
Posted : 13 years, 6 months ago on 23 November 2011 12:12
(A review of
Frequency)
By now, I have seen all the movies directed by Gregory Hoblit. Hoblit's features are what you could call 'guilty pleasures' in the sense that they are never really good (even 'Primal Fear' is rather overrated in my opinion) but they are always entertaining and the guy sure knows how to direct a thriller. However, I genuinely liked this flick which is, by far, his best one. The weird thing is that it actually deals with time-travel so you really wonder how it turned out to be so good. Indeed, the biggest issue with movies dealing with time-travel is that, you know it from the start even before the movie begins, the whole thing won't make any sense. So, it is a huge obstacle and there are only a few movies dealing with this subject which manage to make you forget the absurdity of this concept. This movie is definitely one of them though. As said before, when you think about it, the story was just plain ridiculous but the actors (James Caviezel, Dennis Quaid) gave such compelling performances, they were so convincing, that, as a result, the whole thing was quite spellbinding to watch. Furthermore, I really enjoyed the directing which managed to mix drama, SF, action, thriller elements together and they made it all work. To conclude, even though it is a rather preposterous story, it is easily one of the most entertaining time-travel flick I have ever seen. It is obviously an underrated and unknown gem and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

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Posted : 13 years, 6 months ago on 23 November 2011 11:12
(A review of
Madagascar)
Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this animated picture but it was eventually better than I thought it would be. First of all, I really liked the style of the animation which was very original and great to look at. Furthermore, the story was quite entertaining and there were some awesome supporting characters above all King Julien (it was such a great idea to cast Sacha Baron Cohen, he really had a blast with this character) and, of course, the awesome pinguins. The main 4 characters were alright but, to be honest, they were not really inspiring but they were entertaining enough. I think the concept of the story did work out pretty well but it had its limits (Alex is a lion and naturally wants to eat ALL his friends but the movie of course won't allow it..). Eventually, it is nothing really revolutionary, especially compared to the best movies produced by Pixar and it never comes near this level but it was still better than all those animated flicks involving talking animals. Anyway, in spite of its flaws, it was still really well made, entertaining and just plain fun and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in animated features.

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Posted : 13 years, 6 months ago on 23 November 2011 10:29
(A review of
The Town)
Even though 'Gone Baby Gone' was, in my opinion, slightly overrated, I definitely enjoyed it so I was really curious to check this 2nd directing effort from Ben Affleck. Well, once again, I enjoyed it but it still think that this movie was overrated as well. Still, I have to admit it, the directing was once again really solid and it must have been be the best heist movie since 'Heat'. Indeed, the robbing scenes were very well done as they seemed very realistic but also just plain entertaining to watch. Furthermore, and that was probably the biggest success in this movie, the characters were very well written and played, especially Jeremy Renner who displayed once again that he is a new actor we should all reckon with. To be honest, I had never heard of Charleston before but they managed to give it a really gloomy and gritty feeling. Furthermore, they also managed to show the adrenaline kick, the excitement involved during a robbing but they also displayed the dispair and doom involved in such a lifestyle. Eventually, there was only one thing that really bothered me was the romantic sub-plot involving Ben Affleck and Rebecca Hall. Inded, while the most of the movie was pretty awesome and realistic, this subplot was unfortunately really far-fetched and, in my opinion, it didn't really fit with the rest. Still, in spite of its flaws, it was a really neat action movie and it is definitely worth a look.

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Posted : 13 years, 6 months ago on 22 November 2011 11:16
(A review of
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa)
To be honest, who would have expected 'Madagascar' to launch such a successful franchise, especially in the very competitive animated market? Personally, I must say I was really surprised by the 1st installment. Indeed, the animation was original and rather gorgeous, the characters were funny and I really enjoyed the plot. Of course, as usual with Dreamworks, in the contrary to the amazingly creative Pixar, it was nothing mind-blowing but it was pretty funny and I was entertained throughout the whole thing which I didn't really expect. However, I wasn't really convinced by the idea of a sequel. I mean, it was a nice little story but it was enough as it was and I don't think the characters had much more to say. Eventually, I was right, this sequel looked good and there were some funny bits but it didn't add much to the whole thing. Above all, the movie is called 'Madagascar' but it doesn't take place there anymore! I know, it is a small detail but it shows that this sequel wasn't necessary and it couldn't possibly be an improvement. To conclude, it is a well-made but average animated feature but if you are a fan of the genre, or if you are younger than 13 years old, it is still worth a look though.

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Posted : 13 years, 6 months ago on 22 November 2011 10:28
(A review of
Jack the Bear)
To be honest, I had never heard of this flick but since I have a weak spot for Danny Devito, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, it turned out to be a rather weird but still intriguing family drama. Indeed, I really enjoyed the directing, the kids performances were decent enough and Danny Devito was really good in this. He usually plays some supporting parts so it was pretty neat to see him playing the lead for once. On top of that, I thought it was a really interesting character, DeVito managed to not overplay it and he gave the character many different layers. However, even though I did enjoy the directing, it did get a little bit over-sentimental and over-dramatic (For example, what the hell was this all about with the psychopatic Nazi neighbour?!?). Furthermore, I wish they centered the movie on the father and not on the oldest son. Indeed, in my opinion, stories narrated by children are usually not really convincing and satisfying. I mean, even though it might have been narrated by a child, in fact, the screenplay was written by an adult and as a result, you end up with some projections of what a grown up would expect from a child to say, to do and to think. Anyway, in spite of these flaws, it was still a decent drama and it is definitely worth a look.

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Posted : 13 years, 6 months ago on 22 November 2011 09:13
(A review of
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans)
I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I have it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. Since I am a huge fan of the original version directed by Abel Ferrara, I was definitely intrigued by this 'remake'. Usually, remakes are rather useless but when I heard that this one would be directed by Werner Herzorg and starring Nicolas Cage and Val Kilmer, I was most definitely interested by the damned thing. Eventually, I wasn't disappointed. First of all, it was a completely different movie. Indeed, the location was different, the directing was different, the acting was different and the tone was different. Basically, Herzorg and Cage went so over-the-top, they just blew up the roof and I was really glad to see again Nicolas Cage finally in a good flick. Eventually, it was some rather dark and completely amoral material so the mainstream audience probably won't dig it but I really loved the damned thing. This time, they even added some dark funny moments and I thought it was a very nice twist compared to the original version. Eventually, I wish Val Kilmer had more to do in this movie since I really enjoyed his performance as well and I think I still prefer Ferrara's version as it was more intense and even more awesome but, in my opinion, it is easily one of the best remakes ever made. Anyway, to conclude, if you don't mind really dark movies, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Werner Herzorg’s work.

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Posted : 13 years, 6 months ago on 21 November 2011 11:08
(A review of
Un crime au paradis)
Basically, it is once again one of those really obscure French movies which almost no one has seen here on Listal (as a matter of fact, I was the very first listal member to actually rate the damned thing). Jean Becker, Jacques Villeret, Josiane Balasko, André Dussollier, you have probably never heard of those names but they are actually pretty much French cinéma royalty. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of French comedies but I thought this one had some potential and it could have been quite hilarious. Eventually, it was alright but nothing mind-blowing whatsoever. The main issue I have with this kind of features is that it doesn't take its characters really seriously at all and, as a result, you don't care much about them or the film itself. Furthermore, if you make a dark comedy, in my opinion, you should go all the way but, here, the whole thing remains rather harmless so they could reach the widest audience possible and that was rather disappointing, Still, the actors were quite funny and some scenes did work pretty well. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, if you like the genre, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

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Posted : 13 years, 6 months ago on 21 November 2011 10:16
(A review of
Driven)
Watching a movie directed by Renny Harlin has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. Indeed, with this director, I already know before watching his movies that they won't be really good but I still watch them anyway because they still end up being entertaining somehow. This movie was a perfect example. Seriously, I don't know what was worse : the directing, the acting or the writing. I think I'm going to blame the writing though. Apparently, the screenplay was written by Stallone who really should stick to acting, even if he is not really such a great actor either. In my opinion, there were just way too many characters and too many subplots. On top of that, the dialogues were laughable and there were so many ridiculous scenes (when they 'stole' the cars and raced throughout downtown Chicago, when they stopped racing to save a fellow driver, when the rookie had to do a stupid test before driving with a broken foot and it went on and on like this...). Still, the driving scenes were not bad at all and the (many) crashes were quite spectacular. Actually, this racing world was quite fascinating, the whole project had some potential and they could have made something interesting with this material. Anyway, eventually, it was a really silly and ridiculous action flick but if you don't take it too seriously, it remains watchable but, honestly, I don’t think it is really worth a look.

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Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 20 November 2011 08:11
(A review of
Last Holiday)
I have noticed that Wayne Wang is not a really famous director here in Listal or even in general but ever since I have seen 'Smoke' (which is a really awesome and underrated movie, you should definitely check it out if you haven't seen it yet), I always try to check his other movies when I have the chance. Here, he gave us a rather mainstream standard romantic comedy. First of all, to be honest, I have nothing against Queen Latifah but I don't think she is charismatic enough or simply a good actress enough to be the lead but I must admit that she was alright in this flick. On the other hand, the supporting actors were all pretty good, especially the great Gérard Depardieu who really rocked his performance, as usual. It's really too bad that such a great actor doesn't get more opportunities to shine in some more interesting international productions than such fluffy features. To conclude, it remains a rather generic and predictable romantic-comedy but I still think it was very well made and the actors were all really charming, so I still think is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

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Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 19 November 2011 06:08
(A review of
The Good Night)
I had never heard of this movie but since it had a rather nice cast, I thought I should give it a shot. Well, it was basically one of these typical quirky indie comedies which tried rather awkwardly to mix 'Music and Lyrics' with 'Inception'. I know, it was a weird combination and, indeed, the movie didn’t turn out to be really convincing. One issue was that it was dealing with lucid dreaming which is a really fascinating subject but even though they wanted the viewers to take this subject seriousl, the makers themselves didn't really handle the subject very well so it was a rather difficult to really care about the damned thing. For example, the main character decided to do some experiment and, the very next day, without any practice whatsover, he was already able to do basically whatever he wanted while dreaming. I guess the lucid dreaming thing was not actually the main focus in this tale so I guess I shouldn't pay too much attention if it was accurate or not. Furthermore, I thought the whole cast was pretty neat (Penélope Cruz, Danny DeVito, Martin Freeman, Michael Gambon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Simon Pegg) and most of them delivered some solid performances. To conclude, even though it was rather flawed and even though the whole thing didn't really know if it should be a comedy or a drama, thanks to the cast involved, it was still worth a look though.

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