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Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 20 June 2015 09:23
(A review of A Dangerous Method)It has been a while since I wanted to watch this flick and I'm glad I finally managed to watch the damned thing. For a 3rd time around, David Cronenberg was working with Viggo Mortensen and since there previous collaborations were really enjoyable, I had some rather high expectations with this movie. However, this time, the lead was actually played by Michael Fassbender, one of the most exciting actors at work nowadays. Anyway, even though this movie didn’t get much love when it was released, I thought it was dealing with a fascinating subject, basically, the birth of psychoanalysis. Unfortunately, even though those 2 historical figures were really mesmerizing, I'm not sure I really cared about the character played by Keira Knightley. I mean, apparently, this woman was essential in their work and their relationship but I wish they spent more time developing their fascinating ideas amd theories. Instead, half of the movie was therefore about some average love affair with a rather predictable outcome. I must confess I have never read anything written by Freud, quite shamefull, I know, but I discovered I stood behind everything he said. Indeed, the way that sexuality has a major impact on our mind and behavior or even the fact that there is no place in paranormality or superstition in science are some of the thoughts I really share with him Not that Jung was an uninteresting fellow, in the contrary. To conclude, even though it was really a masterpiece, it wasn't still a really interesting movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you're interested in this subject.
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 8 months ago on 20 June 2015 06:21
(A review of The Real McCoy)Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Kim Basinger and Val Kilmer, I still wanted to check it out. While watching this, the first thing I was thinking is that they don't make movies like this anymore. Indeed, nowadays, they produce only massive blockbusters with a 200 million dollars budget or small indie features with a shoe-string budget, nothing in the middle anymore. I mean, don't misunderstand me, it was still a really weak movie anyway. Basically, they went for the most generic heist plot you could think of, using all the known clichés, and decided to have a female main character thinking that it would be enough to make this really original and entertaining. Above all, the whole thing was just really poorly written. Why pretending in the intro that the main character was a guy? Also, the whole gimmick of the master thief coming out of retirement for one last job is really old and boring. As a result, you have to wait about 45 minutes before Kim Basinger does what she was supposed to do from the very beginning. At least, Basinger did look fine but it wasn’t enough to make this movie really interesting. To conclude, it must be one of the weakest heist movies I have ever seen and it is not really worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 9 years, 9 months ago on 20 June 2015 07:25
(A review of Wreck-It Ralph)I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it is available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. Back then, Disney was finally going through a very nice renaissance, delivering once again some fine animated features and, while watching this one, I thought it could be their best one from this period. Indeed, even though 'Frozen' was a decent flick, to be honest, it didn't really blow me away. On the other hand, this production definitely had some potential. I remember it very well, when I first saw the trailer, I thought 'This looked totally awesome! Hé, I didn't know that Pixar was coming up with a new flick?!?'. Indeed, it looked like a Pixar production, it smelled like a Pixar production but it was in fact a Disney film. When you watch the damned thing, it did become pretty obvious though. Anyway, the whole thing looked amazing and the characters were really neat. Concerning the video-game references, I myself was a hard-core gamer in the 80's-90's so it was pretty much a blast for me but I'm pretty sure that most of the kids won't get those. And finally, what about the story? Well, it was at first very promising giving that awesome feeling that only the best Pixar productions could provide but, then, the plot became rather convoluted pretty quickly. Basically, they had to find some excuses to have Ralph leaving his arcade but what they came up with was never really convincing. Sure, it was still entertaining but the depth was gone after 15-20 minutes. Anyway, to conclude, even though I don't think it was a masterpiece, it is still one of the best animated features produced by Disney lately and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A very good movie
Posted : 9 years, 9 months ago on 19 June 2015 09:51
(A review of White Wedding)For the international community, Vanessa Paradis has been mostly known for her long running relationship with Johnny Depp, resulting in 2 kids. Well, in France, she has been one of the most famous singers for almost 30 years, starting with her hit ‘Joe le taxi’ when she was just 15 years old. She pretty much became a star overnight and, a couple of years later, she also gave her acting debut. For this movie, Paradis was only 17 years old but she already displayed some solid acting chops and she was rewarded the César for the Most Promising Actress, something that the likes of Mariah Carey, Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera obviously didn’t achieve with their respective abysmal acting debut. Basically, it is a dark and intense drama about a doomed love affair between a teacher and a young student played by Paradis. It was some rather controversial material but it was never exploitative and the young actress was rewarded for taking such risks. Unfortunately, she would stop acting and would come back only 6 years later for ‘Élisa’ which would be another hit in France. To conclude, even though it is nowadays pretty much forgotten, I think it is a pretty good drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 9 months ago on 18 June 2015 10:00
(A review of 187)I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Samuel L. Jackson, I thought I might as well give it a try. At first, I must say that I was rather impressed. Indeed, the whole thing started with an intense dark and gloomy depiction of your average inner-city school and I thought it was a nice fictional counterpart to an interesting documentary I saw recently called 'Waiting for Superman'. Basically, in this completely hostile and filthy environment, is it really possible for an average kid to learn something or for a decent teacher to do his/her job? It is an awful and depressing system that only lead to some major failures. So, it was really interesting and Jackson's really solid performance was making all the other movies in this genre looking like some kind of family features produced by Disney. Unfortunately, during the second half, they decided to add a rather half-baked and underwhelming vigilante angle and the whole thing pretty much lost it. I mean, sure, the guy was traumatized and his actions were understandable but it was just poorly developed. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 9 years, 9 months ago on 18 June 2015 10:16
(A review of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids)This movie is definitely a childhood favorite. Indeed, I saw it in the theater when it was released, I must have been 10 years old, and I really loved the damned thing at the time. Back then, when there was no CGI, I thought it looked really awesome and the story was really exciting for my young age. Of course, the plot was not really impressive but it was never supposed to be since it was definitely oriented towards a young audience. After all these years, I have to admit that it does look a little bit cheesy for nowadays standards but I still think the whole thing still look decent even 20 years later. Obviously, since it was a box-office success, they had to come up with a sequel. Eventually, I watched this sequel many years later and it was just terribly underwhelming. Concerning Joe Johnston, it was a solid directing debut and even though he never became a major director, he has managed to build up a decent career focusing mostly on blockusters (‘Jumanji’, ‘Jurassic Park III’, ‘The Wolfman’, ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’). To conclude, even though the whole plot is a little too simple for the adults, I think it is an awesome flick for young kids and I feel a lot of nostalgia when I think about this movie.
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 9 months ago on 18 June 2015 07:51
(A review of 9 Songs)Since I have always been interested by Michael Winterbottom’s work, I was really eager to check this flick and it took me a while to finally see the damned thing. Eventually, I found it rather difficult to judge this flick. Indeed, on paper, as pointed out by Roger Ebert, it was a very intriguing experiment but, eventually, the end-result was not really impressive. Basically, it is a trademark in Winterbottom’s work. Indeed, the guy is pretty much a workaholic, making more then 20 movies in a 20 years long career, and even though he always manages to find an interesting concept, an interesting idea, most of his projects turn out to be rather half-baked and this one is a perfect example. For example, with a running time of barely 70 minutes, was it really wise to spend so much time with some random concert footage? Same thing with the Antarctica stuff, it didn’t add anything to the whole thing. All these scenes seemed to be used as merely to fill the blanks between the sex scenes. And then the sex… To be honest, if you watch this flick and you turn out to be shocked or revolted, then, you should think about it twice before watching the damned thing. I think those scenes did work pretty well but it’s too bad that everything else in the movie was rather underwhelming. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I think it was an interesting experiment but it is definitely an acquired taste and you should be well aware of its content before watching it.
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 9 months ago on 17 June 2015 09:11
(A review of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones)Back then and still today, many have criticized 'The Phantom Menace' but, in my opinion, it is with this movie that Georges Lucas really dropped the ball as it is by far the weakest installment in this franchise. Basically, it is a really underwhelming bridge between episode I and episode III and Lucas managed to mess up pretty much everything here. Indeed, once again you had a rather murky and boring political intrigue but, above all, you had one of the weakest romances I have ever seen. Many blamed Hayden Christensen for this massive failure and his career never really recovered from the blow but I don't think it was entirely his fault. Indeed, his character who was supposed to be the most fascinating character in this mythology was reduced to some arrogant and pitiful emo teenager. The fact that the dialogues were really pathetic didn’t help either. At least, I have to admit it, the whole thing looked pretty amazing and the CGI version of Yoda was better than I remembered and an improvement on the disappointing puppet they used in the previous installment. Even so, to use him for a light-saber fight was just a huge mistake as it was completely out of character. I shouldn't forget to mention also that the backstory for Boba Fett was another major letdown. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing remains watchable, it was still a terrible borefest to behold.
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A very good movie
Posted : 9 years, 9 months ago on 17 June 2015 10:15
(A review of O Brother, Where Art Thou?)On his journey to become one of the most interesting actors at work nowadays, this movie was definitely a milestone in George Clooney’s career. Indeed, it was the first collaboration between Clooney and the Coen brothers and arguably the best movie they made together. To be honest, I actually had some mixed feelings about this one but it is something I experienced with almost all the movies directed by the famous siblings. The main issue I always had with their work is that it all depends on my mood. Indeed, depending on when I would watch one of their movies, I would either love it or it would make me a little bit indifferent. Well, I actually saw this movie when it was released in the movie theater and, back then, even though I thought it was a nice watch, I can’t say I was completely blown away. Eventually I enjoyed it much more the 2nd time around. Basically, it is a nice wacky story with some solid directing, some awesome music and one of the best performances by Mr Clooney. To conclude, it is a fine dark comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in the Coen brothers’s work.
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A good movie
Posted : 9 years, 9 months ago on 17 June 2015 07:50
(A review of Ocean's Eleven)I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. Back then, after this movie was released, it became very popular very quickly and, for a couple of years, I would hear on a regular basis that this movie was one of the best ever made. Of course, a decade later and following a couple of disappointing sequels, his reputation has settled down quite a bit and it has eventually become what it has actually always been : an entertaining commercial feature but not much more than that. I mean, sure, it was a well made and fun heist feature with an insane all-star cast (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Carl Reiner, Topher Grace, Joshua Jackson, Holly Marie Combs) but, at the end of the day, the whole thing was actually pretty shallow. Of course, Soderbergh and his buddies never intended to make something deep whatsoever so that’s all fine but we shouldn’t pretend that it is anything else. Coming back to Soderbergh, since then the guy has retired and during his very ecletic career, this movie was by far his biggest box-office success. To conclude, even though I think it is slightly overrated, it is still a fun movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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