Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 24 October 2011 01:59
(A review of
Race the Sun)
As you may have noticed, I’m rather obsessive concerning my movie watching and sometimes , I ended up watching some pretty obscure movies just because one actor I like is involved. This movie is one perfect example. Indeed, I basically watch it only because Halle Berry was in it. To be honest, I definitely have a weak spot for this actress but, expect for 'Monster's ball', none of her movies are actually that great (even those X-Men flicks, I’m sorry). Eventually, this movie might be the worst with Halle Berry I have seen so far as it was just really terrible. First of all, there was James Belushi involved, which is never a good sign. Furthermore, the story was so generic, predictable and just plain boring as hell. It follows the usual pattern of the controversial teacher who ends up with some misfits but, at the end, they all get along and overcome all the obstacles… I found rather funny to see that Casey Affleck was also involved in this debacle when nowadays he is definitely one of the most interesting actors at work. Casey Affleck went on record saying that ‘Drowning Mona’ and ‘Soul Survivors’ were his worst movies but I’m surprised he didn’t mention this tedious flick as well. To conclude, it's just a another bad movie starring Halle Berry and it is not worth a look whatsoever.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 24 October 2011 01:19
(A review of
Amazing Grace)
I'm a huge sucker for my movies dealing with politics so this flick was a real treat for me. Basically, it was a really fascinating story which was rather unknown to me. Furthermore, they did a really good job of showing the political process and the dilemna faced by the politicians back then. Of course, from a moral point of view, to abolish slavery was the best (and only) thing to do but, from an economical point of view, it was the worse thing that could happen to the British Empire which economy was based on the profit of slavery. And, indeed, not so long after, they did loose their egemony on the world. Concerning the cast, all the actors involved provided some decent performances, even though some of the characters were not developed enough. I give also a special mention to Albert Finney who had a very small role but he still managed to give a totally heartbreaking performance.Unfortunately, it is too bad the movie lost some focus from time to time. For example, they chose to tell the story back and forth but it is usually an annoying gimmick and it didn't convince me this time again. They tried also to add some sub-plot about William Wilberforce's romance which could have been interesting but it ended up being rather distracting. Same thing with his sickness. it was still a riveting true story and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in political and/or historical movies.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 23 October 2011 11:26
(A review of
Hudson Hawk)
As you may have noticed, I sometimes waste my time with some rather dubious movies and I guess it is just morbid curiosity, just to make sure a movie is as bad as everyone seems to think. This movie is a very good example. I mean, I really like Bruce Willis, he must be easily my favorite action movie star ever but, honestly, he has made his share of turkeys during his 'prestigious' career. For example, this movie is actually not his worst (I think 'Color of night' is even worse...) but it was not far from it. I mean, the whole thing was just a terrible mess. Basically, there was this really awkward combination of humor and action which is actually not something really new in an action movie but it just didn’t work at all here. The whole thing has really a surreal aspect and some (very) few people actually love this aspect of the movie (I know some listal members who do share this point of view but I won't give any names...). Above all, I thought the whole thing was just really boring. Anyway, to conclude, it is a very weak feature and you should definitely avoid it, even if you are a huge fan of Bruce Willis.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 23 October 2011 11:14
(A review of
Coogan's Bluff)
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since I’m a big fan of Clint Eastwood, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, basically, just after he reached fame with the dollar trilogy, Clint Eastwod starred in this flick which would be his first collaboration with Don Siegel. To be honest, when you think about it for a moment, the story was in fact nothing really amazing. I mean, it was about Coogan going to New York and spending the rest of the movie tracking down some guy, that's it. I still enjoyed the damned thing, above all thanks to Clint Eastwood's performance. Indeed, as usual, the guy was just completely charismatic and even though his character seemed rather out of place, he always seemed to have everything under control, even though a couple of times, the odds didn't really look good for him. After this, Siegel and Eastwood will make a few more movies (including 'Dirty Harry') and you can see that right from the start that they worked really well together. To conclude, even though it was nothing really ground-breaking, it was still a nice watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in watching some good old movie starring the great Clint Eastwood.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 22 October 2011 04:49
(A review of
The Russia House)
Even though I wasn’t sure if this movie was any good, I was still really eager to check it out. Indeed, a spy flick starring the great Sean Connery is always a treat and it is a real shame that the guy has already retired about 10 year ago. This time, it was something quite different than his good old James Bond movies but it is exactly what made it interesting. This time, he was just a normal guy who happens to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Indeed, there was no heroic stuff here, chases, fights, explosions or stuff like that. It is actually not surprising since it was an adaptation of a book written by John Le Carré who wrote some rather cerebral spy stories. However, you still had some romance here and I must say that there was some great chemistry between Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer. So, they were both well cast and delivered some solid performances but still the movie didn't really blow me away. Indeed, at the end of the day, it remains a rather generic spy story. Still, the two actors were really charismatic and since the story was rather entertaining, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 21 October 2011 02:07
(A review of
The Four Feathers)
Like everyone else, I think Heath Ledger was a very talented actor and he was the main reason I wanted to watch this flick on the first place, but, honestly, how many great movies did he actually make? If you take a closer look, In my opinion, he only made 2 very good movies ('The Dark Knight', 'Brokeback moutain' and I don't count 'Monster's ball' since he had a minor part) and his others flicks were actually nothing mind-blowing whatsoever, when you think about it. This movie is a perfect example. I mean, Ledger was indeed pretty good, just like the rest of the cast (Wes Bentley, Djimon Hounsou, Kate Hudson, Michael Sheen) and , back then, Kate Hudson was trying other things than her usual romantic-comedies so it was quite refreshing. Furthermore, the directing was decent enough, the movie looked pretty good so what went wrong here? Basically, the story was just a rather pedestrian costume drama, I can't say I was really thrilled by the plot and the whole thing was rather underwhelming. To conclude, it remains a well made but rather generic costume drama but I think it is still worth a look, especially if you are interested in Heath Ledger or if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 21 October 2011 12:43
(A review of
You Don't Mess with the Zohan)
Even though I'm far from being a fan of Adam Sandler, since this movie was written by Judd Apatow, I thought I should give it a try. Futhermore, the concept actually did have some potential. Well, eventually, even though I don't think it was Sandler's worst movie, far from it, I still can't say I really enjoyed the damned thing though. Basically, the whole point of the movie was to throw at the viewers every 5 seconds the most preposterous, outrageous, ridiculous and tasteless jokes. Unfortunately, most of the time, the whole thing just looked stupid and not funny but I have to admit that I couldn't help laughing during some scenes. Indeed, some supporting characters were actually really funny but, as usual, the biggest issue was that the main character portrayed by Sandler who was supposed to be stupid/funny but the guy was in fact just obnoxious/moronic and he got on my nerves during the whole duration. As I mentioned before, I think the whole concept had some potential, more than your usual Sandler vehicles, but they handled the subject so badly, it was just a terrible waste. Eventually, I have seen worse, especially starring Adam Sandler but I’m afraid this comedy was still really average and definitely not really worth a look.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 21 October 2011 11:33
(A review of
Contagion)
I already saw this movie but since we are right now in the middle of a massive worldwide pandemic with the coronavirus, like many other people, I was really eager to check it out again. Well, like I expected, most of it turned out to be seriously accurate and even pretty scary. Eventually, I think they were only 2 points where they actually did miss the mark. First of all, beside Jude Law’s character using the pandemic to manipulate the stock exchange, they didn’t spend any time on the impact it would have had on the worldwide economy. On the other hand, even if it wasn’t displayed on the screen, you can assume that there was still a collapse of the economy. More problematic was the development of a vaccine. Indeed, even though everything displayed seemed to be technically convincing, the timeline seemed off and still way too rushed. I mean, even with the vaccine for the coronavirus which should be one of the fastest vaccines ever created, it took about a year before they starting developing it until they would finally start to give it to the population. Anyway, after all these years, I still think this movie was a really well made and effective virus thriller which was very well directed with an impressive all-star cast (Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, John Hawkes, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Ehle, Elliott Gould). Furthermore, they chose a more realistic and scientifical approach so there were no shootings, chases, explosions and it was much appreciated. So, the whole thing was interesting and entertaining and I liked it but I can't say it was really mindblowing though. Maybe it had to do with the fact that there were so many characters and story lines and none of them was actually really developed. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was a decent virus thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested Soderbergh's work.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 20 October 2011 11:12
(A review of
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor)
Even though this flick has a pretty bad reputation, since Nick (my step-son) enjoyed the previous installments, I thought we should give it a try anyway. Honestly, I don't think it was that bad after all. First of all, even though the first 2 movies were rather entertaining, they were not great whatsoever in my opinion, so I didn't really have high expectations before watching this movie. Anyway, I really enjoyed the change of scenery, I think it really added something new to the whole concept. Furthermore, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh were both pretty good but , of course, like everyone else, I was rather disappointed by Maria Bello. I mean, she is a good actress but she never managed to make the role her own and she never managed to find the right tone. On the other hand, the guy playing her son was even worse or maybe I just couldn't stand his character who was just so obnoxious. But, these were small details and I think, at the end of the day, it remains a decent blockbuster, no more, no less, and if you enjoyed the previous movies, I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy this one as well. To conclude, in spite of its bad rep, I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 2 months ago on 20 October 2011 10:57
(A review of
The Mummy Returns)
I have to admit that it has been a while since I have seen this movie and maybe I should re-watch it at some point. Anyway, since the first movie had turned out to be a success at the box-office, it was pretty obvious that a sequel will follow pretty soon. To be honest, I was actually positively surprised by this sequel. I mean, the whole thing didn't blow me away whatsoever but, at least, it was a decent follow-up and even if it wasn't really better than the first movie, it wasn't worse either. The same cast did return and, once again, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah really stole the show. It did help when you have some good actors who manage to handle such cheesy dialogues. Furthermore, the action scenes were rather neat, well-made and definitely entertaining. On the downside, even though The Rock was displayed prominently on all the promotional material and back then, it was supposed to be his big début, in fact, he was actually for a really short time in the movie (Should we even count the terribly bad looking monster at the end?!? 'It' didn't even really look like him...). Anyway, to conclude, all in all, I think it is a decent sequel and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you liked the first movie.
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