Posted : 13 years, 1 month ago on 8 May 2012 10:30
(A review of
The 11th Hour)
A few years back, a colleague of mine told me it was a very interesting documentary and he lent it to me. First of all, I want to give some credit to Leonardo DiCaprio for trying to bring us some awareness about this subject. The main issue I had is that, even though the subject was really interesting, the movie was actually rather boring to watch. In my opinion, a documentary must be interesting and must provide some useful information but it also has to be entertaining somehow. I above all blame the directing and editing for this. Indeed, the whole movie is just a succession of scientists talking and then between those (sometime tedious) interviews, you had some short film showing the decaying nature (also rather tedious...). Later on, I have seen 'An inconvenient truth' which basically deals with the subject and it worked better above all because it was much more compelling to watch. To conclude, even though it is rather underwhelming, I still think it is an interesting documentary and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested by this subject.
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Posted : 13 years, 1 month ago on 8 May 2012 09:19
(A review of
A Single Man)
Since I kept hearing some good things about this movie, I was really eager to check it out. Eventually, Colin Firth would have to wait a year to finally win the Academy award for the Best Actor for 'The King's speech' but he was already nominated a year before for this movie and, to be honest, I thought he was here actually even better here. Seriously, in my opinion, the guy easily gave here the best performance of his career. Indeed, Firth was basically involved in every single scene and he was just pitch-perfect during the whole duration carrying the whole thing on his shoulders. I have to say I was rather impressed as well by Tom Ford's work especially since it was actually his directing début. The only complain I might have was that the movie was actually too short and even if the main character was very well developed and quite fascinating, the other characters didn't get much attention and I actually wanted to learn more about them. Still, it was quite a spellbinding feature dealing with various themes such as life, death, love, homosexuality and depression. To conclude, it was a fascinating performance in a really interesting movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 1 month ago on 7 May 2012 09:56
(A review of
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
It is actually really difficult to judge this flick.... I mean, they waited 20 years after the 3rd Indiana Jones was released to come out with a new installment and it would have been really surprising if the whole thing would have been a masterpiece. Still, I thought it was fun to see Indiana Jones again and this guy remains one of the best characters ever created. The directing was solid (With Spielberg, would you expect anything else?) and the action sequences were pretty spectacular. There were some good ideas (Shia Lebeouf portraying Indiana's son, the communists as the baddies instead of the Nazi) and , of course, some other stuff that just didn't work. The biggest issue was obviously to have Indiana face some aliens.... That was a really bad call.... Why not looking for some good old Aztec treasure? Indiana always looked for some historical artefacts. To put some Science-Fiction in the mix was definitely the biggest disappointment for me. Still, as a blockbuster, it was pretty entertaining even though it would have worked better if they made the movie 10 years earlier. It is even weirder when you think that they waited for so long because they supposedly were looking for a good screenplay which was eventually definitely the biggest issue with this production (Frank Darabont put his heart and soul for a whole year in a script but he was crushed when it was rejected by George Lucas.... I really wonder how his version would have turned out to be...). Anyway, I don't think it is that bad, it remains a decent blockbuster and even if it is definitely the weakest Indiana Flick ever made, it is still worth a look.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 6 May 2012 07:58
(A review of
Lang leve de koningin)
To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect from this movie but since it did win the Golden Calf of the Best Dutch movie of the year, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, kids movies are quite popular in the Netherlands and it is not unusual that some of these movies end up winning this prize. However, after watching so many of them, you might actually wonder if there was really nothing else better coming out that year and this movie was not an exception. I mean, I did like it, it is one of the better Dutch family features I have seen but, to be honest, the whole thing was still nothing really mind-blowing. For example, the music and the acting were still way too cheesy for my taste. At least, the story was interesting and touching and even though it would have worked better if they made the whole thing more challenging, there were many interesting things and, all in all, I enjoyed it. To conclude, even though it might not have deserved such a prestigious prize, it was still a really enjoyable family feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 6 May 2012 12:24
(A review of
Willow)
This movie is definitely one of my childhood favorites. Indeed, if I remember it correctly, I even saw this flick in the theater when I was a kid and I really loved it back then. So, it was with great pleasure that I re-watched it recently with my step-son. Eventually, even though it is now more than 20 years old, in my opinion, it still holds up pretty good and it remains a really enjoyable fantasy feature and it is definitely one of the best in this genre. Of course, many people would criticize George Lucas on the fact that it was way too similar to The Lord of the Rings but, like Tarantino, Lucas is known to pick up stuff from various movies and other sources and put them in his own features and that's fine with me. I have to admit it, as a grown-up, the whole thing did look pretty cheesy and I think this flick is even more enjoyable when you are a kid but it remains in my opinion a very enjoyable and sometimes rather funny adventure. To conclude, I think it is a pretty good fantasy feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 6 May 2012 12:15
(A review of
Charlie Wilson's War)
I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. In fact, while reading my previous review, I actually discovered that I had already saw this movie twice and, apparently, I had actually enjoyed it slightly more the second time around. Well, that's the whole issue with this movie, the fact that even though the story was intriguing, the cast was really neat (Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Emily Blunt), basically, in spite the fact that it definitely had some potential, the damned thing was just not really memorable after all. At last, I think I figured out why. Basically, the whole thing is a political satire based on a true story, I always had a weak spot for movies dealing with politics and I thought it was indeed an interesting story. At first, my complain was that the tone was maybe just too light for my taste but it wasn't actually the issue after all. The issue was that they had to find a tricky balance between the humour and the tragedy involved and, from all the cast involved, the only one who managed to really nail it was the great late Philip Seymour Hoffman who was not only always hilarious but you could feel the tragedy as well in his performance. All the others were maybe entertaining enough but they were all reduced to not much more than some funny caricatures. Anyway, it was just not enough to make this movie really fascinating to behold. Finally, every time I watch this flick, I'm always amazed by the fact that Emily Blunt shows up for only two scenes which absolutely did not contribute to the plot whatsoever but, damned, she looked insanely hot. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is not one of the best movies directed by Mike Nichols, I still enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 6 May 2012 12:03
(A review of
The Man)
I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Samuel L. Jackson, I thought I should check it out anyway. Eventually, it was indeed a rather unoriginal and boring buddy movie. This time again, you have the usual tough cop played by Samuel L. Jackson and the annoying and oblivious civilian played by Eugene Levy, something which has been done many times in the past but way better than here. Even though, I have to admit, there were here and there a few funny scenes, a part from that, it was nothing I hadn't seen before and it didn't provide any improvements or original ideas to the formula and the whole thing was just rather tedious to watch. Above all, it was really annoying to see Eugene Levy playing the same kind of obnoxious guys he always portrays. After the 'American Pie' movies became succesful, they tried to launch his career but it never took off but with such abysmal features, it is hardly surprising. To conclude, it is just a really average comedy and it is not really worth a look even if you are a fan of Samuel L. Jackson.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 6 May 2012 11:58
(A review of
Big Trouble (2002))
Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since Barry Sonnenfeld has a few nice movies and since there was an interesting cast (expect the always dreadful Tim Allen), I still wanted to check it out. Indeed, Sonnefeld had some success as a director with 'Men in black' and 'The Addams Familly' but this flick was definitely one of his biggest flops. After watching this movie, I can't say it was a surprise. Indeed, the cast was not bad (Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Zooey Deschanel, Sofia Vergara,...) but the plot was just really tedious and it follows the incredible list of boring flicks starring Tim Allen. Indeed, by now, I have seen about half of his movies and most of (all of ?) of them were amazingly tedious to watch. I really don't understand why he is so popular but the fact that most of his flicks don't score well at the box-office convince me that I'm not the only one thinking that way. To conclude, even though it is not even one of the worst movies starring Tim Allen, it is still a really average comedy and it is not really worth a look whatsoever.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 6 May 2012 11:56
(A review of
Nanny McPhee Returns)
Even though I didn't like the 1rst installment, since I have a really weak spot for Emma Thompson, I still wanted to check this sequel. Eventually, I thoughth it was neither worse or better than its predecessor. Indeed, there was a nice cast involved (Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Asa Butterfield, Maggie Smith, Rhys Ifans, Ralph Fiennes and Ewan McGregor) but, once again, the story was just so boring... Basically, in my opinion, Nanny McPhee was just a rather uninspired and ugly version of Mary Poppins, not much more than that. To be honest, I think it is quite a shame that Emma Thompson who has won before the Academy Award for the best screenplay, was now working on such material. Furthermore, she is a fine actress and it's a pity that this movie was one of the few opportunities that you have to see her playing the lead. I have to admit that I wasn’t the targeted audience and there is a good chance that young children might end up enjoying it but what a borefest... Anyway, to conclude, I didn't like the damned thing, I thought it was a tedious family feature and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you have some (very) young children to entertain.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 6 May 2012 11:52
(A review of
Nadine)
Before watching this flick, I had never heard of it before but since it was starring Jeff Bridges, I thought I should check it out. Eventually, it is not really surprising that this flick was forgotten as it is indeed pretty average. Indeed, even though Jeff Bridges and his co-star, Kim Basinger, were both quite charming and were both doing their best, I still think that the whole thing was just deadly boring to watch and the characters were eventually more annoying that actually entertaining. I mean, I have seen worse movies but even though it was supposed to be some kind of comedy, there was nothing really funny about it. Concerning Robert Benton, the director who has made such fine movies like 'Kramer vs Kramer', this movie was definitely a low point in his career, at least among the movies I have seen so far. To conclude, it is a rather obscure and forgotten 80's flick and it deserves this status as it is not really worth a look whatsoever.
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