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CollectionsWhen I was a kid, I was a huge fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme and, at the time, I watched pretty much all the movies he made at the beginning of his career. Of course, growing up, I discovered that the guy wasn't actually that good but I always got nostalgic when I watch one of his flicks. In this movie, the other 'big' star was Mickey Rourke. Nowadays, everybody is saying he is great again but back then, nobody gave a sh*t about the guy. Of course, showing up in this kind of movie didn't help much... To complete this, as the wild card, they gave us Dennis Rodman. Honestly, I kind of liked his character, this giant black guy, pierced everywhere, changing his hair color every 5 minutes. Unfortunately, Mr Rodman was (and still is, I guess) a very bad actor (worst than Van Damme? I'm not sure...). The movie itself was just a really preposterous action movie, with some ridiculous scenes throughout and some terrible dialogues and even though Tsui Hark was supposed to be some hot-shot from Hong Kong, this movie was just a mess. To conclude, it was just a bad and boring movie and it is not worth a look whatsoever.
A bad movie
Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 14 October 2011 09:00
(A review of Double Team)
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A disappointing movie
Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 13 October 2011 12:43
(A review of The Legend of Zorro)Honestly, the first Zorro movie surprised me and I thought it was actually pretty good. Unfortunately, this sequel was rather disappointing. First of all, for some obvious reasons, Anthony Hopkins didn't show up this time and I missed him. Furthermore, the story was rather convoluted. Indeed, I thought it was rather boring to see Zorro and his wife constantly arguing about his retirement, it was supposed to be funny but it was rather annoying. i understand also that they tried this time to put the focus on Catherine Zeta-Jones and involve her in some kind of spy story but the plot was just really tedious and actually quite boring. I watched it again the other day and I must admit that Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones both tried very hard and gave some solid performances but the whole thing was rather long and boring this time. To conclude, even though a sequel was inevitable, the end result was pretty average and the whole thing is not really worth a look, even if you liked the first movie.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 October 2011 08:33
(A review of The Core)I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since there was a pretty cool cast, I thought I should check it out anyway. First of all, it´s rather funny that, a part from two impressive performances awarded by some deserved oscars, Hilary Swank hasn´t done actually anything really impressive. This time, she tries the disaster genre and I can´t say I was blown away by the whole thing (pun intended). I mean, the story is quite standard, predictable, preposterous and tends to get really overdramatic and it didn´t help that the special effects were far from being convincing. I´m aware that all those things are inherent to the genre but they still need to add something to the proceedings to make it stand out among the 100s of other flicks of the same genre. The only redeeming feature was the impressive cast (Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, DJ Qualls, Richard Jenkins, Bruce Greenwood, Tchéky Karyo) which, in spite of the really ridiculous dialogs, managed to give some pretty good performances. To conclude, I have seen worse movies but the whole thing is still rather average and not really worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 October 2011 09:14
(A review of Le boulet)If I recall it correctly, when this movie was released, I was still living in France and, after watching the trailer, I thought it could be a nice watch. Eventually, I saw it many years later after moving to the Netherlands. Basically, this is really a typical French action-comedy. First of all, there was a very nice cast which was the main reason why I was intrigued by this movie in the first place (Gérard Lanvin, Benoît Poelvoorde, José Garcia, Djimon Hounsou, Rossy de Palma, Gérard Darmon, Stomy Bugsy, Marco Prince, Omar Sy, Nicolas Anelka, Jamel Debbouze). Of course, if you are not really familiar with French culture, you will have probably never heard of them but they are/were all pretty famous in France. Concerning the main characters, most of the time, I find Benoît Poelvoorde quite hilarious so he was the main reason why I wanted to check this flick. Eventually, it was a rather average and predictable movie but I was entertained enough during the whole thing. To conclude, it was nothing really mind-blowing but I thought it was not bad at all and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 October 2011 08:49
(A review of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane)Nowadays, I have Netflix and Popcorn and not only I have since then an endless selection or movies to choose from but, as a result, I have become slightly more picky regarding the movies I watch. Before, I used to watch pretty much anything as long as it was starring one or two actors I was interested in and, as a result, I would sometimes end up watching some really obscure features. This movie was a perfect example. Indeed, I don't know why exactly but I was quite intrigued by this flick. Maybe it had to do with with the title which was quite catchy. Anyway, it turned out to be a rather standard slasher movie with some rather average performances but it is inherent to the genre, I’m afraid. Eventuall, it took quite some time to really take off and then it got quite gory, as usual. To be honest, I have always been more interested into the scary stuff than in the gory stuff but well. Still, I have to admit that it was still a decent watch. Indeed, I liked the directing which provided a efficient gritty look and the end was, to my surprise, quite satisfactory. The twist in itself was rather predictable but I liked how it was done and finally the acting was during that part a little better than during the rest of the movie. To conclude, it was a rather standard but still well made and rather entertaining slasher movie and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 11 October 2011 11:05
(A review of Days of Glory)Since I kept hearing good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. France has always had some very tensed relationships with its Arab immigrants and this movie shows this conflict goes way back in the past and you can even argue that it goes way before WWII which was portrayed in this movie. Anyway, this movie was directed by a French man with Arabic roots and stars an all-star French-Arab casts (Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila). You may have never heard of them, but in France, they are very well known, especially Jamel Debbouze and Samy Naceri. Anyway, they gave all some impressive performances and the story, which was really heartbreaking, didn't came as a surprise but it was definitely interesting for me. If you wonder why riots broke out in France some years ago and, to a certain extent, why riots are now breaking out in the UK, you should definitely check this movie and you'll get some answers. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing in my opinion, it is still a very well made war drama 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 11 October 2011 09:36
(A review of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants)Nowadays, I have Netflix and Popcorn and not only I have since then an endless selection or movies to choose from but, as a result, I have become slightly more picky regarding the movies I watch. Before, I used to watch pretty much anything as long as it was starring one or two actors I was interested in and, as a result, I would sometimes end up watching some really obscure features. This movie was a perfect example. Seriously, it was a typical chick flick with such a terrible title... I was still intrigued by it though since all the 4 leads eventually got their own TV-show (Amber Tamblyn in 'Joan of Arcadia' (2003-2005), Alexis Bledel in 'Gilmore Girl' (2000-2007), America Ferrara in 'Ugly Betty' (2006-2010) and Blake Lively in 'Gossip Girl' (2007-2012). Honestly, I can't say I was really impressed by the movie itself. I mean, there were some decent moments, there were some really average parts and, in between, there were loads of ridiculous scenes with some reallylaughable dialogues. For example, a few months before, I saw Blake Lively in 'Green Lantern' and she was totally unconvincing as an army jet pilot and this time round, they tried to make us believe she was some top soccer player... To conclude, I can't say I liked this flick but it was not really really bad and there is a good chance, if you are a girl between 12 and 16 years old, that you might end up enjoying it more than I did.
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 10 October 2011 12:59
(A review of Nashville)Since I kept hearing good things about this flick and since I´m a big fan of Robert Altman, I really wanted to watch this movie. Unfortunately, I thought it was a little bit disappointing though. Basically, it is one of those hyperlink features which means there are multiple & parallel story lines interacting with each others. Altman was an expert at this genre and this movie is considered as one of his many masterpieces. And indeed, all the actors involved were pretty good and the music was alright but there was no plot whatsoever (which is something that never really bothers me and it didn’t bother here either). The main issue is that I never really cared about the characters involved and what was happening to them. The thing with hyperlink features is that, usually at the end, there is a rather far-fetched climax where all the storylines collide together. Here, Robert Altman didn’t even bother and the whole thing remained really really loose from the beginning until the end. Still, the whole thing was very well directed and the actors gave some compelling performances. Eventually, even though I wasn´t blown away by the whole thing, I still liked it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Robert Altman´s work.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 10 October 2011 09:28
(A review of Firewall)Back in the 80's, Harrison Ford was one of the most amazing actors and most of his movies ended up being some huge success (Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Blade Runner (1982), Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)). Of course, those days are long gone but I still have a weak spot for him and I try to watch his more recent movies whenever I get the opportunity. And indeed, the fact that Ford is not the star he used to be is pretty obvious when watching this flick. Where should I start? The story was rather preposterous and Ford was completely unbelievable but, still, thanks to his eternal charisma, he managed to make the whole thing still kind of watchable and, surprisingly, I was rather entertained throughout the whole duration. It does help when the bad guy is portrayed by the always dependable Paul Bettany (what happened to him actually? It seems that he never really managed to break through in a big way). To conclude, it remains an average, unoriginal and predictable flick but it was still rather entertaining and it is actually worth a look, especially if you are a fan of Harrison Ford like me.
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 9 October 2011 12:17
(A review of A Civil Action)Back in 2000, when 'Erin Brockovich' came out, everybody was really enthousiast about it but I wasn't really convinced. 2 years before, this movie came out with a similar plot and, in my opinion, it is actually much better. First of all, there was an impressive cast (John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Tony Shalhoub, William H. Macy, John Lithgow, James Gandolfini, Stephen Fry). I am well aware that John Travolta has sometimes a bad rep but he was just excellent whe he plays this kind of ambitious cynical fast-talking guys. Even better was Robert Duvall who gave honestly one of the best performances of his career (he even got an oscar nomination for his work). The movie started really strong with a very realistic and rather bleak view on the judicial system. Basically, Truth, Guilt and such concepts didn't really matter as long as you had a good strategy and I'm pretty sure it is how it works in the real life. Unfortunately, the movie lost its edge during in the second half and the whole thing got soft. Furthermore, Robert Duvall disappeared too soon and I think they spent too much time on the financial issues of the lawyers. Still, I really enjoyed it, it was way better than any John Grisham adaptation I have seen before and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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