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CollectionsI already saw this movie but since quite a while ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. In fact, I used to have this movie on DVD for a while but I sold it at some point following one of my brilliant cleaning-up plans. It was kind of stupid because I really liked it a lot but, fortunately, I still managed to rewatch it at some point anyway. Anyway, since I really loved āAmores Perrosā, I was really eager to check this flick and Alejandro GonzĆ”lez IƱƔrritu certainly didnāt disappoint me. Indeed, for his follow-up, IƱƔrritu already left Mexico for the US and made another hyperlink tale also written by Guillermo Arriaga and, this time, he had quite a neat cast at his disposal (Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, Benicio Del Toro, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melissa Leo, Clea DuVall). It was rather impressive that even though he actually used a similar gimmick as in his previous movie, he still managed to reach such a spellbinding result. On top of that, to make the whole thing even more complicated than it already was, IƱƔrritu went also for a random chronology which can be a rather useless annoying approach but this movie is one of the very few where it actually worked. Anyway, to conclude, it was a really strong drama with some top-notch performances and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in IƱƔrrituās work.
A really good movie
Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 23 October 2014 09:49
(A review of 21 Grams (2003))
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 22 October 2014 08:45
(A review of Sleepy Hollow)Aaaahhhh..... The good old days... When Johnny Depp was still considered a box-office poison and when Tim Burton was still one of the most creative directors in Hollywood. In fact, this movie is a perfect example of what I like and I don't like with Tim Burton's work. Indeed, on one hand, it looked completely gorgeous and they really managed to create a great immersive world. Furthermore, Johnny Depp gave a pretty good performance as well as a really goofy detective. However, on the other hand, I was not so sure about the story. I mean, it was entertaining but depending on my mood, I find it really fascinating or just ... entertaining but not much more than that. Still, if you watch it after all those underwhelming productions involving Burton and Depp, it is probably one of their best movies after all. On top of that, Christopher Walken was a perfect choice and the guy was totally awesome as the headless horseman. Finally, it is such a shame that Christina Ricci became so skinny because she never looked more charming than back in those days. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it remains a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Tim Burton's work.
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A really good movie
Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 22 October 2014 03:22
(A review of 28 Days Later)I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I was quite eager to check it out again. In fact, I remember perfectly when I watched this movie the first time around. Indeed, back then, I was just living in the Netherlands and I wanted to see something in the movie theater. Eventually, I noticed that there was a new movie directed by Danny Boyle so I went to watch it without a shred of information about it. Well, once again, the guy really impressed me back then. Indeed, even though I'm not really a huge fan of the genre, it is easily one of my favorite zombie movies, even if it might not be really original after all. Basically, the directing was really solid, the acting was fine as well with a breakthrough performance by Cillian Murphy and the whole thing was pretty damned entertaining. Apparently, the die-hard fans of this genre didnāt think it really brought anything really new to the genre but it didn't bother me and I really enjoyed it. When I rewatched the damned thing, I have to admit it that it didnāt completely blow me away this time around but I think it had more to do with the fact that, after this movie was released, there was such a huge wave of zombie movies and TV-shows and not with the actual quality of Boyleās directorial effort. 5 years later, they would eventually release a sequel and, surprisingly, it was actually quite solid, even though it never reached the level of Danny Boyle's first instalment. It would be really neat if they would come up a 3rdĀ instalment called ā28 Months Laterā¦ā but, after all these years, Iām afraid it will never happen. Anyway, to conclude, I really enjoyed this flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A classic
Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 22 October 2014 01:09
(A review of The Untouchables)I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. Even though Brian De Palma is nowadays pretty much forgotten, I always had a weak spot for his work and, after āScarfaceā, it must be the biggest movie he has made in the 80ās so I had some rather high expectations. Well, even though it was at the time a big box-office success for Brian de Palma and even though it did turn Kevin Costner into a movie star, to be honest, I wasnāt really impressed actually. I mean, the whole thing looked great, the soundtrack by Ennio Morricone was fine and there was a very strong cast involved (Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Robert De Niro). Unfortunately, even though it was written by David Mamet, the story felt rather flat. On top of that, while it did start to get pretty violent towards the end, I thought the tone was actually really light through most of the duration and a grittier approach would have worked much better. Finally, even though Kevin Costner was extremely charismatic back then, except for his classic movie star good looks, there was eventually nothing memorable about the way he played Eliot Ness. Eventually, you almost wish the movie focused instead on Al Capone as he seemed to be a much more interesting character thanks to Robert de Niro who was still at the top of his game back in those days. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was slightly disappointing, it was still a decent watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 21 October 2014 09:19
(A review of Flashbacks of a Fool)I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Daniel Craig, I was quite eager to check it out. I'm very glad Daniel Craig has reached worldwide fame thanks to the James Bond franchise but the guy is actually a fine actor and it was really a pleasure to see him in a small scale drama like this one. However, even though Craig did get top-billing on this picture, actually half of it was a flashback of him when he was a teenager and even though the whole thing had some potential, it didnāt work out very well, I'm afraid. Indeed, the main issue was probably the fact that there were just too many characters and most of them were rather poorly developed. I mean, for example, Boots who was apparently his best friend and the reason why he went back into the past was barely seen and their relationship was reduced to the bare minimun. On top of that, the story was just not really strong. Take the mine incident, it was just totally arbitrary and some poor sign of some kind of divine intervention (without mentionning the fact that it was rather unconvincing that no one living nearby wouldn't have noticed a gigantic mine washed up on the shore). To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I stil really enjoyed the way it was shot and the nice performance by Daniel Craig so I still think it is worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 21 October 2014 08:39
(A review of Ghislain Lambert's Bicycle)It is once again a rather obscure French movie which not much people have seen here in Listal (I was one of the first users who have rated this movie and, right now, only 6 users have rated it so far). First of all, even though I really didnāt like āC'est arrivĆ© prĆØs de chez vousā (In my opinion, it is probably one of the most overrated classics ever), I always had a weak spot for BenoĆ®t Poelvoorde and when I heard about this flick, I thought it really sounded hilarious so I was really eager to check it out and, if I recall correctly, I even saw it in the movie theater when it was released. At the time, Poelvoorde was becoming pretty famous in France thanks to his awesome work on TV and since his star was rising, they decided to make some comedies with him in the lead. Anyway, to be honest, even though I thought it would be really funny, eventually, I thought it was just slightly amusing. It is always the issue when they make a comedy about a stupid and annoying character, it usually doesnāt work very well and this movie was not an exception, Iām afraid. To conclude, even though I thought it was slightly disappointing, I still think it was a decent comedy and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 20 October 2014 02:43
(A review of A Sunday in the Country)It is once again a rather obscure French movie which not much people have seen here in Listal (I was one of the first users who have rated this movie and, right now, only 8 users have rated it so far). Even though Bertrand Tavernier is pretty much unknown here in Listal, he is actually one of the best French directors from the last 40 years and I always had a weak spot for his work so I was quite eager to check this movie. To be honest, I donāt think it belongs to his best work, it is just too light for my taste and I prefer his tougher movies, usually with a socially conscious message. Still, there is no denying that it was one really delightful picture and it was a critical success back then when it was released in France. So, like I said before, it was nothing really ground-breaking, at least, not to me, but Iām not sure if it was meant to be ground-breaking and I really enjoyed the performances and, of course, the very solid directing by Tavernier. To conclude, I thought it was pretty good and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 20 October 2014 12:57
(A review of Family Resemblances)Honestly, it has been ages since I have this flick but I can remember it very well. First of all, I have noticed that CĆ©dric Klapisch is not really famous here on Listal but he is actually highly regarded in France and many of his movies were very successful there. In fact, this movie was his first (and maybe) only big box-office success in France and I remember that, at the time, there was a big buzz about the whole thing. To be honest, even though I thought it was indeed pretty good and quite entertaining, I canāt say I was really blown away by the whole thing though. I mean, I always had a weak spot for Jean-Pierre Bacriās sarcastic black humor (this movie was an adaptation of the play with the same name written by Bacri and his girlfriend AgnĆØs Jaoui who also played a character in this movie) but, I donāt know, I still had a hard time to care about those characters and what they were going through. Still, I think I will re-watch it at some point to make up my mind about the damned thing. To conclude, even though Iām not sure if it is really a masterpiece, it is a still a pretty good comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 4 months ago on 19 October 2014 09:52
(A review of Trade)Honestly, I had nog idea what to expect from this flick but the subject seemed to be interesting so I thought I might as well give it a try. Well, it turned out to be a really depressing watch. Basically, you get to see a lot of sickening stuff and, even though we are all aware of the human traffic business, the fact that someone would choose this line of work is pretty much a proof that we live in a very fucked up world. In my opinion, even though the whole thing was sometimes terribly misguided, they did manage to give a frightening and believable view on the subject. It means that 2/3 of it, when it was focusing on those poor girls was very good and, unfortunaly, the last 1/3 was really contrived and belonged more into a fairy tale (probably the reason why Roger Ebert disliked the movie so much). The issue is that, at some point, it became some kind of completely unbelievable chase involving a young Mexican boy looking for his kidnapped sister with the help of some American played by Kevin Kline. I mean, sure, you wish that something like that would happen in real life, that someone would show up and save those poor girls but, in this cruel world, they are just lost and their life just becomes one terrible hell. To conclude, even though the whole rescue thing didn't work whatsoever, I still think it is a good drama and I think it is worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 10 years, 5 months ago on 18 October 2014 07:12
(A review of Locke)Henk had once again picked up a really nice movie. Basically, it was a movie with a concept as you follow one character driving in his car and, that 's it, you get nothing else. Of course, they had to spice up the whole thing so the guy has a cool BMW, a bluetooth phone and two dramas to deal with. Obviously, the possibilities with this set-up were rather limited, but they managed to get most of it thanks to an outstanding performance by Tom Hardy who was obviously all the time on the screen, in close-up, and he literally carried the whole thing on his shoulders. They also managed to create a realistic and intriguing character and the whole thing was definitely quite spellbinding to behold. Indeed, you get to see a man with high responsibilities who is used to handle difficult situations, to solve issues, and here, even though his whole life is pretty much falling apart, he keeps trying to make things work. So, it was all quite impressive but, I don't know, it is and remain a gimmick in my opinion. To conclude, even though I was not completely sold, it was still a really solid drama and it is definitely wort a look, especially if you like the genre.
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