Posted : 8 years, 3 months 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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Posted : 8 years, 3 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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Posted : 8 years, 3 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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Posted : 8 years, 3 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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Posted : 8 years, 3 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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Posted : 8 years, 3 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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Posted : 8 years, 4 months ago on 21 February 2017 08:22
(A review of
White Bird in a Blizzard)
I have a somewhat strange relationship with Gregg Arakiās work. Indeed, ever since I saw āThe Doom Generationā about 20 years ago, I have been really eager to check his other movies but, somehow, I watch one of his movies only once every 5 years. Anyway, since this movie was also starring Shailene Woodley and Eva Green, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I think it must be the most accessible movie directed by Araki so far (except for a lot of topless nudity from Woodley, nothing really shocking or controversial happened during the whole thing) but, as a result, it didnāt really make a huge impression either, Iām afraid. Above all, the more I think about it, the more I believe that the ending didnāt really add up and I think it would have been more interesting if it would have been more ambiguous. Anyway, it doesnāt mean that it was a bad movie though, in the contrary. Indeed, I really liked the mood and how they managed to show this tale completely through the eyes of the main character and, as a result, it really seemed for a while that her mother vanished when, in fact, it was actually pretty obvious that she was killed probably by her husband. Furthermore, Ā Shailene Woodley, after āThe Descendantsā, āThe Spectacular Nowā and āThe Fault in Our Starsā, once again really impressed me, itās too bad that the āDivergentā franchise turned out to be such a failure and I hope her promising career wonāt be too damaged. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really ground-breaking, I thought it was still a solid drama and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Ā
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Posted : 8 years, 4 months ago on 19 February 2017 07:40
(A review of
Silence)
Since I'm a huge of fan of Martin Scorsese, of course, I was really eager to check this flick but there were a couple of things that worried me about this project. First of all, even though Scorsese had announced that he will direct this movie, he kept pushing it indefinitely to release something else and, when it seemed that he would finally get it done, I had the feeling that it was partially because he was contractually obligated and also to finally getting done with it. On top of that, it wasn't exactly a huge critical success when it was released so, to be honest, I had lowered my expectations and I thought it might turn out to be a minor effort for this great master. Well, even though it was definitely one of his least accessible movies, the damned thing was actually quite spellbinding to behold. The fact that I have always been fascinated by the subject of religion certainly did help and I thought that this movie was a really interesting study on faith and on how, at the same time, it can be completely misguided but also really inspiring. With this movie, you can pretty much feel how conflicted Scorsese will always be towards the Catholic church even though you might wonder if almost 3 hours were really necessary for this journey. To conclude, even though it won't be one of his best movies, I'm amazed by how much it touched me and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested by this subject or by Martin Scorsese's work.
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Posted : 8 years, 4 months ago on 18 February 2017 08:26
(A review of
Dumb and Dumber To)
I actually saw 'Dumb & Dumber' in the movie theater when it was released 20 years ago but, to be honest, even if I should maybe check it out again after all these years, I really didn't like the damned thing, I have always been amazed that it is pretty much considered as a classic and, in my opinion, it must be one of the most overrated movies ever made. So, with this in mind, obviously, I didn't expect much from this sequel and, indeed, the whole thing was really lame confirming my beliefs that there was and there is still nothing funny about these 2 characters. I mean, I'll have to admit it, I did chuckle a few times but I didn't happen really often and most of the movie was just really painful to watch. At least, you'll have to give Jim Carrey some credit as, except for 'Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls', the guy managed to stay away from all these lame sequels for 20 years, even if he was sometimes offered a big fat paycheck and I guess you can't blame him for going back to one of his most famous roles after all this time but I'm afraid it gives also the feeling that this actor seems slightly desperate to finally get a hit (which he didn't even get with this movie). Anyway, I really didn't like this flick and I don't think it is worth a look.
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Posted : 8 years, 4 months ago on 18 February 2017 08:07
(A review of
Alien: Resurrection)
To be honest, I never really understood the general grudge against this movie. I mean, sure, I have to admit it, it was definitely not a masterpiece and it was really not on the same level as 'Alien' Ā and 'Aliens' but, still, I think it is actually a decent movie and it has always been one of my guilty pleasures. Maybe it also had to do with the fact that it was the only Alien installment starring Sigourney Weaver that I managed to see in the movie theater when it was released and, at the time, there was quite some hype in France because Jean-Pierre Jeunet, after directing 2 major cult-classics ('Delicatessen' and 'La citĆ© des enfants perdus'), was making his first (and so far only) movie in Hollywood. Well, you can say whatever you want but I thought that the first half was actually pretty strong. Indeed, if you are familiar with Jeunet's earlier movies, you would recognize right away his visual style and the mood was quite spellbinding. I also liked the way they managed to bring back Ripley in this story and Weaver gave this clone a very distinctive personality from the original Ripley which was also pretty neat. Unfortunately, as soon as the Aliens managed to escape, Ā the plot moved on on auto-pilot, it was all way too generic and predictable and the whole thing became yet another remake of 'Alien' which was rather disappointing. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its obvious flaws and its rather lame reputation, I always had a weak spot for this movie and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Ā
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