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All reviews - Movies (7713) - TV Shows (10)

A good movie

Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 7 June 2012 09:31 (A review of Titus)

Since I consider Anthony Hopkins one of the best actors alive, I was really eager to watch this flick. It is also Julie Taymor's directing debut which made this movie even more intriguing to me. Eventually, it turned out to be one of the weirdest and least accessible Shakespeare adaptation I have ever seen and, yet, somehow, I did like it. It is always tricky when the makers decide to keep the original dialogs and, usually, it doesn't work for me but, this time, I thought it was quite fascinating. Like many people have pointed out, if you haven't read the text (I didn't either), the whole thing is pretty hard to follow and that's why I wasn't quite completely blown away. But, I liked it, thanks to the directing, the baroque costums and set-dressing and the awazing cast (Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Alan Cumming). It was above all a treat to see Hopkins who doesn't get to play the lead very often nowadays, such a shame. If you don't understand the words, it doesn't really matter since his body language is enough to tell you the whole thing. To conclude, it is obviously an acquired taste but 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 7 June 2012 09:11 (A review of Force 10 from Navarone)

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors, I definitely had to watch this flick at some point. ‘Star Wars’ had been released just the year before and even though Ford was already a hot item, at this point, he hadn't reach complete stardom yet. Well, concerning the movie itself, it was a decent WII action flick but it was still rather forgettable. In fact, I saw 'The Guns of Navarone' and, to be honest, this sequel didn't have much to do with the original. Indeed, there was only one actor from the first movie and the action didn’t even take place in Navarone at all. Furthermore, even though the story was rather entertaining, it was still full of nonsense. For example, the way Carl Weathers got involved in the mission was just ridiculous and there were many other scenes during which I was just shaking my head. So, it was obviously not a realistic flick but it was still entertaining, especially at the end when they destroyed the bridge. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was not one of the best WWII movies I have seen, it was not bad and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.



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An average movie

Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 6 June 2012 10:50 (A review of We Own the Night)

Since I really loved James Gray's debut, 'Little Odessa', I have watched all his flicks and I was expecting a lot from this one. Furthermore, it is one of the most catchy title I have ever seen, the cast was quite awesome and the story seemed intriguing enough. Eventually, it turned out to be his most disappointing movie so far... I don't mean that it was bad, absolutely not. The directing was awesome as usual, the cast (Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall) was pretty good and they all delivered some decent performances, especially Joaquin Phoenix (thank God he dropped the whole retirement/hip-hop career/hoax thing....). The main issue was with the story. I mean, it starts out as a gripping gritty crime drama with the 2 brothers standing each at the opposite side of the law and I was rather hooked but then, in the second half, the whole thing just turned into some big nonsense. Indeed, after Wahlberg gets shot, Phoenix who used to be some lowlife gangster, suddenly became instantly a cop and goes into a quest to avenge his brother and father and eventually kills a whole bunch of bad guys... It was really preposterous and, honestly, I kind of lost interest in the whole thing afterwards. Still, it remains a very well made crime drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in James Gray's work like I do.


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An average movie

Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 6 June 2012 10:36 (A review of Land of the Lost)

Since this movie was literally destroyed by the critics and since it was a huge flop at the box-office, I wasn't expecting much from the damned thing. And indeed, it turned out to be a real mess but, to be honest, I have to admit that it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. First of all, I have never seen the TV-show it was based on so I don't know if it was faithfull or not. Basically, I thought it was never consistent enough. For example, some of the special effects were sometimes actually pretty good but then, some others were really lame and pathetic. It was the same issue with the jokes, there were a few good ones here and there but also many misfires. And it was the same thing with Will Ferrell, sometimes he made me laugh but, pretty often, he was just rather obnoxious. On the positive side, I think it was a neat concept to put Will Ferrell in such a wacky adventure and, like I said before, it was definitely not one of the worst flicks I have ever seen. Anyway, to conclude , it was still an average adventure flick mixed with Ferrell's humor and it is not really worth a look.



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A classic

Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 6 June 2012 08:55 (A review of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961))

It is a huge classic and I have seen it many times with my daughter (who will become 6 years old tomorrow by the way). Honestly, it is not one of my favorite Disney classics but it is still fairly enjoyable though. My favorite scene was the introduction when it was focusing on Pongo's thoughts. Eventually, I wish they had kept the same tone for the rest of the movie but, unfortunately, it then became a decent familly feature but not much more than that, I'm afraid. Of course, the other masterstroke was Cruella De Vil who would become one of the most emblematic vilains created by Disney. Arguably, she was the best bad guy those guys have invented and it is probably my favorite one. I mean, she looked awesome, her clothes looked great and even her car was badass. Unfortunately, on the other hand, I thought that all the dogs were rather underwhelming. I mean, sure, they were all cute and all but they definitely lacked some personality, especially when you compare them to the awesome Cruella. That's the big difference between the old Disney classics and the recent Pixar efforts. Even though the old Disneys are fine, they were definitely made for young children, whereas the Pixar stuff is enjoyable for the kids and grown-ups alike. Still, it remains a decent old classic 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 June 2012 07:50 (A review of Remember the Titans)

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I already saw this flick at the beginning of the 2000’s but, to be honest, at the time, I didn't like the damned thing at all and I thought it was even really lame. However, since this movie actually has a really good reputation,  I thought I should give it another shot at some point. Well, after watching this movie a 2nd time around, I have to admit that it was after all a decent watch but, to be honest, I still don't think it was anything really amazing. Indeed, it was still very cheesy, sentimental, stereotypical and there was literally not one single line of dialogue which didn't sound like an inspirational speech. Still, there was a nice cast involved (Denzel Washington, Donald Faison, Kip Pardue, Hayden Panettiere, Kate Bosworth, Ryan Gosling). Above all, Denzel Washington was basically born to play such roles and the guy was once again really convincing. I have to admit that the material was really uplifting and even though it was a gross simplification of race issues, it was still a well made and entertaining sport drama. To conclude, I still think that the damned thing is a rather overrated and simplistic sport drama but it does work and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.



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An average movie

Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 5 June 2012 11:34 (A review of The Muse)

I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since it was starring Jeff Bridges, I thought I should check it out anyway. Eventually, it was pretty average though. There was a decent cast (Albert Brooks, Sharon Stone, Andie MacDowell, Jeff Bridges and many cameos) and the whole thing had some potential but it just didn't work for me. I mean, Albert Brooks was pretty funny, but Sharon Stone (or her character) was just way too obnoxious. From then, the movie is just a failure as the so-called muse is supposed to be inspiring, and not annoying to death... Honestly, I'm not really familiar with Albert Brooks' work as a director (as a matter of fact, it is the only movie he directed that I have seen so far) but he seems to have some talent, reminding me of Woody Allen's neurotic work, and there were here and there a few funny scenes. Still, it supposed to be a satire of the film community in Hollywood but, most of the time, it was just not funny and a satirical comedy which is not funny is rather pointless if you ask me. To conclude, even though it did have some potential, it is just a really average comedy and it is not really worth a look.


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An average movie

Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 5 June 2012 08:46 (A review of Midway)

Even though I had never heard of this movie before, since there was a nice cast involved, I thought I should check it out. Eventually, it was not bad at all. Indeed, it was dealing with one of the most important battles during the Pacific war, there was an impressive cast (Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Hal Holbrook, Toshirô Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, Pat Morita, Erik Estrada, Tom Selleck) and the directing was decent even though I'm not sure if the choice to mix the movie with some real footage was such a great idea. Still, the whole thing was not really mind-blowing. Indeed, the whole battle was quite fascinating and rather realistic but, sometimes, also rather confusing and I'm not sure I really followed the whole thing. Furthermore, there was a sub-plot involving Charlon Heston's son in love with a Japanese girl which didn't work at all. I mean, I understand that they wanted to add some romantic angle but it was poorly developped and it didn't really work well with the rest of the movie. Anyway, eventually, it was still a decent war movie dealing with an impressive battle and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 



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An average movie

Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 4 June 2012 03:06 (A review of The Newton Boys (1998))

Since I have a weak spot for Richard Linklater, I definitely had to check this flick. Eventually, it was a fun watch but it is not one of his best directing effort. It's too bad since the whole thing actually had some potential. Indeed, first of all, there was a nice cast (Matthew McConaughey, Skeet Ulrich, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Julianna Margulies and Dwight Yoakam), the directing by Linklater was solid as usual and those Newton boys (who really existed) seemed to be some rather fascinating crime figures. In spite of all those fine ingredients, the whole thing was still nothing mind-blowing, I'm afraid. I mean, it was fun, it was entertaining for a while but, that's it, and it is probably because the story was way too pedestrian, way too predictable and it didn't offer anything that I hadn't seen before in all those gangster movies. At the end, if I recall correctly, there were some real life footage of the remaining Newton boys and this (very short) footage was actually better and more interesting than the entire movie itself... Still, it remains a decent and entertaining gangster flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Linklater's work.


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An average movie

Posted : 12 years, 7 months ago on 4 June 2012 02:51 (A review of The Wind and the Lion)

To be honest, since it is a rather obscure movie, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since I have a weak spot for Sean Connery, I was quite  eager to check it out. In fact, this movie was John Milius’s second directing feature and he would get some success later on with 'Conan the Barbarian'. With this movie,  you could feel that, back then, Milius already had a good feeling for exotic adventure. However, the whole thing was still a rather odd mix between a cheap version of Lawrence of Arabia and a political satire featuring Theodore Roosevelt. Same thing with the casting of Sean Connery to play an Arab warlord, it was completely ridiculous but, surprisingly, thanks to his everlasting charm and some funny one-liners, he actually pulled it off. Their portraying of the Arabs was also rather dubious as they were either noble, sophisticated and charming like Sean Connery or they seemed to be rather ignorant and stupid. Of course, it was an adventure flick so you shouldn't spend too much time on such details or on the historical accuracy. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was rather flawed, it wasn't bad at all and it is worth a look, especially if you are a fan of Sean Connery's work.



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