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Posted : 10 years ago on 18 February 2015 03:03
(A review of The Royal Tenenbaums)I already saw this movie but, since it was a while back and since it was on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. In fact, this is the first movie directed by Wes Anderson that I have ever saw and, I remember it very well, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released. At the time, there was a lot of hype about this fairly new director and he was apparently the new US indie sensation so I was really eager to check this flick. To be honest, at the time, you have to keep in mind that it was more than 20 years ago, even though I admired the work done by Anderson and even though I thought it was pretty good, I can’t say I was really blown away. Well, it was pretty neat to re-watch it after all these years, that's for sure. Since then, I have seen all the movies directed by this unique US director, I was much more able to enjoy the damned thing and I would go as far as saying that it might be one of his best movies. As usual, he had a really impressive cast as his disposal (Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Danny Glover) and these characters were so fun and colorful. Above all, his directing style is so unique, it is visually so neat and he has a very interesting way to handle his characters who seemed all to be more entertaining than probably actually are. To be honest, I still can't shake the idea that the whole thing was rather shallow and a little bit pretentious but, as I got acquainted with his work through the years, it is really inherent to his style. Anyway, to conclude, even though I still can't say it's one of my favorite movies, it is pretty neat though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Wes Anderson’s work.
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A very good movie
Posted : 10 years ago on 18 February 2015 11:54
(A review of 'R Xmas)Back in the 90's, I was a huge fan of Abel Ferrara's work, I have watched all the movies he has made during this period and I even saw this one in the movie theater when it was released, if I recall correctly. To be honest, it is probably one of his more osbcure features (I was only the 4th listal who rated it and not even 10 users have seen it so far) but I thoroughy enjoyed it. I have to admit that Ferrara has never been an easy director and, unfortunately, all the movies he has directed during the last decade were more alienating than fascinating to watch. However, there has always been something quite mesmerizing about the movies he made in the 90’s and, in my opinion, this flick was the last great one he made. I mean, sure, it is nothing really original but I thought it was really convincing and I really loved the mood. It was the first movie I saw starring Drea de Matteo and I thought that she was really charismatic, too bad she never really managed to develop a career on the silver screen. To conclude, my rating might be a little bit generous but I thought it was really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Abel Ferrara's work.
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years ago on 17 February 2015 10:45
(A review of Le Havre)Even though I have seen a couple of movies directed by Aki Kaurismaki, I'm far from being an expert on his work but since this movie (like most of the other movies he has done) received some very good reviews, I was really eager to check it out. On top of that, the action was set in France which made it even more intriguing to me. Eventually, like all the other movies directed by this guy, I admired the work done, I even enjoyed the damned thing and, yet, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing. I mean, Kaurismaki has an interesting directing style and there is something quite unique about the dreary mood and the dead-pan humor he provides but I guess it's just not my kind of thing. On top of that, even though it was taking place in a realistic social background, it felt rather manufactured and I thought it was pretty obvious that it was made by a foreigner and not by someone French but maybe that was his goal, to give an enhanced view on this harsh reality. Still, André Wilms was really charismatic, the kind of characters you would only see in a Kaurismaki feature, and the whole thing is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years ago on 17 February 2015 10:37
(A review of The Rookie)It has been a while since I have seen this flick and maybe I will re-watch it at some point. Anyway, just a few years before making one of his numerous masterpieces and finally becoming one of the greatest directors alive, Clint Eastwood directed this decent but rather pedestrian action flick with Charlie Sheen. I mean, seriously, can you imagine a movie released today directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Eastwood himself and Charlie Sheen?!? That would be pretty weird... Anyway, 20 years ago, it didn't seem to be such a bad idea even though Sheen was apparently already struggling with some substance abuse problems (that the guy is still alive today is pretty much some kind of a miracle). Anyway, even though the whole thing was nothing amazing, it was still a solid buddy cops feature, arguably the biggest action movie directed by Clint Eastwood. Indeed, those two guys had some pretty good chemistry and I thought that the whole thing was mildly entertaining. To conclude, even though it never reached the level of the great movies directed by this master, it was still a fairly entertaining action flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years ago on 16 February 2015 11:52
(A review of Runaway Bride)Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick. I mean, seriously, check this poster… You get to see Julia Roberts lacing her shoes which was supposed to be cute but it was rather pathetic. On top of that, I never been a huge fan of ‘Pretty Woman’ so I was definitely not the right audience for this feature. And, yet, somehow, I must admit that this movie was actually fairly enjoyable. I don’t know, maybe it had do with the fact that I had such low expectations before watching this flick. Obviously, the producers by hiring the same director and the same lead actors almost 10 years after ‘Pretty Woman’ were just hoping that the same audience would rush to see the same team again so the whole endeavour was pretty shameful. Still, contrary to the really pretentious ‘Pretty Woman’, I thought that this feature didn’t get itself so seriously and was therefore more enjoyable. Indeed, the whole premise is rather silly but since all the people involved were quite aware of this, it actually worked pretty well. To conclude, there is a fair chance that my rating might be too generous here but I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years ago on 16 February 2015 10:57
(A review of Rosetta)By now, I have seen most of the movies directed by the Dardenne Brothers and I have been a big fan of their work for a very long time but, to be honest, it wasn't really love at first sight with them. In the mid-90’s, they finally broke through the international scene with this movie. Indeed, it was a big critical success, they even won the prestigious Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival so I had some rather high expectations. Unfortunately, even though I thought it was a decent feature, I can’t say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. I mean, sure, Émilie Dequenne who was just about 18 years old, was quite impressive and there is no denying that their clinical, almost neo-realist directing style was quite effective. And yet, the whole thing was just so dreary, so gloomy, as a result, I had a really hard time to connect with the main character and what she was going through. I mean, it is not that it was depressing, it was more that it was, well, a little bit boring. On the other hand, 10 years later, Jennifer Lawrence would have her breakthrough with a very similar movie called ‘Winter’s Bone’ and the biggest issue with this movie is that the story was really far-fetched. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was rather disappointing, it was a still an intriguing drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A bad movie
Posted : 10 years, 1 month ago on 15 February 2015 09:48
(A review of Prom Night)Obviously, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but, somehow, I still ended up watching the damned thing. Eventually, it was pretty bad, probably one of the worst slasher flicks I have seen recently. Where should I start? Sure, the concept might have had some potential (apparently, the original version was already not something great to start with) maybe if they had added some sarcasm and black humor but, no, the only creative thing is how they managed to give the female characters the most releaving outfits without actually really showing anything. I mean, when you start to pay attention to such trivial details, it is never a good sign. In the middle of this borefest, you have the poor Idris Elba, one of the most interesting actors at work nowadays, and at the time, it seemed that he was just there to fill up his resumé until the real work would finally shows up. To conclude, the whole thing was pretty much a waste of time, fortunately, it didn’t last for too long, and you should avoid it, there are many more other slashers out there which might not be amazing but at least, they will probably be a little bit more entertaining than this movie.
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 1 month ago on 15 February 2015 06:33
(A review of The Vow)I already saw this movie but, since it was a while back, I thought I might as well rewatch it with my wife. I remember it fairly well, back then, 2011 was supposed to be huge for Channing Tatum but, eventually, all the movies he made were either some critical or some commercial failures ('The Dilemma', 'The Eagle', '10 Years' and 'Haywire'). However, he got his revenge in 2012 when he really ruled the box-office. Indeed, before '21 Jump Street' and 'Magic Mike' got some solid reviews and became fairly successful at the box-office, it actually all started with this romantic feature which scored better than everyone expected at the time. Well, I was pretty sure my wife would like the damned thing but I have to admit I was actually surprised by how much more I enjoyed it the 2nd time around. Indeed, the whole concept was interesting and I thought it was actually fairly well developed. Another thing I enjoyed was Leo himself who was probably one of the nicest male characters I have seen in such a romantic drama and I think Channing Tatum probably gave here his best performance so far. Rachel McAdams was also pretty good and they had a lot of chemistry together. And yet, the masterstroke with this movie was that, even though this couple was extremely cute, even though Tatum’s character was really patient and obviously still completely in love, she didn’t miraculously recover her memory and, as a result, the only option was that they eventually broke up which was sad but so much more realistic. Sure, the damned thing was still not perfect though and the whole idea of the 'evil' parents was a rather weak. In fact, I think the whole thing would have been fine without this unnecessary twist. I mean, right from the start, she was asking why she got so mad with her parents in the first place and while it could have been explained much earlier, they conveniently waited to tell this for as long as possible until it was needed to move on the plot. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe nothing great, I thought it was still a decent romantic feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 1 month ago on 14 February 2015 06:50
(A review of Big Hero 6)I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. Back then, when this movie was released, Disney was going through another renaissance and even though it is quite unlikely that they will top soon the popularity of 'Frozen', they continued their winning strike with this movie which was very well received and which was another success at the box-office. With this in mind, I had some rather high expectations but, to be honest, I had some rather mixed feelings about the whole thing. I mean, sure, it looked really amazing and, nowadays, Disney has managed to pretty much reach the level of their colleagues of Pixar in this area. On top of that, Baymax was just awesome, easily one of the best characters created by Disney. And yet, I wasn't completely blown away though. The main issue I had is that even though the story had some really nice moments here and there and, a few times, I thought it was finally starting to really take off but, unfortunately, it never really reached its full potential. Indeed, in my opinion, the story was not really strong, in fact, I thought it was really too similar to 'How to train your dragon', already a decent but also seriously overrated animated feature. Basically, if you would remove Baymax, none of the other characters were really interesting or entertaining and the story in general turned out to be fairly generic and predictable. Anyway, to conclude, even though I was expecting more, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 1 month ago on 14 February 2015 09:13
(A review of Anonymous)From time to time, you get a director above all known for one genre who would direct something completely different (the best example would be Wes Craven, famous for his horror movies who did make 'Music of the Heart' which couldn't have been more different than his usual work). Now, it was Roland Emmerich's turn to direct something else than his usual action flicks. Indeed, this time, he went for a very elaborate costume drama which he financed on his own. Eventually, while his action flicks were usually pretty dumb, I thought this one was actually rather complicated, probably too much. Indeed, if you don't have a good knowledge of the time periode, it will be rather difficult to keep track of who is who and what was their relationship with the rest. On top of that, I thought that Emmerich couldn't really make up his mind about the actual subject of his movie. Indeed, was it a hommage to the great genius of William Shakespeare's writings (even if it might have been actually written by someone else) or was it about the numerous political intrigues at the time? Eventually, it kept awkwardly switching from one to the other with a slightly underwhelming end-result. And yet, the whole thing looked great, the actors involved provided some nice performances and while it was focusing on the power of those magic words, it did work really well so I think it is definitely worth a look, in spite of its flaws.
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