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CollectionsAn average movie
Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 13 November 2013 09:46
(A review of Sissi - Die junge Kaiserin)Honestly, Iām rather surprised that so few people have rated this movie. I mean, donāt misunderstand me, I donāt care much about this franchise but I always thought they were very much loved. Anyway, my wife is a die-hard fan so she bought the dvd box and, obviously, I had to watch those flicks with her. At first, I thought it would be completely awful but, to be honest, the first installment was not bad at all. I mean, I wasnāt blown away either but I could see its appeal and why it was so popular. This 2nd installment was also actually quit decent. I mean, the whole thing was still rather sappy and completely predictable, but it was watchable and I was actually rather entertained throughout the whole thing. Still, at this point, the whole concept really started to grow thin on me and the following installment was really boring and tedious to watch. Apparently, they were even planning to make a 4rth movie but Romy Schneider refused to play the title character any longer. Good for her! To conclude, obviously I wasnāt the target audience for this movie but, I have to admit it, it was not bad at all and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 13 November 2013 09:16
(A review of Intermission)Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since there were a couple of interesting actors involved, I thought I might as well give it a try. Basically, it is one of those hyperlink movies, you know, when different storylines between multiple characters are more or less intertwined. This time, it was settled in the urban landscape of Dublin and I thought it was a pretty good mix. Like I said before, there was a pretty cool cast (Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy, Kelly Macdonald, Colm Meaney, Shirley Henderson) and they all delivered some solid performances. Still, even though I do like the genre, there is one issue and it is that there is sometimes a little bit of overkill and, in this case, not all the subplots were really necessary of interesting. You have also to bear in mind that it was John Crowleyās directing debut and maybe he was trying to cover up the weakness of the whole project by adding all those plots and characters. Eventually, his following directing effort, āBoy Aā would be more satisfying. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I actually liked the damned thing and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 13 November 2013 09:00
(A review of Unknown)Following his recent come-back with āTakenā, Liam Neeson keeps making those European based thrillers and this flick was one of those. Pretty much like āTakenā, it is a rather far-fetched story but thanks to Liam Neesonās impressive charisma, it remains entertaining. Basically, it is a mix between āFranticā and āThe Bourne Identityā but this movie definitely had not the ambition to be that good. Indeed, while watching this, I was reminded about how awesome āFranticā started (it was eventually a half-baked movie but it started great). It was great because it was really ambiguous. Well, here, they removed any shred of ambiguity right from the start and you are thrown directly into some shady conspiracy. They even throw in a beautiful female bystander, just like in āFranticā and I wonder if it was the best choice to cast a German actress to portray a Bosnian woman living in Berlin. At some point, you even get to see the great Bruno Ganz so you think for a minute that the whole thing might get somewhere more unexpected but he didnāt have much to do, Iām afraid. Still, in spite of its flaws, I still think it remains a decent thriller and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 12 November 2013 10:38
(A review of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest)Honestly, I never really understood the whole frenzy about āPirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'. I mean, yes, I did enjoy it but what is that great? It is even on the Imdb top 250ā¦ Sure, it was a fun movie but not much more than that, Iām afraid. Anyway, after the surprise success of the 1st installment, of course, they quickly went forward with some sequels and they even shot those 2 sequels back-to back for a huge budget. Eventually, this bet paid off and those movies were hugely successful, especially this first sequel. Indeed, it is so far the most successful installment of this franchise, it broke many records when it was released and even ended up 3rd highest grossing movie of all time (behind āTitanicā and āThe Lord of the Rings : The Return of the Kingā). Thatās all really nice but was the movie actually any good? Personally, I had some rather mixed feelings about the whole thing. I mean, it was entertaining enough and rather well made and it was pretty neat to see again good old Captain Jack Sparrow but the whole thing was nothing great whatsoever. Above all, the plot was just way too convoluted for its own good. Still, for a blockbuster, I have seen much worse than this and it remains a fun flick, no doubt about it, and it is worth a look, especially if you enjoyed the first movie.
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A good movie
Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 12 November 2013 10:30
(A review of The Long Good Friday (1980))Since this movie is considered a classic, arguably the best British gangster flick ever made, I was really eager to check it out. To be honest, I had a rather hard time to get into the whole thing though. I mean, the first 10 minutes were almost impossible to follow and then the rest of the movie was still rather hard to decipher. I mean, even the characters had no clue about what was going on and it started to grow thin after a while. Of course, in the last 10-20 minutes, you finally find out what was going on and, in retrospective, it was actually rather obvious. So, in my opinion, even though the plot was entertaining, it wasnāt really amazing though. Still, it doesnāt mean it was a bad movie, far from it. Indeed, the directing was solid, the music was not bad (which is quite remarkable since you are dealing with a 80ās feature) and, of course, Bob Hoskins was downright impressive. Indeed, the little guy delivered one hell of a kinetic performance and it would give him his breakthrough. Helen Mirren was also pretty good but, even though she did fight to expand her character, I though her character was still rather limited. Anyway, to conclude, even if I donāt think it was great, it was still a really good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A very good movie
Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 11 November 2013 10:14
(A review of Beautiful Memories)Basically, it is once again one of those really obscure French movies which almost no one has seen here on Listal. A few years back, we used to have a French-speaking channel called TV5 and they would often broadcast movies. Some of them were pretty classic and some others were pretty obscure. Well, this movie definitely belonged to the 2nd group. Still, I have to admit it, it was actually a very good flick. Indeed, it is a very sensitive love story dealing with a couple of sick people and the performances were quite impressive. Isabelle CarrƩ won the CƩsar of the best actrice for her performance and, even though she has a solid reputation, I was rather oblivious about her work. Even more surprising was Bernard Campan who had built a career with some rather gross comedies and here, he plays at the same level of Isabelle CarrƩ and, together, they just really nailed it. If you expect a stereotypical romantic-comedy from Hollywood with some easy answers and a happy ending, you will be sadly disappointed. Basically, it is a really sweet love story with some really raw and realistic moments and it was quite spellbinding to watch. To conclude, even though it is a really obscure movie, it is actually really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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A good movie
Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 11 November 2013 09:54
(A review of What's Love Got to Do with It)I already saw this movie but, since it was ages ago and since it was available on Disney+, I was quite eager to check it out again. It is basically a solid biography, even though Iām not an expert on Tina Turnerās life (in fact, even herself admitted that most of the movie didn't happen at all). I mean, this woman was definitely an icon and she definitely deserved such a movie to tell her story. Of course, the biggest asset in this flick was the performance by Angela Bassett who would be nominated for an Academy award for her work. Eventually, it would probably be her most memorable performance but itās too bad she gets only supporting parts nowadays but Hollywood is pretty ruthless on women above the 40ās. Laurence Fisburne was also pretty good and was also nominated for an Academy award. Eventually, the most intriguing thing about this movie, at least to me, was that only half of it was about her musical career and the other half was basically a drama dealing with domestic violence. Even though I saw this movie maybe 30 years ago, I still could remember how Ike Turner was beating up Tina Turner and not with a single slap. It had quite an impact on me, I actually never forgot it and Iām surprised we donāt see more recent movies about the subject. Even in the pop world, back in 2009, Chris Brown had assaulted Rihanna, his girlfriend at the time, so it is definitely still topical and, yet, it is barely touched in the movies. In this case, Tina Turned remained with him for 20 years which was quite shocking but it also displayed how complex their relationship was, something which, I feel, was not really well developed in this film. Anyway, to conclude,Ā in spite of its flaws, I thought it was still a solid biographical feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre or if you are interested in Tina Turner.Ā
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A very good movie
Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 11 November 2013 09:39
(A review of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance)Earlier this year, I saw āLady Vengeanceā but even though I did like it, I thought it was slightly underwhelming but since I really loved āOldboyā, I was really eager to complete Chan-wook Parkās revenge trilogy. On top of that, I did watch the first half of this movie at least 6 years ago and I canāt believe it took me so long to finally see the whole damned thing. Well, I really liked it, thatās for sure. I mean, I have to admit it, āOldboyā remains by far the best movie in this trilogy but this first installment was really solid as well. Indeed, in contrary to āLady Vengeanceā which tried awkwardly to mix different genres, it worked very well this time. Indeed, the whole thing is some kind of weird mix of drama, thriller and comedy but it was just quite spellbinding to watch. Basically, you spent the first half of the movie with the deaf-dumb young boy and then the second half with the father of the victim and you canāt really take side at any point. However, even though by now Iām rather used to Chan-wook Parkās style, I must admit that the violence was quite relentless and if you are too sensitive, you should rather skip on this one. Anyway, to conclude, even though the pacing was kind of sluggish, I really liked it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 10 November 2013 10:27
(A review of Naked Lunch)It had been a while since I had seen a movie directed by David Cronenberg and the concept of Cronenberg directing an adaptation of the most famous book written by William S. Burroughs was quite intriguing. Well, Iām not sure if I should recommend it but it was still something āelseā. The point is that 90% of the movie is basically the feverish dream of a junkie but, somehow, you could still make up what was actually going on. I also did appreciate the fact that the main character (basically Burroughs himself) was pretty far out but still rather aware that he was pretty much hallucinating the whole thing. Eventually, the guy did shot his wife, apparently Burroughs really did the same thing with his own wife so that wasnāt an hallucination. On top of that, Cronenberg had basically a blast creating those weird creatures and the whole thing was pretty unsettling to watch, thatās for sure. I wonder if it's a movie you should be watching while being under the influence of any substance because it is filled with paranoid tension and Iām rather glad I watched the damned thing sober. The other main element was the ambiguous sexual choices made by the main character who doesnāt really know if he is gay or if he should be gay at all. Anyway, to conclude, it was a rather tough watch but I still liked it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Cronenbergās work.
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A good movie
Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 10 November 2013 09:25
(A review of The Great Beauty)Once again, it was this delightful time to go watch a movie with my dear film club. And once again, I discovered a new director which made the whole thing even more intriguing and, on top of that, I knew really nothing about this flick. Eventually, I have to admit it, it was a rather tough watch, probably the most difficult movie we have seen so far. What was actually about?!? Difficult to sayā¦ Middle-life crisis maybe? It is pretty obvious that Paolo Sorrentino tried to make a modern version of āLa Dolce Vitaā but Iām not sure if his movie will be remembered in 50 years. I mean, right from the beginning, you have nothing really to hang on to, no plot whatsoever, just some random scenes following one after the other. I donāt necessarily need a plot but, then I need then some really fascinating characters. There again, I didnāt care much for the characters, except for the lead, Jep Gambardella. Indeed, this guy was pretty cool, really smart but not a snob. Still, I liked the damned thing though. Indeed, it was visually quite exquisite with no static shots, constantly moving, and there was a great combination with the music. Basically, it is a rather enigmatic feature which doesnāt give you any answer and you are constantly on your toes trying to guess what the hell is actually going on. To conclude, I thought it was pretty good and it is definitely worth a look.
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