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CollectionsAn average movie
Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 5 May 2015 07:33
(A review of Tell Tale)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick and, to be honest, I thought the ratings were much higher before watching the damned thing. Anyway, it sounded intriguing so I still wanted to check it out. At first, I actually had a rather hard time to get into this story. Indeed, basically, it was one of those paranormal thrillers (apparently, it was based on a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe which makes it instantly more interesting), a genre I'm not really a huge fan of. Indeed, how can I take it seriously when everything going on is so ridiculous? Here, it was even worse because you were dealing with some real people, living some real lifes and also having some real diseases but, then, it would stop every 10 minutes to show something really preposterous. And, yet, I have to admit it, slowly, the damned thing managed to grab me. Indeed, thanks to some solid performances by Josh Lucas and Brian Cox and some really efficient directing, I must confess that it was actually quite entertaining. There were still too many loose-ends and plot holes to make it completely satisfying but they managed somehow to make it work. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was not bad at all and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 4 May 2015 02:26
(A review of Le poulpe)Basically, it is once again one of these really obscure French movies that almost no one has seen here on listal. Even though I have seen this movie like ages ago, I still remember it quite well and Iâm pretty sure I saw it in the movie theater when it was released in France at the time. Back in those days, I had a real weak spot for Jean-Pierre Darroussin. You probably have never heard of the guy but, in France, the guy was and still is one of the best character actors and, at last, with this movie, he was getting a well-deserved leading role. To be honest, the whole thing was pretty much a standard murky film noir and the plot was probably a little too far-fetched but I still think it was quite entertaining, above all thanks to Jean-Pierre Darroussin. Indeed, the guy was basically born to play a character like this, some seasoned smart-ass private investigator, and his delivery was just spot-on from the beginning until the very end. To play his love interest, you had the lovely Clotilde Courau who seemed to have a really bright future but it all pretty much stopped when she married some Italian prince. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is nothing really ground-breaking, I still think it is a solid film noir and it is definitely worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 4 May 2015 10:29
(A review of Pleasantville)I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago, I was really eager to check it out again, especially since it has somewhat reached a cult status. Well, I'm glad I gave it second chance. Indeed, the first time around, I actually ended up with some mixed feelings about the whole thing. I mean, sure, I thought it was pretty good and quite clever but, back then, I canât say I was really blown away by this tale. However, after rewatching it after all these years, I finally understood what was so good about this movie. Basically, it is the answer to all this people thinking that everything used to so much better in the past. Well, as displayed in this movie, things were maybe different but it was certainly not better. Furthermore, it shows that even though we should look for happiness and harmony, life is also about chaos and diversity. Concerning Reese Witherspoon who was just 22 years old at the time, this movie is a fine example of how interesting her career was right from the start (see also 'The Man in the Moon', âFreewayâ, âElectionâ, âAmerican Psychoâ). To be honest, even though the whole thing had a nice edge, it was still too simplistic for my taste, especially how Jennifer would completely change after reading one book. In fact, it was probably the main problem with this movie, the way they struggled to show how Jennifer and David would be affected by their adventure and the choices they made (David becomes a hero and Jennifer becomes a bookworm) were rather disappointing. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still already enjoyed the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 4 May 2015 08:29
(A review of Maid in Manhattan)Honestly, I wasnât expecting much from this flick but I still ended up watching it. I mean, right from the start, it sounded like a rather odd project. I mean, who thought it would be a good idea to make a romantic-comedy with Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes? Concerning Ralph Fiennes, he is probably one of the best actors of his generation and even though he has done pretty much everything in his career, this genre is probably the only one he hasnât mastered so far. Concerning Jennifer Lopez, she has a pretty lousy reputation as an actress but I donât think she is so bad. Unfortunately, she always picks up such bland projects like this one and if she ever wants us to take her seriously as an actress she will really have to take some risks at some point but I donât see it happening anytime soon. For Wayne Wang, I thought this movie was quite a stepdown from his impressive work from the 90âs (âThe Joy Luck Clubâ, âSmokeâ, âBlue in the Faceâ). At the end of the day, it is difficult to pinpoint what was the biggest issue with this flick. Anyway, you can either blame the lack of chemistry between the two leads or the fact that the plot was terribly weak and predictable. To conclude, I have seen worse but it is a really average romantic-comedy and I donât think it is really worth a look.
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A very good movie
Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 2 May 2015 10:08
(A review of The Incredibles)Nowadays, Marvel is pretty much ruling the box-office with their massive super-hero features but more than 10 years ago, Pixar did manage to get some pretty impressive commercial and critical success with their own super characters. Man, back in those days, Pixar used to be pretty amazing, all their productions were top quality, they had an amazing trackrecord and this movie definitely belongs to their classics. For Brad Bird, it was a big revenge as his directing debut, 'The Iron Giant', was a solid effort and eventually a cult-classic but it was barely seen when it was released. Anyway, 10 years later, this flick still holds pretty well. Indeed, they managed to give a really interesting twist to the genre, something even Marvel is still struggling with. Indeed, what if a super-hero would get a middle life crisis? What if the population got fed up of super-heros and their way of destroying everything? Is it even possible for a super-hero to live a regular life? Like the best work delivered by Pixar, not only it was pretty gorgeous to look at and completely entertaining, it went actually pretty deep which made the whole thing even more rewarding to watch. To conclude, I still think it is a very good animated flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 2 May 2015 04:35
(A review of Home)Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since my youngest daughter was really eager to watch it, we went to see the damned thing in the movie theater. Well, eventually, it was not bad at all, even if it was a really typical DreamWorks effort. Indeed, the animation looked pretty good and the story was fairly entertaining but, like most of their productions, the whole thing still felt pretty lazy. I thought it was also seriously oriented towards very young children and I'm pretty sure most parents will be rather bored by the whole thing. Sure, there was a morality, but it was so obvious, so predictable, rather boring and unoriginal to be honest and I really had a hard time to care about what was going on. There was one detail that really impressed me though. I know, it might sound silly but I thought that the hair of Tip, the main character, looked just amazing. I mean, the animation in general was pretty good but her hair which was really curly and thick was just really impressive. Anyway, if you start paying attention to such trivial details, it is never a good sign and it means that there is definitely something wrong with your story. To conclude, even though I didn't like it much, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you need to entertain your kids.
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A good movie
Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 1 May 2015 08:12
(A review of The Prince of Egypt)I already saw this movie in the movie theatre when it was released but since it was a while back and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out again. In fact, I remember it very well, before this movie was released, there was quite some buzz about it. Indeed, back in those days, Disney was pretty much ruling the animation world without any real competition and the brand-new studio DreamWorks had decided to become their new challenger which was definitely a risky move. Eventually, even though they would make a name with their CGI animated features, most of their first productions were actually hand-drawn and, even more interesting, one of their very first project was actually definitely adult-oriented which was really a bold move considering that most animated features were and still are focusing on kids. That was really intriguing and an obvious move to take some distance from Disneyâs trademarks. I think it also had to do with the fact that Disney had already pretty much covered all the most famous tales (Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Tarzan,âŚ) and the only real famous tales left over were from the biblical kind, a genre Disney has always kept its distance from for some rather obvious reasons. Still, you can feel that the whole thing was quite experimental and the tone was rather uneven with some superfluous songs and lighter scenes to make sure that the parents could still bring their kids along. I still think itâs a real shame that DreamWorks eventually didnât continue in this direction and they actually never made something like that again. Anyway, even though Iâm not a religious man, the story was actually quite entertaining and some bits were even downright spectacular but, above all, I especially did appreciate the intense love-hate relationship between Moses and Rameses. The animation was also quite gorgeous. To conclude, even though it was not a masterpiece, it was still the best hand-drawn animated feature produced by DreamWorks and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 30 April 2015 09:11
(A review of Keeping Mum)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this movie but since there was a decent cast, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, I thought it was seriously underwhelming. The main issue is that it was supposed to be a comedy but there was hardly a really funny scene throughout the whole thing. I mean, even though I'm far from being a huge fan of Rowan Atkinson, I have to admit that the guy can be pretty funny but, here, he was just playing a boring pathetic loser who was not hilarious at all. On one hand, it was nice to see him playing a character straight instead of his usual gimmick with either Mr Bean or Johnny English but the end-result was unfortunately really underwhelming. To play his wife, you had the lovely Kristin Scott Thomas who gave the best performance as usual but she was really struggling with this poor material and it was really difficult to believe that this woman would end up married with this tedious fellow. On top of that, the whole angle of the murderous mother coming back to mess up with their life was just really poorly developed. To conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, it was pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look.
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A bad movie
Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 30 April 2015 10:47
(A review of Robin Hood: Men in Tights)To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and maybe I should re-watch it at some point. As a matter of fact, I actually ended up watching the damned thing in the movie theater when it was released. Back then, I must have been 13 years old and, obviously, I had no idea who was Mel Brooks but when I saw the trailer, I thought it looked quite hilarious so I was really eager to check this movie. Back then, a few years before, Mel Brooks had made âLife Stinksâ (another feature I happened to see in the movie theater when it was released) and even though it was pretty much his first straightforward comedy, it turned out to be a massive critical and commercial flop. As a result, Brooks decided to make another spoof again and even though it was fairly well received, I thought it was actually terribly lame. I mean, sure, I have seen it like ages ago and I was just a kid at the time but even then, while watching the damned thing, I couldnât help thinking that they displayed the only funny jokes in the trailer and the rest was just terribly underwhelming. To conclude, even though I should probably give it a second chance, I really didnât like it and I donât think it is really worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 30 April 2015 07:25
(A review of The Station Agent)Since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, to be honest, I had pretty much the same reaction I had while watching âThe Visitorâ, the following directing effort by Thomas McCarthy. Indeed, once again, I enjoyed the slow melancholic mood and how the characters were organically developed and really fully-fledged and, yet, I still had a hard time to really care about the story. I mean, first of all, the whole train hobby was fairly tedious but, above all, if you think about it, even though the approach was nice and refreshing, I thought that the outcome was actually rather pedestrian and predictable. I mean, at first, the main character doesnât want to talk to anyone but it all changes and, towards the end, they are all best friends which was hardly original. Still, because the whole thing was very well written and thanks to a stellar cast, especially Peter Dinklage in a breakthrough performance, it was still very enjoyable. Indeed, Dinklage, with a very few words, managed to give his character an impressive depth and I really believed in this character and his inner turmoil. To conclude, even though I wasnât completely sold, it was still a solid drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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