2 movies was that this movie had to deal with such obvious mechanism and strings linked to the plot, it was rather annoying and to say that it was based on some true events at the beginning made it even worse. And, yet, I have to admit that the damned thing actually managed to slowly win me over. Indeed, the characters were actually rather well written and they deserved a better story. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still watchable and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years, 11 months ago on 5 April 2017 08:13
(A review of Fruitvale Station)Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, even though it was definitely a decent watch, I can't say it really blew away though. I guess it had to do with the fact that even though Oscar Grant was an interesting character, he was still not really fascinating, regardless of his really tragic death. Eventually, this movie raises the following question: should your life becomes suddenly more interesting from the moment you die in the most random way possible? Anyway, in spite of these flaws, it was still a pretty good movie though thanks to some solid directing from Ryan Coogler, especially when you think that it was his directing debut, and a star-making performance from Michael B. Jordan. Indeed, even though I had already seen couple of his other movies, it is actually thanks to this movie that I finally saw his true potential. Indeed, the guy has enough charisma and talent to actually become the next Denzel Washington. Anyway, to conclude, even though I don't think this movie was really a masterpiece, it was still a solid drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 7 years, 11 months ago on 4 April 2017 08:29
(A review of A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence)To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect from this movie but since it did win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, eventually, I must admit that I was really surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the damned thing. Basically, they gave us some small vignettes always shot with one single shot with a static camera and it was some kind of mix involving some really dry humor with some absurdism. To be honest, I never thought that something like this would appeal to me and I usually have a hard time to connect with this typical Scandinavian humor but, somehow, I actually got most of the jokes and I thought it was simply really funny. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they did spend too much time with these 2 loser salesmen though. I mean, those guys were at first quite entertaining but they spent at least a 3rd of the running time on them and, as a result, their gimmick became just too repetitive at some point. At least, I understand why Roy Andersson is such a highly regarded director and I will make sure I check his other movies in the future. Anyway, to conclude, even if I don't think it was really a masterpiece, I thought it was one of the funniest comedies I have seen in quite some time and it is definitely worth a look.
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