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CollectionsA very good movie
Posted : 8 years, 1 month ago on 4 March 2017 03:17
(A review of Memories of Murder)Since I kept hearing some really good things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, I wasn't disappointed, that's for sure. Indeed, right from the start, I recognized the unique style of Joon-ho Bong which was in this case to mix a very dark and realistic serial-killer thriller with some unexpected humor. He already did something similar with 'Gwoemul' in which he mixed a typical monster feature also with some humor but even though I liked this movie as well, it didn't completely convince me and Ā I thought this previous directing effort worked better. Indeed, I really enjoyed the fact that there were just so many layers. Not only it gave a great look on how rural South Korea must have been in the 80's, there was also this clash between the modern methods used by a cop from Seoul and the (usually brutal) methods used by the local cops who seemed to be just terribly incompetent. It is also one of these few very brave thrillers which dare not to finish everything with some preposterous and annoying twist suddenly solving the case and it made the whole thing even more fascinating. To conclude, this movie completely deserved its stellar reputation, it was quite a spellbinding thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Ā
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A good movie
Posted : 8 years, 1 month ago on 3 March 2017 11:28
(A review of Logan)At last, you have to give some credit to Hugh Jackman as he managed to end his impressive 17 years run as Wolverine with finally a decent solo installment. Indeed, even though he was so far the big star in this franchise, he didn't get much luck with the previous movies focusing on his character. Still, even though it was indeed pretty good, I have to admit that I wasn't completely convinced though. Indeed, the biggest issue was that the story, even if it was fairly entertaining, was still seriously generic. Furthermore, it was rather disappointing that they didn't give the guy a decent opponent and the best they could come up with was to have him fight an evil version of himself which is a seriously old and tedious gimmick. Still, the damned thing worked anyway. Not really Ā because it was finally R rated and seriously violent, a long lasting wish of Jackman, but above all because the tone was just so dark and gloomy. Indeed, through the whole thing, you get to see some older versions of Logan and Xavier and they were both really in bad shape which was just so refreshing. Concerning X-23, a lot has been said about this character but even if she was indeed interesting, I can't see her taking over the torch and the future of the X-Men franchise remains rather uncertain at this point. Anyway, to conclude, Ā it was a really decent super-hero feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 8 years, 1 month ago on 2 March 2017 09:12
(A review of Pushing Hands)Since this movie was the last one directed by Ang Lee that I hadn't watch so far, of course, I was really eager to watch the damned thing. Well, eventually, it turned out to be a decent watch but it was definitely not one of Lee's best movies and it was pretty obvious that it was a directing debut. Indeed, it was visually efficient but, not much more than that but the focus was on the characters and what they were going through and, fortunately, Lee managed to deliver something interesting in this area, focusing on the clash between Eastern and Western cultures and between the modern and traditional ways of life. Still, even in this area, the movie didn't always work as it felt rather unbalanced. Indeed, on one hand, the Chinese grandfather was portrayed as rather quirky and charismatic but, on the other hand, the American daughter-in-law was displayed as rather uptight and neurotic which was rather unfair in my opinion. Furthermore, from the moment that the grandfather left the house, the whole thing actually slightly fell apart with a rather ridiculous confrontation at a Chinese restaurant. Still, the core subject was quite interesting and it would be further developed in the next 2 great movies delivered by this director ('Xi yan' and 'Yin shi nan nu'), launching the international career of one of the most promising directors in the world. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still pretty good and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Ang Lee's work.
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A very good movie
Posted : 8 years, 1 month ago on 1 March 2017 10:05
(A review of Hacksaw Ridge)Even though Mel Gibson has been rather struggling as an actor ever since his return in 2010, many argued that he made a major come-back as a director with this movie which he directed 10 years after the really underrated 'Apocalypto'. Indeed, this movie was apparently so good that it is considered by many as one of the best movies released in 2016. Well, to be honest, I have to admit that it actually took me a while to really get into this story. Indeed, before watching the damned thing, I didn't watch a trailer and I didn't even read a synopsis so, at first, I thought it would be another rather straightforward tale of a young man going to war like so many others I have seen before. Obviously, it was really pleased that, for once, it was actually dealing with a medic, a guy who refused to even hold a rifle. Indeed, we never talk about them but those guys are just crucial in a battle and most of them are just heroes, even maybe more than all these soldiers trying to kill as many enemies as possible. For Andrew Garfield, 2016 was quite a banner year after his already impressive performance in 'Silence'. To conclude, Ā Mel Gibson has made a name as a director after making some really violent movies and, this time, even if he still delivered some gruesome but impressive battle scenes, he decided to focus on the least violent soldier but also the most courageous and inspiring man ever witnessed on a battlefield and the end-result was just really impressive.
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A good movie
Posted : 8 years, 1 month ago on 1 March 2017 09:50
(A review of Citizenfour)Even though I barely watch the news nowadays, like everyone else, I know who Edward Snowden is but, to be honest, when he came up with his big revelation, I wasnāt really surprised at all. I mean, with all this data available, it would be rather naĆÆve to believe that most government organisations wouldn't be eager to tap into this huge source of information. I mean, Iām not saying that it is ok but I think it was just inevitable. Concerning this movie, it is quite striking to see Edward Snowden and the involved journalists discussing their plan just hours before releasing some of these highly classified documents. Still, even though Snowden tried to convince us that the whole endeavour was not about him, eventually, the guy still became a huge star. Eventually, you might wonder, if he didnāt reveal his identity so quickly, maybe the focus would have been set more on his quest than on himself. In fact, within only 3 years, Oliver Stone would make a thriller about all this and it was called āSnowdenā showing how the guy still got a lot of attention after all. Anyway, even though it didnāt really blow me away, it was still a really interesting documentary and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested by this subject.Ā
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An average movie
Posted : 8 years, 2 months ago on 27 February 2017 10:41
(A review of In the Heart of the Sea)Back in 2013, Ron Howard and Chris Hemsworth made together 'Rush' which was a box-office flop but, at least, it was very well received and, apparently, this end-result was good enough for them so they came up afterwards with another true tale but the flop was even bigger this time, I'm afraid. To be honest, right from the start, the whole thing felt slightly misguided. Indeed, basically, in fact, it was not exactly about 'Moby Dick', it was apparently an adaptation of a book Ā about how Herman Melville was inspired by a true story to write his own literary classic. I mean, right from there, how would you approach something so convoluted? Well, apparently, if you are Ron Howard, a decent but never really groundbreaking director, in the most conventional way possible so, of course, it failed miserably. I mean, in fact, it wasn't a bad movie at all, the production value was quite impressive, Ā the action scenes were pretty badass and I was entertained thoughout the whole thing but I wasn't exactly inspired of gobsmacked by what was displayed on the screen at any moment and, eventually, I think a straight adaptation of 'Moby Dick' would have worked better. Anyway, it still think it was another decent effort from this director and, in spite of its flaws, I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Ron Howard's work.
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A good movie
Posted : 8 years, 2 months ago on 26 February 2017 07:06
(A review of The Lego Batman Movie)Usually, the first movie I see each year turns out to be pretty lame. For example, in 2016, I started the year with 'The Fifth Wave' which turned out to be so weak that, even after watching maybe 50 movies released the same year, it was still the worst of the whole bunch. Well, 2017 broke thisĀ tradition as the first movie was actualy pretty decent. Indeed, 'The Lego Movie' was at the time a nice surprise and this spin-off was a decent follow-up. Sure, it was maybe not an improvement but, at least, it was not a step down. This time, they slightly turned down the meta aspect of this franchise and, in fact, at least, a third of it was actually a rather straightforward batman installment but it wasn't an issue. Indeed, I really enjoyed how they managed to keep the dark and gloomy mood linked to this character but they still kept the daft sense of humor linked to the Lego franchise and this mix worked really well. To be honest, I'm not really sure if it will work with a 3rd movie as those movies are just so busy and, to Ā be honest, rather hyperactive but, since this movie did fairly well at the box-office, it would surely come up at some point. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was fairly entertaining and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 8 years, 2 months ago on 23 February 2017 09:01
(A review of Underdog)Well, to be honest, even though I had some really low expectations concerning this movie, I thought it was actually slightly better than I expected. I mean, don't misunderstand me, it was still seriously weak and the concept was just so misguided and lame, it was quite hopeless right from the start. Indeed, there is one gimmick I already don't like in the Disney family features and it is these cringe-inducing talking animals. Even with the recent live adaptation of 'The Jungle Book' which was a big critical and commercial success, it still barely worked in my opinion. To make things worse, with this movie, you had this dog who not only could talk but who could also do all kinds of ridiculous tricks with a rather pathetic end-result which was not helped by some rather weak CGI special effects. Eventually, there were only 2 things that saved this movie from becoming a total disaster. First, I thought that Jason Lee did a decent job voicing the main character which was quite an achievement considering the lame material he had. Secondly, this dog actually had a decent personality. Unfortunately, that was pretty much the only positive elements about this movie so I still don't think it is worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 8 years, 2 months ago on 22 February 2017 09:14
(A review of Seeking a Friend for the End of the World)First of all, this movie had a really neat title and I really liked the concept of making a quirky comedy about the end of the world. Unfortunately, it's too bad that the end-result turned out to be rather underwhelming. I mean, I don't blame Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, they did what they could but they were not helped by the fact that they were stuck playing their usual stereotypes, Carell playing another average loser and Knightley playing another quirky alternative girl. To make things worse, both characters were neither really interesting or entertaining and, even though they had nothing in common, you were supposed to believe that they would fall for each other which was really hard to swallow. At first, the focus was set on Carell's character whose life was pretty much already miserable even before the upcoming end of the world but, instead of doing something, anything, the guy simply decided to wait until the end and I think it was a poor decision since it made it for me almost impossible to really care for the guy. Furthermore, I didn't really understand in what way Keira Knightley's character was so wonderful that he would change drastically his attitude during his remaining days. Anyway, to conclude, even if the whole thing didn't really work for me, I guess it is watchable but it is pretty obvious that they could have done so much more with this concept.Ā
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An average movie
Posted : 8 years, 2 months ago on 22 February 2017 09:14
(A review of The Water Diviner)Like any other actor, at some point, [Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see]thought he might as well direct his own movie and this feature was the end-result. Apparently, it was rather well received when it was released but, eventually, I thought it was a decent watch but not much more than that, to be honest. I mean, it was an interesting story, the directing was not bad and Russell Crowe gave a solid performance but I canāt say I was ever really impressed by the whole thing. First of all, it was dealing with Gallipoli which was apparently a major battle/campaign during WWI involving Australia. Well, even though I have heard about Gallipoli, Iām not familiar at all with what happened there and Iām not sure if this movie was the best starting point to get acquainted with these events. Furthermore, I donāt know, there was something interesting about this guy who could find some water in a desert but the connection between his talent and the search of his lost sons was rather poorly developed and it didnāt help that all his connections with some Turkish people (a widow, her son and a soldier) were just too easy and predictable (above all, the ending when Olga Kurylenkoās character pretty much proposes to the guy was not only really cheesy but also rather unbelievable). Anyway, to conclude, even if it didnāt really blow me away, it was still a decent drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Ā
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