Login
Home
581 Lists
7708 Reviews
CollectionsA good movie
Posted : 12 years, 5 months ago on 12 July 2012 01:09
(A review of The Beautiful Country (2004))Honestly, beforehand, I never heard of this flick before but since both Nick Nolte and Tim Roth were starring, I was definitely eager to check it out. Eventually, I was pleasantly surprised. It is actually rather amazing that, after all those years, after so many movies have been made, they still manage to make some interesting features about the Vietnam war. Here, it is a pretty standard story about a Vietnamese guy who goes on a journey to find his father. Even though the story is nothing really mind-blowing, I really enjoyed the sober directing and the acting was also really good. You have here three international stars (Nick Nolte, Tim Roth and Bai Ling) who shows up for some small supporting parts and I was above all amazed to see Bai Ling providing a decent performance in a good movie. For the last decade, she has been busy destroying every shread of credibility concerning her career and after watching this flick, you realize she actually has/had some potential. I also noticed that this movie is listed in various 'Norwegian movies' list and I think it is rather funny . I mean, Ok, the director is Norwegian but that's about it. Indeed, it is an international production with no Norwegian actor, it doesn't take place in Norwegia and it deals with Vietnamese/American history. So, it doesn't sound really Norwegian to me... Anyway, I thought it was a well made historical drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 5 months ago on 12 July 2012 09:02
(A review of Play It to the Bone)Since I always had a weak spot for Ron Shelton's work, I thought I should check this one out. Furthermore, a movie starring Woody Harrelson is always a treat. However, to be honest, I'm not so sure if Antonio Banderas was really a good choice to play a boxer. On the other hand, it was pretty funny to see Harrelson showing up in yet another sport flick ( after ‘Surfer, Dude', ‘Kingpin', 'White Men Can't Jump' and ‘Wildcats'). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, the movie was basically divided in two parts : a road-movie involving the main characters going to a boxing match and the actual fight. I’m not a huge fan of road-movies in general and this part was not bad but nothing great. I mean, half of the dialogues were actually pretty good but the other half was just plain boring, corny and not interesting whatsoever. On the other hand, the fight itself was actually pretty good and intense, even though there was too much slow motion towards the end and the close-ups of the celebs were at first fun but they became rather redundant pretty quickly. All in all, the whole thing was not bad and I enjoyed above all the flashbacks showing the missed opportunities of the main protagonists. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a decent boxing feature and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A good movie
Posted : 12 years, 5 months ago on 11 July 2012 05:44
(A review of The Darjeeling Limited)To be honest, even though I did like all the movies I have seen directed by Wes Anderson, so far, most of them actually didn’t really blow me away(I did change though from 'Fantastic Mr Fox' which I really loved and all the movies he made afterwards were really awesome) . Still, the guy has a very interesting directing style so I watched all his movies with great interest. Concerning our main feature, exactly like the rest of his work, I thought it was pretty neat but I didn't think it was great. Before watching the damning thing, I even watched 'Hotel Chevalier' which worked pretty well as a companion piece but I thought it was in fact rather misleading. Indeed, to the contrary to the other brothers, they gave us a backstory for Jack and it gave the feeling that he would be the main protagonist when it was not the case. Anyway, the cast was pretty good, I enjoyed the music and India seemed to be an enchanting country. Once again, it was dealing with a dysfunctional familly (another Wes Anderson Trademark) and even though I enjoyed those excentric characters, the story was just decent enough but still nothing really spellbinding. It was also rather corny that they got close with each other towards the end. Still, to conclude, even though it was not a masterpiece, I enjoyed the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Wes Anderson's work.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A very good movie
Posted : 12 years, 5 months ago on 11 July 2012 06:57
(A review of Ray)What happened to Jamie Foxx ?!? I mean, since he won an oscar for this movie, he honestly hasn't done anything amazing, maybe a few decent flicks ('Jarhead ', 'Dreamgirls', 'The Kingdom') but nothing really impressive. Hopefully, he will get a great comeback in 2012 with 'Django Unchained'. Anyway, back then, in 2004, he did indeed win the Academy award and it was completely deserved. Indeed, what a great performance! After watching 'Booty Call' (which was actually pretty good) or 'Breakin' All the Rules) (which was actually pretty bad), you wouldn't expect him to show such an acting range. Furthermore, I thought that the directing by Taylor Hackford was pretty good and, above all, Ray Charles was such a fascinating figure and this movie enhanced this even more for me. I mean, the guy was blind, black and a drug-addict but he still overcame those obstacles and became one of the most inspiring musical figures that ever lived. On the downside, I have to admit it, it is a rather straightforward musical biopic with not many surprises but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway. To conclude, I thought it was really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 5 months ago on 10 July 2012 10:00
(A review of Tears of the Sun )I wasn't expecting much from this flick but, at least, I thought it would be a decent action movie and since I have a weak spot for Bruce Willis and Monica Bellucci, I thought I should give it a try. Honestly, I thought it was one of the most disappointing movies starring Bruce Willis that I have seen so far. My wife did like it and I have definitely seen worse flicks starring Bruce Willis but I thought the whole thing was rather pretentious and pretended to be something it wasn't. What I mean by that is that on one hand, it wants to be a badass action flick like 'Rambo' but, on the other hand, it tries to be more throughtfull hinting at some real events. Eventually, I thought it was a failure in both directions. One other big mistake they made is to deprive Bruce Willis of any kind of sense of humor, so he just looks grim during the whole thing and gives here one of the most one-dimensional and boring performances of his career. I won't even start about Monica Bellucci who was completely underused and actually a distraction ('Look! The poor African natives! No, actually, I'd rather check the hot white doctor instead...'). To conclude, it is not realy bad but it is still a really average action flick and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 5 months ago on 10 July 2012 09:37
(A review of Secondhand Lions)I had never heard of this movie before but since it was starring both Michael Caine and Robert Duvall, I was quite eager to check it out. Furthermore, the ratings here and on IMDb were pretty high so I thought it should pretty good. Unfortunately, to be honest, the whole thing turned out to be rather disappointing. Indeed, the plot was just so generic : a young boy has to live with some distant relatives, at first they can't stand each other but, slowly, they are bonding and by the end of the movie, they want to stay together forever... Not only this story arc was really predictable but it was above all just plain boring. It did remind me of 'Big Fish' in the way that I was never sure if what I saw was true or not but whereas 'Big Fish' was truelly fascinating, this flick was barely inspiring. Eventually, the only redeeming features were Michael Caine and Robert Duvall who made a mighty duo. Indeed, as usual, they were quite awesome but they deserved a better movie than this. I know, it was a harmless family feature but I don't think it needed to be so tedious to watch. To conclude, I make it sound as if it was really bad but it was still a decent watch, I just wished they didn't follow this boring formula. Anyway, it is still worth a look, just to see Michael Caine and Robert Duvall shine again.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A good movie
Posted : 12 years, 5 months ago on 9 July 2012 08:39
(A review of Don's Plum)You may have noticed or not but I'm kind of obsessive when it concerns my movie watching so since I have seen (almost) everything starring DiCaprio, I really had to watch this flick. The interesting thing is that it is actually banned in the US and Canada which makes it rather intriguing. Even more intrigiung, is the fact that it was never really clear why both DiCaprio and Maguirre wanted to censor this flick so I wasn't sure what to expect (nudity? or simply a very bad and embarrassing feature?). To my surprise, I didn't notice anything shocking about it and I thought it was actually pretty good. Of course, it is nothing mind-blowing whatsoever but I did like the directing style, there was also a pretty good cast of upcoming actors (Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Kevin Connolly, Heather McComb, Marissa Ribisi, Jeremy Sisto) and they all gave some decent performances. And the fact that it is a 'forbidden' picture makes it rather eerie to watch because you are checking every details, every piece of dialog just to finally understand why they were so afraid or pissed about. To conclude, I thought it was a pretty good watch and if you can get your hands on it (it should be pretty difficult for the US viewers though ...), it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like DiCaprio's work.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A very good movie
Posted : 12 years, 5 months ago on 9 July 2012 07:48
(A review of Half Nelson)2011 was definitely Ryan Gosling's year but this guy has actually been around for a decade and it was about time he got the recognition he deserved. Way before that, in 2006, he made this forgotten and underrated gem and I was really eager to check it out. The interesting thing with this flick is that, on a paper, it did sound rather shabby but the execution was just nothing short of brilliant. During the first 5-10 minutes, I thought it might turn out to be another teacher-student flick, something between 'Entre les murs' and 'Dead Poet Society' but, fairly quickly, it became something completely different. Basically, it was focusing on 3 characters (the teacher, the student, the drug dealer) and they were all portrayed with great sensitivity. I especially enjoyed the drug dealer played by Anthony Mackie. Indeed, even though he was indeed selling some lethal substances and was potentially dangerous, he still did care for this girl and, at several points, there was a confrontation between him and the teacher but he never used violence which was something you might have expected from a drug dealer. Eventually, you might wonder who was the best role model for her : this level-headed drug dealer or this junkie teacher. And, of course, Ryan Gosling was quite awesome and delivered a great performance earning him a Academy Award nomination in the process. My only complain would be about the ending. Indeed, at the end, the teacher ends up in a hotel room with some crack heads and his student brings him some drug... It was all rather corny, if you ask me. And then, she came back a day later to help him to clean up his act. This way, they did try to bring some kind of happy ending but it was not really convincing. All in all, it it was such a sad and rather depressing movie but so spellbinding to watch. To conclude, it is a really good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Ryan Gosling's work.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 5 months ago on 8 July 2012 09:29
(A review of Vantage Point)Honestly, beforehand, I didn't heard much about this flick so I didn't know what to expect but since I was given the DVD, I thought I should give it a try. Basically, if you expect a masterpiece, you will be disappointed but if you expect a decent thriller/action flick, you will probably enjoy it. Basically, it is one of those movies which keeps rewinding the action over and over again, showing it again but from the different point of view. Of course, it is a known gimmick and it is not really original. It has been done before and better than this but I still think that there were many things to enjoy. First of all, there were a pretty good cast (Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Édgar Ramírez, Saïd Taghmaoui, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt) and they all gave some decent performances. Furthermore, I thought that the directing was really dynamic, kynetic and just pretty convincing. Unfortunately, like most of the American thrillers, at some point, to tie the whole thing up, they keep throwing some annoying and unbelievable twist(s) at you and it kind of ruined the movie for me. Still, it remains a well made and entertaining thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A classic
Posted : 12 years, 5 months ago on 8 July 2012 09:05
(A review of The Vanishing)For years, I heard some great things about this movie and since it was apparently one of the best Dutch movies ever made, I was really dying to see the damned thing. So, I have been waiting all those years and even though I have been living in the Netherlands for almost 10 years, for some weird reasons, it was never on TV whereas the disappointing American remake had been broadcast at least 3 times already... Anyway, I wasn't disappointed. Indeed, to be honest, it might not be my favorite Dutch movie but it is definitely in the Top 3, only behind 'Turks Fruit' and 'Simon'. Basically, it is one of the best thrillers I have ever seen. I mean, if Hitchcock was still alive, he would basically make such movies. In this genre, it was so original and it pretty much ignored most of the usual annoying stereotypes that you get in your basic US thriller. Indeed, even though thrillers can be entertaining, they usually end up being rather underwhelming because they always display some unnecessary shootings, chases, explosions and stupid twists. Not here though. In this movie, they gave us a fascinating character study of two obsessed men chasing some ideals and it was just spellbinding to watch. To conclude, it really deserves its stellar reputation, it was really awesome and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies.
0 comments, Reply to this entry