Posted : 12 years, 9 months ago on 25 April 2012 09:47
(A review of
Bicentennial Man)
Even though the reviews concerning this movie were not really positive, I was still curious about it. Basically, it is one of the most ambitious projects with Robin Williams and for this feature, he is working again with Chris Columbus. Together, they had some tremendous success with 'Mrs. Doubtfire' 6 years before and they probably hoped they would make another hit. Unfortunately, it was a flop. Honestly, I didn't think it was that bad. First of all, you have a decent cast (Robin Williams, Embeth Davidtz, Sam Neill, Oliver Platt) and an interesting story which was really similar to 'Artificial Intelligence: AI'. Unfortunately, like many other Williams flicks, the whole thing was way too sentimental. That's one the main issues with Robin Williams is that he is usually either really hysterical or over-sentimental in his movies, there is no middle-ground. It's too bad because the whole thing had some potentiald and Isaac Asimov's work deserved a better movie than this. Still, it was interesting to see Robin Williams trying some SF and the whole thing is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 12 years, 9 months ago on 25 April 2012 08:07
(A review of
Bonneville (2006))
Nowadays, I have Netflix and Popcorn and not only I have since then an endless selection of movies to choose from but, as a result, I have become slightly more picky regarding the movies I watch. Before, I used to watch pretty much anything as long as it was starring one or two actors I was interested in and, as a result, I would sometimes end up watching some really obscure features. This movie was a perfect example. Indeed, even though I had never heard of this movie before, since there was a nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Unfortunately, it turned out to be another uninteresting, unoriginal and rather short road-movie. It's just too bad because the 3 actresses involved (Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Joan Allen) are all some really strong actress and they deserved a better story than this one. Indeed, the whole thing was just poorly written and while those three women were rather interesting, the rest of the characters were just really stereorypical and annoying (like the hitchiker and the step-daugther, for example). The movie just went through the motion and didn't deliver anything any new or interesting concerning this genre so I was rather bored during the whole thing. To conclude, it was not really bad but it was still pretty damned average and I don’t think it is really worth a look.
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Posted : 12 years, 9 months ago on 24 April 2012 01:59
(A review of
Dracula)
I can remember it as if it was yesterday. There was indeed a huge buzz before this movie was released but, unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be the masterpiece that so many of us hoped for. Basically, there is one major issue with Francis Ford Coppola. Indeed, the guy ruled the 70's but it was as much a blessing as it was a curse as, basically, for each movie he made afterwards, the audience was expecting another 'Godfather' or another 'Apocalypse now'. Anyway, this movie was his last big production and, in my opinion, there were still many things to enjoy here. First of all, the directing was really good, the whole thing looked terrific and the cast was also pretty good, above all Gary Oldman was just awesome. The only issue was probably that it tries maybe too much to be faithful to the original source and since we all know the story, there was not many surprises when watching this. To conclude, I'm aware that there are many more and even better remakes of 'Dracula' but still, I think this one was actually pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Coppola's work.
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Posted : 12 years, 9 months ago on 24 April 2012 01:29
(A review of
Body Snatchers)
To be honest, it has been ages since I saw this flick and I should probably give it a 2nd chance at some point. Back in the 90's, I was a huge fan of Abel Ferrara's work and I have watched many of his movies back then. Anyway, even though this flick didn’t have a really bad reputation, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing and, in fact, I believe it is by far the weakest directing effort delivered by Ferrara so far. Indeed, in spite of the decent cast and Ferrara's intriguing directing style, I still thought it was a really boring horror flick. Like I said before, maybe I should give it another try since I have seen it more than 15 years ago but I'm not really optimistic... In fact, there has been already 4 versions of this story and I think it must be the worst version so far (By the way, I really don't understand why they keep remaking and remaking this... It is as if every generation should have its own snatcher version...). In my opinion, 'The Invasion' was actually even a little better than this one. Anyway, even though I'm a huge fan of Abel Ferrara's work, I really didn't like this movie and I don’t think it is really worth a look.
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Posted : 12 years, 9 months ago on 24 April 2012 12:47
(A review of
Psycho )
It is already more than 50 years old but it is still one of the best thrillers ever made. Whereas some older horror/thriller flicks tend to get a little bit cheesy and outdated when you see them so many years later, this one still looks modern and the structure is still stricking even for nowadays standards (Indeed, at first, the focus is set on Janet Leigh but she is in fact killed really early in the movie). The whole thing was so unexpected, it was just pure genius and the fact that it hasn't been more copied later on is because most of the directors don't have the balls to try such a daring move. I can imagine how the audience must have been shocked at the time, it must have been awesome to witness it first hand. Furthermore, it is still pretty creepy and Anthony Perkins gave one of the best performances in motion picture history. Indeed, he managed to create such a fascinating character, at the same time, rather sweet and even charismatic but also awkward and antisocial. When I check Hitchock's filmography, I think I still prefer 'Vertigo' even more but this flick is probably a closed second. To conclude, it is a great classic, I love it and it is definitely a must see for any decent movie buff.
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Posted : 12 years, 9 months ago on 24 April 2012 12:27
(A review of
The Ring)
Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out but, to be honest, in my opinion, I think this movie is pretty damned overrated. I mean, I have to admit it, it was not bad at all, the directing was alright, Naomi Watts delivered a decent performance but compared to the Japanese version, it was actually rather weak. Furthermore, it is because this movie was so successful at the box-office that we got all those worthless remakes of Asian horror flicks... Anyway, this movie was actually a blessing for Naomi Watts because, back then, she just had her breakthrough performance in 'Mulholland Dr.' a year before and since this remake was a financial and critical success, her career definitely took off. Still, I'm always rather annoyed by viewers who says that this movie was 'totally awesome'. I mean, sure, it was not bad but compared to some Asian horror flicks, it is not really impressive, I'm afraid. The main issue in my opinion is that they spend way too much trying to explain and rationalize the weird things happening to the main characters which is a pointless and boring process. Still, for a US remake, it was a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 12 years, 9 months ago on 24 April 2012 11:53
(A review of
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
Since it is such a classic, I really had to watch this flick at some point and I had some rather high expectations (you can say whatever you want but it is definitely a really bad-ass title). The first time I watched it, to be honest, I was actually rather apprehensive as I thought it would be really terrifying. Eventually, I thought it was not really scary, sure, it was unsettling but not really scary. To make up my mind for good, I even saw it again later on but I still had the same feeling. Another thing that always bothered me was the ending which is seriously a total mess. So, I think it is a little bit old now and not really frightening anymore but you still have to keep in my mind that it was made almost 40 years old and it has been hugely influential on all the slashers that came afterwards. On top of that, they still managed to create a great mood and I really enjoyed the damned thing. To conclude, it remains a classic, a solid horror movie, it is an absolute milestone for this genre and it is definitely worth a look, even a must-see for any decent horror fan.
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Posted : 12 years, 9 months ago on 24 April 2012 11:29
(A review of
Dark Water)
It is probably one of the most disappointing movies I have seen... Indeed, before watching this flick, even though I wasn't expecting anything amazing, I thought it would be, at least, a decent horror movie like 'The Ring', for example. Indeed, there was a terrific cast (Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Tim Roth, Dougray Scott, Pete Postlethwaite), a very good director (Walter Salles) so all the necessary ingredients were there for a good time. Eventually, it wasn't really awful, it was actually rather visually interesting but the whole thing was just really slow and honestly rather boring to behold. During the whole thing, I didn't care at all about the characters and what they were going through. Furthermore, I hoped during the whole thing to be a little bit scared but I was only hit by boredom... To conclude, in my opinion, it is one of the most disappointing horror movies I ever seen and it is not really worth a look, even if you are a fan of this genre.
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Posted : 12 years, 9 months ago on 24 April 2012 09:53
(A review of
Halloween)
I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, I have to admit that, each time I rewatch this movie, I enjoy it even more. First of all, it is arguably the most famous movie directed by John Carpenter and it is obviously the ultimate slasher flick. Indeed, it is basically the blue-print for all the slashers that came afterwards. Eventually, I think it is rather funny that some viewers would say that it is rather slow and not really gory or scary. Before watching this, you have to keep in mind that it was made more than 40 years ago, that it was actually independently financed with a very small budget (which is pretty obvious since the whole action was eventually involving only a handful characters and a couple of houses). To be honest, the first time around, I was slightly bothered by the fact that the plot was very basic and neither Laurie, the victims, Michael Myers or the doctor chasing him were really developed. However, after all these years, I really get its simplicity as it is basically the purest slasher flick ever made. Indeed, the mood is actually pretty much pitch-perfect and, above all, the thing I enjoyed the most was the music. Composed also by John Carpenter himself, it is almost as legendary as the movie itself and there is a pretty good chance that even though you have never seen this movie, you would probably recognize the tune anyway. It was also Jamie Lee Curtis debut and she would become the ultimate scream queen for the following 5 years. Anyway, to conclude, it is a classic, I really enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 12 years, 9 months ago on 24 April 2012 08:42
(A review of
Stuart Little)
Even though I wasn't expecting much from this flick, since it was rather successful at the box-office, I was still rather curious to check it out. Furthermore, before becoming one of the most ridiculed director in Hollywood, M. Night Shyamalan wrote this which make this movie even more intriguing in my opinion. Eventually, I thought it was not bad at all. First of all, I thought that the CGI was really convincing. I mean, you have to keep in mind that this flick is now more than 10 years old and for the time period, it was pretty good. They managed to give Stuart Little some personality so that you could care about him and his adventures. The rest of the characters were really stereotypical but it didn't bother me much. Of course, the story was nothing mind-blowing whatsoever but I thought it was decent enough, especially for a family feature. To conclude, even though I usually don't like those kind of kids flick, I thought this one was actually pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are looking for something to watch with your children.
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