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All reviews - Movies (7343) - TV Shows (9)

A very bad movie

Posted : 11 years, 1 month ago on 24 August 2012 09:36 (A review of The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas)

Oh, man, that was bad! I mean, I thought the first installment was terrible but this was even worse... Since this movie had such at terribly reputation, I did have some low expectations but it was even worse than I thought it would be. On the other hand, since the first movie was really bad, you could only assume that the sequel would be awfull. First of all, none of the original cast returned which was not a good omen and it was in fact the reason they chose to make a prequel. Where should I start? The story was completely boring, the jokes were pathetic, the whole thing looked awful (I'm sure they spent a lot of money but it didn't help, I'm afraid...). The actors did what they could and I'm not sure they should be blamed, except for Stephen Baldwin who delivered one of the worst and most annoying performances I have ever seen. I remember feeling embarrassed for Elizabeth Taylor who gave her final performance in the previous installment. Now, this time around, it was Joan Collins’s turn to embarrass herself... To conclude, this flick is really really bad, it was a real torture to watch the whole thing and, obviously, it is not worth a look whatsoever.



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An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 1 month ago on 24 August 2012 07:16 (A review of The Revenant)

At some point, when he  turned 15 years old my step-son Nick decided to buy dvds with his pocket-money and he came home with the weirdest movies you could possibly imagine. Indeed, when I saw the cover of this one, I thought it looked pretty bad and I actually told him that I woudn't watch it. But then, I checked the damned thing on IMDb and, I have to admit it, the ratings were actually decent so I still ended up watching it with him. Eventually, it turned out to be one of the most original zombie flicks I have seen lately. I mean, I don't know about you, but after watching so many zombie movies, they all start to look alike after a while. Here, the masterstroke was to make the zombies conscious and relatively intelligent. Indeed, like Roger Ebert pointed out, the biggest problem with your average zombie feature is that all the zombies are so dumb and it is therefore rather difficult to  build up a story around them. So, it was quite refreshing to see some zombies who could think, talk and being aware of what they were going through. Unfortunately, they also had to make them some bloodsuckers as well which wasreally redundant but, I guess, they had to keep them busy somehow. The other issue I had is that the makers were creative and obviously enthousiast but also rather over-ambitious. I mean, you had here some comedy, satire, horror, romance, action, some vigilante stuff, even a political agenda and, obviously, not everything did work. Still, to conclude, it remains an original and entertaining flick and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 1 month ago on 23 August 2012 01:46 (A review of After Him)

To be honest, I had never heard of this movie before but since it was starring Catherine Deneuve, I thought I should give it a try anyway. Furthermore, Gael Morel is not really a famous director but I really like his directing style so I thought it could be a nice watch. Still, I must say that the whole thing was pretty heavy and depressing but it is not something that prevents me from enjoying a movie. Eventually, the story was interesting but I was still missing something. I mean, it is one of those typical French dramas when nothing much is going on and the characters talk a lot. You either like those or you don't but it is sure something else than those American movies where something has to happen every 30 seconds otherwise you loose the attention of the viewers. Above all, I was impressed by Catherine Deneuve who delivered once again an impressive performance. I mean, the other actors were not bad but she really carried the whole thing on her shoulders. Anyway, to conclude, it is a sad but very well made drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.



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An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 1 month ago on 23 August 2012 10:51 (A review of Fanboys)

Since I kept hearing some interesting things about this flick, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, I thought it was a decent film about fandom but it was still nothing really mind-blowing though. I mean, there was definitely some funny stuff like for example the whole Star Wars-Star Trek conflict which was just hilarious and the cameos were pretty cool as well (Carrie Fisher, William Shatner, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Jamie King, Ray Park, Billy Dean Williams,...). I guess my main issue is that it was basically a film about fans, about the glory of the fans, especially made for the fans and since I'm not one of them, I didn't care much about the whole thing, I'm afraid. Roger Ebert was even more critical than me and said that it actually glorified a stupid lifestyle (or something in those lines). Personally, I don't agree with him and I think it is pretty cool to have a hobby and to be passionate about something but such a hobby is not something really interesting for anyone else except if you share the same interest. I mean, of course, I like the first Star Wars trilogy, but I enjoyed them above all when I was a kid and now that I moved on towards other things. Those guys were just stuck with Star Wars and even though they were definitely entertaining,  they were also rather pathetic. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it remains a fun and original comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 1 month ago on 23 August 2012 07:54 (A review of Vanishing On 7th Street)

My step-son, Nick, is a huge movie buff, like me, and we have been watching tons of movies together but something has changed during the last few months. Indeed, Nick has turned 15 years old and nowadays he goes to buy his own DVDs with his pocket-money and he usually comes home with the weirdest movies. For example, the last time, he came back with this flick. My first reaction was to dismiss it but since it was directed by Brad Anderson who made the awesome 'The Machinist', I thought I should give it a try anyway. Unfortunately, even though I'm a sucker for those post-apocalyptic features, this one was rather weak. I mean, many people would blame Hayden Christensen but I don't think it is really fair. Like the other actors, he did his best and provided a decent performance but the characters were all poorly developed and not really interesting. Furthermore, the special effects for the shadows were pretty cheesy and it would have worked better if they didn't show anything. Finally, the story was just really weak and it didn't add anything to the overused formula. To conclude, even though it was not completely awful, it is still a rather weak and unoriginal post-apocalyptic flick and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.



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An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 1 month ago on 22 August 2012 09:42 (A review of Éloge de l'amour (2001))

'A bout de souffle' is one of my all-time favorite movie and I have seen many movies directed by Godard which he made in the 60's. They were all interesting but I noticed they got more and more alienating and I had a hard time to enjoy them. Eventually, I haven't seen anything he has done in the 70's, 80's and 90's and I have heard it was some pretty hard stuff to watch. Anyway, I had the opportunity to watch this flick and I was really eager to jump over 30 years of work and watch one of his most recent movies made in the 2000's. Eventually, I didn't understand anything during the whole thing and it was like watching a foreign movie without subtitles expect for one small fact, I'm French... The weird thing is that it is not even a bad movie but, like I said before, it is really damned alienating, even more than the weirdest movies directed by David Lynch, even more than Godard's own work from the 60's and, as a result, it was terribly frustrating. I mean, I don't need to understand everything, that's way too boring, but I need to connect somehow with the movie. Stil, the directing was mesmerizing and I really enjoyed the performance by Bruno Putzulu. To conclude, it is something really experimental but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Godard's work.


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An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 1 month ago on 22 August 2012 08:55 (A review of Couples Retreat)

Since I only heard bad things about this flick, I had some rather low expectations but since there was a nice cast involved, I thought I should give it a try anyway. And, indeed, the whole thing turned out to be rather disappointing. Basically, it was just a very lazy and boring comedy. I mean, they just put some famous actors together and sent them to some island and that was it. I mean, none of those characters were properly developed, none of the couples really had some chemistry and the jokes were most of the time pretty embarrassing. There was here and there some funny stuff but most of it was just rather pathetic and painful to watch. By the way, what the hell happened to Vince Vaughn?! The guy is really talented and he can be really funny but it has been a while since he made a really funny comedy ('The Dilemma', 'Four Christmases', 'Fred Claus', 'The Break-Up', 'Be Cool',... All those comedies were disappointing and barely entertaining). The rest of the cast was also interesting (Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, Jean Reno, Ken Jeong) so the whole thing felt like a huge waste of talent. To conclude, I thought it was a boring comedy and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.


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A very good movie

Posted : 11 years, 1 month ago on 21 August 2012 10:59 (A review of Pride and Prejudice)

Honestly, beforehand, I wasn't really enthousiast about this flick. Indeed, I'm usually not a big of those costum dramas which always focus on how difficult the life can be for the rich and privileged class. Still, since the critics and ratings were pretty good, I was definitely eager to check it out. Eventually, I really enjoyed it. First of all, I have not the read the book and I'm pretty sure I haven't seen another movie adaptation before so basically, it was my first contact with this classic tale and I completely fell for this romance story and I cared about all the characters involved. I was also impressed by the settings, the costums and the directing which was even more amazing since it was Joe Wright's directing debut. Furthermore, was it possible to get a better cast than this ? Keira Knightley, Talulah Riley, Rosamund Pike, Jena Malone, Carey Mulligan , Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, Kelly Reilly and Matthew Macfadyen.... And they all gave some very good performances and I always read some comments about the fact that Colin Firth was the best Mr. Darcy ever but I couldn't tell since I haven't seen his version. Anyway, I thought it was really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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A good movie

Posted : 11 years, 1 month ago on 21 August 2012 09:32 (A review of Leef!)

I always enjoy a Dutch movie from time to time, even more when it ends up being a good flick. And this time, I thought it was pretty good but I must admit that the whole thing was rather chaotic. The interesting thing is that I'm not sure if this chaos dragged the whole thing down or actually made the movie even more spellbinding to watch. Anyway, there was a lot of characters with  a lot of sub-plots and most of those characters were pretty messed up but it is something which I always find appealing. I also enjoyed the acting very much, especially Monic Hendrickx. I haven't seen many movies starring this actress but she always impressed me so far. Furthermore, the story was quite fascinating to watch, sometimes even rather heartbreaking. But, like I said before, the whole thing was pretty chaotic, messy and over-ambitious and my wife, even though I'm sure she liked some aspects of it, felt pretty much alienated by the whole thing. I enjoyed it a bit more than she did and the weird aspect didn't bother me too much but I understand where she was coming from and she definitely had a point. Still, in my opinion, it remains a rather fascinating drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies.


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An average movie

Posted : 11 years, 1 month ago on 21 August 2012 07:36 (A review of The Great Mouse Detective)

I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it is available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. If I'm not mistaken, I saw this one when I was a kid and when it came out in the theaters. I think I really enjoyed it back then but, honestly, Disney wasn't doing very well at the time and the movies they released in the 80's were not very well received in general. This movie was an exception though. Indeed, even though it was overshadowed by the tremendous success of 'An American Tail', since it didn't cost much to make, it was still considered a commercial success and it actually received some decent reviews back then. Well, after rewatching the damned thing, to be honest, I thought it was even weaker than I remembered. I mean, it wasn't a bad idea to make an animated version of Sherlock Holmes but why with some talking mices?! I guess, they thought it might be this way more appealing for the young children but I would rather watch a darker version with some humans. To make things worse, the story was just generic and tedious. Concerning Sherlock/Basil, I did appreciate that he was displayed as being manic, neurotic and rather selfish but, to be honest, I thought he was actually often hysterical and fairly annoying. Ratigan was a decent bad guy and I liked the fact that he was voiced by Vincent Price but, to be honest, I didn't care much about him either. Eventually, even if this movie wasn't a failure when it was released, I think the whole thing was still rather misguided, some kind of weak mix of Sherlock Holmes with The Rescuers. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that it might still be a decent animated feature for the kids but, to be honest, I really didn't care much about the damned thing.


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