Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 18 October 2011 07:00
(A review of
Braveheart)
I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. In fact, the first time I saw it was in the theater when it was released more than 20 years ago. Well, to be honest, even though it has a rather stellar reputation, I always had some rather mix feelings about this flick. I mean, I have to admit it, it is in fact quite entertaining but I don't think it was such a masterpiece though. Above all, it could have been more interesting if they gave us a more balanced portrait of William Wallace and the English. Indeed, all the English characters were pretty mean and King Edward I was so evil that he pretty much became a cartoonish villain. Concerning William Wallace, they tried to convince the viewers that the guy was a simple average Scotsman but he had been abroad, spoke several languages, he was a great warrior and apparently an expert military strategist. Hardly what you could call an 'average' dude. Furthermore, the fact that Mel Gibson was maybe 20 years too old to play this character and the fact that the whole thing was seriously inaccurate historically didn't help much either. Finally, pretty much all the scenes involving his relationship with a French princess were just so far-fetched and ridiculous. Anyway, even if Iām not a huge fan, it is still worth a look though since there were some impressive battle scenes and, if you like Mel Gibson, you should definitely watch it but, in my humble opinion, it must be one of the most overrated movies ever made.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 17 October 2011 12:41
(A review of
Grey Owl)
Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick, it is indeed a rather unknown movie starring Pierce Brosnan and directed by the great Richard Attenborough but I thought I should give it a try. Personally, I thought it was a very interesting story but I'm not so sure if Pierce Brosnan was really the best choice for this character. I mean, at the end of the movie, you understand why they picked him but I can't help thinking that, with another actor, it would have worked better. Still, there were some interesting thoughts about this conflict between Modern life and Alternative ways of living, and also about the struggle about finding your own identity. When the whole thing ended, I have to admit it, it turned out to be one helll of a true story, too preposterous to be fictional but, somehow, they never really managed to exploit its full potential. So, basically, from a great story, they made a rather average but still interesting flick. Concerning Brosnan, you have to give the guy some credit for trying such a challenging part and he almost pulled it off. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was an intriguing true story and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see Pierce Brosnan in something completely different.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 17 October 2011 10:58
(A review of
Ponyo)
Nowadays, almost all the animated movies which come out are CGI animated. One of the few who's still holding strong is Hayao Miyazaki. Indeed, this guy is the living proof that hand-drawn animated features are still worth it and that they can be damned gorgeous to look at. Seriously, only just to 'see' this movie was already definitely worth a look. Indeed, you had here so many beautiful colors, awesome details and a marvelous combination of realism and fantasy. Considering the story itself, I thought it was quite enjoyable, even though it was not as strong as 'Spirited Away' which still remains by far my favorite movie from Miyazaki. Unfortunately, as usual with this director, the main character was in my opinion rather bland and uninsteresting but, on the other hand, the title character, Ponyo, was quite delightful. On a side note, I did watch this movie with my 5 year old daughter, thinking it would be a nice watch for her since it seemed to be targeted towards very young children. That was actually a mistake since it is actually more suitable for kids older than 10 years old. Anyway, to conclude, it was a gorgeous animated feature and, even though it didnāt completely blow me away, I still enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are looking for something else than the usual CGI animated flick.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 16 October 2011 09:09
(A review of
12 Rounds)
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. First of all, before watching a movie directed by Renny Harlin, you should know you won't get a masterpiece but his movies are usually a guilty pleasure of mine. This time, he gave us a really preposterous action movie but this ridiculousness is actually inherent to the genre. What really stroke me was the similarities with 'Die Hard with a Vengeance'. Basically, the damned thing was almost a cheap remake. On the bright side, I must say that Ā it was rather well directed with some cool action scenes. Furthermore, John Cena did a decent job. I mean, he was never as badass as Bruce Willis was back in the days but he still managed to give a convincing performance. To conclude, it was a rather generic action flick and I donāt it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a huge fan of this genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 15 October 2011 08:20
(A review of
Donkey Skin)
Since I'm a big fan of Catherine Deneuve, I was really curious about this flick. I must admit, she seemed to be a perfect choice to play a princess and she was indeed just mesmerizing. Furthermore, the costumes and set dressing were also pretty good. The story is a very famous fairytale in France and I guess it was a rather faithful adaptation but, honestly, I must say that I was rather bored during the whole thing. I mean, it looked good and Catherine Deneuve was quite amazing but there was nothing much going on, Iām afraid. To be honest, I have watched the two major classics directed by Jacques Demy (āLes Parapluies de Cherbourgā and āLes Demoiselles de Rocherfortā both also starring Catherine Deneuve) and even though I enjoyed them slightly more than this movie, they didnāt really blow me away either so I guess I just donāt really like this kind of movies. Indeed, I have always had a hard time enjoying musicals and when they are rather whimsical like this one, it is even more hopeless. Still, to be fair, 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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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 14 October 2011 03:56
(A review of
Marie Antoinette)
To be honest, even though I was really eager to check this flick, I have to admit, I always had a somewhat difficult relationship with Sofia Coppola. Watching this movie didnāt change my opinion about her work, in the contrary. I mean, by now, I have seen her 3 first movies as a director (still have to watch 'Somewhere' and also āThe Bling Ringā though) and, each time, even though I liked each one of those movies, none of them really blew me away and this movie about one of the most notorious French queens was not an exception. I mean, it was very well directed and just looked gorgeous, thatās for sure and Kirsten Dunst gave a very good performance and the rest of the cast did a very good job as well. However, after watching this, I kept thinking 'so what?' as if the whole thing didn't have much of a purpose. Maybe there was one but I definitely missed it then. Still, it remains a good flick, an interesting take on French history, even though it is definitely not an historical feature. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in Sofia Coppola's work.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 14 October 2011 02:30
(A review of
The Hills Have Eyes (1977))
Since it is a huge horror classic and since I have a weak spot dor Wes Craven's work, I really had to watch this one. Eventually, I thought it was pretty good but I can't say I was really blown away by the whole thing. Indeed, basically, it has the qualities and default of many vintage horror flicks. On the bright side, it displayed a really raw feeling and I really enjoyed the mood. On the downside, many things which were shocking back then donĀ“t move you much nowadays and the whole thing looked rather cheap. But still, it is a great catchy title and some scenes were pretty messed up (in a good way) and the whole thing was quite scary. Later on, I saw Wes Craven previous directing effort, 'The Last House on the Left, which was his directing debut and this movie was definitely an improvement. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre and you are fed up with all those useless remakes (By the way, the recent remake by Alexandre Aja is actually decent but since they didn't add much to the first version, except for a few galons of blood, you should probably stick to the original).
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 14 October 2011 09:00
(A review of
Double Team)
When 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.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 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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Posted : 13 years, 8 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, itĀ“s rather funny that, a part from two impressive performances awarded by some deserved oscars, Hilary Swank hasnĀ“t done actually anything really impressive. This time, she tries the disaster genre and I canĀ“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 didnĀ“t help that the special effects were far from being convincing. IĀ“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, TchĆ©ky 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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