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All reviews - Movies (7835) - TV Shows (10)

An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 23 January 2012 09:54 (A review of Who's That Girl? )

Honestly, I have nothing against Madonna as an actress but this was pretty boring to watch... I mean, I'm not even sure you can say she was acting since her character in this movie was really close to her public image (or maybe it is an act as well?!? whatever...). I guess, it all depends where you stand concerning Madonna. If you are fan of her, you will love this flick but it you are not (like me), it will probably bore you to death. Basically, the plot is really pedestrian and completely predictable in order to show how quirky Madonna was back then. James Foley is a decent director and does his best with this material and I don't really blame him for the end-result. To conclude, I don't think it is really bad but it is still rather a tedious watch and it is not really worth a look, except, of course, if you are die-hard fan of Madonna.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 23 January 2012 09:08 (A review of Cousins)

After all these year, it seems that Joel Schumacher's reputation never really recovered from the disastreous 'Batman and Robin' but I always had a weak spot for his movies so I thought I might as well check this one out. This time around, Schumacher came up with a sweet and sad romantic movie which was some kind of a mix between '4 Weddings and a Funeral' and 'In the Mood for Love'. To be honest, the plot was rather pedestrian and the whole thing was rather unfocused but I have to admit that I was really charmed by the characters who were very well written. Furthermore, Isabella Rossellini and Ted Danson both gave some subtle and very nice performances which was something I really didn't expect from Danson who I usually find boring and obnoxious to death. It's too bad that some scenes, like when William Petersen broke up with his numerous mistresses and some characters like the son played by Keith Coogan didn't work at all so I still ended up with some mixed feelings about the whole thing. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still a charming romantic movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.ย 


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A very good movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 22 January 2012 10:08 (A review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)

I already saw this movie in the movie theater when it was released but, since it was already 10 years ago, I was quite eager to check it out again. Well, to be honest, I thought it was still difficult to judge this movie. Indeed, in my opinion, it had 'The Departed' syndrome meaning that it was a completely unnecessary remake of a movie which was already perfectly fine in the first place. In this case, the situation was even worse as the first version had been released only 2 years before and this 'new' version was just way too similar. However, in spite of all this, I have to admit that it was still a damned fine and entertaining thriller. First of all, I have to congratulate Rooney Mara. Indeed, from the very beginning, I was really skeptical when I heard that she would portray Lisbeth Salander but her performance was more than convincing and even though she wasn't as great as Noomi Rapace was, she was still really good though. There was only one thing that really bothered me with this version though and it was the romantic angle they gave to the relationship between Blomkvist and Salander. However, after reading the books, I actually discovered that this version was actually more faithfull to the books than the Swedish movies where they really toned down the feelings that Salander might have had towards Blomkvist. Anyway, Lisbeth Salander remains one of the most fascinating characters I have ever seen and the story was still really spellbinding. On top of that, I have to admit that It enjoyed the damned thing much more than I expected when I rewatched it, probably because it had been a while since I saw the Swedish version and read the book. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is a completely unnecessary remake, even though it was not better than the first version, it is still definitely worth a look, especially if you haven't seen the Swedish movies.



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A good movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 22 January 2012 10:37 (A review of The Hot Spot)

As a movie director, Dennis Hopper will be mostly remembered for having directed 'Easy Rider' but he did direct some other notable features, like this forgotten and underrated gem. To begin with, it stars Don Johnson who never actually managed to build up a feature film career but I must say I was really good here. Virginia Madsen was really good as well. Basically, it is a nice neo-film noir with the intrigues, the sexually loaded atmosphere, the femme(s) fatale, the backstabbings and the usual twists. Of course, the plot was rather messy and far-fetched but it is inherent to the genre and even though the whole thing was not really original, I really enjoyed it. And, as a bonus, you have a young Jennifer Connelly would never looked so gorgeous so what more do you need ?!? To conclude, in my opinion, it is a well made and entertaining neo-film noir and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 22 January 2012 09:56 (A review of Killer Babes)

When I first heard about this movie, I thought it sounded really neat so I was really eager to check it out. Indeed, after Paul Verhoeven, Dick Maas has been the most successful Dutch movie director. Well, after trying for about 10 years (and eventually failed) to build up a career abroad, Maas was back in the Netherlands and this flick was the first Dutch movie he made following his come-back. Unfortunately, even though there was a pretty good buzz about this movie, the end-result turned out to be terribly underwhelming. Itโ€™s too bad because the concept really had some potential and I loved the original title ('The Bothox Method') but the whole thing was just not entertaining or funny at all. As the Great Roger Ebert used to say, to have some funny characters is never enough, their predicament and what they go through has to be funny as well and that was definitely not the case here. I don't think the actors should be blamed as they all provided some decent performances but I couldn't care less about their characters. Anyway, to conclude, it was a seriously disappointing comedy and it is not really worth a look, even if you are interested in Dutch movies.



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A very good movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 21 January 2012 07:05 (A review of Ghost Town)

I noticed that this movie was starring Ricky Gervais who was getting very famous lately but, honestly, I have to admit that I haven't seen much of his work so far. Still, I must say that he was really awesome in this movie. In fact, the plot was really similar to 'Ghost' which had been a big success back then but I have never cared for this flick, to be honest. However, if 'Ghost' was in my opinion pretty cheesy, this movie was fortunately downright hilarious. The biggest improvement was that the two main characters, portrayed by Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear were basically two jerks stuck together, one of them living and one of them dead. I have to admit that the story was pretty straightforward and predictable but the dialogues were just so funny and the actors all managed to find the right tone. I seriously never expected that I would enjoy so much a movie dealing with a guy seeing and talking to some dead people since it is usually such a tedious gimmick. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing was a very well written and really entertaining comedy, I really had a blast watching this, it is definitely underrated and absolutely worth a look, especially if you wonder, like me, what was all the fuss about Ricky Gervais.



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A good movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 21 January 2012 09:03 (A review of Together)

Even though I watch Asian movies on a regular basis, I'm not really familiar with Chen Kaige's work so I was rather intrigued by this flick. First of all, I just loved the directing style. Indeed, the directing was rather understated like most of Asian movies but it was really beautiful to look at and it was the same about the performances. Indeed, they were so subtle, the actors didn't say much, didn't do much but they were able to convey many emotions nonetheless. Unfortunately, I thought that the plot was rather pedestrian in the sense that most of it had already been done many times before in other movies. Even when the kid was training to become a great violin player, I couldn't help thinking of 'The Karate Kid' for example. Still, even though it is nothing really amazing in my opinion, it remains a very well made and touching drama, I really enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Asian movies.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 20 January 2012 08:58 (A review of Teaching Mrs. Tingle)

After writing 'Scream' (which was very good) and 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' (which was not bad), Kevin Williamson decided to make his directing dรฉbut with another one of his scripts. Unfortunately, the end-result turned out to be seriously disappointing. Seriously, was it supposed to be funny or was is it supposed to be scary? Because this movie was neither of those. I mean, to have such a great actress like Helen Mirren waste her talent in a such an average flick was just a real shame. Actually, it was thanks to her that this movie didn't become really dreadfull since she still managed to deliver a decent performance. Concerning the rest of the cast, they gave us 3 young actors (one of them being Katie Holmes) and the gap of acting talent with Mirren was just so obvious, it was just rather painfull to watch. Above all, it was just a really weak story which did have some potential somewhere but they clearly didn't have a clue what to do with this material. Anyway, to conclude, I have seen worse movies but it was not a surprise that Kevin Williamson didn't direct any other movie after this one and, honestly, it is not really worth a look.



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A good movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 20 January 2012 10:09 (A review of Enchanted)

I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I kept hearing good things about it, I thought I should check it out. It has been years since Disney had mixed animation with live action and, I must say, the end-result was pretty good. Indeed, the whole thing works on many level. It is an entertaining fairytale, it is an interesting homage to the genre and it is also a funny parody. Even though I'm not a big fan of Amy Adams (in my opinion, she always plays hysterical and obnoxious chicks) but she was very well cast and delivered a pretty good performance. The rest cast was just as good (Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Susan Sarandon, Julie Andrews), especially Susan Sarandon who remains one of the best actresses around and was just great playing the evil queen. However, it is obviously a rather standard and predictable story but since it is a fairytale, it was rather expected. To conclude, it is a well made and entertaining fairy tale, it really belongs to the Disney culture, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you have young kids who will definitely love it.


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A good movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 20 January 2012 09:09 (A review of Welcome)

Even though I don't live in France for already more than a decade, I still like to watch a French movie from time to time. Before watching this one, I honestly never heard of it but since the ratings were pretty good, I thought I should give it a try. When I heard about the story-line, I thought it would be some kind of sport thriller like 'Rocky' but it was actually a heavy social drama. It was indeed a very interesting and sad movie about illegal immigrants in Calais who want to go to England but are stuck in France. Honestly, even though I wasn't really surprised, I was still shocked by the attitude and methods used by the French authorities. Basically, if you would give a ride or give a pizza to one of those guys, you could be put in jail since it is against the law to help illegal immigrants. Personally, I thought it was rather refreshing to see a more positive views on these immigrants. Indeed, nowadays, in Western Europe, immigrants are portrayed as thiefs, bugs or terrorists when actually, most of them just want to improve their life and the life of their famillies back home. A part from that, I have to admit that it was still a rather standard and predictable drama. I mean, I don't blame Vincent Lindon who gave a decent performance but I didn't really care about his character and his personal issues. On the other hand, I was really impressed by Firat Ayverdi who portrayed the main character and he gave here a very nuanced and powerful performance. To conclude, it was a sad but very interesting drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.


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