Posted : 13 years ago on 2 February 2012 08:08
(A review of
Mission: Impossible (1996))
Back then, Tom Cruise was the biggest movie star in the world and Brian De Palma was one of the most highly regarded directors. But the time has changed and for De Palma, it would be his last hit... Anyway, it was back then a huge success and 16 years later and it has now become a bonafide franchise with already 5 installments. This first movie is probably the most faithful to the TV-show and I really liked how that the whole movie took place in Europa. Anyway, De Palma is definitely here in his element and the directing was just very efficient. Furthermore, you had here an impressive international cast (Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vanessa Redgrave, Emilio Estevez) and they all gave some decent performances, except maybe Emmanuelle Béart who never managed to find the right tone (no surprise she didn't breakthrough abroad afterwards). Still, I wasn't convinced by the whole thing. In my opinion, the main issue is that the plot was just too far-fetched and, as a result, after 20 minutes, I didn't care much about what was going on, as long as it looked good. Still, it is a rather entertaining spy movie with 2 of the most amazing action scenes ever made and it is definitely worth a look.
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Posted : 13 years ago on 1 February 2012 01:31
(A review of
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium)
A movie starring Natalie Portman and Dustin Hoffman should be really worth a look, right ? Not in this case, I'm afraid... Indeed, it is a kid flick but a rather boring one. I mean, Dustin Hoffman portrays an excentric guy, some kind of Willy Wonka copycat, and this character is supposed to be fascinating and/or funny but I found him rather obnoxious. Natalie Portman has a 'straight' character and, as a result, was not really interesting and, honestly, rather boring. You have to credit them for trying something else and they both did their best but this flick was just not original enough and, above all, not entertaining enough. To conclude, the whole thing looks pretty good and there were, here and there, a few good ideas but I was just terribly bored from the beginning until the end and it was not really worth a look, expect maybe for very young kids who may end up enjoying it more than I did.
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Posted : 13 years ago on 1 February 2012 12:06
(A review of
Adventureland)
Like everyone else, I enjoyed 'Superbad' and I was curious to see what Greg Mottola would do next. Well, this time around, he came up with a rather sensitive comedy which was not so over the top like his previous directing effort. Evetually, I did enjoy how rather subtle the whole thing was, they also managed to give a good feeling of this time period and it was just plain and simply a good story. However, even if it was rather enjoyable, to be honest, I was still not really convinced by the whole thing. The first issue I had was that Jesse Eisenberg was rather miscast. Indeed, the guy looked way too dorky to be able to get a girl like Kristen Stewart. Or then they should have cast a more plain looking girl than Kristen Stewart. Anyway, in my opinion, there was not much chemistry between them. And it was the same thing concerning the relationship between Kristen Stewart and Ryan Reynolds, there was just no chemistry between them either. Furthermore, I must say that it was interesting to see Ryan Reynolds playing a jerk for a change but his character was unfortunately just way too stereotypical. Anyway, in spite of these flaws, I have to admit that it was still rather entertaining and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years ago on 31 January 2012 10:43
(A review of
The Final Cut)
Obviously, Robin Williams is known first for his comedies (which are most of the time fun to watch, even though, he can get obnoxious sometimes) and his overly sentimental dramas (as you can guess, I'm not really a fan of those). However, from time to time, he tries some other stuff like this movie for example. It is a rather unknown flick but, I must say, it did work pretty well for him. Indeed, for once, he toned down the hysteria and gave a really decent performance. The plot is some kind of science-fiction story about manipulating memories (sounds a little bit like 'Inception' actually....). Like many modern SF, this world is pretty similar to ours, with the addition of a few obligatory futuristic gadgets but the whole thing was rather convincing. Eventually, even though the concept was rather intriguing, I was still not really blown away as it was still rather half-baked and reminded me of too many (better) SF flicks I have seen before. Still, it is an intriguing and original SF flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see Robin Williams in something different.
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Posted : 13 years ago on 31 January 2012 09:46
(A review of
Let the Right One In (2008))
After such movies like 'Twilight', 'Underworld', 'Blade', '30 days of night' or 'Daybreakers', we finally got, out of nowhere, an original and striking vampire movie. I know, Sweden is not exactly 'nowhere' but I thought it was rather unexpected. Anyway, this movie was definitely one of a kind and I'm not sure you could describe it as an 'horror' movie since it really pushed the boundaries of this genre. Indeed, they seamlessly mixed the vampire loneliness with some teenage anxiety and the end result was quite impressive. Another thing I enjoyed was that, not like in 'Twilight' for example, they didn't add some mindless and boring action scenes. There was still some blood sucking but most of it was off screen but it was obviously not the point here. I guess the damned thing would still be an acquired taste since it was rather slow and there was no action scenes but it didn't bother me at all. However, I must say that a few details didn't really work for me, like for example, who was this old guy hanging out with her? And the (happy) ending was far from convincing, in my opinion, but these were some minor flaws. Anyway, to conclude, it was rather spellbinding to watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in something original involving some vampires.
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Posted : 13 years ago on 30 January 2012 10:10
(A review of
For Love of the Game)
Until recently, this movie was easily my least favorite one directed by Sam Raimi. However, I finally saw ‘Crimewave’ and I have to admit that, even though this movie was rather underwhelming, it was at least watchable which wasn’t the case with ‘Crimewave’ at all. Anyway, basically, after finishing the Evil Dead trilogy and before starting the Spider-man trilogy, Sam Raimi directed this baseball flick which seemed to be a rather odd choice for such a director. Seriously, I wonder how Raimi actually ended up getting this directing gig. On the other hand, Kevin Costner was rather familiar with this genre as it was already his third baseball flick. Unfortunately, I must say it was the least entertaining one. I mean, the whole thing was just way too cheesy and predictable for my taste. The final baseball game at the end was not bad and mildly entertaining but it was nothing I hadn't seen 100 times before. Honestly, I praise Sam Raimi for trying something drastically different but it is easily one of his most boring movies. To conclude, I have seen worse movies but it is still some pretty average stuff and it is not really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard baseball fan.
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Posted : 13 years ago on 30 January 2012 09:04
(A review of
Black Narcissus)
Back in the 40’s, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger made some really lavish productions during which what was considered by many movie viewers as the Golden Age of British cinema. With this movie, once again, the production value was quite impressive and it is hard to believe that the whole thing was shot in a studio and not on location. Indeed, the decors, the sets, the colors were just amazing to watch. I was also amazed that Kanchi, supposedly a native girl, was actually played by Jean Simmons, a British actress. Unfortunately, to be honest, the story didn’t turn out to be anything really mindblowing. Basically, it was about 5 nons who went to live in a convent in the Himalaya and they all became more or less crazy. Even though this set-up could have been interesting, they spent just too much time to make sure that the whole thing looked great instead of expanding the psychological turmoil of the characters. I was also bothered about their attitude towards the natives who were described as either 'primitive', 'childish', 'stupid' or 'ignorant'. Such a patronizing and discriminating attitude was unfortunately rather common back then. Anyway, even though it didn’t really blow me away, it was still a very well made drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Powell and Pressburger's work.
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Posted : 13 years ago on 29 January 2012 03:03
(A review of
Melinda and Melinda)
Ever since I saw 'Manhattan Murder Mystery' in the movie theater back in the 90's (I must have been about 14 years old), I have been faithfully watching most of Woody Allen's movies (an impressive 28 features, more than any other director). I must admit, I'm not a big fan anymore like I was in those days. I mean, Allen remains a very interesting director but, nowadays, too many of his features are average and his tradition of making a movie every single year is just counterproductive in terms of quality. Still, from time to time, one of his most movies is heralded like this one for example. As usual, there was an impressive cast (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Ferrell, Jonny Lee Miller, Radha Mitchell, Amanda Peet , Chloë Sevigny, Josh Brolin, Steve Carell) and they all delivered some decent performances. As usual with Woody Allen, the dialogues were quite marvelous and rather hilarious and the story was entertaining and interesting enough but, honestly, it doesn't come in any way near his old masterpieces but it remained quite enjoyable. To conclude, I really liked it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Woody Allen's work.
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Posted : 13 years ago on 29 January 2012 02:12
(A review of
Breach)
I was really eager to check this flick but, to be honest, I actually ended up with some mixed feelings about the damned thing. First of all, it was actually a fascinating story with a decent performance by Ryan Philippe and, above all, by Chris Cooper who completely stole the show. This guy is so underrated but fortunately, this time, he really had the opportunity to showcase his talent. Indeed, there were so many layers to his character, it was just spellbinding to watch. However, like I said before, the whole thing didn't completely blow me away though. Indeed, first of all, they were dealing here with a spy whose work streched over two decades but I'm not sure that the last 2 months of his career were really the more interesting part. Imagine a movie dealing with his whole career, I think it would have been much more interesting. Furthermore, there were some scenes with some rather lame dialogues which just didn't work. For example, O'neill (Ryan Phillipe)'s wife kept complaining about the fact that he didn't tell her what was going on with his work. I mean if your wife or husband would be working for the FBI, would you really except them to tell you anything about their work since it concerns some highly sensitive information? Furthermore, during the whole movie, they described O'neill as a very ambitious and talented aspiring agent and the guy eventually took part in the biggest case in the FBI history, displaying his skills in the process and then... he quits?!? I mean, I know in real life, O'neill did quit indeed but they should have taken a different approach because this end was far from being convincing. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still a fascinating story, Chris Cooper was quite amazing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in seeing a realistic spy movie.
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Posted : 13 years ago on 29 January 2012 01:13
(A review of
Mama's Boy)
I wasn’t really expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Diane Keaton, I thought I might as well check it out. By the way, what the hell happened to her?!? I mean, I still believe that she is one of the best actresses around but, my God, most of her recent movies have been some really worthless comedies. Actually, she wasn't really the one to blame for this movie. Indeed, in my opinion, the biggest issue was that they spent the whole duration making sure we really despised the main character, but of course, at the end, he suddenly understood that he was an *sshole which was just really convenient. Anyway, as a result, I didn't care much about the whole thing. The weird thing is that I couldn't help laughing from time to time as there were here and there, some hilarious scenes and dialogues. Furthermore, I believe that Anna Faris actually gave here her best performance so far. Still, what happened during the whole duration of the movie was just way too contrived and plot-driven for my taste. Anyway, to conclude, even though I think the whole thing had some potential, it was just plain average and not really worth a look whatsoever.
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