Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 24 October 2014 08:37
(A review of
Chapter 27)
Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but I was still eager to check it out. I mean, Lindsay Lohan's career has become pretty abysmal lately and this movie was the only one who seemed to have at least some potential. Since I started to talk about Lohan, I should add that you wonder why she was there in the first place. I mean, she only had 2 or 3 scenes, her performance was rather weak and it was rather unconvincing that a pretty girl like her would hang out with a creep like Chapman for no real reason. A part from that, the whole thing was rather misguided. I mean, right from the start, they tell you at the beginning that they won't give any details about his past or his background which was a big mistake. Seriously, if you don't develop this, what have you then to tell? Nothing much, I'm afraid. Indeed, you basically follow Chapman for a couple of days, doing basically nothing, except mumbling some crazy stuff about various subjects. What remains is a rather bewildering performance by Jared Leto. Indeed, he gained 30 kilos, apparently damaging his health in the process and while there was something quite spellbinding about his performance, you wonder if it was really worth it for such an empty movie. Anyway, to conclude, I guess my rating for this movie might be a little too generous but, somehow, I still think it is worth a look.
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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 24 October 2014 11:41
(A review of
Twister)
Following his massive success with āSpeedā, Jan de Bont came back with another even bigger blockbuster and even though it didnāt reach the same status as his directing debut, it was still really successful at the box-office (it was in fact the second-highest-grossing film of 1996 only behind āIndependence Dayā). Obviously, the whole plot was rather stupid and they even added an underwhelming romance between Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton but, honestly, nobody who went to see this movie really cared about the story or the characters involved. Indeed, it was and still is about the special effects and even if I usually wouldnāt watch a movie only for this aspect, I have to admit that this movie was very spectacular. In fact, even after almost 20 years, the whole thing still look pretty awesome. Unfortunately for de Bont, a year later, he would come up with the really misguided āSpeed 2: Cruise Controlā probably considered as one of the worst sequels ever created and his directing career was pretty much killed instantly (indeed, in the last 15 years, he has only directed only one feature). To conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, I still think it is a decent blockbuster and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 23 October 2014 09:37
(A review of
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee)
I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a very nice cast, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, after watching 'Flashbacks of a fool' just recently, it was yet another half-baked drama with half of the duration dealing with the past of the main character. As a result, you had two separate stories which didn't really fit well together at all and it was hard to believe that Blake Lively's character would grow up to be Robin Wright's character. Still, like 'Flashbacks...', the whole thing had really some potential. I mean, it was a pleasure to have such a stellar cast (Robin Wright, Alan Arkin, Winona Ryder, Maria Bello, Keanu Reeves, Blake Lively, Julianne Moore, Monica Bellucci) even though, with such a short running time, there was hardly enough space to develop all these characters which was too bad. Eventually, among them, Robin Wright really stood out, which was even more impressive since I didnāt really care for her character. I mean, I think there was there, somewhere, a really good movie, but it was lost between the different timelines, characters and sub-plots. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was rather disappointing, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 23 October 2014 09:49
(A review of
21 Grams)
I 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.
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Posted : 10 years, 8 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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Posted : 10 years, 8 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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Posted : 10 years, 8 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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Posted : 10 years, 8 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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Posted : 10 years, 8 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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Posted : 10 years, 8 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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