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Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 12 October 2015 05:58
(A review of Little Buddha (1993))I already saw this movie, in fact, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released, but, since it was such a long time ago, I thought I might as well check it out again. Obviously, it is a rather minor effort in Bertolucci's otherwise rather stellar career but I still think there were many things to enjoy about the damned thing. Of course, you had the major obstacle of having Keanu Reeves playing Siddhartha who would eventually become no less than the Buddha. Basically, it is the very old dilemma of casting a famous actor above someone unknown who might have had a more accurate ethinicity. In this case, in my opinion, it was above all a rather odd choice to have an actor most widely known as being terribly wooden to portray one of the most highly sprititual figures that ever lived. And yet, it remains one of these rare movies dealing with spirituality, with no bad guys involved, and it was quite refreshing. Still, I'm not sure if it was such a good idea to mix the life of Siddhartha with another plot dealing with the reincarnation of some lama. Concerning the reincarnation stuff, I wonder if most parents wouldn't freak out if someone would show up at their door saying that their young kid was the reincarnation of their guru. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you are interested in this subject.
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 11 October 2015 09:55
(A review of Music from Another Room (1998))I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Jude Law, I thought I might as well check it out. Apparently, Â it is his least favorite of his movies and, to be honest, even though it wasnât really awful, I canât say I really liked it either. To beginning with, it starts with a really awkward scene during which the lead character is just 5 years old and helps a woman to deliver her baby. Seriously, in the romantic-comedy genre, they come up with some weird meet-cute scenes to get a couple to get acquainted but that was really something else. I mean, they didn't actually make a big fuss out of it eventually, but, on a psychological level, it could mess you up to have your hands in a vagina to play around with a baby at such a young age. But, like I said before, Â it is just a meet-cute and they didn't spend much time on this matter after all. Anyway, Â even though both Jude Law and Gretchen Mol were really cute and had some decent chemistry together, Â their story was rather underwhelming. On top of that, Â Mol had also 2 sisters and 1 brother, all with their own half-baked sub-plots, and it was a little too much for a movie running just above 90 minutes. Â To conclude, it was pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look.Â
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 10 October 2015 01:21
(A review of Shortbus)Obviously, the main reason I wanted to check this movie was for its controversial reputation. Basically, it was supposed to be one of the most sexually explicit mainstream movies ever made and I can guarantee you that it does really deserve its reputation. Indeed, right from the very beginning, you get several sex acts going from masturbation, to straight sex, gay sex and even some SM. At the end of the scene, you even get several ejaculations, even a guy ejaculating in his own mouth which was something I seriously didn't expect. So, you have been warned and if you still want to watch it, at least, you know what kind of trip it is. To be honest, even though there were a lot of gay sex, probably more than 50%, I think the explicit scenes were actually very well done and they didn't really make me feel uncomfortable, at least, not too much. Concerning the rest of the movie, I think the Shortbus club was quite fascinating and the group of characters involved were also interesting. Unfortunately, the running time was rather short (just above 90 mins) , I think there were just too many characters and, to be honest, some of their stories were either far-fetched or rather half-baked. Anyway, to conclude, for an experimental feature, I thought it was not bad, I guess it is worth a look, at least, if you are into this kind of features, otherwise you should definitely avoid it.
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 10 October 2015 06:10
(A review of Batman Forever)Apparently, Tim Burton was actually planning to make a third Batman picture but it seems that the studio got worried that his movies were getting darker and darker so they went for another director and this movie was the end-result. Eventually, even though it turned out to be another box-office success for this franchise, I didn't like it much, I'm afraid. Basically, the biggest change was in the tone. Indeed, if the Burton movies were pretty dark and sometimes even gloomy, this one was filled with some fluorescent colors and neon which made the movie maybe easier to swallow for the mainstream audience but it became also much less appealing to me. The other thing that bother me was how cheesy the dialogues were. Indeed, there were filled with some rather silly oneliners and I can understand that Micheal Keaton dropped from the whole thing since he didn't want to get involved in some cartoon. I have to admit it, it wasn't completely awful and I guess it must have been fun for all the kids up to 12 years old. Furthermore, Val Kilmer was actually a very good choice to play the Dark Knight, physically probably the best of them all. Nicole Kidman also never looked so stunning but I think I have never seen such a shallow psychiatrist before. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was pretty weak and I don't think is really worth a look.Â
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A bad movie
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 9 October 2015 09:50
(A review of A Hole in My Heart)What the hell happened to Lukas Moodysson?!? After directing the impressive 'Fucking Ă
mĂĽl' and the even better 'Lilja 4-ever' , the guy was hailed as the new great Swedish director but, suddenly, I didn't hear much from him anymore. Finally, after many years, I came accross this follow-up and I got intrigued but I must admit that I was a little concerned by the surprising low rating on IMDB. Eventually, it turned out to be one of most unpleasant movies I have ever watched. Indeed, it looked terrible, the characters were just increasingly vapid and unlikable and the actors gave some really pathetic performances. Of course, there was no plot whatsoever and the whole thing was pretty much at the level of an agonizing and pretentious home video involving 4 terrible and pathetic persons stuck into a filthy appartment. They also added some supposedly shocking and disgusting scenes and this mix was pretty much impossible to swallow. Sure, there must have been some artistic goal involved here and it was probably the whole point that the viewers should feel disgust and discomfort while watching this but it was seriously lost on me and it is not very often that you come accross a director throwing away his whole career like that with such a misguided project. Anyway, to conclude, I actually think I'm being really generous with my rating, it is a terrible movie and you should seriously avoid it.
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 9 October 2015 07:32
(A review of Law of Desire)By now, I have seen about 10 movies directed by Pedro Almodovar and I have to conclude that, even though I have a lot of respect for his work, I'm a huge fan though, especially concerning his early work. This movie is a perfect example. It is his oldest movie that I have seen so far and I have still have to watch his older movies from the 80's. Anyway, it is probably not one of his most famous productions but I thought it was a decent watch though. Back in those days, he was still working with Antonio Banderas before the guy became a star in Hollywood and you even had Manuela Velasco, the lead character in the [Rec] franchise, who was just a little girl at the time. Basically, you get here the usual trademarks in Almodovar's work with some rather hysterical characters (especially the women) and all the characters (male and female) involved in some doomed and convoluted romances. Maybe I was just too young when I watched it, maybe I should give it a second chance but, to be honest, I had a rather hard time to care about those characters and what they were going through. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didn't really blow me away, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Almodovar's work.Â
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 9 October 2015 06:59
(A review of Now You See Me)Since I kept hearing some interesting things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, it managed to be a decent box-office success, even though it wasn't about some super-heros or some established brand and it wasn't a reboot, a sequel or a remake. In short, it was an original idea and it managed to make some money which is something really rare nowadays. Anyway, eventually, even though I have to admit that it was indeed cute and fun, I can't say it really impressed me though. First of all, the main issue with movies dealing with illusionists is that movies are already a complete illusion, especially with the current domination of the CGI technology. Basically, you can show pretty much anything on the silver screen so it is rather difficult to show an illusion and claim that you have displayed something truly unbelievable. It was pretty obvious in this case. Indeed, the first trick in Las Vegas did work because even though it was far-fetched, it seemed doable. However, everything that happened afterwards was rather ridiculous, even after they tried to explain it. On top of that, it didn't help that the magic stuff was combined with a rather murky plot which barely made sense. Still, if you stop analysing the story, there were a whole  bunch of decent actors involved and it was fairly entertaining so I have to admit that it is actually worth a look.Â
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A very good movie
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 8 October 2015 11:34
(A review of Living in Oblivion)Not so long ago, I saw the last 2 directing efforts by Tom DiCillo, the interesting but ultimately disappointing âDeliriousâ and the even more underwhelming and borderline abysmal âDouble Whammyâ, and it seems that the guy has really lost his touch which is too bad. Indeed, 20 years ago, he got his breakthrough with this indie gem and I have been following his work ever since. The story is that DiCillo managed to have a decent critical success with âJohnny Suedeâ (an obscure indie feature starring Brad Pitt before he became famous) and he quickly got the greenlight for his follow up feature which would eventually become âBox of Moonlightâ. However, after years of  troubles in pre-production, he decided to make a movie about how frustrating this whole process was and the end-result was this second film. Back then, I must have been 15 years old when I saw it and I thought it was just hilarious. Indeed, Steve Buscemi just got his breakthrough a couple of years before with âReservoir Dogsâand it was just really neat that the guy was playing the lead for once. To conclude, even though it is nowadays rather forgotten, it is actually a really nice comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 7 October 2015 09:43
(A review of Maps to the Stars)Not so long ago, I saw 'Cosmopolis' which was just terrible and, by far, the least satisfaying movie directed by David Cronenberg so far. With this in mind, I was rather apprehensive about his following directing effort but, fortunately,  it was much better. To be honest,  I still didnât really like it though but it was at least much more watchable.  In fact, the biggest problem was that, pretty much like in 'Cosmopolis', it was filled with characters who just were really unlikable and, therefore,  it was rather difficult to care about what they were going through. At least, it was a little bit more interesting and, once again, Cronenberg had quite an impressive cast at his disposal ( Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Olivia Williams, Robert Pattinson) and they all delivered some really solid performances. The other thing that made the movie difficult to appreciate was that the structure was really uneven. Indeed, at first, it started with a multitude of characters, most of them living a rather decadent life  without an actual plot, like in a Robert Altman film, but, suddenly, half way through,  they added some kind of plot about this family with a really messed history. Anyway, even though the whole thing was rather half-baked,  I still think it was rather intriguing and I think it is worth a look, especially if you're interested in David Cronenberg's work.
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A very good movie
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 7 October 2015 02:56
(A review of Lost in La Mancha)For how long Terry Gilliam had been trying to make this movie? For more than 2 decades I guess, and, in the mean time, he had directed 4 other movies (âThe Brothers Grimmâ, âTidelandâ, âThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassusâ and 'The Zero Theorem'). Since this documentary was made, Gilliam tried again a couple of times to launch this project, once with Robert Duvall and Ewan McGregor in the leads. A later attempt,, starring this time John Hurt and Jack OâConnell, was supposed to be shooting in 2016 but I was cancelled again. Eventually, he finally managed to finish up with Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver playing the leads though. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it is probably one of the best documentaries ever made about film making and we get here a pretty good glimpse of Gilliamâs dream project which he struggle so much to finish. I sure would have loved to see this version starring Jean Rochefort, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis but it wasn't meant to be and, to be honest, after all these years, Iâm afraid Gilliam will just make something quickly just to get rid off of this nightmarish project (and, indeed, the final product 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote' released in 2018 turned out to be rather disappointing). Anyway, to conclude, I think it is a fascinating documentary about a really messed up project and it is definitely worth a look.Â
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