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Posted : 10 years, 6 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, âThe Avengersâ and âGuardians of the Galaxyâ, 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 wasnât 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 Nolanâs 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, 6 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 didnât 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 didnât 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, 6 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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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 20 December 2014 11:14
(A review of White Man's Burden (1995))Even though it is quite an obscure feature, I was quite eager to check it out. Indeed, it was actually the first movie starring John Travolta after his impressive come-back in 'Pulp Fiction' and even though it was barely noticed when it was released, I always thought that it sounded quite intriguing. Indeed, the whole concept behind this movie was to reverse the raciale roles in the USA. In this parallel world, the black people are wealthy and ruling the world while the white people is a poor minority living in the ghettos. It was definitely an interesting concept but, to be honest, I find it rather difficult to judge the whole thing. Indeed, somehow, I ended up with a cheap dvd only dubbed in French (on the cover, it was clearly stated that there was also an original version in English but whatever...). Anyway, even in French, it was pretty obvious that the whole thing didnât completely work though. Indeed, this concept would have been awesome for a an episode of 'The Twilight Zone' but with a full length feature, after 45 minutes, they basically didnât know anymore what else to do so they threw in some rather underwhelming and predictable kidnapping scheme. Still, even though it wasn't great, it was still an interesting feature and I think it is worth a look.
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A classic
Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 19 December 2014 09:47
(A review of Toy Story 2)For a rather amazing 16 years, Pixar managed to keep an impressive trackrecord of releasing back-to-back some highly critically and commercially succesfull features, something really unique in Hollywood. Of course, it had to stop at some point and nowadays, their last movies ('Cars 2', 'Brave' and 'Monsters University') have been quite enjoyable but everybody seems to agree that those guys have somewhat lost their magic touch a little bit. The main issue is that they keep on bringing some rather underwhelming sequels instead of releasing some new material. The interesting thing is that this first sequel was actually quite amazing and many would argue that it is even better than its predecessor. I remember it very well, just like the first installment, I saw it in the movie theater when it was released and I was again really impressed. Indeed, this time, we were all used to this new CGI animation and even though the whole thing looked great, their masterstroke was above all another really entertaining tale about these toys. Not only it was completely entertaining but it was also quite deep, something which became Pixar's specialty through the years. Many years later, they came again with another sequel and even though it was again a massive success, I thought it was not as amazing as its predecessors though. Anyway, to conclude, I really love this flick, it is a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 19 December 2014 10:25
(A review of Stranger Than Paradise)Ever since I have seen 'Dead Man' when it was released, I have always been a fan of Jim Jarmusch. To be honest, I didn't care much about his latest work but I still try to catch his movies when I get the chance. Anyway, even though his directing debut âPermanent Vacationâ was not entirely successful, this movie was a huge critical success at the time and it is usually considered as a huge influence on American independent cinema. Eventually, I think the whole thing is pretty much a matter of taste. Indeed, Jarmusch is definitely one of the very few real American authors like Woody Allen, Terrence Malick or Wes Anderson, and I have a lot of respect for his work. On top of that, the black and white cinematography was quite gorgeous. Still, I found it hard to really connect with the whole thing as it shows a deliberate slow pace, there is no real plot whatsoever and none of his characters were either likeable or really interesting. The fact is also that this movie was made 30 years ago and, at the time, it might have been ground-breaking but since then, I have seen tons of similar Artsy features so its impact is not as big as it used to be. To conclude, even though I wasn't really blown away by the whole thing, I thought it was still a pretty good indie feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jim Jarmuschâs work.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 18 December 2014 11:22
(A review of The Story of Us)Back in the 80âs, Rob Reiner was one of the most successful directors at work. I mean, just check his track-record, it is quite impressive (âThis Spinal Tapâ, âThe Sure Thingâ, âStand by Meâ, âThe Princess Brideâ, âWhen Harry Met Sally...â, âMiseryâ, âA Few Good Menâ). But then, he made âNorthâ. Indeed, it was a massive flop, both financially and critically, and it seems that already 20 years later Rob Reiner has still not recovered from the damage. A couple of years later, he came up with this movie and even though it was starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer, two of the most bankable actors at the time, it was still a commercial and critical failure. Personally, I thought it was actually not bad at all and actually fairly enjoyable. Sure, it wasnât a masterpiece whatsoever and it never comes near the level of âWhen Harry Met Sally...â but I thought that the characters were well written, Willis and Pfeiffer were obviously really charismatic and I thought that they had a good chemistry together. To conclude, even though the whole thing was not really amazing, I still think it is actually a decent romantic-comedy and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 17 December 2014 12:22
(A review of The Straight Story (1999))I remember it very well, I actually saw this movie in the movie theater when itw as released and, at the time, there was a huge buzz about the whole thing. Indeed, for the film community, it was actually quite an event. Suddenly, David Lynch was making a standard drama, based on a true story and to make things even better, it was called 'The Straight Story'. Basically, it couldn't get more awesome than this. As a result, this most typical feature ended up being the most atypical movie directed by Lynch. Still, if you put all this aside, was the damned thing actually really amazing? Iâm not so sure. In my opinion, a standard drama, even if it is directed by Lynch, still remains a standard drama and if another director would have made it, Iâm pretty sure it would never have received so much coverage. Still, it remains a decent flick, with a touching story and Richard Farnsworth delivered a really impressive performance. Above all, Lynch showed that he can be a hell of a director even when he stick to the g*d*mned script. To conclude, even though I donât think it is really a masterpiece, it was still a pretty good drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Lynchâs work.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 17 December 2014 09:13
(A review of Sphere)This is one movie which definitely had some potential but it turned out to be seriously disappointing after all. Indeed, at first, the whole thing was actually pretty exciting, it was an adaptation from a popular book written by Michael Crichton, there was a solid director (Barry Levinson) and the cast was really neat (Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Coyote, Liev Schreiber, Queen Latifah). Visually, it was also decent so you had all the ingredients to get a solid science-fiction feature. Unfortunately, even though the introduction was promising, it turned to be rather half-baked after all. Basically, it is a SF feature which tries to make you believe that it is actually smarter than your average B feature but it is not and, in fact, it is actually more boring than your average B feature. Slowly, you understand that the story goes really nowhere and even though the actors were decent and did what they could with the material, they couldn't really save this flick. Eventually, the final nail in the coffin was the terrible ending which was probably the worst thing in this already disappointing feature. To conclude, even though it could have been pretty good, it turned out to be pretty weak and I donât think it is really worth a look.
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A very good movie
Posted : 10 years, 6 months ago on 16 December 2014 10:05
(A review of Million Dollar Baby)If I remember correctly, I saw it when it was released but never re-watched it ever since so I was really eager to check it out again. Basically, pretty much like he would also do with âChangelingâ, Clint Eastwood used here a very well-known template (a rag to riches tale of a boxer) but gave it an unexpected twist and the end-result was truly remarkable. Eventually, the movie was still about boxing and the rising of the main character was pretty entertaining. However, whereas boxing or other sport features just stop there and never become really compelling, Eastwood made a master move. Indeed, he further developed the story and it became something entirely different and really spellbinding to watch. So, the story was really fascinating and the acting was really good as well, resulting in a 2nd Academy award for Hilary Swank (it is rather striking that except for this movie and âBoys donât cryâ, Swank never did anything really amazing). To be honest, the whole thing was in fact a major Oscar bait, like many other movies directed by Eastwood back then but, this time, I thought it did work very well. Anyway, to conclude, it is a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Clint Eastwood's work.
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