Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 7 May 2016 08:13
(A review of
Taxi Tehran)
To be honest, even though Jafar Panahi is a really acclaimed director, I have to admit it, I'm actually not really familiar with his work (I looked it up and it seems that his other movies look pretty amazing so I should definitely check them out when I have the opportunity). Anyway, even though Panahi is considered as a great director abroad, he doesn't seem to have the same success in Iran when he has actually been banned to make movies for 20 years. This feature was therefore his 3rd production following this ban which apparently didn't stop him and, this time, he decided to film everything from a taxi to make it easier to conceal the filming process. This was definitely an intriguing set-up and there was some great potential but, to be honest, I thought it was slightly underwhelming. I mean, the fist scene was quite brilliant and you wonder, at first, if the whole thing might be actually for real but, pretty soon, it became obvious that those were all actors. But that wasn't the main issue. The biggest problem I had is that Panahi spent too much time with the same people and most of them, instead of being some regular taxi customers like the people in the first scene, were people he already knew which made the whole thing even faker. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn't completely work for me, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jafar Panahi's work.Â
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Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 6 May 2016 03:32
(A review of
Aloha)
Even though the buzz around this movie was pretty bad, since there was a pretty cool cast involved and since I have seen all the movies directed by Cameron Crowe, I still wanted to check it out (the fact that it was also available on Netflix definitely helped my choice as well). Well, I'm afraid it definitely deserved its poor reputation. Basically, when or before it was released, there was quite some outrage because Emma Stone was playing someone supposedly one quarter Asian and one quarter HawaĂŻan and even though it was indeed stupid to write her character like that, or to choose her to play such a character, it was not even the biggest problem with this movie. Basically, the biggest issue was that it was just a huge mess. I mean, the directing was solid, the cast was great and there were some good ideas but the mix of all these ingredients was just terrible. To be honest, some of those ideas were actually pretty weak like the fact that John Krasinski's character didn't speak at all. Or the fact that within just 5 minutes, Brian is supposed to be a stupid moron for blowing up a Facebook satellite but then suddenly a hero because it turned out to be a nuclear weapon after all. Coming back to Emma Stone's character, her ethnicity was not even what really bothered me about her. Basically, there was absolutely no clear personality for this girl who kept acting really randomly throughout the whole thing and even Emma Stone's great charisma didn't manage to make this character work whatsoever. To conclude, Cameron Crowe has been struggling for many years but this is by far his weakest directing effort and you might wonder if his career will ever be able to recover from this blow.Â
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Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 6 May 2016 05:57
(A review of
Tom at the Farm)
For this 4th directing effort, in my opinion, Xavier Dolan made a slight step-down. I mean, it wasn't a bad movie, I did like it just like his other features, it's just that it was the one that impressed me the least so far. Still, there was a lot to enjoy here. First of all, after stepping back for 'Laurence Anyway', Dolan himself was again playing the lead and, once again, I thought he was quite spellbinding to behold. Eventually, what I enjoyed the most was how he mixed the genres and, here, sometimes, it felt like a nail-biting thriller which was really sweet. At the end of the day, what didn't really work for me with this movie was that the motivations of the characters, especially Tom and Francis, remained too murky throughout the whole thing. Indeed, I didn't see any reason why Tom should stay so long at the farm, especially considering how he was treated by Francis, but maybe he was seriously confused by the death of his boyfriend. Then, Francis didn't completely work for me as a character. Indeed, I think the guy was too complex or not enough developed in my opinion and the last explanation towards the end was certainly not enough. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn't completely blow me away, it was still a very intriguing drama and it  is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Xavier Dolan's work.Â
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Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 5 May 2016 04:04
(A review of
Hotel For Dogs)
Obviously, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but I was looking for something easy to watch to fill in my afternoon so I thought I might as well finally check this one out  (the fact that it was also available on Netflix definitely helped my choice as well). Anyway, eventually, I really didnât care at all about the damned thing. Indeed, I have to admit it, the whole concept must have been really cute for the kids but, as far as I'm concerned, I thought it was rather moronic. In fact, while watching the damned thing, I was thinking that it would have worked better as an animated feature. Indeed, this way, they could at least have given those dogs some personality because, in this movie, they were just reduced to do some improbable and supposedly cute tricks. As a result, they had to focus on the human characters who were all rather underwhelming. On top of that, those kids had some real issues, being orphans and going from one foster family to another, and this topic was just way to heavy for a fluffy movie like this one. Anyway, it seems that Don Cheadle  showed up just to check out the family genre from his bucket list and this talented actor was seriously wasted here. Anyway, to conclude, I guess it might be worth a look if you have some young kids to entertain, otherwise, you should pretty much avoid it.
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Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 5 May 2016 07:47
(A review of
Ex Machina)
Since I kept hearing some really good things about this movie, I was really eager to check it out. Well, eventually, I wasn't disappointed and it turned out to be easily the smartest movie released in 2014. Indeed, even though it was visually quite appealing, it was above all the fascinating ideas developed in this picture that really appealed to me. As a matter of fact, just a few weeks ago, I saw a talk show on TV where they were saying that, indeed, some big companies like Google are currently investigating on AI and we should expect some major breakthrough in this area in the near future. In this movie, you could already see the issues we would have to face if we would come up with a very intelligent AI. For example, how could we know what an AI is actually exactly thinking? What would be its purpose in life, a concept we humans are constantly struggling with? And most important, what would be then our purpose? Eventually, there were only a couple of things that still bothered me though. First of all, even though Nathan seemed to be a genius, how come he didn't figure out that Ava was responsible for the powercuts? It was seriously pretty obvious. Also, why would Caleb believe every single thing told by Ava without finding anything slightly suspicious? Eventually, those were some small issues anyway, it was really a brilliant SF feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 4 May 2016 03:30
(A review of
The Fan)
Do you remember the time when Robert de Niro used to be the greatest actor ever and you would basically sh*t your pants every time this guy was showing up on your screen? I know, that's a long time ago... Anyway, in this flick, he gave probably his last awesome performance. Apparently, this movie never received much love but I thought that De Niro was just amazing here. On top of that, there was a really interesting concept but, instead of properly developing this idea, they went for the usual annoying gimmicks and you basically ended up with another average US thriller. So indeed, it is in fact a rather standard thriller and the whole thing was really predictable but De Niro gave such an intense performance, he just pushed the whole thing to the next level all by himself, at least, thatâs my opinion, and as long as the movie was focusing on his character, I thought it was quite spellbinding to watch. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is obviously not a masterpiece, I think it is actually quite underrated,  it is in fact a really solid thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 4 May 2016 02:31
(A review of
15 Minutes)
As you may have noticed, Iâm a very obsessive movie watcher and one of my very first obsessions was/is Robert De Niro. I just love this actor and I have been watching many of this movies during the last 20 years (I have seen 72 of them so far). However, since the beginning of this decade, he has been making about 3 or 4 movies a year and most of them were of a very dubious quality so Iâm not as fanatic as I used to be about his work but I still watch some of them from time to time. Well, this movie is definitely not one of this greatest movies, thatâs for sure, but I still think it was a decent watch though. Indeed, the plot was decent and I thought that De Niro and Edward Burns had a solid chemistry together. Basically, it is one of these thrillers with a really interesting concept but, instead of properly developing this idea, they went for the usual annoying gimmicks and you basically end up with another average US thriller. Still, in spite of its flaws, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was still fairly entertaining and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 4 May 2016 10:53
(A review of
Finding Forrester)
Following the massive critic failure generated by the âPsychoâ remake (which I didnât think was so bad but I was definitely in the minority), Gus Van Sant came back  to something similar to âGood Will Huntingâ which was something much safer but also much more boring in my opinion. In fact, I have always been amazed by the fact that no one has ever really pointed out how almost identical it was to âGood Will Huntingâ and, as a result, I never really cared for this movie. The fact that I always thought that  âGood Will Huntingâ was seriously overrated didnât help either, I guess. Still, I have to admit it, in this genre, it was a decent watch and Sean Connery and Rob Brown had together a nice chemistry. Furthermore, to be honest, I have to admit that it has been a while since I have seen this movie and I should definitely give it a 2nd chance at some point. After this movie, Van Sant went for something more experimental with âGerryâ and, even though it didnât really work out, it was much more interesting than this rather pedestrian and predictable feature. Anyway, to conclude, even though I think this movie is rather overrated, it is still a decent drama and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Gus Van Santâs work.
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Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 3 May 2016 03:22
(A review of
Fatal Attraction)
To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. When it was released, it has a huge hit. Nowadays, it would seem impossible that a thriller like this one would ever again become the biggest movie of the year with all these huge blockbusters but, back in 1987, this movie managed to be the highest-grossing film worldwide. Anyway, in the erotic thriller genre, it is definitely a classic. In my opinion, what made this movie really worked was the perfect cast. Indeed, Michael Douglas was basically born to play such guys (see also âBasic Instinctâ) and he was just pitch-perfect. Even more impressive was Glenn Close who was absolutely a rather odd choice and no one at the time or even nowadays would  think of her to play a sexual psychopath but she really nailed it. Unfortunately, as pointed out by Glenn Close herself, the movie completely ignored the fact that her character was probably mentally ill and this aspect was never developed in this movie which was too bad. Instead, the character played by Douglas was set as a victim, when in fact, the guy was a cheater and it would have been interesting if it would have been more balanced. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it is still a decent thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 8 years, 10 months ago on 3 May 2016 01:59
(A review of
Le fils préféré)
Basically, it is another really obscure French movies that almost no one has seen on Listal. To be honest, I really donât know why but I was really intrigued by this movie and I was quite eager to check it out. Concerning Nicole Garcia, she is not really a major French director, even in France she is not regarded as a great director, so Iâm pretty sure that you have never heard of her but I have actually managed to watch half of her directing efforts and I must admit that I have a weak spot for her work. Anyway, this 2nd directing effort was definitely a step-up from her directing debut, âUn week-end sur deuxâ, which was slightly too low-key for my taste, and there was definitely something quite mesmerizing about the relationships between these 3 brothers, thanks to some really strong performances from the 3 actors involved (GĂ©rard Lanvin, Bernard Giraudeau, Jean-Marc Barr). Concernig Garcia, her next movie would be the even more ambitious âPlace VendĂŽmeâ starring the great Catherine Deneuve. To conclude, even though it wasnât really a masterpiece, I thought it was still a decent drama and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.Â
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