Posted : 13 years, 5 months ago on 11 January 2012 09:11
(A review of
JCVD)
Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, after making for at least a decade some worthless straight-to-dvd action flicks, Jean-Claude Van Damme finally decided to do something drastically different, a satire about himself and it really worked fine. Basically, it was some kind of remake of 'Dog Day Afternoon' taking place in Belgium and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. To be honest, the whole thing could have been a misfire if the guy took himself too seriously but he didn't, even if he remained maybe a little too calm during the proceedings. The main issue was that even though the concept was good, after 5 minutes, they didn't really know how to further develop it. Still, it was really sometimes quite hilarious and Van Damme provided a pretty good performance (there was even a six minutes monologue during which he honestly quite blew me away). When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of JCVD and it was quite awesome to finally see him in a decent movie after all these years of crap. To conclude, even though it was nothing really mindblowing, it was still a well made and entertaining satire and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see something different with Van Damme.
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Posted : 13 years, 5 months ago on 11 January 2012 08:38
(A review of
The Devil and Daniel Johnston)
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since I kept hearing some interesting things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, it turned out to be such a weird, intense and sad movie. On top of that, I thought it was also a really interesting reflection on Art. Indeed, many artists are/were more or less crazy but, in this case, it was in fact the other way around as Daniel Johnston was pretty much a mental case who tried to be an artist. I mean, his drawings were interesting but I really had a hard time enjoying his music. It was even more annoying when they kept saying during the whole movie that he was such a 'genius'. Another thing I missed was that they talked to a whole bunch of people but there was not a single conversation or small interview with Daniel Johnston himself. I mean, the guy was obviously a nutjob but he still had some social contact so why didn't they make him talk about himself ? Still, he was a fascinating character and it was rather spellbinding to watch. To conclude, even though Daniel Johnston's reputation seems to be rather overrated in my opinion, it was a very well made and fascinating documentary about mental disorder and it is is definitely worth a look.
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Posted : 13 years, 5 months ago on 10 January 2012 10:25
(A review of
The Portrait of a Lady)
Since I have always been a fan of Jane Campion, I was really eager to watch this flick. Nicole Kidman had the lead role and, back then, it seems such a long time ago, she wasn't really recognized as one of the best actress around but she was merely known as being 'Mrs Cruise'. Eventually, she gave here a very good performance, just like the rest of the impressive cast (John Malkovich, Barbara Hershey, Mary-Louise Parker, Shelley Winters, Shelley Duvall, Christian Bale, Viggo Mortensen). Furthermore, I did enjoy the directing, the costumes and the sets which were all very good but still, I felt rather underwhelmed by the story. I mean, to be honest, I haven't read the book but, anyway, I always had a hard time to get interested in the lives of these whining white rich people 'bouh, bouh, bouh, I'm so rich but so unhappy...'. I mean, the story was intriguing but never spellbinding enough for my taste. Still, it remains a decent costume drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested to see Nicole Kidman before her breakthrough.
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Posted : 13 years, 5 months ago on 10 January 2012 09:46
(A review of
The Lovely Bones)
I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on Blu-ray, I thought I might as well check it out again. I remember it very well when I first saw this movie though. Indeed, finally, four years after 'King Kong', Peter Jackson directed another movie and it took me 3 more years to eventually watched it so my expectations were quite high at the time. To be honest, I was eventually actually slightly disappointed and I had a hard time judging this flick. Basically, Jackson tried the same trick he did with 'Heavenly Creatures' which was seamlessly combining a murder story with some fantasy elements. Unfortunately, whereas this mix was quite awesome and spellbinding with 'Heavenly...', here the detective story and the 'afterworld' didn't mingle well together. Indeed, the fantastic elements should have underlined the emotional impact of such a tragic event but, instead, it constantly undermined it and, as a result I was never sure what I should think or feel about the whole thing. Basically, they tried to turn a gruesome story into some kind of whimsical tale and this approach was just seriously misguided. Still, there were some visually striking scenes and all the actors involved (Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon) were all pretty good. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was probably generous with my rating since the whole thing never really worked but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interesed in Peter Jackson's work.
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Posted : 13 years, 5 months ago on 10 January 2012 08:32
(A review of
Shattered)
I really had no idea what to expect from this flick but since the ratings were not bad, I thought I might as well check it out. Unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be so disappointing. Indeed, it was basically one of those half-baked thrillers which tries to hide the lack of (interesting) plot and characters by showing some preposterous and boring action scenes. Concerning the story, it was basically a very weak version of 'Sleuth' (on the other hand, I'm not sure if I should mention this classic since I haven't actually seen the damned thing. I did see the remake though). Eventually the only redeeming feature in this movie was probably Pierce Brosnan who gave here a pretty good performance. In my opinion, this actor is definitely underrated but it is often the case with actors who portrayed James Bond (Daniel Craig is for example in fact a terrific dramatic actor). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, the beginning was rather terrible with some weak acting and poor dialogues until Brosnan showed up and then the movie became somewhat intriguing but not much. To conclude, I have seen worse movies but it was still a really average thriller and I don't think it is really worth a look.
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Posted : 13 years, 5 months ago on 9 January 2012 09:36
(A review of
Riding in Cars with Boys)
To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Drew Barrymore, I thought I should give it a try. And indeed, at the end of the day, to enjoy this movie, it all depends where you stand concerning Drew Barrymore. If you like her, you will enjoy this flick and if you cannot stand her, it will be a total bore for you. Like I said before, since I have a weak spot for her, I thought it was not bad at all. She was charming, as usual, and provided a decent performance and the rest of the cast (Steve Zahn, Brittany Murphy, James Woods, Lorraine Bracco, Rosie Perez) was pretty good, even thought Steve Zahn tends to get annoying when he goes over the top which is often the case I’m afraid. Furthermore, the story was honestly nothing really original but it was entertaining enough in my opinion. However, I must say that the ending with Adam Garcia playing the son and Drew Barrymore playing the mother was not convincing at all and rather ridiculous. Still, it remains a decent flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 5 months ago on 9 January 2012 08:50
(A review of
Life in a Day)
Since I kept hearing here and there some really good things about this flick, I thought I should check it out. And indeed, the concept was pretty simple and rather intriguing and I was surprised how awesome some shots and scenes looked. To be honest, I didn't expect this from some amateurs but I guess it is a tribute to the power of editing and, Kevin Macdonald did some great job here, absolutely. Still, I wasn't really blown away by the whole thing. I mean, it was sometimes funny, touching but also pretty cheesy and, honestly, rather boring to watch. In my opinion, at the end of the day, it is and remains a bunch of home videos, very well edited and with some awesome music. No less and not much more than that, I'm afraid and all the different people involved, well, very often were not really interesting. I mean, if you make a documentary involving someone fascinating, there is a good chance that the documentary itself will be fascinating as well but if you make a documentary about an average guy you pick up in the street, there is a good chance that the movie will be tedious to watch. In this movie, they put together 100s of movies involving some average people and the end-result was still, well, pretty much average. At least, that's my opinion. Still, there were lot of beautiful things in here, it was a very interesting project and it is definitely worth a look.
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Posted : 13 years, 5 months ago on 9 January 2012 08:19
(A review of
Séraphine)
To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this movie, in fact, I have to admit that I had never heard of this painter before but since this movie won the César of the best French movie of the year, I still wanted to check it out. First of all, I really enjoyed the directing and they managed to provide a pretty nice mood. Then, Séraphine was a rather fascinating character thanks to an impressive performance by Yolande Moreau. You have probably never heard of her but when I was living in France, she was famous as a comedian and it was pretty neat to see her displaying here such awesome dramatic skills. Unfortunately, from the moment she was discovered by Wilhelm Uhde, the whole thing started to really slow down. In my opinion, the issue was that they either gave Uhde too much attention or not enough and, as a result, the character felt rather half-baked. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe not a masterpiece, I have always been interested by movies dealing with Art so I really enjoyed this flick and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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Posted : 13 years, 5 months ago on 8 January 2012 11:21
(A review of
No Mercy)
Honestly, I didn't really know what to expect from this flick but even though it was pretty obscure, the idea of a thriller starring Richard Gere and Kim Basinger was rather interesting. Indeed, back in those days, in the mid 80´s, Richard Gere and Kim Basinger were really popular and to make a movie starring both them was definitely a sensible choice. And indeed, they both had a tremendous charisma and, against them, you had the always dependable Jeroen Krabbé playing the bad guy. So, it all sounded promising, right? Unfortunately, the whole thing was really underwhelming. Indeed, the actors involved all tried their best and they were not even half bad but I thought the story was so generic and, honestly, pretty boring. Eventually, I didn´t feel any excitement during the whole thing and I couldn´t care less about the story and the characters involved. To conclude, it is a rather average flick and it is not really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die hard fan of Richard Gere and/of Kim Basinger.
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Posted : 13 years, 5 months ago on 8 January 2012 10:37
(A review of
Terug naar de kust)
The funny thing with this movie is that I cannot remember why I actually wanted to watch the damned thing, except maybe because I thought that my wife might be interested. Anyway, it was starring Linda de Mol who is a famous TV host in the Netherlands and, even though I wasn't expecting much from her performance, eventually, I have to admit that she wasn't bad at all after all. Still, even though the acting was decent, it was still nothing mindblowing and it was the same thing concerning the directing. On the positive side, the story was quite intriguing even if there was probably too many characters and too many subplots involved. Still, since you are never sure what to think of all those chararacters, you stay on the edge of your seat during the whole duration. However, it was pretty obvious that there were something wrong with the sister, from the moment she gave the first pill. I mean, if someone gives you a pill and the day after you wake up with some blood and bruises on your face, then you might wonder what kind of pill it was.... Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing mindblowing, I thought it was a decent thriller and it is actually worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies.
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