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CollectionsA very good movie
Posted : 12 years, 7 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.
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An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 7 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.
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An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 7 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.
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A good movie
Posted : 12 years, 7 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.
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A very good movie
Posted : 12 years, 7 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.
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An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 7 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.
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A classic
Posted : 12 years, 7 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.
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An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 7 July 2012 07:33
(A review of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance)Most of the time, it is actually pretty obvious when a movie will or should get a sequel. However, ‘Ghost Rider’ was definitely not one of those cases though... I mean, the first installment was literally trashed by the critics and it was not what you could call a huge box-office success. Yet, to my surprise, they decided to make a sequel and even though there were some positive buzz, I wasn't really optimistic. And, indeed, it turned out to be another flop. Basically, everything about it (the cheap-ass Eastern Europe location, the script, the action scenes, Christopher Lambert,...) made it look like a straight-to-DVD job except for 2 redeeming features : Nicolas Cage and the Ghost Rider himself. Indeed, in his human form, Cage gave one of his typical weird hysterical performances and it was much appreciated but, unfortunately, since 80% of the dialogues were totally lame, it was only sporadically good. On the other hand, the Ghost Rider was indeed pretty awesome and there was a lot of potential with such a character. Unfortnately, with this character, it is pretty much like the Hulk, basically, it is all about a guy who doesn't want to transform when the viewers don't want to watch anything else which is just rather frustrating. Anyway, to conclude, I don't think this movie was really better or worse than the first movie, it was just slightly different and I don’t think that it is really worth a look.
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A classic
Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 6 July 2012 04:09
(A review of Strangers on a Train)Since I'm a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock, I definitely had to watch this flick. Even though it is really highly rated, it is not one of those huge classics like 'North by Northwest', 'Vertigo', 'Psycho' or 'The Birds', at least not in my mind. Anyway, it is an awesome film noir/thriller which was a speciality of the great master. I mean, even though it is more than 60 years old (!), it is still so relevant and completely entertaining even nowadays. There is no chases, shootings or explosions but it is just very well directed and written. After watching so many ridiculous and far-fetched modern thrillers, it is so refreshing to see one which is smart, clever and which totally makes sense. The cast is not really made of big stars but it doesn't matter at all since they all delivered some convincing performances. I know, it is black and white, I know, it is terribly old but if you manage to go beyond those (futile) elements, you will find a spellbinding feature and you'll remain on the edge of your seat from the beginning until the end. To conclude, it is a great picture and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 6 July 2012 08:45
(A review of Tuck Everlasting)Honestly, beforehand, I had never heard of this flick but since I have a weak spot for William Hurt (one of the most underrated actors, in my opinion), I thought I should check it out anyway. It features also the first starring part by Alexis Bledel (from 'Gilmore Girls'). Eventually, after watching it, I can understand why it is such an obscure and forgotten movie. Indeed, they tried to mix some romance with some paranormal elements but the end result was rather disappointing. When you think about it, it does actually resemble 'Twilight' in some ways(love + imortality + teen anxiety). Still, it was not completely awful. Indeed, there was a pretty good cast (Alexis Bledel, William Hurt, Sissy Spacek, Ben Kingsley, Amy Irving) and they delivered some decent performances but the story was just not well written. Above all, I was rather bored by the whole thing and I didn't care about the plot and the characters involved. To conclude, I didn't really like it and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.
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