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CollectionsI already saw this movie but since it was ages ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. Following his big success with 'The English Patient', Anthony Minghella came back 3 years later with this ambitious project and even though it was not such an overwhelming success like its predecessor, there was still a lot to enjoy about the damned thing. First of all, there was a very nice cast composed of up-and-coming young stars (Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett), plus the always dependable Philip Seymour Hoffman who stole the show everytime he was on the screen. Of course, one of the main attraction in this movie was the main character himself, Tom Ripley, a really fascinating guy, and I thought that Matt Damon, who just had his breakthrough a couple of years before with 'Good Will Hunting', did a fine job (and, after all these years, it is still one of his best performances so far). In fact, I think it is possible that Jude Law actually upstaged him playing Dickie Greenleaf but, anyway, they were both really good. On top of that, the whole thing looked quite gorgeous and Minghella managed to create a nice tense mood. What I also loved about this movie is that it is a basically a serial killer thriller but, in contrary to most of the movies in this genre, everything happening was actually plausible. There was also the fact that, even if Ripley was definitely talented, many characters actually didnāt fall for his schemes which made the whole thing even more fascinating to behold. I have to admit that, after all these years, I still havenāt watched āPlein Soleilā which is considered by many as a much superior version and I should definitely watch it whenever I have the opportunity. Anyway, to conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it is still a really good thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
A very good movie
Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 25 December 2014 10:04
(A review of The Talented Mr. Ripley)
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 24 December 2014 11:28
(A review of The Joneses)I had no idea what to expect from this movie but since there was a nice cast, I was quite eager to check it out. Fortunately, I had no idea what it was about beforehand and it made the whole thing definitely much more enjoyable to watch. Still, I'm not sure how to judge the whole thing. I mean, the concept was certainly intriguing but, to be honest, I'm not sure if it was actually believable. Sure, I'm no marketing expert but I seriously doubt that this would be a really effective method. So, maybe you should put this aside and see it as a sarcastic view on our consumerist society but even so, it wasn't really satisfaying. Indeed, they spent just way too much time dealing with some sub-plots involving each family members and, with such a short running time, there was no way it could have worked. On top of that, the last 10 minutes were just really weak and there is no way they could have found something more underwhelming. And yet, I still think it was original and I think that all the actors involved ( David Duchovny, Demi Moore, Amber Heard) did a decent job, especially Demi Moore who I usually found rather weak. To conclude, I guess my rating might be a little too high but I stil think it is worth a look but donāt expect anything really amazing.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 24 December 2014 01:29
(A review of Splash (1984))Honestly, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should probably re-watch it at some point to make up my mind for good about the whole thing. First of all, you can say whatever you want about Ron Howard but most of the movies he made in the 80ās actually turned out to be some classics (with the notable exception of the abysmal āGung Hoā) and this movie is definitely a fine example. I mean, even though it was actually pretty cheesy, it was still a success and it pretty much launched Ron Howard's and Tom Hanksā careers (they will eventually work back together 10 years later with āApollo 13ā and again 10 years later with āThe Da Vinci Codeā). Indeed, for Hanks, it was his first starring role and for a decade long, he would play similar character in similar comedies until āPhiladephiaā would make him overnight an Oscar winner and a really respected dramatic actor, a status he has never lost ever since. To be honest, like I said before it has been ages since I saw this flick so I should give another shot at some point but it remains a rather harmless and fairly entertaining fantasy comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A classic
Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 24 December 2014 01:13
(A review of The Sting)Honestly, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should probably re-watch it at some point to make up my mind for good about the whole thing. The thing is that, before watching it, I really thought it looked quite awesome. I mean, 4 years after the really amazing 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', George Roy Hill was making another movie starring once again Paul Newman and Robert Redford, this time about some con artists in the 30's. On paper, it sounded just great and, indeed, while 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' was at the time snubbed by the Academy, this flick managed to win the Best Picture Academy award. So, it all sounded great but, to be honest, I thought it was actually slightly underwhelming. I did like it, I mean, come on, anything starring BOTH Paul Newman and Robert Redford has to be damned entertaining but, I don't know, I thought it was just too easy. Indeed, as if they thought, if we just put all the same ingredients, we will get once again something great. On the other hand, I'm in the minority here since it is quite a popular feature. To conclude, even though I wasn't really blown away, it i still a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 23 December 2014 09:20
(A review of Stargate)Already 20 years ago, they released this flick, it has been a while since I have seen it and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. To be honest, even though the TV show was quite popular (the first version ran for 10 years starring good old Richard Dean Anderson AKA MacGyver), I never really followed it but I always had a weak spot for the film that started it all. Of course, the whole concept is completely far-fetched but thatās the beauty of Science-Fiction, you can show pretty much everything you want and, here, they went pretty wild but I really enjoyed this weird Egyptian world which was visually quite interesting. Obviously, Kurt Russell and James Spader were playing some stereotypes, the tough soldier and the nerdy scientist but it didnāt bother me. Since then, this movie has become pretty much a cult-classic but not everybody agreed and the great Roger Ebert really didnāt like it at all so it shows that even though the whole thing definitely had some potential, it was still not really great. To conclude, I still think it is a solid and entertaining SF feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A very good movie
Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 22 December 2014 10:23
(A review of Mozart and the Whale)Usually, I'm rather apprehensive towards movies dealing with autism. Indeed, most of the time, they put the focus on the wrong aspects like the fact that some autists are some kind of geniuses, the worst example being 'Rain Man' which is a decent and entertaining feature but a rather weak portrayal of autism. Well, at last, they managed to make something really interesting and compelling about the subject and this movie might be the best one I have seen so far. I know, just like in 'Rain Man', the main character was some kind of mathematical wizard, which remains a terribly annoying stereotype, but they toned this aspect and displayed it more as an obsession instead of some kind of magical gift. Furthermore, I thought that the characters were very well written, some really 3 dimensional beings, thanks to some very solid performances by Radha Mitchell and Josh Harnett who gave easily the best performance of his career. Finally, I truly enjoyed how messed up their relationship was. Indeed, another Hollywood romantic-comedy would have taken many easy short-cuts to make it easier to swallow but, here, they dared to show all the fights and arguments involved in any relationship, especially one involving 2 socially impaired people. To conclude, I really this movie a lot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 22 December 2014 04:20
(A review of Space Cowboys)Like many other movies directed by Clint Eastwood, it has been a while since I have see this one and I will probably re-watch it at some point. Before making back-top-back all those heavy dramas (some people have actually criticized him of making nowadays some obvious Oscar bait every time around), Clint Eastwood used to mix it a little bit more in the past, making also some features easier to digest. This movie is a perfect example. Indeed, it was obviously nothing amazing but it was never supposed to be a major game-changer, it was supposed to be a rather light feature and and it was definitely pretty entertaining. The cast (one of the best Eastwood ever had, including Eastwood himself, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, James Garner, James Cromwell, Marcia Gay Harden) obviously had a blast making this and I had a fairly good time watching this. Still, with such great actors involved, it was still a little bit frustrating that they didn't get something a little more substantial to chew on. To conclude, the whole thing was rather harmless but also really forgettable, I'm afraid, but like everything else directed by Clint Eastwood, it is still definitely worth a look.
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A classic
Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 22 December 2014 04:08
(A review of Spider-Man 2)It is rather funny to think that, at some point, this movie was considered the best super-hero movie ever made. I mean, since then, we had the Batman trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan, and from Marvel, āThe Avengersā and āGuardians of the Galaxyā, so even though it is difficult to believe it now, at the time, this movie was a massive game-changer and, of course, a big success at the box-office. Personally, I always had some rather mixed feelings about the whole thing, to be honest. I mean, I agree that it was better than its predecessor, the story was definitely more compelling (I really dig the fact that Peter Parker got fed up with his life as a crime-fighter at some point), it was visually quite impressive and Doc Ock was a really cool villain but, to be honest, I wasnāt completely impressed by this flick. Basically, pretty much like the first installment, I was turned off by how cheesy the whole thing was. Seriously, some of the dialogues were really ridiculous and sometimes even rather pathetic. Above all, if you watch it after experiencing the grittiness of Nolanās Batman, it is rather difficult to really appreciate this flick for what it was. Still, it remains a really entertaining blockbuster and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 21 December 2014 11:23
(A review of Plunkett & Macleane)For many years, I really wanted to watch this flick but, to be honest, I actually forgot why I was so eager to check it out. Was it because it was starring the lovely (especially at the time) Liv Tyler? Anyway, this movie was a rather unlikely 'Trainspotting' reunion starring both Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle and it could have been pretty awesome to have also Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremmer to complete their gang. By the way, I have noticed that on all the promotional material they made us believe that Liv Tyler was actually one of these outlaws but she had nothing to do with them. Anyway, to be honest, I had a rather hard time to care about the whole thing. I mean, I did like the characters, the filthy language, even the anachronic soundtrack didnāt bother me so the whole thing had some potential but, unfortunately, the story was actually rather weak. I mean, Jake Scott, son of the mighty Ridley Scott, tried with his directing debut to cover up this obvious weakness by adding some loud and fancy stuff all other the place but it didnāt really work, I'm afraid. To conclude, I think I'm being rather generous with my rating here, but somehow, I still think it is worth a look though.
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 2 months ago on 21 December 2014 07:33
(A review of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies)I already saw this movie, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released, but since I just bought an awesome brand new TV, I thought I might as well check it out again. On top of that, I just bought the Extended edition on Blu-ray. Back then, the first time I saw the damned thing, I really thought that, at last, we were done with Middle-Earth. I know, it might sound as if I didn't like this movie but the point was that I definitely had some mixed feelings about it. 2 years before, when I went to see the first installment of this new trilogy, I was actually really excited. Indeed, after 10 long years, we were allowed once again to go to this fascinating world and, this time, I was going to see those movies with my (now ex-)wife and two oldest kids. Unfortunately, it became clear at some point that this new tale would never reach the same level of awesomeness. The main issue was that this story was never meant to be so epic, it was supposed to be a cute children tale, a warm-up, before the massive 'The Lord of the Rings' but Peter Jackson really insisted that these prequels should be just as epic so he stretched them just way too much. Still, I thought it really looked gorgeous though and even though many complained about the 3D HFR, I thought it worked really well and I think it actually enhanced the fairy tale quality of this flick. In this case, after Smaug gets killed, the whole thing basically turned out to be pretty much a very long battle but it was still quite entertaining thanks to Peter Jackson's amazing visual style. I have to admit that, when I finally re-watched it for the first time 10 years later, I was surprised by how little I was impressed by the whole thing this time around. Anyway, to conclude, after this re-watch, I did lower my rating after all because it was a little bit generous but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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