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All reviews - Movies (7837) - TV Shows (10)

An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 15 November 2011 11:06 (A review of Transylvania)

To be honest, I had seriously no idea what to expect from this flick but since Tony Gatlif’s work is usually really interesting, I thought I should give it a try. As a matter of fact, Tony Gatlif is rather unknown here in Listal but his movies are actually pretty good. Usually, they deal with gypsies and other outcasts and there is definitely something mesmerizing about them. This time, he worked with 2 very good and underrated actors, Asia Argento and Birol Ünel (I really have to see more movie starring this guy! Indeed, he was already awesome in ‘Gegen di wand’. He is seriously one of the most charismatic actors I have ever seen). Together, they managed to created some pretty fascinating characters but, still, I can't say I was really impressed by the plot itself. Indeed, in my opinion, the whole thing was rather convoluted and, honestly, not really interesting. At the end of the day, the characters and the related performances were really good and deserved a more intriguing plot. Still, in spite of its flaws, there was a lot of interesting things going on here and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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A good movie

Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 15 November 2011 10:22 (A review of Bird)

[Link removed - login to see]For some reasons, I was really eager to watch this movie and it took me about 6 years to finally find it. Indeed, since I have been playing the saxophone alt for maybe 8 years, I obviously really had to check it out. In fact, I did study Charlie Parker's music and it was basically the most difficult thing you could play on a sax. Indeed, even if I would play it 10 times slower than him, it was still really really difficult to handle! Anyway, back to the movie... The music was indeed just awesome and Clint Eastwood really succeeded to show it in all its greatness. Forest Whitaker also gave here his first starring part and he gave many layers to this character. Indeed, you could feel the genius but also all the vulnerability and you also got a good feeling of his demons. Another interesting thing was that, even though Charlie Parker constantly talked about his addiction, you actually never saw him shooting drugs and there was only one scene during which he displayed his tracks on his arm. I think it was actually a very sensitive approach and even though he was a heavy drug addict, it was more interesting to watch him playing his magical music than taking some dope like any other musical biopic. However, even though I really enjoyed this flick, unfortunately, it was still flawed. Indeed, even though the back and forth in the timeline was chosen more or less there to display his confused state of mind, I still thought it was a rather annoying and useless gimmick. Another consequence of this approach was that it was difficult to understand the impact of the other characters in his life. Anyway, in spite of these flaws, it was still a really interesting movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Jazz.



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A very good movie

Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 14 November 2011 09:16 (A review of The Falcon and the Snowman)

Since I’m a huge fan of Sean Penn, of course, I was really eager to check this flick. Eventually, except for the rather lousy title, it was actually a rather amazing movie. Indeed, it is basically one of those forgotten gem of the 80's starring 2 up-coming young actors, Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton. As we all know, Sean Penn eventually managed to become the best actor of his generation, whereas Timothy Hutton unfortunately became a B actor. Anyway, here, they both shined in this fascinating story which was basically a spy flick but it was much more original, much better acted than your usual spy feature, at least, in my opinion. I mean, in all spy or intelligence related features, all the characters are either plain evil or cool-headed heroes who seem to always know what is the right decision at the right moment but what would happen if a common soul would get in touch with some sensitive information? At the end of the day, there were no action scenes here and it is basically a really character driven feature but I didn't mind, in the contrary. As the whole thing was pretty realistic, it made it even scarier. Anyway, I thought it was a spellbinding tale carried by two actors on top of their game and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are looking for some original and realistic spy feature.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 13 November 2011 03:05 (A review of Never Been Kissed)

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Drew Barrymore, I thought I should give it a try. Frankly she is not really a great actress whatsoever but, like I said before, I always had a weak spot for her and this movie is a pretty good example of her typical work. Indeed, it is actually a pretty generic and really predictable romantic comedy but thanks to Drew Barrymore everlasting charm, I thought it was still pretty entertaining. To be honest, the story was actually quite ridiculous when you think about it but she managed to get the right tone and I was mildly entertained throughout the whole thing. This movie also featured James Franco's acting debut and even though it was a rather small part, it was still pretty neat to see him. It is also interesting to note that this movie was directed by Raja Gosnell, the guy responsible for such abominations like 'Big Momma's House', 'Beverly Hills Chihuahua', 'The Smurfs' movies and the 'Scooby-Doo' movies and this is probably the only watchable movie he has ever directed. To conclude, honestly, it was nothing really exceptional but if you like the genre, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like Drew Barrymore.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 13 November 2011 11:37 (A review of Eat Pray Love)

I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since my wife was really eager to watch it, I thought I should give it a try. Unfortunately, it turned out to be really average. It’s too bad because I think  it actually had some potential. Basically, it was about a woman going into a middle-life crisis and she decides to travel to 3 different countries during a year. It does sound pretty neat, doesn't it? However, the whole thing turned out to be surprisingly dull. In fact, it reminded me of 'American Beauty'. In this great flick, the main character, when facing middle-life crisis, actually stays at home, smokes some weed, and goes to work for a fast-food chain. It did sound dull but it turned out to be just so fascinating to watch. In this movie, it was just the opposite. Travelling around the world sounds and should be damned exciting but it wasn't because none of the characters involved was really interesting and when you have such a supporting cast including Billy Crudup, James Franco, Javier Bardem and Richard Jenkins, it is a damned shame. Eventually, the most annoying character was the main character portrayed by Julia Roberts. I mean, there was not a moment into the whole movie during which I could identify with her and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was a womand and I am a man. Furthermore, the 3 exotic location were really poorly used as they just looked like some postcards and all the locals were so stereotypically portrayed, it was just really annoying to watch. To conclude, I was seen worse movies but it was still really weak and eventually, it is not really worth a look.



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A very good movie

Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 12 November 2011 05:05 (A review of Mona Lisa)

Since I'm a huge fan of Neil Jordan, I was really eager to check out this movie. First of all, to be honest, I have to admit that it had been a while since this director really blew me away with one of this movies. Fortunately, I was eventually pleasantly surprised by this flick. Basically, it was one of those movies where a man and a woman are stuck together against their will but, eventually, they get some connection. The difference here was that the characters were so well written and played, they were quite fascinating to watch. Furthermore, I really enjoyed the directing providing precisely the right amount of humor, drama, romance and suspense. Of course, the fact that Michael Caine had a small part didn't hurt either as he once again gave another strong performance. Bob Hoskins, for once playing the lead, was also really good here.  Eventually, the whole thing turned out to be  a simple tale but it was very well told and just plain entertaining. To conclude, even though it is rather forgotten nowadays, I really liked the damned thing and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Neil Jordan's work.



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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 12 November 2011 08:14 (A review of Derailed)

Honestly, I have nothing against Jennifer Anniston. Indeed, I think she is actually really charming and I'm pretty sure she is quite talented but, unfortunately, she keeps playing the same characters in the same boring romantic-comedies over and over again. This time, it is quite obvious that she tried here something else, just to prove she is actually able to do it and honestly, even though I praise her effort, it didn't work out very well for her, I'm afraid. I mean, Clive Owen and Vincent Cassel were both very convincing here and they delivered some strong performances giving some dramatic ground to the movie but Jennifer Anniston wasn't really believable whatsoever and was frankly rather miscast here. Furthermore, even though the story was pretty entertaining and engaging for most part of the movie, since it is a Hollywood thriller, they basically had to add a lame twist ending which kind of ruined the whole thing for me. Every time I see such an ending, it makes me wonder, why do they think that such a ludicrous and unbelievable conclusion will benefit a picture ? I guess it has to do with the shock value "Oh my God! I really didn't see this coming!" Of course not, since it doesn't make any sense... A part from that, it is honestly a rather well-made and pretty entertaining thriller, above all thanks to the always amazing Owen and Cassel, and if you like the genre, it is actually worth a look, especially if you are curious to see Jennifer Anniston trying something else.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 11 November 2011 11:23 (A review of The Princess Diaries)

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since it featured Anne Hathaway's breakthrough début performance, I thought I should give it a try. Eventually, for a rather typical Disney feature, I thought it was not that bad after all. Indeed, Anne Hathaway and Julie Christie were both really charming and they provided some decent performances. Of course, the story was rather pedestrian and completely predictable but, even though it follows a well-known formula (the ugly loser chick becomes a gorgeous princess...), it did it really well and, as a result, I was rather entertained throughout the whole thing. Concerning Anne Hathaway, even though you might not like her (myself, I’m not a huge fan), you can’t deny that her career has been pretty impressive so far starting with a Disney feature to her first Academy award recently with ‘The Misérables’ and with some nice roles in between like Selina Kyle in the last Batman flick. To conclude, it is nothing mind-blowing whatsoever but, in this genre, it is actually not bad at all and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you are a fan of Anne Hathaway.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 11 November 2011 09:54 (A review of Immortals)

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[Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see][Link removed - login to see]’ it seemed that Tarsem Singh could become one of the greatest visionary filmmakers at work right now. At that point, he had made 3 movies and they were really amazing to look at and his 3rd feature was not an exception. Indeed, the costumes, the set dressing, the special effects, everything was just quite gorgeous and some shots were some impressive cinematic paintings. However, like with his directing debut 'The Cell', the story turned out to be rather underwhelming. Basically, it was some rather generic Greek action flick, similar to '300' or 'Clash of the Titans' but it was pretty weak and the dialogues were just really tedious. Fortunately, the action scenes were pretty neat but there were not so many of them and all the scenes involving the characters just talking to each other were rather boring and lacked dramatic strength. The first time I saw it, it was in the theater and the awesome visuals made it possible for me to forgive the weak story. However, I re-watched it later on the small screen with Nick, my step-son, and the lack of strong plot and interesting characters was even more obvious so the whole thing was after all definitely nothing mind-blowing whatsoever. Still, it remains a gorgeous movie to look at and, just for that, I still think it is worth a look.



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A bad movie

Posted : 13 years, 7 months ago on 10 November 2011 10:52 (A review of The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement)

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from the first movie but, I have to admit it, it wasn't bad at all after all but since the first installment was rather successful, it was quite obvious that a second movie will follow. As usual with sequels, you should always rather lower your expectations but, still, I thought that this one was just really worthless. Indeed, unfortunately, they didn't manage to improve the formula, in the contrary. The main issue is that the whole charm of the first movie was that she didn't know she was a princess so how can you go further with this character ? Eventually, they found a really contrived and boring plot about her finding a suitable husband withing 30 days. I mean, this gimmick has been done so many times before and I always find it an uninteresting and obnoxious concept. On the other hand, once again, Anne Hathaway and Julie Christie were both really charming but they couldn't save this flick from total boredom. To conclude, I didn't like it at all, I thought it was pretty bad and you should avoid it, expect maybe if you are very very young....


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