Posted : 2 months, 2 weeks ago on 1 June 2019 12:37
(A review of
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016))
To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I do think it is a bad idea that they keep greenlighting this sequels to some comedies which might have been successful at the box-office when these comedies were in fact nothing really amazing to start with.To make things worse, in this case, the beginning was just so lame. Indeed, it seems they really struggled to start up the whole thing and it felt rather awkward. Above all, the jokes were just abysmal. Fortunately, from the moment you get to see Teddy Sanders playing poker with his college buddies, I was amazed by how much they managed to recover the damages from this point on. Sure, the whole thing never became anything really amazing, they pretty much remade the first movie, the only difference was that they had to face a sorority instead of a fraternity but, I thought it was entertaining enough. I also did appreciate how they displayed that most of the activities involved in a fraternity are actually pretty lame and, above all, the way they handle women is just appalling. Anyway, to conclude, pretty much like its predecessor, it is probable that my rating might be too generous here but I guess it is actually worth a look if you like the genre.
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Posted : 2 months, 2 weeks ago on 31 May 2019 09:51
(A review of
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019))
I wasn't exactly dying to see this sequel but Nick, my step-son, is a huge fan of monsters flick so we had to see this one in the movie theatre. Well, to be honest, I really struggled to care about the damned thing. First of all, I have to admit that I didn't remember much what happened in the previous installment but the plot was rather confusing. Above all, the damned thing was supposed to be dealing with some huge monsters destroying everything so it should have been some brainless fun entertainment but the tone was just so serious and it got on my nerves how they constantly tried to give some rational explanation about the ridiculous events going on. Then, even if the cast was really neat, there was just way too many human characters involved, there wasn't enough time to develop any ot them and none of them was really interesting or entertaining. The worse one was probably the one played by Vera Farmiga who kept switching sides depending of the needs of the plot and the most disappointing one was probably the one played by Millie Bobby Brown. Indeed, following her breakthrough performance in 'Stranger Things', it was pretty neat to see the young actress in her first movie but, seriously, what was the point of her character? She had completely zero impact on the plot and you wonder why her mother brought her along. Anyway, I have to admit that Gozilla and the other monsters were seriously badass, especially Ghidorah, so, at least, the damned thing was really spectacular. To conclude, I guess it was still a decent watch but, to be honest, I think I'm pretty much done with this franchise.
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Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago on 30 May 2019 02:44
(A review of
Roald Dahl's Esio Trot)
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have always been a huge fan of Dustin Hoffman, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, eventually, I didn't care at all about the damned thing, I'm afraid. Of course, I have to admit that I have never really cared for Roald Dahl's work but this must be the most boring story he has ever cooked up. Seriously, even though it was probably supposed to be quirky and charming, it was just so damned simplistic. I mean, the whole idea to swap a turtle every day with another one and that the owner wouldn't notice the difference was just lame. In fact, there was such a lack of plot and/of interesting characters, that a good chunk of the running time was allocated to the narrator played by James Corben. I mean, I won't blame Corben but what was the added value of his narration after all? At least, Dustin Hoffman and Judy Dench were both quite charming but it was rather sad to see some actors with such high skills using their talents for such tedious material. Anyway, to conclude, I have to admit that it wasn't completely awful but it was also never interesting or entertaining either and, therefore, I don't think it is worth a look.
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Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago on 29 May 2019 09:04
(A review of
The Age of Adaline)
To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, basically, it turned out to be some kind of spin on ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ concept but, this time, it was dealing with a woman who didn’t get old anymore. Well, even if this idea was nothing really original, it was not bad though. Eventually, the biggest issue was after all with Blake Lively. I mean, she wasn’t awful, in fact, it was quite brave that she took this part which was her most challenging character so far but, even if she tried really hard, I never had the feeling that I was watching a 107 year old woman on the screen. She wasn’t helped by the fact that they turned her character into some kind of genius which was pretty lame. Of course, you could argue that her brain didn’t degenerate like for the rest of us but it was a stretch to say that she would somehow remember all kinds of random trivia through her long life. Anyway, the fact that Lively was maybe not the best choice to play the lead was even more obvious when she was with Ellen Burstyn who was so pitch-perfect each time she showed up. I was also fairly impressed by Harrison Ford who was also quite convincing. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago on 28 May 2019 09:21
(A review of
Arachnophobia (1990))
Ever since I was a kid, I was quite curious to see this flick and, eventually, it took me more than 2 decades to finally watch the damned thing. Well, the damned thing with such an awesome title and really neat concept really had some potential and it could have been such a terrifying horror flick. Unfortunately, they decided to turn it into a typical Spielbergian cheesy feature which was rather disappointing. Indeed, it was really neat that the main character was an actual arachnophobe and, with this guy facing some ugly horrifying lethal spiders, it could have been a psychological nightmare but the guy got over his phobia way too easily to become suddenly your average boring hero. Apparently, Frank Marshall afterwards has said something like "People like to be scared but laughing, like a roller coaster. No one wants to be terrified” which is a pretty dumb statement. Indeed, in my opinion, the whole point of watching a horror flick is to get scared sh*tless. Still, I have to admit that John Goodman was quite hilarious though and he completely stole the show as the awesome Delbert McClintock. The ending was also pretty neat as I didn’t expect them to drop this little town to go back to San Francisco. Anyway, to conclude, even if it could have been so much better, it was still a decent watch though and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago on 26 May 2019 06:39
(A review of
Aladdin)
To be honest, following the disappointing new version of 'Dumbo', I really lowered down my expectations for this flick but since 'Aladdin' has always been my favorite Classic Disney animated feature, I still wanted to check it out. On top of that, I was about the same age of my daughter when I saw the animated version when it was released in the movie theater, so it was really neat to see this new version with her. Well, eventually, I thought it was not bad at all after all. Indeed, Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott were some perfect choices to respectively play Aladdin and Jasmine but, of course, I was above all impressed by Will Smith. Indeed, not only he managed to make a tribute to Robin Williams's iconic performance but he also managed to make the character is own somehow. Basically, he completely nailed it and gave here one of best performances in years. Concerning the story itself, well, they played it safe like they did with the new versions of 'Cinderella' and 'Beauty and the Beast' and they kept maybe 90% of the original story. However, it didn't bother me since, as I mentioned before, I always had a weak spot for this fairy tale and the whole thing looked beautiful and it was still pretty damned entertaining. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was probably another pointless remake from Disney, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago on 26 May 2019 04:56
(A review of
About Last Night (2014))
To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, even though I did see the original version, it was years ago and I have to admit that I didn't remember much about it but I guess it allowed me to appreciate more this remake. Indeed, I thought it was actually a decent romantic-comedy. Above all, I really liked these 2 couples as they were not only charismatic but above all, believable and relatable, which is something really rare coming from an average Hollywood rom-com like this one. Unfortunately, there were enough elements that did bother me though. Indeed, while the relationship involving Kevin Hart and Regina Hall was pretty much pitch-perfect from the beginning until the very end, the other couple involving Michael Ealy and Joy Bryant didn't work so well, I'm afraid. Basically, they had tons or chemistry together, that wasn't the problem, the issue was more about the fact that the obstacles they had to face during their relationship were just so phony. I mean, for example, the movie started with showing that Ealy's character didn't care much about drinking and partying but, suddenly, he got completely bored after finding the love of his life who happens to be a gorgeous, smart woman who's crazy about him? That didn't make much sense. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago on 25 May 2019 08:01
(A review of
Love & Friendship)
To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Kate Beckinsale, I thought I might as well check it out. Apparently, it was adapted from a rather obscure novella from Jane Austen but, to make things even more confusing, they gave it the title of another book written by Austen which wasn't a good omen. Anyway, I really struggled to care about the damned thing. I mean, Beckinsale was a perfect choice to play the lead and I do believe that she gave here one of her best performances. However, her character was such an unlikeable, insufferable bitch and it was borderline cringe-inducing to behold. To make things worse, it was really hard to believe that Reginald DeCourcy, a seemingly smart fellow, would fall for her dirty tricks which were just so obvious. Somehow, out of nowhere, they managed to end up the whole thing with a happy-ending for all the characters involved which made everything you had seen before rather pointless. Of course, you might argue that I have never been a huge fan of Austen's work but it was definitely not one of her best stories. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was rather well made, it was also better than most of the movies usually starring Kate Beckinsale so I guess it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 2 months, 3 weeks ago on 25 May 2019 07:14
(A review of
Blue Ruin (2013))
Since I kept hearing interesting things about Jeremy Saulnier, I was quite eager to watch one of his directing efforts so I thought I might check this one out. Well, for this 2nd directing effort, Saulnier took the old (and usually rather boring) revenge genre but he gave it an interesting fresh approach. First of all, the intro had such a great mood with a nice cloud of mystery. Of course, to give practically no information to the viewers is a fairly easy and rather artificial way to create some suspense but it really worked here. Then, Saulnier took the most average looking guy possible to play this avenger which was maybe not completely original but it was still again very effective. It also helped that I wasn't so familiar with Macon Blair who was completely unrecognizable when the movie started. Still, even if most of the movie worked fine, there were some parts that still bothered me though. For example, even if the main character was supposed to be an average guy with no gun knowledge, he did display some massive survival skills. Of course, you might argue that someone who lived in the streets might acquire such skills but I don't think that most homeless guys would know what to do when they are hunted down by a family of psychopaths. Furthermore, when the cloud of mystery had been removed, it turned out to be a rather generic revenge tale after all. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was maybe not a masterpiece, I really enjoyed this flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jeremy Saulnier's work.
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Posted : 2 months, 4 weeks ago on 24 May 2019 09:00
(A review of
Jobs (2013))
To be honest, since this movie doesn’t really have a stellar reputation, I didn’t have some really high expectations but I have to admit that I still wanted to check it out though. Well, even if it didn’t reach the level of the awesome ‘Steve Jobs’, I still think it was a decent watch though. Of course, I’m still not convinced that Ashton Kutcher was the best choice to play one of the most influential figures of the 20th century, even if he did look like Steve Jobs a little bit. However, the fact that I saw Danny Boyle’s version before actually made me appreciate more this movie somehow. Indeed, I really enjoyed a lot Boyle’s movie but it made me really curious to learn more about Jobs and that’s exactly what this movie provided. Sure, the whole thing was a really straightforward biopic but, at least, it was quite informative. Still, you might wonder if a TV mini-series or even a TV-show wouldn’t work better because there was so much ground to cover and it did create some pacing issues. For example, at some point, Jobs was kicked out of Apple but, then, maybe 5 minutes later, he was back there again. Even more problematic were the scenes during which Jobs was displayed as a major douchebag. Indeed, pretty much out of nowhere, they would show his darkest side but, then, it would never last long enough to make a real impression. To make things worse, they would show right away some other bit arguing that the guy was such an amazing genius. Anyway, to conclude, even it it was nothing really amazing, it was still a fairly interesting movie and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Steve Jobs.
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