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Posted : 11 years, 10 months ago on 11 August 2013 05:13
(A review of The Devil Inside)After hearing not so many good things about this flick, I wasn't expecting much but my kids were keen on watching an horror flick so we ended up wathing this. Personally, I always had a weak spot for the found footage genre. Indeed, I loved 'The Blair Witch Project' and I enjoyed both '[Rec]' and 'Paranormal Activity'. However, after watching this flick, I now understand the whole fatigue concerning this genre. First of all, the reason why they choose this directing style is pretty obvious. It is really cheap ass. Furthermore, it is quite usual that they use non-professional actors making the whole thing even less expensive. So, all those aspects were present here but two things were missing, originality and cleverness. Indeed, except for a few creepy moments, it was pretty tedious and really uninspired and all these flaws were even more obvious with the ending. Many criticized this ending and, indeed, the makers pushed themselves into a corner and it was indeed pretty underwhelming. To conclude, I don't think it was really awful but it was definitely pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look, even if you love the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 11 years, 11 months ago on 4 August 2013 07:32
(A review of First Strike (aka Police Story 4))Once again, another underwhelming feature starring Jackie Chan... It should probably give up on the guy already but, somehow, I keep on trying. On the other hand, this flick is apparently not one of his better Hong-Kong productions so maybe I should keep looking. Somehow, it is not surprising that I didn't like it since I thought that 'Police Story 3' was already terribly underwhelming. The first issue I had was that the whole thing was dubbed in English instead of the original language, Mandarin. That was so terribly annoying. Furthermore, as usual with Jackie Chan's work, the acting was really weak but I liked the idea of putting this character in a spy intrigue even though it was not developed after all. Of course, the action scenes were pretty neat but there were not many of them and they didn't manage to make me forget how underwhelming the rest was. Anyway, to conclude, I thought the whole thing was pretty boring and I don't think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 11 years, 11 months ago on 2 August 2013 10:13
(A review of American Cousins (2003))Oh boy... That's one really obscure flick... If I recall correctly, back then, one of my colleagues had the DVD so that's how I ended up watching it. Basically, it is a rather odd and misguided mix. Indeed, you had here some American mafia crime style stuff and also some Scottish humor and, even though it was a bold experiment, it didn't work very well, I'm afraid. First of all, it was never really funny but it's always tricky to make a comedy about the mob. I mean, I did like 'Analyse this' thanks to de Niro but that's about it. I didn't like 'The Freshman', 'Mickey Blue Eyes' or most Mafia comedies and this movie was not an exception. The characters were neither funny and interesting and I couldn't care less about the whole cultural shock (another useless gimmick used in countless comedies). Eventually, I gave the makers a few extra points for trying something original but I'm being pretty generous with my rating here. To conclude, it is indeed a pretty obscure feature, I think I should remain that way and I don't think it is really worth a look, even if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 11 years, 11 months ago on 2 August 2013 09:24
(A review of Private Property)Basically, it is once again one of those really obscure French(speaking) movies which almost no one has seen here on Listal. The main reason I wanted to watch it is because Isabelle Huppert was in it. Indeed, Huppert is easily one of the best French actress already for the last 40 years and, once again, she didn't disappoint me. As usual, she gave a very solid performance even though her character was rather thankless in my opinion. Indeed, the mother was neither likeable or really interesting and, personally, I cared more about the brothers. Indeed, JƩrƩmie Renier, a familiar face if you watch the Dardennes brothers movies, was once again really impressive and the interaction between him and his real life brother, Yannick Renier, was pretty fascinating and one of the best depiction of a relationship involving 2 siblings I have ever seen. Still, the story was not really strong and the dramatic ending felt really arbitrary. I always have a hard time to swallow it when, at the end, seemingly out of nowhere, one of the characters has to die, just to end on a dramatic climax. I mean, the tragic event itself was really well directed, without any cuts if I recall it correctly, but it felt a little too random for my taste. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains a solid drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 11 years, 11 months ago on 2 August 2013 02:10
(A review of Double Jeopardy)I always had a weak spot for Ashley Judd but, unfortunately, she is not on the A list anymore. Unfortunately, when an actress reaches 40 years old, there is a good chance her career will end for good and there are only a handful of exceptions like Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon or Sigourney Weaver. Anyway, back in those days, Judd was very popular and her specialty was definitely the thrillers. Indeed, it all started with āKiss the girlsā which was the most successful one but she made a whole bunch of those which turned to be pretty underwhelming. This movie is a really good example. I mean, Ashley Judd did her best with the material and Tommy Lee Jones has always been pretty awesome playing those no-nonsense police officers. So, they both did a pretty good job but, unfortunately, the story was just way too preposterous for me. Indeed, basically, it is one of those thrillers which take a concept (in this case, the fact that in the US you canāt be charged twice for the same murder) but, of course, the whole thing didnāt make much sense and the makers pretty much try to covered those flaws with a tensed mood and some generic action scenes. To conclude, I have seen worse but it still remains a rather average thriller and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 11 years, 11 months ago on 1 August 2013 09:14
(A review of Flawless)Basically, it is one of those movies I ended up watching just because Michael Caine was in it but, to be honest, I really had a hard time to figure out if I actually liked it. First of all, the introduction was really tedious. It was like a warning 'Don't worry, the first 20 minutes will be really tedious but, with this lame intro, we want to make sure you understand that it will become really exciting at some point'. Pretty weak, in my opinion. Still, the whole thing looked pretty good and it was nice that Demi Moore portrayed someone who was not 20 years younger than she actually was (She was still 7 years older than her character but nevermind). Anyway, she was not bad at all even though her job was pretty thankless since she was clueless about what was going on almost until the end. Michael Caine was, as usual, pretty awesome and really made the whole thing really watchable. Eventually, I always had a weak spot for heist movies and it was a nice touch that it took place in the 60's when it seemed more doable to rob some diamonds without all the nifty technical security gadgets that they have nowadays. Still, I wasn't entirely convinced by the whole scheme. Indeed, it is really hard to believe that Caine could go on all night without being spotted at any moment by the security guard. I guess, those videos were not recorded at the time otherwise, it would have been even more obvious. To conclude, my rating might be a little bit too generous but I enjoyed most of it and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 11 years, 11 months ago on 1 August 2013 02:18
(A review of The Firm)I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago, I thought I might as well check it out again.Ā
Back in those days, Tom Cruise was the biggest and unchallenged movie star and all his movies were making some big bucks. This time, he showed up in one of those John Grishamās book adaptations, it was easily the most successful one and I have to admit it was actually fairly entertaining. It's too bad that, as usual with Grisham's work, the story was still too far-fetched for my taste though and the whole thing was probably too long as well. Still, I really have a weak spot for Sydney Pollackās work, his directing was as usual pretty solid and it was neat to see how much he managed to elevate this material. Concerning Tom Cruise, he was as usual quite charismatic but I don't think he gave here one of his best performances. The fact that his character was rather bland and so naive probably didnāt help and it was rather annoying that he turned out to be after all so clever that he managed to outsmart everybody including his 'firm', the FBI and the mob. In fact, I was more impressed by Gene Hackman who managed to deliver a much more interesting and flawed character with so much less screen time than Cruise. To round up the cast, you had also Jeanne Tripplehorn, Hal Holbrook, Terry Kinney, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, David Strathairn, Gary Busey, Tobin Bell and they all did a pretty good job even if it was rather pushing it to give an Academy award nomination for Holly Hunter for her performance which was not even 6 minutes long. Anyway, to conclude, even though I donāt think it is anything really amazing, it is still 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, 11 months ago on 31 July 2013 09:56
(A review of The Dilemma)You can say whatever you want about Ron Howard but the guy is very versatile and after many years, he is making again a comedy, a genre that really launched his career back then with 'Splash'. Unfortunately, the end-result was really disappointing. Indeed, it has been a while since I have seen such a tedious comedy. Ok, I wasn't really in the right mood, I'll give you that, but it was still pretty weak and not funny whatsoever. Furthermore, there was barely any chemistry between any of the 4 actors involved in those 2 couples and the movie really focused solely on Vince Vaughn (who hasn't made a good comedy since 'Wedding Crashers' released 8 years ago) and the rest of the cast, which had some potential, was pretty much wasted (Kevin James, Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder, Channing Tatum, Queen Latifah). Also, it was once again another failed attempt for Winona Ryder to make a come-back. I mean, recently, she keeps popping up in some high-profile projects like this one or 'Black Swan' or 'Star Trek' but she never managed to make it really work for her. Still, there was some interesting stuff in here, some interesting darkness, but the makers never really figured what to do with the whole thing so you end up with one of those underwhelming comedies where one of the characters has some big secret which will be, of course, revealed at the end. To conclude, even though I have seen worse, it is still one of the weakest movies directed by Ron Howard and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 11 years, 11 months ago on 31 July 2013 02:52
(A review of Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen)If I recall correctly, I saw this movie way before Lindsay Lohan started to get in trouble. Back in those days, my step-daughter had the perfect age to watch this kind of stuff so I ended up watching it with her. Man, will Lindsay Lohan ever come back? The point is that, for someone like Mickey Rourke or Robert Downey Jr., it doesnāt really matter if their way of life more or less destroyed their looks (especially for Rourke) but, for a woman, it is really a different story. Indeed, they have pretty much to look very young like forever which is of course impossible and, for Lohan, she nowadays looks 10 years older than her real age. Anyway, back in those days, Lindsay Lohan was still (more or less) innocent with a seemingly bright future and this one was one of those Disney features she made back then. To be honest, it was watchable but it still pretty weak though and compare to this, āMean Girlsā was pretty much a masterpiece. The main issue is that, even though Lohan did her best, the main character was not really interesting and seriously rather obnoxious so I had a really hard time to care about her or what she was going through. To conclude, I didnāt care much about this flick and I donāt think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you want to see Lindsay Lohan before she was a total train wreck.
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An average movie
Posted : 11 years, 11 months ago on 31 July 2013 02:02
(A review of Windtalkers )When the word came out that John Woo was coming to Hollywood to expand his career, many of us got pretty excited. Indeed, at that time, Woo was probably the most heralded director coming from Hong Kong and to have his kinetic directing style combined with a massive budget for a wide audience was a nice prospect. Eventually, the end-result was not that impressive. I mean, his Hollywood dĆ©but āHard Targetā was not bad, one of the very few watchable movies starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, and āFace/Offā was really cool but it was probably his only Hollywood movie which was really successful (on the other hand, ā Mission: Impossible IIā which always had a bad reputation was actually the highest grossing movie released in 2000). Anyway, this movie is probably the most disappointing one he has made in this period. The worst thing is that the story was actually really intriguing and it was a great idea to make a WWII feature focusing on those Indian code makers. But thatās what went wrong here, somehow, they didnāt focus on them at all and the Indian guy became just merely a sidekick to the typical white hero portrayed by Nicolas Cage. From this point, even though the whole thing was not that bad visually speaking, the story felt like a huge travesty. Of course, as usual, you could blame Nicolas Cage but I think he did what he could with this material. To conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, it turned out to be one of the most disappointing WWII feature I have seen and it is not really worth a look.
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