Explore
 Lists  Reviews  Images  Update feed
Categories
MoviesTV ShowsMusicBooksGamesDVDs/Blu-RayPeopleArt & DesignPlacesWeb TV & PodcastsToys & CollectiblesComic Book SeriesBeautyAnimals   View more categories »
Listal logo
All reviews - Movies (7746) - TV Shows (10)

An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 5 October 2013 08:31 (A review of 10 Items or Less)

Like most movie viewers, I have lots of respect for Morgan Freeman and even though I had no idea what to expect from this flick since Freeman was in it, I was definitely eager to check it out. Even though Morgan Freeman is a great actor, he often plays the same character over and over again (the old wise man) and, this time, he was playing something really different and it was really refreshing. It was also obvious that he was having a good time and it was nice to see him showing some range. With Paz Vega, they made a interesting couple, even though I thought that Vega might be too good looking to portray a supermarket cashier. Unfortunately, the story was not entirely convincing. Indeed, the running time was not even 80 minutes, you only spend some time with Freeman and Vega (there is also a short introduction with Jonah Hill and a blink-and-you-will-miss-it scene with Danny DeVito at the end) and, even though the makers try to convince you that those characters were fascinating, I actually had a hard time to really care about them. There was definitely something intriguing about Freemanā€™s character but it wasnā€™t enough, Iā€™m afraid. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you want to see Morgan Freeman trying something really different.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

A good movie

Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 4 October 2013 06:29 (A review of Sssshht!)

Pretty often when people notice that Iā€™m so crazy about movies, they ask why I never tried to work in the film industry. I actually did try, about 7 years ago. Indeed, I spent a year at the NFTA (Nederlandse Film en Televisie Academy, I think they have changed the name since then and nowadays it is called the NFA) following a training as production-assistant. It was definitely a great experience and if I didnā€™t try this, I would probably have spent the rest of the life wondering what would have happened if it did give it a shot. Still, even though it was really neat to learn all the tricks of the game, I realized it wasnā€™t meant for me. Indeed, making a movie is a group effort, you have to constantly compromise with a whole bunch of people and since Iā€™m a seriously lacking in social skills, I didn't try to further continue this career. The fact that I really didnā€™t connect with the other students didnā€™t help either. Still, during this training, I worked on 3 movies and this movie turned out to be the best one. It is rather funny because, at first, I had the least expectations about this flick. Basically, it sounded really cheesy on paper but maybe thatā€™s why it was actually rather successful. Indeed, in the contrary to the other movies I worked on, it wasnā€™t pretentious at all and completely delivered what it was supposed to deliver. So, basically, it is a rather cheesy but fun horror flick with some decent special effects, especially considering the low budget (it was a student feature after all). To conclude, even thought it was nothing really amazing, it was actually a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

A good movie

Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 3 October 2013 08:36 (A review of De ontgoocheling)

Pretty often when people notice that Iā€™m so crazy about movies, they ask why I never tried to work in the film industry. I actually did try, about 7 years ago. Indeed, I spent a year at the NFTA (Nederlandse Film en Televisie Academy, I think they have changed the name since then and nowadays it is called the NFA) following a training as production-assistant. It was definitely a great experience and if I didnā€™t try this, I would probably have spent the rest of the life wondering what would have happened if it did give it a shot. Still, even though it was really pretty neat to learn all the tricks of the game, I realized it wasnā€™t meant for me. Indeed, making a movie is a group effort, you have to constantly compromise with a whole bunch of people and since Iā€™m a seriously lacking in social skills, I didn't try to further continue this career. The fact that I really didnā€™t connect with the other students didnā€™t help either. Still, during this training, I worked on 3 movies and this movie was the one which had the most potential to be really awesome. Indeed, on paper, it sounded great, some kind of dark and pathetic comedy reminiscent of the Coen brothers. Unfortunately, the end-result was just decent and only mildly funny. I mean, I did like the whole thing but it could and should have been much better than this. Still, to conclude, even though it never really reached its full potential, I still think it is a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 3 October 2013 08:23 (A review of Conan the Destroyer)

When I was a kid, I used to love those Conan flicks. A couple of years ago, I watched again the first installment and even thought this time, the limited acting skills of Arnold Schwarzenegger was pretty obvious, I still thought it was thoroughly enjoyable, even after all these years. This sequel, on the other hand, always had a rather lousy reputation but I still wanted to check it out again out of sheer nostalgia. Honestly, I donā€™t think it was that bad at all. Indeed, in my opinion, it remains a fun fantasy feature with some nice atmosphere. I also thought that Wilt Chamberlain and Grace Jones were actually well cast, even though just like Schwarzenegger, they were far from being some great actors. At least, they looked pretty awesome. Eventually, Olivia dā€™Abo turned out to be the weakest of the bunch but since she was just only 15 years old at the time, Iā€™ll give her some slack. Eventually, the only real issues I had was that the jokes were all pretty lame, and above all, their biggest mistake was to have toned down the grittiness to make it a family friendly production. Still, in spite of its flaws, I still believe it is a decent fantasy feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 2 October 2013 08:24 (A review of Colombiana)

Back in the 80ā€™s-90ā€™s, Luc Besson was one of the most successful French directors but, at some point, the guy became greedy and, instead of directing some interesting features, he spends most of his time producing some watchable but also terribly forgettable features aimed at the international market. With this in mind, I knew more or less what to expect and I didnā€™t get anything less. Indeed, it is a slick looking action flick with a solid performance by Zoe Saldana and some decent action scenes but not much more Iā€™m afraid. While watching this, it reminded me of ā€˜Nikitaā€™, by far the best movie directed by Luc Besson, but this movie never had the ambition to be that good. Apparently, this movie was actually supposed to be a sequel to ā€˜LĆ©onā€™ following the character played by Natalie Portman but it didnā€™t work out and they changed the story with a new character with a South American background. Eventually, even though it does look good, there were just too many details and elements that didnā€™t work. For example, the way she is discovered by the FBI, the way she kills a guy with some sharks and then another guy with some dogs, the whole romantic relationship with Michael Vartan,ā€¦ I mean, even when he was on the top of his game, Luc Besson didnā€™t deliver the best stories as a director but, as producer, the end-result is even more underwhelming. Still, all in all, it remains a decent action flick and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 2 October 2013 02:36 (A review of Beautiful Girls)

It is one of those movies I was somehow expecting a lot from and afterwards, I really wondered why. I guess, it was because there was a really cool cast involved (Matt Dillon, Noah Emmerich, Annabeth Gish, Lauren Holly, Timothy Hutton, Rosie O'Donnell, Martha Plimpton, Natalie Portman, Michael Rapaport, Mira Sorvino, Uma Thurman, Pruitt Taylor Vince) and the ratings were pretty decent. Unfortunately, I thought that the whole thing was rather underwhelming. I mean, the actors did the best they could with the material and some of them (like Natalie Portman for example) delivered some solid performances but I seriously had a hard time to care about the whole thing. They basically try to convince you that all those colorful characters are really interesting and worth your time but they were not that fascinating at all. I donā€™t know, maybe I was too young to connect with these characters who all suffered from middle-age-crisis (something which only exists in our spoiled western society). Like I said before, it was not really bad and the whole thing had some potential. Maybe that they shouldnā€™t have picked up Timothy Hutton for the lead part. I mean, Hutton is a decent actor but he never managed to really convince me as a lead actor. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was rather disappointing, I guess it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

A classic

Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 2 October 2013 01:19 (A review of The Great Escape)

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it is such a huge classic, I was really eager to check it out again. To be honest, the first time I watched it, even though I did like this movie, I didnā€™t really blow me away though. Well, Iā€™m glad I gave it a second shot because it is in fact such a solid and entertaining WWII feature. First of all, the cast was pretty neat (Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn) and they all delivered some solid performances, especially Steve McQueen who was at the top of his game at the time. And, of course, it is a fun movie, thatā€™s for sure but, after rewatching it, I was actually surprised that most of it was actually pretty realistic. Sure, some of the details were not really convincing. For example, even though it was supposed to be a high-security prison, there was barely any checks from the guards but, still, most of it made sense. Furthermore, I was also positively surprised by the ending. Indeed, even though the whole thing was rather light, the ending was actually pretty dark (they were actually planning to have 250 inmates to escape, 75 got out, 50 got shot and only a handful actually managed to really escape after all). Anyway, to conclude, even though it is still not one of my favorite WWII movies, Ā it is a genuine classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.



0 comments, Reply to this entry

An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 1 October 2013 08:22 (A review of Bronco Billy)

The last 10 years, I have been tracking down all the movies directed by Clint Eastwoord which I hadnā€™t seen yet, I have just finished recently (the last one was ā€˜Breezyā€™, definitely his most obscure directing effort) and this journey was just plain fascinating (now, Iā€™m hoping to re-watch some of them at some point as well). This movie definitely belongs to his more obscure work as well and even though it is apparently one of Clint Eastwood's own personal favorites, it wasnā€™t really good Iā€™m afraid. Eventually, it turned out to be a box-office flop which was a great disappointment for Eastwood. I mean, there was definitely something quite charming and endearing about the whole thing but it never really actually took off eventually. I donā€™t know, even though it was nice to see good old Clint trying a different type of character, the whole thing was just too uneven, especially the tone as you never really know if you are actually watching a comedy or a drama. For once and in spite of what Clint Eastwood thought, it wasnā€™t really a strong story and the characters were not really interesting either. Still, it is far from being one of his worst movies, far from it, and I might give it another shot when I have the opportunity.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 1 October 2013 08:09 (A review of Captain Mike Across America)

Since Iā€™m a big fan of Michael Moore, of course, I was really eager to check this flick. Even though he has become the most successful documentary maker ever (at least, if you consider the box-office), this movie is actually pretty obscure and almost no one on listal has actually seen it. Well, unfortunately, I have to admit it, it is so far his weakest effort. I mean, the whole thing was basically a failure when you realize that Moore has actually become a victim of his own success. Indeed, each time he gets up on the stage, you donā€™t think you are watching a movie-director or a controversial thinker, you get more the feeling that you are watching a mix between a rock-star and a stand-up comedian and that was just plain wrong. I mean, they try to convince you all along that all these people came for his ideas and they did but they mostly came because, by now, he has become a huge celebrity and that it is rather sad. Also, I thought it was rather weird to have this huge focus on Michael Moore himself during most of the duration and it is not as if you got to know the guy, no, you just got to see his performance. Furthermore, Iā€™m sorry but, in my opinion, the democracy in the USA is kind of joke, you have just 2 big parties and even though they try to convince you that there is a huge difference between Republicans and Democrats, they are in fact only slightly different. I mean, what kind of democracy is that? Therefore, the whole impact of this effort was rather marginal. Eventually, they got a Democrat in the White House, Barrack Obama, but even though he definitely seems more competent than George W. Bush, his policy follows more or less the same path and there is still a war in Irak going on. To conclude, even though I thought the whole thing was pretty disappointing, there was still some good stuff (it was a good reminder that George W. Bush more or less cheated the first time around and got incredibly lucky the second time around) and it is still worth a look, especially if you are interested in Michael Mooreā€™s work.


0 comments, Reply to this entry

A good movie

Posted : 11 years, 4 months ago on 30 September 2013 08:56 (A review of Hell's Kitchen)

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since Angelina Jolie was in it, I thought I might as well give it a try. I think it must be, so far, the most obscure movie starring Jolie that I have seen but, surprisingly, I thought it was actually pretty good, especially considering the poor ratings it gets here on Listal and on IMDb. Of course, it was nothing great whatsoever and the whole thing looked pretty cheap but I did like the tone and the cast was pretty decent (Rosanna Arquette, Angelina Jolie, Mekhi Phifer). Since it was made on a rather low budget, you didnā€™t get the usual preposterous action scenes and, instead, they put the focus on the characters who were, most of the time, quite intriguing. Since she is nowadays arguably the most famous female movie star in the world, you wonā€™t see Angelina Jolie show up in a such a small production (at least, without anyone noticing) and it was rather fun to see her when she was a bit younger and not yet such a huge star. A year later, she would be in ā€˜Pushin Tinā€™ and, above all, ā€˜The Bone Collectorā€™, and from then on, her star never stopped to rise, for good or bad. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is nothing really amazing, it is actually a pretty good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Angelina Jolieā€™s work.


0 comments, Reply to this entry