Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 18 August 2014 09:10
(A review of
Grand Prix)
Honestly, I had some rather mixed feelings about the whole thing. First of all, with a running time of 3 hours, it was just way too long for its own good. I mean, it was a nice touch that you were allowed to follow this championship through different races, allowing different drivers to win and, as a result, there was quite some suspense about who might become the champion after all. Still, the main issue is that Formula one is, in my opinion, actually one of the most boring sports out there. I remember, I had an Italian friend who used to say that there are only 2 interesting events during a Formula one race : the start up and when there is a car crash. The rest is just cars driving around and around endlessly (and Iâm from Le Mans where they do this for 24 hours so I know what Iâm talking about). This movie is a fine example of this theory. Indeed, Frankenheimer can direct action scenes and the races were pretty exciting but it got pretty repetitive after a while and, therefore, there were 2 major accidents plus some minor ones to spice up the proceedings. It was also an interesting approach to develop the life of the drivers between the races but, unfortunately, their life was pretty much reduced to a soap opera which was rather underwhelming. To conclude, I think Iâm being rather generous with my rating but I think it might still be a worth a look, especially if you are fan of this sport.
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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 16 August 2014 09:47
(A review of
Guardians of the Galaxy)
I already saw this movie but since I just bought a brand new awesome TV, I thought I might as well check it out again. I remember the first I saw it though. Indeed, at the time, I thought thatâs what you can call a fun movie and, after re-watching it a couple of times, it is still so damned entertaining. I have to be honest, when I heard that Marvel was planning to release around 3 super-hero flicks every year for the coming decade, I was pretty sure that they would saturate the market and end up with some major flops but if they keep reinventing themselves like that, it might take longer than I thought before they mess up, in fact, it might never happen at all after all. Indeed, this movie actually had basically the same usual ingredients but they managed to give it just the right flavor to make it really tasty. First of all, it was a gorgeous SF feature, one of the most interesting futuristic worlds I have seen for a while, full of neat details. Then, you had those awesome hilarious characters far more entertaining than your usual powerful and righteous super beings. The nice thing was that, in contrary to the Avengers, those characters were completely new and rather unknown (at least, to me) so the potential was huge to develop their background and history in the next sequels. This potential was pushed even further since it was taking place in outer space so their future adventures could be set in some wild and strange worlds without the constraints of our planet. Anyway, to conclude, I really enjoyed the damned thing, it is one of the best super-hero flicks out there, even the best movie produced by Marvel so far and after all these years, it is probably the best movie they have delivered so far.Â
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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 15 August 2014 08:45
(A review of
Saludos Amigos)
Honestly, I wasnât expecting much from this flick but since it is one of the famous Disney Classics, I was still eager to check it out. In fact, I thought I already saw it but I confused it with âThe Three Caballerosâ released around the same time. Both movies have many similarities as they donât have one storyline but are composed of sketches all dealing with South American (Apparently, those movies were created by Disney in order to improve the US relations with South American countries during World War II). I know, it doesnât sound really fun and, indeed, it wasnât and we are far from the impressive productions of âSnow White and the Seven Dwarfsâ, âPinocchioâ or âBambiâ. I was also surprised about how short the whole thing was! Indeed, with a running time of just above 40 minutes, it is the shortest movie produced by Disney and it can hardly be called a full length feature. At least, it introduced JosĂ© Carioca who was a pretty neat character but he never managed to reach the same status as Donald or Mickey. Anyway, to conclude, it is a rather weak feature and I donât think it is really worth a look, except if you are a die-hard Disney fan.
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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 15 August 2014 09:25
(A review of
Daddy Nostalgia (1990))
It is once again a rather obscure French movie which not much people have seen here in Listal (I was the very first user who rated this movie and, right now, only 4 users have rated it and Iâm pretty sure that 2 of those are actually fake). 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. This flick is not one of his most famous ones, he would next make âL.627â which is by far his best movie in my opinion, but it was still a pretty good feature. Basically, it is a simple but sweet film about the relationship between a father (played by Dirk Bogarde in his final acting role) and his daughter (played by Jane Birkin). So, like I said before, it is nothing really ground-breaking, but it was never meant to be and I really enjoyed the performances and, of course, the as usual 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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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 15 August 2014 08:29
(A review of
Europa)
Like the other movies directed by Lars von Trier, as usual, I had a rather hard time to connect with it as the narrative structure was really obscure which made for a quite mesmerizing but also rather frustrating viewing. Basically, what did he try to achieve with this tale? Difficult to say⊠Roger Ebert had an interesting theory that the film was about the severe pains ending in death inflected by Nazism, which is represented by the train, and the moral culpability of Americans and others who turned up too late to save the victims of these trains and the camps where they delivered their doomed human cargo. Personally, I thought that Katharina Hartmann maybe represented Germany, a beautiful attractive woman haunted and wounded by her past who âs not able to move forward. Leopold Kessler would then represent the USA, a young cute but rather clueless and naĂŻve young man, who tries to fix things up but has actually no clue about whatâs actually going on. Of course, those are just theories and I had seriously no idea what von Trier tried to achieve and, sometimes, you just have the feeling he wants to mess up with the audience, something he always do with all his movies. At least, his movie had a very interesting visual style, mostly in black and white, but sometimes with some colors here and there and he also mixed some different camera shots and techniques, creating a rather impressive visual collage. Unfortunately, even though I admired this feature, I canât say I was really blown away. It was a little too osbcure for my taste and I really hard a hard time to care for the main character who was basically a spineless clueless wimp. Anyway, to conclude, even though I wasnât really convinced, it remains an intriguing feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Lars von Trierâs work.
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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 14 August 2014 07:56
(A review of
Chocolat)
Not so long ago, I have seen âWhite Materialâ also directed by Claire Denis and there is an obvious link with this movie which she was her directing debut and which she made 20 years before. Indeed, even though Denis was born in France, she actually spent the first 12 years of her life in Africa in various countries such as Cameroun, Somalia, Burkina Faso or Djibouti. Therefore, this movie was quite autobiographic and I thought it was quite mesmerizing. Still, the whole thing was obviously really personal for her and since we, the viewers, didnât share these experiences with her, there was still some distance with the material and I never really fully connected with it. Eventually, âWhite Materialâ would be even more obscure. Still, you really get a feeling of the place and Denis definitely developped some interesting dynamics and relationships between white and black folks beyond the usual stereotypes. This movie was also the opportunity to discover Isaach De BankolĂ©, an actor often working with Jim Jarmusch and one of the best African actors that I have ever seen. To conclude, even though it might not be a masterpiece, it is still a really intriguing feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Claire Denisâ work.
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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 13 August 2014 10:06
(A review of
Jane Eyre )
Honestly, when I first heard of this movie, I had some rather mixed feelings. Indeed, again another adaptation of Charlotte Bronteâs book⊠Basically, like some other classic books like âPride and Prejudiceâ or âThe Three Musketeersâ, they feel compelled to bring again another version every decade (I have to admit it though, I had only seen Zeffirelliâs version so far). On the other hand, there was a really attractive cast and since the reviews were pretty good, I still wanted to check the damned thing. First of all, Mia Wasikowska was a great choice for the title role and she gave a very good performance. Michael Fassbender, easily one of the best actors of his generation, was again really impressive and with Wasikowska, they had some really good chemistry. Furthermore, the directing by Cary Fukunaga was pretty much flawless (I will definitely check his other movies when I get the opportunity) , it looked great and he managed to create a very dreary atmosphere which you should expect to get from a Gothic Romantic novel. Unfortunately, I canât say I really cared about the story though. I mean, basically, Iâm not such a huge fan of those old-fashioned doomed love story and most of the time, while watching/reading such tales, I feel like kicking the characters in their butt in order to make them stop whining all the time and to get them in the sack once and for all. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit it, even though I didnât really love it, it is still a decent romantic feature and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 13 August 2014 05:44
(A review of
Cyclo)
What ever happened to Anh Hung Tran?!? Back in the 1993, he burst into the film world with âThe Scent of Green Papayaâ which was a massive critical success, at least in France, following its release at the Cannes Film Festival. Unfortunately, during the last 15 years, he has made only 2 movies, the Japanase âNoruwei no moriâ which got some rather weak ratings and the really obscure âI Come with the Rainâ starring Josh Hartnett. Anyway, following his promising debut, he came up with this flick, also taking place in Vietnam but, this time, the scale was much bigger and the whole project was really ambitious. Eventually, I really liked it and it was once again a critical success (at the time, it managed to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival) but, to be honest, I thought it was not as successful as his previous flick. Indeed, âThe Scent of Green Papayaâ displayed an unique and mesmerizing vibe, while this movie was solid crime drama but it was not really a game changer in any way. To conclude, even though I donât think it is really a masterpiece, it remains a very well and interesting 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 13 August 2014 09:42
(A review of
Snow White: A Tale of Terror)
This flick is registered as a TV show here on Listal but, in IMDB, it is considered a standard movie (I think it was considered as a TV feature on IMDB as well but it has been modified in the mean time). In fact, this film was originally supposed to have a theatrical release but it eventually ended up debuting on Showtime in the U.S. Anyway, I wasnât sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Sigourney Weaver, I thought I might as well check it out. Basically, it is a rather dark version of the famous tale but, even though the concept was interesting, the end-result was rather underwhelming. To start with, the reason why it wasnât originally theatrically released is maybe because the whole thing looked pretty cheap. Furthermore, I had a really hard time to invest myself in this version because, by now, like everyone else, I pretty much know this tale and to make it really interesting again, they have to come up with something really impressive, which wasnât the case here. At least, Sigourney Weaver was a very good choice to play the evil queen but it was the only redeeming feature here. To conclude, even though it is not completely awful, it is still a fairly weak feature and I donât think it is really worth a look.
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Posted : 10 years, 8 months ago on 13 August 2014 09:04
(A review of
Last Tango in Paris)
I already saw this movie but since it was such a long time ago, I was really eager to check it out again. Back in those days, Marlon Brandoâs career had already been rather chaotic and this flick must have been his most controversial one. Basically, it was really messed up, I have to admit that it is an acquired taste and if you are not yourself more or less twisted, there is a fair chance that you wonât like it whatsoever.To be honest, not everything really worked with this movie. For example, the way the main characters actually meet each other was actually convoluted and unbelievable. Furthermore, everything involving Jean-Pierre LĂ©aud was rather underwhelming and could have been left out. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was still such a fascinating story and this movie was dealing with one of the most messed-up and destructive love stories I had ever seen. The point was that Marlon Brandoâs character was pretty much a major frustrated manipulative douche-bag and, apparently himself and Bertolucci were quite terrible towards the very young Maria Schneider, so it is something that you have to be able to handle, otherwise, the whole thing is almost pretty much unwatchable. To conclude, I was really impressed by this flick and, even though it is definitely not for everybody, I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Bernardo Bertolucciâs work.
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