Home
524 Lists
5980 Reviews
CollectionsAn average movie
Posted : 2 months ago on 8 October 2018 09:55
(A review of Purple Rain)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seems to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I have to admit that I have never been a huge fan of Prince above all because his style was just too over-the-top for my taste but, while watching this flick, I suddenly became aware that I knew only a couple of his songs. Well, in this movie, he definitely displayed so major skills and the music was really good, especially the title song. Still, was it really a good movie? Not really, I'm afraid. I mean, in the same genre, it actually had more or less a plot which was more than you can say about 'Moonwalker' from Michael Jackson and, at least, it wasn't exactly dealing with a rising star who would finally reach some mainstream success but it was about a musician who actually didn't really care much about fame or success which was rather refreshing. However, even though it was slightly more original, the whole thing was still too random and generic to become really remarkable. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I actually think it is one of the better movies in this genre and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Prince.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 2 months, 1 week ago on 7 October 2018 06:00
(A review of Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood)To be honest, I wasn't expect much from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as wel check it out. I have to admit that I have never been a huge fan of such spoofs and, even though this one is considered by a many as a cult-classic, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. First of all, the tricky thing about this flick is that it was making fun of a genre which is actually dead serious, as these movies are dealing with the bleak reality of the black minority living in the ghettos in the USA so you wonder the whole time if it is actually really approriate. To make things worse, the whole thing was constantly using some huge racial stereotypes and, if this movie would have been made by some white folks, it would have been a huge scandal. At least, I have to admit that some of the jokes were quite funny but, still, most of it was eventually more cringe-inducing than really entertaining. Anyway, to conclude, I didn't really like the damned thing but I guess it might be a worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 2 months, 1 week ago on 7 October 2018 08:19
(A review of The Uninvited)To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as wel check it out. Well, even though I didn't have such huge expectations, the damned thing still turned out to be seriously disappointing, First of all, I always hate it when, in a horror movie, even though they are dealing with a mental patient, there is no psychology whatsoever but some boring paranormal nonsense. Fortunately, there was a twist at the end which slightly recovered the damage but it was still really poorly handled. For example, all the scenes involing Elizabeth Banks should have been much more ambiguous. Instead, they gave us the good old trick it never happened like this, it happened like that only in her head' which is such a lame and lazy gimmick. Another thing that slightly bothered me why would they cast Emily Browning and Arielle Kebbel to play some sisters when they didn't look like each other at all. In fact, they could have cast Mandy Moore instead Browning since she looked some similar to Kebbel. Eventually, what pissed me off the most about this movie was that it pretty much ruined 'A Tale of Two Sisters' which sounded like a really solid Asian horror flick. Hopefully, I will forget about this lousy remake before I ever watch the original version. To conclude., I think I was actually rather generous with my rating here, I really didn't like the damned thing and I don't think it is really worth a look.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 2 months, 1 week ago on 5 October 2018 09:47
(A review of Self/less (2015))Even though this movie didn't get much love when it was released, since I have always been interested in Tarsem Singh's work, I still wanted to check it out. Well, unfortunately, it turned out to be another really disappointing effort from the once so promising director. I have to admit it though, even though the concept was nothing original, it did have some potential but the biggest mistake they made was to take the most boring approach possible. Indeed, they could have developed the psychology of the main character by making him a selfish a-hole or they could have gone for a dark comedy and make this businessman with no fighting skills face some highly skills henchmen. Instead, they went for the usual generic conspiracy thriller which was just so tedious and the ending was just so damned predictable. Furthermore, after 'The Change-Up', it was another body switch movie in which Ryan Reynolds was not convincing at all. I mean, there was not one single moment that I believed that Reynolds was playing the same character as Ben Kingsley was only with a new body. On top of that, until that point, Tarsem Singh had always made some really beautiful movies, visually speaking, but even in this area, this movie was nothing really impressive at all. Anyway, to conclude, this damned thing was a major disappointment and I don't think it is really worth a look at all.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A good movie
Posted : 2 months, 1 week ago on 4 October 2018 09:47
(A review of Venom)After years being stuck in production hell, Sony finally managed to release their movie on the famous Marvel character. Well, eventually, even if the story was nothing really amazing, I have to admit that I actually enjoyed the damned thing thanks to a really solid performance from Tom Hardy and thanks to Venom himself. Indeed, once again, Hardy really nailed it and delivered one of the best performances I have seen in a super-hero flick in a very long time. In spite of the material, he managed to make the most of it and he gave us an average guy, in fact, even a loser according to Venom himself, and it was just so refreshing after years of being served over and over again the usual righteous main characters we always get in this genre. Concerning Venom, this character was also so much fun. Basically, they took pretty much the same concept used in the Hulk but they vastly improved it. I mean, imagine if the Hulk, instead of being silent, would be talking all the time and arguing with Bruce Branner. Well, that's basically what happened in this movie and the end-result was very often quite hilarious and seriously entertaining. Unfortunately, even though Eddie Brock and Venom were pretty awesome, the rest of the movie was pretty much a really generic, rather slow and boring origin tale which was too bad so I'm not sure if the whole thing will work as a franchise. Eventually, they definitely will have to take some risks with the next installment to make it really interesting. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, thanks mostly to Tom Hardy, it was a fun flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 2 months, 1 week ago on 3 October 2018 08:53
(A review of S.F.W. (1994))I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Reese Witherspoon, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that I had no clue what it was about before watching the damned thing so, for a while, I was wondering what the makers were getting at and that was probably the biggest issue with this movie. The best example would be with the main character. Indeed, on one hand, they were critical of the fact that anyone could become a celebrity for saying or doing the most stupid things but, on the other hand, they still wanted the viewers to think that the main character was such a really cool guy and this contrast never really worked. Eventually, even though he was supposed to be very cool, he was also depicted as a loser who wasn't really interesting after all. The fact that he was just wandering around, going from one random scene to another didn't help either. Furthermore, all these movies dealing with reality-TV before it became a huge TV phenomenon (see also 'EdTV' and 'The Truman Show') all made the same mistake. Indeed, according to these movies, if someone was on a such a TV show, they would become vastly famous. Well, eventually, it never happened and, in spite of the popularity of such TV-shows, the participants never became such influential celebrities after all. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, even if it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A very good movie
Posted : 2 months, 1 week ago on 2 October 2018 09:46
(A review of Fences (2016))Since I kept hearing some really good things about this movie, I was really eager to check it out. Well, eventually, I wasn't disappointed, that's for sure. Basically, it is the story of an ordinary man but it doesn't mean was not interesting, in the contrary. However, in spite of the fact that he was ordinary or because he was in fact ordinary, he was also really complex and therefore quite fascinating to behold. It would be easy to judge him and the decisions he made but you have keep in mind his background and, at the end of the day, he tried his best like we all should do and the end-result was a mix of pain, pleasure, anger, bliss and frustration which is basically what life is all about. Of course, Denzel Washington should be praised as, even though he gave himself the lead role, he removed all the glamour around his status, he completely disappeared in this character and delivered easily one of his best performances. With Viola Davis, he had a terrific partner, she was also very strong and displayed once again that she is one of the most interesting actresses at work nowadays. To conclude, it was a simple and yet fascinating movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Denzel Washington's work.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 2 months, 2 weeks ago on 30 September 2018 07:22
(A review of The Frozen Ground)Since Nicolas Cage and John Cusack have both became some VOD specialists for already a couple of years, I wasn't really expecting much from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I must admit that I was actually rather surprised by the damned thing. Indeed, eventually, it turned out to be a really good story. Still, in spite of this strong material, they didn't manage to turn it into a great movie, I'm afraid. First of all, it felt as if they tried to cover too much ground, especially during the first 20 minutes, and I had a hard time to follow what was exactly going on. I mean, in who's appartment was Cindy at the beginning? How did she manage to escape? Where was Bob Hansen ? Why did he leave her alone? Why didn't the cops arrest him at the time? It was a rather shaky beginning and it is pretty obvious that this story would have better worked as s TV-show or a miniserie like 'True Detective'. Concerning the acting, Nicolas Cage and John Cusack were not bad but there was also nothing really remarkable about their performances. On the other hand, I was actually rather impressed by Vanessa Hudgens. Indeed, each time she was left her on her own in the streets, the movie pretty much forgot the main plot about the serial killer and became an harrowing tale of a young prositute trying to survive. Seriously, they could have made the movie only focusing on her and it would have quite spellbinding. Anyway, to conclude, even though the whole thing was rather half-baked, it was still a really good story and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
An average movie
Posted : 2 months, 2 weeks ago on 29 September 2018 08:05
(A review of Johnny Suede (1991))It is another movie I wanted to see for many years. Not only because it was Tom DiCillo's directing debut but also because it was starring a young Brad Pitt just around the same time he would finally get his breakthrough with 'Thelma & Louise'. Well, unfortunately, it turned out to be pretty weak, I'm afraid. Apparently, DiCillo did blame Brad Pitt for his rather poor performance but, even though Pitt indeed was not exactly strong, I think the whole thing was above all rather poorly written. Indeed, it was apparently supposed to be some kind of quirky and whimsical indie feature, definitely DiCillo's speciality, but it was never really entertaining. Basically, there was no plot but a succession of rather random scenes involving the main character but since the guy was not interesting at all, it became rather tedious pretty quickly. Concerning Pitt, you could sense his potential as he was already quite charismatic but it was also pretty obvious that he had no clue what to do with this character. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, I still think it was pretty weak and I don't think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you want to see Brad Pitt before he became one of the most famous actors in the world.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
A good movie
Posted : 2 months, 2 weeks ago on 28 September 2018 08:56
(A review of A Shot in the Dark (1964))Since this movie had a really solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. Following the success of Inspecteur Clouseau thanks to a great performance by Peter Sellers in 'The Pink Panther', it made sense that they would quickly release a sequel focusing on this character and it turned out to be a great success. Well, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, to be honest, I didn't really blow me away and I was actually expecting more from it. I mean, sure, Peter Sellers delivered a solid performance but I never thought he was actually really hilarious. At least, I did like the fact that, even though Clouseau was really over-the-top clueless and incompetent, all the other actors played their characters very straight , except for Commissaire Charles Dreyfus who was rather hysteric. This contrast was pretty neat but, still, most of the jokes were rather silly. For some reasons, Peter Sellers didn't show up for the following installment which was a huge flop but he would make a come-back 10 years later to play Jacques Clouseau. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to conclude, I guess I will never be a really huge fan of this franchise but it was still quite entertaining and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
0 comments, Reply to this entry
