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CollectionsI already saw this movie, I actually saw it in the movie theater when it was released, but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well re-watch it, especially since my wife never saw it before. Well, first of all, even though I have seen every single James Bond flicks except the very last installment starring Daniel Craig, I have to admit that I have never been a huge fan of this franchise though. However, in this case, since I kept hearing here and there that it was one of the best James Bond installments ever made and Sam Mendes being a terrific director, it did seem really promising. Unfortunately, even though I have to admit that this movie was not bad at all and that it was even fairly entertaining, to be honest, I really failed to see what was supposed to be so great about it. Indeed, in my opinion, it was a little bit better than 'Quantum of Solace', which wasn't that bad but I still preferred 'Casino Royale' which wasn't really great after all. Above all, I was rather underwhelmed by the story. Seriously, was it really supposed to be a brilliant story? I have to admit that it was still an enjoyable flick though with some pretty cool action scenes. On top of that, Daniel Craig was getting better and better every time and, by then, he definitely owned the part. Furthermore, even though the bad guy was rather uninspiring, Javier Bardem gave a really solid performance and completely disappeared behind the character. It was also pretty cool what they did with Q, Moneypenny and Mallory (AKA the new āMā). However, even though BĆ©rĆ©nice Marlohe was a gorgeous and intriguing Bond girl, it was rather disappointing that she was given very little screen time and, as a result, she had very little to do. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit it was still a decent James Bond flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre, even if I don't think it is anything brilliant after all.Ā
An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 3 November 2012 03:19
(A review of Skyfall)
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An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 2 November 2012 10:00
(A review of The Last House on the Left)I didn't have some huge expectations regarding this feature but since the ratings were rather decent, I thought I should give it a try. Honestly, I haven't seen the original version but I do hope it is better than this remake. I mean, it was not really bad, the directing was solid and the actors did a decent job but it really felt like a very weak version of 'Funny Games' which is one of my all time favorites (the original version, not the remake). It was indeed pretty violent with a rape, some mutilations and a few kills and, even though, it was all very well done from a technical point of view, I couldn't care less about the whole thing. And what was this about the sexy shots of Sara Paxton earlier in the movie?! Are we supposed to get aroused before she gets raped?!? And don't even start with the infamous macrowave scene at the end... Except from Justin (played by Spencer Treat Clark) which was a rather interesting character, I didn't care much about the others, victims or executioners. Basically, it was one of those rather tedious torture-porn flicks which inflict you one nauseous scene after the other just to see how much you can take. Unfortunately, I was never interested in this genre. To conclude, I have seen worse but this one was still pretty damned average and I don't think it is really worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 2 November 2012 09:20
(A review of Love the Hard Way)To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Adrien Brody, I thought I might as well check it out. Like most people, I do believe that Adrien Brody is a very good actor, or at least, used to be a very promising actor and I always tried to check his movies when I got the opportunity. However, he always shows up in the most obscure movies you can imagine, even after he won the Academy award for the best actor for 'The Pianist'. This flick was a perfect example and it is a probably the most obscure one I have seen so far starring this actor. Fortunately, it ended up being actually pretty good. I mean, it was nothing amazing whatsoever and it was still rather predictable but Adrien Brody delivered a pretty good performance and he had some great chemistry with Charlotte Ayanna, a girl I had never seen before. Furthemore, I really enjoyed the tone and the directing was pretty solid. To conclude, even though you have probably never heard of this flick, it is a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Adrien Brody's work.
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A good movie
Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 2 November 2012 01:10
(A review of Elf)You might find him terribly annoying and not funny at all but you canāt argue that Will Ferrell is one of the most successful and recognizable comedian of the last decade. Personally, I have some mixed feelings about him. Indeed, he can be sometimes downright hilarious but he keeps playing over and over the same characters and it is getting less and less entertaining and more and more obnoxious. Anyway, 2003 was his breakthrough year, as he showed up in āOld Schoolā and in this Christmas flick which were both tremendous success. Honestly, I never really cared about Christmas movies. Even though I love Christmas, the movies dealing with this celebration usually bore me to death. However, when they put a dark twist, like in this one, it can be pretty enjoyable and, indeed, I had a good time watching this movie. There was a very good cast surrounding Ferrell (especially James Caan and Zooey Deschanel) and the whole thing was really entertaining. Of course, the plot is rather idiotic and it is nothing really amazing whatsoever but they managed to make a fun movie out of this. Not only was it an important movie for Will Ferrell but also for its director, Jon Favreau. Indeed, with his 2nd directing effort, Favreau continued to display some skills and reminded us he would be a director to be reckoned with. To conclude, it is a well made and fun Christmas flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see where Will Ferrell came from.
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A good movie
Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 2 November 2012 09:37
(A review of Rubber (2010))I kept bumping in this movie so I was really curious to check what it was about. Well, it seems to be one of the most polarizing movies that came out recently and, apparently, you either love it or hate it. Personally, Iām one of the few remaining in the middle, in the sense that I thought it was pretty good but I still donāt think it was really brilliant though. Basically, it is a really weird flick with some very experimental elements. I almost went completely blank before watching this movie and it is only a few days ago that I found out that it was about a killer tire. Fortunately, I didnāt know anything else and it is the best way to watch such a flick. Indeed, there were so many āWTFā moments, it was just really cool. Unfortunately, it gets a little bit repetitive pretty quickly. It is like the audience watching the show. It was at first pretty neat but it got old really fast. The point is that Dupieux had a few good ideas but he kept repeating them on and on and it would have been interesting if they went further than those few ideas. Still, they get some extra points just for the sheer originality and absurdity of the whole concept and it is rather impressive that they managed to make an enjoyable and interesting flick about a damned tire. Anyway, to conclude, even if I wasn't completely sold, I thought it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in experimental movies.
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A good movie
Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 2 November 2012 08:56
(A review of Unbreakable)If I remember correctly, I saw this one when it was released back then when I was living in England. Anyway, I thought it was time for a re-watch with Nick, my step-son and, this time again, I thought it was actually pretty good. I mean, if M. Night Shyamalan might be nowadays the laughing-stock of the movie community but, back in those days, he was considered one of the most promising directors. Personally, I wasnāt really impressed by āThe Sixth senseā which I consider one of the most overrated movies ever made, but his follow-up was really good, the best movie directed by Shyamalan so far, and as a matter of fact, the only one which I found really satisfying. The point is that way before the whole super-hero overdose, he came up with this really gritty and realistic approach on the genre and I thought it was quite fascinating to behold. Of course, the whole thing was not flawless. Indeed, as usual with Shyamalan, even though the directing was very solid, the writing was kind of weak. I mean, often he would sacrifice plausibility for thriller theatrics. For example, is it really realistic to believe that the main character would become aware of his ability only after a huge train wreck? I mean, you or your family would notice that you are never sick or injured (I mean, when I was a kid, I noticed I never got to the hospital and it remained so until I was 18 years old, and by now, I have been 3 times to a hospital. I mean, my point is that you notice and remember such things). Another point, when the main character notice a weird note on his windshield, shouldnāt he shred it? And donāt get me started with the usual Shyamalan twist... So, it is not perfect but it remains a good flick though, absolutely. I mean, I just loved this āsuper-heroā who is actually some kind of depressed loser, so much more interesting than your usual though guys, and Bruce Willis delivered a solid performance. In fact, even though Willis was pretty good, Samuel L. Jackson was actually even better. Basically, he gives one of the best performances in his long career portraying a really fascinating character completely lost in his neurotic obsessions. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it is one of the most interesting and entertaining super-hero flick I have seen and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you have completely lost faith in M. Night Shyamalan.
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A classic
Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 1 November 2012 10:00
(A review of Mary Poppins)I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out again. First of all, I have to admit Iām not one of those kids that grew up with this movie, watching it over and over again. Back then, I did watch tons of movies but not this one though. Anyway, my wife thought it was a huge gap in my cultural education and, for once, I had to agree with her and I finally managed to watch it at some point. Unfortunately, since I saw it as a grown-up, I canāt say it was really amazing. It has probably to do with the fact that Iām not a huge fan of musicals. Still, it was a good flick, thatās for sure. Indeed, Julie Andrews gave one of the most memorable acting debut and became at the time an instant star. Furthermore, there were so many iconic scenes. In fact, while I was rewatching the damned thing, I was surprised by how much much I was enjoying myself. Indeed, the beginning scenes were just really fun and even the songs were pretty good. Unfortunately, I'm afraid this feeling only did last for 30 minutes maybe. Above all, what mostly dragged the whole thing down was the fact that this movie is just way too long and the fact that everything happening is completelly random didn't help either. To be honest, I would have a hard time to believe that kids nowadays would manage to see this movie with a running time of almost 150 minutes without getting completely bored out of their minds (obviously, none of my 3 kids have watched the damned thing). Still, there is no doubt that it remains a classic, only therefore it is definitely worth a look, and, even if I'm not huge fan, it was still a decent watch.Ā
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A bad movie
Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 1 November 2012 08:45
(A review of The Swarm)I had some rather low expectations about this flick but since Michael Caine and Henry Fonda were starring, I thought I should give it a try anyway. Eventually, it was even worse than I thoughtā¦ Basically, it was probably the worst disaster flick I have ever seen (or maybe āWhen Time Ran Out...ā was even worse, Iām not sureā¦). Anyway, for more than 2 hours, you get some pathetic special effects, some laughable dialogues, some poorly sketched subplots and some completely uninteresting characters. The most annoying thing about these movies is that there was no scientific background whatsoever and it made the whole thing look even more ridiculous. I mean, you get such great actors like Fonda or Caine giving their dialogues in all seriousness whereas most of what they are telling you was just total horsesh*t. It would work much better if there was anything possible in what was happening and in what they said. Of course, what should you expect from a movie about killer bees ? Not much, of course, but it didnāt have to be that bad and it was a huge flop when it was released. Unsurprisingly, Irwin Allen (nicknamed āthe Master of Disasterā) has directed this piece of turd and I discovered afterwards that he was also responsible for the awful āWhen Time Ran Out...ā. It figures. Anyway, to conclude, this flick was a huge waste of time, I didnāt like it at all and it is definitely not worth a look, even if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 31 October 2012 11:57
(A review of Que la fĆŖte commence...)Basically, It is once again a rather obscure French movie which not much people have seen here in Listal. 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. This flick is not one of his most famous ones (it was his second directing effort) but it was pretty good and it did manage to win a few CĆ©sars (the CĆ©sars are basically the French Oscars). Basically, it deals with some rather obscure piece of French history and I think it is always nice to learn something new about history, especially when France is involved. So, the directing was really solid but, above all, it was just awesome to see 3 monsters of the French cinema put together in one movie (Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Jean-Pierre Marielle). Maybe you have never heard of them but those guys are really good and it is very often that you get see them working together like that. I have to admit that even though the plot was entertaining and interesting, it was still nothing really fascinating. Still, it remains a decent historical comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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A classic
Posted : 12 years, 2 months ago on 31 October 2012 10:35
(A review of Charade (1963))Honestly, Iām not really big on Cary Grant (9 movies seen) or Audrey Hepburn (8 movies seen) but since I kept hearing good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, I thought it was pretty good but I canāt say I found it really amazing. The point is that the story was just way too convoluted and fluffy for my taste and Iām rather amazed that many viewers compare this movie to Hitchcockās work. Hitchcockās movies were sometimes complicated but they always made sense and they were terribly smart whereas this movie was honestly full of non-sense and huge plot holes. As far as Iām concerned, if the characters or the makers donāt take the story seriously, why should I? Still, I thought it was quite enjoyable. Indeed, even though her character was rather clueless, Audrey Hepburn was just really charming, as usual. Above all, I thought that Cary Grant was just awesome. I mean, he is basically one of those actors who always plays the same part in every single movie but he is always great anyway. This movie was not an exception. It was one of his last movies and he stood above all the rest of the cast and delivered the best lines. Personally, I didnāt care much about the multiple identity thing and I thought it would have been more interesting if he remained a random guy who get accidentally involved in some shady spy conspiracy but, it didnāt matter, I thought he was great anyway. To conclude, even though it didnāt really blow me away, it remains an entertaining flick, it is a classic, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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